The Servant: The Sorceress Cycle
by Piccolo Sky
Summary: The untold story of Bahamut. In this sixth and final installment, a new world faces a coming crisis that Bahamut finds himself called back from death to respond to in a manner he never dreamed of. Possibly unable to ever return to his true form, the ancient esper is forced to see the world in a new light...and may meet the one he's "served" so long face to face...
1. Final Exam

Alright everyone...after months of being away...after all the talk about it and hype...I'm finally doing it. Introducing the first chapter of the rewrite of "The Sorceress Cycle".

For the few fans out there of the original...you will notice almost immediately that this appears to be a completely new story, and, in truth, it is for the most part. Expect this story to be probably the longest in the series, even longer than "The Aleron Saga". Expect an almost completely new cast and many more references to FFVIII with FFVII finally being put to rest.

I've put a lot of time and thought into this. I hope it's better received...because I'm sure not going through this a third time.

Without further ado...

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><p><strong>THE SERVANT<strong>

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><p><strong><em>The Sorceress Cycle<em>**

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><p><em>200 Years Later<em>

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><p>Dael Levinson eased back into the chair. As soon as she was in a good position, she lifted the headset and fastened it around one ear. The eyepiece monitor was flipped out and placed over one eye. That done, she took only a few moments to compose herself. One inhale and one slow exhale. Her mind cleared, her focus solidified, and her anxiety subsided. Her eyes went to the ceiling of the small, dark control room and stared at nothing.<p>

_…I can do this._

Her eyes went back down to the console in front of her, and her hands immediately went to the keyboard. They started typing furiously, bringing up the stats of the people in her current command. Yet not waiting for that alone, her eyes immediately went to the electronic display just above it. Lettering was already there, detailing her briefing for this latest mission. As her hands flawlessly typed, her eyes read over the display.

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><p><strong>Situation: Red Critical<strong>

_A detachment of Fuliet terrorists have used this morning's series of bombings as a diversion to infiltrate the administrative district. They have taken five representatives of the Senate hostage, including the Senate Minority Leader, along with two police officers and eight civilians. It is believed that they are seeking to cause severe political instability by assassinating the Minority Leader. The hostage taking is likely only a ploy to gain more media coverage for a public execution. _

_The terrorists have made it to the residential district and have taken refuge in the older part of the city. This is likely due to the lack of ease of access as well as the inability to get accurate targets for snipers. They have set a thirty minute ultimatum for a helicopter to take them to an airplane out of the country. Again, they likely know that we have little chance of meeting that ultimatum. They must be neutralized and the hostages rescued within the time window. At the time of your deployment, you have 23 minutes remaining._

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><p><em>Plenty of time…I hope.<em>

_Let's get to work._

Dael didn't waste a second. Already, her mind was thinking of what to do…alternatives to consider…options to try… She had to be quick. For an operation like this, and for Esthar's Hawks, 23 minutes might as well have been an eternity. But that was no reason to get cocky. This wouldn't be a Red Critical mission if things were so simple…

She called into the headset a moment later.

"Hawk Team, report in."

_"Hawk One here."_

_"Hawk Two here."_

_"Hawk Three, ready."_

_"Hawk Four here."_

_"Hawk Five, ready to roll."_

_"Hawk Six, coming on in."_

"Right. Hawk One, is the target location in sight yet?"

_"Coming up on it now, sir."_

"First things first. Deploy around the area in a Trinity pattern. Hawk Three, give me the low down as soon as possible. Hawks Five and Six, see how many targets are on the roof and how good of a shot you can get. Move."

Now came the truly nerve-wracking part…waiting. Dael couldn't do anything at the moment except wait for the time it would take for her units to get into position. This was the residential district…and the older part of it. That likely meant that it wouldn't be easy. Most of the loss of time was going to take place here. Nevertheless, she held and waited, staying patient. She had to depend on the unit to do this right. They were only as good as the weakest member, after all. Time continued to tick by… One minute…two minutes…three minutes…four minutes…five…six…seven…

Finally, around minute eight, with 15 minutes to go, the word came back in.

_"Hawk One, in position."_

_"Hawk Three, in position."_

_"Hawk Five, in position."_

Dael's anxiety subsided somewhat as she applied it to thinking once again. "Alright…get me live."

Another brief pause, but another necessary one. By deploying in the Trinity pattern, the unit was in perfect condition to deploy special sonar sensors around the building in a special triangular pattern. It would key in on all sources of movement throughout the building, giving Dael some live eyes in on the action. Furthermore, each member of her unit would be highlighted, giving her an idea of their position at all times as well. She waiting for a few more moments to pass, but then reacted. Believing them to be done, she began to type on her keyboard again.

Her display soon changed once more. Sure enough, the sensors were already in place. It took a moment, but blue lines against a black background were traced in wave-like patterns across her screen, like being sketched by some sort of strange circulating mechanism. It took a few moments, but soon the outline of a building appeared. Along with it came images of surrounding buildings, each one larger than the central one. Six red blips, in three groups of two, appeared on the buildings, each group on a different one. To Dael's displeasure, few large windows showed up on the central building. Lots of large, old debris, ductwork, and piping showed up on the roof of it as well, and eight figures were there as well. They were already outnumbered…

"Report."

_"Not the best situation, sir. We have a four story building with little window access. The construction grade is a cruder type of fallout cement, so we're having a hard time getting specific signals from inside. What I can see is that we've got at least eight targets on the roof. I believe there're seven or eight on the third floor holed up in the center. Based on the spacing of the infrared, I'd say most of the hostages are massed into one room…probably as a shooting gallery or grouped for a bomb. I'd lean toward the latter…I'm detecting enough electrical activity even through the walls to imply one of the older detonators. Based on the sizes of the signatures, I'd say some of the civilians are children, but I can't be sure. Looks like three of them are moving out…probably to make the rounds of the fourth floor."_

"Five and Six, how does the roof look?"

_"Horrible. There's pipes and ductwork everywhere. The angles aren't that great either. No way we can get more than four or five of them, and that's pushing it. Best we can hope for is dropping some and ambushing the others. But that'll make a ton of noise…"_

"Other ways in?"

_"Fourth floor has some large windows. Nothing else is accessible unless we can neutralize the roof. This part of town won't allow for large sewer access…not into one of these buildings. Not like we have time, either."_

Dael once again took a few precious seconds to think over this. Pretty bad situation, that much was true… It couldn't be solved simply like so many other operations… Of course, that was why Esthar's Hawks were here. They specialized in this…and they were counting on people like Dael to get them out of it. It didn't take long to come up with something, however. Although in an ideal situation, she would call for backup to storm the place en masse in one large maneuver, with thirteen to fourteen minutes left…she needed to do something else. A moment later, she began to speak again.

"Alright…Five and Six, I want you to run a diversion. Let's make it on the south side of the building. Don't make it too bad. I just want enough noise to get the attention of the people on the roof. As for the other two groups, get ready to move in through the windows on the east and west sides. Once there, I want Three and Four to run a 'moleville operation' and One and Two to get into prime position to storm the third floor. Get into position and move on my signal. You've got ninety seconds."

Dael cut the intercom off and waited after that. Slowly, she watched the blips on the monitor move, in particular her own and the three hostiles that were patrolling the fourth floor. She saw them about for a few seconds, checking each of the rooms and moving back in. However, she assumed that they wouldn't be on that floor forever. They'd head back down eventually, hopefully to check the stairs and the second floor. Sure enough, as the ninety-second limit approached, they began to move back down to the stairwell and started to move through the third floor down to the second. This might be perfect…

"Alright teams…go to work."

Although Dael couldn't hear or see it, she knew at that moment that Five and Six created some sort of noise. Not from their position, of course. They would make some sound at a distance. Maybe it would be as simple as throwing a can into a hollow street. Maybe it would be something more sophisticated like using a grenade or knocking some material out. Whatever it was, it would be sure to gain the attention of the sentries on the roof.

Even as some of the blips began to move onto that location while others stayed put, the next part of the phase went into operation. To the observer watching the monitor, they would think that the two other groups had suddenly sprouted wings, for they were abruptly sailing over the street and straight for windows opposite from them. Of course they weren't. They were using a thin, translucent line launcher and grappling across to the opposite side. For any normal troops or officers, the amount of time it would have taken to use such a device and successfully grapple over would have been twelve seconds with lots of noise and visibility. However, Esthar's Hawks could pull it off in three seconds flat. In that time frame, it wouldn't matter if the sentries moved or not. They only had to look away for a moment. Though she couldn't see them, Dael knew that both people grappled together, with just enough time for the first grappler to get out of the way before the second landed. They wouldn't smash the window, but quickly deploy suction to attach to the wall and glass just long enough to pop the window open or break it silently, then enter the building. Sure enough, right on schedule, the two teams entered the building on the readout.

In the next few moments, they went to work. Now inside, they deployed additional sonar scanners. Soon, they were obtaining a readout of the inside of the building as well as the outside. Dael herself soon could make out most of the details that were located within. Indeed, it was an older residential area, what with the confusing, almost maze-like layout of rooms. Signals became even stronger now. Dael could actually identify some of the weapons the people on the third floor were using based on their signature. But she wasn't terribly worried about that. She instead watched Three and Four. They began to move even more quickly than One and Two, moving to each location underneath one of the remaining standing sentries. Once they arrived, small electronic signals lit up on the ceiling beneath them…the sure sign that a "moleville operation" was working. Since the snipers weren't able to neutralize all the people on the roof at once, bombs were being placed underneath the remainder to take them down. It was easy to get placement with the sonar sensors feeding information to the Hawks moving through the building.

While the bombs were still being deployed, One and Two arrived at their location…around a doorway just in front of the stairwell. Right down below were the hostages and the remaining hostiles. Eight on two were normally terrible odds. However, Esthar's Hawks came well equipped. A single high-potency flash grenade would stun everyone in the room for a good fifteen seconds…more than long enough to neutralize them all.

There was only one potential complication… And now that One and Two were in position, Dael planned to address it.

"Hawk One." Dael called out into the headset. "Do you have a positive ID on whoever has the detonator?"

_"Still getting a lot of noise, sir…"_ The voice answered in a whisper. _"But based on electrical activity, we think it's the one standing by his lonesome nearest to them. Must be suicidal."_

"I'm not putting that above a person from Fuliet. Alright…prepare to launch a 'blast and crash' maneuver. I'll tell you when the three sentries make it back to your…"

Dael suddenly trailed off. Until now, her eyes had been watching the three sentries. Just as expected, two of them did indeed go down to the second floor to begin their new rounds. However…something unexpected was happening with the third…

_"Sir, do you see that?"_

"I do, Hawk Two…"

The third sentry wasn't following the others. He was doubling back to the stairs. Dael tensed slightly on seeing this. This was a fly in the ointment. For a moment, she hoped for the best. Perhaps he was just checking back a little. Maybe he was going off duty. However…no such luck. The figure soon reached the stairs, and then began to ascend them again. The sentry was returning to the fourth floor.

"One and Two, you aren't making any noise in there, are you?"

_"Not a sound, sir."_

_"What course of action, sir?"_

Dael hesitated, thinking for a moment.

"Three and Four, are you almost done?"

_"Only about halfway done, sir…"_

Dael struggled not to swear. The figure was over halfway up the stairs, and still climbing. What to do? She thought for a moment longer.

_"…Course of action, sir?"_

The young woman hesitated a moment longer, then finally spoke up. "Alright…neutralize him on approach. Three and Four, pick up the pace."

_"We're trying, sir, but these two keep moving…"_

"Just hurry!"

Even as Dael said this, the figure reached the top of the stairs. Based on the speed, Dael couldn't automatically tell if the figure was just being careful or if he had actually heard them moving around upstairs. Well, whatever the cause, there was no time to find out. The figure began to approach the doorway next. On the other side, One and Two were pressed against the wall. Their own weapons were tightly held against them and they stayed perfectly still. Slowly, the figure began to cross the threshold of the door…when One and Two sprang on him. Only a tiny half-mumble was heard in the headset of the hostile before he was immediately and silently taken down by the two.

Not long after, the radio returned. _"Sentry neutralized."_

Dael let out a sigh. _Alright…I can deal with this…_ She told herself. Just one slip up. It affected everything, to be sure…but it wasn't the end of the world. It only meant their window of time had shrunk dramatically. Now, they only had however long amount of time they expected their sentry to take… That made things a little less than perfect, but it should still be good, so long as they struck quickly. On that note, Dael was just about to amend the plan. First, they would create another bit of noise to make sure the sentries returned to the room. Then, they would strike as one as planned. While the snipers and bombs took care of the roof, One and Two would move in, making sure to neutralize the detonator first…

_"Um…sir, we have a problem."_

Dael's train of thought was interrupted. She immediately turned back to the screen below. "Problem? What kind of problem?"

_"I'm finally getting a good reading on the device they have downstairs. Based on the signature and size, I'd say there's a great chance it's wired as a dead man's switch."_

Dael froze in her chair. Sweat, which had been controlled until now, at last began to well up on her brow. She had to struggle twice as hard not to curse now. Now they were really in trouble. A "dead man's switch" in modern usage meant that if the hostile's pulse failed to register, usually by remote device, the bomb would go off as well. That left two ways to frustrate any attacker. If they came and the bomber saw them coming, they could detonate the switch. If they didn't and they were shot or otherwise struck down silently, then the bomb would go off as well. The only way to stop it for certain was to incapacitate, not kill, the target without them knowing anything was coming. And from his position, that wasn't very possible…

_"Orders, sir?"_

Dael hesitated…stumped. She honestly didn't know what to do. The situation wasn't nearly so easy anymore… They could take out the people on the roof, throw in the flash grenade, ambush the hostiles…and still be left with the problem of the detonator. So long as the bomb could still go off, the hostages were in danger. Hell…her _team_ might be in danger… There was no telling how powerful the bomb was. This was a problem…a real problem. And if that wasn't enough, time was running out. They didn't have much longer…

_"…Sir? Orders?"_

Dael struggled to think of something. There had to be a way out of this. There were always alternatives. She couldn't just give up without trying something. But what? What did they have? Flash grenades…sniper rifles…their individual melee and firing weapons…some explosives…a detonator…some combat knives…

_Explosives…_

A strange idea suddenly popped into Dael's head. Well…strange might have been too light a word for it. Crazy was more appropriate. Nothing in the records indicated that something like this had ever been done. As such, there was no appropriate protocol for it. No standard to follow. It might not work at all or it might work too well…doing more than just what was intended. It would be no good if this move killed the one with the detonator. Yet she knew enough above explosives to give it a rough estimate. It might not be the best in the world, but she was betting it would work. What was the alternative? In a few moments, they'd discover that a sentry was missing, and then the hostages were dead regardless…as well as her team. She had to try it. And she had to do so now while there was still some time left…

"Hawk Three…do you have any explosives left?"

_"…Yes sir, but-"_

"Alright. Take half of a standard block and plant it over the top of the detonator's location."

As expected, there was a brief pause on the other end.

_"Forgive me, sir…but are you crazy?"_

"Just do it! We don't have much time and you need to get into position! Hawk Four, get ready to hit that detonator on my mark!"

There was a pause from the blip on the screen momentarily. However, it didn't last. Seeming to follow the orders, Hawk Three began to move to the appropriate location. Seeing as they had started from one end of the building and worked their way to the other, it would take some time. Dael only hoped it wouldn't take too long. Time was against them now, and there was no telling when they'd move on the floor below. Hopefully, it would be a ways yet…

No such luck. Hawk Three wasn't even in position yet when both sentries on floor two halted. After a moment, they turned and began to move back the way they had come. Their speed was quicker than before. Hawk Three realized what was going on. They had to suspect something. Their leader probably was radioing for them to return to the upper floor and look for their companion. Dael suppressed another swear. She clenched her hand into a fist and watched nervously.

_Come on…_

Finally, as the two sentries reached the bottom stairwell, Hawk Three reached the location. The blip went motionless. It would take time for the explosive to be deployed. During that time, the detonator could move or the sentries could arrive. Either option would ruin things. Dael found herself nervously watching the screen, looking at both the people now climbing the first flight of stairs as well as the detonator. The detonator didn't move, but the people readily ascended. Slowly, Dael's fingers began to drum on the console. Sweat began to roll down the side of her head. She began to whisper "come on" like a mantra as she watched and waited…

The sentries cleared the first flight and started up the second. Dael began to wince. They weren't going to make it. It was taking too long. Even once the charges were set, there would be a moment to get clear. There wasn't enough time. The sentries went up past half…then to the top. They began to move for the doorway. Dael realized there was only one option left. It was a big gamble, but she had to try. She had to hope no one was waiting for them to immediately call down. They would have a few more moments after they vanished, and then that would be it. It wasn't much, but it was all they had.

"Take those two out." She instructed.

Moments later, the two sentries passed through the entryway. Cries were soon heard from the headset as they were pounced on by the two Hawks. They were louder than last time, but Dael wasn't sure if they were loud enough to be heard or if it was her mind playing tricks on her… Either way, it was too late to do anything about it. The two sentries were taken down in moments, and quickly dragged away from the entrance to leave more room for a charge. Still the detonator stayed put. Still Hawk Three worked.

Finally, the worst happened. Dael overheard it on the radio. Voices were calling out in a Fuliet dialect. These weren't whispers or muffles. They were full volume. They were coming from downstairs from people shouting up to the sentries. They expected them to report in immediately. At that…Dael realized it was over. It was too late. They had to strike now…and hope for the best…

_"The charge is set! I'm getting clear now!"_

Dael's eyes widened on hearing this, her mouth literally freezing right before it could say a word.

_Finally…_

"Everyone engage, now!"

A chorus of noise went off…a mixture of explosions, gunshots, and general clamor and noise. All at once, the strike was made. The explosives went off on the roof, blowing holes under four of the sentries and dumping them on the ground below. At the same time, the snipers on the roof outside fired twice each, taking out the four remaining sentries with four bullets. The one lone explosive went off on the floor above the detonator, at the same time as One and Two threw a flash grenade downstairs and let it blast, right before charging in themselves with guns blazing. Over the eruptions, the bullets, and the cries, it was impossible to sort anything out. Knowing the scanners would be scrambled, Dael did the only thing she could do. Folding her hands in front of herself and in front of her face, she closed her eyes and refused to look until the chaos died down or until a statement was called back to her. For a few precious seconds, she waited as the noise continued…waiting for a break in it…

And finally, her eyes did open when she heard a voice call, not over the headset, but over a loudspeaker in the room.

"Mission terminated. Open it up."

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><p>The side of the control room slowly opened. Not a door, mind you…but the entire side of the control room. Cracking open like puzzle pieces, the various layers peeled apart from one another, revealing the dark interior of the small chamber. There wasn't much to it. Aside from a chair, the headset apparatus, the monitor, and the control panel, there was nothing else to the room except the officer cadet that had been inside. The control room itself, if one took a more distant look at it, was hardly a control room at all. It was mounted on a special armored truck to be deployed at sites. It had been deployed right there in Esthar, right in the old residential district in an abandoned sector. There were no shortages of those in modern times… Only one hundred yards ahead was the point where the team had been dropped off. If you looked carefully in between buildings, you could see the same building where the operation had taken place. What you couldn't see were the various Hawk cadets and actors portraying both hostages and hostiles alike slowly picking themselves up and beginning to make their way back. The only other people in the area were a compliment of technicians, all uniformed tech officers, at the periphery who controlled the various false signals and any elements of chaos that would be needed.<p>

For now, the young cadet in the control room, now beginning to swallow and remove her headset, was only focused on a single man standing outside the entrance.

The individual was well built and highly toned. However, underneath a decorated blue and gold uniform, high collared and cuffed, showing the marks of many operations and individual battles, one would find a different type of "high marks". He was crisscrossed with numerous scars and signs of old injuries, the indications of a true battlefield warrior who had earned his rank through much combat and struggle. His face was roughened from numerous battles…his beard and slightly unshaven face indicating that he cared more for duty and responsibility than keeping up appearances to try and attract or impress "social circles". Hanging from his back was a large sheath with sword combined with a buckler…both made of lightweight, durable, experimental steel. His weapons alone, both in terms of craftsmanship and materials involved, were probably worth a city block. He had a beard and mustache trimmed to be around the mouth, but, like the rest of his chair, seemed bushy and wild. His eyes had a look that was both alert and weary in them…alert from being highly trained…weary from having seen so much in his time. Traces of gray showed his age to be in his 50s, although given his appearance one might have guessed far older. His powerful hands, gnarled from having clenched and grasped and struck and dug so many times, were clasped in front of him around an information data tablet as he assumed a fairly calm posture.

The cadet in the control room, Dael, was a marked contrast. Her own uniform bore no such decorations, although it was definitely of the same style. Her traditional weapons were missing as well…her katana and her "Mage" Gun. That made her feel uncomfortable enough. Often, she did feel as if she was naked without her precious family weapons, but unfortunately she had not been on a combat simulation, but a leadership one. And it would reflect poorly on her, she thought, if she needed her weapons on her to feel "secure". She looked lithe enough, and sure enough she was when it came to feats of agility and speed (all of Esthar's Hawks had to be), but she had enough muscle as well to send most unsuspecting burly men to the floor before they even knew what hit them. Even if she didn't, she had done enough hand-to-hand combat training to know how to exploit weaknesses and multiply her own level of power within blows.

She was a young woman of 19. Her hair was naturally a very earth brown tone. Her eyes were vivid and green. Her face was youthful and fair…almost to a degree which she hated. After all, most people in Esthar's Hawks didn't take her seriously. From as far back as she could remember, which was quite a while since she had been enrolled in Esthar's Hawks since near infancy, the other cadets had frowned upon her for appearing too "soft". They, by comparison, all looked hardened and rough from the intensive training. Dael had hoped she would too with time, but she never did. Any hardness she managed to obtain seemed to wash away not long after, leaving her to stand out in terms of beauty even from the few other female candidates. As cadets had no time for dating and Dael herself was never interested in "fooling around", this led to resentment if solely from the perspective of seeing something that others wanted that they couldn't have. Of course…there were other reasons for resentment too…

With the man, her superior officer, now waiting for her, Dael sighed inwardly and began to walk out to meet him. This was an especially nerve wracking simulation for multiple reasons. She had cleared the final combat training simulations some time ago. However, she was going for officer placement right out of cadet-hood. That meant more simulations like the one she just went through, where she directed other cadets in operations of test cases to test her leadership and thinking ability. They were tense enough…but this had been the final exam. This would determine whether or not she would make it as an officer or be forced into "grunt" work for a few years first. Last of all, however, was the fact that this wasn't just some instructor or regular petty officer… This was the head of Eschar's Hawks himself, Colonel Morrick Regalis. The man could frown a nutkin out of a tree…

However, Dael had barely cleared the entrance to the control room when she saw something else that made her nearly tense out of the corner of her eye…

_Warwick…_

Gathered near the simulation technicians nearby, it seemed as if Dael had gotten a crowd. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of supporters. Getting observers itself wasn't a common occurrence. There was an unwritten rule among members of the Academy that you didn't go to watch other people's tests…especially not final exams. They didn't need the pressure. Luckily for Dael, she hadn't known about them until now…but that didn't change her being anxious at this point. After all, these simulations often ended up being how peers ranked each other at a personal level within the Academy…and even though she was leaving soon one way or another, she didn't like it…especially if she decided to remain to try for an officer position again. Yet this was especially bad considering who was there…

A smug-looking, lean, and dark-haired cadet named Warwick was standing at the head of the group along with his traditional posse of six or eight additional cadets. Truth be told, he was one of the best cadets in the school. He consistently got high marks on everything. He was very popular with most of the other cadets too. Already a son of a member of the upper class in Esthar as well as having political connections, he too was looking to further his own status and his family's by passing the officer training program. Had this been any other time…he might have been the school's ace by far. However…this was not his term.

It was no secret that Esthar's Hawks had been male biased for generations. They had the government's policies toward wanting to "keep women out of danger" to blame for that. It had led to an undercurrent of sexism in military occupations in Esthar for some time. However, that was changing. Following the big economic turndown in recent years, people were moving out of the homes and into the workforce. This place was no different. But even if it had been, Dael had been "born and bred" in Esthar's Hawks. She hadn't just accepted her fate that her parents had placed her here at an early age. She embraced it with pride, aiming to excel at everything in school as one of the few new female candidates.

It had led to no small animosity. After all, the place had to make some changes to accommodate for female facilities. Some people thought that had led to special treatment. Others thought that meant that she would get it easier than them, or would be able to use the fact that she was a woman to get out of some harder duty than the rest of them had to endure. That was, of course, ridiculous. Colonel Regalis would never stand for that…even if politicians wanted him to. And Dael surely had never felt special privileged. She had simply applied herself more strongly than anyone else. Yet the fact remained that she was excelling in the Academy. She obtained the highest marks in all classes…including the ones she shared with Warwick. Oh, once in a while he would do better, but in the end, the cumulative scores would always put him at second best. And not all of her fellow cadets felt that was due to her efforts alone… Hence, more resentment.

However, lately, Dael hadn't been doing so well. As she had intensified in her late term studies, striving for the officer placement, things had gotten more competitive. Who succeeded here would determine where they would be stationed if they passed, not to mention if they would even get the position of officer. The best position would be assigned to Code IV International Affairs…but they accepted only one new cadet officer a year… The mounting pressure had begun to wear away at her. Her grades and marks had not yet slipped, but they had come close more than once. She had been making clumsy mistakes and nearly stumbling. For officer exams, one bad mark could ruin you. That's how badly they were weighted. And she knew that Warwick knew the same thing. He had already managed to complete his exams a month earlier, and he had been eagerly hanging on her since then, waiting for her to crack and slip up…and even encouraging it. There was still one simulation left…and it would determine which one would be ranked higher.

"Hey Levinson!" She heard Warwick call out even as she struggled to walk up to the colonel. "How'd you like the Dead Man's Chance scenario?"

Without turning his head, the colonel called out. "Cadet, if you can't keep your comments to yourself during another cadet's exam, which, I might add, is not over until the final evaluation is given…I'll be happy to have you redirected toward latrine orderly for the remainder of your time until graduation."

Warwick remained silent after hearing that. However, the comment had only made Dael more tense. So…this was the infamous "Dead Man's Chance" scenario… She had hoped she had already taken it before now, but apparently it wasn't until this point that she had. That made her more fearful than ever. The Dead Man's Chance scenario was supposed to be a classic example of a "no-win" situation…that there was no way for a student to get perfect marks on it because something would always happen. The main purpose was to see how a student decided to respond when they had to make tough decisions… That terrified Dael. The objective wasn't to try and find a way to win but to find a way to minimize damage, as she understood it…something she hadn't done. That thought lay heavily on her mind as she came to a halt in front of Colonel Regalis and saluted.

The colonel returned it, and then brought the tablet up in front of him. Turning it on, he began to look over it. "I see you followed fairly standard procedure…you adapted to the situation well…you exploited what advantages you had…you stayed on schedule…" The colonel paused momentarily after that, then shifted his tone. "You were a bit sloppy on the roof situation, especially with that diversion. You cut it pretty close there, but I think that can be overlooked…" After musing a bit longer, he spoke again. "You felt sending in only two units against eight hostiles was a wise choice?"

"I never commit more resources than necessary." Dael answered calmly. "It frees them up in case of emergency."

"So you felt two were adequate?"

"Given the intel and weapons, yes."

"You thought a moleville operation was best for neutralizing the people on the roof?"

"If there had been more snipers, I wouldn't have. But I wasn't sure what kind of communications they had to contact the people with the hostages. They might have had remote detonators. I couldn't afford to let one escape."

The colonel looked down a bit longer at the tablet. After a few moments more, the fateful moment arrived. He looked up to Dael again as he lowered the tablet and folded his hands again.

"Last question, cadet…what were you thinking with that last explosive?"

Dael, despite all of her focus, drive, and personal will power, couldn't help but flush a shade pale momentarily.

"That was a fairly reckless move. You took an awful gamble. You didn't bother to test for structural soundness, you ordered the detonation almost too quick for your team member to get clear, not to mention that there was a good chance that it could have hurt some of the hostages from that distance. The Firebrand personal charges we dispense to Esthar's Hawks are not to be used indiscriminately. I thought I made that clear back when we first discussed battlefield usage…"

Dael could only sigh. "Yes sir. I know sir… But…"

"No one has ever tried anything like this. It's beyond any standard procedure in the manuals or in training."

Dael paused again, long enough to swallow. "…But it was the only move that made sense at the time, sir. At that point, I knew the chances of stopping the enemy from using the bomb were minimal. We had already incapacitated one sentry. There wasn't the time to get around beneath him. And if we could, we were too low on personnel to try a dual strike. I know I made a gamble, but it was something that I felt confident doing. I've seen the moleville operation performed dozens of times and I know the standard distance to get clear for a Firebrand charge. Based on that, I felt I was qualified enough to make a rough estimate of how effective it would be to do one in reverse, essentially."

"Rough estimate?" Colonel Regalis echoed. "You put the lives of those hostages, some VIPs, on the line for a rough estimate?"

"Sir," Dael continued to insist. "With all due respect, all other options that immediately came to mind involved definite loss of hostage life or the loss of members of my team. Those were losses I wasn't willing to take at this time. I understand I acted in a very unorthodox manner, but it presented the chance of possibly saving all of the hostages as well as my team. I was willing to try that before I would have to be ready to simply take several deaths."

The colonel hesitated after hearing this. He stared at Dael momentarily, as if calculating this response and weighing it mentally. Dael herself stayed as bold as she could under that gaze. To be honest…she didn't know if her decision had been a total flop and failure or not. She hadn't gotten the data back yet. She feared that it had indeed backfired horribly. If so, then she realized she had just totally failed her final exam. That would be enough to make her have to retake the entire course…

"…You do realize," The colonel continued. "That all it takes is one loose piece of debris from the ceiling to strike whatever trigger system that detonator was using. Then it's all for nothing. Correct?"

Dael swallowed again. That wasn't a good word. She had heard shots before, but that was neither here nor there. As soon as the explosion on the "hostages" went off, the simulation would have ended. All of the other shots and explosions wouldn't have counted. And things normally happened so fast that a cadet could indeed fail an entire trial before they even knew what had happened to them. Did this mean that she had indeed failed? That the bomb had been triggered and she had lost both two members of her group and the hostages? That would be a definite failure for certain. However, worrying about it wouldn't help now…

"…Yes sir."

"And yet…as you stated…you felt it was a gamble that was worth taking, correct?

"…Yes sir."

The colonel went silent again. He looked over Dael a bit longer. After that, however, he pulled up the data tablet once again. He looked down to it, and this time pulled out a stylus from the side. He began to make marks on it. Dael suppressed another swallow and struggled not to tremble. There was silence between the two for a few moments that seemed like an eternity, broken only by occasional beeps.

Finally, the colonel looked back up to Dael. His look was hard and stern.

"As Cadet Warwick pointed out…this indeed was the Red Critical VIP Abduction Scenario, Setting Esthar Urban…more colloquially known among your peers as the Dead Man's Chance scenario or, among us instructors, as the 'No-S Scenario'…aptly named because no candidate has ever obtained an S-ranking on it. Although the highest rank ever recorded on it is B, it is designed specifically so that no candidate can get an S-ranking on it, and I assure you here and now that you will not go down in history as the first."

Dael's palms clenched, suddenly feeling sweaty.

"You've been reckless in protocol in the past, Cadet Levinson. I thought you had improved but this scenario proved me wrong. If you ever plan to make it as a high officer, you will have to show more discipline and regard for caution, for your sake as well as that of civilians. Twelve points off for conduct."

Dael swallowed. That was already a B. She struggled hard not to quiver.

"With that out of the way…" Colonel Regalis continued, suddenly trailing off and pausing momentarily. He let out a sudden exhale. "…It appears you know your explosives. And it seems you can think on your feet when a crisis arises. Not to mention that you did something that no other candidate has ever attempted before on this scenario. Original thinking, especially in regards to situations that many people handle 'by the book', is worth a little extra." Another exhale. "And since your 'gamble' apparently paid off…with your team totally neutralizing all hostiles without setting off the bomb and only minor injuries to the hostages from your extra explosive…in addition to the five extra credit points I'm awarding you for your originality…I have no choice but to give you the grade you deserve: a ninety-three."

Dael's tension evaporated. Instead, her eyes began to widen. She nearly dropped out of her official stance. Her jaw began to loosen as her mouth opened. Picking up on this, the colonel gave her a smile.

"Congratulations, cadet. You're the first person ever to score an A on this scenario."

Dael nearly collapsed to the ground. Her face began to show a glow over it. She struggled hard not to simply spread her face into a smile. She couldn't believe it. She had an A. The first A ever on the impossible scenario. Combined with her cumulative score…that easily catapulted her to the top of the class. The position in Code IV International Affairs was as good as hers. Not only that…but she had proven herself to be one of the best students in the history of the Academy. She was one step closer to being the best of the best in Esthar's Hawks. Only the fact that she had been trained in self-discipline for so long kept her from showing an overflow of joy. Instead, in the strongest voice she could muster, which was still almost breathless, she stayed still with a normal face and responded.

"Thank you, sir."

The colonel let out a small chuckle. "No need to thank me, cadet. I've always said you get what you earn in this Academy, no more and no less. And to be honest, I was never in any doubt about you. Your performance over the past five years has spoken for itself on numerous occasions. Now…I'll put off officially welcoming you into Esthar's Hawks until graduation in a week, but for right now, I'm glad to tell you that I'm certain your contribution to our branch's success will be of great benefit to the future of Esthar."

Dael felt her head beginning to swell, but managed to keep it restrained. "Thank you, sir."

The colonel nodded in response. He made a few more adjustments to the tablet, and then lowered it again. His own smile disappearing, he straightened again and became totally official once more.

"Cadet, as of this moment, your duties at the Academy are complete. Since you have met the requirements for graduation and inclusion as an officer, you will be immediately relocated in one week's time. Until then, you have the week before graduation effectively on leave. Enjoy it. You are dismissed."

The colonel gave Dael a salute, which the young woman immediately returned.

"Thank you, sir."

Dael turned and immediately began to walk off site. As she did, she couldn't help but notice again in her peripheral vision Warwick and his company. They looked as if someone had cancelled the winter festival. They stared blankly at Dael as she walked off. They had kept track of her grades even better than she had. They knew full well what this latest score meant…how she was ranked now…how she would go down as not only being the best in the class but one of the best students ever to graduate from the Academy for Esthar's Hawks. Dael didn't really care. She was out for personal betterment and achievement, not to outdo anyone else. As a result, she tried hard not to look at them. She knew even a glance would be perceived as being smug, and it didn't pay to make bad blood with one's comrades. Besides, they weren't on her mind right now.

As she reached the periphery and began to move to the walled off area of the testing field, she thought only of one thing. She had been stressed for months with these exams. Now she wanted to unwind.

* * *

><p>Gaia had changed again.<p>

Following a global, universal ban on the use of mako power two hundred long years ago and the arrival of the mysterious entities called the Guardian Forces, things had changed in the world. For the first real time in many centuries, technology and magic developed together. Advances continued to be made in both realms as people were born with the gift of magic or learned how to use it through other means. The advent of using oil had given birth to new systems of boats, airships, trains, cars, and industry. More and more of the world, once wild and savage, became paved and populated by the human race. Much of the mystery was chronicled, categorized, and scrutinized by the scientists of the human race. Much of what was once considered myth or fabrication was now understood and accepted…a contradiction not seen since the War of the Magi. Now, there was a world where mages were as commonplace as airplanes, and magic was as commonplace as electrical power. It was an odd yet tenuous assembly that had grown through the ages.

Although magic and technology were highly mixed in the modern world, it still was not a perfect assembly. Some things were still solidly in the realm of one sphere or the other. Nations, for example, thrived or declined based on their grasp of technology. Those who possessed the best know-how, capital, and technology prospered. Those that refused to adopt the new ways faded and failed, much as their predecessors had done two hundred years earlier. Only no takeovers or wars were needed for that. The nations simply faded into obscurity, lagging in a primitive state as the rest of the world moved on and left them behind. They were considered the "backwater" nations of the world now, ridiculed and mocked roundly by the greater nations for decades as they continued to prosper and leave them behind.

However, many nations did use technology, and the innovators were soon the greatest of these. In the lead, dominating the entire southern half of the Eastern Continent with the largest infrastructure ever built by mankind, was Esthar. A engineering and communications giant, the country was easily the most prosperous in the world and boasted the largest population to show for it. It represented many ideas of a utopia for generations, with great glowing skyscrapers rising into the sky as far as the eye could see, magnetic monorails sending trails and transports throughout the region day and night, clean-burning factories sending out hundreds of tons of goods a day, vast computer communication networks linking the highest CEO to the lowest child in kindergarten, water and heat for everyone, and economic and political stability. For many years, it was the dream all other nations aspired to be, and even today more countries wished they were like it than not…for all the warts it had now developed…

In the magical realm, however, there was a difference. Although magic was now rather commonplace, it was only that way inasmuch as those who wielded it were commonplace. Everyone, with proper training, could use magic to an extent…but such work took years of refinement and fierce dedication, and even then would have little results in many cases. For those who it came more naturally, they were joined into one world-wide order…a branch separate from any government or political party that held themselves apart as being neutral, almost like a world-wide organization or religion of sorts that simply sojourned wherever its members landed. For many years, they had affiliated themselves with their founder, and had called themselves the Order of Aerith. However, their founder had resented that title, and after a few generations, they instead aligned themselves with an ancient myth from the culture they had descended from that had long since died out, ascribing their origin to the maker of the first "Cetra". Now, they called themselves the Order of Hyne.

Within this order were two branches. Most fell under the first one, the Children of Hyne. Almost everyone on Gaia who could use magic to a reasonably strong capacity was in this order. From early ages, they were brought into the group, where their talents were refined and shaped…especially through alliances with the greatest of allies of the Order of Hyne: the Guardian Forces themselves. The highest members of their order were blessed with even greater powers than before as a result, ones that they obtained by proving themselves worthy to the great magical creatures through ancient arts and techniques that the average citizen neither fully understood nor appreciated. Yet even they, with all their powers and crafts, were nothing compared to their leaders…

The heads of the Order of Hyne called themselves the Sorceresses. They were descended from the original Sorceress herself, and all possessed overwhelming powers…ones that made even the mightiest among the order look insignificant in response. No one, whether they be government, military head, or even Child of Hyne, fully understood the depth of their amazing abilities. All that was known was that these special individuals were children of Gaia just as the Guardian Forces were, and as such were something far above and beyond what mortal men could expect.

For all their powers, however, the Order of Hyne was not only peaceful but respected. Never seeking violence or taking sides in an armed conflict, the Order devoted itself to quiet reflection on nature and the pursuit of knowledge. They strove for personal betterment and the advancement of the human race as a whole to a sustainable future. Because of that, they were admired by many throughout the world. They were sought for advice and council in times of trouble and conflict. They were recruited as mediators and moderators in tense discussions, and consulted in matters of sustainability and protection of life. It was considered by many to be a boon to have a Child of Hyne in one's neighborhood or working for one's company. And so, magic was allowed to thrive alongside industry. And for many, many years…the two flourished together.

Unfortunately…as often happens in Gaia, things did not last. Yet whereas the world had endured foes of supernatural, military, and extraterrestrial origin before and had survived, the greatest threat that would impact the whole of the human race in this latest generation was unlike anything that had ever been encountered before.

Economic.

For years, oil had been considered the world's primary energy source. There was some fission nuclear, coal, and natural gas as well, but oil had been in the lead. New technologies had made it more efficient and cleaner than it had ever been before. There were even ways to capture the harmful emissions that were put out and recycle them into better usage. The world had been booming on it, especially in the industrial portions. The entire industry had been considered to be a good investment for thousands of wealthy business owners, not only in the oil itself but in the refineries, the emissions' capturers, the engine builders…everything.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't last forever. The supplies suddenly started to decrease one day, and from that point on, output continued to go down every year. More and more capital was required just to keep harvesting the same amount of oil, and the world's demand was only increasing. Price increases were allowed for a while…but that wasn't to last. As prices began to rise 50% and even 100%, people began to complain. As a result, the world's governments tried to curb this by freezing oil prices while printing more money to try and raise world's prices the same amount. It was a dual disaster. The frozen prices caused more shortages and failure to distribute what existing supplies were to be had in an good fashion, ruining the industry even more. Not only that, but inflation was now soaring all over the world from the attempt to make oil "affordable" at the expense of making it hard to buy anything else.

Finally, something happened to ruin everything. A major earthquake in the "Medieval Ocean", the body of water between the two main continents, suddenly occurred, ruining the entire compliment of major drilling operations on one of the world's largest remaining reserves of oil…likely for ten years. Supply dropped by 40% in one day. Prices needed to shoot dramatically to make up both the loss as well as to invest in new capital to try and make use of what supply was to be had. They were unable due to freezes…and the entire oil industry collapsed practically overnight as capital became incapable of meeting the industry's current needs.

The world's infrastructure collapsed like a house of cards. With oil now the domain of the superrich and oil companies shutting down left and right from being unable to get supplies, the rest of the associated industries soon went under as well, leaving the world with hundreds of thousands of jobless people. Companies, especially smaller ones, that needed the precious substance to run failed overnight, leading to even more joblessness. Industry in entire regions ground to a halt. Desperate to get money to keep companies afloat, there were mass withdrawals from banks. Many failed, and the few that remained open had no finances to invest in any capital. The final nail in the coffin was the inflated prices. No one could afford even basic necessities now. Within just a few months, the world was in the midst of a very severe depression.

Even Esthar was not spared this wrath for all its former glory…a fact which Dael witnessed firsthand today as she had every day for some time.

The young cadet could see it as she rode the magnetic rail through the lower streets of the city. She sat at one of the windows and watched the world of lights and noise race by, but her eyes were turned below to see what had happened there. Back in her youth, she had remembered that the streets had once been clean everywhere, and there had been far more lights from far more trains and cars moving about. Now there was garbage all over the streets as she passed. The homeless and jobless were propped against walls everywhere. Some of them looked more poverty stricken than others…with a mixture of once promising industrial heads as well as less talented workers filling the roads. Not as many trains ran now, and not enough people could afford cars either. The city itself was dimmer…not due to power, mind you. That problem had been fixed. It was due to people not being able to keep their businesses afloat. All in all…it made Dael grateful that she had been made a ward of the military at an early age, even if it was likely due to the economic downturn that she had been one in the first place. At least it meant a warm place to sleep and plenty to eat every day.

Esthar itself had provided the solution to the original crisis. Not one year after the onset of the global depression, it had perfected miniaturized, safe, sustainable fusion power…the next great epoch in human society. It would change the world and provide almost free, everlasting energy for everyone, from the smallest appliances to the common cars to the magnetic rails to the largest industries. But it wasn't cheap…not in its current form. It needed investment to proliferate and become truly available to everyone. And, unfortunately, the economy was in no position to provide that. No bank had enough money to invest in the technology. The world governments had gone to the opposite extreme at this point, tightening the money supply in such a way after their mistake with inflation that there was now nothing available to invest anywhere. A technology that should have changed the world practically overnight didn't get first used in a test case setting for another eight years.

Through very slow legal changes, countless failed programs, and an almost infinitesimally incremental loosening of the money supply, the world inched its way out of the depression. But it still left hundreds of thousands in its wake unemployed, and had left many industries and banks dead. In some cases, entire national governments had collapsed, lapsing into chaos and disarray. In others, only their life blood was choked out of them. Nowhere was that more evident than in the nation of Sybenia on the Western Continent. It had been hit the worst, its entire economy, once second only to Esthar's, all but destroyed due to its reliance on oil investments. Once a proud and upright nation, it had gone to being one of the poorest in the world…poorer even than its agricultural neighbors and, at one point, even having a GDP less than that of its city-state neighbors.

Oh, things had improved since then…but at a terrible price… A dictatorship led by a man named Roz Heireich had come into power within that country. Through a series of very strict, very strong, and, often, very severe movements, they had managed to generate enough government spending to reverse the trend and start pulling their economy out of the mire and back to its former glory. The only catch was how it was going about doing so. Roz Heireich was one of the older families in Sybenia that was chronicled not only for its madness but for its fanatically belief that their race was descended from the legendary "World Kingdom" of centuries ago led by King Odin the Great. In numerous televised speeches he had made…speeches in which he had highlighted exactly what all of the government spending was for…he had proclaimed it the destiny of Sybenia to rise from the ashes and take its place as the "Guiding Hand" of Gaia. These were accompanied by people cheering and rejoicing, all prosperous and well off despite the hardship they had endured…and usually with scores of military men in uniform showing off the latest battalion of tanks or aircraft they had perfected…

It made Dael nervous to think about it as the magnetic rail passed out from the heart of the city and into the outskirts, the major buildings and skyscrapers in Esthar giving way to smaller buildings and residential areas…many of them abandoned just as the previous ones had been. Sybenia was becoming a problem. It kept making bold statements like that and increasing its military power. They hadn't made a move yet…but it was obvious to anyone watching that Roz had ambitions beyond that of his home nation. The only good note to his recent boasts was that he was in poor health. Currently, many world leaders were banking on the hope that he would die before he had the chance to carry out his vision to any potentially disastrous conclusions…

If not…that would be where Dael and the Esthar's Hawks came in.

Esthar did not have a major standing military. That was both a good and a bad thing. One might try to argue it was something great, the result of a peaceable nation with economy prosperity that had little need to worry about defending itself from insurgency or danger. However, the fact of the matter was that was only part of the reason…if any of the reason at all. The main reason was because, after years of peace, prosperity, and contentment, the elected officials had grown "lax" in their duties. Where at one point, in its earlier, tumultuous history, the people of Esthar had elected upstanding representatives and individuals to speak for them in the Senate…a lack of true crisis and general apathy from the populace had eroded such moral fiber, character, and strength of will. Most of the representatives now were lazy, incompetent, incumbent, interested only in sustaining their own positions, and devoting what small craft they did have at persuading others to stabbing each other in the back. The Senate was filled with bickering and squabbling over minor, unimportant issues, and a general air that no one cared for the common good or the betterment of the economy or society had been expressed as of late. Even during the depression, no major leadership had emerged. After all, the representatives had changed the system to ensure that their jobs would be secure, and that was all they ultimately cared for. What few people did arise to try and make major, necessary changes were demonized, shut down, and tore apart by older politicians desperate to make sure no one made them look back by comparison. Now, many years later, an incompetent, slow government was still in place…with no indications of moving anytime soon. And, as a result, there was also no major standing military.

However, Esthar was not without any armed forces. While its general standing military was far inferior to forces from Sybenia and likely even places like Fuliet, it was not totally helpless. In fact, it could be quite effective if need be. Esthar boasted the most potent special forces group in the world: Esthar's Hawks. As Dael was living proof of, candidates were trained from infancy or early childhood to be the best special operatives in the world, often pushing the limits on what was humanly possible in combat, espionage, and counter-terrorism operations. Excelling in ranged, melee, and hand-to-hand combat, mastering all of the major technologies in the world, equipped with the latest combat technology, fluent in most of the major languages, knowledgeable about all major customs, sciences, weapons and vehicles…they were clearly the best of the best. In independent assessments time and time again, there wasn't a single standard special force unit in the world that could go toe-to-toe with an Esthar Hawk and hope to succeed. This was the "real" military of Esthar…the "preventative cure". Rather than dispense with major military operations, Esthar's Hawks were applied to nip situations in the bud. They would be sent in to neutralize threats or conduct necessary operations with the specific aim of restricting full blown war. As a result, the role they served toward the peace and prosperity of Esthar could not be underestimated. They performed all the major functions of a major military on a fraction of the scale.

Nationalism and loyalty to Esthar's Hawks was a major tenet of being in the organization, and Dael was no exception in that regard. She felt more pride for the group than anyone or anything else in the world. Yet it was never enough for her to just be a member. She wanted to be one of the most upstanding and outstanding members of the military branch. And now, it seemed as if she had gotten her wish.

The magnetic rail finally reached the end of the line…right on the outskirts of the main city of Esthar. There was a stark contrast to the city here. The track itself looped up around just up ahead before going back to the main city, which even now still shone and filled the horizon in the distance to the east. However, this was where Dael wanted to get off. Readily, she left her seat and walked out the side door to the platform. As she descended it and walked away down the platform to the nearest staircase leading to the ground, the train shut its doors again…her being the only passenger who had ended up leaving…before shooting off once again to begin its round trip back.

As for Dael, she looked up to the sky. Even with the lack of pollution in modern times, it was still a cleaner view out here. The sky seemed to be brighter and more open, not crowded out by skyscrapers or airships. Being late in the day, the sun was beginning to set, casting a somewhat paler blue glow on everything. However, Dael knew better. She had plenty of time before it was all the way down. Turning her head lower, she could see the edges of the suburbs of Esthar fading…the last row of houses to the east sitting there before a great street that rounded the entire city formed an effective barrier to further civilization. To the west, at about a distance of three hundred yards past the tracks, were a large set of towers with hundreds of cables stretching as far as the eye could see in series around the entire perimeter of Esthar's main city. To a more primitive eye, they might have mistaken them for power cables of some sort. However, they were a bit more than that. This formed an electronic barrier around the whole of the city of Esthar, protecting it from all encroaching monsters and beasts in the surrounding area. Its construction was made possible with the advent of fusion generators, but it was somewhat superfluous now. Most of the savage monsters in the surrounding countryside had been hunted to extinction years earlier. Dael herself had encountered only one in all her times out here called a Lesser Wolf, and it had run off the moment it spotted her. She was not afraid of anything outside the barrier, even unarmed as she was.

Quite readily, Dael began to walk out to the barrier. She crossed the tracks (via bridge, of course), and made her way along the grassy fields straight to the electronic towers. It took a little while, but eventually she reached the edge. At that point, one could see a faint blue rippling field moving between the towers in a single plane, stretching into the air for over a hundred feet. Numerous caution signs were in place here warning people against the dangers of passing into the barrier or even brushing it with their hands. On the ground level, however, there was a frame placed inside the barriers that was just man-sized. It came complete with a small control panel on the side of it. Dael walked up to this and pressed a single button on this panel. As a result, the blue field within the small frame suddenly disappated. Dael was left to calmly walk through it to the area beyond. In the past, a worker or serviceman would occasionally be there to yell at her for doing this. However, there was no law against it. And there were no real dangers out there anymore. She could handle herself.

As soon as Dael passed through, she broke into a run. At first, she ran only through more grassy fields. They were wilder here, full of more vines and wildflowers. But it didn't bother her much. She charged right through regardless. Yet this didn't last for too long. Soon, the vegetation began to die back and retreat, revealing smaller bits of grass and rougher, rockier ground. Even that began to subside a little as Dael charged on to the next part…a forest looming just ahead. Without any hesitation, she continued to cut across the ground and rushed right into the forest, and soon ran deep into it.

One might say she was doing this just for the sake of exercise. Sure enough, the first day she had come out here back when she was eleven, that was the reason why. It was good cross-country training and she was trying to build up her stamina for an upcoming physical exam, especially when the simulators were clogged with similar candidates. However, that wasn't why she was out here today. She was here for a moment of clarity…of peace…to reflect and relax and unwind after all that had happened during the finals. Oh, there were places to do this in Esthar…but the mere thought of them disgusted Dael. The simulators were hardly the same thing. The city parks were full of stunted, poorly-growing trees. The grass was all uniform. Most of all, it was void of a single living creature. Even the birds had long since been eliminated from Esthar when the last remaining species, common urban doves, were considered a pest species. The natural setting was much better to Dael.

However, if one was to ask her why she liked the natural setting in the first place…she couldn't answer. She might give a vague answer about how she liked trees and animals and clear skies and the sounds of forests and grasslands…but other than that, she wouldn't really be able to say. To Dael, it was more than the traditional answers that a person who was a naturalist or an outdoor enthusiast would give. She wouldn't be able to describe it at all. The closest she could say was that for some reason…she felt more "at home" there. That, of course, made little sense. She had spent most of her life in a totally urban setting, as attested to simply from her time in the Academy. Yet there was a connection that she couldn't deny…almost as if she was going into a different consciousness…

At any rate, Dael wasn't worried about answering that question at the moment. She was trying to reach her favorite spot. And so she continued to dart and dash over the rocks and roots of the forest understory as she made her way on a path she had traveled dozens of times. Along the way, she occasionally crossed over some trails. Some were merely footpaths, but one was actually large enough for two lanes of motorized traffic. That was proof enough that this area wasn't entirely devoid of human life. The people of Esthar hadn't yet reached the point where they dwelt entirely in the city without even venturing outside. However, it was mostly for small services in this part of the country. There was no development out here due to the ground being so rocky. Even these trees had to work their way into the ground for hundreds of years. She knew she wouldn't run into anyone out here, and frankly she preferred it that way.

It took Dael quite a while to reach her destination. She ended up running for a good thirty minutes, easily going over two miles from the barrier. It was quite relaxing to her. It really helped ease up the stress and tension from that test. And as she began to relax, and the reality of her situation came upon her, it helped burn off her growing enthusiasm. She couldn't believe it. She had really done that great on the exam. In a week's time, she would be reassigned to the major assignments in Esthar…the matters that really made or broke the nation. It was quite overwhelming when she thought about it…almost dizzying. She'd be responsible for putting a stop to anything that could destabilize the country. Whenever there was a major issue, her group would be the first to be called in. Although politicians and officers would probably be the ones to get the credit, she would be the actual "working power" within the unit that helped hold Esthar together. It was quite a task…and quite an honor. It was still taking Dael some time to get her head around it. For almost the entirety of her life she had lived in the Academy and been subjected to stern discipline and a regimented life. True, she had slowly been given more freedom as time had gone on. The Academy didn't want its students to be totally unable to adjust to society, after all, and that was the reason she had been able to be out here so many times. However…this was still a major shock. From cadet to officer in one of the most crucial and prestigious branches of Esthar's Hawks…

Dael was starting to dwell on this quite a bit when she finally broke the tree line. As she did, a familiar roar and crashing sound became audible to her. Just up ahead was the source. She continued running at that point, crossing another field that was mostly a mixture of grass and boulders of varying sizes. She skipped right over a four-wheeler trail and continued to run forward about another fifty yards, dodging through the wildflowers, grasses, and some of the sharper, larger, and more ominous looking rocks until she finally came to a halt. Once she did, she froze where she was and looked straight out.

Here she was…at the very edge of the Eastern Continent. Just a few feet ahead of her, the grass faded all together and gave way to nothing but sharp, jagged rocks and boulders, before suddenly dropping off. From her location, she could see the drop off rather well too. It was a rough, vertical, unclimbable wall of jagged rock, stretching up high from the ocean level a good two hundred and fifty feet before reaching Dael's position. It was quite an effective barrier to any invasion, and almost all of the continent was surrounded with it. Only the positions to the south were low enough for anyone to have access, which was why the ports were located there. However, it was a breathtaking site right here. The ocean loudly crashed against the rocks below, making them more jagged and sharp with time. Although Dael wasn't at the edge at the moment, she had looked down many times and had seen them. If someone was to jump, they would sail down for hundreds of feet before crashing into a series of jagged spires, rather like a floor of spikes in one of those old comics that the villain would have stationed for anyone who opposed him. Yet even from this distance, the crashing was so turbulent that she could feel just a few flecks of spray. The noise was soothing and relaxing…and helped Dael's thoughts already begin to calm and level out…

She was moments from closing her eyes and shutting everything else out but that sound…when another sound went out. Her ringtone. Immediately, her eyes opened again as she gave a slight frown. Letting out a bit of a sigh, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellular. She looked at the front of it momentarily, and then let out a half-smile on seeing who it was. After a moment, she flipped it open, pushed the answer button, and put it to her head.

"Hello, Quaren."

_"Hey Dael!"_ An excitable voice answered. _"Congratulations! I can't believe you actually did it! I mean…I knew you were a great cadet and all…but still…!"_

Dael kept her half smile as she let out a snort. "Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence. So you didn't think I was going to do that great on the final?"

There was a pause on the other end. Dael suppressed a chuckle as she knew Quaren was squirming where he stood. _"I…I didn't say that!"_ He protested a moment later. _"I just…well…uh…you know… I had a feeling, you know…about the final…"_

"I'm just teasing you, Quaren." Dael reassured a moment later. "I know that the final has a tendency to break cadet grades. Especially this one. Why else do you think I was sweating so much for the past month?"

There was another pause on the other end as Quaren no doubt calmed down slightly. _"Well…alright then…"_ Quickly, he shifted tone as he tried to change subjects. _"But an A! You're the first A ever on the Dead Man's Chance scenario! It's already spreading through the whole Academy! It's going to be on the front of the Academy newspaper, did you know that? Everyone wants to know how you did it! Speaking of that…where are you, anyway?"_

"Where else would I be? Away from all that racket and taking some time to myself."

_"Well come on back! We've got to celebrate! Give me three hours and we'll throw a huge party! We'll shake the dorm until dawn! We'll-"_

"I appreciate the offer, Quaren…" Dael calmly cut off. "But isn't your own final tomorrow morning?"

Another pause of silence, and once again Dael had to struggle to suppress a chuckle. Quaren wasn't quite as advanced as Dael. He wasn't going for an officer position straight out of school. His specialty was gunnery. As such, his own final would be a combat mission in which he was part of a group on a difficult challenge, somewhat akin to what Dael had gone through that afternoon. However, that wouldn't make it any easier on him. He'd have to truly work to be able to get through it, just as hard as Dael had worked…if not harder, as these things didn't seem to come as naturally to him.

_"Oh yeah…almost forgot about that…"_ A sheepish-sounding Quaren finally spoke. _"Um…er…I think I need to get going, Dael. I'll see you tomorrow…I mean, tonight…but just for a moment. I'm having a hard time remembering the difference between the Firebird and the Thunderbird formations… I…uh…need to get back to work. Bye!"_

Now Dael really did let out a short laugh as she pushed the receiver button on her phone and lowered it, returning it to her pocket once again. Same old Quaren…always so worried about someone else that he didn't have time to worry for himself. She only hoped it didn't get him into trouble on his exams. Honestly, she thought he had the material to be a great member of Eschar's Hawks himself. Maybe if he was only a bit more sure of himself…

Dael had scarcely begun to think of Quaren, however, when something got her attention. There was the sound of a motor running and coming closer. In fact, it sounded like more than one. She immediately turned her head back to the only logical place it could have come from, the trail. She didn't have to wait long to see the source of the noise. Engines were much quieter than they had been in the past, especially since internal combustion had been replaced with fusion-backed electricity in most vehicles. All she heard was a light humming noise for a few moments before the source of the noise came out from the forest and then rounded a bend, headed for the trail that was right in front of her.

The moment the first vehicle cleared the bend, Dael immediately recognized it. It was a silver Colvett motorcycle…and a fairly new one at that, it appeared. These things were a far cry from the motorcycles of the past. They were far more aerodynamic and sleek. They came with enclosed hatches now to enhance the aerodynamics further rather than expose the rider to external pressures and buffeting. Now, a sleek rounded shape traversed over them and secured them inside their vehicles. It also had the side effect of hiding whoever was in the motorcycle. Or rather…it would in most other situations. However, Dael recognized this particular vehicle… And if there was any indication that it was a coincidence, the next couple of vehicles that rounded the corner matched the colors, makes, and models of similar motorcycles she usually saw in the company of the first. There was no denying who it was.

It was Warwick's motorcycle.

Not only that, but he appeared to have brought his normal entourage with him. She counted an additional eight bikes in addition to his…but then realized that she wasn't done. Seven more bikes in addition to those rounded the corner as well, all riding in a motorcade. They kept fairly tight formation, and the trail wasn't far from where Dael was to begin with. As a result, Dael had hardly seen the last one pass when Warwick's own motorcycle began to approach the closest spot to Dael.

When it did…it began to slow.

Although it was fairly common knowledge among the residents in her dorm at the Academy that she went out to this point when she had free time (after all, they wanted to know why she spent so much time out of the dorm and what she was doing), she knew full well that Warwick did not make a habit of going on rides outside of the city. Neither did anyone in his usual assembly of friends. It didn't take long for Warwick's motorcycle to stop. The others behind it did not proceed, but instead pulled up either in front of it or behind it and began to stop as well.

Dael suddenly felt her anxiety begin to rise. For the moment, however, she told herself to stay calm…not to jump to conclusions. Yet even as she said this, Warwick's cockpit opened up on his motorcycle. The others had all but stopped at that point. After that, he readily dismounted on Dael's side. He almost immediately looked up to her on doing so. His face was not friendly. It wasn't even mocking. It was dark and grim…and hateful. Dael felt her tension rise a bit more on seeing it. She quickly looked out to the others briefly that had stopped. They too were opening their cockpits and dismounting…and they had the exact same look as they all faced her.

Now…Dael's heart began to beat faster. A bead of sweat began to form on her brow. She suddenly realized she didn't want to be there any longer. She tried to remain calm, however…tried not to think of the fact that she was in the middle of nowhere with no one around for miles…and turned away from them. Keeping her head down, she began to walk along the side of the cliff, but also back toward the forest…trying to get away from the barrier of the cliff and the sea and back to where she had a clean shot for the woods. She tried to act natural, as if, in somehow doing so, she could change what was happening…what she began to slowly realize was the real reason the group of people came there…what indeed could be the only reason.

Yet even as she walked, she saw the group advance on her. Warwick, at the head, moved in slowly. But the people on the edges of the line that had formed moved much faster…pinching off into a semi-circle. Dael kept her head bowed and tried to move faster…but it was of no use. Before she had gotten more than twenty feet, she saw a rather burly cadet step in front of her path. She froze where she stood on seeing that. She said nothing, and tried her best to express nothing. After that, however, she turned and began to walk the opposite way. She didn't even get five feet that way before she saw she was blocked in that direction as well.

Now beginning to sweat freely, Dael looked up and forward again. The sixteen people had her surrounded now, backed up against the cliffs. What more…they were closing in on her. All of them had dark looks and wouldn't say a word. Dael also noticed that they were all male…

Dael struggled to contain her fear. She couldn't show fear. She was one of Esthar's Hawks. They didn't get scared no matter what the odds. And above all else, she would show that she was Esthar's Hawk material. As bold as she could be, she formed a stern expression. She bit back her fear, and then looked up to Warwick, even as the others continued to close in on her.

Out of the corner of one of her eyes…she saw one beginning to pull out a bat from behind him…

"What's the meaning of this, Warwick?"

The cadet sneered. "Look at you… You've only finished your final less than two hours ago and you're already talking to me like I'm you're subordinate. You knew this was coming, you cheating bitch. I told you the day you got here that women aren't wanted here. Now you had to go and get that score…shift the curve so that half of us will fail this term…have to repeat the combat tests all over again next year… You owe us. We're here to collect."

Again, Dael suppressed her fear. She didn't dare show fear, although she had more than good reason to at this point. If she showed fear, she was as good as dead. What more…she knew that was what they wanted at the moment. That last statement said it all. They wanted her to quiver into a ball and cry. Well, she wasn't going to do that. She quickly assessed her situation. Even if she was a senior member of Esthar's Hawks, she would have a hard time taking sixteen people at once. And these were all highly trained cadets like her. She hadn't a prayer in fighting them off and they knew it. That left one other option…the forest. She had to get away from them and run in there. She only had a chance if she could make it that far. However, the group was tightening fast. She couldn't break running straight ahead. That meant right or left… And since the one on the right had a bat…

Abruptly, Dael took off to the left. The effect was instantaneous. Where before, everyone had been moving in slowly, now they all charged at once. But they weren't quite fast enough to stop Dael before she reached the person to the left. He was at least twice as big as her…but that didn't stop her. She charged straight for him. He, in turn, flexed his own body out and prepared to stop her cold. No doubt, he was priming himself for an attack from her. Well, she had one in mind for him…but hopefully it was something he didn't expect. As soon as she reached him, she swung her body around, brought one leg up, and aimed a kick for his face. As expected, he swung his own opposite arm up in a block, catching her foot. However, that gave her all the pause she needed to yank her foot back and swing it forward again, slamming it into his throat. The cadet's face went red as his eyes bulged, and he began to gag. She quickly pulled her foot back one more time and swung it forward to slam under his jaw. This gave enough power, giving his early disorientation, to knock him back and flat on the ground. Now with an opening, Dael struggled to run free while she still could. Dropping him had taken time, and she was afraid it had gone on too long… She dashed forward past his fallen body and tried to break the line…

But she was a moment too slow. The cadet nearby reached out and managed to latch onto her arm. A moment later, he felt a tremendous force exerted on that arm. She knew what it was. He was trying to use a flip move to throw her back into the group. However, she was ready for this too. She used the force he exerted on her to throw her back along with some force of her own to bring her opposite elbow up and around to crack against his nose…breaking it immediately. He cried out and staggered back, just enough for Dael to send him into further pain by giving an iron palm to his already bleeding, broken proboscis. The added agony was enough to get him to release her and stagger back. She spun back forward and tried running again even as the mob clamored up behind her. Before she could go another foot, however, the one she had dropped on the ground managed to ignore his own pain enough to grab one of her legs. Gritting her teeth and struggling to break out, she swung her free leg back and stomped on the side of his fallen head. This immediately caused a loosening, and she was free again. She charged forward once more, and this time, even as the mob continued to press in behind her, got a single steps. Her speed began to build, and in another second she would have been taking off…

Unfortunately, that second didn't come.

A heavy, solid, blunt pain was felt flashing across her back. It was so intense that she couldn't help but cry out in agony. The blow was not only strong, but sufficiently powerful to knock her off balance, and soon, given her own unsteady footing, she spilled forward and began to head for the ground. On the way down, she realized it had to have been the bat that struck her. Yet that thought was soon pushed free as she realized in horror that she would soon be in a very bad position. However, the pain stunned her and kept her from moving as she collapsed to the ground face first. She landed hard with a rock smashing up against one of her sides, digging into one of her ribs and likely bruising it. Yet in spite of all that pain, she struggled to move…struggled to rise…struggled to scramble away…struggled to overcome the stunning effect of the pain and break for it…

No such luck.

Dael was soon crying out much louder and more intensely as the mob descended on her. Punches, kicks, and the occasional blow from the bat soon rained down on her. She lost all awareness of what was going on and swam into a sea of pain as the group beat her. One solid blow from the bat landed on her head, and in addition to a sickening crack her senses were soon knocked for a loop. Her world swirled black, and all she could think about were more and more blows raining down on her. Soon, they vanished into a haze and oblivion of pain as she felt her body being sprained and even broken in some cases. Her lip was split by a kick to the face, and she felt a rib crack from another kick to the side. Still they continued to beat on her…until she could cry no longer and wasn't even able to writhe…

Only then was there a reprieve. Her head swam. She was dizzy and sick, and her entire body felt hot and burning. She could feel herself throbbing all over. She did move slightly, but it was mostly just squirming in place, faintly flexing her fingers and toes and moving stiffly and jerking. Her awareness of what was going on was disconnected. Everything felt hazy and unreal… However, she slowly became aware of more of what was happening around her. Abruptly, she heard a deep throated snorting…before a spitting sound went out. Something wet and slimy hit her in the back of the head on a fresh wound. It was soon joined by other similar snorts followed by slimy feelings…and in her addled, shaken mind she realized she was being spat on. The spitting had hardly ceased before another blow hit her hard in the back and side again from the bat…breaking another rib. This was enough to make her arch her back wildly and crane her head to the heavens, her face tight with agony. She let out another groan of pain.

The most disgusting part was when she heard the mob cheer and whistle from her moaning, as if it was turning them on. However, that didn't disturb her nearly as much as when she heard Warwick call out again.

"Alright…the bitch has been softened up enough. Let's get busy."

Before she could even lower her head again from the latest blow, she felt something heavy and strong land on her back…obviously one of the burly cadets getting on her and pinning her down. That was confirmed a moment later when she felt her hair seized roughly and was yanked on, keeping her in her arched position. As she scalp felt like it would tear, she cried out in agony. But still…that wasn't the worst of it. Soon, she felt the other cadets grab onto her uniform and begin to pull on it. Soon it began to tear, and pull free from her body. Even as this was going on, she heard Warwick call out again.

"Tie her arms and legs behind her! And I'm going first! I've wanted to do this for a long time…"

At that moment, Dael, despite her shaken brain and senses, knew exactly what was going on. They weren't going to just beat her and leave her for dead. They weren't even going to just kill her painfully… They were stripping her…restraining her… That could only mean one thing. That horror was worse than anything else. Torture and death she could have taken…but this… She began to realize the inevitability of it as she heard the cadets around her begin to snicker and sneer with dirty undertones. She saw Warwick himself slowly step in front of her, into her field of vision. As the other cadets continued to strip her…she saw him bend down right in front of her, until he was on his knees right in front of her face. Only then did he begin to undo his own pants…

When Dael saw that, realized what was happening, and knew what her fate would be…something snapped inside of her. At this point, she was beaten, broken, and weakened. She should have been easy prey. Had she been anyone else, she might have been. But she wasn't just one of Esthar's Hawks by name only. And even if she was…something almost inhuman seemed to surge inside her. A sudden rush of determination and will to live and avoid this horrible fate no matter the cost…

_No…_

_I won't let you do this to me…_

_I WON'T!_

Despite her pain…despite her position…despite the fact that it should have been over for her…Dael suddenly sprung to life. Abruptly, her right hand shot out…straight for Warwick's grinning, devilish face. Before he even had time to register surprise, she had seized him by the hair of his own scalp. He tried to react, but it was too late. With a surge of strength that surpassed that of will to survive to be matched with will to avoid being dishonored, Dael yanked down with all of her might…and thrust Warwick's forehead onto a rather solid rock protruding from the ground. A crack even more sickening than the one before went out as his scalp was split and (hopefully, to Dael) his skull cracked. Whatever happened, she released him only for him to yank his head back weakly, already fountaining out blood, before he collapsed to the ground.

One hand left her head at that…and Dael immediately realized what that meant despite her addled brain. The one on her back was the one with the bat, and he was going for it to subdue her again. But she wouldn't give him the chance this time. Her hand, now covered with blood from Warwick, reached back and seized the thumb of the remaining hand gripping her skull. She paused only a moment, then suddenly put all the effort forward she could into yanking the thumb the way it was never intended to go. Sure enough, her combat training for escaping situations like this paid off…as the thumb snapped off within the hand. Before the cadet even had a chance to cry out, however, she made it worse by, while still gripping the thumb, twisting it to aim to the outward skin and then driving it forward…sending the spike of broken bone into and through the flesh and producing a compound fracture. Grabbing his hand in agony, the cadet immediately got off of her and clambored back, screaming like a baby all the way.

Dael, beaten and dazed as she was, knew she only had a few moments to act. She didn't even have time to look around for a better escape route. She knew she was probably surrounded by the cadets at this point, so any other way out would probably not be so good. That left one option. Summoning all the strength she had left that hadn't been beaten out of her, she lunged forward, half-staggering on all fours, half-trying to get to her feet. Her path took her right over Warwick, who was already pushing himself up even as blood poured down his face. After all, he was an Esthar Hawk as well. It would take more than that to stop him. Soon, Dael was nearly tackling him. But she didn't stop there. She paused only to let her knee come up and strike him in the face, ripping his head further up into the air. After that, she charged forward, ripped around him, and then spun back around.

Running was useless. She already felt dizzy and weak. If she tried to get to the woods, she wouldn't even make it to the trail before they'd be on her, beating her again. That left only an unorthodox strategy. Now facing Warwick…as well as the crowd of cadets glaring at her angrily and beginning to advance on her, she suddenly lashed out and wrapped one of her arms around his neck. She tightened it into a choke hold immediately, and put her other arm on top of his chin and grasped hard. Too dazzled to know what was going on, Warwick was helpless to resist as he was put into the hold. Once there, through two beaten, swollen eyes, Dael grit her bloody teeth and glared at the cadets.

"You take one more step to me, I'll break his neck! I swear to god!"

Immediately, the cadets froze. This was unexpected. They had intended for her to be helpless and weak, and to easily be in control of the situation. But this was much the reversal. It was due to a strange twist of fate that the easiest target to grab had been Warwick. It was a good thing, because the people here respected him and didn't want him to get hurt. Soon, Warwick began to sputter and gag around the hold…which was good. The last thing she wanted was to let him get enough air to yell at them to charge her, which is what she would have done had the roles been reversed. In her state, she wasn't sure she could pull off a neck break. And if she did…then she'd have nothing and be easy prey for the others… As it was, she earned a reprieve.

Dizzy, weak, and losing what little strength she had left, Dael committed what was left of her stamina into falling back, dragging Warwick with her. He was still dazed but getting his bearings back. He scrambled on the ground with his legs, pushing himself along to keep Dael from choking him further. His hands went up and seized her arm, struggling to pull it off. For now, she held firm…but she knew as he got more of his senses back she wouldn't be able to. Not in her weakened state. Yet she was able to get some distance on the cadets, for what it was worth. Also, with a moment to think, she saw her position. Much to her dismay, she found herself backing up to the cliffs. The cadets were all in front of her, blocking her escape route. She was making herself more of a prisoner in her own movements at the moment…and yet she didn't stop backing up. She couldn't.

Desperately, her dazzled mind tried to think of a way out of this. She still had her phone… After all, her pants had managed to somehow stay on thus far… But she doubted she could hold this group off long enough to call for help, let alone hold out until help arrived. Fighting them off was no longer an option. Although the ones she had struck earlier didn't look to be standing too easily, they were still on their feet. She couldn't run either. She couldn't even manage a running pace even now, let alone one strong enough to outpace the others. She thought she might be able to work her way to one of the motorcycles. Then she would have a fighting chance of escape… But no… She felt Warwick getting stronger and stronger in her grasp. Soon, he'd be able to overpower her. She didn't have the time to make her way to a motorcycle.

What more…she felt the ground beginning to turn to rock under her feet. Risking the briefest glance, she looked behind her. To her fear, she was only two feet from the edge already. She stopped moving immediately, but realized now there was no escape.

She looked back to the cadets…hoping to see some sense of honor or discipline that people like Colonel Regalis had worked hard to instill in them. Something that would cause them to respect her for "fighting the good fight" and letting her go. However…she saw none. Those sorts of things apparently didn't go across genders. All she saw was burning anger, restrained only due to Warwick being held. They were waiting like a pack of wild dogs…ready to tear her apart the moment she lost the power to fight back. Reasoning with them would be useless. They had come for one thing and they were going to get it…

Dael's heart began to pound. No matter where she looked, there was nothing. No escape. No opportunity to call for help. Nothing. There was no way out of this. She had only bought herself a few more moments of life. And even if they weren't going to kill her…she didn't want to live with what would happen to her. As sweat began to mix with the blood on her brow, she suddenly had a realization.

_That final wasn't a no-win scenario… This is. This is a real life Dead Man's Chance…_

Dael swallowed at the thought. So what could she do? A little thinking outside the box wouldn't save her this time. She had no assets with her. Nothing to use. What more, it was getting harder and harder to think of something. She kept remembering a few moments earlier, when they had her on the ground…when they were violently stripping her…when they began to make lewd gestures and comments. She knew she'd be back in that position soon…and she thought about what would happen next. It did worse than terrify her. It filled her with revulsion. She couldn't take that. No matter what, she wouldn't endure that. Not on her life… Not on…

Then, all at once, Dael knew the answer…dark as it was.

Swallowing again, she cast another glance behind her, longer this time. To her attackers, it seemed to be another sign of desperation…knowing she was caught like a rat in a trap and was helpless to escape or save herself. But Dael was thinking something much different. She wouldn't let herself be violated like this. She wouldn't let these cadets treat her like a piece of meat and then kill her when they were finished with her. There was no other way out. She was going to die any way she looked at it. And even if she didn't, she'd wish she was dead once they were done with her. But she had too much pride for that. Too much self-respect. She wouldn't let them treat her that way…never…

And if she couldn't fight them off…if she couldn't escape…then that left only one other option available to her.

Some fear held her back for a few moments more. However, she was too highly disciplined to let it dominate her. If she would die…she would die with dignity. As such, despite her situation, she seemed to become firmer and more resolute than ever before. Warwick was nearly strong enough to cause her some serious trouble at that point. However, she didn't delay it any longer. Abruptly, she released her arm around his neck and put her arms behind him, giving him a hard shove with most of her remaining strength to send him stumbling back into his cronies. For a moment…she thought she shouldn't have let him go. She should have taken him with her. However…she wasn't like that. Where he might have none, she _did_ have loyalty to fellow members of Esthar's Hawks. Maybe this last act would let these people know what a truly honorable person was like…and let them know exactly why they had fallen short of the standard she set.

As soon as Warwick was free, he got to his feet. His face now covered with blood and gasping for air, he turned and looked back to her. His face was full of hate…but also a bit of puzzlement. He didn't know why she had released him. No doubt, he had to have realized that the only way Dael could have made his victory a costly one was by killing him then and there. And because he paused, the other members of his group paused with him.

That was all the pause Dael needed. She had more than enough time for one final action.

Looking Warwick straight in the eye with a hard, unflinching, unafraid glare…she stepped backward two more feet and stepped over the edge of the cliff.

She kept gazes locked with him for as long as possible, just beginning to see genuine surprise on his face before he vanished against a blur of a rock face. After that, the world rushed all around her as the waves frothed below and the wind swept upward…before all turned to oblivion.

* * *

><p>He remembered nothing when the first bit of sense came back to him.<p>

All that had happened before now was blackness…a very long, empty blackness. He didn't know where he was or who he was as senses slowly flowed into him like a trickle of water slowly filling a bucket. The first thing he did become aware of was a sense of weakness…a feeling of deep tired all over him. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so tired or drained…or even if he had been so weak in the whole of his lifespan. Then again, his memory was so foggy that he couldn't think of much else anyway.

The world around him was cold and dark. He had a feeling of being wet…and as time went on, he realized he was soaked. He was wearing some sort of set of clothing, and it was drenched, weighing down heavily on his body. There was the feeling of various soft and lumpy things around him. As he slowly began to twitch and move, some of them crumpled and shifted…the tell-tale sign that he was lying on junk or garbage of some sort. Some of his weakness did fade with time, albeit precious little. And as it faded, he gained enough strength to crack his eyes open and look around.

He didn't recognize the area at all. It was dark and made of metal and concrete…and it was outdoors. The source of the wetness came from above. It was pouring rain. Large puddles of it were forming ahead of him in the area. As he looked upward, he saw a thick grating over his head…large enough for people to walk on and maybe even for some construction. Traces of his memory began to come back on seeing it… These were strange things to him, where to the rest of the world they were commonplace. But he had seen them before…in the traces of his last memory… Was he back in that Dome? No…it couldn't be that. The sky above was cloudy and murky with smoke, and lined with buildings and construction…but it was the sky. It was dark, indicating night. Only what dim lights came from the buildings above provided any illumination below.

His gaze went down again, and looked again at the area before him. Now that he looked on, he saw that it was an alley of some sort. Dark, dank, and lined with garbage up and down the sides…it was a rather bleak place to be. There were others there…the homeless. They were crammed into large boxes or having spread pieces of scrap plastic over themselves in an attempt to stay dry. The place itself had all the trappings of being a place for the unwanted of the world…the lower parts of a city. Finally, he looked to himself. His memory was only very slowly returning…but he had enough to be surprised at what he saw. This wasn't his body…not any of them. And he had no memory of being dressed like this, in rags and tattered, old clothing. Confusion was all that greeted him as he tried to concentrate.

In the end, he grunted. Slowly, his limbs, still very weak, began to push up against the garbage around him. He didn't want to stay there any longer. He had to try and find some answers…try to find out what he was doing there and who he was exactly. The latter part, fortunately, he could feel coming back to him quickly. However, the former was a total loss… Already, he could remember that there was supposed to be a sense of finality to what had happened to him…that everything should have been over and done with. The fact that it wasn't was wrong. He was here…and where was here? Gaia? Heaven? Hell?

Having no answers, but desperate to find them, he began to slowly inch his way out of the garbage, hardly giving a thought to the homeless people who spotted him as he did so. As such, he failed to see them exclaim in shock on witnessing him, with some of them shrinking away and one even running off screaming.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	2. Joined at the Hip

This chapter is both considerably shorter than the first as well as far more "fast-paced". Essentially, this is still exposition, and with only one character to focus on I don't want to spend too much time dwelling on non-essential details.

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><p><em>Whump.<em>

Carbuncle let out a rather loud snore when the noise came. As a result, in such a deep sleep, and with such a small noise going off at a distance from him, one would think he would have slept through the matter entirely. But they'd be thinking of Carbuncle as a human, not as what he truly was. They'd also ignore the fact that his ears were rather long. Sure enough, even the small noise was enough to get his right ear to twitch and flick before bending back. An almost imperceptible frown went onto his green-furred face. He shifted a bit and grumbled in a half-asleep sound.

"Wha…what… Another stupid seagull getting thrown against the cliff…? Birdbrains…"

Mumbling a bit more, the small Guardian Force rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. For a moment, he nearly succeeded in doing so. But then, his tiny nose began to wrinkle. Just as his ears were hypersensitive to sound, so his nose was hypersensitive to fairly strong smells. And just now, an odor blew into the cave. Again, he tried to ignore it, but his nose kept wrinkling. And already having been aroused once, it was enough to get him to awaken more fully. His mind started to work…and soon he recognized the scent even in his current state.

Human blood.

"Eh…?" He subconsciously stated as his small button eyes finally cracked open. His view of his traditional surroundings immediately sank in. Carbuncle had chosen not only an appropriate location for his den, but also a beautiful one. Within the cliffs of Esthar was a cave lined with crystals. It was a rather beautiful place to look inside, as most of the crystals were of the highest quality…pure and gleaming in the slightest rays of light. It wasn't all that big, but this area was lined with them from top to bottom, all of the shards of crystals poking up and around throughout the chamber. All together, they created what appeared to be the innards of a colossal geode, which Carbuncle supposed it very well could have been. A small magical beacon from the Guardian Force provided all the illumination necessary, sending a light that bounced and reflected from all of the crystals into each other and giving the chamber an emerald glow as opposed to Carbuncle's traditional ruby one. After all, one did desire a bit of change in color after a few decades…

Straight in front of Carbuncle was the path to the entrance to this area. The entrance was fairly large…big enough for three humans to walk in side by side to the interior of the small cave. However, Carbuncle was never worried about visitors. This place was hid too well. From the ocean, it was totally unreachable through scaling cliffs. The surface around was too sheer. From up above, no one even knew where it was. Based on the shape of the cliff, the small ledge of rock was unseen. Even if it wasn't, it was a hundred feet below the top of the cliff. No one would be eager to climb the deadly rock face that low unless they were properly equipped for it, and Carbuncle had yet to encounter the person willing to do so.

However, with this new scent in his nostrils, he began to wonder if today was the day.

Now up, he perked his head up and adjusted his senses once again. His ears picked up nothing new. However, the scent of human blood was quite strong. It had to be freely flowing in some amount. And now that he was alert, he recalled hearing something a few moments ago. Clearly, the two had to be related. Yet on realizing that this meant there was a human at his entrance, he couldn't help but grumble.

"Fantastic…" He griped aloud. "Just what I need. I think I've gotten away from any annoyances and this is what comes up… Sigh…here we go. The whole 'I've-come-to challenge-you-and-recruit-your-power' bit again… Why don't these humans just work out or something if they want to get stronger?" Muttering a bit to himself, Carbuncle rolled his eyes and let out another loud exhale. Finally, he looked to the entrance of his cave. There was a slight upturn in the path, so one couldn't immediately see what was at the entrance. However, Carbuncle didn't wait or look long.

"Come on in, already!" He yelled. "Let's get this over with! You interrupted a fine nap!"

However, there was no response. Carbuncle grew more irritated at that.

"What's the matter? Didn't know we could talk? Typical human… Just get in and let's get the whole challenge over with!"

Still no response. Carbuncle didn't hear so much as a footstep, which he should have given his ears. He frowned again. Was this human playing with him or something? He was moments from trying to give the person a piece of his mind…when he hesitated. He started to think a bit more logically about all this. He was smelling quite a bit of blood from this human…and not hearing anything. A different scenario began to play about in his head on realizing this. This individual might actually not be in the shape for challenging him or doing anything else. They were near a cliff…and there was a chance the person didn't get there by climbing…

"Oh boy…" Carbuncle spoke again in a much more subjected tone. Immediately, he began to run forward on all four of his paws up for the entrance. It didn't take long to clear the crystal cave and reach the ramp, then begin to charge up it. The scent grew distinctly stronger as he climbed, but he didn't readily see any human in his way. He kept climbing up the slope all the way to the cave opening, and ducked outside it. Only then did he come to a halt. His small button eyes seemed to grow larger at what he beheld.

It was a human alright. A human female, to be exact. But she looked like she had seen better days. She was in a broken, crumpled heap right on the ledge in front of his cave. Emphasis on the broken part…because she had clearly fallen the one hundred feet and landed on both legs. Neither of them looked that good the way they were twisted… Yet Carbuncle immediately saw that was only one of the human's problems. Her body was covered with bruises, abrasions, and lacerations. Her clothing had been partially torn from her body. Her face, turned somewhat to Carbuncle, was a mess of blood and swelling. Of course, she didn't seem to know he was there. Assuming the landing hadn't knocked her out, the pain had to have driven her unconscious. If her chest hadn't very slightly risen and fallen, Carbuncle would have immediately assumed he was looking at a corpse. It would have made sense… Obviously, someone else gave her the bulk of her injuries. And dumping a body off of a seaside cliff was a good way to dispose of one… He was curious about how and why the human was here…but he quickly pushed that aside. Now wasn't a good time.

"Hey… Hey young lady!" Carbuncle suddenly called out. He rushed up to the side of her head and began to pat her best-looking cheek with a paw. "Young lady! Hey! Give me a sign here! You alright? …Well, that was the dumbest question I've ever asked. Of course you aren't. Can you open your eyes? This will work a lot better if you're conscious…"

At first, there was no reaction…and the rising and falling of the chest was so slight Carbuncle thought he might be imagining it. However, as his paw went over her lips, he could feel faint breath coming from her. Somehow, the human was still alive. He didn't know how, exactly. He thought the combination of injuries and the fall would have killed anyone. But those darn humans…they always got more resilient with each new generation it seemed. At any rate, he didn't stop batting the young woman's cheek. If he could wake her up, he wanted to. Then he'd at least be able to tell if he was losing her or not. He kept batting her for a bit longer, before finally there was a reaction. A sharp moan suddenly came from the young woman, followed by a wince. Her eyes, swollen and puffy, slowly cracked. The pupils underneath swam for a moment, but managed to zero in on Carbuncle.

"Mmm…wh…wha…?" She said…or, rather, moaned in an almost incoherent voice. "Wha…are…you…?"

Carbuncle didn't bother answering the question. The important thing was that she was awake and alert. Trying to explain he was a Guardian Force probably wouldn't help that much right now.

"Take it easy, girlie." He told her, pulling his paw back. "You've had a bad day, I can tell… I probably wouldn't move if I were you. There's no telling how many broken bones you've got… Let's see if we can keep you from croaking…"

The young woman, in response, began to shut her eyes again. Carbuncle's own shot open wide at this, and he immediately began to slap her with his paw again.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He shouted. "Don't do that! Now that you're awake, don't fall asleep again! I'm not sure if you'll ever wake up! Come on! Show some signs of life here!"

The battering was so insistent that the young woman's eyes did weakly open again, but she had an even more faint and blurry look than before in them. Carbuncle began to feel himself sweat. This wasn't going well. By all rights, the young lady should already be dead. She was going to be that way shortly unless he did something quickly.

Carbuncle withdrew his paw again and looked back to his cave. However, before even taking a step that way, he asked himself why to bother. He didn't have anything in there. He didn't keep any Phoenix Downs on hand or even any healing liquors. He never had the need for them, especially given his nature to be able to block or teleport away from any threat. However, the young lady needed them badly…if only to keep her alive long enough to get more help. But again, that wasn't really an option either. She needed some time in a hospital…assuming that would be enough. But Carbuncle lived too far from that big city…what was it called? Esthar? At any rate, in the time it took humans to get there to pick her up, assuming he could even alert them, she'd already be dead. She was fading too quickly. Carbuncle took back the thought he had earlier about humans being resilient. This one clearly needed some more resilience if she was to last long enough to get any help.

Had this been an earlier time, Carbuncle could have teleported her closer to the city. Unfortunately, Carbuncle had hung around the cave for far too long. The world had continued to change, and the natural magical "currents" and "lines" he had established had been disrupted by the reexpansion of new magical powers used by those Children of Hyne people as well as electrical disturbance from the growth of human civilization. It had been enough to reset his presence. He might be able to teleport close to the city, but he couldn't take her with him. He'd have to run out, go there, establish a presence, then come back for her and teleport back. He doubted he had that kind of time. The only place he could get her for certain was to the top of the cliff, and that wasn't much of an improvement…especially if whoever did this to her was still there…

Turning back to her, Carbuncle began to grow a bit anxious. He had wanted to help…but what exactly could he do? His own tiny paws would barely be enough to keep pressure on one of her wounds. He didn't even have a bit of cloth to tie anything up with. He had to think of something, though. There had to be something he could do to help. He was a Guardian Force, for crying out loud! A magical creature with a multitude of spells at his disposal! There had to be something in his repertoire that would allow him to help her out…

However, as he searched his brain for something, he could only think of one thing that might give her enough energy to live…

The thought of it made Carbuncle grimace. This was the best idea he could come up with? Well…it was more of the _only_ idea he could come up with… Having no other choice, and feeling like an idiot for even doing this, he leaned over the young woman's face and spoke again.

"Um…young lady? I don't suppose you could gather just enough strength to get up and punch me once, could you?"

In response, the woman only began to close her eyes again.

"Didn't think so…" Carbuncle moaned, and quickly began to bat at her again. It took more frequency this time, and he barely managed to get her awake again. However, even when he did, her breathing was more shallow and labored. She wasn't going to last much longer. Yet she had just ruined Carbuncle's one chance of aiding her.

At this point, the only thing Carbuncle could do that had a chance of saving her was performing a junction. Not a full junction, mind you. Carbuncle would never do that for any human. It wouldn't matter, however. A partial junction would be enough. It would give her a superhuman level of strength, stamina, and endurance. It wouldn't heal her, but even in her battered condition she would be able to live and be conscious again. She'd have a fighting chance of getting out of this. Unfortunately, the rules were he couldn't just give his power to her. She had to best him in combat first. Now…there was nothing to keep him from making the test ridiculously easy, but the rule that the Guardian Forces had maintained for thousands of years was trial by combat. And there was no way she could fight him in her current state. She couldn't even move without possibly killing herself…

The Guardian Force was growing desperate. He looked up the cliff again. Perhaps he should teleport her up there… With any luck, her attackers were gone…or, if he was really lucky, one that had some remorse might be hanging behind. Perhaps that one could help her. However, he smacked himself in the head for thinking that. That sort of reliance on the goodness of humanity in general was what got him stuck in a tube in the Magitek Research Facility a few hundred years ago… And…

_Wait a second…_

The Magitek Research Facility… He remembered that day. What more, he remembered what happened when that group of humans trying to jailbreak him came out. He and the others were already on death's door at that time…so what did they do? Rather than let that clown take them, they purposely died then and there so that they could get their magicite… There hadn't been any trial by combat there. No official pomp and circumstance or bonding rituals… All he did was just let them have it.

So…that meant that the rules weren't always absolute. Well, of course they weren't. They were just standards that had been set up by the esper patriarchs years earlier to govern summoning. Still, they were held as sacred by all esper-kind. What that meant was that he didn't have to always adhere to them. He could "bend" them once in a while… Had this been any other Guardian Force, they probably would have refused. After all, those rules were held as sacred. But this was Carbuncle…who tended to disregard matters of discipline and order a bit more easily. Besides, he wasn't going to let this young lady just die right outside his doorstep without doing something.

Of course…he was committing a major violation. He had a feeling if he ever saw Leviathan again, the Guardian Force would have his head for this. He might be frowned on by the rest of his kind. But surely, given the situation…they could overlook a "breach in etiquette" just this once…

There was nothing else for it. The young woman was dying and would be dead in moments if he didn't save her. That left only one thing to do…

Looking down on her face as her eyes already started to close again, the Guardian Force sighed.

"You owe me _big time_ for this, young lady."

Immediately, he reached out and placed his paws on top of her chest. There was no time to waste. No time for any bells and whistles. He had to just do it. He closed his button eyes and immediately focused. Luckily, although he was out of practice for some time, it didn't take any time at all. He quickly grasped the power within him…the vitality and essential life blood of his very being…the source of his energy and strength. He quickly began to make it take physical form. As a result, tendrils of rainbow-colored light soon began to emit from him. They streamed out of him like ribbons from various points all at once, each one with a glowing tip on it the seemed to make the rest of the rainbow light stream behind like a tail of some sort. They hovered around him only briefly…before dipping around sharply and shooting straight for the young lady.

Moments later, in dozens of places matching similar locations on Carbuncle's own body, the lights struck the girl and sank inside…

Even before they fully sank inside her, the young woman's eyes shot fully open as she let out a gasp.

* * *

><p><em>Three Days Later<em>

* * *

><p>A lone maintenance man yawned loudly. Keeping his steering wheel steady with one hand, he reached for his cup holder and picked up a cup of coffee. He quickly took a swig of the material to try and keep himself awake longer, and as he swallowed it down he put the cup back and blinked before trying to hold his eyes open and keep watching the rough trial road ahead of him. After all, he had to keep an eye out for wild animals as well as dips in the road. The truck he was operating was pretty well rated for off road travel, but no vehicle was perfect.<p>

He began to think to himself again about why he had taken this job. It didn't take long for him to think of an answer, however. The economy was terrible, even in Esthar. It was nearly impossible to get a job of any kind in the city proper. That left the suburbs and the outskirts. The suburbs already had all of their jobs taken as well, and the outskirts only had pitiful jobs like this left behind. And even then, only the night shifts had any openings. That was why he found himself stuck out here at two in the morning driving the battered, ancient model of service truck to perform nightly rounds for cleaning the small, one-shack bathrooms along the trails surrounding Esthar. He grumbled at the thought. Who the heck would go for a hike in these woods anymore anyway? Well, clearly lots of idiots who had nothing better to do. But that was no excuse for them to suddenly forget they were potty trained… Some of the crud they did to those toilets out there… You'd think they were savages. Didn't these people realize someone had to clean up for them? Well…there were answers for that too… Either they were ignorant and didn't, or they knew about it and did it anyway just to be jackasses… The man couldn't stand it.

Getting tired again, he sighed as he reached for his coffee cup once more just as he made a turn in the road. Grasping it, he pulled it in front of his face and took another swig. He lowered it a moment afterward and was about to put it back…when he suddenly forgot about the cup all together. Throwing it aside, he grasped the steering wheel firmly and slammed on the brakes as hard as he could. Just barely, which much squealing and grinding, he managed to stop the truck before it could hit the form that been in the middle of the dirt road just as he turned the corner.

Now, framed in his headlights, sprawled out in the path belly down, was a bloody, tattered young woman barely propping up her upper torso with her forearms.

Instantly, the maintenance man threw the truck into park. He quickly opened the door and stepped out, and rushed up to the woman. As he did, he got a better look at her. She was wearing the remains of a military uniform of some kind. The man didn't know the branch. Both of her legs were broken and bloody, although, surprisingly enough, they seemed to be moving a bit to help her drag along. The rest of her was bruised and raw, but, again, a lot of it appeared to be healing up well. Nevertheless, the wounds were still dirty and sweaty. Her forearms were the worst. Strips of uniform cloth had been tied around her hands, which were still torn and bloody. It looked as if she had been dragging herself through the forest by them based on her appearance. Her dirty hair was spilled over her face, concealing most of her features. However, the maintenance man could still make out dried blood spilled over her lower jaw and could see her panting.

His tiredness forgotten as well as his job, the worker was at her side in moments. As the man bent down next to her, she weakly turned and looked to him. He quickly put out his hands to try and support her, to try and come around her shoulders to get her up.

"Miss?" He called out to her. "Miss? Can you hear me?"

Despite all that had happened to her, the woman was able to look up into the maintanence man's eyes, and somehow had a light of calmness and business in her eyes even as she quivered in his grasp. She stated one thing as firmly as she could in what voice she had left.

"Take me to a hospital, please…"

* * *

><p>The next few hours were a blur, and in her current state, Dael was unable to focus on exactly what had happened. For that matter…she barely remembered the past three days. The last clear memory that she had was looking into the eyes of Warwick. After that…nothing…nothing except a strange dream about some talking, odd-looking, fluffy green creature… Blackness followed afterward. The next hazy memory that she possessed after that was of night…lying on a rocky landscape with her head propped up by a tuft of grass. Weak and dazzled, she managed to look up enough to see something strange. Although she swore she had jumped…she was back at the top of the cliff. It was night now…and her attackers were gone.<p>

She didn't know what had happened, and she was too out of it to care. The only thought was to seek help before she died out there. She tried to rise, but she was still too weakened. Moreover, both of her legs were broken. Though she was in pain and agony, she began to drag herself along with nothing but her hands. It was extremely slow going, and she tore herself up more and more by dragging her body along rocks and pebbles. Her hands soon were cut up and bloody, and even after pausing to try and bandage them with the remains of her uniform, she still was in agony. She wasn't even able to see where she was going that well, and the pain and dizziness sent all of reality into an incoherent blur. But she kept dragging herself. She had to. And for an eternity, that's what she did. She lost track of time. Day and night bled together. She reached the road at one point, and since then she dragged herself along it in one direction. Amazingly enough, her injuries felt better rather quickly. She felt her swelling going down. Her legs actually gained enough power to move slightly, despite the fact that when she initially looked at them they seemed compound fractured. Because of that, she thought she had to have been out there for weeks… At any rate, things became worse. She grew hungry and thirsty. All of her stamina was spent struggling to keep moving. She didn't even dare sleep that long…fearful that she wouldn't wake up…or that some predator out there would find her and finish her. But somehow, before she lost her strength entirely, she was found by someone.

The ride back to Esthar seemed to take forever. The man she had encountered drove her to a hospital, just as she had requested. They had wheeled her into the ER and went to work on her right away. However, she hadn't been in for longer than fifteen minutes before they checked her ID. Within half an hour, an ambulance was already transferring her to the Academy hospital. Throughout the whole time, she looked groggily around but did little else. She was so tired… She just wanted to rest.

However, she had hardly managed to make it back to the Academy ER when she was met by several high officers in Esthar's Hawks. One of them was Colonel Regalis himself. She vaguely recalled them telling her a story of what they thought had happened to her…obviously trying to reason what had gone on since she vanished three days ago. She remembered being surprised that it had only been three days. However, the only thing she could clearly remember was that Quaren had told them where he had heard from her last. He explained why they didn't find her there…but at the moment, Dael was too tired and out of it to remember what they said. She spent most of her senses explaining what happened. She identified Warwick and half a dozen others. Unfortunately, there was a large gap at the end of her story. She didn't remember what had happened after throwing Warwick back into the group. Nevertheless, the colonel didn't press her, seeing she had obviously been through a lot. As he walked away, however, Dael did recall calling out to him and saying she was ready to graduate in four days.

After that, she was patched up the rest of the way and put to rest in one of the rooms. It didn't take her long at all to fall asleep, so exhausted was she after everything that had happened to her. By that point, the sun had been beginning to rise. Therefore, when she woke up again, not one hour ago, and saw that it was dark outside again, she realized she must have been sleeping all day.

Remarkably, Dael didn't feel that bad. After that beating and how bad her legs looked, she realized she should have been hospital bound for a month. However, she didn't feel that terrible at all. Her legs didn't even hurt, and she doubted it was from painkillers alone. As she looked down over her body and saw both of her legs in casts, she didn't even feel as if she needed them. According to her charts, which she had managed to spot even in the darkness of her room thanks to the light from the window, she only had a single fracture on each. But that was impossible… She remembered that she had two compound fractures when she woke up, with three points on one leg and two on the other. What more, her face wasn't swollen at all anymore. The rest of her broken bones didn't bother her either. She remembered that it hurt to breathe when she first came to at the top of the cliff, but now she was breathing easily. After the long sleep she had…she almost felt well enough to get out of bed herself. Out of curiosity, she had raised her hands and looked to them. They were covered in bandages, but she couldn't feel any pain underneath them anymore. None of this made any sense. She was a quick healer…but no one was this quick.

At any rate, it didn't bother her too much. All that it meant was that she was going to be back to the Academy soon and back on her feet, and she'd be in time for graduation. It was amazing that after such an ordeal she could snap back to thinking about things like graduation, but that was the spirit that was instilled in her from her years with Esthar's Hawks. Duty came first. Anything that could get her back on her feet and back in action faster was a good thing.

What truly bothered her was her lack of memory of what had happened. The more she thought about the incident, the more she realized that she had fully intended to jump off that cliff. And yet she found herself at the top of it. What had happened? Had she blacked out? A dreadful thought occurred to her. Maybe she _had_ blacked out. Maybe she hadn't been able to jump and they had grabbed her and had their way with her as they had intended from the start. Maybe she was blocking that memory out. She didn't want to think of it. It almost made her want to buzz the nurse and ask her about the results from her swab. (After all, she had said in her story they had intended to rape her, and despite the length of time they looked for any evidence they could find on her person in the usual places…) Unfortunately, it was too late at night to get any results back. So she just lay there and continued to think.

_Something is not right here. I shouldn't be alive. That's not to say I'm not thankful to still be here…but I shouldn't be here. I remember the cliff… I remember walking over the edge of that cliff… So how did I get here?_

Deeply puzzled, and growing more troubled by the moment by it, Dael actually found herself calling aloud to the darkness in front of her in a soft voice.

"Why am I still alive…?"

Naturally…she was quite surprised when a voice came back.

"Don't you remember? I saved you."

Dael's eyes snapped open to their full extent. She went rigid. But before she could show any more surprise, a form suddenly dashed out from under her bed, leapt onto the visitor's chair nearby, and then used that as leverage to leap up and over and land right on her chest. The figure immediately turned around to face her, and at once Dael saw a soft, ruby-colored light emitting from the center of its head. As a result, its features were illuminated. She looked at it, and soon made out a long-eared, four-pawed, fluffy green creature standing on her body.

On seeing that, and recognizing the form, she was more stunned than ever.

"Y…You!"

"Oh, so you _do_ remember me." The creature, surprisingly enough, actually answered her. It suddenly leaned down on her body, and in an odd gesture propped up its chin on one of its paws. "Well then, in that case, you can thank me at any time."

Dael could only blink and gape in astonishment.

"Is…is this a dream?"

If anything, she seemed to see a slight frown form on the barely-distinguishable mouth of the creature. After it did so, it suddenly lifted its other paw and jammed it down, right onto one of Dael's healing ribs. A wince of pain went through her. She let out a yelp in response. Immediately afterward, her face turned angry.

"Hey!"

"Nope. I'd say you're wide awake." The creature responded.

Dael's anger remained a moment, but soon began to fade rapidly. She looked on at the creature a moment longer before she began to realize the truth.

"That dream I had…it wasn't a dream. It was you. I'm still alive somehow because of you…"

"Bravo." The creature snorted. Immediately, he put some fake bravado in his voice. "And in the realm of other obvious answers, I'm also green! And you're hairless! And all this black stuff around us? That's called 'night'. It happens about once a day. Perhaps you've noticed it before?"

Dael ignored the sardonic tone. She was still too surprised at this.

"But…but…but what are you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The creature answered. "I'm a Guardian Force."

Dael's eyes widened again.

"…Guardian Force…?"

The creature frowned. "Yeah. You know. Magical creatures. Junctioning entities. Children of the Planet…"

Now it was Dael's turn to frown a bit. "I know what a Guardian Force is." She cut off. Of course she did. She couldn't very well have passed the exams at school in the academic realm if she didn't. Guardian Forces were somewhat well known in the world. The Order of Hyne idolized them. It was from them that they obtained their power through ancient ceremonies they called "junctioning". For years, the world had dismissed most of their powers as myth even while acknowledging the existence of "unexplained monsters". But in the past fifty years research was done into the Order of Hyne to implement some scientific reasoning, and they found out that the junctioning effect was very real along with the creatures. Now, granted, there wasn't much data on them. Only a couple were actually documented in the Esthar's Hawks archives. The Order of Hyne knew the most about them, and they weren't that eager to divulge secrets, especially since they had a fear of "outsiders" exploiting them for their own gain. However, they were definitely scientific and military facts, not fiction, supposition, or theory. However, Dael had never seen or encountered one. Most people in the world would go their lives without doing so… The fact that one was here, perched on her chest, was most surprising.

"But…how…how did you find me? Why did you find me?"

The Guardian Force raised his head slightly at that. "Well, frankly, you kind of stumbled on my secret lair. It was right there, right in those cliffs you jumped off of. And by the way, I've been running around here a bit and listening in on things…so I know now why you were stupid enough to do that in the first place. At any rate, that's how I found you…lying in a pile of blood and broken bones right at my doorstep."

Dael blinked. "So…I did jump…"

"I'll say." The Guardian Force snorted. "You fell a good hundred feet too."

The young woman turned puzzled again at that. "But…that should have killed me…and even if it didn't, I would have been as good as dead…"

"Well, that was where I came in." The Guardian Force answered. "I teleported you back to the top of the cliff. That was as close as I could get you back to Esthar. Unfortunately, in your shape, that wasn't nearly good enough. You were about to kick the bucket. Luckily for you, I have a soft spot for dames. So I bent the rules a little bit. Normally you'd have to beat me in combat for this, but I went ahead and junctioned myself to you."

Now Dael was truly amazed. Had she heard that last part right, or was she still groggy?

"...You did?"

"Of course. How else do you think you managed to drag yourself to help? Not by yourself. You may not think much to look at me, but when I junctioned to you, all of my power got plugged into yours. That means more strength, speed, stamina, endurance, healing ability…you name it, I gave it to you. I effectively made you a superwoman. And though you were a very battered and beaten superwoman, you were able to ignore it long enough to get to help."

Dael couldn't believe her ears. She had heard about the junctioning process. She had also seen its results in test cases and videos. To say the least…it was quite impressive. Many members of Esthar's Hawks who were the best of the best still couldn't match the level of performance of junctioned Children of Hyne. There simply was no contest. The power of the Guardian Force outclassed anything that the human body could do, even pushed to the limit. For years, Esthar military scientists had been trying to replicate the same effect…tried to utilize the power of the special energy that the Guardian Forces utilized and harness it both in industrial and personal applications. All of the research had ended in failure. But now…Dael realized she had access to something that only Children of Hyne did…

That explained everything. That was why she had healed so quickly…why she was able to continue in spite of her grueling injuries. She was justly amazed. She had been right the whole time. Under normal conditions, she never should have been able to continue. But she did…and for three days and nights without sleep, food, or water she had survived dragging herself on her hands back to civilization.

In spite of everything…Dael couldn't help but feel a bit regretful. If she had that kind of power when she was beaten to the edge of death…then what could she do if she was fully healed? She supposed she'd never find out…

Putting on a much more relaxed face, Dael looked to the creature again.

"…I owe you my life. Thank you."

Much to her surprise, the creature only grimaced slightly and slumped back down on her body.

"Well…if you really want to thank me…don't go calling me every time you have a slight problem from now on, alright?"

On hearing this, Dael's face turned to puzzlement. "Excuse me?"

The Guardian Force sighed and rolled his button eyes. "You _do_ know that you can call me at any time now that I'm junctioned to you, right? Well, don't do anything stupid like wander into a field of gunfire and artillery shells counting on me to bail you out, got it?"

Dael's confusion only deepened. "I…I don't understand. Didn't you come to me to tell me you were breaking the junction?"

The creature let out a chuckle snort. "Oh, if only it were that easy… Stupid details about the whole junctioning fine print…things Leviathan never let us know before we all went our separate ways…"

This only puzzled Dael more. "What do you…?"

The creature sighed and looked to her. "I _can't_ break the junction, got it? I made my bed and now I have to sleep in it. It doesn't matter that you didn't beat me in combat. I'm stuck with you now. The only way out is if one of us dies. And since I'm the immortal one, that means I'm at your beck and call for the rest of your life."

Dael was overwhelmed at what she was hearing. In spite of all of her personal discipline and training…she actually felt a smile inching up on her lips. "Are you serious?"

The Guardian Force scowled. "You think I like joking about becoming a human's slave? Yes, I'm serious!"

Dael stared back a moment longer...just long enough to realize he was indeed serious. The reality slowly sunk in. At last, she leaned back into her pillow, struggling not to grin. She realized she would get her wish after all. She couldn't believe it. In a strange way, she was almost glad for the incident that happened to her. Now she was junctioned to a Guardian Force. With that kind of power, she'd be able to do anything. All of her previous combat trials and tests would be nothing compared to what she'd be like once she was on her feet. No one would be able to ever put her in the position she was in three days ago again. Her dream of becoming one of the greatest of Esthar's Hawks was closer than ever before. All because of this act of providence…

_Wait…no._

Before she got too enthused, however, Dael paused in her thinking. No…something about this was wrong. This wasn't power she had earned for herself. It had been given to her as a gift. As such, she had no right to gloat or relish in it. Rather, she had to be responsible with it. It would be a shame to waste it, but she wasn't going to use it to "hot dog" or show off…not even to get even with the people who had nearly raped her. No…she was going to keep this in check. She would apply it to completing missions and nothing more. And to ensure that she wouldn't use it for her own private gains, she made a decision right then and there to tell the colonel about it first thing tomorrow. Then it would be public knowledge. She might even be researched, since members of the Order of Hyne weren't that keen to divulge their secrets. But she'd endure it. If this was a gift, she'd make sure it would be used for something larger than herself.

Calming down a bit more, Dael looked back down to the creature with a smoother look. "Don't worry about me calling you. I prefer to fight my own battles."

"Well, good." The Guardian Force responded. "Then maybe we'll be able to get along after all."

Dael nodded. "Alright."

The two silently stared at each other for a moment afterward. The Guardian Force didn't move from her chest. Dael began to grow confused again.

"Um…you don't have to stay here. You can go back to your cave…home, that is."

The Guardian Force snorted. "Are you kidding me? And do what? Nibble at some moss and wash salt out of my fur? No thanks. Here's the next part of you making up this whole saving-your-life thing to me. I'm crashing with you from now on."

Dael's eyes widened again. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." The Guardian Force answered as he adjusted himself more on Dael's chest, beginning to curl into a ball. "I could use a warm place to sleep with a mattress. And I'd like getting stuff to eat besides the same old bland plants. I'd love a good bowl of gelato, for one. Besides…now that I've been getting so chatty, I'd like to talk it up with some other people for once." He nestled his head into his ball after doing so and closed his eyes.

"Who knows?" He called out. "If there are more attractive ladies like you, this might not be so bad…"

Now Dael was truly shocked. "What did you say?"

"I said pipe down and go back to sleep." The creature answered without opening his eyes. "I'm wanting a nap myself. By tomorrow, you'll be able to rip all this stuff off and go back to your life. Then we can both see where we're living."

Dael opened her mouth to speak further to the creature, but then shut it again. She had a feeling it wouldn't do any good. She also realized this deal might not have been as nice as she originally thought. Now, it seemed she was stuck with this odd creature. She wasn't even sure that they allowed officers to keep pets in any barracks. However, once he heard exactly what this kind of "pet" was…Dael had a good feeling that they'd make an exception. Of course, she still wondered how she'd explain all of this tomorrow…and, despite the prod from the Guardian Force, still wondered if she was just having a crazy dream…

At length, however, the cadet leaned back again and closed her own eyes. Although she wasn't that tired, she managed to drift off to sleep. She had a bit remainder of the week ahead of her, after all. And the thoughts of all that was going to happen was enough to tire her out to rest in no time…

* * *

><p>The store window was a smooth pane of glass…cleaner and shinier than he had seen in some time. The sun was out for the first time in days. As a result, a clear reflection was given off of it. As he passed by, looking at that reflection, a thought suddenly occurred to him. A mirror. He had no idea what he even looked like now…if it was a familiar face or something totally different. Immediately, he stepped in front of it and looked at the glass.<p>

There were faint lines and traces across his face, looking vaguely like how he had looked when he was human. But other than that…nothing. He was far too young. The look of age and wisdom that he had always possessed was gone. Even his eyes seemed to be youthful and inexperienced, bearing only a shadow of the light that he had once possessed. That went without saying. He only felt a fraction of the strength he once possessed too…if he could even call it a fraction. More like a miniscule sampling of his original power…

After only a moment, he turned away. He began to walk down the street again. His hunger was growing once more, and he had to find some food. He had discovered the hard way that in this body he couldn't eat as rarely as he used to, and what more he couldn't tolerate just eating anything either…like the rats in the alleys, for example. He needed something that was more akin to a human's tastes. And that meant it would require some work. He had gotten by for a little while now…but he might yet have to resort to begging. It would be the price he would have to pay. He had to keep going for now.

He still had answers to find…

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	3. Taking the Field

_Two Weeks Later_

* * *

><p>Dael couldn't believe it, but she was already growing bored and impatient. She knew full well that there were literally a hundred cadets, new recruits, and young officers who would love to be in her shoes, but she couldn't help the way she felt. Maybe it was a side effect of the junctioning…but she doubted it. The real issue was she was earnest to do something. She had that mind set ever since she started taking the more advanced classes at the Academy. Now that she was no longer a cadet but an officer, she was eager to "get her hands dirty". Unfortunately, she knew that Esthar's Hawks didn't enjoy their standards of excellence by immediately throwing people like her onto the front lines of whatever operation they were carrying out.<p>

She had been busy enough over the past two weeks. True to the word of the Guardian Force, who Dael eventually learned was named Carbuncle, by the next day she felt almost like her old self again. Apparently, she had been healing at an accelerated rate for the three days, but thanks to her straining herself there hadn't been much impact on her body. Now that she was resting and eating and drinking again, it sped up much faster. The nurses were surprised to see her peeling off her own casts with her bare hands the next morning, but were also surprised at the odd green creature that was with her. After some initial confusion, she was able to talk with Colonel Regalis, where she explained everything.

It turned out doing so was a fairly good move on her part. Following her arrival at the hospital and testimony, Warwick and the others she identified had been confronted with charges of assault, battery, and attempted rape of a fellow cadet. However, they were all higher class members from families with money. Before the night had been over, they had contacted attorneys, who immediately started poking holes in her story. Apparently, as soon as Quaren had confirmed where she had been seen last, Warwick had given the story that only he and those with him that now had injuries had been out and spotted Dael "acting crazy". They attempted to confront her, where she broke down completely saying she couldn't take the pressure of the exams and the new rank. She had a break down and jumped off the cliff, but not before assaulting them when they tried to stop her. Now, the lawyers maintained that Dael had to have faked the whole thing as a "cruel joke" to try and get her fellow cadets in trouble. As evidence of their story being true over Dael's, they pointed out that Dael's injuries were not that severe. Had they been, she never could have lived for three days with them. She must have sustained them when pretending to jump over the edge of the cliff, where she ended up getting hurt more badly than she intended, and so hid out until she could recover enough to station herself at the road for a passerby. In addition, there was the fact that the area had been searched (although, in Dael's defense, the area was too large to pinpoint her exact location and she could have easily been missed) and there was the fact that, if there had been attempted sexual assault, there was a lack of physical DNA evidence.

However, that changed with the news of the junctioning. There were now accurate records of Dael's healing progress over the course of two and a half days. Based on her rate of healing, it seemed more than likely that she could have indeed been more severely injured three days prior. Not only that, but now that he had revealed himself, Carbuncle actually gave his own testimony to Dael's condition. Although it was unorthodox to take the testimony of a non-human…Colonel Regalis allowed it. Following further investigation, the area was pinpointed, and large traces of Dael's blood were found at the top of the cliff, more so than she had when she came in. Not only that, but there were tire tracks from at least nine different vehicles having parked there recently. According to Warwick's story, there had been only five of them. As the final nail in the coffin, a few other students began to come forward as the story broke apart, stating that they had seen and heard Warwick and his friends talking about how they had found where Dael went after tests and talking about how they were going to "choke the bitch".

By the time graduation got there, Dael was walking freely up to receive her rank as a 2nd lieutenant, while Warwick and eight others were heading to a military tribunal. To be honest…Dael hadn't cared to keep up on the case since then. It didn't matter anymore. She was moving up in Esthar's Hawks, and if he _ever_ tried to do something like that again…he'd be in for a surprise.

Sure enough, the same day Dael received her new rank and officially joined Esthar's Hawks, she was relocated away from the Academy. She had to admit that she did have some regret about leaving. That had been her home for as long as she could remember. And yet, the nature of the military mind and background she had wouldn't let her get too sentimental about it. This was merely moving on. It was commencement…the end of one thing and the start of something new. And so, her things had been packed and off she went.

Within an hour, she was arriving in Northern Esthar via one of their magnetic rails. She still remembered pulling up on the base and getting her first live look at it close up. After all, the rail line she was on was secure…prohibited to civilian traffic. The place was not terribly huge. After all, this was only for a branch of the military, not an entire army. There were small airfields, but as most Esthar aircraft could take off vertically now, they weren't as large as they might have been. An armored, cylindrical hanger dominated much of the area. There was no place for ships. That was further west. Then there was the base itself. It took the shape of a hyperbolic cylinder rising from the ground, sleek and shining. Lights of various colors dotted it along with panels of shining steel. A huge translucent, multi-colored semi-circle arced over it, with a single spire coming out of the top of the main structure forming the apex of the ring. This wasn't just for show, Dael knew. The ring contained most of the more sensitive and advanced monitoring equipment. It was also the source of the base's shields. Dael drank it in for the whole approach, marveling the whole time. This was Fort Morningstar…her new home.

Dael didn't grasp the full gravity of her situation until she had dismounted along with the other new soldiers and officers. Then, she was in a crowd of familiar faces. But as higher officers came out and led her into the building, it didn't take long for large groups of them to fall away from the rest of the crowd, one after another, as they were led to their separate parts of the base. As time went on, eventually it reached the point where Dael was the only one left…well, her and Carbuncle. The Guardian Force had taken a tendency to hanging around her now, and it was only with great difficulty (and a lot of verbal protesting on the part of Carbuncle) that he was allowed to stay in her officer's quarters. By the time that Dael arrived in her room and was left alone to unpack, in spite of all her training…she couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness and disconnection.

However, that had faded somewhat with the next few days as Dael had a chance to settle in. She met her higher officers, although there was little need to do so for her CO. Since she had landed the most advanced position, she would be answering directly to Colonel Morrick Regalis himself. Of course, there were other officers as well that she could fall under, but it was entirely within the realm of possibility that she'd get most of her orders from the leader of Esthar's Hawks himself. That was enough to keep her enthusiasm up over the next few days as she located all the appropriate halls, got into the swing of the new duties and responsibilities she had, and generally started to adjust to her new lifestyle.

Yet that had faded too after a few days. Now, Dael was eager for something to do…something to truly test her mettle against. And so, only half dressed in her uniform, she leaned back on her new bed with her hands behind her head and legs crossed, looking up to the ceiling. She slowly sighed.

In response, she heard another sigh from across the room. "Would you cut that out? You know how annoying that gets?"

Dael's eyes flicked down to the ground. There, lying in what else but a bed for a small dog or cat, was Carbuncle. The Guardian Force had found a pastime to keep himself busy. At the moment, he was using Dael's own personal computer and had it set on the floor in front of him. His tiny paws manipulated the touchpad as he stared at it incessantly, spending most of his time…both morning and night when Dael tried to sleep…on it.

Dael frowned. Her earlier gratitude for Carbuncle saving her life was almost spent. Frankly, the creature could be a nuisance. She found herself wishing quite a bit that he would just return to his cave. After all, he complained plenty about being junctioned to Dael in the first place, and if he wanted to get away he should do it. Now, she had an unwelcome houseguest in her new abode that was unfortunately worse than any dog or cat she could have obtained.

"You get plenty annoying yourself, and I don't moan about it." She called back.

Carbuncle merely frowned in response. "What's your problem anyway? What have you got to be so bummed out about?"

"I'm just bored, that's all." Dael answered, looking back up to the ceiling. "I haven't really had any duties since I got here."

Carbuncle let out another sigh. "You humans… You're impossible. Your world is filling with turmoil again, people are starving, homeless, and without a means to support themselves on the streets all over the world, nations are on the brink of war and conquest…and all you can do is say you want a little more 'action' so you aren't so 'bored'."

"I've been bred my whole life to be an Esthar Hawk. I've been preparing to be constantly on life-or-death missions since I was six. I didn't work so hard in the Academy just to spend my days sitting around."

Carbuncle grumbled in response, shaking his head and looking back to the computer screen. "You humans are hopeless… No wonder the Planet is headed for an apocalypse every few hundred years… Well, you'll get to see action soon enough if they're reporting things right on this machine. It says Sybenian forces as massing along the southern border and conducting training drills. Sounds like they're preparing for an invasion." The green creature looked back up at that and toward Dael. "I don't suppose your little 'peacekeeping' group is going to do something about that before it gets out of hand, are they?"

"It's not my jurisdiction." Dael simply responded. "I'm only a low-ranking officer. But even if I wasn't, I doubt it. They won't send us in unless there's an eminent threat."

Carbuncle groaned yet again. "You've got to be kidding me… You know something is going to go wrong over there, and yet you humans just sit around until it's almost too late?"

Dael looked to Carbuncle with some annoyance. "Weren't you just saying you didn't want us to go into action so much?"

"I said I wished you humans weren't so eager for it. That's not to say that you shouldn't go into action when the occasion calls for it. I've seen this sort of thing thousands of times in my life span. If you don't nip it in the bud you're going to regret it."

"Well like I said, I don't have any say in the matter." Dael answered.

"Well maybe I'll complain to whoever's in charge then!" Carbuncle shot back indignantly.

Dael kept her frown. "You can't just issue complaints like that. This is a military organization. We report to the Legislature and the Commander-In-Chief, who is the current acting Grand Chancellor. He or she has to dispatch us on operations outside of our current mandate."

Carbuncle groaned. "And just what is your current mandate?"

Dael rolled her own eyes. She should have known not to say anything to Carbuncle. He'd never shut up now once he got started. There was a clear tradeoff with the new power she had acquired thanks to him, if it meant she'd have to live with this from now on. At any rate, she closed her eyes soon afterward and recalled it.

"Investigate and neutralize any attempts at espionage and/or terrorism. Provide emergency security for all Legislature members. Respond to all immediately direct small-scale threats and/or attacks to Esthar. Carry out all emergency executive orders and deployments."

Carbuncle was silent momentarily after hearing that. For a brief moment, Dael entertained the notion that he was content with that and would be quiet.

No such luck.

"You've got to be kidding me! That's what your big and bad organization does? Glorified security guards?"

Now Dael was beginning to feel a bit insulted. Her eyes flew open again as she sat up from her bed and looked to the Guardian Force. "I'll have you know that Esthar's Hawks are one of the most highly-trained, well-equipped, and efficient military forces on the planet! Our branch can do with one platoon what an entire division from another country can do, and we can do it easier, faster, and with far less loss of life!"

Carbuncle merely greeted her with a frown. "Yeah…and what do you do with all that? Run around on errands for your precious 'Legislature'."

Dael cooled slightly but kept frowning back. "What do you expect? We're 'Esthar's' Hawks. We're members of this country. Of course we're going to serve its best interests. We can't just go around doing whatever we please anywhere we please. There are laws, treaties, and national boundaries to respect and honor."

The green creature frowned a bit more after hearing that, but was silent. Apparently, he believed she had a point there. Dael could understand how. Historically, Guardian Forces might have worked alright having only one nation or organization, but humans were different. And history had shown that it was highly unrealistic to assume that humans would live harmoniously under one ruler. Dael knew that just as well as Carbuncle did without having the experience of a few thousand years under her belt. However, the young Hawk was pretty grateful. It seemed she had managed to render Carbuncle silent. Maybe this meant she wouldn't have to deal with his chatter much longer…

However, before Dael could begin indulging those thoughts and lay back down, a loud, mechanized voice suddenly reverberated through the entire room as well as the building.

"_All International Affairs Officers, report to the Briefing Room at once."_

Almost immediately, Carbuncle was all but forgotten. Dael instead perked her head up upon hearing that, looking away from the green creature. That was the best sound she had heard in days. Finally…a mission! A chance to really prove herself outside of the academic setting! If Dael had been a little less disciplined, she might have developed an almost child-like smile of joy on her expression. As it was, she still felt a surge inside her.

Immediately, the young woman got off of her bed and rushed to her closet, where the rest of the pieces of her uniform waited. Carbuncle, on his part, heard the same transmission, naturally. Sighing, he closed up the computer with one paw and began to rise.

"Oh boy…here we go…" The Guardian Force sighed. "Well, I hope you're happy. You got your wish."

Dael didn't respond. With practiced movements from years in the Academy, she removed the remaining components of her uniform and seamlessly donned them along with her current pieces. Her tunic went on over her shirt, her collar was fastened, her boots were slipped on and tied, and she finished off everything by giving herself a quick once over in the mirror. Esthar's Hawks usually maintained very neat and clean appearances by profession. After all, it was code for the organization. However, she had been lounging around essentially and it didn't hurt to make sure she wasn't going lax. It also gave her the chance to, with some chagrin, pick off a bright green hair or two that had found its way onto her uniform. Once done, she turned from her closet mirror, shutting it behind her, and then began to make for the door.

She hardly got more than a few steps when she had to halt, lest she trip over Carbuncle, who was now in her path.

"So where is this Briefing Room anyway?" The Guardian Force asked.

On hearing the small green creature say that, Dael frowned. "This is official business. You can wait here."

Carbuncle snorted as he looked up at her. "To hell with that. I'm coming with."

Dael crossed her arms in response. "No, you're not. You're not an Esthar's Hawk. And we don't allow…" Here, however, the young woman trailed off, cutting herself in mid-speech.

Carbuncle's face, if possible with his limited features, seemed to grow more annoyed. "I _know_ you weren't about to say 'we don't allow pets'. Because I am in no way, shape, or form your pet. And if I ever got the inclination that you were starting to treat me like one, I might have to fulfill the role a bit more by chewing up your uniform pants and taking a dump in your boots…"

Dael groaned inwardly. "The point is there's no civilians allowed in these meetings. Are you alright with me calling you that?"

Carbuncle merely shook his head in a tsking motion. "Uh uh, girl. No way. I wasn't born yesterday. You're going on one of your precious little 'missions', right? That means you could be whipping me out like I'm your sidearm. And if you think I've got nothing better to do than just hang around in here waiting for you to summon me, you've got another think coming. If I'm going to be your partner-in-crime for the rest of your natural life, I want to know what I'll be doing. Because like it or not, by junctioning to you, _I've_ been drafted into your little Esthar's Hawk pep club or whatever you want to call it too."

Dael glared at the small creature. This was quickly getting to be a pain in her neck. "I spent two semesters studying the Order of Hyne and their relationships with Guardian Forces…and I never read anything about them wanting to interfere with every sector of their junction's lives!"

Carbuncle shrugged. "So I'm not like other Guardian Forces. I get bored."

Dael felt herself losing her temper.

Carbuncle, luckily, seemed to pick up on this and let out a sigh of his own. "Don't get your panties in a twist. I've been through plenty of long, boring meetings in my life by people and entities a lot drier than your colonel. I'll sit still and I won't make a noise. And if your big, bad commanding officer says to get lost, I will. Deal?"

Dael still didn't like the sound of that. She wanted the reputation of being strong, dedicated, and committed to duty. The mere fact that she had Carbuncle running around with her in the base was giving people the impression she was into soft, fluffy, cuddly things and, as a result, was a bit soft in character herself. She didn't need it further elaborated on by bringing him around for all the officers to see. However, she realized she'd be late if she spent any more time arguing with the creature. Maybe she would get lucky and Colonel Regalis would order him out of the chamber, just like he said… Not wasting anymore time, the young woman let out one last sigh before turning and beginning to walk through the door.

"Let's just go. I don't plan on being late for my first official briefing."

* * *

><p>Less than five minutes later, Dael was struggling hard to look forward and official, ignoring the side-glances and stares of the other personnel around her. She wasn't sure she had made the right choice. On one hand, letting Carbuncle take his own seat in the Briefing Room as if he really was a full-fledged officer of Esthar's Hawks was bad enough not to mention unusual. But on the other hand, the alternative, as he had suggested, would have been to let him curl around her neck like some sort of over-affectionate feline and had him remain there during the entire briefing would have been embarrassing. As it was, Dael had already seen some of the younger officers go up to the MPs and higher officers in the room, and she knew why. They were asking whether she was in violation of policy by bringing a "pet" to a briefing. After all, though many had seen Carbuncle by now, and even had heard him talk (or rather complain) to them more than once, the dominant thought throughout the facility was that Carbuncle was an unusual pet and not a Guardian Force. Needless to say, Dael couldn't wait until things got started.<p>

The briefing room itself was located on one of the lower tiers of the spire that came from the center of the base. As such, it afforded a panoramic view of the entire area. This was unfortunately wasted on most Esthar's Hawks. They were too disciplined to care for aesthetics. Dael would like to have considered herself to be in that company…but the truth was she enjoyed the view herself. Unable to get out to the forest anymore, views from the spire were the closest things she could get to being outdoors. The room itself was sleek and metallic, with curved and rounded furniture in a base metal style. It was arranged in something of a circular amphitheater around an elevated platform and podium in the center. There were places for monitors in case data needed to be uploaded directly from the computers for briefing purposes, as well as to act as visual aids. These weren't used usually as speaking platforms, however. In this sort of area, one had to keep moving in order to real everyone around them. The largest visual aid was courtesy of a special projector mounted into a central podium. This provided a holographic display of anywhere they needed to look. All of it was rather sophisticated and high-tech. The truth of the matter, however, was that this too was wasted on the Hawks. A simple set of tables and chairs with a white board would have sufficed. However, while the Legislature had stripped the military almost to the point where the Hawks were the only real line of defense left, they made sure to keep that one well "pampered", if only for excuses to fund other projects or give companies with political contacts plenty of contracts for making things such as ergonomically correct chairs and high-resolution displays.

Some time passed. As it did, and people began to adjust more to the presence of Carbuncle, Dael herself tried to focus more. With the Guardian Force off of her mind, she began to realize more of the gravity of her situation. After all, this was indeed her first real mission. And now that she was focused on that, she began to realize other things…such as how many officers had been called out. All four classes were being summoned here. As a result, Dael was seeing several new officer recruits in addition to herself, although she was the only Class IV one. For them to be sending them all out at once…what could it mean? A major threat? An extensive one? She hadn't recalled hearing anything in the news, but that was neither here nor there. Esthar's Hawks usually knew about these things long before the media did.

Dael was just beginning to review mentally the current political situations to try and match a potential threat with the current level of manpower being levied, when someone called out.

"Colonel Regalis."

Immediately, Dael went into action with the others. In a well-disciplined, ordered movement, the entire room rose and stood at attention. Dael's eyes went forward and did not deviate. The entire room was silent. As a result, she was soon able to hear the clicking of boots against the metal floor, heavy and rhythmic, enter the chamber. After only a few moments, she saw the colonel pass in through her peripheral vision. Despite her stoic expression, she couldn't help but feel a major change inside her. Although she had always looked to him in a position of authority, this was the first time where he was fully abandoning the role of teacher for commanding officer to her.

The colonel continued down one of the aisles in the room until he made it to the center. On arrival, he ascended and made straight for one of the podiums. Turning around, he squared his shoulders forward and flicked a switch upon the display. This activated a speaker that would transmit his voice easily through the room no matter where he faced and when. Once that was done, he gestured to the room.

"At ease."

The entire chamber obliged by sitting themselves once again.

"Before I announce today's briefing, I would like to start by saying that I know this will be the first deployment for several of you today." The colonel's powerful voice boomed, easily ringing through the chamber even without the aid of the speakers. "Regardless of your rank or division, I expect the highest quality from all of you, and for your conduct and performance to be the kind that I have always expected from all of Esthar's Hawks…flawless. With that said, let us begin."

The colonel reached out and pressed a button on one of the podiums he was passing. Immediately, the holographic display ignited to life. Dael looked and watched it as it generated its images, and soon recognized what was being painted as a contour map of Esthar. It only remained focused on the entire map momentarily, however, before zooming in on the northern border region. The colonel turned around back to the audience as the region was framed. Soon after, areas became highlighted in flashing red.

"As you may know, it is currently the breeding season in Fuliet's wilds, and this year's 'Northern Rancor' is in full swing." The colonel proceeded to explain.

Being fresh out of the Academy, Dael was more than familiar with that term, but even if she hadn't been, everyone in the room immediately had some idea of what the problem would be when "Fuliet" was mentioned. Fuliet, Esthar's "neighbor to the north", was without a doubt the most savage, primitive, lawless, and inadequate government on the face of Gaia. The entire region was in a constant state of chaos. Besieged constantly by a harsh climate, rough terrain, lack of natural resources, a plethora of the world's most savage beasts and monsters, no infrastructure, no true economy, and one inept, corrupt, and bloodthirsty leader after another…the region wasn't even a true country by most standards. The best way to truly think of it was an extremely loose confederation of warlords bound only by a few overarching tribal oaths and codes. They constantly waged war on one another and were unable to advance or adapt to any modern culture. In the eyes of most of the people of the world, especially those in Esthar, it was a backwater hovel. The only thing in Esthar's favor was that the country was in such constant turmoil and upheaval that it could never organize itself to pose a threat to anyone. That said, due to its lack of resources, wealth, or any other political or economic advantage, most other countries were content to let it rot rather than create any relations with it. However…it couldn't entirely be ignored. A case in point was during "Northern Rancor".

One of several reasons Fuliet failed to develop was that it was one of the last truly wild bastions left on Gaia. The country was practically overrun by the most savage and deadly assemblages of creatures in the world. It was a struggle for anyone living in the country just to constantly defend against them. At no time during the year, however, was this more of a challenge than during "Northern Rancor"…also known as the height of the breeding season in the wilds of Fuliet. The breeding seasons of Fuliet followed a predictable "boom and bust" every year in a predictable series: prey populations rise, predator populations rise and prey populations fall, and finally predator populations fall. The middle portion of this series was what was termed "Northern Rancor". The predators would be at maximum population levels and prey would have already begun to sharply decline. That meant the monsters would search for anything they could eat and would often take wild risks to get food that they normally wouldn't do during the rest of the year. They would also try to expand their territory to new areas with food, and that was what caused problems for Esthar.

"This year is, by all accounts based on Esthar's biologists, the worst on record." The colonel continued. "For the first time ever, we are actually seeing full sized herds of Fuliet Saurons crossing the border into Esthar. They have not made it far enough south to hit any suburbs or test the barriers yet, but Grand Chancellor Barbarossa is taking no chances. He has ordered direct action on the part of Esthar to cull the herds. Normally, this would be a task solely for the Civil Defense branch. But given the size of the terrain to cover and the scope, I have elected to incorporate International Affairs into this mission to provide additional support."

Colonel Regalis turned to the hologram and proceeded to gesture to the southernmost red area. "Our operation is to neutralize this herd, eliminate its breeding grounds, and drive any survivors back to the north and out of Esthar. Based on current biological reports, this herd has set up nesting grounds in the scrublands you see here and here, utilizing the natural vegetation as cover for eggs. What we shall do is move in from these directions…" Here, he made gestures against the contour map, which responded by drawing lines that remained on the image. "And deploy incendiary units to ignite the scrubland. This should have the dual effect of destroying the nests as well as driving out the parents. After that, our units will drive the herds to this point." Another gesture, this time against a great wedge-shaped region of contour. "This acts as a natural gathering point in which to drive the Fuliet Saurons into one mass. Once there, an air strike will be called in to napalm the valley. Any surviving monsters will be forced to flee directly to the north to escape. To keep them in that direction, strategic fire breaks will be set here…here…here…and here."

The colonel turned away from the hologram soon afterward, and back to the room. "The Civil Defense branch has already been briefed and is waiting on site for our arrival. Captain Merrick, Captain Sloane, Captain Meade, and Captain Vesver will take their respective units and assist in preparing the valley. Commander Brighton, Commander Trits, Commander Sarcoski, Commander Rozan, Commander Halberstam, and Commander Rique shall also command their respective units and work with the Civil Defense branch in directly striking the Fuliet Sauron breeding grounds.

"As for the rest of you, to maximize covered area, we will be forming 'half-squads'. Each of you will receive command of either your own units, Civil Defense branch units, or a combination of the two. You will be stationed along the operation's southern border for the duration of the mission to ensure that none of the monsters manage to find an opening and slip back out. Further instructions will be given on site or on person. We will leave aboard Transport Theta 30 minutes after the conclusion of this briefing. Are there any questions?"

Dael couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had been sitting around for days in her room waiting for a mission…and this was it? This was what she had sweat and strained and bled for back in school? To get this excuse of an assignment? Some clean-up duty that the Legislature, if they hadn't gotten so inept, would have delegated to basic army shock troops? This wasn't anything like what she had dreamed of doing. This wasn't even in her individual charter. She was supposed to be doing International Affairs…not monster population control. If that wasn't all, she was receiving the worst possible job in this assignment. She was essentially grunt backup. This was a waste of her talents…and it was almost an insult to her. So stunned was Dael at this mission that, before she could stop herself, she actually raised a hand.

The colonel paused only for a fraction of a second on seeing this, before acting normally. "Yes, lieutenant?"

Only when the colonel actually called on Dael did she realize what she was doing might not be the best idea. This was only her first mission, after all. However, she had been called on, and she wasn't going to back down now. And so, she ended up speaking.

"Excuse me, sir…but…is this mission really within the sphere of influence for International Affairs?"

Dael wasn't sure, but she almost thought she heard the sound of Carbuncle slapping his paw against his jeweled forehead nearby. At any rate, the colonel didn't change. He remained perfectly normal as he responded. Unfortunately…normal for the colonel was forceful and domineering even under friendly conditions. And Dael soon learned that being addressed by him as a commanding officer was far worse than as a judging instructor.

"Are you requesting to be removed from this mission, lieutenant?"

Dael suppressed a swallow. "No sir."

"Do you believe that this mission is 'beneath you', lieutenant?"

"No sir."

"Would you like to be sent back to your quarters until I have a mission that's more worthy of your attention, lieutenant? Do you essentially believe that I have just wasted your time and everyone else's time in giving this briefing? That next time the Civil Defense branch receives an order from the Grand Chancellor and finds itself undermanned…that I should essentially tell them to 'man up' and tell the Grand Chancellor, in no uncertain terms, to go to hell?"

Dael felt about two inches tall. Despite her self-control, she felt herself clearly sweating now. In spite of everything she tried, she couldn't disguise the tremble in her voice when she answered. "N-No sir."

"In that case, never waste my time or the time of the rest of these officers with questions like that again, lieutenant. Is that clear?"

Dael answered far more readily this time. "Yes sir."

The colonel had never even frowned or raised his voice at her. However, Dael felt worse than she had ever felt before in the Academy, even after the worst tongue-lashing by one of her instructors. At any rate, he didn't hold her under his gaze much longer. He looked up to the room. "Company dismissed."

Everyone was already up and on their way out of the chamber by the time Dael got enough of her bearings to peel herself out of her chair. She moved almost as if in a daze now, feeling very nervous. She had just put herself on serious thin ice with the colonel. This was a wonderful way to start her first assignment… She practically wobbled on her legs when she finally managed to get to her feet. Even then, she needed a second to compose herself.

During that second, Carbuncle looked up to her with a frown as he hopped out of his own chair. "And you told _me_ to keep _my_ mouth shut…" He grumbled. "Sheesh…you're hopeless without me, you know that? I don't see how you ever got this far…"

Dael remained dazzled a bit longer, but as the room started to clear out and Carbuncle's familiar nagging reached her ears, she slowly snapped out of it. Her familiar frown reappeared, and she looked down on the green creature. She let out an exhale through her nostrils. "I thought you'd be laughing by now. This is just what you said…basic grunt work. I'm acting as a glorified security guard."

This, however, only made the Guardian Force roll his black button eyes again.

"Don't you humans understand anything?" He complained. "Don't you get it? I don't care how good of a student you were… Do you really think that guy is going to throw you into the fire fresh out of school? You or any of these other new officers? He's giving you this assignment _on purpose._ He wants to see how you can do in an easy situation before he gives you anything serious to work with. Haven't you ever heard the proverb that people who are faithful in small matters are faithful in great ones? And frankly…saying crap like that in the middle of the briefing isn't getting you any brownie points. If I were you, I'd get your head out of your butt and do a bang-up job on this assignment if you ever want to do anything more than 'grunt work'. Now pick up the pace. The least you can do now is be the first officer on that transport."

Without another word, Carbuncle turned and began to trot out for the door…actually leaving Dael behind. The young woman stared back in a rare moment of puzzlement. To be honest…the Guardian Force made a lot of sense. It wasn't something Dael liked to admit, but it would explain a lot of things. And he had a point. If she was acting like this now over some small mission, why would Captain Regalis trust her with anything bigger? She may have thought of herself as being pretty good based on her performance in school and her junctioning, but she was still just a raw recruit. And right now…she was looking like a snot-nosed raw recruit. It made Dael frown more to think of it, but the odd green creature was right. She needed to focus entirely on doing the best job possible on this mission.

Snapping out of her daze, Dael began to quickly move after the Guardian Force. She had to get back to her room and suit up.

* * *

><p>One of the perks to being an officer in Esthar's Hawks was that you got to choose your own weapons. They had to be cleared first, but once they were approved you were free to choose whatever you wanted. In truth, that was how the Hawks preferred it. If there was a special weapon that could get the job done, they wanted their units to retain what they felt the most comfortable and proficient at. It was no secret that for hundreds of years there had been special branches of weaponsmiths that made everything from swords to guns custom-made for skilled warriors. Usually, this practice had the added benefit of making it hard for an opponent to disarm and use your own weapon against you. Even more so, they added a random element to the battlefield.<p>

Dael herself was rather fortunate in her own regard when it came to a personal choice of weapons. She knew very little about her parents, other than the Levinsons had died only three years after enrolling her in the Academy. Although she was of age to learn more about them independently, she never truly saw the need. She never had a close enough attachment to want one. She felt more at home at school. However, they had left her two special items that were family heirlooms of sorts. Apparently, when she looked into it, she had discovered that they had belonged to her grandfather back when Esthar still had more of an established military. Now they were hers.

One item was a fine sword. It was one of the older Western style, a kind that they didn't make anymore except for ornamental pieces. This one was one of the last that had been made for functional usage. It was a modified curved, thin blade with a sharp dual edge. It fit in well with the old Western style of combat, which didn't emphasize large, heavy blades for powerful cutting, slamming, or battering but rather light blades for ease of movement and more technique. The edge and the quality of the folded steel made up for the lack of size and weight. It also was easy to carry around on her person. As a result, Dael had taken a liking to it. She was just grateful that the Academy still had instructors that could teach combat styles involving such weapons, since so many had gone on to heavier blades. Otherwise, she might have pawned it to an antique store long ago toward the purchase of a better sword. As it was, it suited her well.

Her true treasure, however, was in her other weapon.

Although there were many in the world who could currently use magic, there was quite a sizeable majority that was incapable of doing so. This was not by any lack of training or preparation…but simply a matter of some unknown quality or gene. Nevertheless, it was an obvious fact to anyone that when a person who could not use magic confronted one who could, the latter had a powerful advantage in their favor. Naturally, for as long as the properties of magic had been analyzed and researched as a science in the modern world, people had sought how to apply the same craft in a military sense.

The culmination of some of the most potent of that research several decades ago was the invention of the "Mage Gun". Just as the name implied, it was a gun that "fired magic", or, to be more precise, fired off magically charged bullets. Depending on what type of spell was desired, a different type of bullet could be used. The exact process of how it worked was something of an enigma even to those who developed the weapons, as magical energy had never fully been quantified and understood in a purely scientific sense. As best as Dael personally understood, there was a limited process by which distinct magical properties could be imbued into physical objects, provided that one was a skilled-enough mage to carry out the process. If one was especially skilled, an object could be filled with adequate power to even be of a high-level spell, although the greatest magics were too powerful to be contained in physical objects. By properly "tapping" these powers, one could get them to be released, somewhat akin to a spark igniting fuel. Basically, Mage Guns took special magically-imbued shells packed with potent magic as well as a mild conventional/magical explosive charge and enabled to user to fire them at opponents or targets, unleashing the corresponding spell.

Making the guns themselves was an art as well as a science, and a rather expensive one. The weapons themselves were mostly just large-barrel guns in the conventional sense, with the exception of the firing mechanism. To fire a mage bullet required a tiny amount of the wielder's own spiritual energy to be used to activate a specially-made hammer that would, in turn, activate the firing charge in the bullets as well as start the magical process. Most of the materials were so expensive that no person of middle-class means could hope to afford them. However, the most expensive material, and the one that made the guns, at one time, more valuable than diamonds, was in the hammer mechanism. Only a piece of condensed spiritual energy, what people used to call "materia", would work. In older days, it was fairly inexpensive to manufacture these pieces. But when it was found out that manufacturers frequently cut costs by using illegal "mako" power generators, the practice was banned. Now, the only natural crystals that people could find were incredibly rare. That was what made Mage Guns a luxury of the super rich, and eventually made them too expensive to be practical. That was why the guns were usually found in antique stores rather than armories.

Although making the guns was a hard enough business…it wasn't nearly as tough as making the bullets. That one required an actual mage to be able to make, and usually a highly skilled one with good knowledge of gunnery and arms manufacturing. Having one without the other was a recipe for disaster. If the firing explosive wasn't well made, the spell could go off in the wielder's grasp, destroying the gun and damaging the user. If the shell wasn't properly charged, it would be a dud. If it was overcharged, on the other hand, it could blow at any time, including while being loaded. Even if you could make it safe and get it to fire properly, there was still a chance it would never be terribly effective if the maker was a poor mage. At any rate, for all these reasons, it was impossible to manufacture ammunition on a large scale, and due to the rarity of the weapons it was not lucrative to make a living constructing the bullets. That left it up to people who made magically-charged weapons as a profession or people who did it on the side. Unfortunately, the Order of Hyne declared 50 years ago for members to terminate the practice of making the bullets to restrict the proliferation of magical weapons. Now it was rare to find any ammunition at all for it.

Dael had inherited an old, yet very well serviced and maintained, Mage Gun from her grandfather. It didn't look too deadly by itself. It was large enough to be a small grenade launcher, and loaded much the same, with the muzzle breaking in order to insert the shells. It was thicker and more reinforced with mythril to be able to stand up to the magical energies being thrown about inside it, and the handle was emblazoned with special runes for the wielder's grip. It was just small enough to be worn at the hip with a special holster. If Dael had been in any other military, it might as well have been a paperweight. But luckily, she was a member of Esthar's Hawks, and they tended to stockpile ammunition for weapons such as those on the off chance that one of their member indeed decided to implement a Mage Gun. As a result, Dael was in no danger of being found dry in a combat situation…at least, so long as she didn't get too liberal with firing.

The weapon was currently strapped against Dael's hip as she sat aboard the transport. Ten shells for it, all of different kinds of magic, were strapped around her waist. There was a place for her sword on her opposite side, but that would make sitting a bit too cramped and uncomfortable, especially since she was compacted together with numerous other officers and troops at the moment. Instead, she held it in its sheath in front of her. The transport that she was in was one of the basic hover transports used by Esthar's Hawks. It didn't get much altitude or distance, but for shuttling around the country it was perfect. She heard the loud hoverjets humming through the walls below her. She couldn't see them, of course, or anything else for that matter. The transport was enclosed with sleek metal walls. Aside for a few controls, devices, and speakers, it was mostly empty save for the seating room. Dael was at the head of one of the rows of Hawks. Like most of them, she had a grim expression and kept her eyes to the ground or ceiling, waiting for their arrival. They had been in flight for a while now, and Dael knew they had to be growing close.

Although Dael was the farthest from the exit by being at the head of one of the rows, she didn't care. This was a good sign for her. She had been the first on board the transport, despite being the last out of the briefing room. Not too shabby, considering she had to return not only to claim her weapons, but also to change into a combat uniform. There were several "default" styles that full-fledged Hawk officers could choose from. Dael herself went for one that formed a sleeveless vest that zipped to the neck, as well as tight pants with straps for her various implements and long, form-fitting gloves and pads that slipped up past her elbows. This ensured maximum mobility while keeping her covered from any abrasions. It usually took a while to get into this type of uniform, but Dael had a fire under her feet today. Part of the reason she was able to focus so well on her duty was that Carbuncle had cut her a break and decided to remain in the room until called. Dael neglected to ask him how exactly she was to call him if she needed him, as the occasion had never arisen, but she didn't care at the moment. She was just glad to be rid of him temporarily. Now she could fully focus on the mission. Minor as it might be, a factor she still wasn't fully content with, there was still the fact that this would be her first time in command of anyone in a real mission…which was a bit nerve wracking any way you look at it.

The young woman bit down and kept staring at the floor, mentally reciting drills, protocol, and procedure for the next few minutes. She needed to keep her mind on task. She had to remember discipline…so she didn't make another mistake like back in the briefing room. Doing so managed to keep her mind fairly occupied for the remainder of the trip. Only when she heard the hoverjets outside of the armored hull beginning to slow did she look up. As soon as she did, she, along with the rest of the Hawks, began to tighten up and prepare themselves. The ride was so smooth in one of the transports that you usually didn't even feel yourself incoming until the point where the landing cycle was starting, and the decline in the hum was the sure-fire sign of it. Dael tightened her grip on her sword and inhaled, getting ready.

Finally, the jets fully faded away, and as they did the transport gave a light shake as it touched down. It stayed fairly level, but still with a slight lean to it, indicating the roughness of the country preventing a clean landing. It had scarcely finished doing so when a hiss of hydraulics went out from the back of the transport, before the entire backside cracked open and began to unfurl to the ground, creating its own ramp as it did so. Daylight spilled into the interior, but it wasn't much of a change. In ages past, the interiors of transports would be dark or poorly lit. However, in the case of Esthar's Hawks, it was standard protocol to gradually shift the lighting inside the transports to accommodate the same sunlight as outside, so that the troops on board wouldn't have the slightest distraction of having to adjust to the light on arrival in a hot zone. Although this wasn't exactly "hot", the same principle applied.

Not long after, clicks began to go out as, one after another, the Hawks released their belts, rose, and filed out. The commanding officers for the operation were the first, seeing as they were also the last to get on board. They were already getting out their information tablets as they broke out onto the field. Moving in quick step, they quickly deployed out farther from the transport, giving more than ample room for the other Hawks to come out. They soon did so. Dael herself remained seated for a while. It wasn't her turn yet, and it was expected that units were to remain seated until all before them were out to avoid crowding. But eventually it was her turn as well. She unfastened her belt, rose and strapped her sword to her side as she did so, then quickly filed out of the transport as well. In moments, her feet left the ramp and touched down on bare ground.

It had been a while since Dael had been outside. The air was very clear again today, and the sun was quite bright. It was a bit hot as well, but luckily Dael wasn't wearing a very bulky uniform. The region was very desolate this far north. There was a lot more rock in the landscape and the ground, and the dirt itself was sandy. Only dry grasses and scrub made up most of the surroundings. Dael gave a quick look around the area as she emerged. Far to the south, Esthar lined the horizon. It was still visible even from miles away thanks to their position. The altitude gradually rose farther north, affording a greater view of places far, far in the distance. Of course, this was just the outline of the farmland and barriers that Dael was seeing. The main city proper was even farther south and impossible to see. Turning to the north, she saw the hills gradually growing rockier, although she still couldn't see where they began to turn into mountains and valleys based on her position. All in all, the area was quite dry and desolate. It wasn't desert conditions, but it was inhospitable enough to not even have agricultural value.

Numerous Hawks were spilled out all over the area. They were all of the Civil Defense branch, and as such all tended to wear the same bulky armored uniforms with visored helmets. Dael could only imagine how much they were not enjoying the heat, but being Hawks, they were moving about with undiminished enthusiasm. They had already erected several beacons that had acted as zoning out a temporary landing area, which was where Transport Theta had set down. They also had set up the mobile equipment to establish a communications center. A few of the officers were milling about there. Several Civil Defense Hawks were arranged in groups and sub-groups…obviously awaiting their new commanders.

By the time Dael had cleared the transport, the commanding officers had fully stationed themselves in an empty area on the field and brought their tablets to bear. Dael could see them as the individual officers came up to them, announcing their individual assignments and orders and sending them toward their respective groups. A line was already formed from the officers. Dael, unfortunately, realized she would be last in line now…but that sort of thing shouldn't matter too much now that they were on the field. She quickly took her own place in the line and patiently waited.

It took a minute or two for everyone else to be cleared, but at long last Dael's turn came next. The young woman readily stepped up to the Hawk with the tablet and stood at the ready. Now that she was close to the officer, she saw that, like most of the older Hawks, he had a rough face and a hard look to him. No one got to be high in the command of Esthar's Hawks from sitting around and doing desk work. They were people of action. As a result, it came as small surprise that this officer had rather grim features and a stern demeanor. He looks unshaven and battered for at least a few weeks by the harsher, drier northern climate. It seems he must have been doing some work on the field out there as well, despite the fact that he had to be in International Affairs too. No doubt, this was why he was made one of the commanders of the operation.

At any rate, when Dael stood before him, and he looked up from his pad to look her over…he appeared thoroughly unimpressed with her clean appearance and readiness. The only thing he gave her initially was a snort.

"Another rookie officer…" He grumbled. "You were the mouthy one back in the Briefing Room, weren't you? Won't be surprised if you end up gutted by a Sauron by the end of the day…" He looked down to his tablet afterward, and then spoke again. "Lieutenant Dael Levinson?"

Ignoring the comments as best she could, Dael answered in her normal official tone. "Yes sir."

"Half-Company 24. Sector 13. Get moving."

Dael immediately broke away from the man and went to the line of waiting troops. Truth be told…since she was the last, she probably could have just found them on her own. Not surprisingly, it seemed her first assignment would only be half a unit. That wasn't too bad, though. These were Esthar's Hawks, after all. Even half of a unit was enough to be deadly. Yet despite the warning from earlier and despite Carbuncle's points…Dael had to suppress a feeling of irritation within her. She was getting the lowest of the low assignments…stuff she would expect any basic grunt to get fresh out of the Academy. What was the point of all that extra training if she was going to be doing things like this?

At any rate, Dael soon moved along the line. Most of the other troops were already conferring with their own units. Yet another bad side to being last to leave the transport… She was almost thinking she shouldn't have taken Carbuncle's advice, as it now made her look like she was dragging her feet. It didn't help that there were so many small companies that she found herself walking quite a distance along the line just to get to her unit for this mission.

Looking ahead, however, she finally spotted them. Standing still and looking about a bit, no doubt growing a little bored waiting, was a group of three soldiers. Two of them were gunners, one with a heavy machine gun and the other carrying an automatic rifle. The third one was a dual blader, with two large swords strapped across his or her back. It was impossible to tell their identities at the moment. All of them were dressed in heavy armor (with the blader having the lightest) and wearing visored helmets over their vision. For basic Hawk units, this was standard issue and procedure, even in hot environments like these. Only the officers got to choose to go without helmets or with them, yet another perk that Dael was currently enjoying.

After a few more moments, Dael came to a halt in front of the units. Seeing her arrive, the three quickly snapped to attention. They formed ranks and stood at the ready. However, Dael had hardly the opportunity to get in front of them when the one bearing the rifle broke ranks. The helmet turned to Dael with a snap, and seemed to almost be turned inquisitively. Dael ignored this breach in propriety for the moment. After all, she was hardly one to throw stones so regularly after her own mistake… Instead, she quickly ran through the standard procedure for greeting a new unit on the field, and drew herself up as best she could. She could at least give the appearance of a seasoned veteran.

"At ease, soldiers." She announced as she came to a stop. The two still at attention shifted into the ease position. The third one was still staring at Dael…something that began to annoy her. At any rate, she pushed it away for the moment and resumed procedure. "My name is Lieutenant Dael Levinson. I will be your commanding officer for this mission. State your names and ranks." With that, she turned to the first one at attention, who happened to be the machine gunner.

"Private Biggs Hopper, Gunnery, Civil Defense Branch." A voice soon returned from underneath the helmet. Much as Dael expected…it was rather young sounding. It also had an air of trepidation about it as well, indicating unease. In all likelihood, this was the first mission for the gunner as well. Although this was yet another sign of how little responsibility Dael was getting, she didn't mind much. After all…the alternative, to be a young, inexperienced officer in command of an older veteran who knew much more of actual battle than she did, was much worse.

"Private Wedge Angole, Dual Blader, Civil Defense Branch." The blader soon sounded off from beneath his own visor. Just as expected, this one sounded young too…practically cadet age. Again, Dael just had to deal with it, she supposed. That was how this mission would work.

The third one didn't immediately respond, and continued to have that lax position. Dael now began to let her annoyance show. Young officer or not, these were fresh recruits too. She deserved some respect from them. She was moments from giving the final soldier a tongue lashing for breach of command, but before she could, she heard a small, familiar voice from beneath the helmet.

"Dael?"

Dael's face, which had begun to turn to official irritation in the best mimic of her superior officers that she could make, suddenly melted. The moment the voice hit her ears, it stirred recognition. Her focus shifted fully to the last soldier of the line. Moments later, the rifleman raised a hand to his visor and proceeded to flip it up, fully revealing his face to the young officer. Dael's own eyes widened, and for a brief moment her self-discipline was forgotten.

"Quaren?"

The blond-haired, blue-eyed, almost boyish face of Quaren beamed from beneath the helmet. "I can't believe it!" He exclaimed. "You're really commanding my unit on my first mission! I thought I'd never see you again after you got shipped out to International Affairs!"

Dael blinked in amazement. However, her self-discipline and code that had been drilled into her didn't totally leave her. Otherwise, in spite of herself, she might have thrown herself around her friend's neck. She hadn't heard from him since she had transferred and, much like he said, she had begun to fear she would never hear from him again. Esthar's Hawks weren't so large as to totally lose someone that easily, but the fact of the matter was that they were in separate divisions and they'd see very low overlap. It wasn't until Dael had left the Academy and had her own quarters that she began to realize just how much she had come to depend on Quaren for friendship, support, and just simply having someone to talk to every once in a while. She hadn't even known that he had graduated as well…

Where Dael might have been born and bred to be an Esthar's Hawk, Quaren was quite the opposite. The DeSur family was one of the richest and finest in Esthar. His mother had been a career politician from a family line, and his father had been one of the more successful businessmen in the city…one who had managed to come out of the world-wide depression on top. That was a recipe for avoiding any type of hardship or challenge in one's life if they wanted to. One might have expected Quaren to spend his life going to a private school until he took over one of the family's mantles, either in the political or business world, and to simply live rich and comfortably for the rest of his life.

One would hardly expect that the young man would willingly enlist in Esthar's Hawks. However, the young man had a spirit of nationalism in him that few others had witnessed. He was not one to sit idly by or let his life be lived for him. He had signed up at an early age in the Academy. Not nearly as early as Dael, but still, most of her memories recalled him being in the Academy.

To this day, Dael wasn't exactly sure what had motivated him to join. Maybe he saw, even at an early age, that he was living in the shadow of his parents and wanted to step out. Maybe he had notions of heroism and glory. Maybe he genuinely had some of the same spirit as Dael. No matter what the reason, it hadn't been easy for him. On arrival, he had been overweight, weak, sickly, and very soft. His ruthless drill instructors had constantly taunted him, yelled at him, and punished him. The older, tougher recruits beat on him in their spare time. Being the slowest and weakest in his class made him the object of scorn of teachers and students alike. He genuinely tried to do better, but he just wasn't as naturally gifted as the others. So it came as small surprise that he was the victim of almost constant hazing.

In a more ideal story, Dael could have said that she saw him being beat up one day and rushed to his aid…picked him up…dusted him off…took him under her wing…eventually made a good recruit out of him. Nothing of the sort had happened. Dael recalled, not too fondly, that she had joined in on hazing him once or twice. She thought the same thing all the other recruits thought…he was a spoiled little rich kid thinking because he was from such a famous family he could waltz in anywhere. She wanted to teach him a lesson and drive him off, sobbing and crying, back to his parents in tears and let people who truly cared about Esthar's Hawks fill the ranks.

For two years she thought that, until one day on the yard. Dael saw the other recruits form a circle. She knew what was coming. One of the boys was beating up on Quaren again. Wanting to see if he would finally break down and give up, she ran over and looked in the ring. She was surprised at what she saw.

For two years…without fail…whenever Quaren would get beat up, he would try to ignore it. He would pick himself up and just try to walk away…try to act like nothing was even happening. Sometimes he would run. Often he would be crying. But today, she saw something new. Quaren was actually trying to fight back. He was doing terribly. The larger boy was laughing at him along with everyone else each time he hit him, assuming his fists landed at all, and then would give Quaren five far more painful hits for each one he had until he left the boy on the ground, gasping, bleeding, and struggling to stand. However, Quaren didn't scamper away or stay down. He got up and tried to hit him again, and the same thing would happen.

As Dael watched him…she felt something inside her change. While everyone continued to laugh at Quaren's attempts to fight back, and the larger boy began to get annoyed and started hitting him and hurting him more and more, something about this seemed entirely different. While the rest of the recruits saw the same old weakling Quaren trying to fight his way out, she saw something entirely different. He had changed. Perhaps something had finally snapped inside him. But she'd never forget what happened when he got up after being knocked down the third time. She saw his red face with blood from his nose all over it rising up, and she saw him with teeth clenched and eyes slammed shut…and realized he was using all of his strength to keep from shedding a tear. And when they started to leak through, the eight-year-old cursed, for the first and only time in his life…not at his opponent but at himself to stop crying.

And that's when Dael realized the truth. Quaren may have been weak and small…but he had every right to be in Esthar's Hawks that they did. He wanted it just as badly as the rest of them. He might not have been strong or quick, but he had more guts than any of the jeerers surrounding him did. And today…he had decided to stand up for himself, without a single person backing him up or giving him even so much as a word of encouragement. All on his own, he had decided he was through being pushed around and fought back.

Dael wasn't sure if she was stunned or if she was giving him some sort of respect by not stepping in, but she stood by and watched as he continued to get knocked down again and again. Bit by bit, she heard the jeerers around her go silent one after another as Quaren kept getting up. They were starting to realize the same thing she did. Unfortunately…they didn't all feel that way. There were people like Warwick in those days as well…sadists who never showed any respect or honor. A few only continued to laugh and encourage the larger boy to keep fighting, even as he began to grow tired and more annoyed. He soon began to yell and swear at Quaren to stay down, kicking him each time he tried to get up. But still, he wouldn't stop. He beat on him as hard as he could, but still he couldn't get the boy to stay floored. And this only made him madder. Quaren was the weakest of them. If he couldn't get that boy to run away in tears, then his own ego would be bruised. He'd be forced to admit he couldn't get the better of him no matter how hard he tried. He'd be forced to admit that he was an equal…something that he refused to do no matter what.

That was when the boy suddenly seized Quaren by the neck and began to choke him. He was so mad that he wanted to see Quaren dead. Only now did even the most die-hard jeerers begin to tell him to stop…that it wasn't worth "killing the runt" to get kicked out. But the larger boy was determined to triumph and he wouldn't stop…

That's when Dael walked into the middle of the field, grabbed the boy by the hair, yanked his head back, and punched him in the throat. Gagging and choking from the move, the boy was forced to release Quaren's half-dead body and stagger back. Feeling a surge inside her, Dael waited only long enough for him to recover, then seized him by the lapel and dragged him to his feet.

"I ever see you do that again, I'll kill you." She stated, in the coldest, deadliest, and most serious voice she had ever managed.

The crowd dispersed soon afterward. They saw the violent change come over Dael, and they didn't want to incur her wrath. The bully ran too. Of course, he shouted out all sorts of threats behind him, saying he'd kill Dael one of these days. But unlike her own voice…his trembled and shook and was desperate when he sounded it. Dael had been around in the Academy long enough to know when she was hearing BS. After that, she picked Quaren up and half-carried him to the infirmary. Along the way, she asked only one question.

"You want to report them?"

Almost immediately came the response.

"No."

No one beat up Quaren after that day again, even when the drill commander would punish the entire unit for his own ineptitude. They might have if it had kept up, but Quaren did improve. No one could spend long in training at the Academy and not improve. And from that day on, Dael and Quaren had been friends. They had supported each other in times of difficulty, aided each other in studying, spent long hours talking at night, and ate meals together in the mess hall. It became clear earlier in their relationship that Dael was the better candidate and always would be. However, Quaren had never been jealous. He had always supported her through thick and thin. And he never held a grudge either. He never once mentioned the fact that Dael had taken her turn kicking him in the ribs back at the end of his first year…as if it had never happened. In truth, Dael wished he would have. His silence inflicted far greater guilt and remorse on her than his accusations could have. That, as well as his silent endurance of all of the earlier torture, slowly made Dael and the others aware that he had been made of far sterner stuff than them. It taught Dael a valuable lesson…power and skill meant little without an iron spirit to back it up.

At any rate, Quaren didn't seek a position of officer. His forte had always been in gunnery. That was why Dael knew that they would eventually separate. She was going the way of command while he was content with being one of the "rank and file". Civil Defense was a good place for it, that was for sure. She believed he had told her at one point he was applying for it…and she was ashamed to say she was so wrapped up in her own concerns that she hadn't noticed. Yet another mark of guilt for her… Quaren had always been far more faithful to her than vice versa…something she genuinely felt she didn't deserve after their first two years together.

Dael really wished at that moment she could give him a formal congratulations or some words of encouragement or support. He had thrown a party for her own graduation, for crying out loud. Instead, she knew that there was order and discipline to be maintained. And so, she drew herself up a bit more, and tried to swallow back her feelings again.

"Um…anyway, state your name and rank, soldier."

Quaren blinked a moment, seeming almost puzzled at this. That was another problem with Quaren. Although he was eager to please and determined…he was also a bit scatterbrained. Even now, he looked like a kid playing "war" in that bulky armor. Dael suppressed a grimace, hoping that Quaren wouldn't completely ruin her first attempt at command. However, he seemed to snap out of it a moment later.

"Oh yeah…right, right…" Quickly, he drew himself up and into the attention pose…despite the fact that Dael had already called "at ease". "Private Quaren DeSur, Gunnery, Civil Defense Branch."

Dael let out a silent sigh as the moment passed, and gave a nod. She tried to steady herself as much as possible. She needed to get back on task. And she needed to remember to cut an email to Quaren later… But that could wait for now. The mission was more important. This was her first command, and she couldn't let it get blown because of an old friend. Crossing in front of the group, she turned to face them.

"Alright, here are our orders. For this current operation, we will station ourselves in Sector 13 and ensure that no monsters make their way south during the purge. Fairly simple…so I'm counting on no mistakes. Understood?"

"Yes sir." The three answered in unison.

Dael nodded back. "Good. Then let's not waste any more time here. We're moving out."

* * *

><p>Just as on the previous days, he was already waiting at the front doors when the librarian arrived. The old woman spotted him as she began to get out her keys and walk up the front steps, her shoes clicking loudly against the concrete. He showed no sign of impatience or enthusiasm. He was patient, just as he was on all the previous days, and stood there and watched her as she came up to the doors.<p>

"You're here bright and early again." The librarian commented as she reached the doors. She fumbled a moment, but then managed to insert her key. She gave a twist and undid the first lock. Soon after, she pulled it out and went for the second. "I take it you'll be spending all day in here today again?"

"More than likely." He answered.

"Well, if you're needing a place to stay, there's a shelter just three blocks to the east…"

"I don't need a place to stay."

The woman smiled a bit, pausing in her work to undo the locks. "Of course not. I'm sorry for making such assumptions. I see you reading from dawn to dusk every day. It's just hard for me to imagine a young man taking such an interest in books. And most people who are dressed that way are just wanting to get off of the street for a little while nowadays." She sighed and turned back to the door, finishing undoing the second lock. "So few people read nowadays…"

He didn't answer. However, as soon as the door was open and the librarian had cleared the entrance, he readily stepped in as well. Before she even made it to the circulation desk, he had already found his book from yesterday and begun to read it again. He was still trying to master the current writing style in this world. He had to. It was the only way he could get any real information. He hadn't the slightest idea how to work those special computers that humans were using. He had to rely on books. And that meant he had to learn how to read the current textual characters and get to work catching up on what was left behind.

He had a feeling that quite a few things had come to pass since last time.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	4. To Overthrow a Tyrant

Dael's mind had nearly changed completely. Her earlier assumptions were correct…this was a worthless assignment. Carbuncle's mention of this being a good "testing ground" was forgotten. There wasn't a single opportunity out here to test anything. A part of her almost wished she _had_ asked to be reassigned…

A harsh, dry wind whipped by, casting up a bit of loose sand and debris. Dael winced a bit as a few light grains struck her face. Her eyes didn't fully open up afterward due to the bright sun. It was rather high at this point, and the heat was starting to get to her even in her lighter uniform. She could only image how Quaren, Biggs, and Wedge were doing.

There weren't too many effective formations even for Esthar's Hawks using only four people, but Dael had them set up as best as she could. The country wasn't nearly as rough as it was farther north, but there were still some large boulders dotting the landscape. Dael had chosen two of them in the midst of the otherwise fairly empty valley to set up. Quaren was perched on top of one while Dael was on top of the other. Biggs was in between the two, set up toward the south, from a position where he could spray anything getting into the valley between with gunfire. Wedge himself had probably the easiest, or most boring, job. He was stationed toward the back behind one of the boulders. Against Saurons, it wasn't smart practice to have a blader of any kind just pop out and go toe-to-toe, even if they were Hawks.

And there Dael found herself, trying not to get too burned by the sun as she held her hand over her eyes and looked over the landscape. Due to the flatness of the valley and the higher elevation of the boulder, she could see quite a good distance ahead of her even with the gradually upturning landscape. The hills rolled a bit further on to make things harder to see, but all in all her view was a good one. It also helped show her that there wasn't anything even remotely dangerous for a good mile… She hadn't even seen any of the lesser prey species yet.

Dael frowned and let out a sigh. She was still in one of the "ready" positions at the moment for quick action, but it was getting tiring. She reached up to the side of her head and tapped against her earpiece, thinking maybe it had gone dead. Of course, it hadn't, and with another sigh she realized that it wouldn't. This was simply what she had thought of at the beginning…an "easy" job. She wasn't even directly downwind of the main operation site. The chance of encountering anything at all was practically non-existent.

"So…how have you been, Dael?"

Dael felt herself frown a bit more as Quaren's familiar voice reached her ears. If she was hoping to mask their relationship for the sake of propriety from Biggs and Wedge, Quaren wasn't doing that good of a job of it. He had to call out a little bit over from his boulder to reach her. She turned her head, and saw the rifleman looking at her. No doubt, his face, beneath his helmet, had that same inquisitive look underneath it.

"We're in the middle of an operation, soldier." She responded. "You will address me as lieutenant or sir."

The rifleman paused after hearing that, but then shrugged. "How have you been, lieutenant?"

Dael groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Operation, my ass." Wedge's voice came calling up from behind the boulders. "I'm not even going to get my hands dirty today. We're barely even backup…"

"My legs are falling asleep…and sweat is starting to run in my eyes…" Biggs lamented from in between.

"Alright, cut the chatter." Dael finally snapped. "Just keep your eyes open. This isn't some trainee simulation. This is the real deal."

Wedge let out a sigh. Biggs let out a grumble. Quaren hesitated, but then turned and looked back out again. Dael had to admit she was having a hard time not agreeing with them. But the least she could do was be the "mature" one out there.

Two more minutes passed. The plain was fairly silent. There was wind blowing, but even it was calm and didn't have much to work with. Then, far, far in the distance…a few cracking sounds were heard. They were rather faint, and from this distance they sounded like small firecrackers almost. Yet all of them, on hearing it, knew better. They were gunshots. Based on experience, Dael reasoned they had to be a good ten miles away at least.

"Sounds like the operation's starting…" Quaren announced.

"Damn, I wish I was up there…" Wedge grumbled.

"It's not like they have the bladers doing anything up there either…" Biggs threw in.

"I said cut the chatter." Dael ordered. "Now we really need to be on alert."

That, of course, was only partially true. Now that the operation was actually in full swing, there was the chance that some of the monsters would get driven out to their location. But that was a highly remote chance. In all likelihood, the sounds they were hearing would be the closest the group would get to action all day long. Dael wasn't sure what Carbuncle was so worried about. He should have been grateful…there was zero possibility of Dael calling him for this operation. And so, the young officer turned her head fully to the sounds of the gunfire and waited.

The next couple hours were only marginally more interesting than the first. As the temperature reached its hottest part of the day and the sun passed its zenith, the only unusual thing that happened on the entire landscape the group of Hawks watched was the crackling of more gunfire far in the distance. Occasionally a minor explosion would be thrown in with it, obviously the sound of a grenade, and not long after it started the sounds of automatic gunfire went off as well. Dael almost thought she could hear it moving progressively farther away. Yet other than that, nothing.

Time continued to slowly tick by. The only signs of life Dael saw during that time was a rock lizard lazily moving over a stone. She suppressed another sigh. But before she could, Biggs let out a groan.

"Is it time to head back yet?" He asked. "I'm getting kind of hungry…"

"They'll radio us when the operation is over." Dael responded…now having to struggle a bit to continue to sound official. "We aren't to contact them beforehand."

"Ugh…is there any way I can get sent back?" Wedge griped. "Even if we did see any action, I couldn't do anything."

"Do you always sound this unofficial with your superior officers?" Dael snapped back. "Would you make the same request of a commander, captain, or colonel?"

Wedge snorted and muttered in response.

"…And I take that as insubordination as well, private." Dael added. "I may not be a normal Civil Defense officer, but I am your commanding officer for this mission."

The blader groaned and bowed his head again. Dael was moments from giving him another beratement…although, frankly, this mission was so dull that she didn't really see the need to write him up…when a voice suddenly called out.

"Um…Dael? I mean, lieutenant?"

Dael rolled her eyes in response to the breach of protocol yet again. She turned back to Quaren in response, noticing that he was, as he had been for the past two hours, gazing out at the horizon through a pair of binoculars. Dael assumed it was another inane comment or some more "small talk" at this point, and so was rather annoyed.

"What is it, private?"

"You might want to take a look at this. I think I see something coming from the direction of the battle site."

Dael paused momentarily, and then rapidly cooled off. Although she didn't think it was anything, that didn't change the fact that Quaren seemed to be getting back to duty, and so she did the same. As Quaren pointed to the horizon, Dael got out her own binoculars and looked to the same direction.

For a moment, Dael saw nothing. There didn't appear to be anything of note but a few rolling hills interrupting the otherwise gradual landscape. Dael looked for several seconds, searching around a bit, but still saw nothing. She was a moment from responding to Quaren…when, finally, something occured. She saw a faint shape in the distance suddenly round one of the top of the hills, and then descend past the slope of the next and out of view. Not long after it, another one came too, following the same behavior. Then a third…a fourth…and finally, the first one rounded the next hill. A bit closer now, Dael could make a conclusion fairly quickly. It was some sort of animal. And after looking at it only for a few moments…seeing the bipedal movements, the folded claws, the long tail for counterbalance, and the dusty color…she made a conclusion fairly quickly.

"I guess we will be seeing some action after all…" Quaren spoke…just a hint of tension in his voice, no doubt reaching the same conclusion.

"What is it?" Biggs called out.

"Fuliet Sauron." Dael responded. "That may just be other creatures running it off or…" She paused, as, while still looking through the binoculars, she saw the next one cross the hill. "No…it's more than one. Some of them most have broken off from the main herd…headed right this way, by their current path."

"How many, sir?" Biggs responded…a bit of enthusiasm now growing in his voice. After all, now that there was some action ahead, he was starting to sound more official.

Dael looked on. Well…another one soon went over the hill. That made five. She was about to state that…when two more came. She opened her mouth to say, "seven", when three more came over…then five more…and then…

"…Um…Da…I mean, lieutenant?" Quaren began to speak out in a nervous voice, his tension clearly showing now. "There's…there's…oh man.."

Dael admitted…she began to tense up as well. It didn't matter that she was special forces. A single Fuliet Sauron was more than enough to kill a platoon of conventional soldiers under the right conditions. A group of her size was deployed to pick up stragglers specifically… However, she wasn't seeing stragglers now. This wasn't one or two or even a dozen that had broken off… Her unit wasn't built to handle this many. The situation had suddenly turned far more lethal.

"Looks like an entire section of the main herd managed to get driven this far off course…" Dael finally spoke aloud, barely able to contain the tension in her own voice.

Biggs spoke up at that, his own voice growing tense. "Ex…excuse me, sir…did you say a section of the main herd?"

"How big?" Wedge threw in, his own voice showing interest.

Dael looked a bit longer, but then pulled the binoculars away. In truth, she stopped trying to count them when an entire wave came over the hill, but she had seen at least forty of them with no end in sight when she pulled down her binoculars. However, she didn't worry about that now…although she had good reason too. She indeed felt fear at this point, and the fear nearly got to her. Yet she didn't persist in it. Now wasn't the time to be afraid. She had been in situations like this in tests before. Now it was simply reality…

Quickly, she began to issue orders. "Quaren, get into position at the point of the boulder. As soon as you have a clean shot, start shooting at the pack leaders. Try to drive them off course."

Quaren stared expressionlessly, courtesy of his mask, at Dael in response to that. "But Dael…I mean…s-s-sir…"

Dael ignored this and looked down below, where she now saw the gunner looking up to her. "Biggs, get into position between the two boulders. Don't get jumpy on firing. Wait until their close enough where the spread is guaranteed to hit them. Short, controlled bursts, Biggs. You don't need that gun overheating on you."

Biggs stared back a moment, but then rapidly nodded. "…Yes sir." He quickly turned and began to get back into position.

Dael finally turned behind, where Wedge had stepped out a bit from behind the boulder and looked up. He seemed earnest to finally be getting some action. However, Dael was firm. "Wedge…stay back. Any of them get through, you know what to do."

Immediately, he sagged a bit. "You've got to be kidding me…" The soldier griped in response. "I'm getting leftovers of leftovers?"

"Now, private!" Dael snapped back…suddenly taking on a firmness and authoritative tone that would have made Colonel Regalis himself blanch momentarily. Wedge literally stepped back in response. He held a moment longer, but then managed to recover. Dael still managed to catch a groan from him before he turned and got into position.

"I'll be joining you down there if necessary." Dael finished, ignoring the groan and calming somewhat herself. She turned her head forward again. By now, the shadows of the Fuliet Saurons were quite distinctive on the landscape. They had crossed the last hill and were now coming in fast. Dael zeroed in on them fully, her look growing hard.

"Sir… Lieutenant…" Quaren's voice began to speak again.

"We're heading into combat, private." Dael answered, not looking Quaren's direction. "Make it quick."

"S-Sir…" He heard nervously. "There's…there's at least sixty of them coming…"

"Sixty? What the-?" Biggs suddenly exclaimed from his own position.

"Stay focused on the coming battle, privates." Dael solidly responded, firm and unyielding.

"But…but sir…there's too many of them…" Quaren protested. "Maybe we should…"

"Our orders are to hold this position and make sure nothing gets through, private." Dael responded coolly. "We will carry out that mission without fail, just as any mission issued to an Esthar's Hawk is required to be completed without fail. There is nothing else standing between this incoming herd and the barrier outside of Esthar, private. We are the only line of defense."

"But…but sixty against four of-"

"Get a hold of yourself this instant, private!" Dael suddenly snapped…fully abandoning her role of friend to Quaren and taking on the mantle of an officer. "You're crucial to this combat operation! I need your head in this game this instant! I gave you an order to carry out this mission and to pick off the pack leaders! That's all I need you to do! Can you do it or can't you, private?"

There was a moment of silence. Dael never once looked over to Quaren. However, if there was anything of Quaren's friend still dictating Dael's actions at the moment…it was still coming through like this. This wasn't a time to break down. She did need him, and she needed him to focus on this now. Esthar's Hawks didn't show fear and if they felt it they didn't allow it to ruin their actions in a critical moment. Quaren needed to stay focused. After a moment, he finally heard a response. This one was firmer and more composed than the earlier statements.

"…Yes…I mean, yes sir."

"Good." Dael responded in a rather curt tone…although, inside, she was almost smiling. "Now get ready because they'll be on us in less than a minute."

Sure enough…it was now quite clear to see what there were with the naked eye. One could almost make out their longest claws and their eyes from this distance. Dael quickly advanced to the side. As she did, she reached for her ammunition belt, moved her hands over carefully, and soon picked out a "Thundaga" bullet. Without drawing her Mage Gun, she quickly opened the chamber and slid the bullet inside. She closed it, but then moved her dominant hand to her sword. After all, the Mage Gun was an emergency measure. She couldn't hope to use it to drive them all off. There was no guarantee they simply wouldn't "scatter" on impact, either, allowing them to flank them…although, from this narrow pass, it seemed as if they could hold them off well enough.

As they close to within about a hundred yards, Dael looked to the side just long enough to assess what was happening. Wedge was standing almost at the end of the gap, his swords drawn and looking a bit testy. Biggs seemed to almost tremble a moment before he was able to bite it back. Dael couldn't blame him. They were going against overwhelming odds and there was a more than excellent chance that they weren't going to get out of this unscathed. Quaren was breathing a bit hard, she could tell by the rising and falling of his chest, but other than that he was ready. He had lapsed into his old mode from school…how he looked before he lined up one of his one-bullet kill shots. All in all, they seemed to at least not be breaking from fear. That would help. The odds were already too far against them. They didn't need to contribute anything else.

Despite being Esthar's Hawks, the sheer lack of experience made all four of them feel a cold chill when they heard the first cry from the lead Sauron come their way. Another soon followed. It was almost like a bird call, only sharper, louder, and with a more reptilian note. The lead Sauron soon made the final approach. Sure enough, they were headed straight for the gap between boulders. On seeing that…a stray thought from Dael went out. Why were they going that way? That didn't make any sense. It was far more open to go around. They didn't usually funnel into a location like this unless they were trying…

Another cry from the Sauron snapped Dael out of it. She couldn't afford to worry about that now. Instead, she quickly gave the order.

"Quar-"

However, she was cut off again by a loud gunshot. Before she even had to give the order to fire, Quaren let loose a bullet. Unfortunately, the first shot impacted the ground just to the side of the lead Fuliet Sauron. Dael nearly said something…but held her tongue. She had to let Quaren do this. And sure enough, she wasn't disappointed. In less than two seconds, Quaren had reloaded and fired again. This time, the Sauron's head was split open and it fell to the ground. From this distance, headshots could still be taken. It immediate fell and went into spasms, soon dying. Quaren quickly reloaded and fired again. The "new leader" soon dropped just as easily. The third fell a second or two later. The fourth followed, and then the fifth…soon eliminating the entire first series that had arisen without letting one closer. Again, Dael smiled in the inside. The Saurons failed to gain one inch of ground thanks to Quaren's shooting.

Unfortunately, at this point, it wasn't enough anymore. Now they started coming in larger groups. They still had "pack leaders", but they were coming in masses now. Quaren soon began to drop more of them, moving for chest shots now to stop their hearts faster, but it didn't make any difference. Even as the Saurons began to drop right in the midst of their companions, their paths only swerved slightly before they started running straight again. And now that they were this close, Dael got a true concept of just how many there were. At a distance it was easy enough to say "sixty"…but with them all packed together and running in a herd like this, and close enough to see their teeth and the points on their claws…they seemed like an army. And Quaren's one rifle wasn't enough even to slow them down.

"Biggs! Prepare to fire! Remember! Short, controlled bursts!" Dael shouted, not only due to urgency, but the fact that the sounds of their reptilian feet beating against the dusty ground was beginning to get louder.

Biggs obediently held for a few more moments, letting the Saurons get close enough to where it was impossible for them to avoid the spread. Only then did he begin firing. The machine gun erupted into bursts of light and bullets raked over the Saurons. They were soon crying out in agony as they were sprayed by gunfire. Their hides were strong enough to not be dropped by a single machine gun bullet, but even so they weren't going to just stay in place. They screeched and panicked and tried running to the sides, and in the process charged into each other and caused pile ups behind them. Nevertheless, the pushing mass continued to move the Saurons forward. However, Biggs' gun was of the highest machine gun quality. Indeed, a single bullet might not have been sufficient…but the spray he subjected to the Saurons soon began to drop them.

For a few moments, the firefight went on. The Saurons poured toward the mouth of the boulders, and Biggs sprayed them with gunfire to cut them apart. In addition, Quaren continued to fire. He showed his true quality…always taking out a Sauron in the lead, but not wasting so much as a single shot on one Biggs had already put a bullet into. If it wasn't for the fact that the thick of the battle had started, Dael would have beamed. She had forgotten just how deadly Quaren could be when he put his mind to it. That first shot had only missed because he was still getting a feel for the speed of his target, the wind, and the slope. Now he was shooting them just like any true sniper of the Esthar's Hawks would. Still…they shot forward en masse and showed hardly any signs of slowing. Biggs' bursts began to get longer and longer…obviously the result of growing tension and fear that he wasn't shooting down enough at a time. However, he still gave his gun periods to cool when he could, and the Saurons continued to drop. Although they grew rather close…they got no closer. Within no time at all, twenty of them lay dead and the others behind them were being slowed down by a wall of flesh and bone created by their own companions.

However, all good things came to an end. Dael was keeping a mental "tally" of how many bursts Biggs was firing, and in the end she got it fairly right. Pretty much around the time she had expected, Biggs ran out of ammunition. She looked down to him the moment he did. Sure enough, without missing a beat, he instantly ejected his clip and began to go for another one. For gunners within Esthar's Hawks, they were trained to be able to reload weapons in their sleep. You couldn't make the cut if you couldn't reload within 3.8 seconds. As far as Dael's own training was concerned, she had taught herself how to "do the math" on these sort of things on the fly. The Saurons were pushed back and finally slowed, but they were massing together. Being savage creatures, and noticing a stop in the gunfire, save for Quaren's own bullets, they were soon beginning to pick up speed to try and clear the gap again and go for the shooter. However, it was taking them some time, and Dael quickly reasoned that they had at least 4.5 seconds before they would be able to launch an attack of their own.

_It's going to be close, but timing like this is why we're Esthar's Ha-_

However, Dael's thought process got derailed a moment later, and her eyes widened as she saw a change.

"Private Wedge!"

The dual blader noted the break to reload, but rather than follow procedure or make the same calculations that Dael had, and reason that he had just enough time to reload and fire again, he charged out into the fray. He was charging right out onto the field, away from the protection offered by the narrow pass where he would have been able to do the most damage. Instead, he charged right out into the open, vaulting over his companion to do so, and headed straight for the nearest Sauron.

The creature had just leaped over its dead companion and was hissing and charging forward with claws outstretched, ready to rend Biggs apart…when Wedge was on it. Swirling around in a 360 degree circle, he slashed out twice, opening its chest and cutting it across the eyes. Screeching, the thing shot off course and to the side, rushing into the rock face of the boulder instead. Hissing, another Sauron leapt out with claws outstretched for Wedge. Using the expert skill of a dual blader, he shot forward, extended his swords out, and sliced open its belly as it passed overhead, causing it to crash to the ground and sprawl out. A third came forward, again lunging at him. Quickly, he twisted his sword out and drove his blade into its open jaws…driving it up and through its brain. It continued to charge forward, but he jabbed the other blade into its chest, piercing its breastbone, and flipped himself onto his back, using its own movement forward and the leverage of his blades to flip the reptile over his head and behind him, leaving it to crash to the ground and die. Wedge, on his part, quickly flipped back and got to his feet again, ready for more.

Wedge was showing both the beauty and skill of a dual blader. Despite being fresh out of the cadets, he was positively lethal. Few soldiers on Gaia were more acrobatic and graceful, to say nothing of more deadly, than a dual blader. The swords were like extensions of his body and he seemed to twist and move as easily as the wind. Despite his inexperience, he was handling himself like a veteran out there.

Dael couldn't be more infuriated with him.

Biggs had now reloaded, but in spite of that he could do nothing. He couldn't control the spray of gunfire to ensure that Wedge wouldn't be hit. Quaren continued to fire, however. Dael nearly told him to cease fire…when he realized that he was still quite accurate and deadly even in this situation. Besides, Dael noted that one Sauron nearly leapt at Wedge's exposed backside only to be pegged by the rifleman. However, despite the fact that Wedge held his own for the moment, the panic of the Saurons soon broke. Instead, they began to move around him, beginning one of their characteristic encircling patterns. He had endangered himself purposefully and now they couldn't truly assist him.

In a mostly futile attempt, Dael called down. "Private Wedge, fall back!"

However, the dual blader either ignored her or didn't hear…both of which was rather likely now, although she leaned toward the former. That was because she heard him giving a laugh as he cut through two more at once. However, it was a fool's joy…the other Saurons were already organizing. They were snarling and moving in closer, closing up the circle. The ones that had been charging until now held back and hissed at him instead, maintaining their distance and keeping him in position. They were getting ready to mass on him all at once. Dael felt herself tense at the sight of it. She had seen these before in demonstrations. They were usually followed up by eight of the things ripping their target limb from limb at once…

"I can't keep them off of him, lieutenant!" Quaren shouted even as he fired another kill shot. "They're too close together to separate!"

"Private!" Dael responded, shouting down to Biggs. "Cut that ring open!"

"I can't, sir!" Biggs called back, his own voice growing as tense as Quaren's…indicating that Wedge wasn't just some random soldier but was a friend. "The caliber's too strong! I'll hit him in the process!"

Wedge, meanwhile, tried lashing out at a few more of the Saurons, but they shot back and hissed at him each time, always staying out of range. He did it once or twice more, when he began to slow. Finally, the realization of what was happening dawned on him. Dael saw his helmet jerk around in a circle, and by that point he had to realize he was right in the midst of one of their attack patterns. He was being sized up as a target right then and there, and he was surrounded on every side. His sword arms slowly lowered…as the truth began to become clear… He was dead meat.

Dael clenched her teeth and suppressed a curse. Quickly, she put her hand on her Mage Gun…but then froze again. What good would that do? He was too close…she'd hit him with the same attack. But what else was there? Nothing short of her leaping right into the fray… Technically, she was rating higher on combat experience, but against so many she-

Dael's thoughts were cut off abruptly. At that moment…the Saurons made their move. Giving a "signal" screech, one of them shot straight at Wedge. Wedge, who was no doubt panicking at this point, realizing the danger, fell for it…he turned his full attention to the signal Sauron. As a result, he was completely off guard when two more of them dashed in at either side, both leaping at once. Wedge barely had enough time to look up before both crashed into him together, lashing out with their claws on their arms and legs. Dael didn't have time to see if the claws managed to get through his armor and touch the flesh underneath before the mass of the heavier one ripped Wedge off of his feet. He soon was taken to the ground along with the other two, going into a violent tumble. Immediately, the others cried and rushed in…soon making him vanish in a dogpile of their bodies.

"Wedge!" Biggs cried out in shock and terror.

Dael held back only a moment longer. She stiffened and tensed, keeping her hand on her gun. For a brief moment, she totally blanked. She didn't know what to do. She supposed, under more experienced circumstances…she would have just held back and let him get sliced to bits. That was really all anyone could do. Anything else risked more lives besides Wedge, and he had disobeyed orders and it had cost him. However…Dael was still a new officer, and she had gotten too many "perfect scores" on her tests to want to lose a single member of her first unit. And so, he found herself doing something rather foolhardy and crazed…

Shifting her hand to her sword hilt instead, she dashed for the edge of the boulder and prepared to leap down into the fray.

As Quaren desperately tried to peg more Saurons off of him and Biggs helplessly stared, moments from firing blind into the crowd and likely killing Wedge as well as his attackers, Dael cleared the distance of the boulder in an instant. She was so tensed at that point that she didn't truly realize how much of a feat that had been…and how much speed she would have had to put out in order to get there. However, she learned better in a moment as she leapt off the end of the boulder and sailed down into the pack of Saurons. She had purposely launched herself as hard as she could, wanting to get as close to Wedge as possible despite the fact that he was too far away. The best she could do was get to the outer ring…at least, given what she knew of her own combat abilities…

That was why she was rather shocked when she easily sailed off the edge and went so far that she nearly _overshot _the pack. Her own expression actually registered a bit of shock at her own movements, stunned that she managed to jump so far. Yet even more so…she realized that it wasn't more than a second to land in the midst of the Saurons. That wasn't much time to prepare any attack or anything. The best she could do was launch some attack she hoped would land on a target. And yet…now that she was moving into battle…it almost seemed as if time appeared to slow down around her…as if her senses were moving so fast that it was easier to plan and coordinate her own body. She was stunned…nothing like that had ever happened before…but she soon realized she had not only enough time to plan, but enough time to be confused about the fact that she was planning. Soon, she picked a target and focused…making ready her movements, making ready to engage these monsters despite the overwhelming odds…to try and do as much damage as possible to give the private a dim hope of survival…

She zeroed in on her first target, and as she descended the last few feet…she saw it present itself. A Sauron over Wedge ripped its head upward, tearing off a large piece of Wedge's armor as it did so, eager to spit it aside and go down again for the soft flesh underneath…

Dael's grip tightened on her blade, and she began to draw it forth…

Two seconds later…the battlefield had gone strangely silent. Even the mindless, savage monsters gave pause momentarily, for they had been confronted with something they had never seen in the natural world. Biggs stopped shouting Wedge's name. Instead, he gaped in open-mouthed awe. Quaren's mouth fell even more and he forgot to keep shooting. He was just staring blankly now. As for Dael…she stood in the midst of the pack of Saurons, her arm still extended with the blade out. Her face, however, was hardly that of a warrior. It showed much the same shock as before…

Around her, in the midst of the still-living Saurons, were pieces of three other Saurons…each one easily cleaved to bits.

Dael blinked a moment. Although it had to have only been a heartbeat before more Saurons began their assault on her, she went over what had just happened mentally…trying to remember if she had actually done that or if it was just some vague fantasy…if she was dreaming at the moment. Remarkably, yet again, her senses seemed to be working faster, and she had ample time…

She had dove on the first Sauron with the intent of opening its throat. Instead, as she swung her blade down on it, letting her own power join with gravity…the entire head was easily lopped off. Dael remembered feeling resistance, but not much. At any rate, she touched down on the ground, sailing past its body as it fountained out blood from the stump on its neck and its head went flying. However, two Saurons had seen her coming, and gave a screech as both charged her at once. In a mostly instinctive, panic move…she swung her blade out at first one and then the other. The result? Halves of Saurons now lay on either side of her…one cut more-or-less clean into equal halves, and the other separated from the top of its right shoulder to its left hip. They didn't die right away, but with half of their bodies gone they were powerless to do anything. Sprays of blood had gone everywhere, splashing on the other Saurons and stunning them.

Dael blinked again. Had all of that really happened? She knew she was highly rated in combat, but this…

Another screech suddenly went out. Dael snapped her head to the side, and found three more Saurons were lunging at her. Two were charging straight for her, while another was leaping in the air. They were all moving so fast in tandem, she never would have been able to pick a target first and, if she had, it wouldn't have mattered…she wouldn't have been able to exploit it.

At least…not before today. Again, the world seemed to slow…and at once she saw them slightly apart in their movements, with one going to arrive slightly before the other. Of course, she could never exploit it…she wasn't fast enough. However…something in her told her to try. And so, her grip tightened on her blade, and she began to move just as the first Sauron, mouth open, claws outstretched, rushed on it.

Dael did a circular, twirling slash…first separating its outstretched claws and its elongated jaws from its body, then slicing back and down while ducking, moving ever so slightly to the side to avoid its crashing body, and removed its legs with one clean slice. The Sauron's remaining husk of a body flew by her and crashed into its companions. Her blade went out and around again soon after, sticking clean out…and she proceeded to move just slightly to the opposite side to let her sword cut through the second…slicing it in two as well, this time through the breast. The third one was still lunging in the air…and so, Dael found herself leaping up as well. Where before the highest she could jump would have been four or five feet…she now found herself sailing up to meet the Sauron, swinging her foot around, and giving it a powerful kick to the side of its head. She actually felt the skull crumble and indent around her foot…before the Sauron, despite its larger size and sheer ferocity, went flying down…right into the pack surrounding Wedge. Like a ball into nine pins, the Sauron smashed its brethren away and off of him from the sheer power of the impact.

Dael touched down on the ground a moment later. Immediately, the Saurons gave a unified shriek, and began to charge on her en masse. However…she hardly cared. She was too amazed at what she had done. What she did…that was impossible. It was _superhuman._ Even the highest trained men or women in the world couldn't have done that. Her sword was a good blade but it wasn't anything incredible. She should never have been able to slice through the thick hides of the Saurons like that. For a brief moment, she thought this was a dream…that she was just imagining all this…

But then, her memory worked.

_Carbuncle… He wasn't joking. I knew there would be an increase in power…but this…_

Another loud screech jarred Dael out of her thoughts. The monsters were closing in fast now, all of them ravenous and fierce. She looked up and could see herself reflected in their eyes as they closed. And yet, she showed no fear this time. Instead…her face merely tightened and turned dark. Tightening the grip on her blade, she went to work.

Dael sliced down the first one that came in, not cutting it in half but cutting through most major organs. She dropped it, but another surged and leapt at her from behind, meaning to take her head off. However, she heard it coming, and in a snap, she ducked underneath it, letting it sail overhead and crash into a companion. Another dove at her side with jaws outstretched, but she simply rolled to one side while still on the ground. Soon, she was forced to roll the other way to avoid another snap, and then forward to avoid a third slash from a claw, but she evaded each one without even getting her clothing torn. A fourth attacker came in, but she sprung to her feet and sliced upward, opening its entire torso. Two more rushed in from behind, but she paused only for a moment…before squatting a bit and doing a nimble backflip, sailing over the both of them and letting them rush past. She sliced out two more times on the way down, opening the skulls of two more before landing on her feet. Yet another one rushed at her head on, jaws ready to clamp on her neck. However, she ducked her head down and to the side, letting the jaws snap at the air, before surging forward and slamming her arm up and into its own throat, crushing its windpipe, cracking its spine, and forcing it up and back and out of the way. She shot forward rapidly afterward, slicing out two more times to cut two more to ribbons… She was fighting her way back to Wedge.

Another tried to leap on her, but she ducked and shot up, catching it underneath and flipping it over her head and throwing it back behind her, crashing it into another that was trying to leap from behind. Yet another charged, but she leapt into the air, placed her hands on it, and vaulted over. By that time, she could finally see Wedge. He was bleeding a bit as he lay on the ground, not moving…and most of his armor had been pried off. He also seemed unconscious. Despite all of that, he seemed alive. As Dael dashed for him, another Sauron came forward…and this time Dael smashed it away by shooting forward with a flying thrust kick. Part of its face crumpled in before it was ripped off of its feet and thrown back. She quickly landed and dashed up to Wedge, taking her stand over him protectively. She held her sword out and glared at the Saurons.

She couldn't believe it. The Saurons were as fast as some cars and strong as medium-sized bears…and yet she was beating them away and outmaneuvering them at every turn. She would have felt invincible…if not for the fact that her foot did hurt a bit, her arms were a bit sore, and she was panting slightly. Apparently, she did have a limit. With that in mind, as the Saurons screeched and renewed their attack, she called out behind her.

"What are you waiting for, privates! Open fire!"

In spite of her yelling, Dael had to cut down three more before she finally heard Quaren's gun go off again. Sure enough…the Saurons nearest to Dael were the ones that began to fall. Biggs, however, didn't shoot right away. He was still too stunned. In truth, Dael wasn't certain she wanted him to fire. She was still too close, and there was no guarantee of success. He could easily kill her if he wasn't careful… However, after cutting down the latest one, Dael felt sweat beginning to mount on her brow, and she started to feel a strain. Surrounded by these things, a moment of weakness would mean death. She needed every advantage she could get. Risky as it was, these things had to get beaten now… And finally, as she continued to battle on, she heard the loud burst of gunfire go off.

But then…something strange happened.

Right as she began to hear the bullets, an instinctive thought came to mind. She couldn't describe what it was. She just had a crazy thought…almost a childish notion. Something told her that if she said some sort of strange phrase, she wouldn't be hurt by the bullets. Normally, she would have ignored it. It meant nothing, of course. However…she wasn't one to get those kind of random thoughts, and this one seemed to just pop in her head. And so, in spite of herself, she halfheartedly found herself abruptly speaking forth the words. She was a bit surprised at what she said when she did so. It wasn't anything simple like, "Abracadabra"…it seemed to be something in a strange, bizarre, and almost unpronounceable language.

But what was even weirder? She could have sworn, in the heat of battle…she almost saw some sort of white prisms briefly appear in the air and link together, like some sort of diamond array, just around her body and that of Wedge's…right before vanishing again. Dismissing it as nothing, however, Dael proceeded in the fight.

Things were soon a bloodbath. Dael dared not move and leave Wedge unprotected. She was forced to stand her ground and quickly whirl and spin around to fight off his attackers. Blood sprayed everywhere as bullets and blades dug into flesh. Pieces of Saurons went flying. Dael gradually began to pant louder and louder, and sweat started to run into her eyes, but she continued to keep even one monster from reaching her. Standing still was hardly a good defense against the Saurons…but, remarkably, she was doing quite well with it. Somehow, despite the speed and number of the Saurons, she was keeping up. She wanted to attribute it to good shooting…but the fact was that the bullets were so wild from Biggs that the only time one of them came close enough to register anything was when they went whizzing by her head all too closely. Apparently, in his attempts to hit her attackers, he was indeed coming close to hitting her. But Dael had no time to worry about that. She just kept fighting.

However, it was interesting. She could have sworn she saw, almost like bullets hitting solid steel, sparks fly out from her body once or twice…along with a mild "stinging" sensation…

At any rate, Dael continued to fight on. Even as her arms and legs started to ache a bit, and sweat began to roll down in her eyes, she didn't stop or slow. Even with Quaren and Biggs shooting, she was the only thing keeping Wedge alive. Nevertheless, the monsters continued to charge at her with all savage ferocity, not lessening on their assault for a moment. Dael couldn't stop moving or reduce her speed in the least to keep up with them… Finally, as she continued to fight, the Saurons began to level off. Numerous as they were, there was still a finite number of them. They couldn't keep this up forever. Their attacks gradually began to lessen. More so than that, however…Dael noticed that they seemed to be moving in one direction, back toward Biggs…almost as if they wanted to charge again. Not only that…but was the ground trembling a bit?

As Dael thought of this, however…she was finally distracted. In the corner of her vision, she saw it. One of the Saurons suddenly shot straight for her. Quickly, she snapped around to it…but this time she was too late. As she struggled to bring her sword up, the monster was on her, opening its mouth wide, and lunging forward. Having no time for anything else, Dael desperately braced her arm in front of herself… As the Sauron brought its teeth down, she knew it was useless. The thing was going to wring her arm clean off of her body as soon as those jaws sank in…

Moments later, the monster finished biting down, clamping with its fabled strength on her limb…

And Dael didn't feel any more than deep scratches.

To her surprise, she wasn't even stunned enough from the pain to stop from swirling around and driving her sword into the Sauron's chest, puncturing its lungs and heart cavity. The monster began to spasm soon after, but still didn't release…not until Dael swung her sword around again and removed its head. As it fell to the ground dying, the teeth were removed from her arm…revealing just a bit of torn clothing and a few bloody scratches on her arm. Dael was shocked. A Sauron had enough power to dent steel with its bite…and yet…

Again, a realization came over Dael.

_I thought that I wouldn't be hurt if I said those words, and I said them…and those prisms appeared… I remember now. I saw it in magical archive footage. That was a defensive spell…a physical barrier spell._

_But…if that's true…then that means I…_

"Lieutenant! Look out!"

Dael was jarred from her thoughts yet again, and quickly looked up and around. She expected to see another Sauron attack…but quite the opposite occurred. The Saurons were scrambling away as fast as they could, running forward again desperately. They were mere fodder for Biggs' guns now, but they didn't seem to care. They were desperate to get over him and so they let themselves get shot to pieces. However, he wasn't the one who called. It was Quaren, who had the higher ground. And now, at the moment, Dael became aware of the fact that the ground was indeed rumbling rather strongly…and it seemed to be coming from one location…

As she turned to it, her memory registered.

_These are fierce animals…but they're still animals. And animals only charge this blind when they're scared of something worse that what's in front of them…_

_And as far as I can recall from my studies…there's only one thing that they're scared of, one thing that could have broken this many of them away from the main herd…_

The ground shuddered again, now becoming periodic…as if signifying the footsteps of something heavy.

_Oh no…_

Dael turned her head a bit more…and saw it.

Fuliet Saurons were known as the most widespread and deadly of the predators in the region, due to their ferocity, their sheer numbers, and their pack behavior. However, in terms of raw strength of an individual…there was something far, _far_ worse. There was one now, a bit darker colored than the lighter Saurons. It stomped forward on pillar-like clawed legs, swung its monstrous tail behind it, and its small yellow reptilian eyes glared about as it gnashed its massive teeth together. The fact that its tiny arms were all but vestigial was irrelevant. With one easy swing of its tail, it shattered a nearby loose boulder. With a single swing of its head, it seized a Sauron, crushed half the bones of its body, and gave it a light bite to kill it. It dropped it an immediately looked for more prey…knowing it could come back for it, as well as a dozen other Saurons it had killed so far, later.

A Tyrant Lizard.

Great and terrible as the Tyrant Lizards looked, in truth they were much worse. They actually were descendants of magical creatures, which was why they could run despite defying their own physiology. Their jaws were strong enough to snap cars in half. Their hides were thick enough to shrug off some forms of artillery fire. Their strength was enough to smash through buildings. Where a group of four Esthar's Hawks would be at risk if they had to handle more than three or four Fuliet Saurons at once…a division twenty-five-strong of Esthar's Hawks was considered insufficient for handling a Tyrant Lizard.

There was only one remedy for this…one method of protocol given this situation.

Dael snapped her head over her shoulder. "Fall back! Fall back now!"

"But…but lieutenant-" Quaren began to protest.

"Bullets won't do any good against that thing! Fall back and take cover!"

Dael snapped back forward. The last few Saurons were either dead or had scattered, realizing they couldn't go any farther south thanks to Biggs. Only a fistful were still left in the area, and they struggled to run as the Tyrant Lizard chased yet another down. It dove on it and gave it a vicious shake to snap its neck and spine in multiple locations. Meanwhile, Dael quickly stepped off of Wedge and dove down on him. In moments, she flung one of his arms over her shoulder and hoisted him to his feet.

Luckily, despite his injuries, he was still breathing and was even able to get his legs partially underneath him. Turning around, Dael quickly began to charge away as fast as she could with Wedge. It was rather speedy, despite the fact that she was rather tired, thanks to her increase in strength. As she went, she heard the Tyrant Lizard grunt and growl behind her, as well as the sounds of bones and sinews tearing. For a moment…she thought they might be in the clear. The Tyrant Lizard might have decided it had enough food for now and would begin to feast, and wouldn't bother with two more unappetizing morsels… She looked behind her to confirm this…

As her skin paled and a chill went through her spine, she realized she had no such luck.

The Tyrant Lizard had already dropped the carcass and was looking squarely at her and Wedge.

Dael snapped back around and tried to move faster. Even as she did…a deafening roar that sounded like an ancient train went off from behind her, causing her very clothing and skin to ripple from the sound. Moments later, the rhythmic pounding began again, quickly growing more intense, and Dael realized it was coming for them…

_I don't think I can fight it even with this new power…and I don't want to find out. _Dael told herself. _That leaves only one thing…_

Dael hated to have to do this to Wedge, but it was the only thing she was capable of. Quickly, she pulled him off of her and then, using her strength and straining a bit, she literally tossed him forward. It wasn't that good, even with her power. She only got him about twelve feet before he fell on the ground again. However, she had no choice. She had to get him clear somehow. After doing so, she snapped around in one fluid movement and drew her Mage Gun, aiming right for the monster's head. The Tyrant Lizard bellowed again, opening its mouth wide as it closed in on her. Narrowing her gaze and exhaling nervously, she pulled the trigger.

A brief delay went off. Abruptly, a bright aura of sizzling green light erupted from the gun. Some sort of swirling, swishing design wrapped around it like ribbons of light, encircling it and seemed to trace strange, unknown patterns. But this only lasted for a moment…before the charge went off in the gun and a thundering boom went out. The gun recoiled a bit, and the shot went forward straight for the Tyrant Lizard. It closed its mouth again as the shell neared…but the shot still hit it squarely on the forehead.

Immediately, the world seemed to go dark for a moment as the sky blackened. The air seemed to go still and gain a charge to it. A heartbeat later…a _massive_ thunderbolt exploded from the point of impact, slamming deadly bolts of energy into the Tyrant Lizard's skull and sending off beams of snaking light in all directions. The Tyrant Lizard bellowed in agony, and was diverted off course. It went slightly to the right before it stumbled…and landed hard down on the ground, sliding to land on its chin. The impact fractured the stone and ground beneath it and nearly shook Dael right off of her feet, as close as the monster was. The sky lightened again soon after, the air returned to normal, and for a moment the Tyrant Lizard lay there still. A plume of smoke slowly came from its head.

Exhaling nervously, Dael quickly inserted the gun back into her holster and snapped back around. Quaren was still struggling to get off the boulder, moving only nervously. However, Biggs had run out to her, or, more appropriately, his friend. As he approached, he called out.

"Is Wedge alright, sir? Is he badly hurt?"

"I told you to fall back, private." Dael coldly retorted as she quickly dashed back up to him. "Now that you're here, help me get him up. We have to get him and ourselves out of here."

Biggs blinked a bit at that. "But…but sir, didn't you stop it just now? I…I had no idea a Mage Gun was that strong…it has to be…"

"It's a magical creature, private." Dael cut off. "It's resistant to spells like that. The thing can take a shell powerful enough to blow two floors off a skyscraper. You think a little lightning is going to do anything other than make it mad?"

Quickly, Dael reached Wedge's side, and once more threw his arm over her shoulder and hoisted him to his feet. Not waiting for Biggs, she struggled to get him to move. He was a bit more cognizant now, but still not moving fast enough. Soon, Biggs reached his other side and got his other arm. The three began to move away. They got a good ten steps too, and Dael thought for a moment she had gotten lucky. Maybe the bolt had hit it just right…just enough to put it down for a while…

However…as she soon heard a deep-throated growl behind her…she soon realized she was mistaken again.

Freezing, Dael looked behind her again. Her face paled once more. The Tyrant Lizard was snarling, puffing up huge clouds of dust in the dirt in front of it. Growling, it began to push its feet underneath it, and slowly moved its huge bulk off of the ground again. It actually gave its head a little shake, seeming to be clearing its senses…

Dael halted momentarily. They couldn't outrun it, even if Wedge wasn't there. They were too close to have their scent escape undetected. There were no hiding places. They were dead.

That meant only one thing.

_I guess…I'm going to see how good I can do after all…_

Quickly, Dael pulled her arm out from under Wedge. She turned fully around. Biggs looked to her curiously as she faced the Tyrant Lizard…but what she didn't see is she had the eyes of someone else.

"Lieutenant?" Biggs asked.

"Dael?" Quaren called, again forgetting protocol.

"Whatever happens…keep running away." Dael called behind her, her look already growing firm and hard on the Tyrant Lizard. "That's an order."

By now, the Tyrant Lizard was back on its feet and alert again. Turning fully to the one who hurt it, it gave another roar of anger before beginning to stomp forward. But before it could, Dael was already breaking into a run for it.

"Dael, no!" Quaren called, but it was too late to stop her now. In fact, Dael no longer noticed Quaren or the others. She focused fully on the Tyrant Lizard. And as she did, only one thought went through her mind.

_I must be completely insane._

_Powerful or not, I can't win this fight. I'm going to get ground to bits, stomped flat, shaken like an old towel, and finally devoured…possibly while I'm still conscious and in tremendous pain. What exactly am I trying to do? The odds are only extremely slim that I can hold this thing off long enough for them to escape. In either case, we all get eaten…and in this case, only _I_ get eaten…_

_Well…nothing ventured, nothing gained. Time to see just what my new threshold is…_

Dael reached for her Mage Gun and began to pull it out again. Her other hand held onto her sword as she reached for another bullet…but before she could even think of which one to get, the Tyrant Lizard suddenly applied some speed and shot forward faster than before. Dael went wide eyed momentarily, and then quickly dodged to one side. This time…two of its teeth did slice through her uniform as she dashed to one side and the huge monster barreled past. Not wasting a second, the moment she could get on her feet she continued to run past and pulled out a new bullet. But before she could load it…the monster swung its tail around and down on her. Letting out a gasp of shock, Dael quickly used all her new agility and speed to engage in a backflip and move out of the way. Even so…the thick tail smashed hard on the ground, and the impact against it stunned her. As she struggled to recover…the tail suddenly yanked back…and smashed into her.

The only reason Dael wasn't killed instantly was because of the magical barrier. Even so…she felt as if a battering ram slammed into her as she was ripped up and back off of her feet, thrown back about fifteen feet, and sent crashing to the ground hard. The impact was just as painful, yet somehow she remembered her pain suppression training, grunted, and managed to snap back onto her feet in another flip. Immediately, her head swum and the world spun. She felt both sick as well as sore…and that was only from a glancing blow delivered to her while under protection. Somehow, her senses managed to work and she tried to load her gun again…

…Only to make a horrific discovery. When she had been hit, the gun and shell had gone flying…one to one side of the field, and another to the opposite side…both on either side of the Tyrant Lizard. The woman went wide-eyed. She had more shells, and one would think she could simply go for the gun. However, she wasn't that stupid. She had been going for her only other high-powered shell in her current arsenal when she pulled out her ammo. That meant she had to go for the ammo too. But how could she do that?

She didn't know…and she didn't have time to think as the Tyrant Lizard swung around in a massive circle, swiping its tail at her again. She quickly was forced to duck to avoid having her head and torso taken off. However, the Tyrant Lizard barely finished its twirl before it dashed forward again, charging at her full speed. Moving much faster than normally possible, Dael barely had time to rise before it was lunging at her with jaws open. Blinking, panting, and even crying out a bit from being so startled…Dael quickly leapt backward. The Tyrant Lizard lunged at her and snapped at where she was. Missing, it quickly lunged again, forcing Dael to do two more hops to avoid its jaws from slicing her to bits. The monster reared back and tried to snap again, still charging forward…and Dael soon realized it was outstripping her. She needed to do something else fast…

And so, as it dove again, Dael did something new. Shortly after it dove at her…Dael leapt forward and up. Its massive head sailed underneath and snapped at her previous position, but she soon landed on its own snout. The thing grunted, and then quickly snapped its head up, struggling to shake her off. But Dael's speed was already going to work. She was already to its neck and shoulders by the time it leaned up, and was running down its back right for its hindquarters and the thick part of its tail. She planned to use the monster as a ramp to get to her gun. Soon she was at the end, and dashing onto the tail, moments from leaping off…

When, abruptly, the monster gave a vicious snap of its appendage. To her shock, Dael was soon launched forty feet into the air and flung forward. She gaped in shock momentarily at it, stunned to see herself suddenly airborne and flying. But she soon began to descend again, and as she fell…she saw the Tyrant Lizard had snapped around and was now opening its mouth to snatch her out of the air as she came back! Quickly, Dael grit her teeth and drew her blade. Just as she fell toward the mouth…her sword swiped out for the monster's face. Despite her power…she was only able to give it a light cut across the tip of its nose. Growling in pain and anger, it slammed its jaw shut just in time and bowed its head…and as Dael fell further she thought she was in the clear…

When it suddenly snapped its head back up and slammed its skull into her body.

Dael felt a surge of pain snap through her body as several of her bones were almost broken. She was smacked like a racket hitting a tennis ball, flying back up into the air, out in an arc, and then landing back on the ground again hard. She slammed so roughly against it that dust came up around her, and on landing she gave another exclamation of agony. Now, her entire body was wracked with pain. That blow had been much worse and still wasn't directed at her. She was stunned from the pain, unable to rise. It was clear now…one direct hit would be all it would take to finish her. At this point…one more glancing blow would be enough…

She struggled to get her bearings…but the monster was still too fast and strong. She barely regained the ability to move when she saw the Tyrant Lizard surging over her, this time trying to rend and stomp her with its massive claws. Quickly, she rolled out of the way as the foot came down and raked into the ground. She soon had to roll again to avoid the next slice, and then roll back to avoid a third. Gritting her teeth, focusing as much as her pained and strained body could, she brought her sword up and around, bringing it down on the Tyrant Lizard's claw and putting a good inch-deep cut into it. The monster bellowed and stamped about madly in pain, but it was enough to get Dael to scramble to her feet and try to move again. She was now very afraid. She was so tired and in pain that her slashes weren't doing much…she had meant to try and cut half of a toe off. Things weren't good… She began to realize just how much trouble she was in as she got to her feet and began to charge away as fast as her wobbly legs could take her…

_This is too bad… I can't even fight back like this. If I just keep trying to avoid it, I'll tire and die before I can launch a counterattack… I need something…anything. I need a diversion of some sort…_

As if on cue, much like before, another strange series of words popped into her mind. Once more, it was weird. It was as if some invisible voice was telling her, "to create diversions, say this". Strange words tumbled into her head once again, as if begging to be spoken. Dael didn't know what they meant, but at that point the Tyrant Lizard had recovered and had turned to her viciously. Merely swinging its head in her direction nearly swiped her. Because of that, she realized she had to try something before it was too late. Quickly, she opened her mouth. Once more, the strange language tumbled out from her lips…

Something strange happened next. Abruptly…to her surprise…her body seemed to multiply. It was like that strange effect from walking into a house of mirrors. Abruptly, there were six of her, each running in a different direction, surrounding her from six different sides. She was stunned. It was so mind-boggling and strange that she was held still momentarily, wondering what had just happened.

The Tyrant Lizard, on the other hand, actually paused momentarily. Its small yellow eyes glanced over the assembly. Finally, it gave a hiss, and then lunged forward and snapped at one. Immediately, the image vanished into a vapor, but the Tyrant Lizard, confused, pulled back and saw it had nothing in its jaws. Snarling, it swung its tail out to cut through two more…but both vanished into the same vapor. Dael was amazed as she turned and fully faced the monster. It couldn't tell which one was her. She had used a new spell…some sort of image attack. She was excited momentarily…but then she immediately focused again. Now wasn't the time to relax. The monster was going to get her through the process of elimination soon enough…

Now having a breather to catch her bearings, Dael drew her blade again. The Tyrant Lizard lunged again and obliterated another image…leaving only two more plus the real deal. That was too few for Dael. Immediately, she lunged forward and shot in front of the Tyrant Lizard. To her pleasant surprise, her two images did as well, swiping as they did so. The Tyrant Lizard looked at them in confusion momentarily, seeing the first two slash out and try and hit him but doing nothing. As a result…he didn't see anything coming when the real Dael went by and sliced off the end of his nose. Rearing up, the monster bellowed in rage. Immediately, it shot forward to smash what it thought was the real Dael. Instead…its claws tore through vapor again. Roaring in anger, losing its patience, it snapped around to obliterate another Dael. This one was the last image…but Dael didn't care this time. Quickly, she dodged in on its unprotected side as it went for the image…and drove the end of her blade into one of its eyes.

Now the Tyrant Lizard really did roar. Half blind and mad with pain, it stumbled back and thrashed about angrily, casting about dirt and rocks and pounding against the ground again and again. For the moment, it was "safely" enraged…unable to direct its attacks. And now, its accuracy was diminished. Because of that, Dael had a precious moment. She decided to use it. After all…she only had a 50-50 shot of avoiding the next attack. She quickly looked around a bit, and soon saw, only about twenty feet away, was her Mage Gun. Keeping her sword in one hand, she dashed over to it with all the newfound speed she could muster. She was soon at it. With a diving lunge and slide, she went by it and snatched it up.

It was a good thing she was on the move at that moment, because the Tyrant Lizard lunged forward so fast and strong that it attempted to smash both her and her illusion at the same time. At the last moment, Dael was able to launch into a sideways dive to get out of the way…but even so her feet just scraped against the face of the Tyrant Lizard. Her image wasn't so lucky, and soon it vanished. Moving even faster than before, the Tyrant Lizard got to its feet and began to charge at her, bellowing all the way. To her terror, Dael realized it was angry now… It snapped at her again, and this time she wasn't able to get back in time… The teeth clipped the ammo belt at her waist and sent it dropping to the ground. She gaped at that, and nearly went for it…before she was quickly forced to dodge back to avoid being snapped in two. Even so…her clothing was soon cut again from its teeth, and this time bloody scratches were underneath it.

Gritting her teeth, Dael swung her blade down on the nose of the monster and opened another deep cut. But it ignored it entirely this time. It lunged at her again, this time forcing her to side step. Soon, she gaped again as she was forced to drop to avoid it swinging its head around and smashing into her. Then, she quickly had to launch into a backward somersault to avoid it smashing its head down on her. Roaring again, it soon began to charge at her…not giving her a moment to breathe or think anymore… Dael quickly leapt back…and just barely managed to avoid a direct hit, although she still felt some of the impact from it smashing at the ground. Quickly, she used half a breath to voice another illusion spell. Again, she split into six figures…and the Tyrant Lizard, pausing only for a fraction of a second, immediately swung its tail around at all of them. Dael, going wide-eyed, went into a backflip…but still felt the sheer force of the tail and the scales slice her knees open. As blood trailed through the air, the rest of the illusions were destroyed in one fell swoop.

Dael barely had time to land and get to her wobbly footing before the Tyrant Lizard swirled around, roared, and charged at her again. Dael was overwhelmed. She couldn't fight anymore…she couldn't dodge anymore. As for the shell she needed to have a chance, it was getting farther and farther away from her as the Tyrant Lizard forced her back further and further. And now, the monster was lunging at her again…and she couldn't even dodge…

_If only I was over there! If only I could somehow move fast enough to get to that shell! Maybe I'd have a chance if I could only…_

Once again…words popped into her mind. With the hot, foul breath of the monster already blowing over her, Dael didn't even waste time thinking of what it would do. She simply spoke the words as fast as she can even as the Tyrant Lizard brought its jaws down on her, and she looked far into the darkness of its throat…

When, suddenly, she saw the open sky and the plains in front of her. The Tyrant Lizard was gone. Dael blinked in confusion for a moment…before she suddenly felt overwhelmingly dizzy. A quiver went through her body, and suddenly her legs and arms felt like jelly. She wobbled, and nearly collapsed right then and there. But as her head began to swim…she heard something behind her. A snap of the jaws, and then a smash into the ground that made the area shudder. Blinking, she quickly spun around…and saw that the Tyrant Lizard was right behind her with its back to her, crashing into the ground. After a moment longer…she realized it was doing so where she had been. She was overwhelmed. Another spell, another power. This time, it was one of the harder ones to perform…a teleportation spell.

However, even as she realized this, she had a hard time focusing. She was dizzy and she felt as if her entire body had been put through the wringer. She didn't know why…but she had some sort of idea. She had remembered reading about teleportation spells before. The idea was typically to get someone out of the battle. In order to do so, they didn't actually "teleport", but usually caused a rift in both space _and_ time. By throwing forward a few minutes or back a few minutes, one could avoid a battle all together. Usually, a bend in time needed to accompany a bend in space. Bending one or the other could only be done in extremely low amounts. To actually move through space instantaneously in time was a tremendous strain without the time component to the body. It was safe to say that the move she had just performed wasn't something to be done often in the same manner.

Luckily, she had a few seconds. The Tyrant Lizard's anger abated, and it began to scan in front of it. It turned its head to utilize its good eye, but didn't spot Dael. It had lost track of her. That gave Dael a momentarily advantage. Quickly, she looked to the ground. Sure enough, right below her was the shell. She quickly ducked, took it up, opened her Mage Gun barrel, slammed it in, and closed it again. She looked back up afterward, reading to press her attack…

And she was greeted by a roar. The Tyrant Lizard had fully turned and spotted her again. Through its blood-stained face, it glared at her murderously, and soon took off again. Dael nearly lifted her Mage Gun at it…but paused. What good would that do? It would stun it and make it mad again…and then she'd be worse than before. She needed to inflict more pain…something that might cripple it or, better yet, kill it. But what? How could she hurt it enough to drop it? She was just one person, and for all of her powers, she was still only one…

Then…an idea occurred.

She was loathe to try it. Already, her body was so tired and sore that she felt she needed to crash. However…she had nothing left. Barriers weren't helping. Neither were illusions. This was the only other move that came to mind…the only other bit of magic in her repertoire. She knew it would be over after this. It would take every last ounce of her strength to do anything after this was done…but she had to try.

_Please work…_

The Tyrant Lizard began to charge again. Dael inhaled deeply and held her breath. She wished she still wasn't feeling so wobbly from the first time, but no time for that. She quickly put her Mage Gun away and grasped her sword blade with both hands. She tightened her grip as much as possible, mentally telling herself that she was one unit…a bar of steel. She summoned every last bit of her enhanced strength she had. The Tyrant Lizard kept charging, roaring again. Finally exhaling, Dael once again chanted the words.

Abruptly, Dael vanished…and reappeared just slightly underneath the Tyrant Lizard. The monster was going too fast, and couldn't turn away. Dael felt her strength fade. She wanted to collapse there on the spot. Her entire body felt like limp pasta. But with every last fiber of her being, with the same determination that had enabled her to survive her attackers weeks ago…she grunted, strained, focused, and drove her blade upward as hard and as fast as she could and held there. It took every last ounce of power she had left from her enhanced strength, but the Tyrant Lizard ran onto the sword…and, thanks to its own power and speed, sliced a deep incision partially into its own belly.

Dael only managed a foot-long cut before the sword fell out of her hand. After that, she nearly fell with it as it clattered to the ground. She was so tired…so very tired… She nearly passed out. But as she wavered, the monster froze and gave another roar of pain. It began to stomp backward, to clear itself from whatever it had just run into, even as blood began to issue forth from the wound. And once it was clear, it would spot Dael…and would smash her flat. No…she had to be strong for just a moment longer…

Summoning power from somewhere she wasn't sure she had, Dael yanked up her gun barrel, managed to just shove the end of it into the wound…and pulled the trigger.

The recoil wasn't any worse than on a standard gun…but it still slammed Dael flat against the ground as a burst of magical aura whipped around the gun once again before the shell fired. This time, the shell didn't have far to go before smashing into the insides of the Tyrant Lizard. The beast didn't even have the time to see where the attack came from before it ignited. Dael suddenly felt a biting chill whip over her before the air tinted blue about her and her own panting breath misted as she lay supine on the ground.

Then, in a flash…a great crystallizing noise ripped through the air as long, thick, four meter icicles erupted from within the body of the Tyrant Lizard. Blood soon erupted from multiple locations as the long, deadly spears burst through its insides and exited through the skin. At least eight of them came forth from different locations. None of them managed to break its skeleton, but the internal organs were completely mangled and utterly frozen, killing them instantly.

The Tyrant Lizard opened its mouth and let out only half a choked roar…before it was cut off as its lungs were pierced by ice. It stood there a moment, wavering with the new mass packed inside its gut. It gagged…and blood and ice chunks began to pour forth from its mouth onto the ground. It stepped…it wavered…and it wobbled momentarily. For a few seconds, it managed to stand up on its own legs. But then…the light in its one remaining eye dimmed…and it let out a low, wet moan with what air was left in its remains of lungs. After that, it leaned in one direction, and fell over completely on its side.

Dael was able to stay conscious just long enough to note that the creature falling over dead didn't take her with it, namely by crushing her flat…before she sighed once, and everything went to black.

* * *

><p>Dael's next sensation was something cold and wet dousing her face, and her drowning reflex was triggered as she sputtered and gagged. At once, her senses flowed back to her. Her eyes were initially closed, but she shook her face, trying to get out of the water, before jerking her head up. She still felt rather limp and weak, but she managed to lean up again. Apparently, the drain on her strength didn't last too terribly long. Her power was still far from maximum, but already she felt only as bad as she had after the first teleportation.<p>

Opening her eyes, Dael blinked and tried to get her bearings. She hadn't been out long, so soon what had just happened came rushing back to her. She soon made out the shapes of Wedge, Biggs, and Quaren squatting around her. Wedge was more alert now, and he had applied a few hasty field dressing to his body. Although all were still wearing their helmets, save Quaren, who had taken his off (and also happened to be holding his open canteen), they were all staring at her intently. Most of all, however…there was the fact that the large body of the dead Tyrant Lizard, the icicles piercing it only slightly melted, was still sitting in front of her…confirmation that the fantastic feat she had managed was not a dream or illusion.

"Are you alright, lieutenant?" Quaren asked.

"We thought you got squished for a moment." Biggs threw in.

Dael paused a moment. She looked around a bit, and then back to Quaren. For a moment…she nearly broke protocol. She nearly spoke to them all as if they were just companions or friends. However, at the last second, she remembered propriety. Her look, though bewildered and a bit dazzled at first, quickly hardened up. She looked up more forcefully, and once again assumed a commanding air.

"…I'm fine, private." She finally stated, masking her own weak feelings at the moment. "What of the Tyrant Lizard? And the Fuliet Saurons?"

Quaren exhaled. "The few Saurons me and Biggs didn't get went in all directions. As for the Tyrant Lizard…well…" He looked a bit nervously behind him, then back to Dael. "…You can see for yourself."

"I don't know…I see it myself, and I still don't believe it…" Biggs exhaled in response, shaking his own head as he looked back to it.

"I'm wondering if I'm still a bit loopy…" Wedge remarked. "I mean…sheesh…I barely came too when I saw that stunt…and the lieutenant seemed to just pop underneath it and shoot it!"

"Da…the lieutenant got it alright." Quaren answered, shaking his head. "That's amazing…that's unbelievable. I don't think an Esthar Hawk ever managed to take down a Tyrant Lizard all by herself…"

"I don't think _anyone_ ever took down a Tyrant Lizard by himself or herself…" Biggs exhaled.

"Maybe this one was sick?" Wedge suggested.

"No, Dael…the lieutenant's just that great!" Quaren shot back, almost angrily.

"Hey, I'm just saying how hard it would be…"

Dael sighed. She was moments from telling the three to break it up…when a voice called out.

"…Seems we weren't necessary after all."

Dael and the others immediately went silent and turned their heads at that. The voice came from the other side of the Tyrant Lizard carcass. Immediately, Dael rose to her feet, ignoring her dizziness and the wobbling of her legs. As soon as she was up, she looked out…and stiffened a bit. Instantly, she stood at attention. The others quickly did the same, following her lead at first…but then more so when seeing what she spotted.

Captain Sloane stood not ten feet away from the dead monster, and he was flanked by fifteen other Esthar's Hawks. They were all of the highest quality Civil Defense units. All seasoned veterans. Despite her own position in a more advanced branch, Dael would never want to pit her skills against one of them. At least…not before today. Each one was armed with various weapons and had them trained on the Tyrant Lizard, as if expecting it to rise again and attack once more. Sloane himself was more at ease. He looked around a bit, staring at the internally-mutilated body of the Tyrant Lizard. Slowly, his eyes drifted to either side, and he soon spotted the numerous corpses of the other Saurons, most of them in piles where they had fallen to machine gun fire or in pieces from where they had been cut to bits. It was more than obvious in the latter case that a standard dual blader hadn't done that. This was something of much more power.

The field was silent save for the sound of blowing wind. Far in the distance, the faint sound of explosions still went off. Sloane himself maintained a calm expression as he looked over everything. However, he did pause on looking at the Tyrant Lizard. Despite his stoic look…it was clear based on the pause that he was rather impressed. In fact, as Dael looked one, she soon saw that even the Civil Defense veterans kept looking to it…as if unable to believe it was really there…

Finally, Sloane looked back up to Dael and her company and gave a nod. "At ease, lieutenant."

Dael immediately broke into a more informal stance. Her privates soon followed behind, although they remained standing before Sloane.

"The bombing run had just begun when a Tyrant Lizard sprung out on the herd. It split it in two and the middle portion came this way. Colonel Regalis immediately rerouted my company to go and try and stop it and intercept the Fuliet Saurons it moved out of the way. We tried to radio ahead, but it was a dead zone. It was thought that a group of that size would be too much for the relays we had stationed…" He looked again at the corpses, then back to Dael. "…But I take it I was mistaken, lieutenant?"

"We were ordered to hold our position and let nothing through, sir." Dael responded smoothly. "That's all we did here. I note that four or five did manage to escape, and we suffered some injuries. I request Private Wedge be moved to the medical tent at once."

Sloane glanced over Dael once. "…You could probably use a visit there yourself, lieutenant." After saying this, however, he again looked down to the corpse of the Tyrant Lizard. He stared a moment.

"Well…in order to believe what I'm seeing, I'd have to conclude that it died of natural causes…but based on the fact that icicles are protruding from inside it, I know that's not true." He looked back up again. "Lieutenant, am I correct in assuming that your unit not only handled the Fuliet Saurons, but also an adult male Tyrant Lizard?"

Dael hesitated momentarily. Her devotion to duty made her somewhat humble in this circumstance. After all, following what happened earlier in the briefing room, she was cowed a bit. "Well sir…I can't confirm that the monster was in full health, and there were certain circumstances that-"

"It wasn't us, sir!" Quaren suddenly interjected. "Lieutenant Dael did it all by herself! She single-handedly killed the Tyrant Lizard!"

Dael snapped to Quaren in an instant. "The captain is not asking for your opinion on the matter, private!" She nearly yelled at him. "Nor was that question addressed to you!"

"Just the same…" Dael heard in a much calmer voice than her own from Sloane, causing her to immediately turn back and face him again. The man was rubbing his chin and looking at the body. "…This is something rather extraordinary…and all but inconceivable. No one in my record has ever gone up against a Tyrant Lizard alone and won." He looked up to Dael. "…Is what Private Quaren says true? Did you really defeat it single-handedly?"

Dael hesitated a moment. Again, she didn't want to come off as a braggart. "Like I said, sir…there were possible extenuating circumstances…"

"Did you or didn't you, lieutenant?"

Dael swallowed a bit. Speaking quieter, she nodded. "Yes sir."

"Normally I'd call you a liar, lieutenant…" Sloane responded. "But I remember your face from the briefing…and from what happened beforehand. Correct me if I'm wrong…you've been junctioned to a Guardian Force, yes?"

Dael blinked a moment, but then nodded. "Yes sir."

Sloane put a hand to his chin and looked over the body a bit longer. He seemed to be studying it…musing over it. He was silent for a long while, a bit too long for Dael's tastes. It made her a bit uncomfortable. She had thought this sort of thing might be a moment of pride, but now she wasn't sure if she should be more like a child who had been caught in a misdeed. Had she known what would come for it…she might have been more inclined to believe the latter.

However, in the end, Sloane merely gave a nod.

"Very well. The operation is almost over, lieutenant, and you and your unit seem to have done pretty well for one day's work. Return to base with us so that you can get treated. You may present your mission report upon arrival and you can be formally debriefed."

Dael nodded in response. "Yes sir."

Sloane nodded back, and began to turn away. However, as he did, he gave pause momentarily. He looked back to the body, staring at it for a moment. Again, he seemed to show some sign of intrigue. Finally, he looked up to his own unit.

"As soon as we get back, request a investigation team to come back here. I want this area documented for purposes of evaluating the mission results."

* * *

><p>"Wow, Dael! I still can't believe it! I mean…phew!"<p>

Dael sighed as she dumped some more water from the cooler tanker over her head. She used it to wash a bit more of the dirt, sweat and grime from it. She made sure not to get her fresh dressings wet, but it wasn't too much of a concern. After all, she only had scratches at the worst. She didn't even need stitches for any of them. Her uniform would need replacing…but that was all. She was just glad the Tyrant Lizard hadn't trampled her spare shells. They were too expensive.

The young woman sighed. "Quaren…we may have been debriefed at this point, but we're still in the middle of a closing operation. Do we have to talk to each other so informally?"

The two were back at the same "base camp" where Dael had initially arrived. Things were wrapping up there already. The earlier command tents were being deconstructed, and already only a single communication relay was still in force. The medical tents were still functioning, but there wasn't much there. In fact, aside from Wedge's injuries, the most severe injuries that had been sustained were a few severe burns from a misfired explosive charge. All in all, it had been a very successful, very by-the-book operation…just as Carbuncle had told Dael it would be. The only mishap that had occurred had been due to the Tyrant Lizard arrival, and normally that would have ended in more disaster…but fate had been on their side, it seemed. Wedge himself wasn't even that hurt. Dael had gotten to him just in time. He was a bit beaten and had a broken bone or two, but other than that he'd be back on active duty in no time flat.

"Dael, don't you realize what you've done?" Quaren said enthusiastically. He weapons and armor were gone, and he was left with his combat uniform as he walked up to Dael's side as she continued to rinse herself off. "You killed a Tyrant Lizard! Do you realize how insane that sounds? That's like saying, 'You killed a Master Tonberry!'"

"That's a bit of a stretch…" Dael idly responded. "Those things are far worse than Tyrant Lizards."

"Same difference…namely in that no one person has ever done it before!" Quaren answered. "I mean…this is amazing! I knew you gained some power from that junction, but I had no idea you could do that! And not only that…you used magic! Real magic, Dael! Only the Order of Hyne uses magic! How in the world did you manage to do that?"

"What? Didn't know that was yet another fringe benefit of being junctioned to me?"

Dael went a bit wide-eyed, but then turned her head in surprise. Abruptly, Carbuncle was crawling up her back and onto her right shoulder, soon stepping over it and coming to a rest on top of it, folding his paws in front of him and looking out casually. Quaren, however, was far worse. He actually leapt back a bit. Even after his initial shock, he continued to stare at Carbuncle a bit nervously and hesitantly. Despite the fact Carbuncle looked about as intimidating as a Nutkin, he knew he was a Guardian Force, and so he had no idea if he might sprout seven heads or rain fire down on him or what in the next few moments. Dael herself was rather shocked at the sudden appearance, but then calmed as she sighed and groaned.

"…Don't do that." She spoke sternly.

"Well hello to you too." Carbuncle grumbled in response.

"I thought you said you weren't coming to the operation." Dael answered a bit flatly. "Now that you're here, people may think I snuck a pet along against regulation."

"Well, you'll just have to set them straight, won't you?" Carbuncle simply responded. "And you better, because I'm not now, nor will I ever be, your pet." He got a bit more "comfortable" on Dael's shoulder. "By the way…thanks for not calling me out at the first sign of trouble."

Dael snorted a bit. "What would you have done? Got stuck between the toes of that Tyrant Lizard?"

Carbuncle's small button eyes narrowed. "I'll have you know I've fought things bigger and nastier than that…but, for the record, supporting roles are my forte. I could have lessened its impact a bit. But it seems I wasn't entirely necessary…" He looked around a bit at that…and soon spotted Quaren. The private was still staring at him blankly and nervously. After a moment, Carbuncle turned his head a bit.

"What's the matter, kid? Cat got your tongue?"

Quaren blinked a bit, but then shook his head. He seemed to be mentally considering whether or not he should try talking to the Guardian Force.

"Uh…um…" He finally began to stammer. "Just…uh…just…um…just caught off guard, is all."

Carbuncle looked him over a moment, then finally let out a chuckle. "You know…I could kind of get used to this…" He spoke aloud as he turned to Dael. "I'm not used to so many people being in awe of my greatness. Sure, most people go gaga after the 'big' Guardian Forces…but what about ol' Carbuncle? Oh no… 'Aw, look at him!' 'He's simply adorable!' 'I want to pet him!' 'Let's put a bow on his head!'" The Guardian Force gave a strange growling noise. "I'll take your bow and shove it up your-"

"You know…" Dael spoke up, suddenly cutting Carbuncle off. "You never actually told me that I could do magic."

Carbuncle turned to her. "Of course I did. Don't you remember?"

"You said something to that effect…but I assumed I needed to learn it or something…you know, train my body and mind…"

Carbuncle snorted again. "When did I ever say that? You're junctioned to me. I passed on a bit of my powers to you the moment that happened."

However, this only made Dael frown. "Couldn't you have made it more specific earlier? It would have come in a lot more helpful before I was nearly crushed, sliced, clawed, or bitten in two…"

"Stop whining like a donkey." Carbuncle retorted. "Your power came through for you in the end, didn't it? You knew what you had to do when you thought about it, right?"

Dael sighed. "Can you just tell me what other spells I have? I created a barrier…I made images of myself…and I teleported."

Carbuncle paused a moment in response, seeming to think this over. "It's been a while since I've been junctioned to anyone…but there should be only two more. First off, you have to understand magic is different from a physical attack."

"I already knew that."

"Well, then you should know that barrier you made won't do squat against a spell." Carbuncle retorted. "You'll have to call a different spell for that kind of barrier. Finally, there's a third one…one that allows you to bounce magic off of your entirely and send it back at your enemy."

Dael blinked a moment, then shrugged. "So why in the world would I bother with the barrier one?"

"Not so fast." Carbuncle answered. "Not much good to fight a Bomb and have it try to fry you then bounce the fire back at it, is it? You'd only make it stronger. And I mean _any_ spell. That means you'll only teleport your enemy or split him or her into illusions if you try doing it to yourself after casting that spell."

Dael hesitated momentarily, taking this all in. So…it seemed in addition to her increased abilities, she had a repertoire of five spells. None of them involved direct attack, but that was alright by her. Three of them alone had served her well that day. Of course…she was still getting used to the fact that she was using magic in the first place. The enhanced abilities were one thing…but this? For a moment, a "wild" thought entered her mind. She was probably the first Esthar Hawk to kill a Tyrant Lizard by herself…and in addition to that she had these powers. Maybe she was really onto something here…maybe she was on the road to becoming the greatest Esthar's Hawk after all…

However, she snapped out of those thoughts. She went back to reality, and looked back to Carbuncle. "Well…thanks for the head's up."

"No problem." Carbuncle responded. "You can pay me back for it by taking me to a movie."

"Um…er…"

Again, Dael and Carbuncle looked out and found themselves staring at Quaren. He once again seemed tongue tied. He had drawn a bit closer, but now that Carbuncle was looking at him again, he once more froze and almost recoiled. Carbuncle rolled his black button eyes…although it was almost impossible to tell if you weren't experienced…

"What is it now, kid?"

Quaren blinked a moment, and finally reached out and pointed between the two.

"Are you two…uh…always so…informal?"

Both Dael and Carbuncle frowned in unison.

"Why not? We may be junctioned, but she's not the boss of me." Carbuncle snorted in response.

"You think I'd let him tell me what to do?" Dael threw in a bit crossly, almost at the same time.

Quaren gave a shrug in response. "Sorry I-"

The private was abruptly cut off. A loud sound came from reasonably nearby…the sound of gunshots being fired into the air. Five of them rang out. Dael immediately forgot her own irritation, and looked out toward the edge of camp, toward the north. Quaren quickly snapped around and looked as well. Carbuncle perked his own head up at it.

"What was that?" Dael called. "Did some Saurons rush on the camp?"

"Not likely…" Quaren answered. "Those were rifle shots, and they weren't fired in series. I think they might have been warning shots…"

Dael creased her brow. "Warning shots? About what?"

Quaren paused a moment, but then turned slightly to Dael. "Let's go find out." Without another word, he turned and began to run forward, toward the source of the noise.

Dael groaned. Quaren wasn't even armed. She held out a hand to him and nearly told him to stop, but then she soon sighed when she realized it was useless. She held a bit longer, seeming to consider staying or going. But then, giving another groan, she took off in a run after him. She was feeling much better now, and so it didn't take her any time at all to catch up with Quaren.

However, she was a bit uncomfortable when Carbuncle dug his claws into her clothing and skin in order to maintain his position on her as she ran. In fact, after being jostled a bit, he complained.

"Hey! You trying to shake me off, or something?"

Dael frowned and looked to him. "You could get off and run alongside, you know."

"What? And get all dusty?" He responded. "I'd spend the rest of the day cleaning my fur off!"

Dael sighed and looked forward again, continuing to run and trying to put Carbuncle out of her mind as she did so.

The temporary base of operations wasn't all that long, especially since it was in the middle of being deconstructed. Dael and Quaren only ran about the length of a football field and crossed around one tent when they began to see something on the distance. A line of about ten of Esthar's Hawks had formed, with what looked like Captain Vesver in the lead. Four of the Hawks had rifles, and had them currently loaded and were at the ready. However, they weren't aiming at anything yet. As for the captain, he had a megaphone amplifier at the moment and had it at his mouth.

_"You are in violation of border regulations between Fuliet and Esthar. Turn around and leave at once."_

While still running forward, Dael heard a few yells in response. From a distance, she saw one of the Hawks shift position, as if something had gotten thrown at them. Soon after, another did the same. In response, the Hawks with rifles turned their weapons down and fired again. This was a "Class II Warning Shot", Dael soon recognized. The first one was clearly in the air, but a second one would be fired close to grazing range, sailing just over the heads of whoever they were trying to scare. Dael herself knew procedure…the next shot would be for a kill. And based on the argument, she realized they weren't trying to scare off monsters. She had a good idea of what they _were_ trying to scare off…

_"Turn back immediately."_ The voice called. _"This is your last warning."_

A stream of babbling language became audible at that point, and that confirmed it beyond any doubt. Just up ahead, Quaren finally ground to a halt and watched. Dael soon ran up to him and stopped as well. Both looked forward to see the full situation.

Standing about twenty feet from the perimeter of the temporarily base of operations stood a group of about forty people. They seemed to practically be savages, the way they were dressed. They were clad in stitched-together bits of monster hides, either thick leather or light desert fur, and almost all of them were decorated with bones and ornamentation of the native style, forming bead arrays, earrings, arid region colors, or other distinctive markings. They were decked out with war paint, and a few of them had injuries of various ages. All of the wounds looked like they had been inflicted by animals or monsters. They were a powerful set of people…the men and women alike tight with muscle, their skin roughed up by constant exposure to elements and hardship, their faces fierce, and their eyes burning. One in the lead was yelling out at Vesver with a string of babbling half-language words. He held a spear made from Tyrant Lizard bone in his hand, decorated with colors and feathers, and waved it continuously and menacingly in the air as he spoke.

Despite their rough looks, the group did look rather different. Some had distinctive looks different from the others. Some of them preferred some colors over others. Some dressed exclusively in the hides of one animal, while others picked a different type. The only true thing they all had in common was a fierce look in their eyes, rife with anger and rage. One warrior to the leader's right gave a constant sneer at the Esthar's Hawks. He had an arrow knocked, and it was obvious he was one of the ones who fired. He was a dark-looking man, his hair wild and black, and dressed in scales of some of the local reptiles. At his other side stood someone who surprised Dael a bit. It was a young woman, who almost looked out of place among the warriors. However, her look was just as ferocious as the others if not more so, and her skin was covered with scars to show she had seen, and lived through, her share of battle. Most surprisingly of all, she held a large axe that was nearly the size of her, but she seemed to wield it with ease. She had a cowl from some sort of fierce desert wolf pulled partially over her head, and her teeth gnashed almost like one would.

Dael knew who these had to be, but before she could even think it, Quaren quietly announced it.

"The Nine Winds of the North." He remarked. He let out a sigh. "Just great…this operation would just have to have taken place while they were in the area…"

Although there was no unified government in Fuliet, the area did have one thing that all tribes agreed on, and that was a warrior council of members that joined together to combat threats both from abroad as well as from things such as Northern Rancor…basically threats that no one tribe could hope to combat on their own. It wasn't much, and Dael knew from experience that the moment the larger threat was gone, the warriors she saw standing united against her right now would turn on each other and try to cut out each other's hearts again. However, for now, they were one. It was the closest thing to a universal law in Fuliet that one could come to. No doubt, they had been convened for some weeks now, united against the monster populations. At the moment, however, they were venting their full fury on Esthar's Hawks.

"I wonder what got them upset…" Dael finally remarked. "We're doing their job for them."

Carbuncle let out a groan on hearing that. "_Sure_ you did…" He sighed.

Dael turned to him in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"It's just like you typical humans to never be able to see any situation in the world from any other perspective than your own." He snorted. "Maybe if you use your head for a moment, you'll understand."

Dael frowned back at him, and turned to Quaren. Being stationed to Civil Defense, he would be expected to be familiar with at least some of the tongue that the tribes used. After all, it was likely he would run into some of them. "Can you make out what their leader is saying?" She asked.

Quaren blanched a bit at that. "I…uh…I'm still learning, and his dialect is kind of weird…" He admitted. "I can only get a few scraps. Some about a 'bloody charge'…a bit about 'twelve huts'…a lot about 'dead crops and dry season is near'. He keeps calling the captain and the rest of us things like 'murderers', 'marauders', and the like."

The leader suddenly picked up in volume and smacked his spear end against the ground. After that, he started in another diatribe. Quaren blinked a bit.

"Now…something about 'motherless children'…the 'dying wounded'…I really don't get it all."

Dael merely crossed her arms and snorted. "They need to get back to the border. I don't care how strong they think they are, they're in the middle of an operation that's not yet concluded. They're being foolish if they think those light weapons and armor are going to save them from bullets."

Carbuncle let out an even louder groan. "I don't believe this… Every time I think humans can't get any dumber, one of you comes along and 'builds a better idiot'…"

Dael and Quaren both turned to him. While Quaren was hesitant, Dael gave him a glare. "You know, I'm getting sick of this. If you only came here to insult us, why didn't you just stay home?"

Carbuncle rolled his eyes and looked to Dael.

"Why don't you take my advice and consider things from another perspective? Listen…yeah, you and your little gang of soldiers blew up a bunch of stuff. You went right into the midst of a herd of these monsters and forced them to go charging back up north. You ran the wild beasts off of your property, so to speak. But then what? Where did they go? What did you drive them into?"

Dael paused momentarily, but then simply shrugged. "Fuliet. Where else?"

"'Where else?', she says…" Carbuncle grumbled. He sighed again. "Did you ever stop to think about what was in their path once they crossed back into Fuliet? What they'd be driven into? Let me put it to you a different way… Say you live next door to your neighbor. You're neighbor has a problem with wild dogs, so what does he do? He drives them off into your yard and keeps them out of his, so that the wild dogs run rampant through your yard, digging up your garden, taking dumps on your lawn, and snapping at your children instead of on his property. How would that make you feel?"

Dael paused. Her face, irritated before now, began to relax ever so slightly.

"Getting the idea?" Carbuncle continued. "Only these weren't wild dogs. They were a herd of starving Fuliet Saurons who, in turn, also drove whatever was in front of them forward as well. You put them into a series of semi-nomadic tribes. For all you guys know, they went right into a temporary village and torn it to bits. They probably stampeded food sources, killed livestock, and rushed on a bunch of unarmed villagers in a huge hoard. And now, the monsters that were in _your_ country are running around in _theirs, _forcing them to shed more sweat, blood, and tears to get rid of them. How calm do you think you'd be if they did that to you? Heck…you're a big, organized country. You'd probably declare a military action on them. But because they're just a bunch of loosely organized tribes, they can't do anything about it other than stand at the border and scream at you angrily."

Dael hesitated. These words made sense. Much as she hated to ever admit the Guardian Force was right, but especially now…she realized he had a pretty good point. She didn't show it, but what he said sank deep within her. Quaren, however, was a different matter. His own face fell a bit, and he actually bowed his head.

"That…that actually sounds about right…" He admitted. "Sure, we got them out of our country…but we pretty much shoved them onto someone else…" He paused, and then gave a shrug. "You know…the worst they could have done was keep people from going out in the countryside. The barriers would have kept them out of the city proper…"

However, on hearing this, Dael snapped out of it. Her face became firm again, and she looked to Quaren.

"Private…that's enough."

Quaren looked up in a bit of surprise, and Carbuncle himself looked to Dael in some puzzlement at that. However, the lieutenant stared firmly back.

"Dael…"

"We received a mission to do and we carried it out." Dael flatly stated. "The number one priority of Esthar's Hawks is the safety of its citizens before the safety of other nations, especially barbaric ones. The code of the Esthar's Hawks is absolute…"

She paused a moment here, but then stated more firmly.

"We learned it back in the Academy, Quaren. If 1,000 have to die to save the life of one Esthar citizen, then the thousand die. That's the code of a soldier, and it's the same no matter what nation you go to."

Quaren was actually taken aback a bit. He looked a bit tense. He bowed his head slightly.

"Am I incorrect, private?" Dael continued, wanting an answer. "Didn't they tell us that?"

"Well…yeah…" Quaren responded. "But…but I thought that…you know…it would never come to that…or that this would be a war-type thing to keep in mind rather than something like this…"

"Now you know better." Dael simply answered. "Besides, it's not for us to question the validity of this move. Obviously, our leaders thought it was a more serious situation to let the Fuliet Saurons remain on Esthar territory and thought the problem was better handled by the people on Fuliet. And for all extensive purposes, the monsters did arise on Fuliet. We merely sent them back."

Quaren continued to look uneasy. He didn't respond right away. In the end, all he offered was a nervous head scratching. "I…I guess so."

Dael sighed inwardly on hearing that. However, on the outside, her face remained firm as she narrowed her gaze on Quaren.

"…You better change your attitude, Quaren. You don't need to be doubting yourself when we get into a battle. You know as well as I do that if you do, that gives the enemy an advantage. Just remember your mission and carry it out, no questions asked."

Quaren held a bit longer, but then finally managed to put his arms down. He looked up a bit, but still couldn't fully meet Dael's gaze. "…Yes sir."

Dael thought of pressing him for more than that. She wanted to hear the resolve in his voice. As far as she was concerned, what was even higher priority than the needs of Esthar was the needs of people in her command. She didn't care how Quaren felt. If this sort of thing would cause him hesitation at a critical moment, it needed to be driven out of him now and fast. However, she supposed that was all she could expect from Quaren at the moment. And so, she merely nodded back.

She soon heard a loud snort next to her right ear.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same…" Carbuncle grumbled. "…Let me guess, it made it easier to say your little speech after you called them 'barbaric', didn't it?"

Dael didn't say anything in response to the Guardian Force. However…neither did she shoot him a dirty look.

The leader, meanwhile, finally finished. When he did, Vesver paused momentarily, but then began to speak out in the same tongue, although he was much more measured in tone and slower paced. Quaren looked up a bit at that, seeming to come out of his own state. When he did, Dael looked to him.

"Can you tell what he's saying?"

"He's a bit easier, since he doesn't have an accent and he's speaking so calmly and clearly…" Quaren answered. "I still can't get all of it, but I can understand a lot more. He's basically saying that the Senate decided that the threat was too great to ignore and that they were forced into action. He's saying that they should talk with the Senate or present a complaint there, that we're just carrying out orders. He's also offering to hunt the Fuliet Saurons if they'll give clearance for an operation into the Fuliet region…"

Quaren abruptly was cut off. Vesver was still talking when the leader turned red as a beat. He suddenly stormed forward, along with the young woman at his side. Both looked positively infuriated. However, the archer quickly reached out and pushed them back. They soon began to yell at each other.

"Now what?" Dael asked. "What did he say?"

Quaren blinked in confusion as well. "Nothing…he said just what I told you he said…"

"Still don't get it, do you, you two?" Carbuncle answered with a sigh. "I've only been hanging around the modern world for a couple weeks and I know more about this than you two. Can't you realize they've heard this all before? These guys are a bunch of loose tribes. You yourself called them barbaric. Do you really think that even if they could align for a 'formal complaint', that your Senate would listen to them? They'd lose everything in bureaucracy!"

Dael frowned and looked to him. "I'm getting a little tired of you nay-saying Esthar. They're the ones who keep waging war on each other on a monthly basis…the ones who run into town and slice open the bellies of pregnant women to ensure not a single male is left…the ones who nurse grudges because their ancestors told them too…"

"Besides," Quaren threw in. "We just offered to help them out. And this isn't the first time we've-"

"You wouldn't understand because your nation is so great." Carbuncle cut off. "Even after this depression, you still have a great economy, peace within your borders, lots of wealth, the latest weapons and technology… You're admired and loved and everyone trades with you and a lot of people have to get your clearance to carry anything out. You've got everything. What does some nation like Fuliet have? Nothing but self-respect. And your captain over there just insulted them."

Dael kept her frown. "Respect isn't worth that much if your people are getting slaughtered by monsters that you can't repel and you're living in squalor."

Carbuncle turned his head to her.

"…One of these days, you just might find Esthar in a similar situation. Then you can talk about the value of self-respect."

Dael didn't answer again. She simply turned her head back forward.

The warriors seethed for a few more moments. However, they finally began to ease up a little. They backed down some. Finally, the leader, still glaring at Vesver, pointed his spear head straight out at him and gave one last yell. He held a moment after that, but then seemed to force himself to turn to the others. He called something toward them, and they, in turn, glared angrily forward for a few moments…all of them seeming to share the same rage…before they turned as well and began to walk back north again.

There was only one who didn't move. The young woman. She glared hatefully and bared her teeth at Vesver. Finally, she began to advance. Immediately, the five gun barrels turned toward her. She didn't seem to care, she kept walking forward. However, before she could get much farther, the archer ran down and seized her roughly by the arm. She wrenched it free, never looking back to him, but he only seized it again and began to speak quickly to her. The young woman finally stopped. She glared on for a bit longer, but then she finally did something. She spat on the ground in Vesver's direction…clearly not close enough to spit in his face. After that, she turned and began to storm back. The archer flanked her as she did, making sure she didn't try anything stupid.

Dael, Quaren, and Carbuncle watched them go for a moment. Soon, they began to vanish behind some of the irregular rocks in the landscape. However, while the last to leave, the young woman and the archer, were still departing, the announcement was given over the loudspeakers.

_"All units…mission complete. Return to your transports and prepare for departure."_

* * *

><p>It was over three and a half hours later when the two met.<p>

Colonel Morrick Regalis leaned back a bit in his office chair within Fort Morningstar. It was a simple office, for the most part…showing many things that were streamlined and metallic. A man of his rank could have chosen to decorate it however he wished, but being a pure military man, he had no love of fine furnishings. The most colorful part of the room was the twin banners that hung on either side of the window in the back of the office, looking out toward the horizon. They bore the emblems of Esthar's Hawks, namely the emblem of a hawk itself along with blue and gold colors. His desk contained only the essentials and nothing fancy. The bins stood out that contained paperwork to look over, but there was no attractive lamp or pen stands or the like. He was still in full uniform from earlier, and was leaning back a bit in his chair with his hands folded.

Seated in front of him, now in official dress uniform and rather cleaned up following the operation, was Captain Sloane. He sat more upright than the colonel. After all, he was a lower-ranked officer. However, he also had just a slight enthusiasm about him that almost seemed unbecoming of an officer.

"…You're absolutely certain." Regalis stated, his voice sounding a bit hesitant.

Sloane, however, gave a nod. "Beyond any doubt. Apparently, Lieutenant Dael can do more than ace simulations. Even if she hadn't had this junctioning power, she handled herself on the battlefield incredibly well for her first mission. The only reason she sustained any casualties among her unit at all was because of recklessness by Private Wedge, who will, of course, be reprimanded."

Regalis leaned back a bit more. "Private Wedge isn't who I'm interested in. Are you certain they didn't exaggerate? Are you certain the Tyrant Lizard wasn't already wounded?"

Sloane actually risked a half smile. "The results speak for themselves, colonel. At least half of those Sauron bodies were sliced in two. There is no way Wedge could have done it and all four of them confirm it was Dael. By virtue of that alone, that makes her the only one who would have stood a chance against the Tyrant Lizard. It's true that we haven't investigated the body enough to properly determine maladies…but you know as well as I do that such a thing is a formality. If anything, they grow deadlier when they're hurt."

Regalis paused momentarily, giving a nod to acknowledge that he heard this. After doing so, however, he swiveled his chair around to face the window. Slowly, he pushed himself up from the chair and walked out to it. As he reached it, he folded his hands behind him.

"This is interesting, captain." He mentioned aloud. "We've known that the Children of Hyne practiced junctioning for years, but we've only ever known their capabilities from what they've told us, essentially. I hadn't the slightest idea that it made them this powerful."

"Sir, with all due respect…this might be a twist of fate in our favor." Sloane persisted. "The circumstances were loathsome, to be sure, but Lieutenant Dael's junctioning finally gives us a sort of 'meter stick' to assess just what the Children of Hyne are capable of."

Regalis paused momentarily, but then let out an exhale.

"It's not Children of Hyne that I'm worried about. You know as well as I do that they wouldn't throw a gas grenade down a city street for fear of harming a stray cat." Regalis finally answered. "And even if they did, it's not my place to determine my enemies. Colonel or no, I, like all of Esthar's Hawks, are soldiers. We do as we're told…nothing more. Our enemies are preset for us by the Senate. I'm more concerned about what will happen regarding this Sybenia situation…"

This made Sloane stiffen a bit.

"May I ask something, sir?"

Regalis didn't turn, but nodded. "You may."

"What exactly _is_ the Sybenia situation?"

Regalis let out a heavy sigh.

"…The Senate of Esthar once again submitted a statement throwing full support behind Prime Minister Indius to succeed Roz Heirarch."

"…Permission to speak frankly, sir."

"Granted."

Sloane frowned. "People like Indius are the reason that country suffered as much as it did for so long. The man is a butcher."

"No more so than Roz." Regalis simply responded. "It was just a question of what type of 'meat' suits their fancy."

"Three massacres under his regime, sir…"

"Indeed. Very public." Regalis answered dully. "Nowadays, it's much nicer. All the people who 'disappear' do so quietly and without any media attention…"

"If we throw our support behind Indius, colonel, they'll consider us just as bad as him. We might as well condemn every good thing Roz has done for that country."

Regalis bowed his head and let out another sigh. "There's an old saying regarding people like Indius, captain… 'He may be a son-of-a-bitch, but he's _our_ son-of-a-bitch.' At least we know Indius will be content to stay in power only by letting his own people starve and rot. Rozan would do it by making examples of others. And according to the latest intelligence…it's not out of the realm of possibility that he would include Esthar on that list."

This actually made the captain pause, and give just a hint of a swallow. Regalis, meanwhile, looked up.

"…The time may be coming where we can't just sit around expecting great things from people like Lieutenant Dael. We're going to have to start _demanding_ them. If everything you said is true, then we're going to have to start calling on her more directly. There are some things in the world that we can only count on someone like her to carry out…"

Sloane stared back momentarily. However, Regalis only held a moment. He turned back to him soon after.

"…Sorry about that." He stated after a moment. "This is getting to be a dangerous time…and we can't afford to many loose lips. Thank you for your report, captain. I solemnly assure you that it will be kept under advisement."

Sloane rose to his feet immediately, realizing that business had been concluded. Immediately, he gave a salute to him. "Yes sir."

"You are dismissed."

Sloane saluted once more, then turned and marched out the way he came. Within moment, Regalis' door was opened and shut again, and the colonel was alone in his office, staring out the way that Sloane had gone.

Regalis stared a bit longer, but then slowly turned back to the window. He stared out of it at the horizon once again, his mind turning over will all sorts of new thoughts. He didn't move away from it again for a good hour.

* * *

><p>As soon as the young man stepped out, the librarian gave him a smile, before turning to the doors. Pulling them to, she locked them once again, before turning back to him.<p>

"So nice to see our young people taking an interest in reading… I was beginning to be afraid that books would be replaced by technology…" She mused aloud as she looked at the young man. She smiled a bit wider. "I take it I'll see you here again tomorrow, bright and early?"

He nodded.

"Alright then…just not too early, mind you. There is a rule against loitering."

He nodded again in response. "Thank you."

"Oh, don't thank me. It's a public library. Town budgets might be low, but I'll keep it open as long as I can. Still…nice to see young people like you still have a use for it."

"…I'm not too good with those…computers."

The library let out a small laugh. "Same here, young man. Take care."

He nodded in response, and then turned and began to walk away. He made more progress today. Still not as far as he wished, but he wasn't giving up. He was getting the hang of the written language more by the day. Soon there wouldn't be a resource off limits to him. Still, he hadn't yet found what he was most interested in…but he knew he had to give it time. For now…he was done for the day, and he had to practice patience in that regard. It was time to find something to eat, and them some place to sleep.

As he descended the stairs, one thought went through his mind…

_I know you're here… Impossible as it is, you're here. I need to find you…but where…?_

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	5. Doubts and Suspicion

_Three Days Later_

* * *

><p>Dael tried increasing her speed again. She had been at this for thirty minutes and was only lightly sweating. That was a down side to all this new power…it was harder to get a workout. Her standard running wasn't doing enough. She had to maintain a faster speed. Unfortunately, that attracted a few stares. As she ran a ring around the indoor running track within Fort Morningstar, many of the other soldiers paused and stared at her, noticing how she was going as fast as a sprinter without tiring as she ran around the track again and again. And, of course, as a result of doing that, the people who stared at her would soon recognize her as the "new celebrity"…the Esthar's Hawk who had slain a Tyrant Lizard single-handedly. Truth be told, Dael had thought that having more renown status would be a good thing…and had secretly wanted it. But if it meant being gawked at wherever she went, whether it be the exercise area, the training rooms, the mess hall, the showers, or even just passing through the hall, they could have it, for all she cared.<p>

_Plus…_ She thought with a groan. _It doesn't help that my "pet" insisted on coming along…_

"You know, you could just run outside if you didn't like attracting all those stares…" Carbuncle commented as he lay across Dael's shoulders, curled around them like some sort of stole. "I can't stand being cooped inside all the time anyway…"

"You can step out whenever you want." Dael answered back in between breaths as she kept running. Subconsciously…she ran with an intent to get him to fall off. "I thought you didn't have to hang around me if you didn't want?"

"Either I get cooped up in my cave or cooped up in your room. I want some excitement."

"Well, tough." Dael answered as she kept running. "I'm not allowed off base. That's why we have the facilities indoors."

"Ugh…you humans really know how to take all the joys of life and just suck them dry, don't you?" Carbuncle griped. "Is that why you don't have any liquor on this base?"

Dael snapped to him in a bit of surprise, nearly stumbling in midstep. "Wh-what?"

"You know. Booze. Hooch. Spirits. Heck, even moonshine. I've never been in a base so incredibly dry. It's like a monastery. I thought that at least the officers would keep a private stash…"

Dael glared at him. "Even if we could, I would never keep liquor in my room!"

"Well, of course _you_ wouldn't…" Carbuncle answered with an idle sigh. "But I expected some of the captains or commanders to have some…but every last one of them came up empty. What a buzz kill."

Dael was even more shocked, nearly coming to a halt as she forgot about the run.

"You broke into officer rooms?" She called out in a harsh whisper, barely remembering to drop her volume in time.

"What's the big deal?" Carbuncle answered, shrugging his paws. "It's not like they could have caught me in the act. Teleporter, remember?"

"Are you trying to get me kicked out of Esthar's Hawks?" Dael fumed, again in her loud whisper. "You broke just about ten regulations doing that!"

"So what? It's not like you did it. And they can't kick me out of Esthar's Hawks. I'm not even one of them." Carbuncle answered with another shrug.

Dael rolled her eyes and looked forward, struggling to run again. It was bad enough that so many people were staring at her due to Carbuncle being there. Unfortunately, most of the Hawks were still getting used to him being around, and even if they were used to his appearance, the fact that he could actually talk was enough to surprise more people. She had to downplay that as much as possible.

"They still think of you being under me… Practically anything you do is attributed to me." Dael answered, a bit calmer but still quite annoyed.

"You'll just have to set them straight, won't you?" Carbuncle answered…now sounding a bit annoyed himself. "How many times do we have to go over this? I'm not your pet. I'm insulted to think that people see me that way."

Dael grumbled a bit. She muttered something under her breath.

"What was that? I didn't hear." Carbuncle answered.

Dael groaned. "I said, 'If you were my pet, I would have had you snipped by now.'"

"…You ever _think_ about trying that, you'll wish that Tyrant Lizard had eaten you." Carbuncle growled in response.

Dael had to work hard not to smile in response as she kept running around the track. She completed another half lap before she spoke again, more calmly this time. "So…I was thinking back to what you said at the end of that mission. I can summon you?"

Carbuncle grumbled incoherently in response.

"…Excuse me?"

The Guardian Force sighed. Apparently, he was rather miffed after that one comment. His tone was a bit terse and cross. "…Yes, you can summon me. I'm not much good though. The best I can do is repel things off of you, and then only magical attacks."

Dael mused over that momentarily, then shrugged a bit…which actually shifted Carbuncle around a little. "It shouldn't be an issue, then. The only ones who actually use magic in any true capacity are members of the Order of Hyne, and they're neutral in all regards."

"You never know…" Carbuncle mused aloud, calming down a bit more as he said so. "All sorts of stuff could happen. Expect the unexpected…and all that."

Dael sighed a bit as she kept running. "Not much to expect now. It hasn't been long since that mission. Considering the lag before, I'll probably end up waiting another month or so before I get my next-"

Dael was cut off as the loudspeaker suddenly blared.

_"Lieutenant Dael Levinson, report to the Briefing Room."_

Now, Dael really did stop more or less cold in her tracks. Her face actually registered a bit of surprise. Had she just heard that correctly? Another mission already? Truth be told, this was the sort of thing she had been hoping for…but it was a bit of a shock none the less. Carbuncle, however, let out a bit of a chuckle.

"What did I tell you? Expect the unexpected. Looks like you won't have much of a chance to get bored?"

Dael paused a bit longer. However, in the end, she shook her head, exhaled a bit, and began to run on the track again. This time it was to get to the exit doors. In truth, she felt more than physically capable. Her strength was fully restored, and her advanced healing was still in play. Though the operation had been a mere three days ago, her scratches were already completely gone. Not a sign that they had ever been there. Still, she was a bit surprised she was going into action again already. However, she frowned and shook her head.

"Probably another combat mission like before…" She remarked. "Northern Rancor isn't quite over yet."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, if I were you." Carbuncle answered. "After all, you pretty much showed what you could and couldn't do back in that first mission. And check it out…they didn't ask for a group this time. They're requesting you personally. Looks like you're finally going out on a mission in your expertise."

Dael paused. She considered that for a moment, and admitted it made sense. But as she reached the doors and they slid open for her, she merely kept her gaze forward.

"…We'll see."

* * *

><p>When told to report in this sort of situation, Dael was expected to report only after cleaning herself up. Luckily, years of being in a military situation left her able to do so in a hurry. In fifteen minutes flat, she had already showered and dressed herself in her official uniform. She decided to skip out on grabbing her weapons to speed things up a bit more. Technically, she felt she was alright so long as she didn't get called again, and she didn't. Despite the fact that she had been indisposed, she crossed under the threshold of the Briefing Room before her CO had arrived.<p>

Moving into the room for only the second time as a full-fledged Esthar's Hawk, Dael immediately noticed the difference. There wasn't the crowd in there like last time. She at first was a bit puzzled…thinking she alone had been called in there. In such a case, the Briefing Room wasn't truly necessary. Yet as she moved through the aisles and went to the front, she noticed she wasn't alone. Three other of Esthar's Hawks were already present, also in full uniform and looking at the ready. She frowned a bit when she realized she wasn't the first one there…but she let it slide. After all, she had heard no further announcements. These three were probably summoned before she had a chance to get there.

Dael soon moved to the front. Carbuncle was with her, much as last time, although he moved on the floor and didn't ride her on the way in. As she came to the front and took one of the empty seats, Carbuncle quickly leapt into the adjacent one as well. All three officers that were already there looked hard and firm. They were all a bit older than Dael and had pins showing more experience, while Dael herself only had the one from her last operation. They all seemed very focused and dedicated to their position. However…it was impossible, as usual, for them to keep from casting a glance at Carbuncle as they arrived. In truth, Dael actually liked that a bit. It "broke the ice", so to speak, and enabled her to be more equivalent to their level in terms of dedication and focusing on the mission. Furthermore…it gave her a chance to look them over.

She soon felt a ripple move through her as she did. These were no privates or Civil Defense members…the other three officers there were all lieutenants like her, and each one of them was in International Affairs. With just enough people here for one unit, and all of them being ranked on the same level of expertise, Dael realized that Carbuncle was right. This was indeed a mission specifically for her specification. A bona fide, "real" mission.

As a result, she felt herself tense up a bit as she eased into her seat, and tried to keep from shifting too much or twisting in her chair. She realized she was going on a real mission now… There was a good reason International Affairs received so few new recruits every year. Out of every sphere of influence that Esthar's Hawks operated in, International Affairs had the lowest margin for error. Whatever took place in them made or broke treaties, agreements…possibly even peace accords. Wars could begin or end here. Failure was never an option. And now that the contents of the room confirmed exactly what was going on, Dael couldn't help but feel her stomach turn a bit. No more simulations…this was the real thing.

It didn't help Dael's tension one bit that she had to wait an extra ten minutes for her CO. She struggled to look as official, calm, and normal as the others. Carbuncle, mercifully, held his tongue. He didn't say anything to distract her or gain her attention. In the end, in an attempt to keep herself calm, she struggled to recite code of Esthar's Hawks mentally, just to keep her mind on something…

Finally, however, the doors slid open again behind her. She nearly let out a sigh of relief, grateful for the break in the tension. She managed to relax a bit even as she stood up and at attention along with the others. Moments later, the CO walked past her and the others and went for the podium. As he approached, the holographic display ignited again, firing to life. At first, it only showed a graphic of the symbol for Esthar's Hawks. She knew that would change once the briefing started. However, as the CO turned around to face them…she gained another surprise. It was Colonel Regalis.

Before, it hadn't been so bad. There had been dozens of them, after all. Getting briefed in that manner was nothing terrible. It was more direct for the highest officer to address them. But the fact that they were a small group made a different. A commanding officer could take care of that. The fact that Regalis was doing it only meant one thing…he _was_ the commanding officer. And there were very few missions that the colonel ever "dirtied his hands with". If he was actually doing something, that meant it was something big… Despite the fact the briefing was already starting, Dael felt herself grow more tense than before.

As before, Regalis stood straight and tall at the podium, and gestured to them. "At ease."

Dael and the others immediately sat once again.

"The full story hasn't hit the general press yet, so some of you may or may not be aware of the following situation." Regalis began. He pressed a button on the podium, and the graphic to his side changed. Soon, it gave a digital layout of all of the city of Esthar. It didn't stay focused on it long. It soon zoomed into the city. It flashed by a few skyscrapers before it finally arrived at one in particular, and focused on it. Dael saw it, and immediately recognized it. Regardless, the colonel began to explain.

"For those of you who don't know, this is the Gordian Vault." He proceeded to explain. "The most advanced, secure facility on the face of the planet…implementing all of the greatest security checkpoints and countermeasures known to man. This is where all classified information for the nation of Esthar is stored, including all of the most top secret files of Esthar's Hawks. In addition, prototypes and original copies for the most advanced technology we possess, both patented commercial as well as military, is stored there. Any intel is entered there…all clearance for our most powerful weapons must come through there. If there's a think tank or research group that is working on something new, or databases that no one else needs to see…it goes through there. You get the idea, no doubt."

Regalis inhaled deeply afterward, folding his arms behind him.

"Only two days ago…there was an attempted break-in." He spoke more darkly. "Although the intruders were stopped and eliminated, they got rather far…all the way to the final security checkpoint and they actually managed to lift some materials from the Gordian Vault. The materials were some of the most potent magical weapons on the face of Gaia. Namely…the remaining Guardian Force essences."

The officers shifted weight a bit on hearing that. However, out of the corner of her eye, Dael saw Carbuncle perk up his head and stare forward, where until now he had just been lying idly on the chair seat. His full attention seemed to be gathered. Dael herself tightened up a bit. She didn't know exactly what those things were, but there wasn't a trainee at the Academy that didn't go through the history of Esthar's Hawks and didn't know at least something about them. Apparently, the Guardian Forces hadn't always been the way they were now. Somehow they came into the world through the essences. There were only so many essences in the world, and supposedly Esthar had acquired the last of them some time in the past hundred years. They were indeed powerful magical weapons…each one representing the ability of bringing forth a new Guardian Force. And Dael, now junctioned to one herself, had a whole new appreciation for that fact…realizing just what it meant.

"Naturally, with the world being in its current state, we are led to believe someone is trying to enhance their military power." Regalis continued. "However, that is merely supposition at the moment and not based on any facts. After two days of investigation, our team has turned up very little. The group that made the infiltration covered their tracks extremely well, as no doubt was their intention. It is known internationally that an assault on the Gordian Vault is an act of war against Esthar, so no one is eager to take responsibility. However, Esthar's Hawks are not taking this lightly by any means. At least half of the information and technology stored in the Gordian Vault is our property, and under our mandate we have been authorized to act without Senate approval to find the culprit. Yet as I said before…we've turned up little. However, we do have one lead thus far…"

The graphic changed. It zoomed out once again, going beyond the city this time and extending back until it showed a good portion of the continent. After doing so, however, it swung over a bit, moving over the ocean. It continued to do so for a short while before it came to a halt on a space in the ocean between continents…namely over several islands with one large island in the midst of it.

Dael recognized it immediately: the Lamb Archipelago. A series of loose, independent islands that had been united under the command of the largest island and seat of power: Lamb itself. In terms of world power, prestige, and talking strength, it had very little. A fairly decent navy and exotic fruits and products were its only claims to fame. But in terms of geography, economy and tactics…the Lamb Archipelago was a crown jewel. It was positioned right in the heart of the Medieval Ocean. It was the ideal place to put a naval base and airfield…a perfect spot to prepare for an invasion…and could easily become a seat of power from where one could dominate the entire Medieval Ocean in a time of war. In the past three wars involving the region, the victors had all commanded the Lamb Archipelago. Victory was considered impossible without it. The other side would be at too much of a disadvantage.

Unfortunately, this was a fact that the people of the Archipelago were well familiar with, especially the government heads. They had just enough of a "home field" advantage and a navy to create problems for anyone who tried to take it by force in a time of war. And between attacks by the Lamb Archipelago and their opponents, no one could hope to seize the nation by power. They always had to rely on bargaining and diplomacy, and the leaders of the Lamb Archipelago always made sure the price was steep. In the end, it was probably a fair trade…the buyer won the war, and the seller was compensated for whatever damages occurred in the process. But that didn't make it any more irritating, especially to someone like Dael.

The graphic froze on the Lamb Archipelago. A moment later, a new graphic popped up. This one showed a face…one that Dael was all too familiar with. It was Boss Capulluno, current head of the democracy of the Lamb Archipelago. Basically, he served the same position any head executive would, including signing off on all major decisions and acting as its chief diplomat. However, as his somewhat fat, balding face appeared on the screen with nothing but that traditional bandanna tied around his head for a covering…Dael suppressed a sneer.

Capulluno didn't cause trouble directly, but that didn't mean he hadn't made his share of it, nor did it mean he hadn't "kicked people when they were down" during the Depression. The most important part of the Lamb Archipelago was the fact that it served as a transit lane for passing ships. Everyone who went between the two continents went through it. Why? Despite their flimsy defenses and their only decent navy, they had enough power in their native waters to keep the zone absolutely pirate free…as opposed to the southern route near Leuco, which was rife with them. At least 45% of the government's revenue came from the transit costs and tolls. Everyone went through there rather than risk the more dangerous road. That was…until Boss Capulluno came along.

Capulluno was a greedy man, and everyone knew it. As soon as he came to power in the Lamb Archipelago, transit rates for passing through them went up 30%. That was during the height of the Depression to boot. Companies were stunned and overwhelmed at the hike in rates, but could do little about it. Despite the fact that they were almost bled dry by the raise in rates, it was either that or risk going south through the pirate zones. Doing so would have risked total disaster and costs that couldn't be recovered in the Depression. They had to pay the tolls. As a result…numerous companies went bankrupt because of Capulluno, and Esthar's own budget went into the red just to send diplomacy, transport, and military craft through the Archipelago. He would hike rates two more times before the Depression was over, and the ending price for keeping his country afloat was the ruin of many other budgets and corporations.

He may have gone a bit too far after that. He had made too many people unhappy. Now, the nation of Esthar had supposedly put into effect a secret plan to be able to seize the Lamb Archipelago by force if such demanded it. It wasn't unjustified. After all…there were distinct reports that Sybenia and even Leuco were doing the same. But since it was public knowledge that they were preparing for such a contingency, it was natural that the Lamb Archipelago also knew, and wanted to do something about it. That meant they actually had to spend some more funds on upgrading their navy and military powers. However, until now, Dael had only thought that would include standard munitions. If they were truly after the Guardian Forces, however…

"We have several pieces of evidence that lead us to believe that the attackers made several communications directly to Boss Capulluno of the Lamb Archipelago." Regalis explained. "As a result, the Lamb Archipelago has become the prime suspect in the matter. At the moment, tension is still very low. No one has made any official accusations and the information has not yet been publicized. This operation is going to be the first step in formally confronting the government of the Lamb Archipelago. As of currently, the Senate of Esthar is not putting forth any charges of its own. However, in the regard of a direct attack on the interests of Esthar's Hawks, we are authorized to act with autonomy, and so we shall.

"The mission is fairly straightforward and simple, ladies and gentlemen. As commanding officer for Esthar's Hawks, I am scheduled to personally meet with Boss Capulluno in three day's time to discuss present the evidence and give him an opportunity to explain himself. It should be fairly simple…but it should also be noted that Boss Capulluno has refused to meet with us on our native soil. He'll be having the 'home-field advantage', so to speak. And in such a situation, should relations become strained, there is always the chance that they will not hold up to international treaty to allow any diplomats to leave the island safety. Furthermore, a large force will be turned away on the spot. Therefore, you four are to be personal escorts. Should worse come to worse, you shall also act as bodyguards. There shouldn't likely be any combat involved, but there is a distinct risk of it. As always, I expect you to be on high alert at all times and to perform your duties flawlessly. Any questions?"

This time, Dael didn't speak out. In truth, she was far more 'satisfied' with this. It wasn't something quite as exciting as she hoped, but it was what she hoped her true first mission would be like. This one at least was something very serious. And though 'escort duty' was pretty low on the totem pole, and she had a feeling it would be just as Colonel Regalis said…no combat involved…it didn't mean that there wasn't still a distinct chance of it. And this mission was something of real importance. It wasn't monster clean-up duty…it was a true mission of international affairs concerning something that had impacted Esthar's Hawks. In fact, after having her first mission be so "light", Dael was a bit surprised that she was moving more into the "big leagues".

However, she stayed quiet, and finally Regalis gave a nod.

"You all have one hour to gather your weapons and whatever standard gear you need for a six day journey, and you are to convene at the Rail Station. You will be leaving on Departure #A45 for the southern tip of the continent, and by 0000 hours tonight you are to be on board the transport ship E.H.T. Determinant bound for the Lamb island capitol of the Lamb Archipelago. Our ETA will be one hour prior to negotiations. We shall leave within one hour of their conclusion and return in roughly the same time frame to Fort Morningstar. Is this clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" A small chorus of responses came…Dael's along with them.

Regalis nodded. "Very well. Company dismissed."

* * *

><p><em>20 Hours Later<em>

Dael actually smiled a bit as she felt the wind in her face, blowing back her hair. She was up against the railing of the E.H.T. Determinant at the moment, and she was close to the prow…feeling the spray kick up each time they struck a wave and feeling a bit of moisture strike her. The ship was moving along at a rapid clip, more rapid than most ships were capable of. It had the most advanced engine on the planet, and given the small size of the boat it moved it along quickly. Indeed, the boat practically skimmed along the surface of the ocean except when it hit a wave.

It was fairly early morning still, but the sun had cleared the horizon. It was a bit of a cloudy day and so it was gray tinted as the sun moved behind one. Dael looked out to the east. She knew their course. Rather than risk going into pirate territory, they were staying close to the coast of the Eastern Continent until they got up into the water controlled by the Lamb Archipelago. But in spite of that, they were already so far out to sea that Dael couldn't see the shore line at all, in spite of the fact that the continent was ringed by high, impenetrable cliffs. She only caught a glimpse of land far on the horizon every so often as the ship shot to the north. She turned her head forward again soon after and marveled at the ocean. A strong wind was up, and so it was rippling and full of waves as far as the eye could see. It was amazing. She had never been on the sea before. She never dreamed it would be so vast…so full of power and majesty… She was genuinely awed. Looking at and being on it reminded her of the times she used to go out to the cliffs and look on it. Only now that she was here, it seemed even bigger and more endless than before…

She took in a deep breath of the salty air, and slowly began to exhale…listening to the waves lap against the ship sides, hearing the ocean crash…

And then…being jarred out of those thoughts by a loud wretching.

Dael's half-smile evaporated as she frowned again. Sighing a bit, she looked back down to the deck…just as Carbuncle, his green furry head extended under the railing and over the side of the boat, slowly retracted. He wobbled a bit on his paws as he did so…and his green color seemed a bit greener than before. He wobbled a bit as he turned around and fell on his back, slumping on deck.

"Man, I hate boats…" He grumbled. "You silly creatures learned how to fly centuries ago, and yet you still use them… You don't even know how to properly use the technology you have…"

Dael rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Again…you don't have to be here…"

On hearing that, a bit of life went back into Carbuncle. Despite his weakness, he raised his head and shook it. "Uh uh…I got a personal stake in this one this time. I don't want to miss a thing."

Dael paused momentarily, still remembering the reaction that Carbuncle had earlier. She recalled how the meeting had hardly been dismissed and everyone had risen to leave and prepare when the Guardian Force turned to her and immediately declared that he was coming on this mission. At first, Dael thought little of it. She simply assumed that it meant that he would stay in the room and pop in during the last few hours. However, that was enough. She told him that he couldn't do that here. Running around the base was one thing. Even attending briefings was another. But on a diplomatic mission? It wasn't entirely unheard of for people to not bring "pets" into the chamber if they were eccentric or high-ranking enough, but she was still a minor officer. She didn't want to risk getting in any hot water with the colonel by making a special exception for him.

That, unfortunately, sank it. "If I can't go to the meeting with you," Carbuncle answered. "Then I'm going to be at your side every step of the way leading up to it." Hence, Dael's current predicament.

"I can understand why you feel this way…" Dael continued, back in the present. "But there's nothing much to worry about. The essences were recovered. We're just trying to punish the thieves. At best, there's only going to be talk. At worst, it might get ugly, but we're trained for this sort of situation. In either case, magic won't be involved."

"Just the same, I want to be in on this." Carbuncle answered as he put a paw to his barely-visible mouth, no doubt suppressing another retch. "This is serious stuff. From what I know, we hoped that your species would more or less forget about those essences…that they'd eventually just become some dusty relic that no one cared about. With the penchant you humans have for forgetting old things, we thought that would have happened by now. None of us expected this knowledge to last so long, from what I expected."

"Alright, let's assume the worst would happened, which, again, I note hasn't happened yet." Dael answered. "One of those essences got out. So? Another Guardian Force would come forth. What's the big deal? Someone else gets to choose you to junction to. It's not like there aren't plenty of other Guardian Forces in the world already."

Carbuncle frowned a bit. He glared at Dael. He nearly spoke again…when his cheeks bulged. Eyes widening, he turned around and went for the edge of the boat to throw up again…but at the last moment held it back. He paused for a moment, waiting to see if it was truly a false alarm, but then finally pulled his head back inside and turned around to her.

"I better set this out for you right now…" Carbuncle continued. "Not all Guardian Forces are 'good'. Some of them would as soon rip the heads off of people as allow themselves to be junctioned. For goodness sake…it was only 200 years ago…didn't you ever read about the Guardian Force Diablos?"

Dael paused momentarily in response.

"I think I read something about that being the last sentient monster to wage an attack on humans in general…"

"That's _it?_" Carbuncle shot back incredulously. "That's all your history books can say? After all we went through to stop him! At any rate, you left out the most important part! He was a Guardian Force, not a monster! And he had other Guardian Forces beneath him!" He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Ugh…you're doing it again!"

Dael looked down at him with another frown. "What am I doing again?"

Carbuncle scowled. "Not 'you' you…your whole species! Just once I'd like you to go a millennium without this happening! You forget all about us and then the moment someone remembers our power and tries to use it, all hell breaks loose!" He turned and glared at Dael. "You and your little Esthar's Birds or whatever better get this straight… You may not think much of those essences, but someone sure as hell did. That's why they tried to grab them. You all better pray this investigation turns up something good."

Dael again frowned a bit at Carbuncle's insults, but she didn't find herself getting too mad at him. After all, she personally knew the power of a Guardian Force, even a weak one. And even though powering up individual people didn't seem like much, there was a chance that greater powers could be utilized through them. Until now, her main source of anger regarding this whole mission had been the fact that the Gordian Vault had been breached and its contents nearly stolen. In addition to the near redundant level of security at that installation, there was also the plain and simple fact that it was guarded by high-ranking Civil Defense Hawks. If they got through all that, it was a slap in the face to their military organization.

But now…she began to wonder if she shouldn't be more concerned about those essences… From what she heard, they were under high level security. There was plenty of potentially "damaging" things that could have been stolen that were ignored in favor of these essences at the cost of a greater risk of failure. Maybe, even within the ranks of Esthar's Hawks, the importance was downplayed on purpose…

Dael, however, was again shaken from her thoughts as she heard a heavy clicking on the deck behind her, obviously the sounds of boots moving along it. For a moment, she thought it was another one of the Hawks in her unit for this mission or even Colonel Regalis himself, based on the size. She turned her head slightly behind her, and soon paused. It was neither. Rather…it was something else that had been unsettling her.

Although vehicular training was standard part and parcel for the Esthar's Hawks, they normally weren't counted on to engage in much combat using them. They were for more "infantry-based" movements and operations. For purposes such as transport, as in this situation, Esthar's Senate maintained another archaic, outdated remnant of the old Esthar Navy and had Esthar's Hawks "absorb" it, more or less. The division was now called "Esthar's Hawks Transport". It was a fitting name, as there were no true warships in the minor "fleet"…only ships, planes, and the like that were designed for transport. They had a few minor vehicles with guns and missiles, as had been demonstrated during the last operation, but nothing for launching major assaults…just for clearing landing zones. Nevertheless, the command and crewing of the "larger" transports was mostly autonomous for the job. No special training was needed, and therefore no official Hawks were necessary to crew these transports. As such, the crews also didn't get clearance to most of Esthar's Hawks affairs. In exchange for this, the Hawks, in turn, didn't bother much with intruding in their affairs. They reported directly to the Senate rather than the captains or colonel.

Perhaps it was because she never had a chance to see or interact with the crew that she felt so uncomfortable around them…

At the moment, one of the crew members, with neck-length, somewhat messy blond hair, had walked up to the railing. He wore the uniform of an E.H.T. sea man, and it seemed weather-beaten enough to look like it was old enough to be the real deal. However, Dael noticed a few things about the man as he walked up to the railing, taking a long drag from a cigarette. His skin didn't appear to be as tan as a true sailor. He was well built…but also very toned for being a sailor. Most of all, she noticed that he was completely casual around Carbuncle. He didn't even cast him a glance at any point, even when he talked.

For that matter…half of the crew was the same as this man. While half appeared to be normal sailors, the other half was stoic and quiet…completely reserved…completely focused on their own affairs. In fact, even as Dael watched him, another sailor with shorter hair and a thick beard and mustache, also looking well-built yet fine toned, stepped out and looked to the sailor before motioning his head backward. Taking the signal, the man flicked the butt of his cigarette out into the ocean before turning and moving after him. He met him, and they exchanged a few silent words. The larger man even looked as if he glanced at Dael for a moment suspiciously, before leading them both inside and shutting the door.

Dael frowned a bit more. "I don't like this."

"What's there to like…ulp…?" Carbuncle answered. "Damn boat is rocking, water everywhere, my head is pounding and my guts are in knots…"

The lieutenant sighed. "Not the ride…the crew."

"What about them?"

"Haven't you noticed how they look around? How they're always having private conversations with each other? How they don't even look like sailors?"

Carbuncle grumbled a bit, rubbing his belly uncomfortably. "I'm trying hard not to think too much of anything right now…especially what I had for breakfast…" On saying that, his fur flashed greener again, and he put a paw to his mouth. "Oops…too late." Immediately, he threw his head back over the side and retched once again.

Dael ignored this, staring at the doorway that the two had went inside. A moment later, she began to move again, back down the deck. "…I'm informing the colonel about this. Something's not right here."

Carbuncle looked back to her. "Hey…! Wait up for me! I don't want to try walking on this deck when…ULP!" Before he could say anything else or follow, he turned back over and once again covered the prow with the contents of his stomach.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Dael still hadn't been able to let it go.<p>

Dael didn't mind Carbuncle giving her a tongue lashing not long after what, in his terms, amounted to her "ditching" him. He had tried to follow after her, but the rocking of the ship had caused him to soon splatter the deck with more vomit. The shipmen were rather upset at that, and even the "rougher-looking" ones that caught Dael's attention yelled at him. Dael, on her part, if she had any interest at all, would simply be amazed that the small creature still had so much "stuff" inside him. However, most of her attention was directed ahead to the colonel.

He was in his own private cabin when she arrived and presented her suspicions, citing all the evidence that she had seen. A bit to her annoyance, the colonel was completely calm about the entire thing. He informed her that everything was under control…that each of the sailors had been personally checked and cleared as far as backgrounds were concerned before departing, and were verified by Senate committee before being able to enlist. He further told her to not worry about such things and focus on the task at hand. In a way, Dael thought she had almost been "snubbed". She thought this was a major concern, and, for once, thought that the colonel might be acting foolhardy. After all, they had been nearly compromised once recently…who was to say it wouldn't happen again? She admitted, the idea did seem rather ludicrous…and had she been a full Hawk longer she would have definitely thought that way. The organization was far too hard to get into and too secure. But she still had her doubts…

The rest of the day kept her on edge. Although the cloudy skies parted and the sea calmed, enabling Carbuncle to at least stay in Dael's own cabin and try and "sleep it off", she couldn't keep from looking at the sailors. Her suspicions were soon confirmed…half of the sailors seemed to be your standard sea men, while the other half seemed…special. And she noted that they continued to talk privately with each other, assuming she managed to catch them doing so at all. They seemed to be aware when they were being watched, and when they did they would excuse themselves or go out for another cigarette or the like. They didn't actually seem to be doing much in terms of guiding the ship. Granted, this was only a small transport. The crew was only 12 people in all, which was already fairly excessive. There was only enough room for the captain, the first mate, and the five Esthar's Hawks (including the colonel) to have rooms to themselves. The others crammed in a single room. The bottom line was, there wasn't much to do with a crew of 12 people, especially not on an advanced ship…but still. She nearly reported the matter to the colonel again. She only stopped because she knew the result would be the same.

It was night now. The ship had been going at a fast speed all day, and had made its turn to head toward the waters of the Lamb Archipelago a few hours ago. They'd be there sometime tomorrow afternoon. Dael had retired at pretty much the standard time for a basic soldier, right at sundown so she could be awake at sunup. She was expected to save her strength in this situation. And she did have a peaceful night for once. Carbuncle, worn out from all of his going on earlier, was curled into a ball and resting in the chair within her personal cabin on a spare pillow. However, Dael continued to lie awake as the hours went on. She couldn't stop thinking.

The ship may have been modern, but it was far some sound proof. That was an unnecessary luxury in a tough economic time, and so one could hear moving around and even some muffled voices all night. Dael herself knew she shouldn't, but nevertheless felt herself strain to hear what was happening…almost expecting something to go wrong at any moment and not wanting to be caught off guard if it did. But there was nothing…just the normal noises of the crew moving about. She heard the other officers go to bed as well, but no more from them other than some shifting in the room closest to her head. She sighed. Idly, she turned and looked to the digital clock in her room. Ten minutes had passed since she checked it last…and still she didn't feel like sleeping.

She was glad Carbuncle wasn't awake. Otherwise, he might tell her to lay off. For once, the Guardian Force wasn't suspicious. He told Dael just to go with it and accept the colonel's answer. However, the young woman couldn't relax. She just felt too uneasy… There was something wrong with the sailors, in spite of everything she had been told. Nothing would tell her otherwise…

Nevertheless, Dael had closed her eyes and resigned herself to trying to sleep, when finally something happened.

A rhythmic metallic pounding was heard outside, causing Dael to open her eyes back up. Normally, with all the sounds on the ship, she might have slept through it. However, she was on high alert at the moment, and as mundane as it seemed, this was a real change, the first thing that hinted at the slightest bit of trouble. She turned her head to the direction of her door. It was a sliding, sealing one, so she couldn't see any light outside of it, and didn't know if the hallway was dark or lit up. At any rate, she soon heard a rapping nearby, right on the same wall her door was on. But it wasn't at her door. It was at the one of the officer adjacent to her. Moments later, she heard machinery hum as the door to that cabin opened. After that, she began to hear murmuring. It was subdued and quiet. The only way she could have heard them distinctly from her position would be if they had been shouting, which they weren't.

Dael paused momentarily. She thought of just staying in bed. After all, wasn't she a little young to be eavesdropping? However, she had been upset all day over this, and if anything had changed…she wanted to know about it, if only to know that her thoughts were justified. In the end, moving as quietly as she could…because she knew that they could hear her as easily as she could hear them, she slowly pulled off her covers, turned around, placed her feet on the floor, and stood up. She began to move over to the wall silently. She wanted to rush to it, wanting to not miss any important detail, but she didn't want to signal herself either. Therefore, it took her a bit to get there and press her ear to the wall. The conversation had already gone on quite a bit by then, but she managed to start hearing something…

"You're sure about this?"

"It's on every media radio station in Esthar. I'm assuming it went worldwide before that."

"Isn't that just great…"

"Give me a break. We all knew this would happen eventually."

"We could have been hopeful, right? Everyone in the world was pushing-"

"You know that never would have happened as well as I do."

"…So what now?"

"We carry out the mission, I guess."

"Even now?"

"Sure." By now, Dael began to hear heavy footsteps moving down the hall, getting closer. There had to be another person coming in. "It's our mission, right?"

"Well, even if we do go through this…then-"

Abruptly, the talking stopped. Dael assumed that the arriving person did it, because there was the sound of halting a moment later. Soon after, it was confirmed. As a third voice began to speak, she recognized it as that of Colonel Regalis.

"…I take it you two heard the news."

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir. The lieutenant just reported it to me."

"…He did, did he?" Pause. "Well, lieutenant…let this be the last until the mission is complete."

"…Sir?"

"You heard me. The world-wide news agencies may be plastering it on every headline, but I don't want anyone else here to know about it. As far as we know, no one in the Lamb Archipelago is aware that we know about it either, which is just as I want it. It ensures they don't know that they have any leverage over us, and keeps the other officers focusing on the task at hand. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Both answered at once.

"Good. Return to your cabins for this evening."

The heavy footsteps moved along. The officers didn't linger. Immediately, one set of footsteps went back into the room and the door slid shut again, while the other moved to the opposite side of the hall and the door slid closed there as well. Soon, Dael was listening to nothing but silence.

The young woman sighed. She might have been able to pick up a bit more than that if she had only a bit faster. As it was, the only thing she had truly gained from that conversation was that something had happened internationally and that it had a potential bearing on their mission. However, the colonel naturally felt it wasn't something severe enough to merit attention…or, at the least, was something so severe that it could be a detriment. That made her nervous. She wished she could have heard more…

However, in the end, she tried to push it away. She may have not heard the order directly, but that didn't change the fact that Regalis would tell her the same thing if she had been there along with those two officers. Obviously, he wanted her to keep this quiet and put it out of mind for the mission. The first thing after it was over, she could find out…but for now she needed to stay focused on the task at hand.

Exhaling a bit, she turned and began to walk back to her bed. She didn't like being in the dark about all of this. She hoped she could ascend the ranks in Esthar's Hawks soon. Maybe then she'd have a concept of what was going on…

* * *

><p>Dael was up with the dawn, just as a proper soldier should be, and was dressed and armed as well. However, she still had to wait several more hours, well past noon, before the ship finally began to slow, a sign they were approaching their destination. Normally, Dael would have been expected to stay inside and simply wait for arrival. But this was her first time off the Eastern Continent, and so the colonel was a bit more lax, purposely putting her on "watch duty" so that she could see their approach to the Archipelago.<p>

The chain of islands wasn't nearly as impressive as the far more technologically advanced Esthar. Even on the largest island, the buildings rarely got larger than two stories. It was a sign of the hard times. Severe hurricanes tended to batter the region, and even though the combination of mountains and size on the large island of Lamb created an almost temperate climate, they were too severe to have many structures that weren't built with them in mind. Larger structures required more engineering sophistication, which in turn cost more money, which was still in short supply even given Boss Capulluno's raise in rates. Nothing rose too terribly high above the horizon other than landscape.

Dael noticed several navy boats for the Lamb Archipelago as they moved onward. A few of them were aimed in their direction initially, although they didn't follow them when they moved by. Despite the fact she knew they weren't going to be hostile…at least, not yet…she was still nervous. The only advantage the small transport had was speed. Although the few battleships she saw in operation were all of an older sort, they were well-maintained. She knew full well that they'd do the job, if necessary, and one transport against all of them wouldn't do that well… However, those only lasted momentarily. Soon they were passing them by, and headed on toward the main island.

It was then that they saw other boats. Most of them were commercial freighters from around the world. All manner of different nations were passing through their, some of their boats small, pathetic, old, and rusted…while others were far larger, teaming with goods, and looked to be fresh off the line. Some were going one way and some were going another, and it was impossible not to get a sampling of all countries as they continued their approach. A bit to Dael's chagrin…she noted that the best and newest Esthar ship that was on the sea still looked twice as old and half as big as a small trading fleet of Sybenian ships that went through the other way…

_Hearing about it is one thing…but nothing makes the difference in whose economy is superior to that of the other than seeing something like this with your own eyes… And here it is in the Lamb Archipelago, on display for the world to see too…_

Moving in a bit further, Dael picked up on the various ferries that moved between the islands. Some of them were rather close together, and the easiest way to move about was still ferry. There had been talk of building a large rail system over the ocean to perform the same function faster and easier…but all that had happened before the Depression. Most engineering creativity stagnated in that period. Some of the larger ferry boats looked new enough, but most of the small ones were practically falling apart. Dael had a feeling those businesses were struggling to stay afloat…literally. The economic recovery would probably not reach them in time…

After about another thirty minutes of moving through various ships and going past two smaller islands, Lamb at last emerged in the distance. In truth, it appeared to be a continent on approach, as much of the landscape as it took up. The mountains that rose high in the distance were snow-capped…the result of a very sharp and severe change in volcanic activity that had cut off as quickly as it came. Not one of them were active. Dael could soon see the wide city of Lamb sprawled out along the shoreline. In contrast to many of the other islands, which weren't too far above sea level, this one had some altitude to it. It was easy to see quite a bit of the city despite being no larger than two stories in any one place. Like most cities on Gaia at the moment, in spite of being large…there was quite a few signs of urban decay…entire city blocks that seemed to have been left to rot, and the effects were so strong they were visible even from being in the sea.

The dock they were headed to and the adjoining building was something else entirely. It was a large government facility for the Lamb Archipelago and had all the best there was to offer at the moment. The building was tall, clean, and whitewashed. The architecture made it rather aerodynamic, which was probably why it was the only three-story building in the area. It was shaped somewhat like a large swishing wave all by itself, and even as they approached Dael could tell there were fountains on either side of it, flags of the various islands, and a generally clean and neat atmosphere that suggested more of a resort than a government building. Two smaller naval warships and some patrol boats were already gathered at that dock. The surrounding piers were shut down to make room for the incoming E.H.T. transport. The pier they were headed too had been scrubbed clean and freshly painted, making it look rather new.

However, Dael didn't look at it any more at that moment. They were almost to the destination, so instead she turned and walked back into the ship to announce to the colonel that they had finally arrived.

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, and the ship was coming to a halt at the dock. Three minutes after that, it was completely secured, both by the crew as well as the port authorities. The ramp extended to the surface of the pier, and moments later, the five members of Esthar's Hawks descended. The four minor officers surrounded their leader. Dael, still dressed in her official uniform since that morning and with her weapons at her side, was placed at Colonel Regalis' rear right. The other officers were similarly outfitted and armed with their own personal weapons. Like them, Dael kept her eyes forward and her face stern, not betraying the slightest bit of emotion. The only one among them who even was a shadow of "casual" was the colonel, but even he maintained an official air as he walked along in his full dress uniform, complete with cape, collar, and hat. However, in spite of all that, Dael did feel rather warm. Lamb may have been the most temperate of the islands, but it was still summer at a seaside, and so it was both humid and rather sunny. She already felt herself begin to involuntarily sweat under her thicker uniform.<p>

As the five descended the ramp, Dael, despite keeping her eyes forward, quickly took in the surroundings. Fairly open. There was a guard posted there, but they were all basic militiamen. Veterans, at best, and they left many openings. They were clearly more ceremonial than effective…even if they intended to be. Still, they had a distinct number advantage at the least. There were ten of them and all of them had weapons shouldered. A single balding man with a thin gaze and mustache was waiting for them. He was in what Dael supposed was a dress uniform, but she had to suppress snorting at it. The people of the Lamb Archipelago had no sense of propriety, apparently throwing it to the four winds to accommodate the warm climate. He was in khaki shorts and a button down short sleeve shirt with proper décor, but that was it. The top button wasn't even closed. To Dael, it was practically an insult…but the colonel showed no sign of trouble or concern. He merely slowed his step and brought the others to a halt before him.

The man smiled and saluted. "Colonel Morrick Regalis. We've been expecting you. Please…" He gestured ahead, toward the building. It had glass doors, and they were already open wide…much wider than a normal room would be. It was practically a walk-in pavilion. "Come in. Boss Capulluno is waiting. Right this way."

The colonel gave a nod. Behind him, the crew of the ship had come out on deck and stood at attention. And so, he paused long enough to turn to them. He bid them to be at ease, but Dael happened to pick up on the fact that he did so in a bit of a strange manner. He did a two finger wave from his brow outward, rather than the normal salute. That was a bit odd…but she thought little of it as the colonel soon turned forward and began to march. She needed to stay at his side. The balding man led the way, and in moments they were passing under the threshold to the interior.

Dael suppressed giving a sight of relief. It was darker and cooler inside, and she finally got some relief from the heat of outdoors. Not ten years ago, the building would have just allowed sea breezes to move through shaded areas, and that would have been the only source of cooling. However, the government, at least, was stepping up, it seemed. There was air conditioning here now. As they walked inside, she saw that the place did indeed look rather like a resort, what with very "ergonomic" and attractive modern décor. She also took note that their entire path was lined with their militia soldiers. Again, it was nothing serious…but there were quite a lot of them. Even for five Esthar's Hawks, it would be a struggle getting out if worse came to worse…

The path was fairly straightforward. There wasn't much in the way of turning at all. The path just led them straight up to a central chamber that was sealed off with large, heavy, oak doors. A few guards that appeared to be more seasoned and official were there. Their guide went up to them and gave them a salute. They saluted back, and then grabbed either handle. Giving a bit of a pull, they soon opened the doors wide to the interior.

The room inside was rather spacious. There was a large table in it, and it was well decorated with native flora arrangements and partial place settings, almost as if it was for a banquet rather than negotiations of a sort. One side of the table was blank, while the other side, seated before some drawn curtains, flanked by several higher-ranking officers and officials as well as guards, was Boss Capulluno. Dael again suppressed her disgust on seeing him. He was even fatter than the archive picture, and it showed. There were no chairs in the room, just seated cushions for a more relaxed atmosphere. Capulluno was so fat that he almost spilled over the edges of his. He was dressed even more loosely than the one who had led them there. He actually wore a short-sleeve, partially buttoned blue and white floral shirt. Despite the air conditioning, and the fact that the ceiling fans were going, he was still sweating from being so heavy. The lack of proper dress as well as his appearance made Dael want to sneer. She considered it an even bigger insult than the greeting they had. She didn't care if this was how the more laid-back society of the Lamb Archipelago conducted business…this was too much. He looked more like a local warlord than a head executive, between the set up, his clothing, and his retinue.

The only thing that disgusted her more was his calm air as he smiled casually to them as they entered. He had the typical look of an overconfident fat man. He was probably used to so many nations kissing his rear end in order to get passage through the Lamb Archipelago that he had gotten a bit full of himself. At any rate, he didn't even rise when they entered, although the other officials did.

"Colonel Regalis…welcome, welcome! Please, have a seat. You and your unit."

Regalis, however, didn't seem to be the least bit put off by his behavior or appearance. Some of it was due to being more accustomed to how the nation of the Lamb Archipelago handled its affairs. Part of it was more respect. After all, dismissive as Dael was thinking, this man was the most powerful person in the North Medieval Ocean and a major world player. No matter how casually he looked or appeared, most people would be awed to be in his presence simply due to the status it suggested. He gave a bit of a smile and a nod to Capulluno, and then walked forward and stood in front of the center chair cushion. He gave a moment for the others, Dael included, to move to their own positions. The young officer took the last chair on the right herself. Only once all were in position did they all calmly sit in unison.

Capulluno motioned to nearby. Immediately, one of his retinue stepped forward, a person dressed in a white uniform who appeared to be some sort of attendant for the meeting. "A drink, perhaps?" He called out. "For you and your gallant men and women?"

Dael again suppressed a frown. She knew that Esthar's Hawks never engaged in anything like this…no "pleasantries", so to speak. They were straight and to the point.

Therefore, she was a bit surprised when the colonel simply removed his hat and set it on the table, then smiled in response.

"Oh, I'm very sorry… My stomach is a bit uncomfortable. Could I have something a bit lighter, your honor? Some… 'Pinot de Rodei', perhaps? I know it's a bit expensive, and I'd be more than willing to compensate you if-"

Capulluno raised a hand. "Think nothing of it. It's a bit of an unusual request, but what's a drink between comrades?" He turned to the attendant. "Fetch some 'Pinot de Rodei'. Make sure it's a good year."

The attendant immediately nodded and went off to get some, being forced to actually leave the room to do so. Dael was stunned. Was her CO really having a drink? In fact, now that she noticed, he seemed to be getting comfortable. She was rather confused. She didn't think they would waste time with things like this… That's how she had been trained… As it was, it took a good three minutes of silence before the attendant returned with the bottle, and even more time for him to pop the cork and pour a glass.

"I'll have some myself." Capulluno spoke with a smile. "No sense letting it go to waste, eh?"

"Of course not." Regalis answered with a smile, reaching down, taking up his own glass, and bringing it to his lips. He actually smelled it momentarily before taking the sip, looking every bit the wine connoisseur. After drinking it, he savored it a bit, and smiled widely. "Just as good as I remember it. It's been ages. I hope you don't think I'm taking too much advantage of your hospitality. It's just that so few of my hosts offer me a drink."

The boss chuckled in response. "You need to come around the Lamb Archipelago more often, colonel. We know how to properly extend hospitality, and I've seen too little of you. Last time you were only a captain. Now you're the head of Esthar's Hawks, from what I hear."

Regalis merely shrugged. "Chalk it up to being not a time of war. Otherwise I'm sure they would have found someone different. Oh…I almost forgot." He looked over to his officers, including Dael. "We have…Commanders Lexis and Grishom…and these are Lieutenants Ambrose and Dael. All of the highest quality, I assure you."

"Greetings, your honor." The commanders immediately stated.

"Greetings, your honor." The lieutenants echoed…although Dael found herself forcing herself to do it. It was only out of duty and because she was practically ordered to that she did. In reality, she was fuming that she had to join in on the small talk.

"You best watch these four. All of them performed exceedingly well during the last operation, and Lieutenant Dael over there was the first Esthar's Hawk ever to defeat a Tyrant Lizard single-handedly."

Capulluno's eyebrows raised as he smiled. "Is that so? I am impressed indeed…"

"Yes, quite the achievement. They're making these young people out of an improved model nowadays…" Regalis answered with a light laugh. "I think I'm getting too old for this… So what about you? Anyone gunning for your position?"

Capulluno waved his hand. "Just the usual crowd, but they all have to deal with one inescapable fact…our government stayed in the black during the Depression because of me." He grinned during that last part with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Can't argue there." Regalis casually responded…not sounding the least bit upset or regretful that his actions helped impoverish his own country.

This continued for a good ten minutes…nothing more than the two men "chewing the fat", so to speak. Dael had to constantly suppress herself from running out of the room. She couldn't believe this. She expected Colonel Regalis to exert some of the prestige he showed at the Academy and rip a new hole into the fat politician in front of him. Instead, he sounded like an old man sharing a beer and talking about his children. Dael began to wonder what was going on…if the colonel had lost his mind. First he showed no concern to the suspicious men on board the ship, and now he was doing this… She was beginning to wonder if the colonel was only a great man when dictating orders to his subordinates…and wondered how much more she could take before she had to excuse herself.

At last, however, after sharing an especially long laugh, Regalis eased back a bit. He had drained his glass by now, and folded his hands in front of him.

"Well, this has been more fun than I've had in a while…I'm afraid we have to conduct a bit of business."

"Of course, of course." Capulluno responded, having finished draining his second glass and setting it back on the table. "I know very well that Esthar's Hawks don't pay social visits. I assumed when you arranged this meeting you had something serious in mind."

"Quite serious, in fact." Regalis answered, growing just a bit darker in tone…but almost imperceptibly so. For the most part, he still seemed perfectly calm and amiable. "There was a break in at the Gordian Vault only a few days ago. It was our highest security installation, but the intruders got quite far. In fact, they were on their 'return trip', so to speak, on the way out."

"Well, I feel bad for those who designed your security systems and countermeasures." Capulluno answered with a shrug. "Other than that, I don't very well see what that has to do with me or the Lamb Archipelago."

Regalis shifted weight a bit, and then looked forward once again.

"We've been launching an investigation, of course." He went on. "Sad to say, none of the intruders lived long enough to be interrogated. At the point they had reached, the orders became 'shoot to kill' and they used up all their warning shots. The two we managed to corner chose to die in a blaze of gunfire rather than come quietly. So as you might imagine, it's been hard to find information on them or who sent them. That was no doubt their employer's intention. After all, as you are well aware of, I'm sure…you do know that the penalty for attacking the Gordian Vault is a nation declaring war on Esthar."

Capulluno's smile had vanished a bit at this point, but he looked more irritated than worried. "Again, colonel…I don't see how this has anything to do with me."

Regalis strummed his beard a bit, looking somewhat idle. "Only a few things have come to light so far. We found out that they weren't native, at the least. They came into the country through the port." He shrugged. "Makes sense, as security at the airfields is a fine-toothed comb at this point. The boat they used was completely unmarked and free of evidence. It was on its maiden voyage. Its back story was that it was starting a privately owned courier business between Esthar and the Lamb Archipelago."

Capulluno sighed. "I know you grow tired of me saying this, colonel, but-"

"According to the commerce laws of the Lamb Archipelago, no ship can conduct such a service unless personally signed off on by a major executive." Regalis cut off, his voice getting ever so slightly sharp. "And this one was signed off by you personally."

Capulluno went silent. His irritation evaporated. For a brief moment, he looked as if he had been slapped. However, he then relaxed and smiled. He gave a shrug.

"That's just an archaic regulation, colonel. I see dozens of those permits a week land on my desk. I assure you, all the ones I saw had their 'I's dotted and their 'T's crossed. There was nothing untoward on any of them. I'm afraid they pulled the wool over our eyes just as easily as they pulled it over your own port authority."

Regalis, seeming to be more casual, shrugged as well. "Well, I figured as much in that regard. Can't very well blame a country for one group's undercover purposes, can you?"

Capulluno smiled and nodded. "Of course you can't."

Regalis nodded back…even as his eyes flashed a bit.

"…That's why we try to keep tabs on any mercenary groups or soldiers for hire to the best of our ability." He went on. "Almost all of our intelligence in that regard is based right out of Leuco. After all, that's where the 'usual suspects' hide." He slowly exhaled. "Unfortunately, we didn't turn up anything this time. All of the local mercenary groups and privateers are clean." He paused again, and looked up, matching Capulluno's gaze.

"We started recently expanding to the Lamb Archipelago as well, just to cover our bases, now that the economy is picking up. We're still not nearly as good, but it's considered a cost-effective venture. We've already found that most of the people who were slipping under our radar operated out of the North Medieval Ocean as opposed to the South…and that it is quite illegal in the Lamb Archipelago to form any sort of 'soldier-for-hire' business…" He dipped his tone a bit here. "…Unless the organization has the express signature of the chief executive clearing the venture."

Again, Capulluno gave a pause. It was a bit longer this time before he smiled again. But when he spoke, his voice had lost some of its carefree edge.

"Again…an archaic law leftover from the last war, colonel. Do you really think I'd be able to stay in power if I went about giving clearance to mercenaries to operate out of the Archipelago? None of the citizens want that kind of trouble. After the next election, they might very well have me 'walk the plank', so to speak."

"Oh, I imagine they would." Regalis continued, still rather casual. "No…I'm certain that if there was to be any type of combat force within the Lamb Archipelago, it would be native, all the way."

Capulluno narrowed his gaze a bit. "There wouldn't be a combat force, period, colonel. We don't have the manpower or resources to exert any authority anywhere. If we did, we'd be crushed by Sybenia on one side and Esthar on the other."

"Well, we certainly wouldn't do that." Regalis answered. "After all, offensive is one thing…but you've done pretty well for yourself defensively. You've got a good navy here. You know the lay of the land and you control the territory well. I'd imagine you even have a few surprises, just like any other good military force might have. After all, always good to have one or two aces in the hole, yes?"

Capulluno's smile was gone and he stared back silently a moment. "…You might say that, yes."

Regalis shrugged and gestured forward. "I'd imagine a man such as yourself would appreciate a new bit of technology that came along…something you could use…something that no other nation would have access to. It would help ensure your country's survival, yes? There's no shame in that. None at all. Esthar itself has plenty."

Capulluno paused a bit longer, before he put his smile back on. This time, however, it seemed a little forced. He gave another innocent shrug. "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss such things, colonel…but I will say I have little idea what you're talking about. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to insinuate that I somehow had a hand in this attempted theft. If you're trying to see that due to a few records on the books that I was somehow behind all of this, then I'm afraid you have another think coming. Why don't you talk to your ambassadors in Sybenia? They'd be the ones far more interested in this sort of thing. They probably wouldn't even need to bother going through mercenaries. Do you really believe that I would risk getting into a war by doing so obviously a foolhardy action?"

Regalis stared back silently. He said nothing for a good ten seconds after Capulluno finished. When he finally spoke, he was perfectly calm.

"…I don't recall mentioning that the intruders attempted to steal something."

For a moment, the fat man was struck silent and dumb again, for the longest period yet. However, his smile soon came back as he leaned up a little. Dael herself, for the first time, tensed slightly. For a moment…she thought it would come to something physical right then and there.

"Well, certainly they did." Capulluno answered with a chuckle. "Technology or information, correct? That's the only reason anyone would attempt to breach the Gordian Vault."

Regalis gave a shrug in response, still calm and casual. "I suppose you're right. Not much to be gained by a terrorist attack, other than to spit in Esthar's face. And one wouldn't try something so foolhardy, as you put it, just for that. They'd probably want a prize out of the deal."

Capulluno nodded. "Precisely. My sentiments exactly."

Regalis nodded. "Indeed. It was a fortunate thing that they jumped the gun."

Capulluno's smile once again faltered slightly. "Pardon?"

"They acted too quickly." Regalis calmly responded. "Left us one good, solid clue. I can see why they did it. The moment they had what they came for, they sent out a signal via a remote device to their ship, which, in turn, sent an encrypted message out. We're assuming the message was sent to whoever hired them. Obviously, whoever it was wielded a bit of power…and they wanted to make sure he or she would 'clear the path' for them, so to speak. They'd need all the help they could get in order to get off the continent."

"…Really now."

"Of course, like I said, they covered their tracks well." Regalis continued. "The signal also activated some sort of self-destruct device in the radio that erased the diodes. It was impossible to get the frequency after the message had been sent. Luckily, they couldn't erase tripping the relay stations."

Capulluno looked a bit confused at that. "…Relay stations?"

"Yes." Regalis calmly answered. "A long distance radio signal like that would never make it back to its country of origin through a direct signal. It would have to move along the various relay points scattered over land and sea to bounce the signal back. Everyone uses them without even knowing about it, every time they send out a radio signal or pick one up. Millions of transmissions each day…thousands were relay station."

"…I see." Capulluno whistled a bit and shook his head. "Well, I wish you the best of luck. I'm certain that it will take some time to sort through all of the various codes at that point of time and find the correct one."

Regalis paused momentarily, then casually shook his head.

"Oh no. We already traced it."

Dael again saw Capulluno pause. This time…she thought she almost saw him momentarily turn a shade whiter.

"…Truly? That's quite impressive, even for Esthar's Hawks."

"Latest in tracing technology. We activated it as soon as the intruders got too far inside. We wanted to make sure they weren't radioing for a 'wheelman' or snipers if they got back out front. Again, we don't know what the message said. It was far too encrypted. It'll take months to decode. But we still found its position…at least as best as we could. After reaching the ship, it began to go north along the coast, before it abruptly turned west. You know…more or less the same path we took to get to the Lamb Archipelago?"

Capulluno stiffened a bit in his seat. "If you're insinuating that I…"

Regalis looked shocked. "Insinuating? When did I ever say I was insinuating anything? I merely said the relays went west, toward the Lamb Archipelago. It would take a similar route to go just about anywhere on Western Continent, I'd imagine, including Sybenia."

Capulluno held, but then relaxed a bit more in his chair. His smile returned. "Of course."

"That brings me to the true reason I came here." Regalis responded, leaning back a bit and folding his hands again. "Naturally, to keep tracking the culprits, we'll need to have access to some of your relay station records. Could we count on the assistance of the Lamb Archipelago government in this regard?"

The man paused momentarily, holding his mouth open slightly. "I…will have to run such a matter through the council. There are privacy issues, after all. Even the unified government doesn't have access to company records. Such would be a breach of governmental authority over business."

Regalis nodded. "Of course, of course…but I trust you will certainly do all you can, yes? Several lives were lost that weren't the culprits in this affair, your honor."

Capulluno nodded, recovering a bit and becoming more solemn. "I firmly assure you that I will do all I can in this regard."

Regalis smiled back. "Thank you, your honor. That's all I wished to here." He reached for his hat on the table and took it up. "I believe that concludes our business here. Thank you for your time."

"Oh…think nothing of it." Boss Capulluno responded, almost back to his original state and smiling widely again.

The colonel readjusted his hat, and then rose to his feet. Dael nearly missed it, but at the last moment managed to rise along with everyone else in unison. During the past few minutes, her faith in the colonel had been somewhat restored…but it was beginning to falter at this point. Capulluno looked like he was just a few more nudges from breaking…that he wouldn't be able to keep his story straight any longer with just a little more. However, the colonel was backing down? Going back to this calm, friendly tirade? She was disappointed. Even if the Lamb Archipelago hadn't been responsible, there was no doubt in her mind that they at least knew _something_ about the attack. However, the colonel seemed perfectly content at present.

"I'm sure our two governments will be in touch." The colonel said as he rose. He smiled a bit wider. "Next time, I'll make sure to bring some of Esthar's finest Smithson. It's the least I can do to make up for forcing you to open a fresh bottle of the Pinot."

Capulluno chuckled and waved his hand. "Oh, don't worry about that, colonel. I'm glad for the excuse to have a bit myself."

Regalis smiled back, and proceeded to give a bow. Again, Boss Capulluno didn't rise, although his retinue did get up and gave him a bow as well in response. Reluctantly, Dael joined in when her side did a polite bow to signify their departure. After that, Regalis turned and walked around his chair, beginning to go back the way they had come. Dael soon turned, giving one last look to Capulluno, before falling in behind him at the corner and following after. Within moments, they reached the doors, and they were once again opened wide to allow them to exit. Capulluno and his retinue were soon left far behind as the doors slowly were pulled closed again, leaving the Hawks to follow the same path of guards they had taken when coming in to go back out again.

* * *

><p>Within fifteen minutes, the coast of Lamb was already shrinking as the transport moved away. Once more, Dael was on watch duty, and found herself standing on the prow, watching the sights and sounds of the Lamb Archipelago move away. She doubted they had been there for a grand total of more than thirty-five minutes. Three days journey…and for what?<p>

The young woman groaned a bit. The whole trip was a major let down. Not from the lack of action, but from that display they had just gone through. She had no idea that Colonel Regalis could be like that. She expected so much more from him. Sure…a normal man probably would have handled that the same way, but she knew the colonel wasn't normal. She thought he could do better…grind that fat politician under his thumb and make him writhe. Now, she felt they left with next to nothing, and they had been insulted to boot. She couldn't believe this… So much for the great Esthar's Hawks. They couldn't even intimidate some spineless government official into coughing up the truth.

Dael continued to think in a similar vein for the next twenty minutes or so, as the transport picked up speed and moved further and further out of the waters of the Lamb Archipelago. They eventually left the various islands behind, as well as the ferries and transport ships. After that, they once again passed the naval blockade. For a moment, Dael thought there might be action…but there was none. The ships paid them no more mind than they had before. Colonel Regalis hadn't even been effective enough to give the impression that they suspected them, Dael thought…something that made her frown more. All in all, she felt as if the mission was a failure. Finally, she turned around and headed back for the interior.

Within moments, Dael went through a sliding door to the transport's interior, and turned into a steel-lined hallway. She walked past the minor officer cabins for the colonel's cabin, needing to report to him directly that there was nothing of note…that they were leaving the waters of the Lamb Archipelago without trouble. She also intended to ask him more about what happened. Maybe at least now he'd focus more on the issue she brought up the night before… After all, that was still in play. She finally reached the cabin at the end and gave a knock on the door.

"It's Lieutenant Dael, sir."

A pause. "Come in, lieutenant."

A remote control deactivated the door lock, and it slid aside, allowing the young woman to walk inside. She took a few steps into the interior, just enough to let the door slide closed again…before she froze in her tracks.

The colonel's cabin was a bit "swankier" than her own, actually having a separate room for the bedroom. The front portion was more of an official area, complete with a simple desk and chairs where the colonel could operate out of, and the emblem of Esthar's Hawks hanging behind. The colonel was at his desk, and looked up to Dael as she came in. However…what she noted most of all was that there was a man seated in front of him. He was dressed in the official uniform of a high-ranking member of Esthar's Hawks, but from just looking at the back of his head, Dael already knew he wasn't one of the other three officers. His uniform soon confirmed it, showing him to be higher ranking than all of them.

Colonel Regalis looked to Dael as she entered, and beckoned her forward. "Come in, lieutenant. I want you to meet someone." With that, he turned and gave a nod to the man in the chair in front of her.

The man, in turn, rose from his chair, turned, and faced Dael. In spite of herself, Dael couldn't help but let out a small gasp. It was the sailor she had seen smoking a cigarette earlier. She was taken aback a bit, not only at him…but also seeing that he was a captain of Esthar's Hawks.

"Lieutenant Dael Levinson…Captain Crux Herod, Class III Espionage. Captain Crux…Lieutenant Dael."

The man gave a nod to Dael. Dael blinked a moment, but then went back to normal. She immediately straightened up and saluted him…even though she was still stunned. The man she had dismissed as being a shady sailor, someone untrustworthy…he was a captain the whole time? It made her a bit queasy to think about it… She was just glad she had never expressed some of her private thoughts about him aloud…

"At ease, lieutenant." The captain finally stated.

Dael dropped her salute, but blinked in a bit of astonishment. She looked in between the captain and the colonel. After a moment…she reasoned that Colonel Regalis had to have given him the news…told him how she had suspected him of being a traitor. She swallowed a bit at that, but kept her composure.

"…Begging your pardon, sir…but did you say 'Espionage'?"

"Yes, lieutenant." The colonel calmly answered for the captain, turning both of their attentions back to him. "Captain Crux and his unit have rendered us a great service today. I must say, they performed their mission wonderfully. They obtained exactly what we hoped to find. All in all, I would say that the mission was a resounding success. Excellent work from both sides. I'll make sure to note that in your report, lieutenant."

Dael, confused, blinked a bit. "Both sides, sir?"

The colonel leaned back a bit. "Now that the operation is concluded, lieutenant, you may as well know the full truth. You were only briefed on _half_ of the mission, so to speak. The other half was carried out by Captain Crux and his unit. And as I said, they performed very well." He turned to the captain. "You set a new hacking speed record on Capullurno's transmission records, did you not?"

Crux gave half a smile at that. "Technically, it was Private Lian who did that, sir. He's quite the prodigy."

Dael blinked again, before she finally realized the entire truth. Now it was as clear as a bell. It made perfect sense. That's why the sailors didn't look the type…they weren't sailors at all. They were part of another group of Esthar's Hawks. Class III Espionage prided itself on absolute secrecy and plausible deniability. It was standard procedure that even if they were working as part of a larger operation, the other Hawks typically knew nothing about it. It was a security measure. As a result, there was no way that the Hawks could do anything to hurt the Espionage group's mission if they were captured. There would be no information they were aware of that they could divulge, and an espionage mission could hopefully succeed regardless.

The lieutenant felt like a fool… Why didn't she see that earlier? She could tell they weren't sailors, but she could also see that firm look in their eyes, that tone that they possessed, that purpose to their movements… She saw it only from the most highly trained soldiers in the world. She remembered now…even transports such as this one had openings on the bottom of the boat for deep sea work or need of secrecy from making amphibious approaches. No doubt, once they docked, the espionage team had moved out through there…and she never suspected it once. However, she began to realize she had been foolish in one other regard as well…

The colonel was not weak by any means, and it was not for the sake of idle chatter that he had gone on and on in that room. He was playing for time. While they were there during negotiations, Captain Crux had carried out his half of the plan. That's why he made so much small talk. That's why, rather than trying to cut or intimidate Capulluno with words, which would have ended the meeting much faster, he kept leading him on…drawing out the conversation. He even ordered that special wine because he knew that the waiter would have to leave to fetch it, buying them more precious time.

"I'm sure the analysis will turn up everything we need to confirm our suspicions. Even if it didn't, we would have more than ample reason to be cautious following this meeting." Colonel Regalis responded. "After all, assuming everything Boss Capulluno said was true, there's only so much coincidence a person can take. Just the same, captain, did you see anything stand out?"

"Plenty." The captain responded. "The code scrambler in Capulluno's personal office was activated no less than five times the night of the attack, and transmissions were both sent out and brought that went personally to that office that were likewise coded. We weren't able to get the key, unfortunately, but that's practically a formality. The uncoded transmissions showed that he dismissed all but the high ranking officials present in the government and from the Navy thirty minutes prior to the estimated starting point of the attack, and that following the second to last transmission he requested a clearance for a public channel to all port authorities and navy commanders. This was canceled after receiving the next and final transmission. It seems your hunch was right, colonel. He thought they had been successful and he was enacting the next part of the plan, but somehow they signaled again that the mission had failed and he had to back up in a hurry."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. He personally approved the ship company that was chartered. It's transit schedule is public…but it didn't become that way until an hour before this attack started. He had also approved a new mercenary company to operate out of the Lamb Archipelago without public knowledge, apparently. He tried to erase the records of it, no doubt after the mission failed, and we hit a lot of broken links…but you know how an end user can get memory leaks if they aren't careful. Last but not least, there was quite a bit of correspondence between Capulluno and other officials regarding the documented records of Guardian Force usage. We haven't looked at all the content or how far back it goes yet…but it's all points of alarm." He actually gave a half smile. "We are only human, after all, colonel."

The colonel smiled and nodded back at the slight joke. "Yes, of course." He responded. "I'm sure any further investigation will only confirm it. There are some bits of evidence you both don't know about that is still classified. Getting access to the relay records will simply be the rope that Capulluno uses to hang himself. He won't outright deny access, I'm sure. That would make things too conspicuous. I'm sure he's using this bureaucratic tactic just to stall for enough time to try and look at them himself and tamper with the records. Thanks to you, captain, it no longer matters. He'll only confirm all suspicion without any doubt if a discrepancy arises now. There, of course, will be the question of how we came upon those records, but that won't be important considering the gravity of the crime. I'd say we pretty much fingered the culprit, off hand."

Dael felt a bit more relief on hearing that. She knew something was up the whole time, and she was glad that it wasn't going to be ignored. She also had her confidence in her colonel restored once again. However, even as she felt like smiling…she noticed that Regalis' own look grew a bit dark. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"I'm glad the operation went so smoothly, everyone. Had it not…I would have considered any extra measures to be a true waste."

The captain himself formed a bit of a downcast look at that. Dael, on the other hand, looked puzzled.

"Excuse me, sir? A waste? Didn't we finger Boss Capulluno as the culprit?"

"That we did, lieutenant." The colonel responded. "Unfortunately, that's as far as it goes for the forseeable future. As of the moment Captain Crux made his report, this investigation was suspended indefinitely. All information that you heard discussed in here is now rated classified for the time being. I'm sure I can depend on both of you not to report what you have heard to anyone, especially any government officials or to someone with media connections."

"Of course, sir." The captain answered, although he still sounded a bit grim.

Dael, however, remained confused…even a bit stunned. They had done all that, and they weren't proceeding? Even after all that evidence had been gathered and all of their suspicions had been proven? That didn't make any sense to her. She shook her head. "Sir…I don't understand…"

"Only because you didn't hear the news last night, lieutenant." Colonel Regalis answered. "At 2052 hours last night, it was reported by Sybenia's government news organization that Roz Heirarch had died. At 2300 hours sharp, the same organization made a much larger broadcast that it insured hit every nation on Earth at once. Rozan Heirarch, eschewing the Prime Minister and legislature, declared himself to be the new head of the 'Guiding Hand' and therefore also the new dictator of Sybenia."

Dael stiffened a bit on hearing that. At once, she realized what they were talking about last night. That's what they had been referring to. However, this new explanation sent a bit of tension through her as well.

Although only the general populace knew or paid any attention to the fact (after all, they had their own problems to worry about), Esthar's Hawks had known for some time and been paying a lot of attention to the newest political party in Sybenia, founded by Roz Heirarch, known as the "Guiding Hand". They had started off small during the height of the Depression, just one of hundreds of voices who thought they had the magic bullet to get countries back on track. No one had thought much about them. But one day, Esthar's Hawks began to notice that they seemed to be shouting the loudest, and that people were hearing. They received a few disturbing reports about them, and it merited investigation. Now, at least half of the International Affairs branch was devoted to keeping an eye on them. The warning signs were more than clear.

They used all the old tricks that many other of the more violent political parties in the past had. They set themselves up an invisible enemy, namely the governments of the surrounding countryside and the current regime. Whoever the enemy was at the time was never concrete…it always shifted based on need, but it provided a lens with which to distort the world. It appealed to strong nationalism, Roz constantly rallying his people with speeches. In particular, he made the claim that the native people and working classes of Sybenia, not the ruling elites, were descendents of the ancient kingdoms of the old world, particularly that of the most infamous king in history: Odin. He told them how strong and noble their blood was, and how much they, as his descendants, deserved to have as great an empire as his if not better. At a time when people felt worthless, directionless, and helpless, he made them feel important, powerful, and driven. It wasn't hard for them to win followers like that. Many things he said incited people, but he would always incite his own supporters more…telling them that the other side wanted to block out the truth and wanted to see them living in squalor again. And who could dispute that? The people who were against Roz were those who had been in power at the height of the Depression. The people were angry and frustrated…they needed someone to blame…why not them? After all, they weren't descendents of Odin…they were people who made their living off of their misery and broken backs. Occasionally, a member of the Guiding Hand would disappear, and Roz would cry bloody murder, that such a person was a stalwart soldier who was interested only in the prosperity of Sybenia, but he had been silenced in the worst way because no one wanted to hear the truth and tried to drown out the voice of the Guiding Hand. And people would become so full of rage and passion in response that none of them would ever investigate to see why the person died…or realize that they were the weakest, most incompetent members of the Guiding Hand right up until the point when they died… Another great tactic…taking someone who was absolutely no use to you alive but was a legend as a martyr…

As the government tried to appease them and the people began to cast their support behind them, and they started winning elections, it wasn't long before what political power they were amassing was used to further incite the people against the government and non-Guiding Hand members. It was around that time that, in addition to beneficial regulations, ones that started discrediting members of society appeared. Their opponents were painted as monstrous devils, and no one opposed that idea as they began to see their own prosperity rise. The organization continued to spread through the country, recruiting more members all the time. Those who opposed them were first shouted down, lampooned, or lynched by the people. Nowadays…they started mysteriously going silent and dropping out of the public eye all together. When that started happening, the few who were making a stand began to go silent as well or began vehemently putting their support behind the Guiding Hand. Last Dael had seen, aside from a few small bastions of power in the government, the Guiding Hand was beginning to call the shots in Sybenia…so much so that it began to start accusing the neighboring nations of being in league with the old regime and holding their country back from seizing their "birthright"…

However, the worst news was yet to come.

"As early as 0300, Sybenia started broadcasting public broadcasts of hundreds of people 'spontaneously' pouring into the streets and demanding that Rozan's move be made legitimate. By 0500, the new Rozan-controlled government put out the message that the people had 'peacefully united and legitimized his move, removing all doubt of his position of leadership'." The colonel frowned a bit. "What intelligence sources haven't been rooted out of that country as of late paint a different picture. They say Guiding Hand leaders began whipping up local crowds into frenzies and once they were mad enough they unleased them on the homes of government officials still hesitant to accept Rozan and the Guiding Hand. Rozan is nothing if not utilizing the momentum of this. He's quelling all last remaining obstacles to his complete domination of the country. Already, there are reports that he's put over 100 bills for passage through the legislature to drastically alter the face of that country even more than it is now. Seeing as it's packed with his puppets and anyone who would oppose them is summarily being torn to bits, they along with their families and friends, by the public as we speak, there's little doubt that all of it will pass. As early as a week from now, Rozan's voice will be Sybenia's voice."

Dael couldn't help but hesitate a bit. "What of Prime Minister Indius? I thought he still had a seat of power…"

"Indius, or rather his corpse, is probably being dragged through the street of the capitol as we speak. Assuming he was smart enough, he would have used every last political resource he had left to get out of the country the second he saw Rozan's motorcade pull up to the capitol building and we'll be lucky if we ever hear about him again." The colonel darkly answered. "We've lost our last voice in Sybenia."

Dael felt a bit tenser at that. It might not have meant much. Someone like Rozan might be content to just stay where he was. After all, it was his country he wanted. But he kept talking, like his dad, about a new world-wide kingdom…and now he was turning his attention to denouncing neighboring countries. It would be foolish to expect that it would end here, she began to realize.

"I'm afraid, as serious a breach of security as this all was," The colonel continued. "And much of an international issue as it was, this is where it has to stop, for the time being. I contacted the Senate early this morning to confirm what I already thought they would declare, and the order stands…we are to disregard the matter in the Lamb Archipelago indefinitely. All military resources of Esthar, in particular Esthar's Hawks, are to devote all of their time and energy to the situation in Sybenia. That means that we cannot risk alienating potential allies. Whether Boss Capulluno knew nothing of the attack, had knowledge of it, or even went so far as to authorize it and command it under his authority, we have to presume under the assumption that he was innocent of the matter. From this point on, it will be important to maintain tight relations with the Lamb Archipelago."

Dael paused a moment on hearing that. Her face still looked a bit tensed and troubled. "…Permission to speak frankly, sir."

The colonel looked up momentarily. He seemed to actually consider that a moment, before he gave a nod. "Granted."

"Sir…the Lamb Archipelago has drawn 'first blood' by this attack on the Gordian Vault." She stated flatly. "Doesn't it seem more than likely that they would side against Esthar?"

"Perhaps, and perhaps not." Regalis answered. "We can't guarantee that this wasn't just Capulluno acting in his own interest, or even confirm it was Capulluno behind everything to begin with. We can't confirm that Sybenia is more a threat to him than we are. There is even the chance he just foolishly tried to avoid making a trade or military agreement with Esthar for protection against Sybenia, and just 'cut out the middleman', so to speak. In any event, none of those matters concern you. They are all items for the Legislature to debate, which I'm certain will be first on their list."

In spite of herself, Dael found her mouth opening again. "But-"

"You had best return to your cabin now, lieutenant, and get your rest while you can." The colonel responded. "Given your recent performance during the civil defense mission, I'm going to start truly putting you through the wringer fairly soon to see if you really can do what other Esthar's Hawks can't."

Dael was struck dumb. She had to struggle to keep from raising her eyes in surprise. Did he just truly say that? If that was true, then what did that mean? She was still pretty "raw", but did this mean that she was already going to be getting more advanced missions? If so…just how advanced?

"This is a critical condition for Esthar's Hawks. We're going to start conducting war games as early as tomorrow morning." The colonel concluded. "It would be good if you didn't keel over from exhaustion before we had a chance to put you into true combat. Dismissed, lieutenant."

Dael paused a bit longer. In truth, she still couldn't believe what she had just heard. However, she snapped out of it a split second later, and immediately sood back at attention and saluted. Regalis saluted in response, and she turned and began to march back for the doorway, leaving the two higher officers behind.

As she left, the lieutenant's mind was abuzz with activity. All of her previous concerns seemed to evaporate in light of this. What was going to happen next? What change in Sybenia would occur? And how would it impact those in Esthar? What exactly was the colonel planning for her? Was he just talking big, simply shifting her onto teams that had greater responsibility but not really having any major duties…or did he have something else in mind? She didn't know, but the mere thought drove her into a combination of anxiety and excitement. It seemed she was getting her wish after all, and in an unexpected way. She was just starting to get accustomed to the notion that it would take her years to make it to the top. But now…

She decided to take the colonel's advice and rest for their arrival. She wanted to make sure she didn't let him, or Esthar, down…and that she proved worthy of the expectations they were placing on her.

* * *

><p>There was that word again…that strange new phrase.<p>

_Guardian Forces…_

He wished his brother was here more than ever every time he saw it. He was the one who kept up with those terms. He never was able to trace them. Espers…eidolons…summoned monsters… It seemed every hundred years they came up with a new way to refer to them. However, he knew full well that those who were called by that name had been rendered extinct centuries ago…and that the last of their race had died out over 200 years ago, a fact he could attest to greatly.

However…that term kept coming up in his reading.

He was still struggling to get a grasp on the written language. In fact, he couldn't even truly pronounce the phrase "Guardian Forces" until the librarian had given him a hand. However, he was more driven than ever on discovering that phrase. He had a feeling it held all the answers he sought. His research via books as well as seeing passing news reports in whatever restaurant or lobby he managed to duck into for temporary shelter from time to time confirmed it. The world had changed again, dramatically. What had descended into being the stuff of legend when he died was becoming more public by the day. Magic was not something of fantasy but established scientific fact, if still not very well understood by this generation. And wherever there was talk of magic…wherever there was talk of its current guardians…this "Order of Hyne"…there was a mention of these Guardian Forces as well…

Seeing this word here made him want to try and research it again, and he nearly dropped his current book to pick up another history volume. But no…not yet. Not just yet. Clenching his teeth a bit, he returned to reading the primer in front of him, looking occasionally to a media transcript nearby. He had to do more than learn the language…he had to learn the slang and turns of phrase. He wanted to make sure he wasn't mistaken about anything. While he lurked in the shadows and stepped out of world affairs for most of his life, he knew at times like this it was quite important to be overinformed.

Especially now…when he saw the "writing on the wall" with that nation called Sybenia…the ones who used the false claim of being his brother's descendents to rise to power… He had seen it far too often over time, from the first tyrant king to the Emperor of Palemecia to the false King of Baron… History had come full circle once again. And that meant he might need to intervene once more.

Continuing to read, he only hoped he could find something of use before it was too late. He had far too little available to him in this body. Knowledge was his only asset now, and he had to keep increasing that until he found some way to return to his true form. He only hoped he could do so before any chance at making a difference had failed…

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	6. The High Child

_Ten Days Later_

* * *

><p>Carbuncle stared a bit blankly at the lap top screen for a few more minutes. Finally, his small green paws reached up and placed themselves on the top, and slowly swiveled it down and closed it. His small black button eyes looked up to Dael as he let out a sigh.<p>

"I hate to say I told you so…but now do you think it would have been such a stupid idea to nip those guys in the bud?"

Dael was attempting to read at the moment. Not a normal narrative novel…but a book of latest international customs and protocols. That was more useful, and she had been advised to start memorizing it soon. After all, missions of the international type would only be growing from here on in. Nevertheless, she only let out a small exhale. She didn't feel like arguing back that vehemently this time with Carbuncle. Instead, she spoke back in a calmer voice.

"We aren't the world police. It's out of our scope."

Carbuncle snorted. "Not for long…"

"Their people have a right to handle their own affairs, just as we do ours. This is what they wanted."

The Guardian Force paused, but then shrugged. "True…but you know how stupid people can be. Since when has anyone really known what they wanted?"

Dael had no answer to that. She paused momentarily, but then sighed before resuming reading.

The world was growing more restless and uneasy by the day now. For the first few days after Rozan Heirarch took power, their contacts over in Sybenia managed to keep Esthar's Hawks abreast of the situation. The laws that rapidly came through their own governmental body one after another effectively turned their legislative body into a figurehead. Within two days, Rozan Heirarch was the only true source of power. Sybenia had already been engaging in mass military production up until that point, but now orders were going out to every munitions and weapons facility to increase production 100%. A percentage of remaining industries were converted into making weapons as well. On the third day, Rozan appeared before the general assembly and issued a public message, saying about how their nation was entering a time of prosperity and glory. After rallying the people, making them cheer and roar in joy several times over, he threw in several epitaths about how "no one" could stand in their way now. He no longer bothered mentioning the old government. That was gone. Instead, he again talked about those who had "harbored and raised" the old government, the surrounding nations…and, for the first time, Esthar was included on that list. Each speech was usually accompanied by riots by the citizens. Even if they didn't want to, Guiding Hand supporters would come in and whip them into a fervor. They reported that several businesses owned by people of non-Sybenian descent were dragged from their homes or shops by mobs and had their dwellings or places of business burned to the ground. Some places were even burning dummies of non-Sybenians in effigy…some of which were dressed like Esthar government officials.

No one knew what happened after that, because Sybenia began to severely crack down. All of their sources and informants had gone silent. It was assumed that most of them went into hiding…but everyone was feeling that at least some of them had just been the latest to "disappear".

Things had just gotten worse since then. All foreign embassies in Sybenia were closed, and it was only through tight negotiations that they even allowed the non-native members of the embassies to leave the country. The ones from Esthar that returned claimed they had been treated reasonably well, but the one from Leuco had nearly been lynched, and someone had broken a line of guards and beat the Garrado ambassador. Half of the trade routes and contracts were immediately cut off with the nation. A "neutral zone" was established around Sybenia that extended all the way into the waters of surrounding countries and was now under patrol by Sybenian warships. The ambassador for the nation of Follett, now the closest "eye" on Sybenia, announced that war drills were being conducted every day on the border. The only thing that came out from Sybenia now was the government-controlled media's speechs of Rozan and propaganda slamming all other countries and promoting Sybenia. They began to speak about how countries such as Esthar "orchestrated" the Depression to build themselves up at the expense of people like those in Sybenia.

Dael herself couldn't ignore this or think optimistically about it any more. It was becoming too obvious what was happening…

"That Legislature of yours could at least be doing _something_…" Carbuncle grumbled. "They plan to just sit around until the day they knock on their front door with a tank?"

Dael frowned in response, but, for once, couldn't come up with even a halfway decent answer to Carbuncle. As of late, she was starting to agree with him. It was well known that the Legislature of Esthar was full of squabbling and partisanship that didn't do any good. It was also known that most elected officials had been more willing to cast blame on each other than try and improve the situation of the country during the Depression. Even when a few reformers came out and tried plans, the incumbants made mountains out of molehills every time the slightest thing went wrong with the proposed programs, even if they were otherwise successes…all so they could ensure their own positions remained. It was an international embarrassment…exposing how foolhardy the government of Esthar could be in a time of crisis.

Unfortunately, it was happening again. Grand Chancellor Barbarossa was not a very prudent man…not nearly as prudent, quick-thinking, or bold as Dael would have preferred him to be. He was moving rather slowly in responding to this matter, acting at a pace that went beneath caution and was, quite frankly, bordering on incompetence. He was devoting most of his energy to fending off his political rivals instead who, instead of unifying in the time of crisis, were using the opportunity to try and further their own careers. The minority leader, District Representative Kenzell, in particular, was doing quite a bit to try and ensure the position of Grand Chancellor for next election. Barbarossa couldn't make a single position without arousing his ire. As a result, he had defaulted considerably authority to District Representative Meaks, a close associate who acted as executor for executive decisions. And as a result, some progress was being made, mostly due to Meaks deflecting the political pressure and making good suggestions. Unfortunately, Dael and Carbuncle alike noticed that Meaks had been "blowing his own horn" a lot as of late. No doubt…he was undermining Barbarossa too, jumping on the bandwagon along with everyone else to do so. And in the midst of all this, Sybenia, who had only a single seat of power that immediately got whatever he wanted when issued, was gaining power by the day…

"The least they could do is give your group a bit more freedom to move around…" Carbuncle grumbled.

"They are giving us plenty of autonomy." Dael responded. "How do you think we're able to keep contacting our sources on the Western Continent? Or conducting these war games? And despite how tight money is we keep making requests for more funding-"

"Oh, enough of that Malboro spit." Carbuncle said, waving a hand at her. "They reduced their nation's army to effectively one group, and then they clipped their wings. You all can't do a thing without their say so. Sometimes watching you guys is like watching some race where the gun has gone off and everyone is running, but you're still at the starting line because you're waiting for your dad to wake up so he can take a picture of you leaving the gate."

Dael frowned in response…but her frown lacked the power it might have had earlier. "You prefer for us to be autonomous? Clandestine? Just like those groups Sybenia has running around through the Western Continent?"

Carbuncle hesitated.

"Well…no, I guess…"

For once, Dael realized she struck Carbuncle while he had nothing to say. It was a pity she didn't feel too relieved by this small victory. At any rate, she continued. "Well then, this is how it is. We're the most highly trained and skilled group on Gaia. People trust us to get things done fast and by any means necessary. You think the basic citizen relishes the idea of a group with that kind of power not having a lot of controls on them?" She paused a moment, but then turned away slightly. "Besides…it's not like we're at war yet."

"_Yet_ being the key word, and you and I both know that." Carbuncle warned.

Dael once again paused on hearing that. However, she shook it out of her mind. Even if it did come to that, she was a soldier. She'd carry this through faithfully and without hesitation. She finally turned back to her book.

"…Could you keep it down if you're going to play any games on that today?" She finally said. "I want to read twenty more pages of this before I get started on drills today."

"Oh, that reminds me." Carbuncle spoke up. "I doubt you'll have drills today. You're getting another assignment. You've got to meet in the colonel's office at 1300."

Dael looked up from her book at that, nearly giving a start. Another assignment? She thought again back to the brief conversation she had with the colonel back on the transport…and wondered a bit. However, that lasted only a moment. It was soon replaced with confusion. She looked back to Carbuncle.

"…How do you know? There wasn't an announcement on the loudspeaker…"

"It wasn't on the loudspeaker, remember? They sent it through electronic mail."

Dael paused. That was right. Although nothing official had started yet, quite a few new missions had been occurring as of late. Most of them were recon work or certain covert operations. Nothing that was outright combat, of course, but there was now a need for secrecy, even in non-Class III work. Plus, with the sheer increase in number of war games and missions, it was not longer practical to simply call individual people to work. Because of that, messages were coming on loudspeaker. She would have to make sure to watch that more…

_Wait a second…_

Dael looked to Carbuncle. "…How did you know that? My email is password protected."

"Yeah, well…be a bit more private when you're typing it in next time." Carbuncle added with a shrug.

The young woman nearly threw down her book as she glared at Carbuncle. "Who told you that you could look through my electronic mails? There's a reason I have a password on them! Most of those are classified!"

"Don't be so melodramatic." Carbuncle answered with a wave of his paw. "Besides, if I hadn't looked it up, you wouldn't have known about it, would you have?"

Again, Dael seethed. She turned away to try and think of something in response to that…but then gave a pause. She finally sighed and realized it wasn't worth it. She looked back to him darkly.

"So long as you're acting as my involuntary secretary, was there any special instructions?"

"Yeah." Carbuncle answered. "You need to pack a bag and have your combat uniform on along with your weapons ready. Apparently, they must be shipping you out on another mission soon after the meeting's over."

Dael puzzled over that for a moment. It wasn't unheard of, of course, but just a bit unusual. Once more, she thought to what the colonel had said about her. She wondered if something indeed was coming up…something that required a bit more out of her than what was "standard". She didn't know, but she didn't dwell on it for too long. That could wait until the briefing. After a moment, she began to get up from her bed.

"Well, at least you gave me advanced warning. I have enough time for one or two more practice runs before I have to depart."

She began to get up. As she did, however, she heard another sigh from Carbuncle. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, and was just in time to see him shaking his head, as if to say, "it's a crying shame". Dael ignored that momentarily, going to her closet to start getting out her combat uniform. She might as well wear it to the practice runs and then to the meeting. However, when she noticed Carbuncle loudly sighing a second time and shaking his head again, she paused, rolled her own eyes, and looked back to him.

"Alright…what?"

"I didn't say anything."

Dael frowned. "You've got my attention, so spit it out."

Carbuncle turned his head at her. "You know…you might try doing something else besides a practice run."

Dael crossed her arms. "Like what?"

"I don't know… Stop by the commissary, ask how the other International Affairs officers are doing, email Quaren about your new assignment…take a walk, for crying out loud. I mean, sheesh…I know the people here are strict, but this is a bit ridiculous. Even I see them playing ball some times, even if it's only to let off some steam. And they do actually talk to one another when they're not on duty, too."

"I didn't get to where I am by slacking off." Dael retorted. "I'm still new here. I'm trying to make a good impression."

"How are you going to make a good impression by becoming known as the 'troll'? You know, if you want a position of command, you have to actually be able to _relate_ to people. The people in your unit aren't just chess pieces for you to move around. You might get more out of them if you know their strengths and weaknesses."

"I can get that from their mission reports." Dael simply answered. "All of us have been assessed fully."

Carbuncle seemed to smack his own furry paw against his jeweled forehead. "You're hopeless, some days… I think you're missing the point…"

"How about you try and find something to compliment me on for a change instead of saying how me and everyone else is doing such a lousy job?" Dael answered as she turned back to her closet and continued to remove items to get dressed. "If you were so great, how come you were living in a cave in a cliff like a hermit when I found you?"

"Don't you mean when your broken, bleeding, half-dead body fell on my doorstep?" Carbuncle grumbled. "I wouldn't say you were in that great of shape yourself at the time."

Dael frowned again, but tried not to let it get to her. She continued to dress. "Assuming this is a more direct mission, I might actually try calling on you for a change. You know…just to get a feel for you."

"You better not." Carbuncle snapped. "I'm not going to come running just because you want to see if our bond works. You better be moments from having your head bit off or something."

"Most of what I've learned so far has been by instinct." Dael answered as she took up her weapons next, strapping them to her sides. Her ammunition belt was again full of ten shells, having had the two replaced that she had used earlier. "I prefer to know what I have to work with rather than say a prayer that I'll think of something."

"Well, I already told you what I do and what you can do." Carbuncle answered. "So there's no news there."

Dael finished adjusting her weapons, then turned and began to walk for her door. She looked back to Carbuncle as she did. "…You coming? I know you like to intrude on these briefings."

"Maybe when it gets a little closer to 1300." Carbuncle answered. "No need to come before then."

"Suit yourself." Dael answered, although privately she was grateful. That meant she didn't have to worry about Carbuncle once again attracting stares. With that in mind, she moved to the door and pressed the control to make it slide open.

Dael immediately became aware that there was a change. Even in the living quarters, especially in the officer area, such as she was in, people were usually fast-moving and to the point, only there to go from A to B, to get something, or the like. However…right now it was a bit different. She noticed that there were several people loitering in the hallway at the moment, and many of them were minor officers. Not only that, but there was even a squad of privates standing before their commanding officer, seeming to all being asking her the same thing. Dael looked around at this in puzzlement for a moment, before she looked to one side. Two officers, both lieutenants, were parting at the moment and going their separate ways. Dael decided to seize on the opportunity. She faced the one coming her way and called out.

"What's going on?"

The fellow lieutenant paused, looking to Dael. "You haven't heard?"

"No, I haven't. Is Sybenia making a move?"

The officer shook her head. "Nothing that severe…not yet. But still, it's another big change. The Order of Hyne is paying a visit to Fort Morningstar."

Dael immediately found her own interest piqued. Officially, the Order of Hyne was not aligned with any individual nation on the planet. Nor did they operate out of any one country. More like a religion than a region or country, they had special sites within most nations on Gaia, all of which were considered sacred to the order and maintained by the Children of Hyne. As all of them tended to wander a bit, usually it was at such shrines that one could be guaranteed to find one. It was where the heads of their order frequented as well as highly-revered and respected members of their people. Even among nations that tended not to subscribe to any religion, they were usually allowed to operate. The reasons were simple for that. Whenever there was a violent unrest, Children of Hyne would step in to calm things down. Whenever there was a drought or flood, Children of Hyne would arrive on the scene to provide aid to farmers and those who had lost their homes. Whenever negotiations were reaching a breaking point, the heads of the order would step in as moderators and find peaceful solutions. The members of the Order of Hyne were well respected and acknowledged as both the most powerful individuals in the world as well as the most benevolent and wise. Since they had adhered to their code of benevolence and grace to all without hypocracy or partiality for so long, they were widely admired and respected by all peoples. It was considered a great thing to have them within one's city, and it was always a sign of big change when they decided to pay a visit…usually a turning point of one form or another.

"Has one of the Sorceresses come?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so. There might be a Sorceress Knight here, however. I thought I heard that rumor floating about."

"Does anyone have any idea why they showed up?"

"Not really. But if I had to guess, I'd say they were wanting to see if Esthar was getting serious and, if so, that they would throw their support behind us."

Dael again raised her eyebrows. "Support? I thought they were neutral."

"So did I…but this is a bit more than some internal conflict or some exchange of ship fire with Leuco. Plus, I don't think Sybenia is that high on their list of friendly countries at the moment."

Dael nodded in response to that. She could understand that much. Although it was impossible to tell for certain, one of the "non-native" groups that had been ostracized prior to the lockdown of the country were magic users. While the world had pretty much accepted magic at this point, there were still some in every country who, no doubt due to the virtue that it was something strange, powerful, and, most importantly, something they couldn't do or understand, thought that anyone who could wield magic was dangerous. They always grew upset whenever the Order of Hyne stopped by, and if a politician grew too "close" to them they would cry that the politician was in the pocket of the Sorceresses. However, in Sybenia, there were enough of them screaming loudly to make it dangerous for anyone who could use magic. There had already been lynchings and laws designed to make magic users second-class citizens, forcing them to register and prohibiting them from many places of commerce and work. Not to mention when Sybenia cut off some external influences, it included closing all the shrines in Sybenia. Reportedly, some had been burned too…and there were even some rumors that younger Children of Hyne were still inside when that happened…

At any rate, what all of that meant was that, to any normal person, the Order of Hyne wouldn't be willing to see things in the light of Sybenia that much. But who knew? The Order of Hyne tended to be aloof and secretive, but also forgiving. They reportedly gave aid to both sides of the last major six wars, and never once took a combat stance in either of them. Still…this was a bit more severe than those.

"I guess I'd have to agree." Dael responded. She gave a nod to the lieutenant. "Thanks for the information."

The lieutenant gave a nod back. "No problem. Although, from what I'm guessing, it wasn't really necessary. Everyone should be talking about it for a while. You'll probably run into someone who knows more than me."

"We'll see." Dael responded. She gave one final nod, and then turned to head off to the practice grounds.

* * *

><p>At 1300 hours on the dot, Dael was standing at the ready in front of Colonel Regalis' door and giving it a knock.<p>

"Come." His voice immediately called from the other side.

Dael advanced, after only pausing a moment to look to her feet…suppressing a frown to see that Carbuncle, right on cue, had appeared down there. In truth, this was her first time ever into the colonel's office, and she was a bit intimidated at what she thought she might see. However, her mind was soon put at ease as soon as she looked inside it. Much like her, the colonel appeared to be very "down to Gaia", and had only the basic necessities. Even his numerous awards and honors were gleaned to a select few that were tucked in a corner. The colonel was rising up as she entered, and she saw why. Another officer, this one a captain, was sitting across from him and departing. After rising, they exchanged salutes, and the captain turned and began to walk out of the room. Soon, he passed by Dael, and left the chamber. Dael was left in the room with the colonel.

"Punctual as always, Lt. Dael." He stated as soon as the captain was gone. "Please…have a seat."

Dael, standing at the ready as soon as she had entered, gave a nod, and then moved over to the chair in front of the colonel's desk. She soon sat down in front of it and sat up straight and attentively. Carbuncle, holding his own tongue, moved over nearby. She thought she almost heard a sigh from him when he noted there was only one chair before resigning himself to the floor. As for Colonel Regalis, he leaned forward a bit and folded his hands in front of him. He was silent for a few moments. He seemed to be thinking something over a bit. After a few seconds, however, he looked back up to her.

Dael was immediately struck by his look. A seriousness had come over him…something she hadn't seen from him yet, not even during the tongue-lashing she received at her first mission.

"Well, lieutenant…this is a little bit sudden, but we're having to require more out of all of Esthar's Hawks nowadays. I'm afraid that includes fairly raw recruits." He began. "The previous two missions have been light enough…so I'm afraid I'm going to be 'ratcheting up' the difficulty on you a bit, to say nothing of the potential for danger."

The lieutenant showed nothing but seriousness and attentiveness to this…but inside she felt herself tensing up. The colonel was speaking very grimly now. Her suspicions looked like they had been correct.

"Do you remember what I said to you following the Lamb Archipelago mission?"

Dael nodded. "Yes sir."

"It seems that starts today…a bit earlier than I would have liked but there's nothing for it. Some of the captains that report directly to me are a bit on edge about this. They figure you're still too raw…that I need to test your mettle better. However, I say that this is probably the best 'proving ground' I can give you at this point. It's looking more and more by the day that it won't be long before we're going to have to throw recruits straight out of the Academy into the proverbial fire. Besides, you received the highest marks out of any recruit that ever graduated the Academy. There's no sense in beating around the bush. We're going to see right now whether you deserve those honors or if you just test well."

Dael suppressed shifting a bit uneasily on hearing that. This was the closest the colonel had come to saying that he doubted her ability. It wasn't settling. However, she drew herself up and spoke boldly.

"I won't fail, sir."

"Good. I expect you not to." Regalis responded. With that, he leaned back in his chair and stood a bit more upright.

"The Senate passed a special resolution early this morning. It's the first true step we're taking against Sybenia's recent actions. There are three city-states on the border of Sybenia that have reported intense amounts of 'war game' activity. Based on all previous knowledge of the way war is waged in that region, it's evident that, at any day now, Sybenia is going to make a strike. The Senate wants to dissuade them from that. To that end, we're entering into an exclusive partnership and alliance with these city-states: Follet, Mutaris, and Gildgar. We will be giving them economic support and military support, if necessary. Furthermore, any attack on any one of these three city-states will be considered an act of war against the other two as well as their allies, which would be Esthar, in this case. This is a move to start unifying the rest of the Western Continent against Sybenia. If Rozan Heirarch finds himself unable to 'break off chunks' of the rest of the country, instead being forced to fight the entire mass, it might make him reconsider any plans he has long enough to put more pressure on him. The Senate is already pushing his economic allies to break ties all together.

"This partnership has been made in secret using our respective ambassadors as envoys of information, and for good reason. It was believed that if Sybenia knew we were in the course of making an agreement with the city-states, it would only force his hand into attacking the city-states before the partnership could take place. However, that time is over. It's time to announce the alliance.

"As a 'good faith' gesture, the country has requested that we send a representative from Esthar." The colonel sighed a bit in response. "For one reason or another, most major politicians have declined."

Dael suppressed a frown, again being reminded of Carbuncle's statements. She could guess why that was true. No city savvy politician wanted to be caught dead out in Sybenia at this point, with all the political chaos going on. That would require actually putting their life on the line for something. They had Esthar's Hawks for that sort of thing.

"Therefore, we're sending the next biggest show of strength: a representative of Esthar's Hawks." The colonel continued. "Most of our captains and commanders are currently indisposed, however. We do have a few that are available…but, like I said earlier, I'm wanting to use this mission as a proving ground. I'm expecting that you don't desire to be a lieutenant forever, given your stated career aspirations. And I'm wanting to put you to the test while I still have the luxury of doing so without exposing Esthar to unnecessary risk. Therefore, you will be dispatched on this mission of high International Affairs importance. Since a lieutenant is somewhat paltry, for the duration of this mission…I am giving you a temporary 'field' promotion to commander."

Even thought it was just as the colonel said, a temporary promotion…Dael couldn't help but nearly shift in her seat on hearing that out of amazement. She thought she wouldn't have that title for another six years, whether it be on a temporary or permanent basis. She felt a bit light headed on hearing it…

"You have the authority to sign on behalf of Esthar's Hawks now." The colonel stated. "And, by executive decision issued this morning, Esthar's Hawks has authority to sign on behalf of Esthar itself."

To accent this, the colonel reached over and grabbed an envelope officially sealed with the insignia of the Senate of Esthar that was lying on his desk. He proceeded to lean over and place the envelope in front of Dael. Dael hesitated only a moment before reaching out and taking it…feeling as if a weight was put on her shoulders when she did so. She was rather amazed…this was a burden of quite a bit of responsibility. It was almost overwhelming, and incredibly sudden. Dael had been expecting a heavier mission on entering the office, but this was a whole new level. She realized from this wording that she would be in full command. In the previous two missions, she had been a subordinate…but now she was pretty much calling the shots. Once on route to the destination, she would be "on her own", so to speak…having autonomy for the first time. And this was on a fairly important mission, too…

The colonel leaned back. "The orders are simple. You won't be required to do any negotiation other than shaking a few hands and announcing yourself and your companions. You'll move in, sign the appropriate documents, have a picture or two taken to legitimize everything, then return back to Esthar. With all luck, this mission will proceed very smoothly and nothing will go wrong. However, I don't need to remind you that you are entering an extremely hostile area. The chance for combat is at least ten times as likely as it was during the Lamb Archipelago mission. We're running against a ticking clock, lieutenant. Even if Sybenia knows nothing about our plans, it's more than likely that they could attack at any day now. Hence why you're bringing your weapons and going in combat uniform. This is to be treated as a field mission. As I said before, time is of the essence. You'll report to the North Gate at the conclusion of this briefing, after you've grabbed your things, and you'll depart via rail to the airfield where one of our smaller 'Stratoaevis' craft will take you directly to Follett for the signing. You should be there in 24 hours."

Dael hesitated a moment. Her look turned every-so-slightly puzzled, even as she gave a nod. "Yes sir…understood…but…"

"Yes, lieutenant?"

"I'm not certain I heard you right. Did you say 'your companions'?"

The colonel nodded. "Yes, lieutenant. You'll be traveling with two others. The first is just standard assignment, as I'm sure you're aware of…a personal liason. Standard operating procedure."

Dael hesitated again, but then nodded. "Yes, I'm familiar with the code, sir."

"I need to inform you on something, lieutenant." The colonel continued, getting a bit more serious. "Normally, I would have assigned an International Affairs Hawk to you but we're unusually shorthanded in that regard this year, especially this week when we've sent almost all of the privates away to conduct training drills and advisement situations internationally. And, frankly, acting as a unit to more or less make an officer look more important isn't much of a high priority. Therefore, your liason for this mission has been temporarily promoted from another division. As such, he's not completely briefed on International Affairs code. Last I looked, he's struggling to learn two years worth of material in thirty minutes…so please, bear with him."

Dael again suppressed a grimace. She understood how she might not be getting the "cream of the crop". Any liason at all was enough to make her head swim a little. Still…she had wished she'd at least have gotten an International Affairs private. She didn't want to have to spend half the mission lecturing him on what to do. However, after announcing this, the colonel shifted again. Now, he began to look to be the one tensing up, and he leveled a darker glare at Dael.

"This is one other very important caveat to this mission." He continued. "Although it was supposed to be a classified manner, even in Fort Morningstar it seems things can't stay quiet. By now, you no doubt are aware that we received a visit from the Order of Hyne today."

Dael paused…not sure if she should say she had heard about it, and therefore been a part of the rumor spreading, or if she knew nothing, and therefore wasn't paying attention.

"…I've heard rumors to that effect, sir."

"This agreement came about partially due to their influence." The colonel answered. "The Senate was fairly deadlocked on what was the most appropriate diplomatic action to take for the past five days before Mianyl the Wind herself convened with the Grand Chancellor and proposed this idea. Their appearance here today was a result of knowing we were going out to give the agreement. Essentially, they want 'on board', to send the message to the city-states that the Order of Hyne is standing behind them. Overall, I believe it is a good move. Most nations tend to be put more at ease when they know they can count on assistance from the Order. At any rate…that means that something unprecedented is about to happen."

The colonel's look grew darker yet.

"Lieutenant…you are about to embark on a mission in which the like hasn't happened in close to a hundred years, and something unprecedented for Esthar. You are going to be the first of Esthar's Hawks ever to collaborate with a member of the Order of Hyne on a mission."

Dael couldn't help it…her eyes did widen slightly, and her mouth went slightly ajar. She was stunned. The Order of Hyne never involved themselves in potential combat, or directly in political affairs. It was simply something they didn't do. They acted as advisors and mediators, but never anything direct. However, they were coming on this mission…and that meant…

"…Sir, am I correct in assuming that this member will be prepared for combat, should the need arise, as we are going into hostile territory?"

The colonel gave a slow nod. "You are, lieutenant." He spoke a bit gravely. "That should give you an idea of how ground-breaking this mission is…and why I caught so much flak from my captains about it when I decided to assign you."

Bad as the burden was before, it became twice as bad now. Dael actually felt a little dizzy even though she was sitting down. Now this was something indeed. It wasn't bad enough that she would be the first person to make an impression by working with a member of the Order of Hyne. This would have been bad enough if it was a purely diplomatic mission or "mission of mercy". Now, there was the fact that there was potentially combat, which introduced a whole new set of problems.

The colonel looked more firmly at Dael yet. "This is an opportunity that Esthar's Hawks has not had yet, lieutenant. Until this point, we have had no concept of just how much a member of the Order of Hyne can do…only what was told us. Now granted, this will be an atypical example. The member who is going with you has been personally raised and trained by Cybus the River. Furthermore, there's still a good chance that this will be an open-and-shut mission with nothing to worry about. That said…if there is an opportunity for combat…I expect you to make a full report. I'll need you to gauge his strength so we can have a true baseboard to work off of."

"Yes sir." Dael responded. "But…I do have one question. Is it essential to have this information? The Order of Hyne is a pacifist organization."

"It is." The colonel responded. "Nevertheless, it has been directly ordered by the Senate to have it on record what sort of things we should expect from a member of the Order of Hyne should things potentially one day go south. Magic may be commonplace and better understood today than at any other time in history, but it's still not completely understood, especially to what level the Order of Hyne commands it. There's no reason _not_ to have that on record."

Dael paused momentarily, but then nodded back. "Yes sir."

"I believe that's all there is to it, lieutenant." The colonel concluded. "Obtain your things and report to the North Gate immediately. Your operation will begin as soon as you and the other two members of your group are assembled. Dismissed."

Dael rose to her feet and gave a salute. The colonel rose as well and did much the same. During this exchange, Carbuncle cracked his own neck a bit and stretched as he got up. Dael turned and moved to leave.

"…One more thing, lieutenant."

Dael paused, and looked back. The colonel paused momentarily. He seemed unsure of how to say this.

"Will your…I mean, will you be bringing…Carbuncle, with you?"

"You know, I'm right here." Carbuncle griped. "You can just ask me your-"

"As I said before, sir." Dael responded, cutting the Guardian Force off before he could ruin the sense or propriety. "Carbuncle can come and go from my presence at will, and so-"

However, the Guardian Force launched back and cut her off. "Yes sir, I will. I figure she could use the extra hand."

Dael suppressed the urge to shoot Carbuncle a glare…not wanting to do so while the colonel was looking right at her. As for Regalis, he paused only a moment, then smiled and nodded.

"In all possibility, she might, Carbuncle. I'll make sure to tell the Stratoaevis pilot to expect _four_ individuals."

Carbuncle actually smiled a bit in response, and bowed his head a little. "Thank you, colonel." He said with extra emphasis. "It's nice to know that some people within Fort Morningstar acknowledge me as a person and not just some pet cat to feed and water and then otherwise ignore for the rest of the-"

"_Thank you_, sir." Dael cut off again, now with a distinct edge in her voice. If it wouldn't have been embarrassing, she would have seized Carbuncle by one of his long ears and drug him out. As it was, she only shot him another glare before "nudging" him with her foot to get moving. "We need to get to the North Gate…come on."

"Ow! Hey!" Carbuncle protested as the point of her boot dug into him, and with a grumble…and maybe a muffled curse word or two…he went to the sliding door and went out.

Not wanting anything else to go wrong, Dael turned and quickly followed after him, hoping the colonel wasn't thinking anything less of her for that.

* * *

><p>Dael was still rather irritated twelve minutes later, as she stood at the ready right in front of the North Gate. Her face was visibly upset as her arms were crossed. She tried to smooth it out as best as she could, however. No reason to greet her new teammates with a scowl, after all. The gate itself was a large entryway. At the moment, there were glass sliding doors affording a large view of the terrace outside, and a pathway up to a rail station that met right outside the front of the gate. However, the pathway was sufficient to not only allow many troops in, it could actually be converted to let in vehicles, if the need arose. The sophisticated gate array actually allowed it to be reconfigured by central security control, turning it from an aesthetically pleasing entrance to a heavy bulkhead in a minute. A few members of Esthar's Hawks walked around out front, and a few items were being shipped or moved around. The foyer that Dael stood in at the moment was empty itself. Farther behind her, in the main hall, a few Hawks occasionally walked by. She looked to each one as they did, trying to see if they were coming this way. But each one just walked by.<p>

Carbuncle was seated on the floor nearby, looking up to her.

"Oh come on…you're not still mad, are you?"

"…What do you think?" Dael answered. "You completely broke code and discipline in front of the colonel."

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not one of your 'Esthar's Hawks'?" Carbuncle complained.

Dael frowned. "You aren't my pet, you aren't a Hawk…what are you then? Just some annoying creature that won't go away?"

"_Can't_ go away." Carbuncle answered. "We're junctioned, remember?"

Dael frowned and said nothing. "If I really can command you, can't I order you to leave?"

Carbuncle looked back at her. After a moment, he seemed to cross his paws in front of his chest and stare at her.

"Ok then…order me to leave."

"Don't push me, I just might."

"I'm asking you now. Go on and do it."

"I said I will, so knock it off."

Carbuncle cracked a smile. "What's the matter, can't you do it?"

Dael finally broke and looked down to him. "Of course I can! You just aren't being annoying enough yet, is all."

"I can be." Carbuncle answered. "I can start making loud chewing noises…whining…humming…gritting my teeth…"

"Ugh…would you just drop it!" Dael answered, raising her volume more as she looked back forward.

Carbuncle let out a snort. "You can't."

"I'm not arguing with you over something this dumb…"

"It's alright. I know you can't, no matter how much you want to. It's perfectly understandable." The Guardian Force gave a shrug. "Anyone else would feel that way. Nothing to be ashamed of."

Dael rolled her eyes and groaned. "What are you going on about now?"

"…Boy, you're in denial." Carbuncle spoke up after a pause. "Like I said…there's nothing to be ashamed of. Though I can see why you might think there is."

The lieutenant sighed again. "I really have no idea what you're talking about."

Carbuncle stared back a moment, then finally shrugged, as if resigning himself. "…I'm not going to press it. I don't need you getting defensive. You might _really_ get mad at me then, and I'm not good enough in the physical department to take a beating from you… Just make sure you get over it eventually. There might be a time where you really do need to tell me to leave."

Dael stared back at Carbuncle a moment, then sighed again and looked forward once more. She really had no idea what he was talking about. She could order him away if she wanted. She just didn't feel the need. Sure…he could be annoying and he always seemed to nitpick at everything, but he did have some sense even if he didn't always show it. He might have been a bit rough around the edges, but the fact was he did have a lot of knowledge and experience. He picked up on things faster than her too, especially when her thoughts were distracted. It was a boon to have him around. However, that was the only reason she kept him around.

_...Isn't it?_

Dael felt that stray thought enter her mind, and she quickly chased it away. She didn't want to waste time thinking about such stupid things. And soon…she saw something that made her put it out even faster.

A new Esthar Hawk moved up to the turn in the hallway, and this time, the Hawk turned and began to make his way along it. He had his face buried on a printout, no doubt holding his instructions and making sure he was getting them right. Dael thought at first that it might be just a normal Hawk, but she soon saw things that made her rethink that. He had a bag similar to Dael's slung over one shoulder, and a high-powered rifle balanced over the other, almost a little too casually to be appropriate for an Esthar's Hawk. She also noticed he was rather raw and young even while he was walking up to her…and saw that his attire was indeed not one of International Affairs, but of Civil Defense. His normal helmet was in his bag…he wore only a basic hat with the Esthar's Hawk emblem on it at the moment.

By that point, Dael was growing a bit surprised as she thought she recognized the person. At first she thought it was a trick of the light. Yet as he grew closer…she could see there was no doubt about it, and she worked hard to suppress her astonishment and confusion. Had there been some sort of mistake? She wished she would have gotten the names of the members of her group before leaving the office…

Yet as the soldier came in close, he finally looked up from his paper…and slowly came to a halt in surprise, once again having a shocked look on his face.

"D…Dael?" Quaren asked incredulously. "…Is that really you?"

Dael herself was so surprised that she forgot her own propriety for a moment, and wasn't able to answer. She only was able to blink in surprise for a few moments.

Quaren, however, soon broke into a grin and quickly ran up the rest of the way. "It is you! I can't believe it! I thought that mission during the Northern Rancor would be the last time I would see you face-to-face for the next five years!" He exclaimed. "I mean…they told me that they were going to put me on International Affairs duty and they said they were pairing me with a young International Affairs office…and I knew that there was a slim chance so I didn't think much of it…but…but, here you are!"

Dael actually stammered a moment, not sure what to say. Deep in her heart of hearts…she was happy. As the days had wore on following her first mission, Dael realized just how alone she was in her officer's quarters. She had emailed Quaren a bit more, but they both rarely had time to check it. She even found herself wishing, for all of her discipline, that she could go out and visit every once in a while. After a moment, however, she swallowed and struggled to compose herself. She stood more upright.

"Um…uh…" She began, actually wincing inwardly at how she wasn't even able to say a straight word. Swallowing again, she spoke firmly. "It…seems we're working together again, private."

Quaren hesitated, his smile faltering a bit as he stopped in mid-step. However, it soon returned. "Oh, come on, lieutenant…can't we be informal for a little bit? You know…just talk a little? What are the chances we'll get paired together again?"

Dael flustered a bit. "…We have a mission to accomplish, private. We need to-"

"For the love of god, Dael…stop being such a stuffed shirt." Carbuncle stated flatly, with just a hint of griping in his voice. "You're talking like Quaren's some bum off the street. I don't care how tight of a ship this is supposed to be, it's getting to be a bad time and you may not get the chance just to 'chat' for a while. Besides, the colonel said it himself…the mission doesn't start until all of the team members arrive. Technically, you're both still off duty."

Dael gave Carbuncle a look. Quaren, on his part, was still a bit tense when the Guardian Force spoke, and he showed it. But when he heard what he had to say, he began to relax a bit, even almost give a hint of a smile at the small creature. Dael spotted this and struggled not to groan. That was all she needed…Quaren taking his side on things from now on. Nevertheless, she held out for a bit longer…before she finally gave in. Sighing, she slumped a bit, breaking out of her rigid pose.

"…Fine." She relented.

Now Quaren really did light up visibly.

Dael looked to him a bit, crossing her arms more casually. "I'm surprised you're here, Quaren. I thought for sure you'd still be doing Civil Defense. I heard they were bringing in non-International Affairs officers, but I never thought I'd see you here. I remember back in the Academy how you always dreaded the workload that recruits for International Affairs had to go through."

Quaren grimaced a bit at the thought, but in the end gave a bit of a shrug. "Well…yeah…but that was back in the Academy, when I'd psych myself out before all the exams and tests. You know me…always thinking things will be too bad and overwhelming." He scratched his head a bit. "The truth is, even thought I've only been in Civil Defense for a month or so…it's kind of boring. All we ever do is take out the local monsters. I mean, don't get me wrong…it's heating up now. We're doing a lot more drills. But still…all it is all day is go out and see how many monsters you can kill."

Carbuncle chuckled. "Sounds like something Dael would prefer to the International Affairs business. She's always looking bored…"

Dael shot a look of daggers at Carbuncle. The last thing she wanted, after that first meeting, was someone to spread the rumor that she was "bored" with her duties. She didn't need to get in any more trouble. "International Affairs is a very high-priority branch full of missions of critical importance. I'm more than honored to be serving in any capacity with this division."

The Guardian Force merely rolled his black button eyes and sighed again. "Whatever…"

"Anyway, pretty much all we do all day is trying to become better at combat." Quaren continued. After saying that, he smiled a bit, but in bashfulness bowed his head and looked a bit to the floor. "Heh…my captain says I'm the best sniper in the division. I'm not sure about that… I mean, I guess I did get that one Platysaur with one shot at 150 yards, but that was only because the wind wasn't working against me and it was a good rifle…"

Dael's eyes widened a bit, however. "…Are you serious?"

Quaren shrugged. "Yeah…but it wasn't that big-"

"Quaren, I know the physiology of a Platysaur." Dael cut off. "The target area for a bullet isn't larger than four inches and if you're off just a little to right or left it will deflect off. That shot's nearly impossible from 150 yards."

Quaren blushed a bit as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well…I had a good scope too…"

"No wonder they went ahead and put you in International Affairs temporarily." Dael continued.

The soldier seemed to turn redder yet. "R-Really…it was nothing… I mean, after all, you killed that Tyrant Lizard all by yourself…"

"Yes, but that's overwhelming in its own right." Dael answered. "Quaren, you know I don't give compliments lightly. I'm not that kind of person. I've never once congratulated you on anything that I didn't think wasn't truly remarkable. And this was incredible. If you can shoot like that all the time, I'm betting you'll be promoted long before I am."

Quaren looked ready to pass out from blushing so hard. After all, he knew Dael was telling the truth. Dael wasn't a person to give a person "pity" or false praise in order to elevate them. Some said it made her cold and hard, but, on the other hand, if you did get acclaim from her, then it was that much more precious and valuable. In the end, he wiped his brow a bit and looked up.

"I guess I kind of have a reputation to live up to now during this mission…" He murmured. He focused back on Dael, relaxing a bit more. "So, how many missions have you been on since that one during Northern Rancor?" He asked excitedly, smiling a bit. "I'm sure you've got all sorts of stories to tell."

Dael frowned slightly. "Quaren, you know that International Affairs missions are classified-"

Carbuncle cleared his throat.

Frowning even more and rolling her eyes again, Dael broke once more. "Only one, really, and it wasn't that big of a deal."

Quaren looked almost disappointed for a moment. "Really?" However, he blinked as he realized something. "Wait…are you serious? Just one other mission?"

Dael nodded.

Quaren once again looked amazed. "Wow…they must really think a lot of you, Dael. I mean, only two missions since you joined International Affairs, and they're giving you command for a mission? That's pretty incredible too." He grinned a bit. "Guess they really thought you did good during that mission with us, huh?"

Now, it was Dael's turn to turn a bit red, but she managed to mask it better.

Quaren smiled a bit longer, but then it faltered a bit. Looking a bit anxious and tense now, he walked in closer to Dael and spoke more quietly.

"Is…is what they said true? Are we really getting a member of the Order of Hyne working with us on this mission?"

Dael recovered a bit, but then nodded. "That's what Colonel Regalis himself told me."

Quaren's eyes widened, and he exhaled a bit. "Whoa…I forgot you answer directly to him…but…Dael, that's never happened before. We've never paired up with an Order of Hyne member. No one has!"

"I know, Quaren."

"This is…this is groundbreaking! One for the rule books! I mean…sheesh…"

Dael sighed slightly. "…Just try to relax when he gets here, Quaren. We're supposed to be the responsible ones, remember?"

Quaren paused, but then agreed and nodded. "Sure, sure. But still… I mean…what do we do? Do we have to make accommodations for their prayers? Do they go through special rituals? Do they eat and sleep normally? I mean…"

Dael sighed again. "Just relax. We have protocol for this sort of thing. We'll treat it just as a standard collaboration mission with an outside military force."

Quaren blinked a bit at that, and looked to the ground. "Never really thought of their religion as a 'military force' before…"

"Well, outside nation, if that makes you feel better." Dael responded. "At any rate, I'm the one who actually has to deal with him. You don't have to worry much about it. Just remember that under our procedure we can't order him around or anything. More or less, we both keep to ourselves. There's a few exceptions, but other than that we're just going together."

Quaren exhaled and looked to the ground a bit. "Alright, Dael…"

"Sure, this is new." Dael added. "But it's nothing to get bent out of shape about. He's just there to legitimize this treaty. All we'll probably do is sign a few papers together. It's no big deal."

Quaren paused a bit longer, but then gave a shrug.. "Sure…" He hesitated a moment, but then started to look back up to Dael. "But what about-"

The soldier cut off when he looked back up to Dael, however. He saw that she was looking up, past the shorter young man and beyond. What more, she was beginning to straighten and go into attention. She put the conversation away with Quaren for the moment. Just like Carbuncle had said…it seemed time for the mission to begin. Quaren was a bit puzzled, and turned to look. But what he saw immediately made him blanch a bit and move off to the side, where he stood at attention with his rifle nearby.

A small escort group of Esthar's Hawks was approaching. It consisted of a captain (one that Dael recognized as Captain Merrick, who had been present during the Northern Rancor mission but was also frequently moving about Fort Morningstar) and two privates. They moved quickly and orderly in lock step, the picture of official business. However, what came behind them afterward was what truly caught Dael's eye.

Moving smoothly, silently, and in two rows of three were individuals who were cloaked from head to toe. Hoods were pulled over their faces, showing only their lower noses and mouths. Their hands were concealed by the large cloaks and folded in front of them. The cloaks were all of one color, a pale gray, and they moved as one, seeming to be almost a unified mass rather than six individuals with the "sameness" that was granted to them by their clothing. They wore some sort of iron filligre on their shoulders and necks that extended around to form the clasp of their cloaks in front of them. It was thick enough to almost be like some sort of shoulder armor. Each one was very similar to each other, but bore just enough difference, if one looked close enough, to see that they were all unique, if only slightly. They conducted themselves with as much stoicism and self-discipline as the Esthar's Hawks…perhaps even more so. They seemed to move a bit slower, however…more like they were monks rather than soldiers of a sort.

Dael recognized them immediately. Anyone who had been around a bit on Gaia would…they were Children of Hyne. All members of a low order, as identified by iron clasps. The world didn't fully understand the workings of the Order of Hyne, but they knew enough to realize that this meant that these were on the same level as a "priest" within a religious hierarchical order. The only lower ranked ones would be the neophytes, who wore cloth cords rather than metal to clasp their own cloaks. Dael found herself stiffening a bit on seeing them, deep inside. It helped bring to mind exactly what was happening in the mission. Until now, it had just been a statement or writing on a piece of paper. With this entourage, it was clear that this was really happening.

Dael stood at attention and at the ready, waiting for them to come. Quaren soon moved to the side, put down his own bag, and also stood at attention, shouldering his rifle. Captain Merrick soon brought the group forward, leading them onward. On reaching Dael, the woman, who still underranked him even with the temporary promotion, immediately saluted. Once they had exchanged that, the captain immediately moved to the side, with the two privates flanking him. Dael stiffened again, because that soon meant she had no one standing between her and the retinue of Order of Hyne members, who were still advancing.

However, they left a considerable space between the two when they came to a halt. At that point, the six parted ways in perfect form, opening up down the middle. Only then did Dael see it. A seventh member had been in their midst the entire time. This one was different. The cloak here was a bluish hue, and the shoulder armor/clasp that he wore was a bit more extensive. Furthermore, it wasn't iron but bronze…a mark that this one ranked higher. Just like the rest of the stoic members of the order that were with this individual, all on the person was concealed except for the lower face. Dael looked to it and, despite the concealment, could soon recognize it as the lower face of a young man, probably around her age…perhaps just a little older. It was hard to make out much from him, concealed as he was, but he appeared to be just a little more solidly built than his companions…perhaps a bit large in physique than Quaren. He was definitely taller. Dael was slightly intrigued by that. As Order of Hyne members specialized in magic, most of them were physically frail compared to most soldiers on Gaia. This one looked strong enough to take a few blows, however.

This one advanced, parting from his companions and moving into the space ahead, so that he now stood before Dael. The temporary commander noted that he had a cool air about him…very official and businesslike, more so than his companions even. He was as highly disciplined as the best Esthar's Hawk, it seemed. However…something seemed to be almost cold about him. At any rate, there wasn't much time to size him up after that. Captain Merrick indicated to him.

"Commander Dael Levinson…allow me to introduce Taraketh Sabian, High Child of the Order of Hyne. He will be accompanying you on your mission."

Finally, a sign of "humanity". The man, Taraketh, had the folds of his cloak separate, and his hands came forth, went around the clasp, and went to his hood. He slowly brushed that back off of his head, exposing his features. His hair was messy, although it wasn't due to negligence. It just seemed to draw itself into spike-like formations and splay out a bit. He kept it short to where it wasn't much of a problem…only extended to his neck. She saw that his jaw was hard, and was rather firmly set. His eyes were a vivid blue, piercing and strong.

Once his head was exposed, Taraketh paused for a moment. His eyes looked his new group over. Finally, his eyes turned to one in particular…Carbuncle, standing at the side. He wasn't even part of the "group" so to speak. However, in spite of that, Taraketh turned fully to face him, then crossed an arm over his chest. Immediately, he dropped into a kneel before him, bowing his head. At once, the other Order of Hyne members did the same. Dael was a bit surprised at the gesture, but managed to conceal it. Quaren, not so much. He actually blinked and looked between the two momentarily. Carbuncle himself seemed a bit surprised by it and straightened up, but he said nothing else.

"Lord Carbuncle." Taraketh finally announced, the first thing he said. His voice sounded fairly youthful…made him seem younger than he looked. Perhaps he was, and his facial features just were hardened somehow. "It is an honor to be in your presence. Please forgive us for not showing proper decorum sooner. I've been caught off guard…first being in such a place and then meeting you here. I wasn't sure how to respond at the onset."

Carbuncle looked back a moment. Dael watched from the corner of her eye…and couldn't believe it. Sure, she was awed enough when she first saw Carbuncle, but since then she had grown accustomed to him as a basic freeloader/annoyance who wouldn't go away. These guys were practically treating him as royalty. Well…she supposed that was to be expected. One of the greatest sources of power for the Order of Hyne was the Guardian Forces…beings that they practically revered. Only their matriarchs possessed greater power…at least, so the saying went.

At any rate, Carbuncle finally did respond. He gave a shrug.

"Eh…don't sweat it, kid."

Dael, at a rare moment, felt an impulse to chuckle when she saw Taraketh nearly go a bit slack-jawed at the absolute casual air of the reply. However, he managed to swallow it back, nodded once more, and then rose to his feet. The six others did at the same time. Once they were up, Taraketh stood straight and tall once again. He looked over, and soon his eyes rested on Quaren. Finding himself under the spotlight, Quaren straightened up a bit more and, forgetting that he didn't have to, obviously, he actually gave Taraketh a bit of salute. Taraketh, on his part, started back motionlessly for a moment, before giving Quaren a curt nod.

Finally, he turned back to Dael. At that point, he looked at her straight in the eye, standing straight and tall. Dael stared back, unmiffed by this…but soon she began to grow aware of something. She could see hostility in his gaze, perhaps even a bit of anger… This, of course, only incited her to stare back just as fiercely, not about to be intimidated by anyone, and not appreciating the look when they just met. Her face remained as calm and stern as any officer's would be.

"Is this…" Taraketh began, still staring at Dael but addressing Merrick. After a pause, he spat out the next word with an amount of loathing. "…_soldier_ the one?"

Merrick remained unchanged. "Yes, Sir Taraketh. As I said before, Commander Levinson is junctioned to Carbuncle."

Dael nearly blanched a bit at that. So that fact was public knowledge? Well…of course it was. She had made no secret of it to the colonel or the others on base, and so it was assumed that it would circulate around Esthar's Hawks. Nevertheless, she did feel just a bit uneasy that they went ahead and told others about it.

Taraketh didn't answer. He merely stared back at Dael without change, not breaking off his gaze for a moment…and not hiding the fact that he had an inner anger directed toward her.

Merrick held only a bit longer, but in the end simply ignored it. It wasn't his problem, after all, and he wasn't here to "keep the peace". He drew himself up a bit more. "…Very well. Commander, you have your orders and everything is waiting. I'll leave you do it." With that, he turned to the retinue of six Children of Hyne. "If you'll come with me, ladies and gentlemen, I'll escort you back to the entrance."

Merrick and his own two privates turned and began to march back the way they came. Once they passed the six, they turned and followed in perfect formation, their stoicism and their cloaks once again making them appear to be a unified mass rather than individuals as they departed. However, Dael hardly noticed as they marched back to the hallway, turned the corner, and vanished from sight. She focused entirely on Taraketh, since he hadn't looked away from her yet. He never stopped staring, and his look never softened. She realized soon that he looked far more "human" and "normal" without a retinue, and that did nothing to make him more intimidating, if such was his intention.

Quaren soon seemed to realize that there was already high tension on the onset, as he looked a bit uneasily to one and then the other. Finally, he inhaled a bit nervously.

"Um…sh-shall we be off, sirs?"

"How did you get junctioned to Lord Carbuncle?" Taraketh finally said, ignoring Quaren and nearly snapping at Dael. "What sort of trickery or technology did you use? There is no way some common grunt like you defeated him in a trial."

"I don't think that's any of your business." Dael simply responded.

Taraketh formed a frown. "I'm making it my business, and don't think the Order of Hyne isn't doing the same." He retorted. "That's all this world needs…mindless soldiers with nothing but killing on their minds using magical weapons again. All of the major conflicts throughout the history of Gaia began with people like you stealing things that don't belong to you and abusing their power."

Quaren began to react. He nearly moved a step forward. "Hey…"

Dael put out a hand, stopping him before he could say anything else or move any further. Her gaze never left Taraketh. "Regardless of what you think or believe, Carbuncle is junctioned to me now. And I found out from him that the junction will last for life. Like it or not, I have this power and nothing you can say or do will change that. So if that's going to be a problem you can't deal with, Sir Sabian, I suggest we get that out of the way now before we're both trapped on a mission where we're at each other's throats."

Taraketh stared a bit longer at her, seeming to fume slightly. He clenched and unclenched a fist, but then finally relented. He leaned back and crosses his arms.

"Lady Cybus herself commissioned me to carry out this mission, and I have never once failed her." He finally stated. "I won't do so now over a matter of disgust." He paused and leveled his glare harder at her. "Just make sure you watch yourself in front of me. As rudimentary and crude as your magical technique, I'm sure, is, I won't see you abusing Lord Carbuncle's name by making a pathetic display of the power you were unworthily given."

Quaren, at this point, broke forward again. "Lieu…I mean, Commander Dael has done great with this power. She killed a Tyrant Lizard single-handedly, the first time in history for one of Esthar's Hawks."

"Private…" Dael spoke up, sounding a bit tiredly, meaning to reprimand Quaren for egging the situation on…

However, before she could, Taraketh let out a snort, drawing both of their attention spans back to him.

"Is that all?" Taraketh sounded. "They wouldn't even privilege one of our order with being junctioned to a Guardian Force unless they could do that _without_ assistance. How about a real challenge? Say…taking on two Behemoths at once single-handedly?"

Quaren was a bit taken aback by that, going wide-eyed. "Uh…man…well, of course not that. I mean…heck, you might as well ask her to lift up a skyscraper and drop kick it into the Medieval Ocean…"

Taraketh finally broke a bit from Dael, looking to Quaren. A smile began to form on his face.

"Oh really?"

Quaren stared back at him at that, noticing the slow, measured way he had said that. Slowly, the realization came over him. He blinked a few times, his skin paling a bit, before he began to shake his head.

"Uh uh…no way… No one could do that, junctioned or not…"

Taraketh merely chuckled. "I wouldn't expect a couple of grunts to be able to respect the power a Guardian Force can give. It's like trying to ask a tree frog to appreciate an airship. No matter how much power you get, it doesn't do you any good unless you know how to use it…unless you have the discipline, focus, mental training, and concentration. The feeble little spells that you spit out probably aren't enough to impress a neophyte to the Order of Hyne." He leaned his head back a bit.

"Maybe we were wrong to fear that your junctioning would lead to something else. It's obvious you can't do anything with what you have. You'd never last past the first blow against someone like me."

"Hey!" Quaren began to shoot back, sounding upset by now with the continual insults. "You're supposed to be our teammate! What's with all of this-"

"Private, that's enough." Dael cut off. The whole time, she had never changed in expression or looked away. However…she had felt tense more than once. If Taraketh's boasting was correct…then this was overwhelming. Although she was inclined to believe it was simply a lie or exaggeration, she had a feeling it wasn't. And if it wasn't…if he really could hold his own against those kind of odds…then this already rewrote the books on what they thought about the power of the Order of Hyne. She began to wonder exactly what they would see if it came to combat… However, as she had learned well by now, she showed neither surprise nor fear. She never even broke her gaze. Now, she turned full attention back to Taraketh.

"Sir Sabian, I hate to have to repeat myself…but do you feel yourself incapable of going with us on this mission? Because if you do, please file your complaint now because we need to get moving. If you don't…then I would appreciate it if you would keep your personal comments or observations to yourself, in particular during the mission."

Taraketh nearly sneered. "Or what? I'm not under your command like this peon over here." He gestured to Quaren, making the young man fluster again. "You can't order me around as if I was."

"True." Dael responded, not batting an eye. "But your mistress, Cybus the River-"

"That's _Lady_ Cybus to you." Taraketh snapped.

Without pausing, Dael continued. "…Commanded that our two parties work together on this mission. And rest assured, I will be making full, continuous reports on this mission back to command, who will in turn report what is happening to the Order of Hyne. And I don't think, after hearing of an incident that might have occurred or a strain in relationship that might have happened, due to your conduct, is going to reflect very well on you or your order. This is an international issue, yes? And I'm assuming you are out to make a good impression, on behalf of your own order? And that whatever you do will reflect back both on your order and mistress?"

Taraketh paused on hearing that. Dael had struck a chord there…and, for the first time, he did look a bit nervous. It seemed Dael's suspicions were right in regard to him. He might have had nothing but chagrin for her, as he had made abundantly clear, but upsetting one of the higher ups in the Order of Hyne was another matter all together. And he seemed to know full well that it wasn't worth disgracing their name just for him to be able to get his "two cents" in. Finally, he exhaled through his nostrils, and straightened up again.

"Just keep this in mind, _soldier_." He spat again. "I'm only going on this mission for the Order of Hyne, not for you. We're not partners or teammates on this. We're simply two people headed for the same destination. Understand?"

"Just fine." Dael responded, not at all miffed.

Taraketh finally relaxed a bit, though he kept his arms crossed. "…Let's get this mission over with, then. The sooner I don't have to look at you anymore, the better."

Dael paused a bit longer, but then, without a word, turned away from Taraketh at last and fully to Quaren. "Private, we're moving out."

Quaren gave Taraketh a dark look a bit longer, looking as if he wanted to say more to him. However, a dark look from Dael drove that out of him. Letting out one grumble, he took up his things and got ready to move. Dael bent down only slightly to pick up her own bag, then turned to start moving away.

Carbuncle soon fell in next to her at her side. When he did, Taraketh glared angrily at her again…but stayed calm afterward. He simply looked forward and walked behind her and Quaren at some distance. For once, Dael was glad to have Carbuncle around. Having him nearby seemed to assert that he was junctioned to her, and that by insulting her he was somehow indirectly insulting him.

However, silent and expressionless as Dael was, she had to struggle not to frown at the thought of being stuck with Taraketh. This was who they sent? Some guy who would just as soon spit on her as look at her? Dael wasn't too impacted by the insults themselves. It wouldn't be the first time a civilian had dismissed Esthar's Hawks as a group of roughnecks. Besides, even if they did, she hadn't gotten to be an officer by not being able to "roll with punches". But all that aside, she developed a dislike for Taraketh fairly quickly. She may have been an officer and managed to put her personal feelings aside in the way of duty…especially now when she was in command…but that didn't change the fact that she cared nothing for his tone, his insults, and _especially_ the way he regarded Esthar's Hawks. That was the greatest insult to her, and she had to restrain herself more than once from decking him.

In the end, she figured it was better to simply do as he had suggested. He had echoed her sentiments perfectly…the sooner the mission was over, the sooner they wouldn't have to deal with each other. And she would have quite a few choice words for the report. If this Child of Hyne was trying to make a good impression, he was failing miserably. And this would ensure that the Esthar's Hawks would be loathe to partner up again…

With that in mind, she picked up her step into a quick march, soon leading Quaren and Taraketh out through the glass sliding doors and to the outer terrace. With a little luck, this mission would be over without a hitch. They would go in, sign, and then get out again. Simple. She would have another notch on her belt without even trying.

However, a thought entered her mind as they walked out onto the terrace and made their way to the rail station.

_If they really thought this would be an open-and-shut mission…why are they sending two Esthar's Hawks and a High Child of Hyne?_

The thought gave Dael a cold shudder, but she shook it off. She wouldn't worry about that anymore. Focusing completely on her duty, she continued to lead the way straight to the rail station.

* * *

><p>At last, he was getting somewhere.<p>

As on many days before, he was seated at a desk in the library, surrounded by enough books to make him appear to be the most studious of students. The librarian would come by every now and then and marvel at him, assuming he was simply the greatest bookworm in modern times and astonished at how he had moved from simple books to more advanced ones in just a few short weeks. However, even that was painstakingly slow for him, and now that he was finally finding out what he wanted, he had redoubled his efforts.

It had taken far longer than he wanted, but by this point, he finally had a grasp on the written language…enough to actually start figuring things out. Since then, he had learned far more as well. Although had had been on a more advanced world than the one at present, he never really got a grasp for the technology until now. Now, he was beginning to learn that the best way to get news was from TVs, radios, and computers. Humans used microwaves as well as stoves and grills to make food. The world had adopted such "advanced" things as proper medical care, hygiene, indoor restrooms, and assorted other devices to make their lives easier. However, as he developed a grasp on that, he was far more interested in what he read.

Apparently, some 200 years ago, the Guardian Forces had first appeared, during a major crisis of some sort…probably the last time in history that a monster could have been said to do something. But this was no true monster…it was a Guardian Force himself known as Diablos. He recruited other Guardian Forces and launched a campaign to turn the planet into a world of darkness, and nearly succeeded before other Guardian Forces came forth and put a stop to him. At the conclusion of that event, Guardian Forces became known to the world and had ever since.

At first, he had his doubts. He thought it was just creatures that borrowed the same names. After all, there were pictures of some of them…and blurred and disjoint as many of them were, they still clearly weren't the same creature. They were different this time. But as he kept looking and thought longer, he began to change that opinion. He didn't know how it was possible or why…but he was here, wasn't he? That proved that there had to be some way to do it…

He was finally getting into modern history now. Having had only haphazard ideas of what was going on during the past two great epochs of time, even during his last visit, he needed to catch up through those first. But now, he was grabbing everything he could on Guardian Forces and their relation to the world…especially this 'Order of Hyne' that they seemed to gravitate to, or perhaps vice versa. No annotation or scrap of information was overturned, for he always thought one book might have some crucial detail that the others lacked. With that in mind, his search continued.

_If it's truly them…and they're truly here…then I have to find out where they are…_

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	7. Failed Negotiations

Sorry for the delay, everyone. By the way, now is probably a good time to explain how I view the monetary exchange rate, since in this part of the story I start throwing around a lot of figures. Basically, I see 1 gil as the equivalent to 1 cent of American dollars. In other words, 1,000,000 gil is equal to only 10,000 dollars in terms of value. I don't want people to start thinking I'm naming exhorbitant sums when they're really not that much.

* * *

><p><em>So far, so good…not the slightest problem or interesting thing happening. I guess that's a good thing, if not dull…<em>

A Stratoaevis was something of an anomaly. Oh, it was advanced all right, but the problem was it didn't have too much in terms of specific uses to put it on. It was the result of a failed contract submitted to an aerospace firm to develop a better type of military aircraft. Initially, there was a call for something to be a more effective troop transport. A special type of engine was developed that could operate with high power, but based on various design flaws, it could never be made to work for that large of a transport. As a result, after a few prototypes, the design was scrapped all together for a few years. Eventually, however, it was picked up again when the needs of Esthar's Hawks changed, and one of the prototypes was made into the Stratoaevis.

The ship resembled something of a combination of a plane and helicopter in terms of the body, and possessed two wings with special types of "disk" engines that were able to generate incredible amounts of thrust and allow hovering. That was the flaw in the design. Powerful as they were, it was eventually found the design only was fuel efficient and even safe for aircraft of a given range of size. Too small or too large was no good. The result was the creation of a "fighter-transport", one might say…too bulky for a fighter and too small for a proper transport. The maximum occupancy was four including the pilot, but there was enough on it to allow equipping with minor weapons…nothing to launch a full-scale assault with. As a result, the ship was neither practical for heavy combat nor heavy transport, but for jobs in between, such as this one, it did just fine. It was a fast little ship and it did have a bit of a punch to it, making it ideal for transporting small groups of Esthar's Hawks.

Dael herself sat in the "middle seat" on board at the moment. Carbuncle was curled up in her lap. Ahead of her, after a sharp drop off through a narrow corridor, was the pilot and the cockpit, somewhat in the "crooked nose" of the front of the Stratoaevis (something that made it tend to look like a strange bird in flight). There were two chairs on either side of her behind her, which made the remaining places to sit. Quaren occupied one and Taraketh the other. When he initially heard of the seating arrangement, Dael could tell Quaren was rather tense to have to be sitting on the same "level" as the High Child of Hyne, but, whether due to a desire to be done with the mission quickly or still cowed after Dael's earlier statement, Taraketh had remained silent. He simply got on board, sat, and kept his arms folded and his head bent…all without a word.

Dael had mostly kept her head forward for the duration of the trip, looking on to the horizon. The Stratoaevis was fast, and because it could fly, the "shorter" route of going the opposite direction to the Western Continent could be gone through. In reality, it was probably only a few hundred miles shorter, which wasn't much when traveling with a vehicle this fast, but the ocean they were crossing was mostly open sea with no need to worry about moving over borders and airspace. Although she could just barely see outside the window, she saw the only thing that she had seen for the past six hours…open ocean. They still had another six before they would reach their destination as well. The only time she had to stretch her legs was when she had ridden the rail to get there. Hence, she stretched in place every now and then and got out of her seat just to try and stand up in the passenger area. She wasn't sure how the pilot was able to do it.

Normally, one would have found the trip utterly boring, especially if it had been a trip such as the one that Dael took to the Lamb Archipelago. However, even if things went by without a hitch, this was dangerous territory. Part of the reason it would take so long to get to Follett would be because they had to make some sharp inclinations around airspace and waters as they grew closer to Sybenia, namely to avoid their large neutral zones. They would actually have to fly around a bit to get there. And even when they arrived, they would be a grand total of thirty miles between the border where Sybenia was conducting drills. There was a chance they might hear the thunder of their larger guns or even see a test rocket or two… This was as close to war as you could get without entering it. Therefore, Dael had already loaded her mage gun with a Fira shell.

Since there was a bit of tension, Dael sought to relieve it by looking around a bit. Everyone had been quiet for six hours. Taraketh hadn't said a word since they departed the North Gate, but Dael wasn't sure she wanted to hear anything else from him anyway. There was no way to move around if things got testy within the Stratoaevis. Instead, she turned her head slightly and looked to Quaren.

The soldier's nose was buried in a book. He seemed to be reading rapidly. Every so often, he would look up, close his eyes, and concentrate for a moment. Dael knew the look…it was the same expression he used to have when cramming for tests. After a moment, Dael broke the silence.

"What are you reading, private?"

Quaren put his book down, looking a bit surprised at the break in the six-hour silence, and looked up. But on seeing Dael looking to him, he calmed a bit. "Oh…um…just reading the basic information literature for Follett, lieu…er, commander. I'm used to Civil Defense so I only have to worry about Esthar. But since this is an International Affairs job, I'm having to quickly look this stuff up."

Dael paused momentarily. After a few seconds, however, she turned around a bit more. "Alright…what can you tell me about Follett?"

Quaren paused for a moment, turning a shade white. He hadn't expected to be put on the spot like that. Memorizing things by rote was one thing. Spitting them back out was another step, as anyone who had ever studied hard for a test could tell you. You tended to blank out. However, he took a moment to compose himself, tried to put his brain back into the right "mind frame", and then began to speak.

"An older country founded from a single pastoral city-state. Population: 500,000. Average per capita GDP: 2,100,000 gil. Most people are fluent in common speech, but the official language is Elfric. Chief export is agriculture, with the dominating products being Midsummer's Wheat, Benthy Apples, and beer. Style of architecture is densely packed from the last century with a rustic, pastoral look…with most homes being constructed from lumber and concrete and not incorporating iron. Military force: local militia, numbering 2,000. Only mid-range heavy artillery and 5 mobile artillery units known. No combat aircraft or naval power. No standing military bases or forts. Formal training of militiamen includes weekends each month. City marshall is used as opposed to a military hierarchy."

Dael took this in, and in the end gave a nod. "Not bad, private, especially for someone who just started learning a few hours ago."

However, at this point, Taraketh gave another snort. "I noticed what you seemed to be the most interested in… You might as well summed up that last bit. 'They aren't that strong and we can kill them if need be.'"

Dael, in spite of her earlier self control, turned her head to the other side and gave Taraketh a look. "Esthar's Hawks is a military organization, Sir Sabian. We don't pretend to be anything otherwise and we don't indulge ourselves in 'rosy-colored' pictures of the world. The fact is war and conflicts happen. We'd like to know what we're up against when they do."

Taraketh merely turned away from Dael, kept his arms crossed, and snorted again. "You can spare me the 'constant vigilance' spiel. I know full well that Esthar's idea of 'being prepared' includes encouraging insurrections, supporting so-called freedom fighters, and undermining people politically and economically. To keep yourselves safe, you cause discord and chaos in countries so that they're so busy trying to fix their own problems they don't have time to worry about you."

Dael's eyes narrowed a bit…her annoyance growing. However, she stayed calm.

"…You think nations like Sybenia don't do that same? That Roz Heirarch didn't exploit every advantage he had to gain power? What do you suggest? That we get into an open war instead? Risk the lives of our citizens and military and cost more lives?"

Taraketh turned his head back and glared at her.

"Costing lives?" He answered back, a bit sharply. "And you think those civil wars you support…those political climates you help create…those times people starve because you leaked bad seed or pests to farmers…that none of those cost lives? You're just the same as any other military organization in this world…the only life that matters is someone who flies your flag. People like the Order of Hyne have to run all over the world helping starving people, curing diseased children, decontaminating sullied water, and struggling for people to stay calm and work for peace even while you run around spitting in their faces with your 'constant vigilance'."

Quaren, overhearing this at this point, began to show visible discomfort. After all, this was a point that still didn't set well with him even after years in the Academy. Dael picked up on it…and that made things even worse. She wouldn't take the badmouthing of Esthar's Hawks, and she certainly wasn't going to let this civilian start distressing her units. She spoke again, her voice beginning to border being angry.

"You want the truth? Alright…yes, the only people who I care about defending are those from my country in an armed conflict…because that's all I can afford to think about. In the heat of battle, in the midst of chaos, and when things are falling apart in a desperate situation, I need to default to a way of thinking. And that's to protect my homeland and the people who I came from, who raised me, and who are counting on me to defend them…not a bunch of people who would like to see my bullet-riddled body lying on a street. No military organization on Gaia, Esthar's Hawks included, can 'vouch' for another country. They can only know what their own country is going to do and trust that they serve their best interests. Trusting someone else is stupid…because you're not even one of their citizens. What does someone from Leuco, Sybenia, Lamb, or anywhere else care about Esthar? So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to try and safeguard them as well as yourself. If you have to make a choice, you'll go with the country that you're entitled to defend."

Her voice grew a bit darker here, more incensed.

"And while you sit there all high-and-mighty and talk down to us, keep this in mind. Esthar's Hawks allows the Order of Hyne to operate freely in its city, to conduct affairs with minimal interference, and even seeks them for counsel every now and then. Sybenia has made it a crime for a person to even use magic. While you condemn us, there's another country that, if it had its way, would see you all run out of every city on Gaia and possibly worse. As much as this may 'sicken' you, we're protecting your interests through the same methods that you hate. So I'd show a little more respect. The only reason you're able to look down on us is because militaries like Esthar's and many other places ensure that the Order of Hyne is standing high enough for a good vantage point."

Taraketh seemed to flush a shade red at that, clenching his jaw and almost leaning forward. However, Dael didn't care. She stared back coldly. By now, Quaren had relaxed a bit. He was seeing the truth even if Taraketh wasn't. The world wasn't perfect, and so one couldn't always follow the "rules". There were lots of gray areas and lesser of two evils to choose a day. Perhaps it wasn't always right…but such was the best that Esthar's Hawks could do being human.

Finally, Taraketh went back into his seat again. He looked again to the side.

"Justify yourself however you want." He finally stated flatly. "I don't really care. It doesn't change the fact you're still just some mindless soldier, siccing whoever your master tells you to go after. You're manipulated by greedy, self-interested men and everyone knows it. The world has seen how your politicians handle their affairs in a time of crisis in Esthar."

Dael stiffened a bit at that, hearing a true note being struck. He echoed some of her own sentiments. Unfortunately, it didn't matter. Her duty was still to do whatever they told her. That was part of her code as a soldier…as an Esthar's Hawk. In the end, she turned around and looked forward again.

Moments later, she heard Taraketh again, speaking more coldly.

"Just get this. There is _one_ way to lose a junction, and that's by being defeated by someone else who is already junctioned. I'll stomach you using Lord Carbuncle so long as it's against Sybenia and to save lives. But the day you use him to start conquering or subjugating another nation or group in the name of your country…I'm stripping him off of you by force and I won't be held responsible for what happens to you."

Dael's gaze narrowed once again, and a scowl almost appeared on her lips at the challenge.

"I don't care how good you think you are." Taraketh continued. "You're not the only one junctioned to a Guardian Force, and I've had years of practice with magic. You won't stand a chance."

Dael didn't see it, but Quaren began to frown again in response to the challenge. He actually tensed a bit in his chair. However, before any more tensions could escalate, Dael was surprised to see Carbuncle suddenly get up in her lap and go to her shoulder, looking over it and back to Taraketh. The High Child was surprised as well by the gesture, and his own coldness and anger abated a bit.

"Oh yeah…I thought I could sense another junction…" Carbuncle remarked. "Which Guardian Force are you bound to? It's been so long since I've talked to any of the others…"

Taraketh was caught off guard, not expecting the sudden look and response. He blinked for a few moments, but then seemed to recover.

"Oh…Lord Sacred and Lord Minotaur."

Quaren himself lost some of his anger on hearing that, instead going into surprise. "Two of them? I thought a person could only junction to one!"

"Oh, those two are inseparable." Carbuncle explained. "They're twins. You can't get power from one without the other." After saying that, he sighed a bit. "Really…just those two? Aw man…I was hoping I could get a chance to talk to Shiva after 100 years… Ah well."

The Guardian Force slumped back into Dael's lap, and once again curled up.

At first, Dael didn't think much of this gesture. It was just Carbuncle being…well…Carbuncle. Nothing special there. However, she soon noticed something. The tension in the air had died down a bit. Quaren was sitting quietly again, and even Taraketh had seemed to lose some of his annoyance after being talked to. She then started to wonder if Carbuncle hadn't been a bit more deliberate. Perhaps…he had made that comment on purpose. Perhaps he had been trying to divert attention away from arguing to get them focused again. After all, things had only been getting worse…and it had been coming to threats. But everyone was so distracted by the abrupt comments from Carbuncle that it seemed to have 'thrown a wrench into the works', so to speak. She began to wonder a bit…did he do that on purpose? Was the odd little Guardian Force more intelligent than she thought?

Dael didn't know, but she didn't try to break the silence again. She looked back forward and watched the ocean once more. From now on, she would stay focused on the mission until they arrived. She only hoped they could all "get along" when they got there.

* * *

><p>"Commander, wake up!"<p>

Dael was briefly surrounded by blackness and nothingness, before a bit of reality came and shook her shoulder. Coupled with the voice of Quaren nearby, the blackness soon began to fade and reality came streaming back. Letting out a mild grunt, Dael winced and then fluttered her eyes open. She was greeted by the now-familiar sight of the interior of the Stratoaevis, although it took her a few moments for her brain to register it. What was still fresh in her mind was a dream she had…one that always seemed to be recurring. A dream about things growing, withering, and growing again…

At any rate, she shook that free of her mind and went fully back to reality. Blinking a few times to clear her head, she leaned up and looked to the cockpit window. She saw that the ocean was gone. Now there was flat, arid land instead, gradually giving way to thicker grassland. It was a sure sign of where they were.

Much of the middle portion of the Western Continent was dominated by the Pallas Desert, which provided an effective natural barrier between the lands to the north and south. Only nomads dwelled there. As one went higher north or further south of the desert, rainfall gradually picked up enough to start allowing more permanent settlements. As far north as Sybenia, there was enough natural rainfall to make a country, but in between there were only the city-states like Follett, Mutaris, Gilgdar, and others. They only had small economies, such as Quaren had made clear during his description of the city-state.

Unfortunately, Dael could see little other than that. It was dark out. A quick look to Dael's watch revealed that it was sometime after midnight but still a few hours until dawn. So much the better, she figured. If there was going to be a secret alliance forged, best to do so under the cover of darkness. Of course, this also prevented Dael from seeing that well in the distance, but after her eyes had a chance to adjust, she realized she could just make out a row of lights far on the horizon. That had to be the town. However, she looked a bit confused at that. It was well past midnight. How come they still had so many lights going? Especially now, when blackouts might be in effect?

At any rate, Quaren soon confirmed everything.

"We're beginning our approach, commander." He said from over her shoulder. "The pilot just sent out a transmission requesting a landing."

Dael nodded, and began to straighten up more in her chair. However, as she did, he heard a snicker behind her.

"Pride of Esthar's Hawks, you are." Taraketh chided. "You almost slept through our arrival. Is that why they gave you a liason? To wake you up when something 'interesting' happens?"

Dael just barely restrained herself from giving the High Child an angry look. In truth…she was a bit disappointed in herself. She had intended to stay awake the entire time. But the ride was so smooth and monotonous, she had finally nodded off, it seemed. She didn't even remember when it happened. At any rate, a sharp snap was soon heard from Quaren.

"The commander was just resting up for the arrival! She doesn't need to be nodding off during the meeting and signing like you'll be!"

Taraketh let out another snicker. "Sure…just keep telling yourself that. I can stay awake for three days and nights if I need to."

"If all your hot air doesn't tire you out, I don't think anything-"

"That will be all, private." Dael called back, quieting him down again. This wasn't the time for this. They were approaching. They didn't need fresh arguments now.

"Follett Airport, this is _Zu VI_ out of Esthar. Requesting permission to land. Over." The pilot spoke up.

Carbuncle let out a groan from Dael's lap, reminding the young woman that he was there in the first place. She looked down, and was just in time to see him stretch a bit and crack his neck, flexing his long ears. "Ugh…my back's going to be sore… We're here already?"

"Already?" Quaren answered, sounding incredulous. "It's been a twelve-hour flight…"

Carbuncle answered with a yawn. "Boy, I've got a kink down there… Why do you have to be so lumpy, Dael?"

Dael merely looked down to him somewhat darkly. "No one said you had to sleep on my lap, Carbuncle."

"Show more respect to a Guardian Force!" Taraketh snapped back at her. "They're ten times the being a grunt like you is! Don't talk to him as if you're on the same level as him!"

"Oh, lighten up over there…" Carbuncle grumbled, waving a paw at Taraketh.

For the first time she could remember in weeks…Dael had to struggle not to smile. Even though she wasn't looking at Taraketh, hearing a small short snicker from Quaren confirmed all she needed to know. The High Child of Hyne blustered on hearing that, having been reprimanded by the very creature he was trying to praise and spoke so highly of. It struck him dumb and checked his ego a bit, making him quiet for a little longer.

Carbuncle looked back to Dael. "And where else was I supposed to sleep? Some cargo bin? This ice-cold floor? No thanks."

"Um…Mr. Carbuncle, sir?"

Dael did turn her head on hearing this. She noted that Quaren had spoken up. Carbuncle looked as well, and soon both were staring at a somewhat tense Quaren, seeming to be uncertain.

"You know…you…you could lean on my lap if you want, next time." He ventured, trying to be helpful. "I think my style of uniform has a bit more padding so that there's less lumps…"

Dael felt like sighing a bit. There was the old Quaren she was aware of…always trying to do whatever he could to make himself helpful, even if it was an off-the-wall comment. She was moments from responding, but Carbuncle cut him off with a smile and a paw pointed at him.

"_You_ I like, kid." He remarked. "You know how to show proper respect for your elders."

Quaren was taken aback a bit at first as the Guardian Force addressed him again, but then blushed and smiled a bit. Meanwhile…a bit to Dael's joy…Taraketh was nearly beside himself, looking totally confused and dumbfounded.

"L-Lord…Carbuncle, sir…are you certain you want to do that? These are just-"

"Ah, I told you to hush up already, hothead." Carbuncle responded, waving another paw at him. "I've known the Order of Hyne off and on for years. Hell, I knew your _founder_, Sorceress Aerith the Grace herself. Last I looked, they don't go around picking fights with everyone they run into. I don't think your matriarchs would be too pleased with you trying to stir up trouble. Haven't you ever heard the phrase if you can't say nothing nice, don't say nothing at all?"

Dael began to like Carbuncle more and more all the time, especially now as she saw Taraketh look like he had just been slapped. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, stammering and hesitant. In the end, bowing his head in some shame, he leaned back into his seat and went silent once again. Seeing him reduce the High Child of Hyne to that was almost worth all the times Carbuncle had annoyed her over the past month.

"Repeat… Follet Airport, this is _Zu VI_. Our ETA is less than five minutes. Please respond."

Dael caught this, and turned her head back forward again. For a moment, she registered some puzzlement. She looked back to Quaren and gestured forward. "So…this is the third time he's made that call, private? I've heard two myself, but I'm guessing he started making the call before I woke up."

Quaren paused a moment, creasing his brow. "Now that you mention it…I think it is, commander."

Dael looked forward again, her face still confused. That was odd. After three calls and no response, it would usually be concluded that the station they were using was either dead or under radio silence. However, that shouldn't have been a factor. After all, they had already cleared the channels before they left for the mission. It was standard procedure. Did this mean…

However, before Dael could indulge any dark thoughts, the radio finally came to life.

_"We read you, Zu VI. Please proceed to Follet Airport, pad 1."_

"Acknowledged."

Dael hesitated then. Alright, maybe it was nothing. She leaned back into her seat once more and tried to ease up. However…in spite of that, she didn't feel herself calming down. She tried to shake it out of her head, however. Perhaps she was just being paranoid. So there had been an excessive delay… So what? They responded in the end, didn't they? Perhaps not as promptly as she would have liked…

_They knew we were coming though…and how important this was…_

Again, she felt her stomach turn a bit.

She looked behind her to Quaren. "You better prepare for the landing, private."

Quaren nodded back. "Yes sir." Then, he bowed his head and spoke a bit to himself as he moved around a little. "It'll feel good to get out of this packed can…"

Dael didn't respond to that. She simply pulled her sword out of a wall holster nearby and took up her gun. There was enough room to stand in the chamber, and so she made use of that. Carbuncle leapt out of her lap as she did so. Normally, it probably would have been best just to wait until arrival, but she wanted to be able to get out at once upon landing. So, once standing, she placed her gun in her holster and her sword at her side. Behind her, she heard both Quaren and Taraketh alike begin to get ready as well. Dael used the moment to stretch and look out the window in front of her.

Once standing, Dael looked down to the green creature. She paused momentarily.

"…I would prefer if the officials of Follett don't have any reason to stare…"

Carbuncle seemed to frown a bit at that, but then gave a shrug. "Oh, fine." With that, he held up a paw and waved it. A moment later, he erupted into a multi-colored outline…and then vanished, leaving only the outline behind. The colors that made it up slowly fell to the ground and faded out, much like some set of fireworks might. Dael was rather surprised. Not at the teleportation…she had seen that a few times before. She was surprised that Carbuncle hadn't elected to just stay on board. Perhaps he had enough of the "packed can", as Quaren put it, too.

The city continued to near…and Dael was once again struck by the number of lights. One would think it was the early evening as opposed to this late at night… She didn't recall anything about the people of Follett normally holding such long hours. At any rate, she couldn't see much other than lights or darkness at the moment. The Stratoaevis was still far too high. She continued to watch and wait as the next few minutes went by, and finally the flying craft began its descent. Only then was she able to get a bit better look.

Again, there was little to see. The lights might have been on, but there was a lot of darkness in the surrounding area, and they were still very high. She noticed most of the lights were red and orange tinted, but there were a lot of white lights mixed in with them as well. Other than that, it was hard to pick out anything more, as, much like in the Lamb Archipelago, buildings weren't that tall. This area was mostly rural, not urban, and so there was little opportunity for a change. Dael finally did notice something that seemed to stand out just barely off the horizon. It was the control tower for the airport. By that point, there wasn't much else to see except empty airfields. She soon noticed something else…only their pad was lit up. All of the others were dark.

That confused the woman further. Why was only that one lit up? Especially when the rest of the city was lit up?

Dael began to feel something uneasy inside her. She had a sensation she wished she could see the rest of the city now that they were close enough to make out more details, but that was impossible at this point. They were too close to the airfield, and from her angle that was all that she could see.

The aircraft continued to go lower and lower, still going at mostly full speed. It wasn't until they approached the gates that the unseen "hovering disks" on either wing of the plane orientated forward and pushed in the "retro" position. The Stratoaevis barely buckled before it did so and dramatically began to slow. Dael didn't even shift weight. However, she heard the two behind her both shift a little. With that in mind, Dael looked behind her. Quaren, now looking nervous again since the operation was getting ready to start, was bracing himself against the wall with one hand and grasping his rifle with the other. Taraketh himself had been shaken a bit, but he didn't show it. He had pulled his hood back down, once more taking an almost monolithic appearance. Seeing that they were both alright, Dael turned back forward again.

The Stratoaevis went a bit further, slowing more dramatically all the time, until it finally came almost to a direct, mid-air stop right over the center of the pad and broke into a hover. It remained there momentarily. It had approached during this, so it was now a mere 20 feet from the ground. However, the pilot soon slowly cut the engines, and the aircraft slowly dipped the rest of the way. The landing gear was deployed, and, a slight bump later, the aircraft landed.

The pilot began to switch things off afterward. As he did, he called behind him. "Welcome to Follett, sir. According to orders, I will remain here until you're ready to depart. Just radio me with five minutes advanced notice."

"I'll do that, pilot." Dael responded. "It shouldn't take more than a few hours, provided all goes well."

The pilot reached over to the console and threw a few switches. Moments later, the side of the ship gave a hydraulic hiss. A wall panel slowly unfurled and opened, extending to the ground. Once there, it readily shifted internally to become a descending set of stairs. Dael immediately turned to them and moved to the edge. Once there, she quickly began to descend. Quaren fell in behind, and Taraketh followed.

However, Dael only emerged one or two steps before she came to a halt. She looked in front of her slowly.

The gate building up ahead for the airport was on and illuminated in the interior, and the pad was lit up. That was all though. Most of the landing zone was shrouded in deep shadows and darkness. If anything, the glow from the lit windows of the nearby gate building made it harder to peer inside it. Indeed…it seemed as if most of the airfield was dark. Dael could understand that a little. It was supposed to be secret. However, the airport should have been on at all hours. Not only that…but shouldn't someone have been out there to meet them? There wasn't a soul around. The pad was silent.

Now, Dael truly did begin to feel uneasy. The other two things could be overlooked, but with this latest addition…

Meanwhile, Quaren came up behind her, but realized she had stopped, and was forced to halt. He looked down in confusion. "Commander, is something wrong?"

Dael paused momentarily. She looked out into the darkness further. In another moment, she would have turned around and told Quaren to go back on board. There was something not right here…

However, before she could, a few floodlights from the gate building came on. Dael winced a bit as some of the darkness was dispelled, revealing a section of the airfield leading up to the gate. As her eyes adjusted, she looked up again. She soon saw that a small retinue was emerging from the gate and out to the field. It seemed to be a small assembly of officials, dressed in suits and looked somewhat official. The gate itself was flanked by two men wearing the militia uniforms of Follet. At any rate, the men made their way straight for the Stratoaevis. One in the lead waved out to them as he approached.

"Commander Levinson! We've been expecting you! Please, come this way!" He called, while still at a distance.

"You heard him." Taraketh's voice spoke quietly from behind her, so that they couldn't overhear. "Get out, already. I don't want to stand here all night."

Dael, for once, didn't frown in Taraketh's direction or even regard him with any annoyance. She was focused instead on the approaching entourage. She held a few moments longer, wincing a bit from the floodlights. She felt nervous. An impulse inside her told her to ignore the approaching men and tell the others to get back on board… Something still didn't seem right about all of this… However, in the end…she hesitantly began to step forward again. Very slowly picking up speed, she finished descending the ramp and touched the ground, her boots clicking against the pavement. She held again once there, staring at the officials…before she began to move forward slowly.

Quaren was soon heard coming in behind her. She didn't see it, however, but he was picking up on Dael's apprehension. Although he had gone into "official" position and he should have stayed silent by that point, he furrowed his brow a bit. He looked forward slightly and spoke in a quiet voice to Dael, breaching propriety again.

"…Are you alright, commander?"

Dael didn't bother correcting him this time. She was too focused… She realized she was wincing a lot from the glare of the lights from the gate building. It seemed they had almost been turned out more onto the airfield…making it harder to see into the darkness. She noticed something else. As she gradually took a few steps away from the Stratoaevis toward the approaching entourage…the approaching retinue was slowing. They seemed to cover less ground with each new step they took. Dael also looked to the militiamen… She realized there were only two of them. Even in a small city-state like Follett, they would normally have a dozen militia members out on the field… She noticed something else too. The two that were out there…neither had guns or weapons of any sort on them.

Each new realization made Dael tense a bit more. Within her mind, something was coming together…a realization was starting to dawn on her. All of the things she had seen and witnessed until now were adding up. She looked to just one more place to confirm it.

She looked to the lead official approaching her…although he had almost come to a stop by now, seeming to be waiting for Dael to come to him although she was still far off. However, he had come close enough to be seen in the lights of the Stratoaevis fairly clearly. He wore glasses, a clean suit, a wide, friendly smile across his face…

…And beads of sweat were running down his temples.

At once, Dael halted. Speaking as coldly and commanding as she had since she had become an officer, she snapped her head back to Quaren and Taraketh. For once…she would take no guff from the latter.

"Get back to the Stratoaevis _now._"

Quaren only had a chance to blink and get out half a word. "Wha-"

The silence of the airfield was broken by the very loud, very powerful sound of an artillery gun discharging a single potent shot. For the briefest second, Dael saw an eruption of fire from the darkness to her left, which was where the gate building terminated into a span of darkness. After that, she saw a burning yellow streak shoot through the air and vanish from her peripheral vision. She snapped around to see where it went…

And was just in time to see an artillery shell sink into the middle of the Stratoaevis.

From this close, Dael was nearly blasted off of her feet. Taraketh and Quaren were even closer. The latter was indeed thrown to the ground, and Taraketh was thrown forward although he managed to somehow keep his footing. Both of them snapped around as well, however, first Taraketh and then, after landing rather roughly, Quaren as he snapped around in surprise. However, only Dael saw all that happened. For only a heartbeat the Stratoaevis was dented inward in a huge impression, before the shell erupted. It took only moments to sever and ignite the fuel lines. The entire aircraft was immediately turned into a blossoming flower of fire as its insides ruptured and its outer hull broke open, belching fire and force into the night sky. Dael thought she caught a glimpse of the cockpit…before fire engulfed it, shrapnel pierced it, and finally the glass broke before the cage-like array around it was blown to bits. By the time Taraketh and Quaren got a look at it…there was nothing left of the Stratoaevis but a smoldering, burning hunk of twisted metal propped up on landing gears.

Dael, despite all her discipline, registered visible shock. She snapped back forward again…and soon got another ill surprise.

The "shadows" from before now came to life as more floodlights ignited in the darkness, as well as lights illuminating the entire airfield. The floodlights were turned on the three of them, but the other lights soon made it clear what had been waiting in the darkness the whole time. No less than 50 soldiers had them half surrounded in a semi-circle. There was no need for any more than that…as the flaming wreckage behind them now blocked out further escape. Each one was armed with a gun trained on the three of them. Mostly they had lights illuminating the area, but there was also a few four-wheel drive military vehicles posted…obviously what had brought the soldiers into the area. More intimidating, however, was the fact that there was a rather large and formidable Tortoise-model tank training its main gun and sub-guns over on them. There was little doubt that the tank had been the cause of the Stratoaevis' destruction.

More unsettling to Dael, however, than all of this…was what she saw on the 50 soliders. Each one of them bore the insignia of the Sybenian Army.

"Wh…what's going on…?" Quaren spoke from the ground. "Commander…"

"Keep quiet, private." Dael said through clenched teeth. She was now fully focused on the surrounding soldiers. Although she tried to maintain a stony face that showed neither fear nor relief…the truth was she soon felt herself begin to sweat too.

"…This must have happened while we were en route…" Taraketh spoke quietly from behind Dael. "They conquered the city, found out we were coming, and then-"

"You stay quiet too." Dael sharply ordered. "I don't want you giving them an excuse to shoot us."

Taraketh, again unseen by Dael, gave her something of a dark look…but did as he was told. Dael took the moment to look to the officials. They appeared to be the genuine article…because now they were standing still as statues as if they were the ones with guns pointed at them. Not long after, another group began to come out behind them from the gate and start walking up to them. These ones were indeed armed…because it was another group of Sybenian soldiers. Not only that, but they had an officer with them this time, and a fairly high ranking one, with numerous insignias and emblems on his officer's coat and a cap on his head bearing the symbol of Sybenia. He had a cool, calm air about him…much as the Sybenian officers did nowadays. They had been fed the notion of how superior they were by Roz Heirarch for some time, and they had only proceeded on that assumption. As he neared, Dael noticed he had a thin black mustache over a stiff lip, and his eyes were beady and cruel. He moved right through the officials as they neared, but his retinue of soldiers made sure to "shove" their way through, one of them cruelly striking one in the side and causing him to cry out and fall to the ground as he did so. The other soldiers and tank guarding them didn't move.

On coming to a stop, he stared at them darkly momentarily, then gave his first command. This one was directed completely at Quaren.

"Get up now, but leave your rifle on the ground." He looked to the side. "If he looks like he's going for his rifle, kill them all."

Dael cast a glance down at Quaren, seeing him go a bit white. He still had his hands on his rifle, so he wasn't sure how he could move without looking like he was going to shoot. However, he looked back up to Dael momentarily. A bit to Dael's exasperation, he seemed to silently ask her if he should shoot his way out. Dael, of course, gave him a look back to say to do as he was told. There was nothing to be gained by a cheap attempt at bravery. And so, Quaren swallowed, but then opened his hands up. He rolled slowly back, leaving his rifle on the ground and shifting his hands up. He slowly tucked his legs underneath him and rose to his feet, keeping his hands in the air.

"You two." The officer coldly addressed. "Throw all your weapons on the ground."

Dael frowned a bit at that. She actually hesitated. However…there was nothing else to be done. Regretfully, she undid her sword and put it to the ground. She dropped her mage gun next. Taraketh, however, made no move. Dael hadn't seen a weapon on him when they got there, but there could be anything under the cloak. This made her nervous. She knew the officer wasn't a fool. He had to know he could hide a lot under the cloak, including a weapon. In fact, she saw him narrow his gaze at him.

"Kick your weapons over here." He ordered. "Put your hands on your head." He then gave another order to the soldiers. "The magic-using pig…if he moves a finger before we check him for weapons, kill all three."

Dael frowned more. Not at what happened to Taraketh…that was expected. This officer was smart. He knew that most highly-trained Esthar's Hawks would drop their weapons only to be able to kick them up with their feet, take them, and use them before a guard even knew what was happening. After another bit of hesitation, she kicked her weapon forward. Quaren soon did the same. They both put their hands on their head, and so did Taraketh. They remained standing.

The officer paused momentarily, but then motioned forward. "Alright…handcuff them."

Immediately, ten of the soldiers broke off from the others, lowering their weapons. They began to advance forward on the three of them. In just a few moments, they were there. Roughly, they seized Quaren and Dael by the arms and twisted them behind their back. One of them went up to the weapons and began to gather them up. Taraketh, however, was being searched. Three soldiers stayed on him with guns trained. Dael felt and heard them begin to tie back her wrists with handcuffs.

As this happened, a nearby engine fired up and began to hum. Moments later, one of the headlights on one of the vehicles came on, and it began to come forward…revealing an armored military car. It was obviously used for transport, but it seemed the back of it had been converted to act as a prisoner transport too. Soon it was within the lights, and next began to move up behind the group, so that they would still be in full view of the gun barrels. Dael looked to the officer and his own retinue as they kept looking at the three of them.

As this all went on, she noticed the lead official take a step forward.

"We…we did what you wanted. We got them to land. What's going to happen to us now?"

The officer turned to the official when he spoke rather calmly. He stared at him for a moment. He blinked once.

Then, without another word, he pulled out his own sidearm and shot the man in the head.

The other officials only had a moment to gape before the other guards threw them to the ground and proceeded to do the same. Dael couldn't help but half-sneer at this. Indifferent as she was to military affairs…she realized now that Sybenia had indeed become very brutal. More so than she anticipated…or that Esthar's Hawks had. Apparently, all of Roz's talk wasn't without effect. They were taking the mindset of a military to believe no life other than a citizen's was sacred to a whole new level with the way in which they killed those officials. Even the most disciplined soldier of Esthar's Hawks didn't kill so casually. As for the other soldiers…they seemed almost to enjoy it…

At any rate, Dael couldn't worry about that much longer. She had bigger concerns…namely the fact that they were moments from being taken prisoner and were already restrained. They had to get out of this now. Obviously, a clean escape was impossible now…what with the Stratoaevis gone. But that changed little…they still needed to get away. If this had been a standard mission, Quaren would have had smoke or flash grenades on him…but since they hadn't expected to fully go into a combat zone he only had his rifle, and that was taken anyway. It wouldn't have mattered, though, until now. They were in the midst of soldiers at the moment, making them less apt to be shot at. She had to wait until then. Normally, she would have risked a move before she had her handcuffs on. It would have been a gamble, but it would have been the best chance she would get. However, she had an idea now. After all, she still had her powers…and she had been keeping an eye on the soldier who got their weapons…

There was only one problem. If they were going to have a shot of this, against 50 soldiers, they had to have a diversion of some sort. But what? She didn't know…and she didn't have the capability to make an effective one. She had to think of something quick, however. Even as she thought of this, the soldiers opened the door to the back of the truck and started to push Dael toward it. She looked to Quaren, hoping she could pass some silent message to him…

As she did, however, she looked over Taraketh again, and gave pause. The soldiers appeared to have found something on him, and were now moving his cloak around to try and get to it. However, that wasn't what got her. It was him.

He had a mild enigmatic smile on his face.

The soldier investigating him seemed to have found something. Dael couldn't see what it was, and the soldier himself looked puzzled at it. Eventually, he looked up and over to the officer.

"Sir, this one is armed too with…something."

The officer didn't seem to care about the hesitant tone. He merely glared at Taraketh.

"I said throw down _all_ weapons. You'll suffer for playing games with us later. I'd have a bullet put in your head right now if it wasn't for the fact that my superiors wanted you brought in first. Let's see…" He looked over them momentarily. "The magic-using swine…some high-ranking dog of Esthar…and a lesser-ranked dog of Esthar." He paused for a moment after saying that, before giving a sigh.

"I don't think we need to take in two curs. Kill the lesser one."

Dael's eyes widened as a cold snap went down her spine. But even as she did, Quaren looked much worse. Before he could speak, two of the soldiers seized him and yanked him away from the others. They began to take him to the side, and Dael knew why. They'd throw him on the ground and then kill him. There was no more time for thought. Risky as it was, she'd have to make her move now before it was too late. She guessed _she_ would be the diversion… Maybe if she was lucky, they'd waste their time trying to get her and then…

Dael's thoughts were interrupted…as were those of everyone else in the area…as something suddenly happened. Abruptly, the ground about them began to shake. It started off as a tremor, but in less than two seconds it had gone from that to a full fledged earthquake, strong enough to nearly shake her off of her feet. She immediately snapped around in surprise, stunned at what was happening. She didn't think Follett was geographically unstable… Apparently, neither did the soldiers. They too began to look around in confusion, as did their companions at a distance and the officer. However, it only continued to get worse. The pavement began to crack in several places, and some of the soldiers farther away, who seemed to be centered more toward the "epicenter" of the quake, actually began to stumble and trip a bit as they tried to move away from the fissures and cracks. Yet as she looked about, Dael noticed one other thing.

Taraketh alone seemed perfectly calm.

Then…it finally happened. Abruptly, like some sort of massive battering ram from the ground, a sharpened column of jagged earth erupted straight from the bottom of the runway beneath the Tortoise. It wasn't enough to do much to it…but it surged forth and bashed the truck directly underneath the front of the frame. And it possessed enough power to send the entire front of the tank up into the air and cock it at an angle. The sheer force with which is ripped from the ground send a booming note throughout the entire airfield, and the people nearest to the tank were flung partially into the air before being dumped on the ground. Even those who weren't snapped to the sight in absolute surprise, commanding their full attention. As for the tank itself, the driver tried to put it in reverse…only to find it hung up. It wasn't going anywhere quickly.

Dael immediately thought she knew the cause of all this…and was justly amazed…but her military mind was already going to work. She had a chance, and she couldn't afford to lose it now.

While everyone was still distracted, she quickly spoke the words.

Moments later, Dael's empty handcuffs dropped to the ground…and the soldier with the weapons, who had turned his head to the tank, snapped back as he saw Dael in front of him. She was a bit dizzy from the spell…but she had been practicing over the past few days, and one teleport wasn't enough to diminish her combat ability that much by this point. Two was still not good in the situation…but one was definitely manageable. Before the soldier could do anything else, however, Dael had driven her hand forward and smashed him with a punch to the throat. He went wide-eyed, immediately gagging and clutching for his neck, dropping the weapons in the process. But Dael, moving like lightning with her enhanced speed, quickly shot out and seized her sword and her mage gun before they had a chance to hit the ground. The hand with the sword immediately reached for a second shell as she pulled the trigger, firing the Fira bullet right at the officer and his crowd. The officer, faster on his feet than the others, snapped back, having seen her in his peripheral vision. But he could only gape before the bullet struck the central soldier in their midst…and ignited.

A blinding flash of fire immediately erupted and engulfed the soldiers and the officer. Only the central ones were immediately severely burned. The ones toward the edges, including the officer, were "merely" covered in flames. Screaming in agony and pain, they quickly began to stagger about madly, quite forgetting to "stop, drop, and roll". Their weapons were dropped as they thrashed to and fro.

All of this ruckus naturally alerted the others nearby, closest to the tank. They snapped around, trying to find out what had just happened. Unfortunately for them, they were dealing with one of Esthar's Hawks, and in the time it took them to realize where the shot had come from and attempt to respond to it…Dael had already loaded her second Fira shell and discharged it into their midst. Soon, a second eruption of fire engulfed even more of them, and as those enflamed charged about, distracting their companions from firing, Dael snapped around and back to the nine soldiers in the unit guarding them…making sure to brace the other soldier in front of her as she did so. Sure enough, the other nine had noticed her abrupt disappearance at this point, and had snapped to her. They raised their guns to fire…but hesitated now, seeing the human shield.

As a result, they never saw Quaren move.

For those Esthar's Hawks trained specifically in combat, especially those who looked smaller and weaker than normal, a few extra tricks up the sleeve was always a good thing. Quaren looked like little more than a conventional soldier, but the fact was he was a highly trained combatant just like Dael. Abruptly, seeming to easily swivel his own shoulder bones in and out, Quaren pulled his handcuffed arms over his head, around, and then swung down over the nearest Sybenian soldier…soon gagging him with the chain. The next nearest looked to him, but was powerless to do anything as Quaren shot his foot up and buried the solid tip of his boot deep in the man's solar plexus with a perfect hit, making his eyes bulge as he fell over. Another at the side tried driving his gun butt into Quaren's face, but with a display of strength and a grunt, Quaren swung the captured guard around just in time to have him take it instead.

So preoccupied was everyone that they never saw Taraketh reach out with both hands, seize either of the nearest soldiers by the head, and then bring them together with a quick snap. Despite the fact he didn't look much bigger than Dael…the temporary commander was shocked as the speed and power he displayed as he cracked their skulls together with incredible force, dropping both in a flash. There was another soldier behind him who noticed this and began to pull the trigger to fire…but Taraketh, showing he was no slouch in the physical department, spun around, dodged to the side, barely avoiding a spurt of gunfire, before shooting forward and driving a palm into the man's stomach. To Dael's surprise…he was ripped back off of his feet and sent flying back to smash against the armored transport before sliding off, totally unconscious. She had to struggle not to pause on seeing that. She knew he was junctioned…but still, that was pretty impressive…

Taraketh next began to go around his middle for something, but Dael didn't pay attention to that. She knew the advantage was still theirs, but not for much longer. Immediately, she threw the human shield out of the way, pausing only to shove her Mage Gun back into the holster and seizing the rifle from his grasp with her now-free hand, and drew her blade, in the process making her a more tantalizing target and getting the three remaining soldier's attention again. Yet even as she did, she spoke a few words…and for a moment her entire body gleamed white. She wasn't sure if the barrier was strong enough to deflect bullets…but there was little time to worry about that now. Immediately, she pitched forward and charged for the remaining three, using her enhanced speed to close the distance in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, it still wasn't quite fast enough. Moments later, the guns opened fire on her.

The shots were wild and from automatics, so at first she felt nothing, and she entertained for a brief moment the idea that nothing would happen. That ended a moment later when she felt two acute pains that felt like sharp bee stings impacted at two points on her chest. For a moment…she thought that was it. She had been shot and she was dead. She'd be able to go for a moment longer, but then her life blood would flow out of her and she'd be finished. Determined to go out "with a bang", she didn't stop until she finished her charge and brought her sword down on the first soldier, slashing him across the torso. As he cried out and fell, Dael snapped to either side with incredible speed, slashing through another and stabbing the third. They were all struck within less than a second. However, not wasting any time with that either, she kept going forward, expecting at any moment to go down from injuries. She put her sword to her side and quickly rushed up past the still-falling guards for the side of the armored vehicle. She called out orders as she did so.

"Quaren! Get in the car!"

Quaren snapped to her and paused only a moment, before giving a sharp nod. Letting go of the soldier he had, having him fall to the ground limply at this point after being throttled by the chain, he quickly moved one of his cuff buttons, pulled it off, and moved it down over the chain on his handcuffs. An amount of thick liquid was squeezed onto them…and immediately the cuff chains began to smolder, smoke, and hiss. Yet another perk to being one of Esthar's Hawks. They had developed that small "gadget" for them a few years ago to help in situations like these. The best part was that it wasn't documented, so most opponents didn't even know they had it. A second later, the chain snapped, and Quaren's arms separated. He quickly looked up to try and charge for the other side of the car…

Unfortunately, Dael wasn't as good as she thought. The twin Fira shells had indeed incapacitated and distracted many of the soldiers, but a large group of them were charging forward. They too had automatic weapons and were beginning to open fire. Dael had barely managed to grab the handle on her door when sparks flew out nearby from the metal of the armored transport. She snapped her head back behind her, noticing that the first one in the line was close enough to start shooting, and had proceeded to do so. She tried to ignore him. She went back to the door and pulled on it…only to find out the front was locked. Of course…she had never seen the driver get out… She looked up to Quaren. He had made it to the opposite side at this point, but he wasn't going to get in immediately. It would take time…time they didn't have any longer. Snapping back around, to the oncoming soldiers, she nearly reached for another mage bullet, knowing their own bullets would pelt her in the open before she had a chance…

Yet before the first soldier could fire another burst…a thick, black, metal weight on a chain shot out and smashed him directly in the face. The force ripped him back off of his feet, and he immediately flew back and to the ground. The rest of the soldiers charging continued to do so, but were stunned in surprise at what had just happened, and began to slow. The next nearest drew close enough to open fire…but never got the chance. The weight and the chain shot out again, this time lashing around one of his legs, and then yanked back…dropping him to the ground. Stunned yet again, Dael turned and looked to the source.

It was Taraketh again…at last revealing the weapon that had given the others pause when they found it. She was a bit stunned to see it herself. The young man had shed his cloak all together at this point, revealing himself to be wearing loose-fitting "clothing robes" underneath, rather like some sort of martial arts uniform. However, what truly got her attention was his weapon…a genuine, bona fide kusarigama. She didn't know anyone still used them as a weapon. However, he seemed to be quite at home with it, giving a cocky smile to the approaching guards. After two of them had been felled, the remaining ones slowed even more… However, it was too late for them now. Taraketh swept the chain with the weight around his head once to build momentum, extended it, and then lashed out in an arc, striking three more against the side of the head in a row and sending them falling back. Still smiling, he yanked back on the chain and brought it back into his free hand, hefting the sickle with the other. The remaining charging guards had stopped cold. They were stunned for a moment but the sheer unusual quality of the weapon, seeming to forget they still had the greater distance advantage and could use their guns if necessary.

Luckily, that was all the delay Quaren needed. He was safely on the other side of the vehicle now. He had begun to reach into one of his side pockets of his uniform for another tool…but he soon found, a bit to his surprise, that it wasn't necessary. The door suddenly popped open, and a handgun barrel extended from it, aimed right for Quaren. The driver was obviously trying to shoot him. Quaren panicked a bit, but in spite of that managed to think rationally. He quickly snapped back and to the side, dodging the first bullet. The driver tried to extend further, trying to get his hand out to shoot again. Unfortunately for him, he didn't seem to have the right "mind set" that an Esthar's Hawk did, not realizing how bad of a situation that was. No sooner had he extended his wrist out too far than Quaren shot forward, seized the door, and slammed it hard against his wrist. It was akin to a disarming move, and the driver gave a cry before his grasp went limp on the gun. He didn't drop it, but he didn't need to. Quaren immediately yanked the door open, seized him by the neck and shoulder, and drove his head forward into the steering wheel. True to military form, the wheel was not cushioned…and the man soon received a solid blow to the head. Now dazzled, Quaren had an easy time yanking him free from the vehicle all together and throwing him to the ground. He quickly shot inside in his place, reached over, and yanked open the locks on the back doors.

Dael immediately opened her own door the second it was unlocked and ducked into the front passenger side. Taraketh held a bit longer. Some of it may have been to cover them…but Dael had a feeling the real purpose, based on his eager expression, was that he was eager for more combat. However, in the end, he too pulled his weapon back and yanked open the back passenger door before ducking inside. It was a good thing too. By now, the charging group had recovered, as well as the other soldiers with them. The tank had gained some traction and was beginning to pull down off the rock spire. More lights were coming on in the airfield, and a siren began to blare. Not a standing one, mind you, just one from one of the military vehicles…but it was enough to alert more. Dael immediately snapped to Quaren even as she pulled her door to.

"Get us out of here!"

Quaren gave a rapid nod. Luckily, the keys were already in position and the car had been in park. After a quick shift, he gunned the engine, shifted the car into first, and took off as fast as he could. Even as he did, one side of the car erupted into a shower of sparks. Taraketh was nearly jerked back as he managed to slam his own door just in time. The tank continued to lower itself to the ground, but still wasn't even yet. Meanwhile, Quaren quickly jerked the wheel to the left, turning the car away from the shooters and toward the airfield.

At that, however, Dael snapped to him. "What are you doing?"

"Getting us out of here and away from them!" Quaren answered in a half-panicked voice. "It's this way to the outskirts of town! We'll-"

Dael immediately seized the wheel, snapped it around, and with a violent jerk that threw Taraketh around in the back, she orientated themselves straight at the armed guards. They, of course, kept firing, soon covering the front of the vehicle with sparks and scoring marks.

"Hey! I thought you grunts knew how to drive these things!" Taraketh yelled angrily.

Shocked, Quaren turned to Dael. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Airfields are surrounded by drainage ditches! It'll be like trying to cross a moat!" Dael shouted back. "If we want out of this we've got to go right through them! So hit the gas before they seal off the fence to the airfield!"

Quaren blinked momentarily, but then seemed to realizes that Dael was telling the truth. After all, between the two, she could think far more on her feet. Immediately, he tightened his grip on the wheel and shifted the car into second gear, making it go faster than before.

The car surged forward, pressing Dael and Taraketh back into their seats, and barely straight at the soldiers. They attempted to shoot back for a few seconds…useless as it was. In the end, they were forced to dive out of the way as the car reached them or get run over. However, they weren't all making such a stupid move. There were drivers in the other vehicles. Two of them tried to back up into their path. Quaren, gulping a bit, managed to crazily swerve the car out of the way of the first, but the other one was coming from the opposite side and was too close. Although Quaren snapped the car back around quickly, he still caught the end of it, smashing a headlight and grinding by it. For a moment, Dael thought they were caught. Yet Quaren kept his foot on the gas and shifted to the next highest gear, and they plowed through it. The car soon began to gain more speed and accelerate further than before. As they tore by…the tank finally managed to get free of its rock spire and roll back onto the ground. It quickly began to pivot both its turret as well as turn around, trying to get a shot at the group…

Quaren certainly didn't make it an easier target. He continued to gun the engine forward, nearly running down more troops who had been coming to the area to help. The car shot around the gate building, and headed for the edge of the airfield. A few other Sybenian vehicles began to arrive on the scene, but they were either too slow to stop the car, now running at nearly full speed, or they were too weak to risk a collision. These too soon began to break up. By now, the radio in the car had come on, blaring alert signals and notifications about what happened. Dael left it on, however, wanting to hear if they would leak any crucial bit of information, such as what they were casting a roadblock on. However, they had to get out of there first…

At last, after what seemed like an eternity, the remaining headlight of the car began to expose the gate guarding the airfield, a basic reinforced chain-link fence with barbed wire and sliding arrays. Beyond it, Dael could see the lights of the city proper of Follett…still rather well lit up even now. But she didn't focus on that. Her attention was on the gate. At first, it remained fairly open, although at a distance. Then, however, the inevitable happened. The gate began to slide shut.

Even with the armored car, she doubted it had enough torque to break through.

"Private…"

"I know, Dael…"

The engine was gunned more than before. As they drew nearer, two pieces of smaller-issue artillery were revealed flanking the entrance. Both of their turrets began to turn toward the two of them. Quickly, on spotting this, Dael reached back into her ammo belt and popped out a Blizzara shell. She quickly loaded it, then looked overhead to the roof. Sure enough, it was one of those configurable designs that allowed a gun emplacement to be put on if necessary. She quickly reached up and undid it, exposing the outside. She pulled herself out in a snap so that her upper torso was protruding. She might have not been as dead a shot as Quaren, but the combination of her heavy training plus her enhanced senses allowed her to draw a bead on one of the small artillery unit, and she fired a shot. A blue streak of light shot through the air before impacting the weapon, and immediately it was coated with ice crystals. The inner workings were completely jammed, and it couldn't move any further or even risk firing.

Dael quickly went for another shell to try and stop the second artillery unit, but she soon saw that, as fast as she was moving, it wasn't fast enough. The artillery unit was already in place. She froze on spotting it, realizing it had a bead on them now and was heating up to fire. For a brief moment, she thought of teleporting…not sure of how much good it would do and knowing she wouldn't be able to get back on board the car…

But before she could, the ground suddenly shuddered and heaved below one of the tripods of the artillery, and then thundered upward, practically knocking it on its side. The shell fired, but it was completely off.

Surprised, Dael turned her head to the side, finding Taraketh also looking out the top of the car through the back. His hand was aimed at the artillery unit but was slowly retreating, and he had another half smile on his face. Dael blinked for a moment. She hesitated. After another second, she almost gave a grudging "thank you" to the young man…

However, she didn't get the chance. He gave a snort.

"I knew I couldn't rely on you two grunts to get us out of that alive." He commented. As he ducked back into the car, he gave Dael a look. "I thought you were supposed to be some military elite. I'm getting a little tired of saving you all the time…"

As he vanished back inside…Dael's momentary gratitude evaporated. She gave an angry glare back the way he went, the suddenness of the situation making her forget decorum and genuinely showing some irritation. Restraining herself from scowling, she turned back and ducked back inside.

By now, the gate was over halfway shut, but they were nearly there. Not stopping for a minute, Quaren kept his foot on the gas and the car in the highest gear. Finally, they reached the threshold. A few infantry units brought out armor piercing weapons at that point, but they didn't even have time to aim. They were quickly forced to yank themselves back or get run down. The car itself reached the gate…even as it was making a tight pinch…and shot through. Sparks flew from the side of the vehicle as it was violently raked by the edge of the closing gate, but it barely slowed at all before shooting through. Moments later, the vehicle was charging onto the streets of the city proper and shooting down them.

Quaren's face lit up as he leaned back and nearly cheered. "We made it!"

"Keep your foot on the accelerator, private." Dael immediately sharply ordered. "Don't get it off until we're out of town, and get ready for more action." Even as she said this, Dael reached into her ammunition belt and began to look around again. "You don't think Sybenia would be here just to take an airfield, would you?"

Quaren eased up a little at that, but soon looked confused instead, turning slightly to Dael. "But…but why were they there?"

Dael grimly looked up from her searching as she found the desired shell. She looked up ahead, through the window, and frowned. She pointed at the landscape before her. "See for yourself."

Quaren did as he was told, and Taraketh, from the back, looked forward as well. Quaren's eyes widened a bit, and Taraketh himself gave it a dark, grim look.

Dael at last saw why so much of the city had been lit up…a lot of it was on fire. As they went into the main town, they saw that many of the buildings were burning in one place or another. Even where they weren't, fires had been built in the streets. Many houses were blasted into rubble by obvious artillery fire, but almost all of them showed some sign of damage. The public lighting was on…but Dael realized now that it wasn't due to choice. The Sybenians had to have taken control of the public utilities by now and were keeping them on. At first, as they came forward, all they saw was fire and destruction. Yet a bit further, and they began to see other things down the side streets… Sybenian platoons were moving about, seeming to be on search and destroy missions. This was confirmed a moment later as another platoon was seen breaking down a door, dragging out someone inside, and shooting them dead. Another platoon seemed to be pinned down outside of one building complex, and lights and sparks could be seen coming from both sides. Obviously, Dael realized, someone was making a stand. Unfortunately, she grimly realized, it wouldn't last. She bet that another platoon was already moving in through the back on them…

"They _did_ invade…" Quaren spoke quietly. "Why didn't they tell us about this? Why didn't they radio us en route?"

"They must have scrambled the messages coming out when they struck." Taraketh answered. "Destroyed or seized the relay towers."

Quaren, however, cast a momentarily glance back at Taraketh. "But…but even if they did do that, this would have taken time. They would have had to deploy…move in… The militia would have held them back for a bit… Someone could have gotten out other word…right?"

Both Dael and Taraketh remained dark and grim, however. Dael narrowed her gaze at what she saw.

"…I knew Sybenia was powerful by now and I knew they were ruthless…but this…"

"Ten hours at the most." Taraketh grimly stated.

"I expected the militia to at least hold them off for a few days if it came to invasion…" Dael answered. "Guerilla tactics, if nothing else…"

Quaren was wide-eyed. "C-Commander…are you saying that this entire invasion happened why we were still flying here? Since the last transmission they made to us? And they managed to take the city so fast that they didn't have time to get any word out?"

"Probably not just Follett, Quaren." Dael darkly responded. "I'm guessing Mutaris and Gildgar too. Maybe they had connections…maybe they knew we were plotting an alliance. I wouldn't be surprised if more than a handful of officials signed on with Rozan rather than risk his wrath." She sighed at that. "…And we just saw on the airfield the reward they'll likely receive for doing that. However, most of this was just raw military strength."

Quaren silently drove onward, but he was now quivering and a shade pale. This was inconceivable…even by modern military standards. "I can't believe it…"

"Roz Heirarch left his son the greatest military machine in the world, and he's only made it worse." Dael sighed. "Even we never had a concept of just how great. He's been able to wage a 'quick war' the likes of which haven't been seen in military history since the Vector Empire…" Dael paused momentarily, but then turned to Quaren again. "We don't want to get in the heart of the city. That'll be where the most of them are located. We need to turn south at the first chance we can get."

Quaren, still rather stunned at all he was seeing and hearing, swallowed and nodded. He turned the vehicle to the left the next chance they got, squealing the tires a bit, and shooting back down the road again. As they shot along, they ran into thicker patrols…ones that were either marching or on search and destroy. They passed several large military vehicles, armored transports and the like, parked either in the street or on the ruins of buildings. A few artillery units were around as well…but, fortunately, none of them seemed to see the armored car coming, and none of them appeared to have advanced warning thanks to the situation…

Luckily, they were getting a break. Although Sybenia had attacked with a lot of heavy firepower, artillery and tanks weren't built to "chase something down". And the small armored car was probably one of the fastest vehicles. Not only that, but as they moved on, the radio messages blaring an alert became mixed with other messages…ones of various uprisings, insurrections, disturbances…basically the sounds of all the people of Follett who were still fighting back.

Dael finally took the moment to look down to herself, having nearly forgotten about the bullets in the heat of battle. At first, she was stunned at what she saw. Sure enough, her uniform had two bright red spots, signifying fresh blood. She thought she had indeed been shot, and was as good as dead. However, on a second look…she realized her clothing was only slightly broken in those spots. She held a moment, but then moved to her uniform and pried off the front to see the bare skin beneath temporarily. There were a few shallow divots in her skin, both bloody and stinging quite a bit. However, they weren't total "holes". The bullets that had shot her had gone in part of the way before halting. It seemed, just like before, the barrier had the power to severely deaden physical trauma. Even so, she still had a few light wounds. If it had been anything of higher piercing power, like a rifle, she'd definitely have a bullet in her body even if it didn't go all the way through. However, that didn't change the fact she was only alive at the moment thanks to the barrier spell. Not wanting to bother dressing the wounds now, as they weren't terribly serious, she leaned back into her chair and watched further, looking at the city as they shot through its narrow streets.

She also grimly listened to the radio as this happened. "We're in luck. The fighting isn't fully over yet. The people who are holding out are giving us a chance to escape." Even as she said this, she opened her Mage Gun and popped in the good shell.

"Maybe we should see if we should fall in with some of them." Taraketh suggested. "We could lend them a hand and maybe save a few lives."

Ignoring that, Dael looked to Quaren. "Get us out of this city and headed south as fast as you can." She stated in response.

Taraketh, seeing how he had been brushed off, looked back to her. "Hey…"

"We're not a full military force or an army." Dael stated, cutting him off. "We're not equipped for lengthy combat. We came here to sign documents, not fight a war. There's nothing that can be done here."

The High Child continued to persist, actually looking a little upset. "There has to be thousands of civilians who-"

"This city fell into 98% of their control within less than ten hours." Dael cut off again, now sounding a bit sharp. "They aren't going to last as insurgents. You can see that right now. Sybenia isn't going to 'play nice' or 'by the rules'. The moment a civilian looks at them wrong five gunners will turn him into a corpse. The moment they see a building where there's a stronghold they're going to flatten it with artillery fire. They aren't going to tolerate any sort of insurgency. Standing one's ground here is like trying to stand in the way of an avalanche. We're not staying."

"But-"

Dael now turned completely firm, the picture of a commanding officer, and she turned to the young man and spoke as one despite Taraketh not being beneath her.

"You want to stay here and die…feel free to jump out of the car right now. Because we're not stopping."

Taraketh went silent at that. He looked to her, fuming slightly. Obviously he didn't care to take any orders from her, and looked as if he wanted to shoot back with something. However, in the end, he simply leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms again, glaring darkly. That was good enough for Dael, and so she turned back around and faced out again.

A few of the soldiers that were on the roads ahead popped out and tried to call for a halt…but Quaren continued to shoot by them without stopping. None of them were opening fire yet, but they were definitely taking notice. To be honest…Dael was surprised that they were still going so easy. Luck or no, this seemed to be almost a godsend. She thought they would have alerted artillery units or something to them…or been trying to seal off the roads. Granted, they weren't out yet…but she expected more resistance. No one was even following them…

As they passed, Quaren looked out one window to a group of soldiers who were shouting at them as they passed. A few managed to raise their guns, but they still went too fast to shoot at. However, he noticed something else along with them…

"Commander, look!"

Dael looked out in response. Soon, she saw what caught his eye. There was a group of civilians lined up in front of one of the Sybenian soldier platoons at the moment. They were exposed to glaring floodlights brought on the scene. The soldiers were looking at them one by one. Dael only got to glimpse them for a moment, but she saw them throw most of them aside, toward one group of guards. However, ones that were of darker skin and a more "ethnic" look, complete with some sorts of adornment, were thrown to another group…ones who were more harshly treated by the soldiers and smacked with gun butts and yelled at, as they were being herded into one of the parked transports.

"What are they doing?" Quaren asked.

"They're separating the people…" Taraketh answered for Dael. He was apparently watching now as well. "It looks like they're moving the people of Pallas Desert descent into transports and leaving the others behind… Why?"

Dael, however, grimly stared at this as they passed…and had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"And all this time…" She remarked aloud. "We thought Rozan and Roz Heirarch were only doing this sort of thing to gain political power."

Both Taraketh and Quaren looked a bit to her at that.

"What are you talking about?" Taraketh asked, his tone a bit sharp.

Dael looked to Quaren, however. "It's well known that Roz helped get more power for his cause by inciting people against those who weren't of more northern descent. He started with those in power, but we know it began to spread from there once Rozan took absolute control. Seems he's not satisfied with just 'purging' his own country of what he presumes to be 'foreigners'…"

Quaren blinked. "You mean…he's rounding up people of different descent right here in Follett?"

"My guess is he's already done the same in Sybenia." Dael darkly stated. "He'd been inciting most of the people for months…talking about how the descendents of Odin deserved to be in power…how those who weren't descendents of Odin had been promoting themselves at their expense… He's already passed new legislation to make the more second-class citizens… It was in that bundle of proposals he shoved onto their legislature the moment he took power…"

"…I knew through the Order that he had been keeping us from giving humanitarian aid to people who weren't of his descent, and marginalizing the Order of Hyne within his country for months before he threw us out…" Taraketh spoke grimly after a moment. "But…I hadn't the slightest idea he had gotten this severe…"

"What does he care whether they live in Follett?" Quaren interjected. "It's not his country!"

Dael only let out a slow exhale at that.

"…Not yet." She answered.

"I don't think he plans on leaving." Taraketh stated more obviously, for once not having an air of mocking in his tone.

Quaren turned a shade white as he looked ahead. He was silent for a moment. They all were, as they realized the truth. Even the fact that more and more of the vehicles were growing to be active and more people were coming out to try and get in the way seemed to be forgotten in light of this new revelation. They couldn't prove anything definitely yet…but it definitely looked that way from what they had seen.

"…We need to get out of here. _Now._" Dael stated.

Quaren blinked a moment, but then seemed to snap out of it. "I…I think we're close to the city limits… The lights are thinning out ahead… We've been lucky…none of them have had a chance to jump on us…"

"You're wrong." Dael answered. "They've had plenty of chances. They aren't chasing us as doggedly as they should be. Ever since we escaped the airfield we should have been surrounded by them."

"Maybe they're too preoccupied with the people?" Quaren asked, again looking to Dael.

"I thought that at first…but now I'm not so sure…"

"I think I see your answer just ahead…" Taraketh suddenly interjected. Immediately, he shot a finger forward and pointed at the road ahead. "You don't bother chasing around a rat that's locked in a cage."

Dael and Quaren looked forward, and the latter gave a bit of a gasp at what they saw.

Like most settlements that bordered on wilder regions of the world, there was some sort of barrier between Follett and the region beyond. After all, even in modern day, it was impossible to totally eradicate monsters. This barrier wasn't as sophisticated as that in Esthar. Mostly, there was just a sharp ditch dug around the southern side of town and rimmed with thick hedges, making it somewhat attractive and "eco-friendly". The main way of access was the paved bridges that spanned the deep ditch. At the moment, they were approaching one of the town's exits.

While Taraketh was still speaking, heavy floodlights ignited along the road leading up to the exit. What it revealed was rather intimidating. There were no less than 100 heavily armed guards, most of them wearing bullet-proof armor of one form or another, all getting into position and leveling their weapons at the incoming car. Two sandbag arrays had been posted on either side of the exit, and heavy machine guns…possibly with armor-piercing rounds in them…were on either side, both were barrels already aimed at them. Yet the biggest threat of all was the fact that not one but _two_ heavily-armed Adamantoise-model tanks were posted at the front with both sets of their heavy gun barrels aimed straight ahead. None of them issued a warning. It wasn't clear if they would give them a chance to surrender…or simply blow them up as soon as they got close.

"Oh no…" Quaren spoke nervously. Immediately, his hand went for the gear lever. No doubt, he planned on stopping and shifting the car around, going back the opposite way.

Dael immediately shot out and yanked his hand away from the gear shift.

Quaren turned to her incredulously. "Dael…" He stated, forgetting decorum momentarily. "What…?"

"Don't slow. Keep going." She stated coldly. "They're meaning for us to stop."

To accent this, she stuck a thumb behind them. Quaren, who until now had been so focused on the road ahead he hadn't given much thought to what was behind, now looked to the rear-view mirror. He soon saw what Dael already knew had to be happening. Although they were still distant…other armored cars with claxions were beginning to pull out of the streets far behind them. It had taken them some time, but apparently the Sybenians had finally organized…

"But…but we'll be blown to bits!" Quaren protested.

"You think any of the other exits to town are any less guarded?" She stated, even as she began to rise again in her seat, hefting her Mage Gun again. She shot a look back to Taraketh. "Can you make a ramp?"

Taraketh paused momentarily, stunned at having been suddenly addressed. However, he again looked angry. "I told you I don't take orders from-"

"Cut the crap!" Dael snapped, with such force and violence as she lost her composure that Taraketh was actually struck dumb again. "Can you make one or not?"

Taraketh hesitated a moment, taken aback a bit by the sudden surge of emotion from Dael. After a moment, however, her frowned and gave a nod. "If you're thinking of launching us over that roadblock, though, it won't do any good. Those tanks will blast it apart before we get the chance."

"We'll see." Dael answered as she once again moved to the sunroof, taking her Mage Gun with her. "Time to see if this shell is worth 20,000,000 gil…"

"Da…Commander!" Quaren shot back. By now, overhearing the plan, he was growing rather sweaty and tense. "Even if we shoot up over these guys, we could snap an axle or ruin the car all together on the way back down!"

"So we either risk a chance at getting killed or captured or we definitely get killed or captured." Was Dael's only response. "I'll opt for the former."

Dael poked her way out from over the top of the roof again. She winced a moment later as sparks began to pelt the vehicle…the result of bullets. She thought her barrier spell was still in effect at the moment, although she wasn't sure. At any rate, there was no time to cast it. Their car was still coming, and so the Sybenian's were taking them down. The infantry had already begun to fire, but she knew that the sandbags and the tanks were warming up to fire as well. She thought she could already see in floodlights the barrels of the Adamantoise tanks sliding back, getting ready to obliterate them with a single shot. No time for a delay. She had heard one of these shells were terribly strong, but she had never used one before. She hoped they lived up to the reputation… Aiming for the space on the ground between the two tanks, she fired.

Once again, the shot rocketed through the air, moving faster than the previous shells this time, and gleaming far more brightly than the Fira ones had. This one actually made her wince a bit to look at it directly. In less than a second, it made its impact…and did nothing. For a brief second, Dael thought it was a dud, and that they were dead. However…that soon changed. Abruptly, spheres of light seemed to form in midair. As soon as they did, they began to shoot inward toward a central point, the place where her shell had impacted. As they did, rays of light began to streak out from the area, each one burning and strong. Furthermore, a central orb, burning bright and intense like the sun, was forming in the midst…steadily growing larger. This process took a precious second or two, and in spite of what was happening, Dael still thought they were dead. But miraculously, the tanks held off for that one or two more seconds…just long enough.

The orb built until the very edges of it touched the tanks…and then erupted. Dael wasn't certain if it was a trick of the light as she quickly ducked back into the armored car…but she thought she almost saw a shockwave. The blast was so fiery and intense that it melted part of the treads of either tank and blasted both to the sides, pushing them to an angle and ruining their aim. The force of the blast likewise rippled out and smashed into the attacking infantry, who were immediately bowled over and thrown violently to the ground. If that wasn't enough, part of the barricade itself was annihilated. Dael was rather impressed, and she showed it, along with Quaren. She was a bit upset she hadn't spent that on a real opponent…

_They aren't kidding about the strength of these Flare Shells…_

Unfortunately, they weren't completely clear. The two mounted guns swiveled around after being pushed out of the way and opened fire. Moments later, bullets were ripping into the car. Dots of light began to appear all over the interior as the bullets ripped inside, and the bullet-proof glass began to fracture and shatter. Quaren was shaken out of his thoughts and hunkered down. Dael quickly did the same.

"Don't stop! Bust through!" She called.

At the same time, Taraketh extended his hand out and spoke something arcane with considerable more force and potency than Dael had. She almost thought she felt the air in the car ripple a bit as he said the words. In response, the ground began to shake violently again even as they were pelted by bullets. Quaren had to fight to keep the car on the road. Moments later…a large section of earth erupted from the ground right in front of the temporarily-disabled tanks. It wasn't terribly smooth…but it was a wedge shape that went over them and high into the air. Biting down, Quaren clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and kept his foot on the gas. The bullets continued to tear into the armored car for a few more moments before they were finally in front of the ramp. Saying a prayer, Dael braced herself.

Moments later, giving a bit of a lurch, but still staying fairly stable thanks to the all-terrain nature of the vehicle, the armored car hit the ramp and began to ascend. Quaren, though ducking, kept his foot on the accelerator at all times. Dael didn't bother to watch as it went up the earth and finally reached the end. She knew it a moment later as she felt her stomach become weightless, knowing they had left the ground all together and were now at the mercy of free fall. Around the sides of the car, through the bullet holes, she could see fire flaming around her, no doubt licking at the bottom of the vehicle. Still, she braced and waited… They couldn't have been airborne for more than a second, but it felt like an hour…

Finally, Dael was jostled so violently that she was nearly smashed up into the ceiling of the car, and would have taken a bad head injury if it hadn't been for the open roof. Dael and Taraketh were similarly thrown about, and on landing they bounced violently. The car caught on something for a moment, and the sound of ripping, twisted metal went about before they slammed to the ground. Squeals peeled out from the tires. The vehicle fishtailed momentarily as a horrible crunching and snapping went out. Dael thought they had wrecked it…but Quaren didn't let up. He kept his foot on the gas and his hands on the wheel.

Dael almost didn't dare look…but slowly she felt herself getting pressed back into her seat again. The fishtailing stopped and the car smoothed out. Some sort of repetitive grating sound went out, and a scraping went with it…but she slowly became cognizant of the fact that the car was still moving forward. She held a moment longer, then finally looked up.

The road outside of the town was already getting rougher. After all, there wasn't need to go south too far. It wasn't nearly as well paved. But in spite of that…it was moving on. The one remaining headlight was now piercing the darkness, and there was nothing but open spaces before them. Dael hesitated, staring on at it for a while, before turning and looking back behind them.

The city-state of Follett, still burning and illuminated both with standard lights and fires, burned behind them. It very slowly began to grow smaller. The roadblock was in flames and ruins. The Flare Shell had done more than clear them a bit of a path…it had left destruction in the wake that no other vehicle could clear save the way they had gone. She couldn't see the ramp that well in the flames, but if it was anything like earlier, Dael realized it wouldn't hold up long, and they probably wouldn't risk it again. They had bought a good amount of time at the very least…

Quaren suddenly exhaled, sounding like he had just remembered to breathe. He turned to Dael with a mixture of relief and overwhelmed feelings. "We…we made it!"

"Looks like we did, private." Dael answered, calmly enough…although the fact that she exhaled loudly signified her sentiments were more in line with Quaren's.

"Just get one thing straight." Taraketh suddenly spoke up, sounding stern again. "I did that to get myself out of there. I didn't do it for you two. And I didn't do it because you told me to." He paused a moment after that, and then spoke again, already sounding as if the daring escape was yesterday's news. "So now what do we do?"

Dael paused momentarily. Shaking her head a bit, she turned and looked back to the radio. She looked over it a moment, but then frowned. "This is only short range. We need to get to a long range radio as soon as possible and report the situation back to Esthar. Then we need to get back to Esthar ourselves." She turned and gave Quaren a dark look.

"I want you to drive this thing until it falls apart."

Quaren gave an uneasy look at that. "May happen sooner rather than later, commander… It doesn't sound too good after that jump. It's driving a bit funny… Plus the gauge says the engine is heating up and the fuel core is already half exhausted…"

"Like I said, drive it until it falls apart. I want to put as many miles between us and Follett as possible. Straight south. We're headed for Garrado."

"We'd have to cross the desert to do that." Taraketh spoke up, his tone sounding cynical. "Why don't we head to another city-state? The short range will reach that."

"Not after what just happened." Dael answered. "For all we know, they struck all the city-states at once. Even if they didn't, I'm not sticking around to stay a target. And we can't trust any radio transmissions anymore on this continent…not after they talked us down just to capture us. That should show us why it's so important that we get to a radio."

Quaren looked to Dael in some puzzlement as he kept driving. "I don't understand…"

Dael sighed as she looked back forward.

"They were trying to keep this a secret." She stated. "It was an invasion, yes…but it was also an expansion of Rozan's little curtain. Now no one has any eyes on him anymore. He didn't want anyone to get free…anyone to say what he was doing or how quickly he won this operation. Strong as he is and as much as he flaunts it on TV, he's still trying to keep it at least a little under wraps. This may have looked bad tonight…but I'm guessing he's still not playing his full hand."

"But…but he conquered it so fast…" Quaren protested.

"Did you see the situation?" Dael answered. "No rockets…no bombers…all ground forces and infantry. Nothing that screams 'here we are'. So long as no one knows about the invasion and they have the officials hostage, they can do the same thing they did to us to everyone else…make them send out phony transmissions saying the situation hasn't changed at the border, all while denying any more entries from outside military. And even if they came in, they'd do the same thing to them that they did to us…capture them on arrival. The only reason they didn't shoot us all outright was because they needed us to radio back and give some story as to why it was taking so long to get back. All the while, the world thinks Sybenia is biding its time while it's expanding its influence and fortifying its position."

"Much as I hate to agree with you…" Taraketh sighed. "I guess I have to on this one. And with Rozan being as crazy as his father and waging race warfare on this scale…this is a major humanitarian disaster as well as a military one. I have to contact the Order of Hyne immediately too. Most of the magic-users who were in Sybenia resettled into the outlying city-states to take political refuge. But now…" He paused a moment, but then sighed, knowing he didn't need to finish that statement.

"We may have been clear now, but you can bet they're getting orders from their higher ups at the moment to make sure we never make it to a settlement alive." Dael darkly concluded. "We have to make sure we do. The only hope for those city-states now is a military response before things can get to consolidated. And since they won't tolerate much of an insurgency, we'll have to be fast."

"Which brings us back to our current problem…" Taraketh answered, once again growing cynical. "You said we can't go to any other city-state and you want to take us to Garrado. The only people who cross the Pallas Desert over land are a few nomadic tribes. Everyone else flies or goes by boat. The place is several days worth of barren wasteland, and none of us are equipped to travel the desert. Based on what your underling said," Here, he tapped the back of Quaren's seat, making him frown a bit. "This car will be lucky to get us to dawn."

"Nothing for it now." Dael responded simply. "This is our road. If I were you, I'd get some sleep. We've got a long march ahead of us…"

* * *

><p>He bit down on the half-eaten piece of meat and tore off another piece. He frowned a little as he forced himself to chew it and swallow. Even thought this was one of the better pieces he had come across, it was disgusting. It was cold and old, and he knew now from experience that he might get sick from eating it. This weak stomach couldn't handle it. But he needed nourishment, even if it was some chicken-leg of garbage, and so he forced himself to eat it. Even if he did bring money to an establishment, he was usually chased off for being too filthy. This was all he could get now.<p>

Besides, his mind wasn't on food at the moment.

His search had been mostly fruitless that day. He had simply uncovered more leads. The few he had managed to follow up on hadn't panned out. There were few to any locations in the literature that he had read so far. He supposed it didn't really matter… Even if there had been, he had no way of getting to the locations. He was stuck again for another day, especially now that the library was closed.

He supposed he should have slept, but he couldn't. He was too tense. He could feel it and see it all around him. Aside from the news reports, there were the people who constantly walked around on edge. There was more low talk nowadays, and many other people seemed nervous and uneasy. He knew nothing was even happening in this part of the world, so the fact that it was being felt this far meant something bad was coming. It had been like this before…and it always precluded the worst. The Planet was going through another cycle. The world was changing once again…

Forcing himself to take another bite, he only hoped he could do something before it was too late.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	8. Flight Across the Sands

The flight from Follett was fairly predictable. Dael had used the time that Quaren spent driving continuously south to get the medical kit on board the armored car and patch up her bullet wounds. She also touched up a graze on Quaren. It wasn't hard. There were special regenerative salves stored in the kit, and the wounds had already closed up for the most part. The dressings would be superfluous soon enough. After that, she needed only clean her blade of blood and then keep watch.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see. This only became more the case as they went farther and farther south. Follett gradually became just a glow on the horizon, and eventually that vanished too into the distance, gradually fading to black. The three and their car were soon a lone beacon in the darkness as they went further and further south. With only one headlight, they had to all be careful that they didn't collide with any of the local beasts or monsters. They spotted a few as they drove along, but none of them crossed their path. In the meantime, Dael frequently looked behind them through the back window. One good side of being in darkness was that they would easily see the lights of any approaching vehicle. In this darkness, one had to keep them on or risk a collision, especially as the country grew rougher.

It was pretty much total darkness for the first leg of the trip, or the first few hours. The road gradually became rougher and rougher over twenty miles. They passed by several agricultural settlements and ranches while moving through there. After the twenty miles, it was ten miles of a dirt road extension. Finally, after that, the road ended all together. There weren't even warning signs. Apparently, no one simply went that far. They kept pushing ahead, however, going off road and continuing the drive. From then on, Quaren had to be careful of the occasional rock, dip, or shrub in the way. Even being careful, however, the road was quite rough and lumpy, and the passengers were jostled a bit more as they continued ahead. Quaren never slowed by an iota more than he needed too, despite the roughness.

However, even that began to smooth out with time. It was kind of hard to see at first, driving in just pure blackness. But then, dawn gradually began to come up, and the sky started to turn a faint shade purple far in the horizon. From then on, more light gradually illuminated the area. All in all, it took hours, but the shrubs eventually died off. The grass followed afterward. The ground began to grow rather arid and dry. First it was simply dry packed, but then it began to diminish further from there, eventually becoming sandy. And the sandiness only continued to build. By the time there was enough light up ahead to see where they were going, there was barely any vegetation at all. Most of the rocks were gone. A coarse sand was all that was left behind, stretching up ahead for miles.

The sun continued to rise, and the group continued to drive onward. The coarse sand began to grow finer. The rocks faded away, obviously battered into more sand over time. They eventually either disappeared or were buried all together. The ground became more uneven as mounds of sand began to form from being wind-swept, slowly turning into dune. Dael realized that was when they were finally headed into the Pallas Desert. Maybe not the main part, but they were definitely there.

The sun finally began to poke over the horizon. By that point, all that there was around the three was sand, both in front and behind, as far as the eye could see. Now was finally the "crucial" part, to Dael. How far they could go here would determine how easy of a time they would have. Unfortunately, there was no such luck. The car had been progressively sounding worse and worse for some time. Smoke had begun to come from the engine, and the needle had been getting lower and lower to empty. Finally, it began to stall and sputter. Then, at long last, it came to a halt and died all together.

That brought them to the present. The sun had just cleared the horizon, and Dael, now outside the car, had to struggle not to wrap her arms around herself. It was quite cool outside this early in the morning. She tried to enjoy it… After all, before the day was over, she knew she'd be desperate for some cool relief. The back of the car was open, and Dael was looking through it for anything of use that they could find. Unfortunately, there wasn't much. This car had been intended for urban use and prisoner transport. There weren't even any additional weapons on board.

Taraketh was seated on the ground cross legged. His arms were folded across his chest. He seemed to be almost in some sort of meditative posture. His weapon had returned to being around his torso by now. He wasn't really helping anything at the moment, but so much the better. With the danger passed, he had grown more cynical and harsh again, and Taraketh didn't really care for that at the moment. The only thing she really cared about was the road behind them. She looked up occasionally out into the distance, trying to see if they were being caught up to. Luckily, there was nothing, and no echo of vehicles.

Dael couldn't help but be confused at that. Sure, not chasing them down until the last moment back in Follett was one thing since they had that roadblock…but now they seemed to be in the clear. She knew it would take some time to get out fast vehicles, and maybe they couldn't use aircraft or risk being picked up on radar. But still…shouldn't they be after them?

Dael was distracted from these thoughts by a grunt from Quaren. She turned her head back to him, just in time to see him poke his head out from under the hood, sigh, and slam it shut. He turned to Dael and ruefully shook his head.

"A lost cause, commander." He stated. "Even if we had a fresh fuel core for it, the radiator is shot, there's debris caught up in the engine I can't get loose, and the axle looks ready to snap in half. We're lucky we even got this far."

Dael sighed a bit, but then nodded slowly. "That's pretty much what I expected, private, but there was no sense in not double-checking. I guess that leaves only one thing. We hotfoot it from here."

Quaren looked to her anxiously. "Was there any water on board?"

Dael hesitated, looking darker, before slowly shaking her head.

The soldier grew more anxious at that. "If I knew we were going into a field operation, I would have brought my canteen… I think there's oases in the Pallas Desert…but we have no way of finding them. Only the nomads would. And I don't think we'll run into them…" Quaren began to look rather uncomfortable. "Commander…I don't think we'll last that long without water…"

The officer could only sigh in response. "I know that, private, but we'll have to somehow."

Quaren looked uneasily around for a moment, but then suddenly turned his head up as his eyes lit. "Hey, wait a minute! Couldn't you call Carbuncle? Ask him to teleport some water here?"

Dael looked up at that as well. She hadn't thought of that. She knew that she could summon him if need be, but she just hadn't had reason to yet. She had never done it before, but, after hearing Quaren's suggestion, she was willing to give it a try.

"That's not a bad idea. Let me see if I can…"

Dael turned away to face a more open area, not sure how much "room" Carbuncle needed. Yet as she did…she heard a snort come from Taraketh. She turned momentarily to look to him, but he hadn't gotten up from his meditative position. Frowning a bit at him, she turned back to the open space. She paused for a moment. What now?

_How did I do the spells before?_ She asked herself. _Let's see…I knew what I wanted… Alright, I want Carbuncle to come here. I need him to appear right in front of me. So…what do I need to say…what do I need to think… I want Carbuncle here… I want Carbuncle here… I want Carbuncle here…_

Finally, it seemed to kick in. Words that Dael wasn't familiar with came to mind, and she had an idea of an action to perform. Going with it, she extended both of her arms together and performed a sort of strange gesture. After that, she spoke the arcane words.

The change was instantaneous. For a second, the world seemed to grow a tad darker. The air appeared to develop some sort of charge on it, like dry air with static electricity. Then, much to Dael and Quaren's surprise, some sort of translucent, misty disk, like a layer of water suspended in midair on its side, appeared right before them. It held for a moment, rippling and shimmering. A moment later, it parted slightly, and Carbuncle, ears flicking about, leapt out from it, dry as a bone. He landed on the ground on all fours, tail fluffed, tiny claws poking out, and looking around alertly, snapping his head to and fro. The portal behind him vanished, seeming to dissipate into mist, but Carbuncle remained, looking about, as the world stayed a shade dark.

"I'm ready and raring to go!" Carbuncle called out. "Where are they at? I'll maul 'em! I'll crush 'em! I'll open my mouth wide and clamp down on their…their…"

Carbuncle slowly calmed down, and looked around in a bit of confusion.

"Hey, wait a sec…where are the bad guys?"

He turned his head a bit more, and finally saw Dael.

"Wha…? Dael, why'd you summon me if there's nothing to fight?"

The officer sighed a bit. She supposed this was to be expected. After all, she was only supposed to summon him for a battle. However, this was pretty important. She began to speak.

"Carbuncle, we need your help. We-"

"Oh…sorry!" Carbuncle called back, cutting her off. Even as he said this, the world began to turn brighter again, the shade of dark disappearing. "I've got to go! Bye, Dael!"

Then, much to Dael's surprise, as the world turned light again…Carbuncle seemed to just fade out of existence. It wasn't like the teleport from before. He just simply faded away into nothingness. In the span of a second, he had vanished all together. The air became normal again, and he was gone.

Taraketh let out a snicker.

Quaren, on the other hand, frowned a bit. "Hey, what was that all about? He just popped in and left again!"

Dael stared at this in puzzlement. While Quaren seemed to be attributing this to Carbuncle's free will, she wasn't so sure. It looked as if he had no choice in disappearing. Frowning a bit, she shook her head. "I'll try summoning him again…"

At this, Taraketh sighed loudly, enough to get Dael and Quaren to look back to him. He started to uncross his arms and rise. "Don't waste your mental stamina." He flatly responded. "I assume you at least know about 'mental stamina', don't you? That you can't just throw around spells all day without any ill effects?" He sighed. "You grunts really don't know anything about how magic works, do you…?"

Quaren blinked in confusion. Dael, however, turned more fully to him and crossed her arms. "…Suppose you enlighten us." She stated a bit crossly.

Taraketh shrugged as he got to his feet. "Might as well. I don't want to waste an hour seeing you bumbling around with your pitiful magic." Once up, he put his hands on his hips and sighed, before he spoke as if he was trying to tell something basic to a small child.

"Teleportation magic doesn't just let you shoot around at will. You need to establish a base presence or signature that you can relay to. You can only teleport to places that you've been over the past month or places you can see."

"Alright, but how does that explain Carbuncle not being able to stay here?" Dael answered.

Taraketh gave her a bit of a glare at that. "_Lord_ Carbuncle…" He began, before calming once again. "Was only using teleport magic before. He might be the best in the world at it, but he's still just using magic, and he has to follow the rules too. What, did you think all Guardian Forces could pop in and out at will around their junctions? He hasn't been to where we are recently, and even if he had he has no idea where we are. He teleported away back when we were on the plane, remember? Even if he was to teleport back, that would be where he would end up. And because he's the only teleporter out of the Guardian Forces, it wouldn't matter in my case if the Minotaur Brothers knew where I was or had a presence here. They couldn't teleport here."

Quaren looked confused. "What are you talking about? He just teleported here a moment ago."

Taraketh rolled his eyes. "Sheesh…you grunts really don't know anything, do you?" He nearly snapped. He looked back down. "Get this straight…summoning a junction is not the same as having one teleport to your location. It's two different types of magic entirely. Summoning a junction is almost like opening a brief wrinkle in space and time that allows them to make contact with their location just long enough to perform a move, and then it breaks and automatically returns them. It's not like the old type of summoning, where you actually brought the summon to the location. People who are junctioned aren't sophisticated enough for that. Also, since it's not teleportation, the Guardian Force can't bring anything with them through this method of summoning without it returning back with them too." He leveled a gaze at Dael. "Keep that in mind in case you thought you'd just call him repeatedly until you got the message out."

Quaren looked a bit downcast. Dael sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"So, in short, Carbuncle can't help us."

"Outside of battle, no he can't."

The officer bowed her head momentarily, brooding over this. She was silent for a few moments. Finally, she exhaled and looked up and over to Quaren. The soldier was still pretty regretful, but she snapped him out of it as she called to him.

"Private?"

Quaren looked up.

"You still have your compass, right?"

Quaren hesitated, but then nodded.

"Good. Let's not waste any more time. It's already getting warmer, but it's not hot yet." She turned and began to walk, passing the armored car and starting to head in the direction it was going. "Let's see if we can get in a few miles before we have to worry about sunstroke…"

Quaren held back a moment. His face was fearful. "So…we're really going to try and cross the desert?"

Taraketh uncrossed his arms. He looked uneasy about this as well, although, unlike Quaren, he began to take a step or two after Dael. "It's better if we sleep for now and walk during the night…"

"Maybe while we're at it…" Dael cynically replied. "We can put up a nice big flag over where we choose to sleep telling anyone from Sybenia who is chasing after us, 'Here we are, please capture us'. We'll stop to rest only if we can't go any further. Until then, we don't stop walking."

Taraketh gave Dael a dark look. "Don't talk to me as if I'm the one who'll be dragging us down. You may be good on the battlefield, but you're not even approximately dressed for this climate. You'll be begging to stop in three hours."

"We'll see." Dael simply responded as she kept walking. After a moment, Quaren, still looking uneasy and afraid, began to follow after her.

Taraketh let out a sigh himself, adjusted his cloak a bit better, and after watching them both walk a little farther, finally brought up the rear.

* * *

><p>The next few hours went by pretty much exactly as Dael had predicted…which was to say, rather badly.<p>

By now the sun was rather high in the sky, and the three were feeling its full effects. Dael's face was covered with sweat and she was visibly panting. Esthar's Hawks went through adverse climate training, and she had enhanced physiology due to the function…but that still didn't mean much compared to relentless heat. The desert had gone from cool to feeling like being slow roasted in an oven. For the moment, she wasn't dehydrated yet, but she was already feeling the heat getting to her. Still, she maintained her pace and stayed in the lead, marching onward through the dunes. By now, her uniform tunic was off and fashioned into a crude head covering, but she regretted to say she couldn't cover all of her skin and so she was still getting baked.

She looked behind her to see how the others were doing. Taraketh seemed to be holding up well. His clothing was the closest to what would have been appropriate, plus he had the benefit of a junction. That said…he was panting quite a bit himself and slowing a little in his own step. He obviously hadn't had the benefit of the endurance training.

Poor Quaren was the worst. Sure, he went through endurance training…but without proper attire and a junction, he was visibly struggling. He wasn't falling behind yet, but his eyes were half-sagging and he was panting quite a bit. Dael could already tell that his lips were drying out… It didn't help that his weapon was the heaviest. Dael thought of taking his gun from him, but in the end thought against it. Quaren may not have been the strongest Esthar's Hawk, but he was still an Esthar's Hawk. Any indication that he couldn't pull his own weight would be an insult to him.

Dael looked back and checked the compass again. Sure enough, they were still headed in a good direction…not that it much mattered. On foot, it would take days to cross the Pallas Desert. What they really needed to do was find an oasis before then to hopefully get some water. But there was no sign of one anywhere, and she realized the odds of stumbling across one were slim to none. All that was ahead of them were endless dunes, and she knew it would be a long time before she saw anything but dunes. She turned and looked behind them as well. The area was fairly flat even when the rolling hills of sand, and she could see far quite a ways. The car was at least not visible anymore, and there was a good wind to cover their tracks.

In spite of how she trudged along, Dael did try to hold a bit of her strength in reserve. She kept a hand on her sword hilt. Basically, if they were going to be ambushed by Sybenian soldiers, she wanted it to happen today. Tomorrow…she wasn't sure how strong she was going to be. But even if that wasn't the case, there was still the fact that the Pallas Desert was a wild region. And that meant that even if they weren't being pursued there was a healthy amount of danger…

Finally, she heard Quaren, in between pants, speak up.

"You think…we'll run…into Cactuars?"

"Don't talk, private." Dael responded as she marched along without stopping or looking back. "You'll only dehydrate faster if you do."

"…I heard…" Quaren continued, not stopping. "Cactuars…were really tough… That they could beat up a group of Esthar's Hawks one-on-one…"

"Don't be stupid." Taraketh interjected. "They're further west of us."

"I hear…they're really fast… They can dodge bullets… And that they shoot a thousand of their spines at an opponent at once…"

Taraketh groaned. "Just forget the Cactuars, alright? There's nothing to worry about from them. They're not even in this region. Even if they were, they don't like people. You should probably spend more time worrying about things like-"

Abruptly, Taraketh was cut off as the sand exploded next to Quaren. Despite his dazzled state, his training made him snap in surprise and instinctively shoot back…which was a good thing. At that moment, a large, tan-colored scorpion about six feet in length erupted from the sand and immediately shot the barb of its stinger straight for Quaren. Thanks to his panic move, it hit only air, but the young soldier soon fell on his rear end and gaped in surprise, seeming to forget his gun. Meanwhile, the scorpion gave an angry chitter, and began to advance to stap forward again.

Dael was far less hesitant…especially when, a split second later, two more sand eruptions occurred and another two scorpions burst from the ground behind the first, advancing as well. Quickly, she snapped forward, her sword being drawn. Just as the scorpion made to stab Quaren again, her sword flashed…and then end of its tail went flying from its body. The thing screeched in pain momentarily, before Dael swung her blade around and drove it into the head of the monster. It spasmed once, but then went limp.

No sooner had Dael yanked her sword out when she caught something out of her peripheral vision. To her shock, the first of the two new scorpions wasn't just lunging at her, it was _leaping._ Quickly, she dodged in a half roll to the side, just missing its pincers as it shot by, and flashing out her sword in the process. As it landed, it screeched as well as one claw fell off its body. It wheeled around to Dael and stabbed at her, only to have her dodge again, dart inward, and unleash a cross slash against its head. With two quick strokes, it fell to pieces, and the monster slumped down dead.

Dael looked up to the last one…only, to her shock, seeing that it was already moving on Quaren and going too fast to intercept. Quaren, by now, had gotten out his rifle, seeming to snap out of it at last…but was still too slow. Yet as the third one tried to stab at him…a chain and sickle lashed out and wrapped around it, pinning it from being able to go all the way forward. Dael and the scorpion alike looked to the source, and the former was stunned to see that Taraketh had gotten out his kusarigama in a flash. The chain with the blade now held the tail, and he tugged back with both arms to keep it from moving forward. The scorpion hissed and strained back for a moment, trying to fight and overpower him. Its strength was considerable, and had Taraketh been a normal man it probably would have succeeded. However, he managed to hold it back, and after a moment, he seemed to snap one end of his chain and give it a yank back. To Dael's surprise, he managed to manipulate the sickle end in such a way to cut its tail from its body.

The thing screeched in pain, but not for long. With another snap, Taraketh yanked his chain back and extended the weight next. He swung it around a few times as the furious monster turned to him angrily, meaning to charge. It only got a few steps forward before he swung the end out again with incredible force…nailing it right between the eyes. A large crunching sound went out, and the final monster went limp.

Quaren blinked a moment, looking over the situation, and realizing he was in the clear. He slowly swallowed. As for Taraketh, he sighed and relaxed as well, before pulling back his weapon and starting to tie it around himself. Dael herself let out an exhale and relaxed too, before cleaning her blade on the sand and then beginning to put it away. After a moment, Quaren relaxed a bit too. His rifle was out, but now he let it rest. He turned to Taraketh, as the High Child continued to put his weapon up. After a moment, he spoke.

"Um…thanks for th-"

"I thought you were supposed to be this elite soldier." Taraketh coldly cut off. "What were you doing just sitting there? Trying to make yourself look more appetizing?"

Quaren hesitated on hearing that. "I…I just-"

"Don't bother thanking me. I only didn't want to have to drag your paralyzed butt across this desert if you got stung. That's the first and last time, by the way. Next time, I'll just let it have you." She gestured to Dael. "Then your fellow grunt can carry you as a load."

Taraketh finished putting his weapon away, and then, without looking to Quaren again, turned and began to walk forward once more, ready to keep going. Quaren hesitated and blinked, looking a bit hurt at that. He turned and looked to Dael for support. However, the young woman showed nothing. A part of her wanted to get upset at Taraketh for that…but only a small part. In a way, he was right. Quaren was supposed to be one of Esthar's Hawks. He couldn't afford to freeze up like that. His gunnery skills wouldn't do much good if he couldn't even get his weapon out. Instead, the only look that Dael ended up giving him was a firmer one, as if to say, _Suck it up, private, and get moving._

Quaren looked a bit hurt momentarily, but that didn't last long. He seemed to make the connection as well. He was a soldier now, not some cadet to let other people defend him or cover up for his mistakes. As a result, his face solidified, and he collected himself. More firmly, he rose from the ground and got to his feet. He kept his rifle out and at the ready now, and he began to follow after Taraketh.

Dael looked a bit longer, but then turned away and kept walking.

* * *

><p>That wasn't the last surprise the group had that day, although it was enough to get them on their toes despite the horrible heat. As a result, they kept an eye out for more of those creatures, which Dael recognized now as Pallas Scorpions from the monster literature. Ambush predators that waited for anything to come along. Usually they hunted Dromes and Bactras, but humans could supplement their diet. They also ran into a Sand Ray or two, also an ambush predator. Yet after being caught off guard once, they all were more alert. They hadn't been gotten the drop on since.<p>

Quaren, in particular, went silent and even tried to conceal his own panting, even as he grew hotter and hotter. Wielding his rifle tightly, he made sure to be the first one to attack on all future ambushes. Dael realized it was typical… After the earlier disgrace, he was struggling to prove himself again. He even took out targets that were clearly more for Dael or Taraketh. Again, he proved why he was such a competent gunner by being able to sever the main nerve cord in the Pallas Scorpions they ran into next with a single bullet. Dael even gave him an encouraging smile. However, Quaren had also looked for approval from Taraketh. Not directly…he just looked to him. At first, he said nothing. But when a Sand Ray attacked a few hours later and Quaren had taken off its barb with a single shot from 30 feet, he did remark…although it wasn't much.

"Seems you might just be a decent grunt, at least…"

This attitude began to sharply annoy Dael as time went on. However, at least he talked to Quaren. He seemed to try and avoid talking to Dael as much as possible. Yet occasionally, Dael would cast a glance to him, and find him staring at her…always with a dark, condemning look. It seemed to make him more irritated with every battle they went into, as if somehow Dael was "cheating". It was starting to get on Dael's nerves. However, she held her tongue about it. She had too many things to worry about right now besides this member of the Order of Hyne.

Naturally, aside from the monsters, the oppressive heat made things practically unbearable. Dael tried to ignore the fact that she was getting rather hungry at this point. She could last without food. However, the heat eventually had a stronger effect…one that she could no longer deny. She felt her lips beginning to harder, and her throat started to dry out. Her sweating started to diminish too…but she knew it wasn't because she was getting cooler. Her step visibly began to slow as the day wore on. By that point, Taraketh was doing much the same, even dragging his feet a bit. Quaren, despite exerting every fiber of his being to stay alert, looked almost a little drunk as he tried to walk along.

Mercifully, the sun finally began to lower. As it did, it finally brought some relief from the heat. Due to the dry nature of the Pallas Desert, it cooled rather rapidly. It was far more bearable as the sun touched the horizon. Finally, at that point, Dael said that they should take a break for a few hours. Not all night, however. They couldn't afford that.

"And why not?" Taraketh, panting a bit himself, retorted. "We've been walking all day and haven't heard so much as an ATV engine. They probably thought we were insane to go into the desert in the first place."

"After night falls…" Dael explained, panting a little herself. "I want to be on my feet keeping my blood flowing, not sitting around waiting to freeze to death."

Taraketh let out a snort, but complied.

Two hours later, the sun had vanished, and the sky was turning from blue to black. All of the stars were out, and even in pollution-free Esthar, there wasn't such a gorgeous sight. Perfect for any astronomer or stargazer…provided they were bundled up. Dael was neither a stargazer nor well-dressed. At the moment, she had drawn her legs in toward herself and wrapped her arms around her body, struggling to maintain her core body heat. She was handling it pretty well…better than Quaren, at any rate. The young soldier was visibly shivering. Taraketh himself was pretty well tucked into a ball, having drawn his cloak tightly around himself. He had the hood pulled low and he looked like he was trying to sleep.

Naturally, there was no fire. There was no way to build one. Hence, there wasn't a source of warmth anywhere. Dael thought of inching up to Quaren and trying to share some body heat, but in the end, she relented a bit. First off, it would be yet another act of pity. Understandably, it would be a justifyable act this time. Pity or no, one could freeze out here. However, if she did that…she felt she would have to ask Taraketh to huddle as well, and she didn't want to create another issue with him. Besides…she didn't want him any closer than he had to be. Nevertheless, she felt she might bite the bullet and ask Quaren anyway soon. He was simply shaking too much. Dael could almost hear his teeth chattering.

Dael looked forward and to the ground again. Much as she hated to admit it…she almost missed Carbuncle curling up on her feet. It would be a warm improvement. She was feeling tired and drained from the excursion. Even when she was resting, the environment, whether it be day or night, was eating away at her stamina. She tried not to think about it.

"S-Sir?"

Dael heard the voice, and closed her own eyes. "Try to sleep, private. You need your strength."

"I was j-just wondering…" He continued to talk. Dael tried not to sigh. He never knew when to just stay quiet. "D-Do we s-still have f-four d-days t-to go after t-today?"

"Unless we find some nomads willing to barter for a Drome, Bactra, or Desert Chocobo, yes, private."

Quaren swallowed a bit.

"S-Sir…I d-don't th-think I c-can make it that long…"

"You're going to have to, private." Dael flatly answered. "Whether you think you can or not. Now go to sleep. We might find a source of water soon. We'll be in better shape then."

The area went silent a bit longer. About five minutes slowly ticked by. Dael herself tried to close her eyes and sleep too…but it was no good. Enhanced physiology or no, she was too cold. She thought sheer exhaustion would take her by now…but so much for that idea. She was just about to try and lay on the ground, seeing if she could curl into a ball against the sand and sleep a bit easier…

"S-Sir…?"

Dael sighed and opened her eyes. "I said try to sleep, private."

"I…I c-can't…I'm…just t-too c-cold…"

Dael lay on the ground a bit longer, frowning slightly. _Damnit, Quaren, do I have to bail you out again?_ She asked herself. However, that thought was soon pushed out of her mind. She was freezing too. And it was stupid to just let them both suffer for the sake of pride. Finally, she relented. Leaning back up, she crawled along the ground until she was as Quaren's side. After that, she sat next to him and pressed her own body close. She didn't look straight at Quaren, but she thought she saw him blush a little. She frowned. She had forgotten about that aspect. Quaren may have had only platonic ideas regarding his relationship with Dael…but that didn't change the fact that they were both young and one was a boy and the other was a girl.

"…Think you'll be able to get to sleep now?"

Quaren stammered a moment, but then swallowed. "I'll…I'll t-try, s-sir…"

"Good." Dael closed her eyes again.

For a few minutes more, the area was quiet. Dael actually did begin to feel a bit warmer. As such, she began to think she might fall asleep yet…

"…Sir?"

Dael let out another sigh. Quaren was being worse than a four-year-old who kept interrupting his parents. At least his shivering had subsided. "…Yes, private? What is it?"

"I…I was just looking at the stars…"

"What about them?"

"I remember a story I read…in the news…right before we left Esthar. How all the astronomers are saying that it's possible for there to be another world with life on it…like Gaia. Do you think there is one?"

Dael almost felt like telling Quaren to shut-up at that. She let out a long groan. "Quaren…there's billions of stars out there. The odds of there being another life-supporting planet is more than likely…now please, go to-"

"No, no." Quaren answered. "I mean right here. They said that there's a blind spot on all the radar and monitoring equipment…right on the opposite side of the sun. They said it's possible there's another world just like Gaia right on the other side, kind of the same distance from where we are. That would be weird, wouldn't it?"

Dael paused momentarily, but she still felt rather annoyed that Quaren kept disturbing her with things like this. And they weren't in much of a position to debate science. "I guess it would, private." She finally stated, a bit curtly.

"I'm sorry I keep talking… It's just…I've had a lot on my mind all day…and I'm trying to get it off of it." Another pause. "Sir…do you think I could possibly get into International Affairs?"

Now, Dael did look up a bit. More confusion than anything struck her. She actually slipped back into more conversational ways of speaking. "International Affairs? Quaren, you never said you wanted to get that far. I thought you were fine with Civil Defense."

"I…I am…" He admitted, a bit hesitantly. "But…I don't know…I figure if I was in International Affairs…I…I…" He hesitated a bit.

"You'd what, Quaren?"

He swallowed. "I'd…get to spend more time around you."

Now, Dael was really taken aback. She actually stared at Quaren a moment. The young man blushed, and immediately explained himself.

"N-Not like that!" He protested. "I mean…ugh…I'm just…so used to seeing you in the Academy…and now that I never get a chance to talk to you…"

Dael eased up, and gave a sigh.

"…Quaren, we're friends, but we're also soldiers. Those are two separate realms. What we do on our own time is one thing, but the rest of the time we need to work with the people we're assigned to. We both did a lot of encouraging of each other in the Academy, but we've graduated now. Now we have to take care of ourselves and be responsible for ourselves. The thing I hoped for you to learn the most in the past few years is how to get along on your own."

Quaren sighed. "I know that…and I can do that. I really can. It's just…you're still my best friend. I just want to be able to talk to you more. I can be a soldier when I need to…but when it's all over…when I put up my gun for the day and hang up my helmet…I just want to talk to someone I rely on."

"Why don't you talk to your new comrades?"

Quaren bowed his head a bit. "My CO likes me…and there's one or two guys from the Academy in my unit…but for the most part, it's been like I've been dropped into the Academy again." He put on a faux-insolent tone. "'There's that snot-nosed DeSur kid. Thinking he's going to be our next officer just because his daddy's a senator. Let's show him what a wimp he is…'" He sighed a bit. "You're lucky, Dael. Everyone either expects me to be a pampered lightweight, try to throw my dad's name around to get ahead, or that I'm such a black sheep to the DeSur family that they shoved me into Esthar's Hawks to get put out of their sight. You don't have to have any family name hanging over-"

Quaren cut himself off. Dael had gone a bit still, keeping her gaze to the ground.

"I…I'm sorry, Dael…" Quaren spoke up, far more nervously. "I…I didn't mean it that way… You know I didn't…"

Dael paused a moment, but then shrugged. "Nothing to worry about, Quaren. Remember? That kind of stuff just rolls off of me."

At least, that's what Dael kept telling herself. In truth, she couldn't hide the "void" feeling she had inside. Part of the reason she was so self-driven and motivated is because she never had anyone to push her. Although she never truly knew what parents were like, she knew what other people having parents was like. She had seen it frequently in her younger days at the Academy. During the "parent days", there would always be dozens of happy cadets and trainees running out to greet their mothers and fathers. Sometimes they'd go to a nice restaurant or they'd get gifts, and there'd always be laughter and hugging. As for Dael…she'd be the only one in the training room, swinging a heavy sword and trying to drown out excessive laughter with each pant she made. It was true…it had made her feel bad in her early years. But that came to an end when, one day, an older trainee began taunting her. "Hey Dael, where's your mom?" It had hurt…and, from that day on, she knew it was a weakness. And she refused to have any visible weaknesses. That's why she had driven the feeling out of herself.

Changing the subject, she spoke again.

"Quaren…I'll be honest. It'd be nice having you in Fort Morningstar. However, I'm not going to tell you to try and apply for International Affairs just because of that. You shouldn't want to get into it just so you can feel a bit easier during down time. If you're truly great in Civil Defense, and you're really that good of a shot, you can really go somewhere. And I know that's where you feel more at ease."

Quaren paused a moment, but then let out an exhale. "…I guess you're right. But still-"

"For the love of…don't you two ever shut up?" Taraketh suddenly interjected. Letting out a sigh, he began to stand.

Dael frowned a bit, but was reminded of something. She held for a moment, not sure if she wanted to say this, as Taraketh fully got to his feet. But finally, she forced herself to speak. "Hey…do you want to come over here? If we huddle together, we'll stay-"

"I'm comfortable enough." Taraketh cut off, beginning to walk. "Or rather, I would be if you two would stop talking long enough for me to fall asleep. You're the one who wants to put us on this death march for four more days. You'd think the least you'd do is save what strength you still have." He grumbled. "I'm getting far enough away so you can't keep me awake with your yammering. Damn…I never thought a pair of grunts could be so noisy…"

Quaren gave Taraketh a frown as he walked further away. Dael watched him a moment, but then let out a sigh and turned back to Quaren. "He's got a point." She said more quietly. "We really can't afford to waste any more energy on something non-essential. We need to get some sleep."

"Alright." Quaren added with a nod.

Dael nodded back, then turned forward and closed her eyes again. She lasted about thirty seconds.

"…Sir?"

Dael began to groan. "Private…"

"Last one, I swear." Quaren said quickly. "Do you think we'll be able to make it to Garrado?"

The young officer actually paused a moment here. Finally, she sighed.

"…I'll tell you halfway through the third day."

* * *

><p>Dael was glad that Quaren wasn't asking her that question now. She didn't think she could give a "good" answer. At this point…she couldn't really give any form of answer.<p>

A bit after midnight, Dael had them move again. She hadn't slept much, but it was getting to be too cold. They didn't move terribly fast. Even Taraketh with his cloak kept his arms wrapped around himself. Dael did much the same. Quaren, without anything assisting him, began to shiver uncontrollably, until Dael was forced to get to his side and keep an arm around him. She stayed that way until day finally broke and the desert slowly began to warm up. All the while, they continued to march.

Dael didn't know what time it was, but she assumed around noon. It was even hotter today than yesterday. The sun seemed larger than usual as it mercilessly beat down on them. Dael had returned her tunic to her head and desperately wanted to take off more of her excess clothing, but didn't dare. It was the only thing keeping her from getting sunstroke. Instead, her clothing was now stained with sweat. Stained…not soaked, like yesterday. She had dried up again, and this time she wouldn't be recovering.

Dael felt weak and dizzy at this point. Where her gait had been a march at dawn, by now it was more of a shuffle. Her boot tips dug into the soft sand as she continued to walk. Sweat stung her eyes at first, but now her eyes were all too dry. Her lips were chapped and cracking, and her throat felt dry as a bone. She couldn't recall the last time she had felt so thirsty… This was far worse than the endurance training. And still, it only grew hotter… By now, her muscles quivered. She knew she'd only be able to manage half speed and power if they ran into more monsters…assuming she could even pull that off.

In spite of all of this, Dael managed to look behind her periodically. Again, no vehicles were coming. Perhaps Taraketh was right… Perhaps the Sybenians thought that they'd be as good as dead if they fled to the desert and abandoned them. She also kept looking to the compass. Sure enough, they were still heading south…but that was only driving them into more desert.

Time continued to tick by very slowly. Dael's thoughts began to grow a bit hazy. Her path began to waver as she continued to walk forward. She was beginning to have a hard time thinking. When she did get a coherent thought, she told herself to keep going…to not stop. Yet now those thoughts had come together in an incoherent mush. She was having a hard time thinking of anything now. This felt almost like a transient state rather than reality…

Letting out a pant, Dael wiped for her brow. There was only a little sweat on it at this point, but her head was beginning to pound. She was too dehydrated, she realized. By now, she was actively looking for an oases, where before her main concern had been to keep going south. Unfortunately…there was nothing. Nothing but sand as far as she could see. But then again…she couldn't see much at this point. The sun was too bright…and her vision was a bit fuzzy…

Swallowing again, she looked down to her compass. It still pointed south…she thought. She winced a bit, and tried to see it. It was getting hard to make out the lettering. She tried holding it closer, but she only felt dizzier. Any extra move now drained her…

Slowly, she let the compass go back down again. She turned her head behind her. She tried looking to check for pursuers again…but at this point, it wouldn't matter if they were there or not. Her vision was too blurry. Instead, she looked to the others.

Taraketh was mostly concealed in his cloak…but his feet were dragging. He waved to and fro. She couldn't make out much more on him. Quaren, on the other hand, was using his rifle for a crutch. He was practically wheezing by now. He looked as if he was using all of his strength just to keep his feet moving forward…and his head hung low. He wasn't even walking straight anymore. He moved as if totally drunk.

Sighing, Dael turned her head forward and kept walking. She wanted to say they could stop…but they'd find little to no relief without something coming. They had to keep going…hope…or pray…that they'd run into something…

Dael wasn't sure how much more time passed. An hour? A half-hour? Ten minutes? Only five? But at last…the inevitable happened.

She was so dizzy at that point, she didn't even know until Taraketh called out.

"…Your grunt collapsed."

Dael, with as much speed as her drained body could manage, looked behind her. Taraketh had stopped, and was hunched over and panting heavily. He didn't go on ahead…but that was all the concern he showed. As for Quaren…he was sprawled out in the hot sand. He wasn't moving. Dael couldn't even see him breathing, it was so shallow.

Dael immediately moved to his side, although she practically stumbled to do so. She bent down next to him and immediately put her arms around him, trying to lift him up.

"Quaren…wake up…come on, wake up…"

The soldier gave a moan, but no other sign of recognition. Very weakly, he struggled to move as well…but he had barely any strength left. Dael had to do almost all the work of getting his arm over her shoulder, bracing him, and beginning to lift him off the ground. Her own legs were wobbly, and she nearly dropped him twice, but she finally managed to get him to his feet. She put her other arm around his waist and began to walk.

They got only a few steps at first. Dael was soon grunting and straining under the load. Quaren was practically dead weight, barely moving his legs. She had to strain and buckle, and she realized that her own strength had faded so much that she couldn't handle him for long… Her legs began to give way soon after, and she nearly began to go down…

Until Quaren suddenly became a bit lighter. Dael, dazed and confused, turned and looked over to see what was the cause.

She was a bit surprised to see a panting Taraketh putting Quaren's other arm across his shoulders and bracing his middle as well.

"Keep walking…" He sharply told the young soldier.

Quaren moaned a bit, but managed to barely move his feet. Now supported by two people, the three were able to keep moving again. Dael, however, blinked and stared at Taraketh a moment longer. He seemed to realize it though he kept looking forward.

"You may be amoral grunts…but you're still human beings, at least in the loosest sense of the word…" Taraketh sighed. "And I'm still an Order of Hyne member…and it's my duty to help people in need. I'm not going to tell you to leave him behind…and so you're going to keep trying to carry him and end up exhausting the both of you… I guess that means I have to help you…"

Dael stared a moment longer, but said nothing. She turned and looked forward again.

They couldn't have gone more than another two hours. Although they kept moving, they were slow now…and grew slower and slower. The day simply wouldn't end…only growing hotter and hotter. Dael was soon feeling dizzier than ever. Her legs wobbled, and she had to pause and focus to get her legs beneath her. She stopped trying to check the compass and the area behind her. Even small actions like that were too much…

The world grew more disconnected. It seemed to spin around her. Her vision kept diminishing… It was like someone was turning the volume up and down in her head…which continued to pound more and more… She lost the ability to pick up her feet. She only dragged now, trudging through the sand further. Slowly…Quaren stopped moving all together. The two supporting him were only dragging him now. But if Taraketh was against it, he was too drained to say anything.

Dael's sense continued to fade. She began to wonder if she was really there…really walking through the endless desert… She pursed her lips and closed them together. By now…she could feel something warm and sticky on them…blood. Her lips were fully cracking now. She exhaled again, wobbling a bit…

She heard a small impact in the sand…and suddenly Quaren began to weigh her down. Before she could stop herself, she was forced down to her knees. Weakly, she somehow kept one of Quaren's arms across her shoulder, but she turned and looked. Taraketh had collapsed as well. He was strong via the junction, but not as good as Dael was considering her endurance training. He didn't rise again.

Dael slowly looked away and to the sky, panting. The sun continued to mercilessly beat down on her. She slowly looked forward after a moment…but could see nothing. Her vision was too blurred. Her hands limply fell to her sides…and Quaren was released. He immediately fell in a pile as well. Hardly knowing what she was doing, Dael leaned forward and fell onto all fours. Then, with all remaining strength she had left…she began to crawl…

She didn't know how far she got. The sand burned her hands, and the sun continued to drain the life out of her. The last of her strength evaporated. At long last, she could go no more. Giving one last weak moan, she fell into the sand as well and went limp.

Dael looked up for as long as she could, but all she saw was the unforgiving sun…continuing to beat down. Slowly, even the brightness of the sun began to fade. She couldn't see the sky or it anymore…just see a large, burning light shining down…down…down on her…

For just a moment…she thought she saw a dark shape move over it…but then her eyes closed, and she remembered no more.

* * *

><p>He was finding the truth quickly now. It seemed he crossed a threshold when he learned of these "Guardian Forces". At last, the past and present was coming together. He was getting a true feel of how the world was and how it was put out. In another two or three days, he felt he would finally be able to leave this library and try to make use of his knowledge. However…not yet. He was desperately looking for some more facts, and he thought he was finally on the right trail. He found the location of one of the Guardian Forces. It wasn't one he recognized, but it was public knowledge. Now he needed to find the others…<p>

_You have to be around here somewhere, brother._

_There can't be _two _great sea serpents named Leviathan running around on the world…_

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	9. Veriguno the Mountain

As Dael slowly emerged from the blackness of unconsciousness, her first sensation was that it was dark and cool. Not cold…simply cool. As a result, she simply exhaled and enjoyed the coolness for a moment. It felt so good just to be out of the heat…out of the endlessly bright sun…she had to just lie back and enjoy it for a moment.

_Wait a minute…lie back… I'm lying down…and it's somewhere…soft…_

However, this began to bring Dael's awareness back. As she lay there, she started remembering things. She was caught in the middle of a desert. Why was she somewhere dark and cool…and lying on something soft? She began to realize other things too. Her lips were still hurt, but they were moist again. Her throat was no longer dry, but seemed to be freshly whetted. Her brow felt cool…and she slowly began to realize something wet and cold had been put on top of it. She still felt rather exhausted…but she had regained a considerable amount of strength.

Putting all this together, Dael realized one obvious fact. She was out of the desert. But there was no way she could have gotten out alone…and Quaren and Taraketh couldn't help her. That meant someone had rescued them…

Realizing that, Dael opened her eyes and quickly sat up. Perhaps it was a bit too quickly, for she felt blood rush to her head, and soon she moaned, put a hand to her brow, and winced a bit. However, even as this happened, she realized something fell down into her lap. After recovering a moment, she looked down and saw it was a cool compress of some sort, a cloth soaked in cold water that had been placed on her head. But she also noticed one other thing…she was down to her skivvies.

The young officer's eyes widened. Quickly, she looked around for her clothing. In the process of doing so, she managed to see that she was resting on a simple mattress placed on the ground. Not only her…but she soon saw that Quaren and Taraketh, similarly stripped of their clothes, were lying on identical mattresses nearby. They were both still out of it, but both looked far healthier. Someone had been tending to them, and that had cold cloths on their heads as well. Luckily, neither of them saw Dael in her brassiere. She looked around a bit more, and finally saw a blanket folded at the foot of the mattress. Until she could find her clothing, she seized it and quickly yanked it over her body. After that, she looked around a bit more.

Within moments, she was more interested in her surroundings rather than her clothing, at least for the time being. She was in some sort of pavilion tent, rather large with a tall, thick central post. There were places for several other simple mattresses in the room, all of them neat, folded, and maintained, as if ready for potential visitors. Near the entrance to the tent was a place to put outer clothing and various tools, all of which looked somewhat simple and mundane…except one. It was a thick, solid, bronzed rod with some sort of design overlain on it. Dael recognized this. It was a battle staff common to some of the tribes of the Pallas Desert. Looking around a bit more, she soon saw there were various pieces of small furniture, all light and easily capable of being moved and stored, but comfortable none the less. There was a stand and area for storage of clothing and other gear, and she was drawn to one "stand up doll" that appeared to be a holding place for two large, thick cloaks with emblems on them…

Before she could examine it more closely, however, she was distracted.

"Uhn…"

Dael turned and looked back to the mattresses, and saw that Taraketh was beginning to stir. Quickly, she pulled the blanket more around herself, until it covered her almost completely. As soon as she finished, he winced once, but then opened his eyes. He blinked a moment, but then looked puzzled. His eyes glanced about the room, before he finally looked to his right, past Quaren, and over to Dael. He stared a moment, but then looked away with something of a frown. He began to lean up, only to soon realize the same thing Dael had…that he was only in his underwear. Blushing a bit, he quickly grabbed his own blanket and covered himself up. As he did, Dael couldn't help but notice he was fairly well toned. Not as good as an Esthar's Hawk, but surprisingly good for a mage. Unfortunately, she stared a bit too long, and Taraketh noticed it as he finished covering himself up. He glared at her.

"See something you like?" He half-sneered.

Dael, on hearing this, immediately reverted back to her old self and gave him a dark look. "You wish." She stated. She sighed and looked around a bit. "Where are we, anyway?"

Taraketh frowned as he removed his cloth from his own head. "You're asking me? You're the one who woke up before me…" He too began to look around.

"Well…obviously a nomadic tent of some sort." Dael spoke as she looked around a bit more. "The style is the tribes of Pallas. We must still be in the desert. Looks like someone rescued us…" She looked to the tools and gestured to them. "A warrior lives here…but there are a lot of tools for an agricultural lifestyle. Pruning hooks…shepherd crooks…" She looked to the cloaks again at this. "And then, of course, there's those…" However, on seeing them again, she trailed off. "Wait a moment…"

Taraketh looked as well when she noticed something. Dael, on her part, kept staring at them. Slowly, she began to realize the obvious. There was a shoulder array emblem on both cloaks. Both were larger than Taraketh's, although one was considerably larger. It seemed to have some sort of crest behind it that appeared to make some sort of array of three mountains with the sun rising behind it, all made in gold. The other was intricately designed, but not nearly as extensive, and made of silver. On seeing them, Dael realized what they had to be…more members of the Order of Hyne.

However, before she could voice this, Taraketh began to speak nervously.

"What the… No way… We're not really…"

Dael, confused by these short phrases, turned and looked back to Taraketh. His boldness and cold look had vanished. Now, he looked rather tense as he leaned back. He began to look around himself, at the mattress, the blanket, and even the cool compress. Normal and mundane as they appeared, he seemed to suddenly look as if he had profaned some sacred object by touching them. Dael was a bit confused at this. She almost asked what he was doing, before something else distracted her thoughts. Abruptly, the tent flap moved. Dael and Taraketh both looked to it together when it did.

The first thing they saw was a simple wooden tray coming in, but it was filled with several things, including a clay jug of water with three glasses, various desert fruits, including ripe figs and fresh dates, and a steaming roasted Xerolisk, which was pretty much the Pallas Desert equivalent to a roast chicken. There were also three hearth cakes set on the tray too. However, not looking to the tray long, Dael turned her attention to who was holding it as he walked inside.

It was definitely a native. He looked to be in either his late 20s or early thirties, and was dressed in traditional desert attire, although he seemed to have shed most of his clothing for lighter garments. Not only that, but the clothes themselves were designed to match that of a member of the Order of Hyne, only one more sophisticated than the ones Dael had seen up until now. Because they were so light, Dael could easily see his body. She was stunned at the sight. The man was of no larger build than a typical soldier, and yet he seemed so much more powerful, as every muscle on his body seemed toned to absolute perfection. He was not "ripped", but any means…but still was so full of tight, powerful muscle that he looked incredibly strong.

His face was rather hard set. He had shaved his head, and both his scalp and his cheeks were lined with tribal tattoos. However, in spite of that…the face was calm and pleasant. He had no sooner come in than he looked to Dael and Taraketh. He didn't seem at all surprised that they were awake, and he gave them a warm smile. Very friendly, and even a bit likeable. He had a calm air about him, as if he was a content and peaceful man. Dael, like many people in Esthar, had always held a bit of prejudice and stereotypes about people who lived in the wild areas of the world, such as the Pallas Desert. But on seeing this man…he exuded such a warmth about him that she couldn't help but be put more at ease, and even feel a likeabilty to the man.

That was a contrast to Taraketh. Dael saw him out of the corner of his eye, and noticed that he had gone a shade pale.

"It's him…it's really him…"

Immediately, Taraketh folded his hands in front of himself and gave a greeting to the incoming figure. Dael recognized it immediately from archives. It was how Order of Hyne members greeted each other…although he seemed to add something to make it more respectful. After doing so, however, his eyes flashed at Dael. "Bow your head to him, you dumb grunt!" He nearly snapped. "Show some respect! Don't you know who this man is?"

The man himself didn't seem to mind this dialogue. He only calmly gave a head bow to Taraketh, and then advanced on the others. Acting almost like a servant would, he went down slowly onto his knees and began to pull out supports from under the tray, turning it into a small table. Dael, on her part, did give a small head bow to the man, but it wasn't because Taraketh told her too. It was because she figured he was the one who saved them, and he had a pleasant enough air about him. She then looked to Taraketh, however. "…A native of Pallas? I don't know."

Taraketh, however, was keeping his head low, refusing to make eye contact with the man. Instead, he glared at Dael. "That's Jalab Tierras!"

Dael paused a moment, but then registered a bit of confusion. "…I thought I heard that name somewhere before, but I can't-"

"You idiot!" Taraketh snapped in a harsh whisper. "He's the Sorceress Knight for Veriguno the Mountain!"

Now, the young officer did pause. Her memory registered. That was right…she had heard that before. While Sorceresses were among the strongest magic users on Gaia, there was still the fact that those who could use magic were historically weak. While eventually Sorceresses grew strong enough where it was probably entirely superfluous, as they grew, they typically had lifetime bodyguards assigned to them. Individuals who were not only incredible strong but also were trusted friends and of noble character. It was a tradition that dated back to Sorceress Aerith and her own guardian, and eventually husband, Ragnar Vice. These were special members of the Order of Hyne, named, "Sorceress Knights". Unlike other members of the Order, Sorceress Knights might have little to no magic experience. She was aware from records that this one, who was revealed to be Jalab Tierras, was one of those without magical powers, at least as far as anyone knew. However, it was moot when it came to the Sorceress Knights. Even without magic, they were considered incredible fighters. Even with the limited knowledge of the Order of Hyne, Dael remembered reading at one point that the three current Sorceress Knights were ranked among the top ten most powerful individuals in the world.

And, able to respect a good warrior, that entitled her to respect this man a bit more in addition to due to him saving their lives.

Dael turned back to the man as he sat down and adjusted the tray. She hesitated, but then nodded again. "Thank you, sir, for coming to our aid. We'd probably be dead now if it wasn't for your help."

However, Jalab didn't look up. He finished setting up his tray, arranged the items on it a bit, and then looked up with the soft smile to Dael and Taraketh. Soon after, he gestured to the food, as if inviting them.

Dael had to admit…she hadn't had a meal in a while. And even if she wasn't hungry, she could use another glass of water. As a result, she bowed her head in thanks again. "Thank you…thank you sir." She almost made a move for the food, but then paused. She was still wrapped in a blanket, with only her undergarments on underneath. After a moment, she looked up a bit tensely to Jalab. "Um…I hate to trouble you again, sir…but do you happen to have my clothing?"

Jalab looked back at her. He blinked a few times, and his smile vanished a bit, as if confused. "Cl…othing…?" He asked in a heavy accent.

Dael nodded. "Yes, my uniform."

Jalab again looked confused. "Un…i…fo…rum?"

The young officer paused at this, beginning to look a bit anxious. Taraketh, however, gave out a groan as he looked to her. "This is a Sorceress Knight, not your personal servant!"

Dael sighed and looked to him. "He's obviously been taking care of us and brought us this food. I figured he'd know where our clothes are. Unless you want to run around the rest of the day like this. Frankly, I have a lot of questions I need to ask him."

"You might as well save them because, in case you haven't noticed yet, he doesn't speak common." Taraketh retorted. "I thought you were an international soldier. Haven't you memorized any languages?"

Dael frowned in response. "Yes, but he doesn't sound like he's speaking Pallashai…"

"Figures." Taraketh snorted. "You learned how to speak it from a class, not from actually studying the natives. Typical grunt…" He rolled his eyes and sighed, then turned back to Jalab. Again, he gave him a polite bow, and soon after he began to speak in a much milder voice. Dael recognized a few of the words as Pallashai, but all in all, Taraketh was saying them so quickly she couldn't get them all. As a member of Esthar's Hawks in International Affairs, Dael was expected to know many languages. Unfortunately, there were at least 30 different ones in the Pallas Desert, depending on the tribe. 23 of them spoke Pallashai as either a primary or secondary language, however, and that was the one that was taught to the recruits…at least, the basics of how to speak it.

Taraketh talked to Jalab for nearly a full minute. Once he was done, however, Jalab seemed to light up, as if realizing something. He held up a hand and gave a nod. After that, he spoke back. This time, Dael didn't understand a word. It came out as just a steady stream of heavily-accented syllables. Taraketh, however, seemed to get it. He exchanged a few more phrases with him once he finished.

During this time, Dael heard a heavily smelling sound.

"Mmm…something smells good…"

Dael turned her head, and was just in time to see Quaren give a bit of a stretch before he opened his eyes. He blinked a few times afterward.

"Feels a little breezy in here…" He blinked. "…Wait a minute, where's 'here'?"

The young soldier began to look around a bit, and finally down at himself. His eyes widened. Immediately, he bolted upright a bit, struggling to cover his mostly nude body. Dael watched him struggle a bit, before sighing and leaning over to grab the edge of Quaren's blanket, then held it out to him. Quaren, blushing a bit, took it and immediately covered himself with it. But then, he blinked, seeming to realize what had just happened. He looked over to Dael.

"Dael? I mean…commander? You're here? Where are we?"

"I don't know. Sir Sabian is finding out." Dael answered, gesturing to him and Jalab. However, she then focused more on Quaren. "You were pretty out of it before… Are you alright now? How do you feel?

Quaren blinked a moment, but after a few seconds, he began to calm. Sighing a bit, he felt his head. "…I've still got a bit of a headache, but compared to how I felt before…I feel like a new man." He looked around a bit after saying this, and spotted the food tray. He swallowed a bit as he stared at it, his eyes developing a light. "Uh…is…that for us?"

"Yes, but hang on a second." Dael answered. "I don't think Taraketh's too keen about us diving right in."

Finally, the High Child sighed and looked back to the others.

"Alright, listen up. I apologized for us intruding on his territory, but he says it's no bother. He says ill-prepared travelers get lost in the desert all the time and wind up around here. He says he was out looking for a lost ewe when he caught sight of us walking south at a distance. He ran up to see us and he found us all dehydrated and passed out. He brought us back here as fast as he could. This is the Mathem Oasis, where he's currently spending the month. Once he was here, he gave us all some water to drink and helped cool us off. He says we've been out since yesterday at noon."

Dael bowed her head and thought for a moment. "So…we've been here overnight already."

Quaren, however, blinked a bit. "Wait a minute…you say he brought us here. So, did he have some sort of animal with him?"

"By himself, I'm assuming." Taraketh answered. "He is a Sorceress Knight, after all."

Quaren looked rather surprised on hearing that. Dael didn't show anything, but she felt much the same way. She was shocked by the display of strength. And he supposedly wasn't junctioned, either?

Taraketh sighed. "I told him we were all very grateful and perfectly fine, but he says we haven't eaten since we got here and he insisted on making us a meal. Again, I told him that it wasn't necessary, but he insisted, and said it would be an insult if we refused." He leveled his gaze at Dael and Quaren. "So you both better eat."

Dael frowned in response. She had intended on doing that. It was Taraketh who didn't want to touch it for fear of being branded insolent. Dael only had experience with two Order of Hyne members, but even without being able to speak to Jalab, she already liked him far better.

Jalab himself turned to Quaren and Dael with the same soft smile, and then gestured down. He spoke again in the thick accent. "Please. Eat." After saying that, he turned to Taraketh and spoke again. He said a few long phrases this time, which made Taraketh blanch a bit. Finally, he bowed, and then began to rise. Taraketh quickly returned to bow as he got up, turned, and moved back to the exit.

"What did he say now?" Quaren asked.

Taraketh, still nervous, spoke again. "…He said our clothes were dirty and torn, so he washed and mended them as best he could…and he'll go get them for us…and…" He trailed off on this last part.

Dael looked more to him at that. "And what?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, what'd he say?" Quaren asked, sounding intrigued.

"…He said…just something to me."

"Oh, but what?" Quaren spoke, almost sounding like an excited child wanting to learn a secret.

"Let it go, private." Dael answered for Taraketh. "It was probably something just between the two of them. There's no reason for us to eavesdrop on it."

Quaren frowned a bit, but let it go. As for Jalab, he was back at the flap at this point. He almost went through, but he turned back and looked to Taraketh for a moment. He held up one hand and said a single word in his native language. Taraketh remained slumped a bit, but sighed and gave a nod in response. After that, Jalab turned and went out.

Dael didn't know what exactly he had said, but eventually she was able to figure it out. It didn't seem to be so much a private conversation as Taraketh was being reprimanded for something, which was the true reason he didn't want to translate. Dael couldn't suspect that at the time, because she was of the mindset that all Order of Hyne members were alike, and all kept their codes in somewhat of the same fashion. It was still a little while yet before she would learn differently. For the moment, the only difference she noted was that Jalab was far friendlier to her than Quaren had been.

The three actually stayed still a moment, but then Quaren made the first move. He went to the food and struggled not to dive in. To help moderate him, Dael moved in as well. Five minutes later, Taraketh grudgingly came forward and helped himself. Dael was impressed by the quality. It had a real "authentic" feel to it, which was only typical. After all, there were no processing plants or the like around here. The Xerolisk had likely been slaughtered not long before they woke up, and all of the fruit and bread was fresh. All of them helped themselves to a lot of water too. They had nearly drained the pitcher before even halfway finishing eating.

Jalab came back during the meal with another jug, seeming to anticipate this. He also brought their clothing. He arranged a curtain and set the clothes down in three separate piles, one for each of them. He also arranged a hanging curtain of a sort in the room, for which Dael was thankful. She didn't mind changing so much in front of Quaren, for they were both soldiers, after all. Taraketh was another matter, as was Jalab. However, Jalab exited the chamber again, and Dael quickly went up to put her uniform back on. Taraketh went after her, and Quaren, who finally slowed down in his own eating, brought up the rear. By the time Jalab came back a second time, they were all fully dressed and finishing the meal. This time, he brought their weapons, and proceeded to hand them out one after the other.

Since they were nearly done, Jalab proceeded to clean up the glasses and set them back on the tray, then fold it up and set it to one side. Dael had to admit she was feeling even better than she had when she woke up. Her headache had mostly subsided, and now with food in her stomach she felt more energized than ever. She also felt good to have her weapons back. She felt safe enough in this situation, but they were still in the field. Once all of this was done, Jalab rose again.

He spoke a few phrases in his native tongue, and then proceeded to gesture to the entrance.

"Please. Come." He stated after a moment.

Quaren, adjusting his own uniform a bit and slinging his rifle over his shoulder, looked to Dael. "I don't think we need Taraketh for this one, commander. I'm pretty sure he wants us to follow him."

However, contrary to Quaren's statement, Taraketh immediately spoke up fiercely. Pale as he had been before, he was even paler now.

"Both of you, leave your weapons behind right here." He half-snapped. "And you had been show proper respect. I swear if you both don't act respectful, I'll beat you two grunts within an inch of your life. I'm not joking."

Quaren turned to him with a frown. "Hey, what's the big deal?"

However, Dael had gotten a bit more serious herself during this. Not nearly as much as Taraketh, but still, she had tensed a bit more. She had a good idea of what Jalab had said, especially based on Taraketh's latest tirade. "Just do as he says, private. I have a feeling on what's coming."

The young soldier moped a bit. "_We_ don't have to take _his _orders either…" He grumbled, as he reluctantly took his rifle back off of his shoulders and put it back at the foot of his mattress. Dael herself was a little annoyed to remove her holster and ammo belt so soon after having it put on, but she did so. Taraketh set his kusarigama down to. After that, all three of them rose. Jalab turned and began to move to the tent flap once again. The three followed behind, and one by one brushed past the cloth covered as they passed outside.

Dael was greeted by a good amount of heat as well as the blindingly bright sun. It hadn't diminished at all, and in the heat and dryness of the climate, she could realize that she was definitely still in the Pallas Desert. As soon as her eyes adjusted, it was confirmed. Stretching ahead of them at a short distance was more rolling sand dunes. However, that was in the distance. Closer to her, the ground was a bit less sandy, and she saw why. The pavilion tent she had just exited was pitched in front of a rather sizeable oasis. Multiple trees, both palm and otherwise, were growing nearby. Some of them seemed to be fruit trees the likes of which their meal had come from. They spread out quite a bit, and some of them appeared to have been planted rather than grown there of their own accord. The ground was mostly beaten flat in the area, indicating a lot of traffic spreading over a good distance. Small fences had been erected periodically. As Jalab led them away from the pavilion tent and then around, back toward the water of the oasis, Dael soon saw there were several sheep and goats milling about, as well as a few xerolisks hopping about, scratching at the dirt. In a more well-fenced area near the water, Dael saw six chocobos, looking to be the desert-adapted type, due to their brown color and somewhat thinner feathers. There were a few other smaller tents erected too, and a few clotheslines and other tools that indicated a fairly well-established dwelling, more of a pseudo-permanent settlement rather than a purely nomadic one, although the entire place looked like it could be packed up and moved with little trouble. A pair of large wagons toward the back seemed to accent that.

Jalab led them through this for a bit. In particular, he led them deeper into the more vegetated area of the oasis. A few xerolisks crossed their path, but he shooed them away. One goat tried to take a nibble at one of Quaren's pockets, causing him to react a bit, but other than that there was little trouble. On reaching the oasis, the three came down to the water and then began to move around it, under and around the trees. The livestock and the tents were left behind a short distance, becoming obscured by the vegetation. However, a bit further ahead, and Jalab took them to a footpath of sorts where the ground had been beaten down further. There were more fruit trees here, many of them looking to have been planted. Jalab went a bit further, before he passed through some closely placed vegetation. Once there, he stood to one side, brushing the vegetation away, and gesturing for the group to move onward. They did so, emerging into a small clearing. Once they did, Jalab let the vegetation come back, and turned to stand with them.

Up ahead, Dael saw a woman near the water of the oasis. She was a very large person. Not around the middle…just overall. She was easily seven feet tall, and extremely well built. She appeared to be almost a giantess rather than a regular human woman. She had so much muscle she looked like she could give any "pro-wrestler" or bodybuilder a run for his money. Her body was a bit rough and dirty, the sign of someone who had done a lot of physical labor in her time, and continued to do so to this day. Her hands were large and powerful, as she scooped a water jug into the oasis, raised it, and let it fall over her head and shoulders, cooling herself off. Her dark hair hung low to the middle of her back, and her face and jaw was hard and heavy set, squared. She was dressed in simple clothing of a desert dweller, although it wasn't as extensive or ornamented as a true desert dweller's. Her complexion was also just a hint too fair, even though she was well tanned from the sun.

Letting out an exhale, the woman let the water jug fall. She cracked her neck a bit, then went to nearby and took up some things…a pruning hook and a basket filled with fruit. Holding both, she turned to go back, and soon her eyes rested on Jalab and the three with him. Initially, she showed no change in emotion. Her face remained still. But after a moment, she began to walk up to them. As she drew near, the three could clearly see her eyes. They were incredibly vivid…burning with an inner power and almost a glow to them. To be honest, Dael was shocked on seeing it. They seemed to stand out from the rest of reality with a ferocity unlike anything she had ever experienced. As they rested on her…despite all of her training, she actually felt weak-kneed and somewhat intimidated. She actually had to struggle rather hard not to back down and, in spite of herself, she turned her head down. She hadn't even intended to bow her head yet, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't meet that powerful gaze. As the woman drew nearer, Dael began to feel dizzy again. She managed to conceal it, but she heard Quaren actually breathe a bit harder and wobble slightly as his own head bowed.

_Good lord…_ Dael thought as she struggled to keep from panting and adjust to it. _I knew they were strong…but I never imagined this. This…this is overwhelming… I can actually feel the power coming off of her! How is that possible?_

Dael of course had recognized the woman. Jalab she had trouble placing, but not this woman. She was pretty famous among the list of VIPs that International Affairs members were supposed to know. She might have been the least public of them, but she was one none the less.

The young woman finally felt the pressure subside a bit when the woman came to a stop in front of them. By now, they had all bowed their heads in respect whether they wanted to or not. However, Dael felt a lessening of the presence a moment later, and she was able to look up. The great woman stood before her no more than a few feet away, and she smiled softly.

"Welcome." She stated. "I am Veriguno the Mountain."

* * *

><p>"Please…forgive our conduct. Jalab knows all the languages of all the tribes in the Pallas Desert, but he speaks little common. I am still teaching him. I myself am a woman of few words."<p>

Taraketh bowed his head again. He was a bit calmer now than before, but still anxious. "There is nothing to forgive, my lady. It is an honor simply to be in your presence. We cannot thank you enough for going out of your way to help us."

The group, all five of them, were now back in the tent. Seat cushions had been pulled out, and the five were seated in a rough circle, although it was made into two groups. Veriguno sat on one side with Jalab nearby, while Dael, Quaren, and Taraketh sat on the other. It felt good to be back in the coolness of the tent. Dael and Quaren, in truth, were both overwhelmed. The effects of the Sorceress' presence had worn off by now, but that didn't make them any less intimidated. Quaren was struggling not to gape, although Dael had managed to recall the rules of decorum and had mostly lapsed into being a proper officer by now. The fact of the matter was they were meeting with a very important and respected person at the moment, one of the highest members of the Order of Hyne. Only two other people outranked her. While Sorceress Veriguno was the least public of the four heads of the Order of Hyne, she was by no means less respected. In some circles, she was even the highest regarded. She was known as being a great pacifist and adopting a pastoral lifestyle, as the encampment had made more than clear.

More had been revealed on the return trip. Veriguno wouldn't even shoo a xerolisk out of the way that came along. When she had rinsed her head, she made sure all of the water went back into the oasis rather than the ground. And the fruit she cut with the pruning hook had been perfect, in just the right way to ensure future growth. As she moved about with her things, despite the size of her hands and the power, Dael could tell she used great care and caution…moving as tenderly as the greatest farmer. All of her manners seemed to be soft and measured, never exerting any more power than necessary. A true proverbial "gentle giant", one might say. She seemed to have embraced the life of an isolated monk more readily than anyone, and had a love for Gaia and its bounty. That was also confirmed by her conduct. Whenever Veriguno was involved in negotiations, it would often involve the welfare of farmers and the environment.

"There is no need for thanks." Veriguno responded. "The duty of the Order of Hyne is to become the servants of those in need. Have you forgotten that since we last met, Sir Sabian?"

Taraketh grimaced a bit at that. He bowed his head slightly. Dael caught this, and at last she understood. That's what Jalab had been saying earlier. No doubt, he had been insisting that there was no need for him to help them out and he didn't want to inconvenience them. However, the code he followed did indeed tell their members to help those in trouble and to serve them. Apparently, no matter how high you were in the order, that relationship was to be maintained.

Veriguno turned to Dael next. Dael almost balked a bit under her gaze, but held this time. She was adjusting to it at this point.

"You are…the special case in Esthar's Hawks?" She addressed, a bit inquisitively.

Dael blanched for a moment. The last thing she needed was more tongue lashings, or a look of chagrin and hate from people. She considered lying a moment. However, if she did, Taraketh would simply tell the truth. Sighing a bit, she gave a nod.

To her surprise, Veriguno said nothing at first, but then smiled just a bit.

"Very interesting. It is a pity you are so old, or we would offer to bring you into the Order. You obviously have greatness in you."

Dael couldn't help it. She actually blinked in stunned surprise. Quite the opposite of Taraketh…Veriguno seemed to actually be complementing her. Not only that, but she caught Taraketh flustering a bit, obviously upset that she was being complimented. At that point, Dael began to realize she was wrong. Taraketh's opinions represented only a small, jealous, egotistical minority within the Order of Hyne. Most of the others regarded her the same way they would regard any stranger, with an open mind and fairness. After a moment, Veriguno gave a nod to her.

"I believe your story." Veriguno stated simply. "There is no other reason you three would be out wandering the desert, and since Sir Sabian supports it, there is no question."

"Then you also understand why it is important for us to return to Esthar as soon as possible." Dael responded. "I know you have already helped us a great deal, but I'm afraid we must ask for more help."

Veriguno gave a nod. "Of course." She turned her head to Jalab soon afterward, and began to speak to him in his language. Unlike with Taraketh, her accent was flawless. After a few moments, Jalab gave a nod in response. He rose from where he was seated and made for the tent flap. Veriguno turned back to the others as he exited the pavilion.

"I have asked Jalab to act as a guide for the remainder of your journey through the Pallas Desert. He won't take you quite straight to Garrado, but he will ensure you hit all the oases along the way. I've also authorized him to use the Desert Chocobos. It shouldn't take you more than two days to arrive. Unfortunately, I can do no more for you."

"That's more than enough, my lady." Taraketh responded.

"Helping us get to Garrado is far more than what I hoped for. We'll be able to charter a boat or plane back to Esthar from there." Dael added. "And the Sybenian Embassy has already closed. There's no way for them to try and capture us and extradite us back to Sybenia."

_At least…I hope so._ Dael thought. _Sybenia was good at making people disappear back in its own country even before Rozan took over. I can only hope they aren't doing the same elsewhere now that they're expanding…_

"Alright." Veriguno responded. Even as she did, she uncrossed her thick arms and began to rise again. "The Desert Chocobos will have full canteens, and Jalab's path will ensure you reach plenty of water and food along the way. There's one more thing."

Veriguno moved over to some of the areas with clothing, including where her own cloak and clasp were. Noticing that she wanted them to follow her, Dael and the others began to rise up. She took a few steps closer to Veriguno as the Sorceress reached her destination. She uncovered one basket, and soon pulled out a set of thick clothing. She turned to Dael and, a bit to the young officer's surprise, tossed it to her. Dael caught it, and looked down to it a bit. It was embroidered with the native style, much as Jalab's own clothing was.

"Wear those." She told her, then turned back to the basket and pulled out a second set. "The sun is too oppressive and I can tell you three are still a bit weakened from the trip here. That will also hide your identities during the journey."

Quaren was soon surprised next as Veriguno tossed him a set as well. He blinked a few times after catching it. "Are…are you sure you don't mind, er…Lady Veriguno? I mean, we're taking a bunch of your stuff…"

Taraketh gave something of a glare to Quaren for speaking. He didn't mind Dael so much, but she was the "superior grunt", not the "lesser" one, and even then he hung on her every word waiting for her to be disrespectful. However, Veriguno simply calmly went for a third set.

"It's not like you'll have them permanently. I'll receive it back along with the chocobos and Jalab on his return. I have loaned garments to lost travelers before."

The final set was tossed to Taraketh. Dael hesitated a bit, looking over the clothing. She wasn't usually one for dressing "ethnic"…but she pushed that thought away. It was better this than dying of sunstroke. After a moment longer, she began to look for the seams to start putting the clothing on over her uniform. Quaren and Taraketh soon did the same. It pretty much consisted of a full body slip, an outer robe (both of which were tied around the middle), and finally a head covering. Dael did feel a bit odd putting on the clothes, especially since, despite having been well washed and smelling fresh, they were used. And she imagined she was an odd sight too when she was done, especially when she looked to Quaren and Taraketh and saw how different they looked. Still, she bore with that as well. The only thing she was really unhappy about was that both of her weapons were hard to access, even when she moved them outside of her clothes.

"Doesn't Garrado have an embassy?" Quaren asked as he slung his own rifle across his chest and adjusted his clothing. "Couldn't we just get in contact with Esthar from there?"

"We'll give it a try." Dael responded. "That would be faster, but we still need to get back to Esthar somehow."

"We could always try the Order of Hyne." Taraketh answered as he adjusted his kusarigama around himself. "Besides, they need to know of this as well."

"We'll see." Was Dael's only response.

"I will do my best to get out a message," Veriguno spoke from the side as she watched them make their final adjustements. "But I warn you that I can only do so much. I am considered to be practically a hermit. I keep several messenger hawks, but all are in use. Even before Sybenia began its invasion, there was much work for the Order of Hyne to carry out on this continent, especially with political refugees. I expect there will soon be many more such as you three who will risk the desert. We must be prepared to receive them."

"Again, we are truly grateful, my lady." Taraketh answered. "We'll send back your mounts as soon as possible. We do have a compass, however. There is no need to trouble Sir Tierras…"

"Sir Tierras himself volunteered to guide you along the easiest path." Veriguno cut off. "And as he has not had an opportunity to help travelers personally in some time, it would have been an insult to him to deny him that. Honor him by accepting his help."

Taraketh was again cowed. He immediately bowed his head and nodded. Dael had to resist smiling again. For all of his brashness and ego, it did feel a little good for him to be put in his place. However, at the same time, Dael was starting to get a better sense of the kind of person Taraketh was. Apparently, he had a great deal of respect and regard for the Order of Hyne, but not for much else. Dael was beginning to slowly realize that such a mindset was atypical within his own order. She also began to realize that Taraketh appeared to be one accustomed to being corrected for his attitude. The way he eagerly tried to observe decorum and respect around his fellow members…it seemed as if he was trying to prove himself, almost… In that sense, he was almost like Quaren…

Abruptly, the tent flap pushed to one side. This gained everyone's attention, and they turned to look to who it was. Jalab was standing there. He had donned similar clothing to the others by now. However, his friendly look was gone. It had turned grim and serious. On spotting it…Dael immediately went on edge. She had known Jalab only a short time, but already she realized that something wasn't right.

It was confirmed a moment later when one of his powerful hands reached over and took up the bronzed staff.

At this, Veriguno reacted as well. She called out Jalab in his native tongue. He looked darkly back to her, and he said something in response. When he spoke, Veriguno's own look began to turn dark and serious. Taraketh, on his part, began to tense. Quaren and Dael were left in the dark, but Jalab soon looked to them when he was finished. He spoke in a grim voice.

"…Bad visitors."

Dael realized that he wasn't referring to them with that comment. And on hearing that, she too began to tense up. Quaren was still a bit confused, and looked about. As for Jalab, he braced his staff in front of himself. Taraketh began to grasp his kusarigama.

But before either of them could make another move, or Dael decided to go for her own weapon…Veriguno made a single gesture. She extended one of her powerful arms and opened her palm…gesturing for them to halt. At once, a charge on the air seemed to ripple through it again. It was nothing more than a hand gesture, and not intended to be magical or even severe. And yet, despite how quiet and simple it seemed, it possessed a power all in itself. Jalab kept his weapon out, but slowly lowered it. Taraketh halted, but then slowly removed his hands from his weapons. Veriguno herself looked out past Jalab, to the tent flap. Her eyes, burning already, seemed to burn more intensely than before.

"…I will speak with them."

Dael didn't know why, but she felt a ripple go through her heart. Her legs seemed to grow a bit weak. Something about that simply phrase seemed to contain a power that seemed almost as strong as the Flare Shell she had used two nights ago. Jalab himself seemed to be stunned by it, and quickly pulled to one side. As for Taraketh, he actually appeared to tremble for a moment, before talking out again.

"My lady, there's no need for you to become involved. We can…"

Taraketh trailed off. Still looking forward, as irresolute as her namesake, Veriguno began to walk forward, moving past the group as she did so. Dael almost thought she felt a bit dizzy as she passed. As she moved forward, she called out to the others.

"Come…but stay behind me at all times."

She reached the tent flap a moment later and pushed right through. Jalab hesitated only a moment before following behind her. The three were left alone in the tent for just a brief moment. Taraketh didn't seem eager to move, and Quaren was still quite confused as well as intimidated by the entire display. In the end, it was Dael who snapped out of it first. Shaking her head, she decided to stop acting so stupid and go after them. She began to walk, as calmly as she could, to the tent flap. Slowly, Quaren began to follow her. Taraketh finally began to move when she reached it and went outside, soon, she was in the sunlight again.

As the exterior was exposed, Dael saw little had changed, except the livestock had either run off or been shooed off. The beaten ground still extended a bit ahead, and she saw that Veriguno, with Jalab behind her at a bit of a distance, had walked forward to the very edge and looked out to the sand. As Dael moved out a bit, allowing Quaren and Taraketh to move, she soon went still and stared…fear beginning to grip her.

At least a hundred soldiers from Sybenia were posted on that entire edge of the oasis. Each one was dressed for desert travel and operations. Each one was heavily armed, and all by the officers had their rifles pointing at Veriguno and the others. They had four armored transports, each one equipped for desert operations, and two Tortoise tanks were along with them, all of their guns trained on the camp, looking to be ready to blow it and the oasis to bits. This would have been enough to make Dael sweat alone. However, what truly chilled her blood was the insignia they were wearing…

In addition to Sybenia's crest, it bore an emblem of three black vicious dogs.

_The Hounds of Sybenia…_

Even among the advanced intelligence of Esthar's Hawks, little was known about the Hounds of Sybenia. What was known wasn't good. The best way to put them was that they were the Sybenian equivalent of Esthar's Hawks, only far less public. There were only bits and pieces of them recovered. However, whenever a covert operation or special ops job was carried out by Sybenia…or, more appropriately, was suspected of being carried out by Sybenia, all of the evidence pointed to this group. Whereas Esthar's Hawks specialized in various ways of carrying out missions and neutralizing targets, however, their goals were to be just as efficient but also deadly. The reason no one knew much about them was because they never left any survivors…whether they be civilian or military. In regards to the people who had "vanished" in Sybenia, all of the evidence Esthar's Hawks had dug up had pointed to the Hounds being responsible…and some of the evidence had been found at the expense of some Esthar's Hawks "vanishing" as well. In terms of who they were and what they could do, the small bit of information that had come to light had revealed that they were very well equipped, often implementing prototypes and secret technology not used on any major scale. The training they received, however, was on par with that of one of Esthar's Hawks. It was reported that its three leaders could neutralize an entire division by themselves, but there were also reports that indicated that a single one of them could handle four fully-armed conventional soldiers…and that was if the Hound was unarmed.

Regardless of how good or bad they were, this group wasn't to be taken lightly. They wouldn't be pushovers like the last batch at any rate. And the fact that they were here could mean only one thing…they wanted Dael, Quaren, and Taraketh to "disappear" as well. Apparently, their escape indeed hadn't been as clean as they thought. She knew now why they hadn't been hunted down earlier. Like their namesake suggested, the Hounds were excellent at finding people no matter how cold the trail. She began to realize the truth. Rather than try and take them earlier, they had been let enter the desert. They knew they'd weaken, and then they'd be easy prey. But since they had been rescued, it appeared Veriguno the Mountain and Jalab had been drawn into this as well.

Despite Veriguno's earlier warning, Dael began to reach for her Mage Gun to load another shell. However, she soon found herself not getting far. She saw something ahead.

Veriguno didn't look the least bit afraid or intimidated. Jalab himself was calm.

_They don't know who they're dealing with._ Dael reasoned. _These people are dangerous. Sorceress and Sorceress Knight or no, they can't hope to drive these people off…_

_…Right?_

"Leave now." Veriguno finally spoke, her voice bold and commanding. Even with her back to them, Dael could hear the power on it. It was every bit as rough and strong as an order from Colonel Regalis. However…not one Hound even batted an eye. That made Dael nervous all over again. Even a regular soldier should have balked a bit at that.

One of the Hound officers spoke.

"You're harboring fugitives of Sybenia." He stated calmly. "Release them to us. _Now._"

"Even if I was," Veriguno responded, completely unmiffed. "There would be nothing you could do about it. This land was granted to me by the Khazhim Tribe and-"

A single rifle bullet fired off, cutting Veriguno off. Dael tensed, almost going for her weapon again. However, the bullet wasn't aimed at her. It impacted the ground neaby. It wasn't a miss by any means, however. It had been a warning shot. By now, Dael was sweating. Taraketh again reached for his weapon, and Quaren already had his rifle out. However, his eyes darted about nervously, seeing at least five guns already aimed at him. He couldn't hope to even squeeze one shot out.

"I said," The officer continued calmly, and maybe with an air of arrogance. "Release them to us now."

Veriguno paused only a moment longer. Dael didn't see it, but she never showed even a hint of fear. She began to calmly speak again.

"…By the Khazhim Tribe, and this is officially their land within Pallas, as recognized by Garrado as well as International Treaty. You are out of your rights and in violation of that fact. I have no reason to extradite them. If you wish to get them, then you must contact their officials through-"

Another gunshot. This time, Veriguno's head snapped a bit to the side ever so slightly. Dael nearly gasped, thinking they had shot her. However, she soon received a greater chill when she realized they hadn't. One of the riflemen had fired again, but just good enough to slice open her cheek, not to actually hit her. The young officer was stunned. That was great marksmanship…perhaps as great as Quaren. At any rate, the shooter discharged a bullet and aimed just a little more to the right, this time aiming between her eyes.

"I don't reason with savages, and I'm growing tired of talking to you, cow." The officer spoke, a bit more harshly. "That was your last warning shot. The next one turns you into a corpse. You are in no position to dictate terms to us. We will take the three of them now and then we will decide whether or not to burn your tents to the ground for harboring fugitives."

Veriguno slowly turned her head back. Dael couldn't see it, but she didn't even look as if she noticed the blood now slowly running down one cheek. She paused a bit longer.

Then, she did something that Dael perceived as incredibly dangerous…something that actually made her ease up a bit in light of it. Without ever losing her calmness, Veriguno very slowly cracked her neck.

"…I told you to leave. Now…I will be gentle, but I cannot be responsible if some of you die."

The officer sneered, and raised a hand to gesture with a finger.

Without a word, all of the gunners at once pulled the trigger, shooting all all five of them together. Dael panicked. In her surprise at how fast and sudden they did it, she forgot her powers. She forgot to put up a barrier or an image spell, and in the course of it left herself open. Not that it would matter. There was little a barrier would do against so many shots. However, a second shock soon froze her in place…and this time her jaw loosened as she looked at it.

What looked like a great half sphere of fire had materialized on the edge of camp, enveloping the edge of it in what looked like a wall of intense, burning flames. The fire had come from nowhere. With nothing to burn, it seemed to simply hover and sizzle there in midair, burning without sustanence and so compressed it looked almost like a wall. And it was indeed intense…as Dael soon saw sparks ring out all over it, dotting it like small fireflies or twinkling stars. To her shock, she realized it was the bullets. The heat was so intense, it melted them into slag the moment they touched it. This was confirmed on the ground…as Dael as the sand touching the sphere instantly fuse into thick glass.

Quaren nearly dropped his rifle. Taraketh released his hands and let them fall at his side. Dael realized she looked like an idiot, but she didn't care. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She didn't think fire magic that powerful and intense existed. And yet, it was so focused, she didn't feel the slightest bit warmer from it… Was it the clothing? No…it couldn't be. Somehow, she was holding that fire in place, containing it perfectly.

Dael could no longer see the Hounds through the flames, and didn't know if they were shocked or not. However, Veriguno, on her part, simply turned her head. She called out something to Jalab. Jalab himself, despite being a Sorceress Knight, stood in silent awe of his mistress' move, but in the end gave a ready nod and turned around. He quickly rushed back to Dael and the others. As he did, Veriguno, still rather calm, called out behind her. To Dael's shock, she didn't even look like she was trying.

"Go with Jalab now. I will ensure you aren't followed."

Dael blinked and held back a moment. However, Jalab was soon back to her. He beckoned to all of them rapidly. "Come!" He called, more insistently.

Taraketh held on a moment longer, because, in truth, he was in awe as much as the rest of them. But in the end, he was the first to break and move after Jalab. Dael held a bit longer, but finally remembered her duty. She couldn't afford to stand around gawking like this. Turning over to Quaren, who was still staring in a jaw-dropped posture, she took him by the arm and gave him a tug. "Come on, private!"

Quaren blinked, as if snapped out of a trance, but then looked to Dael. He held a bit longer, but then gave an uncertain nod. Dael, however, kept her hand on him as she pulled him along. Soon, they both turned away from Veriguno and began to run around the main tent.

Dael already knew where they were going…to the fenced area with the chocobos in it. As she went around the main pavilion, she soon saw that the chocobos had already been saddled and prepared for transport. Jalab was moving to the gate and opening it up. He had it pulled aside in moments, and quickly grabbed the reins of the first chocobo and began to pull it out. As he did, Dael heard a noise behind her that sounded like flames whipping around. She turned back, in spite of herself, and looked to see what was happening.

Veriguno was swirling her hand around. Immediately, a large portion of the curtain of fire was swept up into a solid ball. In doing so, she exposed some of the Hounds. At this point, they were all firing on her, ignoring the others. The artillery itself was firing powerful shots, and as they landed, they send out explosions that shook the area and sent more heat forth. But nothing pierced her flame wall. A moment later, she threw that hand forward, and the solid ball of fire sailed forth and smashed into one of the tanks. To Dael's shock, she instantly saw half of it deform and melt into slag before the heat became too much, and the tank exploded completely. The force of the boom bowled over half of the people present. She quickly swept her other hand around, and soon she formed a second fireball to obliterate the second tank. More explosions went off from both, and the ground shuddered as clouds of smoke went into the sky. The Hounds that were bowled over surprisingly kept their cool, leaning up to keep shooting at Veriguno. However, a small fire shield was still in front of her, and not one bullet pierced it.

Dael blinked in surprise for a moment. Somehow, she managed to tear her gaze away, however, for at that moment reins were passed to her.

"Pay attention, grunt!" Taraketh, the one passing, snapped at her…although he frequently watched the chaos as well, even as he said this.

Dael ignored the insult and passed the reins on to Quaren, passing him the first chocobo. Another soon was passed to Dael. Taraketh got the third from Jalab, and Jalab himself took the last one. That done, Jalab and Taraketh alike both readily went to the sides of their mounts, put their feet in the stirrups, and pulled themselves on. It seemed perfectly natural and routine to them. Both of them turned the reins a bit, and Jalab gave his chocobo a kick to get it moving, sending it back around the pavilion again. Taraketh nearly did the same, when he noticed something.

Both Dael and Quaren were looking at their own chocobos uneasily.

"What are you two idiots waiting for? Get on!" He shouted at them over the eruptions.

Dael was silent in response, although she still hesitated. Quaren, however, voiced the simple truth.

"We've…um…never ridden chocobos before."

Taraketh let out a large groan. "'Highly trained', you two are. For the love of… A four year old can ride a chocobo! They're the easiest things to ride in the world! Just put your foot in the stirrup and get on!"

Dael hesitated a moment, but then decided to try it. She moved to the side, put her foot in the stirrup, and tried to pull herself up. It was awkward. She felt the saddle shift, and thought it would come off, and the animal moved a bit underneath her because she moved too slow, and she thought she was "doing it wrong". However, she did manage to get up and into the saddle. Even then, she felt awkward, perched on this living creature. She didn't like being this far above the ground. Quaren had a lot more trouble. He put his wrong foot in first, and then it took him three tries before he pulled himself on its back. It didn't help either one that they were wearing such large clothing.

Taraketh shook his head at them with a glare. "Dumb grunts… Chocobos practically drive themselves. Just kick their sides when you want to go, pull back sharply once when you want to stop, and turn the reins to pull their heads if you want them to turn! Now let's go!" With that, he kicked the sides of his mount and followed rapidly after Jalab.

Dael and Quaren both looked to theirs uneasily afterward. After a moment, Dael gave hers a kick. She soon was jerked a bit as the chocobo took off, but she got her balance fairly easily afterward. Quaren kicked his too hard, and he gave a cry as he was nearly thrown off the bird. However, both managed to stay on, and although they panicked and jerked the reins too hard once or twice, they managed to get the chocobos to go after Taraketh and Jalab. Not able to look to Veriguno again, for fear of controlling her mount, Dael soon crossed the front of the pavilion and aimed the bird on the other side. Once there, she looked ahead, and saw Jalab had already spurred his chocobo on, and was a good fifty yards away with the mount running full speed. Taraketh soon did the same to his bird, and it gave a loud "wark" as it chased after Jalab.

Dael uncertainly looked to her own bird. She was about to try kicking it, when she heard the flames die behind her. No gunshots followed it…but rather an intense gust. In spite of herself, she looked back again.

Another overwhelming sight greeted her. Veriguno was no louder shrouded with flame. Instead, she was standing still had her hands extended, the palms and fingers turned upward. She was chanting something in the same arcane tongue that she and Taraketh had used. However, the greatest sight of all was before her. The very sands had come alive, and were now erupting from the ground as if being propelled by gigantic underground fans. They billowed into the air, and then rushed forward. To Dael's shock, she was smashing the entire assembly with a sand storm. A gale seemed to be eminating from her, making it so fierce she literally saw soldiers being bombarded with sand swept off their feet and sent for a tumble. None of them could shoot anymore. They were being smacked with sand with sufficient force to chaff or scrape. Some of them were in danger of being buried alive, which Dael could tell from seeing one truck already half-buried…

"Commander!"

Quaren's voice caught Dael's attention, turning her back to the side. She saw Quaren was riding past her now…not by choice, but rather due to lack of perfect control. He had spurred his chocobo on, and it was already running after Taraketh. Seeing this, Dael quickly ignored the sight behind her and spurred her own chocobo on. Ready for the burst of speed this time, she leaned in and soon balanced herself as the chocobo broke into a trot, a gallop, and finally a run. She had soon joined the others as they raced by. In no time at all, they had left the oasis area and charged back into the sands. Soon they were reentering the desert, back in the heat and back under the sun. The landscape in front of them was only rolling dunes, and the only sign that there had been anything amiss was the sounds of the spells far behind Dael, which quickly grew quieter as the chocobos bore them away. Dael did not look behind again.

But after putting about a mile in between herself and the oasis, Dael's mind turned fully to what she had seen.

_Colonel Regalis wanted me to see the power of a High Child of Hyne…but it seems he'll get more than he bargained for in my report. The main gun on a Tortoise is strong enough to pierce a skyscraper. Even with a barrier, I would have been a bloody smear if they had shot at me. Sorceress Veriguno didn't even shift weight. Those hundred soldiers were some of Sybenia's best…and she didn't even look like she was trying as she dealt with them. I never knew they held such power. This is beyond any of our reasonable assessments… And she's not even the strongest of the four of them…_

In conclusion, Dael could only decide on one thing. She was glad that she wasn't an enemy of the Order of Hyne at the moment. Forget junctioning…this manner of power could easily decide the war in either favor. She was very grateful that Sybenia had made enemies of the Order of Hyne. However…could Esthar make them their allies? If they could, then this conflict could be over before it began… Unfortunately, she knew it wasn't likely. The Order of Hyne made sure never to take sides and very rarely took any form of a combat role. However, things could always change…

_Rozan Heirarch must be insane…or simply ignorant. He's a fool to be making an enemy of this level of power. It's a dark idea…but I almost hope he keeps "pushing" the Order of Hyne. If they decide to move against him like this, he doesn't have a chance…_

By this point, the chocobos had managed to mass together somewhat. Jalab finally eased his from a run to a gallop, and looked to be easing it again soon. Luckily, Desert Chocobos were as hardy as Dromes. They could maintain a gallop pace for an entire day without needing a rest. As the sounds of the battle faded, and the sounds of the chocobos running became quiet enough to talk over, Dael called out.

"Is everyone alright?"

"Of course we're alright." Taraketh retorted in another snap. "We had nothing to fear the moment Lady Veriguno stepped forward."

"Dael…I mean, commander…" Quaren spoke up, still sounding awed and looking wide-eyed. "That…that was…that was amazing! I didn't even know spells like that existed!"

"The only thing I regret is that her ladyship had to bother with those men in the first place…" Taraketh grumbled a bit. "We should have handled them ourselves."

"Even with your junction, you wouldn't have lasted." Dael flatly responded. "Not against them."

Taraketh shot her a look. "I think I can tell when I could survive a fight and when I couldn't."

"I've spent much of my career in Esthar's Hawks learning how to size people up, and you didn't stack as high as them." Dael answered, still not changing. "You could have taken a few of them down, yes, but not all of them."

The High Child sneered at Taraketh. "Just because you don't know how to use your power against anything other than peons doesn't mean _I _don't. If need be, I could have gotten us out of there."

Dael merely sighed and looked away. "I'm not going to worry about arguing over such stupid things as who would win in a theoretical fight. Whatever you say."

Quaren, however, had grown a bit nervous during this discussion, and looked to Dael again. "Commander…those were the Hounds of Sybenia, weren't they?"

"They definitely matched the insignia." Dael answered. "Looks like we can confirm their existence to command if we can make it back to Esthar."

The young soldier, however, wasn't very comforted. "Sir…they were after us. They followed us somehow to that oasis… They might still be after us…"

"Then it's a problem we'll have to deal with now." Dael answered. "And all the better reason to get off of this continent as soon as possible. We certainly can't rule out they'll bring units all the way to Garrado looking for us."

"You're worried for nothing." Taraketh answered. "You saw her ladyship. Even if they emerge unscathed from that, they'll be too scared to try anything again."

Dael let out a sigh. Taraketh definitely didn't have a military mind, it seemed. There were certainly more than 100 Hounds of Sybenia in existence. There had to be a thousand other soldiers in their group that weren't there to get "intimidated" by Veriguno the Mountain. Some of them had probably gone on ahead to wait for them in likely positions. And even if they weren't, he didn't get a good look at their expressions. They were stunned at the worst. At no point had they been intimidated. No…they had most certaintly not seen the last of them. But she wasn't going to bother arguing with him…not now.

"…I just hope Sir Tierras leads us on the fastest journey we can make." Dael finally stated. "After being out of it for 24 hours, I don't think time is on our side anymore…"

* * *

><p>He came to a halt underneath the street sign. He was still thick within the city at this point, and although he had been walking for an hour, he felt no nearer to the city limits. This was definitely much larger than most cities he was used to, and he wasn't accustomed to walking. At any rate, he paused where he was and looked up. He soon read the names on the sign. Looking back down, he pulled out the map he had managed to grab from the city kiosk and looked it over. It took a moment, but he soon found the spot on the map. To his surprise, he still had another four or five miles to go before he even got out of the city. He frowned a bit.<p>

A passerby ran into him, causing him to stumble forward from the impact. Frowning, he looked up to the person…but received nothing. The pedestrian kept walking without even mumbling an apology. He kept his frown. The people in the city were rude already, but to someone like him, dirty and poorly dressed, they practically treated him as trash. He wished he had enough of his old power to teach that one a lesson. For that matter…he also wished he had his old senses, his ability to fly, and a host of other powers he once possessed. Now he had nothing…nothing but his memories. He probably wouldn't be good for much even if he did get active…

It was all the more reason to find his brother…but not yet.

_Not today…_

After a moment, the traffic light changed. He had learned fairly quickly how the lights designated when for pedestrians to move. He learned that on day one when he was almost run over four times by their cars… With the light changed, he began to walk across the road. He had to start sharpening his mental skills better. It was his only asset at present, and so he had to be in top form. This was a good exercise…and it would be nice to get out of this wretched, smog-coated, pollution choked city for a few days…

_This will make for a good test of my research skills…_ He thought as he walked along. _If I can't do this…I might as well give up now. I'll never be able to find him._

_And I don't plan on spending the rest of eternity like this…_

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	10. The Long Walk

The next two days passed more quickly than the first. They still went by slowly, but compared to how slow the journey on foot had been, it was nothing.

The Desert Chocobos indeed had little trouble moving over the sands, able to maintain their pace apparently without stopping until Jalab would bring them to an oasis, at which point they'd stop for about an hour for the chocobos to drink before taking off again. Dael and the others used the opportunity to dismount and ease their legs a bit. Jalab indeed kept them moving south without stopping to stay the night. Their mounts didn't seem to mind. When night fell, they just kept on going. Fairly easy to still see under the moonlight. Dael was pleasantly surprised to find the thick clothing she donned also helped keep out the chill of the night.

There wasn't much that stood out from the rolling dunes except the periodic oasis, and no one talked much as they continued to ride across the sands. Dael had a feeling that Jalab would have made for good conversation (better than Taraketh, at any rate), but as he couldn't say more than a few words she never got a chance to find out. Even if he could, he was probably, like his mistress, a man of few words. However, he remained amiable and friendly. Where Taraketh had scolded them for not knowing more about chocobos, Jalab was patient with them and gently helped them. All in all, he seemed to be a truly peaceful man. In a way, Dael was a bit disappointed that he hadn't gone into action instead of Veriguno. She supposed he had to truly be an outstanding fighter if he was a Sorceress Knight, but unfortunately there was no way to tell or assess his ability. Now that they were on chocobos, they didn't have to worry about any more giant scorpions or sand rays. The only thing they received from him were calm smiles and an occasional word or two.

Taraketh was, of course, Taraketh. He was hardly friendly even after having been cowed by Jalab and Veriguno. Now that he was more in a natural element and didn't have to worry just about maintaining himself, he was a bit more frequent in his criticism, although he continued to mostly just give the cold shoulder to Dael and Quaren. As the initial shock of their departure slowly wore off, Dael began to grow annoyed with him once again, but held her tongue. After all, she was in a better situation herself, and able to represent an officer far better than before.

Quaren was mostly quiet except for his occasional remarks on how things were going, such as his amazement at how the chocobos didn't tire, or the barren nature of the Pallas Desert. However, he did make one useful discovery. The first night, Dael noticed that Quaren was slumping lower and lower in his own saddle as they all began to grow tired. She was forcing herself to stay awake and called out to Quaren once or twice to snap him to attention, but he would always sink back down again. Finally, he sank quite a bit, but Dael decided to just let him go. The chocobo was still going in the proper direction, so until it changed position it was obviously alright. However, about thirty minutes later, she heard a light snore from the young soldier. Dael was surprised, and realized he had been asleep for some time. Jalab overheard it when she tried to wake him up, and, speaking through Taraketh as an interpreter again, he explained that they were perfectly welcome to catch up on sleep while riding. Veriguno's chocobos were well-trained enough that they would follow one another even without their rider to guide them, and they already knew their way around the desert quite a bit.

Dael was stunned again at that last comment. The desert was totally trackless, and Jalab didn't even seem to be using a compass. Yet he was leading them on regardless without missing a single oasis. He seemed to know his way perfectly while Dael was struggling to find any sort of landmark he might be using. At any rate, she let Quaren sleep after that, trying to stay awake herself. She had reasoned that Jalab's comment meant that he would have to stay awake for both days, and she felt a little bad if she didn't do the same. However, in spite of herself, she discovered that even riding on a chocobo could be tiring over long periods, and she was still a bit weakened from her earlier dehydration. Much as she tried, she eventually fell asleep riding her own chocobo. After a few hour nap, and she realized she had been out, she snapped back awake, only to find nothing had changed. Luckily, she didn't have to get insulted by Taraketh again. The High Child had fallen asleep on his own chocobo.

Dael, when not being overcome by drowsiness, made sure to stay alert. She looked behind them more frequently now. However, just as before, nothing came. She had a feeling they wouldn't be coming from behind again…not after what Veriguno the Mountain did. Bravery was one thing…but stupidity was something else. She also looked forward often. For two days and nights, she saw nothing except the rolling dunes, and was left to wonder again if they were going in the right direction. However, they continued to hit oases, and she assumed that they were.

At last, Dael began to notice a change as dawn started to break after the second night. The sand was beginning to become coarse again. The dunes were flattening. It was still cool at night, and the day grew hotter quickly, but things were definitely changing. As the sun rose higher into the air, the sands continued to diminish, and gradually they began to fade away to be replaced by more compact ground. A few hours later, the sand began to vanish all together…and Dael started seeing the first few drought-resistant plants pop up.

From then on in, as the rest of the day progressed, the changes happened more rapidly. It remained hot, but slowly began to grow relatively cooler. The plants began to grow in frequency as well as size and thickness. Eventually, shrubs started popping up, and around noon they saw a single scraggly tree. More trees soon followed, and then came a stream for a mostly dry creek bed. They started to spot various other beasts and wild creatures, but they were no longer of the desert type, more of an arid region or scrubland type. More and more vegetation began to arise, and eventually Dael began to see mountains farther in the distance to their east and west, each one capped with snow and dotted with small trees. The trees themselves grew taller and taller, and finally, they reached an area in which it was moist enough to begin subsistence farming. As a result, it wasn't long before they came up to another large border fence.

This one wasn't nearly as simple as the one back at Follett. It actually had some concrete posts, high voltage towers, and thick wired fences that hummed with electric current. Where they went, one of the gates, had a few guards posted. They weren't nearly as intimidating as the Sybenian soldiers. They only had a few sidearms, looking more like police than military members. Nevertheless, they made Dael tense, and for the first time she actually extended the lower part of her head covering over her mouth and nose to hide her identity. She hoped no one would look too closely at what of her skin was exposed. After all, she didn't know if any word from these people would somehow get passed on to Sybenia. It also presented a dilemma. Passports were still needed on this continent, after all. Dael and Quaren had some, but they were military issue. Not only could they potentially not be cleared, but it would also be a dead giveaway of her identity.

Luckily, Jalab came through for them again. It took about fifteen minutes for them to get an interpreter, but he said something to the guards at the gate. In the end, they nodded and opened it up, letting the small caravan through. Only once they were well inside and moving away from the fence did Taraketh explain what had happened.

"Sir Tierras said that we were nomads on a pilgrimage to the sacred sites in Garrado, and they let us through."

It was then that Dael began to remember the policy for Garrado. While still a "border secure" country, it wasn't nearly so much as Sybenia. They frequently made exceptions for nomads during especially bad years when the oases dried up, although in doing so they usually had to make clearance with higher government officials. The lax borders were something of a result of having been out of conflict for so long. After all, the Pallas Desert made an effective barrier to most hostile forces. However, even if that wasn't the case, they had the advantage of a Sorceress Knight with them. Any other member of the Order of Hyne other than a Sorceress herself might have had trouble, but the high-ranking members were always considered diplomats of the highest order. Such was the reputation that the Order of Hyne enjoyed after decades of service to all nations. Much like a global relief agency, they had practically free reign to move in and out of any nation they wished. The two factors no doubt enabled them to get through. At last, they had made it to Garrado.

As the chocobos were dropped into a trot, Dael was able to take in the scenery more as well call to mind the facts she had retained regarding Garrado. In terms of population and area covered, Garrado was the largest country on the Western Continent. Technically, it was still a "city-state", much like Follett, but it had grown so large and taken up so much room that it had effectively absorbed the other city-states over the years, leaving various "town-like" districts behind its wake. As the group moved toward the main roads, they passed by a few of these. They made sure to stay to the side, however, and didn't enter any. They may have been close to the Pallas Desert, but most people in Garrado didn't want to have anything to do with the ethnic tribes, preferring the company of more "advanced" nations. That, plus in this country, there was actually motorized traffic, and there was no need to cause traffic jams.

The cities in Garrado were still inferior to those of Esthar, but more advanced than Follett. Here, there was actually room for small industries, and enough size to the country to provide them materials for doing so. Dael knew from study that Garrado actually had a small industrial and manufacturing base, one that they were trying to expand in the wake of the Depression. A way to "diversify", so to speak. After all, the country had been hit just as hard as everyone else. Garrado was probably the second worse to receive a blow after Sybenia, and the hit was strong enough to put more extreme-minded politicians in its own government, although it hadn't descended into a dictatorship as Sybenia had. Many of the buildings they went by were stricken with urban decay, having been shut down and left to rot. Not just businesses, but homes too. Dael knew if they actually went into any of the towns, they'd see far more of that. Just like in Esthar, there was a fair share of homeless moving about. She also spotted more than a few small vendors selling meager fruit, cigarettes, playing cards, and other small items in an attempt to make money.

However, Garrado was in little danger of going under completely, as Sybenia had been. One asset they possessed that might be undervalued at times but would never be worth nothing was the large amount of land they had to the south. Although it was already growing less arid in this region, Dael knew that the entire southern part of the country received much rainfall and consisted of plains covered with rich soil. It was perfect for growing large numbers of a host of crops and raising large herds of livestock. Just like its smaller city-state predecessors and contemporaries, agriculture was its forte. Only it was far better than the smaller ones. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that a good 40% of the world's food came from Garrado. This was especially true as more and more cities turned urban. The bad part about living in the advanced, technical cities was that nothing grew on a paved road. Cities didn't produce anything edible. There was always a place for regions that did.

As the hours ticked by, and noon came and went into early and then mid-afternoon, the group gradually began to see busses roll by and rails having been put into place. By this point, to make themselves a little more "commonplace", and since the climate had improved greatly, Dael had gone ahead and stripped her heavy outer clothing. The others had done the same, including Jalab. Around that time, Dael began to see a new sight along the road they were heading up. A considerable sprawl of buildings was up ahead. Again, they weren't terribly high. The tallest ones were only seven stories, and they lacked the luxury of attractive designs and architecture. Sea birds were flying overhead, and a large portion of the world ahead was clear of buildings…signifying an open area, like a port. However, there were larger industries here, as evidenced by the smokestacks. Dael realized where they were. They had finally come to the main city of Garrado itself.

This was their ticket out of there. Because Garrado produced so much food, despite its small economy, it needed to ship everywhere on Gaia. There were dozens of ships and transports going out every day, in addition to planes. Most of them were freighters, but there was quite a bit of transports that came in and out of Garrado as well. Thanks to the sheer number of privately-owned boats and companies, it would be easy to make their escape.

The traffic began to pick up as they drew nearer and nearer, starting to go into the midst of paved or bulldozed lots and away from any sign of the countryside. It became harder to move about, and they grew more conspicuous. However, Jalab led them on. It wasn't against city ordinance to bring chocobos this far toward a city, although they began to grow more anxious. Dael could feel her own mount shifting a bit uneasily underneath her as she led it onward. The chocobos were slowing down despite the reins not being pulled, and they fidgeted every time a car came too close. It was also getting harder to move. More pedestrians as well as traffic were coming by, and a few children were pointing and calling out to their mothers as they saw the chocobos pass.

Finally, they seemed to come to the very limits of the city itself. By that time, the Desert Chocobos were quite nervous indeed. Finally, Jalab pulled his mount to a halt. Taraketh, Dael, and Quaren quickly did the same, and looked to him. Without a word, he began to dismount. Following suit, the others quickly did the same. Once they were all on the ground, Jalab turned to them. He again said a long series of words to Taraketh, and then looked to Dael and Quaren.

"Sorry." He stated. "Stop here."

Taraketh looked to them. "He's said he's sorry, but he can't take us any further. There's inner city ordinances against chocobos walking the streets."

Quaren frowned a bit at this. "I kind of got that from him. You didn't need to explain it…"

Dael, however, was more civil. She gave a nod. "This is more than I expected. I'm glad he's taken us this far." The officer turned to Jalab, hesitated momentarily, but then offered the best bow she could, actually trying to emulate the style of bow that Taraketh gave to him. Taraketh merely snorted, but Dael wasn't doing this for him. Normally, she wouldn't have cared or would have just shook hands or given a nod. But unlike Taraketh, in Dael's opinion, Jalab was worthy of their respect and admiration. "I wish we could do something more for you and Lady Veriguno, Sir Tierras. We owe you our lives and our gratitude. If you ever come by for any reason, you and Lady Veriguno will be welcome at Fort Morningstar."

Jalab seemed very happy just to see Dael attempt the bow, and he immediately did the same in response. "Pleasure." He stated…something that Dael took to mean, 'My pleasure'. He looked again to Taraketh, and then said another bit of language. Taraketh seemed to almost frown a bit, but in the end he sighed and translated.

"Sir Tierras said he was happy to help…and he hopes to see us again under more civil and relaxed circumstances in the future."

"Good luck." Jalab stated again in his heavy accent. After that, he gave a bow to Taraketh, which the High Child respectfully returned, and then a bow to Quaren. The Esthar's Hawk attempted to return it as best he could, which was somewhat more clumsily than Dael. Jalab remained warm and smiling in spite of that, and then turned back to the chocobos. Over the next few minutes, he adjusted the discarded clothing on their backs, and then tied their reins together to form a "chain". The last set of reins he tied to his first mount, and then he got on again. Giving a kick to the sides, the chocobo began to move again, taking the others with it. He soon turned it around and began to lead the Desert Chocobos back the way they came, to begin the long trek home. It didn't take long for them to get out of earshot, between the cars and the pedestrians, and to start vanishing.

"He was a really nice guy." Quaren mused aloud.

"He was a _Sorceress Knight_, and don't forget it." Taraketh snapped. "Not some 'guy'."

Dael sighed a bit in response rubbing her brow. Much as she wanted to, she suppressed the urge to say, _Give it a rest, Taraketh… _

"I hope he and Lady Veriguno don't get into too much trouble with the Hounds…" Quaren spoke a bit uneasily.

"You saw what they did. They have nothing to fear from anyone." Taraketh retorted.

"We're the ones they want, private." Dael reassured, ignoring Taraketh. "They won't go after Veriguno. She may live isolated, but she's too public of a figure."

"Let's just get moving." Taraketh interjected. "So what's it going to be? Do we go to the Esthar embassy or do we head to the local temple of the Order of Hyne?"

"Neither." Dael flatly answered. "We go straight to the docks, charter a boat, and get out of here."

Both Quaren and Taraketh looked a little surprised at that answer, turning to her in puzzlement.

"Sir…why-"

"This place isn't safe." Dael responded. "There's no way Follett would have fallen that easily, no matter how strong Sybenia was, if they didn't have at least some people on the inside. And now the Hounds are on our trail. I don't want to spend any longer than necessary here, and if I wanted to plant an ambush, it would be either at the temple or the embassy."

"The Order would never tolerate something like that." Taraketh answered, again sounding like he had been a bit insulted.

"Who says the Order would get a say in things?" Dael answered. "They'd make sure we wouldn't get through the front door of the temple. And I don't feel like having some random pedestrian walk up to me and shoot me in the back of the head with a silencer."

"But how can we get a boat?" Quaren asked.

"Simple. I still have everything but my clothes from the Stratoaevis, including my clearance into the emergency accounts for Esthar's Hawks. Last I looked, I'm still authorized to call on up to 30,000,000 gil. That should be enough to hire someone." The officer looked around a bit again, then back to the others. "Let's get moving. Like I said, I don't want to spend any more time here than we have to."

"Shouldn't we at least relay the news to someone?" Quaren responded. "Shouldn't more people be aware of this?"

"Garrado doesn't have to worry about an attack for a while." Dael answered. "The desert makes a good land barrier. We can relay the information to the embassy…once we're on the boat and a good distance from shore. I don't want there to be the chance that we can be picked up by the Hounds."

"If you ask me, you're being too quiet about all this." Taraketh answered. "Making too much hinge on whether or not we get captured or killed."

"The sooner we get that boat, the sooner we can tell everyone under the sun about what we saw." Dael responded, already beginning to turn toward the city again. "Now come on. Let's get to the docks."

* * *

><p>Dael indeed moved quickly through Garrado, keeping an eye on everything and everyone. Without Jalab around anymore, she began to feel nervous. She supposed she shouldn't have. After all, she was a highly trained soldier and the addition of one more to their group shouldn't have helped much, especially since Jalab had no more magic power than her. Still…she was anxious. She kept a barrier on the three of them in case someone should try and shoot them (although she wasn't sure how it would do against a point blank bullet or a head-on rifle), and she made sure to stay clear of any secluded areas. She was always out in the open, and rather than wander thicker into the city, she went around for as long as she could until they reached the shore before turning inward to reach the docks.<p>

The docks were a bit problematic. There was a lot going on around them and a lot of private companies. The piers were clogged with cargo and passengers, the area was filled with storehouses, and workers and sailors went everywhere. Unfortunately, the three still stuck out, especially since Dael and Quaren were still in their uniforms. She supposed they should have tried to disguise themselves before moving in… Keeping the heavy clothes wouldn't have helped, however. They still would have been more than conspicuous. The only thing they could have done was gone into town to buy clothes, and Dael didn't want to waste time with that.

She led them through as fast as she could, but it was still a painstakingly slow process, and they ran into so many workers along the way that Dael grew nervous more than once. It didn't help that several of the piers were off limits to weapons and they had to go around farther. It must have taken a few hours from the time they left Jalab to finally get around to the docks and work their way along the piers before they finally came to the portion of the port that was devoted to more passenger craft. Things thinned out a bit here, so Dael felt a bit more at ease. The three consulted a kiosk, and found where the private companies stationed themselves. They had to work around the larger cruise liners, but that wasn't much of a problem. Following the shut down up north, there were less people to worry about getting around, and now that they were clear from the workers the path was a bit more open.

"You remember your nautical training, right, private?" Dael called out at one point.

Quaren, confused, looked to Dael. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Your nautical training."

Quaren blinked a moment, but then looked a bit uneasy. "I remember I got a bit seasick…"

Dael sighed. "Hopefully you remember more than that, because I don't want to have to pilot the boat by myself the whole way."

"Wait a minute…" Taraketh spoke up. "I thought you said we were chartering a boat."

"We are." Dael answered. "Specifically, we're chartering a boat as a transport."

"You mean we're _renting_ a boat." Taraketh answered with a frown. "I thought we were hiring a company to take us back to Esthar."

"Not if I can help it." Dael responded. "Without having to worry about a crew, we don't have to worry about being called back to port or making unnecessary stops."

"You're going to get some speedboat and take us halfway across the world?" Taraketh stated skeptically.

"Who said anything about a speedboat?" Dael answered. "I'm renting a big one."

Taraketh groaned.

"I doubt we'll find anything as good as what we can get from Esthar's Hawks…" Dael continued. "But we'll do the best we can." She noted Taraketh. "Don't worry, I'm not getting a sailboat or anything. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I had one."

"I'm not worried about the type of boat." He answered darkly. "I'm hating the idea of being stuck with just you two for a few weeks."

"The feeling's mutual!" Quaren snapped back, giving Taraketh a glare. It looked as if he had taken just about enough of the High Child. But before either of them could go at it, Dael snapped out again.

"Just keep your eyes open for the nicest boat we can get. This isn't some cruise. I want to get back fast."

The three continued to move along the pier for about forty-five minutes. They cleared the cruise ships and began to move along the shoreline toward the private companies. Some of them looked like large businesses. Others were small one rooms in a building. Finally, there were some that were just little stands on the docks. Dael looked over them all as she passed, but mostly kept her eye on the boats themselves. Esthar's Hawks had a good grasp on recent technology, including vehicles. Although she was more family with Esthar technology than anything else, and as such she was a bit out of her element, she still could recognize a good craft when she saw one. Still, the search was fruitless at first. Most of the boats were for recreation and not seaworthy. Other boats were too large for their purposes.

After wandering around a bit, one boat in particular caught Dael's eye. She passed it by at first to see if there was anything better, but finding nothing she returned to it. It was a good sized ship, motorized with two engines on supports extending from either side. It had a fairly good upper deck, but based on the size, Dael reasoned it had a room or two below deck. It was clearly meant for a bit of extensive travel. She came up closer to it and looked it over. The boat was well maintained. It was a bit old, but one of the newer ones out there. The company seemed fairly reputable too. She figured it would do.

"This is our ship." She announced to the others.

"Looks like an Esthar model…" Quaren remarked.

"It's an older one, but yes. We're in luck." Dael responded. "It should take us only eight days in this."

The young officer looked around a bit, and found the office. It wasn't one of the largest companies, but a small building seemed devoted to it. Dael entered, looked around a bit to make sure there was no one there who might be giving them a bit of a bad look, then had gone in, bringing Quaren and Taraketh with her. She had approached the front desk, made some inquiries about the boat, and expressed her desire to rent it for a month. That was more than long enough. Esthar's Hawks would make sure the boat was returned to Garrado by a true crew long before the date was up.

"Excellent choice, ma'am." The smiling counter worker responded. "_Dolphin_ is one of our best selling ships. You won't be disappointed with her. She comes complete with two cabins and a water purification system, so you don't have to worry about bringing your own water along. And she's very easy to handle and good in a bit of rough water, although you still probably shouldn't take a ship her size into a major storm."

"I'll keep that in mind." Dael responded. "But I have some other questions. We're kind of eager to get started right away. Are there any amenities on board?"

"Well, our ships are powered by fresh fusion cores at the time of rent with four spare cores in reserve." The worker answered. "We have a first aid kit included."

"Radio?"

"Certainly. All our boats come with a satellite radio as well as one for short range transmissions. It's only good for about two hundred miles, however."

"How about food?"

The worker shook her head. "I'm sorry, ma'am. That would create too many spoilage issues, and we'd have to constantly rotate. But we do have some kitchen apparel and a cooler on board, as well as a place to bathe."

"Alright." Dael answered. "We'll take it."

"Great!" The worker smiled back. "We'll prepare the paperwork and get you cleared right away. Now how soon did you want to take the ship out?"

"Today." Dael answered. "Within the hour, if possible."

There were quite a few papers and waivers to sign, and Dael was required to present a license. Luckily, she had indeed received a boating license while in Esthar's Hawks, although she was a bit nervous about flashing her identity around. Normally she would get an undercover one for things like this, but the mission had never intended for her to get this far off course, and she had no choice but to flash around the name Dael Levinson. She only hoped the information didn't leak to anyone unnecessary in time, or that the Hounds simply didn't even know her name. At any rate, she definitely wasn't going into town for food. Numerous larger boating companies came with snack areas for those who wanted a meal while on the water. Dael sent Quaren and Taraketh (the latter complaining about being ordered around again) to get all the decent food they could find…enough to last ten days. They came back with an assortment of sandwiches, candy bars, and yogurt. Dael supposed it would have to do.

"And you _do_ know how to drive a boat, right?" Taraketh asked skeptically once all had returned and the three began to make their way to the ship.

"That license wasn't phony, if that's what you were thinking." Dael responded. "I'm no sailor, but I can get us back to Esthar in this."

"Can we contact the embassy yet, commander?" Quaren asked.

"Not just yet. Let's get out to sea first. I want to be heading well away from Garrado and this continent before we start breathing easy…"

* * *

><p>Two hours later, and Dael finally reached a comfort level enough to get on the radio.<p>

After loading onto the boat, the three took only a moment to locate the fridge, power it on, and stock it with the food they had in their possession. The water purifier was turned on, the engines ignited, and Dael took the helm. She wasn't probably the best boat pilot in the world, but she got it out of port fairly smoothly, orientated it in the right direction, and took off. Navigation was a snap nowadays, thanks to the era of GPS displays. It took no time at all to find the right course for Esthar and take off. Quaren and Taraketh didn't have much else to do but watch the shoreline. At long last, Dael felt good to see the port city pull off in the distance, and the more and more the buildings of Garrado shrunk in the distance, the more at ease she became. She made sure to look at any potential ships pulling up alongside them or that appeared to be following them, but there were none. The shoreline gradually faded along the horizon, becoming flatter and flatter. The edges of the landscape diminished as well. Soon, the only thing that notably stood out from the horizon was the mountains farther beyond Garrado, and they too began to vanish. Only at that point did Dael abandon the helm, switching it onto automatic, and go inside to the main cabin.

Quaren and Taraketh were left alone on the deck for some time. Neither of them said anything to each other. Taraketh continued to give Quaren the cold shoulder, while Quaren himself only gave him occasional frowns. His constant insults and put downs had impacted him too much, in spite of Dael ordering him to deal with it. In truth, Dael didn't care that much. If they couldn't get along talking, it was better that they all just kept quiet. The two young men had the deck to themselves for a bit, watching the ocean slowly roll by and occasionally turning to see the shore fading onto the water.

At last, however, Dael came back out to the deck from below. Quaren immediately noticed her and turned fully to her.

"Did we get through?" He asked.

Dael nodded. "Took a few tries, and I had to clear numerous codes before I could talk to someone from Esthar's Hawks, but I managed to relay the message."

Quaren let out a sigh, seeming to slump where he stood a bit. "Man, is that a relief… It made me nervous to be the only ones who knew anything about what happened for so long…" He focused on Dael more intently. "So what's been going on? Were they worried about us?"

"They were starting to get a bit suspicious at this point, yes." Dael answered. "My guess is they probably would have guessed something was up even without us saying anything."

"What about Follett?" Quaren asked. "Any news from them?"

"I didn't spend too much time checking into what Esthar already knew." The officer responded. "However, I did get some things from them during the course of the conversation. It seems Sybenia indeed wanted to keep this quiet. Although regular transmissions…commerce, chatting, that sort of thing…went down, there have still been regular news reports coming out from the region as well as transmissions from the governments. They apparently made some sort of cover story up about a malfunction in the relay towers, saying they had to cut communication and transportation except in emergency situations." Here, Dael frowned a bit, her look growing darker. "I'm sad to say that the other Esthar Hawks stationed in the city-states as informants haven't been heard from… There's a chance they're lying low, but…" She trailed off here, knowing she didn't need to finish that statement. After a moment, she inhaled.

"The silence was indeed making people think something was up. We made it even worse by not checking in. They had representatives from Follett indicating that the 'situation was tense' and that they needed to retain us, but since they couldn't put us on the radio they didn't quite believe it. They were thinking of sending another team in, but since transportation routes were now cut, the closest they could get was some place like Garrado, so they held off."

"What did they say?" Quaren asked.

Dael exhaled again. "…Naturally, they were pretty upset about the whole thing. They put me on hold for a while. Until now they had been trying to think positive, but we pretty much confirmed all their worst suspicions. I'm not sure what they'll do from here…make it public immediately or sit on it for a bit. They'll definitely keep anyone from heading to the city-states. However, if they talk about it to the public, I think they're afraid they'll 'force Rozan's hand' into doing something more severe."

"Pretty severe already, if you ask me." Taraketh interjected. "They're committing genocide, for crying out loud…"

"I couldn't give all the details over the radio in just that short of a conversation." Dael went on, ignoring Taraketh. "Namely what they were bringing to bear in the city-states. The orders are pretty much what we've been looking at until now…get back to Esthar as soon as possible and avoid any unnecessary stops or delays."

Quaren let out an exhale. He bowed his head and looked to the deck for a moment. He seemed to shift a little, and raised a hand to the back of his head to rub uncomfortably. After a moment more, he looked back up to Dael.

"So…is it really going to come to it? A war?"

"I wouldn't be too premature yet." Dael responded. She grimaced slightly. "In a way…it's a good thing that we didn't get there a day sooner. If we had signed that agreement, Esthar might have interpreted an attack on Follett as an attack on Esthar. Then we'd definitely be at war. We still have time to negotiate for now."

Quaren didn't look very comforted by that. If anything, he looked worse as he gave Dael an uneasy expression. "You really think someone like Rozan Heirarch is going to listen to reason?"

"Even if he doesn't," Dael answered. "Simply going through the motions of peace talks and treaties will delay his advance, giving us more time to set something up."

Taraketh let out a chuckle as he overheard this. "So you extend your right hand in friendship while your left one gets ready to stab him in the back?"

Dael formed a frown and looked to Taraketh. "Yes, actually. It's called being prepared and being practical." She coldly retorted. "Besides, can you honestly say Rozan Heirarch has done anything worth trusting him over?"

Taraketh looked back to the ocean and said nothing. Dael paused a moment, calming down slightly, before looking back to Quaren. The young man still looked rather uneasy.

"…I guess this means a lot more missions for you, commander." He stated, with just a hint of fear in his voice.

"It means more missions for all of Esthar's Hawks, private, yourself included." Dael responded.

"Not as much as you." Quaren shrugged. "You're International Affairs. Civil Defense won't do anything unless there's an invasion. We'll mostly run drills until then. In your case, we could arrive back on Esthar only for them to turn around and send you right back on a new assignment."

"If they do, they do." Dael answered with a shrug of her own. "It's my duty, private. It's what I signed on for."

Quaren continued to look uneasy. His hand moved from his head to his arm and gripped it uncomfortably. However, Dael said no more. In truth, she would be a bit tense about heading back to Esthar so soon, but that wasn't set in stone. And even if it was, that was her duty. Things were getting more serious by the day. They needed her and all of the International Affairs officers active. If things kept getting worse, it wouldn't matter if she had down time back in the fort or not…everyone would be on edge at all times. Quaren was going to have to realize that. They weren't in the Academy anymore. Things were more serious and failure wasn't a bad grade but something with long-lasting, perhaps permanent, effects. It was time to "man-up".

Finally, Dael broke, and looked to Taraketh. "I already told them to report to the Order of Hyne about you, but if you want to use the radio-"

"We don't have direct access to people we need to talk to like the military." Taraketh cut off, still looking at the ocean. "I can only trust that your people got the message on to the Order of Hyne in Esthar. The only other thing I could do would be to yell at whoever you were just talking to in order to make sure they did it." He snorted again. "And I'm sure you don't want me to do _that_."

Dael suppressed a sigh, and looked to both him and Taraketh together. "There are two rooms, so it's probably best if you two go to sleep for now and rest up, since we're going to be on this boat for a while. I'll stay on deck, and once you wake up I'll go below and get some sleep myself."

Quaren nodded. "Yes sir." He immediately began to move to go below deck.

"…Have it your way." Taraketh simply said after a pause, and turned away to begin to walk in the same direction.

A few moments later, and both had vanished, leaving Dael alone on the deck. The only sounds or signs of movement was the ocean gently lapping against the sides of the ship as the boat sailed through the water. The shore continued to slowly recede, and the large body of water continued to stretch out in front of her. She actually felt a little strange. This was the first time in a while she had some time to herself. To be honest…she felt a bit peaceful. This ship reminded her of when she used to go out to the cliffs. And despite the bad memory now associated with it, she had missed that chance.

To be honest, she realized, she had felt the same way even in the desert. Sure, it was hot, dry, and deadly…but it was still the outdoors and some place that wasn't touched by technology or man. Even when sweating to death and running for her life, she couldn't help but feel, in a strange way, a bit more at ease in there than she had back in her room at Fort Morningstar. She supposed she had just been cramped up with nothing to do for too long. She was reaching the point where _any_ getaway seemed better than staying in her chamber. However, she wondered if that was indeed the case. She didn't feel that much at ease in Garrado…or even in Follett for that matter.

_Of course you didn't._ She explained to herself. _You were looking for people trying to snipe you in one, and were almost killed in the other. Stop worrying about things like that. You need to keep your nerve. You might have a lot more ahead of you when you get back to Esthar._

Exhaling a bit, Dael wiped her brow and looked out to the ocean again. Eight days was a long time. She supposed she would have to find something to do before it was over.

For now, however, she just relaxed and stared on at the rolling ocean.

* * *

><p><em>Four Days Later<em>

Dael had been right. Only halfway through the journey, she was feeling herself start to go a bit "stir crazy". And the taste of convenience store sandwich was beginning to stick to the roof of her mouth.

With nothing much to do except keep the ship going in the right direction and look out for danger, the three had a lot of time to themselves. Well, technically, Dael and Quaren had a lot of time to themselves. They wouldn't be doing much of anything that would involve Taraketh. He had nothing good to say to them, and spent most of the early time in a cabin or on deck doing meditation or focusing his power. However, he had begun to get restless, just like the rest of them, and would often pace about on the ship looking bored and irritated. He griped that he couldn't even practice his power because they were on the ocean, and earth spells weren't much good here where there wasn't any earth.

Quaren had tried to catch up with Dael some more, but there wasn't much more to catch up on. Most important matters in each other's lives they knew already from their common occupations. About the only new information that Quaren had to share was that the Northern Rancor that year had ended up being far more severe than normal. It had led to more conflicts with Fuliet, who had come to the border again more than once complaining about Esthar driving the monsters further north, when the truth of the matter was they had actually lessened in that regard this year in favor of outright killing. The real cause for the increase in population was just that: a population explosion. Once that was done, Quaren quickly grew bored, pacing before Taraketh had, singing songs to himself, trying to recall books he had read since he didn't have any to read on the ship. Since there was a pencil and a small notepad, he had even tried inventing a few games to play with everyone. Dael herself was still taking her watch duties seriously, and so she only played about half as much as he wanted. In desperation, Quaren had actually asked Taraketh. He had grouchily snapped back that he was busy at first…but the last time Quaren asked him Dael actually saw him hesitate a bit before saying "not now". She estimated by tomorrow even he would break down for lack of mental stimulation.

Dael figured she might have been taking the isolation the best out of all of them. She still felt oddly tranquil whenever she was on deck by herself. By this point, she believed they were home free. If the Hounds hadn't come on them yet, then they were probably out of the woods. Then again, she thought…they were headed into international waters with no land in sight, island or otherwise. If something was going to happen, it probably should have been going to happen soon… But even with that in mind, she was still very much at ease to the point of boredom. Usually, she'd have room and facilities to exercise in during down time. The fact that she was stuck on a boat watching the water go by and eating cruddy food didn't help anything.

At the moment, Dael was trying to get some practice in to try and work up enough of an appetite to choke down more convenience store food. No longer needing her uniform tunic, Dael had left it in the cabin days ago. Quaren had done much the same, and in the heat of the sun Taraketh eventually put up his cloak as well. She had her sword out and was swinging it repeatedly while in position on deck. A heavy sword would have been better, but there was nothing for it. As such, she wasn't getting much, if anything, of a workout. Her sword was light enough all on its own, but with her enhanced strength it might as well have been weightless. She had been at it for 40 minutes and she only now felt a light sweat, which she believed was probably more due to the sun than the exertion.

A rifle gunshot from nearby went out, causing Dael to abruptly stop swinging and look to the side. Quaren, who had been cleaning his gun for the tenth time since getting on board due to lack of anything else to do, was looking over the side with his weapon aimed at the water. Dael calmed down after a moment and looked to him in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Fishing." Quaren answered as he tried to take aim again.

Dael sighed and turned fully to him. "I don't think the colonel would approve of us using ammunition for something like that."

"Well, I don't have a pole, I'm bored, and I'd like to have something different for lunch for a change." Quaren answered as he kept looking. "The last of the turkey sandwiches gave out this morning. We'll be stuck with yogurt and candy over the last two days…and I _hate _yogurt."

"You really want to try cooking a fish with a microwave?" Dael asked.

"It'd make for a fun night… Something to do." Quaren answered with a shrug. A moment later, he fired another shot into the water. He frowned a moment later. "Dang…I think that one was a trick of the light…"

Dael crossed her arms. "Even if you do manage to hit one, we're not stopping to pick it up."

Quaren frowned a bit as he looked back to Dael. "Oh, come on, commander. No one's chasing us… No one's been after us for four days. I think we made it."

"I won't say that until we're safely back in Esthar waters where we're on the radar for gunships. But regardless of that, who said anything about being chased?"

Quaren leaned back up over the rail a bit and looked to Dael in confusion. "What do you mean, sir?"

Dael simply turned a bit and indicated out to the direction they were going, or perhaps only about 15 degrees north of it. Quaren looked out. There was a rather heavy and solid mass of clouds on the horizon. They reached down low and seemed to form great white puffy pillars that stretched into the air. Anyone who ever paid much attention to the weather would realize that was a growing thunderhead. However, this one seemed extra large and extensive, going back quite a bit. It would be quite a thunderstorm when fully formed. Quaren seemed to forget about fishing as he pulled his rifle back and put it at his side. He then looked to Dael.

"We're driving into a storm?"

"Not if I can help it." Dael responded. "But we'll have to keep moving. The radio's already given out on weather reports. We're too far into the ocean. Of course…this also means we can't call for help for any reason. Last I checked, though, they were warning about this storm pattern. They said it might reach the strength of a tropical depression."

Quaren's jaw nearly dropped. "Seriously? A tropical depression this far south? Is that even possible?"

"It's been a year for crazy weather." Dael answered with a shrug. "First the early heat for the Northern Rancor, and now this. That's why we're headed full speed to get around it."

Quaren still looked rather uncomfortable. He turned and looked back out to the large thunderhead, slowly exhaling a bit, before looking back to Dael. "We…we've got plenty of fuel, right?"

Dael nodded. "Of course. The first core out of the four is only starting to get dry now. It may need to be changed soon, but we'll just have to make sure to do it fast. I'm thinking we'll just manage to get by." She bowed her head a bit and exhaled. "But I'm a bit nervous myself, to be honest. The last ship transmission we got advised people to stay clear off the current path and return to port. We haven't had any other transmissions or picked up any other ships since then." She frowned as she looked to the deck. "Maybe I'm being too reckless… We could still head south and port in Leuco…much as I'd love to avoid it. Still, it's better to take a small risk rather than a larger one…"

Quaren said nothing in response. Dael took that silence as a bit of criticism. After all, she had just admitted what they were doing was a tad reckless. She had thought they had an excellent chance of getting around the growing storm in time, but there was always an element of chaos where storms were involved. After a bit, she looked up to Quaren and exhaled again.

"Alright, private…do you want me to abandon this plan? Head to Leuco?"

However, she soon noticed that Quaren wasn't staring at her. His eyes were off to the north and behind the ship. He had noticed something, and now his brow was a bit furrowed.

"Sir…did you say there weren't any other ships out here?"

Dael paused after hearing that. A moment later, she turned her head and looked off in Quaren's direction.

The flat expanse of the ocean had been broken. Now, there was a single object rising up from the waters. Although it was quite distant, Dael could tell that it was something large, black, and metal. It appeared to be some sort of big boat, almost destroyer-sized, although the exact dimensions escaped her when it was so distant and without a point of reference.

At first glance, Dael thought nothing more of it other than that there was another boat on the water. But this far out to sea…in international waters…and knowing that they were on the list of enemies of the Hounds of Sybenia…it didn't take long for Dael to tense up. Quaren himself swallowed a bit. Dael said nothing. She continued to watch the ship for a minute, and noticed it grew bigger in that time. Eventually, Quaren shook his head and shrugged.

"…Probably just a sea barge. Someone else caught out here like us."

"Perhaps." Dael responded, her voice quiet and dark. "But if so, and it's going in a straight course, then why has its prow been continuously pointed straight at us for the past minute as it's gotten closer?"

Quaren visibly tensed up on hearing that.

"You have your binoculars, private?" Dael spoke sharply, already going back into "officer mode".

"Y-Yes sir. They're in the cabin."

"Get them. Hurry. And get Sir Sabian on deck. We may need him. Also, bring me my Mage Gun and shells."

Quaren nodded, and immediately turned and rushed for the opening into the interior of the ship. Dael herself returned her sword to her sheath, went up to the railing, and stared at the object. While Quaren was gone, it only continued to get closer, and the prow remained pointed at them. Dael began to get a better idea of its size. Due to its black color, she couldn't make out much in the way of detail on it yet, however. Her own tension slowly began to grow as time went on.

Finally, Quaren came back on deck, carrying the things she wanted. Taraketh wasn't with him. She assumed he was still getting himself ready…that, or he had given a complaint to Quaren that he didn't take orders from Esthar's Hawks. At any rate, Dael took the binoculars from him almost as soon as he was close enough. She twisted them around and looked up and through them toward the incoming ship.

She noted a few things immediately that made her pale. First, she realized the ship was indeed large and well-armored. She couldn't make out the make or model, although it did have a bit of age on it. From what she saw, she didn't think it conformed to any mass-produced ship out there. It had a sizable tower on it, however, one that was two tiered at least. More intimidating, however, was that it appeared to have what looked like two large artillery units mounted on the deck up front with smaller ones dotting the sides. She thought they might have been even more guns than that which were too small to see clearly at the moment. Last but not least, Dael noticed that moving objects on deck were raising a flag on a post high above the main tower. It was quite large to be seen from a distance…and it consisted of a pure black flag with an old silver clipper on it.

Dael lowered her binoculars as she let out a curse word, something rather rare for her.

Quaren turned to her uneasily on hearing that. "What is it? Is it the Hounds?"

"No." Dael answered. "But probably the next worse thing…"

Quaren let out a small tremble as he looked out to the approaching ship. "…Black Corsairs?"

"Of all the rotten luck…" Dael said with a sigh. "I thought for sure they'd let a ship this small pass. The storm must have driven off all other prey…"

Many nations had turned to more illicit methods of supplementing their income following the Depression. Leuco, which was already a corrupt government with a number of vagabonds and crime syndicates operating out of it, turned to one of the oldest methods of increasing their revenue early into the economic disaster: privateering. Although to this day they officially vehemently denied it, Esthar's Hawks had uncovered all the evidence they needed to make it clear as day over 15 years ago. Leuco's officials had entered an unofficial partnership with a small pirating group early in the Depression with the intention of raiding cargo vessels carrying raw materials. The intent was to essentially get such products "wholesale" so that its industries could stay in business and produce goods cheap enough for the economy to stay afloat. It worked…and it worked so well that Leuco soon allowed them to expand their business, both in terms of number as well as variety of goods. It wasn't long before they were raiding ships for finished products and the same contraband was ending up at supermarket shelves in Leuco with any records of how it had gotten there mysteriously "misplaced".

The partnership worked well during the Depression, and Leuco saw no need to terminate it following its end. The pirating group had grown to nearly navy size at this point, and called themselves the Black Corsairs. There had been some internal issues between it and Leuco over the year…namely what the proper "cut" for the pirates should be following a raid. However, they managed to never break the partnership off, and both had prospered. The Black Corsairs themselves took up extortion to make up their losses and were allowed to operate mostly clandestine. It was pathetic to Dael…something that merited being dealt with in the harshest way possible. However, such wasn't likely. Leuco didn't prohibit any nation from firing on the Black Corsairs, but no one knew where to find them, and they were so strong that only a sizable navy could hope to challenge them…something Esthar didn't have.

Of course, there was little time to worry about that now. They were coming after them, obviously. And the fact that they were getting bigger meant that they were closing the distance. Dael assumed it wouldn't be more than ten minutes before they reached them at their current speed…

Maybe five.

A sound of stamping came up from below the deck. Dael and Quaren looked away from the approaching pirate ship and toward the entrance, just in time to see Taraketh come out on deck. His kusarigama was on him, although he didn't have it out yet. For once, he didn't look too terribly cross. Something else had his attention. He gestured back below deck as he ran up.

"Alright, I'm here." He stated. "But the radio has been going off for a while now. What's the problem?"

"We're being pursued." Dael answered. However, on hearing that the radio was going off, she changed slightly. She turned to Quaren and took her Mage Gun and ammunition from him. "Get below deck and answer it. Call back to us what's on the other end."

Quaren nodded, and soon turned and rushed past Taraketh to get below deck. The High Child himself stepped forward a bit more and looked out over the ocean, soon spotting the incoming ship, which was close enough by now to start revealing details. The black flag could just be seen, so Taraketh needed no explanation. He gave it a dark look.

"Pirates… I'm guessing we're passing near Leuco. I'm guessing we can't outrun them."

"Your powers seem to be more offensive in nature." Dael suggested. "Maybe you could do-"

"Do what?" Taraketh cut off sharply. "My powers are earth-based. Do you see any earth lying around out here?" He sighed and began to reach for his kusarigama. "We'll just have to fight them traditionally."

Dael frowned in response. "Unless you have some power that creates a barrier strong enough to protect us and our ship from artillery firepower, that's a bad idea. We'll be blown out of the water before we even present a target."

Taraketh turned to her. "You're the one who's junctioned to Carbuncle. Why don't you make a barrier?"

Dael sighed. "The barriers I generate don't even fully stop bullets. How are they supposed to protect us from cannons?"

The High Child glared at her. "Maybe if you weren't such a mindless grunt that you didn't bother honing your powers, they could have been!"

Dael didn't even bother answering that. She had more on her mind than getting in an argument with Taraketh. By now, the ship was close enough that she could make out the big guns, and they looked as if they just might be training on them. Dael quickly put on her gun and looked for a proper bullet. She ended up settling on a Thundara one and loaded the weapon.

After a bit longer, Quaren finally called up from below deck. His voice seemed hesitant and nervous.

"S…Sir?"

"What is it, private?" Dael called back down.

There was a pause. "It's…it's the other ship, sir. They're telling us to cut our engines."

"No response, private." Dael coldly answered.

Quaren went silent again, obviously returning to the radio. Dael wasn't sure what to do. They definitely couldn't outrun a ship that large and powerful. And as far as their own weapons were concerned, all they had was what was on their own bodies. They couldn't hope to succeed in a fight, or even get close enough to put up a decent one. Still, that didn't mean Dael was just going to hand herself over to the Black Corsairs.

A moment later, however, Quaren called up, more nervous-sounding than before.

"Commander…they…they say…look forty feet to the north…"

Dael and Taraketh both looked back below deck in confusion for a moment at that. Then, in spite of herself, Dael found her head turning around and looking in that direction, right alongside their ship. Taraketh began to do the same. "What the-"

That was as far Taraketh got before he was drowned out by a thunderous explosion in the water. The sound was so intense and so close by that Taraketh recoiled and covered her ears instinctively. Taraketh did too. Both of them were violently tossed about as the waves rippled from the eruption, shaking them around with sufficient force to almost drop them on the deck. In addition, a large quantity of ocean spray and sea water soon struck them both from the sides and above as the wave hit them resulting from the explosion. They continued to rush by, and the ship soon stabilized itself. Dael and Taraketh got their footing and quickly went to the rail to brace themselves. However, Dael was wide-eyed and nervous now, as she looked back to the way they came from. Sure enough, the explosion had been almost exactly forty feet to the north. She was shocked. That kind of marksmanship put Quaren to shame, especially with artillery…

"They said that was our one warning shot…" Quaren nervously called from below.

Dael looked back out to the boat again. Now, she could detect a small plume of smoke arising from the guns, fading in the wind. She could see them move a bit too, obviously shifting the second one into position. She swallowed. This wasn't good. They weren't going to outrun them anyway, but even if they tried to drag this out they would get blown out of the water long before they ever got into the clear. With all the smaller guns on board, they could probably easily shoot them individually to death if they let the boat get within range. However, just one of those shots would be enough to blow them entirely out of the water…

In the end, she let out a sigh as she realized there was only one decision to make. _I can't believe we've come so far just for this to happen._

"Private…cut the engines."

Taraketh snapped to Dael incredulously. Quaren called up hesitantly. "Commander…?"

"Do it now, private, before they fire again."

There was a pause, but then movement from below. After a few more moments of silence, the throttle was killed. The humming of the engines slowly died down for the first time in four days, and finally was killed all together. The black ship quickly began to catch up now. Taraketh sneered at Dael.

"I know you're just a dumb grunt, but are you crazy? You know what they're going to do to us?"

"I know exactly what they're going to do to us." Dael retorted. "They're going to blow us out of the water if we don't do as they say. We can't fight artillery shells."

"Well then what are we supposed to do now?" Taraketh griped. "Just let them raid the boat and strand us on a dinghy in the middle of the ocean to rot?"

"…I don't know what we're going to do." Dael admitted after a moment. Her voice was twinged with regret, but it was true. She didn't know what they were supposed to do in this situation. She was struggling to think of something at the moment and coming up empty. They were overwhelmed in every regard compared to the Black Corsairs.

Taraketh, of course, only grew more irritated. "You don't know… Just wonderful. Maybe you should let me make the decisions from now on if you-"

Dael abruptly reached out and seized Taraketh by the front of his shirt. She yanked him over to her with such violence that even his normally brash attitude was silenced, and he looked to Dael with surprise as she glared daggers back at him. For once, she nearly shouted at him.

"And what decision would you have made? Let them blow us out of the water? Because that was the only other option! I picked the choice that kept us alive for a little longer rather than killed us outright! You want to know what to do? 'Maybe' you can shut up for a change and worry about fighting off those pirates when they try and board us!"

She released Taraketh roughly after that, practically tossing him back to one side. The High Child was so stunned by Dael's abrupt change in personality and ferocity that he remained mute. He didn't even give her a normal dark look of chagrin. Dael didn't really care, however. She turned fully to the oncoming boat. By now, it was cutting its own engines so that it could pull up alongside their ship. Unfortunately, it only did so when it was very much in range of the guns, so there was no chance at trying to "ditch" them. After a moment, Quaren came back on deck, nervously clutching his own rifle. They all soon looked fully to it.

The ship was indeed rather large, bearing characteristics of a heavily-modified cargo ship of some sort, like an ocean-going barge. It was quite a bit more solid and modified, however, as evidenced by its speed. It was streamlined and thickly armored. In addition to the guns that Dael had seen earlier, there were other guns as well mounted on the sides, mostly miniguns and a few smaller weapons. These ones began to train on the small boat. There also seemed to be a few hydraulic arrays on the sides of the boat, just over the edge of the deck at certain intervals. The ship seemed to be light on ballast, and towered over their own smaller boat, making it impossible to see any crew members on the onset.

However, as their own ship began to shift a bit in the wake of the oncoming larger boat, they saw something different. The large boat began to submerge slightly, almost like a submarine might. It didn't go all the way under, however…just merely sank into the water until the main deck was much closer to the deck of the upper ship. Even so, they were so close at that point that they didn't see over the edge of the ship to any crew members beyond.

Dael sighed, and began to put her hand on her sword hilt. She didn't know what much they could do at this point, but they could give it a shot. As the large ship ground to a halt, Quaren swallowed as she tightened his grip on his rifle.

"…I thought they would have called down to us to throw down our weapons by now."

"No need to. They've got beads on us with all of their side guns." Dael grimly answered. "I've put a Barrier spell on us, but I doubt it will be enough to keep them all off… Still, better to stand our ground now rather than give in."

The large ship finally stopped, and sat there. Nothing happened. No weapons fired, although Dael, at any moment, expected to be ripped apart by minigun fire. After all, these were pirates. What did they need with passengers? After a moment, the hydraulic array on the side of the ship finally went to work. Like some sort of shade or fan, it slowly began to extend, revealing itself to unfold a sheet of metal from the side of the ship. Dael realized it was some sort of loading ramp, obviously for them to board the boat. To accent that, small eruptions were suddenly heard. Dael and the others looked down to the source, and saw that three metal cables with some sort of suction arrays on the side fired from the side of the large ship and had attached to their boat, no doubt anchoring it in place and keeping them from escaping. The thought made Dael sigh a bit, but she looked up above to the boat again and waited.

The unfolding metal slowly extended fully and swiveled around to their boat, finally extending downward and touching down on their deck right as it finished fully extending. Dael, Quaren, and Taraketh were forced to move back a bit to avoid being hit by it. After that happened, however, everyone braced themselves. Dael placed her other hand on her Mage Gun, Quaren aimed his rifle out, and Taraketh loosened up his kusarigama and prepared to put it to use. Everyone looked up as the ramp landed…but saw nothing. No waiting pirates or further guns. Dael hesitated momentarily. Were they going to shoot them first, then board? What were they thinking?

Dael soon got an answer, as a single projectile appeared over the deck of the black ship, sailed through the air, and began to land right in their midst. Dael barely had time to recognize that it was cylindrical before she quickly called out a warning.

"Everyone get back!"

Even as Dael said this, she quickly dove to the side. With her superior abilities, it should have been easy to get away from any explosive device. However, the pirates clearly knew what they were doing. There was nowhere to run on the deck of the ship. She could only try to dive for opening below deck. But she was, unfortunately, a little too slow. The cylinder landed on the deck a moment later and exploded on impact.

Dael at first expected a bright flash, heat, and noise…possibly shrapnel. However, nothing came out. Instead, there was a thick, off-white fog that rolled forth from the explosion with enough speed to resemble one of those time-elapsed videos of clouds moving into an area. She thought she felt a bit of the remains of the cylinder that housed it, but mostly the thick mist that came forth was what she saw. She spotted it…and realized too late what it was. She didn't even have time to shout a warning or cover her own mouth before they all vanished into the fog one after another.

Dael's vision was immediately obscured in the thick mist, and it was hard to see. However, in moments, something besides the mist made it far harder to look at anything. As she breathed in an amount of the mist, the world began to grow unbalanced. It became somewhat distorted and "loopy", as if it was increasing and decreasing in size in random ways. The deck of the ship wobbled, and the sounds of the ocean, the ship engines of the enemy ship, and everyone else moving about became very distant…like echoes from the back of a tunnel. The deck seemed to shift and slip from beneath her while her legs grew weak, and something of a numbness spread through her. Everything swirled and moved about, and the world dimmed and grew more distant as time passed…

Dael's mind was soon lost in a similar fog as what she was now shrouded in. Somehow, she managed to cover her hands around her mouth and nose, but by then she had taken too much of the mist in. They all had. The world seemed dreamlike and intangible, wavering around. She could barely tell what was going on and could barely think, but in her mind something told her that it was knock out gas of a sort. This was confirmed a moment later, as Quaren abruptly collapsed on the deck in a heap. She was barely aware of it happening, as her own senses were severely dulled and her ability to think reduced, but she saw it. She expected that she would be next…

With that thought in mind, Dael grit her teeth and shook her head violently in an attempt to "wake up". The breezes of the sea quickly took away the gas once again, and the world was returning to normal. However, the effects continued to linger, continued to drain her and her senses. Somehow, she managed to keep her eyes open and stay conscious, but, had the woman been familiar with drinking, she would have realized she wasn't too much better than if she had been intoxicated. Somehow, in the midst of all this, as she staggered and tried to become more alert, she noticed that Taraketh was still standing. Much like her, he seemed trying to wake up.

She tried only a bit longer, managing to plant her feet and shake her head again, before she weakly looked up. On doing so, just a bit of adrenaline entered her. Dark shapes were at the top of the ramp. They were little more than blurs at the moment, but they were coming down…coming at the two of them. They appeared to be holding weapons, but she couldn't make them out. It didn't matter though. She realized they had to fight them somehow…that they had to be pirates…

With that in mind, Dael pulled out her Mage Gun. However, she was a moment too slow. Before she could start firing, Taraketh, despite his own dulled senses, swung the weight on his weapon around and shot it forward. It wasn't at full power, but one of the pirates was still smacked hard enough to get knocked back. The others froze at that. Dael, at that point, took aim with the Mage Gun and fired a shot at them. Sadly, they realized at that point that their opponents weren't as helpless as they looked, and quickly pulled back. The shell impacted the ramp where they were a moment later and ignited in a blast of electricity, showering the area with bolts and making them vanished from Dael's dim view, but none were hit.

Dael was too dizzy to reload, and let the gun falter afterward. However, she heard something faint from the deck of the pirate ship.

"Looks like they've still got some fight in 'em…"

"Let's let Gill and Heck take care of 'em!"

"You heard the man, Heck! Come on down!"

Dael managed to lift her head to the deck of the ship. She dropped her gun, and went for her sword hilt instead, managing to grasp it. Obviously, new opponents were coming. And dim and dull as her senses were, she had to try and fight against them. She tried to focus on it, looking for the incoming foe, and trying to clear her head enough to put up a decent fight. If she could just hold for a bit longer, maybe her head would clear up…

A noise from behind Dael, distant and transient, but definitely real, interrupted her. It sounded like something in the water, something rather big making a splash. She tried to turn to it, but she was slowed and sluggish from the gas. In the time it took her to finally turn around, she felt something impact the deck and shake it. She soon saw the source. Not only her, but Taraketh as he turned around to face it.

A green scaled creature with a shell along its back had touched down on the deck. It had long, flipper-like feet and hands with webbing and claws in between. It seemed to be gulping air much like an amphibian, swallowing it and pressing it into its lungs before expelling it again. It had somewhat large yellow eyes and was, naturally hairless. However, the creature itself was bipedal and vaguely humanoid. Dael took a moment to recognize it from her studies, sluggish as her brain was, but it finally clicked. It was a sahagin. She also recognized a bit late that it was holding some sort of trident weapon. But it wasn't a traditional trident…it was something with a power pack attached to it, like a prod or stun baton…

This was all Dael was able to think of in the short time after the thing landed on deck, because shortly after doing so it drove the end of the trident forward and into the small of Taraketh's back. The High Child gave a cry and spasmed, as Dael heard a considerably loud burst of electricity ring through the air. She saw sparks shoot from the end of the trident into Taraketh. The young man was even more out of it than Dael and never had a chance to react. After being shocked for half a second, the sahagin pulled its weapon back, and he collapsed to the deck.

Dael's face reacted in surprise. Despite her own dazzled state, and realizing she couldn't do much against a fully mobile opponent, especially one like this, she began to draw her sword. Yet even as she did, she noticed the deck was shaking again…rhythmically to the tune of something periodically beating on it, as if something was running. It was getting close too. It took a while for her dazzled senses to realize it, but she finally managed to realize it was coming from the pirate ship. She turned her head back toward the ramp that had been extended…

The last thing she managed to see was a hulking figure before a fist slammed into her head, and all turned to blackness.

* * *

><p>As Dael slowly regained consciousness, she first felt even more disconnected than before. She became aware of the sound of distant, riotous noise all about her, with people talking in "hearty" voices and with a lot of enthusiasm. The noise quickly became closer and louder, until she heard it right next to her. Groaning a bit, she blinked her eyes a few times. But before she even opened them, she heard some sounds.<p>

"Hey Heck! Lookit! She's the first one comin' to! Guess you ain't got the oomph you used to have, do ya'?"

A loud, deep-throated animal snort responded. It was followed by a burly, deep voice that sounded more akin to a bear than a human. "I must have a soft spot for the lasses I didn't know about…"

Dael forced her eyes open the rest of the way, and looked about her. Almost immediately, she tensed up.

She was still outside, but she was no longer on the deck of her own ship. Now she was on the wide, broad, far-reaching deck of the pirate vessel. Where before she hadn't seen anyone on it, she did now. The place was teaming with pirate sailors. They were all armed with various weapons, both melee as well as firearm. There wasn't a single female among them, and all of them looked rather dirty, unwashed, baked by the sun, salty…and, worst of all, many of them were looking at her in a none-too-pleasant manner. Some of them appeared to have not seen a woman in some time, which didn't help things. She also noticed that not all of them were human. A few stood out from the others. A bit to her right, behind a crowd of pirates, she could just barely make out the extended ramp to their boat.

Dael felt her arms behind held behind her by strong hands, obviously those of more pirates. However, gritting her teeth, she lunged forward, trying to break for the boat. To the surprise of those holding her, she actually managed to wrench free of them. However, she soon realized something else. Her arms and legs were shackled by thick iron, too thick to break even with her strength. And because her feet were tied together, she didn't get far before she tripped, and began to fall forward…right into the crowd of smelly pirates. She felt more than a little revulsion as they caught her. They immediately boomed out another laugh, as they roughly forced her back up and shoved her into the two holding her before.

"Damn, this one has spirit!" One cheered.

Dael merely grit her teeth and lunged again. Despite being ready for her this time, she soon wrenched herself free of one captor, and then the other. The pirates had to rush in and hold her again, this time two to each arm.

"Heh! What's the matter, boys?" One of them called. "Can't you keep ahold of her?"

"She's damn near strong as Heck!" One of her captors complained.

"Well then…let's have Heck belt her again!"

"What? And ruin the lass' pretty face?" Another captor said, before reaching out and grabbing her by the jaw.

Glaring at him, she snapped her head free and bit down on his finger hard enough to draw blood. The pirate's eyes went wide and he shot back, yelping in pain. Dael tried to use the moment to break free, and nearly did before another pirate filled the voice and held her. However, the pirates only laughed louder at this.

"Damn, she's fiery!"

"Think the captain could make an exception for ladies just this once? We need to keep this one around!"

"Damn…she's still fightin'!"

"We're gonna have to rough her up soon…"

Finally, another voice, this one more hissing and seeming to almost ripple a bit, spoke out.

"That's enough!"

The pirates nearest Dael quieted down. Although they kept their smiles, they faltered a bit and they ended their laughing. Dael looked forward and saw the pirates in front of her part. As they did, they allowed a single individual to walk forward toward her. It was the sahagin. Having better eyesight now, she saw it was dressed in light clothing around his waist and head, rather like a pirate itself. It also had the trident again, which she clearly saw wasn't a trident at all but a three-pronged prod of some sort. He had a mean look on his reptilian face.

As soon as he came forward, he waved the end of the trident in front of Dael's nose. It was so close, Dael was forced to go still or risk touching the prongs. Even so, she soon stiffened a moment later as electricity coursed through them briefly. It didn't touch her, but the mere act of it made her tense a bit.

"You keep causin' trouble…" The sahagin sneered. "And your face won't be the only thing ruined."

Dael glared back. She wasn't one to be intimidated, or at least show fear when she was. Sure, the thought of being shocked had gotten her at first, but she swallowed back her anxiety and looked back at the sahagin boldly. However, before anything else could happen, a call went up.

"Hey Gill! You have your trident turned down or something?"

The sahagin abruptly turned away from Dael and looked behind him to one of the pirates in the crowd. "Of course I don't. I always go full strength."

"Well, this one's comin' 'round too…"

"Sh't, he's puttin' up a helluva fight too! Give me a hand, will you?"

"I'm tryin'!"

The crowd shifted again, but Dael looked past it as the sahagin, Gill, turned and began to move back into it. Through the heads, she could see several pirates, at least six of them, struggling to hold Taraketh back. He wasn't saying anything, just gritting his own teeth and struggling. Despite his own shackles and the six people, he was barely being restrained.

"These two were still standing when we gassed the ship…" Another pirate stated. "They must be made of some stern stuff."

"Of course they are. This one's from the Order of Hyne."

"Maybe we shouldn't mess with them, then…"

"Pft, what are you, religious? An Order of Hyne member wouldn't walk over the grave of their mother's killer."

"Hurry up, Gill! He's breakin' free! And I'll be damned if I'm not hearing his shackles groaning!"

"Unless you all want to get shocked too, you better let go of him, first!"

Finally, the big voice boomed again. "_I'll_ handle him…"

Again, the crowd of pirates shifted. When it did, Dael saw a rather large and burly pirate with no shirt stomp forward. This one wasn't human either, she instantly realized. It was one of the gigas race. Just like sahagin, the race was mostly savage and barely had any semblance of civilization or order. Only in jobs such as this one, piracy, could one hope to find one admitted into the circles of human society. And that wasn't saying much. They were savage brutes, but on the open sea they had a place as hired muscle…nothing more. Being a gigas, it stood a good two feet taller than other men, it had long, shaggy hair that ran down its neck and back, and hulking forearms that made its head look small by comparison. As it moved up to Taraketh, each step shook the deck. Dael took one good look at him and realized, despite her fuzzy memory, that this was the one who had struck her.

The hulking creature moved in front of Taraketh, who only grew bolder and fiercer in his escape struggles. The gigas halted in front of him, paused for just an instant, and then belted Taraketh across the face. The blow sounded almost like a small thunderclap, and despite her dislike for the High Child, Dael almost gasped on seeing him hit like that. However, what was even more amazing was that Taraketh went flaccid only for a moment, before looking back to the gigas and glaring at him angrily. He had a red mark appearing along his cheek that might have been the start of a bruise, but other than that nothing. Dael, even with her enhanced strength, would have though that blow would have split her lip, blackened an eye, or even loosened a tooth. Taraketh had mostly taken it. The gigas, however, snorted. A moment later, he smashed Taraketh in the gut instead. The young man crumpled around his fist, his eyes going wide and his mouth opening as the air was knocked out of him.

"Why don't you fight someone who isn't tied back?" A challenging voice called out.

Dael turned her head a bit, as did a few other pirates. But before she even looked, she already recognized the voice. Her eyes soon managed to look through the crowd, and she spotted the last member of their group. Quaren was looking up and struggling. However, unlike Dael and Taraketh, two men were more than enough to hold him back while he was shackled. He tried to fight against his bonds, but he wasn't getting anywhere. A few snickered at him, but he only fought harder for doing so. After a moment, however, the gigas pointed a large finger at him like a spear tip. It made Quaren hesitate and even recoil a bit.

"Keep your mouth shut or you're next." The gigas snarled at him. After saying that, he turned back to Taraketh. The young man was mostly being held up by the pirates now, and was gasping for air. But still, he managed to look up and glare at the gigas. This only made the large beast snarl at him. He raised his fist to give him another blow.

A loud whistle, however, stopped him. The moment the whistle rang out, everyone halted, pirate as well as beast. They all turned and looked around. Dael herself looked up, but even before she could see anything through the thick crowd, a voice called out.

"That'll be all, Heck. We don't want our swag damaged, do we?"

The gigas immediately lowered his fist back to his side. After doing so, he turned and nodded, before stepping back. "No sir."

The rest of the pirates soon began to part again, all of them this time. They appeared to be making room for someone of importance to them. Within just a few moments, they had separated enough for Dael to look all the way down the deck and to the main bridge tower on board the ship. However, that didn't hold her interest too much. What did was two figures walking forward.

One was just a child, dressed in oversized, shabby clothing covered over with a coat with sleeves that hung over his hands and trailed almost to the ground. He had hair down to his neck and a pair of wire-rim glasses, as well as a small hat on top of his head. He had a very calm and dignified look about him. His hands were folded calmly in front of him, except when he came to a stop and pushed his glasses up along his nose. However, he stood to the side of a different figure, who looked far more impressive.

This one was dressed in black pants, boots, and a vest over a white shirt. A red cloth that looked to be both a bandanna and a scarf was around his neck. All of it was loose, allowing mobility. A rather large cutlass was strapped to his side. His arms had tattoos of the Black Corsairs as well as, of all things, a large tree. His hair was long and tied back, and was as black as his clothing. His nose was hawklike and resting over a thick black mustache, and his eyes were hard and fierce, but had an air of enthusiasm as he came forward.

The others were pushed to the front by the pirates, so that the man could get a good look at all of them. They had quieted down in their revelry at this point. Although he bore no colors or distinction, Dael had a pretty good idea that this was the pirate captain. He looked over them all momentarily, his eyes flickering from Quaren to Dael to Taraketh. Dael, on her part, said nothing…not yet at any rate. She just stared at him. After a moment, he finally smiled at them.

"Well now…" He spoke up at last. "Nice to see that all three of our guests are awake at last. I'd hate for you to have slept through all of our fine hospitality. Allow me to introduce myself." With that, the pirate gave a mock gallant bow, mostly to Dael in front of him. "Captain Cryder Morningjay of the Black Corsairs. Welcome aboard the _Gungnir_. To my right is my esteemed sharpshooter, Tay. Quite a young fellow, but he's got lots of spirit, just like you three." He looked fully at Dael. "I hope you'll forgive the rudeness of some of the crew, lass. Most of us haven't had the pleasure of having a woman on board for some time. I myself think it's a bit of a jinx."

Dael narrowed her gaze at him, not caring for his faux charms. "Then maybe you and your crew could save yourselves some trouble and let us go." She stated. "We have nothing except our weapons and some convenience mart food. You didn't gain anything by grabbing our boat."

Cryder leaned up and kept smiling at her, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I'll be the judge of that, lass." With that, he turned his head a bit and looked to the side, toward where their ship was still anchored. "Moginson!"

A small piping voice echoed back from the ship, a big grouchy. "What do you want?"

"Finished looking over our latest haul yet?"

A snort echoed back. "Kupo…if you can call it that…"

A moment later, another pirate emerged from below the deck on the ship. Dael was able to see thanks to the space in front of her, and soon recognized it as none other than a moogle. Another race that usually had very little to do with human races nowadays…but far more civil than ones like gigases and sahagins. This one, however, looked rather rough. He was dressed in loose black pirate garb, and one of his small slit eyes had a patch over it. A scar was across his face going across the patched eye, and if one saw it extend, it went all the way to the moogle's characteristic "pom-pom" bouncing on top of its head, and was cut halfway off. However, it managed to fly forward on its small purple bat wings just a few feet above the deck, and made its way back over to Cryder.

Cryder formed a bit of a grimace on hearing what he said. "Is it really that bad?"

"It's worse, kupo." The moogle responded as he landed and crossed his small arms in front of him. "I told you not to bother with this ship, kupo. But nokupo…you thought that if it was risking the typhoon, that it had to be carrying valuable cargo. Well, once again, I was right and you were wrong. Other than the weapons we picked up, we've got three fuel cores, ten candy bars, and some yogurt, kupo. The ship itself is used. We won't get more than 5,000,000 gil for it…if we're lucky, kupo."

A small unified groan of disappointment came from the pirates. They clearly were hoping for more than that considering the effort. Tay himself grimaced a bit, and pushed up on his glasses.

"That'll barely cover the fuel and ammunition expenses, captain…" He murmured.

The one person who hadn't changed, however, was Cryder. He continued to remain patient. "And what about the _other_ thing I told you to look for?"

The moogle looked up and gave him a frown. "What good would that do, kupo? You know they don't negotiate with pirates…"

"Just tell me, Moginson." Cryder cut off calmly, seeming to act like a man having patience with a child.

The moogle sighed, paused a moment, but finally nodded as he looked them over. "…They're military, all right. Esthar military, in fact…at least, two of them are, kupo. Esthar's Hawks, to be exact."

Cryder smiled wider in response to that. "You see? That's why I'm the captain, Moginson."

However, a number of the pirates had gone nervous on hearing this. Among them was the gigas. He looked uncomfortably at Cryder.

"Captain…maybe we should let 'em go…"

The sahagin turned to him with a growl. "Not getting cold feet, are you, Heck? I thought you had balls of brass…"

Heck turned to him and snarled. "I'm being smart, you slimy freak! You think three lousy fuel cores are worth tangling with Esthar's Hawks?"

Cryder held up a hand in response to this, again calm and casual. "Heck, Heck…" He spoke in a reassuring voice. "You've got to use your head about these things, my boy."

Heck turned back to him, but so did Gill and the other uneasy pirates.

"Look at this lot. Middle of the ocean. No long range satellites or the like. No way of callin' for help. Goin' right into the path of a typhoon. Two things…either they're on some sort of secret mission or they're on the run. In either case, they don't want to be spotted. No one knows they're out here. If they turn up missin', then they'll think it was due to the storm. We'll be just fine."

The pirates considered these words momentarily. However, they seemed to accept them. They rapidly began to calm down and grow more at ease. A few even let out more relieved chuckles once again. With the mood improved, the captain smiled as well, and turned his head, looking up to Taraketh. The young man was weak and barely able to stand still, and with what strength he had he glared at Cryder. However, the pirate captain looked away from him and finally focused on Dael. She managed to stand upright and glared at him coldly. Unmiffed, Cryder moved up to her. Soon, he was drawing to a halt only a few feet in front of her.

"You're a lucky one, lass." He spoke more quietly. "I meant it when I said my men haven't had pleasurable company for a while, because I certainly don't allow any women on my ship. Some of the other captains in the Black Corsairs might throw you to them to congratulate them on a job well done. But I always thought of myself as the chivalrous type…so here's what's going to happen. I know full well that one of you is an officer for Esthar's Hawks…probably you, because you're stronger than the bloke over there," He gestured to Quaren. "And you knew when to quit, unlike the hothead over there." He gestured to Taraketh. "That means you've got access to the accounts for Esthar's Hawks. Not all of their money, of course, but a nice chunk of change. What you're going to do is empty your personal account and give it to us. You do that, and we'll cast you and your two mates over here adrift. Hell, I'll even give you a week's worth of food and water. You'll have a chance at gettin' picked up…not a great one, mind you, but a chance. You don't…" And here, he crossed his arms a bit. "…Well, I don't sell people into _that_ kind of trade, because, as I said, I'm a man of chivalry. But don't think that means we can't get a good price for you lot in a slave trade. And I can assure you you'll wish you'd taken your chances on the ocean after a month of that. Deal?"

The only response Cryder received was Dael spitting in his face.

The pirate captain's eyes shut and he recoiled, his smile faltering. The other pirates tensed up, their merriment gone. A few went for their weapons. They all looked ready to tear Dael apart, to which she only glared back darkly at Cryder. But before they could, Cryder held up a single hand in a halting gesture…and they went still as one. A moment later, he reached into his pocket and came out with a handkerchief, which he used to wipe his face off. Once that was done, and he calmly replaced it, he looked up and at Dael again. After a moment, his smile returned.

"A fiery lass indeed… Reminds me of someone…" He mused aloud.

The pirates were silent. Dael stared coldly back, ready to spit again if need be. Cryder looked over her a moment longer, but then smiled a bit wider. He finally extended a finger and pointed at her.

"…Long Walk."

The other pirates immediately lit up in delight, although some of them grinned darkly at Dael, making it obvious that their amusement was going to be at her expense.

"Long Walk!" One cheered.

"Long Walk!" Another went.

"Long Walk! Long Walk!"

As Dael's defiance turned to confusion, looking around and wondering what this meant, the pirates quickly began to spread out. Before she knew what was going on, she was being dragged by the four men across the deck. Cryder himself turned and began to walk out to the deck as well. Dael puzzled over this. What was a "Long Walk"? She didn't know. She had a dark theory… She recalled that a favored way of execution by sea was to simply make a person walk over the edge of the boat and leave them to drown. She realized if that was to be her fate, it wouldn't be hard. After all, she was shacked with heavy irons and couldn't swim. And she doubted even with her strength she could snap free of the chains.

However, she soon realized that such wasn't the case. She was indeed taken to the edge of the boat, but then turned around to face the boat again, and a wall of pirates was made behind her. The rest of the pirates quickly began to clear the deck, forming a ring or passage of some sort. Among them, she saw Taraketh and Quaren dragged to the edges as well. Both of them looked like they were fighting, but neither of them were getting very far from their respective captors. Finally, she saw where she was facing. Apparently, she was standing across from the ramp leading to the same boat she had come here in. A few pirates were standing in front of it, including the captain. However, they were clearing out. The captain alone was left behind. As Dael watched, he undid his cutlass and gave it to Heck, who turned and quickly moved out of the way, so that Dael was left facing the pirate.

_What's going on?_ She thought as she stared at him.

Then, Dael soon got another surprise. Abruptly, she felt her shackles, both the ones on her feet and hands, get yanked back. A moment later, she heard loud clicks, and they were both released. Her arms cried out in relief as she was able to bend them forward again, and her legs were fully freed. The pirates gave her a hard shove a moment later, forcing her forward roughly onto the now-open space. She stumbled a bit but managed to keep her footing. As she rose again, she looked around her, seeing rows of enthusiastic, cheering pirates. Quaren looked to her nervously. Taraketh grit his teeth and kept trying to fight. Finally, she looked forward to Cryder. The captain smiled widely and gestured around him.

"I said it was your lucky day." Cryder announced. "And I am a man of my word. Here's the game you play for your freedom: the Long Walk. Rules are simple: get to your ship. If you even manage to touch it, you win your freedom and I let you go. All you have to do is get by me, and I don't even have a weapon. Simple."

Dael heard a unified snicker from the pirates at the mention that he didn't have a weapon…immediately making her suspicious of what he might have.

"You get knocked down four times, game over and I win." Cryder continued. "You can't get up before I knock you down four times, game over and I win."

Dael really didn't like the sound of that part.

"Start whenever you're ready." With that, Cryder cracked his neck a bit and loosened slightly, seeming to take a ready position where he was standing like a grappling wrestler. Immediately, the crowd began to rant and chant, egging the game on and cheering for their captain.

The young officer looked forward a bit. On the surface, Cryder seemed fairly solid, and she was sure he could take more than his share of normal people. He had to have more to him if the gigas was doing everything he told him, because based on her studies gigases tended to only respect power. But how much more was the question. What was she in for? She didn't know…but she had a feeling that the first move he expected out of her was to charge past him and right for the boat. Perhaps she could surprise him.

After priming herself for a moment, she took off like a shot, putting her enhanced speed to good use. A bit of the crowd actually went silent for a second at her sudden speed. However, she didn't bother going for the boat. She barreled straight at Cryder, meaning to strike him down with one blow and run for the ship. Unfortunately, as she came in toward him, she noticed that he simply smiled casually back at her. That wasn't a good sign…

Abruptly, as she went past half the distance, she heard a loud splashing noise. She turned her head, and soon saw a solid, thick plume of water erupt from the ocean near the ship. However, to her surprise, it didn't stay straight, but soon arched in midair and aimed right for her. A moment later, she was struck solidly by an amount of water with the power and ferocity of a fire hose. She actually cried out a bit as the water slammed into her painfully, and forcefully pushed her away to the side, making her balance slip and trip. It didn't help that the water splashed on the deck as well and seemed to almost collect under her, leaving her walking on water. The blast continued to strike her and push more water onto the deck. However, in spite of its pain and force, she kept coming forward.

Then, through the water blast, she noticed it. When the plume of water had struck her, she realized Cryder had changed. He had moved one of his fingers around and arched it at her. Now, he made another movement with his fingers. Abruptly, she felt water moving underneath her feet and tugging in different directions. Shocked, she looked to the deck, and was amazed to see that the water that should have been splashing everywhere instead was mounting up around her feet and forming an inch high of water, and now was swirling around like a small whirlpool, getting under her boots and loosening her grip. The water plume kept smashing into her, and combined with the loss of footing she couldn't stay stable. She tried, but eventually it became too much for her. Giving a cry of anger, she was forced off and backward and send down to slam onto the deck.

Only at that point did the water plume dissipate and collapse. The water below her spread out normally. Cryder stopped moving his fingers at the exact same time, and gave Dael a smile.

"That's one against you, lass."

Dael glared at him angrily. The guy could obviously use magic of some sort, although she wasn't familiar with the kind he was using. At any rate, she was far from finished. A barrier wouldn't help against that. The force was too focused and continuous, and even if she deadened the pain it wouldn't lessen the impact. On that note…she was rather sore from having been beaten by that water. Yet in spite of it, she snapped her body once and flipped herself onto her feet. Despite being sore and a bit tired from that, her gesture showed she was far from done. The pirates, however, only cheered louder…obviously wanting their captain to do more.

The young woman waited a bit longer, but then took off for Cryder once again. He merely cracked a smile and shifted his finger again. Another plume of water erupted from the ocean and angled toward her. This time, however, she was ready. Just before it could strike her, the woman abruptly dropped down to the wet deck in a slide and easily slid underneath it. Without missing a beat, she soon was back up again and still charging.

Cryder grinned. "That's a bit more like it, lass! Here, have another drink, on me!"

He moved his other finger, and immediately a second plume shot out and angled toward her, while the first one began to swivel around to try and get her from behind. However, Dael merely kept her eyes on the goal and kept charging forward. A second later, the other plume, making sure to aim lower so she couldn't get under it, reached her and blasted her…

However, the water went right through. Cryder actually registered a bit of surprise, before Dael's body vanished all together. He blinked once, but then quickly snapped his head to the side. Only ten feet away, Dael was revealed to be charging right at him. She has used an image spell to duplicate herself, and now had a clear shot at Cryder.

Yet the pirate only grinned more enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit!"

At that, he swung both of his arms around in front of him. Immediately, both plumes of water arching over the field erupted into thick mist, which billowed over the entire area. Within moments, Dael was caught in a heavy, impenetrable fog. Stunned, she slowed herself down, rather than risk running into the wrong place at this speed. She looked around momentarily, but she couldn't see anything. All had vanished around her. The ship, the sky, her own ship, and even the pirate. She looked down in front of her, but she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face any longer. She lowered it and looked up, realized she needed to brace for an attack…but she was too late. Abruptly, a dark shape parted the fog and smashed her in the face.

Dael was rather durable at this point, but still, the shock of the blow as well as the suddenness of it caught her off guard. Not only that, but her opponent was rather strong. A moment later, two more jabs shot out, and both caught her again, making her stagger back. Gritting her teeth, she swung out a fist for the area in front of her, but she cut only mist. In response, a blow dug into her side with sufficient force to make her arch and wince. She let out another cry, and two more jabs hit her in the face. Having taken enough of this, Dael opened her mouth and began to chant, intending to bring forth a barrier spell…

However, before she got halfway through it, a fist came out and smashed her in the mouth. This time, her lips were driven into her teeth and cut. She again staggered back, cutting off her chant. Angry again, she realized that chanting had given him the perfect target. But what was worse was the fact that she hadn't been able to finish her spell. She had been cut off halfway through, and unable to unleash it. She was still unprotected. Angry, she swung her fist out again in front of her, advancing as she did so. However, after two swings, she still hit nothing. On the third swing, another blow got her in the side. She winced and curled to the side a bit, before another hit caught her under the chin. It was hard and painful enough in its own right…but the worst part was it caught her off balance. She was lifted off the ground a bit, before touching back down on her heels. Unable to stop herself, she spilled backward and landed on the ground.

At that moment, a powerful gust of wind came up and blew the mist away in one fell swoop. In moments, Cryder was exposed standing a short distance in front of her with arms crossed, and she was revealed to be on the ground. His arms were crossed and he smiled down at her, as she looked up in some stunned surprise.

"That's two, lass."

The pirates cheered and shouted enthusiastically. Taraketh rolled his eyes on seeing her. Quaren alone shouted over them all in support.

"Come on, Dael! You can do it!"

Dael looked to them momentarily, then back to Cryder. She was sore from the pounding she had taken. Her stamina and durability was increased by the junction, but she wasn't invincible. At any rate, she forced herself onto her feet and stood as best as she could, though she was showing weakness now.

"You're casting spells without chanting…" Dael remarked.

Cryder, however, snickered in response to that. "Spells? Nothing of the sort. Haven't you ever heard of a geomancer before?"

Dael froze where she lay. Her eyes actually rose a bit. "A geomancer? You…?"

Cryder gave a chuckle. "What's the matter, lass? Thought we all sat around mixing herbs in huts in the middle of forests?"

Dael had indeed heard of geomancers. However, in the modern world, even with magic being accepted, geomancers were practically things of legend. As a result, it was rare to actually encounter one. The power was a bit different from magic. Rather than call on ones own spiritual energy to manipulate elemental forces, one called on it from the area itself. As a result, the ability could be useful or weak, depending on how strong of an energy pattern the area had. There was even less data on them than on regular mages. However, from what Dael had learned, they could be reasonable to extremely effective in any given situation. After all, the very landscape was their weapon. And since they weren't contributing any of their own spiritual energy or mental faculties into the spellcasting, they could keep it up almost indefinitely without fear of tiring.

_This isn't going to be easy…_ Dael thought darkly, as she primed herself once again.

"Now, now…" Cryder seemed to scold her as she prepared to move once again. "I've been trying to treat you with kid gloves until now, lass. But keep this up and I'll be forced to end this fight before you hit the deck four times."

Dael didn't answer. She simply took off again. By now, she wasn't far from the ramp itself, and she hoped to get around Cryder before he had a chance to bring up his power. However, no such luck. She barely managed to get that far before twin pillars of water erupted from the ocean and shot down for her location, barring her path and attempting to blast her with their powerful force. Dael quickly ground to a halt, just missing running into their intersection. However, she couldn't breathe easily yet. Moments later, two more jets erupted from the ocean and began to fire after her. Rather than shoot continuous streams, they seemed to fire off shorter blasts of water. It wasn't as potent, but each blast would have been like having a heavy object thrown at her. Quickly, Dael put her speed and agility to bear and backed up. The water, however, chased after her, flinging one amount of water after another after her. She was soon struggling considerably to clear out of the way. To her irritation, however, she was also being forced backward…

Abruptly, as she continued to dodge back…her foot suddenly lodged in the deck and stayed there. Surprised, she looked down to the ground, and was confused at what she saw. She saw that water had once again gathered on the deck around her as she had been dodging, and now formed another vortex. This one created a vacuum that seemed to hold her foot in place. She tried to move it, but it was impossible. It was anchored solidly to the ground. Eyes widening, she looked up…

And was just in time to catch another blast of water. It felt like someone threw a rock at her head, and she cried out. As the force ripped her back, the grip loosened on her foot. No doubt, it was letting her fall. Pain wracked her head and face, and she felt herself spilling backward…hearing the pirates cheer for joy…

When, suddenly, she extended her arms out behind her, planting on them deck even as Cryder was dispersing his water. She couldn't see his face, but he registered some surprise as Dael did a backward cartwheel to right herself, and soon, rather than falling, she planted herself on the deck. Forehead bruised, she looked up and glared at Cryder, before chanting once again. Now at a good distance, it didn't take her any time at all to produce six separate illusions. A moment later, all of them took off full speed for Cryder.

Looking a bit tense for the first time, Cryder quickly summoned more waterspouts and aimed them at the six Daels. However, they all were zig-zagging now, and weren't easily hit. They had already closed half the distance before Cryder managed to destroy one illusion. However, by then, he finally managed to get the pattern, and quickly picked off two more by the time they were a quarter of the way there. Before Dael could reach him, the last two were eliminated, leaving her. Cryder immediately aimed two fingers forward to hit her with two jets at once. Both connected with her body, and she winced and groaned in pain…but didn't stop. Cryder's eyes went wide again as he saw her body outlined in white, and realized she had cast a barrier on herself. Coupled with her increased strength, she smashed through the water and barreled straight at Cryder. The pirate was shocked, and was forced to cut off his water so he could fight back normally. Yet even as he readied to make a fist, Dael reached him. Shooting out a hand, she planted it on his shoulder…and proceeded to push off and vault over his body nimbly like a star athlete. To Cryder's surprise, and that of the other pirates around him, she was soon sailing over his head and body. For all the crowd, only Quaren shouted for joy.

Dael exhaled even as she was still in midair. Just ahead of her was the ship. All she had to do was run to it…twenty feet at the most. Nothing stood in her way…

But then…she saw it.

Abruptly, the wind in front of her began to swirl and whip around. It condensed and swirled about, forming some sort of circular gale or twister. Normally, she never would have been able see it. But it was so intense that it seemed to actually condense into something visible. While still descending, she looked to it in surprise as it seemed to form right in front of her. But by then, it was too late to dodge. She could only stare as the swirling mass shot forward and struck her.

The blow was incredibly solid, and she was immediately ripped out of the sky, flung back the way she come, and unceremoniously dumped on the ground a good forty feet in front of Cryder hard. The impact alone was bad enough. However, what made it worse was the wind was sharp and biting. It almost felt like whips lashing all over her body at once. Sure enough, red, black and blue marks were appearing on her skin where it had hit, nearly breaking the skin at some points. The pain was too much. She lay on the deck and writhed momentarily.

The pirates paused a moment later, but then only uneasily began to cheer and rave again. After all, their captain had almost lost. As for Cryder, he actually exhaled a bit uneasily before he managed to get casual and cross his arms again.

"You best watch yourself, lass." He finally stated. "You're the first one who's made me whip out an attack like that so fast, and I barely held it back. I could have made that wind sharp enough to cut you to ribbons, if I wanted."

Dael grunted, but managed to finally open her eyes and glare at him. However, she was stiff and sore this time, having a hard time rising. "You better not expect a thank you." She flatly told him.

"No…but I expect you to use your head." Cryder answered. "You got heart, no doubts there. It's a shame to have to do this to you. But you got to realize by now you ain't gettin' past me. Now why don't you just save yourself some trouble?" He gave a shrug. "After all, there's always a chance, with this much spirit, you'll break out of whatever situation we end up sellin' you into."

Dael merely sneered as she forced her arms underneath her. "You're all heart… I wonder how many other people you've captured were so appreciative."

Cryder looked at Dael a moment, almost as if he wanted to say something, but in the end finally rolled his eyes and sighed. "I don't have much sympathy for military folk. Let's leave it at that. And you should quit while you're behind."

"I still got one try left…assuming you don't try to cheat me when I win." Dael answered as she pushed up, getting her legs beneath her.

Cryder couldn't help but chuckle at this. "I'm a man of my word, though I don't think it really matters at this point. You've just about had it lass."

"We'll see…" Dael answered as she finally rocked herself onto her legs and rose. She hated that she was a bit wobbly when she did so. There was no doubt that any normal soldier would have been down for the count after that. She was starting to get taxed. However, she braced herself once again and readied for another fight.

Cryder sighed. "You young folks…never know when you've had enough…" He slowly began to uncross his arms, getting ready again.

Dael stared a moment longer, but then took off. She didn't bother with illusions this time. She kept her eyes open to her periphery, however, expecting water to shoot out at any moment after her. None came, though. Cryder himself looked calm. Obviously, he was planning something different. Perhaps more of those wind slashes? She didn't know, but she kept charging, keeping her senses attuned for what would happen next. No doubt, he'd try to knock her down quickly and end this game…so she had to be aware of things that could catch her off guard…

A moment later, something did happen. Abruptly, a curtain of thick fog rose up from the ocean behind Cryder, swept forward, and covered the field as well as Dael with it. In moments, she had vanished into the mists. She slowed slightly at this, but kept running forward. Obviously, her suspicions were right. He was looking to knock her over with his next hit and end things quickly. However, she was ready this time. As she slowed down, she became lighter on her feet…softer…quieter… In fact, the moment the fog hit, she closed her eyes, and tried to only see the ramp in her mind's eye and turn all of her senses to listening…

She heard something a moment later, although it wasn't what she expected. It was a spurt of water from her right, over the edge of the boat. Surprised, she quickly dodged to one side. She felt a bit of wetness rip by her, tagging one of her arms, but missing her body. However, another spurt followed from the opposite side. Quickly, she dodged back, narrowly missing that one. Yet the moment she finished…she heard heavy footsteps in front of her. She tried to react, but couldn't before another punch sailed out of the mist and smashed in her face. A second followed it up, pushing her back. Gritting her teeth, Dael swung out back for her opponent…but hit nothing. Instead, she heard two more blasts of water shoot out…and felt them strike her hard in the body a moment later, forcing her back. She staggered, but managed to keep her footing. However, no sooner had she gotten back up then she felt another blow dig into her stomach. She cried out a bit, but managed to snap her fist back forward again. She felt it brush fabric, but hit nothing. Another spurt went out, and she quickly staggered forward, dodging it. Unfortunately, a second was waiting for her, and struck her head on, sending her back again. Soon, she backpedaled more, to avoid being hit again. Even so, she felt Cryder's fists narrowly miss her.

At first glance, it would appear that Dael was on the ropes, getting beaten just as easily as before. However, the woman was fighting a bit smarter this time. Sure, she was currently getting pummeled and forced back, but she was paying attention to the speed of the blows, the intervals, and every other bit of information she could get from it. After a few moments, she was able to get something of an idea of what was happening, and the sounds that Cryder made before he struck a blow. With that in mind, she baited him a bit further, taking only a few more hits…

Finally, there was a break. Dael darted backward, avoiding another torrent of water. In another moment, she expected Cryder to lash out and belt her across the face, and at the moment she was too pinned to do anything about it…or so he thought. Yet as she darted back, she quickly chanted again. As the water was still going down, she finished her chant, and spoke.

A moment later, she felt a bit more drained and light-headed. Looking ahead of her, she couldn't tell anything had changed. She was still shrouded in mist, and nothing appeared any different from before. However, that soon changed. A dark long shape shot just in front of her…the arm of Cryder. But it wasn't aimed at her, but rather to a space in the fog nearby. She couldn't see his face, but she had a feeling he had to be rather surprised at the moment. Planning out when he would make his move, she had teleported at just the right moment to have him swing at nothing. And now, he was left wide open.

Dael waisted little time. Cocking back her own fist, she shot it forward into the fog just as the pirate pulled his arm back, and before he could do anything about it he took a punch to the face.

The fog immediately died down and the plumes of water sank and collapsed. Reality came back once again. Although there were clouds covering the sun now, Dael soon saw the mist blow away to reveal Cryder staggering back and away from her. Apparently, he couldn't maintain his own technique when he was stunned like that. However, she didn't worry about that. She quickly turned past him and bolted for the ramp once again as fast as she could. Unfortunately, it wasn't as fast as she liked. She was beaten and sore, and losing stamina from taking so many hits. But she ran as fast as she could regardless.

Dael managed to reach the foot of the ramp when she saw it again. Evidently, one punch wasn't enough to put Cryder down, especially given her current status. Abruptly, the swirling wind began to circulate in front of her. Moments later, it shot forth just as it did before. However, she merely bit down and kept running. As the amount of wind came to impact her, she ducked forward and lunged forward, going into a leap as she did so. She just barely managed to dodge the wind slash as it sailed under her. She could feel it tugging on her clothing. However, she barely had time to relax through that when she saw that a second wind slash had been prepared, and was shooting at her from a higher elevation, meaning to catch her in midair just as it had before. Summoning her strength and power, however, Dael kept diving forward, arching down this time, and just barely managed to get under it. This time, she felt it sting her legs and feet, and even felt her pants get torn on the cuffs. This made her nervous. He was bringing up the intensity, just like he claimed…no doubt wanting to make sure she didn't succeed at this point. Yet Dael kept moving. She soon exited the dive and rolled forward, and managed to somersault underneath the wind slash. By now, she was only about five feet from the other boat…

Unfortunately, Cryder generated yet another wind slash in front of her, and from her position, there was no way she could get around it. As she rolled up into a squat, she saw it already taking off for her, meaning to lash her in dozens of places or worse. The officer grew nervous. She wasn't sure what to do. She definitely couldn't dodge. She was already too tired for much else. If she did dodge, she'd be wide open for anything else and would be knocked on her back again. But if this slash made contact with her, it might be so potent that it could cut her up. She was sure he had to be putting up the intensity by now.

The pirates yelled triumphantly. Quaren continued to cry out in support. The wind slash made a rapid swishing noise as it neared. At last, Dael realized she had to do something. She finally decided that of all her options, failure wasn't one of them. It would mean all sorts of things a hundred times more horrible than her current dilemma. This was worth the greater risk.

Taking only a moment to exhale, Dael summoned all the remaining power she had left into her legs. As the wind slash neared, she finally acted. With everything she still possessed, she launched herself off of her legs in a lunge and dove forward as hard as she could, right into the midst of the slash.

The effect was instantaneous. Assuming it wasn't slicing into her, it sure felt like it. The slash stung like thin whips. Her clothing seemed to provide no benefit at all. Even so…it didn't feel quite as severe as the previous one. Perhaps the pirate really did have a sense of "chivalry". However, it still blasted at her, trying to push her up, trying to throw her back onto the deck. However, she resisted it as best as she could. Her arms both went forward in a diving posture, and she continued to push against it. Her eyes had to close to avoid being stung, so she couldn't tell how good she was doing. She could sense enough to realize she was being pushed back hard, and wasn't gaining as much ground as she wanted to. But she kept struggling regardless, trying to fight her way through the pain and the force.

Finally, the slash abated. It passed her by. At this point, Dael had just about nothing left. Her stamina was dry, and she was in quite a bit of pain from the thrashing she had received. Only a few moments later, her body, now free of the wind, fell down on the deck again. She felt the hard metal make contact with her body, and she went flat against it. From a mixture of exhaustion as well as contact, she reached out her fingers and touched them down along with her arms. She lay there momentarily, motionless. However, it was only for a very short while. Her eyes soon opened, and she looked ahead of her, trying to see what progress she had made.

The far majority of her body was still on the ramp, but her fingertips were just touching the deck of her boat.

The pirates had gone silent. Although it was a bit distant to see, the nearest ones had seen it, and when they went quiet so did the others. Dael couldn't see them, but they were gaping at her. She didn't know it, but this was the first time that had ever happened. Cryder himself was standing straight, having recovered from the hit, and looking down at Dael. He too was a bit wide-eyed at the moment, his calm, smiling demeanor broken. Finally, however, the silence was broken by Quaren.

"Alright, Dael! I knew you could do it!"

Gill, nearby, turned to him with a scowl and moved to stab at him with his electric prod. However, Cryder once again held out a hand and stopped him with a single gesture. The sahagin stopped in mid-pose. As for Dael, she felt sore all over. With a grunt, she managed to flip herself onto her back. After straining a moment, she managed to roll herself up as well. She looked over her body a moment. Her clothing was torn or slashed in numerous places, but she only bled from a few spots. Apparently, her skin was too tough to be able to be pierced. Yet even as she looked, a new sound finally broke the silence. One of slow applause.

Dael turned her head up, already knowing it couldn't be Quaren or Taraketh. Their hands were still bound. Instead, she saw Cryder was the one who was doing it, moving up to the ramp as he did so. Even as he did, Moginson and Tay were moving on either side of him, with Tay now holding a large barrel gun of some sort and Moginson having custody of Cryder's sword. More pirates began to move in behind him, making the appearance of a large mass. They pushed Quaren and Taraketh forward as they did so.

Dael didn't like the looks of this.

"Bravo, lass." Cryder finally admitted as he continued to slowly clap. "Bravo indeed. I knew you had some spirit in you, but I never thought this much. You remind me of another fine lass I knew… You'd have made a decent Black Corsair yourself…"

Dael didn't answer. She simply put her feet underneath her and pushed herself back up. On doing so, she wavered and wobbled a little, but she managed to plant her legs underneath her and stand upright. She glared at Cryder.

"I won your little game." She stated coldly. "Now live up to your end of the deal, unless all your talk of fairness was phony."

"Like I said, I'm a man of my word." Cryder stated simply in response. "You're free to go."

Dael stood there silently in response. She looked over the pirates. They stared darkly back, obviously not liking how she had turned their attempt at fun on its head. However, none of them moved. In particular, she noticed that the ones holding Taraketh and Quaren didn't move. The former didn't bat an eye, but the latter looked about uneasily and expectantly, but nothing came. Dael saw this, and grimly began to realize the catch to the game. However, she decided she might as well confirm it. She reached up and pointed to her companions.

"What about them?"

For the first time, Cryder got something of a sinister smile.

"Ah…that wasn't part of our game, lass. I said you'd get to go free, not them. Furthermore, I hope you can swim, because I don't recall saying your ship was part of our game either."

Dael made a hand into a fist. In spite of her normal decorum as an officer, she couldn't help but lose her temper. "You lying son of a bitch."

"I didn't lie at all, lass. You just didn't listen to the rules closely enough." Cryder answered with a shrug.

"Yeah…you're real 'chivalrous'." Dael snorted. "Try 'sadistic'. You're about as fair as a mob-run game of poker. Is this how you get your kicks? Beating up on people you capture? I doubt most of them could fight back as well as I could. Why didn't you just throw us in the hold to begin with?"

Again, Cryder had a flash of emotion momentarily. His face seemed to blanch for a few seconds. Dael didn't really care for it at the time. After all, she was too mad at him to care much if she unsettled him. However, it was gone soon after regardless, and he spoke in a more casual tone.

"To tell the truth, lass, I might have gone ahead and let you go had this been any other day of the week. I'm seriously impressed that you managed to win the Long Walk. But sadly, I've got my crew to worry about. Feedin' this lot isn't cheap and Leuco wants its kickbacks. And right before I came up to see you, I found out that you're worth a considerably higher amount than 5,000,000 gil."

On hearing this, a number of the pirates turned and looked to Cryder in puzzlement. However, they weren't alone. Dael and Quaren, and even Taraketh, looked as well in some intrigue.

"What do you mean, captain, kupo?" Moginson asked.

Cryder stuck a finger out at Dael. "These three are apparently fugitives from Sybenia. Must be spies or the like."

On hearing this, Dael went wide-eyed, as did Quaren and Taraketh. A wave of anxiety began to travel through the Esthar Hawk.

"And they've managed to evade them for quite a bit, enough to where they even put out a contract with the Black Corsairs." Cryder continued. "They're offering 600,000,000 for all of them."

The pirates looked like their eyes would bug out of their heads.

"600,000,000?" Heck stated incredulously.

"Kupohoho!" Moginson answered. "That's over half a year's expenses right there! Everything else could be profit!"

"My sentiments exactly." Cryder answered. "That's why I took the liberty of hailing some of their ships before coming out on deck."

Dael reacted in twice as much shock as before. Immediately, she called out again, her voice losing its boldness in exchange for anxiety and insistence.

"Wait! Don't-"

Cryder held up a hand to her now in a stopping gesture. "Save your breath, lass." He flatly stated, his voice actually taking a bit of a cold tone to it. "I might have spared you if you were a civilian, but you're a military member. I've got no reservations whatsoever about handing officers over to people on the opposite side. They can fight it out themselves for all I care."

"You don't understand!" Dael tried to protest. "We-"

"Tay." Cryder dully cut off again, looking to the boy and motioning to Dael.

"Please, just-"

But before Dael could get out another word, Tay had raised the gun barrel at Dael and fired. The woman only had a few moments to recognize a puff of smoke and a dull noise coming from the gun before she realized it was a grenade launcher of some sort, likely the same kind that had been fired earlier. The shot it fired, identical to the cylinder from earlier, shot up to her but halted just short of her face, at which point it burst and bathed her and the surrounding area in the thick, off-white mist.

There was no chance to avoid it or take a breath this time. Dael inhaled a large amount right at the onset. Drained of stamina and in pain, she didn't have any chance at resisting it this time. The world around her went from off white to black in moments, and she remembered no more.

* * *

><p>It took him about three days, but he found it alright. Of course, there wasn't much use for it. Oh, he could have tried to bring some back…bought himself a bit of comfort or decent food for a change. However, he doubted that would have worked. The way he looked, people would either wonder where he had gotten it, or they might try to steal it from him. He had learned early on that, while in this body, he had to be careful. Older people could easily beat him up, and if they did they'd likely steal from him. So he left it there. Perhaps at some point he'd think of a way to get it to town to sell it. At any rate, that wasn't the issue at hand.<p>

The whole experience had been an exercise in his ability to navigate the altered world from the ground. Being used to flying, it wasn't until now that he realized how hard it was to do just that, especially when one couldn't sense anything to get an idea of direction. However, he stuck with it. He'd have to learn how to do it if he was ever to get anywhere.

Now came the most important part of his research. He had managed to piece together enough clues to find the hoard. He had to try to do the same to find the Guardian Forces. Perhaps he didn't need to find Leviathan first. Perhaps if he found a "weaker" one, they could point him in the right direction. Either way, he needed to locate one soon.

He now kept an eye on the news, and realized that time was increasingly not on his side.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	11. Battleships

"Commander? Dael?"

Dael winced slightly, but then opened her eyes. Her head cleared much faster than last time. Her senses rushed back to her and her memory began to piece together what had happened quickly. Even as her brain began to register what she was looking at, she remembered the deck of the pirate ship, the "game", and that after it was concluded she was shot with some sort of gas grenade. She had been far too weak and sore to do anything about it, and on getting a whiff of it she must have been knocked out.

At the moment, she was still rather sore. Her body was tender in many places. However, she wasn't as sore as she might have been. Her accelerated healing was still working, and the worst of her injuries, including where blood had been drawn, had already closed up. Her stamina drain was still rather bad, but it seemed her regenerative ability allowed her to recover from that too. That, or she had simply had a chance to rest and catch her breath. Unfortunately, all of these things meant rather little. She was in a pained position at the moment, pressed hard against a cold, dirty, metal floor that stank of rust, with her arms and legs twisted behind her in a "hog-tied" position and shackled with even thicker metal bindings than before. There was no way for her to escape this situation, even if she was at full power.

Since Dael's face was pressed to the ground, she couldn't see much initially. However, she managed to move her head and neck and flip it over somewhat, looking ahead of her. The room was only dimly lit, and seemed to be enclosed somewhere. Based on the fact that she could feel it rocking a bit, she assumed they were still on the ocean. It did strike her almost immediately that the boat seemed to be rocking a bit more than usual, however. She knew after spending a few days on the ocean. Yet she ignored that fact for now. She looked ahead, and in the dim light she saw that Quaren and Taraketh were both similarly hog-tied and stuck on the ground just like her. Taraketh was keeping to himself as usual, but Quaren was looking up to her.

"Are you alright?" He called out.

Dael grunted a bit. She tested her bindings, only to find they were quite secure. She sighed. "Relatively…yes." She finally stated. "Although considering our situation, I don't think any of us are that alright…"

"You did great out there, commander." Quaren said, sounding faintly encouraging despite his position. "I still remember the look on those pirates' faces!"

In response, Taraketh let out a loud groan. "Yeah, wonderful." He sarcastically grumbled. "You did absolutely fantastic. There's just one problem…it didn't get us anywhere. We're still stuck here and they're still going to turn us over to Sybenia. But yeah, you're right." He snorted. "She did great…"

Quaren's face turned into a frown. With some effort, he managed to flip her head over and around to glare at Taraketh. "She did a heck of a lot better than you! And what exactly did you do back there? You tried to weasel your way out of this by saying that you weren't a soldier!"

"I'm not a soldier, you idiot!" Taraketh retorted. "And for your information, I was trying to get all of us out of this, not just me! I was going to say we were all on a mission of mercy! Naturally, it fell on deaf ears…" He looked down and grumbled a bit. "But what do you expect from pirates… Anyway, that doesn't change the fact that we're all still stuck here and we didn't gain anything."

"You're always boasting about being a big mage!" Quaren answered. "Can't you do something?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? My power is earth-based! Why doesn't your commander do the same trick she did with her handcuffs back in Follett?"

Quaren blinked momentarily, but then swiveled himself back around and looked to Dael. "He's got a point, commander. Can't you do that again?"

Dael let out a sigh. "That move takes a lot out of me, and I'm still so drained from the fight I don't know if I could pull it off."

"I told you that you should have practiced…" Taraketh sighed. "You had four days, for crying out loud."

Dael gave him a look. "I haven't any idea how to 'practice', as you put it. Perhaps you could have shown me?"

Taraketh gave her an angry look. "I'm not showing you a single thing related to magic…now or ever."

"Then don't complain now." Dael shot back just as sharply. "You had four days to help me learn this ability better, and if you had, we might not be in this situation."

Taraketh opened his mouth to lash out again, but said nothing. Dael knew she had got him there. After a moment, he closed it and let out another grumble instead. That was fine by her. It kept him quiet. At any rate, she looked back to Quaren.

"Fighting over it isn't going to change anything now." She finally said. "We have to find a different way out of this. If I can rest up for another hour or so, I might be able to manage a teleport. Now how long was I out of it?"

"Not too long." Quaren answered. "Maybe…thirty minutes at the most."

"Alright then. Hopefully, the nearest Sybenian force that can pick us up is at a distance." Dael answered. She paused momentarily, and then, with some straining, rolled herself a bit on her back. On doing so, she managed to prop herself up in such a way to look over her chamber a bit more. However, it wasn't much. Just some dirty, empty, unfurnished cabin. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned or tended to in years, and was coated with a red color that matched rust. Only one bulb illuminated it. The only thing that stood out from the rest of the chamber was a metal door with a tiny window on it, but it might as well have been solid, as there was no way the three could look out of it. However, she did notice that it was open, and so if there were guards posted they likely had heard everything they said. That meant they either hadn't seen a need to intervene yet, or were confident that any "plan" they were making was useless.

Dael did notice something else as she lay there. The floor was rocking quite a bit, far more than she had expected. She actually felt herself being rolled a bit to and fro. Not enough to slide, but enough to definitely feel it. She looked back to the others.

"We seem to be hitting some rough water…"

"I don't think we're moving, commander." Quaren responded. "The engines are quiet. It's just getting worse out there. Dark clouds were already coming in when they took us below."

"That storm must be getting closer." Dael mused. "In that case, I hope we get moving soon enough. I don't know what this ship is capable of, but aside from the weapons it looks like a bunch of junk. I don't think it could ride out a typhoon. And even if it could, I don't want to be on it when it does." She sighed. "I don't suppose we know where they're keeping our weapons? They were fairly valuable, so I doubt they'd throw them out."

"No idea." Taraketh dully answered, contributing at last…although it wasn't much.

"It won't do any good for me to teleport out of these things and have no way of fighting back." Dael sighed. "I'm going to have to have a destination in mind…something that could do us some good. Maybe where there's some keys or something…"

The young officer was abruptly cut off by a loud laugh. All three of them turned to the one source, which was the small window in the door. In the dim light, they saw the ugly, ape-like face of Heck hover in front of it, giving them a twisted grin with his yellow teeth.

"What have we here?" He called inside. "Makin' plans? Well, I'd make 'em a bit faster, if I were you. You don't have much time left."

Dael and Taraketh glared back silently. However, Quaren, a bit less for looking "bold", actually called out to him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you lot are shippin' out soon." Heck answered. "Seems you three are more popular than we thought. A bunch of Sybenian ships had been tailin' you for days. They just couldn't find exactly where you had left from, so they had fanned out here, waitin' for you. You almost got through…but then, of course, we found ya'."

Dael tensed up on hearing that. She looked to Quaren, who gave her a nervous look in response. Taraketh, however, merely looked defiant as always.

"The Hounds…" Dael murmured.

"Now that you mention it…" Heck spoke up, getting their attention again. "These ones did seem to have black dogs on their emblems." He grinned. "They really wanted you three. So much the better. That means we'll get a nice fee come negotiations, which the captain is handlin' at the moment." He began to turn away from the door. However, before he did, he looked back momentarily with another snicker. "Better pack your bags…" After that, he turned and departed.

As Heck departed, however, the others looked nervously to one another. Even Taraketh had lost some of his defiance in favor of anxiety.

"We've got to get out of here now!" Quaren spoke in a panic.

"Tired or not, you've got to teleport!" Taraketh stated.

Dael, however, could only sigh in exasperation. "Even if I could pull one off, I'd only free myself with no weapons. I'd be caught again in a minute. And even if I could do that, I've never been able to pull off more than two before I felt like I was going to pass out. Assuming I can teleport you out of your own shackles, that means I could only free two of us at the most."

"It's better than just sitting around here waiting to be taken in!" Taraketh retorted. "At least give it a shot!"

Quaren sighed. "I hate to agree with him, Dael…but he's right. You're the only one who can do something now."

Dael sighed again. She paused and looked forward. She inhaled and exhaled a few times. Finally, she shook her head. "…Fine. I'll try. But you two need to be quiet. This is going to be hard enough without distractions."

"Sure, commander."

"Fine."

Dael let out a sigh, and then closed her eyes. It wasn't easy in the least. Although she was getting better at it than when she started, it didn't change the fact that she was in a painful position and tired. Both of these things acted as distractions. For her first step, she tried just to push those things out of her mind. That alone was a great enough challenge. The pain wasn't too terribly hard, as she had learned to tough through pain in her training. However, the stamina drain was incredible. She couldn't quite describe it. It wasn't even like a physical drain. It was like something inside of her, her mentality…maybe even what was sustaining her…had weakened. And trying to summon it out was practically impossible. It was like it simply wasn't there. Even as a few minutes passed and she struggled to bring forth the power, nothing would happen.

"Got it yet, commander?" Quaren's voice spoke up after a while.

Dael sighed. "…I said to keep quiet, private."

"Oh…sorry."

Dael again closed her eyes and focused. She continued to strain and struggle for a full minute or two…but it did nothing. It only seemed to drain what reserves she had. She continued to try unsuccessfully for a while before she finally realized it wasn't going to work. With that in mind, she tried shifting tactics again. She tried relaxing, avoiding focusing and just trying to let herself ease up…let the power flow of its own accord. This seemed to have better results. She felt a bit of her stamina return this time, and came close to chanting once or twice. However, she never got out more than one arcane syllable before she was forced to stop again. In spite of all of her efforts, it was simply no good. If that wasn't enough, the rocking of the boat seemed to get worse, enough to start moving her via rocking and distracting her.

Finally, she gave up.

"I'm sorry…I just can't do it unless I have a chance to recover more."

"We don't have that time." Taraketh answered.

"You got that right."

Again, the three snapped their heads to the door. This time, they did so with more tension, on hearing the voice returning once again. As they watched, the heavy latch to the door was unlocked with a loud clicking. The door opened up a moment later. As it swung open, the light in the hallway, which was only slightly better than the light in their improvised cell, illuminated two figures, which Dael immediately recognized as Gill and Heck. Gill had his electric prod still, and Heck motioned inside. A moment later, a group of human pirates pushed past them and entered the chamber.

A few seconds later, and Dael and the others had been roughly forced to their feet, their "hog-ties" loosened enough to stand and walk. Taraketh tried to struggle again, earning him a few slams from the pirates to get him to be still. Since none of them could hit as hard as Heck, they had to do so repeatedly to get an effect, and Gill nearly shocked him again. Dael, however, was too weakened from her attempts to teleport. One of the pirates brought out a length of chain and attached it to their hand manicles. As they locked them onto the struggling Taraketh, Gill abruptly came forward and seized him by the tunic. He glared in his face menacingly, waving the prod as he did so.

"You cause too much trouble…and we'll throw you over the side while you're still shackled and attached to these two. Got it?"

Taraketh glared back angrily, but calmed down, causing Quaren to audibly sigh in relief as he was connected as well. Dael felt some relief as well. It was clear Taraketh didn't like them, but apparently his dislike didn't extend so far that he would want them to die with him if he misbehaved. He grudgingly consented to being further bound. Finally, the chain was attached to Dael. Once that was done, Gill moved behind them. He switched off his prod for the moment, but only long enough to jab Taraketh with the point as the other pirates fell in around them.

"Get moving." The sahagin ordered.

Taraketh hesitated a moment, turning long enough to give him a glare, but then looked to Dael instead. He gave her one too, as if to say, "Thanks for nothing", but then turned forward and began to walk. Due to the shortness of the chains, he could only shuffle slowly, but even so he was soon pulling on the chain that held Quaren, forcing him to move as well or be jerked away. Dael was soon pulled likewise. With Heck taking the lead, the three were led out of the dimly-lit cabin and onward. Gill soon brought up the rear, turning his prod back on and aiming it behind Dael. The other pirates stayed at the sides, flanking them. There were about six in all.

On exiting the cabin, Dael found themselves in a dark hallway, similarly rusted and old, although this one at least appeared to be cleaned occasionally. They were soon forced on ahead down it, passing by several other cabins along the way. All of the doors were shut, so Dael couldn't see into any of them. Several other pirates were passed along the way, coming to a halt on seeing the retinue come forward and just watching them. Dael began to notice something about them, as well as the "underling" pirates guarding them. They seemed to be rather tense, even a bit nervous. At first, she thought it might be due to the presence of Sybenia. However, if that was the case, they probably should have been armed. She soon got an idea of what was the real reason. The ship was continuing to rock, pitch, and yaw. If anything, it was getting worse. That storm had to be getting pretty close now. No doubt, they wanted this business concluded so they could get out of there in a hurry.

At any rate, there was little Dael could do about it now. Soon, she had been led to an iron stairwell and forced to climb it. It wasn't easy with her attached to the others and restrained the way she was. It took a considerable amount of time to make her way up the stairs, barely able to get enough extension from the chains to be able to step up. If that wasn't enough, they had to go up about three flights of them. As they climbed up, the various floors they passed grew better maintained and cleaned, to say nothing of having more lights. There were also more pirates along the way.

As they reached the third floor, the floor that they left the stairwell on and passed back into the hallways during, Dael noticed something else as they were led down a now-well-lit hallway. The boy pirate from earlier, Tay, was moving at a rapid pace down the hall in the opposite direction. On spotting one group of pirates who had stopped and were watching the incoming group, he came up to them and accosted them.

"What are you three doing here?" He spoke in a bold tone that belied his age. "Get back to manning the artillery guns. We need to be ready to fire."

One of the older pirates turned to him with a confused look. "Fire? What d'ya…"

"You know the captain doesn't trust military types, even if we're doing them a favor. For that matter, neither do I. We need to be ready to fire on their battleship at a moment's notice."

Dael paid attention to this conversation, but unfortunately couldn't catch much past that. As she turned her head to try and keep listening, Gill gave her a mild spark to the backside. Not enough to stun, but the pain made her wince. She immediately snapped back forward and kept walking. All the while, the ship continued to rock. It got to the point where some of the weaker pirates watching them had to brace themselves every so often. But at last, they made it to a heavy bulkhead. Heck moved up to it, gave the hatch a rapid turn, and then yanked it open. He exited first, and soon the others were being pushed out along with the pirates.

Even before exiting, Dael already realized the situation outside had grown bad, and it had nothing to do with Sybenia. She saw Quaren and the weaker pirates nearly blown away by the fierce wind, and as soon as she stepped out into it, she felt that it was cold and powerful, tugging on her fiercely and trying to drag her one way or the other. Based on the fact that she felt pulled in multiple directions, she figured the wind had to be circling…which was never a good sign. She couldn't see that well off the edge of the ship, but from what she could see, the water was churning rather violent now, sending powerful waves against the side of the ship. Some were high enough to send foam up and over the sides. As for the sky above, the clouds seemed to have turned so gray that they were nearly black. It still had to be early afternoon, but the darkness made it feel as if night was coming. There was still light enough to see without assistance, but the darkness of the clouds, combined with how intensely they were swirling, made Dael realize they didn't have much time. That was soon confirmed. As she looked out to the ocean to the north of them, she saw, at a distance of what had to be 10 to 15 miles away, a thin waterspout already formed and casting up ocean spray around it. Regardless of how this "deal" was supposed to go, she didn't want to hang around there for much longer.

However, she had plenty to be intimidated about without the help of the coming storm. A considerable number of pirates were already on deck…at least two dozen, she figured. All of them were armed with various weapons. Most of them looked nervous about the storm more than anything. Seated at a small folding table in front of all of them in a folding chair, calmly drinking a beer and not seeming to care about the storm or the situation, was Cryder. Other than him and the table, chair, and liquor, the only other items were an old burlap sack at Cryder's feet and a suitcase on the table. What made Dael truly nervous was who was across from them. There seemed to be four dozen Sybenian soldiers and an officer standing across from him, with the officer standing next to the table. All of them were heavily armed, looking every bit the soldiers that had intercepted them in the Pallas Desert, with only changes in uniform. All of them indeed bore the symbol for being Hounds of Sybenia.

Dael also looked out to sea closer around the boat as they neared. Indeed, it looked as if they had grown popular. She spotted at least five gunboats floating around the larger pirate vessel. All of them had their weapons trained on the ship…making Dael realize just why Cryder might have said they needed to aim their own guns right back at them. The gunboats were rather well armed too. In addition to the standard heavy .50 cal machine guns, they seemed to have small artillery units of their own on board. Of course, that all seemed rather superfluous compared to a rather monstrous-looking Sybenian battleship parked right next to their own ship, ramp extended and fixed to the pirate vessel. Obviously, that was how the soldiers had crossed over. Dael did a quick assessment of the warship. Clearly, it was very heavily armed. It was smaller than the pirate vessel, but based on the amount of weapons and thickness of the hull, she doubted that would make much difference in a fight, and if she had to place her money on something…she would probably say the battleship even without help from the gunboats.

The three were harder to move in the wind. Even Heck seemed to be pushed around a bit as he forced them forward. But at long last, they began to come up behind Cryder. As they neared, and the sounds of their chains and movements became audible over the wind, Cryder looked up a bit from the table and turned around. He gave them a smile, and then turned back to the Sybenian officer. He spoke loud enough to hear at this point.

"Ah…here they are." He stated as he rose from his chair. He turned to Heck and motioned to him. "Line them up. Let the man have a good look at them."

The pirates seized each individual and roughly forced them into place, straightening them out into a line. They weren't too gentle, causing Taraketh and Quaren to both frown at them, but Dael knew that was the least of their problems. As they put them up, the High Child called out to them.

"You're making a mistake. This was a mission of-UGH!"

The last syllable was accented as Gill gave him a shock to the small of his back. It wasn't enough to knock him out like before, but it was enough to make him go rigid and spasm, cutting off his speech. Dael glared at this, but knew she couldn't do anything like this…not unless she could teleport, which she couldn't. The best she would be able to do would be while they were on board one of the Sybenian ships, and she assumed they had far better security. At any rate, Cryder rose to his feet and gestured to the three of them, sweeping his hand over them.

"Now, is this the lot you're lookin' for?"

The officer looked to them, his eyes quickly sweeping over them. After only a moment or two, he looked back to Cryder with a nod. "It's them alright. These three caused us quite a bit of trouble internationally."

"I won't ask for the details." Cryder simply responded. "We've got our fee, so they're all yours." He paused a moment, but then grinned. "Of course, you'll understand if you supply your own shackles. We need to keep what resources we've got."

The officer showed nothing in response to that. He simply stared a moment, before raising a hand and beckoning behind him. In response, a dozen of the soldiers began to break off and form into their own company, and then started to come forward. Some of them reached for their sides and got out restraints of their own, no doubt planning to put those on in the place of the current ones.

Dael felt herself begin to tense. Any window of opportunity for escape was rapidly shrinking, and there was nothing she could do about it. She had no idea what they would do to them if they were taken back to Sybenia, but she doubted it was pleasant. If they planned on simply killing them, they could have just blown the pirate ship out of the water. No…they wanted them for something else. Apparently, they hadn't leaked enough information to Esthar yet about what was going on. Or worse yet…perhaps the Legislature had tried to present other nations with Sybenia's behavior, but without the actual witnesses they couldn't get far. At any rate, they wanted some form of information out of them, and Dael could only imagine what they would do to get it. They had to get out of this somehow, but how?

Dael looked about, but her only assets, Quaren and (to a lesser extent) Taraketh, weren't going to be doing any more than she would. She knew the pirates didn't owe allegiance to anyone except the person who would give them money, and at the moment that was Sybenia. She couldn't rely on them. Finally, in a bit of exasperation, she decided there was only one thing she could try. It was a fairly big longshot, but it was better than to just wait for the inevitable.

Abruptly, speaking quickly and forcefully before Gill could silence her, she called out to Cryder. "'Chivalrous', my foot. I guess supporting genocide is also in the bounds of your moral code, isn't it?"

Gill, predictably, moved up behind Dael and gave her a shock. She soon found this one was at a higher voltage, for she actually cried out a bit and hunched over as best as she could with the way she was bound. However, as she grit her teeth and looked back up, she saw there had been a slight change. Cryder was looking at her. His smile had faded. After a moment, he turned to the officer. By now, the troop was almost to them.

"…What is she talking about?" The pirate captain asked.

"Nothing of your concern. You have your money, and we want what is ours." The officer retorted. The troop continued to come forward, and the pirates around Dael's group began to back off, including Gill. That left them exposed, but now Dael began to speak more insistently.

"You never asked us what we did to cross Sybenia. We found out what they were doing to the people they've been marginalizing. They're separating them like good apples from bad apples and deporting anyone who's not of their 'acceptible' race to God knows where."

"Get her out of here." The officer sharply ordered.

The lead member of the troop began to close in on Dael, already starting to hold out the new shackle. In a moment, he would move around behind her. However, before he could take a step closer…a sound of metal unsheathing rang out. The trooper suddenly froze, and his company with him.

Cryder had drawn his large cutlass, and now used it to form a wall between the soldiers and the three prisoners. Dael looked up in some surprise, but found Cryder had now turned rather dark, having lost most of his merriment and now glaring at the Sybenian troops. A small ray of hope began to burn in Dael's chest.

The officer glared at Cryder. "What is the meaning of this?"

"You tell me." Cryder answered. "I changed my mind...I _do_ want details. You told me this lot had been spies. That I could have dealt with. I even had adjusted to the fact that a member of the Order of Hyne had been working with the military, as unbelievable as it seemed…although I kept asking myself why. But it just occurred to me that you never told me exactly what they had seen that made it so important that you get them. And why an Order of Hyne member is with them might be something a bit more important than letting you have your way. While I've never been one to turn down a fast gil…the fact remains I don't like you Sybenian folks. And I've heard the news reports, same as everyone else. So tell me straight…is what she saying true?"

"That's none of your concern, you filthy brigand!" The officer shot back. For once, Dael was glad of the sense of Sybenian superiority instilled in the military by Rozan and Roz Heirarch. Otherwise, they may have tried to lie and deny it. Instead, they felt as if they needed owe no explanation to anyone, exposing them for who they were. "You're fortunate that we've decided to deal with you in the first place rather than simply not taking what we want from you! Now you have your money, so, again, I say for you to give us what is ours!"

Cryder gave a bit of a crooked half-smile. "That didn't answer my question, matey."

"We owe you no account for what we do on our own borders!"

"They aren't doing it on their own borders!" Quaren immediately shot out. "They're invading and doing the same thing to the surrounding city-states!"

Cryder raised an eyebrow, but kept looking at the officer. "Now that, I did hear about." He responded. "A little bird told me about how some of the ships that tried porting in the area bordering Sybenia had gone missing. And by the way…" He leveled a harder gaze at the officer, his smile fading once again. "I know that one of the types of people you've been kicking out of your nation are magic users. You can chalk that up to a personal stake."

The officer began to turn red. "For the last time-"

"I may not be the most wholesome of people in this world," Cryder cut off, his tone growing sharper to do so. "But I've still got standards. And this is one of them. I don't take kindly to sniveling, self-important little pricks like yourself and Rozan Heirarch who if someone looks at them wrong has them and their whole neighborhood shot on sight. I've made an official and personal decision…I hate your country's guts."

Cryder reached out and planted a hand on the suitcase, then proceeded to give it just enough of a shove to send it back to the opposite side of the table.

"Keep your gil. I wouldn't trade this lot for twice as much, if only to piss you off. Now get off the _Gungnir_ before I have _you_ shot."

The officer had turned almost beet red at this point. Dael saw that look, and realized what it was. It wasn't the mere look of a man who had been denied something he wanted. It was the look of someone who had been insulted in the worst way. Here was a common thug dictating terms to him and essentially saying he was too good for him. Too good for _him_…an officer of Sybenia, the greatest country on Gaia, descended from Odin himself. Trying to tell him what he could and couldn't have. The insult was too much to bear.

Cryder, however, simply lowered his cutlass and turned away from the officer. He looked up to Gill and Heck, about to give them further orders. The moment his back was turned, however, the Sybenian officer went for his side, and in one fluid movement drew his pistol and extended it to point at the back of Cryder's head.

Quaren, in spite of everything Cryder had done to them, found himself shouting. "Look out!"

Cryder's response was instantaneous. His cutlass was still naked, and so it was a simple matter of spinning around and swinging the blade up in one arc. The officer soon cried out as the blade, which had to have been razor sharp, neatly cleaved off his gun arm to the elbow. However, he didn't have time to react in pain long. The pirate captain, having turned cold and ruthless in that moment, swung his blade down and around again, slashing it across the officer. The eyes of the Sybenian man went wide, then rolled back in his head. A moment later, he collapsed to the deck.

Within the next few moments, all hell broke loose.

On seeing their commanding officer felled, the Hounds wasted little time. Indeed, they seemed to have been almost waiting for this all along. Their guns went up. Restrained and unable to run, barely able to move, Dael was only able to do one thing mostly out of panic. Luckily, the stamina need for this spell was much less. She opened her mouth and cried out as loud as she could in the arcane language. Not focusing the spell that well, it not only soon enveloped herself, Quaren, and Taraketh in a translucent white barrier, but actually did the same to Cryder and the nearest pirates. Others began to go for weapons…at least, those that had guns and rifles did. Unfortunately, that didn't help them that much. The Sybenian Hounds were faster, more accurate, and deadlier. Soon, a chorus of gunfire rang out from the side of the Hounds.

Dael felt stings of pain go off around her as bullets attempted to pierce her. As best as she could, she kept moving, ducking her head and trying to slide and stumble backward. She had to be careful. She dared not trip, lest she doom herself and the other two shackled to her. Ironically, Cryder ended up drawing most of the fire directed at them, protecting her. The barrier took away most of the rest, although she still felt blood drawn in a few places. Taraketh himself was hit but managed to swallow it back, but Quaren cried out in pain multiple times. He also tripped more than once, but managed to keep himself upright and kept moving.

The other pirates weren't so lucky. Soon, she saw at least half of them drop down to the deck. Realizing how accurate they had been back in the desert, she knew that only a couple were injured. The rest were dead as soon as they reached the ground. In the end, only a few were able to fire back, but they did so as they began to pull back, seeing quite clearly they were overwhelmed by superior firepower. But their shots were wild, and only a single Hound of Sybenia ended up falling. The Hounds, on the other hand, calmly reloaded and fired again. Now, stragglers who were coming back to try and drag the injured off of the deck were shot along with the ones they intended to save.

However, a major blow was soon dealt to Hounds that bought everyone some time. As Cryder continued to fall back, he brought one of his hands up with all of his fingers extended. Once more, a waterspout erupted from the side of the ship. This time, however, it was rather thick, about as large around as a tree trunk. He quickly whipped his hand around and forward, and the column of water arched down and slammed into the Hounds aiming for him and the group. As he continued to fall back, he bombarded them with the water, blasting so hard and fierce that it ripped the nearest Hounds off their feet, knocked their weapons aside, and flung them violently backward to crash into their brethren. He soon swept it around, knocking more of the enemy soldiers aside and pushing them down the deck like ants at the mercy of a garden hose.

Within moments, a good number of the Hounds were injured, and the rest were stunned by Cryder's action. The few that hadn't been directly hit were either caught off guard by the move or reloading. Unfortunately, by now, over half of the original pirates on deck were dead, and everyone was still very much in the open. Quickly, Cryder used the interim to dash forward, back to the table. On reaching it, he quickly flipped it over, making it a shield, and then seized the sack. After that, he raised his hand again…and soon another waterspout erupted from the ocean, arched around, and gave them a second douse. But even as it was spraying them, he swept his other hand down and around. On doing so, the water that was already on deck began to collect and rise, forming a raised ridge stretching across the deck of the boat. Even while doing this, he managed to turn and looked back behind him. He looked past the three struggling to fall back and toward Heck and Gill. When he did, he quickly pointed forward with his free hand…right toward the three.

"Get them inside!"

Dael was a bit surprised on hearing that. Was he actually helping them? She couldn't tell for certain. After all, it might have just been an act of protecting his investment. However, she had little say in the matter. Heck and Gill hesitated momentarily, but then did as commanded without complaint. They both ran forward. Before Dael knew what was happening, she was being picked up along with Quaren and thrown over either shoulders of the gigas. As for Taraketh, Gill picked him up and slung him on his back, a bit to his protests, but not as vehement as one might think. A moment later, Dael was whipped around before she was being rapidly carried back to the main tower of the boat.

As she did, however, her head was over Heck's back, so she was able to look behind her to see what happened. Cryder began to fall back as well. Yet as he did, he swung his arm forward. In response, the growing bulge of water shot forward, forming a wave on the deck of the ship, which proceeded to sweep all of the Hounds left off their feet. After that, he fully turned around and ran back. Despite the power of the wave and that it had knocked them all down, some of them were already getting back to their feet. However, it didn't matter after a moment. Abruptly, mounted guns from the tower began to open fire on them and pelt them, keeping them down. Dael noticed it might have been useful if those gunners had been paying attention sooner, because as they ran along, she noted it was already too late for most of the pirates on the deck. A few were able to limp back to the door, but most of them were already dead. Finally, as they ran along…the storm finally broke out. Rain began to pour down on Dael, and it increased in such intensity that before she reached the tower she was already soaked.

At any rate, Dael saw little else. Heck reached the door, and removed a hand off of holding her just long enough to open the bulkhead with one twirl and run inside. He let in a few other pirates first, including the injured, followed by Gill before he went in as well. All the while, the guns continued to fire out. A few of the Hounds had recovered enough to start firing back at this point, and the various gunboats were beginning to fire on the ship as well. But once Heck finally carried her and Quaren inside, they were quickly brought deeper into the metallic hallway and away from that. The sounds of guns continuing to fire rang through the chamber, but nothing more.

Dael and Quaren were soon after unceremoniously dumped on the ground, admid other injured pirates who were hunched against the walls and corridors and trying to catch their breath, tend their wounds, or reload their weapons. She banged her head a bit against the metal wall as she did so, but it wasn't much. That wasn't her main concern at the moment. The fact that they were being assaulted by Sybenia was, as well as the fact that no matter how the fight fared she might still be in hot water. She did look around a bit. As Taraketh was lowered by Gill as well, she noticed that Heck and the other pirates looked fearful and nervous. They probably weren't used to getting such a fight. Plus, there was the undisputed fact that the Hounds had killed over half of the pirates they had on deck in moments, diminishing their effectiveness.

However, in momentary safety, Dael couldn't help but realize something else. The ship was rocking more intensely than ever. She was being pulled off of the wall and back again. Had she been on her feet, she would have had to struggle to maintain balance. No wonder it had been so hard from some of the pirates to pull back and the Hounds to get back up. The storm, she realized, might soon be a bigger threat to the ship than anything else. What more, things grew even worse a moment later as she heard even more loud explosions followed by "thunks" on the side of the boat. She knew the smaller artillery had to be firing on the pirate vessel now, and she wasn't sure how good the armor could do against it…

Finally, Cryder came in through the door. Immediately, he slammed it shut and rotated the hatch closed once again. Soon afterward, the door already began to bulge and ding in several places from gunfire and artillery fire, causing him to snap back slightly from it. However, he quickly turned around to the others. He set his sack down, and looked at Dael. She stared back simply, showing no emotion. At last, he looked up to Heck and Gill.

"…You got the keys for these three?"

Gill held his hand up. "Right here boss."

He nodded, and motioned to the three. "Undo their shackles."

Heck, Gill, and every other pirate that could afford to turned to Cryder with looks of puzzlement and surprise. They weren't alone. The three looked up as well. However, he paid them no mind. He looked back down to Dael afterward, staring at her squarely.

"You realize those guys are going to kill us all now, right?"

Dael stared back silently for a moment. However, in the end, she gave a single nod.

"Then for the moment, we've got a common cause. And I just lost a lot of my best mates out there. You willing to lend a hand?"

"That depends." Taraketh coldly snapped afterward. "Are you going to give us our freedom for real this time?"

"Yes, we are." Dael answered, ignoring Taraketh flatly.

Both the High Child as well as Quaren looked to her incredulously. "Commander, what if he-" Quaren began to say.

"It doesn't matter." Dael cut off. "If we don't help them and they win, then we're no better off than we were before. If we don't help them and they lose, then we're dead anyway. We don't have much choice in the matter. At least if we're free we'll be able to do something once this is over, and they'll be undermanned to stop us this time."

Cryder cracked a smile on hearing this. "You're a shrewd lass. Knew it the moment I laid eyes on you. I'll promise you this much…I'll owe you once this is finished, and I sure as hell won't turn you over to those Sybenian dogs."

"Then we have an agreement." Dael simply responded. She leaned up, exposing her shackles. Heck and Gill hesitated a moment, but in the end Heck turned to Gill and nodded. The sahagin sighed a bit, but then went over behind Dael first. He began to somewhat roughly move her arms around a bit so he could get them into position, then got out the keys and went to work. "And we'll need our weapons." Dael threw in toward Cryder.

"Got you covered." Cryder answered. He grabbed one end of the sack he brought in, and held it up. "You had some pretty fine guns and blades. Thought I'd make a little extra profit off of them."

Taraketh's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Dael herself felt her arms pinched a bit more momentarily. However, at long last, she heard the clicking noise, and both of her wrists had tension eased. Letting out a bit of an exhale in relief, she swung both of her arms forward. She rotated her arms a few times, grateful to finally feel the pressure eased up on them. After a few more seconds, her easier-to-undo legs were freed too. Gill, on his part, moved on to Quaren next, who let out a little bit of a yelp as his own arms were more painfully twisted behind him so that he could unlock his chains next. Dael wasted little time but moved up to Cryder. He began to undo his sack…

When, abruptly, the entire ship gave a violent lurch to the side to the tune of an explosion so loud that even within the ship the group heard it. It actually rocked enough to start sending everyone sliding to one side of the corridor. Dael, as her footing slipped out underneath her, realized that the source of the rocking was coming from the side with the destroyer…making her more than a little nervous. Within the tower, she heard, both through the metal walls and further down the corridor, people begin to run around and yell and scream. Naturally, what had just happened put them in quite a panic. As for the sliding itself, it nearly yanked Quaren out of Gill's grip, but he seized him harder and pinned him back before he could, although he cried in more pain as a result. As for Taraketh, he began to slide, but Heck, reaching out and seizing a pipe with one arm, shot down and seized him with the other and kept him from going anywhere. The ship gradually rolled back, but now it was rocking unevenly, and it was getting more violent than before.

As the ship evened out and Gill struggled to get his key into Quaren's shackles, Cryder himself looked around a bit. Worry had creased his face. However, it was a bit more than straight fear for his own life. He seemed to be tensing up about the crew, exposing something that he hadn't shown before on deck when his own men had been struck down by Sybenian bullets. Dael spotted it, and couldn't help but be intrigued. "Compartmentalization" was something that she thought was the domain of military people in situations like this. Evidently, the pirate was capable of it as well. After a moment, however, he looked back down to Dael. Almost as an afterthought, he drove the sack forward and thrust it in her arms.

"Here." He stated, before he turned and made for the nearest intercom relay. He made it look easier than it was. The ship was rocking quite a bit now, both from the worsening sea as well as the artillery fire, but it just went to show what a man of the sea the pirate captain had to be, as he navigate the smooth metal floor of the corridor as skillfully as if it had been on solid ground. Dael actually watched him in a bit if surprise for a moment before her own military mind kicked in, and she began to dig into the sack for her weapons. Her sword was found fairly easily, so she began to bring that out.

Meanwhile, another clicking went out behind her, and Quaren's voice sounded in relief as his own arms were finally freed. She cast a side glance at him to see him rubbing his wrists as Gill moved to his ankles and undid them as well. He only slowly began to get up afterward. Gill began to move to Taraketh, but then paused and frowned. He looked up to Cryder. "Do we really have to free this one?"

The captain, however, wasn't in the mood for arguing. He had grown serious and was talking into the intercom. "Bridge, this is the captain. Tay, report on the situation."

_"Not good, sir."_ Tay's voice returned, audibly enough for Dael to hear it. _"They were already alongside us before, which means we can't hit them with the main guns. The gunboats are attacking the rudder and I'm sure you just felt them pound us in the side with their own main weapons. We're already taking on water and we're only able to return fire at 47 percent capacity."_

"Get us around, Tay. We need to get in range to fire on them with our own main weapons. We should be lighter than the bastards."

_"I'm trying, sir. But they know that's what we're trying and so they're moving in parallel with us."_

"What about the hidden broadsides?"

Abruptly, another large explosion rang out. The ship gave another violent lurch. Dael had just managed to claim her Mage Gun and shells from the bag when she found herself thrown against the metal corridor wall. She narrowly missed a bulkhead so she was rather grateful. Quaren himself, who had begun to come near her, was thrown to the side as well. Taraketh was yanked out of Gill's grasp just as he had gotten close enough, causing him to reach out, seize him roughly, and drag him back. The move had to be painful, and the High Child gave a dark glare to him. Gill just glared right back. The ship calmed down again, but was rocking more than ever…and now seemed to have a slight lean.

At any rate, Tay began to speak again. _"The first shot destroyed the bridge connection to the broadside controls. That second shot just now destroyed the primary manual controls and likely the people I sent to operate them. That leaves only the deck manual controls, and I don't think that'll do much good. They're moving in close. I think they intend to deploy something on our deck."_

Dael, meanwhile, pulled Quaren off the wall and two his feet, then thrust his rifle into his hands. The private blinked a few moments, trying to get his bearings, but then took it. As for Taraketh, Gill was still struggling.

"Hurry up and get these things off!"

"I would if you'd stop squirming!"

"I'd stop squirming if you got them off!"

Gill let out a muttered curse, but finally managed to get his hands free. Taraketh nearly took off right then, when Gill seized him by the belt and yanked him back down.

"Hold up! I've still got to do your legs!"

Taraketh let out a loud sigh as he groaned and looked forward while Gill continued to unbind him. However, Dael wasn't paying him much attention anymore. She was focusing entirely on Cryder by now as the man paused, looking at the radio momentarily. There was another few seconds of silence, before another blast struck the ship. This one felt the most intense yet, and Gill had just managed to unlock Taraketh's legs when he, Taraketh, and everyone else in the corridor was ripped off of their feet and flung backward slightly from the force of an eruption right from the bulkhead. Abruptly, the metal twisted and warped, and several holes were put in it before jets of fire and force pierced through the holes and blasted them, the source of the bowling over. As everyone landed on each other in more than a few haphazard ways, Dael herself crashed to the ground, her head protected from smashing into the metal floor by Taraketh's feet.

She lay there a moment, for the latest impact shook her up quite a bit, before she managed to lean up again. However, even with her superior strength, and despite the fact that Cryder had been closer to the impact, the pirate captain was up before she was. She cast a glance behind her, and saw that Taraketh had landed on Gill. On seeing himself touching the sahagin, he scowled and quickly began to climb off, finally free to move again. Without waiting for Dael, he quickly went to the sack to get his own weapon out. As for Quaren…he had landed on Heck, and had been well cushioned from impact. Compared to the gigas, he was like a large stuffed toy sitting against him. As soon as Heck came to, he snarled at Quaren and practically pushed the young man off of him. Paling, and seeming to realize his situation for the first time, Quaren quickly got up. Dael did as well, but not before Cryder called out behind him to the rest of the scrambled pirates behind them.

"Get them out of here! The next shot to this bulkhead'll cook us all!" After that, he quickly turned back to the radio and got on it again. "Tay…this corridor's getting a wee bit cramped, so I'm going to have to cut you off. Keep manning the battle stations. I'll take care of the broadsides. Just be ready to fire the moment they're open. We'll only get one clean shot."

_"Yes sir."_

Cryder shut off the radio afterward and turned back to the others. He quickly began to advance on them. As he did, he shot out a hand and pointed. "Heck…Gill…you two are with me."

The two pirates slowly clambored back to their feet and looked to him as he neared. "What are we going to do, captain?" Heck asked.

"What do you think? We're going to hit them with the broadsides."

Gill himself blinked. "But…controls are down…"

"We can still hit the manual ones on top of the deck."

Both pirates seemed to pale a bit at that, despite being so monstrous. Cryder picked up on this. As a result, while the rest of the lower ranking pirates grabbed onto their comrades and began to drag them out of the corridor, he crossed his arms and looked at the two. For a brief moment, a fire in his eyes that belied ferocity rather than mirth came forth. "…Do you have a problem with that?"

Heck and Gill hesitated only a moment longer, before both stood upright. "No problem, sir." Gill finally responded.

"Good." Cryder answered, immediately easing up a bit again. "Then let's hurry to the upper deck before any more of the _Gungnir _gets broken up…"

"Wait." Dael suddenly found herself saying.

Cryder and the two other pirates paused. They had turned to get moving again, but now stopped in midstep and looked back to Dael. They weren't alone, however. Taraketh and Crain, both of who were standing again, now turned and looked to her. The young woman had changed a bit. Now that she was in a combat situation, she was putting on more of her official "Hawk mode" of thinking and acting. The truth was, much of what was going on was starting to remind her of some of her simulations from the Academy. And as such, she was starting to think more about what was the best course of action. However, Cryder appeared that he didn't want to waste much time with her. He waved a hand in her direction.

"If the lot of you are looking for something to do, then try manning some of the smaller artillery. Tell 'em I sent you. God knows we've already lost most of the crew that could be manning those guns…"

"Small artillery isn't going to do anything against that battleship." Dael flatly answered. "I heard what you said. You can't get them with the main guns, but you have hidden broadsides?"

"Cap'n, we don't have time for this jinx…" Heck began to speak.

He was cut off by a hand from Cryder, once again seeming to be able to master those around him with just a gesture. He looked more intently at Dael. "Yes, we do."

"Do you think it's enough to disable their ship?"

Cryder gave a bit of a shrug. "Don't know. But it's our trump card at the moment. I guarantee they'll feel it at least, but depending on how much damage they've done to us already and how much they can still do, I'm not sure."

Dael paused a moment. She looked to the two pirates assisting Cryder, then back to the captain. After a moment, she gave a nod.

"Alright then." She stated at last. "Let us assist you instead of those two."

There was mutual surprise all around. Heck and Gill were taken aback, but then looked rather upset and insulted at that statement. Taraketh himself snapped to Dael in surprise. Quaren himself went wide-eyed. A chorus of voices soon bombarded her.

"What the-? You expect us to-"

"Who are you, you jinx, to order us-"

"I wouldn't risk my life for these-"

"Dael aren't you being a little-"

Through it all, however, only one man remained calm: Cryder. He stared on at Dael without much reaction. And eventually, he cut off both sides as he began to speak over them in a loud, but equally calm voice.

"And how do you figure I'd be acting smarter by doing that?"

"We're all fighters, for one thing, so there's not much loss there." Dael responded. "Your men seem to be your closest officers. The survivors on board need them handling things here." She gestured to Heck and Gill one after the other, respectively. "He's too big and he's too slow on land. We can move faster and make harder targets. Finally, I can create a barrier around us. It won't stop the bullets all together, but it should deflect some of them at least and lessen their impact."

"You little-" Heck began to protest.

"Captain!" Gill protested, gritting his teeth and pointing at them. "Are you really going to rely on these lubbers over your own mates?"

Cryder was silent momentarily. He mused for just a second over Dael's words. After that, however, he turned back to Gill. "…Somehow we got out of that firefight without anything besides a few scratches, and we were in the front line. I may hold to luck, but I know we aren't that lucky."

Gill began to look insulted. "Captain…"

"And she's got a point, Gill." Cryder responded. "There isn't a better boatswain other than you on board. And I know the crew is probably reeling after what just happened and now that we're in the middle of a fight. And Heck…I know you can squeeze more out of a swabbie than I can."

Both pirates hesitated at that. They didn't protest again. Dael noticed this and soon realized this captain was smarter than just some criminal. He knew how to appeal to people just like an officer would in order to help them keep their emotions in check and make good decisions. No wonder he had been so hard to get by… This was a talent only the best officers possessed.

However, Taraketh soon interjected.

"They were going to sell us into slavery…and now you want to risk your life for them?" He outburst. "This is insane!"

"We're now all on the same boat…literally." Dael simply responded, again taking the air of an officer. "You don't have the assist if you don't want to. I only have the authority to tell the private what to do. But if this ship goes down, we go down with it. I'm not eager to drown today or any other day. And I know I'm better suited for this job, especially if they're getting ready to deploy what I think they're doing via standard Sybenian tactics."

Taraketh hesitated momentarily. He frowned and scowled at Gill and Heck, and glared angrily at Cryder. Finally, giving a sigh of exasperation, he relented, bowing his head. Quaren himself looked uncomfortable about giving much help, but he understood far better than Taraketh. They were indeed all in this together now, whether they liked it or not. He merely grasped his rifle more tightly and looked up to Cryder. Dael herself turned back to him. The pirate captain, on seeing that they were all on board, gave a nod.

"Alright then. Follow me. We can't exit this bulkhead anymore so let's get to one that's still open."

He immediately pushed forward, through the group and through his own men, of which only Heck and Gill were left behind by now, and quickly rushed down the corridor. The move was so fast Dael actually had to hurry in order to catch up, and soon pushed by the two pirates as well after him. Taraketh sighed and reluctantly followed her, leaving Quaren to give a nervous look to the two pirates glaring at him before following as well. Gill and Heck soon ran off to do their own tasks, but Dael didn't see them. She was already turning down another corridor before that happened.

As Dael ran, the ship continued to rock from another impact of a deck gun every once in a while. She heard gunfire echo from outside, both small arms as well as artillery. The two ships were locked in a firefight, but all of the large explosions were ones that hit the ship, making it rock a bit more violently each time. The shudders were so severe that the pirate vessel was buckling more than once. However, she noticed that even when firepower wasn't going off, the ship was continuing to rock more and more. It had to be due to the increasing power of the storm outside. It was getting rougher all the time. It wouldn't be long before they would have to pause to regain their footing just from that. At any rate, they ran by a few pirates along the way, and some were surprised to see the three prisoners freed, but none of them dropped their duties once Cryder shot them a look. They all went back to work.

The four moved through a few corridors for a few moments, before they finally began to approach another bulkhead. Dael had been keeping track of their direction even as they had gone through the twists and turns of the corridors, and she knew that they were now on the side of the tower rather than directly across from the pathway leading over the deck. Cryder quickly went up to the bulkhead and began to undo it. The others were forced to stop at a distance at this point, and by now they were somewhat buckling themselves.

Quaren let out an observation as they reached it. "I think they've stopped firing so much…"

"Saving ammunition…" Cryder let out with a grumble as he gave the hatch a turn. "The sea's so choppy by now that they can't even land a straight shot from this angle." He turned his head over to Dael. "So just what are their 'standard procedures' in this case? I raid a few Sybenian vessels, but I'm never foolish enough to take a battleship…at least, not before today."

"They'll probably try to deploy more people on board, since they already have some on deck." Dael responded. "They'll try to take the ship from here. That's why they've been focusing most of the fire on the bridge instead of the deck. Next, they'll probably deploy a Death Lotus."

The hatch finished turning, but Cryder paused and looked back to Dael. "…Do I even want to know?"

"It's a automated stationary security device." Dael responded. "If they deploy one, we'll have to stay close to their own soldiers until we can do something about it. Otherwise it'll target us automatically. They're programmed not to shoot their own men and currently their margin for error is rather robust, so we'll be able to hold it so long as we stay near some of their troops."

"Alright." Cryder answered, his own tone signifying he was ready. "In that case, lass, put one of those shields of yours around us and everyone else, head toward the third hub on the edge of the deck to your left. We're going around the tower to get to it…" He pointed toward the front of the ship. "Thataway."

Dael, Quaren, and, to a more reluctant degree, Taraketh hoisted their weapons and made ready. Cryder hesitated only a moment longer, but then forced the bulkhead open and rushed out. Dael quickly poured out behind them onto the deck of the ship.

The noise struck her first. The sky was rumbling fiercely now, with large crashing sounds every time lightning struck, which was frequent. Ice cold rain pelted her, and the deck was already saturated, making it extra slippery. It didn't help that the railing over the edge was only about two feet away from her at first. She was rather wet long before she reached the edge of the tower that led back to the bridge, but she kept on anyway, struggling to maintain her balance both from the slippery floor as well as the constant rolling and pitching of the ship. However, as she got closer, a bigger threat to her became the sounds of gunfire and small artillery fire. Immediately, she chanted out her now-familiar arcane words. Right before Cryder rounded the edge, a shell of white light briefly appeared around all of them, and then vanished once again.

A moment later, Cryder broke around the edge. Dael quickly followed afterward, and saw what was going on. To her relief, there only seemed to be a few more people on board. The sea was far too choppy, and only one or two lines had managed to shoot over from the other vessel. A third one was in the midst of breaking. At the most, there were only five additional soldiers on deck. Unfortunately, most of the ones that were there when they left were still there. It seemed as if a few had fallen, but apparently their own ship's artillery had destroyed their own gun emplacements since then to make sure the deck was clear. Dael only counted two weapons still firing at the enemy. Besides, there was more than the battleship out there. A few of the smaller boats were firing on the pirate vessel as well, swarming around it like a flock of buzzards. Luckily, they seemed to be low enough to the water surface to not present too much of a threat, and the sea was so rough that all of their shots were wild. In fact, some of them seemed to be moving away now, trying to get clear from the storm. Those ones appeared to have been struck by smaller artillery and were now in danger of sinking combined with the storm. Indeed, the sky was the worst of all here…turning darker all the time and actually affecting vision at this point.

However, Cryder didn't hesitate. He charged right out for the hub that he mentioned before. The two guns tried to give him cover fire, but there was a good thirty Sybenian Hounds on deck and they apparently knew how to fight back even in a hot zone, and they were returning fire. As a result, Cryder soon swept his hand again. The water on deck, of which there was quite a bit, quickly massed together and formed a sizable mound, which rippled across the deck like a flan monster and bowled over the nearest shooters. As Cryder did this, Dael quickly reached into her belt for a new shell, this time a Darkness bullet. Even as she quickly loaded it into the mage gun with a rapid movement, she heard loud gunshots from behind her. Quaren, while running forward, was already taking shots at the enemy. And despite being in motion, on a slippery deck, and rolling from side to side…he was doing well. Dael noticed one after another fall as they charged forward.

Of course, that didn't stop the gunfire all together in spite of these attacks. A few still shot for them. Quickly, the four ducked as they kept moving in, and they were able to thank some of the pitching and rolling of the ship for defending them from incoming fire. Even so, Dael felt a few more of the bullets glance off of them in several places. A few of them stung. However, the Hounds seemed to realize fairly quickly that straight shooting wasn't the way to go. With sounds of sharp metal, she soon saw four more individuals bust through the line and start charging straight for them. These ones were completely enclosed in thick, padded armor and wielded glaives from both hands. She realized it was the Sybenian equivalent of a blader, and if these were real Hounds and not just shock troops, this wouldn't be so easily. This was soon confirmed as Cryder, while still running for the hub, moved his wave over to one…only to have him nimbly jump over it. Quaren fired at another, only to have him deflect the bullet with his own sword.

As they began to aim their blades and draw near, Dael and Cryder alike paused momentarily and drew their own swords. They didn't lose much. After all, the enemy wasn't going to fight back while they were so close to allies. The gunfire ceased as the bladers neared. As they got within range, Taraketh finally reacted. His kusarigama shot out, sickle-end first, straight for the nearest one. The blader merely extended a glave and batted it away…or, at least he thought he did. In doing so, Taraketh rapidly snapped his weapon back, hooking the glaive and giving it a tug to yank the soldier off balance and forward. Not giving him a chance to react, Taraketh swung his hammer end forward and smashed him in the middle of his visored helmet, knocking him clean off his feet and down for the count.

The others were on them a moment later. At first, Dael could only worry about her own. Quickly bringing her sword up, she deflected two rapid thrusts for her side, one after another. The blader was skilled and nimble despite the armor, and quickly spun around and began to slash down on Dael repeatedly. Dael quickly guarded against each one, feeling the weight and power behind the blow. However, it was the speed that caught her more off guard than anything. This wasn't a typical soldier, and so she was somewhat ill prepared. It caught her off again a moment later when she managed to catch one blade and twist it to the side, only to have to shoot her head back to avoid a slice to the throat. She removed her blade to deflect that upward only to have to avoid another thrust to the middle.

By that point, however, she had enough. As the man dove his blade forward again, she applied a little of her super speed to dash to one side and then bring her sword quickly down…slicing at the top of his hand. Combined with her power, the sword went right through the glaive, snapping it off, and drawing blood from his hand. Underneath the helmet, she heard a cry of pain, but she was impressed when the man tried slicing at her with the other glaive instead. He managed to keep that much of his focus, at least. However, it was too late for him. Dael quickly reared back and lashed out with a foot to strike him in the wrist, knocking his arm aside, and then sliced him across the torso, easily cutting through the armor. He went down a moment later.

She quickly looked to the others. Cryder, having no super strength or speed, was having to hold off his opponent the old fashioned way, and had adopted something of a fencing style with his own weapon to keep him at bay. Quaren, however, had been assaulted by the blader, and wasn't doing nearly so well. His first overhead chop had to be blocked by the rifle, and had it been made of weaker stuff it would now be cleaved in half. The blader was still moving in, trying to stab him. Quaren's only defense was to shoot forward first and pin both of the man's arms against him, but not being as strong as him, the blader was now forcing him back and down. Realizing he needed her help more than anyone else, and seeing Taraketh yank his weapon back only to swing it around and lash out for the nearest gunner, she quickly rushed to his aid.

The blader managed to see him coming, but it didn't matter. She brought her sword down immediately. He tried to block it with his own blade, but her weapon quickly wrenched his arm to the side. This gave Quaren enough leverage to kick out and strike him in a vital area. The weakening result allowed Dael to swing her sword down more and bend the blader's wrist until she heard a crack, and as the soldier tried to recover, Quaren pulled his rifle away long enough to shove it forward and bash him in the throat. Gagging beneath his helmet, he staggered back, and Quaren quickly smashed his rifle butt against his head one more time to drop him. The second he fell, Dael, already on the move, looked to the crowd of gunners. Seeing three of their number down, they were ready to shoot again, but they never got the chance. Dael quickly yanked up her Mage Gun and fired into the crowd. Moments later, a thick cloud of blackness erupted over the Hounds, and they began to yell and curse as they staggered back, each one stricken blind by a magical ailment.

Dael knew that it wouldn't last but a few moments, so she quickly holstered her weapon again and spun to Cryder. The pirate parried a few more strikes from his opponent. Dael, honestly, was impressed. He had more skill than just geomancy, it seemed. He was quite deft of blade. She bet he could have held her back if he had wanted to. At any rate, Cryder abruptly ducked under one slash and sidestepped another before bringing his cutlass down to cleave into the muscle of one arm of his opponent. Apparently, he sliced a tendon, because the man's arm faltered. Cryder quickly spun inward and delivered a second slash…and this time the soldier went down. By now, most of the enemy was struggling desperately to see what was happening, but none of them risked firing blind, not realizing that there were no more friendlies to hit. Cryder himself wiped his blade and sheathed it, and quickly rushed over the rest of the way to the hub. On arriving at it, he quickly bent down and began to reach into his pocket for special keys. Meanwhile, the others quickly rushed up behind him, starting with Dael. Quaren, meanwhile, recovered and reloaded his weapon, and Taraketh, as he advanced, didn't let the nearest enemy recover, but quickly swung out with his kusarigama hammer and began to knock more of them out one after another.

"How much time to get the broadsides open?" Dael asked on arrival.

Cryder got out his keys a moment later and quickly went to work. The keys themselves seemed to unlock four bolts on a panel, more like a socket wrench than a key. However, he quickly got to work with them, not slipping once as he inserted the key and undid each one. In no time at all, two were already off.

"A minute or two, once I get this panel off." Cryder responded as he kept working. "How long will that trick you just used work?"

"About that long." Dael responded, quickly opening up her gun and going for another shell. "Depends on the mental fortitude. It's not actual blindness so much as a mental condition of blindness. Some people resist it more than others."

"I can pick off anyone who goes for their weapon early." Taraketh responded as he broadsided another against the side of the head with the kusarigama.

"Same here." Quaren responded as he finished reloading the first bullet.

Dael looked around a bit. As she did, she shifted on her feet slightly. It wasn't an involuntary action…the boat deck was simply rocking so much that she could no longer keep her footing that easily. Quaren and Taraketh, and even their blinded enemies, soon did the same. She couldn't believe that Cryder was still staying solid on his own two feet as he got off the third bolt and went to the fourth, not even having to hold still to aim for them. Dael looked back out and two the sea. Despite the blackness of the ocean, lightning was crashing everywhere and she could see not one or two but three waterspouts at a distance, all rather larger, while the seas grew rougher and rougher. Large waves were striking the side of the ship now, and the cold rain as well as sea spray continuously hit her. Nevertheless, there was a silver lining to all of this. Maybe it meant it was too rough for…

Dael didn't get to finish that thought, as she suddenly heard something like a rocket fire off from the enemy battleship. She, Quaren, and Taraketh quickly turned their heads to look to the source, and were just in time to see a flurry of smoke and fire erupt from one of the missile bays of the deck. A sizeable rocket erupted from the top of it and made a slow arc through the air, rather like it was lobbed rather than actually fired. There was some thrust that came out of it, but it had barely managed to leave the deck of the enemy destroyer before the thrusters immediately broke off. The large rocket formed a great U almost in the air as it sailed overhead and came down again head first on the opposite side, sailing down to land head-first on the deck of the _Gungnir_, just as Cryder got off the last bolt and the panel clattered to the ground. Quaren and Taraketh both braced themselves, expecting an explosion. Yet as the last thruster clattered to the ground, Dael knew better. Instead, she simply let out a long sigh and began to tense up. This was exactly what she feared.

It wasn't hard to see where it got its name. Moments before impact, the rocket's front seemed to erupt into some sort of pillow. Only it wasn't cushioning. It was some sort of heavy paste/foam deal that instantly formed an adhesive surface stronger than welded steel, and as soon as it attached to the deck with a smacking noise, other arms projected from the side and slammed down against the deck to act as supports. In an instant, they shoved the rocket erect into the air, forming a shaft protruding from the deck. Moments later, the end of it in the air fanned out and produced some sort of radial array. Dael knew what it was…an infrared scanner as well as a receiver of radio signals.

Cryder had just gotten to work with the hub, beginning to pull out one of the circuit panels. However, before he could go any further, Dael snapped to him and gave a yell.

"Everyone, move over to the enemy!"

Taraketh looked to her in surprise. "What are you-"

"Remember what I told you and don't argue!" Dael shouted back. "Just move!"

However, it was already starting. Abruptly, eight different "petals" unfolded from the central "stalk" of this device, revealing eight different miniguns. The petals rotated and immediately swiveled so that two of them were trained right on the four of them. Seeing this, even Taraketh's eyes widened a bit. Cryder looked and saw, and immediately dropped what he was doing before sweeping his hand at the machine. In response, the wave on deck lashed over and smashed into it…but that did next to nothing as the miniguns immediately opened fire.

Dael literally seized Quaren by the back of the shirt and dragged him to the side as she dashed for the enemy line, knowing he was the slowest of all of them. Cryder and Taraketh immediately did so as well as the metal where they stood was ripped apart by the powerful guns. They didn't stop but soon followed after them. Luckily they were a bit slow, but that didn't mean Dael didn't stop running or dragging Quaren. Unfortunately, they couldn't get clear quickly, as Taraketh had knocked out most of the nearest enemy units. They had to keep charging into the line until they were a considerable distance from the hub, and then had to leap and dodge behind barricades that the enemy had made. It was a good thing they were blinded, or this never would have worked. As they grew near, the Hounds started to hear them come. Dael, however, quickly released Quaren, smashed the nearest one in the face who was preparing to fire, and then quickly ducked behind a large metal crate he was using as a shield along with the private. Cryder and Taraketh quickly knocked out too more before going behind two other separate barricades. Only then did the gunfire cut off.

However, as soon as it did, over the rapidly worsening storm, Dael hear more voices from all around her.

"They're here!"

"They're right next to us!"

"Someone shoot them!"

"I still can't see!"

"I can! My eyes are-"

A rifle bullet rang out at that, and Quaren quickly ejected a spent cartridge. However, the noise alerted two more soldiers, who quickly turned to the source of the noise. They were about to fire blind, when Taraketh quickly shot out with his kusarigama hammer in an arc and broadsided both alongside the head, knocking them out.

Dael sighed in a bit of relief, but then frowned and looked forward again. The Death Lotus had mercifully not damaged the hub, but back here they couldn't do much. It stood rather close to it now, and springing out and attacking wasn't that good of an option. Dael had loaded another Fira shell into her Mage Gun, but she wasn't sure it had enough pop in it to melt the base of the Death Lotus and make it fall. However, they had to do something soon. The eyes of the enemy were clearing rapidly, and soon they'd be easy pickings for them in between being stuck behind their line and having the Death Lotus on the other side. There wasn't much time to plan. They'd have to do something.

"Hey!"

Dael turned her head over to the side, and soon found herself looking at Cryder. He was still hunched over the soldier he had knocked out, and seemed to be dragging him back up. He no doubt intended on yelling in a whisper, but the fact of the matter was the storm was getting so loud had had to talk fairly normally, and the enemy still didn't hear him.

"Can you keep that thing occupied long enough for me to finish?"

"Hopefully we can do more than that." Dael answered as she shoved her Mage Gun back in her holster and tightened her hand on her grip. "Work fast." She turned her head to Quaren next. "Does he have a smoke grenade on him?"

Quaren blinked a moment, but then, without a word, quickly looked over the fallen soldier. It took him a few precious moments, during which Taraketh had to knock out two more enemy units who got their sight back. Time was definitely not with them. If they couldn't take out the Death Lotus fast enough, they'd have to deal with an attack from both sides. Finally, Quaren managed to unclip one from the Hound's belt, and held it up to Dael.

"Put that in that sensor on top of it." Dael stated. "It should buy us a few seconds."

Quaren nodded. Moments later, he pulled the pin on the grenade, and as soon as it began to fountain out thick smoke, he lobbed it across the battlefield. In spite of the wind, the rain, and the lightning and thunder crashing, the hit was perfect. It went right into the cup on top of the Death Lotus and toppled inside. Soon after, thick smoke began to billow over it. Dael only waited until quite a large amount was fountaining over the sides before springing from her place and beginning to charge. Quaren quickly did the same. Cryder, on his part, dragged up the unconscious body of the soldier and brought him along with him as he rushed back, so naturally he was rather slow. Finally, Taraketh, seeing he was being left behind, got up and quickly began to run as well.

The Death Lotus turned in their direction, but it didn't stay there. It went right and left, trying to find them, it seemed. The reason was plain. The thick smoke was clouding its senses. It keyed in on heat, and it couldn't see through the thick smoke from this close range. Had this been a sunny day, it might have lasted long enough for them to stop it completely. But the rain was making the smoke dissipate quickly. Already, the barrels of the guns seemed to aim more intently at them.

"What's the plan?" Taraketh called out. "We surround it when it starts tracking us again?"

"That won't do any good." Dael responded. "It can shoot in eight directions and rotate its two sets of gun barrels independently."

The gun barrels in question began to shift less and less, starting to zero in on the three of them. Even as it did so, the smoke began to die out completely.

"So what do we do?" Taraketh scowled. "Get shot apart?"

"What _you_ do is follow me like my own shadow…starting now!" Dael called out.

Immediately, Dael looked up to the gun barrels and slowed. She adjusted herself just slightly, but then came to a halt right at a certain area at a certain distance from the gun barrels. Taraketh and Quaren alike both slowed, and stared in surprise. Even as they did, Dael began to get her sword at the ready.

"Commander, what're you-"

"I said stick to me!" Dael cut Quaren off. "Now!"

The two hesitated only a bit longer, but then they moved in behind her. Even grudgingly Taraketh did it. Moments later, the barrels stopped moving. They both zeroed in on the three of them. However, as they began to turn, Dael quickly shifted just a bit to the left, her eyes focusing on the barrels as she did so. Luckily…they did just as she wanted. Both of them moved in turn with her, and began to fire. But before they could, she began to run around the Death Lotus at full speed. The others followed on her heels, as the gunfire ripped up the area behind them, trying to catch them. However, it didn't, and their movement managed to keep its attention. As she looked while running around, Cryder managed to get back to the hub and start to work again, using the unconscious soldier as a "shield".

Dael's timing had been perfect. Normally, the two sets of gun barrels rotated in opposite directions to prevent an enemy from doing what she had just done…run in between the gunfire. However, she had managed to lure it in just such a way that the AI that controlled the barrels thought it was easier to try and rotate the gun barrels directly to her rather than cut her off. It was a pretty narrow margin, but it was enough to stay in the clear, so long as she maintained this relative position. However, she knew that these systems had auto-corrective guidance for if it wasn't working as it intended. That meant she only had a few moments…

Quickly, Dael acted. She wasn't sure how well this would work, but she had to try. She had to run a bit farther, however. The deck was rocking too much at this point to keep her footing that carefully, and it was getting so slippery that she or the others could fall on their face at any moment and be dead meat. However, finally she felt confident enough to move. She shifted her grip down to the handle of her blade, snapped her arm back, and then flung it straight like a dart for the lower set of "petals" on the Death Lotus. Luckily, the sword was very well made, and her strength and accuracy was perfect. It slid right into a joint and embedded itself all the way to the hilt. Sparks and smoke soon arose from it, but the petals were locked in place. The guns ineffectually tried to shoot forward, but to no avail.

However, this, at least momentarily, made things worse. True, the bottom petal were immobilized, but the top one was still free to rotate, and continued to rotate after them. With the other set of petals immobilized, that meant that the top run could force them into the path of gunfire of the second. To combat this, Dael quickly led the others in a rather crazy path…straight for the Death Lotus. It was the only way to avoid being caught by the immobilized guns. Again, reckless as it seemed, it worked. The minigun petals tried to follow them downward, but they were too fast. That didn't stop it from trying, however. It fired intensely as low as it could go, and the lower set of petals struggled fiercely against Dael's sword, trying to get through.

Seeing this, Dael called out again. "Taraketh! See if you can't immobilize those upper guns for just a second! Quaren, cover him!"

She didn't know if the high child gave her a look for that, due to it being so dark out at this point that she couldn't see that well and not looking at him, but frankly she didn't care so long as he did it. At any rate, Quaren went to work. Even as he charged forward, he began to fire repeatedly at the upper petals. Again, he showed how much of a deadshot he was when he wanted to be, as each of his shots struck the sensor array in just such a way to deflect it upward and ruin the aim of the minigun petals. In doing so, he carved out a window of opportunity for Taraketh to quickly dash forward. Immediately, one chain of his kusarigama came out and began to swing around in a circle. As the gun continued to try and shoot the three of them, unable to bring its other gun into place, Taraketh dashed past, shooting out with the chain as he did. Soon after, the chain wrapped around the firing gun barrel and tightened up. Not stopping there, Taraketh quickly shot past and pulled the line taut. The deck was still pitching and was rather slippery when he reached the other side, but Taraketh simply slid a bit but held his footing.

Dael herself looked up to the gun barrel. Now it was pulled permanently to the side. It continued to fire momentarily, but then struggled to break the chain and go back to Dael and Quaren. It couldn't succeed however, and cut off firing. Taraketh grit his teeth and held as best as he could, but it was obvious he was straining, especially since the deck was so slippery. If not for his own super strength, he'd never hold it. Luckily, the AI was too stupid to target him, or he would have easily been pegged off when the gun rotated to face him and fired. As it was, it kept trying to shoot at two targets rather than one.

Dael quickly reached to her side. As she grasped the end of her Mage Gun…another powerful jolt struck the side of the ship. The wind seemed to grow more violent and fierce at the same time, starting to sting them with the rain. An impact tremor nearly shook her too her feet, and she stumbled and flailed on the deck, nearly going into the path of fire. She recovered right before doing so. She stabilized herself and looked out, and she saw a flash of light and a column of smoke from the side. The enemy had fired on them with the guns again. Now they were shooting the upper deck. However, the shot was far and outside. A smoldering crater was in the top of the deck, but they hadn't even been close enough to be hit with shrapnel. The deck was buckling and rolling more than ever, and she realized it was only because of the raging sea that they were so inaccurate. However, she quickly gained her bearings, and looked forward again. Without any more hesitation, she pulled the Mage Gun from her holster and ran forward.

The gun barrels continued to try and break free from how Dael and Taraketh's efforts had pinned them, and even fired a few ineffectual shots in an attempt to do so. However, none of it availed it anything. It buckled a bit, but its restraints held firm. Moments later, Dael managed to run right up next to it. Pointing the barrel of her Mage Gun down at the base, she squeezed the trigger and fired a point blank Fira bullet right at where it was stuck.

Immediately, an intense burning light much stronger than any signal flare erupted on deck of the ship. Dael had to scramble back as soon as she fired, which wasn't easy due to the slippery nature of the deck and the constant rocking. The adhesive substance that had anchored the Death Lotus to the deck was top of the line…a marvel in chemical engineering. It was supposed to handle all sorts of battlefield temperatures, even napalm. But that didn't change the fact that it couldn't hold a candle next to raw, intense heat like this. The magical flame burned so intense that it not only began to melt and incinerate the hardened chemical, it began to turn the post itself into slag. It eroded it like fire to paper.

It wasn't enough to melt all the way through, but it hardly mattered. It melted more than halfway. Soon after the fire died out, with the metal and chemical still gleaming and hot, a large groaning came out from the machine. Suddenly, it began to tip like a tree that had been mostly cut down. It groaned further as the weight on the top became too much. It fired a few more times, but then cut off. Its AI was telling it that it was bending too much and was losing its targets. Soon after, it began to bend even more. Finally, the structure tipped over all together and slammed down on the deck, ruining four of its petals in the process. The remaining ones moved about ineffectively, struggling to get a new target or somehow right itself. However, it was useless. The AI wouldn't let it fire even if someone was right in front of it at this point.

Dael was aware of that, and as a result she quickly put her Mage Gun away and dashed up to the side of the Death Lotus. A few more smaller artillery shots shook the deck as well as the waves rocking it, but she managed to hold firm and keep running. She was getting used to it now. She soon reached the machine and reached down to seize her sword. Moments later, she yanked it back out, making sure to go long as she did so and cut a huge gash into the side of it that went through both sets of petals. The rotary cuffs were severed…and the eight petals went dead, now no longer able to move. The machine might have still be active, but it was too much a risk to try and shoot now. The device was deactivated for all intensive purposes.

Dael paused for a moment to catch her breath as the rain continued to pelt her. She swept her blade around and to the side. However, that moment ended fairly shortly…as bullets began to ricochet off the area around her in loud sparks and flashes. She snapped around in surprise, and was just in time to see Taraketh lash out with his hammer and bean another gunner. However, three more were still firing. As Dael turned fully to the enemy line, she saw that they were all trying to clear their eyes now, getting ready to shoot.

"Look alive, grunt!" Taraketh called out to Dael. "We aren't in the clear yet!"

Luckily, this act spurred Quaren into action as well. Quickly, he pulled up his gun and began to fire into the enemy. After a moment, two of the shooters went down. However, more were beginning to aim. Not only that…but the three were soon rocked rather severely as smaller artillery shells burst on either side of them. Dael was nearly shaken off of her feet. One foot slipped, but she managed to slam it back down before losing her balance. Turning her head to the side, she looked across to the enemy destroyer. All of their smaller guns were turning to the upper deck. Apparently, they had made themselves enough of a nuisance to merit their full attention.

"Cryder!" Dael called out. "We need to fire now before we get blown into the sea!"

Cryder didn't answer. He merely shoved aside the man he had been using as a shield and devoted both hands to this work. Taraketh lashed out and beaned another soldier, but that was all he could do without running back into the enemy lines. His chain wouldn't get that far. He had to loosen it first, which he struggled to do now. As for Quaren, he continued to fire, but one gunner alone wasn't going to hold off all of these. Dael quickly began to reach for another shell. Yet as she did…another blast struck the deck. To her surprise, the shell went flying from her grasp and down onto the deck. She looked to it, but it was so dark and the rain was pouring so hard that by the time she located it, it was already rolling over the side. The young woman began to grow nervous.

The only good side? The wind seemed to be dying back a bit…

Finally, Cryder called out. "I've got it!"

Dael snapped her head to him. She was just in time to see him shove one circuit into another. She didn't see what happened next, but she heard it. Abruptly, all of the side panels on the _Gungnir_ slid open. The ship gave a considerable shudder as the heavy metal plating rolled open and clicked into place, sending a reverberation throughout the ship. At once, no less than six heavy artillery guns were exposed protruding from the side, just like the naval ships of old…and all of them were facing the enemy battleship. Thanks to the wind dying, Dael was just able to hear the sound of the people on the deck crying out in panic and running back…right before the cannons fired in unison on the enemy ship.

The force of the explosion was too much. Dael, Taraketh, Quaren, Cryder, and all of the enemy units were thrown down to the deck of the ship from the force of the blasts. Blinding fiery lights erupted into the dark, rainy skies as a wall of flame went up across the starboard of the enemy battleship. A rush of noise far louder and more intense than any of the thunder raged through the dark, stormy skies. Dael was forced to close her eyes, so she didn't see the eruption of debris come forth from the enemy ship, although she soon heard several large pieces of shrapnel fall on deck. She held back until the wave had totally passed over the ship, but then cracked open her eyes and looked out through the stinging rain.

Unable to see anything at first, Dael quickly began to get up instead, moving into a squat. Luckily the wind was subsiding, allowing her to do so with more ease despite the rocking ship. As she leaned up, and her viewpoint moved over the railing, she began to see it. Cryder hadn't been joking about the broadsides. They were indeed an effective "ace in the hole". Several large gashes had been ripped into the side of the enemy destroyer. From this close range, the ship had been gouged out terribly. Large pieces of twisted metal and openings lined the entire craft all the way alongside it. She could see the inner guts of the ship all along the way. The waves had gone down a bit now, but they were still more than high enough to start throwing water into the enemy vessel. Not only that, but it was now buckling considerably. That last hit had taken a lot out of it.

The smaller artillery continued to fire for a moment or so longer, but then cut off. The main deck guns stopped swiveling. Dael realized the reason. They were in the midst of a storm and now severly hit. Even if they could keep the ship afloat under normal circumstances, there was no shrugging off what had just happened to it. The storm would fill it to the brim with water if they stayed here. They had just had to seriously reevaluate their priorities. No doubt, anyone who was currently occupied manning artillery had changed targets and moved on to trying to get the pumps working and otherwise keep the ship afloat.

At first, Dael thought that Cryder may have been seriously hit. He was closest to the blast and lying on his back. However, after a moment, he let out a grunt, now audible, and began to roll himself up back onto his rear end once again. Taraketh, on his part, was already standing up. Quaren was following, albeit more slowly. Realizing they were all open targets, Dael turned her head to the side. The Hounds themselves were quickly picking themselves up as well, but they weren't even trying to get parting shots. Instead, they quickly ran back over to the side of the ship, trying to get across on the lines. Unfortunately for them, they had been severed after the artillery barrage. They were stuck on board the deck. At least, that's what Dael could tell. The battleship was fountaining out so much black smoke that it was obscuring most of her view in that direction.

However, she did hear something. It was starting off small…but it sounded massive. It had to be some sort of immense machine, like an old train engine. She figured it had to be the engines of the destroyer, or some sort of large pumping mechanism. If it was a new weapon, she didn't want to be around long enough to find out.

Dael turned and looked over to Quaren, then ran over and began to help him up. It was a bit hard with the slippery footing, but soon he was on his feet. Taraketh merely looked at Cryder, although he seemed to also cast frequently glances to the smoke cloud. The rain was beginning to slacken too. Dael was puzzled. Were they that close to the eye of the storm already? She had thought it was just getting started.

"You alright?" She asked Quaren.

"I think I singed my eyebrows a bit, but I'm alright…" Quaren spoke somewhat hesitantly. He looked around a bit, and soon saw the Hounds. By now, some of them were actually trying to jump over to the other ship. The first one succeeded…the second one, not so much. The rain continued to slacken…although the air grew colder yet. The roar continued to grow.

Quaren let out a snort.

"Look at them…I thought they were braver than that. I almost thought even that blast wouldn't drive them off."

"Well, I guess we have the edge on them then." Dael idly answered. "I guess Esthar's Hawks still have them beat in terms of bravery…"

"Or stupidity…"

Both Dael and Quaren turned to Taraketh when he said that. However, the High Child was now looking rather uneasy and not simply frowning. He was looking past the smoke and had seen something that seemed to make him rather nervous. Quaren didn't immediately pick up on it, but Dael could tell something was wrong. Meanwhile, the roar grew louder yet…and now the wind seemed to start to pick up again. Only this time, it seemed to be blowing in the opposite direction. Around this time, Dael slowly began to realize something.

That noise was not only growing louder quickly…and it wasn't coming from the enemy battleship.

"…Get back in the ship right now if you want to live."

Dael and Quaren again turned and looked, but this time they had spotted Cryder. The pirate captain had no sooner gotten up than he turned and began to dash back toward the main tower of the ship. Taraketh quickly turned and followed after him, for once not seeming to mind running after the pirate captain. Dael, however, turned and risked a look back at the smoke, trying to see through it one more time as the noise now began to grow louder than all of the thunder and rain had before now…

Soon, she saw it…for the wind was picking up severely now, and at the moment she saw the smoke being drawn back and drained out of the area. As she looked, she finally saw the source beyond the smoke. Indeed…it was getting to be hard to miss even with the smoke. A waterspout…larger around than a skyscraper, thrashing about the waves like the finger of a god slowly digging into the ocean…was coming for the two ships. It wasn't going to hit head on, but it hardly mattered. Both of them were going to be consumed utterly by it.

Dael was overwhelmed. How had it formed so quickly? Or had it grown to monstrous proportions in the short interim in the battle? She didn't know. All she knew was her clothing was beginning to get drawn in that direction, the wind was growing deafening, the roar sounding like it would split eardrums soon, and that the power of that waterspout would rip everyone on this desk to shreds if they made contact with a piece of metal. And based on its speed…they had only seconds before both ships would be consumed…

Quickly, the woman turned. She called out to Quaren to run, but her voice didn't carry over the din. It was already too loud. Instead, she seized him and began to drag him along in the same direction Taraketh and Cryder were going. She wasn't sure if they could do much better in the ship, but it was better than standing out there. As she did, the large, howling waterspout drew closer, seeming to pick up more speed and intensity, although it might have just been it growing closer. Dael still had considerable distance to go before she reached the tower when she saw the waterspout strike the enemy battleship. The antennas were immediately ripped off. The missile bays began to be twisted the wrong way, as did the deck guns. Huge waves of water began to wash over the ship. For a moment, it looked as if the ship had submerged with the amount of water being blasted over it. The crew on the deck was immediately flung to the four winds…

Dael didn't look any more. She turned fully ahead as the roar grew louder and louder…making her feel so small and insignificant compared to the raw power of nature. Their little battle seemed so inconsequential compared to the ferocity of this storm. She began to feel water sting her again that was flung at her, feeling the spray of the waves as well as the wind, when she finally crossed behind the tower with the others. She shot one last glance behind her…and saw the waves consume more than half of the Hounds on deck. A few had finally decided to swallow their pride and were running to the tower, but they'd never make it now.

The young officer turned fully ahead as she was forced to halt, looking ahead to Cryder and past the others as he reached the bulkhead. He seized the hatch and began to turn…but it didn't budge. He grit his teeth and put more effort into it, but still it wouldn't turn. He shouted out something to the three of them…but it was lost over the roar…

Perhaps it was a lockdown situation that was automatic… Perhaps some of the artillery fire had done it… Perhaps the hatch had just finally rusted shut at a critical moment… Dael didn't know…and she would never find out…

For at that moment, the waterspout smashed fully into the _Gungnir_ with a force unlike anything she had ever witnessed or encountered, and she was cast violently into the chaotic maelstrom and was thrown into unconsciousness…and neither she, nor any of the other witnesses present, ever saw the pirate vessel again.

* * *

><p>He winced a bit as she shifted in his seat. The fresh bruises on his arm and side still hurt rather terribly. However, he wasn't ashamed of them. He had managed to get some food out of the deal, and in the end he had gotten it away from the others competing for it. A little bit of a pounding was worth it…although he never thought it would be some rough human boys who were doing the pounding.<p>

He looked up ahead and to the distance. He preferred to eat on the outskirts of town, if he could. The air was fresher here. He didn't mind the surge in violent monsters. There were plenty of "monsters" in the city for someone like him, he had learned early on. Besides, this gave him a view outside of the smog-filled skies that constantly covered the city like a thick fog. And he had quite a view today.

Far ahead in the distance, he could see the storm coming. He remembered what the weathermen had said on the news…that this typhoon was one for the record books. He had seriously doubted that…but now, he wasn't so sure. He didn't think he had seen a storm like this in countless millennia, not since the last great evil magi created such a violent storm. Who was it again…the Emperor of Palamecia? The one who had grown so wicked and mad that he was no longer content to simply have world domination but wanted to see everyone dead? And in his madness, he summoned a hellish cyclone to devastate and kill all on the planet?

This was sort of like that. Not quite as bad…but like that.

It filled him with a sense of ominous dread. Things like this didn't happen naturally. The world had changed much, but not _that _much. Something wasn't right here. In fact…he could feel it in his gut. This storm meant something. It was an omen…a sign of things to come, or that something was beginning. He had a feeling as he looked at it brew that it held something inside of it. Just like that one ancient poem, it was some storm from the abyss that was blowing something foul and unwholesome yet prophetic his way. Somehow, this storm was going to bring a change to him. And the fact that it was this close meant it was coming soon.

_…Let it come._ He finally thought. _If it brings me closer to finding my brother, so be it._

_Seems it's time for me to step into history once again…_

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	12. Honor Amongst Thieves

_Two Days Later_

* * *

><p>"…Thirsty?"<p>

Taraketh snapped over angrily to Cryder on hearing that, giving him a hateful glare far worse than he had ever shown Dael.

"No…I'm not thirsty. You can stop asking me that. How can I be thirsty? I'm literally surrounded by water…all because of you, I might add. And if I was thirsty, I wouldn't tell you, because I'd prefer to dehydrate than continue to wait around for a Great White or Sea Adamantoise or Kraken to come out and eat us alive. And for the record…every time you ask me if I'm thirsty it's like having a guy who just broke both your legs continuously ask you if he wants a band-aid."

Cryder gave a shrug. "Suit yourself." After that, he turned his head back out to the sea once again.

Dael paused, looking at Cryder a moment, and then turned over to Taraketh. "You should eat and drink when you need to." She stated. "I'm not in the mood for being killed by any of those things if they show up."

"I don't really care what you tell me to do, grunt." Taraketh snapped back. "This is all your fault to begin with…if we had just headed back to the local shrine of the Keepers of Twilight in Garrado this never would have happened."

"Not this again…" Quaren groaned.

Dael said nothing. She turned her head away and looked back to the sea herself. She didn't feel like arguing at this point. She still had more than ample strength for it, but she didn't feel like using it up at the moment.

Unfortunately, she saw nothing new…just the same scene she had seen for the past two days…endless ocean. They were drifting, and for all she knew they were caught in the doldrums now and would be there until the day they died, which, even with Cryder's help, might be much quicker than the woman would have liked. She sighed as she realized she had come so close to Esthar, but now it might as well be on another planet. There was no way to get back to it now or call for help. She almost wondered if it would be better if the Hounds did indeed find them. Getting captured was preferable to waiting to die.

Dael didn't remember much after the waterspout hit, as both she and Quaren were knocked out initially. Cryder had somehow managed to stay conscious during the attack, and he was the one who relayed most of it despite Taraketh having managed to stay awake as well. The four managed to hold their own against most of the brunt of the waterspout, but the crashing waves that resulted from it was two much for both ships. Both of them were already taking on too much water, and the waves flooded the inner hulls. The massive weight began to break the larger _Gungnir_ in two. The enemy destroyer was already half submerged. The enemy on that ship had bailed out too quickly, when the waves were too high and the waterspout was still present. As a result, their crew and people were swept underwater and drowned as soon as they left their ship. As for the pirate vessel, Cryder had told them to hang on as soon as possible, but a wave had washed Quaren overboard and so he had to dive in after him. Not long after, Taraketh got too nervous and jumped in with the unconscious Dael.

That was the first memory Dael could remember as she was doused with cold, salty water. She saw the _Gungnir_ half-submerged in waves. She was dunked underneath repeatedly every few seconds, and between the lightning, the thunder, the waves, the waterspout, and everything else…she barely managed to put two and two together of what was going on. At some point, however, an inflatable raft came by. It wouldn't be until later that Dael would learn from Cryder that he had built the failsafe into his ship to automatically eject two dozen of those things and inflate them if it looked as if the ship was unsalvageable. At the time, she didn't question it, just climbed on. The next two hours were a blur as she, Taraketh, and Cryder were constantly bailing out the raft while being stung by rain and half-drowned by waves. Quaren eventually managed to come to and helped out, and for once Taraketh was too tired to give him any grief for "loafing".

Everyone was so tired after that episode that when the waters subsided and the typhoon began to pass after what seemed like an eternity, they all passed out in the cramped raft. It was big enough for four…but only four. When Dael woke up late the next day, she saw that they were on a calm sea, but that there wasn't a sign of anything for miles. That included the _Gungnir_ and any other rafts from either the Hounds or Cryder's own crew. Taraketh soon arose as well, followed by Quaren. Cryder was the last to get up. However, he stayed calm.

"Ah…" He said. "My maties aren't weak enough to get stopped by a little bit of wind and water. I'm sure they all made it out just fine."

Dael had noticed that Cryder forced himself to say a few of those words, and that his face nearly broke once or twice, but he managed to keep his composure. The young officer said nothing, and soon Cryder was pretty much his normal self again.

Initially, Dael had been fairly mad at Cryder herself. She still was at the moment. None of this would have happened if not for him, after all. However, seeing as she was stuck on a raft with him in the middle of nowhere that was scarcely big enough for the four of them, she wasn't about to start a fight with the only one who had any true knowledge of the sea. This was especially true because the raft had no oars or means of propulsion, no provisions, not even a signal flare. As it turned out, it was a good move to hold her anger in check, because Cryder was soon keeping them alive. Using his geomancy powers, he was not only able to separate the salt from the surrounding water and bring fresh water into the boat, but he was also able to throw fish in there. Knowing they'd have to eat them raw, however, Dael had passed on that…for the time being. She knew in a few more days even a raw fish would probably seem appetizing, and in truth her stomach was already grumbling.

"You're just lucky that I have to adhere to a code, unlike you." Taraketh complained to Cryder, giving him another glare and snapping Dael out of his thoughts. "Otherwise, I'd kill you the moment we spotted dry land."

"And you, matey, are lucky that I'm more kind-hearted than you make me out to be." Cryder calmly responded to the High Child. "Otherwise, I'd leave you lubbers to dehydrate and starve. I can go ten days without food and water. I had to once. How long can you go?"

Taraketh let out another grumble and looked out to sea. Dael, however, kept her eyes on Cryder. Her arms were crossed as she leaned back a bit on her side of the raft.

"…So why don't you?" She asked at last. "You're a pirate and an enemy of Esthar. I intend on turning you in, I hope you realize. I'm not going to let you run free to do this to someone else. I have a very low opinion of human traffickers."

Cryder hesitated on hearing that. After a moment, his face turned to something of a grimace. He leaned forward a bit and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah…'bout that…" He began. He hesitated afterward, looking down a bit.

"…I'm listening." Dael answered.

The pirate captain hesitated a moment, but then finally leaned up and let out a sigh. "I guess you lot can keep a secret…and even if you can't it doesn't really matter much now anyway… I wasn't really going to sell you to anyone."

Quaren and Taraketh both turned to him at this. The latter gave a snort. "Trying to save your neck now that there's three on one? Get a reduced sentence, pirate?"

Cryder sighed again. "I don't expect you all to believe me, but it's the truth. We…" He paused a moment, then shook his head and waved his hand again. "We…we have something of a 'scam' going, you might say."

Quaren furrowed his brow. "A scam?"

"Buddy of mine back on the Southern Continent outside of Leuco…" Cryder went on. "He's something of a warlord…" He let out a chuckle at that. "Lousiest one ever, if you get my drift. Should have stuck with piracy… Anyway, he owns this big coffee and banana plantation. What we do if we run into people who don't have anything valuable on them…we take them to him and 'sell' them to him. Usually we only make about 50,000 gil a head…pure peanuts. He makes them work the fields for free for a season and then…and then…" He sighed a bit. "He…just 'happens' to leave the door unlocked to the worker's hut one night and they all break free… They run right to the authorities in Leuco, but he gives them a kickback so they always just wink and nod." He leaned back a bit in resignation. "Basically, our 'human trafficking' is nothing more than a way to get free labor for his big plantation. It's why he's gotten so big and made such a profit. Now other pirates in the Black Corsairs…they do it for real, but I can't control them. I just talk big and bad about throwin' the ladies to my crew or selling them into that type of slavery to scare them into giving up any hidden goods."

Quaren and Taraketh were both stunned at this admission. Taraketh himself formed a strange look. "You're not actually serious, are you?"

"I think he is…" Quaren echoed.

Dael herself was beginning to look puzzled. There was no guarantee this wasn't all just lies, but somehow she thought the pirate was telling the truth. However, that didn't answer everything.

"You seemed pretty intent on selling us for a profit to Sybenia." She threw in.

Cryder sighed. "Because you were military types. Me and the military never did get along…and I'm not talkin' simply because I'm a pirate." He shifted a bit where he sat, forming a darker look.

"Geomancers are third class citizens wherever they go…or wherever they 'squat' as most governments say. Years ago, the Order of Hyne took us in with everyone else. But eventually this one Sorceress Darcon came along…said that geomancy was too uncontrollable and different from 'standard' magic to be considered true magic, and they said they wouldn't take anymore geomancers. Well…our kind had been living with the Order of Hyne for years, and now we were suddenly dumped out into the world. To all the other governments, we were still magic users, and ones of the most 'dangerous' type since even the Order apparently 'didn't want us'. So we all left to our own homes and formed our own communities. Well…the world governments finally got tired of that, especially since we weren't paying taxes or giving them any profits. And how did they deal with us?" He gave a snort here.

"Military types. They always sent in military types. No government officials…no politicians…no governors…no friendly words…just men with guns. They would want us gone but we wouldn't go. They'd cook up all this codswallop about this land that we'd lived on since our great-great-grandfathers was never really ours and want us off of it through eminent domain. We wouldn't budge. So things would get ugly. They'd round us up and throw us off by force. Or better yet. They'd run into some angry drunk who hated magic in town, wait until he said something about how one of us had attacked a child or local or something, and then use it as an excuse to clean us out. And then, where would we go? We couldn't go to work in any big cities…not with no formally recognized education or citizenship anywhere. Most of us are driven to drink or beg for money. Every time we try to find a new bit of land to settle in, some damn government sends in the military to drive us off again saying it's already their land."

A frown etched on his face as he made his hand into a fist.

"I'm an only child because when I was three some military type hit my mother in the gut with a rifle butt when she wasn't movin' fast enough for him. She was seven months pregnant at the time. Hit her so hard that she miscarried on the spot and ruptured her uterus. She was in pain the rest of her life and never able to have a child again. So yeah…I don't have a whole lot of tolerance for military types. I became a pirate because they don't have to kneel to any of these government types. And since I get my revenge on all of them together…taking stuff of theirs after they've taken so many things of mine…I don't really mind what I do."

He released his fist and let out another exhale.

"Only thing I can't stand more is people like in Sybenia. Most of world may hate geomancers, but I've got no love whatsoever for people like them…like that damned Guiding Hand. Anyway…that's why I reconsidered back on that bridge." He looked up to Dael and the others at this. "I'll tell you this much…it really does hurt to lose the _Gungnir_ like that. I put twenty years into modifying the hell out of her and giving her the best crew in the Medieval Ocean." He paused again, and bowed his head once more as he exhaled yet again. "…But so long as I took down that destroyer as well, I'd say it's an even trade."

Dael was quiet after that. She stared on at Cryder, not saying anything. Her mind did think quite a bit about all of this. Dael was a soldier. She believed in loyalty to governments and organizations. As such, she didn't have much outward sympathy for anything Cryder said. Law and order was there for a reason. People who took the law into their own hands or went outside of it only ended up causing more pain and hurt to others. And yet, as she thought about that…she did wonder just a bit. She realized she had gotten quite a few stares back at Fort Morningstar since she had gained her new powers. For the first time, she seemed to realize something. Not all of them were wholesome. Magic was more understood now than ever before and more accepted by the public at large, but that wasn't to say it was _totally_ accepted, that even in places like Esthar there was a lingering prejudice and stereotype. People always feared what they didn't understand. She was well familiar with some of the policies Cryder mentioned. None of them had taken place in her lifetime, but, to the best of her knowledge, in the past several groups of geomancers had tried opening communes in the nation of Esthar without paying taxes. As such, she felt it was justified that they were driven off. After all, that was the government's decision, and they weren't going peacefully. What else could be done? They couldn't just live there without paying their dues.

However, she now wondered a bit. If what Cryder said was the truth, if they really had been so brutal…was that really excuseable? As far as she knew, these communes had been peaceful and hadn't used guns or any other weapons besides rocks and sticks, if even that. Couldn't they have been a bit easier? And most of these communes were on the frontier, where no one wanted to live or develop anyway. Was it really such a bad thing?

…_You better stop thinking like that right now, Dael. _She told herself mentally at that. _You're walking down a dangerous path, one that doesn't suit a soldier. You're questioning more and more ever since you got into International Affairs. You keep this up, they'll never trust you with anything and you'll never be at your best in combat. Yours isn't to debate the morality of these issues…it's to ensure the protection of Esthar and its future prosperity._

Even as Dael tried to reassure herself with these thoughts, however, a call suddenly came up from nearby.

"Look! Look out there! I think it's a ship!"

Immediately, Dael forgot about her current doubts and snapped her head to who had spoken. Quaren had been looking out to sea, and having the best eyes out of any of them, it looked as if he had seen something. Taraketh and Cryder immediately looked up to him as well, and soon all four were looking out.

At first, Dael didn't see anything. It was amazing. Even with her enhanced physiology, Quaren was still seeing things long before she could. However, less than a minute later, she began to make out a black shape rising above the otherwise flat sea. About three minutes later, it was far more distinctive and closer. Two more minutes after that, and it did indeed appear to be some sort of ship.

Taraketh uttered a prayer of thanksgiving.

"Do you think it's headed this way?" Quaren asked.

"It must be." Cryder responded. "We're only drifting but it's getting bigger." He turned to Dael. "Better get our 'flare' ready, but don't shoot until I tell you."

Dael responded by going for her Mage Gun. Luckily, they had managed to hold onto their weapons even after being thrown overboard. Dael reasoned that even in a crisis situation, she must have had an subconscious desire to not lose her precious heirlooms. While it was true that they didn't have any flares, they did have Dael's Mage Gun and one more Thundara bullet. Only one, however, so they would have to make sure that whoever they wanted to signal would see it.

"Hey…" Taraketh suddenly spoke up. "Once we're back on land, what exactly are we supposed to do with him?" He gestured to Cryder.

"We can worry about that once we're back on land." Dael answered quickly, honestly not wanting to debate it at the moment. "Quaren, can you make out what type of boat? It doesn't do us much good if it's another Sybenian ship, although at this point I might just be willing to risk it provided they don't shoot us on sight…"

Quaren looked out a bit more. It took another two minutes of the shape getting closer, but eventually he began to relay some information. "It's a small boat. Looks like a cargo puller of some sort though, not a gunship. I think I see what looks like a Leuco emblem on it, but it's really too soon to tell right now."

Taraketh now really did give a grimace and a sigh. "Not Leuco…"

"At this point, I wouldn't mind if that ship was taking us to Sybenia. We'd have a better chance on land there than on the sea out here." Dael responded. She held the Mage Gun out and at the ready.

"Not yet." Cryder cautioned.

A few more minutes ticked by. The ship grew closer and closer, until Dael was able to make out much of the same features that Quaren had announced. As she continued to look at it, however, he confirmed what he saw. The ship was indeed from Leuco and some sort of cargo pulling vessel. It was somewhat unusual for it to be out there, but not unheard of. Its path also became clearer. They were in luck. It was headed in their direction for the most part. It wasn't going to go straight into them, however, but for the moment it continued to get closer with time.

Finally, Cryder gave a nod to Dael. "Now."

Dael aimed her gun a bit higher and fired. The shell shot into the air much like a true flare would, and after a few moments of sailing into the sky it erupted. The effect was even better than a flare in many ways. First, the sky grew darker momentarily, and a small black cloud appearing high in the air was a little hard to miss. Then came the lightning a moment later, when large bolts of energy shot through the sky and sent out brilliant flashes of light which were visible enough in daytime, but even more visible when framed against the dark cloud. It also gave out a rather sizable thunderclap to top things off. Now, Dael just had to hope it was enough to get the attention of their potential rescuers.

The next minute or so was tense, with the four waiting on pins and needles to see if the ship would change course. It was kind of hard to see from this distance, and even Quaren couldn't tell at first. Although Dael wanted to ask him frequently, she restrained the urge to say anything. Constantly pestering him about it wouldn't help. They simply watched him. Finally, she thought she saw a change in the distance. Quaren confirmed it with a smile.

"They're turning to us!" He called out.

Dael gave a sigh of relief.

"We better put all our weapons away, but don't hide them." Cryder cautioned. "We don't want to seem like we're ambush pirates."

The young officer pondered that for a moment, but in the end decided that it made sense. She once again holstered her Mage Gun. It was more than large enough to show, so she didn't have to worry about much else. Everyone else's weapons were pretty much already put away. Quaren could only put his rifle to one side. He had kept it out in case they had run into any birds they could shoot for meat, but now it would indeed be a liability. After that, it came to waiting again.

Soon, Dael could clearly see the ship approaching herself. She hesitated a bit at that. She wasn't sure exactly what would come of this. She would gain little by telling them she was an Esthar's Hawk. That was irrelevant to people from Leuco. At the worst, assuming a bounty was on her head and it was public, as seemed to be the case after running into Cryder, that would only make things worse. Worse yet, if they identified Cryder as a pirate, that might only make things more of a problem. All in all, she wasn't feeling terribly great about this. Leuco was known to be a place where people were generally less trustworthy and a bit more careful. At the moment, however, she might prefer if they would merely steer them in the right direction. That would at least be something.

A few minutes later, and the ship was in more than clear view. It was indeed a small tugboat of sorts, seeming to be more suited to moving barges around than anything else. It seemed just big enough to be an ocean-going vessel, and it seemed there were only three crewmen on it. At any rate, they did slow as they neared…so that was one good thing in their favor. All three crewmen came out on deck, one staying at the controls for the helm and throttle, all looking about as salty as Cryder's own crew. If anything, they seemed dirtier. Their clothing was covered with more stains and filth than anyone on the pirate ship, and their faces weren't that much better. Obviously they had been on the sea for quite some time. However, the ship itself stayed at a distance…a good fifty foot distance, to boot. That was too far to swim out to before the ship could gun its engines if, for whatever reason, it came to that. That made her somewhat more on edge, but there was nothing to worry about yet. As the ship practically slowed to a halt, one of the sailors, who Dael presumed was the captain, gave out a yell.

"Ahoy, there!"

Dael and the others were silent for a moment. They actually turned and looked to each other. To be accurate…none of them really knew what to do now. They had been so intent on getting a rescue, they didn't know what to say when one actually came…what "cover story" to use. After a few moments, however, Dael found them all looking to her…seeming to be silently deferring the responsibility to her. She held a moment, but then turned and looked back to the ship. After letting out a sigh, she called out.

"Hey!" She called. "Our ship was ruined in that typhoon that came through two days ago! We've been stranded in the ocean ever since! Please help!"

The sailors merely stared back in response to that. None of them said anything. Their looks were blank. For a moment, Dael thought they hadn't heard her, although she could hardly see how that was the case. Then, at last, they did give a change. Abruptly, all three broke into a grin.

"You four actually sailed into that typhoon?"

Dael was confused at that response. She heard a loud sigh from nearby, and she turned her head slightly, to see that it was Cryder who had done so, and was leaning back with arms folded. As for the others, however, they merely looked perplexed at that. Dael looked back, and saw that they weren't only grinning now…but were chuckling as well.

"Heh…I think they really did…" The sailor nearest to the captain chuckled.

"Four city folk…" The one at the helm added.

"Heh…you four must have sh't for brains." The captain finally threw out, quite audible enough for Dael to hear.

That comment incensed Taraketh considerably, but luckily Quaren put out an arm and stopped him before he could do anything they'd regret. After all…these people were still their only shot out of here. Dael bit the bullet and swallowed back a mixture of her own anger and embarrassment, and she called out again.

"Please…we're really in trouble out here. Could you help us?"

The captain and his crew snickered a bit longer. After a few more moments, however, the captain, while still grinning, gave a shrug.

"Depends. How much you got?"

Dael went rigid on hearing that. Quaren and Taraketh both froze. Cryder merely let out another sigh. The young officer blinked for a moment.

"…What?"

"You heard me." The captain called back calmly. "I asked you how much you got?"

Taraketh came back to life, and nearly cried out angrily at the sailors. Again, he had to be restrained by Quaren. This time he wasn't enough, and with an eye roll Cryder got up and seized him to pull him back in as well. Dael, meanwhile, was shocked. She didn't exactly have a whole lot of faith in human kindness. She wouldn't be a soldier if she relied on that. But they were really being extorted now? After blinking again, she spoke more straightly…almost with an edge to it.

"…I said we were shipwrecked. We don't have any money."

The captain answered with giving a casual shrug. "That's too bad." He leaned off of the railing and looked back to the man at the helm. "Go on. This was a waste of time."

The man at the helm answered by nearly pushing on the throttle. Dael was shocked. Immediately, she called out. "Wait!"

The helmsman paused, and the captain turned back to her.

"You can't just leave us out here to die! We don't have any money! If we did, we'd give it to you, but we don't! You'll as good as kill us!"

"Not our problem." The captain answered. He began to turn back to the helmsman.

Dael couldn't believe this. She felt as outraged as Taraketh, and had she had less presence of mind she might have vainly spent her last few words she could exchange with them cursing them and yelling at them. But luckily, she had more than that. Before the helmsman could push the lever, she called out again.

"Stop! Wait!"

The helmsman sighed and stopped. The captain rolled his eyes and looked back to her. "Better be something good this time, missy. I haven't got all day."

Dael hesitated a moment, but then closed her eyes and sighed. She guessed there was nothing for it. "…I have some money."

The captain grinned. "That's more like it. How much?"

"It's not _on_ me. But I have access to a bank account that has over 20,000,000 gil left in it."

The captain raised an eyebrow at that. It was clearly more than he expected. But after a moment, he retorted again. "Bullsh't."

"It's the truth." Dael responded. "And there's no holding on any of it. You can transfer it anywhere you want."

The captain paused. He looked to the other two crew members. They were likewise a bit taken aback by the large amount, and they looked to him. After a moment, however, he turned back out to Dael.

"Prove it."

Dael paused momentarily. She was afraid of this. First things first…she reached into her back pocket. It took her a moment, but thankfully some luck was finally on her side. The card was still there even after the typhoon. She pulled it out a moment later and held it up. "Here it is. It's a bank checking card to Gridneth National…largest bank in Esthar."

The captain reached out and beckoned. "Toss it over."

Now Dael swallowed. She wasn't sure what to do now. There was a chance they could go off and leave her once they had the card. In the end, however, she supposed there was nothing for it. Finally, wheeling back a bit, she threw the card to the boat. It was a good thing she had enhanced strength…or it might have fallen into the ocean and that'd be the end of it. Once it was in the boat, the captain turned, ducked under the edge, and then came back up with it. He looked it over momentarily, scanning the top of it. A few minutes passed, during which Dael waited to see the result.

Finally, the captain put the card in his own pocket and looked back up to Dael. "Alright…what's the code?"

"Are you going to take us to shore?" Dael asked in response.

"I'm _going_ to leave you out here to get baked to death by the sun if you don't tell me." The captain flatly answered.

However, Dael was bolder this time. "Then you're _going_ to have a useless piece of plastic and kick yourself over losing out on over 20,000,000 gil for the next few months."

The captain paused on hearing that. He nearly turned to the helmsman out of spite…but he stopped himself. Besides, the other two weren't so eager to leave. They didn't want to walk out on that amount of money. Another long pause went by. Yet as time ticked by, Cryder couldn't help but smile a bit himself, concealing it from the sailors, and said something along the lines of "shrewd lass"…

Finally, the captain cracked a half smile.

"Boys…let's throw these four a line."

* * *

><p>Dael had reached a decision. Although that was probably the worst deal of her life, it had ended up with her being back on dry land…and so it can't have been that bad.<p>

The captain gave them a line, alright. That was all they gave them, however, and they threatened to cut it if they tried and pull themselves in. After that, they took off full speed for Leuco. The next few hours were a nightmare as their boat was dragged along like a jet ski. On regular water is bounced and shook constantly, threatening to knock them all off into the ocean. They held on tight here, not daring to let that happen, because they knew for a fact that the sailors would never go back for them as they did. When the waters got rougher, large amounts of water began to go into the ship, threatening to drown them or sink them. They constantly had to bail out to keep that from happening. It was horrible, and all of them were rather wet, sore, and exhausted when, at long last, land began to come in sight. If Taraketh hadn't been as wiped out as the rest of them, he probably would have again done something they regretted.

At any rate, they were eight miles from shore when the boat stopped and the captain demanded that they either turn over the code or be taken back out to sea. Dael grudgingly handed it over…at which point they were promptly abandoned. As tired as Dael was before, she was soon even more exhausted as she and Taraketh, the two strongest members, had to take turns getting outside of the raft and turning themselves into living motors and start kicking them to shore. It didn't help that the tide soon was working against them, at which point everyone got out and pushed the raft along. It was an uphill battle for much of the trip and Quaren and even Cryder looked like they would drown before it was done more than once. The shoreline only seemed to come closer at a snail's pace. But thanks mostly to their enhanced power, the four finally came in range of the shore. Dael was only glad that they were so far away from the city proper of Leuco that they weren't wading through all the scum and pollution runoff from the city itself. She never thought she had felt as much joy as she had when he legs finally touched the floor of land under the water, and soon she was hoisting herself on the ground.

Since then, the four had been resting for about two hours just on the beach. Dael was tired, thirsty, and hungry…but she was also grateful to be in their current situation…alive and on shore again. Far in the distance, lining the horizon, was the city of Leuco. The place was covered with a layer of smog and chugging out of dozens of smokestacks, and it was the very picture of urban sprawl and blight. But to Dael, the place might as well have been Terratopolis. Her clothing was drying out considerably at this point. The Southern Continent had initially had a tropical climate, but it was a bit drier and cooler now than it had been over a hundred years ago, becoming more temperate. It wasn't like anyone could tell from the vegetation, however. There was practically none here, and the western edge of the Southern Continent had been plagued by heavy seismic activity for some time now. The landscape was very rough and rocky at this point. Of course, the reason this area was mostly barren was due to heavy development.

It was a strange thought to have at a time like this, but Dael was beginning to realize there were very few forests left in the world. Definitely no large ones. There wasn't much land that hadn't already been developed in at least some way. She reasoned it wouldn't be long before even if she could get out of the base to try and "unwind" as she used to, there wouldn't be any place to do it…

"Alright."

Dael snapped out of her thoughts and turned her head. More or less, the four were all sitting or sprawled out on the beach. They had all stopped panting at this point, and the warm sun, despite the fact that it was setting, had dried most of their clothing. The raft was discarded on shore nearby, and everyone had their own weapons. Taraketh was currently the farthest away from Dael. He seemed to have a hard time sitting down two hours ago…not sure whether he should sit farther away from Dael or Cryder. At any rate, he was leaning up now, and turning to give a sour look to the others.

"I think we've sat still long enough." He gestured over to Cryder. "Now what do we do with him? I vote we turn him into Leuco."

Cryder, on his part, remained leaning back. He had his legs crossed, his arms behind his head, and his eyes closed. He appeared to be napping, and Taraketh's statement had done nothing to wake him up. Dael, however, gave a sigh.

"What good would that do?" She simply answered. "The Black Corsairs work with Leuco. He'd be back on the ocean in no time."

"A free man, yes." Cryder suddenly spoke up, getting everyone's attention. He didn't open his eyes, however. "Back on the ocean, no. Leuco may work with us…but they sure as hell don't give any money out to subsidize us. That ship was mine. Bought, refitted, and maintained with all the profits I've made over 30 years of piracy. With the _Gungnir_ gone and my crew gone who knows where, I've got nothing." He let out a half-chuckle. "Might as well resort to begging on the street…"

"What a pity." Taraketh sarcastically retorted. "Why don't you go to that 'friend' of yours?"

Cryder let out a snort. "Like hell I'll do that. Why do you think I ship him almost-free labor? I owe him money."

"It probably wouldn't be too good of an idea to go to the authorities anyway." Dael added as she too began to lean up. "The Hounds aren't fooling. That destroyer proved it. For all we know, they've already made connections here. Unlike Garrado, Leuco is still on open terms with Sybenia."

Taraketh snorted. "This is probably the worst place we could have gone other than Sybenia itself. There aren't even any shrines in Leuco proper."

Dael paused a moment, but then finally shrugged. "You're probably right. The way diplomacy is currently in this country, citizens can be extradited to Sybenia very easily and Hounds could walk right down the street. But it's not like we had a whole lot of other options. At any rate, this means we can't turn him over anyway."

Quaren grimaced a bit and rubbed the back of his neck. After a moment, he shrugged. "I hate to say it after all we went through…but maybe we should just let him go. I mean, we've got enough problems without him."

Taraketh was stunned at the suggestion. "You don't actually believe him about that crew nonsense, do you? For all we know he'll link back up with the survivors, find us while we're stuck here, and stab us in our sleep!"

"Hey now…" Cryder responded, beginning to sit up himself. "Like I said…I'm a man of my word. I owe you all for giving a hand back on the _Gungnir._"

"Yeah…we've seen how you're a 'man-of-your-word'." Taraketh harshly responded. "Basically twisting it around to suit whatever you feel like."

"What? The Long Walk?" Cryder said innocently. "Oh…that was just a pirate game. Don't think I'm without any honor. If I wasn't, I would have handed you over to those Sybenians. Like I said, I've got nothing. Otherwise you'd have known it by now. Unlike magic, you don't get tired out no matter how much geomancy you perform, so I'd wager I have an edge on you all right now, but I didn't use it. At any rate, forget all that. I'm thinkin' of tagging along with you lot."

This caused a unified wave of surprise from everyone. Everyone went silent as they all looked to him incredulously. Cryder alone remained casual, stretching a bit.

"…Are you trying to fool us or something?" Taraketh asked.

"I think he's telling the truth…" Quaren answered.

Dael, however, quickly recovered. Resuming her officer appearance, she crossed her arms and stared flatly at him. "First off…Esthar's Hawks do not work with pirates. Secondly, we're heading back to Esthar. As soon as we get there, I'm reporting you and all you did. You may have bailed us out back there and I'll put that into my report for consideration, but it doesn't change the fact that you were a few moments from turning us over to a hostile enemy."

"Fair enough." Cryder answered with a shrug. "But I didn't spend 30 years on the high seas without being a bit shrewd when it comes to bargains regarding my personal freedom. At any rate, that's a ways off. I told the truth…I really don't have anything else. Even if my crew was here, I don't have the _Gungnir_. And I won't be able to buy a new one by selling you lot to my friend or even to Sybenia for that matter…which, I might add, they'd never sell to me anyway now that I've spat in their faces just as bad as you three have. Besides…I'd wager I could make myself a bit useful to you yet."

"How so?" Quaren responded.

"I know my way around Leuco quite a bit." The pirate answered. "You might be surprised."

"I think we'll see how far we can get on our own, thanks." Taraketh flatly answered.

Dael let out a sigh in response to that. "That may not be that far at all, I'm afraid… That little ferry ride cost us every last gil I had. We can't charter anything else. I didn't have any other money besides that." She let out another exhale. "I think Colonel Regalis is going to have my insignia for blowing that much of Esthar's money…"

Quaren shrugged. "There really wasn't anything for it, Dael."

Taraketh snorted. "And here I thought soldiers were more disposable than that much income…"

Dael ignored the comment and looked up to Taraketh. "I don't suppose you have any money on you, do you?"

The High Child paused momentarily, but then frowned and bowed his head. "…Order of Hyne members don't carry money on them." Then, as if to justify himself, he looked up. "We don't need to. We share everything we have in common at the shrines, and if we would have gone to one-"

"Yeah, and if you had expected that we might possibly be going to one of the places on Gaia which there _isn't_ a shrine, which is quite a lot," Quaren protested, giving Taraketh a frown. "You wouldn't need to be complaining now, would you?"

Taraketh glared at Quaren, but after a moment bowed his head, having no suitable comeback for that.

Dael, meanwhile, simply exhaled and looked to the pirate captain next. "…Cryder?"

The man frowned and shook his head. "Pirates ain't like how they used to be, with the captain hoarding all the booty to himself. Everything was in the hold, and it sank with the _Gungnir._"

The young officer looked to Quaren. "That leaves you, private."

Quaren looked back. He paused for a moment, swallowing. Then, he tentatively reached into one of his breast pockets. After unbuttoning it, he pulled out a soggy wad of paper. Frowning slightly, he peeled away at it.

"2,000…2,500…2,700 gil, a sales receipt, and a coupon for a free king size candy bar with the purchase of one of equal value."

Dael grimaced a bit, but then shrugged. "It's a start." After that, she began to draw herself up. "Alright…let's get a move on to Leuco."

Quaren put his papers away and sat up as the others began to rise as well, albeit a bit slowly and sorely. As he finally began to get up, he looked on to Dael again. "You sure about that, commander? I mean, it's pretty late and all… It'll be night by the time we get anywhere near the metropolitan area."

"Perfect." Dael answered immediately. "In case anyone is 'waiting' for us, I'd like the cover of night…"

* * *

><p>It was indeed nightfall long before the group reached Leuco. The walk was several miles and all of them were tired. The sun had dipped under the horizon and only the city lights provided any illumination by the time they got in. Even the moon and stars failed to come out due to another onrush of storm clouds. Dael sighed at the thought of it, realizing they could expect more rain. Gradually, however, they passed out from the barren, empty surroundings of the southern continent and into the interior of the city proper. No gradual homes and buildings this time. Much like Esthar, this one had a clearly defined border. Things started sprouting quickly, and very soon they were in the thick of it.<p>

Leuco was very technologically advanced. In fact, it was even more so than Esthar in many ways, at least in terms of what was produced. However, unlike Esthar, which Dael tended to think of as a shining beacon of advancement, Leuco was far more haphazard and disjoint. Technology was not distributed equally by any means. A few skyscrapers in the city proper held 70 percent of the finest technology in the region. Everywhere else was nothing special…and was downright primitive in some cases. Leuco definitely had a rich and poor class within its city with only a few in middle-class systems. Workers had very few rights, and very little of the tax money collected went to support public works. Only the most basic road repairs ever seemed to make it to the common person. Even the police and fire departments were underfunded. Instead, most tax revenue went to reinvestment in the wealthy companies producing on Leuco, the ones that produced the "life blood" of the country in terms of new innovations and products. And truth be told, they did produce quite a bit. The only thing was the poorer classes of Leuco never saw any of it, and frankly they didn't need to. Leuco had plenty of customers overseas in richer countries that were paid better wages. While Dael was generally in favor of the free enterprise system that Esthar had adopted, Leuco had gone to the opposite extreme where the government had become an agent of business rather than doing its duty, letting them have free reign over their employees, and all businesses themselves realizing that so long as none of them tried to outcompete each other's treatment of workers…they could effectively all treat them like dirt without worry.

Just as Dael had observed from a distance, there was considerable urban blight. Not as much as one might think, but it was there. Buildings were in use, but they were old, dirty, made of inferior craftsmanship and materials, and deteriorating or refurbished. More trash littered the streets than ever, and as the four passed into the city, they saw evidence of multiple gang activities taking place on just about every street corner. On the ones where there was none, there were beggars and the homeless. Puddles of sludge and piles of garbage were in every alley. Soot stains and filth marred every building. Windows were broken or covered with grease. No one went out, for even the air was foul. Dael thought she continuously smelled something acrid in the air, even at night when most of the smokestacks had shut off. She was just glad they were mostly going through the commercial and residential districts. The industrial ones were legendarily horrible, violating every code that had been made in Esthar. Dael wouldn't be surprised if the factories didn't even have non-locked fire exits. The place, at any rate, didn't look to safe to be out walking at night. However, there were four of them together, and they were a bit rough looking and armed. They didn't have to worry about any roving gangs.

However, for all of this, Dael noticed that it was not nearly as bad as one would think. Oh, to the untrained eye, it probably looked bad enough, but there were several things to look out for. There were considerable new cars even in the bad parts of town around homes that looked scarcely able to afford them, and many of the worn down tenement halls had old, rusty bike racks with brand new children's bicycles tied with new chains. Many of the old, worn-out windows had brand new air conditioning units inside them chugging away. Several of the passerbys they ran into were dressed in shabby, dirty work clothes…but had brand new sneakers and were chatting on new cell phones. Even among the pan handlers and more homeless, spirits looked to be up. No one looked particular malnourished or in dire straights. Of course, this didn't necessarily mean the people weren't homeless…just that they were going to shelters and food pantries that had lots of donations coming in, which meant there were plenty of charitable people with extra gil to spend on donations. Last but not least, even the more worn-down places of the city had lots of fresh advertisements for fast food, special phones, hair care products…all sorts of things that you would expect would normally be presented to middle-class individuals.

Dael took note of all of this but didn't put too much stock into it at the moment. At least not now. She, along with Quaren, had taken the precaution of removing their uniform tunics and tying them around their waists inside out, leaving only their white shirts behind and concealing their true ranks. They still looked like military, but they could be anyone's military. Taraketh luckily had left his elaborate cape behind on the _Dolphin_, and his clothing had only been growing dirtier since they all met one another, so he passed fairly well. There was no question about how passible Cryder was. Just the same, Dael was glad for the cover of darkness, and that they entered town through the residential areas…in particular the bad ones. The basic police in Leuco had too low of a budget to risk patrolling these areas, so they were in the clear for the most part. Still, there were several sirens that blared more than once, making Dael lead the others into dark alleys until a few police vehicles passed.

The group was rather tired from walking by the time they began to leave the residential area toward the center of the town, where most of the commericial, executive, and public places were located. The tenaments had gradually grown larger and larger until they were finally replaced by skyscrapers. They weren't to the newest parts of town where the businesses held their office buildings, and much around them was still dank and grim. However, there were signs of the old battered transit system going by, and the architecture grew more elaborate to allow multiple levels. Dael took note as they walked by that they seemed to go over a grating system of some point. Far beneath them, she could see piles of the city's garbage left there and neglected, with numerous poorer citizens rooting through it for anything of value. The traffic picked up here. Many loud, old, noisy machines…some of which still ran on oil…chugged along and created quite a racket even this late at night. More people and police vehicles began to pop up despite the lateness of the hour…so Dael had decided that was as good a time as any to get off the street.

Unfortunately, there weren't a whole lot of options available at the moment. Public places might be good, but most of them were closed this late at night and if they weren't had few people and more police. A retail store might have been good, but that was a bit too open and there were precious few 24 hour stores available. They definitely weren't going to hang around in a smaller business where they were easy targets to be spotted and identified. They could try hanging around on benches or bus terminals or a park…but that was also an easy target for passing police. Dael wasn't going to risk any of the above until she was positive that the place was secure enough for such things. That led to where they were at present.

Dael exhaled a bit as she looked up through the metal grating of the walkway overhead. She saw the occasional person pass by and tensed whenever it looked even remotely like a cop, but she couldn't tell that much this late at night. The street they were in was only dimly lit, and very little light shone down on the ground below through the grating. This wasn't a very wholesome place to be. Dael frequently saw rats…and more than one or two of them were of the larger mutant variety that seemed to go after human when they ran out of normal food. The place was filled with rotten garbage that was not only attracting them but also quite a few homeless. The stench was terrible, and Dael had wretched more than once when a person would move certain garbage bags. If that wasn't enough, she felt a bit of drizzle come down through the grating. Obviously it was getting ready to rain again.

However, she was being rather patient. So was Cryder, who stood nearby, hands in his pockets, whistling a tune every once in a while and kicking random empty soda cans. That was more than she could say for Taraketh. He had barely managed to hold still for ten minutes at the onset, and then began to pace around considerably. It was obvious he didn't like standing around in that place. His constant pacing was getting on Dael's nerves. She had told him to just relax more than once, to which she only got angry retorts and another minute of peace before things would resume.

"You should have let me go." He finally stated.

"That would have done no good." Dael simply answered, trying to suppress another sigh. This was the third time he had said this.

"I would have been back by now, at least." Taraketh grumbled. "I'm more physically up to running around this city than him."

Dael had to swallow back a considerable amount of annoyance, but some of it still came through regardless. "Perhaps if I was just sending Private Quaren out to 'run around', as you put it, that would mean something. But seeing as I sent him out on scouting, that's something else entirely."

Taraketh groaned. "How long could it possible take? It's been two hours!"

"That's not nearly enough time to start getting worried." Dael flatly answered. "Not for this type of assignment."

Taraketh let out another groan. "…I'm never going to see another Order of Hyne member again at this rate."

"Your complaining isn't helping anything."

"I'm beginning to wonder if Lady Cybus was punishing me in some way by pairing me with you grunts. Everything has gone bad ever since I've met you…"

Dael held her tongue. She wasn't about to get into another pointless argument with Taraketh. She almost wished she could let him make some minor decision so that she could simply shut him up for a while, but at the moment she didn't care much for the attitude he had that he knew better than the rest of them simply because he was an Order of Hyne member while she and Quaren were soldiers and Cryder was a felon. She was almost glad for the pirate captain's company. At least he was keeping quiet. In that sense, Taraketh could learn something from him.

Dael hardly believed that the tiny amount of gil on them was enough to secure passage to the other side of town, let alone back to Esthar. But before she risked it in any case, she wanted confirmation that they weren't walking right into a trap. Their little group stuck out like a sore thumb. Even without blantant uniforms, the weapons more than gave them away. Meanwhile, she was sure if there were Hounds already in Leuco waiting for them, then they weren't going to be overt. They were going to act through the local authorities or be in disguise to simply blend in and either spirit them away or shoot them in the backs with silenced pistols. Luckily for them, they had not one but two Esthar's Hawks on their side, and they knew how to get around a situation like this. She had sent Quaren ahead alone and unarmed to try and see the situation before they risked hitting any of the terminals or port authorities. His rifle was currently in her possession, resting with the butt on the ground.

As Dael stood there, she tried to think of something else to pass the time…and, as it turned out, she didn't have to look far. There was a considerable amount of food in this trash. Not all of it was rotten either…a lot of it was fresh. And they weren't anywhere near any of the more upscale eateries in town. For anyone paying attention, that meant only one thing. The people in the area were eating well enough to throw out quite a bit. Not only that, but she was noticing quite a bit of activity overhead in the streets. Even this late at night, there seemed to be a lot of individual cars going about. They weren't the pricey ones, though. They were older models that had electric signs attached to them…in other words, local cab drivers. A fairly easy way to employ oneself if you were looking to make money in a hurry, provided there were enough people to pay fares.

All of these things plus what Dael had seen before added up to one inescapable conclusion…fortunes were on the up and rising for Leuco. They had to be experiencing an economic turnaround. A recent one, too. The last quarter's reports as Dael had seen them had them stagnant and poor, but she had a feeling the next ones that came out would show a marked increase in GDP. This was strange to her… She wasn't aware of any major policy change. For all intensive purposes, it should have still been a system where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. So what had changed?

Finally, Taraketh let out another groan.

"Again…if we would have just stuck to the shrine, this wouldn't have happened…"

Dael had to suppress yelling at him to 'shut up about the damn shrine'. "…Could you let that go? Going on about it isn't going to change anything at this point."

"I'm not going to let it go until you admit that maybe, just maybe, I know one or two things better than you grunts." Taraketh answered. "Unlike you, people aren't out for the blood of a Child of Hyne. We aren't constantly making political enemies either. If you had steered us in the direction of Lamb, at the bare minimum, there would have been hundreds of my order willing to help us out. And we would have reached them days ago!"

"I wasn't going to risk getting us that close to Sybenian waters." Dael maintained. "We could have been blown out of the water by a destroyer."

"What do you call what happened to us a few days ago?" Taraketh shot back.

Cryder at last broke his own silence with a loud sigh. "…The way you two can go on and on, you'd wake the dead. If the authorities don't bust us for being fugitives, they'll do it for disturbing the peace."

"You stay out of this, pirate!" Taraketh snapped to him. "We're on land now. You make me too angry, I'll just snap my fingers and have you swallowed alive by the very ground you're standing on."

Cryder gave a chuckle at that. "Where's the 'mercy' and 'forgiveness' of the Order of Hyne? Solely reserved for the saints and not the sinners?"

"Shut up! I'm not going to be preached to by you!" Taraketh retorted. "This is more your mess than anything else!"

"Settle down, lad." Cryder simply answered. "You're lucky I'm a very even-tempered pirate. Don't forget I'm still a geomancer." He gestured around himself a bit. "I'm as home in this wee concrete jungle as I am on the sea."

The High Child snorted. "You think that makes a difference, using that crude excuse for 'magic'? I've got the real thing right here. I could summon Lord Sacred and Lord Minotaur to crush you flat before you could whip out anything of substance."

The pirate snickered. "Oh, that's great thinking, lad. No better way to keep out of the light and in the shadows than to have a couple of Guardian Forces start ripping up part of the pavement. Why don't you just do us all a favor, yourself included, and sit down and take a few deep breaths?"

Taraketh looked ready to rip Cryder's head off at that comment. The pirate, on the other hand, smiled calmly and leaned his back against a nearby support column for the upper walkways. Dael almost thought she saw Taraketh's muscles tense, as if he was going for his kusarigama. That was the last straw for Dael. She began to turn and a moment later would have told him in no uncertain terms to "cool it", not knowing if she could have maintained her composure this time around or her sense of decorum. However, luckily, fate seemed to intervene.

At that point, a loud clacking was heard echoing down the underpath. It was easily recognizable as the sound of running. On hearing it, Dael looked up at once, as did Cryder and even Taraketh, seeming to forget his anger for the moment. As it turned out, it was exactly who they had all ben waiting for. A bit red faced, for he seemed to have been running the whole way, and chugging along as fast as he could, was Quaren. The private appeared to have some air of nervousness about him, just as he had when he left. After all, without his rifle, he felt a bit naked, and Dael could hardly blame him. He might have been magic with a gun and had been trained in hand-to-hand combat, but the fact of the matter was he rated below average on a lot of the grappling and martial arts scores. His forte was when he had a weapon. He was no doubt eager to get his rifle back as well as report on the situation. He didn't even slow as the others came into view. He ran the whole way until he reached them before slowing down and grinding to a halt.

Once there, Quaren panted a bit. He only paused to reach out and take his rifle back. His face was sweaty from having run so hard, and he slumped over a bit on his hands and knees, putting his hands on top of them. He caught his breath for a moment, and Dael was silent, letting him do so. However, Taraketh wasn't nearly so patient.

"Well, spit it out! Is anyone monitoring the ports or not?"

"Ah, don't mind him, lad." Cryder said, his tone turning surprisingly sympathetic to the private. He gave a side glace to Taraketh before looking back at him. "He's been pacing around like he's had an urchin shoved up his-"

Dael cut him off, however. "As you so succinctly put it time and again, Sir Sabian…" She addressed the High Child in a calm voice. "Private Quaren is under my command and we are both 'grunts'. Therefore…he's not entitled to have to report anything to you unless he feels the need, or to follow your commands."

A second later, she had to resist the urge not to grin at seeing Taraketh bluster. The young man scowled, groaned, and turned away, storming in a rage again and barely able to control himself. Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long. Swallowing a bit, he leaned up and smoothed himself out. In between huffing and puffing, he addressed Dael.

"Sorry…I took so long…commander… I went a lot of places…"

"It's fine, private, so long as you got a detailed report." Dael responded calmly. "What did you find?"

Quaren swallowed one more time, during which Taraketh turned back to him, and then formed something of an uneasy, rueful look before beginning.

"I tried hitting the subway and bus stations first just to get to the ports and terminals…but I looked at them a bit first, just like we learned as procedure. Sure enough…there were 'civilians' stationed at every entrance, all dressed in jackets large enough to conceal weapons despite the time of year, and all reading papers without turning the pages. I had to go to the places on foot which is why I took so long." He paused to inhale deeply again, and spoke more lower than before.

"…The terminals all had cops at the front and checkpoints searching everyone who went in. The ports were a bit more free, but there were quite a few civilians there for this late at night. And I noticed the way they were walking and how they kept looking about. They weren't any more civilian than I was."

Dael gave a bit of a frown in response to that. "…Anything else?"

Quaren frowned as well. "Yeah…the main roads are constantly being patrolled by squad cars. It's a good thing we came in through the urban district or we'd have been identified in no time."

Dael sighed a bit. "Can we still move around the city?"

Quaren rubbed the back of his neck a bit uncomfortably. "For now, so long as we stick to the side roads, yeah…but I wouldn't risk going on the main street. However, we'll never get anywhere near the terminals or the ports. There's too many people watching there and I don't think we should risk it."

Taraketh frowned and crossed his arms. "…Then we're stuck." He stated flatly. "The best we can do now is sneak out of the city, but there's not much outside other than pollution and wasteland. I don't suppose we can radio for help, can we?"

Dael shook her head. "No good. Assuming they aren't monitoring the relay stations toward Esthar, you can bet that they're keeping an eye out for any ships from Esthar arising that might get us out of here. We'd never be able to get on board from the port. The best bet would be somewhere along the coast. From what I understand, Leuco doesn't tolerate too much in the way of smuggling, whether it be humans or cargo." She frowned a bit more. "They want to make sure everyone goes through the 'proper channels' so that the Black Corsairs can make sure to hit them."

Cryder gave a shrug of admission to hearing that. "The lass is right, you know."

Taraketh, and even Quaren this time, both gave Cryder a look.

"I guess our best bet at this point is to try and get ahold of Esthar." Dael finally admitted. "It won't be easy, because we don't have a code scrambler."

"In that case, you might as well try to get Esthar's attention with signal flares from the middle of the city." Cryder answered back. "If these Hounds really want you lot this badly, they'll be on you like maggots on dung."

"You have any better ideas?" Dael responded.

Cryder gave a bit of a smile as he leaned off the post. He gave them all a knowing look as they turned to him. "Like I said earlier…there may be a way I can help you lot. I may not be that big of a man in Leuco but I know my way around it. After all, my group is a bit of a business partner with the local government. I walked around the town more than once. I just happen to have access to certain individuals who make a name for themselves slipping under the nose of the local authorities, or at least have greased enough palms to be able to do so."

Taraketh gave Cryder a hard look. "…You're saying we should go through more illegal channels, aren't you? Essentially you're asking us to trust the same filth that brought people like you into being. In case you haven't noticed, we've got bounties on our heads. You were willing to hand us over to torture and death for gil. How do we know your fellow scum wouldn't do the same?" He sneered. "Or do all people like you get a soft spot when it comes to being enemies of Sybenia?"

Cryder merely grinned in response.

"That's the beauty part, mate." Cryder responded. "The source of 'honor amongst thieves' you might say. All of these folks have bounties on their heads too. They're looking at 30 years at minimum for all the smuggling they've been doing. Now maybe on the high seas we can make some negotiations with hostile parties…but here on land, surrounded by Leuco, there's a bit more troublesome laws to get around. Say they did turn us in. Know what would happen then? As soon as the money makes a transaction, Leuco comes in and throws down some piece of paper saying that their government furnished the transaction and scoops up most of the money right out of the pot before anyone can grab it. Besides…the business these folks are in makes a career off of getting people and goods where they need to be without anyone knowing about it. How do you think they'd stay in business if they backstabbed all of their customers?"

Dael crossed her arms. "Sir Sabian has a point. For the right bounty, I don't really count on any smuggler to not be able to do a relative cost/benefit analysis. Namely, it's probably worth more to them to turn us in than to worry about price."

"Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, lass." Cryder answered. "I can't guarantee that there won't be large 'handling' fees, but keep in mind I've got a bounty on my head myself. And I'm eager to keep my head on its shoulders just as much as the rest of you."

"Regarding these 'fees'…" Dael responded. "You really think 2700 gil is going to cover them?"

Cryder gave a shrug. "You never know. Worth a shot, isn't it? A bit safer than going straight to your plan, right?"

Dael hesitated. She gave a look to Quaren. The private was pausing and seemed to muse this over. He seemed rather uncomfortable about the whole thing. Dael could understand that. They still didn't have too great of a reason to trust Cryder. Until now, all the help had been when they had a common cause. He was a pirate, and they couldn't guarantee he wouldn't double-cross them. All they had was his word to go by, and it wouldn't be the first time someone had deceived another by playing on emotions. She didn't even bother looking at Taraketh. She already knew his answer. He would be vehemently opposed. However…Dael differed from both. She realized they didn't have much to go on and they couldn't afford to stay in town that long trying to find a solution or to wait the Hounds out. They needed to get back to Esthar. And if this was a way to do it…

_Hope I haven't made another bad decision in command…_

"…Alright." She finally stated. Taraketh, of course, gave her a glare, but she didn't look at it. Quaren swallowed a bit, but accepted it. "Lead the way."

Cryder smiled back, and immediately turned to start walking down the underpath.

"Follow me…and watch your weapons. They're the only things we have of value and we wouldn't want them pilfered, would we?"

* * *

><p>About three hours later, and Dael was beginning to fall more in line with Taraketh's way of thinking.<p>

Despite how much of the urban blight was improving in much of Leuco compared to what Dael had learned and expected, apparently no one had given the news to this part of town. Cryder soon led them into the dingiest, filthiest, most polluted regions of the city. They only grew worse as they moved on. Everything in the streets was wet with slime and covered with garbage. The roads were in total disrepair, the buildings were falling apart, and most of the structures went from being official to shanties made of garbage and scrap lumber and metal. The amount of poor and homeless increased, but these were the ones who weren't even trying to get by…the ones who had picked the lives of being drunks, addicts, or deadbeats and were content to wallow in the filth. However, more and more of the folk around ceased to be civilians and were more of the criminal type. Many of them had scars, tattoos, earrings, and dark looks. Dael didn't care at all for the way many of them looked at her as she moved along, especially one in particular who licked his tongue over his rotten teeth at her. She had to resist not cutting his throat.

As they went further, the place began to stink worse than the underpath ever could. It smelled very acrid and toxic. The sludge continued to build up and many of the buildings and shacks were stained. As the buildings themselves vanished and everywhere became flat except for a few fenced off areas, Dael began to realize that they were in a waste disposal area…or, in Leuco terms, some place they just dumped their runoff. It only grew filthier and more disgusting as they went on. Dael began to feel that her chance at contracting cancer had quadrupled just walking through the place. It was small wonder she was seeing so many criminal types running around in there. This was the only place they were perfectly safe. No decent person, civilian, or cop would set foot in the disgusting area.

The place began to give way to more Black Corsairs as well as generic criminals. As they frequently began to engage in various displays of violence, vice, debauchery, and perversion right in front of everyone without much care as to whether anyone saw or not, Dael tried looking at something besides the people and the toxic landscape. Gradually, she began to see various shacks set up like temporary shops. As she looked into them, she saw all manner of things…weapons, machines, tools, clothing, rare pets, exotic imports, even food (although she wouldn't eat anything in the area if her life depended on it). She began to grow aware that they were headed into a black market area. It made sense, considering how many pirates were beginning to wander about.

She also noticed something that didn't sit well with her at all… As they passed by, several of the pirates looked to Cryder…and none of them had good looks. Some merely glared. Others sneered. A few looked like they were ready for a fight. Even the ones that Cryder "tipped his hat" to, so to speak, only regarded him with chagrin. Dael didn't take long to realize that Cryder wasn't a very popular individual even among his own "ilk". This made her a bit tense. The last thing she wanted to do was get in another fight in a place like this. She doubted even her own enhanced power could get her out of this.

At long last, however, the four seemed to come into a new section of the black market. This one had several stands that had charts written out or made on slate boards nearby, each one advertising a destination, length of days, amount of space, and cargo room. They appeared to be in the smuggler section of the waste heap, for which Dael was rather grateful. Unfortunately, she noted that the cheapest price on the lists were well over 100 times the amount of gil they possessed…

At any rate, Cryder began to lead them right up to one of the larger and nicer ones. Well, nice was a very relative term considering where they were, but this stand was twice as large as most of the others, seemed well built, painted, and even had printouts of sheets saying where the ships were going. There were already a few people there at the "counter", but they seemed to have concluded their business and were moving away. The person at the counter was smiling and seemed a bit friendly. He was a bit on the large side and had some muscle and a more sea-worn look to him, but at least he was clean, groomed, and had all his teeth. Cryder stepped up a bit, before pausing and turning back to the others.

"Now just wait here for a moment and let me do the talking." Cryder stated confidently. "You want to be able to get back to Esthar on 2700 gil, you better let me handle things."

"Very well." Dael answered.

"Alright, if you say so…" Quaren added, a bit uneasily.

Taraketh merely snorted as he crossed his arms and looked away.

Having heard that, Cryder gave a smile and a nod to them, then turned and began to approach the counter. He put on his normal jovial, casual air. However, as he drew nearer to the counter, the man at it turned and spotted him. Immediately…his own look turned into a frown.

Cryder waved to him. "Hey, Trevor. How's business?"

The man stared back with a dark glare.

"…Oh." He stated flatly. "It's you again. I don't suppose you have my money this time, do you? I'm guessing not from the looks of it. You're no better looking than the last time I saw you. Seems your 'luck hasn't turned around' yet, right?"

Cryder stopped in mid-step. He gave a slightly laugh…one that Dael noticed sounded nervous.

"Heh…straight to business, eh, Trevor? Well, alright then. I've got a job for you…"

"Well I don't have a ship for you." Trevor snapped back. "Not after you stiffed me on my first two trips and you sank my third. Near as I can figure, you owe me 90,000,000 gil. So unless you fork that over right now we don't have anything to discuss."

The pirate gave an innocent gesture. "Aw, come on, Trevor…be a mate. You know I've-"

"Get the hell out of here." Trevor cut off.

"But Trev…you know me… It's old Cryder Morning-"

Cryder cut himself off as the one named Trevor pulled a throwing knife out from underneath the back of the counter and proceeded to aim it right between the eyes.

"The only reason your brains aren't running around with the rest of the crap in the street is because I still plan on wringing my money out of you one of these days even if it means keelhauling you for a week. Now hit the road."

The pirate blinked a bit, but then innocently put his hands up. His face became completely pure and normal, and he began to back up and away from him.

"Alright…sorry to bother you, Trev. Take care of yourself…"

Within a few moments, Cryder had backed up quite a distance. Once far enough away, although the knife was still aimed at him, he turned and moved fully back to the others. Taraketh gave another snort while Quaren was blinking in a bit of surprise. Dael, however, merely gave him a bit of a grimace.

"…Problems?"

Cryder simply waved his hand over his shoulder as Trevor finally seemed to feel he was far enough away to put his knife back beneath the counter. "Ah, don't worry about him. Come on. This next place will be cheaper anyway."

He turned and began to lead them on once more. Dael paused a moment, but then began to follow afterward. Quaren reluctantly went in her footsteps, and Taraketh gave a sigh before following.

About two minutes later, and after skipping a number of the smaller shacks, they came to another large one. This one seemed just about as nice as the previous one, and also had a good crowd at it. There were actually two separate people running the counters, and they seemed to frequently move to the back of their shack, which was curtained off, to move money around. Both had broad faces, were fat, and seemed to share the same quality of ugliness about them. They were definitely family. The older one was cheerfully processing an order on an old adding machine of one group that was with them.

Cryder again halted and turned back to the others with a smile. "McGillacuddy. Always reliable. This'll only take a second. Just hang tight."

Dael was a bit less certain this time, but she held back, and so did the others. As before, Cryder turned and began to walk up toward the counter, moving to get in line. However, only halfway there, the fat woman looked up a bit and caught a view of him. Immediately, her look turned into a dark scowl.

"Rosie!" Cryder exclaimed as he approached. "How are you? You're looking lovier each time I see you."

The fat woman paused only a moment before she seemed to almost give him a growl.

"You rotten, two-timing, double-crossing bilge rat…" She growled aloud at him. "After what you did to me and how much you set me back, you drag your ugly butt up to my counter again?"

Cryder again looked innocent. "Rosie, it's me! You know you love me! Didn't I-"

"Theo!" Rosie suddenly yelled out.

Dael blanched a moment later as she saw the curtains part to let out a rather hideous, monolithic, muscle-bound, scarred, and intimidating figure easily larger and stronger looking than Heck was push the curtain aside and step out, having the same look on his face that one would expect from a bulldog. He seemed to bare a fang at Cryder as he spotted him.

"This smug son of a bitch had the balls to come back here after cheating us out of 65,000,000 gil. What do you say we cut 'em off and tack 'em to the wall?"

Cryder immediately flashed a shade white. He swallowed a bit.

"Uh…I'd love to stay and get better acquainted with Theo, Rosie ol' darlin'…but I think I need to get going. I can see you're busy with business so I'll just stop by another time."

Immediately, he turned and rushed back up to the others with a spring in his step. He quickly began to hurry on down the street again.

"…Make sure that big bloke ain't following me." He said as he began to go along.

By now, Quaren and Dael were both starting to share Taraketh's dark looks.

"Another debt?" The commander asked dryly.

"Hey, I was good for the money on that one." Cryder insisted. "Then some military warship happened to catch me. I had to grease their palms a bit before they'd let me slide. Turns out they needed quite a bit of grease… Anyway, I've got this. We aren't done at all yet."

"That's what I'm afraid of…" Taraketh grumbled.

For once, Dael was in agreement.

Three minutes later, they were approaching another stand. This one was again large and painted, but it was a bit less well kept. No more printouts here. The boards were now on chalk slates and handwritten entries were in. By now, Dael realized the prices were growing higher on them… The person running the desk, a one-eyed, one-armed old sailor smoking a pipe seemed to be straight enough, however. He even managed a crooked smile or two to his clientele. He wasn't very wholesome, but Dael knew she wouldn't be dealing with him. Once they were there, Cryder again stopped them and reassured them.

"Now this is Ol' Patch. He's a good fellow. Damn decent. He knows what it's like to be in a spot of hard luck. You can tell just by looking at him. Always been friendly and courteous. He's great over a pint of grog. He'll talk to you for hours about storms that made that little typhoon look like a sprinkle. Great to be around. Like a second father to me. Just hold on a minute."

Again, he leaned away from the others, turned fully to the counter, and began to walk up to it. Almost immediately, Ol' Patch turned and spotted him. Cryder smiled.

"Hey Pa-"

He got no further than that as a gun that had a barrel the size of a small artillery unit was pulled out and aimed straight at him.

"…You just keep on walkin', Morningjay." Ol' Patch stated in a tone that would peel paint.

"Great-to-talk-to-you-have-a-nice-day." Cryder poured out as he immediately stepped back and crossed back to the others.

By now, all of them were glaring at him.

"…Yet another debt?" Dael asked.

"Technically…but hell, that was eight years ago. You'd think, old and senile as he is, he'd have forgotten about the 150,000,000 gil…" Cryder grumbled. "There's really no decency in people anymore."

Taraketh crossed his arms. "Is there any smuggler in this town you _don't _owe money to?"

Cryder paused at that. He stared blankly for a moment, before he began to develop a thoughtful look, as if seriously considering that question.

"_Please_ don't answer that…" Quaren groaned.

Cryder snapped out of it a moment later and put his hands up. "Now, now…just hold on a minute here. I said I'd get you lot out of this and I meant it. I'll get you a ship or my name's not Cryder Morningjay."

Taraketh grumbled something along the lines of "maybe if it wasn't, we wouldn't be in this mess".

"We're just going to have to…lower our standards a bit, that's all." Cryder responded.

Dael frowned. "Do we want to know how low?"

"Oh, just quit your crabbin' and come on." The pirate answered as he turned and began to lead them forth again. After a moment, he ruefully threw out something else. "…We may have to walk quite a bit before we get ourselves a ship."

Dael truly didn't like the sound of that. She and the other two held back for a moment, wondering if they were going to get anywhere by doing this. Yet in the end, she realized they still had nothing better. Hoping that Cryder wasn't nearly as bad as had been indicated so far, the Esthar Hawk began to follow him again. Very reluctantly, Quaren and Taraketh followed.

* * *

><p>He woke with a start. Even when his eyes opened, he was still gasping as much as he had in the dream. He still felt the rush of the same power he had witnessed there. Already, unfortunately, the dream was fading from memory. As he tried to recall it, it vanished…like trying to catch water in your hand with an open palm. The mind he possessed was too weak. It lacked the fortitude to be able to recall and interpret his dreams.<p>

All he knew for certain was something that resounded in his memory now.

Someone important was coming.

No…

Someone important was already there.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next chapter, I finally reveal the mystery figure...


	13. The Young Valiant

Between the walking she had already done and how far she had to go through the city, after journeying for hours through this dingy, godforsaken part of town, Dael was getting rather exhausted. Even her strength had limits. Taraketh was much the same, his ill disposition not helping things one bit, and of course there was nothing for Quaren. Dael would have to carry him, she almost thought, if they went much farther. And still they were no closer to getting back to Esthar. Dael almost wondered if they would have had better luck _without_ Cryder…

By now, she believed there wasn't a person in this entire cesspool of scum that Cryder hadn't wronged at one point. No matter who they went to, the story was the same. Some people would yell at him. Some would demand money. Some would brandish weapons or send out thugs. In a very rare situation, he would actually get into a discussion with one of them. But in the end, they would always chase him off in anger, yelling threats or demands for gil. Meanwhile, Dael, Quaren, and Taraketh continued to grow more tired and hungry. Dael herself felt as if a layer of chemical filth was coating her from wandering around in the smoggy district for so long, and she was beginning to taste the scent of slime in the back of her throat after having breathed in the toxic fumes for so long. This was getting to be ridiculous.

Currently, the three were standing around again in the middle of the road. Activity had mostly slowed at this point. It was past four in the morning and even criminals mostly turned in now. Many of the shacks had closed. However, they were still making the rounds. Any longer and Dael thought she might go ahead and risk sitting on something loathsome and rest her legs anyway. Quaren was barely awake at this point, nodding his head often and yawning frequently. Even Taraketh had lost some of his annoyance from sheer exhaustion. He looked over to the direction Cryder had went. This one seemed to be more civil again. He was actually talking normally to Cryder. However, Dael had seen this a few times by now and knew better than to get her hopes up.

"I know full well you don't care for my opinion…" Taraketh grumbled. "But the next stop we go to, why don't we do the negotiating? It's got to be better than this…"

"I think I just might." Dael answered, for once agreeing with Taraketh. "I might not be that skillful at negotiating with black market dealers, but at least I'm not someone who's ever taken advantage of one."

"We've been around the entire district and we're no closer to getting any transport." The High Child went on. "I'm beginning to think we might as well beg on the street for a sufficient amount of money and then try and go somewhere. At this point, I think it would have been a better investment than putting our hopes in the pirate…"

"At some of these fees, that wouldn't do any good." Dael answered. "We'd be pan-handling for an entire year before we made enough."

Quaren let out another loud yawn and shook his head. Blinking a few times, he looked up to give a mild shrug. "Well…at least there's no Hounds or police here to watch us. If we were going to hang around in the city it might as well be here. It could be worse."

Dael stared ahead for a moment after hearing that…before she felt something. A light drop touched her nose. A moment later, a second joined it…and a third…and a fourth…and a fifth… Not long after that, the sky gave forth a rumble. Dael had actually be hearing it for some time, but she had hoped it would blow over. Unfortunately, they still didn't seem to have any sort of luck. Within moments, a steady downpour began to fall on the three of them and soak the streets.

As other people scurried for cover, Dael could only give a tired sigh as Taraketh frowned and looked to Quaren. He blinked a few times, then turned back to Taraketh. He groaned.

"Oh come on, you can't blame that on me."

Taraketh lost his frown and rolled his eyes. "Maybe this rain will at least clear some of the filth off the street…"

Dael, however, grimaced. "Not likely. It's more likely to cause more pollution runoff to fill them. Not to mention we have clouds of thick smog overhead. This rain is probably acidic."

That was the last straw. Taraketh let out a groan as he angrily made his hands into fists. "That does it! I've had it! No more of this! Lady Cybus may have told me to be patient, but this is beyond endurance! As soon as that pirate returns, we're telling him that we're going to find a transport on our own or at least find some place to sit outside of this toxic soup they call rain!"

Dael was silent in response. As always, she tried to maintain decorum. However, by now, she was in full agreement with Taraketh. Although she might have been the more "official" one, she was tempted to let Taraketh give Cryder the business on the return trip. And she definitely wanted out of the rain. She was getting sick of being drenched continuously. Luckily, the three of them didn't have to stew long.

As the rain picked up in intensity, beginning to soak their hair and clothing again, a form broke off from the latest stand. Moments later, Cryder was running back into their midst, already knocking up splashes of water that had accumulated on the road. He halted in front of them a moment later.

"Mr. Morningjay…" Dael almost immediately began.

"This has gone on long enough." Taraketh cut off. He managed to stay even tempered, but his tone was still firm. "We're not getting anywhere. At the bare minimum, we need to get out of this rain until it quits and rest for a bit. We've been walking for almost-"

"I got us a boat." Cryder interjected.

All three of them immediately froze. Their complaints and exhaustion were forgotten. They stared back almost incredulously at Cryder.

"…Really?" Quaren asked in hesitation. "…Are you sure?"

Taraketh let out a long sigh and made a prayer gesture before saying something in arcane language to the heavens.

Dael blinked. She couldn't believe it. She had set herself up for another failure, having given up hope of him actually landing a transport hours ago and just going along on the off chance he would find something. "You really found a transport? One that will take us to Esthar?"

Cryder grinned and gave a nod. "Of course. Straight there at a good clip. I told you I'd come through for you lot, didn't I?"

Taraketh lowered his head at that, ending his prayer, and then simply rolled his eyes. "Given infinite time…" He muttered.

"When do we leave?" Dael asked, sticking to business.

"Tomorrow morning." Cryder responded. "0600 sharp. We'll need to be out of town at a private dock, but I know the one. It's well in pirate territory. They won't let any Hounds or Leuco authorities stick their noses in on it."

Dael sighed in relief. So…one more day. Good. They could hold out for one more day. She much rather would have preferred to leave now, but they could tolerate one day here. Besides, depending on how far it was from town, they may get to leave sooner. Best of all, this meant they no longer had to walk around. She finally gave a nod.

"Good." She paused momentarily. "I don't suppose there's anything left of the 2700 gil considering how expensive everything is here, so I guess we'll just have to go hungry one more day before we depart."

However, on hearing that, Cryder began to register some unease. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. His grin became rather sheepish.

"Uh…yeah…about that…" He spoke hesitantly.

The change was instantaneous on the others. Where before they had been relaxing and actually showing some enthusiasm…they now looked to Cryder more critically. Dael and Taraketh practically glared at him with a look that would burn a hole through paper. Quaren looked more uncomfortable.

"…I don't like the way you said that." He nearly whined.

"What about it?" Dael asked, almost as cold as ice.

Cryder made a gesture with his hand in a circle and kept his gaze to the side, hesitant before he responded.

"Eh…as it turns out…I owe this chap some gil."

Taraketh smacked his face with his palm. Quaren let out another whine. Dael bowed her head and felt like collapsing into the muck. Cryder, on seeing these reactions, held his hands up.

"Hey, hey!" He interjected. "It's not like the others! This one's willing to let bygones be bygones and take us on the boat anyway." He paused momentarily, and then shrugged. "…Provided, of course, we pay my debt."

Taraketh gave a glare to him as he pulled his hand down. "We? What we? Since when did your debt become ours?"

Cryder gave him a dark look back. "Since you relied on me to get you a boat out of here, lad."

Dael rolled her own eyes and turned to Quaren. "How much is your rifle worth, private? We're going to have to scare up some more money."

Quaren looked up at that in a bit of surprise. He didn't want to be unarmed, even this close to Esthar. After a moment, he gave a shrug. "…I think this model goes for 100,000 gil at the most. But that's brand new and not on the black market…"

Dael frowned a bit and looked to her side. "I think my remaining mage gun shells are worth about 250,000 all together, if we're lucky." She turned to Taraketh. "How much does your weapon go for?"

Taraketh narrowed his gaze at her. "Nothing." He flatly answered. "Because it's not for sale. This was a gift from Lady Cybus herself."

Dael suppressed a sigh. "I'm sure she'll understand."

Taraketh nearly flustered in response to that, but suddenly calmed. He formed something of a smirk. "Alright then…first tell me how much your Mage Gun is worth."

Dael froze on hearing that. She held for a moment in position. After a short while, she bowed her head and gave a sigh. "…So we only have 350,000 gil between us at the most." She turned and looked up to Cryder. "I'm not sure I want to know, but how far short are we of your debt to this guy?"

Again, the pirate looked a bit uncomfortable. He exhaled a bit sharply. "Well…not nearly as bad as some of the debts we've encountered…"

The commander crossed her arms. "And how bad _is_ it?"

Cryder scratched the side of his head. "About 25,000,000 gil."

Dael, in spite of herself, was so tired that her arms fell to her sides and her jaws dropped.

"25,000,000?" Taraketh shouted in a harsh whisper, not wanting to throw that figure of money around the area.

"We could buy our own boat for that kind of money!" Quaren said at full volume, forgetting his own composure.

"Hey! That's the lowest debt I've got!" Cryder insisted. "Besides, even if we could pay the other debts, it wouldn't matter. They still wouldn't give us passage. You're getting a bargain. As for buying our own boat, that's no good. There's channels to go through. You've got to deal with pirates and Leuco on your own. Through a proper smuggler you avoid all that."

"We don't have anywhere near that kind of money." Dael sternly retorted. "And there's no way we can get it."

"Can't we just say we don't know him?" Taraketh suggested, pointing at Cryder. "I think I saw a few signs where we could get three tickets for 350,000 gil…"

"Hey!" Cryder protested.

Quaren, however, looked uncomfortable. "We've been going around all night having people see us with him…"

Dael ran a hand through her hair. "Look…if we can scare up the 350,000… Command is going to have my head on a plate for blowing through this much gil. I'll probably be demoted to private, especially since funding doesn't come easy…but we can give him that now and I can get him some with a bonus once we get to-"

"Use your head, lass." Cryder cut Dael off. "These are smugglers. You think they'll count on getting paid one gil from the government of Esthar? Besides, you don't make down payments with these people. All at once or nothing."

"Then how did you hire them when you owe all of them money?" Quaren asked.

"I didn't say they never accepted down payments before…" Cryder answered with a shrug.

"They just stopped after they were finished with you." Taraketh sourly answered. "You fixed us all real nice, didn't you? You made it so we couldn't work our way on a ship out of this town."

"Usually I'm able to get around little things like debt." Cryder responded. "We just got to town on an unlucky day."

Quaren, still looking rather anxious, turned to Dael. "What do we do now, commander?"

Dael paused momentarily. She let out a slow exhale. After a moment she bowed her head and rubbed her hand against her forehead. "…Right now, I'm too tired and hungry to think that well, and I'm getting drenched on top of that. Let's find a place to get out of the rain and try and think of something before we do anything else."

"Not a problem." Cryder responded with a shrug. "I know a nice place to-"

"If it's just the same to you, Mr. Morningjay, I think I'll decide on the place." Dael responded, trying not to sound severely annoyed.

Cryder gave her something of a frown. "Think you know your way around this city better than I do?"

"Not necessarily." Dael responded as she put her hand back to her side and leaned up again. "However, I've got an idea for a good bet on a safe place that's a bit cleaner than here."

* * *

><p><em>Four Hours Later<em>

Taraketh leaned out of his chair and over to Dael. He spoke a bit quietly. "Seems you grunts do have a few good ideas every now and then."

Dael marveled again at Taraketh's ability to combine an insult with a compliment. However, she calmly turned away from the window just a bit to incline her head toward him. "Just don't talk too much." She said in a whisper. "I don't want to avoid all of the authorities and Hounds just to get tossed out of here by an angry librarian."

The High Child hesitated, but seemed to understand that, and leaned back into his own seat. He resumed looking outside the window as well, and was soon joined by Dael as she turned her head back toward it.

One of the more advanced topics they taught Dael for being in a hostile situation behind enemy lines back in the academy was safe refuges, or places that one could hope to safely find shelter as well as a place to hide. One of the more up and coming ones on the list was where Dael found herself right now: the local public library.

Although public libraries were a staple of most places on Gaia, they were becoming less and less popular with time. With the advent of digital books and internet books, few people cared to actually pick up real books anymore. Even comics and magazines were falling by the wayside, although the latter group seemed to be organizing to stay in print by universally refusing to post online. Libraries were rarely used. And since they were rarely used, there was little need to financially support them. At a result, aside from heavy hard copies of reference materials, historical documents, encyclopedias and scientific journals, there was little in the way of new volumes there, which, in turn, caused the few people who did enjoy reading books to go by the wayside.

Nowadays, libraries had become a good haven. Most of them incorporated many shelves and side rooms that afforded excellent places to duck out of sight. They had online and periodical resources to keep one's eyes on the news. They were public locals and yet rarely ever monitored. Whoever heard of someone going to a library to commit a crime? That meant, in cases of adverse weather, such as a snowstorm, incredible heat or cold, or even dousing rain, it would be a source of shelter and no one would pester you or care if you loitered. Most hostile governments, including Sybenia, had not yet figured out that these were shelters for operatives in their country. Even if they did, a library, though sparsely inhabited, still had just enough people where it would cause a disturbance if the police tried to knock the place down.

In addition to all that, Dael was grateful to be sitting in one of the cushioned chairs and take a load off. She was fighting the allure of sleep at the moment, in fact. However, she stayed alert. She realized she couldn't relax that much. They still had a job to do.

It had been quite a walk to the public llibrary, but luckily it wasn't that hard to find from a local kiosk. They didn't even have to ask for directions. They arrived pretty much just in time too. As soon as they got there, an elderly librarian was just opening up. On seeing them there, Dael saw her smile and make a comment about how she hadn't had so many people eager to get into the library for years before letting them in. Dael was just glad she didn't ask questions about how strange they looked and didn't even mind that they were all bringing in weapons. Once inside, the four had moved to one of the large windows overlooking the city. The rain was still pouring even after the long walk, and was only getting worse. However, that was only good for Dael. The gray skies made it harder for people to see into the library, but she had a good view of them outside. Sure enough, she saw very few policemen, but if any of them showed up and wanted trouble, she could easily react in time.

After a few moments, Taraketh rose from the chair. Dael didn't bother looking up to know why. He was following after Cryder again, no doubt. The pirate had actually begun to casually peruse the books in the library, even reading a few of them. Dael noticed that he did so rather fast, averaging about a minute on each page before turning it. He seemed casual enough, but Taraketh, obviously still not trusting him, was hounding him constantly for signs of anything untoward. It wasn't as if Dael fully trusted him, but he accepted his explanations about how they were all in the same boat and had a common cause. She had another things to worry about. Quaren was out again. Dael figured they were all too hungry to think clearly or react if something came along, so she decided it would be best if he took the 2700 gil and got them some breakfast from anywhere that looked safe. That left just them.

At the moment, she couldn't think of much. The only option she could think of was using what money they could get as a down payment on a loan. But that had its own multitude of problems, not the least of which they'd have to submit to a background check. They certainly weren't going to make that much money through gambling. They could try and call back to Esthar, but without a secure channel or a code scrambler they were taking a major risk. In all honesty, she didn't know what to do.

The young officer continued to look out the window at the pouring rain. She couldn't believe the situation she was in. This close to Esthar after everything that had happened, and they were stuck. There had to be some way out of this mess. But for all her training and skills, she couldn't think of anything. What were they supposed to do? Steal a ship? She was beginning to think that might be the only viable option…

She did notice one other thing, however. The librarian that had let them in frequently was looking to the same window and to the door. She seemed to have some mild concern about her. It was only getting worse with time, and as she went about putting books away she frequently came to the window and looked out of it…

She heard footsteps come up behind her, distracting her from her thoughts. A moment later, and the face of Cryder leaning down next to her came into the corner of her vision.

"Lass…you don't mind telling you friend not to follow me to the bathroom, would you?" He asked in a whisper. "I do enjoy my privacy."

Dael turned slightly to him. "He's not under my command, and even if he was he has such an ill disposition toward me I don't think he'd do as I told him."

"Heh…gathered that much." Cryder answered with a snicker. "Still, I thought I'd try. Don't suppose you'd care to tell me what he's doing with a pair of Esthar's Hawks? Don't tell me those Order of Hyne magicians are actually working with Esthar. Heh…that would be something…them actually backing a country."

"It's on a need-to-know basis, and not something for civilians or criminals." Dael answered. She paused momentarily. "But suffice to say, it's not an alliance. The Order of Hyne is acting in its own interests."

"And their interests are everyone's interests…right." Cryder responded with a grin. "Joking aside, however, I've run into a few of them in my time." He let out another snort. "When I was a child they'd always bring toys to us during the winter. They'd bring in a meal three days out of the week too. Most of those around us called them saints…" He chuckled a bit as he leaned up. "…But me? I'm a bitter one. I still blamed them for kicking geomancers out of their order. I figured that the whole reason we were in our position was because of them."

Dael turned slightly to him. "So you think they're on the same level as the governments that slighted you?"

"Eh…I never said that." Cryder answered, shrugging. "For the most part, I can't find anything wrong with them…and believe me, I try. I never miss a beat to fault them and show up a hypocrite in their order, but to tell the truth I really didn't have fodder for that until that lad came along…" He stuck a thumb behind him to Taraketh, who was watching him like a hawk…and happened to bluster when it looked as if Cryder was making a crack at his expense. "I guess it's a weakness of mine. Most people don't think much of me or my profession, and I can't blame them. I've hurt my share of innocent people so I could grease my own palms. Maybe I didn't kill them…but in my time, I've heard a kid or two beggin' me not to hit their mom or dad…and all I did was slap them to the deck before I resumed roughin' them up. I'm not saying I have a clean slate…but then again who does, you know? You understand me, lass?"

Dael gave him something of a hard look, although not hostile.

"I understand." She answered simply. "You feel some guilt about what you do, and so to make yourself feel better, you point out all the bad things that good people have done. Am I right?"

Cryder paused for a moment at that, looking almost taken aback. After a moment, he grinned.

"…Like I said before, you're a sharp lass."

The young officer sighed and turned her head away. "Sharpness has nothing to do with it." She simply said. "Most morals are subjective. You kill a man from your own country, you're a murderer. You kill a man from an enemy country, you're a hero. If I or any other soldier started asking themselves whether or not their enemy really deserved to die, I'd only be good for bullet fodder. In a war or political conflict, there is no 'right' or 'wrong'. There's only your side and everyone else's, and frankly your side is the only one that matters. Who should have won the war can be left to historians and philosophers who can calmly look back from the lofty position of having hindsight, never wondering if the reason they're even there to make said judgment is because of what the people they condemn did."

The pirate let out a bit of a chuckle at this.

Dael turned to him, looking slightly irritated. "…Is something funny about what I said?"

"Not really, lass." Cryder answered as he began to turn and walk away. "It's just for someone who seems to be locked in her way of thinkin', you seem to have been thinkin' quite a bit about this."

With that, he began to walk away to the bathroom, leaving Dael behind. The young officer watched him a moment…suppressing a frown growing on her face. She eventually sighed and looked forward again. Terrific. Even with Carbuncle not with her, she had someone else questioning all of her lifestyle choices. That was something she could really do without. Right now, all she cared about was getting back to Esthar some time before she was an old woman and in one piece.

Dael leaned back and continued to stare out the window. The rain was still pouring down at a steady clip. More and more people were waking up, going about their work. As before, Dael noticed that many of them were dressed rather shabbily but had new clothes covering different parts of their bodies. They didn't seem to be too despondent either. More cars were moving around too. In addition to all of the new ones, there were also old ones that showed signs of recent brand-new repairs. The economy was definitely in a boom, but why? She tried to tell herself to ignore it, to keep her eyes out for Hounds, policemen, or at least Quaren if she was going to do anything. Yet she couldn't help but be curious about this too.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a person moving forward. Turning her head slightly, she recognized it as the librarian again. This time, she didn't have any books in her hands at all. She simply approached the window and stared out of it with a troubled expression.

Dael knew it was none of her concern. Not only that, but she didn't want to start talking to any citizens…giving them any reason to take notice of her. She had other things to worry about besides this woman anyway. However, for some reason…she felt her interest piqued a bit. She concluded in the end, at least, that the woman's constant movement in front of her and looking out the window was a distraction. And so, she decided to go ahead and ask.

"Is something the matter?"

The librarian turned to Dael. She looked at her a moment, and then gave a weak smile. "Oh, it's nothing, miss." She turned her head back out to the window and let out a sigh. "Just…waiting for someone."

"I assume they're running late? You've been at the window quite a bit."

The librarian shook her head. "Oh no. They aren't meeting me. It's…well…a bit complicated, dear. This young man has been here almost every day for the past few weeks. Right at the door every time I open up, and he spends all day in here reading. I'm a bit worried about him if he's not here already. You see…" She turned to Dael with a bit of a sad look. "I know a bit about this young man…I know he really doesn't have anywhere else to go. So I expect him now. And the last time he was late like this, he had a black eye and was limping a bit…"

Dael creased her brow slightly. "Come again?"

"He's homeless, dear…and he's pretty young compared to a lot of the other boys on the street." The librarian answered. "What that means is…"

Suddenly, the woman cut herself off. She saw something out of the corner of her eye out the window. She turned to look. Immediately, her face filled with concern. "Oh no…"

Dael reacted to the change, and looked out the window to see what had caught the woman's attention. "What is it?" She called.

"That's him…" She remarked uneasily.

Dael had to look a bit, but not long. There weren't many people around, after all. After a few moments, she saw a figure run down the street stretching in front of the library. Based on his size, he couldn't have been any older than twelve and was likely younger. He was dressed very shabbily. His shoes were falling apart and filled with holes. No doubt, his feet were soaked. His pants were ragged with holes in both knees. He wore a jacket with a hood, but it wasn't rain repellant and sank down on his body. He was cradling a small brown bag close to his body. She couldn't make anything else about him, other than, based on the clothing and stains on it, he was another orphan of the street.

However, not long after, Dael saw something else. Five larger boys, these ones probably teenagers and a good head taller than the first one, ran out were dressed pretty bad as well, indicating they were of the same ilk. They were chasing the smaller one down, and easily catching up to him…

Dael blinked a bit, finding herself getting up out of her chair to look more at this. "…Did he steal from them?"

"He's not the type." The librarian answered anxiously as she watched this happen. "They're going to steal from _him_. It happens every day in Leuco. The younger orphans manage to find some food and the older ones take it from them or beat them up. Most of them just turn it over…but not him…"

As Dael watched, the first in the group caught the young one by the shoulder. With a yank, he nearly ripped him off of his feet and dragged him to a halt. However, before anything else could happen, the boy turned around and put his head to the hand on his shoulder. The one who held him made a face of anguish and yanked his hand back, and Dael realized he had bit him. A second one, however, quickly advanced on him and swung a fist out for the boy's head. To Dael's surprise, the boy ended up being rather nimble and ducked under the blow, then, more to her surprise, he used his smaller size to drive his head forward hard into the solar plexus of his attacker, hitting enough to make him stagger back. The third advanced on him, and Dael was amazed again as the young man did an axe kick on his foot. Given the power, Dael wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't broken anything, and the third staggered back in pain.

"He's pretty tough. Looks like he can handle himself almost as well as a trained cadet…" Dael remarked aloud.

However, Dael soon saw that she had spoke too soon. The first one managed to recover at this point and lunge into a tackle. The boy was against a much larger opponent, and as a result barely managed to dodge. As he did, however, he set himself up to take a punch from the fourth one who shot forward. His head snapped back easily from the hit from his larger opponent, and he staggered back. The fourth one tried to hit him again, but, even dazed, Dael saw him managed to raise one of his arms off the paper bag and deflect it. However…he couldn't stop the fifth one from coming in and swinging around to seize the boy by the head and smash his face into the concrete of the nearest building. Dazzled again…probably worse…the boy collapsed to the ground. Immediately, all five of the teens moved in and began to beat on him at once.

Dael's eyes widened at this. The librarian cupped a hand to her mouth at the sight. However, she said nothing. The young officer looked around a bit at the street…but the few people walking by ignored the sight completely. The few that did look immediately looked away again, their faces showing annoyance at having to have to walk past that. In spite of the numerous punches and kicks, Dael was surprised to see that the boy was occasionally trying to fight back, his arms flailing out from the midst. However, those eventually subsided and died down. Still his opponents mercilessly beat on him.

"They're going to kill him!" Dael exclaimed.

"I told him to just give them his food next time…that I'd buy him some…" The librarian spoke, her voice quivering and afraid. "The older orphans in this neighborhood are too vicious… I heard they've beaten children to death before…"

Dael snapped to the woman. To her surprise, she threw her own safety to the wind as she exclaimed, "Call the police right now!"

The librarian, still mortified, turned her head to Dael and blinked a bit. Dael nearly yelled at her again…but then realized why she was hesitating. A sheer sign of urban blight…the police just let the "street scum clean each other up". They wouldn't be interested in helping a homeless, orphaned child who would grow up to be a thief or worse. Even if they were, they'd never make it in time. The five would be done with the kid by then.

She looked back out. The boy was fully limp now. The five were finally breaking off and one of them took the brown bag from him, leaving him a mess lying on the wet street. For a moment, Dael thought they were done with him. But that wasn't the case. Two of them immediately seized him by the legs and began to drag him into a nearby alley. They were just making sure no one would intervene… After all, murder was still murder…

Seeing this, Dael began to feel a knife inside herself. She remembered a few months ago…when she was lying in a field being hit again and again by a gang of people. There had been no one to help her then either. If not for Carbuncle, she'd be dead by now. At any rate, that wasn't a feeling or fate she wished on anyone else.

She paused for a moment. If she was trying to lie low…this was the exact opposite of what she needed to do. She would be making a scene by intervening. Granted, these five teens would probably never go to the police if only to avoid admitting they were beaten up by a girl. But it would still cause a commotion. However, she thought with a mental shrug, wasn't she supposed to be a super soldier, capable of moving in and taking care of this quickly and quietly? And there hadn't been a cop car in the area all day. Besides, for all her talk about how her welfare was the only thing that mattered to her, she couldn't just stand idly by and watch some impoverished kid get beaten to death for trying to fill his belly. At last, she made a decision.

Dael quickly unfastened her belt carrying her Mage Gun and shells. No need for those. She took off her sword next and left them against the chair. She felt a bit naked without a weapon, but no need to draw any more attention to herself. The librarian looked to her in puzzlement, but Dael wasn't paying attention to her now. She didn't blame her, though. She looked to be approaching eighty. Against five strong young men she could do little except teach them how to rob someone by presenting an easy mark. After all, if they thought little of killing some little kid for a bit of food, what would they do to her? Dael moved quickly while still in the building. The librarian remarked in a bit of shock as Dael put her full enhanced speed to run away from the door, around the edge of the bookshelves and wall divider, through the hall, and out to the front entrance, where she quickly yanked open the door.

Once outside in the rain, she forced herself to move at normal speed. Her enhanced speed was enough to give anyone pause, so she purposely ran slower to get to the alley. Luckily, they had only finished dragging him in there, and she hoped they hadn't done anything worse yet. The street was still mostly empty, so Dael only had to zig-zag behind one car to run across the road. She took a brief note of the fact that there was blood on the street. Not much, but there was some. Soon after, she moved down the sidewalk and into the alley.

Her speed had been worth it. They were still dragging the boy deeper into the alley when Dael arrived. One of them, the one with the broken foot, was bringing up the rear and limping. Already he was muttering several obscenities and rubbing his knuckles, which had grown sore from hitting the kid, and plotted to do more. The two others were right in front of him, and the two that were dragging were up front.

Dael didn't bother issuing a challenge or an ultimatum. She simply focused on the nearest one and advanced. Within a few moments, she was right behind him and clamping a hand on his shoulder. With one easy tug, she yanked him around to face her. The teenager had barely any time to register what happened before Dael drove her fist forward and buried it in his midsection.

She wasn't pulling any punches, but using her enhanced strength. The teen's eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of his head as he opened his mouth to gag, but had no air with which to do it with. Immediately, he doubled over and collapsed to the ground, totally drained of strength from the one hit. Dael, forgetting about him, moved up to the next one, seized him by the back of the neck, twisted and threw him against the nearest brick wall, and then looked at his face which had just enough time to register some surprise at what was happening to him before she hooked him…sending him flying into a stand of garbage cans and smashing into them with a loud clatter.

The other free one managed to turn at this, and the two pulling the boy stopped and looked up to the woman in surprise. They didn't have a chance to issue an exclamation of "who are you" or any threat to her to leave them alone. Before the next one knew what had happened, Dael had seized him by the arm and twisted it behind his back with sufficient force to nearly dislocate his shoulder. He managed to get out just a hint of a cry before his head was shoved forward and smashed into the alley wall. He was lucky. Dael could have knocked out half of his teeth with such a move or fractured his skull…but she was gentle enough to merely knock him out. He left a bit of blood on the brickwork as he collapsed to the ground. She turned to glare at the other two with a cold, fearless stare.

The two gazed at her momentarily, but Dael's look was not to be denied, as well as the fact that three of their group were already unconscious or immobilized before any of them even had the chance to speak. They stared at her with growing fear for a bit longer, but then finally decided not to even try. Releasing the arms of the boy, they immediately spun around and darted down the alley, leaving the three other teens behind to whatever fate their assailant had for them.

Dael merely gave a snort. _It's quite a different thing, isn't it, to fight an opponent who isn't smaller and weaker than you?_ She thought. Her only regret is they would probably be back to doing this to another young orphan tomorrow. Well…the two who ran off might, at least. The ones on the ground probably needed several days to heal. At any rate, she slowly let out an exhale, calming down for a moment as the rain continued to gently pour down.

"Uh…commander?"

As soon as Dael heard the voice behind her, however, she snapped out of it. Immediately, she looked back toward the front of the alley she had come through.

She soon saw Quaren standing there, blinking in a bit of surprise, holding a bag that looked like it came from a convenience store.

"Weren't we supposed to, um…not try to make get too much attention?"

Dael stared back with a frown and sighed.

"…Just help me get this kid into the library."

* * *

><p>About two minutes later, the librarian was opening the door for Dael and Quaren as the former carried the boy inside. She was carrying him "bridal style" at the moment. They had attracted a few stares from the street, something Dael didn't like, but there was nothing for. Besides, last she looked, there was no law against it anywhere in the world. As they crossed into the foyer, the librarian looked down to him with concern.<p>

"Is he alright?" She asked. "I'm sorry…I wish I could have done more…but…"

"I'll have to get a better look at him." Dael responded as she twisted her way through the doorway. "Let's just get him out of sight and then check him out."

The librarian looked to Dael with a bit of puzzlement on hearing that. "Out of sight…?"

Dael hesitated a bit on hearing that response, and Quaren with her. The latter swallowed a lump in his throat as he followed in behind. Had they just let the cat out of the bag?

Luckily, the woman soon relented and nodded. "Alright, if you think that's best. I don't have room to argue after what you did. He might be dead by now if it wasn't for you. I didn't think there was anyone left in this town who would have stepped in… Anyway, there's an old couch near the children's section. We can put him there. I'll show you."

Dael paused momentarily, but then nodded. Quaren soon calmed down a bit as well. The librarian turned and soon began to lead them back into the building. Dael and Quaren followed behind, bringing the boy along. Soon they passed through the second set of doors and into the main hall of the building. They continued to move down it until they made to the first major turn, and then went into it.

Not long after that, they saw both Cryder and Taraketh there waiting for them. Cryder was leaning against a wall with arms crossed and giving a snicker.

"I thought you wanted to keep a low profile, lass?"

Taraketh, however, was surprisingly different. He immediately rushed up on Dael in order to take the boy from her. "Let me carry him." He stated. "I don't trust you grunts not to break his neck by mistake…"

Dael resisted the urge to snatch the boy away, but continued to move forward. "I know how to carry an injured comrade; I can carry a child."

Taraketh frowned a bit, but moved in alongside her as she went along. "You checked his vitals? Any broken bones?"

"I was more interested in getting him out of that filthy water in the alley at first." Dael responded. "I don't suppose you know any healing magic, do you?"

"No, but I've known how to tend the injured since I was five." Taraketh answered.

Dael noticed that Taraketh, for his normal attitude toward her, seemed to have more concern in his voice now. It was only typical, she realized. After all, he was an Order of Hyne member. Helping out the less fortunate was what he was supposed to be all about. He may have had little love for her, the military, or pirates…but some innocent victim was another matter entirely.

It took a few minutes, but finally they were headed into the children's section. They didn't actually go in, for there was no need. There was a reading area with carpet and numerous places to sit that were comfortable outside of it. No doubt, this was for parents trying to read to children. The entrance itself was framed with a cartoon chocobo and moogle, both of them looking out with big smiles and extolling the virtues of reading. The librarian took them up to one of the couches. She gestured to it.

"He can lie there. I'll go get the first aid kit." Without even going all the way to the couch, the librarian turned and began to head back for the main desk.

"I'll lend a hand." Cryder announced at that. "Maybe there's something else I can bring along that you can't manage by yourself." Immediately, the pirate followed after her.

Dael realized why he had done that. He was pretty sharp himself, obviously. They had given a few clues now to the fact that they weren't exactly savory types themselves and not here just as tourists or bookworms. He was obviously wanting to keep an eye on the woman to make sure she didn't have any secret desires to call the police. However, Dael honestly didn't believe she would. She might not have been the best at "reading people" in the world, but she didn't seem the time to persecute someone who had just done what Dael had done. Nevertheless, she didn't dispute Cryder moving away. She went to the couch and set the boy down on it. Right as she did, she noticed he was already beginning to stir a bit, although he was still a ways from consciousness.

As soon as he was down, however, Taraketh inserted himself, practically shoving her aside, and went to work. "First things first is to get as much of this filthy, drenched clothing off as we can… He'll probably get an infection just wearing it. I'll get his shoes if you get this jacket."

Dael paused momentarily, but then did as Taraketh said for once. She proceeded to start unzipping his jacket when Taraketh pulled off his shoes. He didn't untie them. The laces were so old and wet they looked like they'd break if he tried. The shoes themselves looked almost ready to disintegrate. As soon as they were off, they exposed equally old and worn socks. Meanwhile, she finished unzipping his jacket and began to pull it off of him. It was a bit hard, considering how it seemed to cling to his skin, but she managed to get it off and finally exposed his face.

It was a dark brown haired young man of twelve, just as Dael had thought. His face had a hard look on it, the kind that comes from being forced to live a tough life constantly exposed. He seemed to have a ferocity to his look even now, even while unconsciousness. There was some sort of vitality or life about him. One of his eyes was blackened and bruised, and his lip was fat and swollen. There were a few other light bruises and cuts on his face as well.

Dael looked down to his body. He only had a loose white sleeveless t-shirt under the jacket, also soaked. It might as well have been a rag, as flimsy and pathetic as it was. At any rate, at least he had a little less filth and dampness attached to him.

Taraketh, once the shoes and jacket were gone, moved back up to his body. He began to feel around along his sides, gently moving his fingers over it. The boy himself was still only half-conscious and had his eyes closed, but as Taraketh moved about, he winced occasionally. He put his hands on his chest and felt around a bit as the boy breathed. Dael leaned back and let him do this, while Quaren watched with intrigue. After a few moments, Taraketh called behind him.

"…I don't think anything got broken. All of the bones seem intact. He's able to breathe without pain. But he must be pretty badly bruised."

"Considering the beating he received, he's either extremely durable or extremely lucky." Dael answered. "I thought for sure a few of his ribs would be snapped."

Taraketh lifted up the shirt next and began to look underneath it for signs of swelling and discoloration. Soon after doing so, however, he froze. His eyes widened a bit, before he formed a regretful look. He sighed.

"Seems our young friend here isn't a stranger to extreme pain…"

Dael was puzzled by that response, but soon received an answer. Taraketh lifted the boy's shirt more to expose more around his shoulders. Quaren leaned in to get a look as well, and actually let out a bit of a gasp.

There was a fairly recent scar of a bullet wound on his left shoulder.

"Poor kid…" Quaren commented.

The boy himself tensed a bit and actually turned his head a little, showing a bit of discomfort. No doubt, as he was swimming back to consciousness, he was feeling more pain from his beating. However, he soon went still again. Not long after, the sounds of footsteps began to come up behind the gathering. Dael looked behind her, and saw the librarian returning with the first aid kit. Cryder came up behind her, carrying a blanket and a pillow.

"I just remembered." She said, commenting on those. "We keep those in case one of the children gets sick who comes in. But don't worry, it was washed in bleach. He won't catch anything from it."

Taraketh nodded back. "Good. This means we can take most of the rest of his wet clothes off. Do you have any restorative salve in there? Like the tonic or potion issued?"

The librarian was regretful at that. "Just a tonic, I think…"

The High Child exhaled a bit in disappointment, but overall remained perfectly calm. "He could probably use a Phoenix Down issue…but that'll have to do."

The librarian soon came up to his side, with Cryder following. The pillow was inserted under the boy's head, and Taraketh began to pull off his soaked pants and socks as well. As soon as they were off, he moved the blanket to cover his body. Dael was a bit surprised. He moved with a great deal of gentleness around his "patient". Apparently, he could have quite a bedside manner when the mood struck him right.

"What he needs more than anything is to stay off the street for a few days." Taraketh continued as he tucked the blanket around him. "Is there anyone you know of…anyone at all…who'd be willing to do that?"

The librarian sorrowfully shook her head no. "As far as I'm concerned, he's welcome to spend the rest of the day here…but I have to lock up at night. I can't take him home with me. I live in a studio apartment and the landlord would raise a holy stink if he found I was keeping an extra tenant…"

Taraketh sighed. "…If there was a shrine for the Order of Hyne in this town, I'd bring him there. They'd take care of him for a little while…"

"He's a very good boy." The librarian threw in. "He's very mannerly. He always stays quiet. Never disturbs anyone else and is always polite. He's never stolen anything. It's just…" Here, the old woman bowed her head a bit and sighed.

The others turned to her at that. "Just what?" Taraketh asked.

The old woman sighed momentarily, but then looked back up to the others.

"…The poor dear…he's been through so much in his life already. I'm sad to say…it's left an impact on him. He's not quite right in the head."

"How so?" Dael asked.

The librarian paused a moment. Finally, she sighed. She moved over to another chair and began to sit down in it. "I suppose I better tell you…" She murmured. "He looks like he'll be awake soon, and you'll only be confused if you don't know… I don't tell anyone about this. He's such a good boy…so much nicer than all the other orphans on the street…he doesn't deserve to be looked at like he's not right in the head. The way I figure, it's not a crime to be a little eccentric when you don't hurt anyone…"

Sitting down, the old woman leaned back and let out a sigh before beginning.

"…He wasn't always an orphan. He used to have a mother and father and two little sisters. They would come here at the end of the week as a family, and he'd come in whenever he could. They were poor…based on the smell and stains on his father and mother, I assume they both worked in one of the factories uptown. But they were nice people. And they always loved reading. They would bring in their children and spend all day reading books. I would see them from time to time and he…" She gestured to the boy on the couch. "Would just be enraptured by the stories his parents read to him. His sisters weren't that interested because they were too little, I suppose…but he was always fixated. A firecracker could have gone off behind him and he'd still be listening to the stories. He loved stories about the old eidolons. You know them, right? Those mythical creatures? Well…not sure if they're myths or not. Some of them might be Guardian Forces…but anyway, he would drink in those stories like water. Every time he came in he'd look for more and more stories about them. Sometimes he'd call to me every time he found out something new, like what one of their favorite foods were or some book they supposedly wrote…"

The old woman smiled a bit at the thought, but then turned solemn.

"Then one day when I went home…a couple months back…I heard on the news a terrible story. They said that the police arrested a group of armed robbers who broke in on an apartment. They thought it was where a gang was hiding their drugs, I think…but they went in to his apartment by mistake. There was a family of five living there, and they shot and killed four of them. They say the fifth one, the son, escaped, but one of the attackers confessed that his accomplice shot him as he ran so he could get a reduced sentence. I thought it might not have been him…so I waited. But then, the family didn't show up normally…and neither did the boy. When they released pictures of the victims, I knew the truth…

"Then, a few days later, I was going to open up the library…" She turned her head and looked to the boy. "…And he was standing right there, waiting for me to do it just like he used to some weekdays. I thought of saying something to him…telling him to go to the police or just ask him what happened…but I noticed how he looked. He was so grim and serious. He was like a different person. And when he looked at me, it was like he didn't know me. So I tried acting calm and friendly and talking to him."

The librarian let out another sigh and shook her head as she looked at him.

"…I think all of it was too much for him. I think someone must have found him and treated his shoulder…brought out a phoenix down or something. But he doesn't remember being shot. He doesn't remember his mother or father or sisters. I think it was just all too much pain to lose it all at once." She looked up to the others and gave a sigh. "He thinks he's one of those Guardian Forces now. I'm not sure which one, because he doesn't come outright and say it. He tried to 'act' like a normal homeless boy, but that's just it. He thinks he's 'acting' that way to 'hide his identity' or somesuch. I've never said anything about it to him, because I'm not really supposed to know. But I guess he read so many of those stories…he wanted to escape somehow from his life…"

"Why didn't you have him go to the police?" Dael asked.

"He wouldn't remember anything that happened." The librarian answered. "And he'd talk to them like the way he talks to me sometimes…they'd say he was crazy. Besides, there's no state orphanages or mental hospitals in Leuco. Even if there was, seeing him put into one would be worse than seeing him on the street."

"There has to be _someone_ he can stay with…some shelter for him." Taraketh insisted. "Isn't there any charity in town that could give him a place to stay off the street? Even if only for a week?"

"Way back when he first started coming to the library again, I called the few shelters in town. Either they didn't have room or they wouldn't take children on their own." The librarian answered. She paused after saying that. "But then again…there has been a pick-up in employment in town lately. One of the places might have some place for him now."

Dael heard that latest fact, but made a note about it without saying anything more.

"Could you please call them again?" Taraketh asked.

The librarian gave a nod, and began to rise up from her seat. She turned to go, but before doing so, she paused and looked back. "Just go along with what he says, please. I don't want to upset him into storming out again into this weather, especially if those older boys are still in the area waiting for him." With that, she turned and began to walk away.

In a few moments, the group was alone with the boy. Dael looked back to him, and saw him stir again. It looked as if he was fighting to regain consciousness at this point, but still just a bit too weak to do it. Taraketh had gotten out the salve and other medical supplies and tried treating his injuries as best he could, but with limited resources that was almost done as well.

Cryder broke the silence with a snicker. "Well, it looks like our High Child friend does have a soft spot."

Taraketh gave him a frown. "This child isn't a amoral grunt or a pirate criminal, like the other people I've run into lately. Of course I'm going to help out an innocent person. From that story we just heard, he sounds like he could use some assistance."

"One thing I never could stand about Leuco whenever I read about it…" Quaren said with a frown of his own. "They don't have slavery or discrimination, and yet they still manage to treat so many people like garbage."

"Well, don't get too philosophical on us." Cryder responded. "This is a nice little distraction, but let's not forget we've got to find a way to get on that boat tomorrow."

Dael hated to be reminded of that. Giving a sigh, she shook her head. "It's impossible. There's nothing we can do to get that much gil in time. We'll just have to get a different transport."

"It'll probably only get more expensive from here." Cryder answered. "War is brewing…smugglers are more in demand."

"He's got a point…" Quaren said regretfully.

"Much as I hate this idea…" Dael said with a sigh, looking back to Cryder. "…You don't happen to have any pirate friends or contacts who could give us a ride, do you?"

"You kidding?" Cryder answered. "I owe them more money than the smugglers."

Dael repressed the urge to roll her eyes. Quaren and Taraketh, however, both gave sighs.

"…How did I get here?"

All four paused on hearing this and turned their heads to who had spoken. While all of them had been talking, Dael realized the young man had finally come to.

His eyes were open now, and they were a vivid, attractive blue. He didn't look terribly confused at the moment, in spite of the first thing he said. He simply looked around a bit, seeming to take everything in rather calmly, although he did register some surprise that he had been treated and covered up. He didn't move too much at the moment. Now that he was awake, he seemed to realize moving too fast would only put him in more pain.

"Hey, back with us, kid?" Quaren asked with something of a smile.

"Glad to see you're awake." Taraketh said, his own voice kindly. He looked over and into the boy's eyes momentarily. "Your pupils are fine…you look to be seeing well enough. Do you hurt anywhere?"

"How did I get here?" The boy asked again, with just a hint of annoyance that indicated he didn't like how that question hadn't been answered the first time.

Taraketh was a bit taken aback from that, but after a moment Quaren moved in. "The comma…I mean, Dael here helped you in."

"You were being attacked by five older boys." Dael explained. "It looked like they were going to beat you to death, so I stepped in."

The boy hesitated a moment, and then frowned. He turned his head slightly. "…I think I remember now." He stated in response. He let out a sigh soon afterward. "…Damn weak body."

Dael and the others passed a look to each other on hearing that. After a moment, however, the boy exhaled and began to pull at the blanket around him, trying to get up. However, he was too sore and weak and wasn't getting that far.

"Well, thank you for your assistance…" He answered Dael. "Even if it's embarrassing to me, I needed your help. I'm afraid I can't repay you in any other way."

"You can repay me by lying down until you're better recovered." Dael answered, abruptly reached out a hand, placing it on the boy's chest, and pushing him back down onto the couch. "You were beaten rather badly."

The boy responded by giving a glare to Dael, looking angry. "I have things I need to be doing. Like I said, I appreciate the assistance, but I won't tolerate being treated like a helpless infant."

"Well that's too bad, because if you're so weak I can easily push you against the couch like this, then you're not getting up from it." Dael answered just as firm. "You're staying here until more of your strength comes back. End of discussion."

The boy actually bared his teeth at her. "You can't talk to me like-!" He began to protest. However, part of the way through it, he seemed to gain control of himself. He stared at her a moment, but Dael stared just as firmly back, refusing to budge. In the end, he let out a sharp exhale from his nostrils and slumped back into the couch. Dael removed her hand from him a moment later.

"…I suppose I don't have a choice." The boy grumbled as he turned his head to one side. "There's no way I can intimidate anyone in this worthless body…"

The four were silent momentarily, not really sure how to respond to this. However, after a few moments, Taraketh tried to be a bit more friendly. "…Since you aren't getting up, then, does anywhere else hurt?"

"Of course." The boy responded a bit sharply, not looking up. "Just about everywhere does. This body only seems to be good for feeling pain… I'm dealing with it because it's useless to try and treat it continuously when it's just going to start hurting again."

Quaren looked a bit uneasily to Taraketh, then back to the boy. "Now…he's just trying to help out a bit, kid. He's been doctoring you while you were out of it. He doesn't mean to insult you or anything. How about telling us your name? I'm Quaren." He gestured around a bit. "You know Dael…this is Taraketh…and this fellow with the big mustache is Cryder. Now what's yours?"

The boy closed his eyes and sighed in response.

"It doesn't matter. You won't believe me if I tell you my name."

Quaren hesitated at that. He looked around a bit, then back to the boy with a shrug. "We might. Give it a whirl, why don't you?"

The young man stayed in his position for a moment. He kept his eyes closed. Finally, he turned around and faced the others again. He let out a long sigh.

"…I am Bahamut, Father of All Dragons, Lord of the Espers, Second-Born of Gaia herself."

Quaren froze and looked at the boy with no small puzzlement at that. Dael stared a bit herself, though not quite as much. Cryder raised one eyebrow and held it. Taraketh alone seemed to be a bit taken aback by what he said, although his own face indicated a lack of belief as well. The boy, Bahamut, let out a sigh and rolled away again.

"…I told you."

Quaren blinked once or twice, coming out of it, and then leaned in. "Now wait a second. I didn't say I didn't-"

"You didn't have to. I saw it in your eyes. Besides, I'm not a fool." Bahamut answered. "I know full well if some human child came up to me claiming to be the Master of the Seas I'd give them a puzzled look too. It changes nothing, however. I am Bahamut."

Cryder tried a different approach. "Now, don't be mad at him, Bahamut. He's just the kind of person who figures that a Father of All Dragons might look a bit more, you know, dragon like. He didn't think that a dragon might walk around in human form."

Bahamut turned his head and glared at him.

"Don't patronize me. I may appear twelve, but I'm thousands of years old." He responded. "And as I've indicated, I'm not in this body by choice. I'm trapped in it. I don't know why."

Taraketh tried a different approach. "So, where are you living right now?"

Bahamut looked back to him, and gave a slight shrug. "Wherever I can." He answered.

"Have you checked any local shelters? They have to be better than sleeping in the street…"

"I'm not interested in staying in a shelter." Bahamut answered. "I'm leaving this town as soon as I get a good lead."

Dael raised an eyebrow. "'Good lead'?"

"I need to find out why I'm stuck in this body." Bahamut answered. "So I'm seeking out the most well-learned of our race, Leviathan. I figure he'd be able to tell me why I'm alive and what I'm doing trapped in the body of a child."

Taraketh likewise was intrigued. "Leviathan?" He echoed. He paused a moment, seeming to be trying to think of the most appropriate response. After a moment, he spoke more quietly. "That's quite the ambition. Leviathan has not been accounted for in quite some time…not since the founder of the Order of Hyne passed on."

"Be that as it may, I have to find him." Bahamut responded. "There is no one else on Gaia with as much knowledge as he possesses. He's the one we always turned to when we couldn't find any other answers. He's might be the only individual who can restore me to my true body."

There was a moment of silence after Bahamut concluded. Taraketh looked to the boy momentarily, then to the others. Dael watched him out of the corner of her peripheral vision, but said nothing else. This boy certainly did seem to be "in character" for his delusion, complete with a hopeless quest that would enable him to live out the delusion endlessly. Everything would be alright if he could simply find a Guardian Force no one had seen in over a hundred years. It was a bit sad…but there was little Dael could do about it. She had already done him a favor once today.

At any rate, Bahamut had eased back into the pillow and now lay there, staring at the ceiling. He said no more and made no other movements. The others were left standing or crouching around him. After a moment, Cryder reached up and rubbed his mustache.

"Well, this has been a pleasant distraction…now we should probably return to the matter at hand." He announced. "We still need to come up with that money."

Dael sighed. "There's no way we're going to come up with 25,000,000 gil. We're just going to have to think of an alternate method."

"We might be able to get a boat used…" Quaren suggested with a shrug.

"That's no good." Dael answered. "Even if we could risk it, one more major storm would sink us."

Taraketh sighed. "…I don't know why you all have such vehemence to my ideas, but why don't we try getting the help of the Order of Hyne? We don't have to contact the shrine in Esthar. We can try to raise the one in Garrado or even in the Lamb Archipelago. They could give us some help."

"That still runs a risk of the transmission being picked up." Dael responded.

Quaren gave a shrug. "Less of a risk…"

"It's still too high of one."

Taraketh gave her a glare. "I'm getting a little tired of this. Your plans haven't exactly worked out yet, and we're not going to get that money. Would it hurt you grunts to put a little faith in my Order?"

"I'm not putting my faith into anyone that makes me take unnecessary risks." Dael retorted. "Otherwise I might have contacted Esthar by now."

"We should probably just get a small boat and take our chances…" Quaren suggested.

"That's suicide, lad." Cryder answered. "No little boat would make it all the way to Esthar."

"I don't know…it sounds better than being forced to settle one of your debts." Taraketh answered sourly. "Are you sure that's not the real reason you're intent on having us pay that sum?"

"No…the real reason is I don't want to drown." Cryder retorted.

"Why do you need to head to Esthar?"

Again, the four paused, and soon found themselves turning to the young man. He wasn't leaning up, but they appeared to have his full attention as he stared at them plainly.

"What does it matter, kid?" Cryder answered after a moment.

"It might matter a great deal." Bahamut simply answered.

Cryder snickered. "Not exactly what I meant, kid. What I was saying was what does it matter to you?"

"And as I said…it might matter a great deal." The boy answered. He looked to Quaren. "You're one of that special military order out of Esthar, aren't you? Esthar's Hawks?"

Dael had to hold back some surprise. However, Quaren wasn't nearly so easily. He actually shot back a bit. He blinked for a moment, but then swallowed a bit. "I…uh…don't know what you're talking about, Bramahut…I'm just a tour-"

"First, it's Bahamut." The boy answered a bit coldly, sounding insulted. However, he calmed soon after. "Second, your nervousness to that answer tells me all I need to know. Third…" He raised a hand and pointed out at the uniform tunic tied around Quaren's waist. "I can see the hawk insignia on your shoulder piece."

Quaren paled a bit. He looked down tensely. Sure enough, in his moving around, he hadn't even noticed that it had been revealed. Dael saw it and frowned, letting out just a hint of a sigh. She hoped Quaren would have caught that. However, she hadn't caught it either. The only reason the boy probably saw it was because it was so close.

"Fourth, and finally, you four are the wanted international fugitives from Sybenia, aren't you? Two Esthar's Hawks, an Order of Hyne member, and a pirate, correct?"

Now everyone did snap back to Bahamut with surprise.

"How did you know all that?" Dael half-demanded.

Bahamut calmly rolled his head back onto the pillow. "After coming back into this world, I've been researching continuously to try and learn everything about it. I read all about the other countries in the world and their military orders, wanting to know what they were capable of. I also read the news frequently, looking for any clues to finding more Guardian Forces. I heard that fugitives supposedly had ridden out the recent typhoon and might be hiding in Leuco." He paused. When he spoke again, his voice was slower and lower.

"…To tell the truth, I've been having a feeling ever since I saw that storm that it was blowing something my way. I'm usually pretty good with premonitions." He looked back to the others. "…Perhaps it was you four?"

Quaren, Taraketh, and Cryder alike were still surprised that the young man showed so much ingenuity. And this proved he was definitely playing out the role of being a Guardian Force in human body extremely to the letter. Dael, however, while she had calmed slightly, gave Bahamut something of a dark look. The boy looked at her a bit longer, and seemed to pick up on it. He let out an exhale and turned away again.

"There's no need to be apprehensive. I'm not interested in telling anyone you're here. I'm not sure why you're fugitives from Sybenia, but I've done enough research on them to realize that any enemy of them is likely a friend of the rest of the world, even if one of you is a pirate. So, once again, I reiterate…why do you need to go to Esthar?"

Dael paused. She turned and looked to the others. They had calmed a bit at this point, but simply looked back to her. After a moment, Cryder gave a shrug.

"…Don't think it'll hurt anything." He finally admitted. "To most of the authorities in this city, this kid is trash. Because he doesn't have a home or a family, they won't try to cut him a check for any reward money."

"It still may not be a good idea…" Quaren threw in.

"He won't talk." Taraketh reassured, for once seeming to have a calm tone about him. "I can tell by looking at him. He feels sincere."

Dael wouldn't agree to that verbally…but, to tell the truth, she felt the same way. It was as something within her bones…something even within her spirit…felt like trusting this boy. Although she barely knew him and most logic said otherwise, as she looked into his eyes she felt as if he was indeed telling the truth. Some external force reassured her, saying it would be alright.

She had no idea why she was doing this. She had trained herself to go on facts and take calculated risks, not "feel" things through via instinct. At any rate, after exhaling a bit, she looked at the boy.

"We are indeed fugitives from Sybenia. We became aware of what they're doing, namely beginning a campaign to seize control of large portions of the Western Continent and the persecution of all races they deem inferior to them. Three of us were sent on a mission to try and create an alliance to stop this from happening, but Sybenia began a secret war and prevented us from doing so on arrival. We saw several things we weren't supposed to, and we've been running for our lives ever since to try and return to Esthar. I gave a mild report back to Esthar when we stopped by Garrado, but there's still more that needs to be said. Either they are trying to stop us from talking or they simply think we're still a threat as we wander free. Regardless, we still need to get back."

Bahamut patiently took this all in. He showed little change. The moment she was done, he nodded calmly. "I understand. So what is the purpose of this large sum of money? 25,000,000 gil, if I heard correctly?"

Taraketh interjected here, giving a frown and gesture to Cryder. "The only smuggling boat we found that was willing to take us out of here wants a large debt of his paid off. Until we can get the money, we're either stuck or have to find another way."

The boy listened to this, staring at the group momentarily. He was silent now. He seemed to be thinking over something or calculating something. After a few moments, however, he finally gave a nod. After doing so, he began to push up from the couch. He winced a bit as he did, but he did so anyway. Taraketh moved to stop him, but before he could he began to speak.

"Alright. We'll make a bargain. I'll give you the money."

This caused no small reaction among the group. They all looked at Bahamut in some surprise. After a moment, Cryder stifled a snicker. Quaren looked a bit uneasy. "Um…that's very generous, Banharmut…but we wouldn't think of taking a dragon's gold from his hoard. You know, bad luck and all-"

"You can stop patronizing me any time now." The boy cut off as he winced a bit, finally forcing himself up into a seated position. "You didn't let me finish. I don't have the money _with_ me. It's buried on the outskirts of town, about eight miles from the border. I researched it while I was looking for clues on Leviathan, then I found it when I was testing out how well I could correlate old clues I learned about into modern directions. It was one of the burial chambers of one of the tribal kings that was left uncovered. There should be enough gold and valuables in there to cover that amount."

Cryder let out another chuckle. "My…that's, uh, quite amazing, Bahamut. You're a real treasure seeker…an irregular Locke Cole." He turned a bit more toward him. "I don't suppose you mean to tell us what you're doing starving and living on the street in ratty clothing if you have all that treasure just lying around, do you?"

"I had no use for it until you four came along." Bahamut simply answered. "I planned to use it to find Leviathan, but there was no point until I had a better lead. Besides…you saw what happened to me when I tried walking down the street with two sandwiches. What do you think would happen if I had 10 kilograms of gold instead?"

"Hmm, true, true…" Cryder nodded in response, although he still didn't seem to believe one word of it.

"You mentioned a bargain." Dael stepped in. "What kind of bargain?"

"You're an Esthar's Hawk." Bahamut answered. He looked to Taraketh next. "You're a member of the Order of Hyne. Between the two of you, you have access to information that few other people on Gaia can find. At the bare minimum, you have far better resources than this library."

Taraketh frowned a bit, although it wasn't an angry look. "I'm sorry, young man. But much of our information is available only to higher ranked members of the Order of Hyne."

Bahamut shrugged at that and began to lay back down. "Fine then. Forget it."

Quaren, however, put his hands up in a stopping gesture. "Now, wait just a minute, Banhemut…"

Cryder snickered. "'Wait', he says…" He responded. "You don't actually believe him, do you?"

Quaren turned to Cryder and gave a shrug. "Well, we're kind of desperate at the moment, and…"

"Leuco is home to thousands of greedy pirates and every square inch of land that can be developed has been overdeveloped five times over." Cryder responded. "You really think there's so much as a gil hangin' around on this continent that hasn't been accounted for?"

"Whoever said this was in a portion that could be developed?" Bahamut interjected, leaning up again.

Cryder rolled his eyes and sighed. "I ain't about to go sloggin' in the rain playing treasure hunter with a kid who's delusional."

Taraketh frowned at him. "Considering how much you made us go through earlier for nothing? That's kind of bold of you…"

"If the only real issue you have is whether or not this treasure exists, then I'll be happy to prove it to you if you'll be willing to let me lead you to it." Bahamut responded. "However, if I show you and it's there, I'll consider that an acceptance of my terms. If it's not there, you can do whatever you like and I won't hold you to anything. Maybe if I show you that this exists you'll stop treating me like I'm insane. The way I figure, that's pretty much how it is anyway. All I'm asking is that you trust me for one day…long enough to get the treasure and come back. Are you willing to at least give me one day?"

There was another pause afterward. Cryder made his opinion more than well known as she simply crossed his arms and looked away. Taraketh was more hesitant. He didn't seem to believe in it either, but he didn't want to outright tell the young man that. Quaren formed something of an uneasy look and turned to Dael. It seemed the decision was once again being left to her.

The young man made a good point about why he wouldn't be carrying the treasure on him if it existed…but this was a bit silly. She was supposed to expect that this twelve-year-old had managed to uncover a hoard of gold that no one else had after 100 years of searching and developing the continent? That he had managed to find this based off of information in a public library, accessible to all? It was just too hard to swallow. And yet…that feeling in Dael's gut remained just as strong as ever. For some reason, something deep down inside her wanted her to trust this boy. She had no idea why. She wasn't that good at "reading people". She couldn't divulge true intentions or the like. And it wouldn't matter in this case if she was trying to determine if someone was honest and truly nuts. Yet something inside her was crying out for her to give the young man a chance.

She thought a bit longer, and then looked to the others.

"…Do you all have anything else you're wanting to do today?"

* * *

><p>Quaren wiped a deal of sweat from his brow as he continued to pick his way forward, using his rifle as something of a walking stick to help him get over one particularly jagged rock. He looked up ahead. "How much farther?"<p>

"Only about one more mile." Bahamut called back.

Cryder's boot made a grinding noise as he momentarily slipped on a rock before steadying himself. Soon after, he looked up with a frown but kept going. "If the terrain gets much rougher, there's going to be a 'burial chamber' right here…"

"Now you know how we felt last night." Taraketh answered, moving more quickly over another jagged piece.

Dael was silent, although she was seriously hoping at this point that she hadn't made a tremendous mistake in trusting the boy. It seemed likely enough that any treasure would never be found if it was in this region, but if it wasn't there she had a feeling she was going to get chewed out almost as badly as Bahamut for agreeing to come this way.

Once the other three had extremely reluctantly agreed to go with Dael, Bahamut had begun to lead them out. It was another long journey just to get out of the city proper, and the only food and rest the four had was what they had gotten in their brief stint in the library. By now, they were all rather exhausted, but they had to devote more time and energy to walking through the downpour in the city, to say nothing of dodging any streets with authorities. Just getting out of town took a few hours. However, once the filth of Leuco began to fade, they still had the eight mile journey ahead of them.

Bahamut hadn't been kidding. This was one of the more remote areas. It involved initially hiking up a steep rock face on the town's edge onto a plateau, going for a few miles on that, and then running into a progressively rockier and rockier valley. The first part of the trip on the plateau involved being drenched by rain and occasionally picking off one of the ugly mutant creatures that had escaped their native city for fresher surroundings. There was also quite a bit of mud involved. The rain finally slackened off and came to a stop just as they reached the rockier portions. Unfortunately, the ground turned to wet rock at that point and the four now had to struggle not to slip. As the pathways grew rockier and more winding, the five were slowed to a crawl. It became both painful and tiring to try and maintain one' s balance on the rocks, and they couldn't possibly be making good time. Hours continued to pass, and Dael realized even if they found this treasure it would take past nightfall to get it back to Leuco. All in all, they were looking at another sleepless night. Dael was beginning to wonder if they simply shouldn't have slept for a few hours in the library before leaving.

Dael, Quaren, Taraketh, and Cryder were all more or less in the same group. Bahamut was far ahead, leading the way. Dael would give this to him…he was rather spry. It was a bit surprising considering the fact that he had been so badly beaten earlier. His injuries barely seemed to slow him down now. Was that due to Taraketh's care or simply resilience from living on the street so long? If the latter, Esthar's Hawks could learn a thing or two from him.

The four continued to hike on for a bit longer. Dael was feeling rather sore and stiff despite her enhanced strength, and the trip was getting to her. The bit of junk food they had for breakfast was hardly enough, and she was beginning to think she might have just put herself through more physical torture for nothing. As she walked along a bit farther, however, she caught Quaren picking up speed long enough to fall in next to her. At this distance, Bahamut was mostly out of auditory range if one spoke quietly, but he practically whispered as he talked to Dael.

"Commander? What exactly are we going to do with him?"

Dael looked slightly to him but kept her eyes forward. "What do you mean, private?"

"You heard what he wanted back in the library." Quaren responded. "He wants access to our databases. We don't have any authority to clear that."

"Heh…wouldn't worry." Cryder spoke up, showing his keenness of hearing by reacting to Quaren's voice. "This is just going to end up being a pleasant hike. This place is remote, that's for sure. But I still have a hard time believing he just stumbled on something worth that much and didn't try to sell any of it."

Quaren sighed a bit. "You're probably right, but I have a feeling the commander wouldn't have dragged us all out here if she didn't expect to find _something_."

Cryder shrugged. "Maybe he found a cave lined with iron pyrite. Or a bunch of quartz he thought was diamond."

"Well, I was just looking ahead to the off chance that we go all the way out here and we _do_ find something. Maybe a treasure only worth about 30,000 gil…I don't know. But even if it's that…don't we kind of owe him? And then what are we supposed to do with him?"

"On the off, almost impossible, chance that there is something out here…" Cryder answered. "…You did make a deal with him. You said you'd agree to his terms."

"That means we'd be taking him back to Esthar with us." Quaren continued.

"No we're not." Cryder responded. "My friend there will charge us more for that. Another passenger. You're looking at another hundred thousand easily."

"So…does that mean we leave him behind?" The private asked. "Take his money and just go?"

"Like I said before, there probably ain't any money out there to be found, so there's nothing to worry about."

"But what if there is?"

"There ain't."

"But what if there _is_?" Quaren maintained.

Cryder let out a sigh. "I'm already a passenger on this trip, so I don't get a say. It's up to the hearty lass here. Although, if you do want my opinion…a deal's a deal."

"…Said the man who double-crossed us with that little game."

Dael and the others turned their head to who had spoken, and found Taraketh was still walking at a distance, but obviously was keeping an ear in on the conversation. He looked to them as he walked along.

"That said…leaving that kid here is a death sentence. A crime." He responded. "He'll end up dead or another petty criminal with no future if he stays in this city. The least we could do is get him out of here."

"And if we did," Dael answered. "What would we do with him? We're a military organization. We're not exactly in the business of finding homes for orphans."

Taraketh frowned, nearly sneering at Dael, as he crossed his arms. "I thought as much." He stated. "All you people do is ruin families, towns, and lives. You never expend any money or effort 'cleaning up your messes', do you?"

Dael struggled to suppress a groan.

"…The best we could do for him would be to refer him to foster care. And that won't be easy. It'll take months to clear through the red tape since he's a non-native to Esthar."

Quaren rubbed the back of his head uneasily at this. "And during that time, he'd have to have some place to stay, or he'd just be wandering the streets of Esthar. Although, compared to Leuco…"

Taraketh sighed. "There's a lovely sentiment. 'Why not dig through the trash in our town for food? It's so much better than the trash from your hometown…'"

Quaren frowned in response. "Alright, Mr. Soft Heart…you're always going on about how the Order of Hyne is so nice. Why can't he stay with your group?"

Taraketh held a moment, but then frowned. "Unfortunately, that's not possible. The Order of Hyne does relief work, charity work and monastic work. We don't have any established shelters."

"Give me a break." Cryder snorted. "I've seen you guys in action. You're always running around with kid members of your order."

"That's because they've shown magical talent, and they've officially joined the Order of Hyne." Taraketh responded. "We maintain living chambers for them, not for orphans. The only way we'd be able to house him is if we were in a war zone or combat area and we were providing temporarily relief shelters."

"You know, you've got the same problem they do, assuming this ends up being something." Cryder interjected. "He wanted to look at your records too."

Taraketh frowned. "That's out of the question. We share most of our secrets with the general public, but only the Sorceresses themselves have access to everything." He paused. "Besides, if what he's looking for is the location of Leviathan, I'm afraid we can't help him. Most of the more powerful Guardian Forces have been lost to us for generations."

Cryder grinned and let out a snicker. "Well, maybe if our fearless treasure hunter friend managed to dig up a treasure no one's ever heard about, he can led your Order a hand and find out where they're hiding."

Taraketh frowned back at Cryder. "Highly unlikely. The Guardian Forces surpass any mere human in knowledge and power. If they want to stay missing, they will."

"Oh, but you're not dealing with a human, lad, remember?" Cryder responded in a joking air. "He's the great Bahamut…a Guardian Force himself."

"Esper." Taraketh corrected.

Quaren furrowed his brow a bit. "What's the difference?"

Taraketh sighed. "I'm not going to waste time explaining right now. It doesn't matter."

"He's right." Dael responded. "And we still have the current issue at hand. What exactly do we do with him? I'll agree in saying that leaving him to rot here in Leuco isn't a good idea, but we're still at a bit of a dilemma." She paused momentarily, and then looked to Quaren, an idea coming to mine. "Quaren…your dad and mom have to have room…"

The private grimaced a bit and shook his head. "Uh, going to have to say no to that, commander. Sure, my parents have room and they like donating to a lot of charities…but actually taking in someone is something else. Mom and dad aren't exactly the 'nuturing' type either. My fondest memories are of certain maids before I joined Esthar's Hawks."

Dael sighed a bit in response to that…before she paused at what Quaren said. Her face soon turned a bit. The others soon noticed, Quaren especially.

"…Did you think of something, commander?"

She paused a moment. "Well…" She admitted after a second. "…There is one idea. He's rather old for it. They normally like to start at age six. But from what I've seen, he can hold his own against other twelve year old recruits. There might be a way to get him through the advanced placement exams…"

Quaren blinked a few times. "Commander…are you saying we should try to get him a placement in Esthar's Hawks?"

"What?" Taraketh practically yelled. Luckily, if Bahamut heard, he didn't care. He continued to lead them onward.

"He needs room and board, right?" Dael responded. "He's obviously rather intelligent and somewhat skilled. It might be enough to get him in. He'd receive better medical care and housing than any orphanage or foster home in Esthar. And he'd get his wish…access to the records of Esthar's Hawks."

"You want to turn him into a grunt like you." Taraketh retorted.

Dael kept looking forward as she cooly responded. "…Your organization doesn't seem to want to turn him into a monk like you."

Taraketh clenched his teeth at that and began to prepare a retort. However, he was cut off.

"Only about 100 more yards. I can already see it from here."

Immediately, the four looked forward. Bahamut had tossed the comment over his shoulder, and was continuing to lead them forward. The ground was growing rather uneven now. In the distance, it rose in a sharp, disjointed, jagged slope of razor-sharp rocks, but it was almost forming a valley the way they were moving now. Nothing seemed to stand out at first. Dael saw nothing but more rocks. Apparently, so did the others.

"…I don't see anything, commander." Quaren whispered back.

"Big surprise…" Cryder sighed.

"Let's just keep going. Maybe he knows what to look for." Dael answered.

However, as the group continued to get closer, things didn't improve at all. The expanse up ahead continued to look blank and rocky, showing no signs of anything standing out except more jagged rocks. There were no outcroppings or anything that looked like a cave, and as they drew closer and closer, they were only going up to the sharp slope, which might as well have been a wall. She was glad that Bahamut didn't seem to indicate that they would go up it, based on the distances he was describing…but that didn't change the fact that she had no idea what they were doing there.

"…I still don't see anything." Quaren spoke up.

"I was hoping for at least a bit of trash. It would have made sense…" Cryder threw in.

"He still looks like he knows what he's doing." Taraketh threw in. "…But I'm starting to wonder how mentally stable he is. It might be worse than just a delusion."

Dael said nothing. Although she was beginning to think she had been rather foolish for coming on this trip all the time, and was coming to much the same conclusion Taraketh was…she kept following, all the while hoping her gut hadn't failed her.

The last dozen yards or so yielded much the same. There was nothing up ahead but the jagged rocks and the slope. There were no cave entrances…headstones…and, most importantly, no treasure. Dael looked harder as she came forward, but still could find nothing. This looked like the trip had indeed all been for nothing. She held out just a bit longer, expecting that the boy might do something at the last moment to show that there was at least something out there. However, he did nothing of the sort. In the end, he simply came right up to the slope and stopped, then turned and faced the others.

"Here we are."

The four halted and stared forward again. They were all panting and rather stiff and sore at this point, but they were able to see forward easily enough…and none of them saw anything. Bahamut was standing in front of the rocky slope, but there was nothing. Not a single thing that wasn't a rock. They stood there silently for a moment as they heard a bird in the distance caw. The boy continued to look at them, standing in front of what, for all intensive purposes, looked like more rocks. They stared tiredly back.

At last, Cryder rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Yeah…just look at all that loot…" He moaned aloud, no longer caring if Bahamut heard him or not.

"So, are you going to come in and take some?" Bahamut called out.

Quaren gave a tired stare back. "Take what, kid? There's nothing here."

"Come a bit closer, and you'll see." Bahamut simply answered.

"_You_ three go closer if you want." Cryder answered. "I've had it. No more of this treasure hunting. I'm just looking at a pile of rocks. That's all we did…we came out here for a bloody pile of rocks."

The kid narrowed his gaze a bit, especially when he saw that no one, including the ones who weren't talking, were coming. Taraketh and Dael were both holding back and seemed uncertain about ever agreeing to this. Finally, Bahamut sighed and shook his head.

"Your kind never did believe anything."

Abruptly, he stepped to the side…and disappeared into thin air.

The four reacted in surprise. Even Cryder and Quaren seemed to forget their earlier complaints.

"What the…?" Quaren called out.

"Where did he go?" Taraketh threw in. "It looks like he just slipped into the rock face…"

Dael blinked once or twice, but then began to move forward again. "Bahamut?" She called out. "Are you there?"

There was no answer, but Dael didn't stop due to that. Instead, she ventured forward. The last bit of the path was rather rocky, much more so than before and almost impossible to navigate. It took most of Dael's remaining stamina to get to where Bahamut was. As she drew closer, she continued to only see rocks. There didn't look like any way that Bahamut could have gone. She was rather surprised. What had he done? He couldn't have just vanished into thin air… Taraketh followed behind her someone more slowly, and Quaren ventured forward a bit, but the others, for the most part, held back as Dael continued to move onward, waiting to see what she would see.

As Dael grew closer to the location, she still saw no change…no difference. There wasn't even a rock for Bahamut to hide behind. She began to grow seriously confused…until, at last, she did see something. The rocks before her were moving somewhat independently of each other…changing at a different rate from one another. As she grew closer, she started seeing some of them shifting in size based on perspective more than one another too. She continued to move a bit further, moving straight into what she thought was a pile of rocks where Bahamut had been standing. But they were moving apart from each other now…apart from what was around them.

Slowly, a realization began to dawn on her. Her eyes widened in surprise as she realized the truth. It was amazing. To confirm it, she reached out to touch the rock face in front of her, reaching for what she thought was solid rock…only to find her hand to go right through it, and to continue to pass backward for a few more feet until she hit the true rocks behind it. Her jaw slackened a bit. Incredible…

"Commander? You see anything?" Quaren called out.

Dael stopped where she was, and looked back to Quaren and the others. Her surprise was gone, but she still had a rather amazed look on her face.

"Yes." She answered. "Look."

She stepped to the left. A moment later, and, from the perspective of the others, Dael appeared to vanish into the rock wall as well. The others froze again. They gaped in surprise once more.

"Now she disappeared too?" Taraketh called out.

"Commander! Where are you?" Quaren shouted, almost sounding nervous and afraid.

However, a second later, Dael held out her hand to the right. From the perspective of the others, her hand abruptly emerged from the solid rock and waved out at them. A moment later, and Dael herself stepped out as well. The look of amazement was still on her face.

"It's alright. I'm right here." She answered. "The rock face is an optical illusion." She turned and pressed on the rocks further back. "These rocks here are farther away than they look. They're not part of the rest of the face you see. It looks like a natural illusion, but it's one of the best I've ever seen. It's not until you're almost on top of it that you can see it."

After explaining, Dael turned her head to the sides. The side opposite her was simply more rock face. However, the side in which she was standing was a different matter entirely. She was perched in a rather narrow, crude opening that looked partially caved in with time, but was still wide enough for someone to slip inside… It was mostly dark up ahead, but she turned and looked back to the others.

"There's a cave here. Quaren, bring your flashlight."

The others paused a bit longer, but then all began to move forward again. Quaren picked up his speed to get there before Taraketh, and as a result slipped and nearly cut himself on the rocks a few times. However, even Cryder, who had been the biggest doubter among them, had picked up the pace to try and get there faster. It took about another minute for them to get close enough, but Taraketh, realizing Quaren had the light, slowed down enough for him to get closer. Soon, he reached the rocks and ducked his head inside the gap. He looked around, and saw the same thing that Dael saw.

"Wow!" He exclaimed. "This…this is amazing!"

Dael indicated to the passage. "Shine a light down there."

Quaren paused a bit longer, still taking in everything, but then nodded. He pulled out his flashlight and ignited it, then turned it into the passage. Once he did so, Dael began to move into it, letting Quaren shine the light on ahead. Taraketh soon joined them and looked into the rocky path as well, and likewise showed considerable surprise, although he held his tongue. Dael and Quaren had just moved down a bit when Cryder showed up behind them, looking around a bit. He blinked for a moment, his own jaw hanging loose.

"This explains why no one ever found this." Taraketh finally spoke up, following after Dael and Taraketh. "You can't even tell it's an illusion until you walk right up to it. And the path is too rocky for anyone to just stumble on it…"

"I stand corrected." Cryder murmured as he moved in further. "But blimey…that kid is tenacious. Even if he knew the general area of where to find this place, he could have been picking around rocks for days before he would have stumbled on this…"

Dael didn't answer. She continued to move forward with Quaren. After a few more steps, they came up to a sharp turn to the left just up ahead, leading deeper into the rocky slope. The two soon took the turn and moved right in. Even in the passage beyond, there were a few rays of gray-tinted sunlight shining in. Not much, but enough to see in a bit. However, it didn't have to be a lot. The passage only went forward enough to get well out of the range of any rain, and then opened up into a much larger chamber. The two only went in far enough to make room for the others as well as to get a good look at it, and then stopped. In spite of her own discipline, Dael had to struggle not to gape in surprise. Quaren, far less reserved, did indeed gape as he shone his flashlight around.

The cave was about twenty foot deep and fifteen feet across and loaded with treasure. Most of it was in the form of gold gil pieces, strewn about on the inside. Dael knew from history that gold gil pieces hadn't been put out in this type of form and size since before the days of the Collapse. They weren't all, however. There were also expensive gold items, gold jewelry mixed with mythril jewelry, and a few other precious gems and stones. Far away on one side, tucked away from everything else, was a stone coffin overlaid with gold and gems…obviously the person who had owned all this wealth in life. It looked as if the cave might have at one point been better hewn out and more extensive, but over the years much of it had collapsed. The small chamber stuffed with treasure was all that had managed to survive unscathed.

In addition to all of the loot, one other thing stood out in the chamber. Bahamut, calmly standing to one side, was in the chamber already, looking at them. He said nothing at first.

The others soon came in and looked around a bit as well, likewise showing surprise. Quaren turned his flashlight around all of the treasure again and again while they came. Even when all were inside, they gazed about a bit in more awe. In the end, Cryder let out a half-snicker as he marveled at it.

"This isn't the first time I've been made to look like a jackass." He finally admitted. "Damn kid…you really are a treasure hunter. If I wasn't in between boats at the moment, I'd sign you up for the crew in a heartbeat."

"Commander…this stuff is probably worth over 100,000,000 gil easily." Quaren exhaled. "There's more than enough here to make sure we can get back to Esthar."

"Well…" Cryder interjected. "I'm not sure he'll take plain treasure. He prefers gil."

Taraketh gave Cryder a look. "You expect me to honestly believe he could take one look at a few armfuls of this stuff and say he wasn't going to take it?"

Cryder paused a moment, then grinned. "You got a point, lad. I think I'd get into the jewelry business myself if I was faced with this."

"My brother would probably have my head if he knew I was just using this site for profit." Bahamut spoke up, regaining everyone's attention. "Even if it was for a good cause, the fact remains we'll be destroying a site of historical value. However, this isn't just me we're talking about. I have more reasons other than personal gain for trying to get back into my old body."

He crossed his arms soon after.

"Now hold to your end of the deal." He stated. "I showed you the treasure, and it's real. That means you'll get me access to the records of your respective organizations."

Dael hesitated on hearing that. That fact once again revealed itself. It made her tense up a bit inside. However, it was only for a moment. She soon responded to herself, more or less, "What did you expect?" After all, a small part of her had wanted to trust this boy, and that had led her into making this trip in the first place. Now she had to hold up to her part of it. She supposed she could renege… After all, she didn't really had much compulsion to satisfy her end of the bargain. They knew where the treasure was. And despite what the boy had done to those bullies earlier, he was no match for a fully trained Esthar Hawk. Yet she quickly banished that idea. As much as she may have gotten herself into a hole, she'd feel like a heel if she double crossed the kid now. What else did he have going for him? The only other person in the city who seemed to care if he lived or died was that librarian. And there was clearly enough treasure here to pick up an additional spot on that transport. Maybe she couldn't get him the access…but she could at least try. And maybe she could at least give him a shot at a better life, in spite of what Taraketh was saying.

Finally, she swallowed a bit and took a step forward.

"…We'll have to return to Esthar to get access to the records. That means you'll have to come with us. I'm not sure when we'd be able to get you back to Leuco."

"That won't be a problem." The boy answered. "It's not like this is my home. I've got nothing here."

Dael paused in response a bit longer. The other part she disliked about this…she felt as if she was more or less becoming the young man's caretaker in response to this. In truth, she supposed she was. Who else would care for the boy once they were back in Esthar? Who would even know he existed? He had no other family or friends. If she abandoned him once they got there, he wouldn't have anything. This made Dael more nervous than ever. Her actions in Esthar's Hawks may have impacted the lives of thousands…and yet now that she actually would have a living, breathing individual standing right in front of her for her to be responsible for…she felt more tense about messing this up than ever.

She tried to push it aside, though. She couldn't worry that much about the boy right now. They still had a mission to complete. Finally, she drew herself back up.

"Alright…let's try to rig up something…find the most expensive items…and then get them back to Esthar before it gets to be too late." She finally stated. "We want to be on that boat tomorrow and I don't want to have to make two trips…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	14. Promotions and Privileges

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hmm...so you all disagree with Dael and company? You think this kid really is Bahamut?

...Interesting.

* * *

><p><em>Five Days Later<em>

As Dael set foot on the ground again, she had to suppress the rather strong urge to throw herself down on it and kiss it. There had been more than one point over the past few weeks that she thought she'd never see it again. Right now, she didn't even really care if Rozan Heirarch was in the middle of dropping bombs on the city proper, she was finally back home again.

The various buildings and equipment for the port of Esthar loomed before the five of them as they finally left the boat that had brought them there. Dael felt great to see the clean, clear signature skies of Esthar once again, free from the smog of industry thanks to the special reactors. It filled her with a sense of relief to see the people milling about going about their work. Even if they were strangers, they were also people from her home country…giving her a sense of security and familiarity. As she looked up and down the long, technical pier filled with various loading equipment implements and fishing tackle, to say nothing of the smell of the sea and fish about her, she couldn't help but be happy. They were finally back home. Here, she wasn't someone to be hunted or forced into hiding, but an officer for the military. Also, to be honest, she simply liked the safety of being on her native soil.

It hadn't been easy getting the treasure back to Leuco. It wasn't enough that they simply carry it back. They had to get it back quickly, and they had to make sure it wasn't conspicuous. As Bahamut had said, if a group of thugs had been willing to kill him for a bit of food, what would they do for the treasure? It took quite a bit of effort, and before it was done all of them were ready to pass out. But they managed to get the "lightest" and most "mobile" of the treasure all the way back to Leuco and the port.

Sure enough, just as Cryder had said, the man was unwilling to take it at first, especially when he heard there was a new passenger. He claimed it not only wasn't a suitable trade, but there wasn't enough. Cryder, however, played it cool and moved to go elsewhere, at which point the smuggler caved. He did do one wise thing, Dael noted. He didn't make a slip about how he could get the smuggler more. If he had, they would have definitely been making as many trips as it took to drag all the treasure out there. In the end, making it look like they were pulling his teeth, they all got on board.

Unfortunately, Dael had to sit through five more days of proverbial hell. They were shoved into a compartment with various other uncouth, unwashed, criminal passengers with no windows and about one working light. They were nearly crammed in there when they finally took off. After that point, they had been going at a snail's pace to get back to Esthar. The boat wasn't nearly as fast as the ones they had been riding. There were only a few utility hammocks to sleep on, and all they received as far as rations went was bread and water. Dael supposed she had to be thankful that the bread wasn't moldy and the water wasn't slimy, although she had her doubts more than once on the trip that it might be before they got there. The stench in the compartment was terrible, they constantly had to fend off leers and angry looks from the other passengers, and everyone was running into each other. If it wasn't for the fact that the smugglers took at least a few provisions for maintaining sanitation on board, such as giving them "restroom breaks" in special areas, it would have felt practically like an old slave ship to Dael. She was only thankful Carbuncle wasn't there. The last thing they needed was to be stuck in the chamber with him vomiting.

Bahamut, remarkably, took everything well. He usually sat or lay down and simply waited. He had a controlled look about him…one of remarkable patience, it seemed. Dael was a little surprised that the boy was capable of being able to be so much at ease during the trip, to focus entirely on waiting for the destination. He never complained or paced or anything. He simple waited.

The day before arrival, with the smuggler ship safely in Esthar waters, Dael requested to radio the shore. She was turned down flat by the smugglers and told to return to the holding area. In response, Cryder stepped forward, talked calm, smiled, asked to be reasonable, and nonchalantly reminded the smugglers that they had a hold filled with wanted people who had brought weapons on board and that if they decided to get irritable things would not look good for the crew. After that, they let Dael make a transmission. After nearly two weeks of silence, she was able to call in back to command and tell them that they would be arriving shortly. Naturally, they wanted to know all about why she had suddenly vanished, but Dael figured it was better to keep the message short for the time being. She didn't even bother telling them Cryder's identity as a pirate at the moment, something that puzzled Quaren and irritated Taraketh. She only told them that they had two civilians. She supposed she could have, but she didn't want to cause any additional headaches at the moment. This could be sorted out once they were back in Fort Morningstar.

The group was soon walking away from the pier and beginning to move between along the walkway leading between two of the larger warehouses up ahead and up to the street beyond. As they walked forward, Bahamut turned his head up and looked around a bit at the pier.

"So this is Esthar?" He said aloud as they walked.

"Well, sort of." Quaren interjected. "This is more of an extension from the main city. That's quite a ways north of here. Normally, we have to go by car or high-speed rail to hope to get there in a relatively short period of time. Unfortunately, we're still several hours away from our final destination."

"It's considerably cleaner than Leuco." Bahamut mused. "I'm impressed. I thought humans were only going to get dirtier and dirtier with their technology."

"Been a while since I've been here myself." Cryder mused aloud. "Rather picturesque, but doesn't change the fact that a pirate isn't exactly welcome here."

"That reminds me." Dael responded, looking to him. "I haven't told them your part in our mission yet. I'll be saving that for the briefing with Colonel Regalis. I'll give him a chance to hear you out. After that, whatever happens to you is his decision."

Cryder let out a bit of a snicker. "You're all heart, lass."

Dael sighed a bit. "…I'll make sure he knows what you've done to assist us, but I'm not going to lie and let you off totally scott free. The fact of the matter remains the reason we weren't here five days ago is because your pirates attacked us, and that you were a few phrases away from handing us over to Sybenia. You've technically been our prisoner ever since we landed on shore in Leuco."

"Oh, right, right…" Cryder said a bit sarcastically. "Of course."

"I'm just glad this mission is finally over…and I can say goodbye to you two." Taraketh spoke up. "I spent more time with you than I ever planned on or cared to."

"Well gee…nice working with you too." Quaren grumbled in response.

Taraketh paused for a moment as they walked along, but then finally exhaled. "…Alright, it wasn't that bad, in spite of everything that happened. We all came back in one piece and I wasn't forced to do anything I found _too _morally objectionable. That still doesn't change the fact I don't understand why Lord Carbuncle would consent to be your Guardian Force, or that I don't have a distaste for military coldness."

"That's fine." Dael answered. "I don't require you too. At any rate, now that we're back on our native soil, it's time to return to standard decorum. Keep in mind, we're all members of disciplined orders and we'll conduct ourselves as such."

Taraketh frowned slightly, but then turned and did as he was told. Quaren nodded in response and looked forward as well. In truth…they hardly looked official. They were moving with two civilians, their clothing was old, stained, and in tatters, they were dirty and haggard in appearance, to say nothing of hungry and tired. However, Dael didn't care for any of that. This mission might have been a disaster, but she was going to at least give it a semblance of propriety.

Within a few minutes, they had passed between the two buildings and were approaching one of the main roads parallel to the seashore. There was already a courier transport from the nearest rail station awaiting them. There were a few Esthar's Hawks standing out front, with Captain Meade heading them all up and standing out front. They all had clean, pressed uniforms and were standing fully at attention, the picture of discipline and neatness. It made Dael feel rather embarrassed. Now that she was finally back, she was really starting to wonder what the Colonel might think of her. Sure, a lot of that had been circumstances beyond their control, but they had messed up a few times. She didn't think she was looking at a demotion, but she was wondering what she might get in terms of how much faith they had in her. At any rate, she wished she could have at least run a comb through her hair as she approached them, trying her best to keep looking forward as the gaze of Captain Meade rested on her.

Finally, they came up to a stop before the officer. Dael immediately halted and stood at attention, with the others quickly stopping behind. Meade gave Dael a salute. Dael returned it at once.

"Lieutenant Levison." Meade addressed.

Immediately, Taraketh turned his head in surprise. However, luckily, he kept his mouth shut. Dael, at any rate, ignored him. "Captain Meade."

"We were beginning to get a little worried about you. When you didn't show up at the dock at the planned time, we were afraid something had happened. We weren't sure whether to blame the hurricane or Hounds of Sybenia."

"To be honest, sir," Dael responded. "You can probably blame both."

Meade turned and looked over the group, in particular Cryder and Bahamut. "These are the two civilians with you?"

"Yes sir. Both assisted us in returning to Esthar."

"We've arranged for them to stay temporarily in Fort Morningstar." The captain answered. "We'd like to hear the rest of the story before we go any farther." He turned back to Dael. "Lieutenant, as soon as we've returned to the fort and you and your companions have fully cleaned yourselves up, you and Private DeSur are to report directly to the colonel for debriefing." He turned to Taraketh soon after. "Sir Sabian, the Order of Hyne wishes to speak with you as soon as possible as well about what transpired. Members of your order are awaiting your arrival at Fort Morningstar and will immediately take you to the shrine within the city proper."

Taraketh gave a nod in response, showing no other reaction.

"The civilians will be allowed to go to their rooms to rest." Meade continued. "Both will be allowed Stage II clearance in Fort Morningstar."

"Actually, captain," Dael responded. "Since both individuals were beneficial to the mission, I would appreciate it if they were allowed to meet with the colonel as well to help explain what transpired."

The captain hesitated at that. He looked over the two of them, noting their appearance and how they seemed far rougher and dirtier than normal civilians. Bahamut and Cryder, on their parts, simply stared back. Finally, he looked forward to Dael again. "That will be up to the colonel, but I'll pass along the message. If that is all, we will be on our way at once."

Dael nodded in response. Seeing that, the captain turned and began to go back for the transport. One of the other Esthar's Hawks standing near it immediately opened the door for him to allow him back inside. However, no sooner had the door opened than a small green creature popped out. The captain was forced to freeze to keep from stepping on him. In no time at all, the creature moved up to Dael and, using claws in its tiny paws, ran up the side of her pant leg, up her tunic, and finally came to rest on her shoulder. As soon as it was there, one of the paws batted her in the face, as if slapping her.

"I can't leave you along for five minutes, can I?" Carbuncle complained, groaning at her. "I step out for a bit of air, and what happens when I try to teleport back? My senses tell me I'll be teleporting into an open flame. Once the fire dies, what do I see? The airfield looks like the Crystal War broke out on it. Ugh…you humans are too much. I swear, you're utterly hopeless without me. I guess I'll just have to tag along with you on all your missions from now on to make sure you don't get killed…"

Dael felt a heavy amount of sweat coming on as she tried her hardest to look like any other upright officer and not like some haggard girl who was getting berated by a rabbit/cat. It was too late, unfortunately. The other Esthar's Hawks were already staring. They at least held their tongues, however. Cryder, on the other hand, crossed his arms and let out a snicker.

"Must be nice to have a 'mom'."

Dael strongly resisted snapping to Cryder in rage. However, before she might have lost her composure, Bahamut suddenly stepped forward, gaining her attention. She looked to him, and saw he was staring up at Carbuncle with an intrigued expression.

"Carbuncle?" He called out. "Is that you?"

Dael nearly reacted in surprise. The response of Bahamut indicated that he knew the Guardian Force. But then, she quickly remembered. He had been researching Guardian Forces. It was only natural he would recognize this one. For a moment, however…she had almost thought the two had actually met at one point. That was put to rest when Carbuncle turned to him, and turned his own eyebrows over his black button eyes in some confusion.

"Uh…have we met, kid?"

The boy sighed. "I know you probably don't recognize me in this form, and even if you did we haven't seen each other since I abdicated the throne…but it's me. Lord Bahamut."

Carbuncle stared back in silence momentarily.

"Riiiight…" He slowly responded. "Uh…yeah, and I'm actually Lord Odin, just in the form of Carbuncle. You know…apparently, like you, I got bored with running around in my normal body."

Bahamut sighed. "I'm not joking, Carbuncle. I need your help. Can you tell me where to find-"

"Let's continue this conversation later." Dael suddenly interjected. She stepped forward and placed her hand's on the boy's shoulders, moving him forward. "We're leaving now. They're waiting for us and the officers in Esthar's Hawks don't like to wait."

Bahamut hesitated, but it was only for a moment. Although he seemed to be resigning himself, he turned forward and went as Dael indicated, soon slipping himself back out from under her grip. Dael sighed a bit mentally. This would be a problem. Now that they were back, she had to worry more about what to do with this young man. Physically skilled as he was, Esthar's Hawks wouldn't take him if he was going on about being some ancient dragon. Not only that, but she hadn't exactly extended the offer to him yet, and she had no idea if he would bite. He might be obsessed with his crazy mission, for all she knew. She only hoped he could stay a bit quiet about it when they went to see the colonel. She didn't need him screwing things up any more than Carbuncle likely would.

Dael sighed as she reached the transport. Once Bahamut was inside, she ducked in next. At least she'd get a small break to clean herself up and get her thoughts together. She was back in Esthar now, and the mission was over. The world had plenty of chaos at the moment, and she had a feeling that her own problems might need to soon be shoved to the wayside the way things were going…

* * *

><p>It still took a few hours to get back to Esthar. There was first the trip to the rail station, which itself didn't take long, and then the trip itself to Fort Morningstar. The city proper was in the distance when they arrived, and Bahamut did show some interest in it, although not nearly as much as you would expect from a child his age. He almost seemed a bit tense to look at it, as if something about it unsettled him. However, Dael didn't pay him much mind. She was simply glad that he was staying quiet for the moment and not raising any eyebrows. Dael had enough problems with Cryder, let alone him.<p>

On arrival, Taraketh immediately left without so much as saying "goodbye", rushing off with a number of Children of Hyne waiting for him. Quaren took charge of Bahamut and Cryder, leading them off to the showers. Being a private, he only had use of the public facilities the same as the other privates, and the civilians were much the same. That left Dael and Carbuncle alone to return to her personal chambers where she could clean up in privacy. She expected Carbuncle to talk her ear off, but aside from being scolded again for being too reckless, he didn't actually ask that much about what happened. Dael asked him about that, and he simply waved a paw.

"Ah, I'll get it all during the debriefing." The Guardian Force answered, before giving a smile. "What's the matter? Afraid I'm not showing you enough concern? Feeling neglected?"

Dael frowned in response. "Surprised, is all. It's not typical of you."

"Mmmhmm…" Carbuncle said with a sly look, clearly not believing her. Dael said nothing in response. Carbuncle would only take that as proving his point if she did.

At any rate, she was soon in the shower, feeling as if she had died and gone to heaven. She bathed for 30 straight minutes and still felt dirty after she was done. After she was finished, she took a bit extra time to brush and floss, then adjust her hair. At last, she finally put on a clean, pressed uniform…which by now felt rather unusual against her body since she hadn't changed clothes in so long. She actually was looking like an officer again. As a result…she gave something to a look of her insignia. Now that she had a chance to have some time to herself, she realized following this debriefing she would once again be a simple lieutenant. Even if she hadn't had much command, it was, as they say, "nice while it lasted". She truly wanted to clean up her weapons following everything that had happened and to get a fresh set of shells, but she pushed that out of her mind for now. She had already blown through enough of the Esthar's Hawks' money… Trying to think of how she could explain _that_, she left for the colonel's office, Carbuncle following behind.

As it turned out, the colonel had relocated to a larger office since the last time they met. This wasn't due to any desire of personal aesthetics, but merely due to the fact that, given the change in the world's situation, he often had to meet privately with more than a few people at a time. Today was no exception. En route, she soon ran into Quaren, Cryder, and Bahamut. Quaren looked as neat as her, while Cryder and Bahamut had washed themselves up but were still, naturally, in their older clothes. Even washing them wouldn't have improved their appearance much, however. It did cause Dael a small bit of embarrassment, but there was nothing she could do about it. Biting her lip and stifling a sigh, she went to the colonel's door and knocked. Soon after, all four of them, five including Carbuncle, were allowed inside.

Now they were all arranged in the room. Before they had started, however, Dael had passed on the message that she wanted MPs present, although she didn't say why automatically. As a result, two were at the door. Dael didn't really feel too confident with that. She had a feeling Cryder could easily take two, and they didn't have any weapons of their own. Quaren and Dael both stood before the desk of the colonel, while he sat with hands folded and elbows propped up, and watched both of them, listening to their report. Quaren was, understandably, a bit nervous. He was struggling not to sweat or tremble as he stood there. After all, he was in front of the highest ranking Esthar Hawk at the moment. Cryder himself stood almost too casually at a distance, arms crossed and listening to the whole thing. Opposite him, standing straight and tall but otherwise showing no reaction or emotion, was Bahamut. Carbuncle had elected to take one of the seats and, for once, didn't curl up but stayed at attention.

Dael explained the whole story…everything that had happened since their arrival in Follett. She included the trip across the Pallas Desert, the encounter with Sorceress Veriguno and Jalab Tierras, the buying of the boat, the attack of the pirates, the follow-up attack by the Hounds of Sybenia, the trip out to sea, the arrival in Leuco, the time they spent trying to get back to Esthar, the meeting with Bahamut, and finally the acquiring of the treasure and the trip aboard the smuggler vessel. She omitted nothing regarding Cryder. She explained all he had planned for them initially as well as all he had done to assist them since then. As a result, the two MPs reacted strongly more than once. Early in the story, they looked moments from advancing on Cryder and arresting him on the spot. Regalis, however, was patient. Dael realized just how smart of a man he was. Naturally, if Cryder was nothing more than a pure criminal, they wouldn't have brought him in the room with them. The only person Dael did make omissions regarding was Bahamut. In particular, she left out almost all of the back story he gave as well as what the librarian gave, other than to say he was a orphan on the street…something Bahamut did not contest. Luckily for her, Bahamut held his tongue the whole time, listening to the story patiently. She didn't say anything that might make him do otherwise.

At long last, the story was complete. Dael stood silently before the colonel and awaited the verdict. He kept his hands folded and stared on at her. He showed nothing for a few moments. Finally, he look turned to Quaren.

"Private DeSur, do you confirm everything your commanding officer has said?"

Quaren nodded back. "Yes sir. Every word, sir."

Regalis leaned back in his chair. His arms uncrossed and were placed on the armrests. He again seemed to think for a moment. After a few seconds, however, he finally turned his head over to Cryder. The pirate simply looked back. Regalis looked neither angry or stern.

"Do you have any good reason I shouldn't have you arrested?" He finally asked, perfectly calm.

Cryder gave a head motion to Dael. "She already gave you several good reasons."

"None of which, in my opinion, outdid what you tried to do." Regalis simply responded. "In all likelihood, any of your actions that benefited Esthar's Hawks were matters of luck, happenstance, and whatever happened to profit you the most at the time."

"The 'crime', in question, occurred in International Waters." Cryder responded. "Esthar has not made an official enemy of Leuco or of the Black Corsairs. Does that make me innocent? Perhaps not. But I do think it gives me just a bit of leeway. At the moment, I have no ship, no crew, and no two gil to rub together. I'm completely down on my luck. But I _am_ a Black Corsair. I figure I could be of a bit more use to you than simply spending taxpayer money to feed me as I rot in a jail cell."

"How so?" Regalis answered.

"I know the routes the Corsairs use, what months they're in what waters, their frequencies, their captains…Hell, everything." Cryder responded. He gave a shrug. "You're a big military organization that prides yourself on intelligence. Couldn't you use a double agent or two? Keep an incident like the one that befell Lieutenant Dael from happening again?"

The colonel paused on hearing this. He looked over Cryder for a moment. The pirate simply looked back, waiting for an answer. After a few moments, the colonel exhaled a bit, and leaned back a bit more.

"It's true that we don't have many sources in the Black Corsairs. They're not exactly the easy-to-infiltrate bunch. And with Leuco backing them, we haven't had much headway in working out an international deal. The only other organization on Gaia we probably know less about is Sybenia's Hounds. However, forgive me for being a little old fashioned, but I do believe in the statement 'honor amongst thieves'. Am I to believe you'll sell out your own organization so easily?"

Cryder let out a snort, looking to the ground a moment. "Please. The only person that a Black Corsair is loyal to is their captain and crew. We all have our own code. And my crew might be at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker at the moment. The _Gungir_ and those men were my life. Now I've lost both. Plus…" He looked up a bit, this time rolling his eyes slightly. "…As your lieutenant pointed out, all of my so-called 'mates' are now a gaggle of bill collectors I can never hope to pay off, especially without a ship of my own."

Regalis couldn't help but crack half a smile at that.

"So you need Esthar's Hawks for protection?"

Cryder gave a smile back at that. "Call it whatever you like. I prefer 'equal business transaction' myself. I get something, you get something. True equity."

Regalis actually let out a short chuckle. He was silent afterward, staring at Cryder a bit longer. Finally, he let out an exhale.

"…I'll make an official report regarding you to the Senate's Defense Committee, sparing no details, just as I'm sure Lieutenant Dael has spared no details. I'll include your request for asylum and your desire to join as a covert consultant. That's the standard procedure for a case like this. They'll decide whether you can join up or spend the rest of your days in a cell. That's the best deal you're going to get."

Cryder let out a bit of a chuckle in response. "More than I expected on more than one occasion. I'll take it."

The colonel soon turned back to Dael and Quaren. He stayed back in his chair as he looked at both of them. "Both of you have done very well in an extreme situation, going above and beyond the call of duty. I'm very proud of you both. And the information you gave us, especially regarding the situation in Follett, is much appreciated and highly useful. Your initial transmission allowed us to start radioing Garrado before things grew too severe. You gave us a good few days head start on Sybenia, and for that the nation as well as Esthar's Hawks is grateful."

"Thank you, sir." Dael calmly responded.

Quaren, however, was more exciteable. This was a personal congratulations from the colonel, after all. "Th-thank you, sir!"

The colonel remained stony as always, and gave a nod in response, and nothing more. "By your actions, you no doubt helped preserve the lives of our remaining operatives in Northern Sybenia. Naturally, we pulled them out as soon as we heard the news. And it wasn't a moment to soon. If we had been even six hours slower, we might have lost several good personnel."

On hearing this, Dael and Quaren both looked somewhat puzzled. Cryder himself leaned up his head, and Bahamut turned his attention to Regalis as well. "Sir?" Dael asked.

The colonel gave out a sigh and bowed his head momentarily. "I'm sorry, I forgot. You've been at sea for over a week, and I doubt you paid much attention to headlines during your time in Leuco." He raised his head again soon after and focused on Dael and Quaren once again.

"I'm afraid to say that the situation has done nothing but deteriorated. At this point, we're not sure whether Sybenia was planning its next move after the first three city states all along or if they accelerated their plans following your escape. What is clear is this…they're not content with stopping at the outlying city states. They made a massive surge not long after your escape and took the rest. They now control all land right up to the border of the Pallas Desert. We're working on trying to get spies on the ground within the desert to try and keep an eye on them, but as you know it's a bit difficult to try and work with the various tribes in the area. What we can see from aerial, however, is distressing. They're building tank depos as well as airfields, and they've seized three oases already. They've begun a new round of military drills and their navies are mobilizing. All of this can only lead to one conclusion. They're getting ready to take the rest of the continent as soon as they can master the desert. The city states are gone…Garrado is next."

Everyone in the room that this was news to felt an uncomfortable wave pass through them on hearing that. Even Cryder and Bahamut both seemed to react slightly, although Cryder formed much of a look of unease, while Bahamut only stiffened a bit. Quaren moistened his lips.

"Um…begging your pardon, sir…but, if they take Garrado, wouldn't they have control of the entire Western Continent?"

"Yes they would, private." The colonel answered. He bowed his head a bit and sighed. "Quite the lofty goal for the 'descendents of King Odin', wouldn't you say? Probably not worthy of his stature, though. After all, at the height of his power, the kingdom of Odin's line was supposed to have dominion over half of the world. That was with swords, spears, arrows, and magic. What do you think Rozan Heirarch would be able to do with tanks, planes, warships, and guns?"

Quaren blinked a few times. "B-But…he couldn't really do that, could he sir?"

Regalis gave a shrug. "Whether he could do it or not is irrelevant, private. The question is if he's determined enough to try. And so far he hasn't done anything in any of the countless state-run media speeches he puts out to indicate any differently. Every other day it's 'world empire' this and 'divine right of kings' back. Why would he stop now?"

Again, there was a pause of silence in the room. Quaren himself swallowed and looked rather uncomfortable. After a few more seconds, Dael looked up.

"Just so I don't seem totally ignorant later, sir…may I ask what the Senate is currently doing about this situation?"

Regalis bowed his head again, folding his hands across his chest. "I got the latest report from the Senate this morning. After three days of debate, they look like they're reaching a consensus in one of the committees. They were debating on whether to issue a statement condemning the issue in general or to also condemn the capture of our operatives. After that, they'll put it to the floor for a vote on whether or not to send out the statement."

Cryder grinned and let out a chuckle. Carbuncle let out a snort, as did Bahamut. Quaren's jaw nearly dropped. Dael, in spite of her own self-discipline, felt her eyes widen.

"…And…anything else, sir?"

The colonel shook his head. "Not as yet, lieutenant. That's the first issue that came to the floor three days ago, and they're still working on that one."

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Dael almost thought she could hear Carbuncle laughing at her. She didn't dare look at the small green creature to see the look on his face. She knew the bureaucracy was bad…but this was sheer incompetence.

Before she could think anymore, however, Quaren spoke up, breaking decorum to do so. He didn't even use the proper addressing terms. "But…couldn't Barbarossa have given an official statement? An executive order? Couldn't he have gone around this a bit?"

The colonel stared darkly back. For a moment, he seemed to simply be annoyed that the private had interjected, and Dael tensely waited for the hammer to fall. However, it didn't. In the end, Regalis remained perfectly calm and simply answered the question.

"The ability to make executive orders was diminished greatly during the years of the Depression, private. As you may recall, numerous politicians offered one failure of a plan after another, including Grand Chancellor Harcourt who thought that the best way to alleviate the problem was to take strong and quick action, and that the best way to take strong and quick action was to go over the head of the Senate whenever he could. Both the majority and the minority parties punished him severely for that. District Representative Kenzell announced shortly after the official executive briefing that neither he nor any member of his party would tolerate Grand Chancellor Barbarossa taking any action that would lead to lives being lost unnecessarily or committing of resources that the nation couldn't provide. District Representative Meaks came out the next day saying that the executive office would move as deliberately and carefully as possible in order to, in his own words, 'ensure not so much as one drop of blood from our citizens is shed without cause'." He gave a shrug. "Naturally, there are others in the majority party who are calling for stronger, faster, more decisive measures. At this point, they're currently defending themselves from attacks both from the minority party as well as the press that they are 'ruthless warmongers trying to ruin a nation whose economy is still recovering'. Still others are saying that we have no need to involve ourselves in such affairs that are happening half a world away." Abruptly, his head turned to the side. "Am I saying something amusing, Mr. Morningjay?"

At this point, it was no longer a small chuckle from Cryder. It was a steady shallow laughter. And it had been growing in volume as the colonel continued. However, when he said this, the pirate finally stopped and looked up. He kept a small smile as he moved to the side and leaned against one of the bookshelves.

"No, not amusing." Cryder answered, still smiling. "Not amusing at all. You know something can be so sad and pathetic all a person can do is laugh? Think of it like that."

"Get your back off my bookshelf, please." The colonel stated firmly.

"Sorry." Cryder apologized as he stood up again.

Dael wanted to give Cryder a glare at that, but she didn't. She didn't because she couldn't do it in good faith. Much as she wanted to be obedient and not care much for the political machinations of the ones who funded her organization…this was indeed pathetic. She hadn't studied military history for four years in the academy to not recognize this when she saw it. Sybenia wasn't just some local warlord or dictatorship looking to secure absolute power for its own region. This was something worse. They were far more ambitious than that. But all their own legislature could do was do what they always did…maintain the status quo at all costs. Save their own rear ends. Perhaps most of the people would prefer to stay out of armed conflict. Perhaps even a good number of Esthar's Hawks would prefer not to have to endanger themselves. However, Dael always thought one of the few important rules of government leaders was to enact decisions that were the best, not what would make the most people happy.

They were making a horrible mistake. She had seen it in the Sybenian forces in Follett. She had seen it on the faces of the Hounds. The very idea of something even _existing_ that was on equal footing to them had become loathsome. The speeches of Roz and Rozan were making them believe they were the natural superiors to everyone. These sort of people, history had always shown, from the Emperor of Palamecia to the manipulated monarchy of Baron to the Gesthalian Empire, that they didn't tolerate the existence of any other way but their own. And the more leeway people gave them, they more they wanted. They only ever used it to further their agendas. In the end, thousands…hundreds of thousands…would suffer for a naïve desire to protect people from harm, and things would be far worse than ever.

After a few moments, the colonel turned back to Dael and Quaren. "Regardless of what is decided, whether it be today, tomorrow, or a month from now, Esthar's Hawks remain on full alert. In addition to making full preparations for the possibility of war, we are also committing as many resources within our mandate and sphere of influence as necessary to try and curtail this threat. The past few days since your transmission have been highly active as we've been reorganizing our placement and started new missions. Our goal is to ensure that if war or open conflict does break out, we are prepared to deal with it and cannot be caught off guard. Therefore, I'm sad to inform you, lieutenant, that you will have little time to recuperate from your previous mission. Everyone has to be on duty as soon as they are standing and able."

Dael hesitated just long enough to banish the last of her thoughts regarding the legislature from her mind for now, and focus entirely on what the colonel said. She gave a nod. "Understood, sir."

Regalis paused for a moment, but then smiled a bit. "And I must say, your performance was rather exemplary back on the field. There's not many Esthar's Hawks, to say nothing of rookies with less than a year under their belts, who would have been able to get out of that situation alive, cross the Pallas Desert, go into live combat between a Black Corsair ship and a Sybenian Battleship, survive at sea for three days and nights, and still make it back here without so much as a scar. While it's far too premature to give you the 'commander' insignia full time, I think it would be a waste of your talents to confine you to the rank of 'lieutenant'."

Dael had to fight to keep her eyes from widening.

"From this day forward, consider yourself a Lieutenant Commander, Levison." Regalis finished. "Congratulations."

Although she had been "ranked" higher than that not too long ago, Dael once again felt weak-kneed. She knew that was a temporary assignment, but now she was ranked higher full time. And after only her third mission! For a moment, the fear and anxiety and uncertainty of what was going on in the world was forgotten. She had to struggle not to swoon right then and there. Breaking decorum again, Quaren turned to her with a grin, beaming with happiness at her sudden advancement. After a moment, however, she managed to smooth herself out and nod.

"Thank you, sir."

Regalis narrowed his gaze a bit. "Just as before, Levinson, there are some in position over me and under me alike that think I'm being hasty with this decision. That I need to test you out more. I myself do not question this judgment. I would appreciate it very much so if you would not give me a reason to."

"I won't, sir." Dael stated firmly in response.

"See that you don't." Was all that the colonel answered. After that, he turned his head to Quaren. Seeing his eyes on him, the private swallowed and immediately turned to face him fully. Regalis smiled a bit once again.

"Well, private, I'd think you're most likely in line for a promotion as well, after your service on the field both on this mission as well as defending Esthar. If you were directly under my authority, I'd make you a corporal on the spot. As it is, you'll have to settle for my recommendation to your commanding officer. Last I saw him, he wished to congratulate you personally."

Quaren paused a moment after hearing this. Again, he seemed to grow rather nervous. He sweat a bit, visibly, but finally opened his mouth.

"B…B-Begging your p-pardon, sir…" He said aloud. "B-But…I…I figure now would be a good time to ask you. I know there's proper channels for this and all, but so long as I'm in front of you, I thought it might be a good time to put in this request."

The colonel raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He answered. "What is it, private?"

Quaren paused a bit longer. He swallowed another lump, but finally spit it out. "…I request that I be transferred from Class II to Class IV, sir."

Dael fought the urge to look at Quaren at that. She again remembered that talk they had in the desert. She struggled not to sigh. So…he was going through with it after all? Well, it was too late to say anything against it now. The cat was out of the bag. Quaren could make his own choices, and he'd have to live with whatever consequences arose. She only hoped that he was doing this of his own free will and not simply because he wanted to be closer to her, that this was something he really wanted.

The colonel, meanwhile, gave Quaren a hard look. "…That's no small request, private. And it's not something we normally honor, especially among recent graduates. You've only been a full-fledged Esthar's Hawk for a few months. Granted, I chose you for this mission because International Affairs was indeed short handed, and you showed a lot of promise. More so than any of the other new recruits to Civil Defense, officer and non-officer. But to simply flourish in a new setting a few months after graduation, when you firmly stated Class II would suffice, and then want to jump up to Class IV is no small task. And it is not a request that can be granted simply by a stroke of a pen. There are a great many requirements for you to meet first, each of which is considerably more demanding than what is required of Civil Defense."

Quaren nodded. "I understand, sir. I know it won't be easy. But…to be honest, sir, I think I thought too little of myself back in the Academy. Now that I've had a chance to be on the field myself, I think my confidence is grown, and I'm willing to jump any hurdles to get accepted into International Affairs."

Regalis looked over Quaren silently for a few moments. He seemed to be sizing him up. The room was silent. After a few more moments, however, Regalis leaned back and let out an exhale.

"I'm not entirely blind, private, even with all the various personnel under my command. Thankfully, this branch of the military is still so small that I can know a little about everyone. And I know that you and Lt. Commander Levinson have been friends for some time, and that you have supported each other for quite some time as well through your years in the academy. I have a sense that you wish to maintain that support network now."

Quaren paled and swallowed at this. "But…sir…"

"That said…" Regalis quickly cut off, causing Quaren to calm down a bit. "Your performance on this mission was exemplary, based on what I heard from Lt. Commander Levinson. Not only in the combat realm. You literally had 24 hours to master two years of International Affairs protocol and information regarding the city-state of Follett and you apparently did rather well. I'd say, at minimum, that deserves some consideration. Because of that, I will allow you to submit a request for transfer. All of the other paperwork, tests, and assessments are up to you."

The private beamed. He immediately nodded gratefully. "Thank you sir! Thank you very much! I won't disappoint you!"

The colonel only gave a nod back. He showed no other emotion. He held for a brief moment, but then turned his head at last to the one person he had yet to address. He smiled a bit more warmly at that point, trying to, for all his size and gruffness, appear to be a 'nice man', it seemed.

"And finally, we come to you, young master." He addressed the twelve year old. "I'm afraid Lt. Commander Levinson failed to mention your name."

"Bahamut, sir." The boy responded. Even without being an officer or under his command, he seemed to be respectful.

Dael, on hearing that, felt some anxiety begin to come through her. Now it came to it. The colonel obviously realized that she had omitted several things in his part of the story. Now he was going to get it right from the chocobo's mouth. She sighed a bit to herself. The boy was going to be put into an insane asylum by the end of the day if he went on about that. She figured she owed it to him to at least try and interject and cover for him. She braced herself for what he would say, exposing his paranoid delusions…

The colonel however, only looked somewhat puzzled in response at first, although he didn't lose his smile. "Bahamut, you say? That's an interesting name. Wasn't that the name of an ancient dragon…a king of espers?"

Now it came to it. Dael braced herself for the worst.

Bahamut, however, was calm.

"It was a nickname my dad gave me…before he was murdered." He stated somewhat slowly, looking grim on saying that.

Quaren snapped his head to Bahamut in a flash. Cryder actually looked up. Dael herself was the only one who stayed calm, and struggled not to turn her head to him. What did he just say?

The colonel's own smile faded. "I see…"

"…My dad…my mom…my sister…they were all shot to death one night by a gang thinking our house was a storage area for their supplies." Bahamut continued, bowing his head. His look grew darker and sadder.

The colonel bowed his head a bit as well. "…Please, forgive me, son." He said. "You have my sympathy…and I didn't mean to bring the matter up. No doubt, Lt. Commander Levison omitted that so that you wouldn't have to relive it…"

"It's alright…" Bahamut answered. "…I have to move on. Mom and dad would have wanted it that way." He held a moment, breathing in and out a few times. It looked like he was trying to steady himself. Finally, he looked back up again. "…I haven't had anywhere to go since then. I've just been living on the streets in Leuco. To pass the time, I went to the only place I could go that was open to anyone: the public library. First I was reading stories like dad and mom used to tell me…but then I decided to just do some 'treasure hunting' for fun. That's how I found that treasure I gave Dael."

He bowed his head a bit.

"…The reason I'm here was…because I begged them to take me with them."

Dael's jaw loosened. Quaren looked like he could be knocked over with a feather. Cryder stifled another snicker on hearing this. However, though it all, Bahamut looked up to Colonel Regalis again, looking like he was struggling to stay composed.

"I…I didn't have anything left back in Leuco… No friends…no family… Dael…she's the first person who ever tried to defend me from the local thugs. She's just about the only friend I have now…" He looked down again. "…Maybe I shouldn't have made her take me…but I didn't want to be alone anymore… I…I just wanted someone to talk to… I…"

Bahamut began to trail off, looking like he might break at any moment. Dael felt if her eyes were bulging anymore at him, they might drop out of her skull. This was the last thing on Gaia she had expected. What the heck had happened? Had that train ride and hot shower somehow shocked him to his senses? Was everything he told them until now just a lie, and he was coming out with the truth here? The colonel, however, continued to look on Bahamut with pity, softening up more by the minute.

"It's alright, young man. Don't be sad…"

However, the boy soon looked up to Regalis, his eyes desperate and fearful.

"P-Please, sir! Don't send me to an orphanage!" He begged. "I won't be able to see Dael anymore, and she's the only friend I have! She's the only one I know here in Esthar! Please!" He sniffed a bit, as tears started to well up again. "I'll…I'll just run away if you do!"

The colonel was taken aback. Immediately, he held up his hand in a stopping gesture. "Now hold on just a minute, son…"

"Please!" Bahamut insisted. "I'll do whatever you want here! Just don't send me away!"

"Easy there…easy there, young man." Regalis answered, his voice very measured and calm. It seemed to work, Bahamut eased up just a little, at least for a moment. "Now, I didn't say I'd be sending you away anywhere. Having a minor in the fort is definitely irregular, but there are always special protocols. And I _am_ the commanding officer here, so I do have a bit of say in regards to the rules."

Bahamut sniffed again, but started to look hopeful. "You…you mean…?"

"Now, under normal circumstances, we couldn't let you stay here." The colonel continued. "I'm sorry, but even if you were a cadet in the Academy, the fort is a military installation." He paused here, and gave a look to Dael. The young woman had to restrain herself to keep from leaping back at that.

"That said…when it comes to commissioned officers, special overrides can be made if they happen to have a child or a ward. After all, they have their own quarters."

Dael's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Um…sir…?"

Bahamut, however, was enthusiastic. "You mean…you mean I could stay on the base if I lived with Dael?"

A snicker came out from Carbuncle's direction.

The colonel gave a nod, as he looked back to Bahamut. "There are a few technicalities to this, but it won't be a problem to overcome them. Especially not now, in a time where we're preparing for war, and can overlook a lot of the standard regulations. Everything can be arranged by the end of the day. It would be no problem at all to wheel a cot into Lt. Commander Levison's room until we can get you a proper bed, and all the toiletries would be furnished. We can even get you some stock clothing from the Academy until you get some of your own." He turned and looked back to Dael once again. "That is…if that's perfectly alright with Lt. Commander Levison."

Dael was speechless. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, looking blank and stunned.

"I…I…well…"

Before she could say anything else, however…she suddenly felt her hand grabbed. She looked down, and soon found Bahamut clinging to it, looking at her hopefully with giant eyes.

"Please, Dael! Please let me stay here with you! I won't get into any trouble! You're my only friend! Please don't send me away!"

"Yeah, Lt. Commander Levison…" Cryder suddenly spoke up with a snicker. Dael turned her head slightly to him, seeing him grinning as he stared at her. "Have some pity on the poor chap. After all, didn't he go out of his way to help us? Are you really going to turn your back on your mate after stepping in for him when he needed you?"

Carbuncle let out a pair of chuckles.

Dael instantly felt more nervous than she had when she was staring at dozens of Hound gun barrels. She had suddenly found herself shoved into a corner. She didn't know what Bahamut was doing at the moment…and frankly she didn't care. She had wanted to help him out, yes…but she never thought she'd be the one who would have to take him in. That meant he'd be in the same room as her, living with her! She already had one annoying houseguest…and while Bahamut may have been far quieter and more composed, what was she supposed to do with a child? She hesitated a bit longer, but nothing abated. All eyes were on her, not least of all Bahamut's, looking as if he would make or break her entire world with her next words.

Finally, the woman swallowed a bit.

"I…I suppose…I would be alright with that just for now." She finally stated. "Just until he gets better situated in town, or he finds a more permanent arrangement."

Thankfully, Bahamut seemed pleased with that. Before Dael could do anything else, Bahamut flung his arms around her waist and gave her a big hug, causing her to nearly break a sweat right then and there. She barely held her tongue, wondering what she had just gotten herself into.

"Thank you! Thank you, Dael!" He exclaimed.

The colonel smiled back. "Alright then, I'll make the necessary arrangements. Bahamut, you may accompany Lt. Commander Dael back to her quarters. We'll send everything you need along directly. With that, I believe I have nothing further with you for the moment. Although I intend to send you on more missions soon, Lt. Commander, for right now I can give you at least the night off. Dismissed."

* * *

><p>Dael was still nearly apoplectic five minutes later, as she was walking down a hallway with a stunned, glazed look on her face. Carbuncle kept snickering as he walked alongside her, and Bahamut smiled happily up at her as he walked along at her side. He seemed like a kid on an outing with their parent. The young officer was a total loss. What had just happened back there? How had she gotten into this mess? She was looking forward to at least a short time of R&amp;R, and all of the sudden she was paired with another roommate…<p>

The young woman was still trying to sort it all out when the three walked into a thinner corridor that happened to be empty. Small wonder. Much of the base was empty now, since most people were off on various missions, whether training, drills, or otherwise. There were very few people left there. So it wasn't too out of the realm of possibility as they turned a corner and entered the small passageway that no one was around. Dael was still staring blankly forward at the time, wondering what in the world she was supposed to do now.

At that point, she heard a simple, measured, calm voice come from her side.

"You're welcome, by the way."

Dael, on hearing that, snapped out of her daze. She blinked once, and then looked to her side. To her surprise, Bahamut had become his normal, stoic, calm self as he walked along, looking just as official and controlled as the hardest officer.

The young officer was soon confused all over again. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you didn't thank me." Bahamut calmly answered. "But I figured I'd say you're welcome none the less. I'd imagine it would have given you quite a bit of work and stress if I had started talking about my true purpose being here when I faced your commanding officer."

Dael nearly felt her jaw drop again. Realization struck her. "You…you were just kidding that whole time? All that stuff about your dad and your mom…"

"It worked, didn't it?" Bahamut simply responded. "You didn't honestly think I was going to go in there and start telling them that I only came along with you in order to find out the location of Leviathan, did you? You may think I'm insane, but you better believe I'm not a fool. I can tell you don't believe a word of what I said. If I had started spouting that to your commanding officer, I would have been in a children's hospital mental ward by the end of the day, with some counselor trying to tell me to express my 'feelings' through fingerpainting. If I'm going to get access to your records, I'm going to have to 'play along' for a bit. I figured that story would do the trick."

Dael was practically aghast. She couldn't believe it. For a while, she had thought that Bahamut had been genuine, that somehow his true memory had come back and he had been a normal child once again. But now, he had lapsed fully back into his previous mode, making it clear that he was pulling the wool over the colonel's eyes the entire time. She soon heard another snicker from Carbuncle, and turned her head to him momentarily. However, he merely kept walking along. She blinked a moment. Did he somehow know the whole time, and just had a laugh at her expense?

However, great as Dael's shock was…she couldn't help but think about the incident a bit longer. For being a kid with a paranoid delusion, Dael was quickly realizing that she was dealing with a highly intelligent individual, and one who, as he said, was by no means a fool. In addition to finding that treasure, he had known when to keep his mouth shut and what to say so that he would fit in more in society and get what he wanted. Perhaps he was crazy, but he was certainly functional. Of course, that only rose another question in Dael's mind. Why had he felt comfortable telling them the truth, then?

"Don't worry." Bahamut stated as he walked along. "My needs are simple, I tend to be quiet, and I assure you have no desire to be a 'peeping tom' while you're in the shower. I'll be a more agreeable houseguest than most. In the meantime, while I'm waiting for you to find a way to get me access to your networks, I'll recover the rest of my strength by eating decently for a change and exercising in your facilities. I never was one who liked wandering about in a weak state. At the bare minimum, I can ensure that this body is battle capable when needed. But like your colonel said…this world has a lot in store for both of us, and we've both had a long trip. It's probably best that we both turn in for the day."

Dael had calmed a bit now, but she couldn't help but blink at that statement. It wasn't just what he said, but the way he said it. If he was delusional, then he was certainly committing himself to the part very well. He was going along as if he was the authority here, not Dael, which, she supposed, would make sense if you were a great esper king. But the way he said it…not with snobbishness or grandiose words…he just seemed to talk as if it was true. The young officer was almost amazed…

"Heh, listen to your new 'ward', Dael." Carbuncle said with a joke. "Time to hit the sack."

This snapped the young officer out of it, and she gave Carbuncle a look. However, she said nothing else. She simply looked forward and kept walking after a moment, holding her tongue. She had indeed gotten herself into something, she now realized…but it might be more than even she anticipated. In spite of everything the librarian had said about him…she was beginning to think she had stumbled on someone unusual with this boy. Something that was more than an open-and-shut case of delusional thinking. There was something special about him. She didn't know if it was the tragedy that struck him or brain damage or what, but he wasn't a conventional person by any means. By agreeing in that office to take him in, she had a feeling she had just gained a window into something big. Where it would go from here was anyone's guess.

In the end, Dael relented. She decided Carbuncle and Bahamut were both right. She did need a good night's sleep in a soft bed. Tomorrow…the weight of the world would come crashing down on her again.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	15. The Fourth Mission

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm out of town this Sunday, so I'm posting this now. It's a bit on the short side, mostly because there's a lot in the following chapters and I'm trying to keep it around 10 pages per chapter.

* * *

><p><em>Three Days Later<em>

* * *

><p>Dael opened the door to her personal chambers. A moment later, she stepped inside and let it close behind her. As she did, she looked up and began to speak before even fully entering the room.<p>

"I took the liberty of buying some new clothes for you."

However, she had barely managed to walk a little way into the room when she stopped. The small cot was still made and folded, the separate set of toiletries had been picked up and arranged, the existing stock clothes from the Academy were already folded up and put aside, leaving nothing there except for an open space on one side of the room where he had moved in. The only person who was present was Carbuncle, sitting on a cushion on the floor, and typing away at Dael's laptop with his paws. He paused, however, when Dael came in, and looked up to her. After casting a glance to the plastic bag Dael had, he looked up to her.

"You shouldn't have, although I don't think they're my size."

Dael frowned in response as she unceremoniously dumped the back on her own bed. She sighed and put her hands on her sides. "Alright, where is he now?"

"Where else has he been for the past two days?" Carbuncle answered with a shrug. "If he's not eating, he's studying all the public resources in the library. If he's not doing that, he's working out in the athletic center. If he's not doing that, he's sleeping." He looked to the cot. "And unless he likes sleeping like a taco and he's in there somewhere, my guess is he's out studying, eating, or working out."

The young officer gave a sigh as she moved into the room. "If it wasn't for the fact that his stuff was in the room, I wouldn't even know he lived here. He goes to bed after I do and he's up before me every day. The only time I really see him is if we happen to be in the library, athletic center, or commissary at the same time."

Carbuncle cracked a smile and let out a light chuckle to that as he kept typing. "And you claimed you weren't lonely…"

"That has nothing to do with it." Dael retorted. She reached the Guardian Force and slapped the lid down on the laptop, causing him to jerk his paws back. She soon began to take it up.

"Hey! I was playing Furious Chocobos!" Carbuncle frowned.

"I've got to check my messages. New orders are a bit more important than games." Dael responded as she took it over to her bed and sat on top of the mattress with it. She opened it up again once there and began to type, logging out of the game so she could get to her email account.

Carbuncle gave her a look. "If I lose my high score, I'm leaving a present in your shoes."

Dael ignored that comment. "I'm afraid he's going to wander where he isn't wanted. Then it'll be _my_ head on the chopping block because he's _my_ ward…at least in the legal sense of the word."

"That kid is more mature than you give him credit for." Carbuncle answered, crossing his paws and laying his head down on top of them. "More mature than half the clowns running around in this base, at any rate. And sometimes I think more mature than you."

Dael snorted as she kept typing. "Yeah, maturity really counts for a lot in this world when you're a delusional basket case."

"Heh…you'd be surprised. How else do you think the clown that shoved me into a cylinder a few hundred years back came to power?" Carbuncle responded. "Besides…I wouldn't call him that. Humans are so quick to put people into either the realm of crazy or sane. There are many subtle levels in between. I'd label him as…hmm…eccentric. Personally, I think you need to be a little crazy to survive in this world. If you aren't, you'll go nuts."

The young woman sighed. "You do realize those last two statements made no sense, right?"

"What _doesn't_ make sense is that it took your government until yesterday to put out a statement condemning Sybenia." Carbuncle grumbled in response. "Talk is the cheapest thing there is, and it's so expensive in this government that no one can even agree what to say."

"…I'd rather not get into another governmental debate with you right now." Dael responded, a hint of cold in her voice. It passed readily, however, as she continued to move around on the laptop. "Crazy people aren't really liked in this country, whether you label them eccentric or not."

"Oh, he's not that crazy." Carbuncle answered with a shrug. "Guys like him could live long, full lives without ever having to worry about much. It's not like his claim is terribly outrageous."

Dael looked up from her work and over to Carbuncle. "Claiming yourself to be a Guardian Force isn't outrageous? He might as well claim he's a moogle."

"Except if he said he was a moogle all he'd have to do would be to look in a mirror to prove himself wrong. This claim? Not so much."

The young officer crooked her brow. "What do you mean?"

Carbuncle shifted his weight a bit on his cushion. "It's not a very widely-known fact, not to the Order of Hyne or any other human organization at any rate, that the way espers came back into the world as Guardian Forces wasn't simply by chanting some mumbo jumbo or even being physically born. You remember those essences from that mission, right?"

Dael nodded.

"Well, how they worked is once you drink them, whether you're a human or any other animal, the spirit of the esper passes into you. As far as where the other spirit goes…" He sighed a bit. "Well, I don't really know. It doesn't vanish at any rate, so I'm guessing it goes back into the Lifestream or whatever. Anyway…the fact of the matter is, once in that body, until the esper has managed to gain enough of the same element the essence was, they're stuck like that. Only when we gain enough do we become like this."

The young officer hesitated on hearing that. She had no idea about any of that. In fact, now that she heard it, she was rather surprised. She actually blinked a few times, forgetting about her laptop momentarily.

"…You're not honestly saying that the kid might really, actually, be Bahamut, are you?"

Carbuncle immediately shook his head. "Oh, that's not possible. Don't worry about that part." He responded. "The only way he could have been is if one of the essences were used, and all of them are still under lock and key. Besides, even if he was, I would have recognized his spirit in a heartbeat. It may have been thousands of years since I just got a 'whiff' of him, but you don't forget a spirit like that. This kid has got strength and nobility in his…but Bahamut's? Sorry. Then there's the plain and simple truth that even if those other requirements were met, he's still stuck in that body. That makes no sense."

Dael relaxed slightly on hearing these things, but registered some puzzlement here. "I don't follow."

"Everyone knows Bahamut's element was solar energy." He responded. "We're surrounded by sunlight. He would have been fully charged up within a day and reverted back into his original form." The Guardian Force shook his head. "Sorry…he's a great method actor, but he's not 'the' Bahamut."

The young woman paused a moment, saying nothing. "I see." She finally stated after a moment, then turned back to her laptop.

Carbuncle turned a head at that. "Huh…you almost sound disappointed."

"I'm not. It might have helped his case if he was, however." Dael answered as she moved the touchpad.

In truth, she didn't know why…but she did almost seem to feel just a hint of disappointment inside her. If someone was to ask why, she couldn't say. It was just a strange feeling that passed through her without any real reason to it. At any rate, she ignored such feelings. They weren't that important. What was going on in the world was, and so was her next mission. At long last, she managed to open her account.

Soon afterward, she saw a fresh unread mail at the top of her list.

NEW ORDERS – REPORT IMMEDIATELY.

Dael quickly clicked on the box and read the details. There wasn't much, other than the authorization codes, her designation, and the location where to be and when. She soon saw that it wasn't another personal mission, once more a request to go to the colonel's office. The young woman couldn't help but tense up a bit at that. She had only had one of those missions before now, and after how disastrous it had gone before… However, she managed to solidify herself and stay calm. Soon after, she closed out the email, logged out, and shut the laptop. She turned to Carbuncle.

"Duty calls." She announced. "Seems my hiatus is over. They're calling me out on another mission."

"Hopefully doing something besides a drill…" Carbuncle answered as he stood up from the cushion and gave a shake to his fur.

Seeing this, Dael paused a moment, but then sighed and rolled her eyes. "I suppose it's pointless to even ask, but could you stay behind this time? At least to tell Bahamut where I went."

"Bah." Carbuncle said, waving a paw at the notion. "He may have only been here a couple days, but I see you two already have quite the roommate system worked out. He doesn't intrude on what you do, you don't intrude on what he does."

"That relationship may have to change…" Dael sighed as she moved over to the mirror. Luckily, she was already exercised, washed, and dressed in her uniform for the day. Moving up to it, she just made sure everything was in place. "It's only going to last so long as he behaves."

"Ah, give him a bit more credit." Carbuncle answered as he plodded over to her. "At least he's smart enough to know that everyone would think he was crazy if he went around doing whatever. Still, you should probably worry more about how you're going to keep your promise to him. You _did_ say you'd get him access to the private files of Esthar's Hawks."

Dael groaned. "Even _I_ don't have access to those. How am I supposed to get him access?"

The Guardian Force shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe you should have thought of that before you made the deal."

The young officer sighed and turned away from the mirror, making for the door. "Why couldn't he have just been one of those kids you can bribe with ice cream…?" She muttered as she exited through it.

Carbuncle quickly dashed after her and went through before the door could shut on him. "You could always try and bribe _me_ with ice cream…" He called out as he did so.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, Dael was standing in the office once again. It was a bit less nerve-wracking this time, and she was starting to finally get used to the fact that Carbuncle was going to be going with her everywhere. Still, there remained the fact that Dael was in the room alone this time. At least last time there were people to deflect Regalis' attention away from any one person. Well, Carbuncle was there, but from his normal position on the chair he wasn't terribly helpful. The colonel was his usual self. A bit surprising. Considering how on edge everyone was in the fort nowadays, and the constant empty nature of it being a constant reminder of what was going on in the world, he seemed to be rather composed and controlled. It was something good, Dael reasoned. Seeing the one in command stress out would stress out everyone else. And although she hadn't been receiving many orders from him for that long, she was adjusting better to his gaze being on her.<p>

"Thank you for coming so quickly, Levinson." The colonel began once she was standing before her and Carbuncle had "taken his seat". "This particular assignment isn't an urgent one. It won't commence until 0600 tomorrow. Nevertheless, I appreciate you arriving promptly just the same. Although you may not be departing immediately, it doesn't change the fact that this is another mission of extreme importance."

After saying this, however, he leaned back a bit. His face grew darker.

"As a matter of fact, this is, without a doubt, the most important mission of your young career, and, with any luck, the most important mission you will ever receive, and one of pivotal importance to the future of the Western Continent, and possibly the world itself."

The colonel was grim and serious here, taking a harder line than Dael had ever seen from him. During the last mission briefing, he hadn't seemed to be this intently focused. Not only that, but the words he was saying were dripping with weight. The colonel wasn't one to joke around or exagerate. Because of all of this…Dael had to fight not to shake all over. She suddenly felt a rather heavy weight seeming to be set on her shoulders. She hadn't even heard what the mission was yet, but the way the colonel spoke about it filled her with anxiety. In spite of herself, she felt sweat beginning to form on her brow. She had expected something of a milder mission after everything that had happened last time, and even if it was something more severe she had been prepared to 'gear up' for it. Yet the way the colonel spoke…all of her preparations seemed to shatter and crumble like a castle of sand. What in the world was she being sent out on?

Regalis inhaled a bit, and then spoke in a somewhat more measured and calm voice.

"As you know, the legislature is currently still deadlocked on the best way to respond to Sybenia." He began. "However, at the moment, our diplomatic relations have not been completely severed, even if they're as close to it as possible. We're still allowed to talk with each other even with the embassies closed. Although we haven't been getting very far, communication has not be cut off. Because of that, in spite of the situation in the Senate, we have been able to work out some mild negotiations.

"One of the negotiations we managed to reach last night is that Rozan Heirarch consented to at least hear out a neutral party who would be allowed to work out a solution on not only Esthar's behalf but the world at large's. It may not be as much as we hoped, but at the moment, it's the last, true, concrete chance for a peaceful solution to the current crisis. At the bare minimum, Rozan Heirarch has agreed that no further military action will be taken so long as negotiations are ongoing. Even if this yields nothing, it gives us a few days. This is of great importance to everyone regardless of what the outcome is."

The colonel leaned forward again.

"Grand Chancellor Barbarossa has already chosen the person to act as the neutral party. The request was sent out last night, and this morning the answer came through in the affirmative to act as a mediator. The individual who will be going in will be none other than the head of the Order of Hyne, Lady Mianyl the Wind."

Dael felt a reaction to that, although she managed to keep this one in check. Sorceress Mianyl hadn't become the head of the Order of Hyne just based on descendents or birthright alone. She was considered both the most powerful of the Sorceresses as well as the most respected and revered. She was said to be an expert diplomat, able to work the impossible when all other negotiations had failed. Dael could believe it after encountering Veriguno. Between the power a Sorceress possessed as well as her commanding aura, it wouldn't be hard for one of them to persuade anyone, she imagined. And this one was nothing like Veriguno. Sorceress Mianyl was considered by most to be one of the most influential people currently alive. Amazing, considering the fact she was currently younger than a rookie in Esthar's Hawks. Sixteen, Dael believed, was the last estimate on her age.

However, in spite of all this, there was a rather strong point against sending her.

"Sir, I wouldn't dispute the decision of the Grand Chancellor," Dael spoke up. "But why send a member of the Order of Hyne? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but all of the media reports and our own research have indicated that Rozan Heirarch and his father had little regard or respect for magic users. They were either driven out or violently subjugated in their own country."

"The point is well taken, lt. commander." Regalis responded. "Nevertheless, it would be somewhat naïve for the Grand Chancellor to believe there is a 'perfect choice' out there for this important task. We certainly won't be asking anyone from the Lamb Archipelago, especially following the last operation that we conducted there. Anyone from Garrado is already in the line of fire. And as for Leuco…" He paused here momentarily. "…I'm not at liberty to discuss matters in Leuco at the moment, but suffice to say we don't have much of a presence there either. The Order of Hyne, in particular the Sorceresses, have long been respected and acknowledged as promoters of peace, common welfare, and possessing a lack of partiality, whether Sybenia respects that or not. Sybenia will likely be hostile to anyone who curtails their ambitions, but Lady Mianyl has sufficient other qualities that we believe will negate any ill response. Furthermore, they've agreed to allow her as a diplomat.

"That said, we naturally do not want to send her in alone. Even if we cannot speak on our own behalf, we believe it is important that we establish a presence of Esthar along with her to show that we respect her decisions and choices. Furthermore, it is customary under these circumstances to send an accompanying bodyguard detail, especially since she will be protecting our interests as well as that of Garrado and the rest of the world. The message was relayed to Lady Mianyl and she said she would be delighted to have an escort to accompany her own escort of the Children of Hyne. On that note, the Grand Chancellor has ordered us to send a hand-picked crew of officers to act as her personal escort and bodyguard. We are limited in how many we can choose. Other than Lady Mianyl herself, Sybenia has said it will allow only eight other persons. She has filled four of those positions and left the remainder to us.

"And that, as they say, brings us to the heart of the matter, lt. commander. I would like you to be a member of the escort service."

Dael was stunned, almost recoiling when it finally came out. Regalis wasn't kidding. This was going to be, without a doubt, the biggest diplomatic mission that had occurred on Gaia in decades. To be honest, she was rather overwhelmed. The last mission was just being sent in to sign of piece of paper, more or less. The mission at Lamb wouldn't have been anything severe if it had gone bad. But this? This was in a whole other league. Sybenia was the most hostile nation on Gaia. And she was being asked to go there as one of only four out of all the other members of Esthar's Hawks in International Affairs, in to the middle of this hostile zone, to negotiate for the fate of the Western Continent where, if things went ill, they could all be facing the brunt of Sybenia's entire military force or, if things went well, they would be securing the future of millions. No matter which way it went, this was something that was going to go in the history books. And they wanted _her_ to be a part of it? The woman had to struggle not to have her knees knock.

It took a good ten seconds before Dael was able to find her voice.

"S-Sir…" She began, hating that her voice was stammering, but she couldn't help it. This was an assignment that every cadet dreamed of going on. This would decide the fate of not only Esthar but practically everywhere. That sort of burden wasn't to be shouldered lightly. "I'm…deeply honored that you would consider me for this assignment. However, I believe I'm still wanted by the Hounds of Sybenia. I'm not sure that they would take kindly to me being there."

The colonel nodded. "Your concern is understandable, Levinson. However, there is no need for alarm. As you well know, everyone in this situation is subject to diplomatic immunity and an attack on any one member of either party is to be viewed as an assassination attempt and an act of war." He gave a grim snort at that. "While it may seem Rozan Heirarch would jump at such a chance, he wouldn't need to have gone about setting up these negotiations to provoke a war with Esthar. Furthermore, unlike his previous dealings and deployments of the Hounds, this matter is going to be public. It is unlikely he is willing to blow the secrecy of his organization and make himself clearly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity just yet."

Regalis let out an exhale. "That said, I would be lying if I said that this mission was free from danger to yourself or anyone else I'll be sending." He continued. "Are you requesting to be dismissed from it as a result?"

That part almost made Dael more nervous than getting the mission in the first place.

"No sir. Not at all." She answered almost too readily. "I'm just…confused, is all, sir. As I said, I am deeply honored, but I thought that this sort of mission would be relegated simply to captains or commanders."

The colonel nodded. "Normally, you'd be right, lt. commander. As for the other three members I am sending, they would be Captain Sloane, Captain Meade, and Captain Welles. I understand how you'd feel somewhat out of sorts in their midst. However, as I said, I'm sending the best on this mission and, frankly, you're one of them. The power you've received from Carbuncle easily makes you one of the most effective members of Esthar's Hawks. You might even be the best one day. I have a feeling your contributions to this mission would be of immense importance. However, that isn't the only reason I am sending you on this mission. You've been personally requested by Lady Mianyl herself."

Now Dael really was surprised. "…Sir?"

"Following your previous mission, it's more than likely that it's now common knowledge that you are the only member of Esthar's Hawks junctioned to a Guardian Force." Regalis continued. "I have no firsthand knowledge myself, but I am under the impression that Lady Mianyl has taken an express interest in you and wishes to meet you personally."

The young officer was rather overwhelmed. She still recalled her meeting with Veriguno. It was overwhelming, to say the least, especially considering the fact it was punctuated at the end with her giving a demonstration of her tremendous power. However, even before that happened, she remembered how simply encountering her had nearly been enough to make her pass out. And Mianyl was supposed to be far stronger than that. But even if she was nothing more than a regular person, this was still incredible. Sorceress Mianyl was an international celebrity, met by acclaim, praise, and affection by people both inside and outside the Order of Hyne no matter where she went on Gaia. Despite being a military member, Dael couldn't help but feel rather humbled and overwhelmed that she was singling her out. This was an honor that few members of Esthar's Hawks would ever be privileged enough to have, and she was getting it with only a couple months of experience under her belt.

Despite the fact that this was such a burden of responsibility, and that it made Dael nervous just thinking about it, she swallowed at last and looked up and at attention.

"I won't fail, sir."

"I'm sure you won't, lt. commander." The colonel responded. "The transport that will be bearing Lady Mianyl and her escort is a ship that will be making its way to Sybenia via the Lamb Archipelago. They have been contacted to act as witnesses for the ship passing over into Sybenia waters…should the worst occur. You need to be at the South Gate at 0500 hours tomorrow morning. You'll catch a shuttle to the rails, ride them to the port, meet up with the Order of Hyne members of the escort along with Lady Mianyl, and then you shall depart. It should take a few days to travel to Sybenia and a few days back, to say nothing of how long the negotiations will last. As a result, it would probably be wise of you to pack for a lengthy trip."

Dael nodded in response. "Yes sir."

"Any questions?"

Dael simply stood at attention in response. She nearly replied in the negative, but before she could…a small green paw raised from the seated portion of the floor.

Regalis blinked a moment, then folded his hands in front of him and leaned forward. "…Yes, Carbuncle?"

The Guardian Force perked his head up until he could see the colonel over the desk. "I'm guessing there aren't any objections to me tagging along, is there?"

The colonel actually gave a slight smile. "Of course not. I'm certain Lady Mianyl would be delighted to have a Guardian Force along for the mission, and I'm sure you'd be a help should the worst arise."

Carbuncle seemed to grin. "Always nice to hear from a human who can appreciate my gr-"

"I have no further questions, sir." Dael quickly cut off, not wanting decorum broken yet again, even if she was easier about it this time than before. "With your permission, I would like to return to my quarters to prepare. I have to both pack as well as explain the situation to my ward."

"Of course." Regalis answered with a nod. "You are dismissed."

Dael immediately gave a salute, and then turned to depart. Carbuncle soon got up and went after her, falling in at her side. However, he soon looked up at her indignantly as she led him to the door.

"What's the big idea?" He called to her at full volume. "Every time a human is about to show me some respect where respect is due, you have to butt in…"

Soon, Dael was at the door. She quickly opened it up and nearly kicked the Guardian Force out of it, earning a "yelp" from him. Quickly moving out after him, she shut the door behind them just as Carbuncle began to let out another stream of swearing…

* * *

><p>"What was the big idea kicking me back there anyway?"<p>

"You never know how to be quiet! That was an official military briefing!"

"Ugh…you're so dense! Didn't you see the colonel didn't mind?"

"_I_ minded!" Dael answered as she angrily threw another set of underwear on her bed.

Dael and Carbuncle were again back in the former's quarters. Never one to waste time as far as her duty was concerned, Dael was getting right to work packing despite the fact that it was several hours until nightfall and even more to "lights out". Her old bag having been lost during the last mission, Dael had received another standard issue one of larger size and was loading it up with her things for the trip. She had already resupplied on shells as well. She felt somewhat guilty about it this time, considering how much money she had blown through on the previous mission. Luckily, however, it turned out it wasn't nearly as much as she thought. The moment the banking systems saw that a sum of 10,000,000 gil was attempting to be withdrawn at a casino in Leuco, the account was immediately frozen. The only real expense that ended up being used was the one for the previous Mage Bullets. Not surprisingly, despite the fact that the colonel told her not to worry about it, that there wasn't a price on an operative's life, she was denied the request to have another Flare Shell for this mission. However, to be honest, she thought it wouldn't matter. Lady Mianyl didn't even have her own Sorceress Knight at present, and even that seemed superfluous. Considering what she had seen Veriguno do, she probably only needed the armed escort for show. The common knowledge in Esthar was that the armed escort was necessary for protection, but Dael now knew a lot better from experience.

"You need to mellow out." Carbuncle retorted from his cushion. "Why not head off base to a bar or something sometime? Have a few beers…"

Dael froze in the middle of pulling out another pair of socks. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." The Guardian Force answered. "You could stand to loosen up a bit. Maybe if you got some liquor in you, you wouldn't be such a stuffed shirt…"

"I'm not going out drinking to 'loosen up'!" Dael retorted. "That's what exercise is for!"

"Pft…whatever." Carbuncle answered. "When you drive me up the wall too much, that's what I do."

Dael had just resumed beginning to put more clothes up, when she froze again. She once more looked to Carbuncle, twice as incredulous as before.

"Now what?" The Guardian Force griped.

"You go out drinking? In Esthar?" Dael had to struggle not to sound totally flabbergasted.

"Well, it's not like I can drink here." Carbuncle griped. "You don't even have an officer's lounge… Your damn base is dry."

Dael stared at him wide-eyed. "…In bars?"

Carbuncle's small black button eyes rolled. He soon spoke the way a parent does to a small child in a sarcastic tone. "Yes, Dael. Bars are locales where people serve liquor to the public at large. You don't expect me to believe you were _that_ out of touch with reality, did you?"

Dael was still stunned. "But…you're…you're a…"

Carbuncle's eyes narrowed. "…A what?" He nearly snapped back.

The young officer struggled for a moment to pick the right words. "I mean…you're…well…not human. I didn't think they'd…serve…"

The Guardian Force sighed. "Well, in short, it's not easy to get service. But if you hop on the counter and start yelling at the barkeep, it does tend to get some attention…"

That didn't help much. That only gave Dael a multitude of other questions. However, before she could venture any more of them, the door to the room opened. The two immediately looked to it, although they both already knew the only other person with access to the room.

Sure enough, Bahamut soon walked in through the door. His stock gym uniform from the Academy was already soaked with sweat, as was his brow and hair. He wore a towel around his neck to soak up some of it. He moved rather stiffly and sorely as he came in, but he was like that every day, so Dael wasn't too worried. He was panting quite a bit too. As soon as he was in, he closed the door behind him and immediately pulled one end of the towel to wipe off his brow. After that, he looked up and into the room. He soon noted the materials lying on the bed and what Dael was doing. After staring a moment, he looked up to her.

"…I take it you're getting deployed again?"

Dael paused momentarily, but then gave a shrug. "A new mission. This one's rather important."

"Really?" Bahamut answered. "What's happening in it?"

"It's classified." Dael readily responded. "We can't let civilians know about it."

"She's escorting Sorceress Mianyl to negotiate for peace in Sybenia." Carbuncle readily answered.

Dael snapped her head to Carbuncle and glared furiously at him. Bahamut, on his part, raised his eyebrows a bit.

"…That _is_ rather important." He admitted calmly, but showed nothing else. If anything, there was almost an air of slight disinterest about him. He moved further into the room until he could get to the wash stand, where he took up a glass and began to get some water. While his back was still to Dael, he began to speak again. "At any rate, since you're being sent out, I guess I'm staying here. With Carbuncle?"

Dael looked back over to Bahamut. "You can if you-"

"Sorry, kid." Carbuncle answered again, cutting Dael off. "I'm going with. Can't rely on this one to know her right foot from her left."

The young officer gave Carbuncle another look. She almost wanted to order him to stay out of spite, especially after what he just did. However, that thought only made her uncomfortable, she realized. She wasn't sure why. Carbuncle's power was effective against magic, meaning Sybenia would be the last place it would be effective considering the fact that they didn't use magic. However…something told her she'd be more at ease and on task if Carbuncle came. Maybe it would help her break the ice with some of the Order of Hyne members? So far, she had only met three, and there was a one in three chance that they were like Taraketh and would drive her up the wall. At any rate, even if she didn't know for certain, despite her annoyance, she felt she wanted him along.

"So I'll be here by myself." Bahamut responded as he got his glass of water and downed it in a few gulps. He turned back to her. "With no access to records or anything else."

Dael sighed in response to that. "I told you that it wouldn't be simple to gain access to those, but you're definitely not going to be able to access them without clearance."

Bahamut merely gave a shrug. "That's alright."

The young officer actually hesitated on hearing that. Her brow turned to some puzzlement. "Pardon?"

"True, I'd rather know sooner than later…especially lately, as bad as the world is getting." Bahamut responded as he refilled his glass. "But in my current condition, I'm hardly in good shape to do anything. I could barely handle the mutants running around the outskirts of Leuco. This body is malnourished and weak. Since I've arrived, I can already feel that I'm much stronger just from getting three meals a day, health services, and a chance to train. I could use a little more time." He turned to her soon afterward. "Still, don't think I forgot our bargain. I fully intend to collect from you as well as the Order of Hyne member. I'm only consenting to play the part of your 'ward' until I get what I want. When you get back, I intend for you to put some real effort into getting me access to those records."

Dael had to suppress a frown. It was as if she was practically being ordered around by the twelve year old. "I've told you before, I only have access to some. Only the higher ups like Colonel Regalis would have access to everything."

"Then I guess we'll have to do some illegal searching, won't we?" Bahamut answered as he began to drink another glass of water.

Dael went wide-eyed. "You expect me to jeopardize my career by breaking the law just because you want to do some research?"

Bahamut gave her a dark look for a moment as he pulled the glass away. "This is a bit more important than 'some research'. As far as your career is concerned, you should have thought about this before making me the deal in Leuco. All I can tell you is that you better start thinking of a better way to get access than through illegal methods if that doesn't bode well with you."

Dael really did give Bahamut a frown this time, but the boy turned away and put his glass back on the sink before toweling off some more. While his maturity level could be nice at points, Dael also noted that it could be downright annoying. He was in no position to order her around. A few words from her could get him packed off to the state asylum. And yet…she realized she couldn't do that. Aside from the fact he wasn't really dangerous, the fact of the matter was she had made a deal and if she backed out of it, she wouldn't be able to call herself an honorable person. She had too much regard for character from her years in the military to do such a thing, even to a child. She nearly tried to ignore it and turn back to her work, deciding to brood about this later.

However, before she got the chance, a tone came from her laptop.

Carbuncle perked his head up. "Hmm? A new email? Huh…wonder from who."

Dael paused momentarily, but then decided to go ahead and check it. It did break up the rather awkward moment, after all. She soon went over to her laptop, currently on the desk to get it out of the way, and opened it up. She began to access the account soon after. As for Bahamut, he went over to his own section of the room and began to go about getting a fresh change of clothes and some toiletries. For all his maturity, Bahamut did have one aspect that placed him firmly in the camp of "a kid"…he initially refused to take a shower after he was done exercising. Dael put a stop to that on the first day. Bahamut's only response was that he "wasn't used to bathing so frequently". Dael said he had to learn.

It took only moments to get to the message, and Dael soon opened it. Seeing that she was doing so without saying anything, Carbuncle looked to her.

"So who's it from? Is it Quaren?"

"You know, you don't have to intrude on every aspect of my personal life."

"What personal life?" Carbuncle grumbled. "You know three whole people on an informal basis, and two of them are in this room."

Dael suppressed another sigh. She held for a moment. "…Yes, it's Quaren."

"Neat." Carbuncle answered, leaning a bit more forward. "What does he say?"

"Maybe if you'd stop pestering me long enough to read the email, I could tell you." Dael retorted.

The Guardian Force grumbled in response, but held his tongue. As for Bahamut, he continued to get ready for the shower, but looked to Dael as he did so, seeming to be a bit intrigued as well. Dael spent a minute or two reading over the email. What she found was rather surprising. She showed it as her eyes widened.

"I don't believe it… Did he know something like this was going to happen?"

"Huh? What?" Carbuncle answered.

"Quaren emailed me, but the message is from Cryder." Dael responded.

"Cryder? That pirate you were running around with in Leuco?"

"Apparently."

Carbuncle frowned a bit. "Why didn't he just email you directly?"

"Because I didn't feel like sharing my email with him while we were stuck at sea. Quaren did before I could stop him." Dael responded.

The green creature gave a chuckle in response. "Anyway, what's he got to say to you? He isn't wanting Bahamut to track down more treasure so he can pay another debt, is he?"

"No." Dael responded. "He's just letting me know something… He's going on a mission for Esthar's Hawks."

Carbuncle raised his head a bit more at that. "Really?"

Dael sighed a bit at the message. "Quaren really shouldn't be relaying this on an email account, even if it is the Fort's secure line…but apparently there's some sort of Class III mission that's going to take place in Leuco. They want Cryder as a consultant since he's familiar with the region." She frowned a bit more. "He agreed, on the condition they give him 5,000,000 gil and full amnesty."

"Heh. Did you expect anything different?" Carbuncle responded. "He _is_ a pirate."

The young officer frowned at the screen. "I don't like this. He tricked us once before, regardless of his reasons and what he said. If this was anywhere else in the world besides the Southern Continent I might say go for it, but this is right back in Leuco, where the Black Corsairs operate out of. And we don't really know what he's capable of."

"It'll be alright." Bahamut interjected.

Both Carbuncle and Dael looked over to him on hearing that. However, Bahamut simply continued to get ready. "How can you be so sure?" Carbuncle asked.

"I haven't been alive for thousands of years without being able to read people to a degree." The boy simply answered, still getting ready.

The Guardian Force rolled his eyes. "Gee, that fills me with confidence…"

"Again, I'm well aware neither of you believe me about being Bahamut. I can understand you, Dael…but not you so much, Carbuncle. I thought you would have recognized my energy signature at least."

The green creature gave a snicker. Dael quickly gave him a look to shut him up, however. For one reason or another, Dael didn't see any reason to give the boy concrete evidence that he wasn't who he said he was. Perhaps because there didn't seem to be any harm in letting him live out this delusion. The truth would be far more painful, and had obviously scarred him enough to be in his current state. Perhaps it was a twinge of pity.

"But regardless of what you believe, I think we can trust him." Bahamut responded. "He wouldn't be the first rogue in history who ended up having a good side. Is he the most trustworthy of people? Probably not. But you can depend on him this much. It did occur to you that he easily could have sold us all into slavery or handed us over to friends of his when we were being smuggled to Esthar, didn't it? And he's telling the truth on several accounts…after that storm, there's no way he knows where his crew is, be they live or dead, and he's without a ship. Black Corsairs aren't the charitable types to give out 'loners' and he isn't going to be buying a new one or stealing one all by himself. Plus there's the story you gave me about him. He had nothing to gain by keeping you all alive on that raft out there. The bottom line…so long as he's still making more of a profit by benefiting Esthar's Hawks than he would be by going alone, you can depend on him."

Dael exhaled. She turned back to her laptop and shut it up. "Even so…I'm hoping that those Class III units keep an eye on him. He's also made it clear he has no love for the military. The moment that distaste for military types shifts from Sybenia to Esthar, those people will be in trouble, especially since he's a geomancer and we're not exactly sure all he's capable of."

Carbuncle let out a snort. "I wouldn't worry about seeing Sybenia in a more favorable light. They're only getting crazier. I haven't seen genocidal psychos like this since the Emperor of Palamecia, and you better pray it doesn't get _that_ bad."

"Indeed." Bahamut threw in. "I almost thought I'd have to step in on that one more than once. It wasn't easy 'letting humanity go' for the first time…"

Carbuncle slapped a paw to his forehead and shook it on hearing that.

"Well, at any rate, it's not my concern at the moment." Dael responded, finally turned back to her packing. "I've got to finish this up and get in one more training session before I start resting up for tomorrow. This is entirely official business of the highest priority and I've got to make sure I do it right. It's bad enough I'm going to be one lt. commander in the midst of three captains. That's going to get people to focus on me as is, especially Order of Hyne members since I was singled out for this mission. The least I can do is try and be the most presentable." She turned to Bahamut soon after. "You will be the only one here, so can I count on you to obey regulations while living here alone?"

"I already told you I'd spend the time training and regaining what strength I possess." Bahamut responded. "You don't need to concern yourself with me."

Dael paused a bit longer, but then nodded.

"Right. In that case, try to turn in early tonight too. I don't need to be woken up late tonight while I'm trying to rest up for tomorrow."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	16. Kindred Spirits

The situation the next day did little to improve Dael's confidence. After all, she had only three missions under her belt. She had to struggle not to quiver all over like an overexcited cadet. She was glad Quaren wasn't there. He'd never be able to handle it.

The morning started regularly enough. Dael had her alarm set early. There was no time to get anything from the commissary, but Dael had the foresight to bring something back the night before and eat it as soon as she got up. The last thing she needed was to cause any problems as a result of hunger. After showering again, dressing, making sure her weapons were in full order and that she looked every bit the perfect officer, she moved out. In no time, she was at the South Gate with twenty minutes to spare. She was soon surrounded by the three other captains, and struggling to maintain her own look of officiality. Not long after that they departed. After a quick shuttle to the nearby rail station and three hours later, they were arriving at the same port Dael had arrived at less than a week ago.

Things had changed quite a bit, leaving Dael rather overwhelmed.

Part of it was that they weren't going to some dingy port for cargo or freight, but straight to the passenger docks, which were naturally much cleaner and upkept. The pier, which normally would have been covered with bird droppings, had been wiped clean and the two surrounding piers had been shut off to dock traffic, leaving this dock being the only busy one. But even without traffic, that didn't stop onlookers. Numerous citizens who were eager to see celebrities as well as those who adhered to the principals and teachings of the Order of Hyne even if they weren't full members had gathered around tightly. Rails had to be erected to keep them back, but pictures were still being taken constantly. Every so often a flash would hit Dael's eyes and make her wince.

The pier itself was done up for royalty. Banners of Esthar and Esthar's Hawks had been erected, including the familiar blue and gold eagle symbol. However, the Order of Hyne symbols had also been erected. They had several insignias on several banners, but the most conspicuous ones included the symbol for Gaia itself that the Order of Hyne adopted for their main insignia. Along with it, only slightly less numerous, was a rather ornate symbol depicting what looked like four winds moving in the four cardinal directions. Each one was trimmed with gold thread.

Carpeting had been laid and extended all the way to a ship twice as large as the transport Dael had taken. This one was more the size of an ocean liner, the largest model that was in the micro-navy that Esthar's Hawks possessed. This one was armed with two turrets, one on the bow and one on the stern. Not much against a Sybenian warship, but still it had a much better chance in a fight than the previous transport, and was almost just as fast as the smaller ship. It had been cleaned, repainted, and fully staffed. This was the _E.H.T. Indominable_, the "flagship", practically, of the EHT fleet. Their finest vessel. Numerous lesser Esthar's Hawks as well as Esthar police were flanking the carpet nearest to it, leading up to the main ship. They weren't alone, however. No less than thirty Children of Hyne, fully cloaked in their iron clasped capes, stood in rows as well and at attention. There were even a few bronze-caped ones at the heads of them. All in all, it was a gala event.

Dael may have not been the center of attention, but she was close enough to it. There was only one thing standing between the _Indominable_ and the Sorceress and her personal retinue that had yet to arrive, and that was her and the other three captains. They stood in a row in front of the vessel and awaited the arrival of the highest member of the Order of Hyne. It was nerve wracking, and in spite of herself, Dael was sweating. She had to struggle not to fidget or shift weight, and she struggled to look like the other three captains, all of whom stood straight and tall and did not say a word. The only good thing was the constant camera flashes and murmuring of the surrounding crowd helped to provide some white noise. If it had been silent out there, it probably would have been too much. She was only glad she had managed to talk Carbuncle into waiting on the boat. She hated to think what would have happened if she had to corral him as well as stay official.

The young officer wished at this point that she had asked the colonel when the Sorceress would be arriving. They were always prompt and punctual, but the fact of the matter was usually the only time an Esthar's Hawk was worried about in a situation like this was when _they_ had to be there. However, she realized it wouldn't matter. She wasn't going to break formation to look at a watch or a clock, after all. She was forced to just stand there as more and more people arrived, and as the sun continued to get higher in the sky.

At long last, something came into Dael's vision. She heard it from a distance, the sounds of vehicle engines. For a moment, she thought the Sorceress had finally arrived. However, the noise was something she was familiar with…sounding like the standard issue short-range transport cars that Esthar's Hawks used around Esthar. Moments later, this was confirmed. A small motorcade of four vehicles pulled up to one end of the carpet. Two of them were gunnery vehicles. There was another military one in the middle, followed by a darkened, long, black car waving small flags of Esthar…obviously a political official. As soon as they came into view, people in the crowd began to take more pictures. It became obvious to Dael that there were members of the press there, and not just onlookers gawking.

The two central ones pulled up to a stop in front of the carpet, and Dael was able to see clearly in the windows of the military one to see that there were four men inside including the driver. The longer car had blacked out windows. Moments after coming to a stop, one of the passengers in the first opened the back door, revealing himself to be a young officer. He moved over to the front passenger side door and opened it.

A second later, and the large and intimidating form of Colonel Morrick Regalis stepped out. For a moment, Dael, as frazzled and nervous as she was, was surprised, wondering why he was there. But then it occurred to her. First off, he never said he wouldn't be. Second, on a mission this important, it was customary for him to see the escorted person off. She also soon realized why the other car was there. No doubt to serve the same purpose. At any rate, the young officer gave the colonel a salute, which he returned, before turning and closing the door and reentering the vehicle.

The motorcade moved forward slightly, although Regalis stayed put. As the long black car came to a stop, the front passenger door opened to reveal a man in a dark suit and sunglasses. He quickly moved to the rear passenger door and opened it up. A moment later, a somewhat elderly figure exited from the back, slowly rising to his feet. He wasn't quite middle-aged anymore and advancing into older years, but he was able to still move around. His hair was white mixed with gray, and he had a long beard and mustache much the same hew. His face had a bit of a lean look to it with deep lines, and he wore a smile on at all times that was large and warm…and yet, somehow had a fake quality to it…something typical to all politicians, Dael supposed. His own suit was dark blue with a red tie. As soon as he was out, he looked to the crowd and gave them a cheery wave. Quite a few people applauded in response before he turned back and faced the colonel. Immediately, Regalis gave him a salute. The man smiled back and gestured for him to be at ease, and then made a grand show of indicating for Regalis to lead the way. The colonel managed a small smile back, turned, and began to do so, taking them up front.

Dael sighed as she saw this. If the fact that a Sorceress would be there wasn't enough, there was this now. She was looking right at a person that few people would ever get the chance to be this close to: Grand Chancellor Barbarossa, the head executive for Esthar. That was nerve wracking enough even without the colonel being there, and the Sorceress incoming. However, perhaps almost to her surprise…she realized she wasn't that nervous. Part of it may have been simply being at ease around him. He was a politician, after all. If she made a screw up and he was able to help her bounce back from it, he'd only benefit. It's not like he would berate someone in front of all these people. However, she realized even if he did, she wouldn't care so much. It was a bit of a surprising thought. After all, he was her superior. And she had pledged loyalty to his government every day in the Academy for over a decade, and to defend him and the legislature with her life. So why didn't this moment feel any more "special"?

At any rate, the colonel and the grand chancellor were soon approaching the four, and coming to a stop in front of them. Immediately, Dael, along with the three captains, all saluted. The colonel saluted back, as did the grand chancellor. Once that was done, Regalis stood to one side as Barbarossa, smiling all the way, came up and proceeded to shake each one's hand. He said something to each of them, including Dael, but it wasn't anything big. Just a customary, "You're rendering a great service to your country.", to which Dael, like everyone else, responded, "Thank you, sir." Soon he was done, and he and the colonel turned and faced forward, soon joining them in waiting.

They didn't have to wait much longer. The motorcade soon cleared the area, pulling up around the block. Afterward, things went silent for about three more minutes. But soon, the crowd began to applaud and cheer. It swiftly got louder as the source of their joy came closer and closer. Dael looked straight ahead, and waited to see a sign of something. At long last, something cleared the group of people and came in.

It did seem just a bit awkward seeing the new motorcade arrive. After all, the Order of Hyne was a religious order and seemed more devoted to the "old" ways. Nevertheless, it did have some vehicles available to it. None of them were as sleek or new as the ones that the government of Esthar was using, and they certainly weren't as military orientated as the ones that Esthar's Hawks used. Rather, they seemed to be just normal vehicles, more or less. They were new, but they weren't top of the line. Just basic models that could be bought from any dealership. The only difference was that they had the symbol for the Order of Hyne emblazoned on the side door. When the first two passed, Dael only heard the cheering grow louder. She was a bit puzzled. Was the highest member of their order really just in such a conventional vehicle?

That thought was soon put to rest. When the third vehicle arrived, Dael saw that it was far different from the others. This one was open, more of the "convertible" type. Only it was heavily modified. Taking a look at it, based on the engine output she was hearing as well as the quality of the metal, Dael immediately guessed that this vehicle was armored. The tires were definitely the bulletproof quality, as was the glass over the front of the windshield. The drivers were a pair of Children of Hyne. Both were quite concealed under their hoods and iron clasps, and Dael was almost mystified at how they could be operating the vehicle. However, her attention soon shifted away from them, much as everyone else's did, and focused instead on the rear.

The vehicle had been elongated and modified to practically be a float. The back was decorated with garland and plants trimming it with fresh flowers. A translucent sphere enveloped it, glowing with pale blue light. Obviously an overshield being used for personal defense. A great chair had been made with four smaller chairs surrounding it. In each one was a member of the Order of Hyne hooded with a bronze clasp, meaning all of them had to be High Children. The main chair, however, was far more elaborate. Assuming it wasn't made of gold, it was made of a metal that sure glistened like it. It was practically a throne, especially with the great symbol of the Order of Hyne behind it, hovering over the one who sat there.

She too was covered in a cloak, although this one was far more incredible than any of the others. Rather than being one color, the very cloak itself was iridescent, seeming to be every color of the rainbow depending on how the light hit it, shimmering and gleaming in the morning light. It was clasped about her neck with a golden crest, which extended along her back to form an array identical to the one of the four winds on the banners. Her hood was pulled low, but was trimmed with gold. Dael could just make out a hint of a youthful face underneath it, that of a young girl. That was all that was exposed. Though her hands were on her lap, they were concealed by long sleeves of her robe. And as the vehicle came to a stop, she folded the sleeves together so that they met, and her hands were hidden beneath them.

Even now, even from a distance while she was still in her car, Dael felt herself breathe a bit harder. It was much as it had been around Veriguno. Only now, this one was farther away. She couldn't believe it. She wasn't even focusing on her, and already the power seemed so strong… This one, however, was of a different nature entirely. It felt…almost refreshing…a warm and cool sensation all in one. She could also almost feel it like a wave, gently undulating and pressing against it. It was strange. There was no wind on the dock, not even this early in the morning, and yet she almost felt a breeze…

The figure smiled as she arrived. She gave a cheerful nod to the people, as an acknowledgement and a greeting. She turned and did the same to the other side as well. As this went on, the High Children moved out from the side of the car through special doors built within it. They all moved about so that they were in a formation on the side closest to the dock. Only then did the young woman herself rise. After giving one last gesture to the audience, she turned and dismounted. One of them offered their hand to her, but she kept them in her sleeves. Dael caught her mouthing to them, "It's alright", as she did so. Soon she was on the ground. Once there, the four High Children fell in around her. After that, she began to walk toward the assembled people.

The waves of power soon grew more intense. Dael bit her tongue and was able to withstand it, and the colonel was much the same. However, Barbarossa involuntarily wiped his brow. The captains nearby breathed a little harder, and one of them even waved on his feet. For a brief moment, Dael wondered why she was projecting this much power at them. When Veriguno did it initially, she assumed that it was because she wasn't sure what to make of them yet. But the Sorceress knew who they were, didn't she? Yet as she continued to approach, the soft smile on her face growing more and more distinctive, Dael slowly realized something. She _wasn't_ projecting anything at them. This was just her normal cast off power. The young officer was overwhelmed. She might have barely been able to stand if she hadn't experienced something like this before. She was suddenly grateful for the meeting with Veriguno…

Finally, after about thirty more seconds, the five came to a halt in front of the colonel and the grand chancellor. One of the captains was blinking and wobbling a bit. The other two were stiffening a little. Dael alone managed to hold herself in check. Overwhelming as the aura was, she realized now one could grow "accustomed" to it. She was showing no ill physical effects. That said, she still felt strange. The Sorceress was younger than her, and yet she felt now like a small child standing in front of a great adult, feeling the same sensation that she knew and understood nothing and that all things would be decided by them. She didn't know how the colonel and the grand chancellor managed to do it. Her only thought was that they experienced her before, or at least enough time with the other Sorceresses to be used to it.

Once here, the High Children flanking the girl reached up, took her hood, and gently pulled it back. She held her head up a bit as she did so to allow it to fall, and after it did, she looked forward again.

The girl's hair was tightly tied back in a bun and concealed under a rather magnificent headdress. It was gold and three pointed at the front, coming down over her widow's peak and her cheekbones. It was smooth and went back to terminate in a point, before giving way to long pinions that Dael realized, to some surprise, were the pinions of the legendary Phoenix…feathers that were more ancient than civilization but never seemed to age or decompose. It was a bit surprising they had fit under the hood. As she looked forward, Dael saw one other stunning thing momentarily…her eyes were violet. As she looked forward, although her look was perfectly kind and innocent…Dael had to look away. She couldn't bear to stand the power in those eyes. It was far too strong. Instead, she looked to the High Child on her left.

Soon, she received another surprise. Most probably couldn't recognize him given the hood pulled down over his face, but she had spent a lot of time seeing him like that, and she realized it was unmistakable. Taraketh was standing next to her.

Dael had to work hard not to groan verbally. So much for making a good first impression…

"I just wanted to at least see you off, Lady Mianyl." Barbarossa spoke up after a moment, cutting Dael's thoughts off and directing her attention to him. For a moment, she saw his hand tighten, as if he was going to reach out to shake. However, he paused in mid-gesture and brought it back, seeing that Mianyl was not making a move to shift her sleeves. "I thank you again for this great service you're rendering to Esthar and to the world itself."

Mianyl smiled back. Soon after, she spoke. Almost to Dael's surprise, it was the voice of a girl, but it possessed a power, a maturity, and a drive in it that was far more intense than Dael would expect from anyone, let alone someone of her age.

"You can thank me, Grand Chancellor, based on whether or not I am successful in this diplomatic mission. However, I solemnly assure you that I will do everything I can. This concerns everyone in the world, not just my order and your nation."

Barbarossa nodded. "Good luck, my lady. The prayers of Esthar as well as the Order of Hyne are with you."

He gave a short bow to the Sorceress, which she answered with one of her own. After that, Barbarossa stepped to one side. The colonel spoke next, gesturing behind him.

"Lady Mianyl, my men and women are at your disposal. They shall guard you with their lives."

The Sorceress smiled back at that, although it was rather wistful. "Well…let us both pray that it will not need to come to that, but I am truly grateful."

Regalis proceeded to indicate to the front of the line. "May I introduce…Captain Sloane…"

The captain gave a bow to Mianyl. She smiled a bit more pleasantly and bowed in response.

"Captain Meade…"

Again, and exchange of bows.

"Captain Welles…"

Another exchange. Dael began to tighten up.

"…And Lt. Commander Levinson."

Dael gave a bow as well to Mianyl. However, the Sorceress did not return it. She stared a bit at her, showing nothing other than her small smile. This made Dael rather nervous. Her gaze was now fixed on her, and she couldn't look her in her eyes. They were too powerful. However, after a moment, Mianyl smiled wider.

"Dael Levinson…" She practically exhaled. "I was hoping for a chance to meet you."

Dael struggled not to swallow. She didn't know what to make of this. Would she be berated and condemned like with Taraketh, or accepted like with Jalab and Veriguno? In the end, she could only give another small bow.

"…It's the greatest honor of my short career as a fully-fledged Esthar's Hawk to be undergoing this mission with you, my lady."

Mianyl was silent for a moment. She didn't change. After a few more seconds, however, she advanced a step toward her…something that seemed to surprise the colonel and captains a bit as well as Dael. However, the Sorceress simply beamed up at her, smiling wider.

"…The honor is all mine." She simply stated.

Unable to look her directly in the eye, Dael could only stare, somewhat stupidly, in her estimation, at the woman's nose and wonder what this meant. However, thankfully, it didn't last long. She soon broke, and looked up to the colonel again.

"I don't need you to confirm anything, colonel. I'm certain that, as always, these four are the very best."

"Hand-picked myself, my lady." Regalis answered, seeming to be shaking off the moment himself.

"In that case, I shall not keep them any longer." Mianyl answered. "Let us depart at once."

The colonel nodded. "They shall escort you on board to your personal chambers. I hope the Presidential Suite is to your liking."

The Sorceress gave out a small chuckle. "I don't need anything quite so grandiose, colonel. I get enough pampering from the Order of Hyne. But still, thank you for being so generous."

The colonel nodded back, then turned to the others. "Gentlemen…this is where I take my leave of you. I leave Lady Mianyl in your capable hands."

Dael was grateful for the colonel addressing her. Compared to the gaze of Mianyl, he was a breath of fresh air. Immediately, she and the others all gave a salute to Regalis, once more going at attention. After doing so, they turned and began to walk in a block formation toward the ship. Not long after, the High Children and the Sorceress fell in behind them. As Barbarossa and Regalis watched, the crowd continued to give them cheers and applause as they passed along the rest of the carpet and began to ascend the ramp into the ship.

* * *

><p>"Boats again…always boats… What is with your little boy scout club and boats? Urk…"<p>

Dael simply rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms and looked over the prow. "What else would you suggest?"

"Planes, damnit! You people keep reinventing those damn things every few hundred years!" Carbuncle retorted from near her feet. Unlike her, however, he was facing away from the ocean. He was looking solely at the cabin body of the ship, trying to focus on it to give the illusion he was on solid footing. "You do have an air force, don't you?"

"We have transport planes and airships, yes. But do you think Sybenia is going to allow us to land one or fly through their air space?" Dael responded.

The Guardian Force snorted. "Of course not…" He grumbled. "Because then you could get away in a hurry if you needed to…"

Dael felt rather unsettled at that comment, but ignored it. She kept her eyes on the ocean.

By now, they had been on the ocean for some time. Lunch had already come and gone, and the sun was still rather high in the sky. This was all very familiar to the mission to the Lamb Archipelago. After all, they were taking roughly the same route. Right now, they were simply following the coast north and, just as before, it would be a night before they arrived in Lamb. Most of it was still unfamiliar to Dael. She recognized a few landmarks from her first trip, but before she had mostly focused on the sea. Besides, there were only so many rocky cliffs one could pass before they all started to look the same, roughly. Still, it was a better sight than the endless ocean, which Dael had quite enough of after drifting for three days. The sea was calmer today than on the day of the mission to Lamb. The sun was shining pleasantly, and it was a good warm temperature.

This transport ship was considerably larger, enough to give not only personal cabins for the nine passengers but also to provide separate quarters for the captain and first mate. The largest room, one that took up a position reserved only for the highest officers and dignitaries, belonged to Sorceress Mianyl. She had stayed inside the entire time. Her meal was brought to her by her High Children. They were all rooming nearest to her, two on one side and two on the other. The other four officers of Esthar's Hawks were further down. The crew of the boat was on the lower level. The rooms were basic, but still nicer than on the _Determinant._ Apparently there were some perks to this assignment as well. Dael supposed it only figured…they were heading into rather hostile territory.

The ship was large enough to have two decks, an upper and a lower one. Although most of the passengers were on the lower deck, Dael was currently on the upper one, nearest the bridge. Given the instruments and their course, it didn't really matter that she stood right in front of the bridge. They could go along fine with her being there or not. Dael liked the view and the breeze from up higher, however. It gave her more of the impression of the cliffs she used to stand at. She noticed the only people walking about seemed to be the captains, and that was only to get some fresh air or pass the time. Occasionally, she saw one of the High Children, but they only came out to walk around a bit, stare at the ocean for a few minutes, and then retreated again. Mostly, they stayed confined to their cabins. Dael was a bit puzzled. What were they doing in there? Meditating? Praying? She realized she hadn't seen them bring much in the way of luggage…assuming there had been anything underneath their cloaks. Her own luggage had already been on board the ship. However, she doubted they would go the whole time without even so much as a change of underwear. They had to be _somewhat_ clean in the order…

Carbuncle let out an exhale after a few moments. "Well…looks like this is the last shot at peace. After this, I guess it'll be war."

"Maybe, maybe not." Dael answered. "If anyone has a chance at getting a peaceful solution out of all of this, it's Lady Mianyl."

Carbuncle rubbed the back of his ear with his rear paw. He was quiet for a moment, but then looked up to Dael. "…You sure a 'peaceful solution' is best?"

The young officer turned to Carbuncle at that, looking puzzled. "…Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

The Guardian Force looked back to the bridge again and gave a shrug. "You have two neighbors who have a complaint over whose dog went in whose yard, then they need a peaceful solution. If one of those neighbors is a serial killer who took out half the neighborhood and is looking at the other neighbor while sharpening a carving knife, then that neighbor needs to be locked up and the key thrown away. Peaceful solutions are good and in a perfect world we'd all gravitate toward them. But they're not always practical."

"So you'd rather we go to war?" Dael responded. "How many people would die then? How many infrastructures would be destroyed, reducing more people to poverty and death? How many would starve or die of wounds or disease?"

Carbuncle sighed. "And how many people are dying right now because Sybenia thinks their great-granddaddy was an esper? Of course no one wants to get into a war. They'd be nuts if they did. But you and I both know that wars don't get started with some politician saying, 'Hmm…how can I make myself more unpopular among the populace today?' There comes a time when people have to make a stand. I guarantee you that if this falls through and war breaks out anyway, people will wonder why they didn't go to war sooner before things got too bad."

The young officer exhaled and looked forward again. "…Alright, I won't debate you on that part." She admitted after a moment. "But the least we can do is keep an optimistic outlook. If there can be a peaceful solution to this, then there won't be a need for any wars and hopefully this can all end."

The Guardian Force grimaced. "Yeah…except for whatever poor bastards are still in Sybenia's borders."

"They're not our concern." Dael answered immediately. "What they do in their own borders is their own business. This whole thing is taking place because they overstepped their boundaries. I've told you before, we can't dictate our terms to everyone in the world. Where would it end if we started doing that?"

The creature looked up to Dael with his black button eyes.

"You're talking to the wrong person." He flatly answered, almost with a hint of irritation in his voice. "Because no one intervened in one country's affairs until it was too late, I ended up crammed into a tube where my life was drained out of me, and some damn clown from Hell rearranged the face of Gaia."

Dael sighed on hearing that. She bowed her head slightly for a moment. From her history books alone, let alone what Carbuncle had told her personally, she knew what he was talking about. She looked up after a moment. "…You know I didn't mean _that_."

"Bahamut…the _real_ Lord Bahamut…he adopted a real Laissez Faire look at the world too." Carbuncle answered. "That didn't mean he thought some things were right and fine and well and good simply because they weren't being done in Terratopolis."

"But he still let them go on, didn't he?" Dael countered. "He trusted that humanity would be able to come to the right solution at the end, right? He didn't step in and immediately start beating up people to get his war, right?"

The green creature hesitated on hearing that.

"Right?"

Carbuncle grimaced. "Well, yeah, but…"

"Alright then. That's all I need to hear." Dael responded. She looked back out to the ocean and said no more.

The Guardian Force looked to her momentarily, but finally sighed. He turned and looked back down to the deck, saying no more either. Dael looked at him with her peripheral vision, but said nothing else either. She supposed that a small part of her wished she could agree with Carbuncle, but the military persona in her didn't want to do it. What happened on Esthar's soil or what concerned Esthar was their business. Anything else was something out of their scope. They couldn't start making exceptions. Besides, none of that concerned her. She was an Esthar's Hawk. She carried out orders. She didn't question why they were given. If her mission statement was going to change, that would be the result of her superiors doing so. Maybe if she was ever a higher-ranked officer herself, she'd get more say…but even if she did…

"'Lt. Commander'… Is that what you are now? Is it just another temporary rank or something real this time?"

Dael, her back to the person who spoke up behind her, let her face fall a bit. She held for a moment before she managed to relax, and then straightened up where she stood. She slowly turned around and faced behind her. Sure enough, a High Child of Hyne was standing a bit behind her, still in his cloak and bronze clasp. She recognized the face beneath it at once, however…especially the perpetual sneer that was on it.

"…I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Sir Sabian." Dael stated. _As a matter of fact…I was hoping I'd never see you again…_ She added mentally.

"Likewise." Taraketh answered. "I was hoping I'd never have to cross paths with you again. I swear, you must have been damned by the powers that be for all of the trouble we went through in the last mission. Let's all just hope your bad luck doesn't curse this mission too, for _all_ our sakes. At least this time, Lady Mianyl is the one in command."

"Is there a reason you decided to come talk to me, Sir Sabian?" Dael answered with an expressionless look. "I was under the impression you never liked to do so when you could avoid it. Am I wrong?"

"I didn't come to talk to you, grunt." Taraketh responded with something of a frown. After saying this, he calmed down a bit and looked down and to the side. Carbuncle, who had looked to be focusing on not getting seasick again, raised his head, blinking in response to that. Taraketh proceeded to give him a head bow. "…I apologize for any inconvenience you had on our last mission, Lord Carbuncle. Things went ill when we arrived at Follett."

Carbuncle looked up a moment, but then snickered. "'Ill'? Heh, don't sweat it, kid. You don't know what 'ill' is until you've been in half the scrapes I was in back in the War of the Magi."

Taraketh gave a glance to Dael. "I figured _someone_ owed you an apology for how inconvenienced you had to have been by what happened." He said before looking back.

"Ah, don't worry about that." Carbuncle answered. He looked to Dael as well. "My only regret is that I wasn't able to stick closer to Dael during that little mission. You know she's wonderful?"

The young officer, who had been growing more annoyed with Taraketh, in spite of herself, found that she looked slightly to him. However, she soon looked away when she noticed Taraketh's face change. "…Excuse me?" He answered.

"She's wonderful." Carbuncle answered. "Giving me a nice place to sleep, catering to my little needs, getting me things like ice cream and letting me play games on her laptop…all sorts of things like that. She even brings me to all of her meetings! Can you imagine that? Letting little old me into all the secret, classified meetings! Yes sir, respect for the aged!" She gave a pat to Dael's foot. "I mean, how many places in the Order of Hyne is a Guardian Force allowed to go into?"

Taraketh's face flushed a bit pale on hearing that. "Um…uh…"

"I mean sure, they _say_ we're these great and revered beings and all that, give us all these fancy titles and whatnot, but when it comes to being able to sit in on things? Tell people anything? Try and ask questions about what they're doing? Whoa man! Instant cold shoulder! Now the Esthar's Hawks? They're something else. They're someone I can relate to."

Taraketh paled even more so. "B…But…"

Dael had to struggle not to smile.

"I mean the colonel…the _colonel_, mind you… He doesn't care that I'm so little. Now some Order of Hyne members, man… They think just because I'm not someone like Leviathan that means I'm little more than a cat. The colonel? He sets me right up in Fort Morningstar. I tell you, it feels good to finally get some respect. I mean, who else in the world would treat me with this much respect?"

Taraketh began to quiver. "I…well…it's just…" He stammered. He looked as if he had just be simultaneously making a cultural faux pas as well as been caught with his underwear down. His more snobbish and superior air was destroyed. It was practically killing him to hear a military organization being praised over the Order of Hyne.

It had been a very long time since Dael had laughed…and she felt like she would bust a gut at the moment to not do so here. If this went on much longer, she might actually laugh in the High Child's face.

"Lt. Commander Levinson."

The voice came from behind Taraketh, and as a result he snapped out of his own state and looked behind him. Dael soon looked up as well. Another High Child, one that looked both taller and older, was standing at a distance from both of them, nearer to the bridge. He was looking at both from under his hood. He too seemed to have a cold and authoritarian air about him, much as Taraketh had when they first met. After a moment, however, he looked up to Dael. His lips seemed to purse a bit, indicating that he was feeling a notion of disgust from what he was about to say. After a moment, however, he deeply inhaled and spat it out.

"…Lady Mianyl wishes to speak with you."

The tone in which he said it was somewhat similar to the way Taraketh might have said the same thing, grudgingly, incredulously, and with a sour disposition. As for Taraketh himself, the reaction was instantaneous. He soon turned his head over to Dael, his mouth hanging open. He seemed shocked at what he had just heard, and almost looked to be staring at Dael to try and find something that would indicate why she would be summoned.

Dael, however, paid little attention to any of this. She struggled not to look like a stunned idiot. The Sorceress wanted to see _her?_ What for? Was it simply to express more chagrin, like Taraketh and the other High Child were currently showing? Or did she have something else in mind? If so, what? Dael soon felt an amount of butterflies begin to churn around in her stomach. She had to blink a few times to clear her head, and refocus. She was a military officer. She had to concentrate. But in spite of all of that, she remained nervous. What did she want from her? What would the most influential and possibly the most respected woman on Gaia have to say to her?

However, she realized after a few seconds she couldn't just stand there gaping like an idiot. She soon drew herself up, and gave a nod.

"…I'll be there in just a moment."

* * *

><p>"What do you mean I can't come?" Carbuncle piped angrily.<p>

Dael sighed as she continued to walk through the cabin corridor. "The Sorceress wanted _me_ to meet her, not you, Carbuncle. This isn't like back at the base where you can just go where you please. This is a VIP guest and she gets what she wants while she's on this boat."

"I can't believe you're ditching me like this!" The green creature huffed as he angrily plodded along. "You're the only one who gets to meet these Sorceresses! What am I supposed to do now?"

"I don't know…" Dael groaned. "Go rest in the cabin or something. Just clear away for now. I'm nervous enough about this whole thing as it is…"

Carbuncle angrily muttered. "You so owe me for this, I hope you realize. And you better tell me everything that happened, too." With that, he angrily turned to one side and went to the door to Dael's cabin, which they just happened to be passing at that moment. Initially, Dael just walked by, soon leaving him behind and moving on to the door at the end of the hall. However, she only got a few steps before she heard him complain again.

"…Hello! I can't exactly open this thing without thumbs!"

Dael winced a bit at how loud he was, but soon snapped around and went up to the door. She opened a moment later, and, still grumbling, Carbuncle ran inside. She sighed as she closed it again. However, now the hall was silent, and she could focus more on the task at hand.

It didn't take long at all for the young officer to start growing nervous again, however. Even the hallway soon seemed twice as dark, long, and silent as she looked up ahead to the double doors in the back. It didn't help that she was unarmed at the moment. She knew she wouldn't need weapons, but an Esthar's Hawk felt naked without them, kind of like how a businessman might feel naked without a wristwatch. The fact that she was alone in the hallway, she supposed, should have put her more at ease. It would probably be more nerve-wracking if she was being stared at by Children of Hyne. However, she felt tense none the less. She wouldn't want to be the only one subjected to the gaze of the Sorceress. She almost had to force her legs to start moving back toward the doors at the end.

Unlike the other cabins, the one at the end had double doors, and there was actually a touch of décor on them in order to make them more stylish, and real handles, of all things. Dael herself had never seen the inside of one of these before. She heard it was rather elaborate, essentially a luxury suite despite the fact that this craft was military issue. It would be interesting at least. She had a feeling she'd spend most of her time looking at it and avoiding the Sorceress' gaze. As she made her way to the doors, she thought of those eyes again. They were so powerful…so vivid… They didn't even look natural. She wondered what sort of conversation she could carry on with someone she couldn't even look in the eye… Unlike Veriguno, she didn't think she would "get used" to this one…

She was struggling hard not to sweat when she finally reached the front door. Once there, she took only a moment to smooth out her uniform, and then she reached up and knocked on the door.

"It's Lt. Commander Levinson, my lady."

A moment later, a pleasant voice came through the door. "Oh yes…please come in."

Dael hesitated for only a fraction of a second, but then reached over, grasped the handle, and gave a turn. She almost shrank back on hearing the door creak as she opened it. Moments later, however, it was big enough for her to slip through, and she immediately went inside.

The young officer was immediately greeted by a pleasant aroma. Her head turned to the source at once, and found some incense burning on a stand nearby. It made the air a bit thick and heavy inside the room, but overall it wasn't oppressive in the least, but quite a lovely scent. She noticed there were a few fresh bouquets on the table as well, gifts from various authorities in Esthar. The fact that there was a table in there at all was a nice touch. As Dael gave the place a look around, she soon saw there was an amount of nice wood furniture in the room, as well as some modern art on the walls for decoration. The floor was carpeted and there were various extra accessories in the room that Dael lacked in hers, such as few large armchairs, a couch, a music player with large speakers, and a small bar. A door in the back led into a subdivision that housed a king-sized bed and personal bathroom. The lights were turned to a soft dim. All in all, it was very nice. What you would expect from one of the nicer hotels in Esthar. Dael almost laughed at the thought of how she had considered herself "pampered" earlier, since her room still, more or less, was only a place to sleep.

Seated in the center of the room on a large rug with an ornate design was the Sorceress. She was cross-legged at the moment, seated on a large cushion. Another was set in front of her, as was a tray with a tea set. The young woman looked to be having some at the moment. However, her hands remained hidden within her sleeves, and they were pressed together at the moment, folded over her lap. Her large cape and clasp was discarded for the moment, revealing an inner robe of the same material concealing most of her body. Although it did extend slightly down toward her chest and the girl was just old enough to start becoming "shapely", it was, for all intensive purposes, quite conservative. Again, Dael marveled at her. She had to be a few years older than Bahamut (although quite taller, thanks to girls hitting growth spurts faster than boys), but she seemed so much more mature than anyone else on the boat.

Mianyl smiled on seeing Dael come in. She shifted her arm slightly in front of her, although, again, she kept it concealed. "Please, sit down."

Dael hesitated again. Already, being in this room, having her look at her, she began to feel warm and dizzy again. She was blinking more than she should. The incense, though pleasant, wasn't helping. She was struggling not to waver on her feet. Although she knew she'd be even more overwhelmed if she was seated only a few feet in front of the Sorceress, she realized it was better than waiting to appear drunk. As a result, she nodded, and then moved over to the cushion. Soon she had sat down on it. Making sure again to avoid Mianyl's eyes, she realized she did feel a bit more at ease now that she was seated. Using that, she breathed in and out a few times, trying to steady herself and grow accustomed to the Sorceress. She didn't know why she wanted her here, but she realized it would be better off if she could at least act normally.

"Care for some tea?" The Sorceress asked. "Help yourself, if you like."

Dael paused. "…I wouldn't want to impose on you, my lady."

Mianyl shook her head with a smile. "Think nothing of it. Tea should be shared, not done privately by oneself. Please."

Dael hesitated. She wasn't a tea drinker. However, having some might help calm her down a bit more. Mianyl was quite warm and friendly, and, much as her aura was overwhelming, it also projected a calm, peaceful air, as if wanting her to be at ease. Doing so helped Dael relax more. She still didn't look her in the eye, but soon, she reached over and took the teapot and poured herself some into an empty cup. After doing so, she took it up and smelled it.

To her surprise, it smelled quite good. She was used to any tea she got being military issue, with was so weak it was practically hot water. After a moment, she took a stip, and her eyes actually lit up a bit, involuntarily.

"It's…it's very good." She admitted.

"I'm glad you like it." Mianyl smiled back. "Please…relax. There's no need for any propriety here."

Dael set her cup down. "I'm an Esthar's Hawk, my lady. Discipline and decorum is my life."

The Sorceress nodded in response. "Very well then. In that case, I won't 'drag things out', so to speak. No doubt, you're wondering why I summoned you here?"

Dael hesitated, but then nodded.

Mianyl drew in a breath and slowly exhaled. "First of all…I'd like to apologize, more than anything."

The young officer blinked on hearing that, her face turning to some confusion. "Apologize?"

"For how Taraketh has been treating you…possibly how some of the other High Children may have been treating you." Mianyl responded.

Dael was surprised. This was why she was called here? Just to say she was sorry? In all honest, Dael was overwhelmed. She didn't think Mianyl would care so much about little things like that. However, even as she thought these things, Mianyl looked up to her, meeting her gaze. Dael's mind was almost rendered blank on doing so and, despite Mianyl's soft mannerisms and kind words, she felt practically mesmerized as she could do nothing but stare into her eyes and listen to her words.

"Taraketh…he and I are very close. When we were both mere children, we practically grew up side-by-side. I know him well. Deep down inside, I think he truly does mean well and he wants to love others more…but he is far too judgmental. He doesn't tolerate any form of dissent or breach in our law or established order. Despite how much I've tried to tell him differently, deep down in his heart of hearts he feels there is some established 'rule' that says that a non-member of the Order of Hyne should not be junctioned to a Guardian Force."

Mianyl sighed and bowed her head, breaking the gaze. Dael struggled not to gasp. However, that only lasted a moment. She was more at ease this time, and continued to sit there quietly, listening to Mianyl's words.

"He should know better…that if the Guardian Force accepts you as his partner, then there is little dispute he, I, or anyone else on Gaia can say against it. I will admit that, unfortunately, he's not alone. There are a few other members of my order who feel the same way. But please…understand that there are only a few. As you may know, all of my order is aware of your existence and junctioning to Carbuncle. Myself, the other three Sorceresses, and the far majority of the Order of Hyne accepts you and what has happened to you. So please…if you ever feel at odds with us or that you are being unjustly persecuted, do not hesitate to inform a higher-ranking member of the order and the offender will be disciplined."

Dael hesitated yet again. Mianyl's words were very kind and genuine. She believed them. As she listened to them, at long last the truth became clear to her. Taraketh's standard of thinking was indeed not the "norm", but rather just the bias of a few individuals. Despite the fact that Dael believed she had steeled herself to such comments and felt nothing from them…she did feel a bit better to hear this from the Sorceress. She was no stranger to prejudice based on her time in Esthar's Hawks, and until now she had been entertaining the idea that even the "high and mighty" Order of Hyne could be the same way. On hearing this, on hearing the head of the order literally going out of her way to apologize to her, her estimation of the order of mages raised somewhat.

"That's very kind of you, my lady." Dael finally admitted. "But I am an Esthar's Hawk. If I wasn't able to take a bit of criticism, I wouldn't have any business being in the group. I'm accustomed to being different. After all, there are few to no females in Esthar's Hawks at the moment."

Mianyl nodded in response. "So I've heard." Her own face soon grew regretful. "…And I also heard the circumstances on how you received Carbuncle's power." Her smile faded and her face grew sorrowful. "I am truly, deeply sorry."

Dael paused, but then shook her head. "It's alright, my lady."

Mianyl, however, simply shook her own head. "No, it isn't. No one deserves to be treated like that, and especially not someone who has overcome so much and was a victim of jealousy. I may not look it, lt. commander, but I know how you feel. The world may say it respects me and values my opinions, but there was a time in which I too was considered an outcast by many, and regarded with hate and…dare I say…even fear."

The Sorceress bowed her own head again, going silent for a moment. Dael regarded this with some puzzlement. The young woman seemed to grow nervous and afraid. She slowly exhaled after a moment, and then spoke again.

"…I've thought about this for a while, lt. commander, but even though we only just met, I feel you are someone I can trust with this secret, something that even only a few members of my order know about, and that the general public knows nothing of. But as one who knows what it's like to be unjustly persecuted and overcome trials of which they had no control over, I feel you will understand and accept it. And I won't deny it…it feels good to have someone who knows the full truth of who you are."

Dael was puzzled at this response, wondering what it meant. After a moment, however, Mianyl did something. She shifted her arms forward. The sleeves began to recede on doing so. Dael looked down, and at once realized it. Mianyl had kept her hands concealed this entire time. She thought it might just be poise or a style until now, but she began to realize it might be something else.

"Please…" Mianyl spoke, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "Don't be afraid."

Dael continued to look at the sleeves, and watched as Miaynl slowly pulled the fabric back, at last revealing her hands.

It was a good thing Dael was so disciplined. It kept her eyes from widening or from showing any other negative reaction.

Mianyl didn't have hands in the traditional sense of the word. Her hands were abnormally long, almost one or two inches more than one would expect for her size, and they were toned with tight muscle, accenting the flesh underneath as well as the bone. Each finger was decked with a long, curved, pointed, thick nail, looking more like talons than fingernails. Not only that, but the flesh and nail itself was discolored into a deeper, darker shade. To Dael's surprise, all of these changes made it look as if Mianyl didn't have hands at all…but claws of a fierce predator…maybe even infernal.

Dael, for the first time, looked willingly up to Mianyl's face. Her head, however, was bowed, looking with regret at her own hands.

"…I was born like this. My feet are the same." She continued. "Even as a baby, I involuntarily drew blood from the doctors who delivered me. According to the legends, it is the mark of a pure Sorceress…but there is no denying that this is something horrifying to people at large. For much of my young life, even in the Order of Hyne, people fled from me thinking I was a demon." She sighed. "I can't wear shoes or gloves over them either. I can't cut the nails. Just like a cat's, they go straight into the bone and have blood vessels. If I tried to have them cut, I'd end up having to take off the end of my fingers with it…"

She looked back up to Dael.

"Now you know the greatest secret of Sorceress Mianyl. How many people do you think would want to let me kiss their infants or embrace their children if they knew this? Knew that I looked like a monster? How well could I negotiate, coming off as a saintly figure, if they could see that underneath my sleeves I had these? I'm not even sure how much respect my order would have for me if they knew the truth…

"But I want to tell you something…Taraketh knows. He's known for years. And he's accepted me just the same. For that reason, I must ask you…please bear with him. I brought him on this mission because he is a trusted and valuable friend, but I also, deep down, wish that you two could 'make up'. It may be a naïve wish, but I want to try. He was kind enough to fully accept a scared little girl who was afraid to leave her room. I have to believe there's enough room in his heart to accept a soldier junctioned to a Guardian Force."

Dael hesitated a moment. She looked down to the claws…finding herself unable to look away from them in spite of herself. It was, in all honesty, a bit unsettling. It looked as if a monster had its hands chopped off and grafted to the young woman's. However, she forced those thoughts out of her head. Even if this wasn't a Sorceress, she realized that she was in no position to judge, and that this woman had trusted her with a great secret. The least she could do was not look uneasy about it. She calmed after a moment, and looked up to Mianyl. She gave a nod soon after.

"Your secret is safe with me, my lady." She stated at last. She paused for a moment afterward, and sighed. "…And, for your sake, I will try and be amiable and civil around Taraketh if we have any more encounters. But I am afraid that this is a two-way street. I can only do so much if he continues to look down on me."

Mianyl still nodded, smiling again. "I understand. However, if you do that, then that is all I can and will ask of you." The Sorceress finally took up her own teacup. Dael struggled not to stare, for she didn't even touch it with her fingers, but rather perfectly balanced it in her talons as she took it up and sipped the cup. She soon lowered it again. "He doesn't know it, but I'm doing him a great favor, and so are you now."

The young officer looked puzzled at this. "I am?"

Mianyl nodded again. After doing so, however, her smile faded once more and her expression grew regretful. "I may be the most powerful member of my order and the current Matriarch, but at present I am still without a Sorceress Knight. I know that Taraketh would very much like that position." She sighed sadly. "But unfortunately, I cannot give it to him at present. He is a good friend and a trusted confidant…but a Sorceress Knight must be as shining an example of goodness, justice, mercy, and selflessness as the Sorceresses themselves. So long as he has sufficient darkness in his heart to hate you, I cannot, in good faith, allow him to become mine."

She looked up again. "As you said, it is indeed up to him. But I would be very, very appreciative if you did just as you said…essentially not make it any 'harder' for him to change his opinion of you by repaying his evil with some of your own."

Dael thought back on hearing Mianyl's words. She still remembered how arrogant Taraketh was when they first met. She began to realize why. If he was indeed personal friends with Sorceress Mianyl, just as she said, then no doubt he might have thought he earned some of her 'special respect'. Perhaps he thought he was a shoe-in for Sorceress Knight at some point. She had to admit, it did fill her with some grim satisfaction to know he wasn't nearly as secure as he thought he was. However, she was a soldier, and wouldn't stick to grudges or personal hate. In the end, she gave a nod in response to Mianyl. "I won't, my lady."

Mianyl smiled again. "I knew I could trust you the moment I laid eyes on you, lt. commander." She said as she sipped her tea again. "You have a good, strong heart. And you're quite talented too. It pained Taraketh to reveal it, but eventually he gave the full account of your performance during your last mission. In spite of his chagrin and criticism, you show remarkable talent for magic."

Dael soon reached for her own tea, and gave a nod to Mianyl as she did so. "Thank you, my lady."

"I don't make such comments lightly." Mianyl responded as Dael took a sip. "I'm very serious. Your spells may be a bit crude, but for someone who is entirely self-taught, they sound incredible. There's no doubt in my mind that with proper training you would be capable of extraordinary things."

The young officer finished sipping her tea and put it down. A bit at a loss of what to say to that, she could only nod again. "…Thank you again, my lady. Hearing that from the greatest Sorceress in the world is quite the compliment."

Mianyl smiled softly in response for a moment, before looking down and holding up her cup again. She nearly brought it to her lips, but then paused. Her smile faltered a bit, before she looked up to Dael again.

"…I realize this may not be the best time to say this, but I figured I would none the less." She said after a moment. "I'd understand your hesitation. I'm well aware that once a person is an Esthar's Hawk, they likely see no reason for any other 'career path', so to speak. It was more than enough trouble getting there. And I understand that you may be rather distrustful or even resentful of the Order of Hyne following our order's treatment of you."

She paused.

"…But…if, for whatever reason…you one day grew…I don't know…displeased with Esthar's Hawks…or ever wanted a chance at a different life…you are welcome to join the order if you so wish."

Dael nearly dropped her cup as she set it down. She looked back up to the Sorceress incredulously at that. Did she just say what she thought she said? Out of all the things that she thought she might hear from the Sorceress, this was not one of them. She was rather stunned at the mere suggestion. Aside from the sheer "off-the-wallness" of it, there was the fact that, much like in Esthar's Hawks, you typically joined at a very young age. To ask her to join at this time was almost unbelievable, from what Dael knew. However, Mianyl seemed to be picking up on this change from Dael. As a result, the woman soon began to speak again.

"To be honest, my lady…that…that's quite an unexpected offer…" She managed to say after a moment, not really sure what to say yet again. "It's quite kind of you…and, once again, I am honored by your compliments of my ability… That said…"

Mianyl, however, simply shook her head. "You don't need to say anything, lt. commander. I know you won't accept. After all, you are an Esthar's Hawk. I know you've already invested considerable time and effort into this occupation and, naturally, it must be something that is the most important to you for you to have done so for so long. I just wanted to…" She gave a shrug. "…Give you another option, if you ever felt the need for one. I can understand you'd probably be very reluctant, however, what with how you have been mistreated by my order. I solemnly assure you I would ensure you were only in a place where you would be treated fairly by all. However, I naturally didn't expect you to accept at this time even in the best situation. Please…just keep the offer in the back of your mind. Something to just know is there."

After that, she smiled wider. "Now, let's finish our tea." She rose her cup and held it out somewhat to Dael. "To new friends."

Dael paused momentarily in response. The offer had come out of left field, and she was still rather stunned to receive it. To be fully honest, she had never once considered every joining the Order of Hyne. The thought had only gone farther from her mind after meeting Taraketh. Still, as she listened to this, she realized the offer was being made with only the best of intentions and a desire for her improvement and to help her "get more" out of life. Although Dael thought perfectly well that she was getting everything she needed out of life in her current position, she could respect the spirit in which the offer had been made. She also was appreciative of the young woman's kindness, and all the lengths she was going to for her. Yes…she could definitely respect what she was saying.

In the end, she raised her own cup and touched it to Mianyl's. "To new friends, my lady."

Mianyl smiled warmly back, and they both drank.

* * *

><p>The night passed without incident, naturally. After all, they were still on the coast mostly the entire way. Unlike her last trip, there was no late-last night incident to wake Dael up, and there were no espionage members running around the deck of the ship. She was a bit surprised at the latter part. This was, after all, a chance to infiltrate Sybenia for more information. But she was glad none the less that they weren't there. If they had been, she would realize they would be risking getting into rather hot water if they were found out… And Sybenia, even if they weren't planning to get much out of negotiations, was at least keeping quiet for the time being. Dael actually got a good night's sleep, even with Carbuncle curled up nearby.<p>

The next morning, she was up before the sun, same as always, and soon found them on the open ocean. During the night, they had made the grand turn to the west and were now headed straight for the Lamb Archipelago. It felt good to be a bit more at ease on heading there, as opposed to last time. As the hours went on, eventually much the same as the first mission took place. When the sun had grown high in the sky, the various Lamb naval ships appeared. Compared to the Sybenian battleship, Dael soon realized they weren't that impressive. She wondered how, even with an advantage of numbers, they would possibly hold up if they ever had to be in a real fight. She hoped that wasn't put the test too soon. Apparently, based on what she had seen in that warship, Sybenia had realized that they needed a strong naval power so that they wouldn't have to deal with Lamb…

Soon, they were past all that and sailing into the Archipelago itself. Just as before, all the various ships busy with commerce were bustling around. Seeing as Lamb was still neutral, it was only a matter of time before Dael saw a few ships from Sybenia itself there. No warships, however. The Archipelago wouldn't tolerate their presence in their waters. Again, she noted how their ships seemed to be the largest and the newest of the cargo carriers. The thought unsettled her somewhat, but there was nothing for it.

Again, Lamb soon appeared in the distance, and rapidly grew. This time, however, the _Indominable_ made it's way around the edge to go farther north, toward the more rugged areas of the island and away from the major docks. The urban areas rapidly thinned out and was replaced by thick, overgrown countryside. This only got worse for a while as they continued to move farther north, but as they finally arched back around and to the island again, it thinned out somewhat. Smaller settlements began to pop up. After a bit longer, the makings of a small port town began to show up, and boats started to arise again. All of them were local, and most of them were for fishing. However, as their own ship came along, several of the boats stopped so that the locals could cheer and wave at the passing boat.

Dael had received the details earlier that morning. Although the _Indominable_ was indeed making a stop in the Lamb Archipelago, it was only a temporary one, and apparently the Sorceress did not desire the same gala event as had occurred back in Esthar. As a result, she had avoided the main city all together, and instead directed the ship around toward the northwest corner of the island, where settlements were more remote, subsistence, and poor. This was also the closest port she could get to the temple for the Order of Hyne located on Lamb. She had expressed a desire to use the trip to visit the Order of Hyne members there and to converse with them a bit, as well as visit the followers. More so than that, however, Dael had discovered, she was also going to be meeting with another member of the highest ranks of her order…another Sorceress. As her memory served, Dael knew that the Lamb Archipelago was the home to Lady Faerio, also know as Faerio the Dayspark, the youngest Sorceress in the Order of Hyne, even more so than Mianyl.

As time ticked by, the _Indominable_ finally made its approach to the island, dropping speed in the engines as it did so. Dael was on the upper deck again when they did, with ever-present Carbuncle at her side. Normally, they would be arranged on the lower deck near the exit ramp to act as bodyguards and escorts. However, at the moment, she had received word that Lady Mianyl would not be departing immediately. That gave her a bit more time just to look out and see what was going on. Just in case there would be issues of propriety and decorum, she was already in full uniform with weapons and looking out. Besides, she would retreat back inside before they arrived.

In spite of the Sorceress' wish to avoid another extravaganza, it looked as if she had one. The entire dock was filled with people, both Order of Hyne members as well as more numerous civilians than the ones back in Esthar. It was only typical. The Order of Hyne had given considerable aid to Lamb during the Depression. Part of the reason the local subsistence farmers on this part of the largest island were still holding their land was thanks to relief work by the Order of Hyne, including education on cheaper, sustainable agricultural practices as well as schooling and health care for the children. Banners much as back in Esthar had been erected, although far more simplistic and less grandiose, and bands were playing as the boat came in. Everyone was waving and cheering. That, however, was all Dael wished to see. After that, she turned and began to approach the door to the upper half of the ship, meaning to assemble in the main foyer below to await further instruction.

Carbuncle perked his head up, and then turned to her. "You've got to be kidding me. Land finally in sight, and you're running back into the leaky tub?"

Dael gave him a frown. "This is hardly a 'leaky tub'. Compared to some of the vehicles you can ride in Esthar's Hawks, it's practically a luxury liner. At any rate, yes I am. They crowds don't need to see some random officer just staring them down, especially when they want to see the Sorceress."

She reached the door and soon opened it, stepping inside. She held it long enough for Carbuncle to rush in as well, and then shut it again. After that, they turned inside and began to walk down the hall for the stairwell to the "ground" level. As they did, Carbuncle grumbled a bit.

"I only hope they let us get some shore leave. Ugh, I can't stand being on this boat."

"It's only going to be for eight hours." Dael responded. "And if we get off, what then? We've got those crowds to deal with. At least on the boat we can move around a bit in relative privacy."

Carbuncle let out a groan at the notion. "If you consider the space in a giant tin can being able to 'move around'."

"Would you stop complaining? This is twice as good as what we got on the _Determinant._ And it's not like we're going to swim out there."

The Guardian Force sighed. "At any rate, the Sorceress is getting off, which means you'll probably have to get off to guard her, which means _I_ get off." He said as he walked along. After a moment, he turned and looked up to her. "So she really offered you the position in the Order of Hyne?"

Dael had told Carbuncle that much, just as Carbuncle requested. However, true to her word, she kept the secret about Mianyl's physical traits undisclosed. Besides, she couldn't trust the green creature to keep that sort of thing secret.

The young officer exhaled. "She did."

"Hmm…" Carbuncle mused as they went along, nearing the stairs. "Thinking of taking it?"

"Of course not." Dael readily answered. "I'm perfectly content where I am, in Esthar's Hawks. I have absolutely no interest in the Order of Hyne."

"Didn't think you would." Carbuncle answered as he continued to walk along. After a moment, however, he shrugged. "But…maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a _little_ interest."

Dael turned to look to him immediately. "Pardon?"

The green creature shrugged as he reached the stairs and started going down them, descending much the way a cat would. "Well, you've got magical power, right? The only people in the world at present who know how to train humans to use magic better are in the Order of Hyne. If you want to make the most out of me, maybe you should. I mean, can you imagine what you could do if you could teleport more than two or three times in a fight?"

The young officer paused at that thought. That was a good point. However, she soon shook it free of her mind. "It wouldn't be much good if I couldn't use it in more combat situations. My life is in Esthar's Hawks. I'm not going to drop out just to learn how to do spells better."

"Well…who said you should drop out?" Carbuncle responded. "I was just talking about getting some training from them."

Dael looked to him yet again, more incredulous than before. "Are you trying to say I should just 'take leave' of Esthar's Hawks for however long it takes, join the Order of Hyne during that time, and drop out at the end?"

"It's a way to go."

"You can't just 'take leave' of Esthar's Hawks." Dael retorted. "Even for something like this…_especially_ for something like this. I'd be effectively joining another organization. And what do you think they would think if I joined just to learn how to become better at magic, and then left the order? First off, I think that's almost heretical to their beliefs. Second, if they had any suspicions that I was only using you as a means of more military power before, then they'd not have any doubt after that."

Carbuncle grumbled. "Fine. Forget it. Forget I said anything. All I was trying to do was help out, and you jump down my throat…"

"Why don't _you_ teach me?" Dael responded as they reached the bottom of the stairs and walked on. "It's your power anyway, isn't it?"

The Guardian Force sighed. "It doesn't work that way. To us, our powers are innate. Sure, we can hone them and what have you, but we can't master them the same way humans master them. They're different. Something about you allows you to master a variety of magic, not just what you were born with like us. That's what gives you guys an advantage over us if you're strong enough."

Dael sighed in response. "Terrific… I guess that means I've just got to find an Order of Hyne member talented enough who doesn't hate my guts and is willing to give 'private lessons'…"

"Hey." Carbuncle answered. "Stranger things have happened."

The young officer said nothing, just continued to walk along.

In a few more moments, the two ended up in the main room on the "ground floor" of the _Indominable_. There were windows all around in this area, letting sunlight in. However, they were tinted to where no one from outside could look in. The area itself was wide open and had several places to sit, both against the walls and on the main floor itself. Some were cushioned. There were no less than four entrances into the place either, and the ceiling was a bit higher with more than traditional standard light fixtures. There was a bit of décor here as well. All in all, this was a multi-purpose area. If there was any need to entertain dignitaries or representatives on board, it would be in here. This would be where a party would be held, or a speech would be made if it was held indoors. It was quite good for various functions, and the fact that the décor was nice as well made it appropriate even for major affairs if necessary. Maybe not the best in the world, but so few things were done on a boat in the first place.

Dael herself moved over to one of the windows near the front of the ship. They were large, but thanks to the tint she could look out without fear of being accused of gawking. On looking through the window and outside, she saw the ship was already coming around and nearing the dock. Various people were still celebrating, some with floral leis, some with signs, and with many playing music so loudly that she could hear it from inside the ship. It was very ethnic and "islander". Dael, however, wasn't much of a music fan, although she did appreciate that it wasn't too oppressive or annoying. The sky was almost completely clear except for a few passing clouds, and all in all it looked to be a pleasant day for the Sorceress' arrival.

As the boat came to a full stop, Dael turned and faced outward. Despite the fact that a perfectly good chair was right behind her, she remained standing. After all, she was on duty, more so now than ever now that they had picked up. She was the lowest ranked out of the various Esthar Hawk personnel that had been sent on this trip. Nevertheless, even if she wasn't, she wouldn't be "in command". One of the things on a high-profile mission about sending numerous higher officers of similar rank was that there was a question of who would be calling the shots. In most respects, they would share equal authority, and they would all have the shots called by the dignitary they were servicing. But in certain matters, rank would still come into play. In that sense, and due to her lower rank, she would have to wait for orders. Besides, it would be somewhat silly to just have all four officers running up to the Sorceress individually and essentially asking her what they needed her to do.

She wasn't expecting much duty, however. This was just going to be for a few hours. After equipment and maintenance checks, they would be on their way to the place where the concern would be greater. As Dael had indicated, there was a good chance she might not even get off the boat. However, it wasn't a completely likely one. After all, the Sorceress planned to get off, and that meant she would need an escort. Whether all eight of the people assigned to her would be necessary or not was a different matter.

After a couple of minutes, a sound of footsteps arriving was heard. Dael turned slightly to the source, and soon saw Captain Sloane walk in. Since, for this mission, even in differences of rank, they were not in a formal regiment, Dael didn't have to exchange salutes with him, and he simply walked to the window facing the dock and looked out as well. Dael soon looked out too without a word, since he wasn't the commanding officer for the mission. She wondered if any of the Order of Hyne members would assemble in there as well? Probably not. They seemed to almost have a psychic link or unspoken understanding between their members. They never seemed to swap order or instruction in front of anyone. And so, it was just the two of them for a short while.

Eventually, footsteps rang out yet again, causing Dael and Sloane alike to look back to one of the doors into the chamber. They opened a moment later, and in walked Captain Meade. Immediately, Dael straightened more and looked to him. The captain, also in full uniform, looking every bit on duty and focused, walked straight up to the young officer. The result made her tense slightly, but she simply reasoned she had orders, and prepared to receive them. Soon, he was right in front of her.

"Lt. commander." He addressed.

"Captain." She returned.

"Get your weapons, finish up anything you have in progress at the moment, and prepare to disembark from the _Indominable_ in 30 minutes. You have new orders." He informed. "Lady Mianyl will be departing to visit the local shrine for the Order of Hyne. We've already contacted a car to take her there and it's on the way to the docks as we speak. The local authorities are thinning out the crowd. Not wanting to be conspicuous, she said that she wished for only two escorts to accompany her. One of them was you."

Again, Dael found herself surprised by the Sorceress. She realized that their meeting had gone well, but that well? Enough to want her as her somewhat-private escort? It made the young officer a bit nervous. Guarding yourself was one thing…guarding someone else was quite different. And it had been easier when there were eight of them. Now that there would be two, the burden would be that much heavier on her. She supposed she shouldn't have worried. After all, the Sorceress was rather powerful herself…and there wasn't anyone on Lamb hostile to her. The government and the people had never said a single word against the Order of Hyne, especially in this part of the Archipelago. At any rate, it didn't really matter if she was nervous or not.

She nodded back. "Yes sir."

"There should be nothing to this." Captain Meade continued. "But just the same, keep alert. This is an important diplomat and I didn't think there was any reason we all shouldn't go. I don't think there's much to gain by keeping a somewhat smaller profile. At any rate, you seem to have lucked out on this mission."

Dael blinked a bit in response to that. "Sir?"

"The member of the Order of Hyne that will be accompanying you is one that you've worked with in the past, Sir Taraketh Sabian."

Carbuncle immediately let out just a hint of a barely audible chuckle. Dael had to struggle not to show her clear disappointment in this. Perhaps she shouldn't have said anything earlier or be more verbal back when she met the Sorceress. Then she could have made it more clear that she didn't want to interact with him if she could avoid it. She wondered if she was now being stuck with him because she had hinted at the fact that she might be willing to keep working toward a reconciliation or understanding. In truth, she _didn't_ want to do so until Taraketh showed the slightest inclination he saw her as anything more than, in his own words, a "military grunt". She wasn't willing to try on anyone who wasn't willing to give her a chance in return. The irony of Meade's statement struck her practically dumb.

It was several seconds of silence before Dael was able to speak.

"…Yes sir."

The captain picked up on her pause, and gave her a bit of a harder look for a moment, before relaxing again. "Very well. I expect no incidents, and if there is one, I'm counting on you to be able to handle it."

"Yes sir."

Without any other word, Dael and Meade exchanged salutes. That done, Dael walked around the captain and began to head back the way she came. In just a few moments, she had exited the main chamber and approached the stairwell again. As she walked along, Carbuncle, as always, followed on her heels. Once they were out of earshot of the main foyer, the green creature looked up to her.

"I take it he won't mind that much if I decide to tag along on this, will he?"

Dael looked down to him, a bit surprised at that comment. For a moment, she almost spoke against it. However, she quickly relented. She was going to be stuck with Taraketh again. She knew already he was reluctant enough to say things against her around the Sorceresses. Coupled with the presence of a Guardian Force, and she just might be able to shut him up all together. Besides, she had a feeling the captain wouldn't really mind, and she knew Lady Mianyl wouldn't. In the end, she gave a shrug. "I suppose not."

Carbuncle sighed in relief. "Great. This should be nice. Plus, I finally get to meet up with that young bird again…"

Dael quirked her brow. "Excuse me?"

The green creature, however, looked up to her with the same amount of confusion. "…Don't you know where we're going?"

The young officer nodded. "Yes. We're headed to temple of the Order of Hyne for the Lamb Archipelago. So?"

Carbuncle kept staring. "Don't you know what's there?"

She gave a shrug. "Some ancient site they considered 'holy', I thought. So?"

The green creature shook his head and looked to the side, letting out a sigh. "Humans can be so ignorant. You're lucky I like you. Otherwise I'd keep my mouth shut and let you get embarrassed by that little snot in the Order of Hyne again. You've got a bit to learn, so listen up. While I'm at it, I'll tell you all you need to know about Quetzacoatl…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	17. Lamb Temple

An hour later, the _Indominable_ and the small fishing community were both left far behind, and Dael was being jostled around considerably as she struggled not to get hit in the face by occasional passing vegetation or to wipe her brow excessively from the humidity.

Just as she had been told, she had quickly returned to her cabin, gathered her weapons, and then went back down into the main room. Taraketh was already there and fully clothed. That was good, because as a result she couldn't see his face underneath his hood giving her looks. Luckily, he didn't have much time for snide comments, especially since he was in "cold shoulder" mode at the moment. They were only there for about ten minutes before two of the other High Children escorted the Sorceress up to them, once again dressed in her cape with the golden clasp and array on her back.

Getting off of the boat had been a bit tricky. Although they managed to keep the trip fairly discrete and found a road in the small community to sneak them through the main crowds, it had been some work thinning it out enough even for only three of them to come out. Luckily, the people were fairly peaceful, and although things were slow going they didn't come to a full stop. The car in question, which was really nothing more than a battered, rusted truck that looked like it had been converted to run on fission power rather than gasoline, was brought up. It had no top, which was never a good thing, and the seats in the back were ramshackle, built from boards and steel screws into the flatbed. Dael was uneasy just looking at it. However, Mianyl was perfectly calm and comfortable. She emerged and gave everyone smiles and nods, once again keeping her hands folded and not waving, and the very aura she exuded seemed to render the people easy to push back enough in order to get to the car. Once there, they all loaded up. Lady Mianyl took the highest spot in the back, with Taraketh seated in front of her at her right, and Dael seated in front of her at her left…much to Taraketh's chagrin. Even with face partially concealed, she could see his outrage that Dael was occupying a spot equivalent to his. She thought she saw him struggling not to mutter as she settled in. Not long after, the car took off, the local drivers bearing them away from the boat. Within only two minutes, they were outside of the small community.

In short order, the island turned to lush growth. All of it was tropical in nature, and moving through was rather like driving through a jungle. The roads in town hadn't even been paved properly and had been deeply rutted with pothole and tire tracks. Now that they were out, the "road" was little more than a path, and was becoming less and less of one as time went on. The surrounding vegetation continued to encroach on the road, until they were driving not on dirt but on rocks or grass. The road grew bumpier and bumpier as the tire tracks began to give way to extra large footpaths. Dael soon saw why the truck looked in such bad condition. If it had to go through these roads so often, it was small wonder why the sides were scratched from numerous tree branches, which even now pelted it.

Dael kept her head low as they drove along. The sun might not have been beating down due to heavy vegetation covering them, but it was still just as humid as ever. It was rather sweltering and close-aired inside the canopy, and if it hadn't been for them moving through so fast in the truck, the lack of a breeze might have made it overwhelming in her restrictive uniform. Taraketh, meanwhile, tried to look as official as possible, and failed at it. As a result, his hood got brushed off of his head by passing branches more than once, forcing him to blush and pull it back over. Mianyl was not the same. She was sitting the highest and so, naturally, bowed her head the lowest. It was rather difficult for her at first, and Dael had the feeling that her crest would make it impossible. That was when she received another surprise…the gold metal array simply seemed to fold itself up like a giant fan and slipped in behind her. It was quite an interesting trick…and Dael had to wonder whether it did it itself or if it was another display of magic. Despite her higher position, she seemed to be avoiding things well…better even than herself and Taraketh, which seemed to defy reason.

Dael directed her attention forward as they kept moving. She thought again of the things that Carbuncle, who was now curled up on the seat nearby and not needing to duck or dodge under any debris at all, had told her. She already knew something of this region and the Order of Hyne there. She knew one of the more conspicuous and large temples was located there, and that it housed a great number of Children of Hyne, including some "overflow" from other shrines. It was a place where a lot of relief work was done for the local populace, making it a site that almost every Child of Hyne visited at least once. Also, as Lady Mianyl had mentioned, it was indeed the operating locale for Lady Faerio. However, other than that, Dael had known little.

Carbuncle, luckily, had filled her in. Normally, this was something Carbuncle wouldn't have had personal knowledge of, but this was something rather important to him. It seemed this place too was the home of a Guardian Force. Over a hundred years ago, one of the more well-documented Guardian Forces, Quetzacoatl, had settled there on one of the mountain peaks. The reason was because the location was near to a fountain of mako, the spiritual energy that flowed through the planet and had been banned as a fuel source decades earlier world-wide. The natural flow was soothing and regenerating to Guardian Forces, and she had nested there. The Order of Hyne had rediscovered her at one point when they became more formalized and requested to build a shrine in her honor. Carbuncle told her that Guardian Forces had little need for such things, but agreed when they pressed her. Not satisfied with that, they soon erected the temple grounds around it so that they could always be near to the Guardian Force as well as share in the mako fountain. This too was allowed, as no evil intentions were detected among the Order members, and since members of the Order would likely ensure its protection from human exploitation. The temple had been maintained ever since.

As the journey went on, and the road grew wilder and more uneven, the slope of the road gradually began to go upward. Carbuncle noticed that as well as the others, although they had the advantage, being able to see the trees hemming them in starting to slant.

"Shouldn't be much longer…" He mused aloud. "Last I checked, this place was in the mountains, and now we're starting to head uphill."

"I thought you said that you had never been to this place before?" Dael responded.

"Doesn't mean I don't spend my time doing things like reading and studying locations on maps." Carbuncle responded. "I don't spend _all _my time playing games on your laptop, you know."

The young officer exhaled. "So…I guess this is something of a thrill for you?" She asked. "I mean, you get to meet another Guardian Force for the first time in a while."

"Eh…it's no big deal." Carbuncle answered with a wave of his paw. "It's nice, but I won't die without it. Don't get me wrong…I enjoy the time running around your fort. Lots to see and do. But I think we're all just a little bit solitary. Still…it is going to be nice. Been a long time since I've met any of the old gang. It's good to see what they're up to."

Dael managed a slight half smile as she looked forward again. "This is a bit more nerve-wracking for me, though. Not only am I going to be meeting another Sorceress, but a Guardian Force too. Most people in their entire lives never meet up with this many famous individuals…"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up." Taraketh suddenly snorted, loud enough for both Dael and Carbuncle to hear. "I'm sure Lady Quetzacoatl and Lady Faerio will want to meet with Lord Carbuncle, but that doesn't mean they'll want to see you. You're just a bodyguard on this mission, don't forget."

Dael's smile faded. She looked forward a bit darkly, but managed to keep from glaring at Taraketh. She had rather enjoyed his silence up until this point, and she wasn't that happy that he had decided to break it. At any rate, she spoke up again after a moment.

"Rather like yourself, Sir Sabian, from my understanding. I'm afraid we're both effectively 'grunts' this time around."

Dael saw the High Child fluster at this out of the corner of her eye. He looked forward after a moment, practically snorting. "Just make sure you don't harm a hair on Lady Mianyl's head with one of your crude little excuses for spells if anything goes wrong on this mission. If you do, I'll take off your head without a moment's hesitation."

"You'll do nothing of the sort, Taraketh, and you _especially_ won't talk that way again."

Taraketh's angry look melted away, and he seemed to almost cringe. Much as Dael normally would have liked to privately enjoy this…she cringed as well. The tone in which Mianyl suddenly spoke out possessed a level of power and force in it that the young officer didn't think was possible. As soon as she heard it, both she and Taraketh alike had become like small, bickering children who had aroused the ire of a stern parent, and both immediately went quiet. After a few moments, as the two slowly started to feel like themselves again, Taraketh nodded.

"Yes, my lady."

There were a few moments of silence after that. Most of the trip had been rather quiet until now, but at this point it was a bit unsettling after how Mianyl had suddenly spoke up. After a few moments, however, Carbuncle leaned his head up a bit and looked to Taraketh again.

"So, kid…what have you been up to? I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye after the end of the last mission. You ran out too quickly."

Taraketh paused a moment, still looking nervously at Mianyl, but then spoke in a more measured and civil voice.

"Although the Order of Hyne lacks any true warriors, Lord Carbuncle, we do have a 'peacekeeping' subdivision that can act defensively in areas."

The green creature blinked a bit at that. "…Peacekeeping? Such as…soldiers?"

Taraketh blanched a bit at that, and immediately shook his head. "No, no…not at all. This is purely defensive. A lot of the places we go for relief work are being oppressed by warlords or local militaries. Some of them are areas where armed forces will simply walk into town and shoot any men or male children on sight. Although the Order of Hyne tries to reason and negotiate with everyone, and responds with love and compassion in all things, there are some groups who would simply consider us cattle for the slaughter. Because of that, there are a few select individuals in the Order of Hyne who can act in such a way to disarm and suppress enemy attackers if need be, for the protection of civilians."

Carbuncle nodded early in the explanation, and continued to nod throughout, until Taraketh finished his explanation.

"In other words…" Carbuncle spoke up after done. "…You have soldiers."

Taraketh swallowed a lump. Dael, recovered by now, saw him out of the corner of her eye and struggled not to snicker.

"We…we don't call ourselves that…"

Carbuncle gave a shrug. "You can call yourself Little Bunny Foo-Foos for all I care…it doesn't matter. You're soldiers. You're people trained to go into combat and you operate under a higher authority who directs you. That makes you a soldier."

"…Guardian mages."

The green creature sighed. "Like I said…the name isn't important. The bottom line is, there's some people who come in, you can't reason with them, you can't negotiate with them, you can't give them a flower and a smile and expect them to be on their merry way…so you kick their ass and send them home crying."

Taraketh looked like he was getting hot. "You…you might say something _like_ that…"

Again, the Guardian Force shrugged. "There's no other way to say it. That's what you do. There's nothing wrong with that. It happens. There are bullies in the world…people who don't listen to reason or discussion or deals or anything…and those people just need a good kick in the crotch so they realize they can't just get whatever they want by throwing their muscle around."

The High Child was still nervous. "Well…m-maybe, but…"

"Like I said, it's nothing to get bent out of shape about. It happens. You seem to be going about it well enough. Magic has the ability to be controlled in the hands of skilled users and has a lot of applications. You can make sure people don't get hurt a lot easier than with guns or even nonlethal weapons. It's an efficient way to do things. The people you're helping don't get hurt, no lasting damage is done to the bad guys, and in the end, everyone's happy."

Taraketh eased up a bit on hearing this. "…Yeah…yeah."

"I mean, it's not like you're going after these guys and picking fights."

"No…no, of course not."

"And you aren't trying to kill. You use your power to send off some warnings, right?"

"Right, of course."

"And, of course, this is all last resort anyway, right?"

Taraketh, much more at ease now, nodded again. "Right."

Carbuncle smiled back at him.

"In other words, all you're really there for is for emergencies…for crises…" He paused, and then his voice turned to a slight edge. "For constant vigilance, correct?"

Before he could stop himself, Taraketh gave a nod. "Rig-"

The High Child froze, cutting himself off. Immediately, he paled a bit, and then turned away and said no more.

"What's the matter? Swallow a bug?" Carbuncle said casually.

Taraketh said nothing. He struggled not to quiver. Inside herself, Dael felt as if she was watching a chess match and Carbuncle had masterfully maneuvered Taraketh into checkmate without him ever knowing the difference until the word was said. She didn't think she had ever had as much admiration for the Guardian Force as she did at this moment. She had led the High Child into a trap of his own words, the very notion he had scoffed and derided in Esthar's Hawks he now admitted he upheld in his own order, and doing so had struck him dumb. He was unable to say anything else snide or biting for the rest of the trip.

All in all, the entire trip took an hour and a half easily. It was rather long and monotonous despite the fact they were constantly being battered by branches. However, at long last, Dael saw the area in front of them opening up and letting sunlight back in. As they drew nearer, the plants began to receed and light started to shine down. The branches, no longer needing to cram into the middle of the road to gain sustenance, began to rise higher before the limitations of the area caused them to die down again. Finally, the car itself rolled out of the tropical vegetation and into the open again.

It was an amazing change. The wind was the best part. They must have gone considerably higher in elevation, because now things were cool. A nice breeze brushed by that immediately began to dry up the sweat and made Dael feel far more comfortable. The wind was blowing, but it wasn't at such a clip as to blast anyone away, even when enhanced by the car's movements. The sun was shining again, and it was glorious and bright, almost blinding if you looked too much in its direction, but all together was pleasant and not too warm. The ground around them had changed. They had to be at a higher elevation now, because none of the plants grew any taller than grasses. On the other hand, the ground had become rocky, and perhaps it was simply due to lack of purchase that no larger plants could grow. The land they were on was mounded, like a hill top or perhaps even a mountaintop. And ahead of it all, looming large in the distance on the very top of this hill, framed by the great volcanic mountains of the Lamb Archipelago, was their destination.

The entire structure was built out of stone. Dael could not immediately see a single bit of steel that went into making it. No doubt, when it was originally constructed, it was built with the more durable material on hand, which had been stone. Time had taken a toll on it. Already it was weathered in several spots, probably due to typhoons. But still, it held up very well. The main temple itself was built at a more elevated level. A series of stone stairs out front let up one story to the front of it, where the builk was spread out and to the ground in a block formation. The walls on all sides were somewhat like slanted slabs. There were five towers on it as well, although it was unclear if they served a true purpose or if they were simply there for show. They were fairly thin and vaguely cone-shaped, with intrincate designs that had been made on them. Unfortunately, there was no telling what the designs had once been, as they had already worn away. Four of them were arranged radially around the central one, which was considerably larger and more conspicuous.

The entire main temple was, in turn, set in front of a much larger structure behind it, which was more dome-like in nature and stretched back farther and higher than the main temple itself. Dael couldn't see it yet, but there was a stone tunnel that led to it, and the very top of the dome was open to the air.

For now, Dael focused mostly on the main temple. Being a simple stone structure, it was rather like the older castles and cathedrals from many centuries ago. As a result, she knew that it wouldn't have any amenities. Water would have to be drawn, fires maintained for cooking, and there was no chance of getting any "climate control". She reasoned the only true improvements were likely designed to make it easier to sleep in there at night. It provided mostly shelter and little else.

There were numerous Children of Hyne going about the temple area. Some seemed to be hauling large numbers of crops up the hill. It figured. This ground was too rocky to grow anything in. They would have to go further down the hillside before reaching any fertile land. Others were carrying water. These two groups had something odd about them. Two of them didn't appear to be hauling food, but rather were hoisting some large, odd-looking machine with them. Still others were repairing damage to the temple. In addition, there were others walking about simply talking with each other. Dael didn't see any of them actually practicing magic, unless you counted a few seated around on the parapets of the towers mediating as doing so. However, that was no surprise. While they might have used magic frequently enough, magic was practiced in private, not public.

The Children were all dressed simply in light inner robes, and many of them had a rough look about them from living a harder life, although they retained calm and serene expressions. To be honest, Dael could appreciate this. She herself had lived a basic life of necessity as part of her training. However…water was always available at fountains or faucets, meals were always given without any work on the part of the students, repair work was handled by professionals, and she always had a warm, dry place to sleep. In all those senses, the Children of Hyne had the advantage. Not only that, she realized…but she couldn't help but almost envy what they were doing. Dael herself had enough survival training to live off the land for months, but these people could make a comfortable existence out of it for years. It was small wonder Taraketh, if he had trained himself for battle through these methods, had been so talented at combat and survival himself.

The various Children of Hyne all paused as the truck neared, turning their full attention to it. The truck itself wasn't an unusual sight, but the Sorceress was. Dael soon hear a "shk" of metal behind her, and turned around. Lady Mianyl was once again seated upright with her array full out. Her hood was pulled back now, and all could see her beaming, wise, calm face as she drove forward. It didn't take long for the Children of Hyne to start to light up. The older ones were more patient, but the younger ones immediately ran up to the car, cheering and laughing. The drivers soon had to slow to ensure nothing would happen.

As Dael looked and saw their faces, she didn't think she had seen such happiness in such a long time. "Children" was a very appropriate title, because now they beamed as if they were looking at a beloved relative come home, perhaps even a mother. She looked back to the Sorceress, and saw her beaming down at each of them. As they reached their hands out to her, she saw her folded sleeves flex more than once…obviously her wanting to reach out and take their hands. However, with a bit of pain in her violet eyes, she stopped herself each time, only able to smile at them.

The truck continued to slow, and finally came around to come to a stop in front of the temple. The brakes were applied, the truck halted, and the engine was shut down, sputtering a bit. By now, quite a crowd was gathered around the car. Taraketh, not wasting a moment, and not allowing the drivers to do the same, quickly practically leapt outside of the vehicle and opened the back, then reached up his hand to the Sorceress to lead her down. Apparently, he had experience with this. As he did so, she parted her hands at last but kept them concealed under sleeves, and Taraketh reached up under one to take her unseen claw. Only then did he help her down. Once she touched down on the ground, she at last reached out to place her hands on the heads of a few of the nearest children and spoke kindly to them, but always through her concealing sleeves. It would have been almost comical through anyone else, but she managed to make even this look dignified.

Dael soon got out as well, Carbuncle rising, coming out, and leaping onto her shoulders as she did so, making sure not to push any of the children. A few of the youngest ones looked to her with some curiosity, especially her weapons and Carbuncle. This was the first they had ever seen of her like or her armaments, or the Guardian Force for that matter, and as a result childish wonder at new things made them stare at her a bit. However, as the Sorceress began to move forward, they soon fell in around her again, with only a few staying behind to try and reach out and pet Carbuncle. Luckily Dael was so tall, for the Guardian Force growled at them and pawed much like an angry cat might. Dael soon realized she was at a disadvantage. Although Taraketh had made sure to stick next to her, there was now a small crowd of children between her and the Sorceress. She had to push herself forward to get back at her side. After all, she was supposed to be guarding her…

As she looked forward at this point, she became aware of something else. Two individuals who seemed to stand head and shoulders above the others, in manner if not physical stature, had come out and had descended half the steps.

The taller, and older, of the two was lithe young man without much meat on his bones. He had a messy crop of red hair that was just a big shaggy, and would have been hanging in his eyes if he wasn't wearing a strip cloth bandanna that had been configured into a sweatband. His clothes were dirty and shabby, and mostly concealed by a set of thick leather work overalls. Tools were hanging all over them, mostly for carpentry and masonry work. It seemed almost ridiculous the sheer number of them, and, true enough, the young man was practically buckling underneath them, seeming to have not realized how many tools he gave himself when he set out. However, his sleeves were rolled up, and Dael could see that his muscles were tight…a man accustomed to physical labor even if not the best at it. It didn't seem to diminish his enthusiasm at all, however. He beamed with almost child-like joy, absent mindedly pulling at just the beginnings of a red beard on his chin. The rest had been shaved, including the mustache.

The other was a black-haired girl with short hair, no older than thirteen. She seemed smaller than most, but she had a toned and firm look about her, like one who frequently exercised. She was a bit rough and dirty, just like everyone else there, but she also seemed cleaner than most. Although her companion looked rather energetic, she was even more so. The way she moved down the stairs and waved a greeting, one would almost thing she was far younger than she looked, or was like a lithe little sprite rather than a young woman.

It didn't take long for this girl to command the full attention of Dael. She had never seen any pictures of her, and she looked even less "formal" than Veriguno had. However, one look at her eyes, so light brown they were practically red, was all she needed to see. Even staring at them, she felt like a warm sunbeam had pentetrated her outer layer of skin and was gently heating her. By now, she had experienced two Sorceresses, and this one was far weaker than both. As a result, she was able to weather her aura almost immediately…and she knew without a doubt that this had to be the fourth and weakest of the Sorceresses, Lady Faerio, also known as "Faerio the Dayspark".

It took almost a full minute for the small group to approach them and climb the stairs to them. But as they neared, the children gradually broke off, and the way grew clearer and clearer. Dael cast frequently glances to Mianyl and Taraketh. While Mianyl split her attention evenly between the children and didn't focus on her fellow Sorceress. As for Taraketh, Dael noticed that he smiled at the children, but as he turned to Faerio and the young man, his face grew stern again. Not quite as much as with Dael, but stern none the less. It took little time to realize that here was yet another group that didn't meet his "standards" or had done something to upset him. Dael thought that was rather bold of him to give that look to, what she presumed were, his superiors.

At last, the children broke off and fell back as the group began to climb the stairs. As they did, Faerio broke off from the young man and began to descend. Likewise, Dael and Taraketh held back as Mianyl went on ahead. Soon they met each other halfway. Without a word, they both smiled and embraced each other warmly. They held for a few moments, both closing their eyes and seeming to relish the feeling of the other, but then parted and looked to one another.

"You're grown quite a bit since I saw you last, Lady Faerio." Mianyl began.

"It's been far too long, Matriarch." Faerio answered with a smile. "We've been hoping for a visit from you for over a year."

Mianyl gave a nod. "I'm sad to say that I no longer have the luxury of visiting my friends when I please as I did in my youth."

Faerio nodded. "I understand. Even having only been a Sorceress for three years…" She leaned back and gave a tired exhale. "…It's far more work than I anticipated. And I'm not even that highly ranked. Nevertheless…I'm glad you are here. And knowing the reason for your being here, I'm even more glad. I think we've sat on the sidelines for far too long in this latest turn of world affairs."

Mianyl turned her head slightly to Faerio, although Dael couldn't see the look she gave her. "…This is merely negotiations for peace, Faerio. Not a declaration of war. Keep that in mind."

Dael caught a change coming over the younger Sorceress. For a moment, her expression faltered ever so slightly…as if disappointed. However, that faded quickly as she gave a nod. "…Yes, Matriarch."

Mianyl turned and looked nearby. Dael didn't see it, but she soon smiled. "Where are my manners…" She exclaimed. "Here I am, talking to Lady Faerio, and I haven't said so much as a word to you, Sir Boer. Come down. Let me take a better look at you."

Dael saw a wave of tension come over the young man. He swallowed a bit, and seemed to waver on his feet. Dael could understand that. The Sorceress was far too overwhelming for most people to withstand, and even if this one spent a lot of time with Faerio, that was like learning to endure a volcano by standing near a campfire. At length, he did manage to descend the stairs to Faerio's side, albeit nervously, and he soon folded his hands in front of him and gave a bow.

"G-G-Good morning, Lady Mianyl…" He said nervously. He was quivering all over at this point.

Mianyl remained calm. "Good morning, Sir Boer. I'm so sorry that I can only come to you for a few short hours. First of all, allow me to do what I wished to do in person for some time…congratulate you on your placement as Sorceress Knight to Lady Faerio. I'm sure you will guard her well for many years to come."

Beads of sweat were on the young man's brow as he nodded. "I…I hope t-t-to, Lady Mianyl…" He said, bowing again. By now, he was quivering so much that one of his tools slid out of his belt and fell to the ground. Immediately, he paled. He quickly ducked down and began to take it up. "P-P-Please forgive my clumisiness…" He said as he did so.

Mianyl let out just a hint of a giggle. "Please, Sir Boer…be at ease. I'm not here to chastise you or anyone else, and I won't have you walking on pins and needles around me."

The young man swallowed and quickly straightened again, going as erect as a trained soldier. "Yes, my lady. I mean…sure. I mean…yes, ma'am."

Dael was honestly puzzled. She knew only the background literature on Sorceress Knights, but she was under the impression that they were the deadliest warriors alive, or among them at the bare minimum. This one, however, looked more inadequate and ill suited than Quaren…not to embarrass Quaren, but to state a fact. He seemed to have almost no confidence and regarded everything with extreme anxiety. Plus, to be honest, he looked nothing like a warrior.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who thought this way or, at minimum, feared that others would think this way. Abruptly, Faerio spoke up, her tone a bit hurried.

"Matriarch…Cid is the most faithful person I know to the cause of the Order of Hyne, with the largest, gentlest heart. He embodies all the virtues we espouse. And if you doubt his combat capability, you should fully be aware that he-"

Mianyl let out another laugh, a louder one this time, and raised her concealed sleeve to stop Faerio. "Now, now, there's no need to be flustered or nervous in the least, Lady Faerio. He has your approval and that is more than enough for me. I haven't the slightest doubt in him just because he has a momentary case of the jitters. And even if I did, what concern would that be? The only requirement for a Sorceress Knight is that he meet with his Sorceress' approval, not the Matriarch's. At any rate, he has my full approval." She turned to Cid and gave a bow. "You are more than adequate in my eyes, Cid Boer. So please…be at ease."

The young man, Cid, gave a swallow, but then nodded. "I'll…I'll try, Matriarch…I mean, yes ma'am. I mean…I will."

Now that the matter was settled, Mianyl gave one more look to Cid, before turning to her fellow Sorceress. "Now, allow me to introduce my two escorts." She waved her sleeve behind her. "This is Sir Taraketh Sabian, who I believe you've met before."

Faerio gave a polite bow to him.

"This is Lt. Commander Dael Levison, a member of Esthar's Hawks, who are personally overseeing this mission."

A bit to Dael's relief, Faerio turned to her and gave the same bow with undiminished respect.

"And we have a special guest as well. This is Lord Carbuncle, as I'm sure you recognize from our readings."

"Of course." Faerio answered as she gave him an even more graceful bow. "It is an honor to have another Guardian Force visit us."

The green creature grinned in response. "I could get used to all this respect you lovely ladies heap on me."

Dael sweat a bit at that, and Taraketh looked a bit at a loss. Both Faerio and Mianyl looked a bit out of sorts as well, but then both smiled and nodded. The young officer almost felt like smacking the Guardian Force, but the moment had passed, and she soon calmed down. Faerio then indicated behind her.

"Welcome to Lamb Temple. Our home isn't much, although it's much better on the inside, as you'll soon see. Please, if you would all come this way. I understand Lady Mianyl's time is precious and I have much to show her and much to discuss."

Before a step could be made by anyone, however, Taraketh leaned forward. "If you please, my lady," He announced, addressing Mianyl. "I was wondering if I might do as I proposed back on the boat?"

The Sorceress paused and turned fully to Taraketh on hearing this. Faerio and Cid themselves looked up curiously, but Dael didn't pay them any mind at the moment. Now that she clearly saw Mianyl's face, she saw that her smile had faded and grown more serious. She looked to Taraketh silently for a moment.

"…I have a good idea of what you intend there, Taraketh." She said at length. "I must tell you not to take this lightly. I recall your victory against Lord Sacred and Lord Minotaur, but you were able to exploit their natural weakness. This opponent has no such weakness, and you have not been honing your spells as much as I have cautioned you."

Hearing this fact caused a change in Taraketh. It made him grimace ever so slightly, for these words had the mark of scolding and discipline. However, a moment later, it was gone as his face emboldened. "Nevertheless, I will succeed. I will prove my power and skill to you through my own actions."

Mianyl hesitated momentarily. She seemed to think the matter over for a while. Dael herself wasn't exactly sure what was going on. What they were saying was somewhat vague. However, she had a pretty good idea, and was a bit surprised. She remembered hearing from Carbuncle about how the natural way someone obtained the power of a Guardian Force was to best them in a trial by combat. And she knew full well there was a Guardian Force here… Was that what Taraketh was referring to? If so, she was a bit surprised, not only at how sudden this all was, but how they were supposed to only be doing a brief stopover on an important political mission, and she wondered how good timing this was. At any rate, the Sorceress stayed quiet, continuing to look over him.

After a few moments, she finally did something…she looked to Dael. The young officer had to struggle not to recoil as she gave her a look. Apparently, she wasn't the only one. Carbuncle, on her shoulders, recoiled a bit too, not bothering to hide it. After a bit longer, she looked back to Taraketh and slowly exhaled.

"…I will allow it on one condition." She finally said. "You are to take Lt. Commander Dael with you."

Taraketh's eyes went wide. "But my lady, she…!"

Mianyl silenced him with a firm, unyielding look. She didn't appear cross or angry…she simply stared at him. He swallowed after a moment, and bowed his head.

"…Of course, my lady. As you wish."

Mianyl smiled again, once more pleasant and fair, and gave a nod. After that, she turned to Faerio again. "Lady Faerio, I must ask a humble request while I'm staying here. Might Sir Sabian and Lt. Commander Levinson go to visit the shrine? I'm sure it would be of more benefit to us all. After all, they would only be bored by our discussions and goings about." She smiled a bit. "If I can't feel safe in this temple without protection, then where can I?"

Faerio was hesitant for a moment. When she mentioned the other two breaking off, she visibly tensed up. But on hearing Mianyl's logic, she softened again, seeming to agree with it. After a few moments, she finally gave a nod.

"…Very well, Matriarch. If that is _your_ decision, I shall say nothing against it." She soon turned over to the red-head. "Cid, could you kindly escort Sir Sabian and Lt. Commander Levinson to the shrine, if it's not too much trouble? I could always have one of the other children do it. I understand you were hard at work today."

"Oh no, my lady." Cid immediately responded. "No trouble at all. On a day when we have guests, I can easily rework my schedule." He turned to the three. "If you all will come with me, I'll take you right to the shrine. I'm assuming you're here to see Quetzacoatl, right? You're in luck. She's in at the moment. Just flew in about fifteen minutes ago."

Dael held a moment, looking to Taraketh. She expected him to give an acknowledgement or a 'thank you' out of normal decorum. After all, Cid was a Sorceress Knight, and he had been practically groveling at the feet of Jalab. However, he was cold as usual, and looked merely eager to get underway. Before she knew what she was doing, Dael looked to Cid and gave a nod. "Thank you, Sir Boer."

"Cid is fine." The red-head answered with a grin. "I never did go for those fancy titles anyway, and it feels weird to have everyone call me by my last name."

"I guess we'll be off as well, Cid." Faerio said, speaking up. "In case we don't run into you again, we'll meet back out front in two hours. That's unfortunately all the time we have for a visit. Remember, two hours. Lady Mianyl has a schedule to keep."

"It won't be a problem, my lady." Cid answered with a grin. "You know how punctual I am." He looked down to the others soon after. "Come right this way." He said as he began to climb the stairs again.

* * *

><p>Only a few minutes later, and Dael, Taraketh, and Carbuncle were now inside the temple, being led on by Cid. Dael hadn't seen where Faerio and Mianyl went, only that they ascended the same set of stairs, entered the temple, and then went on a different way. Dael's group, meanwhile, was taken elsewhere.<p>

Faerio had been right. The inside was much better done. Although it still lacked a lot of conveniences of modern architecture, it was well maintained. She supposed, in this climate, tropical giving way to temperate, weather wasn't much of an issue. The place wasn't leaky or drafty at all. There wasn't much in the way of doors. Rather, the inside had been subdivided into separate chambers. Most indeed looked like shrines of some sort, with almost all illumination coming from candles or braziers. A lot of them were necessary, as there were few windows letting light into the inner regions. She saw places for washing and places for cooking, and the only places that did seem to be cloistered off with wooden doors were what she assumed to be bedchambers.

Of course, what caught her interest the most were the numerous central chambers. She knew there was something good in them the moment they approached, because she saw Taraketh switch positions with her, as if to act as a screen to block out what was inside. He seemed to tense more than once, as if wanting to keep her from proceeding, and he even asked Cid once if there was a longer way to the shrine, to which he said no. By now, Carbuncle made no secret of his curiosity, and was practically darting his head in between Taraketh's legs to see. At last, there was nothing for it, and they moved by.

Carbuncle was disappointed. "That's _it_? Like I haven't seen that a million times over 3,000 years…"

Dael, however, was more amazed. This was where they practiced magic, apparently. In one chamber, a High Child, taking an instructor role, seemed to be talking to numerous small children. They were performing small gestures and chanting what sounded like an arcane mantra, and as a result small ribbons of glowing light seemed to be encircling them. In another chamber, fewer students were perched over withered plants, and were extending their hands over them, eyes closed, and chanting. Dael was just in time to see one of them have a green aura erupt from his hands over the plant, and immediately it began to perk up. In yet another room, a strange sight occurred as one student seemed to be struggling to chant while his classmates looked on, and slowly, his image appeared to blur and separate as if he was being seen through double vision. In yet another room, a girl, sweating, tired, and obviously having done it a lot, stood across from a clay statue with numerous burn marks on the wall, floor, and ceiling around it. Giving a yell, she chanted something else and aimed forward, and a fireball erupted from the end of her hand and sailed through the air…but just missed the torso and again singed the wall. The Child of Hyne yelled in frustration, while a High Child nearby tried to get her to calm down.

The young officer couldn't help but feel privileged. She now began to realize how much favor she had with Sorceress Mianyl…she was letting her be the first Esthar's Hawk ever to see these things. She had to have been serious about accepting her into the Order of Hyne if she trusted her to watch Order of Hyne members actually practicing magic.

Cid talked the entire time, not seeming to care at all for what Dael saw. He spoke in a jovial, amiable tone, carefree and pleasant, as he gestured along.

"I hail from one of the city-states around Sybenia myself. An industrial community. Dad was a machinist, and always bringing home bits and pieces of his work with him. We were poor and didn't have a whole lot of toys, so I spent most of my time working with them. Self-taught myself a lot of engineering. I never had a _whole_ lot of magical power, but I had some…enough to where I found myself sending my own currents through wires, or heating up metal to reshape in my bare hands. The Order of Hyne found out, but things were pretty poor that close to Sybenia, so they sent me here.

"I worked pretty hard…but I just never was that good of a mage. Never more than the basic stuff. Still, they kept me here, because I could use magic, even if only a little. I still kept up with the machine work, though. As you can imagine, it was rather hard to get materials way up here, but they were pretty understanding, including the last Sorceress. I think she kind of wished I would spend more time studying magic and less time doing mechanical stuff, but she still got me whatever scrap parts we could pick up. I kept working on them, and eventually I started making a few machines. Day to day stuff, you know. I could only keep some of them. We're very monastic here, and we don't want things becoming _too_ easy.

"Then one day I started trying something new. I tried seeing if I could power my own stuff with a bit of my magic, and it worked. My personal refrigerator air compressor froze my entire room. Heh…lucky thing they found me before I froze to death. I kept working on it and eventually got it right. Expanded it to a lot of other things too. Well, eventually the last Sorceress got wind of it, and she didn't like it all that much. Said I was dabbling in 'magitek', which is forbidden."

Dael had noticed that Carbuncle perked his head up at that. For a moment, she thought she saw his fur bristle. After a bit longer, she thought she heard a comment from him.

"…What is it with these guys named 'Cid'…?"

Cid continued as he shrugged. "Well, I talked it over quite a bit, and finally, we made some agreements. I was the only one who knew how to build that stuff, and I wasn't going to tell anyone else. Near as I could figure, the special transistors I built would only operate on humans putting their own magical power into it, so it wasn't true magitek. So, if I concentrated a lot more on my other studies, she'd let me do it.

"Well, by this point, I was rather hooked on engineering stuff, so I worked really hard. Don't know if I ever got as far as the other Children of Hyne, but I definitely put in more effort than any of them. Not just in magic but also in physical training." He frowned a bit. "It's a pity I never really got the hang of a weapon… My tools always seemed to work just as well." He shook his head soon after. "Anyway…I was working one day when the new Sorceress arrived. She walks right in unannounced and sees how hard I'm trying, and she took a shine to me, I guess. She came over and introduced herself, and me, naturally, I'm shaking all over like a leaf. It took about three hours before I calmed down to talk to her ladyship. Finally, we get in a conversation, one things leads to another, and finally I tell her about my machines.

"She said she'd love to see them, so I show them to her, and she's fascinated. Now that I know Lady Faerio better, I know these are probably the first real machines she's ever seen other than basic farm equipment. And out of the blue, she asks if they could be used against opponents. Obviously, she thought they were weapons. I said I never intended them for that. She reminds me that a lot of the younger and weaker mages can't go farming or fetching water because of the Tri-Faces. She says if I could make something that would let them defend themselves against those, it would be a big help. I said, 'Isn't it against the rules to use machines to help with chores?' She smiles back and says something like, 'Machines powered by gas or fission or electricity, but these are powered by our own magic.'"

Carbuncle had calmed at this point, but Dael saw that Taraketh, who had been looking progressively colder this whole time, was now definitely tensing up.

Cid continued. "So I built those big devices you saw the kids carrying on the way in. They fire bursts of wooden darts that have a touch of Thunder magic in each head, kind of like an 'electric shotgun'. Sure scares off the big guys in a hurry. She wanted to know if I could make more things like that. I said, I believe I could. Before I know it, she wants me to personally show her everything I build. So I do…and I throw in a few more weapon-type machines too. She has me demonstrate those against the local monsters. I guess I leave a pretty good impression…since some of my machines do better than the higher-level spellcasters in the temple. And we end up having a lot of conversations and talking a lot…and…" Here, he gave a shrug. "Before I know it, I'm being named her Sorceress Knight."

"Excuse me."

Abruptly, Taraketh snapped to one side. At this point, they had just reached a hallway leading to one of the side towers to their right, and the High Child immediately went off in that direction. The move was so sudden and abrupt that it caused Cid, Dael, and Carbuncle all to freeze. They turned and watched him go, but he didn't explain himself. All he did was practically jog away as he stomped down the hallway until he was out of the light, and then turned a corner.

Cid blinked in puzzlement.

"…Did I say something?"

Dael hesitated momentarily. Obviously, the things that Cid had been saying struck yet another chord within the High Child. However, she had never seen him react this strongly, not even with her. Something had really caught his ire at this moment. She realized he wasn't giving Cid near the respect he had given Jalab… Again, she thought she had a good idea why…if her suspicions regarding what Mianyl had told her earlier in her chambers were right.

Although she had little idea why she was doing this, she turned and looked back to Cid.

"I'll see what's wrong with him, Sir Boer."

"I'll come too." Carbuncle immediately volunteered.

For once, Dael didn't debate it or even give him a look. Instead, she turned and immediately broke into a full jog down the pathway that Taraketh had went down. Again, she asked herself why she was bothering to do this. Since when had Taraketh given her anything other than scorn and disdain? Even if this was meant to be a helpful gesture, it would never be respected as such. However, she figured she had come this far; she might as well go the rest of the way. Soon, Cid was left far behind as she reached the dark part of the corridor. From here, she could see sunlight coming in not much farther away, obviously from a natural window in the temple. With Carbuncle on her heels, she soon turned in that direction the same as Taraketh had.

As it turned out, she didn't have to go much farther. The High Child was standing there, looking out of the natural window. His fists were clenched and he looked almost livid with anger, barely able to contain himself. Dael and Carbuncle immediately slowed on seeing him and began to approach. He turned to them soon after, and this time, despite Carbuncle, he wasn't able to hold back his anger.

"What do you want?" He snapped.

Dael suppressed the urge to say the first thing that came to mind. _I want to know why you feel throwing one of your tantrums in front of a Sorceress Knight is worth making it even less likely that you'll get the position yourself. _However, she held it back. It would do no good. It would only make him madder if she knew the truth about his current 'career plans'. Instead, she had to pause a moment before she crossed her arms and gave him a more solid look.

"I want to know why you stormed off like that. This doesn't make any sense to me. You seemed to be afraid to cough when we met Jalab, and now you're throwing all of your respect and courtesy out the window."

Taraketh held a moment. He flustered for a few seconds, looking back out the window. He seemed to be thinking. After a bit longer, he turned back to her.

"Fine." He grumbled. "I want to vent to someone about this. I don't think anyone would believe you over me, but I suppose you're as good as anyone so long as you can keep your mouth shut about it."

"I can." Dael simply answered. "What is it?"

"Everything about this place has been getting to me since I've arrived." Taraketh immediately responded. "I mean, sure, I expected a few things here. This is a monastic establishment. And I'm perfectly alright with that. That's how most of us live. What I _don't_ like is that as soon as we arrived and Lady Faerio and C…Sir Boer came out to see us, neither of them was in proper attire." He flustered. "The Sorceress is lucky to visit once every three years! Couldn't they show a little respect for her?"

Dael gave a shrug. "It seemed as if they were showing plenty of respect. They just weren't wearing those cumbersome clothes. They probably aren't used to having to be 'official'."

"She's the Matriarch, not some visiting monk!" Taraketh protested. "And then I see who Lady Faerio chose for her Sorceress Knight, and I…I…" He stammered here. Dael could guess why. He didn't know how to come out and say this. If he voiced direct irritation and disapproval with him, he'd be going against his own Order's hierarchy, and he was too devoted to do that. He held a moment, but then finally spoke up.

"…Sir Boer…is nothing what I expected." He finally stated. "Aside from his almost casual way in which he goes about Lady Faerio, not even looking as if he could guard her from a dog, let alone a true opponent…and then hearing about how it's only due to weapons, _magitek_ weapons, no less, that he has any combat ability at all…" He fumed again at the thought, his fists clenching again. "Those weapons are forbidden by our code!"

Dael paused for only a moment, but then spoke up again, once more staying calm throughout.

"I may not know much about your order, but I know a little something about the history of magically-embued weapons. There have been many throughout history that haven't been 'magitek', as you put it. My Mage Gun alone is a magically embued weapon that doesn't conform to magitek standards."

"Yeah." Carbuncle added, finally throwing in his own two cents. He looked like he was reluctantly making an admission. "I was a little iffy myself at first, but if he's using his own power, there's nothing wrong with it. If he was strapping a Guardian Force down and sucking the life out of them, that would be something. But from what I can tell, this is simply a new way of using, say, one of the old magical rods or staves."

Taraketh paused on hearing this. He seemed to understand the reasoning within it. However, after a moment, he began to fluster again. "But still…why him? A Sorceress Knight is…I mean, I always thought based on history that a Sorceress Knight was supposed to be someone who was strong and upright…a great warrior who espoused the virtues and strength of the Order of Hyne…"

Dael readily responded this time, her tone actually turning a bit sharper, though overall calm.

"I don't know about strength or being a great warrior, but I'd think that 'espousing the virtues' of the Order of Hyne and holding true to your principals would at least be as important as raw power. And your superior obviously thinks he _does_ hold to that. Do you really think you're in a position to decide whether he does or does not after knowing him for all of ten minutes?"

Taraketh, never enjoying being called on something by the "grunt", wheeled on her momentarily. However, yet again, he was struck dumb, for he could say nothing in response to that. After a moment, before he could calm down, Carbuncle spoke up with a sigh.

"Look, buddy…" He started. "Not everything in this world is going to always go the way you like it. You seem to think everything should fall into whatever bins you've already set up in your mind, but things don't always work that way. And if you keep trying to shove everything into its nice little departments so that you can look up at some things and down your nose at others, you're never going to get that far in life and you're going to alienate a lot of people. I'm not just talking people you don't really care for in the first place…I'm talking members of your own order.

"You may get upset by a lot of things in this world, but I regret to tell you that you don't have control over everything that goes on in this world. The only thing you have total control over is yourself. So why not worry more about bettering yourself and let everyone else handle their own problems?"

Taraketh was silent at this. Dael couldn't help but give a look to the Guardian Force. Again, he showed that staying alive for this long had taught him to do more than just drink beer, eat ice cream, and play computer games. This was one of those rare moments she had to admit his wisdom. And even if Taraketh wouldn't listen to her, he would listen to him. After a bit longer, the High Child appeared to indeed soften up. He eased somewhat as his fists unclenched, and he looked back to them, although more so to Carbuncle.

"…You're right." He finally admitted. He paused a moment longer, and then exhaled again. "Let's head back to Sir Boer before he wonders what happened to us."

After that, he turned and began to walk back the way he came without any more hesitation. At first, Carbuncle and Dael just watched him, letting him get a lead. However, as he turned the corner and returned to the hallway, walking along, Carbuncle let out a sigh and turned to the young officer.

"I can see why _he'll_ never be a Sorceress Knight." He grumbled.

Dael had shared that much with Carbuncle after her meeting with Lady Mianyl, although she told him to keep it a secret…one she hoped he would be able to hang onto. After a moment, she exhaled and began to follow after him. "It's not my problem." She finally said as she walked along.

"Oh really?" Carbuncle answered as he fell in next to her. "Then why did you go after him?"

Dael didn't have an answer to that, so she didn't give one, or even slow in her step.

In just a few moments, the three were returning to the main hall. Cid was still there, still waiting for them, and looking a bit perplexed as they neared. He called out to them.

"Is everything alright?"

"I just felt a bit of altitude sickness, my lord." Taraketh immediately answered before anyone else could. "I had to get my bearings after the trip here."

"Oh." Cid responded, then smiled. "I understand. Heh…it can be quite the climb if you're not used to it. Anyway, you're alright now, I take it?"

Taraketh came to a stop nearby. The other two soon fell in next to him. The High Child nodded. "Yes, no problems at all now."

"Good to hear. With what you'll be doing, I don't think I'd want any handicaps. Anyway, on we go."

The Sorceress Knight turned and soon began to lead the three on again. They fell in behind him and were soon proceeding much as they did before.

* * *

><p>They didn't have too much farther to go. Dael only saw one more magic chamber before things returned to being for more domestic or conventional usage. As such, there wasn't too much more to see en route. However, as they reached the rear of the temple, they finally came to a turn in the path. Cid led them around the bend and took them a bit further. Finally, a bit further ahead, Dael saw another turn. By now, she reasoned they had to be at the back of the temple and toward the center. What loomed ahead to their right was a large, arched, stone entryway. A pair of statues were framed in front of it, as well as various bas relief stone images, all depicting, what Dael assumed, were Guardian Forces and their interactions with humans. The statutes themselves seemed to be of twin birds perching, both of them so sleek, streamlined, and unconventional that they almost didn't look like birds at all. The wings had large tips that were visible even folded, and the head looked more like a streamlined shape rather than having a beak. Not only that, but feathers seemed to splay around the bottom half of it, almost like a skirt. At any rate, Cid turned and began to lead them through the tunnel.<p>

"As I said earlier, you're in luck today." Cid continued. "Lady Quetzacoatl only stops by the inner shrine periodically. I think she's in today just in case she can get a word with Lady Mianyl." He raised his brows a bit at the thought. "That's quite the honor, even for her. Strong as the Sorceresses are, the Guardian Forces rarely give audiences." He chuckled a bit. "Maybe she knew you all were coming."

If that was meant to be a joke, it was lost on the others. Carbuncle was normal, Dael was stoic, and Taraketh was focused on meeting the Guardian Force. His smile fading, Cid grimaced a bit before turning forward and leading them on further.

This passageway was a bit nicer. Unlike the interior of the temple, there was access to the outside here. The long, stone, arched pathway leading up to the large shrine outside had many long, natural openings. Indeed, the entire line of sides would be open if not for the columns that supported the roof all the way to the back entrance. It was built on uneven terrain, so Dael couldn't initially see ahead due to bends in the path. Instead, she looked outside, enjoying the breeze and seeing a few more Children of Hyne playing around. Finally, up ahead, an entrance loomed, large and opening into a dimly-lit chamber, although the light inside was quite vivid. However, the dim nature might simply have been due to the relative amount of sunlight. At any rate, they soon reached the entrance and stepped inside.

Dael immediately felt a change in the air the second she went in. It was only typical. Most of the areas of the temple she had been in so far had been quite cool and comfortable, although a bit "close" due to the stone nature of the place. This was far more open. It was typical. The interior of the dome structure didn't have much extra to it. It was mostly just a massive entry space, with more bas reliefs of various interactions between Guardian Forces and humans, mixed with ones simply depicting their power and glory. The interior was easily twenty-five meters high, with a circular bottom of diameter fifty meters…or roughly that amount. Definitely spherical, however. As seen before, a massive aperture was around the top of the dome, letting in a great amount of sunlight, which was angled slightly at this point in the day rather than pointing straight down.

Yet Dael hardly paid any of that any mind, and it would be some time before one could ask her to recall the shape of the room before she could recognize anything.

Her attention was focused entirely on the middle of the chamber.

A nest made of thick tree branches had been erected there, much as an eagle would do (not bothering with twigs), only built up with even thicker branches than that, for this was housing something far larger than an eagle. And there, perched inside, looking up at their arrival, was the Guardian Force. She had a feeling Carbuncle would be rather jealous of the way she practically gawked at it, but she was sad to say that Carbuncle simply wasn't nearly as impressive as this creature before her.

It looked more or less like the statues, with the long wings with long tapered feathered tips, a very large, collapsed, swallow-like tail, which seemed to have a second swallow-like portion to it with the feathered "skirt" splayed around it. The Guardian Force's feathers were so thick, pressed, and uniform that it almost didn't look as if it had feathers at all. Only on its breast did the feathers change nature to form almost a layered amount of feathers across its chest, creating a "texture", as it were. Dark patterns of feathers were intermingled on its body, including one across the top of its head, obscuring the very small eyes. Feathers moved so far over the beak that it was practically non-existent. The creature didn't even seem to have a mouth at first. Last but not least, the entire creature glowed with a light that was more than sunshine. It seemed more "vivid" and intense, almost electric. All in all, the bird-like Guardian Force was considerably larger than a human, and, much as the Sorceresses did, Dael could feel an aura of power radiating from it. The very air seemed "charged". Luckily, it wasn't as intimidating as Mianyl, but considering the raw power of the creature, she was still struggling to suppress anxiety as Cid led them inside.

The Guardian Force raised a head to them as they came in. Before it could say anything, however, Cid stopped, and gave a polite bow to the creature.

"Greetings, Lady Quetzacoatl."

The great bird gave a slight bow in response of her own head. "The same to you, Sir Boer. It seems you've brought visitors to see me, and from the look of them I don't think they're typical pilgrims." Her voice was calm and pleasant enough, but seemed to almost have a charge on the tone. She turned her head slightly to the group again, but soon after froze. As Dael couldn't see her eyes, she had no idea who she was focusing on. However, she soon confirmed it.

"…Carbuncle? Is that you?"

"Hey, bird brain." Carbuncle answered as she walked forward, moving right in front of the others without a care and straight for the Guardian Force. As he did, Dael almost thought she saw just a bit of a tongue stick out from Carbuncle's practically indetectable mouth. "Been a long time."

"Oh, not that long." The lightning bird responded, straightening up a bit more. "What…80 years? That's not even as long as the old birthing rituals."

"Ugh…that's still far too long." Carbuncle grumbled. "We're living in a modern world, it's time to get on a modern time schedule. Anyway, what have you been up to?"

"Not much." Quetzacoatl responded, giving a shrug with her large wings. "Mostly just living here. I'd move around more, but I get a lot of company from the other Order of Hyne members, so I'm never lonely."

"Not lonely?" Carbuncle echoed. "Some of them can be a bunch of stiffs…"

Taraketh grimaced a bit on hearing this.

"Oh, they're really nice, once you get to know them." Quetzacoatl answered. "And they're always so polite and courteous."

"Heh…now _that_ I can appreciate." Carbuncle answered with a grin. "How's the food?"

"On this side of the island, there's plenty of fish." The lightning bird answered. "I'm glad we're not any closer to the city proper. Then getting food would be a nightmare, and any fish I could get would probably be full of mercury…"

"I hear that." Carbuncle answered with a chuckle. "I figured the food would be good. Heh…you certainly haven't been starving since I've seen you last."

Immediately, the glow on the lightning bird seemed to intensify. Dael thought she almost heard some electricity crackle through the air.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?!" She shot back.

Carbuncle shrugged. "I'm just saying…you know…you still got meat on your bones. You aren't emaciated or anything."

"Define 'meat'." Quetzacoatl answered dangerous, more crackling going through the air.

Carbuncle sighed. "You know, _this_ is why I don't come see you more often. I crack a joke and you start throwing a fit."

"That wasn't a joke!" Quetzacoatl retorted. "That was just being mean!"

"Oh come on! Here, look! Look at me! See? I've been eating ice cream and guzzling soda ever since I moved in with this one…" He gestured a paw absently behind him to Dael. Dael had to suppress frowning at being simply called "this one". "So see? I've put on some weight too! I bet I'm a whole two pounds heavier!"

"Two pounds?!" Quetzacoatl snapped back. "You call that gaining weight?!"

"It is when you're the size of a f***ing lap dog!" Carbuncle protested.

By now, the three were beginning to sweat a bit at this entire exchange. This wasn't nearly as official or dignified as they thought it might have been. It was making them a little uncomfortable to be here. Even Cid was starting to look rather nervous, although that probably wasn't too much a stretch for him. He had more uncertainty about him, Dael had noticed, than a trainee in the Academy. However, she herself was afraid at any moment a bolt of lightning would erupt from Quetzacoatl and blow a hole through the masonry.

Luckily, she didn't have to interject. Swallowing a bit, Taraketh abruptly stepped forward.

"Um…Lord Carbuncle, Lady Quetzacoatl…" He announced, quickly sneaking this in between bantering. "Could I…speak for a moment?"

The two Guardian Forces glared at each other a moment longer, but then it was as if some invisible switch had been pulled. Seeming to remember themselves, they both turned and looked to Taraketh. After a moment, Carbuncle was smiles again.

"Heh…sorry, got a bit carried away. Sure thing…she's all yours."

He immediately began to return to Dael's side.

"Oh…oh yes, I'm sorry. You obviously came her on business." Quetzacoatl apologized as well, her tone again becoming pleasant, her electricity dying down, and resuming her calm, friendly air. She eased back into her nest again. "What can I do for you, young man?"

Taraketh eased up for just a moment, seeming relieved that they had all so easily calmed down. However, that only lasted a few seconds. He seemed to grow freshly nervous once again soon after. He swallowed it back, but there was no denying he had a touch of anxiety. At any rate, he managed to look up with the boldest expression possible, and looked to Quetzacoatl in which, Dael presumed, was straight in the eye.

"My lady…I wish for you to consent to become my summon and junction. I wish to undergo your challenge."

So that confirmed it. Dael had some suspicions that this was the case the whole time, but now it was out. Carbuncle had mentioned before that technically Dael should have only gained his power through besting his trial, but they had overlooked that part. For anyone else, even an Order of Hyne member, they had to go through this procedure. To be honest, Dael wasn't entirely sure what it entailed. She presumed a fight, but beyond that, she wasn't really sure, and she hadn't truly bothered asking Carbuncle too much about it as it was unnecessary.

Dael soon got a better idea, however. The mood in the chamber seemed to shift automatically. Cid, Carbuncle, Taraketh, and Quetzacoatl all seemed to grow more grim and serious. The warmth and friendliness of Quetzacoatl vanished. She became much colder and harder, as if taking this like a matter of life and death. It actually unsettled Dael a bit. Exactly what did this trial entail?

"I see." She started off, stating the two words in a joyless, mirthless tone. "You are well aware of what taking my trial means?"

Taraketh, clenching his hands into fists, gave a nod. "I do."

"You understand what will happen if you fail?"

Taraketh paused, but then nodded again.

"Finally, understand that I do not hold back. Especially not against you, Sir Sabian. I have heard of you from the other members of the Order of Hyne and that you are already junctioned to the Minotaur Brothers. That means I will not go easy on you."

"I understand."

Quetzacoatl gave a sigh. She held a bit longer, but then nodded her head.

"Very well. I won't deny your request." She looked up to the others. "It is best that the rest of you stand back, or even in the entrance."

A bit to Dael's surprise, Quetzacoatl immediately leaned up and got out of her nest by flapping her large wings once, sending her over the edge. Once out, she flew only enough to get in front of it, and then continued to slowly flap her wings, going into a hover. Seeing as there was no way her wings could physically keep her in mid-air, Dael reasoned she was using some form of magic for this too. At any rate, now on one side of her nest, she began to flap her wings strongly. The surprising part happened soon afterward, as Dael saw the large, no-doubt heavy, nest began to actually slide along the floor from the power of her wings and toward the side of the chamber.

Taraketh, meanwhile, quickly undid his bronze clasp and removed his robe, tossing it behind him against the back wall. Cid, on his part, turned and looked to Dael and Carbuncle, looking a bit nervous.

"Right…um…it's best we stand aside."

He quickly moved forward and gestured, moving for them to go back. Dael obliged. A fight with a Guardian Force? She had never seen the like, but she assumed, given Quetzacoatl's raw size, it wasn't something for the meek. If an opponent could hurl lightning bolts, even the large chamber seemed a bit inadequate. She wondered what Taraketh was getting himself into. Even junctioned herself, she had a feeling she couldn't shrug off a bolt of lightning, and Quetzacoatl _did_ say she wouldn't hold back. Perhaps she couldn't really throw lightning as strong as she said.

Soon they were back in the tunnel. By now, the nest had been pushed aside, and Quetzacoatl moved back to the center and hovered there. Unlike a hummingbird, for example, she seemed to be able to hold herself upright as she flapped her wings slowly. Taraketh, on his part, loosened up a bit before undoing his kusarigama from his side. He began to swing the hammer around in a circle with his left hand while wielding the sickle with the other. Dael watched all of this as she leaned against a wall of the tunnel. She couldn't help but feel a rush inside her. This was a rather great mage in the Order of Hyne versus a Guardian Force. This was no small matter. There were probably a lot of combat and fighting enthusiasts who would pay handsomely to be where she was right now. She really had no idea what to expect as far as a result went. This creature seemed to be made of raw magic. How could you fight that?

After a moment, however, she heard a chuckle from below. She looked down, and saw Carbuncle staring intently.

"You don't like Taraketh that much, I've guessed…" He stated aloud. "Well then, keep your fingers crossed. He may never bother you again after this."

Dael looked to Carbuncle curiously at that. "Excuse me?"

However, there was no time to answer. Giving a yell, Taraketh launched an attack, and the fight was on.

Dael soon received a "wake up" to the level of intensity and effort was going into this battle with the first move, as Taraketh flung the hammer of his weapon at Quetzacoatl with sufficient force to dent metal or rip off a normal man's head. At any rate, the Guardian Force quickly snapped to one side, let the weapon sail harmlessly past and then get recoiled, before snapping her head forward. Lightning erupted from the end of her beak and sailed straight for Taraketh…what looked to be, in Dael's estimation, a true bolt of lightning. As a result, one would think it would be impossible to dodge, but Taraketh had already begun to move the instant he saw Quetzacoatl pull back, and the bolt instead raked a blackened trench into the ground.

Quickly. Taraketh swung his hammer back, added some momentum to it with a few twirls, and then lashed out yet again, this time in an arc. Quetzacoatl had to duck to avoid it, before she snapped her head forward, and this time sent out dual bolts of lightning to come around and intersect on Taraketh's position as the chain was still extended. Again, Taraketh showed his prowess by yanking back his chain and going into a forward dive. He quickly went into a somersault, dodging the lightning again, and as soon as he landed, he shot to his feet and swung his chain up again, this time with the sickle. Quetzacoatl seemed caught off guard by how soon he had closed the distance, as well as the attack coming from practically below her. She quickly swept her wings back to shoot away from him. However, Taraketh was expecting this. Quickly chanting some arcane words, he swung his hand down against the ground, tracing ribbons of glowing light. Moments later, and the floor was fractured again as a column of stone erupted from it like a projectile. Quetzacoatl tried to dodge it, but was too slow…the stone hitting one of her wings. She gave out a cry of pain like a bird screeching as she was wrenched in mid-air, nearly falling out of it.

Wanting to press his advantage, Taraketh quickly retracted his chain and swung it around to build momentum. However, he never got the chance. Quetzacoatl, while still faltering, snapped her head forward. A dozen smaller bolts of electricity erupted from her beak and saturated the area in front of her, all around Taraketh. The High Child tried to dodge, but since the bolt was no longer focused right on his position, it was all but impossible. Sure enough one of the smaller bolts struck him. For a moment, his body was enveloped in electric light, and Dael saw him seize violently before the force of the charge ripped him off of his feet and flung him across the room, dumping him rather hard against the stone ground and sending him for a tumble. Dael was shocked. She thought that even she would have a hard time getting up from that.

However, she apparently had a low view of Taraketh's power…or at least his tenacity. He had scarcely come to a stop before he rose again and faced off against Quetzacoatl, who was still trying to recover. Immediately, he traced his hands through the air and began to chant more extensively this time. It became clear to Dael, even with her own limited experience, that he was pulling out something big. And she was right. The air around them began to grow dark. The sun seemed to dim, and the only remaining light with undiminished intensity was the light coming from Quetzacoatl. Not long after, Dael saw it. A disk appeared of translucent material, shimmering like water…and she realized what he was doing. He was summoning the Minotaur Brothers.

A moment later, and she actually let out a bit of a gasp and recoiled as a massive minotaur, one easily ten feet tall, leapt out of the disk and touched down on the ground, flexing momentarily before holding his head up and roaring. He was hideous to behold, his face twisted and purple with glowing eyes that lacked pupils. He was clad in rough armor although he had no weapon, and his horns as red as his eyes curling up on the sides of his head. He was rippling with muscle and in large armor that still barely contained him, and he dragged a hoof against the ground in such a way that he ripped a large trail into the stone ground.

Giving a snarl, the large minotaur dove down to the ground and seized it with both hands. Giving another monstrous roar and a grunt, he heaved, and ripped off a huge piece of stone from the floor itself, ripping a huge slab into the air and holding it up at an angle. Dael was shocked. The stone was two feet thick and was easily twenty by twenty, roughly. He continued to hold it for a moment, seeming to aim it at Quetzacoatl, who by now had nearly recovered. However, as she looked up to him, the "meat" of the attack made an appearance.

Abruptly, a second minotaur leapt out from the disk…but this one wasn't much to look at, scarcely three or four feet high and easily dwarfed by the larger one. Aside from that, however, he had yellow horns and eyes, and otherwise was identical to the larger in everything but size. For a moment, Dael thought this one must have been the younger and weaker of the two…but that assumption was soon shattered as she received another surprise. Giving a roar of his own, comically small compared to his size, sounding almost sped-up or "miniaturized", he charged forward, aiming his horns down as he did so. The larger one looked behind him at this, and gaped in shock, seemingly horrified at seeing the small minotaur headed for him. Dael was puzzled as to why, for it seemed as if he would bounce right off the bigger one…but then received her answer when the small one connected. With a crack of force so loud it fractured stone in the entire chamber, the larger one along with the slab was ripped off of the ground, and the entire mess of both of them were sent flying straight at Quetzacoatl, looking to smash her.

However, for all of the effort and setup of this attack, it seemed to be for nothing. The lightning bird had regained her "footing", so to speak, by now, and simply underneath, letting the dazed large minotaur and the stone fly over her harmlessly. She soon swept back up to regain her old position, and Dael already saw the air turning light again, and the two minotaurs both fading along with the hovering disk…

Yet it seemed Taraketh wasn't done. Abruptly, he sailed into Dael's visual path, and based on how he was coming, she reasoned he had used his enhanced strength and agility to leap into the air and shoot straight at Quetzacoatl. The lightning bird actually showed a hint of surprise on her expression as she came out of her duck to see Taraketh shooting right for her, swinging the hammer over his head three times as fast as before. Before she could do anything else, he swung the end around and smashed it heavily into the side of her head.

Dael was, quite honestly, shocked at the power of the blow, especially on seeing Quetzacoatl's head fly to the side and soon shoot through the air, carrying her body with it. As Taraketh touched down, she smashed into a nearby stone wall. She didn't crack it any more than it was already. No doubt, her feathered helped cushion the blow. But dust did erupt from the point of contact, and she was so stunned she slid off the sloped wall toward the ground, not moving. Taraketh wasn't giving her a moment of a breather. As soon as he landed, he reversed chains so that he could start swinging his sickle around instead, and took off for her like a shot, preparing another blow…one that would likely do far more damage with that blade. At last, Dael seemed to fully realize this wasn't a "spar" or a "friendly match". This was no holds barred.

Soon, Taraketh was on her. She swung the chain forward again, this time with the sickle, in a straight line…looking to pierce her. However, moments before impact, Quetzacoatl suddenly blazed to life in more ways than one. Her eyes suddenly lit up like a pair of lightning orbs, and her entire body glowed fiercely with electric light. With one wing snap, she was sent up into the air again, and the sickle shot by harmlessly before embedding in the wall, breaking the stone and sinking inside. Taraketh quickly tried to recoil it again…but not this time. It was stuck fast, due to its hooked nature. He tried pulling on it harder, but the stone only began to give slightly. He was stunned.

At that was a bad position for him to be in, for as soon as Quetzacoatl was up again, the air began to sizzle and crackle around her. Bolts of energy snaked to the tip of her beak. An instant later, she swung her beak down straight at the end of the kusarigama and fired a bolt of lightning into it. Being made of metal, it proved the perfect conductor as it snaked through the chain in a burst of light and struck the young man on the other end.

Bad as the blow had been before, Dael soon saw much worse as the young man and his weapon were ripped off of the floor and wall, respectively, and thrown violently across the chamber before slamming down on the ground and sliding further, nearly slamming into the stone on the opposite side despite being 50 yards away. He tumbled again, and this time, Dael saw smoke coming from his body as well as burn marks on his hands. They looked overwhelmingly painful, and she thought crippling. And yet, once again, Taraketh snapped out of it and got to his feet. And as if the burns weren't even there, he grabbed the ends of his kusarigama again. Dael could only image the pain he put himself into by doing so, but he did. She also noticed he rose a bit more slowly this time…beginning to show some wear and tear…

Yet he had no time to rest or even catch his breath. Scarcely had he arisen than Quetzacoatl began to hover over to him and fire repeated bolts at him, each one as deadly as the one who just hit him. Dael thought he would be dead after taking a lightning bolt like that, and even if he was still standing now she couldn't see him weathering more than one or two more of those. Luckily, he didn't plan on being hit, it seemed. He began to dash toward the Guardian Force again, rapidly pivoting, leaping, and moving in a serpentine fashion to dodge each shot. Only due to his superhuman speed was he able to pull it off, but he did so and wasn't tagged once. Soon, he was closing the distance to her, swinging his kusarigama around, once more making it dodge all of her bolts, and then letting the hammer fly straight at her again.

This time, however, he was way off. Quetzacoatl flapped her wings twice, and immediately took up higher into the broad range of the dome. The kusarigama went clear by her, and soon she was responding with another bolt. It was so fast, Taraketh barely had time to pull his weapon back (realizing the weakness the metal was now), and then dove for it. Caught off guard, he was soon visibly straining to avoid another bolt. He had an opening after that and tried to throw the sickle this time, but it missed Quetzacoatl's flying body by a good four yards.

"About time she caught on…" Carbuncle grumbled as he watched this. "Honestly, that Guardian Force is just like a human sometimes…"

Dael didn't have time to ask about this comment. A moment later, Quetzcoatl fired again, and this time was almost directly above Taraketh. Only by going into practically a panic move did he avoid being struck by lightning yet again. Soon, he did two more as she fired off two more bolts, once again trying to tag him, and always shooting in front of him enough in order to force him back beneath her, where her bolts had the lowest margin of error. For a few moments, it seemed as if he was pinned.

However, as Quetzacoatl threw out a fourth bolt, Taraketh abruptly leapt to one side and twisted as he did so. It was a rather dramatic move, but it got the job done. He managed to twist around the bolt and get clear. Once there, he went into a tumble on the floor, but this time it was intentional. After performing another somersault, he came out of it, looked up, and quickly began to speak once again in the arcane tongue, gesturing with his hands as he did so. He moved more rapidly now, but also spoke more and gestured more frequently. A few moments later, and not one by multiple columns of rock erupted from the ground like massive pistons one after the other, all shooting into the sky.

The lightning bird, however, didn't even need to change altitude, for even the highest-rising one didn't get closer than four yards of her. Soon, she fired off another bolt, just as Taraketh was finishing up, and he managed to dodge by even a more narrow margin than before. He dashed for one of the same columns of rock that had just erupted from the ground, grabbed onto the side, and began to climb in a flurry, looking to try and get up to Quetzacoatl's level to fight back. However, he never got the chance. Climbing the rock had made him a wide open target. Quetzacoatl fired again, this time a bolt so large and intense that it shattered the pillar. In addition to being struck by cast off electricity, the pillar seemed to explode, and boulder smacked the young man. Soon, he was sent flying yet again, and landed with more impact against the ground than yet encountered in the fight.

Taraketh once again rose…but he was no longer springing to his feet. As he did so, Dael noticed he was bruised and bloody in a few spots from being tagged by the rocks. As Quetzacoatl renewed her assault, however, she was distracted yet again by Carbuncle nearby.

"Good as over, now…"

Dael looked a bit longer. Taraketh managed again to dodge, but he was visibly panting and straining now. No doubt, his injuries were adding to his pain and strain. He kept dodging, but he was getting slower at this point. As for Quetzacoatl, she moved over to him to make it harder to dodge, but she also stayed in the air. Finally, Dael got what Carbuncle was talking about. Taraketh had quite a reach with his weapon, but it was far from being terribly long range. Quetzacoatl was staying in the air. There was no way he could hit her with it now. Even his powerful earth magic was just that: earth-based. He couldn't hope to hit a flying creature with it unless it stayed close to the ground.

Taraketh just barely managed to dodge two more bolts before he did a crazy leap in the air, not nearly as focused as before. He didn't even have time to build momentum with his kusarigama. Dael almost winced and looked away at the result as Quetzacoatl struck him dead on with another bolt of lightning. This time, Taraketh couldn't shrug it off. He gave an audible cry before his vocal cords seized, and he once again flew across the room. This time, he _did_ smash into a wall and fly off of it a moment later, landing on his face. His entire body was smoking, and Dael could see most of his clothing was singed with marks from the lightning. And yet…giving a moan, he managed to get his hands weakly under him. A second later, he pushed back to his feet, although he wobbled. Quetzacoatl was again on him. Another bolt fired. He managed to dodge it somehow, which was incredibly considering he could only move as fast as a normal human now, so battered he was…but Quetzacoatl soon closed the distance and fired yet again. Now, she was so close his weakened body couldn't react in time. He was struck and cried out again before he was flung even more violently at the wall and bounced off yet again. Once more he went to the ground…and Dael now could smell flesh being burnt.

In spite of her dislike for Taraketh, in spite of all of his chagrin and scorn…the young officer was growing uncomfortable at seeing this, especially when she saw Quetzacoatl near to charge again…with Taraketh barely able to move.

"I…I think it's over." She said, not able to keep from stammering a bit. "I think she's won…she can stop now."

"Sorry, young lady." Carbuncle answered, his own voice having turned rather grim. "That's not how it works."

The young officer turned to him, almost puzzled. He exhaled nervously as he kept watching.

"If you want to gain a Guardian Force's power, you have to pass their trial. And the trial is always to the death. The only way it ends is if the Guardian Force gives up, and that doesn't happen unless _they _can't fight anymore."

Dael was shocked. She realized by now this was a brutal fight, but…

"…To the death?!" She echoed incredulously.

"That's how it's been for thousands of years." Carbuncle added with a shrug. "We don't give our powers away lightly. Otherwise anyone would show up wanting our power. Only those with the bravest and strongest souls can succeed."

"You mean…if he loses…she's going to kill him?" Dael shot back, trying to keep her voice from sounding completely panicked. "Just like that? That's…that's barbaric!"

"He knew that was what was at stake when he challenged her." Was all Carbuncle answered.

Even Cid seemed to be growing uncomfortable at this point. He was shifting uneasily from place to place. However, he didn't do anything either.

"I…I've never seen anyone…lose before…" He admitted. "I mean, I know it's happened…but I've never been here for it…"

Dael snapped back to Taraketh. He wasn't that far away from her right now. However, it was clear he was done. He didn't even have the time to recover from the latest attack. He was quivering all over, no doubt his muscles and nerves paralyzed from repeated bolts of electricity. He was struggling to push up, but couldn't even look as Quetzacoatl hovered over him. She was pulling her beak back, and charging her energy once again. This one was the strongest bolt yet…

Dael turned to Carbuncle.

"This is enough! Can't you do something?"

Carbuncle casually shrugged. "Rules are rules. No other Guardian Force can just jump in and aid either side. The only way they can do it is if their owner summons them, and that has to be another human."

Dael looked back again. The bolt was still gathering power. There wouldn't be anything left of Taraketh but a black streak.

She stared a bit longer, thinking this over. After a few more moments, however…she realized something. She may not have liked Taraketh that much, but she wasn't base or petty enough to just stand there and watch him die. He may have been getting his just desserts for his arrogance, but hopefully that was a lesson he had learned now and wasn't something that death had to hammer home. She may have been a soldier and devoted to duty, but she knew, in spite of everything the High Child had done, that it wasn't in her nature to let anyone expire when she could do something to help them. Finally, she looked back to the Guardian Force.

"Then I'd get ready, because you're about to help whether you like it or not."

Carbuncle turned to her in confusion. "Huh?"

Dael didn't answer. Instead, she made a gesture of her own and chanted an arcane word, and a second later she blinked out of existence.

Soon afterward, Dael materialized right in front of Taraketh, who by now had barely managed to get to all fours. Weakly, he looked up a bit on seeing her there, but Dael didn't pay him any mind. Instead, she looked straight up to Quetzacoatl. She was rather humbling from this distance…glowing all over light living lightning. She could feel the charge in the air and the power radiating off of her. However, Dael was fierce too. Immediately, she traced a symbol similar to Taraketh's on the air in front of her and called out in the arcane language yet again. Abruptly, a disk similar to the one Taraketh made popped into existence in front of her.

Dael didn't risk looking back to the opening to see if Carbuncle had really jumped into a similar portal just to go such a short distance, and frankly she didn't care…so long as what happened next happened, which was that Carbuncle leapt out of the portal and landed in front of her. For a moment, in spite of his normally expressionless face, Dael thought she almost saw him roll his eyes and sigh, before he aimed his own ruby at Quetzacoatl. A moment later, it ignited into a blinding, ruby light, one that Dael couldn't stare directly at even with enhanced senses. It soon left an effect that she could see, however. The light spread out and seemed to solidify like some sort of prism, and cut a great half sphere around herself and Taraketh. Dael really wasn't sure what it would do…only that Carbuncle had boasted time and again about being useful against magic, and now she was able to see if he lived up to his claim.

Carbuncle had scarcely finished and begun to vanish again when Quetzacoatl launched her attack, firing a massive bolt of lightning at both of them. Dael nearly drew her sword…before she realized the sheer lunacy of trying to deflect lightning with a blade. She could only stand there for whatever would come next. For a moment, she panicked, her eyes filling with fear as she saw the deadly bolt come crashing down on them, and she expected a multitude of white hot pain traveling through her entire body. However…it did not come. The gleaming sphere intensified as the bolt struck it, becoming more concrete and firm, almost like a shell of light. The bolt connected, but did nothing…save seem to be completely absorbed by the light. As the bolt spent itself, the shell grew thicker and larger, gleaming with more energy than ever.

The bolt eventually totally spent itself, and Quetzacoatl was left hovering there momentarily as the glowing shell continued to envelop Dael and Taraketh. Then, something happened the young officer didn't expect. Abruptly, the shield erupted with a bolt just as large and terrible as the one they had been struck with, only sailing straight back at Quetzacoatl. Moments later, the bolt hit her smack dab in the chest, and the lightning sizzled and crashed through the air as it blasted her.

However, contrary to what she might have thought, Quetzacoatl was not harmed, singed, or even made to smoke. Rather, her own glow only became brighter and more intense, and she seemed more invigorated and empowered for it. Dael was a bit overwhelmed. How could she be enduring it?

She soon got an answer. As the glow from the shell started to die down, she heard a scowl from beneath her.

"Great job, grunt…" Taraketh said in a sarcastic, strained voice. He seemed to be making an effort just to make sure he sounded scornful, because he wasn't even back to his feet yet. "You just had to use a reflection spell, didn't you? Now all of her attacks that hit us will only make her stronger, and once the spell wears off she'll be more powerful than ever!"

Dael looked down to him, seeing him looking up only to glare at her angrily, using what little strength he had to do that. Dael couldn't help but give him a dark look back, before she shot down and seized him. She quickly began to pull him up, not waiting for him to aid her.

"Please…save your gratitude for me not letting her fry you until _after_ she's beaten…" She groaned sarcastically.

"What…what are you doing?" He exclaimed as she pulled him off the ground. However, without another word, she immediately moved him around and threw him on her back, braced him, and then took off in a dash. Thanks to her own enhanced speed and strength, she was soon clear before Quetzacoatl fired off another bolt, ripping chunks of stone out from where they were. It might not have hurt them if it had hit, but Dael knew it would make her stronger at this point, and she wasn't intending for that to happen. Soon, she was dashing around the interior of the chamber with Taraketh on her back. Quetzacoatl soon pitched after them and went into a run.

"Saving you! What do you think I'm doing?" Dael shot back as she kept running. Soon, she quickly had to leap to the side to avoid another blast of lightning. She narrowly did so. Taraketh made it look surprisingly easy, but the time between her launching her attack and it making contact was almost instantaneous. If she hadn't been studying how Taraketh had done it, there was no way she would have dodged in time. A second bolt soon was fired, but she dodged that as well, keeping running. She did risk a look behind her as she did. Quetzacoatl was still playing it smart. While she was chasing after them, she stayed in the air.

"Stop running, you idiot!" Taraketh protested. He was trying to wriggle free at the moment, but was still too weak and dazzled to do it. However, his strength was returning. Dael could feel it. He had remarkably tenacity for having been struck by lightning three times in the past five minutes. "How am I supposed to beat her if you keep running?"

"Standing your ground wasn't doing any good either, from what I saw!" Dael shouted back as she vaulted over another bolt. This one was close again. Quetzacoatl was obviously getting her pattern down. She couldn't keep this up for too much longer, especially not weighed down by Taraketh. "Try thinking of a way to attack her!"

"I can attack her fine if she's close to the ground!" The High Child returned.

"Well that's not an option unless we can bring her closer to the ground!" Dael responded. "How do we do that?"

"Put me down!" Taraketh returned. "I'll summon the Brothers again! They'll bring this entire shrine down on her!"

Dael suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She thought he could have been smarter than that. He must have been in so much pain and agitation that he was making stupid choices. "Assuming _we_ don't get crushed in the process, what if she flies out before it can hit her?"

"You got any better ideas?"

Before Dael could answer, a bolt lashed out, and this time it hit home. Or, rather, it would have hit home if it hadn't been for the reflective spell still being in effect. Instead, once more, the shell lit up around her, translucent and bright, and growing brighter as it absorbed the spell. A second later, it erupted again and shot a bolt back at Quetzacoatl. Dael, on her part, never stopped running during any of this…but the Guardian Force did. Although it didn't hurt her, as the bolt struck her, Quetzacoatl arched back and extended her wings, flaring in power and igniting in a more brilliant glare of energy. For a moment, she simply hovered there and absorbed the power, allowing Dael to get some distance, before taking off for her again.

Seeing this, however…began to give Dael a bit of hope. She started to wonder if there might be a way to fight back after all…

"Terrific!" Taraketh griped. "By now, any damage I did to her is healed!"

"Just get ready to unload everything you have left on her." Dael responded, as she reached to her side. Luckily she still had all of her weapons on her, including her Mage Gun and bullets. She didn't know how command would react to her using one of these in a non-combat situation…but so be it. She could say she was defending a civilian, which was true enough.

"Huh?" Taraketh answered.

"Can you still fight or can't you?" Dael responded as she got out her gun with one hand while pulling out a shell with another. By now, Taraketh, for all his complaining and struggling, had grabbed on to avoid sliding off and hitting the ground, freeing up Dael's hands for this task. In spite of all this, she was still able to leap to the side and dodge a second later when Quetzacoatl fired again. Once more, it was closer than she liked. She didn't know how much longer that barrier would last, but it was keeping her alive even if it was empowering Quetzacoatl in the same breath. The next bolt that struck her might actually connect. And even if she survived, she doubted Taraketh could take another hit…and he was in between her and Quetzacoatl.

"Yes, I can. I think I've recovered now…"

"Alright…then like I said, get ready to hit her with everything you've got." Dael answered as she slammed the shell into her gun. Based on Taraketh's tone and the fact that he was holding onto her, she doubted he was in that great shape. But all she needed him for was to seize the moment. This was his fight, after all. She was merely going to set up Quetzacoatl for the final blow.

Dael finished adjusting the barrel, and then did something almost unexpected. Abruptly, she spun around and planted her feet on the floor, facing straight at Quetzacoatl. "Get off!" She called behind her. "Now!"

The young officer's voice was so urgent and firm that even Taraketh wasn't able to gripe or complain or protest this time around. He held for only a fraction of a second before he released, and fell backward. Dael didn't see it, but he was still so injured and weak that his legs collapsed underneath him and he fell onto his rear. However, gritting his teeth, summoning what tiny reserves he had left, he began to pull himself up. Yet Dael didn't pay any attention to that. Rather, without running or raising a weapon, keeping her loaded Mage Gun at her side, Dael began to walk straight at Quetzacoatl.

"What are you doing?!" Taraketh shouted incredulously.

_At the moment, hoping that this spell holds for one more lightning bolt…_ Dael thought back. She didn't have the experience erecting magical barriers of her own, and she couldn't pull one off quickly. And even if she did, she knew a little about the nature of this kind of spell from her own research. Supposedly, if you cast a reflection spell on a reflection spell, the result would be the same…and Quetzacoatl would gain the reflection spell instead, at which point her offense would be useless. She couldn't risk that. Conversely, she _could_, she reasoned, survive a lightning bolt. After all, she thought grimly, Taraketh had taken two already…

The Guardian Force hesitated momentarily. For a second, Dael thought she guessed what she was doing. She watched her gun arm as she hovered there. If these were normal bullets, she probably could have hit Quetzacoatl easily without resorting to this. But she only had one of these shells, and she wanted to make sure it landed. Knowing the shells traveled at something of a slower velocity, she thought the lightning bird could still dodge. No, she had to immobilize her first, and she believed she knew how. Trying not to cross her fingers, she watched as Quetzacoatl finally summoned another lightning bolt, and then pitched her head forward and fired on her.

Dael braced for impact, fearing for a moment the shield would fail. However, it didn't. It was still in effect, although at this point she saw it visibly growing smaller and weaker. For now, however, it was more than strong enough to withstand the lightning bolt. Just as before, it spent itself on the barrier, causing its light to burn and grow more intense. Quetzacoatl didn't mind. After all, either the attack would hurt Dael, or the power would rejuvenate her. This was no loss to her. Moments later, the bolt was spent, and just as before it erupted from the shield straight back at Quetzacoatl. And just as before, the lightning bird arched herself and let the power flow through her, causing her glow to ignite even more brightly than it was when she began. Dael waited, however, nervously holding back and hesitating for just the right moment. The bolt continued to shoot out, but eventually spent itself. The last bit of energy went into the Guardian Force, but she continued to hover there, her body crackling with electricity and power…but, most of all, not moving.

Dael had noticed it. The lightning regenerated her, yes, but even she didn't seem to be completely immune to her own power. It seized her and left her immobilized, able to do nothing other than hover there. This was her chance. Immediately, the young officer snapped up her gun arm and fired a mage bullet into the Guardian Force.

Quetzacoatl snapped her eyes open wide and looked to it. She tried to move, but was powerless to. She was still stunned from the absorbption. The shell came closer and closer, and finally impacted on her breast and erupted in a plume of smoke. The spell that was contained inside was now revealed.

A Flood spell.

A second later, and water seemed to erupt from the air, gather, condense, and blast Quetzacoatl with a torrent from all sides. Water in itself could be quite deadly. There was such thing as "aqua-saws" in the world, ones that fired water at such concentrated pressures that it could cut through object. And water's own dense and fluid properties could make it quite powerful in its own right. But all of that meant nothing compared to what it meant when a Flood spell was used against a lightning esper. Dael had no idea what exactly it would do…only that she remembered the old adage of a "toaster in a bathtub". As it turned out, she was right.

Quetzacoatl let out an ear-piercing screech so terrible and loud that Dael winced and recoiled from it, and soon shot back even further as feedback and short circuiting of the lightning that infused Quetzacoatl burst in all directions. Deadly bolts, even more intense than before, raked huge black lines into the ground, wall and ceiling, and flew erratically from her body as she writhed and cried out, looking to be in inconceivable pain. A massive sizzling sound rang through the air, testifying to the sheer amount of electricity feeding in on itself and churning about. The Guardian Force looked like she was being battered from a hundred different angles all at once. And in the course of being thrashed about, she looked as if she was indeed getting weaker…

Finally, the mage bullet spent itself, and the massive bolts of lightning died down. That wasn't all, however. As the feedback died, it revealed Quetzacoatl. Now, _her_ body was smoldering. What more, she was breathing heavily, and as she hovered there, her head sagging, seeming only semi-conscious, she sank down to the ground…hovering lower and lower to it.

Dael saw this, and snapped around behind her. Taraketh was on his feet again, but staring in shock. He couldn't believe what just happened, what Dael had managed to pull off. However, she quickly yelled at him.

"Do it! Finish her!"

Taraketh blinked twice, but then seemed to come to light. Stiffening, he quickly held out his hand and chanted again, once more using the same amount of power, force, and intensity as he did last time, before swinging it downward. It seemed to take quite a bit out of him now, actually making him falter momentarily and his eyes droop, but it was done.

Quetzacoatl nearly reached the ground when it began. Once more, huge columns of rock, one after the other, erupted from the ground. The first, smashed her in the body, and she gave another cry as Dael presumed she had the air knocked out of her, crumpling around the stone. Another column shot out and smashed her already back wing, and this time Dael heard a snapping sound…a bone breaking. However, she couldn't cry out due to the first blow, and even though she fell out of the sky all together now, another blow to her other wing soon sent her flying back into the sky. A fourth and final column of rock smashed under her head, snapping her neck upward and leaving her wide open.

Putting all his power left into it, Taraketh cried out, swinging his sickle around a few times, and then flinging it at Quetzacoatl's other wing while still in mid-air. Dael quickly dodged to one side to avoid being hit by it, before the blade shot through and cut a massive gash through the other wing. By now, Quetzacoatl, battered and dazzled as she was, had enough of her senses to cry again as blood went flying. After that, however, she dropped like a stone to the ground. Both wings were now crippled, and she couldn't fly anymore. Still yelling, Taraketh leapt forward again, lunging at her. The hammer was shifted out and swung around, and after swinging it around he brought it down heavy on her head. A sickening crack went out, and Quetzacoatl's head was snapped downward. Still fighting, straining, sweating, and in pain from his injuries, Taraketh did it again, knocking her head even lower. At a third strike, the head slammed into the ground, and Quetzacoatl sprawled across the floor.

Taraketh landed in front of her, and stumbled. He nearly collapsed, and was heaving and panting now. But somehow, through his weak, dim vision, he managed to look up at her. He retracted his hammer but kept swinging it in a circle as his sickle remained out in his other hand. He looked over the Guardian Force, ready to strike her again. As for Quetzacoatl, she was still smoking and panting heavily herself, sprawled out on the ground. Her glow had diminished so much she was almost like a regular bird at this point. However, in the end, she managed to raise her head again. Taraketh braced for another attack, but there was no need.

"Enough…" She gasped. "The trial is over…you have won."

Taraketh, at that, let his hands fall…dropping the kusarigama to the ground. After doing so, he fell to his own knees. His eyes closed, but he stayed conscious, still panting. However, in spite of all of that, a smile was on his face. Through all the pain and suffering he had gone through, he had still won. And Dael knew what that meant…it meant Quetzacoatl would now add her power to his.

Dael looked over to the entrance. Carbuncle, in spite of his prior callous attitude, let out a sigh of relief. Dael was surprised. He seemed to have gotten nervous since Dael joined the fight. Was he that worried about her? Cid, on the other hand, looked on the brink of passing out. He wiped his own brow and seemed to be breathing as heavily as Taraketh. However, he managed a smile and a nod.

"Great job. Congratulations."

The young officer looked back to Quetzacoatl soon afterward. She swallowed and panted a moment longer, but then managed to rise to her feet. Her legs, almost unseen before now, still worked, although both wings were bent at odd angles and held out. She turned and began to walk over to the side of the chamber. After a few moments, she reached it, in front of one particular bas relief that seemed to show an image of nectar flowing from a flower. She leaned over and pressed her beak to it. A moment later, a secret panel slid aside, revealing several glass vials. She pulled the stopper off of one with her beak, grasped the neck, and then downed it.

One of the ways in which magic still figured predominantly in the world, even in the general public, was through the use of specially brewed tonics and potions. Although medical science had advanced much, the ability to embue magical properties into special liquors was still something that exceeded even the power of the best surgeons and penultimate medical care. The only problem was, naturally, it was quite expensive and rare to make such liquors. Otherwise, everyone would use them over, say, gauze, band-aids, and salves. Yet the vials in this cabinet all seemed to hold pearly-white liquids that seemed to shimmer with an inner light. As part of her training, Dael had learned how to recognize said tonic, and she knew what it was…an elixir, one of the strongest known to man. And the panel was filled with them…at least twenty. She was shocked. There was billions of gil in that small enclave…

The properties soon manifested themselves clearly as, within moments, the blood dried up in Quetzacoatl's wound and the slash itself closed. A crackling went out as her bones popped back into place, and both wings returned to her side. Not only that, but her glow ignited again in brilliant glory. She took a second one of the vials, and then easily went into a hover again. Quite gracefully, she flew over to Taraketh and went down before him, setting the vial at his feet.

Taraketh looked to it, then up to her. "N-No…my lady…I don't want to take from your own stock… I know how rare these are…"

"Don't be silly. You're too drained to go on like this." Quetzacoatl answered. "I keep them here just for such an occasion. Take it."

"But-"

"To the victor go the spoils. Consider that part of the spoils."

Taraketh hesitated a moment longer, but was really in no position to argue. He couldn't even stand anymore. He was quivering all over, weak as he was. Finally, he managed to reach out and take the vial. Pulling off the stopper, he tipped it to his lips and downed the contents. A moment later, and his own burns smoothed out into fresh skin, his pallor returned, and he once again was rejuvenated. Blinking a few times, he sprung to his feet as if he had never started the fight at all. After that, he looked back to Quetzacoatl, and gave a graceful bow.

"Thank you, my lady."

The lightning bird nodded back. Dael couldn't help but blink a bit at the whole exchange as she finally put her gun back in the holster. For two people who looked like they were ready to rip each other apart not long ago, they were remarkably amiable now. There didn't seem to be the slightest hint of a grudge or anger between the two of them. Dael herself would probably have had a hard time with it. This was almost like one of those more ancient battles between two warriors rather than any civilized. She wondered heavily what the atmosphere would be like if the battle had ended in death.

At any rate, Quetzacoatl soon leaned up in mid-air.

"Alright, now to give you what you came here for. Hold out your hands."

For a moment, Dael saw a bit of puzzlement on Taraketh's expression, as if this phrase slightly confused him. However, he then quickly finished adjusting his kusarigama around himself, and then held both hands out to Quetzacoatl.

However, the Guardian Force shook her head at this. "I only need one hand from both of you."

Now, Taraketh was truly struck with confusion, and Dael with her.

"…'Both of you'?" He echoed.

"Why yes." Quetzacoatl answered, sounding almost puzzled at his own answer. "You and the maiden over there."

The lightning bird indicated to Dael, who nearly stepped back in surprise when she looked straight at her. The High Child went wide-eyed, looking to Dael momentarily, and then back to Quetzacoatl.

"…Lady Quetzacoatl, I was the one who undertook your challenge…alone."

"Be that as it may, she stepped in and contributed to your victory significantly." The lightning bird responded. "As a result, she shares in the victory, and shares in the outcome. Both of you will receive my power. Now come on…hold out your hands, both of you."

Taraketh looked practically apoplectic. He didn't know what to say. He actually stammered there a moment. Dael was much the same. She had never intended to gain the power of another Guardian Force. She just hadn't wanted to see someone get killed right in front of her. She was left standing there in stunned silence for a few moments. Finally, with great hesitation, as well as bewilderment and confusion, she held out her hand to Quetzacoatl. Seeing this, Taraketh swallowed a moment, then with a great deal of personal regret, it seemed, held out his hand as well to her.

Quetzacoatl's small eyes closed, and she focused her electric power once again into her beak. A moment later, and two bolts erupted from it, sailing straight for the two and making contact with their outstretched hands. Dael nearly shot her hand back in surprise, but luckily the bolts struck so quick she didn't have the chance, and on doing so they left no pain. They merely connected to her hand and remained there. She looked down to it, and soon she saw something happening. The bolt appeared to be moving across the back of her hand, tracing some sort of symbol onto it that glowed with electric light. She stared at it for a few moments as it went across her hand, trying to make it out, but it was something she hadn't seen before. At any rate, the symbol was soon drawn, and once complete the lightning immediately cut off. Quetzacoatl pulled her head back and became normal again. Dael herself looked to the symbol on her hand. It continued to glow for a moment. But then, it gradually began to diminish. It wasn't as if it faded, however. Rather, it seemed to sink into her hand, drawing into it. In a few moments, it was gone, and all that was left was her untouched skin.

Dael looked up to Quetzacoatl afterward. But before she could say a word, she already could feel the changes. In addition to the spells she already had, new ones were forming. New words and abilities were entering her mind. She didn't know what they were instinctively, but she had a feeling it was lightning magic. In the end, a bit surprised at such an unexpected gift, all she could do was put her hands at her sides and give a military-style bow to the Guardian Force.

"Th…thank you, um…Lady Quetzacoatl."

Taraketh himself stood still and silent momentarily. With his back to her, Dael couldn't see his face. But after a moment or two, he seemed to break from it and bowed to the lightning bird as well. "Thank you, Lady Quetzacoatl."

"Well, you've both earned it, but you're welcome." She responded, seeming to smile at both of them almost. "Feel free to visit again whenever you're in the area. It would make for a nice change of pace, greeting some humans who weren't simply out to earn my power."

Dael wasn't sure how to respond to that. She figured that she would let Taraketh handle it. He seemed to be better at showing these creatures proper respect. However, a bit to her surprise, he merely turned away and began to walk back for the exit of the chamber. It wasn't the cold shoulder so much this time as being annoyed or preoccupied. And so, instead, Dael looked back to the lightning bird and bowed again, hurridly throwing something else out. "We'll…we'll make sure to do so. Thank you again." After that, she turned and began to go after Taraketh.

Luckily, the lightning bird didn't seem to be put off by their rudeness and/or abruptness. At least, if she did, she didn't show it in a way that they were able to pick up on. Taraketh wasted little time. Going back to the edge of the now-ruined chamber, he took up his clothing, shoved it under one arm, and began to make for the exit again. As for Dael, she only now realized just how much damage they had done to this place. As she neared the side, she saw Carbuncle and Cid both looking up to them. Taraketh reached them first and seemed to walk right by them without a look. As for Dael, however, as she neared the two, she began to speak uneasily to the Sorceress Knight.

"It…looks like we left quite a mess…"

"What, that?" Cid responded, gesturing to the numerous stone columns lying on the ground, the fractures, score marks, and trenches. He waved a hand at it. "Don't worry about that. Happens all the time when someone comes in to take Quetzacoatl's challenge, or any Guardian Force's, I'd wager, for that matter. I hear it _did_ used to be a problem, which is why all Guardian Forces would do these sorts of things outside. But that was before the Guardian Forces relearned their 'conjuration' abilities from back when they were still espers. Now it's easy for them to put this whole place back together on their own. See?"

He pointed out one more time. When he did, Dael turned and looked, and was amazed at what she saw. Sure enough, Quetzacoatl had hovered over to one of the large columns and pointed her beak at them. Bit by bit, starting at the bottom half, blocks of stone were broken off the end, floated through the air, and then put themselves into the hole that was made from the same column, no doubt filling it up again. Although it wasn't terribly sophisticated, Dael reasoned that she was seamlessly putting the place back together again. She looked back to Cid soon after.

The Sorceress Knight, in turn, looked out to Quetzacoatl again. "Thank you again for your time, my lady."

"Thanks for stopping by, Cid." Quetzacoatl called back as she continued to put the room back together.

By now, Taraketh was well into the stone pathway. Carbuncle abruptly reached out and tugged on Dael's pant leg with a paw. "We better hurry before he gets too far ahead." She said aloud.

Dael looked down to him, then back up ahead. Taraketh hadn't reached the bend in the path yet, so he was still visible. He was moving rather rapidly, faster than when he came in at any rate. Soon, Dael nodded back to Carbuncle, and then took off after him. Carbuncle was right on her heels. Cid, seeing that he was being left behind, quickly turned and took off as well.

A few seconds later, they had left the shrine behind and were pulling up behind Taraketh, slowing down again. As they came up behind him, Dael called out.

"What's your hurry? We've still got quite a bit of time before we have to meet up with Lady Mianyl again."

Taraketh froze in his tracks and immediately wheeled around. He gave Dael the most hateful glare he had managed to summon yet, and the sheer power of it was so much that it made her freeze as well. His mouth was practically in a sneer as he glared at her, using his slight height advantage to try and make himself look bigger and more domineering. Cid and Carbuncle both halted as well, the former looking rather surprised at Taraketh's sudden change and going back even further.

"Why the devil did Lady Mianyl send you along with me? To embarrass me? Frustrate me?"

Dael was taken aback for only a moment longer, before she solidified. "What are you…?"

He shot forward and jammed an accusing finger into her chest, practically pushing her back. "This was supposed to be _my_ trial. _My_ achievement. _My_ victory! And you, you stupid grunt…you just had to butt in and take a share of it for yourself, didn't you? How would you like it if I had stepped in on one of your silly little training test missions, huh? How would you like it if I stole one of your grades or ratings from _you_? This never concerned you! Why didn't you just stay out of it?!"

The young officer held only a moment before her own face began to twist. Her own eyes began to burn. "I didn't stay out of it because, for some reason, I don't know why, I didn't want to see you get turned into a piece of charcoal."

"I didn't need your help!" Taraketh snapped back. "I'll _never_ need your help, you damned grunt!"

Dael only tightened more at this, feeling anger grow inside her. "You couldn't even stand! You were a heartbeat from-"

_"Shut up! I…don't…need…your…help!"_ Taraketh snapped back viciously. "Get that through your thick head and keep it there! I don't need your help! I don't want your help! And I'll die before I'll ask for your help! If I had just a little less self control, I'd smash you in the face right now! You're nothing more than some mass-produced, carbon-copy, heartless, soulless, brainless foot soldier produced by a damn military, and I-"

Taraketh didn't get another word out. But it wasn't Dael who silenced him.

Abruptly, Carbuncle shot forward like a green blur through the air, leaping over Dael, and with power thought surprising for the Guardian Force, considering his size…he actually struck Taraketh right in the chest, ripped him off his feet, and knocked him down to the ground in what could only be described as a tackle.

Dael, who had been getting close to slugging Taraketh herself, suddenly went wide-eyed…not only at how the situation had abruptly been resolved, but by who had done it. Cid himself blinked incredulously, and looked to his side, almost seeming to wonder how Carbuncle had managed to get over there without his notice so quickly, and half-expecting to see him there. As for Taraketh, his own anger was snuffed like a candle flame. His face, now wide and surprised, looked up from his position on the ground, finding Carbuncle now standing on top of him, fur raised on his back, and one of his paws held up…four tiny hooked claws coming out of it and waving in front of Taraketh's face. It wasn't the most intimidating sight in the world, but since it was a Guardian Force, it seemed to humble the High Child just the same.

"L-Lord Carbun-" He began to say.

"Don't you tell her to shut-up, you self-absorbed little prick!" The Guardian Force roared in his face. "Don't you insult her or call her names, you ungrateful bastard! You'd be a grease spot by now if it wasn't for her, no matter how your twisted little mind tries to say differently!"

Carbuncle may have been small, but his voice was as large a human's, and when he spoke now…there actually seemed to be a magical aura on his voice, enhancing it. It was enough to render Taraketh silent, even to humble him, especially since this was someone he respected. He couldn't protest. He could only take it. Dael and Cid were both silent, watching this.

"I've put up with you for some time now, but I've had just about all I can take!" The green creature continued. "With all your arrogance and pride, it's amazing that a Guardian Force would give you the time of day! I don't know where the hell you get off, but if you ever want to be anyone great, you're going to need a _lot_ more than the power of Guardian Forces behind you! You're going to need some things you can't earn from beating one of us in a fight or practicing magic or swirling your little chain around! Things like humility and gratitude…and how not to be such a d*** to everyone you think is beneath you, dismissing people like they're worth nothing because they don't live up to your standards!"

The Guardian Force leaned back a bit, putting his paw down.

"…Now…the next thing that is going to come out of your mouth is this. You're going to first apologize to Dael for what you just said to her, and then you're going to thank her for helping you…_and you're going to sound like you mean it._"

Taraketh's mouth began to open.

"No ifs, ands, or buts!" Carbuncle cut off, brandishing his claws again. "I may look like a cat to you, but with one swipe you'll have a scar across your cheek for the rest of your life! And you can try to explain that to your mistress!"

Immediately, the High Child clammed up again. He held a moment, actually looking anxious. Dael was yet again surprised. Much as she might have wanted to enjoy seeing Taraketh squirm at the moment, she was even more amazed at how Carbuncle was standing up for her. She never even knew he could be so vicious and forceful. She had found him more annoying and entertained the idea, especially after the encounter with Quetzacoatl, that he was probably the weakest of the Guardian Forces and was almost beneath them. But apparently, he enjoyed being on the same level as the others, and showing that he could possess as much force and strength of will as them. As for how he was acting right now, Dael had to struggle not to smile. Until this point, she thought any chagrin he had of Tarakith was simply because he thought he was a jerk. But now it started to become clear that he actually respected her too.

After a few moments, Carbuncle stepped off of Taraketh, hopping to the side. But his small black button eyes burned like coals as he kept glaring at him, intently letting him know he wasn't off the hook. The High Child stared at him nervously for a moment, then looked up to Dael. The young officer simply stared back. He grimaced momentarily, looking as if something was tying his guts into a knot. He clearly didn't want to do this. He looked almost like he'd rather die than do it. Finally, he bowed his head, looked to the ground, and mumbled a barely coherent, "sorry".

Carbuncle immediately flashed out a paw across his leg, ripping through the cloth and cutting a bloody scratch along it. Not much, but one. Taraketh winced and bolted his head up.

_"Like you mean it."_ The green creature coldly responded. "The next one draws some _real_ blood. Now come on."

Taraketh was even more reluctant than before. He grimaced and kept his head bowed. After a few moments, he finally got his legs underneath him. He put them beneath him and pushed himself up into a standing position. He looked to Dael again, who hadn't changed and was simply staring at him. His head bowed a bit more. He had to stand there for a few moments. Obviously, he had to summon quite a bit just to even sound authentic. Finally, he swallowed, and opened his mouth. However, no sound came out. It was coming too weak, and so he had to pause and concentrate again. At last, his mouth opened again, and he managed in a small, meager, yet audible voice a few words.

"I'm…sorry I insulted you."

"And?" Carbuncle immediately asked.

Taraketh grimaced again. His fists tightened and relaxed. "And…I could have handled Quetzacoatl on my own if you would have given me enough time-"

Carbuncle's claws extended, one still tinted red from the last swipe. The High Child stiffened again, and spoke more readily.

"But it would have taken longer and been more painful!" He managed to quickly choke out. After a moment, Carbuncle slowly retracted his claws, but his eyes stayed on Taraketh. He sighed. "I…" He swallowed again. "I…I guess I should be grateful."

"You _guess?_" Carbuncle retorted.

"I _should_ be grateful." Taraketh finally admitted. He moistened his lips again, but finally looked back to Dael. With as much effort as pulling a wisdom tooth, he finally managed to say it. "…Thank you…for helping me back there."

Dael simply stared back. She said nothing and showed nothing. She saw Taraketh bluster ever so slightly at that, but he was more focused on what he had just been forced to do, and so he didn't concern himself too much with that reaction. If he was expecting a 'you're welcome' from Dael, he had another think coming. She wasn't going to say that when he looked as if he had to drive red hot needles into his eyes just to manage a half-'thank you', which was fully merited, by the way. She simply stared back at him. However, after a few moments of silence, she had a feeling that she needed to say something to bring this to a close. At last, she gave a nod back.

"Very well." Was all she said.

Taraketh tightened again at that, but said no more.

Carbuncle, easing up now, looked between the two of them for a few moments. After that, he smiled again. "Well then, now that this has been cleared up…" He turned and looked to Cid. "Sir Boer, I think we're all done here. Unless either of them want to go any place else, perhaps it would be best if we returned to the front and waited for Lady Mianyl."

Cid, who had been holding his tongue and watching this entire exchange with the same level of anxiety that a smaller child does when he watches two older children or even two adults get into an argument, looked to Carbuncle. "Huh?" He asked, snapping out of his thoughts. But then, he readily nodded. "Right, right…" Looking back up to the two, he began to move forward. "Just follow me." Then, in spite of himself, he moved around both of them at a further range, seeming to be fearful of a backlash from them despite his higher rank.

Once he went by, Taraketh finally turned away and followed after him. Dael soon did the same, with Carbuncle at her side.

* * *

><p>Neither one said anything else to each other for quite some time after that. Dael preferred it that way, with Taraketh keeping quiet. She was used to the silence of military decorum anyway. However, as she stood in front of the temple entrance and Taraketh sat on the steps nearby, head bowed, looking to the ground, she had a feeling that this silence was more than him just being cowed again. She risked a look to him, and saw that his gaze was totally fixed on the ground, and he had an almost melancholy in his eyes…depression, even. For once, Dael didn't think it was related to her. Even that outburst back in the passage, he had a feeling that she wasn't at the heart of it.<p>

If Dael had to venture a guess, it had to do back with what Sorceress Mianyl had told her. In fact, she knew it when she thought back to what Taraketh had said, how he had likened the experience to one of Dael's own exams from the Academy, and she understood. He had wanted this power to show Mianyl he was "good enough", powerful enough to be her Sorceress Knight. As a result, it was important to him that he do this trial all by himself. Dael had intervened and, much as he hated to admit it, he knew deep down in his heart of hearts that she had saved his life.

Taraketh probably didn't know it, but now that Dael had calmed down a bit herself, this was probably the first thing he had ever done that she could relate and understand about him. She had to admit, she would probably be upset if something similar had happened in one of her final exams. Unfortunately, the deed was done, and she had a feeling if she tried to talk to him about it all that would happen would be more chagrin, assuming Taraketh would even want to hear it. Perhaps they weren't so different in this regard…both of them wanted to be the best in their respective orders.

The entire trip and trial had only taken all of forty minutes. The next hour and twenty minutes was spent more or less right there. Cid asked if they needed anything or wanted anything. When they responded in the negative, he bid them farewell, saying he was in the middle of construction work when they arrived and needed to get back to it. And that left the three of them, Dael, Taraketh, and Carbuncle, out front. Dael saw a few children running about outside and the various workers, much as they had when they came in. Occasionally, some of the children came up close to look at Dael and her weapons. (Taraketh was more commonplace.) However, they never came near enough to start a conversation. Dael was slightly bored, wondering if the Sorceress would be early or late.

As it turned out, she was neither, but completely punctual. At almost exactly two hours, various Children of Hyne began to gather around the front of the building. Dael and Taraketh both were alert at that and turned to it, and sure enough, soon after, Lady Mianyl and Lady Faerio both came out. They were sharing a bit of last minute dialogue with each other, but Dael could make out very little of it over the din. Only after they descended the steps and embraced each other and parted again, even as Dael and Taraketh waded through the crowds and came up to her side, did she manage to catch them.

"…You _will_ present my viewpoints and take them into consideration, won't you, Matriarch?"

Mianyl seemed to give a tired nod back. "Yes, Faerio. I will make sure to consider them and send word to the others."

"I have a feeling they would pay more attention to them if you sent them. I may be a young Sorceress, but I am a Sorceress. My voice may be the smallest, but it is still one of the highest division of the order."

"I am aware of all of this, Faerio. Now please, do not worry about these matters."

The young woman sighed, but managed a smile back to Mianyl. "Do be safe, Matriarch. You're going into a den of lions."

"I am not afraid." Mianyl answered with a smile. "I have powerful friends at my side. Hopefully we will see each other again soon."

Giving one last look to each other, the two finally broke. Mianyl turned, giving a nod to Taraketh and Dael to follow her, and began to approach the truck again. Somehow, during the confusion, the drivers had returned to it and were ready to leave. It took some considerable wading through the crowd of children, many of whom Mianyl greeted or touched again without showing her hands, but they finally reached the truck. After helping her inside, Dael and Taraketh entered and Carbuncle jumped in. The engine was gunned, and soon turned and began to drive back down the trail. The people waved at her as she left, all the way until they and the temple both vanished as they went back into the thick growth around the island.

After moving about two miles away, well into the point where they all had to duck to avoid getting smacked by branches, Mianyl let out a heavy sigh as she sank into her own seat.

"This is probably rude of me…but I am very glad that the two hours were up when they were." She admitted aloud. "Faerio truly does weary me some times…"

Dael couldn't help but look back to the Sorceress momentarily, a bit puzzled at that response. Perhaps it was the sheer "humanity" of it, the idea that as perfect as Mianyl may have seemed, even she could find people to be a bother and a bore. However, Mianyl caught her look. Dael, like a child who had been seen peeking in on their parents wrapping birthday presents, quickly turned away again. However, Mianyl spoke calmly.

"Oh no, dear…it's nothing like that. She has boundless energy and a warm personality. She's really a joy to be around, and fills the Order of Hyne with youthful energy." She paused a moment, and then sighed. "The problem is, she might be a bit _too_ energetic. Very hasty. Very rash at some points." She leaned back a little with a tired look. "When all of this started, she sent me a message immediately wanting to intensify the role of the Order of Hyne in this conflict. Some of the measures she had suggested would have had us pushing the boundaries of our roles in relief work and charity. We would have been taking almost _offensive_ roles, and offensives roles against a government.

"Although I dare say…however regretfully…that we may be forced into such a position whether we like it or not, Faerio had been pushing for such a stance from the onset, and she continues to push for one now, even as we head into the midst of negotiations to try and find a peaceful solution to this conflict. And against a nation like Sybenia, I am afraid that taking a hard line might only exacerbate the problem."

Dael hesitated momentarily on hearing this, thinking over what she said. Of course, to her, things were almost the opposite. She was of a military background, and didn't shy away from the need to "flex one's muscles". Even if she didn't, there was the fact that, given what was happening to magic users and the Order of Hyne in Sybenia, it was a bit of a surprise, at least to her, that she wouldn't be adopting a harder stance. As a result, she found herself talking back soon after.

"I can somewhat understand her position, my lady. The Order of Hyne is being oppressed along with many other minority groups in Sybenia, and one can only imagine the atrocities and denial of rights taking place."

Mianyl exhaled tiredly, and looked back to Dael. "You're right in suspecting the worst, lt. commander. But the Order of Hyne does not repay evil for evil. That is not in our nature or our code. We have always weathered such things. If we were to lash out upon all our enemies, all who hated and despised us or sought to do us harm, then our order would constantly be at war. Aerith the Grace, when she began what would become our order, was constantly besat upon by people who feared and despised her and her charges for the power they possessed. Had she struck back against them, we would never have reached the point of such acceptance and respect that we enjoy today.

"That said…" Here, she paused grimly. "…There is a 'breaking point', one might say. A point that Lady Faerio must have suspected we would eventually reach. It would be naïve for one to think that all people in the world will listen to reason. Most of them, yes…and you must keep that in mind…but some will not. And there comes a time in which standing aside and maintaining ways of peace will only lead to more death than it would be to take up arms. I fear greatly that such a time is upon us. I pray it is not, but I shall not know for certain until after these negotiations are over."

Dael listened as Mianyl concluded, but on realizing she would say no more, turned her head forward again. She was reminded again of what Carbuncle had said, about how he was more of an activist to this entire situation. Of course, the young officer had to wonder if such an action was warranted. And to be honest, even if it was, Dael was still a bit surprised to hear these things coming from Sorceress Mianyl. It seemed even she was starting to think more practically about the whole manner. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, at least in Dael's estimation, but it was surprising. What exactly did this mean now, if even the Sorceresses were considering stepping in? What sort of changes would occur? Magic may have been widespread, but never before in history had the Order of Hyne taken a position in an armed conflict. However, many, many years prior to that, Dael recalled there were many ancient historical records of widespread devastation as a result of magic being used in wide-spread conflict. Supposedly, the 1,000 year War of the Magi had left the planet a cinder…

However, she pushed those thoughts away for now. If anything, the Order of Hyne, if joining, would be on Esthar's side, which was a plus, not a minus. She had to focus more on what was coming up. This was the last stop they were making before Sybenia. There would be plenty to worry about when they got there from far more immediate threats, and no friendly faces or allies. Even Taraketh might be a welcome face before this was all over.

On that note, Dael kept her head low and focused ahead as they drove through the jungle. The real mission would begin soon.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	18. Dark Citadel

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently did a reevaluation of my current version of "The Sorceress Cycle" to see how much is left to write. Initially, I wrote a ten page synopsis of the entire story. So far...only the first page has been written out. I still have nine pages remaining. I hope you all weren't hoping this would be over soon.

I regret to say this is mostly a "filler" chapter, although it does progress world events more.

* * *

><p>The return was planned well. The Sorceress had not announced the time of her return, but once the crowds realized she had departed some of them had gone away, making it easier for the truck to slip back in. Before the message could even get out that Mianyl had returned, they had already returned to the boat, dismounted, reentered, and drawn the bridge. By the time the crowd was ready to celebrate again, Mianyl was already safely on the deck, surrounded by her attendants and bodyguards. After giving one last series of waves to an adoring crowd, Mianyl was pulled away from their sight as the ship came away from the shoreline. Turning back to the north again, the <em>Indominable<em> once again took off. It went farther north this time. The semi-tropical area became fully temperate, and then gave way to the mountains of Lamb before they were able to fully round the large island and focus themselves west once again.

Although the Esthar's Hawks had been calm and businesslike throughout the entire trip, only now was a distinct air of unease among them. Even the older captains didn't seem to be their normal stoic, unshakeable selves. Naturally, Dael, who had a grand total of three missions prior to this one under her belt, had a hard time suppressing her own anxiety. For all of their highly-touted discipline and control, the glimpses of Order of Hyne members that she saw showed they were much the same. Naturally, the crew wasn't much better. About the only one who seemed to be keeping a very level head on his shoulders, at least the only one who Dael interacted with, was Carbuncle. But that was simply due to the fact that, even if this was going to be a hostile situation, it was nothing he hadn't dealt with before. Dael had a feeling none of them slept that well that night.

The next day promised to be clear and have a pleasant temperature, for all the good it did people. Dael had already gotten the word ahead about what was coming. It wouldn't be until after dark that they would arrive in Sybenia, which was never that good of a thing when dealing with a hostile party. She found herself at a loss most of the day, wondering whether she should be on deck or inside it. In spite of Colonel Regalis' assurances of diplomatic immunity, she began to wonder exactly how safe she would be. Sybenia was one of those governments who, at this point in time, didn't exactly respect any country other than their own, and seemed to not even regard any other government as legitimate.

Carbuncle tried to calm her down a bit.

"Relax, they won't try anything. I've seen stuff like this before." He answered. "Worst case scenario…the whole thing is just a ploy for time, to make sure Esthar doesn't get on their back while they expand the war machine so that they can overrun Esthar when the time comes. But it's authentic enough as far as you're concerned. They can't very well play for time if they start a war by shooting you, can they?"

"…Thanks, Carbuncle." Dael responded sourly in probably the most reluctant tone she had ever managed.

In the end, she decided on a compromise…the large lounge area. It was easy enough to see outside from there, but not so easy to see inside. From there, she waited, hardly able to eat lunch or dinner as they went along. She watched the sun continue to lower, knowing every moment was bringing them closer…

About an hour after dinner, when the rest of the Esthar's Hawks had gathered in the lounge, the crew and passengers finally went on all alert.

Objects were picked up on radar, and soon after black shapes began to appear dead ahead. Even with somewhat reduced visibility due to her interior placement, Dael soon began to make them out. They weren't the larger battleships of the Sybenian Navy this time. Rather, they were about four destroyers, spread out along the horizon in front of them. The crew was supposed to notify them when they passed into Sybenian waters, but as it seemed there was no need. The Sybenians were already deployed right on their own borders, well within sufficient range to start pelting enemy units at a distance should the need arise. Although they couldn't see it initially, it was soon obvious that all four were targeting them. Despite, no doubt, orders not to fire, they thought little of trying to intimidate anyone, including ambassadors. It had a suitable effect. Everyone was soon sweating, even if they didn't show it.

As the _Indominable_ passed into Sybenian waters and waded into the midst of these destroyers, and Dael did indeed see that all of their guns were aimed at them and remained locked on, she couldn't help but feel rather vulnerable. Their own small artillery weapon seemed like a pea shooter compared to these monsters on either side of them. They were all as heavily armored and well equipped as the battleship had been. Perhaps they lacked the firepower, but that was a minor inconvenience for them at this point. All four of them could turn the _Indominable_ into shredded metal within a minute if they wanted.

Yet even this seemed to be not so bad compared to what happened next. There was still sufficient light to see these, but it was fading rapidly. As they moved inward, it wasn't long before they came across another pair of destroyers, flanking their path almost as if they were creating a road. They were the last two ships they saw clearly in the setting sun, but as they drew closer they saw the lights on the enemy ships come on. That was at least one comforting thought. They'd run dark if they were planning on getting in a fight. Of course, Dael soon realized it wasn't much cause for celebration. They were leaving the lights on so that they could clearly see which ships and how many were waiting for them. They soon saw two more destroyers in the distance. As they went further, it wasn't long before they saw two more destroyers, this time flanking two battleships, clearly outlined by the various lights on deck, and, once again, turning all of their turrets and batteries on the small ship.

This, unfortunately, was just the start. They were soon moving through masses of warships, Dael wasn't sure how many of them there were. Due to the night, many of them bled together even with lights on. The impression was that their small vessel was wandering through a land of slumbering giants. Was it their entire fleet? Probably not, but she bet that many of them had been redirected to get in their way. Based on her study of military history, that was what a hostile nation with ambitions would do. In a way, the negotiations had already begun, and Sybenia was opening it with a threat. It was the equivalent of walking into a man's house to try and negotiate a settlement, and seeing that his house was guarded by several monstrous dogs and that they had several weapons hung up in the hall you had to walk through. And the effect was undeniable. To tell the truth, Esthar didn't know their fleet was this sizable. Perhaps if it was the entire fleet there to greet them they'd feel better, but there was no way that was true. At least some ships had to be reinforcing the blockade and the expanded waters. This wasn't all of them by any means. And as torpedo boats and aircraft carriers began to be intermingled with the existing battleships and destroyers, everyone couldn't help but feel nervous. It was perfectly natural, after all. They were skinny shrimps walking up to a burly man waving a large club in their faces.

Around that time, the Sorceress entered the lounge, accompanied by her own four person retinue. There was a couch set up in the back with a wide view of all windows. She moved to this, sat down, and looked forward. Immediately, the mood in the chamber brightened. Much like Carbuncle, she had a calm and controlled air about her. The aura she shed was as overwhelming as ever, but it was a help and not a hindrance now. Bold and steady as the highly-trained soldiers thought they were, it was as if they had been nothing more than frightened, nervous children until now, and now a parent had come into the room who knew exactly what to do and when. It would have been almost insulting or humiliating to Dael if the feeling of security, the sense that "everything would be alright", hadn't overridden all other judgment or feelings. The Sorceress herself never changed. She looked out the front of the windows and simply waited for them to make landfall.

The approach to Sybenia lasted another hour. Per their conditions, the _Indominable_ was not allowed to exceed a certain speed inside their waters. No doubt, that was so they could get a good look at their navy and have a disadvantage if they secretly planned to run for it, as even the slowest ship could keep up with them like this. Only more warships came by that entire time. Dael simply clenched her jaw and waited.

At long last, the horizon began to change. A row of lights lit up along it. Most were rather dim, and intermingled with searchlights, ones both scanning the ocean and shore as well as the sky. Despite being such a clear night, the moon wasn't that full, and so there was little illumination at first to see exactly what awaited them. Sybenia had been in such an isolated state for so many years that Dael had little idea of what it looked like externally. Yet as they came closer and more lights became distinctive, Dael was gradually able to make some things out. To be honest, she was rather overwhelmed.

She knew the _Indominable_ was sailing straight to the capitol, and as a result this much development might only have been because they were in the most built-up area. But even so, it was rather intimidating. What she saw looked more like a fortress than a city. Far in the distance, she could see several large skyscrapers protruding, much as one might see in Esthar. Much of them were under construction, no doubt a result of the war boom, and many cranes and scaffolds were erected. But every building was armed. At the minimum, each was crowned with an anti-aircraft weapon. Many of them, however, had artillery units too, and the buildings themselves had been reinforced with armor and supports to turn each one into almost a turret. One might think they had only done this only to defensive structures, but there were a lot of buildings there, and each one was topped with defenses. No…they had done it to every building, including industrial, commercial, and residential ones. In the midst of all of this was a rather sizable tower that rose 50% higher than the next tallest above the skyline. It was actually three separate towers connected by skybridge rings at numerous points, and joining at the top to create a single unified building at the highest floors. It was surrounded by armaments, and numerous ones were built into the sides. It didn't take much to realize that this was the capitol building.

The city itself, however, was mostly hidden from view by a thick wall that was built along the very coastline as far as the eye could see in either direction. Most of it was stone, which was more abundant, but it had to be overlain with at least basic metal plate armor, creating the impression of a wall of iron a hundred feet high in both directions. It too was overlain with weapons, turrets, rocket launchers, searchlights, and artillery. The wall itself created an artificial cliff around the entire section of continent. At first, it looked impossible to even gain access to the city. Dael marveled at this. They had indeed turned Sybenia into a fortress. Apparently, the Heirarchs weren't fools. They realized how hostile they were becoming, and they prepared themselves well for the inevitable.

Of course, the next thought that came to Dael's mind was how they were supposed to get inside. The wall looked fairly seemless and unscalable. There didn't even appear to be things like service elevators. However, she soon received her answer. Abruptly, a large fissure appeared in the metal and stone wall, although this portion was likely totally metal. The break was a good hundred feet high and even wider at the base. It was semi-circular and elliptical in nature, and the way it seemed to work was to split two quarter ellipse doors apart and pivot them into the inside. The result began to make an opening large enough to get an aircraft carrier through, if need be. Dael, having some appreciation for heavy technology based on her training, was amazed. Not only was there such a large barrier here, but the amount of power needed to create such a large gate. As it turned out, the _Indominable _had to slow down and practically halt as the gate opened. It took a good five minutes for it to fully open up. Inside, floodlights illuminated a small area, but Dael couldn't make out most of it from this distance. She didn't know if they were being "cleared" or not. That was a question for the bridge. However, she assumed so as they soon began to move in.

The boat moved fairly slowly. After all, Dael assumed they were headed up to a dock. Although they were leaving the bulk of the navy behind, which continued to sit in the bay and watch them rather the way vultures might watch a dying animal in the midst of a desert, she didn't feel too much more comfortable leaving them behind. As they slowly passed under the massive gate, she was conscious of how much darker it became in the chamber as they passed under the walls. She couldn't help but look overhead once or twice, despite the fact that they couldn't see up that way. Based on how they moved, she reasoned the walls were a good thirty feet thick of nothing but steel and, perhaps, concrete. Even if it was nothing more than basic iron and not a mythril derivative, it was still fairly impervious to basic artillery fire.

She got a better view as she looked ahead. The place didn't appear to be a normal dock at all, as covered with technology and development as it was. It seemed to be more like inside some sort of installation. Various bays and large bits of industrial equipment (likely used during times of construction or service) surrounded the area. It looked just large enough to accommodate a full-sized aircraft carrier. That was quite a bit in and of itself, but there was no room for anything else. It led Dael to the conclusion that this must be only one of several docks built into several gates. The sky was still visible overhead in this port, but Dael couldn't have seen it even if she was outside. There were blinding white searchlights and illumination sources shining over the area. There was a small amount of walking space around the dock area, but no workers were present. Rather, several well-armed companies of Sybenian soldiers were either standing at attention or marching. It was rather intimidating…there were a good two hundred there, either walking about or standing at attention. A few signs of officiality had been erected, but they were all banners and emblems of Sybenia and, for all Dael knew, were always there. There was nothing heralding the Order of Hyne or Esthar. Looming directly ahead of them at the end of the dock was a large structure with an arched opening, that extended into some sort of high tech corridor. That didn't hold much of Dael's attention. Based on their approach, they weren't going for it, but rather to the side. And since the dock surface was more metal and artificial than real, as they slowed down and moved to the side, she detected the presence of devices moving out to intercept the ship and extend a bridge.

Dael at once began to grow more tense as they fully entered this space and came toward a stop. It wasn't due to just the sheer overwhelming number of soldiers. Part of it was the fact that two large artillery batteries were present in the enclosed dock and turned to train their weapons on the _Indominable_, so that both could fire at a moment's notice and obliterate a good portion of the ship on the first shot. However, most of it was that she heard a massive groaning behind her. She couldn't see beyond them anymore, but she realized it was the gates closing, effectively sealing them inside.

The young officer thought, as the ship slowly halted and was locked in place, and the bridge joined to the vessel, they were now completely at Sybenian mercy. Even if Mianyl could do everything Verigun could do, even if she was even stronger, there was no escaping this situation through fighting one's way out. She found herself having to take slower and longer breaths as they neared. A rule of combat…even if you're scared, don't let the enemy know it. Even so, she had a hard time suppressing a chill down her spine as she heard the heavy locks click connecting the bridge.

Without a word, Lady Mianyl rose from her place and moved out slightly. Immediately, everyone fell in around her in the proper positions. As they did, Dael felt Carbuncle leap up onto her shoulders and move in around her neck. She couldn't help but grow more tense at that. Until now, most people she had encountered had been perfectly fine with the presence of the Guardian Force. But this was different. Sybenians had no love for magic users or those who were involved in them, at least as far as she was aware. And worse yet, they might see Carbuncle as a "pet" and consider it an insult. She didn't want to ruin this whole thing on a faux pas. However, none of the officers objected to it, and neither did the Sorceress. She decided to go with it. Soon, they were all arranged in order. Dael had time for one last deep breath before the side doors opened, and the nine began to move out.

The air was a bit cooler outside, and smelled heavily of oil and the sea. They didn't have far to go. As they exited the chamber, they only had to cross a bit of the deck before reaching the ramp that led downward. Two fifty-man companies were at the end of the ramp, flanking either side, each one carrying a rifle and in full uniform, staring ahead, steely, and silent. There were no officials or dignitaries there to greet them, however…just a small company of officers, with one clearly standing apart from the others. Based on his ranking and pins, Dael immediately pegged him as a general. They weren't even sending another ambassador to greet them…but a high-ranking military officer. Just seeing him brought back memories of similar officers in Follett, none of the memories any good. He too was a hard-looking one, who seemed to have a mind and attitude of steel. Not welcoming or friendly in the least…perhaps even a bit insulted that he had to deal with them.

The company finished descending the ramp and came to a halt before him. Although she was surrounded by Children of Hyne, Lady Mianyl stood across from the general. He paused momentarily. There was a lapping of water around the dock, and the sounds of a bit of machinery. Far in the distance, large vehicles could be heard moving. Other than that, deathly silence. Dael kept her eyes forward, not looking to the sides or around. That time was over. However, she swore she could almost feel the hostility and animosity of the soldiers around her.

At last, the general spoke.

"Mianyl the Wind." He remarked out loud to acknowledge she was there. He didn't bother using any dignified titles. "I am General Ajax. I will be escorting you and your company to the capitol building."

"A pleasure, General Ajax." Mianyl responded. Dael wasn't looking at her to confirm this, but for all of the intimidation and cold reception, Mianyl remained perfectly amiable and warm. Perhaps it was to stay calm. Perhaps it was to not give them the satisfaction of showing they were getting under her skin.

The general turned his gaze slightly for a moment, looking, out of all people, at Dael. She showed nothing even though a cold feeling went into her stomach, when his look showed clear disapproval…even irritation. He looked back to Mianyl.

"I was not aware that your men and women would be bringing their pets along on these negotiations. We thought this was something more of a serious matter."

Dael felt Carbuncle start to bristle as the nerve was hit. In another moment, she would have thought a scene would have erupted as he snapped at the man and caused an uproar. Luckily for her, she underestimated Mianyl.

"I do believe the message was passed on ahead that Carbuncle would be joining my retinue and no complaints were presented. Therefore, I am to assume that the commander-in-chief has no issue with it. That said, where officer Levinson goes, Carbuncle follows. That is the nature of a Guardian Force and their junction."

These words were a bit rough and firm, showing that Mianyl would not budge on the issue. Furthermore, Dael could almost feel the air change a bit. She was exerting her aura again, this time on the Sybenians. And for all of their supposed greatness and superiority, all of their high ideals of themselves, they could not weather such power. She almost thought she saw a wave of unease on the nearest soldiers, and even the general blanched a moment. When he recovered, his irritation remained, no doubt thinking of this as an insult. However, he said no more. He spoke simply.

"Follow me."

It was more of an order rather than a pleasant suggestion, with no hint of polite undertones. Without even waiting for Mianyl to nod in response, he turned and began to march down the dock.

Mianyl did not pause, but followed behind, bringing the retinue with her.

* * *

><p>The only thing missing on the journey, for all the cold feelings and roughness of it, would have been manacles and bags over their heads. Then Dael would have had a hard time separating their trip to the capitol building from any other routine prisoner transfer.<p>

The reception didn't warm up. The two companies flanked on either side of them as they moved along. They either looked away from them or gave them cold stares, and considering that they were all armed and marching next to them, it gave the impression of being led off to execution. The general was little help. He didn't so much as speak to them as simply order them along. At all times, they were surrounded by the companies. It wasn't too comforting. A few guards or escorts were logical. This was something else entirely.

Although they went a considerable distance, there was very little to see. Dael got the impression that most of it was being hidden from them. They first moved straight to the end of the dock and into the corridor she had seen earlier. Once inside, they had to move through a few metal passageways. The sound of two hundred feet clicking in unison against the metal flooring and echoing through the chamber was more than a little unsettling. Most of the areas seemed to be gated off with special bulkheads, sealed much as the defenses to the continent themselves were sealed. The area was dimly lit and lacked décor, and smelled heavily of fresh metal and construction. It signified a few things. One, this place was relatively new. Two, they definitely weren't rolling out the "red carpet". They were making them go through military corridors. Only those were dileneated like this. Dael had a hard time believing they weren't set up at this point, but the Sorceress remained calm, and so she found herself being calm as well.

They eventually reached a special train, similar to the mass transit units that Esthar used. This one, however, was clearly for military use. Lacking any "aesthetics", and the inside mostly empty, specifically for troops to move through. It was considerably larger, however. Everyone loaded on board, and soon the train, or, probably more appropriately, transport, began to move away from the docks and carry them deeper into the main city. Whatever sights or sounds were along the way, whether they be industrial, military, or even just civilian, would remain a mystery to Dael, as the dimly-lit train had no windows and no sights other than cold, emotionless faces of various Sybenian soldiers staring forward. It wasn't very comforting. And with no windows, they could pretty much be headed anywhere. Even Carbuncle seemed to shudder once or twice around Dael's neck as they went onward.

They traveled for about fifteen minutes. Based on the braking and stopping, if Dael had to make an estimate, she assumed they were going about as fast as a bullet train might. Of course, she had no way of knowing that without frames of reference. On arrival, the sides of the train opened wide, just as they had when they arrived, to let everyone in and out in one large company. Before exiting, she did take a moment to look outside and get a better look at the surroundings.

These ones were better, but not much. It was now the interior of some structure. Reasoning that most of their journey had been through underground tunnels, if she had to venture a guess, it would be that they were in the sublevels of the capitol building. Here, there was actually décor and some sense of style and architecture, but it wasn't too warm or welcoming. It was mostly high ceilings, grand arched pathways, and metal columns against the walls bracing everything. It was dark and dim, giving more of the impression of an ancient castle rather than a more modern structure, although iron was the preferred alternative. Everything was iron, Dael realized as they came in here. Cold…hard…rigid… There was very little in terms of design or patterns, only a few tiered and geometric patterns around the place to give it some sense of having been for more than just essentials. The only true design were more banners and emblems of Sybenia, bearing their insignia. The lights were both dim and tinted, and combined with the metal gave everything a bronzed look. Soon, they were let outside into this area. The moment they were outside, the transport behind them shut up and moved away, once more trapping them in their current structure.

The assembly was led upward next. The corridors were mostly similar at first. The halls had all been cleared. Assuming normal commerce or "traffic" moved through them, there was no sign of anything now. The floors were all made clean, and everywhere the image of Sybenia on its banners and standards was everywhere. What few bits of decoration were there as they made their way upward were emblems on the wall and a few items that were of the ancient, older style, such as great urns, statues, or the like…all things that one might expect in a palace…or a museum, for that matter. Intermixed with them were a few rather large scale models of warships, tanks, or monuments to the honor of the old realm of King Odin, no doubt "paying tribute to the ancestors". There were progressively more as they went higher.

Coming up higher yet, at long last, there were large paneled windows built right into the arched passageways to allow a look at the outside in. But it was so late at the moment that all Dael got for her troubles of stealing a glance outside was the illuminated landscape of a city at night, and even that wasn't until they had gone up a few floors. Before then, it was simply the surrounding foyer about the building. At least it gave a sense of being above ground. Dael noticed that they stuck to the main corridor as they ascended, sometimes via stairs, sometimes via lift. There was no sign of anything more "practical" here, although she was sure if their journey wasn't isolated to one passage, the building would amount to something more than just one giant piece of architecture.

At long last, they emerged on a rather open space. This place was so high ceilinged that it might have belonged in an older airship terminal, or better yet, a cathedral. However, high as it was, the area was very basic. It had little in the way of frills. There was a mural overhead of Gaia itself…nestled firmly inside the emblem of the Guiding Hand, almost as if it was an accessory or even a possession of Sybenia already. It did little to comfort Dael. From where they approached was one of two sets of very long, marble stairs that had a branch going either way half up to the next level. Each branch was wide enough for even their large company to ascend. They converged together at the middle and went up higher to another level which stretched back into another corridor. However, as Dael and the company rounded the turn and came up to this level, she realized they were finally getting somewhere.

There were people waiting for them there. Mostly, it was another hundred soldiers, again broken off into two companies on either side, all standing in formation and at the ready. These were more than basic grunt units, however. Each one was enclosed inside a special suit of what looked like metal, mechanical armor. Dael recognized it from files. This was one of the advancements that Sybenia had let out to intimidate other countries: Aegis Armor. It did more than protect and still prove itself to be lightweight. It actually doubled the strength and speed of the owner. Plus it could be configured to hold all sorts of hidden weapons…no doubt the reason none of them had any arms on them at the moment. There were a few other officials here as well, almost all of them military, but all high-ranking too…another retinue, no doubt.

And standing in the middle of them all, awaiting their group as they arrived, was the man of the hour.

Well…"man" was a rather strong word, especially to someone like Dael. Roz Heirarch had made plenty of public appearances. He was the sort of man who didn't seem to mind getting his picture plastered everywhere, making his face synonymous with the Guiding Hand as well as the new Sybenia. Rozan Heirarch was more reserved. He had made public appearances, yes, but no more than were necessary. So far, he had been letting his army do "most of the talking". However, Dael had seen a few pictures and even transmissions, and never liked what she saw.

Rozan Heirarch was the third son of Roz Heirarch, not the first born, and not to the original marriage. As such, it was his two eldest brothers that should have carried on the family name…but both had died under mysterious circumstances in apparent accidents. Even with not having been around long enough to truly appreciate human nature, Dael took one look at him in the flesh, and there was no doubt in her mind of their true fate.

He was a lean and gaunt figure, much as would be in the older historical plays, the picture of someone who lived and died by their cunning and cleverness, not by their power or alliances. His cheeks were almost sunken in, and his eyes seemed a bit too large…at least, the eye that Dael could see did. His black hair, long and hanging low, went down to his neck and covered most of his face except for one half. His uncovered eye stared out and burned, set over thin lips. He was young…only sixteen years of age, according to last reports. Because of that, it was thought initially that he couldn't come to power so readily due to lack of experience and age. He put those claims to rest…directly. Anyone who had voiced such claims had vanished. Even so, he seemed almost too lean. His combination suit/uniform almost seemed to stick out from his body, despite having been custom tailored, no doubt. The emblem of Sybenia was on one pocket and the emblem of the Guiding Hand was on the other. He smiled…the first person in Sybenia to do so since they arrived.

It was so icy, mirthless, and twisted…Dael would have preferred if he had greeted them coldly.

The general led them on a bit further, but came to a halt three steps below the level Rozan was on. Once there, he gave a salute, to which Rozan immediately straightened and returned it. After doing so, he moved to one side. It was an interesting spot to stop. Although Rozan was not terribly tall, the general had halted them at a point where he could quite comfortably look down his nose at all of them, including the Sorceress. Mianyl didn't seem to mind. Dael was rather uncomfortable, but showed nothing.

He directed his slight smile to her. It wasn't one of amusement or mirth, but more like one who was smiling because it was expected of him.

"Lady Mianyl…it seems you have arrived right on schedule." He spoke. Even his tone seemed somewhat drawn out and thin.

If it unsettled Mianyl (for Dael had a hard time believing, in the midst of all these heavy troopers, sealed off from escape, and right in the heart of Sybenia, that it wasn't unsettling anyone else other than her), she certainly didn't show it. Her smile had ebbed somewhat, beginning to match Rozan's…again, being something that was a matter of duty. However, it wasn't fully that way. It seemed even now she had some genuine amiability about her, although, if Dael had looked at her, she would have seen that her eyes had grown hard and focused. Her aura once again seemed to flow out over the area, and it was not as warm or comforting as earlier.

"On a matter of such importance, Mr. Heirarch, I do not tarry. This concerns a great many people. Generations should speak of the results of our negotiations for many years to come. I do not wish to dive right into the issues right here, however, although I do wish to begin as soon as possible. First and foremost, however…I am sorry for your recent loss."

Dael was almost confused at that phrase for a moment, until she realized the obviousness. That was right… In spite of all the political ramifications, the fact remained that Rozan had lost his father not too long ago. It was hard to almost think of Roz Heirarch as a father. To most of the world, he was simply a ruthless dictator.

Apparently, that view wasn't limited to people _outside_ of Sybenia. Rozan looked no more miffed than if Mianyl had just said, "I'm sorry it rained today."

"He was an exceptional man of vision." He stated at last…but just that, stated. Not praised or acclaimed, but simply stated as a fact. "He left me a great legacy. However, as you have said…let's not dawdle. It's rather late today, but tomorrow we shall begin very early. Now…if you will come with me. I shall personally escort you to the trinity of the capitol building before bidding you farewell for the night. Aides will show you and your…" He glanced to the others, including Dael for a moment…with much the same dismissive look as the general had given them. "…Retinue, shall we say, to your rooms. I figured some should be prepared. We shouldn't be done in a single day."

"Thank you for your hospitality." Mianyl responded. "And no, we shall not."

Rozan turned slightly, and motioned ahead, bidding them to continue upward. Then, much as the general had before, without waiting, he turned and began to walk. His retinue soon followed. However, Mianyl did not let him get too far ahead. Immediately she took off as well, actually able to close the distance somewhat to them. The others followed suit. Soon, they were all on the upper level, and all together moved back toward the large corridor.

It wasn't much more of a relief. Being on the upper level meant she was no longer being looked down on, but now Dael found a hundred soldiers on either side of her, as the armored ones joined in. And frankly, she wasn't eager to test herself against the Aegis Armors. The fact that Rozan was now there was irrelevant. They could all be shot a dozen times before they were able to lay a finger on him, let alone use him as a hostage. Soon, however, they were leaving the stairs behind and moving through the corridor. Just as before, it was empty, and most of it sealed off. They headed straight for the back. As they went along, Dael could see that the entire rear seemed to be a glass wall of the building, and that there was a great circular platform at the end suitable for all of them…no doubt a lift. Over half of it was enclosed by glass wall, meaning it offered an excellent view of the city, although, still being so low, Dael could see little.

"Now, of course, you will abide by the mandated rules. You as well as your retinue." Rozan spoke as they moved along, speaking behind himself. "You are allowed to retain weapons simply as a gesture of good faith. None of you shall use them at any point in time or you revoke your diplomatic immunitiy. No magic shall be used at any time under the same penalty. You are to be allowed movement within the capitol building alone, and then only when under an armed escort to and from meetings. The rest of the time you will stay in your chambers. You will be allowed communication lines between rooms but not visits. The only one who has clearance for outside communication is Lady Mianyl, and that is directly through our own hotline to the Grand Chancellor of Esthar, as she has come representing Esthar. Meals will be delivered to your rooms. You are also expected to maintain order. No disturbances are to be created while in your rooms. Finally, per our arrangement, during negotiations, only two guards will be allowed in the actual chambers. The rest must stand outside. I myself will allow only two and leave my own guards outside."

"I am perfectly versed in the conditions for this session of negotiations." Lady Mianyl responded.

"Of course you are." Rozan answered, still not turning. "Just reminding you."

Not long after, the entire assembly, all 200 plus of them, stepped onto the platform. Much as the mural overhead had, this one was emblazoned with a symbol of the Guiding Hand. Dael felt uneasy just standing on it. Not long after doing so, some sort of unseen switch must have been pressed, for the entire lift began to move upward as soon as the last soldier took position.

Dael, unfortunately, did not get a better look at Sybenia even then. She turned and faced back outward as the lift ascended, just as they all did, and she didn't break her formality even to look out behind her. It was tempting. This tower was even larger than the ones in Esthar, and had she looked out she would have seen much of the city hovering far below it as they went higher and higher, a carpet of small dots of light, with periodic trails representing the roads and pathways. She also would have gotten a clear view of just how large the massive turrets were that were built into the structure as they went by.

After a short while, the view vanished all together. The lift pulled up into a metal tunnel, much like any elevator would, and soon they were ascending a shaft. Dael knew at once they were in the 'trinity', as Rozan had called it. However, there wasn't much more of a change. They went a bit higher, then came to a halt. They soon faced yet another corridor which, aside from a bit darker hues and slightly smaller size, as well as far more banners of the Guiding Hand and Sybenia, was nothing too much different from the rest of the building.

The entire troop stepped off the lift and moved out forward a short distance until they were all clear of it as well as the shaft, and moved into the corridor. Once there, however, Rozan came to a halt. He turned and faced the others.

"And this is where I bid you goodnight. The aides will show you where to go from here. Breakfast is at 0700, and we start promptly at 0800." He paused only long enough to aim his eye at the Sorceress. "I'm looking forward to our 'talk', Mianyl the Wind."

Without another word, he turned and began to move off. Half of the Aegis Armors broke off and followed him, as did most of those who had been with him. Only the ones without ranking or military distinction remained, no doubt the aides he had mentioned. However, the remaining half of the guards remained cold and posted around the small group. No one moved. They just watched the small assembly of what was, no doubt, some of the most powerful men in the city pull away with the most powerful man on the continent. Their feet slowly and rhythmically clicked, leaving behind long echoes that only slowly faded along with them. They continued to go all the way to the end of the hall before turning again. Then their group was alone with the guards.

Without a word, one of the aides turned and began to walk as well. The rest of the soldiers did too, so it seemed they were supposed to follow them. They did so, their own footsteps soon echoing loud and long as they moved through the silent section of the capitol building.

* * *

><p>The room was actually rather nice. Dael was used to rather simple accommodations, or officer level at the best. However, this was better than that. It was what you could expect from some of the nicer hotels in the world. The décor was still rather basic but still much lovelier and modern than the rest of the building. The bed was very well made and queen-sized. Dael almost wondered how she could tolerate all that room. No television, of course. And if there had been, what would Dael watch? More state-run propaganda? There were all the traditional features of a suite too, including the normal "bells and whistles". Among them was included a small bar that Dael observed was filled with all the amenities of one yet for free. She imagined if someone like Cryder was there, he might inflict a small victory by emptying the fridge every night, forcing them to refill it. However, Dael was not too concerned with it.<p>

Instead, using her own training and knowledge, Dael made the rounds of the small room. She appeared to just be walking around a bit in an act of restlessness, but she was keeping an eye out for things in particular. Sure enough, she found them. The mirror in the main area was two way glass. One of the spandrals in the same room was behind some form of reflective metal. There was another near the doorway. Much to her displeasure, she saw that the mirror in the bathroom was also two way glass. She had expected to be monitored, but it filled her with no small irritation that she didn't even have privacy on the commode or in the shower. It diminished the enjoyment of most of the room, assuming she could have found any when she was practically a prisoner in Sybenia.

They were well and truly trapped now. If things went ill, there was no way out. They were stuck in their rooms. Even if they got out, they'd need an escort. If they didn't have an escort, they'd still have to make it to the lifts. If they made it to the lifts, they still needed to override the controls to get to the bottom floor. If they did that, they still had to secure a transport line back to the docks. If they did that, they still had to disengage the ship from the locking devices. If they did that, they still needed the gate opened. If they did that, they still needed to get around the fleet. All in all…they weren't going anywhere.

Dael had placed cameras easily enough, assuming they were in the standard places and there weren't more hidden. Now she wondered how much audio they had in the room. For all she knew, this room had been so specially prepared that it was recording the number of steps she took in it each day. Unfortunately, she couldn't just go around the room trying to short out devices. Doing so would only get them replaced, and would be something rather overt. She had to be more subtle. Her attention soon turned to one side of the room. As one boon, the room was not completely shut in. There was a large window on one side covered with curtains, and from here one could easily see much of the capitol city. Dael thought of stepping outside and letting the natural noise of the city and the wind blot out her words, but no such luck. The glass windows were not only locked, but welded shut.

Luckily, it seemed there was one thing they overlooked. The alarm clock in the room had a radio on it. She turned it on to test it for a moment. Sure enough, it was nothing but recordings of Roz Heirarch's old speeches, with a few from Rozan mixed in and just a bit of state-run news thrown in for flavor. All rather loud and arrogant talk, which is just what Dael had hoped for. No doubt, her hosts…practically captors at this point…assumed she would never care to listen to it. And sure enough, Dael didn't really care for it herself. But she was betting that the audio equipment in the room wasn't that sophisticated to be able to be terribly selective about noises.

With all of this inspected, she finally went to work. At first, she made it look as if she was ready to go to bed. She bet that the cameras in her room were infrared, but there was no sense in making this any easier on them than necessary. Once down to her undergarments, she turned off all the lights in the room and pulled the curtains closed. As anyone who has ever stayed in a city hotel knows, it's almost impossible to get the room totally dark unless you block out the window in some way, but luckily there were still heavy curtains there for that purpose. Once she had killed as many lights as possible, making them room practically pitch black, she went to the radio, set the alarm early, and then turned the broadcast on. There was no law against keeping the radio on at night. The worst they could do was send someone to the door with some crud about her keeping other people awake. But that would take a few minutes at least…

Dael climbed into bed next, pulling the covers close around her neck and turning her head to the side. Luckily, they included a down comforter. That provided a lot of bulk, so it was hard to see what she was doing. After that, she reached out and patted one side of the mattress. In response, Carbuncle, who, up until now, had been acting every bit the role of a pet and simply sat in a chair nearby and watched Dael's comings and goings, now leapt out of the chair, went across the floor, leapt into the bed, and moved up to Dael's side. Only now did Dael realize what a great advantage she had. She had someone to talk to and interact with freely. At any rate, Carbuncle curled up near her head into a ball and lay down. Combining the resolution of the cameras, the infrared nature, the radio message blaring, and the fact that no one could see either of their lips move…and the two could finally have a private conversation.

"Ugh…how much of that tripe do we have to listen to?" Carbuncle began in a groan, referring to the radio.

"Just try to zone it out." Dael answered. "That's what I've been trained to do."

"Kind of hard when your ears are bigger than bananas…" Carbuncle grumbled. "I guess this is the closest to privacy we're going to get. I noticed you didn't seem to trust them on the room-to-room stuff."

"Of course I didn't." The young officer responded. "They might as well be putting a microphone and a recorder in front of us for all our messages to one another. This place is worse than a prison in a lot of ways."

"I'll say." Carbuncle answered with a grumble. "We're pretty much toast if they want us dead. We can't even get out a message to anyone that we're in trouble. That stupid rule about only letting two guards on either side into the room with negotiations. Pft. Of course he doesn't mind doing that. This entire building is his."

"You can teleport." Dael answered. "Could you get the Sorceress out if you needed to?"

Carbuncle paused and gave Dael a look at that. "…The Sorceress? What about you?"

"She'd be the VIP in this case." Dael readily responded. "It's more important to get her out than anything else."

The Guardian Force hesitated momentarily, but then sighed. "I can only do one or two people at a time easily. When I was younger, I was able to do an entire airship, but I needed a ton of help on that one. If I pushed it, maybe four or five at a time, but that's all. Not that it would matter. The only person I can get to easily is you because I've been everywhere you've been. I don't even know where Mianyl is staying."

"But could you take a person all the way to Esthar?"

Carbuncle thought. "…It'd take me a second or two to warm up, and I'd be done for a while after doing that, but I should be able to."

"Good." Dael responded. "For now, I want you to try and look like just a common pet for as long as possible. As ignorant as people of Esthar might be about Guardian Forces, Sybenia is even more so. So long as they think you're a simple animal, I'm going to see if I can't get them to let you run about. Now, I'm betting they'll think I'm using you to pass messages, but after they inspect you and see nothing on you, they'll let you move. After all, they don't know you can talk."

"Thank you for trashing my dignity." Carbuncle complained in response. "I wanted to nick a jugular on that guy who dismissed me as some pet when we arrived…"

"That really wouldn't have helped anything." Dael answered with a sigh. She focused on the Guardian Force again, more imploringly. "Carbuncle…you're the only advantage we have here. Please, could you just do this? For all of us?"

The green creature paused momentarily. However, Dael knew she had hit the right notes. Anyone who showed Carbuncle "respect" or commented on his abilities, made him seem important, was someone who had managed to sway his opinions and win his attitude. He held for a bit longer, but then finally shrugged.

"Well, inconvenient as it is…all of you humans are hopeless without me. I might as well throw you a bone, so long as it's only a few days."

Dael managed a smile back. "Thanks, Carbuncle."

His ego inflated a bit, Dael managed to see a shade of a smile pass over Carbuncle's mouth. Dael, her conversation over for now, was ready to settle down and go to sleep. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance right away. Not one minute later, she had to answer a knock on the door. An aide was there, telling her that the radio was keeping people on the floor awake. She soon turned it off, glad to be rid of it herself, and went to sleep.

* * *

><p>In spite of all the danger, in spite of being trapped in Sybenia, in spite of constantly being surrounded by guards and defenses with no clear escape, Dael found herself, surprisingly, a bit bored over the next three days. Indeed, if not for the seriousness of the situation and the need to watch herself constantly lest she make a mistake that put them all in peril, she would have almost wondered why she was there.<p>

The first thing that Dael did the next morning when breakfast was served (brought to the room, of course) was ask about whether or not Carbuncle could be allowed to have some free reign. Naturally, there was some chagrin about it, and Dael didn't get an answer right away. It was a fairly unusual request even if one was on friendly terms with their hosts. Just as predicted, they insisted on picking Carbuncle up and looking him over for signs that he was passing along some sort of message. They found nothing, although Dael thought their handling and "frisking" of him would have made the Guardian Force snap more than once. After that, they agreed to let him move around for an hour or two each day, but saying if he left any scat that this privilege would be revoked. That was good enough for Dael, and by the time she finally had this matter cleared up, it was time to go to work.

Dael's duty wasn't terribly sophisticated. She was nervous and tense early on about it, naturally. After getting dressed in full uniform and fully armed, and joining with Carbuncle, she was allowed to gather with the others and prepare to move out. The building was a bit different that day. Apparently, they did incorporate some "eco-friendliness" to it. With all of the large windows in the building, natural sunlight provided most of the illumination. Unfortunately, it was a bit dim. Sybenia utilized a lot of fission power, much like Esthar did, but it still produced its share of emissions. Major power sources, for one thing, were easily replaced by fission, as well as in large vehicles such as warships and trains. However, smaller ones, like cars and trucks, were more expensive. Hence, there were emissions from those. Furthermore, there was still a lot of supplemental power from older sources. Since much of the world had converted to fission, coal and oil had grown somewhat cheaper again. Furthermore, Sybenia wasn't so quick to discount "fossil fuels" when Esthar was the leading producer of nuclear power. Future conflicts would hamstring them if they didn't when trade embargos went into effect. Their own production of nuclear fissionable materials was not yet on par with Esthar's to keep up with energy demand.

All of this meant that there was an air of smog and pollution over the city itself, but not nearly as bad as, for example, Leuco. The city was very much on-the-go, however, and represented a hybrid between the "sophistication" of Esthar and the technological advancement of Leuco. Many cranes and construction vehicles were around. There were no less than six major projects underway from Dael's viewpoint of her own room. There were some signs of "sprawl" going on, what with residences, commerical buildings, and industry lumped together, although they seemed to be "cleaning things up" a bit now, having enough money and resources to relocate to better areas that made more sense. However, Dael still marveled at simply how large and widespread the level of development was. It seemed to be just as widespread as Esthar, which was saying quite a bit. As little as ten years ago, Sybenia was little better than the surrounding city-states following how badly they had been hit by the depression. The fact that they had bounced back this much was, as much as one might hate to admit it, a testament to how effective this ideology could be...

Once Mianyl joined them, they moved in to the place for negotiations. It wasn't far. They only went up one more floor before going into a central location. Naturally, it was surrounded by much of the compliment of soldiers they had seen yesterday. At that point, the most "senior" officers were picked, Captain Meade and one of the High Children. Those two went in with Mianyl in through a large set of doors, and the other six were posted at the entrance...staring at far superior numbers designed, no doubt, to make them feel inadequate and superfluous if things went bad. After that, they stood at attention, and waited.

For the first two hours, Dael was tense and ready. She expected at any moment for there to be some sort of shouting or fighting or worse, at which point they would have to snap into action and battle their way out. Given the amount of hostility they had encountered so far and that they were practically being treated like inmates as it was, that might have not been so ridiculous of an assumption to make. However, as time went on, and Dael began to grow a bit stiff and sore from standing there and looking forward, she realized such wasn't about to happen, and soon realized how much of these negotiations were going to go as far as she was concerned...very slowly and dully. She began to realize she was more of an official distinction and a precaution on this mission. Important as it was, she was there for emergencies...not necessarily expected to go into action. Most of the day was left standing there. About the only break to the monotony was a one hour break in negotiations for lunch, but then it was back to guard duty. It seemed almost a relief when Mianyl finally emerged and all were allowed to turn in for the day.

Shortly thereafter, Dael let Carbuncle out. While he was gone, a phone call came in. The young officer was initially afraid that he had been picked up or discovered, but it was Lady Mianyl, calling in to make her report on the day's activities. She wasn't terribly specific. After all, she didn't want to spend too much time tying up everyone, especially if it might get more attention from Sybenian forces. Several of the major points were talked on. After all, it wasn't simply a matter of declaring a cease fire or ensuring that Esthar wouldn't be attacked. It also had to do with what would be the fate of the city-states and the future of Sybenia. Mianyl said she'd need to contact Esthar about what their views were, but ruefully admitted that things were not currently going as well as they might. Sybenia was taking a rather hard line and not yielding. However, she wasn't finished yet, and this was only the first day.

Carbuncle returned shortly after Dael hung up, but there was little to report. The two that had gone in with Mianyl reported much the same. The only contributions they made was that Rozan was rather smug and confident, treating the entire matter as if he was humoring Mianyl. Even her strong will was having a hard time persuading him. Evidently, Rozan was someone of a strong will as well, despite his appearance and demeanor. It was actually a bit surprising to Dael, as well as a bit regretful to her. If there was anyone she would want to see squirm, it would be him. Even after having seen him personally for all of a few minutes, she had a definite dislike for him. However, there was nothing else for it today. All of this, naturally, was conveyed much the same way as it was the night before. Just as before, she received a knock on the door telling her to turn the radio down, with a not-too-subtle warning not to turn it up again. Dael disregarded said warning. There was no law against turning her radio up. They couldn't prove anything unless they confessed about them monitoring her through audio.

The next two days were much the same. Dael heard occasional reports on the radio from Sybenia's state-run media about what was going on in the building, but all they ever said was that negotiations were ongoing, and they were always slanted to make it look as if Sybenia was being oppressed or repressed. Carbuncle continued to have little other information to give, but Dael didn't really care so long as he was sure that he could teleport in and out if need be to all rooms. That said, Dael eased up as even the dark faces and heavily armored soldiers began to grow more commonplace. Mianyl's daily reports gave out little new information. She would talk about how they had managed to resolve one or two minor issues, but she would rarely go into much detail unless it was something that could be stated in just a few seconds. Apparently, the "grand report" would have to wait. However, even without that, Dael noticed that Mianyl did have a more tired and exasperated tone as the days wore on. The young officer wondered on a few occasions why Mianyl just didn't exert a measure of her power to make Rozan comply. However, she realized the Order of Hyne was far too pacifistic for that. This was how it would have to go.

On the night of the third report, however, Mianyl ended with something different in her nighly phone call.

"I'd pack your things tomorrow, lt. commander." She told her, her voice having grown quite tired-sounding by now. "We'll probably be departing sometime after noon. I can't imagine negotiations taking much longer than that."

"Have you nearly reached a settlement, my lady?" Dael had responded, her tone actually betraying some eagerness. "What is it?"

"I'll explain in detail once we're back on the _Indominable._" The Sorceress responded. "I don't want to stay on the phone too long. I'll see you tomorrow, lt. commander."

On that abrupt note, Dael's interest was once again piqued, but she was left in the dark. She turned to Carbuncle for more clarification during their nightly "radio session", but the Guardian Force had little to contribute.

"I know about as much as you do." He told her. "Or anyone else does, for that matter. They've got most of the minor issues worked out. They've been working on breaking the major issue for a while…namely about Sybenia's current expansion and what to do about the city-states. From what I heard, Rozan has been getting a bit vocal but Mianyl's keeping in control. They brought up a lot of conditions today…most of them not that good. She said she would have to check with Esthar on them. My guess is, based on what she told you, she got their verdict back."

"What kind of conditions?"

"Apparently, Rozan isn't budging on the current city-states. He wants to keep them…permanently annex them to Sybenia. He won't pull out so much as a single soldier from the territory, no matter how much the Sorceress tries to get him to change his mind. Seems he pretty much thinks it's his by virtue of the fact he took it. Hmph…not surprising. He wouldn't be the first."

Dael tried to press him for more at this point, but at that moment an attendant, rather irate after having to do this for four nights in a row, came in and practically ordered her to turn her music down and threatened to remove her radio all together. Dael, of course, complied as always. She figured if she'd get her answers tomorrow, there wasn't much to worry about.

Sure enough, Lady Mianyl was right. They started off the same as every other day, moving out to the place of meeting and then taking their positions. Dael had packed, but she had the habit of following standard procedure and packed every day. After all, if they were to leave, they'd probably do so in a hurry (considering the fact that this _was_ Sybenia), and that could be at any time. On arrival, however, Dael already noticed that things were different. Photographers and reporters, all for the state-run media, were waiting for them, and today they took considerable pictures of Lady Mianyl as well as Dael and the rest of the retinue as they came in. Numerous ones also entered the chamber along with her. A few remained outside, but most soon left, and all became as it was before. However, they held there only until a little before the normally scheduled break. Abruptly, the doors opened, and Sorceress Mianyl, flanked by Meade and the High Child, exited and looked up to either side. A few reporters followed them, and those that remained behind took pictures and notes immediately.

"The negotiations are finished." She announced to those assembled. "We've reached a settlement, and I have signed it on behalf of Esthar. Our work here is finished and we will depart for Esthar immediately. Your things should already be on their way to the boat."

The Sorceress soon moved out. Dael was hesitant for a moment. All of it seemed so abrupt…so sudden. Just like that, the negotiations were over. She hardly knew what had happened. However, what unsettled her more was the Sorceress. She was her normal self for the most part, but Dael could tell something was different. Her aura seemed darker today, grimmer and less merry. Her pleasant air and warmth had diminished considerably. She was far colder… However, she didn't dwell on this. She snapped out of it and soon followed.

The reporters took a few more pictures and notes, but then left. Not so much as one interviewed her. After all, what did they care about what she had to say? They were mostly swarming around Rozan, the only one they considered worthy of talking to. His word was considered gospel. The word of a Sorceress was counted as so much trash. After all, she was a magic-user. And besides, they only wanted to see what their country had gotten or lost, not what Esthar had.

As a matter of fact, Dael soon found herself in an interesting position. As they were so intent on leaving now, immediately proceeding to the lift, taking it to the bottom floor again, and then exiting to make their way back to the transport, all while being escorted by the troopers, she realized she might very well be one of the last people to be aware of the results of the negotiations. The six of them that hadn't gone into the room were in the dark and there was no chance to relay the information. They were simply leaving. Meanwhile, she knew that the news was probably already blaring the results on every channel for everyone else in Sybenia to know the results. However, she assumed they weren't too terrible for them. After all, no one was trying to ambush them or attack them or even spit or yell at them. Of course, Sybenia seemed to be keeping the way very clear and they weren't venturing into any public areas.

The only good side to all of this, and what made Dael feel slightly better, is that with each new step they took they had a greater chance of surviving a break for it, even if it remained very small. They were passing more and more lines of defense with each passing moment. However, no moves were made on them. They were allowed to freely exit the building and go all the way to the transport, and soon they mounted up and began to ride once again. It wasn't much different from last time. Even with the sun out, no illumination reached them when they were in the subterranean tunnels. Dael merely exhaled and waited.

Finally, the transport came to a stop. Again, they exited, and again they soon went through the military and service corridors. A few minutes later, and they were emerging into the docking bay. The sun was out now. On one hand, it made things a bit more cheery. On the other, it allowed Dael to see that there were more "pill boxes" and smaller artillery units present that she had been aware of before. Neither was terribly comforting. The guards once again fanned out, and soon they were faced by several commanding officers. They gave no fond farewells. They merely gave short, curt nods in response to Lady Mianyl's own graceful bows before they were allowed to get back on the ship.

Dael almost felt a sense of safety as she stepped into the inner cabin within the main room. Although she was still more than vulnerable to artillery fire, there was the fact that she was at least sheltered from prying eyes by the tinted windows. It was one more layer of protection. Nevertheless, she still had quite a bit to be tense about as they all took their positions throughout the chamber, with the eight posted around the edge of the room and Sorceress Mianyl sitting on a couch at one end. Once the crew finished preparations and inspected the luggage for any "surprises" the Sybenian couriers might have left bringing it back to them, they were at last ready to depart. Dael tensed here, still fearful something might happen at the last moment, or that they wouldn't let them leave.

However, her fears were unfounded. Once again, the large metal gates opened up. Water draining from the bay actually served to aid in pushing the ship out, and soon the ramp released and the _Indominable_ was free to move out again. It seemed to take close to thirty minutes, but the ship finally rolled out from the bay and out of the gate. Once clear enough, it turned around. Dael caught one last glimpse of the massive gates of Sybenia closing, before she was treated to a view of the monstrous navy floating in the bay, all of their guns still trained outward. Soon, the transport turned and began to make its way through them. The ship went up to full "cruising speed", and they were on their way.

Although still well within range of being blown out of the water, they were now about as safe as they were going to get before they were out of range of the last of the destroyers. Dael couldn't believe it, but she almost wished that they were back in Lamb with all of the adoring fans. At least they gave a warm reception…or a reception that could at least be considered cordial. Yet even as she continued to think this, she heard the voice of Mianyl speak up behind her.

"…It's probably best that I give you all the news now."

This comment snapped Dael out of her thoughts, as well as redirected the attention of everyone else in the room. Soon, she and everyone else found themselves turning back to Sorceress Mianyl. Only now did Dael see the young woman break a bit, bowing her head slightly and forming a very tired and regretful look on her expression. She let out a tired sigh.

"After all, once we return to Esthar, I'm sure many media outlets and, in the case of Esthar's Hawks, superior officers will want to know as much as possible. As soon as we're back into international waters, I'll be sending a message back to Esthar that will share the news of the treaty I signed a few hours ago. The heads of state are already mostly aware of what is on it, but this will alert the media and the general public. It would be a most unusual and unfortunate thing if you all, those who were actually there, knew less about it than the average citizen." With this, Mianyl paused again, inhaling a bit further and leaning up again.

"Several matters were brought up, as you probably know. Issues of how many ships would remain in the bays, areas of the ocean and airspace, issues of hostility and what would be considered a hostile action… All of these matters were brought up on the first day and resolved fairly quickly and easily. Calls were made into Esthar during breaks as well as every night and the issues were quickly clarified. Tradeoffs were made and things are more or less under control and balanced in such situations.

"But as you might imagine, the main issue was Sybenian expansion. Rozan Heirarch was adamant about the progress that his country has already made and their current victories and holdings. I tried to talk him out of it continuously for the better part of the three days. I tried offering concession after concession, plan after plan, even things that I wasn't sure Esthar would agree to. At the bare minimum, I wanted the chance for those people that Sybenia has named…" Here, her face turned into a dark grimace. "…'Undesireable'…the chance to leave. Rozan would hear none of it and have none of it. He refused to even acknowledge that any persecution was taking place."

Several of the Order of Hyne members stiffened on hearing that. Dael could hardly blame them. They all knew the truth. Dael's own report had more than given them enough evidence of the atrocities being committed. There was no question that magic users were being oppressed along with various other groups that Rozan considered to not be on the same level as his own background. And pacifistic and forgiving as the Order of Hyne might have been supposed to be, that kind of statement was enough to anger anyone. The fact that she saw so little in response from them actually testified to their nature, Dael supposed. At any rate, she kept listening.

"Rozan presented, what I considered to be, rather one-sided terms. He said that the expansion of Sybenian's new empire would halt provided that certain large concessions were made, the greatest of which being that Esthar officially recognize the legitimacy of Sybenia to the occupation and complete control of the surrounding city-state regions and acknowledge internationally their right to such. In short, Esthar was to not only allow the acquisition of these surrounding territories and assimilation of the same, but to legitimize the same in the eyes of the international community. In response, I placed a call to Esthar to present these conditions. It was my intention to receive some sort of 'punitive ammunition', as it were, to counter these terms. Something to give to Sybenia to persuade them to abandon this action. Reparations…defensive placements…economic sanctions…something."

Mianyl again paused, inhaling once again. She seemed to grow darker here. Dael didn't know why…but she feared the answer. She felt herself beginning to tense up too. They couldn't have possibly…

"…No such corrective measures were authorized." Mianyl responded flatly after a moment. "According to the word of Grand Chancellor Barbarossa himself, he did not want to take any course of action that could lead to future military conflict with Sybenia, and he felt any direct opposition would do so. Since Rozan Heirarch's terms would stop the expansion of Sybenia and ensure Esthar's continuing peace and prevent a need for military action…he felt the same should be accepted."

It was only due to the discipline and training of both Esthar's Hawks as well as the Order of Hyne that someone didn't outburst right then and there. Dael certainly felt like crying out at that moment what everyone was thinking: "Is he out of his damn mind?" She even felt Carbuncle shift on her shoulders (still riding them ever since getting on board), and, crass as he could be, he knew when to keep his mouth shut at appropriate moments. This was crazy. Perhaps the common citizen in Esthar wouldn't think so, but things had gone too far now. These were military men and women as well as civilians with a personal stake. The former knew that things never ended here no matter how much the public or politicians tried to pretend they did.

"I didn't present the acquiescence to begin with." Mianyl continued. "At first, I kept negotiations going…trying to call a bluff. But Rozan didn't go for it and refused to bite. By the next evening, on seeing that we hadn't left for home, I received a call from Esthar with the Grand Chancellor demanding to know why I hadn't agreed to the terms. I had no choice but to sign on behalf of Esthar. Sybenia was monitoring all the calls. The moment they knew I no longer represented Esthar, diplomatic immunity would have been revoked and we all would have been prisoners of the state. Then Esthar would have sent in someone else who would have signed anyway. In the meantime, Sybenia would have had more time to expand.

"It is clear to me now that the only thing Sybenia truly wanted out of this was to gain Esthar's 'stamp of approval' on their recent actions. And now they have them. Furthermore…" Her face turned grimmer yet. "They have the signature of the head of the Order of Hyne, and can now claim that she endorses it as well. There is little question that they will use the entire incident to push their own agenda further than before. In the end, even this so-called 'peace conference' was nothing more than a tool for Sybenian expansion. It's simply a matter of time before the treaty is broken."

The room was rather silent at that, growing about as grim as Mianyl was. After all, in light of that sort of news, what did they have to be cheery about? This was a blow to all of them. They may have escaped without physical incident, but if a conflict versus what had actually come from this was what was at stake, it was hard to tell which would have been the better alternative. Dael might have been coming back from her most significant mission yet, and one of the most significant that might have ever been undertaken in the history of Esthar's Hawks…but she couldn't help but feel as if this entire trip was about as bad as a crushing defeat, in the light in which Mianyl cast it.

At last, the woman exhaled and bowed her head. One of her hands rose, as if she was going to wipe her brow, but she kept it concealed under her sleeve and at the last moment pulled it back.

"I'm so tired, and I feel unwell after what I signed. I feel as if I've stabbed hundreds of thousands of people in the back. I have to rest a while somewhere where I do not feel tension from surrounding hateful stares or from pressures of state."

On saying this, Mianyl began to rise. Immediately, the four Children of Hyne broke off and went to her side. However, she had scarcely gotten to her feet and folded her arms when she looked out to everyone and continued, giving another nod.

"Thank you all for all you've done. I know this can't have been easy for any of you either and that you've all been under a great amount of stress. I'm sorry…I wish I could have done more. I'm going to try and recover and collect my thoughts now."

At that, Dael felt a change in the air. For a moment, the lights seemed to flicker, and the air grew a bit cooler. Mianyl's demeanor, simply grim until now, suddenly turned cold as her violet eyes hardened.

"…For my next meeting, I intend to talk with the Grand Chancellor himself, face-to-face." She stated rather strongly…almost coldly. "I believe I, as well as the rest of the Order of Hyne, will need to talk with him considerably for the forseeable future."

Without saying anything else, Lady Mianyl turned and began to go back for the side doors. Her retinue, Taraketh included, quickly fell in next to her and departed as well. Within a few moments, they were gone, and as the boat continued to make its way out of Sybenian waters, only the four special officers of Esthar's Hawks were left behind.

The room turned "normal" again soon enough, but Dael still found herself staring after where the Sorceress went. If she didn't want to give the impression of being a busybody or gossip, she would have immediately begun to speak to Carbuncle then. As it was, she hung behind…not necessarily out of wanting to, but out of feeling the need to. None of the other officers had departed, and she didn't want to be the first. Instead, she turned her head back outside and looked to the passing warships, surrounding the _Indominable, _and always with their guns trained on them. A constant reminder of the power they possessed.

Even without Mianyl's foreboding words, Dael would have turned her thoughts to the future. So…what now? How long would this short-lived peace last? She believed the Sorceress and knew that Carbuncle felt the same way…it wasn't going to be long. Sybenia would be worse than ever in the end. With greater resources and factories now open to them, at the bare minimum they could raise the power of their country to make it the greatest in the world. But between Rozan's constant propaganda, the navies, and the combat drills, she honestly didn't believe it would end here. This was only the beginning. The question was, the beginning of what? And how soon before the next move was made? And where would it be? Would they merely continue their current plan, or would they engage in something more ambitious?

The most optimistic scenario at this moment, which wasn't too optimistic at all, would be that Sybenia would "hunker down" for the next few years…possibly decades. They'd solidify their power and once they were sure all insurrection and disobedience was put down, once they fortified their position, once they built their war machine up more…then they would think of further attacks. But their power was already considerable. Dael had seen it herself. Their war machine was already large. And there were no uprisings or insurrections of note. What was to stop them from taking the next step now?

Dael didn't know. She didn't know what was coming in the near future or the distant future. About the only thing she could reach a conclusion on was that the colonel had been wrong. The biggest mission of her career was still to come. Likely, the biggest missions for everyone in Esthar's Hawks careers was still to come.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	19. Yo Ho Ho

_Three Days Earlier_

* * *

><p><em>I always seem to find myself in the oddest situations…<em>

_Oh well…at least I'm making money off of this one…_

Cryder rubbed his chin a bit as he looked off the deck of the ship. He wished he could have pretended that he was back on the _Gungir_, but this ship was a little small for that…little more than a basic cargo freighter. They could have taken an airship, but such was considered to be too conspicuous. Although air travel was more common now, people often used ships as almost an indirect "sign of good faith". After all, it was far harder to escape in a boat than on an airship. Cryder didn't mind. He was more at home on the sea than on land, despite his geomancer abilities.

That was also why that group that was currently in Sybenia had used a boat. In spite of everything, Cryder wished he knew how that one spunky young officer was doing. Too bad all they could get out of Sybenia was the various state-run media programs, and they always said the same thing…negotiations were ongoing.

At any rate, the pirate pushed those thoughts away for the moment. After all, in the horizon, within the early-morning light that was just starting to emerge, he saw that they were nearly to shore. Leuco was still far in the distances, but it was still dark enough that one could make out the various lights illuminating the more advanced portions of the main city proper. He almost snickered at the thought. It had been a while since he had gone into the main port. Normally, he took whatever was on the side, in the more illicit, less mainstream docks. That was simply smart practice in his line of work if he was going to port anywhere. Actually sailing straight into the bay was something else entirely. He wondered how this would go. Luckily, he had no direct "mug shots" of his face. He wasn't that familiar of a pirate, so he didn't have to worry about being identified. Even so, this was Leuco, probably the only nation on Gaia where he would have an easy time coming in.

That said, Cryder felt rather useless so far. He was beginning to wonder why he was brought on this trip. His biggest forte would be in helping get everyone get there. He knew the sea routes to take, the times of year in which pirates were the most active, the speeds and cargos to make their ship "not worth the trouble"…he even knew a few codes that could get them through bad parts if need be. None of those resources were tapped. Cryder was a bit out of sorts. He hoped they weren't wanting anything "too" intensive in Leuco. He knew his way around, yes, but if they wanted too much from him and he couldn't deliver…he had a feeling it was a nice cozy concrete cell for him when he got back, which was something he would rather avoid.

Cryder was free to "enjoy the view" for only a few moments more, before someone approached him. He knew that before he saw him or even heard his footsteps, which was good because the deck wasn't wood that he would hear them creak, and even if it was it was too new. Most people might have wondered how he could do that, but it was a gift among geomancers. Surrounded by this much water and wind, at the mercy of nature, it was easy. As such, he turned his head slightly behind him to see who it was. As it turned out, it was the captain. Cryder hadn't bothered learning his name. Simply "the captain" sufficed for him, especially since he wasn't used to serving under a different one. He was dressed in civilian attire. Not a bad job either. There was one or two places that could use some work, but this "Class III Espionage" apparently knew its stuff. No doubt, that was also why they hadn't needed him yet. That…or perhaps they had just got lucky.

"Top of the morning." He greeted as the captain approached. "Any coffee brewing? I could always go for some moonshine grog myself in the morning… You know, thick enough that you practically chew it, but I'll settle for that."

"You'll get some with breakfast, and I suggest you hurry and eat up after we're finished here before we dock. This isn't a pleasure cruise." The captain answered, almost coldly. "And the 'lax part' for you is officially over. This is where we start to see if you're worth keeping on in Esthar's Hawks. According to the report you gave, you should be."

Cryder merely gave a shrug in response. "That report was fairly general. I'm still not sure exactly what sort of expertise you expect from me. Although, considering what I'm getting out of the deal…" He smiled widely. "I vow to do my very best."

"I'm afraid Esthar isn't paying you to give 'your best', but to succeed." The captain retorted, his tone not changing. "That said, this should be something up your alley. The first order of business that we'll have is on landing. Seeing as you have connections with Leuco, you are to get us through the proper channels to have us listed as Black Corsair operatives."

Cryder paused on hearing that. He was genuinely surprised, and he showed it. "…Excuse me? I thought you all were masquerading as simple cargo carriers."

"A double layer of protection." The captain responded. "We're coming from Esthar, and we have some reason to believe that Leuco may be suspicious of anyone coming from there. Even if not, we have reason to believe Hounds of Sybenia might be present and might be more suspicious. As it is, this is what we do often. We call it a 'double sleight'. If we're found out, we want people to find us out to be Black Corsairs…a secret that has few consequences and divulges nothing of our true mission. In our experience, people who manage to uncover one 'layer' of secrecy often believe they've gotten to the bottom of the deal. It's less common for them to find a second. And exposing ourselves as Black Corsairs ensures a measure of freedom in Leuco, freedom that we're counting on."

Cryder, in response, turned his head to the side and let out a snicker. He began to reach into his pocket for a cigarette.

In response, the captain's eyes creased. "Did I say something amusing?"

"Just a few little things." Cryder answered as he got out the cigarette and put it in his mouth. "One…I've never seen a pirate ship so small and unarmed before. Two…most deals aren't done so much in the open."

"We have it on authority that deals are occasionally conducted in daylight by freighters such as this one. They're used as go-betweens since you can't pilot armed ships into harbors."

"Yes, yes, I'm aware of that… But you should know it's not the most regular thing in the world. Usually it's set up far in advance." He fished out a lighter and soon lit up. After taking a long drag, he continued. "It's not something I've personally ever done, namely because it'll get you chewed out by whoever's job it is to cover this up and make sure all the deals happen under the table. The only way a bigger pirate would take that risk is if they had set it up at least two weeks in advance. And even then they'd probably do it at least in the evening. Morning's not bad, but it's still rather late…"

The captain crossed his arms and sighed. "Can you get us in with the status of being pirates from Leuco or not?"

Cryder took another drag. "…You got a hell of a good 'cover story'? I mean, for being freighters?"

"Of course. Checked out with the port authorities here and in Esthar."

"Cargo?"

"Chemical fertilizers and medical supplies. Worth millions in the right hands."

The pirate paused, then gave a shrug. "Alright…it should work then. Won't be the easiest in the world, but so long as it's as you say…worth millions in the right hands…they won't turn it down. If it was designer t-shirts or something I'd say you were stuck in the doldrums without any oars…"

"That's just to get us into port and secure us long enough to unload." The captain responded. "We're doing it early in the day specifically because we're expecting a queue. After that, we're going to unload the 'real' cargo. We'll need you again for that part to get in touch with the higher ups."

Cryder took another puff. "I don't follow you."

"We're aware that arms trading takes place as well in Leuco, and that Black Corsairs aren't above trading weapons as well. To that end, we also have four fully-armed Artemis Rockets on board."

The pirate's eyes bulged in mid-drag. He actually coughed a bit, pulling his cigarette away from his mouth and trying to catch his breath. "Holy sh't, captain…" He said aloud. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"We need you to get through to someone a bit higher than the local toadie for the government at the dock." The captain went on, still quite calm. "We felt that this would be a sufficient measure to ensure that we would get their attention, and get enough to move into the munitions plants. Specifically, the big one at Arcane."

Cryder caught his breath a bit longer, then shook his head. "You're almost making me nervous, captain, knowing that those things are on board. I think a lot of pirates would love to keep them for themselves."

"True, but they don't have the proper equipment to launch one." The captain responded.

The pirate snickered. "Good point."

"What we need from you is to ensure we make the right connections and deliver the weapons to that plant in particular. It's important that we get there. Hence, why we're shipping such valuable munitions."

"Begging your pardon," Cryder interjected, taking another drag from his cigarette. "But are you really willing to lose four of those things? I mean, what if that comes back to bite you? One of those rockets could level a skyscraper in Esthar."

"We're aware of that. That's why we're retaining the scrambling codes. By using them if the rockets are about to be fired on Esthar, the guidance chips shut down. The rockets don't go more than 100 meters before splashing down."

"Sounds great. What if they fire at someone who's _not_ Esthar?"

The captain silently stared back at Cryder in response. For a few moments, an uneasy silence lingered. Cryder merely grinned and puffed on his cigarette again.

"You don't have to answer that. I thought as much. It'll be your country's ass if anyone traces them back to you, though. So…this is your ticket into the Arcane Munitions Facility…well, this and me. What are you planning to get out of it when we get there?"

The captain paused momentarily. He turned fully to Cryder, and looked over him a moment. He seemed a bit irritable after the last comment. However, the pirate patiently waited, continuing to smoke. The officer looked as if he was assessing him to see whether or not to tell him more. Finally, he exhaled and looked forward again.

"Seeing as you're collaborating on this mission, it seems only fair you have a right to know about our activities. Just keep in mind that we keep these things quiet for plausible deniability. Revealing these facts if captured will not gain you and clout in Esthar or anywhere else."

Cryder gave a nod. "Duly noted."

"How much do you know about 'nuclear fission-type weaponry'?"

The pirate paused for a moment at that. He was genuinely caught off guard by the question. After a moment, however, he shrugged. "About as much as I know about nuclear fission, which is to say not much. My crew handled that, in particular the engineers. But I know how you get energy from fission is by finding larger atoms that you can break into smaller atoms or something…and that you release a bunch of energy by breaking them up."

"More or less, that's how it works. In your basic reactor, you're conducting these 'breakings', as you put it, at a slow and steady rate, with failsafes in place to make sure the reaction never goes any faster than a certain rate. However, nuclear power wasn't discovered for long before it was discovered that they also had weapons capabilities. If you could cause the reaction to go off, more or less, all at once…you would get a tremendous explosion…a bomb blast large enough to level almost all of Esthar with one detonation."

Cryder raised his eyebrows at that. His mirth momentarily vanished, along with his smile. "Good lord…"

"As you can imagine, a lot of countries would have wanted this kind of power. However, as you might expect, it's a bit too dangerous. Too deadly. Part of the reason people get into wars is to get spoils. What good is it when you destroy your spoils along with your enemies? Furthermore, I'm sure you're aware of the hazards of radioactivitiy. The danger is magnified that much higher when using a fission weapon. Shortly after the discovery of weapon's technology for fission reactions, all nations signed a universal treaty banning the development or production of such weapons or materials. It was universally deemed 'too hazardous' to pursue, too damaging to everyone."

The captain frowned and shrugged.

"Obviously, however, there remained the possibility that someone would renege. Even if they wouldn't, there was the chance that a madman would start developing the weapons at some point, a risk no one was willing to take. Several countermeasures were made to ensure that didn't happen. Among them are radioactive particle counts in the atmosphere. They're so accurate at this point we can detect whenever more nuclear materials are being produced than being reported. More so, however, is something that very few people in the general public are aware of…the Minerva Shells."

The pirate turned his head. "Minerva Shells? Never heard of them."

"Most people haven't. They assume the treaty was all the protection anyone needed. However, as it turns out, in a rare moment of agreement with high-ranking members of the Order of Hyne, an advance model of magical technology, or magitek, was allowed to be constructed despite being banned within the Order and by most governments. The center of most populated cities within every city on Gaia in all nations contains one. It's triggered to automatically fire the second someone attempts to utilize a fission-type reaction. It sends out a magical wave that manipulates splitting atoms and essentially makes them 'tougher' and impossible to split, stopping a reaction dead in its tracks. It even cancels out radiation. These devices essentially make fission-type weapons useless.

"However, in spite of that, there remains a danger that someone, somehow, at some time, might find a way around this defense. Hence the other countermeasures. About ten days ago, our counters picked up elevated levels of radioactive particles coming from Leuco. However, they aren't standard things like uranium and its derivatives. These ones are more from hydrogen. We're wondering what they're developing, and we've been dispatched to check it out."

"So if I follow you correctly…" Cryder interjected in between puffs. "Your plan is to first be confirmed as pirates from Leuco. Then you get in, drop off the standard cargo, pass along a message that you have something a bit more valuable, get a transfer to the Arcane Munitions Facility, and drop these missiles off. While that last part is going on, you're going to send in people to try and get the low down on a potential new weapon or at least the source of these radioactive particles, which may or may not be something that can do damage on the same level as a fission-type bomb. Am I right?"

"That's the long and short of it." The captain simply responded.

"And my role is to make sure everything is clean…that you get all of your 'i's dotted and your 't's crossed. Right?"

"More or less, yes."

Cryder paused a moment, taking another puff from his cigarette. He grimaced a bit soon afterward.

"Are you unable to carry out this mission?" The captain asked.

"I'm not saying that, although this is irregular. I was telling the truth. I rarely conduct weapons, and I've never had any swag large enough to take to Arcane. But I do know the proper procedure. I also know that Arcane is where the line is drawn between the Leuco Government and the Black Corsairs. They don't just give them free access to anything that goes on in there. It's not just a depo and a munitions plant. Its where their weapon's development takes place. The latest in security goes into effect there. Every entrance into that building is guarded by an infrared scanner. They make sure no one goes in who doesn't come out again, and the people who go in are all accounted for. Once inside, the place can trigger a lockdown in any one of a thousand ways. And there's a reason most of the guards are automated drones. By doing so, they can implement measures that would normally kill flesh-and-blood sentries…like gas, laser nets…"

"We're well aware of the risks and we've been researching them for some time." The captain calmly responded. "If that is your only concern, there is nothing to be alarmed about. We've planned for all of this. Besides, this will not be your portion of the mission. Yours is to act simply as the diversion, and if discovered, you will abide by standard procedure for Class III."

Cryder sighed. "Which is?"

"Denial of our existence. If something goes ill, you leave us behind."

The pirate frowned. "I may be a scallywag, but I'm not a rat. I never left a man behind if I could avoid it."

"Then consider that you can't avoid it here." The captain calmly answered. "Commander Nelson will be working with you. He will defer to you on all public and visible interactions, but you will be under him for all other times."

Cryder exhaled and took yet another drag. His face showed visible discomfort. However, the captain did not change.

"Any questions?" He finally asked.

"Just one." Cryder responded. "I don't suppose you mind me having a look at your route of entry, do you? I'd like to know how much time I have to stall for if something comes up…"

* * *

><p><em>Two Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>"So…" Cryder spoke up, looking much more like his casual self than two hours earlier, carefree, smiling, and having his normal attitude about him. He rubbed his beard a bit, and then gestured behind him. "How soon can we unload the cargo?"<p>

The port authority official, in response, was a ball of sweat. He looked around continuously, almost as if he was expecting someone who cared enough to do something about this action to pop out at any moment. At last, he turned back to Cryder, quivering all over like a leaf. "Are you trying to get me fired?!" He said in a harsh whisper. "The agreement clearly states: 'Hours of 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM only!' It's practically 8 in the morning!"

Cryder was perfectly calm as he scratched the side of his head. "Well, we had a feeling the 'company' we got these goods from wasn't too happy with us and how we got them…that they might send someone out to 'recall' the goods, if you get what I mean."

The pirate was currently standing on one of the official docks in Leuco. He practically marveled at it. Considering how clean and recent it was, it was almost overwhelming that his own ilk had to take off from such dingy, rat-infested, and ill-kept piers on the same continent. He almost felt like laughing. The Black Corsairs were the bread and butter of Leuco, and this was how they treated them. Oh well…he supposed it was necessary to maintain appearances. It was still unusual to see so many people bustling about, all looking so clean and working for officially licensed companies. What a change from the standard smelly, dirty, ragged, subhuman, and even non-human personnel he was used to working with. He had to admit, their own group stuck out like a sore thumb. The espionage costumes worked a little _too_ well. Still, it might have its uses. The more obviously they were out of place, the sooner they could get a move on and get out of here. And Cryder was eager to get a move on. The sun had cleared the horizon and was getting higher and higher in the sky. He didn't want to attract unwanted attention. Old habits, and all that.

All of the necessary clearances had been made. The group he was with, who had assembled and Cryder was finally able to count up as being eight men in all (including himself), who, for now, were all playing the part of crew members, knew how to handle most of it. However, Cryder had helped them out with the current code words, patched them into the right frequencies, and made the right connections. It was a good thing he was helping Esthar now. A few more months, and his knowledge might be obsolete. Nothing stayed constant in this trade except the higher ups who were skimming off the top of the dirty money. But for now, he knew enough to get them to sail right into one of the major docks. Soon, their small freighter was nestled between two of a long line of other ships, all of which were unloading at the moment. A few of them, Cryder included, taking the lead, had disembarked. The one he supposed was "Commander Nelson" was at his side, along with two other men, standing at a distance. All of them had gruff looks. They had even done up their faces to look sun-baked and salty. Not bad.

"You have no idea how much trouble you're causing for me!" The official retorted, still talking in a harsh whisper. "My ass is on the line here!"

"Well, what do you want us to do about it?" Cryder asked. "Go dump it in the ocean? We're already documented on landing here. It would be easier if you just took the stuff. That way we both make a profit rather than me putting this stuff to waste. Besides, the freighter's perfectly registered. There's no problems there."

The man stammered for a moment, he looked to the ship, then back to Cryder. He seemed to be trying to think, but was so out of sorts that he could barely concentrate long enough to come up with anything. Seeing his hesitation, Cryder rubbed his beard again, and moved in a bit more.

"And if you're thinking of turning us away…" He spoke again, his own voice getting quieter and more subtle. He actually paused for a moment before looking the man in the eye, and then speaking again. "I've got something on board for my Aunt Rose."

Immediately, the man went still. He turned fully to Cryder, his eyes going a bit wider momentarily. Although he continued to sweat, and probably more than ever now, he somehow managed to calm. His earlier tension seemed to be forgotten. After pausing a bit longer, he leaned in more and spoke more quietly.

"Wh…what kind of thing?"

Cryder looked at him more steely. "Bottles of Chardonnay." His eyes narrowed. "Settepluio Port."

The official suddenly turned white.

"Did…did you say…'b-bottles'? Not 'bottle'?"

"Four of them." Cryder answered. "You might see why we're eager to unload now…and why we need to hurry up and make some calls to Aunt Rose…let her know we're coming…maybe have her drive out to pick us up?"

The official bowed his head for a moment, looking practically apoplectic. "F-Four Art…I mean, Chardonnays…" He swallowed. "Moving that kind of stuff…and even holding onto it… It's not something that is just your standard cargo…even for…Aunt Rose. If they…I mean, if Aunt Eve found out that Aunt Rose had them…"

Cryder leaned back and shrugged. "If you don't want them, I'm sure any one of the Commodores would love to have them. Even the Admiral would pay a tall price for them… Or should we just jettison them?"

"No, no!" The official hurridly said, putting his hands up. His moistened his lips. Once more, his head darted about as he looked around, making sure no one was listening or watching. Finally, he turned back to Cryder and gave a sigh.

"Just…just give me ten minutes to call Uncle Albert, alright?"

The pirate smiled and nodded. "You do that."

The official swallowed a bit, and then turned and began to walk away. Between the loaders and the masses of cargo all piled up at the docks, he was soon mostly vanishing. But Cryder continued to follow him with his eyes. In short order, he saw him go all the way back to the port authority building and rapidly duck inside after making sure no one saw it. Cryder gave a snicker at him as he crossed his arms.

"That landlubber is quite the catch." He snorted. "Love to play him in poker with that kind of façade he's putting up."

"Will they take it?" The one Cryder suspected as being Nelson spoke up quietly.

"I'd hate to be our port authority friend right now, as he has to handle the dirty portion and take all the blame if something goes wrong…" Cryder responded, nodding ahead to the man who had vanished. "And he'll no doubt be fired by the higher ups for delivering this stuff in daylight. But Leuco isn't about to say no to something like this. They'd be fools to do so. We'll get in. After that, I'm not sure exactly what you're planning."

"Nor do you need to be. It works out better that way." The officer responded. "And don't talk about it in public."

Cryder frowned in response. He had looked over the route they planned on taking. He had something of a good idea about how they were going to be getting in. Even so, this was too much. He had a feeling they bit off more than they could chew this time. And much as he might not like to admit it outright, these soldiers were comrades now by virtue of how they were working together. He didn't want to see them get offed on what he considered a foolhardy move. But, evidently they had to know about this potential new weapon. And Cryder, knowing now what a fission bomb could do, was forced to agree that it would be better to know about this.

"Just make sure to follow my lead on everything." The pirate finally said. "We're dealing with 'my kind' now, even if they're wearing suits and nice haircuts. I know my way around them."

* * *

><p>Sure enough, the government of Leuco bit. Whoever was currently raking down out of the pots in Leuco's black market activities, which Cryder bet was none other than the esteemed Ernest W. Waltershelly, at least the last time he checked, they wanted the Artemis Rockets. Even if they had no intention of using them themselves, they weren't about to leave them to the Black Corsairs. With that kind of firepower, next time the unofficial "contracts" were negotiated between the Black Corsairs and Leuco, they'd have far more saying power. Only a few telephone calls were necessary. When the official returned, he was white as a ghost and practically listless. Cryder could tell his job was toast after this. However, he gave them the news they wanted to hear. They were in the queue to unload the proper cargo, and a truck was coming for the "wine".<p>

Say what you wanted about Leuco's black market activities…they knew what they were doing. The queue had scarcely moved up to the freighter when the truck arrived. By the time they unloaded, it was a simple matter of pulling out the four "standing freezer" crates along with the rest of the cargo. No one even looked twice at the whole operation. In five minutes flat, the four crates had been loaded on board the truck. Luckily, it was a special kind of truck with seats and belts in the back, and Cryder and the three with him soon loaded up. He was a bit surprised to see that there were no others with them, and when he attempted to go on board to try and get the remaining ones, Nelson stopped him. Cryder soon got an idea of where they were…eyeing the crates suspiciously. He hoped there were real missiles inside them too or he would have a hell of a time explaining things. Some of these officials were as ruthless as the pirates they dealt with. If they found they had pulled a fast one in broad daylight, they'd all get bullets in the head. Furthermore, he hoped they had a countermeasure for the infrared scanners, or this wouldn't really do much good. At any rate, they were all soon on and taking off.

It wasn't long into the trip before Cryder saw the espionage team go into action. Sure enough, just as he assumed, they were in the crates all along. The truck had barely spent a minute on the road when sides of each crate flipped open and, like compressed circus performers, the four other agents all tumbled out. Each one was wearing some sort of black, full-body suit unlike Cryder had ever seen before, but it was for more than concealment. It actually had some padding to it. The pirate soon had a good idea of what they were, however. They were some sort of suits that would conceal their heat signatures. The infrared scanner would never pick them up. Rather smart move, considering the fact that there weren't any men in the back of the truck from Leuco. No one knew anything of their activities. Once out, 'Nelson' produced a small drill and proceded to make a small, almost indistinguishable, hole in the side of the truck. He stuck out a small wire with a diode on the end, and stuck it outside, before producing what looked like a cell phone and plugging it in. It seemed to be some sort of monitor so they could look and see where they were going. Soon after, some of the men in black climbed on top of the crates and proceeded to cut openings in the ceiling. However, the openings were not dropped out, but actually fixed with special hinge arrays that had been brought with them. Cryder was amazed at the tools as much as anything. He didn't think things that cut metal could produce so little noise. They weren't heard at all over the sounds of the trucks. However, the men didn't exit. They merely sat there and waited.

Time slowly ticked by. The pirate was actually able to recline a bit, for the trip took over two hours. He knew, during that time, they went all the way through the city proper of Leuco and out into the outlying suburbs, and then beyond those to the remote rocky and mountainous regions. Even without looking over Nelson's shoulder at this small monitor, Cryder was well aware of what the area around the Arcane Munitions Facility looked like even without ever being there. Every Black Corsair made sure to know that. If they didn't, there was no telling if the government was taking them there or decided to make an example of them one day and would just whack them after getting them into the wild far enough. Nothing to see along the way except rugged terrain. He soon picked up on the car going up at an incline, indicating rising up the side of the landscape. Furthermore, he picked up on them waving from side to side and slowing down. It was a sheer sign they were headed into rougher, more mountainous terrain. Definitely far outside of the city proper. However…it still wasn't quite so rough that they were completely out of civilization. After all, Arcane needed power and utilities as well as space. And you couldn't get that by going too remote.

Sure enough, the road leveled off and smoothed out a bit toward the end. Continuing to sit calmly, Cryder made a mental note of this. The truck also slowed more despite the fact that they returned to straight roads. Soon thereafter, the truck made a more dramatic slow down while shifting, indicating a large turn.

The espionage team members, both those in black as well as those looking like Black Corsairs, turned to Nelson. He immediately looked up to them.

"We've made the turn. We're crossing the bridge." He spoke in a quiet voice.

Immediately, the team reacted. Those dressed as pirates tightened up and began to adjust themselves in their seats, as if "getting into character". However, Cryder didn't pay much attention to them. His focus was on the individuals in black, who immediately returned to the top of the crates within seconds and returned to the holes they had cut. They proceeded to lift them out of the entrances by the hinges they had inserted. Cryder wondered where exactly they thought they were going, and in the end he could only assume to the roof. He didn't question them at this point, however. He knew where they were. At this point, they had to be making their final approach to the Arcane facility. It involved crossing a metal bridge just big enough for one lane of vehicular traffic and footpaths for people to move in and out. The facility was very clear on what went in and out and at what times. The bridge itself spanned a wide chasm with a river cutting beneath it going between two mountains. The incoming road was pretty much along a rather rough mountain covered with sharp rocks and boulders the likes of which Cryder had seen hunting for Bahamut's treasure. The mountain with the facility, on the other hand, was more gradual with softer material, allowing the facility to be built in the side. It was quite large. Cryder knew that as well without even looking at the monitor. It was built partially into the mountain itself to accommodate its size. It had to be big. It was a plant, after all, and it manufactured and stored a great deal of munitions. Furthermore, it had to be big enough for all of the research personnel…

Still…it always seemed to Cryder to be a little _too_ big. Leuco was neutral after all. Why would it need such great facilities? Especially since Arcane was only the foremost of several?

At any rate, Cryder hoped the espionage team truly knew as much as they thought they did. He had a feeling they hadn't done anything until now to make sure no one spotted them. This far in the middle of nowhere, there was no chance of getting a bird's eye view of the top of the truck. They could now hide on top until they were in. Letting out an exhale, Cryder quickly tried to steel himself. He had to get into a more "normal" state of mind too. Before going too far, however, he actually turned to Nelson and leaned over to try and see what his monitor was picking up. But before he could look too much, Nelson turned it off, pulling the wire diode out and quickly putting it away. The pirate grimaced and shrugged to himself before exhaling and looking forward.

The truck, surprisingly, didn't come to a full stop for a while. It continued to slow, however, until it was going at a speed in which Cryder could likely get out and walk if necessary. The pirate assumed they had reached the end of the bridge, and was moving into loading. There had to be cameras working in there, and he had a hard time believing they wouldn't provide an aerial view. Could the people on top really stay hidden? Or did they have some sort of additional countermeasure that was ensuring they wouldn't be seen? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had to carry out his end. And so, he inhaled and exhaled a few times, trying to take on more of his normal persona, and trying to remember the procedure. He had to tell himself they were here to unload the rockets. And he couldn't be quick about it either. Just like any true Black Corsair, he had to talk his way through this like he normally would…haggling for a higher bid.

Finally, the truck came to a halt. When it did, Cryder saw the others beginning to unbuckle, so he did the same. Once they were up, Nelson led the others to the back of the truck. The pirate assumed that was as good a move as any, and so he followed along. Soon he stood at the back, and, in order to maintain his flare and appearances, he crossed his arms and gave a smile, much as he would back on the _Gungir_. Soon after, the doors were opened from the outside and swung open, and Cryder got his first look at the facility.

Far ahead of them, facing "out", the pirate figured, was a long pathway that looked like some sort of loading bay. It was big enough to accommodate several trucks, but they had the only one there at the moment, leaving a long, blank corridor with unloading lifts built into the floor all the way. The entire place was sleek and metallic with lots of small devices for unloading present, most of which could be operated from small consoles by remote. It almost looked like some sort of assembly line for a plant that made vehicles rather than a loading bay, between all the machines that were there. Leuco did indeed have advanced technology. The most advanced, unfortunately, were what Cryder noticed were auto-gun emplacements with security cameras. He could make out not one but three separate infrared scanners leading in, and for all he knew all of them were active.

Standing at the end of the truck facing in was a small company of people. On the sides, for this particular loading bay, were a few workers for the facility going about getting into the unloading equipment to get it working. However, in front of Cryder were no less than six men. Four of them had small arms, while the other two were in loose suits. Those two were the "go-betweens", Cryder knew from experience…various toadies that operated and sent messages for the head honchos. As for the other four, they were simply security. The way they were dressed, they looked like your standard peon worker for the facility. Cryder knew full well there were MPs present in the facility as well as the automated guards, but this sort of affair wasn't about to be trusted to a military officer or a machine. After all…both of those kept records of their activities, where they had been, and what they had seen. Leuco didn't need any of that when conducting a black market deal.

Cryder gave both of the toadies a smile as he looked out. One was rather solidly built with a rough look about him, although was past middle-age. Obviously, he knew what he was doing. In all likelihood, he was a former Black Corsair himself who had transferred into a governmental position after so many years. The other, however, was younger and thinner. Although still formed well, he had the look of some pencil-pushing cretin who had spent his life in the black market comfortably in places like this, never having to worry about offending a colleague to the point where he'd pull a gun or sword on him. Pushing his glasses up, he immediately tried to call the shots, no doubt in a flimsy way to make himself important. He motioned to the workers nearby and into the truck.

"Alright…go on and get out. We need to get those four crates unloaded."

"Now just clip your sails a moment, lad." Cryder immediately responded, once again holding out his hand in a stopping gesture. He didn't know if the young officer lass had ever picked up on it, but he didn't do so just to look bold. He was actually readying geomancy every time he made the move. People learned to expect it from him, and so they would always be surprised when he used an attack. "You aren't laying a finger on these crates until we've agreed on a price. The only thing that's happening right now is we're talking to whoever's in charge and seeing how much they're willing to give us for them."

The pencil pusher hesitated here. No doubt, the temptation flashed through his head to show this "hoodlum" who was boss by showing off their advantage. Truth be told, they did have one. Even with three other "pirates" here, they were easily outgunned. The exit to the facility, which happened to be closing at the moment, might as well have been a hundred miles away between the guns and sentries. However, he'd be in for a surprise if he did try to throw his weight around on Cryder. He wasn't sure if the thin man was aware of that. However, the larger one seemed to be content with the pirate's statement. After all, he knew how things were done around here. He simply crossed his arms and waited. Eventually, the pencil pusher looked back to him. Seeing his silent assention to this, he frowned and turned.

"Alright. Follow me." He finally stated.

He turned and began to walk around the side of the truck. The larger man was at his side, and not long after that the other four went with him. Smart move. No pirate with half a brain would allow them to move in behind them. It would be inviting a bullet to the back. They seemed to know the drill themselves. Giving a smile, Cryder soon leapt out of the back. The other three followed him. The pirate wasn't dumb enough to glance back to the roof as he got out, but he did utter a silent wish in his mind that they wouldn't screw this up.

As it turned out, they were indeed at the back of the loading bay. Now outside of the truck, a quick look around saw that each truck "parking spot" was in a place for a turntable. Rather handy. It allowed the trucks to be loaded from any direction by swiveling them around. Of course, there were also guns and cameras on their truck too, and Cryder also saw several entrances large enough to ship out big amounts of cargo on multiple sides. All the looks of a true loading bay only much bigger. They didn't spend much time there, however. Soon they moved toward a set of double-doors in the back. They had "Restricted: Employees Only" painted over them in big letters, but that didn't seem to matter, and soon all of them began to go through one after another.

Naturally, they weren't being taken through the "main rooms" and corridors. That was for employees only. And while it was likely that there were people on the dole in this facility besides just these six, it was more than likely that there were a few who weren't that they didn't feel like explaining things too or urging to shut up. Instead, they walked through the warehouses, storage rooms, and even a few of the machinery areas. Cryder kept his eyes open as he walked in. He really couldn't help it. He was a curious sort, and that's what he would do normally anyway. Of course, there was always the chance he would look over the others, but somehow he doubted it. They seemed to be good at remaining hidden. Other things, however, soon caught his interest.

Leuco was indeed neutral. They probably did some special ammunition work for other countries with bigger militaries such as Sybenia and Esthar, but that would only be special orders. They might ship out 3,000 rounds at a time, but no bigger than that. At least…that's what Cryder assumed. However, as he walked along, he was soon astonished at what he saw. There were several warehouses stuffed with ammunition. All of it was conventional, none of it in special orders. Frankly, it would have been surpising if it had been special order, because there was so much of it. This munitions facility was easily enough to supply an entire army. And as he passed through one storage area after another with not only ammunition but racks and racks of weapons, small artillery shells, and even a few rows of rockets, the pirate was stunned. This was enough stuff to keep Esthar's Hawks supplied for years. It was even starting to look like more than that…

While passing one pile, however, Cryder did make one momentary pause. He brushed his hand past one crate…leaving a little something he had pilfered from the freighter on the side. He felt it might come in useful later…just in case.

As they moved on through some of the actual manufacturing rooms, Cryder got another surprise. He expected a few rows of expensive, configurable, special production machines. Instead, he saw two stadium sized rooms filled with many machines that were simpler and looked designed for mass production. Cryder was no weapons manufacturer, but you didn't get to be a pirate without knowing your firearms and artillery a bit. This was practically overwhelming…far more than what Cryder had ever expected. He supposed it only made sense. If you tried special custom designing of all of those crates of ammunition he had seen so far, then you'd be at this forever. They had to be performing mass production to get it all. The question was…why? He didn't see any of it being shipped out. However, that was neither here nor there. He might have just arrived at a down time. And assuming that this was for an illicit purpose…the sun was now up. It might be preferable to wait until later. Of course, shipping this much illicitly? He was starting to think even if Leuco was providing weapons and ammunition to the Black Corsairs through all of this, which they weren't, it still would be far too much…

Finally, Cryder noticed one other thing. Numerous areas of the plant were marked off not only as "Restricted", but "Classified". Even early in the journey through the facility, he saw numerous signs reading that. Yet as they went farther and everything became more high-tech and sophisticated, Cryder noticed more and more signs reading the same. This place seemed to be as locked up as the Gordian Vault. It got to the point where entire halls were sealed off. The pirate soon realized there were few to any places in which the other team could move about.

At last they came to one door in particular down a hallway that looked to be more personnel orientated. The entire hallways seemed to be a chain of offices. Perhaps it was for higher ups. Perhaps it was for research and development offices of individuals. Cryder didn't really know. All he knew was that it was mostly uninhabited at the moment with no cameras, which was no doubt the intention. The pirate liked these sort of places. He felt they reassured everyone present. After all, making deals in a big facility like this was no small feat. There were dozens of prying eyes and monitoring devices. To be able to sneak some of them in required some major connections. No doubt, that had something to do with how the espionage team managed to break in.

The pencil pusher reached the door and gave a knock.

"Did you bring the guests?" A somewhat deep, somewhat grumpy voice sounded from the inside.

"Yes." Was all the pencil pusher answered.

"Come in."

The pencil pusher reached forward and turned the knob, and soon after opened the door and stepped inside. Once in, he held it open as the larger official and the four men with weapons stepped in. Cryder cast a single look about him to the others, and then followed inside.

The pirate was a bit taken aback by what awaited him in the room, but wasn't terribly surprised. It looked to be little more than a mail room. It was a bit abandoned at the moment, however. Although there were numerous bins against the walls for dozens, even hundreds, of people, there wasn't anything in them. The old pneumatic tubes looked like they hadn't been serviced in years, there were no carts, no stamps…nothing. None of that was too terribly surprising. A place like this probably relied almost entirely on email, to the point where any paper copies could be directly delivered. There wasn't even a need to stop here anymore. The room was, for all purposes, useless, which was what made it that much more useful in situations like this.

Some people were already inside the room. It was rather spacious, allowing for a lot of room for everyone, considering the fact that there were so many. That was because the shelves had been moved to the side and all carts and copiers and the like had been moved out, leaving a mostly open tile floor. On one side of it stood a somewhat husky, gray-haired man in a suit with two other lackies at his side. Both of them looked to be the same ilk as the pencil pusher on first glance. One had moved to a nearby desk and opened up a laptop, no doubt to authorize an account purchase. The other remained at the fatter man's side. His coat seemed a little too big, and could easily conceal a gun. Skinny as he looked, a glance at his eyes revealed he was a bit more dangerous than one would believe…more like the larger man in the group that had led them there.

The four with guns moved to either side of the expanse, flanking them both. The other two men moved to the side of the gray-haired man, turned, and faced the "pirates". All in all, a bit intimidating to external appearances. They weren't just outgunned but outmanned. However, Cryder was used to situations like this. Numbers were something cowards hid behind…when they weren't confident of victory. The pirate captain, on the other hand, never showed any fear, even in a situation like this. He knew the fact that he wasn't being intimidated only drove them up the wall.

There were a few moments of silence, but Cryder decided not to wait them out. He grinned ahead.

"Well, well…after all my years at sea, I finally get to see him face to face…the man himself…" He began. "Ernest W. Waltershelly. What an honor to get a personal audience."

"Alright, you can cut the crap anytime now." The gray-haired man cut off. Large as he was, he had a rough look about him too. He may have never been a Black Corsair himself and just a career politician, and for that reason he could look "kind and gentle" when need be. However, he had spent enough years with pirates to have some of their traits rub off on him, and he knew how to deal with them well enough. He jabbed a finger straight at Cryder.

"Cryder Morningjay…I've heard of you too." He snorted. "And I should have expected no less from a f*** up like you. I don't know how you managed to get ahold of these Artemis Rockets, especially when you supposedly were dumb enough to get your ship drowned in the worst hurricane in decades by sailing right into it, and then got yourself on the Sybenian hit list. On top of all that, you come in the middle of the f***ing morning in broad f***ing daylight. If you think I'm going to pay full price for these things, you're out of your g**damn mind."

"Well, you see, that's where we'll have to agree to disagree." Cryder calmly responded, still grinning, and not at all miffed by Waltershelly's frequent use of the f-bomb. He rubbed the edge of his mustache as he looked to him. "Because I know the only thing that you might dislike more than letting these Artemis Rockets go is letting us hang onto them. I told your man at the docks as much. And I'm not going to let them go for peanuts. Now, if you don't agree with that, I'll just turn around and walk back out the way I came. Oh…and by the way…" He gestured around himself a bit. "If you think your little armed escort really has me and my boys intimidated, then you should remember that the black market doesn't operate like the military, where you only need the biggest gun in order to get what you want. Here in the real world, there's such things as consequences for every action. And if it gets out that you brought a Black Corsair all the way here just to whack him and take his stuff without paying a gil for it, then you're going to wish that letting us walk with four Artemis Rockets was the least of your problems."

Waltershelly stared back for a few moments. He showed nothing, other than irritation. Cryder merely kept his smile. He only had his sword for actual physical protection, but he didn't look the least bit intimidated. The classic poker face. Never show any fear. And after a few moments, the fat man was forced to break a smile and snicker.

"You shrewd bastard." He was forced to admit. "But if you think I'm not going to get these for a bargain after what I've been through, try me. I know a thing or two about pirates. They can't turn down a reasonably good deal. I'll give you a million for each rocket."

Cryder couldn't help it. Even if he wasn't purposely going to haggle for time, he would have laughed at that offer, which is exactly what he did in the next moment. He even shifted weight, raised a hand to his eyes, and wiped at a fake tear.

"Oh, mate…" He said with a chuckle. "You would think you might do a _bit_ better than that. You might as well be offering me whatever change is in your pockets for that."

Waltershelly narrowed his gaze. "Alright…two million."

The pirate actually put his hands on his hips and rolled his head back, letting out a laugh.

Waltershelly flustered. "Three million, then. You better not think I'm going as high as five."

"And you better not think so little of me." Cryder answered as he looked back down, grinning at the fat man. "You must think I have no idea what things are worth. But I guess that's why you're a politician. The average joe is just some ignorant bloke you can look like you're gutting yourself for to give chump change to. But I'm a pirate. I deal in this sort of thing all the time. I know full well those rockets cost 500 million gil to manufacture and the suppliers sell them to Esthar for twice that much. So how about we start the bidding at a bare minimum of 250 million per rocket?"

Waltershelly went wide-eyed. "250 million?! You're out of your f***ing mind! There's no way I can just appropriate that much money for used rockets! I don't care what kind they are!"

Cryder simply gave a shrug. "Alright, mate." He turned around to the others. For a brief moment, they registered just a hint of surprise at him. He was supposed to play for as much time as possible and end up selling for even more time. He wasn't supposed to break things off. Clearly, they didn't understand the concept of "brinksmanship". They wanted these negotiations to go on, they had to be willing to walk, ironically. He addressed the three. "Clear out boys. We'll pack up our wares and go elsewhere. I'm sure Commodore Blight has the equipment and funds to give us some of what was worth the trouble of getting these rockets."

The three hesitated momentarily, but managed to keep in character, as well as remember that they were supposed to follow Cryder's lead. After a second, they began to turn to move out to the doors. However, they didn't get more than two steps when a loud sigh came from behind Cryder, before a grudging phrase went out.

"…100 million."

Cryder immediately stopped. The others stopped as well, and looked back to him. A smile soon spread across the pirate's face. He turned in place back toward Waltershelly and crossed his arms.

"Still quite cold, sir…but you're finally starting to get warmer."

Waltershelly gave another scowl. "You're f***ing gutting me, you know that?"

"The way of the world, mate." Cryder answered with a shrug. "As you pointed out, I'm short a proper ship at the moment. If I ever want to afford a new one, I've got to make some good deals where I can. And on that note…the price is still 250 million per rocket."

"You already have me over a barrel, and you want me to go that high?" Waltershelly retorted. "I might be able to manage 125 million."

"Heh…you better 'manage' more than that, matey." Cryder answered with another grin. "Because a moment ago you said you couldn't go as high as five, and now you're already at 125. You're not very good at this game, you know that?" Of course, the pirate knew, in reality, he could probably go as high as 400 million per rocket. He'd never be able to get that much for the rockets in a thousand years, but he knew he was feeding Waltershelly along well now. By now, the fat official was no doubt believing he was the one who truly had Cryder where he wanted him. They were coming close to closing a deal, so now it was just a matter of how much longer Cryder could string this along. In the end, after a long pause, he gave a shrug. "But why should you be the only one bleeding? I'll knock it down to 240 million. How's that?"

The man still frowned. "Sheesh…my f***ing cup runneth over. In that case…135 million."

Cryder paused a moment. "…225."

Waltershelly paused in response. "…150. Any higher, and I'll be nailed to a wall. I can't just make that much money disappear."

"190. Any lower, and my crew will mutiny for being so damn stupid."

Waltershelly again hesitated. He paused for a while this time. He looked over the pirates and seemed to be seriously considering his options. Finally, he spoke very hesitantly.

"…170 million gil. Absolute final offer. I have to let you walk after this."

Cryder paused for quite a while himself, mueling his over. Truth be told, he wasn't the best haggler in the world. He probably would have jumped on the 135 million any other day. However, his attempts to stall for time had worked out for the best. He would have made quite a tidy profit if he had just stuck out longer, he now knew. He almost wished he was back in the pirate business now. He understood a bit more about how these people operated, and he had a feeling he could make far more profits now. Oh well… He pretended to consider this offer for a bit longer, just to play for a little extra time. At last, he opened his mouth, ready to deliver a grandiose and elaborate "I accept" line.

But before he could, a cellular phone rang.

Everyone on both sides registered a bit of surprise and puzzlement. They looked around for a moment. However, on the second ring, everyone was looking to the source. Pencil pusher, a grimace on his face from having been in this situation, was reaching into his pocket. Waltershelly gave him a look.

"Seriously? How many f***ing times have I got to tell you to turn off your f***ing phone during these deals? You're like a f***ing kid in the f***ing movie theater, for crying out loud…"

Grimacing a bit more, pencil pusher pulled out the phone, opened it up, and then put it to the side of his head. A moment later, he spoke rather quickly and grouchily into it. "I'm in the middle of an important business transaction, so this had better be good." He hesitated a moment afterward. Since everyone had gone silent (because, after all, you didn't want to risk leaving anything of incriminating evidence on a phone call that might get recorded later), all eyes were on pencil pusher to see what was so important. As it turned out, his face soon twisted a bit. A look of concern went over it.

"…Are you serious?" He finally spoke up, sounding genuinely incredulous and shocked. "How many?"

On hearing this, Cryder found it considerably hard to keep his poker face. Naturally, he didn't try to look behind him for a second. That might as well have telegraphed everything. For the moment, he stayed calm. After all, it could be anything…right? These guys were professionals. They had made it this far without alerting anyone. So it couldn't be them…

"Do we need a lockdown?" Pencil pusher asked. A pause went by. During that time, he relaxed a bit. "I see…" He finally responded, and then gave a nod. "Yes, I'll tell him." Pause. "Alright. Deal with it."

The phone was pulled away and hung up. Soon, it returned to pencil pusher's pocket as he turned to Waltershelly. The man immediately gave a shrug.

"Well? What was so important?"

Cryder held for a split second. This was the moment of truth. Maybe it was indeed nothing. Maybe it was an equipment failure…an internal spy…some sort of-

"We have a problem. There's intruders in the facility…spies…saboteurs…we're not sure which."

The rest of the men immediately tensed up. They all kept their eyes on pencil pusher, but all of them shifted or registered some surprise. Cryder, on his part, was at a loss. For a moment, he said to himself, "Quick! Make a snide comment!", something to confirm that he knew nothing about this and wasn't a part of it. But then again, that probably would do little good and would most likely just make the man mad. However, if he stayed silent, would that just make things worse? He wasn't used to all this deception. He finally told himself to just play it cool when he realized Waltershelly really didn't care about him at the moment. He was focusing entirely on pencil pusher.

"What the hell…?! What do you mean by that? There's people in here right now? Invading?"

"Not really invading, sir." The pencil pusher quickly corrected. "Like I said…they're either terrorists or some sort of spies. They aren't well armed, so we're assuming the latter."

Waltershelly quirked a brow at that. "…What do you mean 'they aren't well armed'?"

"The automated guards already have them pinned, sir. We've looked over all of them through the guard optic sensors. There are four in all, and they seem mostly armed for small-combat and stealth from what data we've picked up. We managed to trap them through two levels of security. They had been hacking their way into the inner research and development areas when we managed to stop them. However, we managed to scramble the codes at the last moment before they could get through the final bulkhead and now they're pinned by the guards. One of them is already dead. The other three should be put down soon."

The fat official paused momentarily. He seemed to consider all of this. He frowned most of the time, clearly not liking this latest development. He looked forward and down for a moment, and then back to the pencil pusher. He finally gave a sigh.

"Call him back." He finally stated. "Have him go ahead and authorize the lock down. I don't know how the hell they got in, but they sure as sh't ain't getting back out. They somehow waltzed right past the infrared scanners. We can assume they can get out again even if we have them pinned. Let's finish this crap up and get busy."

Soon after, Waltershelly turned back to Cryder. "Alright…enough of the bullsh't. Either take the price or leave it, because I'm not wasting anymore time on this today. With this happening, we've got more important crap to worry about now rather than lining your pockets."

Cryder paused for only a fraction of a second. After that, he smiled wide again and gave a nod.

"Sure. I'll take the price. Let me just give you the number on where to route the money." With that, Cryder raised his hand and pointed at the man with the laptop. Seeing him being pointed at, the official immediately reacted, but then turned back to the computer and started to work.

"My number is 5…6…" Cryder began to read off.

In response, the man started to enter the number…but if he heard the third number, or if anyone had heard the number at that point, it was never clear. By that time, the room had erupted into total chaos.

None of the other pirates saw a single thing, which was why they suddenly reacted in surprise as everyone went ballistic. Cryder, however, saw everything perfectly. Truth be told, inner city dwellings weren't the best in the world for using geomancy. However, one trick that never failed was the "Apparition" ability. Being human dwellings, cities were filled with spiritual energy from dead humans, and all of it was extremely potent and intermingled with everything from the concrete and floorboards to the piping and conduits. It was easy to evoke it temporarily, mix it with a bit of one's own, and create potent and, with a little training, maddening and terrifying illusions. At the moment, the people on one side of the room saw themselves beset by horrors. Waltershelly himself had seen Cryder sprout two additional heads before becoming bathed in fire. Pencil pusher had seen Cryder's nails grow ten feet long and try to stab him through the heart. The one at the keyboard saw it suddenly revert to a picture of a stony well with a drooping-haired version of Cryder crawling out and try to reach out to kill him. That was only a few of the horrors everyone now saw as they went ballistic. Soon, they were all screaming, babbling, weeping, bawling, and generally going into a chaotic mess.

However, they didn't get far before the inevitable happened. The bigger lackey suddenly lashed out with a fist and punched out pencil pusher. The two toadies grabbed each other and tried to choke one another. One of the gunmen took up a piece of shelf and broadsided his companion on the side of the head. Waltershelly turned and tried to bolt for it only to drive his head into a wall and crumple down. Soon, they were doing much of the work for each other. Still, Cryder reacted when he saw one of the gunners suddenly pull one of his guns out. He couldn't have that. He assumed the rooms were soundproof, but gunshots were pushing it. Before either one could get off a shot, he quickly dashed forward. In a flash, his sword was out. However, it didn't strike down fatally…much as that might have been the smarter move. Instead, the pommel went up and smashed in heavily, first into one head, and then the other. They tried to turn to him to react, but luckily they were far too disorientated to even get a target before it was too late. In moments, they were both on the ground.

Cryder quickly did the same to one other person before he could do anything fatal. As for everyone else, they took care of each other, each one knocking out the other or doing maybe a bit worse, but still everyone rendering each other unconscious. In moments, they were all out, and the room was silent. Cryder gave out a sigh, then wiped his brow.

"Been a while since I've had to do that…" He muttered aloud, then called behind him to the others. "By the way, if you're wondering _how_ I managed to do that, I can tell you later. For right now, I hope you espionage types can hack doors and the like, because I only have so many tricks when I'm on land. Sea is still my forte. Anyway," He began to turn to the others. "I trust you lads know the way better than me, so I'll let you lead. Come on…let's get a move on."

However, there was no movement. The three just stared at Cryder in surprise, and even some shock.

The pirate blinked a moment, then sighed. "Didn't you read my bio and see I was a geomancer? Don't tell me all that knocked your socks-"

"What the hell have you done?!" Nelson exclaimed, his shock disappearing and turning to anger. "Are you trying to expose us or something?!"

Cryder paused for a moment, honestly not expecting such a loud and sharp retort. After a moment, however, he gave a merely snort and a smile. "Sounds like your cover's already blown, from what the guy on the phone said. Now are we going to get a move on or what?"

"_Our_ cover wasn't blown, just theirs!" Nelson shot back. "Didn't you hear what the captain said about procedure! Plausible deniability! They didn't know anything about us! As far as they knew, we didn't know anything about it!"

Cryder let out a snort. "So you're just gonna hide back here and let them get gutted, eh?" He snickered and shook his head. "And they call Black Corsairs cold…"

Nelson stepped forward. "That was the plan! That's what we agreed on! That's what you were-"

"Yeah, yeah…" The pirate sighed, waving his hand at him. "But perhaps you'd like to cogitate on this… You back out of this now, next time you try this security will be doubled. That'll be after they finish rooting through the bodies of your comrades and finding out how they got in, so you'll need a totally new plan. They'll be keeping an eye out on all operations like this, and if I have to get you in again, that means more work for me. Not to mention the fact if you back out now, all your thinking and planning on trying to get the jump on this whatever-it-is is lost."

The man glared back. "Listen up, I'm-"

"You're in command, I know, I know." Cryder answered in a bored voice. "Or at least you were…until about forty-five seconds ago. That's when I used my powers on these people. Now we are all officially, whether you like it or not, in a pile of monkey scat. One way or another we're fighting our way out of here. Now how do you prefer it…running with our tails between our legs, or getting out going after your teammates and trying to complete the mission while we're at it?"

The three paused on hearing that. They seemed to finally be understanding what Cryder was saying. It caused them no little discomfort on realizing it, but it didn't change the fact that what he had said was true. These men might wake up at any time. And when they did, they would wonder what had happened. Assuming they weren't able to put two and two together and peg Cryder as the culprit, that still left the unfortunate fact that they would be standing there, and they'd have to come up with a story quick. But that was, of course, assuming they remembered nothing. Like it or not, the pirate was right…they were in this mess now. Unable to change anything else, Nelson let out a scowl, and began to reach for his sides. The other two men, on seeing this, ruefully began to do the same. They soon pulled out their weapons, which turned out to be guns the likes of which Cryder had never seen before. That was the beauty part about being a pirate. You could pretty much bring whatever weapon you liked along and no one thought twice about it, assuming you stole it. Giving a smile, Cryder quickly drew his own blade. Considering that they were going into a factory full of machines, that seemed like a rather meager weapon. Of course, that was before they came out with modern swords with edges of mythril and cores of reinforced steel far greater than the basic armored plating they put on most machines. Twisting it around once, he began to move past them.

"Alright…Commander Nelson, I'll take the point if you'll be kind enough to direct me along the right way…" He said aloud.

Frowning in response, Nelson quickly moved in behind him, and the other two behind them. In moments, Cryder had reached the door to the mail room and quickly opened it up. Without pause, he charged out into the hall.

Immediately, he was greeted by red flashing lights and sirens. He winced a bit on hearing it. Apparently, the room behind him really was sound proof. The alarms sounded loud enough to wake the dead. He couldn't see much in here. After all, it was a side corridor into the office portion of the facility. Instead, the pirate quickly looked down one way to see if it was clear, and then the other. Although the first direction saw nothing…the second did.

One of the rather large and intimidating sentry robots was stationed in the hall. Moving on treads, and possessing two gun "arms" and a "head" sensor, it easily stood seven feet tall. Both guns were basic machine guns on this model and therefore not much to worry about…at least relatively and assuming you had full-body armor. Otherwise the spray alone could probably kill you. At the moment, it was moving into a hall junction, sweeping its head around and scanning out with a green laser, apparently checking for intruders. For a moment, Cryder froze. He was caught a bit off guard by it, and wasn't sure exactly what to do. It was too far to charge, but geomancy wasn't terribly effective in places like this against the non-living… As a result, he was actually stunned for a moment as the sentry slowly swiveled its head around, scanning back toward the pirate…

Yet before the laser could "tag" him…Cryder felt himself roughly shoved from behind, forcing him more into the hallway and nearly into its path. He was stunned by this and snapped around in surprise, but soon saw the reason. Nelson, holding out his gun, which now seemed to have some sort of taser attachment to it, was reaching out and aiming for the sentry. Moments later, he fired, and two electrodes were launched from the gun barrel and impacted the sentry. Seconds later, a massive burst of electricity cycled through the entire machine, sending out a visible jolt. The machine froze, went rigid for a few seconds until the electricity died down, and then slumped, its guns going inactive and nearly collapsing on itself. Cryder fully recovered and blinked. He realized that had to have been some sort of device to short out the machines. Smiling, he turned back to Nelson even as the Esthar's Hawk reloaded fresh electrodes into his gun.

"Not bad, commander. Maybe I should let you take point instead."

Nelson gave him a glare, but stayed calm. "…We only have two for each of us, and there's over a hundred of those sentries in here. This is for emergencies only."

"Hmm…well, worth a shot." Cryder answered with a shrug. "Which way to where your friends are?"

Nelson again gave him a look, before gesturing in the direction of the fallen sentry. "That way…but keep your mouth shut about this. For now, they still think we're Black Corsairs at best and unknown operatives at worst. We're clear in here because they were making a deal with us, but deeper inside they'll see us on camera and might pick up us talking. We're not going to stay secret for long."

The pirate grinned. "Just how I like it. Off we go…and hopefully going further under the mountain…" With that, he turned and took off down the hallway.

The next minute went by at a frantic pace. They encountered only one more robotic sentry, but once again caught it off guard and Nelson was able to disable it with his remaining charge. They also ran into two human researchers, who Cryder was able to casually take down with using his Apparition ability to make them run into each other and knock each other cold. Other than that, it was one dizzying run down a corridor after another, with Nelson, surprisingly, never losing his sense of location and never getting them lost. Cryder himself was only barely able to keep his sense of direction in such a place. He grew nervous on more than one occasion as they began to move out of the offices and into the service corridors. At that point, they passed transparent plexiglass walls that offered views into the actual factories and munitions areas, as well as offered views of workers who were busy servicing machines, taking counts, quality controlling, repairing robots, and the like. Luckily, they were too engrossed in their work each time to notice them. All in all, the trip wasn't too bad at first. Cryder reasoned that most of the sentries were already moving on the intruders. That wasn't too comforting considering they were headed that way…but at least they didn't have to worry about them initially.

After two minutes, Cryder quickly led the other two through a plexiglass corridor in a hurry and back into the safety of a metallic one. Keeping his sword at the ready, he rushed down and along the passage. Just up ahead was a turn to the right, but nothing else. He could tell from the change in the lighting that it must have opened into another wide-open plexiglass corridor, which he wasn't too happy about, but he kept on moving none the less. As he went a bit farther, however, Nelson suddenly shot out a hand and put it on him, halting him momentarily. Cryder immediately turned back, and he gestured ahead.

"Careful. By now, we should be back into camera range. They'll have them up ahead for sure."

"Thanks for the heads up." Cryder answered, then turned back and quickly plastered against the wall. He inched along from that point on, although he kept his sword out and at the ready. In a few moments, he had reached the turn in the corner. Pulling his weapon back, he moved his head more to the side, and then looked around the edge.

He didn't like what he saw. Although he was certain his head was barely poking out, and he glanced for only a moment, he was experienced enough in this sort of thing to get a good look in that short period of them. He soon witnessed that the corridor up ahead was not only plexiglass, but widened into a "box-shape". That meant there were two unseen corners. Luckily, the drones…at least the ones they had encountered so far…were large enough to be able to see from around corners, and he looked just long enough to confirm that there were two there. However, far more visible were a pair of drones on the other side, flanking a metallic corridor entrance. In addition to that, there were cameras in either corner. All in all, rather well guarded. The only good side was that the drones were still the basic sentry units and nothing more advanced.

Cryder leaned back a moment later and readied his sword. He turned back to the others and looked to Nelson first. "Do you have armor-piercing rounds in those things?"

Nelson frowned and shook his head. "It would have been too obvious that we were infiltrators. We have rounds that will pierce body armor, but the best they could do against a sentry robot is if we shot them in a vital spot, like the lens on their sensors."

"And are you good enough to do that, if we have to?"

Nelson gave him a look. "We're Esthar's Hawks, some of the best gunners in the world. That said…100 feet maximum."

"Not good enough." He looked to the two others. "Get your electrode thingees out and get ready to use them, reload, and use them again. There are two sentries guarding the door onward and two at our entrance. I'll take those two out. Just aim for the corners and you'll get your targets. Just be ready to fire again as soon as something comes out of the way up ahead. Then we run like hell. We can't sneak around after doing this." He looked back to Nelson. "I want you shouting out directions to me the whole way because we don't stop. All we've got going now is surprise and speed from this point on."

He began to move, but before he could, Nelson put a hand on him again, once more making him stop and look to him.

"Wait…how are you going to take out the cameras?"

The pirate paused, then cracked a smile.

"Simple. Haven't you noticed? All of the water lines run right next to the electric lines through this facility."

With that, Cryder snapped back around and quickly ran around the edge. Immediately, the two sentries, detecting an infrared signature, raised up their heads and began to scan for him. However, before they had a chance to find him, the pirate quickly raised up his hand and pointed it overhead. In response, the water lines made a groaning sound for a moment. They trembled on their moorings for a moment, quivering and shaking, making loud and louder noises, even as the lasers deployed and the guns became active. Finally, they burst all together, sending water spraying everywhere, but also scattering pipe shrapnel. The bits of metal pipe immediately pierced the electric conduits beneath, severing some wires, and then gallons of water were immediately sprayed onto them. In moments, short circuits were occurring, and the power to the entire chamber was cut. The cameras went dead. The water, however, soon proved to be boiling hot…and mist began to fill the entire chamber, growing into a fog in seconds. The lasers finally found Cryder and scanned him…but the visibility was too low. The machines didn't fire, not rated for mist.

A second later, and Cryder began to charge forward. As he did, the two Esthar's Hawks popped around the sides and did as told, firing into the corners of the room. The electrodes hit true, and two large sizzles went out as two more sentries were disabled. Cryder, not wasting a second, charged right into the midst as he heard the two men advance and reload behind him, with Nelson soon joining them. The mist already began to cool and fall, a result of him not using his power on it anymore. A moment later, he popped around the corner, but even as he did, he swung his blade out in a horizontal arc to the left. As a result, he was just in time to cleanly lop the "head" off of the top of the hidden sentry sitting there. The other on the right produced its laser immediately, spun on Cryder, and moments later had him…the laser turning red. But before the guns could fire, he whipped his blade back around and sliced off half of both guns, sending them falling to the floor. Such a move required a lot of muscle even if you had the right blade, and Cryder was forced to pause and grunt a moment, but in the end raised his blade again and sliced off the head of this one as well.

Immediately, he spun back forward, and just in time as he saw two more lasers pierce the mist and target him, instantly turning red. He soon looked up and vaguely saw the source in the mist. Two more sentries had already moved into the hallway up ahead and were aiming at him. Immediately, he called behind him.

"Shoot into the hall! Now!"

Luckily, Esthar's Hawks neither hesitated nor questioned urgent orders. Immediately, they raised their weapons and fired again. Moments later, two more large crackles went out, and the two sentries slumped down. Without even checking to see how close they were behind him, but knowing they had lost their last "sentry tasers", the pirate immediately charged forward.

"Now run like hell, my hearties!" He said, actually allowing himself a smile. "Let's give them hell!"

No doubt, the Esthar's Hawks behind him were a bit taken aback by that, but Cryder didn't care. The only way, in his opinion, that you kept from going mad with fear charging into a suicide situation like this was to go half-mad with joy at the thought of the incoming battle. And so, without a moment of hesitation, he barreled straight through the chamber, leaving the others little choice but to follow after him as fast as they could, and soon charging past the two disabled sentry robots and back into a narrow corridor. The sirens and alarms continued to blare, but Cryder had neither the time nor the desire to find out if they were alerting people to them as well as the others anymore.

The pirate had barely reached into the corridor before he saw another sentry already waiting for him at the end. Yet he charged it none the less even as it trained its guns at him. It was a good thing too, for it didn't fire…but merely stayed back as a second sentry popped out from around the corner up ahead in the corridor. Luckily, Cryder ran into it and quickly greeted it by putting all of his power and gravity into a slash that cut through a large portion of it, enough to disable it for good and make it collapse. Vaulting over that, he quickly charged forward, just in time to be intercepted by another from the opposite side. Sweating and straining a bit, he cleaved through this as well, and although he won was left panting and tired…and right in front of the original sentry, which clicked as it prepared to open fire. Before it got the chance, however, Cryder again felt Nelson seize him and push him to one side, holding up his own weapon and firing three shots into its lens. The shots landed, and immediate ricocheted inside the harder metal of its "brain"…taking it down as well. Cryder, on his part, leaned back up and shook the ear closest to the gun when it fired, and then charged again.

The next two minutes were far more livelier than the first two. As the four barreled on, they had to hack through one sentry after another periodically. All of the humans were clear from this area now, so they didn't have to worry about that, but it didn't change the fact that one robot after another was being sent down their throats. Only by doing just as Cryder had said, charging madly forward, were they able to stay alive and clear through a mixture of luck and recklessness. Always, over the sirens, gunfire, and sword slashes, Nelson called out more directions. By now, they had long since reached the point of no return. And although they went ever deeper and deeper into the mountain, something that made the Esthar's Hawks nervous due to their lack of being able to escape again at the end of this, Cryder only reveled in the danger, feeling "alive" again. Plus…being further and further under the mountain gave him access to more powers… Unfortunately, he had to admit he wasn't doing too well. He wasn't a superhuman like the lass. His muscles were straining and burning from constant slashing with his schimitar, and the blade itself was getting notched and duller with each cut. The small arms the others had on them weren't good enough to take out everything, and they had to be running low on bullets themselves. They couldn't afford to head out much longer…

Finally, however, they received some good news. Just up ahead, they heard bullets flying, and the sounds of errant destruction along with the loudest alarms yet. On hearing this, Nelson perked up his head.

"I can hear our caliber weapons up ahead!" He called out. "We're in luck! They made it as far as the main bulkhead! If we can get through there, we can seal it off and lock out their own men and sentry robots from the top secret areas of the facility!"

"Not so fast, matey." Cryder retorted darkly as he ran on ahead. "I can hear a different caliber weapon too…definitely armor-piercing and heavy. They've got their more advanced sentries just up ahead. And from the sound of them, there are at least five of them firing at once. This is going to be far from easy."

The group turned another corner, and finally saw it. Flashes that could only be gunfire were going off just ahead, around a turn to the left just up ahead that opened into a rather large corridor. Although Cryder couldn't see them, he knew that the larger sentries with heavier weapons had to be stationed there and responsible for most of the firing. That said, there were considerable bullet holes in the wall opposite the opening in the hallway, indicating that there was some swapping of gunfire going on, but considering how many there was, unless they were better armed than the group that was with him, they couldn't hold out for much longer. The noises were much louder here too. No doubt, there was quite the fight going on. There was only one good side. Over all this noise, it was highly unlikely that they would be heard coming in by the duller audio sensors of the sentries.

As they drew near to the turn, Nelson called out again. "It's going to be a risk, because they probably have cameras looking out from the bulkhead as well as looking in, but we're going to have to chance a look in there so we know what we're dealing with. I'll volun-"

Before Nelson could finish, however, Cryder had already taken off. With a grin showing how much he loved the thrill of all of this, he quickly dashed straight for the turn in the hall. Just as he reached it, however, he went into a leap. It wasn't nearly enough to get him through in a single bound, but after sailing through the air a moment, he landed on the ground and dropped into a slide. It was a good thing that the people who ran this facility kept their floors so neat, tidy, and waxed, for he easily slid past. However, as he did, he quickly cast a glance into the hallway.

He had only a split second to get a look, but he was used to that by now. The sight wasn't that encouraging. There were advanced sentries alright. Their ocular sensors were still vulnerable, but these ones mounted twin aluminum-projectile, piercing weapons with far more accuracy rather than spraying the target. It allowed them to get a target and fire far more quickly. Furthermore, they usually only needed one shot, considering how fast they could fire. It was a testament to the knowledge and skill of those they had pinned down that they were not only not dead already, but actually able to return fire. However, that didn't stop Cryder from seeing two dead bodies already…

Moments later, he finished his slide behind the nearby wall. Immediately, he straightened and placed himself against it. The gunfire continued to rage, but Cryder had a feeling that none of them had been spotted, including himself. The move had been too fast. If it hadn't, he'd hear a break in gunfire as some of the sentries swiveled around to aim at them instead. The pirate was amazed. He hadn't had a good time to get a look at the bulkhead, but apparently it was in a widening rectangular corridor like before that allowed them to somehow form a bottleneck. But they couldn't last forever against these things. The more advanced robots could pierce most metal walls with these special bullets. Even if they couldn't, they could fire successive shots into the same place until they did. No doubt, they had already used their own special tasers just to disable the auto-guns. They were in pretty deep now…

"How many?"

Nelson's sudden call caused Cryder to pivot his head in his direction, snapping him out of his thoughts. He saw the other three pressed against the wall with weapons at the ready. The gunfire was still more than loud enough to obscure them, even with them yelling to each other. Cryder quickly held his sword between his legs long enough to make a "ten" gesture with his fingers.

Nelson frowned. He looked to the side for a moment, then back to Cryder. He ruefully shook his head "no". The pirate could understand why. Their armor piercing weapons would only be good for shooting them if the lenses presented themselves. At the moment, they were all orientated away from them. They could get their attention, but these sentries were more advanced. It was unlikely that they would get a shot off before they could. Even darting in with his sword seemed like suicide. That said…so was standing here. Cryder quickly cast a look behind him and behind the others on the opposite side. It was only a matter of time before more sentries arrived…perhaps even elite ones. They didn't have time for that.

_Well…_ Cryder thought to himself with a shrug. _Guess I've got to bail them out again…_

The pirate looked up to the ceiling again. This would be a bit risky. By now, they were definitely under the mountain portion. He figured that they had build this facility utilizing some of the mountain rock's natural propensity for holding itself up without being forced to support the weight of the entire mountain. That made sense. Of course, on the rare case that it didn't, this move would merely do nothing. However, it could also easily bring the entire mountain down on them and crush them all, not just the sentries. However, they had little other choice by now. Either take out the sentries or wait to be taken out by them. Letting out an exhale, the pirate put his sword away for a moment, and then got out both hands.

A moment later, Cryder popped out into the hall once again, this time standing in full view. No doubt, if they had any cameras, they would spot him this time. Sure enough, the two nearest sentries soon stopped firing while their companions went on, and began to swivel to him. But Cryder acted fast. Immediately, he focused on the ceiling above all ten of the sentries. After that, he stretched out his power to the rock. There was little time to be specific or fancy. He just kept reaching higher and began to loosen up the rock, letting the full weight of the mountain come down. It took a moment of silence, during which the sentries continued to turn and he began to grow a bit nervous. However, he didn't let up. He kept focusing and concentrating his power.

Halfway through turning to him, it started. A rumbling was heard overhead. The corridor soon began to shake. By the time they were three quarters there, the rumbling had built considerably. Dust began to rain down from the ceiling. The lights began to flicker. Finally, just as they were about to aim at him, it happened. Abruptly, tremendous weight broke through the ceiling overhead, and huge amounts of boulder and pillars of rock, practically arranged into pillars or stone spikes like stalactites, erupted through the ceiling. The two nearest ones got the worst as spires of rock pieced them in their metal heads, driving them through the rest of their bodies. Huge amounts of rocks burst through and proceeded to batter and crush the other four. Any ones that managed to survive were soon hopelessly buried in rubble. Naturally, all of this bursting through the ceiling ripped through steam pipes, electrical conduits, cameras, light fixtures, sprinkler systems, and anything else that had been stashed overhead. Soon water was spraying everywhere into the chamber, sparks were raining down, and everything was becoming a wet, muddy mess. Only a few emergency lights managed to still function, but the claxions and sirens were ripped from the ceiling. As a result, the place was now practically dark and rather torn asunder.

There was a moment of relative silence, filled only with the sounds of running water from the ripped apart systems and sparking electricity. Tentatively, Nelson and his group stepped out from inside. The two surviving units, who had indeed been hiding in a somewhat wider chamber just up ahead, slowly looked out and around, and then to Cryder. The pirate himself held his hands up a moment longer, but then let them fall, even as a few pebbles and rocks continued to roll out of the openings in the ceiling.

"Phew…that was one for the record books, my hearties…"

One of the men in black up front, who was still wearing a mask and goggles, snapped his head up to the pirate. "Are you insane?!"

Cryder gave him a lazy look. "You Esthar's Hawks types have a funny way of saying 'thank you'."

As if to punctuate his sentence…abruptly a rumble went off from overhead. Cryder's eyes widened momentarily, and he looked up to the ceiling. Soon…he saw it begin to buckle and tremble once again. Not only that, but he soon heard something else. Both he as well as Nelson's group snapped to it. Far behind them, through a few halls, the heard the sounds of multiple treads turnings…the tell-tale sign that more sentries were coming. Combined with the ceiling looking ready to cave in, Cryder soon looked back down and gave a nod.

"Right… Let's get moving, shall we?"

Immediately, he rushed over through the bottleneck and into the opening where the two other men were. As he did, he did cast a brief look to the two other bodies lying on the ground. Both of them had been shot multiple times fatally, but there was nothing for that now. If they were still alive, that would be something, but the pirate knew when it was time to leave men behind. Especially when they still had a job to do. At any rate, Nelson and the two with him didn't hold out long either. Quickly, they ran after the pirate, and with a bit of fear fueling them, soon caught up to him. Soon, the four were out of the first corridor and into the smaller one. Luckily, this was not only still intact, but also still had lighting, indicating power was still going to it. So much the better. If the door was electronically locked, that meant they could still open it up.

In moments, the four were charging into the midst of the other two. The area was barely big enough for all of them, but the two survivors stared at the four incredulously. After a moment, the first one, the one that Cryder assumed, based on his voice, was the captain, spoke back crossly.

"You were supposed to stay behind. You were supposed to stay in character if things went south."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… That's old news by now, captain." Cryder answered with a hand wave. "We're all in the same boat now, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let it sink."

At that moment, the sound of whirring began to become audible again. Cryder turned his head out front again, listening to the sounds of what had to be sentries coming. Nelson and the others heard as well, and quickly moved into position for another standoff. The pirate wasn't so eager for that, and quickly turned back to the captain. "Were you lubbers going to get that door open, or were you just here to admire the architecture?"

The captain flustered a moment, but held it back. Evidently, he realized even sooner than Nelson that, at this point, arguing or getting upset was just wasting precious time. After a moment, he turned to his one surviving subordinate, and motioned him forward. Immediately, he moved up and took position as well to guard the way. After that, he turned and moved to the door. He gestured behind him on the ground to the nearest dead body. "Gourry was our hacker. They killed him first. I can do it, but naturally I couldn't get to the door. You'll have to cover me now."

"Won't be a problem." Cryder responded, immediately turning and facing straight back into the adjacent chamber, not taking cover at all. Nelson and the others looked to him curiously at that, but the captain didn't waste a second. There was already some sort of device wired up to the electronic lock, and he went to it and quickly began to work. As for the pirate, he merely kept his grin and waited.

He didn't have to wait long. The whirring grew louder and louder. Cryder tightened a bit and only smiled wider as the others grew more nervous. It took a few more seconds, but then finally it happened. A few sentries, lasers already out, turned the corner, their guns at the ready. They were again the advanced type. Two came at first, but they were quickly followed by more, both of the minor kind and the major kind. The first row turned only enough to look forward and scan their lasers forward before they tagged Cryder, and immediately turned red. The chambers moved back to fire…

…When Cryder lifted his arms up and swung them down.

Immediately…the entire room they had just come out from collapsed in a deluge of metal, ductwork, dirt, and rock. The cloud of dust and the sound of chaos threw all the others in the group off guard. They actually recoiled in shock and fear, clearly feeling like their room was going to be next. Even the captain broke off from the hacking and looked back to him. Cryder alone stood normally, smiling into the chamber, and seeming unmoved by the dust. Yet after a moment, he let out an exhale, and actually wobbled a bit on his feet. He was forced to set his sword down and use it to halt himself, and breathe a moment or two.

"Phew…I pushed it even for a geomancer back there…"

The others looked to him incredulously, including the captain, even as the rubble continued to settle.

"Are you out of your mind?"

The pirate merely smiled. "Desperate times and desperate measures, matey. Besides…I was 99 percent sure that this part of the room was secure, and I'm quite talented."

"Not the cave in." The captain retorted. "This is the only passage back out of here! Now we're trapped! And there are sentries inside the inner area too!"

"There are a hell of a lot more that way." Cryder responded, gesturing behind him. "Besides…there's more than one way out of here."

The captain paused momentarily. "…What do you mean?"

The pirate sighed and crossed his arms. "Do you really want to know now or after the door's open, preferably before they get the idea to start activating those sentries on the other side?"

The captain hesitated a moment, but then snapped back and resumed hacking. "This mission is definitely the biggest disaster I've ever been on."

"It's not over yet. We can still come out of it with something to show for it."

"Even if we do get inside and outstrip the guards, they'll activate them eventually. They'll find us sooner or later."

"Then we'll just have to keep doing like we've been doing and stay on the move so fast their cameramen have to pop a neuron figuring out where we are." Cryder answered with a shrug. "For goodness sake, you lubbers…start thinking like a pirate! Defeat is never absolute. Now you know the way from here, right?"

The captain sighed. "We don't know the exact location and even for hackers, it's not easy to get the inner map of the most secret portions of this facility. But we have an idea, yes."

"Good." Cryder answered with a nod. He soon turned to the four others, and motioned up. "Don't think you need to worry about guarding this corridor anymore, maties. How about ahead, where there might be guards waiting for us?"

No one liked the sound of that, and no one liked being ordered around by the "consultant", but what he said was unfortunately true. Soon, the men pivoted around and flanked themselves around the entrance again, this time aiming back out into the corridor behind them. There was another few moments of so of hesitation, equaling to about half a minute, before, finally, the captain twisted two wires together and typed a few last keys. With a great hiss of hydraulics, the door began to open.

Initially, Cryder snapped around to it with the others, one hand outstretching his sword and the other getting ready to use geomancy. Without waiting to even fully see the situation, as soon as the bulkhead was open enough to get through, he immediately darted forward and out into a similar corridor on the other side. Indeed, it was practically a mirror image, with few exceptions…the walls were all plexiglass now, and there were no auto-guns. Rather interesting, the pirate figured. Apparently, Leuco thought if you made it this far that it didn't matter if you saw any more, although all he could initially see beyond the plexiglass walls were more containers for more weaponry. However, he didn't see what he hoped wouldn't be there in the first place…which was more sentries. Apparently the assumption was right. They thought they would never make it through the bulkhead and had them essentially pinned. Or perhaps they had opened up this corridor after the cave-in on the other side as a precautionary measure…some protocol that would have to be overridden. No matter the cause, they were effectively in the clear.

A moment later, and the others, the captain and Nelson in the lead, moved up behind him, guns out and looking about. However, Cryder didn't waste much time. No sooner had they come up behind him than he began to put his sword away.

"Alright…looks like we've got the element of surprise. Seeing as there's still plenty of cameras working, let's use it." He turned behind and looked to the captain, gesturing forward. "I always defer to authority at the proper times."

Since his head and face was still shrouded in black, Cryder couldn't see if the captain gave him a look back, but he did pull his gun up to the ready and began to move out. The pirate quickly fell in behind him, followed by Nelson and the others. Soon, they were quickly making their way through the corridors and moving onward.

"Much as I hate to accuse a ninja of stealing airships…" Cryder soon mentioned as they went along. "I couldn't help but notice a lot of those lovely automated defenses don't seem to be guarding here, which would be the finest bit of booty to plunder."

"I think part of it is they don't expect anyone in here." Nelson responded as he moved along, his tongue a bit looser after spending some time with Cryder and now being in momentary safety. "We picked this time on purpose. This area of the plant is shut down to everything save automations and remote access. There are no living personnel in here right now and therefore little need for sentries provided the area remains sealed to all. That said…this is where they keep their biggest weapons and armaments. They can't have a lot of errant firing or they'll risk damaging some of their own materials."

"More pluses in our favor…" Cryder mused aloud as they kept moving.

Once again, it was a series of fast, twisted movements. Never did the group stay in any one corridor for long. The only reason they stopped now was at locked doors. However, the captain was skilled at decoding and apparently they weren't nearly as high security as the main bulkhead. He managed to hack through each in seconds. Everywhere they went were plexiglass walls. As they moved through, and came up to one particular door, the pirate paused long enough to look out, seeing another warehouse area filled with rows and rows of ammunition. Of course, it wasn't the conventional stuff anymore. This was much higher caliber, something that could be cobbled into serious weapons. There was also bazooka ammo, RPG ammo, and other rockets in large crates. All of it was stacked together and ready to ship, despite being so much of it. It wasn't simply being stockpiled. Cryder could tell that much from the forms attached to the pallets and crates.

"This seems like quite a lot for a special order…" He mused aloud after a moment, looking around. "There's as much stuff here as you would expect from any major munitions plant in the world. This is definitely mass production."

"A lot of this machinery is new…" Nelson mused aloud, looking around a bit. "Just recently moved in. They must have refurbished it recently. Not only that, but most of it is designed for mass production. These are definitely built to put out a lot of one type, not configure to specific types."

"I don't suppose you can tell what kind of weapons they're making them for, can you?" Cryder asked, turning his head to him.

Nelson shook his head. "The era of every country making ammunition for only its own weapons went out fifty years ago. Nowadays, you have to examine the bullet casings themselves to find out what nation they're bound for, and obviously we can't read that from here. But there's a lot more than bullets in there…"

"I'll say." Cryder echoed, looking back to them. He snorted. "And to think…they say we have to provide our own weapons on these raids…saying they can't risk building us arms under the table."

"Heh…" One of the other Hawks let out, a bit nervously as he looked over the sheer number of weapons. "I don't think they've been getting these many special orders. This is a lot even for Sybenia…"

"…Unless, of course, they were mass producing for them." Cryder murmured, but didn't speak loud enough to be heard. However, he was starting to get fears along those lines in with him. They wouldn't be shipping all these munitions out just to sit on them…would they? Perhaps they were supplying themselves…perhaps Lamb…but Sybenia lurked in the back of his mind. Could they be just for defensive measures?

Even as he considered this, the captain opened the next door. The group quickly rushed inside and down the corridor. However, what they saw through these plexiglass windows made them pause slightly and look around as they moved in.

"Whoa…" One of the other Hawks sounded as he looked to the left, moving through the chamber. Cryder looked there first, and soon saw the reason. All that there was, stretching back as far as they eye could see, were missiles. Big ones, too. In fact, it didn't take long for him to identify the type.

"Yoichi-3 Rockets…" He murmured aloud as he looked at them.

Nelson looked over them as well, and soon frowned and nodded. "It seems that way. Ideal for arming destroyers. One of these would easily disable a good portion of a battleship or enemy destroyer…or flatten a block…"

As they moved along, down the hall, they saw no end to them. There had to be hundreds…even thousands…of them lined up. Easily enough to arm a reasonably strong navy. Cryder had a feeling they were producing a lot more than that, however. The pirate blinked at them for a few moments, then turned his head to the other side. This was where the captain was looking. He stared for a few moments, and soon gave a frown and a sigh. He soon pointed into the chamber.

"Something tells me they don't need _that_ many new sentry robots."

The others immediately looked into that chamber as they moved along, and went a bit wide-eyed as well. In here were rows and rows of collapsed combat machines. Some were on the floor, some were hanging from special racks, but there were easily several thousand of them in the room…as many and as far as the eye could see. It was honestly intimidating.

"These aren't sentries…" The captain grimly stated. "Thicker armor…larger size…treads designed for all terrain, not just metal floors. Look there…that kind hovers…that one uses legs… These are active combat duty models…and thousands of them."

Cryder grimaced. "If there was any notion that they were using these for defensive stockpiling…bang goes that theory. I don't suppose this is what we came here for?"

The captain shook his head. "These still run on heavy-duty batteries and miniature fission cores. None of them are even on. But even if they all were, they'd barely cause a change in the readings. What we're looking for is still deeper inside."

The six continued to make their way through the facility. The rooms got smaller and smaller as they went on, but always they were filled with more weapons of war…and not special cases, orders, or minor defense measures. Extremely deadly weapons, all in bulk. Some of them were intercontinental rockets that could be fired from aircraft carriers or battleships…or even nearby islands. Some were special mine devices, armored vehicles and transports, mobile artillery…everything you could think of. If Cryder was still in the Black Corsairs, this was enough stuff to easily undersell ever black market weapons' dealer on the planet. It was almost unsettling to see all of it. And this wasn't even the "good stuff"?

As they went further, running by and moving faster, and having to hack through more and more doors, Cryder noticed several electric stations in the walls. They were charging ports for sentry robots. Some of them were still in them and hadn't been activated yet…but some were already open. These were the most advanced types too, ones that used lasers rather than projectile weaponry. There was really no way to protect or dodge from those. The only thing you could do was hope you could strike first, and all of the taser shots had already been used. The pirate found himself nervously looking at each station as they ran along, expecting them to activate at any moment…and wishing they could hurry up and find what they were looking for.

The rooms continued to get smaller, but only showed more and more deadly weapons. In fact, as the amounts grew smaller and some research and development equipment began to replace the stored materials, some of them looked rather secretive and deadly indeed. Some didn't appear to match any description of anything previously seen, and were total mysteries. Those gave way to more lab work and rooms as they continued to hack their way along. Abruptly, at one point, the sirens began to go off overhead, complete with claxions.

"General alert…" Nelson responded. "Any sentries not active now are turning on."

"We don't have much time." The captain grimly added.

"Haven't we seen enough?" Cryder asked, for once sounding nervous. "I mean, this entire place could be making whatever you picked up."

"Just a bit farther…" The captain responded. "Two more turns."

"Let's make them snappy…" The pirate grumbled. "I may look good enough in here, but at this point, I can't use any projectile moves that would break the metal that these sentry robots are made out of, and I can't very well cause a cave-in in the time it takes them to shoot me if they see me."

The captain didn't answer…just continued to lead them on. They soon made the first turn, and after going through a corridor for a ways, they made the second. At this point, Cryder finally began to realize something. Part of the reason they were making all these twists and turns wasn't the building layout. No doubt, they were confusing the camera systems. That was part of the reason they hadn't been spotted yet. They couldn't figure out which way they were going. However, that hardly mattered now. By this point, they had to have dozens of sentries closing in on them from all sides…

Finally, the captain led them up to one final door. This one was particular thick and reinforced, looking more like the interior of a vault for radioactive material rather than a true entrance. The wall in front of it was solid metal. No plexiglass here…no chance to see inside. They quickly began to approach it. On doing so, Nelson looked up to it and over it.

"…Seems we made it."

The captain didn't answer. As they all moved to the vault doors and spun around, aiming their weapons out again behind them for any approaching threats, the officer moved up to one of the consoles. Cryder kept his blade at the ready and his ears tuned behind him. Sure enough, it didn't take long before, in the distance, they began to hear whirring. Judging by the sound of it…there was a lot of it too. He swallowed a bit, and looked behind him.

"Hate to break it to you, captain, but you're going to have to hack faster on this one, and unfortunately it doesn't look the type."

The captain didn't answer. However, Cryder cast a look back to him, and soon did a double-take. He saw that the captain didn't pull out any hacking devices this time. Rather, he pulled off one black glove, revealing a latex, skin-tight glove behind it that he quickly pressed on a touchpad. A green scanner went over it. Moments later, a compartment on the side of the wall opened up, revealing a retinal scanner. The captain quickly moved into this to scan his right eyeball.

The pirate was impressed. "Neat technology… How come we didn't use it to get through the other checkpoints?"

"The others used codes. They could be hacked." Nelson explained. "For this one, we had to drug a researcher and get his retinal image and hand print."

Cryder grinned as he looked back out. The whirring was coming closer, but he already heard a hiss behind him, signifying that the hydraulics were pulling back. "Nice. I guess we can just steal or take down whatever it is while we're in there, can't we?"

"We're not sure what that would do. This was initially supposed to be a covert operation." Nelson responded. "Besides, even if we could, we can't from this point. This was only a level one researcher. The most they can do is get to where we're going right now, which is a monitoring chamber. We can't actually get into the same room as where we think the readings are coming from. That one is a level of security that even Esthar's Hawks hasn't been able to crack yet."

The huge metal door soon slid fully open. Pulling his gun back out after putting his glove back on and pulling his goggles back down, the captain raised his weapon and advanced into the next corridor. Cryder, Nelson, and the others quickly followed behind. The door was quickly shut and sealed behind them.

As it turned out, that was all the next chamber was…mostly a corridor. It had solid metal walls on the sides with a few doors, and a few metal hatches that looked to be straight into the wall, but other than that, nothing. What mostly dominated this area was a large plexiglass window on the opposite side. Even from a distance, Cryder could see it was overlooking a considerably large chamber. However, as he neared, he saw neither munitions nor equipment to build munitions in the chamber. Rather…he saw a large metal array that seemed to be made of several curved support metal rods, all, in turn, enclosing an array of spinning metal disks which seemed to be orbiting some sort of lit metal sphere in the center of them. This array alone was gigantic…taking up half of the metal room. Huge cables and conduits ran off of it, not only throughout the room to various devices, but also in and up the walls and through the ceiling and floor. There were numerous monitoring devices in the room, all of them large, unusual, and taking up large sections of walls. However, there also seemed to be three smaller arrays that looked like miniature versions of the main one being built around the center.

Moments later, all six members of the group were in front and looking down over it. To be honest, Cryder had no idea what he was looking at. He stared at it a moment trying to figure it out, but it certainly didn't look like any weapon he had ever seen. It didn't even appear to be a shield generator. Best he could figure was that it was some sort of power source, based on the cables, but he had never seen one like this. His eyes were drawn to the rotating rings and big core, however. It seemed to be operating even with no one there. It must have needed to run continuously. After a few moments, he turned to the others. He saw a few of them were taking out miniature cameras and snapping pictures. That automatically told the pirate that this had to be something. They hadn't taken so much as one photo of the munitions from earlier…or if they had he hadn't seen it…but they were all over this. Yet even as they took pictures, most of them had the same clueless looks that Cryder had. The pirate raised an eye to them.

"…I take it that this is the thing you've been looking for?"

"Seems that way…" Nelson responded as he took another picture.

Cryder frowned. "…And you don't even know what it is?"

"All the other devices until now we've identified as one type of weapon or another. This is the only new creation." Nelson responded as he took yet another picture. "The analysts back in Esthar can figure it out. We're only here to gather as much information on it as we can, not to worry about what exactly it does."

"…I have an idea."

Cryder as well as the other men paused and turned to the captain, the one who had just spoke. Cryder seemed to realize for the first time that he wasn't taking any pictures. Instead, he was staring uneasily at the device in the room…or, at least, as uneasy as Cryder could make out based on what of his features he could see. He inhaled a bit and slowly exhaled.

"…Nuclear fission is the 'easy' way of harvesting nuclear power. For years, we've been trying to harness energy through the hard way…nuclear fusion…the same reaction that fuels the sun. Rather than splitting giant atoms, you join smaller ones together to make bigger atoms, and in the process part of the little atoms turns into pure energy. That's it in a nutshell. Fission will last us a few thousand years. However, if fusion was ever perfected, it might last for the rest of human history"

Cryder shrugged. "Alright…what does that have to do with this?"

"The devices that Esthar is using to try and perfect nuclear fusion involve magnetic resonance to try and force atoms together." The captain went on. "Otherwise, the amount of heat and energy required to start a fusion reaction is far too great to be practical. All of the devices that the scientists in Esthar are using involve structures that look similar to what I'm seeing here…and all involve using lighter atoms as fuel, like the ones we've been picking up."

The pirate paused on hearing this, but then simply shrugged again. "Alright, so they're perfecting an eternal power source. So what?"

By now, however, Nelson was beginning to look uncomfortable as well. He already got it. Two of the other Hawks began to look uneasy too. The captain turned to Cryder darkly.

"That's just it…I don't think they're trying to perfect an eternal power source." He responded. "If you can get a fusion reaction working but can't control it, it will trigger an explosion far stronger than even the most powerful fission bomb devised can ever generate. It will make those explosions look like nothing compared to it. It would be great enough to easily wipe Esthar and all of is suburban districts off the face of Gaia. But worst of all, since it doesn't operate through splitting of atoms…"

"…Your Minerva Shells would be useless." Cryder finished quietly…understanding fully now. At this point, his own look began to grow pale, his own demeanor grave. "Good god…to hell with the rest of these munitions. All you'd need is what's in this room to rule half the planet…maybe even the whole thing." He soon turned to the captain. "Any way we can get in there? I mean…we should probably do some sort of sabotage or som-"

Cryder didn't get a chance to finish. He cut off at the sound he heard…hydraulics hissing and whirring of doors. He realized it was coming from right behind them. Immediately, he snapped around. Yet even as he was turning…he already saw the green laser snake through the air and tag Nelson, instantly turning red when it did so.

By the time the pirate fully spun around, he was just in time to see one of the advanced sentries standing in front of the still opening doorway. The targeting laser was already out and red. A moment later, the doors cleared its left gun, and a sharp piercing noise went through the air before a thick, bright, red beam erupted from the end of it and instant sliced a single long line through the air faster than the human eye could see.

He snapped back to see where it had tagged, and actually, in a rare move for the pirate, let out a gasp.

He was just in time to see a black, smoldering line, that was still smoking and flaming a bit, and smelt of roasted flesh, coming out along half of the torso of Nelson…having gone straight through to cut a slice through the chest horizontally of the captain.

Both men hardly had time to react. Their faces barely registered shock. However, Cryder and the remaining three men did. Even to ones so highly trained and disciplined, seeing something like that…seeing an attack so fast and silent, and seeing not one but two men dying so quickly and easily…it wasn't anything that anyone who wasn't a machine could just slough off. Nelson and the captain were both dead before they even had a chance to fall to the ground. The blood hadn't even started to flow as both of them collapsed in lifeless heaps. Even for the pirate, who had seen such brutality, he couldn't believe it…his mind still lagging to see that the people he had been talking to moments earlier were suddenly dead.

But it was only because he was a Black Corsair, at least a former one, that he and/or others didn't die. Somehow, he snapped out of it and turned to the door. It was open now. However, even fully open, it could only let one sentry in at a time. Now the first began to come through, even as it targeted outward with its scanning laser again, looking for a fresh target, and soon settling on two more of the Hawks. But just as it turned red, Cryder grit his teeth and held out his hand at the machine.

Immediately, the entire robot erupted into burning blue flame. The attack was so brutal and fast that it matched the suddenness of the laser strike, and the Hawks were actually taken aback as the sentry was enveloped in fire. Immediately, its scanning lasers were scrambled as the intense, if momentary, heat began to melt its sensor arrays. The treads were turned into sludge, and the internal ball bearings were melted. The fine components inside were overheated, and in a few moments, the sentry was turned into nothing more than half-melted junk metal. By the time the fire died down, seeming to have been burning on nothing other than air, the sentry was completely inactive and melted in numerous less-heat-sensitive parts. It went still and moved no more.

Cryder lowered his hand and exhaled. His 'Will O' The Wisp' technique was quite a bit stronger than Apparition, allowing him to actually concentrate enough spiritual energy to manifest in the form of potent fire. However, it was highly unlikely he could do that again soon. And he didn't want to risk a cave-in here. Much as he would have liked to sabotage the device in the next chamber…he began to realize why attacking it may not be such a hot idea…especially if it went off. And causing another cave-in would now trap them for certain. They had to leave now. They had done all they could, now it was time to depart. And they had to move soon, too. Already, he could see other sentries behind the first trying to advance forward. Luckily, their partner was soldered to the floor at this point and they couldn't simply push him out of the way. Furthermore, another sentry was probably one of the only thinks they weren't programmed to shoot through. It would buy them a few seconds at least…

"Alright, mates…" Cryder said a bit more darkly as he reached into his vest and began to turn back to them. However, on looking back, he paused.

The espionage group still looked rather stunned. Cryder hesitated for only a second before he realized why. They had just lost both commanding officers. It was more likely that these were privates and hadn't been on too many missions. Even if they had, they were espionage…quick and deadly. They probably had never taken this many casualties before. And without leaders, for a moment, they were lost and confused, even as highly trained as they were.

They didn't have time for that, however.

"Hey! I'm talking to you three!" The pirate snapped, his own tone growing as rough as it would when commanding his own crew.

That managed to do it. They snapped out and over to him. Some of their daze was lost, and they seemed to regain a bit more of the military mindset, although they still seemed a bit stunned. Cryder, however, grasped something in his vest and began to pull it out.

"There's nothing you can do for them now! It's time to bug out! Now get ready to run!"

The words sank in for a moment. There was no doubt some hesitation inside them. Cryder could see it in their eyes. After all, the pirate wasn't one of them. He wasn't an official officer. Why should he run them around or order them anywhere? Yet that didn't last. They were military men, even if not the coolest under pressure. They needed someone to take charge. And right now, they didn't have time to argue about who. Out of all of them, Cryder was showing the most confidence and drive…and that was enough. A few moments later, and they fully lapsed back into military mode. They cast one more glance to their dead COs, but then looked back to Cryder. The pirate was right…and they had been trained for this contingency. Lost as they might be, they had to go on from here.

However, as Cryder finished pulling out an object from his vest, one of them began to protest. "There's no other way out! They've got to have it blockaded by now! Even if the cave-in wasn't there, we can't fight through all these sentries!"

"Who said we're going to?" Cryder responded. He cast a glance in front of him. They still hadn't pushed through the melted sentry yet, but they were getting close. There wasn't enough slag to hold it in place, and more and more of them were pushing from behind. There had to be at least ten waiting for them. Immediately, the pirate held up the device, revealing it to the others…a small, palm-sized, black object with a few triggers and buttons.

One of the Hawks blinked. "…That's one of our detonators! You didn't have access to those!"

"Borrowed it, mate." Cryder answered readily. "Didn't you know that's what we pirates do?" With that, he pushed the main button.

Far, far away inside the facility, almost impossible to hear over the sounds of normal utilities humming, and all the destruction that had been waged, to say nothing of the sentry robots still struggling to get in…an explosion went off. If one wasn't listening for it here, they wouldn't have even heard it or noticed it. As it was, all four men gathered heard a distant muffled noise. After that, there was silence. The sentries didn't even change, but continued to try and break through. Cryder, however, continued to be confident as he tossed the detonator aside. The other Hawks looked to him.

"What good did that do?"

"I threw a bomb into the facility when we were walking in to make the deal." Cryder responded. "Just a little one, but it was something else I 'borrowed'…something marked incendiary. Enough to start a fire."

"That won't do any good!" Another protested. "This is the most top secret and classified area in the facility! They aren't going to break lockdowns or procedures just for one small fire!"

"Sure they will." Cryder responded. "You just have to make sure it's in a large enough crisis mode, which I did. I set it in one of the ammunition storerooms."

The other three went wide-eyed momentarily…before a somewhat bigger eruption followed. They couldn't hear it, but it was soon followed by others as the fire that had been set in one of the ammunition rooms immediately began to spread and soon set off the bullets in the packages, causing them to fire wildly into the chamber, and soon setting off other chains of explosions. The chains the group did hear, getting progressively louder. Cryder grinned at the sound.

"…And, assuming your intel is right, the standard procedure for a fire set in one of the munitions areas is to flood the entire area with oxygen-draining foam and immediately trigger a mandatory evacuation for everyone."

As if right on cue…one of the hatches passed earlier suddenly turned and erupted off the wall…flipping open with explosive force, obviously from a planted charge for just such a purpose. It was enough to send the metal falling to the floor with a loud clatter. A darkened enclave lit by only a single dim light was revealed, along with a steel rung ladder. Cryder immediately slipped his sword back into its sheath and began to make for it.

"Who are we to decline such a gracious invitation?" He said as he did so.

One of the Hawks opened his mouth to protest. "But-"

"You can complain about it once we're out of range of these sentries, matey!" Cryder cut off as he rushed to the opening. Without any hesitation, he grabbed on and began to lower himself down the ladder. He didn't bother to look back. If the rest of those Hawks wanted to get themselves killed by protesting, they were welcome to it. He wasn't going to waste time arguing with them in this situation. They needed to use his option right now just to buy enough time to even complain. Going down this shaft was a surefire way to ensure they wouldn't be pursued by sentries at minimum. There was no way any of them could follow them down this shaft.

Therefore, it was small wonder that soon after he began to go into darkness, passing only the second small industrial light along the way, he began to hear footsteps on the railing overhead. He managed to crack a weak smile as he continued to descend.

Although the opening certainly wasn't going to be closing again, it wasn't long before the surroundings of the group got rather dark. They descended quickly. After all, they were still on the run, and just because they were getting away from the sentries didn't mean they were in the clear yet. Cryder had happened to spot this possible escape route on the map before they came. As a Black Corsair, he thought it was always a good thing to have more than one way to get out of a situation if need be and if possible. This was the way, and he determined how to get it open by the same token. There were no official "escape routes" in a classified facility. In fact, the only way to open the hatch to the area they were now descending was by causing the accident that he had just initiated. At any rate, as they descended, they entered an area of marked change. Rather than sleek metal and high technology, this area was simple covered with concrete and was so poorly lit that it was little more than a dark shaft. Combined with the circular nature of the tunnel leading downward, as well as the poor lighting, and you had what amounted to a sewer…which, more or less, it resembled at the bottom...

The group continued to descend until, after going down the equivalent of what was similar to three stories, Cryder touched down on the bottom. By now, the sounds from above had died down considerably, and were replaced by a new noise…rushing water. He looked around a bit, and, sure enough, he saw what he had spotted on the maps from earlier. The facility was built into a mountain with underground springs and streams feeding into small rivers. These had been modified, channeled, and built up into this underground water system. In addition to providing all the needs of water on site for basic consumption and plumbing, the water was also used from an industrial standpoint, and as an emergency for the nuclear reactors used to independently power the facility. It was quite important in that regard. Last but not least, it offered an emergency exit pathway in the worst case scenarios, such as what had just happened.

Small wonder, therefore, that from where Cryder could see it, he was in a dim, sewer-like tunnel with just enough height and light to see the water path itself, and it easily spanned a distance of eight feet across and five feet deep. Water rushed through like a flooded creek at a rather fast clip. A walkway was on either side, however, to easily let someone through. At one end, he could see a sluice gate open that was draining the water down a drop, and it was running so fast it practically seemed like a waterfall. On the opposite side, far, _far_ in the distance, he saw just a small glimmer of light that appeared to be sunlight. He smiled a bit at both. Exactly as he had expected it would be…

As Cryder briefly admired the view, the others soon joined him, one after the other. On doing so, they all moved over to him and looked at the water as well, but didn't seem to see anything interesting or hopeful about it, unlike the pirate. They merely looked around a bit, and after a few minutes looked back to Cryder himself.

"Well…now what?" One of them said.

"Now we get out of this facility." Cryder responded, still looking at the water.

The Hawk frowned. "If it was that easy, the captain and commander wouldn't have been worried to begin with. The only exit from this pathway is that way…" He gestured down to the distant light. "Where they have auto-guns, auto-lasers, twenty sentry robots, thirty guards, sealed electrified fences, checkpoints, metal detectors, and every other security measure you can think of. Not to mention it's all out in the open, so even if you can generate another cave-in, it won't do any good out there. It's suicide to go that way. We're trapped."

Cryder simply shook his head. "Not at all, matey." He pointed to the water. "See that?" He traced along with it, causing the others to follow his finger. "Goes out that sluice gate and channels back into the very moat we crossed coming in here. Not only that, but the channel will take us miles away from here and dump us in the countryside, far away from Leuco or any sentries, gunners, or the like."

Contrary to what one might think, to give hopeful looks, enthusiasm, or some other pleasant acknowledgement, the three Esthar's Hawks stared at Cryder as if he had just pulled a zipper down on his head, revealing himself to be a pink chocobo in human disguise.

"You're out of your mind!" One of them cried. "All of the channel gates except two out of this facility are 100 foot waterfall drops! And even if we were lucky enough to not get one of those, we've got to ride through six miles of rapids through narrow canyons! We could get sliced apart by rocks, dragged under by foot catches, bashed to dust by boulders, or drowned by being sucked into underwater waterfalls!"

"Well, lads…here I reckon they already know we went into this shaft…" Cryder responded. "So it's only a matter of time before we get nailed to the wall by rail bullets, cut apart by machine gun fire, or sliced to pieces by lasers. I'm a geomancer, gentlemen. I'd trust my fate to Gaia before I'd trust it to any machines. That's the route I'm taking. If you'd prefer to take your chances up here, I won't blame you. Probably come out even either way. As for me, well… See you in Esthar, assuming I see you again!"

Without another word, the pirate lunged forward and hopped into the water. He instantly went under, swept by the powerful current. However, he bobbed up a moment later, giving a merry cry, and already twenty feet away, letting out a hoot and holler as he was carried toward the sluice gate.

In truth, the Hawk had made numerous good points. And Cryder was a geomancer, not a miracle worker. The odds of getting through this alive were not very good. He might trust himself to the sea, but this was something else entirely. Still…as far as he was concerned, going out the main way was certain death. He had thought that all along. And in his opinion, 'likely suicide' was far better than 'certain death'. He knew if he did somehow manage to survive the six miles of rapids, he would be in the clear. The country was far too rough to search for him, whether it be his corpse or the man himself. From there, over the course of a few days, it might be possible to hike to a Black Corsair waystation. He wasn't sure if his fortune would improve once there. After all, he still owed quite a bit of money and had little to barter with, but assuming he could get out of there alive (or even get there alive…seeing as living off the land was impossible with all the pollution and mutations), then he might be able to get to a phone to call the very freighter they had arrived on to pick them up. It was all risky, and there was a good chance that if he made it out of this alive, he'd be so battered and broken that he wouldn't make it. But hey…he had survived a hurricane in the middle of the ocean. Why not this?

Besides…he didn't have the luxury of dying.

Cryder wasn't much of a hero, but he was more than most of the Black Corsairs. Money and freedom aside, he had to get back to Esthar. Someone had to make it back and report on that new type of bomb. Hopefully, they could either destroy it or make some sort of countermeasure like the Minerva Shells before it was too late. From what he saw, they perfected the reactor. Making it small enough to pack into a bomb still looked like it was a work in progress. But who knew how long it would be before they could pull it off? A few years? A few months? A few days? Something had to be done before then…

_Only one thing still gets under my skin about all this…_ Cryder thought as the water began to turn for the sluice gate. _Leuco's never tried to get in a war before in their life. It was never cost-effective enough for them. Yet now, they're pumping out weapons like they're out to arm the world. This explains why the lass saw such an economic turnaround… Someone's infusing a load of swag into Leuco to make this stuff… And this was only one depo…the entire country might be a war machine. Are they really planning on going to war with it?_

…_Or did someone else pay them to make all this stuff? Someone who wasn't able to produce a military fast enough on their own but had need of one? One big enough to take not only the Western Continent but everything else?_

_Good lord…if they gave that genocidal little runt the power to wipe out entire human populations with one bomb…_

Unfortunately, that was the dark thought Cryder was forced to end on before his thoughts were cut off. He broke from a happy cheer into a cry of terror as he was suddenly dumped down the sluice gate in a nearly vertical drop, and fell into darkness.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: It was pointed out a very long time ago when I tried to create an expression equivalent to "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" by using a term from the Final Fantasy universe that I was mistaken, so I "fixed it" in this chapter. The expression "accuse a ninja of stealing airships" is now the equivalent term, once again going back to "Final Fantasy IV" and referring to when Edge stole the Falcon airship from the Tower of Bab-Il, Rydia chastised him for stealing it and suspected it of being a trap...both complaints were eventually ill-founded.<p> 


	20. Breaking All the Rules

In spite of the fact that they were headed back, alive, safe, well, and having secured something from Sybenia in the process that would put a temporary halt to everything, even after the passage of a few days Dael had never felt a "victory" that tasted so much like a defeat.

The depression did not lift as time passed. The entire boat was in a sour mood. They knew they would not be returning to Esthar as heroes, even if the government or media made them appear as such. Relief and ease they had expected from leaving the hostile waters of Sybenia behind never surfaced. They all felt too ill about the entire deal. Everyone was quiet and kept to themselves. Taraketh's normal toxic presence vanished all together. He seemed to be brooding, as they all were, the entire voyage home. As for Mianyl, she was nowhere to be seen. She confined herself almost entirely to her chambers. After all, she seemed to be blaming herself personally for everything that had gone wrong on the trip. It was a silent voyage, almost as if they were going off to be punished rather than returning to their homes and friends. And there was no momentary stop in the Lamb Archipelago to cheer them either. Of course, Dael wouldn't have felt very cheery. What could she tell them if she went there? How could she look at the children knowing that many children like them were being dragged off to who knew what fate? Even if her primary concern was Esthar, she realized she'd still feel rather rotten to confront them with the truth.

After a few more days at sea, and by the time the news was circulating not only around Esthar but around the world at large, the _Indominable_ pulled up to the same port it left. This time, the ship made a bit better time at the last day of the trip, and Mianyl didn't call ahead, save for those picking her up. Therefore, there was no big ensemble awaiting them as they pulled into port. Clearly, Lady Mianyl didn't feel like one, and Dael couldn't blame her. Even so, the port was still cleared of traffic, and a reporter or two managed to find their way there. A car was already waiting for the Sorceress and her retinue on arrival. It was flanked by Esthar military vehicles to pick up Dael and her company. It was there that the group parted ways, the Order of Hyne going one way and Esthar's Hawks going another. However, before they left, they had met in the lobby one last time with each other. At that point, as they finished docking and moved to leave, and the Order of Hyne members were allowed to go first, the Sorceress, who had been somber and dark up until now, managed a smile again as she personally went up to each one of the Esthar's Hawks and thanked them for being her escort. Dael, of course, was included among them, and she could remember as Mianyl went an extra step and actually embraced her momentarily. The young officer was caught off guard, and could do little other than stand there stupidly or return it, and so she ended up electing for the latter.

"At least one good thing did come out of this mission, lt. commander." She told her with a soft smile. "I was able to meet you face-to-face. Again, I don't expect to change your mind anytime soon…but please…remember what I offered you."

The last Dael had seen of her, she saw her go into a closed version of the car from last time. This one was once again an old beater, but was configured to have extra back space to include her and everyone in her retinue. They actually rode with her for a few blocks, flanking her car in their own vehicles, before they went to the rail station. After that, her car drove off and the others were left to disembark for Fort Morningstar.

Dael was currently on the train, thinking over what she had seen before they had landed with a half-frown and tired look on her face. Coming in close to Esthar and once again going along the rocky coast, they had finally been in reach of news transmissions. For lack of anything better to do, they tuned in. Dael couldn't help but grow disgusted with the reaction rather quickly. The news media represented the people's opinions, and the majority opinion in Esthar, however naïve, was that everything that was going on in Sybenia was "over there" and safely out of sight and out of mind. Oh, there were defectors, alright, including those who pointed out moves from Sybenia that were clearly the forerunners to hostile action against Esthar. But since the majority opinion was to stay out of war at all costs, that was what was pushed, both by the government as well as the news. The few representatives that had called for stronger action in wake of the agreement were already being publicly crucified by the media and their political opponents eager to get their seats in the next election. The concensus opinion being put forth was that this prevented a war, and therefore was the best outcome…even if the fact that no one was willing to extend their hand in gratitude to the Sorceress for this "major victory" indicated that people knew the truth that this was subpar.

Still, the way the politicians and pundits were spinning it, one would think this had been the biggest peace treaty since the one between Alexandria and Lindbulm. The only thing that kept it from being cast in that light was the two-faced nature of the politicians. Barbarossa had overstepped his bounds. Desperate to make this whole thing look like not only a major victory but also to make himself the one responsible, he had come out publicly and made a grand speech about how wonderful of a victory this was. Predictably, Representative Kenzell came out soon after and pointed how many issues were still unresolved by the agreements. Also predictably, Representative Meaks came to Barbarossa's aid while simultaneously bringing to light doubt upon the treatment of the Order of Hyne members who had been taken by Sybenia…what amounted too "stabbing our allies in the back", by which they meant the Order of Hyne and the very individual they had relied upon to gain them a peaceful settlement, namely Sorceress Mianyl. In this regard, Dael couldn't help but agree with them. Sorceress Mianyl had stuck her neck out for them, and in the end they had told her to accept an agreement that essentially left her order to rot. Peaceful and pacifistic as the woman seemed, Dael had a feeling she would flex a bit more of her power when she met with Barbarossa face-to-face later.

Dael wasn't sure how she felt at the moment. After a few days at sea with little to her duties other than to make sure the Sorceress was safe, which was easy on leaving Sybenian waters, she had time to rest and relax both physically and mentally. And yet, she still felt oddly drained. It was probably due to the meagerness of their victory. She wasn't sure what she wanted exactly at the moment as she rode on the train, watching, through the window, as Fort Morningstart loomed closer. She couldn't help but feel a bit comfortable as she saw it, however. Although she had only been there a few months, it already felt very much like home.

"Gil for your thoughts."

Dael turned her head slightly over to her side, seeing her adjacent seat. Carbuncle, who had spent most of the ride napping, was now sitting up and looking at her. She couldn't help but hesitate a moment. It was odd… For a long time, she had found the Guardian Force rather annoying and troublesome, and she still did in many ways. However…much had changed on this mission. Between him coming to her defense against Taraketh and being her only friend and confidant in Sybenia, Dael had warmed up to the creature considerably. Strange as it seemed, she now had to admit that Carbuncle was one of her only real friends. As such, she almost managed a smile to the green creature as she looked back out the window.

"Nothing really…and I mean it." She finally said. "I'm not really sure what to feel right now. Definitely not good…"

"Might as well." Carbuncle answered with a shrug. "Like it or not, your part in this is finished. It's over and done. Now we've all got to live with what comes next."

"I know that…" Dael answered. "The only thing is…I'm not really sure what to expect from here…looking at the base as it comes in. I mean, I guess I should be glad to get back. Even if this is a place of duty, I'm still going to have a chance to check in on Quaren."

"Oh, that's right." The Guardian Force responded. "Wonder how his planned transfer is going… And don't forget your 'ward'."

Dael let out a half-chuckle. "I think I'll almost feel good to see him too, even if the first thing he says is asking me how he plans to let me have access to protected files. Heck, I'd even like to find out how Cryder did on his mission." She slumped a bit soon after. "But still…I don't know what to feel. I mean…I'm not sure what would make a better difference, hanging around for a few days just getting back into the old military life and talking to the few people I know well enough to have conversations with…or just getting onto another mission. I mean…I felt like a fifth wheel for most of the last mission, and it didn't help that it didn't end the well."

Carbuncle let out a chuckle of his own. "You got to learn to run with it, Dael. What were you supposed to do? Intimidate Rozan into signing peace treaties with your aggressive use of reflection magic?" He paused, then suddenly raised his eyebrows. "Or perhaps lightning magic? I almost forgot…you've got new powers. You better learn how to use them. Now that you have truly offensive magic underneath your belt, it'll come in useful."

Dael leaned up a bit at that. That was right…she now had command of another Guardian Force. In all the hubbub, she had practically forgotten that herself. She soon turned to Carbuncle. "That's right… Does that mean I'm junctioned to two of you now? That I'm twice as strong?"

"Oh no." Carbuncle responded, immediately lapsing into a "tutor" mode. "That's not how it works. Your body normally only handles one spirit coursing through it. Two is already pushing it, which is, in some ways, how a junction works. Already, there's negative effects-"

Abruptly, the green creature froze, slapping a paw over his mouth. However, Dael immediately snapped fully to him, eyes going wide.

"…Negative effects?" She echoed. "What do you mean, 'negative effects'? You never said anything about that!"

Carbuncle swallowed a bit. After a moment, his simple face somehow managed a sheepish look. "Heh…it never really occurred to me… I mean, it's not too bad… You know…adjustments in strength…making sure you don't exert yourself too much…extra hair and nail growth…maybe slight voice changes…" He coughed and muttered. "…Memory loss…"

"Memory loss?!" Dael cried.

"Would you stop shouting like that!" Carbuncle complained. "You're going to get all your superiors staring at us!"

"What do you mean by memory loss?" Dael continued, only a little quieter. "What kind of memory loss?"

Carbuncle held his paws up in a shrug. "You know…events…past experiences…old friends…parental figures…parents…siblings… Memory loss."

Dael gaped at Carbuncle wide-eyed.

"Well, it's not like you'd notice it…" Carbuncle insisted. "That's the thing about memory loss. If you don't recall it ever happening, then you obviously don't forget you forgot something…"

Dael's eyes rolled. "That makes me feel so much better…" She glared at him. "You mean to tell me I might have already forgotten most of my early life and I don't even know it?"

Carbuncle let out a sigh. "…Why do you think I'm always urging you to open up? The more time you spend consciously remembering things about yourself, the less likely you are to forget anything. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't seen you lose any memory yet. You're doing quite well. Better than anyone else I've ever been junctioned too."

Dael gave a sardonic grimace. "Thanks." She answered sarcastically.

"Hey…" Carbuncle responded. "You don't like it, just disjunction yourself. You won't get rid of me, but you'll get rid of me being fused to you. You'll lose all your enhanced abilities but you won't have to worry about memory loss."

The young officer frowned. "I can't do that now…" She groaned. "I'm the youngest lieutenant commander in the history of Esthar's Hawks. I get rid of the junction, and I'll be back to a private level. This power is about the only thing that sets me apart from the other rookies."

The green creature gave her a look after that, and something of a frown. Dael didn't see it, but if she had it would have indicated that the creature thought there was a bit more to her than just the benefits she had received from Carbuncle. However, he sighed and merely shrugged. "Then don't complain. It's the tradeoff. You didn't think all these new powers would come free, did you?"

Dael merely sighed again.

"Anyway…" Carbuncle continued. "How many natural abilities you get depends on the strength of the Guardian Force. Most of us are all around the same level. Just because I'm little doesn't mean Quetzacoatl is any better or worse than me. So technically, you could swap out for her if you wanted. But even if you don't, just the mere fact that she made a bond with you means that you have access to her magic affinity now, which in this case is lightning."

The young officer had to get over her anger at the sudden mention of the side effect for a moment longer. However, as she realized she still had all of her memories (at least, she hoped she did), and that even if she didn't she couldn't afford to not use a Guardian Force, she was able to raise her eyebrows a bit at this realization.

"Lightning's good." She admitted. "Pretty potent…able to do a lot of damage to machinery as well as living targets… And if I'm able to throw bolts as good as she was doing back in that chamber…"

Carbuncle sighed at this. "…Unfortunately, you're not." He stated. "You're getting good at using my spells, slowly but surely, but I can tell they lack real power to them. If you had tried reflecting Quetzacoatl's magic without my help, you would have been in trouble. You need a lot more focus and practice."

Dael rolled her eyes and sighed. "Exactly how much practice?"

"A few years, normally." Carbuncle retorted, frowning right back. "Magic isn't some kiddy art. It's not something you can just pick up and do one day. There are people in the world predisposed to be good at magic and people who aren't, and even they have to work hard to get the full benefit out of it. And I'm sorry to say you aren't predisposed so you need a teacher."

The Esthar's Hawk frowned at the mention of that again. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not taking your suggestion." She stated flatly. "I'm not leaving Esthar's Hawks to spend a few years in the Order of Hyne, especially not now when we're nearly at war."

"Well, without a tutor, there's very little you can do on your own to improve your magic." Carbuncle answered. "At the bare minimum, you're going to have to drill yourself from now on. You need to find yourself a nice outdoor area secluded and away from your fellow Hawks so that you can practice throwing your lightning around. You're not careful, you'll shock yourself with it. Lightning is potent but it's also really hard to focus."

Dael frowned, but then simply looked back out the window and propped her head up on her hand and shoulder again. "Maybe I'll have a few days to try it out…" She thought aloud with an exhale. Of course, she thought that was far from likely. This "peace treaty" didn't mean a break for her. Far from it…it meant things would be worse than ever. She wasn't sure if she'd get any free time for a long while to come. And "easy" as most of her assignments had been so far, the disaster that occurred in Follett aside, she might be seeing some real combat fairly soon, especially if war broke out. Clearly, there was a lot on the young woman's mind.

In fact, with Carbuncle's latest comments filling her head, Dael was so awash in her own thoughts over everything that happened that she hardly noticed when the train finally pulled into the station. It wasn't until her superior officers got up from their own seats and began to get out that she snapped her head to the side, and realized that they were now stopped. Quickly, she rose to her feet herself, and Carbuncle leapt out of his chair and onto the ground to follow her. Soon after, she began to move out of the train. Already, she began to plan what she would do when she got back. She had rested long enough. Now she wanted to get physically active…to actually move around and work a bit on her technique. Perhaps the rush of endorphins would help her feel better about everything…

Moving in behind the captains, and keeping a distance out of respect, she watched as, one by one, they dismounted the train steps and went onto the platform. Soon, she moved up behind them. Much as in a regular passenger train, she had to step down a series of stairs before touching down on the concrete of the platform. In spite of everything, she was glad to get her feet back on the ground this close to Fort Morningstar. One last car ride still awaited her before she got back, and she was eager for it, but each end of a "journey" brought her closer. The sun was out, and despite the cool breeze, it was still rather warm and pleasant. She looked up after the captains and down the platform, intending to follow them out front to the car.

However, something soon caught her vision, followed soon after by her full attention. An Esthar Hawk, a commander by the rankings on him, was standing at the platform waiting for her. He was flanked by two MPs. She had scarcely managed to touch down when all three of them began to walk up to her. It didn't take long for both Dael and Carbuncle to slow to a halt and stare at them as they neared, soon confirming beyond any doubt they were here for her.

The young officer didn't know what to do, but soon felt nervousness. Whatever it was, it couldn't possibly be good news. They didn't send out superior officers flanked by MPs for that. But, to the best of her knowledge, she hadn't done anything. Everything that she had that was potentially out of line, namely her Guardian Force and her "ward", were both cleared by Colonel Morrick Regalis himself. And she had been at sea for days. She thought of Cryder… He hadn't done anything and they were holding _her_ accountable for it, did he? The thought filled her with anxiety. It was all she could do to look "official" and calm when they finally reached her.

Immediately, the trio came to a stop. Dael, so tense, nearly forgot to salute. However, she managed one just as the commander arrived. He saluted back, giving her an "at ease" sign. On seeing that, Dael eased slightly. That was something, at least…

"Lt. Commander Levinson?" The commander called out, confirming her identity.

Dael managed a nod back. "Yes sir?"

"There's been an issue that concerns you while you were away on your latest assignment." The commander responded. "You personally are not under any penalty or accusation, but the matter at hand is rather serious. A federal crime has been committed and I have been ordered to bring you to the holding facilities in Esthar city proper."

The young officer was both confused and puzzled by this sort of response. It wasn't her…but had something to do with her? Was it Cryder after all? She blinked a moment.

"Begging your pardon, sir…but what kind of crime?"

* * *

><p><em>I am going to kill him. I'm going to hit him so hard I'm going to knock the crazy out of him. I'm going to deport him back to Leuco. I'm going to have him thrown in the brig proper. Ugh! How could he do this to me?!<em>

Dael had to exert every bit of self-control she possessed to keep from flying into a total rage. However, it was obvious she was incensed as she walked down the somber, tiled, concrete halls of Esthar Juvenile Correctional Institute. Each footstep sounded out with such violence and force that her soft boots nevertheless set out sharp echoes down the hallway. Her escorts, two MPs, the commander from earlier, Carbuncle (who was keeping his distance from her wrath) and now two juvenile detention guards actually turned slightly to her more than once, obviously picking up on her behavior and barely-restrained emotions. But today, she didn't really care. All she knew was that she couldn't stop from thinking of the harshest, most torturous disciplines she could imagine and try and inflict them on him for this. Again and again, she ran over things she wanted to say to him…mostly in yells and tongue lashings.

She couldn't believe he had gone through with it. This was practically stabbing her in the back. The only good side to this was that it was keeping her mind off the "bad news", which, in spite of herself, Dael would have felt nervous and afraid about if she had the chance. The team that had been dispatched to Leuco, including Cryder, had vanished. Dael had no idea what they had been doing, and Esthar's Hawks weren't talking publicly about it, as was standard procedure to avoid the press or listening ears from realizing they had been behind it. Leuco was talking about a break-in on one of their facilities, but they were being quiet too and hadn't fingered anyone. So much the better…but it didn't change the fact that Cryder was gone along with the espionage team, and no one was saying anything about where they could be. For all she knew, they were captured…or worse. However, her mind wasn't focusing too much on this.

She just kept seeing Bahamut's face in her mind's eye.

Apparently, for one reason or another, the kid couldn't just wait for her to get back. A mere two days before they made port, while they were leaving Sybenia behind, he had finally done it. He attempted to break into the Gordian Vault. Dael didn't know how he had managed to sneak past security in the fort and get transportation to Esthar's city proper, and even then even less clue of how he had managed to find his way to the Vault. If that was all, she would have been plenty furious enough, even though Bahamut had plenty of time over the past few days to search for ways around security in the fort. He was already only allowed access to the lowest security measures, but still…how could he have gotten out the front doors without letting someone know? However, this wasn't the worst part.

Somehow, impossibly, and to the confusion and surprise of everyone involved…he wasn't spotted until he actually entered the Vaults himself. Beyond all expectations, he had somehow passed all of the security countermeasures and checkpoints. It was beyond belief. No one knew how it would have been possible. The espionage teams in Esthar's Hawks couldn't get through that level of security. How had a child done it? Dael didn't know…and frankly didn't care. She was too enraged by the fact that he had somehow done it, and had to break a whole slew of federal laws to do it. Thinking about how he managed it only made her madder. Perhaps he managed to steal hacking equipment and access computer files on how to use it? That was another few felonies…

The Juvenile Correctional Institute was far from a maximum security facility. After all, it dealt with children. Though they crimes they had committed were quite real, the oldest person in there was sixteen. Bahamut was estimated to be twelve years of age. As a result, there was a good chance he would have been in a normal cell. However, the magnitude of the crime had caused him to be relocated deeper in the facility. He was actually being kept in a high security, guard watch cell at the moment that was extra thick, enclosed, and had only one exit through a guard checkpoint. Had Dael been in a "nicer" mood, she might have thought it was overkill. Yet at the moment, she felt like throwing him in solitary.

"Now, he's certainly a minor." The commander spoke to her as they walked along. "And seeing as he didn't successfully steal anything or cause any major problems that we can find, or even property damage of any kind, we would normally only be charging him with trespassing and battery of the three Esthar's Hawks that intercepted him…" The officer paused. "Although, I will admit…he managed to break the jaw of one and dislocate the arm of another. However, that's not the main concern. This facility was extremely high security and the penalties are much higher than simply slapping on the wrist. That said…we've never had to deal with a _child_ breaching security. Frankly, this is unprecedented. So you'll understand that we're reluctant to release him."

"Believe me…" Dael said with an edge in her voice. "At this moment, I'd prefer to throw him into a superprison…"

Dael hadn't felt such loathing for another person as she felt for Bahamut right now. After all the work to get him there, he couldn't even wait for her to try and get him some access to a few files. His stupid crazy streak had gotten him in deep trouble. He was so obsessed with that stupid finding of Leviathan that he had actually gone so far to break into the Vaults. The Vaults! How in the name of anything had he managed to do that? He couldn't just do a minor security violation, he had to somehow get all the way into the Vaults! And how come they didn't stop him _before_ he had a chance to commit so great a federal offense? Was security that lax? Was it that easy to find ways around the checkpoints? Did they have idiots working there? No wonder she had heard nothing about this in the news…it would be an embarrassment to national security that some 12 year old waltzed into their most secure installation…

"As to what I asked you earlier," The commander continued. "On the way here… We need to be absolutely sure…"

Dael's anger abated long enough to stifle a sigh. "Commander, I solemnly swear to you, that boy was not in contact with anyone after meeting us. He never was out of our sight for a moment, and he was always in the same chamber as one of us during the trip to Esthar. What more, there was absolutely no luggage taken by any of us on that boat. He was never in contact with anyone during the trip."

The commander let out a sigh of his own. "…We understand that, lt. commander. However, if you feel you may have accidentally slipped at any time, whether during his time in Fort Morningstar or now…"

"There was no slip. I'm sure of it." Dael responded.

"…We find it very hard to believe that the boy was able to infiltrate the Gordian Vault without help and equipment. Although we have recovered nothing and no evidence to this effect other than supposition, it makes more than logical sense that he would have been in contact with someone while you were gone."

Dael didn't bother responding to this. Honestly…she didn't know how. She knew what they were insinuating…that Dael, and possibly the colonel himself, had been suckered by this boy. That somehow he was part of a larger operating agency that was conducting espionage on Esthar…or perhaps the same who were hired to rob the Gordian Vault earlier. Dael knew nothing could be farther from the truth. As to _how_ she knew nothing could be farther from the truth, she didn't know. As the commander said, even without evidence, the case was against him. The fact remained he had somehow gotten into the Vaults. No one could do that without help or assistance. Hence, someone had to be helping him…and why would anyone want to help him if his sole mission was just to find the location of Leviathan? It was more likely there was a nefarious purpose… So why did she think he was innocent?

Again, she just had that strange feeling inside her regarding the boy…like somehow she knew she could trust him. She almost thought that was sheer stupidity at this point. After all, she had trusted him to behave himself while she was gone and look what had come of that. Then again…she had never exactly secured a promise from him… At any rate, in spite of all that, she still felt as if he was somehow trustworthy. Something was honest about him. She knew, somehow, when she met him in that library that he wasn't one to lie, even if the truth was something that would only get him into more trouble. Of course, he _had_ lied to the colonel…but that was a lie Dael had embraced. In regards to her, he was always truthful and honest. Almost blatantly so. The young officer was confused. Was he really innocent? Was it wishful thinking on her part?

At any rate, she was almost completely certain that there was no way he could have contacted anyone without someone knowing about it while in the fort. All lines were monitored for destination and source, even the officer lines. No radio transmissions could be made inside the facility that were unauthorized due to signal dampening. The only time he could have called anyone would have been when outside of the fort. However…that made no sense. How would alleged "helpers" know when to expect his call? Or even where he was? Or even that he had ever left Leuco at all? It would have required an elaborate scheme that Dael found herself unable to swallow, even if it was, however difficult, still plausible.

"The colonel has already been alerted." The commander went on, shaking her from his thoughts. "He's taken a personal interest in the case. He should be here shortly."

Dael looked forward to the commander, a bit wide-eyed, for a moment, then stifled another sigh as she looked back. Terrific. The colonel was going to be there too. Now he was going to be there personally to shame her for ever bringing that boy to Esthar in the first place. She couldn't believe this…

In all honesty, in spite of her anger, Dael couldn't help but feel the need to defend this boy…if for no other reason than to protect her own reputation in bringing him to Fort Morningstar. But how? The only way she could was by confessing his initial story, saying he broke into the Vaults because he wanted to find Leviathan. Not only was that story nearly impossible to swallow and the details sounded like sheer lunacy, it would confirm she had been lying all along and brought a mentally ill individual into a secure military installation. Twelve years old or no, that would be a gigantic black mark on her record and she would be looking at severe discipline issues herself. This was a real fix, no doubts there…

Finally, the end of the hall loomed up ahead. They had passed by several doors, but there was a thick armored one with an electronic lock just ahead, with a somewhat lighter security door nearby. They soon reached the first. One of the detention guards went over to the lock, produced a magnetic card, and swiped it through the reader. He entered a code soon after, and a red light that was on the lock turned to green. A large clicking was heard. The other guard came over and soon pulled the door open. Both of them looked to face Dael. After doing so, the commander and the MPs looked to her.

"We'll be in the adjoining room." He stated. "I hope you understand we have to record this, just in case he slips something up."

Dael felt her stomach turn. While she doubted any terrorist information would be revealed, she had a feeling something would come out about Bahamut's mental state. However, there was nothing for it. She simply nodded in response. "Understood, sir."

The commander turned without another word, and the MPs with him. They made their way to the adjoining door. However, Dael didn't watch them go in. Inhaling one more time to steady herself, she began to advance to the now-open doorway, and soon passed inside, Carbuncle still on her heels. The detention guards let the door shut behind her.

There wasn't much to the room. Apparently, it was normally used for interrogation. There were no cameras, but that was irrelevant. A large section of one wall was dominated by a mirror that could have all sorts of monitoring devices and watchers on the other side of it. Other than that, there was simply a table, chairs, and a second door on the opposite side. For a few brief seconds, Dael stood in there alone with Carbuncle. The Guardian Force was still rather tense around her given her demeanor, and so he hopped into the outstretched chair. Dael, on the other hand, remained standing. It was quiet, and a bit unsettling. She looked around slightly, including to the two-way mirror. She knew they were loading up in there while she stood here, and probably already watching her…

However, all thoughts of that were able to be pushed aside as the door clicked in front of Dael. She looked forward, and soon saw two more juvenile guards opening the door. They proceeded to escort someone in…Bahamut. He looked a bit roughed up and dirty, and they had handcuffed him, leg-shackled him, and put him in a set of orange overalls. He already looked like a convicted inmate. After all, his offense was nothing to sneeze at. At any rate, soon after moving him in, they led him over to the chair and half-offered/half-forced him to sit in it. In the end, after a moment of hesitation, he took it and sat down. After that, the guards exited the room once again. The door swung shut behind them, and after letting out a metallic clang through the room…the two were now alone.

Bahamut looked up to Dael and stared. Dael, on her part, stood with her arms crossed and glared back at him. Her stare was hard and angry, although she showed only a frown at the moment. Bahamut, on his part, was his normal stoic and controlled self. However, a bit to Dael's surprise, there was just the slightest hint of regret in his eyes. Not nearly as much as she wanted, however. She'd have preferred to see him bawling, cringing, and begging for forgiveness. Carbuncle, on his part, looked between the two of them, waiting for something to break the silence, but not willing to do it himself this time.

After half a minute of silence, he inhaled.

"…I'm sorry about this." He said, mostly calmly.

"You're damn right, you better be sorry." Dael snapped back, letting her volume and anger finally come out. "Do you have the _slightest_ idea what you've done? Let's forget the topic of _how_ you did it for a few moments and just focus on what you did. You violated every maximum security and classified law in the record for the government of Esthar! If any of the information stored in the Gordian Vault got out, it would mean more than weapons and codes! It would be crop data, budget numbers, statistics, everything someone would need to frustrate the economy and ruin hundreds of businesses! Do you realize that if you were 17 years old those guards in there would have been authorized to shoot you on sight? Now I don't know what's going to happen to you! I don't know if they're going to send you to prison until you're 21 or if they'll deport you or what! And all of this is not even starting to mention what this means for me! I'm pretty much responsible for you! Even if you're ruled a minor, that means they nail _my_ ass to the wall! After all I've done for you!"

This, however, caused Bahamut to narrow his gaze at her. "…We had an even tradeoff. I got you back to Esthar, and you helped me out by giving me a place to stay. I'd say we were even."

Carbuncle let out a grimace at that and recoiled…and just in time too, as Dael advanced on the table and slammed her hands on it, glaring at Bahamut.

"You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that! I've been trying to save your scrawny butt all morning! Do you know right now they think you're in a terrorist cell? That some organization got you here so that they could send you into the Vault to steal things for them?"

Bahamut frowned at that. "They have absolutely no proof to make such a claim other than their own arrogance." He flatly responded. "They just can't fathom that their precious defenses could be bypassed by a twelve-year old. If I was an Esthar's Hawk, they'd think nothing of it."

Dael kept her frown. "Keep talking like that. I'm sure that will _really_ make them appeal to you."

"I said I was sorry." Bahamut responded to her. "I can't do anything else."

The young officer let out a snort. "'I'm sorry' doesn't really cut it when you commit a federal offense."

Bahamut frowned again. "I meant I can't do anything else for you." He flatly stated. "Look…I'm sorry I got myself caught going in there because I know that it made trouble for you. But I'm not sorry about what I did or why I got caught. I'm sorry to say this, but the people in the Vaults are inept. None of them even noticed it until I pointed it out, and I had to get myself caught to say it. They wouldn't have believed or listened to me otherwise."

Dael paused on hearing this bit. For the first time, her anger abated. Instead, she looked to him in puzzlement, although she still had considerable irritation on her face. "What are you talking about?"

"I hate to 'insult' the guards of the Gordian Vault again…" Bahamut continued. "But I'm saying that the only reason I got caught, the only reason I'm in this cell, the only reason anyone got injured, was because I turned myself in and they thought they'd attack me first and ask questions later." He gave a snort. "It's not surprising that they didn't admit that a twelve year old wasn't apprehended at all but turned himself in…"

The young officer's irritation began to be fully replaced by confusion. "Wait a minute…what are you saying? You went to all the trouble to break in and then let yourself be caught? None of this is making any sense…"

Dael, however, soon trailed off as she heard a noise behind her. The door was opening again. Immediately, she turned her head around to see who it was. A second later, and she immediately stood at full attention. As soon as the door opened, she was just in time to see a few additional MPs but mostly the large, formidable body of Colonel Regalis himself. He caught her completely off guard. More of her anger and surprise abated as she fully smoothed herself out, trying to look like the model officer. She quickly went rigid, legs together, stood up straight, and gave a salute.

She soon noticed, however, that Regalis looked considerably preoccupied. He paused only long enough to quickly give her an at-ease salute, but even that one was done so quickly it was practically an afterthought. The door was closed behind him by the MPs, and he quickly began to approach the table as well. Seeing this, Dael, growing a bit nervous, quickly moved to one side. Regalis moved forward a bit more, and seized the opportunity the young officer had given him. He planted his own hands on the desk and faced the boy sitting across from him. As Carbuncle got further back from his presence, Bahamut stared at him without expression. Yet when Dael focused on the colonel, she saw that his own look was insistent and fierce.

Instantly, she took this for anger. Swallowing a bit, she began to speak. "Sir, about this break in…I swear there was no malicious intent-"

The colonel turned to Dael momentarily, his look dark. It immediately quieted her again, as she was struck dumb by the look.

"Thank you, lt. commander." He said to her in a tone that revealed its true wording: _Be quiet._ After that, he turned back to Bahamut. Over the next few moments, Dael was soon surprised yet again.

"Young man…I just got back from checking in with Gordian Vault security command and inventory. What you saw was confirmed. Now tell me…did you see the perpetrators? Anything at all that indicated to them? Even the smallest hint?"

Bahamut sighed and shook his head in response. "I'm afraid not, colonel. Like I said when I was interrogated, the theft had to have occurred long before I arrived."

The colonel frowned. He let out a long exhale, and was silent for a moment. He bowed his head slightly, then looked up again. He spoke again. "The only trace that they had ever been tampered with at all was the access codes. Those were hardlined into the computer. Someone input them sometime within a three day window two weeks ago, definitely in between the last break in within the Gordian Vault and your break in. Other than that…there's no physical evidence of any kind. No fingerprints, obviously, but no signs of any access ever being granted. No traces of hacks. No lost duplicate code redundancy built in for this purpose. No security footage of people ever arriving. Absolutely nothing. Bad as the earlier security breach was, this is easily ten times worse. The previous individuals who struck the Vault left behind a great mess in their wake. For all their caution, they tripped five separate alarms and three countermeasures. Whoever did this did a perfect job. We can't even find a stray hair inside the Vaults."

"Even I wasn't that thorough." Bahamut said with a frown. "I'm sure, at least, they can find my hair lying around the place."

Dael, at this point, was practically flabbergasted. Carbuncle looked rather confused as well as he looked between everyone. Far from being condemnatory or severe, the colonel seemed to practically be confiding in Bahamut. He didn't seem to care about him breaking in at all. However…what were they talking about? From the context, she could only come to one conclusion. There was a _third_ break in, one that occurred between the first one and Bahamut's? If so, she was stunned all over again. That was supposed to be one of the most secure installations on the planet! Now people were treating it like some convenient store's cash register in the bad part of town.

Apparently, however, she wasn't the only one confused. And where she would hold her tongue as part of decorum, Carbuncle soon perked up his head and raised a paw.

"Excuse me…I don't mean to interrupt…" He stated aloud. "But, um…what exactly is going on here? I was under the impression that 'Bahamut' over here did something bad, but you don't seem to be that upset about it."

The colonel went silent. He looked to Carbuncle for a moment. Dael, for a few seconds, felt her anxiety increase. Although the colonel was usually more than genial with the Guardian Force, the look on his face, the urgency, made her think he might have gone too far this time. However, he paused for only a moment, before exhaling.

"…It seems the whole story wasn't told to you or…" Here, he turned and looked to Dael, before turning back to Carbuncle. "Lt. Commander Levinson. Normally I would leave others this distinction, but in the interest of saving time and, since I would like your input on this, Mr. Carbuncle, I'll just tell you."

Dael was surprised yet again. Did he just ask for Carbuncle's advice on something? The young officer was finding it rather hard to hide her growing puzzlement and confusion at this point.

"You seem to know the first part. Young master Bahamut here…" He continued, gesturing ahead of him. "For the reason he has testified so far as simply 'research', attempted to break into the Gordian Vault and managed to actually bypass several security checkpoints and reach the inner areas. As to how he managed such a feat is still coming out, but we now know a large part of his plan was using his smaller size to get into a crate of materials that was to be transferred into the inner areas of the Vault, thereby bypassing almost all initial security scans. How he bypassed the others is still being discovered, but none of that it what has my interest at the moment. Suffice to say that the crate departed from Fort Morningstar itself, and all transmissions out of Fort Morningstar are monitored, including radio ones. The crate itself remained sealed and watched for the entire journey. For these reasons…it was quite impossible for Bahamut to make contact with any hostile parties during the trip. So long as what Lt. Commander Levinson said is perfectly accurate in how she tracked him after meeting with him, which I have no reason to doubt, there is little reason to believe that Bahamut had any assistance or was operating under any hostile pretenses for another organization other than an extremely good set of circumstances. Much as conspiracy theories abound and people may doubt it…it appears as if there is indeed no reason to prosecute him for anything other than trespassing and defending himself against Vault guards. The latter charge I can probably get dropped, and there's little other than we can do about the first, since he's a minor, other than give a fine to his ward, which in this case would legally be the state already. On that note…I'll see if I can't get him out of here by the end of today."

Dael took all of this in, and, in spite of her earlier anger, and still wanting to chew Bahamut out…felt some relief. She was a bit surprised, but apparently the colonel believed him too. If all these things were true, then it seemed as if she had been worried for nothing as far as hostile intents were concerned. Still, she was a bit surprised that the colonel was getting him out so easily and quickly… He seemed to be trying to get rid of that issue as soon as possible, preoccupied with other things. Of course, given the situation in Sybenia, that was perfectly possible. However, Dael would soon hear greater reasons than that.

"However, it wasn't because he managed to tip off enough security checkpoints that he was apprehended within the Vaults." The colonel continued. "It was because he noticed that there was already a theft that had occurred in the Gordian Vault, and he realized from news reports that there hadn't been a break-in since that one incident a few weeks ago, and that nothing had successfully been stolen. Therefore, he concluded there was a true theft and that since the alarms hadn't been triggered yet it could have happened today, with the perpetrators still in the Vault. He tried to report it to the guards. Naturally, on seeing him inside, the guards tried to apprehend him…rather roughly too, causing him to fight back. However, in the end, it didn't really matter. Whoever had made the theft was long gone. The area was such high security that individuals never even went in to do inventory except for once every month or so."

On hearing this, Dael seemed to forget for a moment her own place, and found herself suddenly speaking up. "What was stolen, sir?"

The colonel again looked back to her. He gave a frown, but it wasn't at her inquiry, but rather at what had been taken.

"The same thing the last set of thieves were after, lt. commander. The essences."

Now Carbuncle looked up rather strongly, seeming to gain full interest in hearing this. "_That's_ what was stolen?" He nearly exclaimed. He even had a bit of fear on his voice. A moment later, however, he turned a bit grouchy-sounding instead as his eyes focused on the lead officer.. "I don't meet to cast aspirations, colonel…but after the first break-in, don't you think security should have been heightened around them to make sure that no one could try this again?"

The colonel looked back to him, his own look dark.

"Security _was_ heightened." He responded. "It simply didn't seem to do much good. Whoever broke in somehow got far smarter as well."

There was a pause of silence around the room. Everyone looked to each other for a moment, taking in this latest information now that they were all on the same page. Eventually, Regalis sighed.

"…As you can probably guess, we're naturally assuming the people who did it were the same ones behind the initial break-in, even if they were far better prepared. There's no evidence of any kind this time around. We're checking the radio transmissions out of Esthar…but that's a stab in the dark. It could take months to find anything, or never. However…we have managed to collect considerable more information on the initial attempt to steal the essences. Most of it was shelved following Sybenia's recent change in stance in the world. However, it's being reopened now. We can't commit too many resources to it, but we're going to see if we can't find a better culprit."

"Far be it for me to tell you all how to do your jobs…" Carbuncle spoke up again, once more sounding insistent and actually standing up on his chair. "But I hope you guys all realize that this is incredibly serious. I don't know if you guys thought that incident back in Edge and Junon 200 years ago was a bunch of malarkey, but I assure you it wasn't. I was there. And I can personally tell you that you don't want any more Guardian Forces running around. It's too great a risk. Especially since those essences weren't used on purpose. Leviathan told all of us that they were the strongest ones… You need to find whoever did that quickly before they figure out how to use them."

The colonel exhaled a bit on hearing that. "As I said, we're working on it. But the fact of the matter is, none of us know how to use them. They're a mystery even to the Order of Hyne, as far as we know."

The Guardian Force sighed. "It's really not that difficult or scientific…" He grumbled. "You just basically have whatever you want to turn into a Guardian Force drink it, then absorb enough of their element to become one."

"That's already more than we know and more than we have on record." The colonel responded. "Ever since the essences entered the Gordian Vault, we've mostly guarded them simply on the assumption that they were important…not necessarily knowing how or why. At any rate, it is your professional opinion that these essences could represent to national security?"

Dael again was almost amazed at the amount of deference given to Carbuncle, but the green creature merely frowned. "No…it's my professional _certainty_ that this is going to represent a threat to everyone. These things aren't to be played with. There's no telling who you could end up bringing back. Some of the old Guardian Forces make all of your precious weapons and missiles and bullets and bombs and swords and pointy sticks look like toys. And if they're anything like Diablos or Siren was? Then you have _much_ bigger problems on your hands."

There was another pause of silence. Regalis bowed his head and let out an exhale. Dael paused momentarily. Once again, Carbuncle was showing his stuff…not only in terms of wisdom of dealing with people, but in terms of his overall knowledge. He was practically being used as a consultant by Regalis at the moment, which itself was a great spectacle for Dael even after having known him for so long.

If Dael hadn't been so focused on that, she might have been looking to Bahamut. He had been watching this entire exchange with stoicism…but now, that Carbuncle had just delivered his latest bit, he looked as if he was tensing up, especially at the mention of the latter two. His face had grown grim and focused.

The colonel paused a few moments longer, but then finally looked up.

"Alright, then." He soon turned back to the green creature. "Mr. Carbuncle…as far as I know, you're the only person available to Esthar at the moment who has as true grasp of knowledge of how to use these essences, what they are exactly, what their limitations are, and how much of a threat they represent. For that reason…even though you are not a military member, I have to ask you to come with me. I've already sent a message ahead to Grand Chancellor Barbarossa giving my personal opinions regarding these thefts in light of what was stolen. I'm trying to schedule a personal meeting with him as to what response Esthar's Hawks can offer. As for what we do next or how to proceed, we likely need all the help we can obtain. I could use you as an advisor."

Again, the very notion made Dael blink. She had just started getting used to taking Carbuncle into every briefing and official business. But imagining him sitting in some stuffy meeting room filled with officials, talking to them…blinking his black button eyes in frustration and waving his paws in irritable motions…

Carbuncle, however, gave a shrug. "Sure…why not? You humans can be so unreasonable and irrational at times, it might do good to have some sanity in a meeting for a change…"

If the colonel was the least bit offended by this, he didn't show it. He simply gave a nod in response to the Guardian Force. After doing so, he straightened again and looked to Dael, who was still showing a large amount of puzzlement and surprise, not only at all she had just heard, but also what had just happened, and how the colonel seemed to defer to Carbuncle. However, on seeing herself being looked at, she immediately straightened, expecting to be ordered to move as well. Instead…she soon got another surprise.

"I'm afraid I must 'borrow' Carbuncle for a few hours, lt. commander. I wish I had time to properly debrief you from your latest mission, but I'm afraid what will have to do for now is a simple 'mission accomplished'. I'll be interested in seeing your report later." He straightened up as he said this latest part, and began to turn to the door. "I'll send the clearance along to have Bahamut released into your custody. By the end of today, I should have the charges dropped under the condition he never attempts anything like this again."

Dael was rather puzzled at this sort of response…especially when she got the connotation. He wasn't really saying what she thought, was he? She barely managed to keep from stammering. "…Thank you sir…but-"

The last word was said so meekly that the colonel didn't seem to get it. Instead, he turned to Carbuncle and gave a nod. "If you'll please step this way, Mr. Carbuncle."

The Guardian Force immediately leapt out of the chair and to Regalis' side, soon following him. Dael soon was left only able to stare as she saw the colonel move to the door and give a knock. The MPs soon opened it, and both he and the green creature filed out. Dael almost said something…but it was too late. The doors shut again, and she was left behind in the silence of the chamber. She looked back to Bahamut. Again, she failed to register the expression on his face. He was looking out as well after the colonel. His mouth hung slightly ajar, as if he wanted to say something, and he had begun to rise from his chair. But in the end, he slumped back down into it and grew calmer again, although his eyes indicated he was thinking about something now…

The young officer couldn't believe it. Carbuncle wasn't even an Esthar's Hawk, and yet he had just been summoned by the colonel as an expert…without her. She knew he wasn't truly a "pet"…but she couldn't help feel like she had just been snubbed.

* * *

><p>The various residents working out in Fort Morningstar were known for always staring at Dael's incredible physical displays, but today they had better reason too than usual. Loud pounding was soon resounding throughout the entire room as Dael, face tight with passion, pounded away at a heavy bag. Each blow put a tear in it, as well as sent a cloud of packing material into the sky. She cared for neither, or for the people staring at her. She only continued to pound.<p>

She was mad.

She supposed she shouldn't be. After all, she didn't think of Carbuncle as a pet… _Carbuncle_ definitely didn't think of himself as a pet… So what was the problem? He had been called off on one job and she was left behind. He knew more about these essence things than she did. And she had wanted a chance to get some time to herself to gather her thoughts and work out some. So what was the issue?

Unfortunately, she didn't feel so nonchalant about the whole thing. She was an Esthar's Hawk. She was the one who was supposed to have connections to the colonel. Carbuncle was, even not a pet, a civilian. What more, he lived in her room, ate on her commissary card, slept in a bed she had provided, and, until now, had just been an accessory to every meeting. She couldn't help but feel she had been snubbed. Even if he wasn't a pet, she thought the colonel still would have brought her. Carbuncle always seemed to know better than her to begin with. And now, she had practically be shoved aside so he could know even more. The colonel and the Grand Chancellor and the Sorceresses all knowing more than her…that was understandable. But Carbuncle? Even with her recent change in disposition to him, she was annoyed. Even more so when she was pretty much just abandoned there…almost as if the colonel was brushing her off to just tend to Bahamut…

_Bahamut…_

That made her feel even worse. Even _he_ seemed to be more in the loop than her. The colonel hadn't even criticized him for breaking into the Gordian Vault in the first place! On that note, she pounded the bag even harder…

Sure enough, she felt like she was being relegated to practically a private or envoy with the way she had been left behind. She was stuck in that room with Bahamut, unsure of how angry to be at him now, her mind going in several different directions. Eventually, she managed to gather as much of herself together to state to him that he wasn't to try anything like this ever again. But even that came off as weak, because she couldn't "lay down the law" on the main reason he had likely gone there in the first place…to find Leviathan or clues leading to him. For all she knew, they were still being monitored. As for what she did say, Bahamut looked at her so plainly and answered her so calmly…it only made her more furious. He wasn't talking to her like she was his ward, parent, guardian, superior officer, or even had any authority at all…more like he was simply doing her a favor. She had pretty much had her fill of being weak and forced to just "go along" with everything during the last mission. She was an officer, after all. She would like to finally be able to do something.

Even as she thought these things, she progressively pounded the bag harder and harder, trying to clear her mind. She thought the physical activity would help her be at ease. Even if she wasn't any stronger, she was well-rested, and so it was taking a long time. She only felt herself grow more furious the more she brooded. Although there were other things to think about, from both a national as well as a personal perspective, she kept thinking back to this latest chain of events. Bahamut didn't even change his routine. The second she finally got him back to the room an hour ago, he just calmly went into the shower as if nothing happened… Who did he think he was?

"Err!"

Dael finished her last punch with an extreme amount of effort…and proceeded to smash her hand right through the canvas of the bag and into the white packing powder on the other side. She paused shortly after doing that, and frowned. Her hand was now covered with powder, as was most of her training uniform. Or, rather, it had more on it than before. That was the end result of her pounding away for so long…plus her past punches. On the ground nearby sat two other bags that already had her fist pound through them. Sighing, she reached up and disconnected the current bag, then tossed it on the ground nearby. It was a good thing she didn't have to pay for these herself…

Instead, Dael moved over to the wall where the heavy swords were after hanging up a fresh bag. She figured she could do that much, after all, and she wasn't yet so annoyed that she forgot to be courteous. After that, she moved over to the wall. The other people working out immediately cleared away, fearful of a woman who was able to put her hand through three heavy bags without even bruising a knuckle. She ran along them for a moment, and finally picked out the heaviest one. Tightening her grip on it, she spun around and prepared to give it its first swing…

And immediately froze in mid-chop, barely stopping in time.

Quaren, also in work-out clothing, snapped back and threw his hands up defensively. With the power Dael was showing, she easily could have busted his skull. She was stunned at how easily she had nearly struck him. Part of the reason she hadn't was because she was strong and skilled enough to halt herself…but the mere fact that she had nearly done so surprised her. What soon shocked her even more was exactly who she was looking out, someone she hadn't seen in over a week…and shouldn't have been there in the first place. For a brief moment, the sheer surprise made her forget her anger and irritation.

"Q…Quaren?" She said, letting the sword fall to his side. "What are you doing here?"

The private, in response, let out a nervous exhale of relief, and swallowed as he straightened up. He wiped his brow. "For the second…glad I didn't just get cleaved in two by a blunt sword…" He muttered aloud. He soon straightened, however, and managed a weak smile to Dael. "I thought I saw you exercising in here when I walked in. I didn't know you were back yet from your big mission."

Dael hesitated a moment, then grimaced. "Yeah…I've had a lot on my mind since I've gotten back…and I'm sorry I forgot to write first thing." She answered a bit lamely. However, she soon shook her head. "But forget about that for a moment. Why are you here? I thought this room was reserved for Class IV members."

Quaren paused momentarily on hearing that. Then, smiling a bit more strongly, he reached into his pocket and produced his military ID. It looked particularly new, even for a rookie. He held it in front of Dael, and she looked to it. After glancing over a few normal items, she soon saw his current status: Class IV International Affairs.

"Just got cleared yesterday. They transferred me here this morning."

Dael couldn't help but be surprised again. She looked up to Quaren once more. "Quaren…are you trying to say you passed the tests to get transferred to Class IV already?"

Quaren eagerly nodded with a grin…before letting out a massive sigh. "It was a nightmare… I think I worked harder in that week than I did in my entire time in the last four years of the Academy. My _bones_ are still hurting… But I wanted to get in before anything really major happened with Sybenia. I had to nag my CO continuously, and I still think the only reason I made all the cutoffs is because Colonel Regalis was endorsing me… But I made it. Aside from being totally exhausted mentally, physically, and in every other department I can think of…I feel great."

Dael blinked again. This was another stunning surprise. She would have thought it would have taken a month for Quaren to clear all the hoops before he could get transferred. However, she assumed between the colonel's endorsement and their need for people in Class IV, it was possible. Apparently things could work fast under the right circumstances. Even so…she was overwhelmed…and even a little put off.

"Well…congratulations, Quaren." She managed after a moment. "I'm…I'm really happy for you."

Quaren stared at her a bit curiously at that, then formed a half-smile. "You almost sound disappointed, Dael."

"It's not that." Dael immediately responded. "It's just…well…I thought I'd be here to walk you through it. You know…to help you study and help you push through the tough parts."

Quaren rubbed the back of his head a bit at that. "Well…I thought it would have been nice too…" He remarked aloud…before quickly going wide-eyed and waving his hands. "Oh…don't take that the wrong way, Dael! I know it wasn't your fault. You're really busy, and you were on an important mission. I was just saying…yeah, it would have been nice if you were there helping out. But I kind of wanted it to be a surprise for you. You know…you come back and see that I'm in your division. And…well…"

The private trailed off here. He looked a bit nervous as he bowed his head slightly. Dael looked at him a bit more intently.

"…What?"

"It's nothing."

"No, go on."

Quaren swallowed a moment, then sighed, before looking back up to Dael.

"…I kind of wanted to make sure I could do it even if no one was backing me up."

Dael was silent in response to that. Quaren was quiet too, and he paused for a moment to moisten his lips. After doing so, he looked back up to Dael with a hesitant smile.

"You know…you got me thinking a bit, Dael…back in that desert. You said, if I really wanted to do this, then I should do it without anyone pushing me. You know, without just wanting to do it because I had a friend. And so…I had to do this to prove that to myself. No one encouraging me. No one telling me to do one think or another or that I have to succeed or it'll be alright if I win. I wanted to do it all by myself, because I figured, if I can't do it on my own, then I don't want it hard enough, and that means there wasn't that good of a reason for doing it in the first place." He paused, and then shrugged. "Besides…again, like you said…there was a chance I only wanted to be here because I liked having support and a friend nearby. If I could do this on my own…then I could prove to myself that I'm not so weak that that's the only way I can ever succeed. That I can set my own goals and meet them."

The young officer was silent for a moment. All the stress from earlier was almost forgotten now. Sighing, she turned and put the heavy sword back on the rack, before looking back to the private.

"Quaren…you should know by now you don't have to prove anything to anyone, least of all me. You know that no one gets into Esthar's Hawks by just 'riding on someone's coattails'. You more than anyone. You've had to fight for every inch you've gotten in this organization, and I know you've refused to back down for years. I knew you could do it all along even if the only one 'cracking the whip' was you."

Quaren managed a smile in response to that, grateful for the compliment. However, he spoke more quietly afterward. "…But I still needed to remind myself about that." He finally said. "You know…it doesn't do much good for other people to believe in me if I don't believe in myself."

Dael paused, but then half-smiled at that. "That's true."

In truth, the young officer was still beaming with pride for her friend. Young and uncertain as Quaren seemed, he had made a great achievement, and he had done it all by himself. Normally, between the physical tests, the codes to memorize, the aptitude tests, and the strategy shifts involved, it wasn't unrealistic for two months to pass before someone could secure a transfer, most of which was spent preparing. To do it in a little over a week was inconceivable, commendation from the colonel and circumstances as they were or no. She'd like to see some of his old bullies pull that off. After a moment, she spoke up again.

"So…any missions yet?"

Quaren shook his head. "I just got here. They know I'm a good sniper, but I don't think they're that eager to throw me into the fryer yet, even after the Follett mission. I'm still unpacking in the barracks." He frowned a bit here. "That's one thing I'll miss about Class II. Mostly, we got tents almost to ourselves, or only shared with a couple guys. Now I'm shoved in a room full of them."

Dael merely shrugged. "Goes with the territory."

Quaren sighed. "I guess you're right." He smiled. "Maybe I should shoot for officer as soon as possible? Get my own room?"

Dael smiled back, but then gave him a look. "On that note…since we're both in the same division and stationed in the same fort…just make sure if you see me in the halls, it's 'Lieutenant Commander' or 'Sir'."

Quaren blushed and rubbed the back of his head a bit nervously. "Heh…right, right…um, sir." He paused momentarily, then opened his eyes a bit more. "Um…sir?"

Dael suppressed a snicker. "I think it's a bit late for it right now, Quaren, and this place is 'unofficial' enough… What is it?"

Quaren paused a bit again, then grew a bit more serious. He leaned in a bit closer to Dael and looked at her. "…Are the news reports telling the truth…about how negotiations went?"

Dael's smile fell. She slowly exhaled. She looked around a bit, seeing that a lot of people were still staring at her. Although she wouldn't leak anything classified, she still didn't want to have to deal with all of their stares. Turning back to Quaren, she motioned ahead.

"Let's get something to drink in the commissary, and I'll tell you all about it…"

* * *

><p>Dael wanted a shower herself about two hours later. That's how long the conversation went with Quaren. Not eager to relive that mission so soon, she started things off by having him talk about his tests and exams and other things he had been doing since the Follett mission. Yet eventually, she finally had to talk to him about what had happened in Sybenia. He was very interested in hearing about how well armed the country was as well as whatever she had seen in terms of defenses, but ultimately things came back to the negotiation results. She was forced to tell him that things had not gone nearly as well as they had hoped for, and that the media was fairly accurate in every regard to what the outcome had been.<p>

Quaren was clearly upset about it. Everyone with any real military background would be. This was indicative of what might occur later…what was practically bound to occur. It also cause Dael to ask some questions that she had neglected to check up on in arrival in Esthar.

"About the only thing we can do that will help at this point is use the opportunity to beef up our own military." She mused aloud. "I'd say if ever we needed a full sized army, navy, and air force, now's the time. Esthar's Hawks can't handle all of this. Have they proposed any bills in the Legistlature on that?"

Quaren had blanched in response to that. Dael frowned.

"…I don't like that look on your face."

The private had swallowed. "…Now that we've got this treaty with Sybenia…most of the citizens are telling their representatives to forget about Sybenia and work more on problems like the economy at home and providing more benefits to retirees and the unemployed. There hasn't been a single bill proposed for the military budget or for dealing with Sybenia since. Every time someone talks about it, they'll shot down by their opponents as 'warmongers' and wanting to send Esthar people to die when we've already 'achieved peace'."

Dael had to restrain herself to keep from going into a full-blown tirade on that. People could be so ignorant not to see the writing on the wall, so devoted to their own security and safety that they didn't realize what was happening. They didn't see that they were people living in a rising flood, not wanting to go to the trouble of relocating themselves and their goods to higher ground and content to wait until they were drowned. The few people who were seeing what was coming were being shot down by the nay-sayers and those in favor of the status quo. It would hurt them all in the end. There was no longer any doubt in Dael's mind about that, not after setting foot on Sybenia's shores, seeing Rozan face-to-face, and hearing those damned broadcasts. They weren't going to stop here. Anyone who thought differently was burying their head in the sand.

At any rate, Quaren had little other news to give himself, save the fact that Cryder hadn't reported back. To the best of his knowledge, the team he went with was still on the field. Being an espionage team, it wasn't as easy to check in on their status, thereby creating a paper trail…but Quaren thought they should have been back by now. The fact that they weren't was only another unsettling titem…

One good thing the conversation did, Dael realized as she walked back to her room, was that it got her focused away from her complaints and fixations and more focused on things of consequence, such as what they were going to do about Sybenia now. Although she was certain Esthar's Hawks would continue to operate in some capacity regarding them, what exactly would they do? And what would her next mission be? She had a feeling some insurgent work was in order. That was about all they could do at this moment…provide aid and training to anyone who was giving the Guiding Hand headaches. Even _that_ couldn't be done publicly. Still, it was better than nothing. The question was…ruthless as the Guiding Hand had been, was there anyone still out there who could be a sufficient thorn in their sides? If there was, they'd have to train someone to neutralize the Hounds of Sybenia, and currently they didn't have enough intel on them to do so. It was a real mess… She hoped Mianyl was able to talk some sense into that Grand Chancellor. As the days wore on, Dael was growing more and more frustrated with him…

Finally, Dael reached her door. Getting out her ID card, she swiped the magnetic strip on the door lock and opened it up. She could have just called for Bahamut to open it, but she didn't really want to ask him anything right now. It was going to be a while before she would feel easy again letting that kid do much of anything. She had actually considered for a time a way to renege a bit on her earlier deal and have him placed in some form of institution. Even if this was potentially only a one-time thing, so was a murder, and most people frowned upon those. She was still amazed he was getting off so easy. How had he managed to do it anyway?

As she walked into the room, she tried to think more logically. Well…as they said, he probably hid out in a crate, and that would explain a lot of it. Originally, items in the vault were scanned for being biological, but that had loosened up when they started storing a few things of that nature in there. Plus, there was the fact that if a person was going to check one of those, a lax guard would probably only check the crates large enough to fit a full-sized man. They wouldn't check one for a boy. Alright…so he somehow managed to mail himself to the Vault and forged an order to get admitted, or at least checked out to see if it was a missend. That would get him as far as the main security station. They probably left him alone after that, and he was able to somehow get out. The kid had lived in a major city and probably made a living being able to "lift" things off of people in the right occasion, so he might have been able to fall in as a guard's shadow and cleared another door or two. But then what? The inner chamber was guarded by retinal scanners, hand-print identification, and was constantly swept by thermal scanners for fluctuations in temperature…

She had just thought she had hit the nail on the head with that, figuring if Bahamut was small and skinny enough, it was possible for him to squeeze through the ventilation shaft that maintained the temperature in the room, when she froze at what she saw.

Sitting on his own cot, with Dael's laptop in his lap and typing away, was Bahamut. However, on seeing her come in, he froze and looked up to her. There was no way to hide what he was doing, however. The view from the door was a clear shot of the room. He was right there, framed in the act.

Dael's face curled into a frown even as the door shut behind her. That was as long as she was able to keep quiet before it shut. For once, she couldn't keep herself from swearing.

"You little son-of-a-bitch." She stated coldly. "After everything you've put me through, after everything that happened, all the trouble you've caused…" Immediately, she stormed into the room. "Give me that laptop now!"

Bahamut didn't look afraid of her in the least, but he did look a bit uncomfortable about her surge in anger. Closing the laptop, he handed it up to her. "This really isn't what it looks-"

"Shut up!" She cut off, snatching the laptop from him. "You just can't stop committing offenses, can you?! Using an officer's computer equipment to access classified information?" She glared at him. "You little jerk! I could get three years for this! I ought to march right into the colonel's office and tell him right this second that you snapped, that you started going off about this Bahamut crap and that you're a raving lunatic! I ought to have your scrawny butt thrown into the mental ward of the downtown children's hospital! What do you think of that?!"

"I wasn't accessing classified information." Bahamut responded, raising his voice slightly to become a bit more defensive. "Open it up. See for yourself."

Dael blustered a moment. However, giving a scowl, she spun the laptop around and opened up the cover. The current screen came to life…and she paused at what she saw. All Esthar's Hawks officers had access to a certain degree of general "study" information, especially Class IV ones. There was a link available to them that allowed them access to a great deal of information about the world at large, and the cultures and peoples inside it. This page was currently open to one that was about more technical research, in particular a reading on the nature of magical transfer properties. There wasn't much, due to lack of research, but he had apparently been looking at it.

The young officer's anger subsided, but only slightly. Almost slapping her laptop closed again, she tossed it on her own bed. "Why were you using my laptop without my permission or supervision?"

"Because I wasn't sure I had the luxury of waiting for you to let me use it." Bahamut flatly answered. "And after today, I didn't figure you would let me have so much as a glass of water if I asked for it."

"You've got that right." Dael snapped back, but calmed again soon after. "Why are you looking up that stuff?"

"Because I'm nervous."

"Nervous about what."

"Nervous about the fact that Carbuncle, a Guardian Force who lived through the War of the Magi and saw this world ripped into so many pieces you people would never see how it could possibly be put back together again, was looking nervous when he heard about those essences being stolen. And nervous because everything feels the way it felt before."

Dael sighed. "Before what?"

"Before the world as we all know it comes to an end." Bahamut answered, now turning so sharp that it made Dael's anger abruptly fade for a moment. "Like I said before, I know you think I'm crazy, but I know I'm not. I've lived through these things before…several times. I think I recognize it when it's coming."

Dael paused momentarily. The sudden seriousness in Bahamut's tone was enough to give her pause…actually forget about the lunacy of half of the things he normally said and, for a brief moment, feel like he was telling the truth. And if so…that meant he also knew what he was talking about when he said this. Even so, she was forced to hesitate. In the end, she finally exhaled. She moved over to the bed herself and sat down on it. Crossing her arms, she faced Bahamut.

"Alright. I'm listening."

Bahamut exhaled, but then began. "…I only know slightly more about these essences than you do. I have no idea where they came from or how they work. However, I know enough from them to realize what they represent…who they represent. I know that you're at least somewhat aware of the incident that introduced Guardian Forces to Gaia, yes?"

The young officer paused, but then nodded. "Yeah. There was a hostile one of you…actually several of them. They came together and attempted to wage war on the world. But that conflict lasted all of a week. It only effected two cities. Casualties weren't as much as a decent-sized war."

"That was only because the damage was curbed." Bahamut responded. "I've researched enough to know that." He exhaled. "Look…you may think you have nothing to worry about right now, but let me assure you that things aren't nearly so simple. If this was only espers that were coming back, that would be one thing. But these essences, whatever they are, have the potential to do a lot worse than that. They can actually bring back things that aren't spiritual energies or 'souls'. They can bring back things that were never supposed to be alive in the first place. The records of Diablos prove it. That wasn't an esper. It was an amalgamation of pure evil, chaos and discord. It was like some hellish spirit of anguish and hate that was given a body…that was taken away from the world of ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and made something real. A nightmare literally come to life. And from what I learned, it was purely unintentional. Some humans researching it just did it by accident.

"And when it came to life, it wasn't like the basic spirits that the other Guardian Forces were. This thing had knowledge…knowledge of thousands of years of dark arts, miscreations, evil devices, everything. It had the potential to become the greatest threat in the world. Everything wicked and cruel rolled into one."

"Is that what you're afraid of?" Dael responded. "That they'll use the last of these essences to bring more creatures like Diablos into being? If they did, so what? We're more advanced now, and that one didn't even get to run around for a week. We could take out three more."

Bahamut sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You may think that's an idle boast, but think for a moment about where we are compared to then." Dael threw in. "Back during that incident there was almost no knowledge of magic…just that materia crap. No devices to track down extensive magical energy coming forth. No Order of Hyne with no Sorceresses. We're far more along in their 'department' now."

"And none of that helped when Siren came back to life." Bahamut flatly responded. "She didn't even have any of this power and knowledge. She used your own mass communication devices against you, from what I read. One radio broadcast turned half a continent into her slaves. What if another Guardian Force came out that could do that?"

Dael didn't respond to that. After all, she didn't have a very good answer. However, Bahamut wasn't finished.

"But I'm not worried about them doing this with three individuals or however many of those essences are left." He continued. "I'm worried that you're right…that humanity _is_ more advanced."

The young woman frowned. "I don't follow you."

Bahamut rubbed his brow. He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking.

"…Are you aware of the idea of the First and Second Ages?"

Dael's brow furrowed, and then she frowned. "That was a bunch of folklore. Humans measure time based on the Collapse…years following and preceeding that."

The boy suppressed another sigh. "…In that case, are you at least aware of what your so-called 'folklore' says about it?"

"Not really."

"It was theorized that humans once had far greater civilizations than the ones they have now, prior to when Gaia became old enough to gain sentience. They were at the pinnacle of technology, creating energy sources and machines the likes of which have never been seen before. We estimate they engineered their own organisms to use for weapons as well as these devices. But they destroyed themselves with it, turning Earth into a waste but good…not even leaving a shred of their civilization behind aside from the periodic sealed-away bio-weapon that lived somewhere in the regions beyond the Underworld, and some of which didn't have a chance to get out prior to the Collapse.

"Flash forward who knows how many centuries later to the end of the Second Age, and Gaia gives birth to us. One of her offspring, Crusader, is made superior to all of us…at least initially. She gives it access to knowledge that none of us possess but, presumably, contained knowledge of the First and Second Ages. She never told the rest of us this, most likely because she feared we'll use it the same way it did. Even when we were able to talk with the Planet she let out precious few details of the First and Second Ages. It is likely even she can't remember everything due to being so young.

"However, regardless of all of that, what we do know is that Griever was able to corrupt the Crystal and give rise to the Four Fiends of the Elements. We have assumed for years that the reason behind those was purely magical or spiritual in origin, and that the Fiends obeyed it because it sated their desires for chaos. However, prior to my first departure from Gaia, Leviathan had become aware of another Crystal…one from a distant planet with sentient life that the Lunarians had brought with them to this world…ones that sired a second set of Fiends. Again, it was eventually assumed, from what I learned, that they were spawned from the evil of another abomination from that world, this time a Lunarian named Zemes. However, with all of their technology and know-how, with their ability to construct machines mighty enough to lay entire planets waste, it seems more likely that the Lunarians were on par with technology from the First Age."

Dael sighed. "Bahamut, what are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that there is a possibility that the Fiends didn't arise from purely magical means…at least not the ones that Griever brought forth. It might have rediscovered some sort of device or technology that allowed him to tap into the dark nature of the corrupted Crystal and therefore bring them out in a way that was subservient to him. In other words…a technology that would allow him to evoke beings that were never supposed to be alive but were amalgamations of chaos and evil…just like Diablos."

Dael paused on hearing that. Something began to click. Bahamut, on his part, kept looking darkly at her.

"…And what if humanity was finally able to rediscover their technology? What if they were able to find some sort of new technique from these essences? What if they were able to reproduce them artificially? Then they'd be able to unleash one Diablos after another onto the world. How long do you think your militaries and technology would last against that sort of thing?"

The young officer didn't have a response for that. She stared back at Bahamut, who looked on at her despite the question seeming purely rhetorical. Finally, she leaned back a bit and crossed her arms.

"…Assuming all of this is both accurate and possible, where do you fit in?"

The boy paused momentarily. After a few seconds, he shifted in his position a little, focusing harder on Dael.

"…It wasn't due to our little deal alone that I agreed to accompany you from Leuco that day." He finally stated. "It was because I thought that the meeting wasn't chance…that I was being driven in a certain direction. 300 years ago, I had the power to actually see the future. I swore it off because there were too many ramifications involved, and now, without my ZERO form, I doubt I have the mental capacity for it. But I still receive premonitions from time to time. I saw that something was going to be 'blown my way' as a result of the hurricane, and so I responded to it. In all honesty, I could have bartered or bribed a lot of people with the wealth in that chamber. But I felt I should stick with you."

Dael frowned again. More rambling on Bahamut's part. She didn't believe any of it, even in a world of magic. Even if there was any inclination in her to agree, Carbuncle had confirmed this wasn't Bahamut. So where was he getting this from? Was he really just a good student of the library? Or was it true in the old adage that by being a bit insane he could come up with all of this? She wasn't sure. All she knew is that she shouldn't underestimate him again. Even considering the simplest possibly scenario he shouldn't have been able to break into the Gordian Vault. It required someone of immense intelligence, and someone who had been studying. Something told her that he had to have been using her laptop for research prior to all of this getting started. But even if he had…he had to have more skills than he let on. She never let him see her enter a password, but he would have needed one to get on in the first place. That was only one additional item that unsettled her.

Finally, Dael exhaled and rose from her bed.

"…I ever see you touching this laptop without my permission again, I'm having you deported back to Leuco. No ifs, ands, or buts. I'm going to take a shower now. You better not be up to anything when I get out."

Bahamut said nothing, and Dael said no more. She simply walked nearby to get a towel and a change of clothes from the closet.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	21. If You Have A Minute

Dael, as it turned out, had a lot of time to herself. After the shower, she was grateful to see that Bahamut had done as he was told. He said he was going out to exercise afterward and, reluctantly, asked her permission. Dael hesitated for a full minute before saying if he went anywhere near the front doors he wouldn't exercise for a month. After that, she waited the three hours it took him to get back and then went with him to eat for a change. He clearly didn't like being watched, but that was tough for him. He forfeited his rights to the contrary.

On coming back, Dael, having little else to do, checked her own email, but saw that there was nothing new there. No new assignments as of yet. Well, that was only typical. With everything that had happened, she had forgotten that today was the exact same day she had gotten back. Keeping that in mind, she began to grow rather tired at the thought. Even if she wasn't physically drained, she had more than enough reason to be mentally drained. She figured she'd call it a night…but didn't do so right away. Bahamut was staying up (no longer being allowed by her to exercise this late or to go about any studies where he might be looking into something he shouldn't be), and so she sat up with him and watched him, seeming to wait for him to go down first before she did.

As a result, Dael found herself reading an online book on her laptop at the moment. She never really was one for recreational reading, but anything beat just sitting there staring at Bahamut as if he was on suicide watch. Unable to do anything else, and lacking access to any reading material, Bahamut had been left with doing some exercises within the room…whatever he could manage, such as pushups, squats, lunges, and situps. To be honest…Dael was rather surprised at what she saw. He had to have been working out to a great extent even before she met him. Only malnutrition had to have been holding him back. Even after only a short time, he looked over twice as strong as he did when they met. If she still wasn't so upset at him, she'd think back to her earlier comment about how he could join Esthar's Hawks. He seemed more than suitable for the job in the physical department. And if he really managed to get into the Gordian Vault all by himself…then his cunning was nothing to sneeze at either.

As it turned out, Dael couldn't really read that well. In spite of her determination to ignore Bahamut, she kept thinking back to what he was saying. The modern world took a lot more of ancient history seriously than previous generations. They had to once the Guardian Forces arrived and became prominent. Although there were some "nay-sayers", such as the people in Sybenia, many other places took those things very seriously, and Esthar was among them. What if he was telling the truth? Could humans really come up with the technology to replicate those sorts of things? And if so…what then?

Dael exhaled a bit and tried to focus on reading a bit more. It had been hours since the prison at this point, and still she didn't feel anywhere near the traditional "swing of things". Her mind was awash in far too much. Even if she didn't have Bahamut's "food for thought", it didn't change the fact that she had a lot on her mind. Perhaps she shouldn't be worrying about things like this anyway. After all, as much responsibility as she had gotten lately, she was still barely above the level of regular officer…which wasn't much higher than "grunt" on its own, much as she hated the term by Taraketh. But even if she was as high as the colonel, what could she do about this?

As Dael was thinking these things, she soon received a shock that nearly made her jump. Abruply, a flash of light erupted in the middle of the room. It would have been dazzling if Dael had been focused on it or looking at it, but luckily she was focused too much on her laptop. At any rate, it seemed to startle Bahamut a bit too, and both slightly recoiled. However, as fast as it had erupted, the light died down again. Immediately, the two wheeled on the source, and soon received a bit of a surprise. Even Dael was taken aback by it, having forgotten about this little ability…so rarely did it get used.

Carbuncle stood in the center of the room, shaking out his fur. He let out a sigh.

"What an afternoon…" He grumbled. "I hate meetings. And there weren't even any donuts at this one…just lots of weak coffee…blech."

Dael paused only a moment longer before collapsing her laptop and putting it to one side. Bahamut immediately leaned up as well. Before Dael could even get out a word, he was already talking to him. "What happened at your meeting?"

The young officer nearly turned to him as if to say "that's my line", but she didn't get the chance as Carbuncle turned to Bahamut with a frown.

"Gee…nice to see you, Carbuncle. Sorry you had to be gone all day, Carbuncle. You know, we didn't even get a lunch break and I've been forced to sit around listening to a bunch of humans muddling and stumbling over everything that they think they know. It gets rather tiresome. Can't I get a soda at least? Or, better yet, a beer?"

Dael sighed. "You know I don't keep food or drink in my room."

"Well, you should." Carbuncle answered. "What, afraid they're going to penalize you for leaving crumbs on your sheets? At any rate, I've got a 20 ounce Koltz in the mini-fridge. Let me pop that sucker."

Dael turned to the fridge…then froze. She immediately snapped back to Carbuncle and opened her mouth. Before a word could come out, he pointed a paw at her.

"Don't start with me, Dael. Not tonight. You don't like having an illegal container of alcohol in your room…hurry up and pass it over to me so I can drain it and get it out of here."

The young offcer frowned in response to that, but then finally let it slide. Getting up, she walked over to the mini-fridge in her room. Although she was allowed one, she never used it for anything but ice in case she was injured or needed to cool down after a hard workout. She opened it up and, sure enough, a tall can emblazoned with mountains was inside. Sighing, she took it up, walked over to Carbuncle, and set it down next to him.

Carbuncle looked to it, then back up to Dael with a frown.

"Um…how exactly do I pop a top with these?" He asked, waving his paws.

Dael frowned herself, but then leaned over and opened it. The green creature seemed to grin before grabbing the can and, with considerable effort, knocked it back and took a long drink from it. After a few seconds of chugging, he lowered it and wiped his tiny mouth with the back of his paw.

"That's the good stuff… You know, I remember when Mt. Koltz was a real mountain, but that was before the Collapse of course…"

"Carbuncle…" Dael began to say with some impatience.

The Guardian Force frowned. "Alright, alright…" He inhaled a bit, and then reclined more before looking to Bahamut. He saw he was looking on him eagerly as well, but that only made him frown before he turned mostly back to Dael and began.

"It was a proverbial 'who's-who' of bigwigs in Esthar. Apparently, they were taking this pretty seriously even before I started flapping my lips. They must have done some research after the first time they saw something being taken. Anyway…everyone was there. Advisors…the military, represented by the colonel…Grand Chancellor Barbarossa and his little retinue…and even Sorceress Mianyl. Seems she's been sticking to Barbarossa most of the day trying to get a word in edgewise, and when she overheard what had happened, she wanted in on it…probably because she's got such a great knowledge of magic.

"Anyway, we talked about the essences for a little bit and what exactly they could do, but there was nothing much new there. Things got more interesting when Colonel Regalis brought out the evidence. He had some of the captains in Class III back him up as he went over everything. I can't remember all the details, but they discovered a few things. Namely, someone invested a boatload of gil in a company that eventually they were able to trace back to Boss Capulluno…approximately three days before the whole mess got started. They eventually traced it to something that looked like a dummy company…but apparently you guys didn't know the half of it. As soon as Esthar's Hawks began to sniff out the people who worked for it…they started to disappear. And I'm not talking never existed in the first place…just vanish. Well, we all know by now who makes people vanish. But apparently it wasn't until a few weeks ago that Esthar's Hawks really got the news…right after Sybenia's mass exodus."

Dael realized what Carbuncle was talking about. Apparently, hours before all incoming and outgoing transports from Sybenia were grounded, before restarting up as a state-controlled program, what few people who managed to see what was surely coming, had moral objections, or were just in line for the government chopping block if they didn't leave soon, had fled Sybenia. They were mostly civilians, but they did include some doctors, scientists, and engineers who were privy to some of Sybenia's deadlier secrets. At least a third of Esthar's Hawks personnel had been engaged for a two week period to gather as many of these people as possible to give them a better view of how advanced Rozan's war machine had become. Although it was taking time to get all of their information compiled, for speed had been of the essence to merely locate these individuals and place them in protective custody before the Hounds got them, some information that came out was merely put aside or relegated to "need-to-know" bases. After all, there was no need to make the information public and have Sybenia scramble to change everything.

Apparently, however, some of their information had recently become of note. They were supposed to be sitting on this case until now, after all.

"Some of them made claims that they were fleeing after having set up this company and then being 'retired'…in other words eliminating the paper trails and the personnel behind it. What was even worse, however, is that some of these people were discredited scientists who were nevertheless retained in Sybenia…at least for a little while. Apparently, the little runt who's the guiding hand behind the 'Guiding Hand' wasn't so quick to completely dismiss magic. Some of these guys claimed that he was well versed in the use of magic in warfare…that he went so far as to read up on a lot of literature his own father banned. And they had a few of these scientists do some studies…studies on how effective various magical techniques were against other things. Worse than that, how to neutralize some magic with other magic as well as conventional means.

"Essentially, what the colonel was implying, and what Mianyl and I both agreed with, was simple…this guy is covering all his bases. He's not just building all these weapons and war machines…he wants the help of magic, too, even while he's kicking out all these people."

Dael furrowed her brow. "That almost seems counter-intuitive. If he wants his own mages, then why is he driving out the Order of Hyne and turning everyone who can use magic into a scapegoat for his country's problems? Wouldn't it be easier to hang onto them?"

Carbuncle gave only a shrug in response, but even as he opened his mouth to speak…Bahamut interjected.

"Because the Order of Hyne is ultimately subservient to a higher order and standard than the Guiding Hand." He responded calmly. "Almost all magic users of any real power on Gaia are in the order already. If he wanted people who could already use magic, he would have to go through them. And they don't seem like the type that would bow to his whims. If he wants to use magic, he needs to find other sources for his power."

Carbuncle paused, but then shrugged. "More or less, yeah."

"I thought that these essences were only supposed to evoke Guardian Forces." Dael maintained. "If so, he'd only have access to a few of them, wouldn't he?"

"He would," Carbuncle responded. "If not for the fact that this might not be the first he's learned about it. There are other Guardian Forces in the world too, and not all of them are accounted for. We're not sure if he knows about those yet, but if he did…" He frowned a bit. "…All they would have to do would be to pass the trial and they could command them. Now it wouldn't be easy, but, in theory, some of them could."

"Even if that wasn't the case…" Bahamut responded. "That doesn't mean this is a matter to shun off. Even having access to a few Guardian Forces could be disastrous." He turned to Dael. "I already told you what it could mean if even one wrong Guardian Force comes into being. Or worse yet, if their scientists are able to engineer something that can achieve similar effects to a Guardian Force."

"He's right." Carbuncle answered with a frown. "It would take time, but it wouldn't be the first time a human has managed to 'reverse engineer' something based on our powers and abilities. However, the Sorceress brought up something a lot worse than all of that." He glanced to Bahamut, then back to Dael. "…I'm guessing you're both familiar with 'poaching', right?"

Dael was a bit puzzled by that response, but she gave a nod. Bahamut too was hesitant, but he soon did the same. Carbuncle shifted a bit.

"Alright…well, everyone knows that Adamantoise tortoises are some of the most highly poached creatures in the world since they have the finest and strongest shells. At any given time you're set to live high off the hog for a year if you manage to get one, but typically if the price is real high due to market scarcity, you can get a lot more…up to ten times what they're normally worth. Well…Sorceress Mianyl mentioned the fact that a decade or so back this one group of poachers, about 1,000 in all, were caught in the middle of a poaching frenzy…except they weren't taking shells. They were just killing all the Adamantoises they could find, including immature ones with inferior shells…and they found out why. They had three warehouses full of their shells already. They were trying to drive the species extinct and then control the price for their shells. They'd make billions of gil." He leveled his gaze. "Get the idea she was making?"

There was only a moment of silence in the room, before, once again, Bahamut spoke up. However, as Dael looked to him this time when he spoke, she saw his face was particularly dark and grim.

"…She's hinting that the other Guardian Forces could be in danger. That Sybenia is seizing up the ones it can and then would destroy the others to ensure it had magical superiority."

Dael blinked on hearing that, before shaking her head. "But what good would that do? It wouldn't stop all the mages from having magical power, right?"

"No…" Carbuncle answered. "But it would definitely allow Sybenia to have near-magical superiority. I'm not sure how high the Sorceresses can go, but I know that the average mage can only do simple stuff without the help of a Guardian Force. The junction is necessary to pull off really destructive magic…the enhancements they give to the body as well as the mind. And if Sybenia is the only one who has any people who can do it…even if they're only a special group of elites so that no one knows that they're condemning magic while at the same time using it…well…that would be a problem." He frowned soon after. "Plus, I've been hunted by a government before, and I didn't enjoy it."

The young officer sighed and sat back down, leaning back on her bed. "Terrific…yet another thing to worry about in regards to Sybenia. And if we followed standard procedure for Esthar's Hawks, most of the evidence we obtained against them was obtained through illicit methods, meaning we can't even formally accuse them of doing it…like it would matter. And it's practically impossible to get any intel out of Sybenia, meaning even if we were willing to infiltrate them to get the essences back…we wouldn't know where to look."

"Yeah…and I doubt that your Grand Chancellor is going to 'jeopardize' his 'great peace accord' to risk sending in a covert team anyway…" Carbuncle grumbled. "This is terrific. I'm not in _too_ much danger myself, as I'm better prepared to teleport than I was back when I was grabbed a few centuries ago. But we don't even know where the others are."

"Can't they refuse a challenge?" Dael asked. "Assuming Sybenia finds them first, can't they just say they won't allow themselves to be tested?"

Bahamut again spoke up. "Normally that wouldn't be an issue. It takes more than raw power to beat even the weakest of the Guardian Forces and to be accepted. It takes strength of will and spirit. Unfortunately, that doesn't really matter now. Like Carbuncle says…they'll destroy a Guardian Force they can't claim for their own."

"And, unfortunately, not all of us have exactly 'high moral standards'." Carbuncle added with a frown. "A lot of those that sided with Diablos last time will look for any chance to kill humans, regardless of for what purpose."

"Is there anything we _can_ do?" Dael finally said, getting a bit exasperated from all this.

"Actually, yes." Carbuncle answered, running one of his paws along his chin. However, he frowned soon afterward. "Though I doubt your Grand Chancellor would go for it…"

"What?" Dael maintained.

"Basically…find all the Guardian Forces first." Carbuncle responded. "And have someone on this 'side' become their junction. It's obvious really. Even if two different people are both junctioned to it, you can't summon a Guardian Force to destroy itself, which is essentially what you'd be doing if you tried summoning a Guardian Force in that situation. As far as if Sybenia would be trying to find them, either to try and destroy them or replicate them or whatever, you'd at least know where they all were in case Sybenia made a move on them, and you could warn them to move to different locations."

Dael paused after hearing this explanation, stewing over what she was told. After a moment, she gave a shrug. "Sounds like a good idea. A precaution, at least. Why wouldn't the Grand Chancellor pursue it?"

Carbuncle frowned. "You weren't at the meeting, so you don't know. His advisors were constantly telling him not to do anything that looked like a hostile move against Sybenia and ruin the peace treaty. That's why he's not allowing Esthar's Hawks to engage in any covert missions to try and find if Sybenia has them and, if they do, to take them back. He's afraid that if we started 'snatching up', in his own words, Guardian Forces that it would look like we were bracing for a major conflict."

"Which we _would_ be." Dael responded a bit sardonically.

"Be that as it may, he's so worried about covering his own butt that he won't try it." Carbuncle answered. "Not if it risks losing him a single anti-war voter."

Dael sighed. "So I suppose this is just another matter we'll have to 'ignore'?"

"Now I didn't say that." Carbuncle responded, getting a slight edge to his voice. "While your Grand Chancellor may not have a spine, other people in that room did. I proposed this idea, and both Colonel Regalis and Sorceress Mianyl were very receptive to it. They seemed to be talking it over quite a bit when I left. You see, after the Grand Chancellor left, there wasn't much need for me to hang around. I had already shared everything and given my opinion. But they were trying to work on a way to get around the order."

The young officer wasn't that reassured. "That still doesn't help too much. The mandate for Esthar's Hawks is pretty clear. We're only allowed to operate in a clandestine manner in regards to things for the general defense, and it'd be a stretch to say that this was for that."

"You might be surprised." Carbuncle answered. "The colonel may be too much of the devoted-soldier type for me, but Mianyl is pretty sharp. I think, despite herself, she's leaning more to how Faerio was thinking."

Dael exhaled in response, rubbing the back of her head. "At any rate…I was waiting up for you to come back, so I think I'll head to bed." She stated. "There's nothing I can do about any of this right now. It's been a long day and I've been rather busy ever since I've set foot off the boat. I could use some sleep in my own bed for a change."

"I can appreciate that." Carbuncle responded even as he saw Dael rise up to start changing her clothes. "From what I heard, everyone's more busy than ever. Offensive measures or no offensive measures, the colonel is keeping everyone busy. And if he really has so much faith in you, he'll likely have some new assignment for you pretty soon."

"I'd normally be thrilled to do something besides escort missions." Dael responded. "But for right now, I wouldn't mind a few days break to get back in the swing of things…"

* * *

><p>"Wakey-wakey, eggs and bacie."<p>

Dael moaned slightly, rolling over a bit in the covers, trying to block out the annoying noise that had managed to partially rouse her from a particularly nice dream she had been having, under the vain hope that the dream would resume. However, she had no sooner managed to turn her head to one side before she felt a paw batting her face. Frowning, and wincing slightly under the tiny barrage, she opened her eyes at length and immediately looked out to where she kept her alarm clock. She soon saw it was a full fifteen minutes before when military personnel traditionally awoke. Enjoying every moment of her normal sleep routine, it didn't take her long to frown.

Turning her head back…she saw that Bahamut had once again beaten her. Although he couldn't go out without her permission now, he had gotten dressed and was sitting in the desk chair in the room, seeming to wait for Dael to wake up so that he could do something. Naturally, rolling her head over a bit more, she saw Carbuncle perched on top of her, practically in her face.

She groaned.

"…I've got fifteen minutes left. You couldn't wait fifteen minutes?"

"Hey, you're the one who said after last time you wanted to be on top of things like this." Carbuncle responded. "You've got mail."

Dael grumbled a bit and began to pull off the covers to get up. However, she only got about halfway before pausing again, and looking to Carbuncle. "…How do you know I have mail?"

"How do you think?" The green creature answered. "I checked it."

The young officer frowned, and resumed exiting the bed. "I might as well make my laptop a public resource…" Moving a bit stiffly, she made her way over to the desk, where she had placed her laptop the night before. She bent over it and moved the mouse. Sure enough, the email listings were already open, and she glanced over them momentarily before finding a new email on the bottom. She felt the now-familiar sensation of tension growing when she saw it…seeing that it was another message from command. She only got these when another mission was coming. They definitely weren't letting her rest anymore. Already, it looked like they were sending her out again.

Opening the message and taking a look inside at it, she soon grew a bit more tense…although not nearly so much as when she started. She was getting a little used to this by now.

"Well…?" Carbuncle asked.

"Another email from the colonel…requesting another one-on-one meeting."

The Guardian Force chuckled, as Bahamut raised his own head to hearing that. "My, you're practically his best buddy. If I hadn't tagged along with you all these times, I'd start thinking something was going on between you two."

"Does it say what it's about?" Bahamut asked, showing, for once, some interest in Dael's work.

However, the young woman shot him down immediately. "Nothing that need concern you." She barely kept from snapping back. "At any rate, there aren't any details. I'll need to just head out there. It must be something else that we don't need to share publicly. He wants me to meet him in forty-five minutes…" She immediately collapsed the laptop and began to stand. "I better hurry up and get ready."

"Sounds great." Carbuncle said as he began to leap off the bed. "Just wish he'd give me a little more time to brush my fur…"

"Actually, Carbuncle," Dael responded even as she went to her closet to get her toiletries. "I'd prefer it if you stayed behind. I need you to keep an eye on Bahamut."

The boy sighed in response to this, leaning back and crossing his arms. Dael heard this, paused momentarily, but then finally caved with a sigh.

"…Maybe you can supervise him while he heads to work out for today…make sure he stays out of trouble."

"Aw man…" The green creature griped in response. "How come I've got to be babysitter all of the sudden?"

"Hey, you got to run around with the colonel all day yesterday!" Dael responded. "It wouldn't hurt you to have to stay in the base more or less by yourself for once. Besides, you'll spend most of the time playing 'Furious Chocobos' anyway."

"Speaking of which, I need to check to see if my top score's gotten beaten yet." The green creature responded. Immediately, he began to move over to the laptop.

Dael frowned at this, but decided to let it slide as she gathered her things and made for the shower. "Just stay away from my private stuff and keep an eye on him from time to time, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Carbuncle responded as he reached the laptop and flipped it open again.

As for Bahamut, he let out an exhale and turned to Dael. "Listen, I'm not going to pull anything like that again if it's going to cause this much trouble. But I need to-"

"You need to stay right here for a while until things cool down a bit more." Dael cut off as she stepped inside and began to close the door behind her. "And you're damn right you're not going to pull a stunt like that again, for whatever reason or whatever fears you have. For once, why don't you just act like a normal kid and just play around or something today?"

Bahamut frowned. "Because I'm not a-"

Dael didn't stop to listen. She shut the door to the bathroom.

Bahamut was left glaring at it. Abruptly, however, he heard a snicker from nearby. He turned his head in response to that, and found Carbuncle had paused and was giggling at him. He gave him a cold look.

"What's so funny?"

"You just sounded a lot like a guy I used to know 300 years ago." He remarked. "You almost sounded exactly like him."

Bahamut paused at that, seeming to ponder it. Soon after, he rolled his eyes and groaned, before looking away again. A hand went to his brow and massaged it.

"I know who you're talking about…" He muttered in response. "That's _all_ I need…"

Carbuncle, however, simply ignored this last statement, focusing entirely on his game now and launching his first chocobo at the fortress of moogles.

* * *

><p>By now, the whole routine was becoming commonplace. The only difference this time was that Carbuncle was gone. Ironically, that made Dael more nervous. She was so used to him tagging along on everything that going anywhere without him was like missing a shoe. She tried not to focus on it as she was once again called into the colonel's office, and once more passed through the doors into the interior.<p>

She noticed things hadn't changed much since her last time in here. There were more papers on the desk. Obviously, his workload had increased. She began to realize that this setting was becoming more familiar than the large briefing room, although that was usually where things were held for personnel of her standing. She should have been expected to do almost all of her work in groups. It also had the advantage of less pressure. However, she supposed such things weren't her lot in life, and that might actually be a good thing.

The colonel was looking over a few papers as she came in, and as she approached the desk he lowered one and signed it. She soon stopped directly in front of the desk and gave a salute. The colonel, in turn, put the paper aside, and saluted back.

"At ease." He told her. Then, soon after, he gestured to one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Have a seat."

For a fraction of a second, Dael actually paused. She was used to standing through orders and debriefings. This was the first time she could recall in a while she was told to sit. It seemed a bit unusual, but in the end she thought little of it. It probably simply meant that he had a lot to say. And so, Dael turned to the nearest chair and sat down in it. After sitting up straight and making sure she was in it within the proper "military" style, she focused completely on the colonel. He, in turn, put a few more things aside, folded his hands, and then looked directly at Dael.

"Normally, in situations such as this, I would believe that you were totally ignorant to the results of the discussion that I had last night with the Grand Chancellor and Lady Mianyl. However…this is a special case. After all, Sir Carbuncle enjoys an unusual status within this installation, somewhere between civilian and fully commissioned officer, and that's to say nothing of his relationship with you. Therefore, I am not going to offer the opportunity for my intelligence to be insulted by assuming that, despite being a confidential meeting with some of the highest levels of security and power in Esthar, that he didn't share at least something of what was said." He leaned back slightly. "So that neither of us waste any time…perhaps you would care to tell me what he already shared with you."

Dael suppressed a swallow. This wasn't quite as bad as her initial flub on her first mission, but it still left her feeling rather nervous. It wasn't the fact that Carbuncle had talked. That was his own problem. It was the fact that she had requested information from him. Again, she recalled how offended she had been that she had been left out of the loop yesterday…how mad it made her. At this point, it seemed like a rather childish and foolish notion, especially considering that she was now sitting before her superior officer. Like a kid demanding to know what parents were talking about even if it was none of her business. At any rate, the only thing that would make it worse at this point was letting onto that fact, and silence might do that. And so, after a moment, she inhaled a bit and spoke.

"The general main points that he made were that we now have strong suspicions that Sybenia was originally behind the attempted theft of the essences, meaning they're likely the culprits who actually made off with them. Furthermore, this indicates that Sybenia is actually pursuing magical superiority in their future military plans."

Regalis nodded. "That's what the bulk of the meeting discussed, yes. From the encounter the Hounds of Sybenia had with Lady Veriguno in the desert alone, they have to realize by now that for all their weapons and training, their power still has a severe weakness. And based on their earlier attempts, it's likely that they recognized this long before they had that particular incident. So yes, we arrived at the conclusion that Sybenia was trying to bolster its offensive capabilies using the essences, and it was brought up that they might even be getting analyzed for research to develop new weapons we're not yet aware of. All of this, as you may have guessed, is extremely problematic.

"You may further note that both Lady Mianyl and I agreed that this was a matter the deserved attention, and I, for one, believed it to be up the alley of Esthar's Hawks. However, based on Lady Mianyl's own reports as well as what debriefings we were able to obtain from the captains, an infiltration would indeed be a last-resort maneuver. Although even allowing Sybenia access to one essence would be problematic, this was unfortunately something we cannot deal with at this point. Even our intelligence on conventional weapons within Sybenia is limited, let alone any facilities that might house the essences. So naturally, we'd need to work on that as soon as possible before the trail grew too 'cold'.

"Unfortunately, there's another major concern from all of this. As bad as you might thing young master Bahamut's break-in was, you have to realize it's unprecedented compared to this. He at least left a few traces behind and was caught. These other intruders, whoever made off with the essences first, didn't leave the slightest bit of evidence behind. To be able to slip in and out of our most secure facility without leaving so much as a camera record out of place requires more than just technical sophistication and infiltration skill. They had to be aware of some of the countermeasures before they even arrived. This is, without a doubt, our worst breach in security ever. And, unfortunately, this is also what the Grand Chancellor focused on for the bulk of the meeting.

"Although Sir Carbuncle and Lady Mianyl agree that we not only have the extra resources to devote to tracking down the essences, but that we need to as a matter of national security, the Grand Chancellor has requested that we devote all of that energy to closing up the holes in our security systems. He does have a point…but this is more the domain of a select few specialists, many of whom are outside of Esthar's Hawks and more in the technical field. Nevertheless, the orders stood. The Grand Chancellor does not want Esthar's Hawks making any gestures that can be construed as acts of war, which would include infiltrations to steal property of Sybenia…even if said property was already ours. At the moment, we cannot even formally accuse Sybenia of the theft. Most of our evidence that fingered them as the perpetrators is based on deduction and clandestine methods…neither of which would hold up and would likely damage relations."

Dael found herself speaking up again here.

"Begging your pardon, sir…but I thought Car…Sir Carbuncle," She was still not used to saying that name. "Suggested an alternative method for potentially bracing for a magical threat."

The colonel nodded. "I see Sir Carbuncle informed you of that as well. That method was taken into consideration, and also received endorsement not only by myself and Lady Mianyl, but a few other officials who considered it a far better 'defensive' measure that could not be seen as being hostile if it was discovered. Further discussion from Sir Carbuncle and Lady Mianyl revealed that this was likely an excellent priority, as Guardian Forces cannot be used directly against one who has the right of being junctioned to them…which is a good precaution to have, since some of the Guardian Forces in this world have powers comparible to major artillery units and missiles. Some are supposedly even more powerful than that, according to Sir Carbuncle, able to unleash major tornados and tsunamis. Unfortunately, the Grand Chancellor did not consider this a necessary measure at this time."

Dael swallowed again, before, once again, feeling the need to interject.

"Again, forgive me for being too presumptuous, sir…but why would the Grand Chancellor feel this is the case? This hardly even fits the realm of defensive military measures in the traditional sense."

"Ours is not to question why, lt. commander." The colonel immediately responded. "The order has been given from above and it will be obeyed. Suffice to say, there was some discussion how even if Sybenia did not view this as an overt military action, it could gain that reputation in the civilian sector. Magic being used for warfare is unfortunately an aspect of history, lt. commander. Any association with it could lead people to believe we were pursuing a more war-like course. And once leaked to the media on that presumption, it could somehow get back to Sybenia, thereby making it another indication of hostility."

Dael, again, had to suppress giving a frown. In spite of all this, it all still boiled down to one thing…not wanting to do anything militarily. The more dominant problem from all of this, at least in the Grand Chancellor's eyes, was that he still had opponents to any war-making policy, and that was the "true" threat he was worried about. Esthar's line of politicians prided themselves on having only the Esthar's Hawks as a true military branch, and they didn't want to change that anytime soon. The mere act of collecting Guardian Forces at this point would imply that they were training a new special corps to be able to use them, even if such wasn't true. That would have the anti-war activists jumping on him…or, if not, the same groups that looked down on Dael for having magic and being military personnel. However, this gave her an idea.

"Sir…I must insist that this is still 'right up our alley', so to speak. It's not necessary that the entire nation gain the power of these Guardian Forces or even that they be used. A few individuals could go to them, pass their 'tests', and then that would be the end of it. There wouldn't even be the necessity of making it a major operation. This is the sort of thing Esthar's Hawks were created for."

"Be that as it may, lt. commander," The colonel responded. "An operation of this magnitude would span several countries and doing so would require resources from Esthar's Hawks. Under the scope of this particular mission, Class IV would need clearance from either the defense department or the Grand Chancellor himself. We have neither. This mission is not a go. While it may be exactly as you say, that the mere scale of this mission means we can carry it out with relatively little investment, and very little risk…we still need the clearance of the Grand Chancellor. All of these points have been made by myself, Sir Carbuncle, Lady Mianyl, and other advisors, and the decision of the Grand Chancellor still stands to not pursue this. And he's explicitly stated that any military action toward this goal would be unauthorized and treasonous, so I can do nothing…not even order a satellite search for the locations."

Dael opened her mouth slightly after this, but then closed it again. That was it, and she knew it. Esthar's Hawks weren't allowed to go gung ho. In fact, they were trained not to. Dael was a bit surprised the colonel wasn't disciplining her for mentioning so many things opposed to the will of the Grand Chancellor. Just as he said, they were supposed to follow orders without question. The fact that the colonel wasn't naturally meant that he agreed with most of her sentiments. However, there was nothing either of them could do. Even the colonel was, ultimately, a soldier in the service of politicians. In Esthar, what they said went. But this was ridiculous. She knew her plan as she presented it would indeed be something appropriate for Esthar's Hawks. And despite how strenuous the experience had been with Quetzacoatl, she was sure she could win against another Guardian Force. But it looked as if they weren't even going to get the chance. So now what? Did they just wait for Sybenia to get them?

The colonel, in response, was silent for a few moments. Then, he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. After that, he swiveled around and away from Dael, in a move that made her somewhat puzzled. Without saying anything, he faced the window, leaning back and seeming to be musing. At length, he began to speak, sounding as if he was simply thinking aloud.

"…It seems as if Lady Mianyl is growing exasperated with Esthar's government. I can't very well say I blame her… She's moving to carry out Sir Carbuncle's plan. She's sending out Sir Taraketh Sabian to do it, as he already has two Guardian Forces. However…she expressed some doubts to this effect. She confided in me that she would prefer to have you along as well…saying that you too have two Guardian Forces, and that it was only due to your intervention that Sir Sabian obtained his second."

Dael listened to all of this…for, musing as the words were, they almost seemed to be directed to her to listen…although she didn't know why.

"Unfortunately…" And here, his musings became even firmer. "There was little I could tell her. While Order of Hyne members are perfectly allowed to take whoever they want with them…I couldn't directly order anyone to accompany her because of the Grand Chancellor's order. They would simply have to go themselves…"

The young officer's brow furrowed slightly at this. The colonel was implying something…something that he wanted her to get. She began to realize that now. Yet even as she thought this, the colonel spun back around in the chair and faced her again.

"Anyway…as to why I called you in here, lt. commander." He said as he leaned forward again. "As you well know, we're going to be quite busy in the coming months. None of us expects this treaty to last for long, and we're proceeding on that assumption even if the Grand Chancellor wants to give the impression that everything is now fine. But if war breaks out, there won't be any time for R&R for any of us. That's why, despite the fact that it's been less than six months since you started service, I'm going to give you two weeks leave right now. An early vacation." He gave a shrug afterward. "I know it's a bit early, but it might be the only chance you get. Naturally, you understand that you could be called back to active duty at a moment's notice, so you should have your preferred method of communication on you at all times. But other than that…"

Here, he leveled a hard look at Dael, looking at her right square in the eye.

"…You'll be free to do whatever you wish, just as if you were a civilian."

At once, Dael understood. Her eyes actually widened a bit. She couldn't believe it. After years of drilling in the Academy, she honestly felt anxious at what she was hearing. Although she had made a few statements now, they were more insistencies to reconsider rather than defiance of orders. However, this was something new all together. The colonel was actually encouraging her to go around the order handed down from the Grand Chancellor. For a brief moment, the fleeting thought to deny this went through her mind. She might not have been doing anything wrong, but this was still a "weaselly" way of doing it. And it bordered on insubordination…even treason…

But then, Dael thought of what Carbuncle and Bahamut both had said to her…about what this could mean…how important this was. Her allegiance was to Esthar's leaders…but her responsibility was to Esthar. And although she had been trained to only do as ordered for years…something inside her told her that, at least just this once, she could go "above and beyond the call of duty".

After a few more moments, she swallowed, and then nodded.

"…Understood, sir."

"It would be effective at 0500 hours starting tomorrow morning, meaning you're due back to report for duty in two weeks at 0500 hours…unless, of course, you're called to duty sooner than that for a state of emergency."

Dael nodded. "Yes sir."

"Very well, then. You are dismissed."

Dael rose up out of her chair and saluted. The colonel stood as well and saluted back. After that, feeling a bit more tense and uneasy, but also a bit more excited, Dael turned and began to make for the door. However, she had just nearly reached it when she heard the colonel speak again.

"Oh, by the way…"

The young officer turned and looked back. The colonel was seated again, and gave a shrug.

"In case you were wondering, Lady Mianyl thought the best way to carry out this task would be to first meet up with Sorceresses Cybus and Veriguno, who both know the location of two other Guardian Forces. Hence," His voice grew firmer and clearer here. "Sir Sabian…and, I presume, anyone who wished to go with him, would be leaving the Order Shrine in Esthar at 0600 hours tomorrow to head north to Fuliet, where Sorceress Cybus is currently located." He paused afterward. "…In case you wish to see him off, seeing as you won't have duty at that point."

Dael paused in response, but then nodded.

"…I'll make sure to stop by, sir."

Without another word, she turned and exited the room.

* * *

><p>"Well, well, well…look at you."<p>

Dael was back in her room at this point, attempting to pack for her "vacation". As it turned out, it was more difficult than she thought. Having lived in the Academy and moved right to Fort Morningstar afterward, she didn't have anything that wasn't a uniform or military wear of some type. So far, all she had managed to pack were socks, bras, and underwear. Knowing what she planned to do during this trip, she would have preferred her mage gun as well. That was the weapon she had last time against a Guardian Force, after all. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible this time around. Although the gun was hers, the ammunition was paid for by Esthar's Hawks courtesy of the Esthar government, and they weren't about to blow millions of gil on a vacation.

Dael had gone straight back after the meeting with the colonel. There wasn't much to see. Apparently, Bahamut was behaving. He had contented himself with reading some of the few books Dael had, almost all of them regarding military procedure or other country customs. Carbuncle was still playing video games. Soon after arrival, she had explained the situation even as she went about packing yet again. Thus far, Bahamut had been seated on his own cot and simply watched her. However, Carbuncle was buzzing around her as she got things ready.

"Look at me what?"

"Heh…a few months ago, you were the model soldier." Carbuncle responded. "Always ready to live and die for her country."

"And I'm not now?"

"No…but your definition of what that means certainly has changed. You're essentially going behind the back or over the head or around whatever body part you care to call it with the Grand Chancellor."

"We're still following his orders." Dael responded, almost insisting. "He said we couldn't do this officially…so we're not doing it officially. I'm doing it on my own time and it'll end up benefiting Esthar's Hawks and Esthar itself in the end. I'm the only one really qualified to do this in the first place."

"Sure, sure…you just keep telling yourself that." Carbuncle answered. "The fact of the matter is, by doing this, you think your Grand Chancellor is full of crap."

"I never said that!" Dael shot back, almost nervously and pausing in her packing.

"Alright, then you think he's incompetent and can't make good decisions." The Guardian Force answered with a shrug.

"I never said that either!" The young officer retorted. "He's our elected chief executive! I owe him my allegiance as a soldier!"

"If you don't think he's making bad decisions…" Carbuncle idly answered, leaning on a pillow on her bed and propping up his head with one paw. "…Then how come you're not simply obeying his command and staying out of this?"

Dael was caught off guard by that. She was forced to be silent for a moment. However, she finally turned back to packing. "…I don't disagree with the decision and I see the points to it. I just think that this is a venture that would benefit the country and that I can carry it out at no extra expense to Esthar's Hawks or to taxpayers. It seems the prudent thing to do and I'm the best for the job."

Carbuncle chuckled. "Spoken like a true individual who's good at dreaming up reasons for their actions. You might really be officer material."

Dael frowned, but said nothing as she shoved one last set of undergarments into her bag, then sighed and looked at it.

"Looks like you've already hit on the problem with this whole thing…" Carbuncle spoke up even as she stared. "You're going to need some civilian clothing."

The young officer kept her frown. "I can always just wear some combat fatigues…"

"Yeah, if you want to look like a crazy veteran." The green creature chuckled. "And I thought you wanted to be a bit more discrete on this 'pseudo-mission'? You _are_ aware that you're heading north to Fuliet, right? And that they don't take kindly to your average visitor, but especially not ones from Esthar's Hawks that drove all of those monsters north during Northern Rancor, right? Probably not the best idea in the world to advertise you're one of them."

Dael paused and rolled her eyes, but knew the Guardian Force was right. She couldn't very well go waltzing around up there flashing her insignia. The people of Fuliet might have tolerated Order of Hyne members, but after what happened way back in her first mission? She'd need to be more careful. That meant she'd have to go shopping…which, on it's own, was more than just a cumbersome and expensive affair. The woman had been practically told what to dress in for her entire life. What was she supposed to do now? She knew nothing of fashion, and if she wasn't careful she'd stick out far worse than anyone else. She supposed she'd just have to ride to Esthar, visit the first clothing store she found, find a mannequin that didn't look too "feminine" for her tastes and take it.

"…So where's my bag?"

Dael and Carbuncle both paused on hearing that. They turned and looked to who had spoken, and soon found themselves looking at Bahamut, sitting there with arms crossed.

For a moment, the two stared silently at him, before Dael responded. "…Pardon me?"

"My bag. Where is it?" Bahamut asked simply. "Unless you want me to carry everything on my person."

Dael paused again on hearing that. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how I'm supposed to take my things with me when I come with you on your 'vacation'." Bahamut responded.

Immediately, the young officer's brow creased. She turned fully to him and put her hands on her hips. "_You_ are not going anywhere. You are going to-"

"To what?" Bahamut suddenly cut off with a snap, causing Dael to actually be surprised and taken aback by the sharpness of the response. "Stay here? Were you about to tell me that you really trust me to stay here on my own while you're away after what happened last time? Or was all of your reactions to what I did simply you venting frustration from something else?"

Dael hesitated before responding. The boy had a good point. However, she countered it soon after. "Carbuncle can stay and-"

"Oh no." The Guardian Force suddenly spoke up, causing Dael to look to him and be just in time to see him waving his paws in a cutting motion. "I'm not hanging back here. I'm not going to be stuck in here babysitting for two weeks without a drop of booze. Besides, I'm you're going on a trip to recruit as many Guardian Forces as possible, you're going to need my help. I'm the only one who knows all of them personally."

Again, the young officer was struck silent. She thought of telling Carbuncle to stay back, but in truth she didn't want him too. He was right about what he said. Plus, there was an unfortunate detail that Colonel Regalis had mentioned earlier…Taraketh would be coming. Carbuncle was about the only one who could keep him "in line".

"Besides…" Bahamut spoke up again, redirecting Dael's thoughts back to him. "You might be able to use me along this trip. Perhaps I can lend a hand provided you can get me some weapons."

Dael's look readily turned incredulous. She actually let out a bit of a snort before crossing her arms. "You're going to help _me_? After all you've done is cause trouble so far?"

Bahamut's look turned angry at that, his eyes momentarily blazing with a power that seemed impossible for a young man, and it once again struck Dael dumb.

"…Don't forget that the only reason you're even in Esthar right now is because _I _helped _you_ once already…a debt which you have yet to repay according to the agreed terms. And your colonel has already realized that as angry as you might be for me sneaking into the Gordian Vaults, the only reason that your government is aware of the theft, the only reason _you_ are heading out on this 'side mission' is because I found out what was happening. So maybe you should keep those things in mind before you dismiss me so readily.

"That said…I'm a bit better than what you saw when you met me in Leuco. I've had a chance to get consistent meals of quality food and work out a bit. I'm still far from the peak of this body's performance, but I'm hardly a slouch."

"He does have a point there, Dael." Carbuncle threw in with another shrug. "I've seen him in practice. He's definitely good enough to hold his own against cadets his age. Probably even better."

"That's not nearly good enough considering where we're going." The young officer retorted. "This is Fuliet, home to some of the wildest and most savage monsters on the face of Gaia. These things tear up Esthar's Hawks privates, let alone cadets."

"I won't get in the way."

This comment too was spoken with considerable fierceness and strength…again, more than one would expect from one so young. It served to fully turn Dael's attention onto Bahamut again. Once looking at him, she saw the fire in his eyes was still burning. Even stronger than before.

"I've never been one to 'drag my feet', and I won't here." He stated resolutely, not as a hope or a promise but as a fact. "I've been practicing with weapon types ever since I 'woke up' in Leuco and I've ironed out the kinks here. As important as this mission is to you, it's important to me as well. You're going to find Guardian Forces. That's exactly what I want to do too. There's a chance one of them knows where Leviathan is. And if I _can_ find out where he is from one of them, then there's no need for you to give me access to the records or anything else. You debt will be 'paid in full' and I'll get out of your life and leave you to whatever career you want to pursue. Just let me come along on this."

The young officer looked on at Bahamut after he had concluded. The fire was still in his eyes and wasn't diminishing. It seemed almost unnatural that he could show that much passion. However, she shook that off and thought over what he said. The last part made the most sense. There he was…trying to find Leviathan again. In the end, that's what motivated him more than anything, this obsession of his. Although, she had to admit…it also appealed to her. She had a feeling if anyone knew where the other Guardian Forces in the world were, it would either be the Order of Hyne or the other Guardian Forces themselves. Both of those she would be in contact with if she brought him along, and this might be a chance to kill two birds with one stone. At this point, Dael was so eager to get rid of Bahamut that she might take him up on the offer for him to be out of her hair.

But all that aside, it, unfortunately, only made sense for her to take him along. He was her 'ward', after all. Where she went, he was to follow. She couldn't just leave him at the fort while she went on vacation. And this was the only way to keep tabs on him. If she _didn't_ take him along, there was little doubt in her mind that he would try to access the records. And if he did that, there was no way he'd get off as easy as last time. Heck, if he was left behind after what just happened, unsupervised, the higher officers might begin to suspect she actually had a hand in on his work or wasn't taking his crime seriously. She would prefer not to deal with either of those aspects. And so…that truly left only a single option.

Letting out a tired sigh, Dael turned back to her bag and closed it for the time being.

"…Get your shoes on." She called out to Bahamut. "So long as we're getting me new clothes, we might as well grab a bag for you."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	22. Breaking the Ice

(Sorry for the long delay for the update. Real life stuff is weighing me down real heavily, and I want to make sure the quality doesn't diminish like in the original version of TSC.)

* * *

><p>Dael felt practically naked.<p>

That wasn't to say she wasn't more than amply clothed, probably a little more "all-weather" than she needed to be, especially considering that it was summer. She wore a sleeveless inner shirt that was of a thin sweater type material with a high collar around the neck, and a smaller sleeveless jacket with double breast pockets over that. All of this was over a pair of shorts with deep, large pockets for anything extra she might need. Her (mostly-useless) mage gun was strapped on one side, pretty much because she'd feel even more naked without it, and her sword was at her opposite hip. She managed to at least retain her field-combat boots, which, since she went for an almost "outdoorsy" look both in color as well as style worked out fairly well. Still…it wasn't a uniform, a fact that wasn't lost on her. She couldn't help but feel uneasy as she walked along, feeling like people were staring at her. This was the most "conservative" thing she could find at the clothing store she had gone too, and it still revealed her arms and legs to passers by. However, the revealing was more to accent her muscle rather than her figure, so perhaps it wasn't so bad.

As she walked away from the train station and down the stairs toward the sidewalk and the street beyond, already heading toward one of the many taxis in Esthar that stayed parked outside the main train station to pick up travelers, she briefly looked over to her side. Bahamut was keeping up with her well, staying at her side too. She wished that shopping for her own clothes could have been as easy as his. Boys seemed so much easier. Initially, she wasn't going to get him anything, but in the end she figured him dressed in cadet sweat clothes that that the Esthar's Hawk emblem over the front of them was little better than him parading around in a uniform, especially if he was going to Fuliet. So she had splurged on some of her saved paychecks. Essentially, all he got were clothes that were "intact" versions of what he had been wearing back in Leuco with some new footwear that cost a third of what she would have paid for new shoes of her own.

Something she didn't care for nearly as much was the fact that he had insisted on weapons. For the longest time, she fought him on it. He might have been good working out, but Dael still had a hard time believing he had enough skill to trust with deadly apparel. It wasn't until he personally showed her what he could do with the workout room's training weapons that she had to admit that he might be able to hold his own. And, frankly, it was suicide to be headed to Fuliet without at least some form of weapon. Just being in Northern Esthar was highly restricted from spillover monsters from Fuliet. Actually going into the region would be far worse. However, she had insisted on buying him only extremely cheap weapons, something so laughable that if their roles had been reversed, she would have sooner gone bare handed and felt better with that. However, she did not compromise. As a result, she supposed it should only figure that he had gone for his current selection.

She struggled not to be embarrassed just looking at it. With modern training methods and the styles of combat involved, swords had not entirely gone out of style although guns were preferred in the majority of cases unless you were effectively superhuman. However, even when blades were still used, Dael felt like someone who was armed such as a dual blader or carrying a katana such as hers was the best alternative. Bahamut, however, had opted for a shortsword and buckler. Dael was almost overwhelmed when he picked it out. She thought that they didn't even make such archaic weapons anymore. She would have been more impressed with a bow and arrow or even a solid club. About the only good thing about it was that it was good quality. That figured as much…it was on clearance sale. The sword wasn't as good as an Esthar's Hawks' blade, but it would still cut and hold up against most other swords. The buckler was lightweight and strong. The only reason it didn't sell for more was because no one wanted it. She nearly said no simply due to how ineffective it was, before she realized that not only was it likely the best he could get for the price she proposed, but he had enough skill, based on his performance in the gym, to be able to use it.

She was slightly puzzled, however. Even assuming he had been training every day since he arrived here from Leuco, and that he got one of the privates to actually act as a coach, there was little way to reason that he had gotten so good with a blade in such a short period of time. And this kind of practice required hands-on training. He couldn't have learned it from a book in the library. It was somewhat intriguing. Had his parents taken him to get sword training?

As they walked down the steps, a sigh came out from Dael's side.

"I hope we can get some form of transportation…" Carbuncle grumbled as they walked along. "I read up on Fuliet. Technically, I'd rather have hiked through that jungle on Lamb to get to where we're going than walk there. At the very least, I hope this Sorceress is just a mile or two over the border…"

"I doubt either of those are true…" Dael said with something of a grimace as they walked along. "But we'll see." She added, as she shifted a bit in her new clothes.

Carbuncle noticed this, and let out a chuckle. "You need to loosen up. You look like Barnabas in that getup. Those are supposed to be relaxing clothes."

"I'd be more relaxed in a uniform…" Dael muttered in response.

The Guardian Force poked his head around and looked to the boy at her side. "You too, kid. You're marching like you're going to war."

This caused the boy to frown a bit and sigh. "…I can understand Dael and the rest of the humans, Carbuncle…but how come you can't recognize me as your king?"

"Gee, sorry, big guy." The green creature answered sarcastically. "Maybe it's your shoes? Make you look shorter."

Dael didn't respond to this directly. For whatever reason, neither of them felt like bursting Bahamut's bubble yet about the truth that they both knew. She wasn't sure why they simply didn't. Well, at the moment, it was because they wouldn't need him to degenerate or become a psychotic mess from learning that Carbuncle could confirm he wasn't really Bahamut. And if there was another incident like the Gordian Vault, Dael might spit it out anyway. She still felt like doing so and might if the entire matter hadn't surprisingly blown over so quickly. But at the moment, no lasting harm had been done, and, with any luck, this would soon be resolved if the Sorceresses could indeed point them in the right direction. Yet another reason to get this done as soon as possible.

And so, instead of throwing in her two cents on that matter, she simply stated the facts as they were.

"We've only got fifteen minutes before we need to be there. Let's hurry up and get a cab and get out there."

* * *

><p>Exactly thirteen minutes (and, much to Dael's chagrin, 3500 gil later), they were pulling up in front of the local shrine.<p>

Esthar had long supported the presence of the Order of Hyne within the city limits. Hence, it was little surprise that they had quite a large establishment. Most Order of Hyne facilities that weren't major temples like the ones on Lamb were chapels for prayer connected (possibly) to a few smaller buildings that served as residential quarters for the full-time Children of Hyne who dwelt there year round or who visited periodically. However, this one was much bigger.

Founded prior to Esthar itself being made into its current form, the entire shrine was more of a cathedral. Maybe not the tallest ones in history, but definitely impressive. Definitely incorporating a gothic style with very high walls that were just large and heavy enough to incorporate flying buttresses. A very high-arched roof with a beautiful circular stain-glass window made on the outside, showing an ancient image of their key mythos, at least in this branch, Hyne giving magic to its "creations". Aside from the major stone structure that was easily 150 years old, there were numerous other buildings alongside it that featured a very old school, residential building, and, unseen from the road, an inner garden growing with some of the last few natural trees in Esthar. All in all, a very old and beautiful establishment, standing out from the more "modern" appearance of the rest of the city. It was quite a work of architecture, and had Dael less of a military mind, she might have been somewhat awed at it.

As it was, she still found herself staring at it along with Carbuncle and Bahamut as they exited the taxi with their bags in tow and looked up at its considerable height and majesty. It was more than tall enough to cast a shadow over them this early in the morning, and as a result was enough to make even Dael feel just slightly intimidated. Still, she managed to keep her eyes open for other things. Unlike the temple at Lamb, which had been far more orientated toward a pastoral lifestyle, there were only a few people out here this morning in official "Children's" attire, and mixed with them were regular civilians looking to just visit the main chapel. Some of them were there just as tourists, while other wanted to plan major family events, but the bulk were there to pray, just like the owners and maintainers.

Carbuncle let out a whistle as he looked up at it. "I tell you, some works of human architecture…damn. I mean, it's no Alexander, but still."

"Still nothing compared to the Tower of Babil." Bahamut idly responded.

Carbuncle, in response, rolled his eyes and mocked Bahamut's voice as he repeated him. Afterward, he sighed and looked forward. "At any rate, no one to meet us. Maybe your clock is off, Dael?"

Before the young officer could respond to that, however, it appeared as if Carbuncle set off some sort of cue. Abruptly, the heavy oak and iron front doors opened. A single Child of Hyne, one of the "iron" variety and therefore the lowest ranking, with hood already drawn back came out. He seemed a bit on the young side, somewhere in between Bahamut and Dael in age. Readily, he stepped down the first few stone stairs of the entrance and approached the small group. However, there were too many for him to go through them all, and so he stopped near the middle and called out.

"Ms. Levinson, Sir Carbuncle, and…" However, here, he trailed off, looking to some confusion at the boy.

Bahamut opened his mouth to respond, but Dael, sighing, cut him off and answered for him. "Master Bahamut."

The Child of Hyne paused momentarily, clearly confused, but then seemed to shake it off. "If you please, come this way. Now that you're here, we'll have the car brought around and you can depart shortly, but the High Child for this shrine wishes to see your group off."

With that, the Child of Hyne turned and began to walk back up the steps to the door. Even as he was still ascending, Dael let out another slow exhale. She looked to Carbuncle, who simply looked back, and then to Bahamut, who seemed to be frowning very slightly at her comment.

"…I'm used to being called 'master', but definitely not in that sense."

"Well, get used to it for about four more years." Dael responded. "Let's go."

With that, the young woman began to walk forward. Carbuncle and Bahamut soon fell in behind her, and all of them began to ascend the stairs. Despite the number, they reached the top fairly readily and soon went to the heavy door. It took a bit to open despite Dael's increased strength, but once open they all slipped inside.

It soon turned out that Dael didn't have to travel that far into the shrine. Like most old cathedrals, there was a sizable antechamber sectioned off by wooden doors right in between the entrance and the main area of the chapel. Whereas this might be little other than an "entry room" in normal sized chapels, here it was easily the size of a small chapel itself, with the same elegant architecture and dim lightning that incorporated as much natural sunlight as possible. As such, it was rather shady inside, but there was still enough light to see. It even appeared to be naturally lit by oil lamps. That was an interesting touch, Dael thought. She didn't know anyone in the city who still used that.

The Child of Hyne who had indirectly led them back inside was now standing off to one side. Ahead of them were two High Children of Hyne, both with hoods drawn back. It took Dael no time at all to recognize the one on the right as Taraketh. Obviously, this time around, he had some preparation for this moment, much as Dael had. As they door shut behind them, he only regarded Dael with mild annoyance, like he was about to have to do a chore rather than having his teeth pulled. She supposed that was an improvement. At any rate, his attention didn't stay focused on her long. Soon after, it turned in some confusion to Bahamut, registering puzzlement. He wasn't alone. The other High Child that was with him, this one an older man with graying hair and more lined features, looked out and saw Bahamut momentarily, actually going open-mouthed a bit, before turning back to Dael. Bahamut, on his part, stayed calm and stood simply.

"Lt. Commander Levinson." The older High Child spoke up. "It seems the colonel was able to send her ladyship's message to you."

"He was." Dael answered with a nod. "Only, just keep in mind, this isn't authorized by the government or military. I'm just 'Ms. Levinson' here."

The High Child offered a slight smile at that and a nod, and then gave a bow to Carbuncle. "Greetings, Sir Carbuncle. It is an honor to meet you in person."

The green creature, in response, simply waved a paw. "Yo, chief."

Naturally, this was a bit of an awkward reply to the more conservative and reserved High Child, and he managed only a nervous laugh as he leaned back up. Soon after, however, he turned to the boy among them. "And…you are, young master…?"

"Bahamut." Was the only one-word reply that the young man gave. He kept his arms crossed, almost seeming to show slight impatience.

The High Child paused momentarily, then looked to Dael. "…Please forgive me for any confusion, but-"

"This is my ward." Dael explained, cutting him off. "I'm not sure if you're aware of it or not, but a boy assisted us in returning from Follett. This is him. I've taken him under my charge. If I'm on vacation, that means he comes with me. There's no way around it."

The High Child paused at that. Dael kept her focus on him, but watched Taraketh in her peripheral vision. She noted that he did seem uneasy on realizing that Bahamut was now under Dael's care and, as a result, likely the military's. However, he didn't dispute it or cause any trouble, and he didn't bristle as he normally did. Dael couldn't tell if this was a result of more discipline or if he was simply growing more accustomed to her. At any rate, she didn't really care. She was going to keep communication with him to a minimum.

The High Child paused, and looked to him, before looking back. "…I understand, but until this point, I understood that it would only be you, Sir Taraketh, and Sir Carbuncle. I fear a bit for the child's safety. If you would like me to assign other Order of Hyne members to act as an escort…"

"I don't need an escort." Bahamut spoke up abruptly, cutting the man off. His tone was so quick that it actually took the older High Child back a little. "I can handle myself well enough where I won't be a burden."

Dael tried not to roll her eyes, but still sighed a bit before focusing on the High Child. "I assure you, sir, that the three of us are more than capable of looking out for him."

The older man paused a moment, looking at Bahamut's stony, ready face and Dael's own untroubled one. Taraketh himself looked a bit more uncomfortable, but also seemed to swallow it back. He gave Dael a momentary look again, but seemed to realize her explanation made sense. After a bit longer, he, a bit to Dael's surprise, spoke up as well.

"There's nothing to worry about, brother. I will make sure he stays safe."

The High Child looked to Taraketh at that. Dael was once again surprised at how Taraketh's comment, for once, seemed to be genuine and mild rather than loaded with chagrin or irritation. Eventually, the old man seemed to take this explanation, and nodded.

"…Very well then." He finally said. He turned back to Dael soon aftereward. "I'm not sure if I need to inform you of this, young lady, but Lady Mianyl suggested that if the two of you are to go about gathering the Guardian Forces, then your best course of action would be to first locate Lady Cybus and Lady Veriguno. Just like Lady Faerio, both of them are entrusted with the locations of other Guardian Forces. Beyond that, I am sad to say that even our records are sketchy. We have not had a need to locate most of the Guardian Forces for many years now. Our own scholars are researching further locations, but the ones who could probably tell you the most are the Guardian Forces themselves."

Dael nodded back. "Understood."

"Lady Mianyl further said that, since she is the closest and in a definite location, it would be best to meet with Lady Cybus first. She's in the Fuliet region, currently trying to mediate an intertribal conflict. Despite being relatively close to Esthar, I think I need hardly remind you that this is a savage and hostile region, and-"

Dael nodded abruptly once again, cutting the man off. "I'm thankful for your concern, sir, but I have dealt with the creatures of the Fuliet region before, and both Sir Sabian and I are excellent combatants. We'll be fine."

Taraketh actually looked up slightly at that. That was, perhaps, the first time Dael had given him a pseudo-compliment. As for the High Child, he again looked caught off guard, but in the end managed an uneasy smile and nodded back.

"Very well. In that case, I won't detain you any longer." He pointed back out to the doors they entered through. "I'm having the community's truck brought around. It's durable enough to take you along the dirt road outside of Esthar as far as it will go, but it will still be another two days before you reach the location of the tribe on foot. I hope you're up for some walking." He added this last bit with a bit of a chuckle.

In spite of herself, Dael managed a smile back. "Some walking", in this case, would be like going on a few day hike across the Veldt. However, there was no point in complaining about it. At any rate, the High Child came up to Dael and took her hand, and gave it a shake.

"Take care, Ms. Levinson." He told her. "And a message from her ladyship herself…good luck to you as well as to Sir Taraketh."

* * *

><p>After exchanging another bow with Carbuncle, an embrace with Taraketh, and saying a few prayers over Bahamut (all of which he treated as a bother), the new group set out. True to the High Child's word, they had hardly exited the antechamber for the outside once again before an old truck came around to pick them up. However, old as it was, it did have dual seating, enabling just enough room for them all to squeeze inside. To try to keep things civil, Dael and Bahamut sat in the back, letting Taraketh sit up front adjacent to the driver.<p>

Dael was rather pleased with the level of civility for the first leg of the trip…or, more accurately, the level of silence. No one said anything. In a way, they were almost like military members in how they all focused ahead on their goal and didn't waste time with words, although this reaction seemed to unsettle their driver a bit. It was rush hour, so naturally it took about two hours just to drive to the outskirts of Esthar. Once there, they would still be heading through the suburbs for the barrier for another good thirty minutes yet. And though that all, no one had said anything in the car. Not even words of greeting.

By now, after riding for so long, Carbuncle was looking around in the car, eager for something to break the silence. After all, he was normally the talkative one and he was used to hearing some noise. In another few moments, it looked as if he might actually say something just to try and upset things. However, as the car came up to another traffic light and came to a halt, something finally did change.

Taraketh turned his head back and looked to Bahamut. Realizing he was focusing on him, Bahamut turned simply and looked to him.

"So, Bahamut…have you been alright?" He asked him. "Have you been taking life in that military installation alright enough? Or is it a bit too much to handle?"

"It's fine." Bahamut simply answered. "Better than the street."

Taraketh didn't seem to like that response that much. He paused momentarily, but then spoke up more encouragingly. "You know, I was talking to a few of the other High Children ever since we parted company, and I found out that there may be a way to make some arrangements to-"

Bahamut closed his eyes and sighed. "…I appreciate the offer, Sir Sabian, but it is unnecessary. I'm fairly well situated inside of the Fort Morningstar now. I have adequate facilities to hone my strength and my diet is good. I might take you up on that offer if it was a matter of our agreement needing to be carried out, but since we're currently on this mission, that is unnecessary. All information that the Order of Hyne knows about Leviathan will become clear to me. By comparison, I still have much to learn from Esthar's Hawks, hence I'm content to remain where I am for right now."

Taraketh paused a bit on hearing this response. His more friendly look faded a bit, replaced by a tired sigh. However, he didn't dwell on that long. He looked over to Dael and, for a brief second, seemed about to speak to her, before looking to Carbuncle instead. "He…still has that mindset?" He finally asked.

The green creature chuckled. "Like you wouldn't believe."

Taraketh looked on a bit more, but then exhaled, turned around, and leaned back in his chair again. However, Carbuncle wasn't letting him go so quickly. He looked up a bit, staring at Taraketh. "Well, well, Sir Sabian…seems our little lesson in 'ettiquette' back in Lamb Temple stuck with you. You haven't been rude once today."

As always, Taraketh blustered a bit at being talked down to. However, he swallowed it back and stayed calm this time. After a moment, he spoke in a bit of an angry mutter, but still one that was more civil than usual.

"I had some…discussions…with Lady Mianyl. I won't go into detail, but suffice to say at the end of it, she made the point that if she tolerated a grunt being junctioned to the Guardian Forces, that should be enough for me."

Carbuncle leaned his head on one paw. "…And I don't suppose the fact that this 'grunt' saved your life had anything to do with it?"

Again, Taraketh grimaced slightly. However, in the end, he did let out a small admission. "…It might have."

The Guardian Force smiled back. "Keep it up, Sir Sabian. You might have a decent demeanor yet. Anyway, now that we've gotten a few pleasantries out of the way, would you like to know what Dael was talking to me about yesterday?"

This caused the officer to raise her head slightly, turning to Carbuncle.

Taraketh, continuing to look forward, exhaled. "No sir, I don't."

"Well, she was just saying about how she was feeling bad that she couldn't bring her mage bullets along on this mission. As you can see, she still has her gun, but no ammunition. How she feels a bit naked without it. I told her that this was a chance to work more on her magic, try to rely more on that. Mage Guns are great and all and they've got a lot of kick, but she has to know how to master the spells she already has."

By now, Dael's mouth was beginning to loosen slightly as she stared on at Carbuncle. While she was upset about not being able to use her Mage Gun on this trip, she had said no such thing to the Guardian Force. What was he getting at?

Taraketh, on his part, merely gave a snort. "Then she should practice." He remarked dully. "Stop depending so much on technology."

"That's exactly what I told her." Carbuncle readily answered. "However, she said that she didn't know how, and I've explained to her before that a Guardian Force can't truly teach human levels of magic. Two different things, and all that. I suggested she would need a tutor. She said she couldn't think of anyone within Esthar's Hawks who could do it."

"Of course she couldn't." Taraketh snapped back. "What would a bunch of useless military dogs know about magic?"

"Well, heh, I said the same thing to her, more or less." Carbuncle answered with a shrug. "But then I said, hey, you've talked to a number of people in the Order of Hyne, people you've worked with, people who owe you favors…" He began to slow in his speech a bit, being more indicative.

By now, both Dael and Taraketh were starting to get what the Guardian Force was saying. As a result, a bit of Taraketh's hostility began to turn into confusion instead, while as for Dael…her eyes were beginning to widen. He wasn't honestly suggesting…

"Now, I could be the one to make this formal…" Carbuncle went on. "But I think, in the interest of 'extending an olive branch', so to speak," Here, he turned to the young officer. "Dael…I think you should ask, and ask politely, Sir Sabian exactly what you told me you wanted to ask him last night."

Dael felt like her eyes would fall out of her head. She stared at Carbuncle in a mixture of shock and aghast horror, realizing what he had just set her up to do. She couldn't believe he had possibly just done this. And now, the attention of everyone in the vehicle was on her. Bahamut looked to her calmly, and even Taraketh was turning around in the front seat and looking to her. She looked up and between them all, mouth open wide and eyes filled with shock. Finally, she looked back to Carbuncle and began to just shake her head.

"I didn't-"

"Now _come on_, Dael." Carbuncle said with almost an edge to his voice. "Don't be shy, now. You know how full well Taraketh is one of the best mages in the Order of Hyne. How you told me so last night? How impressed you were with what you've seen him do?"

Dael flushed a shade white. "How…how…"

"How he was the best man to train you in a short period?" Carbuncle extended for her. "Now come on, go ahead. Ask him. No sense waiting until this is almost over."

Dael's thoughts of Carbuncle being a friend flew out the window. At this moment, she wanted to do nothing more than throttle him until his brains came out of his oversized ears. She didn't dare look at Taraketh now. If she did, she was afraid she'd see a smug look on his face and then that would _really_ push her over the edge. She couldn't believe this. What was she supposed to do now? Deny everything? Act like a child, stubbornly cross her arms, and say, more or less, "No I didn't!" to everything? The green creature had really fixed her this time. It was true that she wanted to train more with her magical ability and get a better grasp of it, but she would have rather endured 10 lashes than ask Taraketh for help.

She was silent for a moment. What could she do? She could indeed refuse to follow Carbuncle's lead, but what good would that do? The damage had been done. And maybe the Guardian Force would make it worse, say what other "things" Dael had said about Taraketh. And if she denied them, what then? She'd essentially say in Taraketh's face that she thought he wasn't that much of a mage, which would prompt him to insult her, which would start another fight she could do without. It was all a mess.

In the end, she realized there was only one thing she really could do to maintain the nice mood in the vehicle. Even this wasn't a guarantee, but she realized that Carbuncle had baited Taraketh as well…had buttered him up to this. He couldn't refuse without making himself look bad in a way, denying what had been said about him. Plus, just as Carbuncle had led him into saying, he owed Dael and the Sorceress would essentially "make" him even if he didn't want it. But even if all of this was true…Dael would have to swallow every ounce of pride she possessed to go through exercises with a person she didn't really care to associate with. Realizing the silence was going on too long…she decided to respond.

She couldn't make eye contact, and she sounded like she was literally choking the words out of herself, but very slowly and stiffly, she managed to croak it.

"…Sir Sabian…could you reconsider teaching me magic?"

There were a few moments of silence after that, during which Dael had to confirm to herself a few times over that, yes, she really had just said that. She expected any one of a dozen responses during that time, none of them any good. At any moment, she expected him to laugh or unleash another tirade about how he'd never help her learn anything, or even to do a bit worse than that and call up times she had criticized him and make her eat her words. She tried to keep her pride down, knowing she'd probably have to swallow it, and the entire time didn't look up to Taraketh once, not wanting to see any smugness or scorn in his eyes.

At long last, there was a response.

"You don't have the slightest magical inclination in you. You haven't even begun to basics of preparation. 8 year olds in the Order of Hyne are further along than you in terms of focus, and even your simplest spells are going to look like crude approximations even with training. I'll be honestly impressed if you're ever able to pull off anything halfway decent." Taraketh snorted in response. There was a pause afterward, but then a sigh.

"But I'll just be shooting myself in the foot if I _don't_ help you out, I suppose…" He finally added with a grumble. "I mean, you're supposed to be helping me with these Guardian Forces, and if you don't have your precious Mage Gun, you won't even be able to counter most attacks just with what you have. Just keep this in mind…you're going to do exactly what _I_ tell you in regards to training. You should be quite good at following orders by now anyway. And the first time you look like you're trying to not do what I tell you on purpose, we're done."

Dael was so surprised that she actually lifted her head a bit. Sure, most of that had been typical Taraketh response, but she was rather amazed at a lot of what she was hearing. He actually was agreeing to it, and it didn't sound like an act purely out of total external compulsion. His voice wasn't even as harsh and biting as it normally was. This was actually, at least almost, a pleasant surprise.

"Agreed." She finally said in response to him.

However, as it turned out, Carbuncle wasn't letting her off that easily either.

"…And what do we say?" He asked her.

Dael grimaced slightly. She turned another look to the green creature, but he simply stared back and waited. Looking forward again, and once again not looking directly at Taraketh, she managed another quiet statement.

"…Thank you."

Taraketh merely let out a "hmph" in response, and turned back forward. The car went silent once again.

* * *

><p>The ride remained quiet for the most part for the rest of the trip. After leaving the suburbs, the truck ran up to the barrier around Esthar. After being cleared, they exited the city onto a paved road. That only lasted for about a mile, however, before it turned to gravel. That diminished steadily over the next two miles before becoming a dirt road, and that quickly became just a level path. Soon, the group inside was getting jostled about a bit as the bumpy road went along.<p>

Everyone was a bit more on guard here. Close to the city, there were very few creatures of the hostile variety. Even if they were, they were little to worry about in this vehicle. Only when they got closer to Fuliet would they really be in trouble. Still, every passing moment brought them closer to Fuliet, and that was nothing to sneeze at in and of itself. There was a steadily increasing chance they'd run into either one of those monsters that Dael had encountered on her first mission or other incredibly hostile and large creatures that would wreck the car simply running into them, let alone being attacked by one. Luckily, the area quickly grew more dried out and barren as they continued north.

Frankly, Dael didn't envy the driver as they went on. As the landscape began to grow rockier and more dry and sparse, and the place started to look very familiar to what Dael had seen during her first mission, she realized that noon had passed. The driver would have to be going home part of the way in the dark, when the monsters were more active. Although it wasn't necessarily a problem unless the worst happened, there was always a chance of the worst actually happening, and that wasn't too comforting.

At last, about two hours after noon, the dirt road could no longer even be considered a path. To accent that, large boulders had been rolled in the way ahead, giving way slowly to ground that was shallow and sandy, giving way to rock fairly readily. Dael looked outside a bit more as she felt the truck roll to a stop. There were numerous rocky peaks up ahead, quickly growing more steep and cruel as they went off into the distance. At this point, there was only places for scrub and brush and some dried-out, short grasses. The area had all the fixtures of a rough desert giving way into rocky hills. All in all, it was harsh, unforgiving, and unpleasant. Dael realized they had gone farther north than she had for her first mission. They no doubt had gone part of the way into Fuliet, even if only a few miles. They weren't being accosted, but that was neither here nor there. The main reason no one was there to chase them off is because no tribe wanted to send a few members out there to risk being eaten by passing monsters just to guard an area no one ever came by. Soon after, the car came to a stop, and the driver shut it down. They had gone as far as vehicles could take them. From here on in, it was on foot.

Arrangements were quickly made for the driver to return in six days in the same time period. That left enough time for a four day round trip plus two days to do whatever interaction was needed with the Sorceress. After that, everyone began to unload from the vehicle, grabbing their gear from the back of the truck.

At this point, Dael found a nearby boulder that looked suitable, and turned to the others to give a small comment.

"I think Carbuncle and I need to answer a call of nature real quick before we set out."

The green creature responded by giving her a confused look. "What are you, my mother? I think I know wh-EEEEN!"

The Guardian Force was cut off, because Dael used that moment to reach over and seize him by the elongated ear. Practically lifting him off the ground, she turned him in her direction and began to march away from the unloading group toward the boulder, Carbuncle protesting the whole way in between exclamations of pain and the occasional explititve. It took a little bit, but soon they both slipped behind the boulder. Only then did Dael release Carbuncle's ear.

After giving one final issuance of profanity, the green creature glared at Dael angrily. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"I might ask you the same thing!" Dael shot back, only in a loud whisper. "I never said any of those things about Taraketh! You know I can't stand him! Why would you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Carbuncle whispered loudly back, rubbing his own sore ear much like a rabbit would rub their own. "I'm trying to put an end to this nonsense! In case you haven't noticed, you two always glaring daggers at each other isn't getting you any farther than it's getting him! You may not like each other, but it's clear by now that the powers that be are going to stick you together so long as the Order of Hyne is working with Esthar's Hawks!"

Dael frowned back, but was forced to pause on hearing this. Carbuncle had a point there. She couldn't do anything with the Order of Hyne, it seemed, without being stuck with Taraketh, even if they were like oil and water. Nevertheless, she crossed her arms. "We can learn to deal with each other. You didn't have to make it look like I wanted to beg him to help me out with magic!"

"Well, I kind of _did_, actually." Carbuncle retorted. "Because like it or not, so long as he's the one you keep getting stuck with, he's the best one for the job to teach you. And he might have his head stuck up you-know-where, but he does know his stuff. That should have been obvious from when you guys first met. And if you are going to be seeking him out for help, it's much better to try catching that fly with honey than vinegar. Didn't it occur to you that he's just a wee bit full of himself? That stroking his ego might be the key to getting along with him? That maybe if you try buttering him up for a little while he might eventually see you in a more favorable light?"

Dael was silent after hearing this. She considered it momentarily. After a few seconds went by, however, all she could do was sigh. In truth, that sounded somewhat logical. It wasn't the way she preferred to go about things. Growing up in Esthar's Hawks, she preferred people getting respect through earning it. Of course…Taraketh had done that too. Back in their first mission together, he hadn't been a slouch with that exotic weapon of his, and his skill at using magic wasn't anything minor either. Even if the feeling wasn't mutual, although it had every right to be, that didn't change the fact that Taraketh could be respected at least as a mage and a warrior.

In the end, she rolled her eyes and sighed. Putting a hand to her brow, she wiped her hair back a bit, and finally looked down at Carbuncle.

"…Fine. I'll go along with this because I'm getting something out of it. But this is the last time. And I'm not making any promises if he tries to 'drag up' things I haven't done, such as compliments I haven't given him."

The Guardian Force shrugged. "Alright then."

"And this is the _last_ time you put words in my mouth without checking it by me, you got that?"

Carbuncle sighed, rolled his own button eyes, and nodded. "Alright, alright…"

Dael looked on at him a bit longer, but then finally looked away. She stepped back out from behind the boulder. Although she didn't look behind her right away, Carbuncle exhaled and shook his head one last time to clear out the pain from his ears being pulled, and then turned and walked out to follow after them. By the time he did that, Dael was already looking ahead and toward Taraketh and Bahamut, who had not only unloaded but taken up their own gear.

"Sorry about that." She told them as she approached. "I just couldn't hold it in any longer. Let's get going while we still have as much daylight as possible."

* * *

><p>For a moment, the row of rocks stood there perched on top of the boulder, each one balanced carefully, each one having taken a few seconds to set up. Six of them in all, precariously stacked like some sort of ancient caveman decoration. Considering the rough terrain, it perhaps wasn't that much of a stretch. Against the outline of the setting sun, they had something of a red-orange tint to them as they cast long, purple shadows.<p>

Then, most abruptly, a white-hot bolt of lightning snaked out and obliterated the second one from the left. Although the impact had sufficient force to shatter the rock completely, sending fragments flying everywhere…the other five stones all remained standing perfectly still, unmiffed in the least.

Taraketh kept his hand aimed at the stone momentarily, then exhaled and rose to his feet. He was standing a good twenty feet away from the stones, but his mild lightning spell had struck with perfect accuracy. He looked to see what he had done only for a moment, before turning around to his new "student": Dael standing somewhat nearby, looking a little sweaty and dirty (much like Taraketh himself) from having hiked for a good four hours across the rough terrain. After that, giving her a cold, hard look, he pointed outward at the stones.

"Now you." He told her, almost giving an order. "The second one from the right. Just like I did."

Dael, to be honest, was a bit overwhelmed. An hour into her first "magic lesson", and she realized what a feat Taraketh had just pulled off. Marksmen had nothing on what he had just done. By now, she had thrown around a bolt or two and realized just what her lightning powers were like…and she realized it was far, far harder to manage than the spells Carbuncle had granted her. It was like trying to catch smoke in a bottle using your bare hands. She was lucky if she could drive it into a general direction, let alone have it hit a target like the stone from this distance. She also knew she'd be penalized by Taraketh if she managed to hit it only to knock down the other stones in the process. Frankly, she didn't even think she could manage hitting the stone.

Inhaling a bit, Dael stepped forward to where Taraketh was. After that, she quickly tried to remember the rules that he had dumped on her in the past hour. First, clear one's mind. Clearly hear the words coming forth. Let them flow clearly and distinctly. Surrender to the emerging power. Then, reseize control. Perfectly grasp it like overwet dough, to keep it from running and form it into the desired shape. Yet let the energy flow through you at the same time. Don't interrupt the natural flow but direct it. Keep a clear head. Gently nudge it. Feel the mana flow through you. Feel the contact between the rock and the individual.

_…What the hell am I thinking about? This is a bunch of metaphysical gobbledegook all slapped together in a single hour…and that's just the stuff I can remember. None of this stuff even makes any sense! Do I maintain full control or let it "flow"? This is ridiculous…_

Gritting her teeth a bit, Dael looked at the stone and brought the spell to mind. She tried her hardest to aim it forward, to zero in on the rock. She tried to apply a half dozen of the rules at once. Then, she began to call the power out. The arcane words spilled from her lips, and she aimed her hand up and pointed her palm straight at the rock. A moment later, the sky darkened momentarily before a white hot bolt snaked out.

It was aimed directly at the rock…at least, for a fraction of a second. Then it arched wildly one way, then another, then out again, then back, then over the rock again, then away, over the rock, and finally out wildly to one side. In other words, it acted just like what a real lightning bolt might do. Needless to say, it didn't even hit a single stone. It impacted the area nearby, hitting the main boulder, and the strength of the bolt was sufficient to immediately knock down the three nearest stones when it made impact.

Dael frowned as she lowered her palm. Taraketh, however, gave out an loud sigh from behind her.

"…I guess I was wrong." He muttered aloud. "You _do_ have a problem following orders, because you didn't do a single thing I told you."

Dael turned to him with an irritated look. "Well, it's kind of hard. You're telling me both to let the magic come naturally and to focus at the same time. Which is it?"

"Both!" Taraketh shot back as he began to step out past her toward where the boulder was, looking to reset the stones.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Dael retorted.

"It would if you had been doing this for ten to twelve years!" The High Child responded, reaching the boulder and beginning to set up the rocks again. "You need that sort of background before you even go practicing magic, especially if you're some military grunt! Why else did you think I thought it was a joke that you were practicing magic of _any_ kind?"

Dael struggled not to outburst at him again. Simply angrily retorting wasn't going to do any good. And so, she paused for a moment to try and collect herself before she said anything more. Crossing her arms and letting out a sharp exhale, she turned and looked behind her, deciding to use the second to see how the others were doing.

Carbuncle was watching everything by now. He was perched on a smaller boulder, half curled up, and smiling and waving at her. As for Bahamut, his interest was considerably less. He had his shortsword and buckler out, and was practicing moves with them. Dael couldn't help but watch him for a moment. Amazingly, he was doing extremely well. He seemed to know quite a few moves. Again she wondered if he could have gotten that from reading. He hadn't even been practicing with this kind of weapon exactly, and yet he was handling it like a pro, in her estimation. Other than that, the tents and the campground were fully set up now for the night. Everything had been stashed away and was ready to go.

There wasn't much to say about the journey that far. Using the aid of a GPS, the group began to make their way north to the tribe where Sorceress Cybus had been dispatched to. It was a familiar "staging ground" for the nomadic tribes of Fuliet, and being somewhat close to Esthar made the monsters that were there diminish considerably. As a result, at least one tribe was always there so long as game was plentiful. Dael hadn't gotten the story yet as to why Lady Cybus was out there, and for the moment it didn't matter. After all, they still had another full day of travel ahead of them before they could expect to get there. She only hoped the influence of the Sorceress among the people of Fuliet was strong. She didn't want to risk any hostility there. She was already not looking forward to the trip. They had been lucky so far and hadn't encountered any of the infamous monsters of this region, but she knew the luck wouldn't hold for the entire trip, especially with them making it on foot. She'd definitely keep a fire blazing tonight as well as a few other anti-monster countermeasures she had picked up before departing. Otherwise, she wouldn't sleep a wink.

Having calmed down sufficiently, Dael turned back to Taraketh. "Look…that doesn't help me. I'm trying to relax and focus at the same time. I can't do both!"

Taraketh, having just reset a rock, looked about to snap at her again. However, just as his mouth began to open, he relented. Calming slightly, he looked back and continued to put up rocks.

"…Listen good, because I'm trying to compress an early lifetime of magical training into a very short time period and I don't want to repeat myself." He stated crossly. "You're trying to focus in the way you're used to. You either focus physically or you focus mentally. You use different techniques for both. But you're trying to focus _spiritually_ now. You've got to relax yourself completely physically and mentally and react from a purely spiritual perspective. You've got to reach the point where you can find the natural mana flow through yourself and all other things around you. _That's_ the thing you need to seize and control."

Dael paused momentarily. Although Taraketh was presenting this in a rather rough manner, this part at least made a little sense. Sighing, she wiped some sweat off of her brow from the heat. "Alright…so how do I do that?"

"I don't know." Taraketh simply responded.

Dael's eyes widened, and she frowned more. "You're supposed to be the teacher here, and you don't even know that?"

Taraketh let out a groan as he finished setting up the last stone, and turned back to her. "I've been learning this stuff since before I was walking! Asking me to tell you how to control this is like me asking you how to move a finger! You don't know how you do it at this point…you just do it!" He paused momentarily here, but then seemed to compose himself a bit before he started walking back to her. "Look…that's the reason we spend so much time meditating and focusing. I guess that's how you can start. You need to silence everything else inside you and outside of you. You need to learn how to 'turn off' everything that's in your body and your head and just 'feel'. If you start doing that, then you should at least be able to start feeling things with your spirit, understanding how it moves. After that, you've got to somehow try to manipulate it…get to the point where you can direct it wherever you want it. That's the secret to good magic."

Dael tried not to roll her eyes. "Then how come I've never been able to use magic before now? How come being junctioned allows me to just 'skip' the early stuff and start throwing out spells now?"

"Because a Guardian Force allows you to basically access another individual's mana flow…one that is literally magic personified." Taraketh responded. "To them, it's everything. Not just the spirit but the mind and the body. If you want to do the same, if you want to enable magical ability of your own, you have to learn how to recognize it. You have to learn to get into your own spiritual flow. Otherwise you're hamstringing yourself from the start by relying on something else to supply you with the power you want. Just like everything else, a junction enhances everything about you, including your ability to call on magic. But it will always only be fundamental if you can't learn how to control it."

The young officer paused after hearing that. This was actually making more sense now. It didn't make it any easier, but it did make sense. It was still too metaphysical for her, however. She wasn't much for this "spiritual" stuff. Oh, a few classes back in the Academy tried to push the value of meditation and concentration, but she had skipped on those. She wasn't any good at it…and why should she be? It wasn't like you had a chance to "collect your thoughts" on a battlefield. This felt just like that, which meant she wasn't going to get anywhere soon. She couldn't just act like that and start doing these things. She thought most of it was a bunch of hokey beliefs that people who were trying to get closer to nature would go through…

_Wait a minute…nature…_

Taraketh, however, shook his head as he arrived next to her again. "This is a waste of time. You're entirely too old, without the slightest background. I doubt you can even train yourself to think and feel like a mage. Maybe if I had five years I could get _something_ out of you…"

"I think I got it now, actually." Dael responded. "I'm ready to try again."

Taraketh merely snorted, rolling his eyes. "Really now. You've 'got it'. After 60 seconds it just 'clicked' for you? Look, just forget it. Stick with your Mage Gun when you get bullets for it."

"No…I'm serious." Dael responded firmly, looking to Taraketh. "I think I can do it."

The High Child looked back down at her. He stared for a moment, then simply shrugged. "Fine. Go right ahead. Embarrass yourself again. It's nothing to me." After saying this, he crossed his arms and looked back to the rocks. Clearly, he expected her to fail completely again, and was waiting to give her another tongue lashing for it.

Dael, however, tried to put Taraketh from her mind. The truth was she didn't think she fully had a grasp on what he was saying. However…she thought maybe, just maybe, she had a way to get "in tune with her spirit", cheesy and that seemed. She knew well enough it wouldn't happen thinking about the High Child glaring over her shoulder, so for the moment she tried to ignore him fully and turned her attention entirely to the rocks, in particular the same target as before. Once there, she inhaled slowly and exhaled slowly, staring at it. After trying to get a mental image of it, she closed her eyes.

Dael didn't practice meditation regularly, but there was a certain time in which she did feel closer to something "higher". And that was back in the Academy days, when she broke off from the school, went out into the woods, headed to the seashore, and just took everything in. Not only there, but also when she was hiking through the desert, or out on the open sea. All of these times made her feel more peaceful, more controlled…clearer. She could almost get a sense of something flowing through everything. The wind blowing, the water crashing, even the soil and plants beneath her feet… It was a rare feeling. Usually, she just cleared her head. But sometimes, on rare occasions, she could almost feel as if everything was almost moving in relation to each other, like everything was drawing on everything else…even feel it flowing through her.

With that in mind, she tried to still herself as she had all those times before. It wasn't easy. She wasn't alone now, and she was in a much rougher place. It took her some time. A whole minute passed without her making much progress, and she thought she almost heard a sigh from Taraketh, as if she was doing nothing or wasting time. But then…however weakly…she began to get a sense of it even here. The wind moving every so slightly…the sun seeming to radiate down…the feeling of the rocks beneath her feet and the grass slowly going by… And, lastly, herself. She almost could picture herself melding with all of this, uniting with it and becoming part of it. As she thought of these things, Taraketh, Carbuncle, Bahamut, the camp, and everything else faded, gently drifting away. She only focused on the environment and everything moving through it, and how she was in relation to it.

For a brief moment…she almost could feel it moving through her too…as if she was a part of it…

At that moment, Dael's eyes snapped open. Almost without any conscious thought, effort, or action on her part, as if the world itself for a moment seized control of her and manipulated her, she aimed her palm at the rock and chanted the arcane words.

A few moments later, and the sky darkened again, before a bolt shot out from the sky and obliterated the rock.

It wasn't perfect and "neat", like Taraketh. The eruption sent enough shards out to knock down either rock on either side of the one she had just hit…but it was over twice as focused as her previous attempt, and it hit the target directly.

As the sky turned back to normal, Dael blinked a few times and shook her head. For a moment, she felt as if she had been sleepwalking, like what she had just done had been something in a dream rather than reality. In fact, it took her a few moments afterward to realize fully what she had just done. But as she looked out and saw that the rock was indeed destroyed, she was amazed. She had hit the target perfectly. She wasn't exactly sure how, but it had worked.

After a moment or so longer, she turned to the others, to see what their reactions were. She looked to Carbuncle first. The Guardian Force's ears had perked up, and he actually blinked a few times in surprise. One couldn't see the exact look on his face, but they could infer he was smiling. Bahamut, on his part, had actually paused in his practice and looked over with some interest. Then, her eyes went to Taraketh.

The High Child stood there opened mouthed, confirming what Dael had begun to think from the start. He had never intended for her to hit the mark. Perhaps he had at _some_ point, but definitely not today. He expected her to fail time and time again and to earn a berating each time. However, she had done it. The target had been struck perfectly.

After standing and staring a bit longer, Taraketh seemed to control himself more. "Yes…" He finally said. "Well…" Another pause. Finally, he reached up and pointed at the line of rocks. "You still knocked over the ones on the side. Your focus clearly needs a lot more work."

"Oh, put a sock in it." Carbuncle griped from where he was. Both Dael and Taraketh turned to him, just in time to see him waving a paw at Taraketh. "I may not know much about teaching mages to use magic, but that was great for a person who's had a grand total of one formal lesson. That actually hit the mark on the second try."

Taraketh frowned a bit. It was clear that he wanted to retort more sharply to that, but he was unable due to the situation, namely that he was addressing a Guardian Force. Instead, he took a moment to calm himself down, and then spoke more regularly. "…That may be so, Lord Carbuncle, but she still has a long way to go. Smashing a stone is one thing. She needs to be able to focus her spells to do more damage. Not only that, but this was in an ideal situation. Target practice, essentially. In a real conflict, she's going to need to be able to do these spells with numerous distractions. And it took her a few minutes just to get this one off."

"Oh, complaints, complaints, complaints." Carbuncle responded as he crossed his paws. "You still haven't admitted that she did great for her first time."

Taraketh flustered again. "She still needs some work…"

"But she did great for her first time."

"There's a lot of room for improvement…"

"_But_ she did great for her first time."

"…She can do a lot better-"

_"But she did great for her first time._ Just say it, man! Why is this like pulling teeth from you? Look, you don't even have to believe it! Just say, 'She did great for her first time'!"

Taraketh stood there a moment, blustering again. Dael herself had turned by now to fully face both of them at once. The High Child stood a bit longer, moistening his lips. After a few more moments, he finally began to say something.

"Compared to people four years younger than her, she's still got a long way to-"

"Ugh!" Carbuncle said, "facepawing". "You're hopeless! It's like it will literally kill you to say a compliment! Look…at least say she's above a person who just started. At least give her that."

Taraketh paused and rolled his eyes. "…Technically, yes, but-"

"Oh, but what?" Carbuncle griped back.

"But she's had a lesson, so naturally she's better than-"

"Ugh! It doesn't matter what you human do, what you belong to, or where you're from! You're all the same! Stubborn as brain-dead behemoths!"

"…If you two are finished arguing, perhaps we should do something about _them_."

Taraketh and Carbuncle, as well as Dael, all immediately stopped in mid-speech and turned to Bahamut when he abruptly interjected in the conversation, speaking for the first time. On looking to him, however, they saw that he was brandishing his sword and shield again, and rapidly stepping forward toward them. However, his eyes looked past them. Dael realized he was seeing something, but before she had a chance to act on it, she already heard a low growl from behind her. Soon after, she turned as well as Taraketh forward. They immediately tensed up as well at what they saw.

The region of Fuliet had many different animals and monsters living on it, including a wealth of predators, almost all of which were fully capable of killing humans. Although the worst were Fuliet Saurons and Tyrant Lizards, no less dangerous would be what was facing them now…a pack of Basilhounds. It was only a small pack, about three of them, but that wasn't saying much. They were ugly creatures, about the size of large, predatory canines and looking like them in many ways, or grossly twisted and deformed as if drawn by a bad artist. However, they were not, in fact, canines or felines of any type, despite being covered with bushy, black-gray hair. They were actually a breed of fur-bearing reptile. This was obvious from their claws and their identical, blade-like teeth. Yet in most other respects, they might as well have been canine, both in the way they behaved and organized in packs, as well as their speed. Their yellow eyes, in the dim light of the setting sun, seemed to almost gleam as they stared at them.

Dael stiffened on seeing them. She began to move her hand to her side…only to freeze. She had no weapons. No gun and no sword. She had put all her weapons in the tent. She was totally unarmed and defenseless…except for her magic, she soon realized. That was her only defense now. The Basilhounds, at the moment, were just standing there, seeming to size up their prey. Each one was more than large enough to tackle them to the ground and rip their throats out, but so long as they held back, there was time. Realizing that, Dael told herself to stay calm. She had to focus. She had to try and use the spell again…

But before she could, one of them gave a loud roar, and all three of them took off for the group.

Dael had just started trying to clear her mind again when it happened. She let out a small gasp, and immediately lost focus. The arcane words came out, and a moment later a mild bolt of lightning shot out through the air…but it hit nothing. It impacted far and to the side of the charging Basilhounds, and the bolt itself was so small it never would have done enough damage to leave an impact. She cursed herself, and tried to calm down again…but it was all but impossible now. And they had already closed half the distance. Their proximity only made her more nervous, breaking her normally steely concentration…

Another bolt went out, but it wasn't Dael this time. Instead, Taraketh had aimed his hand out at the nearest Basilhound and shot a potent bolt of electricity at it. Not only was it much larger, but it hit the mark dead on this time, right in the head. The monster immediately collapsed in a pile on the ground as every muscle in its body seized. Likely, it was sufficient voltage to stop the heart, the lungs, and the brain, assuming it didn't just fry it inside out. However, two were still coming…

Eschewing concentration and focusing, Dael simply grit her teeth and aimed out again, firing another bolt off. But even with the closer distance, it was no good. The bolt was weaker than before and off by an even larger margin. If that wasn't it…it felt as if all the blood rushed out of Dael's head a moment later. She abruptly became dizzy, and the world around her spun. She actually staggered a step backward, and lost her ability to focus. If Dael wasn't trying to simply stay on her feet, she'd realize what had happened. She was still just a beginner at spellcasting, and her repeated usage of spells during practice coupled with what she was doing now had drained her mental reserves. Even experienced spellcasters wouldn't use an excessive amount of magic in a small time period. Her doing it had pulled a "spiritual" muscle, and she faltered. She struggled to clear her thoughts, but to what wits were still functioning…she realized she was in trouble. She couldn't summon another spell, and the Basilhound headed for her was almost on her…

Then, as is just entered range to lunge at her, something happened. Abruptly, the ground beneath Dael gave a mighty shudder. A short range yet powerful quake erupted through the earth. Although Dael wasn't at the epicenter, she was already so dizzy and unbalanced that the cast off waves were enough to make her fall backward and land on her rear end. Still, she managed to keep enough wits to look in front of her toward the charging Basilhound…as a column of rock with a pointed tip burst forth and pierced him directly through the chest. Assuming that his heart and lungs weren't pierced immediately, it didn't matter. The column was potent enough to drive him up from the ground and leave his impaled body hovering in midair. The Basilhound itself gave a yelp before its lungs were pierced, but then it went silent. Evidentally, the blow had mortally injured it too…for it soon halted its movements and began to shed considerable blood down the rocky stake on which it was pierced, not even writhing.

Dael's senses were coming back, and so it took only a moment to realize that an earth magic spell had been what had killed the Basilhound…had been what had saved her. She nearly looked to Taraketh in surprise at that…but soon realized she hadn't the time. The final Basilhound was still incoming, and the monsters in Fuliet were so savage that even seeing its two pack members struck down by obviously non-normal phenomena didn't deter it. It continued to charge forward. It wasn't headed for Dael, but it was almost on the "line" that she and Taraketh had made. She looked to see if it was headed for him, and saw that, much like her, he had faltered to the ground and was holding himself up with one hand. His spells had been more powerful, and, as a result, Dael quickly realized, he was just as drained as her. That meant neither of them could combat this final monster…

But before she could begin to fear who would be the first target or wonder how they could get out of this, a blur came out of the corner of her peripheral vision. Spotting it, she began to turn into the direction of it, even as the Basilhound gave a roar and lunged, obviously to meet it. She looked over, and was just in time, after a brief instant, to spot Bahamut, sword and shield out, charging at the monster with a dark, cool, focused look.

For a hearbeat, Dael almost yelled out, expecting him to have his throat torn into by the savage monster. But before she could make any noise, the two collided…and in a way that stunned the Esthar's Hawk. Rather than simply become a target, Bahamut crouched as he dashed forward and brought his shield up and overhead. The Basilhound collided with it, but with a combination of their opposing momentums, a quick move by Bahamut himself, and a display of strength amazing for the 12 year old, he flipped the Basilhound up and over his body. But that wasn't all. As he did, he shortsword went up and gave a quick jab to the monster, piercing its leg, before swinging it over on top of him. The combination of pain to the monster as well as being thrown off balance left it crashing to the stony ground in a tumble.

The young officer was surprised at such a display, but the Basilhound wasn't dead yet. It immediately scrambled back onto its feet. Despite bleeding from a decent wound in its leg, it glared angrily at Bahamut. But the boy, not relishing in his small victory for an instant, had already spun around and brought his weapons to bear against the creature again. He actually had a moment to glare at it before the Basilhound let out a warped bark and charged him again. Once more, it lunged at him as it came near…but this time, Bahamut quickly pivoted to one side, bringing his buckler up to shield him while driving his sword out as well…and opened a large slash alongside the monster. Again, it collapsed to the ground, going for a bigger tumble this time, and spilling blood out over the rocks.

Bahamut swung his blade around and prepared himself yet again. The Basilhound, however, didn't spring up so quickly this time. It did get up, but it wobbled a bit as it did so, and stumbled on its own feet once or twice. Finally, it did get up, and, still not relenting, turned over to Bahamut and snarled at him again. At this point, there was so much blood and so many grevious injuries that the monster would probably die eventually anyway, but still it refused to back down, testifying to the ferocity of the monsters of Fuliet. Nevertheless…it held back momentary. Bahamut glared back at it, waiting.

Finally, it roared again and barreled straight at him. Bahamut, this time, held his ground, waiting for it to get closer. He didn't pivot or brace himself immediately. However, as it prepared to lunge yet again, albeit lower this time, he tensed up his muscles, and shifted slightly to one side. The beast surged toward him, but as it did, the boy swung the buckler out for the side of his head with all the force he could muster. Had the Basilhound still been at full strength, it wouldn't have been enough…but the young man's training as well as the monster's weakness was enough to deflect his head and body to one side. When that happened, Bahamut drove his sword forward into the side of the monster's neck…piercing a main vein, artery, and slicing into the spinal cord. While doing so, he twisted along with the monster, and used its own momentum to rip the blade out again in another gouging slash.

The Basilhound, meanwhile, collapsed to the ground again in another heap…and this time writhed only weakly once before completely collapsing. Its blood continued to fountain forth. It was dead.

A moment of silence lasted over the field. Dael, by now, had fully recovered from her spell of dizziness. When she did, she rose to her feet readily, and looked over everything. The three-member pack was dead. There wasn't a sound of any more of them in the area. She looked over to Taraketh soon after, who also got to his feet. He seemed a bit dizzier, however, and put a hand to his head and balanced himself as he rose. Dael looked to Bahamut next, who finally showed some signs of humanity. Now that the moment had passed, he was breathing a bit harder, and he raised one of his arms a bit weakly, indicating muscle strain, as he wiped his brow. Even so, after doing that, he began to readily walk back to the camp without a word, presumably to clean his blade. As he walked in that direction, Carbuncle, who was still hanging back this entire time in more or less the same position, blinked a few times, then let out a whistle at Bahamut.

"Phew…boy, what have you been eating?" He asked him. "Man…that's not bad. I'm kind of glad I didn't go to Leuco if the malnourished kids they turn out end up like you. Nifty style you had back there."

"I told you I could pull my own weight on this trip." Bahamut simply responded as he kept walking, passing Carbuncle and heading on to the tents.. "And I needed the practice before we went into a real fight."

The green creature snickered a bit and shrugged, before turning back to Dael and Taraketh. "Kid can't even take a compliment right… I tell you what, from what I know, he's got Bahamut's demeanor down pat."

Bahamut didn't even indicate he heard, walking back close to the tents and his cleaning equipment. Soon, he was seated and beginning to wash the blood off of his sword and buckler.

Dael watched him a bit longer, honestly still amazed. She knew the kid was good at training, but this had been live combat. He never even showed any fear. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing the entire time. More than that, he seemed like he had actually done it before. But he couldn't have. Leuco had mutations, but not nearly of the same ilk as the Basilhounds. This wasn't any self-training…the boy had to have experience. But how…?

At any rate, Dael didn't dwell on it. Bahamut was right about one thing. He definitely wasn't defenseless. He was a bit too weak to go against a veteran soldier, but he could definitely hold his own in a fight if he had done that. He might even be able to last a bit against one of the Fuliet warriors of the Nine Bands of the North, and that was saying something. This provided one less concern for Dael to focus on. For now, she shoved aside the fact that she had no idea how he had done this, and merely accepted that he had.

With that in mind, she turned her full attention back to Taraketh.

The young man was already on his feet again, beating some dust from his robes. On seeing this, Dael, determined not to show herself off as the "weak link" of the group, readily stood as well. She cursed a bit to herself when she realized she was still dizzy on arising. However, there was nothing she could do about it now. She may have been at the peak of mental and physical training, but spiritual training was, obviously, something where she still pulled muscles. She'd just have to get better. And, as the example just showed, she _did_ have to get better. She wasn't much good with magic at the moment. At least she had taken her first step with the rocks.

The High Child finished cleaning himself off. After doing so, he turned to Dael. He began to open his mouth to speak.

Before a word could come out, she cut him off.

"If you're about to rub it in my face that I don't know anything about spellcasting, that I'm pathetic at it, that I have a very long way to go, etc….please, save your breath." She said in a somewhat annoyed tone as she held a hand up to him. "I get it. I wasn't able to hit the Basilhounds in a combat situation, and if I had it probably wouldn't have been enough to kill them. I need a lot more practice…I'm completely inadequate…I'm a failure as a spellcaster…I'm a stupid grunt…all that. You were right, I was wrong. So can we please save it this time?"

She paused momentarily after this, and finally groaned.

"…And while we're at it, thank you for helping me back there."

The field and campground was silent momentarily after Dael managed to finish her speech. The wind blew by again, and the sun, dipping beneath the horizon, had begun to turn the sky purple. No one said anything. Carbuncle was staring at the two, and Bahamut had even paused in cleaning his sword. That left Dael, looking somewhat exasperated, and staring at Taraketh, who, a bit surprised by this sudden diatribe, had gone silent and was standing there looking back. If anything, he seemed almost a little stunned by everything…but especially the last bit. Dael wasn't even sure why she said it. Probably because the cold shoulder and getting angry hadn't helped anything. She figured she should try something new for a change. Still, Dael didn't expect much of it. She expected a smug reply or some bragging or something along those lines to cause more tension and anger between the two.

However, in the end, Taraketh surprised her slightly. Swallowing a bit, he looked away from her for a moment, and then simply began to move over to a few of his things he had sat out.

"…Well, you pretty much nailed all of it…no need for me to go over it again." He stated. "You just better keep practicing or there may not be a next time." He was silent for a moment after that, going over to pick up his cloak and clasp from another boulder. He picked it up and began to tuck it under one arm, before hesitantly looking around for a few moments. In the end, he croaked out something small.

"…You're welcome."

Turning away, he began to walk back to the camp.

Dael had to pause a bit first. She was genuinely stunned. It seemed to have taken weeks of discussion, discipline by his superiors, and Carbuncle having him make a fool out of himself, but it seemed as if Taraketh was finally showing a sign of easing up. He had even said "you're welcome". She wondered what the breaking point had been. Maybe he finally got tired of spending so much time with her and staying on hostile terms…that he learned that it was better to grin and bear it. At any rate, Dael couldn't really complain. If it kept another argument from breaking out and left them on good terms, then she was all for it. Maybe they could make it through this trip without another major incident or blow-up.

With that in mind, Dael finally managed to relax as well. It was getting late. Much as she wanted to keep practicing, she wasn't foolish enough to stay out in the dark. She'd have more time tomorrow…and, hopefully, she'd be able to do something well by the end of that day…

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	23. One More for the Road

The next two days were not without incident, but it was nothing the group couldn't handle. As far as sleeping outside, technologies had been in place for thousands of years, both based on old herbal remedies and "warding" fields as well as modern machines, to keep monsters away from campgrounds. Esthar's Hawks would normally set up a few stakes of ultrasonic projectors that would cause a stabbing headache in anything with a brain that converged in the fields of resonance. That took care of almost all monsters by itself, but a few other countermeasures protected the group from anything else. (For example, flan monsters had no true nervous system to damage, but spreading out a saline chemical around the site would cause them to dissolve if they tried to cross it.) However, Taraketh handled it this time. He used the more traditional method of creating wards using remains of certain monsters and staking them around the camp, creating a heavy scent of something that the creatures of Fuliet didn't like. Effective and age-old, and modern versions of it were sold in stores. The only problem was that neither typically lasted for more than one night, so you had to buy multiple ones in things called "Tent Packs" or, even more loosely, "Tents" even though no actual sleeping gear was involved. However, Taraketh seemed to have enough, and they were safe at night.

The day was a different matter. Getting up early to get walking also meant they'd be more prone to attack by wildlife, and bright and early more Basilhounds tried to ambush them. However, now possessing weapons, they dealt with them far more easily. Still, Dael used the opportunity to try striking one with lightning again. She missed.

"Just use your weapons." Taraketh stated after the battle was over. "You're too poor at spellcasting to try and take them down with magic."

"I may be several years behind true mages," The young officer answered. "But I'm not about to get better by not using all the opportunities I can get to practice. Rocks don't fight back."

Taraketh said nothing…but at least he didn't snort or scoff at her.

That was only the first of several attacks during the day, including ones by Fuliet Saurons, Death Harpies, Skull Beetles, and even an Ochu that was somehow able to grow in this miserable section of the world. The last one genuinely surprised Dael, seeing as the region only grew more desolate and rocky as they went further north. She wasn't sure, even if it had managed to take root, how it had gotten so strong considering the lack of water. It was definitely arid the further they went, although not quite as bad as, say, the Pallas Desert. There was enough for some dry scrub and vegetation in whatever nooks and crannies had sufficient grounds to accumulate a little soil. To be honest, Dael was honestly surprised that anything could live there, or that all of the monsters could be so plentiful. There had to be something here establishing a proper "food chain", but she had no idea what.

When they came to a stop for the night, Dael went at practice again. She continued to work on being able to calm and still herself and use her power on target rocks. She managed to decrease the "set up" time by a few seconds, but it was still far from as automatic as Taraketh. Even her "good ones" still weren't as focused as his either. She worked until she was exhausted, but it was clear she still needed more practice, and that when she encountered the next Guardian Force, she would have to rely more on her enhanced body and physical weapons. She grimaced at the thought… If she had gone in with that strategy and only her sword against Quetzacoatl, the only thing she would have made would have been a spectacular lightning rod.

The next morning, bright and early, they got up and headed out again. It was more of the same for a while, but partially into their journey they passed by the banks of the Nilostyx, the "lifeblood of Fuliet". It wasn't the biggest river in the world, but it did wind its way through the Fuliet region. About the only way any life could get by was on the shores of the Nilostyx as it wound through the region. The meandering motions eroded the rough landscape and rock to create most of the fertile soil in the area, and a few grasses and shrubs grew near the bends in the river. Plus, there was the simple fact that it was the only source of water for most of the region, other than a few ponds fed by rainwater and underground streams. Even so, it was lethal too. Naturally, most of the monsters hung near the banks in search of prey as well as water, and so they had to steer fairly clear of it. Nevertheless, it was a fact known to Dael that the tribes of Fuliet never went far from the Nilostyx or a pond. Water was too important, and it was the only source of vegetation. It was a signal that they were getting close.

As it turned out, it wasn't much longer before they did finally made contact.

The three (four including Carbuncle) were moving along on another ground path that wound its way through several rocky hills. It wasn't yet noon, but it was getting hot again, much like yesterday. They were showing some signs of weariness, but not much. The going was still rather smooth as they went along, and they could go farther without a break. Dael herself wiped her brow as she went around a larger hill, and noticed that the ground continued to move in a fairly straightforward fashion up ahead. In fact, the path seemed almost a little ground down. It was a good sign to her. Perhaps they were going into something more well traveled.

However, as she looked up, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. The halting caused the others to almost run into her, but they managed to stop fairly readily as well.

"What's wrong?" Bahamut asked.

Dael kept her eyes forward and up. A moment later, she gestured in the distance. "I think we're here. Look."

Bahamut, Taraketh, and Carbuncle did so. Far in the distance, perched on one of the rocky hills so that he formed only a mere shadow, but nevertheless had a very good view of the valley and the surrounding area, was a single individual. It was impossible to make him out too accurately due to the distance, but he stood straight and tall with a spear perched near him, and some sort of oblong object hanging from his hip. Although one couldn't be absolutely certain, he seemed to be staring at them.

"Oh look, someone to meet us." Carbuncle spoke up. "Maybe they'll help us with our luggage…"

"Not likely." Dael responded a bit less cheerfully. "Probably one of the tribe's lookouts. And it's safe to say we've been spotted by him."

"We're a little small for an attack party," Bahamut threw in. "If you're insinuating they may not like us being here."

"The tribes of Fuliet aren't exactly known for being the most reasonable of people, and civilian or not, they can probably tell we're not from around here." Dael responded. "Even if we were from one of the neighboring tribes, there'd still be a good chance they'd greet us with arrowheads."

"Maybe they won't care?" Carbuncle suggested with a shrug. "I mean, if he didn't like us, wouldn't he-"

At that moment, the shadow pulled the oblong object from his hip. As he held it to his head, he revealed it to be some sort of animal horn fashioned into a trumpet of sorts. Immediately, he blew on it loud and long, sending a blaring note through the entire landscape that echoed up and down the valley.

The green creature sighed. "…have sounded an alarm?" He finished lamely.

"Just stay calm and let me handle this." Taraketh instructed them. "Lady Cybus should already be in their midst and almost all of the tribes in Fuliet tolerate the presence of the Order of Hyne. So long as they can see clearly that we're here to see her, they should let us through."

Dael felt like rolling her eyes on hearing Taraketh's speech, which was more or less, "Since I'm here with you, I'll take care of everything". However, she forced herself to realize that it probably wasn't a pompous statement. Out of the four of them, Taraketh was probably the most easily acceptable, being of the Order of Hyne. The tribes would probably assume they were all from Esthar by default, but the Order of Hyne might give them pause. Furthermore, Taraketh was likely the only one who spoke the language. Dael had been required to study up on knowing at least the major tongue spoken in Fuliet, which was known among 80% of the tribes, but it was far harder to learn than "younger" languages and she hadn't had a whole lot of time to study as of late. About the only thing she could understand at the moment was how to ask them if they spoke the common language, which wasn't very helpful. She supposed she would have to rely on him.

At any rate, Dael led them on a bit further. So long as they weren't being yelled at to "halt" and they were moving at a calm, normal pace, she didn't see anything wrong with it. For about half a minute, it didn't seem as if they had anything to worry about. The lookout kept staring at them, but didn't make any hostile moves.

However, after that time, Dael picked up an incoming noise. She was able to dismiss it only for a moment before it became loud enough to not be passing or her imagination. She stopped in her tracks, and the others stopped with her again. The noise, however, grew louder, and Dael soon recognized it as the trampling of large feet. Not long after that, she looked ahead to the source of the noise and saw herself looking down the beaten path. She saw nothing at first, but soon a company became visible coming up a slope that led to a lower valley just ahead.

They were a lot like the warriors Dael had seen during her first mission. (Remembering that was a bit of a surprise in and of itself. It had been less than six months ago but felt like years.) Each one was dressed in somewhat different attire with different weapons and colors, automatically tipping Dael off that this was, again, the Nine Winds of the North rather than a single tribe. This time, however, they were mounted. Each one was on the back of a chocobo. However, they all were dressed for war and, as they grew closer, Dael saw that they had grim faces as well. Even their chocobos seemed to lack the standard "mood" that they were in and be more of a grim sort. Dael had to suppress the urge to tense up as they neared, especially when she saw that there were a dozen of them. Guns and cannon hadn't scared them off months ago, so she doubted the four of them were terribly intimidating. She might have rested her hand on her sword hilt if she hadn't noticed one thing. Bahamut, steely and cool as he had become, left his own weapons untouched. He was staying calm. Not wanting to be outdone by a kid with no military experience, Dael kept her hands off.

Soon, the chocobos reached them. The dust clouds they kicked up began to wave over the four, especially as the warriors led them to march in a circle around the group. Dael looked up to them without showing fear or anger, but she didn't like how cooly they were staring back at them. Each one of the mounted warriors had a cruel-looking weapon made out of bone, stone, and wood out and hefted them in one hand as they guided their mounts around the four. If Dael didn't have so much focus, she definitely would have been intimidated. This was especially true as they continued to circle them like a pack of predators even after reaching them, not saying anything as they kept doing so. Still, Dael was patient, and Taraketh used the opportunity to move up next to her.

The warriors circled for a bit longer, before one finally halted. Like a chain, it caused the others to stop as well. The warrior looked down at Taraketh and Dael, since they were both in front. He was dressed in reptilian hides and armor, and his own mask and helmet seemed to be carved from the upper half of the head of a Fuliet Sauron. Not long after stopping, he immediately began to speak to them. However, it was in his native language, so Dael caught little of it. What she did pick up on, both from his tone, his pacing, and the look on his face, was that he was angry and sharp about something.

At any rate, he soon stopped. When he did, Taraketh began to speak up in response. Dael didn't understand him any more than she had understood the warrior, but she could tell he was speaking nice and slow, very measured and calm, even pleasant. It was a marked contrast from what Dael was used to coming from him, but it was appropriate. After all, they weren't trying to be hostile. And this did prove that Taraketh could be diplomatic when he wanted to be, which was nice. After his behavior at Lamb Temple, Dael had begun to wonder if Taraketh was capable of reining himself in to use tact. However, she supposed it depended on the situation, or the individual. She was glad for it in this particular case. She was quite powerful herself, but even with the training of an Esthar's Hawk as well as the junction of a Guardian Force, Dael wasn't naïve enough to believe she could easily take down twelve people who spent every day of the year living on rocks and in fear of some vicious monster eating them whole.

Taraketh soon finished, and Dael flinched a bit when the warrior, in turn, spat back at him more venomously and actually hefted his spear more. However, Taraketh remained calm. Once the retort was over, he spoke again still in the calm, measured, and even subordinate tone. After he was done, there was another response. It wasn't as sharp or furious this time, but still with an undertone of anger. This went on back and forth, and unfortunately there was little Dael could do other than stand aside and gauge the reactions of the other people around for a change in hostility that indicated that something was going wrong. She didn't pick up on any of it, but it didn't mean that it might not change in an instant. She wished more than ever that she knew at least a few more words of the language to get what was going on, but unfortunately she soon realized that it wouldn't have mattered. They weren't speaking the more widespread language, but likely one of the minority languages. It was another plus to Taraketh that he knew that one as well.

The discussion couldn't have lasted more than a minute or two, but it seemed as if they were in negotiations for over half an hour. However, in the end, after one of Taraketh's statements, the warrior went silent. Through his Sauron mask, he looked over the group momentarily, looking at each individual. He spent quite a bit of time looking at Carbuncle, who seemed almost insulted by the staring, but said nothing. At any rate, after a few more minutes ticked by, the warrior looked back to Taraketh. After that, he said one more thing to him, short and to-the-point this time, and then pulled on the reins of his chocobo to turn it. He gave it a light kick to get it moving away from the group. The other warriors soon did the same, and soon they were all pulling out in front of them.

As they left the others behind, Dael looked to Taraketh. "What did he say?" She asked.

Taraketh opened his mouth to response, but moment's before he could…Bahamut interjected.

"He said he'll give us a berth for the time being and told us to follow him into the encampment."

Dael, Taraketh, and even Carbuncle turned and looked to Bahamut in surprise. The boy, however, simply stood there and looked back, not looking at all unsettled. After a moment, he simply shrugged. "What?"

"You speak the Dajuri language?" Taraketh asked incredulously.

"Enough to get the gist of what they were saying, yes." Bahamut calmly responded. "Why? Is that a problem?"

Taraketh continued to stare. "It took me two years to get the proper inflections down in that language to be able to differentiate between most of their words…"

"I did more than just research the espers when I was in that library." Bahamut responded. "I spent a considerable amount of time researching this world and its peoples as well. It wouldn't do much good for me to come back to life here and not even be able to interact with everyone. In this body, I can't just mind-probe for any information I need. Now are we going to get going or what?"

Taraketh was still clearly amazed and dumbfounded. Dael would have been as well if she would have realized just how hard some of these tribal languages were to learn. The reason the one she had been studying was so widespread was because it had the greatest ease of being learned across cultures. The tongue being used by the warriors was far worse. At any rate, since she wasn't, she soon nodded back and began to walk after the warriors. Bahamut immediately followed behind, as did Carbuncle. Taraketh, realizing he was being left in the dust, finally let it go and walked after them. Within a few moments, as the warriors arranged themselves and walked along, their company was following behind.

Dael was a bit amazed, even if not so much as Taraketh. Bahamut was showing off his intelligence again. She was amazed at how sophisticated and smart he was for his age… Perhaps she should have pushed him toward Esthar's Hawks. If he was this good at age 12, there was little chance he'd be rejected by the Academy as a special case, and he'd make an excellent Hawk later in life. Still, she had more pressing concerns.

"I may not speak 'Dajuri' or whatever language that was, but I could tell just from the nature of the conversation that there was a lot more to it than simply: 'Follow us'." She stated to Taraketh. "What else did they say?"

"It seems it's a good thing Lady Cybus is here." Taraketh responded. "These warriors are highly on edge and very aggressive at this point. They immediately branded us as intruders, and I'm not sure what exactly they planned to do…although I can tell you it wasn't just let us continue on our way. They considered us illegals even being on this land, foreign invaders almost."

Dael frowned. "Maybe if they had true border security, that wouldn't have happened. It's not exactly like we've run into anyone lately who was 'checking for passports'."

"At any rate, I explained what we were doing here. It's not unheard of for Children of Hyne to be doing what we were doing, making pilgrimages to Guardian Force sites. They didn't care at first, but when I mentioned that we needed to make contact with Lady Cybus, they eased up a bit."

"That's just silly." Carbuncle snorted. "If we're an invasion force, we're pretty bad at it. We aren't even decent enough for a team of spies."

"They seemed to be distracted." Taraketh threw in. "Like something else was more pressing on their minds. I couldn't tell you what, but I'm betting it has to do with Lady Cybus' own mission."

"Fuliet isn't exactly the most organized, uniform, or lawful region in the world." Dael mentioned. "It's nothing new that there's a major conflict. Probably another one of the intertribal issues that pop up every year."

Taraketh gave a snort of his own at that. "I doubt it's that simple. While the Order of Hyne doesn't approve of any of their intertribal warring, we don't try to respond to every disagreement, normally because it's between two tribes, both are 'in the wrong', so to speak, and they refuse outside mediation. This must be something that impacts several tribes."

Dael regretted that she hadn't been in Esthar long enough lately to read about any changes in the region, and therefore was somewhat ignorant of anything that had made national news. Still, that in and of itself wasn't likely. Most reporters weren't brave enough to risk being stepped on by a Neo Brachiosaur or devoured by a Tyrant Lizard just to tell people that the tribes of Fuliet were doing the same thing they had been doing for 200 years, namely killing each other. Nevertheless, she stayed silent at this point as they walked along.

The path was smooth. Apparently, it had been beaten for a while. Since all of the tribes in Fuliet were nomadic, moving with the seasons, the sources of water, and the prey populations, there were no permanent settlements or need for roads. However, there were some paths that wound through the region, and sites that were popular. Dael assumed they were headed for one right now. As it turned out, they were already fairly close. The land quickly sloped down, revealing the valley below, and before they had gone even a quarter of a mile, Dael could already see a new sight coming up in the distance.

To be honest, Dael was a bit surprised. In her studies, she had seen separate tribes of Fuliet and photographs of the same. Many of them had their own colors and standards, which helped in recognizing if a tribe was friendly or hostile from a distance. However, this was something else all together. There were no less than four separate tribes stationed next to the banks of a bend in the river just up ahead. It was easy to tell them apart. Each one kept to its own "region", and the temporary architectural styles varied greatly, with one tribe being more angled and another being more dome like. Even the pens for the tribes that utilized chocobos or other animals were kept separate and far from each other, spread distantly along the banks of the river so that none of the birds had to worry about crossing over each other when they drank. One tribe alone was usually sufficient to create a major sprawl, but four tribes, naturally, filled up the landscape pretty much as far as Dael could see, especially since they weren't at a great elevation. There had to be hundreds of tents below, and many tribespeople and warriors wandering about them.

In short order, the warriors began to move the group to the edge of the community, and started to lead them right in. They repositioned themselves in the process, surrounding them rather than letting them walk unguarded. Dael wasn't sure to be happy or sad about that. On one hand, it was unsettling, but on the other hand, having them surrounding them gave a sense of ease to the rest of the community members. As such, they gave the four a passing look, but then went about their business. It was far easier to have to deal with twelve hostile individuals than a few thousand of them.

It was a fairly typical tribal setting. People were mostly going about work that pertained to tanning and dressing kills, getting the various things they needed from them. A few were harvesting the small plants and shrubs in the area for various items. A notable thing that was lacking was large enough pieces of wood to make longer objects such as tent posts and poles, so bone was substituted. After all, the Fuliet region had more than enough large animals to fulfill such a task, although getting some of the bones might have been a bit hard. However, one could detect a skeletal structure in most things. Although a bit unsettling, every tribe in Fuliet had some capacity for "boneworking". They had to. It was one of the more plentiful materials on hand.

The spaces between the tents were trampled out and more even, making even more solid paths than before. As Dael wandered into them, growing a bit uneasy as they were surrounded by more and more of the community, she did look around a bit and noticed that almost everyone was armed. Considerable numbers of warriors were moving around. Even the villagers kept some sort of weapons at their sides. That was never a good sign. She knew enough from studying the Fuliet culture that, rough as the landscape was, one didn't always keep a weapon on them.

That situation was reserved for when a conflict was looming.

That didn't set well with Dael any more than her current situation, however, she tried not to think about it.

The four were led on a bit farther, passing racks that served as crude looms, places for drying skins and scales, pens for small personal lifestock that could be carried along, and even a practice ground for hunters in training. Yet at long last, they seemed to come to something of a clearing. The tents spread out quite a bit, and one conspicuously large yurt was just up ahead. This one, unlike the others, seemed to be flying several standards at once, indicating the only true tent that appeared to be "general purpose" for the entire community. With the tribes living in such close proximity, it seemed to make sense that they would have an area where they would all meet together to keep conflicts to a minimum. Even in an area as lawless as this, if the tribes simply wanted to coexist that was a necessity. But it still didn't answer _why_ they would be so close together.

The warriors brought them to a halt in front of the tent. The leader turned and said something short to Taraketh that Dael couldn't make out, other than it seemed to be a one word phrase. After that, he turned forward to the yurt and walked inside, leaving them with the original eleven. Dael, trained to keep her own eyes forward, did so, but she managed to scan the warriors with her peripheral vision and saw that they were much the same. As a result, she simply looked forward and waited.

After a few more moments, the tent flaps pushed aside again. The warrior emerged again, and had someone with her.

At first glance, it was just another person…or, at the worst, someone ill-suited to the region. She seemed a little too much on the thin side, but was fairly tall. She had deep, dark blue eyes like the ocean, and her hair was blond and wavy, seeming to have some volume to it. Although she had a young look about her, she was clearly in her late thirties, definitely looking older and more "mature" than the other Sorceresses. She was dressed in light clothing for the region that was similar to the robes that the Order of Hyne members normally wore, although somewhat more "functional". She wasn't wearing the clasp, cloak, or insignia that they normally wore to indicate rank, however. Still, if one took a closer look, they could hardly mistake her for a Child of Hyne. That was obvious from her eyes. Just as with the previous ones of her kind, Dael felt like something had practically slapped her in the face when she saw her emerge. She only managed to keep her face because she was growing used to it. Again, a powerful aura washed over her, and, aside from the one that Mianyl herself possessed, this one was the most potent. It too was different. It had almost a cool feeling to it, like being in rushing water. Still, it was powerful, almost like a current to push one downstream. Furthermore, the eyes were unnaturally vivid, far more than they should have been. Against the dry, desolate landscape, they seemed to gleam like a pair of jewels.

Finally, and this was something that Dael knew to look for, there were her hands. They weren't the fully-developed claws like Mianyl possessed…but her fingernails were unnaturally long and slightly hooked none the less, testifying to how much power this one had over the other two. She assumed her toes were much the same, although they were concealed in shoes that Dael noticed were slightly larger than they should have been. Finally, this Sorceress was famous enough to the point where Dael recognized her from pictures. She operated heavily both in Fuliet and Northern Esthar, after all.

Sorceress Cybus…also known as Cybus the River.

The woman looked at the group for only a fraction of a second before she let out a sigh. She actually held a hand to her face and shook her head slightly. After that, she quickly began to move out and spoke to the warrior again in a firm voice in his native tongue. He tried to protest, but she cut him off and spoke more firmly. The warrior paused after that, but then frowned slightly and exhaled as well. He looked to the other warriors and gestured to them. Immediately, the other eleven moved away, leaving the group open. Soon after, Cybus began to move up to them. As she neared, Dael again felt the powerful aura radiating off of her, but by now was able to stand up to this sort of thing without balking, and so she maintained her position.

"I'm so sorry for that…" The Sorceress sighed. "Tensions are at an all-time high and trust is at an all-time low in Fuliet. Thank heavens you mentioned my name when you came in. Some of the warriors are getting 'trigger happy' or 'bowstring happy' or whatever you want to call it…and this isn't a good country for visitors right now. I'm just lucky myself that I have a good relationship with most of the tribal heads."

Taraketh wasted little time as she approached them. Immediately, he dropped into a kneel before the Sorceress. Dael, spotting this, didn't go to the same measures, but she did give a bow as a sign of respect. It was a bit awkward, and the moment caught them off guard. After all, they were just coming out of a situation where they had practically been prisoners. As a result, it took a little bit to be able to show the proper decorum. At any rate, Cybus didn't focus too much on Dael first off. She continued to close, and came up in front of Taraketh. He bowed his head to her momentarily, but then raised it again. When he did, she was at a halt in front of him. Her look that had been tired suddenly turned into a smile, and she held out a hand to him, apparently to help him up.

"It's been a while, Taraketh. How have you been?"

The young man, in response, took her hand long enough to kiss it, but then rose to his feet. Dael soon saw something from him that she hadn't expected…a smile.

"I've been doing well, my lady. I've learned quite a bit since I saw you last."

"You're looking much stronger as well, dear." Cybus responded, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder briefly. "You're taking good care of Lady Mianyl, yes?"

Taraketh hesitated momentarily, but didn't lose his smile and nodded back. "Of course, my lady."

"Of course you are." Cybus echoed back with the same smile. "I'd trust her ladyship with you over a thousand other High Children." After saying this, however, her smile faltered slightly. "Nothing would please me more than to just catch up with you right now, Taraketh…but, unfortunately, I'm severely pressed for time and you arrived at a bad moment. I only have a few minutes before the person I'm conferring with inside loses her patience, so we should get right to it." She turned to the others, in particular Dael. "You must be Lt. Commander Levinson, yes?"

The young officer looked up. She paused momentarily, however. "…Actually, it's just Ms. Levinson, my lady. I'm off duty."

Immediately, Cybus gave a nod. "Oh yes, right, right… Of course." She said with a bit of a smile. Soon after, she looked to the green creature. Immediately, she gave a bit of a graceful bow to him as well. "And this must be Sir Carbuncle. It's a true honor."

Carbuncle, in response, let out a contented sigh. "You know…no matter how many times that happens…heh, I never get bored with it."

Dael tried not to roll her eyes in response. As for Lady Cybus, she simply rose and turned her head one more time, this time to Bahamut. Here, she began to look a bit confused. "And…who might you be?"

Bahamut looked expressionlessly back, but before he could possibly do something out of line, Dael immediately interjected. "This is my ward, Bahamut. I'm not sure if you heard all of the details from Sir Sabian's mission to Follett, but we ran into each other there and I've been acting as his caretaker ever since. I couldn't leave him alone back in Esthar when I came here."

Cybus clearly showed no familiarity with the tale, but she nodded. "I understand. It's just a bit unconventional. This place is highly dangerous. I wouldn't bring most Children of Hyne here if I could avoid it."

"Hey, don't sweat it, lady." Carbuncle answered with a grin in response…immediately making Taraketh go a bit wide-eyed and look to him at the breach in respect. "This kid can handle himself really well with that sword and buckler of his. You'd be really surprised. Besides, he's got us to look out for him."

The Sorceress paused a bit longer, eventually turning to Taraketh. The High Child was still trying to calm down a bit by the green creature's abrupt response, but he nodded. "He's a good physical combatant, despite his age. And he hasn't been in any danger with myself and Lt. Co…Ms. Levinson here."

Cybus was quiet only for a moment longer, but then smiled. "Well, if he's cleared by you, Taraketh, then I know he's in good hands and I'll take you at your word. Anyway…" She turned to the rest of the group. "I am Lady Cybus the River. I apologize for not looking more formal to greet you properly, but most of our standard attire is ill-suited to this climate and terrain. So that we don't waste too much time, I'll hurry up and explain what I'm currently doing here. As Sir Sabian knows, and as I'm sure you must know as an Esthar's Hawk, Ms. Levinson, it's rare that the Order of Hyne sends in a Sorceress to mediate a conflict in this region."

Dael nodded. "Yes…unless it involves something that impacts multiple tribes."

Cybus gave a wistful smile and nodded in response to that. "You've hit it, dear. You might be aware that the 'Northern Rancor' this year in Fuliet was especially horrendous. The worst in recorded history. Worse yet, the predator populations are still highly elevated even now. The die-offs haven't been happening as quickly as we hoped. As a result, every tribe, from the greatest to the smallest, is feeling the hardship. No one is feeling it worse than the Nine Winds of the North. They've endured many tragic losses already this year against creatures both superior in number and uncommonly violent.

"The worst part about times like this is that it makes just about everything a 'hot button' issue, from where are the best places to settle to who gets priority over hunting grounds to even interactions along the established pathways throughout the region. These sort of situations can prove to be the proverbial 'straws that break the chocobo's back'. Tensions that might have been lying just below the surface for years might suddenly break out at any moment. Needless to say, this is an extremely terse situation. And there's a dominant line of thinking, unjustified, of course, from the more untrusting tribal leaders that the 'civilized world' might use this opportunity to push them off their land, exploit them, or something of that nature."

"My lady."

Dael had to hide her surprise. She nearly jumped at what she suddenly heard. The voice hadn't come from any member of her group or the warriors that had escorted them, but rather from someone she hadn't even known was there. The words themselves, which seemed to come out of nowhere, weren't nearly as distressing as the fact that when her head snapped to the source, the tent flap, she was stunned to see someone there. She hadn't even seen this person come out or arrive. Had he been out the entire time?

He had a very dark, very rough look about him. His jaw was squared and had a thin amount of stubble on it, but his face, his chin, and his exposed, muscular arms underneath his sleeves showed the presence of countless scars. One particular scar ran up from the left of his eyes up into his scalp, and his hair was adjusted in such a way to cover up where it had been damaged and no hair grew further. His eyes were narrow, cool, and focused. Even though now wasn't too much of a serious time, it seemed to be his natural state. No joy or mirth could be found on him. He had a goatee without a mustache, thick and black that seemed to stand out a bit from the rest of his hair. His clothing seemed to be an odd mix of clothing from cities as well as clothing from the wild, such as hides or thin animal fur. He also seemed to have a band around his waist with a few charms made out of various animal parts, such as bone or feathers. He was unarmed at the moment, but his weapon was likely within the tent. Lastly, his entire body was a solid piece of muscle, toned and firm. He was just enough to be a bit "ripped", but not enough to look as if his muscle hampered him in any way in regards to movement. In other words, the perfect build.

Dael recognized this one almost as quickly as she recognized the Sorceress, if not faster. After her encounter with Jalab, she made it a point of studying up on who was considered the world's strongest warriors. One was standing before her right now who topped the list: Aizel Kite, Sorceress Knight to Cybus the River.

Before Dael had gained her own junction to Carbuncle, Aizel had been a focus of Esthar's Hawks, considered the best example to show what kind of power the Order of Hyne could possess. Although it was never confirmed if he was junctioned or not, the reports were staggering to say the least. Dael may have felled a Tyrant Lizard single-handedly, but she had her Mage Gun. Aizel had allegedly taken down _three_ at a time with nothing but hand weapons. Another report showed him defeating _eight_ Malboros after accidentally wandering into a nest of them, killing them all after being afflicted by their poison, and then walking for three days and nights to get help…and that was ten years ago when he was younger. All in all, just being in this person's presence was almost more overwhelming than being in that of the Sorceress.

At any rate, Cybus turned to him fairly readily. "Yes, Aizel?"

"Our visitor is growing impatient." He said in a straightforward, normal tone. "Should I tell her to come back another time?"

The Sorceress sighed. "No, no…that won't be necessary. I'll be right in."

Aizel gave a small bow, and then drifted back into the tent. He moves so fluidly and smoothly that he seemed to almost melt back into it. Dael was amazed at how the tent flaps were barely disturbed. However, soon after he vanished, Cybus sighed again and looked back to the others.

"There has been no end to the stress lately… I'm truly sorry, but I'll have to ask you to bear with me for a bit longer. Could we please finish this discussion in a few minutes? I'm in the middle of meeting with an especially hostile member of the Nine Winds of the North and I'm currently struggling not to get her to heft her axe at me with only moderate success. I think the only reason she hasn't grown more hostile is because Aizel himself used to be a member of the same militia and the most renown in recent history, and even the tribe members here can't pretend that they would be a match for him if they angered him."

Taraketh tensed up a bit on hearing this. Clearly, the idea of someone threatening a Sorceress, even if she had her Sorceress Knight for protection, stirred him up. "And why is she being so hostile?"

"It's…complicated." Cybus responded after a moment of hesitation. "And, unfortunately, I can't explain it right now if she's getting that impatient. Please…come with me inside. I'll talk more with you the moment I have this sorted out. But until then, please just sit to one side. If you'll please follow me."

With that, Cybus turned and began to walk back into the chamber. Dael paused for only a heartbeat before following, although Taraketh still moved more readily than her, and so he was soon slightly ahead. Bahamut followed closely behind. That left Carbuncle, who exhaled a bit before he marched as well into the tent.

"I hope they got a place I can rest my legs…and maybe a nice cold one to put in my paws…"

Dael and Taraketh alike both grimaced a bit as they reached the flap and, after watching the Sorceress go inside, followed.

This wasn't the first time Dael had come into a tent with a Sorceress before, but it was quite a bit different. Whereas Veriguno's own tent had décor, subdivisions, and even a cozy feel to it, this was something new. The only decoration in here was bone, hide, and a few crudely made bits of art that seemed to be more for standards rather than expression. As a general rule, nomadic tribes didn't waste too much time on aesthetics, but this one was definitely more crude and rudimentary. Hides of several thin-furred individuals were scattered on the floor to act as covering and potentially 'carpeting'. The walls were mostly filled with tools or weapons that were to be used for certain purposes. Very practical…not much for ornamentation. There were a few bits of furniture in the room too. All were lightweight and collapsible, however. Mostly they seemed to just be chairs and lamps. The ceiling was open in the center, and a fire pit was directly below it so that there would always be a source of light. Far in the back, hanging on a series of racks, were the capes and clasps for Aizel and Cybus. In Cybus' case, her array was a wide, flowing ribbon, obviously representing a river.

What truly caught Dael's eye, however, was that the room was already quite full, especially on the side that they came in at. And the individuals it was filled with were not wholesome. The moment Dael walked into the chamber, she got the same sense she had months ago at the border when they encountered the Nine Winds of the North. This was the same. There were a group of warriors filling out one side of the yurt, some leaning against posts, some against the wall, some crouching on the ground, and others just standing. All of them were sun-baked and hard-looking, their clothing stained both ornamentally from the blood of monsters, as well as unintentionally from combat. Many of them had fresh wounds that had been hastily dressed in, what Dael considered to be, highly unsanitary methods.

However, Dael soon noticed something else among them. She didn't get into Esthar's Hawks by not being sharp, and she recognized certain figures among them. One of the people in the crowd was the dark-looking warrior with the bow that she had seen at the border months ago. Sure enough, he still had the weapon handy, although he hadn't knocked an arrow this time. Moreover, one of the warriors was standing in front of the others. From her lithe figure, desert wolf fur, and rather large and ungainly axe buried in the floor tip-first nearby her for her to balance on, Dael realized that it was the angry female warrior from earlier as well. Her hood was pulled back, but it was the same person.

The other side of the room was far more open. There were two more warriors there that looked like they had been put at Cybus' disposal. However, to be honest, as Dael saw Aizel return to his own position near a large and conspicuous chair for the Sorceress, and despite the fact that every one of the warriors in the opposite side of the room seemed very large and intimidating, the young officer felt they were rather superfluous compared to him. Based on what she knew about him, her gil would be on Aizel if it ever came to a fight. Cybus soon made it to the chair, and, for lack of any better position, Dael and the others went to one side of the room on this half and merely stood and waited.

From this angle, Dael finally got a good look at the female warrior herself, and was a bit surprised at what she saw. She seemed to be a little younger than Dael, and actually was fairly pretty, especially considering the rough terrain and lifestyle. That was in spite of the fact that her skin was rough and baked from being in the sun, and her face had three long scars diagonally across it from what was obviously a monster wound, although it had mercifully missed her eyes. And she definitely had a fierce, hard, and cold look to her, every bit the same as the warriors behind her if not more so. Still, it was almost uncanny that she could still retain such levels of beauty in spite of this and her obvious upbringing.

At any rate, once everyone was situated, the warrior focused entirely on Sorceress Cybus…which was yet another surprising thing in her favor. Dael had enough experience with Sorceresses now to weather them, but even she felt humbled and overwhelmed by them. The fact that this warrior showed no fear or intimidation from the powerful mage in front of her indicated that she must have had a staggering amount of strength of will. Another surprise soon followed, as she soon spoke in the more common language. Not only that, but she had to have worked on the accent as well, because she sounded very close to a flawless resident of Esthar herself. This was a far cry from the native "babbling" Dael had heard from her the first time.

"So will you permit me to endure the trial or will you not?"

Cybus let out a slight sigh. "I can understand where you are coming from, Ms. Dracocorazon…"

"I do not think you do, Lady Cybus." The warrior responded in an almost harsh voice. "I do not think anyone who has not grown up in the wilds of Fuliet does. And I believe I said that I do not believe in those silly titles that the rest of the world endorses. I am Ceja Heart-Of-The-Dragon."

The Sorceress paused a bit to compose herself. "I know that the members of your tribe face incredible hardship, Ceja…" She responded, now using the warrior's first name. "But I have seen my share of hardship as well and I am enduring it right alongside you…"

"Then you have little excuse to refuse me." Ceja retorted.

"Anyone in your position would certainly be upset…and that is the exact reason why…"

"I will not be lectured by you regarding my position." Ceja cut off, almost turning angry. "Over the years of my life, I have lost over half of my family to Northern Rancors, and not four weeks ago I watched as my uncle was cut to pieces by Fuliet Saurons. This one is by far the worst any of us have ever experienced and it is driving every tribe to the point of desperation. We cannot deal with this threat using the traditional methods. The Nine Winds of the North are inadequate as they currently are. This is a necessity for our tribes to continue their way of life."

"Ceja," Cybus continued, being very calm and measured. "I have informed your tribal leader as well as those in the area that the Order of Hyne is more than willing to assist in putting the monster populations under control…"

"We don't want handouts!" Ceja snapped in response, rising in volume this time. "We haven't lived in the wilds of Fuliet for hundreds of years to start groveling to the so-called civilized world for help! And we will not be indebted to anyone as a result of this! We won't create another opportunity for you to come in and push your way of life upon us!"

The Sorceress paused again after this, but when she spoke again she was still measured and calm. "Ceja…you know full well that the Order of Hyne has never tried to impose its will on any of your people."

"Then explain why you have stolen our children from us. Explain why you took our greatest warrior." This part was punctuated by a gesture to Aizel.

"All members of the tribes of Fuliet that joined the Order of Hyne did so of their own free will." Cybus calmly responded. "And Aizel has been my friend for many years. It is insulting to him and his honor to suggest that I could manipulate him into doing whatever I pleased."

"That does not change the fact that you are from the modern world and you are close allies with Esthar. A friend of Esthar is an enemy of Fuliet. Was it not their nation that made the Northern Rancor worse by giving us more than we could endure?"

"Which is exactly why the Order of Hyne wishes to remedy that wrong by helping you now." Lady Cybus responded.

"If you wish to help us, then grant our request." Ceja responded. "Allow me to take the trial of Shiva."

Dael herself was indifferent to that name, but she noticed that Taraketh, Bahamut, and even Carbuncle all reacted to it. So strongly, in fact, she actually turned her own head to them in response momentarily, before turning back and focusing on Ceja and Cybus once again. The Sorceress, looking weary from all of this, tried to speak more calmly.

"Please understand that I am not denying this request based on any desire to see evil or harm befall your tribe." Cybus responded. "I am doing it in an intent to protect you."

"I have not needed anyone's protection since the day I became a member of the Nine Winds of the North." Ceja retorted.

The Sorceress went on, almost ignoring this part. "To defeat a Guardian Force in combat and earn their power is not just a task that can be fulfilled by a great warrior. It requires a great spirit and a knowledge of magic to have a hope of victory. That is why normally only Order of Hyne members can do it, and even they don't always survive the ordeal. It's quite dangerous, Ceja, and although I do not doubt your heart or strength, I know that the tribes of Fuliet know little of magic in the general sense. If you don't, you could easily be overwhelmed by a Guardian Force."

Ceja was silent in response to that for a few moments. She stared back at the Sorceress hard. However, after a bit longer, her gaze narrowed.

"…So you bar my entry because I'm not a Child of Hyne?"

This made Cybus audibly sigh. "I didn't say that…"

"You said something like it."

The Sorceress paused again, but then nodded. "In a strictly technical sense…yes, I do. Because if you had grown up as a Child of Hyne you would have not only had certain skills necessary to survival, but I also would know you better. Even if you could succeed in passing the trial, the result would be a junction, which is a great and terrible thing. It is not just for anyone. You are already a very strong and formidable individual. Having your power enhanced would easily make you the greatest member of any tribe in Fuliet. And as a result…there is the potential that you could use said power to…dominate others."

This only made Ceja's jaw tighten. "So you bar my way because you think so little of my personal honor that I would lord my abilities over others? That I would use them to subjugate others to my will?"

"I would say the same thing about anyone. This power has such great potential to corrupt…"

"Yet you seem to think your Children of Hyne can handle it. Do you not think I could because you dismiss me as a mere savage?"

Cybus let out another exhale. "…Why do you insist on putting words in my mouth?"

"Why do you insist on barring my way?" Ceja shot back. "I take my life into my own hands with this, and if I perish it is of no loss or gain to the Order of Hyne. If I succeed, I will have done a great service to my tribe and helped them to continue. We are at a point where we need powerful warriors to ensure our survival, not just alliances. Against monsters of this number and magnitude, raw strength alone is no longer enough. We need additional power. If you are so insistent on giving us this power, then allow us to seek it under our own terms rather than to receive 'gifts' handed down from the Order of Hyne."

Cybus slid a bit back into her chair, looking a bit defeated. Dael could understand her reaction, based on what she was seeing. It seemed as if she wasn't getting very far negotiating with this warrior. She could understand the Sorceress' reasoning. Perhaps there was also a bit of prejudice with it too, however…a notion that only Order of Hyne members should be able to take the trials. But regardless of whether that was true or not, her other presented reasons seemed legitimate, even if Ceja wasn't accepting them. Of course, the people of Fuliet were too distrustful and stubborn to listen to reason when it was coming from someone from the "modern world". Dael knew from background checks that Cybus' main operation was in Fuliet itself, but she spent a lot of time in Northern Esthar and was born there. Hence, she was still an "outsider". Nevertheless, she kind of wished Ceja would just give in and get out of there… They needed to get to the Guardian Force, this "Shiva", themselves, and she had a feeling if the warriors heard that part then they'd insist even harder on being able to take the challenge.

After a long pause, however, Cybus seemed to calm somewhat. She stared forward a moment, then turned her eyes to, of all people, Dael and her company. The young officer was a bit surprised at that. She looked back to Ceja soon afterward, to them again, and then back to her. After a few more moments, she leaned up slightly.

"Actually…there might be a way that I could allow you."

* * *

><p>Dael, had she not felt so similar, would have been hard pressed not to laugh at Taraketh's expression. It was clear that he wanted nothing better to do than scream "you have got to be joking" in Cybus' face, but due to his immense respect and admiration for her would do nothing of the sort. Dael was trying hard not to do the same, however, and still managed something similar.<p>

"…Are you sure we should do something like this?"

Cybus rubbed her brow. "I'll admit this is overwhelmingly irregular, but it would really be an aid to the tribe and the situation. The Nine Winds of the North are already up in arms about this. If I could make an accommodation, this would appease them enough to be content for the time being. And right now, this region needs all the peace it can get."

The young officer supposed she could understand that…but still, this was a rather tall accommodation to her. She was already with one hostile individual. She didn't want to have to be paired with _two_. She still could hardly believe that Cybus had suggested this as a solution in the first place. Since she didn't trust Ceja to be able to pass this trial on her own, and wasn't too certain about allowing her to do it in the first place as a question of character, she had said that she would allow it on the condition that she be "escorted" by those who were confirmed to be of strong spirit as well as had magical ability. In short…she wanted Dael's group to take her with them, and she had said as much a few minutes ago.

As it turned out, Ceja wasn't too happy about that either. She didn't like the idea of being "supervised" and said it once again showed a lack of trust of people of her background. However, at long last, she seemed to realize it would either be that or nothing, and finally relented. Even after that, it took Cybus considerable more coaxing before she finally managed to get the warriors to back down until tomorrow morning. They didn't see the need for that, but grudgingly allowed it. Taking up their weapons, they left the tent, and Dael could immediately feel the atmosphere improve. However, that now left the current matter, that essentially they had been "drafted" into this choice. They could refuse now, she supposed, but what sort of reaction would Ceja and the warriors have if they backed down at this point? She didn't need to be a member of International Affairs to realize it would cause quite a backlash.

Still, they were now saddled with that young woman, and Dael had a feeling she would make Taraketh seem like Quaren by comparison.

The High Child himself calmed down a bit, forcing himself to look straight again, before he looked on at the Sorceress. "My lady…I can understand that you wish to maintain peace, especially in a tumultuous region such as this. But is this the price that we will have to pay for it? Based on my understanding, Ms. Levinson was selected by Carbuncle, and Bahamut is her ward, so they are both permissible. But this warrior? You made the point yourself that we cannot trust her to use this power for the common good. I don't think it's a secret that the tribes of Fuliet are constantly at war with each other. Even this temporary alliance seems to have done little to calm their hostility for one another."

Cybus sighed a bit and bowed her head. "You have a good point, Taraketh. However, I think we are effectively at a time of tradeoff at this point. As you might have overheard from the conversation, the Nine Winds of the North are more strained now than they have ever been. Ceja's uncle, who I might add was her last surviving family member until about four weeks ago, was the head of the Nine Winds of the North and was more than a warrior. He was the man in the best position to unify the tribes for this current conflict. However, with his death, we are essentially back to square one. We are left with pettier individuals who are far more focused on their differences and past hostilities than on the need for their tribes to survive. Although they may not look it, the tribes are fearful. Fearful that even if they survive this season, the monsters will still be in such great number that they will never be able to hold them back next year and will gradually decline. And the tribes are too proud to go somewhere like Esthar or send individuals of their tribes there for protection, and too distrustful to ask for help from other nations…which isn't likely anyway given the current state of the world's affairs. I may spend a lot of time in Fuliet, but I do keep a hand-powered radio to keep an ear on the other things that are occurring in the world, and people are so focused on Sybenia that they were likely ignore these people. Perhaps, by allowing one to participate in a trial, that will at least convince them that the Order of Hyne will do whatever it can to help."

Taraketh still looked uneasy, but he wouldn't argue anymore. Doing so would mean going against the Sorceress, Dael believed. Still, that didn't stop her from speaking up. "What about the points you made talking to her? She may not like it…but is she really the prime candidate for this? Isn't there a better warrior, one who has a better spirit?"

"If I may, my lady…"

Again, the powerful voice resonated, and again Dael had to suppress a jump. Despite the fact that he had literally been standing there to one side the entire time, the young officer had almost forgotten about the large and intimidating person who was Aizel Kite. The man seemed capable of melding in and out of a person's awareness at the drop of a hat, Dael realized. Soon everyone was focused on him again as he spoke.

"Before I became your Sorceress Knight, I knew every member of the Nine Winds of the North, including Lonlat Dracocorazon. And even then, his niece was making a name for herself, so I was aware of her too. I assure you that Ceja shares her uncle's ideals. She too is motivated from a desire to allow all of the tribes to survive and unite rather than to have her tribe dominate over all others. She may seem rather brash, but she can be trusted."

Cybus paused momentarily, but then gave Aizel a smile and a nod. "Thank you." She turned back to the others. "I have little reason to doubt Aizel's judgment if he vouches for Ceja. In terms of character, there is little issue. The main reason I presented that argument was to try and present a reason for dissuading her from taking the challenge in the first place. I was telling the truth when I said she has little chance of success using only raw physical power, regardless of how strong it might be. But directly insulting a member of the Nine Winds of the North on the basis of strength, or lack thereof, is a disaster waiting to happen. Only insulting their honor would be worse. And if word got out that I had allowed you four to take the trial while denying Ceja, it would give the opponents of the presence of the Order of Hyne all the more reason to distrust us. Now, I could let you both take the trial separately…but I am not heartless in that regard. I know Ceja has very little chance of victory alone. I might as well send her to her death. And although that is a risk that the Order of Hyne accepts when undergoing these trials, Ceja is the last member of her family." She turned a bit regretful looking here. "I don't want to see her family line be wiped out, the worst insult possible to the tribes of Fuliet, over this."

Dael, on her part, was still hesitant. She had gone on this mission for the good of Esthar, and now, all of the sudden, they seemed to be drafted into doing a mission for the good of Fuliet, or at least an individual from it. She did have a bit of prejudice influencing here, however… She didn't honestly trust the warriors of these tribes to use the power responsibly. However, she managed to recognize that line of thinking…and realized it was very similar to Taraketh's thinking regarding her. Although a part of her wanted to say it was "apples and oranges", she managed to push those thoughts aside. She should be fair in that regard. Still, the thought of having yet another hostile individual…it was enough to give her a headache just thinking about it. However, in the end, she supposed it was something they would just have to go with. Although Cybus had forced this on them, more or less, she wasn't willing to cause a major incident by denying her now.

Finally, the young officer sighed.

"Alright." She looked to her side. "If Sir Sabian has no objections, neither do I."

Taraketh looked up at that. He held a bit longer, wanting to say something, but unable to. This might have been the closest yet she and Taraketh had been in the same boat, even more so when they literally _were_ on the same boat back when fleeing Follett. In the end, the High Child simply sucked it up and gave a nod.

"…As you wish, my lady."

Cybus managed to smile at them as well.

"I know this is more than any of you came here for, and I thank you very much for being so understanding. I'll see about getting you a place to stay the night in the safety of the village, and a place for you to meet with Ceja tomorrow morning and, say, 6 o' clock? Oh…one other thing. You should probably bring something warm to wear."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	24. Amazonians

Dael wasn't sure what Cybus meant by that last part, but Carbuncle merely chuckled and said she should take her advice. Unfortunately, aside from a light jacket, Dael had no thicker clothing. It was summer, after all.

The previous night had not been a very comfortable one. "Safety of the village" was a very relative term. There was a hostile look from at least one individual everywhere Dael went. Although she may not have been a military type in terms of appearance, it was obvious she was from Esthar, and it seemed as if the tribes were eager to turn someone into a scapegoat for the recent sorrow and chaos…so it might as well have been her. Dael would have just as soon stayed far on the outskirts and away from all of these hostile stares, but she supposed it was something she just had to deal with. The tent provided for them was comfortable enough aside from all of the décor, but still Dael had a time adjusting to it with the constant noises of people moving around outside. Since monsters were more active at night, there was rarely a "down time" among the tribes of Fuliet. In fact, she could have sworn she was woken up by the sounds of yelling and monster roaring more than once during the night. She imagined the beasts had to be pretty desperate if they attacked a settlement this large…

The next morning, Dael was more than ready to get on their way and leave the place behind, much as she didn't relish the idea of traveling with Ceja. They returned to the Sorceress, who gave Taraketh a pale blue crystal about the size of a fist that seemed almost like a piece of ice. She explained that the area where the Guardian Force Shiva was located was actually warded off to keep any warrior who wanted to from coming inside as well as protecting from the hostile monsters in the area. However, the crystal functioned as a key that would allow them to pass through. After that, Cybus gave them the location of the place and wished them well. By the time they exited her tent, Ceja was already there and waiting for them, and without a word took the lead.

Currently, they found themselves walking across the wilderness again over yet another rocky valley, this one a bit more higher sloped and irregular on either side. It seemed they were working their way up one of the mountains today, and the going wasn't easy. With the ground being so rocky and sandy, the chances of stumbling were increased dramatically. There wasn't an easy path either. They were already several miles away from the tribes, having had to hike for several hours just to get to the foot of the mountain. Dael looked behind them periodically, but was only now beginning to see the tribes again far in the distance. However, most of her effort was focused on walking. Even with her enhanced physiology, this wasn't easy and required quite a bit of stamina and concentration.

It didn't help that Carbuncle had long since given up climbing on his own and instead had leapt on Dael's back, giving her an additional load. She looked to the others to see how they were doing. Taraketh was nearby. Much like Dael, he was sweating and straining, especially now that they were ascending the rocky mountain, but other than that he showed little. Like her, he had no signs of slowing down. Behind them, struggling not to lag, was Bahamut. Without any Guardian Forces to enhance his physiology and being only a child, this was clearly the hardest on him. He was going as best as he could, which wasn't saying much. He was visibly panting and sweating as he ascended the mountainside, and it seemed he was pushing himself as hard as he could. However, he hadn't complained once or asked to slow down.

Ceja was the surprising one. As they went up the mountain, she seemed to be treating the entire thing as a leisurely stroll. She had been aloof from the others ever since they had paired up with each other. She hadn't given them a word of greeting or even a look. Instead, she had immediately turned and began to walk, and soon the others had to fall in behind her, and her rapid pace, just to keep up. She had maintained it even going up the mountainside. Although it was possible that she was straining just as much as they were, the others couldn't see it and she was making them work to follow her. Dael was rather surprised. She didn't have any Guardian Forces helping her, and yet she was still doing this? What would she be like _after _she was junctioned? Dael wouldn't like to get into a fight with her…

A light crumble was heard nearby, the sound of footing giving way. Dael instinctively turned to the source, and saw Taraketh falling back and slipping, appearing to lose his balance and be moments from falling backward on the steep slope.

Dael hesitated only for a heartbeat before she reached out to try and steady him. However, as she did, he managed to regain his balance and lean forward. He saw her outstretched hand as he did so. His face tightened a bit, but if he felt like making a sharp comment, he managed to keep it to himself this time. Instead, he simply held up a hand.

"…I'm fine." He stated, not too harsh, but not to gentle either.

Dael paused, but then withdrew her own hand and looked forward. The two kept hiking forward in silence for a bit longer.

"…You didn't seem too annoyed back there." Dael, for reasons she wasn't fully sure of herself, ventured.

The High Child turned to her. "Excuse me?"

"I noticed that Lady Cybus kept calling you by your first name rather than your title." The young officer responded. "I mean, after what happened with Faerio, I figured you'd think that was more disrespect."

Taraketh was silent for a moment in response to that, and Dael thought he ignored her at first. However, after a couple seconds, he responded quietly.

"This was a more informal setting, and I don't expect Lady Cybus to 'dress up' for me. I was under Lady Cybus for most of my early life, along with Lady Mianyl before she ascended to the rank of Sorceress."

Dael actually showed some surprise at that. Taraketh, despite looking forward, apparently caught it, for he turned to her. "What's the matter?"

"It's just…I'm a bit surprised." Dael responded. "I didn't know Sorceresses were ever at that 'level'. I suppose I kind of figured they were just Sorceresses from birth."

Taraketh was again silent after this, and Dael figured that he was genuinely done this time. However, after a few more moments, he let out another exhale.

"Well…yes and no." He responded. "If you're referring to the potential a Sorceress has, then yes, that's either present from birth or from the point of inheiritance."

Dael looked a bit more curiously at that. "Point of inheiritance?" She echoed.

The High Child, however, ignored her. "They just enroll like any other Child of Hyne to begin with. It's not until a bit down the road that they're identified as being powerful enough to be Sorceresses. It's fairly early on, however, as you might have guessed. Whereas people like you can spend years just trying to pull off a decent spell, the Sorceresses are already surpassing the greatest among the High Children around the age of six. They need very little training. Magic comes naturally to them. Even what we consider advanced is nothingness to them. It doesn't take them long at all to start pulling off spells that we could never do."

"I guessed that much." Dael responded. "I saw Veriguno in action…"

"_Lady_ Veriguno." Taraketh immediately cut off.

"…Lady Veriguno in action." Dael corrected. "I don't even think advanced mages can do something like that…or if they can we don't have a record of it."

"I wouldn't expect the records that Esthar's Hawks possess to be terribly accurate, but you're right in that regard." Taraketh answered. "The magic that they perform is beyond anything we're capable of. While this would never happen, if it ever came to a battle, even two dozen of us wouldn't be able to defeat the weakest of the Sorceresses."

Dael suppressed a grimace on hearing that. That was quite something. Strong as Veriguno had been, there was still the fact that she felt enough individuals with Taraketh's level of power could outdo her. She had seen Taraketh's own abilities, and, in fact, she was aware of some of her own. However, if even combined they couldn't do it…that was something fearsome indeed. She wished more than ever that they were on the more activist side of things. If they were, they'd make great allies. But perhaps it was because they possessed such terrific power that they didn't want to use it, sort of like back in the day when nations had to worry about fission nuclear bombs.

"I'm a bit puzzled, though." Dael spoke up again after a moment. "The Sorceresses are clearly very powerful. Would they really have anything to fear from the Guardian Forces even if Sybenia obtained them?"

"Even if they didn't, they can't be everywhere, and they don't want to have to reach the point where they have to kill a Guardian Force." Taraketh responded. "In addition…you would be surprised. Some of the Guardian Forces are quite powerful. Sorceress Aerith herself was once defeated by the Guardian Forces and taxed to her limit to defeat Diablos."

Dael blinked a bit at that. She looked to her neck momentarily, in particular the green creature riding on it. Carbuncle stared back at her and quirked an eyebrow. "…What?"

"…I'm trying to picture you as someone capable of taking down a Sorceress, and it's not working." Dael responded.

Carbuncle frowned in response. "If I didn't have paws, I'd give you the middle finger."

Taraketh grimaced a bit at the rather uncouth response of the being he revered yet again, but, unfortunately, to answer that question would require more effort on his part and risk causing more offense. "…The point ultimately is, for the far majority of individuals, Guardian Forces are far superior to both them and their technology, and to individuals such as myself…and you, I suppose…we access even greater power through junctioning. They are nothing to simply discount. Sorceresses are more the exception than the rule."

Dael paused again after this latest part, taking it in and thinking it over for a few moments. However, while this was simple to understand, one question still lingered in her mind. She looked up again to Taraketh soon after. "What about what you said before, about inheiriting-"

The young officer, however, was soon cut off as what sounded like a large electric discharge crackled overhead. Both she and Taraketh looked up at that, and soon after they were joined by Bahamut and Carbuncle. They looked up the steep, rocky mountain and soon found themselves looking at what seemed to be the top. Ceja was standing at it, just a bit over the edge. However, she was hunched over at the moment and pulled back, resting on her massive axe. She let out a bit of an angry snarl ahead of her, and then looked back down the hillside below.

"Are you coming or what?" She snapped at them. "You're the ones with the key, so hurry up and get here!"

Dael gave a bit of a frown in response to this, although she kept going up the hillside.

"I really don't know about her…"

Dael immediately froze after saying that, and turned her head to the side…for Taraketh had said the same thing at the same time. He apparently picked up on it too, for he looked back to her at the same time as well.

After a moment, Taraketh let out a half-snort. "Something we agree on for a change. You probably know my reason already. You may have been a special case where Sir Carbuncle chose you, but that's not the same here. Now we're pretty much giving it to someone of not too terribly good of a disposition. Tribal or not, I have my doubts that she has pure motives in mind…"

Dael, on her part, looked forward again and kept climbing. "I have an appreciation for this level of power now, and I don't like it in the hands of an individual whose society is making war with each other eight months out of the year. Especially not an individual who doesn't have much love for Esthar. Assuming she used this power to ascend to a ruling position, what would be the result for us? What would that do to relations with our government?"

"In either case, we'll soon get some reassurance." Taraketh responded. "This part was 'skipped' with you, so I was more apprehensive, but she'll have to undergo the full trial. The Guardian Force won't even test her unless she has some degree of purity of heart."

The young officer paused on hearing that. However, in the end, she merely exhaled and looked forward once again. She supposed that would have to do. "Purity of heart" or not, she didn't trust it to be that much of a safeguard. After all, they were still in a group, and last time Dael had gotten Quetzacoatl's power just from lending a hand in defeating her. She didn't recall any sort of formal "purity of heart" tests back there… Still, there was nothing for it other than to start a fight, and she didn't want that. And so, she simply continued to ascend the hill.

About a minute later, arriving to a very impatient Ceja who was leaning on her axe and all but tapping her foot, Dael began to cross over the top and see what was beyond. She wasn't too impressed at first, as she only saw the outline of more mountains. Yet as she crossed fully over the top, she was forced to slow at what she saw.

There was a large lake up here in a small rocky grove. It was fairly large, filling up what looked like a valley between adjacent peaks on three sides. There seemed to be some sort of "vegetation" around it as well. However, beyond that point, the place was highly unusual and unconventional. Within a sphere of influence that seemed centered around the lake, which itself seemed to be concentrated in a fine white mist hovering over the middle of it, everything was white and frozen. The lake was a sheet of thick ice and smooth and perfect. The ground around it was lined with frost. The "vegetation" turned out to not be shrubs or small trees at all, but was, in fact, ice crystals made into vegetation-shaped structures like ice sculptures made along the lake. A few light snowflakes fell down around it.

Dael gazed in amazement as the others came up to her. They too paused and looked. She hadn't been expecting this. She had anticipated another temple. However, she didn't feel cold at all from this distance, even though she was scarcely ten feet from the boundary of it. She reasoned that it had to be magical in origin, but this was still overwhelming to her. After a while, she looked to Carbuncle.

"I'm guessing it goes without saying that Shiva has power over ice?"

"No, really?" Carbuncle sarcastically retorted with a frown. "What was the first clue?"

Dael frowned back. "You don't have to be onery about it. I didn't know anything about this Guardian Force before I got here."

"At any rate, reflection isn't going to help that much." Carbuncle told her. "Just like Quetzacoatl, reflecting her magic will only heal her. Lightning should be alright, although fire would be best."

"Will you just open it now?" Ceja suddenly snapped. "Or are we to stand out here all day?"

The young officer suppressed a frown at Ceja, but said no more to Carbuncle. Taraketh reached into his own pocket and soon produced the stone that he had received from Cybus. He looked to his sides momentarily. "…I think everyone should stay close for this."

Bahamut readily stepped up to Taraketh. Dael hesitated a moment, but then did the same. Ceja, sighing a bit, hoisted her giant axe and soon did so too. Once all were together, Taraketh looked forward again. Dael wasn't really sure how this was supposed to work. There definitely wasn't a "keyhole" sitting around for Taraketh to put the stone in, but this looked like the only way to approach the lake. As she still considered this, however, Taraketh began to walk forward toward the lake, holding the stone up, and she and the others followed.

The change happened as soon as they reached the "edge" of the area, where the ground went from its normal rocky quality to being covered with frost. As they stepped over the edge into it, for a moment, Dael saw a wall of what looked like a translucent electric field around her. It was similar to the same barriers that were used in Esthar to protect the city from monsters. It even hummed like it. However, it lasted only a moment, and it seemed to pass over the group as they moved along. Then, it vanished once again.

However, there was now a severe change.

Dael was immediately struck with severe, biting cold. It was easily in the subzero range…even the polar range. She had never felt anything so cold before. The slightest breeze that moved through the area was enough to send icy knives into every opening in her clothing. At once, it became clear just how thick the ice had to be, and why the ground was covered with frost and with ice sculptures of plants nearby. Whatever that field was, it acted as a large insulator that allowed this place to be bitterly cold compared to the rest of the region.

In spite of her own training and discipline, Dael couldn't help but exclaim. "It's freezing!"

"Well, she _is_ an ice Guardian Force…" Carbuncle remarked…even as he burrowed closer around Dael's neck, no doubt soaking up her own body heat. She didn't mind. His furry body was acting as a scarf at the moment.

Taraketh himself didn't pause long, but instead picked up the pace. "Wish I had brought my cloak…but nothing for it now. We need to get moving. It's only going to be a few minutes before the cold becomes so much we can't even fight anymore."

Dael saw the High Child move by him, and soon began to move quickly to keep up. At this point, walking fast was about all that she could do to try and warm herself. Taraketh made a good point. She was already growing incredibly uncomfortable. The light jacket was next to no help. In a few minutes, they'd all be suffering from more than just inconvenience. To try and see how the others were doing, she looked to the side to see Bahamut and Ceja. After all, of the four of them, they were the most poorly-clad.

Bahamut, remarkably, wasn't complaining. He was trying his best to look unaffected too, although, to Dael's discerning eyes, she could tell he was cold. His arms were staying close to his sides and his head had lowered a bit to sink closer to his body, and he moved a bit too stiffly. He'd cool off the fastest out of all of them. Dael wondered if she should give him her jacket. It wasn't much, but it would help a little. However, she thought Ceja might be the one who needed it more. After all, her warrior clothing was rather thin and had many openings to allow mobility.

However, the young officer was in for a surprise when she looked to Ceja. Rather than appearing cold, she seemed the most well-off out of all of them. She didn't pull back her arms or neck, and seemed to be perfectly at home in this element. Dael was stunned. She knew that Fuliet got very cold in the winter, but not this cold. And even if it did, the warriors would switch to thicker clothing. She was amazed that Ceja looked so unaffected. Was she that hardened to the elements? Or had she just learned not to show weakness so much? She didn't know…and frankly she didn't care. She just wanted to find this Shiva as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the going wasn't nearly as fast as Dael wanted. Almost all of the area was the frozen lake, and it was reasonable to assume Shiva was in the center. That meant they had to venture out onto the ice. For the most part the way was slick and dangerous, and there was no way to move except very slowly and carefully. If that wasn't enough, each periodic breeze that came from the wind cut the group to the bone and made everyone slow in their step, including Ceja. However, the Esthar's Hawk forced herself onward. She couldn't back down this soon. She just wished she had brought some cold weather gear…

On the plus side, they still only had to travel for a couple minutes.

Wide as the lake was and slippery as it might have been, the group soon realized if they stuck to the snowy patches they had plenty of traction. Keeping it that way, they were able to make their way across the ice much faster, and soon began to approach the mists. But even before they moved into them, they already began to make out something in the center of the frozen lake rising out from it. At first, it seemed to be another ice sculpture. Of what was impossible to make out due to the mist, but the group kept moving closer. After a bit longer, it came into clearer view, giving Dael yet another surprise.

For a moment, she still thought it was a sculpture, but it was still stunning to see. It appeared to be a rough throne made out of jagged ice. It didn't match the design for a traditional throne. Rather, it seemed to be formed somewhat haphazard on purpose, to appear more like rough ice than anything else. A single individual was seated upon it.

For the most part, it appeared to be a rather tall, well formed, and, a bit to the young officer's embarrassment, almost nude woman. The only thing that seemed to be clothing her were a few bits of dark blue clothing around her problem spots. However, it wouldn't take long for one to realize this woman wasn't human. For one thing, her skin was so bluish white that it looked to be the same material as the ice around her. Her face was icy and stern, seeming to be of the same nature as the very ice she was made of. Her hair was all combed back and seemed to make three long trails from her head that stretched down behind her back. The one in the middle was dark blue, but the other two were gleaming yellow with some sort of spectral light, almost like Quetzacoatl had. Her eyes were so sharp and blue that that seemed to almost stab you to look at them. She sat with her legs crossed and with her head perched on one arm, leaning on a rest.

In spite of the nature of this figure, Dael continued to approach with less fear than she had with Quetzacoatl. After all, she had experienced a few Guardian Forces now. But part of it was because she didn't honestly think this figure was real. She suspected it was a well-made monument or ice statue, especially given the size that was larger than a normal human woman, right up until they were nearly upon it. Only then did Taraketh, still slightly ahead, stop and give a bow to the statue.

"Lady Shiva."

A bit to Dael's surprise, she saw the eyes of the "statue" flicker, and at once she realized that she was looking at the Guardian Force itself. Immediately she stopped and hastily bowed politely as well. This wasn't easy, as the slick ice made it all but impossible to "stop on a dime". She noticed that Ceja skid to a halt at this, apparently having been feeling the same way. However…unlike Dael and Taraketh, she did not bow. Bahamut was keeping behind them and so she didn't see him, but she did hear him abruptly halt…implying that he had known this was her the whole time too. But of course, that only figured. He had done the research, after all.

The Guardian Force, meanwhile, looked over all of them for a few moments. Her gaze rested on each one for a second or two. The power and age within the eyes was a bit hard for Dael to withstand, but she managed to hold up to it. After all, she had experience with Sorceresses by now. Finally, she looked back forward again. After another moment, she inhaled and exhaled slowly…the breath in front of her misting. Even from a distance, Dael felt the temperature fall another few degrees from her breath of air.

"Well now…" She finally spoke, her voice calm, cold, and rather flat. "I haven't had visitors in years, and today I have five. And from the looks of you… A High Child of Hyne… An Esthar Hawk… A warrior of Fuliet… A strong child… And-"

"Wait…what did you say?"

Dael closed her eyes and immediately muttered to herself. The Guardian Force just had to say that out loud, didn't she? As if they didn't have enough problems already… She held and waited for it to fall without looking at Ceja. Sure enough, a moment later it did.

"…Did you just say that this woman is an Esthar's Hawk? A member of their military?"

In response to this, Shiva's eyes flicked over to Ceja. Whether she would have said something to the warrior or not never became clear. Before she could say a word, Ceja sneered and spoke up again.

"I knew it all along! I knew this would happen! It's exactly as I said! The people of Esthar do not respect our people enough to entrust us with this power! And they insult us by assigning this as an escort…a representative of the very order that has caused our people so much pain and suffering!"

Here, Dael finally saw a movement. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the axe move. Immediately, she looked over, and saw that Ceja was now glaring at her from beneath her mask, and was raising her axe.

"Because of your nation, my uncle is dead and our people are reduced to their current state! I will avenge his death now by-"

At this moment, however, Dael saw something else.

Shiva, still looking at Ceja, narrowed her gaze, and made a cutting motion through the air.

Immediately, Ceja's voice was cut off…or, rather, seemed to dry up. It sounded almost as if it was freezing in place. Abruptly, her eyes went wide. Her axe was lowered to the ground although not released, and she clutched for her throat with one hand. As Dael stared, she saw mist come from her open mouth as she was caught in a gag…indicating something cold in there.

"I've had just about enough of your rudeness, young lady." Shiva coldly snapped at Ceja. "You have enough purity within your own heart to keep me from turning you into a statue right now, but don't test me. If there's one thing I will never abide by, it's your pointless human bickering. It only leads to the death of your kind and misery for mine, so you will hold your tongue from now on."

Making a gesture again, Ceja suddenly leaned forward more, again nearly losing her axe, and gasped. It was as if she had been choked before now. She was able to make noises, but she still needed a moment for relief. She grasped at her throat tenderly. At any rate, she didn't cause any more trouble. She looked up after a few moments, managing to recover enough to lean up once again. She tightened her grip on her axe and raised that as well. However, she made no more hostile moves. She gave one more angry look to Dael, but then simply looked forward and crossed her arms with a sour expression.

At any rate, by now, Shiva had turned her attention back to the others, and seemed to be looking at Dael. However, she soon saw it wasn't her that she was looking at…but rather the creature around her neck.

"What a surprise." Shiva remarked in a monotone voice. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Carbuncle."

Carbuncle looked up from Dael's neck with a weak smile. Already, the creature was shivering a bit and pressing himself in as close as he could to the young woman for warmth. "What do you mean? It's been at least a hundred years since you've had the chance to look at this beautiful face of mine."

"Exactly." Shiva responded. "I prefer only having to see your face every five hundred years, if possible."

Carbuncle made a hissing noise. "Ouch, baby. You may be the ice queen, but you can still burn." Then, to Dael's shock, he spoke in a lower voice. "I wonder if that's the only part of you that can get real hot…"

Shiva's gaze narrowed. "Considering the fact that my husband is still alive…that's bad enough, Carbuncle. But even we were the last Guardian Forces on Gaia…I'd rather go extinct."

Dael felt Carbuncle tense up. "…On second thought, you're still cold as ice."

By now, everyone, including Ceja and Bahamut, was starting to look at least a little uncomfortable, and Dael didn't like the fact that she had to endure most of Shiva's gaze on her as a result of Carbuncle resting on her neck. Luckily, Taraketh, looking probably the most nervous of all at hearing his "lords" banter like this, leaned up and spoke again.

"…Um, forgive me for interrupting, my lady, but we come seeking to undergo your trial."

"I thought as much." Shiva answered in a monotone voice, shifting away from Carbuncle, closing her eyes, and letting out a sigh. Soon after, she straightened up in her throne and stretched a bit. As she did, the sounds of ice crystals cracking could be heard. Apparently, she had been there for a long time. "It's too much to hope for visitors to come just to 'chew the fat', so to speak. No matter what generation it is, humans always come seeking power. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing… It's just…routine."

A moment later, the ice queen pushed off of the armrests and stood in front of the throne. She proceeded to step down from it. Despite being far enough away, Dael had to fight the urge not to step back to make more room. At any rate, even her taking a few steps toward them was enough to feel another potent chill in the air as the temperature dropped another few degrees. After that, Shiva waved a hand behind her…and much to the surprise of Dael, the throne she had sat on immediately burst to the tune of ice shattering into millions of snowflakes, which immediately blew away in the faint wind. After doing this, she lowered her arm to her side and looked over the group.

After a second, her eyebrow raised.

"…That's a bit unconventional."

Ceja, by now, was mostly recovering from her pain and already getting her axe ready. Dael wasn't sure about Bahamut, but Carbuncle seemed reluctant to leave her warm neck, and she and Taraketh weren't getting ready just yet. As a result, the two looked a bit confused at this response. "What is, my lady?" Taraketh asked.

"I'm sensing numerous Guardian Forces in you already, not just Carbuncle. Quetzacoatl and the Minotaur Brothers as well. And since your hearts are clean enough, that must mean that you aren't just out to collect their power for your own betterment or glory. There must be a severe matter going on…perhaps something that has to do with the Northern Rancor surge this year." After a moment, the ice queen rubbed her chin and appeared thoughtful. "It must have not just been me being suspicious…"

Dael heard that part, and it aroused some confusion inside her. She was about to ask for elaboration, but before she could, the voice of Bahamut spoke up from behind her.

"Shiva."

Dael, Taraketh, Ceja, and Carbuncle all turned to Bahamut at that, the latter again groaning on realizing who was talking. Bahamut, however, ignored them all and focused on the ice woman. In response, she pulled back her hand from her face and stared at him.

"…You have a strong spirit, little one. Still, it's rather bold of you to come seeking my power at your age."

"I didn't come seeking your power, Shiva." The boy responded. "It's me…Bahamut. Can't you sense me?"

Dael let out a sigh and bowed her head. She supposed she should have expected this coming. She only hoped it was over fairly quickly. She looked up again after a moment. Sure enough, Shiva was giving a puzzled look at Bahamut.

"…And…what is it I should be sensing?" She asked.

The boy let out a mild groan in response. However, he soon after shook his head. "Nevermind that. Do you know where Leviathan is?"

"Actually…" Taraketh added, speaking up here. "That's something that we'd like to know as well. I meant to ask after the trial was completed, but I might as well now. I know this may seem to be of ill intent or the surface, but it is important that we locate all of the Guardian Forces, my lady. We have reason to believe that they may be being hunted by hostile parties. If you doubt our intentions, then probe us."

"I do not doubt your intentions." Shiva simply answered. "However, I am afraid I cannot help you. My father is the one who locates me if he feels the need to talk, and I have kept to myself a great deal over the past 80 or so years. I know little of what is going on outside of Fuliet. It seems there is more I would learn from you…but perhaps we should hurry and accomplish the test first. Will it be all four of you against myself?"

"Yes." Bahamut spoke up.

"No." Dael said at the exact same time.

Immediately, the boy looked to her. "I can-"

"Yes, I know you can fight." Dael answered, focusing on Bahamut again. "You made that clear on the trip here. You're decent against some monsters. However, these aren't monsters. This is a stronger opponent. I've actually fought one of these Guardian Forces before and they're too tough for you."

The boy groaned more loudly. "I'm familiar with them too, and-"

"It's not negotiable." Dael flatly cut off. "I'm still your ward, Bahamut. So get over on the sidelines and stay there."

She wasn't going to budge this time. True enough, the boy was good, but she didn't count on him being able to take her in a fight yet. And if he couldn't, then he shouldn't have been in this fight. As it was, she was already worried about Ceja. There was more than that too. By now, in spite of his best efforts, Bahamut was clearly freezing. It was taking all of his focus to keep his teeth from chattering when he talked, and he was struggling not to huddle into himself as he stood there.

At last, he finally relented, although very grudgingly.

"At some point, you're going to find out I was telling the truth about all of this. And when you do, you're going to feel very sheepish for all the times you've put me on the sidelines."

"Well, until that point gets here," Dael responded, pulling off her jacket quickly before tossing it to him. Ignoring the chill of the environment and eager to get started so she would feel it less, she pointed at it. "Put that on. You look like you're freezing to death out here."

Bahamut hesitated as he caught the jacket, looking back to Dael. No doubt, part of him wanted to maintain that he wasn't cold. However, it seemed the boy was mature enough to realize that foolish pride wasn't going to get him anywhere. Not complaining was one thing. However, willingly suffering was something else. Grudgingly, he began to put it on. As he did, he grimaced slightly before he managed a bit more. "…Thank you."

After saying this, he turned and began to make his way out to the sidelines. In fact, he even moved quickly. Again, Dael took this as a sign of considerable maturity. In spite of being upset about this, he wasn't going to drag out the fight by taking his sweet time getting off the field. He was soon off, and when he was, Dael turned back to the Guardian Force.

"I guess this is where I get off too…" Carbuncle said with a sigh as he only very slowly pulled himself off of Dael's neck. To be honest, she missed him almost immediately as an icy chill went through it. He himself hopped off of the young officer and, on landing on the ground nearby, gave a large shudder before beginning to walk away. "Call me if you need any help, though I don't know how reflection is going to be that useful here."

"I might think of something, so don't 'nap on the job'." Dael responded as she watched Carbuncle rush after Bahamut, already asking if he could get on his own neck.

Although Shiva was a bit far away already, Dael took a few more steps back. She wasn't sure exactly what this woman would do, and she had to be ready for anything. Taraketh did the same, but Ceja stood her ground, even planting her feet more solidly. Dael assumed it was some sort of warrior's pride involved, but at any rate she quickly hefted her own giant axe in both arms. The Esthar Hawk tried not to stare as she pulled out her own slender blade, rather pathetic by comparison. She was thankful the hilt was wrapped so that she didn't have to worry about having her hands freeze to the metal. That seemed likely at this point. Taraketh wasn't so lucky, although he seemed prepared enough to wear fingerless gloves. He pulled out his own kusarigama and hefted the sickle as he began to swing the ball and chain in a circle.

As for Shiva, she cracked her neck, again generating the ice crackling sound. She ran her long, sharp fingers through her hair and then splayed them at her sides…actually making small amounts of ice rise from the surface of the lake as she did so. Something told Dael that in spite of her being smaller and more "humanoid" than Quetzacoatl, they weren't in for any easier time.

"Since there's three of us…maybe we can make a strategy." Dael spoke up quietly. "One of us can-"

Dael, however, was cut off by the sound of a tribal war cry. Both she and Taraketh snapped in surprise to this as they saw Ceja charge forward toward Shiva. In spite of the size and weight of her weapon, she pulled it back and prepared to swing it around in a deadly arc. Also, in spite of the fact of how sheer the ice was on the lake, Ceja managed to generate considerable traction. Dael was honestly amazed at the speed and power she displayed.

However, it ultimately seemed to be for nothing. Without showing the slightest emotion, Shiva gently pushed off of one foot, and began to glide backward across the ice like a graceful skater. For all her power, Ceja's axe hit nothing as it swung by, missing her completely. The massive momentum plus the slickness of ice was too much, and she stumbled at this, nearly falling down completely. Yet again to her credit, she adjusted and compensated quickly, and soon rose up and charged after Shiva again. She tried and overhead chop this time, no doubt to avoid a similar incident, but missed in much the same way. Roaring, she charged again and swiped two more times, again with Shiva easily and gracefully skating out of the way.

"Damn that simpleton!" Dael heard Taraketh hiss nearby. She looked to him, as he shifted his grip on his weapon. "She's going to get herself killed, playing into her hands like that and eschewing any strategy!"

Soon after, Taraketh took off as well after Shiva and Ceja. He, however, was far more ill suited to the ice, and his foot almost went out right from underneath him. His eyes went wide, and only be sprawling about rather awkwardly was he able to keep his footing. However, he was able to, and soon began to move again…albeit much slower. Sighing to herself, Dael began to run after him as well. She soon realized what was happening here, and she didn't like it. Shiva already had a powerful advantage in her favor with the terrain. While she was at home in her element and no doubt able to move normally over the ice, the rest of them would look like children on a frozen pond.

She soon found another problem as she charged after Shiva. Without a long range weapon, and not able to match Ceja's own speed and ferocity, wasted as it was, she was forced to pretty much be playing "catch up" in a race she couldn't win. Taraketh wasn't quite as sure footed as she was, but he had his kusarigama, giving him something of a "distance" weapon. Although it took some effort, he managed to get in range of where Ceja was still desperately trying to hit Shiva. Quickly, he swung his own weapon around, and then flung out the "hammer" for Shiva's head.

Although, for a brief moment, she had a bit harder time trying to dodge two attacks at once, the ice queen was still lithe and nimble enough…and ducked under the first blow while shooting back to avoid the second. As a result, the hammer nearly hit Ceja's axe instead. In response, the Fuliet warrior turned to Taraketh with an angry snarl.

"Stay out of this, Child of Hyne!" She snapped. "The honor of defeating this Guardian Force will fall all upon me!"

Taraketh gazed back incredulously in response. "What the…?! We're supposed to be defeating her together, you imbecile!"

"You were just my escort!" Ceja shot back as she hoisted her axe to charge after Shiva again. "Now you can get out of my sight! I won't let you steal her power from me at a critical moment!"

"That's not possible, you fool!"

Ceja, however, didn't answer. She immediately lunged at Shiva again, who continued to nimbly dodge.

Taraketh, on his part, hissed as he pulled his hammer back. Dael moved in next to him, and for a moment he angrily muttered before confiding in her for a change.

"Moronic tribesmen with rocks for brains…" He grumbled. "Thinking they can solve everything with their muscles and weapons…a strategy that's worked _so_ well for them for the past few hundred years…"

"Well we can't get her to work with us." Dael answered him. "We better try to get her to work _for_ us. Try targeting Shiva when she avoids one of her axe swipes."

Taraketh said nothing, not indicating if he was taking her advice or not. He leapt back into battle soon after.

Unfortunately, the situation didn't improve. Dael felt a mixture of embarrassed and humiliated over the next few minutes as they vainly tried to chase down Shiva was no success. She evaded them all with the grace and poise of an expert figure skater, being completely in her element. Dael was trying her best just to keep up with her and not having much luck, lagging behind the others considerably. Somehow, Ceja managed to stick to Shiva, for all the good it did her. She didn't even manage to disturb her hair. As for Taraketh, he took Dael's advice, but didn't have much success. Although he attempted to catch Shiva off guard with his hammer and sickle time and again, he never managed to land a blow, although his attempts got closer than Ceja's. Dael knew if she could lend a hand, the ice woman might just have been overwhelmed enough to get hit…but as it was, she treated the whole thing like a game.

After only a few minutes, Dael was shaking all over like a leaf. Being subjected to the constant cold was getting to her. Parts of her anatomy were either throbbing from cold, or had gone numb. Slowly, she began to realize what was going on. No wonder Shiva wasn't even bothering to fight back. It was only a matter of time before her three warm-blooded opponents succumbed to the cold. She had to do something to get them to even the odds…force Shiva to take more of the offensive. For a brief moment, she was at a loss of what she could do…

But then, her memory kicked in. It should be easy enough here. She was cold and that hurt her focus…but at least she wasn't being attacked. With that in mind, Dael orientated herself in the general direction of Shiva, and then closed her eyes and concentrated.

It was indeed a bit harder here, with all the yelling Ceja was doing and the fighting that Taraketh was doing. However, Dael had been practicing during the journey, and by now, had managed to achieve some degree of "accustomness" to the process. It took her a few seconds, but soon she managed to calm herself and feel the flow again. She couldn't control it that well yet, but she was able to see Shiva in her mind's eye. Focusing on her, and feeling the power move through her, she again let the arcane words come from her lips, and then opened her eyes and pointed at the ice queen.

The sky turned dark for a fraction of a second before the bolt snaked out. Although it seemed instantaneous enough, Dael figured that had to be the reason for what happened next…because she honestly couldn't imagine anyone dodging that fast. As the white hot, yet small, lightning strike came out for Shiva, the ice queen somehow twisted her body around and maneuvered backward to lightly dodge it, just by a few inches. Dael was amazed at that, but didn't focus on it long…because it still had the desired effect.

The dodge nearly knocked her into the path of Ceja, who was still furiously swinging at her, and now renewed her effort again and slashed one more time. Shiva was nearly caught, but once again managed to just barely slide out of the way. However, Taraketh soon showed his own prowess by making a quick last minute adjustment, and then flinging his sickle out right into the path where she dodged. Although she had managed to easily dodge two blows coming together before…three proved to be too much for her. She struggled to get back by ducking and powerfully sliding backward to try and get herself fully clear…but it was too late.

"Uhh!"

The sickle flashed by, and Shiva's head went to one side before she managed to slide back. She did so rapidly, clearly having intended to get away quickly, and soon she was twenty feet away and well out of everyone's range. However, she sprung up immediately and looked out to the three with just a hint of surprise on her face.

Dael saw a gash across one of her cheeks, oozing blue blood.

Taraketh quickly pulled his sickle back with a slight grin and began to swing it in a circle again. Ceja, huffing, puffing, and struggling not to show how cold she was becoming, took a moment for a breather. Dael cleared her head and then quickly moved up to the others. But as she was still approaching, the surprise on the ice queen's face vanished as she wiped away the blood with the back of one hand. She looked to them.

"…So you've finally started to fight together. In that case, simply tiring you out will not be effective. Time to go on the offensive."

Abruptly, a crackling sound went through the air as a pillar of ice formed behind Shiva, and, with a single tall leap backward, she shot off of the ice, soared through the air, and landed on top of it. Immediately, she held a single hand to the sky…and a moment later a bright blast of blue light burned around it, radiating waves of blue from it. In response, a small whirlwind leapt up around the icy pillar, before what appeared to be thousands of tiny flakes of glimmering snow, shimmering like diamonds, shot into the air and gathered around her hand. Then, abruptly, she swung it forward and pointed it at the group. A wave emerged from her hand…and soon, a sharp, piercing, fierce gale began to rage across all of them, glittering with the snowflakes battering down along with it.

Dael thought she had been cold before, but now the piercing cold seemed to dip inside her and touch her at the core of her being. She was soon freezing, using all of her strength to keep from simply curling into a ball. Her hands went numb instantly and she was barely able to hold onto her sword. Wincing in the diamond flakes, she closed her eyes and placed her scalp to the wind, and dug her feet in as best as she could to try and hold her ground. But it was terrible. The wind only grew worse, and soon it almost felt like it was cutting into her knuckles and cheeks. She had never felt icy wind so painful. Struggling to stop it, she raised a hand to her face to try and cut off the pain to that at least.

However, no sooner had she touched it, then she felt something wet, warm, and sticky. She pulled her hand away and looked curiously to it…only to gape in shock. Small flecks of blood were all over her hand. Gaping, she instinctively turned her hand over, and soon received another shock. It was covered with tiny lacerations.

Instantly, she understood. To Dael's horror, this wasn't a snowstorm… It was tiny flakes of razor-sharp ice. And she could already tell from looking at them that they were getting bigger as they embedded and stuck in her clothing. She realized, to her horror, that they might blind her if she looked up at them…

"Agh!"

Dael tried to look up, but remembered just in time to cover her gaze as she did. A bit ahead of her was Ceja. Evidently, she wasn't careful enough…and now she clutched her eyes with one hand. Much as Dael might have not been getting along with her, she hoped, at minimum, that it had merely stung her gaze and not truly blinded her. Taraketh, luckily, seemed to have realized what she was doing early and averted his own eyes. But the crystals kept coming…the diamond dust getting larger…

Dael might have panicked if she was a normal individual, but now that she was learning to use her magic more frequently, she quickly and instinctively called the magical barrier spell to mind…the first time she had recourse to use it. Holding up her hand, she let the arcane words slip, and soon after a greenish aura enveloped her briefly before vanishing. It did the trick. The ice crystals now bounced off of her skin as easily as her clothing. However, they kept getting larger yet. Shiva was clearly increasing the power of her spell. Dael realized they had to do something quick…

There was no way she could focus on another lightning spell now, and simply charging with her sword would be too obvious. For a moment, she considered teleporting…but she looked to Taraketh and Ceja first.

In spite of her pain, Ceja had shifted to the defensive. She had planted her own feet in the ground and swung her axe up to guard herself with. Thanks to its size, the flat of the blade made a rather effective shield, and Dael could hear ice crystals tinkling against it and falling off. Not only that, but Taraketh had slipped in behind her and taken refuge as well. Right now, he seemed to be generating an attack of his own, leaving off of his kusarigama for now and preparing something different…

However, before anyone could do anything else, Shiva spoke coldly again.

"You guard well, but I'm not going to be so gradual in building up this time."

Abruptly, Shiva snapped her wrist forward. Instantly, an ice crystal the size of a shortsword formed, and flung out like an arrow bolt…straight for Dael. This was in addition to the gale and the ice crystals, so her senses were already dulled and not able to see it that well to begin with. The cold had slowed her as well. Yet somehow, Dael was still able to bring her sword up and swing it down and around…cleaving the ice crystal out of the air. It took a bit of force on her part. After all, the projectile was not something small or easy to deflect. Moments later, however, more of the shards began to come after her, each one as big as the one before. Dael was forced to risk her vision and squinted to look up and see them coming, and soon had to struggle to maintain her footing on the ice as she blocked each one. It wasn't easy. Each one was thrown harder and harder, coming closer to taking her off balance. She grit her teeth. She couldn't stay like this. She had to make an assault…

While pinning her with one arm, however, Shiva had been building an even larger ice crystal in the other one, this one the size of a small boulder, and then fired it off at Ceja. The warrior's vision still wasn't clear, and moments later, it impacted and shattered. However, the force was enough to knock Ceja onto her back. At that moment, though, Taraketh sprung out and aimed his hand at Shiva's ice pillar. Again, he chanted out in an arcane tongue, and soon after…a pillar of earth ruptured the ice beneath the lake, sending a thick column of stone and ice alike coming straight out and smashing into the pillar from the side, fracturing it dramatically. Shiva looked down in some surprise again, and soon quickly leapt off and back to the frozen lake before the entire pillar collapsed.

However, in doing so…she had lowered her hands and stopped her assault.

Dael had been waiting for an opening, and now seized on it. Not waisting a second, she summoned what power she still had access to and leapt at the ice queen. Shiva looked to her and quickly moved back, but with her katana Dael was a bit more mobile than Ceja, and as she landed and swung her blade down…Shiva gave another cry as a slash was opened up across one part of her chest, leaking out more blue blood than before. The Esthar Hawk quickly moved in for a follow-up blow…but unfortunately couldn't land it. Although Shiva now looked to be in pain, she was able to dodge her successive strikes as easily as she dodged Ceja's. No doubt, the fact that Dael was weakening from the cold helped.

Yet there was little time to press her attack and try to land one, for the ice queen was through with delays. After springing back to avoid one blow, she aimed her palm forward…and fired off another icicle at point blank range. The only think Dael had time to do was brace he sword in front of her. An icicle of that size and range wasn't going to be stopped by her barrier alone. Even so…this was what finally broke it. As the ice shattered against her blade, Dael finally found the force too strong. She lost her footing, and began to stumble backward and slip to fall. It would only hold her a moment, but she realized that a moment might be all that Shiva needed to follow up…

However, as she fell back, Dael suddenly heard a massive cutting sound through the air, giving off a whistle. As she landed roughly on the ice, she looked to the source, and Shiva with her, and the former was surprised at what she saw. Ceja had finally regained some of her sight, and she was doing something new. Rather than charge again, she gave a yell as she put both hands on her weapon, swung back and around, and proceeded to swing in a large circle before flinging the entire weapon at Shiva. To Dael's amazement, not only did she have the strength for that, but she now realized that the axe doubled as a massive cutting boomerang of the larger variety for larger game. It began to swing in a deadly arc straight for Shiva.

Spotting this, the ice queen struggled to dodge…but Taraketh wasn't giving her the chance. He swung out his sickle again for her, pinning her the other way. The two moves were so surprising and unexpected, Shiva didn't react to them properly. Instead, she backed up by instinct to dodge Taraketh's blow…only to have the cutter swing by and slice through her side. Blue blood splattered on the ice, and this time Shiva gave a mild cry as she slid back again. She still didn't seem drained enough to be slowed, but she did slam a hand over the wound. Luckily, this in itself gave Dael more than enough time to quickly sprung back on her feet as well by doing a flip gesture she learned back in the acrobatic lessons of the Academy, by snapping her back and legs out, she managed to get back up to her feet, although she did slide slightly on the ice afterward. She braced her sword and prepared to renew the assault…

However, she soon cut off that thinking a moment later as she saw Shiva's face show a rare flash increased emotion, before she swung her hands out at her opponents again. This time, icicles the size of them began to shoot out for the three of them, one to each opponent. Dael's eyes widened. She couldn't hope to block or cut this one…which left only one other thing. She quickly dipped to one side…only to discover too late that Shiva had "thrown a curve". The icicle actually picked up speed at the last minute, and she felt her sleeve tear as the ice raked by, slashing a deep gash across one of her arms. To her shock, the ice became covered with small teeth that dug in and rent her flesh as it went by, causing enough pain to make the Esthar's Hawk cry out. The only reason she didn't instinctively grab it was due to the warm feeling of blood spilling out. The pain was crippling, seeming to drive a numbing sensation in her mind that made it hard to think and move…

She wasn't the only target of Shiva's fury, however. Two more crystals of ice shot out for the other two opponents. In response to his own, Taraketh, seeming to anticipate the nature of the attack, quickly chanted a spell and swung his arms down, resulting in a wall of earth punching through the ice and erupting in front of him. Unfortunately, the icicle was mostly striking ice when it intercepted it, and send off such an eruption one would have thought it exploded as huge pieces of ice blasted out of the ice and began to pelt Taraketh. Between their sharpness and size, he too soon cried out and staggered back.

That left Ceja. The icicle headed for her much the same way as it had for Dael. But unlike Dael, she didn't move. She merely stood there and stared the incoming attack down. For a moment, Dael thought she was crazy. If she was thinking of dodging at the last moment, Shiva would simply increase the speed. However, Ceja stood her ground, almost right until the icicle was on her.

Then, she reacted. Rather than dodging, she shot forward and placed her hands on the ice crystal, and vaulted right over it by leaping up as it shot forward to try and pierce her. No doubt, it still hurt her hands…but for a woman of the Fuliet region, they were likely calloused already. Dael had forgotten…a member of the Nine Winds of the North was used to going toe-to-toe with the speed and ferocity of entire packs of Fuliet Saurons on a regular basis. A single ice crystal with a mind of its own was nothing. The move was perfect, and showed surprising energy and agility on the part of Ceja…who soon had shot by the ice crystal and was now making a bee-line for Shiva.

Shiva, however, didn't look worried. Immediately, she began to generate another ice crystal just as large, and aimed it up with the intention of impaling the warrior. Ceja, on her part, didn't look troubled either as she kept charging straight for her. However, moments before Shiva was ready to fire…the whistling sound returned. The ice queen's eyes raised, and she looked to behind her…seeing the cutter headed straight for her. Dael was amazed as well. She knew smaller boomerangs returned when thrown, but one of that size? Apparently so…at least in Ceja's case. The ice queen was forced to move to evade it…buying another precious second.

The axe shot by her harmlessly, but though it was spinning in a violent circle, Dael soon received another shock as, while moving forward, Ceja reached out with both hands and snatched the axe from the air and, despite its size, manipulated it around and prepared to cleave with it within a heartbeat. How was that even possible? What sort of raw strength did this woman possess? It seemed to stun the Guardian Force as well, because it took her even longer to aim her hand out and fire the ice crystal. By that point…Ceja merely swung her axe down, cleaved through it, and proceeded to cleave halfway through Shiva's hand as well. Blue blood erupted and spilled everywhere.

Now, Shiva really did cry out and stagger backward. But Ceja was still relentless, shooting forward and bringing around her axe to end this. Yet moments before she could…the ice queen's head snapped up, her eyes blazing with icy light so strong that it made Dael feel cold even if they weren't looking at her, and she swung her other hand forward in a fist…gleaming with icy power. Ceja was reared back at the time, and was powerless to do anything as the lithe-looking hand struck her in the stomach. The surprises continued as Dael heard a powerful smashing sound, as well as a couple bones cracking. Weak as she appeared, Shiva, it seemed, possessed physical power far greater than even a seasoned warrior…although it soon became clear she was filling her hand with power when she struck the blow. Ceja's own face twisted into surprise as she was ripped off of her feet and flung backward violently, and as she did, Dael managed to catch ice crystals forming all around her body, adhering to her from the power of the hit. What they were doing wasn't immediately clear…but soon after Ceja slammed into the ice and held there, not sliding or bouncing or anything.

The purpose of the ice crystals became clear soon afterward, as Dael saw the crystals enlarge a bit more and then fuse to the ice. It was an immobilization move. Soon, the woman was pinned. She realized this and looked up in shock, but even this was a weak look. The blow had sapped some of her strength. Apparently, her constitution wasn't as strong as her raw power. She looked about momentarily, before looking up to Shiva. A moment later, Shiva fired off another large ice crystal for her. Ceja's eyes widened beneath her cowl, before, giving a yell, she focused all the strength she still had to rip one of her limbs out of the ice, carrying her axe with her, and swung it in front of her as a shield. However, on impact…she cried out again in pain as the shattering ice had sufficient force to knock her axe clean out of her hands and away from her…leaving her completely exposed and helpless.

Dael, seeing this, focused back on Shiva. The ice queen was looking completely at Ceja…and Dael realized there was an opening. If she teleported behind Shiva now, she could end the fight with one strike. She prepared to do so, trying to clear the sluggishness from her brain. Although it began to do so fairly quickly, the young officer soon realized it wasn't fast enough. Aiming both hands forward…Shiva was preparing to fire on Ceja again. This time, she generated ten long thin icicles, one for each finger, and aimed them at the warrior. Ceja looked back, and for the first time showed genuine fear. She had no way to protect herself without her axe. The crystals were strong enough to pierce through her one free arm and into her heart or head.

For a split second…Dael hesitated. She needed to teleport now, but if she went right behind Shiva, there was no guarantee striking her down would stop her from firing the ice crystals. She might win…but it could be too late to save the Fuliet warrior. To anyone else, the hesitation might have been costly for Dael, Ceja, or both. Yet Dael was always able to think on her feet…and she made a decision.

A heartbeat later, the icy darts shot away from Shiva and began to sail straight to Ceja. The warrior saw this happen. When it did, it looked as if she attempted to tighten her face and expression…to accept her death with honor. Yet for the first time…that façade broke. The warrior, bold as she had looked and been up until now, couldn't hide the fact she was genuinely scared. She had to fight not to close her eyes to the incoming darts…and even so they began to shut.

"Augh!"

Yet a moment later, they snapped open again, in genuine surprise…and Dael, now wracked with incredible pain, was feeling rather much like an idiot.

She had used her teleportation spell at the end, and was now beginning to feel the accompanying headache and dizziness. She welcomed it this time, however…because it distracted her from the large icicles embedded in her arm and leg, now gushing blood. She was standing right in front of Ceja as a human shield. In the end, she had teleported in front of her and swung her blade out in an attempt to deflect the ice. And truth be told, that had worked well. She got eight of the icicles. Two of them, however, had found marks in her.

Dael wasn't sure exactly how surprised Ceja was, because at the moment she focused entirely on her own pain. The blood's warming sensation was nothing compared to the agony she was in. Despite her own stamina and constitution, she couldn't withstand these two crippling blows mixed with the dizziness of the spell. She collapsed on the ground, actually falling over Ceja as well. She weakly began to reach for one of the icicles with her good hand, but she knew it wasn't going to be enough in time. As she looked up, biting back the pain…sure enough, Shiva was already beginning to move toward them and summon another spell.

What could she do? Dael didn't know if they could shout "I surrender", although at this point it seemed like a good idea to try. However, even as her mouth began to open…and right as she began to feel the ground shake and quiver a bit beneath her…she realized something.

_Wait…what happened to Taraketh?_

The shaking soon picked up in violence, and it was enough to make the ice queen stop in her tracks. Moments later, it was followed by a massive cracking sound of ice breaking…far larger than before. And it was coming from behind Shiva. Dael looked to this…and realized that the sky had suddenly turned dark again. She was so focused on her pain and Shiva that she hadn't even noticed. However, everyone noticed the next part…

Abruptly, a massive hunk of ice, twenty feet by twenty feet and a good three feet thick, shattered and snapped out from the lake and rose into the air behind Shiva. She spun around, and Dael looked as well, and both soon saw that the Minotaur Brothers were on the field and hoisting the huge piece of ground out. Shiva's eyes widened. She struggled to skate out of the way, but it was too late. Both giving a roar, the two brother flipped the massive piece of ice over, sending a cold wave blasting over Dael, and then slammed it down on top of her with tremendous force.

Dael winced and raised her good arm to cover her eyes with, peeling back against the ground as the massive slab shattered, sending bits of debris rolling over her and Ceja as well as showers of ice crystals and snow. The entire lake shuddered violently, and if it hadn't been for the fact that it seemed frozen all the way to the bottom, the large fractures that appeared in it would have certainly sent Dael to the bottom. The rumble continued for a few moments, as Dael braced herself and held, but eventually died down. When it finally did, the air was still quite frigid and cold, but not as much as before. Shiva's additional power being used, it seemed, had at least cut off. With that in mind, Dael uncovered her face and opened her eyes.

The sky was normal again, and where Shiva had been standing was now a shattered mass of ice. The ice queen herself was nowhere to be seen.

Dael watched for a moment, but then turned away. Looking back to the shards in her body, she quickly grasped them and pulled them out. Her flesh was white now and her hands numb, so she had no trouble doing that. It was painful on emerging, and both began to bleed again, but the biting cold was enough to freeze the wounds closed very shortly. By now, Dael was definitely shivering and wanted this to be over with quickly. However, it might not be done yet. Holding her sword as best as she could and wincing all the way, she managed to weakly pull herself to her feet.

As for Ceja nearby, the warrior still was stunned and strangely silent. However, she looked down at her body, and tightened her hand. Using one of her harder metal bracelets used for decoration, she broke her other arm free by bashing the ice, and then managed to use both hands to free her legs and peel herself off of the ice. Only then did she wince, holding her middle with a pained look on her face. Dael looked, and saw massive, ugly-looking bruises appearing on the exposed parts of her stomach. No doubt, she had broken bones. But despite that, Ceja somehow toughed through it, went over to collect her axe, and then raised it again. After that, without looking to Dael, she quickly moved around to the other side of the shattered ice.

At this point, Dael heard something else. Turning her head slightly, she noticed Taraketh was up again. That was obviously true. He had summoned the Brothers. He looked rather winded and bruised himself, but he was back up, and soon whipping his kusarigama out again. He too began to move around the broken ice for the opposite side. In moments, they all stopped, and Dael, Taraketh, and Ceja now surrounded the broken ice sheet.

It was silent for a moment, before a light shifting could be heard. A few bits of ice rolled off each other, and then a groan went out. Moments later, the pale blue woman, shaky and sore, pulled herself out of the rubble. She staggered a bit once up, shaking her own head. Her body was covered with dark blue bruises and injuries now, in addition to her old ones, and she seemed like she too could barely stand.

After a moment, she looked up and around…and soon saw she was surrounded by the others. Dael held her sword as best she could, Taraketh swung his kusarigama around. Ceja brandished her axe. Although all were shivering now and weak themselves, it was clear that numbers were against the Guardian Force.

Finally, she sighed. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head.

"Enough…you've won."

Dael sighed herself, and immediately dropped her sword to the ground. No longer caring about her own pride, she crossed her arms around herself and shuddered fiercely. Taraketh himself struggled not to, but it was no use. As he began to put his weapon away, his fingers sticking to the metal, he too looked like he was painfully cold. Even Ceja began to shake. Shiva looked up soon after and noticed this, and, for the first time, showed a faint smile.

"…I'll be quick about this." She informed them. "I can tell you're minutes from passing out. Hurry, hold out your hands."

Dael, a bit familiar with the 'drill' now, held out one of her hands. Taraketh did the same. Ceja, however, actually hesitated. Where Dael expected her to seize on this boldly, perhaps even tell the other two to stand back, she paused for a moment instead. Finally, however, she boldly put out her hand too. Shiva, in response, closed her own eyes and held out her hands to them. Once more, the waves of icy light glowed around her, and Dael realized that it was growing colder again, something she hated. However, she was patient…and soon, rays of blue light erupted from over her head and shot out to the three. They reached the outstretched hands of the group, and proceeded to move across them. To Dael's surprise, it was almost like etching frost, although she didn't feel cold as an icy symbol was placed on her hand. Much as for Quetzacoatl, the symbols were soon written there, glowed momentarily, and then sank into their flesh and vanished…and Dael felt herself filled with new power and knowledge of new spells.

Including, a bit to her surprise, one she didn't expect.

"Now then," Shiva spoke up again, causing the others to look to her once more. "My ability to heal isn't the greatest, but I think for these minor injuries I can manage…"

The ice queen closed her eyes and held out her hands once again, and once more light gathered to her…although now, it seemed more blue-green rather than icy. Soon, waves began to radiate off of her and to the others, and Dael expected another frosty wave. To the contrary, however…she felt no change in temperature as the green waves began to pass over her. Instead…she felt a bit better. She was still bitterly cold, but the tiny lacerations immediately healed up. The wounds in her arms and leg began to fill with flesh and heal too. She looked down to them in some surprise…and got another one soon after. Even her torn clothing folded over and mended, the threads uniting and soon leaving her as good as new.

Dael looked to Ceja and Taraketh and saw much the same as their bruises vanished and both straightened. Not only that, but Shiva herself became whole again and her blood washed away. However, she did begin to look rather tired from everything, and when she lowered her hands, she still nearly collapsed. The young officer paused and looked over herself again as the light faded. She was still fiercely cold, but at least her body was healed, and that made a difference.

Abruptly, however, she felt a cloth pressed against her body.

Turning her head, she looked to the side…and saw Bahamut standing there. The jacket was off, and he offered it to her, holding it up with one hand.

"Here. You probably need this more than me by now."

Dael hesitated momentarily, but then smiled back. "…Much appreciated." She answered as she took it and quickly slipped in on. Thin as it was, it still provided a great deal of relief from the intense cold. However, she had hardly begun to enjoy it before she felt something run up her back, and then adjust around her neck. Soon, she felt more relief as soft, warm fur wrapped around part of it.

"Brr!" Carbuncle exclaimed as he got back into position. "Sheesh, Shiva! Show come concern over here! Even if you were trying to make these three freeze to death, what's the deal with giving me the cold shoulder?"

Shiva still looked tired, and merely sighed and shook her head as she held a hand to it. "You're in _my_ dwelling, Carbuncle. I'll suit it however I like. If you didn't enjoy it, you could have teleported away at any time."

"No way!" He piped back. "And miss watching Dael and these other two humans kick your butt?"

Dael blushed quite a bit at that, especially since she had done relatively little in the battle. She really didn't want to summon any more of Shiva's wrath after that fight. However, the ice queen ignored her and glared at Carbuncle instead. "…If I was in a worse mood, I might teach you some humility by making you a statue for 100 years or so."

The Esthar Hawk felt Carbuncle gulp on hearing that. "Uh…can we hurry up and get out of here?"

The young officer, however, hesitated momentarily first. She looked over herself with a bit of confusion. As Taraketh adjusted himself, and Ceja, still moving strangely slowly, began to brace her axe again to move, she stood there looking over her body. After a bit, Shiva seemed to notice this, and turned fully to her.

"Is something the matter?"

"It's just…" Dael responded. Her brow furrowed, and she looked up to Shiva. "The ice powers I can understand, and I feel them…but there's something else too…"

"Minor healing abilities." Shiva responded to her.

Dael looked up a bit at that. "Really?"

"How else was I able to heal you?" Shiva responded. "My ability to cure was never the best in the world, but I did have some minor powers over it. I'm sure you'll find them quite useful. The ability to cause damage is nice, but so is the ability to repair it."

The young officer could hardly argue with that. In fact, she was rather enthused about it. All of this lightning and ice was great, but to be able to repair herself that quickly? She doubted she could pull off a spell to do what Shiva had just done to her, but if she could one day…then she'd be really unstoppable on the battlefield. Dael had almost forgotten that most of the magic that Children of Hyne specialized in within the public sphere was healing magic. That could be quite a boon both to Esthar's Hawks as well as to victims of attack. It was also an unexpected bonus, one that Dael was quite happy about, although she managed to hold it for now.

Moving back next to Dael, Taraketh proceeded to give Shiva another bow. Dael saw this, and, once again lagging, quickly did the same. She didn't see if Ceja or Bahamut did, now that she was fully facing the ice queen, but she didn't bother to look.

"Thank you very much for your gift, my lady." Taraketh told the Guardian Force.

"If you really wish to thank me, then put it to good use." Shiva responded simply, as she waved her hand to rearrange a few bits of rubble into a vague chair, not quite a throne, and sat in it. She still seemed tired, and appeared to want to just rest for a moment. However, after sitting, her eyes narrowed and her voice grew a bit colder.

"I'm afraid you'll have ample opportunity for that."

There was no mistaking the foreboding in her voice…and it made not only Dael pause, but Taraketh as well…and probably the others, from what Dael could presume. She leaned up and stared somewhat uneasily at Shiva. "…What do you mean?"

Shiva exhaled and leaned back. "Unfortunately, I can't say." She simply answered. "As I said, I haven't kept up much on world affairs for a while now…although, now that you three have come, that will change. It's time I saw how matters are going on outside of Fuliet."

Taraketh leaned up as well, but Dael was still perplexed. "…I don't understand. You say we'll have opportunity to use these powers, but you can't why?"

"I tried to follow in the footsteps of my father and brother to an extent." Shiva responded. "Becoming devoted to many different arts that were related to the positive side of things, such as wisdom and foreknowledge. It was from these arts that I learned the ability to cure. However, I was never as good as my father. If you _do_ find Leviathan, he'll no doubt know exactly what is happening.

"However, even I can sense that something is amiss. The Northern Rancor this year being so violent is not the result of any normal weather phenomena or bad combination of circumstances. I can feel it in the weather from my control over ice. There's something else at work here…something far larger and more ominous than all that has transpired. I fear something far worse than this Northern Rancor will happen soon, with far more reaching results."

Dark as these words sounded, neither Dael nor Taraketh showed much change. After all, both of them had been around more than Shiva, and they knew, or at least believed they knew, what she was talking about. The world was on the brink of war, only hovering with a tenuous peace at the moment. That would certainly be worse than the Northern Rancor no matter how bad it became. Still, in spite of all of that, Dael couldn't help but think for just a moment of the possibility of what that meant if she was referring to something else…but she quickly pushed that aside. After all, what else could there be?

At any rate, Dael was eager to get a move on. As a result, she nodded one last time to Shiva. "Again, thank you. We'll be on our way now."

"Feel free to come back later…preferably once you've acquired warmer clothing." Shiva simply responded. "Not much else to do around here except wait for visitors, and those are few and far between. Just do two favors for me, if you please. First, since you said you're going about to all Guardian Forces, tell Ifrit where I am if you encounter him."

Dael nodded back. "And the other?"

Shiva pointed out a finger at Carbuncle. "…Leave him home next time."

Carbuncle frowned. "Ah, go drown in a bowl of hot chicken soup."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	25. A Friend Indeed

The group made their way back from Shiva silently at first. However, once they crossed back over the range of her power, all of them immediately gave exhales of relief, including Ceja and Bahamut. They began to rub their arms fiercely, stamp on the ground, and just soak in the warmth of the surroundings. Dael felt like she could easily never go outside on a winter's day again after that.

"I can honestly say I've never felt so cold in my entire life." Dael remarked. "I used to think freezing to death wouldn't be so bad…"

"We were lucky." Taraketh responded as he struggled to look unaffected even as he rubbed his own limbs. "She didn't do her worst to us."

Dael looked up a bit incredulously at that. Before she could say a word, however, Taraketh shook his head. "If she had really gone all out, her first move would have been to freeze us all solid then just watch us as we stood trapped in ice as our hearts slowly froze. She wanted us to win. It seems our cause must be more just in her eyes than we realize."

The young officer didn't argue that point. Although it was an unsettling thought, she realized there was little reason to believe Shiva couldn't have just frozen them from the inside out. Needless to say, she was rather glad to be out of there. She was warming up quickly although a cold air lingered around her a bit, but soon they were getting on the move, and in no time at all her muscles loosened up and felt alive once again. She kept rubbing her hands until they lost their numbness, and then she was normal.

Even leaving as early as they had, returning to the camp would probably take until the afternoon. The whole encounter with Shiva had taken all of twenty minutes, which was rather speedy considering the trip to get there. But marching there had taken several hours. Even with the sprawling camp visible in the far distance, it was still many miles away over rough terrain. And the mountain was so rocky even going downhill would prove to be a chore. Therefore, the group took off at a steady pace first thing, not doing a whole lot of talking. Dael looked to the others again, in particular Bahamut and Ceja. Bahamut himself, as always, didn't complain although he seemed to be doing a lot better here. After all, they were moving downhill now. Not surprisingly, Ceja was being quiet too. However, it wasn't the same quiet that Dael had grown accustomed to. Where before she had taken the point and been fast and rapid, now she was pacing herself much slower, holding closer to the others. In fact, she was moving more or less to the side of them rather than taking the lead, and Dael found herself occasionally moving ahead as well. Her head also stayed low.

After going down the mountain a ways, it finally seemed to be a far enough distance to talk again. At least, that's what obviously occurred to Carbuncle as he spoke up with a sigh.

"Same ol' Shiva…always busting my chops."

Dael grimaced a bit at that. She quickly tried to think of something else to say to change the subject. "Anyway…at least we succeeded. That makes four Guardian Forces."

"Don't become too confident." Taraketh immediately responded, although not quite as biting as when they first met. "So far, all of these have been the 'lesser' Guardian Forces. If we ever encounter the stronger ones, such as Leviathan, we'll be in for the fight of our lives. The number of individuals who have commanded Leviathan throughout history can be counted on two hands. Even I have a hard time imagining that we could defeat him…or that Sybenia could, for that matter."

"We'll have to try regardless if we find him." Dael responded. "We still don't know what Sybenia is capable of, but I'm having a hard time believing that even a Guardian Force could withstand a full armed assault by modern weaponry."

"Only because you haven't researched the power of Guardian Forces enough throughout your life." Taraketh retorted. "The abilities of armies and tanks and bombs is insignificant next to that of some Guardian Forces. Guardian Forces like Leviathan have been beaten, yes, but only by power derived from other Guardian Forces…or espers, to be more exact."

Dael exhaled a bit. She didn't want to get into another argument about this. She supposed this question would be answered in due time. She shook her head instead. "At any rate, I need to keep working on my magic. Now I've got even more spells to master."

"Ice should be a bit easier." Taraketh responded. "It comes more quickly and flows more easily than lightning. Lightning is one of the harder ones to control. Perhaps if you grew able to master ice, what you learned there could be applied to lightning to make it easier rather than trying to learn both together."

The young officer looked to Taraketh at that comment. She was a bit puzzled. Had he just given her a 'pointer'? And done it in a nice, non-critical way?

"Don't get me wrong." Taraketh immediately threw in, not looking to her. "This is still mostly a waste of time. Your magic will never be as great as that of a true mage. However, I saw what you did back in the trial against Shiva. You obviously have to have _some_ talent if you were able to pull off a lightning spell in a semi-hectic situation after only a few lessons, so you might manage to be able to use magic regularly in combat yet…although that's still a long ways off."

Dael was again a bit stunned. While Taraketh was still grumbling about it, he appeared like he was really coming around compared to his older state. He was almost being encouraging. Well, Dael could only be grateful for it. Anything that was a change from his older self was a welcome addition. She thought of saying something else in response, something perhaps a bit pleasant back to try and keep this dynamic going, when she noticed something in her peripheral vision.

Ceja abruptly stepped forward in front of everyone else, faced them, and then stopped in her tracks.

As a result, Dael, Taraketh, and Bahamut soon all did the same. Dael herself was a bit surprised by this action, but immediately thought it couldn't mean anything well. Perhaps she was about to do something similar to what Taraketh had done back in Lamb Temple. Seeing as she had little love for them and had been going on and on about how this was supposed to be "her victory", she didn't think it could possibly be that good. Yet as she looked forward to Ceja, she saw that she hadn't changed much. Her face wasn't as tight and fierce as before, and her head was still aimed to the ground, her eyes staring at it. She wouldn't even look at them.

A few moments of silence went by, before Taraketh crossed his arms and looked to her. "…The faster we return to your camp, the faster we'll be gone." Soon after, his eyes narrowed. "Or are you wanting to use your new powers already? Don't think I haven't noticed how much you've disliked us ever since you heard we had to go with you."

Ceja said nothing for a moment. When she did act, it was at first just to reach up and brush back her wolf cowl, revealing her hair and face beneath. Then, she finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Taraketh's cross look immediately melted away. His eyes opened again and he looked at Ceja strangely. Dael herself stared, almost showing surprise at that response as well.

"My manners were terrible, and I misjudged both of you." The warrior continued. "You have my apologies for my conduct and mistrust. I would like it if we could spend the remainder of our time together as allies rather than at odds with one another."

Dael was rendered silent for a moment. This was a big change…and something that made a very large improvement compared to Taraketh. The High Child was still standoffish, but now the Fulliet warrior was extending an "olive branch", so to speak? At first, Dael though it might have been an ulterior motive…that she was just saying this to put them at ease for one reason or another. After all, brash as Taraketh had been, given her hostile nature she wouldn't put it above the woman to try and ensure that she was the only one who had the power…and if she was that strong already and now with a Guardian Force…she wasn't someone that she wanted to fight. However, for all of her brashness, it left one thing in her favor. Ceja didn't seem to be the type that relied on deception or ever hid her true feelings from others, even if it would result in more hostility. She slowly began to realize that this woman was actually telling the truth…and that was quite amazing.

"…Don't worry about it." Dael finally stated. In all honesty, she had enough on her mind without having to worry about holding grudges. Besides, she planned to be gone from this region soon enough.

Taraketh, who had been bracing himself for the worst, was likewise deflated. He actually looked out of sorts for a moment, before shrugging. "Yes, um…well, far be it from a member of the Order of Hyne to hold a grudge. There's nothing to be worried about. Let's just be on our way."

Ceja nodded, and then turned and began to lead them on again. Soon after, the group began to follow her once again. Dael kept on easily enough, wondering for a moment about this turn of events. It was a sharp change, and she realized what might have been the trigger. Did Dael's intervention really cause this?

However, after only another minute or so, Ceja began to speak again.

"I don't make many excuses for my behavior…but understand that I couldn't very well trust you at first." She spoke up. "We've been taken advantage of for so long. Our ancestors were pushed north when Esthar began to drill for oil and mine, and we were cheated out of our land holdings due to not being as well learned in your society's laws. And for years, whenever we would allow an Esthar individual to encroach on our land, they would take advantage of us again and give us rotten deals that amounted to theft. Even some Order of Hyne members have favored Esthar in times past to our detriment, not considering us worthy of acknowledgement because of our tribal background."

Taraketh tightened up at this, and Dael sensed that he would soon create an outburst of defense.

"If you don't mind me asking," She found herself speaking up after a moment, although she wasn't sure why. "What changed your opinion? I mean…I could tell you acted differently around us after I jumped in front of you, but I honestly would have done the same for anyone."

"That is why my opinion of you changed." Ceja responded. "My tribe views the people of Esthar as greedy, self-interested, and completely hedonistic…willing to sacrifice their own children and their children's children for more comfort and pleasure. The fact that you risked death to try and help me in a hostile situation told me all I need to know about you. We have a philosophy in the Nine Winds of the North. The only way to truly see what makes a person is to see how they act in battle."

Taraketh paused momentarily after hearing this, and began to speak up. "I'll admit that there have been a few unscrupulous members of the Order of Hyne throughout history, but they have been few and far between and the exceptions rather than the rule, and always punished severely by the Sorceresses when exposed. And the Sorceresses, especially Lady Cybus, has never dealt double with any tribe in Fuliet, and I will take offense if you try and tell me otherwise."

Ceja paused momentarily, but then spoke again. Once more, to Dael's surprise, she wasn't as bold as before, but much more meek and quiet. "I know that the Sorceresses have always dealt fairly with us, but even so…they are not one of us. It's been too often in history that whoever has not been for us has been against us. Therefore I had to hold at least some measure of distrust. But now I see she has been justified as well. I had no chance of defeating that Guardian Force on my own for all my training."

"I can also understand you distrusting Esthar, and especially Esthar Hawks." Taraketh continued. "The Order of Hyne has little love for some of their actions either."

Carbuncle let out a snort at this while Dael rolled her eyes.

"Not all people are bad, however." Bahamut interceded, abruptly speaking up and gaining Dael's attention. "In fact, very few are. That's a lesson I learned the hard way. Governments might be distrustful, but the people inside them are like most people inside your own tribes…just wanting to live in peace."

Dael was pleasantly surprised at Bahamut suddenly coming to Esthar's defense, as well as hers, and Ceja seemed to realize it.

"…I have a very, very hard time accepting that fact…but at least I know it is true." She stated grimly. "That is contrary to the view that all people within Fuliet take, not just my tribe. And I do not condemn that view either. It is what is necessary to be able to survive in Fuliet. All new parties are to be viewed as hostile and enemies before they prove otherwise. There is no room for softness and weakness. Even if another individual doesn't exploit any weakness on your part, a monster that lives out here will.

"My parents died when I was very young, and my uncle raised me to be a woman of iron. He always told me that was the only way you could ensure that you never got hurt. To be fierce and cold with all people and all things. To show no weakness at any time. To always drive fear into the hearts of all who met you and to show no fear in response. It wasn't enough to train myself to be deadly…I had to exude that to both man and beast."

Carbuncle frowned a bit at this. "Sounds like a rather nasty way to live…"

"It's the only way to live." Ceja retorted. "At least out here. My tribe allows females to be warriors, but many tribes do not, and they see females not as people to be killed but prizes to be carried off. Some tribes would spare the women in another tribe just to have their way with them." She stiffened at this, momentarily reverting back to her original persona. "I for one would sooner die, even if it would be at my own hand. The men of these tribes do not instinctively fear women, even fierce women warriors. Even if the women warriors are very strong and fierce in battle, their male opponents still do not feel fear…but anger that they are being defeated by a woman, and disgraced when a woman beats them. My uncle wanted me to be so fierce and vicious that all men would be forced to fear me regardless of their pride."

Ceja paused a moment here, then looked somewhat back up with a grimace to Dael. "…I'm certain you don't have to deal with such things in your society. I know the modern world prides itself on being 'cultured' and 'refined'."

Dael, however, gave her a stern look back. "You'd be surprised." She stated in response. The Fuliet warrior's words brought back some memories not yet six months old that affected Dael rather strongly, things she still wished she could forget. It made her think a little. She tended to think she had a rather hard time in the academy. The truth of the matter was she couldn't have had it nearly as hard as Ceja. Her society was far more patriarchal and demeaning to women, even in tribes such as hers that allowed female participation in combat. Dael didn't have to be terribly well versed in the tribal cultures to know that. What she did know already confirmed it. It was one of the reasons her "part of the world" thought so little of them. It was a sobering thought…that perhaps they shouldn't be so quick to judge until they had removed similar thought from their own societies completely.

At any rate, Dael didn't dwell on this long. "Well…you did what you had to do. I had to make some attitude changes myself to get by in Esthar's Hawks."

"Still…" Carbuncle threw in. "That's a rather terrible way to have to go through life. I mean…you're going to scare a lot of people away. How do you make friends like that?"

Ceja paused after hearing this, her face falling a bit more. After that, she answered more quietly.

"…You don't."

Everyone, Bahamut and Taraketh included, looked to Ceja at this.

"I don't have anyone I consider a 'friend'." Ceja continued. "I was cautioned at an early age to even make people who fought with me fear me to the point of respect. I have fellow warriors, and that is all. Uncle told me that I couldn't have the luxury of letting too many people get close. They could betray me and expose my weakness to others who would not be so friendly or forgiving. If I wished to be a female in the Nine Winds of the North, I had to appear lethal to all things. When I tried to ask who I could depend on, then, in a troubled situation, he answered that, in battle, the only one a true warrior should rely on is themselves, not others to save them. I should always be strong enough to do things by myself in case they're taken away."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to doubt your uncle rather heavily on that." Bahamut spoke up, for once his voice turning rather cynical. "This isn't an issue of black or white. Your uncle should have realized he was asking you to make a heavy tradeoff. True, it's good to be independent, but you're only one person and a mortal. There's a limit on what you can do. You saw that today in this battle."

"And battle aside, that's a very lonely way to go through life." Taraketh threw in. "Much as I hate to admit it, I can't do everything on my own. I count on a lot of people to have my back to support me. Lady Cybus herself always told me that it's not a good thing to always be alone. It's other people that help you to grow."

Ceja was silent in response to these comments. She walked on without saying anything for a few moments, and it wasn't clear if she was taking the advice or ignoring it. Finally, however, she exhaled again.

"…You're probably right. Before uncle died…I always had at least him to talk to. I could always show him my true side at least. But now…I'm alone. I've had to maintain being a hard, cold warrior all the time now, and I'm never able to let anything off. There's no one to share my concerns or worries with…no one I can just ease up around and not be afraid of what I'm saying or showing… To be honest, it's very tiring…and it's getting to me. I couldn't afford to shed a single tear at uncle's funeral for fear I would be weak, and so no one offered me condolences or sympathies. Later I just lay in my tent and cried while trying to muffle the noise, and I left exhausted and distraught." She sighed. "Perhaps I am just a simple woman… Perhaps I am too weak for not being able to do better…"

"Or perhaps you're a normal human being who needs to be able to feel and emote at times." Dael immediately countered, almost snapping. She was a little surprised at herself for doing so. After all, she believed in "maintaining a stiff upper lip" herself. However, the last comment, that Ceja was faulting herself and chalking up her stress and emotion to simply being female did her in. "Anyone in your position would have mourned, man or woman. To try and hold it all in would be devastating."

Ceja didn't respond to that, and didn't say anything else for a while. Dael was a bit surprised at her own volume, but she stood by it. She might have been fairly indifferent to such things herself, but she wasn't going to let any woman fault herself for crying because the last family member she had died. Dael herself had learned to bottle up that emotion and it was a painful and difficult thing to overcome. Although she knew it could be done, it wasn't something she wished on anyone who could avoid it, even this warrior she barely knew.

At long last, Ceja did speak up again, this time changing the subject.

"In the time it takes to back to camp, it will be too late for you to set out again." She told them. "You should stay the night, and you can leave first thing in the morning."

"We are somewhat pressed for time." Taraketh answered. "Our errand is urgent. We need to get to the next Guardian Force."

Ceja turned to him at this, looking somewhat puzzled. "Another one? But you already possess Guardian Forces yourselves as well as Shiva. Why do you keep seeking them?"

"That's our business." Taraketh answered.

"A preventative measure for Esthar." Dael immediately interjected, ignoring Taraketh. "Guardian Forces who have been defeated can't attack their owners. It's to ensure they can't be used in a potential war."

Taraketh gave Dael a glare at this, but she looked calmly back. He stared for a moment, and then relented. After all, this was rather clandestine and not advertised, but technically it wasn't a secret mission. Besides, who would Ceja tell that could cause them difficulties? The Fuliet warrior, however, looked somewhat puzzled at this.

"I've heard rumors of a large war potentially about to break loose…but not much else. Is a conflict looming?"

"You don't know the half of it." Carbuncle chuckled. "Seems we've got plenty to talk about on the return trip, even if we didn't say much going out."

Ignoring this, Dael exhaled a bit and looked to Ceja. "I'm not sure how much news gets up here, so stop me if I say something you already know…"

* * *

><p>Dael proceeded to give Ceja a brief history lesson on what had been going on in the world over the past few months, supplementing it with Sybenia's rise to power as well as the economic crisis. It ended up being quite a lengthy tale. Taraketh was silent at first but ended up contributing some toward the end, but even more surprising was that Bahamut threw his own two cents in from time to time, and ended up being very knowledgeable about many things in world events. Ceja, on her part, listened patiently to everything, asked questions at times, and, at the end, a bit to Dael's surprise, looked rather tense.<p>

"This isn't very good news." Ceja concluded. "And we thought we had hit the worse when the Northern Rancor came…"

"Fuliet shouldn't have much reason to worry." Taraketh threw in. "It's all but inaccessible from sea, no places to land planes, and no reason to travel into it on foot or by vehicle. Besides, this country is neutral."

"I wouldn't be too sure, if what you say is true." Ceja responded darkly. "This Sybenia doesn't seem to care much for anyone who doesn't meet their ideal. At least Esthar merely tries to cheat us. They sound like they are wanting us exterminated." She looked forward and sighed. "Perhaps the horologists in the camp are right."

"Horologists?" Dael asked.

"Diviners…ones who make predictions of the future." Ceja responded. "Even among our people, only a few tribes put any faith in such things in modern times. The rest consider it as meaningless as your society does. However…this year has been one of extremely bad omens, from what I hear. Because of the Northern Rancor, many have begun to believe in the predictions again. However, I fear that they predict something much worse."

Dael hesitated on hearing this. First Shiva…and now Ceja. She was beginning to wonder if she should be concerned that something bad was indeed coming. However, she decided to push it aside for now. It was probably nothing or, at the worst, a reflection on the Northern Rancor or the war. After all, what else could it be?

"Anyway…I'll make sure that you have arrangements to stay in the camp one more night." Ceja continued after a moment. "Powerful as you are, it is never wise to traverse the wilds of Fuliet at night. You can set out early tomorrow."

Taraketh sighed a bit. "Well…I did want to meet with Lady Cybus one more time. We have to give her back the key anyway."

"Based on our time frame, we'd be early if we did leave." Dael also added. "And all we'd have for it is staying the night in the middle of Fuliet and risking being attacked by more monsters. I know time is short, but we already planned conservatively so we might as well wait."

"Fine by me." Carbuncle threw in as they continued down the mountainside. "Hospitality aside, it is a bit comfier on the mats in the tents in the camp than the stuff we brought along for gear… Maybe I can snake a little bit of the tribe's alcoholic wares. I can't stand going dry this long."

Carbuncle's behavior notwithstanding, Ceja made for a far more pleasant companion on the journey back. Their trip was without monster incident, so they didn't have a chance to see how Ceja would do against a "conventional" opponent, but Dael imagined it would be quite a sight if they did. From the battle alone, Dael knew that even without a junction, Ceja would have given her a run for her money despite all of her own enhancements. Now that they were on friendlier terms, Dael could actually appreciate her as a warrior. She wondered where she stood on the lists that she was so fond of. If she didn't even make the cut…then Dael was rather overwhelmed. If that was true, then how strong _were_ the greatest fighters in the world?

On arrival at the camp, the group broke up slightly. Dael, Bahamut, and Carbuncle were left to return to the tent they had stayed in the night before while Ceja and Taraketh went to report to Lady Cybus. Dael managed to gauge on their arrival that the Nine Winds of the North were going on another hunting expedition to try and curb the numbers of the monsters before they made another attack. Since they were deprived of Ceja, Aizel apparently had taken up his old position temporarily to join the band himself, and Lady Cybus had gone out to lend her aid in healing magic. Normally a Sorceress wouldn't take an active role on the field, but being the only true magic user in the camp at the moment, and wanting to build more rapport with the tribes, she had done so. After all, it was much easier to hear her side of things when the tribesmen and women knew that she was fighting alongside them.

Only when Dael returned to the tent did she start paying some real attention to Bahamut, and realized, aside from a few side comments he made earlier when they left, he had been rather quiet…even more so than usual. Studying him more closely now, she realized he almost had a morose look about him.

Having eased up quite a bit herself, she asked him about it. "Are you alright?"

Bahamut paused for a while before he sighed. "…Yes. This is something I should have expected. Things are rarely so easy. Still…I had hoped for at least some clue as to where Leviathan was. I guess I got too much of my hopes up. Perhaps our next stop will have more success."

Dael had been quiet in response to that for a while, but then asked something. "Bahamut, do you ever think of what you're going to do with your life if you _don't_ find him?"

"I will." Bahamut responded without hesitation. "This body may only have a human lifespan in it, but that's enough, using modern technology and methods, to comb the entire face of Gaia."

_Well, I tried._ Was all Dael thought.

Dael stuck to the tent for the most part. Ceja's demeanor might have changed toward them, but everyone else still gave them dark looks and generally made them feel like unwanted outsiders. Ceja herself, as they approached the joint encampment, apologized to all of them before saying she would have to appear to still be hostile and aloof to them. Soon after, she moved in front and once again took up her old persona. It was a bit surprising to Dael that she could "turn it on" and "off" so easily, but she didn't give her any trouble about it. She supposed a more suspicious person, like Taraketh, would wonder if she had just been pretending to be friendly to get them at some disadvantage. However, she didn't believe that. The Fuliet warrior sounded far too authentic on the way back. She could see it in her eyes, and she had a feeling lying types didn't last long out here.

Taraketh returned after a bit, saying that Lady Cybus was glad that they had all come back safe and sound, and saying that they were welcome to stay one more night. She also passed a message on to Dael through Taraketh to make a note of how tensions were rising in the tribes. This could have important implications to how Esthar and Fuliet interacted with each other in the near future. Dael agreed. If worse did come to worse, even Fuliet, with its scattered tribes and archaic weapons, could provide an unnecessary distraction in a conflict. After that, they ate from their own stores and decided to go to bed. Although Dael was eager to try out her new powers, if for no other reason than to grow accustomed to them, she was also eager to get a move on bright and early the next day. The other hostile stares of the people in the tribes made it clear she still wasn't welcome here. Plus, she soon realized that while magic was good for healing physical injuries…it did nothing to ease mental fatigue. She was still exhausted when she lay down for the night.

Early the next morning, before the sun was up, Dael was already awake. However, she couldn't boast that much this time, because the tribe seemed to rise even earlier. At first she thought it was just an attack, but then she soon learned that it was simply their nature. At any rate, she hurried up and packed the few items that she had to leave out last night, and within two minutes of waking up she was ready to go. Bahamut, again showing a nice "Esthar Hawk" mentality, was just as fast, and Taraketh, not to be outdone in terms of responsibility, followed soon after. That left another fifteen minutes of the three trying to wake Carbuncle up. As it turned out, it was a good thing he slept in. The green creature had scarcely been roused when a tribesman appeared at the tent flap.

"Lady Cybus the River wishes to speak with you before you depart."

* * *

><p>There was no need to come to the meeting tent this time. Rather, Cybus met them right outside the border of the campground itself. As the other day, Aizel was with her…easily dwarfing the woman despite her being a person of average height and build. She was dressed even more "common" today, looking to be ready for traveling. Aizel himself was armed, seeming to be carrying a variation of Ceja's own giant axe. There were a few other warriors with them too. Obviously, they were planning on heading out on some sort of expedition that day.<p>

Dael noticed that there was someone missing…namely Ceja. In a way, she was a bit disappointed. She realized she didn't really say goodbye the day before when she and Taraketh went off to talk with the Sorceress. She now regretted that she hadn't. What were her odds of running into her again, even if she was sent on a diplomatic mission? She was probably the only friendly face she'd ever find in Fuliet. And, to be honest…after knowing a bit more of her background, she felt a little more kinship with her. Although Dael definitely had more advantages than Ceja did in her own society, both of them had struggled to prove that they were "as good as any man".

Soon, the four passed the final row of tents and made their way up to the Sorceress and the warriors with her. Taraketh moved up first, as always, and dropped to a kneel before her. Dael gave a polite bow, as did Bahamut, but they didn't go to his extremes. Cybus didn't seem to mind. She smiled back at all of them before looking down to High Child.

"Taraketh, there's no need to do that every time."

"It would be rude if I didn't, my lady." Taraketh responded.

She sighed a bit. "Some things never seem to change with you. However, if it makes you more comfortable…very well."

Taraketh bowed his head a bit lower, and then rose to his feet. Cybus looked over all of them.

"Since I didn't have the chance to do this personally yesterday, I will say congratulations now. I doubt I need to remind you all of this, but please use the power well. Even though you have earned it through the trials, it is still a great privilege."

"I assure you I will." Taraketh immediately responded.

"I'm only using this to protect Esthar from attack by Sybenia." Dael also added. "There's a possibility I won't use this power at all."

Cybus let out a small chuckle at this. "Well, don't take that mentality, dear." She responded. "While I certainly don't want you abusing this power, I don't want you refusing to use it when the time is right either. These are indeed great privileges, and the other side of a privilege is to use it responsibly rather than simply avoid using it irresponsibly. They should be used to help people and protect the world. If the Northern Rancor truly was a sign of something ill, I hope it comes to be of use. I fear it was only an omen of what's about to happen in the 'civilized' world."

Dael wasn't sure how to respond to that. After all, she still had primary loyalty to Esthar. It was the rest of the world that the Order of Hyne was concerned about. In the end, she nodded. "We can hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst, my lady. That's all we can do. I assure you I'll use this power responsibly."

Cybus smiled. "I'm sure you will." She looked to her side next. "Master Bahamut, I'm glad to see you made it back safe as well. I hope you have a pleasant journey and find what you're looking for."

Bahamut seemed fairly indifferent to this for a moment, but then nodded. "Thank you."

Taraketh stiffened slightly when he didn't use a title, but he wasn't going to yell at a kid.

"Now, as to why I wished to see you all off personally…" Cybus continued. "She only made this decision hastily, so I'm afraid she's not here just yet. However, knowing her, she'll be around at any moment."

Dael, and the others with her, looked puzzled at this. "Excuse me?" Dael asked.

However, even as she said this, the Sorceress looked up and behind her, and smiled. "Ah, there she is."

The Esthar's Hawk, and the others with her, turned just in time to see a figure run up to them, carrying a large sack made from animals hides along her back…along with a large and conspicuous axe. Ceja, cleaned up fully from yesterday, was now running up to them. She still had the same gruff look as before, hard and unfriendly, but nevertheless she came up to the side of them and halted.

All four members of Dael's group blinked a few times, before they turned back to Cybus.

"Um…my lady…I don't quite understand…" Taraketh spoke up.

Cybus formed something of an embarrassed look. "Well…I know this is rather sudden. If it was anyone else, I probably wouldn't have even proposed it. However, I think it's for the best, which is why I'm endorsing it. Now, it's your decision, of course. Both of yours, actually. But I think it would be an immense help to the tribes if you were to take Ceja with you back to Esthar."

Dael had to fight to keep her eyes from widening. If Taraketh tried to cover it up, it certainly didn't show. Ceja offered no explanation. She couldn't, apparently. She was still in her "tough" persona so long as she was in view of the tribe and wouldn't be volunteering information. At any rate, she ended up being the one speaking.

"Begging your pardon, my lady?"

Cybus responded by inhaling a bit as she folded her arms behind her back.

"This isn't a secret to Ms. Dracocorazon, so I'll come out and say it. By now, you have to have realized that Ms. Dracocorazon isn't quite as, shall we say…'culturally isolated' as the other members of her tribe. Her uncle went to extensive measures to make sure that she would have a more 'diverse' outlook on the world. He had her learn the common language, become versed in customs of Esthar culture as well as the cultures of many other tribes, and even had tutors brought in from outside of Fuliet to give her more formal education than most other members of her tribe would ever receive. He even requested that I teach her on more than one occasion personally. There could have been only one reason for this and everyone knows it. The new generation of Fuliet is wanting to interact more with the 'modern world'. Even if they don't abandon their ways for modern customs, they want to be able to at least be aware of what is out there so that they are more shrewd in dealing with those who would defraud them in the future. It's clear that her uncle was trying to 'groom' her to become a new kind of leader who could be of the greatest benefit to the people of Fuliet.

"Last night, when I was talking with Ms. Dracocorazon about the experience, she confided in me that during the trip there had been several moments where she was caught unaware both in terms of experience with magic and with cultural affairs. Like most tribe members, she had little idea of the escalating conflict between Sybenia and the rest of the world. The advice I gave to her was that she try to become more well-versed in the world at large and begin to take an interest in world cultures and political affairs. Doing so might make her a more capable leader. She responded by telling me that she was intrigued by the power that Shiva displayed, and heard from you about your mission to obtain the power of the Guardian Forces to ensure they couldn't be used against Esthar. She asked me if the same might be possible to do for Fuliet, and I said that I didn't see why not.

"Well…one thing led to another, and she said she needed to think on things before she left last night. Then, early this morning, Ms. Dracocorazon came to my tent while I was still asleep and asked about the mission that you were undertaking, and asked if it would likely take you to other Guardian Forces and around to other societies. I said that it would most certainly be the case. She proposed to me, therefore, that it might be of greatest value to her and her tribe as well if she was to accompany you."

Now, Dael was really caught off guard. She couldn't see Taraketh's face, but she assumed his jaw was dropping.

"She would have the greatest chance of making contact with the other Guardian Forces for the benefit of her tribe. Now, she said she intended to 'earn her keep', of course. I explained the situation to her, that this is a matter of importance to the Order of Hyne as well as to Esthar, and she agreed that she would place herself at Sir Sabian's disposal. There's plenty of room in the cathedral in Esthar for her to stay, and she could accompany you on your missions as well. I'm sure she would be of assistance to you. She admitted that she tried to be a bit too 'independent' in your battle with Shiva, but she said that she understands the power of magic now and will act more appropriately in the future."

Dael was still rather aghast. True enough, she had been feeling better about Ceja…but this was something else entirely. And she could only imagine what was running through Taraketh's head. Evidentally, Cybus had to have picked up on it. Looking a bit more anxious, she spoke a little more earnestly.

"You'd be doing an immense favor to myself, the tribe, and to her if you were to take her along. I personally vouch for her in saying that she will not be an inconvenience to any of you. She has all of her own supplies that she requires and she is a capable warrior. And once you have returned to Esthar, she will be relieved of you further. As a personal favor, I ask if you won't do this small item for me."

The young officer wondered just how "small" one could reasonably consider this "item", but she said nothing about it. This was far beyond what she had expected she would get coming on this trip. A whole new person? A resident of Fuliet, at that? And a member of the Nine Winds of the North? Still…Dael had to admit, whether it was her or any other member of the tribe, she preferred Ceja after their long talk and walk yesterday. Besides…although Cybus didn't directly come out and say it, there was another factor at play here. With the tribes as chaotic as they were right now, they were likely on the brink of civil conflict. That would keep them pacified for a while, but eventually a new leader would emerge victorious and would wield considerable power over the area. It would be nice if this leader was friendly to their own people. It would help things immensely in current world affairs. It meant that they would have one less thing to worry about exploiting an opportunity if it ever came to war between Esthar and Sybenia.

As a result, Dael finally calmed down, and gave her own verdict on the situation.

"I have no objections if Sir Sabian does not."

Taraketh turned his head slightly, almost looking to Dael at that. However, a moment later, and he turned back forward to Cybus. Dael already knew the answer. He had too much respect for the Sorceresses, especially Cybus. After a few moments, he gave a nod to her.

"If I may do a personal favor for you, no matter the task, my lady, as always I will do it. She is welcome to me."

The Sorceress smiled in response and gave a nod. "I knew I could rely on you, Taraketh. I thank you very much for agreeing. You won't regret it, I promise you."

Dael noticed out of the corner of her eye that Ceja wasted little time. Maintaining her warrior persona, she drew up her bag and prepared to go. Instinctively, Dael turned fully to her as she gathered her things and then instantly set out, not waiting for the others.

As a result…she managed to catch a glimpse of something else.

Back in the periphery of the camp, another familiar, if unnamed, face was looking in on this. For just a moment, peeking out between two tents, Dael saw the same individual with the bow and dark look standing there, watching everything. After a moment, however, he turned and simply walked back into the camp.

Dael found herself watching him for a few moments before she was able to turn back and start following after Ceja.

* * *

><p>Clearing "official" territory of the tribes of Fuliet, or at least the local ones, took some time. Longer than Dael expected, at any rate. She didn't know they went out so far. However, she now had an accurate "measure" of how far they had to go to get away from them. With Ceja now along for the ride, she knew they weren't in the clear until she dropped her "rougher" persona for a more friendly one. Indeed, for quite a distance, well past what Dael thought were the normal watchmen, Ceja was as aloof as before, moving to the front of the group and maintaining a lead, not saying a word except to occasionally urge them on in her native language.<p>

However, after beginning to enter one of the boulder-scattered valleys, it seemed they reached a threshold. Ceja moved back and walked alongside the others, and she warmed up considerably.

"Sorry for being that way." She immediately apologized. "I still need to maintain the appearance of being a cold warrior."

"Don't worry about it." Dael responded immediately.

Taraketh was a bit more put out, however. "If you're planning on coming along just to gain more power for yourself…"

"What Lady Cybus said is true." Ceja cut off. "I did come to her expressing such concerns. And I don't want Sybenia to try and eliminate us to establish a base of operations or remove another potential obstacle. I have nothing but pride and admiration for the spirit and power of our warriors. At the same time…it is folly to believe, after 500 years, that we are somehow a match for firearms and explosives."

Dael didn't respond to that…although she did think about it a little. Although Ceja kept up appearances easily enough, she realized how completely she had opened up to them yesterday after the incident with Shiva. Not only that, but today, as soon as she thought she was in the clear, she did a 180 in terms of personality. She seemed all too willing to talk to them again, even to initiate conversation. Dael began to wonder just how much she was coming here to accomplish a greater mission…and how much of it was just to not have to be emotionally repressed and restrained all the time.

"So…" A new voice spoke up. As always, it was surprising, for Dael noticed it came from Bahamut. He always seemed to speak only to say strange or puzzling things at inopportune moments. "Is it true that you descended from the North Midgardian Garamoundians?"

Dael was used to being caught off guard by Bahamut's statements, but this one seemed unusually out of the blue. Especially since it was something that Dael had a knowledge of.

According to a story that was, for all anyone knew, a mixture of myth as well as true history, following the Collapse, a samurai of the extinct kingdom of Doma, having lost his own family in a war, adopted a wild boy who had no parents of his own and had grown up among vicious beasts and monsters. Although the boy was already strong and well-learned in the ways of combat and ferocity from having lived among such savage animals, the samurai taught him self-discipline, control, and honor. As a result, the boy and his descendents were both renown as great warriors but also honorable and civil. As a result, they formed the Garamoundians, who ended up settling among the region that was once an archelpelago north of the Eastern Continent. The islands gradually disappeared due to long-lasting changes following the Collapse, but the legends maintained that some of them survived and formed a colony in the region of Fuliet before it became inaccessible from sea, giving rise to the tribes that lived there today. Of course, no one knew for certain if the Garamoundians survived or some other tribe took their place, and it was impossible to tell without sending in anthropologists…something the residents vehemently opposed. Yet another slice of history Dael realized Bahamut had known about.

_Exactly how long was he in that library that he learned all of this?_

Ceja likewise was taken off guard by that comment. However, she was pleased by it. Whereas most of the islanders had been savage and warlike (and, therefore, most of the modern world through them the more likely ancestors of the tribes of Fuliet), the Fuliet people themselves each boasted of their tribe as having been the one descended from the Garamoundians, who had briefly held an archipelago spanning empire for a 50 year period. To genuinely say they had descended from them was a high honor.

"I have always believed my tribe, the Dracocorazons, to have been their descendents, yes boy." Ceja responded to them. "But if I may ask, what brings up that topic?"

"…First off, my name is Bahamut." The young man answered, a bit indignantly. Again, Dael was surprised. Most children Bahamut's age would have been a little intimidated by how Ceja fought the day before. The fact that he wasn't impressed Dael a bit. "Second, I could see it in your fighting style, especially with that axe. That technique hasn't been used in well over 700 years by anyone who wasn't a Garamoundian or their descendent. I believe it was called the 'Floating Axe' style."

Ceja blinked again, not seeming to mind at all Bahamut's sharp initial response. "…That is the name my uncle gave it when he taught it to me. He said it was one of the most closely guarded secrets of our family, their personal claim to honor. But…how did you know of it? It is not recorded in any book."

Bahamut paused momentarily. He looked to Dael, but then back again. "…I would tell you, but it's not likely that you would believe me any more than anyone else has so far."

Ceja didn't break off, however. "I am a bit more trusting in certain things than people in 'modern society'. Perhaps you should-"

Suddenly, the warrior cut off. In a flash, she stopped and snapped her head forward, her face immediately becoming stern.

The move was so sudden that the others stopped as well. Dael needed only look at Ceja's face to realize that she was sensing some sort of danger, and that immediately put her on alert too. As she reached for her sword, she intended to ask Ceja what the matter was. However, it soon turned out there was little need for that. She heard it too. With them no longer walking and talking, they all did before long.

About fifty yards ahead, along the way they were going, a large rocky mound, almost like an oversized boulder, protruded from the ground. It was high-walled and sheer. On the other side of it, though, they could now clearly hear it. The sounds of flesh being stripped from bones and large jaws clacking. Clearly a predator…a large one. As it breathed, they could hear the echoes even from here.

Immediately, everyone's weapons were out. Carbuncle leapt off of Dael's shoulders and began to tense up. Bahamut drew his sword and buckler. Dael's own blade was out, and as Ceja braced herself with her axe Taraketh began to loosen his kusarigama. As he did, he turned to Ceja and spoke quietly. "Is it Saurons or Basilhounds?"

Dael suppressed rolling her eyes. Experienced as Taraketh thought he was, even she knew from her own combat training to recognize the breathing of a large monster.

"Neither." Ceja answered, even more quietly. "Based on the sound, it can only be-"

Again, the Fuliet warrior was cut off. This time, it was by a new set of noises, ones that made her tense. The eating abruptly stopped, and it was followed by loud, deep snorts…sounding like sniffing. Ceja tensed even further.

"No need to be quiet now." She said a bit louder. "She's already smelt us. And there's only one monster of the riverbanks that is not content with its current kill, but rather hunts all that it can when it can."

Dael was about to ask, "What kind?", but didn't get a chance. Soon, the snorting stopped, and stomping, deep, long, earth-shaking…and, to Dael, familiar…began to sound out, obviously the monster moving. Soon, it began to round the corner, confirming Dael's worst fears and instantly making her more nervous than Ceja. As for Taraketh, in spite of his earlier boasting when he first met Dael, he too began to tense up. Bahamut himself pulled back slightly out of wisdom rather than fear, and Carbuncle swallowed a large lump in his throat.

Coming around the side of the large rock was a Tyrant Lizard.

Dael quickly tried to call to mind all the spells she readily had at her disposal. She didn't waste time with offensive magic…she was still too pitiful at that. She wished more than ever she had her Mage Gun at this point. Without it, she knew she'd never be able to kill this thing by herself. Taraketh didn't ready his kusarigama, instead, folding his hands together and beginning to chant. Naturally, it would have to be a powerful earth spell to be able to do any damage to this thing. Carbuncle and Bahamut continued to fall back, neither able to contribute that much. That left Ceja.

She stared at it a moment, and then quickly shifted her grip to the staff of her weapon. After that, she held it out, and began to circle. Dael saw this, as did Taraketh, and both of them immediately went farther away from her…even as the Tyrant Lizard spotted them fully and let out a hiss. They knew what she was setting up for. As the huge monster began to stomp forward, Ceja spun faster and faster, revolving her axe around. Dael was slightly nervous for her. If she flung this weapon, she'd be defenseless until it returned. There was no way she already knew her own magic, not in that short period of time. She was about to tell her to possibly back down.

However, it was too late. Before she could say a word, Ceja finished her twirling. She released the axe, and, just as it had for Shiva, it was instantly transformed into a monstrous cutting boomerang that swirled through the air straight for the incoming Tyrant Lizard. The monster didn't look the least bit intimidated. As it charged straight for the group, it opened its mouth wide and began to let out a roar…

Which, a moment later, was turned into a whoosing sound of air leaving its lungs as the axe made contact with the neck of the Tyrant Lizard…and severed its head cleanly off of its body in an instant.

Dael, for once, actually felt her jaw loosen. Her sword lowered to the ground and the tip clicked against it. Taraketh's voice slowly trailed off as his spell went unfinished, before his arms dropped to his sides. Dael couldn't see it, but Carbuncle's tiny mouth had nearly hit the ground itself, and even Bahamut, who seemed like he had "seen everything", looked rather overwhelmed. Probably the most surprising was Ceja, who herself, still extended in her "casting" position, looked rather alarmed too.

The massive Tyrant Lizard's momentum carried it forward a bit further before its entire body crashed to the ground rather loudly and solidly, dragging a short distance. However, after that, it slowly came to a halt. It's head landed long before that, tumbling a bit with the jaws still open in a roar. A few rocks skidded and settled from the movement of the massive beast, but then it faded. The only remaining noise was the wind and the sound of the whistling axe, now covered with blood. It whirled through the air, completed its arc, and then shot back for Ceja. Almost at the last minute, she seemed to snap out of it and reached up with both hands to, once again, flawlessly snatch it out of the air, swing it around once to lose momentum, and then place it at her side, planting it on the ground with both hands on it. After that, she resumed staring at the sight along with the others.

Dael realized at this point that she hadn't yet obtained an accurate representation of Ceja's true power. She had shown plenty of strength in the fight against Shiva, but it wasn't until now that she was pit against something that Dael had a frame of reference for. And honestly…she was shocked. Even with the junction, the young officer realized she never could have done anything like that. Ceja must have had even more power innately than she had taken stock of. But even factoring that in mind, she couldn't believe it. If Ceja wasn't on the list of the world's top ten warriors, it could only be because she hadn't been discovered yet.

After a moment, Ceja seemed to recover enough to speak. "…So that's the power that a junction brings."

Taraketh turned to her in response. "You already knew your limits and capabilities after less than 24 hours of your first junction?"

Ceja looked to him and shook his head. "No. Usually, when I do that, I just try to embed my axe in the windpipe and sever the carotids. I'm pleased with the result, however. Now we don't have to worry about staying out of its way until it bleeds to death."

* * *

><p>As the day wore on, Ceja's level of power was only expressed more and more.<p>

Dael was put to shame on more than one occasion when they encountered other monsters of Fuliet. In fact, she found herself subconsciously pushing her limits, wondering if she had been "going too easy" until now in an attempt to get closer to Ceja's level. However, the combination of the junction and her innate power was unmatchable by any of them. Dael had demonstrated the ability to cut down Fuliet Saurons with relative ease, but Ceja's blows shattered bones while cleaving them and flung body parts into other enemies with killing force. She could stand up to charges from Skull Beetles without moving an inch, something that Dael had a hard time doing even with a barrier. She swung around her axe rapidly and tirelessly. It seemed as if nothing could slow her down when she wielded it. "Floating Axe" was quite appropriate. Dael tried to get a moment to heft the axe herself, finding it hard to believe it really weighed as much as it looked. However, even if Ceja wasn't constantly vigilant to ensure that didn't happen, she knew it was true. The woman seemed mythic.

However, talking further with her soon revealed that she shouldn't expect the same from everyone who was in Fuliet. "My family has always been stronger than most, and more receptive to training. It is no secret that I am more powerful than most of the warriors in the Nine Winds of the North." Ceja responded. "And the junction has made me stronger yet. However, alone, I cannot hope to defend my tribe, let alone many tribes. Even a feat as great as the felling of the Tyrant Lizard isn't something that can ensure the safety of my people, especially not now after this bad season."

This, however, brought to mind something else. Dael took the opportunity to ask Ceja about the dark-looking warrior with the bow. She looked up a bit at that.

"That would be Sydian Leorex." She answered. "Like myself, he's one of the greatest warriors in the Nine Winds of the North. If I am a master of the 'Floating Axe', you may think of him as a master of the 'Invisible Bow'."

"I'm familiar with that technique as well." Bahamut responded, albeit more grimly. "That one was more universal…at least once. It was one of the first techniques to be perfected by the first assassins in the world. It has mostly faded into obscurity now."

Ceja and Dael alike both noted the change in Bahamut's voice when he explained that, but they soon ignored it. "Like myself, he too has been bred to take the position of leader of the Nine Winds of the North. However, such is nothing new. At least half of the current members have. It does not do well in Fuliet to become too much of a follower. If you can't lead in the case of a crisis, you often wind up dead."

Dael was about to mention that he had a dark look about him, before she realized that was moot. All except Ceja did already, and she only when she was in a private setting. "He was watching us when we left."

"It is nothing to be worried about." Ceja responded. "Sydian and I understand each other well. We have fought in many battles together and gone on many expeditions, ever since both of us were old enough to start hunting small game. We both show concern for each other. I would have done the same had he been the one to go with you."

The young officer wondered if there was more to it than that. However, she couldn't go making accusations or casting aspirations simply because she didn't like the way a man looked. Frankly, she didn't like the way most of those warriors looked. And so, she held her tongue.

The remainder of that day went by calmly enough. After a few more battles, the group once again set up for the night, this time their small camp having Ceja's own tent pitched in their midst. Again, Dael set right to work practicing her magic, going until she could cast no more spells due to mental exhaustion. Taraketh was rendered silent again as she did so, for despite his earlier comments…she could see she was visibly getting better, and in a shorter time period. Although she had been rusty at first, as she practiced, it seemed to become easier and easier to practice. She still wasn't able to "connect" to her spiritual side as fast as she liked, but she was indeed growing better all the time. She was already more than twice as good as she was when they started.

The next day was much the same. Ceja again showed off her physical prowess as they encountered a few more monsters. Dael herself tried to use her magic again, this time using both lightning and ice, but for all her work she only managed to get one or two spells off in time, neither of which did much damage. Taraketh again told her to forget magic and stick to physical attacks, but Dael refused. She knew she needed to get better at magic as well as tactics if she was to be effective. She asked if Ceja wanted to try learning her own spells as well, but the woman refused. She said that the boost in strength was more than enough for her, and that she preferred to rely on her own body rather than spells.

That night, Dael continued to practice, and continued to improve. Even Taraketh was surprised when Dael managed to call up accurate lightning bolts in only three seconds time. The young officer tried something a bit more unorthodox as well…actually cutting her palm on her sword, and then attempting to use the healing magic. As it turned out, the pain made it almost impossible to concentrate on anything, let alone healing. It was a good thing Taraketh was there to patch her up, although the price she paid was another tongue lashing. Nevertheless, she told herself she would do the same on her next training session. If she couldn't cast a spell while in pain, she wasn't much good for anything.

Once again, they got up the next morning, and went the rest of the way that they had to travel on foot. As it was, they had only one further encounter before arriving at the rendezvous point early. Right at the appointed time, the truck drove up, easily visible from a distance with the dust cloud rising up behind it. Naturally, on arrival, the driver was a bit surprised to see that they had an additional passenger to take back to Esthar, but after some talking and clearing things up, with a reluctant Taraketh backing up the story, the matter was settled, and everyone loaded in for the long ride back to Esthar.

Dael couldn't help it. After a few hours, she had a hard time not smiling at Ceja's reaction.

The warrior had not only never been to Esthar before, but also clearly had never been in a motor vehicle before. For all of her power and skill, she looked like she might stab the car with a spear sooner than get in it, and once inside she only very nervously took her seat. Soon after, she went wide-eyed and nervous at the speed of the car as it drove back the way it had come, which was especially strange considering the fact that the car was going at a rather slow speed to keep from jostling everyone. Dael, and everyone else, grew considerably nervous when Ceja got nauseous and actually freely threw up outside the car window three times before her stomach was empty. After that, she dry heaved four more times before she seemed to finally be "empty" and adjusted.

Everything seemed strange and wondrous to her, from the cushioned seats to the air conditioning system to the radio. When she had first turned it on to listen to some music on it, coming in only staticly, she at first complained about the annoying sound. However, she had grown hooked since then, and was currently listening intently. She wanted to turn it up so loud so she could "feel it", but when Carbuncle, with the most sensitive ears out of all of them, threatened to use her legs for a scratching post, she consented to a lower volume.

Taraketh was again in the front passenger seat. That seemed to be the best place for him…the least likely place to get him to be irritated with anything. Bahamut was now sandwiched between Ceja and Dael in the back. By now, they had passed through the external barrier and were moving into the city proper, and Ceja's attention had been split between the radio and the wonders of modern architecture. At the moment, the going was rather slow. The car had run into heavy traffic, and as a result they were frequently stopping as they struggled to get back to the cathedral. Dael wasn't sure how soon they could set out for the next Guardian Force, or even how they would organize it, but it would be nice to spend a night sleeping in a real bed. To get back within one more week, this next trip would probably have to be by airship, but luckily there was still transit in and out of Garrado.

"So many bright lights and loud noises." Ceja commented as she looked around outside the window. "How can you tolerate it without going mad?"

"You get used to it." Dael simply answered.

"No rivers or fountains either." Ceja went on, not seeming to notice Dael's response. "What of water?"

"The beauty of indoor plumbing." Carbuncle answered with a chuckle. "It's a wonderful thing. Makes for much more enjoyable experiences on the can, as well." He turned to Dael soon after. "On that note, I can't believe you wanted me to use that sandbox at one point."

Dael was rather embarrassed at that comment, but sighed and shrugged. "How was I supposed to know how you did your business?"

"Such quantities of stone and metal…" Ceja mused further. "I've never seen the like. But with all of these people here, I can see how you could have easily gathered so much. The imagination required to make such things…" She turned to the others. "How can your people be so full of discontent, when you live with such plenty?"

"Everywhere has its problems, and more problems in common than you might think." Taraketh responded. "There's always issues of the haves and have nots in every society, as well as wrongs, oppression, and injustice."

"And it's a general rule that you only see things from the perspective of what you don't have, not what you do have." Carbuncle chimed in. "That's a human tendancy."

Dael thought these were good enough answers. However, once again, she and the others soon found Bahamut answering as well.

"All societies…all people…all individuals need to feel they have a purpose. In a sense, Fuliet is more fortunate than Esthar because its purpose has been determined for it by circumstance: survival. Places like Esthar, however, find it harder. All great societies do. People spend their lives accumulating wealth and power, senses of security and success. They think it will make them happy and satisfied. But then, one day, late in life, when they have achieved stability and 'made it', they are left asking themselves one simple question: Is there nothing more? Esthar and many other countries like it may have achieved financial success and prosperity, but they are still left lacking because they need to have a purpose and identity beyond that. That's why you may care for your physical needs by pursuing personal satisfaction and success, but so long as you have a limited view of sating yourself, you will never find true contentment. That can only be found in others."

Dael was silent for a moment after hearing that. All of them were, even Ceja. They stared blankly at Bahamut, but he simply stared forward out the front window. After a moment, however, Dael leaned back and spoke frankly.

"…Somehow, I doubt you found that out just from research in a library, Bahamut."

"I found it out from thousands of years of watching kingdoms rise and fall." The boy simply responded.

This, however, immediately made Ceja quirk an eyebrow. After all, she knew nothing of Bahamut's delusion. She looked confused for a moment. "…Did the boy just suggest that he had been alive for thousands of years?"

Dael rolled her eyes and sighed, feeling a bit of tiredness coming on. "It's complicated, Ceja. However, since you're going to be spending time with us now…you might as well know. You see, we found Bahamut in-"

Abruptly, however, Dael was cut off by a very long, piercing, monotone from the radio, which cut right through the current music to sound a long note. Everyone turned to it at once. Ceja, on her part, immediately showed some irritation, and raised her hand to cover her ears.

"That sound is highly annoying. Is that what passes for music in Esthar?"

Dael, however, had gone grim…as had the others in the car.

"That's not music." She responded. "That's the sound they play on the radio before they're about to make a emergency broadcast."

Even though she was from Fuliet, even Ceja realized what that meant. Immediately, she quieted down and looked to the radio as well. Despite the noise, the driver soon reached over and turned it up louder so it could be clearly heard. After a few moments, the tone died off. There were a few moments of silence afterward. However, after that, a voice came on.

_"We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this breaking news. Grand Chancellor Barbarossa of Esthar has called an emergency press conference to make what he has phrased only as 'a statement of extreme national importance' to the public. We now take you live to the floor of the Legislature, where the Grand Chancellor should be taking the podium in a few minutes to deliver his address."_

The audio cut soon after to mostly silence, with only the sounds of distant murmuring and muttering to accompany it. On hearing it, Dael was immediately aware of what it was…the Legislative Hall, and she was hearing the voices of reporters as well as representatives alike talking with each other about what was going to happen. She anxiously waited too. Everyone in the car did. No doubt, many in the city did as well. Traffic had ground to a halt, but no one cared. They only sat silently and waited.

At long last, there was the sound of camera flashes over the radio, followed by the noise of paper rustling. Dael knew this was the sound of Barbarossa coming to a podium. Unlike what usually happened, there was no applause. Even only able to hear it through the radio, Dael knew the mood was somber and dark. After a few more moments, she began to hear him speak. He lacked the bravado and magnaminosity he usually possessed. This time, he was grim and serious.

_"Good morning. Thank you all for coming on such short notice. As you are all aware, tensions between Esthar and Sybenia have been rather high for some time. Following the death of Roz Heirarch, the current Dictator of Sybenia, Rozan Heirarch, has engaged on a rather aggressive campaign on the Western Continent to expand the borders of Sybenia to include the outlying independent city states. The reach of the Guiding Hand now effectively controls half of the Western Continent. We were concerned, of course, that there was the chance that the Guiding Hand would not stop there, but would move on to potentially take the rest of the Western Continent, and then, much worse, turn their attentions elsewhere._

"_To look for a solution, we appointed a representative on our behalf to try and halt this. A respected and admired person, Lady Mianyl the Wind of the Order of Hyne, was selected to secure our interests and to give us a lasting peace. Following extensive negotiations with this representative that we trusted so highly, we were led to believe that, at the price of certain concessions, the expansion of the Guiding Hand would be halted. On the word of our representative, we had achieved lasting peace. However, there were some who believed that such claims might be ill-founded or premature._

"_My fellow citizens of Esthar, I come to you today to inform you of recent developments that have unfolded over the past six hours that have, unfortunately, given weight to these doubts._

"_At approximately 0200 hours this morning, our embassy in Garrado sent a message home stating that Sybenian war planes and drones had been spotted flying directly over Garrado airspace and cities. It is believed that their intent was to conduct reconnaissance for future bombing attempts and targets. This action is in direct violation of the treaty established in Sybenia itself and signed on behalf of Esthar by Sorceress Mianyl as well as Dictator Rozan Heirarch. At 0235 hours, a message was sent to the Sybenian embassy in Garrado notifying them of the violation of the treaty and requesting that they recall their drones and planes immediately. No action was taken within the treaty's outlined two hour grace period, and no action on the matter has been taken since._

"_At 0440 hours, a message was sent directly to Sybenia's capitol stating that a treaty violation had occurred and demanded that Sybenia take immediate measures against this. There was no response, save for this. At 0600 hours, the embassy reported that Rozan Heirarch had sent a personal message into Garrado declaring war on the nation, clearly violating the treaty, which is now considered to be broken, null, and void. Esthar and Sybenia are now on hostile terms, effective immediately, and have broken off all contact. Sybenia is now forbidden from entering Esthar airspace or waters for any reason._

"_Citizens of Esthar…I regret to inform you all that unless the situation improves dramatically over the next few days…there is a strong chance that Esthar will find itself at war with Sybenia. And I ask that-"_

Dael, at this point, reached over and turned off the knob, turning the radio off.

Ceja, Bahamut, Carbuncle, and the driver all alike turned to Dael. What they soon saw was that her face was tight, and that only through her own self discipline was she not showing any emotion.

"Why did you turn it off?" Ceja asked.

"I've heard enough." Dael flatly responded.

She wasn't the only one upset, however. Taraketh immediately fumed.

"How dare that…stupid…incompetent…imbecile of a man speak like that!" He blasted. "Lady Mianyl did everything in her power to keep this from happening! She warned him time and again of what would happen if they did not take a harder stance! She knew the treaty would fall apart unless he gave her more authority, but he forced her to sign it! And now he has the audacity to blame her for this? To turn her into a scapegoat?"

Dael had to admit, Taraketh had a good point. And although she had only known Mianyl for a short time, she was angry that she was getting the short end of the stick for this. Barbarossa, even now eager to save his hide in a time of political crisis, was trying to make it look as if the reason the treaty fell apart wasn't due to his weakness and incompetence but due to Mianyl's lack of negotiating power. However, bad as that was, it rather paled in comparison to what she was outraged about now.

"This is no longer a matter of simply saving his career." Dael spoke up in a tense tone of her own. "Only a fool would think Sybenia is going to stop at Garrado. They wouldn't be spitting in our faces unless they planned on hitting us too. And _still_ he hasn't declared war on them!"

Carbuncle sighed, but gave a shrug. "In all honesty, Dael…war with what? Esthar doesn't have much of a standing army, and even if they did it's nothing like Sybenia's."

"Hardly an excuse."

Again, Bahamut had spoken, and again he gained the attention of everyone. He himself turned to Carbuncle and looked hard at him.

"Obviously we were wrong to think Sybenia was using this opportunity to fortify their position or build themselves up. It's clear now that this Rozan Heirarch is more than just a warped, frustrated individual. He actually was thinking. He only agreed to this treaty to see how your government would react, and he received an answer. Esthar didn't start producing a military. It didn't fortify its own position or invest in munitions. It simply pretended that everything was now alright. Now Sybenia knows how slow Esthar is to act and how indifferent to signs of the times that they are. They realized Esthar isn't a true threat. If they were…then they would have ignored Garrado and declared war on Esthar instead right now, before you had a chance to defend yourselves. Now they'll continue on their current plans and deal with you at their leisure."

This was a rather grim assessment and accusation…but no one in the car disputed it, including Dael. She didn't have the naitivity to believe it wouldn't be as he said anymore. At this point in affairs, in similar events throughout history, there was only one thing that resulted by maintaining neutrality: a lack of allies when war was finally declared upon you. And Bahamut was right in regards to Carbuncle. Having no military right now was no excuse not to try every means necessary to building one up.

Dael, however, realized that she couldn't judge too harshly…not yet, at any rate. True, the government heads of Esthar were barely acting, but they were doing so only as a result of following the desires of the people. It wasn't those in power who possibly didn't see the coming storm…it was also the populace. They were so self-concerned with their own jobs and status that they refused to see the big picture, refused to take any step that would put them in harm's way. For most people, you could consider that to be simple prudence and human nature.

However, it was reaching the point of being just plain stupidity.

Before anyone could speak up any further in response to the radio broadcast, the silence in the car was shattered by a ringing from Dael's side. She almost jumped a bit, so distracted from her own thoughts was she, before looking down to it, and realizing it was her personal radio that Colonel Regalis had told to keep on her person during her "vacation". Everyone else soon looked to her as well, and knew what that meant.

A moment later, Dael picked it up, switched it on, and held it to her head. "This is Dael Levinson."

"_Lt. Commander…come to the Main Briefing Room in Fort Morningstar as soon as possible."_ An official voice responded. _"Colonel Regalis wishes to speak with you immediately."_

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	26. Good Old Fellows

Luckily for Dael and the group, the driver was more than generous enough to give them a ride to Fort Morningstar. Of course, things were still a bit abrupt. Initially, the car was supposed to take them back to the cathedral first. However, based on their approach to the city, it would have taken an additional hour to get back, and Dael, after hearing the call, was eager to get back as soon as possible. In the end, she decided speed was the more important thing, and so she had them go on ahead to Fort Morningstar. Ceja was at a loss herself, so she didn't object. Bahamut was with Dael wherever she went. As for Taraketh, he surprisingly wished to go to the fort himself. He wanted to talk with a few of the members of the Order of Hyne that were there, left behind on the invitation of Colonel Regalis and the request of Lady Mianyl. He had a feeling he'd get more information from them. And so…off they went.

Traffic, as it turned out, eased up considerably. Even without formally declaring war, people were treating this sudden broadcast as if Sybenia might bomb them at any moment. Most of the people went home. Dael wouldn't be surprised if many businesses were closing for the day. Taking the highway that ran on the city's periphery, getting to Fort Morningstar wasn't a problem. Dael may not have been in uniform, but years of habit had caused her to bring not only her radio on her but her military ID, and she quickly swept it to get them in as close as a civilian could go. Unfortunately, with the current change in events, it was impossible for a civilian, uncleared vehicle to idle and wait for everyone. And Ceja wasn't that eager to be taken back to the cathedral without an escort. Hence, they all soon dismounted and moved up to the receiving area.

Dael expected considerable guff. They were already stepping up security, and now they had a woman looking like she was straight out of a period piece walking through the halls. It took only moments for their group to gain the attention of everyone in the foyer, what with Ceja wearing her full tribal regalia and carrying the massive axe with her. At any rate, once inside, Dael wondered what she would do as she checked in. She received a surprising response, however.

"Yes, Lt. Commander." The MP on duty stated. "You've already been fully cleared. Please head up to the main briefing room as soon as possible."

"Begging your pardon, sir," Dael responded. "But could I have a few minutes to direct these guests onto quarters?"

"That won't be necessary, ma'am." The MP responded. "They've been cleared to go up as well. All of you are on 'guest' status still, as you are still listed as being on inactive duty."

Dael was a bit surprised by that, but didn't question it. It was a shorter route to get to main briefing, after all, and, with as many stares as Ceja was showing, she'd rather avoid as many people who could call more MPs on them to cause headaches as possible. Giving a nod, she began to lead them to the main elevator shaft.

The people weren't the only ones doing a lot of staring. Ceja looked like a child at the zoo, the way she gaped and marveled at literally everything she saw. After all, the technology and architecture of the Fort was both highly advanced as well as aesthetically pleasing. Ceja seemed as if she was walking in a fantasy world, almost. It was actually an unusual sight to anyone who wouldn't focus on Ceja's own appearance…her being wide-eyed and Bahamut being mundane and official. The Fuliet warrior looked as if she was struggling to control herself on more than one occasion, but it was hard. She was simply being exposed to too many new things. Still, with the amount of stares she was generating, Dael realized she hoped that if she ever came back it was after the Order of Hyne had gotten her some civilian clothes.

The elevator was reached, clearance was given, and soon the four (five plus Carbuncle) were shooting up to the main briefing area. In truth, it was a bit unusual for Dael, considering she had only been there twice. At any rate, on arrival and clearance past the sound-proof outer doors, they entered and found that the inner doors were shut, indicating that a meeting was going on already. Dael approached soon after and the two MPs posted at the front. After only a few moments, they were cleared to go in so long as they didn't interrupt the current meeting, since it was wrapping up, according to them. The doors were soon opened, and the interior of the hall was exposed again to Dael.

Looking inside, the young officer soon was greeted by quite a sight. The first time she had been in the room, it was quite crowded. However, it was now filled to full capacity, and all of the individuals were the higher officers, from all four branches of Esthar's Hawks, or at least representatives on their behalf to relay messages. To Dael's amazement, she wouldn't be surprised if all of the heads of Esthar's Hawks were represented there. It was a rather humbling sight. She had only managed to take a step or two forward into the entry area before stopping again, looking in at the assembly of pretty much every last superior she had.

Just as expected, Colonel Regalis himself was in the center. If the projector had been on earlier, it was off now. He seemed to be making his final address. Dael got a chill looking at him, as he leveled his gaze hard on the people in front of him, his voice firm and stern.

"…And I expect nothing less than the minimum standard that is acceptable for Esthar's Hawks from each and every one of you in the days ahead no matter how small you think that job is: perfection. Company dismissed."

Dael had scarcely got her bearings back to try walking in further, when she saw everyone in the room rise. Immediately, they began to file out for the aisles to exit. Quickly, Dael went inside a bit and pressed herself to one side, the others quickly following suit. Moments later, a veritable parade of the sternest, highest-disciplined, and greatest skilled Esthar's Hawks began to file out past her, all of them keeping their eyes ahead, their shoulders squared, and looking ready to go off for duty. As Dael pressed herself to one side and watched this happen, for a moment her and her group was lost in a sea of officers filing out.

Gradually, the people did thin out enough for Dael to see one person hadn't moved in the center. The colonel was still there, and his gaze was completely on Dael. Seeing that, Dael instinctively tried to look more "official"…which probably wasn't that good. Aside from the civilian clothes and her company, there was the fact that she hadn't bathed in quite a while and still had some monster blood on her in a few spots. At any rate, the officers finally thinned out enough to move, and so she began to approach the front. The others soon followed behind.

As the last of the officers left the room, Dael soon approached the podium. She quickly stood at attention and gave a salute. Regalis saluted back and waved her down after a moment.

"No need to be too formal, Lt. Commander." He told her. "You're still not on active duty. And you brought Sir Taraketh along…good. I assumed he would still be with you when I gave the order to call you back to the fort as soon as possible. I'm glad you consented to it."

"No trouble at all, sir." Dael immediately answered.

Regalis turned to the Guardian Force and to Bahamut next, giving a nod to each. "Sir Carbuncle… Master Bahamut."

"Colonel." Bahamut answered with a head nod of his own.

"Yo, chief." Carbuncle said with a paw wave.

After that, the colonel turned his head one more time…and found himself looking at Ceja. The woman herself was still rather awed, but had recovered much by now. Nevertheless, she pretty much blankly stared at the colonel, showing no salute or respect. Dael would be lying if this didn't make her more than a little nervous, but Regalis didn't seem to mind that so much as furrowed his brow at her being there.

"And…you are, miss…?"

Dael immediately spoke up. "Um…we were kind of pressed for time, sir, and we tried to get here as soon as possible. We intended to drop off Ms. Dracocorazon at the cathedral along the way. It's something of a long story…but she assisted us with the Guardian Force in Fuliet, more or less, and she's on a separate assignment for the tribes of Fuliet as well as the Order of Hyne."

"It was Lady Cybus' own recommendation that she come with us, colonel." Taraketh threw in as well. "I'm a bit uncertain about it myself, but I trust the judgment of the Sorceresses. She's fine. She won't cause any trouble for you or Esthar."

"I assure you, I have no ill intent toward Esthar." Ceja added herself. "I do not come in war. And based on what I heard on the radio transmission within the motor vehicle on the way here, Fuliet and Esthar possibly have a common enemy regardless."

The colonel paused and stared longer at Ceja for a few moments. He seemed to be seriously considering her for a moment. Yet after a bit longer, he let out a slow exhaled, then looked back to Dael.

"…This is more irregular than I anticipated, and definitely violating the rules. However…we haven't gotten very far lately by sticking to form. And this isn't the first time you've brought back someone unconventional with you, Lt. Commander. After this, I suppose I should be getting used to it. Very well. If you'll just wait here for a minute or so, I'll be right with you. Please…sit and make yourselves comfortable. I understand you just came back from Fuliet."

After saying this, he frowned a bit more.

"…And that we weren't in a position to give you a very warm welcome back. As you no doubt have guessed, things have reached a whole new danger level. I'll say more when I return."

With that, the colonel turned away, marched to the edge of the podium, and then dismounted it. Immediately, he walked around the central area to a new lane and began to walk down it. Dael stood and watched as he left. The others did much the same. It wasn't until he was halfway down the lane that they turned and began to look to each other. However, no one said anything until the door had opened and shut once again.

Taraketh started by looking to Dael, even as Carbuncle leapt into the nearest chair and sat down in it. "Any idea what he wants from us?"

"Not really." Dael responded. "Last I checked, we were supposed to be out gathering the Guardian Forces. If anything, I figure he'd want me back on active duty and to abandon that, but that doesn't seem likely. Both Lady Mianyl and the colonel seemed to think it was an important enough mission to go on hiatus. But if he wanted us to stay on the mission, why call us back?"

"Perhaps he thought you could use another hand, lass."

Dael nearly jumped. She hadn't known there was anyone else in the room. However, even as she turned to the source, her memory was already registering. By the time her eyes rested on the individual, unbelievable as it seemed, she actually felt a small hint of relief.

Leaning against a wall, tucked in one of the lanes, was Cryder. He was freely smoking a cigar at the moment, obviously having recently lit up, considering that he hadn't filled the meeting chamber with smoke yet, and had a casual smile on his face. Other than that, he looked mostly the same as always…which was to say well tanned, worn, and a bit haggard on his clothing.

The others looked as well. Bahamut was indifferent. Carbuncle raised his eyebrows a bit. Taraketh, however, gave him a sour look immediately.

"Hey, you're that pirate that lent a hand to these guys, aren't you?" Carbuncle called out.

Taraketh frowned a bit at that. "…Only after trying to sell us to Sybenia." He muttered.

Dael, however, had other concerns on her mind. Always thinking toward duty, she soon turned fully to face him and looked over to him in surprise. "You're back…" She spoke in a bit of bewilderment. "But…I heard you had gone missing along with the rest of the Espionage team…"

Cryder let out a chuckle, reaching up to take another puff off his cigar. "Heh…if I had a gil for every time I've disappeared only to pop up somewhere else, lass, I'd have quit the piratin' business a long time ago." He leaned up and began to advance on the group. "There were quite a bit of complications. Me and my Esthar Hawk maties had to beat a hasty retreat when things went south in the Arcane facility. Kind of had to make it up as we went along. Ended up going for a bit of a joyride that lasted through about twenty miles of jagged-rock rapids. One of us nearly drowned…the rest of us had water in places we didn't know we had, and comin' from a man of the sea like myself, _that_ is saying something. Had to drag ourselves across rough country for a spell too. Took us another week or so to finally reach a Black Corsair waystation. Luckily for me, they must have done something to make another pirate mad, because it was a ruin. Radio still worked, though. Took me a little while to get taken seriously and make all the proper clearances…but finally, another ship from your boys came back and picked us up. And here we are."

He paused for a moment after saying this, now nearly up to the others, and pulled the cigar from his mouth. He looked down and sighed a bit.

"…What's left of us, at any rate." He stated. "I'm sorry to say not all of us made it out of the Arcane facility."

On hearing that, grim thoughts went through Dael's head. Esthar's Hawks may have been highly disciplined, but that didn't mean they mourned the loss of comrades any less than the average soldier would. However, she noted something else…how Cryder was reacting. To be honest, it gave her pause. She barely knew Cryder, but in the few days they have spent together, she had figured she had him pegged as just an average pirate at best, ultimately interested in something only if it held a benefit for him. Even if that wasn't true, she assumed that he disliked the military enough to not really care if anyone in it lived or died. After all, it certainly seemed the case earlier. However, she was beginning to wonder if she had him all wrong in that respect too. It seemed he was treating the group that he had been paired with as his comrades just as much as his crew had been.

Dael, however, pushed that aside for the moment. She could pay her respects later. They were obviously here for a reason, and so was Cryder. Besides, what Cryder had said caught her interest.

"So you _did_ go to the Arcane facility in Leuco." She responded.

Cryder's somber mood alleviated, and he grinned. "Care to hear what I found?"

"Isn't that classified information?"

"That makes it all the more juicy, lass."

Before Dael could respond again, she heard the doors open. Everyone, including her, turned and looked to the entry way they had come in. They were just in time to see the doors shut again, before a familiar private in full uniform, looking like he was struggling to get the last bits of it on while simultaneously tying a boot and brushing his hair, half-stumbled, half-ran inside.

"I'm sorry, sir! I'm sorry! I came as fast as I could, but my last dress uniform was getting cleaned after-"

The private soon froze, and looked inside…bewildered again. He wasn't alone, however.

"Quaren?" Dael said in disbelief.

"The private grunt?" Taraketh asked.

"The bilge rat?" Cryder added.

"The who?" Ceja responded, quite confused.

Quaren himself looked around a bit, noting everyone in the chamber, and dwelling for a moment on each one, seeming to grow more puzzled with each individual he saw. In the end, he scratched his head. "Am I…in the right room?"

Dael, of course, could only blink in response. "I don't know. What are you doing here?"

Quaren shrugged. "I was called here by command…personally, in fact." He went a bit wide-eyed and enthused. "Colonel Regalis himself summoned me! Can you believe it? This is my first Class IV mission and the colonel himself wanted me here!"

Dael was rather surprised on hearing that. "Seriously? Well…that's great, Quaren…but-"

Before she could say anymore, however, Quaren looked confused as he gestured around. "Wait a second, though… What's Cryder doing here? Or Bahamut, for that matter? Or…" He trailed for a moment, and nearly gave Taraketh a stink eye. "…_him._" He looked away soon after, however, and spotted Ceja. "…Or her? Who is she?"

"Ceja of the Heart of the Dragon." The Fuliet warrior immediately responded. "And you are you? Some sort of messenger boy or weapon mender?"

Quaren went wide-eyed at that…while Cryder lowered his head to stifle a snicker. "Huh? I'm a private of Esthar's Hawks! I'm in the same organization as Dael!"

This, however, didn't have the desired effect that Quaren was likely going for. Instead, the Fuliet warrior looked rather puzzled. She looked to Dael, then to Quaren, then back to Dael again. She paused momentarily, and looked even more confused.

"…Are you certain?" She responded. "I had assumed that all of those within Esthar's Hawks were warriors of considerable power and renown."

Quaren went wide-eyed. Cryder covered his mouth and stifled a larger snicker. Now…Carbuncle began to join in. Dael sighed and gave them both a look…suddenly feeling like a mom supervising children. As for the private, however, turning red now, indignantly responded.

"I'm one of the best soldiers in Esthar! I'm the best shot in Class II, and I got promoted to Class IV within a week! I graduated just like Dael!"

Ceja put her hands up in a stopping gesture. "Alright, alright…there is no need to get upset. I trust your word. I'm…just wondering if you have been sick and bedridden for a while and as a result have grown a bit…emaciated…"

Even Taraketh cracked a snort at this one, so naturally Cryder and Carbuncle were almost rolling. Dael glared daggers at them all as Quaren began to look like a kid whose favorite toy had just been thrown into a wood chipper. Lastly, Bahamut sighed, shook his head, and put his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"They call _me_ the child, and yet here they giggle like hyenadons…"

Dael, beginning to turn red-faced herself, decided to put a stop to this. "Alright, alright…that's enough, everyone." She stated in a firm, commanding, yet not too loud voice. It accomplished its goal. Everyone clammed up, including Cryder who quickly held his hand tight over his mouth for that purpose. Sighing a bit, Dael looked to both him and Quaren. "I'm assuming you two are both here for the same reason…so you're probably here for the same reason as us. Do you happen to know what?"

Quaren was still recovering, but with Dael talking to him, he eased up more. He gave a shrug. "I really don't know. They just told me to get here in a hurry."

Dael looked to Cryder next. He grinned in response.

"I've got a fairly good idea. It might have somethin' to do with whatever secret mission you lot have been on. Yet what I found in Arcane-"

"Is classified, Mr. Morningjay, and per the terms of your contract you are supposed to keep it that way."

Everyone turned to the new sound, but on hearing it, Dael and Quaren immediately stood erect and at attention. The others simply turned to look, although Taraketh and Bahamut looked a bit more respectful by at least standing upright. They found themselves staring at the same door that Colonel Regalis had exited through moments ago. And now, the man had returned. The doors slid shut behind him a second later, and the room became a bit quiet and more serious as a result, especially with him there.

Dael noted that the colonel looked businesslike and focused as always. However, his face was considerably grimmer than normal, and his eyes darker. Of course, that only figured. Esthar was in trouble now. The only way things could be worse would be if Sybenia was making strikes on their land at this very moment. The fact that he was able to maintain so much of his "regular" demeanor was something. It was a credit to him, Dael believed, that he was able to remain so steadfast and resolute as he made his way back up to the podium. However, he had barely reached the group before he began to speak again.

"And while that information should remain classified," He stated. "Especially since we aren't exactly sure what we have yet for certain…" He paused long enough to give a look to Cryder, who casually looked back. The colonel looked away and sighed. "…I suppose I should go ahead and tell you, as I cannot trust Mr. Morningjay to keep this a secret. Frankly, on a personal note, I wish that every Esthar Hawk could be made aware of it. It would do well to keep that mindset on all missions in the immediate future. However…I can also understand the position of the Legislature. The last thing we need is a panic in Esthar, which is exactly what would happen if word of this got out."

By now, the Colonel had reached the podium, and once again stood in front of it, not to give a speech but to be in a position where everyone could see and hear him. He proceeded to gesture to the aisles.

"If everyone will please have a seat, I will explain the situation…as well as why you are all here."

Dael didn't hesitate. She, as well as Quaren, immediately stepped back and took their chairs. Bahamut fairly readily did the same. Cryder, with a shrug, went to one, leaned back as best he could, and crossed his legs. Taraketh, seeing all of this, inhaled a bit and then sat as well. That left Ceja, who was rather puzzled at all of this suddenness, but then went to the nearest seat. She looked at it with a bit of a peculiar look, but finally sat in it. Once everyone was down, the colonel inhaled a bit and looked over them all.

"Some of you are on duty…some of you are not…and some of you are effectively civilians in regards to this. What I am about to do today is highly unorthodox for any military group in the world, let alone Esthar's Hawks. However…it's a decision that both I and Lady Mianyl feel has had its time come. As you may know, I have been seeing much of Lady Mianyl as of late, by her own request. She seems to confide in me as one of the few ears in Esthar who is willing to not only hear by listen to what she has to say. And as of late, our conversations have only intensified with the recent changes in events, as you might guess. We spend much of our time in conference with the Grand Chancellor and the Military Council. And I'm doing this on a break from our latest meeting, so I'll have to be quick. First, and foremost…"

He looked down to Ceja, Cryder, and Bahamut.

"…It is technically illegal for civilians to hear anything about what I am going to say. However, as you will find, this is an unconventional situation and time is of the essence. Every minute we waste now is going to be costly for Esthar's Hawks, for Esthar, and likely the world. Sybenia is not wasting time. Therefore, I need to trust you all to keep this in confidence."

He paused here, and looked to Ceja.

"…I would dismiss you from this room right now, young lady. However, if Lt. Commander Levinson says that you are accompanying her on her…vacation…then it's no doubt that this concerns you and Fuliet as well too. I also trust her judgment as to how trustworthy you are being here. Nevertheless…you are to keep what I am about to tell you in strictest confidence. If you cannot do that, then I will be more than happy to send you out of the room right now."

Ceja was rather puzzled at this. To tell the truth, Dael was a bit out of sorts as well. However, after a moment, the warrior simply looked a bit strangely at Regalis, and shook her head. "I…do not quite understand what is going on at the moment. I am a little surprised to be here myself. However, if you are wanting me to keep something in confidence, I can do that. I have no desire to share secrets of Esthar with anyone. But please…what is the reason for me even being here? I only attended because I was unable to go to the cathedral because time was of the essence. I thought I was here essentially by accident."

"Accident, perhaps." The colonel responded. "But so long as you accompany Ms. Levinson, this is going to concern you as well. If you have further questions, they can wait until after I have disclosed the situation to you." He turned and looked at the entire assembly. He paused for a moment here, seeming to compose himself and gather his thoughts, but then he began.

"As Mr. Morningjay may have told you already, there was indeed a covert mission by Class III Espionage of Esthar's Hawks sent to the Arcane Munitions Facility in Leuco to investigate the potential presence of a new kind of weapon. The team encounted high security measures even for a standard munitions facility and were ill-prepared for what resulted. There were numerous casualties before an escape was made, but Leuco failed to identify us or trace the members back to Esthar. Much of the data that was obtained was corrupted en route back to Esthar, but some survived.

"The analysis teams are still working on it to make sense of it, but we can tell already from eyewitness accounts and reports that Leuco is no doubt heavily producing weapons, far more than what is necessary for their own standing military. Following some preliminary traces of cash flows into and out of the government, we have discovered a discrepancy in the accounts from what normally flows to and from the Black Corsairs. The discrepancy is not small, either. Based on the percentage, we estimate several billion gil is coming into Leuco from an outside source. Someone is contracting major amounts of munitions, armors, artillery, vehicles, and other military supplies to be produced by Leuco. At this point…the only one who we can assume would be the client would be Sybenia. Although without access to the account information from Sybenia itself all of it is simply speculation, there is strong reason to believe Leuco is acting as the arsenal of Sybenia.

"Matters are far worse than that, however. The operation returned several photographs of what appeared to be magnetic resonance devices. The analysis team is not yet done with it, but it appears, in all likelihood, that Leuco is attempting to generate sustainable nuclear fusion reactions. This is not unheard of. Small groups of independently contracted scientists in Esthar have been trying to do the same for years. But although we do not know how far along Leuco is relative to us as of yet, it appears they are investing far more resources and capital into the venture.

"The dangerous part of this, however, is the potential it represents. Unsustainable fusion reactions have been known to mankind for years…as well as the level of devastation they cause. It would be on a whole different order of magnitude than the standard nuclear fission explosions that were produced a few decades ago. Until now, none of us have been worried, because, as you might know, the Aegis Shields around each major city nullify any fission reactions. Since unsustainable fusion reactions need a fission reaction to act as a 'detonator', Aegis Shields effectively guarded against weapons of that type as well. However…" Here, he inhaled and grew grimmer yet. "…If Leuco does indeed manage to achieve a sustainable fusion reaction without a fission trigger, then they could produce nuclear fusion bombs that would be immune to Aegis Shields. The results would be catastrophic…essentially a weapon that one could use to flatten entire countries for thousands of years in only a few shots."

Dael, by now, had gone rather wide-eyed. Her eyes flickered, and she looked to Cryder. However, the pirate only glared grimly back…seeming to accept this. She realized Regalis wasn't exaggerating or lying. She had little reason to suspect he would…other than the sheer unbelief of what he was talking about. However, Dael was well educated in the basics of fission and fusion. Physics was a requirement of Esthar's Hawks in the Academy. At one point, the professors had mentioned the threat of nuclear fusion weapons, but it had been dismissed as science fiction. Yet now…?

The unease was clear among the others. Both Ceja and Taraketh seemed only slightly affected, likely because they didn't have the background. Quaren, however, looked visibly shaken. To Dael's surprise, even Bahamut had tensed up considerably. At this point, however, she realized she needed to stop being surprised. She had no idea how he had done it…but obviously Bahamut seemed to know everything before she did. Rather than worry about how, she simply accepted it and focused on the colonel again.

After saying this, Regalis paused for a moment, letting the point sink home, before exhaling.

"That, however, is only one of our problems. At this point, it is irrelevant whether Sybenia will have these weapons tomorrow or ten years from now. The fact that they can get them makes matters all the more urgent. You heard on the news reports, no doubt, that Sybenia has declared war on Garrado. That, unfortunately, was yesterday's news almost the moment it was broadcast. It was merely a formality on the part of Rozan Heirarch. Even as he made that statement, our contacts in Garrado informed us that a fleet of 70 bombers, a force of 235 tanks, a legion of 5,600 mechanical guards, and 15 'Iron Giant' models, to say nothing of smaller shock troops, made their move across the Pallas Desert. Meanwhile, the navy has blockaded all ports and is moving in to proceed with shelling the major cities with artillery and rockets. The last report I received showed that 35% of Garrado's standing military had been captured, incapacitated, or killed within three hours. The military has broken. Now, only guerilla tactics in the border cities and streets remains as any wave of resistance. Although Garrado is considerably more well-equipped and manned than the city-states around Sybenia…it is estimated that they won't be able to hold their position for more than two weeks…and that's a rather liberal estimate."

Dael grimaced again. That wasn't good news at all. Garrado, now, was effectively the only thing keeping Sybenia at bay. They'd be free to expand after that. They would need reinforcements, but even if the whole world leapt to their aid right now…two weeks wasn't a lot of time to establish help coming. Besides, she thought grimly…she already had an idea of the type of help that Esthar would give…

Sure enough, Regalis soon grimly confirmed it.

"All of these facts have been brought to the attention of the Military Council and the Grand Chancellor. He has been notified that Lamb will likely sign a treaty immediately if Sybenia was to conquer the Western Continent and, that if our suspicions are correct about Leuco, then they will offer no threat either. That essentially means that there will be nothing except a few thousand miles of open sea between Sybenia and Esthar. Moves have been suggested, both by Esthar's Hawks as well as members of the Military Council. Leading among them is sending military advisors to Garrado at once via airship and launching covert strikes on Leuco to disable munition facilities and hence hamstring Sybenia."

The colonel paused, and sighed again.

"…The Grand Chancellor concluded there was insufficient evidence at this time to begin any strikes on Leuco, and that he would like to continue to push for a diplomatic solution to the case with Sybenia. As a-"

"Colonel, I don't mean to ruin your nice little briefing…" Cryder suddenly spoke up, taking another drag from his cigar. "But your government tried playing nice with these fellows…and they spat in your face."

Regalis frowned slightly in response to this, but stayed calm. "…The Grand Chancellor concludes that the agreement was indeed made too hastily as a result of improper handling by the representative. Now-"

"Do not try to pin this on the Order of Hyne!" Taraketh abruptly snapped, actually getting out of his chair. "You were cautioned and warned on numerous occasions that this would be the result! Your incompetent leaders refused to listen! Lady Mianyl did all that she could to-"

By now…Taraketh was cut off…for Dael herself reached out, seized him by the arm, and yanked him back into his seat. He turned to her angrily for a moment, glaring at her with the same fury he stared at the colonel. However, it didn't last. Dael looked back just as fiercely, with a look that said: "Sit down and shut up right now." Fuming a bit, he managed to restrain himself. He looked forward again and kept his mouth clamped shut.

Taraketh may have been angry at the treatment of Lady Mianyl, and Dael was upset about that as well. But even if he hadn't been out of line with that spontaneous outburst, which would have been enough for Dael to intervene, she wasn't going to sit by and let her vent his fury on the colonel. Part of it was out of a sense of respect for the man and the position of Esthar's Hawks. Most of it, however, was because she well knew that Regalis had done everything in his power to keep this from happening and advocate on Mianyl's behalf. It wasn't his fault that this had happened. He was likely as outraged as the rest of them. It was just that he realized that fuming, ranting, and raving about it wasn't doing anyone any good.

As a result of this, the colonel waited a moment, seeming to expect more outbursts. When none came, he inhaled a bit and exhaled.

"…The situation is getting more grave than ever. What we have learned from all of this was Sybenia has the potential to be far more ready for major military moves than we have anticipated or predicted. As it is only a matter of time before Garrado falls without assistance, we are not sure how fast the enemy will be ready to attack once again following that, or what advantages they will unleash. Nevertheless, Lady Mianyl and I have talked over the matter considerably and, even though the Grand Chancellor continues to say no…we have agreed that it is in the best interest of Esthar that the remaining Guardian Forces be recruited as soon as possible. At the moment, they just might be the only advantage we possess over Sybenia."

He shifted slightly after doing this, activating a control on the podium. Moments later, a holographic image popped up, much as it had in an earlier meeting. Dael looked to it, and soon saw what looked like a graphical representation of the country of Garrado. It wasn't just a geographical map, however. There were numerous shaded areas and icons on it, with varying colors. The colonel gestured to it.

"This is Garrado, as you can probably tell…and it contains all of the information we have gathered from our sources and the consulate in Garrado up until one hour ago. They will continue to send us information for as long as possible, but as the consulate has advised us that it may close at any moment, we have no idea when we will lose our eyes and ears there, as the Grand Chancellor is refusing to launch spy drones. As you can tell, things are hellish. You can get a vague idea from this map of the strategy that Sybenia is using. Rather than trying to push their way in, they're making a series of dividing strikes decided to split up everything along the border and then conquer it in one final swoop…enabling them to have free reign to take the rest of the country in a matter of days…maybe less. The naval blockade is quickly advancing to seal off the city…but they have run into a snag."

The colonel gestured to a few blocks as the screen zoomed in.

"The major port city here has managed to entrench itself. Not just guerillas, but actual defensive emplacements. They've sealed off most of the roads leading up to it and forced a bottleneck. The ground has been rendered too uneven to send in tanks or Iron Giants. Hence, Sybenia has had no choice but to disable part of its blockade and supplement the ground forces with rockets from their destroyers and ship artillery. The bad part about that?" He indicated further. "There are sholls here that restrict the amount of destroyers to either long-range, inaccurate weapons or only two destroyers at a time. This is effectively 'Fortress Garrado'. This is going to be the last place to fall. Already, what's left of their military is regrouping there."

The colonel looked back out to the group.

"Ladies and gentlemen…what you're looking at is essentially the only 'snag' in Sybenia's invasion. Because of these sholls and their intent on removing the last obstacle to their divide-and-conquer strategy…Sybenia has an opening in their blockade. Most people are using it to evacuate Garrado as fast as possible…but, for the moment, and we have no idea when that moment will be up, people can get in through there. This might very well be the last access point to the Western Continent by the outside world via the sea."

Regalis pushed another button to disable the hologram, and then looked back to the group.

"This access point could literally close at any time. All that will be required will be for Sybenia to abandon taking the position and reinstating the full blockade. However, we received word not two hours ago that the Order of Hyne plans to exploit it. Lady Faerio the Dayspark sent a personal request to Lady Mianyl requesting that she be allowed to travel to Garrado to aid the people there in holding off Sybenia and providing other support. Although Lady Veriguno and her own knight have already moved into the port city and are lending their support, as is the rest of the Order of Hyne within that nation, she still requested that she be allowed to go. After some deliberation, Lady Mianyl agreed, on the condition that she receive an escort."

Regalis leaned forward on the podium and folded his hands across it.

"On talking with the Military Council, they remain adamant about allowing any military operatives out of Esthar to conduct any operations in Garrado, even something so minor as an escort. However, after petitioning them on this matter for some time, they agreed that if the Sorceress wished to appoint any independent bodyguards or escorts, and provided that this happened from a non-mandated mission from the governmental body, it would be permissible to loan the Sorceress one of our boats and, as a result, carry one soldier to bring the boat back to Esthar." He paused here, and looked over to Quaren. "Private DeSur…now you know why you have been summoned here."

As predicted, the young man went rather wide-eyed and stunned. Dael could imagine why. By now, Dael had been interacting with the Sorceresses on an almost regular basis, but that was no small matter in and of itself. They were among the most famous and important individuals on the face of Gaia. If a person went their entire life and only shook hands with one, that was something they could tell their grandchildren about. Naturally, a mission that involved anything to do with them was something amazing. Dael almost blushed at the thought that it was becoming "mundane" to her.

However, it only lasted a moment.

"I'm…I'm very grateful for the opportunity, sir. But…" His brow furrowed a bit. "I'm just slightly confused as to what Lt. Commander Levinson and the others are-"

"Don't be too grateful, private." The colonel cut off, seeming to ignore the rest of what he said. "I'm not exactly doing you a favor by sending you into this situation without support of any kind from Esthar or Esthar's Hawks. Time is of the essence, as you can imagine, so the transport leaving for the docks that will take you to the ship we have leased will be leaving in ninety minutes from the South Gate. Pack quickly, private. On that note…"

He looked up again here, once more looking to everyone.

"Ms. Levinson…I understand that you are still on vacation." He stated, making his speech slower. "I see no reason to call you back to active duty at this time, as Esthar's Hawks are being left with surprisingly little to do as of currently. That is, of course…unless you feel you have accomplished all you set out to do on your vacation?"

Dael, hearing the attention focused on her again, didn't take long to start getting the suggestion that Colonel Regalis was hinting at. Of course, Quaren looked a little perplexed at the whole thing, but she ignored that as well. "No, I have not, colonel. I'd like to use up my full vacation if possible."

"Then I will allow you while you still have time, Lt. Commander." Regalis responded. After saying this, though, his eyes narrowed. "However…I feel it necessary to warn you…as well as anyone else who might be headed where you're going, about the situation. This is no mere vacation or even hostile country going on over there. It is in the middle of all out war. It's not safe for an entire division of soldiers to be on the streets over there, let alone people who might be going on vacation. It will be perfectly understandable for you all to avoid Garrado at all costs. However…I will leave that matter up to you to decide."

With that, Regalis left the podium. He descended once again, and moved to the nearest exit. Once again, everyone simply watched him, unsure if they should speak. Again, his footsteps echoed loud and long through the room until he reached the doorway, opened it up, and then exited.

As the doors slid shut again, a confused-looking Quaren turned to Dael and the others. "Um…what was that all about?"

"Come on lad, you're sharper than that, aren't you?" Cryder responded, taking another puff from his cigar. "You're not the only one he's sending on this mission. He's sending the rest of us out on it too…or, at least, kind of wanting us to go that route."

Quaren looked to Cryder at that, and indeed looked a bit surprised at that revelation. He looked around a bit afterward, and put two and two together. "Well…I suppose that makes sense, since it doesn't look like he could order us directly…but, _why_ does he want us all to escort the Sorceress?"

"He _doesn't_ want us all to escort the Sorceress." Taraketh sighed in response. He looked to Dael soon after. "I thought you always told him everything?"

Dael frowned in response. "I wasn't about to create a written record of going against an executive order by the Grand Chancellor." She turned to Quaren soon after, easing up. "Quaren, Taraketh and I are trying to gain the power of the remaining Guardian Forces before Sybenia has a chance to or to destroy them. That's what I was doing on my 'vacation'…going to go see Shiva. Now we need to find the one that Lady Veriguno knows about."

"And this one is a bit more urgent." Taraketh spoke up again. "If Sybenia invaded Garrado, that means they control the Pallas Desert now, which means that wherever that Guardian Force is, it's within enemy lines. Since there's no way through the naval blockade other than what your colonel just said, I'm assuming that's the only way in. So what this all means is that not only could Sybenia find the Guardian Force at any moment, but we're going to have to smash through enemy lines to get there."

"And if we thought the Hounds of Sybenia were bad last time…this time they'll be in every dark corner…" Dael added. She exhaled soon afterward. "But dwelling on the liabilities of the situation isn't going to make it any easier. I take it, in spite of all this, you still want to go?"

"Of course." Taraketh responded. "Even if Esthar wasn't at stake, I'd do this sooner than see another Guardian Force end up in enemy hands."

"Brave young people…" Cryder said with a chuckle as he moved his cigar around in his teeth. "And to think, I just got the last bit of water out of my system from my last mission. Can't let you two outdo me now."

Taraketh turned to him and gave him a hard look. "I can honestly say I wouldn't mind if you decided to stay behind."

"Well I would, lad." Cryder answered. "Perhaps you two are rubbing off on me, but I haven't had this much fun for a good long while. Besides, I'm already in with Esthar too deep. I've got an interest in this now. I saw those fusion devices with my own eyes. If Sybenia gets them, then there won't be a mate on Gaia who won't be dancin' to their tune: soldier, pirate, or just average joe tryin' to get by. I'd also be a little broken up if you two didn't come back. What can I say? I'm a big softie."

The High Child merely grumbled in response as he crossed his arms, but Quaren had a bit of an uneasy smile.

"Heh…I guess it would be just like last time…"

"Hopefully not _just_ like last time…" Taraketh muttered.

"Oh, water under the bridge already, lad." Cryder answered as he began to get to his feet, stretching a bit as he did so. "Where we're headed, even Black Corsairs are stupid to sail. Then again, I didn't get where I am in life without building a reputation for being a tad reckless…"

"You mean in a giant amount of debt and without a ship or crew?" Taraketh said under his breath.

Dael herself got up and looked around momentarily. After only a few seconds, her gaze turned to Bahamut. He looked right back at her with his own arms crossed.

"…I think you already know what I'm going to ask you."

"Even if I agreed to stay behind," Bahamut responded. "You'll want me to come just to make sure I don't breach the Vaults again."

Dael suppressed a frown. That was true enough. "This is going to be both a covert mission and likely one that involves heavy combat. For all we know, we're landing in the middle of scorched earth. You expect me to be irresponsible enough to bring a child into that situation? You did good against the Fuliet monsters, I'll give you that…but these are opponents with some brains as well as weapons and armor."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Bahamut responded. "If it means finding my power, then I'll take it."

Taraketh sighed in response. Cryder, surprisingly, said nothing. Apparently, ever since he revealed that treasure to the group, the pirate had abandoned having fun at Bahamut's expense. Dael, on the other hand, was rather torn. Much as Bahamut annoyed her, she'd never forgive herself if she got a kid killed by dragging him into a war zone. It didn't matter how skilled he was…he was _twelve_, or thirteen at the most. Sensing the hesitation, Bahamut sighed.

"I won't get in the way. I haven't yet, have I?"

The young officer frowned back. "No, but assuming something does go wrong, there's a good chance you won't live long enough for me to say, 'I told you so'."

"Nothing will go wrong."

Dael held again. She felt like the stupidest, most irresponsible adult on Gaia. She wished that the Order of Hyne could have just taken this child. However, there was no time to dump him anywhere else. They only had 90 minutes…less than that now. They really didn't have any time to just be chewing the fat at this moment. Finally, she let out an exhale.

"You'll do _everything_ that I say on this trip, understood?"

"Fine." Bahamut answered with a light sigh. "I did everything you said last time, didn't I?"

Quaren chuckled a bit. "Now it's really like we never left Leuco…" He mentioned aloud. "The same group of people as last time."

Dael looked back to him. "Not quite."

After saying this, she turned, as did the others, and looked back a bit…finding themselves staring at Ceja.

The Fuliet warrior was still rather wide-eyed about the whole thing. It was clear she didn't quite understand it. After all, she probably had never even seen a boat in her life. There was a moment of silence from everyone.

Taraketh exhaled. "…There's probably members of the Order of Hyne within Fort Morningstar that can see her to the Cathedral in Esthar. Naturally, we don't have time ourselves."

"Unless, of course, you're wanting to come." Dael responded, addressing Ceja directly. "I don't know how much you gained from all of that just now, but, in short, we're continuing the mission to collect all of the Guardian Forces. Our next one's going to be in the middle of a war zone, though. And by war zone, I mean a field literally crawling with noises, explosions, and machines you've never even seen before…probably a few that _no one_ has ever seen before. You still feel like coming?"

Ceja, however, stiffened a bit more at this. "Fuliet will never get the respect it deserves if our people flee threats of technology like nutkins confronted by fire. And I intend to see all of the Guardian Forces that I can. I will accompany you."

Dael hesitated. In truth, she could really go without Ceja's lack of experience in modern affairs. However, if she could do to the enemy what she did to the Tyrant Lizard…then she'd be a welcome addition indeed. Modern technology might have shocked her, but there weren't many people alive who wouldn't be stunned at the way she flung that giant axe.

"And, uh…don't forget about me here." Carbuncle threw in as she did. "Someone's got to come along to make sure all of you damn kids stay alive."

With that said, the young officer looked over everyone. They all stared back, apparently ready and raring to go. As Dael looked over them all, she couldn't help but feel a little strange. There were almost enough of them now to form their own unit of Esthar's Hawks. It seemed almost crazy that they were all together now, especially since most of them had met on hostile terms. And yet…it was somewhat odd to Dael. Although she barely knew some of these people, she felt very at ease around them…very comfortable. She almost felt as good around them as she did whenever she went off by herself to just listen to nature. Somehow, she had a feeling of trust for all of them…and had a feeling that they were far stronger as a unit than separately.

With that in mind, Dael made a last announcement. "Everyone get their things together. We don't have long before we need to be at the South Gate."

* * *

><p>Luckily, Dael and those with her were already packed for the most part. A quick run to Dael's room, and she and Bahamut merely swapped out dirty clothes for fresh ones, obtained a few other things, and then replenished food and water for the trip. Naturally, Carbuncle came as well, and Dael wasted about ten minutes trying to tell him that he couldn't bring any liquor on the trip, whether it was being sanctioned by the government or not. After that, they headed back down.<p>

Since Dael had Bahamut, Quaren was kind enough to take Ceja to get more food. The young officer didn't pity his job. There was no telling how much of an ordeal it had been carrying Ceja around to the more public areas of Fort Morningstar. That left Taraketh and Cryder. She knew it would be a problem for the former, but, to be honest, she wasn't sure how often he changed. All of his attire was always the same, after all. And as for Cryder…she had assumed he didn't have anything in all of Esthar that he owned, let alone Fort Morningstar. Unable to worry about that, however, she simply gathered her own things and went to the South Gate.

As expected, she, Bahamut, and Carbuncle were there first. They had to wait another five minutes before Taraketh showed, apparently having done a lot of last minute running around to whatever Children of Hyne were available to replenish his own supplies. Soon after, Cryder came back as well and, a bit to Dael's surprise, had a sizable duffle bag for himself. Obviously he had gotten supplies somehow…and the young officer wasn't sure she wanted to know. A scant 45 seconds before the transport arrived, Quaren, huffing and puffing the whole way, managed to drag Ceja to the transport, the entire time with her still asking questions about what was what. After that, they all boarded and took off.

Luckily, it seemed the colonel had been a bit more generous this time. Rather than taking the typical military mass transit routes, the transport itself took them right to their detonation. Dael supposed it only figured. Time was of the essence, and since this wasn't an official military mission, they weren't cleared to ride the typical military transports. They had gone quite fast too, shaving about twenty minutes off of a standard trip by how fast they were going. The tradeoff, however, was that the transport wasn't cleared to take them all the way to the ship. They only got as far as the security office, went through the proper channels, and then dismounted. Now, they found themselves, carrying weapons and gear and creating quite the odd sight, walking along the docks.

"So which one was it again?" Taraketh asked as they walked along.

Quaren, holding all of the proper forms in his hand, raised them to his face. He flipped through a few for a moment or so, but then looked behind him to the High Child. "Pier 12."

"Almost there." Bahamut spoke up. We're passing Pier 11 right now."

Cryder let out a grin. His cigar was gone…which was unfortunate, because now they were actually in an open air space. Before, he had filled wherever they were enclosed with his smoke. "It'll be great to be back on the sea again, on a ship once again that I'm commanding. I can only take so much of this land stuff at a time."

"'Commanding'?" Quaren echoed. "Esthar's Hawks leased the boat to me and the Sorceress."

"So they did." Cryder responded. "And do you know the first thing about running a ship, mate?"

Quaren frowned in response. "Of course! I took the basic skills course!"

"Uh huh." Cryder answered, clearly not that convinced. "Then I'm sure you could tell me if I'm about to give you a kick in the port, which side I'm going for?"

The private froze in response to that, and puzzled a moment. "Uh…"

Abruptly, Cryder's foot shot out and gave him a light kick in the left shin. "Too slow, matey." He said with a snicker.

The kick was only a little painful, but it served to make Quaren blush in embarrassment and go quiet once again. However, it was only a moment before he looked to Ceja. She was staring ahead as they moved, apparently as business-like as Dael. However, he ventured a word or two.

"So…um…how…how are you?"

Ceja, still walking, nevertheless turned to Quaren with a puzzled look. "…What does that have to do with our current mission?"

The private grimaced a bit in response. "I just…felt we should probably get to know each other a little if we're going to be stuck together for a bit."

"Very well." Ceja simply responded. "What do you want to know?"

Quaren paused momentarily. He looked over Ceja a moment, seeming to be trying to think of something to say. Finally, he noted a string of oddly-shaped beads on her belt. He pointed to them. "That's…um…a nice little bracelet you got there."

Ceja stared back blankly. "That's not a bracelet. It's customary for anyone of the Pawati tribe to relinquish a tooth to you after they challenge you for domination and fail. As I am female, I am challenged often. For my part, I get to remove the tooth in any way I see fit."

Quaren looked rather wide-eyed at that.

"Now, a question for you. You are…as the phrase goes…the 'runt of the litter' of Esthar's Hawks, yes?" Ceja asked, innocently enough.

Grimacing, the rifleman looked back forward. "…I'm never talking to girls again."

Dael didn't respond to this. She was checking over herself. She wished she would have had time for a proper shower after spending a few days in the wild, but such wasn't to be, it seemed. She had barely had time to change into non-bloody, non-torn clothing. Now as she looked herself over, she looked at her katana frequently. She also looked over to the side of her belt, seeing the still-useless Mage Gun. She sighed at the thought. Going to Fuliet was one thing…but going into a combat situation? She felt practically naked.

Apparently, it was obvious. Bahamut turned his head over to her after a moment, and raised an eyebrow. "You're fairly quiet. And you don't look entirely at ease. Is something the matter?"

Dael looked over to him. She held a moment, then exhaled. "It's nothing, really. It's just…still feeling kind of naked…"

Bahamut looked her over a moment, then back to her face. "Because of the Mage Gun?"

The young officer sighed. "Pretty much. I mean, I have some spells, but it's not like they're going to do much good. Aside from some support magic, I don't really have much in the way of abilities that I'm familiar with."

"You're still talented with a blade." Bahamut responded. "And you did reasonably well even without strong magic."

"I'm still used to going into a combat situation with the ability to use my Mage Gun. Pretty much the only place more dangerous we could be going right now is Sybenia itself, and I can't even use my best weapon."

"Well now, I wouldn't say that."

Dael heard Cryder interject, and turned her head to him. However, before spotting him, she was just in time to see his hand come out and hold something in front of her face. She looked down to it…and went a bit wide-eyed. She was looking at three separate Mage Bullets…fairly decent ones too. A Firaga, a Blizzaga, and a Thundaga. She turned to Cryder in surprise, and found him smiling back.

She blinked. "How did you get these?"

"I always like to choose part of my own fee, lass." He stated. "Paid a little stop by the munitions in the fort before I headed over to the South Gate. Figured you could use these."

Dael hesitated a moment. She looked down to the shells, then back up to the pirate. After a moment, she began to frown and shake her head. "I can't. That'd be like stealing from Esthar's Hawks…"

"If it goes to a good cause, it's better that than collecting dust." Cryder answered, giving a shrug. "At least, that's the way I view things. Good philosophy for a pirate."

"But I'm not-"

"Lass…" Cryder cut her off, looking at her more seriously. "You really think this mission is going to help the people of your country, or do you think it's just a waste of time?"

She blinked a bit at that question, then promptly responded. "Of course I think it's going to help Esthar. I know it will."

He grinned. "Then just button your lip and take them. Think of it like your mom gave you some money to buy her a nice birthday present because she knew you were broke."

Dael held for a bit longer. She looked down to the shells. After a moment, she decided to just go with it. After all, it wasn't like they could take them back at this point. And carrying them along the whole way and not using them on the mission would just be sheer stupidty. At last, she reached out, plucked the shells from his hand, and began to shove them in her pockets.

"…Don't mention a word of this to command." She stated. "I'll tell them myself and have them garnish it at the proper time."

"Not a problem, lass. Haven't you ever heard of honor amongst thieves?"

Taraketh, overhearing this, rolled his eyes. "Isn't that just because if one of you gets nabbed, you all do?"

"I always thought self-interest was the best motivation." Cryder simply responded.

Taraketh groaned. "At any rate, we're here. Pier 12."

The High Child turned down the pathway. Although Quaren was still in the lead, he appeared to still be so distraught from the comment by Ceja that he didn't even notice. He snapped his head up, blinked, and then quickly started down that way as well. The others soon followed.

Pier 12 was apparently one of the smaller ones. It didn't have large docks for any of the big cargo ships or ocean liners, but that was fine. After all, it wasn't like they needed a frigate in order to get to Garrado, especially if they wanted to get there fast and after picking up Lady Faerio. Hence, Dael was expecting a small boat. However, as the group turned the corner and looked down the pier, all of them found themselves grinding to a halt after a moment.

Small as the pier was, it still had room for multiple boats. However, only one boat was currently there. It looked to be smaller than the ill-fated _Dolphin…_and much older. Visible spots of rust were on it, as was a number of small dents and signs of wear and tear. Not enough to get it decommissioned by far…but it definitely wasn't in the best shape that a boat could be. It looked like it had large dual engines on the back rather than one the rail system as it had been on the _Dolphin_, but other than that no real specifications. There was a bit of room on the deck, but if all of them attempted to get into the pilot cabin, it would be a tight squeeze.

To be completely honest, this was enough to make everyone hesitate for a moment.

Looking thoroughly underwhelmed, Taraketh looked to either side of the pier, and then back to Quaren. "…Are you sure that read Pier 12?"

Quaren, staring forward with a blank, confused look, absently held the form up for Taraketh to see. "Yes…there it is. Right on the bottom."

"…So have they not brought it around yet?" The High Child asked.

"I'm not well versed in matters of boating, but I think this ship is it." Ceja responded.

Taraketh stared for a moment longer, before forming a rather sour look. "…I think your government has hit a new low. I don't expect this ship to make it to Lamb, let alone Garrado."

"Now, now…" Cryder interjected again, reaching out and placing a hand on Taraketh's shoulder. The High Child immediately twisted free and gave him a glare, but Cryder was unmiffed. "It's not what's on the outside the counts. It's what's on the inside. Never declare a beater until you've had a gander under the hood, mate. This is coming from a man who knows his scrap." With that, the pirate immediately took off for the boat. The ramp was already down on the docked ship, so he soon reached the side and began to run in.

"Hopefully you know it a bit better than how to make black market deals…" Taraketh grumbled.

Quaren looked to Dael with considerable unease. "This thing might as well be made of wood and paper, Lt. Commander. One light artillery shell will be enough to sink us. We can't go past the Sybenian Fleet in this."

Dael, however, wasn't so uneasy. "Yes we can, Quaren. A ship like this…no navy would ever consider it a threat. Even if we alerted them, they'd think nothing in the boat would be worth their time, especially since we're incoming. Come on." With that, Dael began to walk toward the boat again.

Seeing this, Quaren, Bahamut, and Ceja readily followed, although Quaren and Ceja hesitated a bit first. Taraketh held a moment, but then groaned and began to follow after them. As they all began to approach the ship much slower than Cryder had, he held his hand out and gestured to the boat hopelessly.

"There's barely any room for all of us. I can tell that without even being familiar with ships."

"We'll just have to cram into one cabin. We all have sleeping bags, after all." Dael responded.

"This is the biggest slap in the face of a Sorceress I've ever seen by your government." The High Child continued.

"Hey, the Lt. Commander has a point…we won't be conspicuous at all on this thing. We don't need a boat advertising that we're bringing her in." Quaren responded.

"Furthermore, from what I saw at Lamb Temple, Lady Faerio seems used to not exactly having luxury conditions." Dael responded.

"But we can't even give her privacy in that boat!" Taraketh maintained, almost going into a whine.

Dael sighed again. "Sir Sabian…did it ever occur to you that perhaps the Sorceresses don't _like_ to be treated like royalty? That perhaps they like being just normal people?"

Taraketh didn't immediately respond to that, or look to Dael. However, if he would have responded was unknown. At that moment, Cryder, looking rather pleased, charged back out onto the deck of the ship. Going up to the railing, he laughed as he looked down at the others. "Just like I said…can't judge a book by it's cover. The engines on this thing…whew!" He gave the railing an affection pat. "Just like a mustang Chocobo…she's got a lot of pepper under the hood."

"How much?" Dael asked as she continued to approach.

"We can be in the Lamb Archipelago by tomorrow." Cryder answered with a grin. "How does that sound?"

Quaren went a little wide eyed on hearing that. "Are you serious? This little boat can do that?"

"I know my ships. Someone put a lot of love and care into this one. If I still had the _Gungir_, I'd definitely take her on as my runabout ship." Cryder responded. "So what's her name?"

The private blinked in response. "…Name?"

"Sure, mate. She's got to have a name."

Quaren furrowed his brow, then looked down to the sheet again. He flipped through a few pages…nearly stumbling into Taraketh more than once since he wouldn't look up, much to the irritation of the High Child. "Um…I'm not seeing a name. Only a designation number of P.C.P.T.-115."

"Splendid." Cryder answered. "Then I can give her one." He looked down and over it for a moment. "Hmm…short and fast…guaranteed to get you where you need to go in a hurry…" He snapped his fingers. "I got it. _Artemis_." He looked back up to Dael. "Like it, Lt. Commander?"

The young officer sighed. "Fine, _Artemis_ it is. Whatever you like. I'm not the commanding officer on this mission. I'm doing this as a civilian."

"That's even better." Cryder answered with a grin. "You won't mind me taking the role of captain, then. In that case…all of you salty dogs get your asses on my ship. We're casting off."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: You may notice a theme now among boat names. Gungir is typically a powerful spear in FF games, while the Artemis Bow is usually a powerful bow.<p> 


	27. The Magnificent Seven

It may not have been a luxury liner, but the _Artemis_ still had it where it counted in Dael's book.

True to Cryder's word, the boat was tremendously fast. It had to be using experimental engines, or ones enhanced by water magic. In either case, it moved faster than one would think possible. Even speedboats had nothing on it. If there was any boat that could have gotten them to Garrado in time, this was the one.

Of course, it was lacking on pretty much everything else. There were only two rooms below deck, one being the engine room/fuel storage room, and one general purpose room. About the only item of note in the general purpose room other than the closet was it was where the radio was kept. There wasn't even a decent place to put all the food they had brought for everyone, and arranging the sleeping bags was still a mess, as there was just enough room for them all to lie down in there. That was fine and dandy now, but once the Sorceress arrived, it would push them over the edge. They'd have to sleep in shifts or with some of people on deck, under the stars. Dael opted for the former. After all, she couldn't sleep that well anyway, and Cryder enjoyed being at the helm.

Night had fallen by now. It was clear, so the view was wonderful. At least…it had been the last time Dael had checked. Normally she'd be enjoying it, but after the first hour of the trip, she had gone below. It was all things she had seen before as far as the actual route they were talking…just much, much faster. At the moment, she was below deck, glued to the radio. They needed to be able to react to the slightest change in news. A mishap could easily cause this entire trip to be rerouted, and they had to be ready for it. She had unrolled her sleeping bag and was seated on it now. Carbuncle was taking up part of it, curled into a ball and already sawing logs. Aside from him, Taraketh was there, looking to be in some sort of meditative posture, seated with his eyes closed on his own sleeping bag, while Quaren was servicing his weapon and looking rather nervous and tense…which was pretty much par for the course for him anyway.

As for Dael, she held the headphones to the side of her head for a few more moments, and then lowered them with an exhale.

Quaren picked up on this, and immediately tensed up further. "What is it? Did the blockade move? Did Sybenia push through?"

Dael shook her head. "No. The 'Red Eye' broadcasts are coming on. If they're running those, it's safe to say there's no more news for the night…at least not in our broadcast range. The only news will come if there's an update. I think I'll give it a rest for a moment."

Quaren hesitated a moment. "…Oh." He finally said, only slightly calming before turning back this weapon and resuming cleaning it.

Dael turned to him in response. She looked to his hands. While normally very precise with his work, even meticulous, the young officer noticed that Quaren was fumbling a bit more than he should have. After watching this for a few moments, she looked up to him.

"Quaren, we're still in Esthar waters. There's no need to get nervous."

The private sighed, closing his eyes momentarily. "I know, Lt. Commander…"

"Dael, Quaren." The young woman answered. "I'm not on duty."

Quaren looked to her. "But…we're supposed to use designations even when not on duty-"

"Quaren…it's _me_." Dael cut off.

The private exhaled at this, bowed his head for a moment, and then nodded. "Right…sorry, Dael. I'm just…I guess I'm just really nervous. I mean, it's not just the mission. I still remember how much Veriguno the Mountain made me sweat…I'm really not eager for that to happen again, especially now since I'm supposed to be representing Esthar…"

"Just take it easy, Quaren." Dael responded. "It's not as bad as it seems. Just relax. Remember your training. Just go by the book and you'll do fine."

The private exhaled a bit more, but then nodded. "Alright…I'll try, Dael."

"How about you both just go to sleep?" Taraketh abruptly spoke up, although he remained seated with his eyes closed. "Or can you only have conversations whenever I'm trying to focus my inner mana?"

Dael and Quaren both turned to Taraketh at that any gave him a look. However, Quaren was the one who vocalized it. "Hey…it's not like we can be real private on board this ship. This is the only room."

Taraketh let out a sigh in response, still not opening his eyes. "Fine. Do whatever you want. Just don't blame me if I'm not in time with a spell when we reach Garrado."

The young officer frowned a bit, but then looked back to Quaren. "Sir Sabian has a point, Quaren. All this worrying isn't helping anything and we need to be sharp. We should probably make sure we're all well rested before we get to Garrado. We're going to be going against bad enough odds without having to worry about sleep deprivation as well."

Quaren gave Taraketh a stare for a few more moments, not initially showing that he had heard anything that Dael had said. However, after a few moments, he exhaled, and then looked back over to Dael. He grudgingly gave a nod. "You're probably right. I guess I'll turn in now. There's still plenty of time to make sure my weapons are in full working order before we get there."

He began to shift on his sleeping bag to start putting things away. However, he didn't get far before looking back to Dael. "…What about you? Are you headed to bed too?"

"In a minute, probably." The young woman answered. "I'm going to make one last check on Cryder…see how far we have to go before we reach Lamb, and then Garrado."

With that, Dael got up and stretched a bit. She had been seated for some time, and her legs were just starting to get stiff. After that, she moved on over to the exit of the room. There were no doors, but there was a hall (more like a walkway) that had a ladder on one end and the openings to either room on the other. Even from here, Dael could look up and see the night sky and feel some breezes coming in from over the ocean. Again, she was glad it was summer. Otherwise they all would have needed to bring some coats along. Grasping the rings, she began to pull herself up.

The opening itself was perched right underneath the helm, within the half-open enclosure where the pilot would stand. Even as she ascended, she was greeted by the sight of Cryder's boots, followed by the rest of him as she came out. Rising fully up out of it, she looked out the window much like he was, seeing him standing there grasping the wheel as the ship chugged along at its almost inconceivable clip. Yet as she rose up, he looked to her. In the darkness of the cabin, she saw the embers of a cigar gleam.

"Can't sleep, lassie?" He asked.

"I haven't even tried yet." Dael simply responded. "I've been on the radio."

"You should get some rest while you can." Cryder responded, looking back out again. "You don't know when we're going to get the chance for it again, not where we're going."

Dael couldn't help but grimace at him. Considering their first meeting, it was a bit odd to hear him talking like a parent. She exhaled and looked out again. The night was moonless and they were running without lights, but Dael could still just vaguely make out that they were farther out to sea than normal.

"Why are we headed this far away from shore?" She asked.

Cryder grinned in the darkness. "Because we're making our big turn, Lt. Commander…changing our heading toward Lamb."

Dael looked to him in some surprise. "Already?"

"I told you this ship could be in Lamb by tomorrow morning, didn't I?" He answered. "Besides, I have to start turning her now. _Artemis_ is a good name. She's quick as an arrow, but also turns about as much as an arrow does. So if you're wanting to be awake when we meet up with the Sorceress, you better turn in now. You've only got another five or six hours."

"In a little bit." The young woman answered. "I should probably drag the others to bed if that's the case."

Dael moved to go. However, before she got far, she heard Cryder again. "Lass?"

The woman paused and looked back to him.

"What are they like? The Sorceresses? I mean…by my count, you've met all of them at this point. There's not a whole lot of people on Gaia who can say that. I hear it knocks your socks off."

Dael paused, and then shrugged a bit. "It does. I'm not usually a person who talks like this…but they're powerful. I've only actually seen one 'in action', but you can tell there's something about them. You can almost feel it. And it pretty much takes everything I've got to look one in the eye. But other than that…they're not bad people. Some of the bigwigs in the Legislature only move around with entourages and bodyguards and they act like you should throw a party every time they grace you with their presence."

Cryder chuckled. "Beggin' your pardon, lassie…but every time a Sorceress comes to town they throw a parade."

"Yeah, but not because they told anyone to." She maintained. "They're real…I don't know…down to earth. I think they'd prefer it if they could just come and go like normal people, and if everyone would just treat them like they treat everyone else." She paused, and then shrugged. "That's a point in their favor as far as I'm concerned. Everyone knows they're the most respected individuals on Gaia, and I know personally that they have enough power to throw their weight around if they wanted. They don't, though."

"Hmm…" Cryder responded. "You've got a point. Between leaders who are out trying to be the new Odins and leaders who are content to just sit around and take care of their positions…they might be a breath of fresh air. Think I'll reserve judgment for them until I talk to them myself, though."

"Fair enough." Dael responded. "If we're just going to be sailing straight in a bit, then you can always just call one of us to man the boat for you. I know how to steer a ship."

"Maybe after you've caught a nap." Cryder said with a chuckle. "So hurry up and finish up and then get back down." He paused. "…What exactly are you up here for?"

Dael cracked a half smile. "You don't think I'm heading to bed and letting my 'ward' stay up, do you?"

Cryder chuckled again. "Yeah…that would look a bit bad."

The young office moved to the back and exited the cabin, leaving Cryder to turn fully back to his own piloting. She soon stepped out onto the deck. Although none of the ship was enclosed, the hum from the engines combined with the semi-enclosed area created a region that was a bit soundproof. As a result, she hadn't exactly heard anything that was going on outside. The glow from the window made it a bit hard to see as well off of the instrument panel. After all, Cryder was sailing using instruments, not visually…not at this time of night. Hence, she wasn't really sure what was going on.

At any rate, Dael didn't have to go far. As she was coming around to the front of the ship, she soon bumped right into Bahamut, standing on the edge and looking toward the front of the ship. Dael was initially puzzled by this. Out to sea, she could understand, but why look just at the ship? Venturing a bit closer, however, she soon got her answer…although it still left her confused.

Ceja was on the front of the deck. Her weapon was at the side, and she was poised in some sort of interesting stance. It looked almost like combat or one of those martial arts stances that people practiced in but Dael herself had no familiarity with. At any rate, she _was_ looking out to the ocean, seeming to be waiting for something.

Dael moved up to Bahamut's side and watched as well. Both were silent for a moment, but nothing seemed to happen. After a bit, Dael looked to the boy. "What's going on?"

"Wait for it…" Was all he responded.

The young officer paused, but then looked back up to Ceja. For a moment longer, nothing else happened. Then, she saw it.

Monsters on the ocean were not uncommon in the least. Slow moving ships in ages past had been victim to many of them. Of course, that had been quite some time ago, even earlier than the Collapse. The technology to repulse them had long since been perfected and equipped on all boats, as standard as steering wheels. However, they were still out there, and they were especially prolific at night.

A large fish, practically the size of half of a man, abruptly leapt out of the water. Its face was filled with jaws that contained razor-sharp teeth, and even in the darkness Dael was able to make it out. She wasn't familiar with sea-life monstrosities. She had little need to be concerned about them unless she was near a shore, and the nearest one of those was all the way on the southern edge of the Eastern Continent. Hence, she didn't know the name, and soon didn't dwell on it. She looked at Ceja's reaction instead. The woman abruptly leapt into the air, and, much as the fish did, thrashed her body about and snapped her own teeth together again and again. When it pitched and dove back into the water, she did the same, back for the deck, in much the same manner.

Dael raised an eyebrow at this display. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring her along…"

"You don't know what she's doing?"

Dael looked down at that, and saw Bahamut looking back up to her. He proceeded to gesture.

"She's performing Walz Mimicry. This is the process that one follows to learn a monster-based fighting style."

The young officer looked up to her, then back to him. "…All it looks like is that she's trying to imitate the fish."

"It's more than that." Bahamut responded. "She's also forming a connection, melding her consciousness with the monster. It's somewhat analogous to when a mage melds their consciousness with the Planet temporarily when casting spells. Normally you can only do it when a monster is exceptionally powerful and produces the right 'wavelength' of attack…hence, how Blue Mages are able to learn certain techniques. But some can do it for anything. It's a trademark of Garamondians. There's no question in my mind she came from them now."

Dael forgot about Ceja. Now, she was simply staring at Bahamut. The boy, on his part, looked forward again. The young woman paused a bit longer, and then moved back over to the edge of the cabin to lean against it. After doing so, she focused fully on the boy.

"Bahamut…do you remember your mom and dad?"

The boy continued to watch Ceja. "I only had one parent: the Planet."

"Alright then…let's go with that." She responded. "Do you remember your mother?"

Bahamut paused here. He turned and looked to her.

"…If we're about to have another one of _those_ conversations, I'll go along only if you at least go with the assumption that I'm telling the truth about who I am. Otherwise, we have nothing to discuss."

"Deal." Dael simply responded.

The boy paused for a moment afterward. Eventually, he exhaled a bit and turned fully to Dael.

"…I don't know what it's like to have a 'standard' mother." He responded. "I remember only hearing her waking me up…and, after that, getting only a 'sense' of what she thinks and feels when I commune with the Planet…or, rather, when I used to be able to commune with the Planet. In this body, I can't even do that."

Dael looked at him a bit more intently. "So you don't remember her at all? Have any idea what she was like?"

Bahamut paused. "She's told me things over the years. I've had a sense that I can feel her hand upon me at times. As for what she's like…it's unlikely anyone can truly know what she's like. The only way to learn is to observe the Planet throughout history. She's on a whole other level and scope than us. She doesn't even know what her individual children are doing because of that."

"But…you can't remember her growing up?"

"…We were assigned a matron. You can think of it as our 'older sibling' was told to raise the rest of us."

Dael paused again. "What about them? What about the rest of your family? Can you remember them?"

Bahamut bowed his head a bit more. "…Yes." He said, a bit more slowly than before. "We didn't always get along, though. And depending on who it was, the memories are either happy ones or terrible ones." He paused. "…But I think, deep down in my heart of hearts, I loved all of them. My one brother…practically my twin…" He hesitated once more. "…In the end, after all he had done, after all of his attempts to kill me and destroy those I loved…I think I only killed him because it had to be done. Maybe that's the real reason he always came back stronger…because in spite of everything, there was always a part of me that wished we could go back to what it was like when we first woke up in Ultima Nexus."

He turned to the railing on the boat and leaned over it, lowering his head a bit.

"…I don't try to think too much on family anymore, Lt. Commander." He stated, sounding a bit wistful. "It doesn't help…not anymore. I've watched my family get taken away from me…my race being taken away from me…even my true love being taken away from me…being left totally alone in the world. It's something I'm still trying to get used to…although it may change soon, provided I can return to my old body. Then there will at least be others of my kind back in the world to talk with."

Dael showed nothing, but, inside, she felt they were finally getting somewhere. Bahamut was talking about being alone for the first time, and showing how painful it was. What more…this offered a clue to her. This is why he was so intent on finding Leviathan. He thought that if he did and became a Guardian Force, then he wouldn't be alone anymore. This might be why he was clinging to it so badly. He thought he'd be getting his family back if he did. With that in mind…Dael spoke again.

"Bahamut…about what I said to you earlier…what if you _don't_ find him?"

The boy began to sigh. Before he could respond, however, Dael spoke up again.

"That's not doubting you, Bahamut." She paused and exhaled a bit. "Look…think of it this way. No one knows where Leviathan is right now. And if you were a Guardian Force or whatever you could easily search the whole planet or sniff him out or whatever…but you can't. For all intensive purposes, you only know what we know and can do what we can do. So it makes logical sense to assume that you won't find Leviathan any sooner than the rest of us. And if that's the case…and it takes you a lot longer to find Leviathan than you thought…then what are you going to do? Do you just want to spend the next twenty or thirty years being alone, doing nothing but looking for him?"

"I've dealt with longer periods of time." Bahamut answered.

Dael sighed. "You're not listening. I'm trying to tell you that if you're feeling alone and miserable, you don't have to. There are plenty of people in the world right now that you can form connections to without having to be a Guardian Force."

Bahamut turned to her, crossing his arms. "So you _are_ going from the perspective that I'm lying."

"I didn't say that."

"You're implying it. All of your concerns are moot if I am who I say I am. You're afraid I'm chasing after something that doesn't exist and therefore I'm wasting only a mortal lifespan."

"Bahamut, you said it yourself." Dael spoke up, insisting more. "You said you're stuck in this body. That means you're _aging_. And like I said, you have no more knowledge about what's going on than we do. Smart as you are, you're still as clueless as the rest of us when it comes to Leviathan. What happens if you die before you find Leviathan?"

For the first time, the boy seriously paused. At last, Dael realized, she had given him a point that genuinely made him stop and think for a second. It didn't last long…but it was something. After a few moments, Bahamut let out a tired sigh. In the darkness, Dael saw his face become downcast and slump a bit.

"That is a possibility…but it doesn't matter." Bahamut answered. "I'll be back with Terra and the rest of my family who has passed on if that's the case."

Dael, however, wasn't letting it slide that easily. She leaned up a bit more and spoke again, more softly this time.

"Bahamut…I don't know if this is because you're 'immortal' or whatever…but you're not thinking this through enough. Going with what you say…you're alive now for some reason. You don't know how, and you don't know if it will ever be possible again. That means, in the worst case scenario, you have another sixty or seventy years left. And I know you can appreciate the span of time. Do you really want to spend the _last_ sixty or seventy years you get on Gaia chasing a phantom? Or don't you think maybe, just maybe, you could take a _little_ time out to have a life and enjoy what you have?"

Again, Bahamut was rendered silent. She had hit a mark again. The boy genuinely hesitated and thought for a few moments. In the end, he let out another exhale.

"…Maybe you have a point." He stated. "But…"

After a pause, Dael asked. "But what?"

Bahamut swallowed. A moment later, he grit his teeth and hissed. "I don't believe this…I can't believe this is what I'm reduced to…"

"What is it?" Dael asked.

The boy paused a bit longer, and then looked up to Dael again.

"…I'm afraid."

The young officer blinked in response. As for Bahamut, he sighed again and looked to the side.

"I can't believe it. Great King Bahamut…who bravely smashed Griever into Ultima Nexus…who survived the apocalypse that began the Age of the Espers…who can shatter mountains with his fists and lay continents waste…is afraid." He said with a grim laugh. "And what is he afraid of? What scares him more than anything else?" He looked back to Dael. "Living. Nothing scares him more than living. He spent thousands of years in holes by himself and permanent self-imposed exile and ran and hid from everything he could all so he could avoid that dreaded thing."

"Why, Bahamut?" Dael asked, feeling herself grow more interested in it.

"Because it was _too damn hard_." Bahamut responded immediately, his voice turning a bit bitter and raising in volume. "What is a person who lives forever, Lt. Commander? The most unluckiest person on the face of Gaia. There is only one lesson I learned from my thousands of years of life stronger than all the others…you will eventually lose everyone you love and care about. That's the price you pay for being the one who always comes out on top, for being the 'winner'. I've seen my brothers and sisters murdered and had to stand over their unmarked graves because no one buried them. I've watched countless dear friends live and grow and thrive and become great…and then wither and age and die. I've lived long enough to see my blood brother turn into my deadliest enemy and have to die at my own hand. I've seen a friend who I managed to nurture such promise and hope in be snuffed out like a candle. I've seen the one I loved like a son be bloodied and broken because I was too torn to step inside. I had to leave the one who was to be my wife and the children who were to be my sons and daughters to save their lives."

Exhaling again, Bahamut turned away for the railing again. By now, his eyes had fallen, and his tone of voice had dimmed considerably.

"Pain, pain, pain. For all the joys I've had in my life…all of my friends and cheerful memories…I've had black moments of agony and suffering blot them out until that's all I can remember. I feel like every time I'm about to be happy, something is going to snuff it out. I feel like anytime I'm going to reach out to someone, the world will rear up and try to take them away from me as quickly and violently as possible. And I'm left to wonder... How much grief can a man take? Would it have been easier if I had died with Griever…that I could have avoided having to live to feel all of this? Is there anything…just one thing…in this entire world that I can keep?"

With his head turned away, Dael heard a sniffing noise from Bahamut. It was followed quickly by a scowl.

"Look at me…" He said darkly. "You'd think I would have exhausted it all by now. I can't even think about Phoenix some times without beginning to feel my eyes burn, and she was thousands of years ago. I barely even knew her, considering my life span. I'm just…" He exhaled. "I'm so tired of being alone…so tired of being afraid of losing someone that I shrink from getting close to others like a fire…tired of having to be so indifferent…" Another pause. "I just wish…I just sometimes wish whenever I dream of me and Wyvern back in Ultima Nexus, playing some stupid, silly game…that I'd never wake up. That I could just go back and do as Crusader said and never go down into that world…" He paused again, and then laughed darkly. "…She was right. It did bring me nothing but pain and a curse. It-"

Bahamut abruptly cut himself off.

Dael herself was rather stunned at her own behavior, and was wondering what she was doing at the moment… But for a second, she seemed to have slipped into a daze, listening to all of these pained words from Bahamut, all of the sadness he poured out. Before she knew it…she had done it.

Dael was now standing behind Bahamut, and had put her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

The young officer had no idea what she was doing. She wasn't the "touchy-feely" type, and Bahamut had made her upset more than once as of late. And yet, when she tried to tell herself to stop…she didn't feel like it. She wanted to stay in this position. She didn't know it, but Bahamut was thinking similarly. To the boy, he didn't need the affection or support of others. And yet…he didn't want to move either. In fact, Dael soon felt himself pressing back a bit, as if he was subconsciously leaning into the hug.

The young officer was at a loss. However…as time passed…and neither of them moved…she stopped trying to fight it. After all, didn't Bahamut say he had never felt a hug like this before, if what he said about his true mother was real? As more time ticked by, Dael began to hear more sniffling from Bahamut. The boy, she realized, was struggling hard not to cry.

At last, they broke. It wasn't voluntary. Rather, both of them seemed to know just what would be the right time to do so. When they parted, Bahamut turned and faced Dael. He looked up to her, his face both bewildered and yet calmer than before. She could only look back at him hesitantly, not really sure what to say or do. In the end, they both seemed to agree that there was nothing to say or do. The gesture had been enough. They could leave it at that.

Eventually, Bahamut turned to go back beneath. Somehow, he seemed to realize, although she had never said it, that Dael was going to him to take him to bed. Dael looked as well…but before either of them moved, she put out her arm and rested it across his shoulders as she gestured him onward.

* * *

><p>Dael was up in only a few hours, still wondering what she had done last night. Even if she could claim that she cared about the boy's welfare, what had she done? She had never felt the need to pull anyone into a hug before. So why now? Bahamut…he just felt so miserable and alone. Dael was starting to realize that even if he had escaped into this fantasy to avoid pain, it wasn't much of an improvement. It might have even been a detriment. He was so immersed in this idea that he was really Bahamut that he had taken on all of the bad myths as well as the good ones, and now thought that everything that had happened that was bad took place too. If that was the case, then he was probably even more unhappy than before. He spoke so much of despair and hopelessness…and she could even hear him struggling not to cry… Something about it resonated with the young woman…how she wanted to do something, anything, to give him a sense of hope.<p>

Still, she could hardly believe she had done it.

There was a bit of a bad surprise the next day. When Dael woke up, she found that Carbuncle was already up and with Ceja. Apparently, the Fuliet warrior hadn't slept all night, but now Carbuncle was drilling her on what appeared to be basic information about the warrior, yet Ceja seemed to be having a bit of a hard time with the questions.

"What was your mother's name?"

"My mother? It's…um…uh…"

"Come on!"

"Uh…Danielle…I think? Yes, that's it."

"Where did you grow up?"

"…Um…"

"Think!"

"The Catro Region. Yes, that was it."

Carbuncle gave her a hard, piercing stare. "Start reviewing those things every day at the butt crack of dawn. As soon as you get up, go over them like they're your damn times tables." She looked to Taraketh with a frown. "You should have told her to start doing this the day after you met Shiva."

Taraketh looked cowed again. "…I'm sorry, Sir Carbuncle. I'm just so used to doing it myself."

"What's going on?" Dael asked.

Carbuncle looked to her. "Memory loss is starting. Don't you remember what I said about the Guardian Forces? If she doesn't start actively recalling her memories every day, she won't be able to remember what happened for the first thirteen years of her life within two weeks."

Dael was rather unsettled at all of that. She quickly tried to recall her own memories…only to find that they were right as they should be. It didn't take her any time at all to remember everything clearly and distinctly. That made her fear that she had already forgotten something but she just simply wasn't able to remember what she forgot, and, hence, thought there was no problem. However, Carbuncle again reassured her that such wasn't the case. For some reason, she wasn't experiencing memory loss. He didn't know why. Dael didn't either, but leaving that aside for the moment, she focused back on the task at hand.

At this point, they were back where Dael had been less than two weeks earlier, the docks at the Lamb Archepelago. It was at the small town rather than the main port, of course, just as where they had dropped off Mianyl. Cryder was bringing in the _Artemis_ for a landing at the simple wooden pier. Dawn had broken not too long ago, and the sun was still up and coming over the horizon. At the moment, Cryder was still at the helm, and everyone was on deck. Taraketh was standing at attention himself and clearly wanting the others to do the same.

The approach had been not nearly as grandiose as last time. No ships this time to welcome their arrival, and most commerce was just going on as it always did. Dael was grateful. No need to advertise this. However, even on arriving at the small town along the coast, she noticed that there were no people out to say "hi", no banners flying, and nothing in particular that stood out. A few early-morning fisherman were already on the water and some of the people were going about their morning chores, but other than that…nothing. As they approached the dock, Dael couldn't even see the Sorceress waiting for them.

Naturally, this caused Taraketh to look a bit concerned. "We must be at the right dock… There are no others for a hundred miles. Perhaps we're too early?"

"We radioed ahead as soon as we had an ETA." Quaren responded. "They had to have known we were coming."

"Then perhaps something bad has happened…" Taraketh said with another worried tone in his voice.

"We didn't hear anything on the radio." Dael said with a shrug.

"Ahoy!" Cryder suddenly called, pointing out to Ceja and Quaren. "You two…make yourselves useful! Get ready to jump out and tie us on landing!"

Ceja and Quaren both paused, but then began to get the ropes ready. The ship continued to near the shore and finally made a turn to come into dock. Cryder dropped the engines and drifted the rest of the way. However, they had scarcely begun to pull aside the dock when Dael spotted something.

There was a building near the dock that Dael assumed was either a boathouse or the closest thing this village had to a "Port Authority". At any rate, the door on the side soon opened, and out came a dark-haired 13-year-old girl in simple clothing with a bag slung over her shoulder. Following on her heels was an older, yet still young, man with red hair with a sizable pack on his back, looking like he had only managed to start moving by getting a running start with it. At any rate, he wobbled a bit from its weight as he followed the girl, who went straight for the docks.

As she neared, Dael got a good look at her face and immediately recognized who it was as she felt the power of a warm sunbeam come over her again. It was the Sorceress. However…this was probably the most unconventional she had seen her yet. She was already disconcerting enough, being just a child, but now she looked almost just like a kid getting picked up for school. As she drew closer, Dael also noticed she looked a bit cross.

"You're late!" She called out. "I thought you'd be here thirty minutes ago!"

After the parades, the pomp, the circumstance, and everything that Dael had dealt with regarding the Sorceresses, and even considering the more mundane times in which they seemed more normal, but still had an air of dignity and aloofness to them…this sudden retort and appearance stunned Dael. If one couldn't have seen Faerio's face, they would have wondered if this was actually her or just some average teenager.

"Um…sorry, Lady Faerio." Quaren spoke up in reply, getting his voice back after a moment of being distracted…although whether by the Sorceress' presence or by her appearance was a different matter. "We had some trouble getting through the customs border and…"

"Every minute I'm not in Garrado is another chance someone is dying that I could have saved!" Faerio cut off. "Let's just get a move on now! Don't bother tying the boat…just could someone who's strong come out and give Sir Boer a hand with his pack?"

Quaren blinked a few times…but then nodded. "Um, yes ma'am." He stated, before hesitantly jumping off the edge of the boat and beginning to go over to the red head, who was, naturally, Cid. He seemed only too happy to immediately start taking off his pack and handing it over to Quaren as he approached. As for Faerio, on reaching the edge of the dock, she immediately leapt off of the side and into the boat. However, she was a bit unbalanced from her own pack and not as tall as she thought, and ended up stumbling a bit.

Immediately, Dael and Taraketh were at her sides and kept her from falling. Taraketh gave only a momentary glance at Dael actually touching one of the Sorceresses, but then let it slide. Soon, Faerio was back on her feet again. She looked to both and gave a nod. "Thank you."

"My lady…" Taraketh said, still looking uncomfortable at her appearance and straightening up. "I thought that the people of this village would have given you a proper sendoff…"

"The people of the village don't know I'm leaving." Faerio simply responded. "They never even knew I was here, aside from the people in the boathouse. I already had my fill of sendoffs for the day. The one at Lamb Temple delayed me by about an hour, and I had to get up earlier as a result."

Taraketh blanced a bit at that. After a moment, he looked her over, and then back to her. "Um…can I take your standard for you, my lady?"

Faerio simply shook her head. "I didn't bring it, Sir Sabian. I won't be needing such a cumbersome thing in Garrado." With that, she snapped to the helm, looking at Cryder. She immediately pointed a finger at him. "Let's get a move on as fast as possible. Get us to Garrado as fast as you can. There's no telling when our window of opportunity will close." She turned back to the others soon afterward. "I'm going below. I was up too early, and I'm going to need to be at my best when we arrive."

Without another word, Faerio pulled up her pack and began to head around to the bridge to start descending the ladder. Taraketh, and Dael with her, were both a bit surprised. She could be quite brash, couldn't she? At any rate, Dael got over it soon enough. Most of what she said made sense. It was Taraketh who kept staring for a moment.

However, they were soon distracted by a massive "ugh" sound. Dael looked back out to the docks, and soon she saw Quaren buckling under the weight of the pack as well as Cid, both of them struggling to get to the dock and moving rather slowly.

"What's in this thing, anyway?" Quaren called out.

"Just my standard bag of tricks…" Cid responded, grunting under his own weight. "We're headed into combat…I need to be prepared."

Ceja watched this all for a few brief moments, before sighing. She too jumped over the edge of the boat, landed on the dock, ran out to the two men, and proceeded to easily pluck the pack from their grasps. She had to use both hands, but she seemed to do it rather easily. Cid looked up and blinked in surprise, as did Quaren, at how she managed to do it. At any rate, Ceja turned and faced the boat again.

"Uh…thanks." Cid said. "Now, whatever you do, don't-"

He soon winced as he saw Ceja fling the entire pack into the boat, tossing it to do so. It landed solidly with a large crash, sounding like things that were inside were broken. Cid formed a rather uncomfortable face before he slumped a bit and sighed.

"…throw it around." He finished.

Dusting her hands off, Ceja went back to the boat and hopped in. Quaren and Cid looked to each other, shrugged, and then turned and followed after her. Soon they were getting back on the boat as well.

By now, Faerio was below. Before gunning the engines again, Cryder looked after her for a moment. In the end, he grinned and looked back to the deck and the others. "A practical woman with a fiery spirit? If the lassie was only five years older…" He threw in before turning the engines fully up and beginning to make them pull away from the dock.

Taraketh immediately glared icy knives at him. "What did you say?!" He exclaimed.

"Sorry, mate! I can't hear you over the engines!" Cryder called back…still grinning.

Taraketh looked like he was ready to boil, and Dael was beginning to feel grateful they weren't on the ground or he would have used an earth spell by now. However, before he could do anything, Cid himself spoke up.

"Sir Sabian, Lt. Commander…what a surprise!" He exclaimed. "I didn't know they'd be sending you two along. I thought it was just supposed to be a one-man escort." He looked around a bit, and soon spotted Carbuncle and Bahamut as well. He bowed a bit to the first. "Sir Carbuncle." He then looked to Bahamut, and seemed rather puzzled.

"Um…isn't it a bit dangerous to bring a kid along?"

Dael sighed on hearing that. "It's a long story… Suffice to say, I'm stuck with him."

Cid looked to Dael, and then turned a bit more anxious. "By the way…sorry about how rough Lady Faerio was. She's always like this whenever she gets a chance to be…I dunno…an activist, I guess would be the right phrase. She hates just sitting around in the temple all the time waiting for something to do, especially nowadays since Sybenia has gone nutty. It makes her lose her manners everyone once in a while."

Dael noted Taraketh changing out of the corner of her eye. Yet another awkward moment, it seemed. Taraketh was the kind of person who would slap you for daring to suggest that a Sorceress was anything short of perfect. Yet what exactly could he say against a Sorceress Knight?

"Don't worry about it." Was all Dael responded.

Cid, meanwhile, looked over to Cryder. "Hey…don't worry about pushing this ship as hard as it can go." He smiled a bit. "I'm here now, so I'll make sure to service it if it looks like it's starting to break down."

"Sure thing, mate." Cryder responded with a smile. "Nice to have an engineer back in the crew."

"And I'll get back to the radio." Dael added. "Now that we've picked up Lady Faerio, it's no stops until Garrado. Better make sure we can still land when we get there."

Cid nodded in response. After a moment, however, his brow quirked a bit. "By the way, Lt. Commander, I couldn't help but notice you're out of uniform too. I didn't get a whole lot of the details before we had to go, and I figured we only needed the pilot for an escort. Mind letting me in on that 'long story' you mentioned?"

Dael hesitated a moment, but then shrugged. She began to turn to go below deck. Cid readily fell in step behind her. "I might as well. We've got quite a mission ahead of ourselves when we get to Garrado, and it's not officially sanctioned either…"

Taraketh, still perplexed and trying to decide how to react, was left back on deck. As for Quaren, he was still panting a bit as he sat down and rested against the edge. Ceja looked down to him for a moment, and simply shook his head.

"…Perhaps it's the diet you people of Esthar eat…"

* * *

><p>Lighthearted as the brief stopover in Lamb was, it wasn't very long before the mood on the boat changed. Dael herself only managed to stay partially at ease for the length of time it told to briefly sum up the situation to Cid, throwing in a bit of back story concerning why Bahamut was with them. Once he got the story, the only other thing of note that happened was that Faerio apologized personally to everyone for being so abrupt and rude on her arrival. With that finished, there was nothing but the waiting.<p>

Dael tried to keep her ear open on the radio. There wasn't anything that occurred to stop them from landing. Sybenia didn't really have to worry about people exploiting it, though. As far as people coming in, no one was coming. No other country was sending support. And as far as people coming out…Sybenia's initial attack had been so swift and abrupt that they had disabled almost all boats that could have left that port. The consulate had closed officially, although some reports were still getting out from Esthar's operatives. After all, there wasn't any way out of the country now. Sybenia was shooting down any aircraft that took off and threatened to do the same to any who came in. At least it hadn't closed as a result of invasion…not yet, at any rate. It had shut itself down before offering themselves as a target to the encroaching army. Large portions of the city were slowly but surely coming under control of Sybenia. Only the immediate areas next to their destination were holding firm. It seemed Sybenia was getting eager to level that part of the city above all else before Garrado could reorganize in the rest of the country to try and mount a more sizable counter-offensive. It wouldn't work, ultimately…but it would ruin any immediate plans they had.

In short, the fighting was only growing more intense where they were going.

As the reality of that came in, everyone tensed. They tried eating or sleeping or maintaining their weapons, but none of it did any good. They were just more and more anxious as time went on. There were hundreds of things that could go wrong when they got there, and junctions or not there was a sizable chance that they could die. This was about as real as it got.

Hence, after trying unsuccessfully for a while, Dael simply went up to the deck and sat on it. All that surrounded them now was the open ocean. Cryder had reluctantly ceded control to Cid, simply because he needed some rest too. Luckily, it seemed the Sorceress Knight was excellent at driving a boat, but even if he wasn't all they had to do was follow the GPS coordinates. After that, Dael simply sat and waited.

Even going full speed, it would be a lengthy trip. And unfortunately they would not have the cover of darkness on arrival. It would be past dawn by the time they arrived the next day. Unfortunately, they couldn't afford to wait for another day to pass. Before leaving Esthar waters, a message was sent from command saying that Esthar's Hawks managed to get in touch with Lady Veriguno via the consulate, and she would try to keep an opening at the dock where they were headed. However, she admitted that even if it didn't make public news, the Sybenian army might come down and around and cut off the dock from the shore at any time. Assuming it wasn't cut off already, they couldn't give them the chance. The odds were, as soon as they saw a boat coming in, they'd cut it off, no matter how small. And while the _Artemis_ could run rings around those destroyers, they'd only get one shot at blasting past the blockade.

By the time night fell, they were still hours away. However, Dael was already struggling not to pace on deck. She frequently checked her weapons absent mindedly, and was still feeling grateful to Cryder for supplying the Mage Bullets. She actually felt at the top of her game. She had decided to try and practice a bit on her magic…but she was so tense at the moment that concentration was all but impossible. She decided to try anyway. Better that than nothing, and it would give her something to do…

That's when she heard a voice from the helm.

"Hey, Lt. Commander?"

Dael turned her head, and found herself looking at Cid, poking his head out from the control room. "You can call me 'Dael', Sir Boer. I'm not on duty."

Cid paused a moment, then smiled a bit. "In that case, you can call me Cid. I hate that 'sir' title. Anyway…is that a Mage Gun you have on your hip?"

"Yes, why?"

He ducked back into the cockpit. A moment later, he came out with a cylinder and tossed it over to Dael. She immediately reached up and snatched it from the air, and looked at what it was.

It was another Mage Bullet…and not a little one either. This one had the symbol for being a Gravija bullet.

A bit wide-eyed, Dael looked up to Cid, who smiled a bit back at her. "Sir Boer…Cid…this is an expensive bullet… It's probably worth 50,000,000 gil easily… How did you get it?"

"Made it." Cid simply responded.

Dael looked even more wide-eyed at that. Cid snickered. "You knew I was into magically imbued technologies, right? Well…naturally, I'd be good at making those things too. Took quite a bit of time and effort too, but I'm 100% confident in its effectiveness."

Dael was still hesitant. "But…"

"Hey, you're going to need it a lot more than me, where you're going." Cid responded. "Getting into the city is one thing. You're actually going to have to break the enemy line to get into the Pallas Desert. Just take it."

Dael held for only a moment longer, before she decided it was better just to shut up and accept the gift. Truth be told…she was glad she had it. Taking the shell, she shoved it in her pocket. She almost found herself wishing there would be more missions with Cid in the future, if he really could make Mage Bullets.

Most of the night went by silently, with nothing but Dael struggling to regain her focus and Cid piloting. However, long before dawn the helm was taken by Cryder again. Soon after, Cid went back below deck. Most of them were fairly unknown, but it wouldn't be unusual for Sybenia to identify Faerio and even Cid. Both of them had to stay below deck until they were sure they were clear. A few more hours ticked by, and as they did, the others began to come on deck as well…none of them able to sleep. Taraketh was first, following shortly by Quaren. Both were fully armed and grim, and looking out to the horizon. It wasn't long after that Ceja and Bahamut followed, the latter being fully armed as well. Dael looked at him for a long time, and again thought she was insane bringing him along. With nothing else for it, they all watched the horizon as dawn slowly broke.

The sky had darkened again after the sun was fully up. It wasn't clouds, however. Even from miles away, they could tell that from the scent on the air…burning. The people on deck tensed even more than before as they had the first whiffs of what had to be ash. Soon, the smoke clouds began to become clear as well. And following that, something that made everyone truly nervous…the sight of destroyers and battleships within the water. They were distant dots at first, but still visible.

Quaren swallowed, and turned to Cryder as they came close. "We're…we're staying out of range, right?"

"You bet your ass we are." Cryder responded. "And not to rain on the Sorceress' parade…but the second one looks like it's coming for us that we can't beat to shore, I'm turning this ship around. Bravery and duty is one thing…suicide is another."

Dael said nothing. She only continued to watch.

As they grew nearer, more and more ships appeared in distance, flanking both sides. The ones that were already there grew nearer. However…it looked like they were still in luck. The blockade had a sizable opening in it that they were currently exploiting. If they kept their heading, they should have been able to slip right in. It was some comfort. However, as they kept watching, the mainland slowly came into view, and everyone was soon nervous all over again.

Dael counted out at least twenty large fires on the onset, ones that were consuming skyscrapers or even blocks. As for the smaller fires…there were too many to count. Every so often she would see streaks of light or smoke clouds, and periodic explosions would leap up from the streets. Although half of the city looked relatively untouched at a distance, the other half was a slice of Hell…which was, unfortunately, the half they were going to. As they drew closer, Dael began to hear the whistling of rockets and bombs, and distant booms of artillery fire. The water itself began to get streaked and dirty from bits of floating debris and chemical spills, and it only grew worse as they got closer.

As they passed through the defensive line, Dael realized just how much this place had changed. She could already see much of it in ruins compared to last time, and sparks of gunfire coming out from various points of urban fighting. Convoys were running down one street and being obliterated at another. Gunshots were coming from windows and smoke grenades were being flung down streets. Search-and-destroy teams were systematically knocking down every building they encountered. It was total chaos. There wasn't a sign of civilian life anywhere…except for wrecks of vehicles, ruined boats and…of course…dead bodies littering the streets that no one could cover up.

Dael felt herself tense considerably. She struggled not to sweat. She may have trained for this…but this was the real deal. No simulations. No second chances. You die here, and it's over. She looked to the others, and saw that most of them were the same. The only one on deck who really had battle experience was Ceja, but she was completely awed and shocked by all of this.

At any rate, as they came closer and closer, and started bumping through debris and flaming matter in the water, the engines were finally cut a bit. The dock was now in view. Miraculously, it had survived. There wasn't a sign of anyone waiting for them, be they hostile or friendly, but Dael could hardly expect them to just be sitting in the open waiting for them. As Cryder continued to slow the ship down, he looked underneath the deck.

"Already, lady and gent! We're going to be docking in just a few moments! Better be ready to break out when we do!"

Dael herself tightened her muscles and got ready to move. However, even as she did, she scanned the shore. She had a feeling they'd do something, at least, if they were waiting.

Sure enough, something soon happened. From one of the boathouses further up, just a short way from the dock, one that was closed down and dark…a flashlight LED suddenly came on and off a few times.

"Everyone, make for that building on landing." Dael ordered.

Everyone else hoisted their weapons and got ready to make a break for it. On a few moments later, the ship finally reached the dock. Not being as "careful" this time, Cryder practically ran it into it, stopping just short of damaging the ship or the dock, although they did make a rather solid impact on arrival. At any rate, they second they got there, the group immediately jumped off of boat, one after the other. Dael noted that Faerio and Cid were quite quick as well and, despite the size of the pack that Cid was dragging with him, he managed to amazingly enough keep up. Later, she would learn it was because Faerio had put an enhancement spell on him, but for now she didn't care. They all soon got off the boat and landed on the dock.

Leading the way, Dael immediately charged straight for the boathouse. Luckily, the sounds of guns and artillery were still rather distant. If they had been a bit closer, she would have been fearful they were going into the middle of a battle. As she came around and made for the side doors…they immediately sprung open. There was only darkness in the interior, but Dael could make out a hand beckoning them onward. Not wasting a second, the young officer charged right in. The others soon followed.

In the darkness of the interior of the room, it was impossible to immediately see anything. However, hands came out and braced her as she charged in, leading her to where she could make room for the others and not collide with anyone else. Everyone else soon came in as well, one after the other, and as soon as all were inside the doors slammed shut again behind them and the sounds of being bolted rang out, immersing them in total darkness. Even the window was covered again, leaving them standing in an unknown situation.

Soon after, over the sounds of everyone breathing hard, a voice in the darkness came out.

"My lady…it's not safe here. We're too close to your ship landing. If they spotted you, then they'll search here at once. Come this way."

To accent this, the people in the room, who no doubt had their eyes adjust to the darkness by now, reached out and began to gesture the group onward. They called out a few more times to get them to come, and finally the LED flashlight went on to motion them onward. Soon after, the group began to follow, Dael still in the lead and staying hot on the heels of whoever had spoken to them.

As it turned out, they only made a few twists and turns, with Dael bumping her limbs a few times as well as the others, before they managed to work their way through the dark, sea-smelling building to a back door. After some clicking went out, it opened up…revealing a short alleyway outside. It was dim, but still visible. Apparently, old crates and other bits of debris had been piled up on either side of it to camouflage it from the casual onlooker. The group was immediately led into it. Once they were, they finally saw who their guides were…five Order of Hyne members. They lacked their capes and flair, but they were still dressed in the standard clothing of their order. They also looked rather dirty and messed up, seeming like they hadn't slept in a couple days. But she didn't focus on them long. After going a short way, they reached another door into another darkened building, unlocked it, and gestured them inside. They soon did so and found themselves in darkness again for a short time…until they reached yet another back door to another covered alley.

This ended up going on for about fifteen minutes. The group scrambled along through one dark building after another, always moving in and out through covered passageways. No one asked any questions or talked the entire time. As they went on, Dael grew nervous about the sounds of louder and louder gunfire and explosions. She was especially nervous when one artillery shell was close enough to make everyone, including their guides, jump a bit, and had dust raining from the ceiling of the building they were in at the time. However, they kept moving.

Finally, they were forced to break across an open street. A blockade made of old cars and a large bus had been erected, and no one seemed to be present at the moment, not from either side. Sticking close to the blockade, the group was led across the open road one more time, and straight up to what looked like an automobile repair shop. On arriving, the five Children of Hyne looked around a bit, making sure they weren't being followed, before knocking on the door.

Although it had a peephole in it, a voice inside still called out. "What's the word?"

"Down with Odin."

Dael noticed Bahamut flinch for a moment on hearing that, about the first time she had ever seen him do that. However, the sounds of heavy unlocks rang out, and soon after the doors opened. The group was quickly led inside.

Unlike the rest of the buildings they had been in, this one was still illuminated. There were four soldiers already in there, each one heavily armed, but looking even more dirty and torn up than the Order of Hyne members that had escorted them there. Dael, familiar with military style, looked over them only for a moment to realize that they were wearing the insignias of Garrado. At any rate, they had seemed to entrench themselves here, in what looked like the main service garage. All of the other entrances had been sealed and reinforced that Dael could see with whatever was on hand. One of the men in there was using the spot welder to make the doorways and garage doors inaccessible. They had only a small pile of munitions, but they also had standard rations and gear…looking like they intended to stay there as long as possible. One was perched at a radio with a map nearby, making changes on it as he spoke to whoever was on the other end.

Once everyone was inside and the soldiers at the door closed and locked it again, the five Children of Hyne moved in front of the group. After making a formation, they proceeded to kneel in unison in front of Faerio.

"We apologize for our rudeness and abruptness, my lady." The one in the lead said, keeping his head bowed to the floor. "We just didn't have time to give you a proper greeting-"

He was cut off by a loud sigh from Faerio. "Sirs…we are in the middle of a war situation, the last time I checked. I'll forgive a few breaches of propriety. What is the current situation?"

The one in the lead looked up. "We are-"

He was cut off yet again as Faerio, with something of a frown, motioned for him and the others to get up off of their knees first. They quickly did so. Once standing, the one in the lead started again.

"My lady, over 70% of the city has been taken. We're holding the remaining 30% for the time being, and we intend to hold it for as long as we can. Sybenia seems reluctant to press its attack until it has complete control of the border city. We've turned aside the last two attempts cold."

"How many Garrado forces remain?"

"Less than half."

Dael looked rather grim at that herself, as did the others. Faerio exhaled for a moment. "What of Lady Veriguno?"

"She's taken command of the remaining forces and is trying to direct the scattered pockets to consolidate while fighting off the invaders."

"I need to see her at once." Faerio responded. "I'm not sure even two Sorceresses together can save Garrado alone…but Sybenia won't be able to walk right over it either. Can you take us there?"

The Child of Hyne nodded. "Yes, my lady. But it will be difficult. We'll have to go through several exposed areas, and the sun is out."

"It can't be helped. I'm needed on the front lines." Faerio responded. "We need to leave as soon as possible."

"Very well, my lady. We shall leave as soon as you and your companions are ready."

"We're ready now, sir. Lead the way."

* * *

><p>Two more hours went by, and Dael was honestly winded by the time they reached the end of it with all of the movement they did. Once more, they had to be quiet, and work their way through the city, this time with three guides instead of five. They only grew closer to the firefighting now, and as time wore on, there were many more stray explosions that came a little too close for comfort, as well as stray bullets impacting the buildings they were in. What was even more unsettling was that they could occasionally hear yells coming from down certain streets…sometimes from Garrado soldiers, but often by Sybenian ones. They were usually followed by bursts of gunfire and then silence. An especially bad point was when they started hearing whistling, and everyone was told to quickly run into the nearest covering and get down. They did so…moments before the world was rocked by explosions from bombs being dropped. Dael had thought they were finished when that happened…but, remarkably, they were all still here. Soon, they got up and kept moving again.<p>

As they drew nearer yet, they stopped through several "stations" and "emplacements" holding soldiers who had hunkered down and set up as best they could. Order of Hyne members were helping most of them out. None of them said anything, just regarded them silently before they moved on. They also had to more frequently cross streets and be out in the open. Dael felt rather fortunate that each time they did, there were no Sybenians waiting for them…although they did have to evade a convoy at one point before being able to move on, a move that made Dael especially nervous.

On long last, however, they arrived at one place in particular. It was within a campus of some sort, and appeared to be, on the outside, a large gymnasium. However, the doors were not locked, and the lights were not on when they arrived and went through the side exit doors. The group was led on through an amount of blackness, through a few tunnels and turns, and finally to a place where a lone emergency light still shone over a metal stairwell leading down. They quickly went to the underground level and, once there, approached another metal fire door. This one _was_ both locked and guarded, and they had to get clearance before they could enter yet again. On stepping inside, Dael soon had plenty to see.

It appeared to be an underground ice rink stationed under the gymnasium. However, the rink had long since been deactivated. Instead, a sizable military force had set up down here. People were running to and fro all over the place, both soldiers as well as Order of Hyne members, all of them looking like they had seen a lot of fighting. One corner had a huge mound of munitions stacked upon it, although Dael regretfully noticed that almost all of it was small arms weapons rather than things needed to take out armored vehicles. The rest of the room seemed to be broken up into sections that focused as various centers, such as communications, medical, and operations. The bleachers seemed to be used for sleeping areas, as people had stretched out whatever bedding they could on them. Few people were asleep at the moment, however. Most were running around. There was lots of noise and commands being called out as well, creating an overlying "white noise" that was rather chaotic. On the plus side, it seemed they were well hidden. There were no sounds of gunshots or artillery fire down here.

The group was led through the midst of the soldiers and deeper into their midst. The Order of Hyne members, on seeing who was coming, immediately dropped what they were doing and went into kneels. Faerio struggled not to sigh as she bid them all to rise in a passing gesture. This only served to increase Dael's respect for the Sorceresses. If they had been all like Taraketh, that would be one thing…but it seemed that, at least in Faerio's case, when push came to shove, they were more interested in doing their duty and responsibility than taking the accolades of their position.

_If only the representatives in Esthar could do the same…_ She found herself thinking.

At any rate, the crowds eventually parted, and eventually they seemed to approach what was operations. Several tables had been set out with multiple maps placed on them, all of places in Garrado and especially the city. There were numerous soldiers and officers, as well as Order of Hyne members, looking over them. However, Dael's attention soon focused on the person who literally stood head and shoulders over them all. A giant of a person, muscular and formidable, was talking with what looked like a highly decorated officer of Garrado. At her side was a tribal member of the people of the Pallas Desert sporting what looked like a large and thick metal rod. However, as the group approached, all of them dropped what they were doing and turned to face them.

Just as Dael had thought, the giant was Veriguno. As before, Dael found herself grow dizzy momentarily when her gaze turned on them. Yet that was only a moment. The woman was calm, controlled, and focused…and, as a result, everyone in the room was much the same. For all intensive purposes, they should be panicking or on edge. But people were moving around about her in a measured pace, quickly and yet not sloppy, and doing their tasks without failure. Dael, at once, realized how important the Sorceress was here. Her mere presence projected an aura of calm and peace about her, and, as such, instilled hope and focus in the remaining soldiers.

Jalab was at her side, now in his own full battle regalia, which wasn't much. However, he managed to give a friendly smile to Dael, Taraketh, and Quaren on seeing them before focusing totally on Sorceress Faerio. Finally, there was the other man, the officer. He looked tired, haggard, and had a dressing around his head with dried blood on it. However, he was decorated as a Garrado general, and managed to draw himself up and at attention.

Faerio moved to the front and stood before the group, face to face with Veriguno. The two looked for a moment, as the officer gave a bow and Jalab also dropped into a momentary kneel. Cid did much the same back to Veriguno, as did Taraketh, and Dael and the others gave bows of respect. Once this was done, Faerio broke into a smile, and even stoic Veriguno showed a hint of one before the two women came together and embraced. It was an unusual sight…with Veriguno large enough to look like four Faerios could fit inside her. Dael almost expected the bear of a woman to lift her off the ground. However, they soon parted.

"You're looking good, Lady Veriguno." Faerio said. "All things considered. Sorry I did not come faster."

"I was slow in arriving myself, Lady Faerio." Veriguno answered in her own powerful voice. "I would not leave my home in the desert until I had secured my livestock."

"I'd love a cup of tea and the chance to catch up…" Faerio continued. "But, as you probably know, we can sneak in small talk when we have the chance. Right now, I'm eager to show Sybenia how hard of a time they'll have taking Garrado when _two_ Sorceresses stand in their way."

Veriguno paused a bit there, seeming to look uncomfortable for a moment. Dael could understand why. Faerio was supposed to be the most "hot-tempered" of the Sorceresses…and she _was_ the youngest. That meant she could do something reckless. And if Veriguno's power had been any indication, being reckless with that much power might do more harm than help.

At any rate, Veriguno finally looked to the decorated officer and gave a nod. In response, the man stepped forward and saluted Faerio. "Lady Faerio the Dayspark…it is an honor to meet with you in person. You are most welcome. I am General Zeus of the Garrado Army. At the moment…I believe I am also Commander-In-Chief. One of the first strikes that Sybenia made was against our capitol building, and most of the governmental body is either dead or not accounted for. I've been trying to consolidate our forces, but, as you can imagine, how much longer we can hold out or what we can do against Sybenia is anyone's guess."

"What has gone on so far?" Faerio asked.

The general indicated to the table. "Come this way."

He turned and began to walk to it. As he did, Faerio looked to the others and nodded, and then moved to the table herself. The group soon walked up as well. Luckily, it was quite large, and there was enough room for all of them plus Veriguno and Jalab to gather around. Zeus began to gesture to the map.

"Sybenia struck hard and fast. They must have been planning this ever since they began to deploy at the top of the Pallas Desert. We all expected the terrain to provide more of a barrier, but they had to have been adapting their weaponry for deserts before they even began their campaign. They knew exactly where to hit with their opening strikes…cutting off utilities, damaging troop stations, eliminating government heads…we were in chaos by the time they struck and started carving up the city like pieces of meat. Apparently, the rumors of the Hounds of Sybenia were not rumors at all, but an elaborate spynet that found all our weaknesses. It's amazing that enough of us managed to organize enough to halt their advance here."

He gestured to a large part of the map.

"Every last soldier we have is trying to hold this entire area. We're honestly spread too thin and don't have enough weapons, but it's all we can do. If we try to consolidate anymore, Sybenia will have that much of an easier time hitting us with bombs and aircraft. Spread out this far we can keep them guessing and chasing ghosts.

"Initially, we almost lost this area. We couldn't gather enough strength to repel their attempt to divide this zone, even at the bottleneck. However, the Order of Hyne stepped in and started using magic. At first, Sybenia was caught completely off guard and had no defense against it. They were halted and we managed to gather half of the survivors here to stop their advance. Since then, we've gathered about 80% of the surviving forces and we're trying to route the remaining 20% here before they get picked off."

Dael, before she could catch herself, ended up interjecting. "Excuse me, sir…but you said 'at first'?"

Everyone looked to Dael at that, but only for a moment. After all, propriety breaches at this stage were par for the course. The general, unmiffed, explained.

"For the first day of fighting, magic worked just fine. However, on the second day, they started using Mute Grenades."

Dael understood how those worked. The easiest way to stop anyone who could use magic was by silencing them. No matter how well they could summon power, for some reason, they always had to speak that arcane tongue in order to cause a spell to be generated. Therefore, people who wanted to fight magic users would normally use special grenades loaded with fine, abrasive power that would dry out the larynx of anyone who breathed it. The range was small, but enough to take spellcasters out of a fight easily.

"They gained some ground as a result. However, that was when Lady Veriguno took the field. She organized the Order of Hyne members to summon a powerful gale through the city directed in the heading of Sybenia, blowing their own smoke back at them. With that done, we managed to repel them again.

"Today, however, they've brought out something new…something that's been severely hamstringing our ability to fight back. Based on intercepted transmissions, they call them Eris Bells. They look like short range rockets, but when they land in an area, they don't explode. Rather, they produce a potent electromagnetic signal that starts to disrupt all magical waves within an area." He sighed. "They may not use magic, but they obviously know how it works. Order of Hyne members are unable to focus enough power to generate spells. Furthermore, each Eris Bell effects an area the size of a city block. So far, only the Sorceresses have had ample power to override them and destroy them. We've tried knocking out a few ourselves, but they always keep them heavily guarded…using them as bait to lure us to our doom even as they advance. We've destroyed six in all today, but we have no idea how many more there are."

Faerio thought over this for a moment, her own face frowning. "…Well then, if nothing else, we will be able to disable those devices twice as fast now that both of us our here. We have our work cut out for us. General…risky as this may seem, we need to launch a counterstrike. Even if we can't retake the city, we need this. Sybenia may be only allowed to take this portion of the city bit by bit, but they are still taking it. We can't allow that. We need to try and force them back."

Zeus hesitated here. He looked over to Veriguno. The strong woman looked back at him mostly indifferently, but she seemed to agree with Faerio. He exhaled a bit, and finally looked to the younger Sorceress and nodded.

"Very well. We may only have sufficient power for one push, so we'll have to make sure we get something out of it."

At once, he turned back to the map and began to move his hands over it. The result gained everyone's attention once again. He soon gestured to the north.

"This is our best bet right here. If we can make a push north here, we can sever off a good portion of their force and reclaim as many as six blocks of the city. Still…they're not going to just let us take it. No doubt, as soon as they see us making an offensive move, they'll gather their full strength forward and try and stop us."

"So be it." Faerio responded. "It's necessary to keep Sybenia on their toes. And it will help my companions finish their own mission."

Zeus looked up at that. "Excuse me, my lady?"

Faerio turned and gestured to Dael and the others. "This group has a pressing need to get into the Pallas Desert."

The general's eyes immediately widened. "That's beyond enemy lines! There's no way we could breach them!"

"We don't need to breach them." Dael immediately interjected again. "We're not sending an invasion force. We just need to slip some people behind them so we can go find the Guardian Force that's there."

"That would be Ifrit."

Everyone turned on hearing that, seeing themselves look to Veriguno, who had raised up her own head.

"I am aware of the location, as is Sir Tierras." She turned to him soon after, and spoke a bit in his native language. He looked back up to her, and soon spoke back, nodding as he did so. She nodded as well, then looked back to the others.

"He would be happy to escort the group there once they made it into the desert."

"No difficulty. Slice of pie." Jalab spoke up in a heavily-accented monotone with a smile.

"As you can tell, Sir Tierras has been working on the more common tongue ever since our first meeting." Veriguno responded. "Although he still has many issues with 'slang' terms."

"You should be more concerned with how you intend to get into the desert in the first place." Zeus responded grimly. "The best we can do is take you to the border of the area we control." He again gestured to the map, once more redirecting everyone's attention to it. "Here's where the edge of the camp is. If you truly want to get to the Pallas Desert…then your best bet is to make for this drainage route that takes you outside of the city and into an irrigation canal. From there, getting to the desert should be simple, as Sybenia destroyed the barrier fence on their way in and their forces are scattered. There's still the Hounds to worry about, however. They've been picking off my snipers left and right and I'm sure they're keeping eyes open for anyone who infiltrates their territory.

"At any rate…your biggest problem is here…three blocks between you and the entrance to the drainage tunnel." Zeus marked off the route. "We can assume that most of the enemy will try to stop us on our advance, but it's ridiculous to assume they still won't have some sort of fortification here. The line will be weakened, but it will still be there. You'll have to break it without support. It will take all we have to launch the attack to the north."

"With all due respect, sir," Faerio spoke up. "Jalab Tierras will be escorting them…a Sorceress Knight. I think they can make it."

Zeus pondered this for a moment, then sighed and nodded. "I suppose you're right. If anyone can break through, it would probably be someone led by one of them."

"Not to worry, mate." Cryder suddenly spoke up. "I've been through tighter spots than this."

"We have experience in heavy combat situations." Taraketh also reassured. "We can make it."

"Regardless of the danger, we have to try. It's a matter of great importance." Dael also responded. "We will try to return as soon as possible…hopefully before the opening in the blockade is closed. However, sir…I am wondering how your own army plans to evacuate should things go ill."

"Although the blockade appears absolute," The general responded. "We have one potential opening left on the southern tip of the continent. There's a heavy artillery emplacement down there that is not public knowledge. We're reinforcing it as best we can. If things go bad, we estimate we can open a hole in the blockade for 12 hours. That's our escape route. Nevertheless…I will not be using it until I am convinced we can no longer hold the city or any part of the country. Therefore, if the blockade _does_ close before your return, then I'm afraid you will be with us for 'the long haul', so to speak."

"Then we'll try to be back as soon as possible." Dael simply responded.

Abruptly, however, she felt a hearty pat on her back. A bit surprised by it, Dael turned and looked, and soon found, of all people, Cid grinning at her.

"We'll make sure you all have a place to come back to, so be careful and make sure you're still in enough pieces to bring yourselves back." The Sorceress Knight said with a smile. "Don't worry. With Veriguno the Mountain and Faerio the Dayspark here, it's going to take a lot more than what they've been throwing so far to break this defense."

Dael was a bit off guard by the pat, but she nevertheless managed a nod. "Um…thank you, Sir Boer…um, Cid."

"Well, let's not just stand around scratching ourselves…" Carbuncle spoke up from the ground, earning a few stares from the other people at the table, both from his sudden speaking up as well as his comment. "Let's get a move on."

"Hang on a second." Dael responded. "You stay behind with the Sorceresses and help them out with the operation."

Carbuncle looked up in puzzlement at that, and he wasn't alone. The others also looked up at him. "Huh?" The green creature asked. "Why?"

"This battle isn't a diversion but a real operation and it needs to succeed to stop Sybenia." Dael explained. "The biggest advantage we have is the Sorceresses. You have to make sure they can escape if something goes wrong."

"You're killing me, Dael." Carbuncle retorted, his black button eyes narrowing. "After what happened last time I broke up from you, you want a repeat of that?"

"This time, _I_ can teleport us out of there if need be." The young officer responded. "And it'd be good to have a Guardian Force lending a hand, don't you think?"

Having successfully stroked Carbuncle's ego with that last comment, the green creature's ears perked up, and he paused for a moment, thinking that over. "Well…I suppose you're right. I mean, it would be nice to drive some fear into the hearts of you mortal men again…"

The group had a hard time not snickering at that. Cryder, in particular, covered his mouth as if coughing, and then mentioned something about mortal men gluing suction cups to Carbuncle's limbs and sticking him in car windows…

"Since you apparently seem pressed for time," The general spoke up. "I'll see that you get underway right away and appoint an escort to take you as far as he can. Good luck."

* * *

><p>Dael was more nervous than ever now, fully realizing just what she had gotten herself into. It wasn't enough to make her back down, of course. It did, however, make her wonder why she was nuts enough to bring Bahamut along. The city was a war zone. Three blocks might as well have been twenty miles. Even if there wasn't a soul in the street, errant fire or one misplaced bomb would be enough to do them in. She wasn't quite the religious type herself, but she found herself saying more than one prayer to herself as they made their way along.<p>

After waiting thirty minutes for the general to relay the plan of attack to the gathered forces, everyone moved out. Cid and Faerio paired with Veriguno, and together they joined the bulk of the forces to make the assault. Jalab was left with them. Surprisingly, he continued his calm smile and mannerisms. One might think it was lunacy considering where they were going…but the way Jalab handled it, it served to calm them all and reassure them a bit before they left.

They only had one guide now, and the going was much the same as it was before when they left the underground skating rink and made their way back topside. Only this time, the gunfire and explosions grew much worse, and the going was much slower. They had to venture out into the open more than once now, and had to hide frequently as well. As they went along, patrols and convoys grew more frequent…as well as spontaneous firefights. Luckily, none of them broke out right in the middle of their route, but things were noticeably getting more violent. Eventually, there wasn't a building they went inside that wasn't rocked by at least one explosion while they were in it.

Finally, however, as they went into one building, their guide halted them.

"We'll stop here for about twenty minutes." He stated. "By then, the attack will be fully underway and they'll have drawn off as many of the enemy forces as they can. After that…it's all up to you."

No one responded to that, Dael least of all. She just merely sat and tried to relax.

It wasn't long before the chaos outside intensified, although it was still in the distance. Not quite as distant sounding as Dael had hoped, but there was nothing for it. It quickly grew more intensified, with a continuous chorus of bullets occasionally intensified by the periodic explosion. The twenty minutes ticked by, and their guide rose and began to lead them on once again.

After worming their way through a few more streets and buildings, they at length entered one darkened office building in particular. Most of it was blasted and ransacked, having been left in a hurry when the fighting began. The guide led them through the bottom hall foyer, past the deactivated elevators and abandoned reception desk, and to the side where he led them through a door to a stairwell with an emergency exit. Here, he turned and looked to them.

"This is as far as I go." He spoke quietly, not quite whispering but not full volume either. "This door opens into an alley. The alley is sealed on one end but opens into the street on the other. You need to go down three blocks and then you'll come to an intersection. There's a large iron grating on the ground to the northeast of this intersection. Open it up and you can get in the drainage ditch. From there you can follow it outside of the city. As far as who's still guarding this street and what's in the desert, I have no idea. This is the best it gets. Good luck."

Without another word, the man turned and began to go back the way he came. Jalab was still in the lead. Dael had a feeling he didn't understand all of that, but it didn't seem to matter. The Sorceress Knight appeared to know what he was doing. He choked up a bit on his staff, and looked to the others. Keeping her Mage Gun put away, Dael drew her sword instead and put it to her side. Taraketh loosened his kusarigama but wound it up part of the way to where he was holding his hammer and sickle with no dangling chain. Quaren's rifle was out, and he used the moment to switch the safety off. Bahamut had his sword and buckler out for a while now, and swung the sword around once to signify he was ready. Ceja tightened her muscles and hefted her axe. Cryder took one last puff off a cigarette he had and tossed it aside, drawing his cutlass instead and giving a nod to Dael and Jalab.

Jalab gestured to himself. "Follow me." He said, and then turned to the door. Without hesitating anymore, he opened it up and immediately exited out into the day-lit street on the other side. About the only cover that was provided was from the smoke of the burning city making the day artificially overcast. Dael soon went after him with the others hot on her heels.

The young officer got some good news…at least initially. The street was quiet, and from their position in the alley, they didn't emerge to see themselves looking right at a platoon or tank barrel. There was no sounds of a fight anywhere close either, or any engine noises…at least, not reasonably close. There seemed to be some light humming in the distance, but it was impossible to tell for certain, considering the mix of noises coming from all angles. Being in an alley certainly didn't help.

The group quickly moved out to the front of the alley, pressing themselves up against the wall as they did so. Soon they came up to the edge and pressed themselves even further. Jalab went flush against it and then to the edge. Dael mimicked much the same, but stayed behind him. He went closer and closer to the side, and turned his head. The young officer soon realized he was trying to look around, seeing if the way was clear.

On seeing this, Dael called out in a whisper. "Jalab."

The native turned to her in response. Dael reached into her side pocket, and soon came out with a small object that she passed to him. Jalab, looking puzzled, took it, and soon saw that it was a hand mirror. He looked confused for only a moment, before recognition went into his eyes. Smiling widely, he turned to Dael and gave a nod. After that, he held up the mirror and looked out through it momentarily. He moved it around slightly, obviously angling the image around the corner a bit so he could look at everything.

Dael tried to sneak a look, but it was impossible. Based on Jalab's angle, only he could see what was in the mirror. However, he only looked around a short while before looking back to Dael and passing the mirror to her. He paused a moment, clearly trying to find the words, After that, he spoke in a whisper.

"Big guns, two. Covered." He stated. "Ten men out of the brush, but maybe snipes."

"You mean 'snipers'?" Dael asked in much the same whispers.

"Snipers." Jalab said, correcting himself, and nodding. "Yes, maybe snipers."

Dael looked back to the others. "I think what Sir Tierras is saying is that they have two covered gun emplacements, ten soldiers idling, and possibly snipers." She frowned a bit. "I don't think we'll know for sure about the last ones until we present a target."

"How about cover?" Taraketh asked. "If there's ample cover out there for me to look, I can eliminate the guns with a pair of quake spells."

"Those take too long, mate, especially if you need enough power to smash those guns. You'll take out one and the other one will fire on you in a heartbeat." Cryder responded. "Let me head out there."

"No thanks." Taraketh sourly answered, giving Cryder a look. "I can handle this."

"Don't be stupid. You're risking my ass as well as yours." Cryder shot back.

"None of that will matter if we don't get the snipers." Quaren spoke up. "Let me get out there and try to peg them first."

"That won't do any good." Ceja responded. "I may not be familiar with firearms, but as soon as they see you trying to ambush one of them, they'll start firing on your position with the larger weapons. We'll have to take them all together."

"We can't do that. We need to be secretive in case they call for backup." Dael maintained.

"It seems your choice has been made for you." Bahamut suddenly spoke up.

Dael looked up in response to that comment, and soon went wide-eyed. Most of the others did as well. They were just in time to see Jalab, holding his staff at his side, quite casually and calmly turn the corner and begin to walk out into the street.

The young officer couldn't believe it. She thought he had lost his mind. Instinctively, she almost ran out after him…before her senses kicked in. Instead, pushing herself up against the wall, she dashed forward to the edge where he had been. Quickly, she whipped out her mirror and looked out through it. Now, she clearly saw what Jalab had spotted. Although the street was cluttered, filled with building debris and wrecked cars, she also noted that two of the piles looked irregular…clearly gun emplacements. They must have been what Jalab had seen. Furthermore, there were indeed ten soldiers out there, and they immediately sprang forth and held their weapons at the ready.

"Halt!" One of them called out.

Jalab didn't respond…at least, not vocally. Instead, Dael saw him raise his staff and cross it in front of him.

"Throw down your weapon now!" The same one called.

Again, the Sorceress Knight didn't answer. Instead, he began to do something. He began to slowly and methodically spin his staff around in a circle. He started off slow enough, but soon began to pick up speed. Dael, for her part, had no idea what he thought he was doing. Was he that inexperienced with bullets to think that this would actually stop anything?

However, even that line of thinking was soon cut, as Dael noticed a strange trend. In moments, Jalab was twirling his staff about as fast as she thought she could do it personally, but soon he went even faster than that. The golden shine on the staff soon became a blur, turning almost into a disk of gold, as he twirled it faster and faster yet. His limbs seemed to move faster than possible for a normal person. On seeing this, Dael wondered what he was doing…

Then, it happened. Without any further warning (to be honest, Dael was amazed they had given him as much as they had), the soldiers began to open fire. The young officer soon got quite the surprise.

The staff didn't just appear to make a disk…it seemed to be acting like a shield itself. Sparks erupted from in front of Jalab, but nothing else. No signs of blood or damage. The enemy continued to fire, but with no change. Jalab continued to move forward. In disbelief, Dael actually lowered the mirror and looked around the edge. Sure enough, he was advancing. Even the power of the bullets wasn't stopping him, and he continued to swing his staff around with ease. But that wasn't possible… Fast as it was, he couldn't be swinging faster than a speeding bullet. Somehow…he had to be generating some sort of power. But how? Was he using magic too?

However, that surprise was nothing compared to what happened next. Abruptly, one of the gun emplacements shifted, the sure-fire, tell-tale sign that it was getting into position. She heard the clinking of huge machinery, and realized that it was indeed an artillery unit. However, even if it had been a minigun alone, she still would have been worried. That staff may have looked nice, but there was no way it could deflect bullets of that caliber, or artillery fire. She knew her own shields would never do it. In spite of herself, Dael found herself yelling as loud as she could over the gunfire.

"Sir Tierras, look out!"

Whether the warning would have done any good or ill would remain a mystery, because it was too late. While Dael was still saying the warning, a massive eruption went out as the artillery unit fired.

Dael soon received another large surprise. Jalab, still twirling his staff in a circle, abruptly swung out and up, almost in a "batting aside" motion, as the artillery unit fired. Even this was incredible, because it was impossible, as far as Dael knew, for any human being to react in time to that…even if it would have mattered. But apparently, he could and it did. A massive spark went out, and Dael spotted a trail of light shooting into the sky momentarily…before a massive eruption rocked out over the landscape, sending an ear-splitting echo that rang out through the sky and made the group winced. Dael, however, forgot about covering her ears as she gaped.

Jalab had just smacked aside an artillery shell.

As if she could think she saw an illusion, the second artillery emplacement soon fired. Once again, a massive spark, before one of the walls of a nearby building erupted. A deluge of debris and stone flew everywhere, as well as fire and smoke, but Jalab was untouched. Even the Sybenian soldiers paused now at what they saw. Still, Jalab continued to advance.

"No way…"

Dael almost didn't hear anything being said, but somehow her brain was shook out of its own stunned state to look to her side. To her surprise, everyone had pulled up behind her and looked out as well. All of them, even Taraketh and Bahamut, gaped in astonishment.

Jalab, however, was just getting started. Using the lull, he suddenly stopped and planted his feet. Flexing his arms, he brought his staff back, still twirling it rapidly, swung it back and forth a few times in some gesture, and then brought it around and thrust it forward, straight for the nearest soldiers. They were a good sixty feet away yet, but as Jalab thrust his staff at them, he abruptly stopped twirling and drove the end out at them. To Dael's shock, an aura of light, like some sort of cosmic ram, erupted from the end of the staff and smashed into the three nearest soldiers. Not only were some of their defenses smashed aside, but the three men were ripped off of their feet and flung a distance of ten meters before being dumped on the ground. They didn't move anymore.

Stunned, the other soldiers began to snap out of it to use their weapons again, but before they could Jalab yanked his arms back, twirled again, and then repeated the same gesture on the next nearest two. They two were slammed with mystic force, ripped off of their feet, and scattered like dust. Jalab quickly yanked his staff back and twirled it again, and just in time too. The artillery units had reloaded, and they fired again at him. He deflected the next two shells, but the interim gave the enemy the chance to start firing again. They fired desperately now, realizing their only defense against this warrior was to keep him pinned down by gunfire.

Dael stared and blinked for a few more moments. So _this_ was the power of one of the strongest men in the world…a true Sorceress Knight. She'd never seen anything like it. He wasn't even _junctioned._ She probably would have kept on gawking if not for her training, and her peripheral vision always being open. As she stared on…she noticed something in the windows. She looked up and to the side when that happened…and soon she saw a pair of snipers on either side of the street beginning to emerge, taking aim at Jalab from behind.

Immediately, she snapped back to business.

"Let's not just gape all day!" She shouted in a commanding voice. "Quaren, snipers!"

Quaren remained stunned for a moment longer, but then blinked and looked out. He soon saw the four snipers emerging. Immediately, he went into "battle mode" himself, pulling up his rifle, taking only a moment to brace himself, and firing a shot. Between the yelling and her own shooting, the others soon snapped to attention as well. By then, however, one of the snipers was caught from behind and dropped. The other snipers immediately turned, spotted more enemies, and tried to retreat…but one was too slow and got caught by Quaren's second shot. The other two, however, got back into their windows and vanished into darkness.

"Two of them escaped!" Ceja called.

"I'll take care of it." Taraketh responded. Immediately, he slammed his palms together, performed a gesture, and called out in the arcane tongue. His aura flared around him…and, a moment later, the ground in front of the building in which the snipers were hiding erupted into massive pillars of jagged stone, rupturing and fracturing the side of the structure. It disrupted it so much that, a moment later, the entire side of the building crumbled and collapsed, burying the face in a deluge of debris.

While the two did this, Jalab wasn't wasting time. He allowed himself to be pinned only a moment…before suddenly leaping into the air. With one bound, he cleared the remaining distance to the soldiers and the gun emplacement, and swung his staff around and down on landing. A tremor soon ripped through the entire street as his staff slammed down and proceeded to smash and obliterate the artillery unit in one strike. Jalab's simple staff had some sort of power in it that apparently allowed him to crush solid metal. The artillery unit held only a moment before it detonated, the shell in the chamber going off in a flash. But Jalab was already on the move again, leaping a shorter distance toward in front of the soldiers. As they turned to fire and struggled to pivot the second artillery unit, Jalab swung his staff out in an arch…generating another wave of mystic energy that ripped the next three nearest soldiers off of their feet and sent them flying backward and into their companions. The move didn't knock them out, but did stun them…giving Jalab enough time to charge into their midst with speed so fast he almost seemed to glide. The hapless soldiers were soon receiving the brunt of his staff as he smashed into them, smacking them aside and down with a variety of quick, nimble, and complicated martial arts moves. He had to be going gentle, however…or his strikes would have left nothing but smears after what he did to the artillery unit. By the time he struck the last one down, the second artillery unit had swiveled toward him and prepared to fire…

However, it never got the chance. Jalab spotted it, and moved his staff in front of him again. Yet he didn't swing it this time. Instead…both the staff and him erupted into a white blue aura for a brief moment, before a much more concentrated and focused, not to mention brighter, white blue blast erupted from him and his staff, sailed to the artillery unit, and struck it dead in the center. A split second later, and the entire gun blew up in a tremendous fireball, no doubt igniting the ammunition as well. Other than having his clothing whipped in the air…Jalab didn't even react. He held his pose only until the eruption died down, and then quickly twirled his staff one more time and placed it at his side.

Dael saw this only for a moment, but then forgot about that and quickly began to advance toward him. The others began to fall in step at the same time, and soon they were marching down the street for Jalab's location.

"I didn't know there was magic like that…" Quaren remarked as they walked.

"That's because that wasn't magic." Bahamut spoke up, tagging along close to the others. Again, he garnered the attention of several of them, but Dael, getting used to moments like this by now, simply stared ahead and kept walking.

"That was chakra." The boy continued. "Ages ago, many 'combat' monks practiced it. They couldn't learn magic, but they could focus their own inner spiritual power in such a way that they could actually manipulate it as a weapon. It wasn't too well heard of even in ages past to be able to generate one of that level of offensive capability…and since the technique has mostly died out, it was rather amazing that he was able to pull it off at all."

"…I think I'm just going to assume that while you were living at that library, you had the chance to study everything known to man." Dael responded.

"Or you could accept the fact that I am who I say I am." Bahamut responded. "But if you can accept the former case, then do by all means."

"At any rate, let's not dawdle." Taraketh spoke up. "More troops were bound to have heard Pvt. DeSur's gunshots."

Quaren gave him a look and rolled his eyes. "Right…assuming they weren't rendered deaf by Jalab's explosions…"

"He's got a point." Dael responded. "Hang on. Regular spells might be one thing, but this…"

Suddenly, the woman closed her eyes and focused as well, beginning to chant. Everyone paused and looked to her at that. A moment later, her eyes open and her own aura flared momentarily, before translucent plates momentarily formed around each one of them before vanishing.

"Good thinking." Cryder said with a grin.

"What did you do?" Ceja asked.

"I threw up a magic barrier." Dael explained. "It will deaden physical impact. Just keep in mind, you're not anywhere close to bulletproof, so don't wander in front of any guns."

Ceja looked at her a bit curiously, seeming to expect to see a barrier around her. Even as she did, Jalab, taking his staff up again, and looking only slightly "warmed up" from his excursion, ran back to the others. He noted the snipers that had been picked off, and gave a nod.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Quaren smiled back.

"Least I could do for a Sorceress Knight." Taraketh added.

No sooner had he finished speaking, however, than a distant voice answered him. Down one of the streets not too far away, a yelling was heard…obviously a military officer shouting orders. Not only that, but soon the sounds of large engines and machinery began to hum as well. The others snapped ahead on hearing that, and soon they began to hear boots clicking as they ran down the adjoining streets as well.

"And here comes the cavalry…" Cryder remarked aloud.

Jalab, for the first time, seemed to lose his normally friendly and amiable appearance and instead turned stern and hard. He looked to the others and gestured forward.

"We run. Break through."

"Seems like that's all we can do at this point." Dael responded, raising up her own blade. She looked to the others. "Let's break for the grating before the whole street is flooded. Hit anything that gets in our way hard and fast. We need to keep up the pace and keep them reeling so they don't form a blockade."

Ceja, forgetting about the barrier, hefted her axe. "I am ready."

"Let's go." Taraketh answered even as she started to swing his chain around.

Jalab gave one final nod, and then immediately turned and shot down the road. Dael soon followed, as did the others, even as the noises of encroaching enemies grew louder and louder.

The going was hardly smooth even before anything showed up. Just as predicted, the road was already roughed up with plenty of debris and abandoned vehicles. It seemed either the encroaching Sybenians or the people of Garrado had tried to make it worse by moving even more rough debris into the streets and making them hard to pass. Regardless of who did it, it now meant that the group had to worm their way through a rough landscape. Crossing the three blocks would be bad enough as it was, but combined with the roughness of the area, they were slowed down considerably. All the while, the noises of incoming soldiers grew louder and louder…

Finally, the inevitable happened. They had barely managed to reach the end of the first block when the first Sybenian soldiers rounded the corner. They had scarcely gone around the bend when they spotted the incoming group. Immediately, they raised their weapons and took aim to fire. However, they didn't get far before Cryder stepped up. Abruptly charging to the front, he gestured with his limbs and aimed forward. In response…Dael felt the wind whip of fiercely around her before a sharp gale that seemed to almost form blades of air ripped overhead and for the soldiers. Dael was familiar with this move from the ship, and soon small spurts of blood erupted around the soldiers, making them cry out and stagger back. A second later, Dael heard another mass of crying and eruption from the other side of the street. Another division was coming in from the opposite side, but the first four soldiers made the mistake of running into Jalab. He smacked them aside with a sweep of his staff in an instant.

However, things only got worse from there. More soldiers came in from both sides, this time throwing grenades at the group and firing wildly. None of the attacks were focused, but Dael and the others soon had to pause and run for cover as egg-shaped explosives landed around them and began to go off. Dael herself quickly ducked behind a car on its side and hunkered down, but she was able to spot the others doing much the same behind other barriers. Using that opportunity, the Sybenians quickly moved in. The streets were flooded with soldiers who immediately rushed in and took position and cover, and began to open fire. Some of the enemy broke into buildings nearby and began to rush upstairs, no doubt trying to get better firing positions. If that wasn't enough, soon the sounds of engines grew louder yet, and mixed with grinding as Dael heard the tell-tale sound of tank treads. She ducked around her barrier for a look, and soon frowned way up at the other turn of the block, a pair of Gilgame-model tanks had rounded the corner along with even more troops, and were moving into position. A second later…one of them fired.

Quickly, Dael got back behind her barrier and covered her ears before a resounding explosion went off not far from her. Dust and debris rained down upon her soon afterward as well as some heat from the force of the explosion. She held there a moment, then relaxed. Quickly, she reached for her side, pulled out a Thundaga bullet, and loaded it into her Mage Gun.

_Well…I never thought it would be easy…_

On that note, she, and the others soon after seeing her, leapt out from behind her barrier and charged.

Dael started things off by using her enhanced powers to leap right on top of the car she used as a barrier, and then charged out straight for the nearest group of soldiers. She didn't have sufficient speed to dodge bullets, but she did have enough reaction time to see, at a distance, if they were firing at her and where they were aiming, and she managed to jump onto another pile of rubble and then another to close the distance, before shooting straight for them with her third leap. She landed in front of one of the soldiers on touching down, and quickly shot out a hand to give him an iron palm in the throat. Gagged and stunned, the soldier became an easy human shield as Dael seized him by the neck and threw him into one of his companions. Her sword flashed out and cut through weapons and flesh of two more soldiers. The fifth and sixth one were distant…but she managed to shoot for them in another lunge and cut them down. With that group disabled, she continued to charge forward.

Taraketh himself swung his hammer around in a great arc as he charged forward and slapped three soldiers aside by swinging it around once for each of them. He shot out the sickle to knock out another one and simultaneously slash through his weapon, but the chain tore by him and embedded in concrete afterward. It took him a moment to yank it back, but before he could, more soldiers took aim at him. Before they could fire, however, both of them suddenly burst into blue, spectral flames. They yelled in shock and immediately went to the ground to put themselves out. More soldiers were behind them, and they gaped at them in surprise…and, as a result, didn't notice as Cryder leapt into their midst and shot out with his cutlass to take them down. He looked behind to Taraketh as he yanked his chain out and back to him, giving a smile and a nod. Taraketh, on his part, glared at him…but managed a curt nod before swinging his weapon around and advancing again.

Ceja may have been dealing with an unfamiliar situation, but she took to it like a duck to water. Giving a war cry of her own, she barreled straight for the nearest division, flinging out her axe like a boomerang again. Two of the soldiers were powerless to do anything except stare in shock before it made contact with them…slicing them down and continuing through the air in a deadly arc without hesitation. The other soldiers were stunned as a result, and didn't notice as Ceja didn't stop running. Soon, still crying out, she leapt off of a slab of concrete and landed in their midst, swinging her fists down in the process and clubbing two other soldiers in the back of the head as she did so, instantly dropping them. She ran forward and decked another one, dropping him with one punch, then deflected one that attempted to counter with a rifle butt before flinging him over her head and smashing him onto the ground. The last two attempted to fire…but never got the chance as they failed to see Ceja's axe return, coming behind them. The Fuliet warrior snatched the axe from the air and immediately charged forward again…straight for one of the incoming Gilgames and the division with it. In response, it fired off a shell at her…which she quickly and nimbly moved to one side in response to, letting it sail behind her and igniting a fireball and explosion in the distance. Meanwhile, she cried out and flung her own axe at it again, putting even more power into it this time. The whirling axe again left her arms, reached the Gilgame…and hit perfectly at the junction between the body of the tank and the gun. The massive turret was soon sliced off cleanly from the rest of the tank, and soldiers gaped in shock as the massive metal array shot into the air, danced a moment, and then fell. However…Ceja was still charging forward, but was at a distance and with no weapon. As a result, the soldiers aimed their weapons at her…

When a small cry of battle went out and, to the surprise of the soldiers, a smaller individual leapt out from behind a wrecked car to the side. They turned and looked just in time to see, of all things, a boy with a buckler and shield shoot out and land by driving his buckler against the nearest one's head…knocking him down. Before any of them could react, Bahamut's short sword flashed out again two more times, causing two more to cry out in agony. The others managed to turn to him by then, but that was a costly mistake, as Ceja landed in their midst just as her axe arrived, snatched it out of the air, and laid into them with several chopping motions.

Jalab moved just as perfectly as before. Again, he swung his staff around in a rapid spiral as he charged straight for the opposite tank. The entire division accompanying it fired away at him, but he deflected every bullet using the same move. Eventually, however, the tank itself turned and fired a shell at him. This one was considerably larger than the ones from the smaller artillery pieces. He deflected this one as well, but this time, he registered a bit of pain from the effect and found himself stopped cold and knocked back several feet as the shell was knocked into the next block and detonated. The tank quickly fired a second shell while Jalab was still recovering. He deflected this as well, but was knocked back even further, and the resulting shell exploded nearby, sending debris and explosive waves toward him, knocking him around further. By now, he looked like he was having a hard time swinging his staff around. However, as the barrel moved to fire a third time, he abruptly snapped up again. Suddenly, he stopped twirling his staff, and instead crossed it in front of himself. A moment later…and his body ignited into a new aura, a red one this time…before his body suddenly fragmented into six different copies. The cannon fired at the original one…only to have it sail harmlessly through the image and detonate at a distance. After that, all six images braced their identical staffs and charged forward toward the soldiers. Quickly, they raised their guns to try and fire at him, but hesitated, as they didn't know who was the real one. Naturally, therefore, they were surprised when _all six_ laid into them a moment later, including the one who had been shot through, and struck them down moments later.

The barrel of the Gilgame tank swung around randomly, trying to find a target. Unable to get one, the side turrets on the tank began to rotate in an attempt to shoot him. But even as they started firing, the red aura on each Jalab abruptly vanished, and the images united once again…forming a single one who was poised right behind the Gilgame tank. Again, Jalab aimed his staff forward, and ignited in a white blue aura…before he fired off a sizable blast of mystic energy even larger than before. A second later, he cut it off and leapt back…just in time to avoid the path of the explosion of the tank as it erupted.

As Jalab turned to begin running again, Dael soon neared him…pausing only long enough to bring up her Mage Gun as she ran by the remains of the tank that Ceja had hit. A few members of the remaining division came up to try and fire at her, but rifle bullets rang out and soon picked them off one by one. Quaren was hot on her heels, picking off both them and any snipers that got position in the windows. As for the tank, it was still mobile…but not for long as she fired her Thundaga bullet into it. On impact, the entire remaining tank was enveloped in massive bolts of electricity snaking in every direction with sufficient force to rake the ground and the surrounding masonry. The remaining tank literally fell apart on its wake, and the surrounding soldiers that were still active either fled for it or were fried by the cast off bolts. With that done, the way was clear again. Soon, the others fell in behind the two and continued to charge forward.

"Well, that was crazy!" Quaren shouted out.

"Don't break out the rum yet, mate! We ain't clear!" Cryder shouted in response.

"Let's see if I can't help with that!" Taraketh threw in. As he continued to run forward, he retracted his kusarigama, folded his hands together, chanted once more as they ran along, and then snapped around briefly to look behind him and generated a quake. Soon after, pillars of earth erupted from the ground all along the path behind them, creating a wall of rocks and ruined pavement behind them just as they passed the first junction. A good thing too, because they soon heard more shouts and engines coming, signifying more artillery units and soldiers.

"That'll hold them for a bit!"

"Do the same to the side streets ahead when we get there!" Dael shouted to him as they ran past the ruined tanks. He pointed forward. "One more junction! After that, they'll only be able to hit us from one side!"

"The child with you is quite the combatant." Ceja called out as she ran up next to them, Bahamut nearby. "He'll be a great warrior one day. As for this highly-touted 'artillery', I am not impressed. These tanks may be metal but they are nothing to one who hunts Tyrant Lizards and has the power of a Guardian Force."

"Don't get cocky…those weren't the biggest model assault vehicles they have in Garrado." Dael called back.

Ceja blinked a bit at this. "No? What is bigger?"

Dael opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by something else. Abruptly, a very large engine noise, something far greater and more intense than the other tanks began to come out from around the edge of the street. It rapidly grew louder…and soon the sound of the engine humming alone was causing the ground to vibrate. Soon after, a heavy impact hit the street. The sound of pavement cracking followed by a light tremor followed. This caused everyone to come to a halt. They looked forward, and soon focused on the edge of the street. Dael herself quickly reached into her pocket and came out with the Firaga bullet, slamming it into the chamber of her weapon and readying it. As it did, the tremors grew louder and more intense, and everyone grew nervous…including Jalab.

As the rumbling continued, finally something happened. Abruptly, a very large shape moved around the corner, turning so tight that it proceeded to freely knock a large building chunk out of the corner. The figure soon became fully visible…a fifty foot tall mechanical warrior, looking almost like a great oversized suit of muscular armor, complete with a helmeted headpiece. Each hand was decked with four claws, and as it moved forward on massive legs it flattened stone and vehicles with each step. It was dark colored all over, but it gleamed out through chinks in the armor here and there from lights and LEDs. The headpiece had some sort of ocular lens on top of it, and in one of its hands was a massive flat blade that, proportionally, resembled a zweihander, despite the fact that the mech was holding it in one hand. A long, glowing edge was on it, and it hummed loudly. Two glowing lenses shimmered in the gray sky from the headpiece and turned to the group.

"That." Dael stated darkly.

Sybenia hadn't kept all of its war machines a secret. They had advertised some of their more deadly ones with the intention of breeding fear and intimidation. At the top of the list was the most advanced mobile armor unit on the planet: the Iron Giant. Named after the legendary fell constructs that used to roam the world in earlier years wrecking incredible havoc whenever one ran into civilization, these armors were one-man engines of destruction. Based on the intel that had been passed to them, intel that Sybenia likely released on purpose to breed more fear, two or three of these machines could have easily conquered one of the city-state regions by themselves. They represented a triple threat, based on what Dael had researched. Their raw brute battering power was enough to turn cities to rubble. Their swords incorporated a special technology along the edges that caused the atoms of the metal to vibrate at an incredible rate, resulting in a superheated edge that could slice through almost anything. Lastly, their helmets contained potent laser projectors. If all of that wasn't enough, and the things weren't already armored enough to take a pounding from heavy artillery, they had sufficient size and power generation to generate energy shields.

Seeing as waiting for it to take the first move was ludicrous, Dael raised her Mage Gun and took aim at the headpiece of the armor, firing off a shot. It sailed through the air a short distance…but ignited into a massive, searing fireball too soon. The reason became clear, as part of the translucent shield temporarily glowed in response to the firing. To be honest, Dael was shocked. She expected the shield to be able to take a Fire Shell or even a Fira Shell…but a Firaga?

Before she could think too much more on this, however, Jalab swung his own staff around, and took off for the Iron Giant. He dashed only until he was close enough, and then blazed into an aura of his own and leapt in the air, aiming to attack the armor by swinging his pole over and behind his head. Yet as he neared and swung it down, the mech brought its own sword around and swung at him. A massive collision sound rang out through the area, complete with sparks flying in a shower…before Jalab was smacked away and sent flying. Everyone was soon shocked as they saw the Sorceress Knight get swatted out of the sky, fly a considerable distance, and then slam into a brick wall of one of the buildings with sufficient force to fracture some of the bricks, and then fall to the ground.

Taraketh's eyes widened, and he almost shot off for him. "My lord!"

However, before he could get far, Dael reached out and seized him by the shoulder. "Get back!" She cried, yanking him back the way he came. A good thing too…because the Iron Giant had noticed him try to run for it, and, after only a second of warming up, projected a gleaming, piercing laser that ripped a massive trench into the pavement right in the path of the way Taraketh was going. For once, the High Child didn't have time to look cross at Dael. He instead gaped in shock at what nearly happened to him. As for the Iron Giant, still projecting the laser, it began to arch and sweep it around to try and blast the others.

"Break!" Dael called out.

Immediately, she turned and ran for it, dragging Taraketh along with her because he didn't start moving fast enough. However, she released him as soon as he got his footing. Quaren charged in the same direction. As for Cryder, Bahamut, and Ceja, they went in the opposite direction. Although completely scattering might have been more effective, it seemed to work. The Iron Giant looked at either one, and wasn't able to pick a target. By the time he did finally fire, they were moving too fast to get tagged and had moved behind debris. As soon as they were back there, Dael immediately crouched low and kept moving, running behind more debris to get farther away. Quaren and Taraketh followed on her heels. It soon turned out it was a good thing they ducked…because another laser beam soon erupted and obliterated the initial place that they hid within instants, blasting apart more debris on the road as they did so. Had they been the closer of the two groups, that probably would have been it for them as the Iron Giant followed up. However, it turned its head and soon looked to where the other group had hidden, and stomped forward with its massive sword. With one swipe, it annihilated the cover.

Dael looked up and saw this, and watched as the Iron Giant turned to try and obliterate the next bit of cover. Gritting her teeth, she reached into her pockets again…this time pulling out the Gravija bullet and slamming it into her gun. "We have to keep attacking it. If we give it a chance to rest, it'll just stomp us flat."

"How?" Quaren responded.

"We'll just have to keep it disorientated until we can find a weakness." Dael answered. "Cover me, will you?"

"Huh?"

Dael didn't answer. Instead, she immediately jumped out and began to run in a circle around the Iron Giant. With a target presenting itself, the mech soon forgot about the others and turned to her, orientating its full body toward her. Dael continued to run for a moment, fully exposed…and prayed that the others were getting the idea. She grew nervous for a moment as it started to warm up its laser…but then, the shield suddenly lit up in multiple points as sparks rang out, and the Iron Giant cut off warming up and looked. Dael did as well, and smiled as she saw that Quaren had jumped out and begun to run a circle in the opposite direction, firing off his rifle in the process.

Unfortunately, Quaren wasn't nearly as fast as Dael was, and soon the Iron Giant turned its full attention to him. Again, the laser began to warm up, and Quaren, although he ran as fast as he could, wasn't able to stay clear. However, just as it began to fire…the ground beneath its feet suddenly heaved and jutted into the air, shifting its pose and causing it to lose its target. The laser went too high and obliterated the ground outside of its range, leaving a panicked Quaren free to keep running. The Iron Giant immediately looked again, and this time spotted Taraketh on the move as well.

Forgetting about its laser, the Iron Giant stomped forward and brought its blade up and around. It began to hum more intently as it prepared to swing down upon the two. However, as it brought the sword around in an arc to slice through Taraketh's location…two attacks assaulted it. Abruptly, blue spectral flames erupted around its head with incredible intensity. The alloy that made up most of the machine was resistant to heat, but even with shielding the ocular lenses could be thrown off by illusionary flames. They soon began to ruin the mech's aim. But even if that wouldn't have been enough…Ceja's axe suddenly swung through the air and collided with the side of the sword as it came down, jarring it out of the way before arching around and returning to its owner. Dael looked, and saw that now Cryder and Ceja were joining in. Both of them soon took off running as well.

The Iron Giant reared up and began to fire its laser more errantly, not waiting to get a perfect target. It simply shot its beams out for the individuals running around it. This was a bit of a problem for Dael. She was ready to counterattack herself. However, as soon as she stood her ground to fire the bullet, the Iron Giant swept over to her. Dael quickly dodged to one side to avoid being sliced in half and still had the hem of her jacket singed. Quickly, she got up and summoned a spell…immediately splitting into four of herself. All of them attempted to aim again…only for the Iron Giant to start blasting them all in moments. Shooting a target with a gun was one thing, but as lasers had no recoil or reload, it only took an instant to obliterate all of her images and force her to jump for her life. Dael cursed inwardly. By trying to attack it herself, she was the most prime target of all. What could she do?

Luckily, she soon received an answer. As the Iron Giant swept out its laser for her again, she caught out of the corner of her eye as another individual shot for the side of the mech. She looked, and, a bit to her surprise, she saw it was Jalab. In spite of that blow that would have knocked her out or worse, he was back up again and running to the side of the mech. Not only that, but he wasn't alone. To her surprise, Bahamut had leapt up on his back and seemed to be riding him. She was puzzled as to why he would do this…but soon got an answer.

The Iron Giant noticed Jalab coming, and attempted to stomp him flat with one of its massive feet. However, Jalab, even carrying Bahamut, was spry as ever, and quickly leapt to one side to avoid the blow. As the foot landed, he dashed forward and swung his staff out once more against the side of the leg. The blow sent an echoing clang throughout the entire area, actually strong enough to dent the metal and open a gap in a joint. Seizing on it immediately as they ran by, Bahamut shot his shortsword out and slashed into the gap. Sparks and smoke resulted, and the lights on the lower part of that limb went dead. As the Iron Giant swung around and slammed its sword down where the two had been, with Jalab just barely avoiding it, it struggled to follow after him…only to stumble a bit. Part of its left leg was dead now, and it couldn't pivot or move as it had before.

Seeing this, Dael realized she had a chance.

"Everyone!" She called out. "Get ready to hit it with everything you've got!"

Not pausing to wait and see if this order was followed, Dael immediately tore off to the side, running around for the back of the Iron Giant. It seemed to focus on her when she did so. Perhaps it had recognized the Mage Gun in her hand and calculated her to be the main threat? At this point, however, it didn't matter. As she dashed around the side of it, Jalab and Bahamut's move had caused the mech to only be able to turn slowly. She only had to gain a small distance on it…which she soon did. Once she had done so, she held up her Mage Gun and took aim for the front of it. The Iron Giant caught up with her a moment later and prepared to fire, but before it could Dael fired the Mage Bullet.

Dael actually snapped back a distance from the power of this one. After all, this was on a whole other level besides the "Ga" spells, and it left a potent black trail behind it as it snaked across the sky straight for the front of the Iron Giant before smacking into the shield. Instantly, it erupted into a massive, pure black sphere sizzling with black tendrils of energy like lightning. It didn't hit the mech directly, and for a moment it seemed as if it had failed just as the previous one. But that thought was soon put to rest. For one thing, the Iron Giant attempted to fire a laser at Dael…only to have space and time literally curve around the path of the laser and deflect the light in it to blast the ground instead. Debris flew up in its wake, and was immediately sucked into the black oblivion. Not only that, but soon it began to lap up everything around it in the immediate area, "spaghetti-fying" the material as it was drawn into the oblivion. As for the Iron Giant itself, it too was soon drawn into it. The pilot inside must have realized this, and quickly planted the mech's feet and leaned back. But the force was too much. Even then, the mech began to groan and whine as the force tried to suck it inside. The mech continued to lean back more and more, actively pushing against it and not trying to just hold its ground, but still the sounds of twisting and groaning were heard… The machine strained a bit longer…

Then, abruptly, it happened. The entire front covering of heavy plate armor ripped off of the entire mech, was sucked into the black oblivion, and crumpled up like a ball of old newspapers before vanishing. The black orb finally cut off after that, and the mech was left staggering as it suddenly felt nothing pulling against it. It stomped around awkwardly on the battlefield, nearly falling over on its bad limb…and having all of its inner gears and workings completely exposed.

By the time it had got its footing, everyone else was already springing on it.

Taraketh ran forward first, using his own enhanced power to hop on top of the nearest and tallest pile of debris he could while swinging around his kusarigama. As soon as he landed, he swung out the sickle end right for the center of the chest of the Iron Giant…in particular a humming device in the center of it. It connected and hooked, and he quickly grit his teeth and yanked back as hard as he could. It only partially ripped out at first, held in with cables…but then, rifle bullets shot out and began to sever them one by one until the entire array ripped out of the huge mech and clattered to the ground. Dael recognized it for what it was…the shield generator.

The Iron Giant attempted to stomp forward to bring its sword down on Taraketh…when a whistling sound rang out before Ceja's massive axe ripped by and sliced into the sword-carrying limb. An eruption of sparks and light exploded…before the axe cut cleanly through, and the entire limb fell from its body. The loss of mass made it unbalanced and staggered again, but it struggled to fire its laser instead. Before it could, however, spectral flames erupted around it once more. Now, without a shield, the flames melted the array completely, and soon a small eruption of fire and smoke went off from the head before the laser gave out all together.

As the mech continued to stagger, the small form of Bahamut once again darted forward toward its one remaining limb, now exposed thanks to lack of armor, and sliced out one more time. The connections were severed in it as well, and Bahamut quickly ran for it to avoid the huge machine as it lost its balance entirely…collapsing to the ground on its "knees".

The remains of the mech staggered there a moment, as Jalab quickly moved in front of it again. Once more, his aura ignited…the white-blue quality flaring even stronger than before. This time, as Dael clearly saw his face, she noted he was visibly straining and sweating. It seemed to actually hurt him to bring his aura up this high, but he did it none the less. A moment later, he once again projected his aura in a concentrated mass of mystic energy…but it was no longer a sphere or even a wave, but a large, concentrated beam. It possessed so much power that Jalab was actually forced back a bit into ruts in the ground, and had to strain and buckle to keep firing. The beam struck the center of the Iron Giant, and immediately began to melt and warp it, blasting holes and ruptures into it, overheating components, and making it burn, warp, and spark for a few moments. But Jalab continued to blast it. Seeing what was happening, Dael quickly shrank back and covered her face, as did much of the others. Moments later…the entire Iron Giant erupted in a massive explosion so powerful it shattered the remaining windows on the entire block.

The thunderous noise from the eruption again made Dael wince, and she felt heat and debris land around her. However, she only needed to hold for a moment before the explosion died and degenerated into burning. Slowly, she cracked open her eyes and looked back. All that was left of the Iron Giant was a burned-out husk, still in flames.

Dael looked over to Jalab, who let out a large exhale and actually slumped a bit, finally looking tired. A whistling rang out, and soon Ceja's axe returned to her, although when she snatched it out of the sky, she didn't move as spry as normally. Bahamut himself slowly picked his way over debris and headed back toward the others. Quaren marveled at the entire thing, seeming to be forgetting to reload. Taraketh drew in his chain and wiped his brow. As for Cryder, he exhaled a bit as he looked over the devastation.

"Not a bad bit of work even for me. Damn…I wish you all were on my crew."

Dael frowned a bit, but before she could respond, the sound of engines running and boots clicking began to ring out again. She snapped her head to the sides, and realized it was coming from the second side streets. She sighed.

"I might have known. They only have fifteen of these things in the city. They're going to notice when one of them is taken down. Let's run while we can."

Immediately, Dael turned and took off. Taraketh paused himself only for a moment to quickly look at the side streets, summon his power, and use quakes to rip up the landscape and blockade both sides. After that, he turned and followed the others as they ran along.

Luckily, with those ways shut off, there was no way to easily access them. By the time they cleared half of the next block, they only then began to hear noises of shouting behind them. By the time they reached the intersection, bullets began to be fired behind them from over the barriers, but all of the shots were high and outside. By the time they brought tanks up, Dael had found the grating. Last but not least, by the time one of the tanks managed to break through the first barrier…the last of them had vanished into the grating and escaped.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	28. Fire and Brimstone

It was some time before Dael felt safe enough to "talk normally".

The young officer was fairly certain they made it through the grating before they could be spotted. Even with soldiers looking in their direction and armors coming, they were partially obscured by the landscape and far enough so that she was sure they couldn't see the exact escape route they took. As soon as they descended into the drainage channel, Dael still led them on as fast as they could run. By now, Bahamut was growing a bit winded, but Jalab once again scooped him up and carried him along when he started to slow. After that, they just charged as fast as they could for a distance of a few miles. The entire time…no one followed them. No echoes rang down the tunnel, no gunshots…nothing. Nothing save for the occasional bit of debris raining from the ceiling. Even that, however, died down rather quickly. Dael knew it was because they were passing beneath enemy lines and enemy territory by now, where none of the fighting was taking place.

Eventually, they slowed to a walk. They still had a long ways to go, and they didn't need to exhaust themselves. All in all, Dael imagined that they went a distance of at least twelve miles, although the GPS wouldn't work underground and so she couldn't tell for certain. What was clear was the passage of time. They had to walk for most of the day through the tunnel.

The place was dark, but they had lights on them, and so getting through was fairly simple. Eventually, far in the distance, with a bit of blue sky over it, a circle of sunlight loomed. It was dim by now, indicating that it was already late afternoon and giving way to evening. It grew larger and larger as they neared, and eventually they could see outside all together. A bit closer, and Dael saw that it was covered with a thin grating, but that it appeared to be the end of the pipe, dropping off a short way into a mostly dry channel (it was summer, after all). There was no sign of the city anymore. Rather, all that was present was the dug channel and a few abandoned buildings dotting the arid landscape. Dael looked around a bit, but couldn't see any sign of any soldiers. Jalab, motioning them all to stay behind, stepped forward and slowly removed the grating. Setting it to one side, he stepped out and looked around for a few minutes, vanishing from view. The others waited anxiously, and finally he popped his head back in.

Unable to coherently express everything he wanted to say, Jalab instead spoke to Taraketh. After a few moments, the High Child turned back to the others.

"He said there are definitely no Sybenian soldiers for a two mile radius, but the landscape is so flat and even that we'll probably be spotted if we try to run out. Plus, it will take days on foot to reach where we need to go, so as soon as it gets a bit darker, he'll get us a ride."

An hour passed, and by then the sun had dipped below the horizon. The shadows were growing longer and darker. They heard a distant sound of vehicular traffic at one point, but it was so faint it had to be many miles away, and it faded quickly. Once it grew dark enough and the stars began to appear, Jalab left again. The group was left waiting in that tunnel for a bit longer yet, another hour and a half, before they started to hear rhymic beats against the ground, the sound of chocobo claws. Dael looked out and watched, and before long saw a herd of desert chocobos coming up to the stream. There were quite a few of them, and soon they all went to the thin trickle of river and refreshed themselves. Once they did, it was revealed that Jalab was riding one of them, and he quickly called out the others. Only then did Dael realize he had integrated mounts for all of them along with wild chocobos, creating a more seemless illusion. It wasn't unheard of for the birds to move about in these herds when searching for water, after all. It was pretty clever. At any rate, Dael and the others came out and, one by one, mounted up.

Everyone was quiet still at first, as if their voices could somehow be heard from two miles away even if spoken quietly. Soon they had all mounted up, turned, and begun to take off for the desert. Over the next hour or so, darkness fully fell, the sounds of distant destruction faded and were replaced by silence, the air grew chill, and millions of stars filled the sky. Only now did Dael realized she missed the peace and solitude from their last journey through the desert. Even a place such as this, considered a wasteland, was peaceful and serene to her, and despite their urgency and all that was going on, she felt more relaxed here. She supposed it could have just been because they were going into the silence and solitude of the desert and away from an encroaching Sybenian army, but she didn't know for sure.

At any rate, as they passed back into the desert, Jalab made sure to lead them in non-straight paths. Evidently, Sybenia must have had outposts and stations in the desert now. If they truly hated anyone who didn't meet their standard for being "human", then no doubt they were waging a campaign on the tribes in the desert too. Yet as time marched on, at long last, after hours had passed, the group felt loosened up enough to talk.

"This is my first time on a chocobo…" Bahamut spoke up at length over the sound of the clawbeats. "I've dealt with them before and I've seen them for thousands of years…but this is the first I've ridden one. It's…interesting. They're so easy to ride. I thought it would have been much harder…"

Dael resisted the urge to chuckle at that and say that she finally ran into something that Bahamut seemed to have no prior knowledge of. But one couldn't really learn how to ride a chocobo from a book, or describe what it was like.

"Whoo!" Cryder suddenly exclaimed, gaining Dael and Bahamut's attention as well as the others. "That was something back there, mateys! I haven't had that much fun in a long time!"

"Yeah…loads of fun…" Taraketh sourly responded. "I'd do that for recreation all the time if I had the chance…"

"Hey, we're all alive, in one piece, and not nursing any major injuries, right?" Cryder responded. "By the way, lad…seems you're not all piss and wind either. That trick you did with the pavement? Very nice."

Taraketh was silent at that…no doubt because there was nothing snide he could say that wouldn't look like he was rejecting the compliment. He might have been warming up to Dael at long last, but Cryder was another matter entirely.

Ceja soon let out a hearty laugh of her own. "Is this what my people have been fearing so much? These dolls of iron and fire? True, they are quite loud and explosive, but they seem to go down quite easily enough."

"I wouldn't get too confident." Dael responded. "It took all of us to take down the Iron Giant. And from what I've seen, you're a lot more formidable than the standard Fuliet warrior, Ceja. Plus you're junctioned to a Guardian Force. If you tried throwing your axe at one without being enhanced, I think all you would have gotten for your effort is dented bone."

Ceja thought this over a moment. "…Perhaps you're right. My axe was crafted from the bone of a Rock Dragon, so it is fairly unbreakable, but my uncle always cautioned me that its power was only as good as the one who could throw it. I have not had a chance to measure my strength against other members of my tribe since becoming junctioned."

"You bring up a good point, Lt. Commander." Quaren spoke up. "To be honest…I don't think even a team of Esthar's Hawks can take down an Iron Giant. But we just did. I mean…wow! That's got to be a new record or something…"

"I _am_ a bit surprised we managed to do that, now that you mention it…" Dael remarked aloud.

Cryder let out a laugh. "Like I said, ladies and gents, you'd all make a fine crew. See how we do when we all work together?"

Dael considered this for a moment. Had this been why both the Sorceress and the colonel had wanted them to do this mission together? Not only for their desire to get this done, but also recognizing how effective they were as a unit? It seemed rather odd, but even Bahamut had ended up making a valuable contribution despite his age and power. Had they somehow known that they would be at their most effective when they were brought together? It was something Dael continued to puzzle over for some time.

The hours wore on. Dael wondered how long it would be before they got there. After all, now that they had made it this far, they had to worry about getting back in time to get out on the same boat they had ridden to get in. She wasn't that eager to remain stuck on the Western Continent for the next few weeks…hopefully months. Still, she didn't want to pester Jalab about it. After seeing him in action for the first time and realizing just who they had on their side, she realized that he could have done a lot of good in the battle back in Garrado. The fact that he was helping them out was something to feel privileged about. However, one thing did make her curious after a while…and, to her surprise, she found herself asking a strange source about it.

Pulling up next to Bahamut, she asked him. "Can you tell me any more about this chakra?"

"It goes by many names." Bahamut responded. "Chi, ki, aura…basically it all refers to whatever allows you to focus your own inner power in ways that don't use magic. It's rather hard to learn, but it's something akin to what espers themselves did. Their own power came from their own spirits. Although that was a raw and transferable form, some humans learned to do the same. Usually it manifests itself in really small ways, like strength or accelerated healing. But it seems Sir Tierras can actually project it. He had to have trained extensively to pull it off."

"I knew that he was supposed to be one of the strongest warriors in the world," Dael went on. "But I never expected…never _dreamed_…that. I mean, he's not even junctioned!"

"Don't put so much faith into junctions." Bahamut responded simply. "Up until a few hundred years ago, there were no junctions, and humans pulled off incredible feats without them."

Dael thought this over a moment, and said no more.

Midnight came and went, and another few hours passed following that. No signs of Sybenia popped up. Dael took this as a good sign. Hopefully, they were headed in a direction they had steered clear of. She'd hate for them to get to the Guardian Force just to find he had already been located by the army… But then, she began to see something. Against the clear night sky, a plume of smoke or mist began to rise into the air. It grew larger the closer they got. Soon after, she noticed something else. The sandy ground was becoming drier and more hard baked, more like a true, dried-out waste. Despite being night in a desert, it began to grow warmer again, enough for her to start unzipping her jacket. Finally, as the smoke loomed ever closer, Dael detected the foul smell of what seemed to be rotten eggs, but what she knew better to be sulfur.

Finally, they came upon it. Just up ahead, in between two large dunes, what looked like a large, gaping, dried out hole was in the ground. It didn't go directly into the ground, but rather came at a sloped angle, so that it soon became a cave, from what Dael could see, although the interior was dark. The smoke arose from it, billowing out of one side. The stench of sulfur was much stronger here, and Dael realized it had to be volcanic in nature. Before long, Jalab pulled to a halt in front of it. He readily dismounted, and turned to the others.

"In here. Ifrit inside."

The others paused, and with good reason. Dael, on her part, realized she may have thought the bone-chilling landscape where Shiva dwelt was bad, but this was far, far worse. She could get pressure cooked in there, or smothered from the heat or overpowered by the toxic stench. However, there was nothing for it. She hadn't battled her way through enemy lines to stop now. Reluctantly, she began to dismount. The others soon followed.

"Unfortunately…" Bahamut muttered as he got off. "I don't think it's likely that I'll get much out of this trip. Ifrit wasn't exactly the 'brightest' of our race."

"I don't suppose I can talk you into sitting this one out then, can I?" Dael asked. "If I saw anyone else doing what we're about to do, I'd say they had a rock for a brain just going into this cavern."

"There's more than just information I want this time." Bahamut responded.

Dael gave him a look at that, but said nothing else.

Soon everyone was off. Dael proceeded to strip off her outer jacket and whatever other loose clothing she could remove from herself. She loaded her Blizzaga bullet and hoped that this would take most of the fight out of him with the first shot so they could get through quickly. The others did much the same, but Jalab kept at least an outer layer of clothing on. Dael supposed that made sense. Extra clothes were one thing, but if this was really a volcanic area…they needed some clothing just to avoid getting fried. She paused for a moment to look over the others, and saw that only herself, Bahamut, and Taraketh looked ready to go. Cryder wore an expression as if to say that he thought the whole thing had "bad idea" written all over it. Quaren seemed to think all of them were nuts, and Ceja looked about as "spooked" as she had when she first encountered technology. At any rate, Jalab soon led the way, and Dael, for better or for worse, followed after him.

She soon received one bit of good news at least. The heat, smoke, and smell in the cave was unbearable, but it seemed to rise to the roof of the cave, and the drop off was in such a way that as they passed into the dark interior they had a cool breeze and were not instantly overwhelmed. It got steadily warmer as they descended, but not to an overwhelming or searing point. They weren't smothered, at any rate.

The entrance vanished quickly, disappearing as the cave went down steeply for a moment before angling to a more level descent, causing the night sky to vanish. Soon, only the blackness of the cave remained. The group initially had to pull out flashlights again as a result. Dael noticed the ground they walked on as they went in. It was baked and cracked. Parts of it splintered like a crust when she stepped on them. Other parts had steam vents. She feared what would happen if parts of the cave had become too brittle for them to be inside, but there was little to do about it now.

As the heat built and they continued their descent, now beginning to sweat, Dael noticed that the lights were soon unnecessary. A dim glow was up ahead…like a fire. She killed her own light, and soon saw it was some distance away. As they grew nearer, it grew far hotter, and despite the heat rising the entire group was soon panting and sweating more than ever. Still the light grew, growing more intense. Dael, however, didn't hear fire burning, or saw it flicker. Rather, she thought she heard thick liquid churning almost as they got nearer. A bit lower, and the path leveled out all together. As they walked on, Dael soon saw the source in its entirety.

Dael had been right to suspect a volcano, for this wasn't far from the mark. She found herself in a rather wide cavern that extended deep under the ground, but nevertheless formed a large space in the center that was roughly circular. The walls were made of rough rock, and there were some stone platforms on which to walk…but Dael would avoid them if she could. That was because the far majority of the floor in the chamber was lava. Churning, boiling, running everywhere…nothing but intensely hot lava, gleaming bright red, orange, and yellow. Fresh lava poured down from some of the walls while some of the platforms looked to only be on a shallow crust. There was no telling if simply hopping on one would dump you into a lava bath or not. Immediately, Dael feared fighting in this area far, _far_ more than she had feared fighting in Shiva's domain. Magic shields weren't going to protect someone from being roasted alive if they fell in the magma. What more, she almost yearned for being mind-numbingly cold at this point considering how she was feeling dizzy from the amount of heat within the cavern.

The young officer ventured as close to the edge as she dared, but then halted. It eventually grew too hot to go any further…or, at least, hotter than she was willing to bear at the moment. Once there, she paused and breathed heavily. Jalab was nearby. Even he didn't want to go any closer. The others soon came up and stood about, looking over the area. After a few moments, Bahamut was the first to speak.

"Well…this certainly looks like the kind of place Ifrit would dwell in…"

"Doesn't look like anyone's home though…" Quaren responded as he wiped the back of his neck, followed by his brow. "Phew…that's not surprising… How can he stand it in here?"

"Once you see him, you'll know." Bahamut responded.

"Still…not too good of an idea to be hangin' around a pool of boiling magma if he's not even here…" Cryder mused aloud. He turned to Jalab soon after. "Should we head out and wait for him?"

Dael looked, but saw that Jalab didn't respond. Rather, he walked out a bit further, onto one of the more flimsy-looking walkways. He didn't go too far, but he reached what looked like an iron square embedded in the rock. Once there, the Sorceress Knight took up his staff, moved along it with both hands, and then swung it down hard against the metal. A rather loud, booming, and resounding "clang" resulted, enough to make the others cover their ears and wince. It reverberated through the cave rather loudly for a few seconds, causing everyone to continue to hold their ears and pull back. However, it slowly faded away into nothing.

It had hardly finished doing so, however, when a very loud, very deep growl replaced it, reverberating through the area.

Soon, a monstrous, bestial voice snarled throughout the entire chamber.

"Whoever just did that better have a _damn_ good reason for interrupting me in the middle of a sauna…"

Dael reacted to that sound both with a bit of nervousness, as well as some puzzlement, before she saw the lava in front of her bubble and boil more than before. Soon, it was churning over itself rapidly and forming a mound. Jalab quickly turned and rushed back to the others, but Dael felt it get hotter and hotter yet in the cave, forcing her to step back more. The lava continued to build for a moment longer, before it suddenly erupted in a geyser of magma. When it did, a form shot out of it and landed on the rock platform nearest to it, facing the group.

This one was considerably more intimidating thatn Shiva had been. He was much larger and covered with brown fur that nevertheless seemed to have a shine about it like flame. To be honest, it looked like a beast from Hell, twisted and turned into some sort of canine humanoid. It rippled with muscle, and each one of the digits on its hands and feet were tipped with long, thick, black claws. Even standing there it easily cut into the stone with them. He wore thick gold bands around his arms and had gold earrings in his ears. The head itself was a mixture of canine and lion, filled with sharp teeth and possessing burning yellow eyes. It had a shaggy mane of bright red hair, and two very long, very sharp-looking horns curling up and back over its head.

The monstrous creature landed on all fours, but soon after leaned up to full height, shifting onto its rear legs and standing tall. When it did, it easily towered over the others. Its teeth were showing, and, for a moment, Dael actually stepped back, thinking it would attack without even declaring a trial.

After a while, it crossed its huge arms in front of it and snarled again.

"Humans again… I might have known." It grumbled.

The others were left somewhat speechless by this intimidating appearance. Jalab alone managed to drop into a kneel before him. Only after a full three seconds had passed did Taraketh manage to do the same. It was even longer than that before Dael managed to do so, and Quaren only did so a bit after. Ceja finally joined in. That left Cryder and Bahamut…both of which just stared. Of the two, the former was rather overwhelmed, while the latter seemed indifferent.

"Wow…you sure are somethin', mate."

Taraketh looked behind him slightly, from what Dael could see from her peripheral vision, no doubt to give him a glare. However, as for the monstrous creature, he merely barred his teeth at him. "Like I needed _you_ to tell me that, human." He growled. "Especially since the only reason you're here is to try and prove you're better than me."

Dael felt herself grow a bit nervous at that response. However, Taraketh looked up. "Lord Ifrit, I presume?"

The beast glared at Taraketh next. "No, human…I'm the _other_ giant, fiery, horned beast that lives in pools of magma." He responded sarcastically. "Of course I'm Ifrit, you idiot!"

Taraketh swallowed a bit at that. "…Um…Lord Ifrit, we've come to-"

"Sell me cookies?" Ifrit cut off in a snap. "Offer me a magazine subscription? Ask how many people I've got living in the cave? Oh no, let me guess… Of course. _You're here to add my power to yours!_ That's all you humans are _ever_ here for! I mean, god forbid it's here to ask how I'm doing! To tell me why you've got all those big, noisy, annoying, smelly things rolling over my desert! To compliment me on the heat! Hell, to just say 'hi'! Ugh, you know how annoying this gets?!"

Taraketh was rather humbled at this point. He actually had shrank back a bit and was rendered speechless. They all were. They hadn't expected that much of a response from the large and intimidating Guardian Force. The heat actually increased in the area with each bellow he made. Everyone was quiet for a few moments.

Finally, one voice broke the silence.

"…Shiva said to tell you that she's in the Fuliet Region."

The fiery beast turned his head at that. Everyone soon did. When Dael did, she saw that one of them wasn't intimidated or had backed off. Bahamut was standing right where he had been before, and looking at Ifrit. After a moment, the beast turned his head. "Huh?"

"We encountered Shiva already. She said to tell you that she's in the Fuliet Region, presumably so you can go see her." Bahamut calmly responded. "As for why you're hearing so many of those things rolling overhead, it's because there's another war going on. Sybenia to the north has invaded Garrado to the south. It's more than likely that they'll eventually find here. There's evidence that they're trying to use Guardian Forces to fight their battles for them. Because of that, it's best that you go and visit Shiva now."

The monstrous creature sneered at him. When he spoke again, waves of heat blasted over Bahamut, tugging at his clothing. "Listen pee-wee, there isn't a human on Gaia that I fear! I don't care what weapons they possess!"

Bahamut simply shrugged, not looking the least bit intimidated. "Suit yourself. But humans far less advanced than these managed to capture you and abuse you for their powers before, didn't they?"

Ifrit's heat immediately doubled. The ground beneath him began to melt into magma. He gnashed his teeth and glared at Bahamut more than ever, his eyes burning. Dael, for a moment, thought Bahamut had another one of his crazy bouts, doing something that made no sense and risking himself getting torn apart. However, before Ifrit could do anything else, he immediately spoke back in a firm tone.

"Getting angry at me isn't going to change the past, Ifrit. I'm not ordering you to do anything. I'm merely making a suggestion. You're the one who complained that no one ever came to you except to seek your power. Well…I've come bringing you a message and a warning. Do you not care for that either?"

Ifrit continued to rage and fume for a moment, getting close enough to Bahamut that, in spite of his expression, he sweat rather profusedly and had to breathe a bit harder. The beast glared a bit longer at him, burning into him with those coal eyes. Dael watched and waited, nervous as to what would happen.

Finally…the Guardian Force eased up. His heat died a bit, and he leaned back.

"I can't stand smartalecks or prideful humans…but you've got balls, kid, and I can respect that. I'll think about it." He leaned back again, crossed his arms once more, and then looked to the others. "Is what he said true? Are they using Guardian Forces?"

Dael was the one who found her voice this time. "Either they are already, or they plan on it."

Ifrit let out a snort. "Bunch of wimps, letting themselves be used like that… I can tell you humans aren't of the same kind, though. You seem to have good enough intentions. Looks like you'll need me to throw up some counterweight…that is, assuming you aren't all spineless enough to get defeated by my trial."

The young officer was a bit amazed. She looked again to Bahamut, but other than wiping a bit of sweat from his brow, he was normal. She thought about what he had just done. It seemed like he actually knew how to deal with Ifrit… Had he really gained that from a book? Or was it something more? He hadn't even looked scared although that Guardian Force could have flattened him. Dael assumed that it was just foolishness on his part. After all, he still thought he was the king of the Guardian Forces, right? So naturally he wouldn't be afraid.

After a moment, she turned back to Ifrit and nodded. "We'll take it."

He snorted back, leaning down and scratching behind one of his ears. "You're either real greedy for power, which I doubt…or you're serious about all that crap you just said. I don't normally see this many humans around. Beat Shiva, eh? Well, don't think I'm going to go as easy on you as she probably did. She always had a soft spot for you pink little weaklings. Me? I never forgave you for spawning that damn clown…"

Dael didn't answer. Her Blizzaga Bullet was already loaded, so instead she hefted her blade and gave a few practice swings. Again, this would have to be fast. She didn't want to exhaust herself, which was even more likely here. Just running around a bit would dehydrate her. Luckily, she had the Mage Bullet that was Ifrit's weakness. After seeing what happened to Quetzacoatl, with any luck this would be over in a snap. Even if it wasn't, they still had Shiva's power. Taraketh soon undid his kusarigama again. Ceja hefted her axe. Cryder drew his cutlass and took a few practice swings. Quaren, the most nervous of all, raised his rifle and switched off the safety. Jalab, on his part, moved over to the side and stood waiting and watching. Bahamut too began to get out his sword and shield. Dael saw this, and was moments from telling him to sit this out.

However, she didn't get the chance.

"Oh no…no, no!" Ifrit suddenly spoke up.

Dael looked to him in puzzlement at that, as did the others. He sneered at them, and held up a hand.

"You aren't all dogpiling on me!" He barked. He held up three fingers. "Three of you! That's how many I'll fight."

Dael looked at him a bit incredulously. Taraketh hesitated a moment, then spoke up. "Sir…we all came to undergo the trial."

"Well, tough break!" Ifrit responded. "I'm not doing six on one! I'll take three!"

The others went a bit wide-eyed at this. Dael, however, heard Cryder snort behind her. "…Didn't he just call us all weaklings…?"

"Ah, shut up before I make it one-on-one!" Ifrit roared at Cryder in response, obviously hearing that. "Three at a time! Otherwise, get lost!"

Dael looked at the fire creature for a moment, but then sighed. She supposed there was nothing for it. She looked to the others, and they simply looked back to her. Quaren shrugged, and Taraketh sighed. It seemed they were stuck doing it. With that in mind, Dael motioned to them to come to her. They soon lowered their weapons and walked up and close to her. They soon formed a circle and faced one another.

"Let's just do as he says." Dael stated. "The longer this takes, the harder it will be. Taraketh, Ceja, and I have the power of Shiva. We'll do it."

"Hang on for a moment, lass." Cryder suddenly interjected. "By my count, the three of you already have four Guardian Forces between you."

"So?" Dael answered.

"So I'm thinking you don't need to hog them all." Cryder simply responded. "I'm a little curious to see what it's like to be junctioned myself by now." He reached over and clapped Quaren on the shoulder soon after, startling him a bit. "I'm sure your main matey here is much the same. Besides, I never was one to be dead weight or get left in the dust. How about you let those who don't have a Guardian Force to their name take a whack at this one?"

Quaren went a bit wide-eyed on hearing that, snapping to Cryder incredulously. He soon swallowed. "I…I don't think that's such…such a good idea…"

"He's right." Taraketh flatly answered. "You two aren't enhanced at all. You haven't a prayer."

Dael immediately closed her eyes and sighed on hearing that. Although her sentiments weren't much better than that, she knew, hearing it from Taraketh, would cause a change in Quaren. Immediately he glared at the High Child. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Taraketh simply responded.

"And you are a little…on the thin side…" Ceja threw in, looking a bit uncertainly at Quaren.

That did it.

"Hey, I'm an Esthar's Hawk! I'm among the greatest soldiers on Gaia! I'm a surgeon with a rifle!" Quaren insisted. "And I've worked my butt off to get this far! I can take this hellhound!"

As Dael felt like smacking herself in the face with her palm, Cryder let out a laugh and clapped the private on the back again. "Heh…that's the spirit, lad!" He looked to the others and indicated to Quaren. "My mate here is going places. So that's two for wanting to give the underdogs a shot…show you all that it's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. What do you say? Ready for us to show you up?"

Taraketh snorted again, actually cracking a grin. "This I've _got_ to see. I'm for it."

Dael immediately went wide-eyed and looked to him. "Sir Sabian…"

"I'm actually rather intrigued to see the one with the long gun in action." Ceja added with a shrug. "I'm interested to see how he compensates for his lack of strength. I am for it."

The young officer looked like her eyes would bug out of her head. Cryder, meanwhile, gave a shrug and a smile to Dael. "That's four, lass. We have a majority."

The woman looked back at Cryder for a moment, seeming ready to beat him over the head with the butt of her gun. She couldn't believe this. However, after a few moments, she realized it had gone too far. It was going to happen with or without her. With that in mind, she let out another groan, rolled her eyes, and caved.

"Fine. I suppose it doesn't really matter." She responded. "One more of us can still get in there, after all. I'll just step in spot number three and hopefully knock most of the fight out of him with my Blizzaga Bullet…"

"Excuse me, Lt. Commander…"

Dael suddenly snapped out of her look and turned, along with the others, toward who had spoken: Bahamut. His face looked firm and resolute, but he spoke calmly enough.

"If you're going to be letting those who don't have a Guardian Force fight," He continued. "Then I believe I should be counted in that number."

Everyone looked incredulous in response to that. Even Cryder seemed to be rather overwhelmed at such a prospect. Dael hesitated a moment, and then began to speak. "Bahamut…I thought you only wanted to know if the Guardian Forces could tell you where to get Leviathan…"

"You mentioned it earlier, Lt. Commander." Bahamut responded. "I have no power. Although I'd prefer to gain my own, perhaps if I gained it from another Guardian Force, it would be enough to wake up my own."

Dael stared back in response to this for only a moment, before her face became firm and resolute as well.

"No."

Bahamut's eyes narrowed. "I've proven to you I'm not useless in combat…"

"I said no, and that's final." Dael cut off.

The boy's face tightened. He stared a moment, then leaned back.

"Alright then." He flatly stated. "Then I'll wait until you're done and challenge him myself and alone. A Guardian Force won't refuse."

"We're leaving after this." Dael flatly responded.

"Then I'll stay behind."

"You're not staying behind."

"Feel free to try and make me come with you."

Dael's anger flared. In another moment, she might have just yelled at him about his delusions, about how it was time to cut this foolishness and realize he wasn't Bahamut. However, Cryder quickly interjected before she could blow her top.

"Look, kid…Bahamut…far be it for me to doubt your tenacity. You've got brass balls, no doubts there. If you didn't, you wouldn't have just charged that oversized sack of tin back in the city. And you've got some skill too. But are you honestly going to tell me that this is the same thing?"

"No, it's not." Bahamut responded. "But I know how he fights."

"Bahamut…" Dael began to fume.

"Wait a moment, Lt. Commander." Quaren suddenly cut off. To Dael's surprise, he held up a hand to indicate for her to pause a moment, then looked to the boy. "Are you telling me those books in the library taught you how he fights?"

Dael turned to Quaren in shock. "What are you doing?!" She exclaimed aloud, no longer caring if Bahamut heard her.

Quaren looked back to Dael and gave a shrug. "Well Dael…he's learned how to speak other languages, about techniques no one else knows about, about how the world is going…whose to say he didn't learn something about this too?"

Dael couldn't believe what she was hearing. Meanwhile, Quaren looked back to Bahamut. "Did you?"

"There wasn't much information on that." Bahamut responded. "But I do know how he fights. I understand his psychology. He's a hotheaded brute. He always has been. And hotheaded brutes always fight the same way."

"Bahamut…" Dael began to groan.

Immediately, the boy turned on her. "Lt. Commander…" He spoke, locking gazes with her and, to Dael's surprise, radiating considerable power and determination. _"I can beat him._ I haven't been so certain about something in years. I swear I can do it. If I can't, then I promise I'll do exactly what you say from now on and never disobey you again."

"And what if you don't live through this trial, Bahamut? What then?" Dael shot back.

"I will!" The boy insisted. "Just trust me this once!"

"I don't want to contradict you, lass… After all, he's your ward. But keep this in mind…" Cryder spoke up. "He won't be goin' into this fight alone. And he was right about the treasure, wasn't he?"

"If he really does know how Ifrit fights, then maybe he can do it, Dael." Quaren suggested. "I mean…crazy as it sounds…he's not a slouch in a fight."

Dael couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought Cryder and Quaren had lost their minds. She looked again to Bahamut, but saw he hadn't changed. He meant what he said. If he didn't get a chance to fight now, then he'd do it by himself. And if he was in danger now, he'd be in far greater trying to go alone against the Guardian Force. Dael didn't know why she simply said no…why she didn't just club the kid over the head and be done with it. It was odd…just like two nights ago. Something inside her was stirring when she saw Bahamut…some sort of connection between the two. She couldn't believe this. She had to be as crazy as the rest of them…

Finally, letting out a massive sigh, she turned and looked over to Ifrit.

"Have you decided yet?" Ifrit growled. "It's getting chilly just standing around out here."

"I want a special condition." Dael stated. She held a moment, not being able to believe she was saying this, but then pointed to Bahamut. "If things get too bad for him, I want to be able to step in and switch out for him."

"Sorry, that's not the rules." Ifrit responded. "It's him and whoever else is with him to the death. No one else."

Dael sighed. "Come on…just one exception, just this once. I know you guys can make an exception…"

"Don't be such a wimp." Ifrit responded. "I've had kids younger than him go through my trial."

"Look…all I'm asking is one substitution… I won't even use my gun…"

"Are you deaf or something, human?" Ifrit snarled back. "I said no!"

_"Please!"_

Dael's last cry stunned everyone…Dael included. It echoed long and loud throughout the entire chamber, and gained everyone's attention as they looked to her. However, the young officer didn't care. She didn't realize it…but her face was tight and pleading with Ifrit at the moment. And it was so intense that even the Guardian Force, despite his rough demeanor and obstinance…actually paused in response. However, he wasn't the only one who did so.

Dael didn't see it, but Bahamut looked and saw the expression on Dael's face…how tight and insistent it was…and he saw the fear behind it about what would happen to him. She didn't know it, but for the first time…the boy wasn't so concerned about what his fate might be in this fight as how much Dael would blame herself if anything happened to him. On that note, he turned back to Ifrit momentarily, and then back to Dael.

"Sorry, Lt. Commander…" He stated, casting a glance to Ifrit. "It appears that this Guardian Force is too cowardly to allow one little exception."

Ifrit immediately looked up at that. "Huh? What did you say, you little runt?"

Bahamut snickered in response to that. "That's right, call me a runt. You're like a typical bully. Oh sure, you talk big and bad, but the second it looks like the odds might go the slightest bit not in your favor, you cower and hide away from it. I'm a little surprised that you're so much of a weakling that one little 12-year-old is enough to overwhelm you."

The fire beast immediately intensified in heat. His roar began to fill the whole cavern and make the walls shake. "How dare you, you miserable-"

Bahamut remained calm as he turned back to Dael. "I'm honestly surprised. I always thought Ifrit was this big and fearsome Guardian Force. Who would have thought he'd be the only one who whined and complained that he could only fight three people? When you get to the other Guardian Forces, you'll have to tell them about this. Even Shiva didn't object to me joining in with the rest of you…"

_"FINE!"_ Ifrit suddenly bellowed, actually making the lava flow a bit faster and a few rocks raining from the ceiling. "If it will get you nauseating, thin-skinned apes to shut up…you can have your damn substitution! It's not like I'd get any honor out of burning some little kid to death, anyway!"

Bahamut, for the first time since he had arrived, smiled. "Thank you." He calmly responded.

Ifrit sneered and looked to Dael, pointing a claw at her. "You don't get to step in until he's down for the count, got it? Don't you dare try to step in a second before!"

Dael, still a bit surprised at what just happened, nevertheless snapped out of it and nodded. "Yes, of course."

Ifrit grumbled and began to crack his neck. Dael, on her part, was speechless yet again. She could no longer pretend that luck was on Bahamut's side. He knew how to deal with Ifrit…just as he had known how to deal with Colonel Regalis. She wasn't sure how he had this wisdom of dealing with people like this, but somehow he did. Through an unorthodox method, he had managed to secure what she had wanted. However, that made her realize something else…especially when, on looking down to Bahamut, he turned and gave part of his smile to her.

_He did it…for me._

Dael was still trying to comprehend this when Taraketh came over and took her by the arm, beginning to pull her back.

"We better give them some room." The High Child stated, his tone a bit cross. "And you better get ready to jump in fast. That pirate was one thing, but I can't believe you were mad enough to let them drag the child into this. Is one of the tests of Esthar's Hawks to throw children to wild dogs?"

"I don't know about Esthar's Hawks, but that's one of the rites of passage for Fuliet warriors." Ceja interjected on hearing this. "I'm certain he can do it."

Taraketh and Dael both turned and gave Ceja an incredulous look. She looked back at them, blinked, and then shrugged. "Did I say something unusual?"

"Just hurry up and get out of my face, you three!" Ifrit snapped at Dael and those around her. "I'm wanting to get this over with!"

Taraketh and Ceja responded by immediately moving off the field. The former pulled Dael with him, who took one more look at Bahamut before reluctantly being pulled off. She told herself the boy wasn't in mortal danger. She could jump in and get him out of there if anything happened. And she had the power to end the fight quick with her Mage Gun, she was certain of. And so, she finally allowed herself to be pulled over to Jalab. Once there, Ceja stood tall and crossed her arms as well, but kept her gaze on Quaren, wanting to see what was special about him, it seemed. Taraketh wound up his kusarigama and watched calmly enough, although his gaze was mostly on Cryder. He wanted to see him fall short, after all. That left Dael to nervously look at Bahamut.

As for the others, they turned and faced Ifrit. They began to spread out a bit. Cryder held one hand in the air while sweeping his cutlass around in front of him, getting into an attack pose. Quaren prepared to fire. Bahamut kept his sword and buckler at the ready. With Cryder in the center, the other two moved around as best they could to surround him. As she watched this, Dael did indeed recall that she had yet to see a "normal" person fight against a Guardian Force. She wasn't exactly sure how good they would do…but she did know that several blows she had taken in the past would have been sufficient to kill her had she _not_ been enhanced.

Before she could regret her decision any longer, however, the fight was on.

Abruptly, Ifrit gave a roar, leapt in the air, and then jumped down, slamming into the ground. In response, three balls of magma erupted from the stone, puncturing the crust from below and went into the air. Immediately, the beast reared up his claws and moved rapidly, smacking each one at a respective opponent as a deadly magma missile. The three saw them coming and immediately had to break off whatever attacks they were planning to dive for it. None of the missiles connected, but one sailed by Dael's group, and the intense heat was enough to make them all recoil, especially when it struck a cavern wall a moment later and erupted into molten fragments. However, Cryder, though he was forced to dive to the ground, still twisted his hand up and performed a gesture with it. Moments later…another part of the ground erupted, and a geyser of magma burst from the ground and began to wash over Ifrit.

Unfortunately, the Guardian Force merely laughed. "What are you trying to do? Give me a refreshing shower?" He bellowed. Immediately, he snapped his head down and opened his mouth wide…unleashing a potent pillar of flame out of his mouth and straight for Cryder. The pirate's eyes widened, and he quickly clambored to his feet and ran to the side in a dive. Even so, he wasn't able to avoid all of it. Part of his clothing caught on fire, and he was forced to quickly roll around to smother it.

Ifrit tried to turn his head to chase Cryder with the flames…when sparks went off around his head. He winced and recoiled a bit with each one, and cut off his fire to see what was happening. He soon spotted Quaren firing off bullets into his head…for all the good they were doing. Either Ifrit was so hot he was obliterating the bullets as they came, or his hide was so thick they weren't doing serious damage. Immediately, he scooped up another amount of rock off of the platform he was on, still boiling with magma, and tossed it at the young man. Quaren's eyes widened in considerable surprise, before he was forced to dodge for it to avoid getting incinerated. The wall behind him where he stood was punctured, and an intense lava flow burst forth from it, forcing the young man to flee once again from the intense heat.

Dael, however, focused on something else. Bahamut was running up behind Ifrit now, going for his exposed flank. Just as he got into range to try and attempt a leaping slash, however, the fire beast snapped around and swung out a massive claw right for him. "Thought I forgot about you, shrimp?" He roared.

The combination of directed heat and the claw was too much for Bahamut. He barely managed to get his shield in front of him in time. Even so, the sound of collision was massive. Bahamut was cast into the air and flung backward, before being dumped hard on the rocky ground. Although he didn't cry out, his face tightened in pain that Dael could see. Somehow, he rolled out of it and managed to get to his feet, but Ifrit wasn't letting up. He scooped up another lava rock and flung it at Bahamut. Immediately, the boy raised his buckler to counter, but he let out a mild cry on impact and explosion of magma. The force was still so intense it knocked him back on his rear end, and no doubt caused him more pain. Still not letting up, Ifrit flung yet another, and this time, on impact, not only did Bahamut cry out, but his shield was knocked out of his grasp. It went flying through the air a moment before landing with a clatter on the stone, and Dael saw it was not only scarred from Ifrit's claws but also gleaming and beginning to deform from the heat.

The young officer's eyes went wide. Bahamut, looking to be straining and in a bit of pain, struggled to rise, but Ifrit was already preparing another attack. She realized there was a good chance that this next attack wouldn't just knock him out…it would kill him. She tensed, eyes filling with fear. In another moment, she might have broke and shot at Ifrit anyway.

However, it turned out such wasn't necessary. Abruptly, the ground in front of Ifrit exploded again. But this time, it wasn't lava. Instead, a plume of thick, black ash came out and sprayed right in his eyes. While they may not have directly been able to burn him, getting an eyeful of toxic material, Dael wagered, wasn't exactly that comfortable of an experience either. Sure enough, Ifrit roared in pain and staggered back, grabbing for his eyes.

Nearby, Cryder was aiming his hand at him, but then grinned and lowered it as he brought up his cutlass again.

"Pick on someone who stinks as much as you do, Fido."

Bellowing in rage, Ifrit snapped in Cryder's general direction and began to discharge his blasts of flame again from his mouth. Again, the pirate was forced to dodge for it. He managed to avoid being singed this time, but the waves of fire were still erratic, forcing him to be rather nimble to dodge it all. Yet as he did this, Bahamut, again in the clear, immediately toughed back his pain and shot to his feet. He charged over to where his shield had been knocked and quickly snatched it up again. However, he shifted his grip a bit on it this time…

Sneering, Ifrit finally managed to shake his eyes clear. He cut off his flame at the same time. However, before he could focus on Cryder again, Bahamut suddenly gave a sharp whistle. Ifrit snapped to him in response, just in time to see the boy spin around twice before flinging his shield at Ifrit like a discus. The object sailed through the air with surprising speed, and smashed into Ifrit's windpipe before dinging back. Apparently, while his skin protected him from being pierced by trauma, it didn't negate the force when applied to a vulnerable spot. The impact was enough to make his yellow coal eyes enlarge, and soon he held his claws for his throat and gagged. Bahamut, not wasting a second, quickly darted forward, leaping up and actually snagging his shield back out of the air as it rebounded to him, before making a beeline for Ifrit. Unfortunately for him, the fire Guardian Force wasn't quite defenseless, and soon it ripped up another chunk of ground and flung it at the young man, forcing him to halt and quickly backpedal before it could burn him on explosion.

After doing so, Ifrit snapped around to Cryder again, scooping up another magma rock as he did so in an attempt to finish him, no doubt. Yet again he was soon distracted. The sounds of rifle bullets rang out again, causing him to snap to the source, Quaren. However, the Esthar's Hawk wasn't aiming for him, it seemed, but above him. Ifrit looked at this curiously for a moment, before turning his head up…and being just in time to see a sizable chunk of the cavern's ceiling come down and smash him on top of the head.

The boulder fractured on impact, and Ifrit immediately faltered under the weight. However, that lasted only a moment before Dael began to feel even more unbearably hot than before. It felt like the moisture was being sucked out of her body and the air from her lungs. She could only imagine what the others were feeling. The air around Ifrit began to ripple intensely as he suddenly shot back to his feet, flexing and bellowing bloody murder.

"_Now I'm pissed!"_

Quaren attempted to fire again…but Ifrit was on him in a heartbeat. He squeezed off one shot, but the monstrous creature was too enraged now. He charged right through it without effect, seized Quaren's rifle in one hand, and clenched his monstrous fist to simultaneously crush and melt it at the same time. Quaren hardly had an opportunity to look surprised when Ifrit shot out another hand and wrapped it around his throat. Dael, Ceja, and even Taraketh went wide-eyed at that, because Quaren's flesh immediately began to burn under the heat coming from Ifrit. In moments, the private was crying out in agony, and they could smell the burning skin…

A whistling went through the air, one that Dael recognized as Cryder's wind slash technique. However, Ifrit was still on top of things. Whirling around in a violent rage to the pirate, he abruptly leapt to one side of the cavern, letting his attack sail harmlessly by. Moving at incredible speed, he leapt again and sailed through the air to seize Cryder by the throat with his other hand, which by now had discarded the remains of Quaren's rifle. In moments, the pirate himself went wide eyed and began to cry out as well. Dael was horrified. He was killing them both… At once, even if this wasn't Bahamut, she got the urge to break the rules. She went for her Mage Gun…

Immediately, Taraketh's hand went out and stopped her. She looked up to him in response, and found him staring intensely at her. "What are you doing?" He called to her.

"Trying to save their lives!" Dael responded.

"You can't intervene! You'll break the rules!"

"To Hell with the rules! I broke in on your match, didn't I?"

"Not over!"

Both Dael and Taraketh turned at that and looked to who had spoken. They soon saw Jalab pointing at the battlefield. "Not over! Look!"

Dael turned and looked as indicated. Although Cryder still had his sword and Quaren still had his sidearm, neither looked in any shape to use it. However, Jalab wasn't referring to them. He was pointing out to Bahamut, who was still standing with sword and shield. Ifrit had already spun on him though, stopping any attempt at a surprise attack.

"This is it for you, you little shrimp!" Ifrit bellowed. _"Burn!"_

Opening his mouth wide, Ifrit summoned his fire again. Dael watched Bahamut, expecting him to dodge or run. He did neither.

Instead, to her shock, he braced his shield in front of him and charged right for Ifrit.

Dael cried out to him, but couldn't be heard over the sounds of the flames. Instead, she could only watch in horror as he went right into the midst of the fire. The shield was too small to protect him. The cast off flames lit his lower bits of clothing on fire, and the shield itself soon began to gleam and start to warp. The young officer thought he was dead for certain. However…even as this unfolded, she saw something else. Ifrit's fire may have been intense and full of heat…but, in the end, it was just fire. It lacked force. In spite of the firestorm, Bahamut was able to plow through it right to Ifrit's head. Screaming both from pain as well as determination, Bahamut leapt into the air at the last moment, swung his shield forward, and slammed it into Ifrit's open mouth. As it was mostly deformed by now, it bent…and lodged firmly inside.

The fire esper cut off his heat flow immediately. Instantly, he began to gag and stumble backward. Dael realized why. Hot as his flame was, he couldn't risk firing with that in his mouth. If he melted Bahamut's shield all the way into slag, molten metal would run down his throat and choke him. And with his hands full, he was momentarily helpless. Bahamut used that moment. Smoking, flaming, and covered with burns and ash, Bahamut landed and, toughing through it all, brought his sword around and sliced deeply into Ifrit's side twice, spilling out steaming blood.

The shield was broken completely a moment later as the combination of pain and rage caused Ifrit's jaws to snap shut, obliterating it. However, he also released Quaren and Cryder. Both looked terrible, with horrible claw-shaped burns on their necks, but they were alive. Bahamut's own sword now gleamed and deformed, melting into a useless piece of slag metal. But as for Ifrit…the fire beast staggered back, bellowing in agony and grasping his middle. The wounds managed to cauterize shut, but they had both been deep and had done lasting damage to the monstrous creature.

Ifrit held a moment, then looked up at Bahamut with renewed rage. Despite the fact he only had a deformed piece of metal for a weapon, no shield, and multiple injuries, the boy only paused to extinguish himself with some of the ambient ash before focusing back at Ifrit.

"You're dead meat!" The beast snarled, before using both claws to rip up a considered chunk of magma, making it burn more with his added power, and then flinging the whole thing at Bahamut.

In spite of the pain the boy had to be in, he dove under the blow and shot forward, narrowly missing getting singed by the resulting eruption of magma bits. Even so, it was still enough to launch him forward and on his face. Ifrit immediately clawed up another lava bomb and flung it at him, but Bahamut managed to get to his feet and dash away from it two. Ifrit chased him with two more bits of magma as the boy stretched himself as hard as he could to avoid the attacks, and, much to Dael's shock, he managed to evade them. Although he kept getting tagged with bits of magma, but the boy kept running and ignoring his growing pain. In fact, he even turned and charged right for Ifrit at one point. Snarling at this, Ifrit broke off his attack and quickly shot forward, making his claws into fists, and struggling to smash into Bahamut. Quickly, the boy broke off his assault and dodged back and away. Somehow, he managed to evade the blows, although Dael could hardly see how based on the speed, size, and power of his opponent.

Dael was shocked at all of this. At first, she was stricken with fear, knowing that at any moment Bahamut could slip up and it would be over for him. However, as time wore on and Bahamut continued to manage to evade Ifrit despite the larger one's speed and power…she began to realize Bahamut was fighting smart. He was harassing and frustrating Ifrit with his moves, making the flaming monster more and more angry and out of control. As a result, his attacks continued to go wild and had too much power in them. The beast was putting everything he had into every strike, trying to splatter Bahamut with one blow, and, as a result, was hitting nothing due to taking too much time to build up and recover. By getting Ifrit to expend more power, he was ironically keeping himself alive.

However, Dael could also tell the boy was tiring. He was in too much trauma, and the heat was unbearable. He was slowing too. It was only a matter of time before he slipped… Luckily, it turned out such wasn't as fatal as it seemed.

As Bahamut dodged back from another blow, one of Ifrit's claws managed to catch him on the arm, opening a slash across it. The young man showed visible pain as he moved back, but Ifrit was relentless. He quickly moved in to finish the job…

When, abruptly, Quaren dashed in the side. In spite of his own pain and burns, he shoved Bahamut out of the way and held up his handgun…discharging it point blank in Ifrit's face. More sparks went off, and the fire Guardian Force stopped cold, roaring in anger and pain as he reached for his face. However, it lasted only a moment. Pulling his hand away, he snarled at Quaren, who had fully discharged his gun and had to pause to reload. The Esthar's Hawk went a bit wide-eyed at that, but before Ifrit could charge him, Cryder leapt up and to the side, cutlass out, and opened another slash across Ifrit's side, this one high and to the rib cage, sliding in between them. Ifrit halted again and bellowed in pain…but quieter this time. Superheated blood ran from his mouth. A lung had been nicked.

Somehow, the enraged beast lowered his head again and swiped violently at Cryder. The pirate shot back. He still got a cut through his shirt, but managed to be clear. Quaren himself tried firing again at this point, having reloaded. However, the fiery beast simply snapped to him, reached over, and seized him again, ripping him off his feet. Again, his fingers began to burn into the private. However, this time, it seemed Quaren was ready. Discarding his gun on the ground, Quaren tightened up in agony before yanking something out of his side, pulling a tab on it, causing a hissing noise, and then flinging it at Ifrit's chest. It stuck firm and held, glued there by some fast-acting paste. Immediately, Ifrit released Quaren and looked to what happened. Quaren, on his part, grabbed his pistol and immediately began to scramble away, as the monstrous creature noticed what it was…an adhesive grenade. His yellow eyes widened, before he quickly began to claw for it…

However, it was too late. The explosive soon went off. It was small, but more than deafening enough to make everyone in the chamber wince and recoil. The force itself was sufficient to rip the weakened Guardian Force off of his feet and fling him back through the air hard into the cavern wall, fracturing it before he toppled off and to the ground. He landed hard. However, after only a moment, he began to snarl and rise again…

He didn't get the chance.

Cryder, seeing this, recovered and sheathed his own blade. After that, he held his hands up and pointed to the ceiling, made a gestured, and then pointed down. Soon after, the entire cavern began to rumble, and quickly built in intensity. Ifrit managed to raise his head and glare at Cryder…only to notice the sound of cracking overhead. He turned his head up…and, for a moment, Dael almost thought she heard a canine whine from him before a few tons of rocks toppled down on top of him with a resounding noise.

Again, Dael and the others were forced to recoil from the noise booming through the chamber, as well as the cloud of dust that arose. Dael herself kept her eyes shut for a moment. By now, the sulfur was burning her eyes, and cast up ash wasn't helping. She covered her mouth to keep from choking. She continued to hold until things died down, and she started to hear rocks moving. When that happened, she looked back.

The young officer was just in time to see a groggy-looking and dizzy Ifrit rise up out from the rocks that had fallen on him. He was rather bloody and bruised himself at this point, and barely looked capable of standing on his own feet. What more, he too was panting now, and looked to be in pain with each breath. Yet as soon as he stood, he paused.

The three were weak, burned, and breathing hard themselves, but they were also at the ready. Quaren, Cryder, and Bahamut were poised around him with weapons, or remains of weapons, drawn…for even Cryder's blade had partially melted as a result of his slash.

The Guardian Force looked down at them a moment longer, looking over each of them, and breathing hard all the way. Finally, he sneered.

"…Since I'm in a good mood today, I think I'll go easy on you three and throw in the towel now."

Cryder, despite his own weary state, managed a chuckle at that. Of course, this only served to confirm that Ifrit was in no shape to fight as he didn't snap or rage at that. Quaren, on his part, sighed in relief as he put his own gun away. Bahamut said nothing. He merely stood tall…before he began to waver and nearly collapsed.

Before he could, a bit to her own surprise, Dael had taken off and rushed up behind him, stopping him from going down fully.

The boy, dazed and out of it, only managed to blink a few times and look up to her. "I told you…I could handle it…" He murmured.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Dael snapped back even as she held him up. "If you didn't already look like you were in terrible shape, I'd beat the tar out of you! You're crazy, you know that?"

"So your opinion of me is no worse than before…" Bahamut murmured in a half-conscious state.

"You're unbelievable!" Dael snapped back. "The second we get back to Esthar…"

"So sorry to interrupt…" Ifrit suddenly spoke up with a snarl. "But do you want my power or don't you?"

Dael immediately whirled on the Guardian Force, her eyes surprisingly passionate. "Well hurry it up then, will you? Stop standing there wasting time! I need to get him doctored!"

Ifrit, as well as Cryder and Quaren, were rather stunned at Dael's sudden vicious response, not having expected that from her. They all recoiled a bit, and for the first time Ifrit's own face lost its rage as he blinked a bit, seeming to have met something that could be as fierce as him for the first time in a while. After a few moments, however, he shook his head and grumbled. "Fine, fine…put your hands up, already."

Cryder and Quaren did as they were told. Bahamut, trembling and weak as he could, tried to do the same. Dael, sighing to herself, reached out, took his wrist, and held his hand up, although she calmed down quite a bit herself in the process. A moment later, and once again the ceremony took place. Ifrit closed his eyes, blazed with heat for a moment, and then opened his mouth. Trails of fire snaked through the air to each of their hands and then shot to their flesh. They appeared to burn brands or emblems into the back of their hands, but Dael knew full well it didn't hurt. She didn't even see any of them wince. After a few moments, the symbols were etched on the back of their hands, and soon faded as they sank into them.

Quaren blinked a few times, going wide-eyed after this. His hand fell to his side and he stood in stunned silence. "Whoa…" He exhaled. "So that's what it's like to know magic…"

"Heh…" Cryder said, his normal jovial self, but this time a little awed as well. "Quite a bit different from Geomancy…but I'm not complaining. Think I'll stick with the Geomancy, though. This is a nice conversation piece, but can't just make fire all the time. I might try out that junction though…"

"Yeah, yeah…well keep in mind I can only be junctioned to one of you at a time." Ifrit snorted in response. He grumbled soon after. "Alright…show's over. You got what you came for. Now get lost." Immediately, he turned and began to half-walk, half-stumble back toward the magma.

However, on seeing this, Dael was puzzled. She called out. "Wait…"

Snarling, Ifrit turned and looked back to her. "What do you want now? If you want to challenge me for my power too, wait until tomorrow. I need a nice hot lava bath to heal from all of this."

"Aren't you going to…um…uh…"

"Spit it out!"

"…Don't you have any elixirs or anything on you?"

Ifrit grit his teeth. "Even if I did have any elixirs, why would I waste them on humans?" He paused for a moment after this, then suddenly got a knowing look. "Oh…I get it now…" He mused aloud. He snorted. "Figures that those wimpy Guardian Forces you got up until now patched you up after they're done. Well nothing doing here! You think you can just come in here, smack me around, and then expect me to heal you up after we're done? Grow some spines!"

With that, Ifrit turned back to the lava and leapt inside, soon vanishing beneath the molten rock.

Dael stared after him a moment, before clenching her teeth in irritation. "Damnit…"

"I don't think I'll be calling his ugly face up anytime soon…" Quaren muttered.

"Nevermind." Taraketh's voice suddenly called out. This caused everyone to look back to him. He stood there with arms crossed, looking ready to go. It seemed that Ceja and Jalab were already getting ready to move too, and were retreating in the cave. "Let's head outside and out of this stench and heat. I can use the healing magic I picked up from Shiva to patch the three of you up long enough to get back to Garrado."

Cryder grinned on hearing this. "Say mate…what was that you said about not having a prayer? Seems I beat up a Guardian Force without any magic to speak of… How does that make me stack up against you, now?"

Taraketh immediately glared at him. "You only beat him with help."

"Oh, but I _did_ beat him." The pirate answered with a smile.

"_With help."_

"Are we really going to quibble over details? If that's the case, need I remind you that you only beat your last Guardian Force with help from two exceptionally strong women, one of whom was already junctioned just as you were…"

"Can you two be quiet!" Dael suddenly snapped, beginning to shift Bahamut to try and carry him. "You can argue when we get outside!"

Bahamut winced and struggled a bit. "I can walk…just help me out with that…"

"You're covered with burns." Dael responded. "Just walking is going to drive you into more pain."

The boy sighed and groaned, clearly unhappy with this, but didn't protest anymore. He was too weak to. After shifting Bahamut around a bit, Dael was able to hold him in both arms. The truth of the matter was the heat and smell, as well as the battle they had gone through earlier that day and having gone pretty much 24 hours without sleep, was beginning to weigh heavily on all of them. Dael might have not gone at Ifrit but she was getting dizzy, sleepy, and weary herself. However, she still had enough power to at least carry Bahamut outside. She only hoped that Taraketh hadn't drained himself so much from his quake spells earlier that she could heal up the injured.

As she stiffened and then pushed herself to her feet, carrying Bahamut, Quaren looked regretfully back at the twisted lump that used to be his rifle. He turned back forward and sighed. "…I really liked that gun."

Cryder, grimacing a bit, went over to him and clapped him on the back. "There, there, mate. I liked that cutlass quite a bit myself."

Quaren, however, didn't react to that. Instead, his eyes went wide and he whined as Cryder's pat irritated one of the burns on his back.

"I'm going to need a new sword and buckler myself." Bahamut said from his own position as Dael began to carry him out.

"Haven't you had enough of combat?" Dael asked in response.

"Hardly. Especially not now that I can junction myself." The boy responded. "I'm not stopping until we find Leviathan."

"That could be a problem…" Taraketh called back from further ahead, a bit calmer now from his spat with Cryder. "That was the last known Guardian Force. From here on in, we don't even know where to find the others."

"I'm betting Sybenia doesn't either, though." Dael responded. "Maybe we should shift this to something more direct now…as in getting back the ones that they took."

Taraketh frowned. "Good luck with that. Esthar won't even lend any support to Garrado, let alone authorize that sort of mission. And, no offense, but it's going to take more than a 'weekend excursion' to give us an excuse to get into Sybenia."

Dael paused a moment to breathe in and out. The glow of the cave was dying behind them at this point, and the cool air of the exterior was beginning to waft in, filling Dael with a sense of refreshment and relief. She walked a bit faster to get there quicker, although she was pretty much bringing up the rear along with Cryder and Quaren.

"Right now, I'd rather just get back to the city myself." Cryder spoke up. "I don't fight very well with a misshapen piece of steel or my bare fists. Plus I'd hate to lose the _Artemis_."

"That's actually a good point." Quaren threw in. "Even if we could get another ship, I don't think there's anything else fast enough to clear the blockade. Besides…technically your vacation is up soon, Dael."

"Some vacation…" Dael muttered in response. "With as stagnant as the government is being, I'll probably see more down time on duty than off it…"

By now, the entrance was becoming visible, and a breeze blew by the group as they neared it. It was a huge relief to Dael. At the moment, she wouldn't have cared if she was plunged into the frozen lake where she had met Shiva, but this would do. At any rate, Jalab, Ceja, and Taraketh were much closer, with Jalab in the lead. Shifting his grip on his staff, he began to run up the rest of the way for the exit. Walking along a bit more, Dael saw him move out of the cave and into the opening, seeing half of his body peeking over the rim.

However, when he reached this point, he suddenly froze. Something seemed to catch his attention. It wasn't clear what, but after only a moment he turned around and looked back in the cave. Even in the dim light from the night, his face looked rather concerned. He opened his mouth to speak…

Yet he never said anything. His eyes widened, as if he heard something that was inaudible to everyone else. He spun around in a flash, and brought up his staff to start swinging it around again, much as he had back at Garrado…

This time, however, he didn't have a chance to warm up. Abruptly, loud gunshots went out through the air, and as Dael watched…bullet holes were ripped into Jalab at multiple places. The Sorceress Knight cried out as blood erupted from his torso in several areas, along with explosions of fabric.

Everyone else froze in midstep. All of their eyes went wide for a brief moment as they stared out of the cave in surprise and shock. For a moment, the world seemed to slow down and stop to Dael as she saw Jalab stagger and fall to one knee. What had just happened? Her eyes saw it, but couldn't believe it… Her brain refused to work to process what had just gone on. It had been so abrupt and unexpected. Later she would hate herself for how she reacted, but she could only stand there and gape for a moment as she saw Jalab, the kindly, powerful Sorceress Knight that she had begun to think was all but invincible…hit by no less than six bullets that left visible wounds in his torso.

Jalab himself faltered for a moment. His mouth was open, looking like he was struggling to breathe, and his eyes were wide. He balanced himself on his own staff to keep from collapsing all together. Yet then…the Sorceress Knight's face managed to tighten. In spite of having been shot _six times_, Dael watched as the man unbelievably got back to his feet. Bullets soon rang out again, but this time, he managed to swing his staff at them and smack some of them aside. Unfortunately…he still flinched as yet another bullet struck him. But then, giving a yell, he suddenly leapt out of their view and began to attack his unseen assailants. Moments later, Dael heard other men crying out, followed by the sounds of Jalab's energy attacks slamming into things. However, more bullets also followed.

Finally, this not only snapped Dael out of it, but made her realize what had happened. It had to be Sybenia. Their escape hadn't been as flawless as she thought. Somehow they found them here and set an ambush… Immediately, her mind went to work, telling her what to do. Cold as it seemed, the logical thing to do was to stay in the cave. It was a natural bottleneck. The enemy would have to move into darkness to get them. Yet despite her years of formal discipline and training…such an idea seemed too heartless to her…after all Jalab had done for them…

Yet before she could debate morality or what 'Jalab would have wanted', her decision was made for her. Ceja and Taraketh snapped out of things too.

"Sir Tierras!" The High Child cried.

Undoing his kusarigama, he began to charge up and out of the entrance. Ceja, hefting her axe, charged up and did much the same. Soon, both of them were charging out into the opening and vanishing from view as well. As soon as they did, in addition to gunshots, Dael began to hear some other sound of weapons…something electrical, by the sound of it.

As she tried to identify it, however, Cryder charged forward past Dael and began to run out as well. The young officer snapped to him in surprise. "Cryder!"

As he ran up to the entrance, he looked behind him to her. "Sorry lass. Seems like there's a fight out there and I never leave a matey high and dry."

"No, wait!" The young woman yelled.

However, Cryder wouldn't listen. Soon he reached the top and ran over the edge as well, and joined in the cacophany. Soon, Dael, Bahamut, and Quaren were the only ones left in the tunnel as the sounds of chaos continued to rage outside. Yet even as they stood there, the sounds of mystic energy abruptly died down. Bullets continued to fly…but the fact that there wasn't any counter strike began to make Dael rather afraid.

Quaren looked to her tensely. Obviously, his own face was losing the sense of protocol by now, and he swallowed. "What now, Dael?"

Dael looked back to him. To be honest…she didn't know. Her own face was showing visible fear. It was overriding her ability to think. She hadn't been in a situation like this before…not in a real-world dilemma. She had never been expected to be caught off guard and so distraught. Even as her mind finally began to start working again, she soon saw it didn't matter.

Abruptly, two small cylinders shot over the opening ahead. Dael's eyes, at least, worked enough to snap to them, as did Quaren. As they looked, they were just in time to see two canisters shoot into the cave, hit the ground, bounce once or twice, and then roll the rest of the way…right to their feet for them to clearly see.

Explosives.

At once, their decision was made for them. Dael, clutching Bahamut tightly, immediately ran for the entrance. It was either that or get sealed in that cave. Quaren immediately took off after her. Being weakened from battle, it wasn't long before he fell behind, but fear could be a powerful stimulant, and he only slipped a little. Soon, they both reached the last bit of upward slope, and then the rim leading to the night sky. The cool, refreshing air was cold comfort as Dael quickly threw Bahamut out of her grasp and onto the ground before diving out as well and burying her face in the sand. Quaren followed suit a moment later…before the eruption went off.

Dael winced as bits of rock smacked against her body with sufficient power to hurt. They weren't playing around with those explosives. In addition to the deafening explosion, she soon heard a deluge of rock back in the cave, the sound of a cave-in. The young officer had only a split second to be concerned with Ifrit, and in the end she concluded that he would be alright. He could burn his way out, if need be. At least Sybenia wouldn't be able to get ahold of him now. However, they were now out in the midst of the chaos, into whatever anyone had stepped out. Quickly, Dael opened her eyes and looked up, knowing she might only have a split second to see what had happened.

She had to struggle not to gasp at what she saw.

On thinking over this later, she reasoned that it only was natural. After what the seven of them had done back in Garrado, they had to have realized that sending a small group of Hounds, or even a large group of Hounds, would have been insufficient. Therefore, what looked like a small army of them had surrounded the cave entrance on all sides. There had to be at least 200 of them. One would think that something had to be wrong with Jalab that he hadn't seen so many, but the Hounds were as good as their reputation. Most of them had dug themselves in, used camouflage, or hidden their vehicles just out of view around the dunes. No doubt, there had been snipers that had hit Jalab immediately as soon as he got out and looked like he might alert the others. But now, the Hounds were all out en force, milling about everywhere, but mostly directed on the last few people who had emerged from the cave. They had brought out both conventional weapons and special guns, and now vehicles bearing even heavier weapons were rounding the area and coming up. However, a good hundred of them were devoted simply to pointing weapons at Dael, Quaren, and Bahamut.

She also glanced around to see other things. Taraketh and Cryder were both on the ground…and spasming violently. Electricity was snaking around them, apparently from some sort of electric chain or net device that had laced around them, pumping them full of an unknown voltage. Ceja had one on her too…but was somehow still standing. She was struggling to move to her attackers, when one fired off a large, bazooka-like gun that apparently launched another one of those electric arrays. It fired off, rapidly expanded, and on making contact with Ceja wrapped around her torso to act as both a restraint and more electricity. The double charge was too much for her, and she collapsed. But they continued to electrocute her regardless, just as they did with Taraketh and Cryder.

She also managed to catch sight of Jalab. He was in the midst of two ruined vehicles and two dozen fallen soldiers…but he had finally collapsed. He wasn't moving and, to Dael's horror, he was covered in blood. She feared the worst immediately…but the Hounds had no mercy. Obviously furious that a "mere native" had refused to lie down and die after being shot by Sybenian bullets, they had crowded on him and were beating him furiously, almost hysterically, as if they would lose their sense of superiority if they couldn't do so.

Bitter as this scene was, the young officer realized she couldn't let herself be struck by it. Having no time to waste, Dael quickly shot out a hand to grab Bahamut. However, she soon got a bad surprise. Her body suddenly felt much more sluggish and slow than before. Her enhanced speed seemed to have left her. The only reason she managed to put a hand on Bahamut was because, at that moment, Quaren rose up and drew his sidearm. Before she could shout a warning, one of the bazooka devices fired on him as well. Weak as he was, the impact alone was enough to rip him off of his feet and fling him to the ground before it started to electrocute him.

Dael couldn't believe it. She was horrified at how this had all happened…how sudden they had all been overwhelmed and taken down…especially Quaren. She saw him going into spasms, almost foaming at the mouth, as that device electrocuted him…and part of her hesitated. It took every ounce of the disciplined soldier she still had in her mind to tell her that she couldn't help him by staying behind in her own weakened state. Much as she hated it, much as her instincts told her to get revenge, to do _something_, she knew there was only one thing she could do. Keeping her hand on Bahamut, she thought of being a few miles away from here, closed her eyes, and concentrated.

Nothing.

Dael's eyes shot open again. Her power wasn't working. She wasn't feeling anything. No arcane words came to her. No power flowed through her. But how? She had barely used any magic that day…she couldn't have been mentally exhausted…

Even as she thought of this, however, her eyes realized something else was making noise over the sound of the electrocution. She managed to spot it in the midst of the Hounds. Some sort of odd generator emitting blue lights and a constant humming.

_An Eris Bell…_

That was the last coherent thought she managed before another one of the bazookas fired, and an electric net made contact with her.

Dael couldn't remember anything else after that, or for how long she couldn't remember anything else. All she could remember was being seized with violent, horrible pain that raked through every fiber of her being. Everything in her went rigid as her muscles were overloaded. She thought she smelled burning at one point…but, frankly, her senses were so overwhelmed and scrambled by the electric charge that she could have smelt anything.

Even when it was finally over, Dael didn't realize it for what had to be another few minutes. Nothing worked. Everything was just black and loud. Everything tingled and seemed to be "blown out". Her body was useless. She knew that much. Everything felt completely numb. She was exhausted. It seemed as if everything had been ran through some sort of press or wringer. She didn't even remember where she was or what was going on. And overwhelmed by the events of the day, it wasn't long before she began to sink deeper into blackness.

Somehow, she saw vague blurs in the distance before fading. She didn't know what they were doing or saying at first. Even when she began to hear them, distant, like an echo at the end of a tunnel, her mind wouldn't work enough to comprehend what was being said. However, she still heard.

"Still alive after all that?"

"He used magic. Damn warlock."

"That wasn't magic. It was something else."

A pause, and the world began to fade to nothingness.

"Pack up what's left of him. I'm sure researching him will be useful too…"

And then, oblivion.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	29. Abandon All Hope

"…That's the word. They want all of them."

"Oh, come now. Certainly they can leave one or two of them behind. Especially the Esthar's Hawks and the Child of Hyne."

"After what they did back in the port city, they want _all_ of them. Dr. Lindst thinks they'll further the research a lot better than the scum we've been scraping off the streets."

"She'll get them…in good time, of course."

"You're going against command?"

"They are, first and foremost, prisoners of war. Therefore, she can have them…_after_ I'm done with them. I'm interested in winning a war, not in science projects, especially ones that have to do with that kind of subject matter. Why the Dictator suffers people like her is beyond me."

"Are you sure it's not just because you want to see them scream?"

"…That's part of it, yes."

Dael's first recollection was this conversation, being said by two different men…neither of which seemed terribly savory, but spoke with the accent of Sybenia. That, and a low, droning buzz ringing in her ears. In particular, the one who seemed reluctant to hand people over to science sounded especially smooth and slimy. He reminded Dael a lot of the officer they ran into back in Follett. She supposed all Sybenian officers shared that twisted mindset and demeanor.

However, as Dael's senses continued to come back to her, she began to realize that she was being bathed in a very bright, very hot light…the kind of which couldn't be generated by electricity. In fact, on feeling it, she soon began to have rather bad memories of the only thing that it could be: the sun over the Pallas Desert at midday. Slowly, her eyes cracked open. Not only was she blinded as a result, but her head was soon pounding. She felt horrible. As she continued to come to, she realized that although she was upright, she wasn't standing. Rather, she seemed to be hovering. Also, her arms were overhead and were anchored and she could feel her body being stretched a bit. As soon as she got enough bearings, she began to weakly open her eyes more and look around.

She was in the Pallas Desert alright. However, she wasn't in the middle of nowhere. Rather, just up ahead, she saw a semi-cylindrical bunker had been erected, as well as several towers and other small buildings. One tower in particular stood tall, and had searchlights and gunners on top of it…clearly a watch tower. And, sure enough, it hung the banner of Sybenia and the Guiding Hand. The area seemed to be fenced off and reinforced with electric barriers, and, before long, she saw not only several companies of troops march by, but also many others going about their business, whether they were servicing technology, cleaning weapons, retooling machines, or just seeming to head over to grab a bite to eat. Several artillery emplacements were within the fence around the camp, and a few other large vehicles calibrated for desert travel were parked there, with one armored transport moving. There wasn't enough there to be a full base, but this was definitely an outpost, and the standards indicated whose outpost it was.

Dael moaned a bit, and turned her head more…only to discover that a thick metal collar had been placed around it. As time passed, she realized the buzz wasn't in her head, but was coming from it. It was rather snug, making swallowing difficult. However, she ignored that as she looked up. Some sort of metal overhanging array had been set up with numerous hooks. She was currently hanging from one by a chain fastened to thick shackles around her wrists. She tried to look down, but the collar wouldn't allow it. The best she could see was that she was hovering about two or three feet over the ground from being suspended, and she could feel additional shackles and chains around her arms and legs. If that wasn't enough, her clothes were gone and had been replaced with what was, essentially, sackcloth with serial numbers on it. It offered little protection against the sun, and she could already tell she was burned.

Looking around a bit more, she soon let out a small gasp in her throat on seeing some of the others much the same. In particular, Taraketh and Bahamut were both hanging nearby. She couldn't see it for certain, but she feared that the others were behind her. She turned her head a bit more, and soon she saw one final thing. About five guards seemed to be idly watching them, all of low rank. They were perfectly calm and casual, smoking and leaning on their guns. In addition, what looked like a minor officer, yet a burly, dirty, and somewhat large one with a bushy black beard and mustache, was talking to a much higher-ranked officer who had paid so much attention to dress that he was overclad for the heat and was sweating. Nevertheless, he had a cruel, calculating look about him, and Dael knew at once it was the one who spoke with the voice she didn't like.

As she looked around a bit, however, the lower ranked officer cast her a glance, and turned fully to her. He soon gave a snicker.

"Look who's up." He stated. He turned to the men. "Seems I lost the bet. My money was on the butch girl dressed up for the Holiday pageant."

With that, he turned fully to Dael and walked up to her. She glared at him coldly the entire time, but said nothing. Soon, she realized that she was indeed a few feet in the air, as his head came down rather low. He chuckled again.

"You Esthar people…you're so naïve." He stated as he looked her over…in particular her chest. This made Dael tighten her fists in her shackles, but she could do nothing. "You've grown so soft and weak you think war is now a place to send little girls instead of men." He paused at this, looked to Bahamut momentarily, and then looked back to Dael. He snickered again. "You even send _children_ against us. And we are supposed to consider you our main enemies?"

With that, the low officer hesitated a moment…then reached out and groped Dael. Instantly, she stiffened up again, her teeth clenching. She instantly tried to call to mind a teleport spell. Teleporting out to wrap her chain around this man's neck and snap it would almost be worth getting shot by the other five guards. However…it was no good. She realized the collar around her neck must have worked just like the Eris Bells. Thankfully, he only did it a moment before pulling back.

"Well, young lady…" He said with a smile. "You are the first to wake up. Congratulations. Here is your prize."

Dael's eyes bulged and she spasmed and coughed a moment later as the officer smashed his fist into her stomach for all he was worth. All of the air rushed from her lungs, and Dael immediately went limp in the restraints again. Normally, her enhanced body would have shrugged off a punch from this man. But the Eris Bells seemed to be negating her junction as well. If she had the air, she would have cursed at herself and her own weakness.

At any rate, as she gasped for air and hung there, swaying a bit from the blow, the officer turned and walked over to the side, back to the other guards, who by now were snickering a bit at her. On reaching them, he took up some sort of device from an old steel drum set up there like a table. He turned back to Dael and pointed it at her, revealing it was some sort of remote. He pressed a button on it. Moments later, Dael felt vertigo as the chain overhead suddenly retracted, and the chains yanked her body down and dropped her unceremoniously into the sand in a heap.

Still coughing and trying to catch her breath, Dael lay there a moment. It was a miracle she moved her arms out of the way, or the heavy metal shackles, which had to weigh a good 15 kilograms, would have clonked her on the head. She hated how weak everything felt without her junction…although, she had to admit, being burned, dehydrated, weary, and, she now realized, hungry didn't help. As she lay there, she heard the guards get up. No doubt, they were training their guns on her now that she was "free". However, she had no intent of resisting…not yet. She realized how futile it was in her current state. And obviously they weren't going to kill her anytime soon. She began to realize that conversation had been directed toward her and those with her.

Weakly, Dael managed to elevate her head and look back to where she came from. Sure enough, to her displeasure, she saw that the others were there as well, dressed much the same. Everyone except Jalab... They were all still unconscious. However, Ceja was now beginning to stir. Even after having taken twice as much as the rest of them, she was recovering faster. No doubt, she would have been up by now if not for being shocked twice. However, there seemed to be other civilians hanging there too…

Before she could puzzle over this longer, however, one of the guards, pointing a rifle at her, went to her side. She turned and looked to him. Without warning, a moment later, he gave her a sharp kick in the side with a steel-toed boot. Dael's eyes widened, and immediately she clutched her side and doubled over to the ground.

"On your feet, piglet." He spat at her, making sure that the venom in his voice got some of his spit on her. "From now on, you do as you're told immediately, or you get a bullet in the head."

Dael continued to wince and moan for a moment, before looking up and glaring at the guard.

Immediately, he kicked her again, causing her to double over once more in agony.

"Don't you _dare_ look at me, stupid piglet!" The guard snapped. "Keep your head turned to the ground like the swine you are!"

Dael suppressed a groan. She wanted to snap at the man, but it would do no good. Instead, biting back her pain, she began to slowly push herself up. However, before she could get far…yet another kick came, dropping her yet again. A moment later, she felt her hair seized by the man's hand and given a sharp tug.

"Faster, stupid piglet!" The guard snapped, before flinging it down again.

The young officer required every ounce of self-restraint she possessed not to shoot out a hand, seize that man by the balls, and go down ripping them off. However…she controlled herself. Getting shot wouldn't do any good. Besides…she thought as she looked to Bahamut out of the corner of her eyes…she didn't want them shooting him or any of the others. She knew from the conversation that she was important to them now…at least, more important than the others. She didn't want them taking out their anger on then. And so, biting back her pain, she forced herself up and to her feet with the speed and poise expected of an Esthar's Hawk, yet keeping her head to the ground.

The guard looked ready to smack her again out of spite, this time using his rifle butt, but he didn't get the chance. Abruptly, Dael heard chains start to furiously rattle behind her, combined with straining noises. The guard looked up to this, as did the others. Immediately, he ran behind her, as did two more to join him. Dael turned and looked to see what happened.

Ceja was fully awake now, and struggling furiously against her bonds. Despite how thick they were, they seemed to groan a bit with each stretch. She tried shouting out at her captors, but it was odd. She seemed muted when she did so. Dael soon realized that the collars were also muting them as well as negating power. Kind of a "double whammy". At any rate, she continued to fight furiously even as the guards reached her, and started going off on her with their rifle butts.

Dael wanted to yell at them to stop or not look. After all…Ceja wasn't the kind of person who would stop after a few blows, or even a solid minute of being beaten. Even after two minutes, and she was covered with bruises and blood, she continued to struggle…and so they continued to strike her. It wasn't until five minutes had passed and Ceja merely hung there looking dead that they struck her for an _additional_ minute, and only then released her. Once she collapsed to the ground, a motionless heap, Dael feared the worst. Yet they didn't let up even then. They started to strike her and yell at her to get up, calling her a "stupid hog". That broke it. Dael had actually taken a step forward. She heard one of the remaining guards cock his weapon, ready to shoot her in the back.

But then, by some miracle for both Ceja and Dael, the woman, despite her numerous injuries, suddenly got up and, while still being struck, got to her feet. Her face was a mess of bruises, swelling, and blood…and yet her eyes still burned fiercely…at least, the one eye she could look out of. After hitting her a few more times for "good measure", the guards let her be.

As it turned out, over the next fifteen minutes everyone else woke up. Taraketh was next. He was initially as stubborn as Ceja…but he lacked the durability to withstand the blows. He went limp much faster and, once released, couldn't get up as easily. Somehow he did, probably due to pride more than anything. Cryder was next. He submitted fairly readily. Oh, they still hit him anyway, but not nearly as many times. Dael realized that was wisdom. They had more to gain from being compliant and regaining their strength than just letting themselves be turned into pieces of meat. Pride wouldn't help them here. Quaren, familiar with prisoner drills much the same as Dael was, quickly submitted too and spared himself some pain. Finally, there was Bahamut. They had no qualms about hitting a child when he landed in the sand, although Dael would have yelled at them if she could have. Yet Bahamut, much as he had from the previous beating, rose up soon after without a word and merely did as he was told.

During the course of this, the other civilians woke up as well, all receiving much the same treatement. Yet after a full hour, during which Dael only grew thirstier, dizzier, and hotter in the intense sun (not to mention burned on the soles of her feet, as the sand was hot and they had no shoes), they were all up. When that happened, one of the guards yelled at them.

"Get in line, pigs!"

Dael made sure to do it quickly this time, as those who did so slowly got struck again. Soon, she formed a row with the others. She only could look at them through her peripheral vision, as looking at them earned another strike. However, Ceja was on her right and Taraketh was on her left, with Bahamut on his own left. They stood there momentarily as the guards moved around them. By then, the higher-ranking officer spoke out.

"I'll leave you to it." He stated. "I'll deal with them when you've gotten them ready for me."

With that, he turned and walked off. Dael looked up a bit to him, but soon he was out of her range of vision, and she was forced to keep her head down. Soon after, however, the other officer stood in front. Grinning at them maliciously, he folded his arms behind him and looked them over.

"Hello, gentlemen…and ladies." He stated, adding the last bit with a bit of upturn in his voice. "I am Sgt. Denev. I will be your escort over the next few days as I conduct you to your new home: Helheim Detention Center. But before we go any farther, I need to inform you of a few small rules that you need to follow from now on, both under my watchful eye as well as when you arrive in Helheim.

"You get water, bread, and meat in gravy three times a day and no more, so if I were you I would eat it all. The clothes on your back are it, so take care that nothing happens to them. I've seen two dozen die from sunstroke during the walk alone. If someone next to you collapses, faints, or…dare I say…" He grinned a bit here. "Dies…either from the sun, the trip, or from a bullet from one of my guns…leave them. Do not even look at them or you may share their fate. Other than that…rules are simple.

"You do as ordered when you're ordered or you get shot. You walk until we say halt or you get shot. You go to the bathroom when we say or you get shot. You sleep when we say sleep or you get shot. And when you arrive at Helheim, you do each and every thing we say or you get shot. You complain, you get shot. You try to talk to us when we don't address you, you get shot.

"In short, you act like good little pigs and you live. You act like bad little bigs and you die. And don't think you all can't be replaced. There are hundreds more just like you waiting to come to Helheim. None of you are important. You are all dumb pigs. And, on that note, little pigs…"

With that, the officer brought his arms back around from behind him…revealing that he held a long metal stick with prongs at the end. It was clearly an electric prod. He grinned wickedly and gestured with it away from the area and toward the gate of the outpost.

"March!"

* * *

><p>Dael struggled to recall what she had learned about prisoner of war tactics and Sybenian war tactics as she marched. It was all she could do to ignore the intense pain and discomfort she was in. And after a while, she managed to recall what she had read. They were using a common tactic nowadays, what with all the talk of 'dumb pigs'. Sybenia regularly persecuted people. The Guiding Hand had taught the majority of citizens to hate and persecute the minorities in their midst…people who had once been friends and neighbors. The best way to encourage people to start thinking they were superior to others was for them to brand the "inferior" ones as not even human…hence them constantly referring to them as pigs.<p>

That was about all she could recall over the next three days, however.

Dael had heard of the term "death march" before…and, in all likelihood, this might have been the death march for one of them had she not been experienced in trying to go through the Pallas Desert before. All of them were given some sort of strong sunblock to apply to themselves, then chained together by their shackles. After that, they were commanded to march in a line out into the desert. Their guards followed alongside, but also with a sealed, armored transport running alongside. As they went along, every few hours the guards following them would move into the transport and fresh ones would come out on another shift.

It was soon Hell. Dael had no idea how the others were doing, couldn't ask them, and, if she could, she would be shot. However, she imagined they were soon feeling as bad as she was.

Frequently, she feared greatly for Bahamut, Quaren, and Cryder. They were still fully injured and burned from the fight with Ifrit. The Sybenians hadn't even dressed their wounds. No doubt, this march was doubly torture for them…and she wondered how they could possibly make it.

The first day was bad enough. They had to march through the desert with no proper clothing, no shoes, and no water except at meal times. She soon realized why they had gotten the sunblock. The burns would have killed them long ago or, if not, would have left them so battered when they got there that they'd have to waste resources healing them up before they'd be any use as slave labor, or so Dael supposed. Still…that didn't protect her from being baked half to death, and it didn't stop her feet from developing burns and blisters, until the slightest step was torture. They weren't beaten, at least, but the weight of their shackles slowed them to a snail's pace. Even on the first day, Dael's limbs and body were soon aching and agonized. No doubt…this march was to take the last of the fight out of them.

One of the civilians fell behind her at one point. Before she even knew it, hot and dizzy as she was from the desert, they shot him dead. She swallowed…praying that Bahamut would be able to make the journey as well as the rest of them. Remarkably, he held on, as did the others. It was taxing for them, however. She could tell how weary and exhausted they were becoming.

Stopping for a meal, they all received a small amount of water. Not enough to fully slake their thirst…but not a mere cup either. They all took it. Dael forced herself to take the food as well, despite the fact that it tasted like a mixture of cat food, the jelly that canned meat was stored in, and scat. It was the only way she could replenish her energy. They were allowed to group together here, and Dael moved around the others. Unfortunately, with their voices restrained, they could do little either than look at each other. Taraketh frequently glared at their captors, as did Ceja through her one unswollen eye. Dael tried to urge them to be patient. They had to get to wherever they were being taken. Once there, they could regain their strength and hopefully escape. As another misfortune, while they weren't beaten while they were walking, during meal time they were struck by guards for being too slow. At all times, however, they were continuously insulted. Dael knew why. They were trying to get _them_ to see themselves as less than human. Such a thing didn't happen overnight or even over a few days, but she knew it might if she stayed wherever they were going too long…

They marched a bit longer after meal time until the sun fell, at which point they were told to lie down and sleep. Naturally, they received no blankets. In the frigid desert air, all of them huddled together in a mass to keep warm with people alternating at the edges. The guards, from the warmth of their transport, laughed and mocked them…some even spitting on them…calling them disgusting swine for huddling together like that. Dael felt Taraketh bristle at that…but again they could do nothing.

The next day was worse. After all, they had to march longer. More insults…more beatings…more pain…more heat…and two more people shot that Dael couldn't do anything about. It was driving her insane…to be reduced to such a helpless state, to be at the mercy of these men that she could have taken apart two days ago. She began to wonder if Garrado knew about this yet…or Esthar, for that matter. Dael feared her feet would never fully heal, and her face was cracked and bleeding by now from being so dry. The momentary water breaks hardly helped, especially since the food they received was heavily seasoned with salt…no doubt because it was rather old and low quality and needed such for preservation. By the end of the day, she was almost hallucinating from the burning sun and endless dunes. Yet the thought that kept her from even allowing herself to think of a complaint was that somehow Quaren, Cryder, and Bahamut were still on their feet. Cryder seemed accustomed to pain, Quaren was clearly using everything he had to keep going, and Bahamut, despite wavering and nearly falling numerous times, was choking up on his own chains just to keep on his feet. Eventually, however, they stopped and rested again…and Dael, in spite of freezing, slept almost immediately.

The next day, which would be the last, started off bad, but improved a bit, relatively speaking, as they moved along. The seashore came into view, and cool breezes from the ocean provided some small measure of relief. However, they didn't go far before they found more Sybenians. Military engineers accompanied by large groups of soldiers were moving down the coast, putting up gun emplacements and other defenses. It was hardly as sophisticated as the defenses guarding Sybenia directly, but still would make any invasion problematic. Smoke began to form on the horizon, indicating another facility of some sort.

Some of the Sybenians passed them. They laughed at them, spat on them, and groped the females…Dael included. At one point, she was certain Ceja was going to lean out and bite one sticking his hand in her face. The young officer quickly reached out and stomped on her foot, a move that managed to sneak by the guards thanks to the mass of soldiers about. They had to be patient…

As they marched closer and closer, the smoke grew thicker and thicker, and the air grew foul. Dael showed visible disgust. No factory this dirty or filthy had produced waste such as that in Esthar in over 30 years. Apparently, Sybenia was saving some money on evading regulations. The sand itself became murky and stained with soot and other residue. All in all, the place started to resemble the worst parts of Leuco. However, after passing a few more large dunes, they finally began to see their destination up ahead.

It was in a low-lying valley, going underneath the dunes and stretching almost to sea level. It moved down and toward the line on the shore, and then spanned a considerable distance, but was surrounded by upward sloping hills and dunes on all sides…making it hard for anyone to get out without being seen, obviously. Triple chain link fences surrounded the facility, two double layered, then forming a line in between the second and third that guards were patrolling with monstrous hounds that were apparently mutated from Sybenia for attack purposes.

Beyond that existed a large yard…extensive and far reaching. On it was arranged all manner of things. It was impossible to make them out at first, but it appeared as if there were piles of rocks lying about. Some of them looked like standard rocks, but most of them had metallic shines or colorful hues. Dael knew little of geology, but she knew an ore when she saw it. Accompanying them were other assorted piles that Dael couldn't make out, and several large, flaming pits. The way they dotted the landscape all over, and the way what looked like gray-black grime stained everything…it gave the impression of an almost volcanic landscape…or a wasteland.

Numerous buildings were beyond. None of them looked like a standard prison. Rather, there were numerous small shacks in a separate fenced off area within the main fenced off portion…obviously where they led the workers to sleep, possibly to eat as well. Most of the other buildings, however, were large, metal and brick, and belching out foul smoke and fumes while being illuminated with flames from the inside. They looked like small factories, made of cheap yet highly unsafe technology. Carts and tracks had been made to go inside and out of them, and Dael could tell that ore was being brought into these places.

Beyond that, there were a few other things of note. There was a large, well-made, yet still basic military barracks that obviously was for the guards. There were numerous towers both inside and on the perimeter of the place, each one topped with a compliment of soldiers with rifles and scopes. Toward the back, another interesting sight. There was actually a small dock with a few warehouses attached, large enough to not only accommodate freighters but also a full-sized Sybenian destroyer. Since this was a more-than-overt best chance at an escape route for the inmates, it was also the most well guarded. Solid walls with guards posted and a large gate was sitting there, not just chain link. Even if the inmates rioted, there was no way they could get through it or even ram it with a vehicle…or even armored transport.

"Speed up! Faster, you pigs!" The leading officer yelled, striking the lead walker with his prod for spite.

Dael was forced to keep up. Roughly, they all had to keep the same pace, regardless of how tired or injured. The chains would allow them to do no less. Soon, they were approaching the chain link fences, and a large steel door gate across them. The gates were opened, and they were herded inside. By now, Dael was struggling not to cough and choke, and having been baked by the sun and walked across the desert for close to three days, the fumes were making her dizzy almost to the point of collapse. Yet somehow, she stayed alert enough to look around her.

Now she saw that there were hundreds of people dressed much like her at work. Their heads had been shaved and they were starving…making them look less and less human and, therefore, easier and easier to mistreat. Their faces were sullen, downcast, hopeless…like dogs that had been beaten into submission. Some looked better than others…obviously having not been there as long, but still downcast. All of them wore collars like Dael did. Some of them showed irritation around them…indicating that they were never allowed to remove them. As such, they were silent, unable to even speak to one another. And always, guards and taskmasters would come by and strike the slow ones, yelling at them and calling them 'pigs', 'dogs', and 'rats'.

Most of them were working the factories, endlessly toiling to bring in new ore and pump out what looked like girders, pipes, cables, and other basic goods that could be used to make larger items. Many were covered with ashes and soot, their hands nothing more than bleeding calluses. Almost all were limping, for none had any shoes and their feet were covered with injuries, burns, and wounds. Many of them were severely infected…and some were already missing feet and struggling to keep working on one foot and a crude artificial leg. The fact that these ones seemed to try and keep their remaining feet as uninjured as possible told Dael what would happen if they lost their other foot as well…yet the guards beat and kicked these ones especially…no doubt eager to replace them with newer workers as soon as they could. With no bandages, some had torn part of their own flimsy garments into strips of cloth to bind their feet, while others actually packed mud on them to try and made crude "soil shoes".

Whoever wasn't working was doing chores around the prison. Some were painting buildings. Others were emptying the outhouses. A considerable number were around the barracks, and Dael assumed they were waiting on the guards and officers, mending their clothes, washing their bathrooms, making their beds, sweeping their floors, and the like. Finally, there came the "other" piles. Dael now saw they were full of things of value that had been seized…fine clothes, jewelry, antiques…anything that seemed valuable. Some of the prisoners were rooting through them, seeming to separate them into piles and remove anything that didn't have value. Occasionally, a guard would walk by and pocket whatever caught their eye. Not just the jewelry, but clothing and antiques too. Some would hold them up and seem to look them over. Dael assumed that the Sybenians had families just like anyone else, and perhaps they were sending gifts home to their spouses or children…just gifts that came at the expense of others.

The ground wasn't all sand. They were near the coast, and grist had been spread around in such a way to make packed dirt landscapes. The result provided a bit better traction and mobility. However, there was a rather extensive yard just up ahead that the prisoners were steering away from. A wooden podium was erected on one side, but no one was on it at the moment. However, guards were coming out to reinforce the current ones. Soon, the compliment had tripled.

The group was made to get in line and, to the tune of more yelling and a few blows, was forced to file ranks similar to how they had been earlier. The newer guards yelled at them continuously, calling them numerous names and always using 'pigs'. However, they simmered down as well, and soon all of them were arranged. When they were, a line of soldiers appeared in front of them, all with guns out. For a brief moment, Dael tensed, thinking that they were going to shoot them dead now.

However, such didn't happen. Instead, some of the guards shouldered their rifles and pulled back, and another team moved to the line with a set of magnetic keys. Using them, they went into the shackles and began to remove them, starting at the front of the line and moving down. It took no time at all before they started to unlock the group as well. Dael couldn't speak, but she turned and looked in the line. Ceja saw what they were doing, and she already saw the muscles of the woman tightening. The guards that had witnessed her up until now began to raise their guns to her.

Miraculously, however, Dael made eye contact with her, and she looked to the young officer. Intensely, Dael mouthed "no" to her. They wouldn't try to capture her next time. They'd shoot her dead. She could only hope Ceja could swallow her pride a second time and take that advice.

The warrior looked back at Dael at this for a few moments. She paused…but then finally eased slightly. Sighing in relief, Dael looked forward again.

She cared little for how rough they were when they unlocked her, wrenching her limbs as painfully as possible to do so. All she cared about was when the shackles were off. Her wrists and ankles cried for relief and air, and she felt much lighter and looser. If only they would have removed the collar as well… At her current power, with no weapons and nothing special, she knew she'd never last for more than a few moments if she tried to cause trouble now. It didn't help that she was still totally drained from the march. So escape plans weren't going to help. She thought of calling on Carbuncle…but that would do no good. She still needed to speak, and even if he got here he couldn't get them out.

Finally, the line was done, and the chains and shackles were hauled away. As that happened, one of the guards barked. "Strip, you filthy pigs!"

Awkward as that command was, no one disobeyed it. All of the guards with guns pointed at them were just looking for a good excuse to fire. In spite of the fact that this was the last thing she wanted to do, especially in front of all these backwoods soldiers…some of whom, she saw, were already starting to leer at the women…she removed the simple piece of sackcloth and tossed it aside. At least her arms were free to cover herself partially now. As the others in the group began to do the same, she had a good idea of what was coming. She turned to the others and made a motion to close their eyes and cover their mouths and noses. However, even as she did this, she saw that the ones who had been burned not only had barely begun to heal, it had likely become worse, and the burns infected.

One of them was Bahamut…

Before she could think any longer, however, the guards returned to the line…this time carrying fire hoses with them. A moment later, they switched them on. Dael only had a moment to pick up a distinct acrid and toxic scent before she was nearly ripped off of her feet by a solid ram of water.

It took about three seconds for the pain to hit Dael, at which point she thought that she was being subjected to the most inhumane form of execution ever devised, even for Sybenia. She wasn't sure what was in those hoses, but she knew in an instant that it wasn't just water. It was some form of strong, acrid-smelling burning chemical. The way it struck her skin and immediately set all of her sweaty pores on fire, and tried to seep through the cracks of her nose and eyes and even ears to burn her, especially the way it was being blasted into her, made it feel like she was being bathed in acid. Somehow she held back from screaming, if for no other reason to keep the material out of her mouth. Only after about five seconds did she realize they were being "power-washed", not killed, but that the longer this took the more she would be sprayed. And so, highly reluctantly, she turned around and let them get all of her.

As she did, somehow, over the sound of the water, which was fierce and piercing enough to hurt all on its own, she heard flopping from down the line as the hoses hit other people. They weren't able to hold back their own pain, and, likely, suffered more from it because their thrashing enabled some of it to get in their mouths. The soldiers yelled at them to get up and threatened them, but none of them fired, and none of them went in to beat them, lest they risk getting hit by the fluid themselves.

After what seemed like ten minutes but was probably no more than fifteen seconds, the hose moved on to the next person in line. As Taraketh was smacked by the antiseptic, she could hear him clench his teeth and exclaim through them, but other than that nothing else. She couldn't see any of it, naturally. The fluid was running in her eyes and she didn't dare open them right away. Naturally, they weren't provided towels or anything either. She had to hold simply until it dried a bit of its own accord. Her skin felt raw and on fire after only a few minutes. However, right before she could open up her eyes…she heard a choked off retch from nearby…

Quaren.

Despite the result, she forced her eyes to open and looked down the line. The fluid immediately ran into her eyes, stinging and burning them, and her vision went blurry. However, she managed to look, and saw that her friend was in total agony. The burns on his neck were too large and erratic. He couldn't cover them. The fluid was soaking them, and was driving him into uncontrollable pain. He was trying his hard to stifle it, but it was too much. The guards, sadistic as they were, seemed to be trying to blast him in his burn, tearing open the wound again to drive it wild. He couldn't even scream due to his collar, but his attempts to were still somehow making sounds.

This was too much for Dael. In spite of her attempts to be calm and wait for the right moment, she couldn't stand just watching this. She had to do something. Yet even as she planned to move, she realized something else.

Bahamut was next in line…and the hoses would get him next.

Dael went a bit wide-eyed at the thought, feeling her insides stirring. Quaren was her friend…but he had been trained for this. He had undergone tear gas training and torture endurance the same as the rest of Esthar's Hawks. Bahamut was just a kid.

The hoses finally let Quaren go, who was barely standing at this point, and shifted toward Bahamut next. The boy, in spite of knowing clearly what was coming, stood there defiantly. It was a futile gesture. The hose was too strong. Dael had almost been knocked off of her feet by it and she was a highly trained soldier. He was just a boy. As a result, Dael did the only thing she could do.

Right as the hoses turned on Bahamut, Dael leapt forward, wrapped her body around him as best as she could, covered his burns with her arms as best as she could, and took a second soaking.

This one was no easier than the first. They quickly shifted to her head, blasting there and yelling orders for her to get back in line. However, as she felt Bahamut stiffen in her grasp, heard him wince and hiss as the runoff from the hoses alone began to seep into his wounds and skin and make him burn all over, she refused to move. It was bad enough that they were being subjected to this. Bahamut could be blinded or deafened by it if they sprayed the burning material into his eyes and ears for all she knew. And she couldn't let him be driven into such agony through his burns. If nothing else, she could keep the sadistic soldiers from blasting the fluid into his wounds. She didn't know how he was reacting and she couldn't tell, but she wasn't going to open her eyes to find out.

The guards kept blasting her, and soon were calling her all sorts of profane names. However, none of them would intervene directly, not going to risk getting blasted by the antiseptic. That wouldn't stop them from shooting her, however, and so, after a time, Dael began to rotate Bahamut around, making sure that at least the runoff fluid was getting him all over. He complied. In spite of his own agony, he had enough presence of mind to realize what she was doing, it seemed. Although the guards must have blasted her for a full minute this time, they seemed to finally realize what she was doing as well, and that she wasn't going to stop. And so…they finally cut off the flow and moved to the next.

Dael's skin was so on fire she didn't even know they had stopped soaking her with the hose at first. She was battered, dizzy, and addled from the entire experience. Again, her eyes were closed. As she slowly pulled back from Bahamut, however, she tried to open her eyes to see him…

She didn't get the chance. Rough hands seized her, making sure to hurt in the process, and dragged her back. As they did, clubs came out and struck her at various points.

"When I tell you to stay in line, idiotic piglet, you stay in line!" One of the soldiers sneered at her. However, it was his bare hand he was using as he dragged her back, and as a result he got some of the fluid on him. She heard him wince in pain as the others released her again, and the guard proceeded to slap her across the face hard in anger. Between the death march, the desert, her hunger, her thirst, and now the brutal washing…Dael didn't have the strength to stand up to it anymore. She collapsed to the ground from the blow. She heard another sneer from the guard before a boot smashed her in the gut, and she immediately spasmed and clutched for it. Soon after, the Sybenians let her be, leaving her to slowly draw herself to her feet again.

As soon as she was up, she got another dose of the hose…this time to clean the dirt off of her that she had just accumulated. But after that, it was finally over. Feeling half drowned and weak, Dael could only wobble on her own two feet as she waited for the hoses to finish with everyone else. She used the opportunity to let her eyes clear. She heard no more wretching, but she supposed everyone could be screaming in agony and she wouldn't know it. She finally was able to open her eyes again, initially only seeing a blur, but it cleared with time. Eventually, they were all sprayed, and the hoses were cut off.

Another line of guards came up as the first put away the hoses. These ones had powder, and proceeded to throw an amount on each of their still wet bodies, both sides, to delouse them. Finally, one last line of guards came in and began to throw out new sets of the flimsy clothing, tossing one to each individual rather than handing them out, seeming to shy from the touch of them.

Once all of them had one, a command was uttered. "Put them on, filthy pigs!"

This wasn't that easy. They were all still wet and most of them still dripping. The clothes adhered to their bodies and were soon soaked as well as they put them on. As Dael struggled to do so, she spotted something. A few guards and another higher-ranked officer were taking their places on the podium. The high officer was a large man, both in size and middle, and wearing a set of wire-rimmed glasses with circular lenses. He had a calm, collected look about him, but also a hard and indifferent one. Once he was on top of the podium, he crossed his arms behind him and patiently waited.

By now, Dael and the others, despite being battered, sore, and in a great deal of pain, were dressed. And so, the guards wasted little time in coming up to them, ordering them and shoving them onward and over to move their line in front of the podium. Even if Dael had any desire to resist at this point, she was too weak to do so. Instead, she tried not to collapse from the soreness of her feet (which now had open wounds flooded with the antiseptic), and moved over to take her position in line.

Finally, they were all lined up. Once they were, the guards and soldiers moved into new positions, cleaned up the last of the mess, and stared at them. The large man looked over all of them similar to how a drill sergeant looks over a recently cleaned barrack. Dael just stood there grateful for the heat of the sun and the factories. She was still dripping the acrid fluid. The last thing she wanted was to be freezing in the desert's night sky as well.

"My name is Colonel Randolph Horatio." The officer finally spoke, in a very straightforward and measured tone. "This is Helheim Detention Center. I am the Warden. All of you will remain here until such a time as our Dictator no longer feels you are a threat to the Guiding Hand and that you can prove yourselves to be productive citizens of Sybenia. There are no cells here. No shackles or chains. No solitary confinement blocks. There is only order and discipline. You will obey the rules. The rules are you will do as you are told when you are told or you will be shot. You will wake up at 5 AM. You will wash yourselves and present yourselves for inspection. You will eat breakfast, and then you will work until noon. After you are fed again, you will work until 8 PM and you will be fed dinner. Then you will sleep. As far as work is concerned, most of you will work in the factories. The others will do chores.

"You are all dirty trash, and for the crime of opposing Sybenia none of you deserves life. However, our Dictator, in his great mercy, has instead sent you here to be provided for and fed on the government dollar. Our government has shown you kindness and compassion where you have shown us nothing but contempt. You will learn gratitude and respect as a result. You will be thankful to Sybenia and the Guiding Hand for each day that you live, for that is our gracious gift to you. You will also work to further our cause and you will salute our flag and standard every morning. In time, even you pigs, the most useless and depraved of all life on this world, may gain a modicrum of dignity and honor by supporting the world empire.

"Do as you are told and you will be treated well. Oppose us and you will be killed immediately. I do not believe in warning shots or second chances. Give me reason to believe you are plotting against us and you will be executed. Some of you will eventually be taken to our experimental facilities, where your worthless lives will be put to the noble cause of furthering the goals of the Guiding Hand. The rest of you will have to work and work hard.

"None of you will be allowed to speak. You are pigs, you have nothing useful to say, and we can do without your grunting. Your collars will remain on your necks at all times. Attempt to remove them and you will be shot. Look around you. Those prisoners are your fellow workers. They are not your friends or family or acquaintances. They, like you, are merely workers. Therefore, you are not allowed to write messages to them or aid them in any way. Attempt to do so and you will be shot. Even if they are your own family members, you are now all workers for the Guiding Hand and have only one father and family: Rozan Heirarch and the Guiding Hand. And he demands you work, not engage in idle chatter.

"Do not bother making any escape plans. No one knows this installation exists except Sybenia, so no one will try to liberate you. Garrado is crumbling, so no assistance will come from there. Esthar is lazy and incompetent, so no assistance will come from there. Accept your roles as swine workers for Sybenia, for that is what you are and what you will be until the day you die."

With that, the large man uncrossed his arms from behind his back. He revealed another electric prod, much as the sergeant had. However, he did not implement it immediately. Instead, he crossed it in front of him and turned to the side of the platform. He went to the stairs and slowly descended them. His footsteps echoed loudly over the silent field, despite the working in the background and the chugging of machines and industry. He slowly moved over to the line as two guards moved over behind him. As he walked alone, he turned and looked out. His eyes glanced over each prisoner. Most of them hid their gazes, assuming they weren't still cringing from the power wash. However, Dael looked forward. She didn't see the others through her peripheral gaze, but she assumed they were much the same.

The Warden eventually came in front of them. He paused there. His prod went out, still deactivated, and gently tapped one of them. He moved along, doing the same at a slow pace, including to Dael when he passed her. She looked him in the eyes as he went by, but didn't react. Finally, he stopped after moving to the last of them. He held a moment, and then turned to one of the guards. He spoke to him momentarily, as if confirming something, and then looked back to the line. On doing so, he motioned outward.

"The six of you that I just tapped. Step forward."

Dael did as she was told. On seeing her do it, the others followed suit.

"You all are POWs and therefore somewhat more than the trash in the rest of the line. You will be sequestered to a different area and receive special tasks."

He looked to the guards and made a gesture. Immediately, eight soldiers came forward and surrounded them. The Warden turned to the others. "As for the rest of you idiotic pigs, you will report to the barber immediately."

Dael could guess why that was the case, but she didn't have long to dwell on it. The Warden turned and left at this, and the next highest-ranking guards came up and immediately started barking orders and herding them on. Some started to drive the people while the ones surrounding Dael's group shoved them with rifle butts and began to lead them to one side.

Giving one last glance to the desolate, downcast people who were being herded off to begin the process of dehumanizing them into the equivalent of slaves, Dael exhaled and looked forward again as she was led off.

* * *

><p>Dael soon had bigger worries on her mind than the fate of what happened to those people. The woman herself was led along with the others out to the barracks in the back, away from the workers and the factories. They were taken past the officer's barracks next. At that point, however, more soldiers came out and joined them, and proceeded to divide them up. In moments, they were all being broken up into individuals and led away, Dael herself being flanked by three guards and separated from the others. She tried to watch them to see where they were taking them, but that only led to more smacks by the guards. She hissed in frustration. She needed some time to think, now that she was here, time to plan what she could do to escape. She believed the Warden about Garrado. It would be no help. They would have to somehow figure out a way to get out on their own. But how could they do so without being spotted? She didn't have the advantages from the mission to Sybenia…<p>

However, her thoughts of the others, even Bahamut, couldn't last. Soon she was wondering what fate was in store for her. As she was led to a back lot, away from the eyes of others, by three male guards, she couldn't help but fear that they didn't have something wholesome in store for her. Nevertheless, she held on. She was weak, tired, drained, and in agony…and didn't have any special powers. However, if they were truly alone by themselves, her odds of beating three isolated soldiers were better than trying to go against the whole of the camp.

In the end, they moved out of the shadow of the barracks, and up to a sunny patch of ground in between the building and the fence. All that she saw there was a single shovel protruding from the earth, having been stuck in. It held, because the ground, due to the sea, was more solid here and less sandy. They marched her straight up to it. She focused on the shovel as they arrived. If nothing else…that might provide _something_ of a weapon should things go bad.

Finally, they reached it. The guards immediately fanned out again and surrounded her from three different angles, approximately equidistant to each other. Their weapons stayed at their sides, but ready to be raised to aim at her at a moment's notice. For a moment, they stood there silently, and she stood in their midst, doing nothing and saying nothing.

"…Alright, piglet." One of them finally stated. He motioned. "Pick up that shovel."

Seeming to anticipate what she might do, all of them backed off together, putting her out of striking distance for all of them. She held a moment, but then did as she was told. She reached over and grabbed the handle, and pulled it from the ground. It was wooden and rough, obviously an old shovel and not finished. The iron spade was dull as well.

The one who spoke motioned to the ground. "I want a ditch dug. So get to it."

Dael hesitated a moment. She almost asked what size and dimensions, but reconsidered. Not only could she not make a noise, but if she tried she'd probably just get beat again even if she could talk. And so, instead, she shifted the shovel in her grasp, and then began to dig.

It didn't take long for such a simple task to become a strain. She was still in the sun, and in spite of the smoke this was near a desert, and was hot and dry. She thought of working until noon and that she would receive water and food…but she gained neither. Nothing save the stares of the guards. She was sweating in no time, and tried to cool her dry mouth by occasionally licking her own sweat. Yet that did little to help the rest of her. After all, she was very tired and sore already, and this only made her more tired and sore. Her blistered, bleeding feet frequently ached as she moved about on the ground, and the fact that she had to step on the spade to get it to go into the dirt didn't help. Her hands were soon being rubbed raw by the wood, and as time went on she began to get splinters. But she continued to work, never stopping, even as the day wore on longer and longer.

Noon came and went. Dael was quivering a bit from pain and hunger, and a bit dizzy from thirst. A large pile of dirt was nearby, and a deep hole was in the ground, practically big enough for Dael to completely fit inside standing up. She enjoyed the comfort of it, being in the darker, cooler ground. However, around this time, the guard changed. Three new soldiers came up. They swapped out and took their positions, and soon looked down on her again. Dael didn't stop. She continued to dig.

"Piglet." One of them called after a bit.

Dael paused in her work, panting a bit, and looked up to him.

"What are you doing getting this dirt all over the yard?" He asked coldly. "Get rid of it."

Dael paused for a moment…realizing what this was now. She stiffened, and swallowed a little, and then proceeded to slowly and wearily crawl out of the hole. It was a hard affair, considering how tired and sore she was. But finally she did so. After that, she exhaled, and then stuck her shovel into the dirt and lifted some back into the hole.

The hours ticked by again. Dael panted more and more, her lips dry and cracking again despite her power wash. She was covered with sweat and grime from the beating sun. It was slowly going down now, but not nearly fast enough. The lack of food and water continued to ebb at her strength. Her muscles began to burn and throb. The shovels of dirt that she put in got smaller and smaller, but still she weakened. Her head hung low as her hair was soaked, but still she worked.

Finally, Dael paused. Sticking the spade against the ground, she closed her eyes and paused a moment.

A second later, a rifle butt smacked her in the side. In spite of her weakness, she arched back in pain and, losing her balance completely, fell to the ground. Once there, the other guards moved in and each one of them struck her once, hard and strong.

"You don't stop until we say stop, piglet." The guard snorted. "Get up."

Dael was dizzy and sick as well as sore now, but somehow, she managed to force herself onto her feet fairly rapidly. Still panting, she resumed her work.

The sun had just finished going under the horizon, and Dael had moved almost all of the dirt back into the hole. At that, the three guards from earlier returned, starting a new shift. Again they were switched out. Dael continued to work…but she knew it was only a matter of time before it happened again. Sure enough, it did.

"Stupid piglet." The guard from earlier coldly stated. "I told you to dig a ditch. Why are you filling it back in? Dig it now."

Dael stopped just in the midst of dumping in another shovelful of dirt. She panted and closed her eyes for a moment.

A rifle once again smacked her across the face, knocking her to the ground.

"_Now_, you filthy piglet."

Dael couldn't rise this time. She had to endure more blows before the combination of pain and what energy she had left was enough to get her back to her feet. Once there, she began to dig again.

Night fell, and Dael's entire body was quivering, feeling like jelly. The lack of heat was no help. Now it was freezing cold, and still dry. She didn't think she could talk now if she wanted to. Her hands were throbbing calluses. Her feet were numb and likely infected again. Her entire body felt like an open sore and all of her muscles were on fire. But still, she continued to work. Somehow, she continued to dig. She tried to focus on something else, like how the others were doing. But she couldn't. All she could think was of her endless chore.

It took her much longer to get anywhere this time. The sky was beginning to turn purple again when the second shift returned. By now, Dael was barely conscious. However, as predicted, the soldiers swapped out, and once again looked down on her.

"You worthless piglet." The guard said. "I tell you to get the dirt off of my yard, and you put even more out. Get rid of it before I shoot you."

Dael, more croaking and rasping rather than panting now, used everything she had to climb out of the hole again. It took her four tries…but inside the hole, the guards couldn't smack her, and so she was out again, and soon resumed her task.

The sun rose again, and soon Dael was being baked. She had eaten nothing since breakfast the day before, and that had been scraps more than anything. She was practically hallucinating in the heat. Whereas the other prisoners had a chance to rest, she had been working all night. Her head was pounding from lack of water. She barely even knew what was happening anymore. Yet somehow, she could still feel pain because she collapsed twice, and each time was greeted with blows by the soldiers. She couldn't even focus on why this was happening. Were they torturing her to death? Trying to break her? She didn't know…and she was too dehydrated to even think about it.

Around noon, when Dael was practically on her knees, the guards switched again. It was early this time. The ditch was only half full. Dael could barely move. She looked like the living dead.

The one who returned barked an order.

"Stop now, piglet."

Dael did so…and proceeded to drive her spade into the ground as she nearly collapsed. She could barely stand. She was almost out of it. She was quivering all over, her muscles on fire, her strength completely spent. She hardly knew what was happening.

However, after a while, the guards, now six of them, split up. Five of them surrounded her, all with guns drawn. That done, their leader looked at her a moment, and then walked forward. In moments, he came to a halt in front of her. Dael's head was bowed, but not out of respect…out of exhaustion. She felt his gloved hand come out and grab her by the chin and elevate her head…so that the two were face to face. However, she could only stare at him with a glazed look in her eyes.

The soldier stared a bit longer at her…and then leaned over and proceeded to run his tongue along her cheek.

Disgusted and enraged as Dael was from the act…she could do nothing. She couldn't even look irritated. Her brain was so fried that everything felt like a dream now. All she could feel was her pain, exhaustion, and thirst. She stood there like the walking dead.

At this, the officer released her chin and let her head fall.

"This one is ready."

* * *

><p>Dael wished she could have kept track of where she was going, but it was impossible. She was too weak at this point. She could barely stand. And so, when the guards came in and grabbed her by either arm, proceeding to literally drag her across the yard, the only thing she could do was be grateful that they were moving her and not making her walk or beating her for not walking. Still, it didn't take long for her brain to start thinking of what they had in store for her, what she was now "ready" for.<p>

She couldn't even accurately tell how long they dragged her or where, but it seemed to be a considerable distance. Being around noon, she didn't slip into any shadows, but eventually she came up to some sort of building, she assumed. She heard a door open, and a moment later she was dragged over a threshold. The merciless sun was at last cut off, and she was in shadow. It grew considerably cooler. However, a rather foul and disgusting scent hit her nostrils. It smelled of rot and funk and who knew how much other filth. She was still being dragged inside, but the loathsome stench had sufficient power to rouse her to her senses, and she managed to weakly look up.

The sight she saw wasn't comforting.

In the strictest terms, this looked like some sort of shed. Perhaps a larger tool shed at some point or a work area. Maybe it was used during construction of the barracks. The floor was gravel and the walls were loose boards with considerable gaps in between the two. Half of it was in shadow, meaning it was tucked away in a corner of the installation. Because of the desert sun and dryness, it was considerably cooler in there…but that was cold comfort as to what she saw.

The room was filled with rusted, old, sharp tools of various sizes. Some were power tools. Some were hand tools. None of them were for building. All of them were for torture. There were various racks, tables, and spikes hanging about as well, and many of them were stained with blood. In particular, a large oven filled with hot coals was in one spot, and some sort of rack array looked like it enabled one to strap a person down and roll them inside of it… Meathooks hung from the ceiling and blood was old and dried on the floor. Filthy buckets were to one side, obviously for cleanup.

In spite of Dael's semi-conscious state, she knew what she was doing here.

Dael was dumped on the ground unceremoniously, her face pressed into the filth and stench. She lay there, still trying to catch her breath and see if she could regain any strength at all. She wanted so badly, in spite of her situation, just to sleep… But she didn't have the chance. She heard a rattling of older-style chains soon, and they were brought over to her. She was flipped over roughly, and her arms seized. They were drawn out and shackles were put over her arms along with a chain. After that, the guards roughly yanked her up and into the air, where the chain now extending between her arms was hung over one of the meathooks. She was soon left dangling much as before.

One of the guards came before her, and produced another one of those magnetic keys.

"In case you're thinking of escaping, hog, don't bother. There is an Eris Bell in this room."

He turned and gestured. Dael weakly looked. Sure enough, against a wall, about 30 feet away and well out of reach, one of those humming generators was going. She had been so tired before she couldn't hear them.

With that, the guard turned back, inserted the key, and finally undid the collar.

She could feel the coolness on her skin as it was exposed for the first time in days, and soon after, she began to hear a ragged croak…which she realized was her dried out voice. She was still quite weak, however. The Eris Bell was nullifying her junction. Soon after, the guards turned and left. The door slammed shut, and she hung there in the shed.

Dael swung a little, closed her eyes, and focused. Much as she just wanted a night of rest…she knew that she'd soon be taxed again. That was the only reason she could be here. Now she'd have to deal with "true" torture, not just being worked to death. In all honesty…she didn't know how long she could do it. They had been wearing her down for a few days now, sapping her strength and reserves, and now she was hungry, thirsty, and sleep-deprived. She knew if they simply continued to deprive her of sleep and submit her to more pain, eventually her mind would crumble and she'd tell them anything they wanted to know simply from being unable to focus. Her will was strong, but she wondered if it was only a myth or real that some people were truly "unbreakable". Technically, when she did torture endurance training, they had to cut it off before they did permanent damage to the recruits. Sybenia had no such distinction… She had to summon what little strength and will she had left and get a "breather" while she could. Meanwhile, she frequently swallowed, trying to slake her thirst.

After about ten minutes of hanging there, the doors opened again. Soon afterward, the guards brushed her as they passed by. They dragged another individual in there. She looked, and soon saw that it was Taraketh. Her suspicion was aroused. Typically, didn't they interrogate prisoners separately? So they could do the whole "prisoner's dilemma"? However, she soon realized the truth, and it made her more uneasy. They warned her when she got into advanced programs that this was a sexist fact of life, but a fact of life none the less. She was a "simple woman". It didn't matter if she could take it more than anyone else. The typical male who possessed any modicrum of decency also was rooted in notions of chivalry. If he was forced to watch a male friend being beaten to death he might bite his tongue and hold out…but a female friend? By a male? Especially if the male decided to assault her halfway through it?

Taraketh's stubborn nature and lack of military training made him foolish. As they dragged him in, he suddenly lashed out for a weak blow at his captors. They smacked him in the head with a rifle butt and dropped him again. They proceeded to get out a new set of chains and start chaining him up again, only for him to spring to life and try to fight again, and once more was knocked down. He no doubt had been worked to the point of exhaustion like Dael had, but he was being stupid…trying to strike back as soon as he had enough power to do so. Dael, on the other hand, had been biding her time. She knew she could make a few focused blows if the time came for it, although, at the moment, hanging as she was, she could do nothing. Taraketh was finally hung up. The moment they unlocked his own collar, arcane words sprung from his lips…but did nothing due to the Eris Bell. Immediately, however, the guards began to beat him again as he hung there. Even when he went limp, they kept striking him a few more times.

"Keep your witchcraft to yourself, pig." One of them sneered.

In spite of her standing, Dael managed to weakly look up and frown. "So this is the bravery of your great empire…" She croaked through a dry throat. "Not striking a man unless he's powerless to fight back."

She had enough of these Sybenians. She wanted to at least say something. Of course, her jibe costed her, and she knew it would. Moments later, she closed her eyes and winced as the nearest guard came over and smashed her in the gut with his rifle butt.

"I like these pigs better when they can't speak." The guard sneered. "They at least know their place then."

"Why do we not just cut their tongues out?" Another guard snorted.

"These two, at least, still need them for a bit longer…even if that's all we need of them intact." The third darkly stated.

With that, the guards began to pull out. Soon, they too went behind Dael, and the sound of the door opening and closing went out. Taraketh, meanwhile, was covered with fresh bruises and blood, and gasping for air. Dael watched him, and saw that, while angled slightly, they were both still in full view of each other. Not good.

After a moment, Taraketh managed to weakly open his eyes and look to her. "Still alive, I see…"

"Save your breath and your strength." Dael responded. "You're going to need all you have to endure what's coming."

Taraketh frowned. "I may not be an Esthar's Hawk…but I'm not a traitor, either."

"The only thing I want from you…" Dael spoke up, as firmly as she could in her weakened state. "Is to look at me with the same amount of hate and loathing you had when we first met. I don't need you getting weak on me…talking in order to save me."

Remarkably enough, Dael saw Taraketh pause. For a brief moment, she saw him clearly freeze and look at her. After a moment, however, he snorted. "…Don't worry. I still have no love for the military."

Dael, however, wasn't reassured. She closed her eyes and cursed mentally. She had been hoping for some time that Taraketh would loosen up, but now she wished he never had. He was part of a religious organization. It wasn't in his nature to let people suffer unjustly. Even if he still didn't like Dael perfectly, their relationship had changed and he now had a grudging respect for her, she realized. He saw her as a partner if nothing else. And that was more than enough comradery, she knew, to open a weakness. She wasn't sure how long they'd last…but she hoped it was longer than she now feared.

"…By the way." Taraketh spoke up again after a moment, causing Dael to forget her thoughts and look over to him. He wasn't looking at her, and his face was grim, but he spoke again. "No matter what happens…what you did for the boy yesterday…was very noble."

Dael said nothing in response. She merely was silent and continued to save her strength.

They didn't have to wait long. Eventually, the door to the back opened again. However, no one initially came in. There was a moment of silence first. Dael knew why. More mental warfare. Let the prisoners "stew" for a bit in their fear of what would soon be coming. When the individuals did walk in, they were all slow and methodical. The one in the lead had his steel-toed boots click slowly and methodically across the ground as he approached. Dael took one last deep breath to steady herself, and then focused. Soon, the leader walked into view.

Of all the people it could have been, it ended up being the higher officer that Dael saw a few days ago, right when she woke up to find herself hanging like a dead chicken. Getting a better look at him, she saw he was dirty-blond haired with icy blue eyes. He still had that smug, calculating, and cruel look about him. He was still overdressed as well, complete with officer's hat and coat. Once inside, he stood so that he was in clear view of both. He turned with hands crossed behind him to face both of them. He gave them a confident, smug smile.

"…Enjoying Helheim, you two?" He asked.

Taraketh gave him a murderous glare. Dael did nothing.

The officer smiled a bit more, and then moved over to an unseen console on one of the support beams in the room. He pressed a button on it. Moments later, a motor began to chug, and, a bit to Dael's surprise, the hooks that he and Taraketh were on began to move, like on invisible trams. She was pulled along with it, and both seemed to be "rotated" a bit, until they were angled a different way, now in clear view of the exit and the bulk of the room. The exit itself was guarded by two cold-looking soldiers with guns. At any rate, the tram stopped, and the two were left swaying a bit. The officer moved back out and gave them his cruel look again.

"My name is not important." He stated. "But my superiors have given me the nickname: 'the Vocalist'. They call me that because, as you might have guessed by now, I am quite good at helping people 'find their voice', so to speak."

Again, neither said anything.

The Vocalist let out a short chuckle as he removed his hat, moved over to another hook, pausing only to pick out a clean one over a bloody one, and then set it on. After doing so, he moved to his coat next.

"You silly people of Esthar…you're all the same." He stated as he unbuttoned it. "Thinking that you are the only ones with eyes to see and ears to hear. Did you honestly think, Lt. Commander Dael Levinson and Taraketh Sabian, High Child of Hyne, that we would not be watching and waiting for you to return to the Western Continent? Did you think that simply because you attacked us under the cover of darkness once, and that you hid behind a witch the second time, that we did not take pictures? That we did not make inquiries? That we wouldn't be able to find your identities? And did you think the Hounds to be old dogs, that they wouldn't sniff you out when you destroyed one of our Iron Giants? That your escape was so flawless across the desert? We have more eyes and ears than you can possibly imagine, and they are worldwide, not just on the Western Continent."

His coat was off and he had hung it on another fresh hook afterward. He was still wearing a uniform, but his muscles were now clear…solid and powerful. He had moved over to the oven now. He paused for a moment to take what looked like a very long, very thin, needle-like poker off of a rack and shoved it into the coals, tending them a bit. He spoke again as he did so.

"You two never escaped us. You merely climbed a tree and attempted to wait out the Hounds, thinking they would leave, and then climbed back down as soon as you thought it was safe. Our eyes have been on you both the entire time, even when you thought you were safe in your flimsy country. We simply lacked the opportunity to strike. Granted, we haven't seen _everything_, which is good for you. Otherwise, you'd already be on your way to Dr. Lindst, and, frankly, you might prefer _my_ company to hers before you're done. But we did watch you as best as we could, and saw that you two have been running around a lot. Having closed-door meetings with many important people in Esthar and the Order of Hyne…no doubt hatching secret designs against us…"

He left the poker and turned around to both of them. He smiled a bit more, and walked out into their midst.

"A Child of Hyne is trash, no matter how strong. Useful for our research and nothing more. An Esthar's Hawk is more valuable, but their tongues are iron and it would take three days of non-stop torment and anguish before they begin to speak. Often better simply to kill them and be done with it. However, I _am_ the best at what I do…and you two are rare prizes. Based on our intelligence, both of you possess Guardian Forces…but you appear to want more. We found that out when we ambushed you."

He sighed, bowing his head a bit, and shrugging.

"Unfortunately, the bomb that flushed you out also destroyed the cave entrance. By the time our forces tunneled in, all we found was a cooling cave of magma. Apparently even your so-called 'gods' are cowards compared to the might of the Guiding Hand. However, I am firmly convinced that you knew where he fled to, as well as where to find more. While I have no use for your devilwork, our Dictator believes that there should be no advantages available to Esthar, meaningless and weak as you are. So…let's just start simple, and with that."

He walked forward a bit and smiled up at them.

"You will be neither betraying your cause, your order, or your countries. It quite simple…just tell us where to find them. We'll get to more difficult questions, such as what Garrado's pitiful resistance is planning and what futile gesture your people are attempting, later. Let's start easy. Let's show each other just how easy this can be. Where did the Guardian Force within that cave flee to?"

Dael was silent for a moment, staring forward, her face expressionless. After a few moments, however, she looked down and straight in the eyes of the Vocalist.

"…Dael Levinson, Lt. Commander of Esthar's Hawks, Serial Number 80012376."

"Go to Hell." Taraketh snorted, far more blunt.

The Vocalist, in response to this, broke into a wider grin. He backed off a bit, and let out a merry laugh. He did so for a few moments as Dael and Taraketh stared at him, not showing any fear or trepidation.

"Good, good!" The officer said after a moment. "That is what I like to hear! You see, that is the way you people always want it, and that is just the way I like it! Do you think I gained such a reputation because I _enjoy_ it when one wishes to talk? Of course not! I prefer you all to stay silent so that I may drink deeply of your screams! So that I may hear you beg and grovel to tell me more!"

Dael didn't look intimidated at all and stayed quiet. Taraketh sneered.

"I'll die before I tell you anything, so you might as well cut to that part right now."

The Vocalist chuckled. "Don't be so cowardly." He responded. "I intend for you to beg me for death as well at least _three days_ before I am done with you. Now then…the question is how to proceed from this point."

He crossed his arms behind him again and looked over both of them, seeming to study them. He appeared genuinely intrigued as he did so. After a moment, he began to muse aloud.

"You see…people think that there is nothing to my job. That there is simply a checklist I go through. A prescription. Nothing could be further from the truth. You have to know a person. You have to find their pressure points. You have to apply the correct amount at the proper place. In a case like this…you have to know which one is the weaker of the two…which one will break first…which one will blubber to save the other. And here…it is quite difficult. But I would not be good at my job if I wasn't good at finding out."

Dael and Taraketh continued to show nothing. After a few more moments, the Vocalist pulled up. Turning his back on them, he began to walk back to the oven.

"There are other things, too…" He mused aloud. "Some prefer to be 'gentle', at first, like a parent who is too soft…who attempts to bribe or lightly discipline a child. They make them stand in a corner or go to their room before spanking them and then beating them with a belt. They would let you hang while being watched. They'd only wake you up every time you tried to pass out. They would starve you and keep you from water. Perhaps they'd be man enough to slap you around and waterboard you, but that's all. Then, after, say, four or five days, they'd try again. That is foolishness. Even if they do talk, they would no longer know what in the world was coming out of their own mouths at that point. There still has to be a little life inside you so that you can produce something. Me?" He chuckled again. "I prefer to, as they say, 'go right for the throat'."

He pulled the needle-like poker out of the coals. It was now red hot.

Dael, in spite of her bravery and will, found herself struggling not to shift in her bindings. She knew if she did, he'd hear the jingle…know that she was scared. She clenched her teeth and forced herself to look. Meanwhile, he turned and face them, holding the red-hot, smoldering object in front of him. He smiled wickedly as he began to approach.

"Do not worry…I have done this many, many times." He stated darkly. "With this poker, I am as accurate as a world-renown fencer. I know exactly where to poke and how deep. So you will not die. But I will take things from you that you will never get back. You see…that's the thing. That is the key to it. The real reason they never talk. Because, somewhere, deep in the back of their minds, they still cling to hope. So you are hungry? You can always eat in the future. So you are thirsty? You can always drink in the future. You can always sleep. You can always have your wounds bandaged, your bones mended, etc., etc. You must take something that they know they will not get back, no matter what they do."

He soon came to a stop in their midst again. By now…he was in such a spot where, if he extended the poker, he could drive it into their bodies at any point like a thrust of a foil. He looked at them again and paused.

"I am going to count to five." He stated coldly. "And if you do not talk by the time I say 'five'…I am going to drive this poker into one of your eyes and watch as your eyeball roasts away within your own skull."

Dael, in spite of everything, heard a jingle not only from Taraketh's chains…but from her own. She tightened her jaw. She repressed the urge to shut her eyes…as if that would do any good. It would only show more cowardace. She risked a look to Taraketh. He refused to show fear either. His jaw was set and he glared at him.

"One..."

Dael grasped the chains that held her wrists and held tight. She felt her heart begin to beat faster.

"Two..."

The young officer began to breathe harder and fiercer, steadying herself. She tried not to think of how much this would hurt…how mind-numbing the agony would be…how she'd only see one side of the world for the rest of her life…

"…_Five._"

Without a beat, the Vocalist snapped to the side…and drove the poker straight into Taraketh's left eyeball.

In spite of the training, the discipline, and everything she had been through, witnessed, and conditioned herself for…Dael had only a moment to show clear, visible, total and complete horror on her face before…she closed her eyes and turned away. But she couldn't cover her ears…and soon they rang as Taraketh, for the first time she knew him, screamed in total, absolute agony. There was no remedy for this. No way to tough through it. He simply screamed in such a horrible noise that Dael would never forget it for the rest of her life. She felt herself strain in the chains, her breathing going rapid and her heart racing. But nothing blocked out the sound of his screams. She thought she could almost feel his inconceivable agony through them…but knew in her heart of hearts that as anguished as this was, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling.

Somehow, in the midst of all of her shock and horror, she screamed at herself mentally.

_Look at it. LOOK AT IT! It's all you can do for him now! If he sees you breaking down, he'll know you're the weaker of the two! Then he'll just keep torturing Taraketh until you speak!_

With that, Dael swallowed, and turned back, forcing herself to look directly at it and using every last fiber of her being to maintain a cold expression.

It was so horrible, even if it was only for a fraction of a second before the poker was pulled out. But she saw what was left…that blackened hole in Taraketh's head…

Taraketh slammed the eye shut, but it was already burnt on the edges. He had tried to close it instinctively, obviously, when the poker went in. She could still see the hole… In spite of that, Taraketh somehow slammed his jaws shut. He clenched his teeth as hard as he could even as the screams kept coming from them. He began to make noises…strange, obscure noises that Dael couldn't make out. She wondered what they were. Only later did she realize that Taraketh was holding out only by focusing on everything he had learned from the Sorceresses. And while his temptation was to deal with the agony by screaming every curse known to mankind at the vocalist, his Order demanded that he not hate his enemies…and so he was just babbling.

As for the Vocalist, he pulled back the poker…still smelling of burnt flesh, and looked to Dael. He raised an eyebrow on seeing her staring at him.

"Well now…most impressive." He stated. "You see, women are weaknesses not just to men, but they are naturally spineless. I expected a bleeding heart to beg me to let this poor man go…but you seem content to let him suffer? How cold. Perhaps you are a lesbian."

"If you want to see how spineless I am…" Dael darkly responded, barely restraining her own anger. "Cut me down and find out for yourself when I shove that red hot poker up your ass."

The Vocalist merely chuckled. "Oh no, we'll have none of that. I wouldn't want to have to kill you so quickly." He turned away and walked back over to the oven. He proceeded to shove the poker back in. "After all, since this one was the gentleman and went first, it's only fitting that you be next."

Taraketh had quieted down a bit now, somehow able to stop screaming and merely panting. However, Dael couldn't imagine the overwhelming pain he was in. Combined with his exhaustion, he could easily go into shock. Dael tensed up at the thought. He needed to get out of here… But that was a foolish thought. Neither of them were going anywhere. They were stuck in this damn shed until this psycho tortured them both to death. Taraketh began to seethe a bit and mutter something, but Dael couldn't make it out.

The Vocalist, meanwhile, went over to one of the walls with a number of tools. He began to look over them calmly.

"Try to find more of your voice than that." The Vocalist called behind him to Taraketh. "My guess is you'll be talking soon. As for you," He continued, this time addressing Dael. "I think, as a matter of fact, I shall do as you say. I shall indeed cut you down from there."

With that, he smiled, and reached out and took one of the tools off of the shelf.

A bloody chainsaw.

"…I just won't be cutting the chain."

Dael now truly had to focus everything she had to not being scared. She kept telling herself she was an Esthar's Hawk. She had spent her life in the military. She wasn't going to break. Not here. Not now. Not for this smug bastard… But she couldn't help but look at the blade and the chains on it as the man turned and approached her…imagined seeing her flesh and bone rent and torn, flying in front of her face, spraying it with her own remains…

_Dael Levinson, Lt. Commander of Esthar's Hawks, Serial Number 80012376. Dael Levinson, Lt. Commander of Esthar's Hawks, Serial Number 80012376. Dael Levinson, Lt. Commander ofGodthisisgoingtohurt, Serial Number 80012376. Dael Levinson, Pleasesomeoneanyonehelpus…_

"You…sick…bastard…" Taraketh's voice rang out. Dael couldn't bear to look at him, but somehow between his gasps he began to speak again.

As for the Vocalist, he was soon standing where he was before. After that, he calmly placed the saw on the ground, put his foot on the handle, primed it, and then began to pull the rip-cord. He did so twice before it ignited to life, and the engine began to hum. He looked up to Dael with a wicked look.

"A countdown really won't be necessary this time, will it?" He asked. "I mean…after all…you don't plan on telling me anything besides your name, rank, and serial number?"

Dael stiffly breathed, struggling to stay brave, even as the smell of burning fuel filled the air. The Vocalist raised the saw.

"Do me, you son of a bitch…" Taraketh suddenly called out in the strongest voice he could muster.

The Vocalist ignored him, testing the blade once. Dael could feel the wind whip by her face as it turned.

"I think I'll do the right hand, young lady." He said with a smile. "That's usually what people are, after all. Occasionally, I get a lefty…but oh well."

He ignited the blade and kept it on this time, beginning to move over to the wrist. Dael prepared herself, in spite of the fear running through her mind. She was going to have to tie it off in a hurry, she realized…but practical thoughts were irrelevant at that point. _She was about to watch her own hand get chopped off. _That overroad all logic and sense… The blade neared…

Then, she heard a cry.

_"Alright, you bastard! I'll talk!"_

The Vocalist paused. The chainsaw was cut off, although it continued to hover. And, despite Dael's best intentions, she felt relief flood into her heart. Yet she angrily ignored those feelings. Still looking at the saw without hesitation, she called back.

"Don't you dare! I'll kill you if I ever get out of here, Taraketh!"

"I'm not going to just hang here and watch him carve you up, you stupid grunt!"

"Damnit, _you have to!_ Shut your damn eyes if you want but don't talk! You can't help me!"

"I'll tell you anything you want to know!" Taraketh snapped to the Vocalist, ignoring Dael. "Just let her go!"

"Taraketh, _shut up!"_ Dael snapped back.

To all of this, the Vocalist listened for a while, and then simply let out another laugh.

"Well now, I have to admit…I always expected this if I ever got to start torturing a woman, but this is almost too much! You both sound like an old married couple! Tell you what."

The saw blade ignited again.

"I'll give you both twenty minutes to settle this argument…_after_ the young lady loses her right hand."

The chainsaw lowered again. Dael, in spite of herself, went wide eyed. Taraketh opened his mouth to cry out again, although she didn't see it. All of her attention was on the blade as she began to feel the air brush right over where the slice was going to land.

But then, light abruptly bathed part of the dimly-lit shed…light that came from the door opening. At once, the chainsaw cut off and pulled back. Again, Dael ignored the feeling of intense relief that flooded into her, even if it was more a reprieve than anything, and looked out to the door along with Taraketh, the Vocalist, and the two guards in the room.

A soldier ran a short distance into the room, in between the two guards, and came just enough for the door to swing shut behind him. A wide-brimmed desert hat was on his head, as well as a poncho of camouflage cover designed to block out the sun. He was bulky underneath, having a lot of gear, obviously. His rifle was in his hands, much of the poncho was up around his neck and mouth. Sunglasses were also on his head, and he was thoroughly hard to make out.

"We have some trouble, sir."

The Vocalist, looking clearly annoyed that he had been interrupted of the middle of his work, lowered the chainsaw and let it fall to the ground. He turned fully to the newcomer.

"…What kind of trouble?"

"This kind."

Abruptly, the rifle was tossed to the ground, and the man snapped up a hand out from under his poncho revealing a weapon that Dael had never seen before, but what looked like an oversized staple gun. The man moved quick as a flash. Before the Vocalist's eyes could even finish expanding, he squeezed out multiple shots. Sure enough, it sounded like they were fired by pressurized air, but they erupted in the form of multiple large pronged nails. The Vocalist could only gape in surprise as one impacted him across the neck and literally ripped him off his feet, carried him across the room, and slammed him against the wall before anchoring in, literally bolting him to it. However, the other shots were just as good. They slammed around his wrists and legs, bolting them to the wall as well, and soon he was hung up against it like an oversized butterfly, gaping in shock and gagging around the one over his neck, trying to understand what had happened.

The other two soldiers immediately snapped on the newcomer. However, he released his weapon which, rather than falling to the ground, simply slipped back under his poncho, reached inside, and came out with what looked like two very large vise-grip wrenches with machinery attached. His arms shot out as the two men raised their rifles to him and attacked with the oversized wrenches, which immediately clamped down on either rifle barrel at once, crushed inward to smash them like aluminum cans, rotated to twist them, and then folded upright to crumple both up on each other, rendering either weapon totally useless as it snapped the barrels clean off. The two soldiers gaped in shock, before the newcomer pressed a button on either wrench. Immediately, some sort of spring-loaded, telescopic extension erupted, causing both wrenches to erupt outward with explosive force and smash into the faces of either guard. Both were hit with significant force to rip them backward and dump them on the ground, unconscious.

Dael didn't know how Taraketh had reacted, but she gaped in shock at the newcomer. He pressed another button on both wrenches, which made them revert to their previous standing, and he returned them under the poncho. A moment later, the nail gun appeared again, and he aimed outward with it and fired one final time. But he didn't target the Vocalist, who was still gagging and struggling, this time. Instead, the giant nail shot through the air…and obliterated the Eris Bell with one shot.

Dael immediately felt strength she didn't think she had left rushing into her. Weak and battered as she was, she soon felt like she had twice the strength of her body when she was "normal". All of her injuries began to be numbed and seemed more inconsequential, and even her thirst and hunger seemed less. With that in mind, she closed her eyes a moment…and, surprisingly, felt good to hear arcane words come to mind and tumble from her lips…

Moments later, Dael was standing on the ground, her shackles empty and dangling there following her teleportation. She smiled a bit…but that quickly faltered as she began to black out. Giving a groan, the world began to slip away from her massive exhaustion and she was instants from collapse…

When she felt the arms of the newcomer brace her. The world continued to slip away and her vision went black, and she nearly went unconscious, when she felt something sharp pressed into her neck. A hiss went off a second later. Distantly, like from the end of a tunnel, she heard a voice call.

"Take it easy, Dael… You're still in real bad shape…"

However, the voice began to grow louder toward the end. Her vision cleared, and she began to feel more alert and awake. Her strength returned and her hunger and pain all but vanished. Soon, she blinked, and was able to get back on her feet again. As her senses returned, she looked and saw the newcomer nearby. However, he pushed away quickly and moved over to Taraketh. In spite of his own increase in strength, he couldn't teleport and he was in more agony than Dael, and, in all likelihood, more exhaustion and pain since his own body wasn't as naturally trained as hers.

The newcomer, on arriving at him, pulled out what looked like an epipen of sorts. He went up to Taraketh's neck, drove it in, and pressed a button, causing a hiss just like the one Dael had heard. After only a moment or two, Taraketh was fully alert again. Raising his head, and ignoring the gaping black wound in his eye, he chanted. Immediately, thick frost appeared on his chains. Gritting his teeth, he twisted the chains and struggled…and soon shattered them all together. He fell to the ground, stumbling a bit, but staying standing.

"Don't overexert yourselves, you two." The newcomer stated. "Those are only stimulants, not elixirs. They'll keep you going for another 30 minutes or so, but then you'll both pass out. We've got to get out of here before then."

Dael rubbed a bit at her sore neck and muscles, and looked up to the newcomer as he put away the epipen. "…Who are you?" She called.

The figure turned to her, and grinned a bit as he reached up to the hat and poncho. "Forgot me already? I'm insulted." With a flourish, he tore both of them off and tossed them aside. The first thing that Dael became aware of when he did so is that he was covered with straps which were overloaded with at least a dozen different "monstrous" versions of conventional power tools and hand tools, all plugged into various pneumatic or electrical power sources that seemed to be on a large pack on his back. However, she soon shifted her focus to his head, which had a messy crop of red hair and a small red goatee. Taraketh looked as well, and blinked a few times, seeming to be in disbelief.

"Sir Boer?"

"Cid?"

"Didn't think I'd leave you all hanging, did you?" He said with a snicker. "Especially not when Lady Faerio herself told me to track you all down. What's the matter? Think Jalab's the only one who can be heroic?"

The two were still stunned. Dael stared long and incredulously at Cid. However, before she could say anything else, Taraketh suddenly spoke up.

"…One moment, Sir Boer."

Dael looked to him, as did Cid. Naturally, he had raised a hand to his burnt-out eye at this point. Dael flinched at the sight. Even though Cid had come…he had been too late. Taraketh would go the rest of his life with only one eye. It made her twist on the inside. In spite of all the arguing they had been through, she felt terrible for him. However, Taraketh seemed to ignore this. He moved slower and more stiffly. After all, even the stimulants couldn't fully deaden his pain and exhaustion, or the junction for that matter. He soon reached where the gagging Vocalist was.

He reached out, seized the clasp around his neck, and with a grunt ripped it off. Seizing him by the neck instead, he reached out and tore off the rest of the restraints one after the other. That done, he proceeded to use his strength to hoist the man into the air by the neck.

Dael saw his true quality at that moment…a coward. The Vocalist had gone wide-eyed with fear. His eyes were saucers and his pupils dots. He was beginning to sweat all over. So it was true…unless his opponent was restrained, he hadn't any confidence at all. He didn't even struggle against Taraketh. His lip quivered. He actually looked on the brink of blubbering. Taraketh stared at him hard. Dael didn't see it, but he opened his burnt out eye so he could see it.

"…I am a Child of Hyne." He stated after a moment. "You are a despicable, deranged, sick, twisted man, and the world would be better without you. If I was to let you live, you'd only be a threat to us. Even if you weren't, you'd go on to torture and kill more innocent people. You proved to me that you're not in this for information, but to sate your sadism. I would be well within my rights to kill you. _However_, I cannot do so in good faith, because I would be killing you from a desire for revenge and out of anger rather than out of a desire to protect others."

The Vocalist calmed a bit at that, seeming to almost be a bit relieved. However, Taraketh clenched harder, making him gag again. A moment later, he ripped him off of the wall and threw him across the room. He collided with the floor hard, and then slid across it…coming to a stop right at the feet of Dael. The Vocalist winced on the landing and sliding, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself looking up…and staring right at Dael, who glared at him coldly.

"…Therefore, he's all yours, Lt. Commander."

The Vocalist actually let out an audible whimper as he stared at her.

Dael, on her part, reached down and seized the man by the lapels, and yanked him to his feet. She glared at him coldly as she proceeded to drag him over to one of the beams. As she passed by, she reached out and snatched another set of chains off of the wall.

"…I'm still waiting on you to kill me." She stated darkly. "I've been unhooked for almost a minute now."

The Vocalist stammered. "I…" He began to speak in a raspy whine. "I…I am highly valued…by the Dictator… He pays me well… I have…many accounts-"

"I'm an Esthar's Hawk." The young officer cut off. "I am loyal to Esthar and I do not accept bribes."

She reached one of the posts, shoving the Vocalist against it. She proceeded to collar him around it by the throat again, wrapping the chain around his neck and the post and shackling it. Soon, he was gagging again, but he could still breathe and talk. In the meantime, she went over to where she was a moment ago, reached down, and snatched the chainsaw off the ground. It was still humming. She turned back to the Vocalist and began to approach him again…wielding it.

He turned white as a sheet, and struggled violently.

"W-Wait!" He cried desperately, holding out a hand and begging. "I was only following orders!"

"So am I." Dael coldly answered as she reached him, bringing the chainsaw around. "No comfort or mercy to the enemy under any circumstances."

The Vocalist slammed his eyes shut, not able to watch his own eminent demise. He pulled his hand back and cringed, expecting the pain to come at any time.

Instead, Dael snorted at him once, and then swung the chainsaw block around to club him on the side of the head, instantly knocking him out. The man slumped and fell, soon being only held up by the chain, unconscious. The young officer proceeded to switch off the chainsaw, and merely threw it aside. She turned and looked back to the others.

Taraketh stared, but showed nothing. Cid, on his part, actually looked a bit uncomfortable, and only now looking relieved. It seemed as if he too thought she'd really do it.

Dael stared back a moment longer.

"…That wasn't compassion." She finally told them. "I could tell when I looked at him that the moment I tried cutting him he'd scream like a stuck pig and bring the whole camp on us. And once his superiors see him like this after we've escaped…he'll be shoved into the labor camp along with the others. If anyone deserves this daily torture, it's him."

Cid just merely stayed relieved. Taraketh paused momentarily. He seemed to have lingering anger, and Dael didn't blame him one bit for it. Order of Hyne or no, what had just happened… But in the end, he nodded.

"…Alright. I don't want to waste anymore time with him anyway."

Cid seemed to snap out of it at this, and quickly reached for his side. "I only have a few dressings, Taraketh, but let me do _something_ about your eye…"

Taraketh paused, but then nodded. He moved over to Cid and lowered himself to his knees, allowing him to start working on it. Soon after, Cid emerged with a medical kit of some sort and went over to him. He began to open it up and dress the wound. As for Taraketh, he closed his other eye, focused a moment, and soon after began to speak his archaic language again. Soon after, a green aura lit up and began to come over his body. The bruises faded. The cuts began to seal. As for his eye…it remained gone, but the edges of it began to scar over. Dael tried not to watch, again thinking of what Taraketh had lost. She couldn't help but think of something else…

_He wouldn't talk when his eye was stabbed out…but when the Vocalist moved to cut off my hand…_

Ignoring this, Dael looked to him. "Cid…how did you get here?"

As the Sorceress Knight continued to work, he spoke freely…clearly used to multi-tasking. "I hacked into the radio signals of Sybenia's forces when Lady Faerio and Lady Veriguno took most of the surviving army and went into battle. I ended up getting on a Hound frequency. I was supposed to gather intelligence for the battle. However, halfway through it, I overheard them broadcasting that an Iron Giant had been taken out, and they directly named you two, Cryder, and Quaren. Apparently they had Hounds in the buildings just watching the fight, not even intervening. They were sending out a hundred people for an ambush. They lost you for a while, but they eventually found you as you left the desert. When I heard them say they had tracked you to Ifrit's Cave, and then that they managed to capture all of you, even Sir Tierras, then I knew I had to do something."

Dael's eyes widened a bit at that. "Wait…Sir Tierras is still alive?!" The mixture of surprise, joy, and relief was evidence in her voice despite her discipline.

Cid snickered. "Not in the best shape, but you bet. Didn't you know he lived by the code _'Umberto contraiyn Morwai ramdpham arsen ilt codonam'_?"

The young officer merely raised an eyebrow.

"…'A Morai warrior will not fall to a bullet'." Taraketh translated, wincing a bit from the dressings, but apparently done with his healing spell.

Dael decided to avoid the obvious next question for another big one. "How did you find us, though? I don't think they would have bothered broadcasting where they were taking us."

Cid smiled in response. "Remember when I patted you on the back before you took off?"

The young officer blinked. She almost didn't…but then remembered how awkward she felt when Cid had done that. It was a rather long time ago to her by now, but eventually she looked up.

"Wait, if you placed a bug on me, then that doesn't explain anything. They took my clothes."

"Oh, any fool can place a bug on someone." Cid said, waving a hand at her. "But a modern engineer pricks a person with a tiny needle and injects a tiny amount of metallic dye into their skin that emits a specific frequency when the natural electric current of their nerves runs by it."

Dael went wide-eyed. "…You're not serious, are you?"

"I couldn't risk a bug falling off, could I?" Cid responded. As Dael tried to puzzle over this, wanting now to look at her back in a mirror, he continued. "Anyway, it still wasn't easy. That dye was only meant to last a week at the most. And the range was overwhelmingly small. I had to hurry up and get the go ahead from the Sorceress to leave, and then gathered up as many of my things as I could and tried to head out after you. I might know a thing or two about machines, but not enough to pull a stunt like you did. Those three blocks might as well have been on the moon. It took me forever to finally sneak through. After that, I ran into the desert, commandeered a vehicle, and shot after you. I managed to track you down, calculated where you were headed, and went on to the prison. Once there, I hid and waited, checking out the place and trying to find a way in. Luckily, I had a rather good power drill that could be used to actually tunnel under the fences. Then I stuck to the shadows and tried to find my way about. It wasn't easy. Even when you all got here, I couldn't do much. It's taken me the better part of two days just to plan what I've done now. Of course…now we _really_ need to get a move on. I can tell you the rest of the details later, but as near as I can figure, we've got our one chance to escape and we've got to take it now before it's too late."

He finished up the dressing at this point, and backed off. Taraketh's eye was now covered with gauze and bound with a dressing wrapped around his head. Dael still looked regretfully at it, but he seemed better than before. As for Cid, he reached behind him, and, with a grin, soon emerged with some familiar items. Dael blinked at them a bit. Taraketh did much the same.

He was holding her katana and Mage Gun, as well as Taraketh's kusarigama.

"You two are lucky your weapons are so well made. Rather than just destroy them or melt them down, they figured they could make some money off of them. These Sybenians…always looking for an extra gil."

Taraketh readily took his. Dael, after a moment, came forward and grabbed her own. She quickly fastened the sword to her side along with the holster, As she did so, Taraketh got a length of chain and began to swing it around a bit in a circle. Dael, meanwhile, drew her gun, snapped it open, and looked inside.

She actually made a small grin. "Still have my one Blizzaga bullet left."

As for Taraketh, he snapped his head toward a length of chain hanging from a hook. Dael and Cid looked up to him, just as he swung the hammer out for it. However, it fell short and to the side.

Dael saw a change come over Taraketh at that. He tensed up, visibly looking uneasy. The young officer, in turn, swallowed. He only had one eye now. He had to relearn how to use his weapon all over again. And even if he did, he didn't have depth perception anymore…

Swallowing, Taraketh retracted his weapon and began to stash it. "…I'll stick with my magic." He finally stated…a bit quietly.

"Anyway," Dael stated, looking back to Cid. "What do you mean by our 'one chance'?"

"I've done some research." Cid stated. "This _is_ a prison, after all. According to their security protocol, as soon as a riot is noted and alerted, we have approximately ten minutes, maybe less, before ten thousand soldiers with more advanced weapons, artillery, armors, and the like flood this place and kill every last person, making sure to chase down anyone who hits the desert and slaughter them.

"Now then, you two probably haven't noticed, but a fully armed and operational Sybenian destroyer is currently docked at the prison yard. Their intention, so I've picked up from broadcasts, is to pick up multiple prisoners who have displayed magical abilities, including you two, and to transport them to God knows where for God knows what reason. The desert may be running amok at the moment, but this prison is situated on a single shore with rocky cliffs for miles. There's no blockade here, and I calculated that provided we _do_ take that destroyer within minutes of a riot being signaled and go at maximum speed to the east, we can clear any members of the blockade before they get in touch with us. Aircraft is another matter…but unless they prep and arm long-range bombers, they can't reach it in time. They didn't bring any aircraft carriers here, no doubt because any enemy would know something important was here if they did. I also waited until now because the bulk of the destroyer's crew is ashore and eating lunch and none of the main artillery is powered.

"So, in short…we need to trigger a riot, take out the guard towers, overwhelm the dock defenses, board the destroyer, neutralize the crew, commandeer it, and then be headed for home at maximum speed all within a ten minute window."

Both Dael and Taraketh stared at Cid completely incredulously at that. Dael had to resist letting her jaw drop.

"…Sir, I don't mean to be rude…but are you crazy?" Taraketh asked.

"Cid, he's right. It would take 100 highly trained, highly informed, and highly armed Esthar's Hawks to pull that off."

Cid looked back at them with another smile.

"Or a great diversion and a hasty, yet thought out and complete, plan. I may not be terrific at magic, you two, but I'm not a Sorceress Knight because I can't think my way out of a desperate situation. I've been a bit busy, and the show is about to begin. In fact…" He paused here, raising his wrist and looking at it. "The opening act is just about ready to start."

Dael quirked an eyebrow. "…Opening act?"

"You weren't the first two I went for when I started acting out my plan. I broke into the medical wing of the main officer's barracks. They were keeping Jalab alive but comatose in there. I think they meant to research him too. He was messed up pretty bad and guarded by four men, but he also arrived earlier than you all. He was airlifted there by helicopter. The guards had gotten bored of watching him and two of them went off to eat while the other two fell asleep. I tunneled under and pried out a loose board and got to him…slipped a little something into his IV that should be kicking in soon."

"More stimulants?" Dael asked.

Cid grinned.

"Actually…I did have _one_ elixir on me that Lady Faerio gave me before I left…"

Abruptly, a massive eruption, big enough to shake the shed they were in, went off from the officer's barracks. Even distant and muffled by the walls, it was large enough for the three to snap their heads to the source, and to gape in astonishment.

"What was that?" Dael exclaimed.

Soon after, the sounds of gunfire and soldiers yelling began to ring out. However, smaller eruptions soon went off as well, and many of them began to cry out. Cid let out a small laugh.

"Sounds like our cue. I think Jalab just woke up." He turned to the others even as his own hands went for his devices around his belt. "Alright everyone…discussion over. From here on in, we've got to strike hard and fast if we want to have a chance of pulling this off. We've got a lot to do and as soon as you hear the siren we only have ten minutes to finish it. Let's try to do all the damage we can before that happens."

Cid immediately turned and began to rush for the door.

Dael hesitated for only a moment. Crazy as this seemed, for she had seen all the defenses coming in…if what Cid said was right, this was indeed their only chance. And she'd have to help as well. Jalab wasn't enough to take out every soldier in the camp, strong or not. And none of the other inmates would be any good unless they lost their collars. And they still had to save the others too and secure their escape. After a moment, she tightened up and placed a hand on her sword hilt. She turned and looked to Taraketh. He exhaled once, but then nodded back.

With that, the two turned and ran after Cid.

It was going to be one wild ten minutes.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	30. A Murder of Corvids

Dael and Taraketh hadn't even cleared the threshold before they heard more noise from outside, the sounds of more pain and attacking going out. However, no gunshots followed them. Soon after, they tore out and saw Cid standing, retracting both of his wrenches and priming them again. On the ground, lying in a pile with two more broken weapons, was another pair of guards. Obviously, they had people outside as well as inside. Dael actually wanted to roll her eyes at them. How could they not have heard everything in there? Was the Vocalist that good at making unusual sounds out of prisoners that you never cared what came out?

At any rate, Dael drew her sword as soon as she was out. Taraketh left his kusarigama at his side. Cid, on his part, looked around a bit, and then put his wrenches back down at his sides. At this point, Dael saw that they were attached to metallic cords, along with the rest of the devices on him, which retracted when he released them and collapsed them back against his belt. He quickly pulled out what looked like a remote device instead and began to punch a few buttons on them as he moved forward a bit more, staying low and looking around occasionally. Dael and Taraketh both followed, and soon, the young officer, now more alert, realized the she had been located behind the main officer's barracks, literally in its shadow for most of the day. In fact, they were behind them at the moment, and hidden from the view of most of the camp. Only a field and then a sharply-sloped rock wall was behind it, prohibiting the errant soldier from going by and spotting them. The only way they could really be seen is if someone looked out the window of the officer's barracks.

Aside from this, all Dael heard immediately was loud commotion and gunfire. Yells were sounded for guards to move into an area, and even on the hard ground and distant, Dael could hear the noises of many boots trampling the ground, as more people joined the fray.

Nevertheless, things were still relatively "quiet"…until Dael, Taraketh, and Cid all together winced as another large eruption went off, this one closer than before. It started off sizzling, similar to the sound that Jalab's energy made…before it erupted into a massive explosion that, even with her enhancements, caused her to wince and nearly feel like she would blow out her eardrum. The proximity didn't help…it came from the building right next to them. Perhaps on the side opposite them, but that didn't stop fire from bursting through some of the windows, shattering the glass, and even a few wood panels being knocked loose and scattered.

"Sir Tierras is going all out…" Taraketh murmured. "Without the element of surprise as back at Ifrit's Cave, his opponents have no chance."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Cid responded as he led them along. "Sir Tierras is powerful, but he's not bulletproof, and he doesn't have his staff this time. We're all going to have to help if we want to get out of here…"

Cid went on a bit farther, moving in closer to the barracks as he did so. Dael and Taraketh followed suit. Soon, they were all flush against it. They came to the edge, and Cid slowed to a halt. Still holding his remote, he looked around the edge and out to the main yard. In spite of their position, Dael leaned forward and around and looked as well. For the most part, the prison was just as it was when she arrived. All the factories were in full operation and the prisoners were being impressed as laborers. However, they soon had to duck back behind the barracks again as two squads charged by, each one heavily armed, and running to the other side of the barracks. Bullets soon rang out…but so did the sound of another eruption, followed by more crying out. There was the sound of burning and the smell of ash in the air. However, in addition to all of this, Dael saw that the guard towers were going into operation. Snipers on the nearest one to the barracks were taking position.

"Here we go…" Cid said as he pulled up his remote and began to press buttons on it.

With the depressing of the first button, a charge went off on the first guard tower. The aims of all of the snipers were immediately disrupted, but that was the least of their worries when it revealed one of the support rails had been totally taken out. The entire tower swayed and bent for a moment, and then began to collapse like a house of cards, making the guards cry out as they fell to the ground. Yet that was only the first. As Cid pressed more buttons, another more distant guard tower went off as well. And a third, fourth, and fifth. It wasn't all of them. In particular, the fences were ignored. But the bulk of the main yard had lost its eyes and ears within seconds.

Naturally, this had a predictable effect. The soldiers were thrown into disarray. They snapped around and tried to look for the source of an assault, and platoons now began to run into each other as they dashed about the camp. Squads on fire duty collided with emergency medical personnel, and the prison was soon in more chaos. But even as the higher officers tried to reassert order, a unified effect broke out.

Abruptly, a group of the ore workers stopped hauling material and instead leapt on their guards while they were disorientated from the attacks. Two more groups soon joined in. The others on the yard hesitated a moment…seeming to be on the fence, wanting to know if they could succeed in a riot or if they'd be shot in moments. Sure enough, most of the guards snapped around and began to discharge their weapons, and a few prisoners fell before they were tackled. However, the camp was in chaos for a few moments longer, and soon, one of the prisoners, using a mattock, bludgeoned a soldier, stole his gun, and fired it into the air.

"Riot! Riot!"

It took only moments for another to join in elsewhere.

"Riot!"

Then a third.

"Riot!"

Soon, all of the prisoners were beginning to chant it. And as they did, it was enough to spur the "fence-sitters" into action.

"They won't last long without help." Cid stated as he put his remote away. "I only had time to set charges on those five towers before anyone could find them. We need to get to the others and take the armory. Hurry!"

Cid immediately took off across the field again, risking going out into the open this time. Having no other choice, Dael quickly fell in behind and followed after him. Taraketh was on her heels. They didn't have to stay out in the open long. A secondary barracks was only about forty feet away, and they managed to slip behind it without detection in moments. Everyone was so focused on the towers, Jalab, and now the riot that they had little time to worry about them running about. And there wasn't a single soul in the area behind the barracks. They had smooth sailing for at least a short while.

However, they eventually had to clear this barracks as well. And when they did, without hesitation, Cid led them straight into the yard. He took a moment to pull out two more weapons, but that was it, and he did so while still moving. Although the yard on the other side was mostly blank and empty, save for a few ore piles and bits of metal and tools, they were now in full view of whoever looked that way. And this part of the yard incorporated a few work spaces. However, the riot had moved forward. The prisoners that rebelled didn't waste much time hanging around in the open field. Instead, they charged back to the barracks areas with whatever weapons they could muster. Thanks to Jalab's diversion, they had at least a ghost of a chance, as they managed to catch a number of squads off guard and seize their weapons. But without armor, without ordinance, and starved and tired as they were, Dael knew it was more than obvious that they would only be able to hold out for a while. A few stray soldiers were left behind, stripped of their weapons and struggling with small groups of prisoners. No doubt, they spotted Cid, Dael, and Taraketh, but they could do little about it. And even if a soldier could spare a moment to spot them from a distance, the least of their worries would be them considering the onrush of prisoners.

Dael looked forward, and saw, after a few more moments, where they were running to. There was a small quarry of sorts up ahead, with a shed built into it. Most of the shed and the grounds were concealed behind piles of half-cut rocks, and Dael couldn't initially see anyone. However, Cid led them that way, and that's where they went.

Then, it happened.

At first, Dael thought it was some sort of crowd control weapon. But after only a moment, she realized such wasn't the case. It grew louder, becoming a long, monotone blaring noise. And it rang loud and long over the prison. Even not being closed to it, Dael winced a bit at the noise. Taraketh frowned.

"I think that's the siren…"

Cid took a moment to raise his arm and press a button on his wrist, no doubt synchronizing his watch. "They drill for a time of ten minutes…but there's always the chance they'll be slower than that…or faster. We've got to be quick."

Dael didn't answer. She merely put on more speed. Cid, not as physically adept at her, soon saw her beginning to pull past him. On seeing that, he swallowed a bit and tried to increase his own speed.

The small quarry got closer and closer. The group began to round the edges, but still didn't see anything. No guards or soldiers or anything. Dael almost wondered if they were being led in the right direction. However, as they continued to round and nearly got there, she began to see something. Standing in the midst of the depression where the quarry had been chipped out was a single individual…a prisoner. A bit closer, and she saw another prisoner there standing nearby and over him. Dael had to run a bit closer, as they were both dirty and haggard looking, but as she neared them…she finally made out their features.

"Cryder! Ceja!" Dael called out as they neared.

The one who she first saw, Cryder, blinked and looked over to them. However, at the moment, Ceja had her hands on his collar and was seeming to be pulling. After a moment longer, Dael heard a loud grunt from her before she cleanly ripped the thick metal collar in half and tossed either piece to one side. She then turned to Dael, her eyes filled with passion and anger for a moment…but immediately turning normal and even astonished on seeing them. Cryder himself soon smiled and waved at them.

"Heh, decided to join the ruckus without us even sendin' an invitation? Well I always did welcome party crashers…"

The three continued to run forward just a bit closer before coming to a halt. Yet as they did, and looked around them, they were a bit astonished at what they saw. There were at least eight soldiers there, but all lay on the ground in heaps, either unconscious or worse. Most of them looked severely beaten. In particular, the four around the shed looked like, if they weren't dead, they probably wished they were. This was despite them all being armed. Cryder saw them gaping, and then looked around at the sight, and turned back with a smile.

"Not bad, eh? Wish I could take the praise for it, but I only took care of this bilge rat."

At that, the one nearest him, suddenly coming conscious again, struggled to get up and crawl for it. Cryder turned to him and smiled.

"On that note…"

He pointed a finger at the fleeing soldier, making a "psht" sound like a gun. Immediately, the ground beneath the man turned to quicksand, and before he could react, he sank into it all the way to his neck before it turned into solid ground again.

"Feels good to have those back. Mute Grenades are normally nothing, but those Eris Bells-"

"Explain the rest on the way!" Cid suddenly called out, before breaking into a run again. "You guys are alright, so let's hurry on to Quaren and Bahamut!"

Hearing about Bahamut, Dael immediately turned and snapped after Cid. Taraketh followed. Ceja readily did so too, snatching up one of the mattocks before doing so, since she was deprived of her axe. Cryder frowned a bit, sighed, and then paused only long enough to take up a pair of sidearms from two separate guards and then dashed after them. As they ran along, he called out to them, needing to shout both over the running as well as the sound of the distant battle.

"How'd you two get out, anyway? Wait, don't tell me… I'm guessing Cid here decided to join our fun?"

"That's Sir Boer to you!" Taraketh called back over the din.

"For the love of… You're really not going to start this now, are you?" The pirate responded.

"How did you two get free?" Dael called back.

"Heh…it was a snap!" Cryder shouted. "They forgot the golden rule!"

Dael blinked. "…Do unto others as…?"

"Not that one! 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'!" Cryder cut off. "Bunch of Sybenian lubbers thought they had broken Ceja and were taking her to the shed to have their way with her."

Dael's eyes widened a bit at that. She turned to Ceja. However, the Fuliet warrior only looked coldly forward.

"…I thought of attempting to escape this filthy patch of sand yesterday." She explained darkly. "The way of a Fuliet warrior is to die before enduring shame, and many of my kind would have killed themselves rather than become slaves. But…I finally saw the wisdom in your actions, Dael. You were far more recovered than I was. So I bid my time, saved my strength, and, swallowing all pride I had, submitted to their yoke. They still beat me, but their blows were pathetic compared to when I fought back. I regained my energy and saved it. However, when they attempted to violate me, I let loose my full wrath."

Cryder let out a chuckle. "I can honestly say I've never seen a lass so full of fire. Not even you, Dael. Reminds me why I make it a rule to keep them out of my crews. If any of those men survived, they're gonna be singing the tenor section the rest of their lives, if you get my drift. Makes my own guts turn just thinking about what I saw…"

"This is all quite fascinating…" Taraketh sighed. "Now let's just keep going! We have less than ten minutes!"

Cryder looked to Taraketh after a moment, and seemed to notice his face for the first time. "Whoa there, mate… Didn't realize you're joining the 2D club just like Moginson…"

Taraketh snapped to him momentarily. _"Don't."_

"Save it, Cryder." Dael threw in for once. She saw how he had lost that eye. While to a pirate that may have been nothing special, even to an Esthar's Hawk it was not something to joke about. She still had a hard time believing that Taraketh wasn't in incredible pain, or dealing with the fact that he would never see outside of that part of his face again. The fact that they were carrying out this mission had to be the only thing keeping him going.

Cryder, luckily, seemed to get the hint. "I…suppose I'll save that tale for a pint…" He said as he looked forward and kept running.

"Where are we going to next?" Dael called to Cid.

By now, the Sorceress Knight was huffing and puffing. After all, he still didn't seem to be too physically incredible, and he was weighed down by numerous devices. However, he gestured up ahead. Still quite far away from the main yards and barracks was another smaller building, erected a short distance away from one of the piles of raw ore and a track placed there to cart it to the factories.

"The rifleman and the boy are there, yes?" Ceja called out, already crossing her hastily-found weapon in front of her.

"That's right. I spotted them there before we came. They were being worked half-to-death moving ore, but none of them were being beaten." Cid responded between pants. "I think they'll be alright."

Dael thought that they had better. She thought of what had happened to Taraketh, and what had nearly happened to her, happening to Quaren…or even Bahamut, and it filled her with anger. She remembered when she first used her enhanced strength that she had sliced a Fuliet Sauron in half with one swipe. Her opponents could look forward to the same thing if she saw that Bahamut or Quaren had been left crippled for life.

The young officer also kept an ear on the riot. Fast as they were moving, none of this would mean anything if they didn't make the riot worse in the time they had. The fighting was still going on, however. An eruption went off every once in a while. Gunfire continued to peel out…and more of it was joining in. Dael wished she could say it was the sound of more inmates claiming weapons and firing back, but she doubted it. Rather, it was more likely the Sybenians taking areas of the camp and holding them off. They had to be quick…

As they neared the building, which was more like a shed, similar to the one Dael and Taraketh had been in, than any true structure, they saw no one came out to meet them. There was no sign of Bahamut, Quaren, or any soldiers with them. She trusted Cid's judgment, however. Perhaps they were inside, undergoing interrogation… Still, she found it hard to believe they had missed out on the noise now. The siren was loud enough to gain everyone's attention all by itself. Luckily, there were no windows at this shed, and it seemed only one large opening for the carts to come in and out. So much the better. It meant if they were trying to ambush them, there was only one way they could…

Finally, as they neared, something happened.

Abruptly, a soldier burst out and yelled an order.

"Alright, halt! Stay where you are!"

Although he wasn't immediately brandishing a weapon, his sudden appearance was enough to make everyone slow temporarily. However, in that moment, more guards immediately popped out. The group raised their weapons, at least those with ranged weapons did, but soon paused completely at what they saw. Dael herself froze in midstep.

At least five soldiers in all came out, but two of them had human shields. With dark, regretful looks on their faces, Quaren and Bahamut were both dragged out by their collars and held in front of two soldiers. The one with Bahamut actually hunkered down a bit behind him, seeming to not care at all to use a kid as a full body shield and not content with merely threatening Dael's group with a gun to his head. At any rate, the original one, the one who had spoken, stepped out and glared at them all.

"Throw down the weapons now! Throw them down now or the prisoners die!"

The ones holding Quaren and Bahamut pressed their weapons to their heads hard enough where they must have actually made a bruise. The other three, however, raised their weapons and trained them on the group of five. After that, there was silence…a standoff.

Dael paused momentarily, as did the others. She cast a glance to them. Taraketh glared hard at the soldiers, clearly wanting to strike them down, especially now that they were using human shields like cowards. Ceja was much the same, but her rage was held in check at the thought of her companions being hurt. Cryder too inhaled and exhaled slowly, his grip on his weapons steady but doing nothing. Cid looked the most nervous of all, the most uncertain and off guard. He inhaled and exhaled nervously. As for the enemy units, they glared at them coldly…but fear and tension were in their eyes. After all, saving themselves here might not save them from the larger riot, and ten minutes or no there was a chance they wouldn't get out of this. However, there was also ferocity in their expressions. Anger. They hated the fact that these foreigners were so easily overwhelming them. They wanted vengeance.

Dael looked to Quaren. The two met gazes for a moment. She looked to Bahamut next. By now, she knew the boy was smarter and more capable than appearances would suggest. Finally, she looked to her side, to the others for just a moment. She stared for a second, but they saw her gaze. The only one who hadn't been seen was Cid…but it didn't matter. They understood.

The woman looked back to the soldiers, and slowly crossed her blade in front of herself. She bent over and began to lower it. Without complaint, without dirty look, and without hesitation, the others began to follow suit. Cid was the one exception, he looked back to the others and saw what they were doing. Giving a regretful frown, he began to lower his own weapons. Keeping her eyes up, Dael slowly let her sword rest against the ground, and began to rise again…even more slowly.

The soldiers looked for a moment, before their Sybenian arrogance came over them, their faces registering a second of triumph…before the ones guarding Quaren and Bahamut began to shift their weapons out to aim at them…

And then, it happened.

Abruptly, Quaren shot his arms out, seized the gun barrel with one hand that had been pulled away from him, and at the same time drove his head back so that he shoved the metal collar right into the throat of his captor, collapsing it. The eyes of his captor bulged, and he immediately gagged. The loud noise and sudden movement caused the other soldiers to snap to him. However, at least one of them was too slow. Continuing to yank the gun forward, Quaren placed his hand out and around the triggering mechanim, placing his hand over the same place where the soldier still held onto the weapon. He swung the barrel around with his free hand, aimed for the nearest guard, and depressed the stunned soldier's finger to squeeze the trigger. A loud bang later, and the soldier went down.

The others tried to snap to him, but they were too slow. Abruptly, Bahamut swung one of his heels directly up and behind him, burying it in the soldier guarding him's unprotected balls. A cry came out from him, and his grip loosened on the boy. He took the moment to twist free, ignoring his still tender wound on his neck, and dove forward and for the ground. The soldier had only a moment to gape…before arcane language came from Taraketh's mouth. A moment later, the sky darkened just long enough to allow a sizable bolt to shoot from the heavens and impact him directly in the chest, ripping him off of his feet and flinging him across the field like a rag doll. The two remaining soldiers looked in surprise and once again ignored Quaren, moving to fire on the group instead, when Cryder himself performed a gesture. Abruptly, the sand around them came to life and began to pelt them fiercely, like a miniature sandstorm had been unleashed just on the two of them. Bahamut, on his part, stayed down and covered to avoid it. The two struggled to shoot back, but it was hopeless with the sand stinging them in every opening, niche, and cranny that could be mustered. The sand cut off after a moment and they finally were able to open their eyes to shoot…only to find Dael and Ceja standing before either one of them. A slash from Dael, who had recovered her sword in the interim, and a solid blow from Ceja that sounded like a boulder falling on a coconut, and both were down.

Quaren, on his part, ripped the enemy rifle completely out of his hands and proceeded to deck the soldier with the end of it, knocking him out and to the ground. The private manipulated the weapon at his side, then turned back to the others. He looked sore and panting a bit, obviously from the work and torture he had endured, but he was still standing. And he managed a smile to the others.

Dael managed a smile back. Quaren appeared to be timid and weak, but, as he had shown in Ifrit's Cave, he was an Esthar's Hawk. Escaping from a hostage situation like that one was covered early in the formalized training at the Academy. The only reason Dael hadn't left things to him sooner was because of Bahamut. After all, having a civilian hostage was something else. However…in the end…she once again felt a twinge of the need to have faith in him. And so, she allowed it. Apparently, the boy was quite good at surviving. In the end, Dael turned to the Sorceress Knight.

"Cid?"

The man snapped to Dael…as if distracted. Indeed, he was so transfixed on what just happened that he was rather out of sorts, amazed at what had transpired so quickly. But on seeing the others calm, he realized they had all anticipated this the entire time. At any rate, Dael gestured.

"Can you get their collars off?"

Cid paused a moment. "…Huh?" He dumbly responded. But then, he quickly shook his head. "Oh…oh yeah! Sure!"

Quickly, he reached to his side and emerged with, what Dael assumed, was the same magnetic key as before. He quickly rushed over to Quaren first, inserted it into the slot on his collar, and removed it, letting it fall to the ground with a thunk. As Quaren's voice was restored, he slumped slightly and exhaled in relief.

"Feels so good to get that off…" He croaked. Dael could imagine. The burns on his neck were still there. The collar had to have been cutting into them. They looked inflamed and infected despite the bath he had received yesterday too. The young officer was nervous about this. She hoped that there was a good number of antibiotics on that destroyer…or she was afraid Quaren might not make the trip back.

It only looked more the case when Cid moved over and undid Bahamut's collar. The boy didn't rise before then. And once the collar was up, he let out a groan and only weakly tried to get up. Everyone else who had been subjected to torture was older and stronger. And while Bahamut may have been mightier and more resilient than other boys his age, he was still just a boy. The past few days had to have sapped what strength he had. Cid ended up leaning down and giving him a hand, pulling him up to his feet. He wobbled a bit, but managed to stand up once there. Dael felt a twinge inside her. He was just a kid. Did they really expect to get much from him? How could they torture him like that? Then again, she realized somewhat grimly, if they hadn't have suspected he knew something…he might have been killed outright…

At any rate, with both free, Ceja looked to Quaren. She stared at him a moment and then shrugged. "It seems you can be quite formidable. Perhaps the males of the Esthar people are not the weaker gender."

Quaren looked up a bit uncertainly. "Uh…thanks?"

Dael, in spite of herself, found that she was focused more on Bahamut. The boy was still wavering a bit and looked dazzled and only mostly conscious. She soon called out to him. "Bahamut?"

The boy looked up to her.

"Are you alright?"

The boy paused a moment, and then nodded. "Just…weary, that's all."

"Can you run?"

"Whether I can run or not is irrelevant…I'll have to not only run but fight…" Bahamut responded, forcing his head to look up. "We're breaking out, aren't we? Then you can't afford to be dragging your feet helping me. None of us are at our best."

Dael was about to protest to that, but before she could, Cid, who had his key away and went for some of his devices again, this time taking up his nailgun and another tubular gun device, sounded out. "Alright…no time to waste. We only got seven minutes left and a lot of ground to cover."

The young officer paused, but then snapped out of it. Cid was right. Unfortunately, none of them had any time to look over their individual welfares or even those of the others. She quickly looked to Cryder, Quaren, and Bahamut. "Alright…one of you needs to junction right now to Ifrit, now that we can use magic again. You don't have time to learn the spells, but this will help."

"I'll stick with my geomancy for now, lass." Cryder responded. "Let your friend or the lad take it."

"Bahamut's weaker…" Quaren began to say.

"Which is exactly why I won't be able to do as much with it as you." Bahamut abruptly interjected. "Take it. Use it to get us out of this."

Quaren and Dael alike both turned to Bahamut at that. Weakened as Quaren was, he still looked more than battle ready, whereas Bahamut looked ready to collapse at any moment. However, Cid didn't let them waste time arguing about it.

"Alright. Private DeSur it is. Come on…we need to head straight back to the barracks!"

Immediately, he turned and took off again. This time, he shot right across the yard and made he way back for where the heart of the riot was taking place, right where Jalab was kicking up a storm. Dael tried to protest, but there was no time. Gritting her teeth, she clenched the hilt of her sword and soon took off. Bahamut, determined not to fall behind, grit his teeth and ran after her. The others soon followed one after the other. Quaren was the one left behind. He looked bewildered for a moment, but then grasped the stolen rifle more tightly and ran after them.

"How do I junction anyway?" He called out to them, already far behind.

"Ifrit already gave you his power!" Taraketh called behind him. "Just focus on it!"

Dael didn't look to either of them. She continued to charge forward. They had an open field for now, but just a bit in the distance were pockets of resistance flaring up, individual groups of prisoners tangling with soldiers. However, they seemed to be overcoming them for the most part. As she looked forward, however, she suddenly heard a rapid trotting behind her, and soon after…Quaren ran up to her side, eyes wide open, gaping at his own body, and seeming stunned at himself.

"Wow!" He exclaimed. "This…this feels great! I haven't felt this energized since I did that whole six pack of energy drinks to cram for-"

"Quaren, focus!" Dael suddenly shouted out. "Cover us!"

The private blinked, and soon looked forward. Sure enough, one of the pockets of resistance, unfortunately, had been put down. The three Sybenian soldiers responsible saw them coming, and turned to fire on them. However, Quaren quickly responded. Raising his stolen rifle, and while still running forward, he fired off three perfect shots. Each soldier went down within a second like ducks in a shooting gallery. Dael was actually amazed, but not nearly as much as Quaren was.

"Wow…and with a foreign weapon too…" He remarked. "Even my gunnery improved…"

"Well don't stop now, grunt!" Taraketh shouted back. "There's more where that came from!"

Sure enough, another soldier was breaking off. However, he soon spasmed as more loud gunshots went off, and collapsed soon afterward. Dael didn't look behind her, but realized the noise had come from Cryder's direction.

"I prefer blades and geomancy, but I'm no slouch with a firearm either, mateys."

Another guard popped out, only for Cid to peg him with his own nailgun. Soon, everyone with a long-distance weapon was keeping them covered as their company charged right for the heart of the riot. It was a little hard to miss. A huge crowd was fighting and tumbling over each other, creating a screen of bodies. Risky as it was, and as many prisoners went down to the tune of gunshots, it was their only defense. The prisoners had to keep charging the enemy and hitting them as fast as they could to prevent them from simply mowing them down in a wall of gunfire. Even so, the enemy was regrouping. The initial surprise had worn off, and they were beginning to solidify and form ranks. Many of them had taken refuge under piles of rubble and other equipment in the distance, around the wreckage of the main barracks. In the midst, blue flashes went out…signs of Jalab using his energy. It was keeping the enemy at bay, but not for much longer, Dael knew. As soon as they solidified, they would implement heavier weapons.

"We're going for the armory!" Cid shouted. "Jalab managed to break a path to it, it looks like! He just hasn't had time to get in on it!"

"Let's get some chaps behind us!" Cryder called back. "Guns ain't no good without anyone to wield them!"

On that note, the pirate looked out and began to shout to the surrounding groups. The pockets of resistance in the back that had dealt with the soldiers guarding them looked up, and saw the group charging forward…straight for the main line. At this stage in the riot, the crowd would respond to anyone leading them, without much question. As Ceja began to join in, her own booming voice resounding over the din, a few were stirred to action. Soon, some of the stronger inmates began to fall in behind their group. And as they joined, others spotted them and were motivated to "go with the flow". They too arose and fell in behind them soon their small group had become a charging wave.

Quaren, however, called out. "Well, we got people behind us…but even we can't break that line by ourselves!"

"We can if we call in our _special_ allies…" Dael spoke up in response.

Cid heard that…and immediately dropped speed. In moments, Dael and Taraketh had pulled to the front. As more inmates gathered behind them, and the prisoners thinned out in front of them, the Sybenian soldiers up ahead formed a great block. They saw the approaching group, and quickly readied their guns. No doubt, they intended to make them the first to mow down. Beyond them, under numerous barricades, more Sybenians kept Jalab pinned. They still couldn't see him, but the flashes continued to go out.

"Ready?" Taraketh called to Dael, still running forward.

Dael responded by putting her sword away and narrowing her gaze up ahead. "Ready!"

As the Sybenian soldiers prepared to fire, both Dael and Taraketh focused on them, and let more arcane language flow. However, the soldiers, although they heard it, didn't back down. They figured it would be another couple of mild spells at the most, and that they had the superiority in numbers to overwhelm whatever could be thrown at them. Therefore, as the two continued to chant…they, as well as the rioting inmates, gave pause and looked in their air uncertainly as it seemed to suddenly grow dark as night, even without any clouds in the sky…

Moments later, not one but two massive distortions appeared in midair. They bent in on themselves, and soon formed portals of a sort. A moment later, a being emerged from either one. One was a great bird gleaming with electricity, snaking old bolts in her wake as she flew forward: Quetzacoatl. The other caused frost to form in midair and gentle snow to start falling as she emerged from her own portal: Shiva. The soldiers spotted them both, and gaped. Most of them shifted their weapons up to them instead. A select few realized what they were…what was coming…and turned and tried to duck for cover. In either case, it soon didn't matter.

Shiva started by flinging her arm forward. Immediately, the moisture in the air condensed and formed tiny shards of deadly ice dust, and then began to surge over the assembled soldiers. They cried out and tried to shield themselves as not only the dust sliced through armor and clothing and lacerated what was beneath, but a biting cold wind, far colder than any arctic gale, wrapped around them. Although they tried to flee…they were chilled to the bone, reduced to huddling masses. It soon grew worse as the intensity of the cold caused ice to form on them, freezing them to their weapons and their feet to the ground. That only served to set them up for what came next…

Snapping her beak forward, Quetzacoatl let her lightning fly. It was great and terrible, far larger and more impressive than anything Dael had ever managed to generate. A large thick bolt snaked out and immediately split into a dozen smaller, yet still large bolts, and each struck the ground with such ferocity that it shattered ice and sent fragments of rock flying into the air. Naturally…the soldiers went flying. Some were able to cry out, others not so lucky. At any rate, the terrific impacts sent them flying, some up to fifteen feet in the air, and scattered them about. The ice actually acted as a conductor to electrify them further. The lightning bird pumped out more electricity for a few moments in order to ensure that all were thrown aside and cast about.

However, after a few moments, both Shiva and Quetzacoatl became transparent. As the darkness faded and the light of the desert returned, both of them evaporated like images or mirages, turning into nothingness and fading away. What was left in their wake had stunned most of the people on the yard, enemy or ally. Only a shattered line of soldiers was what was left, either frozen, pierced, or electrified and scattered. A clear shot now made its way all the way to the barracks.

Dael and her company, though, had not stopped charging forward.

"Charge!" Cryder called.

"Beat them down!" Ceja added.

The inmates stood only a moment longer, long enough to realize that it had been only Sybenians who had been struck by that attack, not the prisoners. They now realized they had powerful allies on their side. With that in mind, the prisoners rallied once again. Their opponents, stunned and intimidated now, were beset on all sides by them as their renewed their efforts, able to break past barriers and hiding places and tackle them with renewed vigor. More weapons changed hands and the tide turned back in favor of the rioters.

Although the line was clear, and Dael had a straight shot to the barracks, she didn't see Jalab. Yet she soon saw signs of him, as another wall of the barracks erupted and five men were knocked clean through. Two more flew past an existing hole in the barracks, and as the group passed the line of flames they began to hear the sounds of more soldiers rapidly being dispatched. No more gunshots were heard. Dael figured she knew what happened. They may not have seen Jalab, but he had seen them…and used the moment to turn his attention back to the armory. No doubt, some guards had still been there…but he had dispatched them all. As Dael moved for the newest opening that had been made, the soldiers at last collapsed. Rather than try to hold their ground any longer at the yard or the barracks, they began to break off to regroup, over at the last true defensive implacement they had, the gates to the ship. That, of course, only made things more desperate for Dael. They could take off soon if they weren't fast enough. They had to stop them before they had the chance.

A moment later, and Dael was leaping through the opening and into the chamber. The others quickly followed, although Cid had to climb more than leap due to being weighed down. Dael paused once inside and looked around. Any internal structure or "niceities" that had once existed within the main soldiers' barracks had long since been gone. Much of it was wrecked, shredded, burned, or enflamed. Everything had been torn up. Although the place resembled pretty much a long hallway into adjoining rooms, Dael saw most of the place was riddled with bullets and the walls punched through. When she emerged into the new area, she saw that the few soldiers still inside lay in heaps, mostly broken with shallow breathing, assuming she saw them breathing at all. She looked around only for a moment as the others began to climb in after her, and then turned her head to one side.

Perched in front of one wall built more solidly than the rest and undamaged, in particular in front of a large metal door centered in the middle of it, stood Jalab. His native clothing was gone, he was without his weapon, he was covered with sweat, and he looked as if he had been grazed and slashed more than once. Yet he didn't look nearly as bad as he did the last Dael saw him. He was still standing and every muscle in his body rock-hard and tight. Dael looked to him just in time to see him punch out the last guard. After that, he panted a moment, and then paused to wipe an amount of blood off of his brow, before turning to Dael and the others. He smiled a bit.

"You alive." He stated. "Connect with celebration."

Dael blinked for a moment at that. However, as Cryder climbed inside, he looked to her. "…I think he means, 'join the party', lass."

By now, everyone had climbed in. Even Bahamut, who was panting harder and slumping more than the others. However, prisoners were heading in as well. Quickly, Cid shifted weapons again, this time taking out a drill apparatus that looked large enough for major industrial explosive work. He quickly moved over to the door and placed the end of the bit against the lock, and soon gunned it. Everyone soon reared back as sparks poured out, and the bit slid easily through the metal like a hot knife into butter. He did so a few times, severing all locks, before pulling it out. After doing so, he simply reached over, grabbed the handle, and yanked the door open…revealing several racks of guns and ammo.

Dael put her sword away and quickly stepped inside. Quaren soon followed. Once in, she seized a rifle off the shelf as he went for a magazine. She tossed the rifle to him, he inserted the weapon, and then tossed it out to Cryder. Cryder, in turn, tossed it to Ceja, who, after giving it a puzzled look, turned and gave it to the nearest prisoner. Another loaded weapon was soon passed to her, and she gave it to another. Then a third.

"Hurry." Dael stated as she quickly pulled more weapons off the shelves. "We've already lost some of the inmates…but I don't think we have enough guns for everybody even now. Makes sense. They wouldn't want there to be enough weapons to arm everyone in case this happened. What's our time, Cid?"

"Almost five minutes left." The Sorceress Knight responded. "We've got our work cut out for us. And we're all a bit drained…"

Dael had to agree. Sure, she had summoned Quetzacoatl easily enough…but she soon realized immediately afterward that it nearly exhausted her. The constant torture and torment without sleep had drained her mind. She barely had any magical power left to speak of. She knew she couldn't summon her again, or any of the other junctions, even Carbuncle, now.

"They're consolidating everything they have left at the gate to the shipyard." Dael continued. "We'll have to punch through."

"Can we seize control of their armored transport? Use that to ram the gate?" Quaren asked.

"That won't work." Cid responded. "It's too reinforced to break through so easily. Even then, it would take us too long to commandeer one. The reinforcements would arrive with armor piercing weapons before then."

"I can use my earth spells to knock it right off its moorings." Taraketh suggested.

"They still have guard towers in place and sentries, and even if they didn't…that gate could shrug off a low powered Guardian Force."

"Don't worry…I have an idea." Dael stated as she began to pass out the last half of the weapons. "We just have to keep up the momentum…not give them a chance to catch their breath and keep them panicked."

Quaren slammed another magazine into one and passed it along before accepting another. "I don't think most of these people even know how to hold a gun, let alone shoot one, Dael."

"Better than sending them in with nothing but rocks and pick axes." Was all she responded.

Everyone moved fast, and in moments the last of the weapons had been passed out. Sure enough, there wasn't enough for everyone. But as what Quaren said was likely correct, that was probably for the best. The only thing that made her more nervous than a military operation with people who had no background experience or training was a military operation with people who had no background experience or training and live weapons. At any rate, there was little else for it. As soon as she was done, she pulled out and exited the room. Quaren and the others quickly followed back to her, and they moved to the end of their human chain and back to the opening.

Looking outside, Dael saw that the people had calmed momentarily. Many were armed now, either from Dael or from taking weapons off guards. Some of them had managed to get keys and were removing collars, but that could wait until later. They were still a rather sorry-looking bunch, but they had calmed down enough to get them into some semblance of order. The rest of the camp had fallen in short order…all except the gated dock. The Sybenians were massing over there. A decent strategy. Not only did they secure the only escape route, but all they had to do was hold the fences and then they could wait for the reinforcements to wipe them all out.

Dael quickly leapt out and to the ground. As soon as she did so, she began to call out. She may have been a young officer, but she was still an officer. That meant she could give orders. Making her voice firm and loud, yet not screaming, she proceeded to give some to the crowd.

"Alright! Everyone, don't fire your weapons unless you're sure there's nothing in front of you but a Sybenian! Anyone who doesn't have a gun, get to an injured person, two to a person! If someone's dead, leave them! We don't have time! We're going to head straight for the gate to the docks! When we get close, spread out at about three feet apart from each other and charge it! But stay behind me and my group! As soon as the gate is down, get to the destroyer as soon as possible! Secure the deck and cover the entrances! The rest of us will take it from there! Taraketh, you're up front with me! Quaren, Ceja, Cryder, Cid, Jalab…all of you stick with us but don't take the lead! Let's go! We're running out of time!"

With that, Dael charged forward and began to run again. She was getting a bit tired from all of this by now. Normally, it wouldn't have mattered, but the amount of energy loss and torture had left her drained. At any rate, everyone did as they were told without dispute. Taraketh moved in alongside her. The others fell in behind, and she was grateful to see that Bahamut had "got the hint" and moved in behind them. The rest of the inmates soon fell in behind, and began to charge. They started to hoop and holler as they did so, but that was fine by Dael. In fact, she had been counting on it. She wanted the Sybenians good and shaken up when they got there.

As they reached the yard, Taraketh called out to her. "Can you put a barrier at least around the front line of these people?"

"I'm running on fumes as it is, Taraketh…the only reason I'm still running is because of those stimulants Cid gave me." Dael responded.

"Wonderful…" He sighed, but not against Dael but rather their situation. He sighed a moment later. "Even if my quake was sufficient enough to snap that gate, Dael, my aim is off because of…you know."

"Just do it, Taraketh." Dael flatly responded, reacting as an officer would. "I'll make the gate as brittle as possible but if you can't pull this off, we're all up a creek."

The High Child sighed, but relented. "…Very well."

The two continued to run across the yard, and from there to the fields beyond. Soon, they were making straight for the gates to the port. The walls were filling with soldiers, adding to the guards already there. The gates had been shut. The few soldiers that hadn't gotten inside in time broke in all directions, looking for cover to hold out until the reinforcements arrived. The destroyer, however, was not yet in operation. Dael thought possibly that Jalab had neutralized most of the crew when he broke free, but there was no way to be sure and no time to worry too much about that. He noticed that the two remaining towers that there were two remaining towers on the other side of the gate, but they were only being mounted now. No doubt, Cid's earlier explosions had caused the soldiers to evacuate temporarily until they could be sure no other explosives were there. However, now the enemy was retaking the higher ground.

"Alright. Cid, do you have any way of taking out one of those towers on you?"

The Sorceress Knight puzzled. "…Wasn't _I _supposed to be the one rescuing _you_?"

"Cid!"

The man jumped a bit at the sudden response, and then nodded. "Yeah! One bomb left!"

"Can you deliver it to the top of that tower?"

He thought for a moment. "…I never really tested the equipment for that, but I think I can."

"Good. Cid, you take the one on the left. Jalab, you take the one on the right. Tell him, Taraketh."

"I can't just order around-"

"_Do it!"_

The sudden surge in volume, and the command behind the voice, was enough to make even the stubborn High Child pause. A moment later, and he quickly spoke in in Jalab's language. Jalab, in turn, nodded. "No problem. Slice of pie."

"Cryder, Quaren…" Dael continued. "Keep the soldiers on the wall pinned down. Ceja…behind me. Get ready to bust through anything that's still standing."

"Still standing?" Ceja questioned.

"You'll see." Dael responded as began to draw out her Mage Gun.

They were getting close now. Soon they were within 50 yards of the gates. The enemy hadn't fired yet, but that was a formality, Dael knew. They were simply waiting for the point where they could mow down the prisoners without even worrying about a target. As for the riflemen, Dael had them space themselves the way they had on purpose…with the intention of making it hard for any of them to land a target. Yet as they got closer, she knew it was only a matter of time before they started shooting. Dael waited out as long as they could. Too close, and they might have time to respond. She wanted to hit them all at once…throw them into fresh panic.

However, as they got nearer, Quaren raised his own rifle. Cryder put his own guns away and began to gesture with his hands. The air around Jalab began to charge, and Cid had removed a device and was fastening it, it looked like, to the top of his nailgun. And as she saw an officer on the wall give the order to prepare to fire, and all of the soldiers getting ready for it, she realized it was time.

As the Sybenians began to speak and announce the call to fire, she raised her Mage Gun and fired her last shell through the air. Like some sort of "atomic snowball", a blue, crystalline object that rained down snow and frost behind it shot through the air and impacted directly in the center of the gate. Immediately, the spell went to work. A ringing sound like crystals clinking together went out as ice and frost rapidly condensed through the air and froze the entire gate, spreading along it. Massive ice crystals formed as well, but they did not piece the gate…only cover it with more cold and frost. Those standing above it looked down, and soon found the wave of ice beginning to spread up to their own feet and level. It caused them to interrupt their plans to fire and fall back as the gates were overcome with the thick ice. However, there were still plenty left to fire. They never got the chance.

Suddenly booming out with a large, arcane word, Taraketh threw his hand forward. Apparently, his aim wasn't too terribly bad, for it had the desired result. Abruptly, the ground swelled and fractured, and huge columns of rock exploding out radially from the ground burst forth and smashed in all directions with incredible force…smashing into the thick ice and proceeding to shatter the gates like a hammer against glass. Not just the main doors, but the moorings, the posts, and a good portion of the thick wall behind it. Soldiers cried out who were still standing as the ground broke and gave way beneath them, dumping them down in a deluge of rubble. The other soldiers shrank back who were still on steady or wavering walls, going for cover. Their attempt to fire was also cut short as the entire gate array collapsed, leaving a gaping hole in their defenses.

The others struck quickly.

At once, Quaren began to fire off at the soldiers on one side. Still enhanced by Ifrit, his aim was truer than any of their own snipers could ever hope to be. He was soon picking them off so rapidly that, had he been any faster, one could have sworn he was using a semi-automatic. As for Cryder, he quickly swepts his arms around and pushed them forward, sending blades of wind down on the soldiers on his side. While it may not have been as quick and fatal as Quaren, the pelting of wind was enough to drive them into pain and send them diving for cover as slashes were opened up on their arms and torso's from a seemingly invisible force.

Then, Cid and Jalab struck, almost together. Jalab swept his arms around as he ignited into a blue, burning aura, and then brought his arms down and around and clasped them together, the aura seeping from around him, sweeping around his body once, and then gathering in his palms. A moment later, he paused for a moment to lock his feet in place, and then drove it forward, opening his hands in a clamshell like manner…and sending a massive pulse of cosmic energy sailing straight for one of the towers. The soldiers would have barely had time to gape before the blast connected, and immediately the entire top of the tower vanished in a blue eruption of light, like a fiery explosion tinted a strange color. The shack was obliterated that perched on top, and guards as well as debris went flying. At the same time, Cid fired off his nailgun, taking only a moment to increase the pressure. Soon after, the object sailed through the air for the other tower. It arched as it did so, not having as much punch, but, inexperienced as Cid had said, he still knew to adjust…and soon the latest nail bolt had attached a device to the tower. Seeing this, as well as what had just happened to the other tower, the soldiers didn't wait. They immediately jumped off the edge for it, just as Cid pulled up his remote and detonated the last bomb. Soon, that tower too was reduced to flaming rubble.

Dael's move had worked. Between what she had just done with Taraketh, the dual assault of the Sorceress Knights, and the actions of Quaren and Cryder…the enemy was once again in total disarray. Giving a war cry of her own, Ceja ripped past Dael and toward the rubble that was now the remains of the front gate. She put her mattock aside long enough to snap down, seize a piece of debris the size of her, hoist it up, and keep charging. As Dael and the others followed on her heels, they soon scaled the pile of rubble and began to run past it. Beyond it, a line of soldiers waited for them…but they were too stunned and shocked by what had just happened. The few that managed to get their bearings opened fire on Ceja as she ran through, but her hasty shield intercepted it all until she was close enough to throw the entire block of debris at them, bowling over five of them. She quickly got out her mattock and assaulted the next nearest one. Soon…Dael was at her side, slashing with her blade, the others soon followed and, beyond them, the armed inmates.

A chaotic massacre soon resulted. Despite their instructions to charge to the destroyer, the inmates began to open fire on the soldiers in their midst. They at least remembered not to fire unless there were no friendlies before them, but after having caught the Sybenians off guard, they soon started to strike them down left and right. Even those who only had hand weapons charged on confused Sybenians. The few that were still on the wall were either improperly angled or cut off by gunfire or other weaponry. Rather than be able to provide any support, they either hunkered down or, worse yet, broke for it again, now fleeing _out_ of the enclosure. They left their companions to the mercy of the violent prisoners, who struck with the same amount of mercy as they had been given: none. To be honest, when the inmates vented their long pent-up rage against their oppressors, the results were almost horrific.

Dael and the others themselves continued to stay at the head, breaking the last bulwark of the soldiers. As they did, the rest of the people either fired their weapons, leapt on stragglers, or charged by them. Some of them apparently remembered the plan…get on board the destroyer. As they charged by, Dael herself brought her sword around two more times to disable two more Sybenian soldiers, and then looked up and ahead. Less than a hundred yards away, the enemy destroyer loomed. None of the artillery batteries were active. Nary a soul was on deck. The ramp was still deployed. It seemed, in spite of everything, that it had worked. The crew had to have been cut off. The ship didn't have enough personnel to operate on its own.

As the last few soldiers either surrendered, played dead, or turned and broke for it, the inmates continued to surge forward and pass Dael and the others, who were also pausing to look. A few of the inmates were stopping as well as the last of the enemy resistance faded, halting long enough to yell and revel in joy at their victory and freedom. As more inmates passed the group and headed for the ship, they eventually looked forward and focused on the ship as well. It had been a tight squeeze, but it looked as if they would make it. The last of the injured was being brought through the gate right now. All of the inmates were now in the dock area while their former captors were fleeing for it. There was no sign of any reinforcements, and there shouldn't be for at least another minute or two. They were clear. With that in mind, the woman moved to resume charging forward with the others, to join the group coming forward and board the ship.

Abruptly, she froze in her tracks, as did the others with her…and the other inmates running forward. A unified gasp went out through the entire crowd. Some of the "weaker" inmates actually froze for a moment…and then screamed.

Dael herself wasn't sure what happened. All she knew is what she saw…streaks of light abruptly shooting through the ranks ahead of her…followed by lines of blood forming on at least fifteen of the prisoners as they collapsed like marionettes clipped of their strings. Some of it erupted from arteries…but all in all…blood just seemed to materialize along with deep slashes all over the fifteen…and then they just fell, their blood pouring out in pools all over the ground. No sign of guns. No sign of traps. Just…dead.

Taraketh was nearest…and his one remaining eye went wide. "What on Gaia…?" Dael began to hear him say…and then was cut off.

Abruptly, the most horrible sound that Dael had ever heard, impossible to describe, impossible to understand, impossible to grasp…began to pierce her ears at a volume louder than being next to a jet engine taking off. Dael forgot her weapon. Abruptly, her sword clattered to the ground as well as her empty Mage Gun, and she grasped her ears and screamed. She wasn't alone. All of the others did the same, immediately thrashing about in pain and agony, struggling to block out the noise. Dael's knees weakened, and soon she dropped into a crouch. Clenching her teeth, she struggled to hold it back, but to no avail. She had never heard anything so terrible…so maddening. It seemed to set her brain on fire. Her thoughts began to turn into an angry, buzzing blur, like a picture on an old television set that had turned to static. The world around her became vicious, vibrant, and skewed. It felt like her brain was on fire…worse, trying to burst from her skull…

Mercifully, it cut off finally. And when it did, reality slowly sharpened into focus again. Dael, to her surprise, found herself on her hands and knees, hunched over her weapons. She blinked a few times, not remembering how she got there, trying to figure out what was going on, what she had just seen. After a moment, she raised her head…and soon saw the others were much the same. They were all on the ground or just about, all looking sweaty and strained, trembling from what had just happened. They recovered quickly enough, however, beginning to get up and look around much like Dael was. Dael quickly glanced over them, but then thought of the inmates…and, in particular, Bahamut. She quickly turned to see what had happened to him…and soon let out another gasp.

Bahamut was alright. Surprisingly enough, he seemed to be recovering faster than everyone else. However, what he saw around him soon made him gasp. There were quite a few less prisoners in their gathering than before. Some of the people, under, what Dael presumed, the influence of that noise was…had bashed their own brains in with whatever weapons were on hand. Others had killed their neighbors. That noise hadn't just been maddening…it had been like being injected with a hot dose, driving the person completely insane. Dael soon realized she might have done the same had she not had a strong mentality from her training background. Nevertheless, that didn't hide the horror of the rest of the prisoners. They got to their feet and recoiled in shock, cupping their hands to their mouths or snaking away like they were looking at something unholy or profane.

Unfortunately…the horror wasn't over.

As Dael looked at these people…she suddenly saw a change come over them. Abruptly, their limbs began to loosen. Their eyes became glassy, and then half-lidded. The shock on their face gave threw to apathy, or sickness, even. Dael opted for the latter, for soon many of them were beginning to turn pale…deathly pale. Following that, they started to turn green…a horrid, putrid shade of green. By now, Dael and the others were gaping in considerable shock…but the sight wasn't over yet. To her amazement, and terror, Dael watched as their flesh literally seemed to waste away on their bones right before her eyes. They hunched over and began to vomit, a horrible, ghastly color…unlike any Dael had ever seen. Yet they continued to waste away…their bodies covering with lesions now as their skin cracked and opened, and their hair falling out…

It was too much. Even Bahamut, who had supposedly "seen everything", began to shrink back. Dael nearly reached out and grabbed him…to turn his head away from the nightmare that was happening. But then…it was over. Another twenty people fell to the ground and breathed their last…all dead.

Combined with those who had been struck by the phantom blow, and those who had been driven to kill each other…a third of the prisoners were now dead.

"What in the name of all that lives or has ever lived on Gaia…" Ceja spoke.

Jalab uttered something in his native tongue…slow and dark.

"I…I've never seen…anything like that before…" Quaren spoke…his own face pale, his body trembling, and nearly dropping his gun. "What…what was that? A chemical weapon…?"

"That was no chemical weapon…" Taraketh responded, his own face unable to look away from the ghastly sight. "That…that was black magic…advanced and highly deadly…"

In spite of her shock and horror, in spite of the fact that Dael's eyes were on Bahamut, continuing to shrink back, and she felt a need to reach out to him, Dael snapped her head up away from the sight and over to Taraketh. "Wh…what are you talking about? Black magic? But none of us did it!"

"I didn't say any of us did…" Taraketh answered grimly.

"But…but if it wasn't us, then-"

A long, slow scraping was heard behind the group…like metal on stone. Following it came a voice, gravelly, twisted, and dark…laced with what Dael could only assume was insanity.

"Just one… What's the use of calling them pigs if you don't get to feast on one once in a while…?"

Dael paused only long enough to see the people react. Those who were still alive were now filled with fear. Their rioting spirit and fighting passion had been squelched in less than 30 seconds. They now shrank back toward the wall, forgetting their weapons and looked ahead with fear. However, Dael only looked to them for a moment, before she and the others all turned and looked forward.

There were lines of small buildings and shacks leading up to the main ramp leading to the destroyer. And right now…Dael saw a figure emerging from a space between them. He was a solidly-built individual, his body tight and rippling with muscle. But his entire frame and posture was twisted…and twisted bad. His legs and arms seemed to bend out, and his back was arched so much that the space between his shoulder blades seemed to extend higher than his head. All in all, combined with extra-long arms and legs, it gave him the appearance of some sort of twisted insect rather than a man. He had a long, pointed, curled nose, twisted facial features, eyes shining with a light that appeared to be madness, and a shock of white hair with a blue Mohawk, all spiked and flowing backward. Most of his clothing was fully covering him, and he wore a two-tailed cape that extended into some sort of scarf that wrapped around his lower face, so that all one could see was his nose and maddening eyes. In his hands were a pair of hooked glaives, and he had scraped one against part of the stone masonry to make noise. Other than that…only a large emblem of the Hounds of Sybenia was blazoned across his chest.

Dael immediately dove to the ground, snapped up her katana and Mage Gun, and was up again. The gun returned to her side, but her sword was soon up. Taraketh, in spite of his eyes, began to loosen his kusarigama. Cryder drew his guns. Quaren shifted his rifle on the newcomer. Cid readied his nailgun in one hand and reached to his side for another weapon, while Jalab went into a ready stance. Lastly, Bahamut, the only one to not shrink back from the others, moved up to Dael's group and stood with them. It wasn't out of a desire for protection…but out of a wish to side with them.

In response, the figure glared at them, and advanced a step, raising his glaives. Yet even as he did, another figure, letting out a sigh, emerged from an alley opposite him.

"Tee hee…you stupid boy. What's the fun of slaughtering such worthless people if you don't play with them a bit first? If we wanted to just outright kill them, we could have slain them along with the rest of the weaklings on our first strike."

This new figure move more slowly and fluidly, not jerking around a bit slightly as the first did. This one was tall, dressed in a white uniform with a long coat over it. It was spotless and dazzling, almost, and the way the individual moved it appeared as if the person took a lot of pride in keeping it fashionable and spotless. The person appeared to be female, although one couldn't really tell from the all concealing clothing. The only thing to base it off of was the voice, which sounded rather airy, light, Sybenian-accented, and extremely confident and smug. Her hands, concealed under long white gloves, easily and flawlessly tossed about a knife, seeming to almost do tricks with it. It was one of the throwing sort, indicating more than one was probably present. Her upper face was concealed by a silver mask, one that looked more for protection than anything, but her eyes, confident and haughty, looked out from it at the group with twisted delight and malice. Her hair was long and blond, but brushed back and apparently styled in place. Just like her partner, the Hounds of Sybenia emblem was on her, this time placed on the arms of her coat.

On looking out to them, she chuckled. "Well…heh…I'm almost inclined to let you have your meal." She stated. "These little piggies aren't much to look at. What a pity. I can't really fill them with total hopelessness and despair now. That only works if they think they're at their best as I cut them down into the nothingness they are."

Dael, Quaren, Cryder, and Cid now turned their attention to the new one. She wasn't aiming their weapons at her…but something about her unsettled Dael. While nowhere near as strong as the Sorceresses, she couldn't deny it now. She sensed a power radiating from this woman. Not only her…but her companion, although hers was even stronger. Yet before any response could be made or formulated, a third voice spoke, firm and smooth.

"We'll just have to hope that the Guardian Forces make them far more than meets the eye. This is supposed to be a test run, not target practice, after all."

Dael looked up to the sound of that voice, and found herself looking up to the deck of the ship. Evidentally, the man responsible had stepped out while she was distracted. However, on seeing this person…her pupils shrank and she let out an audible noise.

This one was dressed in a long coat as well, heavy collared and draping, but it was also loose. Patterns and symbols were etched on them, each representing things such as power and wrath, tenants of a code from the Western world that embraced violence and power as the means to peace. However, the emblem of the Hounds of Sybenia was also unmistakeable on it. He wore only loose and sparse clothing underneath, so one could see that he too was also rippled with muscle. More than likely, the second one was too…it just wasn't visible. He also had a thick and worn strap around his chest, which was connected to a scabbard holding a sword…one of which that was almost the size of the man, broad, and thick. Dael knew it immediately from the handle, which resembled a twisted, burning piece of magma and was sharpened with things that looked like teeth or claws. This was no ordinary blade. In the world, almost all swords, for all their bells, whistles, materials, and manufacturing…were just that: swords. But a few still had magical power imbued in them. This was one…the Damocles. A greatsword that was said that, even if one was merely scratched by it, could kill…that it literally drained and devoured the life from the body. Yet the man who had it across his back filled Dael with even more fear.

His hair was black and long, draping over his shoulders both in front and behind. His mustache and beard were also long and thin, turning down either side. He had a Western look about him, his eyes narrow and his features thin. However, they were familiar to Dael…and not just her. Both Quaren and Cryder reacted on seeing him. Quaren, unable to hide his own features, immediately reacted in more fear than Dael showed. Cryder himself felt his jaw slacken a bit. For once, his tongue had gone dry, unable to say anything smarmy.

At last, Dael broke the silence.

"…Li Juanhong."

The figure heard this, raising his eyes a bit, before forming a half smile.

"…Even after twenty years, I enjoy hearing it when my reputation proceeds me." He remarked, before he began to walk toward the ramp of the ship.

"…Seriously?!" Quaren found himself exclaiming from behind Dael. "It's him? It's really him?!"

"Always wondered what it would be like to see him in the flesh…" Cryder murmured. "Unfortunately…me and every member of my crew agreed the day we saw him would be our last day alive…"

Dael herself had to struggle not to sweat…or even shrink back…as he walked down the ramp. The other two were almost forgotten. Li Juanhong, simply put, was the strongest warrior in the world. He had held that spot for at least ten years and had been in the top two before that. From what information had been gleaned from him over the years, he was a soldier-of-fortune that had mastered two styles: the ancient Wutai samurai style and the Baronian dark knight style, both old and practically unknown to most people or other combatants. In spite of the famous sword he carried, he was renown for never needing to use it and still going against over a hundred soldiers with guns without getting even a scratch on him. The only reason he never made a most wanted list was because he was a mercenary and simply available to the highest bidder…

…Until now, apparently. As Dael watched him, she noticed that he had the emblem.

"You may call me Raven." He said to the group as he kept descending. "That's what my code name is, after all, now. Along with Jay and Crow here…we form the innermost circle of the Hounds of Sybenia. The ones designed to carry out the jobs even the best of the elite cannot."

The one in white, who, based on gesturing from Raven, was Crow, let out a snicker. "But don't flatter yourselves, children. This is a training exercise. You're only here to warm us up before we go after things of consequence. Well…" Here, she snickered a bit. "…_And_ to relish your fear. It's going to be rather fun making you like the rest of the cattle back there…" She gestured beyond them, toward the crowd. "Look at the mindless little rats, cowering in fear like rabbits."

"Well, let us ease their suffering…" The scarfed one, Jay, stated as he began to sharpen his glaives against each other. He began to walk forward as well, as did Crow. The group started to tense at that. However, before they could get far, Dael called out.

"Juanhong…you actually joined Sybenia?"

"How could you?" Taraketh threw in. "Sybenia doesn't tolerate your nationality…or any others that doesn't match their genetic ideal."

The man paused a moment, descending the ramp. He looked again intrigued. But then, he merely snickered before resuming. "You only have about a minute before that siren that went off calls an entire army on you, and you want to waste your last few moments of life asking questions that will avail you nothing?" He paused. "Very well, I'll humor you.

"The Guiding Hand adopts many public platforms that best serve their interests in solidifying the populace. After all, hate is a powerful rallying point, and filling your public with hate is the best way to keep them in line and direct them to what you want. However, it becomes foolishness when you ignore perfectly good assets for keeping up such frivolities. My nationality is one…and, as you might have guessed, _magic_ is another."

Dael's eyes widened a bit, and the others paused with her.

"Rozan Heirarch might want a world without freaks babbling their spells, but until every country on Gaia lies under the waving banner of the Guiding Hand, it can serve as a useful tool when properly applied in limited cases…such as being the sole owner of the greatest magical powers on Earth."

Taraketh's one eye narrowed as he sneered. "None of you were ever in the Order of Hyne."

"Of course we weren't." Jay snorted. "Why would we want to waist time with a bunch of flower-worshipping monks who don't even know how to use their own power?"

"Such a pity all of the Guardian Forces love to adhere to their little rules. All you have to do is give them a bloody nose and you get all the benefits." Crow added. "The fight itself was almost too easy. As to what I gained…I'm quite impressed. And here I thought, after the joke of a battle, I would barely get anything. Now I'm a goddess to be feared."

Taraketh's sneer vanished and he leaned back. Dael herself blinked in astonishment.

"You…you three are junctioned?"

"And that, my dear, brings us to your original question." Raven continued as he stepped off the ramp to the ground, but continued to advance. "Rozan Heirarch himself offered me all kinds of money and power if only I would swear allegiance to the Guiding Hand and become an officer in his army…in other words another lap dog just like all the others. I could do without that. I wasn't a free agent for years just to throw my lot in with someone who waved a bunch of gil under my nose. I told him flat out I wanted something that no one else could possibly offer me before I would even consider it. However…it seems Rozan knew my kind of flavor. There was only one thing he could give me that I could never have…a chance to be even better than I was. And to think…for years I had known about junctions and didn't give a care one way or the other about them. Yet when I finally was able to try one out…it was beyond belief. And so…here I am. Perhaps a stranger in a strange land, but still a dyed-in-the-wool Sybenian. Legal status, diplomatic immunity, everything."

Dael's surprise vanished. She narrowed her gaze at him again, in spite of his power…power that she knew was far greater than anything she had ever seen before.

"…And all you had to do was sell out your own people and your soul."

Raven shrugged as he came to a stop in between Crow and Jay. "My soul got so dirty I threw it out ages ago." He responded. "Long before the Guiding Hand made its first public speech. As far as my people, heh…I never really cared much for them anyway. There's really only two races in this world, my dear…those who spend their lives in chains and those who give them a tug every now and then. That's the story of human history. All this talk of ethnicity…national pride…rich heritage… Those are things people cling to because they think it makes them more than a gaggle of ants scurrying about a glass case hurtling through the cosmos…and ultimately means no more than an ant who has a colored stripe on his back over one who doesn't. Both look exactly the same when a shoe comes along and stomps on them, and neither is spared the wrath." He looked up a bit at that. "Speaking of which…"

Abruptly, a loud whistle went through the air…followed by a tremendous explosion from far behind the group. Another soon followed, and another after that. Dael and the others turned around…and felt more fear come into them.

Time was up.

An entire tank convoy was rolling in one solid line of death straight down the sand dunes and for Helheim Detention Center. A few shots had already come out and were obliterating the fences, leaving nothing to stop them from rolling over the entire place like a steamroller. They were too late.

A snickering went out from the direction of the Elite Hounds, and Dael snapped back to them along with the others.

"I warned you about chatting a bit." He told her. "Now it looks like time's almost up. Seems you've got only one choice. You see…not one of you is setting foot on that destroyer…not unless you get by us. And the only way that happens is over our dead bodies. Those tanks won't be stopping, so I assume you have about another minute or two before they turn the docks into a parking lot with you on it. And so…without further adieu…"

Jay twisted his body forward and aimed his glaives at the group, grinning from ear to ear. Crow chuckled a bit as she faced them, crossing arms against her chest, and beginning to tighten her leg muscles. Raven himself left his sword in his sheath, and cracked his neck.

"Like Crow said, this is merely a training exercise. I won't even be needing my sword. I wonder if you'll all even last the full minute."

Dael and the group stared back a moment longer. Although they had no idea how these three were like in combat…they had already killed so many only by exerting a bit of magic. Could they really stand against something like that? Somehow…their confidence in everything made them think that it wasn't smugness or arrogance. The group actually began to tense up and struggled not to sweat. They tried to focus on fury and their training and power instead. One thing was certain…they couldn't get out of the prison without going through them. Therefore, there was only one way through this.

Without giving any other warning, Dael shot forward with her sword out and straight for Raven. The others quickly snapped into action as well. Quaren, Cryder, and Cid went after Crow, while Taraketh, Ceja, and Jalab shot after Jay. Dael thought, at the bare minimum, Jalab would take down Jay in no time. But she couldn't really worry about that. Her sword was aimed right at Raven, and she charged straight for him. He merely smirked, keeping his arms at his sides. Dael let him. She knew what he was thinking…and that was exactly what she wanted him to think. Aiming the blade right for his heart, she continued to barrel forward, and he continued to do nothing.

Finally, a heartbeat before plunging it in, a string of arcane syllables came out of Dael's mouth…and she immediately appeared behind him. Ignoring how dizzy and drained that made her, she continued to charge forward, meaning to run him through the back…

Only to have Raven suddenly collapse forward, land on his hands, and swing his legs up and backward behind him as he did so…catching Dael under the chin.

It was like a truck had just collided with her face. Dael was ripped off of her feet and sailed a good ten feet into the air. All of her senses were dazzled. The world turned into a shower of stars, and the pain rocked her brain so steadily, piled onto her other exhaustion, that she didn't know what was what. Yet as she fell to the ground…Raven moved like a flash, immediately shooting back up to his feet, swinging around, and burying his fist into her gut as her limp body descended again. Instantly, she was ripped out of the air like she was attached to a rocket, sailed over the ground, and smashed into a wall of a shack so hard she nearly pounded through it. Cracking his neck again, Raven calmly began to advance on her…while Dael, her body wracked with pain, dizzy, and senseless, tried to realize what had just happened to her.

Even if Dael had enough senses to look to the others, she wouldn't have liked what she saw.

Quaren automatically began to fire along with Cryder while they were still a distance away. However, Quaren only managed to squeeze off one shot before he froze. Although he was well aware of how fast a speeding bullet was, he saw the figure merely smile…and appear to instantly move out of the way of the bullet. Cryder, was more direct. He quickly began to squeeze off one shot after another…for all the good it did him. The woman's body seemed to take on the likeness of Dael's images, splitting up into numerous phantoms as she moved so fast and dodged every last shot. She let out a bit of a childish giggle at their attempts. However, when Cid charged forward, putting his gun back at his side and moving to his drill instead with both hands, which immediately lengthened into something more for industry rather than anything else…her eyes lit up with malice before she opened her mouth and let out a stream of arcane language. A moment later, and all three of them recoiled and grasped their heads in frustration as their minds were scrambled. Everything had become a chaotic blur, like a hundred different colors of paint dropped into a mixer and swirled around into total oblivion. All three cried out at once. Nothing worked. They tried to move, tried to react, tried to do anything…but it was as if everything had been short circuited in their brains.

Giggling again, Crow dashed forward, keeping her arms crossed, leapt into the air, swung around, and brought an axe kick down on Quaren's head…instantly dropping the private hard into the dirt. It was a good thing she aimed such a blow for him. It might have seriously injured or killed someone else. As Quaren slammed down, she descended again, and swung up a kick to catch Cryder under the chin and sent him flying. Maybe not as hard as Raven, but he still went a good eight feet into the air before landing again hard and in a heap. She then seemed to almost teleport in front of Cid before lashing out and knocking his device away, before thrusting forward and sending him flying ten feet before landing. On impact, which was hard and rough, he sprawled out and coughed…letting out some blood.

"Come on, Esthar babies." She taunted. "I haven't taught you all to know your place yet."

Over with Jay, Ceja charged forward, swinging her mattock down and around for Jay's head. He grinned beneath his scarf and raised up his hooked glaives, lashing them together and making a sliding motion to catch the head of the mattock as it came. But even so, considering the raw power that Ceja possessed, especially junctioned…Taraketh and Ceja alike soon gaped in shock as he held her off without even buckling. He merely snickered at her attempt, his maddened eyes looking to her, before he rapidly yanked both arms out and sliced the end of her mattock clean off. Immediately, the glaives swung around and sliced from her right shoulder to her left hip…spilling a large amount of blood. Ceja's eyes widened as her face paled, before he shot forward and buried his knee in her stomach, and gave her a follow up kick to the face to knock her aside.

Yet the moment Ceja left the picture…Jalab was on him. Dashing forward, he brought a hand back and focused his power. Jay turned to him, and quickly crossed his arms in a blocking gesture in front of him as Jalab swung his hand forward, sizzling the air with its power, and swinging his hand out to form an iron palm as he tried to drive it into the man.

A large thunderclap echoed over the field, and both enemy and ally felt their clothing tugged from the force of the blow…but should anyone have been able to watch, they wouldn't have liked the result. Jalab himself actually gaped a bit.

Jay simply stood there with arms crossed…an inch long rut in the ground from where his feet had dug in. He had taken the blow.

Soon after, he looked up with a malicious grin as he uncrossed his arms and readied his weapons.

"So much for the Sorceress Knights."

Both glaives went forward, and pierced both of Jalab's calves, slicing deep into them. Jalab's eyes widened even more. His teeth grit. Somehow he stopped from yelling out, but as blood flowed out from his wounds, he fell to the ground, his legs now useless.

A whistling went through the air soon afterward, and Jay looked up, and saw a few large ice crystals headed his way, courtesy of Taraketh who was now casting the spell the moment Jalab and Ceja were out of the way. In response, Jay grinned and chanted some on his own. Taraketh soon received a shocking surprise. It was inconceivable for someone to generate a spell so fast to deflect another one…but Jay did it. Abruptly, the wind condensed and formed a small whirlwind in front of him, and as the ice crystals hit it, they were flung in all directions, including back at Taraketh. Quickly, he covered his face with one arm to avoid being pierced…and as he did, Jay laughed maniacally and leapt straight into the whirlwind…shooting through it and barreling straight for Taraketh. The High Child looked down just in time to see Jay smash his head into his face…making sure to hit his wound in the process. Fresh blood drawn from the impact, Taraketh spilled back in agony.

Dael shook her head, and somehow managed to get to her feet, pulling herself out of the hole. Her head was still swimming, and she felt both weak and in pain. Some of her teeth felt loose and her jaw may have been fractured. However, Raven was coming on her, and somehow, she still had her sword. Quickly, she brought her power to bear again. She couldn't cast a barrier spell. She had exhausted too much with her teleport. Instead, as he neared, she shot forward and began to slice at him. Raven, however, without batting an eye, without even straining himself, easily and simply dodged every single blow. The blade hit nothing but air with each slice. Gritting her teeth, Dael continued to try and slash him for a moment…

Until one of Raven's hands went out, forming a simple clasping motion. Abruptly, on of her stabs, Dael froze, and her eyes widened again. Her sword had been caught in a _one-handed _blade catch. Not only that, but it now felt as if her sword was embedded in concrete. She couldn't move it in the least, only gape at what was happening…

Before Raven shot out his free hand and clasped it around her throat, crushing inward. A moment later, Dael's mind went into vertigo as he ripped her off of her feet, swung her over his head, and then smashed her down into the gravel path so hard that she left an impression. Rocks pierced her flesh, digging into her chin and drawing blood, but most of all…pain radiated throughout her entire body, wracking her with it and knocking her more senseless.

Raven released her neck and her sword, and instead brought his heel up to try and axe kick her head…looking to split it in two. Dael saw this, but she was drained and sluggish. In only a few blows, Raven had filled her with pain and sapped her strength. Yet through some miracle, she somehow rolled to one side and got clear as an eruption of dirt and stone went up, the result of Raven's foot coming down. Managing to get into a squat, she sliced out for his leg…only to have him nimbly leap over it and kick her not once but twice…once to knock her blade away, and again to hit her in the head, knocking her across the yard again. Dael's vision again went to stars as the foot slammed into her head, and her senses were knocked for a loop as she flew across the ground and landed in a heap, rolling a bit before stopping.

Quaren, meanwhile, was rolling back up from his own blow, and saw his opponent simply standing there smugly, apparently waiting for him to try again. Snapping out of his earlier shock, he aimed his rifle again, hoping to hit a spot that was harder to move. He didn't get the chance. In a flash, Crow snapped one of her hands out and flung the knife from earlier at him, embedding it in one of his palms. The private's eyes widened as his hand was pierced, and he loosened on the weapon as he cried out. Yet in another instant, Crow was on him, snatching the rifle out of his arms and swinging it around twice, clubbing Quaren on the side of the head twice until a large bloody wound emerged, and he fell to the ground.

Even as she did, however, Cryder managed to shoot to his feet. His guns empty, he tossed them aside and instead struggled to make a gesture, obviously to call on geomancy again. A moment later, the air around Crow began to heat up, but she merely chuckled, as she seized the dazzled Quaren by the throat and spun around, using him as a shield as Cryder's Will of the Wisp technique began to ignite the air and turn into intense blue flames. Eyes widening, the pirate quickly cut the power off before he burned Quaren as well, and that was all Crow needed to throw the private at him head first. The pirate soon gave a grunt as he was tackled by Quaren's body and thrown to the ground, both of them landing in a heap.

Quaren, dazzled and bleeding as he was, soon tried to get up, but Cryder went out from underneath first and quickly threw a wind slash at Crow even as she began to advance. Giving out another laugh, she simply sidestepped.

"Pathetic." She stated.

In an instant…she was in front of them. She proceeded to drive her chin underneath Quaren's neck and into his throat, even as he struggled to rise. His eyes bulged, and he gagged again, before she brought her foot out and around and down on his head to cause him to collapse again. Cryder tried to summon his geomancy again, only to have her lash out and strike his fingers dead on…breaking two of them. He yanked back in pain, before she rocked back and unleashed a barrage of kicks against him, pummeling him in the face and body again and again, before thrusting out and knocking him across the yard.

The second he was gone, however, Cid was on her again. Now, either one of his hands held a pair of circular saws that looked like they had been modified for attack rather than defense. The blades were perpendicular to those of true circular saws and now he snapped forward and tried to slash at her. Letting out another laugh, she simply lightly hopped backward, dodging each and every slash. After a few attempts, she let out a sigh, and uncrossed her arms to quickly throw two more knives, one into either saw. Each one immediately shorted out and burst with sparks and smoke, causing the surprised Cid to drop them…just in time to have her rush forward and give him a thrust kick in the throat before snapping him aside with a roundhouse kick to the head. It was so powerful he literally did a flip before crashing to the ground.

"Come on, you useless wimps." She chuckled. "Can't you make me break a sweat?"

At the side, Jalab was struggling to get to his feet. He had toughed through bullet wounds before, but Jay had sliced through large portions of his muscles with his hooks. He was all but crippled. His legs wouldn't work beneath him, and they were still bleeding freely…indicating that he had nicked arteries. And so, Ceja, bleeding considerably herself, staggered to her feet and, giving a yell, charged at Jay. He merely grinned at her maliciously beneath his scarf and moved like a twisted viper as she attacked him, dodging her fists and bobbing his head back and forth, taunting her. Her strain was only making her weaker, for blood continued to flow and her pallor got worse. After a moment longer, Jay began to fight back, slicing another cut across her chest. She gasped and faltered as more of her blood was spilled, but, tightening her jaw, she lashed out again. Jay laughed as he dodged this again, and opened another deep cut across her.

This was too much. Letting out a weak moan, Ceja abruptly dropped to her knees, bleeding everywhere and losing strength rapidly.

On seeing this, Jalab's eyes widened as well. Gritting his own teeth, he quickly brought his hands together, not trying to get up anymore, and focused his power. As for Jay, he merely grinned at Ceja, who was on the brink of passing out and now using all her strength just to stay on her knees. Swinging his glaives around, he placed them in an X against her neck, clearly meaning to sever her head from her body. But even as he did, Jalab closed his own eyes, kept his hands together, and then aimed them below him and abruptly opened them up. Again, mystic energy erupted from his palms in the form of a beam…and this time, the force was so great that he shot off of the ground and rocketed straight for Jay. He quickly swung his arms around as he was launched, moving to punch Jay in the face as he headed for him.

However, before he could, the man snorted again…and abruptly swung his arms up, leaving Ceja alone for the moment, and drove his elbow into the throat of Jalab as he came toward him. Despite the power and speed of the Sorceress Knight, Jay stopped him cold.

"Pathetic sand digger." Jay snorted. "You're nothing but an out-of-date fossil."

With that, he brought his hand back and backhanded Jalab so hard that the mighty Sorceress Knight went flying to the side and collided with the ground head first. He actually went for a tumble as his head embedded a bit in the ground, and then flipped and landed flat against the ground. The impact was so hard the man was stunned, unable to quickly rise. By now, Ceja was groaning and trying to push up, but Jay snapped around and merely slapped her across the face so hard that she went down.

"Don't get in between me and my prey." He hissed behind him to the fallen Jalab.

A second later, a new whistling went through the air. Raising an eyebrow, Jalab turned…and saw that Taraketh was up again, and flinging his scythe at him. However…the aim was way off, and the weapon was falling short too soon. Jay snickered, and lashed out with a glaive to intercept the scythe. With a quick gesture, he wrapped around the end, and with a snap yanked a surprised Taraketh, still holding onto the chain, straight up to him.

"You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, piglet." He scoffed. "All you're doing is jumping the line for your turn to suffer."

As soon as Taraketh was close enough, he swung his glaive around and gave him the pommel upside of his head, hitting the High Child with sufficient force to make him lose his grip on his weapon and fall back and to the ground. Grinning with delight, Jay threw the kusarigama aside, folded his arms to his sides, and then proceeded to leap into the air and slam down on Taraketh's middle with both legs outstretched. Taraketh's eyes snapped open and he gagged violently as blood erupted from his mouth. Jay, cackling in delight, continued to jump two more times, driving him into more agony. That was…until he saw Jalab struggling to get up again.

He looked to him with a snicker, then back to Taraketh. "Don't go away, meat. I'll be back to tenderize you more once I've gotten all the joy I can get out of beating a Sorceress Knight to death." He said as he hopped off of him and readied his glaives again. Jalab had barely managed to raise his head before the demented man sliced open one of his cheeks and opened another slice across his chest, the power knocking him down again…

As for Dael, gasping and weakened, she let her sword clatter from her grasp, and shot to her feet again, once more charging for Raven. He merely stood and awaited her, glaring darkly yet calmly. She actually managed to leap into the air and swing a kick out for his head, for all the good it did. She proceeded to swing her fists at him in several rapid, powerful blows…ones that Raven didn't even bother blocking. He easily dodged each one. As her hand came around to swing at his head again, she chanted one more time. By now, her head was pounding from magic use, exhausting, and the beating…but she managed one more spell…summoning her blade into her hand. Abruptly, it was a sword headed for his head rather than a fist. At last, Raven did block…but it was a small victory. He merely lashed out a hand to intercept her at the wrist, and then quickly brought his other hand around and slapped her arm in a disarming move to get the sword out of her grasp again. Following that…he advanced.

Raven's arms seemed to move like a blur as he pounded away at her stomach, kidneys, and face. Each blow to the head felt like a mass of bricks, serving to dazzle her as he pounded away at every soft spot on her torso, bruising and bashing her internal organs and knocking more and more of the life out of her. Every time she began to recover to try and fight back, he punched her in the face again, knocking her senseless before she could move. The beating was so fast and vicious that it actually held Dael up even as the beating pounded away at her. Even though her legs lost their strength, she couldn't collapse due to it. What little strength she had left was totally beaten out of her. Her remaining stamina was stripped away, and the stimulants burned out just trying to let her survive the violent onslaught.

As she began to recover again for the fourth time, and as she expected to one again be struck by Raven…he did something unexpected. Abruptly, his foot lashed out behind him instead. A body went flying as a result…one that Dael hadn't expected. Her face was bloody and swollen at this point, but since Raven had let up, she began to fall to the ground, and as she did, she was able to look up and see what happened.

Bahamut's body was the one that went flying backward and crashing into the ground…her own sword clattering from his grasp. He had been trying to move in behind Raven and stab him.

Dael's eyes, swollen as they were, widened a bit, and she nearly called out…when Raven, through with having dealt with Bahamut, swung his leg around and smashed it into her, again ripping her off of her feet and sending her for a tumble. In moments, she was leaving a bloody streak on the rough gravel as she ground to a halt, again motionless and all but helpless.

She had landed on her back, however, and through the constant beatings and blurred, swirling vision, she managed to look up again and see both Raven standing in front of her and Bahamut at a distance. Raven looked at her a moment, then turned and looked to the boy instead. His lip was split and his nostrils were bleeding from the blow, but he nevertheless struggled to rise again, one of his hands trying to fumble for Dael's sword. A moment later, Raven adjusted his coat and began to walk toward him.

"Some might call that action brave or noble, child." He informed him. "But I know such things as bravery or nobility are delusions made up by people who have lost wars to retain some ounce of pride."

Dael let out a grunt, her face tensing through the pain. In spite of everything…she struggled to rise and go after Raven. For a moment, she had just enough adrenaline to sit up and throw herself onto all fours…before she collapsed completely. Her strength was gone. Her body felt like an open sore. She couldn't even move without feeling something loose moving around inside her…assuming she could move at all.

"S…Stop…" Was the only weak croak she managed.

As for Bahamut, somehow, through his own pain and agony, managed to seize the hilt of the sword as Raven came upon him. Immediately, he swung out for his ankle. Dael didn't see it, but Raven's eyebrow elevated again in some amusment, before he brought his foot up and out of the way and then down again, slamming it down on the blade. In spite of his hands being slammed against the ground, Bahamut maintained a grip on the sword, and struggled to wrench it free. In response, Raven swung his other foot up. Bahamut quickly dodged his head to one side, only getting a bit on the ear, but Raven swung his foot again, smashing him in the face a second time and knocking him on the ground.

"He's just a child…!" Dael hissed as she struggled to get up again.

"Agreed. And despite having more skill than the normal child, killing him brings neither praise nor notoriety." Raven responded as he watched Bahamut groan and struggle to rise again. "But I am a Sybenian now…and Sybenia wants him dead along with the rest of you. Therefore…"

Like a thunderclap, Raven's foot shot out again, once for either ankle of Bahamut…and two loud snaps rang out as the bones broke. Bahamut's eyes shot open like saucers, before slamming shut again as he snapped his head back. He didn't scream, but his teeth were clenched and she heard him groan.

"Bastard…" Dael groaned as she tried to even move a single limb…but for nothing. Not only was she drained, she was feeling more drained by the second. The stimulants were completely wearing off. And as they did, her vision was dimming. Yet she still managed to look past the horrible sight to the others…and received no encouragement.

By now, the inmates that were left were cowering back, but unable to go anywhere. The tanks had moved over half of the prison by now, annihilating every bunker and barrack in their way. Even the factories were being demolished in case some inmates were hiding out in there and trying to hold their ground. They were advancing fast on the docks. As for the others, they were no help. Ceja looked like a piece of raw meat. She couldn't even tell if she was still breathing, let alone moving. Jay was on Jalab and laughing as he hit him again and again. Taraketh was much like her…struggling to rise and getting nowhere. Cryder and Quaren were both semi-conscious and trying to get up, but both were unarmed and nearly helpless. As for Crow, she pinned Cid against a building wall using one boot, holding him up and choking him. No one could fight back anymore.

As strong as Dael thought they were, they had all been beaten…and beaten easily.

They were going to die.

Raven slowly stepped off of Bahamut a bit, and looked over him and the others. He too looked up and to his companions.

"Are you two _quite_ finished?"

Crow looked to Cid a moment longer. After that, she blew him a kiss, before releasing her foot and letting him fall. Then, after kicking him in the gut one more time, making him spasm and gasp as he lay on the ground, she kicked some dust into his face and turned away. "I never thought being a goddess would be so _boring_. I mean, I expected to kill even the greatest warriors in the world with ease, but this is like playing a video game on Sandbox…"

Jay, however, continued to pound away. "Heh heh…I want to be the one to completely break Jalab Tierras. I'm going to snap every bone in his body, turn it to powder, and then mutilate what's left-"

"You can do that when you get ordered to do that." Raven snorted, cutting him off. "In the meantime, get off him. I'm not going to stand here for artillery fire while you bust up your knuckles hitting what's left of him."

Jay looked up to Raven, almost seeming disappointed. Grunting, he looked back to Jalab, punched him one more time for good measure, and then got off of him. "He's not on the list, Raven. He's not even junctioned."

"That's for Dr. Lindst to figure out. Some of them, as unbelievable as it seems, have Guardian Forces on them."

"Screw the Guardian Forces!" Jay snapped back, suddenly angry. "Like I want more chumps who think they can take me popping up?"

"You work for Sybenia. You'll do as the Guiding Hand commands." Raven responded.

Crow chuckled. "Besides, Jay…if they're anything like these children, killing them will be a snap. And I don't want you killing them before I have the chance to make them blubber to me for mercy."

"We can take their Guardian Forces just by killing them, though!" Jay whined. "Come on…we can kill at least the weaker ones! They won't survive the trip anyway!"

"Maybe…" Raven mused. After that, he looked down to Bahamut. The boy was now in too much trauma to fight back or even do more than writhe. He looked to him a moment, then shot down, seized him by a broken leg, and yanked him off the ground. Bahamut soon began to writhe in even more pain from the experience, but it only lasted a moment before he tossed him over to Dael. The aim was perfect. He collided with the woman and fell into a heap against her, knocking her down again. However, Dael didn't mind. Instead, she looked up to Bahamut instead. The boy's face was tight with agony. It wasn't even clear he knew she was there.

Dael looked to him, her swollen face a mixture of tension and fear. But even as she did, Raven beckoned to Crow and Jay. Crow sighed and began to come, and Jay, underneath his scarf, frowned and did the same. Once all gathered together, they began to speak.

"Command said they wanted the Guardian Forces and high quality test subjects, but they also said they wanted us to test our powers by neutralizing high-profile targets. A conflict of goals. I expect nothing less from the military. Who gets taken?"

"The one-eyed one used magic, so him…" Jay mused.

"I didn't get any from mine, but the one who had the rifle should have had his head split like a melon." Crow added. "He's definitely junctioned… The other just used geomancy. Think they want him?"

"And that woman." Raven added. "Make a decision on the mustached one quick. The tanks are almost here…"

"…Dael…"

At once, the conversation between the Elite Hounds was forgotten. Dael instead focused entirely on Bahamut. Although his eyes were still closed, he croaked out to her.

"Don't talk, Bahamut…"

"I won't get another chance…" He responded weakly. "We're all on death's door… Even if they spare us, they'll torture us to death or turn us into whatever experiments they keep talking about…"

"We'll get out of this…"

"You will…" Bahamut answered, finally able to open his eyes and look at her. In spite of all of his own pain, he stared perfectly serious. "…I won't."

The young officer paused on hearing that. "…What are you saying?"

"I'm feeling it, Dael…" Bahamut groaned. "Just…just a little… Maybe I've stored it…maybe it's left over from before…but…when I saw them torturing all of you, I felt something inside me…just enough for one move…"

Dael only looked confused. "Bahamut…what are you…"

However, she slowly trailed off. For the first time she could recall…she saw the boy smile.

"…It's so weird. I've run around alone for so long…and yet, there were times, when I was with you, I felt just like a kid again…and it felt…good. Thanks."

The young woman nearly spoke again, but she was cut off by a snicker.

"Look at that… I don't know whether to be touched or puke."

Dael looked up, and saw that the three Elite Hounds had ended their conversation. Now, they turned and fully faced Dael and Bahamut. She glared at them coldly…for all the good it would do. Jay looked at them with sadistic delight, while Crow merely smiled tauntingly. As for Raven, he remained cool and composed.

"We've reached a decision." He told them. "We've decided that although you can use magic, you're Sybenia's most wanted. Therefore, you won't be coming along on our trip. But I'm not totally without heart. You can die alongside that brat that clings to you. As for a quick death…" He shrugged. "Sorry, but you aren't worth staining my blade over. Don't feel too bad. The man worthy of me using my sword on probably no longer exists now that I've attained such power."

Dael continued to glare. If she was going to die here, she wasn't going to show them fear. She wanted to at least strike once more…but she couldn't. She was too weak, too drained. She couldn't even move. In a minute, she'd probably pass out now that the stimulants were gone. Yet before she could even plan a biting retort, Bahamut cried out in pain at last, but also in passion and fury. With all of his might, he too threw himself forward much as Dael had, and landed on his stomach. However, he pushed up afterward, and dragged his knees underneath him, so he stood on all fours. The Esthar's Hawk couldn't see his face, but he glared up at the three. He panted heavily by now, for the move had sent him into more agony and drained what he had left as well.

Crow gave him a look. "…You're kidding, right? Esthar's Hawks are so pathetic they need bleeding kids to protect them?"

"Kid…you just earned yourself a gutting." Jay threw in, brandishing a bloody glaive.

"I already told you I don't believe in nobility or bravery, boy. Neither do I show mercy to children." Raven retorted. "What do you hope to gain by limping toward us?"

Bahamut didn't answer. He continued to pant.

But as he did…something changed.

Dael couldn't pick up on it at first. It seemed only as if Bahamut began to breathe harder and faster, progressively picking up speed and power as he did so. He sweat a bit more and tightened his muscles further. Yet then…something else occurred. The air seemed different. The space around Bahamut felt strange…almost warmer…almost alive. At first, she dismissed it as nothing. Her own senses were fleeing her every moment. Yet as time went on, she only felt it more distinctly, not less. Bahamut grit his teeth and almost seemed to be seething. As he did, Dael felt the warmth increase…almost felt a wind around him. The charge and feeling went from passing to being unmistakable. Dael wasn't sure if the others were seeing this. By now, Cryder and Quaren had managed to stagger to their knees, and Jalab, despite his beating, was somehow rising as well. But Dael saw none of that. She focused on Bahamut, as a light seemed to come around him…almost seemed to make him stand out from everything else.

This feeling she picked up from him, it was something different…and yet familiar. She was confused by it, but then started to think. Was this…power? And was it coming from Bahamut? The boy was strong, but he didn't know magic…did he? Yet as the power continued to grow around him, becoming more unmistakable, becoming raw and distinct…as she saw even the Elite Hounds pause, no doubt picking up on it as well, and beginning to look puzzled…she knew it had to be. She didn't know how he got it. Maybe he junctioned to Ifrit at the last minute…although she suspected that wasn't true. To her amazement and surprise, somehow, he was calling on a new and incredible power, unlike anything she had ever felt before…

No…she had felt it before.

_Like…the Sorceresses…_

Raven again raised an eyebrow. "What're you-"

What happened in the next couple seconds defied description or, at the bare minimum, logic…even considering what Dael had seen from Jalab and the Elite Hounds themselves. Had she had only a little less of her senses, she would have sworn it was a hallucination. Even after it was done, she used what little senses she still possessed to ask herself if she had really seen it.

For a moment, Bahamut flexed his arms and knees, looking ready to jump off the ground…and then he did. Without any propulsion, without any summoning of cosmic power, without saying a single word in an arcane language, Bahamut surged off the ground with so much power that he pounded a crater of a few inches into it…before his body turned into a rocket that sailed straight at the three Hounds in an upward angle. It all happened so fast that Dael didn't have time to see the looks on their faces, but she realized he must have spread his arms out…for somehow he caught them all, and immediately ripped them off the ground and into the air. Dael didn't even see this at first. She simply reasoned that was what happened, for abruptly a blur colored like Bahamut smashed into them, and in the next instant they were gone. A moment later, what she did see, fading over the field, was a blob that she rationalized had to be Bahamut and the three Hounds, sailing over the line of incoming tanks, far, far beyond their offensive line, and then sailing down to the ground again almost a quarter mile away, vanishing behind a cloud of dust, debris, and smoke.

Dael couldn't believe it. Her mind wouldn't believe it. But as her senses continued to fade, she saw the crater. Not only that, but she saw the others. Cryder and Quaren got to their feet to stare at what had happened in shock. The inmates beyond, before her vision dimmed to the point where she couldn't see them any longer, gaped as well, and looked over their heads and the ruins of the fence behind them to the line of tanks…no longer seeing them but seeing beyond them to where Bahamut had gone. And then…she knew the truth.

_He…he really did it…_

Dael tried reaching out to the line. She tried to call out. But her strength was gone. Her voice was gone. She could only stare out with a glassy look as the line and the tanks faded to a blur. She began to hear cannon fire and explosions. She felt the world shake and even flecks of debris hit her…but even that seemed faraway. She heard a voice…sounding like Cid… Had he gotten up? She saw Quaren turn and call out to the people, and somehow they arose and began to come…but then vanished. She saw the image of a large man coming up to her. Jalab, perhaps? Despite the injuries and beating, one body was slung over his shoulders and another under one arm, and before she knew it she felt herself being pulled from the ground as well. She tried to call…but a breathless "Bahamut" was all that escaped her lips as she felt the world go slower and slower as she was pulled away…and faded to nothingness.

The last image she could see was his smiling face…and the last feeling she had was a connection that was completely unexplainable.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	31. Rays of Hope

It had been a while since Dael had rested in something so soft and warm…had remembered feeling so comfortable and relaxed. She had never been one to sleep in, namely because the Academy never allowed it, but she felt the sensation that she was in such a comfy, cozy bed that she just wanted to rest. There was a strange odor in the air…a lovely scent of fresh flowers. Familiar flowers. She thought back to her old runs outside the Academy…how at peace she once felt. All of her pain was gone…something that, for the longest time, seemed to have been part of her life. She no longer felt tired at all. She felt fresh…new…and at peace.

At length, a soft, kind, and childlike voice…yet one that was still laced with power unlike anything on Gaia…called out to her.

"Wake up, my friend. You've slept long enough."

The voice was so gentle, so coaxing, that Dael, without any strain but neither any surprise, slowly opened her eyes.

A large window with the soft sun streaming through it greeted her. It was no oppressive like the desert, but warm and pleasant. And rimmed around it…were skyscrapers. Familiar ones…the ones of Esthar. She looked back a bit, and saw that the sun and city was framed by a window made with a stone archway. In fact, the entire room was made of stone, but had been made up with wall hangings and old furniture to give it a homely, welcoming feel. She saw an old cushioned armchair across from her and, near it, a set of bookshelves filled with old tomes, of all things, almost an oddity in the modern world of digital tablets. Old as the setting was, it felt like a safe place…a nice place. Dael's brain, still awakening a bit, stared at it a moment, just taking it in, before looking around.

She looked to her left first. At this, she realized she was in bed, and in a line of beds. As her memory began to register, she figured that it would be a hospital chamber…but it wasn't. Each bed had been hand-crafted and was piled with thick mattresses and hand-made blankets and covers. The bedside tables had only small lamps on them and came with drawers, not the normal tables of a hospital with medical appurtances. However, they also were set with fresh flowers, giving a wonderful scent. Even breathing them in added more vigor to the woman…although she realized she wasn't in pain or tired at all. As for the other beds, there were several of them, and many of them were unmade. Two Children of Hyne, however, were going about changing the sheets now. Two High Children stood at a stone doorway with a thick wooden door made of oak guarding the passage. Both were cloaked and clasped, and looking fully devoted to duty.

There was one other feature that caught her eye, however.

Sitting up on the adjacent bed, wearing a white dressing gown rather than anything formal from a hospital, was Quaren, giving her a bit of a weak smile.

"Welcome back, lt. commander."

Yet before she could speak to him, she was distracted. She heard arcane words near her, on her opposite side. However, unlike Dael's own spells or even Taraketh's, these words kept coming. A bright green light began to radiate from her side, and the High Children near the door started to stiffen and grow nervous. Even Quaren looked up in a mixture of amazement and anxiety. Seeing this, Dael rolled back over to her other side, and saw what was happening.

Taraketh was in bed. He was covered in fresh dressings, but his wounds looked little better from the last time she had seen him. He still had a bandage over the remains of one eye. However, that only held her interest for a time. A young woman was seated on his bed and lowered over him, one of her hands resting on his head, her eyes closed, and she looked to be in deep concentration. It was Sorceress Mianyl, and she looked to be straining to cast a spell. She even seemed to sweat slightly. Just a hint of her claws were visible beneath her sleeve, but Dael was the only one close enough to see it. As she chanted, the green aura that normally erupted around a magic user was blazing. It seemed to almost be like flames, and growing stronger and stronger all the time. Mianyl, however, kept focusing, even as she had to exert more and more effort to keep talking. Taraketh himself began to moan and shift a bit under his covers. He tried to turn his head, but Mianyl moved her other hand to hold him still and kept chanting.

Dael nearly spoke, wanting to know what this was about…when the aura suddenly died. Letting out a large exhale, Mianyl finished and relaxed, slumping a bit. She inhaled and exhaled a few times, seeming to steady herself, but then her face relaxed and she drew her head up again. Soon after doing so, she smiled down on Taraketh, and reached out to gently run her unseen fingers through his hair. Taraketh had gone still again, but after a moment, his one eye opened, and he looked to see Mianyl over him. He looked dazzled only a moment, before he blinked. He nearly rose.

"My…my lady…"

"It's alright, Taraketh." She stated softly. "Everything's alright now. It took a bit of effort…but everything is fine."

She looked up and nearby, toward another Child of Hyne. She gave a nod to him. A moment later, and the child came up to him, and Dael saw he bore a set of shears. Mianyl looked back to Taraketh. "Hold still." She said softly.

Taraketh looked confused, but he did as he was told. Soon after, the Child came up behind him and used the shears to gently go around his head dressing, and began to cut. After a few moments, it was sliced in two, and the Child pulled the entire dressing away. Quaren let out an audible gasp…and Dael, in spite of herself, did the same.

There was nothing on the other side but an intact, closed eyelid. And after a moment, Taraketh opened it up…revealing his eye beyond it, perfect and unspoiled.

Dael couldn't believe it. True enough, she wasn't terribly familiar with magic. But she knew enough to know that there were some injuries even magic could never fix. Otherwise, amputees and the like would flock to the Order of Hyne to become full again. She had known, as they all had, that Taraketh's loss of an eye was incurable. Even advanced magicians would never be able to repair it. And yet…she had just seen it happen. Confirmation of the impossibility of the act occurred a moment later as Taraketh exhaled and, in surprise, drew a hand out from under the covers and placed it against his intact eye in disbelief. Even he had expected to be blind in that eye forever.

The Sorceresses truly were powerful…far beyond Dael's expectations.

A moment later, Taraketh looked back, and saw Mianyl still seated on the bed, smiling at him. Soon after, he bowed his head to her.

"My…my lady…I'm not…not worthy of such a mighty gift…"

"Don't speak such nonsense, Taraketh." Mianyl responded. "You and your companions have had to endure untold amounts of pain and suffering for the good of many. You are more than deserving. And what good is my power if I cannot heal my own friends?"

Dael picked up on this. For the first time, she felt her own body. Sure enough…she had dressings here and there as well. Her head had a few bandaged wounds, her body had dressings on them, and her jaw seemed to have been set as well. And yet…none of that mattered anymore. She began to pull at the dressings and, aside from some minor discomfort from removing bandages, there was nothing else. She felt underneath one, and all she felt was smooth, healthy skin and flesh. Not even a scar.

She began to sit up in bed. She felt a bit sluggish, but still managed to lean up without pain. Even as she did, Taraketh, continuing to blush, kept his head bowed, and Mianyl herself rose from his bedside to her own feet. Dael looked to her, and bowed her own head in respect. However, she soon rose it again.

"Lady Mianyl…I'm guessing that you healed me as well, so I'm very grateful and thankful. But I'm also confused. Where are we?"

"You are in the Cathedral within Esthar city proper, lt. commander." The Sorceress responded. "As soon as the boat carrying you and your companions arrived in the harbor, you were supposed to go straight to the medical facilities in Fort Morningstar. It _was_ closer…but I requested from Colonel Regalis that you all be sent here instead so that I could personally attend to you."

Now Taraketh really looked nervous, and swallowed. "My lady, you shouldn't have troubled yourself with-"

Mianyl sighed, looking to him briefly. "Oh Taraketh…what good is my power if I never use it? Besides, as of late, I feel a thousand times more useful tending to the wounded as I used to than sitting around waiting and hoping for those in power to listen to me."

Dael still blinked in surprise. "Lady Mianyl…are you saying you wanted to treat us personally?"

The Sorceress actually let out a light chuckle as she turned to Dael. "Now don't you start, lt. commander. But to answer your question, I did indeed. When I heard of your grevious injuries that you had sustained in saving hundreds of people and having endured such torture on a mission that I myself had sent you on, it was the least I could do."

The young officer bowed her head. "So…we're back in Esthar…" She mused aloud. "But-"

Before she could get another word out, however, the sounds of the door to the chamber opening up rang out. Immediately, Dael looked out to it, along with the others in the room. As the oaken door slid aside, in walked some familiar faces…namely Cryder and Ceja. Both were dressed in new civilian clothing of Esthar. Cryder seemed calm about it enough as he walked over to Dael. Ceja, on her part, kept looking to them strangely, distracted as she made her way over.

"Are these truly made of plants? How unusual…"

"Hey, lass. Up and at 'em again, I see? Heh…small wonder, after seein' the number she did on me." The pirate stated as he moved over to her. "Would have been here to see her work, but like Hell was I going to hang around in nothing but a nightgown all day. I needed to get some fresh clothes. Still…I may not be the biggest fan of the Order of Hyne in the world…" He looked over to Mianyl at this, and then shrugged. "But this one seems like a right broad."

Predictably, Taraketh's face turned red for a different reason, and his embarrassment vanished as he looked up to Cryder. In another moment, it seemed he would spring from bed and put his own restored power to use, but Mianyl stopped him by calmly holding out a sleeve-covered hand in a stopping gesture. In fact, she gave Cryder a slight smile. "I'll…take that as a compliment, Mr. Morningjay."

Cryder looked to Quaren next and, before the private could react, he put an arm around his neck and playfully dug his knuckles into his scalp. "And look here…my mate with brass balls and an eagle eye is alive and kickin' too. I had my doubts when he finally keeled over three days into the voyage."

Quaren managed to extricate himself, but Dael's eyes widened a bit. "Wait…three days? How long have we been out? And where's Bahamut? And Jalab and Cid?"

Even before anyone said a word, Dael already knew she wasn't going to like the news that resulted. As soon as she mentioned Bahamut, the people around her paused. Even Cryder lost his jovial expression and bowed his head a bit. In the end, Quaren exhaled, and raised his head up to her.

"…I know you always like hearing stuff directly, Dael…so I'll tell you directly. You've been out for eight days…the same with Sir Sabian. Cid said that you both pushed yourselves way beyond how hard your bodies were supposed to go after getting the stimulants. You both went comatose, and you've been that way until just now…when Lady Mianyl…" He looked up a bit, but then quickly bowed his head again. He wasn't able to look directly at her. None of them were. Even Cryder, she realized, had evaded looking straight at her. "…Just brought you out of it. Of course…we all started going under before the trip was over. We were all bleeding internally after that fight… We barely got out of the prison alive. It was only because Sir Boer was able to gain control of one of the gun batteries that the whole destroyer wasn't blown away by tanks. After that, they tried to send fighters after us as we sailed away, and for pretty much the rest of the afternoon we were trying to use what weapons we had on the ship to fend off Sybenian planes. But they never got the chance to bring out bombers…so although we took a lot of hits we made it along with all the inmates that survived. We've been sailing for Esthar ever since.

"As for Bahamut…I don't know how much you remember, but none of us can explain it. We all thought we hallucinated it. Somehow…he turned himself into almost a living rocket and tackled those three guys so hard that he knocked them and himself back behind the tank convoy." He bowed his head a bit more and frowned. "…We haven't seen him since."

Dael stared in response to that. She was a bit surprised at herself, to be honest. She didn't know she would feel that deeply about it. However, she couldn't deny that, for whatever reason, she had been growing more attached to him during their time on the Western Continent. And along with that, her concern for him grew. She didn't know why…but after having gone through as much as the two of them had, she supposed that she had begun to see him as a comrade in arms. It was unusual. She shouldn't even have been dragging him along. He was just a kid, and a kid she didn't need. He was trouble and he was insane. And yet, none of that mattered right now…

Instead, all she could think of at that moment was that while she was lying down in a safe, comfortable bed, and had been out of it for eight days…Bahamut had either been lying dead on the ground somewhere or, far worse…he had been enduring continuing torture with no relief. The same suffering she had endured he was continuing to endure.

And to a woman who had long since buried her emotions in the face of combat, who had shunned tenderness for years in favor of cold pragmatism, who had thought that she embodied the ideal soldier…she felt her heart begin to ache, and a fear far beyond that of any combat situation entering into her.

There was silence for a moment, before a long, deep sigh was heard from nearby. Dael couldn't bring herself to look up to the source right away. She was too focused on the news…too focused on what had become of Bahamut. But then, she heard movement, and looked over to see that Mianyl had arisen. The attendant Child was beginning to help make beds, but she herself looked sorrowfully to the group.

"…I am truly sorry. Please do not think of me as heartless for taking my leave now. But unfortunately…the past eight days have not been kind to Esthar or to the world as a whole. I'm afraid you will soon find out more than you probably wish to hear. A vehicle awaits you whenever you and your companions wish to return to Fort Morningstar."

She paused a moment here, and exhaled.

"…It should not be difficult. The streets have been very clear as of late."

With that, the Sorceress folded her hands beneath her attire, bowed to them, and then began to walk for the door. In moments, the two High Children opened it for her and stepped outside, with her following. The door soon shut behind them, and soon, the members of the group were left behind along with the Children of Hyne changing the sheets and making the beds.

Once gone, Taraketh let out a long sigh of his own.

"…I can't believe I never saw it." He said slowly. "Bahamut _did_ possess magical power…and obviously a great deal of it. It's the only explanation for what happened. He wasn't junctioned at the time. But now…"

"He was more fierce than I gave him credit for…" Ceja mused aloud herself. "To be honest…I don't know if I'd rather wish he still lived…or if he fell in battle…"

Cryder exhaled, then looked up grimly. "Care for a little more 'happy' news to brighten our spirits, lads and lasses?" He asked as she reached behind him. "I'm wagerin' this is what the Sorceress was talkin' about."

Quaren looked up with an uneasy look. "I'm not sure I want to know…"

Dael paused only a moment, then exhaled. As much as she wanted to keep brooding about Bahamut, she realized it wasn't going to help anything. It wasn't going to help them, him, or the world at large. Even so, she had a hard time "compartmentalizing" this. It felt like a lasting sting that refused to be ignored. Still, she looked up to Cryder. "I do. What is it?"

"I did a bit more than pick out new togs while I was gone." Cryder said as he pulled a data tablet around in front of him. "Borrowed this from the Head Child at the Cathedral."

"…Just _borrowed,_ right?" Taraketh stated with an accusing tone.

"Of course, mate." Cryder responded as he began to manipulate the touch screen. "I never take advantage of someone who patched me up unless I really need to and they can afford it."

"…That doesn't really reassure me." Taraketh answered as he pulled aside his own covers and got out and over to Dael's bed.

At any rate, Cryder adjusted a few more buttons, and then began to set it down. "Eight days is normally nothing to a man of the seas, but seeing as I'm in with you lot, and the world's gone to Hell in a handbasket, I figure I might as well have looked at some of the news reports…see what we missed out on. This one came out only the day after we left the Western Continent."

As the tablet was set almost in front of Dael, she was the closest to look over it. She immediately leaned over and began to read it. However, the headline on this one was easy enough for anyone to see. It was ringed with several "alerts" and was in especially bold font.

**Sybenia Declares War on Esthar.**

"At 0343 hours Esthar time, a radio broadcast was picked up via satellite radio coming from the state-run media in Sybenia, in which Rozan Heirarch personally came on the air and formally declared war upon Esthar.

"'It has now reached my attention that Esthar has sent in operatives to fight on Garrado's behalf and to conduct acts of espionage and terrorism within the rightfully ceded land to Sybenia's territory by treaty as well as to side with Sybenia's enemies.' The Dictator stated. 'It has become clear to me that Esthar knowingly and willfully engaged in such content prior to the signing of the treaty and continued to do so after it was ratified. Esthar clearly respects no other country but their own and dismisses the great and powerful people of Sybenia as children to be pushed around. The Order-of-Hyne-controlled masses of Esthar were therefore the ones to violate the treaty first, not Sybenia, and any claims that our attack on Garrado was unprovoked and hostile are ludicrous and downright lies. Clearly the Esthar government will do anything in its power to paint itself as an angel and us as demons.'

"In addition to his condemnation of the Esthar government, Heirarch also used the opportunity to appeal to the crowd.

"'How long must we wait to take what is rightfully ours? How long will the great content themselves with being constrained by the weak? If Esthar has its way, all people will live under the boot of the tenets of the Order of Hyne, which seeks not only dominion over your lives but your very souls. The Guiding Hand is the last salvation not only for Sybenia but for the world, to unite all mankind into one glorious destiny and to remove all obstacles that would hinder us from this noble goal. Therefore, I conclude that Sybenia will never reach the greatness it was meant for so long as it must share a world with a nation of corrupted liars in the pockets of witches and whose own economic policies condemned the world to a catastrophic depression in the first place.'

"These comments met with widespread support by the public, the Sybenian media reports, and has released footage of people rallying in every city in Sybenia chanting, 'Down with Esthar' and 'Seize Our Destiny'. While Esthar has long since closed its business interests in Sybenia, boarded up factories from Esthar businesses were burnt down by rioting mobs and two pictures of presumably Grand Chancellor Barbarossa being burned in effigy were sent via the Internet…"

Dael sighed and stopped reading here.

Taraketh groaned. "All our mission did was serve to spread more war…"

"Don't blame yourself for a minute, matey." Cryder immediately retorted.

"Cryder's right." Quaren threw in. "Those guys were looking for an excuse for weeks. And if it wouldn't have arisen, they would have made one up. They wanted a war."

The High Child still frowned. "Still…now I suppose the Grand Chancellor will try to offer _us_ up as a scapegoat as well…"

Cryder reached up and scratched the back of his head. "Wouldn't worry too much about that, mate." He answered as he took up the tablet, touched the screen a few more times, and then set it back down. "This one came out three days later."

The others looked to it. Dael herself scanned over it a moment, and then sighed. This time, she read the headline.

"Grand Chancellor Resigns. Grand Chancellor Barbarossa formally announced his resignation as Grand Chancellor of Esthar at a press conference at 1200 hours Esthar Time this morning, news coming on the heels of widespread criticism and condemnation by the opposing party in the Legislature for not having taken more drastic steps against Sybenia, as well as accusations of continuing to stagnate and a lack of action in response to Sybenia's declaration of war.

"'After much thought and personal reflection,' Barbarossa stated. "I have come to the conclusion that I am not the best candidate to lead Esthar through this time of crisis. I pursued ways and methods of peace until the end, extending olive branches at every opportunity, but hard-hearted individuals would not listen. I leave this office with a spotless conscience.'

"This news is a major blow to foreign relations, as it came on the heels of a report that Sybenia has declared the rest of the country under their control following a raid that neutralized the last major pocket of resistance in Garrado…" Dael trailed off here. A moment of silence lingered.

"…I'm sure they made it out, lt. commander…" Quaren stated, though his own voice was unsure.

"…Of course they did." Taraketh stated, more confidently…but still hesitant. "They have both Lady Veriguno and Lady Faerio on their side, and they won't be felled by Sybenians."

Dael paused, then looked back to the tablet.

"Barbarossa's home could not be reached for further comment following the announcement, and later reports said he had boarded his private aircraft and flown to his private estate in the Lamb Archipelago-"

"That cowardly whelp of a bitch." Ceja cut off immediately, her own tone growing incensed. "I may not be too familiar with Esthar's politics and governing tactics, but I know a dog with his tail tucked between his legs when I see it. He declares himself blameless and then flees to save himself!"

Dael, for a brief moment, thought of her loyalty to Esthar and to its elected officials…but then, she remembered the lack of action, the backstabbing of Sorceress Mianyl, the chaos in Garrado that he wouldn't even lift a finger against, and, now, him abandoning his own country. It didn't matter if he was an elected official or not…when push came to shove and he could no longer relish the cushy benefits of his position, he effectively swore off any bonds of loyalty and fealty to his own country. This man didn't deserve her respect or excuses. He was a traitor, the worse kind of criminal to a military person.

"…Smart move on his part." She finally stated coldly. "When Sybenia gets here and this city goes to Hell, he'll either be shot in the head by Sybenian soldiers or drawn and quartered by the people living here."

"I didn't think I could feel such hatred for anyone who wasn't in Sybenia…" Taraketh growled.

Dael sighed. "Don't bother. Nothing we can do about it now. And even if he was dead, it wouldn't change anything."

"He left our country defenseless, Dael." Quaren insisted.

The young officer merely shook her head. "The people did that, Quaren. No one ever pushed for military buildup. No one ever pushed for anything slightly aggressive. Even when the lion was at the gate, they preferred to try and pretend it wasn't there. This isn't just Barbarossa's fault…it's everyone in this city's. The question is, what are they going to do about it now?"

Cryder merely grimaced again as he picked up the tablet and put it away. "Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, very little. I'll spare you the details, lass. I went ahead and read up on a few more news stories. Ever since that bilge rat jumped ship, your Senate has been in an uproar. They need to elect a new executive head, but the stupid sons of bitches are too busy pointing fingers…saying either party is responsible for this. The opposition party is saying Barbarossa's never did enough, while his own party is saying their party wanted even less action. Both of them are gunning for the head. Meaks said he should be the natural successor as a last wish of Barbarossa, but Kenzell is saying they need someone to take new and decisive action and should elect him."

Quaren frowned. "Meaks has wanted Barbarossa's position for years and was being, for lack of a better phrase, a brown noser that entire time. We aren't going to get anything good from him." He sighed. "On the other hand, Kenzell never formulated a good policy in his life. The only thing he ever did was kiss babies, attend volunteer photo shoots, and say how much everyone else's policies were bad."

Ceja let out a snort. "Perhaps our leaders are savage, but I prefer that to total incompetence."

Dael had to admit…it would make for an interesting change of pace. She almost wanted to fume just like the others. People were being tortured to death, Sybenia now had no obstacles to mustering its forces for a full invasion, and still the Legislature was divided. What were they thinking? Did they plan on bickering right up until the day they started hearing Sybenian gunshots? Yet the worst part of all, as Quaren had pointed out, was that they seemed that the choices they had between who would be the next executive were similar to the choice of whether a person would rather be infected with bacteria or a virus. Both of those people came from the same school of political incompetence that had stagnated Esthar. Both of them, just like Barbarossa, were only interested in their personal glory. She had to admit, it was a nice change of pace to at least hear about them _wanting_ to take up the mantle…but would either of them be able to do anything?

Worse yet…was it already too late to do anything even if they were elected today?

"I don't suppose there's any good news, is there?"

Cryder gave a shrug. "Depends on your definition, lass. There's a few rays of hope…dim as they are. Says that Sybenia spent a bit more of itself than it intended on Garrado. It's going to take them a bit to gather enough strength to launch an invasion. And when they do, they'll have to go through Lamb first. It may be neutral, but at the bare minimum we'll hear them coming. Plus, seems that Sorceress has something in mind. She's supposed to speak before the Legislature in a public assembly today. I wager that's why she left in a hurry."

Dael paused only a moment longer, but then began to get out of bed herself.

"We should leave in a hurry too…make back for Fort Morningstar. Not only do we need to report back to the Colonel, I'm sure we'll find out more about what's going on in this country in the departments that matter there."

* * *

><p>It didn't take Dael long at all to get dressed. Perhaps the clothing wasn't as "fashionable" as her own civilian attire, but as she was used to uniforms and stock-issued items, she didn't really care. She just felt enthused to see that her sword and Mage Gun had both made it out of Garrado as well. She'd feel truly naked without that. It didn't take Quaren and Taraketh long to get dressed either. The latter, on his part, still had his trusty kusarigama, and was more at ease now that he could cast it freely again. He also had no trouble getting attire that matched his normal fashion, and so he soon looked a lot like his old self. Quaren, a military type like Dael, was nervous both at his lack of weapon as well as civilian clothing, but he dealt with it.<p>

The cathedral was rather large and extensive. After all, it was a marvel of old engineering. However, the group managed to find their way down soon enough into the main nave, although they didn't enter it. They stuck to the aisles. Dael, however, did cast a glance inside. In truth, she had never really seen inside the Cathedral before. She assumed it would be similar to the temple in Lamb. Sure enough, various Order of Hyne members were moving about or mediating. However, they weren't alone. Quite a number of citizens from Esthar were in there as well, either doing the same or using the cathedral as a quiet place to pray. The young officer could hardly blame them. Now was a good time for prayer.

As they moved along, their footsteps echoing, Cryder began to speak quietly.

"Before we head out again, I need to get myself some decent clothes and a good weapon." He spoke up. "I'm sure we'll have plenty to do from now on. I'll need to be heading back into the city proper."

"We can take care of that once we've checked into the Fort and found out more about the state of things." Dael responded. "That takes priority."

"I'll be happy just to get my hands on a good Esthar rifle again…" Quaren murmured. "I feel like I'm missing something without one."

Ceja let out a sigh of her own. "Unfortunately, I think I am at a loss. My axe was destroyed by those dogs. I do not think I can get the materials or time to make another."

"Just leave it to your new mate Cryder Morningjay, lass." The pirate said with a grin. "He's a chap who knows how to get things."

"Just bring plenty of money…" Taraketh muttered.

Reaching the end of the aisle, Dael turned and began to make for the front doors. She looked back to Taraketh as she did. "Are you sure the Head Child is alright with us just walking out like this?"

"We're not as regimentalized as a military." Taraketh simply answered. "Sure, he may be at a bit of a loss, but he has to know our needs are urgent."

"I suppose you're right…" Dael responded, and then looked forward again. Soon, they reached the heavy front doors. The young officer walked right up to them and gave them a push, shoving them open with her enhanced strength, and she and the others began to walk in. However, they didn't get very far before they all halted.

Standing in the entry vestibule, on either side of the door, was Jalab and Cid.

Taraketh himself froze, and immediately bowed in respect. However, the others just stared in a small measure of surprise. Dael herself was intrigued to see that both Jalab and Cid were already patched up, and back wearing clothing similar to their favorite styles. Cid still had his fully accompaniment of weapons, which he seemed to be straining under just a little, but Jalab had acquired a new staff identical to his old one. After seeing him reduced to a bloody mess not once but twice, Dael was almost amazed to see the Sorceress Knight standing before her. Granted, he had a lot of help, but even so.

"Sir Tierras…Cid…" Dael remarked.

"Nice to see everyone on their feet again." Cid said with a grin. "Me and Jalab here were getting a little impatient waiting."

Taraketh rose, and Dael quirked her brow at them. "…Waiting?"

"There's no way for either of us to get back to the Western Continent now, Dael." Cid responded. "Even if we could, there's no way we can find Lady Faerio or Lady Veriguno. So…" He looked over to the warrior monk, who looked back to him silently, and then both looked forward again. "We did a little talking…and we figured that Esthar not only needed all the help it could get, but that both Lady Mianyl and our own mistresses would have preferred it if we saw what we could do here."

"Loan an appendage." Jalab said with a smile.

"So how about it, lt. commander?" Cid asked. "Think there's room on that transport to take two more with you to Fort Morningstar?"

Dael hesitated for a few moments, but not for long. To tell the truth…she would have felt ill at ease if they _hadn't_ been in the foyer waiting for them. Although she had only worked with Jalab and Cid on one real "operation", which wasn't really an operation at all, she enjoyed their company. She felt more at ease with them present…like they belonged together. And besides, what person would say no to having two Sorceress Knights on their side? Yet it was more than that. She actually felt happy to have them along.

In spite of her own grim feelings, Dael managed a smile.

"…I only hope the car is big enough, sirs."

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, Dael's relief didn't last for very long. As the car came around and everyone loaded into it, reality began to hit home. For a moment, the young officer had thought back to when they were on board the <em>Artemis<em>, and how it felt for them all to be still together even after that mission. Yet that only brought to mind the fact that they were still a person short, filling Dael with more discomfort and unease. She again began to think more of Bahamut. What had happened to him? Had he survived? Was he imprisoned? How had he managed to pull off that final move?

At least the ride was fast, but that was only a stark reminder of the situation. When the previous announcement had come on the radio, most people had gone inside. Now Esthar was like a ghost town. The driver told them that, earlier, there had been people making runs on the grocery stores and supply stores. Everyone looked to be trying to convert their basements into bomb shelters and prepare for the worst. Yet now, the city was deserted. Only a few people went about, and most of them were city workers or public servants. Dael wasn't sure if it was out of direct fear of assault or merely because the stark reality of the situation had made the average consumer reluctant to venture forth.

It was a different story at the capitol building. The car didn't even get that close to where it was and still had to deal with roadblocks, and even from a distance they could see people lined up. The driver informed them that rallies or sit ins were going on around the capitol at all times now. The people were getting restless for action, and wanted to hold their representatives accountable for not taking more. Unfortunately, rather than spur the elected officials on, it made them stagnate even more. The representatives were using this as an opportunity to cast aspirations on the opposing parties. People from both sides joined the protests to exacerbate arguing or push their candidate for Grand Chancellor rather than fix anything. After only a few moments, Dael couldn't even stand to look in that direction.

Eventually the city was left behind, and Fort Morningstar came up in the distance. It was a welcome sight to Dael after the horror of Helheim. In spite of where it was and what it was, it still felt like "home". Naturally, as they grew nearer, they saw that it was a different story from the city. This place seemed as if every Esthar's Hawk had been called to active duty, which was likely the case. By now, no more people were arriving, but those now on duty were moving about rapidly. Small squads were moving out while many lone operatives went about in full uniform, both standard and combat. Attack drills were being launched at the moment and, to Dael's unease, what looked like senior Academy members were also being rigorously drilled. She knew the reason. In a time of war, there wasn't much time left to do things "officially". Candidates who were far enough along were being drafted straight into combat, if for no other reason than to assume menial tasks around the fort while the senior members were freed up to go on missions.

The fort was also bringing its full power to bear, it seemed. Trucks bearing weapons and ammunition and every combat and armored vehicle they had was coming up as well, either lingering on the main patio or being stored in the sealed areas on the side of the fort. The drills incorporated the defense countermeasures of the fort, and the gun batteries were all naked. That said, as Dael looked to them, and then thought of Sybenia...the massive wall of defenses, the size of the navy, the rolling tank convoy that had been only a subset of the whole, and the new Elite Hounds of Sybenia…and didn't feel the slightest measure of relief at their own meager power.

Getting in was more of an issue now. Fortunately, Cryder and Ceja had both been cleared when they joined in on the Garrado mission. But Cid and Jalab were another matter entirely. If someone hadn't radioed ahead during their voyage back to Esthar about them being part of the group, they probably never would have gotten in at all. Even so, it took a solid 45 minutes to finally get them cleared to go into the fort's main area. Dael could hardly blame them. This was as real as it got. They couldn't afford to be too careful anymore, especially not after the breaches in the Vaults. But eventually they got clear, and were able to have the car pull in front. As there was no need for the vehicle to wait, it was free to leave afterward…but not before being screened by MPs for any potential firearms or IEDs. The others walked up to the entrance.

Another twenty minutes soon passed as they were all given the once over right at the entrance by security. Dael realized that it was a good thing that they were unarmed at the moment, or that would have made things a lot worse. Even so, she rolled her eyes along with everyone else when Cryder had to explain why he had two several hundred gil watches in his pockets. Her own weapons were registered to her and clear, and, besides, the Mage Gun was empty. Once they were finally cleared, they began to go in through the main lobby.

They had scarcely gone far, however, when Dael noticed something. Although some people were moving around on the inside, most people were gathered over at one of the waiting lounges, all about the big TV in the area. Even ones on duty seemed to be pausing there. She initially intended to walk straight to her room to change, when she spotted this. She slowed in her step a bit, and the others did as well. Soon, they were looking too.

"…Seems everyone's glued to the TV." Cryder murmured.

"Must be something pretty important." Quaren added. He looked to Dael. "Think we should check it out?"

She exhaled, then shrugged. "Might as well. We've been out of the loop for so long, it'd be nice to be on top of things for a change." With that, she turned and began to walk over to it. The others readily followed, although Ceja seemed a bit hesitant. After all, it was more technology. But she preferred to stick to the others than to be stranded out in the open, and so she walked after them.

The area around the TV was packed. The ones in the front were nice enough to sit in chairs or even on the floor so that those in the back could see, but even so it was still a tight squeeze. As the group approached, they had to find "windows" in between people to get a look at the screen. However, what Dael saw soon showed her a bit of amazement. It was one of the news networks that covered the proceedings of the Legislature, but the person who was currently speaking wasn't one of the representatives.

It was Sorceress Mianyl.

She was flanked on either side by two High Children, and everyone in the assembly was looking to her attentively. Dael didn't know it, but in spite of both her fears and Taraketh's that Mianyl was being set up as a sacrifice for the treaty that fell through, any negative image of her had mostly been dispelled in the past week. The Order of Hyne had been active while the Senate was idle. They had put out a call for all Children who had combat experience to come to Esthar's aid, and had been offering consolation and encouragement to the populace. They had been the ones to both urge people to prepare for the worst while at the same time calmed possible runs on stores and banks that would have led to chaos and riots. Most of all, they had offered their full services both to the government and the military for civilian roles, as they couldn't take active ones yet. Even knowing that the Order of Hyne was with them gave the civilian population a ray of hope. While the current representatives had done everything in their power to make Esthar look gross, incompetent, and negligent, the Order of Hyne was taking a stance to reverse that trend…to get whoever was still independent and free in the world to rally behind them as a bastion for democracy. This had been more than enough to make the Legislature get fully behind her, and word was trickling down to the people as well. Slowly but surely, they were dispelling any poison that had been given them from Barbarossa and responding to her message.

"…No one would ever accuse me of being quick to act." She said before the assembly. "I am one of the least hasty people that I know. As part of our Order's tenets, it is never a good thing to go too far too soon. Time and time again throughout history, it has been shown that those who wield magical power have done so, and the result has been countless innocent lives. However, I refuse to be naïve enough to think that magic's only purpose is evil, that it cannot save life as easily as it takes it. Nor will I be one who can think that there is always a peaceful solution to all things. This world would be a wonderful place if such was the case, but our own history has shown that there are those who simply will not listen to reason.

"Among those people is Rozan Heirarch, a man with a heart of iron. He does not negotiate or seek peace because, to him, the world and all who are in it, including his own citizens, are cattle…to be driven and manipulated as he sees fit. The number of human rights abuses he has committed are so appalling, so horrific, so nightmarish…that to try and look them over or excuse them as casualties of war or not worth consideration is the only greater sin that can be committed. Here is a man who not only laughs at peace but sees those who seek it as means to an end, to exploit those who would spare his own country resources and his own citizen's lives. He cares for nothing but his own power, and he relies on the most base, most loathsome, and most contemptable means to get it. He builds his empire on fear and hate. And if left unchecked, he will spread the same to every corner of Gaia.

"Ladies and gentlemen, while I believe there is room for everyone in this world and have lived by peace for as long as I can, there is a time for all things…a time for peace…and a time for war. And while we may consider ourselves an unfortunate and cursed generation for having been born in a time such as this, it is our duty and responsibility to live through this time for the sake of the future. The Guiding Hand will not rest until it issues in an age of darkness for all mankind. A line must be drawn. It can not be allowed to continue its senseless, genocidal campaign a day longer. Action must be taken now. Every day…every hour…every minute…every second that this assembly spends arguing is one in which Sybenia becomes closer to being unstoppable.

"And while this assembly may disagree on what action should be taken and to what scope, I do hope, at the bare minimum, that it can do what is necessary and rational now."

The Sorceress paused a moment to compose herself, then looked up again.

"On that note, I would like to conclude by saying that I have worked closely with District Represenatatives Ryan and Clancy, and they have proposed a bill that has collected the 41 mandatory signatures to be brought to the floor for vote immediately following this address. This bill proposes that the charter of Esthar's Hawks be amended immediately to allow for autonomous actions that are necessary and proper to the protection of Esthar during a time of war. Perhaps we cannot build a military the size of Sybenia's in a single day, but through passage of this what resources that we have available will no longer be restrained but will receive the power necessary to defend this great nation."

If Lady Mianyl said anything else at this point, no one in the fort who was watching really noticed. By this time, they were all turning to each other and beginning to murmur. Dael was no exception as she looked back to the others. All looked rather amazed, but Quaren, naturally, looked the most so.

"Did you just hear that?" He echoed.

"They're essentially voting emergency powers to Esthar's Hawks." Dael responded.

"And not a second too soon, if you ask me." Cryder responded, beginning to reach into his pocket for a cigarette. "I mean, why not? This is the group they count on to wipe everyone's rear ends. Why not give the dog some teeth?"

"I'll admit I do not understand your odd and cumbersome governmental systems…but a warrior should be allowed to fight. Otherwise, there is no purpose for them." Ceja added.

"I'll go ahead and say it would be nice not to have to run to the Grand Chancellor or the Senate for everything…" Dael responded, musing aloud. "And if we were going to do anything like this, now would be the time. Esthar's Hawks alone can't beat the Sybenians as is. The least they can do is make us as effective as possible in a time of war. And this would certainly streamline things. But how do you think people will react?"

"Don't sweat it, lass." Cryder answered. "It's not like you're declaring martial law. Besides, the way you talk, you sound reluctant. Wouldn't you like to be able to get things done?"

"Normally I'm not for expanding military powers myself…" Cid threw in, rubbing his beard a bit. "I mean, that incident in Garrado aside, I wouldn't really consider myself a warrior or a fan of the practice. But then again…it's not like we've got a whole lot of choice. Pretty soon there isn't going to be a military period. And although I may not be too much of an advocate, I agree with what Lady Faerio says…that we could have saved a lot more people, and stopped a lot more of those prison camps, if we would have done something sooner. We aren't really going to be gaining a lot of ground by pretending there isn't an immediate threat."

Taraketh grimaced and sighed. "I'm the last person in the Order of Hyne who wants to elect more power to the grunts…" He paused, and then sighed. "…But Sybenia has so much of its own that I don't think they can be stopped without it. Besides…" He hesitated again, then groaned. "Alright, I'll admit that you all aren't as bad as I thought at first. I'm not saying that the whole military mindset doesn't sicken me, but there's no question about who to throw my support behind. Obviously, Lady Mianyl thinks you're all worth endorsing, and that's all the proof I need that you're the ones who need more power. Also, I've gotten far more frustrated by your government than by your military, as unbelievable as it seems. If some action can be taken to save lives by your organization, then I'm for it."

Dael exhaled in response. "Well, we'll see if it passes."

"I'm certain it will." Taraketh immediately spoke again. "Even if your Legislature did believe the lies of your Grand Chancellor, they are still more open than those people in Sybenia, and Lady Mianyl has a way with words."

"She does, but even if she didn't," Cid threw in. "They already have 41 signatures. I was pretty sure that they only needed a quorum majority to even pass a law."

"You got a point." Dael admitted. "That whole provision was only brought forward for laws that they assume everyone would already be on board for, and therefore could vote on immediately so they wouldn't waste time at-OW!"

The young officer abruptly winced and yanked up her foot in pain. Everyone immediately looked to her, and then down to the floor to see what had done it. After a moment, Dael put her own foot down and did the same…and saw a familiar face looking up to her.

If Carbuncle's face had any less features to it, he could have been a character on a child's cartoon show. However, it always amazed Dael that at moments like this, the green creature somehow managed to glare at her and look infuriated. If the staring wasn't enough, his tail and back fur were bristling.

"I can't leave you alone for one day, can I?!" He snapped at her. "I can't trust you to stay out of trouble!"

Dael grimaced in response. The others stared a moment, and Cryder and Cid nearly began to snicker at this. However, that soon cut off as Carbuncle wheeled his gaze on them.

"And what're you two smiling at?! The same goes for the rest of you! Sheesh, having eight humans together is like having eight dumbbells together…not a brain between them and only eight times as thick!"

The others were soon a bit dumbstruck as well at that. They were left silently looking at the creature, feeling oddly like children being berated by a parent. Dael herself stared a moment, then managed to crack a half smile.

"Gee…I didn't know you cared."

He frowned at her and flicked out his claws again. "Ah, keep it up and you'll lose a toe." He grumbled.

By now, however, Taraketh had snapped out of it. "Sir Carbuncle, you're here? When did you get back?"

"Please." He answered with a snort, turning to the High Child. "I've been popping in and out of Esthar for days, ever since I heard you managed to escape with your lives from Helheim Detention Center. But while you were off getting your asses in and out of trouble, _I've_ been doing a lot of work. After all, the Sorceresses have been needing my help a lot lately, or hadn't you noticed that one little by-line on the news about how Garrado has completely gone to Hell?"

However, Cid, Taraketh, Jalab, and even Dael lit up a bit on hearing that.

"You mean Sorceress Veriguno and Sorceress Faerio are still alive?" The young officer asked.

Carbuncle snorted. "I should think so. Even the old Sage Tellah of Mysidia was some street card shark compared to those two. No one's even come close to taking those two down. There was a time or two they were pretty much propping up the entire insurgency."

Jalab let out an exhale of relief. Cid himself wiped his brow a bit. As for Taraketh, he leaned back with a confident smile…trying hard to mask his own relief on hearing the news. "Like I said, nothing can defeat the Sorceresses."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that…" Carbuncle answered with a bit of a mutter. "But they are doing good so far, I'll admit that."

"Does that mean you teleported them back to Esthar?" Cid asked. "That they're here?"

The green creature shook his head. "Nope. True enough…Sybenia sniffed them out. They destroyed their little escape plan. Fortunately…" He smiled a bit and patted his chest. "They had me as a plan B. Of course, it's still going to be rough for them, and in the end they decided not to leave unless they had no other choice. They said so long as they're there, they can remain a rallying point for insurgents and give Sybenia as much hell as possible." He paused, then shrugged. "Alright, maybe they didn't use that wording exactly, but you get the gist of it. Anyway," He began to look about a little. "Where's my 'king'? Wasn't the little urchin with you?"

Dael paused in response. Her face began to tighten and lower a bit. The others likewise started to look uncomfortable. However, before any of them could answer, Carbuncle looked more squarely at Dael.

"…You didn't lose him, did you?"

The young officer didn't respond. However, the simple act of her silence told everything. Carbuncle sighed and smacked his jewel with his paw. He looked like he was about to fume or ramble for a moment…but then he groaned.

"…I'm not going to blame you for this one, Dael." He said, still nagging, but more somber this time. "I'm sure you did all you could… If only he hadn't been so nuts, so intent on going after all the damn Guardian Forces…none of this would have happened." He looked at Dael more intently. "Did he get captured, or…?"

"…I honestly don't know." Dael grimly answered. "All I know is, he _did_ have some sort of magical power in him…and it saved our lives."

Carbuncle's face fell a bit at that. "…Are you for real?" He asked in response. However, a glance at Dael and then at all the other soon confirmed it beyond any doubt. He paused a moment, then whistled. "Huh…well I'll be. I didn't sense so much as a Osmose spell in that kid. I've got to hear all the details about this. But…" He let out a sigh. "It's going to have to wait. As you can imagine, I can only be gone for a little bit at a time. What's left of the army and the Sorceresses themselves are constantly on the move, and that means _I'm_ constantly on the move. If I stay gone too long they'll leave me behind."

Dael looked up in response. "…You're leaving again? Already? After we just ran into each other?"

The green creature grimaced. "Oh, Dael…now you're the one getting mushy on me." He said, sticking out his tongue. "Anyway, don't worry about it. I didn't live for thousands of years just to get nabbed easily." He paused, then sighed. "…Except for that _one_ time, but that was it. Anyway…I'll be back later tonight or as soon as I get some time. Then you can tell me all the details I can't pick up on the radio."

The young officer hesitated again. She realized Carbuncle was right…she _did_ want him around. She frowned a bit inwardly at the thought. She thought she was supposed to be a cold military type. How could she be so…clingy? In the end, she supposed it made sense. After all, she thought of Carbuncle as a friend now. An annoying friend, but a friend none the less. And after what happened to Bahamut… It was understandable that she would be uneasy about him going back into a dangerous situation so soon. Yet in the end, she sighed.

"…Alright."

"Hey…chin up." Carbuncle responded with an encouraging smile. "Don't get so down. And don't worry about Bahamut. Humans tend to be more tenacious than you'll ever know, and stuff like this has a way of working out. Something tells me that brat isn't going to cash in his chips that easily."

Dael paused a bit longer, but then nodded. "…Alright."

"I'm serious." Carbuncle added, more encouragingly. "Anyway…I've got to go. See you all around." He gave them a look. "…Try not to get yourselves almost killed again while I'm gone, would you kindly?"

With that, a flash of light went out…and Carbuncle was gone.

The young officer sighed for a moment. She was silent again, now that she was freshly reminded about Bahamut, and now that Carbuncle was gone too, and definitely in a dangerous situation. This was a much easier affair when she had been mostly by herself, and possibly Quaren. She now realized, however, that she was opening up more and more. Cryder, Ceja…even Taraketh…and even the two Sorceress Knights. Even if they all weren't fully friends yet, they were all comrades. She now had them on her mind at least part of the time in addition to her own career and the fate of Esthar. True, it might have been a worthwhile tradeoff…but it was unsettling.

After a moment, Quaren spoke up behind her. "So…what now, lt. commander?"

Dael turned back to him, and exhaled a bit.

"Well…I think meeting with the colonel is out. If Taraketh is right, and this measure does pass, then he'll be busier than ever. Probably better that we wait until he summons us."

"That's well and good…" Cryder answered as he lit up his cigarette and began to take a drag from it. "But what do we do until then?"

"I guess get ourselves situated." Dael responded. "I'll feel better to slip back into a uniform myself… Who knows? Since we haven't all been officially debriefed, maybe I can get the rest of you a room in the fort for the night…"

* * *

><p>Dael wasn't exactly sure when she would be summoned, but she had little doubt that Colonel Regalis would not. Hence, even when the next day came and still no word from higher command, she was patient. After all, just as predicted, Esthar's Hawks soon gained quite the workload.<p>

The young officer wouldn't doubt Taraketh's word regarding Lady Mianyl again. True, a lot of his stuff had been a bag of wind, but Dael knew from experience that the sheer power of Mianyl's presence was enough to compel others. She hadn't expected this much, but for the first time in years, it seemed as if the Senate had put aside their differences and voted on her bill. Within two hours of watching that live broadcast, the measure was signed into law. The Hawks had officially been unhooded and untethered. Dael didn't know if it would be enough to make a difference at this point, but it was something. Sadly, the motivation died soon after the bill was passed and Mianyl departed. With her gone, the Legislature once again degenerated into bickering over the issue of who would be the next Grand Chancellor. Dael soon found herself wishing that Mianyl would make more speeches before the assembly in the future if Esthar was ever to get _anything_ done.

Returning to her room was a mixed blessing. It felt good to lose her civilian clothing and slip back into a uniform…but all of Bahamut's things were still there. Even if they were only stock-issue items, there remained the fact that they were all his size and proportions, clearly his and not Dael's. She found herself barely able to take a shower in that room before she had to leave again.

Quaren was soon resupplied and rearmed. Although Class II had gone on full alert now, Quaren was now a Class IV member, and so he soon found himself surprisingly idle. It had taken a bit of work on Dael's part, work that she didn't truly care about because it gave her something to take her mind of things, but a room was secured for the others. It was a group chamber, but none of them had a beef…not even Ceja, in whose culture all warriors undressed and dressed alike in the same chamber, male or female. Even with almost all of the Esthar's Hawks on duty, the fort had been built for a true military, not a branch organization which, ultimately, Esthar's Hawks truly were. Dael was glad for it. They all agreed having to make the trip from the city proper to the fort and wade through security would be too time exhaustive.

Nevertheless, they did have to go through a fiasco of one more exit and entrance to the fort, or rather some of them did. Although Dael offered to try and gain them access to the stock-issue weaponry of Fort Morningstar, Cryder had insisted that they replace their goods in Esthar city proper, saying that was the only place to get it. Dael also knew that was the more expensive way of doing things, but she didn't bother to question where Cryder had come up with the money. Taking Ceja with him, he left the fort, and a few hours later he came back. Naturally, he had a harder time getting in, as he had a fresh cutlass on his hip and, amazingly enough, a pleased-looking Ceja was hefting a large axe made of the same bone as her old one.

"What did I tell you?" Cryder laughed on his return. "Do I know my way around or what? She said she would have preferred to make it herself, but this one's not bad."

"How exactly did you get it? Especially since those bones are so rare?" Dael had asked.

"Old Black Corsair motto, lass: don't ask questions you really don't want to know the answer to." Was all the man responded.

The group ate dinner together that night in the cafeteria. It again served to remind Dael of what they lacked, but she didn't care. She wanted the company of those she considered her friends and comrades. It was encouraging. It was easier than eating alone. After that, they all went to their own tasks. Cid himself was eternally working on those tools of his, and Jalab was striking up conversations with anyone he could find to try and get a better grasp on the local language. Ceja had gotten back to training as had Quaren, who was trying to get a grasp on his new power. She didn't know where Cryder ran off to, and frankly she didn't care so long as she could find him when the time was necessary and she wasn't getting them all into any sort of trouble. That left Taraketh, who went about training his mind again. Despite the fact that she had been comatose for a while, Dael ended up making an early night of it.

At least, she tried to.

Dael couldn't sleep at all. Her room was totally empty save for her. In reality, it wouldn't have mattered if she hadn't already been accustomed to Bahamut and Carbuncle being in the room. She was used to sleeping with the others. It was so odd. Never before had she felt homesick or neglected in her life. Even the people she knew in the Academy were merely transients to her. She had no problem moving to new rooms at any time. Yet now, now that she was an officer, she felt lonely for the first time. She waited for Carbuncle to show as he had said, but he never did. She didn't blame him, busy as he was, although she was a bit concerned… She tried getting up and going to the training area to burn off some steam, but, as weak and inadequate as the Elite Hounds had made her feel, she still possessed too much strength to burn it off by routine exercise. She eventually went back to bed only to lie awake for most of the rest of the night.

The next morning she checked in with the others and looked at her email and the news. Nothing on either account…more or less. No new orders, no summons, and no change in the Senate. If anything, they were worse than ever now that the "effect" of Mianyl had worn off. There was one bit of news, but it was what everyone was suspecting. Leuco had signed a formal treaty with Sybenia. Everyone in Esthar's Hawks could guess the reason. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that they were acting as the munitions suppliers. And since Leuco had the best technology in the world, that meant yet another area in which Esthar was deficient. It also confirmed that if they perfected those special bombs, everyone would be in a whole load of trouble. After breakfast, however, Carbuncle _did_ pop in. He told her that the resistance was holding, but that Sybenia would sooner level the city than allow any insurgents to utilize the urban landscape to their advantage. Veriguno had suggested they move out to the desert. Even with desert adaptations to their vehicles, she still knew the land, as did the natives, far better than the wetter-climate-adjusted Sybenians did. Dael next told him everything that had happened. She thought it would make her feel better, but it only brought more thoughts of Bahamut to mind.

Carbuncle had brooded a bit himself in regards to the Elite Hounds.

"No self-respecting Guardian Force would have even let those guys go through the trial." He told her. "Makes me think some of the _less_ respectful ones are the ones they're holding onto. At any rate, they must be advanced ones, which means trouble for you guys. But even so…I don't think anything short of Leviathan or Alexander could give them that much power. Were they that strong to begin with?"

"Li Juanhong was, definitely." Dael responded. "But I never heard of the other two. They look like a couple of typical egotistical Sybenians…"

"Be careful around them, Dael." Carbuncle cautioned. "I mean, that goes without saying, seeing as they were able to kick a guy like Jalab around, much less you… No offense. For all the time we've been on this world, humans still seem to occasionally find out things about us even we didn't know. Something tells me these guys may pull out more surprises if they ever have to 'get serious'."

Carbuncle departed soon afterward, leaving Dael alone with her thoughts. Time continued to tick by. She postponed lunch, on the off chance that the colonel might call. Eventually, however, she decided to go ahead and send an email to make sure Regalis knew of their return. When she checked the mail this time, however, there was a message from him, requesting a meeting in his office immediately. It wasn't just for her, but for everyone else in the group that had gone out to Garrado that was there.

With that in mind, Dael arose and quickly left to gather the others.

* * *

><p>An hour later, and they were all present.<p>

The colonel's office was big, but it was still a bit of a squeeze to fit them all inside. Regalis apologized for this after exchanging pleasantries. He said that the main meeting room was in a constant state of use even before yesterday's legislation had passed. Now there was no way to even schedule janitors to come in and clean it up. Sure enough, the colonel had his work cut out for him. Where before the man had struggled to keep his office in tip-top shape and to keep himself groomed and cut, not as a matter of vanity but as a matter of military pride and discipline, he now looked a bit dirty with stubble around his mouth. His desk was a mess of papers and orders, both things to send out as well as materials that had come in. The phone was lit up like a lightshow, although he ignored it during their meeting. In spite of looking a bit worn, Colonel Regalis was still alert. Apparently, he had been hoping for something of what happened yesterday, and he was tackling it head on.

Once all had entered, they all arranged themselves as best as possible. There were only two chairs, so Dael and Quaren took them. The others all stood behind them…except Cryder, who resumed leaning against the bookcase. The colonel gave him one look, but no more. Complaining about a bit of rudeness was a luxury they couldn't afford at the moment. Other than Ceja constantly looking around, there were no other distractions. Cid and Jalab both showed the utmost respect for the colonel, again a far cry from Taraketh's initial appearance. Cid even seemed to admire the basic phone technology and architecture of the room. To tell the truth, Dael hadn't noticed it, but in between working on his tools he had simply walked around and drank in all of the advanced technology of the fort that he could lay his eyes on. In a way, it was almost like Ceja.

As Dael concluded her report, the colonel leaned back and folded his hands in front of him. Haggard as he looked, he could still be official. He paused momentarily, seeming to think everything over. After all, it was quite a lot.

"…I suppose I could berate you for bringing a child into a combat zone in the first place, lt. commander…but that would serve no purpose. I've noticed your mood was 'off' today. No doubt, you're already suffering for your mistake. There's no need to compound it."

Dael said nothing in response. Regalis looked to his desk for a moment, and then looked back up to Jalab. The warrior monk looked back at him, and after a moment Regalis rose and stood erect before him behind his desk.

"I'm sorry I didn't give you proper credit where credit was due on your arrival, Sir Tierras. Welcome to Fort Morningstar. You are most welcome."

Jalab smiled and gave a polite bow in response.

Regalis turned to Cid next. "As well as you, Sir Boer. Despite recent events, I think we can still afford to be a bit awed when two Sorceress Knights are present at the fort at a time. You have my gratitude for coming to the aid of Esthar's Hawks."

Cid blinked for a moment at that, looking a bit taken aback. Dael, noticing his silence, glanced to him out of the corner of her vision. She saw him, actually looking a bit uneasy and confused. She, in turn, was surprised at that…until she realized that Cid wasn't exactly the mold of a standard "Sorceress Knight". He had been at ease enough around them, but actually getting respect from a high-ranking military official was a perk he was probably not used to back in Lamb Temple. No doubt, based on what Dael had seen, he was more or less an equal to those present in Lamb. Here, it was something different. To her surprise, he actually let out a nervous laugh, and rubbed the back of his messy red hair.

"Uh, heh…no problem, man." A moment later, he gulped and shook his head. "I mean…it was nothing, sir. Dael's a friend of mine now and I wasn't about to leave her and the others hanging."

"So, if what the lt. commander tells me is true, you both are willing to fight for Esthar's cause." The colonel continued. "I am grateful, but I wanted to hear it straight from the chocobo's mouth, so to speak. Do you truly think your respective mistresses would be alright with this? Since Sir Carbuncle has the means to travel between Garrado and here, I thought for sure that you would wish to rejoin them."

Cid hesitated a moment, bowing his head and thinking. "Well, it's true that I feel a bit more at ease around Lady Faerio…but I'm sure she didn't want me to spend this whole time just hanging around her. After that bit in Helheim, I've found out my tools are good for more than building or taking out a few monsters. She'd be happy if I was lending a hand here. Divide and conquer, and all that."

Jalab soon spoke again, but this time in his native tongue. Dael wasn't sure what he said, only that he spoke for a while. However, Cid and Taraketh alike both looked to him and watched as he spoke. After a few moments, Cid turned forward and spoke up.

"Sir Tierras says that Lady Veriguno would want him to make a difference using his power, that this is the reason he trained in the first place. However, he also says that he admits that he's a bit surprised. He had begun to think that he might be unbeatable, but he learned that wasn't the case back in Helheim. Part of his code is to try and strive for self-improvement while helping others. He figures this would be the best way."

Colonel Regalis paused momentarily, but then nodded. "Again, you are both most welcome. It seems the Order of Hyne is part and parcel with Esthar's Hawks nowadays, but seeing as we're running out of allies quickly…I do not think that is a bad thing. Thank you."

With that, the colonel sat again. Soon afterward, his face began to grow troubled. He folded his hands in front of him once again and looked to Dael.

"…You are certain that the leader of those who attacked you was Li Juanhong?"

Dael nodded. "Beyond any doubt. I studied his style for two years back in intermediate training. I must have seen his face at least 20 times a day in the research materials and media copies."

Regalis let out an exhale through his nostrils, growing a bit uncomfortable. "Sybenia and the Guiding Hand already have far too many advantages, but this one is of a different matter entirely. Juanhong wasn't so highly regarded as a mercenary simply because he was a great warrior. He was also quite cunning and intelligent. Despite being a mercenary, when hired in a group he was always placed in command due to his tactical ability. If he's truly thrown in his lot completely with Sybenia, then we have quite a great obstacle to overcome. And you now say he is junctioned as well?" The man frowned. "Juanhong was already nightmarish in terms of combat capability before that. I dare say he alone could have easily defeated all of you _before_ he gained the power of a Guardian Force."

He turned to Taraketh. "Sir Sabian…I do not suppose that you have learned of any weakness to using Guardian Forces, have you?"

The High Child shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not. Once a junction has been made, the bond is for the rest of one's life. Only death will break the connection."

The colonel nodded. "I thought as much…but it was worth asking." He looked forward to everyone. He paused for a moment only to gain all of their attentions, and then spoke again.

"…You've all done remarkably well in a very tense situation, and have shown exemplary conduct in the field in a time of crisis. Were you all Esthar's Hawks, I would commend each and every one of you. This latest bit of intelligence that you have brought confirms the threat of Guardian Forces. By your actions, you have managed to snatch another one from the grasp of Sybenia. However, I think you will all understand that we now need to put this mission 'on hold', so to speak. Based on what you have told me, the remaining Guardian Force locations are unknown. And frankly, after the number you did in Garrado, I would prefer it if you could all take a more active combat role.

"On that note, since Esthar's Hawks are growing more autonomous as of late…I think it's only fitting to 'share' some of that responsibility among our more exemplary members. Unless there are any objections from any of you, I would like to officially designate your group as a Class M Task Force for Esthar's Hawks."

Dael and Quaren were both rather surprised at that, both leaning back more in their chairs. Naturally, the others weren't sure what that meant. Dael, however, remembered reading about these groups in the designations for Esthar's Hawks. Operatives for the Hawks could either move solo or in groups under a commanding officer. In either case, missions always came from above. However, a "task force" was about as autonomous and clandestine as the organization could get. Rather than always having a specific mission, these groups, which threw out many of the rules of rank and file for the rest of Esthar's Hawks, were allowed to operate to some extent on a general principle or goal, and allowed to use, to an extent, whatever means were necessary to accomplish that end. The colonel would still retain overriding capabilities, but they would become far more independent. As for the "Class M" designation, the M referred to "multilateral", referring to the fact that the task force didn't have to be made solely of Esthar residents but of members of militaries from other countries, or even civilians. As those sorts of people would have no experience with the discipline or rank and file of Esthar, these groups tended to be the most chaotic and lightly governed. However, they were also only assembled in times of great crisis, and usually with operatives that the military trusted implicitly.

"Do…do you mean it, sir?" Quaren asked.

"I do." The colonel responded. "You do remarkably well on the field without guidance, lt. commander. This is twice now you've managed to slip out from underneath the grip of the Guiding Hand. And you're definitely one of the best combatants in the organization. Those with you are all outstanding warriors of the highest caliber, some of which might be the greatest on Gaia. You incorporate a skill set even beyond that of the most highly trained Hawks. I have a feeling that you group can get things done that many others cannot."

Dael was still overwhelmed. This was a bit responsibility…but also a big promotion. Although she had grown more concerned with other things, part of her mind was still excited on hearing about a career boost or increase in authority. Nevertheless, she protested again. "Sir, who will be our senior officer? According to General Code 21.4-D, each task force needs a member of rank commander or higher to operate."

The colonel calmly leaned back. "So it does, lt. commander." He responded. "Therefore…I suppose I should also ask you if you have any objections with me promoting you to commander and Private DeSur to corporal?"

Now Dael was truly stunned. She had to hesitated to keep her jaw from dropping. Sure enough, some of the early excitement and child-like wonder of her position had worn off since her first promotion, but this was something else. There were no commanders of her age and experience level. That much was a fact. This was completely unprecedented. Had this been back earlier in her original mindset, she might have actually swooned even sitting in a chair. Quaren himself looked as delighted as a child just to hear that he was getting the rank of corporal, but he turned in delight to Dael as well. The woman blinked a few more times to steady herself. She thought of refusing, being modest, all that nonsense…but in the end she pushed it out of her head. She knew the colonel didn't care for such things, and they really didn't have time to waste on such silly banter when it wouldn't change anything. In the end, she nodded.

"No objections. Thank you, sir."

"Thank you, sir!" Quaren exclaimed, nearly outbursting.

The colonel nodded in response. He paused for a moment after saying this, then rose from his chair again. Exhaling, he turned and began to walk over to the window.

"Now let's get back to the heart of things. Since we have no army, and we won't until the Senate gives us one, we'll have to make do with what we have. That means getting what strength can be found and made ready, being a thorn in Sybenia's side as much as possible, and, most importantly, doing what Esthar's Hawks have been doing for years and are second to none at…intelligence."

Stopping in front of the window, he crossed his arms behind him and looked outside.

"The initial report that was sent back when you all escaped Sybenia was interesting. We had been assuming that the Guiding Hand was impressing all of their captives into slave labor or, more grimly, even conducting genocide. However, we had no idea that they were actually deporting individuals for research. I've assigned three of our best groups is Class III to find out why. So far, we've turned up little. Leuco changing its stripes didn't help. Before, we could have at least declared it was illegal if they tried to stop us from looking in on Sybenia's activities on their continent. Now we have no excuse."

"In regards to Leuco, sir," Dael spoke up again. "Does that mean Sybenia now has a clear shot to Esthar? That they can forego the Lamb Archipelago?"

The colonel turned at that, and, after a moment, gave a wistful smile.

"No, commander. It seems, for once, two wrongs have indeed made a right."

A chuckle went out at that, causing Dael and the others to look to the side, and straight to Cryder. He snickered a bit as he leaned against the bookcase. "I'm guessing when Leuco decided to make its little pact with Sybenia, they didn't double check with the Black Corsairs first, did they?"

Dael looked back to Regalis, who didn't look that miffed at the interruption. He merely shrugged. "More or less, you're correct. As we all know, even if it's not official, the Black Corsairs have had a relationship with Leuco for years. It was them who got them through the depression through illicit means. However, with this new deal with Sybenia, acting as the official 'munition station', and no doubt having secured all forms of new contracts to deal exclusively in Sybenia when the war is over, my guess is the Sybenians said part of the deal is they wanted to make sure no government-sanctioned pirates would be raiding their vessels in the future. And Leuco, seeing that they're fully on their feet again, decided to cut its ties with the Black Corsairs."

Cryder snickered again. "All those years of dealing with them…they should have known better than to try stabbing a pirate in the back. That pirate admiral currently heading the Black Corsairs doesn't take kindly to people who try and back out of a deal."

"Still…" Taraketh interjected. "You think a small fleet of pirates is enough to keep Sybenia from attacking?"

"Maybe not indefinitely." Cryder answered with a shrug. "But if they try to break through on an invasion, they'll have bit off a bit more than they can chew, I promise you that. The pirate admiral is as cruel and fierce as they come."

"It's more likely that they'll try to intimidate Lamb into signing a treaty with them, then use the Lamb Archipelago." The colonel continued. "But they haven't even started making deals yet. They're obviously consolidating their power, redistributing their fleet to not turn the Western Continent into a fortress but to press their attack. That buys us some time to do some consolidating of our own."

Regalis moved back to his desk afterward, looking at the group. "This is going to be your new mission. We have no army and our list of allies is constantly growing smaller. However, since the Senate has granted me new power, I think it's high time that we tapped a resource that the representatives have ignored for far too long. I believe we need to make an alliance with the people of Fuliet."

Dael actually paused on hearing that, feeling some surprise. And there was good reason for it.

As she paused, Ceja abruptly spoke up. "You really want our help? No person from your country has ever offered a treaty of that nature to us before. I thought that you believed we were all primitive savages and that our ways of combat were archaic and outdated."

"We don't have the time or power to debate such petty things any longer." Regalis responded. "There is one unescapable fact, and that is that Sybenia is coming. When they get here, there's little, if any, reason to believe they'll spare Fuliet any more than they'll spare Esthar. Perhaps your people don't fire guns, Ms. Dracocorazon, but you're still warriors, and this concerns you as much as it concerns us. We need to help each other. It's true, we need people who can fight in the city, and your people need a place to defend themselves from artillery fire and bombs. We have a common enemy, and neither of us has a prayer against them alone. So long as we're both combating the same threat, we must unite." He paused a moment, then shrugged. "And who knows. I'm no idealist. I'm a soldier. But I don't think it's a stretch to say that if we help each other out here, we can set the groundwork for a lasting peace and relationship between our two countries."

Ceja paused in response to hearing this. To tell the truth, Dael was reluctant. Fuliet was extremely lawless. Most of the tribal heads were little more than warlords. Making a pact with them would no doubt lead to arms trading. After all, if they came to the defense of Esthar, then the Hawks would likely put firearms in their hands for that purpose. And some of those warlords could, in the future, use the trade of such weapons to exert their power over others. That was only one of many vices from the "civilized" world that could leak into Fuliet and make things a future nightmare. However…that was a risk they had to take. Regalis was right; they couldn't win this alone. Fuliet may not have been the best "resource" in the world, but it was an untapped one and it would upgrade the chances of Esthar's victory from none to slim.

The warrior finally exhaled. "…Even so, you're wasting your breath. Most of our tribes still despise Esthar for the Northern Rancor deaths, and may even blame you for Sybenia being here in the first place."

"There lies the second part of the mission." Regalis responded. "To me they may not listen, but Sorceress Cybus is there, and she at least has their ear. If anyone can persuade the tribes that our intentions are good, it's her. Therefore, your mission is to secure Sorceress Cybus and to have her attempt to persuade and construct an alliance between Fuliet and Esthar." He paused, then gave a half smile. "…And, as far as I'm concerned, she can dictate whatever terms she feels is best for both parties."

Taraketh, in a rare moment, actually let out a chuckle at that. Dael noticed, and took it as a good sign. It seemed that at least one "grunt" was beginning to grow on him.

"Regardless of whether they accept, Lady Mianyl has ordered all available Order of Hyne members, including Lady Cybus, to gather in Esthar. So please escort her here. Following that, I will be chartering a ship immediately to depart for Lamb. I don't believe Boss Capulluno has the stomach to withstand Sybenian pressure for long, especially now that Lady Faerio is gone. However, with Lady Cybus speaking to him, he might be persuaded to hold his ground. Perhaps he might even be persuaded for make a treaty with _us_…"

Before the colonel could say another word, he was cut off by a knock on the door, again drawing everyone's attention. However, Dael quickly looked forward again, when she realized, based on the type, that it had to be someone on business. At any rate, the colonel looked up and soon gave a call. "Come in."

The door immediately opened, revealing a fully-uniformed Esthar's Hawk captain on the other side. Immediately, he moved inside, not casting so much as a glance to the others. However, Dael watched him. Based on his uniform, she soon realized he was Class III. He was carrying a folder with him. After marching straight up to Colonel Regalis' desk, he gave him a salute.

"Sir, you requested to know whatever information we had on the detainees' destination as soon as possible?"

Dael immediately perked up on hearing this, and for once wasn't able to hold it. The others also turned and looked. Even Cryder raised his head to the officer. Of course, none of them could see much, but in the office it was a little hard not to hear. The man proceeded to open the folder and pull out several papers, placing them on the desk one after another. Regalis placed his hands on the desk in response and leaned over, looking at them. As soon as the last drawing was out, he took one glance at them all together, and then spoke as he looked further.

"…So it's in Leuco."

"Very heavily guarded and regulated. However, it's also been up for a while. They had it in operation long before they signed the treaty this morning. We were able to get pictures of it then due to lax security. Obviously they didn't want to draw attention to it. Now, of course, it's impossible. We didn't know what it was for until now."

"And what are they doing inside?"

"No idea, sir. All we know is that they're deporting numerous prisoners there. Based on what little intelligence we've been able to pick up, all of them seem to have one thing in common…magical power. At least the proficiency for it."

Now Taraketh looked a bit closer on hearing this, or so Dael picked up from the corner of her eye. However, this intrigued her as well…but also unsettled her. On the surface, the Guiding Hand was branding anyone who had magical power as the scum of Gaia. However, as the Elite Hounds had shown, they also desired magical power, and apparently had means to make it terribly destructive. The two seemed to be a distinct contradiction, and Dael couldn't immediately reconcile them. Did they want magical power, but at the same time want to use magic-using individuals as the nation's scapegoat? Something to incite the masses against? Or was it something else… Did they ostracize magic-using individuals so it would be easier to round them up for whatever research they were doing?

"As a matter of interest, captain, how did you manage to get this information? Did you finally manage to catch one of the prisoner ships leaving Sybenia and tail it to port?"

"No sir." The captain responded. "The Sybenians are keeping a tight lid on this. I'm not sure if they fear eventually being persecuted for war crimes or if this research is something huge, but we haven't been able to find any of the detention camps, let alone the transports coming from them. However, this one was a slip-up on their part, we believe. One solitary prisoner was being transported from the occupied port in Garrado. He had been apparently severely injured and was being monitored, and they decided to transport him from there rather than risk crossing any insurgents, or so we're assuming."

"Any details on this prisoner?"

"Only a few. He was rated at being incredibly magically proficient…the same category as they reserve for Order of Hyne members. But he was only a child at an estimated age of 12 years old. No name or formal records. Caught attacking the Hounds of Sybenia."

Dael, in spite of all the decorum she learned, broke at that moment. She nearly rose out of her chair as she sat upright. However, she wasn't alone. Cryder leaned up off the wall, and the others went rigid as well.

"It's him…" She stated aloud.

Her voice was enough to make both the colonel and the captain pause and turn to her. The others did much the same.

"Dael…I mean, commander…you really think so?" Quaren asked.

"Sure, the evidence matches and all…" Taraketh added. "And it would be great if it was true…but still, commander…there are a lot of people on Garrado who could potentially match that description. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but this doesn't necessarily mean anything."

"Yes, it does." Dael immediately responded, resolute and without any hesitation. "It's him. I _know_ it is."

That, however, only earned puzzled stares from everyone.

"…How?" Taraketh asked.

The young officer finally paused here. She held momentarily, shrinking back slightly into her chair. She looked down and thought a moment. In truth, she _didn't_ know how she knew. All she knew is she was getting same feeling again…the feeling she only got whenever Bahamut was near. The sense that somehow she could trust him.

More than that…she could almost swear that just the thought of him, just the sense of him being involved in something…was actually drawing feelings out of her she didn't know she had. To be honest, it was rather unsettling…but she didn't dwell on that now. All she cared about was getting Bahamut.

"…I just do." She finally said, looking up again. "I believe it's him just like I believed there was treasure in that cave he pointed out, or that there he could somehow handle himself in combat in spite of how young he was. He's there. I may never have been one to subscribe to 'gut feelings'…but I've got one now. And it's saying he's on that ship headed for Leuco."

The room was silent for a moment afterward. The colonel, on hearing this outburst, didn't exercise his authority to call for silence, but rather held and listened along with the captain. The others looked to Dael momentarily. Finally, after a moment, Cryder was the one who gave a shrug.

"Well…as a man who lives by gut instinct…I say if the lass says she has a feeling that the bloke is headed for Leuco, then that's where we'll find him."

"It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me…but I trust your judgment, Dael." Quaren added.

Dael, in response, turned forward and back to her commanding officer. "Colonel Regalis, if you have any upcoming missions or strikes planned on this facility, I request to be assigned to that group immediately."

Regalis looked back at Dael momentarily, showing no emotion.

"I'm sorry, commander." He said after a moment. "That's out of the question. No one in Esthar's Hawks is going to Leuco."

Dael froze. She was so taken aback by that response that her jaw loosened a bit.

"This is only the first bit of intelligence we've managed to receive on the matter, and now Sybenia is cracking down as well as the Leuco government." He explained. "My guess is that it won't be long before the Southern Continent is rendered as inaccessible as the Western. And even if it wasn't, the amount of security they've built up around the facility makes it more impregnable than Class III officers can breach. I'm sorry…that facility is off limits. There won't be any scheduled missions there."

The young officer stared blankly for a moment. However, after only a second, she spoke again. "…In that case, sir, I request that I and my group be allowed to engage in an operation to Leuco to liberate the prisoners."

The colonel stared back for a moment, his gaze hard.

"…Permisssion denied." He flatly stated.

Now, Dael definitely grew wide-eyed. "Sir-"

"Commander, I'm afraid Sir Sabian was right, hard as it might be to accept…you're grasping at straws. There is only an incredibly small chance that this individual is your charge. Even if that wasn't the case, I'm afraid there's no hope. The facility is armed enough, according to these reports on my desk, to fend off a small army equipped with artillery. The security measures are no doubt even tougher, incorporating not only the best of Sybenian security but the latest devices from Leuco. It would take months to plan any sort of infiltration."

"Well then, we won't infiltrate."

Dael and the colonel both turned to Cryder, who had gotten up off of the bookshelf and began to walk over to the gathering.

"And we don't need to, either." The pirate continued. He turned to the captain. "Say mate, where in Leuco would that facility be located? I don't suppose the highlands, same as Arcane, right?"

The captain, a bit surprised to be suddenly addressed, hesitated only a moment, but then nodded. "Well…yes, actually."

"No problem then." Cryder responded. "All we have to do is get to Leuco before they get their latest cache of prisoners to their research facility. I'm guessing they're using a railway or roadway through the highlands. They couldn't watch every spot on that road even if they tried."

"Even then, the situation is still hopeless." The colonel responded. "Leuco isn't allowing any ships from Esthar to land. Even if you could reach the continent and the area near that facility prior to the prisoner's arriving, it wouldn't matter. Leuco may not be a fortress yet but it has enough firepower to keep you from forcing a landing and destroying your ship on arrival. And with the Black Corsairs no longer on 'speaking terms', even you, Mr. Morningjay, wouldn't be able to get us in."

"Then let me give it a shot."

Again, everyone's attention turned, and Dael was rather surprised at who she ended up looking at. Cid stepped forward in between the chairs with a smile.

"I'm sure you all have at least one stolen Sybenian ship lying around in addition to that destroyer. Let me at it." He responded. "Give me six hours, I can refurbish that thing so that no one could recognize it as the original. I'll get us past whatever shore defenses they have and I'll find a spot we can slip it in no problem. It'll look so rough that no one will even think to look for a ship docked there."

Dael gazed back momentarily, her mouth still hanging loose. Cid, seeming to feel her gaze on him, turned to her, and then grinned a bit more. "After making friends on board the _Artemis_, you don't think I'm going to leave you high and dry now, do you? This is the sort of thing Lady Faerio would live for."

The colonel sighed again. "Even so…"

However, Dael was already looking to Cryder. "Could we really do it?"

The pirate paused a moment. "Well… Sybenian ships are tanks, even the little ones. Built for combat, not speed. If during the refitting Cid was able to somehow make one of those ships fast…we'd definitely have a speed advantage." He looked over to the captain. "So where exactly in the heights is that place?"

The captain, once again caught off guard, paused a moment, then merely shrugged. "About 25 miles southeast of Frankenshire, but-"

Cryder cut him off with a sigh, bowing his head and thinkings. "Alright…the nearest spot to that is the main port, and it has plenty of railways. So…it all depends. Assuming Sybenia has left now…assuming we're headed for roughly the same port for an overland route…assuming we do have a ship ready to go and are leaving in about 10 hours…assuming they decide to use the rails and aren't leaving until they have a full load…" He looked in the sky and moved his head around a bit, performing mental calculations. He finally looked down.

"Not promising anything…but we definitely have a chance," He looked over to Cid. "…Provided you can do all of that rot you just said."

The colonel now frowned. "In spite of all of what you have just said, I am still declining. This is too large of a risk. There are too many factors involved. I don't mean to sound heartless, but I cannot devote so much energy to such a small priority. We need to consolidate our power as soon as possible and I'm afraid that any mission that is not directly tied to the success of Esthar in this war cannot be pursued. The seven of you are probably the best operatives working for Esthar's Hawks at the moment. I have to use you where you're needed the most, and Leuco isn't the place."

Dael, at this point, rose from her chair. She looked insistently at Regalis.

"Sir, it's not necessary that all of us go."

The others looked to her at that, a bit surprised. However, she continued.

"From what you've said, as important as this mission to Fuliet is, it doesn't require all seven of us. In fact, for it to be successful, it's probably best only if Sir Tierras, Sir Sabian, and Ms. Dracocorazon go. Two of them are respected members of the Order of Hyne and friends of the Sorceress and the third is a citizen of Fuliet. The locals are far more likely to trust them than if I was to go there personally, even if dressed as a civilian. All I'm asking is that you spare myself, Corporal DeSur, Mr. Morningjay, and Sir Boer."

"This mission is all but suicide, commander." The colonel responded. "It would be the most irresponsible thing I've ever done clearing it, especially in your state. You're emotional, commander. I would give you leave if I could afford to at this point, but I need you to realize right now you're making decisions driven by your emotions rather than logic. It has an overwhelming chance of failure for little benefits. If nothing else, this will get Leuco to declare formal war on Esthar as well."

"Not if we go in as civilians." Dael responded. "They'll never be able to tie anything back to us. Even on my record, I'm still listed as inactive duty. There isn't even a paper trail to claim I was acting on orders."

"The answer is no, commander." Regalis finally stated. "This is a military organization in a time of war, not some volunteer band of insurgents. I wouldn't clear this sort of move in a time of peace. I'm definitely not going to now."

Dael stood there silently for a moment. Abruptly, a crazy inclination reached her…and she almost couldn't believe her own thoughts. For a moment, she thought she had gone insane. She asked herself if she really wanted to say what was on her lips. Esthar's Hawks was her life. It hadn't just been something she had been put into as soon as she could walk reasonably well. She loved the organization. She had strived to succeed in it and become one of the best Esthar's Hawks in history. She had no idea what she could do outside of it. And yet, in spite of all that, she found her jaw tightening, and looking up.

"…In that case, sir…I'll do it myself, and if in doing so I have to leave the organization…then I'll submit my resignation now."

For the first time since Dael had ever known Colonel Regalis in all these years, his pupils actually shrank a bit as his lips parted. He was genuinely, honestly surprised. He might have been able to keep a stiff face if this was any other recruit, but Regalis wasn't blind, and Esthar's Hawks wasn't large enough for people to become faceless. He knew just as well as Dael that being an Esthar's Hawk was everything to her. Yet he had never truly known how great she felt for her ward before now. The others were much the same. They had known how much this meant to Dael too. Even if leaving the organization was no big deal, save for Quaren, who made no mystery of going slack-jawed, they knew it meant the world to her.

"Sir…" Dael spoke, trying to be as firm as possible, yet still detecting weakness in her voice. "Bahamut saved our lives back in Helheim. I don't know how, but the only reason I'm standing here and not being burned in a pile of corpses is him. And I know if he's still alive he's enduring every measure of torture that we went through and more. I am devoted to Esthar's Hawks. There is no other organization in the world greater to me. But I took it on myself to care for that boy and be responsible for him. And if there's one virtue that was drilled into me by Esthar's Hawks, it was faithfulness and loyalty to a responsibility that you take on. I don't want to leave this group…but I have no choice if you tell me no."

She paused a moment longer, then exhaled…and actually gained an imploring look.

"Sir…please."

A few moments of silence passed. The colonel recovered from his initial surprise, and once again formed his stoic, expressionless face. Dael continued to stand and wait for an answer. The ticking of his wall clock was audible from the silence as everyone watched and waited.

After a moment longer, the colonel shifted slightly.

"Commander…you are asking me, so soon after I have gained this new executive power, to use it to authorize the most reckless, irresponsible, and stupid strike that I could possibly clear outside of sending a private with a rifle into Sybenia itself in an attempt to assassinate Rozan Heirarch."

Dael didn't shift or change. Another few moments went by, as Regalis looked her straight in the eye.

"…Therefore, you had better not fail."

The young officer felt as if someone had removed a 5 kilo weight off of her heart. She was actually breathless for a moment. However, it was only a moment, a split second. After that, she steeled herself again…and looked more resolute and determined than she had ever been for anything in her entire life.

"I won't."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	32. A Prelude to Crisis

_10 Hours Later_

* * *

><p>Dael had barely adjusted to the fact that she was home again before she found herself having to head out once more. However, she would have had it no other way. Time was of the essence now. This plan had little chance of succeeding as it was. They would have to be incredibly fast to have a shot at it, and that was with many things hinging on luck. Even if they went as fast as possible, there was a more than excellent chance that they'd still be too late. Sybenia had a head start on them, after all.<p>

Little time had been wasted. Dael immediately left the office to go and get dressed in civilian attire. Cryder, Cid, and Quaren moved to prepare as well. Cid, on his part, immediately took the rail to the port to presumably begin work on the ship. The others gathered whatever odds and ends they needed for combat and the journey. There wasn't even any time to get the proper clearance for supplies from Esthar's Hawks. They had to take whatever food and other things they would need on hand. Yet in record time, Dael was prepared. She made sure to grab some medical supplies along the way. Nothing major…but hopefully enough to patch someone up if need be. After that, she rushed back to the lobby.

The others were fast and soon down there, but the people who were staying behind were there as well to see them off. Ceja, Jalab, and Taraketh all wished them good luck and vowed not to fail in their own endeavors. However…Taraketh said something more. As the others came down, and they were about to leave, he stood in her path, momentarily stopping her.

"…Regardless of what happens on your mission to Leuco," He stated firmly. "I want you to know this. I was wrong to call you a mindless grunt."

Dael had looked back for a moment, before mildly smiling.

"…And I was wrong to think you were a self-absorbed prick."

Taraketh had reacted to that, but before he could say anything else, Dael had moved to depart with the others. As she didn't hear any yells or shouts behind her, she assumed that he had accepted it.

Dael, Cryder, and Quaren rode the rails to the port afterward. There were many other Esthar's Hawks with them, all going on various missions as well. Again, Dael found herself without ammunition for her Mage Gun. Even if she would have had time to get it, she didn't think that the colonel would be willing to spare any this time. Quaren, however, was feeling better. After all, he was familiar with wearing civilian clothing, and he had an Esthar issue rifle in his hands. Cryder was also at ease with his cutlass. However, he seemed to be carrying extra gear with him this time, more than usual.

During the ride, he revealed just what it was.

"Planned on saving this for when we ran into the little wharf rat again, but why not? Figure you all could use a gander at it before he does."

He proceeded to put his pack down and reveal two objects in it. In the most straightforward terms, it was simply a sword and a buckler, just as Bahamut had held onto before. However, this wasn't the same. Although Dael had lucked out in getting high-quality weaponry before, this one was definitely intentional. These looked very old and powerful. The shield itself was reinforced with layers of metal that were more than just steel, and knobbed to deflect and absorb damage greater. Each knob was curved to make blows go off center, and it bore a face of an armored god in the center of it. Dael recognized this as not only a high-quality shield, but one of the best…one of the Caesar Shields. They were incredibly old and could only be found in antique weapon shops. The skill to make them had long since died out, but the surviving shields had lost none of their potency. They could easily take on an artillery shell without leaving more than a scratch. They were easily worth their weight in gold.

The sword, however, was something even more. Gold trimmed hilt, intricate edge work on the blade, and, most of all, the placement of runes that seemed to almost shimmer in the dim light all up and down the blade on either side. She knew she was looking at one of the Rune Edges, the last of which had been made over 200 years ago. In addition to being supreme-workmanship swords, they were embued with magical properties through the runes. There were few on Gaia who could still make them, but a blade with those runes was reinforced through magic cycling through it, making it far harder than physically possible. Furthermore, the blade actually was able to siphon the spiritual aura around wizards and translate it into power…an antithesis against a magic user. That was part of the reason people had stopped making them for so long. Without wizards to fight, there was no need to make such an expensive investment. Beyond any doubt, there were few like this blade in the world.

Dael had been stunned, while Cryder merely chuckled.

"Well, he'll need a weapon when we find him, won't we?"

The young officer had responded by asking how he managed to get this…knowing full well it cost money he didn't have.

"There's no greater crime to a weapon, lass, other than using it to murder innocent people, than to not use it at all. Sybenia could come crashing into Esthar and this weapon would still be gatherin' dust on the shelf of an antique store. In the hand of someone like Bahamut, it'll save someone's life. In my ledger, a human life is worth more than a few hundred thousand gil easily."

Dael thought of protesting, but not only realized that it couldn't change anything now, but also realized that Cryder had a point. It would do far more good in Bahamut's hands. Besides…she could always pay later if it was a problem, although she imagined she might be doing so for the rest of her natural life on her salary…

The three finally arrived at the port and dismounted. They headed straight for one of the designate docks. This one was enclosed. After all, they didn't need Sybenian spies or satellites photographing that they had some of their ships. It was stored in an overarching dock that hung over the shore and formed a "bay" where ships could slide inside. It was guarded by MPs, but they were allowed in. Before even getting inside, however, they already heard quite the racket. On stepping in, Dael was amazed.

The ship was stashed in there in dry dock. It wasn't anything too spectacular. It was one of the military grade patrol boats. It possessed one heavy artillery unit on the deck and was armored, but other than that didn't have much. It was enough to menace civilian craft but nothing else. Still, it was larger than the _Dolphin_, and normally required a crew to man. Although Cid had only been there two hours prior to them, perhaps even one, he was working like a colony of ants on a dead insect. His tools were flying everywhere. Most of what he was doing was shaving off extra bits from the ship and throwing them aside, but he was also making modifications here and there, taking advantage of the dry dock to reshape the rudder and propeller, retool the engine, buff out the rough spots, add some extra fins, and perform a dozen other modifications that Dael couldn't understand. She didn't bother questioning him about it. While he may not have had special powers, he flew about the ship as if he did. It was a bit amazing to Dael. If he seriously knew what he was doing, then the young officer was amazed. No formal training on engineering and he was still flying about remodeling? Having nothing else to do and no way to help, the group went into the waiting area.

Over the next few hours, Dael forced herself to eat some food from the vending machines. Not because she necessarily wanted to, but because she knew she had to. In truth, she hated waiting. She wanted to be en route right now. However, she could only hope that Cid's frenzy of modifications would make this trip worth it.

At the end of the six hours, right on schedule, Cid came in, covered with grime and grease, pushed back some work goggles, and announced the job was finished. He was already lowering the ship into the water. On the underside, Dael saw that he had been hard at work. The propeller and fins looked almost new, and definitely not Sybenian issue. But as it slipped into the water, any differences were gone, soon masked beneath the water. The rest of the ship looked mostly the same. There was perhaps a change to an antenna here and maybe a few tweaks to the deck gun there, but nothing else. However, the shore was a different story. There had to be at least a few tons worth of metal debris lying around on the shoreline. Most of it looked like heavy plating, clearly built for armor.

Without wasting a moment, Cid had led them to the docking ramp even as he explained. "I took out everything non-essential to build this ship for speed and automation. I hardwired most of the systems, dumped out all the metal scrap and plating I could muster, and scooped out most of the innards of the main cannon. Sorry to tell you all now, but this is mostly a boat at this point. It has a few bits and pieces of armor by now, but the gun is non-functional and all it will take is one good shell to sink us. We're going to have to rely on stealth and speed to survive out there. But that's alright…I'm good with a ship."

"I kind of picked up on that, mate." Cryder had responded. "But this isn't just sailing between a couple of destroyers. We've got a bigger ship and may need more fancy shipwrighting skills."

"Trust me." Cid answered with a smile.

Soon they had all loaded up, and not long after…they had taken off.

Dael would say this for Cid; if he ever got married, he'd be extremely handy around the house. He had doubled the maximum speed of the patrol boat in only six hours. The ship itself was already built to be faster than most other Sybenian warships, but now? Perhaps they weren't as speedy as the basic Esthar's Hawks boat, or as fast as the _Artemis…_but they could still run rings around the heavy battleships and destroyers. And from the outside, the boat still looked effectively like a normal patrol boat. Although it would still take almost 48 hours to reach their destination…things were looking up.

The Esthar's Hawk used the opportunity to practice. She had to. It wasn't just magic this time. She worked on her overall skill. Now that they were headed out to do something about Bahamut, she began to realize what she had been up against last time. Assuming that there were more Elite Hounds, or even one guarding the facility or the whereabouts, she needed to be ready. They had a little bit of time, after all. Even with all the modifications on the ship, she still had a good two days. She had to make them count. It was a bit hard without Taraketh there, but, fortunately, she had crossed a threshold. The spells were coming a bit easier now. She almost wished he was there to see what a good student she was becoming as she managed to master basic lightning and blizzard spells on targets on the ocean. Her ability to cure was getting better too. It probably wouldn't be long before she could pull off one of those too, which would be useful where she was going. Supposedly, this took years. But maybe all of that running around had unlocked something inside her.

Unfortunately, she realized, all of that may have meant nothing. She had a feeling if Taraketh's own advanced spells didn't do much against the Elite Hounds…what good would basic magic do? She considered trying to improve her normal default spells she had learned from Carbuncle, but, by that time, it was getting late, and she tried to get some sleep. After all, she hadn't gotten any for a while, not since being unable to rest the night before…

* * *

><p><em>Too many… Too many… Too many…<em>

"…too…many… Uh."

Abruptly, Dael opened her eyes. She shook her head a moment, and blinked. However, all she saw was darkness, save for the face of a digital clock on the wall. She turned fully to it and looked…only to see that it was just a little after four in the morning. On seeing that, she frowned and sighed.

Being a patrol boat, the ship was built to be on the ocean for a while. Perhaps not as long as a larger warship, but still for a couple days. Hence, there were official sleeping chambers on board. There was one room for a captain and perhaps a first officer, and then a common room with wall installations that acted almost like bunk beds. However, they were better than hammocks. They actually had thin mattresses and some sheets with pillows. Maybe not the best in the world, but better sleeping arrangements than most military specialists were accustomed to. There were positions for eight, but being only four, it was easy to fit everyone inside. Cryder, Dael, and Quaren had all turned in for the night while Cid piloted the ship.

At any rate, Dael wiped her brow, and then attempted to lay down again. It had taken her forever to fall asleep before, and now she was awake again. Who knew how long it would take to ease down now?

"…Commander?" A voice called in the darkness.

Dael turned her head toward the source. Only the lights from the digital clock allowed any illumination, and they were rather dim. She saw nothing at first, not even a vague outline. However, after a few moments, she spoke none the less.

"Quaren? Are you awake?"

"Yeah." The corporal's voice responded. "I woke up about 30 minutes ago when Cid came in and switched with Cryder. Haven't fallen asleep yet. Cid's sawing logs, however."

As if to accent that, Cid's unseen body abruptly let out a large snore. Dael actually blinked a bit in the darkness, stunned at its volume. Quaren let out a groan. "Falling asleep again isn't any easier with him doing that… Anyway, what about you? Can't sleep either?"

"…Just a dream, mostly." Dael responded. "I had one…it woke me up."

"Ah." Quaren responded. "A nightmare?"

"No…just the same as always…" Dael murmured in response. She paused a moment, then turned her head about. "Quaren, so long as you're awake…" She hesitated a moment longer, then spoke up again. "…What do you dream about?"

"…What do you mean?"

"What are your dreams about when you have them?"

A pause. "It really depends on the night, Dael. Sometimes invasions of Esthar…weird monsters living in my room…funky things happening like mom and dad go broke or bananas are made illegal… Back in the Academy, I'd always have this one dream about having a final in a class I had forgotten to go to all semester. Those ones were a lot of stress… Anyway, why do you ask?"

Now it was Dael's turn to pause.

"You mean you dream of different things?"

"…Of course. Doesn't everyone?"

Dael paused again.

"I always have the same dream."

"…Really? What about?"

"…I don't know. Time, I suppose."

Quaren hesitated. "…Um, time?"

Dael exhaled, leaning back onto her pillow.

"I don't know. It's…it's weird. I always feel like I'm alone in nothingness. Completely alone. Everything around me either doesn't exist, or it's dead. I can't see anything. I can barely feel anything. And…that's it…for what feels like forever. It's like I'm living out my life without any senses…just kind of floating in oblivion. Only it's not just my life. It feels like…eternity."

Quaren said nothing for a while. "…Seriously? And you don't sense anything? Anything at all?"

"…Just noise. But…it's like no noise I've ever heard before. It's like everything is talking at once. And when I say everything…I mean _everything_. Even things that shouldn't talk. And none of them make any sense. Sometimes, I think I can _see voices_. They're like dim lights, and I wonder if I'm imagining or if they're really there. But I can't understand them. I try…but even if they were making any sense, they're too far away. I can't isolate anyone. And then…" She hesitated. "I get feelings."

"…Feelings?"

"…Loneliness. Frustration. Anger. …Pain." The last part was especially bad. "Lots of pain. But I can't tell what's doing it. And I get so angry because I can't find out where. Sometimes I think some of the voices love me…but most of the time I think they hate me. And that only makes me angrier. I feel like they're hurting me and I don't know why. And it only gets worse as the dream goes on…on and on for what feels like forever. I get so mad, and I try to talk…but I don't even know if I'm talking because I can't hear myself or feel my mouth moving. And they don't stop…they just get worse…and so I figure nothing's happening, but…"

Dael paused, and then let out a sigh.

"…It's weird, I know."

Quaren paused a moment, then spoke again. "It's…it's not that bad." He said, clearly confused by the tone in his voice. "I mean, it could be worse."

"I've never been one to put much faith in dreams, Quaren. Just random neurons firing to me. But who knows? Does anyone else have dreams like this? Is it because I spent my life in the Academy? Never really had parents? Even if it doesn't mean anything, what does it say about my psyche or mind?"

The corporal paused. "Hmm…I really don't know, Dael. Sure, I tried reading a book or two on dreams before, but all the authors said was that everything you dream about is some sexual fantasy."

Dael's eyebrow raised.

"I mean, you _are_ single…"

"Quaren!" Dael retorted, almost shouting.

Cid snorted a bit, disturbed by the noise in his sleep. Dael realized that, and quickly calmed down again.

"Alright, alright…I was just trying to be helpful… For what it's worth, I think they were full of it. Anyway, it's an unusual dream, but I'm sure it's just a dream."

Dael paused, then exhaled. "You're probably right. I'm not even sure it qualifies as a dream or a nightmare. Maybe I'm just remembering things…" She sighed again. "Anyway, I need to forget about that and get back to sleep. We're headed for the Southern Continent and if I'm not ready for battle when we get there we'll all be hurting."

"Yeah." Quaren responded. Dael, in turn, closed her eyes and began to situate herself to try and sleep again. However, after only a moment, she heard Quaren again. "Uh…Dael?"

"Yes?"

"…Bahamut may be odd, but he's still 'one of us', I guess. And I sure didn't care to see him getting beaten back at Helheim and don't want him to suffer any more than the others…" He paused. "…But did you really mean it back in the office? If Colonel Regalis had said no, would you really have quit Esthar's Hawks to try and save him?"

Dael hesitated on hearing that. In truth, part of that statement had been made in the heat of the moment. She hadn't taken the time to think it through. Yet when she thought of all the acclaims she would forfeit, all the education she would have wasted, all of the people she would have abandoned, including her own country, essentially everything she would have lost…she still arrived at the same conclusion. Although it took her a while to say, and her voice had to tighten up a bit to say it, she finally nodded.

"Yes, Quaren. I would have."

A moment of silence.

"To be honest, Dael…I can't believe it. Being an officer in Esthar's Hawks has been your whole life. I still remember, way back in the early courses, that you told me one day when I was dragging my feet in one of your drills that you told me you'd never forfeit a chance at advancing to come back for me if I held you down…"

Dael went a bit rigid at that. She vaguely remembered saying that…but that was over eight years ago, when she was young, inexperienced, brash, and, like most pre-teens, thoughtless. She swallowed a bit. "Quaren, I…you know I didn't mean that…"

"…It's alright, Dael." Quaren said in a fairly casual voice. "I mean, that's what happens in Esthar's Hawks. So long as the mission gets completed, you have to know when to cut your losses, right?"

Dael hesitated again on hearing that. Her face tightened more. For the first time she could remember in regards to Esthar's Hawks…something about their code made a knot in her stomach.

"I…I understand. I just hope I can do the same one day if anyone else starts slowing down…"

"…Quaren, no."

The corporal paused in the darkness. Dael hesitated a moment, then began to speak…a bit slowly and uncertainly, but speaking none the less.

"I…I…" She stammered, then exhaled. "…I was wrong, alright?"

"…Wrong?" Quaren spoke up, uncertainly. "Dael, that's what they taught us back in the Academy."

"Well…it doesn't necessarily mean they were right."

If Dael could have seen Quaren, his eyes would have nearly bulged out of his head.

"Dael, what are you talking about? You've always stuck to the codes of Esthar's Hawks! You always told me that I need to memorize them and adhere to them if I ever want to amount to a good soldier! You told me to stick to them like glue even if they were difficult or hard!"

"…Not that one." Dael responded. "I know I said that…but that was back when I was a loner, when I thought I had to be able to do everything by myself. But…ever since I became a real Esthar's Hawk, I'm realizing more and more that I do my best when I'm working with other people. And Quaren…you're _not_ dead weight, any more than Bahamut or Taraketh or anyone else. I want to be loyal to Esthar's Hawks…but not if it means abandoning the people I've trusted my life to. And I want you to know, right now, without a doubt…if you're ever in trouble, I'm going to come for you."

Quaren was silent for a moment in response to that. Dael wasn't sure what he was thinking or feeling in response. But after a moment, he spoke again, and she could almost hear the smile on his voice.

"Th…Thanks, Dael."

Dael couldn't help it; she felt herself smiling a bit too. She almost couldn't believe herself, though. This is what she was up to? She was such a hard, dedicated soldier…and she was waxing almost poetic like this? She didn't know whether to be sad or happy about it…

"There might be hope for you yet, lass."

Instantly, the young officer went rigid on hearing that voice from a different part of the room.

"C…Cryder? You were listening in on that?"

"Well, not at first, mate. But unlike our Sorceress Knight friend here, I'm a light sleeper. It pays when you're a pirate. Never know when someone's going to come in to knife you. And you two have been making a racket for a while."

"Aren't you supposed to be piloting the ship?" Quaren said, his voice almost a panicked squeak from realizing Cryder had heard everything.

"Auto-pilot, mate." Cryder answered. "Anyway…being a soldier is all well and good, and I'd wager most of the things they teach you in Esthar's Hawks is well and good too. But one of the reasons I'll never sail under the banner of any country on Gaia is because at some point they'll make me choose between my mates and a nation. And that ain't fair, lass. They push all this stuff about loyalty and honor, and you're supposed to leave a matey twistin' in the wind? Before I could ever consider myself a good soldier, a loyal patriot, a fine officer or all the rest of that rot…I have to be able to live with myself. And that ain't nothing I could ever do knowing that everytime I laid down for the night, I'd see a friend reaching out for me and I could only see myself slapping his hand away."

Dael said nothing in response to that. Neither did Quaren. After a moment, however, a yawn was heard.

"Anyway, goodnight, my lads and lasses. We're going to need to be ready to move when we get there, so let's all hit the hay."

She heard him shift, and then all was quiet. After a moment, Quaren let out a yawn and did the same.

Dael herself held for a bit, but then finally rolled back on her own pillow and shut her eyes.

* * *

><p>There wasn't much to the next day. Dael continued to practice as best as she could, shifting to the more physical department. The ship at least had more room on it to allow that. However, it still wasn't terribly adequate. After all, to really practice, she needed an opponent of similar skill, or maybe better equipment. However, she went about it none the less, including trying out her spells. She managed to sharpen her skill a bit better, including with cure magic. The others did much the same. Cid seemed to always be tinkering with his tools or even making "real-time" modifications to the ship. Cryder sharpened his sword, apparently confident in his geomancy. Quaren, on his part, worked on target practice. To be honest, Dael realized, this was a good time to try and hang out more with her friend, even if it was en route to a dangerous mission. However, she couldn't bring herself to. She was alright the first day, but now she was eager to get on dry land and get to rescuing Bahamut.<p>

They didn't have to worry about running into enemy ships, it seemed. Cid had stripped a lot out of the ship, but he had left the sonar systems and radios on. If anything went wrong, they would hear about it. Dael used the opportunity to keep an ear on Esthar…but nothing changed, which was both good and bad. Good that Sybenia wasn't making a move. Bad that neither was the Senate against Sybenia. It was almost frustrating to hear, and Dael almost found herself forcing herself to listen to the reports through the day in case there were changes.

When night came, sleep was impossible. Exhaustion might have been the only reason she could do it the day before. Bored with practice, she lay down for hours and then paced around the deck, but didn't manage to sleep at all. In the end, she turned her attention to their heading. After all, they were going to be heading into hostile waters soon. Sonar or no, she wasn't sure how they were going to be able to slip through all this. They were relying mostly on Cid. However, the Sorceress Knight wasn't miffed at all. If anything, he seemed eager to get there as he continued to man the ship as long as he could.

Cryder eventually had to take over, but only for a few hours. Both he and Cid said they were getting close, and he woke up the Sorceress Knight to deal with it once they were in range of sonar. Since this was a patrol boat, it's own detection systems were far more advanced than even the standard warship. Therefore, they would see the enemy coming long before they saw them. On that note, Dael moved into the helm of the ship and kept an eye on the sonar, standing not far from Cid as he continued to pilot the craft.

There was nothing for about two hours…but then she began to see a shape on the screen.

Cid looked over as well when it popped up. "…Looks like we're just about there."

"I still don't know how we're going to get in." Dael responded to him.

"Like I said…leave it to me." Cid answered with a smile.

The young officer was still hesitant. "Should I wake the others? In case we need them, I don't know, 'active'?"

"No need. Just wait."

Dael hesitated. Sure enough, Cid had helped them once already…but there was no secret that he wasn't the strongest of their group. Even with his machines, he hardly seemed to be Sorceress Knight material. And in the end, Dael had almost taken command even of the rescue. He seemed more like Quaren than someone like Jalab or Aizel. However, she contented to be patient and wait. Cid seemed sure of himself, and she had a good feeling it wasn't just bragging.

Cid dropped speed at that point. After all, the ship wasn't supposed to be as fast as they were running it. A few more minutes went by. The sonar soon confirmed everything. While they could have assumed they had run into any ship or even an odd rock formation, for that matter, now she could make out the dimensions of an artillery-packing ship. Soon, she saw at least two more on the long-range sensors. There was a space they could move in between easily enough, but still…they would probably be within firing range in the process. She exhaled and waited a bit longer. She assumed they would contact them first, wondering who they were and what they were doing there. After all, in moments, they would probably be approaching their own sensor ranges. However, as it turned out, they didn't give them the chance. Cid abruptly reached to the radio, grabbed the receiver, and switched it on.

"This is the _S.I.N. Vigilant_, please come in, Leuco Coast Guard."

Dael look to him for a moment, but in the end supposed it made sense. If they were trying not to arouse suspicion, then it made more sense that they would contact them for clearance first rather than the other way around. However, before she could ponder this further, a transmission came back.

_"We read you, _Vigilant. _State your designation, code, and port and time of departure."_

The young officer tensed at that. That was quite a bit of information, and all things that they didn't have…or at least she didn't have. And she knew that Esthar's Hawks hadn't given them any of that. However, without hesitation, or even looking confused for a moment, Cid shifted his hand away to a control panel near the radio and began to press a series of buttons.

"Our designation is SIN1846650EV866. The code is being transmitted to you right now. Our port was Sybenia's capitol seven days ago at 0155 hours."

Dael looked to Cid with a bit of amazement. That had all been so smooth and flawless, it seemed he either had it memorized…or made it up at the drop of a hat. She soon got her answer, as the person on the other end came in.

_"Verified. What is your purpose and destination?"_

"Request from the Sybenian Department of the Military to enhance security measures for potential leaks on the Southern Continent. Conducting patrol of the northern coast."

There was a pause on the other end. Dael wondered for a moment. Would they buy it? Technically, they should, especially if they accepted what he said before.

_"Acknowledged. Proceed on course, _Vigilant._"_

Cid smiled, and switched off the radio channel. With that, he turned back to the wheel and drove the ship onward. Dael blinked a moment. She tried looking outside, but it was still too dark to see anything. Instead, she looked back to the sonar. Sure enough, the ships stayed where they were. None of them moved to fire or intercept. In a few minutes, their own ship was slipping right in between them. Still no moves were made, and no distant sounds of firing went out. Dael began to realize they were truly in the clear.

On that note, she turned to the Sorceress Knight. "Cid…that was amazing. But how on Earth did you know all that stuff? Even Class III didn't know all that. They seemed to buy it so easily…"

"Well, I told you I'd take care of it, didn't I?" Cid grinned in response. "There wasn't anything to it. For the designation number, remember I've spent years in Lamb. I did a lot of sitting on the dock watching ships go by when I was younger. As the years went by, I started noticing the Sybenian ships whenever they came through, including the warships. They always had the same designations, and finally, I got the pattern down. The first three letters, obviously, are identifying it as Sybenian Imperial Navy. The next three numbers are a serial code generated by what time of year and what year the ship went into production. The next four numbers correspond to the factory and department of production. The next two letters and one number correspond to their first intended destination. The last two numbers refer to what ship was produced that year by the overall military complex. That's how they work up the designation.

"As for the code, heh…that wasn't a problem. I tinker too, remember? I used to make short-wave radios and I'd pick up old signals of transmissions from all the ships. As years went by, I noticed a pattern and I eventually made a link between them and the Sybenian ships."

"…A pattern?" Dael echoed incredulously. "Cid, those signals are nothing more than dashes and dots."

"Well, I guess I just had an ear for it." The man responded with a shrug. "As a hobby, I started writing the patterns down."

"…A hobby?"

"Yeah! Over time I realized some sequences were constant and some were variable, and they were all interspersed. The constant portions were easy, but eventually I figured the first variable region was an algorithim with log 9,917,835 to the time of day, the second was a mixture of multiplying both serial numbers of either ship together, taking it to the seventh power, then performing a cubed root, ignoring the fraction, and finally conducting a Laplace transform, and finally…the last portion was simply the target destination put on a Sybenian overlay map of the sectors of the world." He snickered. "That one was almost too easy to figure out."

Dael stared blankly, trying to take all of that in. Why the heck didn't this guy work for Class III? At any rate, shaking her head, she removed the thoughts of confusion and puzzlement from her mind, and exhaled. Finally, she spoke up again.

"And…how'd you know about the port of departure and time? Did you overhear their radio broadcasts or use satellite photos or something?"

Cid paused a moment, then swallowed as he looked to Dael sheepishly.

"…Actually, I just assumed Sybenia had patrol boats departing their main port every minute of every day and guessed a random time."

* * *

><p>After Dael had recovered from the rather flat ending to Cid's otherwise astonishing abilities, she focused on the task at hand. They were in now, and that meant they had to focus on what was coming. Now the "hard" part began. On that note, after passing the ships, she ran downstairs to the deck and woke up Cryder and Quaren, although she really only intended to wake up the former. With him alert, she brought him up and had him direct them to the proper coordinates.<p>

Before long, while it was still quite dark out, they were coming up on the shore. This was a rough spot with no place to dismount, and therefore there was no way they could be followed if they found a hidden path inside. Unfortunately, they couldn't risk leaving their ship behind. That was their ticket out of there. And while it may not have been a Sybenian battleship, it was a bit too large to hide normally. Luckily, Cryder had bailed them out. As the ground came in view, he directed them along an especially rough coast until coming to a very rocky inlet which appeared, on the outside, to be a narrow, unnavigatable passageway into a much larger bay, hidden behind a wall of rocks that appeared to be part of the seashore. Not only that, but there even seemed to be the ruins of an old dock and a switchback pathway leading to the top of the cliff on the opposite side.

"Yep." Cryder announced as they drew close. "Used to be a Black Corsair waystation here. Closed down about ten years ago when we started refitting larger ships, but I thought that Cid here could squeeze us in here in a patrol boat like this. Just enough room for it."

Dael was quite happy with the arrangement. If even Leuco had never found this place, then it was highly unlikely that Sybenia would. You almost couldn't tell what it was until you were right on it. And even if you could, the larger warships could never squeeze around the rocks to fire on anything there.

With the ship safely concealed, the others quickly got their things together. Dael made sure to carry a heavier pack on her own filled with dressings and potion gels. She reasoned that Bahamut was going to need medical attention when they found him. She also figured that there would be more with him. Quaren and Cryder pretty much had their same standard gear. Cid, however, had once again thought a bit more ahead. He had left some of his devices behind this time, since he no longer had Faerio boosting his power. In addition, however, he had seemed to reconfigure an old headset radio and build an extension to it. He strapped the box to his hip and put the headphones on before taking off.

"I only know three Sybenian coded channels, and all of them are old." He stated. "So this might just be a shot in the dark. However, I'll keep my ears open…try to listen for any incoming ships or vessels."

"Good thinking." Dael responded. "This isn't going to do much good unless we know where they're going to be and when. We don't even know if we got here in time to head them off yet…"

"Well, if that's the case," Quaren protested. "How do we even know where to head to in order to set up an ambush, assuming we're even in time for that?"

"Don't worry, my lads and lasses." Cryder responded. "It's quite the hike…but there's one spot in particular that they'll have to touch on. Golan Junction. The way the highlands are set up, they could only build one pass from the northwest of the continent to the rest of it unless they wanted a few hundred mile detour. Everything goes through there…trains and automobiles. Only way they could get around that is if they used an air route."

"…What if they _did_ use an air route?" Quaren suggested.

"Well, let's hope they didn't, shall we?" Cryder responded.

That wasn't very encouraging, but Dael could only hope for the best at the moment. They weren't equipped to storm anything. The only reason the colonel had let them go on this mission was supposed to be because they were going to ambush the transport, not actually reach the facility. If they did take an air route, they were in deep trouble. It was better to hope they didn't for now.

Taking the lead, Cryder led the group off of the deck of the ship and toward the switchback path. It was rocky, overgrown, and washed out a bit, and therefore the four of them with all of their gear had a bit of a hard time beginning to hike up it, practically _climbing_ up it with all of the work they had to do grabbing the almost sheer rocky cliff walls and balancing themselves. However, Dael didn't complain and moved so fast that she pushed Cryder onward faster as well. If they were going to use a train or road, she was going to make sure they were going to be in time.

"So…how long will this take?" She asked as they neared the top.

"There's a path up this way." Cryder responded. "Like I said, it's a hike, but it takes us straight into the highlands. The path hasn't been used in years, but it's broad, and it leads to Golan Junction. You see, a lot of shady deals used to take place there with Leuco, so lots of chaps came and went through it during the night. Only problem is it's a good thirty kilometer hike."

Dael sighed on hearing that, but shook her head. "Can't be helped. Can we at least make good time on it?"

"Sure thing, lass." Cryder responded. "It's old, dirty, and tricky in some points, but it should still be fine for people like us. The only problem that would happen is if it started raining."

* * *

><p><em>…He had to say that, didn't he?<em>

Dael couldn't help but think that although she knew perfectly well that there was no correlation between someone saying an off-color comment like that and it actually starting to rain. However, that didn't keep her from still thinking that it might have had an impact. Dael hadn't even bothering packing any rain gear. After all, this was supposed to be the dry time of year in Leuco…record drought. Yet it seemed no one told the weather that, because this was the hardest rainstorm she had been in within a long time.

Aside from the fact that she was soaking wet and being pelted by heavy rain, she soon realized exactly why the rain truly was an issue in slowing them down. They were hiking up barren hills, ones that were now mostly wasteland due to deforestation by Leuco. There were a lot of rocks, but there was also a lot of loose gravel and just plain dirt. Over the years, the path that they had been walking had become awash with it, and now that the rain was pounding many areas had thick, almost impassible coatings of mud. Yet being slowed down was the least of their problems. The rain was so thick that many portions of the trail had deep rifts and gullies in them, the very makings of ravines. Some of them practically _were_ ravines, so much had they changed in just a few years. In some places, mud was actually being dislodged and washing out. Combined with all the signs of rocks and wear and tear along the trail, it was soon obvious that in a storm like this they could fall victim to another mudslide or even rockslide at any moment.

This was especially true now, as lightning crackled through the air and thunder boomed, so loud that the hills around them echoed. They were definitely into the highlands now. Whereas they had only walked around and through a few hills before, now they were headed into a more mountainous region. The path was still gradual enough and would have been easy if not for the rain. But now they were getting especially high. The mud was being left behind for sharp rocks now. To Dael and the group's left, there was an almost sheer drop off down a rocky hill to a series of rapids, swollen from rain, chasing in between the rocky peaks they were moving through. To her right, the mountain they were on rose high in the sky, creating a wall of jagged, disjointed rocks…and of which looked like they could break off at any moment. And furthermore, they were headed uphill, and having to move more slowly than ever now, as the runoff and slickness of the path made it hazardous to keep going.

Dael continued to trudge a bit longer, before she heard a sonic, monstrous cry. She snapped her head up, and through the deluge of rain, the thunder and lightning, and, most recently, the growing wind of the mountain valley, she recognized the cry of an Avian Zeus…one of many monstrous creatures that had originated from mutation in Leuco and moved out now into the surrounding countryside. Sure enough, dark and dim as it was, despite being daylight out, she saw a twisted, vulture-like bird, six feet long, crawl out from one of the rocky cliffs, actually knocking off a few rocks as it did so. A second and third soon joined it. A moment later, the one in the lead, its head and face bald and almost rotten, gave another horrendous cry, and then took off. As it began to dive, the other two followed suit, all three headed for the group.

A moment later, and a pair of rifle shots rang out from behind Dael, in Quaren's direction. She saw a small eruption of blood and feathers from the wing of the one in the lead, and it cried again before drawing the wing in. Now askew, unable to fly, and going too fast, it shot right past the ground and began to fall down until it impacted the side of the cliff. From there, it went into a tumble down in the rapids far below. The other shot only whizzed by the others, but on seeing their companion so easily felled, they cried out again before taking back into the sky and flying away again. At least the monsters on this continent seemed to know when they were outclassed.

Dael turned to Quaren, who frowned as he lowered his gun…and proceeded to shake it out a bit. He shook himself off a bit too. "Nice to see that the local wildlife isn't getting too fed up with the rain…" He groaned. "Especially now. I was aiming for that Avian Zeus' head. If it wasn't for the junction, I wouldn't even have been able to tag it on the wing."

"I guess we should be happy this isn't easy…" Dael remarked with a sigh. "Leuco will get the idea that no one would be dumb enough to come up through here, I hope."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the first monster attack they had run into, and it wasn't the last as another hour passed. The mountain seemed endless, like they were always climbing it. In truth, it was simply a case where they were going so slow that it was taking much longer. Dael began to get a chill as they kept climbing higher. The weather was changing slightly, but combined with the endless stream of cold rain that had soaked them all to the bone, it was terrible. She doubted Quaren and Cid's weapons would even fire as they got higher.

Things only got worse as time went on. Parts of the path grew very narrow, only large enough for two people to walk by next to the rocky cliff. This was especially nerve wracking, for as they walked along, parts of the rocky ground turned to mush beneath them and shifted…occasionally a few pebbles going over the edge of the cliff. The going went slower yet, as they came across large washouts. Parts of the path were simply gone in a deep trench, and the group had no choice to jump to the other side. This was especially bad when creatures tried to attack them during these jumps.

At long last, the group came up ahead to something especially bad. Just up ahead, emerging through the pouring rain, Dael saw a massive rockslide. It was at least a couple months old by now, but seeing as that wasn't too long in geologic time, it looked almost like it had happened yesterday. A long running trail of huge boulders, the smallest of which was the size of them, created a huge rocky landscape perched right in the middle of their path and stretching on for quite some distance. It had to have been spectacular when it happened. Dael noticed the mountainside near it appeared to be carved in such a way that you could almost see where the larger rocks had been originally. Worst of all, as they approached, the rain picked up again, and the skies grew darker, almost to the point where it was hard to see without artificial light.

Finally, Dael ground to a halt. She hated to have to do this…but she wasn't an idiot.

"Alright…let's hold it right here." She called out over the pounding rain and occasional thunderclap.

The other stopped and looked to her. As Cryder was in the lead, he turned back.

"I thought we wanted to get there as soon as possible, lass."

"Well, getting killed along the way is definitely going to slow us down." She responded with a frown. "We're going to have to climb over those rocks, and they already look like they could go over the edge at any moment. This rain isn't helping. We need to wait until it slows down before we can go any farther."

"I'm not sure stopping out here's that good of an idea…" Cid said uneasily, looking around a bit. "Those Avian Zeus' got scared, but they're smart as ravens. On seeing us not moving, they're going to circle around and come back. Maybe in a larger group. Or something else for that matter…"

"Then see if we can find anything reasonably stable that looks like shelter." Dael responded.

Cryder scratched his head in response to that, looking around them. "Uh, lass, I don't mean to rain on your parade, pardon the pun, but exactly where could we possibly stay out here? We're over halfway up a mountain, with nothing but a cliff ready to crumble on one side and a slope on the other leading to a bunch of overfull rapids. There ain't even a tree out here to crouch under."

"Hey!"

Dael, Cryder, and Cid turned on hearing Quaren call out. The corporal had moved up to the rock face, and, in particular, was near one of the areas that looked like it had been carved out during the rockslide. To further elaborate, he was near what looked like a dark shadow against the cliff, nestled in the rough rocks. He had his flashlight out, and shone it inside, waving it around a bit. "Looks like there's a cave here, and a deep one. We can probably hang out in here until the rain stops. It's dry inside so there's no groundwater leakage."

The young officer, however, frown in response to that. "…Much as I'd like some shelter, I don't think that's the best bet. I mean, this is right next to the rockslide. This entire area is probably ready to collapse at any moment. Another rockslide is all we need to do us in."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Dael." Cid threw in with a smile. "My drill can tunnel through any rock on this mountain in record time."

Dael, however, only frowned in response. "Not exactly what I was talking about, Cid. I'm not worried about an entrance collapse…I'm worried about the whole cave collapsing in on itself and crushing us in the process."

"Seems your decision's already been made for you, lass." Cryder spoke up, gaining her attention. As she turned to him, she saw him point ahead with a slight frown. She looked, and was just in time to see the light from Quaren's flashlight vanish inside the darkness of the cave, along with him. He had already gone inside.

Dael sighed. Soon after, she began to walk over to the entrance herself. "Quaren, come on out!" She called after him. "That thing could collapse at any moment!"

No response came from inside. But that was hardly surprising. The rain was still pounding, and there was no way she could make herself audible over it within a certain distance. She drew closer as a result, as Cryder and Cid looked on. A moment later, she reached the entrance and looked inside. However, all she saw was darkness. Sighing, she called again.

"Quaren, get out here!"

There was no response, but only for a moment. Then, she heard, very faintly, an echo back.

"Wow…amazing…"

Dael raised an eyebrow at that. Soon after, she reached down to her own waist for her own flashlight. Seeing this happening, but unknown to Dael, Cid began to raise a hand toward her to try and ask her to wait. However, he too was too late, as the young woman switched it on and began to enter the cave. "Quaren?" She called out as she passed inside.

Unseen by her, Cid and Cryder were left behind. They both stared blankly for a moment, then looked to each other. They looked up to the pouring rain next, before both sighed, shrugged, and began to walk after Dael into the cave as well.

As for Dael, she was soon navigating a very narrow, twisted, and irregular passageway. It looked to be more made of haphazard rocks piled up against one another in such a way as to allow a very thin corridor through them, but not much else. It was dry in there to be sure, but the fact that it seemed to be nothing other than a thin, almost crushing, passageway of rock was enough to make her very nervous. At any rate, she saw nothing ahead in the beam of her flashlight…nothing except the various twists and bends of the path. Even after having gone in for a distance of about 20 yards and still having failed to see anything other than more of a passageway, she began to tense up. As a result, she called out again.

"Quaren, where are you?"

Her voice echoed and resounded through the confining passage. However, a moment later, she heard Quaren's voice call back, also echoing and resounding.

"I'm right up here! Just a bit farther! Commander, you've got to see this!"

Dael, grimacing a bit, pushed herself between another narrow, crooked squeeze in between rocks. There was no doubt in her mind now that a slight change in the landscape would be enough to entomb her in here. She thought this was nuts. She should just order Quaren to come out. In another moment, she might have done so…

Until she popped out the other side of the rock passage, and found out that the area opened considerably. It was now an area that was a good six feet around. Pausing, the woman looked around for a moment at this sudden change. Her flashlight went up and searched the area. She soon saw that part of the area was still piled up with rocks, and that one large boulder in particular seemed to make up a side. However, there was similar rock of a different sort nearby. This was made in angles and lines…a corridor, hewn from the rock itself. In fact, she could see the makings of columns and archways that were now partially crumbled and collapsed from the ambient stone. A tunnel, it seemed. An old one too. It was faded with time, despite having been in a place like this. Dael soon realized that it had to be an entrance to something that had once been along the rock face, something from an older people who had once lived on the Southern Continent.

She saw something else as well. The area she was in was small enough, but the tunnel still seemed to be reinforced and intact. It, in turn, led to somewhere more open. Dael could feel a wind come from it, indicating it was an area of some size. If that wasn't enough, she saw a dim light up ahead…one that wasn't from any flashlight.

Her own curiosity aroused, Dael soon turned to this and began to walk down it.

The passageway was rather long, but it didn't take too terribly long to get to the other side. The lights remained dim on the other end, but grew more ambient. As a result, Dael soon doused her own light, and continued on forward. The sounds of rain and thunder gradually dimmed to almost nothing. Only the sound of Dael's own footsteps moving down the ancient corridor remained. She walked a bit further head, and finally, the air around her grew in force and feeling as she moved out from the enclosed corridor and into a much wider, open area. She soon marveled at what was there.

At first, Dael thought that something fantastic had happened. As she emerged into the darkness of this new area, she looked up…and saw a sky full of stars. A pure night sky on a moonless, cloudless night…showing nothing except an endless sea of billions upon billions of stars. She looked up, and could only stare for a moment as she slowed in her step and slowly walked inside. However, her footsteps continued to echo and ring out. And she soon saw that she was looking up from what appeared, based on the darkness and lack of stars in places, to be a cup-like chamber…but quite a large one. Easily a hundred feet in diameter here. She looked up at the stars a bit longer, and saw each one of them glowing softly yet steadily.

Yet as she kept looking, she slowly realized something. Each star had a greenish-blue tint to it, unlike a real starry sky that included yellows and reds. None of them flickered or radiated, and on closer inspection…she realized they were closer than they appeared. Finally, there were the sounds of her own footsteps. The way they echoed through the chamber, she soon realized she couldn't be out in the open, but in a totally enclosed space. She then realized it wasn't the sky at all, but a semi-spherical ceiling painted or etched in a way to make the stars.

But if that was true, then how were they glowing? Ancient civilizations didn't have electricity or even phosphorus paints, and this place was definitely ancient…

"Commander!"

Dael heard Quaren's voice from nearby, and shook her head out of her thoughts and looked to him. In the dim light, she could just barely make him out nearby, staring up at the ceiling.

"It's incredible, isn't it? Have you ever seen the like? It's almost as if the sky was buried under this mountain…"

The young officer was inclined to agree, confusing as it was and unreasonable as it seemed. She turned and looked back up to the ceiling, again marveling at how much it looked like a night sky. Even now, she could easily mistake it for one if she didn't concentrate on it.

Not long after looking back, she heard more echoes behind them. Turning her head and twisting her flashlight over and on again, she soon looked at the entrance from the corridor, and saw Cid and Cryder walking in. Both winced in the wake of her beam, so she cut it off quickly, leaving the two to look up as well.

"…Wow." Cid remarked after a moment. "Reminds me of the night sky over Lamb Temple…"

"Or just a good night at sea." Cryder added.

Dael paused, but then called out. "How are these stars being made? Did the Black Corsairs set up lights or something?"

Cryder snickered. "We ain't that artistic, lass."

"Then how are they glowing?"

"Beats me. This is the first I've ever seen of them."

Dael was a bit surprised to hear that. "But…didn't the Black Corsairs frequent here?"

"They did…but none of us ever knew this was here. Likely no one did for a few hundred…make that a few thousand…years. I think this place got uncovered by that big rockslide."

Dael paused, looking up at the ceiling again for a moment. "…Then how are these things glowing? It's soft, yeah, but I don't think it's glow-in-the-dark paint…"

"Here, give me a second…" Cid stated, taking off his pack and setting it down momentarily. He opened it up, rummaged around for a moment, and then produced what looked like some sort of flare. Quickly snapping it and giving it a shake, it soon shone forth with light more equivalent to a lantern than some common glow stick. As it did, the rest of the chamber was illuminated, and Dael soon got a better, and more intriguing, look at her surroundings.

Although the ceiling seemed to be set aside for whatever stars there were, inscribed into some sort of runes, the walls were something different entirely. They had more ancient depictions, and strange, archaic symbols written on them, no doubt denoting a language of some sort and some form of writing, although it might as well have been décor for all that Dael could understand. Quite a bit of the chamber seemed to have not escaped age. The rockslide that had buried it, the rockslide that had exposed it, or perhaps one of countless rockslides in between, had fractured and crumbled some of the walls from behind. However, there were still numerous depictions and runes left behind. Most conspicuous of all was what appeared to be a large map, one of the entire world, in the back. It was a more ancient world, though. The continents weren't in the same positions as normal, but Dael knew enough to know that continental drift happened rapidly on their world, especially in relatively short geologic history due to the trauma it had been through. However, one look around this place soon gave Dael an inkling of where they were.

"Looks like we've made an archeological find." She mused aloud.

"Heh…such a pity we'll never be able to tell anyone about it here." Cryder responded, looking around a bit. "…Also a pity there isn't any booty stashed inside."

Dael looked to Cid. "Do you have any idea what civilization made this?"

Cid merely shrugged. "Search me. This place looks thousands of years old, so it might be as old as the Cetra civilizations…the dwarvish settlements…maybe even Lufenians. I never really studied enough to know the difference…but nothing in here conforms to any civilization of ancient times I've ever looked at."

He moved over to one of the runes etched on the wall, and placed his hand against it.

"Some of these runes are so faded that it's impossible to tell what the characters once were. If this place really was kept dry for all of these years, and the only reason for erosion was time…" He exhaled. "…Then this place is _really_ old."

"I'll say." Quaren echoed, looking back up to the ceiling. "I may not know much about ancient civilizations or runes or whatever…but I know a bit about astronomy. The alignment of all of these stars is wrong…_really_ wrong. Either they were just making a night sky for fun, or…" He shrugged. "…This place is so incredibly old that the stars appear to have moved from what we're used to."

Cryder paused, and shrugged a bit with a crafty smile. "…Or a mate not from Gaia made them."

Quaren looked to Cryder at that, as did Dael. "Huh?"

"Not unusual, Dael." Cid said as he continued to move his hand over the runes, moving closer to one of the intact pictures. "Wouldn't be the first time aliens came to Gaia… Even in our best records, we have no idea when the Lufenians got here. All we know is it was sometime during the Second Age…maybe even the First."

"Age?" Quaren asked, turning away from the pirate and toward Cid.

"Sure." Cid responded. "The Order of Hyne splits the history of Gaia into ages. The Fifth Age, the Age of the Sorceresses, is the one we're in right now."

"Bit conceited if you ask me…" Cryder murmured.

"Before that was the Fourth Age, the Age of Humans." Cid continued, unmiffed. "Most of history as we know it took place in that era, right up to the rebirth of magic. And before that, the Third Age, the Age of Espers, in which the entities that we now know as Guardian Forces gave what was left of humanity the means to build civilization, although we eventually surpassed them."

"So what about the Second Age?" Dael asked.

Cid grimaced a bit and shrugged. "That's just it…no one really knows about the First or Second Ages. All we have is bits and pieces that the espers picked up from the Planet itself, maybe occasionally a scrap of evidence or two. Like during the Collapse during the Fourth Age, lots of ancient monsters were released, ones that were built during the Second Age, we figure."

"But if you don't know anything about the First or Second Ages, how do you know they even happened?" Quaren asked.

"Like I said, we do have bits and pieces. The First Age was the Age of Gaia. Basically, that was what took place before the appearance of the first sentient life, when Gaia simply aged and grew. The Second Age is when humans appeared. However, that age was pretty bad. The Order of Hyne calls it the Age of Corruption. Humans progressed too greedily and too quickly in advancement. They ended up making a ton of mistakes that ravaged this world, almost destroyed all life on it all together. That's also where they built many great and terrible things using technology that even today we haven't rediscovered."

"So humans actually _predate_ espers, and Guardian Forces?" Dael asked.

"Well, at least what passed for human back then." Cid responded, still feeling along the wall. "We'd almost call them prehistoric today. There wasn't any magical ability back then, not innate or otherwise."

"Lots of people don't have magic ability though." Quaren protested.

"Oh yes they do. Almost everyone has at least some, even if the only power they have is to respond to others who use magic." Cid responded. At that, he finished feeling in one spot, and paused. "Ah…here's something!"

"What?" Dael asked.

"This is pretty incredible! There's a memory message here, right under this picture."

"What's a memory message?" Quaren asked, moving in and growing intrigued.

"That's just an easy-to-use name for something unprounouncable in the Cetra language." The Sorceress Knight answered. "They made these things long ago…probably toward the close of the Second Age. There aren't many that survived. As soon as they're damaged just a bit, they're unreadable. However, it's a message that contains a spiritual signature in it, an imparting of the very life force of the one who wrote them. Anyone else who has a sufficient amount of Cetra blood in them can receive it and read it, similar to the way they listen to the message of the planet."

Cryder crossed his arms at that. "Well, we're kind of out of luck then, ain't we? We don't have many Cetra lying around here."

"Well, hang on to that thought." Cid responded. "Mages can read them too. Most mages have a good concentration of Cetra blood in them already."

"We're short in that department as well, though." Cryder pointed out.

Cid turned and smiled, gesturing to himself. "Hey, I didn't get into the Order of Hyne one day by walking up to Lady Faerio and asking if she wanted to diversify. I've got a bit of magic in me too. Not much…but enough to enhance my own tools and check this stuff out." He turned and placed his hand on a few of the runes, frowning slightly. "The good thing is that since there's spiritual energy in these runes, anyone who can hear the message can read them. The bad part is that they're so worn away I think even the Sorceresses would only get an incomplete message at best. And me? Well…" He sighed, as he began to adjust himself. "Let's see what I can do."

With that, Cid raised his other hand and began to move around the runes. He periodically drifted them over each one, seeming to feel inside as if searching for something. However, Dael saw nothing special or amazing come from that. Instead, she looked to the nearby picture that accompanied them. It wasn't much to speak of either. It was a series of spheres surrounding a very large and conspicuous one. She studied them for a moment, and, at length, realized it was a picture of what appeared to be a solar system. But not theirs. It had too many planets. There was also something odd. It looked like there was some sort of giant crystal enscribed above it, and rays were leading from it downward, splitting into pieces, and then having one go to that solar system. A little odd…and she supposed some of it had worn away or crumbled. But it looked almost like some astrological event. She figured Quaren would know more about it.

"Hmm…" Cid suddenly said. "Interesting…"

This turned Dael's attention to him. Cid moved his hands around more.

"Very interesting…"

"What is it?" Dael asked.

"This is kind of weird…"

"What? What does it say?" Quaren threw in.

Cid paused, and pulled his hands away, then turned to the others for a moment, before smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head.

"…I've got no clue."

The three immediately slumped and groaned. Quaren sighed. "_That's_ what was so interesting?"

Cid grimaced. "Sorry everyone, it's just too old. Too much of it is faded away. I just keep hearing snippets of things, and most of them aren't even nouns. Maybe one of the Sorceresses could read it better. What I _did_ pick up was a bit odd and doesn't make any sense…something about an 'equidistant' or 'parallel' Gaia."

Cryder and Dael both looked up at this as well.

"Parallel Gaia?" Dael asked.

"Yeah. Like I said, I can't get it. There's talk of a mirror…and a crystal…and one phrase about 'living in the other's shadow'."

Dael merely stared back in puzzlement at this, until she heard a snap of the fingers from Quaren. Looking to him, he suddenly lit up.

"Hey, I think I get what that means!" He exclaimed. "Dael, don't you remember that one time I told you about the chance of there being a parallel world to ours? You know, one on the opposite side of the sun, matching our orbit?"

The young officer paused. "…Yeah, you said that back on our first trip through the Pallas Desert. But you think this etching is referring to that?"

"Yeah!" Quaren added with a nod.

"I don't know, mate." Cryder threw in with an uncertain look. "I may just be an old pirate, but I'd figure that we'd be far enough along in terms of all that science and technology hogwash to know if we had an extra planet in our system. Besides, look at that drawing." He pointed. "We're got _two_ extra planets there."

"You know, now that you mention it…" Cid spoke up, looking at the etching for the first time himself. "It looks like we do. But I'm figuring that's the Lunarian homeworld. The records we have from them say that they had a world located where the asteroid belt of our own solar system once was, but it blew up, and the survivors escaped by converting one of their own moons into a massive starship. Scientists agree that the asteroid belt was either a planet that never formed or one that was ripped apart by torsional forces from the jovian planets."

"And as for a planet parallel to ours, by definition we would never see it." Quaren added. "If it was really our same size and shape, and directly opposite us, then we'd never know it was there. There's be no signature, and no transit of orbit to know. The only way we could know for sure would be to predict if the sun was wobbling too much from the pull of its planets, but that's so small that even a slight error could mean an entire planet…even a lot of them."

Dael hesitated for a moment. She looked to the etching again, staring at it for a bit. Cid himself scratched his beard. "Assuming that this picture really is of our solar system, it was made when we still had nine planets. But the event that destroyed the Lunarian world had to have taken place before the time of the espers." He paused. "…Maybe even as early as the First Age."

The young officer held a little longer, but then sighed. "At any rate, it's nothing important. We're here to save Bahamut, not to puzzle over the mysteries of the galaxy or even ancient history. As soon as the rain slacks off, we're out of here."

Cid turned to Dael and gave a shrug. "This is still a big find. Whatever this place is, it's special." He gestured to his headset. "All of the thunder and lightning has been giving me an earful of static for a while now. Underneath all of this rock, I shouldn't be hearing anything period. But I am. In fact, the signal has cleared up. I'm hearing broadcasts clean as a whistle now."

This intrigued the Esthar's Hawk a bit. Did it have to do with the construction of the place? Or was the mountain rich with minerals that somehow turned it into a receiver? Either way seemed equally unlikely…unless this place really _was_ from the Second Age. Even if it looked like a stone temple, it might have been an ancient radio tower or something.

"Hello…" Cryder suddenly spoke up in a bemused expression. "What do we have here?"

Dael was again distracted from her thoughts, and she and the others turned to look to the pirate. They soon saw he was walking up to the world map in the back. After a moment, Dael began to approach along with Quaren and Cid.

"Anyway you can tell how old this place is from the map?" Quaren asked Cid.

The Sorceress Knight shook his head. "The earliest map known to humans that could be considered accurate by any stretch of the imagination was Leviathan's first chart of the world, which wasn't until year 273 of the Third Age. But even if there were maps prior to that, I couldn't help you. I'm not a historian. I can't match maps up to dates. For what it's worth, most of those places don't look like anything I've ever seen, and I don't see any labels on the map that would give me any indication of what they are…"

"Stop looking for names, mates." Cryder responded with a sigh. "Just look at the symbols on it and try to think of it as if it was just a regular map of the world. You know, if one was overlain on top."

Dael reached the map and came to a stop. Initially, she didn't know what Cryder was talking about. Now close enough, she could make out that there were various symbols on it that seemed to be fairly "universal". They were a bit archaic, but, for example, she could make out a symbol that looked like lightning somewhere near the center of the map. Moving away from it to the southeast, she could make out what looked like a gem or diamond, while to the northeast there appeared to be was looked like a snowflake symbol. Soon she looked around more and began to find symbols for fire, for wind, for music, for earth…and many others. However, she didn't exactly see what any of this meant at first. What did it have to do with anything?

But then, her brain clicked. As she looked over the symbols and their relations to each other, she realized something.

"…Quaren, do you see it?"

The corporal scratched his head. "Um…I see it, commander. I just don't see what's the big deal…"

"Quaren, pretend that the map in the back is reshaped to look like our world, but leave the symbols where they are. Start with the lightning symbol. Isn't that around where the Lamb Archipelago is?"

Quaren paused momentarily. "…Yeah, I guess so."

"Now, what's to the southeast of that?" She reached out and pointed. "Around here? Isn't this the coastal area of Esthar? Wouldn't it be right here? And look…here's a symbol for gems or something…right where I found Carbuncle."

It was beginning to click with the Esthar's Hawk. "…And north of there would be Fuliet, and a symbol for ice where we found Shiva…"

"And out to the west, a symbol where you all found Ifrit where the Pallas Desert would be…" Cid remarked.

"Dael, does that mean…?" Quaren began to say.

"But…this map is ancient, and this place has been covered for a long time." Cid maintained. "No one would have known where the Guardian Forces were going to settle."

"Maybe it isn't." Dael maintained. "Maybe the Guardian Forces didn't make each of their territories the way they are. Maybe they settled there because the areas pertained to one of their elements. Maybe they sensed something that would pertain to them and then just naturally settled in there, and it's independent of them knowing about this map."

Cid paused, but then shrugged. "You might be right. Guardian Forces are tied to espers, and espers always liked to go where there was an abundance of planet energy. Terratopolis supposedly tapped into it, being so deep. They would have settled in the Great Northern Crater when it was still around ages ago if not for already having a place to live."

"But what you're all saying," Quaren spoke up again. "Is that this map might point the way to the other Guardian Forces?"

Cid hesitated a moment longer, but then once again went for his pack. "That's worth a couple of photographs, at least." It took him a moment, and soon he emerged with a camera. "Can't really do anything about it right now, but if we can formally overlay a map over it, it might do us some good."

He returned to the map, and soon began to take some pictures. Unfortunately, it was still quite dim in the cave, and the flash began to blind the others, who recoiled with grimaces. Nevertheless, Dael forced her eyes open to keep looking at it even as Cid kept snapping shots of it.

"I'm not sure how valid this will be…" She remarked. "Some of these symbols are ones I don't think we can even use. Like that one." She gestured to one that looked like a skull. "I'm assuming that's death. Well, the Guardian Force that has death was Diablos, right? He's not exactly around anymore."

"And some of the Guardian Forces never 'settled down'." Cid responded as he kept taking pictures. "Still, it might be worth a shot, once we get a chance. It might at least point us in the right direction…"

Dael winced through another flash and looked at the map a bit longer, searching over it a little. In the end, she frowned again. "Any idea what the one for Leviathan might look like?"

"Wastin' your time, lass." Cryder said with a frown. "I may not be an Order of Hyne member, but I wouldn't be a very good pirate if I didn't know a thing or two about ol' Leviathan. Even today, we still fear the 'Master of the Seas' if we're ever caught in a squall. He's tied to water…and I don't see a water emblem anywhere on this map. Makes perfect sense, when you think about it. I mean, there's water all over this bloody planet."

"Or worse yet." Cid added as he lowered his camera at last. "It could be some place like the ancient Sunken Shrine which would be on the _bottom_ of the ocean-"

Abruptly, Cid cut off, going rigid.

The others immediately noticed. "Cid, what-"

"Shh!" He immediately hushed, holding up a hand in a stopping gesture. Dael was confused, but only for a moment. She remembered, he was wearing a headset. His ears were still tuned to radio broadcasts. On that note, the other three waited patiently for a minute or two in the silence of the cave.

After a bit longer, Cid finally looked down and to them, his face both excited and tense.

"…They're coming. We need to go."

Dael stopped only to ask one question in confirmation. "The ones transporting Bahamut?"

Cid nodded. "Sounds a lot like him."

Without a second longer of hesitation, Dael turned and began to walk out. She nearly stranded the others. However, Quaren and Cryder soon snapped to attention and came in behind her, and Cid, after scrambling a moment to pack up his camera and get his oversized luggage on his back, began to trudge after them.

"I couldn't access the main channels, but from in here I was able to see the more minor ones like the port authorties. They mentioned something about 'unloading a _big_ one for the labs', 'some weird kid', 'did something incredible back in the desert', etc., etc. Didn't mention any names, but if they're only transporting him, then that's something."

"That's a little weird…" Quaren mused as they walked along.

"No kidding, lad." Cryder said as he followed. "Here I thought the Sybenians would be slow, but I still thought any speed we'd gain on them would be if they waited for more prisoners to transport them in bulk. But you're telling me they didn't even dock until now?"

"Forget that." Dael called back. "We're in a rush now. Let's just hope the rain has slacked off or we'll be in big trouble. How much longer to the Golan Junction?"

"Another two hours, easy, and that's if we're rushing." Cryder responded.

"Then let's get rushing." Dael simply responded. "We're in time for our one chance, so I'm not going to blow it."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	33. The Dawn is Coming

"So how are they going to be transporting him?"

"Motorcade." Cid responded. "I'm sure of that. I know because the guy on the radio was complaining constantly about not being able to use the armored trains they normally use for prisoner transport."

Quaren scratched his head. "It seems to me that would be easier…"

"Well, it has advantages and disadvantages." Dael responded. Although, to be honest, she wasn't so sure. The primary advantage of a motorcade was to be able to take alternate routes and vary your speed as necessary. Such things were useful in a war zone, not in a pass through mountains. She wasn't really sure why they simply wouldn't use a train. It seemed to be the more viable option… However, she trusted Cid, and so she stuck with it. Besides, there could have always been one of those rockslides.

"For prisoner transport, the amount of security depends on the size. But we can expected at least one light combat vehicle in front and the back, one heavy combat vehicle in the middle, an armored transport for the guards, and some sort of prisoner transport vehicle."

"Five vehicles and four of us." Cryder responded. However, he let out a grin in response. "Well, no fun if it's easy, eh?"

There was a bit of luck on the group's side. Although they hadn't been in that cave for terribly long, the rain had indeed slacked off a bit to making climbing over the rockslide merely dangerous instead of suicide. Yet even while still climbing over it, the rain lessened even more. The storm seemed to finally be blowing over. The sky was still filled with billowing gray clouds and the air cool, but they seemed to have made it through the storm. The ground was still muddy and the wind still blowing, so the going was slow again at first. However, it continued to heat up and dry out, and soon bare bits of rock began to appear on the trail that let them move faster.

Finally they reached the top of the current mountain. From there, they went down a bit before ascending another nearby peak. After going up and down a few times and crossing a footbridge that looked about as secure as a piece of glass hurtling into a canyon, they finally climbed up one more even larger peak. The air was a bit noticeably thinner at this point, but it was no problem to Dael and Quaren with their junctions. Cid, on the other hand, had to pass off some of his gadgets to the others or he'd never make it. Dael was a bit surprised the man wasn't as strong as an ox with how he had to lug those tools everywhere, but she supposed it was because he had only been "active" for a few days. After climbing nearly to the top, Cryder instead led them on a path that went directly around the top peak. At length, they came to the opposite side and descended a bit until they hit an escarpment. There, Cryder paused and indicated below.

Dael moved up to the edge and looked down, and found herself looking into a deep canyon that made its way through the highlands. The sides of the canyon were hundreds of feet high and, to any casual onlooker, sharp and inescapable. Far, far below a series of rapids had carved into the rock over thousands of years to make the canyon, and wound this way and that through the rocky pass until splitting into two branches. The water was low at the moment. Being summer, and even after all that rain, it didn't seem to have the power to flood anything without sustained snowmelt. As a result, a paved road was visible. It was two lanes wide, but lacked a dividing line, indicating people only went one way or the other. In addition, there was enough space to have some train tracks as well, again only going one way. A bit further ahead, it split into two paths, one continuing to head east and another going south, but other than that, nothing much else.

"Made it!" Cryder announced. "Golan Junction!"

Dael looked about a bit, as did Quaren and Cid. "Hmm…looks completely unreachable except via the road…yet there's no way to defend it."

"Precisely." Cryder answered. "Made it the perfect spot for conducting deals. And the road is always one-way. Even the train tracks are one way. They have to radio ahead and get clearance before they let anyone on them. Hence, all they have to do to conduct a shady transaction is to go when the place is clear. No one can even move through unless they tell ahead and make sure no one is coming."

"We can get down there, right?" Dael asked.

"Of course, lass. Just looks like we can't. We used to call this place 'the Osprey Nest'. Offered a great view of the valley below to see if they were planning any funny business, and Leuco was never the wiser."

"Alright then…let's talk about how we're going to ambush them." The young officer responded. She sighed a bit. "Kind of wish we had Taraketh along. His quakes would come in useful."

"Ah, better take a rain check on that, lassie." Cryder responded. "These canyon walls aren't exactly in the best shape. One good quake is all it would take to bury the entire valley. However, I think I've got a good enough hold on my geomancy to let a rockslide or two slow them down. Nothing major, though, or we'll end up with more than we bargained for."

"This makes a decent enough place to act as a sniper…" Quaren spoke up. "But I won't be able to do much if something goes wrong. And I can try to shoot at the tires, but I'm guessing that the transports have reinforced ones. It'll be like shooting a bullet-proof vest without armor piercers, which I don't have."

Dael frowned a bit. "Not much good ambushing them if we don't have anything to stop them with. I can manage enough of a spell to do a bit of damage, or at least a Guardian Force, but against a moving target that isn't much good." She looked to Cid. "…I don't suppose you have any more mage bullets handy, do you?"

Cid grimaced. "Fresh out at the moment. Was too busy refitting the ship. However, I do have _something_…"

* * *

><p>About forty-five minutes later, Dael watched Cid work. He held what looked like a massive caulking gun to the road and squeezed the trigger, oozing out a thick white paste that slowly stretched along the road like trails of confectioner's icing. She had to admit, she had her doubts. Modifying power tools and hand tools was one thing. But this?<p>

"You sure this will work?" She asked him as he kept it up.

"I've never had a 'combat test', if that's what you're asking." He admitted. "I cooked up this stuff when we needed to get rid of tree stumps. Figured it would work better than gunpowder. I sprayed a ring around the base of the stump and it lit it up."

"What happened?"

Cid paused long enough to scratch his neck. "…We ended up with a swimming pool sized hole and Lady Faerio told me to make a weaker batch. I did eventually, and what I'm using right now is intermediate."

Dael looked down to it, turning her head a bit. After a moment, she began to walk up and reached down to touch it. "Looks like plastique… What do you use for a detonator?"

Immediately, Cid shot out a hand and grabbed Dael's wrist, keeping her from touching it.

"It's _far_ more unstable than plastique. Pressure or temperature will do it."

Dael's eyes widened a bit, and as Cid released her, she immediately recoiled. Cid sighed in relief and continued to work. "I'm planning on them setting it off when they roll over it with their tires."

The young officer slowly nodded, a bit uncertainly. "Just don't forget, we can render the road inaccessible…but we don't want to do so much damage that we'll bring the canyon down on us. So are you using the right amount?"

Cid paused, seeming to lose a bit of his color. "…In theory."

Dael raised an eyebrow. "'In theory'?"

"Well, I haven't even tested this batch on tree stumps yet, let alone things like this. I'm not a demolition's expert. I mean, I blow up things from time to time but I don't do it for a living. But…it _should_ be right."

That didn't sit well with Dael. She was no engineer, combat or otherwise, herself, but she knew enough from leadership training that she was always told not to go on supposition from a combat engineer unless they had no other choice and time was running out. Of course, she figured now might qualify. There was no other way they were going to nail the convoy.

Looking over to the side, she called out. "Ready on your end, Cryder? Are you sure you can do just a mild rockslide?"

For a moment, Dael's eyes rested on a small number of boulders piled up next to the stream. A moment later, however, and the pirate popped out from behind it, taking a drag from a cigarette before holding it off to the side. "Yeah, I can manage that, lass." He called back up to her. "But I'm startin' to feel like a cartoon mountain lion around here…how we're pretty much just setting some bargain-basement trap and planning on springing out."

"I'll admit, it's not very sophisticated for an Esthar's Hawk." Dael responded, but then gave half a smile. "But isn't this the kind of thing a Black Corsair like you goes for?"

He hesitated, and then shrugged. "Suppose you're right."

She looked up to the cliff side next. It was amazing. Cryder had been right. By now, Quaren had to be posed right at the edge, but she couldn't see head nor tails of him. Part of it was distance, while part of it was the natural terrain. It was indeed a great vantage point. She took a moment to cup her hands around her mouth.

"Hey Quaren!" She shouted. "Do you have a shot up there?"

Cryder winced. "I don't think he can hear you from down here, lass."

"It's alright. Esthar's Hawk's snipers can read lips." She responded, then shouted again. "Quaren, you got a shot?"

A moment later, the distant sound of a rifle, echoing up and down the canyon, rang out, and Cryder snapped a bit as his cigarette was snapped in half, actually taking cover. Dael made a half smile, then waved up to him. "Good!"

As for the pirate, he only hesitantly came out. "…That lad owes me a fresh pack…and some new drawers…" He grumbled. "Guess I'm rubbing off on him too much. Still…that was a damn good shot. Even Tay couldn't pull that off…"

"Alright, let's go over it again." Dael said as she began to move over to Cryder. "I'm hoping these explosives will take out the tires of whoever's in the front of the motorcade and put a trench along the rest of the road." She looked up to the sky, seeing it was still overcast. "It's the middle of the day, but I don't think they'll mistake this for anything serious. It almost looks like a new kind of tar they use to seal up roads. Anyway…then you hit them with the rockslide, and I'll finish with Quetzacoatl. That should either neutralize the resistance or put down enough to where Quaren can take out the rest. We bust Bahamut out then run for the hills. There's not a whole lot of forest cover around here…"

"Not to worry, lass." Cryder reassured. "The whole path is almost totally concealed from the road. The Leuco gents always thought we were crawling out of holes in the ground."

"I'll take your word for it." She looked over to Cid. "Almost done?"

"Just finishing up this tube now." Cid responded, squeezing the last bit across the road, shaking the end ever so slightly, and then pulling it up. He quickly deployed an automatic tube to seal it, and then put it to his side.

"What kind of weapons did you bring, Cid?" Dael called out.

"Just the nailgun and my sander." The Sorceress Knight responded as he began to move to another pile of rocks on the other side of the road. "Couldn't carry too much, or I would have just slowed us down."

Dael couldn't help but be a bit puzzled at the "sander" part, wondering how that would be that useful of a weapon, but she ignored it. She moved over to her own hiding place and soon ducked behind it, moving next to Cryder. After situating herself in a good position, she eased up and relaxed.

"Alright…now we wait."

"Probably not the best time to mention this, lassie." Cryder spoke up. "But I've got a suspicious feelin' about this. I told you before I live by my instincts…and somethin's not Burmecian around here. True, no one should know this pass is accessible, and the amount of security we should run into should be of the good, excessive sort relative to a prisoner…but this all still seems just a mite too convenient."

The young officer didn't react to this. "Nothing we can do about it now if it is. You're absolutely sure this is the only land route?"

"Yes."

"Then they can't try to pull a switch on us. They have to come through here. So let's just be ready for it."

Cryder exhaled a bit, but didn't protest any longer. He simply eased in and waited.

* * *

><p>Time began to pass by. Dael kept an eye on her timepiece, and remained tense the entire time. It was silent along the road. Not a sound of a vehicle for miles. They were lucky that they were off the cliffs. The Avian Zeuses didn't seem so interested in them anymore, and none of the other mutants that ran around in this region seemed to be nearby when they themselves weren't making much noise. A Cave Lion wandered to the river at one point, but it kept its distance and there was no need to even react to it. An hour passed…and then a second. Still, they sat and waited, not hearing anything coming.<p>

Dael wasn't too miffed. They had managed to get there a bit early, after all. However, as time went on, and she was alone with her thoughts…she began to think more and more about what Cryder said. A lot of this _did_ seem fairly convenient. She tried to think that it wasn't as easy as she thought. After all, if it wasn't for Cid, they never could have snuck onto the Southern Continent in the first place. And Cryder knew the way here, to a place where they could set the perfect ambush. But even so…why only transport one prisoner? Bahamut, that one move she had seen aside, wasn't so strong that he couldn't be restrained. So why were they transporting him alone? And why were they taking him via motorcade? Of course, this was all assuming that it _was_ indeed Bahamut, and the fear in the back of her mind remained that they were doing all of this for a stranger. Yet if it was Bahamut, then they seemed to almost be making this easier on them… Was Dael's plan that flawless? Was this such an out-of-the-way, secure area that they never intended for anyone to find it? These were only passing thoughts at first, but as time went on, they grew stronger and stronger.

That was…until it happened.

At long last, fading in on the passing breeze, Dael heard the sounds of engines. Immediately, she snapped out of her private thoughts and looked up, before shifting more behind the boulder. After a second longer, there was no mistake. Numerous car engines were running, and the noise was steadily growing louder. The convoy was finally coming. At least…she hoped so. If this wasn't a convoy, they were about to spring a trap on a whole lot of nothing. However, her ears soon picked up at least four different vehicles. It was more than likely that these were the ones.

Cryder looked to Dael, and she looked back. "Remember." She said, not bothering to quiet her voice. There was no way they could hear them, after all. "Wait until they unload from their vehicles after the blast."

"And pray that blast ain't big enough to take us with it, right?" Cryder threw in.

"That goes without saying."

Dael kept her back to the rocks and waited. The noises of the engines grew closer. She realized, in addition to hoping this was the right convoy, she also had to hope they didn't smell a rat when they saw the putty. Pity they couldn't do this at night… She wished she could at least pop her head out and get a look at them, but it was no good. She wasn't going to risk exposing herself. After a few moments, she almost tensed. She heard the cars slowing down, and feared that it meant they had spotted trouble and were stopping… However, before things could go any farther, they sped up again, and she realized they had only slowed down for the turn. Closing her eyes, she put a hand on the blade and waited. A bit of sweat formed on her brow as she listened, waiting for the critical moment…

Even expecting it, the sheer size, power, and force of the explosion caught her off guard when it went off. Instinctively, Dael winced and cringed, nearly covering her ears as the deafening blast went out. If she wasn't recoiling from fear and the power of the explosion, she might have shot her eyes open in surprise. This was an _intermediate_ charge? She hated to think what the big one would have done. It sounded like a bomb had just been dropped on the road. She wondered if there was anything left of the convoy to begin with, much less their target…

_Only one way to find out…_

Dael and Cryder waited a little longer. The explosion died down, but in its wake, there was the settling of debris and flames. Obviously, at least one of the vehicles had been set on fire. Because of the crackling, it was hard to make out much. However, the Esthar's Hawk kept listening…and, finally, after a few moments more, the sounds of doors opening were heard, as well as the click of boots as people came filing out. When that happened, Dael looked to Cryder and nodded. The man nodded back, and then twisted around, and raised slightly off the boulder…just enough to barely see behind them, and held out his arm. If they saw him, it didn't matter in a moment. Abruptly, Dael heard a rumbling noise…and then began to hear a few loose rocks rolling down before hearing even more join in. At that, she finally turned and risked a look of her own.

It was almost a "textbook" case. Sure enough, the five vehicles of the convoy were all there, and all looking exactly as they should. Well…more or less. The pilot vehicle was little more than a twisted metal fireball at this point, having tagged the explosives just as planned. The road wasn't really passible anymore. A three foot long, three foot deep trench was now blown into it. The unlucky vehicle that had landed on it had been blasted and engulfed with flames. The heavier vehicles had crashed into it. Obviously, they had been going too fast to stop in time. It still looked mostly intact, but fire and smoke shrouded most of its view. Beyond that was the armored transport that held the armed guards. Dael had to admit, it looked a bit larger than the standard one…perhaps a bit more reinforced. However, that meant little. The standard guard compliment had exited the vehicle, little more than a basic shock troop division. The same with the people from the armored vehicle, who seemed to be deploying as well as letting their own vehicle's guns provide some cover. Beyond that, to the back, was the second lighter vehicle, which was also being dismounted. The only vehicle that remained fully shut up was the armored security wagon that must have held the prisoner. If they were smart, they would stay on board, to avoid the risk of losing their prisoner if this indeed was an ambush.

However, luck was not on their side.

Dael only got a glimpse of this scene before all of the soldiers turned in the same direction as the ground noise, and soon there were considerable yells as a flood of rocks the size of medicine balls came falling down from the cliffs overhead, beginning to rain down on them. Immediately, they retreated back to their vehicles as fast as they could. Even so, some weren't fast enough. Some of the rocks had been falling for a short while and soon rained down on a soldier or two, flattening them on impact. Others made it back to the vehicles, only to have the rocks that were falling from directly overhead smash into them, fracturing them and breaking them with sufficient force to dent the armored plating. Yet that was nothing compared to what else happened. After all, the bulk of the rocks were moving in a wave, and they proceeded to slam into the entire convoy. Some of the soldiers were swept right off of their feet and dragged beneath the wave of rocks. The others that made it inside soon had their cars battered and smashed around as the rocks went into the side, nearly knocking the cars off of their alignment and shoving them all over the road. Quite a few of the heavier ones struck the back vehicle, hitting it with sufficient force to knock it completely on its side.

The moment the last rock hit the road, but before the ground had fully settled, Dael leapt out from behind her own hiding place and onto the very boulder that had obscured her. Not wasting a second, she closed her eyes, folded her hands, and began to chant. She only had moments to do this. The moment the rockslide settled, the guns would aim at her again, and she didn't plan on giving them the chance. The sky soon darkened even more than before, becoming as dark as night, before reality warped and the portal opened. A moment later, blazing bright and glorious, Quetzacoatl emerged. If any of the soldiers had been about to get out, no doubt they had retreated again in her wake. The great lightning bird gave a sonic cry, whipped her head up, charging power into her tiny beak, and then snapped it forward…flashing white-hot death out upon the remains of the entire convoy. Were this "true" lightning, it might not have done much against conducting cars with rubber tires. However, this wasn't. It was magical lightning, which didn't look for paths of least resistance but snaked out to opponents and vital portions of machinery. Dael wasn't sure how many people were struck by the bolts which split and rained down over the entire field, but she knew it took only moments to superheat the components of the heavy transport and short out the rest. Many parts of it began to gleam with heat, and others exploded, popped, and emitted black smoke. Similar effects came from the engines of the other two vehicles. Assuming that they could have possibly gotten over the rocks they were now deeply immersed in, it hardly mattered anymore. Their vehicles were now useless. They were trapped.

The sky turned light again, and, along with it, Quetzacoatl faded into nothingness. But Dael was just getting started. Drawing her blade, she charged straight for the convoy. Cryder immediately jumped out and joined her, as did Cid from his own hiding place. The few remaining guards that had escaped danger until now burst forth from their vehicles only to encounter the three as they charged into them and struck hard and fierce. Cryder and Dael had their blades flash and strike down the nearest guards. Ones that were closer and managed to get their guns up met their fate at the hands of Cid's nailgun. That left the few who were out of range of the pneumatic weapon, but they had no sooner presented themselves as a target than Quaren's rifle bullets rang out and dropped them.

Within moments, Dael's blade went forth one more time, and then all grew still over the convoy. She actually halted and looked about a moment. Cryder and Cid did the same, searching the area for a few seconds. However, no further resistance arose. Assuming there was any, it seemed to be hiding now, and she couldn't blame it after what they had just done. The triple whammy combined with their assault was downright ruthless. It seemed they were in the clear. For a moment, there was the sound of nothing but settling material on the battlefield.

Finally, Dael turned to Cryder and Cid. "Alright, let's not waste time. Let's get Bahamut and get-"

Abruptly, a sharp, blunt impact was heard of metal against metal, apparently enough to damage it. Instantly, the three snapped to the source…and found themselves looking at the door on front of the prisoner transport. Abruptly, it was snapped clean off of its moorings…which was truly a feat. After all, it looked be as thick and secure as a bank vault. The moment Dael saw that, she instantly snapped her blade up at the ready and looked to the source. Cryder and Cid trained their weapons as well.

However, they had only a split second to do so, before what looked like a gray or translucent series of scythes erupted from the opening. Dael, for a moment, thought they were headed to her…but they didn't. Instead, they shot into the air. She looked to them and watched them for a moment, watching as they grew larger as they flew, spanning a wide range of a good thirty or forty feet across and growing two feet thick. Only as it sailed a bit farther did Dael's mind click, and she realized she had to be looking at something that appeared to be a gigantic version of Cryder's own Wind Slash. However, even that was soon forgotten as she saw where it landed…

A split second later, and the giant "blade of wind" impacted the very spot where Quaren was stationed as a sniper. It sliced into the rocky cliff as easily as a hot knife through butter, cutting a deep rift into it…and then, releasing, almost like some form of explosion. When it did, the entire cliff was blown into bits. One moment, it was there…and the next it simply flew apart in hundreds of different directions. It was like a bit of pottery that had been shattered with how it totally broke apart and sailed everywhere. Dael couldn't believe her eyes. She gasped on seeing it. It was only the _edge_ of the cliff, fortunately…but she realized that even if Quaren had seen it, he would have had little time to react. And even getting to a safe distance might not have saved him from splash damage from the debris. She could only gape in horror for a moment as she saw boulders slowly rain down the cliff side…

Yet in spite of all of this, and her recent changes, her military mind still seemed to be focusing. And her logic told her that whoever had done that now was standing back there with her back to him or her. Quickly, she snapped back around.

No attack came, but something else did. Abruptly, the heavy transport's doors slid aside. Not just the ones on one side, but both. A moment later, something new popped out. To Dael's unease, it was a pair of soldiers clad in Aegis Armor. And it soon turned out to be more than a pair. Two more soon came out, and then another pair, and another, until twelve of them all together exited from the vehicle. The suits soon showed off their power as they exited. As one stepped down on a loose rock from the slide, it was instantly obliterated by his big metal foot. Another grabbed onto the side of the transport as he existed, and left a large metal print in it similar to what a clamp or press might leave. Their sensors in their helmets lit up, giving them blue glows to their eyes that made them look like phantoms, otherworldly beings, or, at the bare minimum, soulless robots. They had no sooner gotten out then they all quickly deployed before the three of them.

Dael tensed up just on seeing them. After all…there was no combat data for the Aegis Armor. What she was seeing already wasn't too comforting, however. And it wasn't just the fact that they were outnumbered by forces that seemed to at least have greater brute strength than a junctioned individual. The fact that they were here in the first place… This was _definitely_ overkill for transporting one prisoner. The Aegis Armors were supposed to be reserved for heavy combat situations and security detail. That could only mean one thing…and it didn't sit well with her.

As it turned out, the three could only face off a moment longer, before a sly, mocking voice rang out.

"Who would have thought we'd meet again so soon, meat?"

Now, Dael did visibly pale. Her palms grew sweaty as she struggled to look firm. However, her eyes, struggling hard not to show fear, soon turned over to the side of the vehicle. As she looked, a single figure walked out from behind the line of Aegis Armors. Dael reasoned that he must have been on board the prisoner transport and had exited while she was still preoccupied with the others. However, she tensed now as she saw him come out, trying not to swallow.

"Jay…" She breathed aloud.

It was indeed Jay. She could almost sense him even as he approached. Now that she was no longer running stimulants, her senses were far sharper, and she could detect the power rippling off of him. He hadn't changed much in the past two weeks. He still looked as twisted and hunched as ever, his eyes flashing with maliciousness and sadism. He dragged his glaives against the ground, showing off the hooks as he did so, and his head seemed to shift from side to side like a deranged, predatory animal rather than a man. He was the only one there, it seemed. The rest of the Elite Hounds were gone. However…that was barely any comfort to Dael. Jay had defeated Jalab even with Ceja and Taraketh lending a hand. And Dael didn't even think she was a match for Jalab… She was only slightly better off than last time too.

He soon stood in front of the Aegis Armors, right in the center, and allowing them all to flank him on either side. From beneath his scarf, he grinned at Dael. "I still remember the taste of the blood of the other three… They were delicious…" He hissed. "So sorry none of them are here… I guess I'll just have to slake my thirst with _you_." He let out a dark chuckle afterward. "This was too easy. Raven was right. And to think, Crow and I thought he was a fool. Maybe he actually does have some decent brains to go with his power…"

Dael hesitated momentarily. She looked over to the armors, and then back to Jay. "…You planned this as an ambush, didn't you?"

The Elite Hound snorted. "Well, seems you aren't a complete moron, even if you did walk right into it all too willingly." He snickered. "I thought you'd never go for it. That we made it 'too hard' on you. But sure enough, Raven was right on the money. He only eliminated enough security countermeasures to draw you to this point, but left in enough to make you not suspect a thing. Otherwise, you would have brought an entire division with you. Not that it would have done you any good…"

In spite of her growing fear, Dael bit it back and tightened up on her sword. "What did you do with Bahamut?" She asked. The next part nearly made her choke, but she forced herself to speak. "Did you kill him?"

"Oh, I _wanted_ to so badly…" Jay said, his malicious grin turning into a bit of pure anger and sadism. "He actually knocked the wind out of me with that little move…whereas Crow snapped up in a second and Raven simply slapped the kid unconscious as soon as we landed. However, the big guy told me that any brat that could do that was definitely more useful as a test subject than a corpse…or at least worth more gil. After putting the little eggman back together again, we decided to ship him out to Dr. Lindst."

He snickered. "You're in luck…or maybe not." He gestured behind him to the armored prisoner carrier. "He's right in there, enjoying a bea-u-ti-ful sleep. You see, we really did have to transport him to the research facilities, so we figured, 'Why not now?' I mean…" He snickered again, then looked at Dael more insidiously. "It's not like you three can really do anything about it, now is there? Nothing except try to stop us, and then lie down and die…and watch as you failed miserably to save that little brat you love so much…to have the last thing you see as the last of your blood runs out of your body be us driving away with him…"

Dael immediately snapped her head to Cryder and Cid, even as she kept her eyes on Jay. "You two…get to Bahamut and get him out of here. I'll hold these guys off."

Jay immediately grinned wider and chuckled. "Oh, you're going to do that, are you? How, exactly, you walking carcass?"

The young officer didn't respond…at least, not directly. Instead, she inhaled deeply, and then began to chant.

The words and feeling of spiritual energy flowed through her freely. To her relief, they didn't have an Eris Bell. She could still use her power freely, and she used it now. Again, the sky darkened. A moment later, the portal formed in midair again, and with it came fresh snow flurries as the air grew colder. Soon after, Shiva emerged from the portal, and held her hand up. She focused for a moment, summoning pure, blue, dazzling light to it, and gathering it about her hand for a moment, before swinging it forward. Immediately…a shower of deadly darts of ice, born by a wind of intense cold, ripped out at Jay and all the others. As the deadly missiles headed in, Jay grinned so much that Dael could see beneath his scarf, before he chanted and brought his own arms up.

Moments later, an intense whirlwind broke out in front of Jay, acting as a shield, the wind, cold, and ice crystals shot at him, only to be whipped away and smacked aside by the turbulent forces in seconds. Once again, he had launced a counter spell in an instant. However, even then, the others still gaped at what else resulted. The cold air seemed to warm again before reaching the Aegis Armors. The crystals disintegrated into dust and faded. The soldiers simply stood there and let the diamond dust rain around them…and not so much as a scratch to the paint of their armors occurred. Dael gaped in shock, unable to believe it. The Guardian Forces could generate far more power than she ever could…and yet they still shrugged it off?

Shiva faded after a moment, and the sky brightened again, and Jay laughed like a hyena as he lowered his arms.

"You see, you prattling piece of meat?" He cackled. "I'm greater than any High Child of Hyne…let alone some stupid brat who barely has a grip on spells! Even the mighty Guardian Forces are nothing to me! As for the Aegis Armors, each one of them has a mini Eris generator built into them. They can take any spell you can throw at them and not bat an eye! You've got nothing to look forward to except your own-"

Jay abruptly cut himself off…and his insanity-filled eyes abruptly went wide…before he was ripped off of his feet and flung backward.

Both Dael's companions as well as the Aegis Armors were frozen in surprise. One moment, Dael was standing where she had been before, gaping at them and Jay…and the next, she was in midair right in front of him, slamming her foot out in a thrust kick right for his face. Dael soon learned there was at least one point in their favor. Jay seemed capable of churning out spells at the drop of a hat, not having to go through the elaborate chanting phase, but his reaction time still wasn't much better than hers. Raven had managed to deflect a similar blow before, but Raven was Li Juanhong, a man who practically smelled out snipers before he had been junctioned. This guy was some Sybenian psycho. A talented psycho, to be sure…but not one that had managed to make any top ten lists.

Nevertheless, as she landed on the ground and brought her blade in front of her again, Dael felt her foot hurting quite a bit from that blow. And she had thrown it with enough strength, or so she hoped, to break his nose, smash his jaw, and maybe knock his block clean off. As it was, he merely fell back against the heavy transport itself, catching himself on doing so. For a moment, his eyes remained wide…clearly not believing what had just happened. However, it lasted only a moment before he looked up to her again.

At once, his eyes filled not only with maliciousness and insanity, but rage.

"…Kill the other two." He told the Aegis Armors. "This bitch is _all mine_."

Immediately, Jay let out a snarl, and then snapped up and seemed to lunge at the woman, both glaives outstretched. Dael didn't have time to plan a strategy, didn't have time to prepare a defense…just struggle against the onslaught.

The Esthar's Hawk quickly brought all the focus and power she possessed to bear. Even though she had teleported once, she still was in much better shape than she had been back in Helheim. Even so, she was soon struggling desperately. Like a savage animal, Jay charged at her, his glaives stabbing out again and again for her, and quickly pressing the advantage. Immediately, she was forced to withdraw as she struggled to deflect the onslaught. Luckily, her wits were enough about her to think a bit. He was using stab motions on purpose, trying to force her to perform a disarming move. However, it would backfire if she tried that. He had hooks on his glaives, and he was definitely the one trying to pull her blade from her grasp. As a result, she could only use deflecting moves. It had the advantage of not taking his blows full force and wearing down on her strength, but he was fast and strong, and soon, despite using deflection, she was feeling the strain on her body, and he continuously struck again and again for a vital spot. It was all she could do to weather the onslaught.

Then, it happened. Abruptly, he swung both glaives forward at once, and the move was so strong and sudden that Dael could only bring her blade up to guard…exactly what he wanted. Immediately, both glaives overextended, and then abruptly yanked back…hooking her sword. Her eyes widened, but before she could react, she was yanked forward…right into Jay's face. He grinned at her only a moment, before swinging his head forward and smashing it into her skull.

It wasn't quite as painful as when Raven did it, but that wasn't saying much. It still was more than sufficient to feel like a piece of concrete had been dropped on her head, to make her world go black, and also fill with stars. Losing her focus, Dael staggered back. Through her blurred senses, she heard Jay give a laugh as he unhooked his glaives and pulled them back, but only to perform a backflip so he could swing both legs up and catch her under the jaw, ripping her off of her own feet and flinging her backward through the air before she landed hard on her back, her senses too dazzled to perform a pain-lessening move from a proper fall. As a result, she was soon in more pain. However, she was still far from as weak as she had been back in the inception of the fight against Raven, and tightening her jaw, she flipped her body once and got her feet beneath her, soon yanking her torso up and bringing her sword with her.

A good thing too, because Jay was already on her like a rabid dog, both glaives up and leaping through the air to give an overhead slice. The only reason Dael didn't get cut was because her legs were beneath her, and she managed to raise her arm in a guard move to intercept the hooked weapons and put her whole body behind it. The weapons collided with a loud clang, and the two fighters held, with Dael crouched and bracing, and Jay standing over her, bearing down on her. Despite the fact that Dael had both legs crouched beneath her…she found herself almost overwhelmed. She couldn't push back. She tried to…but it was no good. As sweat mounted on her brow, and her muscles buckled and strained, she put every bit of force she had into it…and slowly began to rise, pushing the glaives back just enough to do so. However, rather than look miffed, Jay only looked delighted…for as soon as she stood enough, he lashed out and kicked her in the side, making sure to dig his knee into her kidneys. Dael's face strained with agony and she barely managed to swing out of the way in time before her lack of power led to him slicing through her.

_Hope the others are doing better…_

As it turned out, things weren't going as well as one would have hoped. The Aegis Armors weren't armed with guns, but rather microlasers. The moment they got the clearance, six charged at Cryder, looking at him to be the weakest one, and fired as one. Luckily, the man didn't keep his eyes on their weapons, but rather their hand gestures, which telegraphed them a bit better. He managed to leap back as their lasers raked the ground, cutting what rubble was piled there into molten slag. Soon after, they revealed another unfortunate power…as three of them proceeded to leap into the air, only to have thrusters beneath their legs ignite, and hold them there. A moment later, all six charged forward, each one blasting out with their lasers in an attempt to cut into the pirate. Eyes widening, he quickly moved back and away from them as they chased after him. If he was going to run, he needed to get back to the smoother part of the road. However, it wasn't easy. He leapt over two lasers, only to have to duck his head and twist in midair to avoid two others, and as soon as he landed had to go into as somersault to avoid being sliced in two by the remainder. His sword was out, but it was no good as he had to avoid them. The only advantage was that the armors were only about as fast as a normal human, but between their lasers and power of flight, there was little he could do.

As the pirate continued to get forced back, he swung his arm forward and performed a gesture with his hand. Moments later, a series of swirling air blades shot out straight for the nearest one. Unfortunately, it didn't even ruin his aim. The Eris Bells disrupted any attack of that magnitude aimed at them. Soon, he was forced to quickly dodge and run back to avoid being sliced by more of the lasers. However, not content with that, the three that were airborne twisted in midair and then shot straight for Cryder. His eyes widened again, and he quickly brought his sword to bear. The enemy didn't fire, but with their speed and metal reinforcement, he knew simply taking a hit from one of them would be enough to seriously injure him. Quickly calling on his quick reflexes, Cryder sidestepped the first, ducked under the second, and hopped out of the way of the third as he swung his sword down at him. His blade was well made…he wouldn't have stolen it if it wasn't, but so was the Aegis Armor. And there weren't many swords that could cut through thick plate metal that weren't a bit too heavily guarded to steal. His sword simply scraped the side of the armor, but left no impact. To be able to do that, he realized, he had to get into a chink in the armor. But against six opponents, there was little chance of that.

He soon saw he had bigger concerns, however. The other three armors were deploying in front of him, while the ones that had attempted to broadside him twisted around and aimed at his back. He looked around for a moment, before he realized he was now surrounded. They were all bringing their weapons up too, obviously meaning to catch him in the crossfire where he couldn't dodge. However, the pirate wasn't finished yet. Wind might not have done any good…but there were more resources around, including the nearby freshly-swollen river. Immediately, he waved a hand out to it.

An instant later, and a column of water erupted from the river, arched through the air, and then formed a thick spout at least two feet in diameter that shot out with the speed of a fire hose for the nearest Aegis Armor. He looked to it, but didn't react in time…whether it was due to being smug or simply caught off guard. He should have, however. The wind was one thing. Geomancy was needed to keep it focused. But even when the waterspout hit the range of his Eris Bell, it was moving with too much speed, force, and power to negate it simply by removing the planet energy from it. The blow struck him solidly, and smacked him out of the sky, sending him colliding into his partners with sufficient force to stun them all. Grinning, Cryder quickly leapt back, even as the other three tried to fire on him. However, he had gotten an opening, and quickly ran underneath the waterspout before making it disappear, heading for cover.

This, however, seemed to anger his attackers. A moments later, not only did the three recover, but the other three took off into the air as well. Now, all six began to shoot after him. As they started to aim with their lasers again, Cryder grimaced at the mess he had gotten himself into.

As for Cid, when his own six charged him, he wasted little time. He quickly snapped up his nailgun and began to open fire. Immediately, they broke up and scattered, but it was just a second too slow for one, who managed to catch two large nails in his armor. The first one merely impacted his chestplate, doing nothing. But the other seemed to luckily find its way, by pure luck, into a chink of armor around the left leg. On impact, his thruster sputtered, and then went out, causing him to go off balance and head for the ground again. Cid grinned, but had little time to relish his victory as the other five shot around him and began to fire their weapons. Going wide-eyed, he quickly turned and tried to run for it. Unfortunately, he wasn't nearly as mobile or speedy as Cryder even without his pack. With it on his back, there was no question of his being able to dodge. The pack served to only act to protect him as the lasers sliced into it, cutting off large pieces of it and slicing through the materials inside. Cid gaped in shock even as weight fell from him, enabling him to move a bit faster.

"You know how long it took to build those things?! Most of them are one-of-a-kind!" He exclaimed.

Naturally, the soldiers in the Aegis Armors only responded with more lasers, and soon, Cid's pack was getting cut into so many pieces that it wouldn't be long before he would have to worry about more than the pack being sliced. On that note, he quickly whipped his nailgun around and began to fire off rapidly at his pursuers. The shots were wild, and most went around with the few connecting hitting non-vital spots. Nevertheless, it seemed the soldiers were so surprised by the very nature of the weapon, plus how one of them had already been damaged by it, that it was enough to make them keep their distance. Cid tried using that moment to get up and quickly try and run for smoother ground, much as Cryder was doing, but his recovery didn't last long. The Aegis Armors, at least all except the one that was damaged, stuck to the air and continuously swarmed the engineer from different angles, trying to harass him into leaving an opening. In response, he was forced to fire more wildly and inaccurately at them just to keep them at bay. One caught a nail in the shoulder joint, knocking out their limb, but all in all he couldn't press them all back. Even the one on the ground kept moving forward and back to harass him further. After a few more moments, they began to fire their lasers again periodically. To Cid's shock, they were going for his nailgun…to leave him defenseless.

At last, it happened. He emptied his current nail clip. Sweating, and still stuck on the rocks, Cid quickly reached to his side for a fresh one…only to have the original Aegis Armor that he grounded charge forward, bringing his fist back with, no doubt, sufficient force to put a hole through a truck. Cid moved quickly, and managed to get out a clip and slam it into the gun, only to have the Aegis Armor nearly on him. Quickly, he lowered his gun even as it loaded the first nail, and snapped up with his belt sander instead. Gunning it, he quickly put it between him and the armor. At first, such a thing would have seemed to be suicide or a futile gesture. Yet it soon turned out that wasn't the case. As the armor swung his fist forward, he connected with the rapidly spinning sander…and sparks flew as the power of the device began to literally strip away the metal, surrounding them both in a shower of metal and sparks. The Aegis Armor was shocked, and so were his companions, who tentatively kept their distance now. Soon, electricity was snaking from the limb, and the hydraulics burst and began to fail as the metallic exoskeleton was stripped away. Finally…the sander stopped stripping metal and raked against the flesh and bone underneath, and the soldier, crying out in pain, recoiled from it. Cid used the moment to raise his other arm with the nailgun, point at a critical joint in the headpiece, and fire again. Assuming the armor had stopped the attack from piercing the soldier's skull, the armor soon began to fizzle and spark none the less, all of its systems going haywire as the main link up to the bulk of it was destroyed. The Aegis Armor soon collapsed, and Cid used the interim to turn and run.

Dael, on her part, soon put all the speed she could to bear. Rather than trying to fight in a linear format, she tried to circle Jay and strike out short and fast, not putting too much power into any one blow but trying to harass him. It wasn't doing much good, unfortunately. Jay smacked aside each blow, and frequently lunged at her, forcing her to keep up her speed and dodging. Yet she knew she couldn't contest him straight on in power. Her own was too weak compared to his. The fact that they were on rocky ground and her footing was unsteady didn't help one bit. Jay, on the other hand, seemed perfectly in his element.

Shifting her sword to one hand, Dael abruptly gave a cry and lunged forward at what seemed like an opening, doing a series of cross slashes before stabbing out for Jay's middle. The sudden move seemed to catch him for a moment, and he actually had to take a step or two backward as he deflected each strike. As for the stabbing move, he hooked both of his glaives around and caught her incoming blade, once again snagging it. But Dael had been expecting it this time, and quickly yanked her sword straight back rather than curving it upward, managing to tear it free. She planned to press her attack in a more direct assault, hoping to catch the Elite Hound off guard, but she soon didn't have time. Grinning wickedly, the man swung both of his glaives apart, in circles, and then braced them in front of him as arcane language came forth from his mouth. Immediately, a small yet potent whirlwind began to form in front of him. But it wasn't vertical this time. It seemed to generate horizontally. It quickly picked up speed and power, until it became almost a large ram of air rather than a tornado. Dael spotted this, and was just in time to see Jay's grin poke up from his scarf before the entire column shot straight at her, with sufficient force to rip up the landscape and shred the ambient debris into dust.

Dael's eyes widened, and she quickly dodged to one side. The tornado was fast, but luckily it wasn't wider than a human being. As a result, she avoided taking almost all of it. However, a small part brushed against her arm…and that was more than enough. It nearly twisted her enough to fling her in a circle, and the edge of her sleeve was ripped clean off as loose debris raked her arm, opening give small scrapes against it. If that wasn't enough, she only had one hand on her sword, and Jay, not wasting a moment, was lunging at her again. She tried to shoot back, but before she could, he managed to swipe out with one glaive. She winced as she felt hot pain across her right shoulder and torso, the result of a small slash being cut into it.

_He's mixing it up with magic… Maybe I should give that a shot._

Dael had never tried anything like this before, but there was no better time to learn. Jay lunged forward and sliced out again and again, forcing the woman to back up more and more. Yet as she did, she forced herself to concentrate. It took a moment, but soon she began to recall some arcane words. It took a bit longer after that to do anything with it, but she continued to concentrate and tap the power, trying her best to still part of her mind and draw the energy forth. Luckily, she had practiced enough where it was coming easier, and soon she had managed to do so. After a moment longer, as she shot away from another slash, she let out more arcane words, and then threw her arm forward at Jay. Immediately, her own aura flared, before a white-hot bolt streaked out of the gray sky and shot straight for the Elite Hound.

In response, however, Jay merely grinned again, put his glaives to the side, and puffed his chest up…actually _welcoming_ the spell. It impacted a moment later and blasted him with a charge that snaked over his whole body, and he shifted ever-so-slightly…but that was all. His clothing didn't even seem to burn. Dael was stunned. Was she that weak? That bolt had been stronger than the practice ones she had done before, but still it wasn't enough to even make her opponent flinch. Chuckling darkly, Jay raised his glaives again, and charged her once more.

Cryder had managed to make it to the pavement by now, but wasn't doing much better. He only had one hand on his sword at the moment. The other was continuously making gestures, causing stalagmites to erupt from the ground every so often in an attempt to pierce his pursuers or, at the bare minimum, interrupt their aim as they continuously tried to fire at him. Occasionally, he threw in a few blasts of water from the river as well. In doing so, he was able to keep the six preoccupied, but his defense was far from flawless. A laser shot out every so often and grazed his clothing. One or two even managed to singe the skin. He was struggling to stay clear, but not doing too well. What more, the Aegis Armors were moving in such a way to try and drive him away from the river and back to the broken part of the road, where the advantage would be theirs.

As he ran along, he scowled.

"Alright…enough of this chum…"

Abruptly, the pirate slowed in his step, and ran in a straight line. The Aegis Armors were still whirling about overhead, but he had planned it in between firing. Those microlasers may have been strong, but apparently they could only project for a few moments or risk burning out whatever lenses they were being focused through. The six moved around to get into a new formation, and as they did one shot by. Taking that moment, Cryder abruptly leapt to the side with as much leverage as he could get behind him, reached out, and snagged the passing limb of the Aegis Armor…yanking himself up to it.

The soldier was stunned momentarily, but couldn't break speed or he'd crash. While he was still deciding what to do, however, Cryder grit his teeth and grunted. He didn't have the power of a Guardian Force backing him up, after all, but he was used to hauling himself around a bit. One arm was a bit of a stretch, but he was able to get his legs up and lash around the middle of the Aegis Armor, causing the solider to spasm and try to lift up to keep himself from crashing. As the others broke off, Cryder yanked himself around and grabbed the opposite shoulder of the armor, so that he was soon hanging from the man beneath him and glaring at his face with a grin.

"Give us a kiss, old chap." He said, before driving his sword into a gap in the armor and slicing.

Whether the blow was fatal or not remained a mystery. All Cryder knew for certain was that he cut through numerous vital circuits and began to cause a chain reaction of blowouts all over the Aegis Armor. The thrusters flickered out, and the entire suit began to sail to the ground. Rather than take the crash, Cryder quickly released his legs and unfolded as he began to go down, landing on the ground and crouching before letting the armor sail overhead, continuing its downward descent, until it smashed rather hard into the pavement, going for a violent topple. More systems broke and died as a result, and the pilot had to have been rattled before he came to a smoldering, sparking stop.

Cid, meanwhile, was having more difficulty. After the direct assault had led to one of their armors being disabled, the remaining five continued to keep their distance and assault the Sorceress Knight relentlessly. Unable to move or dodge as easily as Cryder, Cid was being battered back away from smooth ground and driven toward the stalled transport, which he quickly flattened himself against to protect his flank. He continued to pump nails at the enemy, but they were moving farther out to counter this. Seeing as they were using lasers, their own aim wasn't ruined, but the lagging behind Cid's nailgun was enough to leave him unable to even do any damage to their armors, let alone vital spots.

At length, the inevitable happened. Cid fired off a few more shots to cause two of the Aegis Armors to back up, only to have his gun hiss afterward. Looking to it in frustration, he reached for another…only to nearly have his hand taken off by a laser. Eyes widening, the engineer practically jumped before snapping around and running around the transport right to one of the open entrances that the Aegis Armors had piled out of from the beginning. Quickly, he ducked inside. Once in, he moved back inside the vehicle just enough to avoid being blasted through the doorway, and then reached into his side pocket.

He paled a bit at what he felt. Only one clip left. His spares had been in his pack, and that was lying in several pieces. Frowning, he nevertheless yanked it out and slammed it into his gun, trying not to think of how desperate the situation was becoming. However, while still waiting for it to reload…a red-hot beam abruptly burst through the very walls of the transport and nearly sliced off his fingers. He winced, yelped, and moved his hand back…before ducking a moment later to avoid another beam from slicing through his skull. A third nearly tagged his "caulking" gun that was still loaded with explosive. Realizing tagging it would have turned him into a fireball, he quickly dropped his nailgun to his side and yanked that up instead, protecting it, as he tried to charge back out…

He didn't get the chance. Abruptly, a great grinding and tearing sound was heard from the ceiling in front of him. He halted in his tracks, and looked up, just in time to see metal hands rip the armored ceiling clean off. A moment later, one of the Aegis Armors dropped into the hole he had made, landing in front of Cid with a resounding thud and enough power to dent the metal.

Shocked, and reacting on instinct, Cid raised the caulking gun and fired. Soon, a short range stream shot out from the gun and proceeded to spray a line of putty-like substance all across the chest of the Aegis Armor. The soldier beneath, a bit puzzled and surprised by this, froze where he was and looked curiously at this attack from beneath his helmet. Cid himself had already sprayed quite a bit before he cut it off…blinking a few times at his own mistake.

Both froze for a moment, with the soldier and Cid both looking to the Aegis Armor's chest. A second passed, before realization came to Cid. Abruptly, he got a dangerous look in his eye…as the soldier realized the same thing and looked up in surprise. Immediately, he gunned his thrusters, and tried to lift off, out the way he had came. Even as he did so, the Sorceress Knight released his caulking gun and grabbed his nailgun instead. Quickly, he elevated it as the Aegis Armor shot out of the opening and back into the sky. However, just as he was about to get clear, Cid raised his own weapon and fired a few nails at the putty on his chest. The first few missed…but the last one impacted.

Immediately, the Aegis Armor vanished into a ball of fire. The explosion was so potent that the other four that were still in the sky immediately shot back in surprise, their own flight almost cut short by turbulence. Cid himself winced as the fire and eruption went off, but as he died down, he looked back up and marveled.

"Wow…"

His amazement was cut short a moment later, however, as four microlasers at once pierced the armored transport and began to carve it up like a roast, forcing him to turn and duck out before he was cut to ribbons.

For Dael, the situation was only growing progressively more desperate. She struggled as hard as she could to withstand the onslaught, but between the terrain and her own gradually accumulating injuries, to say nothing of the fact that, despite going into this battle "fresh" and charged with a Guardian Force junction, she was barely holding her own. Jay, meanwhile, was beginning to treat this whole thing as a game or dance. He gracefully spun in a circle, bringing his glaives down three times, each one powerful, strong and hard pressed to counter, before shooting inward and stabbing for Dael's stomach, forcing her back so abruptly that she nearly was knocked off of her feet. However, noticing her unbalance, Jay cackled again and advanced once more, swinging his blade down on her again and again, wearing down her power. He was like a savage animal. She almost swore she could see his tongue sticking out beneath his mask, as if he yearned to taste her blood just like he said…

Tightening her grip on her sword, Dael called more of her power to mind. A moment later, she let out another arcane phrase, before four more of her suddenly sprung out of her main body, soon creating five all together facing off against Jay. They glared only a moment, before charging him. In response, he merely laughed insanely.

"You think a bunch of illusions are any substitute for power?" He snapped back, before bringing his glaives forward and chanting on his own. As Dael and her copies neared him, he too let out an arcane word…before his own aura blazed forth with power. The Esthar's Hawk halted in midstep and gaped as a tremendous twister, much larger and this time properly vertical, formed before the man. It possessed so much power that it flung around the ambient debris wildly, sending huge boulders flying everywhere. A rift was dug into the ground and the heavy transport that Cid had just fled was partially sheared and dragged into it, before the entire wind tunnel began to come forward at incredible speed.

The copies tried to dodge, but it was too late. The tornado was moving too fast and too powerful. One by one, the copies vanished into nothingness as the twister hit them…before the last one was simply ripped off of her feet and flung backward. Dael felt her stomach take a tumble as the sheer force of the gale ripped her through the air…before smashing her hard against a larger rock. The impact was so strong that she felt her own spine and ribs strain from the impact, and her muscles and even bones bruised by the force of the power. She slid off of it a moment later, stunned and practically unconscious.

Yet in spite of her weariness, she managed to force her head up. Her world was spinning and felt almost unreal, but she forced herself to focus. And in doing so, she managed to see Jay once again flying through the air. His tornado was gone, but he was doing a leaping stab right for her. Seeing this, Dael went wide-eyed only for a split second, before she forced every ounce of strength she could muster into her body and legs. She couldn't lift off with her arms or legs alone, but forcing them both together, she made herself get up a heartbeat before Jay was on her. Crying out to force herself on, she did a backflip over the very rock she had landed on as Jay swung down, his blades slicing into stone and shattering them. The mere shockwave of his impact sliced through the same boulder that Dael had been lying against, cutting it in two.

Jay didn't let up for a second. Letting out a demented laugh, he leapt at Dael again and began to furiously stab again and again at her, his glaives flicking in and out like a swarm of angry bees stinging together. The young officer had enhanced reflexes and power, but she still couldn't stand against all of it. Even backing up, she was having to exert all of her power and focus to be able to deflect each incoming blow, let alone mount a counter-offensive. Soon, her own hard look began to grow streaked with sweat as she felt her muscles burning and tensing from the continous fighting…

Cryder was at a loss. The Aegis Armors had adapted to him by now. They stayed in the air and kept clear of his counterattacks as well as his sword and leaps, and continued to blast at him. They hadn't forced him back onto the rubble yet, but it didn't really matter. Even with only five of them, it was enough to make him almost continuously move to avoid being sliced apart. They circled him from all sides, forcing him to constantly dart his head around to see when they would fire next. The pirate abruptly spun through two lasers and ducked through two more, only to get grazed on the shoulder by a third. He winced in pain, and soon almost stumbled and faltered into the path of two more lasers.

Cid only had a slightly easier time. He was able to keep firing and only had four Aegis Armors after him, but none of them risked moving in on him again. Now they stayed high and continuously pounded him with lasers, trying to tag him and slice him. He staggered forward further and fired off a few more shots to try and get them to disperse, but it was no use. They were flying too high to even get tagged or interrupted now. Nothing kept them from literally lapping at Cid's heels, trying to cut him up. After a few more moments, he snapped around to fire again…only to have a red laser shoot out…and neatly sever the power cord to his nailgun. He squeezed the trigger, but even the pneumatic pressure relied a bit on electricity for triggering and regulation. Nothing came out. Cid's eyes widened, and he looked up, only to see the others bearing down on him. Quickly, he tossed his nailgun away and took up his sander…only to groan at the sight of it. Not much good when your opponent never got low enough to use it. Instead, he turned and charged forward, finally leaping off of the rubble and onto the pavement…right next to Cryder.

The two quickly ran to each other, then spun around and put themselves back to back. Cid yanked out the only other offensive weapon he had, his two wrenches, but groaned again on seeing them. Cryder, on his part, raised his sword, and the two looked around them as the nine remaining Aegis Armors moved in to surround them, raising their weapons and preparing to fire. However, whether it was because they thought they had them captured or were merely playing with them, they held, not finishing them off right away. The engineer and the pirate looked around a bit.

"Got any neat gadgets left, mate?" Cryder asked. "'Cause my own bag of tricks is about empty."

"Sorry…left the others at home." Cid gulped. After a pause, he turned to Cryder and nodded. "I'm serious."

"Always thought I'd cash in my chips on the high seas…" The pirate muttered. "Not die a landlubber. Normally I'd be waitin' for some act of fate to come in and snatch us out of the jaws of death, but this time I think I'm a bit short on luck…"

As for Dael, she continued to get backed up for a moment, before she thought she saw an opening. Tightening up, for she felt her strength slipping at this point, she dove forward with all the speed and focus she had for a jab. However, Jay merely grinned again, and quickly snapped out both glaives to hook her blade and give it a quick twist and snap, getting her in the wrist. She actually almost felt her tendons sprain…before, to her horror, her weapon was wrung right out of her grasp and flung backward and away. Dael was stunned. She tried to react…but in a heartbeat, Jay was on her again, his two glaives crossed against her neck like a scissors. She froze at that, not moving…sweat slowly running down her brow.

"Oh look…the exact same outcome as last time…" Jay hissed with a grin. "You…a pathetic, bleeding mess about to be executed. And I'm afraid your little brat isn't in any shape to bail you out this time."

With that, he suddenly snapped forward. Instinctively, Dael recoiled to try and evade the slice…only to realize two things. One, Jay was just faking the killing blow, and there she reacted like a nervous child. Two, she stumbled back into a loose rock, and soon tumbled backward, losing her footing and falling on her rear end on the rubble. Jay immediately laughed mockingly at her. Dael, on her part, put her arms behind her and tried to pull back and rear up…but before she could get anywhere, Jay was already on her again and pressed one blade to her throat and the other to her chest.

"For all their training…all their drills…all their boasting…all Esthar has to defend itself are pathetic women." He hissed. "I always thought there was no place for bitches in the military. You don't even make good distractions or pastimes. Your country was on its way out they moment they signed up cheap dykes like you."

Dael glared back in response…but unfortunately could do nothing. She realized that fairly quickly. The moment her muscles even began to tighten to try and prepare a counter-move…she felt the blades press tighter into her neck. Jay could tell what she was trying. Although she couldn't see behind her, she realized that the Aegis Armors had to have Cid and Cryder surrounded. At least, she _hoped_ that was the only thing they had done. They had gone quiet, and it could mean anything…

"The only thing you're good for is bleeding to death." Jay hissed. "Much as I'd love the chance to fight you again to smack you around the next time you leave your little dollies to play soldier…the mission this time is to kill you and the others on the Hounds' Most Wanted. I've always wondered what an army bitch's blood would taste like… Guess I'm about to find out."

The young officer flicked her eyes about. Unfortunately, Jay let her. She realized what he was doing…letting her think she had a chance of escape when she knew she didn't. There was no way out of this. All he had to do was move in a bit more, and the blades would slice through her carotids and she'd be dead almost before she hit the ground. There was only one ray of hope left, and that would be if Taraketh was still up there to fire any bullets at Jay. However, if he was going to shoot, she realized that he probably would have done so by now. The fact that he didn't only filled her with more tension. She hoped he was merely situating himself in a better spot, but she feared it was a bit more serious than that… At any rate, it wouldn't help her now. She could almost see the demented Elite Hound drooling beneath his scarf. The only thing keeping him from killing her now was waiting for her tension to build…waiting for her to try something, the slightest thing, and then cutting off her hope and her life in one strike…

Then, it came.

Dael's back was to it, so she didn't get the full force that Jay did. However, she still heard it. It was like some sort of a burst muffled underwater. At least, that was what it sounded like. But she hardly had the time for her brain to process what it was before light shone down on the battlefield. For a brief second, she thought it was the sun breaking through a cloud…but it soon became much, _much_ more than that. It grew to be blinding, becoming dazzling yellow giving rise to pure white…and glorious as the sun. Far brighter than a spotlight or searchlight…it was like staring into the sun at the break of day.

And Dael wasn't even staring right at it. She could feel it behind her, not harsh or burning…but warm as a sun's ray. Her memory clicked…but she had little time for that.

Jay, who took it full force, had a predictable reaction. She saw his pupils shrink into pricks, before he hissed. But unlike any basic shock trooper, Dael knew he wouldn't be foolish enough to pull back. If anything, he would drive his blades forward to finish the job rather than let the Esthar's Hawk escape. But for all of his own training and power, it seemed Dael still outclassed him in making a last minute decision to take advantage of something. She had learned to read opponents, and for a split second, she watched Jay…and saw it. The brief moment in which his own mind was processing this light, and he simultaneously tried to close his eyes while at the same time tried to decide whether or not to keep his blades on Dael or end her life. And no matter how fast he could think, his body still needed a fraction of a second to react…a fraction that Dael seized.

In a flash, she went into a somersault backward, tucking in her legs as she did so. In a flash, she both moved her neck off of the blades while knocking them away and up with her legs. Jay tried to push them forward at the last moment, and had she tried simply one move or the other he might have succeeded, but since she did both…she was free. She quickly spun back and completed a revolution, even though doing so moved her further back to the intense light, and even exposed her eyes to it for a moment. Great and warm as it was, looking straight at it was blinding to the point of pain. It was for that reason that Jay didn't quickly snap after her and cut off her escape. At any rate, once out, and with her back to the light again, Dael quickly rose to her feet.

At that moment, Dael heard thrusters moving about, and mechanical-toned voices crying out in a bit of aggravation and anger. She realized at once that this light had overloaded the sensors of the Aegis Armors as well, blinding them momentarily. Yet not focusing on that, she instead concentrated on the fact that the light was now dying. It wasn't terribly fast, like, for example, a camera flash, but more of a gradual dimming. She used it, however, both to obscure her as well as to look around and soon find her weapon, lying on the smooth pavement. Engaging in a short series of backward leaps, never risking giving her back to Jay, even as she saw him close his eyes and cover them with his arms to block out the light, she went over to her sword and quickly snatched it up. After that, she planted her feet on the ground and looked up with her weapon at the ready. Only here did she realize that she had moved back behind the source of this light, and turned to it as it dimmed.

She saw nothing through the brilliance for a moment, but as it continued to die down, she made out a small form, no larger than a child, in the brilliance, holding the source of it in one hand before it. As the light continued to dim, she made out what looked like a traveling dress emblazoned with the emblems that matched the Order of Hyne, and as it dimmed further, she noticed sun emblems, each of which gleamed and shimmered in the great light as if they were rays of the sun itself. The glow finally cut off completely, and she saw the rest of the details. To be honest, she was rather surprised.

The Aegis Armors, blind as they were, used the beacons inside their suits to immediately hover backward and fall behind Jay. There they hovered as their sensors rebooted. Cryder and Cid were now free, and they looked around in puzzlement, before looking forward to the same thing that Dael and, now, Jay and the armors were staring at. Both were rather stunned, but of the two, Cid was far more so. He looked almost aghast.

"My…my lady!"

Had it been anyone else, Dael might have almost thought of it as humorous. Here, a girl dressed in simple clothing, for all of the fashion and designs that were placed on it, standing before this psychotic, yet powerful, warrior and nine people armored enough to take out small tanks. Yet the power that Dael had felt before as mild when she first laid eyes upon Faerio the Dayspark was radiating more than ever now. She could sense it washing over her like a summer's day. Her face, tight, fierce, and passionate as wildfire… Just looking at her face for a moment was enough to show that she was both serious and powerful. Definitely not something to trifle with, and belaying a maturity and sense of command and power far greater than anything Dael had ever witnessed from almost every mature woman she had ever encountered.

There was silence for a few moments as Faerio stood there. To be honest, Dael couldn't focus on her confusion…namely, how she had gotten there and what she was doing. Did she teleport? Even if she did, how did she know where to find them? Where had she come from? As these questions rang through her mind, however, someone did eventually recover. Jay's grin had faded momentarily when Faerio made her appearance. But now as she lowered her hand back to her side that had used the spell, he leaned back up and grinned evilly.

"Needing children to save you again, Ms. Levinson?" He hissed. "Well this time, no panic move is going to spare you. I always wanted to feast on one of the witches…and even Juanhong can't boast that he ever gutted a real live, honest-to-goodness Sorceress. This should be a load of fun."

Faerio's brow furrowed a bit as she glared at him. "You haven't the _slightest_ idea what you're getting into, slimeball. Don't take the title of 'Sorceress' like some petty name slapped on just any old magical prodigy. And don't take me for some Child of Hyne, or even High Child of Hyne. I've stood on the sidelines for too long."

With that, the girl suddenly reached to her side, and snatched out what appeared to be only a simple metal handle. Yet as she drew it forth, Dael and the others saw something surprising. A long ribbon of what looked like radiant fire came forth from it, extending from the handle to her side. It continued to lengthen as she pulled her arm out and held it at her side. But even when she stopped pulling, it continued to stretch and lengthen, pulling out more of its own accord, until it finally broke off. It danced and fluttered in the breeze, before Faerio snapped her arm taut and swung it down once, giving it a crack that gave off a brilliant spark. Dael soon realized it was a whip of the sun's own flames. And just like a flame, it seemed to flicker and dance about of its own accord.

"Now you're going to pay for all the innocent people, magic-users and non-magic-users alike, that Sybenia has treated as refuse. It's time the Guiding Hand learned a bit of fear."

Jay merely grinned in response, lowering his glaives to his sides. "As much as I like feisty ones…children are still, ultimately, children. Therefore…I'll try to kill you fairly quickly. Young ones are so annoying when they scream…"

"Cid, Ms. Levinson, Mr. Morningjay."

Hearing this, Dael found herself snapping out of a daze. To be honest, she had almost been entranced by the whole exchange, her mind subconsciously wanting to just watch the power she had felt radiating from a true Sorceress go into action. However, she pushed that aside and soon focused back on task.

"I'll hold the enemy back." She stated, not looking to them. "Get Bahamut and free him. Be quick about it. Even if we defeat this group, I'm sure a full-sized convoy was alerted the moment you launched your trap."

"Gee…they _are_ teaching you kids better things in school nowdays, aren't they?" Jay sneered. He looked to the sky. "Three of you are to put this brat to bed…permanently. The other six…kill her little friends."

Immediately, as if already knowing which ones would be picked, six of the armors took off, and shot straight for Dael, Cid, and Quaren. Faerio snapped her head up to this, her own expression tightening, and raised her hand to try and counter it with a spell of her own. However, Jay wasn't wasting time. Immediately, he pointed his blade forward, and, in response, the three remaining Aegis Armor's fired at once on the Sorceress. Snapping her head forward again, she quickly held her hand in front of her. Dael didn't even hear her chant, before a translucent disk of light appeared before her…deflecting the incoming lasers like a curved mirror. Dael was shocked at that. She had thought lasers were too intense and focused to be stopped by magical shields. However, she didn't worry about that long. She had her own problems.

The Aegis Armors came in fast, already shifting to fire on the three of them. Cryder immediately waved his own hand at them as they came in, and rock again erupted from the ground. However, it was too slow and weak, and the targeted armor merely flew over it, letting it sail harmlessly beneath. Seeing this, Dael quickly brought her own free hand up, concentrated, and began to chant. Surprisingly enough, now that she had generated one spell in a moment of crisis, this came easier than before. A moment later, her eyes shot open as her aura flared, and she pointed at the nearest Aegis Armor. A white-hot bolt of electricity snaked down and struck him…and did nothing, instantly evaporating as soon as it was in range of the Eris Bell. Dael suppressed a groan on seeing that as she lowered her hand, returning it to her sword.

A moment later, the six Aegis Armors froze in midair, safely out of range of all damage, and raised their weapons. Dael faced off against them…realizing how hopeless it would be. Even as Cryder and Cid joined in defiantly, she realized how meaningless it was. So long as they stayed up and out of range, they wouldn't even present a target. All they could do was run from them as Cid and Cryder had been doing until now…which wasn't much good. She braced herself to move as they prepared to fire…

When a loud gunshot rang out, and, in response, a flurry of sparks went off from the headpiece of one of the Aegis Armors…before it faltered and fell to the ground. Immediately, the other five snapped their heads in the direction of the shot…and a good thing too. Another bullet soon sparked against another's helmet. The only reason he didn't die just as his companion did was because he turned to the source of the sound fast enough. Even so, the soldiers were still shocked. Dael herself turned to the source, and suppressed the urge to have her face light up.

Quaren was still there…and, it seemed, he had recovered enough to take up sniping again.

Two of the remaining armors immediately took off for him. The other three hesitated, which was a critical mistake. Now immobilized temporarily…Cryder grit his teeth and focused all the power he could one more time into the ground. He actually strained this time and broke a sweat…but three more stalagmites erupted from the ground, shot into the air, and smacked into the three soldiers. It wasn't enough to do any serious damage, but they were still knocked for a loop, sent flailing momentarily and pulling back.

Dael looked down to Cryder, as did Cid. The pirate was already turning to run for the creek. "I'll hold this lot off…you get the swabbie." He told them. "And you heard the lass…be quick about it. I don't think me and the lad up on the hill can keep them busy for long."

The young officer paused only to give a short nod to Cryder before immediately turning and taking off. Cid did a double take himself, between Dael and Cryder, before shrugging and going after her. The pirate himself grinned and turned to run. Meanwhile, the three remaining Aegis Armors below recovered, and then spun around and shot after him…right to where he was leading them, back to the river.

As she ran back, Dael soon saw the rest of the fight unfold. Faerio actually looked to be exerting a bit of effort, but her shield held. As she glared at the three armors firing on her, she brought her whip up and around and began to swirl it. She started off slow, but soon was spinning it in a continous circle, until it made a disk of light that seemed to continue to act as a shield. Seeing they weren't getting through, the Aegis Armors abruptly split, to fire on Faerio from three different angles. However, gritting her teeth a bit, the Sorceress merely began to flick her whip one way and the other, until she created a series of flaming swirls around her…expanding her shield to block every laser at once.

The Aegis Armors seemed puzzled at that for a moment, but before they could launch any other assault, Faerio brought one of her arms up and began to perform a gesture. A moment later, one after another, three baseball-sized fireballs erupted from her hand and began to cycle over it in a circle. As she held them there, continuing to flick her whip about, they began to increase in light, heat, and power, soon gleaming brightly. Moments before the Aegis Armors shifted to fire again, she abruptly twisted her palm down and gestured outward. Moving like blips of light, the fireballs parted from her palm and shot off to each individual.

The soldiers didn't bother dodging or planning a defense. Why should they have? Their Eris Bell generators were still working at full output, protecting them from any magic.

Hence, all three were rather surprised when the fireballs dimmed slightly…before shooting the rest of the way through and piercing them on their breastplates. Explosions of fire came from each one, and all three were sent flying back as if a bomb had been placed on them, sending them crashing into the ground violently, likely with sufficient force to damage them further, assuming they weren't already totally disabled.

The lasers gone, Faerio yanked her whip back…and soon had her eyes widen as she flicked it forward gain and once more crossed it in front of her, as Jay, eyes wild with malice and ferocity, lunged at her. She quickly stepped back and snapped her whip, blocking the first two intentional killing blows. Once there, however, she snapped her whip again and again, crossing it in front of her, as Jay advanced, stabbing and slashing with rapid, quick moves…even faster and stronger ones than that with Dael. Finally, she crossed the ribbon of fire in front of her, and Jay swung his hooks down to catch it. The two collided, and sparks flew out from the connection. Despite being a whip, the flames held in midair as Jay bore down on them. He grinned with delight.

"Such a talented little witch…" He hissed at her. "Such small balls of flame…and yet strong enough to actually get through the advanced Eris generators. Of course…from a _Sorceress_, I expected a little more…such as blowing them up with your first attack."

"You people disgust me, but I'm not a senseless murderer like you." Faerio responded.

"Pity." Jay answered. "Because then, you wouldn't be about to have your head be sliced off."

Faerio held a moment longer…until the corner of her eye turned, and she spotted it. One of the armors was up again, and aiming his laser at her head. Quickly, as it fired, she snapped her whip free and blocked it. Howling like an animal, however, Jay advanced with fierce and powerful stabs and slashes, forcing her to retreat and flash out her whip again and again to block them. She had to move faster now, and was showing more strain…but still wasn't sweating.

As she did so, she noticed not only was the first Aegis Armor going to fire again, the second was rising to join in. On seeing that, she continued to deflect two more blows from Jay before pulling her hand back, waving it in a circle, and then aiming at the first Aegis Armor. Immediately, a wave of fire erupted from her hand and surged at the soldier like a deluge. He saw this, and cut off his firepower, instead crossing his arms in front of him and waiting for the impact. But instead of hitting him, the wave only went right up to the front of him…and then abruptly snapped to the side, swirled around, and shot back from a perpendicular angle. The head of the Aegis Armor turned to it, but was too late as the wave doubled in size and power and shot into him, slamming him hard enough to break off pieces of his suit and fling him into his companion, just about to fire, damaging his own suit and sending him flying as well. As soon as that was done, Faerio parried three more slashes, before she again locked with Jay, who once more bore down on her. She again grit her teeth…and buckled a bit underneath the power.

"Well, well…making this fun for me." Jay hissed. "But it seems we finally learn why you witches need big strong men to be your personal bodyguards. Your magic is decent, but your physical power is severely lacking. I'm afraid this will still end up with your head on a stick."

Faerio merely narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're going to have to be able to handle a _lot_ more than this before you can make that boast."

Abruptly…the air around Faerio began to heat up. A glow started to radiate from her. Jay's smile faded slightly at this…as a burning sound began to ring on the air. Moments later, new light began to form around Faerio, this time bright and red. It quickly built in strength, until it took on the likeness of flame. It continued to build from there, making the air sizzled and churn…and, finally, it happened. Jay's smile faded all together for a moment as he felt his arms being pushed back, and the twelve-year-old Sorceress began to force him back through her own physical power.

If Jay had any remark to make in jest or arrogance or even disbelief, it didn't have the chance to come out, as Faerio let out a small cry before shoving her whip into him. Despite looking so thin and small, it had ample power to literally take Jay off of his feet and cast him back about three meters before dumping him back on the ground. Immediately, the whip recoiled and Faerio placed her palms together, beginning to focus her power. Her eyes blazed with light, her pupils vanishing under a powerful glow, as a ball of light rapidly began to form in her palms, and quickly grew both in size and intensity far faster than the previous attack.

Jay was stunned only a moment, before he grinned maliciously and braced his own glaives in front of him, chanting aloud. Soon, the very ground began to shake and tremble as a monstrous tornado, flashing lightning and energy from within, gathered in front of him. This one was the most intense yet, not only pulling large pieces of debris into it, but also ripping up the road beneath and dragging it inside. Faerio's only response was to narrow her gaze and continued to gather flame. Jay grinned at her wickedly as he continued to whip up his tornado, seemingly daring her to make the first move. As it turned out, she took him up on that. Abruptly, she snapped her palms forward, and sent out a radiant fireball straight for the Elite Hound. In response, he swung his own arms forward and sent the tornado headed straight for her.

The two attacks sailed toward each other momentarily, and then collided. No one was near by then, but even so people recoiled, for the bits of debris immediately became flaming and flew in all directions. The tornado was transformed into a pillar of flame, raging and churning as the air and fire mixed violently. Jay grinned devilishly at Faerio, while the Sorceress continued to glare back. For a brief moment, it looked as if the two might cancel each other, spend each other entirely.

But then, the Sorceress raised an arm and clenched her hand into a fist…and, in response, the entire tornado was abruptly compressed like a case of cosmic paper being crumpled, and drawn into fireball. Jay's eyes enlarged again at the sight, even as the fireball dimmed while drawing the tornado into itself. Yet although it lost quite a bit of power…in the end, the tornado was no more, and the fireball was still there, hovering still. It swiveled around slightly…and then a ray of light broke forth from it and shot straight at Jay, a searing heat ray of death. Once more, he raised his crossed glaives in front of him…but obviously this ray packed more power than Jalab's own punches, for he was ripped off of his feet again and flung across the field a distance, landing and tumbling over the rocks and debris.

Yet in spite of that, he snapped back up a moment later…a bit dirty and torn, but no worse for wear. And despite what Faerio had just demonstrated, he kept grinning.

"Niiiiice…" He hissed. "But you're not the only one could can turn up the heat." Instantly, he snapped his head to the sky. "Boys!"

Unseen at the top of the cliff, Quaren had managed to find a new place to fire. It wasn't quite as good as the old one, but it was fairly secure. However, now he was trying to keep the Aegis Armors back even as they shot straight for him. He did fairly well too. He made sure to target areas that would knock them askew or disrupt their flight path, and the fact that he was able to fire in such rapid succession and target them so well was nothing short of miraculous. Even more amazing was that their attempts to fly in something of a "serpentine" pattern did no good. Quaren pegged them just as good as before. But for all his innate skill and even enhanced skill, the rifleman still couldn't do any lasting damage. He had managed to get the first Aegis Armor in a vulnerable chink because he used his scope and had a chance to line up his shot when they paused in midair before Dael, Cid, and Cryder. But now that they were coming right at him, he barely had time to line up shots that would knock them askew, even with his enhanced power.

As a result, when he ran out of ammunition and had to pause to reload, his new hiding spot was soon being devastated by laser fire as the Aegis Armors sliced into it. Though still hidden from the view of anyone below, he had let out a gasp and quickly snapped back to avoid being cut to pieces, and then quickly scrambled back. The Aegis Armors continued to bear upward, determined to get above him so they could target him. Yet it seemed Quaren had a bit of luck. Despite being so high, some sort of unseen radio on Jay must have linked up to the two of them, for they immediately turned and looked below, before both snapped around and began to shoot for the ground again.

Cryder himself had been doing a lot better. Using the distraction, he had charged straight for the river. The four other armors managed to catch up with him, but before they could, the man raised his fingers and snapped them…causing a thick mist to come off of the water and roll over him. He vanished inside like a plane in a cloud. The armors, not wanting to risk staying still in case the sniper could shoot them, quickly began to fire their lasers into the mist, but even those weapons couldn't eliminate the gloom. One or two even risked lowering themselves and shooting through it, using their drag from their thrusters to break up the mist. Yet they found nothing either. They made another pass, and turned up nothing more. When they made a third, however, columns of water shot up out from some of the farther mist and smashed into them. It wasn't enough to take them down all together, but it did knock them out of the sky and knocked one to the ground to tumble against it.

The remaining Aegis Armors turned and fired their lasers into the mist where the water had come from, but the spouts merely collapsed and returned to the ground. A moment later, new ones formed, catching one and forcing the other to adjust, only to get blasted again. The two that had been struck first aimed and fired, but once more hit nothing. They took off into the sky again, trying to get around, only to have even more water come forth and smack them back down and in front of the mist. For a moment, it looked as if Cryder had them pinned…until Jay made his call. When that happened, they turned and shot back over to him.

The mist began to fade a moment later, revealing a pirate waving away some of it. "Gutless squid." He muttered.

Dael paid little attention to this. Luckily, for all of Jay's boasting, it seemed as if Faerio was causing him enough trouble to turn his full attention to her. That allowed Dael and Cid to run back to the rubble-covered area, across the ruined pavement that was getting progressively more broken up, by the sliced-up transport, and finally to the still-mostly-intact prisoner transport in the back. Luckily, the side door that Jay had exited through was still open.

As they neared, the driver and passenger door abruptly snapped open, and a pair of conventional soldiers quickly popped out, raising guns to them. Naturally, they had to have been driving it rather than Jay. However, against shock troops, Dael was more than effective. Focusing a moment, she suddenly materialized in front of one of them. Even though he was using his own door as a shield, a single swipe of Dael's blade cut right through the door and the person on the other side. The other soldier turned in surprise, and raised his weapon to fire at her, but was a bit too slow. Cid managed to suddenly put on the speed and close enough distance to aim his wrench at his head and press the telescopic button, making it pop out and smash in his head, dropping him instantly. Cid grinned as he quickly yanked his wrench back, collapsing it again, before he ran to Dael's side. On her part, Dael moved on past the slashed door and soldier to the opening in the side, and quickly lowered her head and leapt into the interior.

This transport was considerably smaller than the larger one. There was only enough free space in it to take up a flatbed army truck. However, Dael had scarcely entered when she saw that almost all of it was taken up by something, and what it was made her gasp.

An inclined cylinder wired up to all sorts of equipment, consoles, machines, and readouts was in the chamber. Part of it was reinforced plexiglass, and, as a result, one could look inside the cylinder, and see that it was filled with some sort of light green gel that was illuminated. And floating in that gel, wired to monitoring devices, an air supply (no doubt sedated), stripped of clothes but looking bandaged up in numerous spots by waterproof dressings yet still showing signs of damage here and there…was Bahamut. He was unconscious and sealed inside, in some sort of suspended animation.

Dael only stared a moment, before she felt her jaw tighten.

Cid ran in behind her a moment later, and gasped at the sight. "Good lord…is that Bahamut? What have they done to him?"

The young officer stared darkly at it for a moment. "…I've seen these before."

The Sorceress Knight turned to her. "What?"

"Before Sybenia's security got too tight, some of the less-guarded areas were the biological science divisions. Some of our intelligence agents picked up pictures of these while they were in development." She stated grimly. "They were declared illegal, a war crime to even possess in functional capacity, years ago…but Esthar's Legislature ignored it when we presented them with evidence, not wanting to start an international issue over, what they called, 'a trifle'. In a sense, it's a suspended animation tank, allowing someone to store and preserve a human for any use they want later. But it's much worse than that too. It's an SDT: Sensory Domination Tube. While someone is helpless and unconscious in here, they're under the full control of whoever is manning the consoles. They can make them feel pain or mental anguish, overload them with thoughts of depression, despair, fear…anything…and there's nothing they can do about it because they're effectively paralyzed. They can be made to _only_ feel those things. They can also experiment on people all they want by feeding them sensations and chemicals, and they can't do anything to respond except what they decide to let the victim feel in response."

Cid, hearing all this, gave a nervous shudder. He swallowed. "…Perhaps they were only using it to transport him…fearful he would do something… But…" He wiped his brow. "If they put him, a magic user, in one…then it's reasonable to assume…they've been doing it to other Order of Hyne members too…or even just magic-inclined people…"

Dael's hand balled into a fist as her eyes glared. She felt a passion inside her flare…an emotion she thought she had safely killed or pushed aside. But seeing Bahamut in that device, helpless, and imagining all the horrible things they might have put him through before shipping him off to some research facility, to have less freedom and awareness than a lab rat in a cage, to be treated as just a piece of animate flesh in an oversized petri dish… For the first time Dael could remember in a very, _very_ long time…she felt hate for something.

"Let's get him out of this damn thing."

Outside, Faerio continued to hold her own. Although she grit her teeth and continued to look like she was exerting effort, she didn't break a sweat and maintained a valiant fight. Her whip was out again and swirling around, seeming to encircle her like a ribbon of light. The Aegis Armors kept their distance, but swarmed around her like vultures, firing at everything that looked like an opening. However, she kept them all at bay. As she swung her whip viciously, she deflected one beam aimed at her hip, before smacking away one coming at her forehead from the left and one coming for the small of her back from directly behind her at the same time. A fourth one was deflected from striking the hand with the whip, thanks to a last minute adjustment, and she responded by flinging out a ball of light, burning and intense, right into the faces of two more of the Aegis Armors. It ignited, and immediately they cried out in pain and wavering back, blinded by it.

Yet even as that went off, two massive blades of air, larger than the Sorceress herself, sailed straight for Faerio. While her whip still trailed about her, she moved the closest end inward and swirled around fast enough to create a blur of light. As the blades reached her, she swung her arm one way and the other, smacking them away. One went into the sky, but the other hit the ground, slicing a massive rift into it. Following that came what appeared to be a Wind Slash cyclone, only far more fierce, larger, and intense, sailing straight for the girl. Faerio spotted this, and furrowed her brow as she aimed her hand forward and generated a stronger shield, even while flicking her whip about to deflect shots from two more Aegis Armors attacking her from two sides at once. A wall of gleaming light appeared before the Sorceress…and the Wind Slash crumpled against it like dinner knives thrown against a brick wall.

The attack had no sooner been dissipated, however, when Jay gave a horrible whooping holler, and dove for Faerio again. For a moment, the Sorceress seemed genuinely caught off guard, and snapped back. Even so, she narrowly missed being stabbed by his glaives and had to quickly bring her whip around to deflect them. Afterward, Jay, cackling, advanced again, attacking twice as fast as last time, even as Faerio's whip flung around and met each incoming blade, sending off showers of sparks. Six blows were deflected, before Jay hopped back…to allow three of the Aegis Armors to attack Faerio from three different angles. She quickly turned her head to spot them, and swung her whip up to deflect two of the lasers and projected a shield to neutralize the third. But the lasers had barely died down when Jay leapt at her again, making sure to smash down on her from overhead to strip more of her strength before thrashing down on her again and again like a wild, yet graceful, animal. Faerio tensed further as she was forced to back up more, barely keeping the blade at bay. After eight strikes, however, she quickly had to drop into an extended duck, not only to avoid having her head cut off by Jay's glaive, but to dodge four more lasers aimed for her. Even so, she soon had to do a cartwheel to move back further…and came out of it just in time to bring her whip up again to stop Jay, who taunted her with a laugh, wagging his tongue at her from behind his mask. Not breaking for a moment, Faerio continued onward.

Even as she fought against the Aegis Armors and Jay, however, two of the armors went off at a distance, and landed on the ground. Once there, the soldiers inside raised their arms and aimed their lasers at Faerio's back, meaning to shoot her while she wasn't expecting it. However, just as the weapons heated up, a voice came from behind them.

"I may be a pirate, gents, but even I'm not so low as to shoot a lady in the back. Besides…it seems you plum forgot about me even being here."

The Aegis Armors snapped around, and once soon gave a cry as sparks erupted from his armor as Cryder dove on him and gave him a slash through the chinks in his plate. He slashed two more times, severing into the armor on both counts, until the suit was disabled, as well as the pilot within it. The other quickly aimed for Cryder, but before a shot could be fired…another bullet rang out. Moments later, the Aegis Armor spasmed and fell. The pirate looked to it a moment in response, then back up to the cliffs. He saw little, but nevertheless gave a smile and a thumbs up.

Back in the smaller transport, Dael was at a console and pushing a few buttons, but in the end scowled in frustration. She turned back to Cid soon after. "This whole thing is coded. Cut him out using that tool of yours."

Cid raised his sander, but at the same time looked uneasy. "He's in suspended animation, Dael. Taking him out so abruptly could kill him."

"We don't have a choice." The young officer answered. "You heard Jay. More are coming. Faerio can't defend us long enough to get him out when they get here."

The Sorceress Knight still looked uncertain, but he gave a nod. Taking up his device, he soon gunned it, getting it running at full speed. Afterward, he moved himself over to the top of the glass. Dael watched him as he worked, backing up to avoid the spill off, but also looking anxiously at the unconscious Bahamut. A moment later, Cid exhaled, and then lowered his sander over the glass. Moments later, there was a great scraping noise as the glass was eroded, almost disintegrated away by the power of the sander. Both Dael and Cid made sure to stay out of the path as Cid ran it along the glass, making a rather large area, and soon wearing a hole into it. The glass was thick, so it took a short while, which he had to be careful during. None of them needed an eyeful of glass powder, after all.

After a little while longer, however, an alarm started to blare on the tube. Emergency lights and signals went out, all indicating that the tube had been breached. Cid worked a bit more, but now was throwing up bits of green gel along with the glass, indicating he was breaking into it. More of it began to ooze and run down the sides. He worked only long enough to get a large enough hole, and then yanked the sander away. The second he did, Dael advanced and, without concern, dipped her hands into the goo and wrapped them around the limp boy floating inside. A second later, she brought her strength to bear as she pulled him up and through the hole. The gel adhered to him and created some suction, and in the process of doing so she ripped all of the devices off one by one except for the face mask, but after a few moments she was pulling him completely out of the tube.

As soon as his head was free, she reached over and yanked off the face mask before pulling him out the rest of the way. He went as limp as a doll as she pulled him forth. His body was cold and clammy, the result of his metabolism being dramatically lowered. He looked pale and was barely breathing. As she yanked him out and put him on the floor of the trailer, he continued to lie still. Cid put his sander away and anxiously waited. As for Dael, she reached for the medical supplies she had brought on her hip. Luckily, after last time, she figured the boy might be in need of some stimulants of his own. She didn't exactly feel great about pumping the stuff into a child…but she figured it was better than nothing. She reached out and put a hand to his neck, feeling his pulse. It was extremely slow, only occasionally giving a beat. Even as she did this, she used her other hand to deploy the pen-sized syringe, stabbed it into Bahamut's neck, and injected it.

Pulling the device away, she kept feeling. In a few seconds, his pulse began to pick up. It started off slow, but gradually built speed until it started approaching a regular pace. When it did…the boy abruptly stiffened and inhaled a gasp of air. It was a bit too sharp, however. He was still covered in gel, and he inhaled some. Immediately, he started to gag, but Dael was already on him, quickly flipping him over as he began to cough violently, soon hacking it up as well as some other fluid on the floor. His arms wouldn't hold him up, however, and he wobbled and nearly collapsed. However, Dael quickly seized him before she could, and pulled him back up. Almost by instinct…she pulled the nearly-naked boy closer to her, pressing him against her, so that some of her own body heat would warm him.

Bahamut caught his breath after his coughing fit for another moment or two, before he cracked open his eyes. He immediately winced and covered them with one hand, and as he did he turned his head to who was holding him. "Where…am I?" He said in a croak.

"You're alright now, Bahamut." The Esthar's Hawk retorted. "You were being stored in one of their specimen tubes, but you're out now. You're free."

Bahamut lowered his hand and struggled to crack open his eyes. "…Dael? Is that you?"

"Didn't think I'd leave you hanging, did you?" She said with a half smile. "Anyway, we can have a 'touching reunion' later. We need to get you back to the ship."

Dael began to get up. The boy, always acting more mature than his age, understood what she said. Confused as he seemed, especially given his current condition, he didn't ask questions but instead tried to follow suit and rise. It would have been hard enough with the gel covering his body, but he couldn't even get his legs fully underneath him before falling again. Dael paused in her own rising and tried to help him, but he only slipped again.

"Something's…wrong…" He said. "I feel…weak…"

Dael looked at him a moment before sighing. "Not surprising… God knows how long they had you in that tube not able to move… Hopefully you can still grab on." With that, she lowered herself more to the ground and began to pull Bahamut over and around to grab onto her from behind.

The young man managed to crack open her eyes more and see what was happening. Again, he looked a bit embarrassed or even insulted by it…but he didn't protest. He realized he wasn't getting out of here on his own. He couldn't even stand. He needed Dael's help. And so, he only held a moment before moving his arms around Dael's neck and holding them together. Dael strained a bit but soon put her sword back in its sheath and moved her arms down. "Get your legs up here so I can hold onto them. Hurry."

Outside, the fight continued to go on. The Aegis Armors circled even more furiously and fired more rapidly. They shot at every exposed area on Faerio, particularly her back and sides, even as Jay continued to attack her again and again. She struggled to hold her ground now, however, because backing up anymore would risk separating her from the others. However, keeping her footing on the rubble was almost impossible, something that Jay knew. He didn't bother stabbing anymore. Instead, he did one punishing overhead chop after another, driving the Sorceress into more strain and ebbing at her strength. She could now brace him only with one arm, as she had to use her other to continuously sweep a shield around herself to keep from being hit by the lasers.

Jay cackled as he continued to strike down on her. "Is this it?" He sneered. "This is honestly the best the great Sorceress can do? I expected this kind of performance from a High Child, not a witch. You can't even land a blow! Are you even trying to fight back, or are you just so easily outclassed?"

Faerio didn't answer. She merely continued to hold back Jay as long as she could, now planting her feet. However, that only made him grin with delight, as she smashed both glaives down on her again and again, almost like a pounding hammer. And despite her own power, it made her arms and legs buckle. Finally, he brought both arms back and swung them hard on her, and this time pressed down. Her whip went up to block, but soon sparks were steadily flying around her as he pushed in, grinning in malicious delight. With only one arm holding him back…she soon began to slump. Not only that, but the Aegis Armors moved to four equidistant points and all fired at once. She quickly swirled her free hand around her to generate a shield to block it from all sides, but even so, she was visibly straining. A single bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of her head.

"Another worthless bitch…ultimately as pathetic as any other woman." Jay hissed on seeing this.

Faerio still kept silent. She merely glared back at Jay, who continued to look at her hungrily. However, her eyes only held a moment longer, before twitching. When this happened, Jay's own look changed, turning to a bit of confusion, and he looked up and behind him. At once, Faerio's aura flared again, and her whip arm went back and snapped out with a furious crack. Jay snapped back to her at this and quickly blocked…but he was too late. To his shock, he was ripped off of his feet again and cast back ten feet…and a burning, gleaming cut was painted across his chest. His clothing was now smoldering and burning in a gash from the whip. He was stunned for a moment, looking down at himself in surprise at having actually been tagged.

The Sorceress, however, didn't care about him. She cared about what she had seen. Dael, carrying Bahamut on her back, and Cid had broken off from the transport, and were now tearing across the debris back for the other side of the canyon. Two of the Aegis Armors, still shooting at her, however, seemed to notice this as well. Immediately, they snapped away from her and quickly began to fly over to the two of them. On seeing that, however, Faerio focused again…and swept her arm around her. Abruptly, the gleaming shield turned into a shell of heat…and it lashed out in a wave all around her, striking the remaining Aegis Armors and disrupting their fire, pushing them back. After that…Faerio's eyes suddenly began to gleam like coals, rapidly growing larger. She brought her arm back and focused again. As she did…balls of light, each one gleaming and radiant, formed in mid-air and began to be drawn into her palm. As they did, they formed an even more focused, more intense ball of light hovering in the midst of it.

Dael, still holding onto Bahamut, saw the Aegis Armors coming, and grew nervous. She couldn't fight them, not holding onto Bahamut, and Cid didn't have anything left either. Yet even as she feared their coming…she saw beyond them…saw Faerio. The Sorceress now had a gleaming ball in her hand, one even more intense and fierce than the fire from before. As Dael charged forward, her own face turned to surprise as she recognized it.

_I've seen that before…_

A second later confirmed everything as Faerio drove her hand forward at Dael's would-be attackers. Immediately, a burning, loud, fierce, and powerful red stream of light concentrated into a small point erupted and sailed through the air…a Flare spell. It smashed right behind one of the Aegis Armors, and instantly he vanished into a ball of burning light. Dael, even with her own enhanced body, could only stare for a moment, seeing fragments of armor fly everywhere, melting in the process, before what was left was ripped out of the sky like a bullet tearing a target out of the air in a shooting range. The soldier's companion had no chance to react before the wave smashed into him as well, tearing him out of the sky too and sending them both shooting through the air like a rocket into a cliff wall on the other side of the valley. They smashed into it so hard that even when the intense, fiery, piercing explosion went off, it caused more of a sonic rumble in the earth from the eruption moving into it rather than an external explosion, although there was still an intense eruption of fire and heat that exploded from the resulting hole like a geyser.

With that much power, Dael had expected to be blown off her own feet, or to have half of the canyon collapse. And sure enough, a great rockslide did result as the shelf split off from the cliff and collapsed, rushing down and crashing into the stream below. A massive amount of noise and calamity resulted as huge boulders slammed into the water and cast up spouts of water. And yet, Dael soon realized the spell was far more intense than that. Despite how fast Faerio had cast it, it had a massive amount of focus and control packed into it…enough to where Dael hadn't even felt a wave of heat although the Flare had been no more than twenty feet from her at its closest point. She was overwhelmed, even despite her own current situation.

However, the best effect that had resulted from the move was that it had served to remove the last obstacles to her, Cid, and Bahamut, and had distracted the remaining enemy long enough for her to rush over the last of the debris and touch base on the smooth ground again. Afterward, she quickly ran up behind Faerio and toward Cryder, who was moving up behind her. As soon as she met up with the pirate, she spun around and stood her ground. Cutlass out, Cryder was soon at her side, crossing his blade in such a way to be braced partially in front of her. Cid soon joined her other side and snapped around, extending one of his wrenches to also partially cross in front of Dael. In such a way, the two men acted as guardians not for her, but for Bahamut. Faerio soon backed up as well to stand in front of all of them, snapping her whip out one more time to straighten it at her side, and preparing for more action.

As for their enemy, Jay cracked his neck and stepped forward to the edge of the rubble-covered ground, swinging his glaives around. The two final Aegis Armors shifted to either side and landed. They seemed to move a bit hesitantly now…after seeing what Faerio had just done. But in spite of the odds rapidly shifting back in Dael's favor, Jay wasn't the least bit miffed or afraid.

"Looks like Rozan Heirarch was wrong…" He mused aloud. "Instead of wasting time slicing up those weaklings you're guarding, we should focus on whacking you witches."

Even as he said this…the distant noise of engines began to become audible, drifting through the canyon. Dael, in spite of herself, visibly tensed on hearing that. It didn't take long for the noise to grow in volume, and she soon realized it was more than what she heard before. A much larger and better armed convoy. Cryder and Cid began to tense as well, but Faerio stood her ground boldly.

"It's over, Sybenian." She stated. "You've only got two of your toadies left. If you try and fight me now, you'll all only end up dead."

"So you can handle seven of us at a time when we're only armed with lasers. Big deal." Jay sneered. He gestured behind him. "I thought it was a bit of overkill myself, but it seems Raven was right to smell out that one of you witches would try and lend a hand. _Fifty_ of those Aegis Armors, reinforced with shielding and missile launchers as well as lasers, are coming fast. Some of the heavier Adamantoise tanks are mixed in with them. Even that Flare spell you just pulled off can't nail one of those with a single shot…whereas only one of their shells is enough to do the same job a good, old-fashioned burning at the stake would do for you. Of course…none of that really matters now…does it?"

Faerio looked puzzled on hearing this, as did Dael. However, the Aegis Armors immediately took off and backed up. As they did, Jay immediately launched a series of lightning-fast, backward hops, again putting some distance between the two groups. It was almost like an alien or monster the way he did so, Dael noticed, but she soon didn't care about that. As soon as he was a good distance, he extended both arms out to his sides and held his glaives up. A moment later, his eyes began to glow…and Dael felt the wind abruptly pick up. Within an instant, it was strong enough to begin pulling fiercely at her clothing as well as the others.

She tensed at this, and the two at her side readied themselves. However…Faerio herself began to look nervous at this as she braced her whip before her.

"So you can handle tornadoes built for one…big deal." Jay sneered. "How about a nice, big, category 5 one? The Finger of God brought down in this little valley? Even if you can protect yourself, I doubt you can keep the little fleshbags at your sides safe. Heh…I always wondered what it would be like to watch someone get torn to pieces by my biggest move… Guess I'll get my wish, eh?"

With that, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he began to chant. Within only a moment, the wind already picked up so much that Dael felt herself being pulled toward Jay. The others must have done the same, for Cid stumbled and righted himself, while Cryder dug his body in. Faerio herself began to actually spill forward. Cid reached out for her, but before he could, she stabilized again. As for Jay…the sky began to grow darker and more tempestuous around him. The dim light began to fade almost into blackness, and the clouds mounted and grew in the air, beginning to churn over themselves…before starting to circle and swirl. Even as the did, dust and debris flew up, and it became strong enough to already see a spinning motion of air right in front of the group.

"I think this mate is serious, lads!" Cryder called out.

"We've got no choice…try to attack him before he can get the spell off!" Dael cried.

"No!" Faerio immediately called back. "All of you, get back! As far back as you can! Run!"

By now, the wind was so fierce it was snapping their hair in front of their faces as it was being drawn in. The clouds grew more violent and turbulent, until what was definitely a cone began to form…but it rapidly started to enlarge far greater than before. The wind now began to lift pebbles, and quickly shifted to start bringing up fist-sized rocks.

"Hurry!" The Sorceress demanded.

Not pausing to question her, Dael immediately turned, held her grip on Bahamut, and did as commanded to run away. Cryder soon sheathed his blade and did the same. Cid, however, held back a moment, looking anxiously to his mistress. Yet after a moment, he swallowed and did the same. As for Faerio…she closed her eyes only a moment, before opening them again…now gleaming like hot coals. She snapped her whip once…and immediately it blazed forth in bright flame once again, and she began to slowly sweep it around her.

Dael continued to run, the wind only picking up in intensity. Getting farther away from Jay didn't help. If anything, she only felt a greater pull on her. The sounds of the convoy faded over what sounded like a train enclosing as the tornado that was building grew and grew. And, for a moment, she thought that this was futile. Yet then, even as the noise became so loud one couldn't hope to be heard unless they yelled…she heard something. Arcane language. It was soft…but firm and resonating. In fact, she soon realized it had a great power on it, one that seemed to reverberate through the tempestuous air, be carried on the violent wind, echo through the ground…and even be felt within her own body. It only grew in volume as it chanted, and finally, Dael realized what it was. For the first time, Faerio was chanting a spell.

With that, she risked a look behind her.

Faerio was slowly sweeping her whip around in front of her, painting out large flaming designs that only blazed forth with more and more light over time, gleaming bright in the ever-growing darkness. Even as the tornado began to take on a tornado shape and descend to the mountaintops, she continued to chant, not minding at all that rocks the size of cannonballs were now swirling around her with enough power to punch through concrete. She couldn't see it, but in the darkness, Jay only grinned as he chanted his own spell…for massive as the tornado was thus far, it wasn't nearly up to full strength yet. He clearly wasn't frightened.

However, even as the storm came closer and closer to touching down…Faerio finally spoke one powerful word so fierce and strong that Dael and the others actually froze in midstep. When that happened…her eyes went from being coals to being sunbeams, so bright it actually chased away the growing darkness all around. When this happened, Jay's own smile faded, and he looked in surprise for a moment. Dael, stunned again, kept looking at Faerio…and watched as she swung her whip up and over her head for a moment, placed both hands on the handle, and then swung it down with all her might against the road.

It was like no whip crack of this world. It sounded more like a thunderclap had gone off from the impact site. And when it did…Dael saw it. Red cracks like magma beneath the ground streamed out from the sight of the impact, glowing and tracing long, twisted lines all through the road. But it wasn't just there. In the blink of an eye, it shot out around around in all directions, tracing up and down the road, down into the boulders and the creek valley, and all the way up the sides of the rock canyon, tracing out lanes all the way to the top and vanishing over the lip.

Jay actually hesitated a moment, and Dael stared for only a second as the gleaming cracks faded…before the rumbling began.

Her eyes widened as she snapped back forward and shouted again more frantic and fierce.

_"Run!"_

At once…it happened.

The entire valley soon began to thunder as if a billion elephants were running through it. The ground heaved and shook before crumbling right beneath the feet of the fleeing group almost as fast as they could run along it, barely avoiding collapsing into it as it turned to rubble beneath them. The high-walled canyon, the sheer cliffs, stretching hundreds of feet high…all broke apart. The very mountainsides began to collapse. And the rock and tons of dirt, weighed down with thousands upon thousands of tons of water as well as raw mineral material, began to fall down like an earthen waterfall of death into the pass. Dael had no chance to look behind her to see the reaction of Faerio, let alone Jay, but if she could, she would have seen him break off his spell, and the growing tornado immediately fade into nothing. But the rumbling only grew to deafening as massive rocks thundered up and down the valley for countless miles, huge blocks of death crumbling into the narrow space and filling it in within a matter of seconds. The last any could have seen of him was him looking up into the avalanche, before he vanished in a cloud of dust and darkness.

Dael noticed none of this. She only ran as fast as she could go. She had a chance to recover from her earlier struggle with Jay, and she clutched Bahamut fiercely. She feared him slipping more than once from the gel that clung to his body, but she kept charging forward none the less. Cryder was actually pulling ahead of her, and Cid was lagging…but still driven by fear. Somehow, they were all staying ahead of the deluge, if only barely. Dael literally felt the ground sink beneath her more than once. She could feel air and dust blasting her from behind as boulders toppled down behind her. She could even see them in the corner of her vision as she ran along, coming down to crush her and bury her alive. However, she continued to charge forward, not stopping at all, not risking any more looks behind her or thoughts of what Faerio might have done to herself…

Even as they continued to run, however, the rumbling gradually leveled off. Rocks kept falling, but they grew fewer in number. After dashing on for a few more minutes, the slide both slowed to only a few more rocks, and all of the smaller variety. The long, booming, resounding echo through the canyon faded in the distance. The tornado spell broken off, the sky turned a lighter gray as well. Dael, dirty and now a bit tired, slowed to a halt, and the others with her. After that, they all turned and looked behind them…and Dael nearly dropped Bahamut in surprise.

In less than a minute, a half-mile stretch of canyon had been eliminated…cleared from the face of Gaia. All that was left was a titanic mound of rubble. The river, road, and anything else that had been in there was gone, buried under a pile of rocks as far as the eye could see. Only a thick layer of dust was gently falling to indicate and signs of activity or motion. It was so quiet that Dael could hear, far away on what seemed like the moon, the noise of the convoy's engines running. Evidentally, the approaching vehicles hadn't been buried…or, at least, some of them hadn't. But they were definitely stopped, and it would take a quarter of the firepower in Sybenia to be able to clear the rubble from the valley. There was no way they could catch up to them.

However, as things continued to settle, a new concern reached Dael's mind, as it did the others. Even Bahamut she could feel weakly raising his head and looking out, realizing what had just happened. Before the young officer could say anything, however, Cid took a step forward. His face was tight and anxious. He looked over the massive cave in, and Dael could hear him breathing heavy.

"…Lady Faerio?" He called out.

No response…just the settling of dirt and rocks.

"Lady Faerio!" Cid called again, even louder this time. Then, with a sudden frantic tone that upset even Dael, he practically screamed. _"Lady Faerio!"_

For a moment longer…silence. Dael felt herself stiffening, her own heart growing heavy inside her. However, looking at what was before them…a mountainous valley totally filled in by nothing short of the power of a high-rated earthquake…nothing but rubble and stone piled high and thick…she couldn't help but feel despair inside her. The Sorceress had saved them, but how could she possibly escape the own terrible destruction she had wrought? After all, it wasn't as if she was fast like them, possessing great physical power…

Yet even as she thought these things, a few rocks moved within the settling dust cloud.

"I'm here!"

The young officer snapped to the sound of the voice in shock. She heard a gasp from Cid, before the Sorceress Knight exhaled in relief. Immediately, he rushed right for the pile of debris. Even so, Dael couldn't believe it at first…not until a shadow began to move in the cloud of dust. Soon after, covered with dirt, looking like she had a mild limp and a few tears on her clothing, and even abrasions, Faerio stumbled out from the dirt and rocks and made her way for Cid. On reaching each other, Cid was overcome with emotion. He immediately lowered himself and embraced Faerio tightly. She only failed to respond for a moment before putting her arms around him and hugging him back. Seeing this gesture, and seeing their faces…tight with emotion and affection…and Dael realized that nothing short of an older brother and a beloved sister could have such love for one another.

Until now, Dael had never quite realized what it meant to be a Sorceress Knight. Although she had heard some reports to the effect that a Sorceress Knight was often a lover, she soon realized that wasn't always the case. However, it didn't mean that a Sorceress Knight was simply a bodyguard or minion in the service of the Sorceress either. They seemed to be much more…

At any rate, Faerio parted a moment later. "Alright…we still can't breathe easy yet. There's no way they're driving or blasting through this, but if they really do have Aegis Armors, they could fly over it." She looked to Dael and Cryder. "Lead us back the way you came. Move fast and don't stop until we're a mile away."

Dael didn't dispute this. She immediately nodded, and looked to Cryder. The pirate nodded as well, then turned and immediately went down the unbroken road. Luckily, they had come down on the near-invisible path at a distance away, and it had just managed to escape the destruction wrought by Faerio. It would certainly be more unstable now…but she didn't care. Soon she tightened her grip on Bahamut and headed in that direction as well. Faerio tried to limp after them, but she didn't get far before Cid too lowered himself for her to climb on. Dael didn't see it, but the Sorceress frowned slightly before acquiescing, getting on his back and letting herself be carried. With that done, the group quickly cleared the road and headed for the upward trail.

The Esthar's Hawk grew nervous shortly into their journey when she heard the sounds of thrusters far, far in the distance…but she saw neither head nor tails of any Aegis Armor. There was also the sound of heavy equipment moving around, and none of it died down with time…pushing her on all the more eagerly. Even so, Dael thought back to what had just happened. She glanced back behind her at the huge deluge. Granted, all of these cliffs had been unstable from the titanic downpour. Not only that, but they were already sheer and weak, no doubt only a number of well-placed explosives from doing what Faerio had done of their own accord when they arrived. But still…this was overwhelming. She didn't think such a power existed on Gaia. No wonder the resistance in Garrado would not be dying anytime soon…not if it had not one but _two_ of such powers waging such havoc.

And Faerio and Veriguno were the _weaker_ of the four Sorceresses…

Nothing came, however. The group was free to scale the side of the mountain. Charging uphill was quite exhausting on all of them. Dael herself grew quite tired, but she could only imagine what Cid was going through. For a moment, he began to huff, pant, and wheeze, and started to lag behind everyone. Cryder was moments from offering help, when Faerio used her magic again to give him a boost in strength, and soon he was matching pace again. Bahamut offered to walk, but without even a pair of decent shoes on him, Dael knew he couldn't do much, and she kept carrying him. After that, he was silent again. In spite of having been awakened, he seemed very groggy. No doubt, the stimulants wore off, but by then his metabolism was high enough on its own to keep him awake, even if not much else. He started to shiver as they got higher and into the greater altitudes…but by then, they ran into another friend, hunkered down behind a bit of boulders further down the path.

Quaren immediately looked up to them. "There you are!" He called as he rose. "I'm sorry I couldn't help with that last standoff. The rifle jammed and by the time I cleared it he was already making that tornado, and…"

"Quaren, we'll talk later." Dael said as she moved by, not stopping for a moment. "In the meantime…your jacket."

The corporal paused momentarily, but then realized what she was talking about. Pulling off his lighter jacket, he put it over Bahamut's back and helped him slip his arms into it…even as he grimaced a bit at the still-hardening gel on his body. However, with the mountain's chill blocked off, he soon lay normally again. Luckily, he was small enough that, even with Quaren's own thin frame, the jacket reached down over his rear end and the tops of his legs.

The next part of the path was even worse. Jay's attacks had hit well. The previous cliff lookout was now reduced to a sliver of rock only about six inches across, and all of them had a scare crossing it, especially Dael and Cid who had passengers to throw off their balance. It took a bit of slow going, but they managed to get by and to wider ground. Dael risked one last look behind them at this point, back to the valley. However, she could see nothing. The convoy's engines and the Aegis Armor thrusters continued to echo up from it, but faintly now. And after a few more minutes, as the group passed the top of the mountain and went farther away from the canyon, even that faded.

They moved another thirty minutes. The place was still wet, but it had dried considerably by now, so the going was fairly rapid. At length, they came up to a rock overhang from a cliff above the path. Although they were still high on the mountains, Dael realized that it would be hard to see them from the sky there. At that, she quickly led them over.

"I think we can take a chance on resting here for a moment."

No one argued. The group soon moved over to the rock face, and once there, Dael set Bahamut down. Faerio hopped off, although she still winced a bit. However, once on the ground, she went over to the rock wall and sat against it as well. Everyone else soon sat too, Dael moving right next to Bahamut. Soon, she began to reach into her things and emerged with some of the medical supplies, namely disposable cloths that were to be used to clean off dirty areas before dressing them. Bahamut looked up a bit weakly at that…before Dael leaned over and began to wipe around his face and eyes.

In moments, he was frowning. "…Just because I'm content to play the role of a human child doesn't mean I have to take every humilitation that goes with it…"

"I'm just cleaning this crud out of your eyes, nose, ears, and mouth." She retorted as she kept wiping. "Don't need it rotting in there." As she moved him around a bit, her hand went to his scalp…feeling the junk in there. She paused a moment, then reached up and wiped it a bit with her cloth, before frowning and giving up on that. "And there's showers on board the ship we took to get here. You're taking a bath as soon as we get there."

Bahamut looked rather stunned at that, not so much the request as the almost motherly tone in which Dael said it. "…You're joking, right?" He sighed. "Why, oh why, did I say that one comment to you before I attacked the Elite Hounds…?"

Cryder, naturally, snickered at the whole thing. "Then you eat all your supper and go straight to bed, young man." He ribbed.

Bahamut literally began to quiver with as much rage as his weakened body could muster, before, turning a deep shade of red, he used what strength he had to snatch the cloth out of Dael's hand and began to wipe himself off instead. "I don't need your help with this…" He scowled. "And why did you all come back for me in the first place? As easy as it was to get here, you should have realized you were wandering into a trap the whole time."

"Well, you're welcome, you little barnacle." Cryder said with a snort. "Next time, we'll just let whatever demented scientists they got working for Leuco turn you into a curio and leave well enough alone."

Quaren was more subtle. "Bahamut, you really expected us to just leave you to their scientists?"

"I didn't make that move back in Helheim to keep you all out of danger just so you could wander right back into it." The boy snorted. "It'd be better if only one of us was captured than all of us."

Dael, on her part, was at least partially wondering how Bahamut had managed to move at all, but ignored that for the moment as she frowned at him. "If you want to avoid being treated like a child, I suggest you keep quiet before I bend you over my knee and spank you." She snapped in response to this. "We all went to a lot of trouble to drag you out of there, and it had nothing to do with 'duty' or 'logic' or 'cost/benefit' analysis. It had to do with the fact that you're a friend and a friend doesn't leave another friend hanging just because it would be inconvenient to come for them. And as far as I'm concerned, you have a rather pathetic opinion of all of us if you expect us to leave you to rot, one that I find almost insulting."

Bahamut paused after hearing this, stopping his own wiping. He looked around for a moment, seeing everyone staring at him, and especially Dael. The young officer didn't know it…but there was more than anger and irritation at Bahamut's ingratitude in her eyes.

There was, as much as she would deny it if anyone said so, hurt.

And when Bahamut saw this, a small amount of shame passed his own expression, and he bowed his own head slightly.

"…Thank you for coming back for me." He finally admitted. "Everyone…thank you."

Dael looked back at him for a moment, and then gave a half smile. She reached out and, despite the gel and Bahamut's own reaction, ruffled his hair. "Much as I hate to admit it…it was pretty lonely at Fort Morningstar without you."

Bahamut, in spite of his own reaction…turned a bit red at that.

Afterward, Dael looked up and over to Faerio, who was calmly watching everything, but smiling a bit toward the end at the makeup. "Lady Faerio, we're eternally in your debt."

The Sorceress merely snorted, and waved a hand at Dael. "Oh, don't start that." She responded. "You make it sound like I had to demean myself to come to the rescue of my Sorceress Knight and his friends…hopefully _my_ friends. This is the kind of thing I live for. As crazy and wild as things have been on Garrado, I haven't felt so alive since the day I was made a Sorceress. I'm actually making a difference again."

"My lady, how did you know we'd be here?" Cid asked. "And how did you come?"

"In part, it was thanks to you, Cid." Faerio answered, turning to the others. "True enough, we were being pushed out of the main city, but a few of the devices Sir Boer left behind let us continue to monitor transmissions. And I've been listening to them a lot ever since some of the private transmissions said that you all had escaped, but that a boy had been captured. I immediately knew it was Bahamut. Veriguno and I tried to hold out for as long as we could to try and reclaim him, but it was no good. The Sybenians didn't try to move him right away so we didn't know where he'd be, and by the time they did we were pushed out.

"However, we heard a broadcast when they did finally push him out, and we found out that the channel was a code that Garrado and Esthar had both broken long ago. They still used it for non-critical transmissions, but this was a prisoner transfer, and the signal somehow got all the way to where our last few groups of rebels were. We smelled a rat. After all, after the Helheim incident," She looked to Dael here. "The bounty on you and Sir Taraketh had doubled, and both of you were now the most wanted in Sybenia. We got the idea that they were going to use Bahamut as bait to lure you out, and so they were making it easier to find you. When we managed to find out they were using a slow ship, and only transferring him…that removed all doubt.

"Getting off of Garrado wasn't hard. Carbuncle teleported me back to Fort Morningstar, where I intended to warn you, but I found you had already left. So I teleported to Leuco next. The closest I could get was the same landing point that you were shipwrecked on, or so Carbuncle told me. That wasn't very good. I didn't know where to find you, but I knew it would be somewhere along the road. Luckily, although teleportation wasn't one of the spells I mastered, and it wouldn't have helped anyway since I hadn't previously been where you were to establish a presence, I _do_ have a talent for calling chocobos to me, and although it took me a few hours to get out into the wilderness and a few hours of hits and misses…I managed to call up a mountain chocobo. Probably one of the last ones on this continent with all the degradation…but nevermind that.

"I rode as fast as I could to the port to try and head off the transport, but even so it took me a day or so, and on arrival the convoy had already left. However, I did manage to find out the road being taken. As a result…I ran along the road after the convoy. Just as it got in sight, my chocobo finally gave out." She sighed. "Poor bird had been carrying me up and down every mountain between here and the capitol for two full days. I left it and went on foot. As a result, it took me longer than I wanted…but I finally came here, just as the convoy was stopped by your explosion. Now while I may not be able to teleport, I'm good with a little…" She grinned a bit here. "'Show Magic'? A few of my own little pyrotechnics while you were all so busy fighting, and I slipped right in…and you know the rest."

"Once again, we're very grateful." Dael responded. "I'm guessing you're eager to return to Garrado, though."

"Eager, yes." Faerio answered. "Able, no. I told Carbuncle to return to Garrado after teleporting me. He's more use there than here. He doesn't have a signature. He'll have to pick me up when we get back to Esthar."

"So you've just been runnin' around Leuco for a couple days all by yourself?" Cryder asked, rubbing his beard a bit. He grinned soon after. "For a little kid, your ladyship, you're quite a cheeky one."

"Who you calling 'little'?" Faerio responded, giving Cryder a look. "Anyway, if we're all rested…let's get a move on again. I'd like to get back to your ship by dark, and sleep on a real mattress for the first time in a couple weeks…"

"I think it'll still be a bit on the thin side, ma'am…" Quaren responded.

"I second that." Dael responded. "Something tells me they wouldn't have set up all those Aegis Armors just to watch us walk out of here, giant rockslide or no. They probably don't know what to make of it right now, but that's going to change." She turned to Bahamut, and let out an exhaled as she began to inch over to him. "Alright, Bahamut…back up you go."

"For the record…if this ever happens again…" He answered as he began to crawl over to her. It seemed, tough as the kid was, he was already getting a little of his strength back. "Bring shoes so I don't have to do one of these trips piggyback."

"On that note, Sir Boer…" Faerio suddenly spoke up, holding up a hand to Cid, who had begun to approach her much as Dael had done so to Bahamut. "I believe I can walk, for a while at least."

After a moment of getting situated, Dael rose up with Bahamut on her back. "Well…looks like we ended up getting _two_ more passengers instead of one, even if it was a bit harder than we expected… Let's get a move on. Now that Bahamut's back, I'm interested in seeing how Taraketh, Ceja, and Jalab made out…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	34. Of the Dragon's Heart

_Three Days Earlier_

* * *

><p>Taraketh never would have admitted it in public, and especially not to her face…but he wished Dael was here. He didn't know why exactly…other than that they had been forced into so many combat situations together for so long that in spite of his initial loathing of her and the military she represented, he had come to see her as a comrade. Even a friend. And after what she had said back in the meeting with Colonel Regalis, he grudgingly had to admit that he no longer thought her acquisition of a Guardian Force had been a "mistake". In fact, even though it had come about as a result of an accident, he was actually glad she had obtained it. And after being used to doing things with her for so long, now that he knew what it was like to routinely go into situations with a "partner", he felt almost naked without her.<p>

_Thank God for Lady Mianyl's kindness… Had she not regrown my eye, I'd be beside myself at this point._

Instead, he found himself beside a driver once again, and behind him sat one person who he still had a small lingering dislike for and another who merely completely intimidated him to be in the presence of. It hadn't been too terribly long since he found himself on a trip like this, but even now it felt like it had been months ago instead of a couple weeks.

Taraketh, Jalab, and Ceja had barely said their goodbyes and good wishes to Dael's group before they found themselves starting on their own mission. It was a bit unusual now. Although this was government sanctioned and ordered, Taraketh realized they didn't have a single member of Esthar's government helping them. Of course, things were different now that they were officially members of a 'Class M Task Force', or whatever rubbish that was. Taraketh grimaced a bit when he realized that they were now, at least in some capacity, government lap dogs. However, they all seemed to be on the same side now with how Sybenia was reacting, so he supposed he could stomach it, especially since Lady Mianyl had thrown her support behind it. Although he might not have liked to deal with Fuliet any more than Esthar, this mission meant seeing his mentor and teacher again. He would feel glad to have her in Esthar as well. On that note, now still getting used to getting official "clearances" and the like, he departed the compound after getting official passes for himself and his new companions, headed back to the cathedral, and soon found a similar transport to the one they had on their last trip to Fuliet. He had hoped to catch a glimpse of Lady Mianyl while there, but he was soon informed that she spent almost all of her time around the capitol nowadays, trying to stall a riot while at the same time trying to prevent the representatives from giving the people any more reason to riot in the first place.

At the moment, they were in a heavier-duty truck. It was a bit slower than their last vehicle, but could handle a far rougher and more uneven terrain. As time was of the essence, they couldn't march all the way to the campground as before. They needed to get there more quickly. Taraketh was hopeful that this truck could get them to within a day's march. Even so, he was glad for his "little rest". Ceja and Jalab were both obviously people of exceptional physical power, and if he could run alongside them, they might be able to get there even faster.

"Here we are." The driver suddenly called. "We've crossed into Fuliet territory."

"How long until our drop off point?" Taraketh asked.

"Hard to say, sir." The driver responded. "It depends on how close this vehicle can get us. But I'm estimating another eight hours."

The area outside certainly didn't look much better. They had already left the suburban areas behind, and with them the barrier fence that Esthar had erected. A slight different from last time is that there were not one but two groups of workmen servicing it when they left. Taraketh wasn't terribly familiar with Esthar's practices in regards to things like that…but he couldn't help but notice it as they drove by. At any rate, they were back to the broad, arid, and dry landscape. They hadn't even crossed into areas that were terribly rocky yet.

"Sir Tierras."

Taraketh turned his head slightly behind him, to where Ceja and Jalab were sitting. In truth, he offered to Jalab to sit in the front, him being the Sorceress Knight and all. He was rather nervous to even be riding in the same vehicle as him, despite the fact they had already fought alongside each other. The driver was little better. He had been sweating almost the entire time, despite Jalab's polite and calm mannerisms. A moment later, he heard Jalab attempt to speak. The Sorceress Knight had been almost continuously trying to speak to people ever since he arrived in Esthar, and he was slowly but surely improving, despite his heavy accent.

"Yes, Ms. Dracocorazon?"

"Oh…you may call me Ceja, Sir Tierras, since we are both warriors fighting for the same cause. And I hate that whole 'miss' custom that all these 'modern' societies use anyway…like I need to call attention to the fact that I'm a woman. Anyway…I just wanted to say that I am deeply honored that you are accompanying me to my tribe, and I apologize in advance for the way that many of our warriors will react. Please forgive their ignorance. I know now from experience that you are a warrior of great valor and nobility, and you would certainly be the most praiseworthy among us if our warriors were to see that as I have."

"Ah. No difficulty." Jalab responded. He concentrated a moment, then began to speak. "Want to see Lady Cybus. Glad to meet Aizel Kite. Never met before. Powerful warrior."

"He is indeed." Ceja responded. "I am not certain if he will come to Esthar along with Lady Cybus. After all, I'm sure many of the tribes would feel safer with him here. However, I will have to admit that I would feel far more confident if he came. After what happened with those Sybenian jackals…" She frowned a bit at the memory, stiffening. "…He is the only one I can picture defeating them." She paused after saying this, seeming to realize what she just said, and then turned to Jalab. "…I meant no offense by that, of course."

Jalab nodded in understanding. "Indeed. No offense."

Ceja sighed and looked forward again. "My uncle taught me to be the greatest warrior among all the tribes. And even if I am not yet at that point, I would not be bragging to say that I am close to it. Yet still, I was like a mouse before a lion to those warriors. That is a great blow to my pride. I must become stronger yet to avenge my honor and prove myself capable of being a great Fuliet warrior."

"True honor…others give you."

Ceja looked up at that, and even Taraketh looked back a bit more. "What was that?"

Jalab, however, had fixed his eyes on Ceja, although they remained soft and friendly. "True honor, others give you." He paused a moment, thinking for a bit, trying to find the right words, obviously. He finally held up a hand. "Old saying from my people. Kill a thousand men, one thousand voices will never praise you. Save one man, children and grandchildren will praise you."

The Fuliet warrior grimaced a bit at this. "Perhaps your people are more 'civilized' than mine, Sir Tierras. Our tribes live by power, both against nature and against one another. There are generations of hatred between all of us for many past crimes against families and ancestors. The only way we maintain order is by our tribes being too fearful to get into a war with one another for what might happen. Everyone is too afraid of how strong the other might be, and so they don't fight, and we have peace."

Jalab looked a bit puzzled at that. "Peace…through war?"

Ceja nodded.

This only seemed to confuse the man even more. He bowed his head and tried to think. As for Taraketh, he frowned a bit at this. After seeing the Sorceress Knight struggle for a bit, he looked back to Ceja. "I'm afraid you've probably confused Sir Tierras. I don't think the people of the Pallas Desert have a word for 'contradiction'."

After a moment, Jalab raised his head again. "Enemy…have beast…to fight with…" He said slowly, as if trying to make an analogy. "So…you get bigger beast…to fight him… Enemy get even bigger beast to fight back. You get even bigger beast to fight back. Both keep getting bigger beast…so neither owner knows if either beast stronger, so they don't fight…just keep getting bigger beast."

Ceja listened to this for a moment, and shrugged. "In a way, yes."

"Sounds similar to the analogy his people used to use for the arms races in fission bombs years back…" Taraketh threw in. "Which means I already know the moral of this story…"

Jalab soon looked up to Ceja and explained it.

"…What happens when beast get so big, it eat both owners?"

The Fuliet warrior paused on hearing that. In the end, however, she leaned back in her seat and exhaled.

"…I haven't really thought about that. Neither has many others within my tribe or any other tribe." She paused then grimaced again. "But I suppose we already know the answer… A bloodbath. Maybe it will take the form of a minor skirmish or two, but often it's just another war." She looked up to the ceiling. "Perhaps that's what my uncle was trying to avert. Perhaps he grew weary of the endless chain of warrior societies we adopted, and he wanted something different…"

"Not just your uncle." Taraketh threw in. "Lady Cybus has been working for a peaceful solution in that region for years…a _permanent_ one."

"But Lady Cybus, for all her virtues, is still an outsider…along with the rest of the Order of Hyne." Ceja responded. "If there's going to be a solution, it will have to come from within."

Taraketh looked back to her a moment, before lowering his own gaze and sighing.

"Well…you may think I'm making light of Fuliet's problems…but Lady Cybus always taught me that there is opportunity in every difficulty. As much as your tribes would love to tear each other apart, they're at least tolerating living on the same area of land and sharing the same resources as a result of this disaster. Looks like you've all got a common cause forcing you to unite. And you're about to have an even worse one."

Ceja considered this a moment, and actually raised her eyebrows a bit. "…You may be right." She hesitated, and then sounded a bit more enthused. "In fact, I believe you _are_ right. Perhaps this will be enough for us to select a Warchief for the first time in forty years."

Taraketh frowned in response. "That sounds like it would only make things worse…"

Ceja gave him a frown of her own. "That's just the title. You know we have the Nine Winds of the North when the tribes encounter a threat greater than any one tribe can handle. We also have another universal law allowing the establishment of a Warchief, one who not only works together with other tribes to fight but actually has enough power to make rules for _all_ tribes. They have that name because this was supposed to be an individual to unite all tribes against enemies from a different nation, namely in a time of war, but it's the closest you'll ever get to having all of our tribes together under one banner. Although this was intended to be a measure against a nation, perhaps we'll have one if we are uniting _with_ another nation."

The High Child paused and considered it. He had very little faith in the near-savages that lived in this region. They were too obsessed with their own petty conflicts to ever bring about a lasting peace, at least in his estimation. As for this "Warchief", he had a pretty good idea that half of those natives would make things worse than ever if they had command over all other tribes, especially since, no doubt, this position was based on who was the largest brute. Yet he supposed there was nothing else for it. Better to have to deal with one warlord than a dozen…

"Um, sirs? I think we may have a problem."

Distracted from his thoughts by the driver suddenly speaking, Taraketh looked out. He looked at the landscape for only a moment before he realized what the driver had been talking about.

There were about three Basilhounds running in front of them, fanning out so that they were in the path of the truck, but running just a bit faster than it. Soon after, however, they started to slow down, getting closer. There was more than that, however. Taraketh looked around to the sides, and soon saw there were four more, two to one side and two to the other. He turned and looked behind them, just as Ceja and Jalab were getting the idea and did so as well…and soon saw another three behind them. All of them were running in the same way…to close the distance around the truck even as it ran on.

Taraketh couldn't help but grow a bit nervous. He wasn't sure how the Basilhounds acted around here, but the fact of the matter was that no wild animal or monster had come nearly this close the first time they were out here.

"…Is it normal for your vehicles to be approached by the wild beasts?" Ceja suddenly found herself calling. "There were none last time…"

"I'm not familiar enough with this to say one way or the other…" Taraketh responded as he looked around, beginning to sound uneasy. "We have an ultrasound generator in the engine that should be making them less inclined to attack…but I still don't like how close they're getting…"

"I've driven this road a hundred times, sirs." The driver responded, clearly looking the most anxious. "I've never seen them get this close."

"But I've seen this formation before…" Ceja said, tightening up further. "It's what they do when they're attempting to bring down large game."

Taraketh grimaced. "What does that make us?"

He looked back out the window. The Basilhounds continued to close slowly for a moment…before the ones on the side suddenly snarled and ducked in a lot faster. They were soon only within about ten feet of the vehicle, but one of them began to close even faster.

Taraketh's eyes widened. "This is bad… Everyone brace yourself!"

The four passengers did so, just as the Basilhound lashed out and smashed itself into the side of the vehicle, even while it was in motion. It wasn't clear how much damage it did…but the impact was rather severe. Enough to make the entire vehicle rock. If it had been a more "urban" model, then it might have done some damage to the suspension as much as it rocked around. But luckily this one was built to be more "off-road". Even so…it was far more than expected. A moment later, one came in from the opposite side and smashed into it again, making it rock once more. As it still hadn't finished settling from the first, it went a bit wilder. A moment afterward, the first smashed again into the car, going even higher, this time hitting the windshield, for a moment framing its horrible face against the glass.

"What the heck are they doing?!" Taraketh exclaimed.

"This is crazy! They must be rabid!" The driver said as he struggled to hold on through another smash. "They've never gotten this close before! And they've never charged a moving vehicle!"

The Basilhounds struck again, once more going high…and this time actually fracturing the glass a bit. It didn't go all the way through, but it was still enough to make everyone snap in surprise.

"Stop this vehicle!" Ceja called once she recovered from the shock. "We have to fight them!"

"Are you insane?" Taraketh retorted. "If they're attacking this violently now, what will they do when we stop?"

"I'd rather fight on my feet than die in this box with wheels!" Ceja retorted.

Taraketh sighed for a moment, but then held up a hand. "Wait a moment!" He said in an almost irritated voice. After doing so, he looked back out the window. The Basilhounds were coming in again. He stared at one for a moment. Doing a moving target was a challenge, after all, especially given his forte. But he had been practicing, and he felt he could do it, even at this speed. Looking ahead a bit, judging the point of intersection between the Basilhound's path and the upcoming ground, he suddenly held out his hand and began to chant. A moment later, his aura flared for a moment…

Then, outside, a Basilhound made its charge, only for a spike of rock to erupt from the ground and pierce it through the chest. An instant later, and its instantly-dead body was suspended from a rock.

The change was almost instantaneous. Abandoning the armored vehicle, the remaining nine Basilhounds snapped around, broke away, and charged straight for the suspended one. Now clear and stable again, the driver picked up the speed and shot away, even as the Basilhounds dug into their fellow pack member and literally began to hungrily and savagely rip it to shreds. The last Taraketh saw as he looked behind them and they passed up a hill was the creatures throwing entrails everywhere, with the weaker pack members going for those.

"Savage creatures…" He muttered as he leaned back in his chair.

Ceja herself looked out a moment longer, as did Jalab.

"Look like were hungry." Jalab commented. "Starving."

"They _did_ look on the thin side for this time of year…and Northern Rancor should be over by now, so there's no reason for it. I've never seen them act that savage even during the height of Northern Rancor, or that hungry." Ceja responded, finally turning around. "Perhaps they were a bit too wild for normal Basilhounds, but it seemed appetite drove them into more desperation than ever."

"That can't be right." The driver suddenly spoke up. "I've driven this path near and after Northern Rancor. A few of them got close before that looked thin, but always the signal drove them off."

"Maybe the signal's not working?" Taraketh suggested.

"No, it's going fine. I check it every time before I head out here."

"They seemed hungrier than normal…" Ceja mused. "Which means a lack of prey may have driven them to attack. I've seen them attack Tyrant Lizards during Northern Rancor for lack of food. More often than not, they end up making a meal for their quarry instead… But that still does not explain much. This only happens farther to the north. They are always more peaceful near Esthar due to how the country's border defenses keep the predators to a minimum, so there is an overabundance of food."

"Actually, on that topic…" Taraketh answered as he looked out again and over the landscape. "I haven't seen any herds or other grazers in this area…which is the first time I have failed to see them."

"…This is unusual." The Fuliet warrior muttered after thinking a moment. "Even at the height of our worst Northern Rancors, things do not get this bad. And by now, the predators should be less. Why are there more than before?"

"We don't know that for certain…" Taraketh responded. "Maybe the driver's right…they were just rabid. At any rate, let's keep the car going as fast as we can the rest of the way. Who knows how much damage they did to it…"

* * *

><p>Unfortunately for Taraketh, his rare instance of optimism soon turned out to be false. This wasn't the only attack they received, and nor did they just run into Basilhounds alone either. Fuliet Saurons attacked as well, and Devilwings, and a half dozen other species as well. Each time Taraketh was able to drive them off, and did so faster than last time, but the fact that he had to keep using his magic periodically wasn't very comforting. Although the roads grew worse and, as night fell and they went further north, attacks were on the increase, there was definitely no question that they would stay with the vehicle for as long as possible. It would be madness to try and journey on foot through all of these attacks. Assuming the speed of the vehicle was serving as a deterrant to at least some of the species, then one could only guess how violent and continuous the attacks would be if they were going cross country.<p>

Driving off the attacks was easy. A single dead member of their attackers was always enough to make the rest of the pack move off and start devouring their dead companion. Occasionally, they would even start fighting with each other. These weren't just quarrels for dominance or over food, either. That was confirmed as they went along and saw more of the wild monsters of Fuliet preying either on other predator species or even each other. There were also far more predators than before, enough to where seeing them was no longer an uncommon or irregular occurance. Logic suggested that they would see far more prey species than predator ones, but there were none…none except a few of the larger and faster ones that even the biggest predators couldn't bring down, and even most of them were in fights with attackers.

"If this is normal, then I'd hate to see what it's like during the height of Northern Rancor…" Taraketh muttered aloud as they drove along.

"It _isn't_ like this during Northern Rancor." Ceja immediately corrected. "It's worse than ever. Those Devilwings are trying to bring down a Landspanner… They have to be mad…or hungrier than they've ever been…"

This didn't bode well with Taraketh. He was tempted to drive the whole way to the territory of the Fuliet tribes now. However, that wasn't much of an option. The attacks were getting worse. Taraketh could drive them off easily enough, but he began to realize the driver was going to have to go back _without_ him. Already, it was starting to seem like suicide to send him back alone. The only real thing they could do was bring the vehicle all the way with them, but the ground would eventually get too uneven for that. Finally, they realized they could only risk one other thing. They had numerous "tents" (tent packs, not actual tents) in the truck. The only logical solution was to go out as close as possible and then leave the driver with them. The creatures might have been able to resist the ultrasonic signal, but trying to push their way into range of a tent pack would start doing damage to their nervous systems. Even if they could get close, all they'd be able to do was go into seizures. However, there wasn't enough to truly risk splitting them up. There was only seven in all, and should negotiations get "hung up", they could be stuck in the settlement for some time.

After some discussion, there was only one solution…let the driver have all of them. They'd simply have to get so close that they could get within the camp prior to needing to rest.

Night fell eventually, and then the group was truly nervous. They could see countless eyes of all sizes and shapes encircling them over the next few hours, and the road grew so uneven and rough that the vehicle had to inch along. One wrong path would strand them in a ravine…in the middle of night in the wilds of Fuliet. Even the tribes wouldn't be out at night during the calmest parts of the year, let alone now. However, they did have some advantages. Although the creatures were more active at night, they were less inclined to attack due to the lights of the vehicle. They may not have been fire, but they were still unusual. At any rate, they couldn't go much farther before they were forced to stop. When that happened, everyone stayed within the car, but opened the door long enough to put out a tent pack, which served to keep the monsters at bay for the rest of the evening. It may have not been the most comfortable accommodations, and the monsters themselves circled them all night long like a pack of vultures over carrion, but it served to keep them safe.

At daybreak, many of the beasts retreated, although many were active in the early hours. Able to see better, the driver took them a bit further, before the road finally became too much for any of them. After that, they stayed in until the day grew a bit brighter. Finally, when things seemed to get about as easy as they were going to, which wasn't much, considering they saw some predator come by every few minutes, they unloaded. One point they discovered is that the monsters didn't seem too eager to attack the vehicle unless it was in motion and making noise. Although the driver was rather nervous to stay behind, he eventually reluctantly agreed, and Taraketh soon felt it was the right choice when, on departing, the activation of a tent pack drove even more of the monsters off. After taking a moment to gather their things, the group set out once again for the meeting grounds.

* * *

><p>Taraketh later concluded that they had done rather well. As it turned out, they were only about eight hours, now walking distance rather than driving, from the camp. However, it certainly didn't seem like it at the time.<p>

Attacks were far more frequent than they had been before. They couldn't come across even a sighting of a predator without it charging them. Beasts constantly tried to attack, usually in groups. Taraketh was quite skilled, but even his magic and skill with the kusarigama was put to a rigorous test. Ceja, for all her ferocity and agility, was panting and sweating before they had even spent two hours outside. Even with Jalab's assistance, and bringing his own power to bear, they found themselves tired and straining to keep moving forward, although he was, by far, still the most effective. Using his splitting technique, he managed to stop an entire stampede of Fuliet Saurons all by himself.

"In spite of the danger, and my shock at the sheer level of monsters, I cannot help but be thrilled and grateful to see Sir Tierras in combat once again." Ceja responded after that particular fight, wiping an amount of blood from her axe and looking at the broken and burned remains of the Saurons, even as Jalab was forced to breathe a little afterward. "I wish one of our songwriters was here to make a lay of this."

"I'm worrying about a bit more important things." Taraketh responded. "It just occurred to me that word hasn't come from Lady Cybus for some time, and now we arrive and find this place a veritable hotbed of monsters. I'm beginning to fear what's going on up here…"

Ceja didn't respond to this, although the look on her face showed her clear tension.

The monster attacks didn't begin to even level off until the last thirty minutes. Even as they navigated rocky passes and crags, they continued to come at them. Seeing them like this, there was no longer any doubt as to why. Each one was so thin that one could count their ribs from a distance. They were starving, and were so desperate for food that they would attack the first thing they had even the remotest chance of success with that wasn't one of their own kind…assuming they didn't simply attack their own kind as well. Taraketh noticed that Ceja was looking around with more and more alarm as they passed through, confirming that this was not natural. But if not, what would be causing it?

Finally, around the last thirty minutes, the monsters began to die off. Taraketh reasoned that they must have been getting close to the tribal area, although his memory wasn't so good of landscapes that he could immediately tell one way or the other. However, another potential reason soon became clear…a much more aromatic one. Something that smelled like heavy rotten fruit, almost nausea-inducing, began to waft in their nostrils. It only grew more foul as they got closer.

"Bad harvest!" Jalab exclaimed as they went forward, wafting his hand in front of his nostrils to try and get it away. "Mushrooms! Fungus! Black rot!"

"What _is_ that horrid stench?" Taraketh added, almost hissing. "It smells like something was stuck on a stake and left to rot…but I didn't think even carrion smelled that bad!"

"Sir Tierras is more correct." Ceja said as she pulled her shirt over her mouth and walked onward. "That's burnt meat of a Black Fungus…"

"Aren't those things incredibly poisonous?" Taraketh asked incredulously. "And we're breathing it in?"

"Not if you burn just the right amount…although, you're right, it's still risky." Ceja stated. "Let's move quickly. None of us should breathe in too much of this."

She immediately picked up the pace. Pulling his own robes over his mouth, Taraketh groaned and went after her. Jalab merely covered his own mouth and kept walking. Unfortunately, the scent only grew stronger for some time. Taraketh soon tried brushing it away with his hand. After a bit longer, they soon ran into the source. At a distance, there was a brazier burning with hot coals, apparently having some of the material in it. The scent was the strongest from there, although Taraketh struggled to keep his nose aimed away from it.

"Why on Gaia would anyone be stupid enough to burn Black Fungus?" He spoke aloud.

"It's an act of desperation." Ceja responded.

"What?"

"This is our last possible resort that we employ during Northern Rancor. If too many warriors are injured or sick or we simply don't have enough and the monsters are too severe, we have no choice but to heap Black Fungus on coals and let the scent surround the area of our encampments. There isn't a creature wild, strong, or savage enough in this region to risk breathing it in. But it will eventually poison whoever spends too long around it. That's why we only do it if the situation is very desperate… Something bad must be going on in the camp."

Taraketh didn't like the sound of that. Coupled to no contact and the sheer amount of monsters roaming the wild, this was beginning to confirm to him that things were indeed very bad.

Getting through the scent wasn't easy. They picked up their speed even faster to clear it, but it was soon to the point where it was making their eyes water and their lungs burn, even covered up. A bit further along, and Taraketh actually felt his vision begin to blur and the colors of the land around him grow a bit too vivid, the sheer sign of the beginning of poisoning from a Black Fungus. Thankfully, only a bit farther, and they cleared the last brazier, and the horrid stench was left behind them. Nevertheless, he was eager to move fast to get in more fresh air and clear the foulness from his own lungs. Truth be told, he was still dizzy and his senses a bit askew as he moved along. He knew that it would take time for the fungus to wear off on its own, but even if it was wearing off, he was fearful he was still breathing it.

Marching a bit farther, and the area finally began to look familiar. Flat rocks and beaten paths began to show up, the tell-tale sign that they were nearing the encampment. Even the valley began to look familiar. However, unlike last time, there was no sentry. No watchman guarding the way or sounding an alarm. This only made Ceja tense up further. And while Taraketh would normally prefer to avoid as much contact with the natives as possible, he began to grow nervous as well. This was too unusual.

"…I thought we would have run into _someone_ by now…" He finally mused aloud.

"So did I." Ceja answered, looking around a bit nervously. "This is severely unusual."

"Look." Jalab suddenly called, pointing forward.

Taraketh and Ceja did so. The path rounded the hill just up ahead, much as it did last time. A small cloud of material was rising from the other side.

"Seems someone is still here." Taraketh responded. "There's smoke just up ahead."

"Not smoke." Jalab immediately responded. "Dust."

Taraketh looked to Jalab at that, but already saw that both he and Ceja were slowing and staring up ahead. Sure enough, moments later, he began to hear rhythmic claws beating against the ground, showing that it wasn't smoke at all but rather something similar to what happened last time…warriors on the backs of chocobos. He soon stopped and looked ahead as well, just as they came over the side.

"Not this again…" He sighed aloud.

However, he soon tensed up a bit more when Ceja herself tightened, beginning to reach for her axe.

"Prepare yourselves." She stated. "They're not moving to intercept…they're riding to charge!"

Taraketh snapped in surprise to Ceja at that, but in moments realized she was telling the truth. The group had barely finished clearing the hill when one gave one of the Fuliet war cries. The others readily joined in, and soon they spurred their chocobos into a charge. At the same time, weapons rose and came to the ready. Jalab quickly shifted his own staff upward while Ceja finished drawing her axe. Taraketh went for his kusarigama, and, as it turned out, wasn't a moment too soon. One of the warriors had a bow and, without calling a warning or making any demands, fired an arrow at him.

The High Child's eyes widened, but luckily both due to training and his own junction he was able to raise his kusarigama scythe to block. Despite such a small item of protection, he blocked it right and snapped the arrow out of the air…even though the impact was enough to make his hand jerk back. Two more of the warriors were archers, and as the first reloaded, they quickly aimed their own weapons forward and fired off two more arrows in rapid succession. Yet before Taraketh could have the chance to deflect these, Jalab suddenly snapped forward, already swinging his staff in a circle overhead, and soon bringing it down in front of him to guard both himself and the two others. The arrows soon bounced off harmlessly from his shield.

However, even as the archers reloaded, more were coming in, bearing axes, clubs, spears, and other such weapons. One was nearly in range to throw it. Seeing this, Taraketh tightened up, quickly shifted his hammer outward, whipped it around a few times, and then cast it straight for the opponent. Much as he wanted to shift to more serious blows…he had enough of his senses to realize that these people were supposed to be with Lady Cybus, and that Ceja was with them. Furthermore, he didn't want to risk causing a major issue. Hence, he aimed for the chest. The blow connected, and the warrior, strong and fearsome as he looked, nevertheless was knocked clean off of his mount.

Another rode in with an axe. While initially he headed for Taraketh, on seeing his ranged weapon, he shifted targets and road around the shield that Jalab was producing, moving toward Ceja instead. In response, the woman's eyes locked on him hard like a predator, and every muscle in her body tensed as she crossed her axe before her. As the chocobo neared, Taraketh soon got quite the surprise. Moving almost like a Fuliet Sauron, she dashed forward a short distance, and then leapt into the air, easily shooting higher than he expected from a junctioned individual _without_ the load of the heavy axe. Apparently, the rider thought much the same, for Taraketh saw him recoil a moment, before the woman, still shooting forward, snapped her legs out and forward for a thrust kick, knocking this rider off of his mount as well and instantly tackling him to the ground, bringing her huge axe around to pin him with the blade.

By now, the archers had recovered as well, but they hardly had the chance to react, for abruptly Jalab stopped spinning his staff and instead crossed it before him, and then snapped his arms forward. A gale of wind, or perhaps a mild amount of his own aura, blasted forward in a straight line…and it was as if an invisible cord had been strung across the path before them as force knocked the archers and two other riders from their mounts as well. Even the birds themselves were forced back a bit, and gave loud "kwehs" as they realized something had attacked them, filling them with fear. Unlike the others, these turned and began to charge back to the camp, even as their riders landed roughly against the ground.

More warriors had been primed to charge in, but at this point they broke their mounts off and kept their distance. After all, they hadn't been expecting such a brutal and sudden counterattack. They held for a moment, assessing their options. As for Taraketh, he continued to swing his hammer about and eyed the warriors for the first who would get in range. Jalab kept his staff swinging in a circle. Ceja stayed on top of her enemy, pressing her blade against his chest and neck. Another moment passed, in which everyone simply held and looked to one another, no one seeming sure how to proceed.

However, although Taraketh wasn't keeping an eye on it, the one that Ceja pinned suddenly blinked, and looked more closely at the woman on top of him. His expression turned to puzzlement. "…Ceja?" He called.

At this, the woman looked down to him, but her own expression remained fierce and cold. A moment later, she spoke again in a string of words of one of the tribal languages. Luckily, it was in a dialect that Taraketh could translate and overhear.

"What did you mean by assaulting us like that?" Ceja started.

"…Is that truly you, Ceja of the Dragon's Heart?" The warrior responded. "You seem to have washed and dressed yourself like an outsider… Do not tell me you have sided with them."

In response, the woman reached down and seized him by the lapel, gritting her teeth.

"If you doubt that I have my ferocity, feel free to challenge me." She nearly hissed. "You still have not answered my question. And last I looked, I was still a member of the Nine Winds of the North. I'm sure that the chieftains will agree…"

The warrior paused momentarily, but then exhaled. He looked slightly behind him. "You may lower your arms. It's Ceja of the Dragon's Heart, despite her appearance."

The other warriors paused for a moment. They gave an uneasy look to the others. However, mostly pride had been the only thing that was seriously injured, not lasting wounds. As a result, the people slowly complied. Their weapons were put away and lowered. After that, the one still on the ground looked back to her.

"Do you intend to let me up?"

"If you ever plan to answer my question. I'm growing irritated waiting."

The warrior groaned. "We have many enemies as of late…not only our tribe but to all tribes and all of Fuliet. You cannot blame us for being suspicious. Had you been here, you would have discovered it for yourself."

Ceja continued to pin him for a few moments longer. Finally, expression not changing, she pulled the axe off and began to rise.

"…What enemies?"

* * *

><p>Not long after, the group was escorted into the camp. Despite having Ceja in their midst, they were done so even more darkly than before, being surrounded as soon as the warriors had regained their mounts and constantly being stared at darkly and with unease and discomfort. Many of them kept grips on their weapons and looked eager to use them. Of course, this was nothing compared to what happened when they arrived. Things had only gone down south.<p>

The camp had expanded. It seemed additional tribes had joined in, which had to be putting a severe strain on whatever resources were left. But if that wasn't enough, there were areas that were distinctly destroyed. There were signs of vast numbers of claws and hoofprints leading into where, Taraketh presumed, they had storerooms, as well as several of the tents lying in pieces around the edges. These were being salvaged as best they could. The Nine Winds of the North finally made an appearance, and no longer were they sitting idle. They roamed the camp continuously, especially the perimeter, and they looked darkly at the newcomers as they came in. Ceja received less of it, but not much. Even she was not spared their dark stares. She, in turn, stared coldly back, enough to make many of them balk.

Taraketh had ended up picking up precious little when the warrior spoke again. Seeming to have distrust for himself and Jalab, he had shifted to a different tongue that Taraketh knew only a small amount of. What he did pick up wasn't good. The warrior spoke continuously of death and attacks, talking about large numbers of monsters but also singular deaths. The monsters, at least, were obvious enough. Taraketh could tell that simply from their trip there as well as the damage to the camp. Even Jalab, who had not been there before, looked uneasy, seeming to pick up on the discomfort of the people. And there was plenty of that to go around. When the tribespeople, now overcrowded and forced to live in cramped, dirty, and overused conditions, weren't scowling at the three of them, they looked distressed and anxious. Many of them looked fearful, and no one person's eyes stayed on the ground, but constantly glanced around their neighbors. Taraketh had not seen this much distrust earlier when the people had the luxury. Now they seemed ready to accuse those around them at any moment. Even those going down to the thinning river looked to each other with hostility, as if they didn't care to dip their containers for water into the drink each time alongside each other.

More tension arose almost as soon as they entered the camp. More members of the Nine Winds of the North surrounded them, all with hostile looks. The higher ranking ones began to accost them in yet another dialect, this one that Taraketh had no knowledge of. He had to leave it to Ceja, who argued in response, and grew quite vocal and violent herself. In fact, both tightened up on their weapons before long. As this took place, Taraketh caught many others in the crowd giving her dark looks. He had no idea they would be so unreasonable over a fashion change…

Luckily, they received a break. Abruptly, the crowd began to part, almost like birds fleeing an incoming animal, and a larger and more powerful man stepped forth. As his shadow came over them all, his body almost seeming to radiate his presence and power, Taraketh realized it was Aizel. He looked to him briefly along with Jalab, and immediately both bowed their heads in respect. Soon after, another dialect came forth, but it was the tongue Taraketh knew.

"What is the trouble here?"

"Ceja of the Dragon's Heart returns bringing more outsiders." The one who had initially accosted them stated. "Ones that come armed."

Aizel glanced to them only once with his normally impassive, stony stare, and then back to one in the lead. "These are no enemies. Do you not recognize members of the Order of Hyne? They have come to see her ladyship."

"In a time such as this," The warrior began to protest, actually turning to face Aizel, even though he had to look up to him, and growing more fearsome. "We can do without any other foreign outsiders. The gods know the ones that have come so far have done little to improve our situation-"

At this, however, Aizel's voice seemed to gain a new power to it as his eyes blazed, even though he didn't even raise his voice.

"And neither have they done anything to worsen it, but have only been pushing for things that we should have done long ago. Are the tribes of Fuliet completely without honor, little better than savages, that they attack like dogs anyone who wanders into the grounds? Judging by the looks of them, that is what you did."

The leader seemed to be cowed a bit by this, but continued. "They wandered in armed…"

"As would anyone who wasn't a fool wandering Fuliet, especially as of late. You should know that better than anyone. This is one of the highest members of the Nine Winds of the North, the former student of Lady Cybus, who has never once dealt double with any tribe nor failed to give sound council, and a Sorceress Knight of the greatest nobility…and you treat them like Fuliet Rats. It is true, I may have forfeited my voice to the affairs of the Nine Winds of the North when I became the knight of her ladyship, but I was of the opinion that my voice still holds sway here, if for no other reason than to point out your foolishness spawned from panic and unease, rather like a young rabbit that goes blindly into a trap when their wits leave them."

Here, Taraketh felt a ripple go through him at what was said next. Even without magic, Aizel was not one to deny.

"And furthermore…I would take care that you do not say anything again that would indicate an affront to the honor of my lady, or I am bound both by my code as a Fuliet warrior and a Sorceress Knight to defend her honor. And I _will_ do so…and I must say that the consequences will not be good for you. I am fearsome enough when defending my own life, but knowing that defeat would mean Lady Cybus would be dishonored…and you will find a Red Dragon more agreeable than me."

Everyone was uneasy at that, including Taraketh along with everyone else who hadn't been personally addressed by those comments. A wave of cold seemed to shift through the people. However, it was not without effect. People were already pulling back, seeming almost involuntarily. The last bit of thunder had been driven from the leader. Seeing the powerful and intimidating Sorceress Knight before him, he paused only a moment more before bowing his head and retreating. When that happened, everyone either followed suit if they hadn't done so already, or sped up if they hadn't. In moments, the three stood free and clear.

Aizel turned to them all soon after. He looked over each one. In spite of the fact that he hadn't been hostile to them, Taraketh felt unease, and he knew the others did too. Yet after a short time, he saluted Ceja using a tribal greeting, which she immediately returned. He looked to the High Child next. At once, Taraketh dropped into a one-legged kneel before him, bowing his head, before rising again. Aizel bowed his head, crossing his arm before him, in response. At last, he looked to Jalab.

The two needed no introduction. He actually stepped forward a bit, and soon gave the same salute to him. Jalab, smiling back, soon did the same. Aizel did not return it, however, nor did he seem to give any warmth or friendly response to the desert monk…simply the "respect he was due". Taraketh, on witnessing this, couldn't help but feel a small twinge inside him, but he ignored it. After all, this wasn't his affair. Once this was done, however, Aizel looked to all of them.

"Lady Cybus is eager to see all of you. We are in need of assistance."

* * *

><p>It upset Taraketh somewhat to see Lady Cybus the way she appeared. Being the oldest of the Sorceresses, she was a product of an earlier age, prior to the Depression, when, at least to the words of older generations, the world had been more "polite" and "civil". She <em>did<em> have a devotion to manners. When Taraketh had first arrived in the home for Children of Hyne that she had been supervising at the time, she almost immediately greeted him with wiping off his filthy face, straightening his clothing, and telling him to tie his shoes. She was always committed to discipline, and could be almost like a drill instructor (albeit a gentle one) in how she commanded that each Child of Hyne carry out their chores dutifully and with great care, to adhere to the rules, and to always maintain a presentable and neat appearance. To the outside observer, it would appear she was just some strict boarding school teacher who had little true love in her heart, just rules.

But such couldn't be further from the truth. Whenever the windows sparkled and the floors were spotless, she would lavish praise on the students. She would command them to clean their plates, but would sit right next to them and eat from the exact same pans and pots, so that if the food had been burned or foul in any way, she would be the first to excuse them and would feed them all herself, putting on an apron and going right in the kitchen. She made everyone adhere to the rules but was always, _always_ fair. When they got into their neatly made beds in their clean bedclothes, she would always read to them in a lively tone. She was always there to pick up someone who fell, bandage a scrape, and dry a tear. True, when a small child had a nightmare and was in inconsoleable tears, she would refuse to ever allow them into her room to spend the night. Rather…she would unroll a mat on the floor of their room and sleep right beside them. She taught Taraketh the meaning of discipline, responsibility, and duty…but she also taught him the meaning of kindness, sacrifice, and mercy, and that the two "schools of thought" were not mutually exclusive.

Therefore, this was upsetting to him. Just as he would have expected of his mentor, she had done herself up perfectly…but hastily. He could tell that from her work. He also saw the circles under her eyes that she had struggled to hide, and the stiffness in her movements…signs of exhaustion in someone her age. He noticed her head hanging a bit lower and her clothing being just a little bit unadjusted.

Taraketh hadn't seen her like this in quite some time, not since one of the new Children of Hyne that had arrived at the cathedral had an infection that forced both of his legs to be amputated at the age of seven many years ago. It had been too late for magic to save that one, even though he knew Cybus stayed awake for 28 hours trying. She would have done so longer, had not she had to choose between spending more time trying to heal him or letting doctors operate before he risked losing more than just his legs. Already, Taraketh knew, she was haunted by the fact that he had only needed _one_ leg amputated when he arrived, but that her attempts to save it had allowed the infection to claim his other as well. It was no doubt one of many things the woman kept on her heart, but never showed anyone, for she came from an age where one never burdened their charges with personal problems, and she was nothing if not "proper".

"You do my heart very good to see you here, Sir Sabian." She greeted once they were all situated in her pavilion. No longer forced to stand, they had first bowed in greeting and then been told to sit before her. Aizel alone still stood, off to one side and looking as impassive and formidable as a mountain of granite. The woman soon looked out and nodded to the others. "It's good to see all of you. Ceja…you look like you have grown much already in more ways than one. And Sir Tierras…it's been too long." She looked back to Taraketh soon afterward. "And I'm glad to hear the news. Even if Esthar is only willing to consider an alliance with Fuliet for ultimately selfish reasons, it is better that it happen now rather than never at all. And if Lady Mianyl is behind the deal, then I'm certain it will ultimately be for the best."

"So you and Sir Kite will return with us to Esthar as soon as possible then, my lady?" Taraketh responded. "I wish we could conduct you more formally, but we'll still have to hike most of the remaining day to return to the truck. Perhaps it would be better if we waited until tomorrow."

Cybus paused momentarily at this, but then exhaled and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Taraketh. It's impossible for me to leave the tribes now. As it is, I've been working continuously to keep them from tearing each other asunder, and things only look like they'll get worse before they get better. We're in the midst of a terrible catastrophe."

Taraketh paused momentarily on hearing this. "…What sort of catastrophe?" He finally answered. He looked to his side momentarily, toward where Ceja was seated. "I overheard some of the discussion that Ceja had with one of those warriors who tried to assault us, but I didn't get everything."

"To be honest, neither did I." Ceja answered, partially to Cybus. "Much of it didn't make any sense. Northern Rancor should be over, and yet the beasts are more fearsome than ever?"

The Sorceress nodded. "That was only the beginning of the trouble, I'm afraid. Things had been getting progressively worse even before you left, Ms. Dracocorazon. But in the time that has followed, matters are now quite out of hand. As you all no doubt noticed, the tribe coalition is now larger than ever. And it looks to be getting larger. The only reason we are not even more overrun is because other coalitions have formed wherever there is water within Fuliet, and things are now simply a matter of joining with whoever is closest. And there are many other smaller tribes 'squatting', as it were, along the perimeter of the official boundaries. Yet it seems none of them will be able to join in due to the recent changes…

"But I'm growing ahead of myself. You no doubt saw it all on the way in. The predator populations are larger than ever. Prey species have nearly been eliminated in many areas, and now they feast on whatever they can find, including each other. The Nine Winds of the North have gone on one expedition after another, and Aizel and I have accompanied them on many. Yet the populations continue to swell. If it were any worse I'd claim it was unnatural…"

"What _is_ causing it?" Ceja interjected. "Pollution from Esthar? An unusual season? Something driving them south?"

"I have no idea." Cybus answered. "No one does." She leaned back a bit and let out a heavy sigh. "I'll admit, even after so many years in Fuliet, I will not pretend to know everything about the way the animals and monsters of this land work. That is left to the huntmasters, who seem to almost be of the same mind as them. And yet…they can say nothing, only that the monsters are both mad and hungry. With little other option, I turned to the shamans of the tribes. I spoke with them, and, strangely enough, all are in agreement."

"About what?" Ceja asked, leaning forward more.

Cybus looked up. "They say that the land and stars are 'sick'. The word they specifically used is not the one they use to refer to rot or decay or illness or even sadness. Rather, it is the word they use to refer to when one's own heart and soul are corrupt…"

Taraketh stiffened a bit at that. The way his mentor said that, it was almost unnerving. He would be the first to accuse the Fuliet shamans of clinging to meaningless superstition, but the way in which Cybus spoke…it was almost as if she believed them.

"Whatever the cause…" Cybus continued. "Its effects are unquestionable. Every day more members of the Nine Winds of the North come back injured, or worse. The monsters not only increase in number but ferocity as their hunger and madness grows. Warriors who are accustomed to felling their prey in a single strike see their mortally wounded foes arise and charge to inflict a blow. And as more of them go out of service, more people arrive. Even before the latest turn of events, the resources were getting low. I don't even want to mention how hard it has been to deal with the refuse without causing a pandemic to outbreak in the camp… Since every tribe was being forced together, eventually I managed to send messages out to all of the remaining group encampments within Fuliet on behalf of the tribal heads. They, in turn, sent their own tribal heads, and an agreement was made: a new Warchief must be elected to unify the warriors of Fuliet against this disaster."

Taraketh looked slightly to Ceja here, who had looked up herself. "Seems they read your mind, Ceja. They're already on top of getting a new leader."

Cybus, however, frowned a bit more at this, causing Taraketh to look back. "Not nearly as 'on top' as I would prefer, I'm afraid." She responded. "As Ceja no doubt is aware, a Warchief is chosen via election of tribal leaders, normally from among the tribal leaders themselves, who compromise the best warriors within Fuliet. Even so, no one is eligible unless they become a Shenindunten…which is a compact way of saying 'Supreme Hunter of the Rocky Passes'."

"The ultimate hunter's challenge…the greatest task for a Fuliet warrior." Ceja immediately added. "To complete it, a warrior must slay the three deadliest monsters of Fuliet in a single day, with no rest or assistance from others. There are few who have ever managed to complete it. I myself only know of one…and he's already in our midst."

To punctuate this, Ceja looked to Aizel. The warrior, in response, showed nothing.

"Unfortunately, as Aizel has rendered himself inelligable due to his service to the Order of Hyne, that means that his own accomplishment does not count in this situation." Cybus responded. "Therefore, many others as of late have tried. Some, perhaps, for reasons of their own glory and seeing the chance to make all tribes adhere to their ideals. Others of more like mind to Ceja. Still others simply wanting to see a unified Fuliet for the crisis. Several leaders and strong warriors immediately took up the challenge some time ago." Here, the Sorceress' face went grim. "None have succeeded so far…but only _some_ due to failing to hunt their quarry. Someone has been killing the candidates."

Everyone went wide-eyed at this. Taraketh actually leaned back a bit. However, Ceja was the one who was the most stunned.

"…I heard something from the warrior that people were dying during the challenge, but I assumed it was due to their quarry. You don't mean to tell me that someone has actually been murdering the candidates, do you, Lady Cybus?"

"I do indeed." The woman darkly responded. "Most of the warriors who went out failed to either find all three targets by the end of the day or returned early, unable to complete the hunt. But two of the chieftains failed to return at all. Members of the Nine Winds of the North, led by Aizel, went to claim their bodies…and found that scavenging creatures had gotten ahold of them already…not their quarry. Furthermore, both had already completed two of the hunts and had been going for the third, obviously, but neither were found anywhere near the nesting or hunting grounds of any of the three beasts. We assumed something had befallen them…some other creature had killed them. The next day, when another group tried, however, we found two more dead in a similar way. This time, one of the others who quit the hunt said he encountered one of the victims presumably minutes before death, and saw that he was healthy and able…hardly in the shape to be defeated by lesser monsters. On the third day…_three_ were dead, and this time a witness claimed that one of the warriors had simply abruptly fallen down dead. When he inspected the body, he saw no signs of a snake or scorpion, and no puncture wounds. At this, I commissioned Aizel and others to look on the next hunt…and soon two more were dead. Both in the same way…seeming to abruptly die of their own accord with no wounds.

"Investigating, we soon saw something in common that all of these mystery deaths had…" Cybus continued, still just as dark. "Tribal chieftains had been targeted, and all but one of the victims were those who had completed two of the three challenges of Shenindunten…in other words, those only one hunt away from completing it. Furthermore, on the one who had only completed one hunt so far…it was an individual that Aizel's party was moving to investigate and was moments from completing another hunt."

Taraketh frowned on hearing that. "…In other words, it seems the source of these mystery deaths was fearful that he would be spotted if he waited until after the second kill had been made, and so he attacked beforehand to ensure that he could catch you unawares."

"A murderer." Jalab grimly stated. By now, his own look had turned as dark and firm as that of Aizel.

"I think the correct term, in this case, Sir Tierras…would be an 'assassin'." Cybus sighed in response. "A clever and cruel one too. He clearly knows the ways of the tribes and knows them well. He knew where to find his targets, both when crouching for prey or moving in between. He knew where to set himself up as well, it seems. And he also knew the kind of approach that Aizel's party would take in order to remain hidden while they committed their murder."

"That…or he was a member of the party the whole time." Taraketh murmured.

"I haven't overlooked that either." Aizel responded, and Taraketh, ever deferential to authority, cringed a bit at that.

"Even if the similarities weren't obvious, the results remove all doubt." Cybus continued, leaning back up. "The people were already getting suspicious when mystery deaths started occurring on the hunt. Soon after, when it was announced that we had a killer in our midst, accusations started to fly. Much of it is insults to each other, every tribe blaming their enemy for carrying out the deed. But some blamed the Order of Hyne or other 'outsiders'. I still have some sway here, but as the nature of the deaths was never determined, 'magic' has been thrown around more than once, and I'm sure if it wasn't for Aizel's own presence that I would be met with the same hostility as you three were met.

"Everything has gone horrible. Mistrust is everywhere, and this time, we haven't the luxury of space. Hunting parties are smaller due to the distrust, and because of the swelling populations, there have been more deaths, almost to the point where the hunting has had to cease. Now the monsters, unchecked, have grown wilder than ever. That is why we started burning Black Fungus. But even if this wasn't risky, it won't last. Yet that's nothing compared to what's going on within the encampment. Hostility grows by the day. Just yesterday brawls began to break out. Soon there'll be riots. And it's only a matter of time before one of them reaches sufficient size to cause a war to break out right in this very encampment, where children and non-fighters reside…and, when its done, there'll be nothing out there except more monsters attracted to the scent of carrion."

"Sybenia." Jalab flatly stated in response to this. "Hounds of Sybenia."

"The people who suspect outsiders may be more right than they think." Ceja threw in. "Jalab's right, this is the work of those mongrel spies. I'd bet my right hand on it. It seems they have some hunter mentality within them after all. First they scatter the herd into individuals, and then they pounce upon it. Even if it doesn't come to war, the tribes will be more distant and separate from each other than ever…all the easier for them to conquer when they arrive."

Cybus gave a dark nod. "You're probably correct, Ms. Dracocorazon, especially if what you told me about how the world had changed is true. However, one cannot overlook the fact that whoever committed these murders clearly understood the way of a Fuliet warrior…better than any foreigner could have."

Jalab's look narrowed. "…Traitor." He stated.

Ceja herself began to stiffen on hearing that, her face turning to anger.

"It seems the greatest fear of the people of Fuliet was justified." Cybus sighed again. "Someone has arisen who succumbed to the lure of riches or power of the 'civilized' world, and is now operating on their behalf."

Taraketh suddenly leapt a bit in surprise as Ceja slammed her fist against the floor so powerfully, thanks to her enhanced strength, that although it was dirt it still sent a ripple through it.

"This assassin must be found and killed at once."

"It's my understanding that every warrior in Fuliet seems to have their own 'weapon', more or less." Taraketh threw in. "So I'm wondering…perhaps an autopsy would point us in the right direction?"

Cybus shook her head. "I'm afraid that's out of the question. The natives of this land abhor the idea of desecrating the dead, even for such a purpose as that. But even if they didn't, the custom of Fuliet is to burn the dead as quickly as possible to keep them from attracting the beasts. The few bodies that were intact that we sought to investigate ourselves were demanded by the members of their own tribes. We had no choice but to hand them over or spark the very riot we mentioned. As for the investigation of the tribe themselves, they turned up little. No markings on the bodies, and yet they were dead. They did the 'red blood' test to see if they were merely paralyzed by venom from one of the creatures of Fuliet, and the blood was dark."

Ceja raised her head slightly to this. Jalab elevated his head as well and looked to her. However, if either of them planned to say anything, they didn't get the chance as Taraketh spoke up again. "I'll bet it was poison, and introduced by some method that the natives are unaware of. It would be perfect for a tribe of Fuliet. A method of death they weren't even aware existed."

"It would explain a great many things." Cybus responded. "And in that case, it wouldn't matter if we performed the autopsy or not. We're hardly a forensics laboratory, after all."

"How has the investigation gone?" Taraketh continued. "Any suspects yet?"

The Sorceress again bowed her head. "I'm afraid _everyone_ is a suspect, Taraketh. In these cramped conditions, it's easy for an individual to move in and out of a crowd and vanish. We're surrounded by people who don't know who each other are. Most of the hunters are used to slipping to and fro and evading stalking predators, let alone fellow tribesmen. To lend more support to your theory, Ms. Dracocorazon, no one has been spared the wrath of these attacks…which, unfortunately, means we can't find anyone who would personally benefit and makes all the tribes accuse each other equally. And that is all that any investigation had turned up so far, for the most part…stereotypes, name-calling, dragging up of 200 year old grudges…nothing concrete. No actual facts."

Ceja leaned forward again at this, her look growing more fierce. "If we cannot sniff out the traitor from within the pack, then we must lure him out and then perform the kill."

Cybus merely shook her head again. "I'm afraid that's not possible, Ceja. The only time these murders occur is during the Shenindunten, and the culprit knows how to evade Aizel and those with him. No one has attempted the hunt since, and so the murderer remains blended in with the crowd."

"We _cannot_ let this dog get away with this!" Ceja nearly shouted in response. "We are faced with a far greater foe and we have an opportunity that has not come in many years! We cannot allow the fears and suspicions of our people to ruin this, or we will be the ones to fall long before Esthar! This culprit must be caught, unmasked, and his sins proclaimed for all to hear so that we can put this incident behind us! Surely there must be someone still wanting to go on the Shenindunten?"

"But Ceja, you know full well that not just _anyone_ can go on this hunt." The Sorceress answered. "Only the greatest warriors in Fuliet would even have a chance. It's more than likely that even had this assassin not struck, the hunt alone would have been the end of these candidates. We would never have had as many candidates willing to take the trial had not times necessitated a Warchief. Aizel is the only other man who we know to be capable of this task, but even if he had not already completed the hunt years earlier, he would be disqualified for his ties to the Order of Hyne."

Taraketh crossed his arms. "And our sneaky killer isn't going to make more work for himself either. He'll only strike if it looks as if someone might actually complete the Shenindunten. So that means that it's not enough for someone to just say they'll participate and then throw in the towel after a few hours. It would have to be someone who would actually come close to completing it…maybe even go all the way."

A moment of silence passed in the chamber as everyone thought over these things. To be honest, much dislike as Taraketh had for the savagery of the tribes of Fuliet, he liked this even less. It only made things worse. Besides, there was the blatant fact that murder was murder, no matter who carried it out and who the victims. And he hated anyone who would do that. But now what could they do? In a matter of days, the people might tear Lady Cybus apart, but until that day came she was going to use all of her influence to try and maintain peace. And even if he disliked the natives, it didn't mean that he wanted to see them all tear each other to pieces, especially all the innocents in their midst who might yet grow up one day to do something besides hate and kill one another.

At last, however, Taraketh heard a shift nearby. He turned and looked to it, as did the others, and saw Ceja abruptly rise. However, her look was hard, determined, and focused…every bit the fearsome warrior they had first seen. Her hands were balled into fists as she looked to Cybus.

"…It seems the issue to me is quite clear. We need only another candidate to take the Shenindunten in order to draw this dog out of his den. In that case…I will take the challenge of the Shenindunten."

Taraketh was only a little taken aback by this. Jalab, however, tensed up more…more than the High Child would have thought. Cybus' mouth actually loosened. Even Aizel looked slightly surprised. However, after a moment, the Sorceress shook her head.

"Ms. Dracocorazon, I couldn't ask you to assume such a risk."

"You never did." Ceja retorted. "I just proclaimed my own intent, and as a warrior of age in Fuliet, none can deny me the opportunity."

"But dear, is this even something you want to do?"

"Desire would be meaningless. This is something my tribe needs whether I wish to carry it out or not. But yes, I do. My uncle always taught me to see Fuliet as one nation, not as a group of hungry dogs trying to outfight each other for whatever meat comes their way. If I succeed in this endeavor, I will be the only one who will have passed the Shenindunten…and therefore the only candidate for Warchief."

Taraketh reacted a bit to that. He hadn't considered that fact…but it was true.

"And as Warchief, I will order that each tribe put down their petty rivalries, rally under one banner, and join in with Esthar to repel our common foe."

Cybus slowly exhaled as she leaned back again. "Those are noble goals, Ceja. And I have no doubt that you would indeed do all that you said. But you must be rational about this. Warriors have spent weeks, months…even years preparing to take the Shenindunten, focusing only on how to approach hunting these creatures."

"Do you deny that I am one of the greatest of the Nine Winds of the North?" Ceja responded.

The Sorceress raised a hand to the bridge of her nose. "…I didn't say that, Ms. Dracocorazon. I'm saying that even that might not be enough."

"You said so yourself that there are no other candidates. Am I not the most qualified among those who are left?"

"Think about this a little harder, Ceja." Taraketh threw in. "Let's say that you did do this, and that Aizel and his men tailed you to ensure that the assassin wouldn't strike. He's evaded all other warriors so far. No disrespect to Sir Kite…but what's to say he won't do the same again?"

"He did that because he knew of the hunt beforehand as well as those who would be pursuing him." Ceja answered. "Therefore…this shall be a secret. None shall know that I took the trial until I return with all three kills."

Jalab's jaw loosened. Not only that, but the others looked surprised as well.

"On seeing that the very goal he fought so hard to prevent had been accomplished, he will have no choice but to panic into error." Ceja explained. "So long as no one outside of this tent knows that I am going on the Shenindunten, then it will be a surprise on my return. He will have to risk a strike, and a sloppy one. And when he does, and he is caught and exposed, it will be before all of the warriors and tribal heads coming out to welcome the victorious hunter back…so that his crimes may be presented before everyone."

"…But that means you would _have_ to complete the Shenindunten." Cybus maintained, her own voice growing uneasy. "And there would be none to help you in the wild."

"Such is the normal conditions of the hunt." Ceja simply answered.

Jalab looked like he wanted to say something, but either due to lack of words or hesitation, couldn't get it out.

"But dear…you are the last living member of your family's line." Cybus maintained. "If you die without any offspring, it means your line is over. The name of your family will be struck from the tribal records."

"So be it." Ceja stated defiantly. "Every day a Fuliet warrior breathes on his or her native soil is a risk of death. At least this would be for a great cause. Not just my welfare or that of my tribe but everyone in this region. My uncle raised me for a time like this. I'll dishonor him by not seizing on it."

There was a pause from everyone at that. Cybus still looked rather uncomfortable. As for Taraketh…he was forced to once again have some of his dismissive attitude thrown back in his face. This was something that was very noble, no two ways about it. Ceja wasn't fighting for her own glory but for the survival of her people, something that many of them might never appreciate or understand. And she was doing it by pressing a target on her own head. He was so lost in these thoughts that he failed to note Jalab…who looked to Ceja almost anxiously.

"Ceja…" He said quietly.

However, at the same time, Cybus drew in a deep breath and nodded. "…Very well. If we cannot dissuade you, then we can only encourage you. How soon do you plan on taking the trial?"

"Tomorrow." Ceja instantly answered.

This made the Sorceress react again in fear. "…Ceja, please…if you insist on taking it, at least give yourself a few days to prepare for the hunt."

"We have none." The warrior responded. "The tribes grow more hostile by the day, and if I go about the encampment preparing, I might as well sound forth that I intend to take the trial and the surprise will be in vain."

Cybus hesitated, but in the end acquiesced. "Very well then." She turned her head to her Sorceress Knight. "Aizel…I want you to take Ms. Dracocorazon under your wing and tell her as quickly and completely as possible all she needs to know to hunt the three beasts of the Shenindunten, and practice as you are able or time permits. You have until sundown. In the meantime, I'll personally see that Ceja is given a full and energetic meal this evening and that all of the gear she takes with her is in full order and prepared." She turned back to the Fuliet warrior at that. "Ceja…at the risk of sounding like an old nanny, make sure you get to sleep as soon as you are done eating. You'll need all of your energy and focus tomorrow."

"Lady Cybus." Taraketh interjected.

The Sorceress and Ceja looked to him in response. Immediately, Taraketh rose to his feet and stood at attention before her.

"I request that I be allowed to join in with Sir Kite's party." He stated. "Even if the assassin strikes, he or she will likely do so from a place where no one is looking. If so…then you'll need all the extra sets of eyes that you can obtain. And since I am one of the few privy to this entire arrangement, I feel it's best that I be one of the group."

Cybus, Aizel, and Ceja looked to Taraketh for a moment. However, before they could render a verdict, another movement was heard. Taraketh looked to his side, and saw as the formidable body of Jalab rose to his feet and gave a nod.

"I too." He stated.

The Sorceress looked over both for a moment, and then turned to Ceja.

"…I am certain that Ms. Dracocorazon would feel much more at ease to know that she had both another Sorceress Knight and my greatest student acting as her guardian angels."

Ceja looked back to the two of them briefly. After a moment, however, she crossed an arm in front of her and gave a bow, a salute for her tribe.

Cybus nodded as well. "If that is settled, let us begin."

* * *

><p>The signal to begin was always the same for the Shenindunten. As soon as the Dawn Star, Mumtauk, disappeared from view in the first light of the dawn beginning to come from over the horizon, the hunt would begin. As soon as the Dusk Star, Lendril, appeared in the sky that evening, the hunt would be concluded. Hence, a full thirty minutes before the disappearance of the Dawn Star, when it still seemed pitch black outside, Ceja was already prepared.<p>

She had lost her clothing from Esthar, intending to do so for good, and donned on the warrior's garb of a member of her tribe, with reinforced, cross-woven, boiled leather to act as some measure of armor while still allowing her to be fully motile. Her axe had been sharpened and decorated ceremonially. Dusty, dry paint had been applied on her face and bare skin to act as camouflage, and an extra supply was put into her pack. A cloak of thin hide tinted to the color and pattern of the rocky landscape added to that, loose and little more than covering so that she could move freely. Her pack also contained a small amount of food, mostly high-energy containing sustenance, water, tools to mend her armor and sharpen her axe, tools to properly dress her kills and obtain her trophies, and other things she would need. Aside from a few bandages and a bottle of acrid native medicine, the only other piece of medicine was a hollowed-out quill located with anti-venom for one of her targets. It was in there mostly for tradition's sake. Assuming that she could inject herself with it before she fell down dead, she would lapse in a comatose illness for the next three months…and with no one there to help her, she'd be easy prey for subsequent bites…assuming her target simply didn't eat her alive.

The plan had gone by as best as it could. All of the preparations had been made. Ceja had listened well to Aizel. If anyone was qualified to teach one how to conduct this hunt, he was the one. She had eaten well and slept early. Now she was awake, dressed, and headed out to the edge of the camp while most of the tribe was still asleep, save for the watchmen. They had been told she was merely going hunting for food. No one outside of the gathering in the tent knew her true purpose. Even her axe was concealed to avoid advertising the design signifying the hunt.

Ceja struggled not to be nervous, now that reality was settling in. Her words were big the day before, but now she actually had to live up to them. The truth of the matter was that this trial was rarely undertaken. It was considered suicide to try and had been considered almost worthy of being banned. Even if she didn't have to keep her senses alert for an assassin and was placing her own head in a noose, there was the fact that her gamble could cost her life. She tried to choke back her growing anxiety and fear. It wouldn't help her out there, especially not against her fearsome opponents…

"Remember." Aizel stated as they moved along. "This challenge will mean nothing if you end up failing due to technicalities. You must claim the mandibles of a Devil Ankheg, the wingtip pinions of a Zu, and the incisor teeth of a Rock Dragon. Each one will take some effort and time to properly extract, so make sure to include that when considering how much time you have left."

Ceja nodded. At the same time, she tried not to think about how hunting even one of those things, and living to tell about it, was enough to make an individual hang up their weapons for the rest of the day…for the rest of the _month_, even. And she had to kill three today… On the bright side, dim as it might be, the fact that the monsters had swollen in numbers so much indicated that finding them wouldn't be a problem…

After working their way through several more rows of tents, the end of the camp came in sight. The landscape, dark and, no doubt, filled with all manner of predators, was just up ahead, stretching out through the rocky hills. Standing there, waiting for her, was Lady Cybus. She turned as she approached, facing her until she had come up and halted before her. Ceja could barely see her in the night, but the Sorceress let out a sigh on seeing her. As for Aizel, he soon moved to Cybus' side.

"This is your last chance to reconsider, Ceja."

"I will not." The woman responded without hesitation, in spite of her own anxiety and fears.

Cybus exhaled one last time, but then nodded. "…Then as you say, I cannot stop you and nor will I try." She looked up a moment regretfully. "…Sir Tierras said he wished to be here, but abruptly canceled at the last moment…as if something had gotten into him. I hope it's not a bad omen…" She shook her head. "But nevermind my doddering. Plan or no, if you can't continue, please return to the camp. Your plan won't work if you wind up dead from fighting either. And remember what Aizel told you."

Ceja nodded. "I will."

"In that case…good luck, Ms. Dracocorazon. We will await your return and make the announcement near nightfall."

The warrior responded by giving a bow to Cybus. The Sorceress soon returned it with one of her own gestures from her order. That done, Ceja looked back out to the horizon. The moon wasn't that visible tonight. Most of the world was shrouded in darkness, save for the ocean of stars overhead. But even though the first star had just vanished, already what was living out there seemed to know it…and she could almost hear or even smell the things coming to life outside. It would be a long day.

Exhaling, Ceja soon took off and began her run into the wild.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	35. Shenindunten

"The Devil Ankheg… The Zu… The Rock Dragon… They call them the Wraiths of Fuliet. All other predators…Saurons, Tyrant Lizards, Basilhounds, Devilwings…they kill and tear apart, but they also get killed. They see you, and you see them. Not so with the Wraiths. No one ever sees them unless they come to kill, and then, of course, it is the last thing they see. The body is taken away…devoured or buried or scattered…and there is no trace. No one ever sees them…and those that do vanish. That is why they are the Wraiths of Fuliet.

"The Devil Ankheg is like most Antlions, only bigger and deadlier. Easily large enough to swallow a man's limb in one gulp and powerful enough to bite it off the rest of the body. Its limbs are strong enough to all but the best armor we can make, and even then only the strongest points. Its worst trait, however, is its venom. There are two sets of mandibles, the larger for piercing, and the smaller for stabbing with the venom. Two drops would kill a Tyrant Lizard, so you can't afford to even be scratched by it.

"Because they are Antlions, you may think they're hard to find. But one who is clever can see them. They lurk in sandy patches of ground. Not just the top layer, but deep. Otherwise they can't fit all the way in. Dried out marshlands are best. The ground will be large and flat. It sits below the surface, letting a pair of rope-like antennae just under the top layer feel for it. Once prey comes near, it leaps out, seizes them, and drags them in. Easy to tell if they're there. The ground will be void of tracks. Most animals know to stay away, but even the ones that wander in, the Devil Ankheg smoothes their tracks out so that other prey won't know that they went there. So if you see a large patch of bare, sandy ground…you know one is there."

* * *

><p>There was one thing Ceja had failed to factor in before setting out on the Shenindunten. Her targets may have been the three deadliest creatures on the wilds of Fuliet, but that didn't mean that whoever was in the number two, number three, number four, and all the other spots on the ranking wouldn't try to eat her as well. And now, she was alone and without the aid of her new friends. As a result, she soon found herself being forced to kill numerous other would-be attackers…usually in great number. It was a good thing that she had been junctioned, lest the trip would have become too much for her before it even began. As it was, she was already beginning to sweat before the sun even started to poke over the horizon, and she had made it sufficiently far from the camp to begin her hunt.<p>

There were some good things, however. Striking down a single monster was enough to usually make the ravenous beasts with it ignore her and feed on their companion. Plus, as day came on, the night predators retreated. Ones that were built to hunt visually came out instead, and she knew how to avoid them from years of living in Fuliet. She continued to move along until she reached an old bend in the river. Although she was low to the ground now, one looking from overhead would have seen that, in ages past, the river swung out and formed a large bend that had been cut off, formed a horseshoe lake, and had eventually filled in to become flat, sandy ground…the perfect place for her quarry.

_Most hunters go for the Devil Ankheg last when performing the Shenindunten._ Aizel had told her. _It's neither the strongest nor the toughest of the challenges, after all. And that is why they often fail. They forget the venom. The Devil Ankheg doesn't need to pierce you with its claws or rend you with its bite…it needs only scratch you. And warriors, tired from fighting the first two challenges, their armor and clothing damaged and bare skin exposed, need only one scratch to seal their fate. You always go for the Devil Ankheg first, when you are at your best and most alert._

Ceja made sure to approach slowly and carefully. After all, she didn't want to stumble right onto it even trying to get there. She stuck to the rocks and brush, trying to absorb her footprints or let her target know she wasn't walking on bare ground. A bit further along, the area became a bit of a rough valley. Larger and sharper rocks made a sort of pass, no doubt having been cleaved through over the years when the river still moved this way. It created a large, rounded bend. But instead of a river, there was only sand.

She kept creeping forward, around the edge…until she spotted it. Just up ahead, there was a flat area of ground where no grass grew, no ruins of shrubs or small trees lingered, and no rocks were placed…in other words, the perfect spot for a Devil Ankheg to hide. There wasn't a single track that way, even though previous tracks indicated that the beasts of Fuliet had used this pass as a route. The sides were high rock walls, leaving it a perfect hunting spot, as all creatures would have to funnel inside. Finally…whereas almost everywhere had animals lurking about…there wasn't even the sound of birds here. The locals were avoiding it like the plague.

Ceja moved up to the rocky walls as she came along, creeping up on this patch of sand as if it was the monster itself. In doing so, she passed by it so she wasn't moving directly toward it, but came around the side. To a normal traveler, they could keep going this way and they would be fine. However, she only went until she was perpendicular to the sandy area, and then lowered herself to be across from it. Once there, she began to reach into her pack. She had found the hunting ground…now she needed to get ready.

_Unfortunately, there is no other way to make the Devil Ankheg show itself other than by making yourself a target. That is something that only you can deal with, and your own skill and strength. However, that doesn't mean that there is nothing you should do beforehand. If you are lucky enough to not get killed by the first strike of the Devil Ankheg, it will burrow back into the ground to try again rather than stand its ground. To prevent that, scatter ash upon the surface. The only ground the Devil Ankheg will not try to escape into is volcanic earth. If it smells the ashes, it will think the ground is volcanic and will stay on the surface._

Ceja soon pulled forth a pouch filled with ashes from the firepits in the camp. She immediately began to throw out bits of it, mashing some into balls and then throwing them so that they spread their gray material along the ground as they went. It took a bit of work. After all, you couldn't really throw ashes that well and kind of needed to get a feel for it with the "ball" method. However, at length, it was spread out. Not a coating, but that wasn't necessary. After that, Ceja put the rest away, and exhaled.

Slowly, Ceja pulled off her cloak and all gear except her axe, and set that aside. After doing so, she raised it and braced herself. She took a moment to steel her body and sharpen her mind. She had to react at a moment's notice. One scratch…that's all it would take. Once she was finally ready, she slowly began to move down the rocks. In a few seconds, she was at the edge, with her next step putting her on the sandy ground. She held only a moment, before reaching down and stepping on it.

After breathing in and out a few times, she began to advance. She couldn't do so slowly and carefully. After all, the goal wasn't to hide from the Devil Ankheg, but to make herself a potential meal. Instead, she moved in such a way so that she could still be aware of everything…the slightest change. She'd only have a heartbeat, after all. She continued to walk a bit further, going farther away from the rock wall and out onto the sandy ground. She watched it frequently, looking for shifts…something to indicate where the antennae were. She saw nothing. However, even after she crossed halfway, she didn't ease up. It could still be there…

And a moment later, it turned out it was.

She would have been a meal if she hadn't been junctioned, for the beast was clever…popping out behind her right over the very ground she had walked over. In a flash, a horrible roar sounded through the air as ten feet of hellish centipede-like creature burst into the sky like a totem pole. Yet one could hardly register that it had even shown up, in spite of the eruption of dust, noise, and insectoid flesh and exoskeleton, before it snapped over and dove for Ceja, jaws open wide, mandibles flaring, looking to pierce her.

However, Ceja had stayed low to the ground and was ready. Even though it caught her off guard, her warrior instincts and improved physicality enabled her to shoot forward in a roll. The monster hit air as it dove for her, snapping its larger mandibles together to hit nothing and stabbing its poison mandibles into the ground. As for Ceja, the moment she was out of the roll, she snapped around and back to her feet again, brandishing her axe before her with both hands.

Sure enough, the Devil Ankheg attempted to dive back into the ground again…only to freeze as it still pulled its tail out of the soil from the first stab. Its rope-like antennae swept over the sand before it, and it opened its mouth and gave out an angry hiss, recoiling its head. It sensed the ashes, and figured the ground was too hot for it to enter. Instead, it fully reared up and back, pulling the last of its body from the sand, and showing all of its horrid glory. It was at least fifteen feet long. Its head, in addition to the long antennae, twin mandibles, and sharp-ridged mouth, was also capped with two predatory insect eyes that opened now, now that it was out of the ground. Like a centipede, its long, segmented body was lined with rows of cruel, stake-like appendages, with larger ones near the top for grasping and stabbing.

Ceja targeted one of these first, as it swept too near her, and immediately she dove forward and sliced out. However, the creature was too fast. It reared away the dominant one…but still left the secondary one behind. A moment later, and a sharp "chock" went out as the leg was severed from its body with a small amount of blood. Enraged, the monster reared back and bellowed in anger…but not so much as Ceja told herself.

_You can't bleed a Devil Ankheg to death. Avoid the limbs if you can. Go for the body._

Yet it was too late. Ceja thought of backing up in order to fling her axe, but before she could the monster shot forward, mandibles flaring and bit at her again. She only had a moment to cross her axe before her before it struck.

In spite of her own power, the blow was tremendous, and it made her arms buckle and took her body off of her feet, carrying her a short distance before slamming her into the sand. Pain soon radiated through her back from it, and soon she heard a gushing noise as the smaller mandibles ineffectually stabbed the flat of her axe, squirting venom all over it. Gritting her teeth and giving a grunt, Ceja pushed against the axe, and used the leverage to slip her body back and out from under it. As soon as she was back enough to get her legs under her, she quickly did so, and used their power to push herself up and her axe free as well. Luckily, the Devil Ankheg, not expecting to hit something so hard on its lunge, had pulled back a bit. This gave the warrior another opening, and she lashed forward and took it.

Immediately, she tried to swipe for the body, but it was difficult. The limbs of the monster danced around like a flock of creatures, and as such served to distract her and deflect her blows. She tried slicing at it a few times, but for all her effort, she couldn't even hack off another limb, for its pincers were moving around too quick. She had to break off her attack abruptly when the monster gave another cry, snapped its head back, and then drove it forward in a stabbing gesture again. This time, Ceja leapt back to avoid it, and instead it slammed its head into the dirt. Hardly missing a beat, it yanked it up as it advanced on her, lashing out again and again. She dodged each blow, but was forced to move fast to do it, even to the point of straining her muscles.

Eventually, it screeched again, a horrible, ear-piercing note, and then swung its body around and aimed a large pincer at her. Immediately, Ceja raised her axe to guard, and a large clang resulted. She was lucky to have mastered her particular weapon against this foe. The large blade acted as a good shield against stabbing thrusts. She was able to weather most of them, and actually get in close enough to swing out again and take another tip off of a smaller limb…for all the good it did. It only made the monster screech louder and advance more, all of its limbs flying about at once, trying to stab her from all sides. Seeing this, Ceja realized she'd never get a blow in, and she couldn't keep her shield up forever against the onslaught. She was sweating and straining now. Quickly, she began to back up, trying to get free enough from it to throw her axe. However, it was useless. The monster kept advancing too quickly. If that wasn't enough, it was driving her back into the nearby rocks that were on either side of the sandy area. Once there, she'd be pinned.

In an attempt to get free, Ceja grit her teeth and put more power into her legs, trying to leap backward and then run in reverse. It worked…for about a moment. She indeed got free and away from the creature long enough to run faster. However, she also was now in a position to be stabbed at again, and the monster did so, lashing its head out and snapping at her with both sets of mandibles. Again, her axe went up to protect herself…but this time, the larger mandibles locked around the axe itself. In a snap, it tried to yank it out of her hands. Ceja's eyes widened. If she lost the axe, she was as good as dead. So, instead, she let her footing slip. Better to be taken with it than let it go.

Soon, she began to question that decision. The Devil Ankheg yanked her off of her feet and into the air, flinging her about viciously and violently to try and shake her off. And when that wouldn't work, it arched around and smashed her violently into the ground repeatedly, slamming her body hard enough to rattle everything. The first two times were into the sand…but the third time was into rocks. She felt her bones buckle, and she let out a cry as one particular sharp rock dug into her back. Some of her strength vanished…and what was left was almost taken out of her as, not missing a beat, the monster whipped her up again and drove her down even harder into the sand.

Her head was struck this time, and her senses dazzled with sharp pain. She tried to hold on, but she was losing her focus…and soon, to her horror, the Devil Ankheg yanked its body up and ripped the axe out of her hands. It flung it only a short distance away, but then screeched and attempted to snap at her again. Bringing its body over her, its sharp legs soon began to stab at her again and again, trying to finish her. She rolled to avoid one aimed for her head, and another aimed for her shoulder, barely avoiding each one.

It reared up one of its forelimbs next, but it was aimed lower, and easier to dodge. She was a heartbeat from rolling away…until she saw, for just a split second, the mandibles begin to drip venom again…and she remembered.

_The older hunters call it 'Death by Relief'. It's the oldest tactic of the Devil Ankheg. First they stab with a leg, but it's only to drive the prey toward the venom mandibles. You think you avoid it…but you're right in the path of the follow-up blow. After that, they stab…and it's over. If you find yourself caught in that situation, keep a clear head…and take the hit._

Realizing that, Ceja held a moment, but then grit her teeth and waited for it. Sure enough, a moment later, the forelimb came down on her leg. She shifted it a bit, but it still pierced her flesh and cut a large and deep gash into it. Ceja hissed in pain and misery, but kept from crying out or moving. Sure enough, the head came down later, and the mandibles stabbed…but they hit only the ground.

Luckily, the appendages sunk in…and, for a brief moment, the monster appeared stunned. Having only a heartbeat to react, Ceja looked around. Her axe was near…but not near enough, especially since the larger forelimb of the creature was piercing her now-bleeding leg. Instead, she looked around for something else…not wasting what few moments she had trying to get free to get it…for anything that could be used as a weapon. However, there didn't seem to be anything. After all, there were no rocks or sticks here…

However, she soon saw there was _one_ thing…one of the severed limbs she had hacked off.

In a flash, her hand went out and seized it. Even as it did, she looked up to the monster over her, and saw as it twisted its head up and pulled its mandibles from the ground, rearing up its head…and exposing a rather large gap in its "neck" region between exoskeleton plates. Not wasting a second, the woman cried out and drove her arm forward…burying the appendage deep within.

_Now_ blood began to flow, and flow freely as she heard flesh be pierced by the sharp limb and felt things tear and rip inside the monster. It immediately gave a horrible cry as fluid oozed from the wound and its mouth, and it snapped back to thrash about like any other insect would. Not letting this opportunity go to waste, Ceja rolled to get free as soon as the leg holding her down was up, and then scrambled onto all fours and dashed over to her axe as the Devil Ankheg continued to scream and writhe.

In a moment, she seized the weapon and was on her feet, and now a good distance away from the monster. Nevertheless, it somehow had managed to bite back its own pain to angrily hiss and start turning toward her. She wouldn't give it the chance. No sooner had it snapped to her than she leapt forward, brandishing her axe, and swung it down at another break in its thorax, embedding it in a good five inches, severing the nerve connections to at least four limbs, and causing it to spasm in agony again. Immediately, the monster reared back and flung its body about wildly, hissing and screaming. However, Ceja was able to act faster, especially since the limbs near her were no longer working to rear up and hit her. With her quarry now in fresh pain, Ceja yanked the axe free, letting more blood saturate the sand, and quickly leapt back as far as she could get, even as the monster continued to hiss and spit.

Finally, once at a good spot, she planted her feet, held her axe out, and swung in two circles to build up speed before flinging the entire weapon as a spinning cutter straight for the monster. Her mark was perfect. Just as the creature reared up to screech again, the weapon reached its neck region…

A great wet chopping sound was heard. Most of it hit dead on the seam between the joints, but the blade had so much power that even the portion that had struck exoskeleton was chopped. The blade continued on its deadly course, barely losing any speed, as the head of the monster flew in the air, fountaining out blood behind it. As insects lacked true brains, the head had already fallen to the ground and gone still before the body started to slow in its own writhing. But soon after, the limbs began to fail one by one, and eventually the body slumped, staggered, and then fell as well. It began to fountain out blood soon afterward. The monster was dead.

Ceja took a moment to wipe a deal of sweat from her brow, and hold her hand over her back, wincing a bit as she did so. A rib was bruised…possibly broken. Yet she had reached the point of no return by now.

One down…two to go.

* * *

><p>"The Zu is the largest bird not only in Fuliet but also the world, coming from the Rocs. Only one of them would have been bigger, although I think the current breed of Zu might very well be the largest. It looks more like a great vulture rather than a predatory bird, but don't be fooled. When something is that large and formidable, it doesn't need to waste time with perfectly hooked beaks or worrying about looking like eagles and hawks perfectly. It is completely black, mostly because if it's going to hunt, it does so at night…when it's perfectly invisible. Silent as an owl, powerful as a Tyrant Lizard…only Death itself strikes so quickly and efficiently.<p>

"The claws and talons alone are enough to tear the shell of an Adamantoise into shards. The beak is strong enough to crack boulders. The wings flap so powerfully that a man struck by just the end would shatter half the bones in his body, and in air, it produces a gale that's enough to cast a chocobo and its rider 40 meters, even weighed down with weapons and armor. One could hardly believe the black nightmares can fly…but they can. To take off, they need help. They need to start off from high up. That's why you'll always find one around the tower rocks."

* * *

><p>It was some time before Ceja got going again. It took a while to properly harvest the smaller mandibles of the Devil Ankheg. She had to make sure not so much as a drop landed in one of her open wounds. Luckily, Styx Salmon skin had been packed, and she wrapped the ends in that, sealing them off with wax afterward, and slipping them into a double pouch before putting them in her pack. That done, she had to look to herself. Using what few medical supplies she had, she washed her wound and bound it as tightly and completely as possible before using a pouch of prepared scent-masking material to cover it and the rest of herself. After reapplying her camouflage and cloak, she was ready again…but she had lost another hour. Noon was fast coming. She had to hurry.<p>

She was attacked again along the way to the nearest set of tower rocks. That was small surprise, but now the fights were beginning to weigh in on her. The fight with the Devil Ankheg had taken more from her than she cared to lose, and that one, while it may have been the fastest, wasn't the strongest in the least. Yet what she hated even more was how time consuming this was. This next target would require more work.

As she battled on, the river was left behind, the rockier hills left, and soon the valley became wider and flatter, the sure sign of glacial activity. This was confirmed more by high, jagged, and sharp bits of land on either side far in the distance, indicating the presence of what was once the "level" ground but had been carved out by geologic events. Evading further creatures and monsters, again using stealth and scent to the best of her ability, she worked her way further one, toward the "edges" of this area. It was there that the rocky cliffs on either side of the valley tapered off into sharp, abrupt pinnacles of rock on either side, periodic and almost like buildings. That was why they were named "tower rocks" by the people of Fuliet.

Ceja almost thought she would have seen a Zu from this distance, but the predators, in spite of their size, were incredibly secretive. It was said that, either by their own skill or some act of magic, the giant birds could actually remain concealed until the moment they dove down on you, even if flying through the air. They always seemed to be able to blend in just right. Still…she hoped that one was indeed there, and that she wasn't doing this for nothing. Because, as part of her plan, her next course of action that she took was taking a good forty minutes to find and kill a Great Boar.

_By night, Zus are predators. But by day, they live up to their likeness and become scavengers and predators. They can smell out buried kills from beneath the ground, and then they come down and steal it. If it's only something small, they wait until the one that killed it comes back for it, and then they strike. But if it's large enough, they'll steal it without waiting. Therefore, to attract one in the way you need it to come, you'll need to make sure you kill something large._

Again, Ceja knew that she should be thankful for her junction, for it was the only thing that allowed her to drag the Great Boar after she killed it. Normally, a travois would be needed to carry the entire creature, which weighed a good thousand pounds. As it was, between Ceja's own incredible strength and the junction, she was able to drag it the rest of the way toward near the base of one of the tower rocks. Even so, she moved it closer to their midst, and looked out for a good place to stake out once there. Once she had finally found a reasonably good spot, she halted, and continued the next part of her plan.

The Fuliet warrior was soon sweating profusedly as she carried out the next task, sapping much of her strength. She couldn't afford to do this slowly. By now, it was past noon, after all. She had a small trowel made of bone and stone in her pack, and she took it out and furiously began to dig in the ground and cover her kill with the dirt. She couldn't afford to bury it entirely. That would take too long. Luckily, a covering of dirt would suffice. The Zu keyed in on the scent of blood mixed with soil. So long as there was sufficient soil covering it, it would be fine. Her only real fear now is that a Zu would show up while she was still completing her work… However, none did, and soon it was covered with a good two to three inches.

That done, Ceja moved back and to the boulder she spotted earlier. Afterward, she went low and spread her cape around her in just such a way that no bird of prey would mistake her for anything more than another rock. Her axe was tucked out of view, and she stilled her breathing. Underneath the folds of her cape, she produced another bag, this one filled with fine sand from the river. After that, she waited. She only hoped that a Zu was indeed nearby. If not…she would spend too much time setting up another trap.

Time began to slowly tick by. It was hot now, but Ceja ignored it and kept watching and waiting, hoping her sweat wasn't removing her scent mask and wincing occasionally from her leg wound. Flies began to buzz around, but still she waited. As the seconds passed and turned to minutes, she realized that not too much time had gone by, but still she grew impatient. She realized she couldn't rush this, or let her mind think she had been there too long. Otherwise she'd blow a perfectly good opportunity. And so, she began to count time to ensure that she was giving this enough. After counting out fifteen minutes, she told herself she'd wait only one more hour. Hardly a good stretch of time for a hunter, but the sun had passed its height and was now on its way down. She couldn't afford to wait longer than that even if a Zu would show up if she waited longer.

However, luck seemed to be on her side. Around the count for 45 minutes…it came.

Ceja had taken the precaution of anchoring down most of her cape, and a good thing too. She never even heard it coming. She just suddenly felt a fierce gale that would have been strong enough to knock her clean over if she had been standing out in the open. That was the only sign of its arrival, and, for a moment, Ceja simply thought some phantom wind had come up. But that was when she saw it…

It was as large as an airplane easily, its monstrous black wings extended and flapping like thick rolls of tent canvas. Each claw was the size of her, and she saw them lower to the ground and reach for the carcass. Its head was on a longer neck, and extended and looked beneath her. She could hear its beak clacking as it opened and closed it, like weapons smacked against shields. Its eyes showed no pupils. Rather, they seemed pale, yellow, and dead…and coupled with its black, featherless head, it indeed looked like a nightmare rather than anything graceful or beautiful. It was almost impossible to imagine it flying there, but somehow it was hovering above the ground. Perhaps it truly did have something supernatural about it…

She pushed those thoughts aside quickly, though. The monster was already putting its claws down and seizing the carrion. It raised its head, no doubt to soon take off back into the sky again. On seeing that, she knew she had to act.

_Once the Zu lands, most hunters think they'll try to take it down with one blow. However, the Zu is too large and formidable. The odds of dropping it with a single strike while still airborne are too small to chance. At best, the strike will miss and the Zu will escape. At worst, it will only hurt it, and it will stay and fight while still in the air and able to use the full measure of its abilities. It has to be grounded, and there's only one way to do so._

Ceja, while talented at throwing her large axe, was somewhat less accurate with smaller projectiles. However, it was too late to worry about that now. Quickly, she raised the pouch of sand and undid the top, but twisted it so that it would hold for a few moments. She took careful aim down toward the base of the Zu, namely at its loose conglomeration of tail feathers. Already, they were beginning to flex and smooth, getting into the right position so that when the monstrous bird flapped its wings again, it would take off into the sky once more. Before it could get the chance, however, Ceja acted, hoping that this throw would land. If it failed, her quarry would either fly away…or it would spot her. With as best accuracy and power as she could manage, she popped out and flung the pouch for its tail feathers.

Miraculously, the Zu didn't spot her, or if it did it didn't change its current actions in any way. As it flapped its wings down once, putting another gale out that kicked up dust and blew up Ceja's cape, the pouch opened in midair and landed on the tail feather region of the creature a moment later, scattering sand over it. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The feathers were just attempting to realign themselves when the sand hit…

Ceja soon had to duck down again momentarily as the Zu began to flap its wings, and started to rise higher into the air. The gale blasted her with dust and nearly ripped her cape off, and she needed to take shelter to avoid having her eyes pelted with pebbles. However, the Zu only raised for a moment, before it wobbled in midair, seeming to be unbalanced or twisted, and then, giving a cry of surprise and anger, it pitched forward and crashed back into the ground breast first. It cried out again as a massive tremor rocked the landscape, dislodging a few loose stones from the tower rocks and causing the ground to rumble. As for the great bird, it gave more cries as it looked about. Soon, it released its kill and tried to get up again…but Ceja knew better. It was useless. To take off, the Zu needed to jump from a height and build up air resistance beneath its wings to generate initial lift. Without it, the Zu was grounded. It couldn't take off under its own power.

With that in mind, the warrior seized her axe, threw aside her cape to cut down on drag, and leapt out from behind the boulder. As the monstrous creature rose to its feet and readied its wings to flap again, she twisted herself around while running forward and then gave a yell, before flinging her axe like a cutter at the winged nightmare.

The senses of the Zu, however, were just as keen as ever. It snapped its huge head in her direction, and soon cried out angrily. It also spotted the axe headed for it, and immediately swiveled its head to one side, letting the deadly projectile sail harmlessly past. After that, on seeing Ceja still barreling toward it, it raised itself up and extended its wings up to full span…and then began to flap them.

The first wingbeat was enough to slow Ceja even in mid-charge…but by the time it got to the second, she grit her teeth and cried out as she was ripped off of her feet and cast back. This ground was rockier, and soon she went for a tumble that scratched and cut her rather roughly against loose stones. The Zu continued to beat its wings, meaning to totally blow her away, but somehow, in the midst of being thrown around, Ceja lashed out and seized the edge of a larger rock in the ground and clung to it fiercely, managing to hold on. Crying out angrily, the Zu only beat its wings harder, trying to rip her off. Ceja lowered her head, clenched her teeth, and held on as pebbles, stone, sand, and fierce winds continued to tear at her…struggling to hold on…

But then, just as she intended, her axe returned…and neatly cleaved through about six of the large pinions on its left wing. Although it didn't damage any nerves, the monster immediately detected that its wingbeats had been interrupted and turned turbulent, and any damage to its precious wings was enough to make it bellow in anger. Stunned, it cut off its flapping…giving Ceja the opening she needed.

Immediately, giving a grunt and pulling for all she was worth, she surged back to her feet, lowered her head into the dying wind, and charged even faster than before. As the monstrous creature flapped about a bit, trying to adjust to what just happened, the axe returned to Ceja, and immediately she snatched it out of the air and brandished it before her. As the Zu snapped its head back down to her, she was already on the move. As it raised its body up to try and blast her with wind again, she lunged for it, leaping into the air and bringing her axe back. A moment later, she crashed into its enormous breast region, bringing her axe down as powerfully as it could.

The blade sank in a good foot on a considerable length, severing a great deal of muscle, but still she didn't strike bone. Nevertheless, many of the muscles and tendons were snapped. As a result, combined with the severed feathers, the left wing was effectively useless…and the Zu was enraged.

For a second time, Ceja found herself desperately hanging to her axe as she was flung around violently. It wasn't quite as bad as last time, and now she refused to release her axe as it remained embedded in the breast of the Zu. However, the creature flapped about and cried out horribly as blood stained its breast feathers. It flapped its one remaining wing ineffectually and struggled to rear up one of its deadly claws, but Ceja was too high on it. She continued to hold on, ignoring the stench of the feathers, and tried to pull the axe free to renew her assault, but it only slowly came forth. Yet right as it was about to loosen all together, the great bird swung its head down on its neck and smashed it into her with the beak extended.

Ceja soon cried out as she felt her back pierced sharply. If not for her reinforced leather armor, it would have gone all the way through her backside to piece her internal organs. As it was, it still felt as if a small knife had been stuck in her back, for the beak went through the leather, and soon after she was flung off of the bird by the tremendous force. Two things were in her favor. One was that the axe was ripped out and came with her. Two was that the blow wasn't direct. Had it been, it might have snapped her spine rather than filling every last vertebrae and rib she possessed with excruciating pain…which didn't get helped when, after flying a distance of fifty feet, she landed roughly on her back.

The woman groaned on landing, sore and bleeding. She struggled to get her senses to work, but it wasn't as easy as the last target, as she was now hot, tired, and in pain. Luckily, the sounds of the Zu stomping toward her helped spur her on with a bit of desire for self-preservation. She managed to roll her head and upper torso up just as the shadow of the monster came over her, and it cried out angrily as it raised a claw to her, meaning to tear her to bits…

_A Zu is not at its deadliest when grounded, but it's definitely at its fiercest. If being hunted normally, by a group of hunters, they first cripple it and then follow it for a few days until starvation and attacks from other creatures have worn it down. Only then is the finishing blow given, when it can no longer kill. But for the Shenindunten, you must finish it. It has one vital spot that is a decent target once on the ground, but the creature knows this…and it won't let you at it normally. You'll have to get it to have an opening._

As the claw came down, Ceja, face tightening with fury, twisted her axe up and crossed it over her own chest, putting both arms around it, to brace the blade upward. As the monstrous creature brought its claw down on her, its terrible talons like meathooks that intended to rake her to bits, even beginning to tear into her desert wolf head covering…the tendon came right over the blade and sliced into it.

The Zu prized its talons too greatly. As one of the tendons began to be cut into, it reared back and cried out angrily again. It actually staggered back a bit, shaking more black blood out, and freeing Ceja. Although the pressure from the axe weighed heavily on her, she quickly shot to her feet, snapped her arms back, twisted around _three_ times, and flung it at the monster. The cutter sailed straight for its intact foot. The Zu spotted this, and tried to rear up to avoid it, but as it suddenly had to put all of its weight on its injured claw, it didn't pull up quite in time…and the blade sliced neatly through one foreclaw and one hindclaw on its rear leg, soon injuring it further and making it issue out more black blood.

The monstrous bird had enough. Roaring in agony, it immediately darted forward toward Ceja, keeping its claws back, and began to snap out viciously for her, meaning to crush her in its bill like an insect. Immediately, the warrior tensed up and moved back, but this time, her opponent was much faster. It snapped out again, and with one click of its jaws ripped off one of her shoulder pads. Tossing the useless item away, it cried out and snapped at her again. She put on more speed and dodged back as best as she could, but she was backpedaling, and the Zu wasn't giving her an inch. It immediately charged for her, waving its massive body, and snapped again and again. After only a few moments, Ceja dodged…only to cry out in pain as the beak managed to nip her shoulder, slicing a good gash into it. If that wasn't enough, it was forcing her back into rougher rocks, and she couldn't risk looking behind her to wait for them.

But then, just as she intended…she started to hear the whistling sound again. Tightening her expression, she dodged one last snap from the Zu. Crying out again, the monstrous bird reared up to snap forward…

And instead screamed as the axe sailed right past its side with the bad wing, cutting a deep, two and a half foot slice into its side as it did so and spilling out more blood than ever. Ceja immediately leapt up and snatched the axe out of the air, swinging it around and bringing it forward, as her opponent bellowed in agony and staggered back. In just moments, it was already starting to wobble a bit, and growing a bit more sluggish. Ceja knew the reason. On the return path, as she intended, the axe swung into the side of the monster…right through one of the renal arteries. There was neither muscle nor skeleton to protect it…only feathers and its wings, normally folded at its sides, but now extended. The arteries were large and thick, and by now the monster had to be bleeding internally a great deal.

Ceja didn't give it a chance to bleed much longer.

Crying out again, she barreled forward, putting all her strength into her axe, and went for the monster's dominant leg. She swung and buried her axe in its ankle, slicing halfway into it and making it cry out, but it was unable to rear up due to its weight being on it. A follow-up slice took it off all together, and with another roar the monster fell onto its back. Its good wing thrashed about madly, and it twisted and writhed, but Ceja leapt up onto its body and brought her axe down and around into its opposite side, severing the other artery. Blood now fountaining from both sides, the monster's writhing slowed but was still strong…until Ceja ran up to the good wing and buried her axe in the shoulder joint, cleaving more connections but also severing the brachial artery. It was now losing so much blood that it had grown rather sluggish indeed, and its good wing slumped uselessly. Finally, the Fuliet warrior ran up to its head, barely able to move around on the neck now.

Once there, Ceja gave a yell as she brought her axe up. With the first stroke she severed both carotids. With the second she cut the windpipe. With the third, she cut the spinal cord. After that, she backed up and waited. The Zu weakly squirmed, gurgled, and bled for a few moments more…before the lack of air, blood, and nerve connections were too much for it. It slumped down and went lifeless…slain.

Only here did Ceja slump herself, sticking her axe in the ground and balancing against it, trying not to fall over.

* * *

><p>"The Rock Dragon…the terror of the hills, the true king of Fuliet. I myself can only think of a few things in existence more deadly than it, such as the Red Dragons, Behemoths, or Tonberry Kings. It cannot fly like its brethren, but that hardly makes it less of a danger. It is the hardiest of species. You know nothing of artillery or firearms used by the modern world, but even tank shells cannot pierce their hide at the strongest points. With a single snap of their jaws they can rend the toughest steel. With a single swipe of their claws, they can slice any man or beast to ribbons. A snap of their tail would rip a Tyrant Lizard in half, let alone a human.<p>

"The greatest mistake that a Fuliet warrior makes when trying to hunt the Rock Dragon is they believe they must prove their power by facing it head on, on even ground. They forget…humans did not surpass birds by learning to fly, nor fish by learning to swim, nor the beasts by growing teeth and claws…but by the use of their mind. That is your only asset against the Rock Dragon. They have surpassed you in all other areas.

"Finding one is simple, as you well know. After all, all of the tribes know where they nest in order to stay clear of them…"

* * *

><p>Tired as Ceja was, she had a new force driving her on now…anxiety. She definitely had plenty to be anxious about. Although removing the wingtip pinions of the Zu and storing them wasn't nearly as time-exhaustive as removing the mandibles of the Devil Ankheg, time was against her. The sun was on its way down, and she still had to get to the next area and back to the camp before too long. If that wasn't enough…she was now in the same "camp" as the previous victims. She could only pray that her attempt to take the challenge had indeed remained a secret. If not, she realized the assassin could manifest himself or herself much sooner than she cared. She used the last of her dressings to bandage her shoulder and back as tightly as possible. Although she used all she had left, she couldn't risk any more fights now. She didn't need the delay, and she needed all the strength she still had for the final challenge. She was sore at this point. One of her shoulder muscles had been pulled during the fight with the Zu and it was painful just to lift the axe. She almost felt a stabbing pain behind her lower lung from her earlier injury, all but confirming one of the ribs had been knocked loose. She was definitely tired now too, and sore all over. Yet still, she hoisted her axe, replaced her cloak and makeup, covered herself with more scent masking, and set out.<p>

She knew where to find her final target. Whereas most of the region was barren due to climate and geography, there was one region that was desolate due to geology…the Wastes. In order to make it in time, she ran for as long as she could, again crossing into the plain regions and crossing numerous rocky hills and valleys. The monsters were still ravenous and attacked her often, for as much as her scent as she masked she was still covered with the odor of blood. She had to fight far more frequently than she wanted, especially since she no longer used stealth. She couldn't afford to any longer. And soon…the landscape changed.

As she began to climb another hill, the ground went from being merely dry to being parched and baked, and not from the sun. The rocks changed in their nature, looking more igneous and ashy. The few bits of vegetation vanished, and soon holes in the ground began to appear, each one belching steam that smelled of rotten eggs. More and more of it arose as she climbed higher, until it looked as if the hill itself was smoldering.

Ceja advanced over the top and paused. From here on in, the stench was stronger, and the ground was so shrouded with mist from the various steam vents that it was hard to see too much farther ahead…at least, not distinctly. She could make out that the way ahead was jagged, rough, and uneven. There were no open spaces here, just lots of rough ground that was volcanic in nature. She knew whatever wasn't a rock, and perhaps some of what was, was little more than crust that a single step would crumble. And the mist made it hard enough already. The air was humid here from all of it, and she could feel it clinging to her. Other than that, she saw nothing. No other beasts were in this desolate region. However, she knew it being volcanic wasn't sufficient for that. There weren't any monsters here for the same reason her people were told to stay away from this area.

Here, she went to work.

_Even though the Rock Dragon nests among heat, it can still see changes in it more easily than it can see light. In that sense, it's like a viper. It waits for anything with heat to come forth, and the last anything ever sees is the rocks coming to life and reaching out for them. You have to mask your heat. Luckily, there's a fairly simple way to do that._

In moments, she pulled out a waterskin separate from her water supply and emptied some of it on a patch of dry ground, stirring it a bit to make mud. Once she had done so, she began to apply it all over her body, on every exposed portion that hadn't been covered with makeup first, and then over the makeup. She made sure that there wasn't an inch of skin on her that didn't have some covering, whether it be her hair, her armor, her clothes, or her layers of makeup. It took a few "mud preparations" to carry out, but once it was done, she stashed her equipment away and left it behind, save for her axe, which she tied behind her. She didn't need anything else slowing her down. After that, she looked back into the mist for a moment, staring, wanting to know if the Rock Dragon was just out of sight and had watched the entire incident…

Finally…she began to move. Now the full measure of her stealth came to bear as she dropped to all fours and started to slink into the area. She stayed to the rocks for the most part, but whether she touched the ground or the rocks, she felt the heat. Nevertheless, she was patient and endured it, even in spots where it burned a little. Nothing broke up her slow, deliberate pace. She moved with purpose, slipping into each gap and space in the rocks as she went along, always leaving at least one of her sides protected and hidden. All the while, she kept her ears turned out, waiting for the sounds of something…anything at all that was out of sorts. It wasn't easy. The steam hissing masked a great deal of the noise, but in part, she wanted that.

_A Rock Dragon isn't stupid. Even if it can't see you, it will leap at the first thing it hears that sounds like prey. However, if you go into its own nest, you'll have the steam masking your own noise, provided you move slow enough, that it won't hear you enough to charge…just to try and look around. But if your scent is masked, your body is well covered, you move slow and steady enough…and the gods are watching you…you _should_ be just stealthy enough to where it will make itself a target first._

_And if I'm not stealthy enough…_ Ceja thought grimly. _I'll be snatched up in its jaws before I know what hit me._

Ceja continued to slowly make her way forward, picking her way over the rocks. She breathed long and deep, but mixed it in with the sounds of steam. After all…she didn't want to risk being caught simply based on that. But she had to steady herself…she couldn't let her fear and sweat ruin her now. She advanced further, farther into its territory and away from the barrier that she was told never to cross through her entire life. She continuously told herself she was a great warrior of Fuliet…that she feared no man or beast. But her brush with the Elite Hounds had taught her what it meant to be helpless before something…and now doubt lingered in her, as much as she tried to push it out.

Suddenly, a smaller rock seemed to roll off of a larger one just up ahead, going to the ground with a light clatter.

The Fuliet warrior froze, immediately forgetting about the Elite Hounds. She went totally rigid, and looked forward for a full minute. She hadn't seen anything move in the mist up ahead, just the rock roll off. However, she didn't shift an inch. She didn't even breathe. She simply held and waited. A bead of sweat rolled down her brow. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Still, she didn't move.

After the minute passed, she began to think she was in the clear…that something had just made the rock roll off. She nearly moved again…when her instincts told her to stay still. Although nothing changed, she had a feeling not to move. And so…she continued to stay there and wait. Time ticked by again. Still she didn't move or breathe loud. After another minute, she started to reconsider…perhaps it was nothing.

Then, she heard a snort louder than the bellows of a church organ behind her.

Beneath her dusty makeup, Ceja's face went pale. Another bead of sweat rolled down, as the rocks to her right shifted, suddenly lifting from the ground, and revealing a series of claws, each one larger than her head, coming forth from a hole beneath it. Once up, they spread out and planted on the ground, extending and digging into the crust and rocks. Soon after, the rest of the rocks nearby shifted and raised…revealing that they weren't rocks at all, but a _huge_, heavily armed body that was about the length of two school busses plus tail. She heard another snort behind her, as the air grew warmer. She didn't risk a move, but her eyes twitched behind her.

If she could have looked, she would have now seen a serpentine head large enough to bite her in two, plated with thick armor that reached over from its forehead to cover its neck that had the likeness of rough rocks. Yet in the midst of those rocks, one would have seen them part for a moment to show off rows of cruel teeth, followed by other rocks "flexing" to show nostrils. Two red, serpentine pupils glared out from the rocks and looked about. It snorted again after a moment, but continued to look.

Ceja couldn't believe her luck. She almost thought her heart would seize. She had to have been no farther than six inches from its head at one point. One wrong placement of her hand…and she would have put it right on its face. It was enough to make even the hardened warrior nearly pass out. The deadliest creature in Fuliet was right there, so close she could actually feel the heat from its breath as it looked around for her. She was so petrified, it took a moment before her mind clicked.

_A single warrior with hand weapons has only a single chance. You have to get beneath the armored plate over the back of its neck. It covers a vulnerable region. The heart and lungs of a Rock Dragon are regulated by the brain, rather than the spine or the organs themselves. If you can get your blade in there and sever the spinal cord, its own massive weight will smother it in a minute._

At the moment, Ceja could see the Rock Dragon, but it couldn't see her. The question was…now what? She was far too close and at a bad angle. She knew the back of the neck was nearby, but she couldn't even see it in her peripheral vision. The moment she moved, she'd be spotted. She couldn't even tell at the moment if the Rock Dragon was looking to one side or was staring right at her. She had to think very carefully. She had time for one move…and _only_ one move. She might not even have the time for that. One thing was certain, it had to count. From that point on, it would be her and the Rock Dragon. She held and thought for a long time…and finally came to one conclusion. She had to risk it. If she just sat here, the creature would eventually find her.

She took a moment to tighten her muscles...and then acted.

In a flash, Ceja was on her feet and tearing away and to the side. She ignored the fact that she heard her feet clicking against the ground and, a moment later, the breathing of the Rock Dragon picked up as it turned to her noise. She didn't have time. Immediately, her arm snapped around and seized her axe, and she nearly ripped it off of its harness to yank it around. While still running, she began to spin in a circle, building up momentum. As she spun, her eyes flashed over…and saw the Rock Dragon in all its fearsome glory. Huge…formidable…nightmarish…terrifying. Even a hardened warrior like her couldn't pretend to feel no fear in its wake. Yet she only saw it for glimpses, and focused as hard as she could on the back of its skull plate…and the space between it and its neck. After building up as much speed as she dared, which was only two revolutions, she flung her axe at it.

Once again, the weapon turned into a great cutter and whistled through the air. The Rock Dragon saw this. She saw its red eyes flash, and it began to turn more, but it was too slow. The neck remained exposed as the axe sailed for its target, and, for a moment, Ceja actually slowed, expecting to see a killing stroke.

Instead…she saw her axe connect with the skull plate, and, with a large "ding" flipped in the air, toppled around, and then fell down to clatter off of the monster's body and to the volcanic ground.

Ceja felt her heart sink like a stone. It wasn't enough that the axe had failed to hit its mark, failed to do any more damage other than scratching some thick scale…but it had also failed to return. She was now unarmed, unshielded…and, a moment later, as it swiveled its head around…face to face with a Rock Dragon.

It took the colossal beast only a moment before it snapped its jaws forward. Ceja felt its hot breath bear down on her as it moved like a thunderbolt. She leapt backward…but that was nearly not good enough. The jaws still slammed together in front of her, and sliced into her front armor. Remarkably, it wasn't deep enough to cut it off, but only the tips of its lips were good enough for that…and soon, it got a large whiff of its prey. Opening its mouth, it bellowed with such force that Ceja was ripped backward and cast roughly to the ground. A good thing too, for the monster soon snapped at the ground where she had been as it spun its entire body around to face her with such force that it engulfed a mouthful of rocks, and immediately grinded them to meal in its massive jaws. It opened its mouth and bellowed in rage a moment later, and from this range…Ceja was certain her eardrums were blown out. Soon, her mind was wracked with pain, so much that she had to reach up and grab her head even as she stumbled to her feet and ran.

She couldn't backpedal this time. She twisted her body around and ran for it…and she was still nearly too slow. There was only one thing that saved her from being killed instantly…she was still invisible. Instead, the massive beast, tearing rocks into pebbles as it advanced forward, snapped out for where her feet were instead. She managed to leap just in time, but still felt one of her boots nearly ripped off as it tore into the ground. Spitting out the rocks, it reared up and advanced again, snapping at her as she landed, and nearly getting her. Again, the only reason she lived was because she immediately leapt again as soon as she touched down. She soon began a series of leaps forward, but the Rock Dragon was hot on her heels, roaring in fury. She managed to cross an amount of ground, before altering her path to a hill of boulders. As the Rock Dragon continued to snap at her, she quickly barreled for it and leapt, in two short hops, to the acme and prepared to leap down the other side…

The monster didn't give her a chance. Rather than try to cross over the rock hill…it smashed its entire body forward into the huge pile, obliterating it. Ceja soon let out a cry as she was launched off of the very rock she was standing on, and pelted by stone debris as she flew through the air a considerable distance, and then smashed down into hot, ashy ground. The landing was rough, but she immediately covered her head and neck, as boulders from the erupted hill began to rain down on her. She tried to cring into a ball to defend herself…but was a moment too late.

Before she could pull her right leg in, a boulder sailed through the air and landed right on the lower portion…sending out a cracking noise.

Ceja's eyes snapped open in spite of the steam and ash, and soon after she snapped her head forward and bit down on her own arm-guard to avoid screaming in agony. After that, in spite of tears running from her eyes and being in pain, feeling the bones shifting as the rock settled on her, she held and went still…praying this would work.

A moment later, another deluge of rocks occurred as the Rock Dragon, snarling, shoved its head above the ground. Immediately, it snorted and began to look about it. It twisted its head in the direction of the various rocks that settled, snorting and flaring its nostrils at each one. But as things calmed down…it only continued to look, and saw nothing. It let out a snarl, and continued its search…all the while Ceja bit into her arm guard and held. She didn't even try to free her leg yet. She merely waited. The massive creature growled again, and then, suddenly, let out a massive roar. Ceja winced, but she forced herself not to cover her ears even as pain radiated into her skull. She wouldn't move no matter what.

The monster snarled and snorted a bit longer, but still picked up nothing. Finally, it lowered its head to the ground and flicked out its long tongue, easily the length of its head. It began to sweep it over the dust, and started to move along, making quite a bit of noise and shifting rocks as its massive limbs went by. Ceja watched it for a moment, but, to her relief, it wasn't headed straight for her. Instead, it turned its head to the side and moved in a path farther away from her.

Ceja held only a moment longer. The Rock Dragon was making a lot of noise, and, after a few moments, turned its head away from her and began to move in a different direction. Still, as it swept its tail behind it, dislodging and knocking about more stones, it came within ten feet of her before pulling away. She thought of waiting…but she didn't have the luxury. She wasn't going to wait for it to find her. Stiffening, and moving as quietly as she could, she leaned her body up. She froze once again after doing so…but the Rock Dragon didn't react. It didn't hear her. With that in mind, she reached over one arm to the boulder on her leg. She grabbed it, and after tightening for a moment, she rolled it off. It threw her into fresh pain, but she ignored that. She only prayed that she had just a hairline fracture…

The warrior took only a moment to yank one of the torn straps off of her clothes and stick it in between her teeth, before forcing herself to rise. As predicted, it threw her into even more pain. She tried to shift most of her weight to her good one, but it was still quite agonizing. She wasn't sure how she managed to do it…probably because she was high on adrenaline, but she was on her feet again. She bit into the leather strap hard enough to almost puncture it, but she kept from crying out. The Rock Dragon didn't notice her. Crazy as this was…she had to get back to her axe. Even if her chance of victory had diminished to almost nothing, she had to try. With that in mind, and hoping she wouldn't compound fracture her leg in the process, she began to limp back the way she had come.

Ceja moved as fast as she could which was, sadly, not fast at all. Barely even a rapid walk, with how she dragged one leg and hobbled with the other. It didn't help that she had to try and be quiet, and tried to keep knocking rocks around or disturbing too much dirt to a minimum. Nevertheless, the Rock Dragon had its back to her now and was moving away further. As a result, she continued to hobble forward as silently as she could, and had reason to believe that she was getting farther and farther from auditory range. She even risked picking up speed a bit more, and nearly made it back to where the hill that had just been obliterated got knocked through…

When it happened. Abruptly, the tail of the Rock Dragon snapped back and out. Ceja wasn't sure if it was a reflex action or if it actually heard her, but it swept along the ground and cast up more boulders in its wake, shattering them with the shock. Although the tail didn't hit her head on, Ceja was too slow to do anything but look as some of the debris was smacked through the air, and right into her. She tried to brace herself, but the solid blow still struck her and sent her flying once again, this time knocking her back the way she came. But worst of all…as the rocks smashed into her and ripped her off of her feet, the strap was knocked from her mouth. Although she bit down fairly quickly, as she was knocked through the air…she let out an audible cry.

Immediately, the Rock Dragon roared. Even as Ceja was still coming in for a rough landing, the monster snapped around, opened its mouth wide, and lunged at the air where it had heard the voice come from. For a moment, Ceja saw a flash of teeth before its jaw smashed shut, right before she landed hard. Again, she grit her teeth and bit down, making herself silent again even as she went for a tumble, and pain flow through her, especially her busted leg. But even the impact alerted the monster. Snarling again, it twisted its head around and dove it into where she was, seizing more of the rocks in its jaws and tearing them to bits…before going to where Ceja had the second bounce and snapping at them again. In spite of her weakness and deficiencies…Ceja soon realized she couldn't try to hide this time. Sweat from pain and tension pouring from her brow, she twisted around and scrambled onto her hands and knees, and began to crawl away as fast as she could…narrowly missing the Rock Dragon plunging its head into the ground a third time. Pathetic and slow as her crawling was, getting back on her feet would make too much noise. It was all she could do.

Luckily, it seemed to work. By the third strike, the beast was confused again. It had made too much noise relative to Ceja, and was now looking around angrily, and plunging its head in the ground randomly. However, the warrior knew it was only a matter of time before it started tasting the air.

Fortunately, she soon saw a bit of luck…her axe was only about thirty feet in front of her, still on the ground and miraculously undamaged.

A hiss was heard from behind her. She turned and looked…and soon stiffened. The Rock Dragon had pulled its head up, and wasn't content to move about slowly anymore. It was sweeping its tongue out again, but was also advancing faster, using its size to sweep its head out in large arcs over the field. Seeing this, she realized she had to risk moving faster, even if it would telegraph her presence. Turning forward again, she began to crawl once more.

For a few moments, she only heard the monster behind her snort and shift, looking around just as normally as it did before. Yet as she continued to crawl…she heard it slow. She suddenly felt a gust of hot air behind her…indicating that its head was aimed in her direction, and now it was listening for her. But she couldn't afford to worry about that. If it was looking that way, that meant at any moment it would flick out its tongue and find her. She couldn't wait for that to happen. Instead, she only picked up speed. The axe seemed farther away than ever, getting even farther the more she crawled toward it. Yet she kept going. She didn't want to stop now. Instead, she let the adrenaline from her fear and anxiety push her, let her pain drive her, and kept going. Finally, the axe began to get nearer. As she started to hear a snarl behind her…the axe finally came into reaching distance, and she immediately shot out and snatched it.

Pushing back her pain and ignoring how much more pain and lasting injury she could do to her leg, Ceja suddenly rocked her body forward and forced both legs underneath her and pushed. Her bad leg felt like she was about to snap it off all together, but somehow, staggering, sloppy, but successful…she pushed herself to her feet. Although her leg was bad, she quickly snapped around in a pivot, and faced behind her…just as her ears were blasted again and a wave of hot breath washed over her…to the tune of the Rock Dragon roaring. However, it only did so for a moment…before it snapped its head forward. Just as Aizel had warned, it wouldn't matter if it managed to bite her or not…the sheer impact would kill her. There was only one move she could make to save herself. She hadn't the time or space for anything else.

Rather than try to outrun or dodge, she immediately leapt into the air.

This time, she felt her bones strain in her bad leg…perhaps even make the fracture worse. As a result, she cried out loud, and realized that was the last she could expect from that leg. Yet even that wasn't the most dominate thought on her mind. Her true concern was the Rock Dragon's head sailing beneath her with enough power and force to burst through another rocky hill. Yet as for Ceja, dizzy, sore, tired, and eyes watering from sweat, she managed to nevertheless keep enough wits about her as she descended, lowering down over the back of the monster. As she did so, she twisted her body around in midair, shifted the grip on her axe to her right hand, and reached out with her left to grab onto a scale spur on the back of the creature. A moment later, she slammed into its body, finding it as hard and rough as the very rocks she had been crawling on.

For the third time that day, Ceja soon found herself cast about violently. Somehow, through the thick scales and her own relative size, the Rock Dragon realized that she had landed on top of it…and it wasn't happy. Roaring in rage, it began to cast about, twisting and turning its back, and thrashing madly, struggling to get her off again. Although this was nothing new to her, Ceja now had clearly broken bones being shook about, exhaustion stripping her of her strength, and ash in her lungs and eyes choking off her ability to focus. This was the worst torture yet. Being slammed repeatedly into the rock-like scales of the monster didn't help, and it began to batter what senses were left in her out of her. She had to pretty much shut the rest of the world out and focus only on two things…the grip in her left hand and the grip in her right hand. She couldn't afford to let go and get trampled by the monster, and she couldn't afford to lose her axe again.

Somehow, she still had enough wits about her to realize that the monster wasn't going to do this all day. Even though she felt her hand slipping on its scales, it wasn't going to wait. It would try to get her off in another way. Sure enough, even as she was shook around, she could feel the Rock Dragon on the move again, headed for the next nearest rocky hill. It was going to try and scrape her off on it. Realizing this, she quickly tried to think. She was battered and sore already. Pretty soon, it wouldn't matter if she held out or not. She'd never be able to fight back. Her strength was failing rapidly. She had to make another strike while she could still move. Yet, to her horror, she realized she didn't have the power to still attack. She had ruined her leg with that last leap. Now there was no way for her to throw her axe even if she could get an opening.

As the rock hill neared, however…a single ray of hope went through her mind. This would be a tremendous gamble, but she had little other choice. If the timing wasn't perfect, she'd definitely suffer for it… Luckily, she received one break at least. The Rock Dragon stopped thrashing around, and instead focused all of its effort on getting to the rocks. Because of this, Ceja was able to grunt and throw her axe onto the back of the creature and grab on partially with her other hand. She shifted her other leg forward and placed it on a stable scale as well. Ahead of her, about twenty feet, away, it loomed…the gap between the armored headpiece and the neck. She couldn't assault it in any way from where she was, but there was still a chance. She breathed in and out a few times, no longer caring if she was heard, and struggled to focus anything she could drag up for this. She had precious little strength remaining. This would take every ounce of will power that was left. Forcing her ash-pierced eyes open, she looked up and waited…

Finally, the Rock Dragon neared the rocky hill. As it did, Ceja felt it swivel, fully meaning to smash all of its back into it. For a moment, the gap ahead of her between the armored plate and the neck began to close…and she realized it was time.

_Now or never!_

As the reptilian beast turned, Ceja gave a cry and literally lunged forward with her three intact limbs, and even a bit of her bad one. Had she not trained so intensely and been junctioned, this never would have worked. But as it was, moving as fast as she could, she lunged forward straight for the gap in the neck, and remarkably closed the distance to it. She lacked the power to drive her axe in…but she didn't try for that. As she touched down on the neck region, she paused only long enough to seize her axe with both hands and drive it forward into the shrinking gap, shoving the blade against the back of its neck and the flat portion against the descending plate. With that, the woman, even as the beast rolled over, rolled in the opposite direction as hard and fast as she could, ignoring the scales rubbing into her and tearing into her…and, after a few moments, toppled over the side and rolled off of the monster's back. Soon, she was basking in the heat of the creature and going face down into rubble and parched ground, but she sputtered, coughed, and tore to her feet, forcing only her good leg behind her, and dragging herself away as fast as she could.

The entire incident took only moments, less than two seconds in all…and, at that time, the Rock Dragon smashed into the rocky hill, and a deluge of boulders were broken loose and ran down the side of the creature to the ground below, after Ceja. A few of them struck her as she went. They didn't hurt as much as before, but they nearly knocked her over. She didn't know how, but somehow…she was able to keep moving away…somehow getting clear.

But through this escape and the chaos behind her…she heard something else.

For a brief moment, the Rock Dragon began to give a bellow…before it cut off to a gurgle.

On hearing this, Ceja turned and looked behind her, and saw the body of the Rock Dragon come back away from the hillside, dislodging more rocks and boulders in the process. However, it didn't seem to do it willingly or voluntarily this time. It was more as if it simple rolled backward. And when it did, it gave out another ragged-sounding gasp. Ceja saw its mouth move slightly, its nostrils flare a bit, and its eyes look about…but that was all as it rolled to the ground with a heavy thud. After that, it went still. It gave one last gurgle after a few moments…but then nothing. The only other sign of movement was blood running down its neck from beneath its crest.

Ceja stared for a long while, but the Rock Dragon didn't rise or move again. Slowly, its eyes closed and its mouth hung lazily open. When that happened, and it moved no longer, with its chest no longer rising and falling, she sighed in relief. It had worked.

Lacking the strength to inflict a mortal blow on that opponent, Ceja had seen one ray of hope…drive the blade of her axe against its neck and wedge it underneath the skull plate. When it reared on its side and smashed into the hill in an attempt to get Ceja off, it drove the axe into its own spine. The skull plate even acted as a lever to drive it in further. What Ceja lacked the power to do the beast had done under its own power. Perhaps it wasn't the most poem-worthy way of destroying a Rock Dragon, but there was no denying that it died as a result of her actions. She had done it.

On realizing this, Ceja abruptly let her head fell. Her shoulders drooped, and she nearly fell forward. However, somehow, she managed to snap her good leg out just in time and force herself back up. Much as she only wanted to rest and sleep…the Shenindunten wasn't over…not unless she collected all three trophies and brought them back to camp. The sun was on its way down by now and speeding up. She couldn't have more than four, maybe three, hours left…and she had much to do before then in a weakened body, with no more medicine and a broad expanse of land with monsters roaming about eager to pick off a weakened victim.

No…she couldn't stop now. She had to work harder than ever, or this would have all been for nothing.

* * *

><p>Ceja wasn't even sure how she was still walking. Pretty much the only conclusion she could arrive at was that she was half-dead but she was refusing to let her body accept that as an excuse, and was mentally somehow ordering her legs to keep moving. She was swimming almost out of consciousness even as she walked, but she wouldn't stop.<p>

It had taken almost an hour to get on her way. Just getting her axe back out from the monster had been a chore. In the end, she had to limp over to her tools, collect them, come back, and chistle enough scales away to remove it. That wasn't counting the time it took to remove the teeth. Her hands were still throbbing and her arms and shoulders tired from all of the pulling and yanking she had done. She almost had to strip the gums to the jawbone before she was able to pull the teeth out. Yet finally, she had her prizes. By then, she was completely exhausted, but only allowed herself five minutes of rest. Any longer, and she might have passed out. After that, she quickly went about tearing what was left of her clothing and armor into strips and covering her wounds again. She even went so far as to rub ash into them, not caring for the burning or infection, so long as it masked her scent. She was barely in any shape to fight anymore. She had to evade anymore monsters as much as possible. Even so, when she yanked herself to her feet, using her axe as a crutch, and began to move…she knew full well what awaited her.

She was two hours away from sundown, as best as she could figure. By now, Aizel and Cybus had to be presenting the news that she had gone on the trial in the first place. From now on, every step she took back toward the camp would be a greater likelihood that the assassin would show himself or herself. And she was too weak to dodge any blow from another opponent. She had to hope the others could keep her safe…

Ceja had managed to arrange herself in such a way where she had one arm over her axe around her bad leg. In doing so, she was able to move fairly quickly…but nowhere near a running gait. The best she could manage was a fast walk, and even doing that required all the effort she could put forward. Even by the time she cleared the wastes and began to descend the burning hill for the ground again, the amount of focus that it required was almost enough to make her dizzy. It took her a full fifteen minutes just to hobble down it. Once she hit the bottom, she was already panting and sweaty. Her course was straight now, but she was effectively running on fumes. Her adrenaline had burned out with the last challenge. She had to use everything she had just to walk forward.

As she began to cross the rocky plains and valleys, moving as fast as she possibly could, forcing herself through sheer will power to go up to the pace of a light jog, she still realized how futile this was. The sun was setting quickly now. The sky was already beginning to turn from blue to yellow. The only chance she would have would be if she rushed the whole way, but that wasn't likely to happen. Even with all of the scent masking, she still reeked of blood. There was no way she could avoid a fight. And after descending the hill…she realized she had no fight left in her. She'd be killed by the first monster that decided to feast on her. And in her condition, she'd probably start attracting the scavenger monsters to come and finish her off. Yet even if she somehow got through all that, she was far from "in-the-clear". She realized at any moment that assassin could pop out, and now not only could she not defend herself against the killer, but she was in such a state of semi-consciousness that she couldn't even detect when the assailant would come upon her. Someone could be tailing her right now and she wouldn't know it. All in all…she was in bad shape. She began to wonder if she had truly committed suicide going on this venture.

There was nothing for it now. Nothing but to push herself on. Somehow, she didn't slow, but kept the pace going. She sweat and panted as she did. She forced herself to breathe in and out in a steady one-two beat, even counting mentally to keep herself going. The only thing she could do at this point was get back to the encampment before it was too late. And so, she set her focus on that.

Naturally, never before had the camp seemed so far, and time seemed to move so quickly. She almost swore that she could see the sun setting. Yet there was something that came to mind. As a woman of Fuliet, she knew that the worst state she could be in was defenseless. And as she limped on and sapped more strength she didn't know she possessed, she realized that was exactly what she was… She hated the feeling. At first, as she limped along over the plains, she felt merely angry at it. Yet as she kept going…there was a long, hidden feeling that had come out… For years she had been one of the strongest in the Nine Winds of the North. Most creatures wouldn't tackle her on her worst day even with a wound. But she had never been made this powerless before. And even then, death had never seemed so likely before. Because of this…an emotion she hadn't felt in quite some time began to come forth… Fear. No one survived in Fuliet with a nihilistic view of life. Even if death was a certainty, the only way you stayed alive is if you clung to your own life each moment of each day. She honestly didn't want to die. Not just for her own sake, but the fact that it would mean the end of her family line…and that it would ruin any chance of her people uniting if the assassin was not uncovered…

So focused was Ceja on these things and moving forward that she failed to notice something until the first hour had passed. None of the attacks that she feared came. Not just the assassin, but any foes period. No monsters or scavengers…not even buzzards circling overhead. Had she a bit more oxygen going to her brain, she might had wondered about that. Assuming her scent masking was somehow covering up all the blood, she was still quite visibly at her weakest. Anything could come along and deliver a killing blow, and the monsters of Fuliet weren't so stupid that they could see an easy mark like this and then leave her be just because they couldn't smell her. They hadn't left her alone when she was at her _best_. They definitely wouldn't spare her now. Yet she was too tired to care…she just took it, not even considering it either a hopeful sign or a good omen. She only focused on walking forward.

The sun continued to lower in the sky. It went from yellow to orange and red. Still, she focused only on walking onward. She had walked these paths thousands of times, but now it seemed to take forever. She slipped almost into an altered state as time went by…able to focus on nothing but moving on. Even the danger that would face her when she returned vanished from her conscious mind. She only knew the sun was setting quickly, and more quickly all the time. She tried to push herself on harder and faster. Still, nothing came. No monsters…no assassins. The first hints of purple began to come into the sky, and still she saw nothing. But, to be honest, she was so tired and weary she wasn't sure if it was coming or not… For a moment, she thought it was hopeless…still too far away…

Then, an unusual ray of hope hit her…in the form of a pungeant, toxic aroma. Even in her weakened, addled state, it acted as a splash of cold water in the face. It was enough to make her actually wrinkle her nose and look up, and to trigger her memory. Suddenly, she recognized it. Black Fungus! She was at the edge of the camp! Pushed by the foul stench, she actually pressed herself even harder. It wasn't easy, but she forced herself to do it now that she had something to drive her. She was in the home stretch.

The sun was in her direction, and she saw it dip lower and lower. She knew she didn't have until it set…but only until it took for the first star of the night to show up in the sky. For all she knew, with the sky growing darker, it had already done so. She couldn't afford to stop now. She pushed herself on harder yet. It didn't help that it was still slow going through the fumes, and she wasn't even bothering to cover her face. As a result, her own senses were soon thrown askew. The world before her blurred, and she began to lose her sense of balance. But still, she wouldn't stop. She continued to push through, going as straight as she could.

Now focusing entirely on moving forward and looking forward, she pushed more and more, until she was wheezing. She felt her sides in pain, both from the broken rib as well as her oxygen-starved lungs. Her leg hurt more than ever as she began to use it to push herself along as well. But she wouldn't slow even for a drink. The effects of the fungus lingered even after moving out of the cloud, and still she pushed, feeling as if she was almost walking in one place while the sun continued to lower. Slowly, however, the signs of cooking fires began to drift into view. Soon after that, she saw the dip in the valley where the river ran. It was a bit blurry for a while after that, but the various tents on the edge of camp, at least the larger ones, became visible…

She began to think she saw people. At first, she thought it was just her imagination. However, as she drew closer, she realized it wasn't. Forms were beginning to appear ahead…fellow warriors and tribesmen and women. They were outside the edge of camp. They weren't cheering or applauding as one might think. To people of Fuliet, no such overt celebration was necessary…especially since the challenge wasn't complete yet. Any congratulations could wait until she was there. Of course, she wondered…had she been too slow? Were they there to tell her she had failed? Or were they there to offer their praise and acclamation? She couldn't tell. She couldn't see if they were wearing festive paint or had brought out any of their instruments or were chanting or praying. She didn't know if they came to give her the bad news or the good. She couldn't even tell how many were out there…

As she drew closer, she looked over the crowd, but it remained a blur. She felt her strength finally ebbing, as she began to smell the scent of the camp and all of the compounds, leather, prepared food, paint, and other aromas. Letting her know she was nearly there, she was finally giving out. But she kept looking, and kept walking…waiting for a sign. Finally, she began to see it more distinctly. Numerous warriors walking out to her. As they did, she began to hear the native calls and prayers…giving thanks to the gods of the hunt. And immediately, her fading mind realized the truth…that those were only given after a successful great hunt…and she knew. She had done it. She had succeeded. Dreamlike as it seemed, she had actually triumphed on the Shenindunten, a hunt she thought she would never succeed at even in her most idealist fantasies… Had she not been moments from collapse, she would have smiled…

Then…something happened.

She was so dazzled she didn't even realize it at first, but abruptly something smashed into her rather roughly. It was practically a tackle, ripping her off of her feet, casting her aside, and then making her collapse to the ground. The sudden rush to her head of force and dizziness threw her for a loop. Combined with her stress, dehydration, pain, exhaustion, and the effects of the Black Fungus, it wasn't long before her senses began to black out entirely. She didn't even register hitting the ground…or landing on soil or rocks…

She weakly looked up, but before everything turned to a dark blur, she only saw a ray of light light suddenly erupt near her and shoot for the crowd and the camp…and soon after the dimming sound of a blast…

* * *

><p>"Let's get her back on her feet. If you please, Sir Sabian."<p>

Ceja's senses began to come back at the same time that she felt strong hands come behind her and grab either arm. There seemed to be two sets of them, and soon she was brought up powerfully but still rather gently. As this happened, more of her senses came back to her. She began to feel soil beneath her as well as the air of Fuliet, the smell of the camp, and the nearby presence of numerous bodies. She soon heard many speaking in many different voices. A few prayers and congratulatory words were mixed in with them, but most of them were still in shock and disbelief…at least, from what she could gather.

Her eyes fluttered a bit, and she managed to open them up. After seeing a dimly-colored blur for a moment, she blinked a few times and managed to look up more. As she waited for her eyes to clear, she felt a bit more of her strength back, as well as a considerable amount of her pain gone…enough to even risk putting down her bad leg. However, as she began to get her feet beneath her, she heard a heavily-accented voice.

"No. Bad leg still."

"Sir Tierras is right, Ceja." The first voice said again…now recognizable with her senses coming back. It was Lady Cybus. "My healing power isn't nearly as great as that of Lady Mianyl. I'm afraid you'll need some old-fashioned medicine, preferably of the modern kind. But once we have you back in the camp, I'm sure we can make a brace until you can have your bone fully repaired."

Finally, at this, the Fuliet warrior looked around, and saw who was about her. There were a number of Fuliet tribesmen and women, some of them warriors, but many of them were already wandering off in confusion. Those that were left, however, looked rather amazed and enthused to see Ceja, and were continuing to give words of praise. She also saw that Lady Cybus was in front of her, and supporting her on either side were Taraketh and Jalab. All of them managed to give her smiles as well.

Ceja blinked a few times. After all, she was still thirsty and sweaty, but she soon shook her head. "Did…did I make it?" She asked this after looking to the sky, and now seeing not just one star but several.

"Yes, you did." Cybus answered with a smile.

Ceja paused. "…The assassin?"

"Your crazy gamble worked." Taraketh responded to that. "But just barely. Don't ever pull a stunt like that again."

"I'm inclined to agree with Sir Sabian." Cybus added. "It worked, but there is no question that you owe your life to Sir Tierras. Even only having been here a day, he's already shown considerable wisdom."

This only served to confuse the warrior even more. She looked over to Jalab at this. However, in response, the monk was silent…bowing his own head…and, a bit to Ceja's surprise, seeming to actually blush a little. Rather than muse over this for long, however, she looked back to the Sorceress. "I…I don't understand…"

Cybus smiled a bit more and looked to Jalab. "I wondered why Sir Tierras wasn't there that morning to see you off, as much as he said he was interested in doing so. As it turned out, he was suspicious. All of us had assumed that a poisoning had occurred, but he suspected otherwise. He introduced himself to the warriors of the camp and the Nine Winds of the North. They were reluctant to speak to him at first, but after I helped to ingratiate him a bit, they agreed to demonstrate their talents to him on the word that he was intrigued on seeing the hunting styles of the warriors of Fuliet. I was confused as to why, but I started to suspect what might be the cause as the various demonstrations were made. Yet before I could confirm the suspicions, the last demonstration had hardly finished when Jalab excused himself, saying he was going to go hunting since the Nine Winds of the North were so shorthanded."

"It seems Sir Tierras found a loophole to your challenge." Taraketh threw in. "Sure, no one could help you directly, but there wasn't any rule against killing all the monsters between here and your last hunt. Frankly…I'm a bit stunned. Even though Sir Tierras knew you'd be coming from the direction of the wastes, I'm overwhelmed that he managed to kill so many monsters. He went into such a frenzy that the surrounding monsters backed off from the camp. Even the starving ones were afraid to pick a fight with him."

Ceja went wide-eyed. Now that she was more alert, she realized what had to have happened on her trip back was more than luck. This confirmed it. Jalab had cleared the way. But…powerful as he was…that could not have been an easy feat. She looked to him again. Now, for the first time, she noticed he was rather dirty and had a number of bandaged injuries. All of them minor, but numerous. However, he wouldn't look up to her. He only blushed more than before. To be honest…Ceja was overwhelmed. He had to have been killing almost non-stop all day in order to have done that…especially as savage and hungry as the beasts were…

"When we gathered at the edge of camp and spread the news that you were taking the Shenindunten," Taraketh continued. "All of us were looking for someone with quills or fangs or the like…something they could use to poison someone. We didn't even expect the assassin to strike until you were nearly to us…that part of the crowd would come out and congratulate you. But we did notice Sir Tierras hadn't come back."

"As it turned out, no sooner had he finished 'clearing the way' than he began to follow you." Cybus explained. "I had no idea that he was so good at stealth, but I suppose I should have expected no less from a man who was used to moving unseen over open desert. Or perhaps he was merely lying in wait where he ended up springing out from. At any rate, he suspected the identity of the assassin the whole time, and knocked you clear just in time before using his own abilities to disable him. Rather ingenious, I might add. The whole time, we suspected poison…but in truth, we had forgotten about the 'Invisible Bow' technique."

Ceja paused on hearing this. Her memory soon clicked. Of course… Why didn't she think of it herself? Probably because it was such a rare talent that she couldn't think of anyone using it. The 'Invisible Bow' could be used to hurl bolts or even air with such precise force and accuracy that the resultant impact to a key point could break the spine or rupture a major artery…and yet not leave a mark. The skin wouldn't even be broken if one was talented enough with it. It was a point of pride among hunters…and, at present, Ceja knew of only one who possessed that level of skill.

Soon after, it was confirmed by Cybus.

"It was indeed Sydian Leorex, as you might have suspected by now, given what we have told you." The Sorceress went on, rather grimly. "I had suspected it this morning once I saw the point behind the demonstrations, but when Jalab ran off rather than captured Sydian right away, I assumed I was wrong. However, I now see the wisdom in his actions. He merely waited to catch him in the event…and so he has. That was a supply tent, and Sydian was found with his bow in his hands and a straw being loaded for a second shot…the perfect projectile for administering a lethal shot yet having the 'bolt' obliterate on impact. A puff of dust is all anyone would have ever seen. There were many other places he could have set up, but, as you intended, he didn't have time. This was the only place he could do it, and he was caught in the act. Now, granted, this only gives him enough blame to make him suspicious. However, Sir Kite has apprehended him following Jalab's counter strike, and I'm sure the truth will come out soon."

"It will, but I'm afraid the culprit decided to take justice into his own hands rather than face it nobly."

The resonating voice was more than enough to give Cybus, Ceja, Taraketh, and Jalab pause. The other people in the area soon quieted down as well, and all looked up to the source. They soon saw, head and shoulders above the crowd, the dark and intimidating form of Aizel walking out toward the Sorceress. The crowd readily parted for him as he neared her, his face looking a bit grimmer than normal. As he came, Ceja slowly extracted herself from the two men holding her up. Taraketh let go fairly readily, but Jalab seemed a bit more reluctant. Finally, he came to a stop near them.

"After seizing Sydian and informing three of the tribal elders and four of the warriors of the Nine Winds of the North, we took them toward where he was residing. It took a bit of effort, but eventually we found that there was a fake slat over his rubbish pile. After rifling through some rotten remains and bones, we uncovered it…a hidden storage pit."

"What was inside of it?" Cybus asked.

"A military-grade long-range radio…one that isn't any kind anyone, civilian or military, from Esthar has ever brought here. I am assuming it is either of Leuco or Sybenian make. In addition, a sizable amount of gil was there…at least 10,000,000…and an amount of what appeared to be illicit drugs…at least two kilograms."

This made Ceja stiffen. It wasn't just the evidence…but what the evidence was. The first thing that 'tainted' the people of Fuliet was not the lure of money or firearms or even the power that black market dealers promised. It was something as base as pleasures. Narcotics, stimulants, depressants…drugs and alcohol. Being nomadic, none of the people could make alcoholic products on their own, nor have the luxury of harvesting quality drugs. As a result, they drank it up from the "civilized world". It was not unheard of in the past for entire tribes to be sold out for cheap highs. Ceja had hoped that they were past that time…but if Sydian, a warrior she called her comrade, who she had fought many times in the past with, who she considered and equal…had thrown his tribe and tradition aside for the sake of indulging in such things… Had she been stronger, she would have vented her wrath in absolute fury. She couldn't believe such treachery. And in spite of her warrior facade and mentality...she honestly felt hurt, and the sting of betrayal. She never thought one of the fellow Nine Winds of the North would have done this.

"With such evidence, Sydian's fate was all but decided." Aizel went on. "We only sought his confession to confirm it. But apparently he didn't want to live with how some of the tribal leaders would deal with him. He threw his own neck on the knives of those holding him prisoner. He was dead before we could even place a hand over the wound." The Sorceress Knight bowed his head and exhaled. "We've confirmed him as a culprit, but I fear that he might have given other names had he lived and now those names are lost to us. We may yet still have a murderer among us."

"Even if so," Cybus responded. "The assassin has failed. You are certain that none of those drugs or that radio could have come from anyone who came into camp legitimately, Sir Kite?"

The Sorceress Knight nodded.

"Then it is already all but confirmed even before we verify the origin of the radio, and before the eyes of the tribal heads. A warrior of Fuliet has no need of gil and no access to drugs or radios of foreign make." She bowed her head and sighed. "This will confirm he was working as a traitor for a foreign power, and, most likely, the very power that would benefit the most from the destruction of Fuliet. This will placate the tribes and confirm that no one tribe was to blame for this. Furthermore, the other goal of the assassin failed as well."

"Oh…that's right, madam." Taraketh suddenly answered, seeming to realize it as well.

Ceja, a bit confused at this, and seeming to not catch on due to her state, blinked a few times. "…What goal?"

Cybus smiled a bit again. "You not only completed the Shenindunten, Ceja, which already makes you one of the greatest hunters in the history of Fuliet and ensures your name for generations to come in your tribal records…but you also are the _only_ one in this generation who completed the Shenindunten. Barring someone challenging you, that means that you are the only candidate for Warchief."

The Fuliet warrior paused. It took her a moment, but the reality began to sink in, and she realized Lady Cybus was right. She had been so intent on simply completing the challenge, exposing the culprit, and putting an end to the infighting of the tribe that she hadn't stopped to realize what it would mean after all was said and done. She had even entertained the notion that she wouldn't have to complete the challenge, that the assassin would have struck prior to her being finished. However, now that all was over…she realized such was true. And to be honest, it was rather overwhelming. Although her uncle had tried to teach her how to lead, in truth she had never been tested in that capacity. Yet as she thought about it a bit longer…she realized that wasn't entirely accurate. After the death of her uncle, she had all but assumed directing the Nine Winds of the North. It wasn't the most experience in the world, but the valleys of Fuliet were nothing if not testing of a person's true capabilities. And anyone who could "step up to the plate" was valuable. Still, it was a bit overwhelming…

Apparently, it showed. The Sorceress looked in. "…Unless, of course, you would like to disqualify yourself."

Ceja hesitated for a brief moment. The thought passed her mind…but then quickly left again. She soon shook her head. "No. I will take the candidacy. If my uncle was preparing me to one day speak to all tribes as one unit and not just individuals, I would be…what's the Esthar word…a 'hypocrite' to draw back from this now."

"It _is_ a big responsibility." Taraketh threw in.

"I won't be saying much." The warrior responded. "Just enough to get us all to consider ourselves one people and to act on Esthar's offer."

Cybus nodded. "Very well, then. Nothing is official unless no one wishes to take the challenge themselves and contest you, which wouldn't happen until tomorrow morning anyway, and the investigation and its findings needs to continue anyway. Every tribe must be made aware of this. On that note, I think it's best if you tend to your injuries and get some rest, Ms. Dracocorazon." Her smile grew a bit more wistful. "After all, I think our 'champion' should look the part for tomorrow if she ends up taking the position of Warchief." She soon turned her head a bit, and looked to Jalab. "Sir Tierras, you've already done so much for Ceja…but I don't suppose you would mind helping her to my pavilion, would you?"

Ceja reacted a bit to this. She didn't know it…but her own face turned a tint of red.

"Oh…that…that won't be necessary, my lady. I think I can manage on my own."

Jalab, meanwhile, was also red, but looked up hopefully.

"Nonsense, dear. You need to stay off that leg until you can get it properly braced. The bones have barely knit." Lady Cybus responded. "Don't worry about losing face as a hunter. Only a fool would think that a warrior didn't need assistance after that. Sir Tierras?"

Before Ceja could protest, the monk bowed his head. "Yes, my lady." And before she knew it, Jalab put his arm around her to brace her bad side, making sure to set his hand above her busted rib. In spite of her own nature, Ceja could help but feel a bit of a ripple through her when he did so, and turn a bit redder. She thought of protesting again, but realized her voice was changing to a stammer, and so she held her tongue instead. Soon after, she simply complied, letting Jalab lead her away.

In just a few moments, they had left the others behind and were headed back into camp. A few other warriors were about, who offered their quiet praise and congratulations to Ceja, and let her move on. She, on her part, kept her head bowed. She was stunned. As they moved past the warriors and tribespeople, she realized now, in a way, she had grown more nervous than she had around the three monsters she killed. She didn't know why, but she could barely bring herself to even look to Jalab. Eventually, she managed to do so, but saw that his eyes were forward…and his face was still red.

"…Sir Tierras…" She finally spoke up hesitantly. "…Thank you. Thank you for everything. I would have died many times over if not for you. I'm honored that you would go to all of this trouble for me."

Jalab finally looked to her at this, managing another smile…although it seemed a bit weak or uneasy this time.

"No…no trouble. Never trouble." He said in response. "Glad to help."

Ceja stared back for a few moments, before she looked away and forward as well. Her face felt funny when she looked at Jalab…as if the corners of her mouth were trying to turn up.

* * *

><p>Just as Aizel predicted, the verdict was in the next day. Even without the capabilities of looking at the radio's origin, everyone knew at least that <em>some<em> foreigner had been involved. That was enough to make tensions simmer down literally overnight. And whereas the people might have had some suspicion over Lady Cybus and the Order of Hyne, they would listen to Aizel. And he managed to confirm that the radio was not tuned to any bandwith used by Esthar, but rather to an unknown signal. Although the world was on a gil standard, the bills that were found in Sydian's possession were all printed in Sybenia. It took a few of the naysayers some prodding, and Aizel was up most of the night with the "hold outs". Eventually, however, he managed to convince them that the Order of Hyne and Esthar, the only other likely culprits, had nothing to gain from breaking up the tribes and making them more hostile to outsiders. Only Sybenia did. By the next day, the verdict had been accepted by almost everyone…and there was enough sway to override the few who still didn't accept it.

Ceja's trophies were also examined. There was no question that each one was fresh. It was all but impossible to examine the bodies, and there was some dispute over whether or not she had help…but, in the end, nothing serious arose. No one could accuse Ceja of anything that wasn't rooted in jealousy or bias. Although there was some lingering suspicion of how Ceja could have returned and completed the challenge, especially after "mingling with outsiders", in the end the word of Aizel held sway, and it was accepted. After all, to challenge the claim in light of this evidence was grounds for an insult to a warrior's honor, and there was only one way to rectify that transgression…a battle. And even the most skeptical opponent didn't want to risk getting in a fight with a warrior who, even if they had their doubts, _might_ have completed the Shenindunten. Slaying any one of those creatures alone was enough to make a warrior praiseworthy for years. Slaying all three in one day? That was the stuff of legend…and not a warrior one wished to fight.

As for the woman of the hour herself, Ceja fell asleep almost instantly. Cybus returned shortly thereafter and worked on her a bit longer with her magic before putting the tribal equivalent of a cast on her leg and mending her side, as well as her other injuries. But for the most part, the warrior just slept. She didn't awaken until late the next day, when the sun had clearly gone over the horizon. Unusual for her, but not unusual for anyone who had completed such a challenge. When that happened, Aizel gave her, Lady Cybus, Taraketh, and Jalab the news. After talking the matter over for some time, it was decided that no other warriors would take the Shenindunten. Because of this, Ceja was, by default, the only candidate for Warchief…and, also by default, was elected by the tribal heads.

By noon of that same day, the Fuliet warrior found more anxiety heaped on top of her than she had experienced in the sum of the hunt. A gathering had been called outside of the Sorceress' pavilion. All of the remaining tribal heads and their finest warriors, to say nothing of the Nine Winds of the North, were gathered about. Ceja felt she was on display, as she stood before them all in full view of the tribes. Leadership was one thing…but to have all of these heads and chieftains, many of them hostile to one another normally, staring at her was something else entirely. It didn't help much that Lady Cybus, Aizel, Taraketh, and Jalab were standing behind her. She couldn't even see if they had solemn looks or were giving her encouragement. All she saw were the eyes of her fellow people, some of whom were not only still skeptical about how she had succeeded, but also were a bit upset that a female had done this. At least she was feeling rested and physically better. She had changed into fresh clothing and held her axe at her side, cleaned and deadlier-looking than ever, to say nothing of intimidating. She kept her head up and her eyes forward, betraying none of her inner feelings.

One by one, the shamans of five different tribes came forward. They even had one from one of the outer tribes, for even amid the skepticism of last night, word was traveling fast and the message was being sent to the other "collective camps" that someone had passed the Shenindunten and was being made the new Warchief. As the message was still going out, it would take time for it to spread, especially in the hostile country, but based on tradition there was little reason to believe Ceja wouldn't be supported by them as well. Each one did a ceremonial gesture, offering a prayer in their native language and giving Ceja some sort of sacred sign or mark, such as anointing her head or marking her face were certain paints. They also placed a blessing on a headdress set before her along with her trophies. It was made of a combination of the quills of all the birds of Fuliet as well as bits of her own claims from her kills.

Finally, when the last shaman came forward, the question was offered in the language if all the tribal heads present accepted Ceja as their Warchief. They assented. Soon after, the same was offered to the warriors, who did likewise. With that, the shaman took up the headdress and placed it on Ceja's own head, confirming her. It didn't weigh terribly much…and yet, Ceja didn't think she had felt something so heavy in a very long time. She endured it just the same, however. This is what her uncle had hoped for…what she had hoped for. She needed to be the one to take it. In the end, she merely raised her head and let it stand for a moment.

She held just long enough for the shamans to step back. After that, she took a deep breath and moved forward. She did so as smoothly as possible. It was more important than ever now not to show weakness. Once she had moved forward enough, she spoke out in a loud address in her tribal tongue.

"I will not waste time, for our tribe has wasted enough time already, and if there is one thing I learned from my years on the plains that the outside world has only reinforced, it is that the slow-to-act are dead. We must act quickly. First and foremost…for the duration of this crisis, all tribes are to think of themselves as members of one single nation of Fuliet. This recent wave of assassinations has proven one thing. To the world, we are nothing if we are separate. Our only power exists when we are united. And if the only purpose of a Warchief is to ensure our unity, then that it what I will do. Outstanding feuds will not be honored until our current crisis is over. Furture conflicts and feuds will be addressed by a council of elders made of all tribes. If anyone wishes to pursue outstanding feuds, they will bring them before the council to render a decision. Otherwise, any act of aggression between members of two tribes will be considered an offense against all."

There was more than a little murmuring at this, but no one outrightly opposed it, or nonverbally showed their opposition.

"Next, all tribes, including the ones in this encampment and the others, must relocate. The wilds are too vicious. We have to wait until the predator populations diminish to move about freely again. We will gather and then we will move south. Esthar has recently extended an offer of an alliance to us. Whether or not we accept, we will relocate to the borders where the predators are in sufficiently low number that we can continue to exist. As for whether or not we will accept the alliance, that will be up for the council to decide. But if so…we will relocate to the city of Esthar itself."

Now the murmuring began to become audible. But before any could say anything else, Ceja spoke again…her voice fierce and hard, and demanding silence.

"Whether or not you may think such action is wise or catering to outsiders does not matter. This decision is too important to leave to me. Hence it will be decided by a council. However, if they do decide to pursue an alliance, we _will_ all abide by that. Anyone who says differently is a fool. The very land is rising against us to devour us alive. In two weeks time, there will be no more Black Fungus to burn, and in a month the beasts of Fuliet could roam our campgrounds at will looking for prey. And when Sybenia arrives, allow me to assure you…they will not spare us. We are nothing to them. Much as we all have grown to distrust Esthar, Sybenia is not interested in any alliances for their own benefit but merely our destruction. We can either sit by and watch Esthar burn before they turn their attention to us, or we can stand with them and deal with Esthar when the time comes. But know this…Esthar is the only one offering an alliance at this time. Once they fall…it will be us against an empire that has conquered the rest of the world as well as the wilds of Fuliet."

The people trailed off here. Some of them bowed their heads and considered this. Much as they distrusted outsiders, many of them weren't so culturally ignorant to know that Ceja was telling the truth. They couldn't escape those facts. As a result, there were no further complaints. They merely stared back at her.

"We have little time to waste." Ceja reiterated. "Let us begin immediately."

* * *

><p>Cybus blinked a bit in astonishment, looking a little taken aback…even uncomfortable. Ceja, however, looked back with the same firm and powerful stare that she had shown the people not long ago. All were back in the Sorceress' pavilion again as the people outside ran out to send messages to the other tribes to gather as soon as possible. Jalab and Taraketh waited to the side along with Aizel as the new Warchief faced off against the Sorceress. After a moment, Cybus nodded.<p>

"I…am grateful that you feel confident in my abilities. But do you really wish to delegate such an important task to me?"

"My uncle may have tried to show me a lot and gotten me to think more along the lines of a 'national' idea, but the fact of the matter was that he, like me, was biased." Ceja responded. "I want someone who isn't, who only stands to benefit through peace to this region. And I know you've never worked for anything but peace and unity among our tribes. You understand who are the people of character and who aren't. I'll confirm them as members of this new council and make it look as if I'm the one enforcing them, so if anything goes wrong it will be my head on a stake, not yours…but I trust your judgment better than mine."

Cybus looked back for a few moments. She still seemed hesitant. Yet in the end, she bowed her head to her. "Then I will not fail you. I know you have already contributed a great deal to make this a reality."

Ceja nodded. "Thank you."

Taraketh decided to interject. "Not to make assumptions…but is this goodbye then, Ceja?" He called out, stepping forward. "I mean, as this 'Warchief', I take it you'll be busy from now on."

The woman paused for a moment, but finally turned and looked to Taraketh. Her face lost none of its firmness.

"…I'm appointing this council for the main reason of holding Fuliet together with as little intervention from me as possible." She responded. "You saw how the various leaders and warriors were today. They have little appreciation for my ideas as a Warchief and the fact that I am female isn't helping. If I need to enforce order I'll make more edicts, but, for the most part, I would like to continue to operate as part of the 'task force' that Colonel Regalis set up."

This made the High Child's eyebrow raise a bit. "You sure that's a smart thing? I mean…shouldn't you worry about holding this new alliance together?"

"If this new council can't, then I won't be able to." Ceja responded. "And I _did_ complete the Shenindunten…making me the strongest warrior of the Fuliet tribes. Such power shouldn't be confined to simply making commands. I need to use it where it will do the most good…for Fuliet, Esthar, and everyone else."

Taraketh stared at Ceja a moment, once again taken aback by her apparent selflessness. He did indeed see the looks on everyone's faces, and saw that not everyone liked her new orders. He already feared that many tribes would refuse to go with her…that this might even start another conflict of sorts. However, it was something Ceja was willing to do, and she was being as democratic as possible about it. She was even calling for help from his own mentor. Much as the High Child would hate to admit it, his admiration for this 'savage' had grown considerably. Maybe not as far along as Dael, but he was softening to her quite a bit now. Finally, he nodded in response.

"Alright then."

"We'll leave as soon as possible…once the council is set up and all the tribes begin the relocation." Ceja responded. She turned to Cybus again at this. "My lady, if we can restore Fuliet to some semblance of normalcy and the tribes agree to an alliance, will you go on the mission that Esthar presented you with?"

She nodded. "Of course. As soon as we have completed assembling the council, Aizel and I will depart at once for Esthar and then to the Lamb Archipelago."

Ceja nodded back, and exhaled. "Then let us all work fast. We've already given our mutual enemy more than enough time."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	36. The Trouble with the World

_Three Days Later_

* * *

><p><em>I can't believe I'm doing this…but why not? The kid seems to know more about everything else. Maybe he really knows about this.<em>

Dael let out an exhale as she held her weapon before her. Her eyes were forward, looking out to sea, and her body tight and rigid. "Are you sure about this?" She called out to Bahamut nearby. "You're sure you read about all of this?"

"I didn't 'read' any of it." The boy somewhat crossly responded. He was looking already far better than when they picked him up. With the gel washed off, it was revealed all of his prior injuries had been tended to, and once he was acclimated to movement again he was soon stronger than ever. He accepted Cryder's gifts and made use of them, training himself almost as hard as Dael had. For now, however, he was seated on deck with his weapons to one side and his arms crossed. "I know this works by experience."

Dael suppressed the urge to frown. She again swallowed the fact that she might have been as insane as the boy for going with this, and continued to stare forward. Dead ahead, on the front of the deck and framed by the ocean, was a flagpole. It wasn't running any standards at the moment, not even that of Esthar. Normally it would have Sybenia's, but that had long since been taken down as soon as they had returned to international waters. As she looked to it, she couldn't help but feel a tad hopeless. If she hadn't seen the Elite Hounds and Jalab in action, she might have doubted this was even possible. But even knowing one could do it didn't mean she could pull it off…

Although the sun had gone down and the trip was rough with two passengers, the group had returned to the stolen patrol boat that same day. They still hadn't been found. The next major question was either to wait out a potential search or try and leave right away. Dael thought either option was bad. After all, _any_ ship that would just appear would look suspicious. However, it seemed Cid was ahead of them once again. Perhaps, for all of Jay's boasting, they hadn't been as "let in" as he had hoped. He first moved their ship to the mouth of the bay with lights killed, staying just out of view of any boats going by, before he paused and waited for the new patrols. As he did so, Dael had watched the radar, and saw several ships both of Leuco make and Sybenian make come by. Finally, he made a radio transmission to the ships on one of his modified radios, saying that he had spotted activity on one of the shores a few miles to the right. He only notified one ship, namely the next one in "sequence", and, once again, gave all the proper codes and designations. As a result, the ship broke off and, not missing a beat, their own patrol boat moved out into line in its place, soon joining the sequence. They stayed that way for a few hours, sailing closer to the main port, where Leuco had requested thinner amounts of Sybenian ships to avoid hampering their own trade. When they received the order, they turned away the same as everyone else…and gunned the engines for the north. By the time they started getting messages asking where they were going and their designation, their faster craft was clear, and they were on their way back to Esthar.

It was a good thing Taraketh wasn't with them. Dael could do without his rants about making them all sleep in the same room as the Sorceress again. Faerio passed right out in the commons room. It was almost enough to make her smile. When she fell asleep, and her power ebbed, she just looked like a regular kid sawing logs. Cid even broke away from his controls long enough to pick her up and carry her to one of the bunk beds, like he was putting his little sister down. She wondered how many people who held such a "heavenly" vision of the Sorceresses and even the Order of Hyne itself would react to seeing such a thing.

Bahamut was another matter entirely. She tried to pester him about it, but it was no use and, ultimately, she realized it made sense. He cleaned himself up and changed into fresh clothes, but then immediately went to work on his exercises again without sleeping. Dael realized he had already been asleep for who knew how long, so she had might as well deal with it. He wanted to get back up to top physical form soon anyway. There was little other information that he could share, however. He had merely been beaten, chained, and hauled about until they slipped him into drug-induced unconsciousness, after which nothing had happened until he had been awakened by Dael and Cid.

The trip back was not too eventful. No one pursued them. They must have been able to evade any Hound ships, assuming there were any, unlike last time. That left the Black Corsairs, but if tensions were really strained between them and Leuco, Dael doubted the pirates were in a very "helpful" mood. They should have been clear all the way back to Esthar. That meant Dael had more time to practice.

She had done better against Jay than she had thought she would so soon after their last meeting. After all, she actually managed to land a blow. However, that wasn't nearly good enough. She had to do better…be on even footing with him…ideally surpass him. And she was beginning to understand that she was missing something. She had received the best training in the world, been brought up pretty much as a soldier her whole life, and was junctioned to a Guardian Force. Yet she knew she couldn't defeat the likes of people like Jalab Tierras or Li Juanhong _before_ he was junctioned himself. They had something she lacked…some power she had yet to tap into. For the first day, she tried to find it herself. She figured maybe she simply wasn't training hard enough, or didn't have enough grip on her magic. But as she continued to practice, she started to wonder what she was missing…for she didn't feel too much improvement from this.

She talked to Cid, to Cryder, and even to Faerio, but none of them could offer any suggestions. Of the three, Faerio was the only one who had mastered magic, and she said that what she used was little more than spells to enhance one's physicality. Cryder merely said years of living on the ocean and pirating was the secret to his success, and it wasn't much help…as Dael was confident she could beat him in a straight fight. And as for Cid…combat was pretty much new to him to begin with, so there wasn't much assistance there. However, in the course of moving about and talking to everyone, she had gained the attention of the only other passenger besides Quaren. He was the one who approached her, and asked if she was willing to listen to him. Having little other recourse…and realizing that every time she _hadn't_ listened to him she had been the one who ended up looking stupid…she decided to go ahead.

Now she found herself on the deck, facing down the flagpole.

"Alright." Bahamut said after a moment. "Cut it in two."

The pole in question was a good twelve feet away from the most extended portion of her blade. She sighed. "Even if it was right next to me, my force isn't enough to cut metal that durable."

"Why does it have to be next to you?" Bahamut called out. "You saw that Jalab and the Elite Hounds can cut without even making physical contact."

"I know that. I don't know _how_ they do it. That's the problem." Dael answered.

"Just try."

The young officer frowned, again wondering why she was letting this twelve-year-old give her pointers. It's wasn't like she had seen him pull this off either. However…he had to have _something_ to him. After all, he had struck all three Elite Hounds at once with that blow from out of nowhere. Deciding to go with it, she tightened up and focused some more. She was mostly recovered from the other day by now, so she figured she was near her full power. She devoted her full attention on her target, gathered her strength, and then, after a moment longer, raised her blade and chopped down, giving a cry.

The blow was powerful indeed…easily enough to make a loud cutting sound through the air and the floor of the deck creak. But as for the flagpole…it bent a little from the cast off force…but no more. It came back and went still again. Dael frowned.

"Just cutting at it doesn't do anything." She said with a groan.

"That's because just cutting really hard through the air isn't the secret to it." Bahamut simply answered.

Dael sighed as she lowered her sword and turned to him. "Alright then, what _is_ the secret?"

"You rely too much on straight physical power." The boy responded. "No doubt, that's what you've been taught your whole life…rely on focusing on points of weakness in your physiology and push them to their limits to grow stronger, and then act. It's good for reaching your limits, but you need to be able to tap into something greater. The ancient knights, dark knights, sorcerers…that's the sword-wielding kind, mind you…ninjas, samurai…each one of them was able to tap into a power flowing through them. Nowadays, all of those types are lumped together and thrown into the Order of Hyne as soon as they demonstrate some magical power. But even if they can't generate spells, even the smallest amount shows a 'proficiency', if you will, to tap into the energy of the Planet that flows through them."

The woman sighed. "Look…all that metaphysical stuff might be a big deal for you, but, like Taraketh says, I'm just a soldier. I thought magic was tapping into my spiritual energy."

Bahamut groaned. "You're not listening. Magic _does_ tap into your spiritual energy. Magic, however, is something only a few people can do. But so long as you're a living thing and familiar with magic, you have the potential to tap into something _everyone_ has. The Planet's energy flows through everyone. It's like blood to spirit. It comes forth from Gaia, constantly being depleted and renewed by your interactions with other living things. One day, all of it will go back and be recycled again. But until that time, it resonates with this world just like a radio tuned to the same frequency."

"Look, assuming you're right," Dael continued. "Assuming that I do have this power that Jalab and Raven have been using…what then? They have to have been trying to use it for years."

"And normally it _does_ take years to unlock." Bahamut responded. "But you have good foundations for it already. You're near the peak of your physical skill, you know how to call on magic naturally as well as with help, and you're able to still your own spirit and pay attention to its flow. As little as a few hundred years ago, anyone who still practiced fighting in any capacity learned how to call on this power. Nowadays, it seems its depleted to everyone except those who have a background in the Order of Hyne…but like I said, anyone who has any tie to magic, whether it be natural or artificial, can 'unlock' this ability. It goes by a lot of names. When it was used by the old Midgar corporation/government, they called it 'limit breaks' because people could only release it when they had taken a certain level of punishment. And generally, that's true. But even knowing its there can sharpen your fighting ability overall…allow you to tap into things you didn't know you could do."

Dael paused for a moment more, but then looked more focused on Bahamut. "Alright…then how do I do it?"

"You can't really see it's full potential unless someone was to beat on you for a bit." Bahamut responded. "But so that you can do that when it comes, first of all…get back in your position."

The Esthar's Hawk paused a moment, but then raised her katana and shifted back into her previous standing.

"Now focus on your target."

Dael did so, looking again at the flagpole.

"Look at it for a while…" Bahamut responded, making his voice slower and quieter, but no less deliberate. "Get a good image of it. Keep looking at it until you can see it perfectly in your mind's eye. Only then, close your eyes. And when you do…I want you to keep seeing it."

The woman tried not to roll her eyes, but then did as she was told. She looked at the flagpole and stared, almost as if it was one of those optical illusion drawings. She continued to do so for some time. After about thirty seconds, she was about to close her eyes…but Bahamut must have seen that.

"Don't rush it. It has to be perfectly in there."

Dael hesitated, but then did as she was told. She continued to stare. Her eyes went over the flagpole again and again, examining a bit of peeled paint here, or a spot of rust there. Every imperfection…every detail…everything about it. Even the ambient surrounding railings and deck in her field of vision were noted. And she continued to look it over again and again until she almost had a photograph of it in her mind. A full seven minutes passed before she exhaled, and closed her eyes.

She saw it almost perfectly before her, like an after image.

"Now…" Bahamut continued, still calm and slow. "Connect with your spirit, like you're going to cast a spell. But don't focus on any spell in particular. Don't try to form a connection. Just feel your own spirit moving through you."

Dael soon began to do so. She was getting better at it by now, after all. She could even do it while distracted, at least for minor spells. And she was on the ocean, a place gentle, flowing, continuous, and yet natural. It took only moments for her to feel the sensation flowing through her. In fact…she realized, by now, that she could only feel it better. It was so strange. She hadn't worked at it for too long, but she already could feel it so much more strongly than usual…even her entire life. It was so odd… For years, she had never bothered to try something like this, and now that she was…perhaps she was a natural far more than Taraketh could suspect.

"Just keep feeling it." Bahamut said…his voice moving around now. He had risen, and was walking around behind her. "Concentrate…and stretch out. You'll begin to feel more. The world is full of life…ambient with the Lifestream. As you concentrate, you'll almost feel it flowing outside of you…connecting you…part of everything around you… Feel it now between yourself and your target."

The woman didn't question this time. She merely continued to concentrate. For almost a full minute, she felt nothing. But then…she swore she could almost feel 'threads' coming out from her, strands of the flow through her moving around. As she breathed in and out, she could almost see bits of light flowing inside of her and then out again. Soon, she could feel it on the sun beating down, and almost see it, even with her eyes closed, crashing in the waves. She continued to concentrate…continued to feel…and it only grew in quantity. She, a living creature, was the strongest of all…but there were traces of it everywhere…even in her target. Like a child drawing in chalk, she saw colored lines begin to appear in her mind's image…

To be honest, normally this would have been surprising to her…but she was so in the moment that her very mind had been calmed, almost as if she had hypnotized herself. All she could do was continue to listen.

"Now feel the connection. It's there…between you and your target…and the world around you. Everything moves as one, in and out of the Planet…"

Dael continued to hold…and, slowly, it came to pass. She noticed the light did seem to dim and brighten in a pattern, one that resonated with her. It flowed out and back along with her own movements. And as she continued to hold, she saw the connection with more and more of the world around her. How there was more energy than she thought there…and all of it was one with her and she was one with it. She could almost feel it flowing through her. She could almost see her breathing in sync with the oceans and winds…or even the oceans and winds in sync with her breathing. Even the light of the sun seemed to be governing her and being governed by her. The world around her that she could see with her five senses seemed to slip away as she saw it all in a new light.

"And now…strike the flagpole."

Dael was practically in a self-induced trance. As a result, her body simply obeyed…and she barely even knew it happened. Instead…a few seconds later, the world seemed to fade in around her, and she found herself no longer posed, but with her arms angled downward, her sword against the deck. She couldn't even see or hear at first, although her eyes were open and the image she had seen behind closed eyes had abruptly vanished. She blinked a few times…and reality came back. She was again on the deck of the ship. The ocean was gently rolling, and a light breeze was going by. She began to hear the sounds of water and the engines humming. She blinked a few times. What had just happened?

She turned to where Bahamut had been seated, but he was up now. Soon after, she looked behind her, vaguely remembering his voice from back there. There, she saw the boy…but he had changed. He had fallen backward and was now seated on the deck. His eyes were wide and his pupils shrunk. He was showing a rare moment, to Dael's surprise, where he looked shocked. His eyes were wide open as he stared at Dael and beyond her. He even seemed to be breathing a bit heavy.

Dael blinked at him, and then looked forward a second time, and finally she saw it. Soon, she gaped as well.

Even with her enhanced strength, it took a blow of some power to cut through metal. However, it seemed as if the blow that Dael had just summoned was far stronger than anything she had ever unleashed before. Her target, the flagpole, was not only cleanly sliced with the end now lying on the deck…the edges _gleamed_, as if something incredibly hot had done it. But that wasn't all. A duct up ahead was also neatly cut, as was the railing beyond it. If Dael had been fully alert…she would have seen that her slice also went twenty yards out onto the ocean and had caused a rather intense splash. Yet even not knowing that, she was rather surprised.

A moment later, she heard a rush of footsteps coming up a metal stairwell from inside the ship. She heard one of the hatch doors open, and turned around to look. She soon saw a rather puzzled Quaren nervously gripping his rifle.

"Are we being attacked?" He said incredulously, looking around on the ocean. "I heard a sound like a cannon…"

Now, Dael's own eyes mimicked Bahamut's. _A cannon?_

"That…was better than I thought…"

The sound of Bahamut's voice turned the attention of both Dael and Quaren downward, although only Dael could see the look on his face, as well as know the reason for it. He managed to look fully to Dael, however.

"I'll be honest… When I showed you that, I expected a scratch or a light cut on that pole at the most…for a first time." He told her. "But that…that was overwhelming. I didn't think anyone who was trying this for the first time could pull it off, junctioned and trained or no."

Dael blinked for a moment longer at Bahamut. She had never seen the boy look so stunned. She soon turned and looked back to what she did…and was justly amazed yet again. Comments of Bahamut aside, she had no idea she was capable of such power. Was this how the boy had struck the Elite Hounds? Had he mastered this technique somehow? All she knew is, if she could somehow master this power herself…she actually had a chance against them.

Before anything else could be said, however, the door opened again. The three looked up, having calmed a bit now, and soon saw Cid poking his head out.

"I sure hope that noise wasn't an Esthar cannon firing on us…" He said aloud. "We're almost to shore."

* * *

><p>It wasn't, of course. Cid had taken the precaution of blaring all of the clearance codes for dock at the military section of the port, to say nothing of also continuously transmitting the message that their ship was only impersonating a Sybenian vessel. He was so thorough that the actual docking had no problem whatsoever. On landing and pulling the ship into dry dock to be refitted (after all, if they had reclaimed the patrol boat, they should have used it again if they could), they immediately dismounted. There, they bid farewell to Faerio, who immediately departed for the fort to rendezvous with Carbuncle and teleport back to Garrado. Cid offered to escort her and meet up with them later. As it turned out, those left behind, Dael, Cryder, Quaren, and Bahamut, didn't spend much time holding back. They only stopped long enough to radio back into base through the secure line at the port authority and give the news. It took a few transfers and some waiting, but they eventually contacted the colonel himself. He congratulated them, and also gave a personal message.<p>

"Tell Master Bahamut never to pull a stunt like that again, because this is the _last_ time I ever authorize a mission like that."

Dael was eager to give a bigger report outlining details about the weapons, transport methods, and even Jay, but it wasn't good to say too many things in such a situation if it could be avoided. She kept the comments brief, and only asked one additional question…inquiring about the others. To her relief, their mission had been a bit rough, but a success as well. After a layover of a few days in Fuliet, they too were bound for Esthar again as well. With that in mind, Dael ended the transmission to head back to base.

Even though the mass transit line didn't run by Esthar's city proper, the enthusiasm she had built…namely that her friends and comrades were all still alive and that both sides of their "task force" had succeeded in their respective missions…soon diminished. Even at the docks, things were tightening up. There was a team of Esthar's Hawks there full time investigating each ship that came in and left, and a few of the artillery units that they had were moved into place. Dael didn't like the fact that she saw a grand total of three…which was hardly enough to fend off a single destroyer, let alone an attacking fleet. At any rate, there weren't many civilians here anymore, and many places were under lock and key…especially fuel and other hazardous materials. Almost everything was regulated now. Aside from that, she saw the fear and anxiety on the faces of almost everyone. No one was very upbeat or even able, it seemed, to focus much on their work.

At any rate, the train ride was uneventful, and Fort Morningstar was under the same amount of security as before. Obviously, the whole incident with Bahamut had never been highly publicized among Esthar's Hawks when he broke into the Vaults, for they all took him for a simple kid after examining his things and sent him right in. Once inside, they saw that Cid had run off, Faerio had already left, and the others still hadn't returned. With that in mind, everyone went to their respective chambers to clean up. Dael grudgingly had to admit she felt a great sense of well-being to have Bahamut accompany her back to her own quarters and essentially "move back in". She didn't know it, but even the young man seemed more at ease as well. Only having the missing Carbuncle there would have made it better. After showering, changing, and instructing him not to leave the room until she got back, she reported to the colonel's office.

It took some time to gain an audience. She ended up waiting around 45 minutes, but she was patient. After all, there was nearly a continuous stream of personnel coming in and out from all Classes, not just Class IV. She wasn't sure how much authority the colonel was assuming, but she guessed it had to be a considerable amount. After all, she had heard nothing so far to indicate that the situation in the Legislature had changed or improved. Esthar's Hawks may have had the means to act, but they hadn't the manpower or resources of Sybenia. Something bigger had to be done soon… She doubted even Fuliet and the Order of Hyne could save them from the brunt of the Sybenian military.

When it was finally her time to come in, she was almost caught off guard by being called "commander", still not used to the title. At any rate, by this time, she almost felt more at ease to be in with the colonel alone and giving the full report. This time, she included the details. Regalis showed considerable tension on hearing about the methods they had been using on prisoners, as well as the fact that they were obviously engaging in some sort of experimentation.

"Unfortunately, Leuco is getting harder and harder to infiltrate." He finally stated. "And without more information, or even a precise location, we can't risk any sort of laboratory strike. Frankly, we don't really have any of the resources for such an operation. Nevertheless…this is good information. Now we have some combat data on the Aegis Armors as well as the Elite Hounds…to say nothing of a Sorceress. Please have Sir Boer and Mr. Morningjay give supplemental reports as soon as possible."

"Understood, sir." Dael replied. "What are our new orders?"

"At the moment, commander, you have no direct orders." The colonel responded, a bit to Dael's surprise. He leaned back and folded his hands. "While I definitely prefer if you wouldn't sit idly, for better or for worse…this is the proverbial time where I see what you're made of. Esthar's Hawks has more autonomy now. Unfortunately, we also have many officers who are used to only doing what they are ordered by the government. You, however, are part of a task force that is allowed a measure of independence. It's true that I have no assignments directly lined up for you. At this point, I'm wanting to keep as many officers as I can on 'stand-by' to respond to any new information or moves that Sybenia makes. That said…sitting on our laurels is hardly productive.

"You are in a unique position, commander, having members of your group with close ties to Fuliet, the Order of Hyne, Garrado, and even the Black Corsairs. You've had a lot of contact with the Sorceresses themselves as well…all of them. For that reason, I am giving you permission to enact your task force's primary mission and continue in a course that seems best suited to the protection of Esthar for the moment."

To be honest, Dael was a bit surprised by such a thing, and she was hard pressed not to show it. Although Regalis' reasoning seemed valid enough, that didn't change the fact that this order was, more or less, "make yourselves useful". It was hardly a good policy for a rigid military organization, especially one as highly-skilled or disciplined as Esthar's Hawks. But then again, she soon realized, going the "standard" way hadn't exactly yielded a tremendous amount of benefits. Maybe it was time to not play so much "by the rules". After all, in spite of her years of discipline and dedication, hadn't she been growing frustrated with the way things were? And the colonel was right…they had to take charge. And if she truly wanted to be a great officer of Esthar's Hawks, then she should be able to pull this off.

"Now, of course, you don't have _full_ independence." The colonel reasserted. "Any mission you decide to embark on will have to be approved by me. And I'd prefer that no matter what you decide to do, you have a window where you can return to Esthar within the span of approximately two days as necessary. As I said before, I need as many personnel as possible available at all times for assigned missions." He gave a bit of a shrug. "Naturally, under normal conditions, that wouldn't give you too much freedom…but I think I can remedy that soon. That can wait until you decide on a course of action, however."

Dael hesitated a bit longer, but then nodded again. "Yes sir."

"If there is nothing else, commander, you are dismissed."

At this, Dael rose from her chair, as did the colonel. Both of them exchanged salutes, and Dael then turned to leave to let the next officer in while the colonel returned to his seat. However, the young officer was only halfway to the door when she heard him call out again.

"Oh, one other thing, commander."

The officer paused and turned fully back to him.

"Sir Boer made a request to use the computers and archives of the fort recently, which I approved, as I had no reason to deny it. However, I must admit that I didn't see the reason for his needing it. If you please, contact him as soon as you are able to ascertain why. Otherwise I'll have to go through the cumbersome procedure of analyzing his accesses which would put me through a great deal of intelligence technobabble that I would rather avoid."

Dael nodded in response. "Yes sir."

* * *

><p>About thirty minutes later, Dael found herself headed to the mess hall, although food was only secondary on her mind. The main purpose was to meet with the others again. She had only been back in her room from her meeting with the colonel for ten minutes when a email got sent from Quaren. Taraketh's group had returned. They soon arranged to all meet in the mess hall. After all, they might as well get a meal in the process. Even cafeteria food seemed preferable to Dael after a couple days of eating canned rations.<p>

Bahamut was at her side, cleaned up and changed into a fresh set of civilian clothes. He seemed to prefer them to the cadet-issue wear, after all. He also kept his sword and shield on him, although on his back. He looked up to her as they walked along.

"So, have you decided on what we're going to do next?"

"I'll think about that after we rendezvous with the others." Dael simply responded. "They have just as much, if not more, valid input to give as I do."

Bahamut seemed to consider this a moment, but then thought it was valid. He turned and looked forward as they walked on a bit further. Already, the mess hall was just up ahead and becoming visible. "Of course, how much can we do?" He asked after a moment. "Even if we had total freedom, there's just a few of us. Now, granted, that's enough under some situations…but only if we have some idea of what we're dealing with. I doubt the colonel is going to let us go on an assassination mission of Rozan Heirarch, and aside from that I can't really think of anything else."

"Same here." Dael admitted. "We could use some more manpower and weapons, but even if we could order the government to do both, which we can't, we aren't going to have enough in time to counter Sybenia. In all honesty…if they were to begin a full scale assault, I'd say the only advantage we'd have is if all four Sorceresses were here."

"Hmm…" Was the only response the boy gave.

Dael soon looked to him. "…What's the matter?"

He paused a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing. Just musing over how things seem to come full circle."

The young officer looked on for a bit longer, then looked forward and kept walking.

Soon, the tables themselves came into view. As it wasn't exactly one of the normal meal times, there were few people there, and it didn't take long at all for Dael to spot that one of the larger tables had some familiar faces at it. Quaren, of course, was motioning to her to come over. Cryder was sipping a soda, seeming to have a face that indicated he wished it was alcoholic. Cid was still gone, but the others were present. Jalab gave a smile and a head bow to her as she neared. Even Taraketh looked up a bit and, surprisingly, looked happy to see her. That left Ceja, who looked up and offered a weak smile, but in general seemed very tired and even a bit disorientated. Naturally, she was getting stares from the others in the mess hall as, to Dael's chagrin, she saw she was back to dressing in leather and hides. That was her decision, of course…but she knew that it was going to cause more than a few stares in Esthar.

At any rate, she and Bahamut soon arrived and slid in seats of their own.

"Glad to see you all made it back in one piece."

"It took a little 'stitching' on the part of Lady Cybus, as well as both the tribal doctors and the medical professionals in Esthar, but yes, we did." Taraketh answered. "I hope your mission was a little less stressful than ours…"

Quaren gave him a look as he sat back in his own chair. "From what you told us, you didn't even have to do anything…"

Taraketh glared back at him. "Exactly." He sharply responded. "Instead I was stuck in a position of helplessness and confusion as I wondered if Ceja was being murdered and if Sir Tierras was chasing a wild goose. The only thing more tense than being in a life and death situation is to be watching a life or death situation and not being able to do anything about it."

Dael, hearing this, gave something of a frown. "I'm assuming from that response that your trip wasn't exactly 'fun' either."

"Not at all, lass." Cryder threw in as he made another disgusted face at his soda. "Damn sugar drinks…anyway… Seems Miss Ceja's got somethin' on her back now I don't wish on anyone, even if it's necessary."

Dael again looked intrigued at this, and Bahamut with her. "In that case, how about you explain first."

Over the next twenty minutes, Ceja, Taraketh, and even the occasional heavily-accented comment from Jalab proceeded to explain what happened on their end. To be honest, Dael was a bit surprised, and not just at the sudden power that Ceja commanded. It seemed Jalab had stuck his neck out for her far more than she expected even given his friendly demeanor. Also, it was no secret that she could see both him and Ceja blushing at more than one point.

_They couldn't really…_

She quickly put that thought from her mind, focusing more on the matter at hand. "So, if I follow you correctly, this new council formed prior to you departing?"

Ceja nodded. "I couldn't have left beforehand. Luckily, the beasts of Fuliet still aren't good enough to catch chocobos. Although the tribes are still in the process of moving, we managed to get representatives for everyone together. I presented the offer of Esthar to them. There was heavy skepticism, naturally, but thanks to Aizel and Lady Cybus, the tribal heads realized fairly quickly that not only did they not have the luxury of waiting, but this was the only reasonable alternative. After all, our people can't stay in Fuliet until something can be done about this explosion of monster populations, and we can't fight off Sybenia alone. As soon as they finish organizing, they'll be on their way."

"In that case, I thought you'd be making more contact with the colonel about all this." Dael responded. "Even the government."

"Lady Cybus is a better communicator than I'll ever be." Ceja responded. "And I already passed on word through radio before I even left and en route here. In the next few days, the tribes will begin their migration. The colonel talked it over with your government and, as part of the emergency powers given to Esthar's Hawks, agreed to allow them not only to stay on the land but to be supplied with food, water, and other necessities from governmental stock."

Quaren scratched his head a bit uncomfortably. "I hate to say it…but smart move. Waiting for a measure like that to be passed through the government would take forever. But if war _does_ break out, I wonder how they'll take it."

"Don't worry." Taraketh reassured. "I've passed the message along to the Order of Hyne, and they'll lend a hand if it comes to a strain."

"Good. That's the easy part." Dael stated somewhat wistfully. "But I don't think the Legislature will allow him to make an emergency order to supply them with firearms. That's going to take a bit more effort. And I'm sure they aren't going to be too happy that they were brought here only to be commanded to 'stand on a wall with a gun'."

Ceja looked grim in response to that as well, but sighed. "We'll have to deal with that moment when it comes."

"Commander…how did you do?" Jalab suddenly asked. "Bahamut safe. Mission accomplished?"

Dael turned to him and managed a nod. "For the most part, yes. But our trip wasn't exactly easy either." Soon afterward, the young officer began to tell their own story. Although this too took a bit of time, Cid still hadn't joined them by the time she drew it to a close.

Taraketh was rather incensed. "Sybenian inhumans…" He grumbled. Calming down only slightly, he looked to Bahamut. "Are you sure you can't remember anything that happened to you?"

The boy shook his head. "I don't honestly think there was anything to remember. Perhaps they did plan on experimenting on me once I arrived at that facility, but until that point…I was merely being kept in stasis." He let out a sigh soon afterward, putting an elbow on the table and leaning his head on it.

Cryder frowned a bit in response. "Now you aren't still moanin' and groanin' about that cave, are you lad?"

That was true enough. On the way back to the ship, the whole story of how they had come up upon the junction where they had reclaimed Bahamut had come out. On learning of the discovery of the exposed cave, Dael remembered how Bahamut had lit up like a flashlight. But on hearing that they had seen no signs of a water symbol, she had seen him on the brink of literally losing his composure in frustration. Since then, he had gone back to normal fairly quickly, but every time the incident came to mind he only reverted into this state of mind. At any rate, he soon looked sourly at the pirate.

"Out of all the potential Guardian Force locations it could have given you…perhaps one for every Guardian Force left on Gaia…that was the _one_ Guardian Force that it didn't mention." Bahamut answered. He looked to the table and sighed. "It's almost maddening… I can't find the slightest clue."

Dael figured now wasn't the best time to remind him of what she had said a while ago, about learning to adjust to "being human", even if it was something she wished he would recall at the moment. Before she could consider anything else to say, however, she began to hear a series of footsteps drawing closer. She looked up, as did the others, and turned her head toward the direction of the noise, just in time to see Cid approaching. In moments, he was at the table and giving everyone a smile before throwing a closed file down on it.

"Sorry I'm late. Hang on a second. I can't stand going this long on an empty stomach."

With that, he turned and head over to the food. The others looked back to each other for a moment, but, on seeing Cid departing again already, decided to simply wait. In the meantime, Dael looked over to the folder, and thought of opening it up and looking around at the contents briefly, but then decided it would be rude. She decided to wait instead. Along with the others, save for Cryder, she looked over to the mess lines as Cid went about and selected as much food as he could shove on a tray, and soon what they expected to last only a minute or two dragged on.

As for Cryder, he again choked down another swallow of his soda, before looking up to Dael. "Exactly how high to I have to rank in this outfit before I can get something hard?"

Dael merely rolled her eyes in response.

The pirate, on his part, snorted and looked back to his drink. "Wish I was a pirate back in the old days…when you _had_ to guzzle rum instead of water…"

After a few more minutes, Cid returned, half of a sandwich sticking out of his mouth, and setting a tray overloaded with food in their midst. He quickly took a seat as well and continued to munch a bit longer as he began to talk. Of course, as a result, only a string of muffled syllables came out, causing everyone at the table to grimace a bit. As he didn't seem to get the hint, Dael spoke up to him. "Uh, Cid…why don't you swallow first?"

The engineer paused, but then nodded. After eating his bite and washing it down with one of three drinks he brought, he reached for the folder. "So as soon as I got back…" He began. "I wanted to take a look at those photos I snapped. Took me a while, but I finally found a decent one. Then I just pulled a map of the world off the net and superimposed an outline of the map from the cave onto a modern one." He flipped open the folder, pulled out a picture, and slid it over on the tabletop toward the others. "Have a look. Guess what you thought was right about those places."

Dael soon looked over it, and Bahamut leaned in closer to get a look of his own. After searching over the photograph for a few moments, they soon began to notice the similarities in locations.

"Your suspicion was right…that map _does_ correspond to locations that the Guardian Forces seemed naturally drawn to in order to live in."

"And if that's the case…" Bahamut interjected, not looking up from the map. "Then it might point the direction to the remaining Guardian Forces."

Cid nodded. "Right."

"Anyone have a pen on them?" Dael spoke up.

In response, the engineer fished in his pockets and, after a few tries, pulled one out and handed it to her. She uncapped it and went over the superimposed map, beginning to drawn Xs through various symbols…much to Cid's chagrin, as he had spent quite a bit of time making that map. Nevertheless, he took the opportunity to resume eating.

"The Guardian Forces that we currently have in our possession between all of us are Carbuncle, Quetzacoatl, Shiva, and Ifrit." As she said each one, she marked off the corresponding symbols on the map, which was also where they had been found.

"And the Minotaur Brothers. Don't forget them." Taraketh interjected. "They came from this shrine…right here." He reached over and indicated.

Dael quickly scratched that one out as well. "That's five Guardian Forces in all…or six, but five symbols. Who are the other Guardian Forces?"

"Pandemona, Siren, Cerberus, the Doomtrain, Leviathan, Alexander, Diablos, the Tonberry King, and the Gigantuar." Bahamut readily spoke, cutting off Taraketh as he opened his mouth to say them.

The High Child paused a moment, but frowned and looked back to the map. "You can go ahead and ignore Diablos. Even if we knew where the find the Magic Lamp he was imprisoned in, I doubt we'd want to risk letting him out in order to use him. For that matter, so would Sybenia. And we know Leviathan isn't on the map either. That leaves seven."

"And three of those are in the pockets of our Elite Hound maties." Cryder pointed out.

Taraketh thought for a moment. "The records are a bit sketchy on what the Tonberry King and the Gigantuar were…but I think 'Nature' and 'Steel' were what they ended up getting, respectively. Pandemona is Pure Wind. Siren is Music. Cerberus is Vigor. The Doomtrain is Decay. Alexander is Holy."

"I'd bet 10,000 gil that the Guardian Force Jay ended up getting is Pandemona." Quaren came in. "I mean…just look at those tornadoes he whipped up."

"And the icy wench must have Siren." Cryder added. "I may not be an Order of Hyne monk or a scholar, but I know the tales about Siren from my time as a swabbie…some evil enchantress of the waves who lures sailors to their doom and sings so horribly it can kill."

"And remember," Bahamut also added. "Those people who were killed back at Helheim…they seemed to die from rapid disease or rot…in other words, Decay. That must be Doomtrain."

Dael looked over the map for a few minutes. This was harder. After all, she was never certain what all of the symbols meant. Some of them could represent a lot of things that were now abstract to everyone else. In the end, she picked out what she thought looked the closest to those symbols, scratching them off. She also removed one that looked like a skull, hoping it meant Death. After a few second thoughts and changes, she leaned the map back down. "That leaves Cerberus, Alexander, the Tonberry King, and the Gigantuar."

"Are you sure that one isn't 'Decay', Dael?" Quaren asked, pointing at one of the symbols.

Dael sighed and shook her head. "To be honest, I really don't know. And there's more than four symbols left on the map anyway even if it is… I have no idea what 'Vigor' might look like. And as for 'Holy'…that could be anything too."

"Ah!" Jalab suddenly spoke up, having been watching the map quietly for some time. Soon after, he reached out and pointed to a small island off the coast of the Southern Continent, but just slightly more distant from the Eastern Continent. It had a single symbol on it. "Nature!"

The others looked to him for a moment, then back to the map. Dael herself honestly couldn't tell and, for once, even Bahamut didn't seem to know. She looked at the symbol a moment, then back up. "Are you sure, Jalab?"

The monk nodded. "Yes. Symbol here. Symbol similar to older scrolls of Pallas. Use for oasis. Means 'Place Where Life May Be Born'…Nature."

Dael looked back to the location. Quaren looked it over as well for a moment longer, as did Cryder. Eventually, the corporal blinked. "Hey…that's one of those restricted islands. No resources and hostile monsters."

"Restricted for good reason, mate." Cryder threw in. "People in Leuco call that place 'Cactuar Island', and you couldn't pay a Black Corsair to make landfall there."

"But if Cactuars dwell there, it would make sense that the Gigantuar would as well." Ceja maintained. "It sounds intriguing. I myself have never encountered a Cactuar before, but they are so renown that even the tribes of Fuliet are aware of them. It's quite an honor to be able to hunt one."

Taraketh frowned in response. "I thought you already had the honor of the Shenindunten…"

"I took that hunt not out of desire but necessity." Ceja responded. "A Cactuar is more of a challenge in the ability to be able to strike one down as well as to survive them. As a hunter, it's a matter of interest at the challenge, especially since one of those is still easier than hunting any one of the three of the Shenindunten."

"Alright, that takes care of the Gigantuar…but what about the Tonberry King?" Dael asked.

Cid, in response, looked over the map a bit longer as he shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth, but then pointed out another location, this one in a small archipelago just off the northern coast of the Southern Continent. "I think that might be it for Steel." He remarked.

Dael looked to the location, and the accompanying symbol. However, she didn't see much to it. It looked almost like some sort of comet…although more of a conical-shaped one rather than a sphere. She looked to Cid a moment later. "How can you be sure?"

"I can't." Cid responded, going for a donut. "But I'm assuming it is. Think of it this way… We're assuming this map was made by something that has greater knowledge than the human race at the time of its construction. Well, if that's true, then it's a reasonable assumption that humans had no idea what steel was. They might have not even been able to forge iron at this point. So it's reasonable to assume that the only source of steel would be on whatever this race brought with them…which would be a spacecraft."

Dael and the others paused at that. The young officer looked back to the symbol. Now that she looked at it again…she realized it did seem to resemble a spacecraft more than a comet, shooting through the sky. Taraketh seemed to take this as well.

"That should be the area near Centra Ruins." He said after a moment. "The Order of Hyne knows about them but we've kept people away from them to the best of our ability. Supposedly, it's the only remaining intact castle that the original King Odin constructed. He had several, after all."

"I thought the Centra nation built it." Dael asked. Centra itself had been a rather prominent player in times past. It used to be one of the greatest civilizations in the world. However, that wasn't saying much, considering how things went. So were places like Vector, Baron, and Midgar. In the end, they all only had one thing in common…all of them had died out. Centra, actually, was still standing at the moment, but only in the most academic sense of the word. There was historical evidence to indicate that, at one time, the nation had gained access to alien technology that had enabled it to become a major world power that dominated the entire Southern Continent. But the empire didn't last and broke up, eventually migrating elsewhere and having their technology incorporated into other kingdoms and nations, who, in turn, passed it on to the modern day. In fact, Esthar was one of the countires that could trace its roots back to the Centra Empire. The modern Centra, however, was little more than a city-state totally subordinate to Leuco, possessing no saying power or world-authority, and totally neutral. There was more than a good chance that if they ever got involved in any major event such as this world war, their nation would be obliterated and all that would remain would be a few older ruins of their earlier age around the world.

"Centra built on it at the height of their power…adapted it for their use." Taraketh explained. "But they didn't lay the foundations or have the original ownership. That's why it's still standing when everything else has fallen."

"Wouldn't Sybenia want it then?" Quaren asked.

"They can 'want it' all they like…it doesn't mean they could possibly claim it." Taraketh responded. "The place is overrun with a powerful monster race that rips apart anything that travels more than fifty feet through the gates."

"Let me guess…" Dael responded. "Tonberries?"

Taraketh nodded. "Right. Seems an ideal place for the Tonberry King."

Dael looked at the map a bit longer, staring at the two locations that had been pointed out. "Both of those are near Leuco, but three of the symbols we crossed out are all on Sybenia. It makes sense. That must be where the Elite Hounds got theirs. If I had to guess, before they made their assault on Esthar's Vaults, they went ahead and scoured their own landscape for whatever Guardian Forces they could get."

"In that case, we have a problem." Taraketh answered darkly. "Now that they have an alliance with Leuco, they're free to search for more on the Southern Continent. It's only a matter of time before they find those two."

"Hunting a single Cactuar is one thing." Ceja responded. "Going on an island infested with a nest of them, however, is a venture for the foolish. And even the greatest warriors on Fuliet, myself included, are not mad enough to try and attack a Tonberry. Even their most advanced metal weapons can't hope to bring one down."

Dael still looked grim. "Juanhong could kill more than one Tonberry at a time by himself _before_ he was junctioned. By now, I don't think either the Cactuars or the Tonberries would be much of a deterrant to him or to the other Elite Hounds. If nothing else, they could go in there and get the Guardian Forces."

There was a pause from everyone around the table, as they mused this for a moment.

"Well, in that case, I guess I know where all of you are headed next."

Everyone, Bahamut included, gave a bit of a jump and turned their heads at the sound of the sudden new voice. They were just in time to see Carbuncle leap up onto the tabletop from the nearest unoccupied position, further surprising them. He took a moment to scratch one of his extra-long ears while Dael and the others recovered from the shock. However, because of his arrival…none of them noticed Bahamut give pause.

"Carbuncle," Dael actually exclaimed a little. "What are you doing here? I thought you would be back in Garrado after teleporting Faerio."

The Guardian Force waved a paw at her. "Eh…I'll head back there soon enough. Didn't think I was going to leave you guys without checking in, do I? Especially you, Dael. I expected that they'd have shipped you to the medical wing as soon as you got here. One of these days I'm going to find you missing a limb or two when I pop in."

The young officer frowned. The green creature merely shrugged.

"Don't give me that look. Anyway, forget that. So, it looks like it's back to the hunt for more Guardian Forces for you, eh?"

Dael blinked momentarily. "Well…not exactly. We just turned up this map in an exposed cave when we were getting Bahamut, and we were trying to see what to make of it."

"I think he's got a point, Dael." Quaren interjected. "I mean…we're kind of idle at the moment. We are a task force now. We're supposed to be thinking of something productive we can do for Esthar…so why not this?"

"I have to agree." Taraketh added. "It seems to me that the Elite Hounds are already somehow able to get 'more out of' a Guardian Force than a normal junction. That disturbs me. It makes me think they're already able to use Guardian Forces for powers they were never intended to wield. I think it's in everyone's best interest not to allow them to get any more if we can help it, now more than ever. I don't trust these locations to stay secret for long, and the last thing we need are two more Elite Hounds to cause trouble. After what I heard regarding your report, if one of them is capable of bringing down a category four or five tornado wherever he wants…that's quite bad enough. We don't need them getting ahold of more powers like that."

"It might work out too, Dael." Cid threw in, pointing back to the map as he started on a fruit cocktail. "These locations aren't far. In a good boat, or, better yet, an airship, we could make them both in just a few days. We might not even have to get in within the perimeter of the coastal defenses of Leuco."

Dael considered these comments for a moment. She was caught a bit off guard by them. After all, she had only been trying to study the map a bit. Yet now that she heard all of this, she had to admit everyone had a point. She had advocated getting the powers of the Guardian Forces earlier, and her opinions hadn't changed to that effect…especially now that she saw what Sybenia could do with them. She really didn't want to have to deal with anymore Elite Hounds. Already, she began to wonder if they would be just as destructive as the Sorceresses when war broke out. In the end, it made sense, especially given Cid's comments. With the right ship, such as the class they used to get to the Lamb Archipelago on her second mission, it wouldn't be a problem and they could easily make it back to Esthar prior to any major change.

"In that case, I'll present this to the colonel. We'll need his approval, although I'm sure he'll give it."

"And I'll contact Lady Mianyl about it as well." Taraketh threw in. "I'm sure she'll throw her support behind it."

"Well, if that's the case, be careful, you guys." Carbuncle added. "You're moving on past the 'easy' ones at this point. These two are a bit nastier. We aren't even sure about them, because they weren't originally espers."

Cryder sipped his soda again. "I think we can go with the assumption: 'A Cactuar and a Tonberry…only a lot worse.' Meh…days like this reminds me why I _don't_ get you all to become my new crew…"

Carbuncle shrugged. "Pretty accurate. I can tell you the only way I beat the Tonberry King a couple hundred years back was by teleporting him to the middle of the ocean."

"In that case, how about joining us and doing something similar?" Ceja asked.

"Are you nuts?! He never forgave me for the first time!" Carbuncle snapped back. "I didn't even know a Tonberry _could_ look pissed! It's damn scary!"

Dael sighed. "We'll have to find some way to do it ourselves. I'd prefer if Carbuncle stay back at Garrado."

The green creature paused in response to this. After a moment, he exhaled. "Well…much as I'd like to give a 'take me with you' speech at the moment…considering this, I think I'll just do as you say."

"In that case, I think everyone else should get all the R&R they can." Dael responded, turning back to the others. "Because I think we'll need everyone for this one, and if it's dealing with things like Cactuars and Tonberries, we're going to be in for another one of those 'pain-intensive' missions…"

"Sure. I'll see if I can't get some specialized ammo…just in case we run into more armored units." Quaren responded, already starting to rise.

"I better send the message now." Taraketh said, getting up and ready to move. "Lady Mianyl is so busy, there's no telling when she'll have time to get it."

"And if we're going to be hunting such larger game, I need to make sure all of my old injuries are fully healed, so I'll be headed back to your medical wing." Ceja added. She sighed soon afterward. "Much as I hate 'civilized' medicine…I will admit it cures one much faster than traditional remedies."

"I should probably see if I can adapt one of my tools to be more useful against things that are fast and have high durability." Cid suggested. "After I eat, of course."

"…I think I'll just stick with trying to find some decent drinks for the trip." Cryder threw in. "A man can only pull so many crazy stunts cold sober."

"Carbuncle." Jalab spoke up, causing the green creature to look to him. "Speak with you? About Lady Veriguno?"

"Hmm?" The Guardian Force answered, turning back to him. "Oh…oh sure, man. I forgot. You'd probably like to hear how things are going." He looked up soon afterward, back toward Dael as well as the others who, by now, were getting up and leaving. "Guess I'll stick around for about an hour. I'll try to catch you in your room if I'm able, Dael. Otherwise, I'll be headed back for Garrado. There's nothing major going on but they never stay put for more than a little while, so I don't want to end up teleporting into a company of Sybenians."

"Don't worry about it." Dael responded…although she did feel a bit regretful that Carbuncle couldn't hang around much longer. Still, she preferred if he would stay with the Sorceresses. After this, she turned to Bahamut. On doing so, she hesitated momentarily. For the first time, she had noticed his expression…and that it seemed hesitant now, as if something had come to his mind and was now commanding his attention.

The woman looked to him for a moment, but then called out. "Bahamut, are you coming?"

The boy actually didn't respond or even seem to hear right away. But after a moment, he looked up and to Dael…but only hesitantly. "Actually, I'd like to talk to Carbuncle about something after he's done with Jalab. I'll head back to the room after I'm done."

Dael looked at him a bit longer. Bahamut gave a light sigh.

"…I won't 'get into trouble'."

That wasn't Dael's true concern. In fact, after all he had been through, she thought of actually 'letting him off the leash' for a bit to try and readjust. At any rate, she didn't press it. Instead, she just nodded. "You got a key, right?"

Bahamut nodded.

"Alright then…I'll see you later."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Dael didn't get an audience with the colonel nearly as quickly as she hoped. She returned to her room and sent out an electronic mail requesting another meeting, but she supposed that Regalis didn't get to it for some time. About the same time she was finishing the message, a breaking news story came out regarding the situation in Esthar.<p>

On reading up a bit more, Dael found that things really hadn't improved much with the Legislature. Although bickering was lowering, civilian hostility was on the rise. Protestors made it almost impossible to go to and from the Legislature, and many of the representatives were being harassed at home or in session for their inaction or viewed contribution to the current situation. Justified as it might have been, Dael knew now wasn't the time. It was making it harder than ever to conduct governmental affairs, and right when they might have been ready to "step up to the plate". And with the Senate stalled, it wasn't long before other issues that they had been quibbling over frivolously when they still had the luxury of being petty crept forward. One of them was the issue of refunding the civil service sector, such as police and firemen.

Apparently, the Legistlature couldn't come to an agreement even on something like that. Before, the issue had been pensions that had stonewalled it until now. The stakes were a bit higher at this point. People were a bit too worried to care about pensions or even minor pay cuts for the time being. However, Esthar spent almost all of its tax revenue in federal benefit programs. There wasn't much to spare on expanding a military or military-connected expenditures. If there was going to be any increase in the military, a new source of revenue would be required…and a lot of it to have any hope of matching Sybenia. A tax hike was considered, but even in a time such as this, the representatives were obviously worried that people wouldn't go along with it or would protest the action. However, they may have opted for something just as contentuous. While most representatives would have loved the opportunity to simply let this salary issue stand as it was, the routine pushbacks had reached a deadline…either a decision would have to be made or the civil service sector would be shut down.

That was when one of the representatives stated, in a quote that got leaked to the media, to instill a temporary 8% cut in salary for all workers within the civil service sector to provide a source of funds for military expansion.

Whether the Legislature would have seriously considered this or not would remain in doubt. They certainly weren't _now_, of course. They had not only removed any pay cuts but were back to the issue of pensions. Yet the mere mention of that was like throwing a match into gasoline. Half of the police stationed there were soon struggling to suppress a riot. The other half joined in with the crowds, being of a like mind. It came close to getting out of hand and even the Order of Hyne had stepped in. Although the police had argued against the magic order turning themselves into lawkeepers, they truly couldn't argue before long, as they themselves were insufficient. Naturally, Lady Mianyl was there trying to calm things down too. But as a result of both issues, Regalis was turning his attention to trying to keep similar "copycat" riots from breaking out, and the Sorceress wasn't in much shape to read correspondence from anyone. Dael merely had to wait until she was summoned.

Unfortunately, she didn't get her meeting with Carbuncle. Jalab and Bahamut must have kept him for some time. She spent most of the time in her room, which made her uncomfortable. Now that she had learned that new technique, she was eager to master it even more than magic. After all, it wouldn't do much good if she had to tell one of the Elite Hounds to stand still for ten minutes while she warmed up. And as busy as they were nowadays, she realized she had to get in whatever practice she could when and where she could. But she didn't want to risk being late. Regalis was having to squeeze people in for matters like this now, and any extra time he spent could be problematic. It took four hours for him to finally call her, and during that time about all she could do was check up on the news…all of it bad. She focused mostly on Esthar, but Sybenia only had news of one victory after another from Garrado coming on their own state-controlled media, as well as doing test launches and displays of their naval power in public view.

However, the call finally came. As quick as she could, Dael returned to the office. She soon went in and gave her proposal, that her task force be allowed to pursue the two Guardian Forces. She also showed the map to present their location. The colonel, in response, seemed to go with it…but wasn't as enthusiastic as she might have hoped.

"I don't think I need to remind you that while Leuco may not be Sybenia, it has more than a good-sized garrison searching the area, especially after your latest operation." He informed her. "They're more intent than ever to ensure no one is able to just slip through their borders again, enough to where they're making a new system of security protocol. To be honest, if I had known that Sir Boer could get someone in so flawlessly, I might have canceled your previous operation all together to have instead used the opportunity to sneak a team in for a purpose that might have been more beneficial to Esthar. All of that said…" He paused momentarily. "…I think your latest mission made it clear that we're dealing with individuals who are more than just exceptionally strong agents of the Guiding Hand, but ones that might pose a serious threat to the security of Esthar in a conflict. And based on these locations, I think you might have a good chance of it. Leuco itself is patrolling a bit closer to the shore, so they should ignore Cactuar Island. As for the Centra Ruins…those are a bit more problematic since they're in the midst of the archipelago. However, as you noted, that place is lethal. There's little reason for anyone to go near them."

"So, are we authorized, sir?" Dael asked.

"I actually received a call from Lady Mianyl prior to your arrival." The colonel responded. "She throws her support behind this, provided everyone in your task force goes. This is a dangerous undertaking even if you don't encounter anyone from Sybenia or Leuco. As a result…" He paused, but then nodded with just a shadow of a smile. "You have my clearance. I would prefer if these Guardian Forces were on 'our side' rather than Sybenia's."

Dael nodded in response. "Thank you, sir." She paused for a beat. "But, as you probably know, we'll need to have clearance to another transport."

"I'm aware of that, commander." The colonel responded. "In fact, this is what I alluded to earlier. As you are now heading your own task force, and I now have the autonomy to do so, I am going to place a craft at your disposal on something of an 'extended loan'."

The young officer felt her eyes widen a bit despite her reserved manner. That was a surprise. A pleasant one, to be sure, but quite a surprise none the less. "…Are you certain, sir?"

"It would be ridiculous to say that most of the craft available to the Order of Hyne are warships, commander." The colonel continued. "And as for the others…they are suited for combat against something like the Sybenian navy only by a fairly generous stretch of the imagination. You are a Class IV operative and, as it has likely become clear to you by now, you are required to be able to move about Gaia quickly and over large distances. This is indeed appropriate. If I could, I would assign you an airship, but all of our aircraft are too valuable. Nevertheless, I have every confidence that you'll make good use of this 'extended loan'."

Dael hesitated a few moments longer. However, she wasn't about to refuse this. Although a part of her thought even a minor boat might help things in Esthar, she reasoned as long as they got back in plenty of time it would be fine. In the end, she nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"Now, it won't be ready for another day yet, although I can pass along the message to prepare it to be seaworthy as soon as possible." The colonel responded. "So you and your task force have a free day to prepare for the trip. I'll forward the message along to your account of when and where you can pick up the ship, as well as the appropriate clearance codes, as soon as I have all of that information squared away. Once again, remember, you should report back at once if you are summoned."

Dael nodded. "Yes sir."

"In that case, you're dismissed. And good luck, commander."

* * *

><p>In ten minutes, the young officer was already back in the residential area and standing before her chambers. As soon as Dael unlocked her door and began to step inside, she already called out while halfway through.<p>

"Bahamut? Are you back yet?"

There was no response. Dael soon stepped in the rest of the way, but didn't bother closing the door behind her. Instead, she paused for a moment to look around her room. However, there was no change from earlier. Everything was just as she left it. Bahamut cleaned up after himself, but he still left changes behind…and there were none. He wasn't there.

The woman hesitated here. This was odd…which usually meant something was up. Bahamut wasn't exactly perfectly "obedient", after all. Usually he could go all sorts of places in the fort without telling her. Still, he wasn't dressed for a workout when she saw him last, and the fact that his weapons were gone meant little. He carried those with him when they went to their "meeting". Still, this was unusual. If it was a common place that Bahamut was going, he usually told her or Carbuncle…and since Carbuncle wasn't around anymore, it made sense to tell her. That made her think he might be up to no good again. He _had_ been acting strangely earlier.

With that in mind, Dael finally went in and closed the door. She took a few minutes to change into her own workout attire. Once that was done, she exited the room and locked it. Although she intended to look around a bit, she planned on working out afterward. She needed to keep sharpening that skill if they were going against Tonberries and everything else. However, she wanted to check in on Bahamut first. Perhaps he was already in the training area and they could run into each other there. Before going there to see, though, she thought of going to the mess hall. Although it had been almost four and half hours, she wondered if, for some reason, Carbuncle might still be there talking to him. Even if he wasn't, she wanted to grab a water bottle or two for the training room. Soon, she was headed back in that direction.

It was evening by now. Dinner had come and gone, but Dael really wasn't that hungry…or, rather, during the time she would have been, she was more concerned with the meeting with the colonel. Most of the people in the fort were on duty by now. The few who were simply stationed there had gone to their own rooms or were in other areas doing training, drills, or other tasks. All in all, Fort Morningstar was mostly empty at the moment. Only a few people could be seen moving about.

As Dael neared the mess hall, she decided to grab something "energetic" as well. She didn't need to crash while she was working out, after all. As her thoughts turned to what she should grab, the same view of the various tables and chairs began to come into view just up ahead. There were even fewer people there than before. Only a small group of cadets were at one of the farther tables. They were part of a younger group, one that normally wouldn't appear in Fort Morningstar. However, given the world situation, it was thought that it might be safer for some of the ones old enough to do drills to conduct them closer to the fort rather than at the more exposed academy. However, Dael soon slowed at what she managed to pick out next. There was one other person there too.

Bahamut was still sitting in the exact same chair he had been in four and a half hours ago.

The woman nearly halted, her face turning to puzzlement. Bahamut wasn't a person to hang out in the mess hall. She had never seen him do so before. Normally, he came in, got his food, ate, and then left, without any loitering or talking to others. However, at the moment, his arms were crossed in front of him, and he was leaning forward. At first, Dael thought he was still talking to Carbuncle after all…but venturing a bit further, she saw he was quite alone. Instead, he was staring at the group of cadets…something else that was unusual. Bahamut usually never paid any mind to any of the other personnel in the fort. Dael was soon rather confused at what she saw.

After a few moments more, Dael picked up her pace again and closed the remaining distance. She soon passed among the tables and chairs, and made for the table from earlier. She approached from the side, so that Bahamut could see her coming rather than have her walk up behind and startle him. Although she had rarely seen him caught off guard, he seemed to genuinely be distracted today. Sure enough, as soon as she entered his field of vision, he looked to her in a "jerk" fashion.

"Oh, hi Dael." He said

Immediately, Dael's suspicions that something was up were aroused again. Bahamut was being unusually quiet. At any rate, she stayed normal for the time being.

"Hi. Did Carbuncle just leave?"

Bahamut paused momentarily, a shade coming over his face, but then shook his head. "No. He went back hours ago."

Dael looked to him momentarily. "In that case, what have you been up to?"

"…Nothing, really."

"Where have you been?"

"…Right here. Pretty much ever since you left."

Now Dael was definitely puzzled. Moving to the side of the table next to him, she pulled out a chair and sat down, fixing her eyes on him. "…You've just been sitting here for four hours?"

Bahamut looked a bit surprised at that. "Four hours?" He echoed. He turned his head around a bit, looking for the nearest digital clock. He soon found one, and gaped slightly at it. However, even this seemed subdued, and he still seemed distracted. "Oh…I must have lost track of time." With that, he looked away and forward again…back to the cadets.

Dael looked at Bahamut a moment longer, then turned and looked to the cadets themselves. All of the trainees in Esthar's Hawks were rather disciplined and firm, but it wasn't until the later years that most "silliness" got driven out of them. The cadets she were seeing were still young enough to participate in the basic intermural sports they offered. After listening to them for a moment, she realized they were talking about a basketball game, and seeming to get into it. Soon after, their talk went into a chat of one of the players on Esthar's Flames, the professional team for the city proper. There were even a few laughs. Dael looked back to Bahamut at this. Silly as the conversation seemed, he appeared to be rather engrossed in it.

"Have you just been sitting here watching those cadets over there?" She asked after a moment.

Bahamut paused, and frowned a bit. "…They only got here about an hour ago, so no. I was doing some thinking before that. When they got here…I just started thinking a bit harder as I watched them."

"About what?"

The boy was silent in response. He continued to stare at the cadets. In the end, he moistened his lips and bowed his head a bit, shifting his gaze to the table. He simply stared at it, saying no more.

"Bahamut…what did you want to talk to Carbuncle about?"

The boy said nothing for a few more seconds. He never looked up. Finally, he let out a long sigh.

"…Even as old as I am and as much as I've seen, sometimes things that are so obvious just slip right by me. But I was reminded by just the most innocent-seeming event." He began. "While we were sitting here and Carbuncle came up behind us, I was just as startled as everyone else. I thought about how irritating that was. Normally, when I'm at full power…at least, as I recall…I could sense anyone approaching, and I could read their energy signature and know who they were long before they arrived. I don't have that anymore, along with any of my other abilities. I was wistful about that for a moment…when it hit me.

"I may not have those powers, but every other esper, now Guardian Force, does. I realized now that when I started using the name Bahamut, both Ifrit and Shiva treated me with puzzlement. Carbuncle has been humoring me just as you have. Yet I realized that even if I don't look the part or have the power, they should have known it was me. My spiritual signature is unique. No matter how much or how little power I have, they should have realized I was Bahamut…but they didn't. And finally, it became clear to me. They never realized I was Bahamut because they never sensed Bahamut's spirit in me."

Dael sat silently, saying nothing in response to this…although her mind worked a bit, actually expressing regret. So, despite her intention to never make this blatant…Bahamut had finally figured it out on his own. She didn't know what to say to that. The boy himself sat a moment longer, then looked up again.

"…I haven't been fully truthful to you and the others." He stated. "If you ask me if I'm Bahamut, I'm inclined to say yes. I remember things…I remember everything. I don't know how I ended up in this body, but I remember the rest of my life clearly. I remember the power I once wielded and how it felt to move about in a draconic body. I remember the burning of Ultima Nexus, the founding of Terratopolis, the surface of the Lunarian moon…all of it."

He held for a moment, and swallowed again.

"…But sometimes, late at night, while I'm asleep…I remember other things. A human father reading me a book in that public library. Barely managing to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a human sister. Hugging a human mother around the waist. I thought they were fake…I thought they were side effects of something, whatever happened to trap me in this body. But I'm not a fool. I heard the story that the librarian told…the excuses…or, at least, what I thought were excuses…that she made. There's what Carbuncle said…what I made him tell me face to face when Jalab left, that he could honestly tell me he couldn't sense Bahamut within me."

The boy paused again as he looked to Dael at last.

For the first time since she had met him, he had something new in his eyes…something that wasn't strong, confident, or wise. For the first time, he showed a hint of things like hesitation…

…Even fear.

"…The last time I was on this world, I learned of new things that humans were capable of in terms of the mind. Things that could be done artificially…and even to oneself. I learned of a man who had given himself completely the identity of another because he couldn't bear the pain in his own life, and had conditioned himself to simply 'black out' the parts that were inconsistent. I learned of a woman whose entire life, a life she thought she was certain of and was true in every way…was nothing more than 'data' written onto her brain.

"Dael…I _believe_ I'm Bahamut. I believe it more strongly than anything else in this world, just as you believe you're Dael Levinson, and Quaren believes he's Quaren DeSur, and so on."

He swallowed again…and Dael saw his eyes shimmer for a moment. For just a half of a second, the strong, mature, and certain individual she knew Bahamut was vanished. What was left there was a frightened twelve year old.

"…But I don't _know_ I'm Bahamut anymore. There's a part of me…a very, very small part…but a very real one…that's wondering if everything you believe, and that librarian believed, is true…that I'm really just a confused boy who's trying to blot out a painful memory."

The young officer couldn't believe it, but she was rendered mute…not knowing what to say now that this moment had come. If anything, she actually began to feel uneasy for the boy. It seemed, at long last, Bahamut was having a breakthrough…his illusion finally beginning to crumble. And yet, now that it had come to this, and Dael began to see the effect it was having on him…she couldn't be happy about it. She could tell Bahamut was only doubting himself a little…but even this little was wrecking havoc on him. She knew it would only get worse. She realized if he _did_ remember everything…then he'd go through the agony of seeing his entire family murdered in one day once again, as well as having been shot himself. There was no telling what it would do to him…but it would likely destroy who he was. And, as annoying and troublesome as he could be sometimes…Dael realized she didn't want to lose that person. As much as she never thought she'd admit it, she almost wished she could say something at that moment to confirm to him that he _was_ the real Bahamut.

In the end, she tried to speak up. "Bahamut…"

The boy lowered his gaze and cut her off with a sigh. "I know what you're going to say…that it's not such a bad thing. But it is to me, Dael. If I'm not Bahamut…who am I? Just some crazy orphan? It's not just about never regaining my power, Dael…it's about never regaining who I am…or, at least, who I think I am. What happens now? Where do I go from here? What do I do from here? If I'm not Bahamut, then why do I have all of these memories? Why do I feel like I _should_ be Bahamut? Am I just like those humans I saw? Am I just some demented lab experiment that went wrong? If I take away the memories and the identity…am I just a nobody orphan? No past? No home? No family? No friends?"

"You have friends."

The boy paused a moment on hearing this, looking back up to her. Dael stared back for a moment, and finally exhaled as she ran a hand through her hair.

"…I honestly don't have any answers to your questions, Bahamut. I know you don't want people to patronize you…so I'll come out and say it. I never believed you were really a great dragon esper. But that doesn't make you any less of a person. Whatever happened to you…whatever reason you know all these things…whether you researched them all or somehow this information was put into your brain…you're still someone great and noble. You're intelligent, strong, dedicated…and more sensitive than most children your age. I won't pretend to imagine what it will be like for you if one day you do suddenly remember everything and you end up realizing your time as Bahamut was a lie.

"But I can tell you this. You won't be a nobody…and you'll still have something. You may have thought of us all as just being comrades until now, but we're your friends. Whatever happens to you, we're all in this together now. Why else do you think we went to the Southern Continent to get you? We weren't on any mission…that was just to save _you_. No matter what happens, we're going to be behind you from now on. You won't be alone. And you're already someone great, even if you don't have a name to go with it. I don't care who you used to be…I know, right now, you're a good person, and you're going to end up doing great things."

Dael once again felt a need to do more. This time, she didn't question it so much, although she still wondered why. As a result, her hand went out and rested on Bahamut's shoulder.

"This may not be what you'd like to hear right now, Bahamut…but this might be a blessing in disguise. Instead of trying to live according to someone else's role and fulfil someone else's destiny, you can be your own person. You can worry less about becoming someone else and worry more about being the best person _you_ can be. Because even if you're not a great ancient dragon, you've already shown me you can do a lot of good for a lot of people."

Bahamut looked to her for a moment of silence. However, he seemed to take in everything she was saying rather than dismissing it. Eventually, he exhaled again and lowered his gaze a bit.

"I'm afraid this isn't something that I can just 'slough off' so easily, Dael. I have thousands of years of memories of being a great esper in my mind, whether it's because I'm Bahamut or for some other reason. Adjusting to being a human boy isn't something I can just do, especially now. Like I said…a small part of me wonders if it's true, but a large part of me believes it's not. And I don't know if I can get rid of the impact of these feelings and memories within the span of a single human lifetime…"

This wasn't exactly the response Dael wanted. Yet before she could press anymore, Bahamut looked back up to her.

"…But if it ends up being something I have to do, whether I like it or not…" He hesitated again, swallowing. He seemed to be admitting something that he didn't like. "I'd…I'd really like to stay with you and the others." He finally choked out. "I'm not used to being dependent on other people. I thought I reached the point in my life where others would just come to me for help from now on, not the other way around. Being like this is more than a lesson in humility. Now that I'm starting to wonder if, deep down, in the core of me, I'm just a human boy who had his entire family taken from him in one night of cruelty…" He swallowed again, and closed his eyes and finally admitted it.

"…I'm scared. Perhaps it's silly or immature of me…but I am. If it's like you say…that I became Bahamut to escape pain…then maybe I did it because I wanted to feel like nothing could hurt me or kill me. Yet over the past few weeks, especially since I met all of you…I'm starting to realize just how weak and vulnerable I can be. I know that might only get worse with time…and the thought of being this way forever scares me even more."

After a second longer, he looked back up to Dael.

"But…and I don't know why…" He said more hesitantly, but with a bit more confidence. "When I'm with the group…when I'm with _you_…I don't get scared. I even find myself thinking…" He paused again, once more admitting something. "…Maybe being a human boy isn't so bad."

The young officer was rather taken aback by all of this. She had never known Bahamut felt all these things. Yet even more surprising was the emotions she felt inside herself on seeing them. First regret, then pity…and now, much as she might have wanted to deny it…a bit of happiness. She actually felt herself smiling a bit at the boy to hear this last part. And, to her surprise…Bahamut began to smile a bit as well. Although there had been similar incidents before now…Dael was beginning to realize something. Troublesome and annoying as Bahamut was, he wasn't just a friend. There was a link between the two of them… When she was with him in moments like this, an emotion stirred inside her that was more than friendship.

She didn't know it…but from that moment on, Bahamut began to feel the same thing.

After a moment longer, Dael spoke again.

"I was heading to the training area to work out." She paused. "…Why don't you come with me?"

Bahamut hesitated, his smile fading. "…I still have my weapons and I'm not dressed for it."

"Then go change first."

"That'll take a while."

"I don't mind waiting."

The boy paused again. "…You don't?"

Dael paused as well, but didn't stop smiling slightly, and finally shrugged. "…I think I'd like to do it with you for a change."

Bahamut stared a bit longer…before his smile returned.

"…I'd like that too."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The title for this chapter comes from Bertrand Russell, "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."


	37. Sword of the Ocean

Dael was still reluctant to admit it, although she was growing more "easier" about things like this, but that night was…fun.

She and Bahamut spent most of it working out, just as they said. After all, Bahamut was strong, but hardly a suitable sparring partner. And although Dael tried to focus more on the power he demonstrated on the boat, unless she wanted to ruin large portions of the training area, she could only do so much. Besides, she soon found getting it to come out "faster" was harder than it looked. He cautioned her saying that only by sustaining a lot of physical trauma and "building it up" would she be able to do it on command. That explained how Bahamut was able to pull off the move back with the three Elite Hounds, she realized. He had gotten just as badly beaten as the rest, after all. Yet just the fact that the two of them were working out side-by-side…kind of brought a smile to Dael's face. She soon found out she actually was working harder than normal, as if she was more energized even without eating. Part of it was probably that both of them encouraged each other to do more exercises, and when both finally quit…they felt like they had not only gotten more out of it, but were glad for each other's company when they both returned, showered, and went to bed.

The next day, they met with everyone again and explained the situation. Already, the group had been making preparations the day before, so there wasn't much to do that day other than continue to work out and prepare. Quaren had turned a few stares at the firing range when he was able to make a "smiley face" on a target from 200 yards, showing off the talent his Guardian Force had given him. However, Dael wasn't about to let a repeat of what happened with Ifrit happen with the upcoming ones. They'd all do it together. Cryder somehow managed to stir up an entire case of 20-year-old spirits, and Dael, in spite of her better judgment, decided to ask how. He only remarked that times of war had their "good sides". "So much easier to find contraband connections in the midst of a crisis, lass."

Taraketh wasn't to be seen for most of the day, other than the morning when they met for breakfast, and later that evening when they met again for dinner. Eager to be a help to Mianyl, he actually tried to get into the main city even if it only meant offering his help for a couple hours by the time he got there. Jalab was gone for most of it too. After all, leading a mostly solitary life as a monk who spent most of his time doing chores, he probably wasn't accustomed to the sheer lack of anything to do. However, he _did_ check on Ceja more than once that day, a fact that made Dael a bit intrigued when she learned about it. As for Ceja herself, she tried to work out herself in the training area. Her injuries were gone by then, and she was eager to get back "in the swing of things". Nevertheless, she only reluctantly changed into workout attire when she started getting looks from her native wear. Even so, the massive axe was almost too much. Dael herself tried looking into some of the reports regarding Fuliet. Apparently, it had been cleared to allow the tribes to cross the international border, although they weren't allowed to move through the barrier fences yet. That seemed to suit the early-arriving tribes just fine.

Surprisingly, Cid got called off by the colonel himself fairly early on. Dael wondered about that. This was the first time she had heard of him wanting to talk to a Sorceress Knight without going through her or one of the Sorceresses. At any rate, inquiring about it was almost pointless. Getting a message through to the colonel would only mean another few hour delay before she got a response. Yet after only an hour or two, she saw Cid again, catching him as he ran back to his own room. When he came out, he looked like he had piled all the tools he had brought with him (and many he had made since then) on him, bursting out again. She tried calling out to him, but in mid-word, he called back.

"No time right now, Dael! You and the others are in for a big surprise tomorrow!"

Without another word, Cid ran off…and didn't appear again at dinner. Dael wondered what this was about, and could only figure that he was making something or modifying something. Considering the "improvements" he had made on their last ship, she could guess what he was up to…although if her assumption was correct, she was a bit surprised. Modifying a stolen ship was one thing, but presumably the boat they were going to get was government-made and issued. They were just letting him work on it?

At any rate, Dael worked out more that day as well. There wasn't much more success with her new ability. Again, she couldn't really cut loose. She also used the opportunity to read up more on Cactuars and Tonberries. What she found out wasn't encouraging, but in the end decided to go to Cactuar Island first not only because it was the closer of the two targets but likely the "easier" of the two. She wasn't sure she wanted to fight a Tonberry, let alone a super version of one… She ended up packing a bit better too. To her surprise, she ended up sticking with her civilian clothing. She found it a little less restrictive than her combat uniform…and more comfortable. Although she didn't plan on being gone longer, she packed a few other things, including some decent food. The taste of rations was sticking to the roof of her mouth, and even the mess hall quality food was superior to that. After that, she decided to turn in early. Her bed in her room might not have been "hotel quality", but before getting out on the ocean, it would be nice to sleep on a thicker mattress one more time.

Early the next morning, she was up early again, as was Bahamut, and after getting their already-packed bags and heading down to north gate, they found everyone waiting for them, except Cid. When a courier came along to give them all the proper identification and clearances for the new boat, she informed him about that, but he said not to worry. Cid was already at the designate dock waiting for them. With that in mind, they headed out to the train station with their luggage (Cryder struggling a bit, as he had looked like he had packed as much of the case as he could, if not all of it) and headed out.

When they were dropped off, Dael had more than a few bad memories. This was pretty much how the trip to Garrado had started, after all. And this was now the third ship she was picking up from Esthar. She seemed to burn through them fast enough… At any rate, this one was a bit more interesting than last time. It seemed the pier they directed them to was still the government-designate ones, but one of the larger piers. It was also a shorter walk from where they were dropped off, although it had more security to go through. In fact, when the group arrived at the pier, they found it was actually walled off with barbed-wire gates complete with steel-reinforced concrete, and it was set in such a spot that was well out of the public eye. In fact, when Dael arrived at the checkpoint and began to hand over her papers, she noticed there wasn't anyone there who seemed to be a civilian, and not just because of the times. The codes themselves that she passed along were so detailed that it took a while for them to check them and cross-reference Dael's own ID at a terminal near the front gates. As a result, the woman was actually left standing there for a moment with the others.

"Even the stolen ship didn't have this many guards…" Ceja remarked as she looked about.

"This is one of the larger piers too." Quaren pointed out. "It's a bit big if they're going to be handing us a ship like last time."

"Let's try to hang on to this one, mates." Cryder said, grunting a bit from beneath his load. "I'm still pretty broken up over losing the _Artemis_. Let's treat our vessels with a bit more respect, eh?"

Soon after, the codes went through. The security guard gave Dael a salute, which she returned, then moved to the controls and activated the gate. After a moment longer, the motors began to hum, chains started to crank, and the front was pulled aside. Not exactly "high tech" compared to most of the things in Esthar, but as flight was taking more prominence, the piers were suffering a bit for it. At any rate, once open, Dael and the others looked past to the end of the dock…and saw nothing but open ocean.

"It will be around shortly, ma'am." The guard stated, seeming to anticipate the question. "Orders were not to even dock the ship until you arrived to claim it."

This intrigued Dael a bit, enough to make her look back to the guard. However, she merely nodded after a moment, then looked forward and led on through the gate opening. The others quickly followed. As it turned out…they had all barely cleared the gate, which had still been fully opening, when the guard entered a few more codes and halted it abruptly before beginning to shut it again. This made a few of them look back behind them, then forward again.

"Security does seem to be a bit high…" Taraketh remarked.

"Um, Dael…I mean, commander?" Quaren called out. "Did Colonel Regalis happen to mention what kind of ship he was giving us?"

"He didn't say. He seemed almost intentionally vague." Dael responded. "But I'm starting to think it must be a fairly big deal… I'm a little surprised. I didn't think we'd get more than just a basic small cruising boat for a standard platoon."

"All the same to me." Ceja responded grimly. "Annoying, rocking things that confine you on a small space for an extended period. In my opinion, people of the 'civilized world' spend far too much time in enclosed areas."

The group continued to approach the end of the dock. Dael looked around a bit as they advanced. Sure enough, this place was "out of the way". She couldn't see anything of the road or surrounding port, especially when they moved into a space between warehouses up ahead that, for all she knew, were there just to conceal things and otherwise would have been torn down long ago. She saw grooves in the ground where the entire pier could be enclosed in case they were afraid of someone attacking or spotting individuals coming to and from whatever ships would be docked. However, she saw nothing until they were in the space…and then it happened. Abruptly, a ship began to come around the edge, and as it made itself fully visible…the group slowed and stared.

The ship was similar in make to the very first ship that Dael had taken out with the colonel himself. Sleak, silver, possessing supporting rails, and looking to be top of the line if not advanced in terms of weaponry. Yet as it continued to come forth, it soon proved to be of a different model, one that Dael had never seen before. And since she was familiar with every military model in service that was public knowledge throughout the world, she realized this had to be a new ship entirely. It was a bit larger than the one they had taken, ultimately, but still of the aerodynamic quality. There were two guns on it instead of one, one mounted on front and one on the rear. If that wasn't enough, it had a command tower of sorts that, in addition to multiple antenna, also had a missile battery. Only a small one, but it was there…something that stunned Dael. It was enough to make her stop all together as the ship came forth. This was definitely the largest ship she had ever seen employed by Esthar's Hawks…tied with the other larger models.

The ship was also moving very fast. But because of its design, it didn't need to bother slowing. It actually braked as it came up to the dock, slowing to almost a perfect halt. Not needing people to tie it, the advanced craft interacted with magnetic locks on the side of the pier and anchored itself in. Soon after, the side shifted and began to deploy a ramp automatically, which seemed to slough off the side of the ship and move down to the edge of the dock. By now, the others had stopped and were staring as well.

"…Wow." Was the only word that managed to escape Quaren's lips.

"What a beauty…" Cryder remarked. "And unlike most of these Esthar scows, this one actually has some ordinance. I didn't think they'd let Esthar's Hawks have something like this."

"They wouldn't." Dael responded. "Neither does the E.H.T. I've never seen a model like this before…"

Not long after landing, the door to the side of the main tower opened up. Soon, an officer of the E.H.T. emerged and began to come down the ramp. Five crew members began to descend as well. Finally, if that wasn't enough, by the time the officer was close enough for Dael to recognize as a captain, one final person emerged from the cabin…Cid. He looked rather enthused and excited, and rapidly waved to the group as soon as he emerged.

"Hey everyone! Check her out! Isn't she a beauty?"

Dael looked to Cid momentarily, but quickly snapped out of it and looked to the captain just as he arrived. He gave a salute, which Dael quickly returned, almost absent-mindedly considering her surprise. The captain, however, was all business. As soon as she did, he moved his hand away.

"Well commander…there you are. She's all yours. I trust you don't have any complaints to file about the condition of the ship you're receiving? You shouldn't, considering this is her maiden voyage."

Dael was forced to pause again, but soon responded. "…No sir, no complaints. Just…questions, is more appropriate, sir. I wasn't aware that Esthar's Hawks was producing a model ship like this one."

"They aren't, commander." The captain responded flatly. "A year ago, the prototype _Longsword_-Class All-Purpose Military Vessel was in production and was nearing completion when funding was cut to Esthar's Hawks and the design was scrapped. It was thought there wouldn't be the budget to mass produce it even if the ship lived up to all expectations. Following the change in orders to Esthar's Hawks, one of Colonel Regalis' first assignments was to complete production of the prototype and put it into service. It's a bit of a rush refitting, but the ship should perform perfectly well now. Although, as a precautionary measure, given his engineering background…" The captain turned slightly behind him. "Sir Boer has been briefed on all of the ship's advanced functions and he's picked them up rather well. All other necessary documentation and schematics are already on board. I was a bit skeptical myself, but after seeing how easily he took to everything, and after receiving assurances from the colonel himself, I'm confident that you should be able to carry out all of the ship's functions."

Dael again looked to the ship, staring at it a moment, and then back to the captain. "Sir, forgive me if I'm a little facetious…but this vessel appears to be designed for heavier combat."

"I'm not sure I would say that, commander, although you are correct in assuming that this vessel is the best suited for heavy combat of any vessel Esthar has produced in seventy years. Although, as a shipman, I'd say attempting to take it against any more than a single destroyer is suicide. As I said before, this is an APMV. It's built to maximize several attributes, of which offensive capability is only one of them, without sacrificing the others. In many ways you may think of it as a 'jack-of-all-trades' vessel. However, priority was given to speed, maneuverability, and stealth capabilities. You'll find that it can do everything the _Broadsword_-Class can do and much more, in spite of the larger size, armor, and armaments."

Again, the young officer paused. "Forgive me again, sir, but wouldn't this sort of vessel be more suited to the defense of the mainland?"

"Perhaps if we had a fleet of them rather than the one, commander." The captain responded. "But one ship can't fight a navy. Besides, I was led to believe that if an attack on the mainland was to occur, that you would be able to respond with this vessel long before any enemy crossed the long-range sensors. After all, this ship is merely being assigned to you. You are not its commanding officer. Or am I incorrect in assuming that?"

Immediately, Dael shook her head. "No sir."

"Then there is nothing further to discuss?"

Dael paused a bit longer, but then acquiesced. "No sir."

"Good. Carry on then, commander."

With that, the captain stepped around Dael and proceeded toward the gate, passing by the others as he did so. The other crewmen soon followed. The young officer was left standing in amazement. This must have been the 'surprise' that the colonel kept alluding to…but she had never expected this. A prototype ship of an advanced model? The thought nearly made her sweat. She must have had even more faith invested in her from the colonel than she had thought. This ship was actually powerful enough to provide some measure of defense, and he had made it pretty much her personal vessel?

_Maybe it only _looks_ like it can handle itself on the water…_ She eventually reasoned. _I mean, it couldn't really have this firepower and still perform like a _Broadsword-_Class…right?_

However, the original crew had no sooner gone a good distance away than Cid ran down the ramp, still beaming as he rushed down.

"Can you believe it?" He called out. "They were so impressed with the job I did on that Sybenian patrol boat, they wanted me to participate in refitting this one! They even complimented me on my modifications and let me add and take out whatever I wanted! Now I feel like this ship is mine, you know? But look at it! She'll outdo the speed of the Broadsword-_Class_ by 30 knots, has the best scrambling and radio equipment, a stealth function, and the weaponry's nothing to sneeze at either! We actually have eight Thunderbird rockets on board!"

Now Dael and Quaren were really taken aback. "You mean the rocket launcher on this thing is actually _armed_?"

"And armed with Thunderbirds?" Quaren retorted. "I didn't know we had any combat vehicles that could fire those things!"

"Hell, mates." Cryder said with a whistle. "Even if I still had the _Gungir_, I'd think twice before I picked a fight with one of these. I might still be able to take it, but it doesn't mean it'd be worth it. Can't wait to get a look at this thing…"

With that, Cryder pushed on ahead, moving past Dael and Quaren, and immediately walking up to Cid, but more interested in the ramp behind him. "Sir Boer, I might just let you have an entire bottle of my stash for this." He said in a tone of quiet praise. "What's her name?"

"Well, since she was never commissioned, the E.H.T. never gave her a serial number, although Dael should have one in the documents." Cid responded.

"No, no, lad. Not that swallor. I mean a name." Cryder instantly responded. "Well…looks like I'll have to bail you lot out of a bout of bad luck again. _Longsword_-Class, you said? Alright…" He turned around and faced the group with a smile, gesturing behind him…as if he was the one giving them the ship. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the _Excalibur_."

"Hey, wait a minute." Taraketh retorted. "How come you get to name the boats all the time?"

"You got a better name, mate?" The pirate simply asked.

Taraketh paused. "Um…well…"

"Time's up, lad. In this world, he who hesitates is lost. _Excalibur_ it is." Cryder said with a shrug.

The High Child fumed, but in the end decided it wasn't worth getting into a fight over.

"Well, let's not stand out here all day stone-cold sober…" The pirate announced, turning around to start heading for the ship. "Let's break this maiden in."

* * *

><p>Dael was soon even more overwhelmed once on board. The ship was completely new and every bit as sleek and advanced as the earlier transports she had been on…if not better. There was plenty of space on board for everyone…even room for a small galley and sickbay. There were enough rooms on board too where they could get by with only two to a room, and an officer's chamber that, compared to Dael's room back at the fort, might as well have been a royal suite. She was actually embarrassed to even take it before Quaren reminded her that as the commanding officer of the task force, it was rightfully hers. She let Bahamut move in with her despite the fact there was only one bed simply so she wouldn't have to feel like she was taking an unfair advantage of the luxury on the boat. Bahamut didn't mind. After all, the alternative, given the even number, was to have a room to himself, and the regular crew beds weren't much better than the cots anyway.<p>

The bridge was actually a "bridge", and not just a room with controls where one could only stand. Because of that, the ship really required at least two people to man, but Cryder was more than willing to help Cid in doing so. If anything, he seemed even happier that he didn't have to "share" duty with him any longer. And the weapon's console was indeed active. Maybe they couldn't win in an all out fight, but Dael almost wondered what the look on a Sybenian naval officer's face would be if they got into one. One of the side benefits of the _Excalibur_ is that it looked like it was a harmless transport from a distance. Not until an enemy ship got well within range of the rockets would they realize they could pound them with missiles. Still, Dael didn't want to chance it.

There was room to spare aboard the ship. Plenty of space to train and move around in. There was even a small ready room where they could gather, and it had displays where it could produce holograms of various charts, enabling one to easily see the ship's course and plot new ones in the midst of a meeting. She had still been looking over the ship when they took off, and she didn't even realize it. The ship was even smoother and quieter running than the _Broadsword_-Class. She realized now its stealth capabilities. Even without any special equipment, which it still had, the ship ran so gently that it would be hard to pick up on any sensors. About the only thing it lacked was a heavy amount of supplies, but as this trip, ideally, would only take a couple days, they didn't worry too much about it. All in all, she felt like she had just won the lottery.

Once they were in the water and cruising at only half speed, which was still faster than most ships, auto-pilot was engaged and the group all went to the ready room. There were only four actual seats in the room, so Dael, Cid, Cryder, and Taraketh all took them with the others standing around. There were plenty of places to lean and still get a good view. After all, it wasn't like it was the briefing room at Fort Morningstar. Dael herself, on arrival, didn't know a thing about the technology there, but Cid had already picked it up and quickly brought up a scaled map of their location in relation to Cactuar Island. He seemed to already know his way all around the ship, and Cryder was picking it up quickly. Soon, they all had a good view of their course.

Cid pointed out the map as they sat there. "As you can see, we're literally only a couple hours from Cactuar Island. It's practically at the shortest point between Esthar and Leuco. At the max speed that the _Excalibur_ can pull off…two hours."

"That could be good, sir." Quaren commented as he looked to Dael. "We shouldn't have any problem with that. Even if Leuco spots us, they might think we're simply on patrol. Technically, Leuco hasn't declared war on us yet, and we haven't declared war on them…so there shouldn't be a dispute so long as we just slip in quickly."

"That leaves finding the Gigantuar." The young officer responded. "It might be a little difficult. The few people who've come back from this island never reported one. How do we fight Cactuars, anyway? I only really know they're deadly…"

"Like I mentioned earlier, even though none of them are around Fuliet, we've studied them. At least warriors like my uncle did." Ceja responded. "They're nimble, fast, and deceptively strong. They like to hide too. I heard all you usually see is a few quills sticking out of the sand, and if you try and attack it, one of them shows up…at least for a few minutes. Usually they run off, but not before doing their characteristic defense…shooting a storm of needles at you."

"Sarisba-intenta." Jalab remarked grimly on hearing this, causing everyone to look to him. He looked back and soon explained. "'A Thousand Needles'."

"That attack is legendary." Taraketh added. "The needles of a Cactuar are actually magically embued. They consciously look for weaknesses in whatever armor or protection you're wearing and jab there. Although it's possible to avoid them…it almost completely unlikely. And if they hit, they always hurt."

"Some say a Cactuar can actually see what you're going to do before you do it." Ceja continued. "Even when an attack is made against one, they're already dodging. It would take incredible speed just to inflict a glancing blow, but only a direct hit would kill one."

"In other words, something only a fool would fight." Cryder remarked. "Seems we make a lot of foolish moves lately…"

"Are there any weaknesses at all?" Dael asked.

The table was quiet momentarily in response, for no one knew of any. Yet after a moment or two, Bahamut spoke up. "All Cactuars are weak against water. If one gets struck by it, they absorb it and slow down. If they're hit with enough, they're practically immobile." He sighed again. "Now I _really_ wish Leviathan was here…"

This gave the commander an idea, however. She turned to the engineer of the group. "Cid, you can make Mage Bullets. Any chance on making a Water one?"

The Sorceress Knight shifted a bit uncomfortably, reaching up and scratching the side of his head. "Technically, I can…but I've devoted almost all of the components that I have on hand to making Gravija bullets for the Tonberries. And those take a lot. I don't have much left…just enough for one."

Dael had hoped for a bit more than that, but it couldn't be helped. "Alright, just go ahead and make that then, if you please. How long will it take you?"

Cid shrugged. "Water bullets are fairly simple. If we keep on at our present speed, we'll get there in four hours and I should be finished by then."

"Well, don't forget, mate…you got to help me drive this ship." Cryder threw in.

"No problem. I can multi-task." He answered with a smile.

"I better brush up on my Cure magic…" Taraketh stated a bit grimly. "And we better bring all the medical supplies we can, too. Cactuars tend to wear people down quick, from what I've read…"

"And this is going to take _all_ of us." Bahamut threw in. "For once, all I have to go on regarding the Gigantuar is what I read, not what I remember…but it's supposed to be just as agile as the little ones. If we want to have a chance, we're all going to have to attack together to outdo it." He turned to Dael. "That means no one stays behind."

The woman exhaled, but didn't dispute it this time. "Fine. Let's all get ready. We don't have the luxury of a lot of preparation time on this one."

* * *

><p>Indeed, compared to how long it took to get to some places, the four hours flew by in no time at all. Dael could have used some of the time to practice, but she couldn't very well use her new technique without chopping up the ship. And she didn't think she could get a whole lot done in four hours anyway. Instead, she stuck to the bridge. Although Cid was monitoring the radar, there wasn't much to worry about. The long-range sensors only picked up a grand total of three boats over the course of the final hour of the journey, and none of them were headed their way. Just to be safe, they went clear of each one, for the <em>Excalibur<em> had advanced sensor equipment, at least, and Dael was pretty confident that they could see the potential enemy before vice versa.

Dael nearly missed the island itself, initially mistaking it for a sand bar or even just an illusion of the sun on the water. After all, it was still close to noon when they arrived. However, on drawing nearer, she soon saw that the land seemed to stretch for quite a distance, both into the horizon as well as to her right and left. On first appearances, it seemed to be nothing other than a great, endless beach. Yet as they continued to near, she eventually saw that the beach itself went seamlessly into desert, and a very old and fine one as well. It was nearly impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. It wasn't until she saw just a few rocks far on the horizon, mostly buried by sand, that she realized they were seeing land and not just some effect of receeded tide. As it turned out, the land did go "upward" a bit, but it was so gradual that even from the ship it was impossible to see. This made her slightly uneasy. On making landfall, they would no longer be picked up by sensors, but the land they were going to was so flat and featureless that one could easily pick up their ship from a considerable distance. Yet there was little to do about it. She only hoped that navies avoided the island as much as the Black Corsairs supposedly did. The place certainly looked uninhabited…

The _Excalibur, _as it turned out, was still a bit in the water when it docked, but that was no problem to the group. Once they were as close as they could get, Cid deployed the ramp, everyone loaded up with their things, and began to disembark. According to the charts, the island couldn't have been more than 50 square miles. Nevertheless, Dael made sure that they had more than one GPS with them. The place was so broad and void of detail that she wouldn't be surprised if they somehow managed to get lost none the less. After venturing forward a bit, they managed to clear the ocean water and touch down on the beach.

The commander, fully changed, armed with her sword and Mage Gun, which was already loaded with her one Water bullet, looked around a bit. Without the advantage of the elevation of the deck, it really did look like nothing more than a flat waste. It seemed almost ridiculous that any life would be there to begin with. For now, it just looked like an extended beach. Everyone else filled in behind her. Cryder once again had his cutlass and had taken "only two swigs" before stepping out. Bahamut had his new sword and buckler on his back. Quaren had loaded his rifle with special armor-piercers to ensure that whatever blow connected would hurt, and he had left off the scope to target more quickly. Ceja was still in her native attire with her axe behind her. Taraketh had removed his kusarigama but kept it wrapped. Jalab kept his staff balanced over his neck. Cid had brought about half of his tools, but kept his drill bit out at the moment.

After a few moments, Dael exhaled.

"Alright…I guess we need to get started. At first I thought finding quills sticking up from the ground would be hard, but considering where we are…it probably won't be a problem. Let's just hope this doesn't take a few days."

"If they're like the other Guardian Forces, they may sense our own Guardian Forces when we get near." Taraketh spoke up. "That might act to attract them…"

"One way to find out. Let's go." Dael responded, immediately leading the way. "We'll try to move out in a grid-like pattern…hit as much territory as possible."

The others soon followed behind. As they did, Cryder gave a look to Bahamut, and soon smiled.

"Well lad…after this little journey, looks like we may have Guardian Forces of our own. You want this one, or can I have it?"

"We can discuss what to do with it once we beat it…_if_ we beat it." Bahamut responded, keeping his eyes forward. "Even some espers weren't stupid enough to attack Cactuars…let alone a big one like the one we're looking for."

"Ah…thanks for remindin' me how stupid I was to come along on this trip." Cryder sighed in response as he looked forward himself. "For a moment, I was almost thinking it wasn't so bad. Thanks for correcting me."

Bahamut said nothing, only kept walking.

* * *

><p>A bit further ahead, and Dael soon stood fully corrected. Although the place remained sandy, and the sand was fine, indicating an ancient desert…the air also became quite dry and hot in the clear weather. The ground took a slightly different characteristic to it, incorporating a darker color from minerals more akin to inland rather than the ocean, and eventually even grew a bit coarser. She soon realized that this was, in fact, a desert, and not just a sandy beach. A few more rocks began to poke out, and a few small dunes formed as well, confirming it. Soon, she was glad she had decided to pack water as well. Everyone was taking drinks before long as the seashore gradually began to fade behind them.<p>

"Desert." Jalab announced, looking about.

"Are you sure, Sir Tierras?" Ceja asked. "It seems like it's just a very long shore to me…"

"Feels like desert." The monk answered.

"Good place for Cactuars." Bahamut responded. "They're fierce, but they're also timid. They like old deserts far away from civilization. At least, that's what Leviathan told me once."

"Everyone keep your eyes peeled." Dael responded. "They may like to hide, but I don't want to step on one when we finally find it…"

The group continued to walk for about another twenty minutes or so. By that time, in spite of the flatness of the landscape, there was just enough gradation and the occasional dune to make them appear to be in the midst of an endless desert rather than on the small island. Dael continued to check the GPS, and soon realized that this wouldn't last long. In another thirty minutes or less, they'd start seeing the coast of the opposite side of the island. She had to admit…this being the place for "Nature" seemed just a bit ridiculous. It was nothing but a dried-out waste. She even found herself going for a sip of water after just this short distance from how dry it was, and she wasn't too happy that sand had somehow found its way into her boots. She figured she should stop long enough to empty them, but then reasoned that it would be simpler just to wait until she was on the other side of the island…

When, suddenly, Quaren called out in a loud whisper.

"Commander! Look!"

Immediately, Dael froze in her tracks. She looked behind her to the others. Almost immediately, Quaren stepped forward to her side, and then pointed out with his arm straight to indicate the direction clearly to her. Dael soon looked as well.

It was easy to miss. Even in the flat landscape, the creatures hid well. But Quaren was already very sharp-eyed, and with the help of a Guardian Force his sight was nearly that of an eagle. Dael herself, as well as the others, had to look for a moment, but then she spotted it…three quills only a couple inches apart from each other poking out of the sand.

"I don't see anything." Taraketh remarked.

"It's there. I see it." Ceja responded, beginning to pull out her axe.

Jalab himself looked a bit more, and then pointed. "There."

It took a bit longer, but eventually everyone saw it. In turn, each one got out their weapons and readied them. Dael herself stared at the quills, but they didn't move. They didn't look like anything other than three black needles protruding from the ground. If she didn't know that Cactuar's existed, she probably would have dismissed them as an odd form of vegetation. At any rate, everyone was soon at the ready, and she quickly gestured to them to fan out a bit. Once they had done so, forming a bit of an arc around the quills, Dael looked to Quaren.

"Corporal…you think you can hit it?"

He answered by raising his rifle. "If it's just below the surface, I think so."

The Esthar's Hawk soon raised the gun to eye level and aimed. From this distance, Dael wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't put a bullet through an Aegis Armor. Yet not having any familiarity with these creatures besides reports and others, she readied her own sword. Quaren zeroed in for a moment longer, and then squeezed the trigger.

Before Dael even heard the noise, or, at least it seemed that way, the ground erupted in a small cloud of sand. It wasn't from the bullet, however. Instead, a small green creature, a little over eighteen inches high, erupted from the ground with a strange noise that seemed like a cross between a whistle and a squeak. The bullet _did_ hit after that, missing it entirely, before it landed on the ground soon afterward.

Dael had heard stories about the appearances of Cactuars, but even now she nearly lowered her guard. This thing was clearly the oddest creature she had ever seen, nothing more than what looked like a child's rendition of a "cactus-man". Even the way it moved, holding its limbs at right angles and slowly twisting them down, up…down, up…down, up. It didn't even seem to be moving them…but rather instantly turning them one way and another, like a cartoon almost. For a "face", it had nothing but three holes, two for eyes and one a bit larger for a mouth. It looked almost comical.

Quaren blinked a bit at it himself. "Um…I missed…but what exactly did I miss?"

"…I expected something a bit more…fearsome…from the tales…" Ceja remarked.

"Don't let your guards down." Bahamut cautioned, his voice turning firm. "These things aren't to be taken lightly. Kill it before it gets away."

"Don't worry. I got it this time." Quaren answered, reloading, taking aim again, this time at the body, and firing.

Again, the creature gave out a whistle-squeak, pivoted around on its one leg that was "posted" on the ground to nimbly dodge another bullet, and swung around to angle itself down and point its head straight at Quaren…like the end of a cannon.

"Oh boy…" Bahamut murmured in a worried tone.

"Corporal, get back!" Dael tried to shout in warning.

But the creature was too fast. Moments later, its arms began to rotate like some sort of gears…and a veritable "fire hose stream" of nothing but cactus quills erupted from its head and tore for Quaren.

The corporal managed to cover his eyes and face just in time…but an instant later and he was crying out in pain as hundreds of the tiny darts pierced him all over his body, seeming to only strike places where he skin was exposed rather than his uniform, gun, or anything else that would have absorbed the blow. The sheer level of tiny darts was enough to make him stagger back and collapse to the sand.

"I got him, mate!" Cryder immediately responded as the Cactuar cut off its assault and angled back. Rather than attack directly, however, the pirate waved his hand and performed a gesture. A moment later, and the sand directly beneath the Cactuar became soft and porous, and immediately collapsed, creating an instant sinkhole. The pirate really didn't plan to kill the odd creature with this move, more to trap it long enough to land a direct blow.

At any rate, it didn't work. The Cactuar gave another one of its whistle-squeaks, before leaping into the air and almost seeming to hover there momentarily as the geomancy ran its course beneath it. But even as it did so, it angled itself around and aimed at Cryder. In response, the pirate, realizing what it was doing, quickly summoned a wind slash to try and brush aside the needles. They were tiny enough, after all. However, it was for nothing. As the razor gale came forward, the Cactuar fired…and each and every needle seemed to find its way through the wind currents perfectly and pierce the pirate on the other side, once again in all the bare skin it could fine. Soon, he recoiled and slammed his eyes shut to avoid any of them hitting anything serious as well. Yet even he was forced to cry out at the onslaught.

Dael realizing convential things weren't working, called out to the others. "Catch it in a vice, like with Shiva! Don't give it a chance to recover!"

Ceja immediately snapped into action. She was a bit too close to throw the axe, so instead she shifted her grip and darted forward, almost like a serpent strike, in a quick overhead blow. It was the fastest Dael had seen her move yet, but, once again, the creature gave a whistle and nimbly shot to one side. It nearly pelted her with needles, but before he could get the chance, it had to leap into the air to avoid Taraketh, who used the opportunity to throw his sickle at it. Again, it nearly managed to reposition itself and fire…but that's when Dael herself advanced, lunging at it and doing a passing slash at its head. Again, the creature seemed to have supernatural ability to dodge, as it appeared to bounce off of _air_ to dodge her. Yet it wasn't so flawless this time, and her sword managed to just glance it…for all the good it did. When she felt her sword make contact, she realized, to her surprise, that the creature's tissue was like steel.

However, the blow was not without effect. The creature might have been durable and evasive, but it was still pretty much having the same mass and density of a piece of balsa wood roughly the same size. As a result, even a glancing blow knocked it awry…giving Cid, who, by now, was realizing what they were doing, a chance to quickly move in, drill blazing full speed. The expressionless creature seemed to give one last panicked squeak before its body moved right into the drill's path…and immediately it punctured through, skewering the creature on the end.

There was little, if any, blood involved. In fact, as Dael, Taraketh, and Ceja recovered from their blows and snapped to it, they weren't even sure it was dead. The only change was that it stopped moving abruptly, going still…and soon looking to be more of a strange doll on the end of the drill bit rather than a creature. Cid cut off the drill, but held the end up, half expecting the Cactuar to come off of it again. But it didn't move. They stared a bit longer, and finally Dael came forward and tapped it with her sword blade. No movement or reaction. She poked it with her tip. Still nothing.

"…I think it's dead." She finally stated.

"What an odd, and annoying, prey…" Ceja remarked, wiping her brow a bit, mostly in relief.

Dael only looked at it a bit longer. So long as it wasn't causing any more problems, she looked to the two who had been hit. Jalab was already at Cryder's side, while Bahamut had gone to Quaren. Both of them were still alert and had recovered from the initial pain…but neither looked terribly happy, namely because they had a few hundred quills stuck in either of them. Both Jalab and Bahamut were going about pulling them out, causing both to wince a bit in response, but it was clear it would take a while.

"Are you two alright?"

"No…" Quaren groaned. "I can't tell if I'm just blinded with pain, or if I've got quills in places I didn't know I had…"

"I think I'd feel a lot better, lass, if I burned every last cactus on the face of Gaia…" Cryder groaned himself.

"Glue works for quills." Jalab tried to suggest.

"I don't think we brought any." Bahamut answered.

Dael sighed. "Alright…while that may not have gone the way we planned, at least we have a better idea of what we're dealing with now. Hopefully we can be more prepared for it in the future. We need to work together and use something powerful and piercing. Cid's drill obviously does the trick." She turned to Quaren soon after. "And so long as you can hit it, one of your bullets should work." She looked to Jalab soon after. "Sir Tierras, can you manage a focused attack strong enough to take one of these things down in one hit?"

"Slice of pie." Jalab responded with a thumbs up gesture.

"Alright." The young officer responded. "In that case, let's get back to it as soon as we patch up Cryder and Quaren. Hopefully the next ones will go better. We need to save our energy for the big one…"

* * *

><p>Six hours later, the sun was coming close to going down…and Dael was beginning to wonder if even the Elite Hounds would be stupid enough to do what she was doing. And even if they would, she was almost tempted to just let them have it.<p>

By her count, they had killed 13 Cactuars, and had little to show for it other than a bit of dehydration and a lot of soreness. No matter the strategy employed, there was no foolproof method to killing the things. Each one employed a new tactic…like they were sentient rather than just instinct-hardwired monsters. As a result, none of the encounters had been "painless". Dael herself had been stuck only once and was tied with Bahamut for least amount of attacks, but once was quite enough and she had no idea how Quaren was able to deal with it, having been hit five times in all. Then again, he didn't look like he _was_ dealing with it very well. He seemed to only limp along, afraid to move anything lest he find yet another quill he missed. Dael herself thought that was likely as she kept finding ones of her own. Although one needle alone wasn't enough to do much damage, being stabbed by around a thousand of them was far worse, and maddeningly painful. She was just glad none of them had gone under the skin, or they'd have had to break off this campaign a long time ago.

Everyone was sore at this point. The ones who had been hit more were limping along, and everyone else almost subconsciously feared an encounter with another Cactuar. Even Jalab shrank back slightly when they spotted the thirteenth one fifteen minutes ago. They had plenty of medical supplies on hand to deal with any lasting pain, but they were sore and tender all over from the constant assaults of spines. Dael believed they'd all have a phobia of cacti from now on after this little incident, and still they had no idea whether they were any closer or not to finding the Gigantuar.

At any rate, Dael was getting closer to wanting to call it quits for the day. She wanted to head back to the _Excalibur_ anyway to make sure nothing had changed in Esthar, or that there wasn't any breaking attacks or the like. Even if that wasn't the case, she was tired after essentially hiking through a desert for seven hours and encountering one extremely pesky Cactuar after another. She thought that they might try one more day of this, and after that either call it quits or try and find a more intelligent way of finding the creature. Of course…she wasn't sure she could summon the will power to try again tomorrow.

In their current circuit, they were headed back to shore. They could already see their ship from a distance. With this in mind, Dael turned her head and looked back to the others.

"…If there's no objections…I'm ready to call it a day."

"I have no argument." Ceja answered as she pulled a quill out from her side with a grimace.

"Me neither." Taraketh groaned as he rubbed a bit of salve over his knuckles…a favorite target for the quills.

"I've long since gotten sober, and after getting stuck three times, I think I'm ready to swallow an entire bottle…" Cryder added.

"Alright then. We're heading back to the boat." Dael responded. "Maybe we can think of something tonight. This method doesn't seem to be working too well…but I'm willing to give it another shot tomorrow unless anyone can think of anything better."

No one responded positive or negative, but there was no small measure of unease that rippled through everyone at the thought of more Cactuars tomorrow. Dael tried to put that out of her head. She hadn't hardened herself to adjust to combat and wartime situations just to get thrown off by the prospect of dealing with more green creatures…although, she had to admit, she felt herself sweat a bit at the thought of having to deal with them again.

That's why she let out an almost audible whine when, walking forward only fifty feet more, she saw yet another set of quills poke up just ahead. It wasn't long before the others saw it too. Quaren actually whimpered.

"Terrific…" Taraketh sighed. "Another one. We spend all day looking for the things, and finally when we turn in…one pops out right in front of us."

"I don't know about the rest of you, lads…but I'm for going ahead and letting this one slide." Cryder said with a groan. "I've managed to keep these quills out of my eyes so far, but even I don't care to tempt fate too much in one day."

"Normally I never turn down a hunt…but even I am not feeling at my best…" Ceja added.

Dael, however, was experienced with self-discipline, which meant doing things even if you didn't want to do them any longer. Much as she was tempted to let it slide too, she called out again.

"Normally I'd agree…but if we don't get it now, then we may skip tomorrow. Sybenia has a few more resources available to it if it decides to go after the Gigantuar, and I don't think they'll accept 'being tired and sore' as an excuse. Besides…I still haven't been able to pull off the move that Bahamut showed me yet. I need the practice. And if we're giving up for some little green cactus man, then how are we going to do when we meet up with the Elite Hounds again?"

The group was silent in response…although Dael thought she caught a few moans. After a moment, however, Bahamut sighed and spoke up. "Dael's right. The only way anyone gets better is by pushing their limits. Besides, it's just one more."

The others were still reluctant, but finally some acquiescence came around.

"Very well… Punishing as these things are, I guess we should try for getting rid of one without getting hit…" Taraketh responded. "I guess I can use a quake to launch it out of the ground."

"We tried that on the seventh one, mate." Cryder responded. "Didn't work too well, as I recall. We had no idea who it was going for when it came down."

"Not sure that would have mattered…" Taraketh answered.

"Jalab, what about you?" Bahamut asked. "Want to try shooting it while it's in the ground?"

"Uh…not sensing high to it." The monk answered, almost swallowing.

Ceja turned to him and blinked. "…Excuse me, Sir Tierras?"

Cid wiped some sweat from his own brow. "I think he means, 'not feeling up to it'."

"I got an idea." Dael announced. "Ceja, get back a ways and get ready to use her axe. Quaren, flush it out."

"Uh…a..again?" The corporal said somewhat nervously. That was only natural. By now, he had to be developing an aversion to the monsters.

Dael, on her part, sighed and wiped her own brow. "…Back up and do it. Once it comes out and is still in midair, Ceja will throw her weapon and take it out."

"…Hopefully." Taraketh answered. "And if not, corporal DeSur gets his sixth needle shower today."

Quaren gave a rather uncharacteristic-of-Esthar's-Hawks whimper at that.

Ceja exhaled. "…I'm willing to give it a try. However, perhaps Sir Boer should use his nailgun. I don't think the thin-skinned one is up to it."

Bad as that comment was, Dael was glad for it. Quaren's fear suddenly evaporated, and immediately he stood up. "Now…just wait a second." He stated.

"I'm not even sure he can fire the gun at this point." Ceja went on.

That sunk it. "Hang on!" Quaren nearly snapped. "Alright, I'll admit I'm still in a little pain…but I'm a fully trained Esthar's Hawk! It's going to take more than some little green men to shake me up. I'll do it." To accent this, he raised his rifle and loaded the chamber. "Just…give me a little room."

Dael suppressed a smile and looked to the others. "Let's try backing up and spreading out a bit more. Although close-quarters work best, maybe we can avoid the first hit if it tries something."

No one had any argument with that. After all, the Cactuar was going to attack _someone_ once it leapt out, and none of them were eager to be the one. As a result, all of them, not just Quaren and Ceja, moved back a good distance, at least enough to where Ceja could safely fling her axe with some build-up. Once that was done, all of them moved into position and readied their weapons. They focused on the tiny three quills poking out of the ground. Ceja reared her axe back, preparing to get some build-up, and Quaren took careful aim. After a moment, he cast a glance back to Ceja…some of his anxiety returning.

"…Ready?"

"When I say." Ceja answered. With that, holding her axe out, she performed one revolution. As she went into the second, she called. "Now!"

Quaren squeezed the trigger…

…And a moment later, Ceja nearly aborted her wind-up as Dael, and most of the others, even Bahamut, felt their eyes nearly drop out of their sockets.

Dael had known full well going into this that the Gigantuar was, essentially, a giant version of a Cactuar…but she wasn't prepared for the 50-foot tall, colossal, cartoonish, and astonishing green creature that burst out of the ground. She had assumed the whole time that, when they ran into the Gigantuar, everything would be proportional…that there'd be huge quills poking out of the ground. Yet as the colossal Guardian Force burst from the ground, giving a monstrous whistling squeak that echoed over all of the island, she nearly dropped her sword in astonishment. Its size seemed to not make any difference to it. It popped out of the ground just as easily as the others did, instantly scattering tons of sand to the four winds as it landed lightly on the ground. Just like its smaller relatives, it moved its right-angled limbs in only two positions, shifting so quickly that they seemed to simply alternate between the two shapes. Aside from the obvious fact that it was so massive, the only other thing of note was that it seemed to have additional cavities on its "face" to give it the look of a handlebar mustache.

"Great Aerith…" Taraketh murmured.

Jalab uttered a prayer in his native tongue.

Somehow, Dael managed to control her shock, and, frankly, fear, to call out. "Hit it, Ceja!"

The Fuliet warrior almost broke her throw, but then realized that now, more than ever, she needed to cast it, and this time she had a much easier target. She quickly snapped around two more times, and then let her axe fly. Once more, it was turned into a deadly cutter and sent sailing straight for the great, unusual-looking creature. Dael assumed that, given it's size, at the bare minimum they would have a much easier time hitting it.

No such luck. To everyone's astonishment, the giant one was just as nimble and lithe as the smaller ones. Very easily, it leapt over the cutter and let it sail harmlessly past, before touching down on the ground again. Soon afterward, to Dael's horror, the Gigantuar angled its body down and took aim at Ceja…much like one of the smaller ones would.

"Oh no…" Dael remarked. Somehow, she doubted the thing was going to stop at just one thousand needles. She was right.

Where before, one could have describe the attack of a Cactuar like a fire hose blast of needles…this one was more of a waterfall torrent. It was completely impossible to avoid. Given the size of the creature, the mere radius of the projected needles would be larger than any one of the group, so that they would be hit by the entire storm at once. Dael didn't even have time to shout a warning, as if it would have done any good, before Ceja, without even her axe for protection, vanished under a storm of needles. Dael couldn't even hear her cry out over the sounds of needles shooting through the air…but she did see a body ripped off of its feet and forced back by the sheer storm of needles.

"Ceja!" She heard Jalab yell. However, she didn't see his own shocked expression. She focused on the Fuliet warrior as the wave of needles cut off…revealing her lying on the sand, almost coated with the quills. Dael was horrified, especially on seeing her not moving. She heard stories before that Cactuars could actually kill either through direct damage or intense trauma from overloading the senses. The basic Cactuars had been agonizing enough. Dael realized that she must have passed out from the pain. At least…she _hoped_ she had just passed out.

Abruptly, a strange cry was heard…something that Dael would usually expect from Ceja. However, it was a different tongue this time, and as she turned to the source, she saw it was Jalab. For once, the monk was livid with fury. He glared darkly, even hatefully, at the Gigantuar as his hands balled into fists at his sides, and as she and the others watched, a cloud of his mantra began to form around him, actually illuminating him for a moment. He was summoning his power. A moment later, he snapped behind him, yanked out his staff, and gave a yell as he drove his free fist forward and sent a very large, very powerful ball of cosmic energy sailing for the Gigantuar.

Unfortunately, the creature was still quite nimble, and immediately swung around in a circle, dodging it completely. Yet Jalab wasn't done. Giving another yell, he leaped off of the ground and lunged for the creature, swinging his staff around and then driving it forward for the Gigantuar, generating another one of his "cosmic rams". Yet the Gigantuar, in response, merely hopped over the attack, letting it sail harmlessly beneath it with another monstrous "whistle-squeak". While still sailing for it, though, Jalab launched yet _another_ attack, something astonishing for Dael. She realized by now that using his mantra took a little out of him each time, and she had never seen him perform so many moves in a row. Of course, she had also never seen him so furious. Abruptly, he split into multiple images, each one wrapped in energy which blazed from blue to red, and began to attack the Gigantuar from multiple fronts at a time, spreading out around him. As the images descended, each one assaulted the beast at one, driving fists and kicks and staff swipes into it with sufficient power to puncture concrete. The Gigantuar continued to move nimbly…but it wasn't enough this time. At last, it took a few hits. But where one of those blows would have been sufficient to kill a smaller Cactuar, the Gigantuar only registered a slight bit of external damage from each blow.

Unfortunately, this seemed enough to make it angry. Jalab couldn't keep up the attack forever, especially not since it was his third mantra-based attack in a row. Eventually, he touched down, and the images returned to him. He was panting and sweating by now, but still had his staff. Immediately, the Gigantuar angled itself down and aimed at him. He snapped his head to it in response, and quickly rose up, crossed his staff before him, and began to twirl it. Quickly, Dael, as well as the others, pulled back more. If Jalab blocked these, they'd go everywhere.

Yet that fear was soon unfounded…even if it meant bad news for Jalab. His staff moved fast enough to deflect bullets, but none of that mattered here. The needles shot right through and pierced the man himself. Dael was at just enough of an angle to see it. She gaped in shock. It was as if his staff wasn't even there. He didn't get forced off of his feet like Ceja did. Somehow, he stood up against it…but that only meant more pain for him. He cried out in agony as he was pierced much the same way that Ceja was. He looked like he was attempting to stand against it…but, in the end, he couldn't. When the latest storm of needles cut off, he too stood covered with them for a moment, before groaning and collapsing.

The others were horrified. In the span of a minute, the Gigantuar had overwhelmed…possibly worse…their two strongest fighters. After seeing Jalab in action back in Garrado, Dael didn't think anything could just take him down like that. Now there was only six left. And the Gigantuar, making the same gestures as its smaller breathren, turned to them.

"I think we're in just a wee bit over our heads, lads and lasses…" Cryder murmured aloud.

"Dael, shoot it with the Water shell!" Quaren called out.

The young officer was frozen for a moment longer, but then snapped out of it. She began to reach for her weapon, when Bahamut called out.

"No, don't! It'll just dodge it unless it's pinned first!"

Dael hesitated. The boy was right. It wasn't until Jalab had used a multiple image attack that he was even able to land a blow. And she only had one shot. But this thing was large, strong, and fast…every bit as much as the little ones and better. So far, they hadn't even been able to pin down one of the little ones… Yet even as she thought of this, the Gigantuar abruptly angled itself toward her and, to her horror, began to lean down to aim at her.

Yet it never got off the shot. It was forced to snap out of it a moment later as Taraketh's kusarigama shot out for it, and it had to hop back and out of the way. Immediately, the High Child followed up with a series of earth spells, and rocks began to burst out of the ground one after another in jagged pillars, trying to pierce the Guardian Force from below. Giving another whistle-squeak, it hopped back nimbly and easily over each one. More than once, it tried to counterattack, but each time, at the expense of considerable amounts of his energy, Taraketh managed to force it to break off.

"Just get ready to shoot it as soon as you get an opening, Dael!" Taraketh shouted. "Everyone else, attack it and try to force it to stay still a moment!"

The others hesitated a second longer, but only a second. Realizing this was their best bet, they went to work. As the Gigantuar evaded the latest rock pillar from the High Child, it seemed to finally have enough space to make a counterattack. Yet before it could, Quaren took aim at it and opened fire. The piercing bullets struck it dead on, causing small bits of damage to it and ripping out the other side of the massive cactus creature. Nevertheless, it seemed to willingly take these blows if it meant shooting Taraketh. Moments before it could, however, Cryder threw in one of his own wind slashes. This one would have been too much for it to try and endure, and so, instead, it hopped over the attack. Even so, it remained angled at Taraketh and would have fired…had not Ceja's axe returned around that time. It was forced to break off at last and pivot in the air to evade the attack. As it came down, it soon found a triple-assault coming at it in the form of Quaren's bullets, Taraketh's kusarigama, and additional wind slashes from Cryder.

Despite taking several rifle bullets, it was still painful to the creature, and it looked to take Quaren out instead next. Yet before it could, more of the others jumped in. Cid, running around behind, opened fire with its nailgun, and the Gigantuar took a few shots as it angled down…before abruptly pivoting around and aiming at Cid instead. Again, before it could fire, Bahamut, joining the fray despite not having much in the way of "special" moves, darted right in between its legs and slashed out. The creature was so preoccupied that it couldn't dodge properly, and took a few more cuts along the legs. Whistle-squeaking in what sounded like irritation, it pivoted down to fire at Bahamut instead, but he managed to evade it a bit longer by continuously running under its legs. He couldn't slash anymore, but he didn't need to. By focusing on Bahamut, the others were able to pummel it at will with their own attacks, although, again, they only seemed to be scraping the surface. Abruptly, however, it hopped out of the way, gaining some distance, and aimed down at Bahamut. Now having a target, it nearly fired…when Cid quickly ripped out a detonator and set it off. As it turned out, one of the nails had been attached to an explosive charge, and soon, like an oversized piece of balsa wood, an explosion literally sent the Gigantuar forward in a comic topple, rolling over itself.

The others were doing better than Dael had hoped, actually inflicting pain, however minor, on the Guardian Force. Yet in spite of all of this…the creature was still moving too fast for the relatively slow-moving mage bullet in Dael's gun. She knew she couldn't hit it and, to be honest, every time she thought it would stay still long enough, she hesitated and failed to fire. She never had to worry about landing a direct hit before… And, frankly, she kept getting distracted by Bahamut. She kept being afraid that he'd get blasted by the storm of needles… If even Jalab couldn't stand up to them, she had a feeling he couldn't.

Her fears were only compounded with time. The creature had to be sentient, or at least intelligent, because it was getting better at dodging. It stopped trying to shoot for a moment and focused entirely on bouncing around. As a result, it managed to avoid taking further damage from the group even as they all tried to intensify against it. And with it bouncing around like this, it was now quite impossible to target with the mage bullet. Worst of all, Dael realized that the five were only keeping it busy by all five of them going all out. If even one of them got too tired or drained and fell short, it would exploit it. She realized this wasn't good enough, and reached a decision. She had to get closer. Maybe from a shorter range, she could hope to hit it.

Yet she hardly took a step forward when the inevitable happened. Abruptly, while trying to shoot it in the side of the "eye" to distract it…Quaren went empty. Eyes widening, he looked down to his weapon and quickly ejected the current clip, and in a fluid motion had out a new one. Yet as fast as Quaren was at loading and reloading, he had made a bungle. He had been so overwhelmed he forget to count his shots, and as a result…he wasn't as fluid as he was normally. A hole was opened in the offense of the group, and the Gigantuar used it. As Cryder tried to hurry up and use another sinkhole move to try and catch a leg while using a wind slash as well, the giant cactus man snapped itself down, rapidly angled at Cryder, and unleashed a storm of needles.

Now Dael was indeed horrified. Unlike Ceja and Jalab, who were both incredibly durable and/or had the benefit of a Guardian Force, Cryder had no such advantage. He was still just his own flesh and blood, and not that armored. She realized that if Jalab and Ceja had been beaten by such a move, it could very well kill the pirate. Yet there was little else she could do as she saw him ripped off of his feet and flung down like a rag doll by the force of the quills. No doubt, tumbling about on the ground only drove them in deeper. When the monster cut off, he looked the worst yet as he lay motionlessly on the sand.

The remaining four were stunned, but Taraketh led the charge and renewed the assault. Yet with only four of them this time, the Gigantuar was once again at ease and dodging them easily. And now, it had time to reset. Sure enough, it soon began to move itself away as it continued to dodge, out of the range of the others so it could pick off another one.

Seeing this, Dael's shock suddenly gave way to fury. Even if this thing was only half-sentient, she was still enraged at it for how it was so easily picking them off. At once, she forgot about her gun. She quickly slammed it back into its holster, drew her sword, and then went charging for it. If it needed five people to keep it busy, she'd step in and be the fifth person. She only closed about half of the distance when the Gigantuar spotted her. It sped up slightly in response, but she was counting on that. She didn't think even this creature could evade her teleportation technique. She could land at least one hit on it. Even if it wouldn't do much good…she had to try. With that in mind, she focused up on its head, looking right at that comically mustached face…and prepared to teleport up there and try to slice it in the equivalent of its "skull". She hoped she could actually get it to target her. After all, it was at its most immobile when it was getting ready to attack or was in the process of doing so.

As she grew nearer, it seemed to work. Abruptly, the Gigantuar angled toward her, and readied its move. However, Dael was ready too. It was out of the range of the others. They couldn't stop it…but she didn't want them too. She wanted it occupied. As she called to mind the teleportation spell, she nearly used it…

When she realized something.

As she passed closer, she felt something radiating off of the Gigantuar. She knew what it was almost immediately. It was the power of its aura. After all, like all the Guardian Forces, it seemed to radiate a level of power. Yet this time…it triggered something…a memory from a few days ago. When she was on the ship, and seeing and feeling the power in everything…feeling it move and resonate…as if tuned to a cosmic clock. And when she recalled that, she suddenly thought of something…

The thought cost her, however. A moment later, and the limbs began to rotate on the Gigantuar, indicating it was firing. Immediately, she performed the teleport…but she did it wrong. Rather than land behind the Gigantuar on its head…she landed simply behind it, in front of one of its legs. On the bright side, teleporting seemed to indeed catch it off guard. It soon sent out a storm of needles at nothing but air, and seemed "locked" in that mode. Dael paused momentarily, and soon, her head swam a bit, as it always did after teleporting. The world dimmed a little as some of her consciousness slipped…

And then…it hit her.

Although it had taken her ten minutes before, it was different now. It wasn't as strong as last time. Perhaps it was a combination of the teleportation, the energy of her opponent, and just plain luck…but her mind clicked. Everything fell into place for a moment. While in a state of reduced consciousness, she could almost feel her own pent-up power from her toiling of that day and having been struck by the Cactuar earlier radiating out and resonating with that of the Gigantuar…feel the connection between the two. It was only a momentary thing. If she had hesitated even a second…she would have lost it. But something inside her told her to act and to use it so long as it was there. With that in mind, she used what of her consciousness she had to order her body to strike.

It wasn't as powerful or potent as last time. This time, Dael actually saw herself move, although she couldn't honestly tell if she was performing the move of her own volition or if some force was making her act the way she was. But abruptly, she snapped her blade up and down in a three directional slice, cutting in a Z-pattern.

While it may not have been as strong as before…the blow still resonated like a minor thunderclap. The sword cut as deep as Cid's own drill and, just as on the ship, the green "flesh" of the Gigantuar was seared like fire from the hit. If that wasn't enough, as soon as she made the last of the three slashes…it was as if her blade had suddenly grown explosive, for light and fire erupted from the wound on the Guardian Force.

As Dael regained her senses, the Gigantuar recovered from his attack only to give a loud, piercing squeal. That last blow had hurt it quite a bit. It was actually bleeding greenish "blood", and lots of it. It tried to rear up and stand from its attack, no doubt meaning to pivot around and attack who had hit it from behind…but soon faltered. Like a doll posted on a shelf that was tipped over, it was unable to support its weight on its bad leg and fell clean over, toppling on the ground in an almost comical fashion. The young officer was stunned only a moment. The others, meanwhile, gaped a bit at what she had done. After all, when even Jalab was powerless to do that much damage with a single strike, seeing Dael having done much better was almost overwhelming, especially with a previously unknown move. Taraketh, Quaren, and Cid had all gone slack-jawed. Dael, meanwhile, pressed her advantage. She quickly backed up from it as it struggled to rise again, shifting to its other foot. As she did, she yanked out her Mage Gun and aimed at it. A moment later, the trigger was squeezed, and with an eruption of smoke and light, the shell sailed out of the barrel and struck the creature in the back just as it finished standing again.

Immediately, the shell transformed into a torrent of water. It was like some sort of time-space gate had opened in the path of a waterfall as a mass of liquid ripped out of midair and smashed into the back of the Gigantuar. The force alone was another to rip it off of its feet again, but it still took most of the blow as it fell down. Dael knew full well, water or not, that much water being dropped on you at once might as well have been a ton of cement being slammed into you. What she didn't fully appreciate was just how painful this was to a Cactuar… She couldn't see much at first, simply the force knocking the Guardian Force to the ground and leaving it sprawled again.

Yet as the water attack cut off, she soon saw the Gigantuar was having a lot of difficulty. Parts of its body seemed swollen and oddly-shaped now from retaining so much water, and it was so unbalanced it barely looked capable of moving, and totally incapable of pushing itself up again. It wasn't just the added mass. The creature actually seemed to be in pain…and definitely not able to dodge again anytime soon.

In response to that, Dael suddenly heard a pair of motors blaring. She looked around to the source, and saw that Cid had deployed a pair of modified circular saws in either hand, and was gunning them. "Let's get it!" He shouted, almost in a child-like fashion, before barreling forward, shouting out loud. The remaining combatants, Tarkaeth, Quaren, and Bahamut were a bit taken aback by Cid's sudden change…but the Cactuars, and the Gigantuar, had pushed them all a bit over the edge, they reasoned. A moment later, they ran forward and began their assault as well.

The Gigantuar had hardly began to pull itself up with Cid arrived and immediately went at it, slicing deep into its sides. Although he ruined both blades, he opened deep cuts against it, causing it to "squeak" in agony. Bahamut arrived soon afterward and proceeded to drive his sword again and again into its "good" leg, trying to render it totally immobile. Despite his lack of junctioning, the "swelling" from the water actually seemed to render the outside of the creature less dense and more vulnerable to stabbing, and soon he was drawing blood as well. Taraketh moved in as it struggled to stagger away from the dual assailants, swinging his hammer around and smashing it against the most swollen and vulnerable part of the creature three times in rapid succession. Each blow had so much force that it actually knocked off some bits of the Gigantuar, and when it was done there was actually a rather sizable wound in it.

Still not finished, Taraketh's own aura flared before he shoved his arms forward in a gesture. The air of the desert abruptly cooled and condensed, and soon a large icicle, the biggest one Dael had ever seen him produce, erupted from his hands and sailed straight for the Gigantuar, nailing it in between the "eyes". Not only did the tip manage to pierce the green flesh of the creature, but the sheer force, not to mention that ice was frozen water, knocked it for another loop, sending it once more crashing to the ground. It was forced to lay there a moment after the onslaught…but that was when Quaren moved in. Using his own enhanced body for speed for once, he dashed up alongside the creature, running right past the wound that Taraketh had made in it. Dael was just able to catch the flash of an unpinned grenade go falling into it. The Gigantuar attempted to rise again, only to have another blast ring out from it, this time hitting it deep where it hurted. The creature actually went for a violent roll, toppling away from the five who were still standing, before, again, coming to a halt like an inanimate object.

The five weren't done. Quickly, they took only a moment to prepare themselves for another assault, this time with Dael joining them, and then prepared to charge at the Gigantuar and administer another beating. They already looked like they had done quite a bit. The external damage was bad enough, but now it have several large wounds on its body and it wasn't looking too good. Yet Dael was rather sore about the needle attacks herself, and was ready to keep pounding until it couldn't move anymore…

When, suddenly, somehow, the Gigantuar was able to spring up and land on its feet again. The five froze. For a moment, they thought it was going to renew the assault. They all braced themselves for a fatal storm of needles…

But they didn't come. Instead…in an odd display…the rigid creature seemed to partially go to the ground so that it could put its "knees" down…and then began to repeatedly bow the upper part of its body to the ground and up again. For a few moments, the five merely stared at this, rather puzzled.

"…What's it doing?" Cid asked.

The Guardian Force continued to do this for a bit longer, until Dael finally realized what was going on.

"…I think it's 'throwing in the towel'. It almost looks like its bowing in defeat."

In response, the giant green cactus man leaned up and bounced a couple times, as if happy that they understood. The five held a bit longer, but then began to ease up. One by one, their weapons lowered. Dael, on her part, was thanking her lucky stars. She barely knew how she had managed to pull off that move, but it had been a lifesaver. There was no doubt it had turned the tide of the fight, and now she was more eager than ever to master the ability. Yet she didn't think of that for much longer. After a few moments, she turned to the group.

"We need to check on the others, first thing."

"I think they'll be alright…though sore for a bit." Bahamut responded. "But still, we need to get them up to make sure they junction."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Bahamut was right. Although the three had been badly injured, it wasn't beyond the capability they had on hand, between the medical supplies and a bit of magic, to treat…especially with the new junction. Although the Gigantuar didn't have any elixirs on hand, it knew a bit of restoration magic much as Shiva did. So after the initial revival, which took pretty much all of their remaining medical supplies, they were able to use their own powers once the Gigantuar gave its power to the group as a whole. In the end, Cryder decided to take the Guardian Force junction this time. It was a good choice. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to walk back to the ship. The walk took longer than ever now, but once on board, everyone took the opportunity to go to their separate rooms in pairs and pick out each and every last needle, doctor themselves with painkillers, and then declare a "holiday" tomorrow devoted to recovery.<p>

Dael was quite possibly the least hurt out of everyone, so she got up only after a few hours to tune in on the radio. No changes, fortunately. Sybenia was staying where it was for the time being. She thought of sending a coded message to inform the colonel they were making good (albeit painful) progress, but in the end decided against it. The coding equipment on the _Excalibur_ was the top of the line, but no sense in sending out signals that would warrant attention. They were close not only to Leuco but to the Black Corsair's favorite hunting grounds. She decided to stick by it while they idled although, to be on the safe side, early the next morning they moved back to Esthar's waters.

During the day off, Dael continued to work on her magic. She tried to use more healing and support, realizing that was far more her forte than attack spells. Cryder, once he was up, was soon in a much better mood, flaunting his new powers and able to generate far more potent geomancy as a result. She almost thought that Bahamut and Cid were the only ones who had yet to junction…when she remembered Jalab. The thought was almost dizzying. What would Jalab be like _after_ a junction? The thought was a bit stunning…but she admitted it would be nice if they were going to fight against the Elite Hounds again. On that note, what she _really_ wanted to do was attempt to pull off the move she had done yesterday. Even not "fully powered", she had done quite a bit of damage. Unfortunately, without something to practice on, she wasn't sure if she could pull that off again. She needed somewhere else besides the boat. On that note, she almost wished they were back on Cactuar Island…

Late the next day, when everyone was starting to feel better, they reassembled in the ready room again. They were all still finding the occasional quill, but everyone was a lot less sore. After taking the same seats as last time, they went over their next target.

"The Centra Ruins aren't exactly as 'forbidden' as we'd like." Cryder cautioned. "Not enough to generate enough ghost stories to keep people away, even if the place _is_ as bizarre as hell…"

"It looks like some sort of octahedron on the outside." Cid threw in. "The going theory is that when the Centra empire tried reproducing some of their technology, they wanted to use the original structure as the foundation for some sort of large antenna. Can't really say much more than that, though. It's non-operational and no one knows what it was for, including the modern Centrans."

"The archipelago does get a bit thin around there, though." Cryder went on. "The _Excalibur_ is the biggest military ship I've seen out of Esthar yet, but she's still a lot smaller than the basic warship. We should be able to get up to the island by going through channels no other ship can go through. We'll definitely have to cross through the perimeter of the Southern Continent to get there…but a lot of those islands are corporal holdings or holdings by city states. The defenses shouldn't be as tight, provided Cid can sneak past patrols like last time."

"I guess that means the bigger issue is what happens when we get there." Taraketh sighed. "Cactuars are one thing…but Tonberries are much worse."

"My uncle learned about them from Sir Kite." Ceja threw in. "Supposedly their skin is soft but thicker than most reptilian hides. They're very slow and can think at least partially like humans. I'm not really sure how they work, but supposedly they have some sort of magic about them too…"

"Well, not too many people have really had the chance to research them…" Quaren responded. "But the going theory is that they create some sort of gravitational field around them to keep people from running away easily if they go to one."

"They can take a seemingly impossible amount of damage because of their skin, at any rate." Ceja went on. "Even a deep cut rarely draws blood, and it absorbs blunt attacks. I also heard that their organs seal themselves off as soon as they're pierced. That means even if you run one through, it will seal closed and the Tonberry will continue to move as if nothing happened. And because they can think, they're somehow smart enough to see the ka'h within a human."

"Ka'h?" Dael inquired.

"That is our word for the path of the spirit through a human." Ceja explained. "The blood is the source of life, but there is also a vein of Ka'h. If one strikes it, their opponent is hurt severely even by a minor blow. That's what Tonberries do. They wield small, special knives and stab a person in the Ka'h. Only the strongest warriors would survive more than one or two such stabs."

"That's true, from what I know." Bahamut responded. "Although it's possible to dodge a stab, if they hit you…it's all over. I'm not sure if it's their nature or some sort of magic, but they can always pierce a weak point."

"And, just like with our new mate, the Gigantuar, we can assume that this one will be bigger and nastier than the little ones." Cryder answered with a frown. "Lovely."

"Unlike our strategy here," Dael responded. "I think it's best if we try to avoid as many Tonberries as possible and focus on finding the Tonberry King. Now…once we get there, how do we beat it?"

"Tonberries can't dodge that well." Bahamut suggested. "But they can take a lot of punishment, just as Ceja said. Even if you mastered those new moves, Dael, it wouldn't be enough."

"And Lady Cybus warned me that all Tonberries negate or absorb elemental magic through some surface layer trait of their skin." Taraketh added. "So even our greatest spells won't do much to them, other than possibly the Gigantuar if we can summon him…though I'm not sure even ten thousand needles would be enough."

"I may have something again…" Cid responded as he reached to his side. A moment later, he pulled out four more mage bullets and set them on the table. Dael looked to them, and saw that they were all marked with the Gravija symbol.

Taraketh looked with disapproval. "These may be powerful, but gravity is an element too. It will negate these as well."

"These are actually a special blend of my own creation." Cid responded. "They still work effectively like Gravija bullets, but I incorporated some aspects of Death bullets into them. Similar to how Diablos used his own technique."

This, of course, made Taraketh go a bit wide-eyed. Forgetting his propriety in regards to the Sorceress Knights, he actually gaped a bit. "You actually replicated some of that fiend's foul magic…?"

Cid gave a shrug. "What's the problem? Lady Faerio always tells me it's not the technique you use, but what you use it for."

Taraketh fumed for a moment here. Before he could say anything, Bahamut interjected.

"While I don't necessarily agree with that…in this case, I think it makes sense. Black magic, by definition, calls on powers of destruction and death, and yet countless people have used it for good purposes throughout the ages. And so long as Diablos brought that kind of power into the world, it might as well be used for something good."

This made Taraketh calm a bit, although he still looked disagreeable.

"Now there are some complications…" Cid cautioned. "These shells have powerful magic…enough to cause an actual drain on one's own spiritual energy. Plus…it's not too good of an idea to generate that much gravity at once. You could…at least, in theory…cause some sort of massive time-space distortion that would, you know…erase us all from existence or something. So to be safe…you should probably wait a full minute in between shots."

"So assuming the best case scenario," Cryder answered. "We've got to keep this bastard busy for three full minutes?"

"Pretty much." Cid answered.

"And if this is a much tougher version of a real Tonberry," Bahamut threw in. "There's no guarantee it won't still be standing even after all four shots."

"Terrific…" Quaren said with a gulp.

"Nothing else for it." Dael finally stated. "We're going to have to go after it regardless. Besides…if we can't beat this Guardian Force, then we won't be able to take out the Elite Hounds. We need the experience."

That wasn't exactly the most encouraging thing everyone wanted to hear, and after the incident with the Gigantuar, Dael herself was having a hard time being motivated. However, she knew this had to be done. She wasn't willing on taking the chance of letting Sybenia get this Guardian Force as well. No one else was either.

"Tomorrow morning, and soon as first light, let's set a course for that island."

* * *

><p>The journey to the Centra Ruins was a bit more eventful, but not much. It took longer to get to, for one thing. There was another full day for training as a result. A few of the new spells were experimented with, and Dael, at the minimum, tried to at least summon the same power she had used the day before if not outright use it. Unfortunately, it was no good. Apparently, to pull this off, it was like Bahamut said…she had to have endured pain, built up some unseen "threshold" inside herself. With enough concentration, she managed to start seeing the connections again…but she couldn't do anything with them. She could't feel herself resonate with it. That meant unless she was willing to get smacked around by the Tonberry King, she wouldn't be able to pull off a move like the one against the Gigantuar again. Instead, she decided to stick with her Gravija bullets.<p>

At the end of the first day, they were nearing the archipelago already thanks to the speed of the _Excalibur_. They dropped speed and stuck to the sensors then. They picked up a number of patrol boats. Some of them were Sybenian. After all, this was closer to the Western Continent than the port at Leuco. Cid and Cryder's skill was brought to bear. It took a bit of work, and waiting for just the right opportunity, but eventually they found a big enough gap in the defenses where they could sail close enough to one of the islands to blend in. After that, it was a matter of "island hopping" in between sweeps. Soon, even that wasn't a concern any longer as they moved more into the tightly-knit archipelago.

The ship continued to move that night. While Leuco may not have had a presence, there was the occasional village or outpost here. Dael wasn't eager to tip them off, even if they weren't aligned with Leuco or Sybenia. The cover of darkness made moving about much easier, and the stealth running systems on board the _Excalibur_ were more advanced than anything a smaller city-state could produce. Plus, they were going slow enough that should a ship move to intercept, they would see them coming. As dawn broke, they still hadn't picked up and "shadows". Moving to another uninhabited island with enough elevation to keep them secluded, they paused until the sun went down again.

Once night fell, the _Excalibur _went into motion more quickly. They soon left the last of the settlements behind, going into purely "restricted" territory. The islands they passed were mostly rocky, barren, and uninhabited. With the radars showing clear seas all around, they actually turned the lights on enough to look on a few of them, although this wasn't entirely necessary as the moon was out and casting enough of a glow to look about. The waters grew unusually quiet as the ship began to go through the narrow passes that Cryder had been promising, and what creatures leapt out of the water were rather fearsome and primordial looking to Dael. This was a place that obviously was still rather void of human activity.

Finally, Dael saw it.

The woman had never even heard about the Centra Ruins until they had their meeting in the mess hall. Now that she saw it, she had to admit…it _was_ unsettling. She tried to keep thinking of it as an antenna and not some bizarre otherworldly structure with who knew what purpose.

Indeed, there seemed to be some sort of frame around it that looked like a giant metal octahedron, at least skyscraper sized. But aside from that, the inner structure that the octahedron supported was equally bizarre. Rather than having any foundation, the base of the structure seemed to be a cage-like arrangement of pillars built right into the octahedron edges. Stalactite-like columns were on top of this, balancing a much more solid-looking tower that had an arrangement of rails and platforms coming out from it. It didn't even look stable. It seemed to be more like some strange, perfectly-balanced art-sculpture just hovering there. Initially, Dael couldn't even believe it was real. She thought it was some trick of the light or she was too distant. She didn't even see any way to get into it, after all.

At any rate, they didn't see it long. To disembark, they had to go along the shore further before they could find a place to land, and when they did the trees and hills of the island blocked out any further view of the structure. They'd have to walk closer in order to see it again. After touring a bit longer to find a good place out the way, the ship finally stopped and deployed its ramp, anchoring at the same time.

In minutes, the group unloaded. Everyone was fully recovered, resupplied, and armed. Cryder, on his part, was eager to try out his new powers, and Dael, frankly, hoped they would help. She herself had already loaded the first Gravija bullet and had the others at her side. Once there, she began to lead the others up the hill before them, back toward the ruins.

Bahamut was nearby most of the walk, and as they went along, she decided to ask him a question.

"Do you think you could perform any technique like the one you used back with the Elite Hounds?"

The boy shook his head with a frown. "I don't know where that came from, but the power for it was building for days…under all the torment and abuse I went through. Yet even if the same thing happened again…I'm not sure I could pull it off."

Dael exhaled. _One less advantage open to us…_ She thought.

A few of them, Dael included, had flashlights, and she decided to use them in spite of the moonlight as they approached. She was a bit skeptical, but the terrain, although it still had some vegetation, was rocky and uneven in many parts. It was clear this had been a volcanic bit of rock not too long ago in geologic history and was only now developing a layer of soil. Although she knew from training that her eyes would adjust better to the dark if she left the light off, she kept it on so she wouldn't stumble the whole way there, especially when they crossed through a stand of trees where both roots and rocky terrain came into play. However, on passing through to the other side, the silhouette of the Centra Ruins was again visible against the moonlit sky, and the group paused again to look at it.

It was more eerie than ever. This close, it was clear that it wasn't some unreal optical illusion but, honestly and truly, a bizarre and impossible structure. There was a set of columns on the ground leading to a stairway that led up to the base, but based on the construction it looked as if the stairs were suspended over nothing. Now the place truly did look otherworldly. As yet another unsettling fact…the upper levels seemed to have some sort of illumination: orange lights.

"…That's an antenna?" Quaren asked incredulously. "Looks more like something out of a modern age sci-fi horror story…"

"To be honest…I really don't know _what_ it is, now that I'm seeing it in front of me…" Cid said, almost gulping as he did so. "And those lights… There isn't any power source operating in there that I know of or anyone else knows of. That much I know from investigating engineers."

"Not good place." Jalab remarked as he narrowed his gaze at it. "Attracts…something not of Gaia."

"I have to agree with Sir Tierras… I don't feel comfortable going there." Ceja threw in.

Dael, for a split second, nearly agreed…when instead she let out a sigh.

"Come on. Forget about the structure itself. It's what's inside we should be freaked out about…" Immediately, she groaned and shook her head. "I mean don't get freaked out. We have a job to do. Now come on."

The young officer immediately made her way toward the structure. The others followed, but even Bahamut was hesitant before going after her. For a boy who supposedly knew and had seen everything, even this place unsettled him. But Dael ignored that. After all…she had to focus on keeping her own feet moving closer to it.

* * *

><p>Getting actually into the structure was a <em>little<em> better, so long as Dael focused on the area around her rather than where she was. It took longer than she thought, probably because they were all subconsciously dragging their feet, but they made it to the staircase and climbed a distance of four stories into the "base" of the structure. Once there, looking out through the octahedron and the columns rather than looking in from the outside, things were more bearable. After all, on the "small" scale, the structure was just ruins. Now that she was here, Dael saw that while there was a metal skeleton poking out of a few places, most of the place was stone. It was even done up in an older style, with frescos and mosaics depicting ancient events. For one familiar with science fiction, it gave the whole place the feel of an "out-of-place" artifact. Nevertheless, at least in short range, it appeared "normal" enough. And so far, they hadn't encountered anything.

But then again…all the lights were on the "upper" floors.

Dael let them about halfway through the columns and the various monstrous and epic images depicted on them before halting. Here, she looked behind her. "From here on in," She stated quietly. "Probably best we kill the lights unless we hear something coming. We may not see what's up there, but it shouldn't be able to see us either."

"I thought Tonberries lived in caves where it was always dark?" Quaren asked, his tone showing his own growing anxiety.

"They also always carry lanterns." Bahamut reassured. "They may see better than us in the dark…but they're still blind without a light source."

After a moment of pause, everyone killed their lights. Dael and Quaren kept theirs out, but everyone else shifted to their weapons. The young officer paused for a few minutes afterward. She wanted to let her eyes grow accustomed to the darkness a bit. She didn't wait as long as possible, but just enough to see the next set of stairs up ahead in the pale moonlight. That done, she began to lead them onward again.

Again, this set of stairs seemed to be hovering over nothingness, and with no rails it was a little nerve wracking and gave them all a sense of vertigo. Yet Dael kept leading them on, and did so quietly, listening for anything that might be waiting for them ahead. She heard nothing, however. After a minute or two of climbing up another three stories, they reached what looked like the base of the main structure. Just up ahead was an opening that was more "conventional", looking like a gateway that one would find on a castle. What more, the structure itself, this up close, was more like a keep than anything. Dael slowed again as she neared the top of the steps. She paused there and let the others gather behind her, and then looked inside for a moment to see what was there.

The source of the lights soon became obvious. Orbs of light were suspended from iron cages hanging from the ceiling like chandeliers. Dael couldn't tell if they were electric or fire in nature, though. The hall itself was lined with stone statues arranged like guardians. Aside from that, it looked like a hall one would see in any ancient castle. Old stonework and more frescos and mosaics…but nothing else incredible. The lights were a bit eerie, but they didn't look entirely supernatural.

She looked back down below. "Looks clear." She stated quietly. "Let's-"

A moment later, however, she cut herself off. She heard something. It was only small, but it sounded like thick pads rhythmically slapping against the ground. It was quiet, indicating it was distant…but it was coming from inside the chamber up ahead. Hearing this, Dael immediately lowered herself on the stairs. The others followed suit, and all effectively dropped from sight. The noise got louder afterward, but only very, very slowly. What more, it never quite reached the threshold of being a "big monster". It seemed more light and subdued. Dael and the others held for a minute, but all they saw was the faint glow of a fiery light fluttering overhead.

After another minute, Dael decided to have a look. Reaching into her belt, she emerged with a hand mirror, and angled it up to look up above the top of the stairs and to whatever was there. On doing so, she soon received her first look at one of the infamous Tonberries.

All in all, it looked thoroughly unimpressive. But even if Dael hadn't interacted with the Cactuars the other day and received a reminder that appearances could be very deceiving, she had heard reports on Tonberries during her academy training. They were one of the monsters that received special attention, after all. By all appearances, it was nothing more than a small, dull, green, reptilian creature. It didn't look intimidating in the least, being only around four feet tall. In fact, it looked almost…cute, or at least comical. Much like Carbuncle, it had a virturally expressionless face. The only thing that stood out were two pale yellow orbs for eyes, which glowed slightly. It had a thick tail that nevertheless was useless for physical combat and a bifurcated tip. Its feet were little more than pads that it waddled along with at a very slow rate. Most of its body, which seemed more potato-shaped than anything, was enclosed by a brown, leather-like robe that looked like a cassock with the hood pulled back. It had been mended with patches a few times too. In one hand, it held a simple iron lantern with a single candle inside, and it held it before it, illuminating the way.

In its other hand…it held the only thing that was genuinely unsettling about it. A sharp knife that looked like a butcher's knife…stained with old blood.

Dael saw the Tonberry look around a moment, and then begin to waddle forward. She quickly pulled back the mirror, lest it reflect the lantern, and hid. She waited for a few moments. If it spotted them, they had to get away in a hurry. And they were almost to the top of the steps. Getting too close to the edge would expose them, and so she realized the chance was high. She lay in wait. The padded sound grew nearer, but stopped from time to time, indicating the Tonberry pausing. The light from the lantern got closer too, and Dael grew more nervous. Already…she could almost feel her movements growing more sluggish, as if she was being drawn to the ground. Apparently, the magic they held about them worked…

Yet just as Dael began to fear the Tonberry would come upon them, the flickering of the lantern abruptly dimmed, and the padding noise began to quiet. She realized the creature had turned its back on them.

The young woman waited there for a few moments, hearing the padding noises occasionally only slowly going away. Eventually, however, she risked pulling herself up a bit despite the fact it still seemed relatively close, and looked over the edge. The Tonberry had its back to her, and was very, _very_ slowly walking away. After a few more steps, it paused. Dael feared she had been heard for a moment, but the Tonberry merely looked around in front of it for a moment, and then resumed walking. She paused a bit longer, then raised herself up higher. In the process of doing so, however, she upset her flashlight, and knocked it down a step…letting out a sharp echo. She paled momentarily…

…But the Tonberry didn't react. It didn't even look like it heard. It merely continued to waddle a bit farther, pause, look around, and then resumed.

Dael blinked, and then picked up her flashlight, making sure to make a loud scrape against the stone stairs as she did so. No reaction. She rose a bit more, until her head was clearly visible. No change. A moment later, she actually stood up, making more noise as she did so. Still no change. Clearly, the Tonberries had another weakness…their senses were pathetic. They couldn't see or hear that well.

The woman paused a bit longer, but then decided to chance something. She hoped this would work, because she could do without the unnecessary fight. Turning back below, she motioned for the others to rise and follow her. After that, she brandished her sword, put her flashlight away all together, and began to climb the stairs again. Soon she reached the top and went forward just enough for the others to follow behind her. As they did, one by one, they all reacted to seeing a Tonberry, but its back remained to them. It didn't seem to notice them at all…merely continued to walk away. Dael soon looked to the ground and told them to follow her. Although some had strong reservations, they soon found themselves following after the Tonberry, staying behind it.

They continued to follow it for almost five minutes. That's how long the slow-moving creature took to get to the other side of the chamber. Once there, it looked around one more time, before making a left turn to go to the rows of statues, looking to move behind them. As it did, Dael quickly led the group to the side to dive for cover behind the statues on the opposite side, but the Tonberry didn't seem to mind. Apparently, it had no peripheral vision either. Eventually, it passed in between two statues…leaving the way to the staircase beyond clear. Dael quickly sprang back out and ran for it, and the others fell in behind and followed. Soon they left the green creature behind and were on a new set of stairs.

Once clear, Dael paused and looked back to them for a moment. "Well…that was a lot easier than I thought."

"Alright, so we can sneak by them without much trouble…or at least this one." Taraketh responded. "But there's no telling how many more there are, or how far through this place we'll have to go in order to find the Tonberry King."

"We'll just have to look through all of it until we do." Dael responded. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>This search ended up being far less painful and dramatic than the one for the Gigantuar, but about as fruitful as well. The first floor was fairly easy compared to the next floors. All of them had at least two Tonberries moving about, and some more than that. But the creatures were so dull that it was all but impossible to alert one. She could have sworn, on more than one occasion, one of the creatures was looking right at them and yet kept up its toddling pace and mannerisms. Dael was pretty much of the opinion that unless you went right up to the creatures and smacked them, they wouldn't even notice you. That made it a bit easier to get around them even when they went into one floor chamber that had five. They also seemed incapable of going up or down stairs, which made sense. Their legs were so small they probably couldn't step up or down. It also made it easier to evade them. Even if they couldn't get by without being seen (which wasn't a problem anyway), by the time they reached the stairs they were effectively in the clear.<p>

However, as their lack of encounters went by over the hours it took to sneak to the top of the ruins, Dael was growing progressively less nervous and more annoyed. The sun, by now, was beginning to rise, removing the last traces of gloom and mystery that still shrouded the ruins and making everything seem more "mundane" and "normal". As it became clear that evading the Tonberries was hardly much of a challenge, and as each new floor turned up empty, the woman began to almost be eager for the Tonberry King to show himself so they could be done with this.

At last, there was only one chamber left, the uppermost room, which Taraketh said, based on legends, was the throne room that King Odin had made for himself. Dael figured that was as good a place as any for a Tonberry King to be hanging out. Getting to the last set of stairs leading up to it was a bit of a problem. There was an outdoor platform adjoined to the main building that may have even been a side chamber at some point, but was missing walls on two sides. There had been a grand total of five Tonberries walking around on a very small space, and, for some time, Dael had puzzled over how they were going to get by. At this point, they were nearly to the top of the structure, and hundreds of feet in the air, so trying to inch around wasn't the preferred course of action. Fighting their way through didn't seem to be a good idea either if one Tonberry really would be a challenge for all of them, let alone five. Eventually, Cid got an idea, to use some of his explosive compound to lay a trap to blow one or more of the Tonberries over the edge. Although Dael didn't like the idea of causing any real damage to the structure, fearful that, if so much as a good sized rock was knocked off of it, the result would be the entire structure would grow unbalanced and fall over (despite the fact it hadn't even trembled the entire time they had been on it), she agreed.

Cid brought out his modified caulking gun and, as soon as the Tonberry backs were turned, began to squirt out a stream in a good spot near the edge. However, it had an interesting effect. The nearest Tonberry almost immediately turned to it. Dael feared their cover was blown, but only a moment before the Tonberry waddled over to the explosive compound and, to her surprise, leaned down and began to lick it with a tiny tongue. Cid was as befuddled as the rest, but admitted that a lot of fruit-based thiols and organic compounds were present in the substance that he had harvested from the jungle on Lamb. Apparently, many of the intermediate steps had a very fruity smell, although he had never been foolish enough to taste the finished product. It seemed the Tonberries were fond of it, however. Over the next minute, the scent seemed to attract another one. On that note, Cid squirted more of the explosive near the edge, and eventually all five of them came up to it and began to lick it, completely focused on the substance. However, "licking" obviously wasn't enough of an impact to cause it to go off. Dael thought of having Quaren set it off with a bullet, but in the end decided against it. Instead, while they were baited, they might as well move on by. And so they did. Not one of the five Tonberries ever looked up to them.

On the last set of stairs, Dael went ahead and got her gun out in one hand and her sword in the other. The rest of the group quickly readied their weapons as well. This was the last chamber…it had to be where it was. Ascending the stairs just a bit slower to make sure they were all ready, she neared the top. She almost called out to tell Bahamut to stay back. After all, he was the one person there who didn't have any enhanced physiology…but eventually she decided against it. The boy knew how to make himself useful even without a 'limit break'. Finally, at the top, another opening loomed, leading into another chamber. Dael quickly ascended the last few steps, rounded the top, and began to charge inside with her Mage Gun aimed forward.

She barely cleared the threshold, however, before she slowed to a halt.

The place looked like a throne chamber, alright. A very old, cruel-looking throne was mounted in the back against an accompanying fresco, radiating intimidation and power. The rest of the chamber, however…was empty. There wasn't even a Tonberry sentry in there. One by one, the others came up behind her and halted as well. She lowered her weapons and stepped in a bit more to look around better, but the chamber was circular and there were no corners to hide in. Nothing was there except the throne and décor.

"This is a bit unexpected…" Taraketh remarked after about a minute of silence.

"It's not here…" Quaren stated.

Cid swallowed a bit. "Well, technically, there was never a guarantee it _would_ be here. We only assumed it would have come here."

Dael let out a frown at that, putting her gun away. "I suppose you're right, but that doesn't make me feel too much better. We wasted a few days getting here and hours climbing the tower."

"This still strikes me as odd." Ceja responded. "If there's no Tonberry King here, why are there so many Tonberries living here?"

"Perhaps they all like the element 'Steel', and that drew them here…" Taraketh suggested. "At any rate, no sense staying. It'll take long enough to get back out of here past those Tonberries as it is."

"Well, we _did_ spend a lot of effort getting here." Cryder suggested with a shrug. "Sure we shouldn't have a bit of a look around first, lads? I mean, if we turn out to be wrong, we don't want to have to come back here, eh?"

Dael considered that for a few seconds. "…I guess you're right. This place might have all sorts of hidden chambers in it. I mean, it's not like it matches-"

Dael was cut off and almost leapt when a rather loud and potent explosion went off from outside, down the stairs. It caused her and the others to all snap around. Ceja, being closest to the opening, ran over to it and looked outside and down the stairs.

"What happened?" The Esthar's Hawk called.

Ceja looked a moment, then turned back. "You know that edge where the five Tonberries were? Well…now all I see is a bit of smoke and carbon scoring where the material that Cid laid down went off."

None of them had known it, but, eventually, one of the Tonberries had gotten tired with just licking and had attempted to actually take a bite of the compound. The rest was history when a chain reaction resulted. The five Tonberries had been flung off the building all together. Whether the fall would be fatal or not was anyone's guess.

"Seems the trap worked after all." Taraketh mused.

"Well, five less of those things to worry about on the way back." Cryder threw in.

Dael was about to say something else, before she was cut off yet again. Abruptly, the room began to have a rather loud tremor move through it, creating the sound of grinding stone. It seemed as if something very large was moving. She looked around only a moment for the source, when Bahamut suddenly exclaimed. "Look!"

Immediately, the young officer and the others snapped around, and found themselves looking to the mounted throne. Yet it only stood as is for a moment before Dael realized there was a fissure forming right down the middle. After a few more moments, she realized they were getting larger, and were attached to larger panels beyond which were also forming fissures. She realized it was a false wall, concealing a set of large doors which were now opening up, revealing the blackness of an unlit chamber on the other side. However, it didn't stay black for long. Soon the group saw the light of another lantern on the other side, and as they opened fully up…they saw who was beyond in all of its "glory".

This Tonberry was much, _much_ larger than its brethren. It stood around ten feet tall all together, although, given its almost circular body, it had the appearance of being much larger. Aside from that, it was almost the same as the little ones. It wore the same color, fabric, and style cloak, and it had the same padded feet, green, thick skin, and small yellow orbs for eyes, although proportionately larger. It also had a blood-stained knife and a simple lantern…although, in almost a comical fashion, Dael saw that they weren't proportionally larger, and the knife, in particular, almost looked like a splinter compared to the rest of it. Aside from that…there was only one other thing. A crown, partially lopsided, and looking so ridiculously simple it seemed like a prop from a child's dress-up set, was on its head.

Despite the fact that Dael was determined to take the dangers of Tonberries seriously, she had to wonder…was this for real? She tried to focus less on the pathetic crown and even more pathetic knife and lantern, and instead considered the fact there was a ten-foot Tonberry in the room. A moment later, it began to waddle toward them.

"…I think it's mad that we knocked those five over the edge." Quaren murmured.

"This is it!" Dael called to everyone else as she quickly got her gun out again. She quickly took aim at it. "Everyone, get ready to fight!"

Quickly, everyone snapped to attention. But as they raised their weapons, Dael already aimed right for the Tonberry King and fired off her first Gravija bullet. It was a little too big of a target to miss, but even so, these things had a tendancy to fail from time to time. This wasn't one of those times, however. The shot hit it dead on…and immediately erupted. Much as it had back with the mechanical warrior in Garrado, the shell erupted into a thick, black orb. At once, it began to form a dark, shimmering sphere of blackness…which expanded rapidly and completely enveloped the Tonberry King. Despite the shot, everyone moved out as they heard a cosmic ripping sound, as if time and space was being compressed. The light and reality itself seemed to warp around it, drawn in like the world was painted on a sheet and bent inward. Everyone else didn't wait for it to finish, however. They quickly spread out and began to take aim at the creature. Slowly, the orb stopped expanding. It held a bit longer…and then vanished, shrinking back into nothing. For a brief moment, Dael thought she saw the entire Tonberry King distorted and compressed, almost down to half of its original size. Yet as the orb went away, it once more expanded to full height, and gave some sort of chirping gurgle. Whether it was anger or a laugh was impossible to tell, as the creature's face remained fully expressionless. A moment later, however, it began to waddle forward again.

Dael quickly went for her second shell even as she started to count. _60…59…58…_

Meanwhile, everyone else quickly went into action. Jalab opened by swirling his staff in front of him for a moment before swinging it around and aiming it forward, sending out a powerful blast of force that ripped into the Tonberry King and past it, slamming the doors shut again and ripping the cloak it wore. Quaren quickly aimed for its head and began to fire off rapidly, switching his rifle to semi-automatic mode as he did so to unload multiple bullets in the creature's face. Cid did much the same with his own nailgun. His aim wasn't as good, but it managed to hit it with every shot. Taraketh performed a gesture with his hands to literally make two monstrous slabs of rock rip up from the ground and slam together, catching the giant Tonberry in a "sandwich". As the slabs broke apart from the force of their own impact, Cryder rounded things up by blasting it with a Will of the Wisp technique. He was rather surprised at his own result. What used to be small, spectral flames ignited in a massive, bright blaze that enveloped the entire creature momentarily in eerie blue fire. The only two who did not attack were Ceja and Bahamut. Ceja didn't have enough room in the chamber to properly use her "Flying Axe". Initially, that didn't stop her. She nearly darted out…before Bahamut shot out his blade and used it to bar her way. For a moment, she was surprised, and then looked to Bahamut in anger for halting her…but it abated quickly. So long as they could attack the creature from a distance, they had better.

Yet as Cryder's attack died down and they saw the result…none of them were too happy. Aside from ruining its clothes a bit, even less than expected, it was continuing to toddle forward at the same pace. It hadn't even flinched in the way of those attacks.

Dael, on her part, was only in the "40s".

The group hesitated a moment, before they began to open fire again. Jalab, putting his staff aside for a moment, drew his hands together and began to concentrate, soon igniting in a mystic aura. A moment later, he gathered the energy into his palms, and then aimed forward for the Tonberry and blasted, sending out a potent beam of burning energy that slammed right into its chest. Yet the Tonberry's slow, gradual pace wasn't even stalled. It walked into the beam as if it wasn't even there. Everyone saw this…and began to realize just how durable the thing was. Even Jalab gaped a bit in surprise. In response, Cid pulled out one of his explosive charges, mounted it onto the nailgun, and fired…soon attaching it directly to the Tonberry King's forehead. He quickly yanked out his detonator, armed it, and pulled the trigger. The bomb went off, and in the enclosed room, everyone had to pull back and cover their ears. Yet when the fire and smoke cleared…it was still coming.

"That was a drilling charge…" Cid said incredulously, eyes bulging at the creature.

"Let me." Taraketh announced. Quickly, he shifted his hands together and performed another gesture, his aura flashing even brighter than it did for his last attack. A moment later, a gigantic spiked column of rock, this one horizontal, ripped out of the ground and charged for the Tonberry King like a freight train. It was so close at this point in the moderate-sized chamber that the group had to move to one side to avoid being hit by it…and the huge rock column connected with the creature.

To everyone's shock, not the least of which was Taraketh, it was like driving a terra-cotta ram into a tank. It shattered and peeled off of it although it was doing nothing more than toddling forward.

"Impossible…!" Taraketh called breathlessly. "That attack would have tripped a Red Dragon!"

"I think you were right, Sir Sabian…" Bahamut stated a bit nervously. "This _is_ a Tonberry…only bigger and much worse."

Quaren lowered his rifle for a moment, gaping considerably at the creature that was still incoming. After a moment, he exhaled as he reached for his side. "I've got an adhesive grenade… Not sure it will do much good, but I better give it a shot. It does more than my bullets, at any rate…" With that, he took off for the creature.

Dael went wide-eyed at that. "Wait! Don't get closer to it!"

It was too late, however. Quaren deployed the adhesive and ran right up to the Tonberry King. A moment later, he threw his arm out to make sure it would paste to its head. But he had forgotten…with his enhanced body, he could have thrown an accurate lob from a greater distance. He got too close. He thought he was out of range, but the Tonberry King had longer arms that he realized. Abruptly, the arm with the knife shot out and went straight for Quaren even as the grenade stuck and he turned back to run.

One of the oddest sounds Dael had ever heard rang out in reply. She hadn't expected to hear much of anything. It was a knife, after all. However, to her surprise, the knife made a very odd sound…seeming almost like a strange "doink" noise. The result, however, was anything but humorous.

One would think someone just slammed a battering ram into Quaren. Dael couldn't be certain, but it didn't even look as if the knife had been aimed for a vital spot, but the corporal was ripped off of his feet and flung backward. He connected with the ground a moment later and went into a topple, rolling back toward the others. He headed straight for Taraketh, who quickly lowered to his knees to stop him from going any farther. The young man was soon stopped by him and rolled to sprawl out on his back. Everyone looked to him, Dael included, and was shocked at what they saw.

The blade had only seemed to stab into his lower side…but blood was everywhere. A good portion of his uniform was already soaked with it, and it was still flowing. Quaren's eyes were wide in shock, as he both gaped and writhed at the same time, like he was not only recoiling from the stab wound but also had severe inner trauma. Abruptly, he coughed, and blood splattered from his mouth. Taraketh froze for only a moment, before his own knowledge of field medicine kicked in, and he dove over Quaren and covered the wound with both hands. He quickly concentrated and lit up his aura to begin to generate a healing spell.

As for the Tonberry King, the grenade went off, sending another loud bang rocketing through the chamber…and the creature didn't even shift its head. It kept coming forward. By now, it was almost halfway across the room. And Dael was still counting mentally.

A few seconds later, and a green aura began to come over Quaren. He stiffened a bit, and his face remained tight and rigid with pain, but he did relax just a little. After that, Taraketh looked up with a frown. "The best I can do is seal the wound. The damage is too great. He's not getting back into this fight."

Cid, meanwhile, raised his gun at the closer Tonberry King and began to discharge more shots. Yet from this range, he could now see clearly. Most of the nails were bouncing off as if the creature's skin was made of bullet-proof material. Even a shot he managed to land against its eye bounced off harmlessly, blunted and compressed. He swallowed a bit. "We may be in trouble… Hasn't it been a minute yet?"

"Almost…" Dael responded, forcing her own voice to remain calm. She soon raised her weapon and counted off five more seconds…five seconds that seemed to take an eternity. After that, she squeezed the trigger and fired off another shot. The shell sailed through the air, impacted it again, and once more expanded into a black, inky sphere. This time, Dael looked at its feet as it fired. As one good side…she noticed that the creature stopped walking. Right before it vanished, she saw it try to lift a leg, but it couldn't. The increase in gravity seemed to immobilize it.

The sphere enveloped it for a few precious moments, although they didn't seem nearly long enough. The one time she needed time to be slow…and it seemed to go by in a blink. When the sphere abated…the Tonberry King was still standing and still looking totally unaffected. Without missing a beat, it began to walk forward again.

Dael angrily began to count as she opened her barrel and went for another shell. After loading it, she called out to the others. "The least we can do is make ourselves less of a target. Let's spread around the room. Taraketh, can you get Quaren?"

The High Child only paused for a fraction of a second before he withdrew his hands and began to curve them underneath the corporal. Although Taraketh didn't look terribly strong, all of the ones who had been junctioned in their group were matches for heavyweight lifters, and he easily got up carrying him. Quaren, on his part, had managed to cling to consciousness, but he was staying quiet and still, not trying to agitate his wound. "I'll take him. Don't worry."

"Alright…Cryder, Jalab, Bahamut, and I will go left…everyone else goes right. Now!"

The eight immediately broke…and Dael soon got a rather bad surprise.

Attempting to get away from the Tonberry King...attempting, in any way, to increase the distance between themselves and it, was useless. To her shock, they looked like they were suddenly embedded in mud, their feet barely moving as they attempted to move away. On her own part, she found she had to exert almost all of her enhanced power to take a step forward…and a little one, at that. It seemed as if the air had turned viscous and was exerting a force to push her back, oppose any move that moved her farther away. She realized that their fears had to be correct. That creature _was_ somehow warping space and time to keep them from escaping it. And there was no telling how far the influence reached. One thing was certain, however. Even its toddling pace would catch them long before they could even get through the door to the chamber.

Cryder was the first to give up, turning back and fuming. "Blimey…this is a fine bucket of fish. Only way out of here now is through that green nightmare." With that, he brandished his sword again, and soon began to perform some gestures. "Then let's get at it!" A moment later, he aimed his blade forward. A solid column of wind immediately formed, seeming to be made a deadly whirling blades, and it shot forward and slammed into the creature. The robe was shredded a bit more…but just like with everything else, the Tonberry King wasn't even stalled. "Jolly green bastard seems to have a center of gravity as flat as a continent." The pirate grumbled on seeing his latest move fail.

Jalab himself focused his power. Once more, his aura blazed, a moment later he aimed his hands forward and sent out another blast of energy at it…even larger than before. It slammed into the monster just as hard…but it didn't buckle or tremble in the least. It continued to walk forward. Jalab actually focused the beam for a moment, continuing to direct it at the monster and put even more into it…but it did nothing other than burn more of its robe. In the end, he exhaled and let the beam falter.

"All stronger moves of mine…need hand-to-hand contact." He admitted grimly.

Taraketh, realizing he wasn't getting far with Quaren, went to the nearest wall and set him down against it, before turning back. "Let me try mine." He stated. "This is a bit close, so everyone be careful…" With that, he performed a gesture, and then concentrated. His aura didn't immediately flare, and, as a result, Dael knew what was coming. Immediately, she tried to back away…for all the good it did. After all, doing so meant putting more distance between herself and the Tonberry King, and it wouldn't have any of that. Moments later, reality began to distort before them as the lights both inside and outside the room grew dimmer.

A second later, and the Minotaur Brothers leapt out of the portal. At once, they charged forward and straight for the Tonberry King. They soon performed a move similar to last time. The smaller one came first, reached the base of it, and grabbed the pavement. With one mighty heave, he ripped off a large section of the floor, thick and stone, upward…and Dael expected the Tonberry King to finally be jarred back in the process. Yet to her shock…nothing happened. The Tonberry King looked like he might as well have weighed a thousand tons, for the earth simply broke past it. The larger one soon charged, just as before, and collided head on with the Tonberry King…and simply bounced off like a ball thrown against a brick wall. It soon roared in a mixture of anger, pain, and misery. The smaller one looked to the big one and seemed to shake his head at him…before both vanished again into thin air and the lights came back on at full strength. The Tonberry King, on his part, had never slowed or paused. He was getting past half of the room and still coming.

"…Times like this that it's very hard to abide by the Order of Hyne code of 'no swearing'." Taraketh grumbled.

"How long before you can shoot again?" Cryder asked.

"About another half a minute…but it doesn't really matter, for all the good it's been doing." Dael responded.

"Maybe we can move next time you fire." Ceja responded. "It seems like it can't move itself…maybe it's immobilized."

"I hope so…" Dael responded. "Because whether or not these shells are having an effect, if we're stuck here when I fire the fourth one, we'll be caught in the blast…"

Cid began to get out his caulking gun. "I'll coat it with this stuff." He said. "Then set it off. That's _got_ to knock it back…"

"Don't." Bahamut immediately retorted. "From this close range, if that compound goes off, we'd all feel the blast and there's no way for us to get clear."

However, an idea sprang to mind in Dael's own head. "Wait a minute… Cid! Shoot just a bit behind it!"

The engineer looked to her along with the others. "Huh? Why?"

"The Tonberries like the compound! Maybe the big one does too! It can act like bait!"

The Sorceress Knight paused, then lit up. "…Yeah! That might work!" Quickly, he lifted up the weapon, attached the pneumatics, and aimed around and behind the Tonberry King. A moment later, he fired off a steady stream, and soon squirted a good sized amount around it from the side and behind it.

At long last…the creature actually paused. For a moment, it actually stopped walking forward. It stared at the group for a moment, then, slowly, shifted its shoulders and looked behind it, back to the paste now on the ground. It looked forward again, and then back, and then forward again.

The group was astonished.

"I can't believe that worked…" Taraketh stated aloud.

"It's already seen us." Ceja stated. "So it won't go after it…but it looks confused."

Dael finished counting during the interim, and soon raised her Mage Gun again. "Alright, I'm ready…"

"Wait, lass!" Cryder suddenly called out. "Shouldn't we see if it backs up first? After this shot, it's going to keep coming after us, bait or no bait, I'd wager."

The Tonberry King continued to look, but eventually seemed to focus more on the group. It still hadn't started walking in either direction yet, but Dael had to make a judgment call. She stared at it a few moments longer, wondering and watching. If she waited and it didn't come…then they just wasted more time. But if she fired when it was going to go for the bait…then they'd miss out on their chance to hit it one last time. In the end, she finally had to decide…and her decision was to pull the trigger.

The shell once again snaked out…and Cryder wasn't the only one who grimaced a bit at it as once more a black sphere erupted around the Tonberry King. The explosives were set off by the pressure, removing the bait…but the eruption was immediately sucked into the oblivion. Dael didn't give them all long to mope, however. She called out. "Everyone move!"

Immediately, the group broke in either direction, in the same way as before. Unfortunately…Dael found it to be mostly just as sluggish as before. However, it wasn't completely. They were able to move just a bit more freely. The two on the ends, Cryder and Taraketh (who had quickly taken up Quaren again) managed to get the farthest, actually able to gain a bit of distance on the Tonberry King. But the others…they couldn't really do more other than spread equidistantly around it. Once the orb faded again, and the Tonberry King, once again not looking the slightest bit worse for wear and moving forward again, further escape was impossible. Perhaps, when it got closer to those in the front, who it was still headed toward…and happened to be Dael and Cid…they would be far enough away to break for it. For now, however, there was no chance. The young officer also realized as she loaded her last bullet…there was no way to dodge it herself. Both she and Cid would be in the wake of the blast.

"I never met a horror so resilient…" Ceja remarked. "Even a Rock Dragon would be dead by now!"

"Doesn't this chap ever give up?" Cryder asked in exasperation.

Quaren, by now, had bit back enough of his pain to look up. "Maybe…it's on…it's last legs…?" He suggested weakly.

True enough, Gravija was powerful…but not enough to kill on its own. What it did was siphon away the stamina and vitality so much that the slightest follow up blow would normally drop an opponent. However, the spell, as Dael understood, was originally made with humans in mind, who had long been confirmed by ages of analysis and study to not be capable of growing stronger than a certain point. Monsters, on the other hand, could get much stronger, and the spell could be all but useless again them if they had sufficient durability. Sure, it would do a lot of damage…but they'd have plenty of constitution to spare. Dael tried to consider what would be a decent test, but she didn't get the chance. Ceja, perhaps tired of being forced to sit on the sidelines and be all but useless this fight, went ahead and wound up with her axe a bit before letting it fly. It wasn't too great of a cast…nothing like her traditional blows that could lop the heads off of the deadliest monsters, but it still had a bit of power to it…enough to at least embed in flesh. At least, it should have normally. But this blow merely cleaved into the soft outer flesh of the Tonberry King, eventually stopped moving, and then simply fell out again and clattered to the ground. Although a cut had clearly been made, the nature of the creature's physicality sealed it up again with pressure before dropping any blood, and it continued to come in.

"So much for 'last legs'…" Cryder said with a sigh.

"I only got one thing left, and this is going to have to be it for me." Taraketh said with a sigh. "I've been casting too much magic in a short time period…"

Dael didn't argue, and neither did anyone else. As for Taraketh, he folded his hands and began to summon his power again. Once more, he was doing a summoning. This one took a bit more effort though. Dael wasn't sure if it was the nature of the Guardian Force, or if Taraketh was merely growing too tired from his constant exertion. However, the strain, and even sweat, was visible…and Dael had a feeling she knew who it was. A moment later, the sky grew dark again, and once more reality warped and shifted…only bigger this time.

The large portal finally completed, and based on the side, Dael had her suspicions all but confirmed. There was only one Guardian Force she knew who could come through there. The room was high-ceilinged, she realized, but she wondered if it would be able to fit… That too was confirmed a bit later, as the massive, "mustached" Cactuar that they had met only a few days earlier suddenly squeezed itself into the chamber, giving another one of its monstrous whistle-squeaks. It was even more comical before, as it had to shift itself downward and try and squeeze itself into the chamber in order to fit. However, it worked out. Now it was already angled downward. It only had to do so a bit more to shove its massive green head in the direction of the Tonberry King, and soon began to rotate its limbs as it opened fire on the reptilian creature.

Dael and the others couldn't believe their eyes. They knew full well, no matter how strong or durable the monster, the needles would always sink in and hurt. The experience with Jalab, Cryder, and Ceja had taught more than that, though. It seemed, no matter how strong you were, they always seemed to "hurt" just as much. And sure enough, the needles seeped right through the thick flesh of the creature and pierced the "meat" inside. Dael had to imagine the creature would be in pain forever from such a move, as there was no way she could see it getting the quills out again. Yet for all of what happened, the Tonberry King never halted and never slowed. The powerful attack didn't make it pause in the least. And after letting out its deluge of needles, giving another whistle-squeak, and vanishing…they were right back where they started.

"Is this horror invincible?!" Ceja exclaimed in shock.

Dael grit her teeth in frustration. She was still counting down for her final shot, but not long after that…the creature would be in striking range, and she realized it had a longer reach than her. She might be able to get in another hit with her sword, but good would it do? She called out to Cryder and Taraketh. "Can you two run any easier yet?"

"Wouldn't matter if we could, lass!" Cryder shouted back, even as he ineffectually tried yet another wind slash. At this point, being angled a bit behind it, he didn't want to really give it his best shot. After all, if it worked…it would shove the monster closer to Dael and Cid. "We're in the chamber now! Only way past it would be through it!"

Bahamut was gearing up to attack as well, even though the ever-closing monster seemed more focused on Dael and Cid. "We might get in one stab…but that's it. Then we'll be down when it counterattacks. Might as well prepare for it…"

Cid tried shooting it further with his nailgun, and while it was close enough to hit easily in vital spots as it had passed the last quarter of the room…still there was no reaction. Eventually, he put it down and got out his drill instead. He looked to Dael. "Can you fire again yet?"

"Even if I do manage to fire this last shot, that'd be suicide." Dael sighed in response. "We'll be caught in the orb as well. That knife it has will kill us with the follow-up stab."

The engineer considered that for a moment, but then finally spoke up. "…In that case, I'm going to go up and attack it now."

The Esthar's Hawk looked to him in surprise. "What?!"

"Look…if it stabs me, then the force will knock me out of the entrance and down the stairs, and I'll be clear." Cid responded. "That way, it can't finish me off and I'll be out of the range of your bullet. If I wait until after you fire…then it will get me with the next stab."

"What if you don't survive _this_ stab?" Dael shot back. "You're not junctioned like Quaren!"

Cid paused. It seemed he hadn't considered that. Apparently, while he was great at thinking of mechanical solutions, sometimes common sense escaped him. Or perhaps it didn't, because a moment later he gave a shrug.

"…I guess I'll chance it."

With that, he shot forward for the Tonberry King with his drill aimed forward.

"Cid!"

The engineer didn't stop. He soon reached the green creature, which was still moving slow, at least for a moment, and he aimed his drill at its chest and drove forward right for, Dael presumed, where it's heart would be. She supposed she should have been concerned that if they actually _killed_ the Tonberry King, that wouldn't help them that much in the junctioning department. However, no one was thinking too clearly at the moment. At any rate, the drill plunged in, and he drove it all the way to the end of the machine…until the drill erupted right through the other side of the creature. And despite its best efforts, the drilling action kept the wound from closing. Blood, thick and greenish, oozed out as the creature sustained a real blow…and actually stopped moving.

Everyone looked up at that. Had Cid actually done it?

The Tonberry King gave one of its garbled noises…and then, a bit more forcefully, brought its knife around and swung it for Cid. He couldn't move. He was stuck in his position of driving his drill into its chest. As the steel went down…there was a small spurt of blood…

…Before both Dael and Cid, the latter in the former's grip, collapsed back near the doorway in a flash of light. For anyone who hadn't been watching carefully, they could have easily missed what happened. Right as the knife came down…Dael had teleported and landed next to Cid. She hadn't been in time to save him from the knife all together, but she had immediately teleported again to take them away from the creature. However…she was now regretting it.

It felt like loudspeakers were blaring in Dael's head. Her body felt like a rock, and none of her nerves worked properly. Cid had still taken a bad stab. Not bad enough to be crippling like Quaren's, but he was soon writhing and groaning as he released his drill, which had unfortunately teleported with them, and grasped a bloody wound on his own chest. Although it flowed freely…it wasn't terribly deep. Still, it was enough to render Cid almost as inert as Quaren was. He barely managed to sit up, and look to Dael, who was struggling to recover…and having much luck. The loudspeaker in her head switched to a sledgehammer that was beating away at her consciousness.

"Uhn…" She groaned after a moment. "That was…horrible…"

Dael knew that teleporting twice in a row was a bad move at the best of times, but now she began to realize just how much of her energy had been siphoned by three Gravija bullets in a row. If that wasn't enough…her body felt like it had been pulled like a giant piece of taffy. Everything was sore, inside and out.

Cid blinked a few times, but then managed to speak. However, he was hesitant, and he bowed his head regretfully…now that he realized just how stupid that move just was. "Thanks…Dael…" He croaked. "That stab…hurt a lot more than I thought…I think the full thing would have killed me… But why didn't you teleport yourself away from it?"

Dael, by now, in spite of her pain and weakness, began to rise, forcing her feet underneath her. "…I was saving it as a last resort." She groaned. "I wanted it to get as close as possible first. And I couldn't decide whether to teleport across the room or out…and even if I did, I knew I could only get a couple of you out in the process…"

The engineer, hearing this, was alarmed, and soon more anxious than ever. He had to realize that he had just caused Dael to play her trump card. The result made him forget his pain and simply bow his head in unease. "I'm…I'm sorry…"

"Forget it…" Dael said as, with a strain, she pushed herself to her feet. "I just proved it wouldn't work anyway… I tried to teleport us _outside_ just now…but that thing's pull is too strong. None of us are getting out of here unless we take it down first."

By now, the Tonberry King was nearly to them. In ten seconds, it would be in striking range, but it was already time to fire another shell. With that, she loaded the last Gravija bullet and sighed.

"We only have one chance now…" She told the engineer. "If it's weak enough now where this shot will effect it like a true Gravija attack would…then it'll be just as ready to collapse after this as we are. So let's pray that happens…"

It was too close for the attack to activate now, so Dael did something alternate. Adjusting the projection of the bullet, she aimed it slightly in the air and fired. As a result, it arched upward, and on the way down artificially reached the "minimum" distance as it came down right in their midst and ignited. A moment later, and a massive black orb swallowed Dael as well as the Tonberry King.

In one of her discussions with Quaren many years ago, during which he showed off his love for astronomy, the corporal had excitedly told her that if one was ever to fall into a black hole, the result would be that the individual would be "spaghettified". Dael had wondered if that meant they would die instantly or if they would actually feel it. She soon got her answer. Her entire body…ever muscle…every nerve…every single individual cell…was put into an ungodly, unworldly level of pain that it defied comprehension. She later would think that what had happened was her nerves had been overloaded with the sensation. She couldn't remember anything else. The nature of the attack robbed her of every last sense she had. The truth of the matter was her pain probably would have been a lot worse had her ability to feel pain not been cut off as well. All she ended up feeling was the 'build-up' to it. It also would have most certainly been fatal too…had another side effect of such gravity not taken place. While the attack lasted a few seconds to the rest of the world, it was barely a fraction of a second to Dael. Time dilation, and all that.

The orb cut off…and Dael fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Every ounce of energy she had left had been drained from her body. She couldn't even feel her head strike the ground. Her eyes were wide open, but all she saw was darkness. Nothing worked. Her body was still overloaded from the pain. Amazingly, this only lasted a moment or two. After that, she was able to lift her head again and even start sitting up…but she was as weak as an infant. It seemed like a gust of reasonably light wind would be enough to knock her unconscious. Her entire body felt like it was made of thin porcelain. Somehow, in the midst of this, she thought of the Tonberry King. How in the name of anything had this thing taken _three_ of these so far?

Yet her thinking soon shifted into a darker direction…as she realized it had taken _four_. Without even slowing, the Tonberry King was still walking forward…and was almost in range to stab.

Dael gaped a bit. Somehow, she managed to get her feet around and tried to stand. It wasn't easy. In the end, the reason she succeeded was because she tried to push herself away from the Tonberry King. Its magic was still in effect, and it forced her back, so she used that force to push herself up. But once standing, she wobbled and wavered. She could barely keep her feet beneath her, and she knew she couldn't draw her sword. And the Tonberry King didn't look the slightest bit weaker. Even if she could give a final blow, she doubted it would do any good. But that soon didn't matter. She saw it change ever so slightly in its knife-wielding arm, still dripping with Cid and Quaren's blood, and prepare to stab her…

Yet it didn't come.

A blur shot in front of her abruptly, and she looked down to it. By now, her senses had recovered enough to see that it was Bahamut. As the knife came forward, his shield went up. He wouldn't have been able to protect himself, but as it was aimed for Dael…the blade was deflected. In response, he drove his own sword forward into the Tonberry King's gut.

It was like Bahamut had triggered an off switch. Abruptly, the Tonberry King froze, still extended in its stabbing position. It held that way a moment, but didn't try to walk forward anymore. Bahamut held his own blade in it for a few seconds, but then drew it out again. Everyone had gone quiet by now, and simply watched. The Tonberry King remained still even without the blade in it.

Then, its knife hand faltered and fell back to its side. The weapon clattered to the ground, as did the lantern…and the Tonberry King, sounding almost like a falling tree, slowly spilled backward and landed on its rear, impacting so loud that all of the Centra Ruins gave a violent tremor when it did. After that, it just sat there with a…for lack of a better word…dazzled look on its face, or lack thereof. It hung its head a little and stared blankly at the ground with its pale yellow eyes.

Dael blinked in astonishment. Bahamut himself, she soon realized, was panting, and he backed up to Dael's side immediately. The mere fact that he _could_ back up to Dael should have told her something immediately, but she was still so dazzled at what had happened that she had to wait a bit longer to believe it. Yet it seemed to be true…the Guardian Force was defeated. That last shot had indeed taken the last of its strength out of it.

One by one, the others around the room sighed in relief. Even Jalab leaned on his staff and exhaled. Dael felt like her gun-using arm was numb and the rest of her felt ready to pass out. Yet they had won. Before she could think about doing anything so far as junctioning, however, she looked down to Bahamut. Just like the rest of them, he seemed terribly relieved. Apparently he had his doubts too.

As she put her gun away and ran a hand through her hair, she spoke out to him. "…How'd you know that he was about to collapse?"

Bahamut took a moment to inhale, then turned and looked to Dael.

"I didn't." He simply answered.

Dael went a bit wide-eyed in response to that. A moment later, a frown began to form across her expression. Yet before it could get too far, Bahamut began to clean off his own sword and looked to her more intently.

"Dael…if you're going to let me tag along from now on…you better plan on me pulling some acts of insanity, such as risking myself for my friends. You don't think I'm going to let you outdo me, do you?"

The Esthar's Hawk stared at the boy for a bit, but Bahamut didn't relent. After a few more seconds, she simply frowned.

"…You're lucky I'm so tired, or I'd think of a biting retort _and_ I'd let you have it for being so dumb again. Let's just hurry up with the junction and get out of here."

* * *

><p>After some debate, Cid ended up taking the junction this time. It was a bit unusual. He wasn't entirely comfortable with it, and he was a bit worried about what Faerio would think. However, both Jalab and Taraketh reassured him that she'd be happy if he was more effective. Even so, Bahamut was the next likely candidate on the proverbial list. Dael herself wanted that. After all, if he was going to be sticking with them from now on, she wanted him to be capable of taking on any normal to above-average adult. However, Bahamut refused. While he said he was eager to take a junction of his own, he admitted that he would prefer to "wait on it a bit", and hold out for a different one. Pressed a bit, he admitted he hoped they would still find Leviathan.<p>

"Even if…he ends up telling me something I don't want to hear…" He admitted. "I would like to have him as my junction." He smiled wistfully. "…I've wanted to fight alongside my brother again for years now."

Cid ended up taking it, and didn't adjust terribly well. Whereas everyone had pretty much grown accustomed to their new Guardian Forces quickly, Cid seemed to be more like one of those awkward teenagers going through a growth spurt: clumsy, stumbling, and using too much strength on everything, wrecking some of his own tools. Dael had no idea if it was the nature of the Tonberry King, or if it was simply due to Cid's own nature, but he obviously had a lot of catching up to do. She didn't want him accidentally ripping apart the controls of the _Excalibur_. Luckily, by the time they got back to the ship, he seemed to have adjusted at least enough to do that.

Taraketh was even able to get them out of the Centra Ruins using a spell he picked up from the Gigantuar. None of them relished the idea of walking back through several flights of Tonberries. While the little ones may have been much easier to manage than the big ones, none of them cared to see another Tonberry as long as they lived. Luckily, the High Child implemented a time magic spell to teleport them out of the building with one go. There were various time-space magics in existence. In general, using such spells was a very confusing and cumbersome affair. One could easily wind up in an uninhabitable dimension or 100 years in the future…and, in the early days, that's exactly what happened to those who experimented with it. But a fairly common spell that, through repetition, could be mastered was the ability to teleport a group of people out of a structure. It was so common, in fact, that it had long become commonplace for all modern structures to have dampeners for that spell in particular. After all, although magic was mostly confined to the Order of Hyne, there was no need to make a building that susceptible to thieves for the purposes of escaping. But the Centra Ruins were no such place, and teleporting out was simple.

Within one hour after doing so, the _Excalibur _was looming ahead, and the group began to make their way up the deployed ramp. As Dael touched on it and quickly went up to the deck, she turned to the others behind her as she suppressed her dizziness. Even healing magic had only given her a small measure of her stamina back.

"Well, this was quite the trip…but it's all done now. Two more Guardian Forces that can't be used against us or Esthar."

"And to think…I thought this trip would _easier_ than a real mission…" Quaren murmured. After repeated healings, he was well enough to walk, but he still didn't look too much better. "I think I'm going to have nightmares about little green men with lanterns…"

"I didn't even get a trophy out of the hunt…" Ceja said with a sigh of her own.

"At least we have our lives…" Taraketh responded. "That's award enough for me."

"I'm headed for the bridge." Dael stated as she turned a corner and began to move toward the bulkhead. "I need to check the radio transmissions…see what the situation in Esthar is. Cryder…Cid…you think we can take off soon?"

"No problem on my end, lass." Cryder answered with a smile. "Just so long as I can get a fresh bottle and enjoy my victory cigar first."

"Uh…give me about ten minutes first, Dael…" Cid remarked on seeing that he had bent the handle on one of his wrenches just from holding it.

"Whenever you're ready." Dael answered as she went to the bulkhead and opened it up, soon disappearing inside.

Soon, the young officer found herself on the larger bridge of the _Excalibur_. She wasted little time, but immediately looked to the radio console and began to make for it. Yet she only went a few steps before she saw that the light was blinking on it…indicating not only a transmission had come in, but was currently in progress. Seeing this, she quickly picked up speed and rushed over to it. In a moment, the headset was on and she switched the receiver to start sending audio. Soon after, she caught the tail end of the latest transmission.

_"-ease respond. Repeat, this is E.H.T. Command with an emergency order. _Excalibur_, please respond."_

Dael stiffened a bit on hearing the 'emergency order' part, yet she forgot about that and quickly switched on the radio. "This is _Excalibur_, acknowledging. Sending clearance code." Immediately, she moved over to the console and switched a few icons to begin to transmit the proper sequence. "Ready to receive orders."

_"Contact acknowledged. Sending verification codes."_ The voice on the other end responded. After a few moments, the console lit up, indicating that the message was authentic, and the transmission came through. _"Direct order from Colonel Morrick Regalis to all available units…deploy to the Lamb Archipelago immediately to respond to a Class 8-C situation. Over and out."_

The radio clicked off…but Dael remained frozen. She stared blankly ahead, her jaw loosening and her eyes wideneing.

Class 8-C situation.

Invasion with enemy possessing overwhelming numbers.

Sybenia was making its move on Lamb.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	38. A Baron Vs BabIl Fight

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the extended delay. Lots of problems in real life. Some days I can't get out more than a few sentences. Anyway...hope this big chapter was worth the wait.

UPDATE 2/25/13: One of my readers was good enough to point out that, for five chapters now, I have continued to refer to Quaren as "private" despite his promotion to "corporal". I've fixed that now.

* * *

><p><em>Five Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>The <em>Excalibur<em> was running hard enough to overheat the engines and, considering the fact that Cid had already made special modifications, was, unquestionably, moving faster than any boat on Gaia. Yet Dael still felt like a snail. It had only taken a few inquiries, sensory relays, and just plain listening-to-the-news to get the story. She had time to get all of it, however. It took much longer than she wanted for Cid and Cryder to maneuver the ship out from the archipelago, again making sure not to alert sentry ships, and start heading north again. They had lost a good four hours even if it did go a lot faster than getting in. As soon as they were out to the open ocean, however, the throttle had been turned to full, auto-pilot engaged, and a meeting called in the ready room.

Everyone had still been patching themselves up and recovering, but were now looking rather uncomfortable. They had obtained two new Guardian Forces…but it looked as if none of them were going to have as much time to get used to them as they would like.

"How large is the invading fleet?" Cryder asked once the general situation was explained.

"A fourth of the navy is moving out." Dael answered. "Coupled with back-up ships, an entire third is deploying. However, it's not likely they'll send more than the fourth out."

Quaren let out a sigh and slumped a bit, looking rather nervous. "Of course not…they want to show the world they only have to extend a 'finger' to crush someone…"

Cid wiped his brow uncomfortably. "They have a combat-ready navy in Lamb…but nothing like the Sybenians."

"A fourth is more than large enough to outnumber Lamb's navy three to one." Dael darkly answered. "That is, assuming it even comes to a fight… We should be thankful that Lady Cybus managed to get there so quickly." She paused momentarily. "This is off the record…but the Esthar embassy is reporting that Boss Capulluno was literally on his way to the capitol to sign a document containing Sybenia's terms of surrender. The diplomats were wondering if they needed to evacuate as part of the terms were to hand over all embassies to Sybenian control, when apparently she discovered one of the terms was to cooperate in measures that could lead to more wholesale taking of Order of Hyne members. When the boss refused to listen to her protests…she took it to the people. Now there's enough public pressure to force him not to sign."

Taraketh was bristling in anger by now, but Dael had to admit the situation made her rather upset too. Ceja, on her part, snorted. "Cowardly 'civilized world' leaders. And where is this man now?"

"Where else?" Dael answered with a sigh. "Hiding in an undisclosed bunker on one of the lesser known islands in the archipelago. He's turned everything over to the minister of defense. But he'll be just as likely to surrender without support. And currently…Esthar is the only one who can provide any."

"Relatively speaking, lass." Cryder said sourly. "Some of your country's 'support' may be more of the 'moral' and 'spiritual' kind. Lamb may have a smattering of warships…enough even to dissuade the Black Corsairs…but Esthar sure as hell doesn't."

"Yeah, commander…" Quaren threw in uncomfortably. "We've got 25 _Longsword_-Class ships and 8 _Morningstar_-Class ships. Everything else is just transports. Most of those ships are for short range defense. I mean, we can only spare some of them anyway…"

"I think the colonel knows that, corporal." Dael answered. She inhaled deeply, growing a bit uneasy at her next thought herself. "…That's why he's sending all of them."

Everyone around the table went a bit wide-eyed…even Jalab.

"_All_ of them?!" Quaren retorted, unable to hide his shock. "Those ships are the only things protecting the coast!"

"Don't take this the wrong way, lass…" Cryder added. "But if I was a Black Corsair, I'd say it was happy holidays. I'd sail every last ship I had to the southern tip of Esthar and just plunder and pillage my thieving heart out."

"Except the Black Corsairs _can't_ do that. They have their hands full with Leuco and Sybenia." Dael responded.

"But Dael, there's nothing left to protect Esthar!" Quaren protested. "Nothing but some shore artillery units that'll never stand up to a major force…"

"Yes, but the navy isn't headed for Esthar. It's headed for Lamb." Dael answered. "This may be crazy…but we've got to stop Sybenia here. The Lamb Archipelago is the only ally left in the world that can lend Esthar some serious support. If this country falls, it will be Esthar vs. the world. Those kind of odds historically haven't done so well."

Bahamut raised his head for a moment here. Dael noticed it, and looked to him. However, he bowed it soon afterward again, saying nothing.

"There's no way that gaggle of ships that Esthar is scraping together can turn the tide for Lamb, lass." Cryder said grimly. "Sorry to have to break it to you, but that's the truth."

"We have a bit more than warships on our side, however." Dael responded. "A lot of transports are being brought in too, carrying every Esthar Hawk we can spare, and even a number of members of the Order of Hyne. The Sybenian navy may have a lot of naval power, but ships aren't going to take out Lamb or the larger islands. They'll have to make landfall. And when they do, they'll find Sorceress Cybus, a number of High Children of Hyne, Esthar's Hawks, and whatever military Lamb already possesses waiting for them. And they _do_ have a few well-fortified positions for naval bombardment in the first place. Maybe one of these things alone can't stop the whole navy, but if each line of defense 'takes a piece' of the Sybenian Navy out…they'll be spread too thin eventually and have to break off the attack."

"You really think so?" Quaren asked.

Dael could only shrug. "That's the theory."

"So much the better." Ceja said, more enthusiastic. "Better to force them onto land. The Sybenians are weak. One of your Esthar's Hawks can put seven of them to flight. And I can scatter a hundred without trying." She turned to her side. "I'm sure Sir Tierras can send a thousand fleeing in terror."

The monk seemed to blush a little at the compliment. Normally he wouldn't have, but when coming from Ceja…

"You may get your wish…" Cryder said with an uneasy groan. "According to Cid's calculations of the enemy fleet's position and speed, and factorin' in the speed of the _Excalibur_, sea conditions, and weather…weather especially, as we've been having an unusual season where hurricanes are heading up north…and all that other rot that I had my navigators do for me…" He paused and grimaced. "…The battle's going to have been goin' for four hours by the time we join the party."

No one looked happy about that, yet Cryder wasn't finished.

"It gets better." He stated sarcastically. "We not only have the fastest ship in the E.H.T., but we're also the closest. We're definitely going to be there a lot sooner than the rest of our mateys from Esthar."

Quaren paled a bit on hearing that. "…Um, commander, are we really expected to abide by Emergency Order 117?" He asked, almost fearing the answer.

Dael feared it herself, but didn't show it. "We are, corporal."

"Do I even want to know what that is?" Taraketh muttered.

The corporal ran a hand through his blond hair. "Emergency Order 117: In the case of emergency wartime deployment, all advance units are to immediately carry out orders on arrival at designate location without waiting for full deployment."

"In other words…it'll be us versus the navy when we get there." Dael responded grimly.

Everyone was silent in response to hearing that. This was pretty dire. Even if all of the E.H.T. had been behind them they would have been nervous enough. But just them alone? There was no telling if the Lamb navy would already be destroyed by the time they got there. And if it was, then they'd have to hold the line by themselves… Dael remembered all too well her glimpses of the Sybenian navy. She didn't like the odds.

Yet before this could go on for too long, Cid looked around to everyone. "Hey! What's with all this moping around?" He called out. "It's not so bad."

Everyone looked up to Cid at that, most of them staring at him as if his head had just fallen off. Yet the Sorceress Knight smiled and looked them all over.

"You all act like we're totally powerless out here. We've got the _Excalibur_! She's faster than those Sybenian slugs on the best day of the week! I could run rings around their fastest ship! And she's got a bit of firepower to her as well!"

"But not that much of it, lad." Cryder responded. "What…eight missiles all together?"

Ceja, however, picked up on Cid's enthusiasm. "We've got more than that." She looked over with a smile to Jalab. "From what I've seen, Sir Tierras can do everything that one of those cannons can do. "

The monk was a bit surprised at the sudden complement, but then blushed bashfully…like he was being complimented on a hand-made sympathy card.

"That's right." Quaren threw in, beginning to pick up as well. He looked to Taraketh. "And you, you're some sort of big mage, aren't you?"

Taraketh frowned in response. "If we were on land, that would mean something, but as we're over water-"

"But what about the Guardian Forces?" Quaren cut off. "You could use their powers, and whatever magic you learned from them. Better than any of the rest of us too, I'll bet."

The High Child paused. After all…he was susceptible to flattery. After a moment, he moistened his lips. "Well, yeah, but…"

"Don't you think a couple of the Guardian Forces we have are enough to do serious damage to one of those ships?" Dael asked, chiming in. "I mean…maybe I can't do it myself, but you're strong enough to make them do serious damage, yes? After all, in theory, one could use these Guardian Forces to attack fortified cities, yes?"

Taraketh paused again, thinking this over, but then gave a shrug. "…I suppose you're right."

"You see?" Cid answered. "Things aren't as hopeless as they seem. Between the _Excalibur_, our junctions, and our powers…I think we can give that fleet a run for its money."

Dael wasn't sure she'd go that far. A fourth of the Sybenian navy? She didn't care if the _Excalibur_ could travel at light speed…those odds were a bit overwhelming. She especially hoped that some sort of defense was still standing there, as she much preferred to move in with the Lamb navy. However…if the Lamb navy _was_ still standing when they got there, then they'd probably draw off most of the enemy fire, and the _Excalibur_ would be free to move around at will. Cid was right, they _did_ have some advantages. That armor back in Garrado was supposed to be able to stand up to a squad of tanks, after all, and yet they took it down just the same. Maybe she wasn't giving their group enough credit… Maybe they _could_ make a difference. She looked around the table again, and saw that everyone was looking up a bit. Even Cryder, who had been skeptical at first, was getting a bit of his pirate nature back and seeming to enjoy the prospect.

Finally, she looked back to Cid. "How long before we reach the Lamb Archipelago?"

The engineer turned back. "Thirteen hours."

Dael nodded, and looked back to everyone else. "Alright…everyone, crazy as this is, we're going to somehow pull it off. You've all got six hours to rest. After that, for the last seven hours, we're going to be getting ready for war."

* * *

><p><em>Seven Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>Despite Dael's order to get some sleep, no one had really been able to. When she and Bahamut retired to the master cabin, he urged her to try. After all, they needed to be at their best when they got there. He admitted, however, that he himself wouldn't be able to do it so well. Luckily, the Tonberry King had stressed them out enough to finally nod off after an hour to 90 minutes of simply lying awake. But once the alarm went off, she was more than ready to spring up and go into action…she and everyone else.<p>

There was a little time for practice, but mostly everyone just got everything ready. Everything that was loose was secured, their few munitions were readied, and Cid gave all the systems a once over. Although they hadn't accumulated that much wear and tear within the span of less than a week, he made sure everything was working perfectly. After that, everyone mostly prepared for battle. As a number of them were physical or "mental" fighters, that included stretching and mediation.

Dael, on her part, put that off a bit longer as she went to the bridge of the ship to see how things were coming. Cryder had taken the helm at the moment, although all he was really doing for right now was monitoring sensors for any stray Sybenian ships that might have been trying to move down through Leuco. Cid himself was still making more tune-ups. That included a few slight modifications to their own artillery shells with the intent of making them faster and more destructive. There wasn't too much to see on deck other than a few members of their group trying to erect some form of protection or barricade for Jalab and Taraketh. Even then, she couldn't see too well. Night had fallen again. It would be daybreak by the time they reached the Lamb Archipelago tomorrow morning, however. It seems they would have straight vision on their side, at least. Then again…so would the Sybenians. Any thoughts of hiding Jalab as their "secret weapon" were abandoned.

Quaren was with her as they looked out the window over the front of the ship. Being the only official "soldier" in her command, he was the one who deferred to her the most.

"Cryder is going to remain at the helm for the battle." Dael explained to him. "Jalab's going to stay up front and I'm going to back him up with all the protection magic I can. He's essentially going to be a sitting duck, after all." She turned to Quaren. "I'm keeping you on 'defense'. I want you manning the countermeasures. You're the best marksman, so you should be able to keep most of them off of us. And once we're out of countermeasures, I want you to go ahead and use your rifle with armor-piercers."

The corporal was rather incredulous at that. "…Um, commander…that's kind of a tall order…"

"Yes, but you were already a great shooter before you got junctioned, and now you're better than ever." Dael simply answered. "I don't think any 'standard' human could pull it off…but I think you can."

The Esthar's Hawk paused for a few moments, seeming to think this over. But then, he nodded. "I'll do my best."

Dael, however, looked sourly at him in response. "…Quaren, what did Colonel Regalis always tell us about people who 'do their best'?"

The young man swallowed a bit on hearing that, but nodded again. "…I'll do it, commander." He corrected.

Dael nearly ventured a smile at this, but she didn't. She was in 'business' mode now, shifting into the full measure of her training and self-discipline. She didn't have much time for mirth or even being too much on the friendly side. She looked forward again.

"Taraketh's also going to be on deck, but he can hide a bit more. I think the Guardian Forces will seek out a target. However, I also think they'll be the shortest range attack we possess. Most of it is going to have to be handled by Jalab or our own weapons…at least until we run out of ammo."

"On that note, commander…" Quaren spoke up. "Are you sure you don't want me manning the weapons?"

Dael shook her head. "Sybenian naval craft are rather large targets. I'd prefer you take care of the smaller ones like their missiles and artillery. Cid can handle the weapons console."

"Um…beggin' your pardon, but no he can't, lass."

Both the commander and the corporal looked up at that, turning their heads to Cryder at the helm. "Chap already told me that he'd prefer to handle the engineerin' front while we're engaged in battle." He elaborated. "And I'm of a mind to agree with him. Mishaps happen all the time in normal combat. With just us against the Sybenian fleet, I want to make sure those engines stay hummin', especially since I'm going to be pushing them to the burnout point every step of the way."

Dael and Quaren looked back to each other. "Well, that takes care of that." Quaren stated. "If I'm not manning the weapons, someone else has to. Ceja, maybe? I mean, the console has been so automated even a trainee could run it."

The Esthar's Hawk officer looked skeptical on hearing that. "…When it comes to technology, Ceja's more on the level of a native islander. We can get Cid up here to try and give her a crash course, but I'm still not sure I want her aiming the guns."

Quaren merely shrugged in response. "Well if not her, commander…who's left?"

Dael paused for a few moments to consider that, before she could only come up with one solution. Although it made her grimace to even think of it, some of her logic nevertheless kicked in.

_Think of it this way… It'll keep him out of trouble._

* * *

><p>Bahamut didn't look so much nervous as awkward as he sat in the chair for the weapon's console. He regarded the triggers and buttons, of which there were quite a lot, over the weaponry systems with a bit of confusion. If that wasn't enough, he was a bit on the short side. They actually had shoved a few manuals under his seat so he could see the console easily enough. Dael, however, still had a bit more confidence in him than Ceja. For all of his talk about being "out of date", he seemed to at least know how to run modern machines in an academic sense. Cid was hunched over the back of his chair and directing him to everything.<p>

"Alright, this is as automated as it gets. See this switch right here? This is what switches you into control of the deck guns. And this switch here switches on the rocket bay. Only one can be active at a time, and it takes exactly 65 seconds to switch in between them, so make sure if you've got to switch, it's when we can afford to. Alright?"

"Alright."

"I'll switch to the deck guns now." He activated it. "Notice you have a split-screen readout. There's lots of functions, but for what we're doing, I want you to pay attention to just this level of magnification. The screen on the right is the sensor sweep. It'll let you know where ships are in relation to us at all times. The screen on the left is the 'scope' view. See that big crosshairs? That's effectively where the shot is going to go. I've modified the cannons and the shells to make them travel as fast as possible…but they're still not 'ideal'. This isn't like in the movies where they always hit whatever the target it aimed at. There's a lag time. So take that into account. The shell isn't going to hit what's in the crosshairs the moment you pull the trigger. It's going to hit a bit later. The best rule of thumb I can give you is to look at the screen on the right. See these circles eminating from the _Excalibur?_ For each one of these major gridlines, count a second. Got it?"

"…Yes, I got it."

"Don't worry about the rest of the controls. Pay attention to the icons, though. You can't just keep pressing the trigger. This icon on the screen represents reload time. It's on an auto-feed, but you've got about 15 seconds between shots. This over here is the overheating icon. Fire too fast and it's going to go up. Don't get to 50% or the whole system will start being damaged and I may have to replace some circuit boards before it will even fire again. Alright…now for the missiles. Switch your console first." Cid reached over and did so. "Remember, you need to wait 65 seconds in battle between transitions to either weapon. There's multiple ways to target, but only one way you can do it alone…and that's the primary triangulation eye and the coarse triangulation eye. The primary one will hit the mark every time and is more efficient, but it won't operate at more than 1.6 kilometers. And the missiles won't even arm unless they can go 0.8 kilometers. The coarse one will go up to 3.2 kilometers, but that's it. Afterward, the only way to target something with missiles is to use sonar or radar echoes, but you need another person for that. You'll only be firing within the smaller range. Good so far?"

Bahamut was a bit more hesitant, but then nodded. "Yes."

"You see the target here. Now, you _can_ think of the ship as being instantly hit. You aim the crosshairs on the target and depress the trigger here. You need to keep the eye aimed on it and the trigger depressed for 6 seconds to fully map the location to the targeting computer. After that, the screen will read a target lock. Now…press this…" Cid showed a button. "To bring up the payload. Select one that is still present…" He pressed another button. "Press this button to _arm_ it…and make sure it's armed or you'll just throw a big metal stick at them…press this button to apply it to the designate target…and then press this button to fire. Got it?"

The boy paused for a while, but then began to go over the buttons, calling out commands as he did so. "Aim. Trigger. Payload. Select. Arm. Apply. Fire."

Cid smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Great! We'll make a gunner out of you yet!"

Bahamut, on his part, looked unsuspecting of the shoulder pat, as well as hesitant, but he didn't buckle. Dael noticed this, but decided to say nothing. This weapon's console was one of the most well-protected areas on the ship. And with Bahamut staying out of trouble, she could focus more on the fight. She turned back to Quaren soon after. "Alright, that takes care of him."

The corporal nodded as the bulkhead opened, revealing Jalab coming inside with a lockable container filled with circuit elements. Just like Cid had said…in case there _was_ a burnout, then they needed to be able to repair systems on the bridge in a hurry. That meant they should have materials on hand. Quaren ignored him, but soon grimaced after a moment.

"…We still don't have a spot for Ceja." He remarked, a bit regretfully. It wasn't due to her lack of ability to help, but rather due to the fact that he couldn't really interact with her without her making some off-handed comment about the fact that he had been accepted into Esthar's Hawks in the first place. "There's nothing on this ship that's both easy enough for her to run as well as essential to the fighting, either."

Dael picked up on that and sighed. "You've got a point. I know she's an amazing physical fighter…but with no ranged attacks of any kind other than her axe, which is effectively 'hand-to-hand' in a situation like this, she can't do a whole lot of good on the top deck. Even her axe won't go farther than a hundred to a hundred and fifty yards. And even if it did, there's no guarantee it won't just stick in the side of the ship. I'm kind of at a loss."

Quaren shrugged. "I guess we could just ask her to 'sit out'. I mean, it's not like she really has a choice about it anyway."

"She'll never go with that." Dael flatly answered. "She's too much of an activist."

"But commander, she can't fight in this battle."

Dael and Quaren hadn't noticed until this point, but Jalab had set the circuit elements down on a special deposit area and had fastened them down. As he did so, he overheard the two Esthar's Hawks. He watched them for a moment, but as they reached this part of the conversation, he suddenly stepped up to both of them.

"Ceja comes out with me." He simply stated.

Both Dael and Quaren looked up to him at that, suddenly interrupted. However, a moment later, they understood what the monk said, and looked to him more out of puzzlement than anything else. As for Jalab, he gave one of his soft, friendly smiles to both of them…even though it looked slightly clueless in this situation.

"…Um, Sir Tierras, I don't think Ceja can really help you out all that much." Dael responded. "She doesn't really know how to use her spells, she can't summon Guardian Forces that well, and her weapon is effectively short range."

Jalab, however, merely kept his smile. Moving over a bit more so that he was posted in between Dael and Quaren, he reached out and patted them both on the back, looking like he was trying to imitate a gesture he had seen used more in the "civilized" world.

"Trust me." He stated in his thick accent, before turning and beginning to walk out through the bulkhead.

Dael was left dumbfounded for a moment, staring after him. However, he offered no more response than that, and was soon gone, shutting the bulkhead behind him. The commander was puzzled as to what Jalab was thinking, and how she could possibly be a help. However, she knew now by experience that the Sorceress Knight tended to know what he was talking about. If he said to trust him, then she would.

Leaving it at that, she looked to Quaren again. "…Let's see if we're in relay range yet. We need to RSVP to this little party…"

* * *

><p><em>Five Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>When all was said and done, everything was set, all weapons were fully serviced and at the ready and everyone had prepared themselves as physically and mentally as possible, there was nothing left to do but the worst part: the waiting.<p>

The _Excalibur_ was still headed north at maximum speed, although by now they were making minor changes to start aiming the craft toward the site of the battle. They had finally gotten radio contact a few hours ago, luckily prior to the battle starting. They tried to get in touch with Lady Cybus, but it was impossible. The morale of the people of the Archipelago was fading rapidly. She had to try and uplift it as much as possible. Dael had to admit…the greatest strength of the Sorceresses might be in their personas. Just having a Sorceress nearby tended to fill one with a sense of hope… Just looking at their calm, collected faces was like a fearful child looking up to a parent…giving the sense that "everything is going to be alright". Meanwhile, a few more of the people in power had fled for cover, but that was just as well, in Dael's mind. Now only the brave, those who were willing to "go down swinging" were left to be in charge of thing. The fleet was mustered and made a perimeter.

Unfortunately, the last transmission they had received had been 150 minutes ago by now. From what they heard, the flagship of the Lamb Archipelago Magistrate Fleet, the _Mahi-Mahi_, announced that the Sybenians were beginning to show up on their long-range sensors. The first of their ships had crossed into the general-range sensor sweeps when the radio went dead. Cid tried contacting the mainland, and he got them, and asked them to say what the navy had picked up. As they ran to check, they too went dead. It only figured, Dael realized. They were jamming transmissions, trying to leave their opponents in the dark as much as possible. However, the fact that the mainland was hit so soon gave Dael a bit of pause. Yet it only took a moment for Cid to deduce the reason. Sybenia was taking jamming technology up to the "next level" by not using standard methods of cancelling out systems, but by sending a wireless virus to disable communications. How had Cid known? The _Excalibur_, being the ship-of-the-line for Esthar, had antivirus software that immediately detected and neutralized the same virus when it attempted to infect them.

He informed them that the ships could still use the signal lights they possessed, as they were older models. However, naturally, that was useless for anything that was out of the line of sight. If that wasn't enough, the sun was on its way up. Soon they would lose some effectiveness. Hence, Dael didn't feel too comfortable. She wasn't sure what was worse…having no information and waiting, or having information which might very well be telling them that the fleet was getting massacred and waiting.

Unable to do anything else, the group waited on the bridge. Only Ceja remained outside of it, preferring the open air…but also wanting to be able to listen for any approach. Dael was inclined to go out as well. She liked the sea air and the wind in her face. Yet she ruled against it eventually. She'd have all the time outside that she cared for soon enough. Quaren took the liberty of going to the kitchen and making some food for all of them, and Dael forced herself to eat hers. But despite the fact that Quaren was pretty good at cooking, even with the stock that Esthar gave the E.H.T….it didn't change the fact that they were getting closer to danger, and so most could barely eat. Everyone was quiet. No one felt too enthusiastic or cheerful as they watched the horizon.

Dael realized that she was headed right for a new challenge…a new "stepping stone". Her goal of becoming the greatest of Esthar's Hawks, so far away now, was receiving the next step in the line…and this one was a big one. She was definitely in the realm of "above and beyond the call of duty" here. They were putting their exceptional powers and abilities to a true test in every sense of the word. If they were more "normal", there wouldn't be any question that what they were doing was ludicrous. The _Excalibur_, for all its bells and whistles, didn't have a chance against this navy alone for very long. Yet they were taking it on in a desperate play for time. Chances of success were small to non-existent…

However, she realized, if they truly were exceptional…if they really were the team that everyone thought they were, and what she was beginning to realize they might be…and they made it through this, then they would be the stuff of legend. This sort of event against these sorts of odds were what they told you in the elementary stages of the Academy to rally your pride and spirits. The Battle of Fabul… The Battle of Cleyra… The Battle of Narshe… Times when a handful stood against many and lived to tell about it. And history had immortalized them. This would be the biggest turning point yet in her life. Even if she never gained any more ranks or awards for this…there would be no question that she and those with her were a force that could stand against the world.

It would be exactly what they needed in the war against Sybenia.

Her thoughts were broken when Cryder suddenly leaned his head forward. "Hold on to your britches, mateys…" He announced. "I think I'm beginnin' to see something on the horizon…"

Dael and the others looked to the pirate, but then looked back out to the ocean. The sun was nearly up by now. The sky was already red and orange, and at any moment it would start coming "out of the Medieval Ocean". Yet there was still enough darkness on the horizon in their direction to see it. Faint lights were beginning to pop up. Only a few were white. Most of them were red and yellow. Every so often, another one would light up. Most of them only stayed "on" for a few moments, and then faded again. For now, however, they were only dots.

"…That's not one of the islands?" Quaren asked.

"Ain't that lucky, lad." Cryder answered. "We aren't even aimed in the direction of the archipelago. We're seeing the battle."

For a brief moment, a unified chill went through everyone. Until now, they had been able to plan and plot for something very far away and "unreal". Now they were headed right into the thick of it. With that in mind, Dael soon forced her unease back and gave the order.

"Alright everyone, to your stations. Make sure all of your inter-deck relays are on." She looked to Cryder a moment later. "Steady as she goes." She looked to Cid afterward. "Try to raise Lamb or the navy on the horn one more time, then keep an eye on the sensors until we get a bit closer. I want some idea of what we're getting ourselves into before everything comes to a head."

Everyone immediately broke and began to go to their stations. Dael was among them, headed for the bulkhead. Cid was the only one who stayed behind, keeping his focus on the sensor console for a moment longer. Soon, it would be Cryder's duty both to steer the ship and keep an eye on that, and it would be a tall task…but something they'd just have to deal with if the going got tough. As for Dael, she went out on deck and headed for the front of the ship, right alongside Jalab, Taraketh, and Ceja.

Taraketh took position behind the front turrent. The other three moved up in front of it, although, due to the nature of the ship, were well out of the way of being hit by it by mistake. Using whatever materials were on hand, a half-sphere "bunker" had been erected on the front of the ship. It really only had room for two, so Dael let Jalab and Ceja move into it. After all, it wasn't like it would afford much protection other than from spurious debris. Furthermore, she wanted to be able to look out to the battle ahead and stay close to the relay from the front of the deck, which was positioned more out in the open and close to the guns. After that, she looked up ahead.

The sun began to cross the horizon soon afterward. With that, many of the lights faded from view…but the sounds of distant cannon fire and explosions began to echo over the resounding waves and wind. A bit farther along, and the fires became obvious again. Along with them came black dots…the ships. A bit further than that, and some stood out bigger than others…

Here, the realy suddenly clicked with a burst of static, and out came the voice of Cid. _"We've crossed into the long range sensor region. Stand by…we'll be in the general sensor region in less than a minute."_

Dael did as she was told. She wished that she had some more Mage Bullets. It would have given her a chance to contribute. As it was, Cid had been so busy he had only had time to craft a pair of Thundaga bullets. She had to make sure those counted. One was already loaded. She looked ahead as the dots slowly grew larger, eventually not becoming dots at all anymore. She also noticed something. One of the smaller islands was beginning to appear on the horizon. Not large enough to really have any practical use except a few homes or a dock, but getting closer. That meant the fight had to have already gone as far back as the archipelago. Calling to mind her protection spells, she readied to chant them…but not yet. Too soon, and they'd fade by the time they were shot at. Meanwhile, the battle grew louder, and details began to appear…

Finally, as the first bit of debris passed the ship, floating on the water, Cid came through again.

_"Radio contact is patchy, but it's beginning to come through. Sensors reveal the situation. Of the 150 ships dispatched by the Sybenian Navy…141 are still fully active. Two are sunk, two are disabled, and five are burning. Of the 49 ships under the command of the Lamb Archipelago…"_ There was a pause, and Cid seemed to audibly swallow in a nervous gulp on the other end. _"…19 are still active. All others have been sunk."_

Not exactly encouraging news. Dael activated the switch on the relay and called back. "Are they responding to us yet?"

_"Looks like they're ignoring us, Dael. After all, we only have the one ship. They're probably fine with waiting for us to come to them…"_

_"And THEN they blow the stuffing out of us…" _Cryder's voice added.

"What's the status of the Lamb fleet?"

_"Looks like they're in full retreat. My guess is they're trying to pull back to the shore defenses and the Archipelago…use that for cover. Either that or they're throwing in the towel… Probably not the latter case, though. Sybenian sent out about 40 ships to try and overtake them. They're all smaller and lighter craft."_

Dael took that as a good sign. "Good. That mean's the _Excalibur_ is more a match for them. Can we make the two fleets before Lamb is overtaken?"

"_Heh, you kidding Dael? Even their fastest ships are tortoises to this girl."_

"Great. Cryder?"

_"Aye, lassie?"_

"Take us right down the middle of the two, but closer to the Sybenians. Everyone else…prepare to fire."

Switching off the console, Dael went ahead and started using her magic. First she treated the people out in the open, including herself, and next she shifted to the ship itself. As this happened, the _Excalibur_ changed course slightly and headed straight for a new heading, just to the west of the island that Dael spotted. The sounds of battle grew louder. Waves of heat periodically passed the ship, and more debris rolled by. Far to the west, Dael could see a row of dots that represented the bulk of the Sybenian fleet. However, a number of the shapes, forty, she guessed, were much closer. They were also getting bigger far faster than from the ship alone. Dael looked to the other side, and saw the nineteen remaining Lamb ships fleeing for the north side of the island. It looked as if the Sybenians would outrun them first, though. Only five of their ships even had a rear-facing turret that was capable of returning fire at long distance. The others were too short range. And the enemy was firing back at them too. Abruptly, two missiles went out from two separate destroyers. As the _Excalibur _got closer and closer, at last able to make out the difference between the ships, they connected and severely damaged, if not disabled, another one of the nineteen.

Dael switched the relay back on. "Is Bahamut ready to fire?"

_"He's already targeting the nearest one, Dael."_

The young officer was grateful for his initiative, and looked forward again. They entered the drag of the Lamb ships, and began to cross over it. The artillery units on the closing Sybenians became visible. More missiles shot out from other destroyers, but they weren't aimed at the fleet. They were aimed at what Dael presumed were batteries on the shore. Yet still she stared and prepared herself. Now, she chanted the last few protection spells she could muster, hoping they would do something against artillery shells. The numbers on the sides of the Sybenian ships started showing up, although they weren't legible. A few more seconds ticked by as the noise of the artillery shifting on both the Lamb fleet and the Sybenian one became audible…

Finally, they struck.

A hissing roar erupted from the _Excalibur_ as its first Thunderbird missile was released. Yet even at went off, Jalab went to work himself. Immediately, he stood up, planted his feet, pressed his palms together, and focused. As before, his aura blazed…although this time, he seemed to be taking the time and effort to put a lot into it, enough to where he almost gleamed with an electric blue light. This was even stronger than the one Dael had witnessed in Garrado. A moment later, and he shoved his palms forward…and a blazing blue light, blinding to look at, rocketed out from the _Excalibur_. It had so much power she felt the ship shift…a result of Cid correcting course to compensate for it. The beam rocketed across the water for a few moments even as the rocket itself shot by…and finally, at roughly the same time, both made contact with the nearest destroyer.

A burning blue blast went off from the front as the missile impacted the bow, the missile landed and annihilated the two turrets on deck in a brilliant blast. The dual attacks were so large that the destroyer was halted and rocked violently as inertia almost sent it crashing into the water. A loud sound echoed over the ocean, and everyone felt the ripple from the twin blast. Smoke fountained from the missile, but the light cleared rapidly on the hull below…revealing a gaping hole taking in water fast. There was no doubt the ship had been critically damaged.

_"Ha! Not bad for an opening volley, mateys!"_ Cryder's voice rang out.

Without pause, Jalab immediately began to produce another blast. As for the _Excalibur, _Dael heard the missile launcher retreat to the inside and the turrets become active. Taraketh now came forward and began to summon the first Guardian Force, and their ship began to near the crossing point. While the more distant destroyers continued to pursue the Lamb fleet…the six nearest ones paused. Dael suppressed a smile. They hadn't considered the incoming _Excalibur _a threat. They had to have realized it was Esthar by now, and no Esthar ship had missile-launching capabilities. This was a whole new ball game. Yet things were just starting.

As the ship finally crossed in front of the first damaged destroyer, taking in more water, both artillery units fired. From this range, it took only a moment before two more blasts of fire smashed into its already gaping wound. At the same time, Jalab fired again, this time unleashing his beam of mystic energy on the third one in line and soon blowing a hole through the starboard. If that wasn't enough, Taraketh finished summoning, and the sky went dark momentarily before a portal opened, and the bright and dazzling form of Quetzacoatl shot out and straight for the attacking fleet. A moment later, and she fired off her beak, striking six of the ships with her terrible lightning. The one that took the "main" bolt soon suffered massive damage to its bridge and started a fire, while the accessory bolts shorted out whatever they touched. Destroyers were built to have lightning rods of a sort on them, but Quetzacoatl's lightning ignored the laws of physics and attacked wherever she willed. As she vanished, Bahamut fired again, lighting up another ship, and soon Jalab fired off a third blast to tear another wound into another ship.

As the _Excalibur_ raced past far faster than any other ship out there, the assault continued. Bahamut fired off both guns four more times, spreading fire and eruptions on other ships. Jalab let his own "aura cannon" pound holes into the sides. Even as he got sweaty and began to pant, he continued to fire just as strongly as before. Taraketh followed up Quetzacoatl with Shiva, who pelted the decks with deadly diamond dust, not only clearing all personnel off the decks, either directly or through making them retreat, but freezing the guns and launchers on several ships, rendering them inoperative. The combined assault and the speed of the _Excalibur _caught the navy completely off guard. They were almost hapless and unable to respond to this initial pounding, and quite a bit of damage was done in response by one little ship.

Once they passed through the first time, they had left an impact. The Sybenians were slowing, not having expected this onslaught. The Lamb ships continued to pull away as well, but, for the moment, Sybenia was matching them in speed, not getting closer or farther behind. It was a start, but not exactly what Dael had in mind. She went back to the relay and switched it on again.

"Alright, bring us around for another pass!"

Even as she said this, however, a large "whoosh" went out from the nearest intact destroyer on Sybenia's side. Dael looked up in response, and was just in time to see that one of the missiles had been fired. This one definitely wasn't headed for the Lamb fleet, either. This one was directed at them. Tensing up a bit, she straightened herself and readied to cast more spells. However, she doubted that it would do much good against a missile. They had to use countermeasures. If it was heat-seeking, they could use flares. If sonar, they could use foil. However…she dreaded what would happen if they used a guided one. The only defense would be to try and shoot it down…

Or so she thought.

Cid began to move the ship around, but with its speed, such wasn't exactly an easy matter, and it cut quite a wide arch. The missile, however, followed them perfectly…meaning it was guided. Yet as it came in, something fired from the top of the command tower. It looked like a tiny metal glider…a drone. Dael didn't think much of it at first. After all, most destroyer missiles didn't bother keying in on those. Yet two things soon caught her attention. One was that the drone flew away quite rapidly…shooting through the air at a streaking clip. The second…the missile _did_ swerve and went after it. A moment later, it was at a safe distance, and the two connected and erupted. The _Excalibur _was soon rocked violently and heat and debris fell over them, but the protection spells were enough to slough off any damage. The ship soon stabilized, completed its circuit, and came back around.

Dael was overwhelmed. She hadn't expected that. However, a noise soon came over the relay.

_"Worked like a charm!"_ Cid's voice cheered. _"I knew I had cracked the coding signals for the Sybenian guidance systems! And added to a modified drone…the perfect countermeasure!"_

_"…Cid, I'd taking you to the nearest dive after this is over and I ain't lettin' you go to bed until you're piss drunk and singin' karaoke until 0300, got it?"_ Cryder responded over the line.

Dael switched her own relay on. "Cid, you're wonderful. Cryder, get off the line and let's keep it clear. The fight's just getting started."

Soon the _Excalibur_ had spun around and was doing the same. Although both Jalab and Taraketh were looking rather tired by the time they had completed it, and Cid had been forced to get to work keeping the weapon systems online as well as the engines, another round of firepower has blasted the front line of the enemy fleet. Between the Guardian Forces, two missiles, the guns, and Jalab's ability…most of them were at least partially damaged, and three were critically damaged…maybe even disabled. The enemy had tried to respond, but Quaren was now putting his full contributions to bear. He managed to negate every missile they sent their way, even when they switched targeting methods. He had countermeasures fire almost the second the missiles left their batteries. That left the artillery, but even those couldn't hit thanks to the efforts of Bahamut, Jalab, and Taraketh to prioritize the deck guns. In short, the Sybenians were soon left frustrated and in pain. They had almost ground to a halt from this impossibly fast little ship. The Lamb fleet had managed to pull up alongside the island and was quickly vanishing around it, taking cover.

As the _Excalibur_ finished its pass and began to arch around again, however, Dael looked back and behind them. She saw at least eight of the Sybenian ships were breaking off, ones that hadn't yet been damaged. They were smaller and faster ones, even more so than the rest of the fast ships they were with…and all of them made a heading for the _Excalibur._ She had a feeling all of them were arming their launchers as well.

Seeing this, Dael turned on the relay again. "I'd say we got their attention. Now let's try to keep it."

_"That's going to be a little difficult, Dael…" _Cid responded. _"We're going to need to cut engine speed. We were already running full tilt to get here, and those last two passes knocked the side engines for a loop. And since I can't service them from on board, we're going to have to slow down and let them cool."_

_"So we smack a hornet's nest with a stick and then we drop into a walk to get away from the hive?"_ Cryder asked. _"Heh…no one ever said this would be easy."_

"Dael!"

The voice of Ceja caught the woman's attention, and she looked back down in front of her. She saw that Jalab had gone for his staff, and was now balancing on it. He was heaving and panting. Ceja, on her part, was bracing him with one arm. She looked to him anxiously, then up to Dael. "Sir Tierras is exhausted. He needs time to rest."

"I've kind of made myself dizzy as well…" Taraketh added from the other side of the artillery unit. "I think I may need to break out an Ether or two before I can summon again…"

As the "icing on the cake", Dael heard a rushing noise. She turned and looked to the eight that had broken off, and saw that four of the destroyers were firing at once. The missiles, however, had only gotten about a hundred yards away from the barrels before the other four fired in unison as well. Even as this happened, the _Excalibur _began to slow.

The commander let out an exhale. _Here comes the "fun" part…_

"Alright everyone! Let's show them that they can't dig this thorn out of their side so easily! Quaren, time to really man up! Bahamut, it's all you now! Counterattack with the missiles! Cryder, we may be slower, but we're still more maneuverable and quick than anything they've ever dealt with! Let's go!"

As the missiles came in, Bahamut began to reactivate their own launcher. As for the countermeasures, Quaren began to respond as rapidly as he could. He fired off three more drones, taking out three of the incoming missiles, but still leaving five behind. A moment later…and two more bullets rang out as Quaren shifted tactics. Two more incoming missiles were shot out of the sky, impossible as it seemed for anyone to hit a missile from the distance, with that speed, that shielding, and only a rifle with armor-piercing bullets. Yet even then, that still left three. However, the _Excalibur _wasn't out either. Immediately, the ship swerved and began an irregular "serpentine" pattern. Although it jostled everyone on deck quite a bit…it wasn't without effect. Even guided, the missiles were equipped only to target ships that were moving at "standard" speeds, not one as fast or maneuverable as the _Excalibur_. Two of the missiles went wide on one side and crashed into the ocean, sending out plumes of water. The third impacted on the opposite side…a bit too closer for comfort, and everyone felt the heat and the blast of the water as the entire ship was rocked violently. Large pieces of metal debris slammed into the side of the boat and pelted them from above. Dael herself felt a missile fragment hit her on the side of the head with a glancing blow. However…her protection spells were still in effect, and stronger than when she began. The ship only took a few dents, and even the blow that struck Dael felt just like being hit by a softball. It didn't mean she didn't fall to the deck and grit her teeth in a bit of pain…but she remained conscious and alert.

A missile went off in response from the _Excalibur_. As it shot through the sky, and Cryder evened out the course and began to drive the ship through the wake of the blasts and straight once again, Dael saw the nearest destroyer attempt to counter it with devices of their own. They deployed foil balls, no doubt meaning to confuse the target signal. Yet, again to Dael's surprise, the missile shot right past them with only slight wobbling. The targeting systems on the _Excalibur_ were cutting edge and barely affected by the countermeasures. The missile still hit the target, obliterating the launcher of the target destroyer.

It was a good move…but Dael knew that, by now, they had spent half of their payload. There wasn't enough to neutralize the weapons of all of their pursuers…at least, not like this. Jalab and Taraketh were still recovering as well. Yet Cryder was going into action. Immediately, he moved the _Excalibur_ closer to the same island that the fleet had rounded. He continued to get closer and closer…until they passed the shallows…at least, what most navies considered "shallows". The _Excalibur _rolled harmlessly over them. The ship's design was allowing it to "skim" over water rather than sail through it, meaning it had already gained a permanent distance advantage on their pursuers. Even matching them in speed, the enemy couldn't pursue them. After that, Cryder hugged the irregular coastline. Soon, the ship was swerving and waving again as it followed the jagged outline of the alley, going to and fro, past land, behind it, then out to sea, and in the open again.

A moment later, the remaining seven intact launchers fired. Again, Quaren employed the countermeasures. To his credit, he saw that they readjusted to a new type of weapon, firing ones that were heat seekers now instead, causing him to have to quickly shift to flares to take them out. Even so, he only managed to squeeze off two shots to take out two of them, leaving five more in the wake. Yet that didn't matter. Cryder may have slowed, but that was a relative term. They were easily outstripping a common speedboat as they rounded the bends of the island again and again, and the missiles arched down to hit the craft…only to impact against a rocky cliff just as the _Excalibur _vanished from view.

While hidden, Jalab finally hoisted himself up. Using his staff as a form of crutch, he limped a few steps before he got his momentum going. After that, he went into a full walk for the rear of the ship. Meanwhile, the artillery units came online as the missile launcher pulled back. As the _Excalibur _swung back out again, Dael looked over the edge and was just in time to see Jalab focus and once again build his power to maximum. The seven pursuing destroyers became visible, and he quickly fired another beam at the nearest one. If that wasn't enough, the artillery units thundered again. The _Excalibur_ was moving fast and from side-to-side. Normally, such a shot would have been impossible. Yet as they ducked behind cover again…both Jalab's beam and the artillery shells impacted on the ship in the lead, doing more heavy damage to it.

Their pursuers were at a loss as they chased the _Excalibur_ around the island. Missiles were now almost useless. On the third volley, Quaren had learned enough to target only the ones most likely to hit, and the ultra-fast swerving of the _Excalibur_ left them clear of everything else. Their only solution to this would be to get close enough to use their turrets, but the _Excalibur _had the advantage on them in that regard. Even with all the swerving, it was impossible for them to close to distance to it without going at full speed, and if they did that they wouldn't be able to avoid running aground on the shallows in time before they took damage. Meanwhile, Jalab and Bahamut continued to pound away at them. No one attack sequence did too terrible damage, but as the ship rounded the small island, eventually two destroyers were enflamed or disabled, and two had their weapons damaged to where they couldn't fire, leaving only four intact destroyers to pursue them.

It was a good move so far, but they needed to keep it up. Dael looked forward again to their path. By now, they were headed north again. As it turned out, another island was nearby and nearly touching this one. It was possible they were actually part of the same land mass underwater. Yet she saw the narrowest point was a tiny strip of land up in the distance, scarcely large enough to let two destroyers through at a time. The _Excalibur _would hit it in about two more minutes, shortly after the next volley.

The commander took it as a good sign. Hopefully, they had irritated the intact destroyers into trying to chase them through it. If they passed, they might be dumb enough to think they could navigate it as well…and would run themselves aground instead. Even if they didn't, they'd lose them. There was no way they could follow them through there.

Yet as soon as the ship rounded another turn in the coast and fired again, Dael saw something a bit unusual. Four of the destroyers broke off. Unfortunately, one was in the lead, so for the first time Bahamut missed that day. Only two of them continued to pursue. Dael looked a bit confused at that. There was no way they could hope to hit them with only two of them firing. And they still weren't anywhere in a good spot to hit with the guns. Apparently, they seemed to realize that as well. As the other destroyers went wide and accelerated, looking to be trying to go around the adjacent island, the others didn't even try firing more missiles. Neither did they stop their pursuit, however. They only continued to push onward, forcing the _Excalibur_ to keep moving.

As the gap neared, Dael continued to stare a bit longer. Were they going to try and make the gap too? That would never work…and she had a hard time believing the naval commanders were this stupid. She was moments from going to the relay, when it already turned on.

_"Lass, I can't read these sensors as good as Cid…"_ Cryder's voice suddenly came through. _"But there's something up ahead on the north coast. Don't know what, but the sensors are picking up something unusual…especially the short range ones."_

The Esthar's Hawk paused after hearing this. She considered this a moment…trying to think back to the earlier navy actions. She had been so busy with the fighting and Cryder had been manning the helm that maybe something had happened on the sensors that no one had caught. She could only think of one option off the top of her head….and she didn't like it.

She activated the relay. "Cryder, get us off of the coast and increase speed. Get us through the gap. Jalab, get back in front. Taraketh, get ready to use another Guardian Force. Bahamut, stand down on guns and warm up the launcher."

There was a small amount of puzzlement on the part of everyone, but soon after they all began to run about and do their tasks as ordered. Jalab, having had another breather, was able to move up to the front fairly readily although he was still covered with sweat. Ceja followed on his heels. Taraketh prepared to chant, but without a target, he couldn't even begin. The gap itself soon came into clean view as the _Excalibur_ left the coast and aimed right for it, soon gaining a bit of speed.

It wasn't long after moving out that the pursuing destroyers fired. But with only two rockets, Quaren dealt with them easily. Soon, they were nearing the rocky gap so quickly that they were forced to start breaking off, but they only did so once the _Excalibur_ reached the point where it couldn't make a U-turn in time. Dael took note of this as well, and didn't like it. She forgot about the pursuers and looked fully ahead. "Everyone, get ready!" She called out.

"Ready for what?" Taraketh yelled back over the roar of the engines.

As the launcher redeployed, the group moved through the gap. The rock walls rose on either side of them for a moment, before the open ocean began to form on the other side…along with one of the larger Sybenian destroyers, moving perpendicular and looking to use its thicker hull to disable the _Excalibur_ by running into it. Dael and the others gaped in shock as the deck of the ship neared.

Dael's hand mashed down on the relay button. "Evasive!"

_"No sh't, lass!"_

Had the _Excalibur_ not been so advanced with the "water braking" system, they would have collided. Yet Cryder rapidly threw them on, and the group was nearly flung off their feet as the ship rapidly decreased speed and began to turn about like an anchor had just been dropped in the ocean. The enemy destroyer continued to come in. It had taken on ballast, however. It had been purposely lowering itself to this level for this reason. As the _Excalibur_ dramatically slowed and turned, the result barely avoided crashing into the destroyer, at the expense of pulling it directly alongside the enemy ship for a short time. And Dael soon saw that they had had been expecting this, as both of the fore turrent swiveled around and took aim to open up the deck like a firecracker. Dael's face paled. She swore mentally…thinking that would be the last thing she would ever do…

Yet she was only able to look down the barrel of one turret for a moment…before a whirling cutter shot out and sliced off a good portion of it, including half of the stock and one of the barrels.

The young officer reacted in surprise, and spun around to the front of the ship, just in time to see Jalab do something odd…essentially use his own strength to give Ceja a boost, and _launch_ her onto the enemy vessel. From this distance, with their combined super strength, it was a snap. Soon, the woman sailed through the air and landed right on the deck of the enemy ship, just as her cutter came back around, slicing through the second turret's left barrel, and to her grasp.

Dael, Taraketh, and Quaren were all stunned at what they saw, and Cryder barely managed to remember to get the ship moving again. As their two decks met and scraped momentarily, Ceja attacked savagely. She went to one turret and let out a storm of axe strikes on it so fast and rapid it was like a blur, seemingly impossible. Dael thought nothing of it for a moment, until she realized it was familiar… The way she moved, it was almost like the rotating limbs of a Cactuar as she hit it. Effective too, as she pierced the turret array again and again until it was rendered completely inoperative. After that, she snapped around, leapt to the side, and drove her axe hard into the opposite turret. To Dael's surprise, she almost thought she heard a "doink"…before the entire turret was ripped partially off of its moorings and knocked askew.

Ceja seemed to have exerted a lot of effort to pull this off, but if that wasn't enough, she snapped her head around to the control tower. Gritting her teeth, she swung her axe around one more time before sending it flying at it, just as the _Excalibur_ gained enough speed and angle to start pulling away again. As the axe sliced into the antennas and relays, not to mention the structure itself, Ceja snapped back to the E.H.T. ship, and immediately ran for the side. By now, some of the crewmen of the destroyer were trying to implement smaller arms on deck, or run out with weapons of their own to fight back, and a few shots were squeezed off. But thanks to the protection spells, the bullets either glanced or left only shallow wounds before stopping. In either case, Ceja didn't stop. She soon reached the edge and leapt through the air back into the _Excalibur_ moments before it was too late. As a touch of "showing off", her arm went up and snatched her axe out of the air as it returned before she touched down on deck again. She went for a bit of a tumble on landing, but snapped to her feet again as they pulled away.

Dael was overwhelmed as they continued to pull away. The enemy destroyer was only one in series that had been coming around the north end, hoping to head the _Excalibur_ off. However, at the moment, it could do little other than just watch. What more, the other ships behind it soon had to drop speed to avoid a collision, or try and move around it. Finally, as a parting shot, Taraketh's aura flashed, and another portal opened…this time dropping the king-sized Tonberry on the deck of the ship, who immediately got to work by tapping his lantern. Despite its small size, it began to belch monstrous flames all over the deck, which immediately spread like oil fires on landing. The ship was soon aflame as the _Excalibur_ increased speed and left both it and its companions in the dust.

_"Ha! This is one for the record books, lads!"_ Cryder's voice came over the intercom. _"I don't think even Gill and Heck were that crazy!"_

As for Dael, she blinked a few more times, before she managed to look down to the deck again. Jalab was near Ceja, who was hunched over and catching her breath from that stunt. However, after a few moments, she looked up to Dael, and gave a smile. The commander looked back a short while, but then managed to smile as well. It seemed Jalab was right, after all…

Dael stood up and looked out. By now, a good portion of the fleet had focused its attention on the _Excalibur_. It was sending out even more destroyers, the quick kind, to deal with it. They could still afford to send some of their fleet after the Lamb ships, but their momentary diversion to attack the _Excalibur_ had bought the fleet some time. Now, it had a good distance on the bulk of the fleet, and the ones that were still on their heels could not only be answered with return fire, but they were starting to wander into the areas that had ground gun emplacements. While they were by no means out of danger, and by no means necessarily past the "worst part"…they were doing better than any of them could have hoped. Between the _Excalibur's _speed and their "firepower", they were actually making a difference in this fight.

At last, Dael turned on the relay and spoke into it. "…Get us back into combat, Cryder. Cid, when you get a moment, try and sneak a look at the long range sensors and radio messages. I want to make sure the 'cavalry' from Esthar is on their way…"

* * *

><p>The next hour went by quickly and fiercely.<p>

Cid kept the engines running as smoothly as possible, and again and again the _Excalibur_ charged at the enemy, gained a few "pursuers", and lured them either into rocks or through narrow channels or down the barrels of shoreline defenses. Often, they charged a group of ships that were being hounded by Sybenia and broke their attack. After a while, the enemy navy realized that the _Excalibur_ had the advantage of speed and countermeasures, and tried to ignore it. But thanks to Jalab and Taraketh, even when Bahamut fired off their last rocket only 15 minutes after escaping the ambush, they were still inflicting a great deal of damage. And any ship that got too close bore the wrath of Ceja, whose crazy "storming" tactics paid off, unorthodox and insane as they might have been. By the end of the hour, the _Excalibur_ alone had disabled 10 destroyers…unheard of in naval combat for a ship so small and poorly armed.

Dael imagined the tough little ship had to be the worst nightmare of the navy. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't disable it. And while it might have only been a bug compared to their size and firepower, it was one that wouldn't stop biting, and eventually waged so much damage that it was leaving an impact. The _Excalibur_ managed to frustrate almost every attack maneuver they tried to launch on the remnants of the Lamb fleet, enabling them to regroup enough to counterattack again and again with the backing of the shore artillery units. By luring them into the archipelago's outer islands, they were causing the enemy no end of trouble, especially since the light _Excalibur _could go everywhere they couldn't. They had managed to add another eleven disabled ships to the total the _Excalibur_ gave. While the Sybenians continued to push forward and took out every shore artillery unit they came across, their victory was steadily going from a rout to a mere win. Pretty soon, it would become a costly victory…and anymore than that and the Sybenians might even have to break off.

One thing was certain, and Dael knew that the enemy had to know it by now as well. A few minutes ago, relays had finally picked up incoming beacons. They weren't yet on long-range sensors…but the reinforcements from Esthar were coming. With them, the Lamb fleet, the _Excalibur_, and still a long chain of islands worth to go before a major population center was hit…the Sybenians would realize that they would be hurting severely by the time they finally made it to a place to launch a decent invasion. Perhaps _too_ severely…enough to break off the assault.

It would be a hollow victory, to be sure. After all, the Sybenians had three times as many ships ready to launch. They might only manage to buy Lamb a few days worth of life. But it _would_ be a victory…a situation where the mighty Sybenian war machine was turned back. And for now, Dael had to admit, it would be welcome.

Jalab was barely able to stand. Ceja was supporting him as best she could, but she was quite weary herself, and she had a few injuries sustained from some of her previous attacks. Bahamut could only man the deck guns now, and despite his pauses the constant firing was overheating them, and they would have jammed by now if not for Cid's intervention. Even so, they had only 10 shells left, and at one shot per turret that meant only five more shots at the most. Taraketh was downing his last Ether, but it was clear that even with it he might not be able to pull off another major summon or spell. He looked like he was moments from passing out…or ODing on the concoctions. Quaren also informed them that they had only 10% of their original flare supplies left, 5% foils, and a single drone.

For all those reasons, the _Excalibur _was finally pulling back. After fighting them through the thick of a chain of islands, the defending forces had lured the massive Sybenian fleet to the opposite side, where a large expanse was between them and the next series of islands. Most of the Lamb fleet had redeployed here, taking in two spaces between islands that served as "junctions". It made for a good bottleneck of sorts. From this position, the Lamb fleet could respond en masse to any attacker. The only access points to the west of it and north and south were all only accessible either to Lamb's smaller fleet or Sybenian destroyers. Their larger battleships and aircraft carriers couldn't get through unless they went "right down the throat", where six old shoreline artillery units were supplementing the fleet. Right now, the _Excalibur_ was 'hiding' behind the older and larger craft. Although they hadn't yet gotten any ship-to-ship transmissions through the jamming, it was pretty clear that the Lamb fleet was more than willing to act as a shield after all the _Longsword _-Class ship had done for them.

From this position, Dael could look out, far beyond the Lamb navy, and see on the horizon where the Sybenian fleet was regrouping. It took some time, after all. The larger battleships and carriers not only were slower, but had to move around the islands to get there. For now, however, they seemed to be holding position, at least as best as Dael could tell. Obviously, they realized that they needed to rethink their strategy. That was alright…they could use a breather themselves.

On that note, Dael turned on the relay. "Cid, how do we look?"

_"Well, it's a good thing we stopped when we did, because if the engine got anymore fried we'd barely have the speed of a rowboat…"_ Cid answered. _"She's tough, but even athletic girls overwork their muscles sometime. The prow turret is completely overheated. The loading mechanism has deformed. I should have made the lag time longer. Anyway, I shifted the last five shells in that one to the aft turret, but only firing one shell at a time means we won't bite as deep in the next tussle. And we haven't made it completely unscathed either. There's one to two inches of water down here. Your protection spells are good, Dael, but we couldn't expect to just shrug off this navy's payload. Pumps are working…but I'm thinking the girl may have one more run in her before we really start feeling the burn. We'll need to get her to Lamb for repairs after that."_

"Alright. Have you had a chance to watch the sensors?"

_"The relays are starting to come back on line, though slowly. Seems the Lamb navy has had the chance to counter their signal. General transmissions say that the ETA of the first ship of the Esthar reinforcements is 40 minutes away."_

_"It's all but in the bag, lass."_ Cryder threw in. _"The only way they won't spread themselves thin is by coming right at us. They try going around and the Lamb navy has enough time to respond. They go wider, and they'll never make it anywhere in time before the reinforcements get here. Provided they can make enough of a difference to give the Sybenians a headache…we might just win the day."_

"Although this is a rather grim analogy…" Taraketh spoke up from behind Dael. She turned to him, and saw him leaning against the deactivated turret. Tired as he looked, he seemed to have overheard the relay. "…This is just like back during the War of the Magi. Now you see that while guns and bombs have their uses, a few Guardian Forces can turn the tide of impossible odds."

Dael gave a shrug in response. "I'm inclined to agree with you. However, it's not the way of Esthar's Hawks to start 'lying down on the job'." She looked back to the relay. "Cid, what about the Sybenians? They have to be picking up on this stuff too. Something tells me they aren't going to just sit around and wait for things to get even harder for them."

There were a few moments of pause on the other end.

Dael looked expectantly. "…Cid?"

_"I've got something now, commander…" _Cid answered uncertainly. _"Although…it isn't much of something…"_

"What?"

_"Two aircraft carriers are moving forward, straight for the gap."_

"What's the escort look like?"

_"Three _Knight-_Class destroyers…and that's it."_

The commander blinked a moment. "…Repeat, Cid. I didn't copy."

_"They're being escorted by three _Knight-_Class destroyers."_

"…That's all? Are you sure they aren't _Deathknight_-Class?"

_"No, Dael. I've seen these things sail past the port countless times. One single-barrel, turret, one launcher on each."_

"…Cid, that doesn't make any sense. Those ships went out of vogue for Sybenia _before_ the depression. They only use them as accessory ships to take hits meant for the battleships. They're a bit speedier than _Deathknight_-Class and _Darkknight_-Class, but that's all they have going for them."

_"All I'm telling you is what I'm seeing, Dael."_

The commander looked up. Already, five of the shapes seemed a bit bigger, and two of those much bigger. It looked just like what Cid was saying. But what gave? Even Lamb's basic warships were superior to the three destroyers they were sending forward. And they couldn't carry out a campaign on Lamb just by sacrificing two of their aircraft carriers. It had to be some sort of trick or trap…bait for something. Yet even without radioing Cid, she could tell that the rest of the Sybenian fleet on the horizon wasn't moving. They were holding their ground. She knew it would only be a matter of time before they crossed the 'point-of-no-return', the zone where the Lamb fleet could move out and intercept and retreat before Sybenia could send reinforcements. What was going on?

At any rate, it wasn't long before there was a response.

_"They've crossed the PONR and they're still coming at present speed. Five of the two-turret destroyers from Lamb are moving to intercept."_

Dael looked on at the Lamb fleet. Sure enough, a minute or so later, she distinctly saw five ships moving from the ranks and headed for the enemy. She frowned at the sight. This was too easy. An Esthar Hawk was trained never to go after something so easy in a combat situation. She activated the relay. "Are radios jack free yet, Cid? We need to tell them to stand down."

There was a pause on the other end. _"Not sure we have that authority, Dael…"_

"We can try. Is the line unjammed or not?"

_"No, we still can't overcome it yet."_

"As soon as the rest of the ship's systems are taken care of, get on that."

Dael switched the relay off and looked up ahead again. By now, everyone else on deck was as well. There was little else to do, after all. The five soon came out of the ranks and moved to intercept. None of the rest of the Sybenian fleet moved to do anything about it. They just sat there and waited, watching as the three destroyers and two carriers advanced. Dael stared on, thinking the enemy should at least be prepping.

Ceja, after looking at this for a while, looked back to Dael. "I am unfamiliar with naval combat, but is this normal? To send out the 'best' of either fleet in a five-on-five match?"

"It's not." Taraketh answered for Dael. "This is too unusual… Even without a military background, I can tell this isn't good."

"Secret blade?" Jalab suggested.

"One would think they have a secret weapon, Sir Tierras…" Dael responded as she looked on. "But I don't see anything. Even their guns aren't coming online, though I can't tell for sure from this distance. Even so, they have to be entering missile range by now."

"Well, even if the Sybenians aren't willing to fire, I'm sure Lamb is." Taraketh answered. "They have to be getting in range soon…"

Dael was about to answer, when she paused…as did everyone else both on the ship and the rest of the Lamb fleet. All of them noticed something together.

Abruptly, the sky had grown much darker. Not over them, however…but over the incoming ships. Clouds seemed to form from nothingness, and they rapidly grew dark and thick, lowering in altitude and becoming the characteristic "anvil head". No sooner had that happened than the clouds began to whip around and circle, churning and moving over one another, and then breaking into a rotation. From this distance, the waves began to pick up, and the sea over the incoming Lamb ships grew more turbulent. It quickly grew more violent from there, the clouds beginning to rumble with thunder and turn over each other, building in intensity…

Dael went wide-eyed. "Oh no…"

Taraketh himself was gaping at the sight, but looked to Dael. "What is it?"

"I've seen this before…" The commander stammered. "You were right, Taraketh… A few Guardian Forces can turn the tide…and I think Sybenian is about to make that clear…"

Before Taraketh could inquire as to this, everyone on board got an eyeful.

_"Oh sh't…"_ Cryder remarked through the relay. _"Really wish that Sorceress lass was here right now…"_

Abruptly, the clouds increased speed…and formed a funnel. It shot down from the sky and hit the water, making a waterspout. But it didn't stay that way long. It quickly grew in power and intensity, churning and mixing and casting up more and more water as the bottom increased in diameter. As it did, the sky billowed and tumbled louder and louder, until the water began to churn and rock with progressively larger waves. First they were ten feet….then twenty…then thirty. The Lamb boats were soon being rocked violently. They tried to scatter and get away, but the ever-growing tornado got larger and larger, actually forming a whirlpool in the water. Two of the destroyers were caught, and soon dragged back in as the waves drew higher and higher, thrashing them about like boats in a tub with a child kicking. And as the wind whipped harder and harder…eventually it started to tear pieces off of the destroyers while dunking large portions of them and ripping them back into the air again.

However, that wasn't all. One of the ships moving away suddenly began to act "strange". The signal beacons began to flash erratically. The guns and launcher began to move about weird. The anchors were dropped and severed, and the ship began to drift afterward. Moments later, fires suddenly began to break out on deck, and people jumped ship. Dael saw this…and was suddenly grateful that the radios weren't working. Something was driving the crew insane. Finally…it _did_ fire a missile. However, it went straight into the sky, hung there a moment, then spiraled around…and began to come straight back down to its location…

The last two ships looked to get clear, before something new happened. A thick, noxious, disgusting-looking mist suddenly began to pour out of one of the destroyers at an alarming rate. It rapidly expanded at speeds that seemed to defy physics, growing into a large, billowing, chaotic cloud. It made Dael want to vomit just to look at it, considering all of its putrid colors. And it continued to get larger and larger, becoming almost a fog of the sickening substance…until it was large enough to cover both destroyers. At that, it left the ship and began to billow out for them, moving almost like a living blob of foulness. The ships were helpless to turn away before it swept over both of them…

The storm grew more and more violent…but stayed localized to both ships. At last, it forced one under the water and held it there. As for the other, it snapped it in half through the sheer power, sending out an echo of metal breaking over the entire area. Once that was done, it finally eased up and pulled back. It wasn't needed anymore, as the other destroyer soon sank into the water. The missile came down and hit the launcher. Someone must have armed the other missiles, for the entire thing immediately went up, setting off a chain reaction that turned the entire destroyer into a fireball. The toxic cloud moved away from the other two destroyers…and what it left behind was horrid. The ships literally seemed to be rotting and rusting away before their eyes. Soon, they were sinking into the ocean as they disintegrated into almost nothingness. Dael could only imagine what had happened to the crew…

Ceja uttered a curse in her native dialect. Jalab stated a prayer.

"Great Aerith…" Taraketh murmured. "It's _them._"

"The Corvids." Dael confirmed.

As the five Lamb destroyers were reduced to nothingness, the five approaching ships moved out. One began to go south. The other went north. The final one continued to lead the destroyers right for the middle region. Alarm lights went off from all of the Lamb ships. Soon, they all ignited to life, beginning to pull back. However, they were too slow. The _Knight_-Classes could outrun them, especially now that their defense had just been turned into a trap. Dael wasn't sure what they had planned exactly, but she was sure one ship was going to come from a north channel and the other through a south channel. They were going to pin them from three sides…then unleash their powers again.

Taraketh snapped back up to Dael. "I'll admit, commander…I didn't really believe you about Jay's power until now. They _all_ are able to perform magic almost on the level of the Sorceresses themselves. If that's the case, then they'll tear the remains of the Lamb fleet apart…and us with them."

_"Looks like they're headed for us now, lass…" _Cryder's voice came on over the relay, sounding uneasy. _"They've got a bit of a delay goin'…but not much. Besides, even if they arrive in sequence instead of all together, we're still sunk. There isn't a ship that can stand up to somethin' like that. Makes what we're doing look like a pea shooter…"_

Dael looked on for a moment longer. If they pulled back now…likely even if they stayed…the Lamb fleet was doomed. Those three alone could take out the whole remnant, and they wouldn't even need any backup. The rest of the fleet would be in perfect condition to rout the rest of the archipelago. And even if Esthar got here in time, they'd be destroyed just as easily. Those three were too strong. Perhaps if Sorceress Cybus was here… But that was no good. In the time it took to find her and bring her, they'd be bombing the main island. And the _Excalibur_ couldn't take the fleet alone.

That left only one thing.

The commander turned on the relay. "Cid, what's the nearest one of those three destroyers?"

_"Hold on… Uh, the one in front of us."_

"How about the one that will reach us first?"

_"Oh… The south one."_

"Alright, here's the deal." Dael stated. "Everyone get below deck. Bahamut, stay manning the guns. Cid, we'll need as much speed as the engines can give us. Cryder, take us through the channel its going for and straight for that destroyer."

There was a unified pause, both from those on deck, who looked to Dael strangely, as well as those on the bridge.

_"…What idea has gotten into your head, lass?"_

"That destroyer has an Elite Hound on it. So we're taking it down and the Elite Hound with it."

Ceja was too much of a warrior to shy away from a battle. That said…she gaped a bit at Dael. Jalab did much the same. However, Taraketh made no secret of his shock. Neither did those on the other end of the radio.

_"Have you lost your mind, lass?"_

"Don't get me wrong, commander. I want to see those sadistic individuals stopped the same as anyone else." Taraketh answered. "But even if we were all at our best I wouldn't be sure we could win. And Jalab, Ceja, and myself are rather drained from the battle."

"I'm not sure Jalab can even fire another one of his energy moves." Ceja threw in.

_"And Dael…even if they could, those Elite Hounds just showed they can take out a full-sized destroyer before it even gets into firing range."_ Cid's voice came over the line. _"There's no way we can get close enough to fight back."_

Dael, however, didn't break. "Everyone, I'm still commander in this situation, so carry out my orders. We're not out of this yet. Cryder, stick to the shoreline and the shallows as you make your way there. We need to keep all the advantages we can get. I want the only way they can see us coming is visually."

Everyone paused a moment longer. They looked uneasily to one another. At length, however, they realized that even if they weren't in a task force under Dael's command, they weren't going to refuse her anyway. Grudgingly, those on deck turned and began to head back to the bulkhead for the inner ship.

_"…Aye, lass."_ Cryder finally stated, even as the _Excalibur _began to turn and increase speed.

_"Sure thing, Dael…" _Cid added with a sigh.

The commander couldn't really blame them for being uneasy. Based on their two previous encounters, this was just plain suicide. However, if they never had to actually face an Elite Hound face-to-face…they might have a chance yet. She only hoped that Bahamut could keep up his gunner "winning-streak". A lot of this depended on it. At any rate, everyone began to clear the deck. Ceja began to help Jalab limp over to the bulkhead. Taraketh started to follow behind, but he had scarcely rounded the turret when he paused and looked up to Dael. "…Aren't you coming?"

"Once we get closer." She stated. "I still have enough power to cast protection spells, and that's what I'm going to do."

Taraketh stared at her, unconvinced. "You really think your protection spells are going to do much good against their kind of magic?"

She looked back to him flatly. "…You really think getting below deck is going to make me much safer against their kind of magic?"

The High Child frowned in response for a few moments. However, having no retort, he turned and followed Jalab and Ceja to the bulkhead. The two warriors paused and looked back, noticing Dael wasn't coming. Both were hesitant, but moved inside in the end. Taraketh himself gave a second look before going in as well. The bulkhead didn't shut, but they were soon in. As for Dael, she exhaled, and then turned back forward again as the _Excalibur_ continued to turn. She made sure to check her chamber again, just to make sure she had loaded the Thundaga bullet, and then focused ahead.

The Lamb fleet was beginning to break. Dael couldn't honestly tell if that was a good move or a bad move. Apart, they had little chance of stopping even one of those destroyers, no matter how small. But together…they might all get wiped out with one fell swoop. Luckily, before they got too far, Cryder had them back in the shallows and hugging the coast. He proceeded to start taking them around the island, headed for the southern channel. Only a few minutes later, he went into it. Dael had no idea what the long range sensors looked like, but the _Knight_-Class Destroyers weren't terribly slow like the bigger warships. They'd be able to around fairly soon. And for this little mission, they'd receive no backup. However, she only hoped that the destroyer only saw the fleeing ships. They needed to get as close as possible before they were spotted. After all, even if there wasn't an Elite Hound on that ship, they had the advantage of firing range with their own missile launcher. Yet it still didn't make Dael feel much better when, looking behind her, they turned one last corner of the space between islands and the last of the Lamb ships vanished from view. When that passed, she looked ahead.

She turned on the relay soon after. "Cid? How does the radar look?"

_"The destroyer is still coming…picking up speed." _Cid responded. _"It's going for the channel, alright."_

"Bahamut, stand by. Get ready to start firing on it. Aim for the prow."

Just as before, the _Excalibur_ began to weave, moving in and out from the irregular coastline. The "channel" widened and contracted multiple times as they moved to the south. There was no sign of the enemy destroyer, but that only figured. They had the edge on it for the moment…at least, Dael thought. Cid would notify her, at any rate. Still, that didn't stop her from fearing that they'd turn a corner just in time to see the destroyer coming around and firing on them. Her mind raced. Which one had they gone after? Was it Li Juanhong's? Crow's? Jay's? She wasn't sure if she should feel good about any of those. Perhaps Crow would be the easiest. After all…they could use radio silence, right?

The time stretched out far longer than Dael wanted. Again, she wasn't sure if she should be happy or sad. So long as they were getting drawn away from the thick of the fighting, then nothing could jump in and lend a hand to the enemy destroyer. Then again…no one could help them either, either on the shore or on the sea. All potential allies were going farther and farther away. The anticipation grew worse, as well. It made her more and more nervous as time ticked by. She began to cast spells early out of simple unease…

Finally, Cid spoke up again.

_"They're moving to the coast and dropping speed. They'll turn the corner soon. We're headed right for their path."_

Dael looked up at that, snapping to attention. Sure enough, the channel was widening now. Both coasts were expanding outward, opening into the sea. They only had another mile or so to go. Yet as they closed to a half-mile, still weaving around the coast…they saw it. Abruptly, the enemy destroyer came around the edge, out on the sea, and making a turn into their direction.

The commander called out. "Cryder, take us straight at it! Max speed! Bahamut, open fire! Keep it from countering!"

Whether the pirate thought this was insanity or not was moot. Dael's voice was so urgent, and the appearance so sudden that there was little time to complain about it or challenge the order. At once, the _Excalibur_ orientated away from the coast and began to advance straight for the enemy destroyer. The rear turret soon spun around and aimed at it. As for the destroyer itself, it took continued its turn, aiming itself fully at their own ship. For a moment or so, the two ships began to go straight for each other…

Then, it began. The sun began to dim overhead. Dael looked up, and saw thick dark clouds coming in. Not only that, but the wind started to pick up. It started as a small breeze, but soon it grew quite forceful against Dael, tugging her clothes powerfully, and beginning to swirl as the clouds accumulated and began to rotate. At once, she knew.

_Jay._

_Let's hope he really is the "weakest"…and that it makes a difference whether he is or isn't._

As the sea began to form waves, Dael turned to the relay. "Bahamut, you need to start firing now! Keep him from casting!"

To be honest, she wasn't sure if they were in range yet…or, even if they were, if Bahamut was a good enough gunner. However, a moment later, she heard the turret swirl, and then fire off a shot. As the shell shot through the air, the storm only continued to grow in intensity, going from being a stiff wind to a gale…and becoming the making of a raging storm. Waves began to lap around the boat, and Dael felt it shift as the clouds above started to grow lower…

When they suddenly lessened. The winds ebbed, and the clouds began to ascend again as the waves fell flat. A few moments later, the shell impacted the deck of the ship, and a fireball went out. It was far, but even from this distance, Dael could see that the shell, in fact, had not connected with the front. It had blown up just above it. The commander realized he must have used his power to make a shield, and had to break off in order to do it.

However, the moment the flames died…the sky began to grow dark again and the wind pick up.

Dael called into the relay. "Keep firing! As fast as you can!"

_"Dael, we'll overheat the guns!" _Cid shouted back. _"They could lock up and jam at any time if we do that!"_

"We don't have a choice! If we let him finish building his attack, we're sunk!"

_"But how will we fight back?"_

"Just keep coming toward him! If we get close enough, he won't be able to use that attack without sinking his own ship!"

The radio went silent, and a moment later, another shot fired. They were closer this time, so the wind didn't even grow as bad as before when it cut off again, and once more fire erupted from the front of the ship. The _Excalibur_ continued to pick up speed, going closer and closer to it. By now, however, the enemy seemed to realize what they were doing…and they weren't going to stand for it. As they continued to close, the launcher suddenly began to go active on the enemy ship. Dael saw it begin to elevate. A second later, as the storm built again, a rocket was launched. From this range, it didn't take long to arch around and head straight for their ship. Dael went wide-eyed for a moment. She had ordered Quaren below with everyone else. That meant…

Soon after, however, the last drone fired off to the side. The missile soon altered course and streaked after that, and a moment later went off. From this close, the _Excalibur_ buckled a bit, but continued forward relentlessly. Dael recoiled and shielded herself from the heat, but the shrapnel bounced off harmlessly. Yet as soon as she was up again, Dael called into the relay.

"Quaren, you were supposed to go below!"

_"I wasn't going to let you charge that destroyer without countermeasures, commander!" _His voice retorted over the relay.

"Well that was our last drone, so get below now!"

_"What about you?"_

"That's an order, corporal! Cryder, get us there faster! We have to be too close for them to arm another missile!"

Even as she called this, the storm built again, only to be cut off again by another cannon shot from Bahamut. Yet that was cold comfort, as yet another missile launched. Dael snapped to it and went wide-eyed. They had no drones left. If this hit… Then again, the range was very small at this point. Less than minimal range? They might have disabled the safety systems… They were crazy enough to do that… But they didn't even look like they were in range as is… The missile spiraled through the air, and Dael could only watch it. It was definitely the shortest launch of the day…but short enough? It reached its zenith in no time, and began to descend. She chanted one last protection spell, enveloping the upper deck in a prism of light momentarily…for all the good it would do. As the missile dropped the last bit of distance, she closed her eyes and held.

All she heard was a loud _clang_. Immediately, her eyes snapped open, just in time to see the disarmed missle, flopping over like a tin can away from a large dent it made in the control tower, going over and over itself, arching into the air, and then flopping into the sea.

Dael's heart began to beat again as she looked forward. They were nearly there. Of course, now came the second part of her plan…and she wasn't exactly sure how effective it would end up being… She turned back to the relay…but soon froze.

_No!_

Dael had assumed, with the _Excalibur_ being the ship-of-the-line, that their turrets could become active faster than a _Knight_-Class Destroyer's. She was wrong. Already, the gun was coming online and swiveling around to aim at them. And she was located right in the target's path.

She soon called a different command into the relay. "Evasive!"

_"Damn it to the depths, lass! We're going too fast!"_

Abruptly, Dael was nearly thrown off the ship as the _Excalibur_ gave a swift twist to one side. Her body was almost flung into a railing, and she ended up catching it in the side. Thanks to her own protection spell…it merely smarted rather than broke a rib. Still, she had to clutch it desperately to keep herself from flipping over it. Even so, at their speed, the _Excalibur _barely began to turn aside before she saw smoke and light erupt from the cannons.

The little ship was soon violently rocked. Sounds of metal malforming, twisting, and erupting rang out, and Dael soon held on harder than ever as the ship cast about to and fro. The smell of smoke and burned metal filled her nostrils. Dael, on her part, held on tight and waited, thinking that this was it…that they were dead in the water…

Yet, somehow, the _Excalibur's_ engines were still running, and it got out of it. When it did, she managed to crack her eyes open even as metal fragments rained from the sky. She looked to the ship, and soon felt her heart sink again.

The bridge was intact, but nothing was left of the aft turret except a twisted bit of debris, smoldering and smoking. The last weapon that the _Excalibur_ still possessed was no more. They were unarmed.

Dael swore and cursed herself. How could she have been so stupid? She had panicked and hadn't considered the fact that the front turret was already empty and dead. They could have taken a shot to that and been fine. Well…_she_ wouldn't have been fine…but they still could have fired back. Her plan was now ruined. They were nothing more than a sitting duck now. She looked to the enemy ship, and saw that the turret, while cooling, was already aiming for the bridge next. They were waiting…waiting for their weapons to be ready. They could afford to now. The _Excalibur_ was defenseless.

However, Dael soon narrowed her gaze.

_Not quite…there's still time for one last thing…_

She turned to the relay again and switched it back on. "Cryder, turn the ship back and resume ramming the enemy destroyer! Take us straight at it this time! Fast as you can! Hurry, before their barrels cool!"

_"…Lass, enough is enough!" _The pirate retorted. _"We're defenseless! That destroyer may be old, but it'll still tear through the _Excalibur_ like she's made of tissue! You want to play 'chicken' with it?"_

"Just do it, Cryder! I've got an idea! But get us close to that ship now or we'll be fired on before we can do it!"

_"What good will that possibly do, Dael?" _Cid responded.

"Follow my order!" Was the only response Dael gave. _And pray I'm not being an idiot…_

There was only a momentary pause, before the _Excalibur _once again came around. Soon, it was bearing straight at the destroyer again, and picking up speed. More and more details emerged on it. It wasn't even hurt yet. She couldn't see Jay, but obviously he had managed to keep it from taking any damage. That was power beyond Dael. She realized what she was doing was nothing short of idiocy, but there was no choice now. As the ship picked up speed, she put her hand on her Mage Gun.

The turret stayed firmly aimed at the bridge, but was still cooling. Despite all the thoughts that had gone through Dael's head, she had acted quickly and Cryder had responded quickly. However, the destroyer didn't just do that. It seemed to know what Cid and Cryder knew. It angled itself straight at the _Excalibur_ and began to accelerate as well. It was obviously planning to damage it with a straight-up ramming move, maybe take it down. And with Jay on board, he'd simply jump on and finish them all off even if they didn't sink them. This had to work…although, given what the Sybenians were planning, this amounted to suicide…

The two ships continued to accelerate to each other. Just like Cryder said, they were playing "chicken", and since the Sybenians knew they could win, they had no incentive to break off. The turret still didn't fire. Perhaps they didn't want to bother wasting the shot. As they neared, Dael pulled her gun out and began to walk up to the prow of the ship. She went up to the relay that Ceja and Jalab had been using, right behind their hastily-made shield. At last, the two ships were within a hundred yards of each other, and still blazing. When that happened, Dael quickly switched on the relay and gave one last command.

"Alright, Cryder! Go to one side! Shoot by it!" After a moment, she added one more thing. "…And wish me luck!"

Before anyone on the other end could respond, Dael switched off the relay and, with one leap, cleared the shield and was out in the open, right on the prow of the ship and staring at the incoming destroyer, now less than fifty yards away. Ceja made this look so easy… Teleporting would make more sense, but that was no good. It would take too much energy that she had left…and she knew she'd need everything she had now. The two ships went into twenty yards…ten…and finally, their prows crossed…

_I'm insane…_

Giving a yell to push herself, Dael used all of her enhanced strength to leap off of the deck of the _Excalibur_ just as it swerved and shot by the enemy vessel, the two hulls colliding and scraping loudly against each other, kicking up sparks. For a moment, she sailed through the air, until the incoming deck of the enemy destroyer flew by and under her. When it did, Dael raised her hand, aimed right for the control tower of the opposing destroyer, and fired her Thundaga bullet at it.

A moment later, a jolt went through Dael's legs as she landed on the deck of the enemy destroyer. Luckily for her, most of the front was flat and clear, and she quickly went into a somersault. Still, if she had been anyone else, she might have killed herself with this move. The two ships were going by each other too fast. She rolled twice before she practically sprawled out on the deck. Soon after, she quickly began to scramble to her feet…even as she heard what sounded like a colossal thunderclap ring out from the deck. She looked up, past the armed turret right in front of her, and toward the control tower. Her Thundaga bullet had hit the mark, and ignited. Now, a massive bolt of electricity had struck it and was snaking through it. The lights on the tower flickered on and off, before many of them went dead all together. A large portion of it was fried from the point of bolt contact, destroying the metal hull and warping the tower. It was still gleaming bright and hot.

As for Dael, she was panting now. Her heart was racing. Quickly, she reached into her pocket and yanked out her second bullet, popped open her chamber, and slammed it inside. After that, she holstered it again, and looked out to sea. Even without any magic being used, the sky was darker now. Clouds had moved in, and things had turned grayer. The wind had picked up on its own and the waves were a bit higher. She watched as she saw the _Excalibur_, a large scrape on its starboard side, race off into the ocean. They had to realize what was happening now…what she had done. She exhaled a bit at the thought…again wondering just how crazy her move really was.

Yet as she stared, she heard it.

The sound of a blade being scraped against the hull.

Somehow, over the waves and wind, she managed to catch it. She looked to the source. As she did, she noticed, aside from the turret, that most of the deck was flat and expansive. It had been topped with a porous layer to keep crewmen from slipping. Yet it was also mostly level. She realized, to a bittersweet thought, that it was a decent battleground. She saw nothing at first, but her head turned straight to the noise…on the side of the control tower. A moment later, she saw him.

Still dressed the same, obviously having not taken any damage from that rockslide…as impossible as it seemed…still shrouding his face in that scarf and his ravenous eyes almost glowing at her…Jay brandished both of his glaives as he came into full view. He looked like a predator staring down his prey…or a snake who had seen a mouse be stupid enough to crawl into its hole.

"Well, well, Ms. Levinson…" He hissed as he slowly began to step out. As he did, Dael began to move more to the center of the deck, away from the edges. No sense being knocked over the side right away. "Small world. You'd almost think we were dating. I'm actually a little surprised. I suppose I shouldn't be overwhelmed to know you were the one on that boat. Not only is Esthar stupid enough to send a silly girl to do everything for it, but the same silly girl. Heirarch must be an idiot. He thinks Esthar will somehow repel him if he moves too fast, when all they have is one little girl and her band of merry men defending it. And here I thought I'd have to carve your little boat up like a tin can in order to find this juicy piece of meat that stands before me…"

He cracked his neck a little. "Tell me, 'commander'…was it pure recklessness that made you jump onto this boat to get yourself killed without any of your little friends to back you up, or utter stupidity to think doing so would make a difference?"

Dael, to be honest, was a little unnerved. Not by Jay's appearance, but by the fact that he knew about her promotion… However, she pushed that aside. She could think about that later.

"Try strategy." She flatly answered, as she drew her own blade and held it at her side. "You disabled our weapons. However, I find a Thundaga bullet tends to short out machines, even big ones like those on a destroyer, for a good five minutes or longer. I might have even taken a lot of your systems offline with that shot. Furthermore, I'm here now. You can't summon another one of those category five tornadoes on the _Excalibur_ so long as I'm keeping you busy, and if you try to bring it down on me, you'll sink your own ship in the process."

Jay snorted in response.

"'Utter stupidity' it is." He retorted. "You're assuming any one of those things is a cure, not a delay of the inevitable. I'm going to enjoy taking a big bloody bite out of your corpse right for your friends to see before I jump over and send them to join your fate. You seem to forget, meat…I'm still far beyond anything you are or will ever be."

Dael forced herself not to sweat by calming herself mentally. Not too good of a job, but enough to make it look as if all she felt was confidence…which was pretty far from the truth. Still…she knew this wasn't as hopeless as it seemed. There was a small chance of winning now…

"And _you_ seem to forget that I've seen you in action once and fought you personally once." Dael retorted. "Esthar's Hawks don't just fight and forget. They learn and adapt. I know your style now. And I have a new trick or two up my sleeve."

Jay snorted. "Fearful ramblings…a stupid attempt to make the wolfhound think the kitten can defend herself… As meaningless as rearing yourself up and hissing…in the end, just glamour. You couldn't possibly have learned anything new or gotten any stronger in such a short time. I think I'll demonstrate by disemboweling you with my first move…"

With that, the Elite Hound raised his glaives and brandished them, and crouched to leap and slash…

…And, for only the second time since he and Dael had "met", registered surprise.

Dael didn't brace for the attack this time. Instead, leaving herself open during his warm-up, she went right for him, stabbing at his head. Quickly, he broke his attack and reared up to intercept the sword, catching it between his glaives. Yet Dael quickly went into a feint. The weapon had hardly made contact with the glaives than she quickly pulled it out again a split second before Jay could lock her blade in place and twist it free like last time. His eyes gleamed, he grinned in response, and then he reared back to start a circular series of swipes at her…or, at least, he tried to. Before he could, Dael dove forward and stabbed for his side. It wouldn't have been a major blow, but it would have hurt and made it harder to fight…causing him to break his attack and quickly deflect it. In response, he brought his opposite glaive around for a slash, only to see that Dael had anticipated the block and quickly brought her blade up and around to hack for his shoulder. He soon broke off his attack again to deflect that strike.

His grin began to fade a bit here as he struck the blade aside and brought both of his weapons together to try and stab for Dael's throat. Again, he didn't get the chance, as Dael snapped her sword to one side, and instead shot forward with nothing but her bare hand, aiming an iron palm for his throat. It was a reckless move. It left her wide open, and had she been a moment slower, she would have run into a pair of blades that would have pierced either lung. But it was so abrupt and quick that Jay himself was reckless in response, and halted his attack just long enough for Dael to bring her blade around, and, of all things, began to deliver a few blows of her own, trying to advance on him. It worked. He was so caught off guard…he actually stepped _back_. None of the blows were serious, and he struck aside each one with ease, but his grin soon faded all together as he saw. Unbelievably, he was on the _defensive_, pathetic as it might have been.

Gritting his teeth, his eyes flashing, he snapped his glaive up and around and prepared to lop off Dael's arm on her next blow. But because her strikes were so weak and rapid, she shifted and went for his wrist on that arm, forcing him to abort the attack. However, she overextended herself, and he moved to stab her in the gut…only to have her bring the sword down for a chest slash before he could. He let out an audible snarl, if only a little one, as his attack was aborted once again. Furious, he reared back and tried issuing a series of stabs against the Esthar Hawk. But now, even more of the advantage shifted to Dael. As a result of this wild and more erratic behavior, she saw the moves telegraphed more and more, and aborted each and every one with a counter of her own.

Almost growling by now, Jay yanked back his weapon and tried to drive it into her head in fury…and left one side of his chest open. As he came forward, Dael reacted and shifted her blade out, holding it…and, in a move that stopped him more from shock even than pain…Jay thrust his own chest onto the tip of the blade and pierced into the skin. His eyes opened in shock.

Dael had actually drawn first blood.

His eyes soon filled with rage, and he went nearly animalistic as he tore his blade back and tried to drive both into her neck. But Dael was again too fast, crossing her blade and advancing. She intercepted both blades when they were close to him, before he could even build up enough power to stab, and locked there. The two clashed, their weapons colliding, and Dael moved in close and pressed her body against her weapon, managing to pin his arms where he couldn't bring his full strength behind them. The two clashed, nearly face to face.

Jay glared at her with a mixture of shock and rage, but gradually the surprise won out.

"How are you doing this?" He half-stated, half-demanded. "You couldn't have gained any new power or learned any new abilities in just a week!"

To tell the truth, Dael was now sweating. Her moves had been light, but they had been quick, and the strain had mounted on her. She was breathing a bit harder, and already her muscles were beginning to burn from the speed and strength she had been forced to display, especially since most of her hits were not "generalized" but with purpose. However, she managed a small smile as she looked at him.

"Fighting smarter, not harder." She answered. "It's clear to me now you were sloppy before the junction, and it gave you little incentive to improve. I know your repetoire by now. Your strategy is to use fast and powerful moves at critical points, force your opponent to waste a lot of energy deflecting each one. But you're terrible at countering. You look like you don't even know what to do sometimes to respond to my attacks. You're used to being the only one on the offense. So if I go for your openings while you're trying to launch an attack, I force you to abort each time even if I leave myself open in the process in order for you to defend yourself. Maybe I didn't get much stronger, but maybe you aren't familiar with our reputation in Esthar's Hawks. Most militaries on Gaia, from my understanding, tell their special forces 'always make sure you kill a Hawk in your first fight'."

Jay snarled again from beneath his scarf. "So the little kitten can get in a scratch. Big deal. None of that matters…"

Abruptly, he wrenched his weapons down, and Dael, for all of her strength, winced as she felt her wrists twisted. She tried to withstand it, but it was no good, and soon her sword was forced lower.

"When you're stronger, faster, and better than your opponent in every way!"

With that, Jay smashed his head forward to connect with Dael's skull.

By now, the Esthar's Hawk learned that trying to take a head on blow from an Elite Hound was too much. Hence, she managed to roll back and not take all of the impact…enough to keep her wits. But it still connected with sufficient force to send pain radiating through her skull, and made her stagger backward, breaking free. She tried to recover, but was too slow. Snarling again, like an animal, Jay was free to begin his assault, and did so.

He wasn't trying to play cruel this time. Instead, he hammered down on Dael again and again with one sweeping slice after another. Where before his blows hurt, it was worse than ever now. Dael felt her arms and even her pectoral muscles buckle under each blow. He was attacking like a savage, trying to overwhelm her completely. And, as fast as he was striking, she was sure he would do it. There wasn't even any finesse to his attacks, just advancing and slashing down again and again. However, that was enough. He was sick of this person giving him so much trouble. He wanted to dominate her in every way, and her own enhanced speed and strength could barely hold up. Unable to weather the attack, she had to start backing up to the edge of the ship.

She soon realized what a bad position this was as more sweat broke out on her brow, beginning to roll down it. She was being pushed off the edge. Once she hit the rail, she'd have nowhere to go. But more than that, she realized that Jay wasn't going to wait for that. He was assaulting her too strongly. He wanted her overwhelmed…wanted her dead. And her body was beginning to burn and strain to withstand it. Even her legs hurt from the continuous assault… However, seeing that the edge was going to him, Jay's grin returned. Abruptly, he yanked one of his glaives away and went in for a stab…headed for the shoulder. Dael realized if he hit that, that arm would be useless. Quickly, she shifted it…but still took a horrible blow. She let out a mild cry as the blade went into her collarbone. Not enough to break it, bit it pierced it, and send horrible pain radiating through her. She nearly crumbled from it, and faltered. Giving a laugh, he darted forward and sliced across her chest next, opening a bloody gash across it. More pain flooded her…stunned her…

_…No! Focus!_

As he came in to drive another slab into her, however, Dael focused, gave a yell, and swung her blade out to slice through Jay's exposed shin. It was a shallow cut, but blood flew from it. He was shocked once again. His smile vanished as he saw Dael once again manage to counter, and the move made his own blow go wild and offsides. Quickly, drawing her focus, her power, and her training, Dael maneuver out of the way and managed to slice her blade at Jay once again, this time going for his neck. He managed to intercept it…but fully halted his assault on doing so, once again shifting the battle back in Dael's direction.

Seeing what happened, he snarled and rapidly threw her blade aside with one hand, moving to slice in again…but was too late. Dael, in pain and straining as she was, wasn't giving in now. Her foot went up and delivered a blow to his solar plexus. It connected hard, and he let out a small gasp as some of his air was knocked out of his lungs, aborting his blow and making him step back. His eyes widened and he gagged, but he still tried to attack, only for Dael to force more out of her body and initiate another stop hit. Soon, she was attacking half-wild and reckless, half-calm and focused. She continued to use stop hits on him, taking advantage of her blow to his abdomen slowing and weakening him slightly, but she also attacked as well. All of her blows were meaningless, unfortunately. He guarded against each one. However, it managed to push him back, forcing him away from the railing and back onto the ship. Maybe it wasn't a winning strategy…but it was a survival one.

Jay eventually recovered. His blows began to get steadily faster and stronger as they fought, although Dael continued to manage to push him back. She couldn't let up now. She had to keep herself from breaking. However, after a while, his look of irritation returned. It wasn't anger, though…which made Dael worry. As she launched another weak blow, he swung both of his glaives around…and intercepted it. The sword soon was caught in his curved blades again. She tried to push…but her strength was still inferior to his, and he held tight. When that happened, he grinned at her again. Dael knew why as sweat started to sting her eyes and her breathing became more audible and labored. He had her. Now he'd push her down and start everything again… She had to be smarter.

_…Hope this insane move works._

As he began to slowly increase the power, looking to overwhelm her only deliberately and gradually…she decided to act. She held back against the push only until his power reached a certain point, and then suddenly let her blade go. The way that Jay had her blade, it didn't just snap down, but actually spun in a spiral. The move actually shocked him, but not as much as what she did next. Immediately, she dropped to the ground and, of all things, launched a sweeping kick for his ankles. Jay barely saw it in time. Quickly, he had to leap into the air to avoid it. As soon as he did, Dael was already around. Quickly, she brought her foot back under her, and snapped up into the air, seizing her still falling sword out of it, and then lunging at Jay's throat. He landed just in time to see it, and quickly locked his glaives together and caught it, saving himself just in time. His eyes actually widened at the surprise of the move. However, rather than let herself be caught in a trap again, Dael quickly yanked her blade away again, and stepped backward.

Here, she stood her ground a moment. Sweat was dripping on the ground, her wounds were still bleeding and hurt, and her sword was getting heavier in spite of her strength. Yet she could still fight. As for Jay, he held a moment, and lowered his glaives. His own eyes locked hungrily on her, but his mirth had faded again. He had a few wounds of his own, although they didn't even seem to be causing him discomfort. Plus, his brow was noticeably damp as well…although nowhere near Dael's.

"You're really starting to piss me off, girl…" He hissed. "You're quite irritating and persistent, and I don't really feel like wearing you down until I kill you."

"I don't think you have much of a choice here." Dael flatly answered.

He snorted. "Oh I don't, do I?"

Immediately, he crossed his blades together and let out a stream of arcane words. His aura flared, and, in a split second, a column of air, whirling about with razor-like piercing power and force, rocketed toward her.

Dael swore mentally. She had forgotten how fast he could get a spell off. There was little time to waste, and even less she could do. She brought her sword in front of her and braced herself…before the column of air smashed into her middle. She soon cried out again. The blades of wind sliced into her arms, shredded her tunic, and cut the flash underneath before ripping her off her feet and flinging her across the deck. She landed a moment later on the hard metal, sending more pain radiating through her. Luckily, none of the cuts had been too deep. Somehow, she managed to get enough of her bearings to roll backward, get her feet underneath her, and struggle to rise again…

That was when a smaller whirlwind shot out, caught her legs, and ripped her feet out from under her, sending her falling to the ground again. Again, she took a painful blow, this time one to the chin. Quickly, she began to rise…and just in time too. Giving a bestial yell, Jay was leaping into the air and bringing both of his glaives down on where she was lying. Quickly, she rolled to one side, and avoided as they plunged into the metal deck. However, she wasn't able to avoid the next blow, as Jay reached out and smashed her in the gut with his foot. She soon gave a gag of her own, but luckily no ribs broke. She did go sliding along the deck, however, farther away from him, as he yanked his glaives out. She tried to rise again…

When yet another went column hit her, this time slicing open her cheek and nearly cutting her eye before she fell to the deck again for another jarring blow.

"Stay where you belong, meat." Jay snorted, before he charged at her again, looking to try the diving move again.

Dael grit her teeth and managed to look up again, seeing him incoming. She thought of moving…but he'd just use his magic again. And each one of those columns of air both cut as well as hurt like a monstrous blow.

_Alright…time for my magic._

As Jay went in, abruptly six "Daels" broke off from the first one, and each began to scatter. They all fanned out and readied their blades, while the last one rose and did the same, each aiming for a blow.

He gave the one in the middle a snort. "This trick again, kitten? Like it's going to save you…"

He quickly lashed out a whirlwind at the one in the center to bowl it back over…only to have it vanish.

He snorted again. "So you're a bit smarter this time? Then try this!"

As the other six began to dart inward, he chanted again, and started to swirl his glaives out to either side of him. In response, the winds rapidly picked up, and soon he was surrounded by a fierce tempest in all directions. He held it for a moment, letting it build to brutal power as the copies closed in, and then he sent it flying out. His hungry eyes looked about, waiting for the true Dael to get hit, and then to follow up with another column of air…

Therefore, he was rather surprised when all of them vanished on being struck.

He registered genuine puzzlement. "Huh?"

"Behind you."

Jay spun around in a flash…and was just in time to see a Thundaga bullet connect with his body and ignite.

Now, the Elite Hound felt true pain, and he showed it. As a monstrous bolt of lightning erupted from the heavens and struck him, his entire body was lit up like a theater marquee. His limbs went rigid and he bellowed in agony as electricity shot through his body, burning his hands where they made contact with the metal of his glaives. Yet fifty feet away, also on deck, Dael slumped a bit, nearly dropping her gun and hunching over. She was running out of power…and she honestly hoped that this finished him, or at least took the fight out of him.

The illusion spell had been tiring enough at this point. She was running out of steam quickly as it was, and even simple spells took more out of her. Yet she had pulled a "fast one" on him. She knew the last time she used an illusion spell, it hadn't worked so well. So she purposely teleported right before an attack hit her, letting him think he had hit an illusion instead, and giving her both the time and an opening to hit her with her strongest move available.

_Well…one of the strongest…and I better try to think about doing the other move if he gets out of this, because I'm almost out of tricks…_

The woman could normally fire even high-level mage bullets without restraint, but tired as she was, even this one had taken a bit more out of her. Even if she had another bullet ready, she'd probably collapse if she fired it. She managed to put the gun away and weakly raised her blade once again, and looked as the lightning faded…almost too soon for her tastes. She didn't like what she saw, unfortunately.

Jay was still standing, not even buckling. That wasn't to say he hadn't gotten hurt, however. His clothing was charred and in tatters. His scarf, between the slashes and the lightning, had burned and ruined enough to where a passing wind from the ocean picked it up and carried it away…revealing the face beyond. It was horrible, twisted, and mad. His teeth were jagged and irregular, the victim of rot and cruelty. His lips and nose were scarred too. It looked as if most of his lips had been _cut off_ at one point, revealing only a horrible visage behind. However, he had more than one burn on his body too, and he was definitely sweating and straining from the pain and agony he had just endured. Yet rather than slow him down, that only made him more enraged than ever. He glared with almost maddening hate at Dael.

"Oh…that…_DOES IT_…little kitten…" He hissed with absolute hatred. To be honest, Dael was overwhelmed. How was he still standing? His feet were literally touching molten metal from the discharge! If that wasn't enough, she realized something else in the corner of her vision. The control tower for the destroyer was rebooting…coming back online. Yet Jay was so enraged that the skies overhead grew more violent and tempestuous. He wasn't even summoning a spell, and it was building. "I'm through playing nice with you, bitch! I'm just going to cut and cut and cut until there's nothing left! And there isn't a slice from that little butter knife in the world that can save you!"

Immediately, giving a bestial roar, Jay lunged at Dael. Her eyes widened a bit. Somehow, she had just enough time, presence, of mind, and, most importantly, energy to cast one last protection spell, but then he was on her. Quickly, she brought her blade up, going for another weakness, trying to drive it into his side to get him to break off the attack.

To her shock, and pain…he pushed himself _onto_ her blade, letting it pierce deep into him, so that he could drive his own blades into either one of her shoulders.

Jay didn't even cry out when blood erupted both from in front of him and behind him. But Dael, on the other hand, gave a sharp cry as she felt her strength fail in both limbs. To her shock, her arms fell and her sword clattered to the ground. She didn't have the strength to hold it anymore. She thought of using a kick attack, but it was too late. Jay immediately slashed across her chest again, cutting deeper this time, wracking her body with more pain and making her spill backward. He slashed yet again after that, cutting deeper again, and causing more blood to fountain out. By now, it was making her dizzy, in addition to the exhaustion. Plus, each blow hurt, filled her with more agony.

The man had turned into a savage. He brought his glaives up and swung them around to the pommel, and then began to smash her head and face one way and another. He beat into her wounds, against her body, against her neck, furiously striking everything he could, and each blow robbed her of more remaining strength. What senses she had faded, as he continued to beat again and again. Finally, he lashed both legs up and caught her under the chin, knocking her aside and flinging her across the deck.

Dael slid to a halt, but wasn't able to get back up. She left a bloody streak behind her, and she could barely move, not unless she could recover. However…again, she didn't get a chance. In a flash, Jay was in the air, and then came crashing down on her…driving both of his knees into her stomach as he did so. Her eyes bulged, her mouth opened, and she gagged blood. It was only because of the protection spell that half of her chest wasn't crushed. Even as this happened, however, Jay drove his glaives into either hand…piercing between her palm bones and nailing her to the deck. She cried out a bit with each one…before both of her limbs were "nailed" to the deck. After that, he seized her by the lapel.

"I'm going to beat you and cut you and beat you and cut you until you're the meat you are!" He hissed. "Then I'm going to tear your throat out with my teeth!"

Dael could only groan and wince in response. Her senses were fading. The world was swirling again. Even what Jay threatened was like in and out of a dream…or something at the end of a tunnel. She couldn't focus on it… She was trying to see him, but all she saw was a blurred face and…

…Light?

With that, the Esthar's Hawk gave a start. The beating had altered her consciousness…made it so she could see the light again. In fact, with only concentrating a bit…she saw it perfectly. The connection between her and the ship, the water, the sky, and even Jay. The pounding he had given her had knocked her for such a loop that everything became clear… But there was more than that.

She had a _ton_ of accumulated pain. And now, her inner reserve felt "full"…fuller than it had ever been. She felt like she was holding back a tremendous amount of power that was lapping at the "threads of light" connecting the two…

Unfortunately, there was little she could do about it. She was pinned, and Jay was both on her and had her arms immobilized. Her sword was halfway across the deck. What more, the destroyer was back online. Even if she could do anything, the crew would kill her soon afterward. She couldn't fight them anymore. She didn't even know where the _Excalibur_ was at the moment. She was dead even with her power…

_Unless…I teleport._

Dael almost dreaded it. It was true that teleporting drained her, especially doing so multiple times. But now…she felt another teleport might actually _kill_ her. She seriously doubted she had enough steam after it was done to pull it off…

But then again, if she didn't pull one off, she was dead anyway. Jay was already readying to do everything he threatened. Either this would work, or she'd be finished. In the end, she made the choice.

As the savage brought his fist up, she chanted again, quickly letting out the teleportation spell. She braced herself for the result…and a moment later Jay's hand smashed a dent into the metal deck…but Dael was gone.

Instead, the young woman reappeared behind him, over her sword…and immediately collapsed onto all fours. She barely kept herself from falling more than that. She panted and wheezed once there. She tried to move…but it was impossible. She didn't even know what was going on anymore. She practically fainted as it was. Her strength began to fade all together. She realized her gamble was too much. She couldn't do it… She didn't even know if Jay had seen her or not. All she knew is she had no power left…she was finished…

…_No!_

_I'm an Esthar's Hawk! I won't give up…!_

She continued to lean there a moment, before, with every fiber of her being, she literally forced her brain to start working and seeing again. She forced her body to move, even if it didn't want to. And, gradually, almost painstakingly slowly…the threads reappeared. She began to see light and connections around her, the flow of everything…and soon, she saw that a human-shaped flow was already standing over her, victorious and gloating. It held weapons in the air…weapons like glaives. It was Jay. He was readying to deliver the final strike.

Yet she saw something else…her sword right beneath her.

It was now or never. She had no power left in her own limbs, and so she had to use the power Bahamut had shown her. As Jay raised his glaives higher, she finally did it. She focused on the connection, and let go…letting the bond between her, the sword, and Jay flow…and soon, the world blacked out.

Dael didn't see what she pulled off, the sum result of her build-up of power. But everyone on the _Excalibur_, the destroyer, and Jay himself saw.

One moment, Dael was down… The next, her hand went out and seized her blade hilt with both hands, and she snapped up and onto her feet in a flash that belayed the speed of the Elite Hound. He was stunned, but that was a problem for him, as he would soon find out. Dael flicked her blade down against the deck…and the mere cast-off power of her blow, to his utter shock, as well as everyone else's…caused a flash of potent light that cleaved straight through the hull, slicing the entire front of the ship off all together, from the top of the deck to the bottom of the hull. He opened his mouth…but then soon got the business end. That cut was just the "warm-up". A moment later, she ripped her blade straight up…and the world seemed to turn black for a moment as an intense steak of light ripped through clean upward, shooting to the heavens and actually making the clouds that Jay generated fade and vanish.

And as for Jay, he took the blade head on…and a six-inch deep cut was ripped across his body from his hip to his shoulder, slicing muscles, blood vessels, organs, and bone as if they all were nothing more than air.

Only then, frozen in that position with her blood-stained sword aimed skyward, did Dael's consciousness come back. The world came back in, and she gaped to see herself standing before Jay…and a monstrous bloody cut across his torso. The glaives dropped to the ground in a clatter as blood gushed out of him. His face, twisted and horrible before, was now horrified and shocked, and he turned and looked down at his body, seeing the blood…and other things…fountaining out from it. He dumbly looked up to Dael, his face already turning white.

"But…but…I'm an Elite Hound…" He whined in a whisper. "You're…supposed to be…meat… You're not supposed…to…kill…_me_…"

A moment later, his arms fell, and he collapsed to the deck. He breathed his last a second later.

Dael was a statue…a brittle, wavering statue. She stayed that way a moment before a massive groaning came from beneath her. Snapping her head down, she gasped again, and stumbled backward onto the bulk of the ship as she saw the entire prow bend and sever off from the rest of the destroyer, sinking into the ocean. The remaining ship began to fill with water quickly. Alarms were blared, and soon crewmen opened the bulkheads and ran out on deck, furiously trying to bail out from the sinking vessel. To her shock, Dael realized she had cleaved right through it with that last move. In one blow, she had eliminated an Elite Hound and destroyed the _Knight_-Class Destroyer.

She soon fell on her rear end, right at the severed edge of the ship, still gleaming as it rapidly lowered. She looked down to her limbs, still holding her sword…and was in total disbelief.

_How could I have such power…?_

As she thought of this, however…she heard footsteps land beside her. She blinked, and looked up…just in time to see a familiar face on the deck. She was almost shocked.

"…Ceja?"

The Fuliet warrior gave her a smile back. "Perhaps you could have passed the Shenindunten as well, commander…" She said as she picked Dael up and literally slung her over one shoulder. As she did, Dael was addled a bit, but managed to look around. The _Excalibur_ had come around and pulled up next to the enemy destroyer again. Obviously, Ceja had leapt off to pick her up. Good thing too, because Dael couldn't move at this point, and she saw that the deck of the destroyer was already only half the height of the _Excalibur_. She wished she could hold on tight, but that wasn't really an option at her current level of power. Instead, she merely hung limply as her stomach did a tumble when Ceja leapt back off of the deck of the sinking ship and onto her own.

Yet even as she landed, she felt her hand tingling. Though she had a hard time keeping conscious, she looked over to it. As the dark skies cleared, she managed to see quite clearly the result.

An emblem of a tornado burned into the back of her bloody palm for a moment, and then vanished.

* * *

><p>The radio registered only static. There wasn't even a blip or a voice of anyone trying to get through. Raven listened for a bit longer, but then simply found the noise disagreeable, and then switched it off to a different channel. He turned his head slightly, so that he wasn't facing the wind. After all, it was blowing rather hard on the front deck of the destroyer he was perched on, especially coming through the channel ahead, and he didn't want it to get picked up on the radio.<p>

"Well…did he disembark?"

_"…No sir."_ The voice on the other end answered. It seemed to be a bit nervous. After all, not one member of the attack force in the Sybenian Navy, the three Elite Hounds included, had expected to see what had transpired, or to hear what the last few transmissions of the _Man-At-Arms_ had been before it sank beneath the waters of the ocean. _"…I…I believe…he was neutralized by the assailant."_

_"Look again, you peon imbecile."_ The voice of Crow retorted. _"The little brat couldn't even lay a mark on him."_

_"…While I'm inclined to believe you, madame…at the bare minimum, some new sort of weapon was used. Perhaps a hidden one…something that struck him down as well as cut the _Man-At-Arms_ into two pieces…"_

"It was no new weapon, unless you consider a 'super' Esthar's Hawk a bio-weapon of some sort." Raven calmly responded, ending his explanation. "You saw correctly, captain. Dael Levinson killed Jay and destroyed the ship with a single blow."

_"That little twit couldn't even land a hit on you."_ Crow responded. _"Granted, you're quite a bit more than Jay was…but she doesn't have the means to get the most out of her Guardian Force like we do. You heard what he said in their fight before. She was nothing to him."_

"Apparently not." Raven simply answered.

A snort from her end. _"…Bring my ship around. I'll teach her and everyone on their boat some manners…"_

"Don't bother." Raven flatly cut off. "Captain, what's the status of the remaining fleet?"

A pause. _"…It seems they realize what that new boat did. They're regrouping again, going to stand their ground, it looks like."_

_"All the better to kill them all in one fell swoop." _Crow retorted. _"The little wretches. Think because Jay got sloppy that they have nothing to fear? Even if we weren't in the fleet, they'd be dead. They're hopelessly outnumbered."_

_"…Outnumbered, yes. Hopelessly…not so much." _The captain darkly responded. _"Esthar sent reinforcements. They're appearing on the mid-range sensors now. In the time it takes our fleet to get into position to fire on the remaining Lamb fleet, they'll have joined with them."_

_"And this is supposed to scare us…how?" _Crow responded. _"Whether there be one trash boat out there or a hundred, the result will be the same."_

"…Understood, captain. Crow and I are falling back." Raven calmly stated into the radio. "I suggest you pass along my message to the admiral to do the same."

There was a pause from both ends on the other line.

_"…Sir?"_

_"Are you mad?"_

"Rozan Heirarch wanted a total rout of the Lamb Archipelago. Seems he won't get what he wants. To be able to trounce the enemy, the navy will have to start using the aircraft and suffering heavy losses as they try to overcome the enemy blockades. They don't even know how many artillery units on shore they still possess. The navy will win the day, yes, but they'll be in poor shape to take the main island."

_"Who cares? After this is gone, there's literally nothing in the world standing between Sybenia and a land invasion of Esthar. And even if they were five times this size, the two of us could destroy them all!"_

"And not too long ago, we thought the same thing about the _three_ of us." Raven responded. "Now, one new ship manages to disable eleven of ours single-handedly. Who knows if Esthar made more of those? And what of this new power it seems Ms. Levinson has discovered?"

Another pause. _"…You're actually _scared_ of that little brat?"_

"I'm beginning to think she's more worthwhile than she initially appeared back in Helheim." Raven simply answered. "Let's leave it at that. I'm withdrawing. If you'd like to face the wrath of their entire combined navy and whoever is on their new ship, be my guest. You shouldn't take this so hard. After all…it's not like any sweet victory they obtain won't turn into ash in their mouths within the next 24 hours."

He turned off the radio after saying this.

* * *

><p>Dael still wasn't really sure what was happening. Her body felt like useless weight as she was dragged back in the ship and to the bridge along with everyone else. Once there, Taraketh lowered over her and began to go to work, but she wasn't sure who else was present. Her senses were swimming, and she had no idea what was going on, what was being said, or even how much time had passed. Her body was on fire with soreness, and she was completely exhausted. She didn't even know how she was managing to keep her eyes open.<p>

She heard some vague voices after a while.

"She's not getting up…"

"I'm only healing her injuries. I can't give her back her stamina."

"Here. Let me."

Dael wasn't sure exactly what happened, but out of her foggy vision, she saw a strong palm come down and place itself on her chest. She winced a bit, for although her slashes were closed and healing, they were still tender. A moment later, she saw some light…and then felt something press into her chest with a shock…

At once, Dael was alert again. She spasmed and let out a large gasp, arching her back and opening her eyes wide as she felt what seemed like a shot of adrenaline go into her. As she looked up, she now saw the bridge of the _Excalibur_ clearly. That wasn't all, however. She saw that everyone was gathered there, and huddled around her, seeming to be eagerly hoping she would get up. Taraketh was at her side but pulling back. Jalab was over her, and had his palm aimed against her chest. She saw his aura fade, and the other seemed to be looking to Dael and to him at the same time. No one seemed to be manning the boat at the moment. However, on seeing Dael alert once again, everyone began to smile at her.

The young woman slumped back a moment later and breathed more evenly for a few moments, then looked up to the others again.

"What…happened?" She stated. "Where am I? Is this the _Excalibur?_"

"Sure as hell ain't the _Gungir_, lass." Cryder said with a grin.

"When you sliced the destroyer in two, Cryder brought the ship around as fast as he could." Quaren spoke up from the side. "Ceja jumped on and got you off."

Dael blinked a moment, and then looked stunned at what Quaren had just told her. "…Did you say 'sliced the destroyer in two'?" She echoed.

"That's not all." Ceja continued. "You dispatched that Elite Hound with one blow. It seemed to have taxed you considerably, however. Taraketh had to heal you, and then Sir Tierras performed an additional technique that revived you."

"Another mantra manipulation." Taraketh explained. "The ability to transfer some of one's own energy to another. At any rate…what I'm more curious about is how you pulled off that attack in the first place."

"Same here, commander." Quaren immediately threw in, giving her a look. "I mean…they never taught us anything like that in school. And even with your junction, I've never seen you do anything like that before. I'm junctioned too and I _know_ I couldn't pull that off."

Dael exhaled a bit, and then looked to the opposite side, where Bahamut was standing. "You can ask my 'teacher' over there." She said with a gesture.

However, she soon paused, for she saw Bahamut staring at her very seriously.

"…Dael, that move was inconceivable." He stated in response. "That's the kind of move only magic-embued knights of the highest order could ever pull off, like Paladins. Even then, I don't think I've ever seen one of that magnitude before. At least…not personally. In terms of history, there's only been a handful who could manage it…"

The young officer had to pause a moment. She tried to remember what happened. She was so out of it from a combination of a beating and exhaustion before…but she began to remember things. Jay had been poised to kill her. She had used all she had left to teleport and focus on using the ability Bahamut showed her. She couldn't even remember what she did, but she vaguely remembered something… She recalled seeing the threads of light, and seeing one large thread between her sword, the destroyer, and even Jay…running straight through all of them. She thought of striking it…but she couldn't recall doing so. The next vague memory she had was standing before him with her blade angled upward, the destroyer split in two and Jay nearly the same.

She was shocked, frankly. She had no idea she could have summoned that kind of power. This was far above and beyond what she had done on the deck of the covert destroyer. However, she realized she had a lot more 'built-up'. Like some sort of internal capacitor, the more Jay unloaded on her, the more she 'charged' until she could unload it powerfully enough to perform that move. Apparently, by beating her to the edge of death, she could summon power far above and beyond even what an Elite Hound was capable of…

And if so, then that meant…

It was almost crazy to consider in view of their first meeting, but Dael, against all odds, had single-handedly dispatched an Elite Hound. Even if he was the "weakest", she had still done it. That meant Sybenia wasn't as invincible in that regard as they seemed. What more, she felt new power inside her, she began to realize. She had an image in her mind…of some purple, multi-colored creature. It must have been Pandemona. She remembered what Taraketh had told her months ago. If a Guardian Force wielder struck down someone else junctioned to a Guardian Force, they inherited the Guardian Force without a trial. Sybenia's Guardian Force supply had been decreased by one while Esthar's had been increased by one. Powerful as he was, and much as Dael didn't want to get into a fight with him, Li Juanhong was beginning to look possibly beatable…as was Sybenia.

However, she shook her head and snapped out of this. She didn't have time to gloat over her own power any longer. She had defeated Jay, but the naval battle was far from decided, let alone the war. She forced her hands underneath her and began to rise. It made her dizzy, but she could still do it.

"Forget my small victory…" She stated to the others. "Don't just stand around me. We need to get the _Excalibur_ moving. We can't fight back anymore and the battle is still on."

The others paused for a moment on hearing this. Soon after, a few of them looked to each other, and then back to Dael with a smile.

"Relax, lass. We've got time to spare now. The battle's good as done." Cryder responded.

"The reinforcements from Esthar arrived." Cid responded. "They must figure we have a whole fleet of ships like the _Excalibur_. Or…" He gave a shrug here. "Maybe they're just scared of our new 'secret weapon'." He said with a grin to her. "I mean, anything that chops a ship in two with one strike is something to be scared of."

"They know they're not the only side that can eliminate ships easily now." Taraketh threw in.

"…Yes they are." Dael flatly answered. "The only reason I pulled off that move was because I had built up a lot of pain, and I doubt I could manage it again. Even if I could, I don't feel like getting beaten up until I can."

"They don't know that though, commander." Quaren maintained. "Cid's right. They hesitated as soon as you took down Jay. Soon after, the two ships that had Crow and Raven on them turned and backed off. The rest of the fleet hung back while Lamb came forward again, and then the ships from Esthar got into range. When that happened…they broke. I don't think they want to risk us throwing any more 'surprises' at them."

"Indeed." Ceja threw in, crossing her own arms. "These Sybenian dogs are only brave when they think their opponents are helpless. Pathetic excuses for warriors."

"Heh…not bad for a classic 'Baron vs. Bab-Il' fight, eh, mateys?" Cryder asked rhetorically to everyone. Soon after, he looked to Bahamut and reached out to ruffle his hair. "Especially you, little big man. You'd give Tay a run for his money, and that's sayin' a lot. You all sure you don't want to get into the piratin' business when this is all over?"

Bahamut, however, didn't show much mirth. In fact, he was the only one in the group who wasn't smiling. Instead, he appeared uncomfortable. One might conclude that was from the fact that he had to fire a lot of guns and missiles just now, but Dael knew better. Bahamut was as much of the warrior mentality as the rest of them, and more so than most. That hadn't been it. It was the same reason she wasn't smiling at the moment…this didn't seem right.

Sybenia was aggressive and with a superiority complex, which is exactly why this didn't make sense. They still had overwhelming numbers and firepower. Sure, this victory might have been a bit more costly, and in light of recent events the odds were no longer completely with them. But they were far from a point in which they needed to sweat. If they pushed, they could wear the defenders down. They had already taken out a lot of defenses from Lamb on the shore. They hadn't even brought their planes to bear yet. They might have to settle for a longer fight than they did for Garrado, but this was by no means a defeat or rout. So why break off now? Did Rozan Heirarch want to see _that_ unstoppable? If so…then why break off? It made him seem a whole lot more beatable now…

_This isn't right… Something's going on._

In spite of her victory against Jay, Dael was beginning to wonder if they had suffered a defeat, and just didn't know about what it was yet.

Snapping out of it, she looked to the others. "…Cid, stay on the long range sensors and keep me advised as soon as communications are working again. Cryder, get us to the port in Lamb. We need to start getting the _Excalibur_ ready for action again. Everyone else…let's get below and see what we can do about bailing the ship out."

The seriousness in Dael's voice, and her attitude of authority, caused no small amount of puzzlement among the group.

"…Is something wrong, commander?" Quaren asked.

"Not that I can tell, corporal." Dael responded. "So let's get the _Excalibur_ back in perfect condition as soon as possible, because when something _does_ go wrong…we better be ready for it."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	39. Changing of the Guard

_The Next Day_

* * *

><p>Dael threw the switch on the dock relay.<p>

"Cid…I know you have a million things to do already, but are the lines open yet?"

There was a pause in response, then a sound came back. _"Sorry Dael, still down. But I've finished repairing the hull and the engines. Helps to have some assistants with engineering backgrounds. She's tighter than a size 0 dress on Boss Capulluno and the engine is purring like a kitten again. We're fully refueled and she'll get us anywhere at max speed at a moment's notice."_

The commander forced herself to smile at Cid's enthusiasm about this. While it was good news…none of it was what she wanted to hear. "…Good job. Tell me as soon as the radio lines are clear." She switched off the relay soon afterward.

Dael let out an exhale as she looked up to the rest of the Lamb docks. Naturally, they were jam-packed full. The ones capable of servicing warships were all in use, especially the dry docks, and the civilian piers were teaming with citizens from outlying islands. They correctly guessed that if an invasion came, they had a much better chance if they sat on the main island and could hold their ground against land forces than on the smaller islands where the navy could obliterate them without ever making landfall. However, Dael wasn't near those. She was herself docked at one of the military piers. They had been at dry dock earlier to patch the leaks in the hull, but all of those were tended to from the outside in no time flat. Now they were docked normally while Cid did the rest of the work on the interior. All in all, it had been fast work. Cid was magic with repairs, and this time he had some help. It seemed the Defense Minister was a bit more generous than Boss Capulluno, not to mention grateful. He had dispatched some of the corps of engineers to help out with making the _Excalibur_ fully functional again. Of course, Dael realized, that might have simply been because any ship that, at full function, could disable eleven destroyers was an asset they wanted as soon as possible. Yet many of the other ships needed repairs too. There wasn't a single Lamb warship that hadn't taken damage. There was a question of whether or not they'd have to move to docks on other islands.

However…considering the fact there was a grand total of 13 ships of the original 49 left…

That was a grim thought, and it did more than just upset Dael. As she looked over the crowded piers, awash with sailors, servicemen, engineers, and other workers, there was a nervous fervor about all of them. It was far worse here than it had been in Esthar. There was very little chance that they could weather another assault, especially since the next one would likely be bigger. Most of Lamb's military supplies came from Leuco. They had already cut some of their supply when they announced their partnership with Sybenia, and now, in light of recent events, they weren't supplying anything more. Lamb had no military production facilities of its own. They were practically disarmed, only possessing whatever weapons they already had. There had been some effort to cannabolize the sunk ships just to get more artillery units for the shore, but that was impossible. Those ships were long gone.

The sun was shining bright and cheery. It was a welcome reprieve. As Cryder had noted when they went into battle, the storm season was coming early this year and going too high. So far, Lamb had been lucky to avoid three large hurricanes this season, although two of the islands of the archipelago were practically claimed by the ocean by the latter one. A fourth one was forming, and it looked as if this one would make landfall on Lamb itself. That was just another bit of bad news everyone had to deal with. For now, however, the port was bustling. Everyone was trying to hasten preparations for the next wave. For the most part, people were glad to work. Work meant people didn't have to be brooding about what was coming. It was a good distraction. Unfortunately, for Dael, who was just supervising, there was little for her to do but brood.

The _Excalibur_ had been the first ship to dock at Lamb. However, the other ships weren't far behind. They were hardly in a position to try and "nip at the heels" of the Sybenians when they pulled back into their waters. As it turned out, Esthar hadn't seen any action at all. Probably better that it didn't, considering their pathetic armaments. They acted as escorts and tried to fill in the void of guardians while the rest of the Lamb fleet docked. Since then, Dael had been more or less in the dark. She tried to raise the colonel, but all she got was a general message passed along by an envoy. She was congratulated and said she would be receiving a special commendation: the Northern Crescent. If this was any other time or place, Dael would have been overjoyed. She might have passed out if she was the same recruit fresh out of the Academy. As it was…she couldn't care less. Sybenia was beginning to pull out all the stops. Commendations, awards, and medals meant very little if they lost the war, which still looked overwhelmingly likely.

She kept trying, but the colonel was almost continuously meeting with Lady Cybus and the Defense Minister. After a few hours, she realized, more or less, the futility of it and simply looked about getting radio transmissions with everyone else. In particular, she wanted to know how things were back in Esthar. In light of this recent event, was the Legislature finally taking some real action? Or were they still bickering while Esthar's Hawks gave blood, sweat, and tears so they could have the privilege of doing nothing?

Unfortunately, the signal was still jammed. Esthar's Hawks may have not been too terribly advanced in terms of weaponry, but their software was top of the line. They went to work cracking the virus both on the Lamb ships as well as the relays. Yet six hours later, when everyone was getting clear transmissions from the fleet, the main island, and even picking up some drunk's CB radio up in the mountains…there was still nothing from Esthar. The engineers were working round the clock, but turning up little.

And so, in spite of being the "MVP" of the previous battle, Dael was feeling rather useless at the moment, not to mention helpless. Cid may have gotten the _Excalibur_ fully motile again, but aside from having cleaned up the wreckage of the aft turret, there had been little improvement in terms of weaponry. They had no rockets or artillery shells. Even if Lamb had been able to spare some, they were all the older caliber style. They'd have to wait until they returned to Esthar. Unable to raise either the colonel or Esthar, they were pretty much out of the loop. The local radio stations were pretty much their only window on the world, and they were focusing mostly on emergency broadcasts and the like.

At least the others got a "break". Ceja and Jalab were both in the ship, sleeping as best as they could. That wasn't too easy as Cid and the workers were constantly welding, hammering, bolting, rivoting, and the like. More than once, Ceja had come out and yelled at them in her native tongue. Once she even brought her axe. Taraketh had disembarked to try and locate Lady Cybus, while Cryder had disembarked to try and locate some fresh liquor so he couldn't have to dive into his own stock. Both had set a time that they would be back, and Dael was, in truth, expecting them at any minute. That left Quaren and Bahamut…who were both on deck along with Dael. Much like her, they were feeling a bit useless at the moment, which, in a war situation, was never a good feeling. Quaren would normally be cleaning and servicing his weapons, but, unable to do that, he was simply seated on deck with his rifle and sighing. Bahamut had his arms crossed and was looking out to sea.

At the minimum, Dael figured she should be celebrating whatever small victory this was. They had bought Esthar some more time, and she had disabled one of their greatest opponents…and claimed another Guardian Force in the process. On that note…

Looking out a bit, Dael stared a moment. Soon after, she raised a hand, closed her eyes, and began to chant and focus. Bahamut and Quaren both looked to her at this. It took a few moments, but her aura suddenly blazed. However, following this…only a small whirlwind formed in front of her and gusted outward. It made it off the deck, but didn't even last to the next destroyer before fading out. She opened her eyes and sighed.

"…It's too bad that Taraketh wasn't the one to finish Jay." She said with a sigh. "If he was, maybe we could generate giant tornadoes of our own."

Quaren grimaced a bit at that. "…Don't feel bad, commander." He stated. "Now they can't use any more tornadoes on us at least, right?"

"Besides, even Taraketh wouldn't be able to help us do that." Bahamut threw in. He continued to look out to sea, but Dael and Quaren looked up to him. "That was a lot of power…too much. That's like the power someone gets from magicite…or from Pandemona himself. Even the old Magi couldn't generate a spell that gigantic…at least, not that I recall. Maybe during the War of the Magi…but even so, that was beyond normal capacity."

Quaren gave a shrug. "Well, he did somehow. He had to be some kind of big mage then."

Bahamut looked back to the two. "That's just it…I don't think he was. He seemed like a savage, more than anything. No spiritual awareness. No control. Just power and ferocity. More of a beast than a man. Yet he was able to wield spells on par with the Order of Hyne Sorceresses. Likely magic that no one has ever seen before. And he didn't even seem to get drained from the experience."

"So what are you suggesting? That he didn't really use the spell?" Dael responded. "That it was some other weapon or device? I don't know about the big tornadoes, but everything else came from him, no question."

"I'm not saying it didn't." Bahamut responded. "All I'm saying is that Sybenia, for all its talk about not being interested in magic, wants a little more than Guardian Forces. From my understanding, they weren't just persecuting magic users. They were deporting them to somewhere in Leuco. Based on what we picked up in that internment camp, my guess is they were conducting some form of research."

Quaren and Dael alike both paused on hearing that. They considered this possibility for a moment or two. After a second, Quaren turned to Dael. "…It would explain one thing. I mean, Sybenia has to be the most secure place for a prison, right? But if they were doing research involving magic users, after all their talk against magic, then it wouldn't be a good place to have one of those facilities, right?"

Dael thought about that for a short while. She opened her mouth to respond, when a blip of static went off from the relay, immediately getting everyone to turn to it.

_"Dael? The colonel's on the line."_

The young officer forgot about the possibility of a facility, and stood up fully. She quickly went back over to the relay and switched it on. "I read you, Cid. I'm here. Go ahead and patch him through."

There was a momentarily pause as switches were thrown. After that happened, the voice of Colonel Regalis began to come through.

Dael almost immediately noticed something was wrong.

The colonel was a military man and a soldier. Good or bad, rain or shine, he was focused and controlled. He got the job done and he kept a level, steady head on his shoulders. Nothing upset him. Nothing broke his commanding persona. That's why everyone looked up to him for guidance; because, no matter what changed, he was constant and unyielding. It was for all these reasons that Dael soon felt rather uncomfortable on hearing the colonel's voice, because it was quieter than usual, slower, and spoken with a bit more difficulty than the man would be willing to let on. He sounded like he was trying to sound like the traditional colonel in spite of his feelings…and, for once, wasn't succeeding.

_"…Commander Levinson? Do you read?"_

Dael, noticing the change, gave a long pause…one that showed uncertainty on her own face.

"Yes, colonel. I read you, over."

Another pause. _"…Is the _Excalibur_ seaworthy?"_

Dael again hesitated herself. "Yes sir. We need refitting of arms back at Esthar, but the hull is repaired and the engines are fully operational."

_"…Here are your new orders. Return to Esthar at maximum speed. Assist Lady Mianyl in any way possible. Follow her directions. Remain there until further notice. I'll be departing as well as soon as I can, as will the rest of Esthar's Hawks."_

Quaren and Bahamut both heard this, as did Dael, and both of them registered some surprise along with her. Dael's brow furrowed a bit. "Sir, I understand that the _Excalibur_ is not in shape for combat and needs refitting, but why are we pulling out the rest of the fleet? I thought we were going to hold the line here?"

_"The line to hold isn't in the Lamb Archipelago anymore, commander."_ Regalis darkly responded. _"You are aware that we have not had radio contact with Esthar for some time?"_

Dael felt a cold chill ripple down her back. She didn't like how this was going…

"…Yes sir. But wasn't that due to the viral jamming?"

_"Only for the first few hours, commander. The reason we haven't gotten transmissions since then is because the main broadcasting tower for the city proper of Esthar was disabled."_

Dael blinked. "…Disabled?"

_"By an aircraft pilot's bomb, commander. Of course, that was only one of the subordinate targets that Sybenia hit with two aircraft carriers worth of bombers that it snuck into our waters while we were preoccupied with the fleet at Lamb. The main target was completely leveled by their strike." _A pause. _"…The Legislative building has been completely destroyed…and was hit while the Legislature was in session with nearly full attendance. In one sneak attack, Sybenia has more or less destroyed the highest level of government of Esthar."_

* * *

><p><em>Four Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>Dael didn't think there was anything on Gaia that could make her want to move faster than the battle they were in the other day. Yet for the second time in three days, she found herself wishing the <em>Excalibur<em> was much faster than its already blazing speed.

Nothing seemed real at the moment. The woman felt like she had been stuck in some sort of work of fiction or was dreaming. Any moment she thought she'd wake up. But no matter how many times she checked and rechecked, the truth was always the same. There had been no lie or error in what Colonel Regalis had told her. This was probably the darkest day in Esthar's history.

Dael got the news before most anyone else did other than the higher officers. He had managed to establish a link to the emergency channels and found out about it. From what he had picked up, the city was already descending into chaos. He didn't bother with too many details, just began to dispatch whatever ships that could return to return. He himself had ended up being the first to leave only after heavy consideration of the consequences. After all, if they returned now, there was little question that the enemy would come back with redoubled efforts to conquer the archipelago. So for now, he could only send ships back one at a time. He tried to do it discretely. After all, the last thing they needed was panic among the Esthar's Hawks. And this was definitely something that might put them into one. Dael called the others and got them on board, and even told them to depart before she even gave them the news.

This only represented a small technological improvement to Sybenia, but it was enough to make a world of difference. Until now, the only way to get to the city proper was through the port far to the south. While it may not have been the most well-guarded spot in the world, it had plenty of sensors to be able to pick up incoming ships, and all were long range. Sybenia couldn't have made a move before the fleet in Lamb had a chance to respond. The same with a direct assault on the west coast. As far as the east coast was concerned, it was unassailable. Between the length of the trip across the sea and the amount of heavy cover in the form of the mountain passes filled with metallic ores that made navigational systems turn on their heads, there was no way anyone could attack from the east side.

Until now, that was. Their new bombers, born along by heavier and slower aircraft carriers, were able to move in on the city from that direction. What more, they had some sort of new computer viral weapon with them. On detonating it, it remodulated the shielding of the city to a frequency where the bombs could slip right through. By the time the antiviral software had come online and broken it…the damage was done. If they had seen them coming, they would have had the antiviral software up sooner, but the Sybenians had enough time to drop their payload on the Legislature, the relay tower, and a few other points to drive the city into total disarray.

The trip was almost silent. After all, the _Excalibur_ ran quietly as it was. However, no one felt like talking or chatting. Most of the group had tried to get some sleep or food, use the time to recover more from their injuries. But no one really felt like that either. Even though Dael, Quaren, and Taraketh were the only natives to Esthar, everyone else was in a dark mood as well. After all, even if they weren't native, this was what they were defending and, like it or not, the last bastion against Sybenia. What did this mean?

Dael didn't know herself, but she feared what would be waiting for them when they returned to Esthar. At the moment, no reports were coming from the city. Everything was coming via emergency relay to the colonel, who was forwarding information on a need-to-know basis to the others. But as shocking as this was…there was no telling what the citizens were going through. There was an old maxim in political science: the only thing worse than having a completely inept and corrupt government was no government at all…

The bulkhead turned behind Dael, shaking her from her thoughts. She managed to hear it even over the wind of the ocean. She had tried staying on the bridge and listening for reports…but it made her too anxious. In the end, she went back to the bridge for the solace of the ocean's gentle rolling. It was a bit more turbulent now, the first signs of the new storm system. Still, it was soothing to her. Right now, she wished she was back on her cliff in Esthar, in spite of the bad memories. It made her feel so peaceful there…

However, that moment was gone now, and she looked to see who was coming out. As it turned out, it was Taraketh.

Like most of the group, he was somber and morose. His face was downcast as he moved out to the deck and out to where Dael was. He looked up to her as he approached, and Dael noticed, for once, he showed no sign of superiority or confidence or his normal egotistical nature.

He said nothing at first, although he looked to her. After a lengthy pause, Dael decided to speak up first.

"Any new transmissions?"

The High Child paused, then shook his head. "No. Nothing except urgency to get back to Esthar as soon as possible. I think half of the ships are headed back by now. We're outstripping them easily. We'll be there a full day in advance."

Dael nodded. "I pretty much thought so." A pause. "…How's Quaren holding up?"

Quaren, sadly, had taken this news the worst. He always was a bit of a worrier, even in good times. But his mother was a representative… He had practically dove at the radio each time, waiting to hear if his mom had been in the capitol when it was hit or if she was one of the select few who, whether due to fortune or fate, had not been present. The odds were in his favor. His mom had spent most of her time at home rather than in the building. After all, she was doing more good by writing out letters to the civil service in her sector rather than sitting in the building arguing endlessly with no resolution. She had boycotted the Senate debates prior to their departure, so maybe…

Tarketh sighed. "For once…I'm grateful for that damn pirate's penchant for drinking. I normally would never encourage anything like this, but he's talking Quaren into having a bit of his liquor." He quickly elaborated. "Not much, just a drink to make him worry about this a little less."

At times like this, Dael wished she was a little more "soft" and "nurturing". Quaren could use someone like that right now, not someone bred to be a warrior. She felt so useless when it came to things like that. Nevertheless, she realized it might be enough if she would just go in and sit with him, let him know he had a friend nearby. And even if it was well intentioned on Cryder's part, she realized she didn't want him to start obsessing over it to the point of drunkenness. He might make it a habit if things ended up being bad… For all she was brooding, she realized he was going through a harder time.

"…I'll head inside and sit with him. Make sure he only has one."

Taraketh exhaled in response. "…I'm pretty temperent myself, Dael, but I think he could use it."

"He could use me better. I should try and sit with him, not pass him a bottle."

The High Child paused, but then nodded. "Alright."

Dael turned and walked away from the front of the deck, past Taraketh, and headed for the bulkhead. She sighed as she did so. "I'll admit, I'm not very good at these things. A few months ago, I might have just told him to 'man up'. But I guess you might have been right, at least in a sense. I used to be far more of a 'grunt' then than I am now. The world seems to be a bit more than just Esthar and whatever enemy pops up to shoot at."

Taraketh didn't respond. Dael made it almost to the bulkhead, when she paused and looked behind her. She was a bit surprised at what she saw. The young man had moved to the railing, and his head was bowed. He had a dark mood about him, one of disappointment and unease. It looked as if, by his own admission, he had just been rejected for being Lady Mianyl's Sorceress Knight by her personally. On seeing this, she turned around to face him completely.

"Is something the matter, Sir Sabian?"

The High Child kept looking out at the ocean for a moment, before he let out a small snort.

"…Taraketh." He finally stated. "You can call me just Taraketh from now on. Forget the 'sir' title."

Dael paused a moment, then spoke again. "Is something the matter, Taraketh?"

He kept looking out at the ocean. "I'm just a little disappointed in myself, Dael."

The commander blinked, and advanced toward him a step. "You shouldn't be. You did all you could out there. It might not make a lasting difference, but for today the Lamb Archipelago remains autonomous because of us, and you. As far as Esthar is concerned…there's nothing we could have done. Even if we were there, we don't have much defense against planes. And Lamb would have fallen."

He shook his head. "I'm not talking about all that." He stated. He let out another heavy sigh, then turned and face Dael. His look was unusually somber, more so than Dael had seen in a long time. He had to pause again before he could speak.

"…When you called us all in, announced we were leaving, and then started to say why were leaving, a lot of thoughts ran through my head. On the news of the bombing, I was like everyone else…shocked, horrified, and wondering about people I knew who were there. I looked to the radio along with Corporal DeSur and hung on every word I heard from the colonel…about how over two hundred people were dead in the Legislative Building."

He paused.

"But then I heard that Lady Mianyl had been away in the Cathedral when it was hit. And…" He let out another heavy sigh, bowing his head. "…No matter how I looked on the outside, no matter what I told myself to feel on the inside, deep down in my heart of hearts…I was overjoyed."

Dael looked back silently for a moment, before giving a shrug. "Of course you were. I know Sorceress Mianyl means a lot to you. Anyone would be happy."

The High Child didn't change. "Dael…two hundred people are dead. Two hundred families lost a child or a parent or a brother or sister or loved one. For thousands of people, this is the worst day of their lives. Countless more are scared, confused, terrified, and probably continuously watching the skies, waiting to see if another bomb will come down and turn their lives upside down all over again." He paused. "…And all I can do is feel happy that one person who was important to me didn't die. You know how selfish that is?"

Dael crossed her arms and leaned against the fore turret. "This may come as a bit of a 'shock' to you, Taraketh, but humans are selfish people. We talk a lot about morals and altruism and sharing and giving, but it's in our nature to look at things from the angle of what's in it for us."

"That's a military mentality."

"That's a _pragmatic_ mentality." Dael flatly answered. "What you and your order does is good, but it's something that very, _very_ few people can invest themselves in completely. Ideas of utopia and peace are all well and right, but if they don't plan on people being selfish, then they don't amount to a hill of beans. I'm sorry if you think that's a negative view or a 'military mindset', but that's the way things are. As an Esthar's Hawk, I'm not interested in what people _say_ they'll do or how people _want_ to be…I'm interested in how people actually _are_."

"So what are you saying, Dael?" Taraketh answered, his tone sharp…but not as sharp as it used to be. "That the Order of Hyne is a group of frauds? Idealistic fools?"

"I'm not saying that at all." Dael responded. "On the contrary, I think your order is one of the few good and wholesome things still in this world…at least, the bulk of it. And the parts of it that _are_ good are ones that _don't_ match the military mentality, who aren't pragmatic, who are willing to see that things could be more ideal."

Taraketh frowned a bit. "…You're not making sense."

"The world doesn't make sense. What I'm saying is that's your job, just like what I said is my job. And it goes hand in hand. That's the way things have always worked. While organizations like the Order of Hyne try to unite everyone in a world of peace, love, and harmony, organizations like Esthar's Hawks smack anyone who would disrupt that peace, love, and harmony over the head with a club. We sit on a fence with a gun so that people can safely dream and plan for a world where they don't need fences or guns. At the end of the day, Taraketh, as much as you may hate to admit it, the Order of Hyne needs us, and we need them. We may be two sides of the same coin, but together we _are_ a coin. Separate we're a useless slug."

The High Child looked back to the ocean, saying nothing. Dael, on her part, ran a hand through her hair.

"But getting back to what I said…it's natural for people to want to make sure their loved ones are safe first. It's natural for anyone. What you're feeling is a form of 'survivor guilt'. It happens all the time in the military."

"…I'm not a military man."

"You are now." Dael flatly answered. "Anyone who takes up a weapon against Sybenia is. And what you're feeling is only human. Don't be mad at yourself for feeling that way."

"What if I don't want to feel that way?" Taraketh responded as he looked up to Dael again. "What if I want to be more like Lady Mianyl? I'm sure she's weeping over those dead people right at this moment."

"Maybe she is." Dael responded. "But if she's really as close a friend to you as she seems to be, do you think she wouldn't be crying even harder if you had been one of those people who had been blown up? Taraketh, like it or not, we all have people in the world who we think are more valuable, at least to us, than others. And that's not a thing to hate. It's something to embrace. Otherwise, everyone would be the same to us…meaningless. Faceless. The fact that you feel she's more important is because you had time to make a connection to her, to make things that you'll miss if she was gone. As for being more like her…you're already doing pretty good, from what I can tell. You think there aren't thousands of people in Esthar who had friends and relatives in the vicinity of the capitol today who aren't crying tears of joy that they weren't around when the building was hit? The fact that you even want to feel more for the victims sets you above a lot of us."

"But I don't just want to be at a point where I want to feel that way. I want to actually _feel_ that way."

Dael let out a bit of a snort at that. "You're going to drive yourself insane if you keep this up, Taraketh. Now you're telling yourself you have to feel a certain way. That's madness. You either feel one way or you don't. The only thing you can consciously control is what you end up doing with it, and you're doing something good with it. You're trying to put a stop to this. If you feel you'd do better consoling families or immersing yourself in more 'civilian' roles, then go right ahead."

She advanced another step.

"But _don't_ stand here and think you're a rotten person simply because you're happy that someone you care about is still alive. Because, to be completely honest, that's the stupidest thing I've heard in a long time and I'm about ready to slap you across the face for it."

The High Child stared at Dael a moment, and saw the grim seriousness on her expression. However, she was being honest. She wasn't going to stand here and let Taraketh say that feeling relief or happiness were bad things in situations like this, not for himself…and not for anyone else. Because if what he said was true then he just said that a great deal of people in Esthar were horrible people simply because they learned to appreciate what they had a bit more, and she wasn't going to stand for it. Besides, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she wanted him out of this funk, not beating himself up over stuff like this.

In the end, the High Child let out an exhale, relaxing a bit and bowing his head.

"…Alright." He finally stated. "I'll try not to brood about it."

Dael stared back unchanging. "Here's another bit of 'military mentality' for you, Taraketh. When a superior officer tells you to do something, you don't say you'll 'try'. You do it."

He looked up for a moment, a flash of his old self appearing…but only for a fraction of a second. After that, he stared back at Dael. In spite of how they had started out, he didn't give her any guff. Instead, after a long pause, he nodded.

"…I'll stop brooding about it, sir."

Dael, in spite of herself, was a bit taken aback as well. She honestly expected more of a backlash after saying something like that to him. Instead, he just took it? He even used the title, and not in a sardonic manner? After a moment, she gave a nod, then turned and walked back to the bulkhead. In moments, she was grabbing the hatch and giving it a turn.

"…Commander?"

The young officer paused and looked back to Taraketh. He stared at her plainatively.

"…Thank you."

For the second time in less than a minute, Dael felt herself rather stunned. Had he just really said that? Despite her best efforts, a hint of it leaked through on her expression. However, she nodded.

"Anytime."

* * *

><p><em>16 Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>Normally, the <em>Excalibur<em> would have gone the traditional route of along the archipelago to the coast of the Eastern Continent, and then along it back to the port. However, they had decided to go "as the crow flies". There was a danger, yes. They would pass close to and even through Leuco waters. However, there wasn't too much to be worried about. The _Excalibur_ was still faster than any ship of Sybenia or Leuco. Furthermore, time was of the essence, and worth the risk even if the ship was unarmed. Still, it was a long trip. After sitting up with Quaren until he finally got tired enough to go to bed, Dael managed to get some sleep of her own and work out a bit more. Between her rest and the healing of Taraketh, her body was pretty much back into its old shape, although she still realized the only way she could pull off another move like the one she did would be if she was beaten up almost to the point of death once again, something she wasn't eager for. She dreaded the next match-up with an Elite Hound, and hoped, on the second time around, she had backup in the form of her companions.

Yet all of those thoughts quickly left her head as the coast of the Eastern Continent became visible.

Quickly, Dael had moved to the bridge. Cid and Cryder were there, of course. However, Quaren, eagerly watching outside for the first sign of home and almost continuously glued to the radio, was present as well, as was Taraketh, who was interested in hearing how things were going. As soon as Dael shut the bulkhead, she called out. "Are we in radio transmission range yet?"

"Just passed into it, Dael." Cid responded as he finished putting on the communications headset and turning on the console, adjusting it to the proper channel. "Esthar Port Authority, this is the _E.H.T. Excalibur_. Sending clearance code now. Do you read us, over?"

Cid switched the radio and waited. Dael, Quaren, and Taraketh watched him. Cryder paid attention, but focused mostly on driving the boat. After a few moments, Cid tried again.

"Repeat. This is _E.H.T. Excalibur._ Come in, over."

Cid again waited, as did the others. There was still no response. Even after a full minute passed, nothing. By now, Dael and the others were beginning to grow a bit uncomfortable.

"Don't tell me there was another attack." Taraketh answered.

"The shields have been remodulated and the antiviral software already neutralized their new weapon, so they shouldn't be." Dael answered. "Just the same, try the colonel's channel real quick. See if they're still getting a connection."

Cid nodded and went about doing so. It took a short while of switching things over, before he finally got the signal working. When he did, he made his call out and sent a new series of codes.

"This is _E.H.T. Excalibur_. Sending clearance codes now. Do you read me, over?"

_"Affirmative. Sending confirmation codes, over."_

The green light went on above the console, and Cid continued. "Are we still getting transmissions from the emergency line in Esthar?"

_"More than that, _Excalibur._ The main relay is operational again."_

Cid turned and looked to Dael in puzzlement at that. "…They say everything's working."

Dael was confused at this, but before she could inquire further, another blip of static came out from the radio.

_"Sorry…sorry for the delay, _Excalibur. _Had to run get to the radio. Yeah, we're here."_

The bridge paused again. Everyone looked to one another.

"…Not exactly 'official sounding', are they?" Taraketh stated.

"I've seen better transmissions from Black Corsairs, and that's saying something." Cryder threw in.

Cid puzzled a bit, but then quickly switched his radio back to that channel. "Um…is this the Esthar Port Authority?"

_"Yeah, yeah…" _The voice answered, sounding like it was panting a little from running. _"We're here."_

"You haven't sent us the confirmation codes…"

_"Huh? Oh crap…hang on…"_

This caused more puzzled looks, but moments later, the light turned green.

_"There you go."_

Cid continued to look puzzled. "Esthar Port Authority, is everything going alright? Is it safe to dock?"

_"Uh…if you slow your approach a bit and move to the military piers, yeah, you'll be fine, _Excalibur._" _The voice responded.

The others exchanged their confused expressions, and then Cid spoke up again. "…Are you sure there's no problem, Port Authority?"

A nervous laugh came through on the other end. _"Uh…to be honest, _Excalibur, _that's the understatement of the year. None of the civil workers for the dock came into work this morning except for a janitor. I'm one of the work crews for the E.H.T. We've kind of taken control of the Port Authority at the moment and none of us really know what we're doing. It's rather confusing around here. Coupled with all of the rising panic, things are just a tad hellish at the moment."_

Cid's eyes widened a bit, as did Dael's. "Panic? What's going on there?"

_"Sorry, I've got other tasks to tend to. I'm out."_

The radio soon clicked off. Cid held a moment, but then looked back. Dael, on her part, ran a hand through her hair.

"I should have expected this the whole time…" She muttered. "The government is effectively gone. At least, the highest level is. If any member of the civil sector shows up to work today, it'll be as an act of a volunteer. The rest of them will probably be doing what the rest of the people are doing."

Quaren looked uncomfortable at that. "…And what would the rest of the people be doing, commander?"

"We're about to find out." Dael answered. "But I don't think we want to know."

* * *

><p>Forty-five minutes later, as the <em>Excalibur<em> finally found an unused pier and got the proper clearance for it, they could already see things were bad. There was backlog all over the general piers. People wanting to come in…_lots_ of people wanting to leave…and only a few maintenance men in the E.H.T. reserve to direct them. The docks were already looking rather overused, and two small ships were crammed into the space for one big one. Most of the radio transmissions involved tired voices and/or yelling. It was a good thing the _Excalibur_ was automated enough to practically dock itself. There certaintly wasn't anyone available to get to work rebuilding the turrets, or to greet them. The radios were so clogged with signals that it was impossible to even send a message to Fort Morningstar about their arrival for another hour. When they finally did and began to disembark, they saw things were even worse.

Following the troop movement to Lamb, the port didn't even have enough spare soldiers to act as MPs. Instead, more of the dock workers had taken up guns that they didn't even look like they knew how to use and were enacting unofficial security policies that were causing almost more trouble than they were worth. There were lots of civilians milling about, and Dael knew why. They weren't there for boats…they were there to take advantage of lax security and loot. As the group left the pier and tried to find some semblance of where they were going, Quaren managed to chase off two breaking into a munitions crate with a few warning shots, but that was hardly improving the problem.

"There must be a hundred people looking here for anything they can steal, and there's no way they can control all of them." Dael stated.

"Assuming sabotage didn't play a roll in the last air strike, lass, you can bet it will on the next one." Cryder stated grimly. "Anyone could just walk right in and set a bomb."

That wasn't exactly a good note to start on, but there was little they could do by themselves. Besides, they had to get to Lady Mianyl. However, that would prove to be a chore in and of itself. They soon found that the commuter trains were down. Not enough people were showing up to run them, and Esthar was practically at a halt. The group was left standing at the front of the pier entrances wondering if they should walk. At length, a military transport vehicle from Fort Morningstar came to pick them up. Dael was a little surprised at what she saw though. A cadet was driving it, and barely looked like he knew what he was doing.

Noting her expression, the cadet grimaced. "Sorry, sir. All of the MPs are on the streets of Esthar. Only a few instructors and the cadets are practically running the fort until the colonel returns."

This stunned everyone. "…Why don't they just assign a dog to watch the armory…?" Ceja muttered as she got in.

Dael was much of the same sentiment, but she realized nothing more could be done. They were too short-handed as it was. Esthar's Hawks had been stretching themselves to the limits before this happened. Now, with this latest incident, it was amazing that they still had anyone left to man the fort at all. Quaren actually took over the wheel as they all got in, and soon took off once again. It took a little while to get to the roads. Traffic signals were down but no one was working on them or directing the vehicles. By now, the woman was beginning to worry a great deal about what was going on in the main city.

She soon saw the feeling wasn't just isolated to her group. The cadet looked rather tired and anxious, and nodded off in the seat as they drove.

"Are you alright, cadet?"

"J-J-Just a little tired, ma'am." The cadet answered, suddenly snapping awake again. "I've been on duty for about 25 hours by now."

"You can't operate under those conditions, cadet."

"Sorry, ma'am…but we have to. Esthar is in chaos. We're barely able to keep the populace from going into anarchy. Half the stores in the city have already been vandalized. A riot breaks out every hour. Most of the local authorities have been overrun. Esthar's Hawks and the Order of Hyne are trying to establish order, but no one's calling the shots. The few representatives left have either locked themselves in their homes or can't be found. None of the bureaucracy knows what to do. People are starting to panic because shops were closed. Everyone started stockpiling water and put a drain on the reserves, so that was cut. That sent people into a fervor."

Dael sighed. "Cadet, whoever's in charge should know that doing that will only make people panic more than before. They need to turn it back on as soon as possible."

"That's just it, ma'am." The cadet answered. "_No one's_ in charge. The heads of the various bureaucratic departments don't know what to do and every time one tries something it starts interfering with everything else. No one can move through the city or make a telephone call. There's rumors that in a few hours people are going to start organizing parts of the city into their own 'sects'. We're trying to keep that from happening, but no one's there who has a plan or knows what to do. We're all a bit lost and confused…"

"What of Lady Mianyl?" Taraketh stated. "She has to be directing to Order of Hyne to do _something_."

"Last I checked, she's converted the Cathedral plaza into a combination hospital/shelter and she's trying to calm as many riots as she can. She's directing members to use non-lethal magic to try and quiet the crowds…sleep spells and stop spells and the like. She's got an 'island of stability' in the middle of the city around the plaza, as a result. But now everyone who hasn't gotten swamped is going there for food, water, and some measure of security, including what's left of the government, and they're being strained to the breaking point. They're already out of supplies, and the ones the city was supposed to send them aren't getting through."

Taraketh bowed his head and sighed.

"Do you have a list of who was hurt or killed in the bombing yet?" Quaren asked abruptly.

The cadet shook his head. "No one's had time to investigate."

The corporal swallowed, but increased the speed of the vehicle.

* * *

><p>The ride to the city itself was rather uneventful. The road was almost clear. However, it soon became clear why. Strips had been set out across the road and watchmen with guns to guard them. The cadet explained yesterday that the road had been clogged with people trying to flee Esthar, and they threatened to overrun the harbor, which would have ruined any chance of Esthar's Hawks returning to help reinforce the city. Hence, the roads had been sealed and the people had been told that it was for the purposes of securing routes for the returning soldiers. This only pacified them to an extent, and it took a lot of effort to finally secure the highway. Numerous cars had been abandoned yesterday on the sides, but the way was still clear. They passed by Fort Morningstar and noted many civilian vehicles parked outside of it now, taking the place of most of the military ones that had gone on duty. Dael was sure that it was acting as a shelter and maybe even a hospital itself at this point.<p>

The fort was soon left behind. The city itself appeared on the horizon. As they grew closer, they initially didn't see anything bad, other than airspace was dead and the defensive shield was in play around the city, illuminating it in a translucent blue shell. Driving a bit closer, however, Dael began to notice something. There were about three thin plumes of black smoke rising up from various parts of the city.

"…Please don't tell me those are fires." Dael stated.

"Alright, I won't Dael…even if they are." Cid grimly responded.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the blockade. Dael now saw Class II operatives at work, although they all looked young and raw with very little combat experience. All of the veterans had been co-opted for the invasion…at least, those who would do any good. After giving them clearance, they went into the city…and Dael's worst expectations and fears were soon realized.

Most of the city was as silent and isolated as a grave. People were boarding up their windows and locking their doors to avoid having to venture outside into whatever chaos was there. Everything was neglected, and was therefore malfunctioning. Almost every store and bank was closed. Most of the utilities seemed to not be working, especially the traffic lights and urban lighting. Whatever streets weren't completely vacated were filled with mobs or crazed individuals. People stockpiling for the end were either buying all they could or raiding stores. Anywhere that wasn't boarded up was a target for looters, and many of the stores that were simply closed were targets as well. Panic was everywhere. An air of fear and despair had taken hold of everyone. People looked like they were getting ready for the apocalypse. And why not? A nation that had enjoyed peace and security for so long and had considered its future concrete didn't know how to react when destruction loomed.

There wasn't a trace of organization anywhere. What few police were on duty had united with MPs and a few Children of Hyne volunteers, but they were loose and running about everywhere. Besides, for everyone they stopped, five more took his or her place. The city was simply in too much panic. There was a power vacuum, and the citizens were quickly devolving into the mentality of every man for themselves. It was almost sickening to Dael. Is this what it took to drive everyone out of their minds? Just one building being bombed? She realized that there had to be more order than this, more people keeping their heads…but it didn't matter. With each new riot that broke out, each new act of crime, the chance of someone else joining in was increased. The panic was almost self-sustaining now, and getting worse. Something had to stop this while there was still any law and order to be found…

As it turned out, they only got about a third of the way to their destination before they were forced to halt completely. It had taken an hour just to get that far, between the blockades that had been set up, traffic, and abandoned vehicles. Yet the gridlock grew so bad up ahead that traffic was impossible to move, and no one was directing it or clearing vehicles.

By now, Dael was checking the radio. "We need to find a way around."

"What way, commander?" Quaren asked. "It took us forever just to get this far. We could go any one of a number of paths and still be blocked in."

"I think Great Mountain Drive is still open…at least part of the way." The cadet responded.

"That only gets us to within 8 blocks of the Cathedral plaza."

"It'll have to do." Dael responded. "Get us there."

"How long until the rest of the Esthar Hawks start arriving?" Ceja asked on noting her holding the radio.

The young woman exhaled. "The next nearest ship is still eight hours away."

"This city is on a negative feedback loop." Taraketh stated darkly. "I'm not sure how much of it can be salvaged in eight hours…"

Dael didn't answer that. She merely hung on.

* * *

><p>Just getting to Great Mountain Drive took another thirty minutes. There was too much chaos to go through. They almost ran down one hysterical citizen, and two more banged on the hood telling whoever was inside to "do something about the water being turned off". They also went down four separate dead ends. But finally, the mess thinned out. It seemed that road was indeed mostly clear. Most of the people still in that part of the city had hunkered down, and the path was empty as they closed another third of the city.<p>

However, by that point, they were getting nearer to the heart of Esthar, and things started escalating rapidly on the last block or two. People were actually organizing into larger mobs, either consciously or unconsciously. They were starting to yell and panic. Dael saw some waving guns and raving about local militias. Some did seem to be working with a few scattered soldiers or order members here or there, but no one seemed to know what they were doing, and the citizens were quickly getting irate with them. Some even growing violent.

As Quaren drove them in here, things grew even more tense and thick. Crowds of people began to get in the way, and getting the car through them as well as the stopped vehicles was getting worse and worse. At long last, it got too thick. The car had to halt.

Sighing, the corporal threw it into park and looked behind him. "Sorry, commander. Can't get any farther."

"Alright, we walk from here." Dael responded. "Everyone get your weapons but keep them low."

Those who had more cumbersome weapons took a moment, but as for Dael, who was already prepared, she opened up the door as soon as possible. As it turned out, this was a tad difficult with everyone pushing in. However, after a few tries, she managed to get it open enough to get out. There was no small amount of noise going on, although at this point one could still talk over it without shouting. As a result, Dael had no sooner exited than she looked to the nearest civilian.

"What's going on?"

"The Cathedral plaza cut off food distribution." The woman retorted. "They've been stockpiling it for days, plus they got those useless bureaucrats in there who haven't done anything but run and hide since the bombing. There's no way they're out."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, but is that what all of this crowd is doing?"

"I think so."

Dael looked ahead, and saw the stretch of people far in the distance. As the others dismounted and moved to Dael's side. On doing so, they turned to it along with her, and reacted in similar shock.

"Great Aerith…it looks like it extends all the way to the plaza." Taraketh remarked.

"And it only gets thicker from here." Cid grimaced.

"If they start storming the plaza, what's left of order in this city will be gone." Dael stated. "We need to get there."

"It's going to take a while, pushing through this crowd…" Bahamut noted. Being the smallest one, he was already positioning himself in the center of the group. It would be the easiest way he could keep from being separated.

"I will do something." Jalab responded to this comment, beginning to reach for one of his side pockets. Dael and the others turned to him curiously in response, and soon he produced a small pouch from inside. It appeared to be sealed with some form of wax coating, but he immediately broke it and opened it up. Soon after, Dael's nostrils wrinkled and she recoiled. The others soon followed. A horrid stench was coming from that pouch, potent and strong, and soon overwhelming everyone, even people like Ceja and Bahamut.

"That stench…" Ceja remarked.

"It's like rotten eggs, bad cologne, bananas…and crap." Cryder added.

However, Dael soon saw the wisdom in this. The surrounding people began to catch whiffs of this, and soon didn't want to be anywhere near it. They began to make expressions of disgust, and then started pulling back and away, giving as much room as possible to the group. The others noticed along with her.

Dael exhaled. "Well…it may be rancid, but it gives us some 'breathing room'…ironically. Let's go."

* * *

><p>The group took off as fast as they could through the crowd. Luckily, Jalab's scent pouch was strong enough that it drove off people even from a distance, allowing them to keep a steady clip. Of course, Dael had to stay near it, but it was a small price to pay to be able to move through the crowd quickly. The first six blocks were cleared with little problem. However, the crowds did grow thicker, and more aggressive as well. Some were beginning to rally the others to start shouting chants, and a few signs were popping up.<p>

The last two blocks were much worse. Smell or no smell, people were so pressed together here that there was almost nowhere to move. Nevertheless, Dael said to keep the scent going. They had to get through in any event. There was a bit more "fluidity" toward the crowd once they began to see the plaza in the distance, especially the cathedral, but it was still minimal at best. Furthermore, Dael realized it was because people were cycling through the front, hurling insults and the like, and then moving back into the fold to let another member come forward. As a result, although it took another 40 minutes just to push to the "final stretch"…they came through quickly afterward.

By now, the volume had grown considerably along with the thickness of the crowd, and many of them were growing very aggressive. It looked like they were on the brink of breaking forward onto the plaza. Dael soon saw why. The Cathedral area had been blocked off using hastily made barriers. Many MPs and conventional police, as well as Children of Hyne, were acting as guards to try and keep people from breaking through…but it was obvious they couldn't hold them forever. And all it would take would be one of them attacking, Dael knew, to make things go south in a terrible hurry. It looked as if the crowd would push them to that point in no time. She really wasn't sure what could be done at this point…if there was any way to diffuse this situation…at least, any way that her group could do alone.

Finally, they reached the perimeter. With the noise so loud, they had to shout to be heard, and even then they weren't let in right away. Dael ended up arguing with the MP on the border before a hand poked in between the "living wall" surrounding the compound, and a Child of Hyne stuck her head out.

"Commander Levinson! Sir Sabian!" She shouted. "Come this way!" She turned to the guard. "It's alright, they're with us!"

Hearing this, the nearest MPs looked to each other a moment, but then quickly parted and motioned in. "Hurry up and get in!" One instructed. "These people will break the line at any excuse!"

Quickly, Dael, Quaren, Taraketh, and Bahamut went through the small breach. By then, however, the rest of the surrounding crowd saw people entering, and went into a bigger fervor. Cryder and Cid only got in with difficulty. Attempts to push past Jalab were useless, however, and when Ceja went in, she gave the crowd a glare that, even in a mob mentality, made them wither and recoil. Soon, all eight were inside. The Child of Hyne immediately began to move them across the plaza as Jalab shut his pouch again. Being open and free of crowds, it was a breath of fresh air as she started to take them to the Cathedral.

"Sorry about that…" She apologized.

"You don't need to apologize." Taraketh responded, looking back to the crowd. "You've got bigger problems on your hands. I'm not sure how much longer that crowd wants to stay out. Is it because you stopped giving out food?"

"And water." The Child of Hyne answered uneasily. "That's only part of it, though. They'd only be going crazy and desperate if that was the case. They're getting angry because what's left of Esthar's government is here. They've already overrun most of the residences in town where government heads reside."

"Who's in charge?" Dael asked.

The Child of Hyne shrugged. "No one, as far as we can tell."

"What do you mean 'no one'?" Ceja interjected. "This lawlessness is out of control! Someone has to take command!"

"That's not how it works in Esthar's government." Quaren answered regretfully. "Our constitution allows for someone to be appointed Grand Chancellor if he's killed, but he wasn't killed. We don't even have one. And we have no succession if _every_ legislator dies…"

"We need to talk with Lady Mianyl right away." Dael responded.

The Child of Hyne nodded. "Right this way."

Soon, they were climbing the steps of the Cathedral. Dael was almost amazed at how it seemed a fortress and refuge now, a safe haven to stay, a place of contentment and peace. In other words, the perfect island in the growing sea of chaos. Where before it had been old and mysterious, Dael almost felt relieved to pass through its heavy doors into the entrance chamber. Blocking out the chaos from outside was a major wave of comfort for her, even if she knew, if the crowd turned hostile, it would have little trouble breaking the doors down.

Inside the main chamber was a bit different, though. Where before only a few people praying and Children of Hyne going about tasks were present, now there was more noise and murmuring. This was almost a grand 'junction' now both for civilians, MPs, and Order of Hyne members, who all moved about and talked to one another frequently. Their voices were still kept quiet, but in the Cathderal they echoed quite a bit. Although the air in here was calmer, there was still a sense of urgency and unease among everyone, even the High Children who were present. On seeing Dael and her company arrive, however, she noticed that some of them seemed a bit calmer and more at ease. The woman was surprised. Did they have that much respect for them already? Well…she supposed they did. They had two Sorceress Knights among them an a High Child, after all. It might not have had anything to do with her.

Rather than take a branch to the left as they had before, the group was turned to the right, toward a junction to another annex. Once they reached the end and opened the door, they passed into a long covered hallway made of the same style as the rest of the Cathedral, but clearly newer, having been added much later. It was mostly empty, but at one end was a checkpoint composed both of High Children and MPs. All of them were of the older and more seasoned variety, and had far more stony and dedicated expressions.

The group approached them, and the Child of Hyne quickly stepped forward after they halted at a short distance.

"They're here. I need to announce them to Lady Mianyl."

They didn't respond, simply opened the door. A chorus of noise came from the other side, which vanished again just as quickly when the doors closed. After that, the group was left to wait. They did so patiently. Dael didn't even look around on her part, and since she was in the lead she wasn't sure if the others did or not. It took an amount of time. They ended up waiting around seven minutes.

Eventually, the door began to open. However, it paused at first, and a voice was heard on the other end.

"I don't need High Children following me everywhere at a time like this. It would be better if they were outside helping out in the city than watching me when I can take care of myself."

The door opened all the way soon after, revealing Lady Mianyl in full regalia, including her crest and attire. Two High Children tried to come with her, but she shut the door to prevent it from happening. As she did, Dael noticed she kept her back to the group, no doubt hiding her hands. Once it was done, she turned and faced them. Immediately, she could tell Taraketh went into a kneel. Dael herself began to bow her head, and the others started to show similar signs of respect.

She sighed in response and shook her head. "We don't really have the luxury of such propriety at this time. Please rise."

Dael did so. The Sorceress Knights did as well soon after and, after a lengthy pause, so did Taraketh.

She managed a weak smile. "…I'm glad to see you're all here and safe. I wish I could give you a better greeting, but, as you can tell, the situation is rather grave in the city."

"Lady Mianyl," Dael immediately spoke up before Taraketh could. "If it's true that the remaining government members are present here, they have to act immediately. Things are getting desperate outside."

The young woman sighed and bowed her head. "…Unfortunately, you don't know the half of it, commander." She responded. "I've been in contact with Colonel Regalis. He tells me that although martial law has been enacted per protocol, without anyone to take command or direct resources, there will be little he can do before, or even when, he gets here. Esthar's Hawks wouldn't have the manpower to direct the city even if they were all here. As they are not…even when help arrives, it's unlikely to be enough. Yet things are worse than that."

Dael wasn't sure she wanted to know how things could be worse. Mianyl looked around a moment, as if deciding if those in the hall were trustworthy and if no one was listening, but then back to Dael. "The latest broadcast from Sybenia said it's deploying another fleet equal in size to the one that attacked Lamb in Leuco's port. They're letting us know about it on purpose, and I think we all know why. They're wanting Esthar to destroy itself in panic without even firing a shot."

The commander exhaled and ran a hand through her hair. "…Even at full capacity, I don't think we could have weathered an invasion from Sybenia. If all that's left when they get here is unorganized, starving militias…it'll be too easy. Especially since they'll bomb the city into oblivion first."

"My lady, someone has to assume power." Taraketh threw in. "Is there anyone inside capable of doing so?"

Mianyl frowned. "…A few representatives survived. Meaks and Kenzell, however, were not among them. We've made attempts to locate Barbarossa, but to no avail."

Cryder let out a snort. "With all due respect, your Sorceress-ness…you think that wrinkly sack of chum could do anything?"

"Even if he was only a figurehead, he might give some measure of stability." Bahamut suggested. "Just giving people the impression that someone is in control, whether they are or aren't, is better than the perception of total lack of control."

Mianyl nodded. "Indeed, master Bahamut."

"What about a different representative?" Quaren suggested.

"We could, but the survivors lack the public persona to actually affect much." She responded. "And we still need true leadership in addition to a figurehead. Otherwise the riots will only be stopped for one day. The city needs to organize."

"The bureaucratic heads should be able to sort most of this out." Dael responded, her own tone getting a bit more agitated. "That's what they were hired for, weren't they?"

"Yes, but they need coordination and direction. Otherwise they're just wandering about aimlessly." Mianyl responded. "Stepping on each other's toes. That's how the water got shut off in the first place. Those in charge of utilities weren't accurately reporting to the interior department, a huge mix up resulted, and it got turned off. And getting it turned back on has been almost impossible due to lack of communication. None of the heads are willing to meet anywhere because they're afraid of another bombing. I finally managed to drag them all here, and we're starting to get some semblance of order…but we need to resolve the leadership issue before that fleet gets here."

"Or before the barriers to this place fall." Ceja added. "Lady Mianyl, the crowd is getting worse out there."

Mianyl looked up to this. "How bad is it now?"

"There's got to be at least ten thousand people filling the streets…maybe twenty thousand." Cid responded. "They're all pushing in on here."

"Perhaps my people could help." Ceja responded.

The Sorceress nodded. "I agree." She sighed soon after. "Unfortunately, that's yet another decision people are throwing around in there, trying to decide who gets to make the call…"

Abruptly, the door at the end of the hall flung open, sending out a large echo. Immediately, Dael, her group, and Mianyl turned and looked to the end. A single High Child was at the other end. He nearly dropped into a kneel, but, seeming to remember something, he stopped himself.

"My lady…" He called. "We have a very bad problem. One of the younger MPs fired a shot into the crowd. It only wounded someone…but…" He didn't need to finish.

An eerie silence came upon everyone. Even the guards posted, with their stony faces, broke. Everyone had to take this in for a moment.

"God help us all…" Bahamut murmured as he bowed his head, the noise to break the silence.

Dael was much of the same sentiment, and much more wide-eyed, although that turned to a curse soon after as she crossed her arms nervously. By now, the crowd, for all she knew, was overwhelming the guards and was beating them to death. If they weren't a mob before, they would be now. A cold chill had come over everyone. The Cathedral might really become a fortress now. This incident might be the spark that turned this city completely against itself. She began to wonder if she'd soon be fighting a lot more native Esthar citizens than her own people…

However, she didn't have time for many of these thoughts.

Showing surprisingly physical power, Mianyl suddenly pushed forward, right past the guards and everyone else, and began to walk down the hall. It actually made Dael recoil for a moment. She looked to the Sorceress, but didn't catch her face as she passed. However, even without seeing it...there had been a change. Something had snapped inside the young woman. She could tell. It was evident on her voice when she spoke up soon after.

"Commander, if you and your company will please accompany me." She stated…more as a command, than anything, her traces of softness and gentleness vanishing and being replaced by a firm undertone. "Those of you guarding the door, the commander's company will be all the protection I need, so go inside and bring out the surviving bureaucracy members and representatives as soon as possible."

The command was so swift and abrupt…and yet, laced with the woman's inner power. Dael almost felt her body obeying before she had the chance to do anything. Her aura was flaring again, and once more it dominated Dael's own. Yet of her own free will, both she and the others soon followed after her.

"My lady, what are you going to do?" Taraketh called out.

"What no one else in that room seems capable of doing: _something_." She responded with a dark edge on her voice that seemed to actually make the room's temperature fall a few degrees. "I have waited and waited for sanity, logic, or even self-preservation to kick in and it hasn't. Now we have no more time."

Dael wondered what she meant by all this, but didn't question it. By now, the only two officials in Esthar that the woman respected was Colonel Regalis and Lady Mianyl. They were actually concerned for people other than themselves and willing to take steps to do something about it. She wasn't sure what she had planned…but it had to be better than continuously sitting around. She actually increased her speed to soon fall in behind the Sorceress as she passed through the door at the other end, moving by the messenger, and exiting into the Cathedral beyond.

On the other side, the crossing and transepts were empty. People were either moving to the back or, more likely, advancing to the front through the nave. They looked rather nervous now, and were preparing for a fight. One still couldn't hear much from outside, but they had to know what was going on. However, on Sorceress Mianyl appearing, anyone who looked and saw her incoming immediately paused and went into a kneel, or at least stood back. Mianyl herself wasted little time. She marched right to the crossing and turned to the nave, walking right down the middle. Her pace was rapid, and Dael realized, even for her small size, she had to put more effort just to keep up with her. In no time at all, they were up to the doors of the antechamber, which were being blockaded by the High Children. They all turned to her. Some hesitated, and others bowed.

"Open the door." She simply stated.

They hesitated only a moment. They wouldn't disobey the head of the order, after all. They turned to the doors and pulled them open.

Now, outside began to become audible. Even through the second set of heavy doors, the sounds of shouting, screaming, and rioting were breaking out. Dael expected as much. They could be moments from breaking down the front doors. The barriers may have already collapsed. She half expected more gunshots… But Mianyl didn't hesitate. She began to pass through the first set as soon as it was open, and quickly ran to the next up. There were no guards here. They had already gone outside. Instead, Taraketh and Jalab quickly ran forward and each took a door, and pushed them open.

Mianyl was the first out, despite Taraketh's attempts both to hold the door and get back at her side. Dael, as it turned out, was the next out, sticking behind her. Mianyl remained perfectly calm as she began to descend the steps…which seemed almost incredulous. The streets had come to life. Everyone was going nuts now, screaming, yelling, pounding, and charging at the barriers. It was getting worse and worse as the chaos began to spread down the street, and a mob mentality was starting to take over. Two of the defenders were already down and people were breaking through like a flood, pouring onto the lot and running forward. By now, they probably didn't even know what they were doing, just that they needed to attack someone. In a minute, this place would be a war zone…

Yet Mianyl never looked the slightest bit perturbed as she stepped off of the stairs and took a few steps forward. The mob wasn't even hesitating at the sight of her. Only the defenders were, and only for a short moment. She finally stopped. The others soon did so behind her. Dael was already getting ready to go for her own weapon, as were many of the others.

She never reached it.

It was night by now. There was lighting on the plaza, but it was still dark. However…it rapidly grew darker yet. A shadow seemed to eminate from the Sorceress, which made her bright and everything dim by comparison…sort of the preliminary effect one would have if they were being hypnotized. It soon drew everyone to it, even if they were still rioting. But it was more than that. The air seemed to grow still. Everyone's voices seemed to fade, and an electric charge moved through it. All of the sudden, Mianyl seemed greater, more powerful, and more formidable than her small body would indicate. For a brief instant, she almost indeed seemed to be a goddess. Dael didn't see it because she wasn't looking at her face, but it shone with such power that all the world seemed to evaporate around it…

A voice rang out like a thunderclap, rocking through all of the surrounding streets.

_**"Be still!"**_

And at once…it all was.

It was like everyone had been operating like a puppet before now, and their operator had stopped. Even people poised to club someone immediately froze, dropped their weapon, put their hands at their sides, and gave Mianyl their full attention. As her voice echoed and resounded, everyone's tension, anger, fear, and anxiety was erased by those two words. People became rational and sensible again. They seemed even more shocked at the change than Dael did. It was like, before, they were living some nightmare, and Mianyl had just thrown a pail of ice water in their faces. Their expressions looked confused and hesitant, as if they didn't know what they had been doing or why. However, they now gave Mianyl their full and undivided attention. No one looked hostile or angry or worried any longer. Instead, the crowd of rioters had become like children raptly listening to the only adult in the room. There was one remaining intact news network on the plaza which, in typical media fashion, was televising the whole riot-in-progress so that they could get ratings at the expense of igniting more people at home into a fervor. Yet now, they were focused only on the Sorceress, and the announcer had gone silent and watched to see what she would say next.

Mianyl continued to gaze over them as the shadow receded. She became more "mortal" again. At this time, Dael realized, just like the crowd, her attention was on her. She had turned fully to her, and, for a moment, was unable to look away. The others were just the same. Even now, Dael felt as if something had partially taken ahold of her, and was only now letting go. She heard the doors to the Cathedral open again, and turned her head to them. She soon saw the guards coming out, and leading the bureaucracy members with them. However, Mianyl hadn't looked away from the crowd. She now had their attention, and everywhere her echo went, it seemed to still other people. There was no way her voice reached all eight blocks, but it had definitely calmed the worst of the rioters. It would be a long time before they could get whipped into that frenzy again. They could probably disperse now even if nothing else was said.

However, she drew in a deep breath, and spoke. Her voice resounded so well, it went for at least a full block.

"If anyone wishes to dispute what I am about to say, then very well. I only ask that they immediately offer an alternative. The time for excuses, complaints, half-measures, stall-tactics, pointless debates, naysaying, and griping is over. We are now living in an age of consequences, and there is only room for decisions and results."

She paused again, and took another deep breath, before saying the next part.

"The Constitution for Esthar does not have a provision for succession or lawmaking given this extreme situation, and after two days of debate, no conclusions have been reached. Therefore…I am assuming control of the bureaucracy of Esthar. As I said…if anyone wishes to dispute this, I will step down immediately…but only on the condition that they either take the position, or have someone else do so. There is no more time for delays. Esthar needs a leader right now. I intend to give it one if the remaining governmental members do not."

She paused here, and turned behind her. The bureaucrats had been descending the stairs and approaching, but froze on hearing her declaration. Several looked shocked. However, when she turned to them, when she pretty much put it straight to them to either "man up or shut up"…none of them responded. They were politicians in the end, not heroes and not leaders. None of them had the character or strength to take the position. They merely stared back silently, or to each other, looking to see if one would step forward. None did.

Dael looked to this, and then to the crowd…but none of them responded either. No one even opened their mouths. She turned back to Mianyl, who hadn't changed. She watched and waited for the bureaucrats. Dael nearly opened her own mouth to say something…

…And soon shut it for the same reason.

Why should she protest? What reason did she have to? Mianyl was known and respected by almost everyone in the city. She had calmed them before they ate each other alive. She was a beacon of hope and peace for everyone. When the Senate had insisted on quibbling and arguing, she stepped in and tried to get them to work to a solution. She had been keeping the peace in the main city when all they did was waste what little time they had arguing and pointing fingers. While they were only legislators…Dael now realized she was looking at a true leader. Even a greater one than the colonel. The only person available who could possibly get them through the dark days ahead alive…the only one with the support, the charisma, and the drive. She was someone who people looked up to…who was known as never having dealt double or treacherously with Esthar. All at once, it became clear to Dael that this was the proper choice. Their only hope.

Though she said nothing, the only thing Dael would have said, if she could, was a pledge of support to the young woman.

After a full minute of silence, Mianyl turned back to the crowd only briefly.

"…Very well. Please, return home and do not give in to panic or fear. Action will be taken, and it will be taken now. I swear that I will not let this country fall." This last part was said with grim seriousness, a vow and a pledge to the people.

After saying this, she immediately went to work. She looked to the news network filming them.

"You there. Bring that camera here."

The announcer and the cameraman both looked puzzled. They looked to each other a bit, and then back to Mianyl, pointing to themselves.

"Yes, you. Please. We have to work fast."

After a moment, the announcer and the cameraman began to walk over. As soon as they were there, she spoke again. "Are you still on the air? Are you still live?"

The reporter paused momentarily, but then nodded. "Um…yes, ma'am. We're on."

"Good. Your network just became the emergency broadcast station for Esthar until the radios are back up and running. Come with me and don't argue."

Immediately, Mianyl turned and began to walk toward the bureaucrats. Dael and the others were rather puzzled by this, as was the news crew, but they did as they were told. Mianyl had brought out her "commanding aura" now. No one would defy her unless they exerted some effort, and, at the moment, people were too confused and uneasy to do so. In moments, the entire assembly was in front of the bureaucrats, who looked to Mianyl with a mixture of puzzlement and confusion. After all, they hadn't expected this, and there was an air about them that wondered if she could even do what she was doing now. However, the Order of Hyne members fell in rapidly.

Quaren, on his part, leaned in to Dael. "Um…I don't think she can do this…"

"Well, she kinda just did, lad." Cryder answered with a shrug. "Like she said…didn't see you raisin' your hand back there."

"But…she can't just assume power…"

"Why not?" Ceja flatly answered. "No one's trying to stop her, and I won't on my part. From what I understand, she's actually trying to help things instead of being a useless man in a suit."

"Ceja's right." Taraketh threw in. "And so is Lady Mianyl. We don't have time to waste on bickering or wondering about what should be done any longer. We need to just do something."

Dael looked back to the crowd during this stage. They seemed rather confused and puzzled as well…but not angry or disappointed. Whether they agreed or disagreed with what just happened, they were now talking about something more civilly…and, better yet, they were doing as she said. They were breaking up and dispersing. What more, the television crew, she realized, was a good idea. Even if she didn't have any public announcements to make, she was keeping everything live. Everyone could see exactly what she was doing.

As soon as she faced the bureaucrats, she looked to one of them. "Get the water on right now. No question."

The bureaucrat paused. "Ms, Mianyl, I'm not sure I can-"

"If you wanted to complain about this, you had a minute of silence to do so, sir." Mianyl calmly cut off. "And you could have taken the position yourself."

The man let out a nervous chuckle. "Me? I'm hardly qualified…"

"Then name someone who is."

A pause. "…I don't know off the top of my head, but surely-"

"That's not good enough. Get the water turned back on. If you have another shortage, you can start rationing it, but not without giving at least three hours notice via our new public service announcement system." She gestured to the cameraman. "So make sure you can weather three more hours of current usage before enacting anything."

The man nearly protested again, but in the end clammed up. Mianyl's gaze was too powerful, and he simply nodded.

She turned to another. "Get the food storage areas open. Start rationing until the supermarkets get open again. Print out some cards, get a random number on them, and assign them to each person who comes in. Get a database going of who has what number. Ration out the government stores as best as you can and start setting up a system to where everyone gets it three times a day. Make sure they're spread out so that no one location gets swamped."

"We'll need security for that…"

"I'm getting to that." She turned to another. "Get the utilities working. All of them. Traffic lights, city lights, sewers…everything. Get them going in a few hours."

"We don't have the manpower or the employees to-"

"Get in contact with whoever didn't show up to work and get them there. I don't care how, just do it. Use the network, if that will help. If they can't come in, drive to their homes, pick them up, and bring them. If even that won't work, start pulling volunteers off the street and giving them crash courses in the simpler tasks."

"But that's crazy, and it would take too-"

"It will take even longer to sit around and wait for people to just show up for work. Something needs to be done now." She turned to another. "I want the streets secured. I'm deputizing the Children of Hyne that have been working with you. Whoever's still not on duty, get on duty. Each group takes at least one mage with them. They'll use sleep and paralysis spells to incapacitate individuals. The rest of the officers…only rubber bullets, tasers, and hand-weapons. No more live ammunition or even guns if you can avoid it. We'll need both soon enough."

"The jail's already filled with capacity."

"Move the more severe felons to the prison, then, and see if you can just relocate smaller offenders to their homes. Save the jail space for true criminals." She turned to another. "Start clearing the streets of abandoned vehicles. Begin with the main roads, then work on the smaller ones." She looked to whoever was left. "Everyone else, get your departments in order. There's a lot to do, but for right now, we need to get the city back to normal. I want all the utilities back on, the main roads cleared, and enough law enforcement operating to keep the peace in six hours."

More than one was surprised by that number.

"Six hours?"

"Shouldn't we wait for the reinforcements from Esthar's Hawks before we try to fully regain control?"

"Esthar's Hawks, and most of the Order of Hyne, are going to be fighting a war against Sybenia very soon. If this city can't keep itself running without them, then it won't be able to run itself at all." Mianyl answered. "Let's get to work."

The bureaucrats hesitated for a moment longer, still not liking the shift in power, obviously. However, they had dragged their feet over lack of orders and authority. Now that they had it, and now that Mianyl had just saved them from being torn apart by a crowd, they were in her debt. Slowly, they began to break up. Some went back to use the radio working in the Cathedral. Others, who had means of communication in the form of walkie-talkie functions on their cell phones, began to use that. As for Mianyl, she looked to the representatives who were left.

"Let's get back inside. Rest assured, I have plenty for everyone to do, but we'll need to be in touch with others."

After this, she turned to Dael. "I'm sorry…but could you possibly remain in the Cathedral for a few hours until this first crisis is handled? Some of the rooms are still open. I'll have one assigned to you. I _do_ need you to help, just I can't use you at the moment."

Dael immediately nodded. "Of course, my lady."

"We'll assist in the Cathedral in any way we can until then." Taraketh immediately added.

Mianyl smiled back and nodded. "Thank you. I'm glad I can depend on you all."

Soon, she turned and began to head back inside. Shortly thereafter, Dael, having no other recourse, looked back to the streets. Already, they were thinning considerably. It seemed she was right. Mianyl commanded such a presence, such a power to her…that even Dael had to admit she already had a sense that things were improving, that "everything was going to be alright"…hope. And that was something no one in Esthar had felt for too long. She only hoped there was substance to such a feeling, and that it just wasn't the power of a Sorceress in action.

Soon after, she began to follow Mianyl once she had some distance, and the others soon followed behind.

* * *

><p>Several hours passed. More than six, at any rate.<p>

True to the word of Taraketh, those among them who could help did so. Taraketh was able to use his own healing skills to start patching up a few people who had been injured in the aborted riot. Cid managed to conduct some repairs, although the Cathedral didn't really have a chance to get damaged, and moved out just a bit into the street to start repairing things that had happened there. Ceja and Jalab used their own strength to start moving cars to the side of the road, allowing more access. Yet other than that, there was very little that could be done. After all, they were waiting on Mianyl, and so they had to mostly sit around.

To be honest, Dael was tense. Although the night passed, she didn't feel like sleeping. She was eager to do something now, not just sit around waiting for more to happen. Instead, she turned to the radio. They got good reception from their location. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to hear other than to track the progress of the incoming ships. They relayed the news about the change that Mianyl had made, but they simply acknowledged it. They did have a small TV, however. They turned that on and started to pick up the broadcast from the local network.

For once, it was good news. Mianyl's presence had an impact. Someone was leading and directing things in Esthar, and wasn't accepting complaints, protests, or excuses. Her persona had calmed many people down, enough to thin out the crowds where most of the remainder began to break up as well. Seeing the "chain reaction", most of the people ended up dispersing all together. The violence, rioting, and vandalism began to fall, and with the newly reformed "police force", those who were left were quickly stopped.

Water was soon turned back on and electric utilities restored. The other utilities soon began to follow one by one. As one thing regained a semblance of order, it made it easier for the others. There were reports on the news that workers were beginning to return to their posts and jobs. There were even enough people to spare to send to the docks to start organizing them. Meanwhile, cars and vehicles were being cleared from the roads, the first four food distribution centers opened all at once with new meal cards for rations, and everyone was being kept advised of announcements on the news network. At first, it only showed Mianyl's personal activities. But soon it switched back to their studio, and once there they began to make updates. What roads were open. What announcements the police had. Where people could find food and the procedures for it.

At last, the radio came in that the first ship bearing Esthar's Hawks had arrived. Most of them immediately went about assisting the people at the pier to get things under control. However, some of them were immediately bound for the Esthar city proper. The colonel was among them. By now, the auxillary cellular towers were running, and a phone signal could come through. Using that opportunity, Dael contacted him via personal radio. She gave him a personal account of all that had transpired.

"Sir, I understand that Lady Mianyl is giving a lot that this country had sorely lacked for too long. But can she really just take command like this?"

_"According to the 'rules', there might be others who have precedent over her, commander."_ Regalis responded. _"Unfortunately, no one is willing to stick their head in a noose besides her after what happened to the capitol. I'm in no position to dispute it myself. I'm a soldier, first and foremost, commander. I'm a product of this same system. I know how to do one thing…run Esthar's Hawks. That's it. I can fight a battle, but I can't manage this country. Frankly…she might be the best choice. She commands respect of the entire nation, her personality alone is enough to calm and rationalize people, and she has a level head on her shoulders. She's a natural leader. Young and inexperienced, maybe…but she's doing alright thus far, from what I hear. The city is actually back in order and looks like it may start 'working' again soon."_

Dael had to admit, he was showing a lot of her own sentiments. "…So we should just assist her any way we can, sir?"

_"That's right, commander. What she said to you earlier was true. Sybenia is massing again. And they have no reason to be slow about it now. Now that they see that Esthar is able to get to its feet, they'll try and make sure we stay down. We have to mount some sort of effective defense before they arrive."_

"Forgive my candidness, sir…but what exactly can we mount?"

_"…I suppose that is the next big question we have to answer, commander. Over and out."_

There was a click on the other end. Dael soon lowered the radio and exhaled, looking back to the others.

The "bed" rooms were already being used. Instead, the group had holed up in a small study/library. There was cushioned seating for all of them, so they had taken it up. It had filled up over the past hour, as Jalab, Taraketh, Cid, and Ceja had run out of things to do and had returned. Now, they were more or less lounging about and waiting for more news updates from the TV or otherwise. Neither had anything at the moment.

"Well, Esthar looks like it won't eat itself alive, at any rate." The commander stated.

"Sybenia gets that honor, I guess." Quaren darkly answered. He was still in a low mood, but it had improved. He had finally gotten word that his mother was still alive, and now aiding the effort to stabilize Esthar. However, that mood had come and gone a few hours ago. Now the reality of the true task still ahead had settled in. "I appreciate Sorceress Mianyl taking control, but is it already too late?"

"Better now than never." Taraketh threw in.

"Quite. Still, we'll need more than leadership to get through this." Bahamut responded. "We have quite a series of obstacles to overcome. I've read about, and seen personally, situations like this before. Although the underdog might pull off a win, it won't be easy. And when they do come through…it's usually due to groups such as ours."

"No pressure though, right?" Cryder answered with a grin.

"I'm eager for a land battle." Ceja responded. "Being on the ocean was terrible. I still feel ill."

"We need to take them on the ocean if at all possible. Keep them from making landfall." Dael responded. "If we had fifty fully armed _Excaliburs_, we might be able to pull it off. As we don't…I don't see how we can protect the port. If they take that, they'll have a place to assault us both from land and air."

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. Everyone turned to it in response.

"Who's there?" Dael called.

"I bring word from her ladyship to Commander Dael Levinson, Sir Taraketh Sabian, and company." A young voice responded.

"Come in."

The wooden door opened, and a child of Hyne was revealed. He immediately stepped in, shut the door behind him, and advanced on the group. He soon halted and stood up straight.

"Her ladyship informs me that she regrets she can't come in person, but she's been awake for over 28 hours, and is trying to get some sleep. She wanted me to keep you advised of recent decisions. Since the city is coming back under control, she has turned her attention toward building up the military."

"That's good to know, but I'm not sure what exactly she can do at the moment." Dael responded.

"Every factory that can readily be refurbished to produce munitions had been ordered to do so." The young man responded. "The others are in the process of being adapted as well to produce larger artillery and weaponry. The Gordian Vault has had Esthar's Hawks dispatched inside to start searching for potential weapons we can produce fast and effectively."

Dael wasn't too comforted by that. It could take close to a year before they had all of those factories producing weapons in a reasonable capacity. Barbarossa and the Senate should have started building up their weapons the first time that Sybenia began to look like it was readying for world conquest, not buried their heads in the sand and pretended all was well. The populace may not have liked it, but a military wasn't something you could just start worrying about when things began to go bad. It was something you had to work at and on continuously. But as pointless as this move might be, they might as well assume that Esthar was going to survive another year, whether that be true or not. It was better to have a weapon in progress that might not be available for a year than never to have one period.

"In the meantime," The child of Hyne continued. "She's ordered the countryside scoured for every last weapon they can find in private possession. Small arms and handguns can stay, but anyone who owns an assault weapon or semi-automatic weapon of their own is being asked to donate it into service. The military and air force museums are being opened up and whatever decommissioned weapons and artillery are inside are being restored to active service, if possible."

Cryder muttered something at this, which Dael was just able to pick up on.

"Better than nothing…but so are BBs and spitballs."

"Finally, the people of Fuliet are being accepted into the borders. Whoever is willing to volunteer will be sent to a training camp soon for a crash course in common language as well as firearms. The same call for volunteers has gone to the city. The rest of the Esthar Hawks that can be spared are landing now. About half are incoming. The other half are remaining at Lamb, and can't leave anyway due to a hurricane that has landed in the archipelago."

Dael nodded. "Does her ladyship have any orders for us?"

"She said, given your task-force designation, if you can think of additional ways to help the war effort, you would be free to pursue them. Otherwise, she can give assignments if necessary. However, she mentioned she trusts your judgment."

Giving a bow, the child of Hyne turned and walked back out the way he came, shutting the door behind him.

Once it was closed, Bahamut let out an exhale of his own. "Historically, unless in a guerilla war, volunteer militaries don't do too well against landed ones."

"Esthar's Hawks will still have to be the real acting force." Quaren answered. "But still, anyone who can hold and fire a gun might help…" He swallowed. "…A little."

"We can do more than just fire your weapons." Ceja responded. "In the close quarters of a city, we can do a great deal of damage."

"Maybe so, but if we get to the point where we have to fight in the street, it'll be the 11th hour, if you get my drift." Cryder responded. "So we might be able to hold our own on the ground. They bombed us from the air last time, so I assume."

"The shields were remodulated since then and the antiviral software implemented." Cid responded. "Probably on a random number code now. And even with being able to get through the shields, only long-range bombers managed to clear the mountain ranges. If they truly want to bomb the city, they'll have to come up through the south."

"Then that's what they'll do, I'm afraid." Bahamut threw in. "We still lack any form of major air force or navy to be able to contend with their power. It's starting to be clear to me that the real reason Sybenia wasn't intent on crushing the Lamb Archipelago utterly is because they wanted to just extend enough power to force a total response from Esthar. Now they'll bring all their engines of destruction against this nation."

Jalab looked to Quaren. "How many guns to south?" He asked, obviously referring to the cannons.

The corporal grimaced a bit. "…Fifteen, I think."

Dael exhaled a sigh. "They had more than that guarding that gate we went into during the 'peace' negotiations…"

"We could bring the mobile units around." Quaren suggested.

"We need those to patrol the skies, Quaren." Dael responded. "The shield can't stand up to a bombing indefinitely."

"Can't they produce more of the ships like the _Excalibur_?" Taraketh asked.

Dael shook her head. "That was a prototype. The shipyard that made it did so from scratch, not from a mass production, and it was shut down afterward due to slashed military budget by the Senate. And the _Excalibur_ alone and us can't fight off their full fleet. Especially without the aid of an archipelago."

Quaren looked to Dael and was about to speak.

"I already told you that was a one time deal, Quaren." She cut off.

The corporal soon slumped.

Taraketh let out a sigh. "There's no way we can build a fleet the size of theirs, even if we had two years to do so."

"We wouldn't need a fleet the size of theirs." Bahamut responded. "Even one that was only about two thirds of their size and sufficiently armed, in a proper location, might be able to harass them enough to keep from making landfall. And so long as they can't take the port, they can't bring their greatest advantages to bear."

"Possibly, but unfortunately that's neither here nor there." Dael responded. "We don't even have a fleet a quarter of their size, let alone enough to contend with them. Our air force really doesn't have a prayer of tipping the scales either."

"Couldn't we pull off what they did a few hundred years ago in that assault on the Northern Continent?" Cid asked. "Strap cannon to civilian ships?"

"That's lunacy. It was a totally different style of battle back then. And do you have any idea how many they lost in that assault?" Dael answered. "We need real warships…things that can actually be on even footing with destroyers, even battleships. But there's nothing left on Gaia. Even if we could get to Garrado and bring Leuco in, they wouldn't have any sort of fleet big enough to stand up to the Sybenians. No one has one."

"Actually…"

The way this word was said, hesitant and musing, caused everyone in the room to look to the source. They soon spotted Cryder looking to the ground while reclining in an easy chair with legs crossed. He seemed to be deep in thought, and soon looked up.

"…There might be one."

* * *

><p>Dael had wanted to go to Sorceress Mianyl with this, but Taraketh insisted, as long as she had been up, that she needed rest. The commander reluctantly agreed. That left the colonel. By the time they radioed him, they found that he was already in the city and headed for the airfields. Until now, the air force had been mostly kept on stand by. Now it had to be used to its full capacity. Since the streets were clear, and even a few more of the ambitious independent cab drivers were coming back to work, thanks to the quick action, the group decided to go there and present the proposal in person.<p>

While it may not have been Fort Morningstar, the hangers and towers at the place had their own offices. Not nearly as nice or decorated as the ones in the fort, but Colonel Regalis had taken one just the same and 'set up shop' in one building adjoining the hanger. Much as on previous occasions, everyone filed in and gave their proposal. Two MPs being at the door was the only real change, but they were the more dedicated type and simply stared off into the distance. As for Regalis, he probably looked the most incredulous yet at a proposal from Dael, although Cryder had done most of the talking this time around. Still, he didn't look entirely turned off to the idea by any means. The group was mostly standing around. Dael and Cryder had the two chairs in front of the desk, and Cryder was easing back in it and crossing his legs.

"So if I understand you correctly, you think that Esthar should make a similar arrangement with the Black Corsairs as Leuco had?"

"Not necessarily." Cryder answered. "But I need your word that you can offer that much."

"That's a tall offer." The colonel responded. "And not one that's mine to give. Perhaps Lady Mianyl can, given her new position, but I'm not too certain about this. The Black Corsairs haven't exactly gotten along well with Esthar over the years. We've even sank a few ships that came too close to our waters."

The pirate shrugged and waved his hand. "An occupational hazard, mate. Technically, a Black Corsair isn't safe even from another Black Corsair's ship."

"And you really think that they'd be willing to fight for Esthar?"

"No." Cryder answered with a simple head shake. "I'm merely saying they have no love for Sybenia, who have the means to repel if not sink any ship that comes their way, and even less love for Leuco, which pretty much stabbed them in the back. The Black Corsairs really don't have a choice. Whoever wins this war, they're outlaws from now on. They need someone to give them privateer status or whoever has the biggest navy after all is said in done hunts them to extinction. They can't operate the same black market they had before without it."

"I don't think anyone in Esthar is willing to offer them that…but a full pardon might be possible." Regalis responded.

"Sorry mate, you've got to offer them the juiciest plum before I can talk them down."

The colonel hesitated. "…I'll bring the matter to Lady Mianyl tomorrow. Either she or someone else in the executive branch has to authorize that. But even so, I was under the impression that each ship on the Black Corsairs is, forgive the expression, an 'island'. What one captain says doesn't necessarily go for another one."

"Normally, you're right." Cryder answered. He leaned back a bit, taking in a deep breath. "But there's one fiery lass who pretty much dictates terms to everyone else." He gave a chuckle. "Commodore Leila Darklight…captain of the _Ragnarok_…terror of the seas and closest we have to a Pirate Queen. She's a royal bitch, no doubts there. But you persuade her, and she'll make the other Black Corsairs get in line. We don't really have 'rules' per say, but she dictates…how would you put it…the 'guidelines' of the Black Corsairs."

"And you think you can persuade her to join the cause of Esthar by offering her this deal?"

"You kidding?" Cryder snickered in response. "I've made it a point to avoid Leila for, oh, ten years now. She never forgave me for our last run-in… Still burns an effigy of me once a month, I hear."

Dael and the others grimaced quite a bit at this. The commander herself also massaged her temple. "…Dare I ask what you did to make _her_ angry? If it's money…"

"Sorry, lass. Not so simple. I, uh…" He swallowed a bit and scratched the back of his head. "Well…I kind of, um…left her hanging in a situation that I thought she could get out of easy enough all by her onesies."

The commander looked back up to him. "…I take it she didn't get out that easy?"

"Eh…if you think getting both of her legs blown off and rotting in a Sybenian prison for three years isn't easy, then yeah, you might say that."

Dael suppressed the urge to facepalm. Taraketh rolled his eyes and began muttering about Cryder again. The pirate, on his part, gave a shrug. "Like I said, occupational hazard. She blew the whole thing out of proportion, if you ask me. Besides, I won't be the one makin' the deals." He reached over and clapped Dael on the shoulder. "That's the commander's job."

Immediately, the young woman snapped to him in surprise. "…Me?"

"Sure, lass! You represent Esthar, don't you?" He answered with a smile. "You're the head of a task force, right? And, best of all, she doesn't know you from Adam. Hell, you can even tell her you got my ship sunk. That'll add a few favor points for you."

Taraketh couldn't hold it back any longer. "And how many 'favor points' do you think will be 'subtracted' when she finds out you're a friend of hers?"

The pirate flashed a grin. "Guess we'll find out, eh?"

Dael was again grateful for her high amount of discipline…or she might have rolled her eyes and let out a massive groan. She exhaled and looked back to the colonel. "I know resources are more than a little thin, sir, but I would prefer if we didn't go into Black Corsair territory without a fully functional vessel. The aft turret on the _Excalibur_ was destroyed."

"I can replace it in as little as a day and a half with only a few pieces of heavy equipment." Cid immediately put in. "I can even have Jalab and Ceja help me with the heavy lifting. I won't need to take anyone else's time. Surely we have at least one spare turret module lying in dry dock."

"Uh, better take a rain check on that, mate." Cryder interjected yet again.

Dael again suppressed an eye roll. "…What now?"

"The _Excalibur_ is tough, no doubts there, and she's speedy. I'm still not sure we want to try and dock with the _Ragnarok_ though. Leila tends to pillage first, ask questions later. The _Excalibur_ could run rings around her vessel, but she'd never win in a fight."

"Even if the ship was fully armed?" Quaren responded.

Cryder let out a snicker. "You'll understand when you see the _Ragnarok…_not to mention her captain. Probably best we leave her as is. She's less likely to fire on an unarmed ship."

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel much like sailing into Black Corsair territory with one functional turret." Dael responded. "I'll take my chances."

"There's a third option." The colonel suddenly interjected. This caused everyone to look to him. In response, he began to rise from his seat. "If you honestly and truly believe that we can make a deal with the Black Corsairs, and Lady Mianyl approves, then I see no reason why we shouldn't go 'all out' on this mission. It's the most important mission your group has undergone yet, after all. Basically, we'd be sending you to fetch us an entire navy to defend our port. Under that condition, I think, with little dispute, that I could authorize your group to make use of the _Enterprise_."

Dael looked a bit puzzled at that. "…I'm not familiar with that E.H.T. designation, captain. Is that another experimental ship?"

For once, the colonel actually gave a half smile. As he did so, he moved over to a set of blinds in the back of the room, overlooking the interior of the hanger. He soon pulled them up and exposed what was beyond.

"She's not a sea vessel, commander."

The entire group stared in amazement. Ceja let out an utterance in her native language. Quaren, on his part, was more direct, and despite his attempts to be quiet let it out.

"Get out of town…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	40. Long Lost Siblings

_Three Days Later_

* * *

><p>The E-12 "Lufenian Fortress".<p>

Prior to the worldwide depression, the nation of Esthar had a true landed military. At that time, they were on the cutting edge of major weapons. Aircraft had been in use for a long time already, including in war, but it had fallen out of vogue for a long time following the War of the Magi and the Collapse. Aerial combat was barely used in the Wutai-Shinra War, with what aircraft were available only being used mostly for troop transport. But following that, aircraft had made a resurgence.

By now, most scientists had predicted that humanity would be waging its wars with ICBMs, or inter-continental ballistic missiles. But such was not to be on this world. The landscape changed too dramatically and interfered with the natural magnetic fields. No proper guidance system for long range could be devised. As a result, while pilots still spoke of the day in which fighters would rule the skies and bombings would be handled by long-range rockets, there was still a need for heavy bombers, both intracontinental and intercontinental. The era of the airship was not yet done. And in the last major war Esthar had been in, the 'lords of the skies' had been the E-12s.

For countless years, airships had relied on large, yet vulnerable, air bags to generate most of the lift so that most engine power could be used to power the engines. Yet finally that problem had been outdone with magnetic field devices that generated massive amounts of repulsive force to the planet's own magnetic attraction, enabling them to ride flawlessly through the sky. The E-12 was no exception. It was a great, solid, formidable warship that seemed to sail on the air. The size of a battleship, it was smooth like a whale, long, and had most of its engine housing and fins on the rear end. It possessed two side turbines with propellers flanking either side, but those were for rapid ascent, descent, or turning. The magnetic repulsors, built into the top and plated over with thick armor, were the true devices that generated lift. Steering was controlled by massive engines in the back region, along with the fins. They were the strongest parts of the ship, built from expensive, yet nearly unbreakable, alloys. It was one of several reasons the ship was so effective. The enemy always went for what they viewed as the most "vulnerable", and ended up wasting considerable shots and power trying to knock it out of the sky.

For armaments…there were six turrets in all, armed with both heavy miniguns as well as artillery. The artillery was notoriously hard to hit targets with, and, 50 years ago, crack teams of specialists for the best E-12s would be used just for targeting in heavy cloud conditions. At any rate, one turret was over the tail, two flanked the sides, one on the bottom, one on the top, and one perched over the bridge on the front. These were for fighter aircraft, however. For larger targets and bombardment, there were twenty artillery broadsides on either side of the ship. Finally, the bomb bays were toward the rear, which could each carry up to 25 tons of payload.

'Lufenian Fortress' was quite appropriate. 50 years ago, a single E-12 could stand up to any counter airship or opposing bomber airship, and could fight off a squadron of 12 conventional fighters. They'd still have plenty of punch to level a few city blocks when arriving at their destination as well. They were notorious for taking a beating from an enemy defense to such a point where the enemy would literally run out of firepower and still be faced with the juggernaut of an opponent. On top of all that, it was the first ship to utilize the fission core engines. It was capable of reaching speeds thought inconceivable for aircraft at the time, especially something so massive.

Yet that era had come and gone. In spite of its impressive relative speed and firepower, the ship was simply too slow in a fight. On seeing that it couldn't be contested in the air, enemy nations built up their navies to compensate. Other than drop bombs on them, the E-12s couldn't really combat that. Enemy nations eventually realized not to target the more obvious positions as well. Although they could still hold their own well in the air, they were no longer the unstoppable forces they once were.

Following the end of the last war, Esthar had halted any future building of the E-12s, intending the next model to be an improvement. However, the next model never came when the depression hit and people tired of war. Most of the 'Lufenian Fortresses' were harvested for parts and sold to help pay debts. However, five remained in service at the urging of the previous secretary of defense. By now, newer aircraft models had been built, and it wasn't clear how effective they would be even in their element anymore. Yet even now, they were still intimidating to behold.

The _Enterprise_, just like her four sisters, was rather ancient. Naturally, she was fifty just like them. Much of her power had been removed. The E-12s had potential for speed and, as far as most people knew, were still floating tanks. On that note, four of the turrets had been decommissioned and the broadsides removed and sold. Most of the original armor plating was stripped off as well, and had been for at least 20 years. The ship was 15% faster now, but couldn't really be trusted in a combat situation, as "weakened" as she had become.

Yet she was still reliable. She had been refit numerous times, and her nuclear core had kept her running faithfully for five decades. There wasn't a spot of rust on her, and she was still a large and intimidating sight to behold. A small part of Dael wished that she could have seen the _Enterprise_ in all of her fully-armed and armored glory, but that might have been a foolish dream now. The Sybenians had to have been making ships, artillery, and aircraft that would eat E-12s for breakfast. Even if the armor was in place, she'd probably still be nothing more than the world's biggest target, so trying to refit her or the other four for the coming war was probably an expensive and futile gesture none of them could afford to make. She was good for transport in a hurry now, perhaps even defending said passengers, but that was all. Still, she could do that job perfectly and faithfully.

While the _Excalibur_ has been more or less theirs, the _Enterprise_ was a different matter. This one was only to be used for this mission and then returned more or less in the same condition. Normally, one of the smaller aircraft would have sufficed, such as the one they used way back on the mission to Follett. But as those were fully armed and maneuverable, they were being used for air defense. Besides, the colonel believed the size of the _Enterprise_, even if she was an 'old dog' who had her teeth pulled out, was enough to dissuade any instinctive armed conflicts. But as a result, the ship would normally require a flight crew. Doing so would mean subjecting more senior members of Esthar's Hawks to supporting roles, when they needed as many people with experience doing things that were a bit more effective. However, Cid looked practically on the brink of swooning on seeing that they would actually be able to use the _Enterprise_, and after 45 minutes of discussion and ascertaining that the ship, if not being taken into combat, could be run with a skeleton crew, the colonel reluctantly agreed to just let the task force handle it.

The only other matter to handle was Sorceress Mianyl. When she awakened and was able to talk with them, they came before her back in the Cathedral and explained everything. She admitted that she was hesitant. However, she also realized that they had little choice at this point. Only the Black Corsairs had enough warships to give Sybenia a major headache and potentially stop them. If they could make this deal secretly, then they might even be able to catch the Sybenians off guard when they arrived. The deciding factor was ultimately not Cryder, but Dael and Taraketh.

"I trust the judgment of you two more than most. Therefore, if you think this is a worthwhile venture, then I will not stop you. If you do not, however, I urge you to tell me now."

"My lady, Cryder may be unconventional, but I've been with him long enough to realize he's more than faithful. He's trustworthy." Dael responded. "And we don't have the luxury of not at least trying any longer. Even if I did have qualms, I would still say we should go ahead so long as we risk no more than a task force."

"And while I still have doubts regarding Mr. Morningjay," Taraketh stated, and, after a lengthy pause, continued. "I respect Dael's judgment, and I know that, in spite of my fears and doubts, Mr. Morningjay has come through for us before. Therefore, I reluctantly agree that we should go ahead."

"Very well then." Mianyl responded. "I will not restrict you. I pray for your success."

Had they gone with the colonel's original suggestion, they could have left immediately afterward. However, they were piloting the _Enterprise_ themselves, and so had to learn first how to do so. A few crew members were dispatched to show them, without having to commit too much time and energy. Basically, they showed whatever the tutorials couldn't. It took two days to learn enough to operate the ship under "skeleton crew" conditions, but even that was rather remarkable. As always, Cid took to it like a duck to water. Unfortunately, the ship took at least four people to run, even fully automated.

Cryder was an obvious choice. Luckily, he wasn't too upset about it. He even said he always wanted to man a flying battleship. After that, however, the only two natural choices were Dael and Quaren. They were the only ones who even had a smattering of experience in piloting military vehicles, even if none of them had ever been airborne. Luckily, Quaren took quickly to his duties, and Dael took even faster. She was being assigned the position of helmsman. And landing an airship wasn't anything like landing a plane or even the old dirigible models. Things this big could more or less land themselves. Most of the "thought" work was the responsibility of the chief engine controller, and that was Quaren's position. Everything else was just pretty much "steer". Even when running the simulations, Dael took to it quickly enough. She might not have been an ace pilot, but the control systems of the E-12s were similar to those of warship helms, and she knew how to work those even if she was a bit rusty.

Hence, the woman had more free time to herself. She used it. Even spending a few hours in that lounge was enough for her to want to get back in action, and so she returned to practice.

Now, whenever she had the chance, she tried to spar against Ceja and Jalab. Both were astonishing warriors and able to outdo her in more than one area, but she was improving against them rapidly. To her surprise, she was actually able to hold her own against Jalab for a while...something she never thought would be possible. It confirmed that she herself was moving into the ranks of one of the strongest warriors in the world. She also continued to work with Bahamut, and tried to improve the technique she had learned from him. She was advancing quickly. Within the two days, she could call on the technique she used against the Gigantuar fairly readily, but, again, only if damaged sufficiently. She actually had to let Jalab slam his fist into her a few times, each one feeling like it would splinter bone, before she was able to call it up. She ended up having to patch herself up after that as well, often with the help of magic. She continued to try and develop her spells, especially the new ones from Pandemona. If she could do what Jay did, it would be an immense benefit to Esthar. But even with Taraketh being more willing than ever to tutor her, it just wasn't good enough.

She toured the ship a bit as well while it was in dock. It was quite impressive. Many of the military areas were decommissioned, and the few meager bunks were turned into more luxurious suites. It had all the facilities of a full-sized battleship and more, including a recreation room and a research lab. The latter was an improvement introduced when the E-12s took more general purposes. It actually had quite a bit of advanced equipment on board for analysis, and computers as well. Plus, it had a fully-equipped sickbay with an automated computer to assist in medical procedures. The recreational area itself was the size of half a hockey rink, so there was even room for sparring.

Dael also kept an ear to the radio. By the end of the second day, the city was back under control. Almost everyone was back to work and now working for the purpose of survival. All bickering was done with the new change. The rubble of the capitol was being cleared, and an undisclosed building was being used as the temporary capitol for surviving members of the legislature, although, as a high-ranking Esthar Hawk, Dael knew which one. It was an executive building made of newer alloy that was supposed to be more resilient to bombings. Arrangements were being made for new elections, but they would have to wait until the war had subsided or swung more in Esthar's favor.

Now, the city was fully preparing for war. Engineers worked around the clock to adapt existing industries to produce weaponry. Some of the companies actually had the capability to start making bullets as soon as a week from now. Yet it was still too little. Dael knew that in the span of a week, everything could change. This was a much "faster" war than the older ones. There was little time to catch one's breath, and they had already received more time than Dael had thought. Delays were only making things worse, in reality. Sybenia had more to gain from a delay than Esthar did at this point. After all, they could gather more of their existing strength.

After three days, however, everything was ready.

Dael had to admit she was rather nervous at the moment, positioned where she was. She was fully armed again and supplied with six fresh mage bullets, but she was still in civilian clothing. Might make her case a bit better when she appeared in front of the pirates. She was currently at the helm on the bridge of the _Enterprise_. Old as she was, everything was flawless, new-looking, and well-cared-for. The other stations were all being manned already. The four remaining individuals who lacked anything they could work, Bahamut, Taraketh, Jalab, and Ceja, all stood behind at at a distance, or sat at non-operational weapons consoles. Cid was heading the engineering station. Cryder was handling navigation and sensors. Finally, Quaren was heading the engine control.

Most of their view was governed by consoles at the moment. However, a screen was deployed in front of them to provide what was essentially a "window view". There were no actual windows anymore aside from emergency ones. That was unnecessary and also suicidal by modern weaponry. The screen served the same purpose, however. The hanger was opening, but the _Enterprise_ would need to come out first before it could initiate vertical takeoff. Dael was more than a little nervous. Even knowing that her task was simple, it was like a teenager taking out their parent's car for the first time. Even unarmed, just manning this massive machine was almost dizzying to think about.

Dael cast a glance over to Quaren. Remarkably, he wasn't too nervous. That was because for once he had the edge on Ceja. The Fuliet warrior looked barely able to hold still, nervously eyeing all of the equipment and visibly dreading being in the sky. Even Jalab had experience on airships from trips with Veriguno. Dael almost thought she saw a smile on his face from time to time when the soldier that Ceja thought so little of proved to be in his element more than she was.

Bahamut also looked rather tense, although he was holding it in better. Dael looked to him one more time before looking forward and watching the doors finish opening.

"You holding out alright, Bahamut?" She called behind her on doing so.

"Flying…at least, flying when it's not under my own power…always makes me nervous." Bahamut responded. "It seems so…unnatural. I've only been on a flying machine one other time in my life, and I wasn't the biggest fan of it in the world."

"There's nothing to worry about." Cid chimed in. "These things are made so foolproof a chimpanzee and two cadets could run one."

"Heh…well, hopefully a bit more than that, lad." Cryder responded with a grin. "Because four of us are currently running this boat, and I don't want to know which two of us are the chimpanzee."

Dael nearly smiled herself at that, but focused more on the flight. "Alright, corporal…bring the main engines up to about 2% for starters."

Quaren soon manipulated a few controls. From within the craft, the group heard the engines begin to hum. Although they were rather quiet, all things considered, the way one could feel them reverberating through the entire ship, as well as the magnitude of the noise, however controlled, made it clear how much power they possessed, how much they were all sitting on. Again, Dael was reminded, even without armaments, what a piece of military equipment had been placed at their disposal. She waited until the engines were fully up to 2%, and then finally began to work the controls, shifting the flaps and rotating the massive engines. At this small rate, you could actually feel and hear them moving. Soon after, the airship began to move out from the hanger.

Dael almost felt a ripple of child-like thrill through her as she moved the airship out into the sunlight. To feel the massive ship under her control, it was almost as overwhelming as the day she gained her incredible powers. It actually almost made her giddy, but she managed to control it. She was still a dedicated officer, after all. She kept perfect control on the helm, and almost sucked herself in a bit as she pushed the _Enterprise_ through the doors of the hanger. Soon, the massive aerial battleship was bathed in the sun's rays, and the workers motioning it to come out ran to the side to give it space.

"How we doing?" She called.

"We've got 100 feet still in the hanger, lass." Cryder called back, eyeing his instruments. "70…50…"

"Slow us to 1%, corporal."

"Got it, commander."

"40…20…10…and we're clear."

"Alright, let's bring it out a bit further." Dael responded, letting it do so for a few more seconds. Finally, she called out to Quaren. "Alright, drop it down to 0%."

Quaren pulled the controls back, and the massive ship was soon only drifting. Dael exhaled, and cracked her neck. Taraketh began to sit in a chair and strap himself in. So did Bahamut. Ceja nearly did the same…but on seeing Jalab standing, forced herself to stand up, although a bit more nervously.

"Alright…" Dael said after a moment. "Time for takeoff. Increase repulsion to 110%."

The corporal nearly reached, but then Dael called again.

"Wait…make it 120%."

Cid looked to Dael at that with a bit of puzzlement. "This is your first takeoff, Dael."

"I might as well get used to doing more extreme conditions now. 120%."

Quaren hesitated, but then exhaled and turned back to the console. "Alright…bringing it up to 120% at about 4% a second."

A moment later, and the ship gave almost a lurch that nearly pushed everyone down, like an elevator that took off at an incredible speed. It was a bit of a shock to Dael, causing her to adjust the flaps by mistake in such a way that the ship gave a bit of a clumsy shudder, and for something of the size of the _Enterprise_, any small movement was something everything felt. However, she regained control quickly and soon held the rudders steady. As for the _Enterprise_ itself, according to the viewscreen, it was soon rapidly rising in the air, and the world below shrank into a miniature, and then a colony only for ants.

Dael didn't look behind her, but Ceja was considerably nervous now. She was almost trembling. Seeing this, Jalab came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. More than that, however, he gently led her over to a seat, had her sit, and then put on her own belt. It kept her from swooning. Bold and fierce as the woman was, she had a fear of heights, obviously. Dael continued to hold as the numbers were read off.

"Now passing 10,000…11,000…12,000…13,000…"

"Slow us to 115%."

"14,000…15,000…16,000…"

"Slow to 110%."

"17,000…18,000…"

"Alright, try and stop us around 20,000 feet."

"19,000…19,500…"

Quaren called out at last. "We're back to 100%."

Cryder gave a grin as he looked up. "Not bad for a first time, I'd say. About 19,868 feet."

Dael exhaled and rubbed her brow. "Alright…not bad. Cryder, start feeding me a course."

"Sure thing, lass." The pirate answered as he began to manipulate his screen to zero in on some coordinates. "Over here's not too bad of a place to start searching…" He responded as he soon started to send them over to the helm station. They appeared on a subscreen before Dael. From there, she only had to manipulate the controls until her ship matched the same heading that the navigator was sending her. Then it was just a matter of engaging the autopilot. She wouldn't even have to work the main controls until they neared a combat situation. "That's the thing. We don't really have a base of operations like a conventional navy. The _Ragnarok_ pretty much _is_ the base of operations."

"How does that work?" Taraketh called out.

"You'll know it when you see it." Cryder responded, grinning again.

The course was soon laid in, Dael called out the appropriate engine movements for steering power, and the massive _Enterprise_ was angled toward the sea. Soon after, she gave the order to gun the engines up to maximum, and the ship soon rocketed across the sky, heading for the south.

Dael engaged the auto-pilot and leaned back with an exhale. "Well, seems I didn't forget everything I learned in Basic Military Vehicle Operations."

"Good job, Dael." Cid said with a smile.

Ceja was still rather petrified, but more at ease now that they were cruising. The airship was so smooth it felt as if they weren't even moving. Although Bahamut and Taraketh readily unbuckled, she was able to do the same after a while, giving out a mutter in her native language. Dael wasn't able to understand it, but Quaren suppressed a smile on hearing it: "If humans were meant to fly, they'd have been born with wings."

Cryder stretched a bit. "Well, now that we're airborne…time to find the nearest luxury suite and knock back a pint…"

"Oh no it's not." Dael immediately cut off. "This isn't like a ship, even the _Excalibur_, and we're not going far. We'll be there in two hours. And you're the last person who needs to take it easy. If something comes up, I'm counting on you getting us out of it."

"Assuming he doesn't make things worse…" Taraketh murmured aloud.

"Just the same, no one rest too easy." Dael reminded them. "We'll be back in the 'fire' before you all know it."

* * *

><p>It was a pretty smooth flight. No major bumps. The government may have stripped the E-12s of what little combat capabilities they had, but they were still perfect in every other regard. After all, they were still considered the safest ways to fly in Esthar. Therefore they were usually used for reconnaissance or transport of dignitaries. Technically, back during peace negotiations, Sorceress Mianyl should have been on one, but the Sybenians wouldn't allow an E-12 into their airspace, even fully decommissioned. That was a bit of an encouraging note to Dael. Perhaps, even if Sybenia had developed countermeasures to the E-12s, they still weren't foolproof to them, which is why they didn't want to risk one coming in. It might be worth it to make these ships fully battle ready once more after all, but that was a concern for another time. Unfortunately, it was a catch-22. The only way to know one way or another if refitting an E-12 was worth it was to take it into a modern battle, and the only way it could survive a modern battle was if it was refitted.<p>

Dael walked around on the ship, reminiscing a bit. She went by corridors that were one reserved for the numerous shipmates. She looked inside a few of the executive quarters, now converted into luxury suites for VIPs. She walked past the few ammunition rooms that had long since been sealed off and the doors welded, as well as the panels for cannon and the locked pathways to the turrets. She couldn't help but feel a bit sad. She was a young soldier, but she knew that if you were a true 'war horse', you didn't really want to go to the pasture at the end of it all. Sure, you wanted to rest, but you still wanted to be relevant. You didn't want to wait to wither and fade away. She could almost feel the memories in the 50-year-old craft. It had to have only seen one or two tours of duty, if even that, but when she cleared the shipyard she was supposed to be a warrior. Now, refitted and kept up as much as she was, she was just a shadow of her former self. It was almost better if something like this could go out in a blaze of glory rather than just wait to finally become too expensive to maintain, or be turned into some restaurant, hotel, or museum…

In the end, however, Dael spent most of her time on the bridge, especially toward the last hour when they cleared the coast. They wouldn't be going far, based on the coordinates, but they stretched over open sea for some time until they reached the southern edge of the Eastern Continent. Unlike the Lamb Archipelago and the one on the Southern Continent, this place was far more irregular, the rocks battered by storms and waves, worn out through time to create large archways, tall cliffs, and many intimidating natural formations. Although the day was only partially cloudy and warm enough to dispel any fog or mist, it was still a rough landscape in which many full-sized warships could hide. There were patches of ground where a ship could dismount here and there. Any one could serve as a secret dock.

After that, the _Enterprise_ dropped altitude. The reason a lot of these rocks were the way there were was because, much like the eastern mountain ranges of the Eastern Continent, they were rich in ores like iron and mythril and tended to interfere with sensor sweeps. Even if they didn't, Cryder informed them that many of the higher-ranking pirates of the Black Corsairs knew tricks to get around long-range sweeps. They'd only find them if they looked a bit more actively for them. Dael noted that this also made them more of a tempting target, but if that was the game they had to play, then so be it. Cryder assured them that Black Corsairs were more interested in attacking things on the ocean, not in the air.

At least…most of the time.

So far, the search hadn't been too good, but they had only been at it for about an hour, and there were a lot of places to check. They were only operating at about 10% of the main engines at the moment, and holding steady at around 9,000 feet. All of the sensors were attenuated to the ocean, and as the _Enterprise_ slowly lumbered over the various rock formations, the on-board cameras had adjusted the view of the main screen to present both fore and aft viewpoints. So far, all they had seen were rocks and water.

That didn't stop Dael from keeping her gaze firmly on the screen, looking for the first change, as she moved the wheel about. The others were mostly the same, whether at consoles or not. The one exception was Ceja, who was in a corner and trying not to watch the screens and get a sense of how high they were. As they looked on, Cryder puffed one of his cigars. It was a good thing the bridge was well ventilated, or Dael would have made him extinguish it long ago.

He pulled it from his lips after a moment and pointed at the screen. "Now, Black Corsairs never stay in the same spot for too long, mind you." He told them. "They do as many repairs and exchanges as they can over the open ocean. But they need at least one dry dock, and usually several. Now me? I was familiar with the ones on the Southern Continent. Only the higher-ups knew about these, and they either blindfolded whoever came in or killed them to make sure they wouldn't talk. This is the general area, though."

"Any more information than that?" Dael asked.

"Yeah. It'll have to be fairly big. A bit bigger than a Sybenian battleship at least…not quite the size of an aircraft carrier, though. That should narrow things down a little."

"This is actually a smart place…" Quaren thought aloud as he monitored the engine output. "I mean, we all assumed that if there was any sort of 'base of operations' for the Black Corsairs, it would be located on the southern coast of the Southern Continent, as far away from Esthar waters as one could get while still being in range to attack our ships. But right here? Technically on the Eastern Continent itself? I guess that's the old maxim…the closer you are to danger is the further you are from harm."

"My thoughts exactly." Cryder answered as he tapped the screen he was at. Soon, he gave a frown. "You sure these sensors are working right, mate?"

"Absolutely. It's not the sensors." Cid answered. "It's the mineral deposits. Still…this is kind of bad…more so than I thought it would be. I wonder how the Sybenians got around this."

"Actually, I think I recall hearing that it's even worse down this way at one point." Dael responded. "It's almost a 'mystery spot' around this area. Sensors actually die within a two mile radius."

"Oh yeah." Quaren responded. "It's some sort of rock pinnacle or something that's 80% pure mythril, I think… I think you can see it from a distance."

"Bring up the forward screens, Cid." Dael responded. "I can't recall the coordinates, so we'll just have to do it visually. I don't want to run by it unless we have to."

Cid nodded and adjusted a few controls. The image on the front screen soon changed from looking downward to looking forward once again. Seeing this segment of the ocean from this angle was even more bizarre. The various rock formations gave the appearance of an almost alien landscape. Some of the rock formations were rippled and condensed, while others stretched far out, with very wide expanses of ocean in between. All were highly irregular, and from this view it was impossible to spot anything. However, far in the distance, about ten miles away, there was something else.

A pinnacle of rock, mountain sized and nearly reaching the same cruising altitude the _Enterprise_ was current at, loomed in the distance. It was sharp and tapered to make a decent point. If that wasn't enough, smaller rocks of similar construction, but angled inward, surrounded it, seeming to be almost like a crown or petals on a leaf. On staring at it, the other people on the bridge looked a bit confused, even unnerved.

"Is that the place?" Bahamut called out. "It looks almost man-made or artificial, at minimum…"

"Not nature." Jalab stated as he looked at it. "Something not nature."

Dael had to admit, they had a point. She had seen pictures of this place back in school. She always thought it looked bizarre. And all scientific explanations for it were inadequate at best. To be honest, no one really knew if it was natural or artificial. And at the moment, she didn't care to find out. She looked to Cryder.

"Just give us a parabolic course around it."

"Sure thing, lass." Cryder answered as he looked back to his console.

He barely managed to touch a control, however, when an alarm suddenly went off in the bridge. Red claxions began to go off. At once, everyone snapped out of their thoughts and looked up and around. Tensions began to mount. As for Ceja, she grew the most nervous of all.

"What does that sound mean?"

Dael, on her part, soon tightened up. She recognized it after only a moment, and immediately tightened her grip on the wheel. "Nothing good. Corporal, bring us up to 25%-"

The young officer wasn't able to finish before everyone gave a lurch and a shudder. The entire airship shifted slightly, and the sounds of a distant eruption suddenly went off from the aft region of the ship. Everyone immediately grabbed onto something and held on tight as the tremor went off, and more alarms and sirens began to blare. But as soon as that was done, everyone snapped to it. At once, they were all on their consoles again, tensing up and filling with anxiety.

"What on Gaia was that?" Ceja exclaimed in fright.

Dael, however, kept her cool. "Corporal, up to 35% now! Cryder, switch back to the lower cameras! Cid, damage report!"

Everyone quickly went to work. The engines began to hum more loudly, and just in time too. Another eruption went off. This one, however, didn't seem to be based on striking the _Enterprise_. It was enough to make the ship lurch a bit, but not enough to trigger a new siren. A third soon made it shift a bit more, and sounded closer to the front this time, but no new sirens. As the engines continued to heat up, the screen changed back to the previous views.

Dael and the others tensed at what was displayed. The fore camera still showed little more than an angled view of what was ahead. The aft view showed much the same, until Cryder angled it back a bit more. Then, they saw it. Nestled behind the rock formation they had just passed was a Sybenian battleship and two destroyers, who were unloading on the _Enterprise_ at the moment. Seconds later, and the two destroyers fired a pair of missiles at it.

"Countermeasures, Cid!"

"I'm already on it, Dael!" Cid responded. "They're auto-engaged!"

Sure enough, a pair of flares soon went out and drew the fire of the two rockets, causing them to go wide and detonate early. However, the turrets thundered again. Once more, the airship gave a lurch. By now, however, it was accelerating faster, and beginning to leave the range.

"Sybenian ships? They aren't invading already, are they?" Taraketh called out.

"It's international waters…but they don't normally send warships through here…" Quaren commented.

"I think they anticipated Esthar might do something like this." Dael responded grimly as she began to manipulate the controls. "They're trying to get rid of the Black Corsairs before they have a chance to join up with us. Someone in that place has a brain."

"Well, if they didn't think we were forming an alliance before, they'll know it now." Taraketh responded. "Hopefully we'll find those pirates before-"

The ship suddenly gave another violent rock, this one worse than the first. Dael was actually knocked about a centimeter into the air for a moment before getting slammed down again. The fore cameras showed a wall of fire. The commander's eyes widened in response as she quickly steadied herself and grabbed the wheel.

"The hell…?" Cryder answered as he adjusted the viewscreens again.

Dael watched them as he did so, angling it down again. Sure enough, as they passed by the second line of rocks up ahead, they found that there was another destroyer/battleship combination, and they were firing at them as soon as they came over. Two rockets fired almost immediately afterward. When the countermeasures went off to destroy them, the ship rocked again even more violently, and this time warning lights went out again signifying more damage.

"They're staggered!" Quaren called out. "There might be a whole fleet hiding out here!"

"Hate to say it, but it makes sense!" Cryder answered as he went back to the controls. "And we're getting so much interference we don't know if they're out there until we're right on top of them according to these damn sensors!"

"Give me some power to the starboard engine! I'm turning us away from this!" Dael responded, even as she began to turn the wheel to head in the corresponding direction. Again, the shots went out from the enemy below, but they began to soon fade once again as they gained some distance. However, the relief was short lived. As Quaren answered the call and began to give the ship more power to sharply turn…another chorus of eruptions shook the ship, and more lights went out signifying damage.

Dael barely suppressed giving a curse, although she still hissed. "Cryder, is there _any_ way you can tell us where they are?!"

"Give me some slack, lass! I've been at this console for all of two days!" He shouted back.

The young officer sighed. "They just had to strip the armor plating off along with the weapons… Quaren, cut the starboard engine and give me the portside to even out again! Give me 125% lift, and everyone brace yourself for the jerk when we start climbing!"

Quaren, however, was looking rather nervously at the console at the moment. "Uh…commander…that might be a problem."

Dael turned to him. "…Why?"

"I've just turned this control to maximum…and we're at 92% and dropping."

The young officer stared blankly back in response…until Cryder investigated the instruments and collaborated.

"He's right, lass. We've already lost 800 feet…and we're losing more and fast."

Instantly, Dael spun to Cid. "Where's that damage report?"

"We're taking some outer hull damage…non-essential areas…" Cid said as he frantically looked over the sensors even as the ship rocked again. "I don't see any…wait!" He looked down a bit more, and his face soon paled a bit as he swallowed. "…That first shot hit the primary feed line of power supply to the repulsors! The magnets are losing power!"

Dael couldn't believe her ears. She immediately suppressed a groan. Fuming about this wouldn't do any good. "How much longer can we stay in the air?"

"Sixty seconds…maybe less!"

"Less than that, commander!" Quaren called back. "We're going to start scraping the higher rocks soon! We have to get clear!"

"Any suggestions on that, lad?" Cryder answered sardonically. "These waters might be thick with Sybenians!"

This was yet another moment where Dael realized she had to think fast. They only had seconds to react before options started closing to them for good. The ship was still rattling. On speed alone, they could evade most of the firepower, but they couldn't afford to get caught off guard by many more shots. As they lost altitude, they'd be easier to hit by surprise attacks as well as non-surprise ones, and soon the countermeasures would be too close to spare them damage. Furthermore, like Quaren said, soon they'd be scraping the rocks. They had enough time if they gunned the engines now to potentially get clear. Better yet…with all of these ships nestled among the rocks, chances were that they could fool them into thinking they had crashed. However, Dael realized that would only work if they landed somewhere where there was ample room to land, no other ships around, and no way to track them. Meeting all those three conditions in the next few seconds without getting blasted more was a tall order…

But then, Dael remembered.

"Cryder, get the forward-facing view-screen back up! Corporal, get the main engines going up to maximum and angle us back to port!"

The two didn't pause. They immediately went to work enacting the commands that Dael had just given. A moment later, the viewscreen was up. Dael noticed that the rocky formations were already much closer than she wanted, and flying over another formation only exposed them to more cannon fire, which rocked the ship again although it sent out no more alarms. However, the ship quickly began to build up speed and reangle itself. The view of the rock spire came into view again, much closer, and moved toward the center.

"Hold it there!" She immediately called out.

Quaren instantly did so, and continued to build up speed. Another set of ships lit up the skies trying to shoot them, framing the main screen with fire. As the ship rattled, however, the others began to look at Dael in puzzlement, all except Bahamut, who seemed to be getting her thinking. Soon, the screen began to generate static, but it wasn't from explosions. It was because of increasing interference. More warning lights went on and small signals went off, but not from damage. It was from the consoles.

"Everything's starting to shut down completely over here, lass…" Cryder cautioned. "You know what you're doing?"

"Of course I do." Dael answered. "Steady as she goes, Quaren…"

The explosions continued to go off outside…but started to ebb. They passed over another rock formation, although it was getting less easy to tell one way or the other, but no new shots came out. The screen continued to get fuzzier, though, until resolution was dying out. The sensors practically went dead, and a small grinding was heard as the ship chipped a bit of a high rock elevation. Cid noted the damage, and looked to her.

"Dael, what are you doing?"

"Commander, we're going too fast!" Quaren maintained.

"And we'll be flying blind in a moment!" Cryder added.

"I just have to get the _Enterprise_ clear of the last rock face! Cryder, you've got the last planned contour map, right? Well read to me off of that! How close do you think we are to that pinnacle?"

"Dael, what are you trying to do?" Taraketh jumped in.

The young officer groaned. "Look, all sensors go dead once you get close enough to that thing!" She called back. "We can hide something the size of the _Enterprise_ there!"

There was a unified pause on deck. They seemed to consider that a moment. Dael looked up and back to them, and then to Cid. "…We can do a water landing, right?"

He paused, still trying to take this in.

"Right, Cid?"

Finally, he nodded. "Right, right…for emergencies."

"This is an emergency. Cryder, have we cleared the rock formations?"

Snapping out of his daze, Cryder looked back down to the console. He stared for a moment, but then looked back up again. "We should be! But this is getting choppier all the time and we're headed right for the rock pinnacle!"

"Quaren, cut the engines! Get us to drift!"

The corporal nodded and quickly manipulated the controls. Moments later, they all began to leer forward as the ship started to dramatically halt. By now, Dael could also feel them lowering quickly. They were still shooting forward at a rather fast clip, however. She needed to know how close they were. At length, she called out again.

"Cryder, we're moving too fast! How close?"

"Bloody hell, I can't tell, lass! The screen stopped trying to compensate without a signal!"

"Wait!" Cid suddenly called out. Quickly, he maneuvered his hand to a different control and pulled a release lever. "The _Enterprise_ has emergency windows in case the normal viewers fail!"

On pulling the lever, a hydraulic system went into action, instantly lowering the screen and cutting it off, which was small loss at this point since it was static anyway. Emergency shutters in front of the ship soon dropped open as well, removing huge plates of armor, and letting bright sunlight flood the interior compartment. It was blinding to everyone inside for but a moment, even though they all struggled to see through it. Yet it faded rapidly, not due to their eyes adjusting, but rather due to a monolithic pillar of stone moving in front of their view. Soon, the pinnacle rock filled up the entire window pain as they were shown to be headed in a direct course for the base.

Eyes widening, Dael immediately adjuste the thruster. "Full power to port, now!

Quaren, in spite of the mutual shock he and everyone else was feeling, quickly engaged the engine. It was enough to make everyone lurch, and this time throw lots of things loose on board the bridge and nearly toss people to the ground, but she sharply turned the wheel at the same time. Even as the _Enterprise_ continued to lower, it seemed to swivel in midair and turn itself almost to a ninety degree angle, looking to sideswipe the pinnacle.

"Give me power for a right turn! Now!"

As the _Enterprise _slowed almost to the point where it collided with the rock pinnacle, and as the ocean began to become visible on the forward viewer, the engines shifted and ignited once more, and the huge airship slowly picked up speed, and began to go into a turn around the entire rock face. Just barely, enough to set off the proximity sensors, but missing by a distance of a mere three feet, did the lumbering behemoth miss collision and began to sweep around in a wide arc. Nevertheless, another scrape went out, loud, echoing, and sounding almost like gouging the metal of the E-12, as they shot past one of the surrounding spires.

"2,000 feet and we're dropping fast!" Cryder called out.

Dael continued to hold the wheel steady and continue to wide turn, but let the engines fire up and take them out. Slowly, the tail end of the _Enterprise_ went clear of the rocks. At least…that's what she hoped. Their sensors were blind now. They no longer had any idea if they were clear or not. But, hoping they were, she tightened up the turn. Everyone gave a lurch again, but managed to hold steady as more things were knocked about. However, no rear-collision occurred. The ship was free, and began to round the rock spire. However, by now, it almost looked as if they were being dropped into the ocean.

Quickly, Cid pulled another emergency lever. The ship was buoyant enough as was, but now it quickly activated additional sealant as well as a series of thick, hovercraft-like floation devices in a ring around the bulk of the ship, which immediately expanded to a turgid state and sealed as well. Dael shouted out one last warning.

"Cut the engines! Everyone hold on tight!"

Continuing to round the ship around the pinnacle, she saw the ocean come closer…closer…closer…and finally…

Dael was knocked a foot into the air, her control of the wheel going wild for a few precious seconds. Everyone else was flung up and around, and Bahamut and Taraketh themselves were cast to the ground. Jalab and Ceja barely managed to hold steady, and everyone else grabbed handles on their controls. Water splashed the front windows, and the ship gave a violent rocking. It both rolled and pitched as it hit the water.

A million things ran through Dael's head. She had handled that wrong. She should have tried to ease their descent while they still had power. She should have slowed sooner. Was water in the hull? Were they sinking? Were the multitude of alarms going off showing that they had taken more damage on impact? After all, if you fell from high enough, it didn't matter if you hit water or concrete…the result was the same. All she could do was immediately steady herself and start deactivation procedures that were par for the course for a water landing, try and minimize the water retention.

Quaren, on his part, quickly deactivated the remaining engines. Cid went over his console and his hands flew, going over the damage report, rerouting power, and seeing what there was to be done that had to be taken care of immediately. Cryder could do little. After all…they were on the water now, and he didn't have much control or use for the sensors at that point. Ceja helped Bahamut up while Jalab assisted Taraketh, and all four of them looked to Dael's group, seeing what had happened and waiting helplessly for results. As the seconds ticked by and the _Enterprise_ stabilized, Dael soon finished on her task and looked to Cid with the same earnest. The rocking gradually diminished to nothing other than the basic roll of waves. Once that happened, the commander waited, trying to see if something was going to happen next…like a gradual angling of the ship to indicate that they were taking on water. She didn't feel it, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. It could be a slow leak, and the _Enterprise_ was a big ship…

Yet before she could fret much more, Cid leaned back from his console and let out an exhale.

"Alright, we're stable." He finally stated. "We've got a leak on the lower deck from that first shot, but not much of one. I've already got two pumps clearing it as fast as its coming in. I've got warning lights in a few places, but other than that main conduit, none of the major systems seem like they're damaged."

There was mutual relief from everyone. Ceja herself looked like a behemoth had gotten off of her chest. She was back on the ground again. She could start focusing and acting normally once more. As for Taraketh, he rubbed the back of his head and then put his hands on his hips.

"Well…you know what they say about any landing you can walk away from…"

"I think our records for aircraft are currently 0-2…" Quaren muttered.

Cryder, on the other hand, clapped his hands with a grin. "What do you know. First time we take the old girl out and we wreck her. If we had parents nearby, they'd ground us for life." He laughed.

"Really, it could have been a lot worse, if these sensors are right." Cid responded. "So long as it's just that main conduit, we should be able to do well. But I'm not sure about these other warning lights. Normally, there'd be a whole crew of engineers to check this out…" He shrugged. "But…as it's just me…"

Dael nodded in response. "I've got it. Cryder, you're with me and Cid. We'll use the periphery catwalk. Since you two know more about this than the rest of us, I'll want you both to have a look at it."

Both the pirate and the engineer looked to Dael curiously at that, as did most of the others. By now, Dael also noticed something else, though she didn't pay it much attention at the time. Bahamut looked a bit distracted, looking out toward the window of the ship rather than paying much attention to what was being said. His face looked…troubled…confused…

"Why do you need to come out, Dael?" Cid asked.

"Those ships out there saw us go down, but that's all they saw." The commander responded. "Now we're assuming that their ships have sensors and capabilities like ours. If that's true, then it's only a matter of time before they try to locate us visually rather than find us with sensors. I steered us here to buy us some time, so we better be ready to take off as soon as possible. In fact…" She looked to Ceja and Jalab. "I don't want you two going out yet, but I'd prefer if you took the upper deck and were standing by."

With that, she looked to Cid and Cryder. "Are you two ready?"

The pirate gave a nod. "Sure thing, lass."

Cid shrugged. "All my tools are in the back, anyway."

She nodded in response. "Good. Let's get moving."

Dael turned and took a single step toward the exit when Bahamut finally seemed to snap out of his private thoughts. Abruptly, he looked to her. "Dael…I'd like to come out as well." He said almost hurridly.

Immediately, the commander froze, and looked to him in some puzzlement. "We're only going out to do a damage check, Bahamut. Nothing major."

"Besides, lad," Cryder went on. "Probably safer that you don't come along. That railing is going to be wet. Don't want you falling into the ocean."

Dael soon realized that such protests were useless. Looking at Bahamut for only a moment, she realized he was in one of his 'resolute' modes. He immediately straightened.

"…Yes, I know I'm not going to be terribly useful in a situation like this, and that it's not going to take much time to get through this. And if you asked me honestly, I don't know why I should even bother one way or the others. But…"

He hesitated a moment. When he did, something came over him again, the same look from before. He seemed to be staring past Dael and out in the distance, again to the window.

"…There's something about this place." He finally stated. "Ever since we got close to it…something hasn't seemed quite right. Well…no, it's not that…it's like…" He paused, and concentrated a bit more.

"…Something almost seems…familiar."

The group was silent in response, looking back to Bahamut at this. After a moment, he finally snapped out of it and looked up to the others. He exhaled.

"I know it seems like it's crazy, but I have to ask you to trust me on this."

Dael looked back for a moment, but not nearly as long as she used to. At this point, she had learned not to doubt Bahamut anymore. You'd only end up surprising yourself. And compared to some of the crazy stunts she had let him do, this was a mere trifle. She saw no need to make a huge deal out of it. There was a bit of danger, yes, and Bahamut would likely just get in the way…but she felt safer with him than most adults. Finally, she shook her head.

"Alright, fine. Let's just hurry. For all we know, we've already got warships descending on us and, in here, we wouldn't even know it until they started to blow the _Enterprise_ apart."

* * *

><p>Dael had to admit, this was a bit nerve wracking. Being on the deck of a warship was one thing. But walking around a much larger base like this one, especially when, as she had predicted, the railing was wet? That was a bit more severe. Yet what really got her, she soon realized, was that she too was soon getting a 'feeling'…and it wasn't a comfortable one.<p>

The commander had intended to wrap the _Enterprise_ around the rock pinnacle as best as she could, and she had succeeded for the most part. Now, at least they were hidden from immediate view. It may have bought them some more time. Yet now, they were parked right next to the massive, oddly-shaped mountain, as well as the petal/spire-like rocks that surrounded it. Almost immediately, she began to feel it. Something seemed odd about this place. Not conventional…unearthly. She supposed just staring at the weird formation would have been reason enough, but now that she was out and next to it…she realized that wasn't it. There was something else unsettling about being here. Maybe it was a side effect of whatever disturbance was causing the sensors to go haywire…but as she stood in the shadow of the mountain, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable…

Well, perhaps uncomfortable was the wrong word.

Strangely enough, like Bahamut…she felt something familiar.

She tried to put her finger on what might have made it obvious that something was up. Yet much as she looked at the rock pinnacle, other than the fact that it seemed too regular to be natural, there was only the fact that, ringing the island, the water seemed unusually still, and was full of bubbles. Not huge ones churning it up, but almost like champagne bubbles. They seemed to be very concentrated around the base of the spires. That was unconventional…and she found herself frequently glancing at them in spite of her best efforts. They gave her more of that mystery familiar sensation.

At any rate, the feeling was too bizarre to wish it to continue for long. Most of her attention was devoted to one of two things: the _Enterprise_ or the sky.

The latter didn't look too good. While their crash landing had been in only partly-cloudy weather, Dael had noticed some anvil-head clouds up ahead. Considering all of their past experiences with storms, in particular their incident with the _Gungir_, Dael didn't care much for them. To be honest, she was a little surprised. It seemed they were having a very rainy year…far more than usual. In fact, a little while ago, when she had been listening for radio transmissions while dry docked in Lamb, she thought she had heard reports that they were already five inches above average in Esthar… The point being was that a squall was coming, and fast. That would complicate things.

The next was the _Enterprise_. The four initially exited onto the railing at a distance, closer to the front. As they came out and took a look at the damage, the difference was night and day. Only a few places still had the original plating, but if those places were in any better condition, they'd only need a new paint job. Right next to them, where the armor had been stripped, was a different story. Large gashes were against the ship even from shrapnel damage. Dael could tell the metal was so thin that it looked like little more than a few pieces of sheet metal stuck together. She could probably dent it with her fist, considering her increase in strength. To be honest, she was a little unnerved. She had the impression they were flying a sturdy, intimidating aerial battleship. Now she realized there were places where men with handguns could have seriously damaged the ship.

Luckily, there hadn't been much in the way of direct hits, and a lot of the damage was visceral at best. Although it would cause a lot of drag in some places, nothing was a major emergency. The group therefore slowly inched their way along the catwalk toward the aft region. It was indeed slick, more than expected in fact. She kept a hand on Bahamut to keep him from falling more than once, although it would have been more of a normal slip than anything serious. The wind was high, and casting up cold spray in their faces, and they felt sharp tugs as they passed. No doubt, the winds were normally fierce already, but this was much worse, since the storm was incoming. Yet Dael knew Cid soon had it a lot worse once they finally reached the end.

There were numerous implements on an E-12 for emergency repairs. One was a tow line similar to a rappel. When they first arrived at the aft region, Dael could look down and see that there was damage, and clearly the worst yet. The hull had been eroded and "torn" before, but now there was definitely a major breach. And, worst of all, the bulk of it was underwater. Even if it wasn't, from their position they could see little. Therefore, Cid had the "honor" of attaching one of the rappels to himself and lowering his body down closer to the ocean water and getting a closer look. The rappels were sophisticated and had electronic remote winches as well as manual ones, and they had been serviced frequently with the intention of making them foolproof to use and flawlessly perform. Nevertheless, Dael had the notion that if Cid had been rappelling in boot camp he would have frozen up completely, while he took to this current situation as a duck takes to water. Immediately, he lowered himself down to the damaged region like a seasoned veteran, and began to look over the area.

As he made some mental notes, Cryder and Dael both watched him and waited for a verdict. In particular, Cryder was using a short-range walkie-talkie that came standard on the ship for applications like this to stay in contact with the engineer, although Dael was hanging on his shoulder practically listening for a report. She wanted to get in fairly soon. As the winds picked up, so would the waves long before the squall arrived. They had to "batten down the hatches", in a sense, before that happened.

As she waited, however, the voice that broke the silence wasn't his.

"Undersea waterfall."

Dael turned her attention nearby at that. She found herself looking at Bahamut, who was holding tightly to the railing as he looked over the edge.

"Excuse me?"

"I remember what causes those." He answered, not looking to her, as he pointed to the bubbles around the edge of the rock pinnacle. "It's an undersea waterfall. It could be a few hundred feet high, for all we know. We can't see where it is, but what happens is the water is actually dropping so sharp and powerfully that it's pulling air down into it, and when it hits the bottom the air is released back to the surface."

Dael looked to him and blinked. "…Seriously?"

He nodded. "I used to see it in rapids. That's where you normally see it, in fact, especially in mountainous areas that are cracking open wider or creating deep chasms. I'd say it's odd being on an ocean…but seeing as the world keeps changing and never stays still long enough to settle into a 'slow state'…I guess I shouldn't be."

Dael looked back down to the base of the rock formation. She was fairly sure that the going theory of this place was that it was volcanic in nature, meaning it was nothing but rock all the way to the sea floor. This, however, indicated that there was some sort of drop-off or separation. And the way it was constructed, it looked like it extended all around the base of the entire rock formation. That meant, at least to Dael, that there was a greater chance than ever that it was man-made. The thought weighed on her mind in spite of herself, although she tried to focus on the task at hand. She looked back to Cid.

Cryder soon called out to the radio. "What's the word, mate?"

The radio soon gave a response. _"Well…sad to say I can't patch this. I'd need a work crew and a lot of materials I don't have. I can fix the conduit, but I'll have to cut the power to do it and wade in seawater for a while. Even when it's done, it'll be exposed and vulnerable…but considering how that tin-foil-armor didn't really help us before, that's probably not a major loss. And as you all have probably noticed, this place is going to get rough really soon. At any rate, the conduit is shot and beyond salvation. All of the cables need to be switched out. There's no other damage, but with the size of this hole taking in water…it won't be easy."_

"How long, do you think?" Dael called into the radio over Cryder's shoulder.

_"At least 24 hours…maybe as much as 48. Depends on how bad that storm hits." _Cid answered regretfully.

Dael frowned a bit. If she ever took the _Enterprise_ on another mission, it would only be when the thing was fully armored. "Alright. Bring yourself up. We're going to start heading back and seeing what we can do to secure her and give you a dry workplace."

Looking up and away from Cryder, Dael turned her full attention to Bahamut. She began to step back toward him. "Alright, let's get back inside. I'm hoping we can find something to do to make this process go a bit faster. I don't like the idea of-"

Dael never saw the 100-gil-piece-sized spot of axle grease that had landed on the catwalk following the firefight. Part of it had been knocked loose and landed on the pathway when the ship was damaged. There had been other pieces of debris here and there on the railing, but it was assumed they were all just loose debris. However, soaked with sea water, the grease had gone from being thick and viscious to sludge-like and oily again. And through some act of fortune, she stepped on it just right. For all her focus and training, she was caught so off guard she was powerless to stop herself from sliding to the left, hitting the railing, and continuing to fall around until she went over the edge completely and started falling into the ocean.

The commander's eyes went wide. Her reaction time was fast, but her hand went out and just missed the railing as she went down, and so she wasn't quite fast enough. The move had been so sudden, so surprising, and her heart had leapt as she suddenly lost control and fallen, that she couldn't get her thoughts in order fast enough. Otherwise, she might have remembered her teleportation. Yet the deck of the ship rapidly flew by her. Her companions looked over the edge and began to open their mouths to cry out. As the wind whipped by her, she began to think of the teleport spell…but it was too late. She soon crashed into the sea.

For a moment, Dael held as the ocean's water crashed up around her. The landing was rough and on the back of her head, stunning her a bit, but she thought of waiting until her body stopped, and then swim back to the surface. After landing, she quickly righted herself, going head up and legs down, and tried to swim up. She stroked once…twice…three times…and found out she was still underwater, with lots of water overhead. Her hands didn't even reach up to the surface. As she struggled to look up through the saline water…which, already, she noted, didn't seem to be stinging her eyes as much as it should, and should have been making her more buoyant…she saw something. The sun was overhead…and was getting fainter. She began to see more and more of the bulk of the _Enterprise_…

And then she understood.

Almost all air she had in her lungs was released as she panicked. She was caught in the underwater waterfall. She was being sucked down…and would soon be pinned hundreds of feet below the surface until she drowned. She struggled to kick and fight, but that was too much of a panic move, and it only made it easier for her to be dragged down. And since she had just used her air, her lungs began to slowly burn. Her mind filled with fear. She had to get out of this. She heard stories of how easily people had been killed here and surfaced again miles away hours later… She only had one hope…teleportation. But she was very far from the ship now, and if she landed back in the water, she'd go under again… She couldn't even make out the ship anymore, as dark as it was getting. The sun had turned into a pale dot and was growing dimmer as the water grew colder and felt more painful… Even if she just did so "blind", she wasn't sure if she could reach the surface with her range. But if she didn't do something soon, she'd never get the chance…

Then, all at once, she felt vertigo grasp her…and a cosmic vacuum seemed to suck her down at a rate far farther than before. Water was driven into her eyelids, and as a result stung them and blinded her. Her body was stretched out, her legs low and her arms overhead, as she nearly went into freefall. If she could have cried out in fright, she would have.

Yet even as she fell more into darkness…she felt something against her legs…and quickly against the rest of her body. A feeling of coldness…and dryness…

_…Air?_

A moment later, dim blue light became visible through her closed eyelids, and her face became clear enough to where she realized she was indeed at partially in air. She took the moment to steal a gasp although she got some water with it…before she realized something else. She was in freefall. Again, she would have cried out if she could have…and she felt herself flailing about in midair for a bit longer…before, at last, she crashed into water again. Soon, she vanished beneath once more.

Out of sheer instinct of not wanting to be in water anymore and lack of air, she let her body panic and furiously try to swim up. There was no need, for she landed in only a shallow pool, and soon she was crashing about, splashing, and sputtering as her head was already above the surface, making her look, to any passerby, like an idiot, for lack of a better term. Yet even as she realized this, and realized that not only was the water not too deep, but was also not sucking her down, she shook her head furiously, and forced her eyes to open. Her vision was blurry and she was stunned from her experience, but she quickly started to look about…and was immediately overwhelmed. Her jaw dropped as she stared about in amazement.

She was in a magnificent undersea grotto. From the size of it, it reached at least one hundred feet high, and extended far back…probably all the way under the mountain. Most of the bottom was water, such as what she was in at the moment, wading about. However, there were rock formations that almost looked like lillypad paths, even though they were made of stone, leading to a much broader center far in the distance. The rock walls of the grotto, every one of them, provided the source of the waterfalls. There was water pouring into them all around from periodic locations surrounding the entire grotto, and yet the place did not fill. Somehow, despite being under the sea level, the water was draining for the water level remained even.

Almost all of the grotto was dark. Yet somehow, an aqua blue glow filled the area. It reflected off of periodic jewels or crystals some sort in the ceiling, for it gave it a beautiful appearance of a starry sky, almost like what Dael had seen back in that cave on the Southern Continent…only more beautiful and spectacular. Here, the grotto was so open that wind almost moved through it, allowing one to truly get the sense of being outdoors. She looked for the source of light, and soon saw it coming through the water. She looked down to try and get a better look, and marveled again. The water was crystal clear and pure, and she could see the most beautiful, bioluminescent, and fantastic sea life gracefully floating about in it without a care in the world. Somehow…it was very peaceful. Dael was sure she saw a rather large shark among them slowly swim by, but even though it passed within three feet of her…she felt no fear. Somehow, in this place, dark, hidden, and mysterious as it was…she somehow innately knew that she was safe. The light itself was coming from beautiful aquamarine crystals that radiated it. The mechanism was unknown…but Dael slowly realized she didn't care to know what it was or not. She felt too peaceful to be concerned about that.

As she looked back up to the grotto again, she stared at the great darkness, felt the coolness from the water, and saw the beautiful lights creating the starry sky…all at once she felt like she was back on her cliff on a lovely day, and had been there for hours…letting her cares melt away. So relaxed was she that she could almost see the ribbons of light and life that Bahamut had shown her moving through the area, even without trying. Darkness was supposed to be something humans shunned and feard…and yet Dael felt no fear from this. She saw only peace and beauty, a sense of vastness and smallness. Humans became so wrapped up in their own affairs that they couldn't see more than two inches in front of their own faces. But here…faced with the vastness of the cosmos, even an artificial one…everything seemed right. No matter what problems or concerns happened, the universe was still unfolding just as it should be. All was well.

Dael wasn't sure how long she rested in the water, letting the various sea creatures slowly swim by her and even around her, but finally she made a move. She swam over to the nearest rock pad, and climbed on top. It was a bit chilly, but not enough to make her shiver, even in the dark. She sat down on it and drew her knees into herself, looking up at the starry "sky". She drank in the peace and solitude for a moment, just being at peace in this beautiful place.

However, her military mindset snapped her out of it soon. She couldn't spend all day just gawking at this grotto. Currently, she was stuck down here, and pretty as it was…it would end up being a pretty tomb if she didn't find a way back out of it again. She certainly couldn't go back up the way she came. And she didn't immediately see any other way up…

Abruptly, she heard another splash behind her. She immediately turned, and saw spraying up at the bottom of one of the other waterfalls. Without even seeing anyone immediately, Dael realized that this was someone else. Sure enough, a second later, Bahamut's head popped to the surface and shook his hair.

"Bahamut!" Dael exclaimed, half in surprise, half in announcement.

The boy said nothing at first, merely shook his head and swam over to Dael. Although he could have gotten out easily enough, she quickly grabbed him and pulled him onto the same pad. He coughed a bit and looked around, soon seeing the same grotto and the fish. The boy always acted like he had 'seen everything'. In spite of that, he had to give pause on seeing this place for a moment or so, before turning to Dael.

She was the one to speak first. "What are you doing here?" Soon, she gave a frown. "Don't tell me you jumped in after me!"

In response, the boy shrugged. "I kind of had to. I had to make sure of where you were."

Here, he held up a hand, revealing one of the radios. Dael frowned and snatched it out of his grasp, but ignored it a moment.

"There's no guarantee that thing will work or, if it does, that it'll do us any good. And for all you knew, you were jumping into an undersea waterfall and we'd _both_ be drowned by now."

"The place seemed man-made or artificial…not natural, at any rate. So I had a feeling it wasn't." Bahamut simply answered.

Dael blinked, and frowned. "A _feeling_?!" She stated in a rare outburst, echoing through the chamber. "You were the one who told me this was an undersea waterfall to begin with!"

"Yes, but something didn't quite…seem right." Bahamut simply answered.

Dael continued to glare at him.

Finally, he sighed. "…I'll admit, it probably wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had, and it was a bit reckless…but I kind of tensed when I saw you get sucked under. I made a mistake. I'm sorry."

The young woman rolled her eyes. "…We're both alive, and that's all that matters for right now." She held up the radio again and tried to switch it on. "These things are supposed to be waterproof, but that was pushing it. Hope I can get a signal…"

She pressed the button. "Cid, Cryder, do you read me?"

Remarkably enough, a response immediately came through. _"…Dael? You're alright? Bahamut got you the radio?"_

_"You two have the devil's own luck, you know that? Thought you'd surface somewhere in Centra after you both went under."_

_"Where are you? Are you alright?"_

Dael was pleasantly surprised, and actually sighed a bit in relief. "We're fine. There's some sort of grotto or cavern underneath the rock pinnacle." She looked around again. "…To be honest, it's rather incredible. I don't even like these sorts of things, but I almost wish I brought a camera. At any rate, there's no way we're swimming back out of here. You think you can extend one of the winches where we landed? Maybe you can haul us out."

_"Yeah…no problem."_ Cid's voice returned. _"Just give me a few minutes. Now, does it matter where we put it down?"_

Dael was about to respond to this…when a noise of a wave went out in the cave. It was small, but loud enough to actually disturb the water and cause an echo. The young officer looked out, and noticed something else. Clear as the water was, she saw as all the wonderful and unusual fish suddenly broke for it, swimming off in all directions.

She paused as she saw this, tension growing inside her.

A moment later, another wave went off, this one higher. However, it was from a different part of the cave all together. She snapped her head to the source, but was just in time to see a wave die down. Soon after, she heard another wave. She looked to that…and this time saw something that made her pale. A very large, very thick, aquamarine, serpentine coil with a fin broke the surface momentarily, and then sank back down inside it again. She actually let out an audible gasp on seeing it. Yet in another, completely different part of the room, she soon saw another coil break the surface…seeming much larger. She realized it couldn't have moved that fast…not at what she could see.

Yet as she looked to the water, already shrinking back to the center of the platform, she realized that there was a shadow moving beneath the water. A _big_ shadow…and a very long one.

_"…Dael, are you there?"_

The commander didn't bother answering. She was focused on what was happening. The water in the chamber was now getting rougher and moving. There was definitely something in the chamber with her. Quickly, she drew her sword, and called out to the boy. "Bahamut, get back! There's something big in here and I think it's dangerous!"

Bahamut, however, didn't move at all. She turned fully to him, and realized, for the first time, he was looking into the water. In fact, he seemed overjoyed at what he was seeing, even growing more enthusiastic than he had been in a very long time. A smile was spreading on his face.

"I don't believe it…" He said aloud. "I could have searched the rest of my life…" Suddenly, his voice turned to joy…something she had never heard from Bahamut before. "But Dael…you were lucky enough to stumble on it! We found him!"

As the water grew rougher, Dael looked at Bahamut in confusion. "What are you talking about? Get back, before-"

Dael was cut off as she heard the water break behind her, and soon a tremendous bleating roar sounded throughout the entire grotto so loud that she immediately winced in shock and pain from the noise. She spun around, but immediately slipped and fell back. Her weapon clattered to her side as did the radio to her opposite side, but she looked up in shock, unable to think about picking them up. Instead, she gaped in a mixture of amazement and horror at what she saw.

Towering at least fifty feet into the sky and looking down on her was a _gigantic_ aquamarine sea serpent. Its head was framed with gleaming, translucent, iridescent fins and crests, and the bulk of its head, which was easily large enough to swallow Dael whole, was pointed and almost blade-like with a sharp beak. Two great feelers, like whiskers, came from either side of its cheeks and swished about in the air. Aside from that, in the darkness of the cave, its two great yellow serpentine eyes gleamed like bright torches. Both of them focused on Dael…but they didn't just look at her. They seemed to be diving into her flesh, piercing into her mind…even her soul…

Dael thought of fighting…but even as she did, the sea serpent's coils rose from the water…and they filled the _entire_ chamber. She realized hacking away at one part of its body would only make it mad. What more, the stare of the creature paralyzed her. It was the same effect as with the Sorceresses…she could almost feel the raw power radiating off of the sea monster. It almost felt like it was immobilizing her on purpose. However, she forced herself to concentrate…and nearly went for her sword. She wasn't sure if she'd be fast enough, but she'd rather be stopped going for it than otherwise.

Yet she soon froze again. The massive sea creature suddenly lowered its huge head down to her, eyes still focused and burning into her. They were overwhelming. Much as when she first met Mianyl, they seemed to try and drown her out all together. It took all of her focus just to keep from passing out from their power. There was no question about it…this creature had some sort of magical ability. Yet still, she froze. She could do nothing as it lowered its massive head over her and exhaled. To her surprise, it must have had lungs, or lung-like objects, instead of gills, for it snorted over her a gust of air so hot it was almost toasty.

The two remained for a moment…Dael staring at the sea serpent, and it staring at her.

Then, finally, it did something. Abruptly, its body shifted through the water, and the large head moved out to one of the rock pads that was adjacent to Dael's. Although it kept its eyes on her, it recoiled and seemed to loosen the power of its gaze. Dael, in response, nearly went for her weapon…but paused. She realized now, large and intimidating as it was, it didn't seem like it was going to attack. In fact, it was even pulling back. That made her hesitate, and lean up to look at it, seeing what it was going to do next. In response, the sea serpent eyed her a bit longer…

But then, its eyes suddenly shut and, in a surprising move, it drove its head forward and smashed the point of its beak into the rock.

Dael regarded this with thoughts of confusion, but soon she noticed something that surprised her. The head was changing. It seemed to suddenly take a moldable consistency, and was beginning to, it appeared, 'melt' almost. Its dagger shape slowly started to broken and fatten, as if the scales were running down and turning into a lump… Yet that wasn't all. The water in the chamber suddenly shifted considerably, and soon after Dael started to see something different. The coils were rapidly retracting…shooting back and collapsing on themselves like a line of released measuring tape…or, more appropriately, sliding back toward the head region.

The head itself continued to deform. The eyes, nostrils, and whiskers vanished and became a lump. Yet as the coils passed the "halfway" point, the head started to rise again. It vaguely formed into a new oblong shape as the aquamarine and iridescence vanished. As the coils went to a quarter shape, it started to look like a vague clay man that a child might sculpt in art class. As they coils went from there, the color turned to flesh tone, and the scales receeded and turned to skin. The shape became more distinctive and formed, turning to anatomically correct, and continuing to sharpen from there into what looked like a humanoid body at first, and then became a human male.

Finally, as the last of the coils sank into the forming body and vanished, clothes erupted on the man's naked body…and at once he was covered with what looked like a fisherman's outfit, complete with yellow raincoat. As soon as the coils vanished into his head, the hood automatically went up over it, as if covering it with a lid. To finish things, thick brown hair and a beard at least a foot and a half long erupted from the man's head and covered it.

The newly formed man, about 6 feet, formidable, and a bit old-looking despite having no gray hair, leaned up and let out a massive exhale, cracking his neck and arms a bit. After that, his eyes cracked open, and he took in a deep breath. When his eyes were revealed, they soon showed that they were aquamarine, just like the sea serpent's had been, and they gleamed with some sort of inner wisdom and light that was impossible to describe. Much like the ceiling, looking into those eyes was like looking into the depths of the universe. They seemed to possess a knowledge not of this earth, and harbored a quiet, sleeping power.

Soon after, the old man looked to Dael again. When his gaze rested on her, she almost felt a force strike her, just like with the Sorceresses, and she took a step back. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. She was beginning to wonder if she _had_ drowned and she was hallucinating in her last few moments before she asphyxiated. Yet the man was calm and controlled…and soon she realized he was so calm and controlled, and radiating such an aura of calmness and control, that against her will she found herself relaxing.

Then, he exhaled. "Phew…sorry that took so long." He finally stated. His voice was not like that of any other man she had ever known. Just like the eyes, it seemed old, wise, and powerful…far more than the age and body that was there. Yet even so, it was almost casual. Conversational. "It's been close to 80 years since I first managed to remaster how to shapeshift. Been a while since I've taken human form. Getting out of practice…"

Dael merely stared blankly in response. The old man looked at her, and snickered.

"Your mouth is hanging open, miss." He told her.

Mechanically, Dael closed it, before she finally got her senses back and shook her head. At that, she focused more on the man. "…Who, and what, are you?"

The old man paused, and then raised an eyebrow. "…You don't know?" He answered her. After a moment, however, he smiled softly. "…I suppose were I someone like Ifrit, I'd be insulted. I thought after our act of heroism a few hundred years ago, everyone in the world once again knew of the Master of the Seas."

Hearing that title, Dael's brain finally clicked again. And with it came realization. At once…she knew what Bahamut was talking about. She knew what she had just seen. She knew who this was. Soon, she was gaping again.

"…Leviathan?"

"Hmm…I had a feeling you'd think of that if you had a moment to get your thoughts together." The sea-serpent-turned-human responded with a soft smile. He crossed his arms soon after, but kept his smile. "You've been busy, young lady. I sense numerous Guardian Forces inside you already. One would have thought one would be plenty…"

Dael was stunned. She had encountered quite a few Guardian Forces by now…but Leviathan was in a league of his own. She hadn't honestly believed Taraketh's boasts about power until this point, but now that she saw Leviathan in the flesh she realized he was wrong. Until now, she had only see evocations of power on the level of the Sorceresses. Now…she saw something that seemed to be the same power personified. Even in this human form, something about him still held the majesty of the sea serpent he had been moments ago. At once, she recalled tales of how Leviathan had the power to smash any ship on the sea, reduce rocky shores to dust, and enlarge himself so big that he could swallow a thousand men. Offerings used to be made to Leviathan simply because ancient sailors believed they were fully at his mercy once they entered his realm. And now…she began to realize these things were true, now that she could feel the power coming off of him…

_"Dael, where are you? You two didn't get sucked under, did you?"_

Cid's voice snapped Dael out of her thoughts. At once, she remembered the radio. She hadn't said anything to Cid since Leviathan appeared. She blinked and hesitated a moment, but then spoke to the old man. "Excuse me just for a moment…"

She quickly turned and went over to where the radio was, taking it up and depressing the button. "I'm here, Cid, but you won't believe…"

A moment later, Dael trailed off a moment, for something else she had forgot now moved.

As Dael spoke into the radio, Bahamut stepped forward. He had held back and kept silent before now, and now that the young officer could see his face, she saw it had changed again. Where he had been joyful a moment ago, that had passed. Now, in spite of his best intentions, both tension and anxiety were starting to color his expression. He wanted to walk forward boldly, but she saw some hesitation in his step.

Dael followed him and soon forgot the radio again, despite Cid's protests on the other end. At once, she realized this was it…the proverbial moment of truth. All of the past discussions she had with Bahamut now came to bear. She realized this was what he had been hoping for…to finally meet Leviathan and learn why he was 'trapped in a human body'. And she realized, more than that…this would be the moment where it would be finally confirmed, that he was a child and not a Guardian Force…although she wasn't completely, 100% sure that would be the answer anymore. To be honest, she didn't know _what_ would come out of this. All she knew was that there was an overwhelming chance that it would be something that Bahamut didn't want to hear…and she had no idea what the result would be. Would he degenerate? Would the memories of the night his parent were murdered come flooding back? Would he regress into a catatonic state?

Dael didn't know. All she knew was after looking at him approach for a moment…she didn't want him to be hurt by whatever Leviathan would say. She genuinely didn't want him to suffer.

As a result, she began to open her mouth.

"Wa-"

However, Bahamut began to speak soon after to the old man, who by now had directed his full attention to him.

"Leviathan, I need to know something right now before anything else is said. I need you to tell me the truth." The boy stated, his voice showing considerable power despite his youth. He was forcing himself to be bold, forcing himself to look at the man. He paused only a moment, but then spoke.

"I need you to tell me who I am. I _think_ I know, but I need confirmation. And if there's anyone on Gaia who can tell me if I'm believing a lie or it's the truth, it's you. Who am I?"

The old man stared back at Bahamut blankly for a moment. His look showed being caught off guard by the question. He looked confused, and only more muddled as time went by. Dael immediately tightened. She couldn't see Bahamut's face, but she already feared what he was showing. Already, the old man didn't immediately say anything. In likelihood, Leviathan had never seen the boy before in his life. He would say that…and that would be it. The illusion would be shattered. Bahamut would know the truth and take whatever pain came with it…

She saw Leviathan's mouth begin to open. She found herself wanting to call out to him…tell him not to say it… As crazy as it was, she just wanted to spare the boy more pain.

But then…Leviathan paused. He gave Bahamut a look, like he was noticing something for the first time. His mouth slowly closed, and he looked at the boy a bit longer. Before, he seemed to treat his request as something odd and confusing, and he didn't seem to take it that seriously. But now, he seemed to be doing so for the first time. Suddenly, the old man began to step forward, until he was standing right before Bahamut. The boy looked up to him and waited. Leviathan looked over him a moment. As Dael watched, his look turned to something that was intrigued. He slowly gazed over Bahamut's face, seeming to study his features…or examine him like a curiosity. All the while, he said nothing, just looked intrigued.

At length, Leviathan dropped down a bit, putting him level with the young man. He stared at him…right into his eyes. And despite the power, Bahamut looked back, without blinking. The old man leaned his head a bit more forward, as if gazing into something. He did so for a few moments…

When, suddenly, a smile slowly crept across his face, breaking into a grin.

"…Ah…there you are." He finally said in a soft voice. A moment later…he added another two words. "…My lord."

Dael's eyes nearly fell out of her head as her mouth opened again.

_You're joking…_

Bahamut's face was unseen to her, but the joy returned. "Leviathan…you recognize me?"

A change had come over the old man. He stared on at Bahamut for a long time. As he did…he seemed suddenly a lot older…or possibly younger. It was as if he was being drawn back in time, to some far away era and place. He looked on at Bahamut…and he leaned back. As he did, he too seemed a bit stunned…quiet…

"…I still remember that look on your face…" He said so quietly that, if not for the silence of the grotto, no one would have heard him. "…I thought so little of it…until _he_ came back…until I knew you weren't coming back… Then it burned in my memory. Even in human form, you had that look in your eye… I never thought I'd see you like this…"

Bahamut's hands reached out and actually grabbed Leviathan's shoulders. "…You know I'm Bahamut, don't you?"

Leviathan seemed to be a bit stunned by now. He hadn't blinked since he had noticed Bahamut's eyes. Now, he slowly nodded, his own look beginning to turn overwhelmed. "…It's weak… Your signature used to be like a towering inferno. Now it's only a candle at best…but it burns the exact same way. There's no two ways about it." He paused. "…I thought I'd never see you again. I thought the day you crowned me the new King of the Espers was the last. But even if it's only like this…it's still you…"

Bahamut seemed to waver. His doubts were dispelled, obviously, and he began to feel enthused. Yet as he stared on at Leviathan…a greater realization came over him. More than just the truth about himself. He stared on at Leviathan for a period of silence. Dael could see none of his face, only Leviathan's own expression. Finally, it changed.

The two came forward and embraced each other.

Dael felt like her legs were going to fall out from under her.

_…He was telling the truth. _

_This whole time…he really was Bahamut. He was that legendary dragon with the power to destroy continents, the oldest living thing in the world, subject of countless legends and myths…and he was right there the whole time. He didn't lie about anything. He wasn't confused about anything…_

_This is impossible…_

Dael didn't know what to say or do. The last few events had rendered her silent and mute. She couldn't even remember what she was doing at the moment. All she knew is she now saw Bahamut in a whole new light. No more was he just an exceptional kid… Now she knew he really was what he claimed to be. She supposed she should have tried to believe it more…but it was such an insane story. And after Carbuncle had said what he said…she thought that was the verdict. But now…

The two finally parted. Both were beaming at each other…almost on the verge of tears as they looked each other older.

"…I thought you wanted to rest in peace. That's why I never tried to revive you. Otherwise-"

"No, it's alright." Bahamut responded. "I read about Diablos. You're right…the chance was too great. We couldn't risk Wyvern or Griever coming back to life. I would have preferred to stay dead than risk them."

"But…you're alive now…" Leviathan answered, looking him over. His face turned puzzled. "…Is it that cloudy out? I thought you would have begun your transformation into full form by now…"

"That's just it, Leviathan. I'm stuck in this body." Bahamut responded. "It took me months just to get enough power for one move."

The man looked over him a bit longer. "…This is puzzling, to be true. I don't think I've encountered it yet. However…I do have a theory…tied to why your spirit signature is so weak…"

Bahamut exhaled. "…Well, I learned eventually to appreciate your theories over the facts of others. I only wish Carbuncle and the others would have recognized me. I was beginning to doubt I was who I thought I was…"

Leviathan grimaced and shook his head. "Well of course _they_ didn't recognize you. Most of them never did pay much attention to their ability to read spiritual signatures. Shiva has no good excuse, though. She was always an attentive student, and I'm going to have a talking to her next time… But you've already seen the others? Well, I should have known that. After all, you were with this young lady here-"

The old man looked up, and cut himself off. Bahamut soon turned as well. Both found themselves staring at the blank-looked Dael, whose radio hung at her side with Cid still trying to contact her.

They stared a moment, before the old man rose. "Forgive my rudeness, young lady. It's just…phew…you have to understand that it's been thousands of years since I saw my brother, and I had feared I never would again."

"I'd introduce you, but you already know this is Leviathan." Bahamut added. He paused. "…Dael, are you alright?"

"…You're really Bahamut." She finally stated.

The boy exhaled and crossed his arms, leveling a glare at her. "…That's what I've been trying to tell you for some time now, Dael. I'll excuse it, though. Even I was starting to doubt myself."

"But…but…" Dael shook her head, slowly loosening up. "It's not… I mean…" She finally exhaled. "…How can you be Bahamut? You're just a kid!"

"I've told you…I'm only stuck in this child's body." Bahamut responded.

"But…but why? Why are you stuck in a child's body?"

The boy groaned and rolled his eyes. "If I knew _that_, don't you think I could have given you a better explanation weeks ago?"

Leviathan, by now, was looking to both of them. "…Did I miss something somewhere along the line?"

"Why didn't you believe me, Dael?" Bahamut continued, ignoring Leviathan. "When did I ever lie to you?"

"I didn't think you were _lying_…I thought you were out of your mind!" Dael retorted.

Bahamut frowned. "…That's _so _much better."

"Give me a break! I heard your parents were gunned down and you were nearly shot! You still have the bullet scars! That would have traumatized any human your age!"

The boy groaned. "…I'll admit, you have a point there, but after all this time…all the things I knew…all the techniques I knew…you still thought I just found these in a low-budget public library? Even if that was true, humans would have to be the dumbest creatures alive for having so much knowledge and never using it!"

"…I can return to you both later, if you need time to discuss things." Leviathan suddenly stated meekly.

This, however, alerted both of them, who immediately turned and held out hands to Leviathan. "NO!"

The sea serpent instantly froze in place, going wide-eyed.

"…Or I could just wait a moment."

Dael exhaled for a moment. Her mind was still burning over this revelation, but she pushed it aside for the moment. Instead, she focused on Leviathan again. "If you're here, I need your help and I want to undergo your trial. There's a war going on."

"Also, I need to hear the theory that you have regarding me." Bahamut answered. "I need to know why I can't revert back into my original body, how I got into this one, and what I need to do to correct that."

Leviathan paused after hearing both of these things. He turned to either individual.

His face grew very puzzled.

"…You're here just for that?" He asked after a moment. "…Neither of you are here about Nyx Gaia?"

In response, both Dael and Bahamut looked confused.

"…Nyx Gaia?" Dael echoed.

"I've never heard of such a place." Bahamut responded.

Leviathan blinked a few times, seeming incredulous at this. He looked to either person, but saw only blank stares. Finally, he frowned. He closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh.

"…Thousands of years I walk this world, and never once has any of your kind learned to be observant of the signs of the times." He muttered. "I expected this from the humans, Bahamut, but not you…"

Dael only looked more puzzled. "I don't understand…"

"Come this way." Leviathan cut off, turning and beginning to walk along the pathway he was on. When he reached the edge of one, he simply stepped to the adjacent one. "There's a lot to discuss." He began to mutter to himself aloud, still audible in the chamber. "Blast it all…I assumed that humans would have noticed this by now. Otherwise I might have sought you out personally…"

Dael wasn't sure what this meant, but when she looked to Bahamut, she saw that he looked rather concerned. The change in Leviathan's tone appeared to have made him very nervous, and soon he followed earnestly after his, what Dael supposed was, younger brother…although the very thought was kind of hard even to imagine. As a result, she began to step after him. Yet she only got a few steps before an exasperated Cid began to yell.

_"Can anyone down there stay on the line for just a few seconds?!"_

Groaning, Dael raised the radio and depressed the button. "Cid…we just found Leviathan down here."

A long pause. _"…Are you serious?"_ His voice responded, turning more upbeat. _"Dael, that's incredible! We haven't known where he was for decades! Hey…you didn't challenge him, did you? This one's way too tough…"_

"I didn't, Cid. But listen to this…" She swallowed for a moment, and then exhaled. "…Bahamut was telling the truth."

A much longer pause on the other end.

_"…I must be getting a trifle deaf, lass."_ Cryder's voice came back. _"…Did you just say he told the truth? About what? About being this great big doombringing dragon and stuck in a pint-sized form?"_

"…Pretty much." Dael answered as she stepped to the next platform.

Another pause. _"…I'm handing you back over to Cid. I need a drink…"_

Dael grimaced a bit, but then pressed the button again after a moment. "Cid, you still there?"

Silence.

"…Cid?"

Still silence.

She exhaled. "Now I know how you felt… Cid, if you're still there and just trying to put your eyes back in your head like I was, I need to check on something. Besides, I want to know if Leviathan has a way of getting us out of here. So just tell the others and stay on the line."

With that, she released the button and returned the radio to her side. She continued to follow the Guardian Force, still a bit amazed at him. He was quite impressive as a sea serpent…but she was a bit amazed that the Guardian Forces could be so…normal. And that was without the shapeshifting. Then again, she had been around Carbuncle for so long…

The journey took a little while. Even on a straight path, getting to the center of the area took a bit of footwork. The fish gradually reappeared, while the waterfalls vanished into the darkness behind them, as did the walls of the grotto in general. It was an interesting effect. Now, rather than being in some cave, they seemed to be in some sort of vast, dark, blue expanse…almost like another world, or even another reality. The beauty of the place and its serenity began to impact Dael again, making her a little less overwhelmed at all of these new revelations. In light of it, she had almost forgotten about the war and their mission.

At length, however, she saw something that began to catch her attention. There was a large central platform in this area. Unlike all the others, this one wasn't flat. Rather, parts of it were raised and crystalline, much like whatever was producing the light underneath the water. However, these crystals were solid and pure, looking more like ornamentation than anything. Nevertheless, a few things stood out on them, certain structures or arrangements that almost gave it the look of something that could be manipulated or adjusted. Leviathan walked right into the midst of the crystal platforms, and walked over to one in particular.

Bahamut himself stepped closer to him. They were pretty well spaced apart, leaving a lot of empty room in the middle. Dael followed, although somewhat hesitantly. The boy looked around a bit.

"These look like Lunarian technology…" He soon turned to Leviathan. "…Did you actually?"

Leviathan managed a small smile as he moved his hand out. He didn't touch anything on the crystal arrangement, but it seemed to respond to him none the less. "I'm not quite that advanced, Bahamut, although I think I'd definitely make it in one of their 'high schools' at this point. It's similar, however. I noticed that as Guardian Forces we have hard times accessing our old powers. It took me quite a number of decades before I relearned how to transform, and I still can only do mild conjuration at best. However, I managed to excavate a meteorite with Lunarian components in them about 40 years ago… I've adapted some of their technology to here. Enough to do a few 'tricks', at any rate."

Bahamut, however, looked up at this. "…Meteorite?" He asked Leviathan, his voice uncertain. "As in…debris? As in…"

The old man hesitated, his look growing somber. He slowly exhaled, and looked back to Bahamut.

"…I don't think you would have known, Bahamut…but by my estimation, the parasitic creature the humans named Jenova likely destroyed their moon shortly before arriving on Gaia to look for more nourishing 'food'."

The boy paused a moment, but then exhaled. He stared a moment, but then shook his head. "Nothing to be done for it now. It happened thousands of years ago at this point…"

Leviathan held as well, but soon snapped out of it and moved back to the console. "As I said, this can do a few 'tricks'. It runs on my own power, helping me to do spells that I can't use otherwise. Naturally, I never expected visitors to come in the same way you two managed to. This is what I had in mind…"

Abruptly, he pushed in one crystal, and then rotated another. In response, Dael noticed that all of the crystalline structures began to hum at once, like some sort of power source had been applied to them. They quickly increased in intensity. As they did, they began to glow at last, but produced a multitude of colors rather than just a few. They produced enough light to soon make a considerable glow. Dael looked to them for a moment, before she saw Leviathan turn away and look ahead. Spotting that, she did as well…and noticed that an area of the stone platform wasn't stone at all, but some square of crystal. Like a giant liquid crystal matrix display, it was becoming clearer as some unknown power went through it. It continued to build in glow for a moment…

Before, abruptly, sparks of light erupted out from it in six different places. They immediately shot into the air and froze at different heights, and then quickly spread out more of their sparks of light until they began to trace out shapes. More light soon flooded in and they became more and more defined and concrete, until specific humanoid forms could be made out. After that, they rapidly dimmed again, and went out completely…along with the lights in the rest of the crystals. The humming faded to nothingness in an instant. The procedure itself probably took all of five seconds in its entirety, if even that once the lights came from the platform. But no lights were there anymore.

Instead, the other six members of Dael's group were standing there.

Each one was in the position of, presumably, whatever they had been doing on board the _Enterprise_ prior to teleporting. That quickly changed, however. Quaren, on his part, looked like he had been monitoring a console…but on seeing that the console had disappeared, looked up and around in confusion. Taraketh himself looked like he had been intently listening to Cid. No doubt, the man had the time to give the report, and it caught his interest. Cid soon blinked and looked about a bit, but Taraketh, on looking into the room and spotting both Bahamut and Leviathan, despite being in human form, quickly dropped into a kneel. Cryder, on his part, had been taking a swig, just as he promised…and soon spat it out…right onto Quaren who immediately grimaced. Jalab looked about in surprise, and soon said something in his native language that made Taraketh's head raise a bit. As for Ceja, her axe in hand and always ready for a potential fight, she soon snapped to Leviathan and instinctively began to dart toward him…just stopping when Jalab reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

Leviathan, on seeing this whole display, grimaced slightly.

"…Now I recall why I decided not to use that device."

Both Dael and Bahamut sighed together. "Give us a few minutes…"

* * *

><p>Calming everyone down took a short while. Jalab calmed rather quickly, and on learning about where he was, he gave a respectful bow to Leviathan and to Bahamut. He managed to calm Ceja fairly rapidly as well, who cooled off when she realized that she wasn't going to be under attack. Taraketh was almost a total loss. He had reverted into his traditional "timid" mode in regards to those he saw in power, and prostrated himself before Leviathan as well as Bahamut, asking forgiveness for not believing him. However, Bahamut was rather understanding…and, to be honest, Taraketh had always been friendlier and kinder with him than most of the others. Unlike them, he held no prejudices that he had to work to overcome with Bahamut. Quaren, on his part, seemed to not have a perfect grasp of Guardian Forces, but seemed to take this news pretty well. It almost made Dael thunk her head on a crystal platform. Quaren seemed to regard Bahamut as a common Guardian Force. He was in a league of his own in his true form, Dael knew, both in terms of power as well as knowledge. That left Cryder, who seemed a bit nervous after all the ribbing he had given Bahamut over the past few weeks, but Bahamut thought little of that either, and Cryder was used to having large numbers of people wanting to kill him for past affronts…so it worked out.<p>

At any rate, the whole story was eventually explained, and everyone calmed down. They now looked to Leviathan with a mixture of surprise and awe as he worked on the console again. However, much of that surprise and awe was reserved for Bahamut. Like Dael, none of them could believe what they heard. It was an odd sensation. All of them had seen him eat, sleep, and generally act like a normal kid…at least, normal in most senses. To think, like Leviathan, he was something so incredible under the surface…even if it was rather unbelievable in this form…

"Wow…" Quaren remarked a bit later, still in awe as Leviathan worked. "I guess I should have thought of it earlier… I mean, there's no way he could have learned all that fighting stuff just from a library…"

"I can only imagine what a magnificent warrior he would be at full power…" Ceja remarked.

"I still can't help but wonder…you think that bearded guy might be wrong?" Cryder asked. "I mean, maybe he flubs up every once in a while, especially if he's really 5,000 years old… Hell, I know, me personally, I'm only getting in my 50s and sometimes I can't-"

"I think we get the point." Taraketh cut off. It was a good thing Cryder irritated him so much. It got him to stop being so obsessed with being in awe of the other two in the chamber. "But if Lord Leviathan says that it's him, I believe him. I only wonder why he's trapped in this current form. I don't think anything like this ever happened before… I mean, when the Guardian Forces were reborn, they had to take vessels of other bodies and then gain power to be restored…but Bahamut has been in the sun for days, and that would be his innate element…"

"Alright, everyone. I am ready to begin."

The sudden announcement by Leviathan caused everyone to drop their conversations and look to him. Bahamut, on his part, had been hanging on Leviathan's words for some time, but now Dael and the others joined in since he was finally saying something. He turned to face them fully and exhaled.

"First things first, since you all are so intent on knowing… You now all know that the human boy you have been moving about with is indeed Bahamut, but you probably wish to know why he is trapped in his current form, yes?"

The sea serpent paused for a moment afterward as everyone looked to him and waited.

"The truth is…I don't know why exactly."

The look that he got from the 'audience' was almost unanimous, and so he soon gave a sigh before anyone, especially Cryder, could say anything.

"Keep in mind, I said 'exactly'. I have a good theory, and, as Bahamut will tell you, my theories, more often than not, are correct." He took in a deep breath. "First off, some of you may or may not know this, but the mechanism by how we were restored to life was never determined. My theory is that it was either due to alien technology from an interplanetary visitor, or perhaps something from the Second Age…perhaps even the First Age. All we know is that a shrine was discovered that held the distilled essences of several elements. When these essences were consumed by living creatures, it somehow acted as a conduit to allow powerful spiritual energies to gain access to them and take up residence. Then, once the energy grew 'strong enough', the rest of the body was transformed and taken over by the spiritual energy. The original occupant, I can confirm by now…essentially dies. Their own spirits return to the Lifestream.

"These essences appear to be just water, but in reality are something different…something that varies on the spiritual level, carrying an unusual energy signature unlike anything we have ever experienced and unknown to the world of men. However, it seems to attract strong spiritual signatures that correspond to an element. The most natural choices for these are espers, because they're elemental by nature and are make from raw, condensed spiritual energy in their natural forms…at least, that's what I theorize. I've noticed over the years since I revived that our bodies have a great deal in common with crystalline structures of condensed mako. Only rarely is another spiritual entity strong enough to take the same position…such as it did with Diablos and the Doomtrain. These weren't in fact individuals at all, but rather amalgamations of a number of 'weaker' spiritual entities.

"I've conducted some research on the essences myself. It took me some time, but eventually I found out that the nature of the essence is that even if so little as a few drops of the concentrated fluid were consumed by an individual, it would wield the same power as drinking the entire essence. The water that was distilling within the cave apparently purified the process. That said…I eventually discovered that there is a 'dosage limit' of a sort. Although you can't dilute the effects by merely consuming less essence, by mixing the essence with 'impure' solvent of a sufficient quantity…you actually lessen its effects. At least…that was my theory. But without a way to test it without risking a disastrous result, there was no way to put that theory into practice."

He looked to the boy now. "Bahamut…one of the reasons that we made sure to never try and do anything with your essence, as you know, is because I believed that the sun essence would be you, while the moon essence would likely by Wyvern. And damage to the shrine had caused both essences to collect in the same bowl. There was no way for me to separate the two, once mixed, and know which was which. On that note, that essence was stored away so no one who was less scrupulous could use it. Yet somehow…I think someone did none the less. I'm not fully aware of what you humans have been doing with the essences we told you to seal away, but obviously you have done more research…or tried to. I don't know how, but somehow this boy had to have been exposed to Bahamut's essence."

Quaren frowned and shook his head. "That's impossible. The essences were stored in the Gordian Vault."

"Don't be so certain." Taraketh answered. "You remember how some thief just walked in and took them, right? It obviously happened when Esthar wasn't looking and they didn't notice for a while."

"Quaren's right, Taraketh." Dael maintained. "According to that librarian, Bahamut's been in this body since roughly around the time I became a full member of Esthar's Hawks. The theft didn't happen until sometime a few weeks after that. The records show all the essences there before that."

"And this may be presumption on my part, but I doubt humans could have fully separated the two essences in any short period of time." Leviathan continued.

Cid suddenly raised his head. "Wait a second… Bahamut came from an essence, right? And he woke up in Leuco, right? Then that means…"

Dael shook her head, cutting him off. "Doesn't really tell us much, Cid. We know Leuco and Sybenia have had under-the-table deals for a while, and we know that Lamb was likely working with Sybenia when they tried to steal the essences that one time. Just confirming what we already knew."

Leviathan had paused by now, quirking a brow at the engineer. "…Cid?" He mused aloud, mostly to himself. "What is it with you humans and the name 'Cid'? Anyway…" He drew himself up again. "I don't know how it happened or why it happened, but I believe that this boy only obtained a diluted essence. Enough to transfer Bahamut's spirit, but not enough to make him regain his original form."

Bahamut paused and considered this a moment, and finally crossed his arms. "Alright…how do I fix that?"

The sea serpent grimaced a bit, scratching his temple. "…Excellent question." He stated grimly in response. "I'm not even sure how this happened in the first place. My gut reaction is to locate the remains of your unconsumed essence and drink it. However, for all I know, that was…" He sighed. "…I don't know, flushed down the toilet or poured on the ground. It may be lost to us. I'm not sure if essences can _be_ lost or not, however…"

The boy stared at Leviathan for a few moments of silence. Some of his enthusiasm dimmed.

"…Which means I might never be able to get out of this mortal body." He responded a bit slowly. "Which means, when I reach 80 or 90 years of age…it's over."

Leviathan looked back grimly to Bahamut, and gave an exhale.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do about this."

Dael paused on hearing this latest explanation. She looked to Bahamut, and so did the others for a few moments of silence. When she did…Dael realized something. Try as she might, she couldn't see past the original connection she had first made with the Guardian Force. She knew now who and what he really was…and yet she still couldn't help but look at him at least partially as if he was a child. That was ridiculous. The boy was older and more knowledgeable than she could ever hope to be. And yet…a part of her still just thought of him as being that confused kid she took him for…

Yet even if that wasn't the case, she felt pity for him on hearing this. She began to speak. "Bahamut…"

Suddenly, however, Bahamut looked behind him. His face was a bit somber, but not depressed. He seemed quiet, but not devastated. He shook his head to her, cutting her off. He was quiet for a few moments afterward.

"It's alright, Dael…" He finally said. "If this was, say, two weeks ago…I'd be singing a different tune. This would be harder." Another pause. "…But like you were trying to tell me that one night…I started wondering if I might be a human after all. I started trying to accept it…so it's not as painful as it might be."

He inhaled and exhaled.

"…I'd be lying if I said I want to die one day, but…" He snickered darkly. "I'm kind of used to it by now, I guess. And I'm sure Terra's wondering what happened to me. I didn't really have a goal for my life past this point, whether I was human or esper. At least I know who I am now, and others know who I am. This is…" He paused a moment, but then nodded. "…An improvement." He finally stated.

Dael wasn't too terribly convinced. The others weren't either. Bahamut still looked a bit troubled, although she would agree that he wasn't nearly as troubled as she thought he would be. He was doing better than both the worst-case scenario as well as what she expected on average. Suddenly, she was glad she had that one conversation with him in the mess hall. Even if it turned out it wasn't exactly true, she had gotten him to consider the fact that living out a human life wasn't so bad, and what he would do with it. It seemed to help now.

After a while, Bahamut turned back to Leviathan. "If I only have 70 years or so left in me, then so be it. I better start using them." His voice dipped a bit. "…I know that tone you were using earlier, Leviathan. You only use that when you've come across something troubling. I'll admit, something has been seeming off in the world, but I assumed it was a sign of the times. Are you telling me it's not the world war?"

Leviathan gave a grim snort. "It hasn't been something so base as a human leader wanting more power since Emperor Mateus, I'm afraid… I'm not counting 'the clown', mind you. Now is no exception. I'm lucky I even thought of this. It never would have occurred to me if I hadn't started eagerly researching what humans discovered after my first 'demise'. Let me show you…"

The old man soon manipulated another crystal. When he did, the lights in the water immediately dimmed, turning into only a very pale, almost non-existant glow. The result, however, was that the gleaming lights overhead lit up that much more brightly, truly taking the likeness of a starry sky. This captured everyone's attention, and they immediately looked up to it. However, the "stars" didn't come into sharper focus right away. Instead, an area grew darker yet…before something new happened. Lights actually streamed out of the crystal platforms around Leviathan, and made an image hover in midair. To Dael's surprise, the old man, by himself, in the middle of nowhere, had apparently built some sort of personal holographic projector. She was overwhelmed, to be honest. Until now, she had the sense that Guardian Forces were backward or ignorant, but Leviathan almost seemed advanced even by human standards. As the image formed, however, he spoke.

"One of the items of interest to me about the universe…one of my curiosities…is how planets form. In particular, I was most interested in Gaia. Now, as you all know, living creatures on this world have a spiritual cycle, a greater meaning. Children and parents…ancestors and descendents…and flowing through it all the souls and spirits. There is purpose to this. Things that have directed the development and change of this world. However, even Gaia itself seems to be part of this. An entity…a living being, almost…filled with the blood of the Lifestream… And at length I began to wonder about something: 'Is it possible that Gaia itself had a beginning? A birth? An inception? Indeed, if this world has a soul…does it have something that bestowed it upon it? A god of some sort that did so through purely non-physical means…or a 'link in the great chain' that begat it from partially nothing and partially something that can be traced? And through that all…my mind turned again and again to a mysterious object that seemed to personify our world for countless generations…something that indeed defined civilization both for humans and for espers since before the Third Age… The seed…the start of it all… But before that…"

The image finally formed. What it showed was a double helix made of small balls…clearly a molecule of DNA to anyone with the slightest knowledge of biology, which fit the bill for most of the group.

"This is DNA…the core of a biological organism. Everything in the universe, no matter the discipline, no matter the science, can be chopped into finer and finer pieces until you finally reach a fundamental unit…the one essential piece that defines things that can be divided no further without the substance ceasing to be what it is. For physics, it's the fundamental forces. For chemistry, it's the atom. And for biology, it's the cell. Yet even the cell has a 'core'. An origin. A master part that brings forth all others. That is the DNA molecule. All cells in all living things, whether tiny bacteria or multicellular humans, ultimately comes forth from this. Now, it's useless on its own. Mothers transmit some 'raw materials' from them to their offspring to get it making proteins and organelles and what-have-you… But this…this right here is the fundamental unit. This is what gives the single-celled creature all of its characteristics. And yet…it does the same for all the different cells in a multicellular organism. No matter what the speciality, all share a copy of this one unit. This is the blueprint for making a living thing."

The image changed. As Leviathan talked, it zoomed away from the molecule, showing more and more of it, until putting it in a nucleus, then a cell, then in a tissue, an organ, and finally a body. This body, however, continued to grow smaller as the image zoomed out further…soon showing landforms, the sea, continents, and finally the entire world of Gaia.

Leviathan focused on Bahamut here, who looked away from the image and to him. Dael soon looked as well.

"Bahamut…for thousands of years we had access to the Crystal and what it broke into, but none of us knew what it meant or what was so important about it. But when I started looking into what humans had discovered while I was dead, I made some theories, and now I have one that I believe is true. The Crystal is, in fact, the 'DNA' of Gaia. It was the original formation that gave rise to our world."

Bahamut looked rather surprised on hearing that, but he wasn't alone. The others soon did the same. Meanwhile, the image of Gaia vanished, and was replaced with a more primordial state, ages ago, when the sun and the planets began to form.

"The theory that astronomers have is that when stars are 'born', debris that hasn't fully joined with the star and begun fusion accretes into a disk, which then separates and condenses into planets."

As he spoke, a disk did begin to form around Gaia's sun as it started to burn. It progressively condensed more and started to break off, becoming separate rings.

"But I asked myself… Why is there only life on Gaia? Well, there are many reasons. Water, gravity, air, warmth… Any one of those things being out of balance could render this world unsuitable for sustaining life. The odds are one to billions, and even a chance we were the only world to 'get lucky'. However, we know that's not the case. There are other worlds out there with life. Ones that have come to ours. What more…all of them seem to be similar to us. Enough to where we can interbreed flawlessly with races such as Terrans and Lunarians. Even the Jenova/human hybrid Sephiroth came into being very easily. Although the nature of chemistry allows for some similarities…that's too many. If these other species had so much as an extra range of DNA on the wrong chromosome, it would be enough to render offspring inviable. The odds of that are overwhelmingly likely…yet we interbreed. That's when I realized it. It's the Crystal."

The image zoomed in on one of the forming worlds. However, while it was still mostly dust, a streak was shown. A comet or something shot into the middle of the disk and was caught up by gravity.

"I don't know where it came from…perhaps another hierarchy. Perhaps this galaxy itself has a tremendous crystal in the heart of it, and it's a shaving off of it…in effect, making Gaia the offspring of the galaxy itself. Maybe it came from the sun, or an extinct sun. Whatever it is, the Crystal came into this solar system before Gaia formed. A dense, concentrated piece positioned itself where our world was. And like any crystal, it dictated how the various elements around it formed with it. Rocks that form around crystals take on the nature of the crystal itself. Whereas the other worlds simply formed randomly…"

Bit by bit, fragments adhered to the crystal. Soon they started to form structures, and enlarge the original crystal, covering it completely, but matching its pattern. More soon joined on and made it larger and larger yet.

"…Gaia formed around the crystal, patterning itself after it."

As the world continued to form, Leviathan turned to the others.

"…Do you all understand?" He asked. "Gaia didn't form randomly. In fact, I seriously doubt it formed by chance at all. Something somehow seeded the galaxy…perhaps the universe…as we know it with these 'crystal seeds'. Everyone on Gaia…all of the landforms…all of the plates…all of the elements and their constituents…even the places for future oceans and fission to create volcanoes and tectonic movements…_all of it was dictated by the Crystal. _The Crystal never just embodied the four elements, Bahamut. It's the reason the four elements were important to this world, because all were based off of it. The Crystal is this world's DNA strand. Whatever 'gave birth' to Gaia did so by begetting the Crystal, which during its formation, like a baby in a womb, grew and developed until it became the world we know today."

Dael was overwhelmed. Not just her, but everyone. They stared silently at this, the silence of the cave and the vastness suddenly seeming much larger and more mysterious. The young officer was a practical woman. There were few to no people on Gaia who believed that the world had formed as a result of divine intervention or a 'higher power'. Even those who believed in gods thought that the world's construction was either a random act or dicated by a completely amorphous means that was impossible to describe. But what Leviathan just told them changed all that…

Dael knew little of a 'Crystal'. There were a few things in the history books, but it had about as much relevance as the Philosopher's Stone or the like…that was, to say, none in the modern world. From what she could recall, the Crystal eventually became first Four Crystals, then Eight, and was finally hidden in places deep within the ground that none could ever find or disturb them again, as they represented some sort of power source that had threatened the world on multiple occasions. It was considered far more of a myth than the espers, at any rate. And after all, if no one could get it anymore, then who cared whether or not it existed?

Yet if what Leviathan said was true, then the Eight Crystals were incredibly important. Put together, they represented the method for how creation acted. They served, as Leviathan said, as the seeds to "grow" new worlds. They would redefine an entire branch of astronomy…would lend more weight to the theory that there was indeed a 'Creator' somewhere in the cosmos, giving birth to worlds the same way any living creature gave birth to other creatures. That was amazing…

"Now…" Leviathan stated, getting everyone to devote their attention to him once again. "Brace yourselves for this next part, because this is what's going to be the hardest to wrap your brains around." His voice soon dropped a few decibels, and his eyes suddenly seemed to gain more power in them as his look turned stern. "…And this is where things get very serious for us.

"It took me a very, very long time to figure this out. Countless hours of research, both examining our solar system, our world's history, and our past. In particular, I looked back to the event that ended the Third Age."

Hearing this, Bahamut's head elevated. Dael noticed this…that suddenly the boy was looking far more intently at Leviathan. The sea serpent looked over to Bahamut himself at this, his face still grim. After a moment, Bahamut was the one to speak next.

"…You mean the Age of Chaos."

This term caused no small amount of puzzlement among everyone in the group.

"…Age of Chaos?" Taraketh echoed. "I've never heard of that before…"

"There's nothing in the history books about an 'Age of Chaos'." Cid added.

Bahamut turned his head and looked to them with a stern expression of his own. It was powerful enough to make everyone quiet and look to him again.

"…That is because the Age of Chaos was erased from existence." He stated. "The only reason Leviathan knows anything of it is because I confided it in him. During this forgotten age, a relic developed by a corrupt esper named Hades, the Oblivion Stone, was crafted to call on the power of chaos to corrupt the crystals into darkness and turn this world into one of evil and death. It respawned the same Four Fiends that I and my brethren destroyed hundreds of years earlier. Worst of all, the chaotic power established a 'time loop', so that even should the crystals be relit, history would repeat itself, they would become corrupt again, and all the disaster and chaos would happen once more. The original four Warriors of Light stopped this. I remember them doing so simply because my mind traveled back in time with them when they went to the source of the time loop and destroyed it along with the Oblivion Stone. As a result, the time loop never occurred, and no one remembered this world almost decaying over a period of a few hundred years…"

Bahamut sighed and looked forward again.

"For many generations the Oblivion Stone was the worst threat to this world, embodying chaos in condensed, tangible form. It acted as a capacitor for all of the world's evil, growing and growing in power the more wickedness and destruction occurred. Every act that contributed to chaos was stored there, growing until it could manifest itself, which it did in the form of the Chaos entity. We were lucky. Had there been only a few moments difference, all would have happened again, and there's no telling how much chaotic energy it would have stored by this point in history."

"No, Bahamut."

Hearing this phrase…simple, small, and yet resounding through the chamber…Bahamut looked up to the source. Dael and the others did the same, and the young officer soon gave a start. Leviathan's face had darkened even further. He slowly shook his head.

"It took me hundreds of years to trace it back through scraps of information, and me making a 'good' equivalent of the stone before I knew the truth, but I found it. That's not how the Oblivion Stone worked."

Again, the air in the chamber seemed still, even cooler. Everyone was quiet. Slowly, Leviathan turned to the crystals again and manipulated them…causing the image to zoom out rapidly much farther, going to span the entire galaxy…and then even the entire universe.

"Physicists have long since known that disorder, or chaos, is always increasing. It's inevitable. Entropy is always going up. If you manage to reduce entropy in one system, the larger system that's surrounding it obtains more entropy. Basic thermodynamics. The going theory is that one day, many billions of years from now, the universe will be nothing _but_ disorder, around the time the last star burns out and all systems reach the same level of heat, so that no more reactions can take place. That's what I thought for a long time myself…"

The image of the universe soon inverted, and expanded to show a contained area.

"…I was wrong." Leviathan stated grimly. "This doesn't represent exact reality, but for the purpose of a discussion, it's a good approximation. The universe has no physical boundary. It's infinite in that respect. However…there _is_ a barrier in terms of energy. A place that hasn't been extended to yet…a realm of nothingness, or, perhaps, too much of something…just disorder. So much is still unknown…but one day the universe is to all be like this…except some parts of it seem to be 'turning' faster than others. Some parts seem to 'collect' more than others, rather than distributing it more or less 'evenly' in time and space. I would like to say some parts of it are random…and to be honest I have no reason to believe they're not. However…I fear that may not be true…that some places become this way by purpose…that some conscious entity is at work just as whatever established Gaia is at work. Regardless, it is irrelevant now. This is what matters."

The image changed, suddenly become multi-dimensional.

"Since we live in a three-dimensional world, we see in three dimensions. However, there are infinite dimensions in space. If we find just the right two dimensions, we see this…"

Dael soon marveled at what she saw. As the dimensions came off…she saw something. Before, the universe was located in an intact 'boundary'. Yet that had vanished now…revealing tunnels and paths into and out of the universe, like worms in dirt.

"And if we reduce this one…come closer…and place it over what we know to be our solar system…"

The image changed one more time…and soon revealed one final image.

Back in the forming universe…there was now a empty space, a slice of one of the "worm tunnels"…right in the same ring as Gaia.

Everyone silently took this in for a moment.

"I gave it a name." Leviathan stated after a moment. "Something appropriate for what it is…a dimension that lies just on the other side of a 'wall' of time and space from our own, practically coexisting with ours… The Void.

"The Void represents an elemental, primal chaos older than the universe…perhaps the very darkness from which creation occurred. In all likelihood, it is the source of the 'dark energy' that astronomers have theorized existed for years…although, of course, to get all the dark energy that makes up the universe, you have to consider all the bits throughout it. However, just focusing on this one bit is more than enough. When the universe was young it was nothing. Now…it easily possesses the power to consume Gaia entirely. Likely to destroy this entire solar system…perhaps even enough of the galaxy to cause it to collapse.

"The truth of the matter is, by my estimation, it's far too powerful. Gaia should have never formed billions of years ago, and by now disorder should have grown so much that the sun should be gone as well…in short, this entire solar system winked out of existence into oblivion, like it never existed. After all, the Void consumes light, so one shouldn't be able to even see it. Yet that didn't happen. And I finally figured out why."

The image rewound to where the Crystal had barely started forming a new world. It sat in the Void for a moment…before it suddenly split in two…two perfect, identical halves. One half remained where it was. The other began to circle the same orbital path. Yet as it did, both began to form worlds. And as they did, the Void was slowly drawn away from the one world and toward the other as it moved into position.

Dael's eyes widened, getting the connotation. Bahamut also looked rather amazed.

"…Leviathan, are you saying that the Crystal split even before the time of Crusader?"

"I am." Leviathan responded. "It split perfectly, unlike before. No light pieces and dark pieces…no elemental pieces…just a perfect replica of each other. In other words, in biological terms, a twin."

The second Crystal continued to migrate until it reached the other side of the sun perfectly, and then slowed to a halt. But worlds continued to form from there, but the Void stopped moving, having been dragged into a place roughly in the center of the sun.

"Keep in mind, based on this view, that the Void doesn't actually exist entirely on our plane of existence or dimension. But even if it did, small as it is, all it could consume would be 'star material' in this position…at least for a while. However, the nature of the interior of stars is something of an anomaly. Perhaps it somehow keeps the power in check. However…you can see the result."

The two worlds, and the solar system, finished forming…until…

"…Nine planets." Dael remarked aloud, a bit quietly. "…With one directly opposite ours…"

"And no one would ever know it was there…" Cryder added.

The group stared for a moment, until Quaren suddenly looked up and over to the young woman. "Dael…you remember what I talked about in the desert that night? This is it. It's true. There's another world in our system…"

"Completely opposite us, and yet identical to us." Cid remarked. "Amazing…"

Bahamut looked to Leviathan. "Are you serious about this, Leviathan?"

He nodded. "Absolutely. Aside from you, and I don't think you were 'paying attention' at the time, the most of the universe we've ever seen with our own eyes is what comes from rockets and deep space telescopes, and it isn't much. No one's ever bothered to send a probe directly to the opposite side of the sun. The odds would be too small under normal conditions, but here they are. Directly opposite us, there is a world just like ours…including being capable of supporting life and given the 'same start' we were, like a true twin."

Dael and the others snapped to Leviathan here.

"…Did you just say 'capable of supporting life'?"

"Just beasts and strange creatures unlike ours…or…things that can think like we can?" Ceja asked.

"More than that." Leviathan answered. "Creatures _identical_ to ours. Until 'sentience' emerged on both of our worlds, it's reasonable to assume that everything was dictated exactly by the Crystal, give or take a few acts of random chaos such as meteorites or the better end of a solar flare from the sun. Yet assuming that the Crystal itself eventually gives rise to the creature on a world, which I believe it does, then that world has everything we have: humans, dogs, cats, moogles, chocobos, tonberries, cactuars…everything. In fact, until 'major' changes were dictated by free thought, it's likely that everything was so similar that there may even be mirror versions of some of the more historical and ancient figures." He looked to Bahamut here. "…In other words, Bahamut, there may likely be a 'Leviathan', 'Bahamut', and everyone else on that world, or at least there was at one point."

This was overwhelming. It was amazing to hear, and Dael could hardly find the words to express her amazement.

"I have named it 'Nyx Gaia'. Terra, as you can understand, was already taken… I have no idea what that world is like and neither does humanity…but soon they will." Leviathan continued. "Mankind is reaching the point where it can send rockets and probes out further than the immediate planets that pass by it. If it could send one to the opposite side of the sun, it would find this world. They would know about us, and we would know about them. It's even likely that, at this moment, their scientists are making a discovery similar to ours."

Suddenly, his face turned dark, and his eyes lowered.

"…Assuming they still have any scientists on that world."

Dael and the others refocused on Leviathan at this. That note that he just changed to was dark and quiet. "What do you mean?" Bahamut asked after a moment.

The sea serpent leveled a hard look at them.

"…Here's where things get very serious, and the main reason I'm telling you all this." He continued, slowing his words. "Bahamut, there was only one on this world who ever tried to tap into the Void…Hades. That's what the Oblivion Stone was truly for. It did indeed store the negative energy and chaos of this world into a point, but only to open a gateway to a darker power…the power of the Void itself. It wasn't this world's wickedness that corrupted the Four Crystals. It merely acted as the 'trigger', like a match to a canister of gasoline. It was the Void itself. Destroying the Oblivion Stone cut off the connection, and because that future was erased, none every thought more of it.

"But that's not to say that those on Nyx Gaia left it at that. We were fortunate enough on this world never to give much thought to the Void. They might have discovered it long ago. In fact…I now believe they did, although how I do not know. All I know is there is evidence of major disturbances on that world. The Void, if it does indeed have a conscious will, or perhaps simply due to dark individuals on that world knowing about it, has tried to manifest itself time and time again to consume Nyx Gaia. All it needs is for one of the two worlds to die. Once it does, the other one will be consumed far more easily. It could have easily been Gaia instead of Nyx Gaia. And even if our two worlds lacked knowledge of the Void…the ones from Terra did not."

Leviathan moved a few more controls…and the group suddenly leapt back a bit. A new image appeared…a gigantic one. It looked like some sort of being that was both radiant and dark, a muscular, layered, detailed titan that shimmered like sapphire and yet was wreathed in shadows. Rings were around behind it as well as at its feet, and two tremendous black claws and two large wings were behind it, hanging low at its back. All over it gleamed, and it easily stood several times the size of Dael and her companions. All in all, it was fearsome to behold…seeming to be totally unreal. It was hard to tell if it was alive or merely a statue. It had some sort of emptiness and vastness to it…something terrible…

"…What is this?" Bahamut asked slowly after a moment.

"A manifestation." Leviathan darkly responded. "One that happened on the onset of the War of the Magi. A psychotic biological weapon named Kuja set off a chain of events that amounted to genocide. After inciting wicked people on Gaia to ravage it with weapons of his own making, killing hundreds of thousands…perhaps even millions…he did even worse by destroying Terra and all of the souls there. The sheer amount of destruction…evil…raw, unbridled chaos…it was enough to cause this…_thing_ to appear. An extension of the Void itself manifested its body for the first time since Chaos and appeared on our world. Only this time, it called itself something different… Necron.

"I was so concerned with our race at the time I didn't see it, but now I do. The first time Chaos appeared, it was nothing but a hellish demon. But this time…look at its likeness. Look at the image it was born as…who its 'parents' are."

"…Human." Jalab finally said, dark and low.

"If the Void never had a conscious will when it was created, it does now." Leviathan continued. "Because it's made not from just chaos of chemical reactions, but from willful sentient acts of cruelty and wickedness. It is actually beginning to take on sentience…a conscious will to consume order and produce disorder. That's what it knows. That's _all_ it knows. At this time, it was still weak…and whatever was on Nyx Gaia was still strong. It was repelled, shoved back where it came, and weakened to where it couldn't rise up again. Thank God for that, because following this came first the War of the Magi and the Collapse, and we are lucky that it only grew incredibly more powerful at this, but didn't have the power to enter our world again."

The image vanished, returning to the previous worlds.

"Yet I'm afraid that 'reprieve' is now ending. Periods of calm, you see, don't lessen the power of the Void. It continues to retain strength even then. And future calamities only add to that power. It does 'vent' itself occasionally, as it did then, and if defeated at that time it loses some of its power for another few hundred years…but it rebuilds it as well. At this point…it is incredibly powerful. It hasn't manifested itself for a long time while major events of chaos have unfolded. The only true stop to it is to keep the dimensions from merging…to isolate it wherever it is growing. That is what the two worlds are doing. I thought it was a failsafe for a long time…but now I know that isn't the case."

Leviathan looked to the group grimly. "…Not too long ago…at least in terms of esper concepts of time…something fundamental changed in Gaia. Furthermore, whatever has been going on over on Nyx Gaia has steadily gotten worse. It's grown more turbulent over the past one or two thousand years. We can assume that they're fighting the Void over there. They might even be losing… The point is, both worlds are at the weakest they've ever been…and the Void is at the strongest it's ever been. And now, either due to an influence on that world, our world, the Void itself, a combination of all, or something completely new…"

He paused and inhaled.

"…Something is trying to bring Gaia and Nyx Gaia back together again."

Although everyone reacted to this, Bahamut, who had a better grasp of what this meant than any of them, Dael figured, did so far more.

"What do you mean, 'something'?" Cryder asked. "What, exactly?"

"It may not be 'conscious' if that's what you're implying." Leviathan answered. "'Something' could mean a lot of things that can generate a lot of chaos as a side effect…" He leveled his gaze here.

"…Like a world war, for example."

Dael stiffened on hearing that.

"The war itself would be 'the straw that broke the chocobo's back'." Leviathan continued. "Simply what pushed things over the edge. But in the current state of the two worlds, and the current strength of the Void, it's enough. There's no question. Both planets are beginning to wobble, and the 'signs' are manifesting themselves."

Ceja suddenly looked up at this. "The Northern Rancor that won't end…"

"Those hurricanes climbing north…" Cryder added.

"Those are just the beginning." Leviathan answered. "They're merely warnings. This world's environment is beginning to go out of balance, and will do so more and more as time goes on and chaos increases. It's only a matter of time before the two worlds are no longer opposite each other but start being drawn toward each other. In all likelihood, much sooner than any of you want to see, you'll start seeing Nyx Gaia in the sky progressively getting closer. If the two worlds meet…I don't know what will happen. I don't know if they're merge or both be obliterated by colliding. But no matter what happens…the Void will return to this world…" He pointed down. "Right there. Right in the center of our world…or the new world we form, where the Crystal was originally. And if it opens up…and opens all the way, unlike how it did with Chaos and Necron, this world will be totally consumed, as well the other worlds, our star, and thousands of other stars and their associated worlds."

By now, the group was thoroughly shocked.

"…So how do we stop this, my lord?" Taraketh asked. "Try and 'vent' it once again…?"

Leviathan immediately shook his head. "Absolutely not." He retorted. "The only reason that worked before was because it opened slightly at best, and this world triumphed only due to a combination of fate and luck. If the full power was to open, it would be like nothing this world has ever known. Even if 1,000 Grievers were here, they wouldn't stand a chance against that magnitude of chaos."

"So I suppose our only hope is to keep the Void from opening in the first place?" Bahamut asked.

The Guardian Force nodded. "I'm not sure what has weakened Nyx Gaia, and what has changed in our world. If I find out, perhaps something can be done for a lasting solution. Before then, however, the only way to stop it is to stem the current tide of chaos. The world war currently going on must stop as soon as possible."

Dael let out a slow exhale at this, turning to the others. "The only power that Rozan Heirarch believes in is his own. Somehow I have a feeling that even if he knew about this and everyone on Gaia told him not to, he'd still continue his world war."

Jalab looked rather uncomfortable to even be thinking this, but he voiced his thought. "…Submit?" He asked tentatively.

Everyone snapped to him at that, but only for a moment. Cid looked away and soon sighed. "…As much as it disgusts me, I can see Jalab's point in saying that. Stopping the war might at least buy the world some time. And what's worse? Living under a tyrant or having our world annihilated?"

Bahamut shook his head. "It's not that simple, unfortunately."

"He's right." Leviathan responded. "I've looked into your world affairs. That man isn't satisfied with merely being the seat of power of the world. He wants greater and greater power over life and death. If he has his way, he'll continue his program of genocide, which will be chaotic in and of itself. And it will incite far worse violence, perhaps even worse than a war itself would have done."

"In that case, the only remaining choice is to _end_ the war as quickly and efficiently as possible." Dael answered. "And that won't be easy. Our country is fighting an uphill battle as it is. We're hardly in a position for a blitzkrieg. Still…we have to do _something_. A lot more is at stake now."

"We should get back to Esthar as soon as possible." Quaren announced. "Tell Lady Mianyl and Colonel Regalis about this."

"Don't forget, lads and lasses," Cryder threw in. "We're still on a mission as it is."

Bahamut paused for a moment longer. He seemed hesitant and regretful. However, he finally exhaled. "…Much as I hate to say it, brother…" He said as he looked back to Leviathan. "…We've wasted too much time here already. We have to go."

"No, by all means, do so." Leviathan responded. "Tell as many people as you can about what I've told you. The only reason I haven't told human leaders myself before now was because I thought they knew. I assumed that they had the edge on me in technology and interpreting it." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "…Foolishness on my part."

"You still gave us word before it was too late, which is more than we've had to work with in the past." Bahamut immediately corrected. "However, there is still one other way you can help us."

The old man looked back down to him. "Oh?"

Dael looked to Bahamut as well at this…and realized what he was talking about. Immediately, her hand shifted to her Mage Gun. Her other hand began to reach for a Thundaga bullet. Lightning and water, after all. The others, seeing this, remembered as well. Soon, they more readily turned to face Leviathan. Dael almost laughed at this. None of them knew what he looked like as an esper, the power he radiated. This would make the Gigantuar and the Tonberry King look like a cakewalk. As for Bahamut, he drew himself up and faced him.

"I never thought I'd be saying something like this…" The boy sighed, but then focused fully on Leviathan. "…We wish to challenge you for the right to call upon your power as our junction."

Leviathan actually went wide-eyed for a moment. Dael didn't find it too surprising herself. Then again…she wasn't an ancient Guardian Force looking at another ancient Guardian Force and making the same challenge who knew how many humans had made of him. This was probably awkward. Maybe even amusing. It certainly seemed that way a moment later, as Leviathan smiled a bit.

"It's as they say…truth is stranger than fiction. Certainly more ironic." He remarked after a moment. He paused for a few seconds, then finally shrugged.

"Alright. Everyone come forward and put your hands on top of one another."

Both Dael and Bahamut looked up in puzzlement at that.

"…You're just going to give us your power?" Dael asked. "Without a fight?"

"That's against the rules, Leviathan." Bahamut told him. "Against the code…one you helped establish, as I recall."

"Well, this is a special circumstance. Remember, technically it's not a human asking me for help, but another Guardian Force." The sea serpent responded.

"Even so…" Bahamut began to maintain.

"I'll tell you what." Leviathan cut off. "…When you regain your full power, Bahamut, then I'll perform the trial."

The boy was surprised at that. Leviathan crossed his arms and smiled a bit more. "To tell the truth, I've been training myself quite a bit ever since I became king. And I did so even more following the incident with Diablos, where I was little more than a fifth wheel aside from my knowledge. I'm eager to see how I 'stack' against _you_. I'd like to think I could at least give you a run for your gil."

Bahamut stared back for a few moments of silence. In the end, he managed a smile.

"You _did_ get bolder after I left."

Leviathan let out a small laugh in response.

The boy paused, but then looked to everyone else. "Alright, you heard what he said. Let's all put our hands together."

"Yay for hangin' the rules." Cryder commented as he advanced. "Just my style."

Dael advanced and exhaled. Soon, the others gathered around her before Leviathan, and everyone began to put their hands inside, one on top of another. The thought soon occurred to the young officer. Leviathan was a Guardian Force of considerable power. Did that mean whoever was junctioned would see more of a 'benefit'? Perhaps she should consider junctioning to him… However, in the end, she pushed that thought aside. It would be better for Bahamut to have him at last. Besides…Dael was kind of used to Carbuncle at this point. She preferred his 'support' style to straight power. Soon, they were all gathered, and Dael put her hand on top, right over Bahamut's.

Leviathan responded by placing his hand on top and closing his eyes. Soon, the familiar sounds of energy igniting rang out again. Although she couldn't see the threads of light this time around, she did see them seep into and through her hand, coming forth from Leviathan and going into the eight below. Dael could feel it tracing out a rune and filling her head with a wealth of new powers. Unlike the previous Guardian Forces, however, she actually felt a bit of pain and discomfort this time. Obviously, the sea serpent was so powerful that accepting his power was forceful enough to register pain. Nevertheless, in only a few moments, it was done.

He removed his hand, and Dael quickly pulled back, as did the others. She looked to her palm just long enough to see the emblem of an ocean wave in an almost oriental style vanish into her skin. New spells and techniques began to enter her head, as well as the potential to call Leviathan. However…he was quite powerful, more so than normal. As it was, Dael wasn't even sure she had enough mental fortitude to pull it off. Taraketh might have to be the one to handle him unless that was the only move she performed. Perhaps Bahamut could do it…

Yet after a moment, Dael realized something else…

Her brows twitched, and she looked to Taraketh. However, even as she did, the others were starting to look puzzled as well, even Bahamut. Apparently, they had reached the same conclusion.

"…Taraketh, why do I suddenly know earth spells?"

He looked back just as puzzled. "…And why do I know reflection spells?"

"And why do I know fire spells?" Cid added.

"Me as well." Jalab added.

"And I know wind spells…" Ceja murmured.

Everyone looked to Leviathan, who smiled in response. "I figured you were doing things in too cumbersome of a manner. So long as I'm bending one rule…why not two? You eight are going to need all the help you can get in a short period of time. It will take too long for you all to revisit all the Guardian Forces and ensure everyone among you bests their challenge. And so…since 'rules' were never fully defined for junctioning over Guardian Forces, I just made it so you all can now 'share' what you have obtained. After all, if a group is closely knit like yours, one's victory is a victory for all, technically."

Dael was a bit surprised by this revelation. However, she was thankful for it. She had no idea how Jay managed to summon that much power out of Pandemona, and none of them could do the same, but now that Taraketh had access to it, they could probably easily do tornadoes at least… She began to realize that all of them probably needed to focus more on magic. With access to these new powers, it wouldn't do any good if they shoved it all onto Taraketh. They should all be able to wield them, especially since this was pretty much the one trump card that they possessed against Sybenia now… In the end, she looked back to Leviathan and nodded.

"Thank you."

Leviathan raised an eyebrow at that, and let out a snicker.

This puzzled Dael. "…Is something wrong?"

"So rare that a human says 'thank you' after this sort of thing. I myself was only ever bested by one group of humans. You might say my 'daughter' was among them, so, naturally, she said 'thank you' after it was done. Yet mostly, it's just 'we've got the power, we beat the trial, let's get out of here'." He paused a moment, and smiled a bit more.

"…The eight of you remind me a lot of those days. Who knows…perhaps you'll end up being like them."

Dael looked back only a moment longer, but in the time, she couldn't help but smile.

At this, Cryder clapped his hands. "Well now…this is well and good, but we've got a lot of work ahead of us, and now we've got a great deal more on our plates…"

"Yeah, and I've still got a lot of repairs to do before that storm comes in…" Cid answered. "Otherwise, we could be here for a couple days instead of just one."

Bahamut looked to Leviathan. "That teleport pad that you have…can it send us back to the _Enterprise_? We can't go back the way Dael and I came in."

Leviathan nodded. "That won't be a problem. In fact, I can even do you one better. I think your one engineer could use some 'assistants'…"

On hearing this, not only Cid, but everyone paused and looked to the old man.

"…What kind of assistants?" Dael asked.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

AUTHOR'S NOTE: ...Yeah, I was trying to mislead all of you who thought Bahamut was really Bahamut the whole time for months. So sue me. :P

With this chapter, I've finally managed to close a number of plot holes that were in the other books in the series. More should hopefully be closed before all is done.


	41. Pill Popper

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello to my few readers. :P Before beginning rewriting "The Sorceress Cycle", I wrote out a ten page synopsis. As I write new chapters, I delete the portion of the synopsis I wrote. After the last chapter, which was a big turning point, I reread my synopsis and marked out where the chapter breaks would likely occur. As it turns out...I'm only half done. This story still has another 40 chapters to go.

I'm not sure how this chapter ended up being so long when so little actually happens...but anyway, that's why I was late. Sorry for the delay.

* * *

><p><em>20 Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>Although mankind had a rather extensive knowledge of the various monsters of the world, even ones that were rather brutal and fearsome, one of the species that still eluded description for the most part was known as the "Mover". There were two reasons for that. The biggest reason was that such creatures were almost abnormally fast and agile, similar to a Cactuar. Yet unlike them, once struck, they could take an amazing amount of damage. And like most creatures the size of a fist, they tended to scurry off at incredible speeds once frightened…in spite of the fact that they lacked limbs. The second reason, however, was that three of them had some sort of defense mechanism where they could not only completely siphon the life force out of an individual, they would leave them a petrified husk. It was only due to the fact that a select few individuals on Gaia wielded great magical power that these people could be saved at all even from this horrible fate, but should the Movers perform the act on everyone in a small group, they were doomed. Aside from that, they were overwhelmingly rare…only a handful of individuals in the history of mankind having ever even seen one. One or two less sightings, and it would be enough to declare the creatures myths.<p>

In terms of appearance, a Mover was hardly a creature in the traditional sense of the word. Hardly much of anything, really…even the 'idea' of a living creature. It was little more than an odd, reddish-brown-colored lump with two little yellow dots for eyes about the size of a human fist…and that was it. No other appendages. One would think it might move like an amoeba, through pseudopods, but that wasn't the case. Somehow they managed to scurry about very quickly though. They had no mouths, and no digestive systems. For that matter, no respiratory, excretory, or circulatory systems either. If you cut one in half, all you'd have was dull matter.

Leviathan explained he had done research on a few of them. He reasoned they were leftover bio-organic 'parts' from the closing of the First Age. Apparently, they were used for some sort of power supply or regulation. He wasn't sure if they were alive or dead, machine or natural. What he did know, however, was that if you spent enough time with them, you could train them…and they had very unusual properties. They seemed to make their own mass and energy, and could consume any raw element. They had flocked to the structure because they had a fondness for mythril, and had been eating the raw ore for some time. He had found three and managed to make them obedient. He even discovered a small amount of dog-level sentience in them…perhaps even chimpanzee. Leviathan soon explained that the creatures could be taught, and the three he had _were_ taught, to recognize imperfections in metal structures and devices and correct them by literally consuming elements, processing them inside of themselves, and then secreting them much like a bee does wax to rebuild the structure. A bit to the unease of both Cid and Dael, he presented them with the three as a 'gift'.

Dael was standoffish…but could hardly argue with results.

On getting back to the ship at last after the lengthy discussion, the group had their work cut out for them. Now everyone had to help. First things first…the ship had to be anchored, and they had to soon. The sea was already growing more choppy. Most of the anchoring systems would assume the ship was still aloft, but Cid quickly managed to couple some together for a sea landing. After that, Dael and the others went about the arduous process of finding a good purchase to anchor to. Based on the placement of the underwater waterfall, that was a bit harder than it looked, but eventually they had it stabilized. After that, they all went about sealing everything up. They were only half done before the storm hit. Soon, they were all getting more wet than they wanted. Dael had figured there were only a few openings left in the _Enterprise_ after all of the bays had been decommissioned, but she soon found out she was wrong. She nearly told Cid to stop working, figuring that he'd be drowned.

Yet it was then that the Movers came to use. Dael actually stopped by to see what they were doing, and was pleasantly surprised. The damage to the ship's hull was now rimmed with a twenty-centimeter long ring of new metal. It was identical in shape and structure to the original armor, but had one big exception…it was made of mythril. Hence, it gleamed beautifully even in the electric lightning as night fell. Cid explained that the creatures were living on a diet of mythril from the rock pinnacle. They had gone out at first and filled their bellies with the stuff, and had returned and were now processing the ore in their stomachs…or whatever they had…and were regurgitating it in molten state to start patching the scrapes. When Dael arrived, one Mover was slowly rebuilding the major hull breach. Another was patching the scrapes on the ship. The third was "replenishing" itself by consuming more. Since the creatures didn't need air to breathe, they were able to work underwater as well as on land. So even as the waves rose and more water began to come into the ship, eventually forcing Cid to stop his own repairs, they continued to tirelessly work until the hole became small enough where, even with the storm, the two pumps could handle it again.

The young officer was more than a little amazed. Everyone knew plating a ship out of pure mythril was impossible. The thick armor that had been on the ship before was an iron-mythril alloy with about one part mythril for one hundred parts iron, and even then the armor alone had been worth close to 1 billion gil in modern money. That was part of the reason it was stripped…it was worth quite a lot in resale value. Obviously, to plate the entire ship in mythril had been far too expensive, even if the mythril was lightweight and durable. Just to harvest that much mythril for a battleship would have made production costs go up four fold. Yet there was no question if the hole was patched in mythril, they wouldn't have to worry about that conduit ever being ruptured again. She doubted it for a moment at first, until Cryder, who now saw what looked like shimmering paint across where the hull scraped had been, "borrowed" Quaren's sidearm which had been loaded with armor-piercers. He almost had his ear taken off when the bullet ricocheted off of the new mythril material, and the armor itself wasn't even warm, let alone dented, from the bullet.

At any rate, aside from a three hour stretch, Cid was able to keep working even when the storm was at its worse. He did so all night long, working right alongside the Movers. They themselves had closed up all the hull breaches save for the large one to the rear, although, by now, the hole was only about three feet in diameter and all of them were working on it now. On the last check, the conduit had actually been fully replaced. The accessory lines, however, were still being fixed. It would still be another four hours, right on schedule, before they'd be able to take off again.

Dael, however, was eager to get going. Up until this point, they had been pretty lucky. No signs of any Sybenian warships. But she wasn't stupid enough to not think that at least one of them wouldn't have checked to make sure their ship was down. After all, they only stood to lose if a survivor relayed information back to Esthar. The storm had to keep most of them away, especially since it came at night. But the storm had passed and the sun was up again. So now…it was time to be cautious once more. At this point, it was only a matter of time before an enemy destroyer came in…or worse, a battleship. They had to be ready. Currently, Jalab and Ceja were acting out what they had been told to do yesterday, acting as sentries on the ship. Quaren was patrolling the mid-ship windows himself. However, that left everyone else with relatively little to do.

Most of the time was spent training. Dael continued to try and hone her new ability. Cryder wasn't much good at his spells, but his geomancy was still in top form, and being back on the ocean he had returned to his element. Taraketh was making full use of his expanded repertoire. By now, their group probably had access to more spells than anyone else on Gaia save for the Sorceresses. Last she checked, Bahamut was trying his hand at some himself, and on that note she had decided to see how he was doing.

The recreational area was located in the middle of the ship. Having little in the way of defense or usage in battle, it was where it would be the most protected. One might think it could be "sacrificed" in a battle, but items with offensive capabilities were utilized toward the periphery of the ship. Besides, on long missions, recreation was important. Otherwise you just stayed shoved aboard the giant 'tin can' and waited for enemies to start firing at you, which was nerve wracking for anyone. It at least gave people a chance to stretch their legs. Besides…they wouldn't have access to the _Enterprise_ much longer. Might as well get use out of it.

As she opened the door and stepped inside to the half gymnasium, she saw that there was an assortment of exercise equipment available in the chamber. Most of it had been stored away or was kept to one side. However, one thing was out at the moment. It was one of the treadmills. Bahamut was currently running on it. Dael wasn't an expert, but she assumed, based on what she was seeing, he was going around 48 kilometers per hour…over twice as fast as a champion sprinter could go on their best day. He had built up an amount of sweat by now, but was still going.

Dael let the door shut, so that all was heard was the whirring of the treadmill, the panting of Bahamut, and his feet chugging along on the mat like an electric typewriter. It was almost amazing to see a human going that fast…almost cartoonish. Normally, it would have been impossible for Bahamut, but now he was finally junctioned.

There had been a 'redistribution' following the meeting with Leviathan. Dael had retained Carbuncle as her own junction. He had grown on her. Taraketh, however, had shifted to Pandemona. He was earnest to use whatever powers they had to the fullest. He would have taken Leviathan, but he left that for Bahamut. He would have gladly given the young man _all_ Guardian Forces if possible, now that he had new respect for him. Cryder himself would have liked Leviathan, but in the end he opted for the Minotaur Brothers. Earth, and all that. Ceja decided to retain Shiva. After all, the Guardian Force was a female warrior…and so was she. Quaren decided to keep Ifrit. He liked the idea of a fierce personality offsetting his normally timid one. Cid elected for Quetzacoatl. After all, he worked with electricity a lot…so it figured. That left Jalab, who finally took a Guardian Force of his own. He opted for the Gigantuar, saying he enjoyed being lithe and targeting weaknesses. To be honest, Dael didn't want to know what type of man-beast he had become as a result of taking a junction…but she was sure it was impressive indeed.

As she came in and walked over to him, she stopped at a distance. She waited for a short while, in case he was almost done. It took a couple minutes, but eventually he halted, stopping the treadmill and slowing to a halt. Dael looked it over a bit, examining the settings.

"…I honestly didn't know they could make a treadmill go that fast." She stated. "What, do they expect gazelles to get on them? You did it at an incline too…that's good." She looked to him afterward. "Feeling more like your old self?"

Bahamut shook his head. "Even junctioned to Leviathan, I'm still barely an infant." He stated as he came to a halt. He hopped off soon afterward. "This isn't anywhere close to the power of even my initial form. I'd lose in a fight to my original body if I wasn't careful, although I'll admit I'd give me quite a beating in the process." He grabbed a towel off the side and began to wipe his face off. "I should get a bit stronger as I get older…but my strongest days are definitely behind me unless I find the rest of my essence."

Dael was a bit grim in response to that. She was hoping he would be in a bit of a better mood. Truth be told, he was for the most part…but not as much as she would have liked. He still had an air of disappointment over him. Amazingly, despite the fact that she knew who he was now…she still felt concern for him as a guardian would for any ward that she cared about. She finally shrugged. "I'm sure you will. Hey…you thought you'd never find Leviathan, right? And that took you all of six months tops?"

Bahamut toweled himself off a bit more, and then paused. He looked out to the floor a bit, but then shook his head. "…It's alright, Dael."

The young woman looked to him curiously at that. "…Pardon?"

He paused for a moment, and then looked back up to her.

"…I thought a lot about what you told me that night in the cafeteria." He explained. "And then I started thinking about what Leviathan told me…how this might be it for me. Now, I knew Leviathan existed…that he was somewhere in the world to find. These essences, on the other hand…they might be gone forever. So there's a much greater chance I'll never find them…"

He hesitated, but then shrugged.

"But even if that's the case, as I stood there thinking that over, and thinking to what I had considered ever since we spoke that night…I realized…what would be so bad? I know where my brother is now. I have friends. I have a place. And I can make a difference, even in this body. Maybe not the amount I want, but I can. And I realize not only am I doing alright…I'm doing better than I've done for most of my life. I've done more over the past few months than I've done for sometimes periods of centuries. I realized something…"

He began to walk over to put his towel on the rack.

"…It's the same thing I realized the day I wanted to marry Terra. It really isn't how long a person lives. It's what they do in the time they're given. When you're immortal…you forget about that. You start assuming you've done everything you can and that it's over…you can just let the rest of the years 'go by'. And I'm so used to being practically a god I'm used to doing anything…"

Hanging the towel up, he looked back to Dael and shrugged.

"And now? I'm a mortal, and I'm a human." He stated. "Not only do I have a lifespan, I'm bound to this form. Even back when living with Terra, I could become Neo Bahamut and hunt whatever I wanted. I could rebuild the city in days at full power. Now…I can't cheat. I am who I am. If I feel hungry, I have to somehow get food like a normal human. If I'm cold, I need to keep warm like a normal human. I need clothes and a dry place to sleep. I need shots and haircuts and showers and to trim my nails. It gives me a sense of…" He let out a small chuckle. "…Humanity, I suppose. I can't just pass by everything. And you know what?"

He smiled a bit. "…It actually feels kind of good. I feel like I'm truly learning to appreciate what it means just to _live_ again." He paused again. He looked to the ground and thought for a moment before looking back up to Dael.

"…I never thought I'd say this, but…whatever put me in human form, I'm glad it happened." He stated. "I know for a fact that if I had come back in my original body, I wouldn't have appreciated this world half as much as I do now. Or humans, for that matter." He looked up to Dael.

"…And I never would have made you as a friend." He paused again. "No matter what happens or comes from this, Dael…whether I live another thousand years, another 70, or I die today…I'm glad I have you as a friend."

The young officer stared back, honestly a little surprised at this. She knew now who Bahamut was. He wasn't a boy, but some sort of powerful, eternal Guardian Force…a being above and beyond anything she would ever understand. And yet she knew he was nothing if not honest. He wouldn't have told her this if he hadn't meant it…which meant he really did see her as a friend. Shouldn't he see her as something "beneath" him? Just some "dumb ape" running around on the surface of Gaia? Even that Terra he mentioned was an esper, from what she knew. But the way she looked at her…

To her amazement, it hadn't changed at all. She realized that it shouldn't have. She may have been seeing him in a new light, but to him…nothing _had_ changed. All of the growing affection he had for her was the same now as it was then. And to her surprise, she felt it should stay that way herself. On that note, she smiled a bit more.

"Same here." She stated. "…Even if you are a severe pain in the ass sometimes."

Bahamut snickered. "Most humans are, from what I gather."

She chuckled a bit in response. "I guess that's true. By the way, you're going to drill yourself in magic now. I'd hate to think your older brother let his gifts go to waste by junctioning to you."

"Hey…_younger_ brother." Bahamut immediately corrected. "And I will. His 'Tsunami' technique was considered the strongest spell in the world for at least-"

Dael's radio cut the boy off, suddenly letting out a ring. He stopped at this, and looked to it. In response, the young woman lost her own smile, quickly pulled it up and switched it on, and held it to her head. "Yes?"

_"…Dael?"_ Ceja's voice came on the other end.

The commander blinked. "Ceja? Is that you?"

_"It seems I'm operating these devices correctly. Anyway…we have a problem. Jalab cautioned me to get back inside, so we're at one of the windows on the top of the ship. Come see for yourself."_

Dael grimaced at that, and looked to Bahamut. His own look wasn't much better. Soon after, Dael looked back and nodded. "I'll be there in a minute."

She quickly took off for the door. Bahamut only paused to grab his sword and buckler from nearby, and then was on her tail as she exited the training area and moved back into the halls of the airship.

* * *

><p>Less than one minute later, Dael didn't like what she was seeing.<p>

She was standing with Jalab and Ceja, as well as Bahamut, who grimaced as he had to find something to act as a stool, and looking out one of the dorsal windows at the ocean beyond. Her eyes were steely and cold at the moment. It was a clear day for now. The squall had blown over, although it already looked as if a second storm of lesser power might be just on the horizon.

And out a ways from them, only partially visible on the other side of one of the odd-shaped rock formations…was a Sybenian battleship. The one turret that could be seen had swiveled around to aim at the _Enterprise_, but it didn't move forward. It had to be parked there just as they were. There it simply sat.

Dael didn't like this. "…How long have they been there?"

"They started coming around the edge not four minutes ago." Ceja responded. "Immediately, Jalab, Quaren, and I went back below deck. But when we arrived here, we saw that they had stopped. They're simply sitting there."

"Afraid." Jalab stated in response.

"I agree with Jalab." Bahamut stated. "We may be down, but we're clearly not as crippled as they'd like, and currently the side of our ship is aimed at theirs. They probably think we still have broadside capability. We'd tear apart half of their ship before it could respond."

"_If_ we really did have broadside capability." Dael threw in.

Bahamut exhaled and nodded. "…If we did."

"We don't have much time." Dael said as she looked away and quickly went over to the nearest relay. "Let's hope they left _something_ intact from when this thing was still a battleship." Quickly switching to the channel for the bottom of the deck, she turned it on. "Cid? How's it coming on the conduit?"

Luckily, it seemed as if the relays were still intact. There was a bit of static, but then Cid's voice came on. _"Same as my last estimation, Dael. Still another three and a half hours yet. These accessory lines are trickier than the main one even if they're smaller…"_

"You need to pick up the pace a bit. I'd say you have ten minutes…probably less."

He actually heard a clatter as a tool was dropped on the other end in surprise. _"…What was that, Dael? I didn't copy… Did you say ten minutes?"_

"Maybe less."

_"Dael, this isn't just like changing a light bulb and turning it back on. Without all the accessory lines in place, the current will be too hot…I could burn right through the main conduit again and we'd be grounded for another 24 hours."_

"Cid…I'm currently looking at a Sybenian battleship, and the only reason we're still floating here at the moment is because it thinks if it comes into firing range we can blow it to kingdom come. And since we _can't_, they're eventually going to realize that. Hence…ten minutes, maybe less."

A pause on the other end.

_"…I was already doing a rush job, Dael. This is going to be sloppy…"_

Dael next switched to the cockpit relay. "Quaren? Cryder? Taraketh? Are you all up front?"

_"Yes, we're all here, commander."_ The voice of Quaren came back. _"I saw the destroyer coming in. Is it closing?"_

"Not yet, but we don't have a lot of time." Dael responded. "We supposedly have one turret in their direction working, right?"

_"Affirmative."_

"Good. How many artillery shots do we have for it?"

There was a long pause…which was never a good thing in this sort of situation.

"…Corporal, how many artillery shots do we have for it?"

_"Two, commander."_

Dael went a bit wide-eyed.

_"…And one of them's currently loaded in the other turret."_

The woman slapped her palm against her forehead in frustration.

_"In all fairness, I don't think they ever meant to send us into combat…"_

"Look, forget it. You and Cryder get that other shell over to the other turret and prepare the first one to fire. The second that battleship even flinches in our direction, we fire on it with the turret. Maybe it'll trick them into thinking we can actually fight back a bit longer."

_"Lass…"_ Cryder began to speak up. _"You realize, even if they think we can fight, all they'll do…all they're probably doin' right now…is sending a ship to the other side of this pinnacle and movin' it around to our aft or prow where we can't use the broadsides."_

"All that means to you is that we need to hurry this up. Taraketh, get up here. You're on deck with me, Jalab, and Bahamut." She switched off the relay, and immediately turned to Ceja. "Head down and help out Cryder and Quaren. That shell isn't one of the thousand pound ones, but it's still heavy, so they'll need your strength to help move it. If you and Cryder can manage it, then have Quaren man the turret and get it ready to fire. We already have one shell loaded…we can wait on the second."

She turned to Jalab and Bahamut next. "Alright…same deal as on board the _Excalibur_. If it comes to a fight, we've got to keep them from opening up this aluminum can like a New Year's cracker. We already learned the hard way it won't take much to render this ship inoperative, and the only real weapons we have this time are each other. Once Taraketh gets up here we should have more magic. Jalab, I know your mantra is powerful, and Bahamut…you're junctioned to our 'biggest gun', so we need you. We stay here until it looks like they're coming for a fight, then we get on deck if we can't scare them off and hope our attacks reach them before theirs reach us. It's only going to take one good salvo from a battleship to ensure the _Enterprise_ never takes off again without armor…"

"Um, Dael…"

The young officer turned to Bahamut, who looked rather uneasy.

"…You're aware that Leviathan is a water esper…sorry, Guardian Force, right?" He asked. "I read the archives when I came back as Bahamut ZERO. Prior to the War of the Magi, a summoner by the name of Garnet was unable to call for Leviathan's help in a similar situation because his Tsunami ability would most likely have destroyed the ship of the person she was trying to save as well as her target. It's reasonable to assume the same thing would happen here…"

The commander paused on hearing that, and finally slumped and exhaled with a sigh.

"…We'll just have to make do as best we can without it, then."

Everyone soon went about their tasks. As Dael focused entirely outside, Ceja went off to go assist the others, while Taraketh came up and took her place. She realized he might be another good tactic. The Sybenians knew that Jay was dead and that Dael's group had his power. Perhaps if the sky began to darken as soon as the battleship came around, they'd be fearful of getting one of his tornadoes called down upon them. Even this size warship couldn't weather such an attack, after all. Yet somehow she doubted it. The Sybenians knew that they were somehow able to get more out of their Guardian Forces than anyone else. As the minutes slowly ticked by, Dael began to wonder how that was possible. Perhaps they had overlooked that research facility for too long on Leuco…although organizing a strike was still suicide. Esthar wasn't even in any shape to defend itself, let alone strike that facility…

After about five minutes with still nothing, Dael started to realize that they were officially in the realm of "lucky to get" whatever time they were receiving. She turned to the relay and switched it back on.

"Cid? How are we doing?"

_"In just five minutes, Dael? I hate to be a nag…but this will go faster if you don't keep asking me that…"_

"Cid…"

_"I'm hooking up the accessory lines as fast as I can. There's a good chance I'll blow the whole conduit if I turn it on, but there's a 100% chance it'll blow if I don't have them connected when I turn it on. At any rate, it's impossible for me to be done with this in the original ten minutes you gave me. I've got to have another fifteen starting now at minimum, and even then it's crazy."_

Dael didn't bother arguing. She turned off the relay and sighed. "He says another fifteen minutes. I don't even think we have _five_… It's going to come to a fight for sure now."

"Should we start getting up on deck?" Bahamut asked. "I understand your desire to let them think we don't need to resort to that and not present a target, but even on this level it will take a little bit to get on top."

"They know the most damage we did to them back at the Lamb Archipelago wasn't through a straight fight but through our abilities." Dael responded. "If we get out on top now while we're supposed to be behind this unstoppable airship…then they'll know for sure something's up, that we're more hurt than we look."

Bahamut was silent in response to this, but seemed to agree. He looked back forward. However, not ten seconds later, both he and everyone tensed up.

"Here they come." Dael stated grimly.

The battleship soon began to inch forward, starting to clear the rocks. Since it was just starting out, it wasn't going to clear it right away, and it was moving rather slowly. However, as it crept forward, the first turret began to swivel around to take aim at the target. It would take it a moment, but it clearly meant to open fire on the _Enterprise._

The chance never came. Moving much faster, the turret on their side of the ship swiveled up and aimed out toward the incoming battleship. At least those were still working. It hardly made a sound as it got into position, even with the ship being as dead in the water as it was. A moment later, and the airship buckled slightly as the barrel on the turret recoiled, and the first of their two shells streaked across the stretch of the ocean to smash into the prow of the battleship. They may have had only two shells, but apparently they were good. A good-sized eruption resulted, sending out bits of debris and hull along with an eruption of fire. Dael would have preferred if they could have shot the fore turret with that…but she wasn't going to risk letting them get in position. She also said a silent prayer that they would fall for their ruse.

Luckily, it seemed a bit of fortune was on their side. Naturally, the ship continued to move forward at first, if through drift if nothing else. The turret continued to get in position as well. However, their own turret swiveled and aimed for it, looking to shoot it as soon as it was completely visible. Dael said a silent "thank you" at that. She hadn't told Quaren or Cryder to do that, but it gave the impression that they were getting ready to fire again. Technically, they _could_ fire again, but no need to telegraph to the enemy that they were down to their last shell. It seemed to have a good result. The ship rapidly slowed, stopping just shy of exposing its turret, and then came to a halt before beginning to back up.

Taraketh let out an exhale of relief. "Looks like they bought it."

"Fishhook, cord, and tow weight." Jalab added.

"I believe the expression is 'hook, line, and sinker', Jalab." Bahamut corrected. "Don't sweat it. I didn't understand that idiom for close to 300 years."

"I wouldn't be too confident." Dael stated. "We just lost one of our two shells to pull that off. Plus, take a look."

Outside, the battleship continued to retreat, now smoldering and smoking. Fire crews began to deploy on deck to take care of it. However, the battleship did not fully withdraw behind its protective covering. The nose of it remained in place, and the turrets remained swiveled out.

"They're not withdrawing." Dael stated. "Either they suspect we really are weak, or they're holding the position to try and get us to 'watch the birdie' while they do something else."

"Are you sure?" Taraketh asked.

"It's what I would do." Dael responded. "The only real reason our ship would have for not attacking the rocky formation they're hiding behind and try to drop it on them would be if we were 'playing possum', waiting for them to come fully into view and then take the broadsides. Now, they may have thought they had the edge on range and that's why we fired on them. They could also think we have more than enough firepower to take them out if they get close. But they could also think something's up, and that it was odd for us to not lure them in to where we can rip half of their ship apart."

"No matter the reason." Bahamut threw in. "The fact remains that they're holding. I don't think they're sure about us yet. Your earlier assessment was right…they'll try something new, whether they think we're injured or not."

Abruptly, the relay let out a burst of static. Dael immediately turned to it, thinking it was Cid with good news. As it turned out…it was neither.

_"Um…commander?"_ Quaren's voice came through. _"We have a problem…"_

Taraketh frowned at that. "Seems that's the only thing we ever get…"

Dael's sentiments were similar, but she turned on the radio regardless. "What is it, corporal?"

_"We got the shell over here…but apparently the _Enterprise_ was a newer model than the standard E-12. It uses a belt feeder directly from the armory to reload."_

Dael couldn't help but grow rather upset on hearing that. "…Didn't you notice that when you manned the turret, corporal?"

_"Sorry, commander. I was so busy trying to prime it that-"_

"Nevermind. Get it to the armory as soon as possible. That's our last shell and who knows how long they're going to fall for our fake out."

She changed the relay soon afterward. "Cid? How much time?"

_"Dael, you've got to let me concentrate! It's only been three minutes since you radioed in last!"_

Taraketh's eyes widened a bit at that. "…Three minutes? Seriously?"

"Watched kettle never boils…" Bahamut murmured.

_"I need another twelve! No more shortcuts!"_

"Fine. I'll radio you in twelve." Dael responded. "Assuming we-"

The woman was cut off a moment later, for suddenly the chamber had grown dark. The change alone was enough to make her pause. However, when she realized what was causing it, a large shadow passing by the windows, she looked up and soon gazed along the deck. Sure enough, the shadow was moving in front of all windows one after another…and not fading out like a cloud either. Immediately, she looked to see the source, and the others soon turned with her. In moments, all of them had gone still.

Dael realized just how foolish she had been. On a ship like the _Enterprise_, there weren't any windows to the outside world apart from the sensors. And next to this formation, sensors were useless. Anything could have come up upon them. Sure, a person could be stationed at emergency windows in the front and the back, but Dael hadn't thought to spare anyone for that purpose. As such, even one of these could get through. Dael and the others immediately found themselves looking right at the deck of a Sybenian battleship, a different one from the one that they had fired on moments ago, pulling up right alongside them. All of its turrets were already aimed at them…ready to open them up in a heartbeat.

Jalab let out a swear.

_"…What was that? I didn't copy."_ Cid's voice came through.

However, Dael wasn't really thinking of Cid at the moment as the ship pulled so close that she could smell the chemicals they were using in place of traditional gunpowder to fire their artillery rounds. There was only one thing to do now.

Immediately, she chanted some arcane syllables…

…And, a moment later, she popped up on top of the ship, perched on the dorsal side and looking out to sea. She winced a bit in the sunlight, but didn't wobble. One teleport was pretty much an easy thing to handle. Only when she did multiple in succession did things grow problematic. Mostly, she was focused on the battleship pulling up next to them. It was big enough, that was true, although the _Enterprise_ was only slightly bigger. It hardly mattered, however, not when taking their relative armaments into consideration. Quickly, however, she drew her Mage Gun as she glared at it. She didn't have any bullets that would be able to disable the thing. She had been lucky with the smaller destroyer. This was something different entirely. However…she had to try something.

There had been no time to explain to the others. That battleship had managed to sneak up on them totally unawares. The Sybenians might have thought that they couldn't sense them based on the disturbance, but it was ludicrous to think that they could have still thought the _Enterprise_ could fight back if they were pulling a battleship alongside it and preparing to fire. That was asking for a broadside attack…and if the broadside doors hadn't even opened by now, they realized they were helpless. The next possible move would be evacuation…but there was nowhere to evacuate to. Perhaps they could hide in Leviathan's grotto, but then what? Wait for months to pass before another ship came by and hope it wasn't hostile? The only course of action Dael could think of was to draw their fire. The Sybenians had to know by now that Esthar had some sort of incredible power it had employed during the battle in the Lamb Archipelago. Whether they thought it was due to humans junctioned or not was irrelevant. The only thing they did know for certain was that someone had to be on deck to use it. And now…Dael was on deck and preparing to fight. She had wished the others would be present, but climbing the latter could take too long. If even one turret opened fire, the ship would be ruined.

Of course…Dael soon realized what she did amounted to suicide. Her barrier magic couldn't even perfectly stop a standard caliber bullet. Artillery from a battleship was completely out of her league. Even Jalab probably couldn't pull it off…which was somewhat moot because he wasn't here. That meant if she was going to strike at all, she had to now. A Firaga bullet was already loaded into her gun. She raised it and soon took aim at the nearest turret as the battleship continued to pull alongside the _Enterprise_. It was a mostly futile gesture…it would still have three working turrets and only one would be enough to disable the _Enterprise_ for good. Now, it didn't even matter if Cid finished or not…

Yet just as she was about to depress the trigger…she noticed a change, and an unexpected one.

The destroyer didn't fire. On the contrary…it's turret barrels retracted and lowered. The ship itself soon applied its own reverse propulsion, slowing down as a result. It was a rather rapid slowdown too, Dael soon saw, for the ship began to grind almost to a halt. In short order, she realized the large warship was pulling up alongside them. She was confused momentarily as she saw this. What were they doing? Did they plan to board? Actually…it made sense. With all their intelligence and Sybenia's military production, Esthar had never shown that the country had come up with an airforce that had any sort of equivalent to the E-12. Even if the ship was a dinosaur, if they assumed it was both grounded and unarmed, it made more sense to try and take it rather than blow it to bits. Of course, the odds were now far more even in Dael's case. She was pretty sure just the eight of them could easily fight off a crew of a battleship. It might not be a long-lasting solution, but she realized it might just be possible to hold them off long enough for Cid to get finished.

Of course, she was guessing that it wasn't going to be that easy. The Sybenians never made something so simple. She looked over the edge of the ship and watched and waited, keeping her Mage Gun drawn. She debated firing on a turret anyway…but she knew she couldn't reload and fire fast enough to take out all four, assuming her mage bullets _would_ take out all four, before they could counterattack. Instead, she saved it and waited, looking for activity to occur on the surface of the ship. She assumed some sort of weapon would be deployed… Maybe more Death Lotuses…

At length, a bay popped open on the deck of the ship, such as what might deploy a rocket. Tensing up, Dael raised her weapon to that instead. She was pretty sure she could shoot a rocket out of the sky from this distance, after all. Yet as she waited for it…she saw only a white blur erupt out of the bay instead. It was so fast and sudden that she almost thought she had imagined it… However, she soon became aware of something in the sky…coming over her head. Sensing that, she looked up.

She was just in time to see the white blur performing a graceful backflip as it went into the air and over her head. She soon recognized it as humanoid. Not bothering to ask questions about who it was or what was going on, she quickly snapped around and aimed her weapon for it. A moment later, however, the figure landed on the top of the ship behind her. Two loud "clicks" rang out as its boots touched the magnetic relay, and the figure stood straight and tall without even crouching to absorb the shock from the move it had just made.

Dael quickly narrowed her gaze and looked up to the figure…and very quickly her brain registered. A bit of a chill went through her spine, although she struggled not to show any fear.

_Don't get nervous now…just focus…just like on Jay…_

Yet even as she thought this…she struggled not to remember how easily and effortlessly she avoided three of them last time…

Crow was still dressed all in white with the long coat over her shoulders. She was still just as prideful and arrogant as ever too, landing with her back to Dael. Only now, she calmly looked around, her wicked eyes flashing from beneath her silver mask. She looked back at Dael silently only for a moment, before she turned fully to face her. She held up a hand soon after.

In a simple "flick"…five blades sprung out. Throwing knives, arranged like a hand of cards. With expert skill, one by one she tossed them into the air, one after the other, in a rhythmic fashion using only a few fingers. As soon as the last was tossed up, the first returned, and she continued the cycle. Without even looking at them, she was soon jugging all five knives with one hand.

"You've made my day, you unwashed trollop." She said with a smile. "Jay may have been the weakest of the three of us, but he was still far greater than any warrior in Esthar…save maybe you. Even now I'm having a hard time believing that you somehow managed to kill him. Yet I suppose facts don't lie. Too bad for you that Jay didn't even have any formal training…" She covered her mouth and gave a haughty chuckle. "Unlike moi, of course."

"Training in what?" Dael darkly responded, not changing her expression. "Demented Bitchiness: Calculus-Intensive?"

The woman gave another haughty laugh…this one dismissive and mocking. "No, you simple pig…" She tossed one last blade, and then caught all five of them one after the other. With another hand wave, they all disappeared once again. After that, she crossed her arms over her chest. "I've studied a special art they have out west all my life… Shuangjiaodu. The ability to kill with ease using only my feet…" She paused, then smiled and shrugged. "Well…and the occasional throwing knife. You see, I can't have my flawless hands getting dirty."

"You can't be much of a warrior if you worry so much about maintaining your appearance." Dael flatly responded.

She laughed airily again. "You filthy little swine…you should be bowing down and thanking me. The captain wanted to turn your little airship into a fireball. But I convinced him otherwise. After all, killing you and your little soiree of hogs all by myself should send a message back to your country that you got lucky once, but that's the only luck that Esthar will have. You won't even lay a finger on me."

"Then perhaps _we_ will."

Crow looked up slightly at this. Dael risked a glance behind her as well. She was pretty sure, confident as Crow was, that her opponent wouldn't hit her in the back. At least not at the moment.

It turned out the others hadn't been far behind. Dael may have been out first, but in no time at all, Bahamut, Taraketh, and Jalab had come out through the more conventional way, and they were all armed and at the ready too. Taraketh and Bahamut both had weapons naked as they stepped up to Dael's side. Jalab's pole was already out as well. All of them leveled hard looks at the Elite Hound.

After a moment, she snickered. "I notice none of the hogs I whipped last time dared to come out to fight me again…except you, little piglet. The last time we parted, I expected that the next time I saw you would be when you were in your proper place of spending the rest of your natural life in an oversized test tube."

"So sorry to disappoint you." Bahamut responded. "You're far too arrogant. That's why I was able to land a hit on you last time. Perhaps you should take some things into consideration. We've all been preparing for another fight with you, and this time we aren't hot, tired, or hungry. We're also all junctioned."

Yet another airy, mocking laugh rang out. Dael was getting rather sick of these…but Taraketh, naturally tensed all the more. "Oh, please…" She said after a moment. "You four are nothing compared to me. You're still relying on archaic junctions when the nation of Sybenia has long ago discovered how to get far more out of their powers. It would be easy enough for me to use the power of Siren right now to sing your death dirge and watch you all kill one another. But there's no more fun in that than there is in letting the battleship destroy you and your ship in one fell swoop."

She cracked her neck. "So…without further ado…allow me to show you our differences in power."

Dael thought of firing right then and there…but hesitated. She didn't want to risk damaging the airship. Difficult as this situation might be, the longer they kept Crow busy, the more time Cid had to repair the conduit. She already assumed they bought another three minutes just bantering with her and waiting for her to board. And so, she began to put her Mage Gun away and go for her sword…

A mistake on her part. It showed her hesitation, and made her a prime first target. Moving almost in a blur, Crow suddenly popped up in front of Dael with a cruel smile before lashing out with a kick that caught her across the face, snapping her head one way. However, it wasn't nearly as severe as Crow thought it was. Dael realized she would probably go for her first, and had purposely loosened up her body before the blow struck. It was painful…but not seriously damaging. During the interim, Bahamut lunged forward while Taraketh flung his kusarigama, meaning to catch her in a pincer. The Elite Hound, however, merely chuckled and moved again nimbly, shooting forward with a thrust kick for Bahamut, evading Taraketh's blow while delivering an attack to the boy. Bahamut, however, had faster reaction time than ever. He actually halted himself mid-thrust and raised his shield to take the blow. Still, the kick was nothing to sneeze at even then. The blow would have easily fractured most other shields. As it was, he was ripped off of his feet, junction or no, and sent toppling back to the deck of the ship.

Taraketh immediately snapped his chain and swung it around in a deadly arc, aiming the scythe for Crow. However, she kept smiling and proceeded to nimbly leap over it, letting it hit nothing, before dashing forward straight for the High Child. His eyes widened at this, and he quickly began to retract his chain to fight back…but despite reacting faster than his last fight with an Elite Hound, he wasn't quick enough to avoid Crow smashing her knee under his chin and sending him flailing back. Even as he fell backward, she leapt in the air, drove her feet forward, kicked off of him into midair, performed another backflip, and was soon sailing down over Jalab, meaning to drive her heel down on his head in an axe kick.

However, Jalab was already powerful on his own, and now he had the power of a junction in him as well. As such, no matter how fast and nimble Crow thought she was, he was still fast enough to bring his staff up to block the kick. She tried to launch a follow up attack to this, but it was impossible given her height and momentum. Giving a snort, instead she launched herself back off of the staff from the impact, flipped again, and then landed on the ground. Immediately, she launched herself forward and unleashed a series of kicks against the monk, clearly trying to knock him down like the others. Yet Jalab wasn't going for it this time. Quickly, he righted his staff and began to use it to intercept. He wasn't quite as fast as Crow, who moved like a blur, but thanks to the wideness and length of his staff, he actually managed to deflect several blows.

She grinned in response as she pressed her assault. As she did, she increased her speed, and soon Jalab was struggling a lot hard to hold her back, enough to show visible strain. "Not bad… Maybe you _were_ holding back last time. Too bad I wasn't even tr-"

The woman was cut off a moment later, as Bahamut having sprung back to his own feet, now dashed straight for her with his shortsword naked. He was going for where it would hurt her the most…one of her legs. Worse for Crow was that, once again, she was caught off guard by his behavior. The only reasons she even knew it was coming because, when he snatched up his sword, he made a scraping sound on deck that caught her attention. She quickly sprang back, narrowly missing the blade. However, Bahamut didn't stick around. He shot by as he did this to avoid retribution from her legs, and by the time she was up again he was already darting by. She still attempted a parting shot…before she realized she had stumbled right back into the path of Dael, who was lunging forward with a stabbing motion. Her eyes actually enlarged a bit before she dodged out of the way again, narrowly missing the stab.

"Heh…not bad, piglet." She taunted…her voice sounding a little less sure of herself. "You actually made-"

She was cut off again, suddenly forced to snap her head to the side to avoid the hammer of Taraketh's kusarigama sailing for her head. Her smile actually abated a bit…and soon after faded completely when Taraketh followed up by choking the chain back and swinging the sickle out for her head again. She was forced to backpedal even more. However, she couldn't let up even then. Dael advanced on her with her sword, slicing out for her a few times and forcing her back two more steps as she advanced.

Finally, Crow, beginning to tense further, lashed out to stop the charge with a kick aimed for her arms, deflecting another blow before giving Dael a kick in the face. Although she went back…Bahamut was soon on her. This time, for the first time Dael had seen, he focused for a moment before his own aura erupted green and arcane syllables came from his mouth. A potent stream of water suddenly formed into a wave out of thin air and shot for her with incredible force. Now her eyes really did widen, before she quickly leapt into the air, letting the wave sail underneath. However, by now, she was actually starting to sweat a bit beneath the mask.

"You're a bit tougher than I-"

Again, she was caught off guard. This time, it was by Jalab, who had used the interim to focus power into his staff before driving it forward, sending one of his punishing "air waves" shooting at her. Abruptly, it struck her in the middle, and her body crumpled around the invisible blow before she was knocked higher into the air and send flying backward. Her face showed genuine surprise, even shock, at this. Somehow, she managed to balance out the buffeting, however. Dael wasn't sure how she did it, but she managed to land herself without being knocked clean off the airship. She snapped her head back up, but didn't have much time to relax.

A bladed cyclone was already headed for her, courtesy of Taraketh. Quickly, she dodged to one side…only to find herself in the path of Bahamut, who was lunging at her with shield out, looking to bludgeon her with it. Quickly, she snapped one of her feet aside to kick him away again. Although her foot connected and he did go away…it was harder this time. Bahamut had focused more and directed his blow on purpose, so that her foot was soon smarting painfully from the blow. Finally, however, it seemed she had been pushed to a new high. Gritting her teeth and looking angry now, she held her hands out and snapped them down…deploying ten throwing knives, five in each hand. She immediately snapped her hands forward to go after Bahamut just as he landed from her fist kick…

And was thwarted again. Jalab suddenly shot in front of him and began to twirl his staff as he did for bullets and artillery fire. Not surprisingly, it seemed as if Crow was able to fling her deadly knives with more power than the standard bullet. Yet it didn't seem to matter, and he spun it so fast that he deflected each one. Letting out a scowl, showing her growing irritation, even anger, she shot forward in a thrust kick once again, picking up the speed this time. Jalab stopped his twirling and quickly braced his pole in front of him, taking the kick as it landed…although the pole sounded like it was groaning at this point. She clearly was going to try and snap it this time. However, the Sorceress Knight wouldn't let her. The second she retracted her foot, he swung his own pole out for her head, causing her to gape and quickly duck to avoid it. Angrily, she thrust out her foot and smashed it twice in Jalab's gut. He registered pain both times…but he was junctioned now, and took each blow before swinging out his pole again, this time striking her in the ankle and knocking her foot down and away. However, it wasn't just a deflection blow. She actually gave a mild cry of pain as it went down. Hissing, she quickly launched a roundhouse kick at his head with her other foot, but this time he was the one who ducked before swinging his staff around and blazed in a blue aura again. Realizing what he was doing, Crow's eyes widened again before she rapidly backpedaled. She was still almost too late when Jalab crossed his staff before him and let out an eruption of mystic purity in beam form for her.

Crow quickly swiveled to one side…but didn't escape totally unscathed this time. As she swept to one direction, her coat fluttered behind her…and one of the tails caught the beam. Instantly, it was vaporized, and the smell of burning, smoldering cloth was what was left behind in its wake. The woman snapped to this, then looked up. All ego was gone. She was now angry. As for the others, they quickly readied themselves for more action, Dael included. They simply stared back at the Elite Hound.

"Alright…I tried doing this the _easy_ way." She sneered. "Now I think I'll just watch you all kill each other without me having to lift a finger."

Both Dael and Bahamut tensed on hearing that. They realized what was coming. Fast as she could, Dael snapped her hand around and went for her Mage Gun. However, she suffered from a moment of hesitation. She knew the Firaga bullet was in there, and she paused long enough to open the chamber, dump it out, pull out a Blizzara bullet, and slam that in instead. The reasoning was that she wouldn't waste such a good shell on the woman if she could avoid it. She needed to save the "big guns" for the destroyer if Cid couldn't get them out of here. However, too late she realized what stupidity she was doing, and by the time she did so…she had already ejected the Firaga bullet. It was faster to keep going. She reloaded and raised to aim…but it was too late by now. Crow's own aura had ignited, and she raised her head and let out a stream of words. At least…they started off as words…

In moments, they had become much worse.

For a second they merely sounded like something horrible and guttural, like nails on a chalkboard and biting tin foil, only worse. Yet they soon became more than that. They morphed into hot coals that were dumped on Dael's brain. They overrode everything else. It was more than just enough to put her in pain. It made her black out, just like last time. She couldn't hear or see or sense anything else in the world. She might as well have been projected into space. She didn't exactly feel her legs or arms weakening and, most likely, giving away…but she knew from before that was likely what was happening. After all, they had gone numb with that horrible sound.

Yet this time it wasn't just designed to stun her. Already, it was going to work. Dael felt it like a living parasite crawling into her brain, specifically to where her knowledge of spells were. Until now, she thought that knowledge was innate. Yet to her horror, somehow able to be felt in spite of what was going on, the noise seemed to start blanking out that part of her mind…trying to make her forget all of her techniques. She grew fearful at that. If this voice could blot out her spells, then what was to stop it from blotting out any other memory it wanted? Or worse than that? It no doubt was intending to drive her mad as it had the people from before so that they'd kill each other…and although she may or may not have been resisting it, it couldn't last for much longer. She couldn't let it continue. She had to break free…somehow…

Dael, with whatever few neurons in her brain were still firing, struggled to think of a way out. Yet since her brain thought it was on fire at the moment, she could think of little. Finally, one dim possibility entered her mind. She didn't know where it came from…but a faint memory of a plaque of the Ten Tenets of Esthar's Hawks that used to hang in her dormitory popped into her mind. She used to spend hours standing there staring at it, trying to memory it verbatim to repeat on command. Later, when she was being submitted to the brutality of Interrogation/Brainwashing Endurance Training, she had chosen that as her "focal point" to keep her mind sharp. Vaguely…she tried to remember them now.

_One. An Esthar Hawk will always defend and protect Esthar civilians, Esthar property, and Esthar well-being. Two. An Esthar Hawk will obey a superior officer without complaint, question, or insubordination save where they are required to violate the first tenet. Three. An Esthar Hawk will show respect and loyalty to the government of Esthar and the Commander-In-Chief. Four…_

Remarkably, as she started to chant these tenets mentally, devote all of her brain power to them, force herself to think through each one…parts of her brain began to 'liberate'. She was able to think about it more and more clearly. And, as a result…somewhere through the blackness…she began to feel her arms and legs again. She had nearly gone down, but not completely. She had bent a bit but was still up. Slowly, her eyes began to see through a haze and spot Crow continuing to use her spell…

Seeing this, Dael acted. It wasn't easy. Even now, her body felt like lead, barely getting any mental signals. But she managed to raise her arm and squeeze the trigger.

Crow obviously saw it coming. Dael may have been fast normally, but under these conditions, there was no way she could have squeezed off a shot faster than Crow could see. She did manage to shoot straight enough to send the shell toward her though, and the Elite Hound immediately had to leap to one side before the shell erupted into a shower of deadly ice crystals that threatened to slice her to bits. Yet the shot was not without effect…for Crow stopped her chanting.

Immediately, all of the spells rushed back into Dael's consciousness. In her peripheral vision, she saw the others, immobilized like her, but now recovering. Yet she didn't have time to tend to them. Crow would start chanting again in a moment. Before she could, however, Dael quickly raised her sword, put her gun away, and chanted another spell. In a moment, six of her were running at the Elite Hound. Crow looked surprised at this sudden move. Quickly, she tried to chant again to deal with it. After all, if she hit the true one and stopped her spell, it would eliminate the copies. Therefore, she focused only one chanting even as the nearest one reached her…

As it turned out, that was foolishness on her part. Dael realized by now she had the tendancy to always be the "last" one in the line of images. Therefore, she tried bucking the trend and "changing it up". She was the first one to charge. Crow had thought that she was toward the back, merely using the copies to distract her so she couldn't finish the spell by devoting all of her energy to physical strikes. As a result, it wasn't until she heard the air cutting from Dael swinging her own blade at her neck that she realized her mistake. Quickly, she cut herself off and swung herself back, just narrowly missing the sword.

Dael, however, had realized how quick this woman was and how fast her reaction time was. Furthermore…she realized that she tended to "slack off" after dodging a first blow. Hence, her sword swipe automatically went into a second strike, whipping her body around and swinging her own foot hard into her stomach. She actually felt a bit of the air that rushed out of Crow's lungs as she was ripped off of her feet yet again and sent further along the airship…now getting pretty close to the edge. However, she again toppled to the ground and stopped before she could.

In a flash, the Elite Hound snapped back up to her feet and glared angrily at her attackers. Dael, on her part, advanced, keeping her sword naked, but also staying at a distance for the time being. By now, the others had recovered, and quickly fell in behind her. Bahamut went to her side, while Taraketh too her left and Jalab took her right, all of their weapons at the ready.

Crow took a moment to look over this situation. By now, she no longer looked so confident, although she didn't exactly look worried either.

"Still think this fight is going to be so easy?" Taraketh challenged.

Dael had to admit…she was still in quite a bit of pain from every blow from Crow. Even preparing herself for the fight and all of her added training wasn't making this a painless, or even easy affair. She was having to put out everything she had to keep up, and after that last maneuver she was a bit mentally fatigued. Nevertheless, she could keep this up. And while everyone else looked a bit sore as well, they were far from out too. Furthermore, Crow didn't exactly look at the top of her own game. She was definitely starting to sweat and strain, and she had taken a couple hits of her own.

"…You don't seem the type to choose surrender." Dael stated after a moment. "But you should know by now that you don't have much chance of winning. If you stand down, though, you'll be treated much better than you treated prisoners from _our_ country."

For a moment, a flash of anger went over Crow's face. That immediately told Dael what she thought of her offer. So much for a peaceful solution. She readied herself for more of a fight, expecting some sort of angry outburst at first. And for a few seconds, it looked like Crow would indeed do that.

However…something seemed to occur to her. When it did, she froze…and then her lips spread into a wide smile. Not a friendly one, either. Dael, at this point, had learned that these people were not so confident because they were boasting, but because they had good reason to back it up. This wasn't good…and all four of them knew it.

"Well now, little piggies…" She stated as she drew herself up more. "I guess I should have expected _that_. I mean, after all, you _did_ kill Jay and all. I'll admit you've improved. But if you think you're going to come close to winning, I'm afraid you're wrong. It's still taking four of you together to just break even with me right now. So I think I'll just push things over the edge…"

Crow manipulated her hand again. Thinking she was drawing a throwing knife, Dael crossed her blade in front of her while the others took defensive positions. However, what came out of her wrist this time wasn't a knife. It was a small metal tin of some sort. At least, it was the size of one. As Dael looked at it, she realized that it was some sort of metal container that was roughly the same size as a holder for mints.

"To think…I was saving these for our upcoming invasion of Esthar…which, I assure you, is going to happen a lot sooner than you like. Not that any of you will be around to do anything about it at this point. But it seems I get to use one now." She let out a bit of a laugh at this. It was airy and haughty again, but this time more dark and malicious than it had been before. "I've never tried one of these on living targets. This should be fun for the both of us…"

Her thumb flicked open the container and, with deft skill, she dipped her thumb into it. With another flicking motion, a small pill, translucent and brightly colored, came out. It would have resembled a large jellybean if not for one important difference. It was actually glowing softly. It tumbled through the air for a moment before Crow extended her tongue and caught it, taking it inside and immediately gulping it down. Soon, the container was closed and vanished once again into her sleeve.

"That's better." She stated, cracking her neck a bit. "Just need a moment or so to adjust…"

However, Taraketh wouldn't give her that moment. Immediately, he swung out his hammer for her again, looking to nail her in the head. Quickly, she ducked to one side to avoid it…but Jalab was already running in and letting out another forced thrust to try and knock her the rest of the way out of the airship. Grinning, she quickly ran forward two steps toward the incoming attack before launching off of the deck and into the air, once more doing a graceful flip, this time forward, as she vaulted right over Jalab's head and landed on the deck beyond.

Dael and Bahamut alike both turned to her in response, weapons out, bracing first for a counterattack, and then preparing to attack on their own if she did nothing. However, they noticed that she wasn't immediately pressing her advantage. She was pausing momentarily first. Yet as she did, she began to chuckle at them once again. She turned her head to look at Dael, her eyes filled with cruelty and a sense of victory. Dael considered this only a moment…before she felt it.

The woman had felt the power radiating off of the Elite Hounds in the past. She had likened it to the Sorceresses, only weaker. Yet that was rapidly going away now. As Crow looked at her from beneath her mask, she noted that the feeling was getting stronger, and fast. Now she was beginning to get the same feeling from Crow as she did when she first looked a Sorceress in the eye…the same sensation of being frozen and overwhelmed by a superior aura. Despite the fact she had been fighting more or less evenly before now, this new sensation began to take ahold of her none the less, and in spite of her best efforts she couldn't shrug it off.

By now, Taraketh had retracted his kusarigama and turned to her along with Jalab. However, both they, as well as Bahamut, must have realized the change, for they paused where they were and stared. Bahamut himself managed to keep his shield up, but soon called out. "Everyone, brace yourselves. Whatever she took is definitely not good…"

Hearing this, Taraketh, apparently, decided to bring out the 'big guns'. He quickly closed his eyes and began to chant more fiercely. He was clearly summoning this time…for all the good it did.

Giving one last cocky chuckle, Crow practically seemed to vanish…and reappeared driving her foot hard into Taraketh's face. His chanting was immediately cut off as the power of the blow, and he was ripped solidly off of his feet and knocked across the top of the airship. Dael looked to it, and nearly went slack jawed. In spite of Taraketh's own new power and training, Crow's blow easily sent him sailing much farther than she had gone, nearly knocking him half the length of the airship.

Jalab quickly moved to charge his power for a new attack…but didn't get the chance. As he began to focus, Crow again seemed to suddenly pop in front of him before driving her foot forward and smashing him in the gut. Before, he had been able to take the blow. Now, however, his feet literally dug scrapes into the top of the airship as he was forcefully knocked backward. The kick sounded like thunder. Jalab may have been as impassive as a mountain, but in the end it wasn't enough to keep him from nearly being knocked to the edges…before he collapsed onto his knees and arms. His eyes were wide, and he gagged and rasped, a few drops of blood coming from his mouth. His body quivered all over…just from the one hit.

Dael was rather shocked by now, but she snapped out of it quickly. Now wasn't the time to be frozen by fear or anxiety. Putting her gun away and shifting to her sword with both hands, she shot out for Crow. She wasn't alone, however. Bahamut, brandishing his own weapons, ran out for her as well, and soon both were stabbing at her at the same time. However, even as they reached striking range, she turned to them and flashed a superior smile before responding.

The Esthar's Hawk was shocked as Crow continued to show off more power. To her surprise, even with both of them attacking her at speeds far too fast for humans, she kept them at bay…and did so with her feet alone. She was lashing out with her boots again and again, knocking aside every blade and slash that went out to try and cut them. She never even had to shift weight, in spite of Dael's efforts to advance on her and at least force her back. Even when Dael bit down and tried to put at least enough power in to force her to put more power into her kicks, and Bahamut helped out, she held them back easily. In fact…Dael had the sensation she was just playing with them.

As this came in, the truth began to become clear, and, to be honest, it was overwhelming. She had already supposed that the Elite Hounds had been fighting at full strength, that somehow they had gotten more out of their Guardian Forces, but that was the limit. She was wrong. Whatever was in those pills somehow enabled them to get even more… But how? She thought a junction was the limit. She vaguely recalled something about another individual in history somehow getting more out of his own…but in reality she really didn't have a whole lot of time to think about that…for Crow, around this point, seemed to be done just "taunting" them.

Abruptly, as Bahamut snapped back and Dael slashed for her head…the woman dropped down and performed a sweeping kick, simulataneously dodging underneath Dael's slash while knocking out Bahamut's legs from underneath him. She nearly got Dael's as well, but the young officer was the second one to be aimed for, and she managed to quickly leap over it. Putting her in the air, however, as well as the sudden surprise of the attack, left her momentarily vulnerable. Crow seized it. Snapping back on her feet in an instant, barely seeming to even move to get back to her feet, she was up and twisting around to give another thrust kick on Dael's descending body…this time in her throat. A moment later, her windpipe was smashed violently, causing the woman's eyes to bulge and her mouth to open. Soon she was gagging as well, just like Jalab…and, like him, she was sure, her throat felt like it was on fire as red, hot liquid splashed from her mouth. She landed on her feet again, but immediately faltered and nearly collapsed. Yet on the way down, Crow laughed again and swept out a kick that caught her in the side of the head. Loosening up didn't help. Her senses went to black momentarily as she was ripped off of her feet and thrown to the edge of the airship. This time, she didn't stay fully on. As she connected with the ground and went for a tumble, she managed to get her senses back just in time to feel her legs going over the edge. At the last moment, she snapped to enough attention to force herself to grab onto the edge, just halting herself from falling completely over. Yet even then, her head throbbed and her senses were dazzled.

Bahamut, on his part, did a flip of his back to get back on his feet, and went for Crow again with his shortsword naked. Laughing mockingly at him, she lashed out with her foot again. The boy brought his shield up to intercept, and it connected…but this time he let out a cry of pain as it was painfully jarred out of his grasp, and sent clattering to the deck of the ship. His wrist and forearm throbbed from having taken the blow. The pain stunned him, but he still tried to bring his sword up…only to have Crow get in his face and kicked him under the nose, sending blood flying from it and again ripping him off of his feet to slam down on the deck. Looking haughty and superior, she quickly moved over to him in a flash while he was still on his back, wincing and trying to recover. She aimed an axe kick for his neck, placing her foot over it to "aim" first. Clearly, she meant to kill him with her next strike…

Yet before she could deliver the blow, a sound like burning rang through the air. It quickly built, and soon became an inferno in magnitude. This was enough for her to raise an eyebrow under her mask, and look to the source. Despite blood oozing from his lips, Jalab was up again. He had put his staff behind his back and balled his hands into fists, and his normally blue aura had ignited into bright red, seeming to transform him into a being of living flame. Dael, who by now had regained enough of her senses to be aware of what was going on, and, after spotting Bahamut's position, rapidly tried to pull herself back up again, paused on seeing this. She had seen it only once before when Jalab was not junctioned…

A moment later, and Jalab took off, splitting into eight figures of his own, each one charging at Crow. The woman merely grinned back, and leapt back and off of Bahamut. The flaming figures charged her, circling each other and moving like a deadly, rapid dance as each one moved in to try and strike before falling back. Yet she didn't stand her ground. She dodged each one by rapidly moving back, almost gliding along the surface of the airship and pushing back on top of it. Dael realized, in spite of her retreating, their situation likely hadn't improved. Quickly, she grit her teeth and yanked herself back on deck. Despite being dizzy and her head pounding, she limped over to Bahamut. The boy, on his part, was strugging to rise as blood trickled from his nostrils. He was stunned too and having some trouble. But with Dael soon at his side, their hands met and with a yank she pulled him to his feet. He wobbled a bit as he hefted his sword, but then went for his shield.

"Are you alright?" Dael asked.

"Ask me when we're done with her…" He grunted as he took up his shield. "Jalab needs help."

Dael looked back up…and was forced to admit he was right. Jalab's assault was forcing her back, but not doing much else. If they wanted to hit her in this state, they had to put enough pressure onto her where someone could get in a hit. With that in mind, Dael began to dash across the deck as best as she could to get to her. She thought of teleporting…but held back on it. She needed to save that for when things got dire…although they were quickly getting that way. Whatever she had just taken, it put her above the rest of them… If they didn't even the odds pretty soon, they weren't going to be able to continue to rise from the blows. This was starting to resemble Helheim far too closely…

While Bahamut and Dael were still half the distance away, unfortunately, the woman gave a laugh, before lashing out at blazing speed with her own legs. Dael was soon shocked and nearly stopped in her tracks as she saw her give one air-shattering blow after another to each incoming "Jalab", knocking them away one after the other in a fury of kicks. Each strike sounded like it was cracking metal. She wasn't sure if those flaming Jalabs were energy projections or just him moving really fast. All she knew is that after eight kicks rang out, the aura rapidly died, and Crow stopped bothering moving back. Jalab was left standing, looking a bit weak and stunned, right in front of her as the fire died down. He had to have taken at least one blow...and it had stripped him of strength and left him standing there dazzled. A moment later, she let out a haughty laugh before kicking him one more time, sending him flying back in Dael and Bahamut's direction. It was so far that the two actually had to brace themselves to intercept them as his body flew at them.

Crow grinned at this for a moment…before suddenly sidestepping. In doing so, she narrowly missed Taraketh's kusarigama again coming from behind her. By now, he had recovered and was renewing his assault. However, despite missing, he didn't give up. He gave it a sharp tug to bring it back before raising the sickle end over his head and giving it a violent twirl, cycling it about so fast it was almost whip-like. As Crow turned around, he lashed out with it diagonally, trying to slice through her. She dodged, but he was applying a level of skill Dael hadn't seen before now. He snapped it back and sliced back for her again, forcing her to actually do a nimble cartwheel backward to get clear of it.

Taraketh, gritting his teeth, began a new move afterward. He swung the sickle end horizontally while the hammer went out vertically. Dael had no idea how he managed to pull it off without tangling the chain, but somehow he did, and soon let an almost steady stream of attacks fly out for Crow, even as he managed to advance. The result forced her back, back toward Dael and Bahamut again. By now, Jalab's body had tackled them, but they managed to keep their footing and set him down. He was too sore and pained to get up. Marks of eight separate kicks were on his body, and it seemed to have temporarily knocked the fight out of him in spite of his strength…a scary thought. Yet she had gotten up along with Bahamut and renewed the attempt to get to her.

However, while still not in range, the woman lashed her leg out at one of Taraketh's attempted slices, and with a nimble movement quickly snagged the chain by twirling it around once. A moment later, she gave a sharp yank back, and ripped the entire chain out of his grasp. Yet even now, Taraketh wasn't done. Quickly, his aura blazed and he began to chant, obviously meaning to hit her with a spell as she kicked her leg aside and knocked off the chain. Yet she was still too fast. As she did this, another throwing knife came out and was flung. Taraketh, so busy chanting, didn't try to react until it was too late…and the knife embedded in his calf. It was painful, and it cut him off, making him cry out. However, it still wasn't enough to cripple him. Only stun him.

Yet the woman used that time to shoot forward and kick the knife itself…driving it in more until the hilt itself vanished into the wound.

Now, Taraketh's eyes widened and he really did cry out, and soon he started to falter as blood gushed from his leg. His face twisted into total agony. He didn't have much time to cry out, however, before, as he fell, Crow swung her leg out and struck him across the face. He was soon ripped off of his feet, like all the others, and, to Dael's shock, was hit so hard, and had so little bearings left after the blow…that he sailed for the edge of the airship, went over the side, and vanished.

"Taraketh!" The young woman called out in shock. She realized she couldn't afford to hold back now. Quickly, she began to chant as well, meaning to teleport, even as she ran for the side…

A moment later, however, and she was stopped cold as her lungs were again set on fire. This time, all of the air rushed out of them and her ribs buckled. She crumpled around what had suddenly hit her… Crow had moved so fast she shot right in her path. Before she could teleport, she effectively stopped in front of her and drove her leg into Dael's gut even as she ran onto it. The resulting blow was powerful…but focused fully on her, so that rather than get knocked away, she took the full hit.

Crow grinned at her maliciously, before yanking her foot back. As for Dael, her face paled. Her stomach felt like dough that had been kneaded for hours. She thought for sure something internal had been damaged…but she had little time, or ability, to think about anything before she let out a moan and fell to her knees. Her limbs went limp at her sides, and she couldn't move them. It took whatever strength hadn't just been knocked out of her just to stay on her knees.

The Elite Hound didn't go for the finishing blow, however. Instead, she suddenly leapt into the air. Weakly, Dael, in spite of her pain, and that she was now gasping for air, looked up and over to the side…just in time to see the woman shoot upright, angle herself down, and then give a two-legged downward thrust kick…right into Bahamut as he lunged at her. The blow was so sudden and strong that Bahamut had no time to prepare. He tried to bring his shield up again, but the kick aimed for his head this time, and again a thunderclap like noise rang out as he was ripped back and knocked to the deck once again.

As for Crow, she nimbly landed, and got up to cup her hand to her mouth and let out another airy laugh. Bahamut, on his part, slid a bit, but then went limp as well, his sword and shield clattering to the side. He groaned and grunted, but he couldn't rise. Dael, on her part, glared at Crow…but was too drained to stand. The last kick seemed to siphon the strength from her limbs. It was coming back only slowly. She could only writhe at the moment. Therefore, she could do little as Crow walked over to Bahamut and calmly placed her thin boot on his neck. She didn't press, however. She seemed to be enjoying Bahamut's vain attempt to recover enough to do something.

However, as Dael looked up darkly to Crow, she saw that the Elite Hound didn't seem to be relishing the victory as much as one would think. Sure, she was smiling and had that superior look on her face…but Dael now realized the woman was covered with sweat, enough to soak through her clothing at points. She was breathing rather hard and struggling not to breathe even harder. She didn't really look to be in the best shape. More like she had just gotten off a 30 minute run.

Nevertheless, she forced herself to stay composed. "Well…it seems that everything is taken care of. And here we are, right back where we started."

Dael forgot about Crow's exhaustion, and just glared at her. She wanted to retort, but she was still gasping for air herself. She tried to move instead. She could still do little better than writhe, but she had improved a bit. She'd be able to stand and walk soon.

Yet Crow merely shook her finger at him. "Ah-ah, little piggy. You wouldn't want to see me slam down on his neck so hard that his head pops off, would you?"

Dael did pause on hearing that, her eyes widening more than what she wanted. However, they narrowed again soon after. Drawing in a breath, she managed to hoarsely reply. "…Aren't you planning on killing all of us anyway?"

Crow paused momentarily, and then laughed. "An excellent point. You gave me quite a bit of fun and quite the workout. It was actually a bit entertaining to fight someone at my full power for a change. However, never mix business with pleasure, you lowly peon. I'm not going to be considered the same failure than Jay was. And you're right…since I'm going to kill you all anyway, I guess I'll just snap the boy's spine right now."

Dael tensed at that. Bahamut, on his part, reached for his blade, obviously intending to slash at her ankle. The Esthar's Hawk began to call to mind teleportation. She couldn't do much…but she could distract her at least. Of course, fast as she was, she might react in time…but there wasn't really a choice. Jalab wasn't up yet. And Taraketh… She could only hope he landed on the catwalk railing…

Yet before anyone could do anything, something happened. Abruptly, the entire platform they were standing on began to give a metallic hum, which rapidly built in speed. It grew a bit warm beneath Dael, and the entire airship started to ignite and come to life, both in the engines as well as the magnetic repulsor. Both Crow as well as Dael and Bahamut looked up at this and around. A moment later…the ship actually started to rise a bit.

The commander suddenly realized the truth, and relief began to flood her. She had lost track of time during this fight. Cid must have finished. What more…it seemed he had done a good job. The ship was actually starting to lift. The conduit must have been repaired enough to enable it.

However, that was cold comfort for the moment. Crow only took a moment to snap out of it. All this told her was that she had to work faster. And, unfortunately, not much faster. The ship was only slowly lifting off. After all, the _Enterprise_ was having a "cold start". It would take time to warm up to where it could actually ascend faster than this painfully slow rate. And with only a few people on deck operating it, they probably had to run between consoles. Crow merely cracked a smile and looked back to Bahamut. Perhaps she would have said something snide in the next moment, or just finished him with one stomp…

Yet she didn't get the chance.

Abruptly, a chain snaked through the air and wrapped around her legs. She looked down in shock…before she let out a small exclamation as it yanked back rapidly, pulling her legs out from underneath her and causing her to slam down chin-first against the metal hull, jarring her enough to stun her momentarily.

Dael, much more recovered now, looked up in surprise…to see Taraketh standing on the deck. One leg was covered in blood, but he regained his kusarigama and had yanked it back after wrapping it around Crow's legs, causing her to fall. The Esthar Hawk was stunned for a moment. She clearly saw him go over the side. Even if he landed on the catwalk, there was no way he could get back so fast…

But then, she remembered the truth. He was sharing Carbuncle's power. That meant he could teleport too…

"Pack your bags, murderer." He stated coldly at Crow. "You're going on a trip."

With that, he snapped around and gave a grunt and a yell as he snapped the chain taut. In another moment, Crow might have broken free…but it was too late, she soon gave another gape as she was yanked off of the deck as if she was being launched by a catapult, and Taraketh snapped around and threw her through the air, over his shoulder, and cast her back out to the ocean. He manipulated the chain with a wrist snap as he did so, soon disengaging her from it. The result was he sent the Elite Hound flying, over the edge and out to the ocean, perhaps to land on the deck of her destroyer…but more likely to throw her into the water beyond it. Dael looked up and saw her flail in the air a bit, but even with her power she couldn't control where she went. Soon, she sank over the edge and vanished.

It was a grim thought, but Dael wished they could have somehow eliminated her just now. Instead, she realized she had to fear a future encounter. And Raven was no doubt much deadlier…

Yet she pushed that out of her mind, especially at what she heard next. As Bahamut began to sit up and Taraketh faltered, falling back and landing on his rear, for his leg was good and crippled at the moment, she heard the sounds of hydraulics being engaged. Not the ones on the _Enterprise_ either. She realized that the battleship was now preparing to fire. Its turrets were coming online once again. Quickly, the woman staggered to her feet, wobbling a bit, but managing to rise. She went for her Mage Gun and pulled out her Firaga bullet, quickly opening it and slamming it inside as she stumbled over to the edge. She might have only been able to take one turret out, and ultimately it would be a useless gesture, but it was better than just letting herself get blown up…especially after they had just dealt with Crow.

As she passed over the side, and the battleship came into view, she saw that the _Enterprise_ was slowly picking up speed, but not nearly enough. They were just now leaving the water and heading into the air. Meanwhile, the battleship itself was aiming its turrets for them and ready to blow them out of the sky. They'd be in position in moments. She felt fear sink into her as she saw this. She didn't even bother to look and see where Crow had landed…her full focus was the battleship. She realized now just how futile this would be. She wasn't even sure which turret to hit. No matter which one she blasted, the _Enterprise_ would be destroyed by the other three. She could barely cling to the hope that they'd merely be disabled.

Yet as she got to the side and readied to fire…something beat her to it.

Abruptly, an explosion went off on the enemy ship's deck. Dael had just started to raise her weapon, when she lowered it again. It took only a moment for her brain to register that the shot had come from their ship's own artillery, namely the turret. She realized the remaining shell must have been loaded. At first, it seemed like a fairly bad shot. It didn't come closer to the turrets and seemed to be shy of the control tower. Yet she soon saw the result. As the flames subsided, it revealed that the gaping wound in the ship was gushing some sort of reddish fluid. It wasn't oil. It couldn't possibly be since these ships ran on fission reactors. Instead, she realized it was hydraulic fluid. Sure enough, the whirring on the enemy ship stopped. The turrets remained locked in place. That had been a brilliant shot…not to mention a precise one. From sea level, it was effectively impossible. But with their ship rising and able to aim the turret "downward", it was just barely capable of being done…and it had bought them more time.

Seeing this, Dael paused only a moment before putting her gun away and turning to Bahamut. "Let's get back below!"

The ship was picking up speed as it ascended now, around four miles an hour. The battleship began to vanish below the edge as she turned back to the boy, who nodded to her statement. Both of them quickly moved over to Taraketh, who had obviously teleported into a standing position. He couldn't possibly walk. By the time they reached him and grabbed either arm…a thunderous noise rang out from below, deafening and enough to make Dael wince. She realized the turrets were firing. After all, only their movement had been halted, not their ability to fire. She feared for a moment that they were too low, that the bottom of the ship would be ripped apart. The ship _was_ rocked violently by an explosion a moment later, and Dael and Bahamut alike both nearly lost their footing. However, the airship soon stabilized and continued to rise as the explosion gave rise to a loud, resonant "humming". Dael didn't waste time looking, but the artillery had just missed, hitting the rock formation instead. Being mostly mythril, the artillery did next to nothing, other than cause the mythril ore throughout the entire structure to give an almost crystalline hum.

Regaining her footing as the explosion died, Dael got to work. Bahamut soon joined in, and the two rapidly dragged Taraketh back to the hatch. She didn't like the fact that he left a rather bloody streak in his wake, but he was still conscious and alert. Most of it seemed to be old blood. She looked over and saw, sore as he was, Jalab was up again and looking in fairly good shape. He stiffly moved over to the hatch and quickly got it open as the airship continued to rise, picking up enough acceleration now that Dael felt distinctly heavier. She soon felt colder as well as the top of the rock pinnacle passed, indicating that they were now getting into cooler altitudes. Below, she heard artillery thunder and fire again…not just from one boat but several. Assuming the auxillary hydraulics had kicked in on the battleship they damaged, it was more than likely that they had been surrounded by numerous ships, and all were now firing. However, no rockets could be used on them, which meant all the enemy could use was artillery…and they were climbing too fast and high to be targeted for long. The echo of the last round of artillery soon died as they were unable to keep firing.

As for Dael, by now she was at the hatch. She lowered herself in first as the _Enterprise_ kept climbing, and then had Bahamut and Jalab feed Taraketh down to her. They had to negotiate a vertical rung ladder that went through the magnetic repulsor, and it was pretty much located in a tunnel. However, although it took quite a bit of work, they finally got down to the lower deck. The _Enterprise_ continued to lift the whole way, before, as they touched down one after another and began to brace Taraketh, the ship slowed, and soon they felt a bit lighter as it deaccelerated.

Dael looked up and around at this. "…I think we're clear." She looked back down to Taraketh afterward. "…How bad are you?"

"The knife is in the bone…but so much the better." Taraketh winced. "At least it didn't hit an artery…"

The young officer still grimaced at that. "…That's a major injury. It needs hospitalization."

He shook his head. "No it doesn't. Get me to sickbay and I'll take care of it."

"No one healer of your level can patch this wound." Bahamut responded. "It's too serious of one."

Taraketh might have protested that if it was anyone else, but seeing as it was Bahamut telling him he couldn't deny that truth so much. His look slumped a bit.

"I help." Jalab reassured. "Know mantra and healing now."

Dael looked to the monk, and after a moment nodded. "I appreciate it, Jalab. Just be careful. We don't need a major medical emergency on this ship at this point."

A clicking was heard up ahead, redirecting everyone's attention. It sounded like someone running up the metal staircase. As they looked out, they saw two familiar faces race up the stairs to the top level, both looking rather tense and nervous. It was Ceja and Quaren. On seeing the four of them looking more-or-less alright, the latter of the two gave a sigh of relief.

"Whew…Dael, you made it! I thought we were goners for a moment… I'm just glad they were using one of the older model battleships I happened to read up on. If it was one of the new models, I would have had no idea where to hit."

The commander looked to Quaren at that, and blinked once. "…Quaren, you mean you fired on that location on purpose?"

The corporal paused, and then shrugged. "Of course. I thought that was the most vulnerable spot, after all. But if you really want to be happy about something, be happy about the turret. I never ran into a piece of artillery so accurate. I guess it makes sense though since your guns in air combat are only as good as their accuracy."

Ceja frowned at this. "Now if only the Esthar government had given us enough weaponry and ammunition to use them to their full extent. They sent us into battle without sword or shield, more or less."

Dael exhaled. "…Sore as I am about it, Ceja, we weren't really intended to go into combat on this mission."

"I wished to join you on deck, but I was wrestling with that 'loader' on the bottom deck." Ceja stated, still irritable. "It took me forever to get that machine to take in that heavy shell."

The commander managed a weak smile. "…But you obviously did, and without breaking it."

Ceja paused, but then exhaled. "…I wanted to more than once."

"Where's Cid and Cryder?" Dael asked next.

"Cid's down in the hold still trying to make sure the conduit stays online. Cryder's on the bridge. He had to run from one console to the next, but somehow he got us to take off." Quaren answered with a whistle. "Don't ask me how…but I guess so long as we're just taking off and going straight up it's not so bad…"

Taraketh let out a long exhale. "…That 'detour' was more than any of us wanted, but at least it's over."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that just yet. The mission is still on, and we can't leave the area until it's complete." Dael responded, beginning to resume her commanding officer role. She looked to Jalab and Bahamut. "You two, get Taraketh to sickbay and patch him up."

On hearing this, Jalab, Taraketh, Quaren…and even Bahamut, for that matter, looked to her and gave her a blank look. Dael could understand why. Essentially…she had just ordered Bahamut around. Before, when he was just a child, it made sense. But now, now that his identity was confirmed, they almost expected some sort of reprisal. Even Bahamut seemed to be a bit surprised that she just told him what to do. However, Dael looked back calmly enough. She anticipated what they were thinking.

"…It doesn't matter if he's an ancient Guardian Force or not. He's part of the task force…and I'm the commanding officer in it."

The humans in the group gave a pause at that, seeming to wonder if Bahamut would dispute it. They looked to him. He looked back…but after a moment merely gave a half smile.

"…If I ever do get my power back, I'll make you regret this…but whatever you say, commander."

The others were rather amazed. Was Bahamut deferring to her willingly? At any rate, the woman didn't give them the chance to ponder that long. She looked to Quaren soon after.

"We're heading back to the bridge. We need to get this ship moving if we want to really be in the clear. I'm kind of hoping most of the enemy fleet gathered around us. If that's the case…then that means as soon as we get a bit far, we'll be clear to resume searching for the Black Corsairs. Until then, I'm hoping they didn't manage to sneak an aircraft carrier in here, because if they did we're nothing but a giant target for them to practice shooting on."

"So you still want to complete the mission?" Taraketh asked. "Even after all we heard from Lord Leviathan? I don't think we can even risk a radio transmission if the fleet is around. We'll have to deliver the message in person."

"We've already been silent for almost 30 hours." Dael responded. "A little longer won't hurt. Besides…I'm planning on wrapping this up today. I've got an idea of where to look. All we have to do is make sure whatever capabilities the _Enterprise_ possesses are fully functional before we go. So let's get to it."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	42. Thicker Than Water But Weaker Than Rum

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Again, sorry for the slight delay, but I've got something important to say. This isn't absolute, but everyone may need to prepare themselves for a longer gap in chapters than my attempted "chapter-a-week". Class is getting too hellish as is real life. I've picked up that I might be slipping into the mode I had during the previous "Sorceress Cycle" in which I just push myself to get everything on paper without trying to flesh it out in the process, and that was a recipe for disaster. Granted, I don't want to take a hiatus either, because then I'll lose my momentum. Just warning in advance.

* * *

><p><em>Three Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>Two hours after Dael had stated her conditions, her "task force" had made it so. Only about four minutes after stopping their ascent, enough engine power was generated to move them out of the area. Luckily for them, it appeared they had only received a reprieve from the storm. More cloud cover soon moved in, and with the <em>Enterprise<em> safely above it once the sky turned overcast, they were in the clear. Of course, storms now made them all a bit nervous in light of what Leviathan had told them. All of them wondered if this was natural phenomena or something more foreboding…

There was little Cid could do once they were in the air. He certainly couldn't operate on the conduit while it was actually running, and none of them were going to risk a landing while still in these waters. The Movers, it appeared, were here to stay though. They seemed to be running on "automatic", almost. While their bellies, or whatever they had, were still filled with mythril, they finished patching the hole. However, to Dael's surprise, Cid told her that they didn't stop there. Once the hole was filled in, they began to eat the sides of the ship that had been intact and replaced them with mythril. She was alarmed at first, figuring they had a "taste" for the ship and would end up devouring the whole thing once they ran out of mythril. Yet her fears were unjusitifed. Once they replaced as much as they could, they simply idled and stood down, sitting in a corner and looking around with those pale yellow eyespots of theirs.

At any rate, Cid did all he could, but would have to wait until a dry dock to ensure the conduit was perfect. It seemed to be running fine now, however.

Taraketh was limping around a bit at this point. The knife had indeed gone into the bone, and pulling it out had been extremely agonizing, despite using the painkillers and localized anesthesia on board. Through use of medical technology, Jalab's mantra, and his own Cure magic, Taraketh was now able to move around rather stiffly with a bandage on his leg. Even so, Dael hoped they were done fighting for now. He wouldn't be much help in any more battles. With these matters taken care of, everyone made their way back to the bridge. Everything was fired up again, and the _Enterprise_ was once more fully operational.

As the clouds below them began to drizzle a bit, but not launch into a full storm, Dael explained her idea when everyone returned to the bridge.

"We've all seen that all of the mythril content in here makes it almost impossible for sensors to work correctly, right?" She started. "The place where Leviathan was residing was definitely the worst, but technically, in a more general sense, it gets almost impossible closer to the east coast of the Eastern Continent because a whole range of mythril mountains are there."

"Dael, if you're suggesting that a pirate fleet would try to hide there, that's all well and good," Cid responded. "But that's still quite a lot of space to cover, and it'll be harder than ever to look out for someone trying to ambush us."

The commander shook her head. "No, not that. Keep in mind, trying to use that for cover is just blinding yourself as well as your enemy. In the end, the odds are even all over again. My guess is that the ship would want to park itself in just such a way that it could look in and have the edge on something trying to pass through it. So it would probably be on either side of the actual formation, in some sort of strategic location."

"That's still quite a bit of ground to search, and over two separate 'coasts', so to speak." Bahamut responded.

"Not there yet." Dael cautioned, and then looked to Cryder. "You said this ship was big, right? Big enough to where it would have trouble navigating through the more narrow passes and the more shallow channels?"

The pirate gave a nod. "You bet."

"So that means this ship can't move around that easily. Cid, can you bring up the topographical map of that mythril-heavy area?"

The Sorceress Knight paused only a moment before turning to his console and activating it. Moments later, a readout appeared over the visual monitors showing a display of the map of the immediate area around them. With a few movements of the keys, the screen focused on magnifying an area closer to the east coast and south of it. The passes were narrower here and sharper. The sea couldn't erode mountains made of mythril as easily as straight rock, after all. He zoomed in to frame it.

"Now look…if a ship is that big, it only has a limited number of access points…points where it could set up an effective ambush." She explained. "On the western side there's a few, but then it's locked in. It can't move, can't maneuver, and can easily get pinned and trapped. It's only good on the eastern side. And check it out…there's no more than a dozen places where it can get into position there."

The others looked at this readout for a moment, and pondered over Dael's words. Ceja, on her part, rubbed her chin a bit, but then nodded. "It is analogous to trapping prey on the hunt in our own narrow canyons, despite being on the sea."

"It's possible." Taraketh added. He looked to Cryder. "What do you think? It's your call."

The geomancer looked for a bit at the map, but, as he did, he slowly began to nod. "Yeah…yeah…I think you may be right. Even if you're not, that's the best idea I have for it. They certainly aren't here in the easier-to-scan areas with that Sybenian fleet lurking about, especially since none of them are going solo. Although…" He gave an uneasy exhale and looked back to the others. "If you want my honest opinion, lads, I'm a tad nervous about all these ships being here in the first place. I'm wonderin' if they launched a 'preemptive strike'."

"Only one way to find out." Dael responded, moving up to the helm. "Let's lay in a course."

* * *

><p>It didn't take long to get to the area. Rather, it wouldn't have taken long under normal conditions. But everyone was being very conscious now. The thought had occurred to Dael that Raven might also be in these waters. Crow might not have had any attack that wasn't usable unless in auditory or radio range, but she wasn't about to risk the same for him, who could destroy the <em>Enterprise<em> with ease. Even if he wasn't there, she wasn't eager for another firefight with the Sybenians. Hopefully, wherever they were headed was a place they were avoiding, or had already searched. As it was, when they arrived close to the area, they only slowly descended and used the monitors to look for signs of any resistance or enemy warships. Seeing none, they very slowly descended once again to the cruising altitude they had two days ago. By that time, it was already late afternoon, and they began their search.

Dael had used the long arrival time to map out the best way to "search" for the Black Corsairs. Mostly, it involved going to each of the twelve possible locations and navigating the passes. The good part was that each one was large. To avoid being ambushed again, either by Sybenians or by Black Corsairs, they made sure to direct themselves into the mouth of each one and stay over the water. There was no place for the enemy to hide in the most immediate area as a result, although they were still potentially vulnerable to rockets. Nevertheless, this method was rather slow. It took them some time just to navigate the first two.

"Commander, I have a question…" Quaren began to say as they finished searching the second location.

"Yes, corporal?"

"…When we find the Black Corsairs, how exactly do we avoid being shot at by them? I mean…missiles are a bit at a premium, but I'm sure they've got artillery that can hit us even if we're this low."

Dael didn't answer this. Instead, she looked to Cryder.

"…It's gettin' dark." The pirate responded. "So best bet now is to start flashing the beacons to show we're in distress. Also, turn on the channels and start coming out with SOS signals."

"We have non-hostile signals." Dael responded. "Shouldn't we use those?"

He chuckled a bit. "That won't get their attention, lass. They'll only show themselves if they think we're something they can take."

"…And if they try and 'take' us?" Taraketh asked.

"Well, hopefully we'll have everything cleared up before then, eh, lad?" Cryder said with a smile.

Dael was getting bad memories of their short trip in Leuco when they tried to find a ship willing to take them to Esthar. She tried not to. Hopefully, Cryder could come through for them this time or they would be in big trouble.

Cid cut off her thoughts with an exhale. "Well everybody…seems like we're going to have to call it a night after this next one…" He said as he looked out the window. "It's getting pretty bad out there."

The young officer looked as well. Much as she hated to admit it, she saw that Cid had a point. The rain wasn't much. Still just a cold drizzle from time to time. But it was fully overcast again, and the sun was setting. If they had clear conditions, they could probably be out for another hour. But as they didn't, it would be too dark to see that well very soon. They probably had anywhere from another 30 minutes to an hour, and that was all. It only made Dael sigh to look at it.

"I really don't want to be delayed another day. This mission has already taken far too long. And we heard what Crow said…the Sybenians could organize for their invasion at any time."

"We still have time for one more search, commander." Quaren reminded her.

"There's only a one in ten shot of it turning up anything, lad." Cryder answered.

The group was silent for a moment. Dael looked out the viewing screen on one panel, and the map on the other. They had started at the bottom and were working their way to the top. Unfortunately, it was very slow going…and, like they said, not turning up much yet. She was inclined to think they might be farther north, closer to the continent…but there was no guarantee they weren't simply at the next one. Worse yet, if they did have to wait until tomorrow, there was a good chance that they would have to search these two again.

"…I have an idea."

Dael, as well as the others, looked up at this, finding themselves staring at Bahamut. By now, Dael had learned to put some stock in Bahamut's ideas. Yet now knowing who he was, everyone else immediately looked to him and hung on his words. To be honest, the young officer thought that was a tad silly. After all, Bahamut may have been learning a lot, but they still had an edge on him in some modern technology. At any rate, he soon gestured to the image. "See that mountain formation over there?"

Everyone looked to it. "Mountain" was appropriate. They were no longer in the range where the hills were simply tall, but where they actually began to take the likeness of mountains, complete with tree cover on the top of them. However, what really stood out at the moment was a thick layer of fog hanging on top that was now descending toward the ocean.

"That one's a bit small, but if there's any mountains that have a much thicker layer of fog, my guess is that as it comes down it's a good place to hide a ship. They have to be on alert now with all of these enemy warships out and about."

Dael considered this for a moment. "…That's not a bad idea. Probably better reasoning than I can come up with. Anyone have any objections?"

"None here, lass." Cryder responded. "There's a chance nothing is out here…but it's worth a look."

After a moment, she nodded. "Alright. Quaren, bring up the engines to a bit more rapid speed. Cid, get the beacons going. Cryder, get the radios playing the message…and hope that it's not a Sybenian that sees us. We're going to start taking this on a course that hits the mouth of each one of these entry points and keeping an eye out for heavy fog. Let's go."

* * *

><p>A minute later, and the <em>Enteprise<em> had doubled its current speed, making its way in a course for the next potential entry point. They had to be quick now. If they weren't, they might not even get through to the last position before it was too dark to see anything. The day was steadily growing darker at the moment, and it wasn't helping that the storm was intensifying a bit. There was an occasional flash of lightning from overhead, although it was confined to the clouds at the moment. Everyone kept their attention on the viewing screen, looking sharp for anything that stood out in terms of fog. The lights on the bridge were dimmed so that a better look could be obtained.

The third and fourth points were passed, one after another. Both were in clear view. No fog at all was in the third one, where only a small wisp was on the fourth. The sky continued to darken. It was nearing the point where dimming the lights in the cabin wasn't just a help, but actually a necessity. Dael nearly ordered the ship's speed to increase as the minutes ticked by. It seemed to be taking too long to get from one place to the other, and the change in the weather was making things too dark. Eventually, she decided after checking out the fifth location, they would increase speed again. They might as well do a fly by of each one. She was even considering risking doing this in the dark. Such wasn't the most preferred course of action…but she didn't want to delay any longer. She was already upset that they couldn't get long range radio.

However, as it turned out, such wasn't necessary. As they approached the fifth point, the group saw that the channel was particularly high-walled. The mountains rose sharp on either side, and despite its width it was still hard to see across it at the onset with how high the mountains reached. Yet as they approached and slowly rounded the side, they were able to look in and get a true view for what the place was like.

Immediately, they saw a thick veil of fog. It was actually rather amazing to look at. If Dael was more "civilian-minded", she would have thought it would make a good picture. As it was, it was like a cumulonimbus cloud had come down from the sky and parked itself right in between the two mountains. It was thick and impenetrable…and also far reaching. No way to see inside of it, but one could easily hide up to several aircraft carriers in it, if need be.

"I think we found the place we're going to search." Dael stated.

"I have some misgivings about this…" Taraketh murmured. "Once we're in, there's no way to see through. My guess is they can see us when we can't see them through some method."

"You're probably right…but that makes it all the more likely they'd be in there." Dael responded. "Quaren…drop speed. We're going to bring the ship around at a lower elevation and take it right in, nice and slow. Make sure those beacons are on full strength as well as the radio SOS."

"I am with Taraketh on this one." Ceja interjected. "We're out to make an alliance…not invite a predator to tear some prey to shreds."

"Sorry, lass. That's the game we've got to play with these people." Cryder answered. "Let's just get ready to answer the first ultimatum they give us."

Dael paused momentarily. "…Can you handle the radio, or do I need to get on it? No offense, Cryder, but we really can't afford to make these people mad in an unarmed, poorly-armored, giant, floating target."

"Nah, I've got it this time, lass." The pirate responded. "So long as the right man's on the horn…"

There was a unified pause through the bridge.

"…And if he isn't?" Taraketh asked.

Cryder cracked his neck and scratched his chin. "Well…my lad Quaren here better be ready to gun the repulsor up to maximum in a hurry."

That wasn't exactly what everyone wanted to hear, but Dael couldn't really dispute it now. As the engines dropped speed and she angled the ship toward the fog, she soon switched off most of the ship lights so that the first thing anyone would see would be the SOS beacons. Everyone tensed up a bit more, and almost felt a chill ripple through them as the front of the _Enterprise_ slipped into the fog. Moments later, the entire ship vanished inside.

It was like entering another world. Dael felt they were more in a submarine than anything. It was impossible to tell where they were based on vision alone. The only true indicator was the sensor arrays, which, fortunately, were still transmitting at the moment. Yet there was little to fear in terms of collisions. The area wasn't narrowing. If anything, it was getting wider. There seemed to be some sort of hidden basin in the midst of all of this, an area, Dael realized, that was likely large enough to hide a good-sized fleet if one wanted. Yet still, even with the sensors indicating their position, it was like wandering in the dark with someone telling you where to go. In spite of the voice, you'd much prefer it if you could see.

All on the bridge were silent, and the engines were so quiet that it was nearly possible to hear outside as the beacons clicked on and off. They all wondered if it truly was silent out there, or if it was just that they couldn't hear what was really going on. Dael had a temptation to try and move to a hatch…see if she could hear everything moving around out there. However, that would do little good other than assuage an irritational fear. It was better to just wait.

Time continued to slowly tick by. They went deeper and deeper into the pass, entering the wider region between the rocky peaks. The fog was still quite thick at the moment, but Dael knew that as they got closer to the center it would clear up a bit. Although they still had a ways to go, she entertained the notion that maybe they had picked the wrong one. Maybe they weren't here at all. This was, after all, only what they thought would be the most likely location. Nothing was set in stone about it…

Yet she had barely begun to entertain these thoughts, when the radio beacon lit up.

Everyone seemed to go as still as statues as they looked to it. They all looked back up and to each other for a moment, and then down. However, the delay was only a moment. Cid soon activated the console, putting the transmission on speakers.

_"Alright, whoever's up there…"_ A rather dark, unpleasant, and unwholesome voice came over the end. _"I'm sorry to say you picked the wrong place to dock. I think that's far enough. Power down your engines or we'll light you up."_

Cryder managed a wistful smile. "Jackpot."

"Only if they don't decide to start shooting…" Taraketh murmured.

"Put me on." Dael immediately called out to Cid.

The engineer turned back and activated a few controls, then looked back to Dael and gave a nod.

"This is Commander Dael Levinson of the _E.A.T. Enterprise_. I request to-"

_"I don't give a damn if your name's Captain Cecil Harvey, lass." _The voice cut off. _"You're still runnin' at your current speed after I told you to power down. You think I'm jokin' about being able to knock you out of the sky? Care for a warnin' shot?"_

Dael looked to Quaren and immediately gave a nod. He grimaced for a moment, but then turned back and started to power down the engines, leaving them in a drift.

"Alright, we've powered down." She answered. "Now I want to talk to your captain."

_"Good lass, but I'm afraid that's not gonna happen. You see, the commodore doesn't like to make a habit of makin' friends with people she plans on plunderin'."_

"This is important to her, and to you. It's a matter of life or death for her as well as us."

_"You only need to be worried about one matter of 'life and death', lassie…namely how easy it would be for us to bust your balloon. Now, since you're obligin' us, how about droppin' your ship in for a landin'? I'll make sure some of the boys come over to welcome you…you know, roll out the red carpet and put the kettle on…heh heh… You see, it's been a while since we've had a lassie. The captain might take a shine to you."_

Dael merely frowned, and looked to Cryder. She wasn't getting anywhere on her own. He nodded, and stepped forward toward where Dael was standing, so that his voice could end up on the speaker.

"Not playin' by the rules, lad." He said with a smile. "Times like this, is one Black Corsair going to raid another one? That's a death sentence."

A long pause was on the other end of the radio. Whoever was on the other end seemed rather surprised.

_"…Dead man." _He finally stated. _"I'm listenin' to a dead man."_

Cryder let out snicker. "Nice to hear from you again…Mr. Byron, was it? Commodore Darklight's third commander? And she's got you runnin' the switchboard, eh? Sorry about before… My new first mate kind of jumped the gun. This is the captain speaking now."

Dael grimaced a bit at the "first mate" bit, but soon focused on the conversation.

_"You've either got balls of brass or brains of sh't, Morningjay." _The voice on the other line called out. _"And since I know you better than most pirates, I'm optin' for the second one. I'm honestly wonderin' how you got out of that hurricane alive, and how you found suckers still left on Gaia willin' to not only follow you but steal an airship for you."_

"So do I, sometimes…" Taraketh muttered.

_"I don't suppose you've got one good reason I should go ahead and tell Keats to go nuts with the Pillars of Heaven, do you?"_

"Didn't you hear what my first mate said? It's a matter of life and death for the good commodore as well as us."

_"Wrong. It's a matter of just death for you. Goodbye, captain."_

Cryder, for a moment, showed genuine anxiety…which, in turn, filled Dael and the others with anxiety. "Hold on, hold on, lad! Wait just a minute on that!"

_"Start makin' sense or next time I really will turn the line off before you have a chance to protest."_

Cryder swallowed, and Dael was beginning to raise her hand to tell Quaren to take off, when he spoke again. "Look…fact of the matter is the commodore, and all of us sea rats, pretty much, are runnin' with our tails between our legs at the moment. Leuco broke the deal and so, effectively, we're not really an organization anymore. Just a bunch of unwashed, uncouth pirates waiting for some country's pound to put us down. I mean, let's face it. We got away with murder before because we had 'national recognition'. Now look at us…hidin' in these bits of rock while Sybenia's hounds pick off whoever's stragglin'. Last I looked, there's not a whole lot of food and fresh water out here, Byron…"

There was a rather long pause on the other end. It seemed the man was at least considering what he said.

_"Even if that's true, you honestly expect me to believe you, out of all the Black Corsairs, can do somethin' about it?"_

"Not so much what _I_ can do, lad. But you might say my first mate speaks for someone with quite a bit of sway. Enough to possibly get a new contract for the good Commodore. And frankly, she can't do any better than that."

Another pause. However, Dael took it as a good sign this time. They seemed to seriously be thinking the matter over at least, not immediately talking about how they were going to open fire. Still, this pause was considerably longer than the last one. Dael began to wonder if they were planning on shooting and keeping them waiting just to decide where to hit them.

Finally, a voice came in.

_"…The only reason I'm givin' you a berth, Morningjay," _The man finally said with a dark edge. _"Is because the Commodore already put a bounty on your head seven years ago that was more than any plunder anyone could ever hope to snag, and every year, on the anniversary, she adds another 100,000,000 gil to sweeten the deal. If I tell Shelley to blow you out of the sky, he'll want that juicy pot all for himself. But if I'm the one who sends you right to her in order to get carved up by her personally? No dispute there. Heh…it's been a while since I've been entertained. I'll _love_ seein' what she does to you. Park that ship at the portside dock."_

Cryder grinned and nodded. "You always were one of the good ones, Byron."

_"…And maybe she'll let me choke the extra 80,000,000 you owe me for 'forgettin'' I found you back at Tortorio…"_ The pirate added before switching off.

Cryder let out a small "heh" that may or may not have been nervous, and then looked to the others. "We're all set! You heard the man."

Everyone stared blankly back at Cryder.

"…From what I picked up, they plan to kill you as soon as we dock." Dael stated.

"What, that? Aw…just pirate talk, lass." The geomancer answered with a hand wave. "Can't say hi to a bloke without getting a death threat or two." He let out a chuckle to cap that off…before his eyes drifted to one side in thought. "…Still…"

"Commander, I've got a seriously bad feeling about this." Quaren stated nervously. "I think they'll cut us all up just for being associated with Cryder…"

"And I doubt these pirates will hold off long enough to wait for us to explain." Taraketh added.

"Now, now…no need to all start losin' our heads…" Cryder stated, holding his hands up in a stopping motion. "It won't be nearly as bleak as you think. You'd be surprised how quickly things change when you're dealing with Black Corsairs."

"That's another thing I'm afraid of…" Taraketh responded.

"Steady as she goes, Dael." Cryder continued, ignoring the High Child. "You should see her anytime now."

The commander looked to him a moment, and then sighed and looked back into the fog.

Quaren powered the engines back up, and soon they were moving forward again, although a lot slower now. She lowered them a bit as well in order to get a better look at what was coming up. For a while, there was nothing but darkness in the fog, although she saw it slowly start to break up. When it did, distant beacons began to light up from various ships. Dael counted about six or seven right off the bat. Each one was anywhere from the size of a _Knight_-Class Destroyer to a _Dark Knight_-Class, although Dael didn't see any actual warships other than the _Knight_.

"So which one is the _Ragnarok_?" Cid asked. "The one with the most lights?"

"Eh…you might say that." Cryder answered. "But none of these scows, that's for sure."

The _Enterprise_ continued to move forward. They passed a few of the ships. None of them seemed to react to them, however. The fog continued to lift, and finally Dael was able to start making out details on the ships as well. They were all shapes and sizes. One looked like a reconfigured research vessel. Another looked like a cruise ship, of all things. All were armored and weaponized, however. A few other ships also appeared, but still nothing too big. At length, they began to see two series of lights up ahead, forming two runways in the distance.

"Commander, look at that." Quaren noted as they became distinct. "They've got an airfield here too."

Dael looked to the scanners, and raised an eyebrow. "…Bit odd. I'm not seeing any island around here to put that on. You think it may be an oil rig converted into an airfield?"

To all this, Cryder only snickered more. "Heh…keep watchin', lads and lasses."

The group did so. The fog continued to lift, and the beacons grew closer and closer. Still, however, the two airfields just seemed like that…airfields. However, one stiff gust of wind passed, and when it did the area was cleared, for the first time exposing the entire landlocked region of ocean. When it did, the two runways became visible quite clearly, and the group reacted in unified surprise.

It was indeed two artificial runways…and both of them were on the deck of a ship so large that it could easily fit a small military base on board. In truth…it looked like that. There were numerous smaller structures, like houses or temporary shelters, erected on most of the deck, all around the central tower, which itself was easily ten stories tall and lined with artillery turrets and what looked like a shield generator, as if it was some sort of main hub to this small "city". But the ship itself…there was no question about it. It was a bit older, perhaps, and definitely had seen its share of rough times…but it was a Sybenian craft. One of their ships built for war. The plating of the armor on it looked like the same that had been used to guard their docks. It was lined with one battery and turret after another, each of which had at least three separate artillery shells. Most intimidating, however, were two massive sized cannons the length of soccer fields built into specialized turrets that flanked either side of the tower. Each one seemed to be "magitek", or magic-infused technology, in nature. Dael took a wild guess…that these were the "Pillars of Heaven". Based on the sheer size of them, Dael realized a single shot, even if it only fired standard shells, would have been enough to snap an armored _Enterprise_ in half. But she was betting it packed a lot more than that.

"Good lord…" Taraketh muttered.

"Even the _Dreadnought_ that the Emperor of Palamecia built wasn't so intimidating…or the _Juggernaut_ of the New Shinra Navy." Bahamut remarked.

"Heh…Sybenian prototype, that one is." Cryder commented in regards to it. "Ship of the line. _Emperor_-Class Aircraft Carrier. Designed to be pretty much a mobile base of operations for a small fleet. Built it seven years ago."

"You mean Sybenia has _several_ of those things?" Quaren asked, barely hiding the tension in his voice.

"Oh no, lad. They blew a wad on this one, and then Commodore Darklight just came right up and stole it…while she was escaping from prison, no less, and didn't have her legs. Gives you some idea of just what kind of woman she is, doesn't it, eh? At any rate, Sybenia never made any more, figuring the Black Corsairs could sell the design to whoever they wanted. Now…we aren't _that_ much of businessmen, lads. Anyway…" He motioned to the port. "Just land it right there on the central hub. Not exactly built with an E-12 in mind, but it'll do."

Dael was still rather overwhelmed. That thing was, for lack of a better word, a monster. She was sure it was loaded with missile launchers too. Given its size, it could probably level a good portion of a major metropolitan area all by itself. And she had no idea what the giant cannons could do. All in all, it was rather fear-instilling, and she only reluctantly began to lower the _Enterprise _for it, making sure to take it nice and slow.

It didn't help, moments later, when both the _Ragnarok_ and the other pirate vessels trained their guns on the _Enterprise_. Cryder told them to "play it cool". Basically, they were seeing if they'd jump, and if they did…then they might be in trouble. Reluctantly, Dael stayed the course…but luckily this was something Cryder was right about. Although some of the weapons remained trained on them, none of them fired. The airship continued to lower and drop speed, until it slowly came over the runway, and then moved out to the landing pad. The guns finally began to turn away at that point, although a few batteries stuck on them.

Dael reluctantly told Quaren to begin the landing cycle, and slowly they lowered into place. As they came down, they cycled through the outdoor cameras. The other pirate vessels were going about their business, and no one on the _Ragnarok_ seemed to be trying anything funny. Then again, it was almost impossible to tell considering everything that was on it, and the darkness of the night obscured quite a bit. What Dael did see was the various pirates moving around their small "city" that they had built on deck. A few looked to them as they came in, at first seeming nervous. But, after a while, they noticed that if they were enemies, they wouldn't be allowed to land. Most went about their business. At this hour, it seemed to be a mixture of black market activities and heavy drinking. To be honest, even at this point, Dael was a bit disgusted. It was a sharp reminder that they were not dealing with 'good people'. Yet there was nothing else for it at the moment.

As Cid began to walk the ship through the paces of hovering in a landing, Bahamut spoke up again.

"Perhaps only some of us should disembark. Someone should guard the ship. Perhaps more than one person. I don't trust a ship full of pirates not to come on and try and obtain something."

"Not to worry." Cid responded. "This entire system is coded. No one can use this airship without authorization."

"That's only a solution for one problem." Bahamut answered. "And keep in mind, part of our hull is plated with mythril now. That's more precious then gold."

"Bahamut has a point." Dael responded. "We should split up. Only four disembark. I'll go. I'm representing Esthar, after all. Cryder's with me." She turned a bit, and then looked to the Fuliet warrior on the bridge. "Ceja…you too. I know you want to get off the ship."

The warrior said nothing, but didn't dispute this as she hefted her axe. Dael knew full well she wanted to be more "useful" after having spent most of the fight with Crow lugging around an artillery shell. Furthermore…Dael knew that having Ceja along would probably make people think more instinctively that they weren't people from Esthar, but some rogue group…and more like them. She wouldn't say she was simply coming due to appearances, however. Still, that left one final opening…

"Perhaps Bahamut should go?" Taraketh suggested. "Pirates disgust me…"

"I'm not too fond of them myself… Too many bad experiences." Bahamut responded.

"I'd honestly prefer if Cid and Jalab stay here." Dael responded. "We have Ceja with us, but I'd like another 'big guy' left on board. And Cid's the one who knows what to do with this ship if something goes wrong." She paused, and then looked over to the remaining member. "…Quaren?"

He paused a moment. He looked out the viewing screen, frowned a bit, but then looked back and nodded. "I'm not the biggest fan of pirates in the world either…"

"What am I, chopped liver over here?" Cryder griped.

"…But…" He gave a shrug. "I'd like to move around a bit. I don't like being on board where I can't do anything…and since we're out of ammunition, all I'd be able to do is just stand around and wait." He nodded again. "I'll go." With that, he began to go for his rifle.

Dael turned to who was staying behind. "The rest of you…keeps your eyes on the screen." She warned. "Get ready to take the _Enterprise_ out in a moment's notice. We'll get back on board somehow if it comes to that, but I don't want to risk losing our only way to escape. And after the 'greeting' we received, I don't really trust these pirates any further than I can throw them." She turned her head to Cryder afterward. "…They don't object to us taking weapons, do they?"

Cryder let out a chuckle. "You kiddin'? A pirate is naked without at least two different weapons on them."

"Good." Dael stated as she pulled out her gun and opened it up, popping in a fresh mage bullet.

* * *

><p>Everyone else soon got their weapons in order, and then moved out. There was a ventral hatch to the airship that deployed in a ramp to let people exit from the bottom, as opposed to only being able to descend from the upper deck. When the ship either rested on magnets or hovered, that was quite useful. Soon they reached the bottom, and Cid on the bridge opened the hull and deployed the ramp. A few more pirates looked their way when they did, but only gave a passing glance. Dael, leading the way, soon stepped off of the boat and onto the deck.<p>

There were changes as soon as she emerged onto the metal surface. The weather was the biggest change, cool and damp. However, it was soon mixed in with rather loathsome smells. Much like the "shantytown" they had gone through back in Leuco, the place reeked, smelling mostly of booze, oil, and vomit. She imagined that might be what it was like frequently at this time of night. And it wasn't long before whatever pirates were looking at them had uncouth leers on their face. Dael merely frowned at hers…but Ceja gave them a look that made them wither, accentuated by tightening her grip on her axe. Still, the stench was rather horrible. While Cryder adjusted to it well enough, everyone else in the small group still showed some disgust.

"Ah…it's been too long since I've been in the company of my brethren." Cryder said with a smile as he looked over the area. He paused a moment after. "…Honestly don't know whether to be happy or sad about that."

"Let's just get this over with." Dael responded. "I kind of hope that Commodore Darklight is coming out to meet us… Otherwise we may be indoors if things to the wrong way, and I really don't want to have to fight out of an enclosed area to get out of here."

Cryder nodded. "Right. Right this way."

At this point, the pirate moved into the lead, although Dael stayed close behind him. She turned a glance behind her. By now, Ceja was already looking on edge, in the irritable sense, from all the looks she was getting. She seemed ready to let her axe fly at any moment. Quaren, on his part, didn't look all that comfortable either, and kept his rifle in front rather than shouldered. After all, last time hadn't been that great for him, either. Yet he had seen a lot since then, and managed to keep up the appearance of being a firm soldier as they walked along.

Much sooner than Dael liked, the path to the airship became obscured. There were just too many people. And not all of them were human, either. Quite a few were other sub-civilized races, similar to how Cryder's own crew had been. The deck wasn't entirely even. That figured, as it was never intended to be lived on. Numerous ramps, some metal, some mesh, some wood, and some whatever, like old signs, were connected as bridges to make one's way around. Each stall seemed to be different. One was selling what looked like small electronics that had been stolen. Another specialized in weapons. Yet another, more high class, dealt in expensive luxury food items. That made sense to Dael. In the modern world, the right type of exotic food could earn quite a pretty penny. There were more minor stands as well. One seemed to deal in liquor, the moonshine variety over premium. There were actually a few of those, and two close ones seemed to banter over who got to sell what to the customers. There was even a ramen stand present, although Dael figured she would have to be pretty hungry before she bought any of that over even something as disgusting as an MRE. Of course, there was another stand that was far less wholesome… That seemed to be advertising some rather scantily-clad, heavily-make-uped women.

One of them grinned at the group as they passed. "Hey gang…tired after your long trip? Come on in to my bed…"

"Don't worry, we don't care what you got going on in the trunk." One of them laughed…looking straight at Dael as she said so. "We can do both ways…at once, even."

"Hey soldier boy…" One said to Quaren in a lusty voice. "Want me to make you a man?"

Ceja grit her teeth as they passed. "Disgusting harlots… I should take their heads from their shoulders for turning themselves into meat…"

"Hey, they got the only steady income out of all the bilge rats around here." Cryder said with a shrug. "Although you're right about the 'disgusting' part. The only man crazy enough to go to bed with a pirate wench is, well…a pirate."

Quaren grimaced a bit, looking slightly nauseated.

Cryder turned his head back to him, and let out a snicker. "Aw, lighten up, lad. Sure, those two were enough to make a grown man sick, but at your age…"

"What…? No!" The corporal immediately protested, shaking his head furiously. "I'm just…still nauseated from that ramen vendor. I don't think the grease trap had been changed recently…"

"Probably never, lad." Cryder said with a shrug. "Most pirate chow is the loaded-with-enough-booze-and-salt-to-kill-the-parasites…and that's it. No health codes around here, mate."

"And people call my race 'barbaric'." Ceja snorted. "You wretched people seem to be content to wallow in your own filth."

"You get used to it after a month or so." Cryder answered with a shrug.

All three of them looked to the pirate in disbelief. "…Really?" Dael asked.

He paused for a moment, and then finally shook his head. "…No, not really. That's a lie we always tell the new swabbie. Really…you never get used to it. That's why you spend all your time on the open ocean, and when you have to pull in to port here, you get good and drunk."

"Is that why pirates drink so much?" Quaren asked. "I mean, the days are gone when you couldn't get fresh water. Just trying to lessen the 'impact'?"

Cryder paused for a moment, seeming to think that over, but then shook his head. "…No, we just like the taste of rum, mate."

At this, however, a small, piping voice…very distantly familiar to Dael…suddenly interjected over the sounds of the murmuring crowd, became clearly audible.

"Well I'll be a monkey's unkupo…"

Immediately, Cryder snapped his head around. He ground to a halt, halting the others along with him in the midst of the stands and pirates milling about. His own look went wide with amazement. "…Did I just hear the sound of the best damn first mate in the four oceans?"

The others looked to the source of the voice along with Cryder, and soon they saw it. On Dael's part, her memory automatically triggered. So did Quaren's. Ceja was more confused.

Emerging from one of the larger "bars" was a scarred moogle who rapidly flapped over to Cryder, his cleaved pom-pom bouncing along as he quickly arrived in front of him. Cryder advanced as he came, his look rapidly expanding into a smile. He was soon laughing merrily as well, as did the moogle as he came in for a landing. Soon, they met each other and slapped hands together, Cryder's hand tagging the moogle's much-smaller paw.

"Moginson! You little white devil!" The pirate exclaimed. "I _knew_ you got through that typhoon!"

"And _I _knew you never knew when to stay dead, you bastard, kupo." The moogle answered in his normally grumpy tone, although he was smiling as he said it. "Although, after a few months, I was beginning to think you may have finally bit the big one."

"Heh, you kiddin' me?" Cryder answered with a chuckle. "You know they should have never loaned me a soul unless they expected it to be so worn out it's good for nothing by the time I hand it back in."

Moginson kept smiling for a moment…before his eyes glanced over to Dael, Quaren, and Ceja. Naturally, he gave a long look of what Dael supposed was "surprise" for a moogle when he spotted them.

"I know those guys…at least, two of them." Moginson answered. He looked back to Cryder. "You've been hanging around with those losers, kupo?"

"Hey, watch what you say, mate." Cryder answered, gesturing behind him with his thumb. "These three are members of my brand new crew. Or didn't you notice the airship when I came in?"

The moogle paused on hearing that. "...I honestly thought that Esthar was going to waste its time on us when it should be worrying about those Sybenians, kupo. Are you trying to tell me that you actually managed to get one of their own airships away from them? An airship _battleship_, no less?" He paused a moment, then smiled a bit wider. "It's no _Ragnarokupo, _but nothing to sneeze at either. Maybe I wasn't an idiot to sign on with you…"

Dael couldn't help but work hard to suppress a frown. Ceja and Quaren were far less open about it. However, she said nothing. If this got them into _someone's_ good graces, then it was alright by her.

"They're great in a scrap, too." Cryder threw in. "You wouldn't believe half the stuff I've been through in the past few weeks. It's been quite the ride."

"It must have been, kupo." Moginson answered with a bit more of a subdued tone, looking him over. "You're still broke. Doesn't look like you've had a gil worth of plunder to call your own in weeks, kupo. I know that only happens when you're running around like the idiot you are."

"You know, I so very much missed your boundless acclaim for me over the past couple months, Moginson." Cryder answered with a sardonic smile.

"Hey, look who it is!"

"Captain!"

Dael and the others looked up to this. Soon, both she and Quaren grimaced, and Ceja actually began to lift her axe. It seemed there were more survivors…and less wholesome ones this time. Emerging from the bar, the former of the two looking more plastered than his friend, were the gigas and the sahagin from Cryder's crew as well. He looked up and saw them as they approached, both rather fearsome looking, but still managing a smile, even if the gigas looked like he was having a hard time standing on his own two feet. Yet he soon moved up to both and clapped them on the shoulders, even if he had to reach a bit high to do it for the gigas.

"Heck! Gill! You both made it! Suppose that's no surprise for you though, eh, Gill?" He added with a chuckle. "How's the best gigas and sahagin team in the Black Corsairs?"

"Same as usual, captain." Gill said with a snicker. "Trying to keep Heck from getting his head blown off once a week. The jackass tried to swim for it when the _Gungir_ went down. I think it's true that they lack brains…"

"Ah, piss off, you scaled son-of-a-bitch…" Heck stated in a lolling tone. He turned to Cryder and tapped Gill with the back of his hand so much it actually knocked the sahagin around a bit. "This damn turncoat…tried to tell me you were dead for three weeks straight. Wouldn't even bother lookin' for you after the typhoon passed…"

Gill hissed. "What were we supposed to do, dumbass? Search a two hundred mile radius in dinghies?"

"You can breathe underwater, you idiot…"

"It was _salt _water! You'd know I can stay under it long if you didn't have less brain cells than arms, you stupid piece of-"

Cryder, however, let out a loud laugh, which immediately cut off the argument. It cause both to look to him and, after a moment, his good nature made them both smile as well too. "You bilge rats never change… Angry, stubborn, sons of bitches, the both of you…which is just how I like you."

The two grinned back for a moment, until Gill raised his head and looked beyond him, toward the small group. However, unlike Moginson, he gave a nod.

"So, you enlisted with the captain too, eh?"

Dael paused on hearing that. "Well, I wouldn't say-"

"You bet." Cryder answered with a smile. "Best deal I ever made. I knew that lass had spirit in her the day she bested me in the Long Walk. Couldn't let a little spitfire like that go, eh?"

Again, the commander bristled at Cryder's rendition of history. However, it seemed to get both in a good mood. Heck soon looked up, and waved at them with one of his right hands.

"Hey there." He said with a smile.

Dael showed next to nothing, while Quaren looked pretty apprehensive.

"You're not still mad about us hijackin' the ship, are ya'?" The gigas asked. "Hell…if you get hung up on small stuff like that, you'll never make it as a pirate."

"Yeah. Things change from one day to the next." Gill threw in. "Would it help if I bought you a round?"

Ceja answered by hefting her axe. "If you threatened my companions, you are an enemy to me. You had best keep your distance."

Gill didn't look too intimidated. "A Fuliet warrior, eh?" He looked back to Cryder with a shrug. "Well, I suppose I'd be a hypocrite if I judged, considering what I am."

Ceja gave a sneer to this, but kept her axe in check.

"Nevermind that, lads." The pirate answered, trying to divert attention back to themselves and away from Ceja. "How'd you get through that typhoon?"

"It wasn't easy." Gill answered, turning back to him. "Normally, in a situation like that, we count on you being around to make sure we had fresh water. Since you weren't there, we didn't have much luxury of waiting for anything to come along. However, we did have our navigator along for the ride, so we quickly got the ship moving to the nearest Black Corsair path we could find. After that, we used some debris to look like we had saved the cargo so they tried to raid us. As it turned out…the ship we ran into was the _Ragnarok._" He let out a chuckle. "Good thing we were already on board before the commodore knew it was us. Otherwise we'd have been left to rot. As it was, once we were on and we told her you had died, she gave us a berth although she didn't believe us."

"Seems she knows you too well, cap'n." Heck snickered with a hiccup. "Knew you wouldn't stay down unless she was the one who killed you."

Cryder laughed a bit as well at that. "By the way…how many of you made it out? Did Tay make it?"

"Most of us did. He was one of them, kupo." Moginson threw in.

"Glad to hear it. Where is he?" The pirate answered, looking around a bit. "I know you don't like to take him drinking since he's a bit young to hold his liquor, but still…"

Hearing this, however, the three grimaced a bit, starting to look a tad uneasy. Moginson raised a paw and rubbed the back of his head while Gill scratched his chin and Heck crossed both sets of arms and looked away.

"Yeah…"

"Er…"

"About Tay…"

Before anyone could say anything else, however, the voice of the person in question suddenly rang out on a loudspeaker.

_"Attention all hands. Commodore on deck."_

At once, Moginson, Gill, and Heck quickly stood back and went to attention. Everyone else reacted at once. All of the shops stopped operation. All of the harlots quickly clammed up. The bar patrons got off of their stools and stood up straight, like they had just been dunked in ice water. Dael saw all this, and both she and Quaren grew a bit nervous. The corporal leaned in a bit to her to make their fears more explicit.

"I don't think I've ever seen drunk people sober up so quickly, commander… I wonder if we've gotten in over our heads…"

"After the Elite Hounds, I'm not about to cower before a pirate, even a 'Pirate Queen'." Dael firmly responded. "Let's not cause any trouble though. Stand at attention too."

Quaren nodded and shouldered his rifle, going upright. Ceja was more reluctant. She seemed hesitant to give honor to whoever was running this disgusting place infested with human scum and villainy. However, after a time, she started to attract stares not only from the pirates for staying casual, but from Dael herself. Finally, with a frown, she stood upright.

As for Cryder, he stood upright as well, although more "at ease" than everyone else. He looked to Moginson, however, with puzzlement.

"…That wasn't Tay I just heard, was it?"

"The commodore took a shine to him, kupo." Moginson answered quietly out of the corner of his mouth, but enough for Dael to overhear, what with how silent the bridge had become. "After her history with you, I can see why. She really liked his work ethikupo. He's the new fourth division commander."

The pirate blinked. "Is that so?" He echoed. He let out a chuckle. "Well, I must have done _something_ right with him…"

After this, everyone went still. Dael noticed that the heads of the pirates were inclining not to the direction of the loudspeaker, but more toward the main central tower. Other pirates were clearing a path along what seemed to be the main "gangway". For as loud and raucous as they had been earlier, Dael was amazed that they quieted down so quickly.

Finally, she started to hear something over the silence. It had the pace of a slow walk, but she heard metal clicking rather than footsteps. As it drew nearer, she started to hear what sounded like servos moving as well. She looked through the crowd, and slowly started to see something poking over the heads. It was tall and rather formidable looking…something she recognized from her files as an armododo…something she didn't think had enough sentience to be part of a crew or even to conduct menial tasks… One stood above it and looked even more fearsome…a masked warrior with a prong-bladed staff. However, they soon turned a corner, along with everyone else with it, and Dael got a better view of them along with all with them.

First off…the large one was indeed an armododo, having clothed itself in a few strips of cloth and painted its armored body with emblems of the _Ragnarok_, evidentally the crew of Commodore Darklight, as well as skulls and crossbones. It certainly looked more fearsome than sentient. The larger warrior made Ceja tense. It was a Fuliet warrior of a sort, although from one of the more savage and outcast tribes, made of cross-breeds with monsters rather than humans. He stood at least seven feet tall and was completely clothed and masked in tribal attire. Dael couldn't pronounce the name of the tribe…but she knew the warriors called themselves 'Blitz'. Standing between them, still composed and pushing up his glasses calmly, was Tay. He saw Dael and didn't bat an eye. Across from him, looking every bit a "stereotypical, blackbearded pirate", was a formidable man with two guns in his belt and two swords on his back.

That left the one in the middle.

Her coat and outer vestments were all black and worn from battle. The coat itself was long and swept over her, although her inner attire was white with a crimson vest. Her coat was high collared to give her a more foreboding look, and a black "pirate hat" rested on her head with the emblem of the Jolly Roger. Both shoulders had the _Ragnarok_ standard emblazoned on them, as did the tops of the black gloves she wore. No weapon was visible, but she could have easily held some in her coat. Her face was scarred in numerous places, although, somehow, she still had a lovely appearance under that…albeit a hard and cruel one. One of her eyes had a long scar across it and had been replaced with a gleaming red-retina prosthesis. Yet what was more evident, however, was that her legs were unclothed…and both were made of mythril alloy. They were likely worth hundreds of millions of gil.

At any rate, she paid no attention to Dael at first. Her attention was fully on Cryder as she came up to him and stopped across from him. Cryder looked away for a moment, as if adjusting something…but Dael saw him let out a visible swallow of anxiety, before he looked back up and smiled.

"Commodore Darklight! Leila! It's been too long!"

"Morningjay…" The woman answered. Her voice was dark and fearsome, like a rumbling ocean. "You know, somehow I knew it would come to this. You always were too much of a cheeky bastard to not have it end up where you just walked right back onto my deck one day." She exhaled a bit. "Let's get this over with."

A gloved hand rose and beckoned with a finger. Immediately, not only her retinue, but every pirate in the vicinity drew either a blade, a gun, or some other weapon and aimed it right at him. Tay was included. Dael reacted in a bit of alarm. Even Cryder had a hard time maintaining his good looks. He smiled, but she saw him swallow again.

First, he looked to Tay, and let out a chuckle. "Et tu, Tay?" After that, he turned back to Leila. "…You're not still upset about the _Brunhilda_ are you?"

Dael blinked a few seconds later, for she had a hard time believing what she saw. In a flash, Leila shot forward on her cybernetic legs and kicked out in a thrust, nailing Cryder in the gut with power that put Crow to shame. He let out a colossal "oof" before he was knocked off of his feet, sent flying past Dael, Quaren, and Ceja, who all looked in alarm, and slammed down on deck.

The blow was so strong that, junctioned or no, Cryder clutched his middle and coughed harshly. As he did, Leila calmly walked up to him until she was at his side, and then extended a mechanical leg and placed it on his rib cage, just enough to give the impression of crushing him like a bug, enough to make him stop spasming and look up to him.

"You haven't seen me in 10 years, Morningjay, so let me introduce you to my new 'weapons'. Or maybe you had an idea after you heard my new title? 'Silver-Legs Leila'? Oh, I could tell you just how many people I've killed with these legs alone, Morningjay, but I don't want to prolong your death any longer than possible. I redefined myself. Became a 'pirate queen' thanks to them. And to think…I owe it all to _you_."

Cryder, despite registering a bit of pain, smiled a bit more. "You're welcome."

Leila pressed a bit more, making him spasm in pain.

"You never did know when to shut up, Cryder. You know I actually kicked a man lying in the same position you are so hard that his balls flew out of his mouth? Not just the balls, of course, but I think my crew would _love_ to see me reinact it just the same…"

"Really, Leila? Over such a trifle?"

The pirate queen's face went livid with fury. She removed her leg from Cryder only to reach down, seize him by the neck, and, to Dael's shock, display incredibe strength despite no junction as she yanked him to his feet and slammed him against the nearest solid wall of one of the shacks.

"You said it was an easy 800,000,000 gil… You said it was out where no one could help it… You said that fleet was going further south… Next thing I know, your 'brilliant' plan falls apart and three Sybenian battleships, all _Czar_-Classes, are turning my ship into a hollowed out ruin and you leave me to get my legs blown off and hauled away into a Sybenian prison. I spent _three years_ in that forgotten annex to Hell, Cryder… Do you know what they _did_ to me in three years? A legless woman surrounded by sh'tbum men? You know what I had to do to survive?"

"Hey…I kept to the code, lass." Cryder said with a shrug. "I'd have expected you to leave any of these blokes behind too, including me. I either had to save who I could or go back for you. For what it's worth, I thought that shot had finished you. But hey…looks like we have the same genes when it comes to survival."

Leila snorted, continuing to pin him to the wall. "…I should have expected no less from you, Cryder. I knew you'd leave your best friend behind to rot if it meant saving your skin, but your own kin?"

Dael looked up a bit on hearing that. Ceja and Quaren did mostly the same. Before anyone could stop him, the corporal, almost like a timid schoolchild, actually raised his hand.

"Excuse me."

Abruptly, the deck went silent. All of the pirates looked to him…and looked a bit wide-eyed. After all, he had just interjected on the commodore, which was normally a death sentence. She immediately snapped to him, her red eye burning, and Cryder looked as well. However, Quaren had come this far. Although he shrank a bit and swallowed, he soon gestured.

"Um, in case I'm wrong, are you two…related?" He asked hesitantly.

Leila stared at him a moment, before looking up and shouting to everyone.

"Can someone tell me what this land-loving, boy-scout-uniformed maggot is doing on my deck?"

Remarkably, Cryder's smile faded a bit here, and he grew more serious.

"Hey, watch your mouth, lass. He happens to be a member of my crew."

She spun back to him. "Really?" She stated darkly. "So I suppose it would really upset you if I had him fired out of the Pillars of Heaven?"

Dael and Ceja alike both tensed and went for their weapons. Neither of them were going to let this pirate kill Quaren just because it irritated her to hear his voice. However, they had eyes on them when they put hands on their arms, and immediately the surrounding pirates began to shift their weapons to them instead. Quaren paled a bit at that, both the threat and the sudden escalation. "I'll shut up now…"

"No, don't lad." Cryder stated more boldly to him, before looking square at Leila. "Whatever went on between the two of us is just that…between the two of us. I may let you kick me around if it makes you feel better, but you threaten a mate of mine and we have a problem."

Leila paused momentarily on hearing this, but then simply snorted. "…You really think I care about a threat of yours when you're hopelessly outnumbered and your ship is at my mercy?"

Cryder didn't change.

"…_I _would be, lass."

That note was such a counter, such a response to the pirate queen, such a backlash, that she actually gave pause for a moment. The other pirates tensed, thinking a fight was on now, and especially because Leila had actually been taken aback for once.

A few seconds went by. Leila showed nothing. She just stared at Cryder.

Finally, she snorted, and then removed her hand from his neck, letting him lean up a bit. "…Seems you're not the same waste of flesh you were last I saw you. You keep this up, and I might actually consider giving you a quick death instead of a slow one."

Cryder eased up at this, smiling a bit again. "I'll take whatever improvements I can get, lass." He then looked slightly to the group, and exhaled a bit. "Yes, lads…we used to share the same last name, although Leila changed it once she got back on the high seas 10 years back."

Ceja looked to Cryder incredulously, before she outburst as well. "…You actually left your own sister behind?"

On hearing this, Moginson, Heck, Gill, and Tay all covered their mouths and stifled a bit of a snicker. Leila looked a little angry, while Cryder smiled a bit more in response as he scratched under his chin.

"Well…I was a bit more 'flighty' back in the day and, like I said, there was a good chance she was ashes at that point. But, uh…" He let out a nervous chuckle. "…I'm rather flattered you'd think I look that young, mate. Truth of the matter is, uh…she's…um…kind of…" Finally, he lowered his voice almost to a whisper, but still clear enough for the three to hear.

"…my daughter."

It's a good thing Dael hadn't drawn her sword at that point, or it would have clattered to the ground. However, their weapons _did_ for both Ceja and Quaren. All three of them looked rather aghast at what they had just heard.

"…You're not serious, are you?" Dael murmured.

"Your _daughter?!_" Quaren exclaimed.

Ceja let out a native string of babble.

Leila, by now, was rather red-faced and jabbed a finger against Cryder's chest. "Let's get one thing _straight_, Morningjay… _I. Don't. Have. Parents._ What I _have_ is a worthless excuse of a sick eel and some drug-addicted whore who dumped my two year old body in your arms so she could go find a nice, quiet place to OD."

"Well, to be honest, I asked her if she was on birth control before I gave her the 5,000 gil…" Cryder said with a shrug. "Should have known I'd only get my 5,000 gil's worth for that…"

"I don't believe you!" Ceja interjected. "You left your own daughter behind?"

He groaned. "I _told_ you…I thought she was already dead…"

"And I had such a _wonderful_ upbringing, too…" Leila spat. "Let's see… No education, of course. 'Leila, you don't need to worry about math…just whatever looks like more…' I didn't learn to read until I forced one of his captives at knifepoint to teach me. For my fourth birthday he gave me my first firearm. For my ninth birthday he took me out drinking. For my twelveth, he took me around all night raiding yachts trying to find a girl with my measurements so that I could take some of her dresses…"

"You gave a child a _gun_ for a birthday?" Dael suddenly found herself outbursting, losing her normal decorum.

"Oh, come off it, lass." Cryder retorted. "She was surrounded by pirates! She needed protection, a girl growin' up on a ship of buccaneers!"

"Oh, I had _you_ for that." Leila retorted. "What exactly did you do to the first boyfriend I brought home? Heh…you wait until _then_ to start getting more fatherly, don't you? Did they ever even find his body?"

Cryder sighed. "I'm sure it washed ashore somewhere… What is this? 'This is your life, Cryder Morningjay'? Am I in a damned therapy session all of the sudden? This is why women are a jinx! You have to deal with _this_ if you put enough of them together in the same spot!"

Leila looked to Dael. "…So what lie did he feed _you_ to get you to enlist with him, anyway?"

"He didn't 'feed' me anything. He's part of my task force out of Esthar. He got amnesty if he helped out Esthar's Hawks." Dael immediately responded.

Cryder bowed his head and blushed a bit at that. Heck looked stunned. Most of the pirates around him grinned and chuckled. Gill reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills and ruefully began to dole them out to Moginson, while three of Leila's commanders grumbled as they started to pay Tay a much larger amount. As for Leila, she snickered.

"Still setting the record for Worst Black Corsair ever, Cryder? Why am I not surprised…" She stated as he crossed her arms. "Alright, what exactly is it that you want from me, anyway? Don't think I'm dumb enough to believe you came here just to 'bury the hatchet'…which I'm still going to do in your head, possibly before you leave here again. You wouldn't have come here unless you needed something. And after all these years, seems you finally pissed off everyone else who ever was dumb enough to trust you."

Cryder turned his head a bit. "Think of it as a business proposition."

"Get lost." Leila immediately retorted. "I don't think a single man on this ship can recall the last time one of your 'business propositions' yielded a profit."

"He's not the one making the 'proposition'." Dael suddenly interjected. This time, it wasn't so abrupt…and Dael spoke with considerably greater confidence and force. It was enough to get Leila to turn to her yet not grow angry. "I am…and so is my country."

Leila immediately increased in irritation here, looking to Cryder. "…You sold us out to Esthar?"

Before Cryder could defend himself, Dael actually stepped forward. "No, he didn't. We're not here to fight or persecute you for crimes. We need to talk."

Leila again looked to Dael. A moment later, she turned and crossed her arms as she faced her. "You're pretty bold, young lady. I don't think I've seen you flinch out of fear once since I got here. Are you ignorant, stupid, or brave?"

"I'm a soldier, ma'am." Dael simply responded. "And I'm here on a mission. All I care about is completing it and completing it soon, because even as we stand here talking there may not be much time left before it doesn't matter what we decide."

The commodore paused on hearing this. She looked Dael over for a moment, seeming to be studying her from head to toe. At length, she finally turned to Cryder.

"I don't normally trust anything you have to say, but one thing's for certain…your taste in crew members. If you didn't have a way of choosing them, you'd have been dead long ago. Is this woman good enough to bother listening too?"

"You have no idea." Cryder said with a grin. "Worth her weight in mythril."

Leila raised an eyebrow at this. She looked to Dael again.

"…Is that so?" She answered after a moment. "…Perhaps I want her for my own, then."

The commander showed nothing, although this made Ceja bristle and Quaren look uncomfortable. Another moment of silence passed.

Finally, the commodore turned and beckoned behind her.

"I never discuss business in front of the crew. Step into my 'office'."

* * *

><p>The "office", as it turned out, was likely the meeting area for all of the various high-ranking officers that would have been operating on the <em>Ragnarok<em> were it still a Sybenian meeting chamber. However, it had been redone and carpeted. It had several fine furnishings and works of art present at this point. All of them priceless, none of them mass produced. It had tapestries, curtains, and wall hangings as well as furniture made out of mahogany and walnut. It was actually rather elegant and comfortable-looking. Dael assumed it was actually Leila's attempt to be more "feminine". She had noticed, after all, that while many men cast lustful and leering looks at her, and even Ceja from time to time…no one dared look at Leila. And she had to be getting close to 30. Dael had a sense she was beginning to consider the prospect that she might die alone. Still, this was a bit unusual. In popular fiction, pirates were surrounded by mounds of treasure and bottles of rum. There was a small bar in Leila's chambers, but it was almost void of liquor by now.

Quaren actually let the question slip. "All you have in here is art?"

"You don't think I'm stupid enough to put a mound of cash in here for the crew to just come up and pilfer from, do you?" She retorted. "Nor am I an idiot to let me crew get ahold of these things. They'd sell them to some street vendor for 10,000 gil when one artwork is worth a thousand times that in a cheap auction. They'd break up the furniture for firewood or whittling. Besides…" She gave a snort. "I had to sell everything of liquid value just to buy enough food and water to last us a while once Leuco decided to turn around and bite the hand that fed it."

There was a high-backed chair with cushions toward the rear. There were no windows, but Leila had some view screens custom made to make it appear as if she was actually looking out the top of the tower at the entire "city" on board her ship. She sat in the throne-like chair soon after entering. She bid everyone else to leave, not even taking so much as a bodyguard. Perhaps she knew that if they made a move on her, they were dead. Perhaps she had a contingency plan. Or perhaps she just wasn't afraid of them. Dael had to opt for the latter, because the crew didn't even give her a second look when she gave the order.

Dael and Quaren had given the situation and what they wanted from the Black Corsairs by now. They didn't expect too good of a reaction at this point, and they were right. Leila gave a snort at the whole thing.

"Let me see if I follow you correctly… You government sees a storm coming on the horizon and neglects to build a shelter, so they want me and my mates to do it for them. They don't commit any of their own citizens or manpower…they just throw some 'simple pirates' at them to fight their little war for them."

"First of all, this is hardly a 'little' war, and it's already impacted you more than you care for." Dael responded. "Second, we don't have the warships or the sailors to put on them. It will take too long. We need a navy that's ready to go. And, at this point, it's more prudent if we all make a stand against Sybenia together rather than wait for them to tear us apart individually. That's all that's been going on for too long."

"And what exactly is it to me if your country gets ripped to shreds?" Leila simply responded. "Or to any of us, for that matter?"

"If Esthar falls, there's nothing left to stop Sybenia from taking the rest of the world." The commander responded. "How long do you think you can survive like that?"

In response, Leila merely broke into a grin and snickered.

"I expected no less of an answer from an officer in Esthar. You countries are all the same…thinking that your nations are the biggest and best. That somehow this world would come to an end if you're not around. You know what happens if Sybenia lets your country fall? They start controlling prices. They start banning substances and products. They start shipping more commerce than ever, to maintain an empire across the Medieval Ocean as well as to bring all the wealth of the Eastern Continent to the Western Continent. It's a bonanza for pirates."

"Assuming you last that long." Cryder said with a chuckle from where he stood, leaning against a fine dishware cabinent and threatening to knock it over. It got Leila to turn to him, but he continued . "You're not foolin' anyone, commodore. If it was really 'open season' for the Black Corsairs, you wouldn't be hidin' out here picking off whatever scraps you can get. You wouldn't have invested in all of this food and water for spending so much time on the ocean. I used to think along your lines, but something tells me Tay, Moginson, and the others told you better. Sybenia doesn't like anyone operating outside of their rules. Certainly not a massive pirate organization like the Black Corsairs. That's why they made Leuco break their arrangement with you."

The woman paused momentarily. "…They may not like us, but the more they try to expand their influence, the harder it will be for them to control any one area. Sybenia may be good at waging wars on people who have nations to defend, but the situation is a bit different now."

"You're deluding yourself." Dael maintained. "You stole their ship of the line out from under their noses, you're a geomancer if Cryder's really your biological father, and your crew is a grab bag of races as well as degrees of magic users. Rozan Heirarch only wants one ideal and he makes everyone else an enemy to rally support for his cause. Once there are no more nations to destroy, who do you think will be around to serve as a scapegoat for further expansion?"

Leila paused again, seeming to genuinely think this over even if her face showed little change. Yet in the end, she leaned back and folded her hands in front of her as she crossed her legs.

"Perhaps. But if that's the case…what's in it for us?" She stated.

"Full amnesty for you, your crew, and the captains and crew of whoever else is willing to sign on."

The commodore snorted. "That goes without saying. What else?"

"Privateer status in the Esthar military. Take as many ships and weapons intact as you can, and turn them over to us."

Leila snickered. "You even need us to arm your excuse of a military. Let's see…we're raiding military vessels, and you get both the ships and whatever weapons are on them. What does that leave for us? Coffee mugs? Bedsheets?"

"You'll be paid 50% of the value of whatever you bring to Esthar in the form of government bearer bonds."

Now the pirate let out a laugh. "…Security, eh?" She asked. "If Esthar falls, those bonds won't be worth the paper they're printed on. Give us a vested interest in you, am I right? That's well in good…but I'm interested in our future, lass. What else?"

"Nothing." Dael responded.

Cryder actually gave her a look. He knew they could offer more. However…that wasn't what Dael was interested in at the moment. The pirate had gotten them an audience, but...a strange fancy had suddenly entered her mind. She couldn't explain it at the moment but…for once…she wanted to see what she could do with it, especially since Leila seemed more receptive to her. At any rate, the pirate queen snickered.

"I'm afraid you'll have to do a bit better than that. How about the same deal that we had with Leuco?"

Cryder was about to speak, but Dael cut him off. "That's not on the table."

Now, Ceja and Quaren looked to her as well as Cryder. They seemed puzzled. Where was she going with this? To be honest…Dael wasn't exactly sure at the moment. She only knew full well that if they gave into Leila's demands now, they'd regret it. Mianyl and Regalis had extended them the power to offer that deal as a good faith gesture and bargaining chip…not for them to actually extend it and have it taken up. "Lass…" The geomancer began to interject.

Leila cut him off, still talking to Dael. "In that case, what exactly are we supposed to do after the war is over?"

"You'll still have clean records. The chance at a fresh start-"

"Spare me that crap." Leila cut off with a snap. "Look at me. Look at us. No formal education. No high school degrees. No trade school background. Look at the modern world…high tech firms and service sector. Nothing that someone just off the street can go get. Where do we fit in? You think I can be a bank clerk or a hotel maid? What about my crew? You think they'll hire Shelley as fry cook? Or Byron as a hot dog vendor? Not to mention the world will be in another depression at the end of this war. You expect us just to hang up our skulls and crossbones and move in with the yuppies in Esthar? You think any realtor would sell us a house or lease us an apartment anywhere in that city?"

"You'll have your money, and plenty of it." Dael answered. "So long as you distribute it fairly, that a lot of cash, even for this many people, to start anew with…provided you don't blow it all on alcohol and entertainment."

"And what if we don't feel like playing Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public? What then?" Leila answered. "You think we're ready to switch out this life for name tags?"

"You can do whatever you want." The commander retorted. "You can either go back on the high seas or you can try and make a new life for yourselves. Just if you pick the former, don't count on Esthar condoning your actions anymore. You're the one who told me that growing up as a pirate is a terrible life to have. If you and your crew don't try to do something different, either you'll have children who will lead the same life, or you'll eventually get too old to keep this up. The world is changing, commodore. It's not like a few hundred years ago where pirates had autonomy on the open ocean. Things are too connected now. You may be able to prolong the end another ten or twenty years…but one day it'll be over."

As hesitant as the others were about Dael "changing the rules", they had to admit she had a point, and a rather good one. Apparently they weren't the only ones who thought so. Leila paused on hearing all of this, again seeming to consider everything. Finally, she leaned her head back.

"I want 90%."

"60%." Dael responded.

A pause. "85%."

"65%."

Leila was about to open her mouth to protest again, when Dael cut her off.

"…Retail price."

The pirate queen's mouth immediately closed again, her eyes widening a bit. "…Seriously?"

The commander nodded.

She paused a moment longer, but then grinned. "Why didn't you say so?" She leaned forward in her chair a bit. "Now, of course, I'll want all this in writing, official letterhead, signatures, and my own copy."

"I have it on board." Dael answered. "I'll go get it now."

Leila let out a small noise. "Seems we're on the 'same side', commander…for now. So how about being honest with me?" She turned her head slightly and indicated to Cryder. "Is he really worth keeping around?"

Cryder frowned in response to that. Dael turned and looked to him momentarily, however, and then back to her.

"…Yes, he is." She stated. "And for what it's worth…I believe him when he says he thought you were dead. I honestly can't believe he would have left you behind on purpose."

The pirate, in a rare moment, actually looked genuinely surprised to hear that come from Dael, and his expression showed as much. Leila, however, held in silence for a short while.

In the end, she looked down and grunted. "…Just get me those damn documents."

* * *

><p>Forty minutes later, and everything was taken care of. While the ink was still wet from the final stroke of the pen, Commodore Leila put the entire ship on alert and told them to make ready to depart. They quickly send messages to everyone else in the secluded pass, and they, in turn, began to send messages to every Black Corsair on coded channels for three hundred miles. The word was unanimous…a new deal had been struck with Esthar. Not as sweet as the one with Leuco, but a chance to make some serious money. Part of the utility of the deal that Dael had presented to the Black Corsairs was that not only did it mean the pirates had a vested interest in Esthar and were less likely to betray them or do "under the table" actions, but it was also based on merit. The more Sybenian ships the pirates took down, the bigger their profits. Every new captain would have to sign on individually, but in no time at all, the <em>Ragnarok<em> was at the disposal of Esthar, as were the ships surrounding it. Hardly a major fleet…but not a bad start at all. Now they were preparing to head to Esthar itself.

As they marched back to the _Enterprise_, they saw all of the shanties being packed up and put away. The scum was shoveled or brushed off of the deck and what was left behind was being hosed. Everyone was either sobering up or getting out of the way, readying for war. However, Quaren, Cryder, and Ceja were all focused on Dael. Although she took the lead, now that she was out of the presence of Leila, she walked a bit more unsteadily…seemingly overwhelmed.

"Commander…what were you doing back there?" Quaren asked incredulously. "We had the authority to give Leila what she wanted!"

"Granted, I'm glad you talked her down, lass." Cryder threw in. "At the bare minimum, I thought we'd have to pay full price for their ships. But…sheesh, I thought if you offended her too much we'd all be in trouble… You've got some talent…"

"Why did you do that, Dael?" Quaren maintained. "I thought we were going to let Cryder handle the negotiations?"

Dael walked on a few more steps, before letting out an exhale and shaking her head. "…I'm not sure, corporal." She said a bit uneasily a moment later. "If I had to give a reason…I'm guessing it's that things finally 'clicked'."

The three looked curiously at her in response. She didn't look around, but explained.

"…Standing in there, knowing that we were in for more negotiations, remembering our negotiations _last _time…no offense, Cryder…I started to think. I realized that Esthar hasn't gotten really far lately by 'playing by the rules'. In fact, the only real gains we've made lately are things that have violated them. Like the mission to rescue Bahamut. And Lady Mianyl taking authority over the city. The people who did things the 'traditional' way just spent so much time mired in red tape and tying everyone else's hands that nothing could get done, even when it was important to take action. And then…I realized that the colonel had made me head of a task force. And I began to think he didn't do it just so that we could carry out orders as usual, but to do whatever was necessary to help Esthar and win this war. And when that happened…it clicked, and I just started talking."

There was a momentary silence among the group. However, Dael eventually heard it broken. It sounded like a short laugh.

"I'm glad for it, Dael." Ceja responded. "To be honest…I wondered about you sometimes. I was content to follow you because I felt you were a strong and independent individual. Yet I had some suspicions when it seemed you were much like a trained dog, only moving at her master's command. Today, however, it seems you are starting to act like a leader and not just a soldier. This is the first I've seen you alter an order from your superiors to suit a situation."

"…You know, she's got a point, lass." Cryder threw in. "You took the bull by the horns in there."

Dael took these comments in. After a moment, however…she began to feel encouraged by them. It was true that she hadn't shown a lot of independence early on in her career as an Esthar's Hawk. However, as time had gone by, she had started to realize she would like to be more independent. Maybe not apart from the rest of Esthar's Hawks…but not, as Taraketh had said so many times, a "grunt" either. To be honest, when she applied for the rank of officer, she had done so with the intention of becoming a great soldier. Now, however, she realized there was another side to that. Not just one's own power or the ability to direct others, but to make tough decisions using her own discretion. She started to realize, as the head of a task force, that's what she had been asked to do.

And on thinking of this, she thought back to when Bahamut breached the Gordian Vault. Soon after, she began to see the event in a new light. Earlier she had been so angry at Guardian Force, but she now realized that his decision was a good one…one that had broken the existing rules to achieve a higher purpose. They never would have known of the thefts otherwise. And they wouldn't have stepped up security either, or gone after the other Guardian Forces. This was a new experience, to be sure…but it was one that she began to realize might have been a long time coming. It might be the key to Esthar's survival.

Her thoughts were finally broken when Cryder spoke up again, a bit more quietly.

"By the way…thanks for that vote of confidence back there."

Dael looked back slightly to him. "…It was the truth, wasn't it?"

"Of course it was." Cryder instantly answered, almost in a retort. However, his face fell a bit later. "As a pirate…you make a lot of mistakes. A fair share of them happen to mates. I've made my share because I wanted to be a 'gentleman' pirate. But…"

He paused.

"…I laugh off a lot of things, lass. I act like nothing ruffles my feathers. You know that now. But…sometimes I only laugh because it's the only thing that keeps me from crying."

Dael continued to look forward. The _Enterprise_ was near, ramp still deployed, and Jalab actually standing in the entrance, waiting for them and making sure no one got on. However, she focused on Cryder's words. After a while, she answered them.

"I understand." She said simply.

"I think I do as well." Ceja put in, her own voice more quiet. "I know what it's like to have to walk around never letting anyone know you're capable of feeling. The world is not kind to such individuals. Perhaps we have more in common than you think, geomancer."

The pirate paused, but then grinned back. "Maybe we do, lass."

The four walked a bit farther, until they reached the ramp. However, as they finished approaching, they noticed that the relay turned on near the entrance. When it did, Jalab went over to it and picked up the receiver, and spoke on it until the moment they arrived. When they did and began to ascend, he looked to them and nodded.

"Timing is good." He told them. "Message on bridge."

Dael looked up at this, even if a small part of her honest was saying "what now?" in response. At any rate, she nodded to Jalab and walked right up to the relay, with the monk standing back to let her. As the others climbed up the ramp and entered, she spoke into it. "Yes?"

_"We've got a transmission from Esthar, Dael." _Cid's voice responded. _"Looks like the Black Corsairs turned off their jammers and their signal boosters are getting us through the mythril interference."_

"Put it through, Cid."

There were a few clicks and a blip of static, before the voice of Colonel Regalis came through. _"Commander, are you there? We haven't heard from you in a couple days and we were beginning to worry. Did you locate the Black Corsairs?"_

"I did, and I presented an agreement to them within the negotiation limits. I believe you'll find the arrangement we reached is more than satisfactory for Esthar's interests. Ten Black Corsairs are now en route toward Esthar's port, and more are on the way."

_"Great news, commander." _The colonel responded. _"Hopefully…they'll be here very soon, or at least some of them will start arriving. As for you, report back to base immediately as well, and take the long route. Use the Iron Channel."_

Dael was puzzled at this, but, subconsciously, already began to dread what it meant. "Is there a problem, sir?"

_"There is indeed, commander." _The colonel answered grimly. _"Sybenia is going for the killing stroke. The enemy fleet has launched its invasion. They'll make landfall in four hours."_

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	43. Through the Iron Channel

In minutes, the _Enterprise_ was shooting back for Esthar. Dael couldn't help but frown at the irony of the whole situation. They were in a ship that used to be the pride of the nation. Now it couldn't even make decent interference. They actually had to race home to "drop it off" before they could be of any use. The worst part about that fact was that this meant they couldn't actually join the battle right away, or even several hours after it started. They'd be stuck in Esthar, with the rails deactivated…possibly blown, if it looked like the Sybenians were going to take them. The only way to go would be on foot since the roads would be sealed too. And in the time it took to get there on foot, the battle would either already be decided or the Sybenians would have made it to Esthar city proper.

Unfortunately, the latter option seemed more than likely at the moment.

It would take nearly two days for the _Ragnarok_ to make it to the port, considering its position. That was assuming it didn't have to fight its way there. After all, the Sybenian navy clearly had ships to spare. They were sending on the message ahead for other Black Corsairs to come in as soon as possible, but there were two problems with that. Although most of the pirates may have done whatever Leila said and even liked the idea of the money that Esthar was offering, some of them wouldn't. Furthermore, sending ships that had been reconfigured into warships one at a time against the Sybenian navy would be like shooting ducks in a carnival game. Their only hope was to mass together in a large enough force to actually mount an effective offense, and that would take more time. All of this boiled down to the fact that the forces already in Esthar had to hold them off until then…and, frankly, such odds didn't look good. Unless they somehow had some form of miracle, the enemy navy would unload all of its transports and weapons long before any Black Corsairs arrived to help.

The only advantage Dael could think of was their own abilities, just as they had in Leuco. Magic seemed to do fairly well against conventional weaponry, especially to a nation that had mostly "disarmed" itself in that regard, with the exception of the Elite Hounds. Yet they weren't there, and they were having to "sneak in the back", based on what Colonel Regalis told them. They still had the Order of Hyne protecting Esthar, but their biggest advantage, the two Sorceresses present, were remaining in the city. This wasn't to defend them…it was because long-range radar noted that a small number of warships had headed north along the coast rather than joined with the main fleet. They were moving parallel to the city proper. Obviously, Sybenia had another trick up its sleeve, and this time they wanted to be ready for it.

Their own abilities weren't going to be much help…and might not be until things got particularly desperate, which was something no one on the ship was thinking too well about. After the transmission was over, and Dael had returned to the bridge, they got even worse news.

"Well, we can definitely make it to the port before the four hours are up, although there's no way we'll make it back to the shore leaving from Esthar…" Cid had begun.

"Don't plot a straight return course." Dael responded. "Colonel Regalis has directed us to take the Iron Channel."

Quaren looked to her at that. "Commander, going that way will take hours longer. We're in the middle of an invasion."

"That may be true, corporal, but we aren't going to do much good as is, not on board the _Enterprise_ without so much as a hand grenade to drop on the enemy." Dael responded. "The colonel believes we may be able to fly above any cannon and missile fire, but he expects them to have scrambled their fighters by then since Sybenia knows we have airships, however few they may be."

"What is…Iron Channel?" Jalab asked, clearly confused at the words.

Again, Bahamut showed off his world knowledge by explaining. "Most of the east coast of this continent is a chain of peaks with heavy amounts of mythril in them. They throw navigational systems for a loop. That, plus the ocean size, makes it extremely hard even in modern days for aircraft to fly to Esthar from the east. However, it's possible to slip in one aircraft at a time through a region called the Iron Channel. It's a fault in the mountains that's more heavy in iron concentration. Its magnetic effects cancel out with the mythril effects and, provided you move through it slowly enough, you can actually navigate through the 'barrier'."

Dael looked to him momentarily.

"…That's supposed to be classified information. Only the Esthar government and military knows about it in the first place." After a moment, she sighed. "…But forget it. Just so long as however you learned about it isn't something that's easy for someone else to figure out." She turned to Cryder soon after. "At any rate, the route should be mapped in the files of all of our aircraft. Just bring it up."

"Sure thing, lass." Cryder answered as he went to his console and began to manipulate the buttons.

"A secret route into Esthar from the east, almost a straight shot to the city proper?" Taraketh asked aloud. "Doesn't it occur to anyone else that this might be the path that those bombers took?"

"That's impossible." Dael responded. "There's a small scale, yet high resolution, radar system there as well as four anti-aircraft batteries at one entrance. They would have told us if anything was coming in. No threats were detected coming that way during the last bombing. Unfortunately, we don't have whatever technology enabled them to go over the mountains and we have to take that route."

Cryder frowned after looking at the chart. "It'll double our time, lass. Eight hours now, and that's just to get back to Esthar."

"Lay in the course now. The more time we spend complaining about it, the longer it will take."

The pirate exhaled, but then began to update the navigational map. Quaren quickly got ready as well. Taraketh crossed his arms and leaned against a wall. "Always 'late for the party', it seems…" He sighed.

"Hey, in your case, you should be grateful. You're still limping." Dael reminded him. "Focus on healing up or I'm making you sit this next battle out."

The High Child immediately looked to her in surprise. "…What?"

"You heard me." She responded. "You _are_ in _my _task force, and I'm not going to let you come into a fight where the only thing you can do is hurt yourself more."

Taraketh frowned…but didn't debate it. He only began to rise to head back to medlab, obviously to get to work healing himself again.

"Cid, can we get any sort of feed coming from Esthar?" Dael asked as he went. "I want to see this battle when it happens."

"I'll work on it Dael, but we'll probably have to be closer so long as we're in all of these mountains." The Sorceress Knight responded. "Radio transmissions might be possible if I can rig up an amplifier of some sort."

So, for two hours, the _Enterprise_ began its trek north while trying to establish contact. Once they left the _Ragnarok_ and its more powerful signal boosters behind, they were in the dark once again. The going was a bit slow at first. They had to make sure, after all, that no Sybenians would be waiting for them. This area was safer, after all, but not perfect. Yet it only took about fifteen minutes to get around before they were able to accelerate to max speed. Luckily, the short stopover on the deck of the massive aircraft carrier had enabled enough of a power down for Cid to do a bit more work on the conduit, ensuring it would hold. They could accelerate to the point of some stress now. The rocky formations in the water slowly faded away and gave rise to actual coast, forcing the ship to go outside and run parallel to it. The higher mountains made things progressively harder to get through, but Cid evidently knew what he was doing. After about two hours of flying into the night, he got a signal working.

Although there was a video feed of the shoreline, it wasn't making it through the interference. The coded channels they were using made it through, however. Esthar was fully gearing up for war now, to mount whatever defense it could muster. As Dael had anticipated, the rails and roads were shut down and remote charges were being placed on them by Esthar's Hawks as a last resort to keep them from taking the city. Fort Morningstar was on full alert and had its own defenses and shields operating under the new modulating system. It could actually hold off a sizable assault…but that was irrelevant. The enemy wouldn't bother with the fort until after it was done with Esthar city proper. By that time, they could siege the fort at their leisure. Nevertheless, most officials who were still alive were relocated there for security, as were more vulnerable segments of the population such as critical hospital patients and some children.

In Esthar itself, the shields were on a mutating modulation to ensure that calibrating explosives to pass through it would do little to no good. It wasn't foolproof, but unless the bomber knew the frequency at one moment and managed to get the bomb through the shield in 10 seconds after it first recalibrated, it was pretty good. Everyone else went inside. Luckily, there were still numerous bomb shelters from the last war. Unfortunately, few were stocked. Yet the panic from a few days ago had left many people with stockpiled resources, so that was better. Sadly, there was little that people could do to defend other than that. The news almost made Dael want to pass out to hear it. Esthar had managed to refurbish four old tanks and had half of the mainland forces of Esthar's Hawks deployed in the city along with whatever Fuliet warriors were capable of carrying firearms. The rest were placed to guard bunkers throughout the city. There were little to no defensive emplacements or heavy guns. To be honest…Follett was able to muster a better defense in terms of weapons and arms.

The other half of Esthar's Hawks, along with two thirds of the combatants of the Order of Hyne that were gathered on the continent, all went down and took their positions at the port. Everything had been closed, sealed up, shut up, and abandoned. All boats that couldn't be stored were away and further down the coast in an inlet bay for protection. The _Excalibur_ was among them, moved by some of Regalis' own men. The turret hadn't been fully repaired, so there was no need to take it into battle yet. The ships of Esthar's Hawks that had any sort of firepower had deployed. They had a grand total of twelve artillery units, between the existing ones and ones they had restored, guarding the shore. Frankly, that was pathetic. All the manpower in the world wouldn't mean a thing if the enemy navy could just obliterate everyone from a distance. Magic was well and good, but unless you were a High Child, there was no sort of range on it. The Children of Hyne couldn't fight from the shore. And even anti-tank weaponry wouldn't be much good against ships from a distance unless someone made a one in a million shot. The only real advantage they would have is if they were just about to make landfall…or if they _did_ make landfall, which wasn't much of an advantage at all. Dael didn't like how this was going. Even if Sybenia didn't have the "home field" advantage, the odds of being able to stop them were slim to none. Garrado had put up much more of a fight and crumbled easily. What could they do?

_Magic better be something that they're totally unprepared for. _Dael thought to herself. _Otherwise, there won't even be an Esthar to defend by the time the _Ragnarok _or half of the other Black Corsairs get there…_

While still approaching the channel an hour later, transmissions came in that two cargo vessels that had been outfitted with armor and cannon were pulling into port, although very slowly. They flew the emblem of the Black Corsairs. Although they came in with messages of surrender, as soon as they were in range, they notified that they heard about the deal, but wanted a contract signed prior to firing a single bullet against a Sybenian ship. With only an hour before the enemy was set to arrive, one of the patrol boats quickly managed to get a copy with the appropriate signatures out to them. They themselves signed with only twenty minutes to spare, but by that time three more ships had arrived, one a modified tanker, and said that so long as the others had it in writing, they wanted it too. By now, the Sybenians were crossing into the general sensor range and aircraft was scrambling, but they still wanted the deal first. At this point, it was unlikely that they could even get into position in time before the worst happened, a fact that was quickly relayed to them via the colonel himself. After five minutes of intense and aggressive negotiations, the pirates agreed to postpone it. After all, by now there was little chance they could get out of the fight even if they turned and fled. With five more ships now on their side, everyone took final positions.

As it turned out, what few combat craft they had for Esthar, now joined with a few Black Corsairs, didn't take the front. Since the Esthar craft had the speed advantage against most heavier Sybenian warships, they had taken the cue to scatter themselves among the atolls leading up around the sides of the port, to use "stick and move" tactics against them similar to what Dael's group had done. It had been effective last time, but Dael, regretfully, knew that the _Excalibur_ was far faster. She wished desperately than the ship had been made operational again before now. She knew Cid would have done so. She really could see that as their one and only advantage. Then again, the Sybenians had probably been planning a counter-offensive for the ship ever since the Lamb Archipelago. As for the five Black Corsairs that were left, they had a two-fold mission…pick off whatever stragglers in the fleet they could get, and keep the port from being blockaded. The longer they held the position, the more Black Corsairs could arrive. Hopefully, with enough, they could launch a counter-strike, but that was out of the question until they had a sizeable enough force to do anything other than harassment. At least twelve ships.

Finally, almost everyone was in bunkers left over from the last war on the shore. The ones that had access to the outside were filled with the Order of Hyne members, who were extending barriers over most of them. Other that that, they lied low. In terms of plans, Dael heard a codeword "Barricade" being thrown around, but even over a coded channel what it meant wasn't disclosed, especially at this point. As one final act, all of the cannons had been completely covered and camouflaged. It would let them get out a few free shots at least before anyone knew any better, although what exactly twelve mid-range to light artillery units were supposed to do against over a hundred ships was beyond her.

"If only there was a way we could get Leviathan there…" Quaren sighed as they heard this latest bit.

"It wouldn't help." Bahamut responded. "That's the biggest problem with Leviathan's power…it's highly uncontrollable even for him. It takes pretty much all the focus he possesses to keep from killing people in shipwrecks. The only way he can really ensure he doesn't drown everyone in one of his surges is by swallowing them whole and spitting them up somewhere later."

Everyone gave Bahamut a look at that. Bahamut, however, kept looking at the display and gave a shrug.

"He says humans taste like 'chicken'."

"…I really wish I didn't know that." Cryder murmured.

"He hates chicken, though."

"…Not helping, lad."

"Look, forget that." Dael cut off. She turned to Cid. "How are the transmissions coming? Any visual yet?"

"No, and if what you're saying is right, we probably won't see any until we clear the Iron Channel, Dael." Cid answered as he kept an ear to a set of headphones. "Still getting audio, though. It's getting bad now. They have visual of the first destroyer."

"Alright…in that case, everyone stay quiet." Dael responded. "I don't want to miss what's going on."

Everyone obliged her. It didn't really matter if they were silent or not, however. After all, them making noise or staying quiet wouldn't really help anything. However, Dael did it none the less. While the thoughts of duty and preparation, being in a "war" frame of mind, was keeping everyone active…fear was settling in again now. She realized as they continued to go north that this might very well be it. Sybenia wasn't fooling around. They weren't launching a sortie for a follow-up attack…they were actually trying to invade. Rozan Heirarch didn't do anything "piecemeal". He went out and he just took. It was rather hard to believe that the Sorceresses and the Order of Hyne, and even those in Fuliet joining the fray along with the Black Corsairs, could make any difference. There were just too many of them and too well armed. To be honest…she couldn't see how they would possibly win this. Perhaps the only reason she wasn't sinking into despair right now, thinking that they could actually put up a fight and not be wiped out in the first hour, was because she had come to understand that there were certain things in this world that took an absolute victory or defeat and turned them on their head. Right now…they needed that more than ever.

Cid continued to announce the arrivals. Of the fleet, which numbered around 200 ships in all (just the number was enough to dim everyone's spirits), forty destroyers were taking the point. They were of the more solid "blockade runner" type and configuration, obviously designed to take a beating and to keep on coming after their flimsy opponents had exhausted all of their firepower. The others were slowing, but not stopping, and staying tight together. Dael didn't know if they were aware of the deal with the Black Corsairs and Esthar, but if they were, they weren't leaving any openings. Radar informed two more Black Corsairs were also coming in, using the route that was guarded by their fellow pirates and, at the moment, still open…but seven ships was like a slingshot against a tank. Until they had more, they were practically a non-factor.

As time ticked by, the enemy spread out, moving to encroach on the shoreline from all sides. Everyone on the bridge went silent. Perhaps they weren't with them, but, at the bare minimum, they could be in solidarity with them. They could try and feel what those people on the shore were feeling right now. In moments, the EHT would begin its harassment in an attempt to divert ships away.

Then, it happened. A faster destroyer suddenly broke through the line and started heading straight for the shore.

When Cid announced it, the reaction was unanimous on the bridge.

"Bloody hell…" Cryder exhaled.

"Either Crow or Raven have to be on that ship." Ceja announced. "They're going for the same maneuver they did back in Lamb."

"I hope they know to blow that ship out of the water…" Dael stated nervously.

Dael really wished the screens were working now. Simply sitting around waiting for updates from Cid was hardly a way to go. It didn't help that he couldn't exactly feed them in quickly to them. He might miss something if he talked over it. She supposed it would have been better if it was put on speakers for all to hear. But Cid had been the one paying attention to all of the designations before now. It wouldn't mean any more to the rest of them than sounding out code for a chess game by now.

"Six turrets have opened fire on it…" Cid stated after a moment. "Now four more are joining in…" He paused. "Looks like it's working. They say the ship is pulling back…" Suddenly, however, the engineer trailed off. "Hang on…"

Naturally, a comment like this focused everyone's attention back on him. "What's happening?"

"The rest of the fleet is picking up speed, moving turrets…"

He paused a moment later, and his face fell a bit, beginning to look anxious. His fists clenched and relaxed after a moment. "…Terrific." He moaned.

"What happened?" Dael asked more intently.

"Eight of our artillery unit are gone…offlined." Cid muttered in response.

"Eight?!" Quaren exclaimed. "But how?"

Dael, however, frowned, as did Bahamut. They already understood. Letting out an exhale, Dael lowered her head a bit. "…That destroyer didn't have an Elite Hound on it…but we were meant to think it did." She darkly answered. "They sent it forward to give away the position of our hidden artillery. They targeted them with the turrets and missiles on their destroyers and then knocked them out."

"That coast didn't have much defendin' it before…" Cryder stated regretfully. "Now it's even more defenseless…" He let out a heavy sigh. "Lads, lasses…I think it's safe to say we're not doin' too good…"

"Don't count us out yet." Taraketh immediately answered. "We've still got the Order of Hyne hiding in the bunkers."

"Uh…looks like they're trying to do something about that…" Cid grimaced. "All of them are pounding the shore now with everything but the kitchen sink."

Taraketh held for a moment on hearing that, but then shook his head. "Don't worry. They have white mages among them…protective spells. The bunkers will hold."

"…You sure about that?" Dael asked.

The High Child made a distinctive pause. "…Yes, I am." He finally stated.

Dael wasn't too confident in that response, but didn't press it.

For the next twenty minutes, the enemy fleet didn't advance. They just pounded away at the shore with their payload for all they were worth. Every dock and dock building was leveled. It was a good thing all of the ships had been moved, for there definitely wouldn't be a single one left. The Sybenians seemed to realize that earlier on, which made them also realize that there could be something up. As a result, they soon shifted most of the firepower to try and blow any bunkers or defenses that were in place. The EHT tried to make a few sorties against the Sybenian fleet, but they were ready for them this time. They only got off one pass before the fleet "knuckled up" and greeted any future attempts with an all out, overwhelming attack. They stayed in a monolithic mass too. They weren't going to make the same mistakes as last time, obviously, which only made Dael tense further. This wasn't looking very good so far, and no more Black Corsairs had come. She was beginning to fear that not only would no more come, but those that would have weren't coming now, seeing that the situation looked hopeless. If this contract was going to help at all, they had to let the Black Corsairs know they stood a chance. Unfortunately, Dael, at this point, couldn't say they did.

After that time, however, the Sybenians leveled off. It seemed like they might have overheated a bit from that barrage…or perhaps they simply thought they had successfully crushed all opposition. To make things worse, the radios had gone dead for the most part. One person was still broadcasting, but they were at a bunker further up and away from the shore. The port was destroyed. Even if they got out of this, no more docking standard. However, Esthar didn't seem to be panicking yet. The voice that came through seemed fairly calm and unstressed. Dael took this as a good, if not curious, sign, and waited to see what would happen next.

The ships began to advance again, once more in a monolithic line, and once more with their weaponry fully tuned to the shore, looking like they would obliterate the first thing that moved. However, as they entered and passed firing range, going to where, if any of the other artillery units survived, point-blank range…still nothing. Cid outlined that the ships finally adjusted formation. They were forming a three-pronged channel of sorts, to enable guarding transports landing in three different locations. Heavy troop and mobile artillery transports from the rest of the fleet soon began to advance afterward, being flanked by destroyers to ensure that the EHT couldn't put so much as a bullet into one of them. The first line began to slow, looking to park themselves. Dael began to think that it would be down to whatever infantry there was now, assuming there was any at all…

That's when Cid's eyes widened, and he suddenly gave a yell.

"Wow! Would you listen to that!"

Everyone perked up again, especially since Cid sounded a bit more enthused. "What's going on?"

"Looks like we found out what operation 'Barricade' was…" Cid responded. "The bunkers were 'playing nutkin'…not radioing back in case someone was listening. They waited for the enemy to get in range and then opened up with their powers all together. They critically damaged eight of the ships on the opening volley and hit all the others! They're still unloading too! The remaining artillery is opening fire also…looks like they made it!"

"About damn time we heard some good news…" Cryder muttered.

"What's Sybenia doing in response?" Dael immediately asked.

"Give me a couple minutes…a lot of stuff is happening at once now." Cid responded. "Give me a chance until things calm down…"

Dael and the others were more intrigued now. A few rays of hope were showing if the shore defenses were still there. Not much…but hopefully enough to make a real difference. Meanwhile, the _Enterprise_ continued to travel up the coast. The commander watched as a few miles went by, before Cid turned back to them once again.

"Alright…it looks like the Children of Hyne managed to do a lot of damage. They actually disabled a number of the ships in the opening line before they were done…created a 'wall' that's created some bottlenecks for landing. The magic's died off by now… My guess is they exhausted themselves and they need to replenish before they can renew the assault. However, now that they have bottlenecks, whatever Esthar Hawks are available are attacking whoever tries to come through. Plus, that group of EHT ships that broke off made a more aggressive attack. One of the ships got hit bad, but they went for the troops transports. It was enough to draw a few of the destroyers away. Finally, to top it off, two more Black Corsairs have arrived."

"I guess things are looking up." Quaren stated, risking a smile.

"Don't anyone pat ourselves on the back yet." Dael responded. "All this means for certain is that this fight wouldn't be a total rout. Now a lot depends on how long they can keep the shore."

With that, the group settled in. Cid continued to give them updates from time to time, but nothing too dramatic changed. The Sybenian Navy now couldn't fire through its own ships or their wreckage, so it had to concentrate most of its attempts to get through in the few breaches in the barricade that had been made. They managed to neutralize the last four cannons soon after, but Esthar's Hawks had sufficient firepower in their bunkers to give the transports some trouble once they paired with the magic users. A few had managed to make landfall, but the Sybenians soon realized that was nothing to crow about. Soon after landing, the ship would open itself only to expose the crews and war machines inside to small-arms fire, and so far, even on the transports loaded with tanks, they were barely advancing on the shore. And if the transport was disabled or abandoned, then they had only cut off one of their bottlenecks completely. Under these conditions, Esthar was able to hold a bit more ground.

However, that started to collapse in time. Gradually, Sybenia was able to bring enough of their Adamantoise-class tanks to bear and use them as shields to deploy more heavily weapons and troops to shore. Eventually, they were able to not only establish a secure bit of ground, but overran one of the bunkers. And unfortunately…not everyone managed to fall back to another bunker when that happened. It was clear that Sybenia was slowly taking the shore, and that the defenders wouldn't repel them forever. However, there was some good news even here.

"The EHT group has managed to neutralize four destroyers…enough to force most of the waiting transports to head back into the bulk of the fleet." Cid explained. "That's not all. Thirteen Black Corsair ships have gathered…enough to make some strikes of their own. More are still on the way too, although they're saying we'll probably cap around 22 for today…"

"Better than nothing." Bahamut responded. "Each piece we can take out of them here increases our odds of stopping them later."

"We're still going to have to take a lot more pieces away before we can consider a victory possible." Dael stated grimly. "They still have us highly outnumbered and outgunned. The only advantage we have is magic…possibly superior training by Esthar's Hawks. I'm not sure that'll be enough."

"I don't understand…" Ceja spoke up, looking at the map. "Most of Esthar seems rocky enough, but there still seem to be sufficient areas to dock other than this one point a bit further along either coast."

"It's not just a landing site they're looking for, though." Dael responded. "That way is the quickest and most accessible route to the port's airfield. They want that so they can use it to send bombers to the city."

"No…shields?" Jalab asked curiously at that.

"No, the shields are in effect." Dael responded. "But bomb it enough and they'll eventually overpower the generators and fail. If they want sustained bombing, though, they'll need a good airfield for it. They can't even move their aircraft carriers any more toward the coast from where they are now due to how shallow it gets."

"In other words, they have to take that location." Taraketh responded. "Well, hopefully, they have more defensive implacements further up along the shore, where they can hold the area away from naval artillery."

"And hopefully they don't bring out the Elite Hounds, either." Bahamut mentioned.

"…That would probably help." Cryder threw in.

Cid exhaled and turned off the radio soon after. "At any rate, that's it for us." He stated as he looked back to the others. "No way we're getting a message through now. We'll be in the thick of the mountain range for a while. We'll have to check on it when we get out the other side…although, from there, we should be able to move freely."

"Good. Cryder, plot a course on the higher resolution map." Dael answered. "It's going to take us a good hour to get through this. Quaren, start by increasing the starboard engine output by 20%."

A few minutes later, and the airship was navigating the Iron Channel. The altitude had increased a bit, but still, more or less, they were navigating a canyon of sorts. One couldn't just fly over the Iron Channel. Too high, and the insulating properities of the iron ore would be negated by the overarching mythril field and there would be no benefit. You had to stay fairly low, no more than 200 feet above the surface in a ship the size of the _Enterprise_. However, since the landscape could change so dramatically over small intervals, the only way the ship could rise and fall fast enough was through a slow forward speed. Combined with the twists and turns of the iron strip, it extended the trip to an entire hour where a fly-by would normally take ten or fifteen minutes.

By now, the crew had adjusted well to the airship's controls. They were able to make pretty good time. Still, there was a lot of anxiety on board. Dael wondered how the tide was turning. She noted that Sybenia seemed intent to make landfall, and she doubted it was simply to take the airstrip. They were establishing a beachhead so they could wheel heavier artillery and weaponry into place, no doubt. Perhaps Iron Giants or Gilgames. She didn't think they could aim Death Lotuses accurately, but who knew? They probably had brought in the aircraft for refueling to bomb by now, although she thought that the magic of the mages might be able to hold back another assault. In reality, she feared the worst. The Sybenian military machine was too large. She had always thought that Esthar's Hawks were the best soldiers on Gaia. But against so many? So well armed? She just kept recalling how easily Garrado fell… At any rate, she was eager to get a transmission.

Time ticked by. Taraketh finished patching his leg as best as he could, but he was still limping. Dael figured she would order him to sit this one out. His injury was simply too bad to heal up fast enough for this. Besides, that still left seven of them, and some of them were getting eager for battle. Ceja had been almost obsessively cleaning her axe, and Jalab was inhaling and exhaling slowly and chanting a mantra to keep himself ready. Even Bahamut seemed eager for a fight in spite of yesterday. Dael tried not to frown at the constantly rolling hills around her. By now, they were far enough inland where they could safely turn on all the floodlights on the airship to illuminate the way. Still, there wasn't much at first, especially this late at night.

However, at long last, the canyon broke. Instead of seeing more rock walls or passes ahead, it opened up into an expanse of darkness. However, far, far on the horizon, a faint few searchlights could be seen scanning the skies. Not many, though. Dael knew, under normal conditions, she would see the magnificent city of Esthar lit up like a glitterly, far-reaching jewel out there. Yet no doubt they had killed the lights to ensure no lights would aid in bombing. Somewhat irrelevant in modern warfare. All bombers that still targeted visually used infrared. Still…no sense on making it simple. Even if she didn't see this at the moment, she knew they had emerged. The parallel screen with the map showed them exiting right now.

"We made it." Dael responded with an exhale. "Cid, you know what to do. Get in contact with the nearest functional relay and patch us into the signals at the shore. I want to know how we're doing."

The engineer nodded and began to go over the controls again. However, as Dael was still looking at him, Quaren's voice called out nervously and hesitantly.

"Commander…look."

Dael turned her head back to the screen on hearing this. The others looked up as well. Only a few immediately recognized what was wrong, but Dael was among them. Instantly, she felt a chill go down her spine.

As the _Enterprise_ moved forward and the mountains fell away, the floodlights illuminated the surrounding area at the mountain pass. Normally, there should have been a radar station, searchlights, and four artillery units all waiting here, ready to attack anything hostile that tried to sneak in. Instead…all that they saw were ruins. Three of the artillery units were smashed beyond recognition, but she could still make out the foundations of the fourth. There were also the ruins of a building that had to be the relay station. The searchlights had been left intact, but had long since stopped turning. The place was smoldering from fires that were fairly recent…but not recent enough. Whoever had done this, Dael realized, had come and gone a while ago. Still…it had to be within the past couples hours…well within range of possibly being when the fight began.

"What were these ruins?" Ceja asked after a moment.

"The 'gatekeeper' station." Dael grimly responded. "And they were functional until recently. Taraketh…they may not have known about the Iron Channel before, but they found out now."

"That information is classified!" Quaren protested. "It's in the Vaults!"

"Forget how they found out about it, lads." Cryder interjected. "Look…they left the searchlights runnin'. Obviously they snuck in and want anyone lookin' at them from Esthar to think they're still in operation."

"It makes sense." Bahamut responded. "They probably are on radio silence in the main city, but so long as they see these lights still functioning from a distance, they'll assume they're still in operation."

"This isn't good…" Dael murmured. "The radar range of the city proper extends mostly over the ocean to the west, not to the east. They rely on this relay station. They could have slipped in all sort of things through the Iron Channel."

"Don't be too sure about that." Cid insisted. "I mean, this happened a while ago, but not _that_ long ago. And there's no way more than two ships at a time can get through the Iron Channel, especially if they're moving reasonably fast and big enough to carry troops. Finally, we're using an airship. We have more maneuverability than a plane. It would go too fast to get through and be big enough to carry that much."

"Plus, even with this station down, the best they could do would be to stay on the periphery of the country." Quaren added. "They couldn't risk getting in too close to the city without exposing themselves. 30 miles at the most."

Dael wasn't too comforted. Taraketh soon gave voice to her concerns. "That doesn't make any sense. If they knew about the Iron Channel, they should have sent as many troops as possible in through here. They'd have the city completely off guard. They could send _bombers_, at any rate, just like before."

"The shields are modulating now, though." Cid responded. "Even if they knew the frequency, they'd be able to squeeze off a bomb or two at the most."

"I know nothing of these 'frequencies' or 'modulations', but I do know that the enemy was supposed to not know how to get through your energy barrier last time, but they did somehow anyway." Ceja retorted. "And having dealt with a spy in my midst before, forgive me for not having more confidence in Esthar's ability to keep out said individuals."

The young officer exhaled on hearing this. Ceja had a good point. The enemy had gotten into Esthar once, modulated their weaponry to pass through the shield, and had done so without letting anyone know. Now while they might have been leaving "evidence" behind, they had somehow known about the Iron Channel. Who was to say they didn't know about even more things? Like an eye on the frequency modulations? Or more than that…like…

A thought suddenly came to her.

"So what do we do now, lads and lasses?" Cryder asked with a sigh. "Heading into Esthar isn't probably the best of ideas at the moment, not with god knows what running around out here. But we don't know what to look for or where. Granted, their radar screens out a bunch, but that's still a lot of ground to cover…"

"Cryder?"

Everyone turned to Dael when she suddenly spoke up. The way she talked, and the way they saw she was looking out of the window…they immediately knew she had thought of something.

"Yes, lass?"

"Pull up the coordinates for the Vulcan Power Station. Lay us in a course."

Quaren looked to Dael curiously at that. "…I don't think I've heard of that station."

"It's classified, just like the Iron Channel and the frequency codes to the shields." Dael answered as the course came up. "Bring the engines up to speed, Quaren."

The corporal was confused, but nodded and did as he was told. As he did so, Dael continued. "Esthar doesn't run the shield generators off the main grid. That's a recipe for disaster. They don't store them in overground locations either for enemy units to target. The shield generators run off of high power underground cables that go for miles to a secret power station called Vulcan."

Bahamut took this in, and frowned. "Assuming they found out about it the same way they found out about everything else, they could try to attack that. It makes sense. Even if they take the airfield, it won't mean much if the shield is still in operation."

"Come on…something so important shouldn't just be relying on being hidden for security." Taraketh grumbled. "Tell me you have _something_ guarding it."

"The installation itself is run more or less by remote, and AI sentries are everywhere inside it." Dael responded. "But that's possibly irrelevant, provided they just gain access to the cables leading out of it. All they have to do is sever those to cut off all connection to the shields in Esthar. Normally, they have some sort of security system in place, but…"

"But with the city on high alert and a personnel shortage, that was something they allowed to go 'lax', didn't they?" Bahamut finished for her.

"…Between the security at the Iron Channel, it's secrecy, and the wide span of our own radar from the city…"

"…So they did?"

Dael hesitated, but then sighed. "Yes. At any rate, that's why I'm headed there now. Is the course laid in, Cryder?"

The pirate gave a nod. "All set, lass. Not too much off our route either, but definitely outside the range of the city's radar. Probably would have been in range of the other one, though…"

"Let's get there as fast as possible." Dael answered as she took the wheel and began to orientate it. "Also, keep an eye on the sensors. There's no telling how many ships came in. Everyone else…get ready for a fight in case the worst happens. We don't have time to land the _Enterprise_ if we spot something, so we have to be ready to come out in a flash."

* * *

><p>Everyone went about doing what Dael said. Taraketh was rather bitter, because now finally came the moment where Dael asked him to stand down. If these were just conventional soldiers, she wouldn't have minded having him along. But she doubted it. It was more likely that they were using some sort of special forces to conduct a raid…assuming there was one in the first place and this was where they were hitting. She hoped it was…that it wasn't just intuition "messing" with her. At any rate, Taraketh was forced to stay on the bridge, a fact that he hated. She would have tried to pull Bahamut back too, regardless of who he was. The fact was he wasn't in his natural form, so he was physically the most diminutive of all of them. However…he was junctioned to Leviathan now, and not the same as before. He could probably hold his own against many warriors, even Esthar's Hawks. Reluctantly, she allowed it. Ceja was eager for a battle, and Jalab was earnest to "make up" for his failure with Crow. Hence, it was Ceja, Jalab, and Bahamut on the lowest level. With just a push of a button, they could open the ventral hatch and leap out. With their enhanced physiology, they could fall from fifty feet easily and survive. However, the <em>Enterprise<em> would still have to lower quite a bit for that, and they'd have to make it a sharp drop.

Both Cryder and Cid looked a bit anxious as they worked the controls. This was another fight they had to "sit out" of in order to keep running the airship, although Dael had them go over the protocol to put it into a hover should the worst happen and they all need to step out. The woman hoped it wouldn't come to that…

By this point, the remaining members of the group on the bridge were glued to the outside viewing screen. They had gone for Vulcan at max speed, but now that they were nearing, Quaren had powered down the engines to a slower rate, so it would be easier to slow enough for people to jump out. The airship itself lowered closer to the ground, although it was still too high to jump, and high enough to look around for signs of activity on the part of the enemy. They were still at a distance, but getting closer. By now, they'd be on the area in less than two minutes. Their own radar hadn't turned up anything yet, but that didn't mean much. But now, the floodlights were off. They had gone to infrared as well. Yet silent as the _Enterprise_ could be, it probably wasn't silent enough to sneak up completely on this group…assuming they were there.

Dael's eyes remained steely and focused on the screen. The bridge's lights had been dimmed as well, and everyone was quiet as they continued to come forward. The ground continued to slowly roll by as they stared. The map, highly magnified now, showed they were nearly there.

"Corporal, drop the repulsor to 95%. Lower us to 100 feet."

"Aye, commander." Quaren answered as he carried out the order. Slowly, the airship began to descend.

"What will this place look like when we get there?" Taraketh asked.

"You won't be able to see it. It's entirely underground. The landscape was resculpted to look like the rest of the jagged terrain." She looked to the side. "Cid…keep a hand on the light switch. As soon as we spot something, I want the entire valley lit up. We're the only real light source out here."

"Got it, Dael." Cid quietly answered.

The _Enterprise_ continued to close, and Dael continued to watch. The ground slowly rolled by as the ship finished descending and leveled out again.

"…Slow down the engines another 3%." Dael stated.

The ship soon reduced further speed, going almost to a creep…at least, so it seemed to those in the cockpit.

"Five more seconds…three…two…one…" Cryder sounded off, and then looked up to Dael. "We're here. We just passed over it."

"I see nothing." Taraketh mused. "Not even signs of vehicles."

"This is an extensive area, so we shouldn't be so quick to pull out." Dael responded. "Let's expand the search. We'll start by moving to the nearest rock wall, and then-"

Dael cut herself off as her eyes widened.

Her eyes weren't just on the ground as she spoke. They were also in the darkness ahead. And, abruptly, the darkness ahead of her showed off a plume of fire…along with several others…

"Countermeasures!" She ordered. "Now!"

Everyone was so taken aback by Dael's sudden exclaimation that Quaren immediately activated the control for the flares as soon as he had yelled. Moments later, dozens of red rockets scattered on either side of the _Enterprise…_and just in time. The little plumes of fire quickly grew larger, a side effect of coming closer. Soon they were large enough for everyone on the bridge to see. But before they could get closer than anyone wanted…they abruptly snapped and veered off to the sides, going for the flares instead. Moments later, eruptions went off, casting up light and shaking the entire airship from the resulting explosions.

Everyone held on tight and reacted in surprise, but Dael quickly tightened her jaw and looked out. Clever… They had been lying in wait for them. If they had fired any sooner than now, they would have tripped off the alarms on the _Enterprise,_ which now began to blare and bathe the interior in red light. Whatever aircraft they had used, it was deployed right in front of them. Not only that, but there were more jets of fire about… Some to other set of opponents who were still out there…

Immediately, she called out orders.

"Quaren, lower us to 50 feet! Cid, get a message to the lower deck to open the hatch and fire up the outside lights!"

Both immediately went about carrying out their tasks, the tension of the sudden attack driving them to move faster and more earnestly. In a moment, the lights were activated, and the surrounding area was illuminated in bright, visible light. The infrared automatically shut down, and the surrounding terrain was revealed.

Most of it was rocky expanse, but now there was a lot more visible. In particular, there were a grand total of three armed transport helicopters of Sybenian make in the area. Two were landed, although, at the moment, what looked like heavily armed, covert op soldiers were moving in to board one. Another was already in the air, obviously what had fired. And it wasn't alone, either. Aegis Armors had already deployed around it. These ones looked more sophisticated too…armed with better weaponry. She soon found out that was the case a moment later as they aimed their gauntlets at the _Enterprise. _Seconds later, white-hot beams erupted from them and pierced the hull.

Luckily, the front of the ship still had its armor…otherwise they would have taken damage a lot sooner. However, in mere seconds, as the _Enterprise _kept lowering, exposing more Sybenians who were running about below like ants under a rock that had been unveiled, alarms went off signaling a hull breach.

"The hell?!" Cryder exclaimed. "I thought that armor was laser resilient!"

"It's a cutting beam!" Cid responded. "We need to take evasive!"

"That won't do any good!" Dael responded. "Corporal, full power to the main engines now!"

The soldier turned to Dael in puzzlement. "Huh? Commander-"

"Full power now! Then immediately power down again!"

The corporal hesitated only a bit longer, but then nodded and turned back, gunning the engines.

Soon, everyone in the ship was thrown for a loop as their ground seemed to nearly be torn out from underneath them. Dael herself had to hold on tight to the steering wheel. Everyone else had to grab for the handles. Still, throughout the ship, materials were knocked around and cast about. However, the _Enterprise _accelerated quickly, and soon made a bee line straight for the enemy dead ahead of them. In moments, it was moving faster yet, heading up to a cruising speed. As this happened, Dael managed to maintain control, and kept the wheel aimed straight at the attackers.

The Aegis Armors only continued to fire for a moment longer, before they realized what was happening. They cut off the firepower and tried to get out of the way, but it was too late. As the _Enterprise_ continued to accelerate, throwing its massive bulk forward at an ever-increasing speed, it soon smashed right into them. It was like colliding with a swarm of bugs in a fast-moving car. A serious of "dinks" and "donks" rang out through the front of the ship as each Aegis Armor was violently smashed into. Their bodies crumbled around the outer hull of the ship, the internal collisions rattling both them and their brains. It didn't even matter if their armors survived intact. Just smashing into the hull was enough to break bones from internal trauma. Yet the airship only continued to accelerate as it headed straight for the assault transport helicopter. The pilots veered it to one side, trying to escape, but, again, it was too late. The _Enterprise_ soon smashed into them as well. The sounds of grinding metal rang throughout the entire cockpit. No doubt, the blades were cutting into the hull. But they weren't strong enough. If this had been any portion other than the armored one, maybe it would have done more damage. However, in this case, the blades scraped for a moment before snapping off all together. The hull of the helicopter surged forward and smashed into the side of the _Enterprise _before going wildly out of control, smacking whatever Aegis Armors were left, and then quickly falling to the ground.

Dael let out an exhale even as the airship sharply began to deaccelerate again due to her order to Quaren. _That takes care of some of it…_

Quickly, everyone in the ship was thrown for another loop as Dael turned the wheel around sharply. At this low speed, even considering their sudden acceleration, it quickly swiveled around. Even as it did, she called out again. "Bring us to a stop and hover! Cid, get a message to the lower deck! Tell them to open up!"

The two soon executed these instructions. On doing so, Cryder let out a grin and a cackle. "That was wonderful, lass! That's straight out of my playbook, or I'm not a pirate! Anyway…won't be needin' a navigator up here until this lot is taken care of, so I think I'll lend a hand!"

Putting a hand on his sword, he turned and began to bolt for the exit of the bridge, meaning to head out as well, obviously. Dael let him go. Another set of hands wouldn't hurt. The camera to the outside showed the surrounding area was now littered with fallen Aegis Armors, but a few of them were still moving. And those that were on helicopters that were trying to take off were no doubt armoring up with more. However, the ship continued to decrease in speed as Dael turned it around, soon indeed going into the hover that she had ordered. The sound of the bottom deck popping open rang out, even as six new Aegis Armors broke out of their helicopters and began to take to the skies to intercept. Another helicopter began to turn its blades.

It didn't get the chance to lift off though. A beam erupted from the bottom of the _Enterprise_. In a moment, the helicopter's top was blown to kingdom come. It wasn't enough to destroy the helicopter completely, but it did render it inoperative and on fire. Soon, the few soldiers that were left charged out from the inside. Dael realized the source of the beam. It had been Jalab, using his aura cannon again. As the ship went into full hover and the Sybenians that had been exposed pulled away from the helicopter and dove for cover, Dael called out again to Cid.

"Put all the external cameras on!"

The engineer quickly did so, one after another, soon converting the screen into an extensive view of the surrounding area. As the last one came to life, the members of the task force underneath the ship leapt down to the ground below. Cryder, apparently, wasn't with them yet, but that seemed to make little difference to them. Soon, Bahamut, Ceja, and Jalab had all touched down on the ground. Ceja, on her part, had flung out her axe as she had done so. Two more Aegis Armors took off into the air only to get the business end of her weapon and immediately get struck down again to the tune of showers of sparks. By the time she landed, she had reclaimed it and faced off against her opponents.

Dael wasn't one to just stand idly by and watch, and immediately wondered if she should get down there as well. However, there was little reason to worry. As the fight broke out, it was more like the "good old days". Several of the intact Aegis Armors pooled their efforts and opened fire on the three, but Jalab quickly advanced and twirled his staff around faster than ever, enough to actually project an energy shield that deflected the energy bursts and sent them scattering. As this happened, Ceja leapt into the air and flung her axe out again, taking down three more soldiers that were moving to flank them on the left. As for Bahamut, he too broke out into a fast sprint, putting his enhanced speed to bear, and broke out from behind the shield and charged into a group of soldiers trying to flank on the right. They rose their guns to fire, but Bahamut was on them before they could, smacking the first rifle up with his shield and stabbing for the gut of the soldier, then yanking it our and slashing around into the next, and spinning to bring his shield to bear and smash it in the side of his head. Despite wearing a helmet, the man went down fast.

Jalab continued to use his staff as a shield right up until the point where the Aegis Armors spotted that the other two had broken off. As they tried to aim their weapons at the exposed targets, he shifted tactics and suddenly swirled his staff in an undulating fashion. In response…blades of air, swirling like boomerangs, projected from his staff, danced through the air, and took out the remaining ones still firing at him, freeing him to put his staff to the side and shoot forward for another Aegis Armor heading for Ceja, who he smashed with a single swipe of his staff. Ceja, however, didn't seem to notice. She reclaimed her weapon as it arrived, and barreled straight for an Aegis Armor flying for her. It aimed both gauntlets forward and fired off cutting beams, only to have her leap into the air over them and perform a jump kick powerful enough to dent the helmet and send the mechanical warrior flying to the ground. Another descended to try and stop her on her own footing at that point, but she merely shot forward and backhanded this one with sufficient force to fracture his helmet as well. He sprawled out to the side as a third one tried activating rockets…only to have Ceja dart toward her and use her rapid-piercing move to strike him dozens of times in seconds, all at seemingly vulnerable spots, for he reacted to each and every blow despite the armor plating. Bahamut continued to use both size and speed against his opponents, shooting by them even as they opened fire. He kept his face and upper body covered with the shield, and ran to each one, slashing out for their legs or sides to drop them one after another.

By now, enough of the left flank had formed ranks to try and mount a group counterattack, and five of raised their weapons to open fire on what they believed was Ceja's exposed side. Yet they never got off a shot. Abruptly, the rocks from the nearest hills fractured, and a slide was sent down upon them. Three of them were only able to cry out before they got hit, while two more jumped for cover. They didn't get too far, however…as Cryder, the source of the rockslide, went out to meet them…leaping out of the bottom of the aircraft and landing in front of them. His own cutlass danced through the air twice before they were dropped. Following that, he snapped his hand around and pointed his finger at a soldier who was setting up for a sniping position that he had spotted while still on board the _Enterprise_, stationed at a rock outcropping at a distance. As the soldier tried to take a shot…a rock wombat suddenly sprang out of of a nearby cave and smashed him in the head with his bony tail so hard that he crumpled. Cryder grinned and turned to look for more targets.

The remaining ones were quickly falling. In moments, the last of the Sybenians that had been in this group were collapsing. Three Aegis Armors tried to attack Jalab from three different sides, but he responded by shifting his staff into one hand and manipulating it to create a shield and deflect two of their shots, which he nailed the third with a blast of mantra from his free hand. After that, he quickly snapped up to the other two and smacked them down with two rapid blows from his staff. Ceja, on her part, flung her axe out at two soldiers who attempted to break for it. While it was tagging them, she tackled another Aegis Armor and ripped his entire torso plating off with her bare hands before smashing his head into his, knocking him out. Bahamut soon showed off some prowress with his own shield more akin to Ceja's, as he cut down one other soldier before seeing a final one fleeing, and, in response, swung his shield out like a discus and nailed him in the back of the head with it. Not only that, but the rebound from the collision flew back to him, and he leapt and snatched it from the air before landing nimbly once again. Cryder himself walked out, still looking for something else to fight…only to see that all were taken out already save for two last conventional soldiers running off in the distance. Sighing, he pointed at them…immediately tripping them with a quicksand trap.

"Don't leave anything for me, why don't you…" The pirate stated, audible over the external speakers.

Dael, however, wasn't really too interested in that. Instead, she rubbed her brow and eased up a bit, on seeing that the fight was over so soon. Taraketh and the others looked rather impressed as they watched the screen themselves.

"That was over pretty fast…" The High Child stated. "Didn't even look like they needed much in the way of help… Perhaps this was a trap?"

"I don't know…" Cid answered. "I mean…sheesh, I've never seen people do half the stuff that Jalab and Ceja just pulled off…or even Cryder and Bahamut, for that matter. I think we're just so used to doing things that would kill normal people that when we just go up against 'normal guys' it's too easy…"

Dael was reluctant to agree. Her sentiments were more those of Taraketh. While what Cid said was perfectly possible, while they had foiled the attempt of the Sybenians to launch a surprise counterattack when they came, and while their own powers had made most of what just happened possible…she couldn't help but think this was still all too easy. Immediately, her thoughts turned to the surrounding area. Although the floodlights had lit up most of the valley like they were in the middle of an outdoor soccer game, she was still suspicious.

After a moment, the commander decided to give a new order. "Put me on speakers, Cid. I'm going to tell them to disable the last helicopter, then we'll circle the area and-"

Dael was cut off by what felt like a hot knife in her brain. Her mind had only a second to comprehend what was happening before even that ability was taken from her, but faintly…she recalled hearing a horrible noise coming from the speakers, and realized the truth. There _was_ someone else out there…

_Crow…_

That was the last conscious thought she could manage before the world turned into some bizarre Technicolor swirl of chaos and light, a cacophony of shapes that were obtuse and gross. Her ears filled with a sound both painful and maddening. It was a lot harger and faster than the last time she had endured this. Her feeling immediately went away. Her consciousness was stripped. She had no time to start reciting anything, no time to try and get her thoughts in order and prepare any form of resistance. She was just overwhelmed by the power…

Then…all at once, it was gone.

It had a lingering effect for a moment, like how if one hears a large noise or is exposed to a camera flash, they continue to hear a ring or see spots before their eyes for a few moments before everything "clears up". Even after it was gone, she could still hear a faint noise on the other side of the ship's hull. It was dull and dimmed, but it was still annoying enough to cause a headache. At any rate, Dael blinked, and soon her senses returned. She was on the floor of the bridge. She had fully collapsed that time. Her body still ached from how abruptly she had fallen. She quickly looked around, and saw Cid, Taraketh, and Quaren were all the same, groaning from the ground.

"Everyone…are you alright?" She called out.

"Uhn…just glad the failsafe I built worked…" Cid groaned as he began to rise.

"Failsafe? What failsafe?" Taraketh answered, rubbing his own head and forcing his legs underneath him.

"I had the speakers on deck active when Crow attacked last time, and I heard her awful crooning…set my brain on fire…" He moaned. "So I rigged them to shut off automatically if anything like that happened again. I figured that was how she killed the people on that destroyer…"

"Smart move." Taraketh responded as he wobbled, but stood. "Looks like it may have saved our lives."

"I still hear it ringing in my ears, though…" Quaren moaned as he grabbed the handles on his console and pulled up.

Dael, however, was far more tense. "…Ringing, nothing. She's still doing it. We're hearing it through the hull." She stated as her voice increased in urgency. "She wasn't even trying to target us…she was trying to target the group outside."

Everyone else soon tense up as well on hearing that. Immediately, whoever was still rising snapped to their feet, headache or no, and everyone looked to the monitors. Even without the speakers working, they were still functioning. They didn't receive a very wholesome sight. All four of those out there were in agony, almost like they were being roasted alive. Yet even now, they were able to thrash about, and not purely wildly either…enough to actually make fists and relax. In particular, Dael's eyes focused on Bahamut. In spite of everything she knew about him now…the instinct she had earlier, of a guardian's desire to protect her charge, was enkindled in her.

"Good god, she's killing them!" Quaren outburst.

"Worse than that…she's manipulating them! She'll get them to stab each other to death in moments!" Taraketh responded. "We need to get down there now!" He nearly turned to go for the bridge exit.

"That's suicide!" Cid responded. "As soon as you get in clear range of her death music or whatever she uses…you'll be just like the others! We only got out of it a moment ago because the system cut off automatically!"

Dael, meanwhile, looked away from Bahamut and over the landscape. "Where is she?" She called out, nearly shouting. "Look for her on the monitors!"

"What good would that do, commander?" Quaren asked. "We don't have any weapons…"

"Just find her!" She nearly snapped back, enough to immediately silence any other questions, and get everyone to start searching even if they didn't automatically see the utility in it. They proceeded to search for only a few seconds, looking along with Dael at the screens, before Quaren called out and pointed.

"Up there! She's next to one of the remaining helicopters!"

Dael looked in that direction for only an instant, before she spotted her. The image was vague, for she was partially in shadow, but it was her. Her white attire helped make her stand out, and she had her arms crossed and that haughty look about her as she sang. With that in mind, Dael moistened her lips and reached for her side, drawing her sword. Holding it in both hands before her and tightly, she adjusted her body somewhat, as if for a falling slash.

Quaren spotted this, and he realized what she was going to do. "Dael, don't…"

However, it was too late. The woman let the arcane words come out of her mouth, and vanished in a flash.

Dael intended to use ever fiber of her being to hold her sword steady and only do that. She had purposely teleported not to Crow's location, but to right above her, planning on letting gravity do all the work of putting her sword through her. Yet it didn't work that way.

It was like she had immediately dropped into a pool filled with liquid magma and that acid had been inserted into her veins. As bad as she had thought it was on the bridge, being this close was infinitely worse. It felt like her eyes were melting out of her skull, that her brains were tearing to pieces and trying to flee out from her ears. The worst part of all…it didn't last long. Less than a second, she reasoned…

Abruptly, the pain cut off…just in time for Dael to clatter to the rocky ground where the outdoor fighting was taking place. She fell in a heap, not bracing herself at all. So suddenly had she been "released" from the power, she had no time to prepare herself. Worse yet…her sword clattered out of her grasp uselessly. Prior to teleporting, she held onto it with an iron grip. In less than a second, she had gone totally flaccid. The song didn't just destroy her conscious control, it seemed to make every nerve in her body seize. She was little more than a rag as she fell to the ground, having just enough senses to see her sword roll down a small incline and well out of range to be able to grab quickly.

Her eyes went up, and saw the four on the ground, still writhing, barely having got a reprieve. Out of all of them, only Ceja, fueled by raw desire for survival, was somehow getting her legs underneath her. However, that view was soon cut off as a white coat fluttered in front of Dael's vision, and she looked up to the source.

Crow, still wearing her silver mask, grinned cruelly down on her. She wasn't in pain at all. Dael realized…her attempted slice was so bad that she hadn't even got her clothes torn. She had interrupted her, but that wasn't going to do much good now.

"Nice try, little piglet." She answered. "Unfortunately, I was expecting that after last time, just like I was expecting you to run home in tears as soon as you heard your government bleating for help, and find me here. I'm not going to draw it out this time. I just stopped long enough so that you'd know you had no chance to escape. Ta."

She opened her mouth again, and that was all Dael saw before her vision warped into raw chaos again, and all feeling and senses left…save for pain. She didn't even have time to realize this was it, or to wonder if being this close to her voice would kill her, or if she would be driven to suicide first. All she could think about was chaos and pain. She lost all sense of time, place, and self, unable to sort anything out any longer. She couldn't even comprehend that this would be the last thing she would feel before she was dead, that it was over before it even had a chance to begin…

However, many of these thoughts, or, at least, the sensation that these thoughts had been been justified, was cut off just as abruptly as they came…aborted as the siren song suddenly turned into a cry of pain.

Dael's vision cleared, and once more her body came back under her control. Now, she was even more disheveled, looking like she had been in the middle of writhing, and her entire body was sore and agonized. However, her senses snapped back quickly, and she was just in time to see what had happened. She was a little stunned at the sight.

Ceja was standing in front of Crow, and just finishing hooking her across the face, smacking the woman's head to the side and sending her staggering backward, actually knocking her to the ground momentarily. She had clearly not expected the blow. Dael was genuinely surprised. How had she managed to do that? However, her attention focused only on Crow for a moment, before she looked to Ceja…and felt her anxiety grow again as the woman turned to her.

She no longer looked sane or rational in the least. In fact, her eyes, which had filled with murderous, bestial rage, had practically turned red. She was barring her teeth and almost foaming at the mouth. Her muscles had either increased in size or they were simply bulging because all of them were tight, and she looked like a fearsome animal. A moment later…she almost gave a yell and began to advance on Dael. She had discarded her axe at some point, but that was cold comfort. She looked ready to tear Dael apart with her bare hands…or rip out her throat with her teeth.

After only a split second, Dael understood. There was no way any of them could have fought back against Crow's deadly song. They had been completely helpless. However, in spite of how stricken Dael thought they were, the song still only seemed to impact the conscious, sentient mind. And so, Ceja had risked something drastic. Dael hadn't even known that she could pull off this move for certain…only that, when she had learned of the various soldier and warrior types on Gaia back in the military academy, she had heard reports that many Fuliet warriors were capable of pulling off the "Berserkergang", a state where they essentially became mindless, killer savages driven by the same instincts as a rabid animal…simply kill everything around them. Since it was a purely unconscious, uncontrollable response, even the deadly song that Crow had been using was powerless to stop it. However, Dael knew this technique was normally only used by warriors who were alone before impossible odds, because they would tear apart enemy and ally alike. Hence, she had never expected to see Ceja use it even if she had the power. Apparently, however, she had gotten desperate.

Also, unfortunately, she saw Dael as the greater threat in whatever primitive mentality she was working on…or possibly just the closest warm body.

Abruptly, the warrior was on her. Even if Dael had both the time and the instinct to fight back, her sword was well out of her reach. Before she could even get up on all fours, the warrior had seized her by the tunic and ripped her off of the ground. She experienced a moment of vertigo, before she was slammed violently back down against the ground. Since it was rather rocky, it made pain radiate through her entire body…although, to be honest, she was still reeling from Crow's attack. Immediately, she yanked her up and slammed her down again even harder. This time, Dael let out a cry of pain, and she hit her head, dazzling her from fighting back as quickly as she wanted. But even as she tried to get her arms up to force the woman off of her, she realized Ceja was already physically stronger than her…and now that she was in "berserker" mode, there was no way she could stand against her, especially now when she was still both in pain and dazzled.

Ceja, still fuming, suddenly opened her mouth wide. Dael saw this, and realized she was going to bite her…possibly literally tear her throat out. She tried to fight back harder at this, but it was useless. She was still too dazzled and, even if she wasn't, was too weak to fight back against the Fuliet warrior. The woman began to lean down to bite…

But then, a blur shot by, and Ceja was literally ripped off of Dael. The commander blinked in surprise as her body slammed back into the ground, but this time she bit back the pain and quickly got up on her elbows and looked to the side, just in time to see Ceja going for a tumble, being seized by Jalab as she did so. He apparently had tackled her, getting her off of Dael and taking her to one side. However, already, Ceja was snarling and fighting back hard against him. Had it been anyone else in their group, she would have broken free in moments. As it was, Jalab quickly seized either arm and crossed them in front of her to keep her from biting him as they tussled.

Yet as they went off to one side and the monk desperately tried to contain the berserker, Dael saw who else was nearby. Crow was getting to her feet again, looking rather angry, but her mask still in place along with a bruise on her cheek. She opened her mouth, and Dael realized she was going to resume singing again. As for the commander, her sword was still at one side. She didn't even know where it was in relation to her at the moment, with as much as she had been kicked around. She could pull out her Mage Gun, but she already knew it was too late. A moment later, she heard what felt like audible pain once again as the world started to blur again…

It snapped back to reality a lot faster this time, however…and she saw the reason clearly this time. Another blur, this one metallic colored, shot through the air, and she recognized it was the same "discus" move that Bahamut had used earlier. He was flinging his shield again. This time, it connected with Crow's larynx. The horrible song she was singing was abruptly choked off, and she grasped for her neck and staggered backward even as the projectile shield snapped back in the direction whence it came. She tried to make some noise afterward, but all that came out was hoarse gagging. She had been effectively choked by the blow.

Dael realized she only had moments to take advantage of it. Crow was already recovering, although it seemed the blow had been strong enough to a vulnerable part of her body to do some real damage. She was closest. Ceja and Jalab were still struggling. Quickly, she leaned up and looked around for her sword. She didn't see it right away, in spite of the floodlights, and actually had to scramble to her feet and look around for it for a short while. Finally, however, she managed to catch a glint of metal in the rocks. She ran over, and soon saw the katana lying there. At the same time, however, Crow, rasping, nevertheless managed to lower her hands and look out hatefully at the nearest target, which was her. Dael ignored that. Instead, she dashed for her blade, and in moments reached it, bent down, and snatched it up. She quickly brought her other hand around on the hilt and began to turn, only to see that Crow was already charging and leaping for her. By the time Dael even managed to look in her direction, a flying roundhouse was already sailing for her head…

However, it didn't land. A few swirling blades of air shot forth to intercept her. They didn't seem to do any real lasting damage, save to upset her clothes, but they did apparently possess enough force to abort her attack, enough to make Dael quickly snap back and out of the way to evade her deflected blow.

The Esthar's Hawk had to take a moment to get her bearings after that. As she did, Crow landed and backpedaled, still rasping, but pulling her hand away from her throat. At the same time, Dael was joined on either side. Bahamut sprung to her right, readjusting his shield as he did so, and Cryder moved in on the left, cutlass out and dancing in front of him a bit. They held only for a second, looking to the Elite Hound and gathering their full bearings, shaking off the last of the spell.

As for Crow, she shook her head one more time, and then looked up to them with a hateful glare. By now, a very large and nasty looking bruise was forming across her throat. She might have even had some internal bleeding by now.

"Not bad…little piggies…" She croaked in a hoarse voice. "You want to die a bit slower, it seems…"

Dael didn't respond to this. Instead, she quickly snapped forward and lunged with a thrust for the woman's middle. Hissing, she reared back and swung her boot around, striking the blade aside. Yet Bahamut immediately rushed in for her exposed flank and tried to drive his shortsword into her calf. She quickly darted out of the way and tried to launch a counterattack, but it was forced to go off and outside a moment later as Cryder slashed for her head. By now, of course, Crow found herself darting right into the path of Dael as she advanced and sliced for her chest, and she had to snap backward to avoid another impalement. Not giving her any chance to catch her breath, Bahamut darted forward, slashing out for her legs, while Cryder went for her head and shoulders again. As for Dael, she shifted to one hand with her grip on her sword, and approached in almost a "fencer-style" form of combat while manipulating her other hand to her gun.

Crow was soon having to put her power to the limit to keep them all at bay. She might have successfully done so under normal conditions, but the combination of Ceja's punch (which had been nothing to sneeze at) plus the blow to her throat had put her in enough pain and dazzled her enough to where she wasn't at the "top of her game", and the triple assault was too much for her. It enabled Dael to get out her Mage Gun in her free hand, already loaded with a Blizzaga bullet. Crow noticed it, for all the good it did her as Cryder suddenly swung out one of his hands, making the soil beneath her give way and loosen up. She was in mid-kick at the time, deflecting another sword blade, and with the ground underneath her out, she nearly lost balance. She was forced to snap back again…and leave herself fully open to the Blizzaga bullet. It was a bit close range, too close for Dael, but it ingited and immediately formed a deadly, monstrous series of ice shards, all of which shot for her in order to impale her. Dael caught a glimpse of the true fear in her eyes, before, while still in midair, her legs went up and proceeded to break the ends off of the nearest shards that would have hit vital points. However, one still cut a large gash across her forearm, and even with the ends broken off…the bulk of the ice smashed into her, ripping her through the air and carrying her away about ten meters before slamming her down into the ground, driving the jagged, broken ends of the ice hard into her middle. She actually heard her give another cry, and the tip of the ice turned a bit red from the blunt, yet sharp, edges cutting through her clothes and then into her chest, although other than light scratches, no real damage was done.

At any rate, she still had enough power to throw the ice aside and snap back to her feet, sore or no. Dael was already taking off for her, having replaced her gun and shifted both hands to her sword once again, with Bahamut and Cryder still flanking her as well. She didn't even risk a look to see how Ceja and Jalab were doing. More than ever, she needed to keep the pressure on Crow. She realized that she was fighting at the same "initial fight" levels they had in their last encounter. Apparently, those pills she took wore off, and she currently wasn't on a "high". That meant that she couldn't give her the opportunity.

Unfortunately, even as she was still closing, she saw it…a flash of a grin on Crow's face as her arms uncrossed, and one of her hands went up to her mouth. Instantly, Dael performed a teleportation move…

She popped up in front of Ceja, swinging her sword down for the hand that was lifting…but it was no good, as she felt one of Crow's legs go straight up and kick under her chin, snapping her head up and making her body recoil...just as she shoved her hand into her mouth and downed whatever was in it. As for Dael, she soon landed again, her head aching and her jaw feeling like it had nearly been dislocated…but didn't ease up. Immediately, she shot forward and began to slice again, using large slices this time to try and make it impossible for her to dodge. As Crow still had to take a moment to swallow, one of the slices managed to tag her hand, inflicting a deep cut. However, the follow up slice made her snap back, and Dael cursed mentally as her sword hit nothing. Immediately, she snapped forward and forced her muscles to work harder, slicing faster at Crow. At the same time, Bahamut arrived at one side and slashed out for her left side. Despite her best efforts to avoid, she caught another slide as the ground beneath her loosened again, this time causing her to sink into a bit of mud and hamper her ability to dodge. Yet she still managed to yank herself back and free just in time to keep it to a light slash. Although she hissed that more of her white clothing was stained red, no real lasting damage was done.

Dael and Bahamut continued their dual assault, both of them slashing furiously at Crow and forcing her back. Both of them realized what had just happened, and were more determined than ever to finish the fight, now before the pills had a chance to kick in. But for all of their strain and effort, they couldn't land any more hits at this point, even though they were successfully keeping her from fighting back. Cryder didn't join in head on. Rather, he threw whatever geomancy he could at her, although his options were limited in this rocky landscape. He kept tripping her up from time to time, but even that was losing effectiveness. She had started getting lighter on her feet to avoid this, never letting her feet touch the ground for more than an instant. Any other power, such as his wind slash, risked hitting Bahamut or Dael as he moved along. The three were powerless to finish the fight…

…And Crow knew it, as she grinned confidently at them.

"Thrash about like the worms you are." She taunted even as she kept dodging. "I didn't take just one pill this time, but two."

Dael, in spite of her normal stoic look, especially in battle, felt her eyes enlarge a bit. _Two?!_

"I so wanted to ensure that you all faced a goddess' wrath." She said as sweat began to mount on her brow, but not from exhaustion. Her raggedly breath grew in volume. "I can feel them kicking in now…"

Letting out a curse under her breath, Dael shot forward and slashed for the woman's neck. However, this time, she didn't dodge. Instead, her leg went up and smacked the blade aside. Bahamut went in almost at the same time…but Crow's speed, beginning to increase, easily struck that aside with the same foot. This time, she didn't bother moving, even when one of Cryder's quicksand moves loosened up the ground beneath her and held her by one foot. She merely kept the other out as Dael and Bahamut kept trying to slash her. To her terror, she was able to hold them both at bay with one leg. She struggled at first to do it…but as her speed increased along with the size of her smile, she fended off with just one foot easily, holding them both at bay.

_Damnit…_ Dael thought.

Yet those thought were cut off as Crow's foot lashed out and hooked around the latest stab of Bahamut, sweeping the blade around and smashing it into the ground. The force was so strong it yanked Bahamut down with it, involuntarily forcing him down into a position of all fours, before her leg went back up, struck across the boy's face…and disarmed him by hitting him with sufficient force to make him lose his grip in a bad position. Furthermore, his body was ripped through the air, much as it had been back on board the _Enterprise_, and he was sent in a tumble when he landed twenty feet away. Dael, on her part, knew what was coming…and despite the fear in her heart on what had just happened to Bahamut, she managed to loosen herself up…and a good thing too. An instant later, Crow's foot lashed back around like a whip and then gave her a powerful vertical kick. Where before, she had merely snapped back slightly, this time she was sent ten feet into the air and sent arching back, losing her own sword in the process, and then slamming down on the ground almost adjacent to Cryder.

The pirate was overwhelmed by the sudden move. After all, he hadn't seen Crow in action yet. The way was now open, though, and he nearly hit her with a fresh bout of geomancy. Yet he didn't get the chance. Abruptly, Crow, with one easy gesture, not only ripped herself free of the mud, but she launched herself in the air. Dael, by now, was on her back on the ground, but she saw Crow go flying over her head, doing a nimble mid-air somersault, and she realized what was going on. She was performing another thrust kick. She weakly managed to look behind her, for her head was radiating with even more pain and dizziness than in the last battle, and tried to shout a warning, for all the good it would do. It was too late, however. The woman smashed both feet into Cryder's face. She was she heard what sounded like a thunderclap as he was ripped off of his feet and sent flying back a good forty feet this time. He would have gone farther, except he smashed into a boulder on the landscape. Dael felt fear and pain go into her own heart as she heard his collision…sounding like it had broken something, although she wasn't sure if it was the rock or his body. At any rate, he crumpled over it and went flaccid.

Dael's face paled on seeing this, even as she struggled to rise again. She didn't know if Cryder was merely knocked out from the blow or seriously hurt…the latter of which was highly likely, junction or no. Yet she couldn't afford to worry about it now. The fight was still on. The blow she had taken seemed to radiate through her entire body, but she somehow managed to snap up and get on her feet again. Yet, while still wobbling, a rush of air went past her, whipping at her clothing, and she turned to the source, only to have her eyes widen again. Crow was right next to her, grinning wickedly. She didn't attack right away, but Dael knew why. She was letting her "sit in fear" for a split second, perhaps even try to do something despite having lost her sword yet again…

Yet as she stared, something happened that distracted both of them. Abruptly, the sky darkened, which was odd in and of itself. It was already dark out, but now the floodlights from the _Enterprise_ seemed to dim, enough to where everything took on a gray appearance. And when it did, Dael saw something else. A fiery light had erupted from behind Crow. She could actually feel heat waving over her, in spite of Crow standing in between her and the source.

Confused, the Elite Hound turned…and Dael used the moment. Not to attack…that would be useless. Instead, she quickly broke away, going back for her sword. She already had an idea of what was happening, however. As she moved out from behind Crow, she was just in time to see one of the "reality-warping" portals close…and, wreathed in flame and gleaming like a hot ember, Ifrit was on the other side, snarling and roaring in all of his fury. He held a clawed hand down to the ground, and, in response, a sizzling, smoldering ball of magma rock bigger than him erupted out of it and toward him. He kept his hand held out, and soon he "caught" it, palming it like a ball. He made his other hand into a fist, clearly intending on "smacking" it toward Crow like a volleyball. Yet Dael didn't focus on that. Large as the attack was, much as she could feel it burning her although she wasn't near it, she realized she had to get clear herself. She wasn't sure if it would do anything to stop Crow at this point, so instead she used the moment to take care of herself. Looking away, she spotted her blade and quickly dashed to it.

As Ifrit gave a bestial roar and launched the fireball at Crow, she reached her weapon and quickly snatched it up again, just as the intensely burning fireball smashed down into Crow's location. She was temtped to see what the result was as the glow of the fire illuminated the entire area in a hellish light, but she looked to the others first. Bahamut was getting up again. He looked to be in more pain and agony than Dael was, who herself was still hurting from just the one kick, but he was rising. His sword and shield were nearby…and so Dael quickly ran over to them.

"Bahamut!" She called.

The boy looked to her just as she reached the arms, and she quickly took them up and tossed them one after another in his direction. The blade went first, but he flawlessly snatched it out of the air by the hilt in spite of it rotating toward him. The shield was next, and that quickly snapped back into position as well. After that, she looked to Jalab and Ceja. The situation hadn't improved much there. The Fuliet warrior was savagely clawing and snapping at Jalab. The monk, in turn, seemed unwilling to perform a move that would seriously hurt her, and was struggling to stay away from her as she attacked again and again. Dael wanted to help…but she knew she couldn't now. They had bigger problems. Immediately, she looked back to Crow to see how the situation had changed.

The lights were coming on again by now, and Ifrit had already vanished. Bits of flaming debris, the remains of magma, were scattered around the valley. Yet as for Crow, in a move that nearly made Dael want to pass out, she was simply stomping one of her feet against the ground, extinguishing the smoldering on it in the dust. The commander realized she had simply kicked the ball of fire away as easily as she would have kicked away any other attack. Perhaps she was the one who had broken it up rather than an impact.

However, even this didn't last long, as, most suddenly, her body seemed to "flash" to the side, suddenly appearing in a new direction. Dael saw why a moment later as a rifle shot rang out, and the bullet itself hit the ground in a small plume of dust. Two more rifle bullets soon rang out, both with the same result. The commander realized what was happening, and looked up to confirm it. Perched on the end of the deployed ramp of the _Enterprise_ was Quaren, using his rifle to try and shoot her. No doubt, he had also summoned Ifrit…for all the good it had done. Somehow, though, Dael had a feeling that even if Taraketh had done it, it wouldn't have been enough.

As for Crow, she let out another haughty laugh as Quaren fired a fourth shot, this time jumping straight into the air like an artillery shell. As Dael watched in alarm, she easily shot into the air…right to the very platform he was on, and came to a halt right in front of him. The corporal had been preparing to shoot again…but now gaped in surprise for a moment before her foot lashed out and struck him across the face with sufficient force to rip him clean out of the airship and send him hurtling for the ground below headfirst.

Dael wasn't sure if Quaren could survive such a fall landing on his head, even with his enhanced body, but the commander wasn't about to wait to find out. Quickly, she applied her own speed and dashed in his direction. She could have teleported. She had enough stamina for it, but she didn't want to use those if she could afford it. She had to save them for more critical moments. Yet luckily, she was fast enough to reach his falling body, leaping out as he fell and snatching him from the air. She twisted her sword down and formed a "cradling" posture to grab him, righting him as she did so. A moment later, she touched down…a bit wobbly and sore from Crow's blow, but still able to land.

She looked down to Quaren a moment later, who now had a large bruise on the side of his head and was dazed, but quickly shook it and looked to her.

"That…really hurt…" He groaned.

"Can you stand?" Dael answered.

He gave a weak nod, and a moment later she set him down. Yet even as she did, and he managed to put his weak legs underneath him, he looked over to Dael. "…She…she just shrugged off Ifrit's attack… Am I that bad at magic?"

Dael frowned as she looked back up to the bay on the _Enterprise_. Crow had landed there and was laughing in another one of her haughty gestures, before nimbly backflipping off of it and sailing back for the ground again.

"No…" She answered him, going for her Mage Gun again. "She's just that strong."

A pair of clicks rang out as Crow touched the ground, facing Dael on landing. She soon drew herself up and crossed her arms again. She panted a few times and hesitated long enough to wipe a few beads of sweat from her brow, and then laughed again.

"Nowhere to flee to this time, little swine." She stated. "Nowhere you can 'knock' me. I will try to keep your airship intact, however. After all, you destroyed two of our aircraft…we're entitled to compensation. I will enjoy stomping you all into dirt."

After saying this, she actually had to pause again, for she had talked too much and needed to catch more of her breath. On seeing this, however…Dael gave a pause.

_She did that before, too… Only she's panting and sweating more after only doing a few moves… It's those pills. Whatever she's taking, it does a number on her as well as us. She took even more this time, and she looks like she's already been fighting straight for fifteen minutes._

_ But wait… She only did this when she exerted herself… It's not the pills that are doing this to her. The pills are pushing her to a limit that's too high, one that she can't adjust. She's overdoing it, straining her body to maximum… She can't keep up the pace._

_ …Maybe there's a way to win after all._

"Quaren, Bahamut…listen!" She suddenly shouted.

The corporal had just been getting his rifle at the read again, when he paused and looked to her. Bahamut turned as well.

"Whatever happens, keep attacking her!" She ordered. "No matter how many times she knocks you down, no matter how much it hurts, just keep coming at her!"

Crow blinked on hearing this, before managing to catch enough of her breath to laugh wickedly. "Oh, this is wonderful! I do believe I've knocked something loose in that rotten melon you've called a head! You expect to win just from having me continuously beat you down? Well…that's a new one on me…but since your current strategy isn't exactly working, I suppose you're getting desperate. Have it your way!"

With that, the woman took off for the nearest target, Bahamut. The boy looked to her only momentarily, for that was all he had. She was still moving in a blaze. However, his eyes narrowed, and a moment later he charged right back at her. Even as he did so, Dael took off and charged after the woman as well. Quaren, on his part, planted his feet, raised his gun, and began to open fire.

The gunshots forced Crow to take an indirect pattern, leaping one way and another to avoid the incoming bullets. However, she smiled and laughed all the way up to Bahamut, where she lashed out with another one of her deadly kicks. It smashed into his shield hard, making the metal give a creak, before he was once again launched across the ground by the force of the blow. Yet she could only pause a moment, for Quaren continued to fire bullets at her. Still laughing, she turned and prepared to run up to this attacker, especially since the corporal discharged the last bullet in his gun and had to pause to reload. However, by now, Dael was on her. She wasn't playing around this time either. Calling to mind her power once again, focusing on the lines of energy between her and Crow and the landscape itself, she once more brought out one of her "special" powers. Unfortunately, like this, she could only call the weakest one, basically the same slash she had used initially. Crow saw her coming and warming up, and laughed as she merely snapped back in a flash, instantly going twenty feet away. Dael tried to slice before she could move, but for her effort, she merely cleaved into the rock floor of the area and sliced off a portion of her white coat. She paused and looked up, just in time to see Crow grinning maliciously at her…right before she snapped back like a rocket and buried her heel in Dael's gut. The air went rushing from her lungs, and her eyes bulged as pain flooded into her, seeming to scramble her guts like a blender. At any rate, much like Bahamut, she went flying away to one side, and collided with the ground hard, tumbling several times before even stopping.

As she halted, body wracked with pain and feeling rather nauseated, she heard gunshots go off again. Quaren was firing at her once more. Focusing as hard as she could, biting back her pain and her nausea, she forced herself to snap up and get her feet underneath her, once more getting up. She wobbled a bit but began to stagger forward anyway, straightening as she did. As for Crow, she was already making for Quaren, and despite going straight at him, his rifle bullets weren't hitting. She always dodged at the last moment, laughing all the way, taunting his attempts to hit the easiest target in the book. Gritting his teeth in fury, he threw his rifle aside and yanked out his sidearm instead, popping off several shots in rapid succession for the woman. Yet she only dodged these as well with another haughty laugh. In moments, she was on Quaren…applying a last minute burst of speed to suddenly be right in his face. He gaped in surprise, nearly bringing his gun up to her…before she darted forward and smashed her knee into his chin, snapping his head back and causing him to fall backward. Yet before he could get far, she leapt into the air, sailed over him, and kicked down, nailing him in the stomach and slamming him into the rocky surface.

By now, Bahamut had managed to get to his feet, and had run up behind her at an angle. He took off into the air, and aimed his shield with an intent to at least knock into her and sweep her off of her feet. However, Crow, giving a yawn, simply snapped her body around in a sharp arc and lashed out with her leg as she did so, kicking his shield again hard enough to go smashing back into his head, dazzle him, and send him flying back and crashing to the ground once more. She chuckled as she looked beyond him and to Dael.

The woman herself was up again now, and had used the interim long enough to load another mage bullet. An instant later, and she fired at Crow. The shell soared through the air a moment and then ignited, becoming a monstrous bolt of electricity that snaked out for her, bigger than any thunderbolt. Yet she simply laughed again. In spite of the sheer speed of the bolt of electricity, she was still faster, leaping into the air once again, once more sailing a hundred feet high and letting the bolt sail underneath harmlessly, impacting nothing. After that, she seemed to almost hover there momentarily…before she shot down at an angle to the ground again, foot aimed out and straight for Dael.

As the woman saw her coming, she had time for only one thought.

_I hope this wasn't an insane idea…_

Pain flooded her a moment later as the foot landed, yet again taking her off of her feet and sending her to the rocky ground. But this time, Crow "rode" it, staying on her and pushing in more, sending her flying all the way down and grinding her into the dirt as she did so. Pebbles and rocks slashed at her clothing and the skin underneath, and she herself slammed into it so hard that she was stunned and dazzled in addition to being driven into agony all over again. And when she stopped, Crow was still standing on her, driving one of her feet into her gut to make it hard to breathe, and the other foot rising up and planting against her neck.

Dael grunted and weakly looked to the cruel woman, her sword and gun still in her hands, but uselessly sprawled out to the sides where she couldn't easily use them to fight back. Not like it would matter anyway. She realized she was going to have to try something else… She did notice one thing. Crow was sweating enough to start staining her clothing again. Not only that, but she was panting heavily between large gasps. Yet she still wasn't faltering yet…which was a big problem.

Abruptly, Dael's mouth opened…before Crow shoved her foot down, gagging her before more than a syllable could get out.

"Ah, ah, little piggy… I don't get to use magic, so neither do you…" She hissed between her own gasps. "Now to crush your windpipe…"

The foot began to place more pressure down on her neck, starting to smash not only her larynx but also her blood vessels…

Yet it got no further. Abruptly, blue flames erupted all around her, each one taking an almost spectral likeness of some manner of humanoid. They didn't touch her, but they did envelop her completely and began to dance around in a dizzying pattern. The woman let up the pressure and snapped around herself in surprise, distracted by the move. It gave Dael just enough air to quickly chant…and she vanished in a flash.

She reappeared at a distance of forty feet away a moment later…even as her head began to pound and swim. She wasn't in good shape for this. The few blows that she had taken had already drained a good deal of her stamina, leaving her weakened far more than she cared to be. She actually staggered and slumped a moment, but still managed to look to see what had happened. She soon spotted Cryder…apparently, if injured, not incapacitated. He was on his feet again and holding out his hand at Crow, obviously having used his Will O' The Wisp technique. As for Crow, she suddenly saw herself fall to the ground, and scowled in anger at having lost a target. She snapped around and gave a hateful glare to Cryder, looking right through his illusionary tactic.

A moment later, she moved even faster than before, seeming to pop up right next to the pirate. He had his sword on him, but had no chance to raise it before Crow ground his face into the dirt with a hooking kick. Dael spotted this and raised her own sword…only to have the furious Crow suddenly appear in front of her. A moment later, another horrible pain wracked her brain as she was kicked to the ground in much the same fashion, her cheek raking against gravel and drawing blood.

The woman was livid and she spoke between gasps. "You little worms need to stay in the dust where you bel-"

She was cut off a second later, for, Bahamut, once again forcing his body to move, had charged at her again…this time from the side. He kept his sword drawn this time. She couldn't strike him aside as before without cutting into her foot. Instead, she was forced back to avoid a slice. Bahamut, doubling his own speed and efforts in spite of his mounting injuries, kept charging at her, slicing and slashing again and again. This time, it seemed Crow wasn't as nimble as before. She was still audibly panting, and beads of sweat flowed from her brow. Much of her vestments were wet now, and her hair was getting soaked as she moved away from the furious assault. Bahamut, on his part, was sweaty, tired, and in pain as well, but continued to come forward, continued to attack.

And, Crow, on her part, was getting sweatier and angrier.

"What…is with…you damn…flies?" She said between increasingly labored gasps. Finally, her foot lashed out, again kicking Bahamut away. But this time, he brought his shield in front of him and managed to gain a reprieve. He was again kicked back, but not enough to actually kill or even seriously hurt. He landed hard against the ground, but he stayed there only a moment before he began to rise again.

Dael, on her part, for all that her head was swimming and all the pain she was in, yet again labored to rise to her feet. Crow, lips beginning to dry from all of her panting, turned to her and moved to advance like before…but didn't get the chance. Cryder, still in pain himself, nevertheless managed a gesture from the ground, and turned the patch of dirt that Crow walked across into thick mud as soon as she stepped on it…causing her to stumble again. This time, she didn't manage to rip her foot out again so quickly. Although it did get free, she paused to seeth at Cryder, angry that he was still conscious. Yet she couldn't finish him either…for Dael used the momentarily distraction to spring on her, and this time Crow was so off guard she didn't get back unscatched. As she staggered backward to try and avoid…a slice was opened up across her chest, staining the rest of her clothing with blood. She cried out in pain as she flailed back, but Dael wasn't giving her a chance to breathe. She continued to advance, soon slashing as fiercely and desperately as Bahamut was. None of her attacks were too terribly focused, and her own head was pounding as she struggled to keep up the pressure. However, she did successfully force the woman back farther and farther, and in her attempts to both dodge the assault and try to respond…Crow was only looking more exhausted. She was wheezing now, and her pallor was actually turning pale.

Finally, she gave a yell and swung out, knocking Dael's sword with her foot with so much power that, even now, tired as she was, Dael felt her wrist give a wrench. The blade toppled out of her grasp yet again as a result, and Crow aimed a follow-up roundhouse to try and finish her. However, this time, Dael quickly flung her own body back, and the foot sailed by, only skinning her nose tip. Crow noticed this, and flew into a greater rage. She soon lashed out again, but Dael, fast as she could, sprang back, and only got tagged by this kick, not even really hurt. Crow soon launched herself at her, swinging her leg out for her head. This time, however, it connected, and her head snapped to one side. Once more, her vision blackened and swirled, and she felt like going down…

However, she didn't. She grit her teeth, forced her feet under her…and looked back up to Crow.

"…Can't you hit any better than that?" She taunted.

Crow paused only a moment…long enough for her face to go totally livid. Nearly gnashing her teeth, she launched herself at Dael and gave her another powerful kick. This time, the Esthar's Hawk staggered back, her body wracked with pain. And yet…she didn't falter. The blow, for all of its strength, was less focused…weaker.

And so, she looked back up to her. "Come on…is that the best you can do?"

The pale color on Crow's face vanished and went red. "Silence, you oaf!" She responded before kicking yet again. This time, however, Dael used her own adrenaline to take it…and it was weaker yet. She looked back up to Crow, and actually advanced a step on her.

"Come on, 'Elite Hound'! You can't even take out one little Esthar's Hawk! A trainee hits better than you! Is the only thing you got that voice of yours?"

"Shut up!" Crow hissed. "Shut up you worthless, wretched peon!"

Almost screaming in anger, Crow began to lash out again. This time, however, Dael implemented her own hand to hand combat training, and blocked it with her arm. It still hurt quite a bit, but she continued to gode Crow, continued to stoke her anger. And in response, Crow kicked furiously and wildly, again and again. Yet she landed no more blows. Dael either blocked them or snapped back and away from them. Gradually, she stopped blocking them all together. She let Crow hit only air as she kicked again and again, more and more furiously. And as she did…her clothing began to be completely covered in sweat. Her hair was dripping. Her movements became slower and more dazzled. Her breathing was hoarse and slow. She was running on fumes…losing strength by the second…

Finally, as one of her kicks went wide as she charged forward, Dael saw her opening. Calling all of her own power to bear, she darted forward, past the kick, and drove her fist hard into Crow's stomach. A loud smacking rang out as her opponent's head pitched forward and she let out a sharp exhale, the air flooding from her lungs.

Yet Dael wasn't finished. As she pulled her fist back, and Crow staggered, she kept going at it. Crow raised her head, almost recovering, only to have Dael hook her across the face with such junction-enhanced power that her mask actually dented as her head flew back down again. She stayed on her feet, but her exhaustion kept her drained. And so, Dael punched her yet again, smacking her head down further. Seizing her by the shoulders, Dael ripped her back up only to launch three deep and solid hits into her stomach, each one knocking out more air and forcing her back. Finally, her own teeth gritting, Dael seized her by the lapel and yanked her head up, and proceeded to smash her in the face. With the first hit, her head snapped back. With the second, her lip split. The third smashed her nostrils, causing blood to run out of them. Finally, she swung her head inward and struck Crow in the head so hard her mask bent inward and warped.

Gasping, bleeding, and furious, Crow cried out…and, at long last, was forced to use her hands. Lashing out, she swung both of her hands out and knocked Dael's grip off of her, before chopping at the junction of her neck and head with both hands at once. It pinched a nerve, and Dael cried out in pain, halted momentarily. As for Crow, she swung both of her legs up, smashing into Dael's chest. In spite of the beating she had taken, and how exhausted she was, it still was sufficient force to knock Dael back and to the ground.

Mad, crazed, and bleeding, Crow advanced one step, heaving all the way, blood and sweat dripping everywhere, to stomp on her with a fatal hit…when she heard a voice.

"Witch!"

Crow snapped her head to the side, and soon was ripped backward as a hammer from a kusarigama smashed into her face. The silver mask went flying from her visage and went spiraling out into the night sky, vanishing, as blood flowed from her forehead where she had been struck.

Dael, on the ground, groaned and looked up to the hammer, and traced the chain back to its source. Taraketh, in spite of his bad leg, had leapt out of the craft as well, no doubt seeing that they had worn Crow down enough to join the fight. He quickly snapped his chain back even as Crow tried to regain her balance. Yet Taraketh wasn't finished. Anger blazing, he wound it around one arm even as he made gestures and chanted with the other. As Crow managed to look up, his aura erupted in green light, before the winds around him built together and swirled to form a vertical ram of air. It wasn't as impressive as Jay's "worst" work had been…but it was definitely large, potent, and more than dangerous enough to give anything a headache. A moment later, he finished his words and pointed at Crow…sending the ram, swirling around like a living saw, straight at her. The Elite Hound barely had time to look at it before it smashed into her.

Now it was the woman's turn to get knocked violently. The blades of wind lacerated her flesh wherever they touched, but the raw power of the air ram knocked her a good fifty feet away before sending her to the ground in one of the same tumbles she had knocked everyone else into. Her head struck a rock as she went along, but seemed to break right through it, and her white coat was torn to pieces along with the rest of her attire before she finally came to a halt, leaving a bloody streak behind on the ground.

Dael had taken too much of a beating and had exhausted herself a bit with the pounding she gave Crow. Nevertheless, she groaned and struggled to rise. She didn't know what the others were doing, only that she had to get her sword again. However, even as this happened, to her disbelief, Crow was beginning to rise again. She was definitely slower and with less "spring" than before. She was still panting and gasping for air, her body and clothing dripping sweat, blood, and dirt…but she got to her feet none the less. Once there, she wobbled a bit, and looked around. Dael saw her face clearly for the first time.

Two long scars were across her nose, extending from a cheek to the opposite eyebrow. They were relatively small, but left her with an "X" shape on her face. However, they were covered in blood now. Her protective mask was gone. Her face was swollen and bruised. Yet even now, after the beating, she looked enraged and ready to fight further…

Until the sky suddenly turned dark again.

Seeing this, both Crow and Dael looked around in surprise, realizing another summon was coming. After a moment, the portal appeared again…bigger and larger than ever, far more than for Ifrit. Crow looked and saw it, and as she did…Dael herself saw the source. Bahamut was on his feet again, arms crossed before him as he summoned. And suddenly…he came forth. Still gleaming like a sunlit ocean, beautiful, majestic, and terrible as the sea…Leviathan emerged from within the portal, his whiskers thrashing about angrily.

Scarcely had he cleared it when he leaned back.

Crow could only stare in horror, helpless to run.

Then, the sea serpent snapped its head down and cried out.

Immediately, from the very rock, a tidal wave thirty feet tall seeped forth and condensed behind the serpant, bearing tons of pressure and power behind it. As the creature continued to screech an ear-piercing note, the wave built to its zenith, and then shot forward with force that could shatter a hill of granite. Crow vainly planted her legs and crossed her arms in front of her before the wave smashed into her full force.

Dael actually felt the spray from the tidal wave kick up and smashed into her with power so hard that it stung, and that was nothing more than droplets. She could only imagine the magnitude of power that had struck Crow. It was deafening, hearing the roar of the titanic wave rip over the landscape. She saw it obliterate rocks into gravel, and she honestly wondered what would be left of Crow after that was done. However, leaving nothing to chance, she again found her sword. As the tsunami died down, she snatched it up and held it at the ready. She was out of mage bullets by now, and she focused ahead on her opponent, or rather where she would be, as the wave died down again.

The water vanished as Leviathan did, and the lights came fully back on. Dael began to advance, keeping her sword in front of her. However, even as she did, she drew to a halt.

Remarkably…impossibly…Crow was still standing. However, it was obvious she was done. Assuming that last move hadn't already mortally wounded her, she was seconds from collapse. She was clothed in rages now. Her head and shoulders were slumped, along with her arms. Her hair, soaked and filthy, hung over her head. Her body was a road map of bruises and injuries. She didn't move, only struggled to breathe after burning out her power as well as nearly being drowned.

After a pause, Dael continued to advance. Bahamut slumped a bit, but raised his weapons. Cryder began to rise again, very slowly and painfully, and Taraketh kept his eye on her, his weapon at the ready though he was still out of range. Dael no longer heard Jalab or Ceja, but she kept her eye on the woman for now. Only Quaren was still rising in the end, ejecting his clip and putting in a fresh one.

Finally, Crow looked up to Dael, and made her freeze. She held her sword at the ready, expecting an attack at first. Yet what she saw...made her pause.

The woman's face, as messy as it was, was covered with tears.

"Wh…why…?" She asked. "Why…why can't I win…? Why do I always lose…? Why can't I be the best at just one thing…?"

Dael was forced to halt, and showed just a trace of puzzlement on her own expression. She talked almost like a confused child, like something it had known was taken away from it. The image of the cold killer, the haughty, arrogant witch of a woman, was gone...replaced by something that looked lost and afraid. And seeing her like this, seeing her brought so low, seeing her pride smashed to bits and leaving her just a shell of a creature…even the commander couldn't bring herself to have a desire to kill her. It was just…a waste, at this point. She wasn't alone. The others hesitated as well, even lowered their weapons slightly.

"…It's over, Crow." Dael finally stated. "Surrender into custody."

The woman stood there, eyes streaked with tears, staring at Dael. For a moment, the commander thought she actually considered it…considered taking her chances with Esthar's legal system.

Yet it was only a moment. Then the look of anger returned…the fact that she had been so broken, so humiliated…how she had thought she was a living goddess, and yet this group of "piglets" had stopped her. And as she realized that, fed that reaction, let the hate fill her…her expression slowly twisted into a scowl. Her face turned red with hate. Her eyes filled with madness.

Her hand went for her pocket again. Dael and the others tensed and raised their weapons again at that, expecting a weapon. But then, she pulled out something familiar. The tin from earlier. With all the speed and strength she could muster, she yanked it open…

"You think…you've won…?"

She held it upside down into her palm…shaking no less than twelve pills into her hand.

"I…am…a…goddess! Descended from nobility of Sybenia! Descended from Odin!"

"You idiot!"

Dael reacted slightly to that. She didn't turn her head, but she knew who spoke. It was Bahamut.

"For the love of god, don't take those!" He exclaimed. "You can still get out of this alive!"

"Shut up!" She hissed. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, _shut up!_" Tears were actually mounting in her eyes again. "I'm not worthless! I'm someone to be admired! Someone to be loved! I'll kill you to prove it! I swear I will!"

"You'll be the only one who dies, Crow! Look at you! Look how much damage two of those pills did to your body!" Dael chimed in. "It'll be like drinking poison!"

"I'll beat you…" She sneered in response. "I'll beat you if it's the last thing I do!"

With that, she threw the pills into her mouth and began to grind them in her teeth to swallow them, not even bothering to swallow them whole.

Dael and the others stared blankly…and fearfully. The commander honestly didn't know what was going to happen as she saw Crow eat every last pill. Would it kill her instantly? Would she temporarily have the strength of a god before it did so? What sort of physical effect would result? She didn't know. All she knew was that as she downed them, the look of madness increased. As remains of pills dribbled from her lips, she rose up and laughed insanely.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Look at me now! I'm feeling stronger already! Now you'll face a fear worse than death, swine! You'll all be ground into jelly underneath my feet! You'll cry out for…for…"

Suddenly, her face went rigid.

"…Urk…UGGH!"

Abruptly, the woman's face turned into pure, absolute agony. She seized her own chest and arched back. As she did…something horrifying happened. Her body began to enlarge dramatically. Every muscle, from her biceps to those in her cheekbones, began to grow…and grow largely and disproportionately. They began to push out the sides of her head, bulging underneath the skin. In moments, she was as big as a bodybuilder. However…that wasn't all. As she screamed in agony, her hair began to grow uncontrollably and her skin turned jaundiced. The muscles enlarged, making her more of a hulking bodybuilder…then more yet…

"No…NOO!" She screamed as she fell to all fours…her clothing stripping off her body, shredding. To the horror of the group, her toes and fingers were being crushed under her expanding palms and feet… They began to see the bones and joints pushed horribly out of alignment, enough to transfix them completely… Dael herself was only able to look for a moment before her jaw slackened, her look going from surprise and shock...to horror. She couldn't think about the others at the moment...but they were exactly the same, their eyes going from being determined to fearful.

Then…the bones began to crush under the weight of the muscles. Like wet kindling, Dael heard her bones snap one after another. It was enough to make her pale. Her sword clattered to the ground. Bahamut's shield and sword did the same. Even the Guardian Force was aghast at what he saw.

Then…the skin began to bulge more…the muscles still growing. The bones that were broken repaired…and grew jagged…horrible…twisted…started to pierce out of the skin as her hair turned pale yellow along with her skin. Blood burst from a dozen places, with more all the time. Her muscles were going to flail the skin off of her body. Her screams grew more and more distorted, and finally gave out all together. Her own windpipe was being crushed under the size of her expanding organs. Her face twisted down…and on seeing it, Taraketh actually staggered backward from where he was, dropping his own weapons and recoiling. It was a twisted, malformed, assymetrical vision of the beautiful person it had once been. One of her eyes was being squeezed out of her head. However, her remaining eye gazed straight at Dael.

For a moment…it was the only thing Dael could see as tears ran out of it.

"Help…" She managed to choke out. "P…lease…"

And then…it happened.

Suddenly, a gold staff swung down…and the head was crushed as the neck was broken.

Immediately, the deformed hunk of flesh collapsed and moved no more.

Dael felt like she was four years old again and had just seen a real life boogieman. She stood there trembling, for a moment...the strong, independent military commander gone. She wasn't alone. Everyone was the same. Even Bahamut couldn't look away. He just stared opened mouthed like her. However…the sight was soon cut off. The owner of the gold staff moved in front of the body, obscuring it.

The spell was broken then. Dael looked up to the figure…and saw it was Jalab. His clothing was torn, he was roughed up and bruised in a few places, and even had claw marks and a bite mark or two on him…but he was already.

His head was bowed, however, and his eyes closed.

"…Never a sin to show mercy," He stated grimly after a moment. "No matter how cruel."

Dael hesitated a moment. Esthar's Hawks were not taught to be merciful in times of war. That was a disaster…leaving an enemy to attack you later, or carrying around a prisoner you couldn't feed or house. General militaries could worry about prisoners. Rules of warfare that were agreed on between countries could be abided by. After that, it didn't pay.

However, she could still see Crow begging for help in her mind's eye…still hear her last words…

…And, at the moment, she agreed with Jalab.

She turned her head away, not even wanting to look at the remains. She looked to the side, and saw Ceja leaning against a rock, a bit roughed up herself, but snoring tranquilly. She almost looked peaceful now. Definitely no longer a berserker.

"Sleeper pinch." Jalab said when she looked at her, anticipating her question. "Cut chi to anger portion of mind. Took some time to get good grip."

Dael exhaled, and then turned her head, closing her eyes as her gaze went over Crow, and then opened again for the others. She looked at all of them, one after another. She started with a horror stricken Taraketh, who had forced himself to look to the ground. He had no satisfaction, no sense of justice…just a look to try and contain what he had just seen.

"…Taraketh? You alright?"

He swallowed, but then turned away and nodded. "…I'll be alright."

She looked to the next one. Cryder was already looking away. He seemed pale, although better than most of them.

"Cryder?"

"Seen a lot of bad things on the open ocean, lass." He answered. "That topped most of them…but I can take it."

She looked to the next. "Quar-"

She was cut off as the corporal bowed his head and threw up.

The Esthar's Hawk frowned, but only slightly. After all, even the worst training didn't prepare you for that. You didn't normally see that much gore unless the person was dead. She soon turned fully to him and began to walk over to try and get him up. Yet even as she did…her palm tingled, as did everyone else's. She held it up and looked, and was just in time to see a colorful rune of light be emblazoned on it. However…the light was the same sickly jaundiced color as Crow's had been. She couldn't stand to look at it, or to feel the same terrible spells that Crow had used enter her mind. She didn't think she'd ever manage to sink any of those infernal songs herself. She was more than happy when the rune vanished.

Reaching Quaren, still hunched over and retching. She put a hand on his shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. She held there for a moment of silence as Quaren gasped, catching his breath.

"…Quaren?" She asked, more quietly after a moment. "Are you going to be alright?"

The young man paused for a bit, but then nodded in between gasps. "I'll…I'll…be fine…commander…" He finally choked out. "Just…just never…seen anything like that before… I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize." Dael immediately corrected. There was a time where she would have told him to man up as an Esthar's Hawk. That time had come and gone by now. "You had an understandable reaction. I don't think any of us have ever seen anything like that…"

"…I have."

Immediately, everyone looked up to who had spoken…Bahamut. He alone was still staring at the remains of Crow. His look was dark, and his eyes deep and faraway.

"In fact…I've lived through it." He stated grimly.

This caused all to turn and look to him.

"There's more than one way to 'junction', mind you." He stated, not looking away from Crow. "They way you all have been using has been the 'weakest', but also the 'safest'. You're only junctioning spirits. Any more than that, and you start junctioning bodies. That results in abominations…hideous chimeras that are mixes of esper…Guardian Force…whatever…and human. You can do it completely, but if you do that…and you put too much power into it…this is what results."

He looked up to the others. "…Sybenia is 'cheating'." He flatly stated. "The Guardian Forces that it has been using haven't joined willingly with them. Somehow, they forced a junction. Then, using things like those pills, they try to get more out of it than they're allowed. A physical junction normally risks killing the esper or Guardian Force to accomplish. Yet they're forcing their bodies to receive so much of the Guardian Force's power that they're behaving as if they _are_ fully junctioned. That doesn't work. You can't force this sort of power."

"Of course not." Taraketh threw in. "Guardian Forces are sentient entities of their own. They would have to be willing to give all of their life to a junction."

"Exactly." Bahamut answered. "As I was with my pupil. Siren, however, is certainly not 'the type' to even junction normally to a human. By trying to force a full junction with the pills, she not only overloaded her physical body…she did it with a Guardian Force not willing to die. Siren literally tried to destroy her body from the inside out, burst forth from her ruined flesh…"

"Good lord…" Cryder murmured in response to that. "Let's put her on the list of 'do not junction', eh lads?"

"She might comply with us." Bahamut said with a grimace. "After all…we 'freed' her. Just the same, we aren't going to be forcing that sort of power, so we don't have to worry."

"I'm still worried." Dael responded. "From what you're saying, Sybenia can force junctions whether a Guardian Force likes it or not. And they can synthetically get more out of it. The Elite Hounds are already bad enough. If they find more people like Li Juanhong and give them Guardian Forces with this new technology, they could be worse than ever. Plus, we have no idea how their technology is developing. For all we know, they may reach the point where they can synthesize essences and draw on every dead esper throughout history."

The boy grimaced on hearing this. The others likewise looked uncomfortable. The few encounters they had with opponents who were junctioned hadn't exactly been "good" ones. Just three of them had been enough to bring most surviving militaries of the world to their knees. What would Sybenia do with an army of them? It made the fusion bombs they were working on look pale by comparison, as well as all of their great war machines. Once again, Dael began to wonder if they had been focusing on the wrong target thus far in the war. They needed to know exactly what their goal was in the research labs in Leuco...

Yet even as she thought of that, a noise over loudspeakers suddenly rang out.

_"…What the heck was that?" _Cid's voice called over the landscape. _"Did I just step into a horror survival game or something?"_

Dael rolled her eyes and sighed. After a moment, she looked up to the massive _Enterprise_, hovering over them and continuing to shine down its beacons. "…Crow's dead, Cid. Let's leave it at that." She called back up to the airship. "This sneak attack was stopped. Now we need to get in touch with Esthar city proper…let them know we have a hole in our 'back door defense' and we need someone to come patch it."

There was a pause from overhead, but then Cid spoke back. _"Alright, Dael. Just…just a little disturbed is all… Anyway, forget that. I'm already way ahead of you. I got us back in contact with Esthar once you cut off her awful crooning… The defenders have fallen back quite a bit by now. Sybenia's managed to land quite a few military vehicles and machines now. The more the land, the harder they are to keep back. They're definitely trying to make a beachhead now, and they're going for the airfield. The carriers, they say, are already loading up the bombers. They think they're going to go to the airfields just to fuel up, and then they'll make a move on Esthar itself."_

This was bad news, and worse than what Dael had hoped. However, it also did a good job of getting her mind back on task. "How long can they hold them?"

_"They're going to make their big stand at the airfield, from what they're saying." _Cid answered. _"They pulled back early to throw up all the defenses they can muster. As for the Black Corsairs, they're causing some problems, especially since more keep showing up…but not enough to fire on an aircraft carrier. They're good, though. Looks like the enemy isn't used to fighting something that fights back. About seventeen destroyers have been disabled in all."_

Dael merely frowned at the figure. "We've still got a long way to go before we even make this a costly victory for the enemy…let alone an eeked-out win for us." She looked to the others. "Alright…this night isn't over yet. Gather all the weapons and get rid of them somehow. Destroy them or take them on board. Disable the last helicopter. Whoever's still alive, tie them up and stick them in the brig on the _Enterprise_. Then we get going for Esthar as fast as possible. We won't have more than an hour at the most, so we'll have to do a rush job in patching ourselves up. Something tells me the action isn't going to be over for us for a very long time…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	44. A Messenger of Panic

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone. No, I'm dead. But I did have a hellish last few weeks with finals and projects. Still not sure how they turned out. However, I have more time to write now, so hopefully updates are back to being regular for the rest of the summer.

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><p><em>One Hour Later<em>

* * *

><p>The door to the bridge slid open. Everyone who had gathered there, which consisted of Dael, Quaren, Cid (who was manning Cryder's console), and Taraketh, looked to it to see who it was. Considering how savage she had looked like before, this was a big change for Ceja as she walked in, carefully being escorted by Jalab. He actually had taken one of her arms, and she allowed him to do so. She seemed meek, uncertain, and even possibly a bit depressed as she was led inside, like a person who had just survived a shooting. Everyone just looked at first as she cleared the doorway. Only once it closed and Jalab began to escort her over to a seat did Dael speak up.<p>

"How do you feel, Ceja?"

The warrior paused, looking over the room. She had already noted that Jalab was doctored up a bit, especially where she had bit him. Cryder and Bahamut were tending to their own injuries in sickbay, as they had gotten the worst out of everyone. To be honest, Dael wanted to lie down and sleep for a full day herself, but she pushed herself onward for now. She couldn't afford to rest yet. Esthar was still in a great deal of trouble.

Ceja soon began to look rather uncomfortable, bowing her head further.

"…I'm alright, I suppose." She finally stated rather quietly. "I'm in better condition than everyone else…and unfortunately some of that is because of me…" She paused, and swallowed. "Everyone, I'm-"

"You don't have to apologize." Dael immediately cut off.

The Fuliet warrior shook her head. "That was stupid and reckless of me. I might have killed someone in the group."

"And, instead, you saved our lives." Dael responded. "None of us could lift a finger against Crow. That was the only way to get us out of the situation, reckless and dangerous as it might have been. It was either that or wait until she killed us."

"She has a point, Ceja." Quaren added. "In war, it's always better to take a risk at death than a certainty."

"Just…please don't do it again unless you really need to." Taraketh added.

"Of course not." Ceja readily added. She turned her head to Jalab soon after, grimacing again. "…Once again, Sir Tierras, I'm very sorry… I hope I didn't do any lasting damage…"

"No problem." Jalab said with a smile and a nod.

Dael looked away and back to the controls at this. By now, it was becoming rather obvious to the woman. Although she wouldn't have held a grudge either for what Ceja had done, the ease with which Jalab was handling it meant one thing very clearly to her. The monk liked Ceja a bit more than a friend. He had to have taken a bad beating as well as injuries from her, but all he could do was smile, not even wince from all of them when they still had to be raw and tender this soon after the fight. She wondered if Ceja realized it yet? She nearly turned to check…

When she quickly shook her head once. What was she doing? She had no time to waste on something like this now. They were still in a war situation. And the fight was far from over. Plus, she was needed at the controls now.

"Quaren, start us off on a standard descent, and bring us to a hover about five feet from the tarmac."

She soon heard Ceja speak up behind her. "Descent? We're going down?"

"We've back in Esthar…back over the airfield, to be exact." Dael responded even as Quaren decreased the output of the magnetic repulsor, causing the airship to land. Although there was only darkness outside save for the lights of the _Enterprise_, that was typical because the city was under blackout conditions. Hence, it was rather hard to tell where they were at the moment. Even at this distance, it was impossible to hear the sounds of intense battle to the south, or to see anything other than the occasional distant flash. And that was if you were facing the same direction as the south, which they weren't. "Radio silence is still up, but we got through to the emergency channels and told them about how the Iron Channel's been compromised. The _Invincible_ still has firepower capabilities and they're sending it out there to make sure nothing else gets through. We don't have much more other than militia to defend the site, though…"

"Yet another thing we kind of have to swallow and try not to worry too much about, I guess…" Taraketh stated with a sigh. "I'm starting to regret everything I ever said about your country being too militaristic. I should have devoted more of my anger toward Sybenia…"

"For better or for worse, it looks like we're still going to get a chance to join in the ground fighting…" Quaren said with a grimace. "But just between you and me, I'm still seeing double from time to time…and I feel a bit nauseated too…"

"Bite it down and replace your feelings with anger and desire for victory." Ceja immediately retorted. "Now is not the time to get weak in the knees."

Dael actually frowned on hearing that. Ceja had been unconscious when Crow died…and she hadn't seen what the result had been. To be honest, now that the adrenaline had worn off, Dael was glad she hadn't eaten anything in a while whenever she remembered it. There were far too many things in this world that one could see and then not "unsee". At any rate, Quaren only frowned and said nothing, and seemed to double down once again on landing the aircraft. So long as Ceja's comments took his mind off of things that really didn't help at the moment, she didn't mind.

Although there were no beacons lit on the pads, Cid brought up the infrared screens and the proximity sensors to tell how far they were from the ground. Soon, the ship was brought down into a landing, and Dael gave Quaren the order to bring the magnetic repulsor back up to 100%. The airship soon went into a hover. That done, Dael quickly began to power down everything.

"Alright everyone…pack up. Our break is over. We're going to have to hotfoot it from here, especially since all of the military vehicles are in use."

Cid nodded as he began to power down his own console. "Guess I'll have to pull some more weight now. I'm just about the only one who hasn't got an injury yet. And after that fight, I'd understand if everyone else was pretty drained."

"Let's just keep thinking of those soldiers and mages who are fighting against ten to one odds down at the coast." Dael grimly responded. "Think about how hard they're fighting. First things first, we're going to need to get in touch with someone with an open channel and try to figure out our next move. Regardless of our fight with Crow, we've still got a way before we can idle again."

* * *

><p>Almost everyone was still rather sore, and quite tired, from the incident with Crow, and there was only so much that magic could do, as well as first aid supplies on a ship when none of them had much experience either in extensive medicine or healing magic. Nevertheless, everyone was ready to fight further if need be. Everyone collected their various weapons and items and finished totally powering down the <em>Enterprise<em>. Only one thing remained that caused Dael some concern. What did they do with the Movers? In the end, since they were simply sitting in a corner and not doing anything, she decided to leave them. She supposed they wouldn't do anything else until they had access to more mythril anyway. Once everyone was armed and ready as best as they could be, Bahamut and Cryder included, both of whom were still walking a bit strangely at first, everyone headed for the lower deck.

To be honest, Dael felt a bit better just to be moving around. She may have had her own task force, but that didn't change the fact that you could only do so much of use on an airship, waiting to land. She was eager just to walk around, even if nothing else. Just standing at a wheel made one feel helpless.

The dorsal hatch was still fully intact. It had managed to escape damage during the last scuffle. With everyone behind her, fully armed and ready to go, Dael pressed the release button. The hydraulics hummed, and soon the ramp slowly began to deploy.

The tarmac, naturally, was dark on the other side. A few lights had been left on in a delay from the cockpit, just long enough for the group to get to the hanger. After that, they'd switch off. Dael began to descend before the ramp was even fully deployed. The others, on seeing this, quickly moved in behind her. Ahead of them was plain darkness. It was barely possible to make out the outlines of buildings in the distance, due to the moonless and starless night. Naturally, no one was there to greet them either. The only sign of there being anything out there was a faint light or two in the distance, signifying the side entrance to the hanger. Other than that, the lights of the _Enterprise_ seemed to make an island of light in a sea of nothingness.

Dael had barely touched the ground, however, when she paused. She spotted something just in the edge of the light. A shape flitted past, running. For a moment, a gleam that could only be light reflecting off of the eyes of a nocturnal creature went by as well. She wasn't the only one who spotted it. The others did too, and soon halted. The commander held a moment, when, suddenly, a second shape darted past. Since they were paying more attention to it this time, they were able to see what it was despite how fast it moved.

Ceja was the one who spoke up. "Was that a…basilhound?"

Her question was answered a moment later, when a third streak came by…and this time halted in the light. It turned to them, and immediately hissed. There was no mistaking it. It was indeed a basilhound. A moment later, it turned and faced them, clearly meaning to attack. The reason was clear. Much like the ones in Fuliet, this one was emaciated. It was starving, willing to go up against eight opponents for a meal.

However, a gunshot sharply rang out, and it gave a yelp before blood erupted from its head. It instantly collapsed in a lifeless heap.

Dael turned to the source, just in time to see Quaren pull back his smoking barrel. Even after getting a beating, he was still a dead shot and quick. Almost too quick. Both Bahamut and Taraketh had recoiled from him, holding the ears that were nearest to the gun. Noticing this, he grimaced and shrugged. "…Sorry."

"There's monsters running around in Esthar too?" Taraketh asked as he shook his head. "Is this some sort of new weapon Sybenia is using?"

Dael shook her head, already getting a move on. "Let's not stay out here long." She started, soon going into a jog and headed straight for the lights. "Not if those things are running around. At any rate, no. It's not a weapon. It's standard procedure to reroute most of the power to the overshields rather than the perimeter shields in a situation where bombing is possible. Usually we don't have to worry… The local monsters have already tested themselves so many times against the barrier that they've learned to fear it. The fact that they charged it regardless…"

"Not a surprise at all." Ceja answered for her, even as both she and the others soon broke into a similar gait and followed right behind. "They're already running wild in Fuliet, and by now their prey must be almost gone. They're desperate for food wherever they can get it."

"Not exactly a very encouraging thought…" Taraketh stated as he kept up behind them. "We've already got to deal with Sybenia, and now all of the big monsters from Fuliet are coming in too?"

"We'll be alright for now…I hope." Dael responded. "The deadliest creatures are going as savage as the others, but they haven't made their way south yet. Still, yet another problem we need to keep our fingers crossed for. Everyone in Class II has to be guarding against the Sybenians…"

Luckily for the group, they seemed to have simply run into a spot of bad luck with the three basilhounds. There didn't appear to be anything else on the airfield lingering in the dark…or, at minimum, nothing that was popping out. There really was no telling in the darkness, but none of them were eager to hang around and find out. Since everyone was junctioned, even their jogging was more akin to a full-speed run of most normal people, and it didn't take them long to leave the _Enterprise_ behind and reach the hanger door. As they neared, the door automatically opened up for them. A figure emerged into the light, who Dael immediately recognized from the uniform as a Class II Esthar's Hawk. He stood to one side, gun in one hand, and allowed them in. Dael arrived first, and the others quickly filed in behind her.

The interior was lit up well enough. The windows had simply been shut or darkened. However, it was also rather empty. Dael could hear her footsteps echoing as she went inside. It only figured. All of the big machines and vehicles had already been removed, save for two small military jeeps. Other than that, there were only a grand total of three men present, and only the one they had spotted was for combat duty. The other two were mechanics for Esthar Hawks, and then only in the rank of private. They had been sitting at a wall console listening to one of the radio relays, no doubt the one patched into the main antenna of the airfield, but turned and looked to the group as they all filed in. As they did, they started to rise themselves and headed for the jeeps. Once inside, the one at the front quickly shut the door and bolted it.

"So far the monsters that managed to get into the city haven't tried testing the doors…at least, not here." The corporal stated. "But they'll tear through this doorway when they do. Unfortunately, no one in Class II is left to round them up."

Finishing with the door, he turned and stood at attention before Dael. The woman paused a moment before doing the same. She had ascended the military ladder so fast, and she had spent so much time with her friends as opposed to other soldiers, that she had forgotten about military propriety. However, as the corporal saluted, she returned it and gave the at-ease gesture with a dismissive wave. She was eager to get to the situation at hand.

"Welcome back, commander." The corporal greeted.

"What's our next assignment from command?" Dael asked, quickly getting right to the point. "We were only able to gain so much from the transmissions."

"We're to move you to the city perimeter, sir. Unfortunately, we can't get any closer than that." The corporal responded. "The city is too blockaded at the moment and we're supposed to remain on standby. From there, you'll have to go on foot for eight blocks to get to a temporary helipad we've set up. There's a few Stratoaevis aircraft there that can relay you to the south and the battle zone if necessary." He reached for his side and unclipped a specialized radio. Dael recognized the type as one of the more expensive varieties that allowed coded transmissions. He passed this over to her. "If you need to be rerouted, you'll be contacted on this. Channel 11."

Dael excepted the radio somewhat hesitantly, looking at the man curiously.

"Pardon me, but did you say _if_ we're needed?

"We're trying to enact a plan to end the invasion." The corporal stated. "A few days ago, while going through the Gordian Vault under Lady Mianyl's decree, we found a prototype for a 'Phobos Siren', which, as near as we can figure, was a cut-funded attempt by Esthar to produce a weapon similar to an Aegis Shield. Only instead of neutralizing fission reactions within weapons coming into the city, it actually detonates a pulse that triggers the same effect within the internal safety protocol mechanisms within all reactors in the vicinity. The device was only about 90% complete, but we've devoted a lot of our engineers and the scientists of Esthar to completing it. We think we nearly have a working model. We're attempting to put it in some sort of delivery system. We ended up using one of the last remaining active Yoichi rockets. It's the only thing we have large enough to carry the payload and still have enough range to possibly hit."

Dael didn't like the sound of the "possibly" part, but the rest came as a big surprise. "They were able to manufacture a prototype that quickly?"

"Actually, this is the original prototype. All of the files we managed to recover that shows the specs were incomplete. The omitted parts were already finished and we didn't have time to reverse engineer them."

"In other words, this is our one and only weapon of this type." Taraketh threw in.

"That weapon will knock out all of our reactors as well as theirs…" Quaren commented.

"Might be worth the price of victory, lad." Cryder added with a shrug.

"I'm a bit worried, though…" Cid commented. "Just how old is this weapon? I mean, if it's more than eight or ten years, we're looking at totally new reactor technology coming out. And different emergency codes for shutting down the reactions. It might not work at all…or worse, it might shut down _our_ reactors and leave theirs on."

Dael considered that for a moment. That would definitely be a less-than-ideal situation. They had so few weapons and vehicles as it was. Defeat was guaranteed if that was what happened. But then again, they already had guns and magic as their greatest points at the moment. They wouldn't do all that much worse after suffering the effects of the bomb. It was the Sybenians who would hurt worse from it if it succeeded, as they relied on fission power for most of their heavier tanks and war robots. Besides, assuming the bomb did only impact them and not the Sybenians, what then? There was a good chance they'd only hasten their demise. The Sybenians were taking the shore. Everything they had done until now and were doing now would delay them at best, and wouldn't offer much of a delay. For all their moves and small victories, they hadn't even come close to "winning the war". Either this move turned the tide, or they simply brought about the inevitable conclusion a bit faster.

The commander finally spoke. "It's really none of our concern whether they choose to do it or not. It's not in our authority to abort the launch. We're ready to leave whenever you are, corporal."

The soldier nodded. "Yes sir. Right this way."

* * *

><p>The ride felt almost like it was in another world, at least at first. It brought back memories of the time in Fuliet as they drove into the city proper, as there were no street lights active, leaving only the headlights in an endless black abyss. Dael kept an eye out for any more monsters. She did see a few run parallel to the car for a few moments, or even dart in front of the road. However, there weren't many. If this "Phobos Siren" could do what it claimed, she hoped they launched soon. They needed to put the shields back up before too many monsters got in, or they might have breeding populations in the city before they could clean them all up. And they really couldn't afford to waste guns, bullets, or people on fighting monsters nowadays. Fortunately, they cleared up as they went closer to the city.<p>

The big reason for that might have been the fact that a few blocks were still lit up. Not many, but enough street lights to provide a "corridor" of sorts for the military down the street blocks that the corporal had mentioned. No doubt, they could shut them down in a moment's notice by flipping the switch on one large circuit breaker if they needed to, but for now were leaving them on until a bombing occurred. The electric lighting was unnatural to the creatures of Fuliet. They preferred the cover of darkness. They weren't going to go out and risk being seen. Still, Dael figured it was best to be wary. Even if they were scared, that would only go so far and last so long. These creatures had charged moving vehicles.

The street has a few military vehicles running to and fro, shuttling troops around. They seemed to be deploying down one of the main highways out of town. Dael assumed they were headed for Diamond's Point. It was a large bridge crossing a massive rift valley in Esthar. No easy way around it. It would serve as one last bottleneck before there was nothing left to stop Sybenia from entering Esthar proper. Of course, from that position, the enemy could just bomb whatever they wanted. Hopefully the rocket would eliminate the need to use that fallback, because they wouldn't have much left at that point.

There was a road barricade with two gunmen just up ahead. It was mostly just hastily-erected materials and a few concrete k-rails. The two jeeps pulled up to it and came to a halt. No one exited right away. One of the soldiers came first, just long enough for the drivers to clear the group that was with them. That done, they motioned them on, and the eight dismounted, taking their weapons with them, and began to take off down the road. They maintained a good jogging pace, which made for a fairly rapid run in their state. Eight blocks wasn't just a quick jog.

As they ran along, Dael kept an eye out to the buildings that were illuminated by the few street lights. Most of them were dark and shut up, which was only typical for an invasion. Some of the alleys had barricades set up in anticipation of future street fighting, and a few guns in place too. Nothing too terribly heavy, though. Not even a minigun, which only made Dael frown to think of it. How were they supposed to hold off anything like Sybenia so poorly armed? More and more, it began to become clear that this Phobos Siren wasn't just a longshot…it was their only hope.

After a time, Bahamut commented on something. "I'm seeing blue glows from a number of the uncovered windows."

"They're still operating the emergency broadcast station." Dael explained. "It's too dim to allow for targeting, but it will keep the people advised of when they need to head to basements."

Sure enough, running along just a bit farther, they saw that there was one other device that was on, probably for the benefit of the city defenders. One of the signs that was traditionally used to read ads for various products had been turned on to show the emergency station. Not much to see at this point, just a line showing that it was broadcasting but not running any updates. They soon passed by it, still with no further information.

Aside from the lights, occasionally a vehicle would run by. But they always moved soldiers or supplies, and weren't giving lifts or had the room to do so. After two blocks, they finally saw another basilhound. It ventured into the light on the side of the road for a moment, and eyed the group. It snarled, but before anyone could pull a weapon on it, a jeep ran by, and it screeched and took off back into the darkness. Quaren let out a nervous exhale at that.

"Now we have monsters running in the streets. What if something like a Tyrant Lizard starts running around?"

"Then we'd be in trouble, but there is little sense in worrying about something we can't control." Dael answered.

Another block passed. More cars went by, getting a bit thicker now. Apparently, there was more commerce here as they grew closer to the turnoff. Another large TV screen came up as they neared the end of the fourth block. As they passed it by, it only continued to show the same blank readout as before. The group went right by it and neared the next corner. For a moment, Dael focused on the sounds of the night. She had never heard Esthar so quiet before. And with all of the streets dark, it was hard to imagine she was even in the bustling metropolis. All she saw was darkness save for the one road, and all she heard was her footsteps and the sounds of a few engines, both here and deeper in the city. She was surprised that things had gone so dead so quickly…

Then, both she and the others heard something new. From behind them, a bit of static suddenly rang out, coming from the monitor. On hearing this, Dael froze, and immediately snapped back to it. The others likewise halted soon after, and looked to her curiously.

"What's the matter?"

"…That emergency station is text-based only. Someone's trying to broadcast an audio signal." She explained.

Before anything could come through on that end, however, another signal came in. Specifically, Dael's radio suddenly came to life. She had left the designated channel on in case something came through. Aside from a few redeployments of resources, they had been nothing, both in the car ride and on the way here. Now, however, it suddenly came to life.

_"All units, be advised. Radar is showing a flying object of unknown model and make has left the small group of warships off the western coast of Esthar and is headed in a direct course for the city proper. Repeat. An unidentified flying bogie is headed for Esthar. Speed is…"_

There was a pause. When the man spoke again, he sounded in disbelief.

_"…Speed is above supersonic. At least Mach 30."_

The seven all paused on hearing that. Cid himself looked stunned. "…There isn't a plane built that can go even half that speed."

"Even bullets can't travel anywhere that fast…" Quaren added. "Or rockets. That's over 37,000 kilometers per hour. That's completely impossible."

"Somehow, I doubt we're lucky enough for the radar to just be going on the fritz…but at that speed it'll be here in just a matter of minutes. And I doubt we have any form of anti-aircraft weapon that can knock down anything moving that-"

"'_And when Mateus came for the King of Fynn, he looked about and saw all of his allies slain, with nothing but hungry ravens and maggots to be at his side.'"_

The group froze again at once. For a moment, they simply stood there. However, most of them recognized the voice already. Dael herself had heard the radio address many, many times during the mission to Sybenia…and after seeing him face-to-face, she could almost see the twisted and demented look on his young expression.

"…Rozan Heirarch." She stated after a moment.

Only Ceja looked a bit surprised to hear that. Jalab was always reserved, and all of the others had heard at least one of his radio broadcasts in the past. Now, all of their eyes looked to the source of the noise…the emergency broadcast channel. That was why he had been jamming it. He had been trying to get a transmission through. But why?

_"How does it feel, my soon-to-be final jewel in the crown of my world empire?" _The voice hissed. _"To know that your own ineffective government got to this point? How they made false promises of security and prosperity for years and now left you alone and defenseless, without leaders or hope? Do you feel like the people of Fynn did against Palamecia? Well…allow me to adjust that line of thinking."_

The voice suddenly grew far darker.

_"…You should feel like the people of Alexandria felt when death paid them a visit."_

Dael didn't immediately get that reference despite studying up on the history of war. She had to think on it for a moment. However, long before it occurred to her, Bahamut's own head raised.

"Good lord…he's not serious, is he?"

Dael forgot about trying to remember, and turned to him, along with everyone else. "What do you mean by that, lad?" Cryder asked.

Bahamut opened his mouth to speak in response, but was cut off again by the radio.

_"Your leaders have two choices. They can either surrender or I can watch Esthar's great city be turned into a slab. I've been delayed by you quite long enough. I fully intend to watch your city burn bit by bit until every last one of you is dead, or I receive your surrender. You haven't much time."_

As Rozan finished, something changed. The wind abruptly picked up. It started off as a breeze, but quickly rose in magntitude, and began to become first a gust, and then a stiff wind. Papers and trash began to be picked up and tossed about in the streets. At first they were just blown, but soon the rebounding of wind off of the nearby buildings began to pick them up and move them around. The group looked to this in puzzlement. At first, they all thought it was simply a change in the weather. But as it continued to build in what was previously a calm night, Dael quickly realized that wasn't the case. It was confirmed all the more when Bahamut stiffened and looked to the sky…specifically, to the west.

"Not of Gaia…" Jalab commented in regards to the wind.

"Feels almost like magic…" Taraketh responded. "Both natural and unnatural at the same time…"

"Bahamut, what is this?" Dael asked.

"…Something I haven't felt for a very, very long time." Bahamut darkly responded, his eyes staying on the horizon. His face turned grimmer yet…even a bit fearful. "…I can't see anything with these weak eyes, and I can't hear it either. That only figures, though. It broke the sound barrier long ago. It won't be until after it passes that we hear it…"

"Hear what?" Dael asked.

"Nevermind." Bahamut responded, suddenly growing more serious. "We need to get off the street now…" Suddenly, he cursed. "No…that won't do any good. Basements are no good against this thing…"

"Come on mate, finish a sentence!" Cryder answered "What are we looking at?"

Dael was about to say the same thing…when she saw it.

Abruptly, a red glow lit up the skyline. It was as if the lower level lights of the city had suddenly turned on, and had been replaced with red and orange lightbulbs. From their position, at a junction in the street, they could look into the city proper as they came on, and the city was briefly illuminated with all of its buildings and structures. However, the light quickly grew from there…and as it did, a blaze shot by. Just a streak for a moment…but as it did, a flash of light went off from the tallest building in the city. It all happened so fast, and so completely silently, that at first Dael wondered if it was even real. If she had even really seen all of that, or even what she had just seen…

Then, as if reality was catching up, it all happened together.

A sonic boom suddenly rang out over the entire city of Esthar like a million bombs went off at once, and the seven felt the shudder all the way into their marrow as they were ripped off of their feet and flung back a few feet to the ground. As it did, windows all over the city shattered. Not all of them, but many, especially nearest to what had happened. A roaring was heard, like a thunderclap. Dael was shocked and stunned as she landed. What in the world had done that? However, to her horror, she soon saw things were only getting started as she looked back into the city.

The glow wasn't lights…it was fire.

Abruptly, every building on either side of the lights shattered and crumbled from some sort of terrific force of fire and raw power ripping through them, scattering them like they were piles of dead leaves. Moving in a line, one by one, each building obliterated into fragments and then collapsed, being swallowed by a monstrous fire that ripped through the adjacent street and quickly roared up into the sky. The fire itself had a force to it that shattered them, and critically damaged the buildings next to them. The fires rose and rose, illuminating more and more of the city, despite being in blackout conditions.

As a result, both Dael and everyone else saw the result of the "flash". Something had whipped by the biggest skyscraper in the area…and now, with a tremendous groaning, to the sounds of destruction accompanying the thunderclap, Dael watched as the entire upper half of the building _slid off_ of the lower half for a few precious seconds…before the force ripped both halves into fragments and the weight crushed the rest under each other, sending up a towering cloud of dust into the heavens, reflecting the light of the fires as it went up.

The roar was deafening. Dael, in spite of her shock, had to cover her already-pained-from-earilier ears to be able to look at it. The entire city shuddered as the flames rose over the destruction and rancor, as if a section of Hell had suddenly ripped open in the middle of the city. The others stared in aghast horror. The commander blinked a few times, trying to mentally process what she was looking at. There was no bomb, no armor, and no weapon on Gaia that could have done that just now.

Yet as she listened to the sounds of burning, collapsing, and destruction…she noticed something else. A burning noise was growing in intensity, even though she couldn't see any more destruction from the location of the blast. Dael blinked, and tried to find the source. She soon did…and was shocked. A wall of fire…no, a _deluge_ of fire…was literally moving through the streets of the entire city. It was flowing through every road, down every corner, and through every junction. And now, a wall of the fire suddenly turned about and began to make its way straight for the group.

Dael gaped only a moment, before she quickly began to get up. She wasn't alone. The others started to rise as well. However, she soon realized such was a futile gesture. The fire was coming too fast. It would overtake them in seconds. She could already feel the air growing thin from the burning, and the heat from it bearing down on them. She quickly tried to think of something, even as she stepped back in vain. Run for cover? No time. Teleport? Only two of them at the most. Ice spells? She couldn't do it fast enough. Could she ask for Taraketh? No…too late…on them in an instant…

The seven had hardly gotten up when they saw the word turn rippling and red from the encroaching fire. It felt like near a campfire, but she knew it would soon turn unbearable as she saw the flames come to lick them up…

Then, she spotted something else…a small black shape, no larger than a small dog, shoot in front of them. A moment later, she saw a flash of light, like a ruby…

And then they were bathed in flame. It swept over all seven of them, wrapped around, and went out the other side. Yet Dael, shocked as she was from this, only stood still a moment, and then blinked as she realized she wasn't being consumed. It wasn't even hot anymore, despite the fact that fire was all around her. She looked about a bit…and saw the fire was keeping its distance. A light of translucent ruby hue had surrounded them, and the fire was sweeping all around…but not touching them. It was a magic shield.

At once, her brain registered, and she looked forward…in time to see Carbuncle, flayed out, paws digging into the pavement, tail bristling, and light radiating from the ruby on his forehead as he faced the firestorm.

"Carbuncle!"

"You idiot humans can't do jack crap without me, can you?!" He yelled over the roaring flames. "Honestly, you'd all stick your metal utensils in light sockets if you were left alone long enough! I've seen lemmings less prone to self-destruction than humans!"

"It's not like we knew we were nearly going to get incinerated!" Quaren griped in response, even as he shrank down and tried to stay as far from the fire as possible.

Luckily, the storm didn't last but more than eight seconds or so. After that, the flames passed and died. Dael looked out, and saw that anything vulnerable on the street up to the first floor of the surrounding buildings had been singed, and a few tiny fires were smoldering here and there, but overall things were not in that bad of shape. The fire had been large, but not intense enough to do serious damage at this distance. It only left the area a bit warm, and it was open enough for air to soon rush back in. However, that did little to change the landscape before them, still crumbling into bits and being swallowed by towering fires. It was so much raw devastation and power…it seemed to be beyond belief. Beyond what was even physically possible.

At any rate, when the fires died at last, Carbuncle exhaled and let down his magic shield. He soon turned around and stared at them.

"Isn't that just typical? I try to find you the second I hear you landed, and this is what happens! You nearly get incinerated! Man, you humans are problematic!"

Dael ignored his chastising. "Carbuncle, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Garrado with Veriguno and Cybus."

"I was…and then I brought Cybus back here." Carbuncle responded. "Things have been light in that country for days now. Sybenia's been focusing on this invasion. So I teleported her here. She said she thought another Sorceress could make a bigger difference here than in a militarized zone. And it looks like she might have been right, from what just happened…"

"What in the name of all the gods and spirits there be above and below the ground was that?!" Ceja suddenly outburst, pointing to the skyline. "It was like the fire was almost alive!"

"There isn't a weapon known to man that can do that! Only a nuclear bomb is more destructive!" Cid threw in.

"Is this some sort of secret weapon that Sybenia's been making?" Quaren asked. "If so…what kind of technology could give rise to this?"

"It's nothing physical, if that's the case." Taraketh responded, trying to sound firm and calm…but, in reality, gaping at the wake of the destruction as much as everyone else, scarcely able to believe it. "I can sense the magical power on that attack. It's magical in nature. But…it's inconceivable. I don't think even Lady Mianyl can pull off something that powerful…or, if she could, she never would. Such wanton destruction…"

"Only the forbidden spells have that level of power." Bahamut added. "I can count on one hand the techniques I know of that are stronger. But this one originated with-"

_"Behold, the demon of the heavens, Esthar."_

Dael and the others again looked up, and found themselves staring right back at the digital screen broadcasting the emergency signal. It was set well above the area where the fire had gone through, and aside from a little heat damage, it was still funny functional. And they could hear the voice of Rozan still coming through, a bit distorted, but unmistakable.

_"The symbol of our nation's right to rule…the ultimate Guardian Force heeds the beck and call of the Guiding Hand. Death incarnate…Tiamat."_

Both Carbuncle and Bahamut reacted to that, but Bahamut far more so.

"What did he say?!"

Rozan's voice said no more, but immediately radio started to burst with reports, everyone talking over each other.

_"Traube Parkway completely destroyed! Streets 11__th__ through 23__rd__ rendered inaccessible! Repeat! Traube Parkway completed destroyed!"_

_ "We've got 128 different fire reports coming in we need contained!"_

_ "Eight city blocks completely destroyed! There's not so much as a kiosk still standing!"_

_ "There's too much dust from the Pinnacle Building collapse! We can't get anyone in there!"_

_ "I've got no target! It's too fast for the sonar to pick up!"_

_ "There were people in these basements…but they're flooded with fire!"_

Dael, face turning increasingly grim, found herself reaching over to quickly turn the radio down. Chilling as all of these reports of death and destruction were, they were all talking at once…and there was no way for anyone else to get a word in edgewise. Besides…everyone was getting visibly shaken by this. Even the hardened warriors weren't likeing what they were hearing. Dael was one of them. As soon as it was down, she turned to Bahamut.

"What is 'Tiamat'?"

Bahamut, however, had already turned to Carbuncle, glaring hard at him. "When in the world did Leviathan revive Tiamat?!"

"He didn't!" Carbuncle immediately responded. "Neither did Diablos or DeepGround! I'm as shocked as you are! Besides…how the Hell could he have revived Tiamat? He wasn't even an esper!"

"That didn't stop Diablos from being given the form of a Guardian Force, did it? Or the Doomtrain?" Bahamut responded. He soon turned back to Dael. "He must have used one of the essences that were stolen. We're in trouble. I don't know how it got revived, but Tiamat is pure evil. He was the strongest of the original Four Fiends of the Elements, with power that was second only to Griever. I never really got an accurate look at how much power he truly possessed…not in terms of modern standards…but it speaks for itself." He looked again to the skyline, and exhaled nervously. "…I haven't seen such wanton destruction in ages."

"But…but…the shield is fully operational!" Quaren protested. "How could he…?"

"He flew under the shield, quite simply." Bahamut responded. "He himself could penetrate the barrier easily, and once inside the entire city is easy prey to him."

"That's impossible." Taraketh immediately retorted. He quickly swallowed afterward, seeming to remember his place. "…No disrespect intended, Sir Bahamut. But even the strongest warrior alive couldn't contend with _this_. Even Raven would be nothing more than dust compared to this kind of power. Who in the world could make him their summon?"

Abruptly, before anyone else could respond, the world once again crashed, and a second sonic boom rang out. It wasn't as strong as the first, for the source wasn't moving as fast, but it was enough to make Dael and all of the others cringe and recoil as a stinging blast of wind ripped by them, accompanied by another deafening noise. It wasn't as intense as last time, but it was powerful none the less. The only reason for less impact was it was farther away, deeper in the city.

Dael looked to the source, and struggled not to gasp. Another line of fire…and another few city blocks were turned into ash and fire by a blaze of light. Destruction shattered more buildings, and the turned-down noises on the radio grew more frantic. Some cut off all together, turning to static…the sign that some of the sources had been silenced by the attack for good, as more of the city was enveloped in a hellish glow. Soon, the streets around it began to glow as well…no doubt from the same wall of fire as before. They were far enough away not to have to experience it, but that was cold comfort considering what just happened.

Although it was far, for a moment…Dael saw something paused above the skyline. The fire was just strong enough to illuminate part of its body, enough to make it partially visible. What she saw looked like some sort of hellish dragon, gleaming with red on its belly as if lined with hot coals. Large, scale-covered, sharp-looking wings flapping in the darkness of the night, and what looked like a long scaled tail flicking beneath it. It seemed to be reveling in the destruction, before turning and taking off again in a flash of light.

"…Maybe it's not a summon." Dael finally stated. "Maybe they somehow found a way to control Guardian Forces directly. If it was a summon, it would have disappeared by now…"

"I don't really give a damn if it came from the bargin bin at the nearest shopping mart, lass…it just teared up another section of the city!" Cryder outburst.

"It'll destroy Esthar by itself in an hour!" Quaren cried. "We don't have any weapon that can stop that!"

"That demented monster isn't lying…" Taraketh stated darkly. "He really means to turn this city into ash."

Dael continued to look into the darkness, but saw no more sign of the Guardian Force. Obviously, it was looking for somewhere else to destroy… Her hand clenched into a fist. She couldn't deny that she felt fear at the moment. Anyone would, including most hardened soldiers. This kind of power made all other Guardian Forces they had experienced until this point put together seem like a joke. Dael now realized just what Bahamut and Carbuncle had been trying to say. Until now, she had entertained the notion that the Guardian Forces weren't possibly essential to winning the war. Even after the battle at the Lamb Archipelago, she thought it was still possible to get by. But no longer. She realized what they meant when they warned her about them being such terrible living weapons.

Finally, she spoke up again. "…We have to try and stop it."

Everyone, including Bahamut and Carbuncle, turned and stared at her blankly at that.

"…And how exactly are we supposed to do that, lass? Get all the kids in the city to clap their hands really loud?" Cryder answered.

"I don't care for cowardice when lives are at stake…but that's suicide, plain and simple, Dael." Taraketh answered. "I don't want to stand here and do nothing, but there's nothing we can do against that."

"Taraketh is right. All you have to do is look at that power to see that it's hopeless to fight that monster. We don't have the power."

Dael frowned. "We can't just stand here and watch it destroy everything."

Abruptly, the radio signals died down that were coming from the relay Dael had been given. However, after a few moments, it became clear that they hadn't gone still. A different signal was broadcasting over all of them. And in the pause following Dael's statement, she was able to hear it…and recognized the voice of the colonel. This made her turn and look down, and soon after she reached for it and turned it up again.

_"…I repeat, all units within the vicinity of the hostile, take cover immediately and stay off the roads. Continue with current operation preparations. All units securing the perimeter, stay clear and allow override access to all roads and clearance. We have three individuals incoming."_

Ceja blinked on hearing that. "Three individuals? What can any three warriors do against that sort of power?"

Dael, however, immediately read between the lines. She turned the radio down again, prompting everyone to look to her, and she stared back.

"…The Sorceresses." She stated. "Mianyl, Cybus, and Faerio…all three of them are going in against this."

There was a unified pause among the group after hearing this. Again, Bahamut and Carbuncle were among them who hesitated. After a moment, however, Quaren looked up to Dael.

"…Can they really succeed? I mean…that was really impressive back on the Southern Continent, but against this sort of thing…"

"Whether they can succeed or not is moot." Bahamut flatly answered. "Either they can or, if they can't, they're the only chance at keeping Tiamat at bay. The strongest weapon we have other than them at the moment is Leviathan, and I doubt even he could do more than injure it enough to make it angry, assuming it would come down and allow itself to be hit by one of his tsunamis. Esthar has nothing else that can hope to combat that sort of power, and neither does the Order of Hyne. If it's not the Sorceresses, it will be no one."

There was a momentary pause after that. Dael took a moment to let that sink in. As she looked to the others, she realized it was doing the same to all of them as well. By now, the group respected the Sorceresses. They seemed to be some of the few leaders trying to make a better world and defend people. After what Dael had seen, it was undeniable how much power they had. But there was no guarantee it would be enough against that. There was a good chance even three of them together could die from this. When all the rest of the leaders of Esthar had run and hid, they were putting their lives on the line to try and save the city that they had neglected. Perhaps this was what true leadership was…not controlling things like game pieces but actually getting in there…

Finally, Quaren looked up and to Dael. "…The order said everyone needed to continue with operations. That means Sybenia is still trying to attack from the south…probably trying to take whatever's left if Tiamat gets driven off. We still need to get that one rocket launched."

"Fine by me." Cryder responded. "Anything as far away as possible from those Sorceresses and that Guardian Force is a good bet. Not like we can do a whole lot to contribute, anyway… Let's get out of here before an errant blast blows this whole block to Davy Jones' locker."

"Sir Carbuncle, can you get me to where Tiamat is?"

Quaren, Cryder, Ceja, and Bahamut all snapped as if a gun had been fired, all of them looking to Taraketh when he suddenly gave that statement. However, he didn't look back at them. The High Child was entirely focused on the small green Guardian Force. He himself looked up at Taraketh, his black button eyes as wide as they could possibly be for such a small creature.

"Uh…Taraketh? You feeling alright?" He asked him. "One of those battles you were in didn't knock something loose, did it?"

The High Child inhaled and exhaled. During that time, however, Dael noticed something else. Both Jalab and Cid were looking intently at Carbuncle as well. The others soon began to realize it as well.

"Sir Carbuncle, can you get me there?"

The Guardian Force gave a snort and a wave of his paw. "If you're asking me _if_ I can get you there, the answer is yes. I have the layout of a lot of this city now. If you're asking me why in God's name I would do such a blatant act of suicide, so much so that I might as well toss you into Mt. Gulug, I have no idea."

"Lady Mianyl is fighting that monster." Taraketh responded. "If she is, I want to be at her side."

"You're not her Sorceress Knight, Taraketh." Bahamut answered firmly. He wasn't too surprised at this comment, from the looks of it. He regarded the matter calmly now. Perhaps he had guessed the reason for Taraketh's statement before anyone else had. "You're under no obligation to do this."

"Even if I was under obligation, I'm sure my lady would relieve me of it." The High Child immediately answered, his face growing more tense and focused. "…But I don't care. I may not be Lady Mianyl's Sorceress Knight, but she's the head of our order and my best friend. I can't let her go into this without being at her side. I'm of the opinion that Lady Mianyl can do anything, but…" He swallowed, and Dael saw genuine fear come into his eyes. "…But if she can't…if the worst happens…I will hate myself for the rest of my life for not being with her at this time. I doubt I can do anything to help, but I at least want to be near her side."

"I as well." Jalab stated firmly, his voice as solid as his body could be in combat.

"Your Sorceress is Veriguno, Sir Tierras." Ceja interjected. Strong and fierce as the woman was…she genuinely had a hint of fear on her voice. Obviously, she feared Jalab dying from this. If she stetched her voice a bit more, she would sound almost like she was pleading with him to reconsider. "She's safe in Garrado…or safer, at the least."

The monk shook his head. "Veriguno want me to be Sorceress Knight. Want me to act as Sorceress Knight always. If Veriguno here, she would join battle. She not here. I go in place. What she would want."

"She would want you to possibly throw your life away in a fight you can't help in, lad?" Cryder asked.

"No." Jalab responded darkly. "…That what I want of myself. True warrior stand in darkest hour, not give up."

"I think what Jalab's trying to say is that we're Sorceress Knights." Cid answered, then gave a weak smile and a shrug. "This is what we live for. I don't exactly like the idea of dying myself, but…hey, I've got to do something brave, don't I? I know a lot of people don't think much of me because I'm not really strong or skilled or a great warrior like the other Sorceress Knights. But Faerio believed in me. Even if all I can so is shout 'rah, rah, rah' as she goes toe-to-toe with that monster, I want to do it. I want Faerio to know I'm going to be there for her just like she was there for me back in Leuco." He paused, then snickered.

"Hey…we're knights. We wouldn't make very good knights if we left our fair damsels in distress, right?"

Carbuncle stared at the three of them for a moment. In the end, he gave a frown with his tiny mouth.

"…Damnit, I hate it when you humans do something brave and you need my help to do it. Now I'll look bad if I chicken out. You better pray that this guy's attack is similar to a Flare, or we're toast."

"As unwise as I think this entire situation is," Bahamut threw in. "I can tell you'll either go with us letting you, or you'll go without us consenting. I doubt your Sorceresses would want you three to die…but they should be honored to have you as their Sorceress Knights."

"I guess that means it'll be up to the rest of us to handle the Launchpad." Cryder answered. He gave a shrug. "Ah well…could use an easy job for a change." He turned to Dael. "Coming, commander?"

"…I'm going with them."

Now, everyone on both sides looked to Dael in alarm. Their faces were mixtures of puzzlement as well as surprise. However, her face was firm.

"…What did you say, commander?" Quaren asked after a moment.

"All it is over there is a security detail. You four could handle that easily, even against something like a Tyrant Lizard, which I doubt will even show." Dael responded. "I'm going with them up against Tiamat."

"This isn't your fight, Dael." Taraketh flatly answered. "I have to do this-"

"No you don't, anymore than I have to." Dael cut off. "I know you want to be at Mianyl's side, but I also know for a fact she doesn't want to see you killed by a stray shot. We have no practical reason for being there other than we don't want to let the Sorceresses go alone. It's because we respect them, both for who they are as well as what they mean to us. We all believe someone should be at their side for this. They may not be Esthar's Hawks, but they are great people…" The woman paused a moment, but then added one other things.

"…and they're my friends."

Taraketh honestly looked taken aback at that comment. He stared at Dael blankly for a moment. It seemed, for the first time, he was realizing something about Dael…that it was possible for this woman to have great respect for the Sorceresses even without being a member of the Order of Hyne. And on looking in her eyes, he knew she was telling the truth…that she meant what she said. A few moments of silence ticked by, before it was broken by a loud exhale from Cryder.

"…Hell, lass, when you put it on that footing, we should all go."

"I said I wanted to go. I didn't say I planned on dying." Dael immediately responded. "I have the greatest mastery of Carbuncle's powers. I can teleport. Maybe not as good as him, but enough to get somewhere safe, I'm betting. If something happens, I can help pull people out in a hurry, including Taraketh, Cid, and Jalab. And this really will be for nothing if the Sybenians somehow found out about the rocket and try and stop it. Right now, that's not too ridiculous of a bet to make. They've penetrated our shields once, and after they attempted to take them out all together with that one operation, my guess is they have a number of contingencies designed to hit us where we think we're strongest."

The others paused for a moment. After a few seconds, Quaren opened his mouth to speak.

"That's an order, corporal." Dael cut off.

He closed his mouth and frowned in response. Bahamut was the next to try and speak. "Commander-"

"I already told you I don't plan on dying, Bahamut…or in letting these guys die either. Right now, you don't have the power to help out, not in that body. And you said it yourself, that Leviathan doesn't work unless he gets low enough for you to hit him with it."

"I'm not going to-"

"You may be a Guardian Force, but you're stuck in that body, and you're in my task force as well. That means you follow my orders, and there's nothing you can do to make my change my mind."

Bahamut looked honestly taken aback. Everyone knew he was really Bahamut at this point, and yet Dael talked to him just as she had prior to the revelation, essentially ordering him around as her "ward". He actually showed a bit of anger for just a moment, and almost protested. But when he saw that Dael wasn't changing, and stared back at him just as hard…something unexpected happened. He actually backed down. To be honest, Dael was a bit stunned that he actually did. He would be fully in his rights now to "pull age" or "pull experience" on her. However, he merely submitted.

"…Only because I have a feeling you're not lying to me." Bahamut responded. "I've gotten pretty good at telling when people are bluffing, even in a human body."

Dael actually managed a half smile at that. Yet afterward, she looked down to Carbuncle. "Alright, we're ready."

The green creature exhaled. "…I think I'm going to be pushing it even with my powers if I stick around…but I'm not about to let you four get incinerated because I saved my own fur. I just hope those Sorceresses show up quick and give him something to shoot at. I'm going to do it one at a time. Dael, you're up first."

The commander immediately nodded and stepped forward. After a moment, the green creature came up to her and placed a paw on her shoe. He closed his black button eyes afterward, but then did nothing. His ruby shimmered a few times, but they didn't move.

Dael held for a moment, but then spoke to him. "Carbuncle…"

"Give me a second, for crying out loud!" The Guardian Force snapped in response. "You're asking me to teleport you into the middle of the action! I want to make sure I don't land in a fire or, worse yet, the path of that guy's next breath attack!"

The Esthar's Hawk could hardly argue with that, and so she held her tongue and waited. Carbuncle continued to hold a moment more, before his eyes opened again.

"Alright. Hang on."

Immediately, his ruby lit up into a brilliant flash of light. Just as earlier, the ring of light expanded and rippled out over both of them together, covering them even as reality twisted and warped for a few moments, and her companions and the quiet street seemed to twist and distot until it became unrecognizable…

And then, it straightened again…and revealed a new landscape.

The others were gone, and Dael was no longer on the street either. A good thing too. The streets looked like magma had rolled through them. It was much worse here. The roads themselves were mostly puddle-like, the lightposts and other such signaling devices melted into slag, and the windows shattered and liquefied. Yet the biggest thing that caught her eye was the street ahead. Towering flames lapped at the remains of buildings, and huge rifts had been ripped into the ground large enough to destroy both the street and the buildings on either side. Everything still gleamed with intense heat, and the deep pits were filled with flame, as if the concrete itself was burning. Ripples of the intense temperature came up even from where Dael was standing, which was the roof of a two story eatery. It reminded her of the time in Ifrit's cave, how warm it was, and how everything was lit up with a fiery glow.

The air was smoky here, and thin from all of the fires. Dael almost instinctively began to cough as she felt her throat scratch. However, this was probably one of the few "good" places to land. Immediately, Carbuncle let go and vanished in a ruby flash. A moment later, he reappeared with Taraketh and vanished again. Two flashes later, and Jalab and Cid were there as well.

As they came into existence, Dael heard it. Something that sounded like a mixture of a low growl, deep breathing, and a thunderclap echoed from the heavens. She looked up, but saw nothing. She felt something though…a sudden whipping gale tugging her hair violently and ripping at her clothing. It was still up there. The sound alone seemed to rock the very heavens and the earth. And Dael, in spite of her training and all of the things she had stared at face-to-face until now, felt a ripple of fear move through her…enough to temporarily render her unable to move, only stare into the blackness where that flying devil was…preparing another attack…perhaps looking at her right now from somewhere in all of the smoke and gloom…

_No…get ahold of yourself. It can't see you. And if it can, it think you're a bug. It's not going to blast this area again just to kill four people…_

_I hope._

However, this line of thinking was enough to snap Dael out of it again, and in moments she resumed being the previous commander persona. Again concentrating, she looked around again at the damage. The surrounding streets had all been made inaccessible from the firestorm. Any car that went over them would melt the tires, although they were cooling rapidly. Debris also filled most of the roads, leaving most ways inaccessible. As she assessed this, she looked out to the others. Taraketh seemed to be a bit taken aback by the sheer destruction, and fear was returning to Cid. Out of all of them, only Jalab looked the most calm. It was a conscious decision, not anything automatic on his part.

"Alright…we're here." Dael stated at last.

"Yeah. Now what?" Carbuncle responded.

"We're obviously not fighting Tiamat ourselves." The commander responded. "We've got to keep a look out for the Sorceresses for when they get here. Perhaps we can help clear a path for them or provide interference."

"Uh oh…get down!"

Dael turned to Carbuncle when she suddenly heard him outburst, but the green creature didn't both to explain himself. Instead, he immediately jumped and, with surprising force, tackled Dael to the surface of the roof. Jalab, luckily, was alert enough to quickly grab Taraketh and Cid from behind and force them down as well. The commander puzzled for only a moment as to the cause…before it came.

Another sonic boom, much closer now, almost deafened her as her body was slammed into the roof the rest of the way, feeling like something was trying to shove her all the way through it. As this happened…she saw it. A flash of gleaming red scales framed against blackness with just a hint of blue literally ripped over the roof with such force that she swore it skinned her nose. The force was so strong, it seemed to continue to press her against the roof for a moment even after the object had passed. But before she could rise again…she heard another intense eruption from farther away, and saw more fire rise up into her vision, gleaming as bright as the edge of the sun.

Seeing and hearing this, in spite of the shockwave from the power that rolled by her, Dael grit her teeth and forced herself to roll her body upward and look out. She soon saw exactly what she thought she would see. The deadly beam had turned another street into a flaming waste. Once more, the surrounding structures were turning to dust, and the flames were rising higher and higher.

Most importantly, however, she saw it… It was still mostly covered in shadow, but she made out a vague outline of something draconian flapping its huge, sharp wings in the air, each one tipped with a three-toed claw. The beam was issuing from it, and soon vanished as it cut off and surveyed its destruction. Dael stared for a moment at it…feeling a mixture of emotions. Fear, anger, sadness…but mostly rage at herself. All she could do was stand there and watch. All of her power, both through training as well as through her junctions, and she couldn't do anything.

The others got up and looked out as well with her. She bet that Taraketh, at least, was feeling rather angry at the moment. After all, he wasn't one to sit anything out, especially with his notions of his own power. Dael, meanwhile, was simply interested in coming up with a viable plan, or at least something to do besides wait for Tiamat to come around and obliterate where they landed.

"Look!"

Dael turned to the one who spoke briefly first, for it was a rather unusual source: Jalab. The monk rarely outburst on anything. However, rather than waste time examining his expression (which had turned unusually tense for once), she noticed his finger pointing straight out. She turned and looked to the source, as did the others. Soon, their surprise matched his.

There was a good reason for the continual flames coming from the deep rifts, it seemed. Small little spheres wreathed in fire seemed to be dancing around inside of it, little tongues protruding from the top of them, and two coming from the side like little limbs. More were showing up continuously, seeming to stream from around the streets and make their way toward the fires, then basked inside them. They also appeared to be gradually getting bigger. And as they increased in size, Dael managed to make out that they looked almost like they had eyes…and big, tooth-filled mouths, also made of fire.

"Those are Bombs!" Cid exclaimed, not referring to anything physical, but rather to the odd magic creatures that seemed to be made of pure magical energy tuned to fire. Sure enough, as Dael kept watching them, they seemed to move about randomly at first, but soon proved to have a definite pattern. "How are there Bombs here?"

"The shield is down, remember?" Dael responded. "They live in the outskirts of the city. Normally there aren't that many…but all this fire that Tiamat is knocking around… It had to be attracting them."

"And they're gorging themselves on the fire." Taraketh threw in. "They're already getting large. If they see anyone-"

Abruptly, a new noise came out…this one of rushing water. Dael cut herself off, and she and the others looked to the source. Just up the road a bit, she noticed one of the buildings that had only partially collapsed broke open. A group of people were coming out of the front holding a fire hose, and spraying the street. They must have been using a rooftop reservoir. It hissed and fractured in response, but it also cooled. They were trying to clear a way out. Unfortunately for them, they had barely begun when at least two of the Bombs, still thrashing about in the fire, turned and spotted them. Dael soon saw them fluttering over in that direction.

"That's not good." Carbuncle grimaced.

"More." Jalab called out, his voice still tense. The others looked to him, and then saw as he pointed somewhere else.

One building was on fire and rapidly being consumed, but the front entrance was barricaded by debris and slag. People were desperately trying to break out of the lower windows, and Bombs had become aware of this effort and were going for that. Other windows had people show up in them on seeing the ones with the hose, and were calling for help or sounding alerts. More Bombs started to go after them too.

The commander only surveyed this for a moment before she took a moment to turn down the relay. She didn't need that distracting her. Then she put a hand on her sword.

"Looks like we've got something 'active' to do after all. I'm going after the ones who are headed for the hose. Everyone else could use that."

"There's too many, Dael!" Cid protested. "We can't get everyone! Especially if more people show up!"

"Bombs are stupid and aggressive. They'll only attack whoever's trying to fight back." The woman responded. "And that's about to become us."

With that, she chanted out the familiar arcane words once again, and a moment later vanished in a flash.

The first thing she became aware of as she reformed was intense heat all around her. Not enough to be stifling, but it was darn close. She landed literally right in front of the people with the hose, though thankfully not in the path of it. Taking a fire hose would have been a stretch even for her, or at least something she didn't need. The people were a bit surprised, but they didn't focus much on her. They had turned their attention to the incoming Bombs, which were already increasing in size to build to an eventual detonation. They were man-sized at the moment and getting bigger. It was to them that Dael also turned her full attention.

The sentiment wasn't shared at first. The Bombs looked at those with the hose, namely the ones who were lessening the fire that they loved. In response, the people turned the hose on the nearest one. Not a bad idea. The monster actually halted and recoiled, letting out a snarl in response as its size actually diminished a bit. Quickly, however, it flew above the path of the water and began to enlarge again as its partner continued to get bigger and shot straight for the group. However, it got no nearer. Being not the smartest creature, it had failed to notice Dael, who quickly yanked out her sword and dashed for it. Not heeding the fact that her boots made "sticky" noises against the pavement, obviously from partially deforming and adhering to them, she shot right by the Bomb. It looked to her, but had no time to do anything to response as the sword flashed out and sliced cleanly through it. Giving one last gurgle, it split in two, and its flaming halves seemed to deform like separate halves of a deflated balloon before fading away into fiery vapor and vanish in a passing gale, no doubt courtesy of Tiamat still flying over the city.

The other one spotted this, and looked to her angrily. It actually shook violently, and as it did it gained an additional four feet of diameter. It was trying to reach critical size, and then drive itself into her and explode. Until then, it planned to stay up and out of the way. Unfortunately for it, Dael had taken quite a "beating" up until this point, and her power had peaked again. Barely surpressing a smile, she focused, quickly forming a connection in spiritual energy between her blade and the Bomb, and ripped her blade upward, once again sending a focused wave of raw power straight to the heavens. The monster didn't even have time to gape before the attack, something Bahamut had since nicknamed "Climhazard" after similar attacks of older days, obliterated the monster into a thousand pieces. The attack had enough power to cleave a destroyer in two, and this Bomb wasn't even as strong as a Fuliet Sauron. Hence, the outcome had never been in doubt.

Dael actually smiled a bit afterward, not so much in her victory, but in the fact that she had so easily pulled off that attack again. It had taken only moments and a few instants of focus to use the most powerful attack she knew thus far. She seemed to have crossed a threshold in this new ability. Yet she didn't gloat over it long. She looked back out to the fires, and saw that her actions had gained unwanted attention. At least a dozen Bombs, seeing their brethren killed, were rising from the fires and headed straight for her.

After she quickly did a tally, she called out behind her. "Keep that hose running! Try to cool off paths to cooler streets and the other buildings! Then get out of the area! I'll cover you!"

With that, she looked back to the Bombs, all quivering and enlarging as they came, and she quickly chanted a spell of her own. A moment later…twelve Daels sprung out from the original one and shot straight for the monsters. The Bombs actually froze, their primitive minds not accepting this sort of counter-assault. And Dael, her own speed far superior to that of normal individuals, had two of them cut down in no time.

Considering some of the fights they had been in before now, this was a breath of fresh air. Bombs were so weak that they were actually allowed to roam in areas such as the cliffs Dael used to frequent, provided there were only one or two of them. Any more and they could reproduce fast if they found a heat source. The bottom line, Bombs were never a major threat during Northern Rancor or anywhere else, at least not to Esthar's Hawks. They trained to be able to neutralize targets quickly, and a Bomb was only truly deadly if you gave it time to detonate. Dael could have pegged off four of them at a time easy enough before she was junctioned. Now, they were nothing to her. She actually had time to look up the street to see how the others had faired.

She hadn't seen the actual event, but Jalab had jumped clean off the building and then used a blast of his own aura to cushion his impact, "bouncing" off of the street, and then using it again to cool a path for landing. On arrival, two more rapid thrusts of his staff had flattened the Bombs that had been attacking the blocked entrance, and he had enough time to move over and use his raw strength to literally rip out an entire door frame to allow the people inside to flee. That done, he could alternate between using his power to blast the road cool enough to walk on, and using his staff to strike down every Bomb that came near.

Cid may have not been as good at Quaren, but he was getting great at using his nailgun. Like a supporting sniper, he picked off most of the Bombs that tried to mount a more "roundabout" attack. Of course, that only lasted so long before some of them noticed him, and tried to flutter up to get him. When that happened, he kept them off at first, but eventually they started coming around from behind, surprising him so much that he actually stumbled backward and fell off the edge of the roof. Luckily, he flailed only for a split second before, having nothing else to do, he lashed out with a roll of measuring tape (one of the older, ribbon-like kinds), and quickly threw it out to the roof. It ended up hooking on something and lowering him to the ground, running out just as he reached the street. Quickly, he disengaged and touched down. Luckily, his own boots were durable from being used in construction, and he managed to snap out a hand saw in his free hand to slice through the next two Bombs that tried to double-team him.

Taraketh quickly brought his power to bear on a grander scale. First, he used ice magic to quickly cool off large sections of the street, enough to make a fairly large path all the way to a cooler side alley and actually smother some of the flaming trench, although only a tiny bit. The Bombs, naturally, weren't that happy about that, and began to fly toward him in a sizable mass. Yet while they were still at a distance, he lashed out with a lightning spell to strike the one in the lead. Dael may not have been in the Order of Hyne, but her old classes of the common types of monsters in the world had told her that if you could, you should always hit Bombs with lightning from a safe distance. It caused them to detonate prematurely, preferably before they got too big. Sure enough, not only did the Bomb immediately go off, but the resulting fire caused all those around it to detonate as well, which spread to the others and soon caused a chain reaction that killed ten in one fell swoop. More tried to fly around to get to him, but he soon showed off he hadn't been going lax any more than Dael had, and used his new wind powers courtesy of Pandemona to sweep them all together into a small twister. After scrambling them around a bit and putting them back over the pit, he made the twister tighten and had them collide with each other. The result was a sizable, yet completely, contained explosion.

Last but not least, Carbuncle darted about everywhere, running from one person to the next. Having only defensive powers, he used his ability to block off molten fragments of whatever errant Bomb explosion looked like it would hit someone. He frequently yelped too. Burning sidewalk wasn't good for his paws.

Dael probably wasn't doing as flashy as the others, but the Bombs were still going down left and right around her. Attacking a Bomb too much was a recipe for disaster, as they had the power to transfer blows into making themselves larger. Yet when each one went down with a single sword swipe, that didn't really help them. The assault of the four of them soon proved to be too much for the Bombs, and between the fire hose and Taraketh's ice spells, the very area was becoming repugnant to them. Any Bomb that got too close to Taraketh's ice died immediately, and as he blotted out some of the pits, they were losing their source of power. Thanks to the actions of the four, the survivors from surrounding damaged or burning buildings were soon pouring out into the street and running for safety. A few of the Bombs tried to follow at first, but each one was picked off. The creatures might not have been smart and were highly aggressive, but they weren't without any sentience at all. They realized full well that they weren't doing too well against these opponents. After a couple minutes, they started to shrink back. They looked for an opening, but other than that stayed as clear from the four as they could. Each time one tried to break for a survivor, they were pegged immediately either by Jalab's power or by a nail from Cid.

As Dael's own building emptied, and the injured were being helped out of the enflamed buildings across the street, Dael looked about and saw the pavement was almost cool, and that this small area was almost clean. Not bad, but she had heard Tiamat unleash his death a fourth time while they were doing this. It had caused the people to panic, and they fled even faster than before. Screaming or going hysterical as they did. However, their four saviors gave them enough confidence to run, and the Bombs were actually looking elsewhere by now for new victims. Dael realized they should probably head after them. They had left an "opening" for the Sorceresses, and there was little else they could do here. For all she knew, they were already deeper in the city…

Abruptly, another sharp gust of wind roared by. This one was so strong that it nearly ripped her off of her feet. Naturally, the weaker citizens still in the area were flung to the ground. It was a good thing it was cool enough only to give someone a little pain from heat, but not enough to do any serious damage. As the wind ripped by, Dael saw the hellish shape of Tiamat once again, abruptly appearing out of the black smoke and shooting overhead before going back into the night again, ripping by overhead. It was actually a good thing the people had been thrown down, or they probably would have screamed and panicked more than before. She snapped to the source, and, to her horror, she saw another skyscraper suddenly have a perfect "flash" of light appear across it, indicating it had been slashed through by the Guardian Force's path. For a split second, she thought it would hold…that the cut had been so perfect that it would stay where it was.

Yet then, she heard a groaning begin, and a moment later the lower part of the tower collapsed partially…just enough to let the entire upper two floors of the building slide off and start to make its way for the very road that they were all defending, specifically where Jalab was guiding a mass of people running out of the building. They had been knocked down by the shockwave, and quickly began to scream and scramble to their feet as they saw the floors coming. Soon, they went into a panic regardless and started to claw and collide with each other, creating more trouble for Jalab who struggled to keep them calm. However, he too looked up to the floors as they slid off of the main building and headed straight for them.

Dael went wide-eyed. His power wasn't strong enough to blow up the building. The best he could do was blast it into fragments, and that might make things worse, especially if they hit buildings where survivors were still located. And she couldn't get them out. There were two dozen people out there and she could only teleport one or two more times before it became too much for her. Maybe Taraketh could help…but she honestly didn't think he could generate any type of spell that could stop all of that cold. Carbuncle might be able to…but he could only do one at a time, and even he had a "time limit" on his abilities. Even as she struggled to think of what to do, however, it continued to descend, and she realized that even if she could decide something, it would be too late…

And that's when she saw it.

Abruptly, the entire structure, and all of the smaller pieces associated with it, slowed in mid-air, as if passing into something viscous. As they did, Dael noticed they were abruptly enveloped in some sort of light…no, a glow. An aura of purple light enveloped each piece, from the main floors to a fist-sized building fragment. And bit by bit, all of it slowed to a halt in mid-air, and held there.

Dael blinked in astonishment. She didn't have to be a genius to know that was a spell, but none of them had done it. That was for certain. She wasn't that familiar with magic, but if she had been, she would have realized an advanced time spell had been used on the building, slowing down time for the objects so much that they seemed to pretty much halt in mid-air. Yet she didn't stare at this long. She quickly began to look for the real source. As it turned out, it didn't take her, or the others, who had rapidly begun to look around as well for the source along with the citizens, to find it. The commander actually let out a bit of an exhale. Sure, things were hectic around here, but she thought for sure she would have seen this coming… Even so, the moment her eyes rested on her, and saw her venting her full power for once…Dael almost felt dizzy again to look at it, although she also felt a sense of safety and peace looking at her…a sense, childish as it was, that everything was going to be alright.

Sorceress Mianyl stood in the middle of the road. She was in her full regalia; her flawless, shimmering dress, her golden crest depicting the four winds, and her eyes glowing with violet light and power as she held up her hands to the building. For once, she had thrown aside decorum in that regard. Her hands were fully exposed, revealing bestial claws. Yet it was dark, and everyone was panicking. Now was a good a time as any to show it. Later, people could think they saw things or hallucinated in the smoke and darkness. They were extended toward the building, and Dael could only partially see her face, but it was tight and focused. She wasn't sweating, but the Esthar's Hawk could tell she was straining. Something that large took a tremendous amount of effort, even for a Sorceress like her.

Yet even so, Dael was stunned into silence for a moment. Yet another display of inconceivable levels of magical power.

Luckily, Jalab snapped the people out of it fast enough. Dael was one of them, and as she looked to him, she realized even he had been stunned by the sheer power coming off of Mianyl. And he lived with a Sorceress himself and had grown accustomed to it. At any rate, he gave out the call.

"Go! Now!"

His booming voice, nothing weak in and of itself, brought the people to their senses and got them on the move again. Soon, they were running out as fast as they could manage. The Bombs had departed now, so Cid quickly ran up and joined in with Jalab in yanking people to their feet and getting them on their way. The rest of the civilians that were still getting out soon got on the street and ran as well. As for Dael, she was left more or less just staring. She wanted to say she was defending against more Bombs, but the truth of the matter was she was transfixed on Mianyl. She wasn't alone. Taraketh really had seemed to forget about everything else as he looked to her, seeing her in action at last.

Mianyl only held the remains of the building until the last person was clear, not only from underneath it, but at a safe distance. After that, she made time resume again…but very slowly. The building pieces descended, and let out a thunderous noise as they landed…but the road was operating in "real time" while the building was moving slow, and as a result, although the road cracked and buckled underneath the weight, it wasn't nearly as disasterous as it could have been, and it didn't send up a cloud of dust containing who knew how many carcinogens. As it came to a rest, Mianyl let out an exhale and lowered her arms, letting her sleeves again conceal her claws. That done, she turned her head to one side.

Taraketh, all of the people around him gone, began to take a step forward. "Lady Mianyl…"

Here, however, Carbuncle cut him off by shouting. "Look out!"

The High Child snapped to the Guardian force in surprise, as did Dael, and soon saw his own face looking panicked once again. She looked to the source and saw why. As the building had finally been lowered, Carbuncle had spotted something coming out of the darkness and gloom once again. This time, it didn't just fly by. It landed on the remains of one of the building they had just evacuated, and her attention devoted to Mianyl had turned fully to it instead.

Its black wings swept over the hellish ruin like some sort of demonic gargoyle. Its claws that formed the crux of each wing clicked, flexed, and extended again and again. Dael saw part of its body still glowing like living magma, although she just thought she caught the slightest hint of a blue tint to its outer scales. Its head was horned, broad, and armored, and she could see its draconic maw underneath slowly open and close as its eyes, like two coals from Pandemonium itself, burning in its head as it glared down at what it sensed to be the strongest power in the area. Dael had nearly forgotten that Guardian Forces could do that, and was no doubt how Carbuncle had spotted it before the rest of them.

Tiamat had found its next target.

"Taraketh. Dael."

The monster alone was intimidating enough. Just like the Sorceresses, or Leviathan, for that matter, Dael had found that it had a commanding persona, making everyone give it their full attention. She could feel the raw power coming off of it. Yet Mianyl, when she spoke now, her voice seeming to resonate just as Dael's own power resonated, she could not be denied. The woman looked to her. In spite of the power that Tiamat possessed, the heat radiating off of him, and the fact that she, like the rest of them, were standing like insects in the wake of the wrath of a giant, she spoke calmly and firmly. Not ordering…but impossible to disobey none the less.

"Thank you for all that you've done, but you must now leave the matter to me and the other Sorceresses. Go now."

Again, Dael noticed that listening to a Sorceress using her power was like being hypnotized. Her body instantly turned and took not one, not two, but three steps away from the area before she snapped to attention and was able to look back. Mianyl stood and glared at Tiamat. However, she was no longer alone. Also seeming to come out of nowhere, two more dressed in full regalia with their own golden crests, were Cybus and Faerio. They moved up behind Mianyl soon afterward, flanking on either side.

Jalab hesitated only a moment, but then turned and went after the others. As for Cid, he stared anxiously for a moment, especially at Faerio. The young Sorceress glared defiantly at Tiamat, not showing any more fear than she had at Jay, despite the fact that this was a much stronger and more hellish-looking opponent. The engineer stared a bit longer, but then began to step toward her.

However, Faerio risked looking away from Tiamat long enough to look straight at him and shake his head. "Sorry, Cid. This isn't something you can help on. Don't worry." She gave a grin. "You're still my knight in shining armor." She held up a finger and shook it at him. "But I'm not exactly a 'damsel-in-distress', either. More of a 'girls-kick-ass' type."

"Really, dear. There's no need to be vulgar." Cybus chastised, her own look still staring at Tiamat. "Besides, focus. This is going to be the hardest opponent we've ever faced."

Cid held a moment longer, but then gave Faerio a weak smile back and a hesitant thumbs-up, before turning and running off after Jalab.

Taraketh continued to hold. "Lady Mianyl…"

"You came here to help me, Taraketh. I'm grateful." Mianyl responded, not looking away from Tiamat, but lowering her voice…becoming softer and kinder. "You've very valiant. I'm proud of you. You don't have to prove yourself anymore to me here."

The High Child paused a bit. However, Dael could see a part of him was flattered and enthused to have gotten such a compliment from Mianyl. After a moment, he crossed his arm in front of him and bowed, and then turned and took off after the others. Dael, not wanting to be the odd person out, exhaled, but then ran after them as well. Carbuncle broke and went after her, soon falling in alongside. However, even as she ran, she continuously looked behind them. She didn't plan on going far.

Insane as it might be, this was something no other human being would likely ever see again.

Sorceress Mianyl, and two others as well, at the peak of their power.

Tiamat immediately bellowed at all of them, stretching his wings wide. Their gowns were whipped violently as he gave a mighty beat, casting up ash, debris, and fire. However, they dug in and braced themselves. Faerio reached to her side and pulled out her great, dancing, flaming whip once again. As for Cybus, she held her hands out in an odd position at her side. To Dael's surprise, a moment later, the air around her condensed and chilled…and what looked like a large, old string instrument of some kind came forth into her hands. It looked like a lyre of some sort, which she put to her side and extended her own half-claw fingers over the strings, fine and gleaming as gossamer. Mianyl, however, did nothing except raise her hands and expose her own claws once again.

"Ladies…you know what we have to do."

"It won't be easy, dear." Dael was able to catch Cybus saying as she grew out of earshot. "But I agree, it's the best chance of stopping him. Let us pray he doesn't catch on…"

Tiamat apparently didn't care to let them make the first move. Immediately, it snapped its head back, and Dael saw what almost looked like a burning sun in his throat as he prepared to fire. She suddenly realized, in shock, that if it fired now…there was no way they could avoid it or survive it. Not unless Carbuncle could do something. And judging by the fact that, as they ran, she heard him start to stammer and whimper, she doubted he could. Yet there was little time to worry as Tiamat snapped his head down and let loose another fiery beam of death.

Rather than the traditional sounds of destruction and flames, she heard a cosmic ringing noise so loud that it seemed as if it would shatter her eardrums, and Dael and the others stumbled and clutched for their ears as they went. Yet she wouldn't turn to look ahead. In spite of the fact that the fire was so bright it was blinding, she forced herself to look into the attack. What she saw she couldn't see too clearly, but it looked like Sorceress Mianyl, cast off power whipping up her clothing and seemed to almost press her into the ground as the road pavement formed a crater, holding up her hands and summoning the strongest shield spell known on Gaia. Amazingly enough, it was somehow stopping the attack, keeping it from doing anything, although there was no mistaking that it made her buckle and took her to the limit this time.

The attack cut off after a moment, and Tiamat reared back. However, as he did, the barrier, translucent and gleaming like an electric rainbow, remained in effect, blazing bright and glorious. Mianyl continued to hold her hands up. That's when Dael realized what it was…a reflection spell. A moment later, the blast, only somewhat less in magnitude and power, erupted from the shield again and went straight back for the Guardian Force.

He seemed to know it was coming, however. Almost the moment he finished firing, he already shot into the air…and soon, the deadly beam erupted back outward into the smoky, dark heavens, but other than that did no good. Nothing was hurt by the attack.

The others had already gone to work. Faerio had quickly dodged to the left, while Cybus had gone to the right. Dael was a bit surprised at what she saw. Faerio was quite rapid, but that was to be expected regarding her age, even if it was enhanced. Cybus, however, was no slouch herself, easily tearing across the ground too. Both of them were fast enough to clear a 100 meter dash in moments…but, unfortunately, their opponent was even faster. Dael actually let out a gasp, and soon recoiled from the resulting tremor as Tiamat seemed to come out of nowhere, darting around and driving himself into the pavement to send up what few pieces of it were left…right in front of Faerio. Yet even she seemed to have higher reaction time, and quickly leapt and lunged at the same time. The pavement still struck her back leg, though, and sent her flailing a bit. As for the Guardian Force, it swiped out a claw for her…meaning to rend her in two with one strike. However, she was a bit faster, lashing out with that flaming whip of hers in his face. The result seemed to tag it in the eye, causing it to snarl and rear back…but not much. In fact, the move seemed to only irritate it, and as she was still falling it snapped around and lunged for her with its jaws.

That was when a crystalline ringing, similar to what Dael remembered hearing when they faced Shiva, rang out. The heat radiating from Tiamat seemed to die, and, moments later, mist condensed instead, forming into large, deadly shards of ice. A moment later, they began to rain down on Tiamat from all sides. Normally, such a move would be useless. However, the shards seemed to have a mind and will of their own, and sought out gapes in scales, gums, nostrils, and eyes, hitting the monster in ever vulnerable spot they could find. It wasn't enough to stop it or do serious damage, but it soon thrashed its head about in anger.

During this assault, Dael, now a block away but still in range, spotted a metro train entrance nearby. It was hardly good protection against a stray shot…but then again neither was anything else in the city. She quickly ducked behind it and looked out back to the battlefield, seeing what would happen next. She wasn't sure if the others had stopped or not, but she was going to see this, insane as it might be.

Apparently, at least one person noticed.

"Dael, what the hell are you doing?!" Carbuncle outburst. "You want to get incinerated by that thing's next miss?"

"I didn't have you teleport me here just to run away the second the Sorceresses got here, Carbuncle." She called back. "I want to watch this."

"What the hell for?!"

"Because I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I don't!" Dael shot back. "This fight is going to determine the fate of Esthar and everyone in it! Nothing like it may ever happen again!"

Even as Dael said this, Tiamat finally bellowed, snapping his head free, and let out a weaker, yet still potent and easily-capable-of-destroying-a-city-building, beam of deadly energy out for Cybus. Dael looked to her, and saw just a glimpse of what looked like her playing her lyre. Somehow, she was summoning that ice by doing so. She turned and broke off her attack now, running for it again at this point, but it was too late. The beam would still hit her.

However, Mianyl had not moved, and now intervened. Quickly, she rushed forward, her body exploding in another violet aura, before she lashed out with her power and struck the beam with a wave of energy. It seemed to be of the same nature as the reflection spell…but this time, it acted as solid steel to a bullet. It deflected the weaker attack up and into the sky. It still took off the edge of a roof, but other than that hit nothing. Tiamat, however, didn't do the full blast this time. Cutting off the attack, he soon roared and barreled straight for Mianyl, obviously meaning to tear her apart.

The woman wasn't done, however. Dael couldn't hear her chanting from here, assuming she even did, but soon she let out something that sounded like thunder. The sky darkened a bit and the wind picked up again, this time drawing toward the battle zone, as Mianyl summoned it. Its size, however, belied its power. It was some sort of swirling, translucent sphere no larger than 3 feet across. Dael had to look at it for a moment before she realized that this was some sort of wind attack. Probably possessing the same power as one of Jay's greater tornadoes. But rather than be diffuse, it was compacted into a ball that now sailed straight for Tiamat. A moment later, it struck him in the chest…and, to Dael's surprise, the massive, powerful beast actually roared in pain and staggered back a step. The power was so great, it actually ripped off a few scales and drew a small amount of blood, although Dael couldn't see it from here.

This only increased the rage of the Guardian Force, who soon doubled its speed, rending the pavement and whatever was below it as it came. Mianyl, moving just as fast, threw out two more spheres. It was ready this time, however. It swung its thickly-armored crest out and smacked both of them aside, and by the time it was done the impacts were literally beginning to knock Mianyl into the air. Somehow, however, she held on and rose her hands to the heavens.

Quickly, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in a half-second, and the smoke and clouds swirled rapidly, building and gathering, before a monstrous, white-hot bolt of electricity shot down and struck the Guardian Force head-on. Yet even this only fueled its rage, and a moment later, it used the brief stumble the bolt of lightning had caused to drive its entire body and crest into Mianyl. The Sorceress quickly swept her arms in front of her, but Dael gasped a moment later when she saw the pavement uproot and be kicked into the sky from the wave of Tiamat's blow to Mianyl, seemingly pounding her into nothingness as she was ground into the road. For a moment, the commander thought it was all over. She knew she had no defense spell of her own that would have kept her from being smashed into fluid by that attack…

Yet Tiamat apparently wasn't satisfied. Snapping his head back up, his throat gleamed with burning-red energy once again. As he did, however…he suddenly seemed to slip into gelatin, much as the building had before. Unlike the building, he didn't stop all together, but he did slow quite a bit. Soon after, moving in slow motion, Tiamat's mouth closed and his head twisted, trying to find the source. Dael already knew it, though. A slow spell…but one that had to be highly advanced to leave an effect on the Guardian Force. His eyes soon turned, and he saw who was causing it. Cybus was up the street, having snapped around to use one of her direct spells against him. However, it didn't last long. The monster shifted a moment…before a white aura suddenly enveloped it and then fell apart like a thousand fragments of glass. Immediately, Tiamat moved at full speed again and used it to take off into the air. Brandishing its wing claws, it shot straight for Cybus.

The Sorceress tried to respond by rapidly playing her lyre again, going from a simple and beautiful tune to a rapid and fierce one. Each note she played sent a pillar of ice erupting from the street like a column of death, looking to either impale Tiamat or impede his progress. However, the creature only was stung once, and it barely went in…although it made the Guardian Force even madder. He soon burst through the rest of the ice towers, his claws rending them to pieces, before coming on the older Sorceress. She quickly waved her hand over herself and became enveloped in a red aura, a haste spell, moments before it arrived. Even so, and even with her youthful energy, the trail of her dress was cut as she leapt over a wing snap that cut a deep rift into the road, and she was nearly slashed again when it followed up with its tail for her head. She actually had to fire off an ice spell against it just to knock her clear, but when she smashed back into the road, she stumbled and staggered. Tiamat nearly went for her…

When another roar ripped through the sky, and Dael saw a gleaming light, a meteorite fragment, come down from the black heavens and smash Tiamat in the back. For the first time, the Guardian Force expressed a genuine bit of pain as it roared in anger and actually spasmed a bit, its wings wrenching wildly behind it. Snarling, it spun around to the source, and saw, as far away as possible, and partially up a half-melted fire escape, was Faerio. She soon called out in her own enhanced voice, loud enough for Dael to hear as well as its intended recipient.

"Get started, Cybus! Cast the spell!"

"I'm not in position yet!" The older Sorceress called back, even as the Guardian Force snarled and spun around. Not wasting time with delays or warmups, it immediately started to flap its wings and tore straight for Faerio, in spite of her distance. "And you'll have to hold him off almost by yourself!" She threw out, almost belated.

However, Tiamat didn't get far before another monstrous bolt from the still-turbulent sky burst forth and struck Tiamat again. He barely flinched from it, even though it hit him in his wing joint. However, it rapidly struck again and again in the same place, like it was a living thing hitting him repeatedly until it had a result. The Guardian Force's face grew more and more distorted with pain, and finally, after five strikes, it was too much and the winds fumbled and spasmed, causing the monster to crash to the street again.

The reason was nearby. Mianyl, still rippling with power, had her hand aimed at the beast, her body still enveloped with such an aura that she seemed almost livid compared to everything around her.

"I'm helping as well, Cybus."

The woman blinked, and then looked up. "But, if he-"

"Do it now!" The Sorceress cut off, even as Tiamat's heat increased as it rose, summoning more power to itself. In response, she brought her hands back, and her aura ignited as she prepared another spell. "You're the best at this! Then get into position!"

Cybus held a moment longer, but then finally collected herself and nodded. As Tiamat bellowed, letting his wings go wide, he suddenly lunged for Mianyl again. In response, however, she swung her hands around and called forth an arcane word again. In response, a Flare spell far larger and deadlier than anything Dael had witnessed from any Mage Gun suddenly burst forth and send a stream of burning, blazing fireballs, like tiny suns, streaming through the air and slamming into the crest of Tiamat's head, where they seemed to pierce into one tiny position before igniting in a powerful, piercing explosion. The sheer shockwave power coming from it was enough to obliterate the ruins of surrounding buildings into dust, yet it only served to make Tiamat rear his head back and halt momentarily.

However, Cybus used the moment. Soon, her own aura lit up in an icy blue. Yet the spell didn't come right away. She continued to focus for a moment. Dael wondered what was going on from this. Normally, Sorceresses cast spells instantly, even powerful ones. However, she seemed to have to put some effort into this one. Yet a moment longer, and it was ready. She pointed out at Mianyl. Dael was soon a bit surprised at what she saw. No large attack. No incredible act of power or world-shaking spell. Instead, to her surprise, Mianyl momentarily became a prismatic crystal glowing with rainbow-colored light. This was as she continued to chant the spell upon Tiamat, making him thrash his head around in irritation and pain, but also keeping him pinned. She gleamed for just a few moments, but then it died down. That wasn't to say the effects faded, however. Dael, on her part, knew what had just happened.

_That was a reflection spell…and a very powerful one…but…why?_

Cybus, however, wasted no time. As soon as she was done casting the spell, she quickly played her lyre once again, and a crystalline ice staircase began to form. She immediately took off along it, running far faster than any other woman her age, even an athletic one, would. Dael noticed this, and quickly turned her head to Faerio. By now, the youngest Sorceress was nearly to the top of the fire escape and the roof beyond. It looked like they were trying to get into position for something…but what?

"…Could they really…?"

When the commander heard Carbuncle speak, she immediately turned to the green creature. In spite of his normal boldness, he had retreated and hid behind Dael's leg, watching everything unfold. While he had been nervous until now, he now seemed intrigued as he stared at what unfolded.

"…Could they really what?" Dael asked in response.

Before the green creature could respond, however, he gave another exclamation of surprise. The commander turned and looked, and was just in time to see Tiamat suddenly burst forth from the battering of Flares and snap its head down and exhale another deadly blast down upon Mianyl. Dael let out a gasp of her own when the woman, in spite of still trying to force him back, was suddenly bathed in the deadly beam, and fire and heat spilled out like water on rock from around her.

Dael knew that no normal mage, or even an advanced one, could just whip out Flare after Flare like Mianyl had. Not without reducing their stamina to effectively nothing after the first few attacks. People weren't built for that. The fact that Mianyl was able to continuously throw out spells of this magnitude was unbelievable, but Tiamat still had all that power and stamina and more to spare. As it attacked her, she was fearful that Mianyl's stamina was running dry, that she had nothing left and would be struck by the beam. Reflection spell or no, she didn't know if it could hold this monster back…

Yet after a moment, she thought she spotted something. As Tiamat continued to exhale the attack, actually moving its head around a bit to try and find a better opening, she cause a glimpse of something black in the midst of it. Was it her? She couldn't tell. But Tiamat was still attacking, and yet its breath wasn't spilling into all of the surrounding streets or pounding a bigger crater… To Dael, that meant, somehow, she had to be withstanding this, although she was sure no spell could stand up to it forever, even if it was from a Sorceress. And on that note, she continued to see Cybus and Faerio ascend, until they reached the roofs of their respective buildings. Once there, they turned and face Tiamat…but neither attacked. They both just stood there, and from this distance Dael couldn't even tell if they were warming up.

"Oh boy…I think we need to back up further, Dael…"

The commander heard this, and looked to Carbuncle, only to see the green creature rapidly grabbed her foot again and ignited his jewel into ruby light, which rapidly spread around both her and the Guardian Force…

A moment later, the world changed around Dael, now a full block away from the action. She blinked in surprise, and looked to the battlefield, but at this distance the Sorceresses were only dots. The sounds of everything had abruptly diminished, and now she could only make out Tiamat, still using his breath on Mianyl. However, she barely had time for that before Carbuncle, using his claws, hooked on Dael's sock and began to drag her back to the side, toward a nearby concrete building entryway.

"Come on, take cover already!" He told her.

She began to move with him, but was confused. "Huh? Why?"

"I can feel it!" He retorted. "It's building!"

"What is?"

"The ultimate spell, of course!" He retorted, as if it was obvious. "The hallmark of the greatest wizards! The Forbidden One! The one so powerful Leviathan himself guarded it for over a hundred years!"

Dael was to the entry now, and looking to Carbuncle in confusion. "What are you…"

She trailed off, however…for Carbuncle's appearance suddenly dimmed. It was the middle of the night. The only lights in the city were the numerous fires. Yet all of them now dimmed as if God had turned down a dimmer on all light sources in the universe. Not only that, but the noises Dael made became more "faint". They were quieter…like they were from the end of a tunnel, behind a wall, and from a dream. She looked about at that, even as she felt the air around her change again. She had felt the air charge before for certain spells…but now, as she held here, she realized this was something far different…something far greater. The air actually seemed to become "alive", like a living, breathing organism. Like it had been supercharged with something beyond electricity.

She blinked a few times, then looked back up to Tiamat. He was finally cutting off his breath, but still going strong. However, in spite of being farther away, she could see Mianyl now…or, rather, she could see the energy around her. Her aura was flaring again, and growing stronger than ever. Even in the wake of the blinding beam, she could see her standing out, and she was only growing larger and larger in power. The air around her seemed to ignite, but not with heat…with something not of this world. Dael realized it had to be spiritual energy of the world, just as Taraketh had told her. And it was growing stronger and stronger. Out of a bit of curiosity, she actually closed her eyes and began to still herself, trying to see what this looked like from a "spiritual" view, just like she had with her power.

What she saw was shocking.

Until now, Dael had seen a connection between all things that lived and existed in the world. But this…this was something new. The connections were actually being _made_. Some sort of cosmic force was setting the entire surrounding world on _fire_ around Mianyl, enveloping Tiamat and everything else. At first, it only seemed to enhance everything there…but as time went on, Dael realized it was forming one of the "ley lines"…not using one that existed, but actually making one of its own. What more…this one was _massive._ It went through the entire city…no, through _reality itself_.

_What on Gaia is this…?_

She broke out of it, and just in time…as Mianyl shouted a word so arcane and powerful that she almost felt her heart stop beating for a moment…and for a brief instant the young Sorceress was like a god.

The world itself seemed to peel away as what Dael could only describe as a burning green wave of raw spiritual power issued forth from Mianyl. It was impossible to quantify. Her mind somehow couldn't register it as anything other than raw power as it slammed into Tiamat. If the monster roared, it was lost in the resulting eruption. All that Dael could soon see was a brilliant, energy-filled expanse that consumed Mianyl and Tiamat together, and began to vaporize the already pulverized block, expanding and consuming it as if it was both the creation and the apocalypse all in one…

Dael was overwhelmed. It was both beautiful and horrible at the same time. It somehow affected her in her heart, not just her senses. Yet somehow, she heard one word spoken from Carbuncle as it was unleashed.

"Ultima…"

And then, just as soon as it came up, it cut off. All at once, the terrible spell, beyond anything Dael had ever experienced, vanished in a single flash. All that was left was a perfect hollow sphere identation in the remains of the street, cutting into part of the buildings nearby. Yet what she noticed most of all was Tiamat. He hadn't been able to shrug this off. He was flying to the heavens against his will, his entire body wracked in agony and wings sprawling. Parts of his scaled-all-over his body were damaged and had lesions nearby, although Dael couldn't make them out that well, and the Guardian Force seemed so stunned that he couldn't automatically recover.

Yet in spite of all that, shortly after clearing the skyline, the monster began to move again. At first, it only seemed to writhe…but then, to Dael's surprise, it suddenly snapped its wings and tail around and let out a roar of rage. It glared down at Mianyl, whose glow had subsided quite a bit now but was still there, and bellowed in rage. To be honest, Dael couldn't even see the Guardian Force moving that much slower or stiffly, indicating it hadn't even been crippled. The commander's jaw loosened as she gaped.

"After all that, it's still standing?"

"That was just a warmup, Dael. The main event is happening now."

The woman blinked on hearing Carbuncle say that, but had no time to look to him. Suffice to say, he was right. She could barely hear it from there, but Mianyl shouted out loud one last word.

"Now!"

Immediately, the auras of both Faerio and Cybus ignited, one red like flame, and the other blue like ice. They both burned for only a moment, before both of them aimed and fired off massive spells. Faerio sent forth a colossal ball of churning, ruminating fire, looking like raw magma from the core of Gaia. Cybus let out a storm of ice crystals so large and so cold that all surrounding fire immediately died and was replaced by snow and mist. Yet to top everything off, Mianyl herself had her aura flare and held her hands to the heavens. The sky's already swirling chaos and darkness grew even worse, and soon…a bolt of lightning as thick around as a car came down. All three of these attacks converged on the same source at once…

Mianyl.

As Tiamat roared in rage, enough to make his bestial tone sound throughout the city, and reared his head up to start producing another breath attack, this one gleaming even brighter than before, so strong that his head vanished, Mianyl vanished in a collision of power, sending off another brilliant flash of her own. It was so much light and power that Dael felt searing, sizzling energy and heat wash over her, and she was forced to cover her face for a moment as it went off. Yet the blaze didn't die. It only stayed at the same brightness. Gritting her teeth, she forced her eyes back open and looked back to the field, and saw it. Mianyl, Faerio, and Cybus were still casting their spells, piling more fire, ice, and lightning onto the head Sorceress. But she wasn't falling. Instead, her reflection spell was gleaming more radiant than the dawn with its prismatic colors. Tiamat continued to build power, no doubt planning on taking out a quarter of the city or more with this next blast, but he never got the chance.

To the tune of a sound even stronger than that of the Ultima spell, a golden beam of raw power erupted from Mianyl…the result of the three spells combined in some sort of mystic, astral delta, and now bouncing straight out to the intended target. The glow was so bright that the entire city shone as radiant as the day. It was slightly jagged and irregular like lightning, but was mostly just a beam of pure power…and it slammed into Tiamat with enough force to shatter the heavens and send the smoke fleeing for miles.

Dael wasn't sure she heard Tiamat cry out or if it was her imagination, but his body crumpled around the weapon like a doll as he was violently thrust out of the city just as fast as he had come, the raw power of the delta attack knocking him clear out of the city limits and far to the north in mere moments. The radiant light tore across the heavens, filling the creatures still roaming the streets with fear, Bombs and Basilhounds included, and sent them fleeing in terror. But none in the city were able to see Tiamat. He was blasted too far, and even when he was gone the beam continued to fire.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the attack cut off. Dael couldn't see it from here, but Faerio cut off her power and collapsed. Cybus did the same and staggered, grabbing the side of the building for support. Mianyl alone breathed hard and wiped some sweat from her brow, but other than that did not move. The translucent glow died, the reflection spell having been blown into nothingness by that power. The light faded, and the world turned dim. The fires, no longer being fueled by Bombs, dimmed and became red glows, and most of the city turned as dark as a hearth full of dying embers. All was silent. It seemed as if all in existence had gone still in the wake of that attack.

Dael didn't make a sound. She stared in utter disbelief.

_…Faerio alone was nothing compared to this._

_ That power I felt from Mianyl…it wasn't just her personality. She has so much power in herself already. She's like a living goddess… No wonder she never uses it. Just a few errant blasts would destroy everything around her, not just her targets. I never had any idea… This is impossible…_

The commander honestly couldn't move. She had respect for the Sorceresses before now, and respect for their abilities. But now…she had genuine fear. She couldn't believe they had this much power. It surpassed even that of the Elite Hounds. Everything that Esthar's Hawks had ever estimated regarding the Sorceresses…it was nothing compared to this. She didn't know it, but even the High Children of the Order of Hyne had no idea she possessed this much strength.

Finally, after a few moments, something snapped her out of it…a painful cut across her shin.

She winced a bit, and then looked down, seeing Carbuncle angrily looking up to her with his still-bloody claws. "What was that for?"

"For being a moron of a human, that's why! You're just damn lucky that Sorceress didn't go all out!"

Dael paused on hearing that. "…What are you talking about?"

"That Ultima spell! It could have destroyed everything for nine blocks square if she had used its full power, you moron!" The green creature responded.

The commander's jaw loosened again. "That…wasn't full power?"

"Of course it wasn't! Didn't you see how she cut it off before it even got to a quarter strength? If she had let the whole thing go off, she would have turned Tiamat into ash, but she also would have killed us all! That's why she did her own version of a Delta Attack with those other two broads…"

The derogatory name aside, Dael's face lost its color. "You're…you're kidding, right? I mean, that thing alone was already…"

"Give me a break. Sorceress Aerith could do better than that with one hand, and Mianyl's far more of an offensive-type than she ever was. Although, I'll admit, I'm shocked. Until now, I didn't think anyone could surpass her…"

This served to only shock Dael even more. That hadn't even been full strength? How could any living thing possess so much power?

What in Gaia _was_ a Sorceress anyway?

Carbuncle exhaled and lowered his black button eyes. "At least Tiamat decided to run off with his tail between his legs after that…"

Dael soon received another shock. "What the… Are you saying he survived that?!"

"Probably wishes he didn't, but yeah." The green creature answered with a shrug. "Took over half of his power with it, and he might be a brute but he's obviously not a moron. He hauled ass out of here after that. I can feel his power retreating back to the fleet. A signature that big is easy to see from a distance."

The commander felt like she was ready to pass out. She couldn't believe it. Not only were the Sorceresses that strong, but apparently Tiamat was still a match for them. There was no question about it now. If the Sorceresses hadn't risen to defend Esthar, they'd all be dead. All of the firepower and spells that they could muster would have been nothing to that thing.

She couldn't believe it. To confirm it, she turned back to her relay and turned it on. She hoped it hadn't been damaged…that she could still hear some of the radio reports, assuming Tiamat had spared enough relays. On turning the volume back up, she heard a bit of static, but still managed to make out a voice. In the silence of the street, it echoed over everything far and wide.

_"-eared the area."_

_ "Confirm."_

_ "Bravo 5 and Episilon 6 both confirm. Unknown hostile bio-weapon is in full retreat. Directly line for place of origin, moving roughly 600 knots slower than on approach but still beyond any capability of our own aircraft to target."_

_ "Acknowledged. Stand down alert Bravo stations. Episilon, remain on in case bio-weapon makes a return pass. Continue to reroute emergency vehicles. Ground Zero is now cleared for entry."_

Dael's breath caught in her throat for a moment. It was true. That monster had stood up even to those attacks. She wondered for a moment if the Sorceresses could have won if they had used their full power…but if it would have meant destroying everything to do it. Yet, on thinking again, she was pretty certain Faerio and Cybus were already at their full power. As for Mianyl…she remained in doubt. She was unbelievable. She was far above and beyond even her own peers…like a creature in and of herself. Was that why she had the claws…?

A new message interrupted her from her thoughts from the radio.

_"Ground Alpha reporting. Last system check is a go. Repeat, check is a go. We are hot and ready to begin Operation Panic is ready for launch."_

_ "Confirmation code: Juliet Xray Zulu India Charlie Quebec Foxtrot Foxtrot."_

_ "Code is confirmed as authentic. Launch sequence has been initiated. Five second timer. Five…four…three…two…one…mark."_

Dael couldn't hear the actual launch. She was too far for that. However, she turned her head and looked away from the destruction for the first time and south of the city. Then, at last, she saw it. A block away, the others were standing in the dying glows of the flames, already sinking into darkness. The civilians had fled. But far on the horizon, like a distant comet, she saw it. A while plume of flame and smoke erupted from the edge of the city limits and went into the sky. Rapidly, it began to shrink and became obscured by its own smoke, soon vanishing completely into the darkness…

The Phobos Siren had been launched.

* * *

><p>The fighting to the south had gone on more or less heedless of Esthar. The defenders, unfortunately, heard of what had transpired with Tiamat via transmissions, but the Sybenians had been relentless, pushing more and more inland, and now beginning to use Eris Bells to force the spellcasters to move further and further back. They held out none the less, mostly due to having no other choice. If nothing else, they needed to do it for survival. And when Tiamat had been repelled, it had been almost a moot point. The enemy had continued to push forward, and had even cleared some of their destroyers away to land a sizable invasion force. The rest were quickly coming in. Even with additional Black Corsairs arriving, it simply wasn't enough. However, unknown to anyone, the fact that Tiamat had been repelled had been taken under advisement. It meant little to most of the commanders, but a few of the higher ups knew both of Tiamat as well as his power…and now, as he had been repelled, they knew that Esthar possessed sufficient power to repel him in turn.<p>

Then…the Phobos Siren arrived.

On landing, it let out only what appeared to be a standard explosion, and practically a dud at that. Yet it had sent out a white shockwave for miles, rippling over the entire battlefield and into the coast, even partially out over the bay, enough to take out half of one of the aircraft carriers. And at once…everyone was in the dark. Even flashlights had gone dim on both sides. For a few minutes, there was nothing but total confusion on both sides. With the sky starless, there wasn't any light anywhere. Even the navy out in the sea was dumbfounded when the destroyers and transports in the bay went dead.

But Black Corsairs are nothing if not ruthless. They immediately changed tactics and sprang on whoever had been relying on cover in between, and soon sank six more of their ships in moments. That triggered the ones ashore to attack again. Now that almost all technology had been rendered inoperative, Esthar had the advantage through magic. Tired and sore as the spellcasters were, they soon surged on the enemy and began to take them out in droves. They had no defense, and soon were being massacred. So brutal and abrupt was the counterattack that it wasn't long before groups as large as a division began to surrender and throw down their arms, Sybenian pride in their hearts or no Sybenian pride in their hearts. The defenders surged and soon advanced, using whatever was left in their arsenal and magic ability to wipe out the invaders. Even those that retreated soon found they gained little from doing so. Their transports and destroyers formed a new barricade, and they had no escape anymore as all were non-functional. Surrender or death was all that was left to them.

The fact of the matter was, had the Sybenians held their ground, they could have won the day. They still had superior weapons that were untapped, and it would take days before the Black Corsairs could even make serious problems for them, let alone disable them. They might have been forced to be content with just taking the airfield for now and bombing Esthar's main city. But with the port taken, the Black Corsairs would have eventually realized they had a bad deal and left, and alone, the city could not stand for more than a few weeks at the most, and that was being optimistic. However, a bit of luck was on their side.

The Sybenian officers were confused now. The people of Esthar had shown a new weapon that gave them a decisive advantage on the battlefield. In the wake of the weapon (one that, for all they knew, Esthar had a dozen of ready and waiting to fire), the only force of any consideration was magic. Even the Eris Bells had been disabled by the blast. The people in the highest levels of authority had seen that Esthar possessed power equivalent to their own greatest weapon…namely the Sorceresses were able to repel Tiamat. Anything with that level of power could be reasonably expected to do the same to an army attacking Esthar. Some even thought the reason they hadn't been attacked until now was because they were waiting for the full force to come inland, and then be lined up for destruction. In short…mass puzzlement, and even fear, had arisen in the wake of all of this. And so, after passing information through the various channels, the request was eventually made to the highest level of command, the Dictator himself.

He gave one simple response.

"Why not? They bought themselves…what? A month of life at the most?"

Such a statement was never made public for prying ears to hear, but what came next was. A general retreat was sounded. The entire navy advanced enough to block off the enemies both on shore and from the Black Corsairs so they could breach the shore long enough to effect an escape. However, only a quarter managed to withdraw. Many were already disabled or pinned down, and they couldn't risk going for the others if Esthar had another Phobos Siren. In the end, they pulled back with whoever they could. Those who had been left behind soon realized no help was coming, and were forced to surrender as Sybenia pulled out of the bay.

The Black Corsairs readily moved in and filled in the bay, guarding one of their flanks. More continued to come en route. Dozens of them now that the way was clear. As the sun began to rise, the forces on the shore began the arduous process of corralling the prisoners, permanently disabling or stealing their weapons, and the Black Corsairs began to assess their haul. Luckily, the Phobos Siren had practically gift wrapped a number of ready-to-use destroyers. All in all, only twenty percent of the enemy fleet had been totally destroyed, but over sixty percent of the invasion force had been eliminated or captured. Neither one could function without the other, and so the day went to Esthar. While it had been won on a "technicality", and Esthar's livelihood now depended upon its ability to maintain an illusion of having a wealth of unknown powers, it was nevertheless the heaviest defeat that Sybenia had experienced yet.

For now, Esthar remained as a country. They had won.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	45. The Quiet Aftermath

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter really is a "filler" one, but with good reason. I'm going out of town next weekend, and I want a new chapter out Thursday afternoon. BTW...I apologize in advance for the number of typos. There's quite a lot. I accidently didn't save most of my edits, and I'm not reading through the whole thing again.

* * *

><p><em>Three Days Later<em>

* * *

><p>Although there was a calm following the battle for Esthar, it was a foregone conclusion that no one was too happy or at ease. Not within Dael's group, not within Esthar's Hawks, and certainly not within the citizens of Esthar. One would hardly know they had "won" considering what unfolded for the next few days.<p>

All in all, over 6,000 people had died as a result of Tiamat's assault alone. Added to all of the deaths from the invasion, and the death toll was over 9,000. That said nothing of how many people were injured, mostly by burns. The entire city was in mourning even now. A memorial had been hastily erected at the Cathedral, and Lady Mianyl herself had taken time out of her own business of trying to assist Esthar and the wounded to pay her respects along with Lady Cybus. Lady Faerio had strained herself so much she had actually been injured, and was still recovering at the time, although Dael heard she had visited today from Cid. Naturally, he had ended up splitting his time between engineering and staying at her side while she recovered. Incredible amounts of damage had been doing to both the city and the infrastructure. Even though the shields were fully active again, they had not yet reached the point where they could make Class II "Search and Destroy" groups stand down, as they were necessarily to try and eliminate both Bombs and pockets of monsters. No one ventured out at night anymore, not even criminals such as drug dealers and looters. Even at full capacity in a non-wartime scenario, it would take years to fully repair Esthar into its former glory. They hadn't the time. Instead, every morning as the people woke up, they had to stare at the terrible reminder of what happened: four large rifts through the city proper, as if God had extended his finger and raked it against the entire landscape.

Military-wise, they were not doing bad. None of the plants that had been converted to produce munitions had been disabled, and more were converting and continuing to work. Plans had been put into play to hurry and build factories capable of producing weapons…but that was mostly an empty gesture. Even with workmen putting in overtime 24 hours a day, and with everything optimized for maximum efficiency, they couldn't get a factory running outside of six months from now. For all they knew, they had two weeks at the most. Technically, they had whenever Sybenia decided to return. They had enough troops and ships ready to renew their assault without any reinforcements if they wanted. And that was despite the fact that at least half of the Black Corsairs were now guarding the bay. The _Ragnarok_ had finally arrived just that morning, but even with its help, Dael knew they could do anything other than take a few pieces out of the enemy. Ground forces were just as much of a joke as they were before, if not more so. It turned out the people of Fuliet barely had any knowledge on how to fire weapons, and after the last battle there wouldn't be enough ammunition ready for drills and target practice for a few more days. And one thing was absolutely certain. Sybenia was going to be more prepared when they had their next assault. The same tricks weren't going to work again. Without a decisive advantage, they didn't have any hope of victory.

_I'm almost tempted to let the Sorceresses fight the war for us… They're about the only real weapon we have against Sybenia. _Dael thought.

The civil authorities were trying their best to continue "business as usual" for the city. After all, the infrastructure needed to continue if they were going to have anything left to fight Sybenia with. However, it was slow-going. The combination of depression among the citizens, fear at whatever horrific weapon Sybenia would unleash next, and the fact that their own city was still in pieces and swarming with enemies had ruined whatever "war boom" to the economy there might have been. It didn't help that it was nearly impossible to get the few government officials who remained together. Everything had to rely more and more on Lady Mianyl, the Order of Hyne, and Esthar's Hawks.

As a result, it was small wonder that Dael was seeing current events unfold on television.

A crowd of the few remaining Senate members who had come out of hiding, numerous other officials, both civil and military, and reporters were gathered on the steps of the capitol. There, in a gesture that fully affirmed the Esthar government "handing over the reins", Lady Mianyl was being sworn in as the new Grand Chancellor of Esthar, as nominated by the surviving members of the legislature. She was making a fairly big show of it, including banners of both Esthar and the Order of Hyne, as well as being dressed in full regalia once again.

Dael looked away as she continued to work on her current exercise, doing bicep curls with a bar loaded with 100 kilograms. Any heavier and the bar would deform, but this would suffice. She was covered in sweat from her workout as she lifted again and again. The main thought that occurred to her was that it was no surprise that Mianyl had received the nomination. She basically had the position before this. It was simply given to her. She didn't mind all of the decorum, either. She knew Mianyl hated it deep down inside, but it gave an impression of order and control to everyone else. And therefore, it was a good thing. The people of Esthar needed to feel that something was stable and concrete at the moment. They needed to be kept from panicking and kept helping out the war effort.

The commander herself had managed to find some work to stay occupied, but not nearly as much as everyone else. They had all returned to Fort Morningstar. It was overcrowded now, but their rooms were still theirs at least. She ironically found herself with little to do. Being a high-ranking officer in a task force, there were few "general" tasks that she could help out with. With her background, aside from filing reports, all she was allowed to do was sort through a few bits of international intelligence, and that was more due to keeping her hands busy than actual necessity. There was nothing to report other than Garrado was still up in the air. The only good thing that had resulted from the invasion was a lack of resources to overwhelm the defenders in that country, allowing them to remain a thorn in the side of Sybenia as well as a drain on their resources. Dael could only hope they wouldn't refocus their efforts there to smash it flat. What she _did_ look for were reports out of Leuco, but those were few and far between, and the ones that did come were handled by individuals who specialized in this, not officers who had been reassigned. Feeling mostly useless, she had taken up going about Fort Morningstar and doing whatever she could whenever she could instead. It made her feel somewhat more useful, at least.

Cryder had numerous reports to give and acted as a temporary liason for higher officers to the Black Corsairs, especially since all of them refused to meet with anyone from Esthar outside of the deck of the _Ragnarok_. Remarkably, there were few incidents. They seemed to realize they were both in the same boat now. Like Cid, Taraketh had tried to get in touch with Lady Mianyl, but that was quite impossible. Whenever she wasn't acting in her leadership role, she was making visits to factories, police, Esthar's Hawks, and others…her mere presence filling people with encouragement and hope. Dael wouldn't downplay such actions at a time like this, and neither would Taraketh. It was needed. Jalab lent a hand with some of the rubble removal whenever he didn't further his own training. Ceja herself did much the same, and still struggled to acclimate to the "modern" world. Even Quaren was doing better than Dael. He actually lended a hand in training both recruits as well as warriors of Fuliet in using guns.

In the end, about the only useful thing Dael found she could do was continue to train herself. She was continuing to make leaps and bounds, but she needed to keep it up. Her magic power as well as the power that Bahamut had shown her was increasing, but mostly she kept focusing on working her body out. That was what brought her into the training area at the moment. In all honesty, it was a bit overcrowded. After all, even if soldiers didn't want to train, everyone needed a way of burning off stress. That was why Dael was lifting weights right next to the treadmills. Well, that, and one other reason.

Bahamut was currently running along the treadmill right next to her. He had devoted very little effort to lifting weights or any form of strength training. As far as combat training was concerned, he was already highly skilled. That left speed and endurance training, which he did quite a bit. He seemed to realize his small size gave him a speed advantage, and he was eager to maximize it.

Dael was almost amazed to watch him here. She realized, in spite of the revelation, which she had made known to the colonel in her report although he hadn't had time to get back to her, that their relationship really hadn't changed. She didn't even feel that different at all around him anymore…and even knowing it was true, could barely see the "dragon" inside him.

He watched the screen a bit longer himself before turning his head down.

"Well…it's official." He stated, managing what sounded like a sigh even as he breathed a bit hard from the running.

"You almost sound…disappointed." Dael answered between reps.

"As a person who had to take on the mantle of leadership before, I can tell you it's not easy." He responded. "It's times like this that everything changes, whether it was intended or not. Even if she's beneveloent, Mianyl now wields both political power as well as religious power. If Sybenia is defeated, she'll walk away the most powerful woman in the world, even if she didn't have a hint of magic available to her."

"Are you…afraid…she's corrupt? She…saved…the city."

"That's true, but like I said, it doesn't matter if she's benevolent or not. The very position she's taking creates a new series of problems. Just because these Sorceresses are good doesn't mean future ones won't be. I never told you this before, but I've seen the future of this world once already in a vision, back when I still dabbled in such things."

Dael paused. "And what…did you see?"

The boy frowned. "Let's just say that the Sorceresses won't always be so kind-hearted..." He answered darkly. "Unless that future was somehow changed by Aerith being reborn as an Angel of Mercy rather than an Angel of Judgment."

Dael had to admit, it wasn't the most encouraging-sounding thing in the world. However, she didn't dwell on that too much. She had other things besides that to worry about. After performing a few more reps, she was done and set the barbell down. She panted for a moment and sat nearby as Bahamut continued to run.

"You know…" She stated after a moment. "This lull has given me time to do something I haven't done in a long while."

"What's that?" Bahamut asked as he ran.

"Think." Dael responded. "My whole life, I've been more-or-less trained to focus only on the moment. Especially in a time of war like this. But now there's a lull in the battle, one that I didn't think was going to be coming for quite some time. It's given me a few days to go over everything that we've seen so far. To be honest, I should consider myself lucky. I've already lived through and seen things that most other people who ever lived can only dream of seeing. But what really is making me think at the moment is things aside from the direct, immediate fate of Esthar or the invasion."

Bahamut reached over and switched off the treadmill, and began to slow down. "What sort of things?" He asked.

"Mostly what Leviathan told us." Dael responded. She exhaled. "…Quaren used to talk about something like that a lot. I never gave it much thought until now. To be honest, it kind of makes me nervous."

"I would think so." The boy answered as he came to a stop.

She shook her head. "No…it didn't until a few days ago. In spite of everything he showed us, it was still possible to think of it as being something far off or intangible, and therefore unreal." Her voice turned a bit darker. "But when I saw the power that Tiamat had…and the power the Sorceresses used…it made me realize there really are things in this world to which everything else, even people like the Elite Hounds, are just dust. It made me start thinking it might be possible for something else in this world to be even stronger…" She paused, and looked to Bahamut.

"…To be honest, it frightens me." She admitted after a moment. Her eyes lowered. "…It's not something I'm used to. I'm a soldier. I've learned to be without fear."

"No, you've learned to control your fear."

Dael looked back up at Bahamut on hearing that. He calmly stepped around the treadmill and sat next to her on the edge.

"Don't ever kid yourself into thinking you aren't afraid at times. A person who says they're never afraid is either a fool or a liar. Fear is inevitable. The only thing a sentient creature has control over is how to respond to that fear. Denial of fear only leads to problems." He gestured up and around him. "Everything that's going on in Esthar right now came because people tried to deny their fear. They tried to ignore what was happening in Sybenia and pretend that they didn't have to worry about building up their military. And the more aggressive Sybenia became, the more they denied it. Now look what's happened. The proper response to fear is not to run from it but to see what's causing it. If it's irrational, the problem is within you. But if it's rational, then you need to respect it, but then find a way to overcome it."

Dael paused for a moment on hearing that. However, this was nothing new to her. She had heard it many years ago from one of the veteran officers while still in the academy. She gave a nod afterward, then looked back up to him. "What do you think of what he told us?"

"At the moment, there's little we can do other than what we've been doing…try to end the war as quickly and painlessly as possible." The boy responded.

"That may not be easy." Dael answered with a frown. She paused for a moment, staring out into space, her mind filling with possibilities once again. After a moment, she looked back to him. "…Didn't the end of the battle seem a bit odd to you?"

"That Sybenia 'threw in the towel' relatively easily?" Bahamut responded.

The commander nodded. "I'll understand that some of the top brass might have thought they had bit off more than they could chew after the Phobos Siren and the Sorceress counterattack. But Rozan Heirarch was on their flagship. He was overseeing the whole thing. I've seen that man face-to-face, Bahamut. He's not the type to get rational when things start looking bad for him. I'm sure he would have been willing to sacrifice every last soldier in his army to take Esthar."

Bahamut paused momentarily. "…In that case, assuming he didn't withdraw from fear, then there are only two possibilities. One is that he already eliminated the real target that he wanted."

Dael shook her head. "If anything, he only lost from this battle. His ultimate weapon was repelled and no major targets were destroyed."

"That leaves only one other option."

The young woman hesitated for a moment, before she looked up a bit.

"…It didn't really matter to him whether he won this battle or not."

Bahamut said nothing. After all, she had already "hit the nail on the head".

She looked confused. "But…why would that be? He wants world domination, right? Esthar is the only obstacle to that goal now."

"He's not totally without enemies outside of Esthar, and you and I both know that." The boy responded. "We already have two of them on our side: Fuliet and the Black Corsairs. They realize what we do, that Esthar is the last bastion against Sybenia. Whoever still wants to fight might come now to our side."

"And if they did, they'd be vulnerable to one fell swoop…" Dael quietly answered. "…Like those new bombs they're working on in Leuco."

"Possibly." Bahamut answered. "But it's also possible it's not that simple. There's one thing that's becoming increasingly clear in this war. Nothing is taking place in a 'conventional' sense. Sybenia has seen the potential of magic as well as Guardian Forces, and is using both of them in ways no one has ever seen before. Part of it might be possible due to scientific research, but I highly doubt a country as xenophobic in regards to mages for so long can just embrace it so well in such a short period of time. There's something not right here."

Dael paused. "…You think that Sybenia is somehow tied to what Leviathan told us about? That something is actively trying to bring the two worlds together and open the way to the Void?"

"Yes. But beyond that, next to nothing can be ascertained." Bahamut responded. "Not even if Rozan is aware of what he's doing. He might not even be the source of this. He speaks of ruling the world through military might, not through magical power. Granted, he may be using a front…but I somehow doubt it. When I listened to him, I heard something similar to the Elite Hounds, something cut from the same cloth."

"And that is?"

"Something fierce, something wicked, something cruel…but ultimately something that has no true direction. That's at the beck and call of another. Rozan is that perfectly. For all of his sadism, all of his speeches, and all of his persona…he's living out his father's dream, not his own. Perhaps he believed in it even more strongly than his own father did. Perhaps he's even surpassed him. Yet in the end, he's still trying to do the same things he did. Better and more complete, maybe, but the same things. A part of him is nothing more than a shadow of Roz Heirarch. And a person like that does not have the power to exist 'independently'. He needs others to function, for guidance, for ideas."

"And you think someone is giving them to him?"

"Perhaps…perhaps not." Bahamut answered with a shrug. "He might just be recycling ideas his father never used. It might be someone else of relatively lesser importance in the military."

"Like whoever is behind everything that's come out of Leuco." Dael responded. "We know there's research going on down there. Now we're starting to realize just how big of a deal it is. The Elite Hounds were one thing. Tiamat is something else all together. Plus, there's those potential new bombs."

Bahamut looked at her a bit more firmly. "In short, you think that most of our answers lie in Leuco."

"I don't think Cryder saw everything they're hiding there, no." Dael responded. "And my brain wasn't exactly in the best shape at the time, but I remember hearing a name when I came to before they put us on that death march to prison: Dr. Lindst."

Bahamut hesitated again. "…I take it you've tried to look into this."

"Yes, but I don't have access to all of the detailed files on Leuco. Information is given out on a need-to-know basis even if it would be beneficial. They don't want to make it too easy on a hacker to see how much we know about the enemy."

The boy paused, then offered a shrug. "…Want me to take a look at it?"

Dael frowned. "…I still don't know how you managed to become so good at accessing information when you have practically no experience with technology, but no thank you. The whole city is on edge. They really will shoot you on sight as soon as you try accessing the Gordian Vault."

"Then I'll just have to make sure I'm not seen, won't I?" Bahamut answered. "I'm better at it now, you know. I'm junctioned."

"Forget it. Security is so high now that even someone like you couldn't get through. Especially since it's no longer just a 'storage area'. People go in and out of it all the time now that we're looking for new weapons to use against Sybenia."

The boy hesitated, but then nodded. "Very well. What do we do, then?"

The commander began to get up. "I'll present this to the colonel the next time I get to meet with him, but I doubt that's going to be soon, so I may cut him an email. For right now, we're going to go get showered and check the messages to see if someone needs us for something. If not…" She paused, but then gave a shrug and a weak smile at Bahamut. "…I'll get you an ice cream from the cafeteria. They actually got the good stuff in this time, probably because they realize that they need to improve morale as best as they can. What's your favorite flavor?"

The Guardian Force blinked a moment, but then closed his eyes and exhaled as he began to rise as well. "And again, you show that even if you know who I am and what I am, you treat me like a child."

"Learn to get used to it for the next six years of your life." Dael responded. "That's when you're no longer legally a minor."

Bahamut's eyes shot open as he looked to Dael in surprise. She gave him a half-smile back. "Like I said, I've had time to think. I know you're Bahamut. The group knows your Bahamut. But there's still no other evidence to indicate that to anyone else in the world. And like you said back on the airship, you're not much different from before what Leviathan told us. At least unless a way to find your essence is found, this is it for you. The world is going to view you as a child for a while yet, which means unless you want to be considered a runaway, I'm going to have to keep being your ward. Besides, so as long as you're living as a human, why not the full experience? Including a human childhood?"

The Guardian Force stared blankly at Dael for a moment. She simply looked back, waiting for a response. After a few seconds, his blank look vanished, and instead he formed a small smile.

"Much as I may not like to admit it, and embarrassing as it is, I suppose you're right." He answered. "Perhaps the reason this entire experience hasn't been so bad is because I don't have to live as if the fate of the world is entirely in my hands anymore. Seems being a 'weak mortal' has its benefits." He paused a moment longer, and then chuckled.

"…And I've never had ice cream before."

Dael reached over and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Well, let's hurry then, before it's all gone."

* * *

><p>It turned out Dael did have time to get the ice cream with Bahamut. The messages did indeed finally have something from the colonel requesting another meeting, but he had scheduled it a couple hours from the present time. Apparently, he had to budget his time very well now, which was to be expected. Neither she nor Bahamut was much for splurging on "sundaes", especially since both of them were so used to being physically trim and fit that it left them feeling bloated. However, in spite of that, Dael couldn't help but notice how Bahamut loosened up during the whole experience. Once or twice, it was almost possible to mistake him for a real twelve-year-old human boy. The whole thing was almost funny. One of the world's strongest soldiers and a legendary Guardian Force both caught in a war that meant the fate of millions of people and possibly the world, and here they were…eating ice cream in a cafeteria like a couple of "average" people.<p>

After all was done, Dael once again donned her official uniform once again, and went off for the meeting. Once again, it was going to be in the main briefing room rather than the colonel's office. They really didn't have time anymore for him to go in there and hold meetings. He was needed personally on too many things. Still, Dael couldn't help but feel a touch of anxiety. To avoid the hassle of having to gather all group members, Dael had been summoned alone since she was the commander of her task force. It was a bit nerve wracking. She was used to always having the others at her side. Still, there was nothing for it. So she left Bahamut behind with Carbuncle and departed.

As she neared the doors to the main briefing room, she couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of leaving Bahamut with Carbuncle. Naturally, it didn't take long for Carbuncle to realize everyone seemed to have more respect for Bahamut, and hence the story with Leviathan had come out. At first, he had laughed out loud and accused them of pulling his leg. Yet as he saw nothing but serious faces, he slowly realized they were telling the truth, at which point he threw himself down at Bahamut's feet and groveled. However, that too didn't last long as Bahamut admitted that he had no power, although he did show his irritation at Carbuncle for not recognizing him. Needless to say, Carbuncle didn't like being around Bahamut that much now, probably on the off chance that he would gain his power back suddenly and unexpectedly and would turn him into a light green smear. At any rate, she quickly wiped the smile off of her face before approaching the guards at the front. They didn't give her any trouble, merely saluted and then stood to one side.

"The colonel is already within, sir."

She dismissed them, and then advanced. The metal sliding doors opened up automatically, and after stepping inside they shut autotmatically behind her.

Sure enough, the inner room was empty. As Dael walked through the aisle leading to the main floor, she saw that only one person was present, and he was already facing her. Colonel Regalis was standing just down from the central podium, arms crossed behind him, and was staring right at Dael the moment she entered. It caused a bit of anxiety, but she forced it down as she walked forward. To her surprise, it was a bit easier than she would have thought. Fresh out of the Academy, she might have passed out in a situation like this. However, times had certainly changed, and she walked forward normally enough.

However, she soon saw something else that _did_ make her step slow.

As she began to emerge into the main chamber, her view expanded to show the sides of the colonel, as well as an individual who was now walking forward to be at his side: Sorceress Mianyl. She was still dressed in the same regalia as she had been from her swearing in ceremony, and she gave Dael a pleasant smile as she approached. The commander, stunned on seeing her, soon came to a halt and blinked.

"Lady…" She suddenly caught herself and shook her head. "Chancellor Mianyl…I thought you were in Esthar…"

"I was, but I left as soon as possible to be here." The Sorceress responded.

"The Grand Chancellor has little time to fit in her schedule, commander," The colonel responded, calm and businesslike as always. "But she wanted to be here after I explained some of the details of your report to her. She believes, as well as I do, that the actions of your task force are having a greater and greater impact on the course of this war and requested that she be allowed to meet personally from now on."

Dael blinked twice. Had this been a few days ago, she might have immediately stepped forward. But even though Mianyl's power had dimmed once again, she couldn't forget what she had done the other day, the sheer power she wielded…the fact that she knew she was less of a mage and more like a demigod. That much raw power was intimidating to behold. She realized now her body had known it long before her mind had, in how it seemed to feel small and meek compared to her. However, after a moment, she inhaled and forced herself to stand upright, and then walked forward to the two of them. She proceeded to give a salute to Colonel Regalis, and a bow to Sorceress Mianyl. That done, she stood at attention.

"I've learned only so much from what the colonel has told me." Lady Mianyl stated. "I'd appreciate it if I could hear it from your own lips."

The commander hesitated only a moment, but then nodded. She proceeded to give a brief summary of the events, but made sure to hit on all the key points. While the report she had submitted focused mostly on the alliance with the Black Corsairs, the attack on the Iron Channel, and the defeat of Crow, this report focused more on Leviathan and what they learned from him, in particular to Nyx Gaia. She also made the revelation of Bahamut's true identity known, something that surprised both individuals at first on hearing it.

When she had concluded, Regalis actually closed his eyes and let out a small laugh,. "Now I feel like a fool for patronizing him…" He murmured aloud, before opening his eyes again. "Yet what Sir Leviathan said makes me rather uncomfortable."

"Unfortunately, there's no denying that it's true." Mianyl stated grimly, her own face troubled and dark. "The hurricanes in Lamb…the endless Northern Rancor…the record rainfall in dry regions and record drought in wet regions… The world is growing more savage and unstable."

"His only suggestion is that we end the war as quickly as possible." Dael responded. "But I'm afraid Sybenia has the same idea. Colonel…Chancellor…I honestly believe that the recent retreat wasn't motivated by fear but by simply deciding we weren't worth the effort. Rozan Heirarch isn't the kind of man to do otherwise."

To this, the colonel simply nodded. "You're probably right, commander."

Dael was actually surprised a bit by this response.

Mianyl's own face remained grim. "Don't forget, commander, I talked with Rozan personally for three days. I'm well aware of what type of man he is. I don't know what did it, but his heart is twisted and bent toward cruelty. He manages to use the mask of his government and the Guiding Hand to make himself look civil, but I honestly believe he's far crueler and more sadistic privately than any tormenter you found in the Helheim prison."

The woman paused only a moment, but then got over it and began to speak again. "…In my opinion, sir and madame, we have been neglecting Leuco for too long. I'm afraid based on what Cryder told us, but I'm also nervous about what else they could be doing there. We know that Sybenia is doing experiments on magic, and so far we've seen rather dire results, both in terms of the Elite Hounds as well as Tiamat."

The colonel nodded in response. "I agree with you, commander. Until now, we've been neglecting Leuco in terms of Class III's activities. Most of our effort has been focused on Sybenia itself to see what they were preparing while we tried to defend ourselves, which I admit was a rather poor error on our part."

"But hopefully it will not be repeated." Sorceress Mianyl added. She bowed her head a bit afterward. "…I may have charisma, Dael, but I'm not going to pretend to be a great military tactician or leader. That's why one of the first things I did as Grand Chancellor was hand over the bulk of the control of the military to Esthar's Hawks themselves, making it official."

Dael blinked a bit in surprise. However, Mianyl looked up and merely smiled. "What's the point to wasting time waiting for orders from me on everything? Or in trying to deny that the military of Esthar is mostly Esthar's Hawks anyway? I just wanted to remove the last few shackles that keep the branch from acting. If Esthar is to be preserved, then its defenses have to be free to act as they see fit. I still retain overriding authority and approval power of major operations, but for the most part, I'm handing it over to your special forces."

Regalis himself wiped a bit of his brow and let out an exhale. "…I advised Chancellor Mianyl that Esthar's Hawks has never been entirely autonomous, but in the end I agreed that this was our time to either sink or swim. I myself have been a soldier for too long, not one calling the shots, so I'm not sure how good I can be. I will do all that I can for now, but the time may come when I need to step down and make way for a younger Esthar's Hawk that shows more leadership and independence."

He looked up afterward, his mood changing a bit. "At any rate, we're using what time we have while we have it. All remaining members of the Order of Hyne that are not yet in the city are coming, and the people of Fuliet are being settled along with whoever else comes from that region. We're pooling together whatever power we can manage while we can."

Mianyl's look darkened again. "…However, as was seen a few days ago, conditions of war have changed." She stated grimly. "You saw the power that Tiamat possessed personally, commander. To be perfectly honest, I was effectively doing all I could afford to against it. Had I unleashed any more power, I would have ruined the city just as much as him. While I can combat this horror, it's clear now that the collateral damage would be too great, as well as the fact that I would pretty much have to be 'tied up' fighting him and trying to minimize damage. And Tiamat represents only one of the missing Guardian Force essences, assuming that is what he indeed came from. If any more abominations come forth like him, it will be too much even for me."

"Last but not least," The colonel spoke again. "Your report made it clear that Sybenia has found ways to both use and enhance Guardian Forces that they possess. Even a 'weak' Guardian Force, therefore, is now a serious threat. Hence, what you have been doing, namely gathering them before Sybenia has been able to, now appears to have been the wisest course of action we have performed so far in this war."

"Unfortunately, of the three Guardian Forces confirmed to still be in existence," Mianyl added. "One is missing…and hopefully will stay missing…but the other is within Sybenian territory on last location, confirmed by the map you took pictures of and submitted to Colonel Regalis. The third, however, is still potentially within our reach, and my recommendation is that this one be recruited as quickly as possible."

"Which one is that, my lady?" Dael responded.

"Alexander, the Holy Guardian Force." The Sorceress responded, her voice almost trembling with an air of reverence. "The Guardian Force so powerful that even Wyvern the Traitor fell to him. Only Diablos and Sorceress Aerith herself ever proved to be stronger than him. I'm hoping that not only could he be a great ally to our cause, and not only could recruiting him deprive the enemy of a valuable asset, but that he may have the power to repel Tiamat by himself, which would ensure the protection of Esthar for the rest of the war."

Dael actually paused momentarily. This was a pretty big deal. She had heard stories of Alexander before, about how he was the strongest of all the espers, created to be a being of pure holiness and goodness by Leviathan. The one who destroyed Wyvern prior to the beginning of the War of the Magi. Of course, Diablos had proven to be stronger in the end, but that was still not saying much. To be honest, she was a little overwhelmed. The thought of being able to summon a Guardian Force that could wield the same level of power that she had seen three nights ago… To be honest, she hesitated. With that sort of power, she wasn't sure what that would make her, or what she would be capable of doing.

Yet she realized it couldn't possibly hurt. What would be a real problem would be if Sybenia obtained his power. They already had one inconceivably powerful Guardian Force and who knew how many other advantages. They didn't need anymore. Besides, it wasn't as if she had to use his power ever again after the war with Sybenia was over. At last, she nodded.

"Very well, sir and madame. However, if I may ask, what is going to be done concerning Leuco?"

"I've already deployed many of our Class III resources to start identifying places of interest on that continent, and already problems are occurring." Colonel Regalis answered. "It seems Leuco is even higher security than Sybenia, which is all the more reason to believe something is not right there. We will have information soon, however. And it is more than likely, as soon as you return from this mission, we will need to deploy there as well to make our first offensive strike of this war."

Dael hesitated momentarily, but then nodded. "Understood, sir."

"One last thing, Dael." Mianyl interjected, looking a bit uneasy. "I would appreciate it if you did not tell anyone that I was here. The truth of the matter is I've been running all over Esthar, and I need to run even more. I know people will want to speak with me, and I would if I could…but I really can't right now."

The commander nodded. "Of course, my lady."

She smiled a bit more, but was still uneasy. "And…Taraketh is included among not telling anyone." She added. She let out a sigh as her smile fell. "…I know he's wanted to talk to me, and I want to talk to him, but…but I just don't have time to give him the attention he deserves. I swear I'll make time for you all on your return, however."

"You're doing a great service to your country, my lady. Please don't worry yourself about it." Dael responded. "Taraketh would be encouraged to know he has your support, but…please know he's doing his best with you in mind at all times."

Mianyl smiled again. "That's encouraging to hear."

"One last thing, sir…" Dael continued as she looked to the colonel. "Where has the Alexander been located?"

"We weren't certain at first." Regalis admitted. "But on seeing your photographs, and correlating them with information available in our own private database as well as the records of the Order of Hyne, we believe we have pinpointed the location. Unfortunately, it will take you some time to arrive there…"

* * *

><p>"Well, you're damn right about that!" Carbuncle shouted. "That's the northernmost limit of the Bika Snowfields!"<p>

Dael winced a little bit on hearing that, and frowned once he was done. "…Carbuncle, would you mind repeating that a bit louder? I don't think whatever spies leaked the location of the Iron Channel and the codes to our shields heard you…"

The group had gathered together again. This time, they had convened in one of the side chambers in the locker room. There wasn't enough room in any of the quarters, and the cafeteria was too open. This still wasn't exactly "private", especially in the crowded conditions of Fort Morningstar, but it would suffice. Meeting itself had been a bit of a chore. Everyone had been out on various errands. It wasn't for four hours that they all finally managed to be back in the fort for an informal meeting. Now, Dael, Quaren, and Taraketh were on one bench, while, opposite them, Cid, Cryder, Bahamut, and Carbuncle sat. Jalab and Ceja both stood and leaned on lockers on the sides, but their gave the matter their full attention.

At the moment, Carbuncle was huffing quite a bit after his last outburst. However, a few of the others weren't looking too comfortable either. Cid himself soon spoke up uneasily. "Just getting there is going to be trouble, Dael. Because of the climate changes of this year, it's as violent in that region as it would be during the dead of winter, complete with being twenty-five degrees below average for the summer. Most of its too rocky or turbulent to land even by airship. The only place we can do is to the south, and from there we have to hike to the north, with it getting colder, windier, and harder all the way…not to mention higher in altitude so less air."

Ceja didn't seem too perturbed. "I can manage a hike. How long is it? Fifteen miles? Twenty?"

Cid grimaced in response. "…Eighty, actually."

Quaren's eyes widened, as did all of the others who hadn't known that exact figure. "Th…that far?!"

"This would explain why no one has found Alexander yet…" Taraketh murmured, then looked up. "But still, that's a death march, even for us with our junctions."

"Which is why this trip isn't going to be a 'fast one' like the others." Dael responded. "It's going to take us several days to make it that far. At least a week, and that's if we can manage twelve miles a day, which hopefully we can. I suggest everyone look up how to survive in sub-arctic and arctic conditions in an emergency before tomorrow."

Now everyone really did look surprised.

"Tomorrow? That soon?" Quaren asked.

Dael nodded. "We can't afford to waste time. As soon as we get back, we're going to have to head out to Leuco as well, with any luck."

"Well…at least I get a chance to break out the brandy…" Cryder said as he leaned back and cracked his knuckles. He also gave a look to Ceja. "You're going to have to wear something a bit more covering than that too, lass."

She frowned. "I can handle some rough elements. I've gone dressed like this in winter nights in Fuliet before and-"

"This isn't Fuliet. It's the Bika Snowfields and it's above the Arctic Circle where we're going." Bahamut cut off, a bit sharply. It seemed he had little tolerance for foolish pride. "If you're smart, you'll dress like the rest of us." He looked to the commander. "Or is Esthar handling our wardrobe?"

Dael shook her head. "They'll give us whatever gear we need, but we have to request it and give our sizes. That's why I said to read the regulations."

Ceja frowned slightly, but Jalab gave a small smile and a pat on the shoulder, as if to say that it'd be alright. She looked to him at that, and soon calmed down again…as well as turned just a bit red at him touching her. Carbuncle, meanwhile, frowned and crossed his paws.

"I'm gone for weeks, and what do you do when I get back and join up with you? Drag me somewhere to get my paws frozen off. You know how long it takes to thaw my claws when they get snow stuck between them?"

Dael looked to the green creature in puzzlement. "…You're coming? What about Sorceress Veriguno?"

"After this past stunt? Sybenias only going to care about taking you guys down." Carbuncle responded. "I've left you idiots alone for too long and you keep wandering into trouble. Someone's going to keep you in line. Besides…" He leaned in a bit here and gave them all a hard look.

"I haven't heard any of you mention the big problem with your little expedition. You're all going to try and recruit another Guardian Force, but the one you're going after happens to be Alexander. A guy who once destroyed Wyvern. You're getting him because you hope he can take down Tiamat, which would make him stronger than at least some of the Sorceresses. You haven't all forgotten how a Guardian Force gets recruited, right? Namely through you beating them in a fight?"

Dael and the others froze on hearing this. To be honest, that had almost slipped Dael's mind, especially after Leviathan, who had pretty much given them his powers for free. She had been nervous enough about battling the sea serpent. But against something like this? Something that could give Tiamat a run for his money?

"…That's actually a rather good point, lass." Cryder spoke up. "How exactly are we supposed to beat him? Taunt him until he makes a mistake?"

"We'll think of something when we get there." Dael finally stated.

Carbuncle grimaced in response. "The old popular human fall-back strategy. Worked so well in the past…" He groaned.

"Unfortunately, even if there was a natural weakness for holy magic, which there isn't…" Taraketh sighed. "I doubt it would do much against Alexander. Nevertheless, I'm with Dael. If I can't stand against an opponent of this magnitude, I'll never be good enough to be the Sorceress Knight of Lady Mianyl."

"Things also might not be as bleak as they look." Dael continued. "There are nine of us now, and Tiamat, for all his power, still had his attacks reflected. Holy is reflectable, last I looked, and with nine of us running around, it might be possible to keep him off guard. Even Tiamat seemed to have trouble when he was being attacked from multiple sides. Plus…" She gave a shrug. "…I do have my Climhazard."

"No offense, lass, but you really think even something that big is going to leave a mark on something like what we saw the other day?" Cryder asked.

"Worth a shot." Dael answered. "I'm not willing to let Sybenia get their hands on this guy. Keep in mind, they're using Tiamat. Somehow they managed to corral something _that_ powerful, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say they could do the same thing to Alexander. And tough as Lady Mianyl is, I don't think even she could take both him and Tiamat together."

Everyone paused on hearing that. It seemed true enough. But still, there was a big difference between needing to obtain Alexander and being the ones who actually did it. There was a distinct, massive difference in power. However, at length, Bahamut lifted his head and spoke up.

"…Dael is right. We should go none the less. Victory doesn't always go to the strongest individual, but to those who fight the smartest and most valiantly. I myself was defeated by five talented humans by exploiting my pride. Things have a way of working out. At the bare minimum, we can inform Alexander of what has transpired and have him relocate where the Sybenians can never use him."

Again there was a pause. However, this was a bit encouraging, especially the way Bahamut said it. His anxiety didn't seem to be too high, and he had an air of confidence and experience about him. It served to allay many fears. Even if they didn't all know how they were supposed to do it, the fact that Bahamut sounded perfectly calm and confident that they could helped quite a bit.

At last, Dael spoke up again.

"Alright…let's get something to eat and then get packed for tomorrow. I want to make sure we have everything we'll need well in advance."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	46. Snowfield Attackupo

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm leaving town for the weekend, so this weekend's chapter comes out a bit early. Enjoy

* * *

><p><em>20 Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>Dael let out an exhale, looking long and hard at the new landscape…and especially the distant horizon.<p>

"Well, corporal, what do you think?" She asked after a moment.

Quaren, however, had almost turned as white as the snow. "…I think I'm getting frostbite just looking at it, commander."

Unfortunately, the commander could hardly disagree. She wasn't a huge fan of cold weather as it was, but the thought of hiking through this wasteland was already filling her with unease.

Everyone gathered their things quickly, Dael herself following the handbook closely. She actually waited at the supply depot for Ceja, making sure she got all of the layers. She didn't trust her to bring them all. Once that was done, everyone packed up rather large cases and then headed to bed. For a trip like this, they would probably have to do a sled or travois of some sort, which meant all of them would be pulling a load at some point. That meant they all needed to hit the sack early and get a lot of sleep for tomorrow. Sure enough, early the next day, Dael was up and at the ready. After packing her heavy amount of gear, and making sure Bahamut had his (which was somewhat irrelevant, as the boy had ended up remembering things she herself had forgotten), they moved out.

It was a bit slow going to get everything to the front. There was no mass transit unit available to take them to the airfield, so they had a military truck obtained to drive them there. Still, it meant not only waiting for everyone else to drag their own loads down to one of the entrances, which took a while in and of itself, but also to load up. Speed was of the essence to Dael, however. This trip was going to be long enough as it was. The faster they got started, the sooner they could be back and onto a mission to Leuco. After they were all finally loaded up, the driver began to take them off to the airfield. It was surprisingly fast, all things considered. The few roads that hadn't been torn up during the invasion were almost exclusively for military use at the moment, so getting to the city and then to the airfield was pretty much stop free.

Once again, they would be taking the _Enterprise_. A mild refitting had been done in the interim between their arrival in Esthar and this current deployment, but, to Dael's displeasure, they were once again poorly armed with only two active turrets. Ideally, they wouldn't run into any trouble this time. They were going mostly the overland route, and where they weren't was frozen and full of ice floes this time of year. Too dangerous even for a Sybenian battleship to try and navigate. It was reordered and resupplied as well, however, which was a bit of an additional benefit. Anything someone might have missed could probably be located on the _Enterprise_ itself. After loading all of the gear into the hold (during which Dael noticed that there were still patches of mythril against the hull), they once again loaded up and took off.

It was a bit farther than the previous mission, but with a straight shot, it only took a couple hours. Dael quickly realized why they couldn't just fly there. The air grew turbulent quick as they went to the north, and the entire airship rolled and yawed more than once whenever a stiff gale came by. It only grew worse as they went further. They ran through one snowstorm at one point, and visibility was cut to nothing, forcing them to practically stop, and Cid had notified her that some of the systems were giving a temperature warning, forcing them to lower altitude to warmer temperatures. It was clear that they'd freeze up in this weather if they went farther north. Just as Cid had stated, temperatures were well below normal. Although summer was getting late, this region might as well have been in the dead of winter. Most people would consider it suicide to try and hike through such conditions, but…it seemed they had no choice.

Of course, Dael was beginning to wonder really if they could just let this one "slide" on looking at the landscape. They had indeed landed as far north as possible on level ground, and they had been lucky enough to land when it wasn't storming. But the wind was so high that they could feel the ship buffeting. Far to the north, the sky was gray almost to the point of blackness, a side effect both of the oncoming night as well as the storm. Everywhere else was so gray and blank that it was clear a whiteout would occur the moment it started snowing heavily. They'd have to rely entirely on GPS devices for most of this trip if they got into heavy snow. That was assuming they weren't buried alive in a blizzard… Although this was a bit to the south, Dael knew that by the time they reached the destination, it would be like walking through the North Pole.

Quaren wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable. The others, looking out the window, didn't look that easier either. Even Bahamut seemed a bit overwhelmed, and Carbuncle was shaking all over. "…I can already feel the tips of my ears freezing."

"It'll be dark soon, Dael." Cid added. "Even if we get started now, we won't get far. It took us all day to get here."

The woman paused, but then nodded. "Alright. We'll spend the night on board, but early tomorrow…we've got to hit this hard. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, taking one more night off did little to help. Although the airship was even better equipped for living than the <em>Excalibur<em> or Dael's own room back in Fort Morningstar, the constant rocking of the ship unsettled everyone. Of course, that wasn't nearly as bad as when it was time to go to sleep. The ship was heated and normally flew in frigid temperatures, and yet somehow it was still cold in the rooms. Dael could hardly sleep due to how cold it was, especially in the stock-issue light sheets. She came close more than once to digging out the thicker blankets from their gear, but in the end just tried to grin and bear it…as well Carbuncle's own constant tossing and turning for hours before the Guardian Force got into her bed and cozied up to her.

She blinked when that happened. "I thought you didn't-"

"Hush, blanket…" He grumbled. In the end, Dael let him stay…if for no other reason than he was pleasantly warm himself. The next morning, he accused Dael of coming over to _him_ during the night, despite the fact that he had clearly ended up in his bed, but said he'd overlook it in light of current events. Dael didn't really have time to worry about that. She went about getting dressed for the trip.

She had to admit, by the time she was dressed, she was rather stiff from all of the "padding" and sweating quite a lot. She had a hard time thinking of how anyone could freeze wearing all of this stuff. Esthar's Hawks may have been a small group and didn't have the capability to carry out a full war, but what they did have was well-supplied. The cold weather gear was top of the line. Used to acting quick, she had quickly put hers on. She then went about helping some of the others. Ceja, in particular, had a great number of problems, having never even worn a pair of jeans, and immediately complaining how all of the clothes were too warm and restrictive. Sure enough, none of them were that mobile anymore, even though the clothes had been designed with that in mind. But too loose, and they wouldn't even help. On that note, she had been considerably anxious about Bahamut. He wasn't that tall. The best they could do for him were cadet stock gear, and none of that was meant to be taken into a climate like this. In the end, Dael had used a combination of both. Bahamut looked clearly annoyed to be wearing a parka that came down to his knees, but he consented to it.

Carbuncle, on his part, had presented an insulated satchel designed for transporting temperature-sensitive materials through polar environments, hung it around Dael's neck, and then crawled inside. "Ah…nice and warm." He commented.

The woman gave him a look. "So not only are your paws going to be spared any discomfort, I'm suddenly carrying you the whole way?"

"Hey, of the two of us, which is stronger?" He answered. "Make sure you zip that up real good. Don't want any cold air getting in."

Dael frowned, but didn't press it. After that, all of the gear was loaded up again, and everyone went to the exit. Taking only a moment to pull her scarf and goggles on, Dael opened the hatch.

It felt like stepping onto another planet, between what they were wearing and the sudden change of environment. It reminded Dael all too much of when they had stepped into Shiva's domain, although, at minimum, they had protection this time around. Each one wore a heavy pack with extra gear being shifted onto the sled. Luckily, all of them were strong enough to pull it in teams of two thanks to their enhancements through junctioning, but still…Dael tried not to think about the 80 miles between them and their destination.

Taraketh said something, muffled over his own scarf and the wind. At least…Dael thought it was Taraketh. They were all now wearing the same clothes, and mostly she recognized people based on weapons they were carrying. She turned to him.

"Did you say something, Taraketh?"

"I said, 'It wouldn't have hurt the Esthar government to supply us with some sort of motorized snowcraft, would it?'"

Dael shook her head. "That won't help. It eventually gets too rough for one to get through not far from here. Just stone under snow."

"A dogsled might work…" Ceja suggested.

Dael shook her head again. "They used to have a dog team in Esthar's Hawks, but it grew too expensive to maintain and faced a round of budget cuts. It's just us now."

"Air too cold. Bad, not natural cold." Jalab said from behind his own mask. "Chocobo not live here."

Bahamut let out a sigh from his own scarf. "No chocobos? We really will have to do this all on foot. But this is unnatural. Chocobos can survive in snowfields that are frozen year round. The fact that they aren't here means this must get unnaturally frigid…"

"Can we stop talkin' about how hard this is going to be and just do it?" Cryder interjected. "And hope there aren't a bunch of hungry beasts here like there are further south in Fuliet?"

The commander nodded. "Agreed. Let's move out. We've got a lot of ground to cover and I want to use today as a meterstrick of how well we need to perform tomorrow."

* * *

><p>After the first day, in spite of making good time (namely a grand total of 12 miles), Dael realized that this was going to be pretty much as bad as she feared.<p>

Starting out, that sled had been as light as a feather. But about four hours later, it began to grow very heavy, even for individuals like who had enhanced strength. She was all too willing to trade off when the mark hit, but when it was her time to pull again, she was tired all over again. The wind didn't take any time at all to find every little nook and cranny they had missed in their clothes and pierce them with icy knives. Furthermore, some of their attire grew rather sweaty and needed to be changed when it started trying to freeze. That meant stopping and stripping partially in the icy weather, which felt like it would blast their skin off in seconds. But even with the changes, far more persistant problems involved sweating. Sweating into one's goggles and then having it freeze, for one, until the goggles were lined with frost and it was impossible to see anything. Also, continuously exhaling into the scarf soon made it frozen as well as the vapor from their mouths immediately solidified. Dael also soon realized why she needed to wear foot warmers, and why she should have worn mittens instead of gloves. It didn't take any time at all for both to start going numb, and they had to stop occasionally to heat them up.

On the one plus side, there was only one monster encounter the entire day, if it could even be called that. One of the Winter Wolves came up to them at one point. Not to be confused with true wolves, which would avoid humans unless rabid, these were much larger and more monstrous, like something out of a scary story rather than something you expected to find in a biologist class. Their faces were distorted and monstrous, and their tempers were inclined to kill anything on sight, including their own species, especially when hungry. This one was starving, clearly emaciated, and had charged the group. However, it hadn't eaten in a while, and it had been battered from exposure. Ceja ended up killing it. Quaren tried to shoot it, but his bulky clothing was hard to move in, and Ceja had stripped her own in a hurry for more mobility, tearing it in the process, to get it off. She paid for it when they resumed their walk, now that she was more exposed to the elements.

"Don't do that again." Dael told her sharply. "We can mend that, but it's not going to be as good, and if you lose your clothes out here, you die. Make sure you keep rubbing that area too. You don't need to be getting frostbite."

Ceja said nothing. After all, she was feeling pain from her decision, and didn't need anymore reinforcement.

"I think there may be an upside to this cold weather…" Bahamut responded. "All of the monsters have moved farther south. Apparently, they can't survive up here."

"Yes, but what does that mean for us, lad?" Cryder asked.

"One would think, being sentient, we can do a bit better." The Guardian Force in boy form simply responded.

Dael wasn't too sure about that by the time the sun began to go down. With the temperature falling rapidly, the group was forced to make a stop. None of them had ever pitched a tent before, and with nine of them, it was impossible for them all to cram into one. They had to pitch two, getting raw and cold in the process. However, they managed to get it up and stepped inside. They had small space heaters which managed to make the interiors at least mild compared to the outside, and after lining the walls with as much insulation as they could manage, they stripped their clothing and warmed up. All of them shivered hard at first, but as their own body heat mixed with the space heaters, they slowly relaxed into a comfortable temperature.

Dael herself was sharing a tent with Quaren, Taraketh, Bahamut, and Carbuncle. Cid, Jalab, Ceja, and Cryder had the other one. Their tent was a bit larger, plus they had some of Cid's devices to lend a hand. Even over the howling wind, the commander could hear his chugging away. The sides of the tent were reinforced, and rigid, but she still hoped the stakes would hold. The wind was so strong that even with all of their gear weighing it down, she had her doubts. Right now, she rubbed her hands frequently to keep the blood flowing while she felt a furry lump move around under her sweater. She frowned a bit at Carbuncle's actions. She didn't need mint green hair over all of her stuff, and he had no right to complain as he had been in a warm pouch all day. Add to the fact that she couldn't be completely sure that Carbuncle might not have had a slight perverted streak about him, and if it wasn't for the fact that he was warming her up in the process, she might have told him to get in a corner and freeze by himself. At any rate, everyone was huddled around the heater.

Quaren looked uneasily at his own sleeping bag. "Hope those things are warm enough…"

"They should be. Layered sleeping bags are better protection than clothes." Bahamut answered. "The idea is to think of yourself in one big mitten. Your whole body shares its heat with everything else. Still…" He gave a bit of a shiver himself. "…This is yet another thing I'm not particularly fond of, being in a human body. First I got to experience being baked by heat and dehydrated by desert; now I get to experience freezing on tundra."

"Alright…we did pretty good for the first day." Dael responded. "So I hope to at least match it, if not surpass it, tomorrow. We need to try and get a momentum going before we cross into the rougher parts, which will involve more than just walking in a straight line. We may have to abandon the sled around the third day and get it back on the return trip."

Taraketh exhaled. "…I suppose this wouldn't be Alexander if it was easy to reach." He murmured. He paused a bit afterward, and then looked down to the south. "…I already wonder what's going on in Esthar. After Tiamat came, nothing seems concrete anymore."

Quaren grimaced a bit as he rubbed his own arms. "…I kind of feel the same way. First Sybenia gets through our shields with that bombing, then they go through the Iron Channel, and then they use that Guardian Force. It's like every time they come after us they take a piece of us with them… I don't know how much more we can stand up against."

"We're taking pieces of them too, Quaren. Don't forget that." Bahamut answered. "It's not as if we're totally without assets either. Not just the Sorceresses, but our own behavior. I'm not sure how they were able to summon such powers from their Guardian Forces, but even without them the summons themselves are nothing small either. Still, we need to strike back. Brutal as Sybenia is, I doubt it has managed to completely destroy all potential resistance. The longer we 'stay in the game', the more will surface."

"I hope you're right." Dael responded.

"It might be sad, but it's also true…." Bahamut responded. "Your species performs at its best when time are at their worst."

Dael paused for a moment, but then gave a shrug. "Still…I'd prefer it if we didn't have to wait until we got on the brink of destruction before that happened."

The boy exhaled and leaned back into his unzipped coat. "I can't argue there."

* * *

><p>The next day was more or less like the first. Dael actually pushed everyone a bit harder, now that they had a feel for it, before a slump could hit. No monster encounters this time. And all of them had experience with their winter gear to make things a bit easier on themselves by patching up holes and identifying weaknesses in their attire. Dael realized these things were going to seriously stink by the time they were done with this trip, but it could hardly be helped. And she wanted to make better time before things got much worse. As it turned out, Ceja's mending held very well. She didn't slow once or force a single unnecessary stop. When the cause was inquired, Cryder went ahead and said it was Jalab who had done it. That only figured. He was used to living a nomadic life away from both clothing stores as well as fabric and looms. He had to be able to fix things on the fly, and make them strong enough to avoid being pierced by sand. Seemed to work just as well for snow and biting winds. Nevertheless, it was a very good day. Thanks to their power and adjustment, they made it another 14 miles.<p>

While settling down for the night, something a bit unusual happened.

Quaren suddenly looked up to Taraketh. "So…how did you end up in the Order of Hyne?"

The High Child turned to him in puzzlement. "…Excuse me?"

"How did you end up in the Order of Hyne?"

He stared blankly for a moment. "…What difference does that make to our current mission?"

The corporal gave a shrug. "None, really. But I just noticed that we've been through a lot together. We're on a task force, which means for the rest of the war we'll be with each other on missions. And I just realized I don't know a whole lot about you. And you don't know a whole lot about us either."

Taraketh paused for a few moments. Finally, he closed his own eyes and exhaled.

"Very well… I suppose that makes sense. It's kind of silly that we depend on each other for our lives, and we know so little about each other."

Bahamut, Dael, and even Carbuncle looked up and to Taraketh at this.

"I was born on the streets of Esthar. I have no idea who my mother was, let alone my father, and I'll probably never know. 'Sabian' isn't my real last name. It was given the day Lady Cybus personally brought me into the Order of Hyne." He paused, and smiled a bit. "It wasn't generic, either. It was a name she personally picked out for me. That's one of the great things about being in the Order of Hyne when you're coming off of being an orphan. The first thing they do is give you a name…an identity. You're not just some mistake off of the street, some unwanted figure or statistic that should have been aborted before he had the chance to become a drain on society or a blight to the public. I was lucky…I was brought in when I had just turned three. I didn't have time to be scarred by how cruel the world can be, at least…not enough to where Lady Cybus didn't ease the scars away, letting me develop normally. For others…it wasn't nearly so easy. But she hasn't given up on anyone yet.

"Anyway…I came into a monastic life rather quickly. It meant a lot of chores and a lot of discipline, but the…I don't know…the 'warmth' was always there. No one ever felt unloved or neglected. That's how you learned such great respect for the High Children and for the Sorceresses. Lady Cybus could make you scrub a tub three times until you 'got it right', and yet she also made you feel totally accepted and appreciated. I suppose that's what it means to have a 'healthy fear' of someone…what the essence of respect is. Total obedience…and total love at the same time.

"At any rate…when I was brought into the Order of Hyne, an infant was at the same time…Lady Mianyl, although she wasn't a lady at the time. I don't know why, but I noticed her on the first day, and I stuck to her as she grew to be a toddler and then a child. Cybus spent a lot of time with her as well and I couldn't always see her, and soon after she started walking and talking, she would always wear clothing that hid her hands and feet. We got to know each other very well…" He grimaced. "I suppose it's no big secret if I tell you all that I stay away from other people as a general rule, but it was different with Lady Mianyl. She was a complete prodigy when it came to magic, of course. By the time she was four, she was already in all the advanced classes. At age six, Lady Cybus declared that she would be elevated to the rank of Sorceress when she grew a bit older, saying she was the greatest Hyne's Descendent she had ever witnessed, one of the purest blood.

"But Lady Mianyl never used any of that to gloat over other people. Even when I grew embarrassed that she wanted to be around me…she never was. When I stopped going to see her out of being ashamed, she would come see me. And finally, she confided her secret to me… I won't tell you all what it is, but she trusted me enough to do that.

"And so…I promised myself that day that I would always be there for Lady Mianyl, no matter where she ended up. I devoted myself more strongly than ever to my magic studies, because one day…I wanted to be in the one position that would ensure I would always be at her side: Sorceress Knight."

Dael saw the change come over Taraketh as he spoke, how fierce and determined he was in this regard. She had seen such devotion before, but never to this extent, never in quite this manner. She realized now truly just how devoted he was to her. Lady Mianyl seemed to be his everything, the only thing of value he saw in his life other than the Order of Hyne itself. And she was reminded again that she might not have been that different. Perhaps she wasn't so devoted to one individual, but she had definitely being devoted to Esthar's Hawks high on the list of her priorities, almost to the exclusion of all else…at least until lately. She too held great respect for her organization, enough to be willing to die for it. Apparently, it didn't matter if you were a woman of a badge or a man of a cloth…you could be just as much a "true believer".

Quaren told his own story to Taraketh that night, but Dael knew about it already. Still, by the end of it, they seemed to have a better appreciation for each other. That was good to Dael. Although Taraketh had made up with her a while ago, she had a sense there was still some residual tension between him and Quaren. Luckily, after that night's conversation, things seemed to have improved between them, eliminating some more of the remaining "bad blood" in the group.

* * *

><p>The third day was, as Dael had expected, hellish. They wandered into a blizzard early, and it wasn't long before they were in a whiteout at a distance of about two hundred feet. Anyone sane would have hunkered down, but Dael knew that was irrelevant. The weather patterns for this part of the world had changed so much that it might be a week before there was a break in the storm, and she couldn't afford to wait that long. So she used the GPS and, eventually, a basic compass. The latter was easier to read. The problem with the GPS is that it was hard to read in darkness through icy goggles, and removing them seemed to almost freeze her eyes with how cold it was. Worse yet, they were moving into genuine rough country now, where you had to watch your step and plan on how to move the sled around. The slow speed meant they were more subjected to a battering by the elements, until all of them were shivering and had their teeth chattering. In the end, Dael, in spite of all her pushing, had to stop early, when they had only traveled nine miles. She knew they had to do better tomorrow, but that might have been likely.<p>

When they settled down in the tent, the wind was sharper than ever, and they were certain that it would tip at one point or, worse yet, would get buried by snow during the night. Dael stripped her clothes and huddled near the space heater, same as everyone, but it was a full 90 minutes before she stopped shivering. As she did so, she worked on her feet and everyone else's. Quaren looked like he was getting mild frostbite on one toe…but Taraketh healed it.

Dael gave him a look even as she struggled to stop shivering. "…Why didn't you say you felt ice on your toe?"

"I didn't want…everyone…to stop…again…cold as it was…" Quaren answered between his own more intense shivering.

"It will slow us down a lot more if you end up losing part of your foot and we have to help you hobble." Bahamut retorted, sounding just as sharp as Dael.

"From now on, you stop when that happens." The commander sternly warned. "You get demoted next time. We're already somewhere no living thing is stupid enough to live in. We need to take care of ourselves."

Quaren swallowed, realizing Dael was talking to him as a superior officer and not a friend at the moment. He nodded. "Yes sir."

There was silence for a moment to let that sink in. Taraketh looked up, and out to the direction of the other tent, which was invisible through the tent sides. He looked back after a moment. "Yet another thing our friend from Fuliet probably failed to consider…lack of life. She said her tribe had a method of survival on frigid winter nights back in the Fuliet region, but I won't mention the details, and it requires something large and living."

"I'm sure there's some of those out here, even now." Bahamut responded. "Harsh as these conditions are, they're typical for a winter here. During the summer, even when this region is covered with snow, there's plenty of life out here. There's plenty of geothermal pockets under the ground. Many hundreds of years ago, humans could actually utilize them to make this area liveable at any time of year."

"You're talking about Narshe, right?" Dael interjected.

The Guardian Force nodded. "Humans were inspired to live here when they noticed that resident moogles were able to live in the geothermal caves. Unfortunately, it seems the Collapse did away with all of that. The combination of damage to geothermal devices, increase in monster populations, and the dip in temperature drove the humans out and either starved the moogles or drove them into the jaws of predators. Now the only moogles you see are the ones that integrated into human society a long time ago, and those have gone few and far between." He gave the group a more intent look. "Keep in mind, moogles are only a step removed from espers, just like dragons. As magic began to wane in this world and was replaced with industry, both groups began to fade."

Taraketh exhaled. "Sometimes I wish I lived in a world like that…"

"Don't get too romantic." Bahamut immediately retorted. "It wasn't without its problems. No world is. People rarely change things in order to make the world _worse_. They change them for the better and learn to live with the negative side effects. Future generations are left to wax nostalgic."

Dael let out another shiver and, after checking to see that her inner parka had warmed enough to put back on, slipped it over her shoulders. "Let's all make sure we get plenty of rest. We slipped a bit today, and we've got to try and make up for it tomorrow."

* * *

><p>The fourth day, and the storm was worse as the landscape was rougher than ever. Dael noticed early on that everyone was moving slower, and that wouldn't do. Things would likely get worse before they got better, so she used her own power to cast a Barrier spell on all of them. It actually lessened the sting of the wind and snow, enabling them to move a bit easier. They picked up speed after that, but Dael tired herself out quite a bit recasting it. Plus, as they pushed themselves on harder and harder, around noon they began to stumble from time to time. They were forced to take a break to recover. However, on the plus side, there was no more incidents of frostbite. Quaren apparently learned his lesson, although Dael had to change her scarf twice in order to prevent condensation from her freezing her nose and causing frostbite of her own.<p>

In spite of her barrier, everyone was raw on any piece of skin they had left to be exposed for even a moment, and the storm raged more than ever. Luckily, it blew around every bit of snow that it dropped, and it was so cold that it remained in powder form and didn't accumulate. Nevertheless, they got a scare when they heard the space heater sputter once or twice, as if it might give out. Luckily, it shaped up after that, but Dael made a mental note to switch with the other group's tomorrow so that Cid could service it. She was sure he had been doing the same to their own.

As they finally warmed up enough to try and get some sleep, Dael heard, over the howling wind, occasional bouts of singing. At first, she thought she imagined it. But as time went on, she listened a bit harder, and realized it was some sort of weird pirate song…

"If I had to venture a guess, I'd say Cryder finally decided to break into the brandy he brought." Bahamut mused aloud.

"Damnit, why didn't I get the 'fun' tent…?" Carbuncle grumbled from nearby.

"Because I was the only one willing to carry you as an additional load." Dael answered. She soon wavered a bit and put a hand to her head. "Speaking of which, I think I overdid it today…but at least we somehow managed to get another 11 miles."

"That's 46." Quaren added. "We're over halfway there." He let out an exhale and leaned back into his own gear and removed clothing, which made almost a pillow at this point. "Thank goodness… Even junctioned, this is rough…"

"It's probably because we're out of practice." Dael answered. "At least in this sort of survival… At any rate, we're making good time. If we can keep this up, we might be able to make it in three more days."

"I think we're in for a bit of luck." Bahamut stated. "I haven't lived this long before knowing a thing or two about how the weather changes, especially since I spent thousands of years basically sleeping outdoors. For what it's worth, I think there's a change in the weather. The storm should break up."

"Then we're going to punch it the hardest yet tomorrow." Dael responded. "We're getting used to how to travel on the snow, and with full visibility, we should have an easier time."

Quaren couldn't help but grimace a bit. "No offense, commander, but we've been 'punching it' ever since we started. I think fatigue might be setting in."

"We'll take it easy on the following day." The woman reassured. "We're going to have to. I don't think we'll able to bring the sled more than one day, so we'll have to create a depo for it and come back. We'll dump off all the food and supplies we can and take the rest. I'm sure it will still be a heavier trip, though, so I'm expecting us to slip a little. All the more reason we need to hit it hard tomorrow."

"Well…" Bahamut answered. "It's not like we all had any reason to stay up late."

* * *

><p>Dael was grateful that Bahamut seemed to be correct once again. When they went out the next morning, aside from having to dust aside a bit of blown snow, the storm had stopped. The sky was still quite overcast, but it had thinned out considerably, enough to where there were occasional periods of sunlight breaking through the cloud cover. It wasn't enough to break it up completely, but it was still better than nothing. And now they could see the icy landscape clearly ahead of them, and realized how they had been navigating quite a stretch of uneven, uphill, and cragged landscape. Not long into the journey, they found that they were wandering into a sharp mountain valley with rather rough and jagged acmes running around them. Unfortunately, the only way around was up and over, and so they had to climb a bit today as well before they started walking through them in the narrower parts. In spite of all of that, the day was a welcome reprieve. The wind had died, and Dael could actually pull her scarf away at times and not worry about her face being blasted raw.<p>

As they navigated between two of several icy peaks, Dael let out a bit of an exhale. She was still tired from yesterday, but she forced herself to keep going in order to not lose the momentum. It was clear that what Quaren had said was wisdom. They were indeed getting too fatigued. They'd have to rest longer at the next stop. They'd made a late start of it tomorrow, Dael told herself. But for now…they had to take advantage of the weather. They had already made seven miles today and it was only now noon. She wanted to keep it up.

"Ugh…"

Dael frowned a bit on hearing that. At the moment, Quaren and Taraketh were pulling the sled, while everyone else was walking. However, there was one thing that had made them go a bit slow today. Cryder was rather wobbly. Abruptly, he let out a burp, before scooping some snow off of the ground and shoving it in his mouth. After swallowing it, he exhaled.

"Know what's the only good thing about trudging out in the snow out here, lads and lasses?" He sounded. "Plenty of fresh water for a hangover… Blimey, I didn't even know one could get that drunk off of brandy… But I guess so long as you make it a high enough proof, and God knows I did that…"

"I can't stand that foul liquid." Ceja grumbled. "Too many of my people have become addicted to that vile drink, and it has corrupted them physically, mentally, and spiritually."

"Hey, all things in moderation, lass." The pirate returned. "You have a wee nip or two now and then, you'd be less uptight. You'd get more guys fawning over you."

"Wh…what?!" She exclaimed, stammering a bit. "I'm a Fuliet warrior! I do not have time for such…such…such nonsense!"

"Oh really?" The pirate chuckled in response. "Why is it yesterday that you kept needing ol' big, strong Jalab here to give you a hand with getting your pack off?"

Dael couldn't see it even if she was looking at Ceja, but she imagined, underneath her own scarf and goggles, she was turning red as a beet. "I…I had a true problem! I couldn't risk pulling my shoulder muscles out! My ability to throw an axe is my life on the battlefield!"

"Sure, sure…you just keep telling yourself that, lass." Cryder turned his head a bit. "Why don't we get it from the chocobo's beak, eh? Tell us, Jalab. Hasn't this lass been comin' onto you ever since we started this little polar expedition?"

Dael continued to walk at this, not really caring for this sort of thing. However, she soon noticed something. She heard people stop walking behind her. After a moment, she heard Cryder again.

"Uh, hello, Jalab? You hear what I said?"

The commander paused, and turned around at that, as did the others with her. Jalab was pretty easy to tell apart from everyone, even if they were all wearing the same thing. He was the largest and most formidable looking, after all. And right now…he stood as still as a statue. He was looking out into the surrounding rocks and snow. Ceja looked to this for a moment (identifiable from her gigantic axe), and then looked out as well.

Cryder, after a moment, looked to Dael. "…I think something's gotten into our Western friend."

"Shh." Ceja immediately retorted sharply, before lowering her own voice. "…I saw it too."

Dael, on hearing this, immediately began to tense. The others did as well, and started to look around. It was already as quiet as a tomb out on the frozen landscape, but now it grew quieter yet.

"…Saw what?" Dael stated, more quietly.

"Snow move." Jalab responded, both darkly and in his own quiet voice.

Quaren, on hearing this, began to slowly and quietly get his gun ready. Taraketh's own weapons were under his thick clothing, but he was far from powerless, due to his magic. On hearing Jalab's latest statement, everyone began to look around more intently, although they kept most of their attention on where Ceja and Jalab were looking.

"As in…there's something hiding under it?" Dael said more quietly.

"No." Ceja answered as she began to reach behind her for her axe. "As in the snow itself moved…meaning we're dealing with an opponent that camouflaged themselves to be white…or is already white in color…"

"That's most of the predators in this part of the world…" Quaren grimaced. "It could be anything…"

Suddenly, Jalab snapped out his hand, and something slapping was heard. Everyone looked, and they saw what had happened. Something had gone flying for Jalab, and he had caught it.

A stone pellet, obviously sharpened and polished to be used in a sling.

Dael pulled out her own sword in a flash. "…Monsters don't fling stones."

In moments, everyone else had their weapons out as well, and began to turn their attention to the direction the stone had come from. However, that lasted only for a moment. Suddenly, Quaren snapped his head, and aimed his rifle far and to the side.

"I saw something move over there!"

A second later, and Cid snapped his head up as well, as he got out his nailgun. "There's something on this side too."

"I suppose that answers the question of them being white-colored…" Bahamut murmured as he brought his shield around and removed his shortsword. "Unfortunately, it also means we're surrounded by whatever it is."

Dael had to admit, that wasn't the position she liked to be in. She couldn't see anything out there, but obviously their opponents could see them. That was never a good situation. What more, her bulky clothing was already restricting her movement. Even with her enhanced speed, she wasn't sure she could compensate for her deficiencies, especially when she had no idea what her opponent was or where. On that note, she stilled her own breathing and waited a moment. Since sight wasn't working too well, instead she tried to listen…trying to pick up the first sound her opponents would make…

After a moment, she finally heard something, along with the others...but it wasn't something that any of them expected to hear.

"Kupo!"

Immediately, they all looked up in confusion. "Huh?" Cid stated aloud.

A second later, and they sprang out. At once, the snow around them erupted, and revealed a rather fearsome…if quite unusual…sight. They were surrounded by no less than fifty fully armed and armored, aggressive-looking moogles. This wasn't some crude, slapped together armor from scrap, either. It actually looked like fairly well made and crafted suits…better than you could get in most stores. Dael had heard myths about how moogles were supposedly better craftsmen even than the ancient dwarves, although she always had a hard time believing it until now. However, they were also very well armed with very well-made weapons. None of them were guns, but none of them were "butter knives" either. What more, all of their little blue-slit eyes were burning hard at them. Dael knew full well even a "roughed-up" moogle was hardly intimidating. They were mostly furry, fluffy, adorable, and loveable. After all, they still sold quite a number of stuffed toys to this day, even if they had almost faded into obscurity. These moogles, however, didn't look to be a "friendly" type. Sure, they were still cuddly-looking, no more than three feet tall, and almost cartoonish…but their body language conveyed all the words of someone who was out for blood. And they stared at the group and angled their weapons with killer intent. Even their "kupos" sounded rather foreboding and grim…

Ceja's head went around a bit, clearly confused. "Moogles…?"

"Heh…guess they didn't die out after all, eh, lad?" Cryder chuckled to Bahamut. "Although…I get your drift. This lot ain't nothing like Moginson. For one thing…he'd pack a gun."

"I wouldn't underestimate them, just the same." Taraketh darkly responded. "Time and again in history, moogles have won battles because their opponents assumed they were small, helpless, and weak."

Ceja let out an exhale and began to raise her axe, clearly meaning to cleave into them. However, Quaren noticed this, and immediately reached out and slapped a hand on her shoulder. "Wait…what are you doing?"

"Going into battle, of course." Ceja responded, turning to Quaren and halting. "They're threatening us. We need to clear them out of the way."

"But…they're moogles…" Quaren answered, a bit uncertainly.

"And…they're so cute…" Cid added. "I can't put a nail into these little fluffballs."

"They're also heavily armed and look ready to kill us without hesitation." The Fuliet warrior retorted. "If a warrior draws a blade against you, he is an enemy. There is no more time for pity."

"Normally, I'd be of one mind…" Bahamut stated, still staying rather calm. "However, moogles aren't exactly a war-like or aggressive species. I don't honestly believe that they would be attacking us without a good reason."

"Does that really matter, lad? Because I don't think I've offended any moogles lately…" Cryder grumbled.

"My point is we should go for non-lethal moves." The Guardian Force answered. "That's what I'll be doing, and I strongly suggest the rest of you do the same."

Dael paused for a moment after hearing this. Although she usually didn't care about such things, for, after all, the military mentality was that there was little room for pity on a battlefield, it had changed a great deal at this point. Besides, she trusted Bahamut's judgement. Finally, she nodded.

"Alright, non-lethal it is."

"Thank goodness… Faerio would have my head if she found out I killed a moogle…" Cid muttered.

At any rate, there was no more time for arguing or debating the topic, for, with a resounding "KUPO", the first wave of moogles charged in. Dael, clenching her own blade tight, quickly moved in to intercept.

She soon realized they were at a rather heavy disadvantage. Surrounded by thick clothes, they were indeed at very reduced mobility. The moogles may have been small, but they were quite powerful, agile, and very motile on the snow, where her own feet quickly sank in and slowed her down. Many of them used weapons that emphasized a long reach, like maces or spears of a sort. Two of them even tossed around cutting boomerangs. Finally, there was the fact that using non-lethal methods required a great deal of focus…far more than lethal methods, especially at her level of power. Hence, when Dael ran into battle against three of them…she soon found them beating her back.

The going was rougher for the others. Quaren hadn't bothered packing any non-lethal ammunition, and so that left him using his rifle butt as a club…which wasn't much of a defense at all. One of the moogles lashed out with a mace head and easily ripped his gun away, and two more actually tackled him to the ground. Ceja's background meant she had never gotten into a fight with the intent not to kill ever, and soon, the moogles were furiously assaulting her as she just struggled to guard with her large axe. And since they had better footing, they were actually pushing her back and down with their own furious assault. Cryder was totally out of his own element as the moogles hammered away at him. He normally would have used geomancy to fend back multiple opponents in a nonlethal manner, but they pelted him with stone until they drew close enough to start fighting hand to hand. That forced him to default to his cutlass, which meant he wasn't much better off than Dael. Jalab seemed to be fending off well, but the clothing restricted him tightly. He was used to fighting in only strips of cloth. Bahamut too was holding off well enough, but due to his small size and similar restrictions as the others, the moogles were actually giving him a hard time. Cid was still fumbling with trying to get out a weapon that would be "non-lethal" enough…and as a result was getting battered by sling stones. Taraketh's weapon was useless, so instead he tried casting a mild quake spell on a swarm of attacking moogles. To his surprise, they all took off in the air and flapped on their tiny wings, dodging it easily.

As spears continued to lash out for her face and side, pushing her back to where she was about to collide with the others, who were also being backed up, Dael's face tightened. In spite of all of her self-discipline, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of irritation and pride.

_You've got to be joking… I didn't get through the Elite Hounds and Guardian Forces to lose to moogles!_

As she deflected another thrust, she looked to the pouch hanging from her. "Carbuncle, get up!"

"Hmm…what?" She heard from inside the pouch. "Oh, go away. It's only noon…"

"Carbuncle, wake up and start casting your blink spell on everyone! We're in a fight!"

"…Huh?" He answered, but seemed to be more alert. "Now that you mention it…sounds like you all are having a tough time…"

The pouch calmly unzipped even as Dael fended off against more of her opponents, and, soon after, the little green head of the creature poked out. If Dael could have looked at him, his black button eyes would have fallen.

"…You woke me up for _this_? How did you guys ever survive on your own…?"

Dael groaned. "Just do it!"

"Alright, alright…" He grumbled.

The commander wasn't exactly planning on sitting idly by and waiting for the spell to get off, however. As Carbuncle began to summon his own power, she quickly summoned some of her own. It was time to put the new Guardian Force to use. With one power move, she managed to throw off her latest moogle attacker and back him up into the others. That bought her a moment to quickly focus and ignite her own aura. Soon after, the arcane summoning language came forth, and the sky once again turned dark.

Eneemy and ally alike paused here and looked up to see what was happening. The portal in reality once again took place, and something came out of it. This was Dael's first time seeing the actual Guardian Force Siren responsible for Crow's powers…and she didn't like the sight of it. A voluptuous nymph with yellow jaundiced skin and long hair that spread out like feathers or even wings. Similar feathers, possibly only extensions of her hair, offered the barest amount of coverage to her body. Her eyes were flashing and cruel, and there was no love or pity in her smile. She obviously had suited Crow very well. At any rate, she also had a lyre in one arm, and she proceeded raise it and play only a few notes.

Dael heard absolutely nothing, and she was glad she hadn't. The moogles apparently did. All of them immediately froze and seized, as if their bodies weren't in their control any longer, at least for a few seconds. They dropped their weapons and nearly fell over. Dael realized this had to have been similar to how she had felt when the same spell was used on her. However, just as before, it wasn't nearly as intense. Although it seemed to stun the moogles, it didn't cause them lasting pain or drive them to madness. Soon, Siren finished her dirge and vanished once again as reality returned fully to normal.

At the same time, a light ignited from Carbuncle's forehead, and, at once, the group members split into three images apiece. As the moogles slowly tried to recover, whatever double vision they had was made far worse. Dael, seeing this, tightened up on her sword again.

"Alright, now!"

Dael immediately darted forward for her opponents. The moogles, both dazed from Siren's song as well as confused by the image attack, only managed a half-hearted counter at most, and only one of them was actually in the right direction. This time, Dael went out and smacked the wrist of her attacker with the flat of the blade, and then followed up with a flat-side chop to the neck that she knew would have left a serious bruise. The moogle let out a pained yelp and went down. She immediately sprung on the other two and followed up with two similar combinations, soon disarming them as well. She then quickly spun around to see how Quaren was doing. The corporal had used the moment to throw his opponents off of him and get to his feet, but he still didn't have much way of fighting back. Quickly, Dael darted into their midst and kicked one white fluffball away before using an upward slide to knock another's weapon free, then pounded him in the face. As for Quaren, he was a bit surprised at this, but managed to recover enough to smash the third in the head with his rifle butt in a chink in the armor, causing it to wince and recoil.

As Dael put her sword away, she began to go for her Mage Gun again. To think, she had thought that it was a major letdown when the people at Esthar's Hawks showed they only had low-powered spell mage bullets ready for her. But against strong enough targets, they'd be perfect for non-lethal hits. Yet she watched the others as she went about it. Fast as she was, she still found herself having to strip her gloves to get to it, after all.

Jalab and Ceja had both decided to eschew freezing and had used the pause to remove some of their clothes. Ceja herself had nearly ripped hers off, but she remembered at the last moment to go through the pain of unzipping it and slipped off. Both now mobile, they counterattacked. Ceja used her own power to start countering each weak enemy strike with her own, hitting with enough power to knock away their weapons clean out of their hands, and then using her own fists, kicks, and massive flat blade to pound them on the head. Helmet or no helmet, Dael was pretty sure she saw dents, causing them to let out faint "kupos" before collapsing. Jalab, on the other hand, had adjusted well. His staff was now brimming with power, and each swipe shattered both a weapon and the armor of an opponent. The moogles were soon terrified of him and recoiling.

Now having a chance to catch his breath, Cryder grinned as he unleashed a stinging wind slash that cut through spaces in armor and fur alike to sting his opponents with numbing cold. Following that up, he waved his hand again to make the air condense, and then bombard them with a hailstorm of densely-packed snowballs. Even if they couldn't seriously hurt, they were hard enough to bruise and large enough to sap the stamina of his foes. Bahamut, meanwhile, acted much as Dael did, now putting his speed to use and taking advantage of the distraction, using both his heavy, thick shield and the flat of his own shortsword. In no time at all, his opponents were going down.

Taraketh himself had switched tactics to using mild lightning spells instead. For a bunch of armored creatures covered with static-conducting fur, that soon resulted in numerous painful and numbing jolts, leaving them easy prey for the others. Cid himself had finally settled on what looked like a large, double-handed, sophisticated, electronic…mallet. Dael honestly didn't know how much good it would be as Cid, even junctioned, only seemed to be able to hurt the stunned moogles as it looked like he was almost playing a giant game of "whack-a-mole", and that was swinging at full strength. However, she ignored the hammer for now and continued attacking her own opponents.

In short, the tide of the battle turned rather quickly. The moogles tried to counter, but their opponents had used the break not only to get a second wind and give themselves an advantage, but also to adjust to their previous limitations. None of them had fought in these clothes before now, and so they had been out of touch at the start of the battle. But now, they were fully adjusting, and creating major problems for their opponents. The moogles seemed to realize it too. If any more of their race were disabled, then they wouldn't be able to fight back as well as they were at present.

Dael seemed to realize that they saw this too, for she soon noticed a change. The moogles abruptly all pulled back, even the ones who hadn't fought yet and were still armed. They quickly adjusted, breaking up the "circle" formation and moving back a distance, toward the flatter area of the rocky valley they were fighting in. When they did that, Dael noticed something else.

Three moogles, each one looking highly "decorated" with vibrant colors, as if they were of a higher rank, soon took position behind the main group. When this happened, the rest of the group, finishing off their current opponents, turned and looked to them. However, they held a moment, trying to see what was coming next.

Finally, something did happen. The three in the back began to hop, twirl, and wave their little front paws up and down. They continued to do so several times. Dael soon raised an eyebrow at this.

"…What in the world?"

"Great…we're in trouble now."

Dael and the others turned to who had spoken. Bahamut was grimly looking at the creatures, his face looking tense and serious. Out of all of them, he was the only one who didn't look bewildered, but genuinely serious. Even as she did, she noticed something else. Carbuncle let out a grimace before diving back into his pouch and zipping it up.

"How? Is this some manner of attack?" Ceja asked.

"Advanced moogle warriors…at least, their equivalent of warriors…are reknown geomancers." Bahamut stated grimly. "The greatest in the world."

"That…does not sound good." Taraketh stated grimly.

Sure enough, the results soon came. Abruptly, the sky turned gray again as clouds covered it…although they seemed to be focusing over just this area in particular, and were rather low hanging…not the massive "weather-changing" effects that Jay had. The others were still rather uneasy just the same.

"Changing the local weather? That's tall even for me…" Cryder admitted.

As he said this, both Dael and the others realized his breath was misting more than before. Jalab soon called it as he saw it. "Getting colder…"

Having seen enough, Dael snapped back to the moogles. Her Mage Gun was loaded with a basic Fire bullet now, and so she raised it and fired at the dancers. However, to her shock, one of the moogles jumped up and took it to the chest. He gave a loud "kupo" of pain as the resulting eruption smacked him aside, but he had done the job and stopped her attack from hitting the big three. After that, they only picked up their dancing. Dael grit her teeth in anger and tried to reach for another bullet, but it was too late.

Abruptly, the wind burst out again, this time going into hurricane force as a massive snowstorm broke out just on the group. It was a blizzard unlike anything they had experienced yet, and far, far colder as well. The wind alone seemed to cut right into Dael's bone in spite of the clothing, and had enough power to send her for a tumble. She had to drop right into the freezing snow just to avoid getting blasted, but the wind still cut into her. The others quickly did the same…for all the good it did.

Dael soon found frost rapidly collecting on her and the snow coming so heavy, hard, and fast that she began to be buried by it. She was beginning to shudder from the cold, in spite of all of her protection. She risked looking behind her to see how they were doing, and the answer was not good. Cryder, Taraketh, Quaren, and Cid were not much better off than her. Bahamut's oversized clothing had more gaps and he was doing a bit worse. But, naturally, Ceja and Jalab were worst. Ceja already was hunched against the ground with her arms around herself, looking like she was struggling to stave off hypothermia from making her pass out. Jalab, amazingly enough, was somehow standing his ground and swirling his staff to try and keep the wind from piercing her, although it looked like he was only lessing it at best. Although he looked as bad off as the others, he was standing his ground. In fact, his aura was blazing and turning red. Dael realized he was trying the same multiple burning image technique.

A moment later, it took off, and a dozen flaming Jalabs went flying in a dance of their own for the moogles. But the snowstorm was too intense. Two of them faded before they even got there. As for the others, moogles again leapt out in sacrificial moves, letting themselves be struck and knocked aside. Six more of them went down at that, but the last four images didn't even hit with enough power to disable their opponents. And the enemy still had fourteen more moogles willing to act as living shields…all while the storm got worse.

Jalab, on his part, let his arms fall afterward, closed his eyes, grunted, and collapsed. Dael was shocked at seeing that, but she soon realized why. Jalab's power was stamina-based. The snowstorm had to be draining him dry. It was probably everything he could come up with just to do that one move. And the moogles showed no signs of letting up…not until they were all frozen and buried.

_I guess it's up to me, then…_ Dael thought, as she looked back to the creatures. The storm they were generating wasn't hitting them. Even creatures like moogles wouldn't be able to withstand this. That meant one thing to her…and she used it as she chanted a few more words…

A moment later, she vanished, and reappeared right behind the dancers.

The moogles guarding them let out alarmed "kupos"…but she had to compliment the dancers on never missing a beat. Instead, the storm angled around and began to blast her with freezing wind again…but, unfortunately for them, she was a bit faster this time and had managed to load a second Fire bullet while being hunkered in the snowdrifts. A moment later, she yanked out her gun, aimed at their feet, and fired. An instant later, the snow beneath them was turned into slick slush, and all three dancers let out an intense "kupo" of panic as they stumbled and collapsed.

The others were half frozen at this point, but they still managed to rise and respond. Jalab stayed down for the moment, and Ceja quickly went to him, but the others attacked. Taraketh quickly got off a small cyclone which swept up three moogles, knocked their heads together, and then sent them flying. Quaren yanked out a non-fragmentary grenade and threw it at a short distance into the snow, just enough to where the resulting explosion would send them fleeing or knock them aside, but not enough to kill. Bahamut, on his part, dove forward and tackled two more while Cryder swept out his hand and caused the snow to swallow two more moogles up to their necks, and immediately the snow became thick, dense, and heavy enough to where they couldn't move.

Dael was a bit surprised to see her own opponents sprang back up rather quickly as well. Although she had managed to get off the shot from her Mage Gun, she still wasn't too terribly fast at the moment. As a result, one of the dancing moogles managed to whip out dual swords (rather odd-looking for a moogle), and began to go at Dael with rapid slashing attacks. Although the moves were mostly erratic, they were also rapid, and designed to catch her off guard and keep her off balance. As a result, the other two dancers were able to rise again. They quickly moved to solid ground and tried to dance…

When the end of a wrench attached to a spring sailed through the air and beaned one on the head. That moogle went down while the other gaped, the tiny blue eyes going wide, in shock. "K-K-Kupo!" It stammered.

Dael and her opponent were both surprised at this, and looked to the source…to see Cid scratching his head nervously and holding one end of one of his collapsible wrenches. "Heh…guess I put too much power in the new spring."

The moogle actually looked panicked, if that was possible for a moogle. Dael's own opponent hesitated. She supposed she should have gone for a finishing blow at that point, but she held. This latest move seemed to stun them. Perhaps they'd finally realize how futile it was. However, she noticed something else as well. The one remaining moogle looked rather desperate. It glanced about fearfully for a moment. Then, something happened.

The moogle looked somewhat…determined.

"…Kupo. Kupo-po-po." It stated, in what Dael figured was the best attempt at a "cold" voice.

However, this sent the one Dael was with into a panic. "Kupo! Kupo-ku-po-po!"

"Kupo!" The first responded, and then immediately turned and began to run.

Cid blinked a few times, and looked to Cryder. "Um, did you get any of that?"

The pirate gave him a look. "…What on Gaia makes you think I speak moogle?"

"Well…you have one on your crew, right?" The engineer answered with a shrug.

"Hey…on _my_ ship, you speak _my_ language. I don't bother with learning yours." Cryder answered. "But I don't have to be a scholar to know that it's about to try somethin' crazy…"

Dael could hardly disagree. Her own opponent looked about nervously, not knowing what to do. The moogles that were down but not out began to do the same, trying to get free. As for the one moogle, it came to a stop higher on the cliff and looked around, and then stared for just a moment…before it began to dance again. The other moogles immediately went into a greater panic.

Cryder looked puzzled. "It's just one moogle…one geomancer. The only reason they did the storm so bad was because it was three of them together. What does it think it can do when only…"

Suddenly, he trailed off and slumped a bit.

"…Crap."

Taraketh looked to him. "…I don't like how you said that…"

However, as he trailed off, what the man was talking about began to come to light as they felt a tremor in the ground. It started small, but quickly built to the point where it made them all wobble, and soon grew even stronger than that. Dael, blinking a few times, looked up to the moogle, and soon gaped in shock. She realized what was going on now. The moogle was performing some sort of mild rockslide. But after days of abnormal weather, several feet of accumulated snow on the mountains…she knew what was coming next. And soon, they all saw it.

The group gaped as a massive shelf of ice and snow on the upper peaks overlooking the valley broke free. With a sound like thunder, it began to topple down the cliff, casting up more ice and snow in the process, and soon becoming a deadly, inescapeable wave of solid white. Dael and the others gaped in shock at it for a moment. As for the moogle, it finished its dance, then turned to the coming avalanche…and simply slumped, seeming to sigh with one last "kupo".

"Is that creature mad?!" Taraketh outburst. "It'll kill itself and its brethren!"

"They're that desperate to get us? Why?" Quaren asked.

Ceja, here, looked up from Jalab with her teeth clenched. "It d-d-doesn't matter why!" She said in a trembling stammer, clearly still freezing. "W-W-We need to s-s-stop it or get away f-f-from it!"

Dael couldn't help but agree, but that was a problem. If she pushed herself nearly to the point of death, she _might_ be able to teleport all of the group members…but, in spite of having no reason to care what happened to them, she couldn't bring herself to leave the moogles behind. She looked to the wall of snow…picking up speed and acting like a solid deluge. That brought to mind one other thing.

She turned to Bahamut. "Summon Leviathan! His Tsunami is the only thing that can stop that!"

Bahamut immediately nodded, and folded his hands together to start chanting. She hoped it didn't take too long. Leviathan was their strongest Guardian Force. He didn't come as "instantly" as the others. For a few brief seconds, each one seeming to be an eternity, Dael watched the deluge of snow grow closer…frightfully close, even. In retrospect, it had to have been one of the fastest summons she had ever seen, although it certainly didn't feel like it at the time. But at last, the sky began to darken, the tell-tale sign something was coming.

Yet even as the portal in the air opened and the translucent, aqua-colored, beautiful sea serpent began to emerge, Dael already realized it was too late. The avalanche was instants from claiming its first victim…the very moogle who had summoned it. It was uphill and right in the path of the snow. Dael took one last look to Leviathan, but, powerful as its attack was, it took a moment for its whiskers to flick and to summon the strength. Water began to condense in the air and build behind it, but there would only be a moment before the first moogle would be gone. In the end…the commander made a decision. She quickly let out a stream of arcane language of her own as the wave behind Leviathan grew large and formidable, and then vanished…

A moment later, she reappeared facing the wall of snow, right next to the moogle. The creature barely had time to look to her in confusion and let out a puzzled "kupo?!" before she quickly seized it by its own colorful armor and chanted the words again. Just as she felt snow begin to tag her, she vanished once again…reappearing in the same place she had left.

A wave of intense dizziness came over Dael, and she nearly collapsed. It seemed her stamina for teleportation was marginally increasing…but one thing she definitely hadn't been able to do yet is master the ability to do teleportations in succession. She nearly collapsed, but managed to extend her sword out to balance herself. She realized now that she was easy prey for the moogle she had just saved. It could kill her without difficulty if it wanted. However, it didn't move. Like the rest of the moogles, it seemed to be transfixed on what happened next.

The tsunami came forward, possessing so much raw power that it actually went uphill and obliterated the rock where the moogle had been standing. It met the avalanche head on, resulting in a colossal spray of snow and sea foam into the air. The others recoiled from it as the rest of the avalanche swept down on either side of them, thick and deep snow raging past like a herd of charging dinosaurs. It lapped at the sides of the tsunami and nearly broke in, prompting those on the edges to quickly recoil as best as they could. Everything beyond was covered in deep snow. Yet in spite of all of that, no one was harmed.

After about a minute, the snow began to pile up behind the cliff and slow. Around the same time, Leviathan cut off his own tsunami and vanished again. Dael soon saw the tidal wave had done more than stop the avalanche…it had actually beaten it back a bit. At any rate, it tumbled forward a bit afterward…but soon slowed and stopped well short of burying the group. Leviathan himself vanished once more, and the sky became bright and clear once again, freed of both clouds as well as the effect of the summoning.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence and stillness. The snow piled up all around the group slowly settled, crumbling a bit here and there, but nothing else happened. Dael had managed to get most of her bearings back at this point and rose again. She looked around, and saw that the others were mostly like she was, looking around at the resut of what happened. Ceja, on her part, was getting Jalab back up and sticking close to him, putting her arms around him and pressing her body into hers. She blushed a bit as she did so, but she did none the less, and the monk was coming around. On seeing that everyone was alright, she decided to look nearby.

Both of the dancing moogles who hadn't been knocked out were next to her now, and on seeing her look at them, one of them let out a panicked "kupo" and began to recoil. The other one, however, the one she had saved, looked around a moment. Dael looked out as well to the other moogles. By now, they realized they had been beaten. And now, she saw that all of them were cringing in terror, trying not to look at the group. Their earlier boldness and ferocity was gone on seeing they couldn't win. Yet this began to both explain something as well as make things more confusing. Dael realized, based on this, that the reason they had attacked had to be because they were terrified of them. But if so, then why? What had they ever done to them?

Suddenly, the moogle she had saved spoke up. "Kupo! Kupo-kupo-po-po!"

The other moogles paused and looked to the one moogle at that, seeming a bit surprise. The moogle next looked to Dael. After a moment, it spoke to her, in a voice just slightly feminine.

"We're very sorry about that, kupo."

Dael and the others, except Bahamut, reacted in response. "You can talk? I mean…you speak our language?"

The moogle nodded. "My name is Momeo, head priestess of the northern moogles, kupo." She looked to the one with two blades. "This is Kumen, the son of the chief, and…um…" She looked to the still-unconscious one. "That's Puhreo…the head warrior…"

His little blue eyes seemed to swirl in his head. "Ku…po…" He let out.

"Uh, sorry about that…" Cid said nervously from where he stood. "But, in my defense, you _did_ try to kill us."

Momeo looked rather ashamed at that, the white fur on her cheeks turning red as she bowed her head. "…You're right, kupo. We did. I'm sorry about that… My visions have never been wrong, kupo, but I don't think if you were bad people you would have saved us…"

Dael looked to that in some puzzlement. Taraketh, from a distance, was more indignant. "You assumed we were 'bad', as you put it, when you had never seen us before? Forgive me for thinking just a bit darkly, but what manner of religion do you follow that tells you to kill people on sight?"

Momeo looked a bit more ashamed at that. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, kupo! To be honest…we didn't know how to react! After receiving the vision, we thought for sure that you would be destroyers here to kill us all, kupo!"

This was enough to cause everyone to stop and give pause. They all looked rather confused on hearing this, and Bahamut was among them. As the other moogles slowly began to pick themselves up and tend to their wounded, the Guardian Force began to walk forward toward Dael. But before he got there, she already spoke again.

"…What vision are you talking about?"

"The northern moogles have always relied heavily on soothsaying and oracles, kupo." Momeo continued. "That was how our ancestors knew to flee Narshe before it was overrun. It's how we've been able to survive all of the long, hard winters this far north, kupo, even when the Kupo Nut crops failed. Like I told you, none of our visions have been wrong in 200 years, kupo, and none of mine have ever been wrong.

"Several months ago, I saw a vision that we would have a terrible winter, one that wouldn't end even when summer was supposed to come, kupo. But I couldn't see the cause. All I could see was something big, black, monstrous, and scary, kupo. It blots out everything else, so that I can't see anything else that could be the reason. As the days went on and the winter wouldn't end, my tribe got desperate, kupo. So I stayed in the temple and prayed for two whole weeks without nuts or water. Finally, a vision came to me. It was only a weak one, but I saw people from Esthar bringing out the big black nightmare."

The group froze momentarily on hearing that, Bahamut included.

"…What do you mean?" Dael asked after a moment.

"Just what I said, kupo. In a vision, I saw people from Esthar bringing out the big blackness that was causing the winter."

"That doesn't say a whole lot, however." Bahamut interjected. "_Who_ did you see bringing out the 'big blackness'? What did they look like? Were they male? Female? Tall? Short?"

Momeo shook her head. "Like I told you, it was a weak vision, kupo. I couldn't make out much. All I could tell was that whoever was doing was big and scary too, just like the black nightmare, kupo. They looked like they were made of it. And they wore the emblem of Esthar, kupo."

"Like…a uniform?" Dael asked.

"Possibly, kupo." Momeo answered. "To be honest, I've never seen an Esthar military uniform before. But that might not mean anything, kupo. It could have just meant they were from Esthar. Anyway, when you came here, and we saw you wearing Esthar clothes, kupo, and we knew that no normal human could survive out here, so we thought it was you, kupo. We thought you had come to kill us, so we got together our finest warriors and tried to stop you before you could destroy the world, kupo."

Quaren frowned a bit in response to this. "…Do we really look like we could destroy the world?"

Cryder shrugged. "Well, mate…does it look like a moogle could whip you in a fight?"

The corporal grimaced and said nothing more. Cid merely looked thoughtful, as if pondering what it would look like if moogles saved the planet…

Taraketh, however, was more serious. "'Big black nightmare'…" He mused aloud. "Maybe they're talking about what Lord Leviathan was saying. But if that's true, then what does it have to do with Esthar? The ones who are creating more chaos in this world are the Sybenians."

"It could be either one, when you think about it, from a certain point of view." Bahamut responded. "Yes, on one hand, Sybenia is the one who's actually 'throwing stones', but you could say Esthar is 'setting up glass to be broken' by resisting them."

Dael and Taraketh both alike looked to him. "…So you're saying Esthar could be at fault for just not rolling over and letting Sybenia have their way with them?" She stated incredulously.

"I didn't say that at all." Bahamut calmly responded. "Chaos and disorder are, unfortunately, two-way streets. It doesn't matter if you're creating or destroying…you increase the disorder in the universe. It's just that wanton destruction tends to do it more. The fact remains that there would indeed be less destruction if Esthar wasn't resisting. That's not necessarily the _best_ solution, but it 'is what it is'."

"I am not so sure."

The group turned and looked to Ceja. Her face was hard, even though she was still supporting Jalab.

"I've already experienced treason once among my own tribe, among the ally I trusted with my life." She stated. "I may not be as 'smart' as the people of Esthar, but I know treachery when I see it. First your essences are stolen. Then they learn how to penetrate your defenses to bomb the capitol. Then they get in through that one passage in the mountains. Even if Sybenia is ultimately to blame, there is clearly someone who is aiding them from within Esthar."

"…I won't dispute that, but it's not beyond reason to believe we've been compromised." Dael responded after a moment. "This could be the work of spies, espionage, special agents…anything. After all, Esthar's Hawks engage in the same kind of activities all the time against hostile powers."

Yet even as Dael said this, a new idea had entered her head. Most of what had happened thus far were high security issues. Even if spies had gotten in, or very talented espionage agents, these security protocols were things that only a very select few had access to at any given time. It was possible, however unlikely, that there was someone who actually held a very high rank that was betraying them… However, it took her only a moment to push such thoughts aside. Everything that had been hit so far had been in place prior to the war breaking out. It might have taken months for a conventional spy to find out about these weaknesses, but it was months that they had. Nothing that had happened necessarily could have happened at a moment's notice.

Even now, however, one last inconsistency began to burn in Dael's mind.

_Those Sybenians who bombed the capitol… They had to have come in through the Iron Channel. If they hadn't, they would have bombed the city again during the last invasion. But that damage that had happened to the Gatekeepers when we arrived had been recent, and we had been in contact with them before and after the first bombing… So how did they not see them coming?_

…_Or _did_ they see them coming? And they never reported it…?_

"Um…find coat…please?"

Dael was distracted from her thoughts, and looked over to Jalab. The large monk and Ceja were still holding onto each other, but now both were beginning to turn a bit red, and Dael doubted it was from the cold. Unfortunately, in the avalanche and the prior snowstorm, their coats had been flung about to who knew where, along with the rest of their gear. Luckily, it seemed the moogles, now recovered a bit more, were eager to help, and soon dove into the snowbanks and began to dig for them.

As for Momeo, she looked back to Dael. "By the way, if you're not here to destroy us…why _are_ you here, kupo?"

Dael looked back to the moogle. She stared at her only a moment, before she figured she wouldn't really be sacrificing much in confidentiality by telling a moogle from a long-lost tribe the truth. She exhaled, and then explained.

"I'm not sure how you learned to speak our language…but I'm assuming, since you did, you have some regular contact with the humans lower on this continent. If you do…then you should know that Sybenia has declared war on Esthar, and they're using a lot of new and advanced weapons, but artificial and magical in nature. It seems they're recruiting the Guardian Forces and somehow enhancing them to do a lot of widespread damage. We're trying to stop them from doing that."

Momeo looked at her a moment, but then blinked. "Oh, I get it, kupo! So you're going after Alexander, right?"

The group looked to the moogle priestess in surprise.

"…You know about him?"

"Of course, kupo!" The priestess answered. "I've made six pilgrimages there over the course of my life myself! Alexander guards this tomb of these two great kings who were buried side by side! Don't know which ones, though, kupo. The language is long since dead. But…if you're planning on going over there on foot, kupo, you're in trouble. The storm broke today, but it'll be back with a vengeance tomorrow. It gets much colder the farther north and uphill you go, and that mountain's treacherous enough to climb even on a good summer, kupo. You'll either freeze or fall to your death, kupo."

Dael frowned a bit. "…Thank you for your concern, but it's essential that we get there, regardless of the danger. We can't let Sybenia get Alexander's power for themselves."

"But it's suicide, kupo!" Momeo insisted. "If you thought that storm that Kumen, Purheo, and me kicked up was bad, you'll walk right into one of those if you go that way!"

Quaren grimaced a bit. "Um…maybe we should pay attention to what the moogle is saying, commander. Our tents barely stayed in place during the last big storm. Assuming we can even find our gear…we can't risk getting in anything stronger. The tent could blow into a crevice or a rock or who knows what. And we won't survive out here without shelter."

"No human could get there in this weather! Alexander is safe, kupo." Momeo reassured.

Dael, however, didn't change. "I can't take that chance. Sybenia already has Tiamat. If they get Alexander as well, we're doomed. There'll be nothing left on Gaia that can stop them. Dangerous as it is, we have to try."

Momeo paused on hearing that. She bowed her head and let out a sigh. "…If there's really no changing your mind, kupo, then I guess I have no choice." She looked up. "It'll be my chance to make it up to youkupo anyway."

The Esthar's Hawk turned to her in puzzlement. "What are you talking about?"

"Moogles aren't nuts enough to try and walk to the ruins on foot, kupo. It's too cold and dangerous." She explained. "We built a tunnel to it a long time ago through our city. It'll still be a long walk, kupo, but it'll be warm and out of the storm."

Dael and the others blinked. "…You'd let us use that route?"

She nodded. "Of course, kupo! Technically we'd hate it if humans saw where we lived, but I can't let you freeze to death, can I, kupo? Besides, like I said…I owe you for the mistake, kupo. Once you've found your stuff, we'll take you there."

The young woman was pleasantly surprised. This was an odd ending to their meeting, but she wasn't about to turn it down. The truth of the matter was her body was still rather numb from that first storm, and she had been pretty much fully clothed. She knew as well as the moogle did that they probably couldn't make it on foot. However, she had never expected to hear of an alternate route. She turned to face the others.

"Does anyone have any objections?"

Quaren immediately shook his head. "Not one, commander."

"I'll do it." Taraketh answered.

"You bet!" Cid instantly chimed in.

"Does a chocobo with a lisp go 'kwesh'?" Cryder added.

Everyone else simply nodded. Dael turned back to the moogle.

"Alright…we'll accept your offer."

"Good choice, kupo." Momeo answered. "Let's hurry up and try to find your gear before it gets too late."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	47. Light of Judgment

Dael had to admit, she was enjoying the warmth, even if it meant that after she stripped all of her bulky clothing that she had to carry it in a pack as she traveled along. She had never really pictured some underground tunnel to be the most warm and inviting of places, but she'd take it over the trip they had so far any day.

She still had a hard time believing where she was, however, although she supposed she should be used to it by now. After all, she had been to many fantastic places already, including places no one in the world had likely ever been. Why not the home of a forgotten tribe of moogles?

It had taken about an hour to find all of their gear, but they did find it, which Dael was thankful for. Ceja and Jalab were all too happy to get back into their coats, even if they had been chilled a bit from being in the snow. At any rate, once this was done, the group set out, now being led by the moogle troop. The one called Kumen ran on ahead to tell everyone the news. Momeo warned if he didn't, they might try to ambush them on arrival. He didn't have to go far, and neither did Dael, which was fortunate since most of the area was buried under thick snow now. Apparently, they hadn't been close to what looked like a cave entrance. Despite their small size and paws, it didn't take them long to clear it enough for the group to walk in.

The first stretch, where the sunlight could reach, was fairly dark, but it grew warm quickly within the cave. The group began to start taking off their outer clothing just as the first few oil lamps became visible, leading deeper into the cave.

It wasn't long before they came on a pleasant surprise. First, the cave was swept clean and washed; making it very neat, tidy, and liveable. Dael initially assumed the moogles lived in a place like that. But a bit further, it changed. The floors were paved with bricks and mortar, and wood walls were built up in places, leading right into one of the larger openings. Although they went around here rather than into it, Dael saw an amazing sight. What looked like an underground city for moogles was built up down there, each with cozy, moogle-sized homes. Each home was decorated with care and reflected a different moogle's likes and personality, and had luxuries such as shingles, decorative shutters, cobblestone, and many other things that made them look rather warm and inviting. Reflective mirrors from above allowed sunlight to fill the interior, making it look as if it was the middle of the day, and even providing enough to grow flowers and small gardens. There were also wagons and carts that looked to be owned either by laborers or vendors, and chocobos, of all things, were pulling them. Naturally, she didn't get to see many of the moogles "at work". They all looked to her and the group with surprise when they came through. Dael saw no more as they walked on, but she could tell that this small village extended deep underground, giving some hint of its size. She had to imagine they had many other buildings for more official business as well further in, and she assumed there had to even be a temple somewhere if Momeo really was a priestess.

As they walked along, they soon saw something even more magnificent. They came to a very large interior cave. It stretched hundreds of feet high and even further wide, like a great hollowed out sports arena dome might be, only larger. Nevertheless, it had a tiny opening up top that let sunlight come in. Although it was open, the geothermal nature of the dwelling kept the place warm…warm enough, in fact, to grow things. The ground here was more like soil than anything, and the sun was scattered via a gigantic prism suspended from the ceiling to provide abundant light through the entire gigantic cave. It was both ingenius and simple. Dael was honestly very impressed. She supposed she should have known better after meeting Moginson, but moogles weren't not half as "dumb" as humans normally took them for.

At any rate, even this wondrous sight was soon left behind. The wood paneling eventually vanished, and the pathway went from brick to smooth paving stone. Over time, the mortar vanished as well. The tunnels twisted and winded a bit, and they went into some junctions and out of others. However, there were still oil lamps lighting the way. Eventually, they too began to fade, and finally, around that time, Momeo came to a halt. She turned to the other moogles and said something to them in her native language, and they turned and began to go back the way they came. Kumen and Puhreo held a moment first, however. Kumen still looked distrustful of Dael's group, especially Dael herself, but finally broke off, glaring at them all the way. As for Puhreo, he seemed to be more "conciliatory", but finally nodded, turned to the others, gave a bow, and then departed as well. Only Momeo was left.

"I told them I'd guide you from here, kupo." She explained. "They're a little upset that I'll be gone for a few days, but I told them I'd be fine. I wasn't really doing much in the temple other than waiting for visions anyway, kupo."

"You can't just point the way?" Bahamut asked.

"Oh nokupo." Momeo answered with a head shake. "There's mine passages leading all over the mountains and snowfields. Unless you're an experienced moogle, kupo, you'll get lost easily. I'll have to take you there."

"You're sure it's not a problem?" Dael asked.

"Of course not, kupo. I'm making up to you for trying to have you killed and all." Momeo answered with a shrug. Dael was a bit put off by how nonchalant she was about it…but, she had to admit, desperate as the situation had been, the fact that their opponents had been moogles kind of reduced the impact of it. Soon, Momeo turned to lead the way, and they followed.

The way was rather pleasant, a far cry from the freezing snowfields. It may have been a rock tunnel, but it was a warm, dry, level rock tunnel. As they went on, the oil lamps gradually began to give out, and the area became rather dark, but that wasn't a problem. The group had plenty of light sources on them. As a result, they made very good time. Ironically, the only thing left that still slowed them down was the sled, now that they no longer had snow to drag it over. But the stone was smooth enough that it did the job too. They had to use it as more of a travois now, but they couldn't afford to take more on it. They already had too many things on their backs as it was, now that they were carrying all of their gear.

Cid looked about as they went on. "A lot of this seems natural…but a lot of it is also man-made, er…moogle-made. This is impressive. Did you build this all by yourselves?"

"Not our generation alone, kupo." Momeo answered. "For generations we built it up over the centuries. Once a year we send out repair crewpos to patch up any damage. Pretty soon we're due again for this year, and there's a lot of damage to some of the side tunnels because of the storm, but our path is fine, kupo."

"Why do you need so many tunnels?" Ceja asked. "You seem to have a nice settlement already."

"Oh, but that one grotto isn't big enough to feed all of us, kupo. Plus we still need lumber and stone and gems and other things, kupo." The priestess answered. "We have these tunnels so we can go anywhere in the Belk Snowfields whenever we need to. During the spring, summer, and fall, we're hardy enough to walkupo on the surface, but not in the winter or if there's a bad storm."

"You can't just settle in for the winter?" The Fuliet warrior asked.

"We do for the most part, but we're growing just like the humans are, kupo." Momeo insisted. "You don't just sit around and wait for spring at the end of every fall, do you?"

Cryder gave a shrug. "She's got a point."

"The hallmark of a society going into technological advancement…" Bahamut murmured. "I wonder…have any members of your race ever considered integrating with human society, despite the restrictions that you have on humans knowing about your settlement?"

"Oh nokupo." Momeo immediately said with a head shake. At that, the moogle seemed to sweat a little and rub her head. "Actually, kupo…letting you live was one thing, but letting you know about the location of the village and seeing it with your own eyes is something else… I actually told everyone to keep it a secret, kupo. The others told you we were just escorting you, but still…kupo…"

"We won't tell anyone about where your village is." Dael reassured. "In fact, I doubt we could find it on our own again if we tried… Most of this is just frozen landscape to us. But why does your race fear humans? I'll admit…humans haven't exactly been 'kind' to most other races in the world, but I thought they always got along with moogles."

"It's kind of tradition, kupo." Momeo answered, easing a bit. "After the War of the Magi and no more espers, moogles lost their faith in most humans, kupo. The first moogle was an esper, so we figured humans would either try to use us like they used the espers, or they would fear us because we hung out with them as much as we hung out with humans."

Taraketh looked up a bit at that, and turned to Bahamut. "…Do you think such fears were justified, Lord Bahamut?"

He shrugged. "It's a trend in history, but I couldn't tell for certain. After all, I was dead during all of those events. I have no idea how human would have reacted."

The High Child looked to Dael's pouch next. "Lord Carbuncle, do you-"

He cut himself off and grimaced a bit as he heard a loud snore come from the pouch.

"It's probably a reasonable assumption to make, unfortunately." Bahamut elaborated. "The downside to being mortal is that you fail to gain a sense of perspective. Things that are relatively unimportant or trivial can become a big deal when you only live to be around 80 and don't have the advantage of seeing them as having happened before much earlier."

"Yes…but times have changed again." Dael maintained. "People know of the Guardian Forces now. They're not myths any longer. Perhaps it should be time for this tribe to do the same."

"It's none of our concern either way." Bahamut simply answered. "This is their decision. They can decide where their tribe goes from here. There's no doubt if they are looking for an advanced civilization, they will gain it faster by not isolating themselves. On the other hand…history has unfortunately shown that humans can rarely coexist with something 'supernatural'."

Dael didn't have anything to answer this with, and so she merely exhaled and kept walking onward.

The woman had no way to tell the passage of time, but apparently Momeo knew about it well enough, stopping them for meals and at springs periodically, and finally directing them to stop for the night. The area she ended up stopping at was surprising. She recognized the layout as one of those old fields that were used to ward off monsters. However, the place was also set up rather cozily, as if it was meant as some sort of underground campsite. There were numerous unlit oil lamps waiting to be lit to give a good amount of illumination. There were even a few amenities such as a fire pit with fuel already prepared and a source of fresh water from an underground spring. It wasn't bad at all. However, one aspect soon focused her attention as she settled in.

"…There's wards around here against monsters."

Momeo nodded.

Dael paused a moment, then looked to her. "So…monsters come down here?"

"Unfortunately, yes, kupo." She responded. "In fact, more than usual. Because of the storm, a lot of them are headed underground, and they're hungry too, kupo. The path is clear up until around here, but there'll be a lot tomorrow."

"And just when I was thinking of opening a summer home…" Cryder muttered.

"It shouldn't be too bad. It's not like the monsters here are as bad as the ones in Fuliet." Taraketh answered. "And there's not a whole lot of ways they can ambush us either when you're in a fairly smooth tunnel with only two ways, ahead and behind."

The commander paused in her own unloading long enough look at the time, and found that it was 2000 hours already, much to her surprise. She had no idea how long they had been down here. However, after the long delay, she supposed they had to walk longer to make up for it. At any rate, they needed to use the opportunity to get a good night's sleep, especially if they'd have to deal with more combat in the morning. It probably wouldn't be such a bad idea to leave most of the winter gear at this stop if they could, and to come back for it later.

However, as she went over this, she realized something. She looked to Momeo, and saw her just standing there, watching them setup. "Don't you…have to unpack yourself?" She asked.

She looked to Dael in response, and then bowed her head and pawed the ground a bit.

"Um, well…to be honest, kupo, we were already about three miles down the path before I realized I didn't bring anything. Well, I didn't want to make us turn around, so…"

Dael blinked. "…What are you going to eat or sleep in, then?"

The moogle paused momentarily, again digging her paw into the ground. Dael, however, waited for a response. After a while, she finally looked up and appeared as "sheepish" as a moogle could.

"Um…you all seem to have so much spare gear on you…"

The commander narrowed her gaze. "…Not as much as you'd think. We dumped some off earlier before we began this trek."

"Yeah…but you still have big tents…"

"…That are supposed to fit nine individuals already."

Momeo looked up with almost a whimper. "..So does that mean I've got to sleep on the bare ground and starve for the whole round trip to take you to the ruins and backupo? Even after I risked being ostracized and disciplined for escorting humans there all by myself, not to mention how dangerous it is for a priestess to be out that long?" She asked anxiously.

Dael grimaced. Seeing a moogle giving you the "sad-eyes" routine combined with a guilt trip was something that could break a heart of stone. She had a lot of misgivings… How much did moogles eat? How much did they kick in their sleep? Did they smell in the morning? Plus, she had just met this creature. However, in spite of all of that, she let out another groan.

"…I'll see if we can make some room in our tent…" She grumbled at last.

"Oh, thankupo!" Momeo answered, immediately lighting up.

The commander turned back to her stuff and continued to unload. After a moment, however, she heard a flapping of tiny wings, and she slowly looked up to see Momeo hovering over to her.

"Um, by the way…" She asked. "…I don't suppose you have any spare hair-care products I could use too, do you, kupo?"

Dael struggled not to sigh.

* * *

><p>Luckily, moogles were indeed very clean and sanitary…despite their needs. Any notions that Dael was dealing with just some common animal were dispelled the moment that Momeo had started asking if anyone had a spare toothbrush. Unfortunately, her appetite was about the size of Bahamut's, which meant they would definitely have a problem with food. However, they were making good time, and they had packed extra on the off chance that they would be snowed in at one point. It would be a stretch, but they would probably make it. And since they were sleeping in a warm underground, Dael also didn't have to worry too much about bundling up during the night, so there were extras for her. Aside from numerous white hairs on the gear the next day, she supposed it wasn't so bad sleeping with a strange moogle nearby.<p>

She wasn't joking about the caverns not being entirely safe the next day…or, what Dael figured was the next day. In the cavern, it was a little hard to tell. They had only gone a short distance before they began to hear movement in the cave of claws on stone. That was another advantage of taking this route. The winter wolves of this area might have been silent on snow, but the rock structure was something else. They also stood out rather well from the darkness when a pack of five of them charged. They were also more mobile down here than they had been up on the surface in spite of the cramped conditions, and it took no time at all to disable them. It was a bit more problematic later when a group of them tried to come up from behind. The echoes were bad in the cavern, and it was hard to tell which direction they approached from. However, that problem was solved by Momeo. Dael realized the little "pom-pom" on her head reverberated in the direction from which monsters were coming, which made things much easier.

It also came in handy when they ran into what Momeo called an Arctic Worm.

Dael had wondered what that would have meant when she saw Momeo's pom-pom twitching, in spite of not hearing the normal sounds of the incoming winter wolves. She didn't know what it was or where, but she drew her weapon none the less, told everyone to get ready, and to move away from the direction where the pom-pom was twitching. They agreed, and a good thing too…for one of the things punched right through the ceiling and landed in the cave. Dael had never seen one of the "great worms" of the world before, but she had to admit she didn't like the sight of one face to face. It stank of bile and ammonia and filled the cavern with its noxious stench, and its cavernous mouth easily capable of eating any of them in two bites didn't help either. The only good thing was that it was white and easy to see. The group wasted little time and immediately hit it with everything they had. Ceja flung her axe while Quaren opened fire, Taraketh gave it a mouthful of fire, and Cid drove his drill bit right into its gut. Unfortunately, that didn't kill it. It lunged forward and moved to engulf Momeo, but Jalab stopped it by firing his aura into its mouth, driving it back as well as halting it, and Cryder finished it by causing a cave in to impale it on a hastily-made, yet giant, stalagtite.

Nevertheless, all of them were panting hard when the foul smelling creature, fouler now due to its blood, lay in a heap on the stone pavement.

"…What in the three spheres was that monstrosity?!" Ceja outburst.

Momeo looked rather shaken up, as she had nearly been devoured, but she gulped and answered. "An…an Arctic Worm, kupo. I didn't think they could go underground, kupo. They normally tunnel through snow and blend in perfectly. They pop out and eat moogles without anyone ever knowing they were there. We still don't know if some of us die in snowstorms or get eaten by these, kupo. We know moogles are their favorite food though. They eat us in one bite, kupo…"

Cryder turned to Momeo. "…You're their favorite food, and all of them are probably starving now. And look at that…we carrying one of their dinners around with us… Does that mean we can expect some of its friends?"

Momeo looked a bit nervous. "Uh…possibly…" She gave a shrug. "But it can't be helped, kupo. Like I said, I've got to get you through the tunnels to get to the shrine, kupo."

Dael exhaled. "She has a point. We'll just have to deal with it."

"Perhaps taking the underground route wasn't such a good idea after all…" Taraketh murmured.

"Don't complain." Bahamut answered. "This still beats freezing to death or being lost in a whiteout until we starve."

Dael couldn't very well argue with that. Besides, they had killed this one easily enough. Of course…if the next one popped down from above them or they couldn't read the "pom-pom" in time…

At any rate, winter wolves were the only other threats they saw. At one point, down a side tunnel they didn't take, they heard a rather loud and monstrous-sounding "chitter", and Momeo ran by rather quickly. She explained that had been an Nidhogg Ankheg, a monstrous centipede that also fed on moogles whenever they could get them. That cause more grimaces from most of the group, but not Dael. She began to realize that this was an occupational hazard. The moogles were apparently on the menu for whatever predators lived up here. They were the smallest, weakest, and, she had to admit, most "bite-sized". No wonder they stayed to the caves. Still, in spite of the delays, the group's power was more than enough to get past everything, and they were able to pass two more "stopping points" before arriving at a third to settle in for the night.

All in all, Dael realized as she got in, the trip hadn't been too bad, in spite of the scares. They were still pretty much at full capacity, which was a good thing. Tomorrow evening, they would arrive at Alexander's ruins. She still had little idea how they were going to beat him, but at least they wouldn't be barely able to stand. At any rate, it was yet another problem that had to wait until tomorrow. She needed to get the last bit of rest in that she could before the final stretch…

* * *

><p><em>Too many… Too loud… Too loud… You're hurting me! Stop hurting me! Stop it! STOP!<em>

_ I HATE YOU! GO AWAY!_

* * *

><p>"Uh…eh…AAAAH!"<p>

Dael couldn't tell what was worst…the horrible pain she was in…or the pain that she saw…everywhere…lighting up the world in a vivid shade of red as if a crazed butcher had gone to all of the voices and painted the world red with their blood… It was dripping everywhere… It flashed vivid for a moment, like an afterimage of a photo flash. But it slowly faded…and left nothing but darkness.

They were gone. All of them. She had done it…she had killed them. She had left them all a bloody mess… She had murdered them…slaughtered them… And the silence…the silence was infinitely worse than the noise. She thought she had wanted quiet…no more pain…

But…there was no more love either. No more happiness or sadness. No more voices. No more anything. Just death…

Empty nothingness…endless blackness and silence…forever…

"N…Nh…Nho…"

"Dael…wake up… Wake up… Wake up!"

The voice was the only one in the gloom, and she attached to it immediately…because without it, she felt nothing but loneliness and pain… No...more than that. Guilt…guilt at what she had done… It made her feel more horrible…more monstrous… Yet the voice only grew louder and sharper…sharper than the mind's eye. She felt hands shaking her and shaking her hard. It took a few moments, but finally it woke her up in a snap.

Dael immediately became aware that she was sweating quite a bit. She honestly couldn't tell if it was from pain, anxiety, or fear. Her dream had been so vivid this time that she could have sworn she not only felt genuine, crushing loneliness, but also the agony from whatever the voices had been doing this time. That wasn't all. She could feel her mind and face was still strained from her surge in rage at what they had been doing, although it had been calming quickly…replaced by fear. As she looked around, her wits catching up with her body, she soon saw a familiar sight.

Quaren looked anxiously at her from overhead, but it had been Taraketh who had shaken her. At the moment, it looked like he was pinning her down. She felt a bit disheveled at the moment…and realized it was more than likely that she had been tossing and turning violently in her sleep. Bahamut was on the opposite side, also looking rather anxious. Carbuncle had ducked his head in nearby, and even Momeo was fluttering as best as she could in the tent and looking over shoulders.

Dael slowly exhaled as she calmed. _Guess I woke up everyone…_ She thought to herself. That was unusual. She had never been vocal or "loud" in her dreams. Then again…the dream had never quite played out that way before. If that wasn't enough…she felt her heart still racing, still calming down.

She looked around for a moment more, before frowning a bit as she exhaled. "…I guess I got you all up…"

Quaren paused a moment, but then shrugged a bit. "Well, not everyone."

Suddenly, the tent flap unzipped. Jalab's head poked in a moment later, looking around with concern. "Everything good?" He asked, focusing on Dael after a moment.

The corporal grimaced a bit in response. "Alright…maybe you did."

Dael frowned a little, but then looked up to Jalab and gave a nod. "It's nothing, Sir Tierras. Just a bad dream."

The monk didn't look entirely convinced. To be honest, no one else did either. She was a bit surprised at that. Had she frightened people that much?

"Certain?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm sorry I woke you all up."

He hesitated a bit more, but then smiled and nodded, although the smile was a bit hesitant and weak. "Good night, Dael." He pulled his head back out and zipped the tent once again.

Once he was gone, everyone else looked to her as Taraketh extricated himself, now seeming a bit embarrassed at having been in such a suggestive position in the first place. Dael had to admit…him leaning over her with both of his hands on her shoulders, almost overlapping the hip region… The thought made her turn a little red too. However, she had little time to think about that.

"I don't think I've ever seen you have a dream that intense before, commander." Quaren stated soon after. "Was it something different this time?"

She shook her head in response. "No." She paused. "At least…not exactly. It was the same, but…it wasn't. It ended differently."

"Wait just a moment…" Bahamut interjected. "Did you just say 'the same'? You've had dreams like this before?"

Dael exhaled and looked to him. "You weren't around for my 'discussion' with Quaren and Cryder on our way to rescue you…but yeah. I told them both that I only have one dream. It's the same one all the time."

Bahamut raised an eyebrow. "That's…unusual."

The woman frowned. "Oh, come on. You've been alive thousands of years. You have to have seen people who only had one dream all the time."

He shook his head. "Never. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone having the same dream all the time. As in, every night?"

The Esthar's Hawk paused. She was a bit unnerved on hearing Bahamut say he had never heard of this before. That meant that whatever she had going on in her head was an anomaly. However, she shrugged in response to his question after a moment. "…Not every night. Or, if I do, I can't remember it. I guess it happens about as often as other people have dreams."

"What's it about?" Taraketh asked, no hiding the intrigue on his own face.

Dael frowned a bit once again. However, there was little denying it now. She looked around and saw Momeo looking intently in, and even Carbuncle was leaning down and propping his head up in his paws. She let out a sigh. _Alright, since you all obviously want to know so badly…_

"It's a dream about nothing, really. All that happens is that I'm somewhere dark…really dark…well, maybe not…maybe I am…" She sighed. "Look, the point is I'm somewhere big and dark, and I always hear all of these voices all around me. Voices of everything…from kids to birds to trees to rocks…and they're all talking at once and I can't hear or make out anything. All I know is that sometimes they get really hostile, loud, and obnoxious, and it drives me crazy. It even hurts sometimes."

Carbuncle gave a shrug. "Why not tell them to shut up next time?"

Dael wished she could have simply frowned in response to that, but the fact of the matter was the thought made her rather nervous.

"…That's what I did, more or less, this time." She answered slowly. "It's the first time I ever did it. They were worse than ever during this dream. They hurt…and they hurt a lot. It's always the same…I can't tell if they're hurting me intentionally or unintentionally. I can't tell if they're angry or calm. All I know is, they hurt…and so I wanted to stop them. I wanted to stop them more than I ever had before. And so I focused and got angrier and angrier, and then…"

Hearing her trail off, Bahamut, who was gazing at her intently now, spoke again. "…Then what?"

Dael paused only a moment longer. "…They all…died." She finally stated. "It's like they were all suddenly snuffed out or…splattered, is more like it. It looked like blood everywhere…"

"I thought you said you couldn't see anything." Taraketh asked.

"The voices…they have…I don't know…colors sometimes. I can't describe it. Can something sound like a color? Anyway…the point is…they all turned bright red and looked like splatter. It faded…and I was left alone in real darkness and real silence. Now it was dark. It was empty…endlessly empty. And it was so quiet…so much so that my ears felt like they were trying to make up sounds to hear something, but I couldn't hear anything. Just silence. You've heard how people have said 'the silence was deafening' before, right? This wasn't. It was just…nothingness. Anywhere. It was worse than the pain…worse than the noise. I got scared and frantic…feeling like I was alone and there was nothing else in the universe but me…alone…forever. So I started to rage, and then…then Taraketh woke me up."

The group paused for a moment at that. It was a bit unusual to hear and all…but not exactly the stereotypical stuff of nightmares. Though if it had been as vivid as Dael made out, if it seemed like it was perfectly real, and it sounded like that based on what she was saying and how stressed she was…then it had to have been frightening indeed. Everyone thought over it for a short while without saying anything.

"…I wonder what it means, kupo…" Momeo suddenly interjected, her tone sounding worried.

"It means nothing." Taraketh answered simply.

Momeo looked to him anxiously. "But…if a moogle has the same dream over and over, it usually means it's some sort of sign…"

Taraketh shook his head. "That's a misconception. Nothing can be learned from dreams. It's foolishness to put too much faith in them."

The moogle looked a little indignant as she turned to Taraketh. "I resent that, kupo! Most of our priestesses and oracles first discovered their power to have premonitions through dreams! And I'm one of them, kupo!"

The High Child stood his ground, however. "History reports one mad leader after another having some dream that contributed to them getting delusions of grandeur or of making major historical mistakes because of them. Assuming there is any validity in dreams that comes from some divine source, it's just as easy for some infernal source to twist them. That's why the Order of Hyne is taught early on to not put too much stock in dreams."

Momeo's white fur turned a hint red, but before she could say anything else, Carbuncle, scratching his head, turned and looked to Bahamut. The boy had his arms crossed and was staring at Dael, but said nothing. "Um…what about you, my lord? Do you think there's anything to this?"

Taraketh and Momeo soon looked to him as well. The moogle seemed a bit confused as to why she was doing so, but she had noticed by now that most of the group seemed to defer to him, so she went with it…assuming he was just some height-retarded human. At any rate, Bahamut stayed quiet a moment longer, and then rubbed his chin and exhaled.

"…In a way, you're both right." He finally stated. "It's true that I've had thousands of dreams over the course of my life, and almost all of them could be said to have definitely never come to fruition, even the recurring ones. On the other hand…I know premonitions can come within 'altered states', such as in dreams, to the right individuals with the right capabilities. I can count on one hand the individuals I've encountered in my life who were capable of that, however. I myself needed my ZERO form to do it, and when I did…" He let out an exhale. "…I kind of wish I hadn't."

Momeo scratched her head. "'Zero…form…', kupo?"

Carbuncle ignored it. "What are you saying?"

"Not much." Bahamut answered with a shrug. "For what it's worth, I've never seen a human capable of receiving premonitions 'by default'…in other words, via dreams. Hence, it's probably nothing to worry about."

Dael, however, didn't look entirely convinced. "…It took you a while to reach that conclusion."

The boy shrugged. "Would you like a more in depth one?"

She sighed in response. "No…I don't want to spend the rest of tonight having my 'head shrunk' by everyone in the tent. I meant to get well rested before we had to head out tomorrow, and that's what I intend to do. Let's just all head back to bed."

"Sure you're alright, Dael?" Quaren asked, dropping the "commander" title for once.

The young woman nodded. "I'll be fine, Quaren. I never have two of these on the same night."

"Dael's right. We're all going to need to be rested for tomorrow." Bahamut answered. "Let's go back to sleep."

"Sounds fine by me…" Carbuncle groaned as he already looked like he was passing out.

One by one, everyone returned to their sleeping bags, got back in, and settled once more. Dael did much the same, leaning in hers and exhaling. It took a short while, but eventually everyone's breathing became slow and rhythmic as they all went back to sleep. After all, it was still the middle of the night, and they had all been asleep only for a few hours at the most. It wasn't much of a stretch for them all to nod off.

Dael knew it wasn't. After all…she lay awake for the next two hours listening to them all fall asleep, and stay asleep afterward…as she herself was too unsettled by her dream to nod off so readily.

* * *

><p>The Esthar's Hawk was in a much better mood in a few hours, however. It was a bit difficult, considering that the only difference between "night" and "day" in this place was a few oil lamps and the word of a moogle. However, she was an officer. She pushed these sorts of things aside. She didn't have time to be paranoid about dreams that probably meant nothing. And although it took a while, eventually, disturbing as it had been, the dream had been dismissed both externally and internally as just that…a meaningless dream. She would side with Taraketh on this one. As usual, she was the first one up and ready to go the next day. Thinking only of the oncoming shrine, she continued.<p>

This far north, the monsters seemed to lessen again. She could tell why. Even in the geothermal caves, it was growing a bit cooler. The storm outside had to be so intense that even under the ground one could feel how cold it was. By now, nothing could have found its way into the tunnels in time before freezing. At least…Dael hoped that was the case. She wasn't that eager to find another Arctic Worm. As it was, she slipped on her outer coat as they walked along. Their breath misted a bit more as they went further.

"Does it grow much colder as we go along?" Dael asked.

"Oh nokupo." Momeo answered. "Not until you go back outside at the ruins, if you go that high, kupo."

Dael paused on hearing that. "…If we go that high?"

"Half of the ruins are above ground, kupo." Momeo explained. "The other half are still buried."

Now, it was Bahamut's turn to echo in confusion. "'Still buried'?"

"I swear, you human never listen the first time we say anything, kupo." The moogle priestess huffed. "I told you two ancient kings were buried there, right? I mean _real_ ancient. The War of the Magi at least, kupo, if not longer."

"…That's intriguing." The boy answered after a moment. "I wasn't personally there for the War of the Magi like the other Guardian Forces, but I know enough to know that few structures survived, either as ruins or otherwise, following it." He looked to Dael. "Do you think Carbuncle knows anything about it?"

Dael looked down to her pouch, where she heard a snore. She frowned a bit before looking back up to Bahamut. "…Even if I wanted to deal with his complaining, I'd say 'no'. He's not exactly the scholar type."

Bahamut shrugged. "Good point."

Momeo, however, looked at them a bit curiously as she led on. "…Did you just say 'like the other Guardian Forces', kupo?"

"…It's better not to ask." Dael simply answered.

Although they had managed to shave off a day, between the delays getting there and the length of time walking, the group still wasn't going to arrive until late that day, almost near time to turn in. Dael herself debated whether or not to get a good night's sleep on arrival at the ruins and go for Alexander tomorrow, or to go straight in. In either case, Dael could tell things were changing sometime after noon. In addition to the chill, the very air seemed to be different. It had a stillness to it, like a tomb, and yet didn't have the same "dankness". Dael wasn't sure how to describe it. A modern fortress might have been a good analogy, but the scent of being "modern" (AC chemicals, oil, cologne, among other things) was, naturally, missing. Still, there was a distinct change here. The tunnel enlarged and, despite remaining smooth enough, became larger and more "cavern-like", gradually losing the signs of having been modified by moogle tools over the years. As it grew wider, it became harder for light to reach out and strike the side walls, gradually giving an impression of not a tunnel at all, but a cave of indeterminate size.

The temperature dropped only a few more degress, only enough for everyone to switch to their heavy coats, but not enough to make them need their hats and gloves. The cave continued to get larger and darker yet, until they stopped seeing the walls on either side. The ceiling began to rise sharply as well. Add to that the fact that Dael could feel the wind becomes less close and dead, and beginning to move about, and she could tell that they were in a true cave now and not just tunnels. They only ventured a bit farther from there before Dael saw Momeo slow and gradually halt.

On the floor before the group, Dael noticed there was some sort of stone carved structure. Very basic architecture, with nothing too modern or elaborate, even for moogle standards. Venturing forward a bit more, she noticed what the source was. Some sort of small structure made out of stone, which looked like a mixture of some raised lookout and a small tower. It seemed to be nothing more than a set of moogle-sized stone stairs that led up to a flat surface. There was some décor on it, but nothing too fancy. No great depictions of moogle heroes or famous events. However, there were a few pictures, including ones that showed off great battles, with thousands of men riding into battle on…strange, four-legged creatures instead of chocoboes. This puzzled Dael a bit, but her thoughts were distracted when Momeo suddenly broke off and began to move to one side. As she did, she called out.

"Well…here we are, kupo." She announced, before reaching into her clothes and coming out with some form of firestarter. Dael couldn't really make out what, but she assumed it was matches or tinder of some sort. At any rate, the moogle went over to a panel at the side of the small structure. It seemed to hold some sort of oil cup to provide illumination. She struck at it a few times, before it lit up, revealing itself to still be filled. Yet that wasn't all. The light quickly spread around, and Dael saw that there was a channel that connected the oil well to others all around the entire odd structure to provide much more lighting. What more, it burned a bit "different" here. Some sort of chemical had to have been added to the oil to make it burn more brightly and less fiery, casting more of a "neutral" glow about the area. Soon, it lit up quite a bit to expose a good portion of the new area they were in.

It wasn't as amazing as Leviathan's own cave, but that was saying rather little. It was still a very large and massive interior, easily the size of a major sports arena if not more. The light could only go so far into it, but from what Dael and the others could see, the ground was soil rather than rock in composition. Somehow, despite the lack of light, a few patches and tufts of grass were still growing on it. Much of it, however, indicated the presence of long-broken pathways and great deals of debris. The reason was obvious…what looked like the ruins of a massive castle filled the entire cavern. It was impossible to tell what the structure had once been exactly. After all, it was easily over a thousand years old and nearly two thousand. However, there seemed to be ruins of aqueducts, guard towers, an outer wall, and a centralized keep, large and formidable and obviously forming the bulk of the castle. Just as Momeo had said, only "half" was there. The cavern was rather high-ceilinged…easily enough to let out echoes. However, the ruins nevertheless extended into the stalactite-covered ceiling and then vanished. Dael had a feeling there weren't too many ruins still left above ground…not being battered by these elements, but that was somewhat irrelevant now. What she could already see of the castle was massive and extensive…far larger than anything she had ever read about in history books or even in children's storybooks. It was more of a city into itself rather than simply the central point of whatever city it had once presided over. While the original moat had long since dried out, underground waterways had long since pooled around it, giving it a new moat in more or less the same position nad flowing into and out of the ruins of the castle itself at points. All in all, it was a bit incredible.

"I don't think any of the history books in Esthar know of this place…" Quaren mused aloud as he looked over it.

Dael, on hearing that, looked down to the pouch at her side. She unzipped it, exposing a cranky Carbuncle.

"What do you want? It's gotten colder! Zip that thing up!"

"I think you've slept long enough, and you can walk from here." Dael answered, even as she began to reach in to pull him out.

"You touch me, and I'll bite."

"You bite and I'll take you to get rabies shots. _Lots_ of rabies shots." Dael retorted.

Carbuncle let out a grumble, but didn't fight when the woman grabbed him by his "scruff" fur and began to pull him out to set him on the ground.

"You know this place at all?" She asked as she did so.

"Hell no." He answered as he landed on the ground, beginning to itch himself with a hind leg. "I did what all the smart espers did during the War of the Magi…ran and hid. I didn't stop to take in the local architecture."

"I'm afraid I'm not much help either." Bahamut added. He turned to fully face the structure, and examined it intently for a moment. "…There's something distinctly familiar about this place, I'll give it that. But I've seen so many things in my lifetime, castles included, I couldn't possibly place just one…especially as deteriorated as this particular castle is."

Ceja exhaled as well. "Unless there is some overt danger associated with it, it's not worth worrying ourselves about. Our goal lies within. We should go."

Dael looked to Momeo. "Is there anything else you can tell us about these ruins?"

"Not too much, kupo." Momeo answered. She turned to the structure and pointed to the top. "Up there, you get a good view of the entire ruins, kupo. That's as far as people on pilgrimages usually go. Some go up to the front gate. But no one gets any closer, kupo. That's too dangerous."

That caught everyone's attention.

"…What do you mean?" Dael asked.

"You aren't insinuating that Lord Alexander attacks anyone who gets close, are you?" Taraketh asked.

The moogle shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't thinkupo so. Long before Alexander got here, kupo, moogles used to go in, and none of them ever came out again. Neither did anyone who looked for them, kupo. We stopped going in long before he got here just in case, kupo. But the gate doors are still up, and I've gone as far as them before. Sometimes, I heard things moving on the other side. Big things that snarl and growl, kupo. Whenever they do, I can only feel bad things."

Quaren looked a bit uneasy on hearing that. "What do you mean 'feel bad things'?"

Momeo sighed. "No one ever listens to me, kupo… It gets annoying. I'm a priestess. I can tell when something evil is near, kupo. What I felt on the other side of the door only knows hate and anger, kupo. Nothing else. That's why I think it wasn't Alexander, kupo. But Alexander's got to be on the other side of that evil thing."

That wasn't the most comforting thing that Dael had heard. She looked up and to the others, and all of them looked similarly uncomfortable.

"Anyway…" Momeo went on. "Don't worry about bringing lights. Whenever a moogle gets close, the whole set of ruins starts to light up, kupo."

"Light up? Like…automatic lights?" Cid asked.

"You might say that, kupo…" Momeo grimaced. "…If you think ghost fires are 'automatic lights'."

Dael was a bit uneasy now. This place seemed different. Stepping down into the underground passage was bad enough, making it look like they had stepped into some dark underworld. But with the changes to the air, distinctly becoming something not of Gaia, as well as being in this forgotten ruin and listening to all of Momeo's dark statements…it was eroding her resolve a bit. As a result, she made a decision.

"Alright." She stated boldly enough. "Everyone strip off unnecessary gear and fully arm yourselves. We came here to get Alexander, and that's what we're going to do."

The others looked to her momentarily. Not all of them seemed entirely convinced. Quaren opened his mouth and nearly said something. However, he closed it on seeing how firm Dael was about this as she began to get herself ready. He understood, just as the others did, that spending a night here wouldn't really improve them too much. They'd have a bit more rest, but they were all ready to battle now. And tomorrow, they might lose the adrenaline they had built up during today walking here. With that in mind, everyone began to get their things ready. Dael, naturally, was done first. She still didn't have anything in the way of heavy-firepower mage bullets…so she decided to stick with her sword and her ability she had learned from Bahamut. As she adjusted herself a bit, she noticed Momeo had not moved.

She looked to her. "…Are you coming?"

Momeo blinked her small slit eyes, and instantly shook her head. "Are you crazykupo? I'm not going in there after all of those moogles disappeared who went in! Who knows what's in there, kupo?"

"Not exactly the most encouraging thing to hear…" Taraketh stated with a grimace as he threw his coat down and began to wrap kusarigama around one of his wrists. He looked to the moogle. "Can you at least watch our things until we return?"

"Oh, sure thing!" She answered. "None of the monsters ever come this far. They don't like the ruins. It scares them away somehow."

Dael suppressed a frown of her own. That wasn't very helpful either. If a starving monster was too scared to risk looking for food in there, then what were they doing?

"…You don't mind if I start back in a couple hours though, right, kupo?" The moogle suddenly asked.

The others looked to her in puzzlement. "…Start back?"

"Well…" She answered with a shrug. "If you won't be coming back…"

Everyone gave a mutual frown.

"…Let's go." Dael stated as she finished adjusting her belt, and turned to make her way toward the ruins. One by one, the others followed her. Bahamut was first, getting his own sword and buckler out, while Carbuncle ran along as well on all fours, finally sticking to the ground. Takareth, keeping his kusarigama at the ready, followed behind. Quaren flipped the safety off on his rifle and checked his side holster before running after them. Ceja, relieved to be out of the thick clothes, hefted her giant axe and went after them, with Jalab at her side with his staff at the ready. Cryder lit up a fresh cigar before placing a hand on his cutlass and following. Finally, Cid, adjusting his heavy pack, began to go after them as well.

Dael felt the air change right on the approach. It immediately seemed to grow "stiller" despite the fact that they were going into the more open area of the cave. The chill grew no worse…at least, not in any way Dael could detect…but it seemed to penetrate deeper, like it was diving into her flesh. It didn't seem to necessarily make her colder…just make her feel more vulnerable. There was something not natural here, just like the storm overhead wasn't natural either. As she grew closer, the old entryway loomed. Even after nearly two thousand years, Dael could see that the gates had been gutted by fire, leaving only a blackened frame behind. The towers that had once been at the entrance had both been destroyed and had deteriorated further since then, leaving large pieces of rubble about.

By the time Cid had crossed the threshold, Dael herself was carefully beginning to step around a "natural ford" that was where the "moat" now was. It was getting dark now. The ruins of the towers cast large shadows over the former courtyard, and she couldn't see too much farther in front of her. However, as it turned out, she didn't have to wait long. The moment Cid stepped out from between the two tower ruins…a change occurred. A sound of flames igniting went out, instantly freezing Dael and the others and making them snap around.

Braziers of iron became visible all around them as each one lit up, revealing blue spectral light, similar to Cryder's "Will O' The Wisp" technique. That immediately told Dael that the fire was supernatural and spectral in origin. At any rate, it quickly began to burn brighter, and as it did…the shadows receded and unveiled more of the old structure. More details, far more intricate and sophisticated, became clear. The ruins seemed to be much more extensive than they first looked. Dael held for a moment. She seemed to fear that ghosts would pop out of the braziers and attack them, or something else would happen. Sure enough, the air felt more "charged" with an energy she was not familiar with…but nothing more than that transpired.

After a moment, she looked to the others. They were a bit on edge themselves, but they began to calm as well. The only one who still looked a bit unnerved was Bahamut, who looked around himself at all of this.

"Is something wrong?" She asked him.

Bahamut looked about a bit more, and frowned. "…This place is definitely familiar to me, but for the life of me I can't remember where I saw it last. It was definitely somewhere of importance prior to my first death, meaning it had to have been far older even than the War of the Magi."

Dael paused for a brief moment, but then looked forward again. "…Perhaps if we got a bit further, your memory will be jogged. So long as it's nothing dangerous, I'm fine."

She began to advance again. Bahamut only paused a moment before following, and the others soon went after them as well.

The courtyard moat quickly was left behind, and they emerged into a square section of ground. Back many ages ago, it no doubt held all sorts of delights in the form of flowers and fruit trees. Now it was just a ruin, with only a few clumps of grass here and there. Mostly mud and rubble in many places, not even forming a vague outline of the pathway it had once been centuries earlier. Beyond that, at the top of a set of stone stairs made of marble and still mostly intact, in spite of all odds after so many years, was two very large wooden doors overwrought with iron. The only real explanation was that the combination of cold and dryness in the cave kept the wood from rotting. Then again…if this spectral light really did drive everything away…then perhaps that went for pests as well.

Dael ascended the stairs first, the others following behind her. The tension level was definitely rising. However, on reaching the top, the woman stopped. The others did the same. She stared at the door a moment and moistened her lips, before moving forward and leaning in close. She reached out a hand, paused a moment, but then touched the surface. It felt a bit cool, but other than that was fine. She swallowed a little, and then leaned her head forward and placed it against the door. Very slowly, she let her ear touch, and then paused and listened.

Nothing. No sounds of any kind. Not even the sound of the braziers burning.

The Esthar's Hawk waited a bit longer, just to make sure. However…nothing. No noise. No trembling and nothing "dark", as Momeo had indicated. In the end, she let out a slow exhale, and leaned off of it…a bit faster than she had leaned against it. She turned and looked to the others, who still had weapons at the ready.

"…I don't hear anything." She stated quietly.

The others were quiet for a moment. In the end, Taraketh was the one who gave a shrug. "…We came here for Alexander. We won't get him just standing about. We'll have to go in sometime."

Dael nodded, and looked back to the doors. They still looked formidable enough to stop an army. Obviously, they had been left open when the enemy breached the courtyard. Perhaps whoever was in the castle didn't want to risk destroying them when the battle reached its zenith, so there could be a last stand of sorts. At any rate, it didn't matter. She only hoped the hinges weren't rusted now. There were pull rings in either door, but it looked like teams of oxen might have originally been intended to use them. She looked to the two "strong ones" of the group soon after.

"Ceja? Jalab? Do you think you could open these?"

Both moved their weapons to one hand and stepped forward, taking either door handle. Dael stepped back and kept her hand on her sword, although she didn't draw it. Everyone else primed themselves for a fight or who knew what else. After a few more moments, both Ceja and Jalab gave sharp pulls, and the rings drew taut before both doors let out a massive whining groans, and then began to open up. Dael tensed further. If they were trying to sneak in, it was ruined now. The sound from the doors was loud enough to echo down the tunnel behind them for a half mile. Slowly, the doors parted, and Dael looked inside for whatever was on the other side.

A part of her half expected some malformed horror or abomination, but there was nothing of the sort. Nothing except a castle hallway. Rather ornate and well-done too, even more so than the Centra Ruins. There were braziers here as well, casting the same pale, ghostly light about. However…nothing else. A sharp breeze blew by them as the doors opened, yet the flames continued to burn. Dael felt like she truly was looking into another world now, especially since the interior was so much more intact that the outside that it looked almost untouched by time. However, she stayed on task. As the doors finished opening, she advanced a few steps, just enough to look in and around the hall.

Aside from seeing it branched on either side, but also had a passage going straight into the back, right for the interior and whatever lay in the darkness (which honestly could have been anything because, even with the braziers, the place seemed very pale and dim), there was nothing. The way was clear.

Dael slowly exhaled, only now realizing that she had been sweating. Wiping her brow a bit, she looked to the others and nodded. "Let's go."

The young officer soon led the way into the castle ruins. She didn't go far before her worst fears became realized. Although earlier she had managed to enter the grounds of the ruins without too much trouble, she could now distinctly feel like she had entered a tomb. This place was far cooler in a "close" sense; a clamminess or ancient stale place…like a crypt. Even the air ceased to be "neutral", instead taking on some sort of foulness to it… Dael couldn't tell why. Something just…seemed wrong. It made her slow as she entered. The others soon followed after her, one after another, and slowed as well on noticing it. The place was large and empty enough where the slightest noise was enough to send an echo throughout the chamber. Yet even the echoes seemed faint and weak…as if something was dampening them. That was impossible, however. The entire interior was nothing but stone now. There were a few clumps of rotted fabric remains to what had to have been a carpet or tapestry, but other than that, nothing. And it was more than large enough to allow an echo. It was practically a cathedral inside.

Once all were in, Dael began to advance. Much to her displeasure, she noticed that the entire set of ruins was angled just enough to make the heavy doors close behind them, which plunged them all into the darkness and silence, with nothing but the pale, dim, spectral lights to guide them. She actually tried to prop them for a moment before giving up and leading the way, her footsteps echoing loud and long. As they went forward, she couldn't help but start to feel a little foolhardy. This was crazy. There was nothing keeping those lights going except for energy…"ghost" energy, for all she knew. Magic and Guardian Forces were one thing, but she still had a hard time believing in the existence of ghosts and undead elements. However, she knew that there had been more than enough reports of such things in the "dark" and "forgotten" places in the world to cause them to not be dismissed as mere superstition, even rumor. Even if they had been, she couldn't get her mind to try and accept that there was a scientific reason for this place. She felt like she was that one group from history that literally walked into the Underworld…

They all seemed to feel less "safe" as they walked deeper into the ruins, like they were leaving the real world behind for something completely unreal and unconventional, although everything seemed fairly physical and "normal" enough at the moment. Most of the interior was gone, but the bulk of the castle seemed to be a series of long, high-arched, and magnificent halls. At one point, there had likely been dividers in the form of doors or the like blocking off each passage. However, those had long since eroded, not made of the same quality wood and metal as the front gate. Only a few rotten bolts and nails remained. Various coats of arms were mounted along the way. Some had collapsed. Others still had bits of banners. And as they went along, each passage through one of the dividers made them feel like they were crossing another point of no return.

Dael noticed that there were numerous side passages, each one quite a large hallway in its own right. However, they were also dark, and the spectral braziers barely let any light fall in them. They remained dark and opaque, almost inky and leading into oblivion, not revealing the slightest thing inside. However, Dael didn't like the looks of them as she passed. In spite of not being able to see anything, she had a feeling something bad was in those passages. Unfortunately, she soon received some confirmation.

"Move fast." Jalab stated after a time. His eyes were on one of the dark tunnels as they passed. His gaze was narrowed, and his tone was much darker than his normal cheery and enthusiastic self, and in spite of the "dampening", it echoed quite a bit. "Hallway…not good. Foul."

"I agree…" Carbuncle said with a grimace as he picked up his own pace to hurry past it. "There's something that smells really bad down there… Like a mixture of rot and…and…" He frowned again. "…And something really bad."

Ceja sniffed the air a bit, and winced a little. "…Definitely something dead, but…" She paused, and then shook her head. "…I don't know. It also smells like bad wounds…ones that are rotting. It smells like something both near death and already dead…"

Bahamut grimaced a bit at that. "…I'm getting a slight idea of what it might be, and I don't like it."

"Let's do as Jalab says and pick up the pace." Dael answered as they reached the next divider. She also wanted them to hurry up and stop talking. If something deadly was in here, then she didn't exactly want to advertise that they were here too. The echo may have been soft, but it had to be traveling through a great deal of the ruins just the same. They all quickly crossed into the next section, even as Dael tried to smell out what Ceja had picked up on. It took a few moments, but she began to get a faint whiff of her own. Unfortunately, it was indeed foul…enough to where she wrinkled her face a bit.

However, as Dael and the group crossed into the last section, something else soon gained her attention. It seemed as if they had finally crossed into the main or "royal" hall. Although there were signs of a struggle even here, there were also signs that there had been large tables set up at one point…long and far-reaching. The stone was worn where the legs once had been. Dael assumed that this was where the king, queen, and all those faithful to him once dined during grand occasions. There were also signs of damage that clearly weren't age, but rather some force of trauma, perhaps even explosive. Still, most of it had survived intact.

What definitely caught her interest was the end of the chamber. There was a raised platform in the back that had four sides, obviously where the king's throne had once been. But beyond that was a rather high-walled nave, again the size of a cathedral. The lights within the nave were different. They were a brighter color than the spectral lights, and seemed radiant and even warm. They overlooked two long objects, seeming to illuminate them with the light. Since the objects themselves were white or at least wan in coloration, they gleamed brightly in the white radiance surrounding them.

On seeing this, Bahamut began to quickly slow, this time coming to a stop. It only took a moment for Dael to notice this and stop as well, following shortly by the others. Ceja and Jalab, however, didn't focus so much on Bahamut or the group as the entryway they had just passed, specifically what was behind them in the previous corridor.

She looked to the Guardian Force, however. "…Is something wrong?"

"…I know this place." Bahamut stated quietly. "The architecture is a bit different…but the newer pieces have crumbled and revelaed the older material. I know it now… I've only been here a few times, but there is little disputing that this was the last kingdom ruled by Odin while he remained in human form."

Carbuncle blinked a few times at that. "…Odin stopped being a ruler shortly before Baron entered its Harvey Dynasty…but he continued to remain as the 'royal summon' in the following generations…right until the line ended during the War of the Magi itself. We don't know what happened to him…but Leviathan told us he found out through research that his artificial body was turned to stone, which got broken up. It became magicite after that, but…" He gave a shrug. "That vanished along with the other shards, including mine."

"Yes, but from my understanding, that was never the 'true' Odin. Just his spirit inhabiting an empty suit of armor. The real Odin's body had been preserved and buried." Bahamut responded. "And now that I am here, I'm wondering if-"

The boy was cut off, and a moment later no one thought anything about Odin.

Abruptly…a very loud bestial noise sounded from the previous chamber, echoing into the current corridor they were in.

The group was frozen only for a moment, the length of time it took Dael to realize she had never heard that sort of creature before…but that it was quite large and fearsome-sounding. Easily larger than several of them put together, and echoing regardless of the "dampening" effect. It gave the impression that the rules "didn't apply" to whatever made it. At any rate, Ceja and Jalab, who were still closest to the opening, both aimed their weapons at it and immediately tensed.

"That came from one of the side halls in the other room…" Ceja announced.

"Smell getting worse…closer…" Jalab stated.

Dael blinked. "What're you-"

She cut herself off. She was beginning to feel something…vibrations. They were slow and rhythmic, but getting closer quickly. Dael only had to pause for a moment before she realized what they were. Footsteps…large, heavy footsteps that were quickly getting nearer. She had heard this thing many times before, even if not from this particular creature in particular: a large, and probably lethal, monster.

"It's coming." Ceja stated coldly as she readied her axe to fling, and Jalab began to focus his chi. Dael herself quickly drew her sword and crossed it before her while Carbuncle quickly chanted a shield around himself and Bahamut drew his weapons. Everyone else quickly began to get their own weapons ready as well, with Cid opting for his drill over the unusual hammer he had used earlier. Meanwhile, the vibrations grew louder and stronger, indicating that whatever was making them was much larger than a "conventional" monster. Still, Dael prepared herself. From her angle, she couldn't see that well through the aperture between rooms. Most of her attention focused on Ceja and Jalab, waiting to see their reaction before responding with her own.

She soon didn't like what she saw.

For a moment, she saw some vague shape pass by the both of them, the result of perspective and profile as something came out from the black halls and entered the corridor. The stench instantly hit her own nostrils…and it was horrible. Just as Ceja had said, it seemed like something that was dead and rotting…and yet not dead at the same time. It smelled like festering and sickness. It made her turn her face and almost gag a moment. Yet what truly upset her was how Ceja and Jalab both gaped, and let their arms lower for a moment. An instant later, both began to utter prayers in their native language as they stepped backward.

Bahamut, on his part, narrowed his gaze even as his own look grew uncomfortable. "…I know that stench…and that sound…"

A roar went out again, but…something was wrong. It was loud, terrible, and ear-splitting to be sure…the voice of doom and nothing less. And yet, it also seemed to be…'incomplete'. Damaged in some way. Like trying to get sound out of a worn-out pair of bagpipes or a chord from a defective organ. Dael puzzled over this only for a moment, soon growing far more concerned with the fact that Jalab and Ceja filled with increased tension and would not attack, only staring at whatever horror was still invisible to the others as the ground began to shake and quiver, letting fragments of dust rain down from the ceiling at the broken parts of the structure.

"What is it?" Dael called out to Bahamut.

"One of my 'offspring', in a way…" The young man responded.

Before Dael could inquire further, the "creature" in question made an appearance. The aperture that it charged in through was a bit too small for it, but that didn't seem to concern it in the least. As it barreled forward, is cracked and fractured it enough to the larger half of its body through, and then paused. It immediately flooded the area with its rancid, inhuman stench, but when it opened its mouth and roared at them it became at least three times worse.

Dael's immediate reaction on seeing the thing was to classify it as a dragon. After all, it met the criterion. Large, long reptilian body with monstrous claws, a long, thick tail, a crested head with a tooth-filled maw, and large leathery wings flexed behind it. It was quite massive, easily over twenty feet long from its head to its tail, and probably longer considering that it was flexed at the moment. However, Dael soon realized something was seriously wrong. All of the scales were withered and old, having long since lost their natural pigment. A good third of its teeth were missing, leaving empty, rotten holes in its gums. The wings were tattered and worn. The claws were dirty and cracked. Dael noticed that scales were missing in large patches from many areas, but then soon saw something much more severe than that… Large sections of flesh were missing from the side of the creature as well. In fact, one of its eyeballs had seemed to have rotted and fallen out a long time ago.

Finally, it struck Dael as to what this monster was. It wasn't a dragon…but a "zombie" dragon.

Finishing its roar, the monstrosity lumbered forward and brought the rest of its rotted body into the interior of the chamber. Ceja was still a bit stunned at the sight of it, and hesitated. As for Jalab, however, he immediately made his aura flare, enveloping him in the dazzling blue light. The dragon zombie saw this, and immediately let out a twisted, deflated hiss. Dael now knew why its voice sounded so odd. Its throat was no doubt partially rotted out. It actually reared its head back. Yet as it did, it let out another snarl before whatever was left of its lungs began to inhale.

Dael realized it had to be getting ready to use a breath attack. However, monstrous and formidable as it might be, it also looked incredibly dead and worn out. Jalab seemed like he would be more than a match for it with his own aura cannon, especially since she believed she had read somewhere that a creature that was "zombified" was naturally weak against fire and holy. On that note, she prepared to see Jalab counter its attack…

However, just as a bit of its "breath" began to leak out of its jaws, showing a thick, putrid green mist, Bahamut suddenly darted forward.

"Get back!" He said in a strained, almost panicked voice. "Don't get close to it!"

Jalab cut off the attack, but still looked to Bahamut in confusion. Normally, he was very well focused, but in light of this sudden surprise, he was caught off guard for a moment. Yet the boy didn't waste any time. He soon was on Jalab and, to Dael's surprise, seized him by his torso sash and began to yank him back with surprising force. Jalab was not a weakling by any means, and was probably the largest of them physically. Hence, it surprised Dael a bit when he yanked him away. It required quite a bit of strength on the boy's part, but apparently he was straining enough to make it so. A moment later, however, the monster snapped its head forward and vented its breath.

It wasn't fire, ice, or even acid, as Dael had heard rumored some dragons of old were capable of breathing. Rather…it was more of the thick, greenish mist, almost as condensed and foul-looking as rotted pea soup. It spilled over what it landed on, seeming to pour off of it like fluid. It narrowly missed tagging Jalab and Bahamut, who were yanked away just in time, but it quickly swept its head around and fired the breath at Ceja. Luckily, she had heard Bahamut's warning and quickly leapt back to avoid the foul mist from hitting her. In response, she flung her axe at it in another cutter motion. However, her blow wasn't focused, and not as strong or fast as normal. What more, in spite of the fact that the opponent was quite dead and rotted, it immediately moved its head down and to the side, cutting off its breath to avoid it. The edge still sliced through a bit of scales and flesh, but to no effect. The creature had to be vonified. It roared again soon afterward, and soon began to yank the entirety of its bulk into the room.

Bahamut released Jalab, but quickly backpedaled. He turned to Jalab and motioned for him to keep moving back as well. "Everyone stay clear of its breath! Don't let it touch you!"

"…Oh Hell…" Carbuncle groaned on hearing this. "It's not _that_ kind of breath, is it?"

"What are you two talking about?" Dael asked even as Quaren raised his rifle and began to fire at the monster, aiming for its one good eye to try and harass it. It seemed to work, but it only slowed it slightly.

"That dragon's body is cursed, and it carries the curse in its breath!" Bahamut shouted back. "If it touches you, you'll turn into a zombie as well!"

"What the Hell?!" Cryder retorted. "Are you serious, mate?!"

There was little time to argue, as the zombie dragon charged forward with all the speed of its living counterpart for the nearest target, who was still Jalab. He had moved back only slightly, but in the end decided to stand his ground. He had started to recharge his lost energy as the monster neared…only for it to suddenly apply more speed and drive its head for him. He quickly shifted his staff out and twirled it in order to block…but the blow still jarred him painfully and send him recoiling ten feet, his feet digging into the remains of the floor. It then pitched up, flexed the remains of its wings, and began to flap them with such furious speed and power that they could break bones if they connected with a human body. The dust it flicked up stung both Quaren in the eyes and made him fall back, as well as deflected the returning axe to Ceja, causing it to fall to the side. Everyone else was blown back. Jalab somehow withstood it, and once again tried to use his power, only to have the monster snap its head forward and exhale more of its cursed breath. This time, he quickly dodged to the side, as did Bahamut, Cid, and Dael behind him.

Yet as they fled, Taraketh stepped forward and quickly swung his hammer on his kusarigama overhead. Since slicing wouldn't work, he instead let it fly full power against the side of its skull, hoping to damage it enough to make it retreat or to cripple it. The blow hit with sufficient force to fracture the ancient bones of the monster, but other than snap its head briefly to one side, he failed to do more than stun it briefly. Suddenly, it swung around and lashed its tail out for Taraketh. Although the High Child went back, it had enough power to crack the stone where he stood. He quickly whipped his weapon back to try and counterattack, but the zombie dragon was faster and shot its tail upward, catching the chain and quickly yanking backward. Taraketh gave a cry as his weapon was ripped clean out of his hands, and with another thrash it flung the weapon behind it as its tail returned to its previous position.

The young man was stunned, and quickly he tried to use a spell instead, but the zombie dragon was already getting ready to breathe again. Before it could, however, Ceja, who had reclaimed her axe, ran for it. The abomination was still quicker though, despite being undead. As she drew into striking range for its main body, it suddenly aborted its attack, snapped its head down, and clamped its jaws on her axe. Ceja was surprised, but, in spite of having a rotten mouth, the zombie dragon had enough power to hold on tight and easily rip the weapon out of her grip. The force was so strong, she cried out in agony. Ceja's grip was tighter than iron. The monster couldn't have gotten the weapon away from her…unless it broke or sprained something. Sure enough, she recoiled and grasped her hands as the zombie dragon snapped its neck around and flung the axe to one side with such force it embedded in the stone wall and stayed there.

The monster quickly snapped its head around and soon, before either Ceja or Taraketh could react, belched more foul mist once again, meaning to get them both before they could fight back. Luckily, Cryder quickly went into their midst and called up his wind slash technique just in time. The blades themselves only left dull, meaningless lacerations against the monster…but the attack served to blow the deadly cursed miasma away for a few moments. Dael quickly advanced up to the others as well. She quickly narrowed her eyes and began to focus, looking for an opportunity to call up on her power and kill this monster with one blow…

She was soon shocked at what she saw. The cursed monster before her was completely dead, void of any life from the world around it. It had a "dampening" effect about it to the Planet's own flow of energy. There was no connection to find. Her power was useless.

Furthermore, she soon regretted charging forward as the monster, seeing its attack wasn't working, cut off its breath and stomped forward, swinging its head down and around. Before either Ceja or Dael could react, both of them were caught by the move and ripped off of their feet, sent flying into the air and cast violently backward before being slammed back down against the ground hard. The zombie dragon continued to barrel forward, lashing its clawed forelimbs out for Cryder next. He quickly managed to draw his sword part of the way to deflect it before it hit, but he was still flung away as as result by the sheer power, as well as made solid contact with the physical power of the hit. It swung out another claw for Bahamut. He too managed to raise his shield up to block, but, in spite of having rotten muscles, the zombie dragon still struck with enough power to leave a scratch in his thick shield and knock him downward, almost slamming the boy to the ground.

The monster reared up to fire again, now that it had a fresh set of victims. To Dael's horror, she realized she was near the path of it this time. She was a bit sore, but nevertheless able to get to her feet, however much that might have mattered considering how fast her opponent was. However, as she rose, she heard a stream of arcane language. Normally, Taraketh was the one who would be chanting…but this time, the words sounded confused and uncertain. Nevertheless, in response, a tiny fireball suddenly shot through the air, barely enough for a basic Fire attack, and struck the monster right in its remaining eye.

The effect was instant. The fire quickly spread around the dried, decaying flesh, until half of its face was engulfed, followed by half of its head. The eye itself was burned right out and, despite apparently being immune to pain, the monster bellowed and began to thrash about madly. This confirmed to Dael what she had heard before…that these things were indeed weak against fire and holy energy. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who realized that. As the others struggled to regroup. Jalab advanced again. He looked a bit sore, but he quickly summoned his power again, once more igniting in a bright aura. As the zombie dragon's flames covered its entire skull, it pitched around just in time to have Jalab blast it with a potent beam from his aura cannon in the side of its body. It seemed to give a spectral scream that transcended both the physical world as well as an alternate plane of existence, for the beam not only struck it with such power that it was ripped backward and flung against the nearest wall, but it blasted right through it, and its body seemed to disintegrate around the blast.

Dael, by now, was back on her feet and sword at the ready, no matter how useless it might have been. The others were up and regrouped again, although Ceja was keeping an eye on the monster and not going for her axe yet. As for Taraketh, he too had no weapon, and began to try and go for his, which was now near the aperture. As for the zombie dragon, as the attack cut off, it disintegrated so much it fell into two pieces. The lower half instantly began to turn to dust, but the upper half writhed slowly, groaning and thrashing about. Jalab's aura dimmed, but he looked ready to fire again…

Only to be interrupted, along with the rest of them, by Cid. "Look out! Behind us!"

Dael snapped around, and was just in time to recoil in shock as a second zombie dragon, this one with wings and face intact enough to fly, suddenly shot into the room from one of the halls in their current corridor. It immediately went for the nearest person, which happened to be Cid. He had shouted the warning and quickly gunned up his drill, but it didn't stop the monster from diving down on him, claws outstretched. He gave a yell as he fell backward and pointed the drill straight up. A moment later, the monster slammed itself onto it…but was able to get no closer. The drill pierced its breastbone and didn't immediately go through, keeping it from closing the fatal distance. That didn't stop it from trying, however. Snapping its jaws viciously at Cid again and again, it struggled to push itself hard enough for the drill to go all the way through so it could smash the engineer flat, and all Cid could do was stare at it in panic, daring not letting go of the drill as he struggled to keep it up.

Taraketh had recovered enough by now, however, to forget his weapon for the moment and instead put his hands together and chant. As the zombie dragon attacking Cid seemed to forget about biting him and prepared its cursed breath, he faced his hands forward and erupted in a green aura. Moments later, a wall of intense flame, with smaller spurts circling about within it, roared at the zombie dragon. Unfortunately, he had to aim high. He couldn't risk singing Cid in the process. Still, the flames raked over its own extended wings, and in moments both were fully ablaze.

The result was enough to get the monster to rear up and ease off of Cid, but by now the drill was deep enough into it that it yanked that away along with it, right out of Cid's hands. It even pulled out the power cord, leaving it a dead item. Cryder quickly jumped in by using his technique again, this time making a Will O' The Wisp pop up in the abomination's face. It was instantly engulfed in blue flames. Unfortunately, the zombie dragon merely snorted and twisted its head aside, and with a single snap of its jaws…made the flames dissipate. It wasn't true fire, but spectral, much like the creature itself. Therefore, it left no effect, and soon the monster, the fire spreading down to its back, began to barrel forward.

Luckily, it was stopped a moment later when Carbuncle decided to step in. His barriers would do little against its cursed breath, but he had more than one trick. Quickly running over to a broken stone on the ground, he seized it and teleported…reappearing with the stone above the head of the zombie dragon, right in its charging path. He quickly teleported away again, leaving the stone to drop down on top of it with a sickening crack. It's stomping was cut off as its head was slammed into the ground, stunning it for a moment. Dael realized this was their chance to move in. She quickly brought up her sword and moved to charge…

But was soon knocked aside by a rushing Bahamut, who used his shield to collide with her and take them both down to the ground. She snapped to him in confusion as they both collided against the stone floor just for a moment, before she saw the reason. More sickening green mist billowed past where she had been standing. The source was the severed torso of the first zombie dragon. Even missing half of its body, it had recovered enough to drag itself upward and fire its breath again, despite having no eyes and a half-burned head.

Seeing their first opponent wasn't down yet, Ceja took off to try and reclaim her axe. The monster snapped for her as she dashed past, but Jalab darted forward and greeted it with a blow to the head from his staff that knocked out half of its remaining teeth. The zombie dragon instantly snapped to him, but he greeted it with more blows, bashing its head again and again, knocking out scales and crumpling bone. In spite of this, the monster continued to drag itself forward on its remaining limbs and snap out for him repeatedly, trying to get back. As for the second monster, Quaren tried to counter it with more fire. But his spells were weak and he quickly exhausted himself, meaning the only thing he managed to do was engulf it mostly in flames by the time it rose again. Although the fire was definitely hurting it, this corpse was "fresher" than the first, and the damage only turned it into a rage-filled, deadly, flaming weapon. If that wasn't enough, it spewed its breath at Quaren again, and Cryder had to cut off more geomancy to tackle him and fling him to one side, narrowly missing touching it.

As Ceja got to the wall and quickly leapt up along it, like a strange monkey, to get to her axe and start trying to pull it out, Dael rolled back to her feet along with Bahamut. As the first zombie dragon snapped out for Jalab again, this time managing to seize his staff in its jaws, the two began to engage in a terrific pulling match. But with no eyes, it never saw the two other warriors coming. Bahamut quickly lunged at it and leapt in the air, while Dael dropped to the ground and slid. One went over its head while the other went beneath it, and both blades flashed out, neatly cutting through its ancient neck both above and below. It let out an aborted gasp and released the staff as its severed head fell to the ground. The rest of it quickly began to disintegrate as the previous half had. Even reduced to only a smoldering head, it struggled to keep moving…but didn't get the chance. Jalab swirled his freed staff over his head for a moment before driving it down hard on the skull, this time puncturing it and smashing the remains of the brain beneath. The monster instantly went flaccid and dead once again, and what was left of its skull began to rot away into nothing as well.

The other one, however, was both still using its cursed breath as well as represented a large, flaming monstrosity. It began to barrel toward Cryder and Quaren, looking to either burn them if not zombify them. However, before the mist could hit them, Carbuncle again blinked into existence, seized them both with two different paws, and teleported a short distance away. Still, the enraged flaming zombie dragon showed off its speed and power as it snapped up and around and swung its tail out at him as soon as he landed. The small Guardian Force looked shocked that it was attacking so quickly, and soon leapt into the air to try and dodge it…only for the monster to change course at the last second and smash his flaming tail upward into him. Dael was just in time to gape in horror as she saw the Guardian Force fly across the room and ricochet off a wall before slamming into the ground.

The commander nearly called out his name, shocked and wondering if that monster had just broken half of the bones in his body, but she had other concerns. The monster was preparing to flick its tail at Cryder and Quaren now that their defender was out of the way, and she knew they wouldn't do much better than him. However, at that moment, Ceja had managed to yank her axe free with one mighty tug. Even as she was falling to the ground, she snapped her body around and flung it again, this time at the monster. As its tail swung around, the spinning blade made contact and severed it neatly from the rest of its body. The creature bellowed in rage, but everyone else soon had to scramble as the flaming appendage landed in their midst from the force of inertia, continuing to burn for a few moments as it distintigrated. The spinning axe began to come back again, but it only seemed to buy a few more moments of life. As Cryder struggled to launch another attack and Quaren tried to scramble out of the way, it advanced to stomp on them again…

And that's when an unlikely combatant came forward.

Suddenly, Cid managed to half-leap, half-stumble in front of the flaming monstrosity. Although he wobbled a bit, he managed to stand his ground. The rest of his pack had been tossed aside. Instead, he was now standing there only wielding the large, "cartoon" hammer. Dael blinked for a moment. What did he plan to do against the towering horror with just that thing? She didn't know, but the zombie dragon only saw it as a new target to kill. Bellowing in rage, more thick miasma oozing from its mouth, it lunged at Cid with the intention of rending him to pieces. Yet as it advanced, Cid reared back with all of the enhanced strength that he could muster, and then swung his hammer around and forward right for the abomination.

Dael was just able to catch this due to her enhanced senses…but something electric and gleaming began to emit from within the mechanical head of the large hammer as Cid drove it forward. The instant it began to make contact with the flaming husk, the glow instantly built up, and Dael heard a sound that was like a nuclear particle accelerator coming online…and then ignite.

To the shock of everyone, Dael included, the head of the hammer gleamed with intense, burning light and buried itself so deep, hard, and fast into the torso of the zombie dragon…that it instantly was _obliterated into thousands of pieces._ Every part of its body, from the point of contact to the tips of its wings and snout, was shattered into a tiny gleaming, burning piece that flew everywhere like dust in a hurricane. The others tried to shield themselves, but were still stung as tiny, burning fragments slapped them and the rest of the walls of the chamber. They probably would have seriously burned them if they weren't so tiny and quickly roasted away into nothing. Instead, they only received a brief "smarting" of pain, like from a crackling ember on a campfire. Besides, Dael wasn't really focused on that. She was still staring at what had just happened.

There wasn't anything left of the second zombie dragon other than some fading smoke. As the others rose and stared blankly at Cid, he looked just as stunned as the rest of them, still holding his hammer, not gleaming anymore, but smoking quite a bit, in the extended position. After a second or two, however, he lowered his hammer and let out an exhale, wiping his brow as he let the smoldering head hit the ground. That seemed to snap everyone out of it.

Dael blinked a few times, but then turned away from Cid and began to rush over to Carbuncle. Ceja barely reacted in time to reclaim her axe. As for everyone else, they continued to stare at Cid. Finally, Taraketh spoke up.

"What on Gaia was that?" He stated in disbelief.

Cid pressed a button on his weapon, and it suddenly split open, revealing something melted and eroded, like some sort of nuclear core, which seemed to be the source of the smoke. He let it fall to the ground…where it immediately began to melt through the stone floor through its sheer heat. He looked to the others.

"That was my 'Atomic Hammer'. New weapon I've been working on. Actually exhausts a tiny fission core all at once. I never thought we needed it until I saw Tiamat a week ago. I thought everyone else was tough enough. But now…" He exhaled. "Anyway, it's got one problem. I can only use it once…and that one shot cost me about 10,000,000 gil…"

Dael, meanwhile, finally spotted Carbuncle. Even now, his green fur seemed to have an unnatural sheen and glow to it that made it stand out. She hoped that was a good sign, for, at the moment, he looked like he was in a crumpled pile where he landed. She quickly reached him and bent down to his side…but honestly didn't want to risk moving him.

"Carbuncle? Can you hear me?"

The Guardian Force was silent for only a moment, but then let out a groan. "…On second thought, you humans can go ahead and get yourself killed…" He grumbled. "Leave me out of it…"

Dael exhaled a bit. At least he was conscious. "Is anything broken? Can you move?"

"Yeah, yeah…give me a second…" He grumbled as he began to twitch and flex. "Damn good thing I never try anything that crazy without a barrier intact. He would have turned me into green graffiti if I hadn't…ugh…"

"Well, at least you're alright."

"The Hell I am!" Carbuncle snapped back as his eyes suddenly shot open and he looked to her with a glare. "You try getting turned into a baseball by something a hundred times the size of you! I won't be able to lie down for a week!"

"…You both can complain and argue later." Bahamut's voice suddenly stated rather coldly and quietly. "This is far from over."

Dael looked up and over to him, and saw that the young man was already aiming his sword and shield deeper into the chamber. They others had also turned to look, and were beginning to ready for battle while looking rather nervous at the same time. Cid quickly retreated and tried to fish around in his pocket for another fission core. As for the others, Taraketh ran for his kusarigama while Ceja and Jalab both nervously moved to the front. Quaren and Cryder both stayed behind, neither looking that good as Quaren reloaded. Dael herself looked out, and soon got to her own feet and at the ready…even as considerable fear and anxiety sank into her heart.

Two more zombie dragons had popped out of two more corridors and had attached themselves to the walls, slowly walking along them, growling and snarling at the group. If that wasn't enough, two other ones had emerged from an additional two halls and stayed on the ground, flicking their tails about as they advanced. All were in various stages of decay, but each one looked just as dangerous as the first two that had been destroyed. They advanced slowly, but considering their size, it wasn't taking them long at all to approach the group.

Dael went for her Mage Gun to try and load another mostly-useless shell. Better than trying to get close enough to fight. Carbuncle was still struggling to rise, and she needed to guard him. However, she realized they were in trouble. She had no idea how many of these things were here, but it seemed likely at this point that the ruins could be overrun with them. She didn't think they could dodge four jets of cursed miasma at once… But even if they could, and they managed to defeat these four, what if more were already on their way? What if more would be alerted by their fighting?

The zombie dragons were growing close now. Their breath didn't seem to have much of a range, but it wouldn't matter soon. The way they were approaching, they framed the entire corridor, keeping anyone from getting past them. It wasn't much of a problem in and of itself, however. There was nothing ahead of them except the…

Nave?

Dael suddenly noticed something about the nave. The radiant light inside it was building. It definitely hadn't been that bright a moment ago. Now, the light was so dazzling that the two white blocks were vanishing inside it. Yet that was rather minor a moment later. The walls around the nave…at least, the "walls" where there would be any if the nave were enclosed as opposed to their own room, suddenly seemed to extend. But it wasn't something natural or mechanical. Rather…it seemed to be piecemeal, like seconds of stone block rising out from the seams in the walls and slowly extending around a bit at a time until they formed a solid wall. They continued to extend for a moment until other bits of stone rose from the ground, forming the normal supports that they would encompass. All the while, the light continued to glow more and more, becoming radiant and glorious even as it was covered by the emerging wall.

Eventually, the light grew so bright it became too much even for the zombie dragons to ignore. They froze and snapped back to it…and instantly started to hiss angrily at it. Dael realized it had to be holy in nature. Yet as the wall completed, now forming an enclosed, circular nave…Dael saw that windows were left behind, and a "tiered" structure had been made to it, almost looking like a small tower in itself. It continued to reshape until it shifted about to form not just a tower, but what looked almost like a colossal knight's helmet with a sheath. The windows decreased in size until only two opening were left, almost like eye slits, radiating the white light. The zombie dragons continued to hiss at it, and finally spun completely around to face it. But the others didn't seize the opportunity. They only stared, even as what sounded like distant chimes or fair ringing began to echo through the air…

Then, something new happened. The helmet split, the sheath moving off partially…and exposing, for a brief moment, not the interior of the nave at all, but what looked like a set of old mechanical workings and just the hint of a sapphire. Dael didn't really have time to focus on that…for suddenly an intense, focused, burning beam of holy light erupted from it and struck the nearest zombie dragon. It barely had time to rear back and open its mouth before its entire body was enveloped in holy fire, bursting out with all of the noise of an inferno. Unlike normal fire, this didn't just damage it. It moments…its body had evaporated into nothingness, annihilated by the beam.

Dael and the others were shocked. They stared, almost immobilized, at that gesture of power.

Its partner roared and charged forward afterward. The holy laser that had killed the first didn't even need to reposition itself. It simply ignited in a new direction and destroyed the second one as easily as its predecessor. The remaining two went to work. One went for the ceiling, looking to try and get enough height to use its barely functional wings. The other one scurried for the nearest tunnel, actually retreating. Yet the laser cut off and then fired again, this time shooting two beams at once. The first was destroyed as it struggled to take off, and the other was annihilated just as it reached the tunnel.

The lasers died, and the sheath closed again. All in all, destroying the four zombie dragons had taken less than ten seconds. The ringing was still in the air, and the light from the eyes of the helmet was enough to fill the entire corridor with radiance. However, nothing else happened. Dael remained frozen, looking at how massive the helmet was, and how powerful it had been. She recalled seeing pictures of old Guardian Forces…even photographs from when they had made their last major appearance. Soon, there was little doubt in her mind of what she was looking at.

_Alexander._

"…It seems we found our intended target." Bahamut stated quietly after a moment. Even he seemed to lack his usual boldness. "…Even unable to sense power in this body, I can tell how easy it would have been for him to destroy Wyvern…"

"I'm…I'm…not so sure." Taraketh added quietly, but only after a moment. His anxiety was still clearly high. All of theirs was. If that thing decided to use the laser on them… Suddenly, Dael began to realize just how insane it would be to try and fight this thing in a trial. It could destroy them all before they ever got in striking range. "I mean…if he was Alexander…why is he surrounded by these cursed creatures?"

"I don't know…but I'm not in the mood to make it upset trying to find out." Quaren interjected quietly. "Dael, I'm starting to believe Momeo. I don't think even Raven would have a chance of getting Alexander's power after what we just saw. Perhaps we should just leave now…"

**"Come forward."**

All talk was immediately cut off as everyone went as still as a statue. Most of them hadn't been expecting to ever actually "hear" anything from Alexander. At any rate, the voice that went out not only reverberated through the entire set of ruins…but seemed to echo within the depths of their very souls, as if their spirits trembled from the words. No one dared say anything else. No one even felt like moving after that. They simply stood there and looked to the helmet. Dael tried to understand what had just happened. For the life of her, she couldn't decide whether she had really heard that voice or whether she had merely felt it…and it was impossible to tell what the nature of the individual was that had said the words either.

However, Bahamut began to step forward after a moment. After all, that's what Alexander had said. Dael paused only an instant, before she did the same. She made sure to keep her weapon lowered. At this point, she felt much as Quaren did and didn't want to do anything that would indicate she was interested in challenging it…not until she knew more. The others hesitated a bit longer, but then began to follow both of them as they advanced. The footsteps again seemed dampened, but, in spite of the ringing, they had all gone so quiet they seemed to echo more loudly than ever. Dael herself gradually moved ahead of Bahamut, but stopped halfway up to Alexander's "head". She honestly didn't want to get any closer…especially feeling the power radiating off of him. She would realize it later, but this power was on par with that of the upper Sorceresses that she was feeling. It was only because his own aura radiated pure "goodness" that she even felt safe enough to get this close. As it was, she had a hard time keeping her knees from knocking.

As the others slowly came up behind her, she swallowed. She wasn't sure where to go from here. The head remained silent. In the end, she decided to speak first.

"Are you…Alexander?"

**"I am."** The voice responded…once again silencing them all for a moment, from feeling the very voice echoing within them.

Dael paused, remaining silent for a moment longer. _Don't just stand there like an idiot…say something…_

**"Your fear is unnecessary, and unjustified." **Alexander finally said, breaking the silence. **"I do not harm innocent creatures."**

Dael paused again momentarily. She still tried to say something. However…the voice had a calming effect. Already, she was much better than she was moments earlier.

"…If you're Alexander, how come those things are around you?" She asked. "Zombies are not terribly 'holy', from what I know…"

**"They are what results both from this place and my presence here."** Alexander responded. **"Many innocent lives were lost in this place. Many individuals died unjustly as a result of the War of the Magi. Many anguished souls dwelt here, not the least of which was the Queen of this castle, who longed to be with Odin despite being human. Their rage and hatred of their fate takes many forms and brings back many beyond death, including the fallen dragons who were slain in the war. They both fear me as well as cling to me, for my radiant light and spirit of justice is what they crave more than anything in spite of what they fear. Destroying them is useless, for more are drawn here and to me. All the anguished lost souls seek my light as a substitute for the 'true' light that awaits those after death."**

Dael didn't really have too much of an answer for that. However, she exhaled, and then looked to Taraketh with a shrug. "That answers your question."

Taraketh merely paled for a moment, and then dropped into a kneel.

Cryder, picking this up, gave a grimace and rolled his eyes. "Not this again…" He grumbled. "Sure, I think this guy would bring me to my knees too, but still, I'm not about to…"

He cut himself off, seeing that both Cid and Jalab were doing much the same. He merely sighed in response.

Dael herself was rather humbled by the mere presence of this thing, but she still drop into a kneel. She had seen a lot by now, and she knew enough to know that the Guardian Forces really didn't care for that sort of thing. Still, the fact that she was in the presence of this awesome source of power had left her rather nervous and uneasy, and she didn't want to immediately challenge it. However, Bahamut was the one who spoke up next.

"Excuse me…" He stated, stepping forward a bit "bolder" than the others. "I…just heard what you said, about Odin. Does that mean this castle has its origins in Baronian antiquity? That this ruin is the final resting place of Odin's remains?"

**"Indeed." **The voice responded. **"The first king of the Harvey Dynasty discovered his remains had been walled up inside a forgotten wing of the castle when he was murdered in human form. They were preserved according to the methods of the time and entombed in the royal crypt. When the War of the Magi began, and the latter rulers discovered that it was the body of Odin, they were relocated inside the castle itself to avoid their destruction, and also to act as a source of inspiriation and courage for the survivors."**

Bahamut gave pause there. He seemed to let this sink in for a moment. Carbuncle, however, now perked his head up a bit as he rolled onto all fours, and tried asking something himself.

"Alright, but…what's in the other coffin? That chick you were talking about?"

**"If you are referring to the final Queen, no. She believed Odin's armored body to be the true one. When it was petrified, she allowed the culprit to petrify her as well so that they would be united in their method of death. The other individual entombed here is Gilgamesh."**

Bahamut reacted even more to hearing that, showing even more genuine surprise. Carbuncle himself looked a bit taken aback. Dael realized this was something significant to espers on hearing that.

"…Gilgamesh? His first son?"

**"Toward the end of his life, Gilgamesh recovered greatly from the madness that befell him due to Hades."** Alexander continued. **"Although, due to his long life, he was never quite the same, he attempted to redeem himself. However, he too fell in battle as so many other espers did. Like his father, he attempted to take human form so he could be acknowledged as a great warrior, and perished trying to reclaim the Excalibur from one of the Warring Triad. His body was recovered and similarly preserved, and placed alongside his father. Although they were at odds in life and forced to be parted by fate, those that knew them wished for them to be together in death."**

Bahamut paused on hearing this. His head bowed a little, and he exhaled. Dael and the others were quiet for a moment in response, but the Esthar's Hawk had to admit she honestly didn't know what this was about. Even though Guardian Forces were accepted as real, the fact of the matter was that she only knew bits and pieces about their history. She recalled reading about Odin, but she didn't think she had ever heard anything about a 'Gilgamesh'. At any rate, it seemed to trouble the boy only for a few moments. In the end, he exhaled.

"…No sense growing emotional about it now. There are far too many of our kind that died with regrets already. One more won't make much of a difference."

There was a brief moment of silence in the chamber, before the voice of Alexander resonated again.

**"…Bahamut, I presume?"**

The boy looked up, as did the others, and focused on the helmet again. After a moment, the Guardian Force nodded. "Yes. Do you have the power to detect my true identity as well?"

**"I do not."** Alexander responded. **"Even with the positive memories of thousands of generations, I cannot place you directly. However, my power enables me to see into the true hearts of those before me. I can see that you believe yourself to be Bahamut, and there is no lie, either in your mind, heart, or spirit, to that claim. Therefore, you must be him."**

Bahamut formed a slight grimace in response. "…To be honest, I was hoping for a bit more direct than that. I know Leviathan made you, but I feel you might be wiser or at least more knowledgeable than him in some matters. Leviathan told me that my spirit had been 'fragmented', which is why I couldn't fully be reborn. Do you have any idea how I can recover the rest of my essence?"

**"Unfortunately, I do not."** Alexander responded. **"Even if my ability to sense energy signatures over long distances was not being hampered by the current change in events within the world, I could not trace spiritual amounts that are so small."**

This, however, made everyone give pause.

"Um, Lord Alexander…" Taraketh spoke up, though he didn't raise his head much. "What do you mean by 'current change'? The environmental changes being brought on by what Lord Leviathan called Nyx Gaia?"

**"Would that it was something so simple."** Alexander answered. **"I'm afraid this is related, but much worse."**

This struck a cord within everyone, and their initial fear of Alexander began to fade in favor of listening more intently.

**"This world is indeed growing more chaotic. I see that Leviathan already told you of what is coming; how the 'parallel' version of Gaia is nearing. I myself knew nothing of this until you arrived. But my sensing of Leviathan's spirit attached to yours enabled me to make contact with him and, as a result, I have drawn on the pool of my own accumulated knowledge. Even so, Leviathan is wise enough to where even I possess only marginally more wisdom than he. For the most part, I know little more than he does, but there is one thing I do know.**

** "While it is true that what he calls 'Nyx Gaia' reuniting with Gaia would enable the Void to again enter our plain of reality and consume the united world, he neglected to determine that the Void is far more sentient than he gives it credit for. It is beginning to make attempts to cause this outcome."**

This caused several surprised looks among the group, including Bahamut and Carbuncle.

"But…but I thought the Void was just chaos? Disorder?" Cid commented. "Nothing more than 'heat energy' collected from all the reactions in the universe."

**"And the greatest source of disorder adjacent to this world is not random reactions or natural processes, not even from solar reactions, but through conscious will." **Alexander responded. **"Humans and many other forms of life may be considered to be 'dust' compared to the vastness of the cosmos, but their thoughts of their own importance and power are not entirely the result of human ego, but have some basis in fact. Sentience is a great force within this universe. It allows the influence of many other things, even great and powerful ones, vast and limitless, that would seem to be far more than one individual. Already, that is clear on Gaia from manipulation of the environment to build cities, industry, and transportation. Yet the human heart, the human will, is infinitely stronger than that. It is a rare force that can actually transcend the laws of nature itself. Unfortunately, this power can be bent toward evil and disorder, just as all other things."**

The voice quieted some, the light seeming to dim slightly.

**"Just as the human will can create, it can also destroy. And it produces a disorder beyond the natural order, beyond the cycle of life and death. It produces true creation, the desire to build more outside of the natural order, but also true destruction, the desire to destroy more outside of the natural order. It produces more disorder, and in a far 'purer' form, Worse yet…it is born out of conscious will, and carries that nature onto whatever accepts it…even the Void itself.**

** "Leviathan believes that the Void itself feeds off of sentience like a manner of parasite, and assimilates such qualities into itself. He would be correct. However, he underplays its importance. The true reason the Void is able to emerge into our reality is not only because of excessive disorder in and of itself, but disorder brought about as a result of conscious, deliberate action. This manner of disorder is fully absorbed, like pure mother's milk to a newborn. And just like milk, it both nourishes the Void as well as helps it to 'develop'. It becomes consciousness from chaos…order from nothingness…enough to where the Void actually ceases to operate according to chaos and actually has its own will and desire."**

The group froze on hearing that for a moment. Dael blinked a few times.

"…Are you telling us that the Void isn't just chaos or even some 'mindless beast' that only wants to bring more disorder…it's actually _trying_ to come into this dimension?"

**"Do not be surprised." **Alexander continued in his resonating voice. **"Sentience is more than an 'accident' or 'mistake' that happens to a select few creatures. It is the ultimate goal of all things that possess a spirit. While the Void may not possess a true spirit, it has thousands upon thousands of remains of the anguish and passion of living spirits from throughout the ages. Enough to where even it can occasionally become a 'life in itself'. This is not the first time it has tried to make its 'will' known. Several times in history, after accumulating enough power, it only needed the will of a powerful individual inclined toward chaos to serve as the 'final step' to taking on a consciousness of its own and manifesting itself as an aspect or 'herald' of the remaining Void."**

Cryder, scratching his beard a bit at this, suddenly spoke up. "You know…I noticed somethin' about all those old myths and fairy tales granny used to tell me when I was a lad… Seems whatever bad guy wanted power that brought out these big evil nasties would always do it after they got whacked, like their death somehow 'broke the seal' or 'opened the door' or 'bought the farm' or whatever…"

"And Garland was necessary to evoke Chaos…" Bahamut mused. "The Oblivion Stone wasn't enough on it's own…"

"So, if I understand correctly…" Dael concluded, looking back to Alexander. "The Void has found someone to 'latch onto' to try and give it enough 'wits' to actually do this?"

**"The Void lacked the sentience for such a complex task at first." **Alexander responded. **"Leviathan was incorrect. The chief task that humans have had in the past that has halted the Void was destroying the part of it that fed off of the sentient creature that evoked it. Even destroying only that part, at least until now, has been enough to reduce the Void to a state of 'mindlessness' again, so that it once again was unable to enter our world. However, it has gained some 'permanent' sentience each time… That, however, is irrelevant at the moment. The point being is that the Void needed someone who wanted to bring it into our world to reach its current state."**

"Um, sir…?" Quaren asked nervously, addressing the giant helmet for the first time. "What are you saying? Leviathan told us that a world war was what was bringing the Void back…"

**"Unfortunately, that was Leviathan's greatest error." **The helmet responded. **"This is not random at all. Although the world war is the greatest source of disorder, there is an individual somewhere on Gaia who consciously wishes the Void to open on Gaia."**

Now everyone really did react in surprise. Dael's eyes widened a bit. Until now, she had assumed if there was anything 'consciously' trying to bring the Void into the world, it was a side effect of this world war. Perhaps Rozan Heirarch wanted more death and destruction at worst, but this was something completely different. This sounded like something from the older myths…some malevolent individual trying to seize power for himself or herself. Granted, Dael knew those weren't myths at all but likely closely based in reality…but she had to be honest. She was a practical woman living in the modern world. She didn't put much stock in those things, thinking of them as remote or unreal. As a result, even now, with it staring her in the face, she had a hard time believing it.

"Are…are you sure?"

**"There is no mistake. Thousands of spirits that contributed their positive feelings to my creation recall such things from the past. The signs are all happening once again. There is an individual on this world who is not only aware of the Void's existence, but seeks its power just like the ancient foes of old. And just like them, they do not care if they sacrifice this world to obtain it. It could not be otherwise. The Void only resonates with such hearts, ones that have surrendered to chaos."**

"But…if that's true…" Quaren spoke up again. "Then who is it? Where are they?"

**"Alas, I do not know." **Alexander responded. **"For the same reason I lack the power to find Bahamut's remnants, I so lack the power to identify the individual from this distance. Only if I was within a distance of a mile would I be able to detect the individual."**

Dael exhaled loudly at this, and looked to the others. On seeing her turn their gaze to her, they too turned and looked as well. None of them looked too comfortable at this. Bahamut, on his part, looked incredibly grim.

"…In the past, the level of power the Void displayed was enough to shake the very foundations of the Planet to its core and alter space and time itself." He stated grimly. "All that from working with a single individual to make its will known. It might not be long before we wish monster population explosions and weather phenomena were the most of our problems…"

"I'll be honest…" Quaren spoke up after a moment, scratching the back of his head. "What I care about more than anything right now is helping Esthar and ending the world war. That's the big threat to me. But…" He inhaled. "I don't think we can afford to ignore this either. We ignored too much for too long, and now look at how strong Sybenia became."

"But who could this individual even be?" Taraketh suggested.

"Someone wise." Jalab stated. "Someone who know things. Many things. Old things."

"I think what our monk mate is trying to say is that this wouldn't be some average joe or meathead." Cryder stated. "I agree. I didn't know beans about this 'Void' until we ran into Leviathan in that cave, and neither did the best sailors. Whoever knows about this has to be someone who's done a lot of homework…"

"As well as someone who wields enough power and influence that the Void must think they're worth helping…" Dael stated grimly. "I don't like this one bit. And there's no shortage of individuals who could be responsible. However, in spite of that, I doubt it's anything we've encountered so far."

This made everyone look more intently at Dael, who looked up grimly in response.

"…There's no question in my mind anymore. Something is going on in Leuco that's a lot worse than the fusion bombs." She stated. "…Even if we're not directly ordered, I'm exercising my rights as the commanding officer of a task force the moment we return to Esthar to launch an operation on Leuco. There's too many secrets there that need to be uncovered."

Bahamut nodded. "I agree. Even if it's not the source, I've discovered that those who seek to dominate this world and gain more power usually rely on the capability of humans to innovate fantastic and terrible new things. And we all know by now that magical technologies are no longer things of myth but becoming more commonplace once again."

The others paused a moment, but then began to nod again. They seemed to be fairly receptive to this idea. However, only a few moments later, Cid cleared his throat and looked to the commander.

"Uh, Dael? You're not forgetting why we came here in the first place, right?"

The woman paused on hearing this. She grimaced quite a bit. After seeing that "fight" against the zombie dragons, she doubted that they could even survive Alexander, let alone defeat him. It was suicide to try and engage in a trial. They were already weary from the entire encounter getting to this point. Even so, in spite of all of that, and despite the fact she had a very hard time believing that Sybenia could recruit his power…she couldn't turn aside from this sort of strength. There was little question in her mind now that Alexander would be able to defend Esthar all by himself, and with him on their side…victory over Sybenia would look quite possible.

Finally, she exhaled, and began to turn back to Alexander.

"…Even if you're daft enough to try, lass…at least wait until we've rested up." Cryder stated, guessing what she was doing. The anxiety was clear on his voice, and was becoming visible on everyone's face, even Jalab and Ceja's.

Dael sighed and shook her head. "That won't do any good. What if we have to fight through more of those zombie dragon things to get back in here tomorrow? We could be worse than before. And every fight with one risks getting hit by that cursed breath of theirs…"

"…I hate if this sounds like cowardice, but I honestly have a hard time believing Sybenia could obtain Alexander for themselves." Taraketh stated after a moment. "He is safe here."

"Even if that's true, we can't afford to turn away from him." Dael answered. "You heard what he said. Even if we defeat Sybenia, we're looking at something that the Void is actively trying to bring into our world. That power is beyond anything this world possesses, including the Sorceresses. We need everything we can get to help if the worst happens."

"Still, Dael…" Bahamut threw in. "That may be well and good…but Alexander may be beyond our ability. I myself was defeated in a trial only once, and it was due to my own pride and the fact that I am not invulnerable to my own power. Alexander is neither beset by character flaws of that nature nor vulnerable to holy. I'm not sure we can exploit anything…"

**"Again, your fear is unnecessary."**

At this, everyone froze in the middle of the discussion, and turned back to Alexander. For a moment, Dael tensed. He obviously overheard them. Did he consider that the same thing as declaring a trial? The commander was losing her will to carry it out more and more with time… However, before she could indulge this fear, he continued.

**"I will bestow my power upon you all now."**

Hearing quite the opposite of her fear, Dael looked a bit surprised. The others were much the same.

"…I'm startin' to like this trend…" Cryder mused aloud. "Getting the biggest Guardian Forces on our side without a fight…"

"You'll really give us your power without combat?" Bahamut stated. "Even though you're the strongest of our kind?"

**"Power is meaningless save for its application." **Alexander responded. **"The esper descendents may have bound themselves to the code of the summoner, but I made no such bond. My own bond was only upon the descendents of the summoners themselves. My power was not to be found or earned, but to be called upon in time of greatest need. Such a time is now. If a foe capable of bringing forth the Void into this world has again emerged, then I will not waste time looking for a human with sufficient strength to best me in battle before doing what I can to help. **

** "The purpose of the trial was to examine the heart and will of those who sought to enlist the help of the summon. Such things I have already discovered upon witnessing all of you. My gaze divides flesh and bone and looks into the heart."**

Carbuncle turned his head. "Well, far be it for me to accuse someone of 'going against the rules'…but I know that you'll be stuck with us if you do that, just like me."

**"Your worthiness is sufficient. I will accept such conditions." **The holy Guardian Force responded.

This, however, made Dael turn her brow a bit. "…'Sufficient'?"

**"I have seen that several of you have grown much in the past few months." **Alexander explained. **"I will tell you now…were you the individuals that you were as little as two months ago, I would have not granted you my power. You are continuing to grow as well. But be warned and mark this well…there are yet traces of darkness in some of your hearts. Fail to root them out, and they may yet be twisted toward dark ends. I take a chance giving you my power now, but I feel more lives will be lost if I do not."**

This was probably the most chilling thing Dael had heard up until now. She didn't like the way Alexander said that. In spite of herself, she found her gaze looking over the group. She noticed that Taraketh and Bahamut were doing the same. Did he honestly mean that some of them might end up joining the 'other side'? Betraying the others? To be honest, Dael couldn't believe it. The group had become rather closely knit at this point… Even Cryder had her complete trust. Yet now…she had to admit, she believed what Alexander was saying. It wasn't due to any factual evidence or that she could picture any of them doing this…simply the fact that Alexander was the one who was saying it, a Guardian Force who could look into the hearts of others. She almost thought she was foolish for thinking so. She didn't even know this giant talking helmet. How could she put stock in what he said over her own experiences and feelings?

Easily, unfortunately. Dael knew emotions tended to distort your world view. To be completely honest, she didn't see any reason to distrust any member of the group, and couldn't honestly picture any of them betraying anyone else at any point. Yet now…that possibility was put in her mind. She almost wished Alexander hadn't even said it. Now she had reason for distrust in the back of her head.

_I don't know why he can't just say right now which 'ones' of us are feeling that way…_ Dael thought to herself. However, after a moment, she reconsidered. _…Perhaps it's better that we don't know. Maybe he's not wanting us to distrust each other, but to look inside ourselves and make sure we're not turning to anything negative… I think when he said 'root them out', he meant not to kick someone out…but to check and see what's still twisting us… But what does that mean? _

**"Produce your hands." **Alexander finally stated, cutting off all thinking.

The group held only a moment longer, but then pushed it aside. Surprisingly, it was easy enough…far easier than they thought. There wasn't even much lingering doubt behind. Dael would later think this was a result of Alexander himself. Perhaps he knew that what he had said had caused more confusion and unease among them, and so the power of his aura helped them to push it away for now and focus more on faith in each other. At any rate, they all raised their hands one after the other.

The panel of Alexander's face mask opened, exposing the jewel again. Dael fought back a touch of lingering fear at the memory of what happened and stood firm. A moment later, the laser split into multiple beams radiating from the same source, went through the air, and touched each one's palm. As Dael watched, pure, radiant light was traced out on the back of her hand, emblazoning the sigil of Alexander. Even as it did so, power flowed into her, and knowledge into her mind.

Yet this…this was something else. Until now, the strongest Guardian Force she had obtained was Leviathan. While he was powerful in his own right, the spells he bestowed were somewhat weaker. Not so with Alexander. Dael almost wobbled as she felt the knowledge of one of the most powerful white magics in existence put into her mind: Holy. Only Ultima itself was stronger. Just the presence of this spell within her made it abundantly clear to Dael that she would drain herself heavily from using it. It put even more things into perspective. How exactly was Mianyl able to use Ultima without growing more than a little tired?

**"In days past, only those fortified with the power of the espers themselves via magicite or esper blood were able to summon me alone." **Alexander explained as he finished and the sigils faded into their hands. **"My power is too great for any one of you by yourselves. Two of you will be necessary to summon me, and I must warn you that you should only do so as a last resort, as my power will leave you drained."**

Dael considered that for a moment. While she was grateful to receive Alexander's power…she realized how he might not have been quite as useful as she had hoped. Two of them would be required to summon him, so she couldn't just leave it to Taraketh. Not only that, but if they would be drained afterward… That would mean summoning Alexander would be a one-shot deal. They couldn't rely on him to take care of everything. They'd have to use him more intelligently… However, Dael had a good idea of where he'd come in handy very soon, along with the multitude of powers that he had bestowed upon them.

**"Now you must go." **Alexander spoke up again after a moment. **"The fell creatures that are drawn to me have been driven off, but will soon return and try and bar your escape from these ruins. It will also take time to return to your homeland, and time is something that I fear this world has progressively less of. Whoever is responsible for what is happening to this world…they have the luxury of anonymity giving them time. You do not. I give you this final warning…"**

The group paused and looked up to the holy Guardian Force again.

**"Even if this world war is not the ultimate cause for the change in this world…rest assured, it is what is fueling the coming of Nyx Gaia more strongly than anything else. I could almost feel Nyx Gaia's orbit draw a bit nearer when Esthar was attacked, especially by the one known as Tiamat. The war must both be ended soon…and as bloodlessly as possible. If it draws out much longer, then it will not be ended before it has brought back the reuniting of the two worlds. And there will be nothing I, nor any other Guardian Force, can do to prevent the Void from emerging once more."**

That wasn't exactly the most encouraging note to end on, but Dael didn't mind. All in all, this had been a success. Alexander, the strongest of the Guardian Forces, was on their side. And even if they couldn't use his power as freely as she had hoped…perhaps it was for the best. She didn't really feel too comfortable about having that much strength in the first place. And there was little time to worry now. There was much to do back in Esthar if they were to keep these premonitions from coming to light.

"…Alright, you heard Alexander." Dael announced. "We've got a long trip ahead of us. Let's get started."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	48. Peeling Back the Veil

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before I begin, I want to clear something up for those of you who read the old version of this story prior to this one and still remember it. Although I have never played Final Fantasy XIII (and I never will, since everything I hear about it makes me want to play it less...especially this latest part...in fact, after this point, from now on I refuse to acknowledge it exists...if anyone ever mentions Final Fantasy XIII, I'm going to say, "Oh? I thought Square Enix didn't make a thirteenth Final Fantasy."...anyway, getting off topic...), it has come to my attention on a certain part of the ending that happened to mesh with something that happened to Aerith in the original version of the story, namely being turned into a crystalline statue.

I want to make it perfectly clear to all my readers that I didn't incorporate Final Fantasy XIII into this story, and any similarities were purely unintentional. The only part of Final Fantasy XIII I knowingly and purposely included in this story was when I was trying to think of a character design for Dael (especially in civilian clothing), I pictured a wall hanging of Lightning I had seen at the local game store.

That said...I am going on vacation for five days, so I'm updating now. This chapter is mostly "filler"...but I believe it's my last filler chapter in the story. All future "short, non-action orientated" chapters should have major plot points. Starting with the chapter following this one, there are three very big chapters coming. Although I try to write while on vacation, I've never been able to do more than a total of two pages. This next one is fairly big, so I can't guarantee having a chapter out by the Saturday after next. Sorry.

* * *

><p>The return trip went pretty much as expected, but Dael didn't focus on it. Getting there had been the problem. Coming back was just a matter of ending the journey as quickly as possible. Right after getting Alexander, Dael made the group walk for a few hours to get a good "head start". Aside from Ceja, who had indeed sprained her thumbs, but had fought on regardless back in the corridor, no one had any permanent injuries, and hers were treated quickly enough. Luckily, they didn't reenter the areas where the monsters had invaded the tunnels on the first night, and were able to pretty much rest up during the walk. The next day was more eventful. Another one of the giant worms made an appearance, but this one was caught off guard and in the open. Apparently, it had been trying to take advantage of the warm air rather than burrowing into the cold ground, and the group struck while it was unprepared. The carcass no doubt served to detract many of the canine-like monsters from ambushing them, and they were able to make good time that day as well. On the last day, only a few other bands of Arctic Wolves showed up, and were promptly dealt with, before the group returned to the moogle dwellings and safety.<p>

Momeo unfortunately ran into trouble. A number of older moogles seemed to be waiting for her, along with more of their warriors. They halted her as they approached, and soon went into a lengthy argument, of which Dael could make out nothing due to their speaking in their native language. They were forced to wait for a short time as the discussion went on, during which the moogles glared darkly at them, and seemed ready for another fight. Apparently, they were all 'fresh' and knew nothing of the previous encounter. However, it did not come to blows. At length, Momeo was drawn aside. Before going, she turned to the others.

"Sorry, kupo. Looks like they want to have a 'word' with me…which is never a good sign, kupo."

Remarkably, this made Dael give pause. "…They aren't going to hurt you for helping us out, are they? Because if they are…"

Momeo shook her head. "Oh nokupo. But…" She gulped a bit. "…I may still get punished and demoted, kupo…"

Taraketh frowned at this. "You helped us out. Perhaps we can say something…"

She shook her head even more furiously. "Oh no…you can't do that, kupo! You need to get going right away! They want you out of the settlement as soon as possible, kupo! It's alright. You can find your way out from here, right, kupo?"

Dael still hesitated. "…You helped us get to Alexander much faster than we could have on our own. We can't just leave you hanging…"

"It's no use, kupo. They won't listen to anything you have to say anyway since you're humans." The moogle priestess answered. "Besides…moogles are more understanding than you thinkupo. Once they know Alexander accepted you guys, I'm sure they'll realize you couldn't possibly be destroyers, kupo. As a matter of fact…I'm going to talk to them about this war. Maybe the moogles can lend a hand, kupo."

Dael reacted in a bit of surprise. "You really want to help us?"

"Those Sybenian creeps are a problem for everyone, kupo." Momeo answered. "They don't even spare humans who are different. What will they do to moogles then, kupo?"

The commander was inclined to agree. She still felt reluctant about leaving Momeo hanging, but, as reminded by Bahamut, she was right. The elder moogles were likely too set in their ways to listen. The only reason Momeo had was because they saved her. And the longer they stayed, the greater the chance of a fight breaking out. And so, after gathering up their supplies from their drops, they began to leave without the priestess. It took some time, especially since a garrison of moogle guards followed them the whole way, giving their own version of the "stink eye". Yet none of them made a move, and they finally got back to the cave entrance and exited.

A storm was raging, and even after taking a full twenty minutes to secure all of their cold weather gear, Dael was soon receiving the all-too-familiar sensation of being tired and half-frozen. There was one good thing to their return to the icy waste…the wind was at their backs. Since all of them were wearing packs which were much lighter than before, and the sled was once again gliding over fresh snow, it was easier to move with less cold sensations. Despite the storm, they had little trouble making good time that day, even with the occasional monster attack. There was a bit of readjustment involved due to hampered mobility of the cold weather gear, but overall there were no problems. Aside from the discomfort of huddling into small, wind-swept tents at night, it was more tedious than anything.

The first day on the tundra passed, as did the second. The weather slowly improved as did the temperature, although it still was more than cold enough to require heavy protection and caution when settling down for the night. However, good time was made, and Dael soon realized that, barring a bit of exhaustion, there would be nothing stopping them from being back in Esthar after the last leg of the journey in time to try and get a meeting with the colonel right away. She was eager to get back at this point. She knew it would have been twelve days by the time they returned to their ship. Just the thought was staggering…quickly as things had been changing in the war. Any one of a million events could have occurred during this trip…

The last night, as everyone huddled around the heat source and struggled to warm themselves up enough to get some sleep, they began to talk about what came next.

"I hope the _Enterprise_ isn't frozen over…" Quaren mused as he rubbed his hands together.

"It shouldn't. It's rated to hover at altitudes already below freezing." Dael responded. "Cid told me it might be a bit icy in some spots, but the airhips are designed for rapid dethaws. Even at worst, we'll only be delayed by about 90 minutes."

"To be honest…I'm still having a hard time believing that we actually succeeded." Taraketh admitted. "Even if we didn't actually undergo the trial…I never thought, even in my wildest dreams, that I would have the privilege of summoning Alexander."

"I'm a bit more focused on the fact of how he let us use his power so quickly…" Bahamut murmured. "He clearly thought this world was in danger and that there was no time to waste on a trial. That's something serious, and beyond mere supposition or theory at this point, in my estimation, even if there is no direct evidence as of yet."

"Well…_my_ instincts are still directing me to Leuco." Dael responded. "We all know that's where they were shipping you along with all of the other magic users they had rounded up. My guess is that if there's anyone trying to bring the Void to Gaia, then they have their hand in that too, the same as this world war."

Quaren shrugged. "That would mean it would have to be Rozan Heirarch, though. Right? I mean, he's literally the cause for the world war right now. Him or his dad or his nutty political party…"

Dael frowned and shook her head. "I agree with what we've already established…that he's not his own leader. He may want power, but I don't honestly believe that he'd be smart enough to go after it himself. Someone must have given him the idea."

"It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to manipulate their own superior from the shadows…" Bahamut answered. "At any rate, getting into Leuco will not be easy. Even if the only thing that they had there were the fusion bombs, that would be more than enough to leave a strong garrison. And since they know we managed to slip through their defenses once, they'll be tighter than ever."

Quaren nodded. "…I think the _Excalibur_ is our only real shot. Hope it's been fixed…and that the colonel or Grand Chancellor will let us use it."

"We'll need something with some size to it…" Dael added in. "Odds are there are going to be POWs there. We'll need some way of getting them out. I just hope that Class III has come up with something. To be able to have any chance of success, we'll need to launch a covert operation with a high degree of intelligence. We can't take on the garrison there in a straight fight." She exhaled a bit. "…Probably wouldn't hurt to start brushing up on some of the Class III specific skills. One can assume they only increased security even more since Cryder was there."

"Hey, Carbuncle." Quaren spoke up. "Couldn't you just get us all back to Esthar once we got in?"

"You kidding?" The green creature answered, nestling in Dael's lap. "It takes a ton of energy to go that far with multiple people. If it was an emergency and all other things were equal…sure, I could get the eight of you out. But a whole bunch of POWs? Plus, that place is probably loaded with things like those Eris Bells. Even I can't get around them…not for a teleportation move. Everything's got to be perfect or I'll leave bits and pieces of you all over the Medieval Ocean."

Quaren grimaced a bit at that. Dael shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I didn't spend 16 years training for situations like this in Esthar's Hawks just to start looking for 'loopholes' to common problems. Like I said…we'll need intelligence first. Then we can start worrying about how we'll pull this off. Besides…the first order of business on returning to the _Enterprise_ is making contact with Esthar and find out exactly what's happened for the past twelve days."

"And pray it's good news, right?" Carbuncle threw in.

"It would be a nice change of pace…" The officer sighed.

* * *

><p>As it turned out…Dael got her wish.<p>

Setting out early the next day, the group trudged the last remaining distance toward the ship. They found it almost blending in perfectly with the surrounding tundra, thanks to having been battered by snow and ice for days until it was coated in white. However, minimal power had been left active inside, just enough to keep the lines from freezing. The hydraulics cracked through the thin layer of ice on arrival, and soon let them inside. Most of the heavy clothing was left on during the "warm-up" cycle that Cid initiated. Even with minimal power, the interior temperature of the airship was well below freezing, and it took some time for it to heat up. Only the cockpit was merely frigid, and not frozen, mostly to keep the electronics intact. As the airship deiced, Dael patched into the radio.

It was still storming, and interference was high…but she was able to get some signals from Esthar. Luckily, there was little to report. The emergency broadcast channels were on, but they weren't saying anything other than telling citizens to tune in for updates in case of invasion. As the ship's relays warmed up with the rest of it, the signal became clearer. But it wasn't until they actually lifted off and set a course for home that they managed to finally get a transmission to Fort Morningstar. Even then, there was little to be said. As usually, both Colonel Regalis as well as the Grand Chancellor were out on other duties, although a message had been left behind to make contact as soon as they returned to Esthar. Just to be on the safe side, Dael ended the transmission there.

Cid gave her a curious look after that. "…You didn't even want to tell them we were successful?"

"Keep in mind we're still at war." Dael answered. "I don't want to take the chance there's any enemy naval ship out there listening in on any broadcasts. On that note…let's keep the _Enterprise_ at a high elevation."

The rest of the trip was rather lackluster. All it really involved was flying the airship back to Esthar. In spite of having been gone for over ten days, there wasn't much to see that had changed on the flyby. Dael grimaced to see that the large trenches that Tiamat had left in his wake were still there. That was only to be expected, but she still thought there would be some difference. They looked identical to when they left. As for the military emplacements, various "stations" set up to assist the public, and other aspects of the change to martial law…there was nothing new. Everything was more or less identical to what it had been when they left. No one even looked better armed, although Dael hoped, by now, they were at least getting steady supplies of ammunition. She had heard reports that they had gone rather dry after the last invasion.

Still, even no changes were better than possibly coming home to an invasion. It seemed Sybenia was holding off.

The _Enterprise_ was returned to dock, and everyone unloaded. Dael took note of one final item. The Movers were still tucked into their little corner in the back. Not once had they ever complained for food or seemed to suffer any ill effects from the snow or cold. And so, once again, Dael left them behind. After everyone gathered up their unused gear, they came off and found that a transport much like the one that had taken them out to the airfield was ready to take them back. While loading up, Dael called ahead to Fort Morningstar to confirm that they were back in Esthar, but all she got for her trouble was an "acknowledged". She realized she would have to check her correspondence when she got back. Once everyone was packed up, they headed out once again.

Dael enjoyed the warmer weather. It was almost shocking to believe how dramatically it had changed over such a relatively short distance. However, she also paid a great deal of attention to her surroundings as they drove along. Again, even close up, she saw little change. The same roadblocks and small amounts of troops moved about. Getting closer to the southern edge of the city, she believed she saw a few Sybenian weapons that had been confiscated and refurbished following the invasion attempt. She assumed the bulk of them were still to the south. It gave them a bit more "teeth"…but she knew full well that they were meaningless against a "weapon" such as Tiamat. Not paying it too much mind for now, as there was little she could do about it, she held on for the ride out of the city and toward the fort.

After clearing the checkpoints and driving for a while over open country, the structure became clear again. Things were a bit more active there. An airstrip had been hasitily erected on the flatter ground, and was rapidly being expanded. For now, only small transports such as Stratoaevises were in use, but there were quite a number of them none the less, and they were constantly landing and taking off. Dael knew when it was large enough to handle the larger aircraft, Fort Morningstar would become the true "hub" of military activity. Until now, they had to transport all munitions and weapons, not to mention soldiers, out via trucks to a working airfield. That would eliminate the need and speed things up a bit. Also, if they planned on using the airships in combat next time, this would be a good place for them, providing another "midpoint" between the coastal airfield and the city proper. The only problem would be if the enemy tried to take it…which might, ironically, be a good thing. The fort was better at handling an assault than the city proper. The enemy might be lured into trying to take the closer airfield, which would result in them having a harder, more costly battle. At any rate, aside from the airfield, the entire fort was buzzing with activity and transporting what looked like heavy Sybenian artillery out from it. That only figured. The shore had been wiped out in the last attack. The city was too far. Anything that the Black Corsairs salvaged would likely come to the fort to be refurbished before being sent where it was needed, as it was the closest place with facilities.

The truck pulled forward, and the group dismounted, unloading their gear with them. After the process of taking it to the supply depo and checking what they could back in, the group was once again left with nothing to do for a precious short time. However, none of them went far. They all knew what Dael had said: how she would try to go to Leuco as soon as possible. Hence, they headed to the nearest commons area to her own quarters to sit and wait. That left Carbuncle, Bahamut, and Dael herself to return to her room and see if any message had been sent her in the previous few hours. Even if there hadn't, Dael wanted to issue her own request to engage in the operation on Leuco.

On the way back, Carbuncle gave a yawn. "Man, I'm beat… I'd like to kick back with a six pack and just sleep in tomorrow…"

"Don't get too comfortable." Dael responded. "Now that you're back, and we're heading to Leuco, we need you more than ever. Whoever can teleport is going to be a premium there."

The green creature grumbled. "…That's your problem: you're never satisfied. You just recruited the strongest of our kind without a fight, and all you can think about is the next mission…"

Dael paused for a moment on hearing that. Sure enough, she thought she would be a bit more "enthused" about this recent victory. Alexander was nothing to just brush aside. Going to obtain him, she had been practically quivering about how much power he represented. So why wasn't she feeling full of herself now? Perhaps it was because she didn't feel very "god-like" in the wake of receiving it. She stuck with her current junction rather than switching to him, after all. However, she knew that wasn't it. The real reason was that everything Alexander had told them had soured their victory…brought to mind how even having a Guardian Force as powerful as Alexander wasn't a panacea to any of their problems…not Sybenia, and not the incoming Void.

"I just hope they were able to turn up something while we were gone…" Dael finally said with a sigh. "If I have to, I'll go into that continent blind, but I'd rather have some idea of what I'm doing and what to expect."

"I hope that they respond to you fairly soon." Bahamut stated. "The more time passes…the more I agree with you that there's something up over there. There's little reason to believe that other than the manufacture of those drugs that Crow was using and the fusion bombs that there is much going on over there. But something tells me that's not the case… I may not get premonitions anymore, but something tells me other than in Sybenia itself, if there's anything that's going on that's 'not right', it's there." He paused. "However, in spite of what you say, I think it's not too good of an idea to devote all of the Class III resources to that. Don't forget…it's likely that we have a traitor in our midst. Possibly more than one. The next act of sabotage to Esthar might be far worse than any individual damage that Sybenia can do."

Dael grimaced. She had almost forgotten. She couldn't discount that threat either in the wake of all that had transpired. Yet, in all honesty, she had so much on her plate right now that she was tempted to push it aside. Her main concern was stopping Sybenia. After that was done, any spies or espionage agents would become irrelevant without an "overarching country" to fight for.

The three arrived at the room and Dael undid the lock. On sliding open, Carbuncle ran underneath her legs and quickly shot into the room, going straight not for his own bed, but for Dael's own pillow, jumping into it, curling up, and closing his eyes. She frowned a bit. She actually wanted to rest her own head a bit, and she could do without his unusual green shade of hair being shed on her stuff. At any rate, she exhaled and went for her laptop instead. Bahamut moved over to one side and went to work getting out his weapon-care material. He had been trying to smooth out the dent from the zombie dragon as much as he could for days, but as he was unable to bring most of his tools on the trip, he had been forced to wait until now to finish up with them.

Dael, on her part, fired up the computer and accessed her account. She pulled up the messages just as Bahamut got to work…and immediately saw something right on top addressed specifically to her above all of the other general announcements that she had missed for the past two weeks.. Apparently, a response hadn't been as slow in coming as she had thought. Opening it up, she noticed it was another summons. It was an "open call" one this time, in which the entire task force was being asked to show in the briefing room. That was a bit unusual…

Bahamut paused in his polishing, and looked up to Dael on seeing the slight change. "…Is something wrong?"

"…No, nothing." She answered after a moment. "We don't have long to rest. They expect us to report in for a new briefing in two hours. They want the entire task force this time. I just thought that was a bit unusual."

Carbuncle let out a groan. "All of us? You've got to be kidding me… We just got back in from hiking across the world's biggest snow cone… Don't we get a nap?"

Bahamut ignored Carbuncle. "It's not too terribly unusual. All it does is shows they've been waiting for us."

Dael looked to the boy in puzzlement at that. He shrugged. "Think about it. The main reason we haven't all been summoned for debriefings currently isn't just because the colonel trusts your judgment. It's because he hasn't had the time for anything other than impromptu meetings. This, on the other hand, likely pertains to Leuco. As a result, he probably was planning to make time for this as soon as he returned. He might have even scheduled time slots on all the days we were likely to return. Notice how he's already going to be meeting us in only two hours. Considering everything going on, it should have taken him half a day to clear his schedule."

The woman paused momentarily. Bahamut likely had a point…

"…So you think that means they turned up something in Leuco?"

"Possibly. Possibly not." Bahamut responded. "There's a good chance that it's another emergency meeting. Don't forget…we're privy to information that normally doesn't reach the general population right away. Esthar's Hawks, after all, is still an elite organization above the 'standard' military last I checked, even if their manifest has expanded."

Dael frowned a bit, but nodded. "You're probably right. Anyway…I need a shower and then to get myself in uniform. Times might be bad…but I'm sure the colonel still expects a degree of decorum. I'll just tell the others the news before I get started."

* * *

><p>Naturally, this meant that everyone needed a round of showers. Even Jalab agreed to one, which was a good thing as he was necessary to coerce Ceja into one, and she needed it more than anyone. Dael herself was done quickly, giving her plenty of time to put her more official uniform on. She realized it was somewhat superfluous at this point. Very few people in the fort continued to wear their official uniforms. There were few dress combat uniforms, for that matter. Still, Dael did it just the same. It was her way of assisting Sorceress Mianyl, but projecting the same presence of decorum, control, and confidence.<p>

She noticed as they finally gathered at the time mark and began their march to the meeting hall that the looks they were normally used to getting had changed. There was a time when their odd task force would pretty much only invite curious stares and confusion. By now, however, their reputation had grown enough to where they got a measure of respect from most individuals…and even awe from some of the recruits that had freshly been impressed into active duty. A few actually stood at Dael walked by. She had outranked many of them for some time, but it appeared she was getting a "fringe" benefit. However, Dael cared little for this. Her personal goal of becoming the greatest of Esthar's Hawks seemed rather distant now. Her main focus was on her duty.

The meeting was again in the general assembly hall, so they had to take an elevator to get to it. Once on the upper floor. Dael again found herself approaching the same set of doors that had sent her on her last mission. As before, they were flanked by guards, and, just like last time, they only received a salute before they stood to one side and let them pass.

Dael was more at ease this time. She had the group to thank for that. Carbuncle and Cryder, as two examples, were always casual around everyone. That didn't necessarily give her permission to do the same, but it helped to "draw attention away" from her. At any rate, she began to wonder what this sort of mission would be like in terms of the briefing. Last time, after all, she had actually met briefly with Lady Mianyl. Of course, she wasn't expecting anything like that this time.

Sure enough, as she advanced, she only found the colonel waiting for them. It seemed he had a bit of time to get cleaned up himself, although lines of worry and tiredness were still on him. At any rate, as the group came in, he was already standing at the edge of the central platform awaiting them. One by one, everyone came inside, and the doors shut behind them.

As soon as that happened, Dael saw a change come over the colonel…one darker and grimmer than before. She didn't like the looks of that, especially since she realized he didn't take on this air of "seriousness" until after they were all inside. That meant not only was something wrong…but that it was something he didn't want the general public, or even most Esthar's Hawks, to know about.

On arrival, the woman walked before the colonel and gave a salute. He saluted back and gave the dismissive wave. After doing so, he nodded to the front row. "Have a seat."

Dael turned and moved to the nearest chair. The others also went to the chairs and sat down as well. Carbuncle once again took a seat to himself along with them. It was a fairly quiet affair…and it set Dael a bit more on edge. Although there was no reason they shouldn't have been quiet…something about this situation seemed a bit more serious than that. At any rate, they were all soon down, and looking back to Colonel Regalis.

After a brief pause, he came forward and reached into his uniform vest. He emerged with, of all things, what looked like an executive cleared pass. He moved over to Dael and held it out. The young officer was a bit puzzled by this, but then reached out and took it. She held it up and looked over it.

What she saw only made her more confused. "…This is clearance to the high executive lounge, sir."

"Specifically, clearance for two hours later this afternoon, commander." Regalis responded. "As you may recall from our previous meeting, the Grand Chancellor expressed regret that she was unable to thank you all personally for what you've done for Esthar. She told me that, busy as she is, she wanted to take time out, even in the midst of our current situation, to meet with you all on a more informal and relaxed level. You can consider that an invitation to late afternoon tea. She's coming to Fort Morningstar in an hour to set up just for that purpose specifically."

Dael was honestly rather surprised. The others showed similar looks. It wasn't just the fact that she was being invited into Mianyl's presence again, which was still quite humbling even before she displayed her power against Tiamat. What was a bit more surprising was that why, in the middle of the crisis, she was taking time out to have 'tea time' in the executive lounge.

However, Dael pushed those thoughts aside rather quickly. The Grand Chancellor was allowed some time to relax. God knew, in the wake of the incompentence in Esthar, she had been burning the candle at both ends. Whenever she wasn't doing any official business, she was going about to use the power of her presence, through her confidence, calmness, and aura, to try and bolster sagging spirits and revitalize morale. She deserved a break. And, frankly, with all the work they had been doing, so did they. Last but not least…Dael had to admit the thought of being able to sit down to 'tea', even though she never indulged in such things, with Lady Mianyl was appealing. Perhaps some of the admiration that Taraketh had for her was rubbing off on her, but even if not, Dael definitely respected her more than any other national leader in the world at this point. She knew it would be like a fish out of water…but she wasn't too worried. Mianyl's "public appearance" was just that…the face she showed in public. She knew she'd be a lot more at ease in person…in spite of her incredible power.

Besides, she knew this was a great opportunity for Taraketh. She didn't look to him, but she was certain he was nearly passing out. At any rate, Dael put the pass away.

Regalis' demeanor immediately took a darker note. "…Now to the main reason I called you all here. I caught your recent transmission, Commander Levinson. How it seems your interest in Leuco has only spiked. Frankly…so has ours."

He turned and moved to the platform. After stepping up to the podium, he manipulated a few switches. A holographic display came on, showing a readout of the Southern Continent. The program inside the display immediately began to zoom in on the Leuco area. As it did, the colonel turned back out to the group and began to explain.

"The Espionage division has been working overtime to get as much information as they can out of Leuco. It seems, once again, we are unfortunately doing too little, too late. We didn't plant more operatives in Leuco prior to now with the understanding that Sybenia would be the highest threat level, what with how quickly they rooted out our agents. However, we are now discovering the Leuco has just as much security, if not more so, when it comes to counter-intelligence. Clearly, if Sybenia wishes to hide something, it's on that continent.

"Fortunately, following the recent failed invasion, as well as the Dictator of Sybenia's insistence on turning both the Western Continent as well as the Southern into a fortress, it seems that the military engine of the Guiding Hand has finally been spread too thin. There were several warships lost in the battle and many others that required repairs. Hence, there are numerous gaps along the coast. Perhaps not in the most easily-accessible of places, but enough to sneak in and place espionage agents. I wish I could say we have extensive information on the operations that are taking place there, but given restrictions of time, we have only a 'bare-bones' outline. That, unfortunately, will have to do, as you will soon see."

The image was now zoomed in on the Leuco area. Regalis produced a clicker/pointer device and activated one dot.

"This is the Arcane Munitions Facility, the first area in which evidence was found indicating that Leuco was producing fusion-type bombs. We assumed, due to the vast amount of equipment and technology necessary to perfect such technology, that this location would stay fairly 'fixed'. In other words, that Leuco was unable to relocate, and that rather than try to move the location they would be forced to bolster security to keep us out. Unfortunately, what evidence we've been able to locate shows that this facility is almost entirely a munitions plant now. No 'tracer' radioactive particles coming from it that would indicate fusion research. It seems clear that Arcane was chosen, due to high security, to act as a research lab…one of several that worked together through private lines to try and perfect the sustainable fusion reaction. At least two other high-security locations have now been identified as likely accomplishing the same purpose. However…they too cut off research as of late, based on lack of tracers. We found the reason."

The colonel used his device again to zoom away from Leuco a bit, and refocus on an area of open ocean.

"According to reports, in five days, Leuco has a scheduled 'all-clear' within this area of the ocean. No ships, military, civilian, or commericial, will be allowed inside. Numerous science-intensive warships are to be stationed around it, however. This area is public, bordering on international waters and well within range of our own monitoring buoys and patrol boats. We believe the reason for this is that Leuco is planning its first test detonation of a fusion bomb, something that reports are indicating they are calling: 'a thermonuclear warhead', a bomb that will replicate the power of the sun itself."

Now everyone else's mood began to grow dark. Dael struggled not to grimace. It seemed Cryder's fears might have been justified. They really did perfect a fusion bomb. And she didn't need any other explanation than this as to the location. Obviously, Sybenia wanted to wave it in the face of their adversaries…let them know how easily they could be snuffed out. Dael actually thought it was ironically a show of "decency" on the part of Rozan Heirarch. He could just as easily drop the bomb on Esthar and have _that_ be his demonstration.

Unless…these bombs were overwhelmingly 'dirty', just as the older fission bombs had been… In which case he'd win a war easily with one, but he'd also leave wasteland behind that was no good to anyone. Worse yet…one of them in the wrong place might be dirtier than a fission bomb, meaning radioactive bits of "fallout" could spread world-wide…

_Wonderful…yet another thing that could ruin all life on Gaia…as if one wasn't enough._

"As I indicated, the individual research facilities are shutting down. Leuco is past that point." Regalis continued. "In ages past, countries ran into similar problems when manufacturing fission bombs. Each one was initially did more or less as a 'science project' by loosely connected scientists. There was no way to mass produce them. The Guiding Hand isn't making that mistake. We believe they're using a facility that they intend to produce one bomb after another. We have no idea how difficult it is for them or how long it takes…but we aren't willing to find out. Even if they can only produce one of these bombs every six months, that is far too much. Especially because of this…"

He clicked again, zooming back to the coastline. Flashing dots appeared about a hundred miles inland.

"As you all are well aware, mankind has yet to produce an ICBM, or Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, due to the turbulent magnetic shifting of Gaia. Even putting a satellite in space is a tremendous effort for us. However, records in our own Gordian Vault show several projects that were underway in Esthar alone that would have nullified the magnetic effect on a missile's guidance system, allowing it to have an intercontinental range. All such plans were scrapped during military budget cuts…but it's reasonable to assume that scientists in Leuco were a bit more 'loose' with their finances. Our agents have managed to get close enough to these areas, in spite of heavy security, to collect some data. Each of these four spots, which, I might add, are only four out of many that we couldn't access, indicate rocket pad construction…military in nature, but far larger than anything that has been constructed to date. They approach the size of satellite rockets. If they were conventional missiles, they would be still too far away from shore to be able to hit targets. Therefore…it is reasonable to assume that Leuco is not just working on a fusion bomb, but also a delivery system capable of striking as far as Esthar."

Dael felt herself stiffen at that as her stomach turned. Now it made sense to her. Their worst fears were realized. Sybenia didn't bother pursuing the invasion once is grew too costly because they had this. Now, everyone in the group grew considerably uncomfortable.

"Sir…" She spoke up after a moment. "Do you mean to say that Sybenia is trying to work not only on finishing these 'thermonuclear weapons', but is also trying to establish a way to use them without the aid of an intercontinental bomber?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, commander." The colonel darkly answered. "We estimate that in a relatively short time, only a matter of weeks after the testing…perhaps less…Sybenia will wield the most destructive power ever seen on Gaia since the Sister Ray/Gauntlet of Zeus. Although these missles might only be able to go as far as our port or even this fort, at the worse case scenario, it's only a matter of time before they build ones with larger range or the capability to mount them on a ship. That is exactly why we cannot wait to obtain any more information or intelligence. Sybenia cannot be allowed to have these weapons. Once they do…the only thing that would deter them from using this power to dominate all of Gaia would be if we ourselves had the technology, which we don't and would only lead to the planet's largest stalemate."

Everyone was nervous now. The weapons were bad enough…but, until this point, there were logistic issues that would prevent things from getting too out of hand. Bombers that could be stopped beforehand and the like. Yet this was something else entirely. If this was completed…it would end conventional warfare all together. No more pitched battles or collisions…just people in their home bases pressing buttons that sent death raining down on military bases, personnel, and civilians on both sides. But for decades…Sybenia would reign supreme. They'd annihilate anyone with a single gesture. Dael also realized the obviousness of this…how much death would result, abrupt and terrible. This would end the war quickly, alright…but likely at the cost of whatever lives were needed to bring the Void to Gaia…

Assuming that whoever was consciously trying to do all this was behind these weapons…then it was clear that was their intention…

"Of course, this is only one concern." Regalis continued, his voice elevating just enough to snap everyone out of this latest chain of dark thoughts. "We are also aware that some form of magical experimentation has been going on within Leuco as well. Remarkably, which has caused us great concern, it seems that this matter is under even greater 'lock and key' than the fusion bombs and the ICBMs. It leads us to think there might be something far more sensitive and drastic being performed in such laboratories.

"We have found almost no mention or clue as to the location of either facility…save one." He looked to Dael. "Commander Levinson, you mentioned that a name of a 'Dr. Lindst' had been thrown around while you were in Helheim. As it turns out, that name occasionally has popped up in transmissions that we have managed to recover. Most of them are old…seeming to predate the invasion. However, we believe they're still valid. They indicate a series of dummy materials shipments and what we believe are resource reallocation. They failed to cover their tracks adequately at this time, and through some monitoring and records, we've discovered that the shipments, attached to the name "Dr. Lindst" all ended up heading for one spot in particular."

He clicked on the image again, and repositioned the readout. It moved farther west, past Leuco's city proper, and displayed a smaller, yet bustling, metropolis.

"This is Lolesterin. As you yourself attested to, commander, Leuco enjoyed expected success with the investment from Sybenia. It seems as they are trying to clean up their major city for tech firms and more upscale technology, they devoted most of their 'dirty' industrial positions to this small town about fifty miles away. At least, it was small until recently. It's experiencing a dramatic boom and still on the rise. It's also located sufficienly away from the coast to be protected from naval bombardment."

Dael looked a bit confused. "Excuse me, sir…but can we be certain that the facilities would be located there? It's fairly public. Visible from a distance. Not something that Leuco or Sybenia could hide. I thought the consensus was that they were using alternate facilities in secret locations?"

"Perhaps at first, Commander Levinson, but we believe times have changed." The colonel responded. "It's true that a secret location would be more conducive, but most of Leuco is rough country. The ability to construct major facilities and adequately supply them with power, resources, and other utilities is hampered by the terrain. If they seek to do major work, then they need to move to a major city. It appears this one was a bit less conspicuous and easier to protect. Sure enough, the coast is all but inaccessible at this point, and there is a considerable naval blockade. If they're moving into full-scale military production, they need this location, and it seems to make sense even from a logistics standpoint. Like you said, we've been mostly 'sniffing around' in the backcountry when we can. We normally wouldn't even consider Lolesterin. At any rate, the few agents that have gotten close enough to use the radioactive tracers confirm a heavy amount of unusual particle counts coming downwind from Lolesterin. Even if the magic research facilities aren't there, the nuclear ones are…and, at the moment, that's our primary concern."

The colonel paused long enough to readjust the readout and then focus on the group.

"…Reckless as it might be, we are planning our first offensive in this war. It's not much…but we're hoping it acts to slow down Sybenia further and buy us more time. We're relying on speed and disorientation. After negotiating with the Black Corsairs' Commodore, she has agreed to allow us to utilize the _Ragnarok_ in this endeavor as well as many of her more well-armed ships to cover smaller ships of our own and conduct a sortie on Leuco's shipyards. We don't have enough resources for a major assault, so we're seeking to do damage to key areas to reduce the shipyard capacity. Without them, Sybenia will have to rely more heavily on resources from the parent country to be able to maintain its guard.

"Naturally, the shipyards are heavily guarded, but so is Lolesterin, and Sybenia is spread too thin, for all its power, to be able to repel us in a straight fight. They'll have to summon reinforcements, which we believe will be drawn off of Lolesterin so they can attempt to stop the invasion force cold. That will be your chance to bring the _Excalibur_ in."

Cid, naturally, looked up a bit on hearing this. "…You mean you guys fixed it?" A moment later, seeing as he had interjected, he grimaced a bit. "Um…sorry…"

The colonel paused only a moment, but didn't look too miffed. "As a matter of fact, we did. It is fully armed and operational again, including with stealth capabilities. There should also be enough room to escort POWs out if you do indeed come upon the research facility, although your primary concern will be getting in and out. As I mentioned before, there isn't much to use in the way of landing zones. Your dismount point…" The man clicked the image again, shifting to a zoom in of the coast nearest Lolesterin, and highlighted a small point. "…is here. Originally this was a private beach owned by the richer individuals in Leuco who owned beach mansions. Following your last operation, the government closed it. No doubt, it has some form of monitoring station there now, but our agents assure us they'll be able to knock it out. Naturally, it's impossible to dock the _Excalibur_ there without drawing attention. Instead…" He gestured to a rock formation out of the coast. "You'll have to land here and go ashore. The formation will keep your ship obscured, and the individuals launching the sortie are well aware that a covert operation is taking place at this time and will attempt to act as a diversion for as long as they can. I also plan on beginning this operation under the cover of darkness. Even so…you have very little time. A transport has been secured by our operatives to take you to Lolesterin and as close to the location where we believe the facilities are located…but from then on in, you're fairly on your own."

He looked back to the group. "…As you have probably guessed, this mission is not only dangerous…but reckless. Lolesterin is going to be heavily guarded with at least an entire legion…possibly two. And we have no foreknowledge of what kind of security measures they are using. Nevertheless, we need to destroy those bombs, and this might be our only chance before the next wave of Sybenian reinforcements arrive. Once you land at the location, you are to carry out as much sabotage as possible. Priority one: neutralize the thermonuclear weapons using whatever means necessary. Priority two: investigate and, if possible, liberate the POWs. Priority three: if possible, destroy the facility. Again, you have very little to go on inside this mission, but such is the job of Esthar's Hawks. And you must understand, by now, your task force has the greatest chance of success out of all of the Esthar's Hawks currently in service."

Dael pondered these things for a moment. Indeed, she had hoped for a little more to go on. If this was a "standard" group of Esthar's Hawks, she realized it would be the same as a suicide mission. They didn't have a guaranteed escape route or even knew what they were walking into. And the group had been caught off guard before even in situations where they believed they knew everything going in. There was no telling what was at that facility to begin with, and, as powerful as they had become, Dael still wondered how effective they could be against certain things. Nevertheless…she was eager to go to Leuco. Even if this was risky, she had planned to go with much less information and support if need be. At least now, she had some form of backup in the form of the Class III operatives. And they also had clearance to use the _Excalibur_, which, she had to admit she liked a bit better than the "prop" airship they had been using. As a result, she didn't present any objections.

Colonel Regalis inhaled and exhaled.

"…Since the last invasion proved that we did indeed have a leak, most of this operation, both your part as well as ours, is being carried out in an 'impromptu' fashion with an emphasis on speed, so that whoever may be looking in doesn't know we're planning things. On that note…you depart early tomorrow. In 36 hours, you deploy to Leuco, and you have a 14 hour window, we hope, to be able to accomplish your mission. Good luck to you all."

* * *

><p><em>One Hour Later<em>

* * *

><p>Dael had to admit…she wasn't any more at ease about this 'tea time' than she had been back when she had first met Lady Mianyl, which seemed a long time ago. Just looking at the Sorceress was like looking on the face of something not of this world or not human, even in a casual setting such as this where Dael was a fish out of water. Still, her mood, her demeanor, and the tea (which, once again, was delicious compared to what Dael thought of as tea), helped put her at ease. She told herself she needed to relax too. They were going on yet another dangerous mission…definitely the worst one yet, and this time without any chance of the enemy deciding to let them pass, unlike with Alexander. She could use some peace of mind. It might help her focus more on her special "techniques" later. Besides…a bit like Taraketh, she liked having a chance to sit with the Sorceress.<p>

The executive lounge was the best place to hold one of these things. Normally it was only used for high level "sub-formal" affairs, such as international military meetings. There weren't a whole lot of overseas allies at the moment to talk with though, and so it could be used for something like this. After all, it was probably the only room in the fort that wasn't being used at all. The banners of Esthar were already in place. Some had insisted on trying to decorate it for the Sorceress, but she had dismissed such notions: "If you have time to decorate a room for tea, you have time to do something more constructive for Esthar." She had turned down having any bodyguards for this occasion under a similar vein: "I will be having tea with people I trust more than any other within Esthar's Hawks. But even if I wasn't, I believe the recent battle in Esthar should have shown you that I can take care of myself." Inside, Dael figured she wanted the privacy. As a result, only two High Children of Hyne were acting as an escort, and they were outside the room at the time. She had a much larger retinue accompanying her to the fort which had insisted on coming, and she had told them (with a sigh) to go get something to eat so they wouldn't waste the whole period just standing around staring at her.

She still had her cushion and seat where she was, at the head of the "table" in the room as she had her own tea. The others were seated around a bit. To be honest, much as times had changed, Dael felt a little overwhelmed. One of the most powerful women in the world, commanding high levels of authority and respect, and she was sitting at the ovoid table like she was an equal. It was still a treat for most people on Gaia to just shake hands with the Sorceress. This was something else, despite the fact she had technically done it before.

She was on Mianyl's left. Taraketh sat on her right, and, of course, he was shaking all over like a leaf almost the entire time, in spite of Mianyl's repeated calls for him to relax. Bahamut was next to Dael and was acting perfectly respectful, while Quaren was next to Taraketh and doing rather well. After all, being from the upper class, he was more well-versed in decorum than the others. Carbuncle, adjacent to him (who had insisted on his own seat), was remarkably behaving himself well, although Dael had heard him say at one point: "I thought you could get beer at these things if you didn't like tea…"

Jalab wasn't used to "Eastern" teas, but he still conducted himself like a calm, controlled gentleman as he sat next to Bahamut. Cid, on the other hand, was more clumsy at the other side of Carbuncle, frequently spilling his tea as he poured and drinking it too fast, causing him to burn his mouth. His tongue was periodically sticking out from what was obviously a singe. That left Ceja and Cryder, who had both been seated as far away as possible on purpose. Ceja cupped her hand around her teacup like a bowl and slurped, while Cryder filled up on the scones and cake, tossing them into his mouth when they were bite sized. Both left crumbs everywhere. To be honest…it was very embarrassing. Not just to Taraketh, but to Dael as well.

Mianyl finished a sip from her own cup and set it down. Her hands were again concealed in her sleeves. None of them had really been close enough to correctly see her claw-like fingers before and been able to confirm it, although Dael knew she had caught a glimpse of it during the battle for Esthar. However, from time to time, she'd see some of her thick nails just inside the sleeve. No doubt, that was why Taraketh and Dael were seated so close to her, so that they'd be the only ones who could see it. She looked to Dael with a soft smile afterward.

"I'm hoping I didn't interrupt or ruin anything with this request." She informed her. "I know it may seem a bit frivolous…but I know that if I tried to get through a day without taking a rest for tea, I'd lose my mind. Especially now."

"Oh…oh no, my lady." Dael answered. "I think we could all use some time to take things easy for a bit. Especially with this upcoming mission."

Mianyl nodded. "Yes, I'm already aware of where you'll be going next." Her face fell a little as she sighed. "…It seems the only time I ever get to say anything to you is before a crisis. That's the other reason I wanted to have this tea with you all. I appreciate greatly all that you've been doing for Esthar." She turned and looked to Taraketh. The High Child grew a bit more nervous, but not as much as he used to. He seemed to be stabilizing more. She smiled at him.

"And I'm proud of how far all of you have come, including you, Sir Sabian." She told him. "Not only in terms of power, but in terms of within. I'm very happy to see that you're not at odds with non-members of the Order of Hyne now. And I can tell your progress has come far. You've grown very much as an individual, Taraketh. I'm happy."

Taraketh actually turned a bit red. He opened his mouth for a moment, but then closed it again. For a moment, Dael thought he was going to use this as his time to ask if he was now ready to become her Sorceress Knight. However, it seemed rules of propriety stopped him. You didn't ask that…the Sorceresses gave it to you.

Mianyl looked out to the others and exhaled. "…Events as of late made me envy you all quite a bit, I admit." She said a bit quietly. "All my power and prestige and honors…and it seems my duty some days is little more than acting as a 'great cheerleader'. I'm supposedly the greatest mage on Gaia, and yet I can't go anywhere without 20 people, both from Esthar as well as the Order of Hyne, insisting on being escorts and guards. I can't even reach for a glass of water without someone getting it for me first…and yet it's you and others like you who are traveling to the ends of Gaia and enduring hardships and difficulties for the sake of all of our futures."

"Don't downplay your role, my lady." Bahamut spoke up after a moment. "Moral and resolve have accomplished more than sheer feats of power countless times through history. Lose that, and there's no force behind any power we possess."

"This may not be exactly what you'd like to hear, my lady," Dael added. "But from a military mindset, I can tell you that, on the field, we know that everyone 'has their place'. Even if it's only someone watching a radio, it's important. It's the sort of thing you don't realize is so important until you don't have it. Then a unit falls apart. They actually do runs like that to let us learn not to downplay the importance of others. I believe this is your part, and it's an important one. Plus…" She paused, but then gave a small shrug. "…We all know without you we couldn't have repelled Tiamat."

"What kind of attack was that anyway?" Quaren suddenly interjected. Immediately, he went white and shrank down, especially when Mianyl turned her aura on him. Most of the others were too nervous to even say anything to Mianyl in this situation. He was no exception, especially since he had asked the question so "casually". "Um, sorry, m-my lady… I didn't mean to-"

She cut him off with a chuckle. "We're all friends here, corporal. There's no reason to be afraid of me. I'd prefer it if more people would talk to me like I was a normal person." She paused and inhaled. "To answer your question, it's a technique that was called a 'Delta Attack'. It has origins in antiquity but, as you could see, can only be performed by three individuals."

Bahamut reacted a bit to this. Mianyl seemed to notice, and looked to him. "…Is something the matter, Lord Bahamut?

He paused momentarily, getting the stares of the others. "…No." He finally responded. "I just…just remembered another attack that required three individuals to perform."

The Sorceress paused for a moment, but seemed to guess what he was thinking. "…The Jihad?"

"Well…Griever called it the 'Purifier', but yes." Bahamut responded.

"I can see why you would be a bit disturbed on any attack similar to that…but please remember numerous other entities have employed a 'Delta Attack' through the years." Mianyl answered.

"Yes, of course." Bahamut answered. "It just…I don't know…" He trailed off and shook his head. "It's nothing. Plesae, continue, my lady."

"At any rate, your thanks should also go to Lady Faerio and Lady Cybus." Mianyl continued, looking back to the others. "It doesn't work unless all three of us are together, after all, and Lady Faerio naturally got the worst… Her power may be greater than any other mage on Gaia, but she's still the youngest and weakest of our order."

"…Is Lady Faerio alright?" Cid finally asked, seeming to gather enough boldness at last. "…My lady?" He quickly added.

Mianyl smiled and nodded. "The doctor said she was fully recovered this morning and she's resumed her duties. She probably would have been back up sooner. Goodness knows she was giving the doctors a hard time. She was eager to get back to work fighting again." She chuckled. "I'll bet she lost her temper more than once. 'The Dayspark' wasn't just a clever title, of course. The title indicates the personality of the Sorceresses, and Faerio is, without a doubt, the most 'fiery' of all of us. Even now, it still grows reckless sometimes." She exhaled, her face falling a bit again. "…On the other hand, perhaps we should have paid her more mind. We could have avoided a lot of this."

There was a moment of silence, before Dael shook her head. "My lady, it's pointless to dwell on it now. Besides, compared to our own Legislature, no one will accuse you of 'lying down on the job'."

The Sorceress smiled in response. "…Thank you, dear. You're right, of course. I suppose I'm just like everyone else when it comes down to it. There are days where we wish we could do more in spite of what talents we already have."

She hesitated, her face falling a bit more.

"…I wish I was going on this mission with you, to be honest." She admitted after a moment. "If the captured members of the Order of Hyne are really there along with who knows how many civilians, being tortured for some horrid purpose, I owe it to them to come to their aid. But I can't."

She looked out with greater focus on the group.

"…That's why I'm counting on all of you. No matter what happens, please…if you find such a facility, make sure that it isn't capable of hurting any more people."

Dael was actually a bit taken aback. The Sorceress looked like she was focusing on them for the first time, actually giving them a "side mission". Perhaps she didn't say it directly, but between the power she possessed and the way she said it, it was unmistakable that this was what she was doing. However, Dael only needed to look at Mianyl's face and into her lavender eyes to see why she was doing it. She realized that for all of her own individual weakness and inadequacies she felt, it was far worse for the Sorceress. Like she said, she was one of the greatest mages in the world, and all she could do was wander around in a "gilded cage", unable to take the front line and use her power to strike back against Sybenia until they were literally knocking at their door. These were her people who had been captured, and she had been forced, due to issues of duty and diplomacy, to just sit there and watch be taken away to who knew what fate. She couldn't go to save them herself, so she was relying on the group to do it for her. And that was a tall responsibility.

It was also one that Dael didn't intend to shy away from.

She gave a firm nod to the Sorceress in response, her tone and face growing resolute.

"I swear we will not fail, Lady Mianyl."

* * *

><p>By now…leaving for a new mission, even with everyone, was fairly routine. Not too much gear was stored for the trip. After all, this would very much be an "in-and-out" mission under a very small window of time, regardless of how much distance they had to travel to get there. Dael also realized that the only thing more dangerous than where they would be going would be Sybenia itself. At a lower level of security, Cryder had barely made it out after weeks of planning. This was somewhere much worse, and there wasn't going to be any handy mountain rivers to escape along. However, she had gone about her duty and made sure all weaponry was in order. Unfortunately, the supply depo was dry when it came to more mage bullets. Instead, Dael picked up some components. Hopefully Cid could make some en route. She wanted to be at her best.<p>

After loading up only enough gear for a couple days, Dael, Carbuncle, and Bahamut headed down bright and early the next morning, well before dawn. Carbuncle was reluctant, but Bahamut stroked his ego with talk of how they needed an accomplished teleporter to rescue potential POWs, meaning he was in. She met up with the others en route, and soon they were at the gate, all laden with their respective gear and weapons. Everyone looked a bit nervous. This was a big one, after all. If they succeeded in this mission…then they would remove any chance of Sybenia winning a "quick war" and would give Esthar a fighting chance. They might also be able to shut down whatever operation was allowing them to produce the Elite Hounds. That was quite a bit of pressure for everyone, especially considering where they were going with little backup or intelligence.

Dael soon realized just how serious they were about using speed as a method of keeping secrets. They weren't even taking a convoy or truck to the shore. A trio of Stratoaevises were waiting for them instead. Almost immediately after arriving at the gate, a private came out and escorted them to the helipad. Dael's last experience on one of these hadn't ended well, but she got on just the same. However, it didn't take her long to notice that two of them were more than sufficient for the entire group, large and odd as some of their equipment and weapons might have been. As the roar of the engines whipped her hair and muffled her voice, the commander managed to ask the private a question.

"What's the third Stratoaevis for?"

"Ma'am, we're on a tight schedule! Please get in!" Was all he responded over the din. In spite of not getting a good answer, Dael merely got in and buckled up. Soon, they were off in the sky and shooting for the southern shore. She looked out the window just long enough to see the third Stratoaevis coming with them.

As they neared the landing site, Dael finally got a look at the devastation she had only heard about on the radio. Sure enough…it was extensive. The worst part was that she couldn't see much due to the darkness, for the sky was only now beginning to turn a little purple and few lights were being deployed on the shore. Sybenia hadn't left a single building standing. The _Excalibur_ would have most certainly been destroyed if they hadn't relocated it. Most of the public earthmovers were at work here, but even after nearly two weeks, they had only just managed to clear the rubble. Definitely no rebuilding had occurred. Instead, the engineers they had within Esthar had gotten to work building a temporary dock. Unfortunately, that was pretty much all it was…a place to land boats. There wasn't enough to enact any sort of dry-dock repairs, which was a problem. The rubble was mostly being used to barricade the shore, and most of the guns that had been recovered and salvaged were being used for shoreline defense. All in all…it was rather pathetic even now, but Dael had to admit it was still better than what they had been when this started.

A temporary landing strip had been erected at the shore, but it was only good to receive incoming Stratoaevis craft, and even then only three at a time could land. That just happened to be what they had on hand, and no one else had landed, although there were several idle Stratoaevis craft nearby. They were probably being saved for emergencies in the next invasion. At any rate, she held on, looking forward in the craft until she felt it touch down. She had already gathered her things and had them at her feet. A moment later, the pilots gave her the "go" sign, and she quickly exited with practiced speed.

Out on the landing pad, with less building cover, the engines whipped her hair and clothes about furiously. She ignored it as best as she could and began to clear the area so that the aircraft could take off again. This was only supposed to be a shuttle mission, after all. As the others began to follow, filing out one after another, with Ceja taking some time due to axe size and Cid taking some time to get all of his things together, Dael looked to the south as she waited.

Sitting in the harbor at the temporary dock was the _Excalibur_, back to its full brilliance and beauty. She almost smiled to look at it. After all, the boat seemed more like "their ship" than the _Enterprise_ did. It helped that no one other than maintenance men and engineers had touched it since they had been in it last. Its only duty it had ever seen was while they were using it.

Carbuncle followed on Dael's heels while leaving, jumping on her pack in the end as she went out. Jalab came out of the other at the same time. Taraketh was next, followed by Quaren from the other side. Next came Bahamut and Cryder. As they arrived, and Ceja and Cid struggled with their own things, Dael, however, saw her gaze shifting over to the other Stratoaevis. There seemed to be some argument going on…but she saw one thing wsa clear. A High Child of Hyne had dismounted, and seemed to be trying to get someone else to come out.

Dael looked to that curiously. She didn't know they normally allowed themselves to be shuttled by the military… After a moment, she looked over to Quaren. "Corporal…any ideas of who's over there?" She called a bit loudly over the engine noise.

He shook his head. "No, sir. I asked them about it during the flight, but they said they didn't know either. They didn't know about us until the last minute though. They're really trying to not leave a paper trail on this mission."

"I didn't hear anything from the Order about more Children or High Children being sent…" Taraketh admitted. "I don't know anything about that either."

Even as they were talking, however, Dael spotted something else. Someone was approaching them, wincing a bit in the wind from the engines. As Cid and Ceja finally exited, the Stratoaevis craft begin to lift off again…at least, two of them did. That would cut down on it a bit, but for the moment it only picked up. Between the wind and the darkness, it was hard for Dael to make out who was incoming. But as the individual drew closer, she started to recognize a uniform, insignia, rank, and finally a face. It was Captain Vesver.

As he neared, Dael immediately put down her pack, causing Carbuncle to give a yell, before giving a salute. Quaren did much the same. He came to a stop before them and saluted back.

"At ease, commander…corporal."

Both of them relaxed.

"You've come a long way, Levinson." He commented. "A far cry from that raw recruit who couldn't keep her mouth shut in her first meeting. Anyway…I'm not here to talk about nostalgia. I'm here on request from Colonel Regalis to personally deliver this order. There's been another last minute change. There's another addition to your task force for this mission, picked by the Grand Chancellor herself."

Dael looked a bit puzzled at that. "…Begging your pardon, sir, but we met personally with her ladyship yesterday, and she didn't mention anything about this."

"She told me to inform you that she wasn't aware of it herself until late last night. You see, this individual volunteered, and appearently there was some dispute over whether or not she could go."

Dael picked up on one word. "…She, sir?"

Captain Vesver didn't answer. He stood to one side, and gestured back to third Stratoaevis.

The High Child had finally gotten in again, and a single individual, alone, dismounted, with a pack over her shoulder. She quickly ran away from the aircraft. Between her light, more "common" dress and the pack over her shoulders, not to mention her age, she looked like little more than some lost kid running across the temporary tarmac. However, everyone gave pause to see who it was. As she neared the group, the captain stood aside and at attention, but she ignored them to grin at Dael.

"Last minute, I know…but we've already had so many laughs together…I figured you wouldn't mind if I joined the party." Sorceress Faerio stated as she caught her breath from her short run. "After what happened in Esthar…I want to be more 'hands on'."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	49. Lot 28

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright...this chapter is much longer than I intended. I easily could have made two chapters out of it, but I didn't want to end in a dull part, and I wanted to include some of the promised action. Also, I had a hard time writing it. On one hand, I didn't want to tie it down with more "filler", but on the other hand I didn't want to immediately go "poof" and have them be in the facility, especially since it's supposed to be such high security. Anyway...this chapter is 35 pages long, so by the time you read it, I'll probably have been editting it for several hours. Pardon me if I miss things.

* * *

><p><em>36 Hours Later<em>

* * *

><p>Dael was, in all honesty, a bit surprised to see Faerio there. Yet as both Vesver and the Sorceress herself indicated, this was very much a "last minute" deal. Faerio had scarcely left the secure wing of the hospital when she learned of the mission, and almost immediately insisted on going. Lady Mianyl had been skeptical. Letting Faerio go meant that they would no longer have her power to defend Esthar itself with, especially in regards to another "delta attack". However, she had been insistent. Dael believed, ultimately, the reason she had let her go is that Faerio was still both young and "low-ranked" enough to where, although her presence was considered a boon to Esthar, she could do more good "abroad", especially to such a key mission.<p>

Naturally, the whole matter was kept secret. No one could know that Faerio had departed, as the knowledge that a Sorceress had left on a mission would certainly put Sybenia on edge, and might have a detrimental effect on the people of Esthar at large. Even losing one Sorceress temporarily could have a deleterious effect. Hence, aside from Dael's own group and a fistful of individuals, no one even knew she was coming.

Faerio was as fiery and fiesty as she had been in their previous meetings, if not more so now. Dael realized that out of all the Sorceresses, she felt the most anger at anything that would make her "sit still". To be honest, it almost unnerved Dael a bit that way she talked about being eager to "kick Sybenian ass", which was rather crude given her age as well as position. Not to mention it seemed a lot less balanced and controlled relative to the other Sorceresses. However, Dael wasn't about to dispute it. They could use her help at the moment, after all. Faerio had little time to prepare herself for the mission, but she had already turned almost all of her focus toward teleportation magic, no doubt to be able to move large numbers of people away at once if need be. Considering her power, Dael wouldn't be surprised if she could give Carbuncle a run for his money. She also stuck to duty. She had scarcely come on board the Excalibur before she quickly retreated to a room with Cid, and resumed her preparation.

The Sorceress did have an uplifting effect on everyone, helping them to move more quickly, decisively, and readily. The biggest effect, naturally, was on Cid, who seemed to now have an attitude that they "couldn't lose". This was good news for Dael. It meant that he went right to work crafting new mage bullets for her, which would give her some more capabilities of her own. Everyone else moved right back into their old bunks. However, Dael tried to keep as much of the ship clear as possible, and went about sprucing up the medlab. They would no doubt have need of both a lot of room as well as medical facilities if they ended up finding POWs. Dael had begun to realize shortly after they left port that there was a chance that there were more people in that facility than they could transport aboard the relatively small Excalibur. She told herself they would have to somehow manage. She wasn't leaving anyone to rot in that hole if there were people there.

The group had 36 hours...an entire day to themselves on the open ocean. But at this point, there was little to do that Dael had not already done, or the rest of them for that matter, other than a little practice. Dael's ability to utilize the "spiritual dividing" power, as she had begun to call it, was coming more under her control all the time. The "Climhazard" skill could almost be done as easily as the weaker ones now, and much more readily and rapidly. Dael even thought she might be able to make an additional skill work. Something about the way she was training indicated that she could see an additional way to use her power. After all, all of her other techniques had been discovered more or less by "accident", or even trial and error. Why not another one? She had a feeling this one was rather big, much like the Climhazard, but she couldn't quite "hit it" yet. And, unfortunately, it was unlikely she would discover it by chance. The way it seemed to work is that she would only find these powers out at the last possible moment, probably in a crisis situation. Rather than try to push it too hard, she tried to sharpen up on her magic. Alexander had given her new healing powers, so she tried to use those rather than focus on Holy. She didn't quite have the mental fortitude for that one, and even if she did it would drain her. She preferred to sharpen the abilities she had, namely the images and teleportation. Better to sharpen what she was good at then to overload herself with new powers she scarcely had a grasp on...

Dael went to bed early, and even went so far as to pad her mattress and give herself extra covers. This "personal spoiling" was done to ensure that she would get a nice, long rest. She didn't need to be waking up in the night now. All of her wits had to be at her best. She was wandering right into the thick of danger once again, after all, and possibly the most hostile situation yet.

In spite of that, however, she couldn't help but stay rather calm. She figured this was almost foolishness on her part, but she couldn't deny it. She had braved tundra, desert, and the open ocean. She had been in fiery naval battles, scorched earth urban battlescapes, and stacked against monstrous horrors the world could only imagine. She had lived to see Tiamat's face, conquer a Tonberry King, and hunted a dozen Cactuars. Compared to all of these threats, going up against some human opponents and "normal" security measures was almost a relief. Perhaps it wasn't enough to make her feel completely confident, but she had come far enough to realize she shouldn't think of herself as "helpless" before certain threats any longer. She had grown too strong and experienced for them. Even if they were going into this situation more or less "blind", she could still succeed. They all could.

The rest of the time Dael didn't spend sleeping or getting in her last-minute practice, she stood on the deck of the ship again. She thought back to her trip through the Belk Snowfields, and realized something that was, in her opinion, silly. The real reason she felt she had her nightmare, the real reason she was so ill at ease during their trip, didn't have anything to do with the monsters in those tunnels...but because she was almost "buried alive" for a few days. She began to realize as hard, taxing, and, most of all, completely frigid the first and last parts of the trip had been, she had been remarkably peaceful and controlled. They had been far away from anything "man-made" or unnatural, in an untouched part of the world. It brought her a sense of well-being, as well as seemed to enable her to concentrate on her abilities easier. And on the middle of the ocean, shooting through the day and the following night, she received her only other taste of that sort of relaxation. In fact, she realized just the mere thought of being anywhere near the slice of urban blight and pollution that had been Leuco made her grimace. She was a bit confused. Since when had she become such a "naturalist"?

At any rate, such pursuits left her head, as well as everyone else's, around the six hour mark. Although the Excalibur had stealth capabilities to an extent, there was no sense getting sloppy. Sybenia was ratcheting up its "game" too, after all, and even if it wasn't there was a good chance some minor patrol boat might spot them. It was daylight, after all. On that note, Dael ordered the weapons to be prepared, and prayed they wouldn't have to use them. If they had to "shoot their way out", that was not only acceptable, but very possible given how they had done against the Sybenian Navy before. But they needed to get in and stay hidden carefully enough. The fact that the shores probably had additional security measures after Leuco had been secretly invaded once during her first mission probably didn't help.

Everyone once again prepared. Taraketh, Ceja, Cryder, Jalab, Bahamut, and Carbuncle had little more than their traditional equipment, or lack thereof, although they had been given something else this time around...explosives and detonators. All of them had a few high powered bombs on them with the intention of using them for sabotage work. Quaren himself carried extra bombs and a "detonator override", something that could set off any of the other bombs they had even if the original detonators were damaged or turned off. He also had filled up both on rifle bullets, handgun bullets, armor-piercers, and even a few anti-tank rounds. After having talked with the Esthar government, in spite of the staggering cost, the Grand Chancellor had given enough funds to Cid to be able to assemble not one but two more of the cores for his "Atomic Hammer". He had also had enough time during the trip to produce a Flare bullet and a Meteor bullet. The last was a bit "random", but would be helpful...if it managed to hit. Both of them likewise packed up some extra explosives. Dael didn't feel the slightest bit uneasy about putting enough bombs to detonate a skyscraper, if placed at the correct points, on her back. Esthar's Hawks had long since made their explosive compounds incredibly stable. You could hold a blowtorch to the bombs for an hour and not trigger a detonation. Some of the others, not trusting that "science" so much, were more ill at ease. But nevertheless, everyone packed onto the deck or the bridge and waited.

They didn't pick up any transmissions right away, even as the "zero hour" neared. Their attack force, after all, was running on radio silence, even in the coded channels, to enhance secrecy. And deciphering Sybenian codes revealed nothing other than generalized banter about directing patrols and ship movements. They were still well outside of view of both the shore and any border patrol ships when the _Excalibur_ was slowed to a crawl.

Dael inhaled and exhaled slowly. Getting in and out last time had been simple enough, but the "getting in" part had only been due to the fact that they left security lax on the hopes that they would come after Bahamut. Apparently, Sybenia believed in the power of Dael's task force before even Esthar did. Now, a bit of nervousness settled in at last, the result of playing the "waiting game". That was always the worst part of any armed conflict.

Naturally, Cid and Cryder were both on the bridge, manning the helm. Quaren was again stuck on the countermeasures, while Bahamut took the weapons, same as before. Faerio herself, who stood near Dael on the bridge, thought that was a bit odd, but after learning about the last naval battle they were in, she didn't dispute it. Ceja, Taraketh, and Jalab had both taken position on the front deck, flanking either side of the turret. Carbuncle took up his old position (which Dael had grown accustomed not to having) of perching around her neck. She realized they had more powerful weapons under their command now than last time, but, unfortunately, they couldn't do much better than Siren and Pandemona. Leviathan would destroy them along with the enemy, while Alexander would require more than one of them to summon.

Faerio was attentive, but eager. She lacked the composure of her older "sisters". She seemed eager to get into a fight, even more so than a crazed recruit. Her hand grasped a metal handle that Dael figured was the focal point for her flaming whip. She had dressed very drab and inconspicuous for this mission. Dael wasn't really sure how she had managed it, as it seemed that anyone in the Order of Hyne had only a small set of clothes to choose from, but somehow she had gained some rather "common" attire. They weren't exactly camouflage, but they were drab enough to make her avoid suspicion. Even a Sorceress' typical "battle garb" was a bit too flamboyant and colorful even if it was more motile. And Dael was glad she wasn't wearing that weird "crest" deal that they usually put on. That would make her stick out like a sore thumb. As it was, Cid was already constantly looking to her. It seemed he wanted to be able to drop whatever he was doing and act like a human shield at any moment.

Dael looked to Faerio for a moment. She couldn't deny the power of the Sorceress even if she was a child, especially since she had saved their lives once already and had helped drive off Tiamat. Still...she had to admit, she looked a little too eager. This was a highly sensitive operation. And although their own task force might have been a bit "unconventional", Dael intended to treat this with all the seriousness and as much "by-the-bookness" as it deserved. Faerio looked ready to just start blasting her way in. Perhaps Dael was beginning to think more like Mianyl and worry about her potential recklessness... Technically, even though she had saved them once in Leuco already, she left Garrado to do it.

"You seem a bit...on edge, my lady." Dael finally stated. After all, she wasn't sure if she could just openly chastise her. At this point, if Dael had any more respect for the Sorceresses, one might accuse her of being an Order of Hyne member herself. However, on hearing her own weak tone of voice, she immediately told herself to step it up. Sorceress or not, this was Dael's show. She had the right to exert authority. Order of Hyne or no, Faerio was a civilian.

The girl, however, looked to her with a smile. "Just eager is all, commander." She answered. "This is finally my big chance to show Sybenia that they can't avoid the wrath of the Sorceresses by just keeping their distance. We actually get to strike back. And I'm eager to make them pay for what they've been doing to our order."

Dael had to admit...she felt a bit unnerved by that. If it was anyone else, she could have agreed. But this was coming from the lips of a Sorceress.

"...Very well, my lady. But..." She paused. What was the best way to respond to this? "I thought, well...I'm not used to the Sorceresses taking a direct route. I mean, I'm appreciative, no doubts there. But...well, Sir Sabian for example. I know that Lady Mianyl is always telling him to keep more focused and to not lose control. To not strike out of anger..."

Faerio cut her off with a sigh. "...And now, the military of Esthar starts to lecture me too."

Dael froze. She wondered if she had said too much. The Sorceress turned to her with a tired, but more reassuring look.

"...I meant I wanted to scare them and wreck their stuff...not go on a massacre, commander." She answered.

The young officer paused. "I'm sorry, my lady. I wasn't insinuating-"

Faerio looked away, cutting her off again. "Everyone thinks because I'm so young that I'm completely reckless, even out of control sometimes. That I won't adhere to the tenets of the order. Commander...Dael...I'm a Descendant of Hyne. I'd be the last person to violate our code. Sure, I may get upset some times. I may get frustrated. I may wish we would stop messing around with public appearances and tea ceremonies and would actually get our hands dirty. I mean, what good is our power if we never use it? We have the power to change this world for the better. We're not going to do it just making 'lofty speeches' and 'sharing and caring'. The only thing some people understand is a punch in the mouth. You have to know that better than anyone in the Order of Hyne, commander."

Although Dael had to admit the girl had a point...she was a bit amazed to hear it coming from her. She didn't realize exactly how "untypical" Faerio's stance was in regards to the world at large. She pictured the other Sorceresses as being much more calm and controlled. She was something else all together. No wonder Mianyl had been so uneasy around her.

"...While I won't confirm or deny what you say, my lady, I will say there's a time for both war and peace, and that's it's no more right to neglect one than to neglect the other. Sybenia has a great deal of power, but I think we would all prefer if they used it a 'bit less'."

Faerio continued to frown. "...You remind me of Lady Cybus, commander. Always trying to use 'examples'. Even if what you say is true, I'd say the time for aggression has come. Anything we've succeeded at so far in this war hasn't been due to 'peace offerings' or 'olive branches', but from making Sybenia hurt. If it's true that we should protect people rather than kill them, then we owe it those people who are suffering or who are victims to give our all. To use everything we have to save them. Maybe if we had made Rozan Heirarch 'wet his pants' rather than try to reason with him, we could have delayed the war or even stopped it before it began. Being peaceful is one thing. Being a doormat is another. We don't have to become monsters ourselves, but we have to let our enemies know they can't just do what they want to us and we'll just stand there like sheep herded into a slaughterhouse."

Dael couldn't deny any of these things...but she felt herself nevertheless growing a bit unsettled to hear them. Faerio sounded more reckless than any Order of Hyne member she had ever met. She was kind and wise just like the others...but she was also young and impulsive. The woman began to wonder if having her along was such a good thing after all...in spite of what she had done for them before. She decided, all things considered, it definitely was...but she was still more than a little nervous about the entire thing. She knew now why Mianyl looked so tired that one time after she had met with her...

"Commander? My lady?"

Both young women turned and looked to the console. Cid had one of his ears in the headset for the radio console, and he looked up and over to them.

"They gave the 'buzzword' on one of the coded channels. They're starting the attack."

* * *

><p>The timing was close to perfect. The sun had begun to go down right as the attack began. It was fully down, and the sky black, by the time the <em>Excalibur<em> reached the range of the long range sensors of the enemy, although they were running stealth. The sky was clear, and would be for the next two days, but it was a new moon, meaning the only illumination was stars. All lights were turned off to ensure that they wouldn't be spotted on the open ocean. The radar was engaged, and the prototype warship began to make its way close enough to shore to land.

The way was very slow. The ship's own radar was tuned forward, looking for the slightest sign of a blip. Every time one was encountered, Dael quickly told Cid to power down the engines and make them advance slower. However, nothing ever went further than that. None of the ships they encountered paused to look back. On deck, Ceja stated that she would see flashing lights far in the distance, the sign that some sort of fire or explosions were going off. The battle was no doubt getting underway. Dael honestly hoped they could drag this out. The _Ragnarok_ was formidable, but in the end it was only one ship. It had no aircraft to utilize in a major conflict. If they could afford to, she was certain they would have sent some Stratoaevis aircraft along, but she knew that would do little against fighters. Like the colonel said, they could perform a sortie, but not much else. At any rate, the ships gradually began to move off, and none of them held their position. Sybenia was definitely advancing its full force on that location. They knew they had the numbers advantage, she reasoned, so they were willing to leave some openings in their defenses if it meant they could deal the enemy a blow they couldn't bounce back from. The way cleared, and the ship advanced. They slowed down twice more, but after that the path was totally clear. Dael quickly ordered the ship to move to full speed and personally kept an eye on the radar. She was timing this. The attack force had vowed to give them 16 hours, but she was cancelling the operation at 14. She wouldn't take the risk on something so serious. In all honesty, she wondered if they could even go that long... At any rate, the clock was ticking. She had started the timer ever since they made the first call. Currently, an hour had already gone by.

It seemed they weren't just trying to keep the fight going... They were trying to "escalate" it rapidly to hurry up and draw more of the enemy away. Dael thought, for a moment, some of them should have been paired with the attack force. However, she pushed that aside. No sense worrying about it now.

After another 30 minutes, the area began to show up on long range sensors. It was dark of course, save for the occasional searchlight. No doubt they were under raid conditions and ordering a blackout. There was a light right in the direction they were headed for, but Dael didn't worry. Instead, she located the large rock formation on the radar. Cid began to pilot them toward it. En route, the shore light went out, about two minutes before their landing. Good timing, as far as Dael was considered. If this was Class III doing its job, no doubt the only ones who didn't know that it was on would be anyone who actually examined it themselves. The system would say it was still illuminated the entire time. Dael was betting that the defenses were spread so thin that they couldn't hope to cover everything at once, but even if they weren't...so long as the group moved fast, it wouldn't matter. The searchlight would be back on in no time.

At this point, Dael moved onto the deck herself. The night was perfect. She couldn't even tell the boulder was there, despite nearly being on it. It was a bit dark even for her, but she went about helping the others. As they couldn't land directly, they were making use of larger landing rafts to be able to make the shore, ones that they would have used for "island drop" missions with larger groups. Dael thought of only taking one to make things easier, but between their number and the gear, she finally decided to opt for two instead. Each one had its own motor, so there was no problem with rowing to shore. Once getting them out and putting them into the water, they inflated instantly. After quickly tethering them, the group loaded them up with weapons...being careful with ones like Ceja's, which was a large, naked, sharpened axe.

After that, the ship was anchored, right in a position where it was somewhat tucked away in a "nook". Cid had found a fairly good spot. It would take time to find it even if you were looking and knew where it was. However, it still wasn't nearly as good as the previous spot. If a ship approached from the opposite side of the battle, half of it would be sticking out in plain sight. And when the sun came up tomorrow, the last "veil" would be torn away. They had to work fast.

As they threw in their last few things, powered down the ship as much as possible, and then all moved to start loading up, Dael heard Quaren's voice in the darkness.

"Commander?"

"Yes, corporal?"

"...Do we have any contingency in case the _Excalibur_ gets found and captured or destroyed during this mission?"

"No we don't, corporal. Like most of this mission, we'll have to wing it, I'm afraid."

"...Just checking, sir."

Everyone soon loaded up. Carbuncle, who knew full well he'd stand out too much, slipped himself into Dael's pack, grumbling all the way about how cramped and uncomfortable the trip would be. The boats took a bit of skill to operate, but not much. Quaren stationed himself on one while Dael did so on the other, as both had training in operating these boats. Moments later, they were taking off for the shore.

Dael, on her part, kept her weapons close. It had taken them about eight minutes all together to get this far. She wasn't sure if that was enough of an "issue" to send an armed garrison, but she didn't want to take the chance. She figured that they would use lights, at any rate, if they came in, but there was no sense to take chances. Her main fear was that the searchlight would come back on right as they were approaching. However, none of that happened. The light remained dark, regardless of how long the trip seemed to take. At their speed, landing couldn't have taken more than five minutes. Naturally, it seemed to be close to half an hour, but at any rate, they made it. They had to keep the lights off, and even Dael, with her enhanced physiology, couldn't tell when they had landed. Jalab, riding in her raft, informed her, just as Ceja did the same for her raft. A few moments later, they plunged the end of the rubber rafts into the sand.

Quickly, the group gathered their things and began to dismount. However, they had scarcely begun when shapes seemed to come out of the darkness, barely visible in the dim light that she could see. They quickly grabbed onto the raft even before they were out. Dael didn't question it, but joined them.

"Commander Levinson?" She heard ahead in the darkness.

"Present." She called back.

The voice angled to her. "I'm Captain Colfo. Let's get these rafts off the shore. If there's POWs involved, we'll try to secure a larger ride...but we were informed those in your group have alternate methods of getting off the shore."

Dael noted that the captain didn't defer to Lady Faerio. That was all the better as far as she was concerned. She really didn't need the Sorceress getting excess attention during this mission. Nevertheless, with their group actually pulling the rafts, the others weren't very necessary. They easily pulled the loads all by themselves. However, Dael assumed at least some of their group had night vision goggles. That way they could at least tell where they were going. Being Esthar's Hawks, they didn't waste much time. They moved very quickly. Dael, on her part, was fine with that and stayed beside them, following their lead.

"We can talk freely here." The voice came again through the darkness. "This beach is clear. The homes have long since vacated and we've been sweeping it all day for signs of any soldiers they might have left behind. You can't see it, but we already have a car on the shore. We're moving out in less than a minute. As soon as we're clear, the lights are coming back on. Thank you for docking so quickly. You must have kept an eye out for us."

"What can you tell us?" Dael asked, lapsing back into "officer mode".

"Unfortunately, not much. This area is normally unsafe, but we managed to set up this mission a bit better than 'spur of the moment'. Farther away from here, the guard becomes thick enough to where it's impossible to move by vehicle anywhere, and the landscape itself is both rough and filled with stationed soldiers with orders to kill on sight, usually by sniping. We'll give you the coordinates for your GPS once we're on the truck of the 'extraction point', although all we can do from there is get you back to shore. Keep in mind, we're counting on you leaving quite a 'bang' on this mission, enough to where the enemy is so disorientated that they won't think to pursue you to that location. We can hopefully slip out in the wake of whatever emergency vehicles you can manage. However, keep in mind, we can't take more than 20 POWs at the most at present. If there's any more, we'll need some advance warning. Code 7 should be high security enough outside of the fenced area of the compound, but any closer and the scanners and decoders will probably make it too risky."

Dael didn't bother mentioning the fact that if they found any "change of plans" that had to be made, they were going to likely figure it out somewhere within the highest level of security within the facility, not well outside of it. However, the young officer figured he was saying that as a matter of courtesy, not necessarily practicality. Besides...one never knew. Although she didn't know how she was supposed to hide over 20 POWs long enough to get out and give that message.

They dropped off the raft soon after. The people in black took them by the shoulders and began to lead them in a new direction as the captain continued.

"As you well know, we have very little informaton about this location. All we can confirm is that the facility itself is quite extensive and has considerable above-ground buildings. There are probably even more on sub-levels, but we don't know that for a fact and, if that is the case, how many access points there are. We should be able to bypass most of the security on entry, but coming back out, we can confirm there is a great deal of 'unlisted' security, in the form of bunkers, hidden checkpoints and towers, concealed monitors and protocal...even a few mines and anti-personnel explosives. Keep that in mind if you're forced to escape into the countryside. Other than that, and the fact that it's pulling a considerable amount of electricity from an auxillary generator, indicating they have numerous security countermeasures, there's little we can say. Once we get you in, you're on your own."

"How do get we in, sir?" Dael asked as a dark shape loomed...some form of truck. One of the figures moved forward and opened up a strange door that seemed to lift into the air. The group began to be led inside, one after another. Dael couldn't make out what they were doing exactly, but it seemed they were climbing up something tall and then ducking into something smaller.

"We have found one weakness in the facility." The voice answered. "Part of it was critically damaged last month, enough to where they needed to make major repairs and expansions. They let in a lot of private companies, against the wishes of the Sybenian military. The bottom line...that lets us sneak in a lot of construction equipment. We managed to modify a cement mixer into a transport. We had it ready a while ago, as a matter of fact, but we're employing it now. Security is far more lax as far as construction goes. It will at least get us past the perimeter. After that, however, it's almost entirely on your group. We'll be joining a convoy of mixers coming in at a blind turn closer to the facility. We have a schedule to keep, so..."

"Understood." Dael answered as she reached a metallic opening, which she could only really find by feeling rather than actually seeing. The other Esthar's Hawks helped her inside. It was pitch black within, but she moved around, bumping into her companions a bit, before finding a place to sit. On doing so, she sat and waited for the others. She supposed it was a good thing that none of them were visible. It kept the operatives from asking question about why two of the group were "child-sized". At any rate, they were all loaded. When Dael felt a furball land on her lap and curl up, she knew Carbuncle was with them as well and was taking a breather from her pack. The door to the chamber was closed, and she heard the various operatives leaving the car itself.

A few moments later, she heard the roar of an engine before it began to chug away, and they were in motion. At this point, Cid turned on one of the lights he had brought, revealing a cramped, "oblong" interior that they were all stuffed inside. It was already hot, but Dael didn't mind. There were some ventilation holes, after all. She just hoped that it got them in. She had no idea what it looked like on the outside, after all.

The fake cement truck soon pulled off of the beach, onto the nearest road, and began to take off. In the interim between the final person loading and that, the agents had rapidly backpedaled with collapsable brushes, eroding much of the tracks they had made, but especially ones that the truck and boats had made. When the truck began to head down the road, the light came back on...revealing nothing but a sandy beach.

* * *

><p>There were no monitors or way of listening in clearly once inside the truck. Once on the road, the drivers announced they would knock three times when it was good to come out, and until then they were to stay quiet. All that Dael could tell for certain was that they were driving fast, obviously in a rush to get into position as soon as possible. The commander's watch lit up as they drove along, allowing her to see the time. As it continued to pass, they were soon down past thirteen hours...then twelve...then eleven...<p>

Dael didn't think they could get out via teleportation at this point. It certainly seemed like they were driving rather far inland, although, for all she knew, they were going up along the coast in a switchback path. It would make accessing the area a bit harder, after all. From time to time, she heard other car engines passing. That indicated that they were on some sort of main road, although she didn't know where or for how long. She realized, at this point, she wasn't even sure what this place looked like. Now that they were nearing the location, the lack of intelligence was truly starting to hit home. She was used to not going into situations like this. She usually had far more prior knowledge. She wasn't exactly sure what they were supposed to do with only the bare bones of a plan. She wasn't even sure where to set the explosives to do a good amount of damage...

She grew more on edge when the car began to slow down, and finally idled. She realized they had to be in a queue by now. She had no idea how many checkpoints or soldiers they had already passed, but she held still. Everyone had kept their things ready since boarding, or so she figured. After all, they sat silently. Even Faerio stayed quiet, no doubt, if nothing else, to not let anyone in their "escort" know that she was present. Time slowly ticked by. Occasionally, they moved forward only to stop again a few moments later. This confirmed to Dael that they were in some form of line. It also meant there were likely inspectors watching them and waiting, and they were probably armed. Everyone stayed still.

After a few minutes, Dael heard some noise outside of the vehicle after it came to one stop. They were too muffled to make out, but they were a mixture of rather bland and humorless, and also accosting. Dael knew the tone. It was Sybenian guards. She played it cool, leaving her hands on her weapons. They had to get ready for a fight if need be. However, it went over remarkably well, as it turned out. Based on the sound of the murmuring, everything seemed fairly routine. The only change was that there seemed to be a few sounds from the truck itself, like a door had opened up, and then someone had pulled a few levers. Dael wasn't sure what that was about, but considering the fact that this was Esthar's Hawks, who excelled at espionage, she wouldn't be surprised if the "outer layer" of the cement truck actually rotated, and even produced a small amount of concrete to show that no one could be riding in the back. In the end, they must have been flagged on, because the door shut again and the truck moved on.

The commander waited a few minutes more as the truck made a few twists and turns. She figured they were doing it to get away from any security cameras, but the fact of the matter was that they might not even know where they were located even if they were indeed trying. There was a chance they'd get spotted fairly readily. A few minutes later, and the truck finally came to a stop.

Dael waited a few moments, as did the others. A few noises seemed to cut out from around them. Finally, however, the fateful moment arrived. The sounds of a latch disengaging, which in turn highlighted a small crack of light around the hatch to the chamber, followed by three sharp knocks went out. That was the signal.

The commander immediately rose and walked over to the light. She reached out and pushed. As a result, the covering of the interior flipped open, and she saw that it indeed seemed to have an "outer layer", previously unseen, that could rotate around the first. The fact that she could see now was also noteworthy. There was enough dim light to be registered by her dark-adjusted eyes. The source seemed to be artificial area lighting farther ahead, of which only a dim, cast-off glow had made it this far. As she quickly exited, she did a quick look at her surroundings.

It wasn't the most concealed spot in the world, but probably the best they could do. Naturally, they didn't have trucks coming and going in and out at all hours bringing materials. That was too much of a security concern. Rather, most girders, bricks, and frames were all stacked up in piles on the edge of the actual construction site. They also had several piles of concrete materials. No doubt, some of the stuff had to be mixed on site. And, as luck would have it, they not only had a row of material piles, but actually a few columns as well, allowing the cement truck to stop in there momentarily.

As for the site itself...Dael could only see so much under the concealing piles of materials, but what she could see seemed to be numerous towers and smokestacks in the distance, mixed in with several lights. All lacked any form of aesthetic, and appeared to be purely industrial in nature. To be honest, it didn't even really look like a facility. Dael had enough experience through her training to recognize the major components of a small power plant and a refinery for old oil products. There wasn't much left in the world, but some still existed for commercial uses of oil, such as in plastics and the like. A power plant could be there for any reason. Auxillary supply, perhaps. The bottom line...there was nothing conspicuous about this area, which was probably exactly the way Sybenia wanted it.

One by one, the others exited. Ceja and Cid took the longest, naturally, with both of them taking some time to get their gear out. Faerio also needed a little help hopping out of the truck, and Carbuncle reluctantly reentered her pack. Looking back at it, Dael saw it did indeed look like a cement truck in every way. Even the chute on the back had a bit of concrete residue on it, indicating that even that "detail" was taken care of. Dael wondered if they would get any more of a briefing, but she doubted it. It was still night now, but the construction site was well-illuminated. This was one of the few areas with a lot of shadows to hide in. Most of the area was filled with floodlights. Rather good strategy. More lights meant it was easier to spot infiltrators, but also meant there was something to hide. A construction site was a good front for that. Yet Dael knew that it also meant there were eyes everywhere. No doubt, there were security cameras as well, and given the lack of intelligence, for all she knew they were being watched right now, although they hadn't heard a siren yet. On the other side of the material piles, she could hear heavy vehicles moving around and numerous construction workers calling out orders. That said nothing of how many guards had to be about, checking at regular intervals. She hoped they could do without disabling them for as long as possible. The bottom line...if someone wasn't watching them, it wouldn't be something that would last for very long. They had to be quick...and likely didn't have time for any more intelligence.

Sure enough, the last one to exit, Quaren, had hardly finished shutting the hatch and leaping down when the engines gunned again and the truck, which had never even gone into park, began to roll away. One last thing that was left behind, without a word, was a duffel bag being tossed out of the window at Dael's feet. The corporal gave it a bit of a look at that, as did Faerio and a few others. They seemed to be leaving them "high and dry". However, Dael knew that was part of the deal. Not wasting time on it, she quickly took up the bag, motioned everyone to get into the nearest set of "shadows", and led the way. There was little dispute. The others followed as the cement mixer reached the edge of the materials and moved out again.

As for Dael, she moved until she was in two sets of shadows and fairly well-concealed, and then went in enough to get the others before pausing. One by one, they went in after her, moving into the darkness and hiding as well. That done, they all paused a moment and looked to each other.

"Well...we're in."

"Relatively speaking, lass." Cryder grumbled. "More like we're in the midst of the hot zone... You would think they could have done a bit better."

"The moment we step out of this area, they're going to see us and sound an alarm, commander." Quaren stated. "We don't even know what kind of security they have in place. They may be monitoring us from all sides. And we can't stay here for very long." He gestured above the rubble to the horizon. Over a rocky hill, the sky was beginning to turn purple. "Once the sun comes up, we lose our only advantage."

Bahamut was more interested in the bag. "What's inside?"

Dael released her sword and bent over long enough to unzip it. She rifled through for a moment. "Combination of uniforms...probably the best they could get..." She murmured. "Some Sybenian soldier, guard class... Some construction workers... Some plant officials... Badges are purely costumes. Not official security clearance." She sighed and put the bag down. "The best these will do will keep people from looking at us."

"You sure about that, lass?" Cryder grimaced, gesturing to Bahamut and Faerio. "...Not unless it's 'take-your-brat-to-work-day'."

Dael frowned...realizing he had a point. Plus, she doubted they had ones that fit them. She gestured ahead. "Let's get closer to the actual site. We can see what we can do from there."

Taking the lead, Dael began to move through the piles of materials and started to approach the area. The others, sticking to the shadows much as she did, followed closely behind. She made sure to keep an eye out for sentries as they advanced. None crossed their path, but, at one point, she did spot something ahead and held momentarily. Moments later, crossing one of the "alleys" of the zone, was a sentry robot. It scanned the area with a laser, quite visible in the darkness, but spotted nothing and moved on. With it out of the way, Dael led the group just far enough to get a closer look at the area and see the ground level, then stopped.

She soon had a change to her earlier impressions. If this was a refinery/power plant, it was the largest, by far, that Dael had ever seen in her life. It spanned the area of a small college campus. A massive area was being built, but that could still only be considered a "wing" to the main facility. Since they were in wartime, it seemed that, in spite of being night, full shifts were working. There were construction personnel all over the place. Furthermore, far in the distance, Dael could actually see the lights of the city proper, pointing out how this facilty was close enough to be on the grid. Something so conspicuous and large would have seemed a bad place for a factory, enough to where she doubted this was an actual munitions area. However, that idea was dispelled quickly. There were guards of both the flesh and bone as well as robotic variety everywhere. Cameras were posted all over the area, and with them were three guard towers on this wing alone. There was also a high level of security in terms of armed vehicles driving around. If there was any more military here, she would mistake it for a prison. And almost all of it was Sybenian, although a few Leuco soldiers were mixed in. There was something here, alright.

There were numerous side buildings as well. They all had heavily guarded entrances, assuming they had entrances at all. Even in the cases where they couldn't install sophisticated scanners and autoguns, there were numerous guards willing to inspect everything and everyone the "traditional" way. Even ones with badge security clearance, and ones that were performing retina scans as well, were stopped in order to be examined personally. All in all...it made it very clear they weren't going to bluff their way in. In addition to the towers, Dael identified at least five locations that either had cameras or were likely to have them. No doubt, there were far more than that.

Pulling back, she let out a sigh.

"...How bad is it?" Taraketh asked after a moment.

"In terms of various security methods I know about, the outside alone is impossible to get through. Inside is likely worse." Dael answered.

Cid grimaced a bit, and looked to the Sorceress with them. "Lady Faerio, can you teleport us inside?"

"All teleportation magic is based on presence." The girl frowned in response. "Unless I had been inside the building at least once, I can't get anyone else in there."

"I read that Sorceress Aerith used invisibility to trick Diablos." Bahamut suggested. "Could you use that?"

She shook her head again. "Only due to Lord Leviathan assisting her was she able to accomplish the spell. The know-how of how to perform the technique is gone."

"Do you not have some clever device to get us inside?" Ceja asked Cid.

He shrugged. "All I have are my modified tools. The only straight-up one I even intended to be a weapon is my atomic hammer."

"Then perhaps we should fight our way inside." The Fuliet Warrior suggested.

"That'd be suicide." Quaren responded. "We might be able to take this yard, but they'll attack us with everything from all sides. Mobile armors, tanks, and lots and lots of soldiers. They'll also lock up the whole facility tighter than a bank safe." He shook his head. "It may not be the most sophisticated-looking in the world, but I think they've got this impregnable...at least in terms of what we have to work with."

"There's always options, lad." Cryder responded. "Where there's a will, there's a way, and all that rubbish. We're some of the most highly-skilled warriors on Gaia. We've got a damn Sorceress in our midst and everything. There's got to be a way in. We just have to set our sights a bit higher...start lookin' at this problem from a way other blokes wouldn't think of."

Dael had to agree, although she also would admit that no ideas were readily coming to mind. She looked about a bit more, trying to find some sort of weakness or opening. One didn't immediately pop out to her. All of the entrances looked too secure. One couldn't tell if the cameras were moving or not. Knocking out a sentry and replacing him using one of the uniforms might enable her to get a closer look for a short while...and staggering their movements might allow them to sneak around. As many guards and sentries as there were, there was also so many workers that she had a hard time believing they could keep track of everyone. But still, even if they could get them all to the building, they needed an entry point...

Finally, Dael saw something.

At the end of a narrow corridor connected to the main building, one that seemed mostly for industrial use and linked to large, heavy pipes, was a small extension with smokestacks. It had fiery light coming from it, and flaming ash constantly erupted from the top only to sink in again. Dael looked at it only a moment, before tapping Quaren, getting his attention. She pointed ahead.

"Corporal, what is that?"

He looked, and then turned back to Dael. "Seems like a building incinerator. They have those on the old fossil-fuel-based refineries to get rid of impurities."

"It's not guarded."

"Well...of course not." He answered simply. "It's a good few thousand degrees or higher in there, roasting anything that gets close."

"...Or it would be if this was a refinery." Dael answered after a moment.

Quaren paused. The others began to look to Dael, realizing what she was saying. The corporal himself swallowed.

"Commander, are you suggesting moving in through there? I can see heat coming from it..."

"And concrete came from our truck." The young woman answered. "Deception. If this place is really making nuclear bombs, they don't need an incinerator. My guess is that's a way in. Even if its hot, we have a Sorceress with us. We can cool it off."

Faerio was the one who grew a bit unsettled here. "...Possibly, but-"

"Commander...what if this facility _does_ have refinery capabilities?" Quaren asked nervously.

"It doesn't." She flatly answered. "Come on. Let's get these clothes on. It'll be hard enough trying to sneak ourselves and our weapons in when it's dark. It'll be impossible once the sun rises."

* * *

><p>Dael had to admit that she had misgivings more than once about the sanity of her own plan, but, in the end, it seemed to have born fruit…at least for the moment.<p>

Getting to the incinerator was a bit difficult in and of itself. The group first got into whatever clothes they could manage. Naturally, they were all stock uniforms…the kind that were the hardest to miss. That meant that even the small uniforms wouldn't fit Faerio and Bahamut, especially since the former seemed to be shorter than most children her age. Even with some hasty "seamstressing" from Jalab, which was mostly in the form of cutting off parts of clothing and tucking in the rest, the two were clearly drowning in their clothes and only by the most extreme stretch of the imagination could anyone mistake them for adults. Leuco was backward in labor laws, but it wasn't so backward that they still used child labor. This was a distinct problem.

After about five minutes of debate, it was decided that the group had to risk getting "more" from the surrounding people. That meant they had to ambush a few sentries to try and get at least a smattering of security badges and, more importantly, something to conceal their weaponry in. To that end, Dael took one of the guard uniforms, waited for a sentry to come near and, a short scuffle later, replaced him. She at least felt a little better having an actual badge for clearance, but she didn't waste much time. Behaving as much as she could as the other soldiers around, she went out and quickly found a few workers with a supply cart. After a short spat in which she redirected them to pick something up, which caused a vocal, yet fairly quiet, debate over who had authority to dictate jobs, she managed to get them over to the others. Moments later, they too were out of the picture. With all of the personnel running around, Dael realized people wouldn't be "missed" right away…but with all of the security she doubted it would take more than an hour (if they were lucky) before someone started to realize something was up. On that note, they wasted little time once all of the gear was loaded.

Naturally, they didn't try going out all at once. Quaren was the one with the binocular gear, which Dael used to plan the movements of the people around the area. On seeing them moving in and out a bit, she finally got enough of their movements down to start slipping the group out one by one. They were rather staggered in terms of time, and she sent out the cart that they had managed to claim early so that no one would start wondering later. Most of all, she watched the surrounding soldiers constantly. She looked for the slightest change that indicated they were coming for them and kept an eye on all the ones who pulled out their radios. Considering the sheer level of security in the area, Dael was certain that they would be found at some point, or that someone would put two and two together. Maybe against a more "conventional" facility, no…but if this really held all of the big weapons that the enemy was using, then that was something else.

However, they weren't spotted or accosted, and, at last, all of them made it over. Dael followed shortly thereafter. To be honest, she wasn't sure how they had gotten in. She had merely sent them over to the far side, where a metal grating used mostly for emergency venting and clearance was located. It was just large enough for a full-grown man to crawl inside, but no one would do that under normal conditions of operation due to the sheer heat coming off of it. Truth be told, when Dael got over to it, she began to have second thoughts on seeing how hot it was. As it turned out, Faerio indeed had to cool it off long enough for one to crawl in, and even then the steam and heat that resulted from rapid melting made her think she might have been toast. Her fears only increased when she went inside, for she only found more hot, smoldering housing that even then began to heat up enough to burn her hands as she crawled through…

Yet just as she began to worry that she had fed the group to a furnace, the ending terminated into a wall that had been broken open, and as she neared it, through the steam, the group members that had already come over grabbed her and pulled her out into a tight, airless, and smoke-choked area burning with heat…that nevertheless was out of the furnace. Coughing a bit, she looked to the others and struggled to speak.

"This…still looks like…the furnace…"

"Yeah, but it's a dummy furnace, commander…" Quaren coughed back. "It just…leads to here…"

"The conveyor…corridor…" Cid coughed as well, covering his own mouth. "Is sealed…but I popped it open… looks real enough…"

"Get in…get moving…" Dael ordered in response.

The group moved over to the wall, where there was indeed a sealed and welded hatch. Cid had managed to cut it open using one of his torch tools, filling the area with more heat and fumes, but exposed a dark conveyor corridor on the other side. Normally it would be used for waste transport, but it was open now, void of machinery and never having been in operation. That didn't mean that they still wouldn't have to crawl the whole way, or that it also wasn't airless and hot, but having no other choice, the group began to file in one after another.

The going was anything but easy, and took a very long time. Dael counted off a good hour just to crawl the length of two soccer fields. The corridor was dirty, smelly, balmy, and dark. It didn't take them long to all be soaked with sweat in the compressed area. Worst yet, neither Ceja nor Cid could move with their gear. That had to be pushed along in front of them, slowing down things even further. As they drew nearer, the sounds of factory chugging blocked out all noise that wasn't already inaudible through the wall. As a result, it was impossible to tell what was going on…if they had been spotted or not. It further wasn't possible to cover their tracks, but, at the minimum, Faerio had helped them out by freezing the passage to let them in. That meant no one else could follow, and, if they were suspected, they would think that they couldn't have gone that way. Now she only had to pray that they didn't have the foresight to stick a camera into this corridor…

After a while, they finally reached the end. Cid was again in the lead, and all of them had to hold their breath and cover their eyes as he used his torch to cut open the opposite side. While he was at it, Dael uttered a silent prayer that a whole squad of soldiers wasn't on the other side waiting for them to emerge or, worse yet, preparing guns to fill the whole tunnel with bullets while they were still on their way out. However, as her eyes and nose began to sting, nothing more happened. A clang, barely audible over the sounds of the machinery, rang out soon after, and Cid quickly yanked himself free. His gear was next, and Bahamut on the other side with Faerio behind him, both of them chosen since they could move the fastest in the cramped space. After removing Cid's gear and Ceja's axe, they came out, followed by everyone else. Cid quickly equipped himself as Dael emerged, but she wanted to be out quickly to assist as well.

Luckily, on exiting, she saw there was little to be concerned about. Even the metal plate that had fallen didn't seem to alert anyone over the noise, as one could hardly be heard even if they were right next to each other. They were surrounded by tall, noisy, and mostly-automated machines, concealing their entrance, and most of the facility that was running on automatic was only illuminated dimly. That wasn't to say that they hadn't come in on a bad spot. On the contrary…Dael saw that the others had quickly moved away to one side on entry, and as she joined them, she saw why. Other workers were milling about within, seeming to do the job of adjusting regulators and light maintenance. More importantly, guards just as heavily armed as the first set outside were making the rounds as well. Furthermore, there were catwalks and upper levels in this area, allowing many people a chance to spot them, while there was so much darkness there were no telling how many sentries.

As the last person left and joined the others in their dark "nook", Dael looked around a bit more through the gaps of the large machine nearby. She was just able to spot a "lane" in between machines a short distance away. To her displeasure, an Obelisk-model sentry was there, making the rounds too. They could be trouble if they had a chance to identify a target, and she soon saw that as guards and other personnel passed it, it automatically extended a green scanning laser to identify them. The workers just moved by casually. After all, they were probably used to it. However, little else could be seen.

When the group was gathered, and Quaren took the position of a lookout at the corner, Cryder let out an exhale, and spoke to the others. He used full volume. In this place, it might as well have been a whisper. "You sure we're in the right spot, lass? This place looks like a powerhouse or refinery to me."

Cid shook his head. "If it was, that incinerator would have been working."

"Well, we're in." Taraketh stated. "But the question is where do we go from here?"

Dael frowned a bit. "Unfortunately, this facility isn't small by any means. They could be concealing the actual facility in here or have it on a sub-level. In either case…I'm sure it would be more to the interior. We should head that way. Or a sub-level."

"I think we can trace the conduits to a main corridor, or at least some sort of power system." Cid answered, gesturing to the ceiling. "That's probably our best bet to-"

Suddenly, Quaren snapped to the others and put a finger to his lips. Everyone immediately went silent and looked, as he gestured down the main corridor leading to their entry point. Quickly, they went into action. Readying their weapons, they pressed themselves against the back of the machinery, moving as much into the shadows as they could, and waited. Dael herself not only paid attention to ahead, but also to the surrounding catwalks.

After a few more moments, someone came around the edge. It was only a worker, however. The individual had a flashlight, and turned on the beam to aim right at the panel that had been cut out. He moved up until he stood right next to it, and bent down, shining the light over it for a moment. Dael saw the puzzlement on his face, showing clear confusion. However, even as he did so, the group prepared to move…especially when she saw him beginning to reach for his radio. Dael hesitated though when she saw something else. A figure up above on the catwalk walked around, and looked down to the worker. This time, she saw it was clearly a guard, armed with an assault weapon, of all things…

Before the worker could put his hand on his radio, he turned his head, looking about…and spotted the group in the darkness. Dael was just able to catch him mouth off the beginning of a curse, and saw the soldier up ahead begin to look in their direction and spot them as well…when they reacted.

Jalab went out first, quickly lunging for the worker and taking him to the ground. Striking as fast as a snake, his fist lashed out with fingers extended and struck him in three key parts. Dael wasn't familiar with the concept of "nerve pinching" other than by reputation, but she couldn't argue with the results as the worker was both dropped and immobilized. If the soldier planned to fire, shout, or sound an alarm in response, he never got the chance. Taraketh lashed out with his kusarigama and wrapped the chain around his neck, pulling tight to gag him before yanking him over the railing and down to the ground below. Assuming the fall didn't knock him out, seriously injure him, or worse…the High Child quickly sprang out, ran up to him, and finished the job as he reclaimed his chain.

Dael and the others quickly moved out as well, and a good thing too. In between chugs of the surrounding machinery, the commander heard the sound of closer machinery moving. She snapped her head up the corridor, just in time to see an Obelisk drone moving into it. Its green laser had already deployed, and it was beginning to scan in their direction… Yet it never had a chance to tag any of them. Quaren quickly raised his rifle, already loaded with armor-piercers, and fired a shot, silent in the room full of machinery, into its lens that obliterated its CPU. Instantly, the drone went dead.

As Quaren lowered his weapon, Dael kept her hand on hers and pulled out her Mage Gun, arming it with one of the lesser shells as she looked to the others. "Hurry. We need to keep moving now. We need to find the elevators and go down as soon as possible."

No one disputed this, although Faerio looked slightly confused, but quickly gathered their weapons and moved up behind her. Taking the lead, Dael quickly led them down the corridor, keeping an eye out for guards, workers, or more security droids. On reaching the first junction, she paused only to look around briefly before leading them in the direction that would take them to the wall. Being blocked on one side would help, at least, to avoid more surprises. It would also tuck them under one catwalk.

On noticing their speed with how they moved, the Sorceress finally spoke up. "Shouldn't we be moving more carefully, commander?"

"I'm afraid that time's over, my lady." Dael answered as she led them through another junction. "Assuming no security cameras picked that up or have picked us up yet, the robot no doubt sounded an alarm when it was offlined. Assuming that didn't happen, someone could have spotted that guard that was pulled over the side. Assuming that didn't happen, someone will find those three shortly. Assuming that doesn't happen, they'll notice they're missing. Assuming that doesn't happen, they'll notice the missing people outside. Time is not on our side. For all we know, they're already running a silent alarm."

Faerio paused. "In that case, shouldn't we just bust our way in?"

"I'd like to not give them a target for as long as possible, my lady." Dael answered. Even with Faerio on their side, she didn't want to pick a fight if she could avoid it. Not when they hadn't even found the thermonuclear bombs yet. At any rate, the Sorceress didn't dispute anymore.

The going was not clean, unfortunately. They soon came across another guard, although they managed to catch him from behind. Dael, in the lead, took him down with a single swipe of her blade. A bit further on, another soldier spotted them as they went through a corridor, but an elbow to the face from Ceja and a follow-up blow took him down as well. A bit further, there were two workers who the group had to disable, this time Faerio doing it with a sleeping spell. After them, there was a corridor with another sentry robot. This one they waited for, even as they began to hear more guards becoming active on the overhead catwalk and start to move in the way they had come from. By that point, they had gone a considerable distance, staying on the move and practically jogging. When they could go again, they finally reached the rear wall of the chamber. It had not only two guards, but two sentry Obelisks in front, already turning to them.

Dael couldn't afford to wait. Quickly, she snapped out her Mage Gun and fired a Thunder bullet at the one closest to spotting them. The attack wasn't enough to disable it, but as she fired on it, it was wrapped in electricity and went on the fritz. This alerted the others, but they were soon disabled as well. Two shots, one from Quaren's rifle and one from the nailgun of Cid, dropped them, and Cryder used his Will O' The Wisp to melt the head of the other Obelisk. Ceja darted forward and buried her axe into the "neck" of the one that had been electified to bring it down. All in all, despite being noisy, it took only instants to take them all out. The door was security sealed, but Dael quickly got out her own pilfered security badge and ran it through the door to open it. The group crossed to the other side moments later.

They were right in the path of two more sentry robots on entering, but they was ready. Faerio, bringing her own power to bear, turned them both into ice statues with a few waves of her hand shortly after passing through the doors. A follow up hit from Jalab's staff and Ceja's axe shattered both, metal and all. Dael, under normal conditions, would have been rather impressed. She had seen powerful ice spells before now…but she had never seen one so strong to freeze metal to the point of being brittle enough to shatter so easily. At any rate, she didn't have time to dwell on that. None of them did. They were not only risking bringing the facility down on them with each new target, but they were also definitely getting somewhere…

This new corridor wasn't "dirty" or "primitive" like the previous one. This one was more sleek and metallic, showing new construction with better countermeasures and craftsmanship. Clearly, it had been designed more recently and "officially" than the rest. Dael hadn't been with Cryder before, but this facility was designed more like Arcane. Certainly not "frivolities" they would waste on a common refinery or a powerhouse. Unfortunately, this also meant they could expect more security.

The commander ran past the icy remains of the drone and quickly began to head down the corridor. The worst part of this new area was the layout. It was narrower, few to no openings, and lots of corners to conceal people or ambushes. Furthermore, she wasn't sure when any of the wall panels would slide aside to reveal autoguns. As they went along, Cryder tried a similar trick to what they did last time, generating a wall of steam ahead of them to act as cover into whatever situation they were going into. Following that, Quaren used his own sharp eyes to shoot ahead, although he mostly used his armor piercers to take out sentries, using their scanning lasers to track them in the mist.

A bit further along, they ran into their first security door. These ones weren't flimsy like the previous hatches. As they ran forward, Cid looked up to the ceiling, and then back down.

"The conduits lead through that door."

"Then we need to get through it." Dael responded.

The engineer quickly began to fumble for his cutting torch. "We're going to have to hold this position for a while. I don't think my basic torch will cut through, and it may have some sort of security backup to-"

"It's alright." Faerio suddenly spoke up as they neared. "I've got this."

Dael and the others looked to Faerio, and saw her lifting the handle again…already beginning to light up on the tip. Quickly, she moved out of the way, and the others followed suit. Once they were at either side of the corridor, the girl snapped her wrist, and the great flaming whip extended and flashed about her. The commander herself made sure to stay clear and far, even as she loaded another round into her Mage Gun in the interim. She didn't want to touch that fire if it was about to do what it looked like it was going to do.

A moment later, now alone approaching the security bulkhead, and Faerio's whip flashed out in a curling snap…and lit up a jagged outline all around the bulkhead door as well as across the code panel. A moment later, electricity snapped from both…and the entire doorway, which was a good three inches worth of metal, groaned, smoldered, smoked, and fell inward…revealing another corridor on the other side.

Nevertheless, the group paused for a moment, staring at what had just happened.

"…I'm pretty sure if no one's noticed us yet, lads and lasses, they will after that." Cryder stated after a moment.

Dael didn't answer right away, instead moving into the corridor and leading the way again. Everyone else soon fell in behind and continued to follow. As they moved along into this corridor, she let out an exhale.

"…It's impossible for me to believe we haven't gotten more attention by now. Even if they were running silent alarms, we should have run into an entire division at this point down our throat."

"They could be setting an ambush." Bahamut answered.

"Unfortunately, I think you're right. I hoped we could get in a bit deeper before we would start bringing this much heat and attention…" Dael answered. She looked around a bit as they moved along. Finally, she saw a door to one of the side rooms on the corridor just up ahead. It wasn't a high security area. More likely, it was for small storage or an office. It didn't even have a sophisticated lock. She motioned. "Over there."

The group followed, and soon they reached the door. Dael was no hacker by any means, but she knew from back in her academy days that if the electronic lock was simple enough, a properly-applied electric charge could scramble it and set off a countermeasure that detected that an electrical storm had knocked out the power, and, as a result, it opened automatically to prevent people from being sealed indoors or having no access to needed resources. So long as this room was low security enough, it should have been the same. Dael grabbed the handle and held her fingers over the lock. She still wasn't the best at magic, but she had grown enough to quickly call up a few arcane words and electrified the target. The lock disengaged just long enough for her to open the door, and quickly she slipped inside. The others rapidly followed.

The lights came on automatically when they went in, but it appeared the group was in luck. This room seemed to be a regulator chamber, consisting only of large conduits and pipes in the back as well as control systems for monitoring. It also seemed it wasn't used for some time, and it was just large enough for all of them to get inside. Once all were in, Dael quickly shut the door behind them and engaged the internal electronic lock override. She exhaled afterward. Everyone was panting a bit now, tense from their "break in" and everything they had done so far. However…they had made it into the more internal regions, the "true" facility, and they were still alive. At least from here they could fight anything that opened the door in a bottleneck. However, Dael knew they couldn't stay long, especially if a camera saw them go in here.

She looked to the others. "Alright…let's take a moment to plan where we go from here."

"We haven't run into anything serious yet." Taraketh mentioned. "No bombs or testing facilities."

"With the size of this pad, it might be a while before we do…and you can bet security only gets heavier." Cryder threw in.

"Lucky so far. Men will gather. Attack together." Jalab added.

"Sir Tierras is right. I think we've been fortunate up until now, but I'm sure they'll send a division down our throat any minute." Faerio added. "And if I have to use my stronger spells, I could cause damage to us or unintended targets through wild damage."

"It's still a good bet to head deeper into the facility." Bahamut answered. "Logic suggests the more security bulkheads we go through, the more likely we'll run into what we're looking for. If we could find a computer terminal, I might be able to help out as well."

Everyone gave Bahamut a curious look at that. He noticed it after a moment, and gave a shrug.

"…I hacked into the files within the Gordian Vault, didn't I?"

"I'm still kind of wondering how you did that." Dael answered. "I mean, you aren't exactly the most technologically inclined…"

"I also lived for several years on a world with technology far more advanced than that on Gaia." Bahamut answered. "And after being reborn, I didn't waste much time letting technology 'get the better of me'."

Dael decided not to press it. "At any rate…this is only a maintenance terminal in here. I doubt it would have access to the protected mainframe. We'd need something deeper in…at a lab terminal at least. Which once again leaves the problem of how we're going to get closer."

As Dael said this, Cid looked around a bit more, in particular to the conduits and pipes. After a moment, he focused on one in particular that was larger than the other, then turned back to Dael. "I think I've got something. Check out these conduits over here."

The others looked in Cid's direction, as the Sorceress Knight once again got out his cutting torch and moved over to the large pipe. After putting his hand on it and feeling for a moment, he placed his ear to it next and listened. After a few seconds more, he looked back to the others.

"Alright…this place deals with a lot of nuclear materials, right? Probably has its own fission reactor?"

Dael paused, but then nodded. "Yes. So?"

He knocked on the pipe. "Then they must pump in and out a lot of water. If the reactor is big enough, the only way they can deal with it is by using natural water sources for coolant. And since Leuco isn't exactly big on avoiding pollution, they probably use seawater and river water to control the main reactor. I think this is one of the pumping conduits that leads straight to it. That would be on the innermost, lowest floor. We could go through this until we reach the inner levels. We'd just have to go out before we reach the reactor itself or…you know…"

The commander grimaced a bit at the thought. "…And how do we know when we've gone far enough?"

Cid paused, just as he was readying his torch. "We'll…just have to wing it, I guess."

Everyone looked a bit nervous at that. However, Taraketh shrugged with a sigh after a moment. "We've gone with more insane-sounding plans…"

"We don't have a whole lot of other options available." Bahamut added.

The engineer exhaled in response, and then fired up his torch. He turned it to the pipe and began to cut.

"Wait a second!" Quaren suddenly interjected. "How do you know that's not pumping out radioactive wastewater instead of pumping in fresh water?"

Cid froze in what he was doing, but then resumed cutting a moment later. "…No problem. The wastewater pipes would be lead-lined. This one's only steel."

He cut a bit further, before Taraketh said something a bit more darkly. "Sir Boer…did you know that before or after you started to cut into it?"

Cid said nothing, but merely gulped and continued to work. Taraketh let out a groan, but Dael merely gave a shrug.

Moments later, another opening had been made, just large enough for the group to crawl in from above. After Cid used a chemical agent in his tools to make the sides cool enough to get in, he got out a flashlight and shone it inside the pipe. Already, there was a "fishy" smell coming from it, indicating that they were using river water. And since this was Leuco, there was a good chance there was already a high amount of filth inside of it. Yet Dael supposed there was nothing for it. Cid pulled his flashlight out a moment later, and got out his tape next. He attached one end to his waist, and then began to remove items from his pack, in particular the large ones. Once he had enough, he got up and began to climb into the tube, but held out the end of his tape to the others.

"Alright…someone come up here and take this."

Dael was puzzled again. "What?"

"I'm going first." Cid answered. "You can use this as a tether. It's industrial strength and it'll go for a thousand feet. Once I'm far enough I'll look for a place to cut our way out. Then you all can follow."

The group looked a bit uneasy at that, especially Faerio.

"Cid, you're going in there alone? What if something happens?" She asked.

He grimaced a bit, but then shrugged. "…Then it's better if something just happens to me, my lady."

The girl was shocked. "Cid, that's reckless!"

He shook his head. "There's too much water in there. It'll be too hard with other people in the tube. And if something goes wrong…then it could effect too many people. I'll be fine, my lady. I mean…" He offered a weak smile. "…I am your hand-picked Sorceress Knight, after all."

Faerio still looked rather uneasy. However, Dael knew he had a point. Besides, Cid was both ingenuous and stronger than he looked thanks to the junction. And they didn't really have time to delay with it. In the end, she nodded. Jalab himself came forward and accepted the other end of the roll. Cid moved over to the pipe himself and stepped inside, standing on the bottom with the water rushing over his ankles. He frowned a bit at it, looking uneasy, but then looked back out.

"Just bring my tools with you when you follow me. When I give three sharp tugs and then let go of the line, you can come after me. Just, uh…don't come if the line releases. That means I…fell into something."

Faerio looked highly uncomfortable at that, and it didn't reassure Dael that much either, but she nodded. Before anyone could try and stop him, Cid dropped into the pipe with all the tools that could fit and soon vanished into the darkness.

The group could do little other than wait. Quaren watched the entrance to the room, making sure no one was coming. He heard the sounds of guard and troop movements from time to time, but no one tried their door yet. Still no alarms either. Perhaps they didn't want to cause a panic… At any rate, Jalab lowered Cid further and further, while Faerio was glued to watching the pipe, as if expecting him to pop up at any moment and frequently looking to the tape. Dael stayed nearby and waited. Time slowly ticked by as she read the tape measurer. It went to one hundred feet…two hundred feet…three hundred feet…

"…Was that a tug just now?" Faerio asked.

"No, my lady." Jalab answered as he continued to hold firm.

The girl continued to stand and worry, her hands clenching and unclenching uneasily. Dael had to admit she was a bit uncomfortable as well, but she continued to be patient, and told herself that Cid was as good as the rest of them. He was a Sorceress Knight, after all…

As Dael was thinking of this, however…the tape suddenly began to extend rapidly, like it was spinning out. Jalab went wide-eyed, as did Faerio and the others around. Dael snapped to the spool, and saw it rapidly go past four hundred, five hundred, and six hundred feet. Finally, around seven hundred feet, it snapped taut…and Jalab shot forward for a moment. His arms extended, and he nearly let it slip out of his grip. Luckily, the monk was physically trained in every aspect of his body, and he just managed to keep ahold of it. Gritting his teeth a bit, he pulled it back.

"What happened?" Faerio asked nervously.

"I do not know, my lady." Jalab answered.

"He had to have dropped somewhere…" Dael answered. "But the end is still tied… It's not respooling."

"What does that mean?" The Sorceress asked. "Is he unconscious? Suspended over something?"

The young officer didn't honestly know what to answer…but soon didn't have to. The spool began to slowly unwind further once again. She was a bit confused at this, but didn't question it. If that was the case, he had to still be pulling on it. She went still and waited a bit longer, watching the spool as it unrolled.

Finally, at around eight hundred feet, the spool stopped. After that, it unwinded once every few seconds, stopping and unwinding again a bit later after each one. Dael wondered about this, but assumed that he had reached what he thought was a 'good spot'. At around eight hundred and fifty feet, it stopped all together, and stayed stopped for a couple minutes. The group paused and waited.

At last, three tugs went out on the line, as evidenced by the tape extending and recoiling three times…and then it suddenly rapidly retracted. A few moments later, the end of the tape collapsed back into the measurer. Jalab pulled it back, and looked up to the others.

"He is done."

"Right. I'm going in next." Dael stated as she removed her pack, with Carbuncle still in it, who apparently had fallen asleep again and now looked around in confusion, grabbed the largest tool that Cid had that would fit with her, and then moved over to the pipe.

"Hold a moment, lass." Cryder stated as she put one foot into the pipe. "Aren't you at all wonderin' what that three-hundred foot extension was all about?"

"I guess I'll find out." Was all the commander answered as she slid into the pipe, and rapidly let the water carry her along.

Dael had never wasted time with a "water park" before, but aside from the smell of river, this was a lot like one. She didn't like the fact she was soon soaked with the water, but she'd go with it. Using her own limbs and the power of the stream, she soon pushed herself away from the opening and into darkness. It didn't take long before it grew so opaque that she couldn't even see. She soon had no idea where she was going, save for where her feet were feeling. She detected small bends in the path as she went ahead, but not enough to stop her or slow her down. With little other choice, she kept moving through the pipe. She wondered how many feet she had gone. It was impossible to tell, thanks to the darkness and the action of the water itself. She tried counting a bit…

When, suddenly, she felt her feet touch only air. She paused, and tried to slow herself down at that…but the water was still pushing and sliding her forward. Soon her ankles felt only air…then her knees. At that point, gravity went to work, and suddenly she felt her body being dragged down at an incline so sharp it was nearly vertical. The woman nearly cried out as the force of gravity nearly sent her into free fall, and she felt water splash up and around her as she went down a towering "slide" within the pipe. Her mind was stunned and shocked as her stomach did a loop, but she vaguely managed to realize this must have been what Cid had run into…

After a few fateful seconds, she splashed down into a level section again and continued to slide through the pipe, driving more of the water up around her and nearly forcing it into her eyes and nostrils. Needless to say, it wasn't a very pleasant experience, and she let the water carry her a bit further as she struggled to recover. She continued to slide for a bit longer, but finally got her eyes open. When she did, she saw something. Far ahead in the tunnel, there was a dim light from a darkened room. It wasn't much, but compared to the blackness of the tube, it was something. She coughed a bit to clear her lungs from the water, and began to try and reach out to stop herself. The walls of the pipe were slippery, and at first she didn't get far, or even manage to slow herself down that much. Yet as she neared the light, she saw it was an opening, and a hand came out and grabbed hers. Quickly, with a mighty tug, she was yanked out of the pipe, through the opening, and onto level ground again.

Dael shook her head and got her bearings for a moment, realizing she was free of the tube. She looked around herself as she did so. This room was cool, wide, and open. There were dim blue lights overhead that provided a very faint illumination, but nothing else. It was still mostly dark in the large chamber, and all they truly served to do was show how high-ceilinged the area was. She was, typically, against a wall lined with conduits. In the dim light, she saw Cid's pack nearby and his tools, and the man himself had just finished pulling Dael out. Stringy and weak-looking as he was, his junction gave him more than enough power for that purpose. He quickly looked back to the tube and leaned inside again, reaching out once more.

As the commander recovered and then crawled over to help with the next member of their group, she saw Cid already had ahold of one and pulled the individual into the chamber. Dael's vision wasn't too good, but even in the dim light she could tell it was a short individual. And as it lacked a sword or buckler…

Cid spoke in a stunned voice. "L…Lady Faerio? You came this quickly?"

"I would have gone before the commander if I could, Sir Boer." She answered a bit indignantly. "Don't ever do anything that reckless again. You scared me half to death when I saw that tape measurer just start unwinding…"

"Uh…yeah…" Cid answered in an embarrassed tone. "I wanted to tell you all it was just like a big water slide, but…"

Faerio, to Dael's shock, actually gave him a punch in the shoulder. It couldn't have possibly hurt that much, but Cid recoiled and winced none the less. "You're lucky we're on a mission, or I would give you a lot worse than that. You could have at least stopped long enough to rig up a better method of communication…"

"Sorry…my lady…" The engineer groaned in response.

"…I don't mean to interject, but there's still a great chance that we're in somewhere under heavy security and someone is recording everything we say aloud." Dael suddenly put in. "And we should make sure the others don't go by before going into any more discussions."

Faerio and Cid both paused, but the Sorceress nodded after a moment. "Of course you're right, commander."

"Oh yeah…" Cid ducked back into the tube. A good thing too, because Ceja suddenly came down and he barely got to her in time.

The Fuliet warrior ended up being "heavy enough" to require some extra elbow grease, and so Dael took over and pulled out the rest, with Cryder, Quaren, Bahamut (with Carbuncle riding on his stomach to keep from getting wet…and angry about the "water slide"), and finally Jalab, who was enough to give even Dael a hard time pulling inside. At any rate, they were all within and with all of their weaponry. Aside from being wet and smelly, two things that would definitely ruin any chances of slipping in any more, they were fine.

Carbuncle himself climbed out of his pouch and shook his head, gagging. "When did we head to the 'Typhoon Slide'? Ugh…you know how long it takes to get water out of my ears?"

"You might as well get out of there now." Dael stated, much quieter. "From here on in, if anyone spots us, it'll be to shoot us. And keep your voice down. We still don't know where we are?"

"We went down pretty far, commander." Quaren answered. "We might be in the real facility at last."

"No guards waiting for us…but no sentries either." Cryder mused. "I wonder where we are?"

Cid, who was finishing packing up his own tools, reached for his work lantern. "Give me a second." He answered, plugging it into his power pack. After that, he adjusted a few switches, aimed the beam forward, and then fired it up. Blinding light began to emit from the lantern, forcing everyone to look away and to their surroundings as it came on.

They went a bit still at what they saw.

Dael saw two rows of objects extended in front of them. There were fat, large, and cylindrical…almost the size of one of the old space capsules they would send up in a satellite. Each one had a spherical device mounted in the center, however, underneath some exposed casing that hadn't yet been put into place. They seemed to have some sort of concentric ring design in them. What more, all were lit up with large numbers of electronic lights, and moving away from the hatch a bit and the sound of water, one could hear humming coming from each one. The devices seemed to be in special "slots" that looked like conveyors to move them around on tracks, but also seemed to have lots of electronics plugged in, operating each one and controlling their systems. A console was on nearby for each one, concealed under a laptop-like flap, although it was only for monitoring and not for entering everything. Dael, with her own experience, could tell what these were. They were heads designed to fit on missiles. Perhaps they were only mostly complete, but nothing that a few "finishing touches" couldn't prepare.

Not everyone had the background to recognize what these were or to even guess what they were, but Cryder soon let out, for once, a nervous statement as the group began to walk forward and look over them.

"…These things remind me of what I spotted back in Arcane."

Quaren moved over to one of them, and looked it over a bit. He gulped. "…There's radioactive material warning labels all over this thing."

Cid, holding his light at arm's length, went to a console and flipped it up. Dael looked, and saw a glowing monitor underneath.

"…Idling State." He read off of it. "Emissions: Normal. Fluctuations: Contained. Status: Unarmed. Payload…" The engineer froze for a moment, gulping. "…1 megaton."

"…The fusion bombs." Dael finally stated.

Ceja looked over everything curiously. "These…machines are bombs? They look so odd…"

"Trust me. These resemble warheads that were used during the last big war. Just…a lot bigger. A lot more sophisticated." The young officer answered with a touch of anxiety in her voice.

"What…a megaton?" Jalab asked, sounding like he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"…A million tons of conventional explosives going off at once." Dael grimly answered.

Cid, grimacing, flipped down the console, and then turned his light down the row. Much to the unease of everyone, the objects extended rather far… Everyone looked to them nervously, seeing the sheer number.

However, Carbuncle, now on the ground, moved a bit ahead, to the first break in the rows, and looked down on either side. His ears fell back a bit, and he looked back to Dael.

"…There's more on either side. There has to be…" He shook his head. "…A good hundred of them."

"Good lord…" Cryder murmured. "That's enough to turn every non-Sybenian city on Gaia into a parking lot…"

"An _irradiated _parking lot." Dael answered. "And God knows how much the fallout would kill if they were spread out." She turned to Cid. "Can you disarm these things?"

The engineer swallowed. "I'm…I'm not sure… I'm not sure if they can be disarmed permanently from here. I mean…I hope they can. Just in case they needed to render one inert… But these consoles are only for monitoring, not for-"

Suddenly, the sounds of a door, distantly opening on an upper level, rang out. The group snapped to it, and quickly, Cid doused his light. Silently, Dael motioned them all to move to either side, and the group split and went behind warheads stacked on either side. Once behind them, Dael couldn't help but grimace a bit at the fact they were taking cover behind nuclear warheads. However, she knew why there were no sentries in here now. One stray shot might hit something vital…and if one of these bombs went off, they all might go off…

At any rate, everyone's attention was soon alerted when a light came on from the upper rafters. Dael, being the closest to the edge, risked stealing a look, and saw that far on the other side of the chamber, there was some sort of sealed off control center with a wall of thick plexiglass on the upper floor. She could just make out the backs of a few large consoles. It was well illuminated, and as she watched, she saw what looked like two researchers flanked by two armored guards walking into the room. They were both looking a bit confused and said something to one another, pointing into the large chamber. Dael couldn't make it out. She had never mastered lip reading like Quaren's unit had, and even if she had, she couldn't see from this distance. At any rate, they looked into the chamber a bit and around, and paused momentarily. It seemed that they had spotted Cid's light on entry…or at least thought they had… For a moment, she thought they were exposed.

However, in the end, they seemed to ignore it, and went to the console. It took both of them some time, and both seemed to use special keys around their necks that they both had to turn at once. After a few minutes, something happened. Abruptly, at the side of the room, Dael heard a few beeps and signals from one of the warheads. A moment later, heavy machinery disconnected, and the internal conveyor system seemed to go to work. She couldn't see that clearly in the darkness, but she assumed one of the massive warheads was moved out through a side access in the room. Moments later…all of the warheads began to shuffle, no doubt "bringing up the queue". Dael and the others quickly moved with them, staying concealed. This happened once more for an additional warhead, and then all was still.

The people in the control room turned their keys out both at once, and then pulled away. After running some security with the guards, they went back out again. The lights went dark in the chamber, and all was still and quiet again, save for the humming of the machines.

Dael sighed. "And we've already lost two of them… Apparently, we were right about them producing these things. They're already weaponized and they're moving them out."

"How many have they done so far, though?" Quaren asked.

"Even if they only moved out one…I'd say we were in big trouble. That was two just now and they treated it as routine…" Bahamut grimaced.

"We need to get to that control room." Dael stated, even as she moved out and began to head in that direction. The others paused only a moment longer before following.

Luckily, it didn't take much effort to get that far. Perhaps the lower levels of the facility were carrying on "business as usual" because they assumed the only ways in were through security checkpoints that were stuffed with guards, or maybe they were just lucky enough to be in an area that couldn't have loose guns firing, but they had the advantage of no sentries or guards coming after them. Still…Dael had a hard time believing that there weren't security systems in here that had picked them up, so she moved fast. There was an access rung ladder against the far wall that led to a door protected only by a simple electric lock. Not wasting time with it, Dael simply pressed her Mage Gun against it and shot a Fire bullet into the lock/handle combination, obliterating it and leaving the door easy to open. She expected something more sturdy…but she supposed it made sense. The real security checkpoint was probably the door she had seen the guards and technicians come in through. After all, if someone was already inside the room, it probably didn't matter so much. After Dael carried Carbuncle in and Cid managed to drag himself up, the rest quickly followed.

Dael was soon surrounded by consoles and machines she had no familiarity with, although they seemed to be a combination of regulators and terminals. She didn't bother manipulating any of them as she waited for the others to come into the chamber, but gave them a look around. There seemed to be a more "conventional" terminal nearby that had access to the building's own network at its own station. The main station, however, had two large keyholes on either side of it. The console was still active at the moment, and so the commander looked it over.

She saw numerous icons arranged in rows that she assumed represented the actual bombs. Several of them were inactive, however. She looked around a bit more, and soon found a counter. As Cid got his pack off and prepared to go for the console, Dael read a few names and numbers.

**TOTAL NEXUS PRODUCTION COUNT: 120**

**RELOCATED NEXUS COUNT: 10**

**BAY 3 NEXUS COUNT: 110**

"…So it looks like they already shipped 10 of them out." Dael stated with a sigh. "Terrific…"

"That says Bay 3…" Taraketh stated uncomfortably. "If they have at least two more…"

Cid shook his head even as he began to type against the console. "I think they just happened to store them here. Nuclear materials take a while to enrich, after all. And it's not cheap." However, soon after typing, he frowned and shook his head. "No good. Whatever those two key things they were using, it looks like you need them to access the system."

"I'm not as skilled at ice spells as Lady Cybus, but I can try and make some 'fake keys'." Faerio suggested.

Cid shook his head again. "Sorry, my lady. I'm betting those things had microchips installed on them too. Without them, even a double of the key wouldn't do any good."

"What _can _we do then?" Dael asked.

"Hopefully the shut-down protocol for an emergency disarm is in their maintenance line." Cid answered. "If I can access that, I might be able to shut them down. But Dael…" He frowned a bit even as he got to work. "If they were able to make 120 bombs in such a short time period…they'll be able to make more. Lots more."

"One problem at a time, Cid." Dael answered.

Having little other choice, Cid continued to work. Both Ceja and Quaren moved to the door, ready to blockade it if something tried to get in. The young officer, however, turned her attention to the other console as Cid typed away. She moved over to it and tried typing a few keys. Naturally, this prompted a screen to pop up requesting an access name and a password. She frowned a bit in response.

"…What are you trying to do?" Carbuncle asked, still perched on her shoulders…apparently trying to dry out so long as he was there.

Dael answered by sighing and looking over to Bahamut. He met her gaze. She paused a moment, but then exhaled.

"Alright…if you think you can hack this, come over and give it a shot."

Bahamut immediately started to make his way over. Carbuncle, however, looked a bit puzzled. "Shouldn't it be the 'big one' over there…" He indicated to Cid's console with his paw. "…that he needs to work on?"

"I want to access the network, if I can." Dael answered. "It's the easiest way to tell what's going on in here without having to search every room. At minimum, I want to see what security is planning and if there's a way around it."

Bahamut soon reached the computer. Dael stood to one side as he arrived, and Carbuncle looked down as he moved to the keyboard. He soon grinned a bit with his barely-visible mouth.

"Heh…I'm actually interested in seeing this. I never even took Leviathan for the 'computer nerd' type, but actually seeing a former esper get into a highly secure network is something-"

He was cut off, and everyone jumped a bit as Bahamut drove his fist forward and smashed it into the plastic casing of the tower. As everyone blinked for a moment, he pulled the tower out, pried away some pieces of plastic, and then reached inside. He soon grabbed one wire, yanked it out, and then, after squinting, touched it to one part of the circuit. A "fizzle" later, and the monitor went black. He calmly replaced the wire where it was, and soon the computer began to fire up again.

As everyone stared blankly, Bahamut went to the keyboard and waited for it to come up until it displayed an error message, saying the computer had been improperly shut down and giving the option for "safe mode". Bahamut clicked on it, and soon the computer began to launch again. The others were a bit stunned. He turned and looked to her.

"…Same principle as the door locks." He told her. "Yank out the grounding, then hit the machine with an electric jolt in the 'system reset'. Now only the ROM memory should be left. It's not going to give full functionality…but more than we could have gotten on our own. It should also hook into the maintenance portion of the network."

The computer slowly booted up, and soon came on in the default mode. It didn't request a password but, sure enough, it seemed to have a limited view. Bahamut immediately went to work trying to link back to the network through one of the less-information-sensitive lines. Dael was rather impressed at how fast he worked. She had to admit, her sentiments were somewhat identical to Carbuncle's when he had started. But apparently he did know his way around. She cast a glance back to Cid once or twice, but didn't pick up anything. After a few tries, Bahamut turned to her again.

"The system recognizes that we're in 'safe mode', and so it's restricting most access except for a few emergency functions."

"What kind of functions?"

"I can get the door locks working in here, but not much else for this room. They can only be opened from inside, though. And they're only allowing one access, presumably to allow an exit. Normally, they have a few security stations to go through. I think I can tap into security as well… That's probably our best bet to find what's going on in here. Everywhere else is password protected and encrypted…"

Bahamut used the mouse to move around on the screen a bit, moving into the security log protocol. Taraketh, seeing that nothing was going on with Faerio and Cid, moved behind Dael. Cryder soon followed. Everyone else still cast looks in between Cid and them as time passed. After searching for a few terms, Bahamut found the access to the security system. He opened it up, but the icon was gray for almost everything.

Eventually, a menu with various icons arranged in rows and columns popped up. He frowned at it. "Well, it looks like we can't access any security outside of this room, except to signal alarms. Other than that…" He gestured to the icons. "…This is the list of camera locations. That little audio dot next to a few of them, at least to me, seems to mean that those have audio."

"Let's all cross our fingers that we didn't say too much around those, lads and lasses…" Cryder grimaced.

"Are there any ones with 'classified' or 'high security'?" Dael asked.

Bahamut grabbed the scroll bar with the mouse and moved down. It took a short while, but eventually he spotted something. He tapped against them. "Those ones are marked 'Clearance Level'."

"Try to find the ones that are the highest security, then look through them." The commander answered.

Bahamut began to do so, but soon frowned. "Well…you'll have to settle for the next highest, because the highest ones are coded…" He clicked on the icon.

An image of a hallway somewhere in the facility came on. A drone went by, and Dael could make out several wall panels for security measures.

"Doesn't show much." Taraketh stated.

"Start scrolling through them." Dael stated.

Bahamut did so. Other images were more "exciting", but only in the sense of having even higher security. More wall panels and security stations, more security robots, and more flesh-and-bone soldiers that looked rather heavily armed and trained. There was one lab technician moving about, but even that one went with an escort of two guards. There was a shot of one high security door that had at least four robots and wall _turrets_ mounted, not to mention other security devices. There was audio on this one, but they heard nothing for a moment…until footsteps against metal became audible. Bahamut nearly moved on, but paused and waited as he heard the audio grow more distinct. Dael also looked in, realizing the boy had "read her mind".

A moment later, a few figures came into view. They started with two heavily-armed guards. Yet coming up behind them were two individuals…one a heavily-decorated general in the Sybenian army, and the other what appeared to be a rather neat-looking scientist, hair flawlessly done up and sprayed into a "business hairstyle", and other than that wearing a lab coat over most of her features that, nevertheless, had some actual decoration on it from military dress…also Sybenian. Two more guards fell in behind these two. Even as they approached, the group began to hear a murmuring…but as they got close enough, they appeared on audio as well.

_"…prefer if I could keep Sybenia's capitol out of these things."_ A female voice stated. The tone of it was rather calm and collected…but also cold and void of warmth. It had a hint of a foreign accent to it, definitely from Northern Sybenia. Based on the body shapes, it was clear it was coming from the scientist_. "Besides, I would think that a private viewing at this point would be rather bad for the Guiding Hand. From my understanding, you're currently dealing with a rather bad security breach. I feel I should possibly fear for my safety."_

_"Forget a few silent alarms."_ The general retorted, almost in an angry snap, but barely controlled. _"The High Dictator is not a patient man. The fact that you are burning through test subjects as fast as we can give them to you has caused him considerable irritation, especially since the latest batch had to be captured during the Esthar invasion, and I do not like having to bear the brunt of it. For once, I figured that it was fitting that you should address him face-to-face for your latest failure."_

These comments immediately made Taraketh stiffen. Not only that, but Faerio turned fully away from Cid and to the security monitor. The two neared the back, and one of the guards at the door began to move.

"Can we zoom in on the keypad to the door?" Dael suddenly asked.

Bahamut nearly asked why…but then understood. Quickly, he moved the lens to start zeroing in on it, as the two continued.

_"You can hardly fault me for lack of progress. There are few scientists in the world who could have pieced together all of this from the research notes of a rambling lunatic who killed herself through experimentation." _The scientist continued.

_"I won't pretend to understand what the High Dictator wants with these devils, but you promised him results. And you promised me a new super-soldier serum."_

_"You'll get both. I never promised either of you that I would have it within a deadline. Considering how much progress we've made in a year alone, you should be highly grateful. At any rate, you'll soon have your sera, general. As far as Rozan Heirarch is concerned, we are not miracle workers here. We can only do so much with the impossible. The individual he seeks simply has not been born yet. Perhaps in another few hundred years of human evolution…"_

_"You can tell that to him face-to-face when he establishes the link." _The general scowled in response. _"See how he takes it from you. You'll be lucky if you don't end up in a detainment prison yourself…"_

The group of six paused in front of the door. The guard neared to the door's keypad turned. He swiped a badge of his own and entered a code just as Bahamut focused on it. Luckily, these were newer and more higher resolution cameras. It was easy to see the code he entered, casually not worrying about whether the camera could see it, and for Dael to commit it to memory. After that, the doors slid open, and the group passed inside. As they did, one last bit of audio was mentioned.

_"This research will be at an end if today's trial is successful. You can dispose of the two dozen or so POWs that are still alive after that, if you wish. I don't need them at this point…"_

The audio faded out, and soon after the doors shut.

The room was deathly silent. Everyone seemed to have forgotten aobut their tasks after hearing that last phrase. Cid had stopped typing, and the ones at the door turned fully inside, no longer caring for watchmen positions. A chilling feeling traveled through everyone, but Dael didn't see it right away. She still stared at the screen at the closed doors. She could already predict the look that Taraketh and Faerio would have, and as she turned to them, they confirmed it. Faerio stared in a bit of shock for a moment. Taraketh was much the same, but he recovered faster. His jaw and fists tightened.

"'Still alive'…" He echoed. "…What the Hell have they been doing to magic users in there? I knew they were doing some sort of experimentation…but they were just _killing_ us? And what for?!"

"Only two dozen…" Quaren muttered from behind Cid. He, like everyone else, had been overhearing this. "…There were thousands of magic users living in those regions Sybenia invaded."

This only made everyone go silent once again. Faerio actually trembled a bit, and her legs wavered.

Dael said nothing…but she felt burning inside of her as well. She was a magic user herself now, even if she hadn't been born one. Until this time, she had entertained some vague optimism or benefit-of-the-doubt that the people who Sybenia had selected for this facility were still alive. Maybe they were only being studied or tormented in some way… But no…the worst fears were real. They had been killed…killed for who knew what purpose. A super soldier was what had been mentioned, but whatever that meant didn't really matter. They had to have killed hundreds of people to get this far. Or, as Quaren had said...thousands...

"…Commander."

The young officer snapped out of her thoughts, and looked to who had spoken. She soon found herself looking at Faerio…who had lost her shock, and now had made her face fierce and set. Even looking to her now, she caught Dael off guard…and was unprepared for the aura blazing in her eyes. It froze her in place for a moment, even if it was the weakest of the Sorceresses.

"…This is your show and your 'game field', so to speak. Nevertheless…I'm going in there after the survivors."

"Lunacy, lass." Cryder answered…although he, much like the others, was hesitant. "Even for you to bust through there. Like you said, you'd bring the whole-"

"I don't care!" Faerio cut off with an angry snap as she lost her composure, enough to actually make the pirate, and Cid standing behind her, recoil. "Didn't you see them? Didn't you hear them? They talk about people like me as if they're lab rats! I'm shutting that facility down if I have to blow it up to do so! The only reason I'm not blasting those bombs right now is because there's still survivors here! They think they can just use us! That they can't even treat us as human beings! I want to put the fear of the Order of Hyne into them! I want them to flee before a Sorceress' wrath!"

Dael was rendered silent, much like the others, from that burst of emotion...but she had enough experience with Sorceresses where it didn't last long. Even bringing forth her full aura, Dael was able to respond to Faerio, and frowned a bit. "…I'm hardly in a position to say otherwise, my lady…but you need to calm down. You aren't going to help anyone by being reckless now or starting to tear up this facility. Even if you manage to destroy it, you'll only kill the POWs and spread enough nuclear fallout throughout this region to destroy half of the nation of Leuco all together…and every innocent man, woman, and child living there, both in factories for Sybenia and in the streets."

Faerio paused on hearing that. She was clearly incensed and angry now, her face tight and eyes burning…but she wasn't completely irrational. It dimmed after a moment. Her aura ebbed, if only a little. However, she also looked to Dael.

"…I'm still going. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Dael sighed. "My lady-"

"I'm with Lady Faerio." Taraketh interjected. In the wake of Faerio's own anger, which seemed to overshadow everything else, Dael had almost forgotten about him. But as she looked to him…she saw he had the same fierce determination. "Part of the reason we came here was to liberate those people. I'm not going to let them die. I've been doing 'side missions' for far too long. I want to actually save my order for a change. I'm going in as well."

Before Dael could protest, she was cut off.

"…I'm with them, Dael."

A bit to the commander's surprise…she realized it had been Carbuncle who had spoke. She looked to him, and saw that, for only having black, button-like eyes, they burned too.

"…I know what it's like to be tortured to death by scientists. What's going on here…it honestly makes me sick. I understand where they're coming from…and I want to do something about it."

"…Same here."

Dael now gained a really great surprise…for Bahamut was the one who spoke as he turned to them.

"…I always saw myself as this planet's guardian." He stated after a moment…his own eyes radiating a new amount of power, and his voice seeming to have some of the boldness he possessed when he spoke as an esper and not a human child. "Yet I couldn't throw a single punch during the War of the Magi or its aftermath. I simply came to life and saw how we had been slaughtered. These people may not be espers…but they're being persecuted for their power as we were. This may not be the same thing, but it's a way for me to make a difference where I couldn't."

The commander hesitated again. She looked all of them over, and saw how they weren't backing down from this. She frowned. She realized she wasn't going to change their mind. But even if she could…she realized she didn't want to. The time of her life when she was interested only in completing the 'main mission' had passed. There was no telling how much torment the survivors had endured. Perhaps they were vaguely holding on for a savior…the last of their kind to not give into despair. What if it had been Bahamut among them, as it nearly had been? She had saved him…but she realized now that Esthar had let down everyone else. All of those hundreds they had 'used' had died without their nation lifting a finger to stop it. There may have only been a few left…but they were a few they could still save. For once…Esthar should do something. _She_ should do something.

At last, the woman exhaled. She looked to Bahamut and gestured to the console. "…You said you could trip an alarm, right?"

He paused a moment, but then nodded.

"Can you trip one saying there's a military assault going on in the upper floors?"

Bahamut hesitated only a second longer, realizing where she was going with this, and then nodded. "It won't be a problem." He turned to the console and went over the keyboard again, beginning to type away.

"Find out where that place is. Find out the farthest part from it…and set the alarm. Set a half dozen if you have to. Just clear out as many guards and sentries as possible." Dael turned back to the others as she popped open her Mage Gun and went for another low-power shell. She glared at Taraketh and Faerio.

"…Lady Faerio, can you incapacitate whatever guards are left quickly and silently?"

She nodded. "So long as we get the drop on them, I can use sleep spells. All of the soldiers in here are weak minded."

Dael looked to Taraketh. "How about the sentries?"

"I've mastered more than enough of Quetzacoatl's power to disable the sentries as well as the wall defenses." The High Child answered.

She looked to Carbuncle. "…You handle defense." She stated. "Keep as much of the counter-fire off us as possible."

Bahamut looked up from the console, even as the others began to realize what was happening. Quaren and Cid, on their parts, began to look agitated. "About two hundred yards further on 'straight-as-the-crow-flies'. If you let me get in front, I can direct us. I'm finding a good spot to set the alarm now…"

Dael nodded. "Alright…we're moving out."

"Commander, are you sure this is a good move?" Quaren asked. "I mean, Cid's not even done with the bombs yet…"

"That's why he's going to keep working and you, Jalab, Ceja, and Cryder are going to be guarding him, corporal." Dael responded. "It's just going to be me, Carbuncle, Bahamut, Taraketh, and Lady Faerio."

Now everyone else really did react in surprise, but Dael retorted before a word could be said. "There's no way all of us have a chance of making it there without being detected. There's too many of us. We need to move fast and hit everyone before they have a chance to react to us and set an alarm. Lady Faerio, Carbuncle, and I can all teleport. And we still need to disable these bombs. That's the main mission, after all. I'm still the commanding officer of this task force, so everyone…don't make me pull rank."

The remaining group members were silent. They grimaced a bit, Quaren and Cid especially, but they knew they couldn't dispute it. Cid looked to Faerio a moment. However, she smiled back a bit weakly.

"…A Sorceress Knight does what a Sorceress can't do herself." She told him. "Right now…you're the only one of us who can disarm these weapons, Cid. My order to you is to remain here and do it. I'll be fine…I promise."

Cid hesitated a bit, but finally nodded, and reluctantly turned back to the console and continued to work. As for Quaren, he wouldn't protest, but he continued to hang on. Dael, however, pointed to the console Bahamut was at.

"As soon as we're out of here, I need you to try and get us an escape route. This will be for nothing if we're not ready to leave the second we bust out of that facility."

The corporal hesitated a bit. However, he realized enough to know Dael was giving him a responsibility, and a big one. With that in mind, he exhaled, and then nodded.

Dael looked back to Bahamut afterward. "…As soon as you set that alarm, use our one 'door unlocking' to open the way out of here. We'll bust our way back in on returning…so hopefully everyone will be ready to go."

* * *

><p>The commander was definitely right about the "moving fast" part.<p>

No sooner had they unlocked the lab than the group burst out. Faerio and Taraketh took the initial lead, rushing into the hall. There were two automated sentries that had been left behind. Their scanning lasers turned red on touching them, but they didn't have time to fire before Taraketh's aura blazed and he disabled either drone. That meant they had to be on the alarm, but Dael figured they were already on the monitors as it was. However, a moment later, and Taraketh summoned a larger bolt and fired it into the nearest wall panel, frying most of the systems, including the automated security and the cameras. Now they wouldn't know where they were going…at least for a while. Carbuncle, Bahamut, and Dael herself soon came out, and the group took off.

The young officer soon realized why Bahamut had made the "as the crow flies" distinction, as they had numerous twists and turns along the way. Some were ninety degrees. Shortly after reaching their first turn, they found a small squad of guards running to intercept them. Faerio waved her hand at them, her own aura blazing before a thick mist swept over them, and moments later they all collapsed. Taraketh continued to bring his own power to bear, not only shooting the wall panels but other drones as they went along. Putting more speed into it, they managed to catch the others off guard, coming on soldiers while their backs were turned, and continuously shorting out the other defenses. Dael was impressed. Although Taraketh was panting before long, he still managed to shell out the higher level spells one after another. He had definitely improved. For Faerio, there was little question. She flung out her own sleeping spells without restraint or exhaustion, practically making a veil of enchanted mist blow in front of them.

The group wasn't exactly moving at a "standard run", either. As most of them were enhanced in one way or another, it didn't take long at all to reach the same entrance that they had seen only minutes earlier. Dael proceeded to fire on the first sentry drone she saw as she turned the corner with her Mage Gun, freezing it in place. This served to stun the other guards, as well as diverted the response of the autoguns within the walls. Therefore, nothing was stopping Taraketh from sending in a follow up bolt that destroyed the systems at the front of the room, and a sleeping spell follow up from Faerio to take out the flesh-and-bone guards. Two more sentries were left, however, as well as the rear auto-guns. They began to fire on the group as they rounded the corner, actually getting out a few shots. Carbuncle, however, was using his own power to deflect the errant shots, and soon grabbed onto Bahamut and teleported to the side of one sentry while Dael teleported to the side of another. With one swing of their respective blades, both sentry robots were disabled, and they quickly darted in to do the same to the remaining wall units.

The second they were down, Dael wasted little time. While Taraketh and Faerio joined them, she went to the nearest guard and unclipped his security pass. In a flash, she was at the keypad and swiping it. She knew that at any moment they could change the code or put the area on lockdown, and she couldn't risk that happening. She quickly put in the code they had obtained. It seemed it still worked, for the keypad turned green, and immediately the doors began to slide open.

Not really sure what to expect, Dael quickly moved to the side as she opened her Mage Gun and went for another shell. She ended up pulling out the Flare bullet. All of her "conventional" ammunition was spent by now. At any rate, a whole platoon could have been waiting for them. The doors looked thick enough to be soundproof, but who knew what was going on in there. The others likewise moved to one side and braced themselves, placing their weapons at the ready.

However, when the door finished opening…there was nothing but a hall on the other side, leading ahead through a basic metallic corridor to a three-way fork. No guards or personnel of any kind were there to meet them. Dael looked in and searched, but no one came, and no alarms went off. There weren't even any auto-gun implacements inside. If there were any hidden cameras, Dael also knew they were already under security lockdown…to the point where she doubted even basic security could look to them readily on a non-need-to-know basis.

The others looked in as well, but naturally saw no more than she did. In the end, she turned to them and motioned onward.

"Keep quiet." She stated. "There's a chance this place is so high-security they don't even know we're here."

She soon turned, returning her gun to her side and putting both hands on her sword, and began to advance into the chamber. The others soon followed behind; Carbuncle electing to stay on the ground on his virtually-silent paws. Dael wasn't sure if the door was automatic or not, but the moment the last of them passed inside, it slid shut behind them. After making sure that they could open it from this side without key clearance, she moved on. The others pressed themselves to either side of the hall and advanced as well.

It took a few moments, but they reached the end of the first hall. They paused long enough to look down the branches, but all they saw at each end was another metal door. Luckily, these ones weren't locked, it seemed. After pausing at the junction a bit, each one trying to silently decide where they were going, Dael motioned forward to the central door. It was as good as any, after all. Dael again took the point and moved up to the control, before reaching out and typing the keypad. Moments later, the door slid open. Again, the group paused…although with better reason this time. Out of all of them, Carbuncle reacted the strongest, his tiny mouth going a bit slack, although Dael and Bahamut alike both stiffened for a moment on seeing some of the technology inside.

It was another hall, but this time, one in some sort of laboratory. Not like one Dael had ever seen before, however. It seemed to be partially subdivided by "half-walls", but each separate section had its own set of tools, consoles, computers hooked into the network…and, most of all, cylindrical tubes. They looked similar to the ones that Bahamut had been stored in, and, as Dael looked, they seemed to have all of the same technology as well, indicating they were for the same purpose. None were full at the moment, although, as Dael looked a bit farther and finally began to venture in, she saw one had been drained but not cleaned yet. No researchers or scientists were present either, and all but two terminals had been deactivated.

As Dael moved into the chamber, the others slowly following after, they all gave uneasy looks to everything around them. There were at least ten of those tubes in this chamber alone, each within its own block. She noticed something else as well. There was a cart that seemed designed to carry smaller cylinders on it. It was half full at the moment, but she had no idea what the cylinders were for or what was in them. Looking a bit further, she noticed that they seemed to connect to the tubes near the base…either for emptying something into them or retrieving it. Venturing a bit farther, the group began to near one of the active terminals.

Bahamut looked to it a moment, and then put his sword to one side and went over to the console. As the others continued to look around and make their way forward, he moved the mouse a bit.

"There's a lab record file." He stated, his voice echoing rather loudly in the silence they had been maintaining until now, and which seemed to have grown deeper on entering the lab. He soon clicked it and pulled it up. After looking over it a moment, he read aloud.

"'Subject #3132. Response to starvation shock: B-. Response to temperature shock: C+. Response to physical taxation: B+. Response to conventional torture: D+. Response to mental stimulation torture: C. Overall: Average yield expected. Subject yield obtained: 18 units prior to cardiac arrest. Performance: Average."

Taraketh stared at Bahamut aghast, and with growing irritation. "What are you saying, Lord Bahamut? That they were draining something from these people?"

Carbuncle grimaced, looking a bit nervous himself. "To be able to extract more power from espers, the Vector Empire put us through all sorts of extreme conditions…made our bodies work harder to 'survive'. It was like wringing us out like sponges…"

Dael was rather unsettled to hear these things… No doubt, this is what "Dr. Lindst" intended for her and her companions. It would have been a lot worse than the torture they went through at Helheim. At any rate, she didn't dwell on it. She didn't want to spend too much time fretting over something they couldn't change, especially when they needed to get on with it. Luckily, she had spotted something.

There was a large elevator and two metal stairwells at the back of the room. Both stairwells led up to the same spot, what looked like a joint hallway overhead against the back wall of the chamber. It was marked out with large block lettering, reading simply: "OBSERVATION". The elevator, on the other hand, read: "SPECIMENS".

She looked to the others and motioned. "That elevator must lead to where they have the other magic users held captive. We need to get down there."

The group turned to this. Ignoring the disturbing console, they instead moved over to the elevator. Once in front of it, Dael moved to the control panel, only to frown.

"This one's coded too with a security card and a password. I don't think it will be as easy to-"

She was cut off as Taraketh drove his scythe from his kusarigama in the crack into between the doors, and then gave a mighty yank, and prying the doors open enough to stick his hammer in before pulling them both apart. After getting it wide enough, he pulled his arms back and exhaled. After all, he was starting to show some fatigue now.

"Once Lady Faerio or Sir Carbuncle get down there, they can teleport us in and out at will." He stated. "Until then, there isn't a bulkhead in the facility that will stop us."

Dael paused but then nodded. "Alright. You start getting them out." Without another word, she turned and moved to the nearest stairwell.

She was already up two of the stairs when the group turned to her curiously. "Wait…where you running off to?" Carbuncle asked.

She stopped in mid-step and turned back. "I'm looking at the observation deck. They said they were conducting some sort of demonstation. I want to see what it is if I can. I want to know what they're planning…why they killed thousands of magic users and what they hoped to gain from it."

The group hesitated. However, they realized Dael had a valid concern, it seemed. Although most of them were more interested in rescuing the survivors…it was worth knowing why they had killed these people in the first place and what exactly they hoped to gain. After a few moments longer, Bahamut exhaled, and then followed after her.

"…I'll go with you." He stated after a pause. "I might pick up on something you miss." He paused again. "…No offense."

She shook her head. "None taken." She looked up to the others afterward. "Just make sure we get the last few people out."

"Won't be a problem." Faerio answered as she grasped her whip handle. "I'll bring out more of my power if I have to."

Dael nodded back, giving a slight head bow as well to Faerio, and then turned and began to rush up the stairs. Bahamut soon followed after. As they did, the others began to hop into the elevator shaft, looking to try and find a way to lower themselves to the bottom.

The stairwell was fairly high, and turned into a short side hallway. Dael slowed as she reached the top, but found that no one was standing guard up there. There was a door nearby, metallic and sliding…but only simply locked. She moved over to it and tried to use the same "electric trick" she had performed last time to disengage the lock. However…nothing happened. She soon realized the chamber had to have some sort of Eris Bell in effect so none of the spellcasters could escape. Faerio was probably the only one who could use her power. Instead, she simply smashed her handle down on the lock and broke it off, then rerouted a couple wires for the same effect, causing the door to slide open. The moment she did, she immediately became aware that the room on the other side had several large panel windows, all looking over a chamber of similar size as the one they left, only much more brightly lit. Quickly, she lowered herself to the ground, below the side panels and beneath the windows, and began to sneak inside. Bahamut, hot on her heels, followed her, and the door slid shut behind them.

Once inside, the two began to make their way in quickly and quietly. There seemed to be other doors for access into this room, including from the one that it was observing. They had to be cautious of those. On the other end of the chamber, there were consoles that seemed to be tapped into monitors overlooking the room. All of them were active at this point and running, showing images of two mostly nude humans strapped to some sort of metal restraints by the arms, torso, and neck. As Dael neared, she saw that one looked severely beat up and emaciated, while the other looked strong enough, but was sealed inside some sort of glass enclosure. It was a tube, but not the same as the others.

Both Dael and Bahamut crept up to the console, looking at other monitors. As they did, they saw other technicians stationed at various terminals in the room beyond, seeming to be looking over the situation. Another monitor showed bio-readouts of either individual. Finally, they were close enough to risk leaning up and looking over into the main chamber itself. They did so, using the height advantage to conceal their heads.

The room was almost entirely clear in the middle, but there were many devices to either side, all of unknown shape and construction. The two test subjects were on mobile platforms that had been mounted in the center. Standing at a distance, closer to the observation deck itself (which was perched a good fifty feet above all of this), was the scientist from before as well as the general. There were other technicians with them as well as the armed guards, and there was a monitor on nearby with an advanced webcamera. Dael realized that someone was watching this from a different location. There were also a couple technicians wearing biohazard gear monitoring either subject. The strong-looking one was stone-faced and hard, while the one who had been beaten up was, naturally, listless and drifting in and out of consciousness.

Last but not least, one of the scientists in biohazard gear was against a back wall, where an enormous tankard of some sort was perched. It was containing some form of fluid, and there was a dispenser at the bottom. One of them seemed to be drawing from it.

Dael and Bahamut both watched this for a few moments, until one of the monitors nearby, that had been dark until now, suddenly came to life. The two snapped to it, and were surprised to see none other than the twisted image of Rozan Heirarch appear. For a moment, he seemed to be staring right at them, having spotted them himself. Yet Dael quickly calmed down. That had to be the image from the monitor below. The camera was aimed into the room, not at them. Sure enough, he had a rather bored, and slightly impatient, look.

_"Let's get this over with, doctor." _He stated. _"I expected results after all that I've invested into this project…results that my father likewise supported without seeing a result. I think I speak for him as well as myself when I say this had better be good."_

Below, the scientist nodded. _"Of course, Mr. Dictator." _She turned back into the room. As she did, she continued on in her calm voice. _"Final Clinical Trial, Lot 28. Dr. Luccia Lindst presiding."_

Dael reacted only slightly. _…So this is the infamous "Dr. Lindst"…_

_"Commencing with introduction of Lot 28 to subject in a diluted media of approximately one part per 100,000. Subject: Gareth Hatch, 23-year-old Special Forces private in Sybenian Army. Subject is in good health. Test sample is Sebastian Klyde, 29-year-old Order of Hyne member. Subject is in poor health and sick with dysentery in its final stages, but nevertheless is still capable of using magic and is therefore being restrained with an inhibitor collar in addition to the Eris Bell."_

The young officer looked up, and soon saw the scientist at the tankard turn around…this time bearing one of the cylinders. However, it was filled with a blue-purple media of some kind. Holding it carefully away from itself, the scientist made its way back to the strong-looking man in the cylinder, and began to carefully hook it up to a device mounted in the side.

_"As in the previous trials, vapor inhalation is considered the best method of introduction with the lowest amount of side effects and the fastest response time."_

The cylinder was locked in, and all of the scientists backed off. Dr. Lindst looked to a nearby technician, and gave a nod. They, in turn, threw a few switches, and soon a hissing sound went out over the speakers. Soon, the cylinder was flooding with a blue-purple mist. The man inside remained bold and looked forward. As the mist came over his face, he began to inhale and exhale slowly. There was nothing at first, as the mist grew thicker and continued to surround him. However, there were soon beeps coming from his monitor. Dael looked to them, and soon saw a few things going irregular, setting off small alarms. As for the man himself, he twitched and spasmed a bit.

_"The predominant side effect is still present, although vastly reduced. A fundamental change to brain chemistry and patterns has alerted in key sections of the subject's brain, similar to mental stimulus. This has some effects on the other nerve impulses within the body, but always these effects are gone after as little as 20 seconds."_

Sure enough, the tics quickly began to level off. At fifteen seconds, they had stopped being noticeable, and soon after all irregularities on the monitor ceased.

_"Administration is successful. Subject's spirit has integrated with the new enhancement. Proceeding to testing."_

Bahamut looked up a bit at this. "She just said 'spirit'." He stated quietly. "Are they actually experimenting on _that_?"

Dael didn't answer. Instead, she watched as the gas was vented out of the glass chamber. Soon, it was clear. As the man took a few deep breaths and stabilized, the glass cylinder opened up in front, exposing the man outside of it. Not only that, but the clasps around one of his arms disengaged, and he lifted it and flexed it, seeming to get some feeling back after having been clamped down for a while.

_"Mr. Hatch…if you please." _Dr. Lindst continued. _"Demonstrate your new ability as you were instructed."_

The soldier looked confused and uncertain for only a moment, before his face solidified. He focused on the sickly magic user across from him. Dael began to react…realizing he was going to do something to him. But before she could think of any way to get him out of there, or even if it would matter or be worth the risk considering he was about to die, the soldier extended his hand out in his direction.

A moment later, the sick man suddenly spasmed and let out a gasp, going rigid and arching his back as best as he could. His body stretched against his restraints, and his monitor went wild, showing fibrillation and brain waves going wild. Yet what really stunned Dael and Bahamut was what happened next. Blue tendrils of light seemed to stream out of his body from various points, collecting at his skin and then shooting out of it, snaking through the air, and then converging to one point…the soldier's hand. Each one was tipped with a blip of light, and as soon as they touched the hand of the man…each one sank inside. The tendrils rapidly followed…or simply vanished.

The sickly man relaxed here…but too much. He slumped in his restraints, and his monitor flatlined. On seeing this, a few biohazard suits began to move to him, but Dr. Lindst held out her hand.

_"Leave him. Disconnect the supports. I didn't intend for him to survive this test anyway."_

While Dael and Bahamut watched, the scientists hesitated a moment, but then did as they were told. The monitor bearing his life signs was switched off, and the beeping ceased. Both were rather uneasy now…but they realized there was little they could have done. It was likely they couldn't have even moved him out.

However, the researchers weren't done. Some came forward and quickly wheeled out his mobile platform with him still on it. In its place…they quickly pushed forward some form of array that looked to be a weird target of a sort, only made out of metal sprayed with some sort of chemical. They positioned it perfectly in the place where the Order of Hyne member had been, and then moved away. As for the soldier, he had gone a bit wide-eyed, seemingly impressed with his own ability, and looking at his hand. It wasn't glowing at all, but he still looked rather amazed and intrigued at something.

_"Mr. Hatch…proceed."_ Dr. Lindst stated.

The soldier looked up at the target. For a moment, his eyes zeroed in on it. Then…something happened that neither Dael nor Bahamut suspected.

The man began to speak arcane words. Dael could barely make them out over the speakers, but she could see it in his lips…and also saw it on the monitor when he eyes lit up, followed shortly by his body exploding into an aura. A moment later, he threw his hand forward…and, to the shock of the two, a fireball erupted from it, the signature of a basic Fire spell, and impacted the center of the target with sufficient force to fracture and char it even with the flame-retardant chemical.

Both individuals were stunned.

"I don't think that soldier could use magic normally…" Dael stated.

"Even if he could, he couldn't have generated a Fire spell of that potency from just starting…" Bahamut darkly answered. "That was a spell from someone with experience and training…"

Dr. Lindst, however, turned to the monitor. Now they could see her face. Sharp, focused, and cold…with a pair of wire rimmed glasses pressed tight to her head. Dael and Bahamut looked to Rozan, but his expression was rather dull.

_"As you can see, High Dictator, we have not been idle, and we have succeeded in the goal we set out for. What you have just witnessed is the product of our trials…'synthetic' magic that renders all other forms of magic obsolete. For lack of a better term, I call it 'Draw Magic'. By transplanting certain distilled spiritual essences into our soldiers, properly treated using the enhancements from earlier Lots 11 and 16, even the most basic 'grunt' on on the battlefield can be used to draw magic out of opposing enemy users and store it inside themselves for personal use. What more, this magic is not constrained by the power of the new caster but from the one it was drawn from. Flare spells, Meteor spells, even Ultima spells can all be drawn from the most powerful users…even the Sorceresses themselves. And none of them are contingent on that spiritual 'stamina' a magic user possesses, so every troop is fresh after a cast. With further research, it might be possible to actually bond this magic to physical attributes, giving even the most lowly trooper the same potential as a junction. And we've harvested enough to easily inoculate over half of the army, although with lesser doses we could do it to the full population of Sybenia."_

Dael and Bahamut were rather stunned to hear all of this. The commander had never imagined Sybenia had mastered this kind of technology or science. She assumed they were still using bio weapons… But a technology that actually manipulated the spirit? One that gave their soldiers this type of power? The power to actually steal spells from other people? Even use it to enhance themselves as Dael had? This could be far worse than anything the fusion bombs could do in the long run.

Yet shocking as all of this was, Rozan looked thoroughly unimpressed.

_"That's all quite well and good. However, it fails to hit on the true reason I decided to continue my father's funding of this project, and what you promised me. How soon can you produce a 'Memora'?"_

The scientist sighed and adjusted her glasses a bit. _"…Perhaps in another eighty or so years."_

Rozan's look creased. _"Then you either failed me or you lied to me. Neither option has a good outcome for you."_

_ "You ask me to create the impossible. The 'draw magic' was one thing. I actually had a starting point with that. With all due respect, High Dictator, you're asking me to do the same as making humans born with wings. I can't simply 'make it so' because you tell me to, no matter how much funding or resources you give me. The magic user that you want simply doesn't exist, let alone the technology that would be necessary to make one 'synthetically'. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be crafting. These specifications are something out of a fairy tale…"_

_ "I don't accept excuses. Until now, no matter the choice of weapon, one has always had to default to the same methods for securing control of Gaia: diplomacy, economics, or conquest. A 'Memora' is instrumental into revolutionizing the way in which world empires are made. It's the one thing that we need to ensure this empire doesn't die at the end of a human lifespan."_

Dr. Lindst bowed her head for a moment, and Dael could tell it was to stifle what looked like a chuckle. _"I'm neither a politician nor a military leader, Mr. Dictator…" _She said as her head raised again. _"But I find it somewhat hard to believe how someone able to cause displacement of spirits through time via access of memories of blood relations is going to be able to do anything constructive toward such an end."_

This comment caused both Bahamut and Dael to look with confusion at the monitor. What was she talking about?

_"It's not your place to understand the necessity for such a thing." _Rozan flatly answered. _"Yours is only to do it. However, based on what I'm hearing, you seem incapable of providing me with one…which makes you effectively useless."_

Dr. Lindst paused on hearing this. For a moment, her cool exterior seemed to crack slightly. However, she maintained it. _"…I'm afraid I don't follow you, High Dictator, considering how much I have provided toward research and development. Not just in terms of this draw magic, but the methods of junctions as well as the lots. And let us not forget that Lot 25 enabled you to-"_

Rozan's brow creased as a wave of anger came over him. _"You are _never_ to discuss Lot 25 out in the open. Is that understood, doctor?"_ He retorted, nearly snapping at her. _"You think you're so valuable to me? Do you care to test your value? Go on then…dare me to tell some of the guards standing nearby to shoot you. See how expendible you are to me."_

The doctor froze on hearing this. A bit more of her confidence eroded. She didn't take Rozan up on his challenge. She merely stood there.

_"You will send all data and materials regarding your current projects to me, courtesy of General Bacchus here." _The young man continued after a moment, only slowly "simmering down". _"You then have 24 hours to come up both with a project _and_ a reasonable timetable that will give me reason to retain you. If you fail…well…" _His gaze narrowed, and a hint of a smile began to turn the corners of his lips. _"You've seen quite a lot of Sybenia's secrets, doctor…and I don't like leaving sources of those secrets 'lying around' without cleaning them up and disposing of them properly. You may get a much closer look at the prison facilities where we found your test subjects…if you're that lucky."_

The monitor clicked off. Dael and Bahamut looked out one more time, and saw Dr. Lindst paused momentarily, clearly nervous now. However, the general, Bacchus, as Rozan had called him, immediately stepped forward, using both his size and superior height to look down on her. She looked back to him after a moment, and, after swallowing once, turned and began to lead him into the chamber. She seemed to be in hot water now…but that was no concern to Dael. Besides, she'd be in much worse condition very soon…

The young officer turned away and began to inch for the exit again. Bahamut started to follow her. Again, both kept eyes on the doors to make sure no one popped in on them as they left.

"We have to destroy that tankard and what's inside of it." Dael stated. "Whatever it is, it's enabling that 'Draw Magic'."

"They'll only 'harvest' more magic users if we do that." Bahamut grimly responded. "We need to take out this entire facility."

"We still have those explosives…but I'm not sure they would be enough, and I'm not sure where to put them to do the most damage. I don't think we've been in a good spot yet. Besides…we expected a few partially-complete bombs…not 110 of the them. If they set off a chain reaction, the facility will be gone…but us with it. Yet even if we could set a timer…110 bombs…"

"It would make something of a difference if they were all detonated at the same point as opposed to being spread out… Perhaps it wouldn't even set off a chain reaction." Bahamut commented. "But even one megaton bomb… Only my own flares had more destructive power…"

"We need to think of something. Now that we've been here once, we can teleport in and set the bombs here." Dael responded. "At the minimum, we can destroy this lab. So let's get back to the group and then get moving."

In a few moments, the two were back to the door Dael had broken in through, and quickly she moved through. As Bahamut followed, she rose back up into standing, and looked down into the room below. It seemed Faerio, Taraketh, and Carbuncle had been successful. They had a good twenty people standing there. They all looked rather sick, haggard, dirty, and confused. However, some of them had the look of Children of Hyne who hadn't been there that long, and they seemed to be emboldened by the Sorceress…who appeared a moment later with the last two hanging from either arm. As she let them off, Dael saw she was a bit sweaty, and rubbed her temple slightly. Carbuncle looked up to her as she arrived, and let out an exhale.

"Phew…glad to see you guys here." He sighed. "They got one of those stupid bell things somewhere in here. Faerio's been the only one who could use her power, but even then she's barely been able to teleport."

"It's taken most of my focus just to get them out from the cells in the bottom to here…" The girl admitted. "Sorry…I'm not as skilled at teleportation as Sir Carbuncle, even if I have the power. Sorceresses rarely utilize that ability. To get them to the room where we came in, I'll have to get out of this laboratory area."

"Sounds fine by me, my lady." Dael answered as she continued to descend the stairs. "We've seen enough. We know where the lab facility and the bombs are, and now we have the POWs. It's time to start being concerned with getting them out and destroying as much of this place as possible."

Dael soon reached the bottom, with Bahamut at her side. As she arrived, she put her sword again at the ready and took the point. Bahamut moved in front of the POWs. She, however, quickly called out orders to the others. "Taraketh, get in back and cover them from behind. Carbuncle, get in the middle of them and start throwing up protection spells as soon as you can. Lady Faerio…if you would please join Sir Bahamut, as you have the best ability to protect them at this point. Lastly…if any of you can still use magic, save it until I give you the word. Now let's go."

The woman immediately took off for the front of the room. The POWs were hardly in the best shape, but they seemed to have enough adrenaline between them to move at a fairly rapid pace. Not running by any means, which was unfortunate…but luckily all they had to do was get out of the lab, and then they could be teleported. Dael could cover them until then. At least…she hoped she could. Soon, they passed out of the first door and into the hallway beyond.

Dael looked once to make sure nothing was coming down either branch, then quickly led the group onward. It was a bit thin, so they were more spread out and it took some time to get them, but it was alright for the time being. Soon, they were all out and into the entrance hall. The commander quickly moved back to the front and continued to lead them on. After that, the next stop was the main sealed door. Dael moved over to it, uttered a silent prayer, and then pressed the control button. Much to her relief, the doors slid open. Perhaps they had been smoother than they thought…

At any rate, with the doors open, and Dael having no idea if they would close quickly, the POWs were quickly let out with Faerio and Bahamut flanking them. Carbuncle stayed in their midst, and Taraketh continued to bring up the rear. Dael watched them go by one by one until they reached the end, and then quickly moved out and to the front. As she did so, she called out to Carbuncle softly.

"Can you use your power yet?"

"It's still a stretch…" The Guardian Force answered. "But it's weakening. Just a bit farther and we'll be in the clear…like the end of this hallway."

Dael, in response, looked forward to the hall just as the last of them cleared the entrance, and the doors slid shut behind them. However…doing so made her freeze. She remembered that Taraketh's lightning bolts had shorted out the lighting before…but emergency lighting that had been more insulated had come on in its place. Now, however, that lighting was going, and the chamber ahead was full of total darkness…

_Wait a moment…_

Something wasn't right.

"…Lady Faerio, you should-"

Abruptly, a hiss of hydraulics went on behind Dael, and she snapped around…and leapt back…just as two feet thick metal shutters collapsed from the ceiling behind her and slammed down over the entrance they had just come through…the sign of a lockdown. Everyone snapped around in shock to this from the large clang that resulted, and gaped in surprise. Yet Dael's lasted only a moment. Quickly, she spun back around to in front of them…and was just in time to see the emergency lighting come back on…and reveal what was there.

A wall of advanced sentry robots, seven in all, filled the hallway completely. They were not only the advanced models that had laser projectors rather than machine guns, but they seemed to have four guns mounted on them as opposed to the usual two. Their scanning lasers had already deactivated. Instead, their lenses had already turned red, meaning they had acquired a target already. Of course they had…they could have been scanning for them the moment they passed through that door. However, that wasn't all that had Dael tensed up.

At least a hundred Hounds of Sybenia were stacked behind them, most of them with weapons drawn, armed for both melee and ranged combat (in the form of heavy assault weapons and gauntlets), and covered with newer plate armor. Most of them wore visored helmets, and stared cold and motionless at the assembly as they froze in place, on the end of several dozen gun barrels.

However…there was one sight that attracted the attention of Dael, Bahamut, and Taraketh far more than any of that…the person who was at the lead.

He hadn't changed at all since they had seen him last. However, that wasn't much of a help. He still had that monstrous sword on his back, which seemed to radiate a cold aura in and of itself. His look was still as stoic and expressionless as before. Clearly…the deaths of his two fellow Elite Hounds had done very little to shake him up. And Dael, frankly, in spite of her own increase in power…didn't feel like the odds were nearly enough in her favor. Even with Faerio along…she felt she would still be rather nervous if it was only him blocking them, and not the rest of the soldiers and sentries with them.

The two sides froze for a few moments, before the one in the lead spoke…not smug…not smiling…simply business.

"It's been a while." Raven stated as he looked squarely at Dael. "You don't look like you've improved much…but appearances can be deceiving. After all, you killed both Jay and Crow. I'll be honest…I didn't think you were worth my time back in the Lamb Archipelago. I figured when Jay died it was because he got careless. But after Crow's death…"

His eyebrows raised slightly.

"Perhaps I can finally get my first decent challenge in years from you."

Dael said nothing in response. Her grip was already on her sword. She thought of going for her Mage Gun…but knew she wasn't faster than the sentries. As for Raven, he crossed his arms after a moment.

"I will say this much…you have a knack for walking right into every ambush I set up. But that's alright. I never liked the 'hunt' portion of these sorts of things. And I was growing quite irritated with waiting for you to get to this point."

Now it was the commander's turn to look confused. "…Waiting?"

"You didn't honestly think you got this far by doing your little 'victorious charge', did you?" Raven answered. "Or that you landed your prototype ship in our bay without us knowing about it? Please. I didn't get put into the Elite Hounds for my ability to kill alone. We knew full well it was only a matter of time before Esthar launched an operation on this facility, and we further knew that it would be you leading the charge. Congratulations, Commander Levinson. You have a title among the Guiding Hand now: the Valkyrie of Esthar. Unfortunately, they want me to clip your wings. You see, they've been harvesting certain compounds, both chemical and spiritual in nature, from Order of Hyne members. They use it to perfect their lots. Unfortunately, there's only so much they can get from the basic magic user. They want to test individuals like you…especially since you seem to have a new power inside you that rivals that of the Elite Hounds. Of course…that's only if we can take you alive. I think I have a better idea in mind…"

Dael couldn't see it, but Faerio's gaze narrowed, and she moved very slightly…

"…If you so much as raise a finger, Sorceress Faerio," Raven immediately interjected. "The sentries fire and I use my own power to end this all right now as I watch your skin melt off and you vomit up your own organs. You're still partially in the field of the Eris Bell. That means you can't get a spell off quickly, unlike myself. The same goes for the green rat in your midst. I know full well he can use reflection spells."

"Who you calling a rat your greasy-mustached, flagellating butthead?" Carbuncle snapped back. "Come over here and say that!"

"Carbuncle…shut up." Dael coldly responded.

Raven didn't react to the insult. Instead, he inhaled and exhaled.

"And now…we come to the 'dilemma', so to speak." He continued. "I'm interesting in seeing the power that killed Jay and Crow, which means a one-on-one fight. But my employers want you all either dead or placed in oversized test-tubes, and I'm sure you'd all rather die than allow the former option. Therefore, I can't exactly promise to let the rest of you go in order to goad you into a fight. But neither can I torture or kill the people around you at random to get you into a fight, because the sentries will kill the rest of those with you the moment I win or, barring the impossible, kill you as well as them if you win. What to do…"

In spite of Raven's threats, Faerio tightened her grip on her whip handle, although she didn't ignite it. Everyone else tensed as well. Dael realized there was no way around this. Raven still had that power of his to kill them all. Protection spells were their only hope, but with the Eris Bell in effect, only Carbuncle and Faerio could use magic…and neither of them could get off a spell quicker than him. The POWs couldn't use their spells either unless they got a bit farther. They couldn't just sit here and wait to die…but neither could they hope to get through this without casualties… Even so, she wasn't sure they could get through all of these people alone…

Yet in the midst of the silence, a blip of static suddenly rang out…followed by a familiar voice.

_"Alright…everyone on the…um…Sybenian side, stand down now."_

Both sides froze, and looked up in puzzlement in response to that. Although Dael was one of them…unfortunately, Raven was not. His eyes stayed perfectly locked on Carbuncle and Faerio, seeming to be ready to react the moment they tried to exploit a distraction. However, the commander blinked and responded uncertainly. Faerio was even more astonished, but she managed to keep from speaking…lest Raven use his power. Instead, Dael voiced her thoughts.

"…Cid?"

_"The security system in your hall rebooted, and I managed to get on the alarm loudspeakers for your area, Dael." _His voice came back. _"But forget about that… All Sybenians…Hounds of Sybenia…stand down now and disarm the sentries."_

Raven's gaze never shifted, while the rest of the Hounds looked around slightly in confusion…but didn't show much worry. After a moment, he spoke calmly.

"I'm afraid you're not really in a position to be demanding anything, sir. In case you can't see that well on the monitor, I'm poised to slay everyone here with a single wave of my hand. I'm certain you have other powerful individuals among you…but assuming that you're lying in ambush behind us somewhere, which you're not, even you can't stop me before I kill them all. Your only choice would be if you hacked the security systems themselves, which I know you haven't. They're locked with encrypted passwords, and we'd be alerted to any unauthorized access."

_"I've got something a bit bigger than security systems." _Cid stated. _"I'm in where you're storing your fusion warheads."_

Raven paused momentarily on hearing that, but didn't show any other reaction. "And…?"

_"Most of them are coded too, just like you said…but one was in the final stages of assembly and hadn't been wired into the main network yet. I was able to access the firing sequence for that one."_

The Elite Hound paused again…longer this time. As for the other Elite Hounds with him, their faces were covered…but their body language began to show a hint of unease.

_"Check your systems. Go ahead and make sure I'm not lying."_

Raven hesitated for a moment longer, but then reached out a single finger, never looking away from Faerio or Carbuncle, and signaled a nearby Hound. He quickly went to his own radio and patched into a channel. He said a few things, but they were muffled by his helmet and spoken low. After checking in for a moment, Dael saw the Hound freeze, clearly looking uneasy now. He looked back over to Raven, and gave a single nod.

Now, the POWs began to grow uneasy as well. Dael did too…but she couldn't very well argue at the moment with whatever kept them alive.

"…What exactly are you saying?" Raven asked.

_"I'm saying…" _Cid's voice swallowed, seeming to steady himself. _"…I'm saying I'm in a position to set this bomb's timer for one hour and change the password. Once I do…you'll need every minute of that to either find out the password that I gave it or to escape this facility before it's nothing more than a cloud of ash."_

The Hounds now reacted rather strongly. Some of them actually lifted their weapons away from the group. Unfortunately, robots didn't have much of a sense of self-preservation, and kept their lasers trained. Raven, however, never batted an eye. As the group with him grew uncomfortable, he held up a hand, stopping the discourse.

"I regret to inform you, sir," He calmly went on. "That I have a private line that can get me and those with me out of this facility and to a minimum safe distance in as little as fifteen minutes."

_"Alright…" _Cid answered, his voice sounding a bit nervous, but only for a moment before he reasserted his boldness. _"…And can you fit everyone in this facility out with it? What about the scientists? The researchers? The materials? The rest of the bombs? You think Rozan Hierarch is willing to have you sacrifice all of that?"_

Raven paused again on hearing this, but only for a few moments.

"You need more experience with a bluff, sir. It's true that the rest of the bombs will be irradiated beyond use…but there are enough radioactive materials still present in this facility, not to mention partially completed bombs, to up the explosion from a 1 megaton payload to 20 megatons. That kind of blast will destroy the city of Lolesterin as well and spread fallout even further…enough to essentially cripple Leuco itself. The radioactive dust will spread over this entire continent…enough to continue to kill children through cancer for decades to come and render this landform unusable for generations. I'm fully willing to accept all of those sacrifices, sir. Tell me…are you?"

Cid was silent afterward. However, Dael herself was rather tense on hearing that. She had neglected to think of just how dirty these bombs were, whether they were thermonuclear in origin or not. Leuco and major cities might have had the shields to guard them, but she wasn't sure what they'd do against so much fallout…and Lolesterin was too small and inconspicuous to have one. There were hundreds of thousands of people living there…who were nothing more than workers…

The engineer would say no more. After a full thirty seconds of silence, Raven exhaled. "…Now that we have that cleared up, back to the matter at hand." He glanced slightly at Dael. "I still want a fight with you…so I suppose I really will have to kill the others with you. I think I'll start with the only other one who could give me a problem…"

He spoke out loud. "Sentries, on my mark, kill Sorceress Faerio. If she makes a move, kill the POWs first."

Faerio's eyes widened. She nearly snapped around, but barely managed to restrain herself. Dael, on her part, tensed up.

"Wait-"

"I'm afraid this is non-negotiable, commander." Raven calmly answered. "Even if you agree to fight me now, I'm not stupid enough to try and fight you and her at the same time. On my mark…"

Suddenly, Cid's voice returned…and it had changed. It had lost its anxiety and tension. Instead…for the first time Dael could recall…it had grown fierce.

_"…Stand down now or I'll arm the bomb." _It stated, now in an order. _"I mean it. You aren't going to threaten Lady Faerio."_

"Please be quiet." Raven answered in a bored voice. "Ready…"

The next thing said struck Dael to the core…for never before had she heard Cid say anything so serious in his life.

_"I swear to God, if the next thing you say isn't pulling your men back, I'm arming it."_

At that moment, not only Dael, but Faerio, Taraketh, and Bahamut went rigid.

Because at that moment…they knew he was serious.

"Cid, wait…" Dael began to say.

"Aim…" Raven responded, still not batting an eye. The end of the sentry lasers began to heat up. Faerio nearly moved. It was better to try something than to just stand there…

Suddenly, the soldier who had nodded turned in a snap to his radio. Raven was about to move his hand…when he paused on seeing him move out of his peripheral vision. The Hound listened for a moment…and soon went still again. He lowered his hand and looked to his superior.

"…Main control just contacted a high-profile general alert, sir." He spoke nervously. "One of the partially completed bombs has been armed…one hour until detonation."

Dael went pale. She thought rapidly of everything that Raven had said…everything that would happen…and realized what that meant. She also knew how much he loved and cared for Faerio. Raven had pushed him too far. He had really done it…

Raven paused briefly, but was still calm…although just a slight bit less confident this time. "It's a bluff. He hacked the monitoring systems."

The soldier shook his head. "No sir. They can confirm the build up of signature particles and magnetic resonance waves. It's been armed. They tried to access it, but the code has been changed."

Abruptly, the emergency lighting changed, beginning to oscillate and dim in the area…causing the other Elite Hounds to look up and around. A second later, a mechanized voice began to speak over the loudspeakers throughout the facility.

**"ALERT. This facility is now experiencing a Class Omega Emergency. All personnel, please evacuate to a minimum safe distance after following guidelines to secure research materials."**

Dael looked to her own sides. Taraketh had tightened up considerably now, as had Bahamut. Faerio, however, was slightly different. She looked stunned more than anything. The reason was typical. She realized Cid had cared enough about her to actually do this…

At last, Raven's exterior shifted a bit. As the rest of the Elite Hounds looked increasingly nervous, almost all of them pulling their guns off of the group now…and the ones at the rear looking ready to bolt for it while they still could, he slowly exhaled. "…This is why you can only judge a man's character through battle…not listening over a loudspeaker." Soon after, he spoke to the one with the radio. "Only the high-security floor is hearing this alarm, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Radio main control to ensure the people working there don't panic and set off the general alarm. Beta group…break off and begin the evactuation. Keep it quiet, secure as many research materials as you can as well as key personnel, and make sure all bulkheads are sealed on lockdown behind you. Alpha group stays here. We have nearly forty-five minutes. That's enough to finish here."

Half of the Hounds immediately broke off and began to move down the hallway. It didn't take them long to break into a jog…and some of them soon broke into a run. Yet even with them gone, several of the remaining Hounds looked rather skeptical of remaining in the midst of the more confident and calm. A few looked ready to bolt. However, Dael didn't focus on any of them. Her attention was fully on Raven.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "Why aren't you putting out the alarm? You think he's not serious?"

"Oh, I know he is if they tripped the alert." Raven answered calmly enough. "But I'm afraid to say that a lot more than this facility needs to be evacuated. The entire city of Lolesterin needs to evacuate. There are many people living there, all who own their own cars. If they hear they're about to be in the path of a nuclear weapon, they'll no doubt flood the streets in all directions, raid the port, and overrun the airfield. We only have so many helicopters available. They need to be focused on getting the materials out or we'll lose billions of gil in unreclaimable research."

Dael was shocked at hearing this, but Taraketh was the one who spoke up, his voice breaking into unusual ferocity even for me. "You aren't going to tell the people about the bomb? Not even give these people a chance to save themselves?!"

"Only a couple thousand of them would get out in time at the most anyway." Raven responded. "At this time of day, the roads will be nice and clear to get our materials free to Leuco city proper."

"A couple thousand who don't need to die needlessly!" Dael shot back, her own voice taking surprising volume.

"Don't lecture me on 'needless death', commander." The Elite Hound retorted. "Your 'Sorceress Knight' friend, supposedly such a 'beacon' of justice and right, was the one who set that bomb and killed thousands of innocent people the moment he did so. Look to yourselves for how many little schoolchildren are about to burn."

The young officer tightened up, feeling her passion rage far more than it had ever done. Raven was the one who refused to back down…drove Cid to pushing that button. And now he was letting those people die…not even giving them a chance…

"Hey!"

Abruptly, both sides froze on hearing this call, and looked to the back. Dael spotted one of the Hounds having dropped his gun.

Raven nearly turned his head, but managed to keep it forward. "…There's no reason to be alarmed. I told you that we have a way out."

"F**k you, man!" The Hound retorted. "I've got a brother stationed in Lolesterin! Screw you!"

Immediately, the Hound snapped around and began to run out. Raven let out a sigh in response as he heard his footsteps run off.

"…Shoot him." He stated to the next nearest soldier.

The Hound froze. It was another nervous one. Raven frowned.

"…I gave you an order."

The soldier continued to hesitate, looking between Raven and the fleeing Hound. He did nothing except try to decide. At last, the Elite Hound exhaled, and with a snap reached out and seized the handgun from the soldier's waist in one fluid moment, aimed at his head, and fired. The bullet was piercing enough to immediately drop him. He then snapped around to fire at the fleeing soldier's back, dropping him as well…but it cost him a precious instant.

His eyes were off of the group.

That was exactly what they had been waiting for.

Immediately, Carbuncle's power ignited, and ruby light prisms exploded over the front line of the group. Faerio's own aura erupted a moment later as her whip flashed out...causing the sentry robots to fire. Yet as they opened up on the gathered group…their lasers struck the translucent spheres instead. Although a reflection spell was normally only good for magical damage, light waves were similar enough to behave the same as magic…and soon a storm of beams erupted right back at the same sentries and proceeded to vivisect each one.

By now, Raven had spun around, and his own aura began to ignite as the other Hounds raised their weapons to fire, but just as he was about to speak…someone he had ignored until that point made him pay for it. Bahamut flung his shield forward in the "discus" move again, and nearly crushed his throat. He had to interrupt his speech to smack it away with a backhand motion…giving Faerio all the time she needed. Immediately, she flashed out her whip as her aura reached its full glory…and a wall of fire erupted from the end and raged through the tunnel, surging for the enemy forces. In the cramped space, there was nowhere to run…and soon ten of them were on fire and screaming in agony. The others backpedaled, Raven included, but the sheer force of the wave smashed into them and pushed them all back further. Even Raven, who tried to stand his ground, was forced back, his feet dragging against the ground, by the power.

Immediately, Dael charged forward. "Everyone, move up!" She called.

The reason was obvious…get out of the range of the Eris Bell. As a result, the members of her group quickly advanced, and soon they were joined by the POWs, who fell in behind. The burning and stunned members of the Hounds continued to recoil for the most part. One managed to break free and tried to aim a weapon, only for Taraketh to swing out his hammer and bean him in the helmet with sufficient force to dent it inward, sending him flying back. Two more tried to recover, but Faerio quickly snapped her whip around in a violent "tornado", and sent two columns of flame crashing into their chests, ripping them backward as well as she continued to whip up a flaming frenzy. Bahamut snatched up his shield again as Dael, now in the lead, felt her power return to her…and used it to break into multiple images. A line of Hounds that had assembled to fire soon found themselves assaulted by the numerous Daels, and foolishly began to fire at them. They vanished with each bullet, but before they could realize their mistake, Taraketh swept out with his scythe to knock more back, as Faerio sent out another flaming column at Raven just as he recovered. He crossed himself before it could land, but the force was still enough to push him back against his will, even if it did no lasting damage.

Following up from that, Faerio chanted again, and then aimed a palm at the remaining Hounds, firing off a ball of dazzling light, like a miniature sun. They saw it coming and braced for impact…only for it to go off in a brilliant flash, sending blinding light everywhere. The Hounds actually cried out in pain, in spite of their defenses and visors. That gave enough delay for Taraketh to rush out of range as well, and quickly chanted. His aura blazed, and he slammed his fist down into the ground…causing the floor to rupture and heave. Huge pillars of rock burst from the ground with sufficient force to shred metal, and created a jagged "wall" between them and their opponents. As a final follow up, Faerio swung her whip out again, and lit the entire top of the barrier on fire, turning the metal into molten, burning slag.

The rest of the group quickly got out of the Eris Bell range, and stood their ground. Dael jabbed her sword into the ground for a moment, and then went to her wristwatch. She quickly began to set it.

"That won't hold them long." Faerio stated. "I can sense something in these troops… I think they enhanced themselves as well. I was attacking with so much power that those columns of fire should have killed… It only hurt them and knocked them around."

"We need to get these people out of here." Taraketh stated as he prepared his kusarigama to attack the first thing that crawled over the barrier. "Even if these Hounds are psychotic enough to stand their ground, they'll just send those machines at us to slow us down until we're blown up with the facility… Then we need to alert the people of that city to get as many people out as possible."

"Well, let's hope that Cid's group has enough foresight to do that." Dael responded. "Because at the moment, we have plenty of our own concerns." Abruptly, she turned her head to the sky…and shouted.

"Everyone, I don't know if you can hear me or if you're still watching, but get to the relay and get the message out about the bomb! We'll hold these people off as long as we can!"

As she lowered her head again, Carbuncle gave a frown as he kept his gaze on the wall. "…Why didn't you just tell them where our group was headed while you're at it, Dael?"

"We don't really have much choice at this point." She answered. "Besides…Raven's the biggest threat here, and he wants me."

"I don't care how powerful he is." Faerio retorted. "He can't defeat all of us together."

Dael hesitated a moment, then grimaced. "Well, my lady, hopefully just Taraketh, Bahamut, and I can hold him and the rest of the Hounds off by ourselves."

Everyone gave Dael a look at that, but especially Faerio and Carbuncle.

"Come again?" The green creature asked.

"We're clear of the Eris Bell, and both of you can teleport better than I can." She answered. "Start teleporting the POWs out of here and back to the _Excalibur_, and secure it if they put anyone on it. Then…" She paused a moment, and looked to Faerio.

"…My lady, I know the power of a Sorceress is greater than anything I possess, and I hope you can use your power right now to get as many people as possible between here and Lolesterin to a safe distance."

The girl blinked in response to that. "…Commander, you can't take on this fiend by yourself-"

"I'm going to have to, because you and Carbuncle are the best chance we have now at saving as many innocents as possible." Dael retorted. "My lady…there's no time to argue. Every second we waste here is another second that bomb comes to going off."

To accent this, she showed her watch…revealing she had put in the time she estimated until detonation.

Less than 55 minutes.

Faerio hesitated. She stared at the watch, and back to her. "…Commander…you're asking me to abandon both you and my Sorceress Knight when you need me the most…"

"Those people need you a lot more." She answered. After a moment, she gave a weak smile. "I'll make a deal. If you promise to get as many people out as possible, I promise I won't die."

"Lady Faerio…Dael's right." Bahamut stated. "This is the most you can do now. I may only look like a child…but I swear I won't lose easily. I didn't live for thousands of years contending against the god-like to fall here."

"My lady…please listen to Commander Levinson." Taraketh finally put in, although a bit reluctantly. "We let so many innocents meet a horrible fate because of this place that we could have intervened in earlier. We can at least try to spare more lives from being claimed by this facility before it burns down forever."

The Sorceress hesitated a moment longer, but realized she didn't have time to second-guess. Finally, she tightened her jaw, and nodded.

"…Very well. I'm counting on you to keep your word."

She quickly turned to the POWs, who were still hanging back, not trying to contribute at the moment…and really not in a shape to either. She quickly retracted her whip back into a handle and put it at her side, and then went up to a group of them. She quickly gestured. "You four. Hold hands, and then take mine."

The POWs paused only a moment, but then did as they were told. They took each other's hands, and she soon reached out and grabbed onto them. A moment later, a ripple of light traveled through all of them…and they vanished in a flash.

Dael looked to the green creature. "You too, Carbuncle."

He scowled in response. "Damn your stupid human notions of killing yourselves…" He grumbled. "If you aren't on that ship five minutes before the boom, I'm teleporting back in here…and I ain't leaving without you, even if I have to get turned into a fritter with the rest of you. So don't you dare get yourselves killed!"

With that, and without giving any warning, he ran over to the nearest two POWs and, as they tried to ask what was going on, seized them by the shoes with his clawed paws and soon teleported as well, making them vanish in a flash too.

Dael made a wistful smile, then turned and looked back to the two with her. Taraketh slowly exhaled and spun his kusarigama hammer around, but he also looked firm and resolute as he nodded to her. Bahamut shifted his grip to both his sword and buckler again, and cracked his neck.

"…What do you think?"

"Our strongest Guardian Forces might work…but in these closed quarters, we'll feel them as well." Bahamut answered. "Leviathan is suicide. He won't give us the time for Alexander."

"Then we'll have to take them one-on-one as long as we can." Dael answered. "Then smash through the line before they can bring reinforcements."

"The odds are definitely not in our favor…" Taraketh answered. "But it's some comfort to know this facility will be destroyed. So long as we hold this position…they can't get anything else out behind us either. The lab with that substance is locked down, along with the devices."

He exhaled.

"I never considered myself much of a 'true combatant'…but I still think I'll feel rather enthused to go into what might be my final battle with two noble warriors at my side."

Dael paused on hearing that. The High Child looked to her, and gave her a bit of a smile.

After a moment, the commander returned it.

"…First things first, Sir Sabian…this isn't our final battle until we breathe our last. Until then…every step of the way, we're striking down the enemy."

"I've survived worse." Bahamut put in. "Time to see, between our two sides, who has the greater will to live."

On that note, the three turned to the wall, and Taraketh flung out his sickle to cut into the first Hound who attempted to charge over the cooling flames.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	50. The Valkyrie of Esthar

Abruptly, a small part of the door began to grow red-hot…before an eruption of molten sparks came out of it, clearly the work of a cutting torch. Soon after, with mechanical precision, it began to start cutting a perfect slice out of the doorway.

Even as this happened, a hand slapped a quarter of one of the explosive bricks against the door, pushing it hard until it stuck. After doing that, they quickly went about putting a detonator on it. From a distance, Quaren watched the owner of these hands in increasing shock.

"That compound is used for heavy demolition! I have no idea what's going to happen if we use it to blow this door in this little room! Even a quarter of it might kill us too!"

"Damnit…you army fellows never knew how to improvise…" The pirate muttered in response. "Either risk blowing ourselves to bits or wait for that door to open and be shot like fish in a barrel!"

Naturally, things had gotten rather hectic rather quickly. Shortly after the alarm went off, thick metal panels, too large for Cid to cut through, slammed down around the room they were in…all except the main door into the chamber. Quaren immediately realized they were deploying robots to come in through there. After all, they could continue to attack them even as the rest of the personnel fled for it. Now, it seemed that they were already on the other side and slicing their way in. Both Jalab and Ceja had reclaimed their weapons and braced for a fight, the latter already focusing his aura, but the former not able to do much in the cramped quarters. Of course…they could have tried to escape before…but they had encountered a delay.

At the moment, Cid was staring blankly at the console, looking to be practically catatonic. It seemed the full measure of his reckless act was coming to bear on him, and he was realizing what he had just done. Even on the other side of the thick metal panel that had slid over the viewing window, one could hear the sound of the magnetic resonance building. His jaw was loose and he was breathing unsteady.

At any rate, Cryder set the timer for one minute, and then began to move back. "Alright, everyone get on the other side of the room!" He announced. "Then shoot like hell as soon as it goes off, assuming we're still standing!"

The others looked around a bit tensely, but then began to move back as instructed. However, Cid didn't move. Quaren, while moving back, spotted this and looked to him.

"Cid, come on!"

The engineer hesitated a bit longer, but then reached over the console and began to type with more decisiveness.

"What are you doing?" Quaren asked after a moment.

"I'm disarming it." Cid answered more steadily. "I know the encryption for my own password."

The others paused and looked to him silently. For a second, there was only the typing of keys.

"I do not exactly enjoy the idea of all of those things that the dark-haired man said…" Ceja finally stated. "But if we turn off this weapon, there is nothing stopping the enemy here from overrunning us."

Quaren grimaced as well. "…In a military setting, you only care about your own country. That's all that matters. But…" He frowned. "That's too many innocent people. Even if we're the ones who have to die…it's us versus hundreds of thousands…"

"Oh, _now_ you decide to think like a human being rather than a trooper, mate…" Cryder grumbled in response. "…But I agree. Even if it's my own head in a noose, it's better me than-"

"No… No!" Cid suddenly outburst. "That…that doesn't make any sense! That's impossible!"

The group snapped back to Cid. "What's wrong?

The engineer was practically frantic. He shook his head desperately as he pointed at the console, his eyes filling with fear. "I can't disarm it! That doesn't make any sense! I'm the one who changed the code! How did it get a new encrypted password over it?"

Quaren blinked. "Come again?"

"A new level of security got put over the bomb's control! I can't crack it in less than an hour!"

Cryder groaned. "Bugger…"

The corporal grimaced a bit, but shrugged. "I'm sorry, Cid…but…that's what happens. It would make sense they've have failsafes on the arming of these bombs…"

"It's not a failsafe!" Cid instantly responded. "It's not hooked into the main network or programmed yet! Someone from main control accessed it when they got into the interface and put up another wall of security on it!"

Quaren paused, as did the others, on hearing this.

"…Are you saying that they made it so that you purposely could not turn off their bomb?" Ceja asked. "That once it was armed, they wanted to make sure it _would_ explode?"

The corporal's face turned to confusion. "That…that doesn't make any sense… Why would they want this bomb to go off?"

"I don't know, but I swear someone in main control is making sure it does!" Cid shot back.

"Insanity…" Jalab remarked.

"Hate to break up this little debate, lads and lasses…" Cryder suddenly interjected. "But that detonator only has about 15 seconds left on it."

Ceja quickly moved to the other side of the room with Cryder joining her. Jalab moved too, but stayed out in the open. Quaren grabbed ahold of Cid's shoulder, even as the Sorceress Knight put his hands against his head.

"Dear God…how many people did I just murder…?" He murmured quietly.

Quaren paused a bit. He wasn't sure what to answer. He wasn't an officer or a leader like Dael. However, he tried to think of what she would say now…

"…It's out of your hands now, Cid. If they really did that…then they don't want to stop it either. At least you tried."

Cid didn't move. He continued to stare at the console. However, there was no more time for this. Quaren hesitated a bit longer. He was normally too timid for this…but he finally acted. Abruptly, he wrapped his arm around his torso and began to yank him back and away from the console. Cid seemed to snap out of it at this, and tried to fight back. The corporal, again thinking of Dael, trying to make himself as bold as her, spoke out loud.

"Listen! The only thing we can do now is what the commander said! We have to tell people to evacuate! None of us know where to go for the relay or how to use it when we get there, but you do! We need you! If you want to save people's lives, then come on!"

The engineer hesitated only a moment longer, but it seemed Quaren's words sank into him. Although it was only reluctant at first, he stopped fighting the corporal, and slowly began to move over with him. He picked up speed as he did, and soon both of them were with Ceja and Cryder.

Jalab backed up as well, but stayed in front of both of them. Once there, he grasped his staff with both hands, and quickly bashed through the surrounding consoles and machinery, enough to give him a "full range". After that, he rapidly began to spin his staff in front of him again, even as his mystic aura began to ignite around him. After only a moment, it began to transfer to his staff as it spun around, illuminating a disk in front of him.

By now, the cutting torch was over halfway through making a "door shape", but not to three quarters. That was as far as it would get, however…for as the group covered their ears as best as they could, the explosive went off. A deafening blast went out within the room, and flaming shrapnel was propelled right at them, confirming this wasn't the best idea in the world. However, Jalab held his ground, and continued to twirl his staff, causing the burning bits to richochet off in all directions. Furthermore, the blast still punctured through to the other side, snapping the rest of the metal door open and obliterating the first set of sentries on the other side. Nevertheless, green lasers immediately tried to pierce the dust and smoke that resulted, trying to find targets…but Jalab wouldn't let them. Never even wincing in pain from the boom, he focused his power again and fired off a beam of his own chakra…blasting into the smoke, clearing it out, and both burning and punching into whatever was on the other side. In the hall beyond, a swarm of sentries were soon smashed aside like debris as the beam slammed into them, and many were melted down or destroyed.

Jalab, not wasting the moment, stopped twirling the staff and charged right for the opening. From what they could see, since the smoke had been cleared away, they had a straight shot to the outside…at least for a moment. The others were rather sore still, for, even covering their ears, that had been painful, but they quickly got up as well. Ceja was first, charging out right behind the monk. As the two plunged out of the security antechamber and into the hall, the first two sentries to recover met their end as the raw power of Jalab smashed one with a swing of his staff, and Ceja's ferocity cleaved right through the other one. They quickly began to get to work scattering the others.

Cryder and Quaren were a bit slower, but both drew their own weapons and soon charged out as well after the two. Cid, after one last bout of hesitation, brought up the rear. As he did, he removed his blowtorch…but seemed to take a larger cylinder from his pack and start to "modify" it, giving it more gas and propulsion. The result slowed him a bit, but he still came out behind the others.

Quaren himself saw Jalab and Ceja finish the "first wave" just as they came out, but there was little time to relax. He had barely exited when more sentries began to round the corner to his left, these ones all of the Obelisk type. Their green lasers streaked through the air and went to the group, trying to get a target, but Quaren was still a bit faster. Swiveling his gun around, he began to pump off his armor piercing rounds, shattering the "heads" of each unit one by one as they came in. Nevertheless, they were emerging in rows, and couldn't be stopped so quickly. Cryder soon lent a hand, using the fact they were on a sublevel to utilize his geomancy. Stake-like projections of rock burst from the floor and jammed into the treads of the approaching drones, causing them to snag up and trip over themselves. The result caused the others to logjam behind them, enabling them to get a bit more down. Ceja attempted to fling her axe at them when they were like this, but froze…realizing that they were in too close quarters to do her traditional fling.

Instead, she surprised everyone a little when she twisted her axe so that the blade was vertical, and then did a sort of "hula hoop" throw. To their astonishment, the blade dug into the floor, ripping up metal and sparks in the process, and shot out straight for the piled-up drones, slicing through four of them…and then recoiled like a yo-yo back into Ceja's grasp. It was enough to actually make Quaren and Cryder pause a moment in surprise.

"New machine!" Jalab suddenly yelled.

As Cryder recovered enough to keep using his geomancy, and Ceja performed that move again to slice up even more…all while more legions continued to pile in behind them…Quaren looked around, and was just in time to see what had alerted Jalab. A new armored drone had popped up from around a corner on their opposite side. This one was black as midnight, and looked like some sort of great, armored disk, that went around on a tripod of rollers, enabling it to move rapidly and shoot around on the floor at a whim. It actually used a serpentine pattern as it shot down the turn of the other hall and emerged. A moment later, the top of its "head" popped open, revealing small amounts of machinery within…which Quaren immediately guessed were weapons.

Jalab didn't give it a chance to fire, quickly swinging his staff around, twirling it, and then aiming it at the saucer-shaped drone. The initial thrust, however, did nothing to it. It immediately slammed shut again in some sort of "defensive" mode. The surface was apparently so aerodynamic that the blow glanced right off of it. He quickly threw in some of his aura in an energy blast behind it…only for Quaren to see it had little result. To his astonishment, the beam glanced off of the smooth surface at an angle and cut into the ceiling instead, ripping a huge rift into it. This shocked the corporal, but he wasn't alone. The monk seemed rather stunned as well.

At any rate, the saucer split again and warmed up some sort of attack. Jalab quickly retracted his staff and began to twirl it again, once more producing the shield of his own aura. A moment later, the saucer did attack…firing off a white-hot bolt of energy that snaked through the air like some sort of sci-fi movie "plasma discharge". On striking the shield Jalab had generated, the monk actually let out a mild cry of pain as he was knocked both back and off guard, his staff going wild and upward. The beam was deflected, but Quaren soon saw that it too possessed the power to gouge the wall. The corporal was stunned. They had to be employing these drones as a last resort if they did that sort of collateral damage. Then again…if the facility was about to be destroyed…

Hoping his armor piercers would have better luck, Quaren aimed upward to fire on it, only to see the machine could react fairly quickly and instantly fired off another bolt. The corporal was lucky that his reaction time was so good and that this machine wasn't quite firing as fast as real lightning would snake out, for he barely managed to abort firing and shoot to one side in time, using gravity to help him by yanking him down to the ground in the process. Nevertheless, the white-hot bolt that went out nearly took off Cryder's head, just singing a bit of his hair from behind and making him yell and dive for cover as well before it gouged a hole in the ceiling. As for the corporal, he landed hard on the ground, and looked up in shock at the power and speed of the deceptive-looking small drone. Yet he soon saw something that made him grimace a bit more.

Two more were rolling out from the corner to join the first.

"Ceja! Cryder! We could use your help on this side!" He shouted.

"You're on your own mate!" Cryder answered as he looked up just in time to send another stalactite through an approaching Obelisk, who had been using his hesitation as a chance to try and surge forward, and had actually gotten a red laser before he had managed to stop it. "They aren't stopping over here!"

Sure enough, they were still piling in without cease. The stack of ruined machines was rather high at this point, but with no end in sight to those incoming. Their side was on its own. That wasn't good. Quaren wasn't in a good spot to fire, and Jalab had actually dropped his staff. The bolt seemed to numb his arms momentarily.

Yet even as the other two prepared to fire, Cid stepped forward, wielding his new cutting torch with both hands as it was attached to its new array, almost like a movie minigun, and aimed for the first saucer robot. A moment later, he fired…and both Jalab and Quaren were a bit surprised to see a jet of flame erupt from the end, like a gigantic version of the blowtorch flame from earlier, and wash over the first saucer in the lead. It immediately went into defensive mode, again slamming down into an armored saucer…but that flame had to be a couple thousand degrees easy, for it didn't take long for the fire to first melt the saucer closed…and then start eroding it all together to pierce inside and melt the internal circuitry. In a few moments, the saucer began to fizzle and spasm, and finally blew out several key systems before collapsing all together.

The next saucer tried to get out of defensive mode and fire back at that, but Cid quickly whipped his torch onto this one as well. Unfortunately, that still left one other saucer, which opened to fire. Quaren snapped on it. Quickly, he got out his handgun and opened fire. It wasn't enough to do anything, as it quickly slammed shut again and let the bullets ding harmlessly off of it…but it did force it back into defensive mode. That gave Quaren enough time to quickly look over its rollers and find an opening in the joint in the rear portion of the tripod. He quickly aimed for that and fired…and soon took it out, causing it to falter onto two legs. Doing so had a bonus effect…exposing its "belly", which had more openings on it. Quaren pumped a few more bullets into these until he hit one that caused the bullets to ricochet inside the machine itself, causing it to spasm and go wild on its remaining "limbs".

Unfortunately, this wasn't the end either. Three more quickly rolled in to join their brethren.

Quaren grimaced as he used the interim to get up again. "This could take forever…"

"That's the idea, lad." Cryder answered grimly as he continued to use his power. "Keep us pinned here until we go up with the boom."

"We need to move… We'll have to try and move through one side or the other." Quaren stated. "But which way?"

"This way." Cid stated. "It's got to lead to the elevators."

"How can you tell?"

"Probably because they're sending their worst machines after us from this way…" The engineer answered with a grimace as he turned up the heat on another saucer.

"Alright…that means we're gonna have to punch through one side while holding back the other." Cryder responded. "I'll handle the 'punch through' part if someone can keep these tin men off me for a second."

"I've got it." Quaren answered. "Let's switch!"

A moment later, Cryder quickly darted to Quaren's side, just as he crossed over to his. As he did so, Quaren already went for a block of his own explosives. He tore off half of it this time and, using his own practiced skill combined with his speed, rigged up his own detonator to it and quickly set it for a mere four seconds. As for Cryder, he focused on the saucers, who were being joined by even more reinforcements for a moment, before he began to spout arcane language of his own, a rare change for the geomancer. As he spoke, an aura ignited around him and the chamber turned darker than before, indicating that a summon was being used.

Quaren paid this no mind. Instead, he threw his block into the approaching enemy, tossing high enough to land in their midst at the junction of the corner. Quickly bringing his rifle out, he had enough time to fire two more shots, and Ceja had the time to reclaim her axe, before it detonated. The fire and concussive force that resulted was enough to make everyone recoil and shield themselves…but the machines got the worst of it, being shredded to bits by the explosive power. It was still not a good idea to be throwing bombs around like that in an enclosed area, but it was slightly better this time around now that they were all in the open.

Even as Cryder recoiled from the blast himself, a multi-colored, assymetrical, twisted humanoid leapt out of the portal, mostly purple and other pastel hues with yellow orb eyes and a large air sac on its back…Pandemona. As more disc-like sentries arrived, it planted its oddly shaped legs and began to inhale, inflating the tremendous air sac in the process…and generating such a tremendous vacuum of pressure that even Quaren felt himself being drawn to it, although he was nowhere near it. The saucers, however, were a different matter. Aerodynamic or no, the pressure differential sucked each one right off the ground, and they soon vanished into the cavernous hole mounted on the creature's shoulder, attached to the air sac. They even seemed to shrink in size to fit. If that wasn't enough, the pressure was enough to yank ones in hiding out from around the corner and stash them in as well. Soon, the flat air sac inflated like a balloon. To be honest, Quaren thought it was a bit surprising.

Yet then, the air Guardian Force seemed to "sneeze" them out even faster…causing the machines to explode out as if they were in a compressed hurricane. The drones were ripped apart by torsional forces in all directions and slammed into each other violently, shattering them into bits before smashing the entire assembly against the back wall with sufficient force to blow right through it, shattering conduits and blasting clean into a distant room.

Everyone was a bit stunned by the power as Pandemona faded and the lights came fully on again. Perhaps not as great as the power Jay had gotten out of it, but still considerable. Cryder seemed the most shocked of all, as he usually relied on geomancy rather than straight magic or summons. However, none of them stayed that way long. Jalab, seeming to recover enough to move his limbs again, took up his staff, and motioned on.

"We must go!" He stated, quickly moving to lead the way again, no doubt to act as a "shield" if necessary.

Quaren snapped out of it, and began to follow. Cryder dropped in behind him. Cid and Ceja both alike brought up the rear. Both of them looked to each other, realizing they had a dispute over who was going to act as the "rear cover", especially since it seemed the Obelisks were opening fire on the remains of their own kind to try and get them out of the way. In the end, they both seemed to take the job.

In spite of their respective attacks, it didn't take long to start running into more trouble. They had hardly turned the first corner when two more of the saucer drones popped out and immediately started deploying their weapons. They were a bit too slow this time, however. Jalab, realizing his previous tactics hadn't worked, immediately doubled his speed and charged forward. This time, he used his staff to vault over the first attack…and landed, swinging it up and around, slamming it down on the saucer with sufficient force to destroy it through internal collision. Quaren dispatched his more subtily, opening fire with his armor-piercers and managing to catch it right in the open saucer, thanks to having a more high-powered rifle than standard. It snapped back and went down soon afterward. The next branch they came to was a four-way intersection. Anticipating a problem, Quaren quickly went for one of his grenades, yanked the pin, and threw it down the hall on the right as he passed through. Sure enough, he caught a quick glimpse of two more saucer drones coming in before the explosive landed in their midst. At the same time, Cryder used his power to cause a cave-in within the opposite hallway, just as three other saucers were preparing to fire. As Ceja and Cid both ran past, the grenade went off, knocking both saucers aside on one side, while on the other the three saucers were either crushed or buried by the deluge of debris that resulted.

Another junction shot by soon after as the group continued to run, Cid calling out to stay the course. By now, there were notifications on the walls showing where the elevators were, and there wouldn't be need of that much longer. Quaren readied another grenade, but there was no immediate need for it. As they ran by, they saw nothing coming at first. Yet that would change soon. All of them could hear small rotors moving, indicating more drones were pouring in down either side. They didn't have much time.

The five charged past, but even as they did, more echoes became audible behind them. It seemed the first wave they had fought had regrouped, and was now coming up behind them again. Sure enough, they only got about fifty more feet before saucers started to roll out from around the corner. At least a dozen of them had come already by the time other saucers joined them…first from the corridors they had just passed, and soon joined by ones down the corridors they had attacked.

Cryder grimaced a bit at the sight of all of this. "I'm startin' to believe that son-of-a-bitch that said they had let us come this far…"

"Should we use more of those explosive bricks?" Ceja asked, tensing up at the sight.

"One brick alone won't do it…and more than that and we'll probably blow ourselves up too." Quaren answered. "Let's just keep running and pick off ones that get too close!"

"That's going to be a problem…" Cid suddenly groaned. "Look!"

Quaren snapped his head forward momentarily. For a moment, he saw far to the end of the hall, and saw a set of elevators nearing. He wasn't sure if they went all the way to the top or just to main floors…but it didn't really matter. Soon, a massive, thick, metal wall began to slide down over the end of the hall. The group, for all their enhanced speed, couldn't possibly reach it in time. Sure enough, a large "thunk" had sounded as it locked into place long before Jalab could touch it.

"We need to get through that obstacle!" Ceja shouted.

"Probably need to do something about the blighters behind us too, lass!" Cryder shouted back. "I can't do a big enough cave in for all of them without taking us with them!"

"I have thought!" Jalab suddenly stated, quickly slipping into the back row. In moments, he had spun around and went behind Ceja and Cid, moving again into the back. Once there, he crossed his staff in front of him and began to focus once again. Quaren wasn't exactly sure what he was doing. He knew his power didn't work on them. However, he really didn't have time to argue. They were closing fast, and there were now at least twenty of them in the hall behind with more coming. He needed to put his rifle to work shooting them again.

As he did, Cid ran back to the thick metal wall. "I've got this! Everyone stand back!" Soon, he gunned his blowtorch again, and aimed it right in the center. After a few seconds, it began to turn red. A bit longer, and it started to turn to bright yellow in the middle, beginning to melt.

"Wouldn't that hammer of yours be faster, lad?" Cryder asked as he snapped around and tried using his wind slash…but to no avail. The robots were too aerodynamic.

"It'd bring down the entire room on us at this distance…" The engineer answered as he kept burning.

Quaren didn't pay much attention to this. Snapping another one of his grenades free, he used his enhanced strength to give it a toss into the incoming drones. But they were moving forward so fast that the resulting explosion knocked a few of them even closer. Ceja quickly countered with her axe, and Quaren his rifle bullets, to pick off the ones who had gotten nearer…but even so they kept coming, barely stopped by the grenade. Some that had even been knocked askew continued to approach.

Finally, however, Jalab made his move. His aura was blazing now, as it would for one of his more powerful moves. However, he didn't split into flaming images. Instead, he stopped twirling his staff and aimed…not at the saucer robots, but at the floor they were coming to, right before they could get into firing range. A moment later, his chi exploded again, firing a beam of pure aura down in front of him. It struck the floor, and immediately bashed through it. Continued to focus his beam, he traced it out in front of him, burning a trench across the floor easily large enough to swallow two of the drones at once.

After cutting it off, the robots moved only a bit closer before freezing. Now they had an impenetrable barrier. Some of them tried opening their saucers to fire…but it was no good. They were too far away. A few tried edging closer, but, unfortunately for them, too many got that idea, and one ended up being knocked into the pit all together.

"Looks like that'll hold them for a little while." Quaren stated, before turning back to the wall.

The metal security bulkhead had to be at least a foot thick, but it was still falling down pretty easily. The torch had already burned out a huge amount of molten slag, which the group quickly had to shy away from to avoid being tagged by. Quaren didn't move too far back, however. He didn't want to get back into firing range. At any rate, enough seemed to finally be cleared out for there to be an opening. They could move through without getting burned, and where Cid could get all of his own devices through. He cut off soon after.

"Alright, we're clear!"

Leading the way, he twisted his body and oversized pack in through the opening. Quaren went next, grimacing a bit as he made sure not to touch the still-gleaming metal around him, following by Cryder, Ceja, and finally Jalab.

In moments, they reached the elevator, but Quaren, even with not having had a clear look at the elevator before, soon frowned as he saw it now. It was clearly covered up with plates over the doors, sealing them out from using it. Even if it wasn't, the control panel had gone dead. He reached out and tried pushing a button, but it wouldn't even light or request a code. He groaned.

"They already sealed this door off!"

Cryder gave a look to Cid. "Can you hack it?"

The engineer removed a hand from his advanced blowtorch and ran it through his hair. "I dunno… It might take a bit. And we'd have to get this plating off first."

At that, both of them heard a scowl. Quaren turned, just in time to see Ceja put a hand on his shoulder and practically shove him aside. The Fuliet warrior did the same to Cid, even as she hefted her axe.

"I have had my fill of codes and locks and other devilry that makes it impossible to go anywhere in these cramped, metallic-smelling caves your kind are so fond of making!"

With that, giving a war yell in her native dialect, she swung her axe around and into the metal so hard that it actually embedded into it. Quaren was stunned. Was the bone of that creature she had the axe made out of _that_ strong? Continuing to grunt, Ceja twisted and pried her axe out again…opening a huge gash in the doors. Immediately, she tossed her axe aside for a moment, seized the jagged metal with both hands, and, this time to _everyone's_ surprise, leapt up and planted both of her legs against the door before she began to pull with all of her strength…and remarkably the metal began to groan, deform, and pull out.

Jalab remarked something in his native dialect as he blinked at her.

Quaren, after a moment, exhaled. "…I think Ceja's got the right idea. We're just going to have to go up the shaft now."

"Hopefully that won't take too long…" Cid murmured as he looked to his own wrist, where he had synchronized his watch to setting the bomb. "We're already down to 49 minutes…"

Cryder looked around a bit, and then behind them again. Immediately, he froze. "…The lass' option has got my vote at the moment, mate. Seems to be the fastest and we could use a touch of speed, as it were…"

Quaren looked behind again, and nearly groaned. Those drones was more persistent, and capable, than he gave them credit for. They seemed to have some sort of magnets in their rollers, and they had to be powerful ones too. Now they were rolling to the side of the chamber and starting to go up the walls, attempting to roll across those to get to the group. Frowning, he quickly raised his rifle again, took aim for the base of one of the rollers, and fired. His first shot deflected. They were obviously pretty sleek and armored even there. His second shot, however, disengaged it and sent it flying back, enabling him to put another bullet into its base and send it toppling into the pit. Unfortunately, three more were already doing the same.

"Just keep at it! Try to find a way to get us up that shaft once it's open!" Quaren stated as he kept firing.

_I hate to think how Dael is doing…_

* * *

><p>By now, both Carbuncle and Sorceress Faerio had long since made their last teleport. Dael now only had to hope that they were getting many more people away from this area… She had her own concerns to worry about as she finished chanting her last few arcane words, before translucent prisms seemed to spread themselves over the three of them. They faded soon afterward.<p>

"…I hope that's good." She stated grimly. "I've only done physical barriers until now. I don't have a whole lot of experience with magical ones. We haven't exactly fought a whole lot of individuals that can use it…"

"So long as it's enough to keep him from killing us with one shot, it's something." Bahamut responded, continuing to hold at the ready.

The fires were dying down to nothingness now…but after a small group of five Hounds had attempted to cross the one breach in the wall, and were summarily stopped by Taraketh's kusarigama, and after a couple minutes of shooting from their assault weapons, things had gone still…and had been that way for a few minutes more. Dael knew they hadn't run off. That much was true. But if that was the case, what were they waiting for?

She doubted it was good, whatever it was. But she assumed at this point that Raven, if he was really that intent on a fight, would have come over.

After a few more moments, Dael called out. "Li…I'm right here. You want me, don't you?"

"I want a straight fight, if that's what you're trying to say…not to immediately be greeted by one of your mage bullets." His voice calmly answered from the other side. "I'm not sure you fully understand the situation you are in. Even as I'm speaking, the bulkheads to this floor are being sealed off. When I leave, I will shut them all behind me. The only ones who are currently losing out on this situation are you and your companions by barricading yourselves in there."

Dael grimaced a bit on hearing that. She knew he was right. Between the two sides, they were the ones who would afford to wait the longest… Yet before she could try to think of any other way out of that, Raven's voice spoke again.

"However, if you insist on me taking the offensive…"

Dael was soon caught by a mixture of shock and alarm as the "walls" that Taraketh had erected were suddenly shattered. As boulders flew at the group, pounding against them from the eruption, forcing them to pull back and shield themselves…the source was revealed to not be heat or an explosion at all…but, to Dael's amazement, flesh and bone. Ten of the armored Hounds that remained had seemed to dash forward and check their bodies into the barrier all together, and it was actually shattering from their power, exploding around them. Although some bits of debris slowed them down afterward, they continued to barrel forward after doing so, charging right for the group without looking too sore. Each one was deploying a pair of melee weapons…a bladed gauntlet on one hand, and some sort of extendable, pole-like weapon from their other hand. Dael just caught the sound of a humming from the weapons…making her realize they were using the "vibro" technology that Sybenia possessed to enhance deflection and piercing power…before the nearest one to her casually smacked a piece of rock out of the way as it hovered right in front of his face in mid-air, and dove with his "claws" extended for Dael's heart.

The commander was shocked by the surprising power of the Hound, but nevertheless quickly shifted the hand with her sword upward in a deflection move. It worked…just barely. Both surprised and only using one arm, she managed to just make the talons move to one side and nick her shoulder clothing, just missing hitting flesh. Yet the Hound didn't stop there, but quickly landed, snapped around with his staff, and attempted to strike her against the skull. Quickly, the young woman backpedaled and brought her sword up and across with enough force to smack away the impact…but to her surprise it wasn't enough to fully deflect the weapon away and counter. As a result, the Hound continued to advance, this time driving the talons for her gut. She was forced to retreat again, swinging her sword down to deflect the blow, before she was again made to step back further as the Hound twirled his staff over his head and brought it down in a clubbing motion. Even that wasn't good enough, and she quickly brought her sword up in a blocking maneuver to catch it. Normally, even one arm in her enhanced state would have been good enough against two from another man…but, again to her surprise, he actually made her buckle.

She quickly glanced around her, seeing the other Hounds were attacking the rest of the group. Taraketh was managing to keep his at bay fairly well using his chain from his kusarigama, deflecting his opponent's thrusts. However, another Hound with an assault rifle had moved in and was taking pot shots at him whenever he presented an exposed flank, accurate enough to fire around his partner. The High Child was forced to quickly snap around or redirect his opponent in front of the shots, but that made no difference to him, for his body armor seemed strong enough to stop those bullets. Bahamut was similarly fending off two Hounds at once. But even with both hands holding a weapon, he was being forced back as well. If that wasn't enough, the others that had charged were rushing in, and more were following. This didn't make sense… Even for Elite Hounds, they shouldn't have been strong enough to keep them back…

Unless…

Dael looked beyond, back to the other side of the barrier…and was just in time to see one of the Hounds remove his hand from his mouth as he flipped down his visor.

_They're taking the same drugs Crow used… _She realized. _They're not junctioned so they're not getting a good enough "high"…but it's making even these shock troops deadly enough in numbers…_

She soon noticed something else. The assault was forcing them all back…trying to get them back in range of the Eris Bell.

In spite of her struggling, Dael managed to call out. "Taraketh, they're trying to back us up!"

The High Child didn't answer right away. Instead, after deflecting another strike from his own enemy's gauntlet with his scythe, he quickly snaked out with his chain and wrapped it around the pole in his other hand, before lashing it to his wrist. With one sharp tug, the man's hands were linked together. Quickly, he drove the hammer forward and smashed it into his face, fracturing the visor and hitting the flesh and bone beneath, then swept the man in front of him as a shield to deflect more bullets from the attacking Hounds. Freeing one arm, he quickly concentrated for a moment, chanted a few words, and then let his aura erupt. A moment later…a second rock wall popped up behind them…stopping them from going back any further.

It was into this wall that Dael ran against a moment later…and she immediately used it. Quickly, she braced her body for leverage as she leapt back again and, as her opponent came forward, she drove her foot up and connected hard in his throat. The Hound gagged and faltered, enabling her to rock further back and jam her foot out in a thrust kick as his head lowered, casting him back and away from her. More Hounds immediately came in…but she used the moment to snap off of the wall, plant her feet, and pop open her gun before another thrust forward. Quickly, she sidestepped to one side and gave him a slash across the neck, cutting through the armor and hitting a vital spot. As the Hound went down, before the next one could arrive…she gave her gun a "snap" and cast the current shell out of it, swung her hand out to snatch it out of the air, and put it in her pocket while seizing the other one from her waist in one fluid movement. The other Hound reached her at that point, but she ducked under his swing for her head and greeted him with a slash to the midsection even as she advanced further back into the chamber. Finally, with one last interim, she tossed the shell in the air, caught in the barrel, and slammed it shut again.

"I've switched to the Meteor bullet!" She shouted.

At this point, Bahamut was still fending off two Hounds at once, but managed to catch both with his sword and buckler for a precious moment. Using that time, he quickly concentrated and summoned his own abilities. As his aura ignited, he used his lesser size to direct both legs underneath him, then leap upward and spread out, throwing both of their weapons away as he did a backflip in the air…while a deluge of water formed from nothingness behind him and roared forward, sweeping both of his opponents off of their feet and flinging them back into their companions. As for Taraketh, he gave a sharper yank on his chain, both unwinding it while at the same time twisting his opponent's arms painfully, giving a breaking sound, before swinging him over and letting him collapse. Freeing himself, the High Child quickly shot out both his sickle and his hammer at once, slashing through one shooter who had joined the first, and nailing the other one in the wrist, breaking his arm and causing his gun to falter.

Dael herself only wasted enough time to dodge two more slashes from the latest Hound, before clubbing him with the end of her katana and then following up with a finishing slash while he was stunned, and then she found herself free. Immediately, she snapped her hand skyward and fired the shot.

The commander could almost feel a bit of power leaving her, and a momentarly flash of dizziness came over her. That testified to the power of the bullet. The Hounds actually froze for a moment as they saw the shot arc over their heads…and detonate far on the other side of the ruined barrier, in the midst of most of them. However, when that happened…it erupted into what looked like nothing more than thick smoke. It was enough to surprise Dael along with the rest of them. For a moment…she wondered if she had fired a "dud". After all, she had never fired one of these things before, let alone seen it.

But then, she saw that the smoke wasn't fading. Rather, it rapidly billowed out and expanded. Even then, it wasn't like a gas grenade at all. It seemed to form more of a flat cloud near the ceiling. And it didn't fade as it grew larger either. Rather, it remained thick and opaque as it enlarged, and seemed to come out as a disk of some sort… Yet even that lasted only a moment, for soon the middle began to part, leaving an opening in the center. What was on the other side wasn't the ceiling, however…but space. Only an ocean of stars and nebulas was beyond, the vastness of the cosmos itself. Dael was astonished to see it just as the other Hounds were.

Yet before she could be too stunned, Bahamut ran up to her and seized her, quickly using his own enhanced strength to rip her backward and to the wall, before flinging her to the ground and trying to cover both with their shield. She blinked and looked to him, even as Taraketh ran over and crouched as well.

"Are you mad?" He shouted to her. "Stay back! Pray that your shield holds out!"

"That was once the strongest spell known in existence, Dael!" Bahamut said as he held on.

The woman said nothing else in response…for at that moment she saw a blinding light beginning to come through the hole that had been torn in space and time…the coming of what had to be a meteor. Instead, she just slammed her eyes shut, put her head down, and held on.

Dael, Taraketh, and Bahamut weren't even the intended targets…but soon all three of them were violently slammed into the back stone wall. The commander was lucky, already having her back placed against it, keeping her from being pushed too much farther…but the raw force, far worse than any hurricane, still slammed both of those with her into her. A wave of searing heat ripped over both of them, and a moment later she actually felt her clothes tear a bit from the raw shockwave that resulted. Her eardrums felt like they would nearly blow out from the titanic force. What she never suspected is that she wasn't getting anywhere near what the true impact of a meteor pulled from deep space would be, or even a full-sized attack. What Cid thought of as a 'Meteor' was closer to the old Time Magic of a area-affected 'Comet' spell. The actual power would have been enough to devastate everything, including them from this range, unless it was incredibly focused.

Nevertheless, Dael couldn't hear any of the results over the sounds of eruptions blasting away the corridor. It sounded as if the place itself was being torn apart even if the magical properties kept it localized to a relatively small area. Successive shockwaves continued to blow over the three for several moments. Finally, it cut off, although the entire area was stil hot, and the commander continued to hear things all around her burning and sizzling.

Slowly, the three uncovered themselves and looked to see the result. Dael was rather stunned. Although it wasn't as bad as, say, an attack from a Sorceress, she was surprised that shell packed such a punch. The entire area was outlined into a massive crater depression which carved into the walls on both sides, cutting into paneling and even the rock of underground that the facility was built in. Bits of debris and fire were everywhere, including the bodies of several Hounds of Sybenia. Some were in pieces… There seemed to be nothing but remains all over the place. At any rate, none of the few bodies Dael could still see were moving. There was nothing left, save for the path on the other side of the burning crater.

Dael exhaled a moment, but then began to rise once again. Her action forced the others around her to get up as well, and soon all three were on their feet. They looked over the devastation a moment. In spite of the smoke rising from the fire, they were still able to breath easily enough. It seemed the area was well ventilated in that contingency. The fire systems didn't ignite, however. Dael wasn't sure if they had been damaged or destroyed, or if they were more of the 'foam' type, which meant they would also kill whoever was in this area. It didn't matter at the moment. She soon took a few steps forward, looking around a bit more.

"…Did that get him?" She asked.

"As much as I'd like to say 'yes', for I don't know of any human who could have survived a direct hit from that…he's far beyond most individuals I've ever seen." Bahamut answered. "Besides, we have better concerns than seeing if his remains are here or not. We need to go."

Dael was about to agree…when something new arose.

The ceiling, which, thanks to the "portal", was still mostly intact except for debris that had kicked up and into it, suddenly slid open in four spots, revealing four holes within it. Taraketh and Bahamut looked to them, as Dael reached into her pocket for her remaining Flare bullet and began to load it. While doing so, four objects popped out of the holes. They looked to be canisters for the most part, except with rounded edges, and larger than oil drums. Each one dropped to the ground, but didn't roll on landing, in spite of being circular and the floor having to be uneven.

In moments, clicking and whirring began to come from the cylinders, as strips of thick metal began to "unravel" from the main bodies. When they did so, they broke apart into links, and then repositioned themselves, becoming rigid. They reached down and touched the ground, pushing upward, until they suspended the main cylinder off the ground itself. As more parts unrolled, locked, and combined with existing pieces, other components extended from the main body. This procedure happened rather quickly, more or less in unison with one another, and in a few moments Dael realized these weren't guns or bombs of a sort, but actually more drones. And this was a type she wasn't familiar with…although, as she looked to them, her mind vaguely recalled her last semester in which she learned about foreign weapon development. She thought she read something about creating more motile drones of a sort…ones with animal-like reflexes and speed. The technology was actually a form of cybernetics being invented, a modification of existing monsters to be used as security guards.

Soon the "transformation" was complete, and the new drones arose. Their torsos were a bit oversized, but they looked vaguely humanoid…or, to be more exact, vaguely "monkey-like", both in posture…as well as how they soon began to bob and shift a bit, like real animals. Sure enough, one of the strips that extended seemed to be a tail for balance of their oversized upper bodies. They also possessed four limbs that resembled muscular arms. As they bobbed a bit…more sounds came out of them. Fairly large, thick blades popped out of the end of each one of their hands, and shot into their metallic 'grip', in the form of metal claws on the end of each limb. Dael gave another grimace on seeing each blade begin to not only vibrate, but glow red hot. The machines, like exotic blade users, began to twist their weapons around and shift from one foot to another.

The commander exhaled as she raised her sword. "…I think these ones might be a bit more trouble, but we need to get by them fast in case they have more they're getting ready to shove at us."

Taraketh grimaced as well as he raised his weapon and began to swirl it around. Bahamut rotated his sword wrist for a moment, and crossed his shield in front of him. The security robots began to move forward, clicking against the remains of the floor as they neared the edge of the crater.

"At least we removed our Hound opponents." The High Child stated.

Yet as if in response to that, near a pile of debris, a large metal plate suddenly shifted to one side. In spite of the slowly nearing new robots, all three ignored them and snapped to the source. What Dael saw left her overwhelmed.

A large piece of scrap metal was pushed aside…and Raven arose from behind it. He let out an exhale as he dusted off his arms, and adjusted his coat a bit. After cracking his neck once, he turned and looked to the others. In spite of what happened, his face was still the same dull look.

"…I didn't think anyone still made Meteor shells. So much for my preparation."

With that, he pulled aside part of his coat…revealing a small device beneath with some sort of crystalline structure mounted on the outside. It was sparking and hissing now, looking clearly damaged. But despite the fact the sparks, and even periodic burst of flame, from it touched the man, he didn't seem to notice as he pulled it off, finished crushing it in his bare hand, and then tossed it aside as it went dead.

"The Guiding Hand gave me a magical-based technology device that was supposed to generate a magic overshield similar to a reflection spell. I was saving it for a Flare bullet, which I'm sure you have somewhere in there. But Meteor spells are too chaotic in nature to be reflected, and so the best it could do was protect me from the brunt of that last attack. Congratulations, commander. I can no longer reflect your Flare back at you. I'll have to expend a bit more effort to simply dodge it."

Dael struggled not to groan. She had no idea he even had that sort of thing, or that it even existed. She supposed it figured… Why wouldn't the Hounds of Sybenia have some sort of personal protection against magic? She wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad it was gone? Frankly…she didn't have time to worry.

Like mutant, cybernetic monkeys, the four primate-like robots suddenly lunged forward. They had apparently enough power in their legs to vault right over the crater pit…and carry on past that to practically collide with Taraketh and Bahamut. The High Child immediately answered by doing what he had been preparing: another lighting spell. He fired it out at the first incoming robot…only to illuminate a shield of rainbow light when it struck. Taraketh barely had time to realize that these robots had reflection spells too…before the bolt snapped back out right back at him. Quickly, he raised his arms and kusarigama to guard himself…but even with the magical barrier still in effect, he cried out and snapped back as the bolt struck him…and was soon ripped cleanly off of his feet and thrown back as the first one landed, smashing two of its blades so hard into his weapons that he was thrown back into his own earth wall. Bahamut did little better. As the first one approached, he quickly hunkered down and covered himself with his shield, using his low center of gravity and body to guard against the blow. However, the first robot that connected with him simply used its impact to nimbly flip over the boy and land on his other side. He snapped to it, but was powerless to defend against it as the second one collided with his still outstretched shield, this time holding on from that angle. As a result, he could only slightly move his body in a vague attempt to dodge to one side to try and defend himself from a rear slash (one that it performed without even turning, as its body seemed to be that dexterous), which didn't work out that well. He let out a cry a moment later, and Dael saw a bloody, smoldering gash, although only a small one, opened on his back.

The officer was torn. Taraketh was quickly being followed up for the kill by the two robots on his side, but Bahamut had already taken a wound. Neither of them looked like they were off to the right foot with these new machines. She had to try and intervene.

"Now it's just you and me."

Dael snapped forward to the voice…which was far too close for her tastes…and soon found herself staring only five feet away at Raven, standing on the other side of the crater, near her, and not moving an inch. Even his clothes weren't rustling. How had he managed to cross over so quickly?

Yet before anything could settle in her mind, she quickly gained control.

_Don't get nervous. Don't psych yourself out before the battle even started… Concentrate._

With that, she inhaled once, then straightened herself and aimed her katana in front of her. A moment later, she put away her gun for starters, putting both hands on the blade.

"You know my blade is one of the 'Deathbringers', yes?" Raven asked her. "You know full well any slash I give you from it has a chance to kill you instantly, right?"

Dael didn't answer. Her mind went through every last painful memory she could drag up of their previous fight, trying to note not only his moves, but his reflexes and speed. She tried to think which one of her "new moves" was fast enough to hit him. To her irritation, even her most basic one still cost a precious second that she didn't think he would give her, not from what she recalled.

"For that reason…I'm going to just stay with my hands and legs until you give me reason to otherwise. I don't want to end this too soon."

Without a word, he immediately snapped out for her face.

Even now, after all her experience and new abilities, the best she could do was dart her head slightly out of the way, still getting tagged on the cheek with a glancing blow. She barely saw him step forward. Even if only a glancing blow, it was enough to snap her head to one side. As a result, she was completely off guard when Raven stepped again…this time burying his fist down into her stomach. In spite of the fact she had braced herself with everything she had…she still felt her ribs buckle, her intestines feel like they were rupturing, and her body snap back a full four feet away from him. She somehow managed to stay on her feet, but even after that, her legs were barely holding her up. The blow had been aimed in her stomach, but already the pain radiated so much that it might as well have been a two-by-four hit against her head. How did that even work? How did he still have this much power? She actually went dizzy…and barely caught him flashing forward, raising his leg up, ready to bring an axe kick down on her while she was still stunned.

Seeing this, her anger blazed.

_Damnit, no!_

_ FIGHT BACK!_

The foot came down like a blur…but hit nothing. This time, it didn't even glance its target as Dael, forcing her body to ignore the pain already going through it from one hit, snapped her body back, actually crying out a little to push herself on, and let the foot simply dent the metal. Yet not stopping there, and still crying out with all the power she could muster, pushing herself free of the stunning effect of the pain…she actually lashed forward with a thrust of her sword aimed for Raven's throat.

Raven never changed his step, but he did snap his body back seemingly further than he intended to avoid the thrust. For a moment…Dael caught him raising an eyebrow.

Fueling herself with passion and determination, Dael continued her assault. Immedaitely, her sword went out again, this time slicing for his head. As in the previous battle, he dodged this more easily, nimbly turning it to one side to let the blade go past. She slashed again two more times, but without even shifting weight, he dodged each one, sidestepping every slice. As she overextended herself for one, he seized on the opening…driving his fist forward for her throat…only to see Dael snap her head to one side. She caught a bit of it on the ear, and it felt like it would rip it clean off…but she also countered with a upward slice to Raven's torso.

The eyebrows of the man raised a bit more…as he was actually forced to step backward for the first time in either of their fights.

A moment later, his eyes narrowed as he lashed out again, his fists moving like lightning. However, Dael was focused. Every muscle in her body was tensed. Every nerve like a livewire. What more, she noticed something else. Since the fight had begun, she was looking for an opening to use one of her powers. By now, she had grown so good at it that she could actually keep herself in the frame of mind of 'seeing' traces of spiritual energy at all times. And to her pleasant surprise…it telegraphed Raven's moves. Not by much, but more than she could see with her eyes. She could actually track him now.

Her head went one way and another as he launched out a pair of iron palms, both with more than sufficient force to shatter her nose, but narrowly missed each time. He launched a roundhouse kick next, which she quickly had to duck to avoid. Unfortunately…moving too fast for her, he cocked his leg back and thrust it outward, catching her right in the face. Her world went black as it felt like a concrete wall had smashed into her upper head, her entire face lighting on fire with pain. She was snapped off of her feet and sent back…and Raven, not letting up for a moment, dashed forward to deliver a finishing kick.

But Dael, in spite of the pain, wasn't going to cave so easily. She let the power push her back in a somersault…and dug her feet in on landing. As Raven came back, she actually countered by lunging at him with another upward slice, and the dark man was forced to freeze and hesitated as the sword went up to avoid being slashed. Yet Dael, toughing through the pain and dazzled senses again, pressed her advantage, and soon practically launched herself at Raven, slicing out for his head. He nimbly ducked under it, however. In response, he raised his own leg for another roundhouse, meaning to cross against Dael while she had overextended herself again.

Yet he was caught off guard again. Dael quickly removed one hand from her sword and formed a block, and intercepted his leg. The kick was like iron on a wrecking ball, and Dael nearly thought she could feel her bones strain under the power of it…but she halted it none the less…and immediately seized on the opportunity to drive her sword forward for his face.

For a second…Dael saw Raven's eyes actually enlarge and his pupils shrink…showing just the slightest hint of true surprise…before his palm went out and smacked the side of the blade away, just deflecting it. His lips actually parted. For a brief moment, the two actually stood in that position, actually blocking each other's attacks…

That was all the moment Dael needed.

Gritting her teeth and tightening, she quickly snapped her body back and out. Raven also backpedaled…which was what she hoped. She didn't waste a moment. Quickly, she traced the "spiritual divide" in the air, and found it as she backpedaled. Seeing where it met, she gave a cry and sliced forward, meaning to give a serious wound.

It wasn't going to be that easy.

Even though her basic "super move" was powerful enough to damage her opponent, and had the advantage of being the fastest…it simply wasn't good enough. Raven saw it as her sword came down, seeming to enlarge and glow with tremendous power as it suddenly tripled in speed and quadrupled in slicing strength. Yet in response, he simply extended both arms and, as graceful as his namesake while soaring, he easily, nimbly, and almost superhumanly leapt into the air, backflipped, let the power slash cut a deep rift into the floor, and then landed again, just at the edge of it, barely making any noise as his feet landed.

Dael couldn't believe it. She was panting and sweaty now. She might have been able to follow his moves…to a degree…but she was putting everything she had, not only in terms of strength but speed, into each blow. Just keeping "even" with him was taking its toll.

The dark warrior looked down at his feet, seeing the slash, and then looked back up to the Esthar Hawk.

"Well, well…" He stated. "I guess Jay wasn't being sloppy after all…although I won't quite rule out that Crow got careless. Keep this up. You have brief moments where you're actually making me feel alive for the first time in years…"

He shot forward again like a blur, aiming a kick in a "thrust" for her neck.

* * *

><p>There were still numerous armed guards in the hallway in front of the elevators at this time. After all, for the upper floors, everything was business as usual. A few workers and security officers noticed that some of the higher ups seemed to be leaving in a hurry, and a few were being requisitioned as security escort, but that didn't cause much concern. After all, it wasn't any of their place to ask why certain things were happening, but simply to carry them out. Hence, the large armed garrison was still posted at the elevators to the classified floors. That area had been called off limits. A few other security details were investigating areas where there had been attacks and damage, but those areas had been sealed off, and the rest of the facility continued to work. The soldiers continued to wait for any sign of hostility.<p>

Yet perhaps they were looking in the wrong direction.

Abruptly, the ones nearest to the elevators heard a piercing of metal. They quickly flipped around, guns out, and were just in time to see what looked like an oversized vise pry the elevator doors open. On the other side was a bit of an odd sight. What looked like people wearing wet uniforms of various employees were crammed into an empty elevator shaft, seemingly attached to the support cables at various points. One very large one with a gold-colored staff was grabbing the naked cable with seemingly no fear of the consequences to his bare hands. A rather powerful looking woman with an axe made out of animal bone was holding on as well with animal leather gloves…hand-made, too. Another one with a mustache and cutlass seemed to be straddling the chamber to lift himself into it, while another nearby was tentatively holding into a grappling hook while trying to keep a grip on a rifle.

However, the one in the lead seemed to have some sort of putty anchoring him to the wall, and had just pried open the doors with a large tool in one hand…and his other hand was holding some sort of large device with a wire outside of it…and a beeping light with his hand over a trigger button, uncovered from its sheath. His torso was also covered with enough military-grade plastique-type explosives to turn the entire floor into ash.

He looked positively insane, his eyes filled with madness…and his face twisted into a crazy look.

The soldiers immediately faltered with their guns and began to step back before he said anything.

"Alright, you sons of bitches!" He hissed in a crazed voice. "I want everyone out of this building in five minutes, or I'll blow us all to Hell! I see one person left…so help me God I'll blow this f***ing building into the damn Underworld!"

The multitude of soldiers had all turned to look at the man at this point…but not one of them made a move or kept their gun trained on him. After a moment, one of them gave a yell.

"…Everyone get back! Fall back now!"

Immediately, the guards turned and began to bolt for it. Even as they did, they began to go for their radios.

"Main control! We've got a suicide bomber!"

"Clear the building! Every wing! Clear the building!"

In moments, the corridor was abandoned. The bomber continued to look crazed as he stepped out, looking for the nearest camera and, on finding it, holding his detonator and bombs out to be clearly seen. Not long after, the lights in the room, and, indeed, the entire upper floor, began to change colors and rotate, triggering a general alarm throughout the entire general facility, with or without the consent of main control.

When that happened…Cid suddenly froze where he was…as Quaren stepped out as well, took aim at the camera, and obliterated it with one shot. He exhaled, and then looked to him with a smile. "That was pretty convincing! Good job!"

"You might have a career in acting when all this is done, mate." Cryder added as he climbed out of the shaft. "You looked good and crazy enough to do it."

"…Could someone please remove these bombs from my body…please?" Cid stated nervously, still not moving a muscle and beginning to turn a shade white.

Quaren looked to Cid with a bit of puzzlement as Ceja exited next. "It's alright. Those are stable compounds. You could drop them in fire and they wouldn't go off right away. Besides, I gave you the override, not the detonator. If anything, that's making sure you're less likely to blow yourself-"

_"Just get all of these bombs off of me, PLEASE!" _Cid suddenly outburst, causing Quaren to recoil, and nearly making Jalab falter back into the shaft out of surprise.

The corporal blinked, but then reached forward and began to pull them off. "Alright…"

"Screaming aside, perhaps a bit more urgency and less relaxation is in order, eh mate?" Cryder asked. "Last we checked, I believe we only have about thirty-nine minutes. Our little jaunt up the shaft took a bit longer than we hoped, especially with the little tripods down there trying to shoot us out of it?"

"…And the two that followed us up the shaft with those 'manga-netic' things." Ceja threw in, rubbing some metal shavings off of her axe as she said this.

"Not to mention they could still send in all the robots after us that they want once this building's evacuated." The pirate concluded.

Quaren just finished pulling off the last of the bombs. Having little else to do, he frowned, attached a detonator to half of them, set it for one hour, and then left it right there in the shaft. "Maybe that'll keep any bomb droids that come in busy…at least until we can get to the relay." Having no other place for them, he put the other explosives around his own neck and hefted his rifle, exhausting the spent magazine and moving for another. "I used all my armor-piercers for the rifle. All I have left are the ones in the baretta and anti-personal ones for this. So where do we go now?"

Cid took a moment to take in a few deep breaths, wipe his brow, and then look around a little to get his bearings. "Alright…alright… This is the security elevators and they're probably in the center of the facility. The people fled down that hall…" He pointed ahead. "And from the glimpse I got outside, the main exit is to the north. The highest point with the antennas that I saw were to the southeast, so…" He turned and pointed. "We need to make our way in that direction to get to the next elevators."

Quaren finished loading the rifle, and got ready. "Alright, then let's head over."

The five soon broke into a run again. They were getting a bit tired now between the fighting and the physical strain they had used to get this far, but if anything…they ran faster than ever now. Part of the reason was that they had an open space at this point. No guards were left, except for the occasional basic security drone, which Cryder took over disabiling using his Will O' The Wisp technique…or an occasional shot of chi from Jalab. However, they had bigger concerns too. After giving this general alarm, they wouldn't have much time to get _themselves_ out of there. Everyone who could teleport was still back in the basement…

On that note, Quaren kept on Cid to lead them onward. They went quite a distance, through numerous turns in the hallways, especially ones that forced them to go into the wrong direction on multiple occasions, but soon began to see signs pointing them toward elevators. A few hatches were in the way that had been sealed in an attempt to stop them, but they wasted little time with those. Since they weren't sealing off the bulkheads, Cid's torch melted through them like ice under a flamethrower. Although it seemed to take much longer than Quaren preferred, they cleared the way rapidly…far faster than it had taken to get up to this floor, at any rate.

With one last turn, following a sign that indicated onward, they turned a corner and entered a circular chamber. Two doorways and three elevator doors were there, arranged radially. There was even a sign nearby indicating what floors were available. The group quickly poured in, Ceja and Jalab covering the back, as Quaren went up to the elevator legend and read it over.

"Alright, here it is! 'Main Relay/Main Control – 18th Floor!'"

"Not to burst your bubble, mate…but Main Control's probably pretty secure." The pirate stated. "They're the ones who caused the lockdown, after all."

"Then we'll drive through them." Ceja answered simply.

"…We seem to default to that quite a bit." Cryder muttered.

Quaren, meanwhile, moved his hand to the button and pushed it. Nothing happened. Frowning, he pushed it again. Still nothing. He looked up in puzzlement, but Cryder merely grimaced.

"What's the matter, lad? You think that even if every elevator in this place wasn't key operated, not to mention the individual floors, that they wouldn't have locked down the elevators the moment we made a bomb threat?"

The corporal let out a small whine, and began to look around more frantically. However, Cid spotted something first.

"Look, there's the stairwell access."

"Ambush." Jalab stated.

"We don't really have much choice, even if they are using it for a bottleneck ambush." Quaren answered with a sigh. "We need to get up to that top floor."

Abruptly, he felt a light shove, and Ceja walked past him rapidly, holding her massive axe in one hand. "Here…allow me to take the head of the attack." She stated as she walked by. "I've been on the rear too long, but if there are only men in this chamber…then this is for me."

Even as she said this, she moved her axe around and slipped it on her backside holster. She also proceeded to start ripping off the sleeves of her wet clothing for greater mobility, and finally reached the door. Giving a grunt, and a bit of a mantra to herself, her arms lashed out, seized the door, and, to Quaren's surprise, seemed to actually bend and deform it in her raw hands in a "compression" move. She actually crushed it a bit before releasing, and then gave one more yell as she leveled her shoulder into it…snapping the lock portion off completely and smacking it open, leaving a stairwell exposed on the other side in a narrow vertical hall. Yet further to everyone's shock, she didn't go up the stairs, but merely leapt out, grabbed onto the side railing, and began to climb up the shaft quickly and silently.

Everyone stared for a brief moment.

"…Was that door even locked to begin with?" Cid asked.

"If it was, it'll never be again, mate." Cryder answered with a shrug. "Let's go. The quicker we sound the alarm…the more time we have to get ourselves out of here."

Deciding to drop the matter, Quaren ran into the stairwell. The others quickly followed behind.

The corporal had barely begun to climb the stairs when he looked up, and saw Ceja, fully undaunted by the massive axe on her back, scuttling up the center of the stairwell, climbing on the railings and rungs far faster with her hands and legs than she could ascend it walking up the stairs. Ignoring this, Quaren switched to his handgun, but continued to scale the stairwell. He had barely made it to the second floor, however, when he heard gunfire erupt from overhead. He snapped his head up, taking aim, and saw only a few flashes of light before he started hearing the sounds of cutting, grinding, and gunfire abruptly break off. He couldn't see Ceja anymore at this point…or, rather, he couldn't for a moment…before she leapt out from one side of the stairwell up a flight and yanked herself over the edge to the sound of more fighting and gunfire. The Esthar's Hawk quickly increased his speed to try and get up there faster.

By the third floor, Quaren heard a yell…but it wasn't that of Ceja. He looked up, and was just in time to see a Sybenian soldier falling past them, having been thrown off from the floor he was on. The gunfire continued to rage, but it also continued to be winked out one by one. Cryder and Jalab both looked up a bit in amazement as they saw yet another soldier go over the rails, but this one managed to topple only a couple floors before landing on another flight.

"Now you know why I shy away from the ladies, mate." Cryder muttered as they continued to climb. "Are we going up to save her or those poor blighters she's run into?" He cast a glance back to Jalab. "You sure picked a wild and woolly one."

"…Wool?" Jalab asked in confusion. It was probably for the best that he didn't get what he was talking about.

"Those people are wearing Hound insignias…" Quaren stated. "They've got heavier guard up there."

Cid turned to Quaren in amazement. "You saw their insignia just from them falling past you?"

He shrugged. "My commanding officer back in Class II always said I had the sharpest eyes. Anyway, that means they might try pulling some surprises…"

As if to accent that, as they ran up the fifth floor…a loud bang suddenly went off that caused a reverberating echo, making everyone shrink down and hunker. Quaren again looked up as he continued to run up the stairs, and was just in time to see an eruption of fire…before Ceja's body flew over the edge of the railing, smacked against the opposite side, and began to fall down. For a moment, everyone was frozen in shock. Unseen by the others, Jalab nearly opened his mouth to cry out…

When the Fuliet Warrior gained enough senses to reach out and seize the railing with one hand. Her body snapped taut on it, which shocked Quaren as she was still holding onto her massive axe…but somehow she hung tight.

"Ceja!" Jalab shouted.

Quaren could still hear people up there, but he couldn't see them, especially in the wake of the smoke. Getting a clean shot was impossible. They were only now heading to the sixth floor, and Ceja was all the way up on the twelveth. And enhanced as they all were…running up a flight of stairs would be a workout for anyone. Even now all of them were a bit heavy-breathing after running up six flights. Yet he realized they couldn't do nothing. Whoever had guns up there was likely taking aim at her, and she looked both too strained as well as hurt from the blast to readily recover.

That was when Jalab did something a bit crazy.

Gritting his teeth, grasping his staff tightly, and focusing his power again until his chakra erupted around him…he leapt over the railing and began to sail downward. Quaren, Cid, and Cryder all looked in alarm to this, only to see he didn't fall far before he made a move. Giving a cry, he aimed his arms down…and fired his energy in a beam at the base of the stairs. To Quaren's surprise, the beam struck the floor a moment later and then acted as some sort of propulsive force to send him shooting upward, rocketing up to the remaining flights of stairs. The others looked up, and were just in time to see three separate gunners point their weapons out enough to aim for Ceja, just as she began to flex her arm. Yet before they could shoot, Jalab shot past them, and his staff went out in a shining circle, striking all three of them, before he cut off the beam, seized a railing, and flipped over to join the fight.

"…Even I didn't know Sir Tierras could do that." Cid said quietly.

"And I thought my geomancy made me a living terror." Cryder muttered. "Then again, I haven't exactly been in my element this trip. If we were in a forest, now, I'd eat those chaps alive…"

"Let's just get up there in case something happens that stops both of them!" Quaren cut off as he kept running.

That statement seemed foolish enough on the surface, and it soon turned out the same went for reality. As the group passed the seventh and eighth floors, now all of them beginning to break a sweat, Ceja pulled herself fully in, and the two must of torn up everyone else soon after. Quaren had no idea how they were missing all of those bullets up there, but seeing them both jumping around, Jalab as if he was weightless and Ceja as if she was in some sort of jungle, he could imagine some of the physical stunts they were managing to pull off. By the time they reached the tenth floor, Cid now slowing due to all of his devices, the firefight had largely stopped. There were still the sounds of movement from upstairs, but all of it came from Jalab and Ceja, running to the other floors and dropping whatever people were left.

By the twelfth floor, all resistance sounds had stopped, and the group was still far away. They didn't bother running anymore at that point, although Quaren still tried to keep them going at a steady clip. Even if there was nothing to fight, there was still resistance. By that time, of course, they had started to see what was left of their opponents. Slashes, bruises, dented and snapped armor (as well as weapons), and several burn and shrapnel marks testified that they didn't stand a chance. A bit further and Quaren saw the remains of a large blackened crater, obviously the explosive that had thrown Ceja over the edge, along with numerous bullet holes and casings. Yet it wasn't until they finally reached the fifteenth floor that he saw both of them.

But what Quaren saw made him and the others pause.

Ceja was leaning against a wall, red as a beet, as Jalab, only a little paler than her, carefully finished pulling a piece of shrapnel from her forearm and, surprisingly gently for such powerful hands, began to use his chakra to stop the bleeding and stimulate more healing. For a moment, both of them seemed so preoccupied that they failed to notice the group. Yet as Cid and Cryder came in behind Quaren and stopped, the two turned their heads, and realized they were being watched. Ceja turned even redder for a moment, before quickly adopting a more "warrior" demeanor and straightening herself. Jalab quickly pulled his hand back as well, looking embarrassed for a change.

Cryder flashed a toothy grin. "Heh…I guess at this stage in the relationship, this is the closest we get to catchin' them makin' out, lads. At least…at _this_ stage…"

Ceja fumed for a moment as she reached for her axe and hefted it…glaring at Cryder as she did so.

"Eh, right…never taunt a woman with an axe. Forgot that one from my personal playbook…" He grimaced.

Quaren, however, shook his head. "Forget that! We need to hurry!"

Quickly, he took the lead once again and continued to run up the remaining stairs. The others again fell in behind, the moment passing and once again concentrating entirely on the task at hand. The sixteenth floor went by…then the seventeenth…and finally, the stairs terminated overhead at the eighteenth.

As Quaren reached the door first, he paused, shouldering his rifle and getting out his "faster-to-use" handgun. He turned to the others and motioned them in close. As they neared, he spoke out to them.

"These were all human guards, but I'm betting they have drones waiting for an ambush on the other side."

"Let's set one of our own, mate." Cryder answered. "How are you for a bit of a 'double whammy'?"

The pirate turned and nodded for Jalab and Ceja to come forward. However, although they got a straight shot at the door, Cid and Cryder moved in on either side, with Quaren stepping in on a side as well. Ceja stood in front of Jalab, and the monk took a moment to focus his power again, until his aura was once again flaring around him. He used a moment to build up more, bringing more of his inner power out. As for Ceja, she stepped in front of the door and braced herself with her axe for a flinging move. The quarters were too close for a return…but not for an initial thrust. She held a moment more, and then, with Jalab taking a step back, she swung his body around in a circle twice to build momentum, and flung her axe forward toward the door.

Ceja's weapon again became a deadly cutter…and sliced right through the metal entrance, the frame, and even part of the wall besides, before continuing its deadly circuit into the chamber. True to Quaren's predictions, several drones were stacked inside…but three of them didn't even have time to use their scanning lasers before they were cleaved in two, and more drones behind it were critically damaged by the axe embedding in them. As the door fell apart, and more machines beyond tried to counter…Jalab gave a cry, aimed both arms forward, and fired another beam…obliterating the doorway and annihilating anything in a straight path from the door that was preparing to fire on them. He let the beam burn only shortly, however, before cutting off.

Immediately, the next three snapped around the door frame and burst in, weapons drawn. Quaren took only a moment to see the chamber opened into a larger hallway, stuffed with defensive drones. However, all the ones in firing range had been destroyed by the opening attack of Ceja and Jalab. As the other drones tried to get into position, Quaren, Cryder, and Cid moved in on them. Quaren began to use the armor piercers in his handgun to take out their CPUs one at a time. Cid used his mines loaded into his nailgun to turn his targets into fireballs. As for Cryder, by now, he was high enough in the air to get some more potency out of the wind…and so his geomancy literally ripped holes through the wall and sliced drones in two with gale cuts, hampering them enough to get finished by the others. Of course, that in itself only lasted a moment before Jalab and Ceja came in and joined the fight.

The firefight was over in moments. Cid quickly used his last two explosive darts to take out sentry wall panels on the other side of the room, and then began to advance, getting out his blowtorch in the process. The others quickly fell behind, Ceja pausing only to rip her axe back out of the robots she felled. On reaching it, Cid paused, moving over to the front and giving a knock.

"Alright in there!" He called. "Whoever's running in there…we took out all of your guards and the security drones! You've got nothing left! So just throw down your arms, don't give us a fight, and we'll all get out of here a lot quicker!" He paused a moment. "We're coming in now!" He paused again. "Last chance!" He paused yet again. "We really mean it!"

Quaren groaned and looked to Cid's wristwatch as he stood there. "Less than 34 minutes, Cid…"

"Alright, alright…" The engineer answered as he stood back, gunned up his torch, and opened fire on the door. Soon, it was melting through as well. The doors were thick, but the bulkhead hadn't been sealed over it, so melting through it didn't take long at all. Everyone else braced themselves for a fight. They didn't expect any heavy resistance, but there was no sense in taking the chance at a few panicked guards with sidearms. Only one bullet was necessary to kill. They watched and waited as the beam melted the door completely away…and finally cut off.

Quaren looked in immediately afterward…and saw nothing. There were consoles, alright, and even a bird's eye view of the entire facility. The sun was up by now and shining some light into the chamber. However…nothing else. All the consoles had either been switched off, it looked like, or left in some sort of "default program" mode, although the young man couldn't tell for certain from here. There wasn't a sign of anyone…

He grimaced a bit, and then, keeping his sidearm out, he stepped over the melted door, quickly making sure to whip his gun from side to side. But no one was lying in wait for an ambush. He quickly moved in further, letting the others quickly fall in behind them. They quickly looked around as well…but saw no more than Quaren did. Besides, the corporal was plenty thorough on his own entrance. Soon, they were all inside, and looking about curiously. However, in the end, Quaren sighed and put his gun back in his pocket. Cid himself set his torch aside and began to look for the right console.

"No one's here…" Ceja stated. "Was this entire room a decoy?"

"No, lass…just means they flew the coop after ordering the lockdown." Cryder answered.

"I think this is the communication's console…" Cid spoke up, immediately beginning to go to work on it. "Give me a few minutes… It's a broadcast type. I'm going to try and get it into the emergency channels not only here, but in Lolesterin itself… It's going to take a bit of work and boosting from the reactor here…"

"How long?" Quaren asked, cutting him off.

"Uh…er…well…I think my record for trying something like this is about 20 minutes…"

"We could use a bit faster, lad." Cryder answered.

"I'm trying, I'm trying…" He groaned. "In the meantime, trying to put the rest of the facility on general alert, disable the lockdown, or get us a way out of here…"

Those seemed like good suggestions. Quaren quickly started to look around as well. "Everyone, trying to find the alert console. What was that alert they sounded on the bottom floors again?"

"Class Omega!" Cid called back as he kept working.

Quaren scanned for a few moments. The alarm shouldn't have been on a main console itself, but this was the control room. For setting off one of those "special" alerts, it might be necessary. The others looked around a bit too, but, in all honesty, the corporal only thought Cryder would be any good for finding it. The other two didn't have enough experience with these sorts of things.

After a few moments, while Cid was still working, Quaren finally reached a console with the display still active. Looking over it, he saw it seemed to be the station for identifying alarms. He looked over the menu for a moment, before finding an icon for a general alert. He reached over and typed on it to light it up.

To his surprise…a password screen came up.

"…Huh?"

Cryder looked up and over to him. "Find something, mate?"

"It's here, but…I can't activate it! It's password protected!" Quaren answered. "But…but that doesn't make any sense! This is an emergency function…"

"I can't try to hack it while I'm working on this one!" Cid answered. "This one has a password too!"

"Damnable machines…" Ceja grunted as she began to walk over to Quaren. "Why on Gaia would they password protect everything? It makes not one amount of sense. It's like taking a watchman's horn from him."

Quaren paused for a moment on hearing that. _First, they lock out the bomb…then they lock out the alarms and communications. It's…_

_ It's like they want this bomb to kill as many people as possible…_

"Not a problem, lads and lasses."

Quaren, Ceja, and Jalab looked to the pirate, who was quite calmly pulling out what looked to be a large and expensive cigar from inside her vest. After pulling off the band and smelling it for a moment, he let out a sigh. "Was savin' this for the voyage home… Bugger."

He got out a lighter next, bit off the end and spat it out, then lit it up. After taking a few drags and savoring it, he ran to the nearest chair, leapt up on top of it, took one more puff, and then let the cigar, which was rather large and smoking quite a bit, vent its vapor over the nearest heat sensor on the ceiling. A moment later…the entire room turned into red, flashing light as the fire alarms went off.

Quaren, to his surprise, saw his console get unlocked, allowing him to access the general alarm.

"Learned that trick while I was a journeyman, as it were, mate." Cryder answered with a grin. "There's a reason there's no smoking in a place like this, and it ain't secondhand cancer. With the fire alarms tripped, the general alarms are unlocked so they can direct their personnel to non-flaming exits."

The corporal was grateful that some of Cryder's knowledge was actually practical, as opposed to the kind that kept nearly getting them killed. At any rate, he quickly clicked the icon, scrolled on the menu, and found the link for the "Class Omega" alert. Quickly applying it to all floors, he mashed the button.

Soon, the same broadcast message from before went off in their chamber, and everywhere else in the facility.

**"ALERT. This facility is now experiencing a Class Omega Emergency. All personnel, please evacuate to a minimum safe distance after following guidelines to secure research materials."**

Quaren let out a nervous exhale and leaned back. "…That takes care of this facility, at least."

"That didn't unlock this console, but I think I've got it…" Cid said as he typed a bit more. "Alright…I'm in! Now I just need to patch into the general relay for Lolesterin…"

"Can you really broadcast your voice to that city?" Ceja asked.

"On the main lines, not a chance. Those are all digital and encrypted. But enough of Leuco is still technologically behind in the poor districts to where I can broadcast this on every analog receiver there is. In another five years…this would probably be useless…but now it's the best way we can get a message out…"

After a few more keys being typed, Cid typed an enter key. He swallowed a bit, and looked to the others.

"That's it…I'm overriding most of the broadcast stations and the emergency ones."

He looked to nearby…where a microphone was waiting.

"Well, don't just stand there, mate." Cryder answered. "Give the message."

Cid hesitated. He seemed to already be fearing his result after last time. And he was nervous enough there. However, after moistening his lips, he went to the microphone and turned it on. After clearing his throat, he began to speak. When he did, his voice automatically went on the speakers throughout the facility as well, so the group heard him magnified everywhere.

_"To anyone who can hear this broadcast, either in Lolestein or in this facility…please get away from this area as fast as you can. This facility is producing a type of nuclear weapon, and one of them has been armed. The resulting explosion will destroy this entire facility and the countryside in the surrounding area all the way to Lolesterin city limits…and the amount of radiation fallout from the blast will go even farther. I'm telling the truth. I swear to God I'm telling the truth. Please…listen to me. _

"_None of you has much time. You have to get out and get out now. Get as far away from this area as possible. If you're in the city, go in any direction except the northwest. Just get out. There's no time to pack. There's no time to pick up any momentos. Just go! Go and don't stop! This isn't a joke or a prank! Please believe me or you're all going to die! You have less than an hour!"_

Cid pulled back after that. He moistened his lips again, but then moved to turn the microphone off.

Quaren stopped him. "No, don't. They'll hear the alert in the facility. Maybe that'll convince them this is the truth…"

The engineer paused, continuing to sit there. He looked to his clock. He gave a tremor.

"…29 minutes." He stated.

Everyone looked rather uncomfortable on hearing that. That wasn't a lot of time. Especially if the roads _did_ flood. The Sorceress Knight paused a moment, then finally looked up to the others.

"…I should stay behind…I should keep broadcasting that message."

Quaren, however, shook his head. "No…you did all you could."

"I armed that bomb. It's all my fault…"

"Lad, they would have had the full hour if it wasn't for these Sybenian goons-"

"And they'd have the rest of their lives if it wasn't for me!" Cid shot back, his temper flaring a moment. However, it faded just as quickly, and he slumped again. "If I can save only one more person by continuing to give that message…"

The corporal looked uneasy. There were only 28 minutes now. At this point, even if they got out and found a vehicle…it would be close. In a few more minutes, the only thing that could get them clear in time would be a teleporter. They couldn't afford to argue much longer.

Cryder interjected again here, actually advancing and giving him a glare. "…Lad, you're a whiz with machines…and you're telling me you can't make a recording of what you just said and play it on a loop right now?"

Cid blinked, and looked up to him. The pirate glared back. Finally, he gave a weak nod. "I…I guess…but…"

"Then do it, lad. Right now." Cryder stated, almost in an order. "And then we're getting out of here. _All_ of us."

"But…"

"You got your lady waitin' for you lad. I ain't gonna let you break her young heart." The pirate cut off yet again.

Cid hesitated. "…but…"

A hand reached out from the pirate and clapped on Cid's shoulder…but it wasn't an entirely friendly gesture. It was rather hard.

"…Listen mate, because I don't have enough time to say this more than once. Either you make your recordin' and you get out with the rest of us, or I'm gonna punch your lights out right now and carry you out on my back. You're not dyin' here today. That option is off the table, so you better get used to it. You haven't saved our asses so many times for me to just let you cash in your chips here. What's it gonna be?"

Quaren stared at Cryder for a moment. He hadn't been on the first mission to Leuco. He didn't realize just how devoted the pirate could be. There may have been a time when he let people cut and run. Obviously there was. Quaren saw how bitter his daughter was. However…what the pirate's devil-may-care attitude never let on was that he hadn't just been able to shrug off that incident either. And he wasn't going to leave someone behind if he could avoid it. Especially not a friend.

In the end, Cid had no choice. He turned and began to work on getting the recording.

Cryder snapped up to Quaren, removing his hand from Cid. "That problem's taken care of. Now we need to get our own asses out of here."

"Look here." Jalab announced.

The corporal looked up, and saw the monk pointing out of the window on the floor. Quickly, he moved over to the glass and pointed out. Quaren looked, and saw, about ten floors down, on the roof of the "rest" of the facility, was a helipad. There were two helicopters still there.

"Escape on them?" Jalab asked.

"…Uh…I never took 'Advanced Vehicular Training', which is what I'd need to really master a helicopter…" Quaren grimaced. "But it's probably our best shot out of here. Why isn't anyone else using those, though?"

"I would not be surprised if for some foolish reason, those are blocked from entry." Ceja responded as she moved up to the glass and looked out. "It seems that they are content to let their people die so long as they keep us from escaping as well."

"As extreme as that sounds, I'm beginnin' to wonder if you're right, lass." Cryder answered as he got up as well. "At any rate, if that's true, that means we probably have another mess to fight through to get to them. If there's no way to get there fast, then I suggest we find another way."

"There _is_ a way to get there fast." Ceja simply answered.

Quaren, Jalab, and Cryder all looked to her at that, silently asking what it was. In response, Ceja removed her axe, hefted it again, and this time aimed for the glass of the window.

The corporal blinked, looked down to the helipad, then back up…all ten stories…to Ceja about to smash the window out.

He let out a mixture of a sigh and a groan.

* * *

><p>Dael broke into multiple images, this time upping it to ten, and all of them darted forward and attacked Raven at once. In the past, he would simply shatter them all at once until he hit the main one. Yet this time, the move was too much for him, moving too fast, and in too much of a flurry of blades for him to risk the real one hitting him. Instead, the woman earned herself a few seconds of "breathing room" as Raven struggled to dodge the onslaught and prep himself for a counterattack. However, in spite of all this, the man was remaining surprisingly calm. Dael realized she wasn't pushing him hard enough. She was able to keep him moving and on his toes…but not enough to tire him out.<p>

Herself, on the other hand…

She risked looks to the others even as she tried to stab in toward Raven, needing to see how they were fairing. She had heard continuous clashes during her entire fight, but hadn't been able to even spare a look in her peripheral vision to see what was going on. She looked now…and didn't like what she saw.

Taraketh was using his quake magic, which ignored reflection spells, but it was doing no good. Every time he made the ground spring up underneath one of the primate-like robots, it merely leapt into the air and dodged it completely…usually doing a backflip over his head and slashing for him at the same time. He was continuously moving with his magic as well as his kusarigama, but his weapon didn't have enough bulk, and he didn't have enough strength, to be of use in grappling or tangling his foes. Instead, they were able to continuously force him to double back by slashing for his chain, looking to sever it or, worse yet, tangle it and rope him in for another stab. His magic was all but useless against these opponents due to their unbreakable reflection, leaving him to spend most of his energy healing himself. And, to Dael unease, he had great need of it. Taraketh was better than most fighters, but his forte was magic. His body had been slashed continuously. Even now, he had five burning slashes across his torso and arms, leaving his upper garment mostly in tatters. He simply couldn't combat eight arms at once. In truth, he should have had worse. He had been healing up most of his injuries using the spells he learned from Alexander. Now, however, he was running low on "spiritual stamina". The best he could do was seal his injuries…but Dael knew that wasn't enough. As she watched, he deflected two swords from one primate robot…only to have a free arm stab him in the leg, making him cry out, recoil, and nearly get his head taken off by the other attacking him from behind…

Bahamut, however, made her show visible fear. The boy Guardian Force was fearsome and valiant…but he hadn't a chance. His body simply wasn't strong enough. The only advantage he had was speed, which he had tried to use earlier on by using wall jumps and flips. In doing so, he had actually landed a few slashes before his opponents had a chance to respond. However, on seeing this, the robots adapted and soon began to both attack in tandem as well as match him move for move. As Dael looked, he attempted to do a wall run to evade one backing him into a corner…only to have his partner run up to meet him. He quickly had to leap off to avoid a slash from the primate robot as it went for him. He had to sail over the head of the very robot he was attempting to elude in the first place…and as a result narrowly dodged four separate slices from him. He managed to…but at the price of landing awkward. The one on the ground immediately advanced, forcing him to try and find his balance quickly and use his shield to deflect the blows…only for the one on the wall to leap off, land behind him, and slash his back while he was turned away. He cried out and arched back, his momentary stun giving enough time for the first one to open another slash on his front. Bleeding quite a bit, Bahamut did his only remaining defense and dropped to the ground to try and slide under them, even as eight arms tried to stab down on him at once…

"Focus, commander."

Hearing this icy cool voice, Dael turned around…just in time to take a full power hit to the face. Again, reality seemed to detach as the world went black, and her body went flying away from Raven. She realized, somewhere through her dazzled senses that struggled to form a coherent thought, that she had been careless. Raven was able to see "one of her" looking to the sides, immediately telling him who the real opponent was.

Yet as she toppled, nearly losing her footing and collapsing, staggering back, Raven advanced on her…and she tried to respond by removing a hand and snatching up her Mage Gun. In another split second…a heartbeat…she would have fired on him as he advanced…

_…Damnit._

But Raven was faster. Even as the trigger began to be depressed, he leapt into the air again and did a nimble backflip, shooting away a full twenty feet as he spun in the air, and finally landed. Dael, however, could relish one victory… She pulled her finger off the trigger just in time, and quickly slammed the gun with the unspent bullet into her pocket before raising her sword again with both hands.

As for Raven, on landing, he adjusted his loose coat and cracked his neck again.

"Good…very good. I thought for certain I could make you waste that shot." He stated. "You're giving me quite a good time. And even now, as I can feel you slipping, you're continuing to make me work to stay away from you. I just hope you can keep this up a while longer. Unfortunately…it seems we've come to a dilemma."

Dael continued to focus on him…but, from this angle, she could see both Bahamut and Taraketh in her peripheral vision…and she didn't like what she saw. Both of them were struggling just to keep going. Their injuries were stacking up too much. They couldn't even do anything but defensive moves now…

"Focus, commander." Raven stated yet again…causing her to immediately look to him. However, he hadn't moved. "You're getting too distracted by those two. If you don't concentrate, I'll have to kill them to get you to focus on this. Now then…I see you seem to have realized that whatever power you used againsy Jay and Crow is too slow to work on me, so you're trying to use your next fastest move that's still powerful…your Mage Gun. I'm assuming the real Flare bullet is inside it. However…herein lies your dilemma."

He raised a finger and gestured to either side of him. "Go on. I'll give you half a second to look at each. I promise."

Ceja tightened her jaw, hating how he was taking this all so easily…but took his offer.

Bahamut had managed to get his feet under him, but he was getting hammered on both sides by his opponents. He was struggling to keep his sword and shield up as they kept flailing away.

Taraketh was struck yet again, and cried out even more as his two opponents mercilessly pounded him. He quickly staggered back against a wall, both for protection as well as a breather, but they kept advancing. He began to concentrate again…but a spell didn't come off right away. Obviously, he was planning something bigger, although Dael had no idea what…and he looked moments from being stabbed fatally.

"Three targets." Raven stated as she looked back to him. "One Flare bullet. And your body breaking down. I estimate you can only keep this up for one more 'rush', so to speak, and still have a chance at stalling me long enough to get a shot off. The question is…will you try to hit me and face a tall chance of a miss? Or will you try to save one of your friends?"

Dael felt sweat pour into her eyes, but it wasn't just from heat and exhaustion now. She knew Raven was bluffing. Even powerful Flare spells could be repelled by reflection. There was a good chance whatever generators the combat robots were using would repel her attack right back at her, or, at least, her path, as any other minor spell. And Raven himself was more than good enough to avoid a shot, so firing on him would waste the bullet. But even if she had the power to take out one of those robots…what then? Either Taraketh or Bahamut would still have two robots left, and they couldn't stand long against that…

"Decision time over." Raven stated…and took off for Dael in a flash. Immediately, she cleared her head, forced to push it away, and readied to fight.

_First…I have to get an opening or this is moot…_

Raven didn't stay on the ground, but launched himself into the air, lashing out with not just one, but two kicks. The power and speed was so considerable that Dael couldn't risk standing her ground against it or preparing a defense, and so she backpedaled for both. On landing, he immediately advanced and launched a fist for her head, forcing her to dodge again. He quickly twisted around, backing her up further, and aimed his leg for her head again, launching out with two more lighting fast kicks. Although she dodged both of these, she realized she was getting pushed too far back. She forced herself to push Bahamut and Taraketh out of her mind.

As he came out of the kick, he aimed his fist for Dael again…but this time she lashed out with one of her arms and blocked. It was just as bone-jarring and painful as before. Her other arm was still aching from blocking his earlier blow, but it worked, and she quickly countered with a blade to his chest. He seemed to anticipate a counter-thrust, but thanks to aiming for a "harder to move" area, he was immobilized momentarily before snapping back. Dael quickly used the moment to change to her advantage, advancing once again. She wanted to be more focused on her hits, but she put most of her power into speed and the minimal amount of focus she could make, trying to take advantage of his distraction to get him back and away and plot a better move. Two sword slashes later, and he had taken two steps back…

Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one who had tricks. As she tried to bring in another slash, his lips barely shifted before his own aura lit up, and he flung his hand out at her face. She saw only a green, twisted miasma come over her briefly…before it felt as if acid had been injected into her brain while her face felt like it was being eaten by a million insects at once. Her eyes felt like they were on fire, and her lungs seemed be rotting away. She gagged and went back…overwhelmed by the power of the poison spell that had been unleashed on her. Her hands faltered, and she nearly released her weapon as she was left open and defenseless. She tried to get her senses together…but it was useless. Her brain felt like it was being roasted to the point of leaking out of her ears from the magical poison that has flooded over her. Had she not cast a magical barrier, she'd be dead right now. As it was…her strength rapidly ebbed, her body becoming infected by the poison, and her senses were scrambled, keeping her from fighting back.

Dael used every fiber of her being just to try and get conscious…only to feet a blow like an iron girder snap her head in one direction. She felt one of her teeth almost get knocked out somehow through the poison and burning, before her face was snapped the other way, the sheer force of the blow opening a bloody wound. A third strike came, smashing into her throat, causing her to gag and falter, before another kick knocked her clean off of her feet, sent her flying backward, and dumped her into the crater.

She struggled to yell at herself…told her body to move…but the poison had robbed her of all strength, and each blow took another "piece" out of her with it, until she was reduced to a limp punching bag. Gritting her teeth, forcing what thoughts she still had to focus, she tried to think to the spells…tried to remember the antidote spell…

Another blow struck her, slamming her back into the floor of the crater again. This time, her strength gone, Dael's sword toppled out of her grasp. Even if she had the mind power to reach for it…it was no use. She felt her throat suddenly crushed in what felt like a vise as she was yanked off the ground, swung through the air, and flung against the nearest wall upside down. The impact was so hard she heard groaning come off from the metal as she slammed into it. Yet before gravity could even pull her to the floor…she felt another "battering ram" slam into her body as Raven shot across the hall and buried his foot in her stomach. Her eyes went wide although she couldn't see anything, and blood spat from her mouth.

Although Dael wasn't able to form any thoughts about this, she would be cursing herself at this point. Her slight edge had evaporated in moments. What strength she still had to fight was being knocked out of her, and soon she'd be in the exact same state she was at Helheim with or without poisoning. Yet she couldn't do anything but take the beating. In fact…that was her only hope now. Within her mind, she tried to clear her thoughts as much as possible. Thinking was nearly impossible, and almost all of what was left was used to "loosen" her body, to take each blow as best as possible even though each hit continued to drain remaining stamina and make her bones and organs strain…what was left she devoted to trying to think…trying to remember…

Her body fell to the ground. Just as it was…what was still functioning in her mind clicked. She had no time. Quickly, she let arcane words begin to come out of her mouth…

Abruptly, they were cut off as her aura formed, when Raven clenched her throat again, crushing her windpipe. She was immediately yanked back into the air and slammed hard against the wall, and the aura vanished. She continued to hang there limply, not even able to mount a counteroffense or squirm. Seeing that, Raven yanked back his hand and readied an "iron palm" for what was a killing blow…

When, to his surprise, Dael's eyes snapped open and her arm shot up in a flash, her palm opening to scatter blackish gray substance right in his vision.

When Dael landed on the ground, despite her almost lack of ability to move, her hand grasped out and took a fistful of the same ash that resulted from the fires of her meteor strike…which was both still rather hot as well as mixed with chemical residue. Also, she had managed to get off the spell in time. It was only a basic antidote, after all…one of the most basic of the "white magics". She had immediately started calling a second stronger spell afterward, however…to give the impression she was still trying to use her power. After that, she "played possum" until this point.

Raven actually closed his eyes as the ash landed in them, and his teeth actually showed for a moment as he winced and backed up. His hand loosened off of Dael's neck as well…and she used the moment. Quickly, one of her legs came up and focused all of her remaining power into it. She didn't have much. She felt only slightly stronger with the poison gone. Raven had knocked most of the remaining fight out of her, and she wasn't recovering fast enough. But she was still formidable, skilled, and knew how to focus a blow for maximum power. With that, he drove her foot forward as hard and as fast as she could right into the Elite Hound's face.

The blow was so strong, an audible "smash" rang through the entire hall…and Dael couldn't hide the fact she felt an immense amount of satisfaction, even personal pride, as she finally landed a good, solid hit on her opponent. She actually saw Li Juanhong, of which a person could count on one hand the number of individuals in the world who had ever landed a blow on him in their entire lives, snap his head back, his flawless, combed, black hair upset, and he actually staggered back from this hit a few steps. He didn't lose his balance or go down…but Dael realized she had only split seconds to react.

Much as it strained her and put a tax on her remaining stamina, Dael started chanting her teleportation spell the moment Raven's hand left her neck. A split second later, her body teleported to the shallow crater again, and tired as she was, forcing herself to stand on adrenaline alone, she reached down, snatched up her blade, and stood again…drawing her Mage Gun as she did so. Her eyes quickly went around…

Intense as the last few moments had been, not a whole lot of time had passed. Bahamut and Taraketh were still mostly in their same dire straights, both of them looking ready to fall. Yet the sound of the hit had alerted both of them. As the robots struggled to finish them off, both cast a glance to Dael, seeing how she had freed herself and even inflicted a hit on Raven. She also glanced to Raven himself, and saw, with a single snap of his head, had seemed to once again clear his senses and focus entirely on her. What more…his eyes actually showed a true bit of irritation now…pain that had given rise to anger. In moments, he would come at her again. She only had time for one target.

She wasn't sure if time froze or even compressed in that short period as her mind desperately tried to decide. Cold and fierce as her face looked, mottled with blood and bruises…inside she was panicking. She knew she couldn't hit Raven. Even if she could, each heartbeat or split second that went by decreased the chance. It was only a longshot by now…but she seriously doubted she could hold him off much longer at this point. She was running on nothing but fumes and adrenaline. But the others were in big trouble. Of the two, Taraketh looked the worst. Despite being older in body, he had less direct combat experience, and without his spells he was next to nothing. Even now, Dael realized he was still chanting that same spell. It was a big one, no doubt, but even the biggest quake spell wouldn't hurt these things, and anything else she had would be reflected. What was he trying to do? Bahamut himself couldn't stand much longer. He might have had less injuries…but it wouldn't take much to kill him…and Dael realized, in spite of everything, in spite of knowing who Bahamut really was…there was something icy and sharp in her heart at the thought of something seriously hurting or killing Bahamut.

_But why? He's an esper…a Guardian Force… Why do I keep thinking of him as-_

There was no time for that thought. She had to make a choice. She ruled Raven out. Even if she only had to look forward to a beating after this, she had to help the others. Raven had been wrong…there was _one_ way that even a reflected spell could help here…and both sets of robots were in position for it. But she could only fire at one. For the briefest moment…her gun began to move in Taraketh's direction, even if it filled her with fear and anxiety to do so…

Then…she saw it.

For a split second, her eyes met with Taraketh's. In spite of his strain, his agony, and his struggled to hold on, he looked right at her…

…and he winked.

_…He knows what to do. That's what he's been doing. Of course he does…he knows more about magic than I ever would. _

_Alright…_

Dael squeezed the trigger. Immediately, the shell erupted from her gun, and in moments converted into a full sized Flare attack…even as Taraketh released his own spell on the machine before him…the pure, dazzling, and warm light of a Holy spell. Dael had never seen one before. It was beautiful. Like something crystalline, light, and alive all in one. Just looking at it, even if it was a destructive magic, lifted her spirit. Her own attack, by comparison, was great and terrible, a stream of red-hot death gleaming like a solar reaction, sailing across the sky and imbedding into the shield surrounding the robot in front of Bahamut.

Both attacks landed. Both bore incredible power. But in spite of that, the translucent, rainbow-colored prisms around both machines simply lit up. Both of them gleamed so bright they were dazzling, but they held, and their owners merely stood idle and let them, waiting for the reflection. However…neither of their opponents did. Bahamut slammed fully down to the ground and flat, while Taraketh dove to one side. A moment later…and both prisms broke as the radiant, powerful attacks ripped off of their shields in a reflection…sailed past where both of their opponents had been…and right for their primate-robot "partners".

Dael had been lectured enough by both Taraketh and Carbuncle now to realize the exact nature of the phenomenon of "counter-reflection". Whether a reflection came from a machine or a mage, all reflection spells seemed to have their own resonant "frequency". Magic by nature was chaotic to a degree, and always was reflected by this natural resonance no matter the form unless it was of an inconceivable chaotic nature, so much so that it often risked damaging the caster. However…the process of "reflecting" a spell took the chaotic spell, reordered it, and returned it…at the same resonant frequency as the reflection spell itself. So if whatever it was bounced onto happened to have some sort of reflection spell of their own…it was now useless.

The beam of fireballs streaming from the Flare attack pierced right into the center of the torso of Bahamut's opponent. It actually froze and just stood there as the rest funneled into it, its chassis growing red hot and minor systems beginning to burn and melt. Bahamut quickly scrambled away, keeping his shield over him…before a powerful, piercing explosion shredded the machine into a thousand pieces, deforming over half of them into molten slag and scattering everything else, dropping the remains of its legs and tail to the ground. The Holy attack had a difference effect…becoming a pure, converging from a crystalline cloud into a radiant eruption right in the center of the robot itself. There was no spread damage or fire…but when the energy subsided, all that was left was a perfect, hollowed-out "sphere indentation" where most of the robot's torso had been. It too collapsed.

Taraketh and Bahamut both regrouped from that as their remaining opponents tried to bounce back, and launched a counterattack. While both still had to deal with enemies with four weapons and they were dealing with exhaustion at this point, the odds had shifted a bit more in their favor.

Dael didn't have any time to relax, however. She saw Raven was readily coming in, already aiming another hand behind him, clearly focusing his power. He was already nearly on her, but she knew he was watching her…looking for her to make her first misstep, and then make her suffer for it. He was expecting her to try and dodge, try to counter…and then he would accelerate… However…she knew all this without looking right at him. For a moment, she looked as if she was focused entirely on Bahamut and Taraketh.

That gave her one edge…if it really had him off guard.

Her strength was failing her, and her stamina was burning out…but she waited. She pretended as if she was too caught off guard by them…even considering jumping in to help one out and even the odds by taking out another. She even left her hand extended holding the gun. She waited…waited…

Then, she heard it…

"Focus, comma-"

_Now._

With every bit of speed she had left, Dael flung her body backward. The move was so abrupt, that Raven cut his speech off…honestly surprised. But it was too late. His fist was coming forward. Fast and powerful as a locomotive, it shot forward… Dael could honestly feel her skin nearly cut from the power of the wind that shot by her nose…but that was all she felt. The blow missed.

Immediately, Dael swung her sword up and around, right for Raven's eyes…and soon triggered another miracle. The man could have dodged and countered easily enough, but he wasn't used to pain. It had been too long since he had felt it, and he had both taken burning ash in his eyes, as well as a blow to the face. His body may have been accustomed years ago…but not now. Against his will, he over-aborted his attack and recoiled…and left himself open and unable to respond for a precious moment.

_I've got him on the defensive again!_

Dael didn't know how she managed to do it, but immediately she snapped around and furiously assaulted Raven as hard and fast as she could, her blade dancing like a phantom blur as it slashed out again and again, intent on seizing the advantage. Raven, for a precious few seconds, was unable to do anything…but recoil, taking one step back after another as she surged forward at him with everything she had. She could feel her head pounding and her body burning, but she wouldn't give up. She actually had control of the fight for a few precious seconds, and she used it to back Raven up more, force him to do nothing but dodge her as her blade flashed out again in slashes and stabs.

After enough attacks, the man began to recover. His dodges grew smoother. His footing began to get under him. Dael recognized this…and realized he was preparing to counter. She still hadn't done anything serious or landed any more blows. She needed something else… Finally, she got one idea.

Quickly chanting as she continued to attack, her body split again. Only into eight images this time, but they quickly advanced and began to slash away again. For the moment, Raven was still dodging too much to be able to spot the real one, and dodged the illusions as well as the real one. However, he continued to calm. Dael realized he must have nearly been ready to counter, and wasn't too miffed by even the multiple assault. He even readied himself to start shattering the illusions…

On seeing this, in spite of how dizzy it made her, and how much her head pounded afterward, Dael chanted again…and, in a flash of light, all of the images vanished momentarily…before teleporting in "scrambled" positions. They immediately began to advance and attack again from new and different angles. However, one of them was missing…and was positioned right behind Raven, going for his back.

The Elite Hound appeared to be fooled for only a fraction of a second…before he snapped around and lashed out with his backhand for the Dael behind him, his face dull and even bored-looking, as he fully ignored the other Daels advancing.

That changed…when his fist made contact with Dael's cheek…and the woman vanished into nothingness.

Raven's eyes widened and his mouth opened so much that he gave his first true "gape". He had thought for certain Dael would try to use the distraction to come in behind him and stab him from behind…but it was an illusion…one that destroying had left him completely open. Immediately, he realized his mistake. He tried to move…tried to snap back…and, in spite of being caught off guard, he actually managed to pull his arms away and leap back with both incredible speed and power…but was nevertheless too late.

Dael's sword darted forward for his chest and, although he managed to twist his body and yank back, it still made contact with his arm, slicing right through his black coat…and cutting into the flesh beneath.

The Esthar's Hawk overextended herself, and quickly snapped back before she went off balance. Once there…she quivered all over, and had to swallow to stop it. Her other copies were also panting and sweating at her side. Dael's vision blurred a bit, and she felt rather dizzy and sick now. That last move had taken away the last of her spiritual stamina, and she had to use all of her physical stamina to keep standing. However, she kept her blade held up, and she saw that the end of it was dipped in red and dripping. She looked forward as well.

Raven stopped retreating, his body still twisted in the recoiling phase, and his teeth were clenched, registering discomfort. In front of him, still braced over his chest, was Dael's "trophy"…his sleeve cut open, and, beyond it, his flesh exposed…along with a bloody gash. It wasn't terribly deep and not serious enough to cripple him. It was debatable whether it could be sutured or stitched. But it was a wound.

The Elite Hound calmed quickly, although his face lost a bit of its composure. Standing up, he pulled his arm back, and looked down to it. He saw the bloody wound…still oozing. He stared at it a moment. Dael wanted to attack him now…but she had nothing left. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to fend off his next assault. As for Raven, he continued to stare long and hard at the wound, seeming to study it.

"…Five years ago," He stated darkly after a time. "I sat down one night in my chamber, took in a deep breath, and resigned myself that, save by my own hand or a doctor, I would never see my own blood again."

He looked up at her. His eyes had a new power and emotion in them as they met hers. They unsettled her…but they weren't like that of the savage Jay or the sadistic Crow. They were something else…like a shark that had finally gotten a whiff of blood…or a long-sealed demon finally being let out.

"At first, Valkyrie of Esthar, for that is your true name…and fitting for one such as you…I merely began to feel stimulated by our battle. Now…I am feeling what I felt I would never feel again…_excitement_."

Dael saw his hand slowly reach up…

…and grasp the handle of his own sword.

"I do not know if you can hold me off for three minutes…or one minute…or even if I will kill you with my first blow…" He stated.

Slowly, the sword began to leave its sheath. Dael tried not to tremble…but she literally felt the air growing colder. That blade…it looked like an icy stone grave rather than metal… She could almost see mist…the residue of its past victims…coming off of it…

"I'm sorely tempted to let you become greater…to finally have the fight I have dreamed of since I became enhanced…the chance to use my full power at long last against one who could force me to use it…"

The young woman felt a pit forming in her stomach as she saw the last of the blade come out…all of the greatsword in its nightmarish fury, like a dullahan or wraith in blade form. Raven slowly moved it in front of him, but even the slow gestures seemed to cut the air. His eyes narrowed on her. As they did, his muscles tightened. His skin seemed to turn paler…and, if possible, the darkness of the chamber grew around him. She thought she saw his coat and even hair beginning to rise slightly as his eyes alone stood out of the growing shadow like a pale of ghostly lights.

"We'll see how I feel about it after this attack."

Dael had little time to worry about that as something she never expected happened. His blade suddenly ignited into an aura of its own, similar to Jalab's body. But this wasn't chakra or chi. It was something different…something more akin to the Will O' The Wisp move that Cryder used. Yet it seemed both darker and more spectral, and yet intertwined with threads of some sort of energy or power that looked both supernatural and electrical in nature. It quickly grew, covering the entire Deathbringer with its light. The commander tensed further. She figured he was going for a slash…but something in her didn't believe that. His sword was being held too limply for that. This was something else…

Abruptly, the aura ignited over his eyes as well…as he spoke a word in a terrible voice…seeming like something evil had come into him and warped his tone into a manner not of this world… It was not in Dael's native language, but something older and from his native country…

_Let our pain become one._

Suddenly, he snapped his sword out and slashed the air…and immediately the aura around his blade turned black and violet, like a wave of pure, cruel, living darkness. Not only that…but it instantly exploded from the blade and grew into a wave of dark power, filled with power, force, and a bizarre, unnatural, spectral form of energy Dael had never witnessed before. She had only a moment to wonder if it was anything like her own power…before it slammed into her.

Dael's mouth opened and, for the first time she could recall since she had started to "toughen up" as a child…she screamed in pain and agony. The wave seemed to penetrate every last fiber of her being and fill her with nothing but cold, icy, and intense misery. Nothing but pain and trauma to every inch of her body, even parts she didn't even know she had or, if she did, thought they were incapable of feeling pain. It seemed to steal away the very blood in her veins, filling with a deathly icy chill. She had endured the freezing wrath of Shiva…but this was nothing like it. It felt as if Death itself was taking her entire body into its hand and wringing the life out of her.

The wave lasted only a moment, but when it was gone…so was Dael's ability to fight back. Her entire body felt deathly cold and robbed of any strength or stamina left. She was white as a sheet as she collapsed to the ground, again letting her sword fall from her grasp. She struggled to breathe…her lungs almost feeling like they were refusing to inflate, and her heart struggling to beat and force blood through her body. Yet she wasn't the only victim. The wave only kept expanding and going outward…until it struck both Taraketh and Bahamut as well in the middle of their respective battles. In the midst of her pain and immobilization, she heard both of them give cries of agony as well. She couldn't force her head to move enough to look behind her. She was practically a still corpse after that attack. But she heard them both fall as well.

If she could have looked behind her, she might have seen something odd. Both Taraketh and Bahamut were as pale as ghosts themselves as they collapsed, wracked with pain and unable to fight a second longer. However, that wasn't all. The machines they had been fighting both froze and seized as well. It seemed impossible, as both of them were machines rather than living creatures…but even they faltered and went down. The attack had actually disabled them somehow, and their weapons clattered to the ground as they ceased functioning.

Dael saw none of this, though. She could only look ahead…but what she saw was no less surprising to her, even if she couldn't show it.

Raven didn't exactly look that healthy either. When he lowered his blade, he was a bit shaky, and as the "lights" around him returned to normal, it was revealed that his face remained pale. He actually paused, slowly inhaling and exhaling for a moment, looking almost like he was biting back pain silently. In the end, it seemed to go away after three deep breaths, and he was again calm and cool again.

The Esthar's Hawk didn't get any reprieve from waiting. Her body had barely recovered at all. She couldn't even move her arm, let alone grab her sword or use it. She could only stare, struggling to do more than moan, at Raven. What on Gaia _was_ he? Her mind vaguely recalled hearing how people who used to be "Dark Knights" could literally turn their own life into pain for their opponents. Was that what had happened?

Raven, at any rate, looked down to her. He didn't move, just looked. Dael honestly didn't know if he would have finished her off, or if he would have stood back and let her recover. She wasn't sure if he was "excited" anymore. Yet before he could do either, something new broke the newly-fallen silence of the chamber. And it was indeed silence. Dael hadn't noticed, but the fires had actually been snuffed from the darkness wave. The alarm systems had been shorted out too, leaving only the lights blinking. The entire place was as silent as a grave…until a small beep came from Raven.

He paused, and lowered his blade, raising his hand and letting his sleeve pull back, revealing what looked like a wristwatch. He stared at it a moment. He actually went still. His face almost frowned. After staring a second, he lowered it and looked up to Dael…before turning his blade around and inserting it back in its sheath behind him.

"It seems our decision has been made for us regarding the extension of this battle." The man stated. "With only sixteen minutes until the bomb goes off, I'm afraid I will have to depart before I perish with this facility. All bulkheads will permanently seal behind me, so I am certain you will die along with this place. However…" He paused. "…You have a tendency to survive, young Valkyrie. And in my heart, I pray that you do. I will dream of our next battle if that is the case, looking forward to it with hope I thought had long since died."

With that, the man snapped around, his coat fluttering behind him, and nearly took off.

Dael, focusing everything she could through her cold, almost paralyzed muscles, managed to let out a croak. It was hoarse…barely in a voice that was her own, but it was distinct.

"W…Wait…"

The Elite Hound froze in midstep, and turned and looked back to her. His face was still stoic, but he made it clear she had his attention.

Dael swallowed, and then managed to speak slowly, vaguely trying to writhe after him. "You…knew we were…coming… You knew…we were performing…this operation…didn't you…?"

Raven stared back silently.

The young woman swallowed again. "H…How…?"

The dark man stared back silently for a moment longer…before he did something Dael hadn't seen from it yet. He cracked a smile…but it wasn't one of satisfaction or being enthused. It had a cruel look to it, almost taunting for the first time.

"…We have had eyes and ears in Esthar since long before the first rumor of war began, and at the highest levels of power." He answered. He raised his gloved hand and gave a slight wave. "Farewell."

Dael's eyes widened on hearing this. She tried to call again. "W…Wait!"

Yet Raven didn't halt this time. Using his accelerated speed, he took off in a flash down the hallway. As he did, a thick metal wall, at least over four feet thick, released from the ceiling and slammed down. Clicks and fizzles went out all around Dael as all security protocol was engaged and then taken offline, sealing everything off. She soon heard more loud clangs as more metal walls locked into place further along the hall that Raven had gone down. The group was fully sealed inside.

The Esthar's Hawk groaned, realizing she had missed out on the chance to learn anything more about what had happened. Yet that was moot. She had to get out of here, and she had to get out now. They all did. Her body was still practically immobile. She bit back and struggled to move…struggled to get anything going again. The lights continued to flash around her, the only illumination now, but still her body was sluggish and slow.

It was a full minute, which she was tracking now by counting, before her body started to move again. It was another minute, however, before she could move enough to start getting her limbs underneath her. Even then, she was exhausted and tired. Groaning, she looked up and called out.

"Taraketh… Bahamut… Can you two move?"

As she said this and looked up, she saw the others were struggling to rise. Taraketh was still writhing, but Bahamut had managed to get his limbs underneath him at least.

"Barely…" Taraketh answered.

"He touched us…with living death…" Bahamut groaned. "You can't just shake that off…"

Dael, gritting her teeth, shoved her feet upward and tried to stand. Yet even if she wasn't slow and drained from the attack, her body was covered with injuries and she was already on her last legs. She wasn't sure how, but through much effort, wobbling, and nearly falling over more than once…she managed to get up enough to start stumbling. While still hunched over, she took her Mage Gun and her katana. She stood up, but it still took five tries just to put the Mage Gun in her holster, and her sword felt like it weighed a ton. She started to stumble over to the others.

That ended up being hard. She had to crawl out of the crater now, and she could barely walk on level ground, let alone sloped. Before she reached there, Bahamut managed to stagger to his feet. He hobbled over to Taraketh, who finally had his feet underneath him, and pushed himself up as well. Once they both stood, they looked to Dael just as she came up to them.

All three froze and looked to one another.

"…What now?" Taraketh asked.

Dael looked to her wristwatch. It had rebooted from the attack, but she wasn't sure if it had also been destroyed. It was perfectly possible, but she knew these models shut down automatically in EMP situations to avoid some of the weaponry from more advanced modern systems nowadays. She gave it a shot, her grip trembling so much and so weak she barely got a thumb on the button. On pressing it at last, it did indeed reboot…and revealed what was left.

Less than eleven minutes.

She looked up to the others, her face tired, sore…but also grim.

"…This place turns into dust in a bit more than ten minutes."

The group looked around to each other. All of them were silent.

"…I've got nothing left." Dael stated. "I'm barely standing as it is."

"I can try using a few spells, but…" Taraketh answered. He paused a moment, and closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate a moment as Bahamut and Dael watched…only to suddenly wince. Panting a bit, he opened his eyes again. "…They must have set off an Eris Bell in every hall as part of the lockdown. I have no power left."

Dael looked grim on hearing that. "…If they set off an Eris Bell, then Lady Faerio and Carbuncle can't teleport us out of here if they come here."

The group was silent again. They looked around…continuing to hear more bulkheads seal far in the distance. The Esthar Hawk stood there…and realized just how desperate this situation was. Even if they could somehow cut their way through them, they couldn't get out of this facility in ten minutes, let alone a minimum safe distance. And there was no way Carbuncle or Lady Faerio could get in to teleport them out now. Even if they did, they'd have to use successive teleports to get them to the _Excalibur_. To Dael's growing unease…she began to realize there was no way out of this. They didn't have an escape this time.

Yet even as she thought of this, Bahamut's head drifted to one side…looking to and finding the body of one of the Hounds of Sybenia. He shifted his swordsword around, mounted it in his buckler, and then shoved it practically into Dael's arms. Snapped out of her thoughts, she looked to him in confusion. "Bahamut, what…"

"Just take it." He stated as he began to stiffly walk-hobble over to the fallen Hound. Once he reached him, he went down to his side and began to root through his pockets. He searched through a few for a couple moments, tossing out what he saw inside the numerous pouches as he looked.

Dael and Taraketh both stared at him. "…One of their keys or badges isn't going to cancel a lockdown, Bahamut."

"I'm not looking for that." He answered as he finally grasped something. He pulled it out soon after, but Dael couldn't see in the darkness. He rose and began to walk over to them again. However, he stopped at a distance, and held up his hand to them.

They both recognized what he held…one of the tins that carried the same drug that Crow had used…that these Elite Hounds had been using and supposedly even the conventional ones.

Dael's eyes went a bit wide. She understood what he meant, and shook her head as her eyes filled with fear. "No, Bahamut…"

"I'm going to take this entire tin. There's six pills left in it. I can feel them rattling."

"You'll destroy yourself like Crow did, Lord Bahamut!" Taraketh shouted.

"I don't think so." Bahamut responded. "She died because she tried to force an unwilling Guardian Force to fully fuse with her after giving it too much power. I _am_ a Guardian Force, on the other hand."

"One that's 'missing his essence'! You're mostly human, Bahamut!" Dael shot back, her voice showing audible fear. "What if this kills you like it killed her?"

Bahamut, however, remained firm. "Dael…we're going to die in eight or nine minutes anyway. What difference does it make if I go a bit faster? I've been through gruesome situations before. This would be nothing new to me and I don't have the slightest fear. And there's no time to argue left. Even if this works, we need every second. I'm taking these pills whether you like it or not. You can't stop me at this point."

Dael stared on for a moment. She wanted to fight back or try and stop him, but she couldn't. She couldn't even argue with him in a way that would make him reconsider, and he wouldn't give her the chance either. Instead, while she still didn't want him to do it fully in her heart or mind, he popped open the tin.

"…Both of you stay that far, but grab onto me fast if this works."

Before either of them could counter this, Bahamut emptied the tin into his mouth and swallowed every pill in moments.

Dael actually reached out a hand to him, and Taraketh advanced…but both were too slow and weak at this point to really stop anything. They only watched as they saw Bahamut's throat move, the pills vanishing down it. He let out an exhale afterward, and flung the tin aside. Even as he did, the emergency lights began to give out. Perhaps it was a result of Raven, or maybe it was the emergency generators couldn't maintain them long after a lock down, but they started to wink out. Periodically, they oscillated from dim, barely-visible light to no light at all. It created an odd effect on Bahamut. As they watched in what light they could see, his head bowed, and he slowly exhaled. He held there a moment, standing normal.

Then…it began.

As Dael watched anxiously, the lights flicking in and out…she began to see sweat mount on the young man. In only a few moments, she saw him breathing hard and heavy, growing harder and heavier all the time. It became loud, and almost rasping. Not only that…but she saw his body begin to enlarge. His young muscles grew in size and tone even more than they were already, and she almost thought she could hear his heart beating. He began to grunt…short at first…and then a long, continuous groaning noise. As he did this, his legs began to buckle beneath him. He started to crouch, his arms curling up next to him. In another flash of light, she saw his teeth gritting as his muscles went beyond their natural size and tone…making the young man start to hulk. Finally…she saw something else…

His hair started to fall out…as the lights suddenly cut out all together.

Dael let out a gasp, but her voice was lost over the sudden cry Bahamut made…far louder and more deep throated than before. It was growing deeper too. Her mind filled with fear. Her own heart raced. Then…she began to hear more. She began to hear flesh ripping.

_No…oh God, no…_

Then, the lights flickered back on…and she saw him for a heartbeat. To her shock, his skin was ripping off…but there wasn't flesh underneath as with Crow. There were _scales_…dark blue and some ethereal, cosmic color…and his body was still enlarging…

Darkness again. Dael froze where she was. She didn't move. Didn't breathe. Just looked forward as she heard the groaning go from human to something deeper and most certainly _not_ human. She heard blows begin to strike the ground, him stomping his feet or fist…and the ground shook.

The light flickered again…and Dael saw Bahamut had gained two feet of size. His flesh was almost gone. His clothing was already in tatters, and all that was left was a reptilian humanoid form behind, rippling with muscle. Two large bulges were coming out of his back, stretching the remaining flesh. His face was still there…but it was enlarging…deforming…

The lights went out again…as the groan became a growl…a deep animal growl like the voice of doom. A lion couldn't produce one that intense. Soon, it grew more severe yet…more powerful…more fearsome… Dael actually felt her own body beginning to fill with fear even though she knew this person. A sensation most humans of her generation had never experienced was flooding her…dragonfear.

The lights went on one more time before going out all together…showing claws ripping from his feet, knocking out his old human digits…and his scalp coming off to burst forth in horns as massive wings ripped out of his back…

As the light went out again, she heard a full roar…felt hot breath wash over her…and felt terror and awe to the very core of her being. She nearly collapsed. If there had been any power in her left, any will to do as Bahamut had told her…it was gone. The sheer power of the Guardian Force was washing over her now, arresting her movement completely, both captivating her as well as freezing her soul in the same gesture…

Dael wasn't sure what happened next. She would feel it had been a dream for the rest of her life, although she knew it had to have been real…

She felt powerful arms, covered with muscle and scales stronger than mythril, scoop her into them and hold her next to something large, scale-covered, warm, and breathing. She could only assume later Taraketh was scooped in the other arm. On her part, between her pain, exhaustion, and awe…she was a doll now in the arms of the large creature that grabbed her. Another roar bellowed from the mass of flesh…and suddenly her stomach fell into her feet as she shot straight up into the sky. She felt something lightweight and yet stronger than any metal she had ever seen cover the front of her…which she later assumed was wings. To a cacophony of metal grinding and tearing, numerous conduits being burst through, steam erupting everywhere, and water ducts being shredded…she burst through the ceiling like she was strapped to a rocket. And the one above that. And the one after that. Then…the mass of rock and dirt after that…only picking up speed…before plowing through one set of floors and ceilings after another, seeing nothing but chaos and destruction and electric light all around. She could only gape, wondering if she was imaging all of it. She was too stunned even to cover her ears through the deafening noise, which only added to the disbelief that all of this was real. Everything happened so fast…in such a blur…

Then…sunlight.

It was partially cloudy. The air was filled not with the sounds of birds or wind but an air-raid siren, and the sky was before her…revealed as what looked like wings made of blue metal parted. In a flash, her body pitched through the air…and the world spun below her, spread far, far below…over a thousand feet beneath her. She felt force tear her again…and her body, like a bullet, shot through the sky. She thought she had definitely died now. She was moving too fast…too impossibly… It was like she was flying without a jet at supersonic. There were people like ants below her…cars, workers, roads, buildings…and they all vanished in a flash. More roads shot by…followed by more buildings…then rocks and landscape…all blazing past so fast that it couldn't be real…couldn't be possible…

Yet then…it began to slow. Her body still going into knots, her senses dazzled…she saw the world slow again. Not only that…but it began to rise to meet her. Whatever had taken her for her "flight" was descending…and descending fast. And as it slowed and descended…her sense of reality grew again. She became conscious of wind hitting her, of the world whizzing by… She felt more like she was on the wing of a plane now rather than being propelled by a supernatural force. It became real enough to "believe"…and then she realized how fast they were coming in…how they couldn't survive…any more than they could make a plane crash…

But then…the path arched over to a highway…and straightened again. Whatever was holding onto her was trying to land there. As she came in…going to four hundred feet…three hundred…two hundred… The thought finally occurred to her to look to what was carrying her. She nearly did…before it suddenly pitched around in a roll…and suddenly she was looking at the sky again. The clouds ran by overhead in the light of the rising sun, and she realized whatever was carrying her was flying upside down…and slowing fast, based on what she could feel. She wondered what…

Until they made impact. Dael had gone through "crash landings" before in training, but she still found herself jostled badly. The flesh and scales holding her tried to support her…but even as she felt them holding firm, she also felt them growing weak. Each "bounce" they made seemed to make them weaker…until she felt scales coming off of the very limb that was holding her. As she continued to descend, she heard a scraping noise. A creature above her gave a deep throated growl of pain…but the growl was growing smaller, meeker, and "lighter" with each passing moment. The flesh holding her was shrinking. Yet they slowed fast…and soon came slow enough to be a car…then a bicycle…then a sprinter…then a runner…

Dael saw the surrounding rocky cliffs and spires rise around her. She tried to look up a bit, and saw the edges of roads, highways, and the occasional building about her. But she couldn't look up enough. The flesh…now no larger than a big ape's arm…still held her as the body came to a halt. When he stopped, it became man sized…then smaller. Finally, once here, in spite of her pain, vertigo, sickness, and weakness, she forced herself with a grunt to sit up.

She looked down to what held her…and was just in time to see a pile of blue scales, like dead leaves, get carried off of her in a breeze and turn to dust. What was left on the other side was a limp boy's arm holding around her waist. She looked a bit more, and realized they were on the middle of a highway. It was empty now, but she could still hear the air-raid siren going for miles. Far in the distance, a good ten miles away, she saw the smokestacks of the facility…and, beyond it, much farther, the outline of Lolesterin. To her puzzlement…it looked like black smoke was coming from it…fires…

She stared only a moment, before she looked to her side. Taraketh, stiff and groaning, had the boy's opposite arm around him, and he quickly rose as well. Both of them disengaged themselves, and turned and looked down to their savior.

They caught only an image of the once powerful wings fading into nothing, and saw the last bit of Bahamut's hair grow in before he was fully a human boy once again. He was totally nude now…his clothing torn to pieces from the transformation…and unconscious. However, he was alive…and he was there as Dael knew him again.

The woman stared at him a while. Her look was a mixture of awe and respect…but also understanding. She looked long at that boy, not really sure what to think as she felt the dragonfear slowly recede within her. She had never felt anything like that before…and she would never forget it as she stared at the boy. Somehow…the experience had endeared him more to her in a way she couldn't describe…and she could say nothing.

It wasn't until Taraketh put a hand on her that she snapped out of it. "…Dael?"

At this, the woman shook her head, and again thought of the moment at hand. She looked to the High Child. "…Help me. I'm not strong enough to carry him by myself anymore, even with a junction."

The two stumbled to the feet as best as they could. Neither was really in much shape for walking anymore, but they somehow found the strength. After finally managing to put her sword back and putting Bahamut's own sword and buckler on her back, Dael looked to the time. Only around five minutes remaining. She wasn't sure if they could possibly get clear. She wasn't even sure if they were out of range yet or not even close. But they had to at least find some form of shelter… She moved to take Bahamut's shoulders and head while Taraketh grabbed his legs. Soon, they had him up and moved as fast as they could.

Dael neither saw nor heard anymore cars. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. Now that they were out and the fight was over…she began to think fully about what they had done. She wouldn't blame Cid alone for it. Were she in his position with only his experience, she might have done the same if it was Bahamut who had been threatened. And she knew that a lot of ugly things happened in war that weren't necessarily motivated by "evil". But still…she wondered how many of those people were sitting down getting ready for work…making breakfast for their kids…

She honestly didn't know if she preferred them to stay like that or to be desperately trying to escape in terror after hearing the alarm when it hit.

At any rate, the three of them didn't get far. Abruptly, a flash of ruby light ignited in front of them only about 100 meters down the road, and they froze and looked to it. As it receded, they saw a bristling, tired, and infuriated Carbuncle glaring at them. He quickly ran up to the group.

"Where the f**k have you idiots been?! I nearly teleported back into that hunk of metal looking for you! I noticed it was locked down just in time! I would have been stuck in there if I teleported in, you morons!"

"Just shut up and get us out of here, Carbuncle! It's not like we've had an easy time either!" Dael shot back.

Grumbling and swearing, Carbuncle ran up and jumped straight at Dael…landing on her chest with claws outstretched. She winced as she felt them dig in through her clothing and attach to her, and promptly he ran around and perched on her shoulders with a growl. "Just hold on tight, dumb humans… Why the Hell is Bahamut nude? Oh, I don't give a damn… I'm running on empty here so this isn't going to be neat! I'll need a two-step!"

Dael merely turned her head slightly and gave a glare. "…Carbuncle, did you just 'grope' me?"

"You deserve it for worrying everybody, you jackass!" He snapped back. "And I said hold on!"

Frowning, Dael did as she was told. A moment later, the ruby light went out again, rippling over the three of them as well as the small Guardian Force for a second…and then they vanished in a flash.

A split second later, they reformed…this time on the very beach they landed at. Alarms were already going off, not just from the air-raid sirens, but also alert alarms signifying that there were enemies that had made landfall. However…no one was in sight. The beach was as empty as when they landed, save for one detail. As Carbuncle inhaled and exhaled a few times to get ready to teleport again, she turned…and saw a helicopter crashed into the sand. At any rate, Dael wasn't worried about the Esthar's Hawks that were there. She was pretty sure this area was already at a minimum safe distance from the facility…although the only way out was going to be the ocean for a while… On that note, she looked out to shore…but couldn't see the _Excalibur_. Assuming it was still hidden, that only figured. Yet she did see a couple plumes of smoke from the water…

"…Was there any trouble?" Dael asked as she looked at the helicopter.

"Nothing Faerio couldn't take out…" Carbuncle answered. His head looked up slightly, and he paused, realizing she was looking at the helicopter. "…You mean that? Oh…" He frowned. "Quaren knew how to take one of the damn things off but not how to land one. He tried to bring it in, and I had to teleport everyone off of it before the damn thing crashed… Now shut up. I'm tired as Hell from all the people I've been teleporting."

"…How many people did you get?" Taraketh asked.

Carbuncle paused…but never answered that question. Soon after, his ruby light went off again…and the group teleported one more time.

A moment later…they popped in right on the deck of the _Excalibur. _They landed just in front of the turret, and the first sight they saw was ahead of them…Ceja on the right side of the turret. However, Quaren was behind them, seeming to make sure the ship was retracting everything in preparation for takeoff. In addition to that, Cid was also further up on deck, close to the bridge but looking out anxiously. As soon as the group popped in, he began to advance on them. Cryder and Jalab were nowhere to be seen.

Carbuncle immediately slumped down on Dael, panting. "…That's about all I can do…" He said between gasps. "I don't know how those Sorceresses do it…"

Ceja and Quaren both looked to them immediately, Quaren forgetting his own business. "Dael, are you alright?" He called out, forgetting the "commander" title. "Are you hurt?"

Dael didn't answer. Instead, she quickly grit her teeth and shifted her strength to get Bahamut up into her arms, taking her alone. "Do we have a blanket or cover or something?"

Ceja responded to this. Turning to the nearest first aid kit mounted on the side of the deck, she reached forward, ripped it out of its mooring, and yanked out the blanket from inside. She quickly came forward and covered him with it.

"It seems we save him a lot…and he's usually unclothed..." Quaren muttered as he saw this exchange.

"Believe it or not, he's the one who saved us this time." Dael answered.

Ceja finished covering him, and gave a harder look to Dael. "…You all lived. Does that mean you-"

Dael cut her off with a grim shake of the head. "Raven's still alive. He's even tougher than we thought."

Cid arrived at this point, and frantically looked around. "Is Lady Faerio back yet?" He said with a tense note on his voice.

The commander reacted to this. She turned to Quaren. "…Sorceress Faerio's still gone?"

"She's been teleporting as many people away as possible." The corporal answered. "Trying to drive people away from the blast area by actually setting large fires in the city, trying to get people to 'flee her wrath' away from the direction of the facility. But there was this group of kids on a school bus…through she was a monster and crashed their car. She needed to knock them out and get them to safety herself…"

"The POWs?"

"All are onboard. Jalab's looking after them."

Dael turned her head and looked forward to the front of the ship. "Cryder, get ready to move out the moment Faerio arrives!"

A second later, the loudspeaker on the relay clicked. _"You think you need to tell me that twice, lass? We've already got four inbound destroyers! The fast kind! Looks like our jig is up after their ambush got blown out of the water! That bomb's only got about three minutes now!"_

Dael tensed a bit. Where was Faerio? The Sorceress had to be using a lot of power. What if she found herself drained or trapped by something? What if she was still in the bomb range?

"…It didn't last, I guess."

The commander suddenly snapped out of it, and looked down to her arms. Bahamut was stirring in them, and after blinking a moment, raised his head slightly. He still looked exhausted, but he was conscious again. He also frowned as he looked over his body.

"Even six of those drugs at once was only enough to make me take full form for about ten seconds…"

Dael actually blinked on hearing that. _Ten seconds? That was only how long he was transformed…?_

She paused a moment, but then gave a weak smile. "…It left quite an impression, though. Besides, I don't think I could have carried you back here as a dragon."

He looked back up to her at that…and gave a weak smile of his own. "…Seems you're always coming to my aid. You're making me feel like a weakling of a dragon god…"

"Hey…" She answered with a shrug. "You didn't have a whole lot of people bailing you out when you got in trouble as a kid. Now you get to experience it."

Bahamut hesitated for a moment when Dael phrased it that way. To be honest…she wasn't sure why she said it like that herself. Part of her once again seemed to be "looser" around the boy, it seemed…and she knew now even the revelation hadn't changed that. After a moment, however, he looked down, then back up.

"…You can put me down now."

"Sorry." Dael answered, immediately setting him down.

The boy adjusted the blanket around himself. He nearly spoke again…when another flash of light went out higher up on the deck. Everyone snapped to it…but Cid was the one who reacted before they rest of them did, immediately running to the side of the figure who had appeared. That pretty much confirmed it, but as Dael and Bahamut came forward, they saw it without a doubt. Faerio, covered with sweat, dirty, smoking and smelling of ash a bit, and dead tired, was lying on the deck. She looked like she had nearly passed out, but was still breathing.

Cid immediately dumped his pack on the deck and reached for her, pulling her up gently to him, not like a "lover", but more as a loving older brother to a younger sister. Even as he did this, Dael snapped her head up to the bridge and shouted. "Cryder, we're all aboard! Get us out of here!"

Immediately, the powerful engines of the _Excalibur _began to churn backward, and the rudder changed. Everyone was jostled a bit as the powerful ship yanked itself back and to the side, almost as smoothly as a motor vehicle in a parking lot, and pulled itself free of the rock atoll. Once it was out, Cryder continued to pull it back for a moment, continuing to drop engine speed. _"Could use a hand in here, mates, if you want to get out faster! Running this ship is a two-man job!"_

Quaren instantly broke and began to run for the bridge. As he did, Dael looked down to Cid and Faerio. He already was hugging her to him, his eyes filled with tears as he clutched her hard. Faerio still looked limp, but somehow…she seemed to be conscious. After a few moments, she confirmed it herself.

"I'm…I'm fine, Cid… Just…just…so tired…"

The engineer continued to cry, however, hugging her tightly. "…I'm sorry, my lady…I'm so sorry… I…I got so desperate… I couldn't think of anything else… Good lord…how many people I've killed…"

Despite being weak, Faerio still tried to talk. "You're human, Cid…you make mistakes…"

"…A mistake that kills thousands…?"

"You did all you could to stop it…"

"But…it was my-"

Faerio suddenly let out an exhale. "So…tired…" She said weakly, more so than before. "Can't focus…"

Cid, despite sinking into depression and continuing to cry, looked intently at Faerio at that, some of his despair replaced with concern. Immediately, he began to pick Faerio up carefully, meaning to take her below deck. Dael watched this…and understood. Faerio was indeed drained, but she also "hammed it up" a little bit. The only thing that could get Cid off of this spiral was thinking of Faerio's well-being. As a result, she had done so to get him to stop focusing on it. After all…the bomb hadn't even gone off yet…

Although it would soon.

The _Excalibur_ had fully turned around by now. The prow faced the sea again. Cryder immediately gunned the engines to maximum, now with Quaren's help, and was soon shooting off for the north and international waters again. When that happened, Dael looked up, and then turned back from the ocean and to the land. In spite of herself, she found that she ran to the end of the ship, going past the turret, past the bridge, past the after turret, and all the way to the stern railing, looking over and behind her. While the others tended to the front…Bahamut, still wearing nothing but the blanket for now, and Taraketh, limping along as best as he could, followed them back.

The rock they had hid behind left them, and slowly grew smaller and smaller. The coast gradually pulled away, the beach turning into a ribbon, and then a line, and the homes becoming specks before turning to dots. The sun continued to rise over it all, sending its golden rays over the entire landscape of the Southern Continent, and all the distant, unseen cities and buildings that had been covered. Dael watched it…and saw how beautiful it was. When was the last time the pollution-choked country of Leuco had seen such a sunny day? Such a wonderful morning?

The sun was only halfway over the horizon…when a new sun joined it.

Dael had never seen a nuclear explosion before, and, in truth, she couldn't now. She read about the thermal radiation…that looking into a nuclear blast was like looking into the sun itself. She turned her head away from it, distant as it was…for it filled the sky with light for a few precious moments as the power of the sun was brought to the face of Gaia. None of them could look at it…but they could feel how warm it was. Dael only wondered if they were feeling more than just thermal light but the actual gamma rays she knew were coming off of it…although she soon told herself they were too far for that…and going farther all the time thanks to the speed of the craft.

Then, when the light died, she looked back.

They were very far now. All they saw was a strange cloud. It wasn't like the "mushroom clouds" produced by the old test bombs. This was something else…something wrought from something far more intense. Eventually, it became mushroom like…but by then it was only a vague outline rising from a seemingly-uniform surface of the world. Even from here, far in the distance, she could hear a roar of thunder. Or perhaps it was simply everything being ruined by the shockwave…

And as Dael wondered how many had been left behind and never had a chance…or perhaps had tried to flee to the very last…she met another milestone of the Esthar military as she was privy to the first time a thermonuclear weapon had been used in a war in Gaia's history.

It was one honor she wished from that day forward she had never received.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	51. The Captain, the Wanderer, and the Ghost

_Eighteen Hours Later_

* * *

><p>Dael had only tried to sleep once…and then no longer. The dream had come back.<p>

The voices had returned, but she wasn't sure if she was better off when they were silent. They were agonized now. Horrified. Anguished. Furious. All of them were filled with rage and hate…hatred for all things. Angry at what had happened to them and wanting all things to suffer the chaos that they had suffered. Their hatred extended to Dael as well, and it hadn't been long before she had been tormented and agonized by them all over again… She was sure when she woke up she screamed, but she hadn't alerted anyone else. The lower decks were crowded with the POWs. The group had insisted, injured as she was, that she take a rest. Faerio, half-conscious as she was at the time, even offered a place in the room. However, Dael dismissed it all, and instead decided to stay on the deck unless it rained.

She didn't have to worry about that. The sky was filled with stars tonight. On the middle of a dark ocean, normally it would be breathtaking. One could see the air filled with the endless cosmos, and below, on the ocean, you could actually see enough bioluminescence to make out the outline of the great sea creatures. Yet Dael thought of none of that either.

She thought of old images she had seen in file footage from thirty years back, showing the fake skin of a dummy burning off into dried ash before a shockwave shattered it... She thought of houses being stripped bare and then dashed aside, as if God had merely snorted at them like a stack of powder.

Sleep was impossible. It was too cool out, even for this time of year. They were moving into the last month of summer and past the hottest days…but it still was downright chilly, even for the ocean in this part of the world. Dael had one blanket from below, and it was too thin to make a difference. Plus, her injuries were still throbbing under their fresh bandages, and she was sore all over. Her exhaustion wasn't enough to make her sleep again, unfortunately. She just lay in the chair that had been brought up for her and watched the world go by…and thought again and again of what they had done.

_Faerio's right… Cid made a mistake. He's only human…and he did something that any distraught human would have done… He wanted to save her. That was all he could do… Even if it was crazy, it was the only option he had. It was the only way he could save us. If he hadn't have set the bomb…we'd be dead now. I'd be dead now. It was a mistake. A tragic, horrible mistake…but a mistake none the less…_

She slowly exhaled.

_…But not many people can say their mistakes cost thousands of innocent people their lives. Nothing can change that. No amount of rationalization or reassurance. How do you live with something like that? _

_ I already know the answer. You become a soldier. In a war, you might leave countless orphans, widows, and disfigured people in your wake as a bomber or fighter. But in the end…they're casualties of war. You protect your own. You let your enemy worry about protecting theirs. That's how it's always worked since the dawn of mankind…_

_ …But Cid's not a soldier._

_ And I'm not sure I could sleep at night either._

_ …What am I talking about… I _know_ I couldn't sleep at night. Even now, I'm blaming those deaths on myself. And I should. It was my mission. My responsibility. I could have shouted at Cid not to do it. I could have ordered him down. But I didn't. I let him set that bomb…in spite of knowing what it could do and hearing everything Raven said. Because I was more like Raven in there than Cid. Like him…I was willing to make sacrifices._

_A_ lot_ of sacrifices._

_ …Maybe that's why the voices hate me._

Even at top speed, the engines of the _Excalibur_ purred so softly that it was possible to hear when the hatch opened. Dael didn't even look, but she did focus her hearing behind her. After a pause, she heard someone slowly coming forward, soon recognizing it from the noise as Quaren. As he neared, she tried to straighten up a bit, but she was too stiff and sore to do so. Her body wanted to remain in its current position. She forced herself to lift up anyway in the end, however.

Soon, Quaren, not nearly as bandaged as her but still a bit stiff, and unarmed though in his uniform again, moved nearby and sat on the ridge adjoining the fore turret. Sitting down on the edge, he looked over to Dael.

"How are you feeling, commander?"

Dael looked back to Quaren for a few moments. Finally, she let out a sigh.

"…Dael, Quaren." She stated.

He swallowed a bit. "We're still on mission, com-"

"We're on international waters in the middle of the ocean. Call me Dael."

Quaren paused for a second. "…How are you feeling, Dael?"

She grimaced a bit. "…A lot better than a lot of people in Leuco are feeling." She answered. With the group exhausted, no one was available to use healing magic. They were forced to just settle down for the night. But she was fine with that. She just bandaged herself up the traditional way and eased down, trying not to move her potentially broken bones.

Quaren bowed his head and grimaced on hearing that.

"…You?"

"…Hmm?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Oh…" A pause. "Alright, I guess. At least…physically. I didn't really get hurt though."

Dael paused, giving a wistful smile. "You had your first taste of leadership on this mission, didn't you?"

He grimaced. "…You can keep it, Dael." He stated grimly after a moment.

"Don't be ashamed. Don't be upset. You carried out your orders. You got to the relay and left that message."

Quaren said nothing, keeping his head bowed.

Dael held a bit longer, but then exhaled. "…I've been out of things for a while. What are we getting on transmissions?"

The corporal looked more tense than ever. He moistened his lips.

"…Quaren, I have to find out sooner or later." The commander stated after a moment. "I'd rather hear it from you rather than the news."

The Esthar's Hawk hesitated a bit longer, and then inhaled more.

"…A good part of Lolesterin was destroyed, they say." Quaren finally stated. "The blast was enough to take out half of the city. A lot of it was evacuated already…because of Faerio's fires…but…" He swallowed. "A lot of people couldn't get out in time. They're trying to clear the rest even now. The fallout…it covered the city completely and the surroundings. They say they were equipped for this. They have hundreds of thousands of anti-radiation drugs and decontamination people moving in, but…they already said the entire area is unusable now. All roads blocked. People on the coast who got far enough are being airlifted out or removed by boat." He paused, then spoke in a bit more upbeat tone. "They say few people will die due to radiation poisoning. We have a lot better cures now…and they even said they're breaking open the detention camps where they were holding magic users because their power can remove radiation traces a lot better than drugs…so, I guess, if you think about it, we did those people they had captured a favor in a way…"

Dael stared darkly at all of this.

"…Quaren, do you remember how Colonel Regalis once told us that everything you say before the word 'but' is irrelevant?"

Quaren's face fell again as he swallowed.

"But…" He moistened his lips. "…they estimate the death toll is going to end up exceeding 50,000."

_Half the city proper._ Dael immediately realized. Whatever victories that Faerio and Carbuncle had managed to secure, or that Quaren had managed to alert…suddenly seemed meaningless. That number burned into her mind. It would have been staggering enough if that was how many conventional soldiers had died. And truth be told…she was sure a good ten to twenty thousand of those people _had_ been military personnel, either Sybenian or Leucan. But all the others… That many…that many lives shattered…and who knew how many people connected to them. To be honest, Dael had never thought during her academy days of how she could react to that many civilians dying by her hand…because she never thought it would happen.

_How many civilians has Sybenia killed?_

_ If it's less…then who's the monster?_

She exhaled and closed her eyes a moment. This was easier before she had grown so attached to people. She could compartmentalize it. They always taught her back in school never to think too much about "the other side". But that number…

"The reaction…is…well, it's honestly good, Dael." Quaren stated grimly. "…I'm sorry, but it is. That's how war works. Leuco's crippled now. Half of the country is inaccessible and they've lost their big production facility for advanced war weapons. They can still make munitions and all in all of their other plants but…the Leuco government already said it's suspending its defense contracts with Sybenia."

In spite of how heavy and horrible everything that had happened was…Dael looked up at that.

"Sybenia's tried to pass it off as a malfunction…but…they already know Esthar was behind it from the reports from survivors. They're arguing with them over it right now." He grimaced and shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. Either it was an accident of their own fault that killed all those people…or…" He swallowed again. "…a military strike. In either case, Leuco sees that Sybenia can't keep them safe. What's worse…a big storm came in and started carrying the fallout east, toward the main city. They're talking about evacuating parts of the main city itself now, and that'll make everything grind to a halt. Not just military production but everything. Regardless of what caused this, they're mad because it all happened as a result of Sybenia using them to build the bombs. No matter what happens…Leuco looks like it's going to break off its deal with Sybenia."

Dael looked fully to Quaren now. He stared back, almost looking a bit hopeful.

"I think they'll try to preserve the alliance for now, but…I don't have a mom in government and not know how these things work. Sybenia wants them for weapons. Without them, there's no reason to keep the alliance. They'll want Leuco to go back to work. Leuco won't because they don't want another accident or strike…whatever they end up calling it. Sybenia will have to break off with them. They might try conquering them to get them back to work, but if they do…they'll destroy what's left of the infrastructure in the process. Leuco has all the weapons and the raw materials. And they'll have to rebuild it when the country is cut in two by a nuclear disaster. So either way…Sybenia's lost its main source of weapons, and it won't get to replace them for over a year…longer than it will take us to get our own weapons moving again."

The young officer paused at this. She considered these things for a moment.

"As bad as all of this was, Dael…it has a silver lining. This is the biggest blow to Sybenia yet. Enough to stop them in their tracks. They have a lot of weapons now, but like the reports say…they're spreading themselves thin. Garrado is still holding on. Their fleet is still trying to protect both the Western Continent and the Southern Continent. Now, anything they lose is going to be something that's going to restrict them. Somehow…I think the tide just turned."

Dael was silent. She held for a moment, considering this. Everything that Quaren said made sense. And she knew that he knew more of politics and economics than she ever could. He actually had an ear in on how the system worked with his mother in government. She realized that they may have been able to end the Sybenia/Leuco partnership with one gesture. Even if it was salvageable, that wouldn't be for months. During that time, Esthar now had the upper hand, feeble and weak as they were. They had enough time to get a war machine of their own in full operation while Sybenia could do nothing but sit on their hands. By the time they had this smoothed out, Esthar would be able to stand as firm as they were. Better than that…if the relationship _didn't_ pan out, then Esthar would emerge as stronger. They could force Sybenia to sign a treaty. They could end the war without firing another shot. In this one gesture, victory had gone from being a distant potentiality to a distinct possibility.

_…And all it cost was about 30,000 innocent lives._

She let that chilling note pass, and then looked to Quaren again.

"What does command say?"

He grimaced in response. "I can't get ahold of anyone other than communications personnel…but…" He grimaced a bit. "They say: 'mission accomplished' and 'job well done'."

Dael frowned at that. Perhaps they'd say a different tune if they didn't have to treat what went on in Leuco as a video game. At any rate, the Esthar's Hawk soon grew more somber than before.

"How are…the others?"

The young man paused again.

"…Ceja is keeping to herself. She's just…kind of standing around and being quiet. I think she has it the best out of everyone. She doesn't really understand what happened. She's tried to go to Jalab once or twice, but…" He hesitated. "…he set up a little 'prayer shrine' or something in the galley over the fume hood and is praying for the dead in his native language. He's been at it for hours and will probably go at it all night. Taraketh decided to join him when he finally got up after taking that rest. …I think what happened is settling in for him too. Carbuncle, well…he passed out and he's still sleeping. I think he really burnt himself out with all the teleportation he's done. He went in to see Bahamut a while ago, though. As for Cryder…well…" He trailed off.

"…Yes?"

"…He's still piloting the ship, smoking a cigar, and not saying much. When I tried to talk to him about it, he told me in that pirate tone of his… 'Only a crazy person thinks all the time about who deserves to live and die. If you do that, you eventually want to off everyone.'"

Dael paused a moment and exhaled. "…He's got a point, I suppose. I'm sure the POWs are too tired to say anything." She hesitated, and finally asked the big question. "…Cid?"

Quaren slowly exhaled and swallowed.

"…I didn't want to give him the number. But like you said…he'll learn it eventually. Someone should tell him. Faerio…she was just starting to act a bit 'normal' again…but she said for me to tell her first. I thought she'd break down herself when I did, but…she somehow held on. She thanked me…and then she called Cid over to her and said she wanted to be alone to tell him."

Dael hesitated, but nodded. "…Either he learns it now, or we wait until he starts feeling better to tell him it again."

Quaren frowned and bowed his head again. "…I haven't seen them since. The door hasn't opened." He sighed. "In a way…it was everyone's fault, Dael. But he actually set the bomb… How do you move on from something like that?"

"I honestly don't know, Quaren." Dael answered truthfully. "All I know is that Cid has the power and talent to save thousands of people with his tools and know-how. He might have also done that today with that broadcast. And no matter how much he mourns or hates himself, even if he does it for the rest of his life, he's not going to bring one of those people back from the dead. I may not know how he can move on…but if he ever wants to make up for what happened or leave a positive impact on this world, he's going to have to. He might be right… Maybe we all deserve to wallow in depression and wish we were dead for this… Maybe in the grand scheme of things we deserved to be blown up with that bomb. But we're all still here. And nothing we can say or do is going to change what we've done. We've got to keep looking forward."

The corporal paused for a while, but finally nodded. "…I guess you're right." He hesitated, then shook his head. "No…I know you're right. It just…it just feels like we don't deserve to ever be happy or cheerful again."

"Maybe we don't." Dael answered darkly. "But take a good look at anyone's life and everything they've done. Look at what any army has ever done. Does anyone really 'deserve' to be happy or cheerful ever again?"

Quaren was silent in response, but he seemed to think this over. He looked up after a moment.

"That reminds me… Bahamut finally woke up a while ago. He wanted to see you."

Bahamut had been taken under, dressed in spare clothes, and put in a bed despite his transformation having "fixed" him in a different room from Faerio's. However, he had promptly passed out on landing, and had been sleeping for hours. Whatever he burned through with those drugs…it had totally wiped him out as well as the power inside them.

"I will soon." Dael answered. "Not like I'm able to sleep out here. It's too chilly." She answered with a snort. "Nice to know cold is keeping me awake where death didn't…" She sighed. She held for a few moments, and then shook her head again. "…Another one of those victories that feels a lot like a defeat. It won't help that they'll probably welcome us back with open arms and more promotions when we return to Esthar…calling us heroes."

Quaren frowned and looked down again with a half-chuckle. "Maybe the bad agricultural news will upstage us…"

Dael looked up at that. "…Excuse me?"

"Oh…nothing." Quaren answered as he looked up again. "Just looking at the other radio broadcasts…anything to get away from that disaster. It was all they talked about this morning. But this evening…they started talking about bad phenomena they had picked up that morning. They think there's a surge in sunspots or a solar wind or something…because the entire world temperature altered by about five degrees really unexpectedly and suddenly. Cold places got colder…warm places got hotter…and a lot of storms suddenly built in intensity… Not only that, but they say the solar index suddenly dropped…"

He held a moment, then looked up to Dael a bit anxiously.

"Dael…do you think it's because of that facility? That the blast sprayed something into the atmosphere? Even ash or dust or something?"

Dael, however, was far more tense than Quaren. Her face was far grimmer as she stared at him, her expression tense.

"…Quaren, don't you remember what Leviathan and Alexander told us?" She stated quietly.

The young man paused for a moment…but then his face began to shift in recognition.

"Fifty thousand people, Quaren. In one day. How much 'chaos' do you think those deaths caused?"

The corporal remained rigid…but he began to look as unsettled as Dael. He slowly inhaled and exhaled, before reaching up and running a hand through his hair.

"…We're doing real good at following what they said, aren't we…" He muttered. "Even without Sybenia helping us, we're putting all this disorder into the world…"

Dael slowly inhaled as well…but froze.

"…Or are we?"

Quaren turned his head up at that…and Dael gave him a firm, dark look.

"…Raven wasn't just calling a bluff in that hall, Quaren. He was goading Cid. He was purposely threatening to kill Faerio. He didn't even do it outright. All he had to do was say so, and those lasers would have cut into Faerio all together…but he didn't. He drew it out. He told them to ready, aim, and fire. You told me when that bomb was set, something else…something that wasn't part of the system…put a code on it that he couldn't break. Someone made sure that bomb couldn't be disarmed. And then the systems to broadcast for people to get away were locked out and guarded…not just by robots but by _Hounds_. They wanted to make sure no one would tell anyone to get away…not even in Lolesterin where they could have gotten clear more easily without tying up the facility."

She shifted weight and leveled her gaze more steadily.

"Quaren…Raven told me that they had eyes and ears in Esthar at the highest level of power. They knew not only that we were coming, but they knew what our mission was. They knew we were going to try to destroy the bombs as well as the research facilities. They knew the easiest way to accomplish both ends was to set off one of the bombs…"

Quaren, growing visibly unsettled, looked more intently at his friend.

"Dael…if you're trying to tell me something, just say it. I already have a good idea of what it is. Are you trying to tell me that Sybenia _wanted_ their research and weapons to go up in smoke? They wanted to ruin their relationship with Leuco? They wanted to do all this and kill all those people? That's nuts…even if they subscribe to what Leviathan and Alexander are saying."

"They told us that whoever is behind this, working behind the scenes, wants more chaos, Quaren." She answered. "Alexander said it himself…it doesn't matter which side supplies it."

The Esthar's Hawk looked shaken now, and he leaned back and moistened his lips again, thinking all of this over. As he looked around, thinking about it, his gaze drifted to the sky…and froze.

"…What's that?"

Dael paused on hearing this. Immediately, she turned, expecting a satellite, an incoming missile, or something even worse than that like an aircraft. However…all she saw was the sky of stars. She blinked, and then looked back to Quaren. "…What is it?"

He pointed. "That." He stated uneasily. "Look in the Ultima constellation. There's a new spot in the breastplate region."

Dael looked for a moment. She wasn't as familiar with the constellations as Quaren. However, after a moment, he managed to locate the one, vaguely tracing out the wings and crown. She looked down the breast region…

Sure enough, there was a new light in it.

The young officer watched it a moment, making sure it wasn't getting bigger or smaller or moving, indicating an aircraft or even a satellite. It didn't. In the end, she merely gave a shrug. "Alright…a new star. So?"

Quaren turned to Dael with a mixture of grimness and astonishment. He actually sighed a moment later.

"…Stars don't just appear at that level of brilliance, Dael. And it's not a star, anyway. It's not twinkling like one and it doesn't have the characteristic 'cross-shape'."

"Well, what is it then?" She shrugged. "A plane? A rocket? A comet?"

The corporal looked more grim and serious than he had ever looked in his life.

"…A planet."

* * *

><p>Dael wasn't sure she wanted to look at a telescope when she got back to Esthar, although she was certain hundreds of astronomers were already doing so. After all, if Quaren had seen this, then it was a good bet that professionals had. She wasn't sure she wanted to look at a dark, broken version of her own world, right down to the little continents on it, staring back at her. She was certain this would make news soon enough, however. And if this war kept going…then what? How long would it be before that speck became a dot? Or moon-sized, and capable of being seen in the day as well as night? What kind of effect would it have on Gaia? Maybe it already was having one… Maybe the tides were already starting to go wild…<p>

She tried to push that aside for just the moment. By now, she was below deck again, and approaching the few cabins they had on board. Most of the POWs were in the main sleeping chamber. It seemed slightly unfair to not give them the lone rooms…but the fact of the matter was none of them were critically injured even if they were wounded. And even if they were, all of the "beds", if you could call them that, were essentially the same. Not too luxurious or soft. And they didn't want to divulge all their details anyway about their mission. Even if they did, there would be too much confusion regarding Bahamut's true identity…

And so, she found herself nearing the door to the cabin, and soon coming to a halt in front of it. Below deck was dark now. It was past midnight, but even if it wasn't, everyone would still be asleep for the most part, between the injuries and exhaustion. It was quiet. Not even the sounds of the ocean got this deep, although the ship rocked slightly.

She knocked on the door softly. "It's Dael, Bahamut. Are you still up?"

"Come on in."

Dael pressed the button to make the door slide aside. There was a small bed light on in the room. It was a dim white bulb, so it was still quite soft. Most of the room was still covered in darkness. However, Bahamut was sitting up in the thin bed at the moment, having propped himself up against the backboard. He still looked a bit pale, and his head was slightly bowed, although his eyes looked up when Dael came in. Curled up on the bed in front of him was Carbuncle. He was still dozing.

The young officer walked in a bit, and let the door slide shut behind her. She slowly exhaled on seeing Carbuncle. "…Still sleeping, eh?"

Bahamut shrugged. "That's what he gets for lounging around, drinking, and snacking all the time. No energy."

"…I'm saving up. God knows when I'll get to sleep in again." Carbuncle suddenly spoke up, not even opening his eyes. "Besides…if Dael worried me anymore, I'd start going bald."

Dael formed a half smile at that and snickered, before moving over to the nearest chair and sat down in it. She looked over to Bahamut next. "…How are you feeling?"

He paused momentarily. "…Better." He finally answered, a bit hesitantly. "This isn't the first time I had to see a number of people die that I just couldn't save."

The young officer stared back at that, and finally bowed her head and chuckled again. Bahamut, and even Carbuncle, looked up and at her at that.

"What's so funny?"

"I guess I just think it's a little odd…how you're upset because of what happened."

Both of them blinked. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"You're Guardian Forces." Dael answered with a shrug as she looked up. "Humans massacred you…"

"A few did." Bahamut answered.

"You don't think we're such cold-hearted bastards that we think those people deserved it, do you?" Carbuncle retorted, almost sounding insulted. "Hey…I busted my ass trying to get as many people away from that blast as possible. Don't you think I still feel bad about it? When I made my last jump…I saw a bunch of people running down a street…and I knew I didn't have the juice to save anymore of them. I knew they were going to die in a few seconds. How do you think that made me feel?"

Dael grimaced a bit, realizing what she had said.

"It's not just that… It's…I thought that you were…I don't know…'above it'. I mean, you both have to have seen millions of people die over your lives…"

"It doesn't make it any easier, Dael." The green creature answered with a frown. "We're not like those assholes who think anyone weaker than them or who isn't immortal is the same as a bug. All of us got our asses handed to us on a silver platter by humans before. It made us all realize we're not as 'godly' as we think. We're just people…just like you."

Dael paused momentarily. "…Then I'm sorry I said that." She finally stated. "I guess…everything we've been doing…I tended to think of you all as more like gods or 'great spirits' or something…"

"Even after putting up with me for a few months?" Carbuncle asked.

"…I thought you were kind of one of the 'rejects' or something, in all honesty." Dael answered.

The small mouth frowned. "Ungrateful woman…" He grunted.

"Let's not stall any longer than necessary…" Bahamut finally interjected. "Carbuncle says he was about to get out about 900 people by himself, but there was a lot left behind." He hesitated. "…What's the death toll?"

Dael slowly inhaled and exhaled. "…I'll tell you, but you should both realize that's not all."

Three minutes later, and Dael had told them not only the raw numbers and the political response…but also the global response. Needless to say, when she was done…neither Carbuncle nor Bahamut looked that comfortable.

"…The Crystals may not be where anyone can reach them any longer, but their presence still affects this world." The boy stated grimly. "The more chaos and darkness…the more they make this world reflect it. This is beginning to remind me of the time leading up to the Age of Chaos…"

"Now, wait a second, my lord." Carbuncle responded, holding his paws up in a stopping motion. "Sure, this is obviously bad if we can actually _see_ that Nyx Gaia thing in the sky… But remember the rest of this. This war might be in the bag. Sybenia will be trying to sort this crud out with Leuco for months. And even if they put it behind them, they'll never be able to make weapons as fast as they could ever again. Sybenia's got a nasty handicap, and they don't have the weapons to make another assault without it costing them if they fail. Meanwhile, our army's building itself up. We might have this in the bag."

"No, we don't." Dael answered plainly. "I'm not going to sit here and pretend Raven was just trying to mess with my mind. He was serious. There's someone in Esthar with a high amount of power who's compromised us. So long as they're still in power, Esthar isn't safe. Besides…they already used Tiamat and exploited the Iron Channel. If we turned the tide so easily with this gesture, you can bet they can do the same. I don't think they're through with whatever weapons they have."

"There's no doubt in my mind after what you've said to me that someone intended for us to set that bomb all along, and then ensured that people would die from it." Bahamut grimly added. "And the only person who matches that description is whoever Alexander and Leviathan were believing responsible. If that's true…and if someone is actively trying to gain the power of the Void once again…then they won't stop here. Not when Nyx Gaia is literally so close they can see it. Ten of those bombs were already gone when we got there, Dael. Sybenia is far from defenseless, and this latest operation might push them to do something drastic."

Dael exhaled in response to this. "…More things we have to worry about." She began to rise, and looked over to nearby. All of her things were shoved in here in order to make more room for the POWs, and she went over to them now. She was still wearing her tattered, dirty uniform from the strike, and could use a change. On arrival, she opened her bag and began to go for a fresh uniform. "At any rate, one good thing might come from this. Sybenia might be preoccupied for a while. That might give us some time to come up with a better strike plan or idea to do something about all of this."

Finding a fresh uniform shirt, she pulled it out of the bag and flipped it once to clear out the folding and wrinkles. As she held it up, she began to undo her current uniform tunic.

Yet while doing that…Bahamut looked to her…and froze.

Dael continued to unbutton for a moment, but then paused, noticing Bahamut's eyes on her. She turned to him, still holding up her other uniform, to see what he was staring at. But the boy didn't respond. He continued to stare at her uniform. Carbuncle, after a moment, noticed this, and turned and looked to him. Looking between Dael and Bahamut for a moment, he finally looked back to the boy.

"…It's nothing you haven't seen before, right? Besides, she always wears a sports bra."

"Something wrong, Bahamut?" Dael asked, ignoring the green creature.

Bahamut continued to stare for a moment silently, but then finally looked down.

"No…nothing. Probably nothing."

* * *

><p>Dael received no more clarification from Bahamut after that. On the contrary…the boy seemed to withdraw into himself. The young woman didn't think it was due to the mission, however. Something had definitely set him off back in the cabin. However, she didn't press him. She trusted him enough now to be able to sort through whatever was going on. In spite of the fact that it unsettled her a little, she ignored it. They had other things to worry about.<p>

The next day, after noon, they returned to Esthar. Unfortunately for the group…they came back to open arms. To the people of Esthar, both military and civilian alike, they had done a "great service". There was some fear and unease at the sound of the nuclear weapon going off…but most of the reports emphasized only the destruction of the weapons facility. Because it had happened so fast, even the "diversion" assault was broken off early, and neither the _Ragnarok_ or most of the fleet that had come with it had sustained much damage. As a result, the main story was going over what this meant for the war and how much of a blow it was to Sybenia, especially since no time was being wasted talking about how Leuco was now reconsidering its relationship and how the country had been crippled. No release had been made of how many civilians had died…and the citizenry wouldn't care when it did. What this meant was that Esthar was getting the upper hand and had a chance for victory.

The effects were instant. On arrival, they found numerous emergency vehicles ready to take the POWs to hospitals…but they also found reporters. Only military photographers and journalists, for the "civilian" press had been excluded from the temporary port, but they were enough. Numerous pictures were taken…including ones of Dael's own group as they left the ship. Three were taken of her alone. She kept her head bowed through all of them. Because the military journalists treated it fairly "routine" and stuck "to the book", she tolerated it. If it had been a tabloid reporter or even a news network…she might have punched someone's lights out. However, she still had respect for Esthar's Hawks. The group quickly made their way to the airfield, and many of the military and even civilian corps staff helped them get to the Stratoaevis field to get them back to the city proper as soon as possible. However, Faerio broke off here. She was back on her feet, but we keeping her head covered with a hood from a civilian jacket the entire time. What more…she took Cid with him, who was still about as listless and despondent now as he had been yesterday. They took a separate car…and Dael found herself watching them a bit as they left. Yet they were the only signs of "depression". Everyone had more of a "spring" in their step now. Where before they had been grim and morose, they were enthused and full of hope at this time. Even if they didn't "jump for joy", you could see it in their manners and moods.

It was even worse when they reached the airfield. Despite being a secure area, Esthar's Hawks, the Order of Hyne, and whatever volunteers had joined were still spread thin. A storm of reporters had gotten onto the field, and they were the far more energetic kind. The MPs managed to keep most at a distance, although they shouted out, trying to get the attention of the group to ask questions. Long range photographers snapped pictures as they left the Stratoaevis and quickly got on board a military truck. They took off without answering one question.

Once on the road heading south, they went through part of town. The people were more enthused now. Some were even celebrating a bit the "good news". Dael had to admit…it was pretty good news. It wasn't as if Sybenia hadn't mercilessly killed many civilians with Tiamat's attack. Not to mention all the people that were killed by their other strikes and their oppression of the Order of Hyne and other magic users. She supposed it was only fitting. She just didn't feel very heroic, or like celebrating. Most of the others were the same. Bahamut, however, was still stoic and withdrawn, still brooding…

Dael felt better once they left the city…and even better when they neared Fort Morningstar. Busy and hectic as it was, there were only military types there. And there was no time wasted on press releases or congrats or any such nonsense…just the next mission. Right now, the young officer felt that would be best for her. Besides…she wanted some time "at home" to clear her thoughts for a bit, and try to stop thinking about what had happened at Leuco. The truth of the matter was she needed to start worrying about other things. There was the matter of Sybenia still, but, more than that, the fact that Nyx Gaia was appearing. There was a lot they needed to do in this interim. What had happened at Leuco was a major game changer. She was sure the colonel and the Grand Chancellor were hard at work rethinking the current strategy.

The question was…how much did whoever was looking in know?

The woman decided, as she unloaded from the truck and helped the others get their gear and luggage out, that her next order of business should be telling both Colonel Regalis and Lady Mianyl about this…preferably when the three of them were alone in a secure room. Yet she soon realized she had no idea what was secure anymore. This last mission had been extremely "hush-hush" and had been passed on mostly by word-of-mouth. If Sybenia had still known about it, then what _was_ "secure enough"?

She was still thinking this when she heard boots click to a stop behind her.

"Captain Levinson?"

Dael paused in mid-movement while removing the case for her sword from the back of the truck. The others with her paused and looked as well. She soon turned and face the source, and saw a private emissary standing at attention before her, giving her a salute. An envelope was in his hands.

She dismissed his salute a moment later. "It's 'commander', private. They taught you how to read insignias, didn't they?"

"Yes they did, sir. But you're no longer a commander. The order came through today that you've been promoted to captain. Your new uniform is waiting to be picked up at the depot."

Quaren, who was helping unload, loosened his jaw, and looked to Dael. Dael herself stared back for a moment. Although her initial overwhelming enthusiasm for rapid promotion had since died down…she nevertheless felt her eyes almost fall out of her head to hear that.

The title of 'commander' was a high enough honor to sate Dael for the rest of her lifetime. In spite of her ambitions, she never expected to get much higher…and she only intended to attain that rank after eight or ten years of service.

"…Excuse me, private, but I wish to be clear on this. Did you just say I have been promoted to captain?"

"Yes sir."

Esthar's Hawks was a paramilitary organization, a relic of the old Esthar Army that had long since been mostly destroyed. That was why the rank of Colonel was the highest position in it rather than General, and why there was only one colonel. That was also why Captain was held in the highest esteem. There were only 15 captains within Esthar's Hawks. Dael knew each and every one of them by name. All of the members of Esthar's Hawks did. Those fifteen people essentially directed the entire organization, having independence to carry out command of a large number of individuals. One of them alone could essentially seize command of up to a third of the entire group in a crisis situation if need be. There had never been a female captain in Esthar's Hawks.

And Dael realized she was now one of that number.

Quaren looked ready to pass out, and actually wobbled so much that Jalab reached out and steadied him. Dael, in spite of herself, had to breathe in and out a few times. This wasn't just a high honor anymore. Being named a captain officially made her one of the most powerful members of Esthar's Hawks. More than that… With Esthar under practical martial law, it actually made her one of the most powerful individuals in the country. There was very little she couldn't do now. She could appropriate almost anything on her word alone. She could actually contradict and challenge the orders of the colonel himself in the right conditions. What more, she was now a member of sixteen people who one day was eligible to actually take the role of colonel itself…

The surge of not only rank and pride, but also responsibility, flowed over her. Was this all for that bomb? Something she hadn't even ordered? But even if she hadn't…she realized that there was little question that the mission…_their_ mission…had changed the course of the war… Perhaps it was fitting, no matter how she felt.

"I was instructed to give you notification of your promotion as well as this message. For your eyes only and sealed by Colonel Morrick Regalis himself." The page continued, snapping Dael out of it and back to reality, still holding out the envelope.

After a moment of pause, Dael reached out and took it. She gave a salute soon after, mostly off-handed. The private saluted back more readily, and then turned and marched off.

* * *

><p>The note itself didn't end up being much. It was from the Colonel and had both his signature as well as that of the Grand Chancellor, requesting a face-to-face meetingdebriefing from the Leuco assignment. Based on the nature of the wording, it seemed clear that they had seen something was up. They were sent in to disable the weapons, not actually set one off. Obviously something had gone wrong, and either through Quaren's report or the circumstances, it seemed they wanted to know what. Or perhaps they simply wanted to know more about what Dael had seen in the lab straight from the source. In either case…they were both busy, and so they wanted to meet via secure line telephone conference tomorrow afternoon.

That wasn't good enough. In fact, it was probably more hazardous. Dael didn't want to risk anyone knowing about what they were discussing at this point. In fact, the biggest item she wanted to relate to them is that they were more compromised than they thought. Hence, her first order of business was to send a message to the "acknowledgement" address in the envelope telling them that the communications lines were no longer secure and to reschedule a face-to-face meeting. Whoever was the "wolf in the fold" might pick up on it, but she hadn't set a place, and the only thing she was really saying that they could have seen was that they were onto whoever it was, so she didn't feel much of an issue sending it out.

However, as she typed the message at her personal laptop, she had another window open watching a live stream of the news. She was a bit interested in seeing what people were saying about her and the group, but only a little. Her main concern was to something else. Unfortunately, the news was almost completely devoted to the Leuco response. Things were growing more tense between them and Sybenia…enough to where ambassadors walked out on both side, and the Guiding Hand was making a threat that they would pull their navy away from patrolling certain parts of the shore of the Southern Continent, exposing them to enemy attack. But she saw enough to see that the areas with the suspected rocket pads were still being used. And ten thermonuclear weapons was enough to destroy Esthar ten times over…

Carbuncle was cleaning himself at the moment, but doing so underneath a large pillowcase that had been draped over him. Apparently, he hated baths…and was embarrassed to let anyone see him do it the "alternate" way. Bahamut wasn't even present. With Dael in the room, he had withdrawn again, saying he was going to one of the sunlit foyers to think for a bit. That only surprised Dael even more. Usually, if he did anything, it was physical training. What exactly had he seen last night?

_ "And in other news, astronomers have made a rather unusual discovery…"_

Dael had just finished sending the message out to the colonel, when she looked up at the sound of that. "Carbuncle, this is it."

The Guardian Force quickly stopped what he was doing, scrambled out from his sheet, and looked up. Soon, pictures from powerful telescopes began to be broadcast.

_"Perhaps those of you who are stargazers have noticed a new object in the night sky. Recent reports confirm that there appears to be an entire new planet, of all things, within our solar system."_

Dael already didn't like the tone of the newscaster, not to mention the fact that it was appearing toward the end of the scheduled hour broadcast. It gave the impression that this wasn't being taken seriously in the slightest.

_"Views from a telescope reveals something even more unusual…a heavy-cloud-covered and gray-toned version of Gaia itself. Early thoughts that this was a hoax have since been disproved from multiple confirmed sightings world-wide. Although this is a baffling finding, and astronomers and astrophysicists admit that they have not found the reason for this unusual sight, the National Institute of Science located in Esthar has assured everyone that there is nothing to be worried about."_

The young woman actually stared blankly at that. Carbuncle snapped out from under his pillowcase. "…Are they sh'tting me?"

The image cut to a researcher. His name was on the bottom of the screen, but Dael didn't pay it any mind. She was more interested in the content.

_"'Right now, it's pretty obvious that we're somehow seeing some form of astral phenomenon that is giving a reflection of Gaia itself. We think either some sort of gas pocket drifted into our solar system and is reflecting light off of Gaia to create this 'mirror image', or some sort of solar phenomenon is causing a relativity effect in our view from this planet. It might even be new gasses in our own atmosphere.'"_

A reporter off screen asked more.

_"'So in regards to the recent reports of changes in tidal activity, decrease in solar index, temperature changes…'"_

_ "'Those might also have to do with a shift in solar activity, but if so that's not something we can do a whole lot about.'" _He answered with a chuckle. _"'I mean…the sun 'is what it is'. However, any idea that this is some dramatic new world that suddenly popped up in our solar system is ridiculous. It's definitely not a new planet. The fact that it looks so much like ours not only in shape and color but discernible landforms means it's an optical illusion.'"_

The cut went back to the newscaster.

_"Scientists further encouraged stargazers to get picture while they could before this image fades, which it is expected to within the new few weeks. In local news, the main Esthar sports arenas remain locked down following the last attack as a safety precau-"_

Dael frowned and reached over to close the webcast. She had seen quite enough.

"…Was your species always this dumb, or did you have to work at it?" Carbuncle asked after a moment. "At least back in the day of the ignorant, inbreeding, bronze-using meatheads, they'd say something like that was an 'omen of the gods'."

The young woman sighed. "Try to think of this from an 'outside' perspective. How crazy does this sound? 'Gaia has a twin because the crystal that it formed out of when it originated split and we've got all the chaos in the universe in the heart of our world so someone is trying to push our two planets together to remerge so that they can gain a ton of power and that's what you're seeing in the sky?'"

"You're talking to the wrong guy, Dael." Carbuncle answered. "When you're an immortal on Gaia, you eventually see everything."

Dael sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "The news can say whatever they want, but we know what's going on, and so do the Sorceresses. Hopefully that will make a difference. Because if that planet gets any closer, then people are going to learn it's not an illusion in the hardest way. I may not be a physicist, but do you have any idea what two big gravity sources like that would do to each other?"

Carbuncle shrugged. "Shift tectonic plates causing volcanic activity, cause tidal waves, flood everything on the coast on one side of the planet and have massive dieoffs on the other side…and probably plenty of other stuff as all of the monsters on this world go ballistic."

"…Forget I asked." Dael answered with a sigh as she shut her laptop and set it off to one side. She leaned back on her bed, making sure to avoid her dressings. She needed to have her wounds looked at. They never had a chance to use magic on them, and she wasn't good enough to heal them herself. She had to make sure there was no lasting damage and everything was healing alright.

The green creature slumped a bit and propped his head up on his paws. "So…what now?"

"I'll have a better idea of where to go from here once I've met with the Grand Chancellor face-to-face…as well as what Esthar's ultimately going to do in the wake of all of this." The young woman answered. "Until then, I need to rest up and keep sharpening my skills…especially after that fight with Raven. I'm a little surprised I've gotten good enough to actually keep up with him. But if I want to beat him…I'm going to have to be flawless. One slash from his sword and it's all over. I'm also going to have to stand up to that move next time…"

"That ain't gonna be easy." Carbuncle answered. "That's a Darkness Wave. Unless you're an undead corpse, you can't shrug it off. You just have to bite through it."

"I'll admit, I was on my last legs when he used it… And so were Taraketh and Bahamut. Hopefully that means something…that maybe I can fight back if he tries it again. Still…if he can snap that out whenever he wants, he can drain me pretty easily…"

"The Darkness Wave sacrifices its user's own life to inflict pain. That's what Leviathan told me." Carbuncle answered. "He can't do it forever. He'll kill himself if he tries."

Dael still grimaced. "…Unfortunately, I think my life will give out before his does."

The Guardian Force sighed and shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, Dael. What are you going to do?"

The woman paused a bit longer, staring out at the wall.

"…When Bahamut started teaching me these things, he made me aware that a lot of techniques I used to think were exaggerated or even fake are real. If that's true…I think it's time I tried to really put this power of mine into something."

* * *

><p>It was two more days before Dael finally got her audience. However, the Grand Chancellor and the Colonel alike both agreed with her message referring to too many people listening in. Not only did they schedule a face-to-face meeting as opposed to a conference or video meeting, but the Colonel set up the arrangement in his own office. As part of his own nature, he said he was the only one who had even cleaned the office for the past 12 years. And bug sweeps ran through it every day, conducted by him. If there was any place in the fort likely secure, it was there. Unfortunately, it would still be another day before they could meet. But Dael didn't waste time. True to what she told Carbuncle, she spent almost all of her time in the training area. However, she soon found that to be too crowded to be able to show off her "power", and so she used her new authority to get clearance to actually go out to field training sights that were being unused, and tested her prowess there.<p>

In truth, she would have wanted to work with the others, or even talk with them a bit. However, Bahamut remained brooding almost the entire time, and Cid never came back to the fort. Ceja actually left the fort as well soon afterward. Esthar was still making use of the people of Fuliet, and she wanted to talk with them. It was probably for the best. She was the "Warchief", after all, and a few days with them might have done some good and helped assuage any fears that they might have had of their new position or anxiety from the culture shock. Lady Cybus, who spent most of her time with them, even worked it out so that Ceja learned how to use a phone and called back to update them on the situation. She informed Dael that they were learning to use weapons easily enough, but they still had some lingering anxiety.

_"Scouts were allowed to travel back to the campgrounds at first, but then they were prohibited. The tribal leaders are not pleased with that." _She informed her. _"Before we were cut off, we noted that the predators continued to get worse. Now, our hunting animals are nearly gone…assuming they aren't gone already. The predators hunt each other instead, leaving only the strongest. All creatures are going wild and savage now, and not just from hunger. The shamans say a sickness has come on them all."_

Dael hated to hear this, but there was little she could do. "…Please try to tell them we're in a war situation, and can't have the barrier constantly being breached every day."

Ceja didn't sound too pleased._ "Some of the older warriors fear that we will not be allowed to return to our former way of life when this is done. It is not helping that many of the younger members are indulging in aspects of Esthar culture, including cigarettes and alcohol. And many of us now know how to use firearms as well. I do not think our old way of life will last much longer once this is done… Even if these changes are for the better, they will lead to the worst first off."_

Unfortunately, Dael had to agree. Cultures that had suddenly adopted advancements in technology often gave rise to warlords. The tribes that had the most guns and were the most corrupt would start oppressing the ones who weren't. Even a "Warchief" would likely not keep them in line for long.

Jalab vanished for most of the time, but Dael soon discovered he spent most of his time looking into the situation in Garrado. After all, this meant changes for them too. How Sybenia responded in the next few days on that front would make a lot of difference. Dael knew full well they had only two real options: hold current position and hope that the insurgents didn't use it as a chance to gain power, or crack down while they still had the resources to spare in an attempt to root them out. Yet the resistance over there was apparently far from finished. In fact, in the wake of the Leuco incident, various news networks took every state-mandated report out of Sybenia on general broadcast regarding the situation there and picked it apart, realizing that they were struggling to make the situation look better when, if one read between the lines, they would see that Garrado wasn't giving them a moment's peace. Sorceress Veriguno was doing her job well there. Intelligence revealed she was even able to finally make contact with the nomadic tribes and enlist their help to start frustrating the Sybenian invaders on an hourly basis, both within the city and within the Pallas Desert. Eventually, however, he came to her with a request…to also be allowed to move out of the fort and practice in the open. Dael, with her new clout, didn't have much trouble making that so.

As they had gone out one day, she had tried talking to him a bit. "…You seem to be able to put your emotions aside as easily as a veteran Esthar's Hawk, Sir Tierras. Yet you still always manage to bring up the mood of people. Even after what happened in Leuco, you were only trying to bring the spirits of those POWs up when everyone else felt terrible."

Jalab held for a moment in response, and then the big monk turned to look to Dael. He began to hold his hands and gesture.

"Taorahrtao… 'The Way of the Way'…" He began in his thick accent. "It say…you lose yourself to gain yourself. People think…lose yourself…means become nothing. Apart from world. But it also mean…you see world and you see life, and you take what lead to greater person…leave behind what lead to worse person. People die…but I do not want them to die. They not die because I wish them dead. So I set aside time on ship and I mourn them, but then it is done. Time to mourn is over. Now time to live. If I blame self for their death, then all the more I must save more life. People on boat who were in jail…they not need mourner. They not need broken man. They need strong spirit to lift their spirit." He looked to her. "…You know what I say?"

Dael gave a nod. "I do." She stated back quietly. "Maybe monks and soldiers have more in common than we both like to admit."

Cryder, on his part, had little to do. His own ability was about as good as it could get, and, for the moment, the Black Corsairs seemed content with their deal. He had little to negotiate with them. He spent most of his time just wandering around the fort, as far as Dael could tell. However, that was fine by her. He kept his ears open for a lot of things, and always seemed to know where everyone else was, at least. He was the one who told her that Quaren was spending most of his time on the firing range or continuing to train new recruits, and that Taraketh spent most of his time trying to talk to either Lady Cybus or even Lady Mianyl, leading him to be gone most of the time. Whenever she did spot him, she'd go to him to ask if there were any updates. And usually when she found him, he'd be in the galley drinking. Occasionally, he'd even be selling some of the liquor he had amassed under the table to recruits at marked-up prices. Dael frankly had too much on her mind to reprimand him, assuming it would do any good.

However, as she walked away from one of their meetings, he called out to her momentarily. His speech was a bit slurred, and he seemed like he was getting inebriated. To be honest, she wanted to get away from him quickly that time. It was a bit embarrassing. "Hey, captain."

She paused, and looked back.

"…I know you think I give our group about as many misses as I do hits, but I'll tell you one thing any pirate worth his salt knows deep down in his gut." He grabbed the liquor bottle he had with him and held it up, showing it was half empty. "…I've already downed one bottle today and here's my second. Even I don't normally put it away that fast." He paused. "…Only time a pirate starts putting this much liquor away is because he knows inside that he may be havin' his last drink pretty soon. I drank practically a whole case of rum by myself the day before the _Gungir_ ran into your ship, Sybenia, and the hurricane all on the same day. I don't give a damn what the news says…this ain't over by a longshot. It's only gettin' started."

Dael said nothing in response…although she wished she didn't feel like he was telling the truth.

At last, however, both the appointed day and the appointed time came. The young officer took it very seriously, dressing herself in her new captain uniform for the first time. Even walking the halls, she saw some of the more "boy scout" members of Esthar's Hawks pausing and giving her salutes. Others shaped up whatever they were doing or worked harder. She could see the presence she had now, but she ignored that. She focused on getting to the colonel and his office. En route, she saw numerous members of Lady Mianyl's retinue, both state-mandated secret service as well as the normal High Children, flanking the way. There was no question that the Grand Chancellor was in there. And judging by the fact that, in spite of her rank, she was practically frisked by the people at the entrance to Colonel Regalis' office, she had taken her suggestion to heart and made sure no one else was inside.

On entry, Dael saw that the colonel had gone as far as to place a few soundproofing measures on the room to ensure they weren't being listened in on, and he activated more on seeing her arrive. As always, she was rather unnerved to be both in his presence as well as that of Lady Mianyl, who was waiting there in one of the chairs. In spite of being in near full regalia, she sat in that seat like family member sitting around waiting for someone to show up to a gathering. She gave both a salute to Regalis as well as a respectful bow to Mianyl, one nearly on the level of a Child of Hyne, before sitting down into the other chair and giving her report.

She started off by mentioning the spies, and her belief that they had one already at the highest level of power. Following that, she went back to the beginning of the mission and relayed everything from start to finish, making sure to point out every detail, and tying it into much of what she and Quaren had discussed as well as what they had heard from both Leviathan and Alexander now. Both officials seemed to take it in very seriously, which only figured. Both of them had a great deal of respect for Dael's judgment at this point, and both of them seemed rather unnerved when they heard that the nuclear bomb was indeed not a clever maneuver or even intentional, but something that had been set by accident and then seemingly ensured to go off. She did everything but outright say that someone planned on it happening the whole time.

When the woman had concluded, both the colonel and the Grand Chancellor looked deep in thought, and focused on her.

"…Well, captain…I hardly know where to begin." Colonel Regalis finally stated to break the silence. "I'll be honest, though. Having little experience with the supernatural, I didn't put a whole lot of stock in what you said earlier about this 'Nyx Gaia'. Now I'm afraid I have little choice but to accept what you've told us. And if that much is true, then it's also equally likely that your suspicions are not ill-founded."

"This does not bode well at all." Mianyl stated darkly. "Before, we could at least pretend to think that we would need some absurd threshold to satisfy before we would see the two planets merging. But with one actually in the sky…and ten of these weapons still in Sybenia's command…all of that is irrelevant. There's not even a guarantee that ending this war today would somehow 'push Nyx Gaia away'." She looked up and to Dael. "I believe you're right to be anxious about this recent 'lull' that we have temporarily acquired. On one hand, I would hope that whoever is behind this has 'overplayed their hand'. They obviously wanted people to die as a result of this blast, but they are still relying on the Guiding Hand to complete their ends, and they wouldn't gain much at this point." She exhaled. "Yet on the other hand…there are far too many possibilities for whoever is behind the scenes to exploit. Even waging a war with Leuco over those missile pad sites that would ultimately doom Sybenia's ambitions would generate even more chaos in the process. And I find it hard to believe that Sybenia can't bring about the merging of the two worlds from simply a few well-placed targets from those weapons. Ten is more than enough for that purpose. And, unfortunately, Sybenia has to realize that losing its partnership with Leuco could cost it the war. With a madman running the country, that will make him desperate enough to do the unthinkable."

"I understand if you do not have an answer at this time to the question, my lady…" Dael spoke up. "But what can be done about this? Is there anything in the records the Order of Hyne possess that can be used to somehow stop what's happening or reverse the trend?"

"In the time it would take to find a solution, assuming there is one, captain," Mianyl answered with a tired sigh. "I'm afraid that it would be too late. And even if this room is secure…" She gestured around herself. "We cannot spend forever discussing plans here, or executing even if we could. One of our main orders of business has to be keeping the fort secure, or any plan we enact will be twisted around to serve the ends of whoever is behind the scenes. Now that you have mentioned this to me, captain…I'm beginning to fear that whoever is responsible might not have Sybenian ties at all…" She looked up and to the colonel. "Is there anything we can do in order to try and make ourselves more secure?"

"At the moment, we can scan more heavily for monitoring devices, using the same technology I use in here." The officer answered. "But we'll need to conduct more extensive background checks. Normally I would blame a situation like this based on outsiders to Esthar's Hawks…but I'm not so sure now. Neither can it be blamed on political corruption as only a fistful of politicians are still on active duty, and most of them know nothing of the classified operations Esthar conducts."

"It could have simply been someone with access to all of the protected files." Dael suggested. "They would still have to be in a high position, but they wouldn't necessarily have to be present for each discussion."

"I'm afraid it goes more severe than that." The colonel grimly responded. "That last operation was not only on the highest level of security and a 'need-to-know' basis, but it was also under wartime security measures. Yet whoever was responsible still knew about it."

"I think this also answers our question of who was able to enter the Gordian Vault." Regalis added with an exhale. "If there was a spy or double agent with that level of clearance and authority, they could have easily just walked inside and ordered all records destroyed afterward showing they were ever there. Although I find it very hard to believe that someone didn't spot _something_ and have no recollection of the event."

The Sorceress folded her hands and exhaled. "Perhaps it is best that we use this lull to 'clean the house', so to speak, and investigate into these matters. Part of the reason they succeeded for so long seems to have been the sluggishness of the previous administration coupled to a lack of empowerment to Esthar's Hawks to police its own affairs."

"At the same time…" The colonel added. "Do not forget that Sybenia can render all of this moot as soon as they perfect a delivery system for the thermonuclear warheads. And after what happened in Lolesterin, it's highly unlikely that they will store them in a secure facility any longer. It's more likely that they'll keep them motile and secret. And while Leuco may have its relationship with Sybenia strained, they, more than any other country on Gaia, will have a vested interest in ensuring the weapons do not get found by us. They'll go with whatever security measures Sybenia has planned…assuming they don't try to sequester the weapons themselves as a bargaining chip. They would make good 'trump cards' to use if Sybenia declared war on Leuco…and would assist the ends of whoever is behind all this by resulting in more death."

"Which leaves us right back where we started." Mianyl responded. "The war needs to end soon, and we need to hope that the thermonuclear weapons are still in Sybenia's possession when that happens. If so, perhaps a condition of a treaty would be to destroy them or keep them from use…or at least to divulge their location. Even if the weapons remain in Sybenia's possession and they can still use them, at the bare minimum perhaps they can be forced not to use them or to only keep them as a 'loaded gun'." She exhaled again soon afterward. "…But somehow I doubt Rozan Hierarch is the kind of man who will be willing to stay that course. It was nothing to him to attack civilians directly with Tiamat, after all…"

"Captain Levinson, thank you for your continued service and for going the extra mile to ensure that this information remains confidential." The colonel spoke up, attracting Dael's attention again. "As it was, I was meeting with the other Class II advisors as well as the Grand Chancellor to try and plan our next move both from a military standpoint as well as a political one, but this new information naturally means we need to rethink many things, not the least of which is ensuring information only gets in the hands of the right individuals. Get rest while you can, but since speed is of the essence, you can be sure that we aren't going to waste this lull in the battle for very long. You are dismissed."

* * *

><p>"…So, pretty much, that's where we stand." Dael stated later.<p>

It had taken a bit of time and effort, but the captain had managed to gain the attention of most of the group. They were going to meet in the mess hall, but Dael, not wanting to risk being picked up by watching ears, actually got one of the side meeting rooms not being used for two hours, and personally security swept it first. She would have used her own chamber if possible, but it was too cramped for all of them. Cid was still missing, presumably still with Faerio, and Taraketh had also been gone for a while, although he had said he would make it. Aside from that, Bahamut had excused himself. Even after all this time, he was still keeping to himself. However, Carbuncle was there.

In fact, at the moment, he was looking over to Cryder, moving a dish over to him. "Hey, pour me a little more of that Tetra Gold."

"This is my best stock, mate. Only so many free drinks from that one." The pirate answered. "You'll need to find a way to scare up some gil."

The black button eyes narrowed. "Do I look like I have pockets in this fur covering me?"

"It's tough all over." Cryder answered with a shrug. "I'm not going to wait as bartender for a green cat thing that can put me under the table and not charge 'im for it."

"I'm going to vomit a hairball on you while you sleep." Carbuncle grumbled in response.

Cryder looked back to Dael, finally responding to her. "All together…not much different from where we were last time, eh?"

Quaren shrugged. "It's not like we have a whole lot of things to go on at the moment. I don't think there's any side mission or assignment we can go on that can push Nyx Gaia away from us. Probably the only thing we could do at the moment is make an assault on those missile pads, but they're guarded a lot worse than the facility was, and Class II is saying construction halted anyway. Leuco is cutting the area off to try and get Sybenia to listen to them."

"If our enemy is reeling, and we wish to end this conflict, then we should strike them now." Ceja responded. "Waiting for them to recover will only invite more disaster."

"Yeah, but they're still locked up tighter than the cookies in a fat farm." Carbuncle grumbled in response. "Have you seen the capitol? They aren't messing around like Esthar. I saw skyscrapers over there better armed than warships. They might be having trouble making an offense, but definitely not a defense."

"Even if we could take the capitol, that would only make things worse." Dael answered with a sigh. "Like Alexander said, it doesn't matter which side dies at the end of the other's gun…a death is a death. That's probably why whoever is behind this chose to back Sybenia over Esthar…why they threw themselves behind the Guiding Hand. So long as they're fanatic enough to proclaim 'we are the master race and we will never surrender', it doesn't really matter if at this stage they all get themselves killed on someone else's bullets. Whoever is pulling their strings will still get their way."

Jalab paused for a moment, picking at his own cafeteria food, which he always seemed to hate but ate for no other reason than energy, before he looked up and exhaled. "Talk to Rozan?" He suggested.

This caused everyone to give him a look. "Excuse me?" Dael answered.

"I think he kind of terminated negotiations a while back, mate." Cryder threw in.

Jalab shook his head. "Tell truth."

Ceja looked up a bit at this. "Wait…I understand what Sir Tierras is trying to say." She answered after a moment, turning to the others. "Perhaps this man does not understand who he had partnered with. Mad and cruel as he is, I do not think he is willing to die along with his nation to have whoever is aiding him gain power."

The others paused at this. Dael thought for a moment.

"…You make a good point, Ceja. A person like him would probably deny everything that Esthar would say, but even he can't argue with what's going on in the world. Even he can look out in the night sky and see Nyx Gaia floating there. I'm not sure he would listen to reason, but it's worth a shot."

Abruptly, the door opened. The group immediately looked to see who it was, but relaxed a bit on seeing Taraketh walk inside. However, as he entered, Dael automatically noticed something different. The High Child was normally reserved…maybe even a bit cross to be around all the soldiers, for which he had greater respect for Dael and Quaren and soldiers in general, he still thought they were 'barbaric'. Now was different. He almost seemed to have a spring in his step from being so enthused, and quickly sat down with his tray at an open spot. He even looked trying to calm down as he sat. The presence was enough to get everyone to look at him.

"Well, you seem happy, mate." Cryder spoke up. "Let me guess…first taste of Auron Cider. Like drinkin' liquid gold."

Taraketh, for once, actually smiled a bit at one of Cryder's jokes…which, naturally, only made people more enthused.

"I don't think I've seen you this excited since I've known you, you ol' stick in the mud." Carbuncle added. "Come on, give. What's up?"

The High Child paused a bit longer, swallowing a little, as if he couldn't believe it himself, and then finally looked up.

"…Lady Mianyl requested that I act as her personal liaison for the next few days." He stated. "So long as I'm still in the Esthar area. The High Child who delivered the message said she wanted to see how I could handle it."

The rest of the group stared for a moment, but Dael understood.

"Taraketh, you think that she's considering you for the position of her Sorceress Knight?"

"I…I honestly don't know." Taraketh stammered, looking rather tense and overwhelmed at the same time. "But…but it certainly looks like it, doesn't it? And if so…oh my…" He wiped his brow a bit, a smile still subconsciously on his face. "This…this is what I always dreamed of doing. I finally have the chance to be by my lady's side everywhere, to be her most trusted defender. I mean…it's not as if Lady Mianyl really needs protection but…but I'm the one she's entrusting with her life. I'll be with her everywhere. At her side at all times."

Hearing this, however, a few of the group members had their faces fall.

Dael was among them.

"…_All_ times, Taraketh?" She answered.

He looked to her, and his own smile faded a bit, seeming confused at her confusion. "Well, yes. That's what a Sorceress Knight does traditionally."

"What about our task force?" Quaren asked after a moment.

Hearing this, Taraketh froze. It seemed the thought had not occurred to him before now, and it made him hesitate for a moment, killing some of his enthusiasm.

"Oh…" He said after a few seconds. He leaned back into his chair a bit. "Well…I'm certain it won't be for a while, at any rate, even if it becomes official. And even then, Lady Mianyl will probably want me to continue as currently. I'm doing the most good here, after all."

Dael paused, but then nodded. "Yes, I believe you're right."

"As much of a butthead as you are, it wouldn't be the same without you." Carbuncle threw in. "So yeah…I'm hoping you're right too."

Although her terms weren't quite as crude, the young officer had to admit…Carbuncle was very right. In fact, the mere thought being put in her head that Taraketh might not be with them much longer automatically made her uncomfortable. She was used to him being a staple of the group, and it wasn't just due to his immense skill with his exotic weapon and his spells. To be honest…it was partially because she had grown to be used to having him around. And they did make a good team…they all did.

Yet Dael tried not to think about that now. If he left…then, unfortunately, he left. This was his dream and, to be honest, she was almost a little envious. And she knew of no one else on Gaia who would be best suited for this part. There wasn't anyone she knew more devoted to the Sorceress. She had plenty of other concerns on her mind. She realized now that the colonel and the Grand Chancellor didn't know much more of how to directly combat this threat than she did. That meant she should be just as responsible for trying to think of a way to deal with it. Unfortunately, she had little options available. If even wise Guardian Forces like Leviathan and Alexander didn't know what other steps to take, then how was she supposed to think of something?

_We've gotten all the answers we can out of Leuco._ Dael concluded. _All remaining answers have to be in Sybenia itself. I have no idea if that Dr. Lindst made it out or not…but she was making something for Rozan Hierarch that wasn't conventional by any stretch of the imagination. Whether it's to take the Guiding Hand down or to uncover this mystery…wherever we go next has to take us into the belly of the beast._

* * *

><p>"Ugh…those chicken tenders were awful." Carbuncle complained as he and Dael began to approach her quarters. "They smelled terrible and fell apart when you bit into them."<p>

"That's because they were fish strips." The young woman answered.

"No…really?" The Guardian Force answered. "In that case, that was the worst fish I've ever tasted from that cafeteria and that is saying something. I need to have words with the cook or lunch lady or whatever you have…"

"No you don't. In case you haven't noticed, the country is at a stand-still. It's a pain just to try and get farmers to work, and you can forget fisheries. Plus most of the food the government puts out is being shipped to the city for relief work. We're kind of left with the 'older' cans."

Carbuncle grimaced on hearing all of that. After a moment, however, he lit up again and looked to Dael. "…Sounds like the perfect time to open our own moonshine operation. We'll have the best because we can get the cleanest water from Lord Leviathan. We'll make a fortune."

Dael merely stared forward as they kept walking. "Congratulations, Carbuncle. I think any lingering thought that I would have had in my head that you're 'god-like' just went away. Next you'll be asking me to grow tobacco."

"Of course not." The green creature retorted. "The soil so poor around here? We'd never get anywhere."

Dael said nothing in response, although she grimaced a bit. Now at the door, she unlocked it and began to step inside. She opted to bring a hamburger, fries, slaw, and a fruit cup with her. All of it pitiful…but Bahamut had to eat something. She hadn't seen him eat anything for quite a while.

Carbuncle readily ran in past her legs, and she soon followed, shutting the door as well. She looked in as she entered, watching as the smaller creature ran to his pillow. However, her attention was only on him for a moment.

It was later in the day now, and yet Bahamut hadn't turned up the lights to match. The room was dim and shadowy. The boy himself was no longer laying back as he had been for an hour before they left. Instead, he was sitting upright. His legs were on the floor, and his head was slightly bowed. He still seemed deep in thought…but something new had come to his mind…something that made him still.

Dael watched him only for a moment. She hadn't seen him look like this since the interrogation room. With that in mind, she forgot about the food, setting it down nearby. She then turned fully to him, and kept her eyes on him as she moved over to her own bed. She didn't sit right away, but looked at him silently. He never lifted his gaze.

"…Bahamut? Is something wrong?"

The boy continued to look down only a moment. As he did, Carbuncle settled in, rotated, and then laid down, before turning his attention to him as well. After that, Bahamut raised his head and stared at Dael.

"…I'm sorry I've been so withdrawn these past few days, but I wanted to make sure, and my mind is not as advanced as it used to be."

Dael paused. "Make sure of what?"

"That what I saw wasn't my imagination." Bahamut responded. "It took me some time, but now I realize I wasn't hallucinating. I doubt the memory is mine. Remember how I told you earlier that I had shadows of the memories of a different life?"

The woman nodded.

"Those weren't hallucinations or products of a vivid imagination, Dael." He answered. "It makes sense to me now. A Guardian Force only comes to life if it takes a new body. What I was seeing was from that boy that the librarian talked about. He probably _was_ shot to death…and I took his form."

Dael hesitated, her face growing slightly confused. "But…how did that essence just end up in a storm sewer?"

"That's what I've been thinking about, Dael." Bahamut answered. "And that's what I think I know the answer to now. I thought of it at last when I saw your uniform the other day. I must have looked at your insignia a thousand times, but nothing ever clicked with me. But after taking those drugs that returned me to my natural form for a moment, it left my mind temporarily sharpened too. It awakened memories inside of me…memories that I believe the boy had right before he died."

He looked more intently at Dael.

"…And it was your insignia that set me off…that I remembered."

The young woman blinked, but before she could say anything, Bahamut went on.

"The first part was true. Someone did kill the boy's family…but he got away. I can only see hot glimpses of it…bursts of emotion…and even they're faded now…but he kept running. Overcome with sadness and agony, he went into the dark parts of the main city, where the shadows were long and the lights were dim…where no one dared to go."

As Dael watched, Bahamut grew slower in his speech, his eyes going faraway and seeing through one's eyes who weren't his.

"It was dark…and raining hard… If I concentrate enough…I almost feel how the water soaked into his shoes and socks… How hot his cheeks were as he ran through the cold rain… He was scared at first…then sad…then, finally…he realized he needed help. He needed to find the police. And he ran for blocks trying to find them, only going where it was darker but not noticing…

"Then he saw something. There was a group ahead in the darkness. They looked like a gang to him… They were talking to someone…about something…but I don't know what exactly. He doesn't remember. He was about to move away and look somewhere else…but then he saw they were wearing uniforms. In a dim street light, he saw one group wore a uniform bearing a standard. He didn't recognize it…but I do…"

His eyes looked back up to Dael's.

"The standard of Esthar…and the symbol of Esthar's Hawks."

Hearing this, Dael reacted slightly, but Bahamut wasn't done.

"He thought they were police. He ran up to one…as they were opening a cylinder with something in it…something that looked like water but shimmered like crystal… He was so upset…he grabbed onto one of their arms as they handled it, begging for help… They said nothing. They didn't even show their faces. All that happened was that the nearest one pulled out his gun and opened fire.

"The boy saw his own blood dance before him…and then went down. His life began to flee him. But he saw the men grab his arms and throw him into the gutter to wallow with the rest of the trash… And then…I came in. It didn't happen right away. I think it was a result of the essence somehow being dispersed."

Bahamut went silent after this for a moment, staring hard at Dael. However, she already knew what he was implying.

"Dael…we've been looking for a spy until now. A double agent. An individual. But the real reason, I believe, that there is nothing 'out of the ordinary' in the records is because Esthar knew full well what was going on when the vaults were raided. Raven was more right than I think anyone wants to admit, Dael. There is someone who not only has access to high levels of power in this country, but can make things blatantly criminal be legitimate. Whoever this person is…they're working both sides. Someone is manipulating Esthar behind the scenes just as much as Sybenia."

The captain was silent in response…letting this new knowledge sink in. It sent a dark chill into her heart. What Raven said had been bad enough, but if what Bahamut was saying was true…it could be much worse.

"…Whoever was behind this could have ordered any security footage destroyed as a routine occurrence. Passed it through via authorized email. No paper trail…and no one would think to keep one either. Especially if it wasn't discovered until well after the fact. And Leuco was the perfect meeting ground. It might be Sybenian-allied now…but originally it was as neutral as Lamb…"

"…Which also tried to gain the essences, as you recall." Bahamut answered.

Dael paused again. "…I need to inform the colonel."

"Dael."

The voice wasn't too stern or severe…but it was firm, and enough to get her to pause. She looked to him.

"…You've already begun to think a lot differently from how you were brought up, so don't stop now. An individual at the highest levels of power in Esthar…someone who had the authority to send Esthar's Hawks to Leuco with this cargo. Most of the people who had that authority, namely the Legislature, have disbanded now…but there are a few left, including both the captains…and the colonel himself."

The young woman froze, her face slackening slightly.

"Bahamut," She answered after a moment, a bit slowly. "Are you trying to tell me that Colonel Regalis is possibly in on all of this?"

"No one but a select few knew about that operation, Dael. Granted…there could be spies and people eavesdropping, breaching security, decoding secret messages, or just making good assumptions. The Hounds have been watching you and your every move out of the country, and it's reasonable to assume more are here."

His gaze narrowed.

"But consider the principle of 'parsimony', Dael. The simplest solution is often the correct one. The reason we may have turned up nothing until now is because all investigations are headed by a select few who might simply be ordering evidence destroyed. One of those people is Colonel Regalis."

Dael actually felt her jaw tightening. A bit of passion surged into her.

"Colonel Regalis is the most devoted and loyal member of Esthar's Hawks there is, Bahamut. Everyone looks up to him and respects him as the standard of patriotism and honor. I emulated him almost my entire career in the academy and he's never even been disciplined for having his bunk out of order. He's the one who made us always defer to authority and recite the entire three paragraph pledge to Esthar…"

"I understand all of that, Dael." Bahamut cut off. "Now you need to understand something I wouldn't accept until it was almost too late…people can change. And they can harbor a lot that they never even let their closest friends and family see. Nyx Gaia is visible, Dael. The time for 'sustainable mistakes' is over. This war is coming to its hottest point that's going to decide who wins and who doesn't. Whoever is behind this is running out of time and is going to try something very severe very soon. We can't afford to act out of sympathy anymore, but out of logic."

Dael paused. She still wasn't happy about this. Regalis may have been a 'soldier' more than a leader, but he still had her respect more than any other member of Esthar's Hawks. He was the standard they all followed, from the newest recruit to the highest-ranking officers. But even if Bahamut was wrong about him, then Dael realized she wasn't much better off. It could be any of the captains then. They were the only ones who still had their "eyes and ears" into these things. And she thought of all of them as patriotic. Try as she might, she couldn't think of a single one who could do anything like this. Perhaps they thought they were helping Esthar, just as Rozan believed he was helping Sybenia. But even then…what of it? It wasn't in anyone's nature that she could think of to go behind someone's back like this… This whole possibility was, honestly, something she couldn't possibly swallow. However…that might have been foolishness on her part. The myopia might have cost them…

Finally, Dael exhaled as she looked up.

"…Then there's only one thing to do."

Carbuncle and Bahamut alike looked to her here as she exhaled again.

"I'm a captain now…I should use its authority to conduct my own investigation." She looked to the others. "Independent of the colonel."

* * *

><p>"This is highly irregular, er…captain."<p>

Dael hadn't spent much time in the "information" potion of Fort Morningstar, which kept access to most security archives in not only the fort, but also in the records of all investigations the military group conducted themselves as well as in the city at large and all military facilities there. Usually, she only accessed the terminals. Now she had gone into the back, where the servers were as well as the information technology personnel who rarely saw the "light of day". They weren't actually Esthar's Hawks themselves, but rather members of paramilitary, even civilian, groups that Esthar still retained. As such, they weren't as highly trained and some of them would scare the Hell out of Dael to put a gun in their hands. However, they were also quite good at what they did or they wouldn't be inside the fort. They also frequently gave a lot of assistance on investigations. At the moment, she was only requiring the services of one. According to the archives, he was one of the best at cracking encryptions and deciphering coded transmission outside of the Class III. He'd have to do.

At any rate, Dael was grateful for the server room. It had very little extra technology inside, which meant even a "bug" or a spy camera couldn't be put in without causing off an alarm. The servers were too sensitive to extra signals. It was practically a "clean room", from the choice of attire of the workers there to their insistence that Dael remove her standard issue boots before coming in. As such, her image of being a "powerful, commanding captain" in full regalia was somewhat tarnished, but there was little for it.

"As a captain of Esthar's Hawks in a time of war, and in light of the Grand Chancellor's Emergency Power Reservation Act, I am fully authorized to initiate and conduct investigations when suspicion of spy infiltration is concerned."

The techie swallowed a bit, looking nervous. "Well…yes sir, but…normally I'm used to the colonel giving the stamp on these things. At least a phone call for confirmation… We've never actually done one initiated by a captain."

"Private, are you refusing to obey a superior officer in a time of war?" Dael stated firmly…calm yet with a bit of a challenge.

The techie turned a bit wan for a moment, and shook his head. "N…No ma'am…no sir, that is."

"Then you'll assist me in this investigation, is that understood?" She responded. "What I need you to do is go back and access the security footage for the Gordian Vault in the months leading up to the suspected break-in."

"Sir…" The techie interjected. "We've been over those files at least fifty times while conducting the initial investigation. No anomalies."

"I wasn't finished. I want all of the CHCs looked at all well."

The techie looked a bit surprised at that. CHCs, or Classified Hard Copies, were the last remains of footage that had been ordered to be destroyed. It wasn't unusual. Lots of times, security footage picked up details that they didn't want the tech staff looking at. In those cases, there would be a direct supervision by authorized personnel, which was usually a higher officer. They didn't even have to stamp their name on those, just confirm clearance and the staff would sign off on it. It was the most likely record still remaining of any break-in…but it was also going fast. They could only keep those for six months before they were destroyed.

"Sir…most of the CHCs are not indexed, and stored in Esthar city proper on site."

"Then get to them, index them yourself, and find any evidence of anything unusual or tampering."

The private still looked uncertain. "Sir, without the colonel's clearance, it will take time to get ahold of those records, assuming they're willing to release them to me at all on just the word of a captain. Then before I can even start going through them, there's decryption, military confidentiality…"

"Private." Dael cut off.

"…Yes sir?"

"I know you aren't familiar with the training in Esthar's Hawks, but we do not embrace excuses here. We embrace solutions. I want you to get on this, do it, and have it to me within a week."

The jaw of the technie nearly dropped. "A we-"

Dael gave him a look that could knock a nutkin out of a tree.

"…Aye, sir. A week."

"Thank you, private. I'm going to go so far as to say this has priority one for you. If anyone gives you any trouble, refer them to me. Do not explain to them what you are doing. I'll handle that."

The techie looked even more uncertain on hearing that, but nodded. "Yes sir."

* * *

><p>Dael supposed it was too much to hope for to get "instant" results. After all, these sort of things took time, and she had set a fairly arbitrary deadline without really knowing how realistic it would be. Still, it was better than nothing…and she secretly hoped for an instant response. That desire only grew with each new day, especially as she kept her eyes and ears on the news and the following reports.<p>

Over the next three days, in between her training sessions, things only got more heated in Sybenia and Leuco. Negotiations stymied and were coming close to breaking down. Leuco was seizing large munitions plants and military areas, locking out the Sybenians who had ordered them established or funded them. This was causing considerable tension, and had resulted in troop redeployments in more than one spot to try and intimidate Leuco to break down. A few areas remained under joint control, while some others had been seized by Sybenia…but there was no break to the stalemate in sight. Construction was still halted on the rocket pads, but as far as Dael knew they had failed to locate any of the mobile missiles, and had only two or three "suspected" convoys.

Sybenia was making another move in the meantime, however. They seemed to recognize their own weakness. As a result, the ships that were being kept in reserve for an invasion force pulled back, as well as their reserve naval forces they had stationed around the world. They were bringing them back to the Western Continent to reinforce it even more than before. Granted, they were still spread very thin, and a strong enough assault might break through…but there was little question that they were ensuring no more "covert" operations could come in. They might have even been planning a larger "surge" on Garrado to try and ensure they couldn't be attacked from the rear. In any event, they were on the defensive now. It was best to try and follow up with something before things grew too bad…

However, if any plans were in motion, Dael didn't know anything about them. Not after her last meeting with the Grand Chancellor and the colonel. Everything was happening "behind the scenes". It was ironic that she was now a captain and knew even less of what was going on. Even when she tried to make inquiries, she came up short almost every time. The next most likely source was Cryder, who seemed to always have his ear in on things, but even he had little to say. Apparently, Commodore Leila was being asked to comply and crack down on information leaks as well. This wouldn't matter with most Black Corsairs, but where Cryder was concerned…she pretty much singled him out. The best he could tell her is that there was a rush job on refitting at the moment, and that the fleet was massing again. All signs pointed to there being something up…but Dael had no idea what.

Cid remained missing…and now Taraketh was gone every day too. Bahamut went out with her to the field now, however. And on learning what her plan was for her new move, he was able to help her out a bit. He told her that this move had been done in the past, but he was only aware of three people in history who had ever pulled it off. Nevertheless, only one had much magical ability, but it was still a strain to pull off. After three days, she finally managed to perform one…although, unfortunately, it was weak. It managed to scrape a few rocks…but even that exhausted the woman. She had collapsed shortly after attempting to perform it.

"I almost had it…" She said after catching her breath for two minutes.

"Unfortunately, that's all you get." Bahamut grimly answered. "You were still carrying your pent up emotion and energy from Raven. You'll need another beating before you can try it again."

Sighing, Dael motioned to him. "Help me get up…I can at least make sure I get it right next time or it'll be nothing but a joke…"

Dael didn't end up getting too much more practice, unfortunately, however. She thought she managed to iron out a few wrinkles, but the truth of the matter was that Bahamut was right…she really needed to have her "spiritual threshold" built up before she could use that attack well or even sharpen it. And unfortunately that wouldn't be available to her without greater training. This advanced move required it.

Early the next morning, Dael heard from Quaren bright and early that not only had Taraketh returned to the base, but that Cid had as well. The captain realized that could mean both Faerio and Mianyl were present as well, but nevertheless she wanted to schedule another group meeting to tell everyone what she had been up to. There had been no word back yet from the information technology branch, but she still wanted to at least let them know. After quickly getting up and showering, she moved to send out a group email to everyone.

Yet as it turned out, she didn't get the chance.

The first thing she saw when she opened her email box was for a meeting in main briefing in two hours for her task force as well as three other Class IV divisions.

Dael didn't have to look long before she realized what that meant…that a major operation was being planned.

* * *

><p>One hour and fifty minutes later, Dael was in the main briefing room. To be honest, she was a bit tense again. She was used to being in the room alone at this point, or with her task force. To actually be in when it had a sizable crowd in the form of three other Esthar's Hawk division and three captains to go with them was a bit more nerve-wracking. It was causing a paradigm shift for her mentally as well. She had almost been growing accustomed to doing these things more "informally". Now that she was surrounded by other military members, this was something else all together. It had all the trappings of being more "official", and it made her immediately match suit…especially since she too was a captain now. She had an image to keep up for the lower ranked members. Even now, however, she was having a hard time not getting nervous around her fellow captains.<p>

Her new uniform and rankings had earned more than one stare on coming in, but a look from her was enough to cause the lower-ranked soldiers to snap back to attention. The other three captains were another matter. Some stared a bit with a look behind their eyes of how a woman who had been a lieutenant a mere couple months earlier was now one of the most highly-ranked members of Esthar's Hawks. However, that caused another reaction in others…namely shock and awe. Dael had spent so little time with other soldiers she hadn't realized that she had become something of a living legend in her own right. The term the Sybenians had given her, the Valkyrie of Esthar, had spread to the domestic front as well. It was only because everyone was so highly disciplined that they didn't start talking to each other at the sight of Dael.

The others were either at her side or behind her…all of them garnering stares as well. Although Carbuncle had contented himself with sitting on Dael's lap this time due to lack of space, albeit grudgingly, Bahamut…a civilian boy with a sword and buckler…caused more than his share of stares. Quaren didn't gain much of a look, but everyone else did. Luckily, they weren't encouraging it by being rowdy. Even Cryder was being fairly mild. His loose, old boots were balanced up on a seat nearby, but at least he wasn't smoking, drinking, or making any other kind of scene.

Dael, however, gave most of her looks to the two who had been missing for so long: Taraketh and Cid. Cid himself didn't look too good, but much better than when she had seen him last. It looked like he still hated himself for what happened, but at least he accepted that he wasn't helping anything like that. Perhaps some of the advice was finally sinking in and he realized he wasn't doing any good spending the rest of his life hating himself. At the minimum, he looked ready enough. Taraketh had resumed his own full regalia, right down to his bronze clasps around his cape, although he had pulled down the hood. He didn't have that scowl on his face that he reserved for the military, but he still looked very official…almost enough to be his "old self". He must have been fighting hard to get that position. In truth, Dael wanted to talk with him a bit. Over the past three days, he had followed Sorceress Mianyl everywhere, after all. He probably knew more about what was going on than any of the group members. However, he was seated behind her, and she wasn't going to continuously look over her shoulder, let alone try to talk to someone before a meeting. She had her own image to keep up.

The young woman was pretty sure no one gathered there knew exactly what was happening. However, the mere fact that they were all gathered there meant there was a major operation taking place. And since there were no more defensive operations to initiate, she could only assume this had something to do with an offensive. She wasn't sure what exactly that in itself would entail… She tried to think of what was viable, but apparently she wasn't able to think long in a ten minute time period, because before she knew it, the doors were sealed, and the rear entrance opened.

As had happened many times in the past, Colonel Regalis, also in full regalia, freshly washed and shaved, and looking highly official and the picture of decorum, came out and advanced to the podium. Everyone stood at attention as he arrived…and Dael struggled to put out the images in her mind that Bahamut had given her. In all honesty, she wondered what his reaction would be if he found out about the investigation. Technically, Dael was fully in her rights and beyond reprimand for it…but people could always find a reason to prosecute if need be…or if she upset the wrong people.

The man approached the top of the podium, and quickly went with the formalities of giving everyone the "at ease" sign. As they slid into their chairs, he spoke right away.

"It has come to my attention that we have reason to believe that the problem with leaks is more severe than anticipated. Hence, all of you were extensively background checked, and this room was swept for bugs three times, before this meeting was cleared. Furthermore, the doors have been sealed and soundproofed. This mission will be starting rather quickly, but nevertheless…take all of these precautions as reason to not have 'loose lips' about this operation. That said…let us get down to business."

The holographic display came on, and this time moved over to the Western Continent.

"As you all know, the situation between Sybenia and Leuco has caused a surprising amount of instability to the Guiding Hand's war machine…far more than anyone could have anticipated. The result has been an opening of a weakness within Sybenia that we cannot afford to ignore. If we do what Esthar's Hawks excel at, striking hard and fast in a key location, we believe we can cause irreparable damage to Sybenia with minimal loss of life."

The shot began to zoom in on the upper third of the continent: Sybenia proper.

"Intelligence that we still have in the area, not to mention contacts from Garrado, have revealed that Sybenia is 'girding its loins', but also has opened a momentary weakness that could shut in less than a week. As you all probably know from the news, Rozan Hierarch as recalled most of the spread out navy to defend the Western Continent from any attempts by Esthar to launch strikes that would hamper their ability to recover once the business with Leuco is concluded. However, what is now coming to light is that Sybenia considers the resources of Leuco too invaluable to let lie still, to say nothing of the rocket launch sites. Furthermore, prolonged negotiation with Leuco will no doubt give the impression that Sybenia is not as strong as it is letting on. Hence…indications appear to point to the fact that Sybenia is going to make a full scale assault and conquer Leuco to ensure the munitions keep being produced.

"Leuco will no doubt give a rather strong fight, not only due to superior technology, but also due to having claimed many of the weapons meant for Sybenia for its own. The Guiding Hand looks to be preparing a major assault to ensure a quick war, not only to avoid too much damage to their own war machine, but to also turn the country into a 'warning' for Esthar and Lamb. Yet since it must commit so many resources for a quick fight, it appears that Sybenia is wanting to ensure they can remove a 'thorn in their side' first, in the form of the Garrado resistance. A sizable troop surge is being planned with the intention of no doubt leveling the main city building by building.

"Two major fronts for two major assaults are being planned. Both will be fully assembled in a matter of days…but, at the moment, the state of most of the Sybenian Army is in a state of flux, with some troops being moved out onto redeployed assault fleets, others being landed in the areas that Leuco controls, and still more being reorganized in the Pallas Desert. During this time…the capitol of Sybenia is at the most unguarded it has been in years. Furthermore, the Guiding Hand has inadvertently done us a great favor. During the last changeover of government following the death of Roz Hierarch, his son Rozan eliminated almost all political opposition, both overt…as well as within his own party. The end result is that Rozan Hierarch is the only nationalist leader left in the country that has the backing of the people. In other words…" He inhaled a bit to emphasize the point.

"If Rozan Hierarch was to be captured and/or eliminated, the country would fall into complete political instability. The only real powers would be a smattering of military heads who would fight for control and would likely break up the entire empire that the Hierarch family worked so hard to build. Even if Sybenia survived as a country, it would be a fragmented, weakened one with neither the political power or resources to hold itself together or control a world empire. Whatever national insurgents or political dissidents are left would be free to 'come out of the woodwork' and start trying to seize control for themselves…and many of them would be favorable to Esthar.

"In short, removing Rozan Hierarch from power would be the second major upheaval in a short period of time that would stand an excellent, if not certain, chance of ending the world war without even committing to a major invasion or military strike. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the goal we have over the next few days…quite possibly the most relevant operation that Esthar's Hawks, and you four groups of elite soldiers, has ever embarked on…nothing less than the assassination of Rozan Hierarch, the destabilization of Sybenia and the Guiding Hand, and the end to Sybenia's plans for world conquest. Within the next several days, ladies and gentlemen, the operation that you are about to embark on is to save the country and millions of civilian and soldier lives on both sides. This is, beyond any doubt, the most important operation that any of you will ever undertake."

Dael had to struggle not to go wide-eyed. That was an understatement. She had been expecting an offensive. She had even been thinking it would be something that only superhumans like her and her group could accomplish. But she hadn't expected this. She wasn't alone. Most of the other Esthar's Hawks in the room looked rather stunned as well. A couple weeks ago, their nation looked on the brink of collapse. Now they were talking about winning the war with one more operation. She was almost overwhelmed. Was that even possible? Could one move make such a difference?

She realized that in conventional warfare the answer would probably be no. But these were Esthar's Hawks…the best of the best…and used to carrying out operations like this in the most dire and extreme circumstances. Their mode of operation was to remove the "keystone" in formidable organizations like the Guiding Hand, to destabilize and weaken rather than meet on a level playing field. More than that, her group was indeed superhuman…capable of doing methods of war and feats no one else could. This might be impossible if not for their powers. But with them…there was a distinct possibility. Mind-shaking as this might have been…it was possible that they could pull it off…especially considering what plan they might have.

Yet in spite of all of this, one other thought ran through her mind. _Couldn't they consider Jalab's plan and try to negotiate as well? _However, she also realized in the confusion of what Bahamut had told her, she had never even suggested that. Still, even so, was that really something that her group had been the only ones to think of...?

The colonel continued. "I wish I could give you all more information at this point, but, as I mentioned before, we have fears of security leakage. Most of the briefing will not be explained until all of you arrive on site at the mission's starting grounds…which is within one of the classified bases of operation for the Garrado insurgency. Due to the security leak, despite the fact that this room is secure, you will not know of the location until arrival via transport.

"You have three hours to prepare to deploy. That means I want all of you fully prepared and equipped for field and inner city operations, and set for a couple days both in terms of armaments as well as gear. You'll be spending some time in the desert as well as an urban landscape, so equip for both. When you are ready, all units are to assemble at the West Gate. You will be transported via convoy to Esthar city proper to deploy."

Dael was a bit confused on that last part. What exactly did he mean by that? He wasn't using the normal terminology…and what was there in Esthar that they could use? Airships? That wouldn't work out too well, considering how much Sybenia was defending itself. But then again, a boat wouldn't really get them in that easily either. What exactly did they have in mind?

On that note, she raised her hand.

"Yes, captain?" The colonel responded.

"Pardon me, sir, but how are we transporting to Garrado given the blockade?"

"That, also, is a matter of classified information, captain." The colonel responded. "Suffice to say, we will be transporting you there using a new vehicle model, and you require no preparations or special packing."

This only confused the woman more. If it wasn't an airship or a boat, then what could get them there so quickly? At any rate, it didn't look like she was going to get an answer. Everything was so "quiet" at the moment that even at their high level of security they weren't getting much in the way of information in advance. Even so…going into this sort of situation with barely any knowledge didn't leave her in the most comfortable of positions.

"If there are no further questions…" The colonel spoke up afterward. "Company dismissed."

* * *

><p>With only three hours to prepare, there regrettably wasn't much time for talking to Taraketh or Cid. Everyone had to hurry up and get ready. One task force and three divisions naturally caused a bit of a "crowd" for the supply depo, and so Dael made sure to hit it first and already had a list prepared of everything she didn't already possess. Even so, many of the other Esthar's Hawks began to load up as she was leaving. She hoped the group hurried up and got there. Luckily, it seemed as if they had made enough stops by then to supply some gear that was tailored for Bahamut. In spite of the situation and Dael's background, she couldn't help but smile at the staff there for having that much consideration, especially since they had been mobbed over the past month.<p>

Soon, the group was piling up at the West Gate. Carbuncle again came along for the ride. After all, if they were headed to Garrado, he was needed there anyway. Some people gave him some looks, but Dael didn't care…and he held up a paw to them from time to time. Obviously, none of them realized that he was flipping them off the best he could with his ineffectual digits. Probably for the best. Quaren came up next, fully loaded, and the others soon followed. They caused more stares than ever now. Where before their group could pretty much "do whatever", they were now surrounded by soldiers, each dressed and armed the same, and all silent and "on task". Taraketh and Cid were the last to arrive, the latter bearing his standard pack full of tools, and they departed shortly after they got there…leaving little time for talking. They all loaded up on trucks and took off.

Even in the vehicles during the two hour drive it took to get to Esthar, Dael was able to ask very few questions. All of the other Esthar's Hawks alongside them sat upright with the standard cold, expressionless looks on their faces. That left her in a difficult position. Again, she was a captain now, and had to set a good example. If this was just her task force, they could sort of "set the rules" to whatever they wanted. But as it was, they kind of had to just fall in with the crowd. Even Cryder seemed to be behaving a bit more, so she dealt with it. Hence, even though she was sitting right across from Taraketh and Cid, she could talk very little to them. However, Taraketh seemed enthusiastic enough. And Cid, on his part, looked like he was forcing himself to focus. Jalab, naturally, stood out a bit more from all of them. He had a sort of enthusiasm about him that surpassed everyone. It only figured. He was going to be reunited with his Sorceress soon, if all went well.

On arriving at the city, however, Dael's curiosity gained most of her attention. They weren't headed for the airstrips. Instead, they stayed mostly in the heart of the city itself, approaching the "square" that had been erected. Since the destruction of the capitol building, Grand Chancellor Mianyl had co-opted a building near the grounds of the cathedral. It was actually part of a trio of buildings that functioned as the main part of government now, encompassing the main cathedral to represent the Order of Hyne, a high-rise that had been converted to act as the new temporarily capitol to represent the government and few remaining members of the bureaucracy and Legislature, and a complex that was used for the military as a depot. It didn't have a whole lot of specialized functionality to it at the time, but it had been rebuilt in order to act as the military's "branch" within the city proper. All of this was guarded by numerous security checkpoints and even a few hastily-erected walls. Their convoy was cleared to go in, and they soon began to head for the converted depot.

Dael soon saw a few more things that stood out from before. As the convoy moved in, she noticed that more than one large power cable had been set up to reroute electricity into the building. She understood it would have higher energy demands if Esthar's Hawks was using it as a form of command center, but definitely not this much. Some of the cables would have been large enough to crawl through if they had been hollowed out. And there were quite a few of them. It looked like it was easily enough to send in another juice to most of the powerhouses in the city. For that much juice, normally someone would have built generators…but considering the amount of power, one probably would have needed an entire nuclear power plant… She wondered what it was all necessary for…

On arriving, the trucks unloaded. Dael, used to doing things "her way", had to quickly give the group a breakdown in how to move "rank-and-file" before she unloaded the others. She didn't want to be the only captain there with a group of people who couldn't even stand in a straight line. Cryder, luckily, went with it. Ceja was more disagreeable, especially given her dress and her large axe which threatened to hit several Esthar's Hawks as they lined up. Yet in the end, they managed to stay quiet enough, and soon went inside…with Dael's only real breach in tradition being Carbuncle staying on her neck, complaining that getting on the ground would make him risk getting stomped on by boots.

The large assembly soon moved in through the front doors, past the security checkpoints (in which all had to be checked out), and then moved on. After passing through a few halls which looked to be nothing more than basic administration, they came to another security checkpoint, and Dael tried not to sigh as she was subjected to even more intense scanning and investigation. Once that we done, they moved on to the high-volume elevators, ones big enough to take half of the entire group at a time, thereby being done in two trips. They didn't go up, as Dael half-expected, but rather started heading down to the basement levels…

The floor they arrived upon had been purely for storage at one point, but taking a look at the walls and revealing massive new conduits that had been installed fairly recently confirmed to Dael that this was the termination point for the above-ground cables. What more, a few temporary wall fixtures had been added in order to create a tunnel…and yet another security checkpoint was ahead. These ones were the strictest yet, and, as a result, Dael's group had the most problems. They seemed suspicious about everything, including Carbuncle, who nearly clawed them more than once in retribution. Yet at last they were cleared, and filed into the hall. At the end, the chamber had been further subdivided with large, thick, metal security doors with retinal scanners. There were high ranking Class II Esthar's Hawks guarding it, and they had to clear the group for entry. By now, Dael was both confused and a little unnerved. She looked to Quaren for a moment, but the corporal showed no change and knew no more than she did, even with his being more aware of "technical" aspects. At any rate, they were cleared, and the thick metal doors slid open. As the group walked forward, what was beyond became fully visible.

It looked like some sort of raised metal platform, with a series of steps leading to a base in the middle of a large room. All of the conduits seemed to feed into it, from both above and below, and there were a few large consoles mounted around it, as well as monitoring stations on the walls that at least a dozen scientists were looking over. To be honest…it brought back some bad memories of the facility in Leuco. However, Dael's main attention was at the center of the platform. Several large curled metal rails were around it, seeming to create a spherical "frame" around it, although one could easily walk into the center. It had enough room to fit several people in the center of it at once easily, as large as it was.

Last but not least, near the main console, was a familiar individual. Dael was surprised to see him there for only a moment, before she realized he probably simply left right after the meeting, so it made sense he would be there first. Still clean and in full regalia, identifiable by his large frame even if he wasn't turned, was Colonel Regalis. He seemed to be talking with one researcher in particular with thick, brown, and yet gray-streaked hair and some sort of black goggles over her eyes. At any rate, Dael couldn't see her face. And once the door slid shut behind him and the Esthar's Hawks came to a stop, he rose, turned, and faced all of them.

Taking only a moment to fold his hands behind him, he addressed the group.

"Everyone…allow me to introduce to you to the 'Bifrost'…the future of transportation for Esthar's military and one day the world. It was harvested using a technology that was explored over 150 years ago that was abandoned with the loss of mako power, believing nothing other than a mako reactor could ever generate enough electricity to make it useable, let alone practical. A potential working design that was to be used with fission reactors was stored in the Gordian Vault that had been developed prior to the depression, but the technology was still too far behind the times and it was still unusable. However, during the uncovering of vault contents for this war, we discovered it. Although we're still working on the practicality part, we have obtained enough energy from three of Esthar's more efficient fission reactors to be able to utilize it for today's operation."

He stepped away from the console and began to cross in front of the group, beckoning for them to walk forward and approach the massive sphere "cage". Dael hesitated only slightly before following along with everyone else. He continued to explain. "As you all well know, numerous technologies have tried to replicate the effects of magic over the years. One that has eluded us for the most part is the ability to teleport." He gestured to Dael…or, more accurately, her neck. "Sir Carbuncle here possess the power to teleport himself to anywhere on Gaia in as little as two or three jumps that he has been in the past few years. Naturally, that level of technology would not only revolutionize the world, but might one day lead to space exploration. Yet replicating it has been somewhat difficult. Even the plans that were uncovered were for a prototype that had reached a dead end. However, it seems that the 'think tank' of both civilian and military individuals appointed by the Grand Chancellor has succeeded in making the technology work. Although we can afford to send no more than your group for several days, and the trip is, as of yet, 'one way', we have eliminated the need to bypass the naval and air blockades and gained the capability to teleport you all directly into the heart of the Garrado resistance."

Dael was rather astonished to say the least. They all were, including Bahamut and Carbuncle. She found herself staring at the massive device in awe, in spite of her demeanor. She had no idea this sort of technology even existed. No wonder the Gordian Vaults had been under such high security… This was the second "aborted design" she had heard about that had tremendous applications. In fact, she had a rather hard time believing it to be true…and she wouldn't if she hadn't known about Carbuncle's capability…although, to be honest, she had never been teleported by him anywhere nearly as far as Garrado from Esthar. Was that sort of thing truly possible? As hard a time as she had "swallowing it", she realized it had to be. The colonel was sure treating the situation that way. What more, she realized why this has been so classified. If this design was for real and truly worked, then every nation on Gaia would want it for themselves…

"Since speed is of the essence, the operation will get started immediately." The colonel stated. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to be the first individuals to be deployed using the Bifrost in a military operation. Many of you have already made records…today you will make history before this operation even gets fully underway."

With that, he began to walk to one side. As he did, he looked up and out to the console. "Dr. Martiza, are we ready?"

Dael wasn't looking at him, staying on task…but she thought she saw Bahamut's head raise sharply on hearing that name.

"We are indeed, colonel." The woman in goggles responded. She sounded older and mature…and yet Dael couldn't help but catch just a hint if childish eagerness on the edge of her voice…similar to Cid when he saw a new machine. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or sad about that. "I can confirm the Bifrost is in perfect working order. 17 trials in a row without mishaps. I will remind you in advance, however, that we only had enough resources to conduct two successful teleports to the actual site. Neither of them contained living material although they contained organic, and due to communication silence and difficulty we were only able to confirm one of them made it through completely intact. However, all intra-Esthar teleports, including the trial run we did of twenty 'test' soldiers fully armed were completely successful. That said…"

She looked up a bit, and Dael turned to her. Oddly enough, although only middle-aged, she seemed a lot older in the face…

"We are looking to teleport fully armed personnel a distance fifteen times as far, and that is going to strain the generators quite a bit. Although successive teleports are going to drain several city blocks into browning out, I strongly recommend against going more than ten individuals at once."

The colonel nodded. "Duly noted, doctor."

By now, however, Dael wasn't looking as awed as she was before. Her look was more one of growing discomfort. Numerous members of the assembly did. After all, this still seemed to be an experimental technology, and the way it was talked about, how what was happening hadn't exactly been done before, was enough to make anyone nervous…especially considering the fact it involved teleportation, of all things.

Yet she pushed that thought aside. As many risks as he had taken, as far as she had come…and she was going to stop here? If it wasn't her, someone else would be the "first one" to do it. And this was an operation that could end the war. She wasn't about to let a little fear stop her.

Soon after, the colonel looked back to the group. "…Is there any set that wishes to be 'first'?"

Without hesitation, Dael adjusted her gear and began to advance. In fact, she was the only one doing so for a second…and since her gaze was entirely on the device she only felt it when Carbuncle began to tense up, looking like he might jump off of her for a moment. However, she soon heard the others begin to fall in behind her. Her head didn't turn, but she had been around all of them long enough to know them by sound. Soon, her entire "task force" was approaching the device.

As they walked, she heard a voice from Dr. Maritza. It was no doubt meant to be quiet, but, at the moment, everyone was being rather quiet, even the scientists prepping the Bifrost. No doubt, they too were staring a bit. This wasn't a test but an actual operation, after all. Hence, she was able to catch it.

"Didn't even hesitate. Been a long time since I saw a person so bold…"

She ignored that, and kept walking.

"Step right onto the center of the main platform, captain." The colonel instructed. "So long as you're within the actuatorsm, you're safe. Correct, Dr. Maritza?"

"Of course." Her voice responded, louder this time. "The machine won't even fire otherwise. I built in that failsafe."

After a bit longer, Dael reached the steps. Here, she did pause, but only a moment. She couldn't help but feel her stomach sink a bit and a cold chill ripple through her as she took her first step onto the metal. It only got worse as she climbed up toward the main array…which suddenly seemed a lot larger and more looming. From here, she could hear a humming running so loudly through the "actuators", as the colonel had called them, that she realized they would likely electrocute her to death without being fully engaged. She didn't look to them long, however. She passed through the "cage" and moved toward the center of the platform. On reaching and turning around, she looked to the others.

Quaren was trying to look as stoic as her, but not having as much luck. One could tell he was biting back anxiety. Taraketh was holding his own emotions in check as he stepped up next, but Bahamut was pretty much identical to Dael…although he seemed distracted. She saw his head turning back to the goggled doctor more than once. Cryder muttered something about wanting to get in one last smoke before he stepped up. Cid actually looked a bit excited in spite of his normally glum mood. Otherwise, he might have bounded up to it. Jalab kept a straight face as he went up, while Ceja treated the entire platform as if she was stepping on lava. Yet in the end, all of them got on top, turned, and faced outward.

The colonel began to step away at that. Without asking if they were "ready", because such sentiments were irrelevant in a military operation to an Esthar's Hawk, he gave a nod to Dr. Martiza instead. She, in turn, became more "business" and looked to the others.

"Open the channels and begin to funnel power into the actuators. Start building up the field. Those of you on the pad…just stand still and relax. Everyone else…stay away from the pad unless you'd like 100 million volts coursing through you."

The scientists went to work. Large switches began to go off, setting off even larger unseen devices. A whirring sound, one that was highly electrical in nature, began to go off. It rapidly began to build in intensity and volume. As it did, Dael looked to the actuators. They were humming more now. As they did, they began to glow…some sort of internal light mechanism activated. More devices initialized and began to run, and the scientists and technicians went about everywhere, making sure everything was alright. The ones at the consoles remained entirely focused.

The humming continued to build, especially that of the unseen electric generator. The lights continued to come on around Dael. Slowly, she became aware of a change. At first she thought it was a trick of the growing lights and generator, but she soon realized that wasn't the case. The lights in the rest of the room were dimming. She didn't know it, but the entire block was, in fact. And that effect was spreading to adjacent blocks rapidly. Then, she began to see something else. In front of her…the world seemed to ripple a bit, like when viewed over heat…

"Status?"

"Power core up to 44% and rising…"

"All actuators nominal."

"Tachyon field is forming."

As they said this, Dael began to notice the light growing brighter…and that they were surrounded by the waves. Not just in front of them, but all around them. And it continued to distort more and more. As the room across from her turned almost completely black from the lights going out, the generator beneath her grew in intensity, and the lights around her continued to grow brighter, it went beyond mere "heat" and "ripples", and started to appear like they were in some sort of fluid. That effect only grew as time went on.

The room stayed black but the generators all around them continued to hum. In fact, Dael snapped a bit when a bolt of electricity suddenly snaked out from one actuator and into another. Soon, it was joined by more from all around it. The generators seemed to reach a steady state, but things continued to build. By now, Dael looked as if she and everyone else was submerged in fluid, and the lights all around them made it glow with an ethereal blue color. As it continued to persist, and the generators were almost deafening, the doctor called again. "Status!"

"Power core at 98%!"

"All actuators within nominal range!"

"Tachyon field is in optimate range!"

"Triangulation!" Dr. Martiza called.

"We have a satellite link to the area. All four points triangulated and transmitting from destination! All four points here confirmed!"

"Final check!"

"All stations nominal! Nothing exceeding tolerances!"

"No reds!"

"Prepare to launch on my mark! 8…7…6…"

Dael took in a deep breath and held it, her grip tightening.

"5…4…3…"

She stared forward, deciding quickly whether to keep her eyes open or closed, and ending up leaving them open.

"2…1…Mark!"

With a sound similar to what Carbuncle made, in other words, what sounded like space and time being ripped open, only much, much larger, the generators fired…and the "light liquid bubble" that the group was suspended in abruptly compressed and collapsed, then shrank into a tiny blip…and they were gone, moments before the generators cut out and the lights slowly turned back on.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: In regards to the title of this chapter...the word "planet" stems from the Greek word "planetai", meaning "wanderers". That was because when the Greeks first saw the five planets visible from Earth (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter), they believed they were the same as the stars except for the fact that they "moved around" the night sky. As for the other two names, you can probably guess what they refer to...<p> 


	52. Three Roads North

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I thought of editting this chapter before I put it up, but...honestly, I'm sick of spending hours editing boring chapters that run way too long. This chapter should have been half the size it ended up being, so I'm just putting it up rather than wasting time with it.

If it's got typos...tough sh't.

* * *

><p>To Dael, there was no compression. No alteration of her landscape…not immediately, at any rate. That was the wonder of relativity. To her, it was the rest of the world that had suddenly and unexpectedly growing infinitely massive and broad…and all time and light somehow becoming infinitely far reaching…<p>

Yet then…that world faded out into oblivion, for, when looking into infinity, all things eventually became the same blank unit. And then the world snapped back, like a giant rubber band. For a moment, she hovered over nothingness, a whole foot in the air, as the world returned…and she actually gave a mild noise as gravity yanked her to the ground. She just barely managed to loosen herself and stabilize as her feet touched down again. The others mostly were able to do the same, but she still heard people falling down around her, clearly unbalanced.

She forgot about that in moments, for she saw she was no longer standing on a metal platform, but rather on a concrete floor. After taking a moment to feel her balance be regained, she blinked and paused. Had it been successful? To check, she looked up and around her. Immediately, she saw that the actuators were gone. They were still in a dark chamber bathed in white light, but this was not the result of the machine. Rather, it was in some sort of broad, large, and high-ceilinged area. The lights that hung overhead were mostly off save for a few casting down cones of light over where the group now stood. Yet she recognized them…

_Ice rink lights… I've seen them before. Does that mean?_

She turned her gaze to the darkness. It was hard to see, but her eyes adjusted quickly…and it became clear. This wasn't just any place…it was the very underground rink that she had been in on her last trip to Garrado. But no longer was it stocked with weapons, medical supplies, and the remnants of the military. That was all gone now, not even leaving trash behind. The floor was open, broad, and blank…empty as far as it was illuminated. The bleachers that had doubled as sleeping quarters and medical beds were gone. In fact, she could only see one thing in the darkness…

Over by the old entrance, there was a group of eight Garrado soldiers and two Children of Hyne. None of them looked that good. It had been days since they had seen a decent meal. Instead they always grabbed whatever was available. Their weapons looked old and well-used, and their uniforms…at least, the parts that weren't concealed by homemade urban camouflage…had long since gotten severely stained and dirty. Some of the stains were of the bloody variety, and many of them wore hasty dressings to manage them. However, in spite of that, they remained devoted to duty. One of them, still bearing a few insignias of a higher rank, quickly beckoned to them.

"Come away from there quickly. We don't want to risk the next group that comes in being teleported on top of you."

Dael didn't argue with that. Quickly, she got ready to move, but looked to the others first. Quaren, Cryder, and Cid had all lost their balanced, but the others went to them quickly and gave them a hand up. As he was yanked to his feet, Cryder gave himself a once over.

"Let's see…all my bits and pieces seem to be intact…that's always good…"

Carbuncle's furry ears tickled Dael a bit as he shook his head. "Next time…I'll 'ride separate'. Compared to my teleportation, that sucked."

"Infernal machines…" Ceja scowled. "But you can't expect me to honestly believe this is Garrado. Such a thing defies possibility…"

"I think you'll see it for yourself soon, Ceja…but for now let's do as they say and get out of the way." Dael answered before getting a move on. The others, all up now, quickly followed behind her. She looked back only one more time, toward Bahamut. The boy still seemed a bit hesitant, but was getting over it. It seemed he had reacted to that doctor back in Esthar…but how was that possible? No human was still alive from the last time he walked Gaia. At any rate, she ignored that. She was still trying to understand how what had just happened was possible, after all. It was a little beyond belief to think they had just gotten through to half a world away from one rapid move…

As they approached the assembly of soldiers, the one in the lead addressed them. "Communication with Esthar has been mostly one way. Our one shared transmission was intercepted and caused a firefight. We lost three men and a lot of supplies before we were able to pull out. They haven't discovered this place yet, but they're getting close. We'll have to pull out all the way into the middle of the Pallas Desert as soon as this is done, so I hope you're all prepared for a twelve hour trip."

"Forgive me, sir," Dael responded. "But I hope our way of escape is a bit more secure than last time. We had to fight our way across."

"It is. We have one of the partially constructed subway tunnels, but we'll still have to do a lot of above ground walking to get there. Once Sybenia discovered that we had our network going through buildings rather than around them, they started a massive bombing campaign…although they've gone back to 'search-and-destroy' since then. Since we knew a large number of troops were coming in, we've made sure to try and secure a fairly low-priority route…one that has little in the way of heavy machines or troopers. The last communication was vague. How many are being teleported?"

"Sixty more in addition to us."

The group exchanged few other words. With the situation explained, they moved in with the group to defend the area as well. That soon seemed like a very real possibility as the sounds of not only soldiers moving and shouting came from upstairs, but also the sounds of heavy tanks treads. More than once, it sounded like someone was actually on the upper floor and looking around, but nothing ever came of it, and Dael couldn't be certain it wasn't just a trick of the ear.

It took a full twelve minutes before the next teleportation came through, and the people who came in looked considerably stunned. Of course, Dael could say the same for her group…as there was no warning except three seconds of a white dot of light suddenly materializing in the middle of the floor before it expanded to reveal the next ten soldiers. Unlike Dael's group, they all fell to the ground on landing. However, they got up quickly, adjusted themselves, and moved in with those already present to help secure the area. They actually had enough weapons now to make Dael feel somewhat secure…so long as they weren't bombarded from above. Twelve minutes later, the remainder of the first division arrived. Four more teleports went off, bringing the rest of the group, until there was quite a few soldiers gathered. Each one looked just as surprised and stunned as the ones before if not more so. After all, with no way to radio back, they hadn't even any idea that anyone had made it through or hadn't been dumped somewhere in the Medieval Ocean.

Yet once they were all gathered and assembled, the leader of the resistance unit held up a hand to gain their attention.

"I've already explained this to your captains, but we're in for a rather long hike, and an even longer trip after that, so all of you had better be prepared to spend the rest of today and almost all of tonight staying on the move. This area is no longer secure and we're abandoning it after today. The only reason we tried to hold it for so long was because it was the only site that Esthar knew about to have this teleportation. You're all highly trained from what we were led to believe, so you're now in an urban warfare situation and we're moving far too many people at once through it, but we have no choice. Everyone needs to stay quiet. You watch whoever's in front of you and follow their moves. You stop when we stop, you run when we run, and you hide when we hide. Simple as that. No one says a word. Only use visual cues until we say. Any questions?"

No one had any. Dael, along with her group and everyone else, was adjusting her gear one final time to make sure it was set for a long trip. All of the soldiers were ready to move.

The man nodded, and then gestured. "Let's move out."

* * *

><p>The soldiers were right about how long this would take. Dael began to wonder if Garrado's main city was really this big, but the truth was the main reason it took so much longer was because the city was a wreck. There were piles of rubble where a number of buildings used to be, flooding all of the streets and alleys in all directions. Soldiers and tanks were about all that could get through it now, and there was no shortage of them. While there were no longer the sounds of bombers or fighters, and the advanced security droids and tanks had been pulled back, more conventional and "cheaper" units still flooded the streets continuously. And they were in more than heavy number to cause a sweat if Dael and her group had been trying to do this alone. Naturally, with all of these other troops with them, it was a nightmare. No one in their right mind would try to move this many soldiers through the city in one group, after all.<p>

As it turned out, they didn't. At a few points, they actually split the larger group into three smaller ones to try and get them through locations. Yet over all, this was unnecessary. These weren't conventional soldiers, after all. They were Esthar's Hawks. They had trained for urban warfare situations for years before even being put on the field, and many of them had a lot of experience by now. They stayed as tightly knit as possible, moved quickly from building to building, and stayed in such perfect formation that even when they broke into a rapid run they never spread out or logjammed. When the inevitable happened, and some were caught outside in between buildings as they moved from one to another and a sentry came by, they stayed still and hid quickly until the soldiers went by. At other points, they managed to cause distractions in the form of thrown stones or silenced long-range shots shooting off a piece of masonry to move the convoys away. Although it was slow going, they managed to make it without causing a single shootout.

The trip took quite a while, and it was harder than last time. Where before there had been well-established "highways", now most of them had been blown apart in more than one place, and there were no longer people stationed at key positions. Almost all of the buildings and passages had been abandoned, and none of the houses were purely safe anymore but had to be investigated first. At certain points, they had to go an entire city block in the open before making to another building. However, in spite of all of this, they kept moving, they avoided detection and firefights, and managed to draw ever nearer to the city outskirts.

At last, they arrived at the entrance to the subway. It was a manhole cover that had been concealed by an overturned mass dumpster. It was in a fairly "heavy" area, but the large group managed to sneak underground none the less going only a few at a time. Some of the gaps took longer than others due to the constant flow of soldiers, but they still managed to file inside. Once in, the cap was secured again, and the passage was concealed once more. The last few group members descended far below the sewer and conduit levels, and toward the subways level far beneath. The area was dark, but the first group down had activated their lights, so everyone had a good idea of the dimensions of the tunnel. Sure enough, it seemed big enough for a subway, but only partially complete. While one end went off into more blackness, the closest side to theirs terminated into only a somewhat dug tunnel.

The leader of the resistance group looked to them. "You can talk again here, so long as you keep it down." He said softly. "This tunnel goes to the outskirts of the region, but we'll have to go on foot for about eight miles. After that, we actually shoved a couple cars in here that will go the rest of the way. Once we get out, we're still in a 'hot spot', though, but it'll be night. We hike about another ten miles into the desert, then we run into the Dujhanti. They're one of the native nomad tribes that Lady Veriguno managed to recruit for us. They'll take us the rest of the way to where we're holed up in the desert. Nothing fancy, mind you, but it's the largest encampment we have stationed in there. From that spot, you'll receive the briefing on the remainder of the operation."

With that, the group began to move out once again. The going was much faster this time. The tunnel had a few muddy and wet parts as well, but it wasn't enough to slow the group down, especially now that they didn't have to worry about hiding from Sybenia. The only real point of caution was to be quieter around the parts that had more direct connections to the surface, but even those were so far underground that it there wasn't much to worry about. With no more restraints on movements, it soon became clear that Dael and her group had a distinct physical advantage. While the others had to keep a steady, somewhat slow pace due to the gear, their task force moved a lot faster. They caused more than a few stares when even Cid, overloaded with tools, and Bahamut, looking to be a merely child, were outdoing them all without a drop of sweat.

Eight miles came and went, and, at length, the flashlights hit a series of reflectors from four all terrain military vehicles. None of them could carry more than five at a time, so it was clear they'd have to make separate trips. However, after filling them to capacity and sending them on their way, the rest of the group continued to advance down the tunnel to decrease the amount of time needed when they came back. This trip ended up taking a lot longer than twelve minutes. It wasn't until close to 50 that the vehicles came back for another load, And although time was shaven off during each trip, it still took quite a bit to get everyone to the other end. As they were "doing the best", Dael had her group go last. But even so, their trip was close to 45 minutes. Yet in the end, everyone was at the other side. After giving a signal to once again maintain silence, the group climbed out of an opening designed for a subway entrance and moved to the above surface again.

There were still Sybenians gathered here, and this time they had sentry droids with them. But they were few and far between. Most of the soldiers stationed in Garrado were heading into the main city as part of the effort to flush out the resistance or at least find their last few locations for the upcoming "surge". The "barrier" to the Pallas Desert didn't have more than three lines of defense, and although it took a bit of effort they were able to split the group into multiple parts again and cross a few at a time. Once beyond, they snuck a bit further until the region started to turn wild and arid again, and then massed together and continued to make their way across the desert as one unit.

Dael noted that it was both dark and cold that night…far colder than it was last time. Her breath puffed as they moved into the sandy spots and approached the great dunes. The less-hardy members actually shivered a bit, although they kept moving enough to keep warm for the most part. If that wasn't enough, it was a clear night. Even though the moon was only a sliver, the sky was still clear…and Dael had a good view of the "star" that was Nyx Gaia. Yet another reminder of how the planet had changed…and brought back to mind what all was riding on this mission. They had to be cautious here too. The Sybenians had intensified the amount of "roaming" patrols. And after being spotted by one last time, Dael wasn't eager for a repeat.

Unfortunately, things never seemed to thin out for the group this far. Although they would go for about a mile at points without seeing any more Sybenians, they never left entirely. Dael wasn't sure they'd actually be free of their perimeter or if they'd have to be careful about them for the rest of the night. Everyone had brought desert gear, but hadn't switched into it yet, and she was beginning to feel a little exposed. Nevertheless, no one called out. In the open, it would be even easier to be heard. Their "guides" tried to keep them from crossing the actual dunes but rather working their way in between as best as they could to reduce visibility instead.

At last, far in the distance, the group saw a thick stand of trees…signifying the entrance to an oasis. The resistance group with them led them directly to it. It was dim out, but even as Dael neared, she was able to see enough to spot a few herd animals being tended to by nomadic shepherds. She wasn't familiar with each individual tribe in the desert, but she immediately assumed she was looking at a member of the Dujhanti. As they grew closer yet, they began to spot tents pitched on the other side, indicating an encampment. Soon after, they passed in through the trees.

On entering, a few hooded lamps, some electric, some using more "traditional" fuel illuminated the area to reveal that a number of desert chocoboes and wagons had been hidden there. Although it was a bit off putting to the more "traditional" Esthar's Hawks, Dael had already gone through similar situations before, and she knew full well that, to a Sybenian, "all nomads are alike". Even a large group moving in disguised as conventional nomads, provided they moved slowly enough and were far enough apart, would suffice. Jalab was even able to act as an additional interpreter. After about forty-five minutes of preparations, in which most of the heavier gear was loaded on the wagons and disguised with canvas and tent-cloth, everyone else disguised themselves in native outer clothing and mounted up. Soon, the group was off again.

Although the "walking" part of the trip was over, the rest of the journey still took a while. If they remained at a slow gait, it would have taken over a week to get where they needed to go. However, one of the Dujhanti took the lead as a guide, and Jalab himself was pretty good at keeping an eye out in the desert as well. They made sure to walk slow and at a more "leisurely" pace every time they neared at outpost, patrol, or even, at one point, a tank convoy…but the rest of the time they spurred the chocoboes into a rapid trot. The natives seemed to know just the right speed and capability to maximize the efficiency of the animals, and made two "water break" stops en route. Dawn broke, the sun rose high, and then began to lower once again, but they maintained their good pace and encountered no problems. Eventually, the number of sentries and outposts thinned out further, enabling them to keep up a good pace for an even longer time.

Later in the day, with the sun turning the sky yellow, Dael herself getting sore on the back of her chocobo, and twenty minutes having gone by without a sentry as they went into the hottest and driest parts of the desert…something arose ahead. Venturing a bit further revealed it to be an oasis, but a much larger one than before. This one was not only thick with trees, but actually had enough water to be visible. Another native encampment was there, complete with their herds and numerous tents pitched around it. However, Dael automatically noticed as they arrived that the number of people there was very few in number…too little for all the tents. Most of them seemed concerned with light herding work and keeping the tents upright. She realized on seeing this that the camping ground was almost entirely pure deception.

The caravan descended the valley toward the oasis and pulled inside. Dael immediately took note of how much cooler and shadier it was inside. Just as the nights had grown cooler, the days had grown much hotter, after all. She was relieved to be under the branches. Inside, she soon saw a more unusual sight. Rather than seeing nomadic people (although there were a few), the majority of individuals there were Order of Hyne members as well as quite a few Garrado soldiers. Some civilian fighters were mixed in with them now. All of them looked rather tired and dirty, as well as tanned from having been in the desert for so long. However, they also seemed to still have a fire in them. Perhaps they realized, as well as the others did, that their efforts were not being in vain. By being a constant thorn in the side of Sybenia, they had caused a constant drain on manpower and resources, and now their work was bearing fruit.

Dael and the others dismounted once all were inside. The leader of the group continued to bear them onward. A bit further in, within a grove of the trees, were the supply tents. There weren't many of them, but the few that were there were loaded with munitions and equipment, likely everything they had managed to raid in the desert as well as take from the city. There was a larger tent in their midst, but all of them were the military issue kind rather than the traditional nomadic pavilions. There were also a pair of individuals waiting for them.

General Zeus looked rather haggard since she had seen him last. He had a rather nasty scar that looked rather fresh across one cheek going down to his chin, but at least he was still standing. Sorceress Veriguno stood nearby…still every bit the mountain of a woman Dael had seen last. She was mostly dressed in desert attire to enhance mobility, and her face was still stoic and silent. However, her sheer form radiated power and confidence. There was no doubt that much of the undiminished enthusiasm came from her.

Although Dael and the rest of the captains had taken the lead at this point, Jalab pulled ahead and walked past them using his large stride. He came before Veriguno first, and dropped into a kneel before her. Only when that happened did she smile and nod to him, beckoning him to rise. Once up, they exchanged greetings in their native language, before he shifted and moved to her side. Dael knew this didn't mean he was leaving the group…just 'taking up his mantle' of Sorceress Knight while with her. Zeus ignored almost all of this, focusing on the captains. When they arrived soon after, Dael and the other captains saluted him. Afterward, Dael turned to Veriguno and gave an additional bow, which she returned. The other captains hesitated a moment, before looking to her and giving her smaller head bows…which were returned only with a nod.

"Glad to see that you all made it, captains." The general stated after a moment. "To be honest, we're quite glad for whatever reinforcements Esthar is able to provide. Maintaining the insurgency has not been easy, regardless of what reports might lead you to believe. The Guiding Hand doesn't pride itself on sparing civilians or ignoring targets to eliminate groups. And while being aggressive at first only started to bring more insurgents to our cause, it started taking its toll in keeping others from uprising." He exhaled. "Anyway, enough about that. I wish I could say we could afford to rest here longer, but I'm rather eager to get the operations underway in just a few hours as they'll take time to complete. Speed is going to be of the essence. So if you will all have your men set themselves up for a few hours of sleep, I'll have you all follow me inside and get to work telling you the situation at hand."

About ten minutes later, and Dael was the only member of her group other than Jalab within the tent. Much as back at the temporary base that had been in the ice rink, a table was set up with a large map on top of it. However, this one didn't show Garrado at all. Its focus was entirely on the Pallas Desert, with, above it, Sybenia itself, including all the city-states it assimilated as well as the grounds all the way to the main capitol. There were several figurines on it to point out where the main armed forces were, and Dael was more than a little unsettled to see there were still quite a few, and even more to spare that were massing near the border. Aside from her, the general, Lady Veriguno, Jalab, and the other captains were the only ones present. The general proceeded to gesture to the massing points.

"While the navy attempts to tighten its blockade, the troops gather en masse to prepare for the surge. At the moment, they're doing it all on the northern border of the desert as opposed to letting out a few divisions at a time to mass further to the south. You can thank Lady Veriguno and the native tribes of Pallas for that. They've been conducting harassing maneuvers that have made it suicide for Sybenia to spread itself too thin while in the desert and have seized control of every water hole. Each time they manage to gather their strength to take one, the natives exploit their weakness to take back two more. And the more ruthless they become, the more tribes ally to our cause. The strategy won't last forever…but it's enough to keep them using their current strategy."

He indicated a line to the south. "Based on what we could gather, Sybenia intends to try and move the surge at once across the desert, in a convoy too heavily guarded and manned to be taken. However, even they're not fully equipped to get the entire group over on foot in one pathway, and it remains to high of a barrier to try and cross. To try and speed up the deployment of the surge. Half of them are going to go across via a rail system they were building ever since they began the invasion. Its position is from this city-state…" He traced his finger. "…all the way down to here. Currently they've having a work train move across it to make sure its set. Once it's finished, they'll be able to teleport not only the surge, but also a steady stream of munitions. Since they're using armored military trains, the route is 'ambush proof' for the natives of Pallas."

His finger shifted to the coast. "The other half is moving by sea. Sybenia just finished rebuilding the Garrado main city port that they secured three weeks ago. So long as the blockade is 'knuckling up', they plan to use it as a screen to allow free transport of munitions and goods along the coast. The transports they're preparing are being concealed in a shipyard they erected when they seized this territory, since usually they can rely on more 'conventional' shipyards that aren't blatant targets for enemy militaries to construct them."

His hand moved again to gesture to a large area. "Finally…Sybenia has decided to eliminate a great deal of the problem of feeding the troops and ensuring freshness and storage of goods by simply utilizing the natural 'Garrado breadbasket'. The first early harvests will be soon, and, in anticipation, they're already scheduling redeployment of most of their perishable goods to the other troop massing…namely the ones planning to invade the southern continent."

The general removed his hands and folded them. "These three areas…all classified and utilizing secrecy as their greatest advantage. We know that because they've not only hired a great deal of civilian contractors, but are relying more on common citizens both from the city states and Garrado as well as from Sybenia itself to handle the construction work and harvesting. To be able to maintain the illusion of secrecy, they are heavily guarded…but not nearly as high security as other targets that they would have us believe as more 'important'. The plan that I have in mind, and that Lady Veriguno has both endorsed and encouraged, is to conduct a 'triple strike'. Three separate covert strikes…one to destroy the rail system, one to destroy the shipyard, and one to destroy the fields."

Dael reacted slightly to hearing this, although she managed to keep it concealed for the most part.

"Naturally, the rail system can be taken out easily enough, but a simple strike will be easily repaired." The general continued. "For that reason…we want to utilize one of the armored 'leader' trains idling right here…" He indicated to the map, to both tear up most of the track as well as to detonate at the end at the bridge across this unstable ground here to set them back for months. The shipyard is more heavily guarded but was constructed using mostly mobile docks. We have explosives to deal with that. Finally, there's the fields themselves. The best method is to use incineration…and soon. We've had a dry spell, but we're scheduled to get rain within the next few days, so we can't afford to wait long.

"For this to have the maximum effect, all strikes will happen more or less simultaneously and all must succeed without anyone able to make an accurate report of the attack. The result will be Sybenia thrown into chaos, not knowing if an invasion is coming or not. We believe most of the resources will be directed to the south, and the surges will be broken up. As a result, certain openings and weaknesses will be created, even in mighty 'Fortress Sybenia'. From that point on, we go to the next phase. It's important to get in and out. We'll be using the confusion not only to cause the troop reorganization, but we'll also be moving in, hopefully relocating in Dellgame, which has a small assembly of sympathizers that will give us a much clearer access to attacking the capitol itself for the 'main' purpose of this war. Are there any questions before we start going into the details?"

No one said a word, including Dael.

The man gave a nod. "Alright, first things first. Group assignments." With that, and a bit to her surprise, the man looked straight at Dael. "Captain Levinson, Lady Veriguno has told me your task force is made up of exceptional individuals, so for this first phase…I have a bit of a request."

* * *

><p>The group received a bit of special consideration, which Dael almost wished they could have done without. It caused more undue attention. By now, everyone in the Esthar's Hawk group had realized she was not only a full-fledged captain, but also not even 20. That was enough to cause more than a few stares. The last time an officer had been ranked that high dated all the way back to prior to the Collapse, when the records mentioned the infamous General Celes Chere was only 18 at the time she was conducting military operations. Yet what made the situation a bit worse was that Lady Veriguno, via Jalab, conveyed the message that she would allow the group to room in her own pavilion.<p>

It may not have been a "five star hotel", but it was a lot better than what most people were getting. With the native décor, mattresses, covers, and amenities…it was rather quaint and peaceful compared to the basic, rigid style of the military tents. Ceja, on her part, turned almost as red as a beet when they were invited, and was awed to step inside. She was used to living in a tent, but the advanced state of Esthar had left her confused and ill at ease. This tent, on the other hand, was what she was used to…and more of a luxury item. She seemed flattered to even be there.

Unfortunately, when everyone had come in and began to settle in, Dael's revelation caused a bit of unease.

"You broke us up?" Carbuncle asked, as he had caused a number of stares and, as a result, Dael had chosen to exclude him from the meeting. He was sore about that enough before…but even more now. "How could you do that?! We're birds of a feather!"

"It's not like we're going to be broken up for the main mission." Dael responded. "We'll reunite for that. Just for these operations. General Zeus and Lady Veriguno both agreed it was best that we split our strengths evenly among everyone. Each group consists of forty units already, a combination of Esthar's Hawks, Garrado soldiers, and Order of Hyne members. Rather than having all ten of us 'weigh' on one of them, it was better to split our strengths. Let's be honest, everyone. Our group alone infiltrated that facility on Leuco, which is something this entire assembly might not have been able to do. It's better if we divide ourselves up for this."

Quaren exhaled and gave a shrug. "The captain makes a good point. I mean, we did pretty good in two groups last time."

Cryder gave a snort. "So long as you don't count-"

The pirate was cut off as Dael gave him a glare that could cut paper. He immediately froze, his eyes drifting to one side of the tent…where Cid had barely begun to settle in. Immediately, he moistened his lips a bit, quickly shifted his mentality, and looked to the Sorceress Knight.

"…What I meant to say was how you're holdin' up over there, mate. You think you could do this mission?"

The engineer set down with what he was doing, exhaled a bit, and then looked up. A bit more resolve went into his eyes. "…I'm not going to pretend I can just throw this aside in a few days…but Lady Faerio kept telling me again and again that people are counting on me. People in Esthar, people in the Order of Hyne, and people right here. So yeah…I'm in." He paused a moment. "…I just want to do the rails. I think that has the least chance of me causing any collateral damage."

"I've got no objections." Dael answered. "Anyone else?"

Cryder gave a shrug. "Spent most of my life bein' a pirate…haven't really tried train robbery. What the heck?"

"I am good with desert." Jalab responded. "Better to attack rails."

"I think I'll stick with the shipyard, captain." Quaren answered. "We're going to need a lot of 'demolition' for that mission, and I'm still the best with explosives."

"And I am willing to ruin more of those metal beasts myself." Ceja added. "I might be necessary if a machine has him trapped or he needs a fast escape."

He grimaced a bit in response, since the comment indicated a lack of confidence. "…You're too kind, Ceja."

"Heavier spell seem to work good at destroying heavily fortified areas in a hurry, so I suppose I'm in as well." Taraketh added. After saying that, however, he looked to Dael. "…It seems regardless of our mission, Dael, you always seem to be paired with Lord Bahamut."

The young officer paused for a moment, before merely giving a half chuckle and a shrug. "Hey…we do pretty good together. After all, he's the one who taught me a few new moves, not the other way around. I think we could do a pretty decent job just by ourselves."

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver over here?" Carbuncle snapped. "I'm heading out too, and the reason I'm always stuck with her is because she gets into more trouble than the rest of you, and she recognizes my greatness unlike most humans."

Dael gave a faint smile at that, but no other response, and then looked back to the others. "…I guess that settles how we're divided up. From what I understand, it'll take two days for everyone to get out to their points with their units. Then we launch the strike, and reconvene in two more days within Dellgame. From there…we get ready to make the move on Sybenia itself. It seems you were right, Cryder. I think the Black Corsairs are going to be the ones causing the final 'opening'."

She paused after saying this, her face falling a bit.

"I'm going to be honest, I'm more than a little nervous for the operation. You haven't seen what they've turned Sybenia into. If it was any more armored up, I'd swear the entire city was a battleship of some kind."

"All they need to do is cause a distraction, right?" Cryder answered with a grin. "No problem for the commodore."

"I'm not so sure. I'm a bit nervous after our last operation." Taraketh responded. "They 'took the bait', so to speak…but only because they claimed they wanted us in there in the first place. Now we're doing yet another 'distraction move'. You all know the old adage, right? 'Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice…'"

"That's true, but I think that's part of the idea this time." Quaren interjected. "After that triple strike, they'll assume that the people in the desert are going to launch a raid of some kind. They may even think Esthar is going to help. But if we're already in Dellgame when the attack launches, then we'll already be 'behind enemy lines'." He shrugged. "There's also something to be said about going for the most well-defended spot…"

"Yeah…" Cryder murmured a bit in response. "Namely, your attacker would be a suicidal oaf if they tried to go for it, so don't bother defending it."

Quaren grimaced a bit. "…More or less, yeah."

"You can't kill a Zaghnol quickly by hacking its limbs or side." Ceja responded flatly. "You have to go for the head regardless of the tusks."

"You ever notice almost everything you say has to do with trying to get yourself torn apart by something big and nasty?" The corporal muttered in response.

Dael shook her head. "Anyway…after what happened in Leuco, even more 'conventional' missions like this one, especially so close to Sybenia, are reasons to be nervous. I have no idea when some Hound is going to pop out like a TV show cartoon villain saying 'you've fallen right into my trap yet again'. On that note, let's all get some rest and get these finished quickly. We've got an early start tomorrow."

The others agreed, and resumed starting to get their things out again. Dael was already almost set in. In spite of her mentality that she was a strong, disciplined soldier…she had to admit the bedding materials that Veriguno had provided them with, even if they were simplistic and portable, were warmer and more comfortable than the standard issue from Esthar's military. She tried to push that out of her head. The last thing she needed was to be curled up and snoozing when it was time to get up tomorrow. That would make a _real_ good first impression as her first mission as a captain.

Yet as she was getting her shoes off, she paused at what she saw. There was one person not getting into bed mat. Bahamut was staring out, once again having the stare of being deep in thought.

Dael paused, but then looked up to him. "Bahamut…are you alright?"

He didn't answer immediately at first.

This, however, only made the woman's brow crease a bit. "…Bahamut, after your last revelation, I'd prefer if you told me what's on your mind, even if it's only a suspicion, rather than waiting a couple days first."

The boy paused for a moment longer, and shook his head.

"…It's nothing this time, I think." He finally answered. "I was just wondering about our mission."

"What about it?"

"We're supposed to be burning crop fields, Dael. Big ones, I take it. Probably the mass-production fields that Garrado uses to generate most of his economic revenue. I mean…they call this place the breadbasket of the entire Western Continent, right? And it supplies a lot of food elsewhere too, yes? Even Esthar is seeing a bit of a shortage ever since Sybenia took it over, although not as bad as over here."

Dael, and a few others listening in, gave pause. "Well, yes. That's why it's going to be such a blow to Sybenia. The only way they'll be able to get food in Garrado now is by transporting it from their main city. And without the rail system, that will take days and be subject to spoilage."

Bahamut looked plainly back at her.

"…What about the people who live in Garrado and depend on food, Dael?"

The woman hesitated on hearing that. Not only her, but the others listening in, and soon everyone else. They stared back at Bahamut silently for a moment.

However…no answer came to her mind, or anyone else's.

* * *

><p><em>Two Days Later<em>

* * *

><p>Cid still wasn't feeling too well…but, it was like Faerio kept telling him. She needed him, and so did the others. And although he wasn't ready for it yet…he couldn't just spend the rest of his life hating himself if he was going to be of use. The war was winding down to a close, whether he liked it or not. People needed him. Dael and his friends needed him.<p>

Although, when he was calm enough and thought about it, he realized he was a little surprised. He and Jalab were the "Sorceress Knights"…the "heavy hitters". One would think they would do better split up among others rather than together. There was a time when that was true. But now…both of them were put in one group together. He had to admit…their team had "gone far". Cid never put as much stock in the "top ten warrior" lists as Dael did, but he had little doubt most of their group was on the list by now. Each one of them could probably be a Sorceress Knight in their own right in terms of strength and power. Besides…he was definitely a bit "less than expected" when it came to the role of Sorceress Knight, so he kind of had the opinion that they were a lot more than strength along would get them.

It was because of that, that he knew the group meant so much to them, that he knew he couldn't let them down. Hence…he was on this mission.

He was probably in the "lucky" group. Well…either his group or the one going after the shipyard. They were at least to the north, and it would be easier for them to get to Dellgame after this was said and done. Even so, getting there had been a bit of a stretch. Cid wasn't exactly a military man, and with neither Quaren nor Dael to "show him how", he had to wing it for the most part. Cryder definitely wasn't a help, and Jalab had enough confidence to pretty much "do his own thing". Yet at least he fit in more with the natives. He seemed more at home here, especially after Veriguno had wished him well when they departed. But Cid, who considered himself almost more an amateur engineer than a Sorceress Knight…and definitely more than an Order of Hyne member…had a harder time surrounded by soldiers who were far less "lax" about the rules than Dael.

Bright and early…well, early at least, for the sun wasn't even up, the group took off across the desert for their deployment. Although they were only a day away, it didn't hurt to get into position in advance, especially if something went wrong. Once again, they used desert chocobos. Cid and the others could thank Lady Veriguno for that. Thanks to her relationships with the natives, they had access to more than enough for everyone. And Sybenia had long since started ignoring most trails. Not to mention they didn't have one brain among them to recognize the difference between tracks of a nomadic tribe and tracks of a team of riders racing across the desert. Plus, the natives and Garrado soldiers knew how to avoid the Sybenian patrols. This part of the desert was considered too hostile and intractable for the main forces, allowing them to move fairly at will.

Nevertheless, they were only able to cross until about noon before the group had to dismount. The chocobos were sent back along with a few guides, while everyone else continued on foot. By now, everyone had switched to desert camouflage, and Cid was no exception although he found it a bit constraining and unusual. Cryder himself added his own "flair", although he also did the rather unwise move of bringing a bottle of whiskey along for the ride. He didn't seem to get dehydrated, however. Jalab was, of course, in his element. He didn't mind the heat, even when the sand was burning hot and everyone else, even the seasoned veterans, had broken open their own canteens.

Moving on foot was slower, but necessary. The Sybenians began to grow thick again, and move vigilant. The desert didn't exactly offer a great deal of cover, either. They had to stick to the larger dunes, as well as have one man going on ahead, masquerading as one of the "loners" of the desert while, in truth, keeping an eye out for the enemy. Using him, they were able to move until, after dark and a few hours had passed, and Cid had gone from frying to freezing, they found a series of rocks poking out just slightly from the sands mounded around them. The group settled down once there, but only for a few hours.

It was still rather dry despite being cold, yet Cid, who forced himself to ration his water like everyone else, couldn't help but gape as Cryder tipped off more of his whiskey with apparently no ill effect.

"…How aren't you dying of thirst?"

After wiping his mouth and giving a belch, the pirate turned to him with a grin. "Pirate, mate. I think at this point too much water would be what would kill me."

Cid merely groaned as he tried to moisten his own lips.

The rest didn't last long. Jalab actually took the lead himself in taking them the last bit of the way. They moved more slowly and cautiously than ever, and they constantly checked the wind. Cid asked about this, only to discover that more sandstorms had been popping up lately, and at the wrong time of year. This, naturally, made both him and Cryder uneasy, as they both knew about the current weather changes in the world. However, the pirate reassured him that it also meant his geomancy would pack that much more punch. At any rate, toward the end of it, everyone practically went flat as they went through the last few dunes, and finally to one in particular.

At that point, the captain of the Esthar's Hawk unit went forward, beckoning only a handful to come with him. Jalab also came up at that point, and motioned for Cid and Cryder to follow him. The sand was cooler now, so they had an easier time climbing to the top of the dune and looking out. Cid himself saw only a thin line far away at first with black objects moving alongside it, but as the other military men brought out binoculars, he deployed one of his own scopes, which provided even better resolution than what they were using, and surveyed the area.

On turning it up, he soon saw the rail. It was definitely not for civilian usage. The military types actually ran on adjacent tracks to handle larger trains…including ones that utilized heavy cannon. At the moment, the track was being unused, and still looked freshly laid. However, Cid was more uncomfortable at what he saw rolling alongside it…what those black dots had been.

If it would be possible to condense an entire _Samurai-_Class Battleship into a tiny package, yet still make it retain all of its guns, it might look a lot like one of the Adamantoise Rex tanks. The heaviest and most advanced tank that Sybenia had every produced, it looked less like a tank and more like a mobile hunk of thick metal with guns protruding from everywhere. It was a sight to behold. Even an entire division of Esthar's Hawks mixed in with Order of Hyne members looked like ants compared to it. It was twice the size of a normal Adamantoise tank, after all. And there were at least four of them here, all in range of one another.

After surveying it for a moment, the entire group leaned back and looked to each other momentarily.

"Adamantoise Rexes might be slow, but just one of them is enough to cause us a lot of trouble." Cid pointed out to the captain. He looked over to Jalab. "Sir Tierras, can you take them out?"

"All power for one." Jalab answered grimly. "Minute or so for each. Your machines?"

Cid shook his head with a grimace. "I've still only got the two cores for an Atomic Hammer, but to use that I'd still have to get close enough. That'd only take care of two."

"Two isn't enough." The captain interjected. "We have eight more about seven miles away, guarding one half of the bridge. That's the main target."

"So why we scoping this bit of the country, mate?" Cryder asked.

The captain didn't seem to care much for the pirate's casual tone…but, to be honest, he looked a bit unhappy with how "unconventional" the two Sorceress Knights were as well. "Because we can't even make the strike until tomorrow night, and the heaviest hit will be here. We need to stop the armored train right here, and cause enough of a bang to lure out those guarding the bridge. After that, we use a second team to blow it as well as two other spots on the track. Combined with this train going under…the mission will be a complete success."

Cryder paused on hearing all of this. He held up his fingers and quickly did a few calculations. "…By my count, mate, that means four separate hits when we've got a little over thirty men between us. Not much in the way of good odds, and I didn't even do well in math."

"Fifteen, or three groups of five, will handle the demolition." The captain explained. "The remaining seventeen will actually conduct the strike."

"Well…we might have the bombs for it, but it's not like they're going to let us get close enough to set them up." Cid responded. "Those things have infrared on them and this is the middle of a desert. We'll stand out like a sore thumb." He looked again to Jalab. "Did Lady Veriguno make sure anything 'big' went along to give us an advantage?"

Jalab looked back to Cid. He held for a moment, and then gave an attempt at a shrug, mostly out of mimicking "modern society". "Us." He answered.

"Sir Tierras is right." The captain responded. "General Zeus and Lady Veriguno seemed to think you three could get us out of any unexpected difficulty."

Cryder grimaced. "I feel so important…" He looked over to Cid and exhaled. "Alright, mate…time to put up or shut up."

He looked to him and blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"You're the tech genius, lad. You're the one who has to figure out how seventeen flesh and bone, psychotic, sorry sons of bitches are supposed to deal with twelve of these tanks and a train with enough payload to launch an assault on a city."

Cid hesitated, giving a visible swallow at that.

"Actually…probably more if we aren't fast enough. Alarms and alerts and all that rot." Cryder added with a shrug.

The engineer exhaled. He turned his gaze back down to the tracks, and was silent momentarily.

"We have armor piercers. Even a some guns with anti-tank capability." The captain threw in. "Not to mention some magic and those Guardian Forces you three have under your command."

Cid merely frowned and shook his head. "Unless the shooters know exactly where to hit it, it's not going to do any good. These things are plated even more than the Adamantoise tanks. If even Sir Tierras can't destroy more than one at a time with a direct hit, then that means only a combination of high level spells would work. I don't think any of the mages are high enough level to do that…and we can only summon a couple of the advanced Guardian Forces before we won't have enough spiritual stamina to do it anymore."

"How about mortars?" Cryder asked. "We've got a couple of those. RPGs?"

Cid continued to shake his head. "None of those are heavy duty enough. We need artillery of our own. Heck, a _tank_ of our own. The strongest explosives we have are all plastique based and we can't just run around setting them in the heat of battle and not get shot."

"Well, we don't exactly have a whole lot of choice in the matter, mate. And I don't have a tank shoved down in my pants." Cryder answered. "We have to make do with what we got. Besides…it's not like if we had a tank they wouldn't just blow it away on the first shot."

Cid hesitated for a moment, thinking about what could be done.

Suddenly, his eyes opened a bit, and he looked to the captain again. "…About how close can we sneak in to those?"

"Good enough for an ambush, though we don't want to get in the infrared region." The captain answered. "Enough to start shooting, at any rate."

Cid looked to Cryder next. "You said you could make a really big sandstorm, right?"

"Of course, but I don't think Sybenia is dumb enough to not 'desert-proof' those big tanks down there." The pirate answered. "I'm not going to be able to clog the gears, if that's what you're asking."

Cid shook his head. "I don't need that. Just a big sandstorm."

Cryder raised an eyebrow. "…You think they're going to get out of the tank just so I can give them an old fashioned sandblasting?"

"Not that either." The Sorceress Knight answered. "But I think I got an idea if we can set everything up…"

* * *

><p>To the tanks guarding the track, the rest of the night passed, and the next day was pretty much the same…quiet. There was no sign of any activity, but, at this point, the tanks were on such high alert they were ordered to fire warning shots if even the nomads got too close. The rail was nearly ready to begin operation, and considering the importance of the upcoming surge, the entire line was supposed to be secure. Nevertheless, there was no sign of anything all day…at least nothing that could be considered out of the ordinary enough to be a real threat.<p>

Night fell again, and still no sign of any trouble. Soon after, the transmission came in that the final "plow train", designed to so the finishing touches to the track by rolling over them, was beginning to come in. When that happened, the tanks all locked position and armed the guns. In addition to the main turret, which had the larger main barrel, able to be longer than most due to the extra size of the tank, and two smaller artillery weapons yet both large enough to mount on most tanks alone, there were several side cannons and anti-tank artillery on either side, mounted in the midst of the treads.

As they locked into position, the sounds of a train chugging began to become audible. From a distance, it sounded just like a conventional train. Yet as it drew nearer, the noise rapidly transcended that of any engine that had ever run on coal or oil. A bit further yet, and the noise became more akin to that of a warship engine. Around that time, the tops of the train began to grow visible over the dunes. It advanced much slower than any freight train, naturally, as part of its role of flattening the tracks. It was moving practically at walking speed, and it was almost an entire hour before it finally passed the dunes and began to roll into the area.

It was definitely like no conventional train anyone in Esthar would be used to. It was very well armored and the wheels completely covered with plating, save for the contact points with the tracks near the bottom. It was around four stories tall all together. It was dirty and grimy as well, with what appeared to be a large "plow head" on the front of it, but was in actuality part of the array that pressed the tracks down into locking position. Indeed, as it rolled along, a constant clicking came for from everywhere the front of the train passed. There was quarters for all of the rail workers as well who were in charge of doing the final tap down, and a few of them were actually moving alongside the track at the moment, watching it as the train moved along. In spite of being "on the same side", they all walked somewhat nervously around the large tanks. However, the train itself probably commanded the greatest sight of all, in the form of four "mortar" turrets that resembled large, "snub-nosed" cannons…and a rather large one that spanned two full sized train cars when at rest. However, it was up at the moment. With a four-foot diameter barrel, it was easily an intimidating sight. Normally reserved for urban combat and with enough firepower in each shell to shatter a skyscraper, command had decided to go ahead and attach it to the train as a "deterrent" for the natives. After all, they may have only had a few firearms among them…but they knew full well what they were.

The train gradually cleared the dunes and rolled fully into the plain region. The track straightened, making a direct path toward the bridge several miles still ahead. The tanks remained stationed, and the air was abuzz with radio contact, both among the people as well as the tanks. Word was sent ahead to the eight patrolling the bridge to be on stand-by in case they were needed, although it seemed more likely that it would be the eight that would need assistance if anything, since that was the more sensitive area. After clearing, the train went about a half mile more…before a new signal started to circulate on the group.

The barometer was changing rapidly…almost inconceivably, even for those who were familiar with the desert. But it didn't raise too many heads. After all, these had been occurring more irregularly and frequently as of late. Everyone who had worked in Pallas long enough already knew what it meant…a sandstorm.

A general alarm was blared as the massive locomotive ground to a halt. Designed for desert travel, there was very little modifications to make. As a dark cloud on the horizon began to grow thick and blotted out the stars, the workers on the ground quickly began to pile back into the train. As soon as all were in, the doors were sealed, just as the wind began to sharply pick up. The tanks themselves remained in their current position, but quickly made preparations to lock down and seal up as well. The whole convoy was ready as half the sky turned dark…and, moments later, it struck.

The storm was quite a bit thicker than the previous ones, although it didn't truly matter as no one would bother looking out exposed at a storm raging like that. It would be impossible to see. However, there were scopes both on the tanks as well as the train, and they picked up nothing. The billowing sand pretty much made a good "screen" for everything.

However, as the sand snapped past and swept over everything, the commanding officers on both the tanks and the trains made note of something rather unusual. Apparently, neither tank group posted before or after the train knew anything about the sandstorm. In fact…they weren't even seeing it far enough in the sky to register it happening at a distance…

Yet before any inquiry could be made on this, something happened.

About two or three minutes into the sandstorm, shots streaked out from within the sand, striking two of the Adamantoise Rex tanks directly while a large artillery shell erupted out of nowhere and pierced the side of the plow train, obliterating the armored plating and shredding one of the main wheels of the engine.

At once, the alarm went off, both on warning systems as well as men simply pulling the levers. It was an ambush, obviously…and so the tanks, through the midst of the storm, tried to find a target. But even then, the people crewing the tanks realized how insane that was. There had clearly been nobody coming straight at them in an armored vehicle, but if someone had been hiding out there, how could they see through the storm accurately enough to hit anyone? But the shots were indeed accurate. One of the anti-tank shells had disabled one of the tanks, and the other one had half of its guns taken out by a shot that set off a chain reaction, obliterating half of it and leaving it with little more than the main turret.

Despite the storm, the plow train was ordered to move while the soldiers stationed on board loaded up. The smaller "snub-nosed" turrets came on line and tried to find a target. However, the sandstorm was still raging…and moments later another shot, this one of even heavier artillery, pierced through another wheel (exploiting the dented armor), and blasted clear through to the other side, offlining a second one. Not only that, but a smaller artillery shell hit one of the turrets. Yet another direct hit…and another weapon down.

By now, radio reports were being yelled that they were being attacked by unknown assailants who obviously had heavy artillery. The eight tanks stationed at the bridge immediately began to take off, although three hovering "sentry drones" were left in their wake in case this was a diversion. Yet they were still a ways off. With only three tanks still active, the orders were barked to start using the software involved in targeting to try and triangulate the source and fire on that, believing some sort of artillery had to be getting used.

Yet as if on cue…the sandstorm suddenly ceased, almost more abruptly than how it had arisen. The two and a half tanks were again revealed, as well as the smoldering, slightly flaming, damaged engine and the ruined turret. The remaining forces were left to look into the desert…and saw nothing. No signs of any exposed turrets or artillery barrels. Not even any mobile units. Definitely no soldiers. Nothing.

Even as the surviving tanks scanned the horizon, they spotted nothing. The train, now immobilized and not even able to crawl, had little choice but to quickly arm itself. The soldiers on board armored up and deployed, although they hung close to the tanks and the train. Someone had artillery out there, apparently good enough to attack the Adamantoise Rex tanks, and no one was that eager to become a target. The crippled tank continued to search about with its remaining guns, and used its one intact set of treads to swivel around, thereby allowing the guns to move over the landscape. The only armament not used was the big gun mounted on two cars. It wasn't very good for short range, and had enough power to do just as much damage collaterally if it tried to fire. For the most part…the unit was just trying to hold their ground and wait until the reinforcements arrived.

It took about fifteen minutes, during which most of the soldiers relaxed slightly in spite of the sudden attack out of the blue, but the eight tanks formerly guarding the bridge began to come in. There was greater easing of tensions after that…despite the fact that the people who had been stuck saw no sign of their attacks or where they had come or gone. That would make reinforcements somewhat "superfluous". However, it had been due to the sandstorm they had been hit, and the weather wasn't so irregular yet that another one would just "pop up". The soldiers continued to ease up and even started moving out a bit as the line of tanks kept rolling forward…spreading themselves in a line to sweep the greatest amount of area. Commnad within the engine portion of the plow train began to make contact, asking if they spotted anything. The tank commanders replied that they didn't, and were beginning to relay back to the sentries they had deployed. After fifteen minutes of nothing, they were beginning to wonder if the whole move had been a diversion…

Then, it happened.

Abruptly, the dunes began to rock violently. Large ribbons of sand started to roll down them like snow from an avalanche, and the rest of the soldiers outdoors began to feel the ground surging and heaving. Most of all…the sky seemed to turn a bit darker, despite no more clouds or sand in the air. As the quake grew in intensity, the Sybenians scanned the area for more enemies, but saw nothing man-made causing this. It appeared as if the desert was having an earthquake…and despite having nothing but sand, it rocked everything violently, enough to actually make people fear for their lives.

However, what happened next shocked everyone…as a section of ground broke off, and one of the incoming tanks was driven into the heavens by a force like a cannon. Beneath it was revealed, almost as tall as the tanks themselves, a fearsome-looking minotaur…with a smaller one by its side. The smaller one, further to their amazement, soon seized the larger and, with a mighty throw belying its size, it launched it upward and to the landform-bearing the tank while it was still in the sky and on the way up. On connecting, the rock landform shattered like a dish…and the tank beyond was torn apart.

The remaining seven tanks quickly gunned their throttles, scattering and trying to form a circular formation around this new opponent to fire on him together. Yet two things happened in the next instant that drove the area into more chaos. First, the sky began to turn light again, and the pair of minotaurs, including the one in the air, simply vanished into nothingness as the pieces of debris fell to the ground. Second…two more anti-tank shots rang out, and two of the incoming tanks were destroyed from two perfect hits.

The Sybenians were thrown into a panic. As the commanders realized their unseen opponents were using Guardian Forces against them, the remaining tanks quickly whirled around, already tracking the source of the anti-tank shots and having a location. Yet even as they were trying to aim, a detonator chime went off…and the two tanks that were still capable of moving suddenly ignited into fireballs. This time, there was no shot involved. Some sort of high explosive eliminated both tanks, as well as the soldiers taking refuge near them.

The remaining five tanks tried to turn around and zero in…only for all Hell to break loose. By now, the soldiers were in disarray and panicking from the constant assault of the unseen enemy. One group of soldiers tried to yell something over the sounds of the fire and tanks burning and rolling, but they were soon drowned out by the din, and then cut off as the sand around the area erupted. A group of soldiers sprung out and began to attack, guns firing and soon eliminating most of the ground forces. The others attempted to fall back and dive for cover, and one of the tanks incoming managed to pull into the lead and draw a bead…only for a burning beam of light to shoot out from the sand nearby and slam into it with such force that it punched a hole through half of it, disabling the vehicle, and casting it back with such force that it struck the next one in line, pinning it for a moment. From out of the sand nearby, the image of a monk wielding a gold-colored staff, whistling and twirling and gleaming like a sunbeam, came out.

As both the surviving and able tanks and the turrets moved to try and counter the attackers…they all suddenly slammed down into the sand again. The reason became clear a moment later as one of them, wielding a cutlass and loose clothing, swung his sword around his head…and immediately a violent whirlwind came around him and swept sand over everything. In moments, the same raging sandstorm as before began to pound the train and the surviving "half" tank. The soldiers were soon pelted and forced to dive for cover who already hadn't made it back into the train. Yet there was still little reprieve, for artillery shells again shot out through the sand and landed on the train itself, disabling two more turrets before they ever had a chance to fire themselves. The remaining one began to shoot wildly…for all the good it did. One couldn't even tell where the shells had landed.

The tank that had been pinned began to get free to join the other survivors, but they still had a problem remaining. The monk rose again from the sand, and this time split into ten flaming images of himself, which began to dance around all four tanks. The drivers and commanders were dumbfounded. Not one of them stayed still long enough to shoot. However, the images were not mere illusions either, for every so often a fist, a foot, or an end of a staff would shoot out and blunt one of the guns. Although the main barrels on the turret remained intact, all other guns were quickly being disabled one at a time. One tank was unfortunately foolish enough to panic and try and shoot after the barrel had been bent…and a moment later that tank too was disabled.

The sandstorm subsided again, but when it did…all soldiers still on the ground were disabled. The attackers leapt to their feet again and some quickly went for the main part of the train. The others moved on down the track, beginning to pull out plastique. The final turret managed to wheel toward one of them…but just as it fired, the same cutlass-wielding man aimed again at the train…and suddenly the sands beneath the turret cars turned soupy and bog-like…going from firm to quicksand. It was so abrupt that the cars bent inward at the junction…and the shell went high, wide and outside. A moment later, an anti-tank shell streaked out and took it out all together.

Finally, at this point, with little resistance left and most of the tanks smoldering ruins…the truth was revealed to all about the location of the enemy cannon fire…as the train commander saw smoke rise from one of the anti-tank barrels of the disabled tank. It had gone rogue. By now, however, there were no means left to deal with it. The only ones who could still fight were the three remaining tanks on the field…and the monk snapped out of his flame and landed behind one just in time to open fire with his "beam cannon" again…reducing the count to two. The other two both already had their rears to him, and all aft guns on both tanks had already been disabled. What more…they had other things to worry about as well. The radio man in either tank revealed that the reason they weren't getting an alert from the hovering sentries that had been deployed is because there wasn't any signal coming from them period. Someone had sprung on them and disabled them as well, and the bridge was likely under assault.

A general alert was immediately sent out in all directions to head for the plow train's location as well as the bridge, but the assault had been so fast and abrupt there was little time to do anything. The disabled tank fired again to open the side of the armored engine as well as to clear the way of any defenders guarding the door, and the assailants stormed inside, guns blazing. Another anti-tank shell streamed out and ignited one of the surviving tanks as it tried to break away, not willing to risk any more upsets. Whoever was at the helm of that tank was a dead-eye when it came to artillery, not ever needing more than one shot.

Finally, the coup d'grace came. As the last tank tried to flee in a serpentine pattern, and the last few soldiers tried to barricade themselves in, hoping to at least stall until reinforcements came…the sky turned dark once again. Soon after, the desert rumbled once more. But no minotaurs came forth this time. Rather, a monstrous Cactuar, extending higher than the train itself burst into the sky, seemed to radiate light for a brief moment, and then descended to the ground again and stiffly angled one of its arms at the train and the other at the tank…before sending out a deadly shower of needles that seemed to ignore all armor, finding every available opening, and piercing through.

Once the gigantic Cactuar vanished, all resistance was finally put down. Reinforcements were en route, both in the form of more tanks as well as ground troops and even aircraft…but the attackers quickly went to work.

* * *

><p>Cid's idea had been simple, but rather effective. It was nearly impossible to be able to sneak in a force to set anything up or even mount a proper opening offense. However, in the midst of a sandstorm, neither visual sighting nor infrared would do much good. Cryder wasn't big enough to cover the whole desert or region, but he was enough to cover the immediate area with a sizable one. Even only lasting two minutes was enough to get to work. They had covert Esthar's Hawks operatives with them, after all, and with the enhanced Cid to guide them…it took less than a minute for their group to pop out, ambush a tank, and seize control before they could get a distress call out over the sandstorm. Following that, to remove suspicion, Cid blew out their own tread as part of the first volley. At the same time, other units planted explosives and detonators on two more of the tanks and hid closer, letting the sand aid in their plot by covering them. After that, the attack pretty much went without a hitch. With both a source of multiple anti-tank guns that was right in their midst, the initial defense collapsed, and the Guardian Forces that were summoned ruined the counterattack.<p>

Eight minutes later, Cid had abandoned what was left of the tank, and quickly ran off with everyone else, moving to flee back into the desert before any of the aircraft showed up. Already over the howling winds…the distant sound of helicopter blades became audible. They'd have to get pretty far and then lay low to ensure they wouldn't be spotted. However, for the moment, they were trying to get away just to stay out of range of the blast. Almost all of the time had been spent setting bombs all up and down the train, on the track, and, ten miles away, at the bridge. Now everyone was pulling out.

However, Cid had one item that made him smile. Per his request, although there had been some argument about it, the worker car had been opened, the people ordered out, told to stand at a distance on their hands and knees, and then left. He wouldn't have to worry about civilians dying this time.

Cryder and Jalab were both on either side of him along with the soldiers as they ran off. "Well…that wasn't too bad now, was it, mates?"

Cid exhaled a bit as he charged over the dunes. "…To be honest…no, no it wasn't. Nice to do something without psycho robots, sadistic Hounds, or any other surprises for once… Anyway, you think the others are alright? That seemed a bit easy, all things considered."

"All you had to do was shoot a cannon, you bilge rat." Cryder retorted. "The big guy over there and me were the ones actually breaking a sweat. You think sandstorms like that get shaken out of my hair?"

"Others do well." Jalab stated as he ran along. "Certain of fact."

Cid snickered. "To think…I used to believe you or me would have to be tagging along with them to keep them out of trouble…"

"Uh…or me, lad. That crew is a magnet for trouble." Cryder threw in…but then snickered. "Then again, so am I…"

"Well…they've got harder tasks…"

"Don't worry about it, mate. After getting out of that facility alive, I'm pretty sure we've got the devil's own luck."

The engineer was about to speak up again…but was cut off. He soon yelped and nearly jumped as the bombs went off behind them. However…it was much louder than he anticipated. Than any of them did, in actuality. They all turned around to see what had been the deal or if something was untoward.

A bit to Cid's puzzlement, the entire train, not just the engine and the track portions, was going up in flame and smoke at the moment. Debris was being scattered everywhere. They themselves were probably still in range if they weren't careful. Absolutely nothing was left. He stared for a bit longer, then looked back to the others. Cryder, on his part, turned around and grimaced.

"…Didn't think they had to go overboard, mate. All they needed was the engine and munitions blown to bits."

Cid shook his head. "Well…nevermind. Let's just start heading north."

* * *

><p>Getting into position hadn't been nearly as easy for Taraketh's group.<p>

They were able to ride most of the way, unlike the ones who went after the train. Even so, they had to hurry. They needed to traverse a distance half as large as theirs and, toward the end, security grew a lot tighter. They had to actually cross a border, after all. Luckily, it seemed as if the resistance members hadn't been idle for even a moment, and had been looking for ways to get them to the appropriate area as soon as possible.

Large as the Sybenian fleet was, they couldn't be everywhere all the time. And although they were guarding the shipyard a bit, their main intention was to make it look as if there wasn't a serious shipyard there in the first place. As a result, the desert chocobos took them to the northeast, but rather than going straight up and trying to avoid border security, the chocobos went straight for the coast. Most of it was rocky, just as before, but it did have narrow breaks in it. Not enough to dock a ship…but enough to get into the water. They had to move fast, riding the chocobos hard the whole way, even more so than when they had first fled the desert when Taraketh had first been paired with Quaren as well as Dael. They actually had to switch off twice to make sure the birds remained "fresh" and they could make it in time. Considering they arrived at night and dropped in one at a time, it was easy to evade the gaze of any distant destroyer which didn't think much about nomadic activities. After that, they swam out to local fishing boats from the coast-dwelling natives, which had done this same routine day in and day out ever since the occupation began, and hitched a ride further north, past the border.

They couldn't make it to port, naturally. The Sybenians weren't dumb enough to have it unwatched and unguarded. They had sentries there to inspect the contents of each boat for smuggling. Hence, the group had to dismount while still quite a ways away and swim to a rougher patch of shore. It was on a rough, rocky incline that was rather sharp…but it was still manageable, especially for the contents of the group. Ceja seemed to clambor up it as if it was nothing more than a ladder. Taraketh had quite a harder time with it, but dare didn't use any form of spell to try and "speed things up". There was no telling how many people were waiting above them, but it was reasonable to assume that Sybenia had put in several shore defenses along the coast in addition to the fleet. Still…the people leading their group seemed to know what they were doing, and after ascending to the top of the rock formation, they advanced freely without encountering any more trouble as they moved inland.

Taraketh couldn't help but grimace as they got away from the coast. By now, they were in one of the city state regions…and it looked horrible. All of the former towns and streets were little more than destroyed ruins. No signs of anyone anywhere…except, of course, more Sybenian soldiers on patrol. Although the ruins weren't "stacked as high" as the ones back in Garrado, they provided a lot of cover at minimum. The country was also rougher with more obstacles and vegetation to act as cover. The group was able to move forward fairly rapidly, in spite of the increased patrols, all night long. By the time the sun came up, they were in town.

They still had a ways to go afterward. They had more cover now. Some of the buildings were at least still standing here, and the occasional citizen, destitute, poor, and miserable-looking, came by as well. In other words, the picture of an occupation following a pitched battle. Perhaps they held on to this particular territory due to the port, trying to secure more time to escape.

To the tell the truth…it tugged a bit at Taraketh himself. Although he was glad he was making a difference, and a big one, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. He had always thought of himself as more of a 'combat' mage, one who was deft both of spell as well as of blade. He wanted to be that so that he could be the best "Sorceress Knight" for Mianyl. And now, his dream looked like it was becoming a reality. After spending a couple days at the side of her ladyship, making the rounds as she rallied support as well as conducted daily affairs, even saw her "getting her hands dirty" using some of her own healing magic…he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of regret. He was skilled at magic himself, and now, thanks to the Guardian Forces, he knew healing spells that most people would never dream of. For the first real time in his life…he almost wished he could carry out more of the "humanitarian" aspect of his duty over the offensive…

After all…a lot of people had died back in Leuco. Yet what made him more uncomfortable about it than anything was the fact that Cid was clearly so devastated about the whole thing, and he was happy about his chance to finally be with Lady Mianyl…

_…And to think, I once accused Sir Boer of being "not the right kind of person" to be a Sorceress Knight...and not even to his face. Clearly, Lady Faerio knows more than I do. She looked to measure him beyond magical ability and adherence to tenets. Even if he relies on tools more than magic…he has more of the true spirit of the Order of Hyne in him than most._

_ For that matter…so does Captain Dael. Perhaps only fate kept her from being a member of the order…_

At any rate, the city sprawled quite a bit, seeming to connect the nearer townships, and with all of the guards stationed in town, for it seemed it was easier to place a heavy guard from land, it took them quite a bit to finally reach the area of the main shipyard. At first, getting to the actual dock was too difficult without alerting anyone. So, instead, the bulk of the force stayed at a distance in radio contact, while a part of them went up a nearby bell tower for an old church, and one of the snipers used that to scan the area ahead to see what they were dealing with.

Forty-five minutes later, with the sun going down again, the sniper returned and explained the situation. Most of the transports were lined up in dock, awaiting use. Given the heavy number of them, it seemed likely that they would soon send them out so they didn't have "all their eggs in one basket", which only served to establish that the timing of this mission was appropriate. Unfortunately, the place seemed to be pretty well guarded. The shipyard was in a man-made "inlet", and two guard towers. The inlet itself was gated, which meant no one was going to be going in there through an underwater route unless they went in directly at the dock itself. The sniper further explained he saw large, unusual shapes floating in the water…likely an aquatic unit utilized by Sybenia to ensure that no one tried to sneak in through the water even if they got past the gate. As far as shoreline defenses, there was a gate leading up to the dock, but the streets were too narrow to move in larger tanks. All they had instead were the smaller personal or two-man ones. They may have only had one big gun on each, but it was more than enough in most cases, especially since ten in all were roaming the docks. In addition to that, they still had conventional soldiers…and a few Aegis Armors. It seemed if they couldn't defend the area with outright firepower, they were going to arm what they had more than before.

"What do you recommend?" The captain asked.

"We've got about four hours before the attack." The sniper answered. "Six snipers with armor-piercing rounds. Station them around the area and eliminate most of the resistance in less than a minute. If we disable the tanks near the front after we're in position, then we'll even blockade any ground forces from coming in easy. We can set people up to make a blockade. Move in, plant the bombs, move out."

Quaren, however, had protested, shaking his head. "It's too easy. If they had a major response, there's also only one escape route for us, and they could trap us in the bay. They can also bring in aircraft from here."

"They aren't going to fire on their own ships, corporal." The captain answered. "And they couldn't very well bomb us without doing that."

"But if their ships are burning anyway, what's the loss?" Ceja answered.

"They won't know that."

"I do not think it is wise to risk it." The warrior answered. "Only herd animals are so foolish to place themselves in this situation."

"Aegis Armors are customizable, sir." Quaren added. "They could have any sort of weapon on them. That might be why they brought them in the first place."

The captain frowned at this point. "We don't have a great deal of time or options to plan an alternate offensive, corporal. Need I remind you, regardless of your status in your own task force, you _are_ a corporal, and you have two civilians with you. We'll proceed with the current plan."

Naturally, that had left Taraketh feeling a little more than sore. When everyone began to move out to get into position for the ambush, he voiced it aloud.

"I agree with Quaren far more than that pig-headed man. He's been in enough dangerous spots to know all about this. For that matter, so have we."

"Why not summon Leviathan and have him destroy the ships in one blow?" Ceja asked.

"We're right on the shore. It would flood half the city…as well as us. We'd never be able to outrun a tsunami. And there are innocents still living here. I don't want any more of them to die if we can avoid it. For that same reason, Pandemona is out of the question. It would kick up waves to the same effect. And being water…Ifrit probably won't be of much use. Perhaps Quetzacoatl would be the best. Or Shiva."

Quaren exhaled. "Well, I'm one of those snipers, which means I'm going to have to be up there. I sure hope I'm just being jumpy…for my own sake. Anyway, they have workers here at all hours, but we're going to hit during the night shift's lunch break. Everyone be ready."

And so, Taraketh found himself close to "showtime" at one of the adjacent buildings to the actual dock area. From here, he could actually look out and see all the freshly made transports, as well as the large machines and railing connected to adjoining buildings, where the dock personnel put out one after another. It had taken him and a group of soldiers a while to get this close, but he was close to the main entrance at this point. In fact, from the narrow window nearby, one could look out and see the actual gate, still being patrolled, and a small tank rolling behind it. From this vantage, Taraketh could hurl a spell at it. That was the intention, to use him as the "heavy" to take out the gate at the start. After that, the other eight soldiers with him would knock out a nearby blacked out window and attack. He was to join them and then hold it long enough to set the bombs, and then withdraw after they blew in the confusion. It wouldn't be easy, but about five minutes from this location was a supply train. Once the bombs went off, they would quickly get it into operation to try and move its contents away as salvage. Their group would quick to it and hitch a ride toward the rendezvous in Dellgame.

He wasn't feeling too comfortable at the moment. He planned to use a fire attack to neutralize the gate. By now, he could make one hot enough to melt the metal, but also the resulting flames would keep others from attacking right away. Yet that would only be after the initial sniper confusion. These smaller tanks were enough to fall prey to armor-piercers, although they would likely have to shoot in key points if they wanted to disable them. The Aegis Armors should also have been vulnerable. In addition, snipers could easily take down the sentries in the towers.

In other words, as Quaren had said, too easy. Taraketh may not have been a military man, but this all looked entirely too clean, considering all of the supposed "luck" they had up until this point. With that in mind, he had resorted to something that he normally didn't care for…wearing one of those earpieces that the rest of the soldiers used. Unlike them, however, he had his turned to a channel just for Quaren and Ceja. If the others were too foolish to listen to them, then he only preferred the company of those who had any sense… He only wished they were nearby. Ceja was in the building across the street, and Quaren had taken his position on the roofs.

Getting a bit impatient, he reached up and felt the earpiece for a moment. He frowned a bit. So many tiny buttons…he didn't see how the soldiers did it. However, he finally felt his, and pressed it. He spoke quietly.

"Anything out of the ordinary, corporal?"

_"Nothing yet." _The young man answered, his voice sounding like he was grimacing on the other end. _"And it's nearly time. We just got the order to pick a target…"_

Taraketh sighed and released the button. He focused out again on the gate, already calling to mind a spell. His power had grown quite a bit, and he knew he could manage a high level one. He did wonder for a moment, however, if he should stick with his "forte" instead and destroy it with an earth-based attack. He shook that out of his mind. Stay to the plan and…

_"…Uh oh."_

Taraketh forgot about his spell in an instant. "Corporal…?"

The radio clicked, and soon shifted to a different transmission, a more general one. _"Captain, I've just spotted something that I think means we need to reconsider the attack right now. Look at the guard towers."_

_ "I see nothing other than relay antennas, corporal. Proceed." _The unimpressed voice answered.

_ "Sir!" _Quaren insisted. _"The relays up there are at least three times as large as ones used for communication and remote activation! They have to be using it to triangulate something in the area!"_

_ "There's only two of them, corporal. They're short one. Prepare to fire on my mark."_

_ "Sir, can we at least take one minute to look for-"_

_ "Take the shots."_

Before any more protest could be made, five sniper bullets shot out. Each rifle was silenced, so even Taraketh couldn't hear any "pft" noises. However, the results were unquestionable. Two of the tanks suddenly lurched to one side, toward the water…signs that the navigation was out or the driver was dead. Yet that was nothing compared to three others. Their fuel cells were hit, and soon half of them erupted and ignited into flame. Apparently, the piercers had enough power to go straight through to them.

Yet just as Taraketh began to concentrate to cast his own spell to fire…something else happened. The various Aegis Armors, in one fluid movement, suddenly snapped out and aimed up right at the source of the firing, and then fired as well. Some sort of glowing stream of light-like smoke…something that the High Child couldn't really describe, erupted from their arms…painting a faint "double-helix" in the sky…before silently hitting the targets. After that, the surviving tanks quickly went active, and began to swivel around, readying their gun barrels while the rest of the soldiers armed their weapons, and the Aegis Armors started to stomp forward and out.

_"Ghost 1, those shots looked like they hit close to you. Are you hit?" _The captain's voice went out. Silence was the result. _"Ghost 1? Do you copy?" _Still nothing. _"Ghost 2? Ghost 3?"_

_"Sir, they've been hit!" _Quaren shouted back. _"Those are triangulation relays out there! They traced the bullets as soon as they were fired! They're using piercing weapons of their own!"_

Suddenly the entire area was rocked as one of the smaller tanks fired…and proceeded to obliterate the wall of one of the buildings. Taraketh snapped to it in surprise…but not nearly as much when another shot went off a moment later…this time much closer. A third shell rocked him the hardest yet and, to his shock, he saw it hit the area where the captain's own unit had been stationed. For a moment, he heard cries of agony and a burst of static from his earpiece…and then it went silent.

The High Child's eyes went wide as he realized the truth. They suspected an attack,and now they were going to level each building to get it. And they just lost their greatest asset against the armored units…

He held only a moment, but then was snapped to attention again as he heard a woman's wrathful voice yell through the headset. It seemed to be struggling a bit at first, however, not really understanding.

_"Accursed device… What are you all hiding for? Attack!"_

He soon heard a fainter voice on the same line. _"They've got five active tanks out there and building piercers! It will be a massacre!"_

_ "So will standing around in here waiting for them to shoot us! Fight on your feet or die in a hole!" _The voice snapped back.

Abruptly, some powerful blow struck one of the weakened brick walls from earlier shellings at the initial invasion, and the entire mass of mortar and clay flew out for the nearest Aegis Armor. The person inside tried to aim at it and shoot, but couldn't before the stone structure slammed down on him, burying him in the building material…assuming it didn't crush him. Instantly, a sonic whistling rang out as the familiar sight of a cutter bone axe flew out and sliced through another hapless Aegis Armor before arching around and burying itself deep in the side of one of the tanks. Moments later, a Fuliet warrior burst out and began to run for it.

The other soldiers and Aegis Armors opened fire on her, but she, in turn, was nimble and lithe, and either ran "serpentine" or even leapt over the nearest shots. Her third leap sent her sailing into the air and landing on one of the armors herself, and she reached out and seized him by the helmet and gave a wrench so powerful it no doubt broke his neck as well as yanked off the helmet. One of the tanks turned to her and fired at that point, but she leapt again, sailed through the air, and landed on the very tank her axe was embedded in. The shell fired where she was, scattering three more conventional soldiers, but missing her.

The woman, who Taraketh knew had to be Ceja, paused to start yanking at her axe, trying to pry it free. However, her opening assault had garnered a lot of attention. The other soldiers quickly moved in. The High Child realized he had to help…especially when he heard the siren go off, meaning they'd soon have more soldiers and weapons coming at them from down the street. He had to act.

He paused only long enough to turn back to the soldiers with him. "You heard what the woman said. Continue the mission."

"We can't get past all of those weapons and artillery out there!" One of the soldiers protested. "We don't have the firepower to take them down!"

"That's why the Sorceress sent me and my friends here…to handle that part." He answered. Without another word, he snapped around, focused, quickly summoned his power, and then spoke in the arcane language. Huge balls of fire suddenly erupted at the gateway to the docks, and the soldiers fled and panicked as the station and bars burst into erupting flame like a raging inferno. Not only did it scatter the nearby troops, but it also served as a distraction. Taking only a moment to exhale one more spell over the others as a barrier, hopefully to deaden the impact…and secretly wishing he was as good at it as Dael…he led the charge himself as he knocked out the window frame charged into the street.

The kusarigama immediately started circling. He knew he didn't have much time to waste. Even as he leapt into the road and ran at the defenders, he was preparing to attack. When soldiers moved to shoot at him, they managed to get off a few shots…but they were wild and he had a barrier to deflect the brunt of them. He felt a bit of pain, but he quickly slashed out with the sickle on his weapon and cut through three of them, then quickly recoiled, whipped his hammer around, and then flung it at an Aegis Armor. At the same time, the armor fired one of those rapid weapons from its own wrist guns, and met the hammer head on. The result managed to deflect the weapon, knocking it to one side. Yet Taraketh wasn't done. Quickly yanking back, he swept it around, using the momentum, twirled it again, and then launched once more while sidestepping. He felt his robe get slashed by the projectile, but his hammer also hit home. Not only that, but he chanted once more, and quickly slammed his hand on the ground.

Ceja, on her part, was being fired at again, but she managed to grunt and rip her axe free just in time to snap it around and use it as a shield against the impacts. When there was a break, she quickly ran to one side, bringing her axe down and slicing through the turret all together to disable it, and then snapped her hands out again, flinging her axe once more at the enemy. This one was only a "short" one…and after cutting through two people, it returned to her as an Aegis Armor jetted toward her. Her head snapped to one side as a fist of metal smashed into it…but she kept her grip on her returned axe and, to the shock of her opponent, snapped her head back around with only a little blood at the corner of her mouth, and swept her axe around to finish him. Soon after, Taraketh's spell went off…and a semi-circle of rock burst out of the ground in all directions, having enough force to send ground troops flying, and upset the aim of the remaining tanks that had a target. Their shots went up into the air and wild instead.

Quaren wasn't sitting idle either. He used the time to draw a bead on the power source to the triangulation relay on the nearest tower and fired a shot. A moment later, and all of the Aegis Armors that were relying on it found their systems malfunctioning. Unfortunately, that wasn't before they found one last target to shoot at as a result of that bullet. Quaren was still quite fast, however. Even as he saw the Aegis Armor turn to him, he opened fire again…and another armor went down. He fired a second time and disabled another. Yet after that, he quickly ran to the very window he was firing out of and leapt out…narrowly missing the other Aegis Armors firing into his location at once. He landed on a sloped roof and began to slide down. Naturally, he was rather tense, being out and in the open, especially when a tank began to turn to aim for him. Luckily, before it could fire, while still sliding a bit down the roof, he started shooting again…and managed to damage the targeting lens. Now at the edge of the roof, he leapt down into a pile of crates and trash below, just as the wild shot from the tank took off half of the second floor.

These efforts were not in vain. Seeing the three holding the enemy force at bay, the other soldiers grew emboldened, and soon joined in. They began to suppress the ground troops and Aegis Armors with fire, and more shots were fired at the tanks. None of them had the power to pierce them, but the harassement maneuvers worked to distract them and keep them from fighting back effectively. The "big three" soon exploited them. Ceja continued to fling her axe out whenever she wasn't using her raw power to chop into metal and flesh alike with it. Taraketh saw one tank move to shoot the soldiers, only to quickly chant an ice spell and aim his hand at it. Moments later, monstrous ice crystals enveloped it and chilled it so much that when it tried to move, ice locked in its gears and workings ripped it apart. Quaren managed to bounce back from the fall due to his junction, and quickly began to circle and continue to fire. He focused most of his attention at the guard towers, trying to eliminate any of them from looking in or using their height advantage, and it seemed to work for the most part. All of this managed to get the demolition groups…or who was left in them…out and start running to the docks. As more defending units began to fall, the edge started to shift in the favor of the group.

Taraketh swung his hammer out around his head and knocked aside more troops, before wheeling on another tank and summoning a fierce gale with his next spell…when he sent right into the tank barrel. It fired in response…only to have the wind power fling the shell right back into the tank and detonate, eliminating another unit. Panting a bit from all of the spells, he looked back to the flaming gate. No one was trying to break through it yet, but he knew more opponents were coming. The siren was continuing to blare. Risking another second, he looked back to the docks, watching as the soldiers ran onto them and began to split up…

And then received another shock.

Something leapt out of the water. Taraketh couldn't make it out at first, and even when he got an idea of the shape, he assumed it was some sort of monster harnessed by Sybenia. It was large and somewhat reminiscent of the sahagin Gill he had seen on Cryder's crew…only this one was larger, bulkier, and seemed to shimmer. It also had glowing red dots for eyes, and had some sort of monstrous dorsal fin as well as thicker forearms. It eventually registered in Taraketh's brain as to what it was…some sort of metal suit like the Aegis Armors. Only this one was allowed to enable submersion.

At any rate, it had to be a new model, for it shocked the soldiers as well. Nevertheless, they began to open fire on the metal suit. Unfortunately it was too large and bulky to be knocked around, and soon raised its arm. Taraketh had just enough time to see a large, long-barreled gun extend from it…and then open fire. It first shot, to the shock of the High Child, blasted a hole clean through the nearest soldier, ignoring armor and dropping him instantly. A large shell was ejected, and it turned to the next nearest and did the same. The other two began to deploy their weapons as well. Although the soldiers kept firing and pulled back, it didn't look like it was doing much good.

The High Child took a moment just to look to the water at this. There were other ripples in there. No telling how many were inside. However, as he held his ground, he suddenly heard a voice in his earpiece.

_"Taraketh, you and Ceja take care of those guys! I'll handle the last two tanks and the armors!"_

The High Child blinked at that. Was he serious? He actually snapped his head in the last direction he saw Quaren dive. Already, three Aegis Armors and one of the last tanks were taking aim at the area. He saw Ceja had spotted this as well, and after burying her axe in another armor, was turning to fight…

Only to have Quaren leap out, his own aura blazing, and shouting arcane language. It was mostly babble and hardly focused compared to what Taraketh could do…but it did open a screen of fire in front of the armors, causing them to rear back. Furthermore, to the High Child's surprise, he was bracing his rifle with one hand and his pistol with the other, and unloaded both on tank as it tried to fire. This time, his bullets pelted the hydraulic lines…and in spite of himself holding his rifle with only one hand…he hit them. The tank immediately began to slow, no longer getting the pressure to move. With that, he turned his guns on the recovering armors and began to shoot again. His shots were a bit errant, but surprisingly accurate none the less. Even when he didn't have direct hits, the barrage caused them to recoil and kept them from fighting back.

Taraketh was surprised enough, but Ceja even more so. She nearly dropped her axe at the sudden display of leadership and valor. However, the High Child let her continue that for a moment. He realized better…that if he did need help, then they had to take care of these opponents first. With that in mind, he snapped around, summoned forth his power again, and then caused the sky to darken before a bolt of lightning snaked out and struck the underwater armor that had fired first, frying it completely and making it collapse. After that, he quickly summoned his power to a stronger degree. Eliminating these three would be nothing if more just kept popping out of the water. He would take care of that…

Ceja also snapped out of it after a moment. As an Aegis Armor she had dropped leaned up to try and fire point blank at her, she merely smacked him away again with a backhand that twisted the helmet in a way it wasn't supposed to go, and then took off, moving with an animal's speed and agility, straight for the retreating soldiers. As the two other underwater armors prepared to fire, she darted in front of them, axe braced over her like a shield, and took both shots. They were so strong that they forced her back, and nearly knocked her over…but she stayed put. Gritting her teeth, a fire going into her eyes, she suddenly darted forward and stabbed out with the edge of her axe, mimicking the Tonberry again. One opponent immediately went down, and as the other one tried to fire, she snapped back up and around and gave it an "uppercut" with her axe, knocking out metal parts and sending it reeling back, before she swung her axe around and buried it deep in its side.

By now, the sky was darkening again…but much more than before. Suddenly, a black portal opened…and out flew a dazzling bird of lightning, Quetzacoatl. More of the underwater armors were stationed in the bay, and began to rise to try and counter the rest of the soldiers…but they never got the chance. On emerging, the sky began to thunder and churn, rapidly growing thick and black, before lightning erupted from the great bird's beak. She snapped her head down and soon unleashed her deadly bolt into the bay…and sent rippling chains of lightning rocketing throughout the water in all directions. Each armor went rigid and began to spam. Numerous panels began to erupt in small spurts of flame, and the lenses began to go dead before each one began to sink back underneath the water once again. Perhaps they had been insulated against standard bolts of lightning or discharge…but Quetzacoatl's raw power was far greater than that. Soon, they were all left disabled…and the way was clear.

Quaren still continued his reckless assault, even as both tanks began to ready to fire. Yet he was soon joined once again. Ceja ripped her axe out and quickly flung it at one of the tanks, soon embedding it inside, while Taraketh, a bit dizzy from the constant use of spells, nevertheless wheeled on the other tank and quickly chanted again. The sky had scarcely begun to turn light again when it darkened once more, and a new portal opened…this time bearing the Tonberry King as he exited. He formed right in front of the two warriors, and instantly made his way to the nearest tank. In response, it opened fire on him with the big gun, and a moment later he vanished in a cloud of black smoke and fire from the resulting eruption. However, it parted a moment later…revealing the unharmed, undaunted Tonberry, who hadn't even been pushed back a millimeter. The cannon fired again as it neared, but even at closer range it had no more impact than the first shot did. By then, the barrel was overheated and couldn't fire again, so the crew made the rather foolish decision of trying to ram the creature. That only made its job easier, and with a single stab of its large butcher's knife…the entire tank shattered.

The rest of the soldiers didn't tarry, but immediately went about doing their job. Flooding out over the pier, they slapped one bomb after another on docks, ships, tankers, and even the leads coming from the transport shipyard. As Ceja, Taraketh, and Quaren recovered and surrounded the last tank, disorientating it and finishing it easily. After that, they quickly turned their attention to the blockade. A wall of fire still separate them from everything else, but tanks and other units were coming up the hill. From this distance, however, it was nothing for both Taraketh and Ceja to hold them off with their weapons. Quaren, on his part, turned his attention to the towers. Putting his handgun away, he kept whoever was left pinned down, leaving the soldiers on the ground to quickly complete their work. It took time…especially since some of them had to go for the bombs on their companions, and during that time the sirens continued to blare and grow in volume, signaling more people to come to their location.

In truth, Taraketh was rather nervous when he started hearing the tell-tale sounds of aircraft in the distance, knowing they were bringing in air support and that it would mean they didn't have to worry about the blockade anymore. With split focus, they could be overrun more easily. And while the High Child certainly seemed "invincible" enough, he was running on empty. Even he couldn't throw around that many advanced spells without consequence. He only really had enough for one more "good" one, and no more summons. Yet as he felt this way and a newer and larger tank began to round the hill leading to the bay, the soldiers began to return.

"The charges are set!"

With that, Taraketh focused on the buildings on either side of the gate. He concentrated his power one last time, although it was giving him a headache and making him sweat. Nevertheless, he managed to summon one last quake, and sent the ground violently rumbling so that it shattered the foundations of either building, and send both crashing down in the street, creating a barrier. It didn't matter. There were side roads to escape from, but that was the only lane that could fit the larger tanks. So long as it was blocked, they could escape into the alleys freely.

As the debris continued to settle, Ceja broke for the side, headed for Quaren. The rest of the soldiers followed, and Taraketh, panting and sweating, brough up the rear. Soon, they were vanishing into the alley one after the other. Quaren continued to take the lead, putting away his rifle and moving to his handgun instead to shoot at whoever might be trying to intercept them. Yet no sooner had Taraketh gone inside than the soldier with the detonator mashed it.

The High Child grit his teeth and covered his ears, wishing that he had received some form of warning. The blast was deafening, and the explosives were more high intensity than the ones used in Leuco. Not only that, but they triggered additional explosions in fuel tanks and lines and, as a result, he was nearly bowled forward and off of his feet to crash into the other soldiers with them. They weren't subjected to it directly, but even they barely managed to keep their footing. A rush of heat so intense flashed over them that Taraketh swore he was burned. It didn't help that the light rushed over him, making him think fire was lapping at his heels. Perhaps it had been… Yet he kept moving, and soon they were moving away as the roar of the eruption died down. Successive smaller explosions continued to go off.

He exhaled as they kept moving. "Alright, I suppose that was a success…"

Ceja, on her part, kept her axe handy and wiped her own brow, but also looked up to Quaren in the lead. "…You can be as fierce as a Fuliet Sauron when need be, Quaren. You should practice that more often."

"No thanks." Quaren answered, revealing he was breathing a bit uneasily himself. "I think I'll keep insane gestures like that to a minimum… It's the captain who likes doing things dashing like that. But at any rate, we're done with this part."

"Alright, enough chatter." The captain called out from the midst. "We're not out of the woods yet. Let's get to that train before the whole city state is on lockdown…"

* * *

><p>Dael's group had it both easier and harder than anyone else. There was no question that they would have the easiest time being able to take out their target. It was the largest geographical area to try and protect, and although it was higher priority than most, it wasn't so much of a priority that Sybenia had to worry about someone going for it. After all…it was farmland. That wasn't something that was gradually heavily targeted given this situation. Or perhaps they simply thought no one who could summon enough power to strike it would do so. The bottom line, despite being guarded, there were heavy gaps in the defense that could be breached.<p>

Getting there, however, was another matter entirely. They had already spent considerable time getting to the middle of the desert, and now they needed to backtrack all the way to Garrado's border with the Pallas Desert once again. If that wasn't enough, they still needed to return across the desert to Dellgame before they could launch the next part of their operation, and it had to be while Sybenia was still in disarray. Even Desert Chocobos couldn't manage it this time. And so…Lady Veriguno had provided something even greater.

Dael had honestly thought Golden Chocobos were a myth. After all, there had only been two confirmed sightings recorded in history, and neither of those had ever been followed up with analysis to confirm that they were actually gold, or if it had just been some paint job. Supposedly, they were almost impossible to raise, requiring feeding a certain subspecies a specific kind of nutrient prior to pregnancy. Yet it seemed as if Lady Veriguno was talented enough at ranching to be able to breed five of them.

Unfortunately, five was all they had. And although the birds were quite fast, even if people doubled up on riders who were fully laden with gear, they could only send ten people at the most. They had to hope security was indeed lax, because they could send no more than that. However, Dael and Bahamut were both exceptional individuals, and even the most basic Esthar's Hawk wasn't exactly a weakling or a pushover by any stretch of the imagination. Hence, it was finally decided that they would only take eight of the best on four of the chocobos, while Dael, Bahamut, and Carbuncle would have to share the last.

Dael was honestly astonished. She knew that a normal Desert Chocobo could only go so fast with one rider, despite its adaptations to the climate and landscape. But the Golden Chocobo seemed to run so fast it was practically flying. The dunes flew by so rapidly they had to be going as fast as a sports car on a highway. The creature seemed beyond tiring, needing less water even than the desert variety, and even charging straight into rough rocks or boulders protruding from the sand failed to slow them down. On the contrary, they scaled them as if they weren't even there and continued on unabated. Even Bahamut and Carbuncle were overwhelmed by them, confessing they had never seen a Gold Chocobo before in the flesh. Dael wondered if there was any truth to the theory that they could scale a mountain as easily as running on a flat surface, or even move so fast that they could cross an ocean without sinking. In all honesty, she thought she could believe it.

Even with these tireless mounts, it took all of the first day and most of the second to draw near to their location for the operation. The ground went from sandy to arid, and after that became gradually more of a grassland. At last, the delta of the surrounding river was visible ahead, a true testament that they were getting near to the area of the operation. The surrounding Sybenians also became more visible at this point. Rather than using tanks or troopers, it seemed they had mostly stationed the larger mechs to handle the defense of this area. After all, with the country as wide and flat as it was, there was nowhere to hide, and they could better scan the horizon for signs of a conflict. That was a problem in and of itself. The Gold Chocobos stood out from the desert rather distinctly. Their golden feathers had a shimmer just like the precious metal, and in the sun it was visible for miles. To not waste time, they hitched the birds near the only coverage for miles, a half-ruined shack that had probably been a radio relay station prior to the invasion, but was now gutted with fire. After that, they made their way to the nearest irrigation ditch and began to advance.

In the time it took to work their way toward the actual fields, it was getting late. The sun was going down, and night was fast coming in. While this would help cover their escape, especially in this part of the country while was a bit cloudy and obscuring the stars, the fact remained they were quickly running out of time and had very little chance to prepare themselves for the actual strike. They couldn't afford to delay more than thirty minutes or so relative to the other attacks, after all.

Coming to a junction in the ditch, the small group crossed over and went up to the top of the hill and an overlooking hedge row. From there, they looked out beyond.

Past that loomed the fields that provided most of the grain products for the nations of Garrado, Sybenia, all of the surrounding city-states, and formed a good portion of food for much of the rest of the world. At this point, the fields were full and nearing harvest time. Assuming it wasn't all ripe yet, it would be very shortly.

As the other soldiers began to arm themselves and prepared for the operation, Dael, Carbuncle, and Bahamut continued to look over the area for resistance, trying to make sure there were no surprises and get an accurate assessment of the defenses. They couldn't afford to be wrong, not with the distance they had to travel and only having ten people in their group. The darkness didn't help. They believed they had come to a fairly "vulnerable" spot. Three "Iron Giant" models were walking about here, but they were far from one another, and one alone could be safely engaged without worry of additional combatants for some time. After all, under normal conditions, a single Iron Giant could take on a regiment. It had taken the entire group working together to destroy one last time, and there was no telling how better armed this one was as a result of that fight. Nevertheless, Dael thought they could get the drop on this one easily enough. It might be resilient to armor-piercers, but she had her own techniques that might be able to make a difference at a critical point, and the Esthar's Hawks with her could target special junctions as well so long as they were fast. After all, as soon as they emerged from the ditch, the machine would likely spot them on infrared, so they would have to strike first.

Yet Dael had managed to spot something else. Although they were barely visible in the surrounding country, she noted that the entire place was booby trapped with mines and anti-personnel explosives. She even caught a glimpse of anti-personnel auto-guns mounted in the field. Unlike the ones inside installations, there was no need to not make these ones capable of cutting divisions apart. There was no way they could make the assault with them active, but, fortunately, units like this had to be radio controlled, and there were ways to hack their systems and trigger a deactivation code. That was what one of the soldiers was working on at the moment through a remote terminal. That still left quite a bit, though.

As Dael looked out, Carbuncle turned to her. "Alright, now that we've made it this far, how exactly do we manage to burn all this? It's a bit dry but hardly a dry season, and it stretches on for miles. We're not exactly going to be able to do this just by spreading fires."

"We're using something called 'Agent Red'." Dael responded. "We used it in covert operations in the past to try and weaken enemies by attacking food supplies. It's harvested from Bomb internal chemicals, actually. If it leaks into biological material, it causes the mitochondria in it to start producing and burning energy at a vastly accelerated rate until it causes the material itself to spontaneously combust, and which point it starts fires and spreads the chemicals to other surrounding cell tissues."

The green creature grimaced a bit at that. "…Sounds like a gruesome way to go if you manage to spill a bit on you."

"It's not as effective on living creatures, although…yeah, a phosphorous burn would almost be preferable." The captain admitted. "Especially if you got a concentrated dosage on you. We have about five gallons of the stuff, and we need to insert all of it into one of the primary reservoir pumping mechanism. There's a regulatory station for one right there."

She pointed out to the field, gesturing to a tank mechanism in the midst of it.

"We put it all in there and then trigger it to start spraying the fields. A fifth of it will get affected and will spread it to over half of the rest. By then, the fire will be so uncontrollable it should burn up almost everything left."

The Guardian Force didn't look too comfortable. "…Kind of reminds me a lot of when that Lunarian fiend decided to burn up Mist using Bombs. I don't like it."

"There's never anything to like about spreading destruction, but let's focus on the fact that it's better to do it this way rather than when people are harvesting it." Bahamut answered. "I'm not too happy about it myself, but it's necessary."

"Alright…so we knock out the guns." Carbuncle stated after a moment, acquiescing reluctantly. "We all hit that Iron Giant with everything we've got and take it down, and then I teleport the guys in with their fire water to burn up the fields. After that's done, I teleport them back out, we press the button to 'water the lawn', and then beat feet back to the Gold Chocobos and head for the north. All we've got to do is this before the other Iron Giants move in. Seems simple enough."

"Not exactly." Bahamut answered. "They're using hovering drones too. They have them on stand by on the other side of the irrigational channel. They'll deploy long before the Iron Giants get here and we'll have to fend them off."

"I'm afraid it's a bit worse than that, Bahamut." Dael answered. "I'm going to be relying on you to handle the drones and whoever isn't loading fluid into the pumping mechanism."

Both Carbuncle and Bahamut looked to her. "What about you?"

"I'm going to go up against the Iron Giant alone."

The two immediately gaped in response, rather surprised at hearing at that.

"Why on Gaia would you do that?" The green creature answered. "From what I heard, the last time you ran into one, it took all of you working together to take it down. Granted, you're better this time, but are you just trying to warm yourself up or 'show off'?"

"More the first one than that second." Dael answered. She looked to Bahamut. "…You remember when we were sparring last, right? How I tried to pull off that one move?"

He stared back silently, starting to see what she was insinuating.

"I nearly had it…and I'm certain I'll be able to get it next time." She continued. "I've got a suspicion that this mission is going to run into trouble. I want to say it won't, but we all know that Sybenia seems to know almost every step we make before we even take it. That means that we could run into Raven again. And if we do, he's going to use his Deathbringer at the get-go. I can't afford to let him 'smack me around' until I have enough of a threshold to try and use this attack. I need to be able to use it right away."

Bahamut frowned a bit himself at this. "So your solution is to get 'smacked around' by an Iron Giant instead? These machines aren't exactly built to 'go easy' on people, Dael, and you know that better than I do. Their intent is to kill instantly. Besides, you could be endangering the mission. If you're not able to hold its focus entirely…"

"I will." Dael answered. "I might be doing something a bit reckless, but I'm not going to risk anyone else's life in the process."

The boy frowned a bit. "…Just your own."

The young officer's face tightened a bit. "…I'm serious about this, you two. I don't want either of you intervening. Even if I look like I'm taking a pounding."

"Sorry, but I'm not letting you just get yourself killed over a crazy stunt." Bahamut flatly responded.

Dael merely frowned. "_Yes_, you are." She flatly retorted. "Because that's exactly what you do all the time and you expect me just to 'take it'."

The boy hesitated…but saw that Dael wasn't going to break. At this point, it wasn't just the fact that he was in child form that he constantly acquiesced to her. It was due to friendship and respect…perhaps even more than that. In the end, he exhaled.

"…I'll give you until the chemical is loaded. Then I intervene whether you want it or not. That's all I'll give you."

The young officer nodded. "Very well."

At this point, one of the Esthar's Hawks from below looked up. "Captain?"

The woman looked away from Carbuncle and Bahamut and looked down a distance. They were all armed now, and beginning to go up the ditch sides as well. However, the one with the computer terminal remained sitting there. "We're ready now. I've got the feed into the auto-gun controls as well as the automated pumps. Whenever you're ready, we can begin."

Dael nodded. "We'll begin immediately. We're already in the window of time. Everyone get into position. Set off the trigger for the guns on my mark, but everyone leave the Iron Giant to me. Sir Carbuncle will teleport you past the outer defenses, and then you need to administer the chemical as quickly as possible and fend off any sentries."

The soldiers paused on hearing that. There wasn't any Esthar's Hawk in existence who would be bold enough to think they could take an Iron Giant by themselves. However, Dael was the commanding officer here, and they couldn't dispute her. Instead, they all merely pushed the thought out of their minds and began to get to work setting up. In moments, all were ready.

Dael inhaled and exhaled a few times. As bold as she was about this plan…she had to admit she wsa quite scared about it herself. This was pretty mad, even for her. Yet she forced herself to put that out of her mind, and quickly grasped her sword hilt. She said a silent prayer that it would be strong enough to cut an opening slice…or this would be much harder than she liked. At last, she held up her free hand in a gesture, and then pitched it forward, giving the signal.

The one at the terminal pressed two buttons, and then engaged.

A small electronic sound went out over the field, indicating a disarming. However, the real noise that resulted happened a moment later. At once, the nearby Iron Giant went erect, switching fully into alert mode. It immediately started to trace the source of the signal to try and find a target. A second later, an alarm went out as well, and soon the entire field was on alert. Yet before anything could "fully engage", Dael quickly focused, chanted a few words, and vanished in a blip of light.

She rematerialized a moment later in midair…right over the Iron Giant itself. The machine reacted remarkably quickly, almost immediately raising its head to her in response. She had to move quickly. She couldn't risk using her special technique. She needed to save her power for that to the best of her ability. So, instead, calling on her learned technique and training, she grabbed the handle of her sword with her other hand as well, and let gravity begin to pull her to the ground and build her momentum. After only a moment, however, she was coming upon the massive armored head of the Iron Giant, and she immediately flashed out with her sword, bringing it out, around, and down in an overhead slice just as she landed in front of it.

A moment later, the blade connected. It wasn't perfect, so she had to put more of her enhanced strength into it…but it still managed to make the cut. As the weapon sliced down, it went right through the opening visor…and slashed clean through the lens that was mounted inside.

She couldn't afford to push it any harder. The armor was so thick that she would have gotten her weapon lodged inside of it and then been disarmed. Instead, she rapidly yanked her blade out, and went all the way to the ground. Once there, she looked up and tightened her grip, chanting again to quickly through up a barrier spell around her. She wanted a tussle…but not to be flattened with the first hit, after all. However, she was pleased with what she had managed to do. The Iron Giant attempted to fire on her through the lens, but all it got for its effort was a few sparks and overheating parts of metal. She had disabled its laser, leaving it only capable of using its physical attacks.

As Carbuncle began the process of teleporting people past the barrier, the metal warrior stalked forward, adapting to its new situation, and swung the massive cleaver-like sword at her. At first, she dodged by it, quickly springing backward twice, allowing the sword to fall short. Although she felt the wind blow by her from the power of the slash and it was a narrow miss, it soon plunged into the soft ground surrounding the fields without landing a hit. The massive machine, undaunted, quickly brought the weapon up after that, braced it in front of itself with both claws, and then immediately took off from the ground in a short burst and went right for her, this time bringing the sword up for an overhead chop. This one was much faster than before, and would have been a problem for anyone "normal". Dael, however, had both quicker reflexes and speed, and quickly darted to one side. Although the force of the blade coming down and plunging into the ground where she was ended up being quite powerful and seemed to create almost a vacuum, it still missed her easily.

The sword again snapped back up quickly, and the Iron Giant continued to look to her…but only for a moment. Its systems looked up afterward, and turned its head to the side. It spotted the other soldiers, moving slower than its current opponent, and bunching around what was a critical system. With that in mind, it began to turn away from Dael and focus its attention on that. She grimaced. So much for making this "easy". She had to goad it more. However, she figured that was what she had expected the whole time anyway. With that in mind, she quickly ran forward, leapt up, and lunged at the mech.

She knew the move was reckless to a degree, but she still didn't think the machine had the capability of responding to it so quickly and powerfully. She was still in its visual range and so, as she went for it, it spun around with one of its claws outstretched in a snap, much the way some opponent might "backhand" an attacker. It was so fast and without warning at that the woman barely had enough time to shift her body to hit the broad side of the claws rather than the pincer…

A moment later, and Dael went flying away from the machine like a gnat. She was trained to "take a hit" properly, but even so…even with enhanced power…that claw was designed to punch through buildings, and she had just taken it. Pain radiated through her body, and even with her barrier, she felt her bones buckle in multiple places before she crashed down so hard in the ground she dug up huge bits of soft dirt up around her from the impact. She lay there a moment, her body now sore and in pain, gritting her teeth. However, she wasn't as dazzled as she might have been. Although she was sore all over, the hit hadn't touched her head, which would have left her stunned. Toughing through the fresh pain, she looked up…and saw the Iron Giant had barely turned to her for that attack, and was now looking to the others. They were at the pump now, but it was advancing on them, nearly to the "mine field"…

She realized she had to keep it distracted as she promised, if nothing else. She had to let it know she was a serious threat… With that in mind, she grunted a bit, and then snapped back to her feet. A few arcane words later, and she teleported again…ending up behind it. It no doubt had a proximity alert of a sort, and she heard it begin to grunt and groan at detecting something nearby. Before it could do much, however, she sliced out at its back leg with her sword, hoping to slice apart a crippling joint. Unfortunately, the machine moved its own feet, trying to get a distance on the new "bogey" behind it, and in spite of being such a large machine, Dael was still stunned and needed time to focus…giving it enough time to move enough so that the blade hit mostly metal. Besides…Dael's sword was strong, but still just a sword. She could feel it heating up after cutting through metal twice.

All she had time for was a shallow cut, however…for the machine suddenly snapped all the way around. No backhand this time. She tried to pull back…but now it brought its full massive blade down upon her with surprising speed and power. At first, she hesitated…wondering if she should take another blow. But at the last moment, she realized it was using the sword and tried to dodge…but that moment cost her since it had a longer reach with this weapon. The huge thick blade was soon slamming down her. And so, she quickly brought her own sword up in an overhead cross guard, and braced all of the power she could behind it. Nevertheless, she also angled her own weapon. This would be suicide for anyone normal, quite clearly. The Iron Giant would simply shatter the person holding the weapon and smash them flat, sword or no sword. She needed to try to deflect it and use the power to push herself back and free…

The sword landed a moment later…and, naturally, it was as bad as taking a full-powered hit from an Elite Hound. Her joints screamed, as if the arms were nearly going to be ripped off. Her bones buckled again from the power of the titanic blow, one meant to cleave an enemy tank in two. Her legs buckled and were nearly knocked loose, and her entire body was wracked with pain. It was only due to the barrier spell that she wasn't broken and smashed into the dirt. As it was, her deflecting move barely had enough to send her shooting back with more power than she had expected. Her body was practically thrown backward, and once clear, she was "top heavy" and off balance, continuing to reel and backpedal. The Iron Giant wasn't finished though. It immediately stalked forward after her, swinging its sword arm back and tightening up. A moment later, it slashed forward, aiming a horizontal slice at her while she was still off guard. She let out a bit of a gasp at this, and quickly focused and grit her teeth as hard as she could to cross her weapon at her side. The sword sliced into her a moment later…and instantly, it was shoved up so hard into her she felt her own blade cut slightly into her before she was ripped off of her feet and flung like a cast stone across the field.

Dael went three times as far this time before landing oddly on a hill, connecting with more of a powerful slam and then going for a violent tumble. She was so strained and agonized from the blow, to say nothing of caught off guard, she barely tucked her arms and legs in on her in time and avoided being "knocked around" to the point of hurting herself more. As it was, when she finally tumbled to a halt, one of her arms was on fire, she had shallow cuts on her hip from her own blade, her shoulder felt like it had been wrenched nearly out of its socket, and she was both in pain and sweating terribly. Her sword was at her side, having fallen out of her grasp at the last minute. She wanted to take longer to recover at this point…

But then, she heard gunshots rolling out, as well as the sound of engines. She snapped her head up at this, dizzy as it made her, and looked up to see that three of the hovering drones had come. The Esthar's Hawks gathered at the pump were shooting them, but Bahamut was already going out to intercept them as well. The first one that came in flew too low. It opened fire at him as he went out to meet them, but he quickly ducked and crossed his shield over him, letting the shots ricochet harmlessly off of it. Once the machine paused for only a moment to cool the barrels, he snapped out and flung his shortsword at it like a deadly lance. It pierced the machine perfectly, instantly causing a flurry of sparks and the sounds of grinding metal and electric malfunctioning. A moment later, it spasmed, wobbled, lost power to its rotors, and finally dropped to the ground. The next two were firing on Bahamut now, but he simply guarded himself as he dashed out to the fallen drone, meaning to reclaim his blade and renew the assault. Another drone soon took a critical hit from a bullet and began to crash…but that meant little. Dael could see at least four more were rising from the more distant fields and were coming in fast.

Worst of all, however, was the Iron Giant had again turned its attention to the group, and was crossing its blade in front of it with both hands. No doubt, it was going to leap up at them, clearing the mine field and being in their midst in one move.

Knowing she had to hurry, Dael ignored her growing pain and soreness and reached for her blade, pulling it out of the surrounding grass and up again as she forced herself to rise. Yet when she did…she paused for a fraction of a second and let out a gasp.

Her sword had a notch in it…and a rather big one. Enough to cause it serious stress. She was stunned for a moment, but then realized she was a fool not to expect this. Her family's sword was very well made, but it wasn't invincible. Even now, from all of the slashing into thick armor it was never intended to cut into, the blade was burning hot and under tremendous stress. The resulting hit from the armor's blow had caused some serious damage. She had never really cared much for her adoptive parents or their family line. Her true "life" was in Esthar's Hawks. However…that sword had still meant a lot to her, and she knew continuing to come at the Iron Giant was a sure way to destroy it…

Yet she realized it was too late to worry about such things. At this point, the group needed her simply to keep the mech off of them. She doubted they had received time to load more than one gallon. With that in mind, she grasped the blade again with both hands and teleported once more.

By now, the teleports were starting to make her dizzy and siphon at her strength again, but she had landed right where she had intended…right behind the Iron Giant as it prepared to leap out at the group. As a result, it had ignored her this time, intending to escape her by simply jumping away. Yet that intention was soon ruined, for Dael, weak and strained as she was, had better focus this time…and slashed out her blade at the leg joint again. Although she had to focus more strength than she wanted, it went in and cut through the hydraulics that acted as the "Achilles' Tendon" on the right leg.

Immediately, the Iron Giant was thrown off balance, and began to spill forward. Whoever was driving attempted to use its own arms to brace itself, but it was too late. As Dael quickly backpedaled and moved away from it, it slammed down on the ground…right on a pair of explosives. They instantly went off, and sent plumes of fire and powerful eruptions into the Iron Giant as it landed on top of them. The fact that it compressed itself over them only made the explosions that much worse. However, Dael wasn't foolish enough to think that had stopped it. She only hoped that it had landed on an anti-tank mine for at least one explosion.

As Bahamut reclaimed his weapon and turned his attention to the next opponent, and another gallon as loaded, the Iron Giant quickly put both arms beneath it, and with a massive push, snapped back up and got on its feet one again. Apparently, it had enough auxiliary systems to at least turn the damaged joint into a "peg leg" of a sort. Not giving it a chance to ignore Dael, she charged at it again.

In a flash, it snapped around and aimed an overhead chop at her again with as much force as before. She was ready this time, however, and quickly dodged to one side, letting the sword slash by and miss her entirely. However, she didn't go too wide this time. She needed to still be in its "face". She saw that there was a fist-sized hole on its chassis, smoking and blackened, and scoring on another part of it…but neither shot seemed to slow it down. Since she was still close to it, it immediately, whipped its other claw up and drove it forward, forcing her to backpedal once again abruptly to avoid it as it smashed into the ground, razor-sharp talons extended. The move was rather fast, and since she hadn't dodged the last blow by too great of a distance, not to mention rather sore and strained, she barely managed to back up in time, and still felt dirt smack against her. However, the machine, still not done, yanked its sword up , back, and sliced out for her. Again, thinking of her sword regretfully, she was forced to bring her blade in front of her and brace as best as she could. The attack connected, and soon she was ripped off of her feet slightly and cast back…while her entire body was wracked with pain. Nevertheless, she let it cast her back this time. She needed to. Trying to stand up to that sort of slash, at this point, was an easy way to break bones. They couldn't take much more.

The Iron Giant seemed to have realized it wasn't getting far by letting Dael out of her sight after flinging back, and so it immediately began to stomp toward her, swinging its blade down again and seeming to be intent on finishing her before she could recover for another attack. She had barely regained her footing and was stumbling, and then quickly got her sword up again. It was designed to act as a wedge for glancing blows now…intended to push her out of the way of the slices of the Iron Giant. But soon, as it began to swing at her, the tremendous force felt like it was beating her with metal fists despite not even taking each hit directly. Her sword was burning all the way down to the handle now and, to her displeasure, it had another notch in it. It was catching on the rougher Iron Giant sword, threatening to rip her off of her feet or smack her down with each blow. And it was getting worse. Each hit that came seemed to nearly dismember her from force alone. As her mind filled with increasing agony and strain, she realized just how crazy this was. Super-powered or not, she would never have been as foolish as this. She was like a mouse against a full-grown man, and she looked pathetic blocking that massive blade with her own tiny-by-comparison one.

A third gallon was loaded, but things were getting worse at the pump. The drones continued to go down, but there were seven of them now that were fresh with more coming, and they were forcing Bahamut and the others back. Even Carbuncle's barrier couldn't stop a bullet directly, either. By now, the next two Iron Giants had closed half the distance. Even with Dael keeping one "busy", they were running out of time.

Dael's arms, now on fire, her body trembling and weakening, and her sword not able to take much more, realized she couldn't stand up to any more blows. And so, when the Iron Giant paused to bring both arms up to it and swung down with an earth-shaking overhead chop, she grit her teeth, fought through the sweat and strain, and leaped backward…letting the sword swing down and miss her once again as it plunged into the ground. The moment it did, she forced herself to move and leapt forward, landing on the blade and using it as a bridge to run up and forward, straight for the headpiece. She kept her blade down and at the side with both hands on it, meaning to slice through the machine's head when she reached it. Yet the machine, unlike her, was tireless. It quickly snapped up and threw its arms upward in the process…and Dael soon found herself launched off of it and over its head. To her shock, she was airborne as a result of this. If that wasn't enough, as she flailed around, she barely managed to catch the Iron Giant recovering as well, and snapping around with a powerful slash aimed for her while still in mid air.

Seeing this, Dael's eyes widened, and she struggled to bring her sword in front of her to guard, tightening her body behind it to brace everything she had. But she realized that she was spilling around so wildly that there was only a small chance she would managed to meet its blade with her own. Having little other choice, however, she did so, and hoped the sword would hit her right…

It did, but as awkward as she was, she felt pain flood half her back from her shoulders being wrenched wrong, and she was turned into a baseball as she was flung back toward the fields again. Her entire body strained from the intense power that radiated through her, immobilizing her and leaving her little more than a projectile as she flung backward. Yet somehow, through the flailing, the toppling, and the pain…she realized she was headed right for the mine field. While anti-personnel explosives and mines would do little to an Iron Giant, she knew they would slice her to ribbons, especially now as she realized her barrier was finally breaking down. She only had one chance, in spite of the fact she was already exhausted and her head was pounding.

With all the focus she could master, she spun her body around, and aimed her sword downward, in a stabbing, plunging motion. She didn't have time to look to her target. And she knew this was the last time she could manage this. Yet simply dealing with it, she focused her power and teleported again…

And landed in front of the chest of the Iron Giant. It had no time to react before her body slammed down and plunged her sword into the "pectoral" region, sinking in all the way to the hilt. As she did, her head felt like it was on fire. It was all she could do to tell her body to cling to the weapon, for she sank down and hung from it limply.

The Iron Giant was not pleased with this. As the Esthar's Hawks struggled to keep growing resistance off of them, the fourth gallon was loaded, and the two surviving Iron Giants began to pick up speed while sirens blared louder and longer, it shook around viciously, trying to dislodge her. Her body was rattled and slammed again and again against the chassis. But painful as it was, brutal as it was, and as much as it might have rattled a normal warrior to pieces…it was light compared to the blows the machine had already given her. And the way the Iron Giant was constructed, it couldn't bring its own claws up to its own chest all the way. When it attempted to do so, all it managed to do was tag Dael's clothing, not her. And in spite of her rattling and pain, she gradually managed to swallow it back and pull herself taut against it, her strength slowly coming back "online" as opposed to recovering.

The driver had just gotten the idea to try and swing its body forward and let her dangle enough to get grabbed by the claw, when she finally recovered enough strength to tighten her body up. Her arms flexed along with her legs, pulling herself up to the blade, and then, gritting her teeth, she put both her strength and gravity into it as she planted her legs against the chassis and raked downward. Her sword soon began to cut a large, sparking, fluid-leaking gash into the Iron Giant itself. No doubt, that set off internal alarms as she did real "damage" to it, and the machine began to shake more violently as it tried to knock her loose. Yet as she cut deep into it, and opened the slash about two feet long, one of its arms started twitching violently. She only put more power into it, and as she cut a three foot slash into it, the arm spasmed and collapsed all together, shorting out completely.

The rest of the machine continued to thrash about even as the one arm fell "dead" at its side, so she tried to open more damage. It was getting harder. Obviously, she was cutting through a joint of a sort. With that in mind, she put even more power into it, slowly lengthening the gaping slash to four feet long…

When she heard a bit of metal break.

Abruptly, Dael was loose, and her body fell off of the Iron Giant landed on her back on the ground. It was a bit rough, but the real thing that stunned her was how suddenly it had happened. As for the machine, it staggered a bit, but soon looked down on her, and readily brought up its sword arm to slam down on her. As it reared up, Dael, still bewildered, tried to back up and raise her own sword to counter…only to freeze at what she saw.

She didn't have a sword anymore. She had a broken hilt. The rest of it was still lodged inside the machine.

Her family katana was gone.

The magnitude of what had just happened sunk into her for a moment. It made her freeze longer. In spite of the fact that she had feared this would happen…she couldn't honestly believe it. At long last, after all of what had happened…she was without a blade. She had used that sword ever since she was first allowed to carry one in the Academy years ago, and now it was gone after all these years…

Somehow, her military mind managed to snap out of it enough to look up and realize what was going on. The Iron Giant wasn't pausing. It sword was up, and it was ready to bring it down on her. And now…she had no defense against it, and she had been so distracted…she realized she was easily prey for it. She barely began to tell her muscles to move when the sword began to reverse direction…

That was when powerful arms grabbed her under her shoulders and, with a jerk of force that hurt her already sore joints yet cracked like a whip, she was yanked free again, just as the blade came down and plunged into the dirt once again.

Dael hardly had any time to look to her savior, or even focus on who it probably was, before a storm of bullets, all of the armor-piercing variety, began to go off around the Iron Giant. Most of them were in the already-weakened chassis, where the pilot was located, and the remaining joints. Down to only two fully-functional limbs, it was enough to make the mech stagger back for a moment, raising its sword to try and protect itself from further shots.

When that happened, Dael was able to look up for a moment, just as who had yanked her back released her. Bahamut, looking a bit sore and tired from his own struggles, was the one, and he quickly drew his sword and buckler out again from behind him and got in front of her to act as a shield. She blinked only once, but then quickly forced her own body to work again. Sore and tired as she was, she wasn't nearly as drained stamina-wise as she had been against Li Juanhong, and so she was able to get back to her feet and look around more.

The Esthar's Hawks had no doubt loaded the last of the chemical, and were now opening fire at the Iron Giant with everything they had, in spite of the drones still incoming. However, Carbuncle was taking care of that. With a few teleports, he managed to move them all away from the pumping mechanism just as the drones converged on it, and they machines found themselves without targets. The unit was now free of the mine field and was focusing their attacking on the Iron Giant…all save the one with the terminal, who was quickly going about engaging the pumping protocol to start spraying the fields.

The Iron Giant only staggered a moment longer, before the pilot decided to drive it forward and smash through. Abruptly, its sword swept out and it began to stagger toward the Esthar's Hawks, bringing the blade up and around to slice through four of them at a time. Yet as it came forth, Carbuncle suddenly materialized on its shoulder. The pilot never had a chance to recognize that it had landed before both teleported…and reappeared two hundred feet in the air, right over the mine field. As the Iron Giant began to go into free fall, the creature teleported again…this time landing on Dael's shoulders.

Realizing what this meant, and hearing the pumping mechanism begin to go to work, spraying the surrounding fields, she gave the call. "Move out!"

By now, the other two Iron Giants were just getting in range of using their lasers, and tried to fire as the liquid started to spray out of the nozzles and land on the surrounding fields. Yet Dael's group immediately bolted for it, running back into the safety of the irrigation ditch, free from easy targets of either the Iron Giants or the surrounding drones, which had located their opponents and were coming for them. The trailing Esthar's Hawks began to lay down suppressing fire to try and drive them off…but soon they had bigger concerns. The Iron Giants had scarcely turned to start aiming at them again when their first one landed on the mine field hard…sending off even more explosions to start rocking it violently. Not only that, but the fluid began to soak into the surrounding crops, and soon a haze of burning smoke began to go out through the field as it did its work. By the time the last soldier entered the trench, flames had begun to burst out through the plants nearest to the pump.

As the captain ran ahead as fast as she could with her weakened state, Carbuncle on her shoulders and Bahamut at her side, she began to hear the sound of burning audibly as the fields began to ignite. The drones continued to pursue them a bit longer, but they continued to be picked off for only a bit longer before they stopped coming. Even the sounds of the encroaching Iron Giants aborted. She knew why. They had bigger concerns now…now that their fields were burning. They had to devote whatever resources they had to stopping it first. Yet she knew, within the next few minutes, they'd forget all about the group that had done this…because the fires would soon rage beyond their ability to ignore them in any capacity.

Ignoring this, she called behind her. "Did everyone make it?"

"A few grazes here and there, but nothing serious." Bahamut answered. "Carbuncle did his work well. But what about you?"

"I'm a bit sore, but nothing I can't heal up." She grimaced soon after saying that. "My sword, on the other hand…" She raised her broken hilt.

Carbuncle let out a snort. "Serves you right, you idiot."

"I hate to rub salt in a wound, but he's exactly right, Dael." The boy added. "You have no one to blame but yourself for that reckless move."

"It's not like I could build my threshold just by 'dodging' it." The captain answered.

"And now…you've focused so much attention on preparing yourself to do that move you hadn't even perfected against Raven the next time we encounter him that you don't even have a weapon with which to execute it with."

Dael froze on hearing that, and soon grimaced. The Guardian Force in boy form was right. She suddenly felt like a far bigger fool than what either of them let on. Exactly what good would the power do her if she couldn't even utilize it without a weapon?

"…I'll just have to see if I can get a stock, military-issue sword."

"Those aren't as good as your katana, but I suppose you have no choice. That or see if Cid can make you more bullets." Bahamut grimly answered. "At any rate, there's no sense in worrying about it now. We need to get to the north as soon as possible. I'm more than a little sore about you getting rid of your family's blade so recklessly, Dael. You're going to need to be at your best with a familiar sword for this next encounter…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	53. Calling a Specialist

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize in advance for this "fail" chapter. At this point in the story, I planned on this to be a major revelation/tension-building chapter. That's how I had it outlined in the synopsis. However...it ended up being pretty mundane. All of the major revelations that I had planned for this point were already done, and I wasn't left with much to make this chapter stand out. I considered merging this chapter with the next one (which is also done), but on review...I figured it would make the next chapter too long, and, besides, I had planned on there being 80 chapters in this entire story and that would throw off my count.

Because of all this, depending on how fast I'm able to do not the next chapter but the one after (which should have an important fight), I may go ahead and give another chapter this Wednesday, because this one is now, unintentionally, more on the "filler" side.

* * *

><p>Only a few hours into the trip back north…the situation ran into a snag when the group was hit by one of the roving sandstorms.<p>

It was rather violent too…so much so that Carbuncle had to use his own barrier magic to try and lessen the effects. It was a good thing they had linked up with a group of nomads aiding the resistance on the way north, who helped them take shelter and showed them how to cover the Gold Chocobos to protect them from harm. Even so, the storm was terrible…and lasted far longer than Dael cared. They were on a tight schedule. Even these miraculous birds would be hard pressed to get them to Dellgame in time, especially since they still had to meet with other groups who would sneak them over the border. The idea was to get there so fast that they wouldn't have time to fully enact security measures that locked down the country. They couldn't afford even half an hour…let alone the three hours they spent waylaid in the desert under the sandstorm. They were probably lucky it only lasted that long. The nomads informed them that even considering how violent the storms had been getting, this was the worst yet. If it had gone too long, Dael would have been willing to risk actually walking in it to save some time.

It was still dark when they were able to leave. The heavens were clear again…but the night was positively frigid. She hadn't felt this cold even the first time she had been in the desert. She shivered steadily, and everyone went low on their chocobos to try and share some warmth. She was a bit surprised. The weather predictions said it wasn't supposed to be that bad, after all… At any rate, the birds were spurred on harder than ever, enough to actually fatigue them. But Dael had to do it. They were far behind schedule, and they already wouldn't have the advantage of darkness before they got there. If that wasn't enough, they didn't even have a guide to show them ways around if things got too bad. The best they could do was use short-wave radios to try and contact resistance pockets and have them direct them…and hope that no one picked up that transmission.

It seemed a bit of luck was on their side, however. They had been directed to one of the most likely spots to be "abandoned" first during the first stages of a surge. Obviously, when news started to spread about the attacks, not to mention the rail and the shipyard destroyed, the Sybenian Army would assume some sort of resistance team "strike" was occurring. Not only that, but they would recognize important targets had been hit, and, as a result, they would try to redeploy to guard the border instead. But it would take time to redirect both ends of the surge, and during that time, priority targets would be vulnerable. Hence, there was a small window of opportunity in which the border would be "fluid", when all available units were guarding the priority targets and leaving other gaps in the defenses. Apparently, the sand storm had slowed the Sybenians down, for they were able to exploit it.

While still in the desert, but as the country grew more rocky and uneven once again, the group managed to ride their panting, overworked chocobos to a rockier part of the landscape with trees near an oasis. The natives had captured a pair of tanks while there that would be expected to redeploy and join a convoy when it was time to head north to guard the perimeter of the "expanded" nation. It was a simple matter of getting their own group on board and then "rolling out". About an hour later, they appeared to come from a normal patrol in the desert, and simply joined the convoy and headed north.

Around noon, they crossed the border into the city-state region. The desert was left behind…not that any of them noticed. The lower city-states were just as hot and dry as the Pallas Desert itself. And tanks, naturally, had no amenities like air conditioning, so everyone was rather hot and miserable. Yet Dael "sucked it up". She used the time to work on her healing magic to patch herself up…and lamented the loss of her sword. The oasis had some fresh supplies there, including a military issue blade…but she hadn't trained on one of those in years and she knew her own strength was good enough to snap it herself, if she wanted. It wasn't even as good as the shortsword that Cryder had given Bahamut. Again…she had no one but herself to blame.

Once a few miles over the border, the convoy began to redeploy, and their own tanks used the moment to slip to somewhere less visible. There was no shortage of such places. This country, like most of the city states, had been leveled in multiple places. The city was nothing more than a ruin, but it did have many rubble buildings to "hide" behind. The tanks rolled behind them and, a moment later, dropped the group off. From then on in, they made their way north on foot.

They were in enemy territory now. Sybenia considered this city-state to now officially be part of their nation, so they had to be more than cautious. All that was around for miles was soldiers and tanks, although most of them were massing to move south and secure the border. They also were the only group without a guide, and no more resistance members to help them along. Yet Dael and the Esthar's Hawks weren't totally blind. They did the "trail" programmed into their GPS devices, and they had trained for being able to move through areas of urban warfare. Nevertheless, the going was slow. Whenever a soldier came by, they could see the obvious tension on their faces. The triple attack had done a good job of throwing them into disarray, but they were so tense they might shoot anyone they see on sight. Even though they only had to move a relatively short distance, it was slow.

It took the better part of four hours just to cross through the first city-state. After that, going north took a bit longer. They needed to head across country. Luckily, they had a bit better time this time around. This area actually had hills, vegetation, and trees to obscure them. Yet even as they went north, Dael noticed just how dry it was outside. It was past the hottest part of summer, yet all of the grass was dry and brown, the trees were withered, and the river was so dry it was cracked. Considering how hot it was and the clear sky, she would have expected the same climate in the Pallas Desert…but it seemed unusual to come this far north.

Things didn't start feeling less dry until they snuck into the next city state…Dellgame itself. Getting into it was a bit easier than the previous one. By the time they arrived, it was growing dark again. The town was still partially standing as well, and the guard and soldiers were a bit more lax. After all, with many at the borders leading into the territory, and more at the "proper" barrier leading into Sybenia, they could afford to have a few less here. This was where most of the troops for the surges had been taken, leaving only a few still behind. Some of the citizens still remained as well, although, from the looks of it, it seemed they had to deal with extortion and other problems brought on by military occupation to make their living. Yet that wasn't Dael's concern. Following the directions of the GPS, they eventually made their way to what looked like a small industry building still standing and operating: a shoe factory. Simple enough business…but the army needed footwear. And rather than devote some of their budget focused on building bombs and the like toward something mundane like this, it was easier to impress civilian labor.

Normally there would be a Sybenian supervisor for quality control as well as other guards to watch the facility. However, this _was_ just a shoe factory. And with the recent attacks, it was one they could afford to "let idle" in favor of more vulnerable targets. With that in mind, security had been put to a minimum, and it was easy enough to sneak in the group through a small service entrance into the basement of the factory. The machines hummed so loudly they could even talk at full volume and make noise as they wanted.

Dael ended up leading them through to the rear alley and to the back entrance. The doors opened, revealing a pair of Esthar's Hawks, who hurried and led them inside to ride down on a freight elevator, quickly shutting the doors behind them. Once below, the group was momentarily in darkness, before moving forward to a set of metal double doors. One of the guards gave a knock, causing a form to move behind a peephole on it, and then to open it up to the interior.

There wasn't much in this basement. It had gone out of use a while ago. It was formerly used to store shoe-making materials and stock, but Sybenia knew about the freight elevator and thought it could be used for smuggling or a secret passage, and so the doors leading into the factory were welded shut. Yet due to a clerical error or incompetence, no one had ever covered the actual freight elevator. Perhaps they assumed it would only be used as a passageway, and not as a waylay point for insurgents. Or maybe they assumed too much, thinking they could hear anything that went in there.

Apparently, they were dead wrong. In addition to everyone in Dael's group that had arrived, she saw that the other two groups had already gotten there. Most of them looked pretty good, just a bit dirty and tired from getting there in a hurry, but they were getting better. In addition, a few other resistance fighters were there…obviously who had "set things up" for the others, were running intelligence, and were keeping an eye on things for the next mission. Not only did they have a radio present, but they had managed to wire a landline into the communication's network for a Sybenian comm tower. Since almost all communication relied on wireless now, they could pretty much control and transmit from that antenna without the Sybenians knowing anything was even wrong. At the moment, they were more "listening" rather than broadcasting, although the message had been sent out that they had succeeded.

On arriving, Dael saw that piles of leather and old bags of shoe materials had been lain around to form places to recline on. A few of the soldiers who had come this far had minor injuries, but they were getting patched up. Some hadn't made it at all, though… Equipment and weapons were also stockpiled here in fairly large numbers, both whatever was left for the operation as well as some new odds and ends. After all…that "triple strike" had been the "easy" part. After this, they were heading in.

In addition to that, however, she also saw all of the group members there, who looked up as soon as they heard fresh arrivals. And on spotting it was Dael, they began to rise. Quaren and Taraketh were in the lead, both rising and immediately walking over to her.

"Captain, are you alright?" The corporal asked, giving her a look over. "You don't look too good…"

"I'm a lot better than I was." Dael reassured. "I'll be fine if I can just lay back for a couple hours."

"We already know your mission was a success." Taraketh added. "It's on the radio. Sybenia is trying to downplay it, but they're finding that impossible. Even with their attempts to say that the strike wasn't 'significant', they're at the same time launching emergency protocols, lockdowns, and redirecting troops publicly."

"In other words, lying through their teeth and everyone knows it." Cryder called from the leather pile he was reclining on. "Everyone's on edge. Their plans for a troop surge just went up in smoke and they found out just how big the resistance still is."

At this point, Quaren looked to Dael's side, and was puzzled. "Um…sir? Isn't that one of the standard issue blades…?"

Dael grimaced, reaching to her side and drawing it slightly. "Yes, yes it is, corporal."

"But…what happened to your traditional sword?"

Still grimacing, Dael pulled back another part of her clothes, revealing the hilt, and pulled it forth…revealing nothing more than a broken hilt. Quaren was stunned, but so was Taraketh and whoever else could see.

"Your sword got broken?!" Quaren nearly exclaimed.

She exhaled. "I finally put it through too much stress… I suppose I should be grateful it lasted this long. That weapon was designed to do a lot, but not everything I've put it through. Anyway…this thing's only going to do me so much good, so I need to talk to Cid. I'm going to need mage bullets. Even if they're only weak ones."

Quaren gestured to the side. "He's helping them get more power out of the radio at the moment, but I'm sure he'll give you a hand once he's done."

Dael exhaled and nodded. "Alright…so when do we make our next move?"

"We haven't gotten any broadcasts yet from them…but the Black Corsairs and whatever ships Esthar can take into war are on their way." Quaren answered.

"Turns out they _were_ up to something, lass." Cryder spoke up from his position. "Smart too. They're heading around across the ocean…the long way. It'll take them a bit to get here, I wager…but they probably got this planned pretty well. That's the least protected side. They've got the airships too. All of them. They must have tuned up the _Enterprise_ to be able to actually get in a fight. At least…I hope, for whatever fool is on board, that they did…"

"And everyone's already in disarray, expecting more insurgent attacks." Quaren added. "So they're headed south. I think we've got a good chance at this working."

"Probably the best bet for getting into the country will be when they try to 'knuckle up'." Dael added. "They'll engage in an emergency redeployment even if they think the navy can take us. When that happens, they'll send tanks north again and open their borders. We can slip right in at that point. There's numerous ways more sophisticated than stealing a tank."

Taraketh nodded. "Sounds good."

"Only in a sense." Dael answered with a grimace. "It's not like they need many soldiers guarding the capitol. They have more than enough automations to guard it. And I'm sure that some of them will be the same type of mech that gave us such a hard time back in the Leuco facility."

Quaren grimaced. "After listening to some transmissions…I think they call those 'Kaiser Raidens', Dael."

She sighed. "Whatever they're called, one of them is enough to keep one of us occupied for a while, and none of us can take two at a time. That means trouble. I don't think we can just 'muscle' our way into this one."

"Most of the other resistance fighters are coming north too." Quaren added. "We'll have a sizeable force on our side. And some of them are planning other hits to try and act as a diversion." He grimaced soon after. "But yeah…you're right, captain. This isn't going to be easy."

Dael exhaled a bit. "…Nothing for it." She said after a moment. "We just need to be at our best. Let's get something to eat and then get whatever rest we can."

Bahamut looked up to Dael and spoke himself here. "…And you should probably get a touch of practice in with your new sword, Dael. I may not be much for hand weapons, but I know that they take some getting used to."

The young woman sighed…but didn't dispute him. Unfortunately, he was right.

* * *

><p>The group was soon reminded that the worst part of any armed conflict was the waiting. And that was exactly all they could do for the moment…sit around in the basement of the shoe factory and wait for transmissions. Dael did talk with the commanders and get more "clarified", to ensure they all knew the plan and were on the same page, but other than that…there was little that could change other than paying attention to the radio for incoming broadcasts. They picked up little. There was a conventional radio as well…but after her last time in Sybenia, Dael could do without hearing 247 Guiding Hand propaganda. That left pretty much sitting around and waiting.

In spite of how easily they had gotten in, none of them could afford to "rest easy". Everyone kept their weapons on them and ready at all times. If a Sybenian patrol managed to find them, they'd have to start fighting in a hurry, and they'd very quickly have to find an out from this place. All it would take would be some individual over their heads overhearing something during a break in machine chugging, and then they'd have a division down their throats in a compressed space and the mission would be for nothing.

Sentries were posted to watch the door with sniper rifles, intent on pegging anyone off who got too close. As for Dael, however, after clearing things up with the other captains, she found herself a secluded place in the basement. Luckily, there were enough rooms and size down there to have some measure of privacy at points, although she didn't want to go anywhere that would accidentally cause enough noise to be heard. Finding an open space, she drew the blade and began to practice with it.

It didn't go well. The blade was "balanced" only relative to what she knew. It felt awkward and sloppy, like gallivanting around with a big cleaver rather than a weapon she could use. And she really didn't trust it to stand up to much. She only forced herself to work with it for about twenty minutes before she sighed and paused. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid. Without her family's sword, she felt naked. She had that weapon for so long that she really couldn't do well with anything else. In the end, upset over the unbalance of a swing, she merely sighed and nearly threw the weapon down in frustration.

"…You shouldn't give up on it so easily."

Dael turned her head a bit, and saw Bahamut was standing at the turn of the corner, watching her. However, the woman merely sighed in response.

"Swords fell out of favor in military usage over a hundred years ago. About the only ones that are left of good quality are those weapons the dual bladers use, but I never studied theirs. This one is alright but a far cry from my weapon." She exhaled, looking down to it. "Even if I got used to it, I'd probably try using it the same as my old sword, which I kind of 'grew up' with. This one…I'd need to go 'easy' on it."

"Well, you don't have much choice." Bahamut responded as he moved in. "Even if Cid does nothing but make mage bullets for you until we head out, you'll only get a vastly limited number of shots."

Dael grimaced. "…Making me feel like an idiot for letting that machine 'beat up' on me?"

"To be honest, I only expected your body to be broken, not your weapon." He answered. "At the bare minimum, don't tell me this was completely for nothing."

The Esthar's Hawk paused a bit, and then exhaled.

"…I feel I definitely have enough power for a 'Climhazzard'…but that's all. I don't think I could pull off the bigger attack yet. Not without more of a 'pounding'."

Bahamut exhaled in response. "Well, you may get your wish. At any rate, I didn't come here to say 'I told you so'."

Dael looked up a bit at that, forgetting the sword for a moment. "What is it? Is the operation ready?"

"Not yet, but we've got other concerns." Bahamut answered with a sigh as he came in a bit more. "I've been paying attention to the radio." He grimaced. "…True enough, you have to listen to a lot of propaganda and recorded speeches from both Roz and Rozan Hierarch to get anything of substance, but if you listen enough…you do get quite a bit. It seems the fishing industry in the region collapsed overnight. The reason is the temperature hit a threshold, altering in ways that caused all of the schools to either run off or die of sudden temperature shock. What more, they noted that more record temperatures in the desert were set yesterday as a result of a heat wave, and the solar index took another unexpected drop. Almost all of it coincides with yesterday."

Hearing all of this made Dael pause. "…How is that possible? Did the other groups do that much collateral damage?"

"Or did ours?" Bahamut echoed. "I don't know, but even these operations which were supposed to have low body counts seemed like they did a lot more than they were supposed to, Dael. And that's making me nervous. Combined with what happened in Leuco…I'm starting to wonder if, in spite of our best efforts, we're being played like puppets. And if so…the rest of this operation might end up giving us a result none of us want."

The captain hesitated momentarily. She wished she could just push that concern aside…but after what happened at Leuco, she knew they couldn't afford that. Thousands died as a result of the recklessness. They couldn't afford to let that happen again, even if it looked like the war was almost over. Finally, she looked to Bahamut again.

"…Alright, but what do you have in mind?"

"Since he offered earlier," Bahamut answered. "I think it's time we bring in an 'outside consultant'."

Dael raised an eyebrow.

* * *

><p>A bit later, and the woman hoped that no one could see what they were doing. In all honesty…it looked like either something childish at best or a pagan ritual at worst. Bahamut had hurried and gone about collecting a few things from around the basement, had put them to work by erecting a hasty symbol emblazoned with runes on the floor, and then performed gestures on the symbol with the collected items, such as placing a bowl filled with water and salt across it, tracing out lines with ash mixed with phosphorus from a glow stick, and setting fires kindled from fish at the corners of a star around it momentarily before letting them burn out.<p>

She couldn't help but grimace as he continued to work. "…I'll have to admit, it looks like we're summoning a demon."

"Don't be ridiculous." Bahamut snorted. "As if I would know how to do that or ever bother to learn. Normally, if I wanted to talk to Leviathan in my old body, I'd just hook up a psychic connection with him. But as we don't have that luxury at the moment due to my weakened mind, I'm going to try and enhance it a bit by creating a bit of a 'plume' from the Lifestream itself to get his attention. And since I don't know how to do that using anything 'modern', I'm having to rely on methods that would have been used a few thousand years ago."

Dael looked around behind them. "…You have any idea how crazy this is going to look to anyone who comes along?"

"We're far from the others. Just keep quiet, and it will be fine." Bahamut answered as he finished up. That done, he exhaled a bit. "Alright…give me your hand."

The young officer looked to him…a bit uncertainly. Anticipating her question, he looked up to her with a sigh. "In order to attract Leviathan, we'll have to call on the link that we have with him. One person's alone is too weak. I'll need the link in you too."

Dael hesitated a moment, but then acquiesced and went down to Bahamut's side. He held out a hand to her. For a moment, she simply stared at it. In the end, however, very reluctantly, she reached out and took it.

"Now just relax…like when you're doing that special attack I showed you."

Dael hesitated a moment, but then did as she was told. Her eyes slowly closed, and she began to still herself within. Since it had been practiced so often by now, it took only a moment for her to start seeing the spiritual lines around her. It did seem a bit odd, though… They seemed a bit more erratic…flickering in and out both bright and dim… What more, it seemed as if the lights traced the symbol Bahamut had made perfectly…

Yet as she did this, Bahamut closed his own eyes and concentrated. It took a moment, but Dael soon felt something inside her, similar to a summoning. Only it was quick this time, rapid and in a short burst. And, in turn, she saw something flow out of her and Bahamut and dip into the same spiritual lines, soon rippling through all of them like a bit of electric charge sent through "wires". They traced out in all directions, but eventually converged right in the middle of the symbol Bahamut had made. And sure enough…she actually saw a spiritual "flame" arise from it for a moment like a spurt of flaming exhaust.

It was enough to make Dael open her eyes…where she soon received another surprise. A "spiritual flame" had seemingly arise in real life as well as in her "sight". A mist of green energy erupted forth for a moment, before subsiding once again. It didn't go out, however. It merely sank into the sigil that Bahamut had made, and soon lit it up afterward. It remained faintly glowing with spectral green for a moment, and Dael could hear it burning slightly, like a bed of hot coals and a wet log, faintly hissing as the water boiled away.

A moment later…and a voice came from them.

_"I figured if you wanted to get in contact with me, you'd use this method, Bahamut." _The voice of Leviathan issued from the sigil. _"I hoped against it, however. I thought you might have managed to recover some of your old power by now…but I'm afraid that may not be the case." _A pause. _"…However, I sense someone else with you too…"_

The voice sounded a bit cross on saying that, which caused Dael to tense slightly, and Bahamut to react in some confusion.

_"Dael, was it?" _Leviathan's voice went on. _"…I don't know what part of my advice wasn't clear to you, but this world has been growing more chaotic than ever. I thought that once Nyx Gaia appeared in the night sky you would at least start getting worried enough to do something…and what happens? Another few thousand sent into the Lifestream?"_

Both Dael and Bahamut looked surprised alike at that.

"What you talking about?" Dael answered. "We haven't killed anyone." She paused. "…Alright, that's not entirely true. But it couldn't have been more than a hundred soldiers or so. It was three minor operations."

_"Perhaps you should check again." _Leviathan's voice rather darkly answered. _"And count. There's no mistake…there's been consistent large 'inputs' into the Lifestream. That's terrible for the planet. It causes it to become more unstable and chaotic than by the sheer increase in disorder alone, like rapidly injecting adrenaline into an individual at short, spaced intervals."_

Dael actually grew defensive. "I'm telling you…all of our intelligence said there was nothing at those places but soldiers. I myself only fought mechs. We burned some crop fields, and that was it."

_"You did what?" _Leviathan retorted, rather sharply.

The young officer didn't like the sound of it. "…We burned some fields in Garrado. They were going to feed the enemy, that's all. We were trying to use starvation to create greater supply strain…"

The voice let out a massive groan. _"Young lady…do use your common sense. I'm certain you're more than familiar with how one uses starvation as a weapon in war. Why embargos and trade restrictions never work. It's because the dictators, the military, and those in power continue to draw in what they did before and let all losses be 'absorbed' by the people. That dictator is going to keep feeding his army…and, to do it, he'll cut the rations dry to whoever is under his boot in the occupation. If they complain, he'll blame the resistance, and even if the people don't go for it, riots will ensue for food. People will be shot as a result…and many more will starve, including the elderly and children. Food is the _last_ weapon you want to use in a war if you're trying to avoid spreading chaos. People who can't even meet their most basic needs are at their most desperate and savage. Haven't you ever studied how nations that were starved throughout history resorted to eating their own children?" _The voice shifted a bit. _"…You should have known better, Bahamut. You should have spoken up."_

For once, the boy seemed taken aback. "…I've never had a problem feeding myself or others, Leviathan. I wasn't familiar with food being used as a weapon."

Dael, however, paused a bit longer. To tell the truth…she had known all of this all along. She just never thought to question the morality with it. Attacking an enemy food supply was an effective maneuver…but only so long as you didn't care who got hurt as a result. She had never tried to act in such a way that minimized suffering. As an Esthar's Hawk, the only suffering she was taught to minimize was that of her own nation. So she had forgotten what the far-reaching effects of destroying a food supply meant… It made her rather uncomfortable to think of it. Perhaps the problem wasn't a spy at all this time…but her merely being thoughtless.

_"…Nothing can be done about it now, so there's no sense lamenting it…only remembering it for the future." _Leviathan stated. _"What is your current course of action?"_

"We're trying to end the war in one move." Bahamut answered. "Remove the head of the government: Rozan Hierarch. However…in regards to what you said…doing so will likely start a civil war among his military commanders. We're planning on removing him and letting the nation divide and conquer itself."

Leviathan was silent for a moment.

Dael quickly threw in more. "Lord Leviathan…the enemy still has ten nuclear weapons. If those are used…"

_"…Alright." _He finally stated. _"We're looking at more chaos any way you look at it, but a more 'conventional' war over the space of one nation is preferable to a large scale one. And anything is better than those weapons being used. It seems that's the best that can happen."_

"However, we have a large problem with that." Bahamut answered. "Let's assume, our recklessness aside, that we were somehow manipulated into doing a lot more damage than we intended. If that's the case, then it stands to reason that we might end up doing the same here. More than that…the scientists that we ran into within Leuco were doing things seemingly outside the realm of world conquest. They had manufactured a great deal of a chemical that allowed them to absorb magical energy from magic-users…somewhat akin to making each individual the same as one of those machines Vector used, I'd wager. Not only that, they were interested in trying to develop new powers… I don't know what for, but something was mentioned about being able to relive a person's past…"

Leviathan paused again on hearing this.

_"…Did you say a great deal of a chemical?"_

"Yes."

Another pause. _"…And this chemical was trapped in the facility when it detonated, meaning it would have been launched into the atmosphere along with everything else?"_

Bahamut paused momentarily. "…Yes."

An even longer pause.

_"…Neither of you have felt 'different' over the past few days, have you?"_

The boy was puzzled, and shook his head. "No."

"No." Dael readily answered.

Leviathan was silent yet again. _"…It's probably nothing then." _He finally said, although quietly doing so.

Bahamut himself stared back a moment. "…Leviathan, the sigil is almost dry. If there's any advice you have for us, now is the time."

_"Very well." _He stated. _"Then let's leave supposition and future problems aside for the moment. I am going to have to ask you all to add another complication to your upcoming operation into Sybenia. If you really intend to either capture or eliminate the dictator and then leave and let everyone who's behind fight it out until one is left standing, then you need to use this time to try and track down what happened to the remaining essences that were stolen."_

Dael's brow turned in confusion. "The essences?"

_"The essences appeared to be water to us but were obviously something that was different on the spiritual level rather than the physical. If Sybenia truly managed to perfect what you're telling me about, then my assumption is they discovered the means through those essences. And if you are truly being played for fools to go in here and do the ambitions of someone else, then you should do something they _didn't_ intend while you're at it. The true reason for all of this lies with the missing essences."_

"Leviathan, before it's too late…one more thing." Bahamut interjected. "We were sent here via a device that enables teleportation across anywhere in the world. The person responsible for it was named 'Maritza'. I don't know what happened to her and I can't sense spirits anymore…but in my heart I don't think it was a coincidence. It's possible she's lived this long. Does she have anything to do with this?"

_"I know more about Selina Martiza than you do, Bahamut, but I still know precious little. What I do know is that she's been gone for over two hundred years without appearing in public and she's only interested in what makes her happy, not world conquest. I can't rule out she won't do something despicable if it serves her ends, but somehow I doubt she appeared again just for that."_

By now, the last of the water was evaporating, and Leviathan's voice grew smaller and weaker. However, he seemed to realize this, and spoke one last time.

_"As I said…find the essences, and you'll find what's behind all of this…"_

With that, the last of the fluid faded…and the sigil went 'dead', both in the 'real world' as well as the vision that Dael had of spiritual traces. With that gone, there was a moment of silence.

The two paused and looked to one another. To be honest, the captain was a bit intrigued by what Bahamut said about the doctor back at the teleporter. It seemed he indeed knew something that she didn't...but whether he would elaborate on it was something else. To be frank...she had other thoughts on her mind at the moment.

"…So what now?" Dael asked.

"It never pays to reject Leviathan's counsel." Bahamut stated. "He was the wisest of our kind."

"This operation is going to be hard enough just trying to get to Rozan." Dael reminded him. "I've been in that place once. Sure, they didn't have a whole lot of obvious defenses, but you can bet it's heavily guarded. And we don't even know if we'll find the essences anywhere inside. For all we know, they're in a lab miles away from the capitol building."

He looked back to her. "Nevertheless, we need to give it a try. If we don't…there's a good chance we're doing nothing more than dancing to the tune of whoever's behind all of this. If we're really going to cause a major civil unrest, this is the only time we'll be able to be in the country for months. Maybe years."

"But still, how?" Dael answered. "Like I said, we don't even know where to look for them. The main capitol building might be the most secure facility in the main city, but there's no guarantee they won't be there as opposed to a location that's not even listed. And we don't have any intelligence to tell us where."

Bahamut exhaled. "I don't know, but this is our one chance, Dael. We can't afford to let this go by. We need to keep our ears open for any area that sounds like Sybenia is trying to 'sweep it under the rug'. Now, I'm wagering that the capitol building is part of a greater complex, similar to what we have set up in Esthar now. It's the most efficient to guard since they seem intent on arming up most of the city as much as possible, but even they don't have money and resources to just throw around on multiple spots. My guess is one of those will end up being the spot. We don't even have to plan a 'side trip'."

Dael paused for a few moments. She wasn't exactly happy with this suggestion…but she also didn't want to make any more mistakes. Leviathan was supposed to be smart, after all. She should do as Bahamut said and not just dismiss it because she was so intent on doing something that 'whoever was behind all this' might want her to do to begin with. In the end, she decided on a compromise.

"…Alright, if we find something, we'll go for it. But don't count on my jeopardizing our original mission just for that. You heard Leviathan. He wants us to complete that one as well."

"Very well." Bahamut answered. "But try to get me to listen on the transmissions as well. I want to be able to hear what's happening…"

* * *

><p>The group had about eighteen more hours to "lie low" after Dael and Bahamut's last discussion. After that, Dael needed to get back to work with the other captains on planning their assault. It was still only in the inception stages at the moment, and she, having been one of the only ones who saw the interior of Sybenia after they locked out the espionage agents, would have to be responsible for giving them the bulk of their intelligence, as precious little as it was. At the bare minimum, she knew of the underground tunnels, the layout of the structure, the cannons, the Aegis Armors, and the true capabilities of the Kaiser Raidens. That was more than most Class III individuals could give them. As time went by, they gradually began to hash out a plan.<p>

However, they were still waiting for the word when the final stages were put out. The group found themselves waiting along with all of the rest of the soldiers for the next phase to be cleared. The radio was watched continuously…mostly for sounds of transmissions from the incoming fleet or, better yet, a transmission from Esthar itself using the fleet as a relay beacon. That would be possible, given the nature of the equipment on the incoming ships. Dael heard nothing, though…and neither did Bahamut, who kept his ears on the other broadcasts that managed to sneak an ear in on the enemy's own movements. After all, even domestically, they had coded channels, and neither the time, resources, nor specialists to try and break the codes and figure out what they were hiding. They had to stick with what they had.

Everyone was getting more anxious as time went on. No one even came closer to checking for them, but the streets seemed to thin out almost to the point where they could risk walking in the open. Even the sounds of aircraft flying overhead from time to time, being redirected, died down. Dael knew they couldn't wait too long. If their strike took too much time to launch, then the enemy would simply loosen security again and they'd be back where they started. She was sure they were trying to cut their losses even as is and had nearly managed to do so…and her own group struggled to be patient. After all, they couldn't get out of this country the same way they came in anymore if they had to flee…

Finally, however, the message came.

It was when Dael was lounging with the others. They had packed up their things several hours ago to get moving in a hurry, but since that time, as the hours continued to go by, she figured they had been a bit premature. With that in mind, she nearly gave the call to settle in again. Perhaps they could afford to lay low a bit longer. That's when she heard the transmission from the radio nearby, as did most of the other Esthar's Hawks.

_"Foxhole, please come in. This is Pearl Wind, over."_

Immediately, everyone, who had been lazing about for a while due to inaction, snapped to attention. Even the conventional soldiers quickly looked up and around. However, it was the captains who rose and started to approach the radio station…Dael included among them. On arrival, everyone immediately huddled in close, leaving the person in charge of communications to respond.

"This is Foxhole, over."

_"Are all the foxes present, over?"_

"Affirmative, over."

_"The Pearl Wind is now blowing. It's going to keep it up for five cycles, repeat, five cycles. Soon, the Birdy-Bird is going to feel it. One cycle or less. Time to clear out. Over."_

Dael tightened up a bit on hearing that. So this was it…

"Acknowledged. The foxes are raring. Over and out."

The radio was switched off…and, immediately, the Esthar's Hawks present went about turning it off completely and then got to work disassembling it. The other captains turned and started to go to their divisions. Among them was Dael. To think…she was just starting to get bored. Now they were going into the most dangerous territory on Gaia on the most important mission of the war…and she wished that she would have had a lot more time.

_Come on…don't be nervous…you're trained for this._

…Thinking that way barely helped the situation. She was without the sword she knew for years, which was enough to distract her on a mental and comfort basis, and this wasn't a terrorist attack or run-and-gun raid. This was deciding the fate of the world. It was all she could do to try and keep herself calm and recall the plan as she moved back toward the others. Luckily, they had overheard, and were already getting their already-packed gear together. Even Carbuncle was up and stretching, seeming to get ready to do this one "on foot" to not slow anyone down.

"…I did not understand a word of what they said on that device." Ceja stated as she hefted her own axe.

"We're not exactly on purely 'coded' terms, but we're using a few code words as standard issue anyway in case someone happened to be listening." Quaren explained. "We're 'Foxhole', and the incoming ships are 'Pearl Wind'. 'Five cycles' means they'll be here in five hpurs, and that 'Birdy-Bird' refers to their own radar systems. In other words…they'll be here in five hours, but in one they'll be visible to the Sybenians."

"Which means that's when they'll start rerouting things." Dael added as she approached them. "That's when the borders will be 'looser', and when we can get in."

"In theory." Cryder answered. "They'll still have iron walls stretching across the entire border crossing loaded with every cannon and firearm imaginable. You really think we can pull off a tank capture this close to the area and drive it in?"

"No, but we don't have to." Dael answered. She turned her head slightly. "Cid…that drill of yours can tunnel through a hundred foot cave in no problem, right?"

The engineer paused as she went for his own pack, but then halted and nodded. "Of course."

"That's what I'm counting on." Dael answered. "Sybenia had its underground rail system as a government work project prior to turning hostile and began to work on tunnels extending out of the nation, but aborted them when the surrounding city-states wanted a bigger share of the tax revenue that new city employees and transit fees would provide. When Sybenia started sealing themselves off, they didn't want to have to build defenses underground and above ground, so they merely sealed their ends using explosives. Once that was done, they counted on the fact no one would be able to break through again without bringing in heavy equipment or using explosives of their own, which would give them away through tremors and sound if nothing else."

"But if a tank convoy is rolling overhead that's being redirected…" Bahamut mused, getting where this was going.

"We might be able to get in then." Dael finished. "Assuming they found out their tanks were 'appropriated' for our initial coming in, they'll be focusing more on checking the tanks themselves to see if we're trying to ride in the same way. At any rate, the rail system is completely connected. It has a few bulkheads, but that's nothing for us to get through. The main problem is going to be ensuring no one comes after us, because those rail tunnels are lined with sensors and cameras. That's what Captain Drell's group is taking care of. They're going to hijack one of the relay points and put the security systems in a loop. Now, those relays are checked every once in a while, but with the chaos of the attack, it should be pretty lax."

"So they _are_ launching an attack, captain?" Quaren asked as he finally finished loading his gear and stood up.

Dael nodded.

This caused some of the group members to pause momentarily, looking uncomfortable, before they resumed. Quaren was among them as he went on. Carbuncle looked up a bit with a frown.

"…They can't win. And Sybenia knows they can't."

"They can still be a threat." Dael answered. "Especially with Sybenia 'guarding the wrong direction'. I'm not sure how far inland they can get, but the Black Corsairs have a few long range weapons, and we have a few missiles…enough to cause some damage to the defensive wall and whatever ships they can gather. And they won't bother fighting head on. They'll take time to organize a fleet. Their purpose isn't to win. It's to cause Sybenia enough problems to where they're blind to everything else. With one group at the south making sure no insurgents try anything, and the other to the northwest defending against the fleet, we'll have a chance. And Sybenia won't be able to afford to check every breach of security. It'll be enough for us to storm the capitol building, at any rate."

"How about escaping?" Cryder asked. "I didn't exactly agree to a suicide mission."

"Carbuncle teleport?" Jalab asked.

"Normally I would, but that place is bound to have some sort of Eris Bell in effect, keeping me from teleporting anyone a few hundred yards to a few feet. And no guarantee we'll take it out, either." The green creature answered.

"So we'll be taking an airship. A Sybenian one." Dael responded.

This caused a unified pause from everyone, including Quaren. "…Seriously, captain?"

"That's Captain Sloane's job…securing our escape and making sure to flood the radio signals with broadcasts that the High Dictator is escaping an attack by assassins. That way, they'll let us leave the city without trouble, thinking we're taking him to safety. By the time they realize something's wrong, we'll be too high in the air for them to shoot down."

"In theory, lass…" Cryder muttered. "I think we're pretty much runnin' under Murphy's Law ever since we started…"

"At any rate, that's only after we complete the mission." The captain continued. "From last time, I know the right railing system leads us all the way to the capitol building, and we knew about the rails even before the war began when we still had intelligence. There's little reason to believe they changed. We won't even have to worry about perimeter defenses."

"Only what's in the tunnels…" Bahamut added.

"It would not be a battle without some enemies to strike down." Ceja answered. "And if this is our final battle, it makes sense for it to be the most difficult."

"And it just might be, Ceja." Dael answered. "Is everyone ready?"

All the gear had been collected, the weapons put at the ready, and all of the group stared back at Dael…ready to move out. She inhaled one more time, and then exhaled.

"Alright…let's go."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	54. Divide and Conquer

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well...here's something I didn't think I'd do again for this story...a double update. But since this chapter seems a bit "dull", and you all already had to sit through one filler chapter I didn't intend, I thought I owed it to you all. Hopefully the chapter after this one is "explosive" enough to make up for the doldrums.

* * *

><p>Sybenia was no more hospitable than it was last time.<p>

The group didn't have to venture far into the city state before enough of the building skyline cleared to see the nation far in the distance. It didn't help that the morning sun was rising, bathing it in red. This far north, the days stayed redder longer at this time of year, and it seemed to dip the entire skyline in a bloody hue. Just as before, the numerous armored skyscrapers and long cannons covered it in every direction, making it look like a giant metal armored fortress more than a city, in spite of how large it was. Short range aircraft flew all around it, and Dael knew the streets were filled with security robots, soldiers, tanks, and every other type of weapon imaginable. This was infinitely worse than Leuco…and they were headed right for it.

The group managed to get close enough to where they could see the individual soldiers on the border wall with the aid of binoculars. However, that was only because all buildings between them and the border had already been leveled, creating a great deal of rubble for a group of their size to hide behind. In this "no-man's land" between the border and the last standing buildings, there were a number of sentry robots, a few marching patrols of guards, and even a tank or two. Ahead of them, about one-hundred yards away, was the entrance to the incomplete subway tunnel. It had not only been shut down, but surrounded by sandbags and barbed wire to discourage anyone from coming near. However, that wouldn't be a problem. Carbuncle was in clear sight of the other side of the barbed wire, so he could teleport them all in two or three at a time. A good thing too, because two armored turrets had been placed on either side to destroy anything that came near, and there was no way they could hope to disable them without attracting the attention of a hundred sentries and guards. Nevertheless, the group didn't move yet. They reached it after the first hour passed, and, at this point, their fleet was only coming into range. It would take a bit yet before they started redeploying the troops.

As they sat among the rubble, staying low and staying quiet, time continued to tick by. That flank was supposed to be unguarded, so even if Sybenia felt they could "take them", they should have some reorganizing of troops. That would likely mean the border opening, but how much and how long was up for debate. And if their theories were wrong, and the Sybenian Army had enough troops inside their borders already to reorganize…they might be in for some trouble.

Time slowly passed, but everyone stayed tense and ready. The two separate groups all had their own special equipment and gear, and would break off soon after they crossed the border. However, until then, they would all have to move as one. Dael's power had increased, but she still didn't think she could help teleport people inside nearly as easily as Carbuncle could. She could only get maybe six at the most before she exhausted herself, and, frankly, that was incredible for her. Yet as she sat there, Bahamut suddenly spoke up in a near-whisper.

"Dael."

Still looking forward and listening for incoming weapons, the captain responded. "Yes, Bahamut?"

"I'm fairly certain that Tiamat was only hurt last time, not destroyed. Wounded, but not taken down. If that's true…then there's a good chance by now that he's healed. And there's good reason to believe that Sybenia will call him again. If that happens, are the Sorceresses present?"

Dael slowly inhaled and exhaled.

"…Lady Veriguno is still to the south. She said that if Sybenia fails to 'take the bait' or starts overwhelming the attackers too quickly, or comes after us, she'll launch a sortie of her own with the natives to try and divert their attention again…make Sybenia think that's the true raid. As a result, she will not be present to deal with Tiamat."

"One Sorceress alone couldn't do it anyway." Bahamut answered. "Except possibly for Mianyl. What of the others?"

The captain swallowed a bit. "…Since Tiamat alone is worth a quarter of their military, and Sybenia has taken advantage of mass troops deployments like this before, they're remaining in Esthar to defend the city in case he's summoned there."

Bahamut's gaze narrowed. "…So the incoming fleet is defenseless?"

"…We're trying something experimental. Three of Esthar's ships are being used as triangulation points for an overshield using the _Ragnarok's_ own reactor to try and protect them. It's been recalibrated and intensified to hopefully nullify a Guardian Force's ability to fly through it."

The boy remained dark. "And if it fails?"

"…" Dael didn't answer, and she didn't have to.

Bahamut exhaled. "Conventional weaponry is useless against that. And the airships are already without defenses. At the bare minimum, three of us should have been on that fleet. Then we at least could have summoned Alexander to counter the threat."

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Bahamut." Dael answered. "Information is so hard to come by in Esthar in light of the leaks that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing."

"This is reckless. Esthar knew full well of the threat of Tiamat, and yet no one in power is taking the appropriate steps against him."

"They're relying on us to succeed where no conventional team could. They'll never let Lady Mianyl lead the charge in this operation, and Lady Faerio and Lady Cybus wouldn't have been enough to make a serious difference. The fact that they could use this opportunity to take us when we're defenseless is very real. They've done it before."

Bahamut finally turned to Dael.

"…This operation, however limited, and perhaps not even a 'major assault', has been set up to maximize casualties none the less. Many that we don't know about have already been incurred." He stated. "…Don't you think that this situation is conducive for even more deaths?"

Dael paused on hearing that. She didn't answer right away…only let the words sink in.

Before she could think of a response, however, The sounds of large engines chugging became audible. The group turned and looked, and soon heard more joining the first, and the sounds getting closer. If that wasn't enough, the sounds of helicopter blades thudding against the air also rang out. The Sybenians were moving forth at last. Sure enough, looking forward through binoculars, one could see the nearest gate beginning to open to welcome them.

The young officer was at a loss now. First Leviathan's predictions, then what Bahamut said. In truth, she was still working on getting rid of her tendency to be 'compliant' at times like this. Like a true military soldier, hers wasn't 'to question why' but 'to do and die'. She was used to doing what she was told, not thinking about it. As a result, she had been ready to accept certain sacrifices and losses on any operation so long as it succeeded. But, she now began to realize, the assault was made up of a number of Black Corsairs, not military individuals. And even if they knew the risks going in (after all, they _were_ pirates)…this didn't feel right. In all honesty, in spite of the terror of the attack on Esthar…she had nearly forgotten about Tiamat. They had fought a defensive war for so long, she only thought in terms of him coming in to attack the main city, where the Sorceresses would be waiting for them. But out here? She realized if that Guardian Force was truly under their command, there was little reason to believe it couldn't defend as well as attack…

And it had indeed had a long time to heal…

_There's no turning back now. We've come too far. This is the mission that can end the war. I've got to focus on it…_

_ But…if everything really is going the way of the person who orchestrated this…then what if even the assassination is 'intended'…?_

Dael snapped that thought out of her head.

_Enough. Focus._

A few seconds later, and the first of the tanks rolled into view. By the time four of them had formed a line going up to the gates, the first helicopter went by. The group stayed low, but that wasn't necessary. They were more than low enough to avoid being seen, and had covered themselves above and from the sides. By the time the next flew overhead, a line of tanks stretched from the city into the main gates, which were now fully open. They were guarded by both wall turrets as well as ground turrets, to say nothing of guards and sentries, both robotic and flesh-and-bone. Luckily, thanks to Carbuncle, they could avoid all of this.

Bahamut looked at the incoming tanks, and exhaled. "…Seems to be quite a few coming in. They're at least treating this attack seriously. It seems they took the 'bait', as it were."

Dael looked to Carbuncle. "Alright, start taking us in."

The green creature gave a bit of a salute, and immediately put his hands on Dael and Bahamut. Soon, his ruby light expanded over them, creating a brilliant flash…

And, at once, the two popped back into reality right across the barrier, within the underground train tunnel passageway. They were already stuck underneath the concrete walls rising up on either side and halfway down the set of stairs that led to the station. In short…they were already hidden, and thanks to Carbuncle's teleporting, no one was the wiser. Immediately, the green creature teleported back, as Dael activated her own flashlight and moved deeper inside the tunnel.

* * *

><p>It took about five minutes in all, but all of Dael's group plus the rest of the Esthar's Hawks were soon in the passage. No one suspected a thing. All of the defenses were geared toward the gate openings and the individual tanks and vehicles moving through, looking for anyone who was trying to hitch a ride to get in. No one thought that anyone was coming for the train tunnel. And if they were, they counted on the sentry turrets to spot them. Never did either automation suspect that their targets were popping up right behind them. The entry was flawless…but Dael knew they were a long way from "out of the woods". All they had succeeded in doing was passing the first "hurdle" without alerting anyone. With that in mind, they descended into the shaft.<p>

Power had long since been cut to this end of the subway, and soon they were walking into nothing more than a dark hole. Even with most of the soldiers deploying lights, either personal or on their guns, it was all but impossible to see into the area. And when light beams traced by certain dark corners, mutant rats or amorphous blobs would hurridly skitter out of sight. Not exactly the most wholesome place to be…but, at the bare minimum, it meant that the place was definitely uninhabited. That gave them a bit of an advantage…she hoped. It could still have cameras and sentry robots, after all, which didn't care how inhospitable a place became.

The group descended the stairs, went through the half-built station, and all the way to the tunnel. After that, they hopped down and began to trek north. They didn't have to worry about any "third rails"…at least, not at this juncture. They hadn't even begun to lay the track when they shut this branch down, so they could walk without worry…provided that there weren't any cameras installed. She definitely couldn't hear the sounds of any live electrical wires here…but that could be misleading.

At any rate, the group couldn't have gone more than half a mile, right under the gate itself, Dael believed, before they came to a stopping point. The tunnel up ahead was nothing more than a massive pile of boulders and rocks that had been strategically caved in a while ago. It looked rather thick and intimidating. Sure enough, even though they had to be a bit underground now, one could clearly hear through the ceiling the sound of massive, strong engines moving tank after tank across the border. No one would hear anything they were doing down there. Provided there were no hidden cameras, they could get in without detection.

Of course…that left the matter of how they were going to get inside in the first place. The rock wall looked rather formidable and impenetrable, after all. Even for Cid's tools, Dael had her doubts that he could get through this.

As the group came to a halt and looked to it, the engineer began to step forward, exhaling a bit as he raised his pack and began to shift to his drill bit. Dael decided she might as well ask.

"Think your tools can handle this, Cid?"

He gave a nod. "Yeah…but I'm not sure how long it will take. I mean…not a whole day or even a quarter of one…but I use this drill primarily for small foundation work and making holes for heavy bolts. I don't have any way of tunneling out the dirt I kick up, so the hole I make is probably going to get rather full rather quick. I might have to rely on all of you to help me get the debris out."

"Maybe we should have brought shovels…" Carbuncle murmured.

Dael said nothing. As for Cid, he took a moment to put on some work gloves, goggles, and even a helmet, and then gunned up the drill to near maximum and went forward. The others quickly spread out and back as bits of rock and mud began to flow out of the hole as Cid tunneled into it.

At first, the captain was stunned at the power of the drill. It seemed to eat through the stone as if it was some sort of ravenous monster, and although the drill itself wasn't nearly as large as what would be needed to tunnel out a full-sized passage for a man to walk through, it seemed to almost act like an egg beater, sucking in stone like batter and pressing it out on the sides, creating a tunnel just large enough for three full grown people to squeeze through. The work was fast, and in no time at all the drill had gone through twenty feet. Dael initially thought this wouldn't be a problem. By then, however, Cid's prediction came to pass. The mud and loose stone grew so thick, there was no way to wander through it. He had to pause and try to dig out.

It wasn't easy. Because of the tunnel, there was only so much room for people to go in and start digging out. Eventually, they had to settle with whoever was the biggest and strongest…and, given the constraints, it was rather like digging like a dog. Dirt and debris was flung out of the tunnel, and the others outside grabbed it and pushed it aside to make room for more. It took quite a bit of time just to clear out enough to start going again. Cid only got ten more feet before more clearing was needed. Dael only cleared out as much as needed to get the drill moving again…but this time Cid only went another five feet. That forced them to pause to work a bit harder. When the current group's hands got tired, they moved out and let others move in. Unfortunately…the group was the ones who were junctioned and had greater strength. Even the more physical Esthar's Hawks could only do it at their pace for a few minutes before they were too tired.

After getting enough cleared out, they were able to get another fifteen feet before having to clear the rubble again. This time, it was harder because the tunnel was deeper. They had to work in tandem in a sort of "assembly line" to be at their most efficient. Even so, it took quite a bit of effort to get through this. Another hour passed, and they were still trying to tunnel through to the other side of the barricade. Dael realized there was another problem as well. Assuming the worst happened, and they either weren't able to finish before the convoy had passed or that someone on the other side heard them coming and was preparing a defense…then they would have to be ready for a firefight the moment the tunnel was open. And with a narrow tunnel…that wasn't very conducive to fighting back. Cid would be pretty much out in the open if the worst happened…and neither she nor Carbuncle could teleport to the front unless they had at least a view of it. With nothing else for it, she had to hold on and hope for the best.

Finally, at long last, the drill began to break through the other side, spitting material out into the adjoining hall rather than the current one. When that happened, Cid dropped the drill speed to minimize noise as well as debris, and the relay group prepared to move out. Although no one could see all the way through the tunnel that had been made, they all waited for the drilling to cease. About a minute later, it did so, and the message was passed on from Cid through the tunnel.

"We're through, and it's dim on the other side…but there's lights on further up and rails."

With that in mind, the relay team was sent forward. After everyone, including Cid, was sent out of the tunnel, they were sent in. Aside from them, only one other sentry soldier was placed in the tunnel. There would be no more radio broadcasts at this point. Rather, if the team going for the relay station was successful, they would give clearance by making the LED for the first conduit flicker on and off three times, which was visible from here even in the dim light. Until then, they had as many soldiers as possible stay out of sight. On the chance that there was a camera looking right at them when they broke through or they tripped a silent alarm, then they at least wouldn't know how many soldiers were present.

Once again, the group was forced to play the waiting game…and only a couple minutes into it, the convoy stopped incoming. Another hour ticked by. Although Dael was well aware of how important it was to take one's time on this next phase, she wished they could have moved a bit faster. They didn't have much of a "grace period". Their "lead" had already shrunk to a mere two and a half hours, and it would take a few hours to be able to hike to the middle of Sybenia. They had no transportation this time. The rest of the trip would have to be on foot, and it was easily a distance of many miles. Probably too much for any normal soldier to hope to make it with all the gear, and even if the group went at full speed they would leave the others behind in the dust. On that note…Dael and Taraketh would be helping out again. Both of them had the capability to use Haste spells better than anyone else, and they were fairly "non-taxing" to cast. They'd have to use several of them, but if they kept them off, they could shave a couple hours off of the trip.

Dael was all for that. While underground, they wouldn't even be able to send out broadcasts or pick up radio signals telling them the fight was still ongoing. And she already felt considerably nervous to realize that if Tiamat had recovered, then it could end this battle with one stroke… She almost forgot about the real danger they were in…namely that if they were spotted anything could simply roll up the tunnel and start shooting them…versus the fact that the relay team and the attacking fleet were in danger. None of this would work if any one part failed.

Finally, at around 53 minutes after the second relay team had gone out, the sentry gave the call. The LED blinked three times regularly. They were cleared to move. Once more, everyone got up their things, and this time everyone moved through the tunnel. Once that was done, Dael and Taraketh went to work. Most of the soldiers looked a bit uneasy about this. While they might have been experienced in dealing with magic, none of them had ever had a spell used on them for any purpose. And when it was done, even the most hardened ones looked rather surprised. However, everyone moved out as one afterward.

Dael's GPS was monitoring their progress, as was everyone else's, but it wasn't doing so based on a live satellite feed. Rather, it was using prerecorded data and references that they had obtained prior to now. As such, they were only showing estimations of their current position and distance traveled, although the technology was vastly improved from earlier in history. They also made excellent time. Dael and the group still had to walk slower than the others for them to keep up, but that was only a minor concern. They were easily going three times as fast as they had before. After the first hour had gone by, the group had already gone over ten miles with only a bit of breathing hard under their respective loads. Better yet, and more preferable to Dael…they didn't encounter any resistance. It seemed the relay team had done their job.

The captain continued to watch the clock. At the bare minimum, she hoped to get to the first "branch" point, where their group would split once again. The next team had an equally difficult job, after all. They were the ones who had to not only secure an escape route, but one in connection with the capitol building. That was a hard task for anyone, and was only slightly easier than what they were trying. It was only about five more miles ahead, but, with a little luck, they could get there right as the fighting started, and then there would be enough chaos for the rest to be "smooth sailing".

Dael was still hoping for this and moving ahead…when the sounds of an engine humming in the distance became audible. Immediately, the person at the point put up a fist, and everyone else halted. At first, it sounded like it might just be a trick of the ear…a tank or large weapon rolling over a duct that happened to hit just the right acoustics to "toy" with them. However, the group kept waiting to make sure…and though the noise ebbed once or twice, overall it continued to grow both louder and sharper. After about a minute, there was no more question about it. It was some sort of large military vehicle…and it was also in the tunnel and coming that way.

The Esthar's Hawk grimaced, but didn't waste time. Neither did the other captains. Immediately, everyone spread out and ran for the sides of the chamber. There was only so many places to hide inside an enclosed tunnel like this one, but a bit of luck was on the group's side. Backtracking a bit, they were at one of the stations, and most of them could hide there. As for everyone else, they either had to take position in maintenance tunnels, behind support columns, or near debris that was in the unused tunnel. It was still dark, fortunately…which was good because they needed to take this out. They couldn't afford to let it just "roll by", because it would most certainly spot them as it made its way through. With that in mind, several of the snipers and demolition men took the front. They could only afford a couple anti-tank weapons and they needed to save the rounds, so, instead, they were going to opt for something more "direct" while the incoming hostile was still in the "dark" portions. At any rate, everyone stayed quiet. Dael herself used one of the mirrors within the standard issue gear as she stood behind a wall and spied out into the tunnel.

After a few moments, a tank did indeed roll around the bend in the path and began to come forward. In spite of the darkness, Dael quickly identified the make and model: a Gilgame. Probably the biggest tank they could squeeze into the tunnels. She didn't know why it was here…if it was regular patrol, or if they had "smelled a rat" and sent one in. She soon retracted her mirror, not wanting to risk any light flashes alerting the crew. However, as she leaned back, she could guess what was happening. This was fairly standard procedure for Esthar's Hawks, after all…right out of the "playbook" for urban warfare.

As the tank slowly rolled past the more narrow enclaves that it couldn't see inside, the soldiers quickly went to work, placing some of the same explosive compound that Dael and the group had used in the last operation within the treads of the incoming vehicle. Unlike before, however, they didn't bother with a sophisticated detonator. Just one of the pressure sensitive ones. In addition to the ones on the treads, one stepped out just long enough to slap a third one on the back relay antenna, connecting the tank's communications systems to everyone else in the Sybenian defense. This one was given a small remote trigger with short range, before the Esthar's Hawk pulled back. Using both the shadows and speed, it had taken only moments to carry it all out, and return to their hiding places. Dael herself quickly pulled back and braced herself as the tank continued to roll forward, moving into a "dead space" between the two groups of soldiers.

A moment later, she winced as she heard the explosions go off in two sets. The first knocked out the relay before so much as a boom could be heard, and the next eliminated the treads. In the enclosed underground, even the minor eruptions were enough to be deafening, making everyone wince and recoil as it echoed and reverberated throughout the tunnel. But the Gilgame immediately snapped its treads and ground into the dirt, unable to move any further and letting out a clang as it hit the cement.

Dael didn't move. She knew the main barrel was still angled in her direction, and so she wasn't going to expose herself. Neither did the others. Instead, the other Esthar's Hawks leapt into action. In moments, they popped out of the crevasses and hiding places and ran on top of the tank itself, making sure to stay out of range of the side guns. Before the dumbfounded crew could do anything, and likely while they were wasting time trying to radio that they were hit, two Esthar's Hawks were already on top of the tank. One quickly pressed their own rifle barrel against it, the grenade launcher loaded with a radioactive-tipped-head armor piercing round, and fired. The result burned a hole through the hull and pierced the interior and bounced around violently inside. But to make it even worse, the soldier's partner pulled out a smoke grenade and tossed it through the still-gleaming hole with the pin pulled.

The two soldiers immediately pulled back, and, moments later, the top of the tank popped open, belching out thick black smoke. The crew, or who was left of them, immediately tried to go out "guns blazing", and fired wildly around them…but the smoke had prevented them from even seeing where they were. It was a fish in a barrel for the surrounding Hawks, and soon they were all down. They couldn't very well afford to take prisoners here, or even to knock hostiles out.

Dael, on hearing the gunfire die down, exhaled and emerged from her corner. She looked to the tank for a moment, still smoking, smoldering, and the engine only slowly dying down after crashing. She looked to a nearby private.

"Any transmissions get out?"

"No sir."

"So much for a clean entrance." One of the captain stated. "Even if they didn't get a broadcast out, they'll wonder why there's radio silence soon and send ten times as many of these."

"Assuming this isn't the first of a grand assault." Another captain stated. "For all we know, they eliminated the first team at the relay station and now they've been watching us for fifteen minutes."

"Or it could simply be a regularly posted guard." Dael stated. The optimism was a marked contrast from the other two, even if she spoke just as darkly as them. "In any case, whether they know we're here or not at the moment, they will soon, so we need to get to the junction area. Assuming the relay is still working and under our control, at least they won't know which way we're going."

The other two captains paused, but eventually one motioned forward.

"We have no choice but to keep moving out. Everyone stay focused. We'll likely encounter more resistance soon, assuming we don't run into a strike team to eliminate us."

Dael and Carbuncle again applied the spell, and the group took off again. They moved even faster this time, all of them going into a faster gait. They needed to get to the first junction as soon as possible and start splitting up. Time was not on their side now. The lack of information didn't help either. Everyone kept their eyes peeled and their ears open. At any moment, something hostile could pop out, and they had to be ready. Given the stone tunnels, it was likely that an auditory cue would be their only hint at whatever was coming.

They had to stop not five minutes later, running into a large security bulkhead. A thick metal gate had slammed shut over the tunnel itself. It looked a bit old and unused, but there was no telling for certain if it had been there before or sealed when they arrived. At any rate, Cid went to work again, this time bringing out his blowtorch. It only took about two minutes to melt through it. Dael and the other captains only waited long enough for the resulting breach to stop dripping slag and to take a look on the other side. It was very well lit now…clearly tunnels that were in service. However, still no signs of any resistance. That was probably because they were still on the outskirts of the city, though. There would be more soon. With that in mind, the group charged out into the next passage.

The lighting made it easier to see, but also made them easier to be seen. Every camera that Dael went by was a temptation to shoot, but she repressed it. That would only create more problems for the relay team trying to cover up their presence being here, and it would ultimately be futile. There had to be hundreds of them en route. Still, they made very good time. Only a mere ten minutes later, at last they began to see a change up ahead…a fork in the pathway. It was the first junction, just where they hoped to go. And the way still looked clear. She couldn't even see any wall-mounted guns.

The group quickly ran up to the junction and halted. They looked around a bit, spotting nothing big down either corridor, and then to each other. One of the groups of soldiers was already beginning to equip fresh gear for their part of the mission, and starting to break off from one another.

As they did so, the captain of this sub-group advanced to Dael and the other remaining Esthar's Hawk captain. "Alright, now it's time for our team to go to work. How much time do we have?"

Dael paused, looking to the other captain. To be honest, if they weren't with them, they could go a lot faster. After all, they were already naturally faster and had more stamina thanks to the junctions, and with a Haste spell they could do even better than that. At last, she looked back to the others.

"…Three hours." She stated.

Both the captain breaking off, Sloane, as well as the remaining one looked to her with some incredulousness.

"Captain, do you understand that we still have to cover a distance of twenty miles to get to the capitol? Not to mention that there's a good chance we'll encounter more resistance along the way?" The captain with her group responded. "Even taking into account the magic that your team is using, that's crazy."

"I'm aware of that, Captain Vesver." Dael responded…before her own tone turned surprisingly firm. Technically, she may have been the same rank, but Vesver and Sloane had superiority. She had to defer to them unless they made a major breach of procedure. However, in a hot zone, and after everything she had been through, she wasn't much for sticking to 'the code'. She hadn't been in a task force for weeks to start doing that now.

"Now, I hope _you_ are taking into account that the fleet that's out there is going to be facing off the brunt of the entire Sybenian navy pretty soon as well as their fortress-like shore defenses and probably a lot worse in terms of both man-made and natural weapons. Do not forget the enemy not only possesses a Guardian Force that can destroy three city blocks in seconds, but also a man who, in the naval conflict at the Lamb Archipelago, was able to disable warships by himself without ever presenting a target. Already, I think three hours might be two and a half too much. Captain Vesver…I'm sorry that we're able to run a bit faster than your men, but we really don't have time to drag our feet at this point. There's no time left."

There was a pause from both captains. Both looked rather annoyed at how Dael's tone had nearly turned sharp and cynical in response to them, but, of the two, Captain Vesver was far worse. Yet on the other hand, they seemed to realize that in Esthar's Hawks you didn't get very far by making excuses or by setting the bar lower than it already was. Every second counted now. If this operation was going to be for anything, they had to make sure it succeeded. They wouldn't get another chance after the mass redeployment.

Yet before anyone could say anything in the affirmative or negative, or argue anymore, a sound of metallic rotors began to ring through the tunnel. It soon split into multiple sources. It sounded far too small to be a tank or even a basic mech guard, and Dael, on her part, had never heard it before. However, as she began to turn her head to the sound of the noise along with the other captains, she caught a glimpse of the others in the group. And half of them looked rather nervous. Quaren, on his part, was quickly going for his rifle and moving to switch out his ammunition as he spoke nervously.

"I know that sound…"

Dael finished turning her head, and saw the empty tunnel branch for a moment. However, it bent only a short distance away, so one couldn't see that far into it anyway. Yet moments later, as the rest of the group members Dael had broken off from back in Leuco tensed and readied their weapons, she finally saw it. A storm of saucers, about twenty in all, riding on roller tripods began to shoot out from around the corner and toward the group. Some of them were apparently magnetic, able to ride the walls and even the ceiling, and they filled out the entire tunnel as they approached.

Before a captain had a chance to say anything, Quaren already interjected. "Use suppressing fire! Don't let any of them open up!"

Dael didn't argue with Quaren, especially since she saw him already bringing out the rifle. "Suppressing fire on those drones! Now!"

The other two captains were still stunned, but Dael's voice was firm and commanding…and everyone did as they were told. Jalab himself began to ready his staff, Ceja prepared her axe for a fling, and Cid brandished his nailgun. However, the other soldiers began to pull out their own rifles and automatic weapons. About half of them responded to Dael's initial call. Soon, the others began to do the same. But before the second half could fully respond, the first had already begun to open fire on the saucers.

Dael only knew of these machines by reputation, not in person, and wasn't aware of their capabilities. But when the gunfire went out, the saucers immediately stopped advancing and flushed themselves to whatever wall or concrete they were on, seeming to use their own saucer shape as a shield. It worked well. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off of them. The first set of Esthar's Hawks continued to fire on them anyway, filling the tunnel with noise from the loud firearms. They also began to pull back, looking for cover in case these opponents could somehow counterattack. However, they could only fire so many shots in the first group, and could only keep so many suppressed at a time. One eventually got clear…and when it did, it popped open its disk, focused a moment…and then sent out a deadly beam of energy like a bolt of lightning.

The beam went down and tore through the arm of one of the Esthar's Hawks, making him cry out in agony as it shot right through the flesh and bone, burning and blasting. It would have moved onto his chest…but, fortunately, Jalab advanced and quickly forced him out of the way, taking his place while his staff was twirling. Again, it produced the golden aura…only brighter and more intense than normal. It seemed to be sizzling with electricity of its own…and it deflected the beam skyward, where it ripped a large rift into the ceiling. What more, Quaren spotted this and immediately seized the moment of weakness. Taking careful aim, he fired a shot into the saucer section with his switched-out ammunition, and soon it cut off, spasming and twitching like an overgrown insect, before collapsing.

More saucers attempted to response, popping open as soon as there was a break in bullets and firing away. However, most of the Esthar's Hawks were behind cover now, and the others quickly pulled back and continued to lay more suppressing fire. The other half was joining in now. Ceja took a moment to warm up her own axe, and then fling out the deadly cutter…slicing through three more of the saucers cleanly before the weapon returned to her. When that was done, Jalab focused his own twirling staff toward the ceiling and opened fire with a beam of his chi. The saucers immediately went flat, but that wasn't enough to help them. The beam didn't aim for them, but for what they were attached to. And since he was at an angle, it didn't take him long to knock out their fixtures right from beneath them, and send them crashing to the ground. Immediately, the Hawks opened fire on their backsides, and soon four more were down.

By now, there were too few saucers to be able to keep up the fight. There were enough people shooting to force them all to stay in defensive mode. Yet before anyone could focus on eliminating more of them, they spotted that they had reinforcements. Five more saucers suddenly shot down the tunnel. Two of them opened wide and fired again before anyone could try and get a gun over them. No casualties this time. The bolts only snaked out and hit a concrete wall. However, Quaren snapped out and put a bullet in one of them, taking that down as well…only to have three more roll up behind it.

Dael, who had ended up backing up with Bahamut near the rear and the rest of the "melee" Esthar's Hawks, let out a grimace. "This could take forever…"

"It's time we don't have, Dael." Bahamut answered. "These saucers have to be sending back messages that there are hostiles in the tunnel. The only chance we have of escaping detection now is to get by them and get into the more convoluted passageways so we can lose them…and hope they don't discover the hack of the relay and find out that we're pulling the wool over their eyes."

Captain Sloane, nearby, seemed to overhear this. He didn't have a rifle himself and was stuck on the sidelines, although he pulled out his sidearm. He beckoned onward with them.

"Captain Levinson…you and Captain Vesver get moving. We're still on a time crunch."

Dael looked to him on hearing this, a bit surprised at the statement. Captain Vesver, on the other hand, didn't waste much time. He immediately rose and motioned for his unit to fall back, and they did so, laying down more suppressing fire as they went. Ceja's axe just finished eliminating two more saucers when she turned and saw the movement. Soon, the others began to realize it as well.

"Captain…"

"We'll get by them, don't worry." The captain responded, cutting her off. "The airfield isn't as far as your target area. And if your mission fails, securing an airship will be the least of our problems. Just get moving before they send reinforcements down that tunnel and have us pinned."

Dael realized that Vesver must have already realized that. And while she didn't like leaving the other group pinned down in a firefight with these machines…she also realized they didn't have much of a choice. Just like in any branch of Esthar's Hawks…she had to know when to let some people do their job and count on them to do so. And he was right…and minute now they could be completely cut off. With that in mind, she looked up to the others and motioned for them to get on the move as well. Soon, they were taking off down the still-open tunnel.

Although Carbuncle and Dael paused long enough to reapply the Haste magic as they ran along, Dael soon was forcing the other group to keep up. She didn't want to…but they had to use every advantage they had now, even if it made them pant and wheeze. She realized, as far as they were going, that if they were too exhausted to fight when they got there that they wouldn't be any better off…but she had to give it a try. They couldn't risk being cut off now. She found herself keeping her eye on the pre-established coordinates of the GPS. At this speed, it was getting a bit confused…but she had no choice. Each time a junction went by, she looked down it, and cheered inwardly at the fact that they had evaded another threat, while also being happy that they created more confusion for the Sybenians. At least…she hoped that was the case. It wouldn't take much to be able to reason where they were going, after all…

With their speed, she had a feeling they were able to keep the enemy at least somewhat in the dark. They were moving far faster than any normal group on foot could have gone, after all. The first two miles went by without a hitch, for the most part. No more sounds of the enemy or difficulty. Yet unfortunately that was as far as they were able to go.

While running down one straightaway, with a junction just in the distance…the metal flooring of the tunnel suddenly slid aside in front of them. Four rather large and well-armed turrets popped out of the ground in response and began to take aim at the group.

"Watch out!" She called in warning.

Luckily, Taraketh was already on it. He let out a stream of arcane language so loud that everyone in the tunnel could hear it, before throwing his hands forward…and causing the ground to heave and fracture. Columns of rock burst from the ground, uprooting all four turrets and flinging them violently into the side walls. A moment later, the group charged past and kept running, heading into a branch of the junction.

"I think that means the 'grace period' is over…" Bahamut murmured as they ran along.

"We need to keep up the pace." Dael called back.

"…Think again, Dael." Bahamut answered. "You haven't been checking behind you."

The woman paused on hearing that, but then turned and looked behind her. Sure enough…the group of thirty that had gone with them was falling behind now. They were well trained and with high stamina…but they couldn't keep this up forever. They were starting to slip. Dael realized that if even she was starting to feel a bit winded, it must have been far worse for them.

Regretfully, she began to slow in the pace. The others began to slow as well, but the other group of Esthar's Hawks barely dropped enough speed to start catching their breath.

"We may not make it in time at this slow gait." Ceja called as she ran along, clearly having more stamina than any of them and not even breathing hard. "We will also be easier prey."

"I've got us covered." Cryder answered. He quickly performed a few gestures as they went ahead, and, as a result, a veil of thick mist began to condense from the air at a distance in front of them. "I can keep that going in front of us. They're using machines and targeting lasers, right? We'll hear them before they can spot us, at least."

"I'll take whatever advantages we can get." Dael answered. "We need to keep moving and use speed to our advantage. If we run into any more blockades, we need to hit them hard and fast. Let's all pray now that they don't send something we can't just 'shoot through'…"

The group soon found that the turrets were a "standard fixture" at every junction. Sybenia, unfortunately, seemed to anticipate someone would try this at one point. They were nothing to Taraketh's earth magic, but Dael knew that if they ran independently without the relay clearing them, then that meant they likely were setting off more alarms as well. Even if they ran far into the heavily interconnected area…the Sybenian military would eventually plot their "path" and know where they were going.

They only managed to put two more miles behind them before more resistance came up. Luckily, Cryder's smoke screen helped them to get a drop on it, because it was on a straightaway. But as they ran forward, the sounds of mechs moving in the tunnel began to ring out, as well as increased movement as the mist moved over them. In response, the Esthar's Hawks began to open fire into the mist, hitting some targets but mostly clanging metal. Yet as the mechs that were hidden inside began to move out, they rapidly met their end at the hands of Cid's tools and Ceja's axe, hitting them as soon as they came out with everything they had. Cryder finished up with a wind slash to at least knock over whatever else was still there, and once the way was clear the group charged onward once again.

A mile later, they ran into another obstacle…this time another sealed bulkhead. Cid nearly moved to burn through it like the others, but before he could, Jalab advanced instead, gesturing for everyone to stay back. On coming up to the metal shutters, he put his staff aside, focused for a moment, and then unleashed his power, unloading a flurry of blows against the metal bulkhead. To Dael's surprise, in spite of the metal being easily a foot thick, dents were still pounded into it with apparently no ill effect…as well as the sounds of metal cracking and groaning from tremendous strain. Finally, to "punctuate" the end of the blows…the man's fist went forward and slammed into the bulkhead so hard that it snapped off all together, and the massive slab of metal began to fall backward. A moment later…it slammed down on the other side…revealing that it managed to bury and crush several drones and defenses. A few were still standing, but they were shocked from the assault and unable to fire right away. As for Esthar's Hawks…they managed to recover quicker and fired first. The newest obstacle destroyed, the group moved on.

These were only the first of several encounters. Thanks to the powers that Dael's group possessed as well as their speed, they managed to always get around them. Yet they continued to come at ever increasing intervals. The encounters started to come once a mile, and then once every half mile. They also gradually got larger. It soon reached the point where Taraketh or Jalab had to send a powerful attack ahead of them into the mist to have any hope of stopping anything before it could get to them. After crossing ten miles, the group encountered another Gilgame tank, and this one opened fire into the mist without a target. It was only because the gunner aimed "high" that five people didn't die. From then on in, the strike team split into two groups and pressed themselves to either side of the corridor. That helped them to avoid future artillery shells…which unfortunately happened.

With about five miles still to go, and the "weaker" Esthar's Hawks barely able to run anymore, the group encountered a bend in the path that had two Gilgame tanks waiting for them and eight drones. Ceja made them pause as they neared, smelling more fuel in the air. It was only because of that reason that they didn't blunder right into the trap. As it was…when Cryder sent the mist on ahead of them, the resulting fire from the assembled group obliterated part of the tunnel corridor. In the end, Taraketh summoned Quetzacoatl to fire a bolt strong enough to cause each drone to malfunction, and the group quickly moved out and disabled the rest.

There was another bulkhead on the other side, and Cid quickly moved in to burn through it, with Quaren moving up behind him with grenades to roll them through the hole he would make. By now, Dael was beginning to breathe a bit hard herself. The Esthar's Hawks, however, were on the point of collapse. They couldn't keep up this pace much longer, and one could hardly blame them. They had managed to go a distance of fifteen miles in just under two hours…something fairly impossible for one not using magic or junctions. Yet they still had five miles to go, the fights weren't lessening up, and Dael realized by the time they reached their exit, they might have an army waiting for them. If anything, she wished they were doing even better. After all, they only gave the other team three hours, and at this rate it might take most of that time to make it the rest of the way. Slowing down now would only make things worse. Finally, as a reminder of who was buying them whatever time they were using…she began to feel periodic tremors within the tunnel…the tell-tale sign that they were actually getting close enough to feel the errant shells that might have been missing.

"This isn't fast enough…we have to go quicker." Dael finally stated.

"We can't, captain." Quaren responded. "We're already using magic, and the people who don't have junctions are on the brink of collapse. Even if we could push harder, no one would be able to move by the time we get there."

The young officer paused and looked to the other group. Even Vesver was hunched against a wall, dripping sweat and panting hard. Others were barely able to hold themselves up. Quaren was right…they couldn't go any farther.

With that in mind, there was only one solution.

"Alright…my team will run on ahead."

Vesver looked up, incredulous at that. Several of the other Esthar's Hawks did as well. "Captain, what are you talking about?"

"We're going to run out of time if we wait any longer, captain." Dael responded. "You and I both know that."

In spite of the situation and decorum, Vesver's eyes narrowed. "…Need I remind you, captain, that it was your decision to set the timetable at three hours in the first place? If we can't keep up, then I regret to inform you-"

"But my decision was the right one, captain. You know full well that no fleet we possess attacking Sybenia could hold for very long. Even three hours is essentially sending people to die."

Vesver kept looking irritable. "I did not lead a unit of 30 Esthar's Hawks onto Sybenian soil just to 'hang back' while an officer who hasn't even been a full member of active duty for 6 months leads a small task force to carry out the most important operation of the war. We've all put our necks on the line as much as you, captain. We're stuck in this situation now, and I don't want to opt out of it simply due to an arbitrary deadline that you set."

"I am doing what any Esthar's Hawk in my situation would do, captain…ensuring the mission is completed." Dael instantly responded. "Sacrifices have to be made and plans change. The longer we spend here arguing about it, the worse we'll be. You have seniority and you can overrule me, captain…but if you do, be advised that I will have to disobey that order regardless of whatever court martial you throw at me. Because even if I get taken to military court, the mission will be a success, whereas if I stand my ground back here I'll save my own neck but the mission will fail. You and I both know that…and I am not going to waste time talking to you over you thinking this is an issue of me attempting to 'grandstand'. This is the only way, and don't pretend it isn't after seeing my unit in action, captain."

Dael had flirted with insubordination multiple times during that statement, and had probably crossed the line more than once in spite of her discipline. But she really didn't have time to say anything else. They had already come too far and done too much to allow Vesver's decision to ruin everything. This would all be for nothing…the triple strike, the invasion, and everyone who died in between, if they let something as small as not being able to run any farther stop them. Although Dael never thought she'd get this far…not before a man who would have made her quake in her boots less than a year ago…but she was ready to disobey his order the second he tried to give it telling her to stand down and fall in line with him.

Luckily, that wasn't an issue. Finally, the man simply consented and motioned forward. "Just get to the site on time, captain. We've come too far to fail on this mission this time."

Dael smiled a bit on the inside to see Vesver realize the logic of it, but she didn't have time to show it otherwise. She quickly looked up to the others, who had already been paying attention, and motioned them forward. "My group…we're moving on, and we're going to be doing it running this time, so brace yourself. It's probably only going to get tougher but we need to move faster than ever."

* * *

><p>Luckily, everyone seemed more than ready. In fact, they had been gearing up while they had been talking. With that in mind, the group turned and continued to run down the tunnel. In her mind, Dael only had one true regret about this. She hoped they weren't abandoning Vesver. He was now stuck in the tunnels with whatever other defenses were waiting for them. Although their own trip would eliminate some of it, she was sure reinforcements would follow quickly. The captain couldn't afford to rest for long either…and they still needed to be at the extraction point too. Perhaps they could help secure the airship. Dael had a feeling they'd need all the help they could get…<p>

The next line of defense was just as strong as the last, but with fewer targets and the veil of mist intact, they got through regardless, the shells hitting nothing as they tried to tag them. And once they got close enough, Jalab unleashed his flaming image technique. While it was powerful enough in its own right, the main purpose to it was to confuse the enemy long enough for the others to quickly set on them and take them down. Dael herself finally used her new sword to cut through one of the sentries as the group smashed through. She had enough power to make it cut a vital spot…but it didn't go as deep as she was used to, and it got caught for a moment before she could yank it out. Not exactly what she had hoped for…but at least she actually had some experience with it. Now she hoped it didn't get damaged as a result…

The group continued to move, soon running into another barrier. This time, the Gigantuar was summoned to rain down its needles. The giant creature barely managed to squeeze into the tiny tunnel, but it fired off just the same, pelting whatever units were waiting for them in the mist with thousands of needles that penetrated every chink and nook in the armor plating of every mech. The next blockade was disabled, and the group kept on. Leviathan brought out Leviathan to deal with the next. In spite of the fact that they were getting tired from the summoning, they still managed to make better time than ever. Soon they passed another mile, and another after that. Cid cut through more bulkheads, and the group sent out an attack to destroy whatever was on the other side before charging on…and another mile passed.

As the group came to yet another metal wall, this one close to an actual exit point, and with only two miles until the capitol building, the tremors were louder than ever. Enough to start making dust rain from the ceiling. By now, Dael wouldn't be surprised if some of the errant cannon fire was going off right over their heads…at least, the wilder shots. Cid was already going to work melting away the bulkhead. They were getting thicker now, and, no doubt, there would be more resistance on the other side. Now that they were actually running, everyone was breathing hard and sweating. However, they still had about an hour left. Running three miles with a Haste spell while enhanced was nothing. With that in mind, Dael looked up to the others.

"How are we holding out?"

"A bit tired here, especially from summoning Leviathan, but I'm alright." Bahamut answered.

"Slice of pie." Jalab added, in spite of wiping some sweat from his own brow.

"I've been using a lot of juice this time, Dael. I'm about down to half power…" Cid admitted. "Drilling through that wall alone took about a fifth of my batteries."

"I'm just fine, lass." Cryder reassured. "Geomancy is something that never gets tiring."

"I think I'm starting to 'feel the burn', but I can hold it." Taraketh finished. "Long enough to finish, at any rate. We aren't even to the 'difficult' portions yet."

Dael exhaled and looked to the GPS again. "…Only two miles to go. This will probably be the longest two out of the bunch, but no one quit yet. We're nearly-"

The captain was cut off…by a combination of what sounded like the earth groaning, metal grinding and warping, and tons of concrete beginning to fracture. She immediately stopped and looked up to the source…the ceiling. It started off low at first, but quickly built in volume…enough to make Cid cut off his torch as well and look upward. The others did the same. As they did so, the sound "plateaued" for a moment…before it suddenly began to get louder and louder very rapidly. Not only that…but fractures began to line the ceiling…quickly.

As the first piece of rubble started to fall, Dael yelled. "Run!"

Cid, ignoring the bulkhead, quickly sprang up and bolted backward, narrowly missing getting hit by the first piece of debris. It was quickly joined by others, but by that point everyone was running away as fast as they could. A moment later, the entire ceiling collapsed in a massive deluge. Although the group was clear of the initial impact, all of them continued to run backward, as Dael felt the ground continue to tremble and heard the cracks continue to spread. She didn't look back for a second, but instead turned her gaze upward…seeing the ceiling continuing to spread and split. If it hadn't been for the junctioning, they probably never would have made it. As it was, Dael could feel ruined building materials mount around her and dust billow up and consume her even as she ran for all she was worth. But the noise kept getting more and more deafening…louder and louder… The quaking nearly shook her off of her feet as she struggled to keep running.

Dael wasn't sure when it stopped. Likely, it did so long before she ceased running. The rumbling took a while to die down, and the cloud of dust kept covering her and the others. It made Dael cough and her eyes burn. She was sure there was plenty in that dust that wasn't healthy…but she could hardly worry about that now. However, as she continued to run, the tremors died, followed shortly thereafter by the rumbling.

Finally, the woman slowed to a halt. The cloud of dust was still around them, but she had scarcely stopped, prompting the others to do the same, and begun to turn around when a breeze came out of nowhere and proceeded to sweep the cloud of dust away. She still had quite a bit on her, and she struggled to pat herself down. She didn't need to be pausing for eyedrops later. Yet she also looked back behind her as the others coughed a bit, to see what had happened.

She was shocked, to say the least. She couldn't tell for certain what had happened, especially not from this position, but from the looks of it, one of the skyscrapers in the city above ground had fallen, and the wreckage had gone all the way down into the city below. At first, she thought it had collapsed…but if that had been the case, the group would have been buried no matter how fast they could have run, as well as thrown into pitch black darkness. No…from the looks of it, it seemed the building had _fallen over_, and they were only getting the top or a side of it. Just that fact alone was shocking enough, but it also meant one thing very clearly.

Dael didn't try to wipe her face with her hand. Rather, still having a small water supply on her, she pulled it out, uncapped it, closed her eyes, and began to run it over her face and hands to try and remove some of the grime. It took a short while, but after getting a bit clean, she looked to the others. "Everyone alright?"

Quaren coughed a bit, but made a thumbs up while he tried to catch his breath. Taraketh was already summoning some water to wash himself out, and Cryder was merely shaking his head like a dog. Everyone else was dusting off as best as they could. Bahamut himself coughed a bit, but then looked up to Dael. "I think so…barring increased chances of lung cancer…but I don't think Cid should risk tunneling through _that_ unless we all want to be buried…"

"Don't worry…" Cid said with a cough. "I won't."

Taraketh sighed a bit, advancing and look it over. After a moment, he looked down to Carbuncle.

"Could you teleport us over it, Sir Carbuncle?"

"I still need a line of sight." The green creature responded. "Besides…there's no telling what's on the other side of that. For all we know they had a tank division ready by now. And we've been good enough to have magic until now, but any closer and we could start running into more Eris Bells."

"We only had two miles to go, too…" Quaren groaned.

"Then there's only one thing for it." Dael stated after a moment, turning her head to the side. In spite of the cave in, the station had remained mostly untouched. And it was not in use, either. Apparently it had been shut down during the emergency. She motioned to it. "We go up there. The last two miles we'll hit the pavement."

There were a few looked of unease at that, causing group members to hesitate.

"We'll likely be right in the midst of entire enemy divisions if we do that, lass." Cryder reminded her. "And I can't hide us with mist in a wide-open spot like that."

"Frankly, staying down here any longer risks becoming a fish-in-a-barrel. If whatever firepower being used was enough to cause…" She moved her hand over to the fallen building and pointed. "…that…then my guess is most of the army has cleared out. We might actually be safer."

"Except from stray cannon fire…" Cryder muttered, but he still looked ready to go.

"We're still on a timetable, so let's not hang back any longer. Stay low once we get topside." Dael stated before leading the charge toward the station. The others soon fell in behind, and they were off and running again in moments.

* * *

><p>Long before the group got to the corridor leading to the surface, Dael heard the sounds of eruptions coming from overhead. Distance sounds of gunfire, cannons, and even rockets rang out, and the tremors continued to shake the ground periodically. Sirens were going off signifying an air raid, but also fires and disaster warnings. The bulkhead to the station itself was partially ajar. Perhaps, as a result of what had caused the collapse, it had opened up to allow whoever was down there access to the surface. No one else seemed to be in the tunnel, neither civilian or military personnel. After ascending high enough, the sky, now thick with clouds and smoke, loomed overhead. It was tinted red again…but not from the sun any longer. It could only be fire. Seeing that, Dael continued to climb, going up the concrete stairs leading to the road up above, and finally peeked over the top and looked around.<p>

The battle was supposed to be far to the northwest, but one never would have guessed it. The city had been damaged pretty badly in this area as well, far more than one should have expected from loose shots from the fleet that was attacking. Sure enough, one of the buildings had been knocked clean over, and was strattling the main road of the city itself. The other buildings were all shut up, and the newer ones had deployed armored plating over them as well. The cannons weren't active, though, obviously far out of range of the enemy. Not only that, but there were only a few aircraft in the sky, and most of them were keeping their distance, it looked like. Although the sounds of tanks and other artillery hung on the air with the sounds of cannons firing, none of them were visible. They were spread too far apart, and any that were gathered seemed to be far to the north. This skyscraper wasn't the only one that had fallen. There were "halves" of at least two other buildings in the immediate area knocked over, as well as bits of damage that looked like collisions against skyscrapers everywhere. Small fires had started in places all over the city too.

The others soon filed out behind Dael and paused momentarily. It didn't seem like anyone was out to stop them. On the contrary, it appeared that the errant destruction was so massive that the Sybenian army had pulled out of this block a long time ago. That was what caused them to pause more than anything. Was the fleet from Esthar really doing this much damage this far away from the target area? It didn't seem to make any sense… Dael didn't even think that Esthar's Hawks could do this much damage from this far. They were several miles from the coast, after all.

"I'm no expert on gunnery, but I'd say the Black Corsairs have to be great shots to hit from this far…" Carbuncle mused.

"Rubbish, lad." Cryder answered. "Only the _Ragnarok_ has enough pop to hit this far, and then only by mistake. Someone or something else took a few shots at this…"

"What other enemy does Sybenia possess besides the ones we know of?" Ceja asked.

Dael had to admit, it was a bit unnerving…not to mention the fact they were currently in such a "war zone" that they might get hit at any time by stray fire. Yet she didn't dwell on it. She motioned forward.

"We're not seeing any resistance right now, but that may not mean anything. For all we know, we're still in range of a sniper or a long range drone. Let's go."

Again, the young officer led the way, and the others went in behind her.

The amount of resistance was very low over the next mile. It wasn't that easy to move now. Several of the roads and alleys were blocked with debris. However, there was little to nothing to stop them. A squad or two of troops moving, all of whom looked rather panicked and nervous, a sentry robot or two, and one single tank trying to grind down rubble blocking a road, but nothing else. Being in the middle of a major city, they slipped through and around easily, especially using their speed. Carbuncle himself got them through rough spots by simply teleporting the group one by one to the other side. Yet all the while as they worked their way through the streets to their destination, the sounds of fighting continued to rage. Dael heard the sounds of widespread destruction time and again, not just from the thundering of cannons or the roars of aircraft engines…but from something more that was larger and more destructive. Due to the acoustics of the city around her, she wasn't able to place it right away as they advanced forward. Yet as time passed, and the noise gradually grew clearer as she walked on, it slowly began to trigger her memory…and the memories were not good.

After about a mile passed, the area widened a bit. There was a break in the continuity of the blocks and the skyscrapers, leaving a new armored wall ahead. It wasn't as sophisticated as the one that was guarding the main city or the coast, definitely not as thick or as armed, but it did have guards and sentries posed on top. They were in reduced number, however. Most of the human guards had gone for cover, leaving only a few drones and turrets behind. There was little other defense, but Dael knew even that wouldn't be much. From this angle, she could clearly see a platform and flat area of ground on the other side of the wall. It would be easy to teleport across without ever giving the guards a target. From this angle, one could easily see the entire main square of the city…all of the major buildings for administration and operation spread out. And in the center, rising high and above it it…the main capitol building. Its cannons were actually active at the moment, scanning to the northwest. More than that, Dael could actually see that a side of the main building had deployed for what looked like an airstrip or landing pad…obviously where they'd bring the escape ship when necessary.

Yet she was only able to devote part of her focus to that. Her attention was farther to the northwest.

Much of that area of the city was in flames now. Few skyscrapers were still standing. Thick smoke was issuing forth from all of it. Streaks of light pierced the gloom, setting off more eruptions and explosions, and shots went out to sea as well as inland, although, from this distance, Dael could make out very little. In terms of vehicles, all she could see was a few black shapes in the sky. She recognized that those had to be the airships, but they were moving by rather rapidly, and firing as fast and errantly as they could. It seemed to be almost too erratic…but Dael soon saw the reason for that too.

Abruptly, the clouds parted…and, in spite of the distance, Dael saw _him_.

The hellish form of Tiamat, glowing like a red ember, ripped out of the sky…and proceeded to slice right through one of the airships completely. To her shock, and that of everyone else, the airship suddenly turned into a fireball as the sheer force of the wing of the monster cut it in two. She actually let out a bit of a gasp in response. Immediately, her heart sank and her stomach turned. The worst possible situation had occurred. Tiamat had indeed recovered…and he was being summoned to defend the city.

And yet, even as she saw this…something else shocking happened. As Tiamat spun out from destroying the one airship, its momentum was still far too fast…and it raced by to the skyline and plowed through not one but two more skyscrapers before angling back up and shooting into the heavens again. Both skyscrapers that it went through soon groaned, and then started to collapse completely on each other…no doubt killing anyone who was still unfortunate enough to be inside, whether in the main building or the basement. Dael blinked in astonishment. The Guardian Force was being so reckless that it racking up massive amounts of collateral damage. In fact, as she looked on, and then looked around herself…she realized that Tiamat must have been the one responsible for all of this errant destruction, not stray shots. To her surprise, it seemed to be doing more inadvertent damage here than the fleet alone could do, and far more than it had done intentionally to Esthar. This was shocking. Why?

Perhaps the earlier theories were correct…and it was doing as Siren had done. It didn't "fully accept" Sybenia as its master, and it was subconsciously waging destruction on the city as well as its targets, trying to kill as many of them in the process. It made sense…and perhaps Sybenia knew it. If Tiamat had been summoned at the get-go, Dael knew, on seeing it in action again, that the fleet never would have lasted this long. It had to be something more recent…something used to try and keep them at bay until the rest of the Sybenian navy could rise to defend them. Perhaps they had brought it forth due to having no other choice… Or perhaps they didn't want to expose to the entire city how they were hypocrites, how they were relying on the very magic they persecuted to defend them in their time of need. At any rate, they had to be paying for it now…

"That's…that's horrible…" Quaren remarked aloud. "Even for Sybenia…"

"Bitter irony." Taraketh added. "They thought they could so easily harness the most devastating powers in the world without consequence…"

"Worse than that, mates." Cryder responded. "He drives off our fleet…then maybe blames him tearing up the capitol on our side. He gets what he wants and he makes his people more anti-magic than ever. Consider that?"

Dael paused on hearing this possible explanation. It did have a bit of merit, after all…

"Madness." Ceja answered. "The man is soulless. He'd kill thousands of his own people just to do that?"

"Think Leuco." Jalab grimly added. "Thousands die there already."

On realizing this, Dael felt herself tighten up. Perhaps that was his goal all along… By now, his army had to realize it wasn't as invincible as he had promised them. So why not this? Use his own people to rally more support? Make it a matter of survival rather than conquest? Use this weapon to further his own agenda even if he orchestrated it. After all…none of the citizens of Sybenia had to know about Tiamat. That had happened half a world away. Worst of all…in the midst of all of this…rack up more death…more destruction…more chaos…

It solidified matters in Dael's mind. It didn't matter if they were being played on this mission or not…if they were serving someone's hidden agenda… If this world was to be saved, Rozan had to be taken out of the picture. He was a sadistic madman, and so long as he danced to the tune of whoever wanted Nyx Gaia to come closer, it was going to get here through his errant, merciless actions. This mission couldn't fail. She had to stop him through whatever means necessary.

Yet even as she came to this conclusion and prepared to order everyone to move out, Cid suddenly looked up as well. "Hey gang, check this out!"

Dael snapped out of her thoughts momentarily and looked to the engineer. While she had been staring with everyone else, Cid had deployed his personal radio receiver that he had used on their first mission to Leuco. He had a hand over one ear, covering the earpiece resting there. As everyone looked to him, he looked back up.

"I'm picking up the short-wave radio broadcasts from the compound." He told them. "Apparently, the High Dictator is still there…but that's not all. Listen."

He leaned over and switched the relay from his earpiece to speaker.

_"-nding in backup to protect the High Dictator. We're inbound."_

_ "Negative. Additional units wouldn't make a difference against Tiamat if he came too near. The High Dictator assures that the area is secure. The main priority now is securing Dr. Lindst and the files in the Database Compound."_

This caused Dael to react along with everyone else. _Dr. Lindst? She made it out of Leuco alive?_

_"Repeat: secure Dr. Lindst and all files and materials located with the Database Compound. Security is being lifted and overridden to expedite this procedure."_

Cid switched off the radio at this point, but Bahamut immediately looked to Dael once it was done. "Did you hear that?"

"If they're overriding security, even file access…their entire network is like an open book." Cid reaffirmed. "And I've got gear on me that can download quite a bit."

"If there's any records of who is truly responsible for all of this, or what Rozan and the Guiding Hand are truly planning or are covering up, this is our chance to get it. Perhaps our only one." Bahamut reaffirmed.

"Hey, now wait a second…" Quaren interjected. He pointed out to the skyline. "Look what Rozan's doing right now. Obviously, he's not scared about Tiamat taking him out or he'd be leaving the city. He could probably do all he needs to do to make Nyx Gaia show up by just having Tiamat tear up everything."

"He's right. He's the priority here. Otherwise, it doesn't matter what else they're planning." Taraketh added. "Cut off the head, and the body dies."

"But we all know Rozan is _not_ the head." Bahamut responded. "Whoever is manipulating him is. And we haven't exactly gotten that far 'sticking to the plan', in case you haven't noticed."

"Lad…er, dragon in lad's body…has a point." Cryder threw in.

"The moment we make a strike on the database building, they'll know it." Dael responded. "We can't go one place and then the other. We have less than an hour to even finish and a lot of ground to cover, to say nothing of how many are still here."

"Dael, we can't just let this opportunity go by." Cid maintained. "We may find the location of those bombs…what their research was intending…"

Ceja, frowning at all of this, finally exhaled. "This debate is costing us valuable time. There is clearly only one solution. Half of us go after Rozan Hierarch, and the other half go to that building that was mentioned."

For once, Dael looked incredulous. And not just her... The others all looked to Ceja on hearing that suggestion. Yet after a moment of silence, it was Dael who spoke first. "That's madness. We're in the heart of the Sybenian defense. If it wasn't for Tiamat, we wouldn't even have time to stop and have this conversation."

"But Tiamat_ is_ here, Dael…and I learned long ago that you have to seize whatever opportunity you can as long as the window is available." Bahamut answered. "My guess is whoever is responsible for this counted on Rozan summoning Tiamat…but not on the errant destruction. Why else is he trying to protect that data?"

"Maybe we can be quick about it?" Cid suggested. "There's got to be less security there, especially if they're loosening it up…"

"You just heard that they're redirecting troops to that location."

"Then I'll go with them." Ceja stated. "These worthless gun-wielding dogs are nothing to me. Sir Tierras can go with you. He's far more valiant and powerful than I."

Jalab, who had been keeping a bit quiet, blushed a bit here at the compliment.

Dael couldn't believe it. They were having a schism in the group _now_? This was something she seriously didn't need. They were already weaker for just being this few people… And she knew that Raven might very well be waiting for her inside that building…

"It'll be fine." Carbuncle stated after a moment. "I'll go with the database group. Badda-bing-bang-boom…as soon as they're done, I'll teleport them back out again."

"Dael, the longer we hesitate, the more our window shrinks." Bahamut reminded her. "Tiamat could destroy the database building at any moment. We don't have time to think about this."

The woman froze a bit longer. She felt like ordering the others to come…but, for once, she wondered if they'd listen to her. Not only that, but as time went on…she realized that Bahamut was right. Neither mission was any less important than the other. Rozan might use Tiamat and the nuclear weapons to finish his work…but even if he was gone, with no clues as to who was responsible, they weren't going to get anywhere. For all she knew, whoever was in the shadows would rebuild in some other nation with some other nationalist group…and everything would happen again.

Finally, she acquiesced.

"…Quaren, Taraketh, Jalab…you're all with me. Cid, Cryder, Ceja, Carbuncle…you're all with Bahamut. Get in there and get out as soon as possible. We'll probably need you."

"I'll be done as fast as possible." Bahamut answered. "We'll only stop long enough to download the data. We can examine it later once this is all over."

Dael paused again…considering her last chance to stop this. But then, she sighed.

"Everyone, get up and get moving. Cid, give me whatever mage bullets you managed to finish yesterday. I'm going to need them. None of us have much time, and we're in for our most dangerous operation yet…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	55. Valkyrie Rising

A pair of soldiers within the lowest window of the capitol building suddenly snapped in alarm as gunshots ripped out around them, piercing the window in the chamber. Both of them quickly went for cover as they whizzed by, but looked to the source. To their surprise, bullets were ripping through the window into their room. That by itself was surprising. The glass was made of the latest in shatterproof construction and was supposed to be impervious to almost all types of arms fire. Only an advanced armor piercer should have gotten through it, which meant this was no ordinary shooting. At any rate, the bullets continued to come until the window was completely shattered and fell out, leaving a hole.

Although the soldiers were too high to be in range of a lobbed grenade, they nevertheless immediately expected a follow-up assault. In response, both ran out with guns raised, preparing to counter whatever threat was there. They expected some sort of zipline, or perhaps an individual scaling the side of the building. At worst, they counted on a sniper, so they made sure to approach from the sides and only just look out the edges of the window. Yet on approaching…they saw nothing. At least, nothing readily apparent. If it was a sniper, they couldn't afford to look out the window too much. It could be from any of the adjacent buildings, or even the ground this low. With security as spread thin as it was, there weren't a whole lot of units to make sure everything was secure, even with automated defenses. After a few moments of seeing nothing, one of the soldiers reached for the radio to sound an alert…

When, to the shock of both soldiers, two people seemed to "shimmer" into existence right next to them, a woman with a sword and a large man with a golden-colored staff. Both snapped in surprise to them, but the shock kept them from firing instantly…and they seized on it. The larger man proceeded to punch one soldier in several key areas, disabling him and dropping him in an instant, while the woman pulled out a sword, and the soldier barely had enough time to register it was of Esthar issue before he was struck down.

As soon as the two soldiers were down, Dael let out an exhale. It seemed the sword worked well enough when the opponent was flesh and bone…but she still felt winded after that distant teleport. Nevertheless, she turned back to the window and soon teleported back out again. As for Jalab, who had come with her, he quickly looked around at their surroundings. It seemed they were in some sort of side hallway adjacent to the main corridor on this floor. It led to nothing more than a pair of bathroom and a vending machine or two. No soldiers had come by yet, but he quickly stood to one side of the hall, braced his staff in front of him, and waited for more opponents to come.

A moment later, and Dael teleported in again, this time dropping off Quaren. She was breathing a bit heavily at this point, but she soon teleported once more. As for Quaren, he looked up and around, keeping his rifle out with a fresh clip after shooting out the window. He couldn't see any obvious hidden cameras in this small hall, and there was a chance they had lucked out with this entry point. Nevertheless, he didn't take any chances. A few moments after that, Dael teleported one more time, this time with Taraketh. Yet the moment it was done, she wobbled and stumbled over to a wall, nearly falling over, and started to pant heavily. The drain on her was too much. She was seeing black and stars…

The others noticed this in short order. When that happened, Taraketh quickly approached her. He reached for his side, and came out with a vial. After taking the cap off, he put it up to Dael's head and let the scent of whatever was inside flood her nostrils. She remained listless and exhausted only for a moment, before blinking and suddenly becoming alert again. She soon raised up afterward, and then looked to the High Child.

"What…was that?" She asked.

"Herbal ether." Taraketh responded. "The scent goes away quickly so it's only good for one use, but it's a folk remedy that's been implemented for thousands of years. The herbs are rich in the same planetary 'Lifestream' that runs through the world, and taking a whiff if it actually restores the 'spiritual stamina' of who takes it. The only problem is they're very rare and hard to make. I only had one on me…"

Dael blinked for a moment on hearing that last part. He only had one…and yet he gave it to her when he was the one with better magic? Especially with how much he had been using today?

"…You should have used it on yourself."

"I can handle it." Taraketh answered. "After all…I might be a Sorceress Knight pretty soon. But you're better at teleporting than me, and you're going to need it."

Dael shook her head. "I don't see how Carbuncle does it, but forget that." She looked up to the others. "Anyone come by yet?"

"No, but I have a hard time believing only those two noticed me shooting out a window, captain…" Quaren grimaced in response. "We're in the building, but I don't think we can just 'fight' our way to the top."

"We only need to get to that elevator we were at last time for starters." Dael responded. She reached into her pocket, and a moment later emerged with what looked like an elevator service key. "I was given this along with my supplies back in the Fort Morningstar depo. Works pretty much the same as that lightning trick we were doing back in Leuco. It will trigger a lockdown situation in the elevator platform…which means all elevators are recalled to the top floor, which is where we want to go in the first place. All we have to do is get there. To be honest…" She looked around a bit. "I'm not sure how far we are from the main hall that we took last time. We started off on the bottom floor, after all."

"There's going to be tons of automations and weapons waiting for us." Quaren grimaced. "We'll never be able to get through it all unscratched."

"Distraction." Jalab spoke up, not looking away from guarding the hall.

Taraketh nodded. "He's right. We should create a diversion…then bust through to the main corridor. I don't remember much myself, but based on our entry, it's going to be first toward the center, then down toward the corners of the building. The nearest one should be that way." He pointed. "Toward the south."

"That's well and good…but what do we have to make a diversion?" Dael asked.

"We don't even have any high explosives on us." Quaren threw in.

"I might have one." Taraketh answered. "But we'll need to find a good spot for it."

Exhaling a bit, Dael finally gave a nod. "In that case, let's get moving."

Dael moved to the front in spite of her bad weapon, but Jalab was left to take the lead, acting as a shield for the others. Keeping his staff crossed in front of him and bringing his own keen senses to bear, he began to advance. Dael came next, keeping a hand on her Mage Gun and the other on her sword. Cid had given her six minor shells, a Thundaga bullet, and another Gravija bullet. The latter she hoped to save for a certain someone if he made an appearance. It might work better than a Flare bullet, after all. Taraketh moved in behind her, pulling out his kusarigama but drawing the chain taut around either hand. That left Quaren to bring up the rear, gun out and still armed with armor-piercers.

The first hallway wasn't much. Just a basic service corridor to offices. Luckily, the lower floors were low priority. She was sure there were security cameras, but on a building of this size, there was little chance that a few guards used to watching the same boring black and white "reels" every day would be alert enough to pay attention and spot them right away. She immediately saw two collapsed panels for auto-guns, but assuming they had entered on a personnel-intensive, low-security floor…she knew they would be inactive. They wouldn't turn them on unless the floor was cleared of human soldiers and they were on alert. There was indeed a troop of guards on patrol, but luckily, Dael managed to peak around the corner and utilize the somewhat-reflective metal walls that were paneling everything to see shadows coming. As a result, the group quickly went into the nearest bathroom and waited for them to pass, and then snuck out again. Dael heard the sounds of security robots whirring down the hall beyond, and she knew, alert or no alert, the scanning lasers would identify them as non-personnel in seconds. But luckily, the corridor was curved, and the group moved to the side and snuck down to make sure and stay out of sight.

In spite of the fair amount of security, the group managed to make their way along the hall bit by bit. Occasionally, they had to duck down other side corridors, but again they were in luck, for it seemed that most of the lower-level employees had either been sent home or were taking shelter, leaving all the side offices locked and abandoned. They were free to hide down side corridors to let security patrols and drones pass when things grew too "heavy", and then inch their way forward from there. It took a bit of time…frankly, more than Dael wanted, for she knew everything was on schedule…but they managed to stay out of sight.

At last, the area seemed to open up ahead into the foyer. Although they had entered on the third floor, they were already even with the main platform elevator, just as Dael had seen it the first time they had come in. The same high-arched ceilings, lined with tinted metal to make it look more fiery and golden, and all of the emblems and symbols of the power of Sybenia and its heritage, as well as the emblem of the Guiding Hand. They could only get so close to it, unfortunately. Although the hall was arranged like a great vestibule, rather like a cathedral would be, and as a result the arches hid most who would look in from the sides, it didn't change the fact that anyone who looked out into the rest of the foyer would, in turn, be visible to everyone else.

The group ducked into the nearest hallway to the foyer and hid. After that, Quaren quickly got out his binoculars, activated the "angled" function, and crept up toward the opening into the foyer. Once there, he looked out and scanned around momentarily. Dael and the others patiently waited, ready to give a signal to him if a drone came by. Luckily, none came around as he looked, and finally he came back and moved into the corridor as well.

"Well, there's quite a bit down there." He explained. "Aegis Armors, deployable turrets, and some of the bigger Citadel-type mechs. You know…the ones that are about nine feet tall and can take a tank shell? Plus, they have soldiers mounted on the upper floors with sniper rifles too. In short…they could wage a war defending the foyer all the way to the elevator shaft. Granted, we bypassed some of it, but…still enough to cause some problems."

"I can take care of it." Taraketh answered. He began to move out.

"One more thing." Quaren called, stopping him. "One of those Citadels is up on this floor between us and the elevator. We'll need to get past it in order to get to the platform."

"Slice of pie." Jalab answered as he rose up.

Dael gave him an anxious look in response. "Sir Tierras, I know you're powerful, but even you have trouble with the larger tanks. This thing is far more armored."

"Training. New power." Jalab answered with a nod. He patted his own chest. "Trust."

The captain paused for a moment, but didn't dispute him. She finally just nodded.

Taraketh continued to move out, creeping much as Quaren had. Jalab followed behind him. With little reason to wait until the attack was sprung, Dael and Quaren soon moved out and brought up the rear, making sure to look for anyone spotting them. Quaren, on his part, kept the rifle up to take out the ocular lens of any drone that happened to catch them. Dael had a minor Fire bullet loaded in her Mage Gun. It would be enough to drive an enemy squad into confusion, but not much else. The four soon made it back to the opening.

Once there, Taraketh took the initiative. He looked to the ceiling, in particular, Dael noticed, to the large crest of the Guiding Hand hanging from the ceiling. For the first time, she noticed that the great metal emblem was suspended by thick metal chains, almost looking as if the emblem had been "draped" over the foyer like a medal. The High Child looked to this momentarily, and then closed his eyes and focused. He began to chant arcane words soon after. Unlike his standard spells, he focused for longer on this one, and Dael realized something big was coming. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes, and his aura blazed…hopefully not bright enough to attract anything…and he pointed his hand at the ceiling.

Immediately, at the base of the chains…an inferno erupted. The air rippled only for a moment before massive balls of fire, practically erupting and exploding, burst forth and began to burn over the bases of the chains. The fire was so large and massive that it send burning flames pouring over the entire upper third of the crest and up along the chains…not just the target spot. Naturally, the sounds of these fires bursting, to say nothing of the heat…which even Dael could feel from this distance…soon alerted everyone. Both the mechs and soldiers alike turned and looked up to see the raging inferno bursting on the metal, so hot it seemed as if the metal itself began to burn…or, at the bare minimum, any impurities that were long enough to be worked out.

However, the heat was burning so strongly, that it wasn't long before the entire metal crest began to drip iron slag down below, causing whatever guards were there who hadn't already fled for it to run. The drones, which had no similar sense of danger, were tagged by the molten steel and immediately began to deform and warp. Some managed to get back with only light damage, but others were hit in a key spot and began to spasm and malfunction. Yet that was forgotten moments later when the chains, unable to take the weight plus the heat stress, suddenly snapped free all together…and the massive, half-melted metal crest dropped to the ground and smashed down on the stairs of the main foyer, the same ones where Dael and Taraketh had first seen Rozan Hierarch.

Not only did the impact crush half of the steps in its wake, but the resulting slag that broke from the still-burning crest suddenly sent a deluge of molten iron running down the steps. Anything that was burnable immediately was set ablaze, and the soldiers and drone alike fled as fast as they could as the deadly material began to run off toward them. In moments, the fire alarms went off as the stairs were lit ablaze, the troops below were cut off, and the loose, molten, iron chains overhead flung one way and another, setting alike the banners and upper floors when it tagged them. The foyer was soon ablaze in multiple locations, and the defenses broke and scattered in panic. Fire alarms went off, and the sprinklers began to come online…but at the onset, all they managed to do was scatter more molten slag pieces everywhere.

Dael realized this was their chance, but so did the others. As the last of Taraketh's Firaga spell finished its work, he began to rise. Yet Jalab was faster, and already taking off past him for the platform.

The four had scarcely turned the corner when the spotted the Citadel mech. Essentially looking like a great, rigid block of iron and power, it wasn't as powerful as an Iron Giant, based on an earlier design, but it was designed to act as a "damage sponge" and mobile shield for an entire regiment of troops. It hadn't moved an inch. After all, even if the slag hit it head on, its reinforced hull was too strong to be burned through anything less than a radioactive-tipped armor-piercer…and even that would need three direct hits to finally hit something vital. So when Jalab began to charge it, the massive machine simply turned to him and stood its ground. Its huge arms began to rise, either one bearing three small cannons on it, with the intent of knocking him down or blowing him apart.

Yet Dael soon felt the air charge powerfully again as Jalab ran, shifting his staff to one hand and charging straight for the metal colossus. She knew what that meant. He was summoning his chi again, but never before had Dael felt it grow so powerful. Even as he was running, he was building strength. She could see his muscles tightening and thickening, and each step he made seemed to shake the upper tier as he went for the Citadel. Long before it had its guns up high enough to fire…he was on it. He froze only for a moment…and then let out a rather loud "KIYA!". Even over the din of Taraketh's diversion, it had to have been more than enough, considering the echo, to alert everyone in the chamber. Dael feared that for a moment…but soon forgot about it as Taraketh's aura blazed so strong and bright that one would swear he was wrapped in white electricity, or had set off a "magnesium fire" in his very being.

At once…Jalab tossed his staff in the air, and then turned into a blur. But unlike his flaming image attack, it was all him now. He simply moved so fast that he seemed to form eight different images, who all surrounded the Citadel mech, looping around it as if in orbit, and all striking again and again against him. To everyone's surprise, not only in Dael's group, but even among the soldiers, each punch and kick he delivered to the machine seemed to transmit a bit of his own chi into it. Each blow he inflicted on it left a mark gleaming with the same burning light. The machine, on its part, was dumbfounded and helpless. It could only sit there as Jalab coated its metallic hull with one hit after another.

By the time Jalab was done, his own aura was gone…but the Citadel was so lit up, it seemed as if it was the one burning now. Only a few bits of metal were left behind, poking out here and there from the gleaming fists prints and kicks. As for the monk, he merely came out of the attack right in front of the machine, sliding out a short distance in front of it…so powerfully that he left a pair of rifts in the ground. He stared forward, his back to the machine, and held for a moment…

He didn't move…but Dael, Taraketh, Quaren, and everyone else quickly looked away and braced themselves when the Citadel robot suddenly exploded in a brilliant flash, scattering pieces in all directions. The power was so great, the metal punched through the floor to the lower tier, and sent fragments flying across the entire foyer, smashing so hard into the wall they forced the snipers to duck and dodge for it. Of course, almost everyone had to duck to avoid the blast itself, especially the brilliance from it. About the only thing that wasn't hit was Jalab…who acted as a "break" for the other group members.

Although the eruption was so loud it sent a resounding echo through the foyer that hurt Dael's ears, it died down fast enough for her to look up…and saw Jalab still in that last pose. However, he soon rose to his feet, and extended an arm…just in time to catch the staff he had tossed into the air. Immediately, he turned and ran for the platform. All that was left of the guardian mech was a pile of scrap metal, at this point…at least, whatever metal hadn't already been blown to the four winds. Dael was overwhelmed…so much that she couldn't move for a moment. However, her mentality kicked in, and soon she ran after Jalab. The other two quickly followed.

The soldiers gradually recovered too, but they were still blocked by the melted crest and the molten slag, both of which were only now starting to slow down due to the cooling of the sprinklers. Everyone else who was close enough was too distracted from the combination of the fire and Jalab's incredible move, which had honestly left the nearest soldiers scared and too stunned to pursue them. A few people did manage to fire by the time they neared the platform, but it was already too late by then. The group quickly charged on board, and Dael went right for the console, key already out. In moments, it slid into the hole, turned, and immediately engaged the platform. Just as soldiers began to fire…the entire lift took off into the air, shooting straight up for the top floor.

The four took a moment to catch their breath. Dael was amazed at how remarkably well that entire opening assault had gone. They had managed to evade quite a bit. However…it naturally would only grow harder from here. They were only going to the uppermost level, what Dael assumed was the "central tower" suspended by all the others. From then on it, it would be private elevators and lots of elite units.

However, in the interim, Quaren took a moment to look over to Jalab. "Sir Tierras…what was that?! I didn't think even you could punch through one of those!"

"That was Buuthanrahmha." Jalab responded. "Means 'Dance of the Phantom'. Put chi into limbs, strike enemy, put chi into enemy when strike. When all go in, concentrate, and call chi back to you. Shatter opponent at kahr."

Taraketh looked a bit unnerved on hearing that, and explained. "In Jalab's order, the 'kahr' is the core of the physical being of a person…where it taps into the center of its existence, its spiritual connection…even what 'holds it together'. Supposedly, if you hit anything there, according to their belief, it is destroyed…even a mountain or a sea."

"Hard to get right. Learned only last year…mastered only one month ago…too afraid to use before now." Jalab added.

Dael hesitated momentarily, and then looked up to him. "…Did your training ever tell you what would happen if you tried to do that to a living thing?"

Jalab turned to Dael at this…and looked visibly shaken. Immediately, his face turned a bit grim as he bowed his head.

"…If get right…person shatter."

That was a rather grim thought, Dael had to admit…but she didn't dwell long on it. It might end up being rather useful before the day was out. With that in mind, she put her sword to one side and got out her Mage Gun. She looked to the others as she did so.

"Everyone…get ready to unload everything you have when we get up to the top. We're going to need to move to the stairwells, and I'm sure there's going to be a lot standing in our way."

"How do we know where to find the stairwells, captain?" Quaren asked.

"Easy." She responded. "The elevators will be locked down. Wherever the opposition is coming from… Just be ready to bust through."

Taraketh quickly began to loosen up the hammer on his kusarigama. Jalab crossed his staff in front of him and began to focus his power again. As for Quaren, he kept his rifle at the ready but his sidearm unfastened and grenades prepared. To top things off, Dael chanted to spread a barrier spell over all of them.

Moments later…the platform began to slow, and everyone tensed and prepared. As Dael looked forward, the lip of the top floor came into view, exposing the interior. While it slowly pulled up, she saw it…a mass of soldiers in Aegis Armors, two turrets, and, just for a moment, she caught a glimpse of something more in the back…one of the Kaiser Raidens.

She picked this all up in an instant, but didn't wait for them to open fire or call out to "halt". Immediately, she squeezed the trigger on her Mage Gun, and the fight was on.

The Fire shell lacked the power to do serious damage to the Aegis Armors, but when it shot through the air and splashed into a group of them, it covered them with flames, stunning them. The group charged forward during this interim, with Quaren quickly whirling his rifle around and firing into the barrel of one of the turrets…nailing the shell inside and turning it into a fireball. The other one still managed to fire, but the group was too fast for it, and soon its powerful guns shredded the console of the elevator platform. Good luck for them, Dael wagered, as it meant no one could use that lift to chase after them right away. As for Taraketh and Jalab, they scattered the remaining troops within moments. The former immediately cast a powerful ice spell and sent a shower of large crystals flying at half of them. Again, even if the crystals weren't direct enough to "hit", the sheer impact knocked their gauntlets aside and made them fire wildly in other directions, and forced them back as well. As for Jalab, he was more direct, diving into the midst of the group and swing out his staff like a streak of sunlight, smashing four of them away with sufficient force to critically damage the armor and make them fly into their allies, the result of which bowled them all back.

The Kaiser Raiden had been hanging toward the back before now…but started its approach at this point, bouncing up alongside the nearest corridor wall with the intent of launching itself at Dael. However, as it attempted to fire off the wall, it was halted a moment too soon. Quaren raised his rifle and, in a super-human moment of gunnery that took only a heartbeat, he aimed and fired at the foot joint of the robot before it could launch itself, damaging it. The split second was too much for the machine to compensate, and it went "askew", launching itself high, outside, and toward the back of the group. In the meantime, Dael quickly swung around with her cleaver-like blade into the nearest Aegis Armor while it was still recovering, and then left the sword embedded there a moment as she quickly snapped out another mage bullet, a Thunder one this time, snapped over to the remaining turret, which swiveled to her, and fired…sending a shock that stunned it momentarily. Jalab, bringing his staff back, began to swirl it around at a dizzying rate, and smacked aside two more Aegis Armors as soon as they rose with sufficient force to peel their armor off of them, before sending a focused beam at the stunned turret. An eruption later, and it was gone. As for Taraketh, swinging his own sickle around to ensure that no enemy would close, he chanted another spell…and soon sent the Aegis Armors flying in all direction, smashing most into walls or other debris hard enough to knock them out.

Dael wasn't wasting any time. Immediately, she charged the Kaiser Raiden, which itself recovered very quickly. She launched an attack on it in the form of a rapid overhead chop, for all the good it did. Two of the blades crossed and met it, and Dael soon felt the power of the machine firsthand as she felt herself being pushed back. Anyone else probably would have had their arms dislocated from the sheer pushback force. At any rate, in moments, the Kaiser Raiden fully stood and began to advance, slashing and hacking at Dael just as rapidly as it had against Bahamut and Taraketh back in Leuco. The Esthar's Hawk, however, kept her cool. She quickly began to backpedal and adjusted as best as she could with her sword, parrying it all the while. She knew this sword wouldn't last long. The blades of the Kaiser Raiden were already heating up and trying to cleave through it, and she could feel it buckle underneath as she struggled to back up. However, her tactic had worked. Because the robot was focused on its nearest opponent, it again ignored Quaren, who made it pay for that. As Dael struggled to fend off two blades and it raised a third for an overhead chop, and shot rang out from his rifle, and the wrist joint was obliterated, causing the machine to drop the sword and swing nothing but a mostly useless limb afterward.

With the turrets gone, Jalab quickly put down any remaining Aegis Armors that weren't already disabled, unconscious, or deceased. His staff and fist lashed out again and again, seeming to ignore the metal all together and beat through the machines and the people beneath. As for Taraketh, he soon spotted Dael's situation. Even with only three arms, the Kaiser Raiden had compensated and was attacking even faster than before, forcing her back and striking down again and again so hard that Dael thought it was either trying to break her sword or her arms…whatever would give first. And frankly, in spite of her enhanced strength, she was sweating and buckling under it. With the greater speed, Quaren was forced to shoot more randomly rather than hit the joints, and the only non-moving target was the armored chest, which could take multiple bullets. However, the High Child soon leapt into action. He quickly shot past, wide of the robot, using its one clear weakness…its ability to only focus on one target at a time. As soon as he went by, he quickly whipped up his hammer, swung it around a few times, then shot out to snare one of the legs of the Kaiser Raiden. It was still lumbering after Dael, and so he used the next moment to swung the other end out and hook the sickle around the lip of the raised platform. A second later, and as the robot advanced…the chain was pulled taut and it was tripped, staggering forward momentarily and exposing its upper torso. Not wasting a second, Dael shot forward and stabbed her sword deep into the shoulder joint, severing not one but two connections, and leaving it down to one arm with a blade and one unarmed limb.

The Kaiser Raiden still wasn't done, however. It quickly began to tug sharply on the chain, starting to rip it free from the lip of the platform, tearing the metal it was anchored to. Yet as it reared back to try and pull itself free one last time, Taraketh quickly ducked in, seized his chain, and loosened both ends with a snap of his hands. Quickly, he began to recoil both of them…while the robot itself, meaning to snap loose, suddenly found itself freed and staggered forward yet again. Dael quickly backpedaled, but managed to slice out one more time as she did so…removing its remaining sword, and hand, from its body.

In spite of all of that, the machine still reared up and prepared to fire with one last weapon. Its ocular lens began to light up, no doubt meaning to vivisect the opponent before it. It fired quickly, but Dael was expecting it…and quickly dropped flat to the ground, letting the shot sail over her body harmlessly and cut a hole into the floor. It realized its mistake and cut off briefly…which was a mistake for it, as Jalab seized on that opportunity. Giving a minor yell, not as strong as the one on the bottom floor but still quite powerful, his aura blazed, and he dashed forward like an artillery shell. The machine raised up to fire on him…only to be smashed into solidly by the monk with incredible power.

In spite of the Kaiser Raiden's size and power…it was ripped clean off of its feet by the sheer power and sent flying…not just back to the platform, not just over and by it, but all the way to the window of the skyscraper…where it smashed right through the supposedly shatterproof glass and was cast out into the air beyond. The machine flailed about, trying to find something to grab onto with its remaining intact limbs, but with no way of grabbing, it merely scraped futilely against the walls before it fell down, beginning its long descent to oblivion at the plaza below.

The group paused for a moment. All were breathing a bit hard. Taraketh was feeling the "burn" from his spells still, and Dael's arms were still sore from fighting off that metal behemoth. She could see how she never would have stood a chance against two of them…possibly even one-on-one.

She didn't even have time to congratulate or rally anyone, however…because silent alarms soon began to go off all around them in the form of flashing lights, and the sounds of more troops coming down the hall in the distance began to near. Dael turned to the noise, as did the others. Letting out an exhale, she popped open her Mage Gun barrel and paused only long enough to load another shell, and then motioned to the others.

"Follow me. Punch through…and don't stop."

With that, she took off immediately into the hall, and the others soon followed in behind her, each one ready for more fighting.

The next few minutes were a blur. Dael only made it to the first junction before she spotted another squad coming their way. No longer were they relying on conventional troops up here. Everything was an Aegis Armor with lasers and even micro-rocket launcher mounted or advanced sentry robots. More than that…there was another Kaiser Raiden in the midst. But the group didn't stop. They burst on through, Dael leading the assault with another shot from her Mage Gun. This time, it was a Bio bullet, spreading a cloud of infectious magical disease over the front line. It might not have been as strong as what Raven was capable of, but it did cause the entire front row to collapse, letting the group dig into the next team. A blast from Jalab sent one of the drones packing, and a few shots from Quaren disabled another. Taraketh himself called on his earth powers to smash into the Kaiser Raiden. It tried to dodge as it had back in Leuco, but the High Child was more experienced and the area was smaller he was able to pin it with a column of earth to the ceiling, and as it slowly cut its way free, the group ran right on by.

Another team soon followed…this one with two Kaiser Raidens. In spite of his growing exhaustion and the cramped quarters, Taraketh summoned Quetzacoatl again for the lead-in, striking the entire mass with lightning. Unlike conventional magic, the power of a Guardian Force was on a whole different field. Reflection was useless in most cases, and soon the Kaiser Raidens were being shocked the same as the other machines and systems. The group ripped by, slashing, pounding, blasting, and shooting furiously. Though sweat mounted on everyone's brow, they continued to fight and plow through, for the ones in the last group they tore past had recovered and were coming after them again. Dael managed to slow them down with an Ice bullet to the nearest Aegis Armors, freezing them in place and making them a blockade, but still they were hard-pressed to stay ahead.

However, at last, they began to come to a heavy metal fire door with an "Exit" emblazoned over the top of it. Dael led the group straight for it, hoping that it led further up the tower rather than only down from this floor. Already down to only four shells left, and only two of them "conventional", she loaded her next shot as she ran for it. Right before reaching the door, she froze and snapped around, letting Jalab come forward and shatter the lock with one well-placed strike from his staff. As for the captain, she fired her shot into the floor just as the attacking units behind her neared. It went off…and the new front line soon had spheres of light burst from thin air around them, and then begin to rotate "backward" in a counter-clockwise format. In response, it looked as if a pocket of time had "slowed" around those men, and they moved at a vastly reduced pace. Their normal-moving cohorts soon arrived behind them, only to be blocked. After a moment of delay, they began to push by, just as one of the recovered Kaiser Raidens bounded forward and used a wall jump to clear them entirely before barreling straight at the group…but by then it was too late. The door was open, and the four ran inside.

The Kaiser Raiden immediately dashed forward and struggled to bust through, but it was too large for the single doorway, and soon had to use its own red-hot blades to try and slice its way in. The group, on their part, didn't wait. They quickly began to run up the stairwell, taking the stairs two at a time. They only went up about two flights before Quaren paused long enough to pull the pins on two grenades and toss them down the shaft. By now, the Kaiser Raiden had managed to squeeze part of its body through, but could go no further. A moment later, the grenades went off and pierced it with shrapnel. It wasn't enough to seriously damage it…but it was enough to gum up some of its workings, leaving it immobilized for a few moments.

However, the group only got up to about the sixth floor of this incline before soldiers overhead began to fire down on them. Apparently, more units were coming down from above to try and counter them. And unlike the ones in Leuco, these ones were using targeting lasers and infrared to try and hit them. Dael quickly switched to casting a magical barrier instead, which acted to repel some of the shots, while Jalab broke into flaming images and sent them skyward, punching and kicking at every soldier they could reach. Luckily, the stairwell itself was fairly compact and overlaid. There were places to duck, even for the microlasers, and the group kept pushing itself upward. But by the time they got to the eighth floor…the armors still above had not only increased in number, but Dael soon heard a "whooshing" sound as the nearest ones fired off the microrockets.

Taraketh, straining himself even more, quickly snapped up and cast a wind spell of considerable power. It barely managed to work in time. The rockets literally got within six feet of the nearest one of them. However…in the end, they were forced back up the shaft, and soon detonated on the upper floors, rocking the shaft, busting up the stairs in multiple places, and shaking everything with a deafening boom that made everyone recoil and try to get their bearings momentarily.

Yet when Dael looked back up and above and below…she saw the situation hadn't done more than buy them a few seconds. The Aegis Armors mostly took the blast, and they were regrouping. Not only that, but more were coming…and she saw a rather nightmarish sight of a new Kaiser Raiden beginning to climb down the shaft itself like an overgrown spider. She looked below afterward, and was just in time to see the one below dislodge the last of the debris and burst out into the stairwell. It immediately began to climb while more Aegis Armors poured in behind it.

She exhaled. "…We don't have time for this. We'll have to get off on this floor and find another way up."

"I don't think we'll find much with these things chasing us…" Taraketh answered. "Everyone…get to the exit door. I'll bring up the rear this time."

Seeing that he was clearly preparing another powerful spell, Dael looked to him uneasily. "You're on your last legs. You need to save what power you have left."

"I can handle it." He insisted…struggling not to pant and wiping some sweat from his brow. "I'm a High Child, after all…"

Dael really didn't have time to argue, and so she did as he said, and quickly ran for the nearest exit door. Jalab, however, was one step faster, and reached there first and pounded it in. Once he burst through, he quickly looked around, and then advanced further. Taking this as a sign there was no hostiles waiting for them, Quaren followed. That left Dael, who went into the door frame, but paused and looked back momentarily.

Taraketh moved out as well, but hesitated long enough to close his eyes and concentrate. Based on the amount he put into it, he was either more tired than he looked…or he was summoning considerable power. Dael opted for the latter. As the Aegis Armors and the Kaiser Raidens closed in…his eyes opened and blazed with power before his aura erupted large and bright, and he swung his hands out.

Not even waiting to see the full impact of his spell, Taraketh snapped around and began to run out. Dael took that as he cue to move as well…and a good thing too. Abruptly, the walls exploded around the narrow stairwell. Pieces of concrete went mobile and burst forth from the walls in multiple places on the stairs above and below, deforming them, twisting them, and sending them falling. Men in Aegis Armors cried out, and one of the Kaiser Raidens slipped and fell into the other one…but the entire shaft soon grew unstable and began to fall apart. Soon, everyone was falling down in a deluge of debris as the structure collapsed.

Dael, now outside of the stairwell, saw clouds of dust beginning to pour out of it. The rumbling wasn't dying down, and she feared that Quaren had gone too far, especially when the ground in this hall began to shake. It was, after all, nothing more than a building suspended by the other support-like towers. There was a chance it could snap loose and send them all to their deaths. However…as they continued to run, the trembling ceased, and the ground stabilized. More than that, there wasn't any immediate resistance on this floor. It seemed to be a basic hallway, not even with any military purposes in mind.

Nevertheless, Dael soon saw that there were auto-gun emplacements here, and at any moment they could become active. With that in mind, she motioned ahead…toward a set of what looked to be gold-plated, heavily-etched double doors.

"In there!"

The group soon ran up to them. They were locked again, but, as before, Jalab had little trouble breaking it open and then leading the group inside. As they did so, Dael paused only a moment to look at the doors. They were made of rich wood, heavily and ornately carved, and the plating wasn't just gild…it was real gold. She was actually a bit stunned for a moment to see that. There was definitely no other door like that in the building that they had encountered so far… At any rate, she slipped inside, and closed the doors behind her.

Now in the new chamber, and having earned a moment, the group paused to catch their breath. Even for superhumans, they were pushing themselves hard to stay alive and keep moving. All of them were rather drained after being in this operation for hours, almost all of it spent running one way or another. This room was both quiet and cool, and in the silence, Dael almost could hear her heart beating in her ears. Yet what truly focused her attention was what was in the room, the same with everyone else.

It seemed like they had gone into an "exhibit" or "antique" room of some sort. There was carpeting in here, better climate control, more "aesthetic" lighting…and, most of all, long rows of glasses cased filled with valuables. Some seemed to be more "heavy security" than others, but all of the cases looked to be locked rather solidly. Inside were all manner of things. Some were more "obviously" valuable, such as gold trinkets, precious jewels, and a few things made of fine mythril. Others held value only to those who had a sharper eye for such things, such as ancient jugs or pottery or tools or other artifacts. Most of those had some sort of plaque on them to accent why they were valuable or historically significant.

Dael and the others looked about only a moment, before starting to advance through this area. A room this large probably had an exit on the opposite side for fire code if nothing else. Perhaps they could use it to cut through. At any rate, this place probably had its own security systems. She was sure the stuff was worth a considerable amount of gil. In that case, it wouldn't do well to linger too long.

"I think our pirate friend would probably have preferred to come this way…" Taraketh mused as they moved along.

Jalab looked over a few of the more secure cases, and soon pointed to one. "Pallas artifacts. Old world." He stated. "Illegal to take from sites."

"Something tells me that if the Guiding Hand cared so little about shipping people off to die in Leuco, they probably didn't care too much about a little grave robbery and plundering of historical sites…" Dael answered with a frown.

As they walked on a bit farther, the room opened up more…only to reveal even more rows and "lanes" inside it. A bit to Dael's surprise, this place was practically a museum. The articles grew more rare as well. The security measures increased in the process. By now, the glass was over an inch thick and, in spite of being crystal clear, it was impossible to move through. Dael doubted even armor piercing bullets would get in. She saw sensors on other parts as well. She knew tripping them would _definitely _alert someone. At any rate, as the room just seemed to extend further and deeper, with no end in sight, she couldn't help but exhale a bit.

"It seems Rozan likes his luxury…" She exhaled.

"More than that, Dael." Taraketh stated as he looked over some of the artifacts. "This is one of the old Pyroeldwichs…better known as a 'Fire Rod'. A stave that actually has magical power in it." He turned his head to another. "And over here…one of the naturally occurring mana crystals…what they used to make materia out of when the old mako reactors were still working…" He looked further up. "And that…" Suddenly, he trailed off momentarily. His eyes widened a bit. "…That looks like a second or third addition of one of the original books from Mysidia…the ones that talk about the Jade Passage and Sunfire…"

"Is that something important?" Quaren asked. He gestured up ahead to another case. "Some of this just looks like junk. Look in that case…a whole case to itself, and all that's there is some old metal torch."

Taraketh looked to this, and immediately gasped. He actually ran ahead of the group for a moment and nearly pressed himself against the glass, gazing inside in shock. A moment later, he looked back. "Do you have any idea what that is?!" He gasped.

Quaren paused, as Jalab and Dael kept moving. He shrugged. "…A torch?"

Taraketh looked down to the plaque, and his eyes widened more before he looked back up. "This is Egil's Torch! The standard of the old kingdom of Kashuan! Wielder of the Sunfire flame! This torch once saved a quarter of the planet by casting Sunfire into the heart of the first military airship: the Dreadnought!"

Quaren blinked a bit. "But…what's it do now? Can you even use it as a regular torch?"

The High Child frowned. "…Is that all you can say?"

"Sorry…" The corporal answered as he turned and continued to walk. "I mean…I'm sure that was great at the time, but…now it's just collecting dust. It would be better off in a museum instead of some private collection. I'm more interested in things that would still have some use…" He said as he turned his head forward…and soon froze in his step again.

"…Like that."

Dael had halted as well at this point, as had Jalab. It seemed all routes in the room fed into one hexagonal case in the middle, guarded by every security measure possible that wasn't lethal. The chamber had to have a laser net and temperature sensors as well as the standard thick glass walls locked and sealed with thick metal framing and electronic locks. Yet just as before, what was inside was quite clear.

It was a sword. From the side of it, it seemed to be somewhere in size between greatswords and bastard swords, and it was definitely old. The period appeared to be somewhere prior to the War of the Magi, based on the décor. One could tell from the guard on the blade. It seemed to be entwined and "winged", looking like a combination of angel wings and vines, like from a rose. At first glance, the blade appeared used, due to being notched. However, that was part of the design. It was interlinked at the stronger points and emblazoned with runes. Not only that, but despite the fact it was well lit, the blade almost seemed to radiate a soft glow… It was both powerful-looking and well-made…better made than most other swords in the world, not only in terms of modern common techniques…but of all time.

Dael looked at it only a moment…before her own knowledge of blades told her what it was. When that happened, her eyes widened slightly, and her own mouth slackened.

Seeing this reaction, Quaren looked to Dael a moment, but then advanced to the case and looked to the plaque on it. "This must be a pretty impressive sword." He mused. "According to this, it's…"

"Save the Queen."

Quaren, Taraketh, and Jalab looked up to her at that, as she continued to stare at the weapon in wide-eyed awe. After a moment of silence, however, Jalab blinked in confusion.

"We must…save…a queen?" He asked.

"No, that's the name of the sword." Dael answered, not looking away from it as she began to walk closer. "The 'Save the Queen'…the sword of Alexandria. The blade that was supposedly the greatest sword ever made by purely human hands. That cut through over a thousand soldiers and, though its years of service, never once even needed to be sharpened. It only ever had one bearer: General Beatrix of Alexandria, the last of the Paladins. They said she was unstoppable with it."

Taraketh looked up at this. "I know that history…and the legend. Supposedly, Beatrix became too cold and ruthless, too obsessed with battle. She forgot her own Paladin heritage and became a butcher. Although she atoned for her crimes, she lost the will to fight. She claimed the sword 'lost its edge' in spite of being so powerful and unchanged by battle. She said it only worked while she defended Alexandria for the new queen, Garnet til Alexandrios…but when she left the throne, she hung up the sword forever. No one ever used it again."

"A thousand soldiers without growing dull…?" Quaren echoed. Suddenly, he had a look of realization. "Wait…you mean _that_ Save the Queen?"

"The one and only. No one else ever made another like it." Taraketh answered. "It took two years of the best swordmakers in Alexandria, Burmecia, Lindbulm, and even ones from Cleyra to make. The latter is what gave it its holy power…the only weapon they ever collaborated with the other nations to build. Since all four were destroyed and only two of them rebuilt, they could never make another."

By now, everyone was gathered around the front of the case, looking inside. Even now, it seemed as if the runes shimmered with an inner light.

"…And no one has used it since?" Quaren asked.

"It might just be a rumor…but the legend has it that the sword has a mind and will of its own." The High Child responded. "After Beatrix abused its strength to massacre the women and children of Burmecia and Cleyra, it gradually began to fail her. Now, its true power only lies in being used to defend others. That's why no swordmaster can just come along and take it, because they only want to use it for their own power and glory."

The group stared a moment longer, seeming to forget temporarily about the mission. At last, however…the statement was made. Jalab looked to Dael.

"…Take sword."

Immediately, the woman turned to him in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Take sword." Jalab answered, gesturing to it. "Use it. Need better weapon."

"Hey, that's right, Dael." Quaren answered. "I'm sure that would be a heck of a lot better than that oversized cleaver you're using."

Dael turned to him next, still looking as surprised. "You want me to steal an antique blade and use it?"

"Normally I'd be against theft…but seeing as this is Sybenia, you might as well do something good with it, Dael." Taraketh responded. "And 'antique' nothing. I'm sure that blade is just as deadly now as it was nearly 2,000 years ago. It's not even rusted."

"But…" The young officer began to protest. However…she could come up with nothing. This seemed almost too convenient. However, more than that…there was the fact that this blade was the stuff of legend. There were only a handful of blades in the world that had made it to the history books, but this was one of them. Supposedly, it was even a match for the Excalibur and the Masamune. And it was precisely because it was so historically significant that she was nervous about taking it. She had respect for historical warriors and great blades…and, to be honest, she didn't feel "worthy" about taking this one. Besides, if the legend was right, and all the people she had killed who were innocent, even if inadvertently…would she really be able to use it that well? And it was so much larger and broader than what she was used to…

Yet in spite of all of her fear, a voice of reason went through her mind.

_You really can't afford to be "respectful" right now, Dael. You need that weapon. If the worst happens, you can't fight an Elite Hound with this oversized knife. You need something that actually has some power to it. This sword, if it really is still good after 2,000 years, is better than anything you could wish for. _

_ Besides, if it doesn't work out…you can always just leave it behind. What good is it doing gathering dust in a display case? If this mission is successful, all it will be is looted by whoever wants anything of value in this building…_

With all of this in mind, Dael finally exhaled.

* * *

><p>It was downright eerie.<p>

Getting the blade itself had been easy. For all the security measures, it seemed as if an Eris Bell was not in effect on the upper levels. That seemed odd, but Dael didn't question providence. There was nothing stopping her from teleporting inside and simply taking the sword, then teleporting out. Remarkably…it felt very light. Perhaps it was her enhanced strength playing tricks on her, but she felt she could manipulate it as easily as her old katana. In fact, it seemed so light that she doubted its power momentarily, until she did a practice swing on a pane of bulletproof glass. At first, she thought she had some how missed it or there wasn't any glass there to begin with…for the sword cut right through with almost no resistance. The blade was indeed still sharp. What more, despite not being a Western-style blade…Dael felt so natural and "right" using it. Like she had been training with it for years.

She could barely contain her excitement, and anxiety, at the fact that she was actually wielding Save the Queen. At any rate, it seemed to "accept" her, so she quickly readjusted her side sheath. If she made it go high, it was just good enough to keep the blade from dragging. She supposed she'd get it a proper scabbard later, but for now it hung loose as she ran along.

Luckily, the "treasure room" seemed to span the entire floor, which meant that by running to the opposite side, there would be another stairwell waiting for them. Hopefully one that was unguarded. After moving to the opposite side of the chamber, Quaren took the front and moved to the door. He soon cracked it open slightly and looked outside.

After a moment, he ducked his head back in, shutting the door again. "There's two sentry robots…Obelisks, by the looks of them. And there's a Kaiser Raiden in between them."

The one good thing about automatic drones is that they keyed in on living things. Hence, if something mechanical moved about, they might look at the motion or sound, but wouldn't fire due to not seeing anything organic to target. So long as they didn't present themselves visibly, they didn't have to worry.

Quaren sighed. "The hall is too narrow…we'll have to take it out, and that won't be easy. I think I've got eight more armor piercers and that chassis is too thick to be breached with one hit."

"I could try using another earth spell…that's the only thing I have that can negate reflection." Taraketh added. "But it will make some noise. So will a summon, and…frankly…" He let out an exhale. "I really can't pretend I'm not draining myself anymore."

"Can Jalab do the same thing he did to the Citadel?" Quaren asked.

"Only one target." The man responded grimly. He patted himself. "Body…become weak…brittle…during attack. Other drones would hit. One shot…likely kill."

Dael hesitated for a moment after hearing everything. The group paused. After a moment, Taraketh looked like he would attack anyway…when the woman exhaled and stepped forward. One of her hands grasped the hilt of Save the Queen. She could almost feel power ebbing through it as she did so…

"I'll do it." She stated.

The others looked to Dael, as she exhaled again and drew the sword. She held it before her with both hands, already focusing her power into it…getting ready to move fast, and hoping this sword was half as good as the legends said. She cracked her neck once, and then inhaled. "Let's see if this really is a mythical blade…"

The others opened their mouths to protest, but she didn't sit around and wait for it. No doubt, some camera or security system had already spotted them. They needed to move while the defenses were at least somewhat lax. With that in mind, she pushed open the door…just enough to see the small hallway with the Kaiser Raiden and its cohorts, and then spoke a few arcane words to teleport.

She thought she saw the robots beginning to use their scanning lasers to spot her even when the door was open. For that reason, when she teleported into the air above the Kaiser Raiden, she hoped she'd at least get in one good slice with it completely off guard. No such luck. Like the crack of a whip, she had barely begun to descend, bringing her blade up for a downward slice, when the top of the machine rotated around on a pivot, and soon two of its four swords were igniting with heat and rising to meet her. Yet it was too late to worry now. She had to go with it. Tightening up, she swung her sword down with all her might in a forward slash…already seeing it was too little, too late. The machine was reacting fast enough to bring not one but two swords up to intercept…

…for all the good it did.

The Save the Queen seemed to nearly light up with a white aura as it flashed down and made contact with the swords. Dael did feel some resistance, but she had been putting everything she had into this swing. As a result…she soon saw the burning ends of the blades go flying to the ground as her sword sliced easily through them and cut a long, deep, slash across the entire Kaiser Raiden from the side of its head through its entire torso.

Although one wouldn't have guessed it from how fast she moved…Dael was shocked. The sword had a longer blade than her katana, and so the hit went deeper than she intended. It wasn't a clean hit to the head, but it still had to have sliced into either part of the CPU or its connections with the rest of its body…and the sword dipped right through the chassis as if it was little more than soft sheet metal. By the time she landed, the Kaiser Raiden's arms went limp, and it spilled backward…the "wound" through it still gleaming on the edges, as if they had become locally heated when the Save the Queen cut through them.

In spite of this, Dael wasted little time. Her reaction speed was too great now, even with surprise, and immediately she swung the blade up and around as she advanced to her left. As the Obelisk was still turning to her, she sliced again, once more focusing her power…and this time cutting her target cleanly in half. Quickly, she pivoted backward, and then sliced out again…removing the "head" of the other Obelisk. Shortly after doing that, the Kaiser Raiden itself collapsed to the floor at last. It was hissing, spitting, twitching, and had the sounds of loose gears grinding and smoke and sparks pouring from its wound. It might have still been active, but it wouldn't be doing anything else.

The other three were likewise shocked…but, fortunately, Quaren was an Esthar's Hawk as well and stayed on task. Quickly, he led the charge out of the doorway and ran for the hall. It took the others a moment, but they soon followed. Dael herself hesitated…honestly overwhelmed. The Obelisks were bad enough…but a Kaiser Raiden had enough armor to survive a few successive armor-piercing hits. Yet the Save the Queen cut through it with no more effort than a sharpened knife cuts through a carrot. She was honestly in awe. Even if the blade hadn't "chosen" her…she was quite happy with this result. And despite not being a katana, it moved just as easily as her family sword. With that in mind, as Quaren reached her, she spun around, putting the blade down to her side, and running onward.

"That was amazing, captain!" Quaren couldn't help but exclaim.

"I'll boast about it later…once the mission is over." Dael answered as they neared the exit door at the end. "For now, we've still got a job to do."

In seconds, they were at the door. Dael was suspicious that the Save the Queen had been dulled or was brittle after close to 2,000 years of disuse. However, as she paused to inspect the edge while Jalab opened this door as well…she saw that wasn't the case. The blade was just as sharp and flawless as ever. Apparently, time had made it lose none of its potency, or it had at least been restored and kept well over its 2,000 years of sitting idle. She actually trembled again at the thought. The last time this sword had cut anything had been when the hands of General Beatrix were holding it. She was the only person on record to have ever slain anything with it aside from her, even if it was a robot she "slew". It was humbling to think about, but she didn't dwell long. She led the charge up the next stairwell.

Their speed seemed to be their greatest asset. Even if they were being spotted, they were moving far faster than anyone normal. No doubt, the guards had thought if they went for the elevator, then they would have at least been slowed down by the Kaiser Raiden. Yet Dael had disabled one in moments, and now they were flying up the stairs again. Even the brief respite in the antique room hadn't exactly left them in much of a state of recovery. Stairs were hard for anyone, and all four were huffing and puffing by the time they went up to the twelfth floor. They slowed down visibly by the fifteenth, but still didn't stop. Dael ran them all the way to the top, pushing herself on in the process.

At the twentieth floor…the stairs finally gave out. Dael came to a halt here, and took a moment to catch her breath, in spite of the danger. The others did much the same. They needed all the help they could get for this final push, after all. Dael was certain the last few floors were accessible only through private elevators and hidden stairways. She was also certain whatever security was left from this point on was of the hardest variety. If they wanted to stop them…it would be soon. With that in mind, as soon as she caught her breath, Dael loaded her final shell into her Mage Gun. It wasn't much…just a basic Hold shell. It wouldn't even work against a strong enough mind or a machine. However, if a Kaiser Raiden was truly "driven" by biologic components…maybe it would stop one...or if nothing else, someone she caught off guard. With that done, she looked to Quaren. While Taraketh was normally the one who would handle the door locks, he moved in this time. Using his own fire magic, he applied just enough of a spell to melt out the lock from their side. That done, he pulled back and readied his gun with the last few armor piercers. Dael exhaled, then grasped her sword tight and kicked open the door, jumping out and ready for a fight.

However…there was nothing there to greet them but an empty hallway. It was definitely fancier and better decorated than the rest of the building thus far. The metal plating on the walls, which before seemed merely gilded with brass, now looked to be plated with gold. The tile was fine marble, and the hall was lined with windows looking outside to the red-tinted sky, the burning tops of the skyscrapers, and the city far below. Dael realized the tunnel had to be in one of the very supports in the inner tier of the main tower. That meant there were four of these leading into the center…perhaps in all directions, just as in the lower floor. At any rate, up ahead…there was a set of gold double doors that looked reinforced and were guarded with cameras. There were autoguns as well, but they were inactive.

"…No one here." Quaren stated. "But the guns aren't being used."

"That doesn't make any sense. This would be the perfect place for a bottleneck." Taraketh answered.

"Don't assume we've reached that point yet." Dael answered darkly. "We still need to find a way up, and my guess is any higher from here is restricted access…in that there's only one way in and out. Let's go."

Dael led the move to continue going forward. In spite of the situation, she kept her eyes forward on the auto-guns, watching and waiting for them to become active. However, they stayed collapsed…which only made her more nervous. This had all the looks of a trap, and the Hounds had been quite good at that in the past. The others stayed close behind, looking around as they followed along. Quaren made sure to note that Tiamat was no longer visible…at least in the brief time he looked out the window. But neither were the airships… At this point, one couldn't be clear if the fight was still going on and he simply couldn't see it…or if it was all over.

The captain reached the door and checked the handles. She expected some form of lock or alarm…and found neither. They simply opened up. She froze. There was no way that there wouldn't be some sort of security measure there. She paused and looked to the others.

"…This is definitely a trap."

"No way around it, Dael." Taraketh answered with a frown. "We can't just sit here and wait for things to come at us. If it makes you feel any better…I'm not feeling my powers hampered. There must be no Eris Bell here."

Sighing slightly, Dael turned back to the door and immediately kicked it open, before aiming her sword before her and whatever was inside.

On the other side was nothing but a wide, open chamber, after a short hallway leading within. Just as she thought, there were four hallways leading into this, and what it seemed to be was nothing more than a foyer. It was large and extensive, although not as large as the lower floors. Apparently, the building tapered a bit. Yet still…it was large enough for a small ballroom. And with all of the marble and high-ceilined lined with white, gold, and ivory…it seemed to make sense. There were windows inside which allowed sunlight to provide the bulk of illumination, and in the center of the chamber was a "golden monolith", a pillar that looked like it housed an elevator that went higher. This one did indeed look security locked, so it would probably be a hassle to get on. Other than that…nothing. No drones, no wall turrets, and no soldiers.

The others paused only a moment, but then were about to enter. However, they froze when they saw Dael wasn't going anywhere. Her eyes were focused hard on the inside. She stared only for a few moments, before calling out.

"…I know someone in there is watching us…intending us to walk right into our doom. This is far too easy. I find it impossible to believe there isn't something in here waiting for us. So why not just pop out? Are you that afraid that if you don't get the 'first hit' that you can't stop us? I can wait."

Dael's voice echoed loud and long through the chamber. Time slowly ticked by as it gradually faded. Only silence greeted it for a moment.

Then, at last, without a sound…a man with long black hair and a black coat walked out from behind the central pillar…one that the group recognized immediately. They instantly tightened up.

After a moment, the man turned his head and looked to Dael.

"…But you _can't_ wait, Valkyrie." Raven darkly answered her. "You only have a brief window to come in here and assassinate Rozan Hierarch, yes? My guess is, you being an Esthar's Hawk, you're relying on expert timing. You have only a narrow frame of time to escape after this is done…and if you aren't in the right place at the right time it will be you against all of Sybenia…and even you can't handle those odds."

The Elite Hound crossed in front of the elevator, came to a halt, and turned to her. His sword was still on his back…but Dael couldn't help but feel cold inside. She had put everything she had into their last fight, and she knew she had barely improved since then. She honestly had no idea how she was supposed to win the fight now. Although she had been expecting him to show himself again on this mission…in all honesty, she was still scared. It was taking her everything she had to swallow down her fear at the sight of him. Even maintaining the level of focus needed to combat him with tiring.

However, after a moment, she began to advance, keeping her blade out and in front of her as she neared. The others followed behind, keeping their own weapons up as they did so. That gave her a bit of comfort. After all…at least she didn't have to do this alone now. Yet even as they neared…the ground shook a bit, and the building with it. It actually rattled momentarily, although no dust came from the ceiling.

Raven gestured around them. "Time is more against you than you think." He answered. "Hierarch is above…unleashing his greatest 'pet' upon the attackers. And yet, that creature is nothing but a raw engine of destruction, living only to ruin and kill just as it did thousands of years ago. Not since Bahamut's destruction of Alexandria was such an event recorded."

Dael didn't react to that at all. She was familiar with that story…and Bahamut had long since explained how it was his usurper brother who had been behind that. It was even in at least half of the history books, although the fact had never been "officially" proven. Nevertheless, Bahamut did react a bit, but kept advancing.

"Now he tries to both rein it in as well as vent its wrath, all in the same token." Raven continued. He let out a snort. "…Foolishness. There are things in this world that are born to kill. That is their purpose. You cannot both deny their nature and tell them to show it at the same time."

His gaze narrowed.

"The same could be said of us, Valkyrie." He finally stated. "Which is why it does not matter to either of us that all it would take is one loose shot, either from Tiamat or from one of your airships, to kill us both. That is why you come here now, in spite of the danger…in spite of obviously realizing by now how many of your actions are nothing more than the orders of another, being pulled on the strings of a master puppeteer. It's almost laughable…how we are both nothing more than dancing dolls in the grand scheme of things… You know this, even if you know it only deep down in your heart-of-hearts…and still you come." He paused. "Such is our destiny, Valkyrie. As countless ones before us…we exist only to kill."

"I've heard enough of your philosophy, Raven." Dael flatly answered, planting her feet, now solidly in the room with the others, and aiming her sword at him. "I'm not like you. I don't sell my soul for the sake of eliminating my ennui. You're just a mission to me…something standing between me and Rozan Hierarch. And I'm not going to play your game and let this just be a one-on-one beatdown. You're going against all of us now."

Raven stared for a moment, and let out an exhale.

"…Perhaps you're not like me." He admitted after a moment. "Perhaps you are _less_. I find fulfillment in the fight. I find purpose and understanding both of myself and others in every strike of my blade. I find meaning. I find _life_. What do you find, Valkyrie? The joy of having your masters pat you on the head and throw you a biscuit? The reason you are so predictable…the reason you can be found in times like this time and again…is because you can always be relied on to do nothing more and nothing less than as you are told. Would we have ever even met if someone hadn't started giving you orders one day, captain?"

Dael, in spite of her resolve, felt something inside her quaking. It was best to break it off now. This opponent was hard enough. She didn't need psychological warfare tearing her down too. She aimed the point of her blade at him. "I said I've heard enough. If you want your 'meaning', then let's get this over with."

Raven stared blankly back for a moment of silence, indifferent to Dael's face as it grew tight and impassioned.

Abruptly…a loud hiss followed by an echoing clang, like a huge load of metal dropped on a sheet of iron, went off behind Dael. In spite of facing down her deadliest opponent, she snapped her head behind her…just in time to see a thick metallic cover, pretty much the size of the entire short hall they passed through, slam down over their entrance. She looked back forward…and was just in time to see no less than eight holes open in the ceiling, from panels that had been so seamless before that neither Dael nor anyone else could have spotted them. In response…eight Kaiser Raidens dropped from the ceiling and landed on the ground, all around the others. However, in addition to that, the other three hallways were soon flooded as nine separate Elite Hounds, each one armed with dual vibrating blades and armor…and moving so fast that they already had to have taken the drug…ran out into the room as well, quickly spreading out. As they did so, covers slammed shut over each hallway afterward…sealing off the last escape.

Quaren clearly began to look afraid, sweating visibly. Taraketh hid it a little better, but his eyes darted all around as the opponents surrounded them. Jalab refused to show fear…but Dael could see how uneasy he was. As for her, she looked around her only once…and then darkly looked forward to Raven.

As she did, she saw him slowly reach up and place one of his gloved hands on his sword handle.

"…Then again, perhaps I'm more like you than I care to admit." He calmly stated. "I was ordered to kill all of you. And you didn't really think that I was going to let these three intrude so easily on our fated hour, did you?"

Dael merely narrowed her gaze, and primed herself for combat. The others looked for a moment…but then realized they had no other choice. Jalab snapped around and began to twirl his staff even as the Kaiser Raidens aimed up at him, focusing his chi. Quaren forced himself to look around with his rifle up and out. Taraketh inhaled once, trying to push back his own exhaustion, and then began to swing his hammer around in a circle. And much as she hated it…Dael pushed the group out of her mind, as well as the opponents that she knew would soon overwhelm them. Her attention was forced to rest solely on Raven.

In a flash, the Deathbringer was out…letting out an icy chill through the chamber as it was aimed at her.

"You have the Save the Queen from Hierarch's private collection. I doubt it was coincidence." The Elite Hound stated. "You are the true heir of her blade, Valkyrie. Now…"

For the first time Dael had ever seen him, his volume rose.

"Show me her legacy!"

With a snap, Raven shot off for Dael. Despite it happening literally in the blink of an eye…the woman instantly launched herself just as hard, and the two connected as the other three broke. The fight was on.

Dael had never fought so hard and furiously in her life. She couldn't afford to pace herself. Couldn't afford to go easy. All of her focus…all of her training…all of her strength…it had to go into it right now. She slipped into "the zone" within moments, focusing her power to see the spiritual lines through everything, and forcing herself to be isolated to Raven's. It was the only way she could keep up. On the first connection with the blade, she thought she saw both swords ignite…one with light and one with darkness. In her "spirit vision", she could see the competing auras tearing into each other ravenously. Raven didn't hold back, using all of his speed and might against her. But Dael…furious…focused…and, above all, determined not to lose…met every blow. She couldn't afford to even let one slice get through. Their weapons danced through the air…clashing, swiping, and slicing at each other's heads and exposed body parts. Dael saw the full measure of the samurai style…but she could match it perfectly and continued to batter on. At one point, he deflected her sword and advanced, slicing first for her head, which she nimbly dodged, then for her legs, which she had to leap over, and then trying to stab forward for her chest. In spite of the speed and fury…Dael grit her teeth and snapped her body to one side, letting the deadly blade shoot by, not even tearing her clothes, and aimed a counter overhead chop at Raven…forcing him to abort and fall back. Not wasting a second, she immediately advanced on him, breaking his assault within moments. By now, she had fought him twice. His style had become familiar to her. She was actually holding up better than ever in spite of him bringing out "everything he had" as well.

Quaren's rifle thundered, and he never shifted weight as the enemy charged at him. The first bullet was aimed for a Kaiser Raiden, striking it in the arm joints to cause it to drop a blade. The next two shots went off to a charging one, landing both in the head region of the robot. It wasn't enough to take it down, but it shattered its ocular lens and made it stagger. The fourth bullet went into the head of the nearest Hound, moments from stabbing at him, and dropping him. He had no time for a fifth. The next soldier reached him, and, with a swipe of his blade, knocked his rifle to one side. However…he not only let it go down, but he rolled back with the hit as well. As his rifle touched down, he landed on his back, avoiding swipes from two more Hounds, and snapped his handgun out. Immediately, he took aim at the upper leg regions and opened fire at point blank range. They were more loosely armored…and whoever had designed it had clearly forgotten about the femoral artery, and how even a leg wound to that could easily kill someone. As he discharged his shots, he soon dropped all three of them…just as the Kaiser Raiden staggered forward and swung down with its two blades. He quickly rolled to one side, avoiding them as they sliced into the floor. Taking only long enough to put his gun down and pick up his rifle instead, he swung back the other way as the blades went down yet again, and then opened fire on the head with his last two shots. It seemed to work…for the robot spasmed, and then began to fall. Quickly, Quaren tossed aside his rifle, not having time to shoulder it, and snatched up his handgun instead, then rolled out from underneath it and avoided another stab from an Elite Hound, before aiming his gun at his neck and firing two more shots point blank, then quickly rolled backward in a reverse somersault.

Taraketh actually gave a yell of his own as he barreled forward, swinging his hammer out to bean the first guard, retracting, throwing out his scythe to cut through another, and then yanking both ends back, twirling them around, and quickly swinging the chains up and in a loop to snag four Hounds at once coming for him. The result was a "living wall" that bought him a precious few seconds. The Hounds quickly began to free themselves, and more ran in from the sides, but he closed his eyes and used the moment to focus. He had to open them only two seconds later, and was forced to use his own training to avoid being stabbed to death, first on one side, then on the other…before his aura finally blazed and he called out. Although it drained him terribly…and he had to quickly reclaim his chain before the Hounds could throw it aside on breaking free, then struggle to hold off against them as best as he could as the portal opened…and out came the sickly-looking, cruel, yellow-skinned woman known as Siren, who rang out a deadly song that caused the Hounds around him to freeze and grab their heads in pain and panic. However…two Kaiser Raidens were not stunned, and continued to charge forward. Seeing that, Taraketh quickly whipped up both sides of his kusarigama, twirling them so fast they rivaled Jalab for being "solid disks", and then barreled forward, striking down four stunned Elite Hounds as he went straight for the nearest large robot. It reared up its four arms, meaning to slice him into bits…but right before it could, he dropped down and slid forward on the slick marble floor…letting the blades cut through the floor instead, and stunning the partner, who didn't want to attack when he was so near its "companion". As for Taraketh, he hardly finished sliding when he snapped up, twisted around, and placed his palm on the Kaiser Raiden. A moment later, in spite of the fact it gave him a pounding headache, he called forth a powerful lightning spell from close range. The resulting bolt ripped out of the air and struck it…but did nothing, naturally, due to the translucent, prism barrier about it. However…the bolt _did_ soon bounce off, shoot through the air, and strike its partner square in the chest with enough power to tear a massive gouge into the chassis and rip it backward.

Jalab cried out in fury as he ignited into a fiery burst, shooting into the midst of his opponents. Fast and strong as they were, he forced himself to go faster and stronger, darting about and smashing his fist into four of them, one after another. The others managed to dodge his attacks, including the Kaiser Raidens, but they were also powerless to fight back. When he stopped moving…he was in the midst of three of them, with the remaining soldiers to his back. The robots were actually stunned a moment, before one of them advanced, blades dancing. Yelling again, Jalab grasped his staff firmly, and charged straight at it, with sufficient force to drive the stave forward and connect solidly with its chest, actually knocking in a dent as it kept charging. Giving another yell, he squatted, arched back…and proceeded to flip the _entire robot_ over his head and behind him…casting it into the charging soldiers and knocking them down. The next nearest Kaiser Raiden charged toward him…and immediately Jalab snapped around, twirled his staff, and fired his aura beam at it. It was a sustained blast, and incredible powerful…yet nevertheless held more force than anything else. The armor slowly began to melt away, but the robot held on and continued to push, trying to tear through it. As for the third, it approached Jalab from his backside, raising its blades to swing down on him. Jalab grit his teeth and held a bit longer as the Kaiser Raiden continued to push harder and harder… Right before the Kaiser Raiden behind him could stab, however…he cut off the beam and dove to one side. The one the beam was forcing back suddenly felt nothing pushing it anymore, and it shot forward for its partner…who drove its blades down into it and stabbed it in several locations, two of them being key. The monk didn't revel in his victory, but kept coming, launching himself into the next opponent.

Dael continued to clash with Raven. Tightening and focusing…she snapped forward with a powerful overhead chop. After all, she was hurting from blocking his blows. Each one he made was like a bar of steel slamming against her muscles. She tried to respond in turn, drive him into some pain and straining. And for a moment, the two blades locked so hard that spectral sparks emitted from both blades. However…she realized that was foolishness. Even taking into account both of their respective powers, he was still the stronger of the two. With a bit of a grunt from him, he forced her blade up and away, and darted in to slash for her middle. In response, however, Dael quickly applied her own power into a nimble backflip onto the ground, letting the deadly blade slice over her head. Luckily, the swing was strong enough to delay Raven for only a fraction of a second, and with a snap of her back, she was back on her feet, and launched herself at the dark warrior with renewed force and vigor. She was already shedding bullets of sweat everywhere, but didn't let up for a moment. Her assault was true, actually forcing him backward a few steps. However, her muscles began to weaken…and soon she knew he would try and fight back. Knowing a scratch would be all it would take…she quickly locked swords again with him and pushed in, using both her weight and power. Although she couldn't win the clash, it bought certain muscle groups a chance to relax for a few seconds…

Quaren's initial assault soon began to fall flat. The soldiers moved in on him quickly, slashing and stabbing at him again and again. He exhausted his handgun bullets in no time, but couldn't find time to reload his weapon. He was familiar with some hand-to-hand combat…but with fists against blades, he could do little but move back. Even so, he felt the blades slice into his clothing, and one of them actually managed to slice his flesh. They were forcing him away from his rifle, and, worst of all, a Kaiser Raiden was behind them. The only reason it didn't cut him already was because the other Hounds were in the way…ironically giving him a human shield. Deadly as they were, they wouldn't cut down their own allies. Yet Quaren realized he couldn't keep this up… As a result, he waited until one stabbed for him, moved out of the way, grabbed his arm in response, and then drove his fist forward into the throat of his attacker, which was lesser armored against blunt force. It caused him to gag, enabling him to rip off his gauntlet and shove the blade into the next nearest attacker's middle. Then, using his own enhanced strength, he lifted the man up the ground, gave his own yell, and barreled forward, breaking through the others as he tried to get back toward his gun. The move surprised the assaulting units, but only until he got to the Kaiser Raiden. At that point, it stopped him and tried to slice into him…but Quaren released his "human shield" and moved to one side. The Kaiser Raiden still swung down its blades, which forced his pursuers to break for a moment…just long enough for Quaren to pull out another clip, slap it in, and then snap around on a Hound coming in from behind and opening fire in his legs to drop him. After that, he quickly backpedaled to avoid having his head taken off by the third blade of the Kaiser Raiden…

Taraketh was panting hard now, but not stopping. His kusarigama continued to fly and twirl, knocking down all Hounds that came after him. Unfortunately, some were strong enough to get up after his hits, and kept coming. In addition, Kaiser Raidens were continuously slashing at him. Eventually, they broke enough for two of them to come at either side at once. The High Child had been in this situation before…and wasn't eager for a repeat. With that in mind…he quickly reared his hammer back and twisted the sickle instead. As the Kaiser Raider came forward, he looked up to the nearest one's head, and then swung out with it, linking it around one of its arms as it reared back. Using that momentum, he launched off the ground and sailed straight for the robot. Luckily, it raised its sword arm…raising him higher…as he landed on its shoulder. Quickly, he began to scramble toward the top of it. As he loosened his kusarigama sickle and ran to the other side, still breathing hard and sweating, he told himself to start concentrating. It took a moment or two…for it was getting harder and harder now. He almost felt as if something was being driven into his skull… Yet in spite of the draining effect…and the fact that he nearly collapsed off the other side of the Kaiser Raiden…the sky turned dark again, and a portal opened once more. As the Kaiser Raidens turned to go after him again…they were greeted by a woman made of ice bombarding them with ice crystals sharp enough to pierce their joints as well as freeze the rest of them in place. Taraketh, on his part, continued to come at the charging Hounds…but staggered as he did so…

Jalab continued to pump his aura as he swung his staff around in a blazing circle, smacking away one blade after another and answering with a titanic overhead blow. The Hounds fell one after another around him…but it was only a matter of time before the Kaiser Raidens moved in to fill the void. Although several of them were taking damage at this point…only the one that Quaren had shot in the head was fully disabled, and the remaining ones still had two or more arms active plus ocular lenses as they moved in on him. The nearest one was missing blades, but still drove its arms forward for him. Gritting his teeth, he smacked the claws away, although he winced and groaned with each deflection of the powerful metal arms. It soon threw in its blades as well, making it worse and forcing him to backpedal. Another came in and soon joined, forcing him to move faster and back up more to keep them away. Gritting his teeth, he let loose another blast of an aura, this one aimed at the head of one opponent…but not only did it barely force it back, he had to abort it quickly when the other Kaiser Raiden moved in and stabbed. As he began to grow sweaty and sore from the constant pounding, he realized he had to do something. With that in mind, he suddenly snapped back and fired another beam…this one at the ground beneath him. The result, much as it had been in Leuco, was to fire him upward and over the attacking robots, past the few soldiers left piling beyond, and landed on the other side of the room, in a "clearer" spot. Although another Kaiser Raiden spotted him and came for him, he had a moment to quickly whip his staff around his head a few times, and then swung outward…his chi erupting and forming into cutter-like shapes that sailed through the air, slicing through the remaining soldiers and hitting the Kaiser Raidens. One had an arm lopped off, while the other was struck in the torso, ripping it back and sending it to the ground. Yet he couldn't follow up for a kill. The other robot was soon on him and attacking…

Dael, meanwhile, was beginning to feel herself buckle. She had gone all out at the start, but she felt her muscles beginning to ebb and weaken a bit. She continued to keep up with Raven…but she realized he had seen her fighting style at this point as well, and he handled himself even better now that he had a sword in his hands. It seemed he hadn't used one for some time…because she could feel him slowly getting better and faster with it. In spite of all of her effort and focus, she realized she was slipping. She was holding him for now, but each one of his blows was hard to stand up to, and was faster than anything she was normally accustomed to. She continued to deflect, trying to formulate the next counter strategy…

When it happened.

It was all so fast she hardly realized it had happened until the moment had passed…but she saw the blade dart inward for her shoulder, and she tried to dodge…and she felt it. Suddenly, it was as if the skin and flesh of her arm had turned ice cold, and she could feel some invisible force like it was trying to rip it off of her bones… Not only that, but she actually let out a gasp and staggered backward as she felt a dozen icy knives seem to stab her heart at once. She couldn't see herself, but she actually paled for a moment, her skin turning gray and pale. Her feet locked and refused to move, but somehow she shuffled backward. Had Raven pressed his attack…it would have been over. She was an easy mark. Yet he held…because he knew what he had done. And as Dael looked at him pull the Deathbringer back…she saw it too in a bit of her blood staining the tip of the sword.

Yet as she felt darker and colder yet…she gave a grunt…and suddenly it was over. The numbness began to fade, and her body grew warm and alive again. She breathed hard for a moment anyway, trying to get her bearings. That felt…horrible. She looked down to her arm, risking a glance…and saw only a slice cut across her shoulder. It wasn't even that deep… Perhaps that was the reason she wasn't dead. The blade hadn't made contact with her long enough. However…she knew the truth now, and it frightened her. That sword really could kill with one blow.

She used the pause to glance around in her periphery…and soon wished she hadn't. In spite of her intention not to look at anything else except Raven…she saw the others were in trouble. Seven of the Kaiser Raidens were still standing and some weren't even hurt yet. Half of the Elite Hounds were down, but the others were enhanced enough to keep going. However…Quaren, Taraketh, and Jalab were all struggling. Quaren couldn't get back to his rifle, and had already exhausted his second clip. Now he was struggling not to get torn apart long enough to reload another or even pull a grenade, which was dangerous enough in close quarters, but couldn't get a moment. Taraketh looked on the verge of collapse, barely able to stand anymore after exhausting his power. Jalab seemed to be doing the best, but even he was weakening. He couldn't keep this up forever, especially since the regular soldiers had fallen back and let the Kaiser Raiden's at him. He might have been able to take them one on one…which was why they were going at him in groups of two or three.

Dael, in spite of her attempts to focus, was shaken up. Everyone had already thrown everything they had at everyone else. She had a few tricks in reserve…but she needed those all for Raven, especially now that she saw he could stab so fast she wouldn't even see it coming when it was too late.

Luckily, it seemed Raven was giving her a reprieve…although it only lasted a short while. He himself was breathing a little, but not nearly as bad as her. He hadn't yet broken a real sweat, while she was dripping. Suddenly, he snapped forward and advanced, but Dael, still feeling herself distracted and split, quickly advanced and clashed their blades together, once more putting her weight onto it as the two weapons hissed and sparked. Again, she saw she was the one struggling, while he was able to hold her back by planting her feet.

"You see now that the Deathbringer doesn't always kill…but consider that a mixture of fate and luck." He told her as he held her back, his voice not even tense. "Yet you tempt death every time I land a strike on you with it. You might die after the next slice or you might not…assuming the wound itself doesn't kill you."

Dael said nothing. She continued to push.

"How much kinder will fate be to you this day?" He asked her. "You are still holding back. I've seen better moves than this…and-"

That was as far as he got…when the world seemed to crash down around them.

The force of the blast was so strong that even the two of them, strong as they were and able to stand up to so much, felt pieces of debris as well as heat, flames, and force wash over them, and both snapped away from each other, breaking the clash and recoiling as the eruption went off. Dael, her mind shocked by the sudden event, struggled to understand what was happening. One moment, she was staring hard at Raven…and the next some sort of terrific blast forced her back. Slowly, she got enough wits to realize what had happened. Something had just blown up one of the walls of the circular chamber. It was the one she was farthest from, but in this relatively small space, it was impossible not to feel its effects.

She snapped her head up a moment later, looking over to the source. For a moment, she saw a curtain of fire and smoke…but it quickly faded as the explosion died away…and was replaced by a stiff, cool breeze and the sounds of chaos raging far in the distance. She found herself not looking at a wall as the smoke went away…but the skyline of Sybenia, the sky still tinted red, and destruction and flames far in the distance. Suddenly, one of the airships swept by…turrets thundering and cannons blasting. She didn't see against what…but she suddenly felt a sharp gust so strong that it literally sucked out the nearest soldiers to the new opening… Some of them were already dead, killed by the blast…but others screamed as they were ripped out and thrown to their deaths. An ear-piercing roar, painful and loud, came through the opening as well…the sound of Tiamat. However, after that, the airship rapidly pulled away…and the guns on the capitol building thundered after it, sending out shell after shell in an attempt to knock it out of the sky. She saw one shot hit it on the side and rattle it severely, making it pitch and yaw…but she watched no more at that point.

She looked down and tried to see what the result had been as her mind realized what had happened. A stray cannon shot had blown open the wall to the chamber. The resulting eruption and debris had killed a few other soldiers…but, most importantly, had smashed or shredded two of the Kaiser Raidens and knocked down two others. The sudden loss of their companions had caused the other machines to hesitate, no doubt uploading a new strategy. All other human opponents and allies had been bowled away by the eruption, although, as Dael looked, she saw that Quaren and Jalab were already putting themselves back on their feet again. Taraketh was slower…but he too was getting up faster than the rest. They all looked around only a moment later…before realizing they had one chance to swing the battle back in their favor.

Immediately, everyone reacted.

Quaren quickly dashed over to his rifle. One of the Kaiser Raidens became active, snapped to him, and began to charge. However, he had the lead and was a bit faster. He reached his rifle first, ripped it off the ground, and snapped around to the Kaiser Raiden as it neared. Its head was already damaged from earlier trauma, and he quickly fired the two last bullets in rapid succession into its "brain" through the lens…causing it to deactivate and crash. He quickly dodged to one side, letting it go by, as he yanked a grenade and threw it against another charging Kaiser Raiden. It was one of the "sticky" varieties, and adhered as soon as it touched. It wasn't enough to cause serious damage…but the blast knocked it back and off its feet again. Dael herself snapped to Taraketh and quickly whipped out her Mage Gun. As the nearest Hounds tried to recover enough to stab him while he was still rising, she fired the shot into a group of four of them…and soon, what looked like "electric circles" of light spun around all of them…and they were immobilized. Taraketh rose a moment later and, despite staggering, quickly laid into them and disabled them as well, eliminating them before twisting around and taking the last of the human guards. As for Jalab…he gave a cry and focused his energy again, and then quickly fired another beam of his chi into a Kaiser Raiden still trying to rise. Before it could react, it found itself struck by the beam, ripped backward, and flung toward the same opening. As it reached the edge, its talons shot out and seized the wall, holding it in place to keep it from being forced all the way out. Meanwhile, another Kaiser Raiden rose and began to go up behind Jalab. Yet as this happened, the monk closed his eyes and focused again… His body became covered with sweat, and his muscles began to twitch from overuse…but he cried out again, louder this time…and his aura doubled in size along with the beam. The sudden increase in power was too much for the one at the opening, and the wall was ripped away as it was flung into the skyline. As the other came up behind Jalab, he was still radiating power…and suddenly leapt up, swung around, and smashed his staff against the damaged unit's head so hard that it ripped it clean off. The rest of the machine soon fell down, inactivated. Jalab landed, his aura dying…and actually collapsed to one knee for a moment…but then forced himself up to keep fighting.

As for Dael…she already could hear Raven moving like a shot behind her. As she quickly slammed the weapon at her side back into her holster, she grabbed her sword with both hands and began to whisper again. A heartbeat later…Raven was behind her and drove his blade for her back…only to hit nothing but a sparkle of light. His eyes widened, and he turned around to counter, realizing what she had done…but was too slow. He too was stunned by the blast, after all, and as he spun around, he found himself having to abort an attack too soon and was unable to dodge in time. The long tip of the Save the Queen, which he wasn't used to, came down…and inflicted a deep cut over one of his arms.

To Dael's surprise…and delight…she actually saw Raven's arm falter a bit as a heavy amount of blood splattered on the ground, and the rest began to soak his coat. His face actually lost its stoic look, showing genuine amazement…and pain. He actually grit his own teeth as he raised his blade again…and when he did, she saw the tip waver ever so slightly.

_That was a deep cut to his arm…it wounded him…_

_ He's actually at a disadvantage!_

Seeing that, and with renewed vigor, Dael advanced and continued to fight.

Quaren tossed his useless rifle aside, looking instead to one of the last Kaiser Raidens coming for him. It had a large gash in its main torso, but Quaren knew the grenades he was using wouldn't widen it enough to get inside. The "sticky" ones weren't as fragmentary. Instead, he actually stood his ground for a moment, looking tense and trying to think of something as it neared…and finally did something more unconventional for him. He closed his eyes and struggled to concentrate. He didn't have nearly as much practice at this as Dael did, and soon the machine was on him and rearing back to swipe, before he finally opened his eyes again. His own aura flared, although much weaker than Taraketh and Dael's…and a small spurt of flame lit up in front of its face. It wasn't enough to get through the barrier, naturally…bit it did cause the defenses to light up, obscuring its light vision and making its blow go wide. That was enough for the Esthar's Hawk to duck in and literally grab onto the machine for dear life. In response, the robot stamped and shook itself violently, trying to get him off…but although Quaren wasn't as strong as Ceja, Jalab, or Dael…he could hold firm through this. As the machine tried to bring its weapons around, he managed to reach to his side and pull out a fresh grenade. Yanking the pin with his teeth, he threw it into the chassis. However…he was then stuck. He couldn't get away from the machine without getting back in "blade range", and without protection he'd be cut in two. Luckily, a solution offered itself. Although Taraketh was hobbling at this point, he flung his kusarigama out at the machine while it was still stunned and lashed it around the neck, hooking the other end to a hole in the floor that had been blasted. The result caused it to "gag" itself…and while it struggled to cut the chain, Quaren leapt off and dizzily moved away from it. A moment later…the grenade ignited, sending explosive force and shrapnel throughout the machine's interior, "fatally wounding" it and making it collapse.

Jalab continued to push himself past his limits. He had to. There were only two Kaiser Raidens left, but both were coming at him at once, and more furiously than ever. They seemed to want to eliminate him before the other two could lend a hand. Yet even with their increased speed, Jalab continued to fight back, smacking away any weapon or claw that came near, twirling his staff as a speed impossible for anything short of a helicopter. His muscles bulged further even as they quivered, and droplets of sweat continued to roll off of him, but still he didn't stop. Finally, he made a change. As one of the machines grew near, he flung his staff out at the head and struck it solidly. The blow stunned it in mid-swipe, and, in a flash, he seized the arm, gave a yell…and then used his own massive strength to swing the machine around and smash it into its partner as it came in… The force was so strong, it actually damaged the interior hardware as it fell over…although it was immediately clear what was wrecked. As it struggled to rise, Jalab grabbed the still-stunned machine, gave another "KIYA", and then leapt into the air with such force that, despite the machine weighing him down, he actually sailed over halfway into the ceiling, before snapping the machine around along with his body and carrying it back to the floor…smashing it clean through halfway with a thunderous impact. He released just prior to driving it in…but sprawled out on his back and exhaled. As a result, he wasn't in much shape to defend himself when the one that had been damaged by the swing began to rise and approach him…but it didn't get far before, with a pained yell, Taraketh swung on it and used another powerful fire spell on its upper torso. This time…it landed. The damage from Jalab had destroyed its reflection field projector. The machine tried to "break through" and keep attacking…but the heat too intense. It slowed…and finally gave out completely, collapsing and breaking down.

Dael attacked with renewed vigor. In all honesty, Raven was still fighting back just as hard and deadly as before…but the fact that he had a wound made things slightly easier on her, and seeing that he was actually injured drove her on. Although he was a long way from defeated…this was as close as she had ever gotten. And so, she attacked with one hammering blow after another whenever possible. She was trying to strain his remaining "good" arm or drive the bad one into more pain. It didn't seem like she was having an effect at first. After sustaining two rapid hammer blows in succession, he managed to fling her weapon away and counter, advancing with a stab for her face. She quickly dodged out of the way and swung out her blade to knock the sword aside, but he quickly advanced again. Despite the size of the Deathbringer, he moved almost like a broadsword fighter in his rapid advance and hammering slashes. She deflected each one, before he swung his own large blade around and for her ankles to try and tag her. Unfortunately, as it didn't matter where he hit, he had an advantage of forcing her to deflect even the most errant blows. But he was still slowing due to the injury. Where normally, the hit would have been too much for her, she was able to swing her sword down and deflect it. He quickly snapped up for another slash, but she met his speed and blocked it, before he brought down for another slash, more rapid this time, but still she managed to counter that as well.

At this point, however, he suddenly reared back…and Dael, for the first time, caught his throat moving slightly…indicating he was preparing a spell. But before she could react, he snapped off a hand and aimed it at her, unleashing a green and purplish mist over her body. Again, her skin paled, and she reared and staggered back as her body quivered and began to lower to the ground. However, she also put a short distance away from Raven. The man only allowed her to have a second, and then charged at her again. He wasn't looking to give her a beating like last time. He was going straight for the kill. Yet as he neared and prepared to swipe his blade down…a few streams of light seemed to erupt from within Dael and surround her with a soft blue glow. Raven reacted only for a split second, pausing, before trying to bring the sword down…but it was too late. Crying out give her more power, Dael, having regained her color and her strength, snapped up and swung the Save the Queen upward at the same time, knocking the Deathbringer up and away before it could slash at her. She then stabbed out for his chest, forcing him to spring back more, and giving her the room to rise up and start advancing on him again.

After their last fight, in addition to trying to master her new spiritual divide, she had made sure to teach herself Esuna so well that she could recite it in her sleep. His poisoning wouldn't work this time, at least.

The advance didn't last as long. By now, Dael could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Sweat rolled off of her as she struggled to keep up the assault, but the sheer amount of mental and physical focus was taking its toll. She knew her strength was ebbing again. She had peaked…and now she was slowly declining. Even with that wound that she had given Raven, he was still holding his own very well, and his stamina was far greater than hers. He could keep it up much longer. He wasn't even seriously slowing yet, although she could now see sweat on his own brow. She began to slowly realize she couldn't win this head on… She didn't have the power…not through straight attacking and teleportation. She had to bring out her "special moves"…but she knew she'd never get the time to use them.

Finally, she slipped. After one rapid clash, Raven broke off his assault and suddenly stabbed for her already slashed arm. In response, she went wild to dodge…both at surprise of the blow, but, more importantly, memory of the hit. Raven knew that, she realized too late…and by overextending herself, he was able to start advancing on her again…faster and stronger than ever while she was already caught off guard and off balance. The blows he inflicted on her felt like tons being dropped on her arms now, unable to focus and properly brace herself. And in spite of his own wound, he hit harder and faster than ever. He had to be putting himself into agony…but he knew, and Dael knew, that she would give out long before he did. She was soon being forced to backpedal faster and faster, headed for a nearby wall. She didn't risk looking at it…but she knew once she got there, she'd be backed in a corner and unable to dodge. An easy target…

Yet even as she thought this…Raven suddenly looked to the side…just in time to see Quaren running after him with one of the blades, overextending it right in front of him. On seeing this, Raven was forced to break off from Dael for a moment, quickly ripping backward and lashing out with his sword, knocking it to one side. However, that seemed to be just what Quaren wanted…for he let the blade go flying while quickly snapping his hand down and coming back with his handgun. With all the speed of quickdraw…the gun was up and firing at Raven. The man snapped to one side…but Dael still saw a look of pain on his face as three bullets ripped his coat, and one grazed his side rather deeply. His face actually tightened in anger a moment, before his sword pommel smacked Quaren's head to one side, and he followed up with a kick to knock him away.

Dael tried to get to him before it happened…but the truth was she needed the brief breather that Quaren bought her. Even as his body went flying…the captain surged at Raven with renewed vigor. Although he intercepted her, the additional wound weakened him just enough for her to once again take the offensive, in spite of her growing pain. She was able to start forcing him back again with everything she had, going for every weakness she could manage, stabbing and slashing for both of his wounds, using the same tactic he had used…exploiting his aversion to pain.

She had managed to get him back a distance, however…when he suddenly pulled a surprise move. As she moved in again, he tapped her blade…but it was only a feint. Before she knew what was happening, he swung out and smacked her blade aside with surprising force. He clearly drove himself into a bit of pain to do it, but Dael, still exhausted, found herself wide open as a result, and left with her sword on the ground, exposed. He reared back to stab forward…and this time, she realized it wouldn't matter if the Deathbringer managed to instantly kill her or not…

But all that resulted was a flash of light and a clang. Jalab, himself on his last legs, forced himself forward and in the path, twirling his staff around him. The two weapons connected. It was a powerful thrust…and it actually made Jalab halt momentarily, his staff braced against the sword. However, giving a yell, he quickly forced it to one side again…before his chi exploded once more. As he had in previous occasions, he burst into flaming images, and all darted at Raven at once. Normally, he would have dealt with them immediately…but he was wounded in two places, in a bad position, and, quite honestly, growing a bit tired himself…

As a result, he could do nothing as Jalab's first image slammed its fist into his face as hard as it could, snapping his head back and making him stagger a few steps backward. The next blow drove hard into his stomach, which, for all its muscle and tone, still buckled, and made him go with it. As the third move came in, however…Raven suddenly came to life, and swung out with his sword in a blow that seemed to shake the room as it cut through the air. It connected with Jalab's staff within the image…and struck so hard that it cracked the weapon, and sent the monk flying through the air and smashing him into the nearest intact wall. The sheer impact fractured it terribly, and he peeled off and fell to the ground…his stamina loss and pain finally catching up to him. He landed flat, and only groaned as he struggled to rise.

Yet Raven didn't even get a chance to catch his breath. Still reeling from the two powerful hits that could have dented tank armor, he found Dael on him again, furiously attacking once more. The damage was starting to accumulate on him…and although Dael's assault was one of her weakest yet, he couldn't fight back against it enough to overwhelm her. The young officer forced her body to keep moving. Although her attacks grew less focused and more erratic, every move was at least designed to put him into further strain. She had to try and wear him down…sap his stamina… Even if she couldn't take him down, she could hopefully just make him weak enough for the others to finish…

But with her own strength failing, Dael had to resort to the same thing as before to catch her breath again. She swung her sword up and around, and locked with the Deathbringer again. Once more, she pushed herself inward, throwing all of her weight on it. The two sides held…but this time, even Raven seemed to need to lock himself in more and push back as hard as he could to keep from being overwhelmed. The two blades continued to grind and spark. Dael could practically feel their natures fighting as hard as the two of them were. A bead of sweat ran down Raven's brow, officially meaning he was "sweating bullets" now, and he continued to breathe hard, clearly putting in some real effort to keep her back…but the accumulated pain and strain was keeping him from pushing her off this time. She felt him try once…but she grit her teeth, grunted, and forced him back into the clash. He tried again, stronger this time…but she still managed to keep him pinned.

Raven glared hard at her, his normally cold eyes now fiery and fierce. Yet as he continued to fight, he glanced to the side momentarily. Dael did as well, matching his movement…and saw that Jalab was slowly picking himself up again. So was Quaren, and he was reclaiming his gun. The Elite Hound had to realize that they'd be up soon…and attacking him when he was already almost to the point where he had to devote all of his own power to keep Dael at bay.

That was when she saw it.

Where before, he was able to call the spell only in his throat…this time she saw his lips move and could hear arcane language coming from his mouth. Although she couldn't understand a word…somehow she knew from the language itself, deep in her own heart-of-hearts, what he was doing…and it filled her with shock. He was summoning his own Guardian Force… He couldn't have it hit Dael without hitting him too, but she doubted that was his intention. He was going to use it on the others…try to finish them while they were still weak…

Quickly, Dael tried to push away and free to stop him from chanting. But it was no good. Even though it took him longer to summon something, Dael was using everything she had just to stay in the clash with him. She had no more innate power. That meant only one other option was available to her. With that in mind, she narrowed her own gaze. She started looking for the "spiritual divide" more closely. Her only shot now was to hit him while he was still preparing…

Yet Raven's focus was greater than hers. In trying to prepare the attack, she lost her focus on the battle at hand. As a result, the Elite Hound swung his blade in one direction, forcing her sword out of the way, and then brought his foot up and around and slammed it in the side of her head. Even if the blow was weaker than normal…she didn't realize it. As in their first encounter, the world went black and numb, stars flying over her vision, as she was ripped off of her feet and slammed hard into the ground a good fifteen feet away from the sheer impact. Enough debris now littered the smooth floor to keep her from going farther…but pain radiated through her already throbbing skull and seemed to travel down to the rest of her body. She felt like dead weight…for she had little stamina left, and the hit had knocked a lot of that out of her. She just couldn't get back up. She barely managed to even groan and look back to him, her vision still clearing…to see he wasn't following up but raising his sword. He was getting ready. She could almost see his aura begin to flare as he nearly finished…

When a chain wrapped around his throat and yanked back…gagging him.

The spell vanished just as quickly as it had come as Raven's vocal cords were cut off. Dael blinked and managed to raise her head, seeing the source. Taraketh was somehow back on his feet and, despite looking barely able to stand, wrapped the chain of his kusarigama around the Elite Hound's neck and was yanking him back. It only worked for a moment, obviously, before the man snapped his head around and saw what had happened. Immediately, still moving far faster than any normal man, he backed up to loosen the chain, and then removed a hand from his sword, seized the chain, and gave it a rough snap to yank Taraketh in his direction.

Seeing this…Dael realized it was her one and only moment. _Focus, focus, focus…_

As she forced herself to get to her feet, ignoring the pain and dizziness and again focusing on the spiritual divide, she saw Raven bring the Deathbringer against Taraketh. He quickly responded by bringing up his sickle to block…only to have the sickle sliced clean off by the swipe and the power. Nevertheless…the curved surface, and the force that he was able to push off of, enabled him to avoid being cut down by the weapon. Yet that did little to help, as Raven quickly gave him the back of his hand with enough force to rip him backward and send him further than Dael. However…as he wasted some precious time doing this…the woman found the spiritual divide again…and this time focused on it. She considered only for a split second attacking immediately or taking just a bit more time…and, in the end, she decided on the latter. It worked…by the time Raven had knocked Taraketh away and went for his neck to undo the chain, ensuring it couldn't be used against him again, she was prepared…and charging. He got the chain off and turned back to her…realizing his mistake too late. He nearly raised the blade to block…but she was already on him.

For the first time…Dael heard Raven cry out in pain, his own face going tight with agony and his jaw dropping, as she sliced three time across his exposed chest. Even now, his body seemed so fortified that slicing into it was like cutting into steel…but she still saw his blood spill, and fiery energy erupt from the wounds, as she crossed once…sliced up and crossed again…and finally gave one final slash in the center. Raven's torso was briefly a glowing sigil, lit up with intense energy…before it erupted from him with titanic force. Dael herself was blown back and nearly off of her feet as the power ripped Raven clean off of his own legs, cast him violently across the room like a rocket, and smashed him into a wall much as he had smashed Jalab, cracking and fracturing it around him and leaving a human-shaped impression.

The others froze where they were. Taraketh was already on the ground and only able to look weakly upward, but Jalab and Quaren actually hesitated in open-mouthed awe and stared momentarily. They both still remembered the raw power that Raven had displayed in their first encounter…how he was practically god-like compared to them… But neither of them could believe he could have walked away from that attack that Dael had just inflicted. He had to be down… And so, they dared to think for a moment. Was it over?

The energy vanished on Raven…leaving a deep, bloody, "cross-slash" shaped wound across his chest…and with the power gone, he limply fell out of the crater he had made. For a moment, it seemed for certain he would collapse. Yet first, as he fell, he landed on his feet. They nearly gave out underneath him. He nearly fell forward. But, to the sound of an honest groan coming from him…he weakly kept his legs underneath him. As he dripped blood on the ground before him, soaking his coat, which had been torn and shredded by the rough impact…he somehow gasped and held the Deathbringer up before him again, and looked up…his look fiery, his face grim, and gasping for air. Yet he still stood.

However, it was only a moment…before Dael saw his blade begin to ripple with that same aura as before, and felt the air grow cold. She saw his lips begin to move…say the same phrase he had said in Leuco. Her eyes widened on seeing that.

_No…!_

"Get-"

She wasn't sure if it would have made any difference if she had shouted a warning in time or not, but she doubted it would have. At any rate, it didn't matter. As before, he swung his sword…and out from it came the wave of purple and black shadow…the cruel, merciless darkness. And neither she, nor anyone else, had the power to dodge even if it had been possible. She could only stand as he washed over her.

It was no easier than before. It was impossible to grow accustomed to this level of pain…which seemed to be something from out of this world and reminded one of just what if felt like to feel true agony for the first time. Again, she screamed…for it hurt just as much as before…if not more. Perhaps the pain of the wielder made it even worse. Again, she felt like Death grasped her heart and squeezed. She felt as if her veins were replaced with ice…and cursed with what brains she could muster as she felt her stamina drained from her in an instant.

_So close…!_

Giving one last moan of anguish…Dael fell to the ground limply. Through her pain-riddled senses and exhaustion, she heard the others do the same, one after another, in order from where they came. Somehow…she fell to her side, and as a result was able to look forward toward Raven. Rather…she landed in such a way with her eyes open and frozen to see him. She wasn't sure if the darkness wave had been enough to finish anyone completely… She feared it had been…but couldn't dwell on that now. Her opponent was still standing…

Barely.

As the wave faded, Raven's skin had turned ghostly, and remained pale as he suddenly began to fall. Just in time, he brought his blade down to act as a brace while he fell to one knee, but even then he breathed long and deep, like he had nearly been drowned. The light had faded considerably in his eyes, and he looked, in all honesty, to be as much of a living corpse as the rest of them after that move. He had taken a terrible risk with that attack. He was already badly wounded. In fact, his wounds seemed to drip more than before, as if all clotting had stopped. Dael remembered…he had to sacrifice some of his own life for that. It had hurt him as well. He had to be desperate…

In fact, as time went on, Dael began to wonder if he hadn't done worse to himself. The young officer's feeling only slowly came back, in spite of all of her pushing and straining. However, she had gone from writhing to beginning to get her arms and legs underneath her, while Raven was still immobilized…still in that position. She managed to get all the way to all fours, and with her Jalab…although Taraketh was still lying flat and Quaren was just beginning to move his fingers…when the Elite Hound finally caught his breath, and looked up to Dael. The look was so strong, it actually made her pause for a moment.

"Do you know…why…I seek…the perfect battle?" He said as calmly as he could through his slow breathing.

Dael didn't answer. She only tried to gain enough strength to roll back on her legs and push herself up again. It would take a bit longer, though…although her feeling was returning more quickly now.

"The same reason…a brother…can hate and despise and shun his own sibling for years…and weep bitterly at his funeral." Raven continued. He swallowed again, trying to get more of his breath. When he did, he spoke more smoothly. "No one appreciates anything they've been given until something takes it away or, at the least, attempts to take it away. In the same sense…no one appreciates their own life truly until they nearly lose it. No one is truly alive until they come close to death. You know that very well, Valkyrie…"

Finally, Dael rolled back onto her feet. Giving a mighty grunt…she forced herself to stand. However, she had to pause after that, and breathe heavy.

"…But I do not." He continued. "For decades, I lived as a shell. Robbed of the chance to feel fear or danger…my life lost all meaning. Yet now…now, after so very, very long…" He inhaled, and closed his eyes for a moment. "…I can no longer deny that I feel the Reaper close at hand. Not terribly close, mind you…but his eyes are upon me. Even now, I can hear his scythe being sharpened. It may be for you…in fact, that is still more likely…but I know it's also for me. He will have one of us."

Dael didn't like how he said very certainly that she was the more likely to die here, but she tried to lift her sword. Yet light as it was…that would take a bit longer…

Raven inhaled once more and opened his eyes. "I owe you everything, Valkyrie. I owe you for bringing me back to life. However…" His look became grimmer. "…There is one desire the living possess, without exception…the desire to go on living. You've made me appreciate life…which means that I am not eager to lose it. And that means I can't let you be my angel of judgment. I am eternally grateful to you…but now I will kill you."

At last, Raven removed a hand from his sword. It was a bit stiff, but still more smooth than it should have been. Dael tried to advance again, and managed to shift one foot and get her sword in the air…but she was still too numb to do more than that. As she heard Jalab rise as well behind her and Quaren get to all fours…the Elite Hound reached into his tattered coat…and emerged with something she had seen before.

A pill tin.

He used his finger to pry open the top, revealing a good number inside. He began to raise those toward his mouth…

The captain finally spoke. "Don't bother." She stated. "That won't help you. Crow tried it, and-"

"She blew up, am I right?"

Dael froze on hearing that, her face registering some surprise. Raven, in turn, formed a dark smile…one that unsettled her greatly. She suddenly wanted to move in much faster and stab him quicker…but her legs were still clearing up. She was barely able to start shuffling forward.

"That's because she always forced Siren to obey her. I'm certain the Guardian Force was more than willing to be rid of her." Raven continued. "…But I formed a 'relationship' or 'understanding' with my Guardian Force. You see…we're more the same than different. We both bring death…send other lives on to the great beyond…and he was more than happy to be one with the strongest warrior."

The young officer went a bit rigid. He wasn't serious, was he? He couldn't really…

"I have no choice now, either way…" Raven continued. "I doubt I can win if I don't. Now…now I'm afraid my feeling of fear will be gone…but I shall savor its memory for many years to come."

With that, he dumped the tin into his mouth and swallowed.

Gritting her teeth, Dael forced her body to start moving forward, but the blood was only beginning to pump again, and it took all her might just to walk. Quaren barely forced himself onto his feet, and struggled to raise his gun and stop quivering enough to shoot from a distance. Jalab tried to raise his staff and get it moving. But all of them were too slow. As they silently prayed for Raven to stay motionless a bit longer…they soon saw it was too late. Abruptly…more blood erupted from his chest as he heaved. His eyes bulged, and he let out a noise.

_"Guh!"_

His teeth clenched, and suddenly he arched back sharply. When he did…they could see every muscle in his body growing tight and beginning to sweat more than ever. The blood only flowed a bit longer…before it halted, and the raw power inside him began to close the wounds. His muscles soon started to swell. In fact, his overall size seemed to grow. The air around him grew supercharged again, and Dael could feel heat radiating off of him even from a distance. Suddenly, he cast the Deathbringer aside, and got to his feet in a flash. He stumbled a bit, but then solidified. He continued to grunt and strain as his muscles grew larger and more formidable. His eyes surged with new passion as the color returned to his cheeks…and Dael, seeing all of this through her "spiritual vision" as well as her normal vision, saw his aura blaze stronger and stronger than every as he grew larger and more intimidating. All traces of stamina loss, exhaustion, and pain…all were gone in moments. He was back at the top of his game. Beyond it…

_Far_ beyond it.

Dael soon found herself thinking one thing, grotesque as it seemed. _Blow up…blow up…blow up…please… Turn into a mutated pile of flesh…beg us to put you out of your misery…_

None of that happened.

Instead, Raven, now rippling with muscle, flawless again, and without the slightest bit of exhaustion, was soon standing once more. He stopped straining, closing his lips and his eyes, and took in a calm, slow, deep breath. After that, he opened them again, not cocky, not arrogant…simply his cold, normal self…and began to step forward. Even nearing, Dael could feel her body trembling against the power. They all were. They were petrified. They knew there was nothing now that they had that could stop him…

"This will be over quickly." He stated simply. "But I think I'll give you a chance to do something."

With that…Raven vanished. It was no longer a trick of the eye. It was no longer "like" vanishing. He simply moved…and was instantly in front of Quaren. Dael and Jalab, both shocked, turned to him in open-mouthed horror. They hadn't seen him move in the slightest…and he wasn't moving now. He was standing calming in front of the corporal…who, naturally, was the most shocked of all. He staggered back in surprise, so weak that he nearly fell over. As for Raven, he looked at him quite calmly, and held out a hand…beckoning him to try something.

Quaren held only a moment. He had to realize, the same as Dael, that nothing he could do would save him. The young woman, on her part, tried to move again…but she was only now back to walking as she raised her sword. She didn't see how they could possibly win…but fighting was better than dying. Yet as she tried to advance, Quaren raised his gun and fired point-blank at Raven's chest.

The man didn't dodge…and didn't need to. All that resulted were a few sparks…possibly some red welts underneath it…and nothing else. Dael was so aghast that she froze where she was. He was _bulletproof?_

The corporal mouth snapped open as he gaped in shock…but Raven didn't wait for anything else. Raising both of his hands, he quickly did a disarming move on his handgun…that had so much power that it snapped one of his wrists while _shattering_ the pistol in his hand. Quaren's shock turned to agony, and he began to cry out only a moment…before Raven drove his fist forward like a lightning bolt and smashed him in the chest. Dael heard the sounds of bones breaking before the wall was fractured again, this time by Quaren slamming into it, and bouncing off and hitting the ground. All of his air was knocked out of him, and he was barely writhing as he coughed up a wad of blood.

At this point, Jalab let out a cry, although a weaker one, and somehow got enough chi to fire on Raven again. The beam wasn't nearly as strong as it had been against the Kaiser Raidens…but he still fired a ray of aura strong enough to bowl over any normal opponent. Dael remained frozen in shock as she saw that Raven failed to even shift weight or brace himself. He stood immobile as the beam hit him…not leaving a mark. He didn't even bother looking at Jalab. The monk, drained as he was, could only fire for a few seconds before it cut off, and he hunched over and heaved, panting heavily and grasping his staff. Only now did Raven turn his head to look to him…

A split second later, and he now stood before the monk. Dael saw Jalab manage to raise his head for a moment, showing true surprise…before it tightened up and he forced his body upward again. He immediately brought his staff around and smashed it into the side of Raven's head with enough force that would damage a mech…and failed to make Raven even turn his head slightly. The staff, instead, was dented. Yet not stopping, Jalab drove his staff against his head two more times…with no more result than simply banging up his own weapon. As he came for a fourth one…the Elite Hound had seen enough. His fist shot forward and buried itself in Jalab's gut…sending him back four feet, ripping trenches into the tile floor, and making him double over and grasp his middle in total agony. The man couldn't even gasp. His eyes were bulging and he was stricken in absolute pain. A sweep kick later…and he too was flying across the room and smashing into a wall again, this time head first, before he limply came out again. Dael couldn't honestly tell if he was unconscious or worse after that…but he didn't look like he was moving…

That left only one more other than her…

She looked to Taraketh, but the High Child had barely been able to move onto his stomach. He was still struggling just to push up…but didn't get the chance. In another flash, Raven was on him…his foot already poised over him. Dael nearly felt herself cry out, for all the good it would do…as the foot came down and smashed on his side rather than his spine…and she heard the sounds of multiple ribs cracking. Taraketh reared back with new power inside him…but only to cry out in agony and writhe briefly before going rigid. Raven looked down on him darkly for a moment longer, but then removed his foot. Now, the High Child was in so much pain he couldn't even drag himself along, and already was too exhausted to use another spell. He could only lie there and slowly move his limbs.

Raven vanished again…and Dael saw it was only to get his sword. He reappeared nearby and reached out a boot, using it to flip the Deathbringer into the air and snatch it. Dael realized it was down to her now…but what could she do? She couldn't fight him like that…especially not with a sword. Her spiritual vision was useless now. He was moving too fast even for that. There was only one thing left…but…it needed time…and she still wasn't sure she could pull it off. And if she could, would it even make a difference?

Before she could decide to try, however…or even see if she had taken enough strain and stress after the darkness wave to try it…he appeared in front of her. His sword was at his side when that happened, and so she did the only thing she could think of that made sense. Ignoring the "spiritual divide", she raised her sword into the air and brought it down as hard as she could in her weakened state down on his neck, trying to cut deep into the arteries, muscles, and through the bone…

…It barely left a shallow cut.

Dael was so stunned that even if she had the strength for a deeper slice, she couldn't use it. Instead, she looked to Raven, who's stoic face winced slightly. It straightened a moment later.

"…I should have expected that. That blade _is _Save the Queen, after all."

In a flash, the Deathbringer was up…and had smacked the sword away. It left a bloody wound behind that ran down his chest and back…for all that meant. His other arm immediately went out and wrapped around Dael's throat in a crushing grasp…and she was instantly lifted off the ground. Her eyes bulged as she felt her airway cut off, and she removed one hand from her sword…the one that wasn't still jolting from taking the hit, and grabbed his wrist. It was useless. Even his skin felt like metal now…hard and unyielding. She still had a free hand…but even if it wasn't numb all over again from being hit, what could she do in time? She hadn't the power to drive it through him now…and if she even tried…all he had to do was clench a bit more. She could feel her arteries pumping around his iron-like fingers. He wasn't pinching them off on purpose…he wanted her to see this.

Dael struggled to think of an escape…but there was nothing. She couldn't kick him. That would be like kicking an aircraft carrier. She couldn't punch him either. Even if it would do any good…it was too far. No pressure points…his skin was too hard… Even now, she could still see the spiritual divide…see how blazing it was. It was easier than ever now, now that he was radiating with energy…but what good would that do? She couldn't even move her sword…and he wasn't going to give her the chance.

"…You, of all people, deserve this right…the right to die on this sword." Raven stated…as he raised the Deathbringer up again. He poised it for a fatal hit…but Dael knew any hit would be fatal. No mercy this time. No escape…no chance to recover. She could barely even writhe. Even now, her body refused to just die. She tried to writhe. She tried to fight. She tried to focus…but all of it was nothing compared to him…

It was over. There was no escape…nothing left to fight back with… All she could do was look him in the eye as he glared at her coldly, fiercely…with nothing more than a warrior's resolve…

And then…she saw it. Coming over his shoulder…

_Blue ribbons…with light… Where have I seen…?_

Suddenly, Raven's face contorted, first in shock as his calm look evaporated, his eyes widening and his teeth showing again…and then he arched back and cried out in agony. Before Dael could even realize what was happening, she was released. She immediately fell to her feet and, coughing and hacking, she staggered backward, clutching for her neck. After all, she had been throttled, even if the blood flow hadn't been cut. Yet she kept her hand on her sword, and looked up to the man as he arched back wildly, nearly losing his grip on his own sort as he stretched in pain. And she saw the source…blue ribbons of light streaking through the air and into him…drawing light away from him and back to someone else…someone on the floor…someone…

Her gaze turned, and she gaped…actually calling his name.

"Taraketh!"

The High Child's face was a mixture of pain as well as surprise…like he didn't even know what he was doing…but doing it none the less. One of his good hands had raised off the ground and was pointing at Raven…and light was streaming from it and into him. Dael was just as shocked as he was…but she realized what he was doing, unbelievable as it seemed…

_He's using Draw Magic…just like that person in the lab! But how? How can he be doing it? He didn't get any of that chemical! _

_ Unless…_

_ …Leviathan seemed concerned when it sprayed into the atmosphere. It could have spread over a continent…over a hemisphere…and that means…_

Dael snapped out of it, looking to Raven. She saw him spiritually…and saw that it was ebbing, and ebbing fast. Taraketh's, on the other hand, was growing. Not as quickly or as strongly as Raven's was fading…but it was getting much larger than before. As for Raven, she saw his body begin to shrink. His muscles decreased again. His prior focus and lack of weakness diminished once more. His stamina began to fade once again. Soon, he was returning back to his original shape…and Dael understood. That power he gave himself was supposed to be raw spiritual energy…just like magic…and Taraketh was draining it from him and giving it to himself…

Yet as the ribbons ceased…Taraketh collapsed again. His spiritual stamina was restored, but his body was still physically drained. He lay there motionlessly, trying to get his bearings together for a healing spell. Yet Raven…Raven wasn't done. Although his extra power was gone, when the ribbons faded…he was still standing. His stamina…his power…all of it had been restored to its normal levels. All of the wounds were gone still. Yet in spite of that, he was still stunned. He looked around himself…saw his body returned to its former weakness…and saw Dael still standing before him.

With that…his sword began to rise again. The dark aura slipped over it…and his mouth began to say the words again…

At that moment…it became clear.

_Now, Dael! Use it now or never!_

It wasn't just her spiritual sight…still focusing perfectly on the divide. It was everything. At that moment…she had a window of clarity…and all seemed "right". This was it…her one chance. She had to perform it now.

As she focused, Raven quickly finished. He said the fateful words once again…and Dael could almost hear the meaning instead of his language. _Let our pain become one._ As she brought all of her power to bear…all of her force…all of her focus and built-up spiritual threshold…she saw it come. The darkness wave again radiated from the blade, beginning to draw toward her…meaning to finish her…rob her of the last of her strength…kill her or leave her helpless for the final blow. There was only one thing left that might stop it.

With all the power she could radiate, she swiveled her blade up and swung it into the air…striking the heart of the spiritual divide within the entire room.

Immediately, all of her friends and the remains of the robots and soldiers were blasted back by a titanic force as the spiritual core of _everything _around her…not just her opponent…went off at once…and all was shattered and ignited into a blazing, flaming aura. Everything around her was consumed with spiritual light as the tremendous raw force of life itself was unleashed at its maximum. The heavens themselves seemed to break in something infinitely more beautiful and terrible than thunder…like the firmament of the sky itself was torn asunder and everything around the two shattered. Alone…poised in that position…Dael stood unharmed. But Raven…in spite of being fully recovered…in spite of being fully regenerated…cried out in agony as he felt his own spiritual energy inside every cell of his body appear to shatter. His darkness wave was swallowed up in raw energy. The Deathbringer in his hands stayed together only a moment…before it shattered like glass into a thousand pieces. In spite of the agony he was in…he still looked to the weapon as it flew to the four winds…and was shocked beyond imagination…

* * *

><p>The ultimate sword technique of any of the great sword bearers…the Samurai, the Paladin, the Dark Knights…the move that shattered the spiritual "core" of everything in the entire area save for the one who had performed the move…known either by no name or by the general term of simply "Shock"…was performed correctly only by four individuals in history.<p>

General Ophelia Beatrix of Alexandria.

Captain Adelbert Steiner of Alexandria.

General Leo Christophe of Vector.

And now…Captain Dael Levinson of Esthar.

* * *

><p>The aura died after a few moments…and Raven was dropped to the ground. With one move…his body had been ravaged. It actually was smoking and seemed burned in places. Yet the exterior of his body was only part of it. Inside…he had been torn apart even worse. He had hundreds of internal injuries throughout his musculature, his nerves, his organs…his blood… It was a testament to his raw power that he somehow still stood…grasping the shattered remains of his sword handle. His face was frozen in shock…shock at the pain he was in…shock at the power that had been released… Somehow…his eyes turned down to Dael…who herself was barely standing. The move over, the sword had dropped again, and hung loosely and haphazardly… Yet her face was raw with fury…with determination…and she glared back at him with all the ferocity of the greatest warrior in the world…<p>

In spite of his pain and torment…his agony…his body that felt like it was on fire…Raven looked…and began to tighten again. He was readying to fight on…even as he could hear the sound of the Reaper sharpening the scythe louder than ever…and now, he knew there was no question of who it was for. Impossibly…his face went cold and stern again as he stepped forward…

He got no closer.

"Ulp!"

That was the only sound made as Dael advanced and drove the Save the Queen right through his abdomen…cutting right through the lower spine and erupting out the other side of his body a full foot and a half.

Silence reigned. The whole world seemed to go quiet. Even outside had become still, and the wind seemed to cease to blow.

Dael didn't know if the others were up or watching this…and honestly she didn't care. She wasn't thinking of them right now. Her face mimicked Raven's now. Raven, who had gone wide-eyed and stared blankly, mouth open, eyes widened with pain or shock or a mixture of both. Her face was more just shock. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She couldn't believe what she was doing. This was a dream…unreal… The strongest warrior in the world…who hadn't even had his blood spilled in over a decade…was run through on her blade. The man who several weeks ago had turned her into a bloody punching bag…was defeated at her hand. She actually wondered if she was punch-drunk…unconscious…even dying herself. Was this a dream?

It was the sound of a soft wind, and a glow that snapped her out of it. She didn't move her gaze…but she saw a light coming from Taraketh…his healing spell. It was strong now. After all…his magic was fully recharged after absorbing that power. Yet that only served to tell her that this was real…that she was really here… She continued to look to Raven a bit longer…seeing that look on his face.

Suddenly, however, it changed. Letting out an exhale…it relaxed. His face smoothed…and he actually smiled a bit.

"…I suppose…" He said quietly, his voice straining a bit. "…I was wrong…to believe this wouldn't…be my end." His eyes looked up, and at Dael's face. "You are…my angel of judgment…it seems…little Valkyrie…"

With that, the last of his strength failed. After all, his legs were already dead after the spinal injury. He began to fall. Save the Queen was sharp enough to slice him in two just from his weight alone…but Dael didn't want that. Instead, she ripped the blade from his body, and let him fall completely to the ground, landing on his back. Blood soon poured from his wound. His abdomen was already covered, and she could see it pooling out behind him. She must have stabbed a renal artery or vein. She was stunned that he was still alive even after that, and even now seemed to only slowly be dying.

"Well…" He stated wistfully. "They say…transient joys…are the sweetest… I suppose…it's better to die…with a full appreciation…for one's life…"

Dael looked down on him, saying nothing. She felt little pity inside her. Even if her soldier mentality was gone…Li Juanhong had long since abandoned a warrior's honor just for the sake of his own satisfaction. His desire to "feel alive" had killed countless people. Yet even so…she felt some measure of peace in seeing this. She had no true desire to kill anyone outside of duty…but she could appreciate the power of a warrior. That look on his face…he seemed like he was dying an honorable death, at least in his estimation… And he seemed to accept it.

Perhaps he wasn't looking for the perfect fight to feel alive… He was looking for the perfect fight to finish him…for someone to strike him down while he was still at the peak of his ability.

As she stood there…she was gradually joined by Taraketh. His healing ability must have been top notch and indeed fully recharged, because he wasn't even limping as he moved up to the opposite side of Raven, looking down on him with far more disdain and aggression. After all…he had persecuted his "kind" more than most others had. Yet he forced himself to not look too hateful. The man was dying, after all…that was all he could get in retribution now.

After a moment, however, Dael lowered her sword to the ground and looked hard at him.

"…If you really respect me as a warrior, then answer me truthfully while you still can."

Raven's vision looked to be failing, but he looked to her none the less. He said nothing…but he was clearly listening.

"You were never a member of the Order of Hyne. Neither were the other two. You didn't know where the Guardian Forces were or about their power any more than I did when I junctioned to Carbuncle. You even admitted you didn't pass the trial normally. Tell me…who gave you your Guardian Forces?"

The dark warrior looked back silently. For a moment, Dael thought he'd take that to his grave. Yet after a moment, he exhaled a bit.

"The same person…who gave Sybenia…the essences that Esthar had stored in the Gordian Vault…" He answered slowly. He paused for a moment, long enough to take another deep breath, and then spoke one more time.

"…A Sorceress."

The room seemed to go silent all over again. Dael's jaw slackened. Her firm look evaporated. Raven's short phrase hung in her mind. She could almost see the words. She focused entirely on those two little words… She didn't look at anything else…but she knew Taraketh's reaction was far worse. Raven didn't adjust, however. He continued to look to her, unmoving.

"…What did you say?" She echoed after a moment.

"You heard me…quite clearly." He simply answered, in spite of his straining to speak. "You simply…aren't accepting it…"

Time ticked slowly by for a moment longer. The two words continued to repeat. _A Sorceress… _That was impossible, right? It couldn't be true. And yet…Raven looked perfectly serious. She had never heard anything from that man's lips that sounded like a lie. He might have been an enemy…but she knew he was honest in spite of that. And that meant…

He was right, her mind wouldn't believe it. How could she? After everything that had happened…after all the standards they upheld…after all they had done for everyone in their hour of need…

"…You lie."

Dael did look away from him at this point, looking up to Taraketh. Her face was shocked enough…but his face was livid. She could actually see him quivering in rage. He looked like he was able to seize the dying man and rip him apart with his bare hands. His eyes seemed to burn into him.

"Take it back." He finally stated coldly. "Take back that disgusting lie _now_…or I'll make your last moments agony. I'll burn you alive…"

Dael was actually stunned at this. Taraketh sounded serious. She could almost see his lips starting to chant the words. "Taraketh…"

"I do not lie." The Elite Hound calmly answered, able to say the whole phrase without pause.

_"Yes you do!" _Taraketh nearly screamed back. "You miserable wretch! You butcher our people by the hundreds…and now you're trying to stain the reputation of women who are worth thousands of you! I owe everything to the Sorceresses! I know them better than you can ever dream! I grew up at the side of Lady Mianyl! You'll take back that foul lie right now or you'll wish you were dead right here and now! You're speaking absurdity! Why would they be behind the slaughter of their own kind?! Why would they pervert those they worship as dieties?! Why would they want to see this world die?!"

Yet in response to all of this…all of this ranting and raving…all of this rage…Raven did only one thing.

He coughed a bit…and then smiled.

"In the field…there are the sheep…that are herded for the slaughter…and there are the dogs…who nip at their heels…and eat their remains while sleeping before warm fires…" He said slower, more weakly. "…But in the end…they both are the same…for they both only do…what their master wishes for them… Their lives…their deaths…they are all in the hands…of the master…"

He gasped a bit raggedly…the last of his life going out. His voice grew weaker yet.

"You…you all…are just like me…like everyone… A sheep…or a dog…and the time of slaughter…is nigh… Mine…just came…sooner…"

With that, he gave out one last breath…and went still forever.

Dael hesitated. She looked at him only a moment…before she looked over to Taraketh. He was livid in fury…more fury than ever, as Raven had died without recanting what he said. She worried about him more than anything else now. Yet even so…Raven's last words still rang in her mind. To be honest…they scared her. They scared her quite a bit… She didn't want to believe it. How could it be true? The question filled her mind so much…neither she, nor anyone else, seemed to feel the runes symbolizing the Doomtrain as they were etched into their hands like all the others. She didn't even look.

Yet even as she paused and thought about it, even a little…things in her mind started to fall into place…

She shook them away for now.

"Taraketh…"

Immediately, his head snapped up to her. "You know he was lying, right Dael?" He nearly shouted at her. "You know he wasn't telling the truth? That was just some last minute twisted mind game, right?!"

Dael paused for a moment. She stared back silently at him.

"Taraketh…is your magic fully recovered?"

He paused, his face turning to confusion. "My what? Dael, did you hear what I said?!"

Dael didn't change. In fact, she grew calmer and more straight-faced. "Taraketh, if your magic is recovered, then you need to tend to Quaren and Jalab right away."

He blinked. "Dael…you don't honestly believe him, do you?! You aren't actually considering-"

"Taraketh, I need you to-"

He wheeled fully toward her, actually getting aggressive. "You can't honestly think that that was anything more than a lie! After everything that Lady Mianyl has done for-"

_"Sir Sabian!"_

The sudden snap was so intense, and Dael's emotion suddenly so sharp and violent, that it was enough even to drive the High Child out of his current mental state. For a moment, he was simply shocked that he had been yelled at. Dael's face remained taut and slightly angry, but she spoke calmly and focused.

"You are in _my_ task force and we are in the middle of a mission. We don't have time to debate this or suggest it. Any minute now, the Sybenians are going to find out that not only is Li Juanhong dead but there's literally nothing standing between us and Rozan Hierarch. They're going to send every last drone and soldier they have in this building after us and there's no way we can fight them off. By my count, we have only about fifteen minutes before that airship needs to leave…_with_ or _without_ us. We don't have time for anything else but the mission now. So shape up, get your head together, and get Quaren and Jalab back on their feet."

Taraketh hesitated a moment. Now that his anger had a chance to abate…she saw a different emotion, ever so briefly, in his eyes…something that the anger had been masking.

Fear.

However, that went away in a hurry. He inhaled sharply, slowly exhaled, and then gave a nod. "…Alright." He finally said after a moment, much calmer. "You're right…the mission isn't over. I'll get to work immediately…and I'll heal you as well afterward."

Dael gave a nod…and then added a bit more. "Thank you."

The High Child paused a bit longer, then turned and began to move to Quaren first, knowing he was the weaker of the two. Dael didn't watch him go. She continued to look down on Raven for a moment. In spite of what she had told Taraketh…the words that he said continued to echo in her mind.

Eventually, she pushed them away. Looking to her new sword…she got to work looking for a discarded cloth to clean it with. She wasn't going to let such a fine weapon be ruined so quickly.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	56. Dead Men Tell No Tales

_Twenty Minutes Earlier_

* * *

><p>Most of the soldiers had no idea what they were doing. Only two techs were actually able to go the computers and get to work downloading the files on them. Everyone else was just loading up all of the hard copy files and materials that they could find. A few of them, however, looked around a bit curiously at some of the charts, graphs, and even the titles of the materials they were loading into carts. None of them would ever have been allowed in here in a hundred years if it wasn't for the current emergency. This was their only chance to see what some of the research had been up to.<p>

The teams had been moving fast. The first priority, at least initially, was to secure all of the military data. Things like control codes, launch codes, troop deployments, security clearance…all of those sorts of things. Those were on other floors, and the soldiers were trained to be able to empty those databases quickly. Yet just as they had finished cleaning out the first half, they were reassigned into the more classified areas…ones so restricted even high-ranking military officials couldn't get into it. In fact, most of them were told to go in and focus on that. A security override enabled them to all access it, and they were all rather stunned on the way in two see heavier laser and bullet batteries guarding several security corridors, all of which were normally guarded with things like retina scans, ID card swipes, and hand print indentification. In addition to anyone trying to get in being trapped by thick metal walls and torn apart by automatic defenses, many of the security corridors could electrify the walls or emit poison gas in addition to locking down the facility. A number of the soldiers were plenty nervous just walking in, for fear that something would somehow reset security, and they'd be as good as dead.

Once inside the most secure rooms…the soldiers were a bit confused to see that it had very little military technology and planning. Almost everything was more like out of a lab, and none of them had any idea what to take. Unfortunately…they couldn't ask for help from the few technicians who were allowed in there. An emergency order had been given in regards to emptying the building, and only one researcher, namely the head, Dr. Luccia Lindst, had been cleared to remove from the premises. That meant the fate of the other researchers was already decided…

At least _that_ part was easy enough for the soldiers. They were used to that sort of thing as they piled up the technicians' bullet-riddled bodies in a side storage room and began to douse the remains with flammable liquid. After all…they wouldn't have done this if they weren't going to risk a major breach in security. That meant everything was burned once it was moved. No trace or copy left behind.

The major handling the removal of information from the central lab and materials storage was only in the outermost rooms, where the bulk of the digital research was stored and where experimentation took place on the microscopic level…but not much else. He was impatient to get moving, however. Not only did he think the military files were far more valuable than this, but he was nervous at spending extra time in here for this stuff. That monster that had popped in could destroy the building at any moment, regardless of how far away the enemy fleet was or how that skirmish was faring. He didn't relish being in here when it happened. It would have made more sense to let the technicians handle this rather than shooting them…but obviously this was all too sensitive to be allowed to let leak.

_Then again…what does that mean about _us_ once we've gotten it to a secure location?_

The major tried not to think about it. He turned back to one of the other officers. "Sergeant?"

"Yes sir?"

"We finished in this room yet?"

"Just about, sir."

"Alright, get ready to delete the databases, then move on to help the other groups with the materials."

The officer hesitated at that. "Some of those things are going to be trouble, sir. Frankly, I think we need a forklift for some."

The major hissed. "You're kidding me, right? Damnit, they should have had a plan for this… Carry on, sergeant."

As he looked back, however…he heard his radio give a beep. He looked down to it, and quickly pulled it out and held it up. The digital readout read a few simple words on it: _Bab-Il is under siege._

This actually made the Sybenian hesitate, showing visible unease. The resistance to the south was much stronger than anyone in Sybenia had realized, obviously. They had assumed this was some pointless sortie that was being launched. They all did at first. That was before, however, they had that triple assault the other day that had pretty much stymied any attempt at the two surges they were planning. Now, it seemed some of them had made it farther north for a more direct, and more severe, operation. They were actually attacking the capitol building. In truth…the major didn't expect any assault to get that far. The building was armed and guarded very well. But then again…if they had gotten far enough to actually start assaulting the building to begin with…that was a major concern in and of itself. A part of him wanted to break off right now and fortify the building…but that was against his orders. He'd only be reprimanded if he did so before being ordered.

Instead, he was more concerned with their own installation. With security deactivated, there wasn't anything stopping assailants from walking right into the heart of the building and taking whatever they wanted. However…he didn't worry too much about that. True, all of the automatic and instrinsic defenses had been shut down, but they had close to two hundred soldiers and 30 mobile armored defensive units guarding the outside of the Database Building all the way up to the innermost area. They'd have to fight through all of that first, and he doubted any strike team could make it through in such close quarters, regardless of the strikes that had happened yesterday.

_…Still…_

Adjusting the radio to the outside frequency, he held it to his head and spoke inside. "Lieutenant, do you read me?"

_"Loud and clear, major. Over."_

"Any sign of any disturbance out there? Over."

_"Negative, sir. We've got a few mutant rodents running around out here…but nothing that's a problem. We're all clear. Over."_

"Alright. Make sure it stays that way. Over and out."

The major clicked off the radio and put it away at his belt. He frowned a bit. Did he mention 'mutant rodents'? He thought that the clean-up city workers had long since gotten rid of all of those… However, he shrugged at the thought. It wasn't like they could be any sort of threat to something like this. And ones that were in the sewers or train tunnels were probably trying to flee the destruction that was happening. God knew there was plenty of that going on. At any rate, they never came…

…Indoors?

Even as he thought this…he soon saw something unusual. Through the open bulkhead leading in through the last security corridor and into the lab they were in came an odd looking creature. It seemed to be like a cat or rabbit in nature more than a rodent…but it was colored bright green. It looked fairly well-groomed too…like a pet almost. Or even a stuffed animal, considering that its had black eyes almost like buttons. Finally, it had one other feature that stood out from it…what looked like a precious ruby was right in the middle of its forehead.

The creature ran right into the room, alerting a few other soldiers although most stayed on task, but stopped just inside the doorway. The major furrowed his brow and stared at it for a few moments. Was this that 'mutant rodent' they mentioned? To be honest, he wasn't sure what to make of it. It didn't look like any rodent he had ever seen, although the bright green fur definitely wasn't natural. That jewel had to be some sort of headpiece or something that some rich citizen had given it…so perhaps it was an exotic pet of some sort. But if that was the case…then what was it doing here?

Yet as he thought about these things…he saw something impossible. The gem on its head suddenly shimmered, seeming to spread the light all over it…and a moment later, it vanished into thin air.

The man blinked in surprise, as did the other soldiers who had paused to look to it. The major actually moved forward for a moment and looked at the area more closely, thinking he had just seen some sort of magic trick. He knew he didn't just imagine that. The other men who had seen it were enough to confirm that. It must have been some mutant indeed. It had to have some sort of magic to enable that…

As he continued to puzzle over it, however…something else happened that made both him and a few others in the room react. Suddenly…a ruby-colored flash, much larger than the one that the creature had made, ignited and radiated throughout that side of the room. It was enough to make the major recoil a bit and wince. He even began to move his hands to shield himself. However, the glow died just as quickly…and he continued to look forward into it as it vanished…

And, to his surprise, he saw a grinning, black-mustached pirate looking back at him.

"G'day!"

The major reacted in shock…but wasn't even able to get a word out before a much smaller figure, but far stronger than any normal man, lunged out at him and smashed a buckler shield against the side of his head, dropping him instantly.

By that point, the others in the room reacted, not just to this and to the two who had arrived…but two others with them: a fierce-looking native Fuliet warrior and a more scrawny, wimpy looking one wielding what looked like oversized tools attached to a massive battery pack. However, their shock lasted only a minute. Immediately, they dropped whatever they were doing and immediately sprung up and for their weapons…for all the good it did them.

The one with the tools spun to the soldiers on his side, wielding what looked like a giant pneumatic nailgun…and began to fire away with it, dropping them one after another. The pirate, on his part, drew his sword and advanced, quickly striking down the nearest soldier, and then waving his hand at two more…causing blue spectral flames to ignite around them. Immediately, they went hysterical and mad, and began to fire their weapons wildly…right into each other. A few of the soldiers deeper in the room got out their guns in time and began to open fire…but the one who had decked the major, no more than a boy, rose up and braced his shield in front of him, intercepting the four or five bullets that managed to get off. After that…he dropped…allowing the Fuliet warrior to give a war cry and lunge forward, dropping one soldier with a skull-cracking kick, punching the next nearest enough to send him flying, knocking a computer monitor to the ground before driving his body into a fume hood, and then swept her body around once before she flung a massive axe into the chamber, sending it in a deadly arc that tore through many of the computers and lab stations…but also through all remaining soldiers who were still standing. Soon it returned to her, and she snatched it from the sky, twirled around once to lose momentum, and then stopped again.

The group looked around only for a minute…making sure there were no other soldiers still lurking or having taken cover. However…it was soon broken by an angry snort from the midst of the group…a little green creature.

"'Mutant rodent' my ass."

Cryder swept his blade around to clear the blood, and then looked back to the bulkhead. Already, the sounds of commotion were coming up from it. After all, they had to hear the gunshots if nothing else. He turned back to Ceja and beckoned. "Alright, cave-lass…come on over and give me a hand with this door will you?"

She turned to the pirate, and saw him already moving over to the open hatch. He grabbed ahold of it, tightened his arms, grunted, and slowly began to pull it up to close it again. Even with his enhanced strength, he wasn't doing so well…but soon the woman was at the metal bulkhead as well and grabbing on…and it shut so quickly that the pirate was nearly swept off of his feet. After a few moments, just as the sounds of boots became distinct, and one of the Sybenians yelled to fire, the door slammed closed. It didn't seal, but Cryder and Ceja both braced themselves against it as the sound of dull metal thuds from bullets rang off against it. The pirate looked up to Cid next.

"Your turn, mate."

Cid, however, was frowning a bit as he finished readjusting his smaller torch head and same over to it, getting to work welding the lock shut, although he looked unhappy about it. "…You didn't have to cut through all the computers on the way in here. We're supposed to be downloading from them."

"I only destroyed half of those strange boxes." Ceja retorted. "There are still plenty left."

The engineer rolled his eyes as he kept working.

"Keep your pocket protector on, Cid." Carbuncle called up from the floor, as he ran over to one of the fallen techs who had succumbed to Ceja's assault. After rooting around on him a bit with her paws, he came out with what looked like an advanced memory stick. He turned back to the others and held it up. "They were just finishing our job for us when we got here. It's right here."

Cid exhaled as he finished a foot-long swath. By now, the bullets had stopped, and people were banging on the other side, but between the door's mass and the two leaning against it, it was hopeless to get in. "Alright…but we need to check out the rest of this place for any other data we can find."

"Just so long as we do it fast." Bahamut answered. "The fight has already begun in the capitol building. Dael and the others could be walking right into a trap, but even if Raven is the only one waiting for them they'll still need our help."

Cryder let out a grin. "Ain't you a fine young man, lookin' after his mum?" He joked in response.

Bahamut looked up a bit incredulously at that, honestly taken back. "Wh…what?"

"Forget it, lad." The pirate answered with a head shake. "Just always tickled me how you do whatever she tells you when you're older and wiser than her by far… Makes me wonder why. I mean, she may be stronger than you are at the moment, but I doubt she's the 'beatin'' type when you misbehave. You seem to like playin' the part of the mama's dearest though…"

Bahamut flustered a bit, his face turning irritated. "…Not only is what you're saying ridiculous, it's irrelevant. Can we stay on task, please?"

"Got it." Cid answered as he leaned away from the hatch, putting his torch away and getting his nailgun back out. Cryder and Ceja soon moved off as well, both of them readying their weapons.

"I overheard them say something about more guys inside…messing with the bigger and harder-to-move things or whatnot." Carbuncle stated as they all got ready to move. He pointed ahead in the room. There was a door ahead, and it was another security one…but it was ajar, much like the rest of the security systems. "They may have heard all of that and have a counter-offensive or something planned."

"Even if they don't, they're bound to reactivate the interior security so long as we have ourselves sealed in." Cryder answered. "Let's move before they get desperate to kill us." He immediately began to advance.

Ceja looked a bit puzzled as she moved forward. "…If the exit is sealed, how are we supposed to leave when we are done?"

Carbuncle sighed, and pointed to himself as he followed. "Teleporter, remember? When they deactivated the security system, they must have turned off whatever Eris Bell they may have had in here too. So as long as we're quick about this, we've got nothing to worry about. It's easy for me to go to a location in the recent past that I've been to."

Bahamut himself brought out his shortsword and went ahead and took the lead, headed straight for the next open security door. "I'll take the point. I'm the one with the shield, after all. And they don't seem to be planning on needing to bring out armor piercers."

"Just move fast, lad." Cryder answered with a grin. "Hit 'em hard and fast. That's my motto."

"…What if we run into a bunch of gunners who already have themselves set up?" Cid groaned in response.

"Do not be a coward." Ceja simply answered, leaving the engineer to only sigh in response.

However, Bahamut took the words to heart more than Cid knew. He reached the door and put a hand on it. The bulkhead here was lighter than the previous one, and soon he yanked it open, immediately bringing his shield up to protect his upper body. However, nothing was on the other side. It made sense. It was only another security checkpoint corridor. There wasn't even any place in there to set up an ambush. Bahamut nevertheless looked around a bit. The next door up ahead was already open, which meant nothing was stopping anyone from shooting through it. Yet no shots came. After a moment, he turned and looked back to the others.

"Ceja, I know you can guard yourself with that axe of yours. Mind getting behind me?"

The warrior raised an eyebrow, but then did as she was told. Once there, Bahamut began to advance again. One by one, they all moved into the next corridor, Bahamut keeping his head covered as best as he could and still look ahead. As they went a bit further, Ceja looked over to him again.

"I would have thought you would ask me to move ahead of you as my axe is broader than your shield." She stated.

"I'm a smaller target with less protection. They'll try to get me first, leaving you open to throw your axe however you like."

Ceja blinked. "…Very valorous of you."

"I'm a member of this group as much as anyone else, whether I be in a child's body or a Guardian Force's one." Bahamut flatly answered. "I'll assume the risk along with everyone else."

"Maybe you won't, lad." Cryder answered with a smile. "This ol' pirate still has a few more tricks up his sleeve, remember."

Bahamut looked to the pirate a moment, but didn't hesitate. He couldn't afford to, after all. None of them could.

Venturing to the next entrance, Bahamut tentatively looked inside. This hall had a branch inside it in a "crook" shape, but other than that was the same as the previous security corridor. This one had to have been built around some large piece of machinery or the like. However…it also created a blind turn. With that in mind, he inched forward to the edge only slowly, and then snapped and looked around the side for just a flash. However…nothing was there…except the opening to the next chamber, which was more dimly lit. He could tell even from a brief glance that it was much larger than the corridor they were in, but, again, he saw nothing.

After a moment, he tentatively stepped out and advanced again, all the way up to the doorway. Bahamut didn't look inside too much just yet, not wanting his head taken off by a sniper bullet. He pressed himself to one side, and Ceja to the other. After that was done, Cryder moved forward a bit, making a "hold" gesture. "I've got this, mates." He stated. With that, he held out his hand, and made a gesture.

Nothing seemed to happen. Bahamut saw nothing, and heard nothing. Yet Cryder gave a smile and a nod. "The room's clear."

The others paused, Bahamut included. Ceja looked to him strangely. "How can you tell?"

"Trust me." He answered. "You'd have heard it if there had been something."

Bahamut wasn't so sure, but he didn't hold any longer. They couldn't take this _too_ slow, after all. He soon rose again, keeping his shield in front of him, and advanced into the larger room.

There wasn't much here either. A few old specimen cases, already emptied and in disuse, and lots and lots of file cabinets. Bahamut and Ceja continued to take point, for the door to the next chamber was still open. They made sure to keep themselves guarded behind their shields as they advanced enough for Cryder, Carbuncle, and Cid to move in. The engineer held up his nailgun and went to the nearest cabinet, pulling it open and looking inside. He frowned at what he saw, and shut it and moved to the next. He frowned again and went to a third, but also with the same result. Exhaling, he looked back to the others.

"Nothing but paper copies. No data we can take with us."

"All the better." Cryder answered with a smile. "Let's move on."

"Hold a moment…" Bahamut interjected. "Anything on research they've done? Correspondence?"

Cid shook his head. "Nothing I can understand at first glance. There might be some abstracts or summaries in here…but it would take hours to sift through. We don't have that time."

"…Then let's move on. See if there's something easier to manage." Bahamut responded a bit reluctantly, moving on with his shield out to the next corridor. Ceja followed alongside, and the others soon fell in behind.

There was another security corridor after this chamber, but only one this time, and a straight shot. The door on the other side was wide open, but there was no one looking inside. Although the corridor made a good bottleneck, apparently they were counting on someone being able to bust through anything right in the doorway. And sure enough…people could pretty much only shoot straight into the chamber, which meant only one or two individuals at the most. Not much of an effective bottleneck.

On stopping at this next entrance, Bahamut's glance into this chamber looked more "promising". It was some sort of specimen testing area with sealed metallic cylinders. Only a few were there, however. Most were empty sockets, or had clear cylinders inside with nothing in them, including no residue. Some of the sealed ones did still look active, however.

Ceja looked around a bit herself. This area was much larger and higher-ceilinged. The path branched ahead to the left to a larger set of doors. Perhaps this was the innermost area. After all, most of the labs were over in Leuco. They probably only had a few special areas here for preliminary research or the like. She wrinkled her nose a few times, and then let out a hiss.

"It stinks of chemicals. There may be men with guns in here, but I can't smell anything in these accursed buildings."

"No worries, mate." Cryder answered. "Didn't forget me already, did you?"

Bahamut had to admit, he wasn't sure what Cryder was going to do. His grasp on geomancy was too little. Neither did anyone else. However, the pirate simply put his hand on the ground.

"Get ready to hit whoever makes a noise." He said with a smile, as he made a gesture.

The others were again confused at that…but soon got an answer. Abruptly, they heard no less than eight people give a noise, and then a surprised sound as they were heard crashing to the floor. Bahamut turned back in astonishment, wondering what had just happened…how Cryder had done that. Then, his memory clicked. There was a move geomancers could do that was fairly basic…actually alter the consistency of the ground in certain spots so that it would swallow up an opponent in one shot. However…that was only in a more advanced case. In a more general spectrum, they could do the same over a large area just enough to make people slip and fall. Normally not good for much…but apparently it let out some target locations.

With that in mind, Bahamut burst into the room. He had a few moments where he knew he wouldn't have to worry about gunshots, and he went right for the nearest wall, to go around the cylinders. He saw one of the soldiers was lying prone on the other side, struggling to rise…but he quickly dove on him and took him down. Ceja burst in next, flinging out her axe in the more "vertical cutter" motion, straight for one of the clear cylinders. The deadly weapon ripped right through it, shattering glass and metal alike, before tagging the two on the other side. Cid broke in next, keeping his nailgun out and firing shots at another location. He wasn't as good as Quaren, but the shots still managed to tag and drop one, and send another, just as they got the gun out, running for cover.

The others quickly broke into the room, moving behind the nearest cylinders themselves. Bahamut took one side while Ceja, after her axe returned to her, ran behind another. A few errant shots went out after her, but soon she was back behind cover. Cryder moved in behind her while Cid came behind Bahamut, keeping his gun out. They both took cover, waiting for a few more shots to go off and die down again. Carbuncle stayed low...not much use in this situation other than barriers. After that happened, using their respective companions as shields, Cryder and Cid leapt out from the other side, launching their own attacks. Cryder used a Will 'O The Wisp that lit one solider's arm on fire, causing him to recoil and howl in pain, struggling to put it out. As for Cid, he fired into a steam pipe near the hidden soldiers, blasting them and making them pull back. Bahamut and the others soon did the same.

Both sides held back for a moment, neither advancing any further, or trying any more shots.

Finally, Cryder called out. "Not lookin' good for you, mates! You throw down your weapons and just let us knock you out like good little boys and we'll be on our way!"

"Screw you!" One of the Sybenian soldiers shot back.

"You are hopelessly outmatched!" Ceja shot back fiercely. "One of us is more than a match for a dozen of you! You cannot win! Only death awaits you by challenging us!"

"Step out and say that!"

"Don't dare her, friend." The pirate called back more quietly and with a chuckle. "You don't want to meet this tribal lass on even ground. Or maybe you didn't catch what her axe did to your two chums?"

There was a few moments of silence after that. Bahamut waited for a bit, but his eyes also narrowed. He looked to Cryder. "You shouldn't egg them on too much." He said quietly, so only they could hear. "People can get desperate in this situation. Desperate people perform stupid and dangerous actions."

"What's the big deal, my lord?" Carbuncle stated with a shrug. "These are just shock troops. They can't cause too much-"

"Private, what are you doing?" One of the soldiers suddenly called. "Get away from that control! That's an order! NO!"

Suddenly, a large hiss went out within the chamber, like the world's largest bottle of soda being uncapped. The group looked up curiously in response…actually risking looking out…and were just in time to see one of the sealed cylinders opening up. Yet even as it slowly rolled aside, letting out an amount of white smoke in the process, three of the remaining soldiers backed up and began to move away, no longer caring about the group and instead moving their weapons to the cylinder itself. As the smoke cleared and it fully moved away…what was inside immediately began to exit. Bahamut saw it…and did not like what he espied one bit.

A hideous mass of green, slimy tentacles began to ooze out, lined with black, corrosive sludge as they ran over the sides of the platform the cylinder was on and began to move down to the nearest target, the one who had let it out…and was now immediately regretting his decision as he backed up. Other than the thick mass of tentacles, the only other thing was a large, ovoid head split open with a horribly large mouth, lined with red, bloody gums, and row after row of sharp teeth leading into a cavernous mouth that stank even from their side of the room. Surrounding it, like a grotesque flower, was another mass of tentacles, each one holding a dim eyeball on the end of each stalk. Bahamut knew this thing…something even espers made sure to go far away from as a general rule…a Malboro.

The nearest one made the biggest mistake one could make dealing with one of those monsters: trying to engage it at point-blank range. He was obviously more shocked about the monster itself than what it was, and he raised his gun and tried firing at it. The Malboro didn't even bother using any of its deadly breath powers on him. Its tentacles went out…its mouth opened…and even Bahamut, after his thousands of years of life, had a hard time not feeling queasy on what happened in moments. One of the younger soldiers went hysterical…and the other two made the mistake of standing their ground as well, opening firing on the monster. Despite looking like a plant, or having rubbery, soft flesh, a Malboro had all vital organs in its head, which was as tough as bullet-proof armor, and plenty of tentacles to spare. It could lose half of them and still move around as easily as it could with them. The monster used its more "signature" move on the others. It looked to them as they fired desperately at them…and then began to shudder violently.

"Cover your mouths!" Bahamut yelled…not to the soldiers, though. It was far too late for them. But even from this distance, they were at risk. He and the others quickly did so…just as the monster let out what sounded like a massive, wet, thundering belch as a cloud of toxic fumes in vomit-inducing colors poured out and washed over the remaining group.

The stench even from here was ghastly and nauseating beyond belief. It made Bahamut's eyes water, his throat burn, and his nose feel almost like something was laying eggs inside it… It didn't help that what happened to the other three soldiers was enough to really make his stomach turn. The only good thing was that the venomous cloud a Malboro produced lasted only moments, and immediately began to sink afterward. Ignoring the remains of the three soldiers it had just killed, it swiveled around and looked to fresh prey. It spotted them easily with all of those eye stalks, and immediately began to come forth.

Everyone, after seeing that, began to look nervous.

"Eh…never threw it down with a Malboro before, lads…" Cryder said a bit tensely. "Never was that suicidal…"

"Neither was my tribe. Even if they went abroad…" Ceja answered with a hint of nervousness in her voice. "They can kill even the best with breath alone…"

Bahamut was tensing as well, but quickly called out. "Everyone, split up! Flank it! That's no guarantee it won't use its breath…but it's less likely if it can't get us in one go!"

To further remove ambiguity, Bahamut stepped forward and immediately banged on his shield, trying to get more attention of the monster, challenging it. The others only paused a moment…Ceja most of all, seeming to scowl a bit that a child was taking the lead on her…but then she tore off like a panther, clearly meaning to get on its blind side. Cryder went for another one, making sure to press himself to the wall and stay far from the monster. Cid finally went out as well, gulping as he went for his saw…

"No!" Bahamut shouted to him when he saw it in his peripheral vision. "No melee weapons! You saw what happened to that soldier who got too close! No fire, either! Burning them only prompts them to use more of their breath!"

"…What am I supposed to use against it then?!" Cid cried in panic as he ran out far to the other side. "Scorn?!"

The boy didn't bother answering because he didn't have the time to. The Malboro had seen the nearest target. Although the eye stalks spotted the others moving around it…it advanced fully to Bahamut. And for being a mass of writhing tentacles that seemed to thrash about randomly as much as with a purpose, it moved very fast. Its head actually lolled from side to side with his teeth opening and closing as it drew near.

Now Bahamut realized he was in a bit of a bad spot himself. These things weren't truly plants but nothing short of Leviathan would leave a serious mark on it. Regular water attacks wouldn't work. And he had to take his own advice and not get close to it. It was large enough to devour him whole in one bite. He looked around, searching for some weapon to use…but saw little. Basically his strategy was to hold the thing in check long enough for someone like Ceja to inflict a distant mortal blow. Yet the abomination was surprisingly quick…and suddenly applied a burst of speed, going right for Bahamut. Eyes widening a bit, he quickly whipped his body around and tried the "shield discus" move he had done earlier in an attempt to at least stun it.

The shield said through the air and struck it right over its monstrous lips…but aside from a thick thud and a brief slowdown which lasted all of two seconds…the monster was neither halted nor hurt. It continued to advance rapidly, and its front tentacles began to reach out for its prey. Bahamut's eyes widened. Even when the shield bounced back to him, and he was able to snatch it out of the air…he knew it would do no good against a Malboro. Struggling or slashing…it would eat you whole just the same with you fighting all the way. There was only thing he could do…backpedal. Yet as he did so, he soon saw, for his own enhanced speed, the monster was closing even faster. He was only slowing it down a bit…and not that much. It didn't take long for the Malboro to speed up even more. He began to hope the others launched an attack pretty soon…

When he saw a pipe under a grating within the floor as he ran by.

_Wait…there!_

Abruptly, Bahamut stopped in mid-step just as he crossed over it. The Malboro didn't stop, opening its cavernous mouth as its tentacles raised for him. But before it could seize him, Bahamut bent down, drove his shortsword forward, and drove it in through the grating and into the pipe, cutting out a slash inside it. He quickly pulled back, wincing in pain, as he felt a burst of hot steam come over his hand, but luckily he had pulled it out before it could be too bad…at least, he hoped. It seemed hot enough to blister. But he quickly backpedaled again after that, narrowly missing the tentacles as they slammed down at his location.

But on doing so, the monster put its appendages over the steam, and it began to roast away at the rubbery flesh. It had deadened reception to pain, but even it wasn't stupid enough to want to linger within something burning it. Letting out a belch-like grumble, it recoiled away momentarily. Bahamut used that moment to gain more distance and quickly try to look for something else. Perhaps he could use Leviathan…but no. Not while the others were moving around the thing. The wave might hit them as well. He had to think of something else…

Yet as he tried to think, the others went into action. Cryder and Cid, both of whom were now far closer, began to get to work. Cid raised his only remaining projectile weapon, his nailgun, and began to unload into it into the monster's head…for all the good it did. Most of the nails bounced right off, and the few that didn't only went in a centimeter…not enough to break the shell and hit something vital. Cryder was pretty much just as much at a loss. The Will O' The Wisp was too similar to fire to use against the thing, and these monsters didn't have enough of a nervous system to get confused anyway. He definitely couldn't go up to it and try and slash it…so he sighed as he manipulated his hand, causing mist to gather around the monster in hope of blinding all of its eyes at once. Sure enough, the little stalks began to look all around, trying to find who was attacking it while keeping its eye on Bahamut at the same time. As this went on, Ceja was finally in position, and warmed up to start throwing her axe again…but only got one revolution before she stopped.

"I cannot aim well with that mist covering it!" She shouted to Cryder.

"I don't fancy being an appetizer either!" The pirate complained back, before he reluctantly began to lower the mist. Soon, the monster became visible again…but its eye stalks also soon zeroed in on its two opponents.

Ceja, however, now had a target, and quickly spun around twice and then flung her axe at the thing. The air was filled with a loud whistle as the solid, deadly, sharpened bone whirled right toward it. The abomination, in response, turned its rear eye stalks to her, seeing the blade coming…and then did something no one suspected. Barely constricting its tentacles first, it suddenly _leapt_ straight into the air with surprising agility, easily going up eight feet and letting the axe whiz harmlessly past it. Bahamut not only gaped at that, but soon had to dive to the side, near the earlier shattered cylinder and among the broken glass, to avoid the axe slicing him in half. A moment later, the intact Malboro landed.

The Fuliet warrior actually gaped. "This monster can jump?!" She exclaimed in astonishment, almost forgetting about her axe as it spun around and began to return to her.

The Malboro, however, wasn't done. Its head began to tremble again, as it swiveled over to face Cid. The engineer gaped, and quickly began to run for it. Cryder, on his part, actually began to run out toward the backside of the creature, trying to get it while it was distracted. Yet he only got a foot before one of the tentacles laced over the panel grating on the floor, ripped one off, and snapped around…flinging it right at him. He quickly dove to one side himself, nearly having his head taken off by the metal grating…which was thrown so hard that it embedded in the metallic wall halfway. He collided with the ground a moment later, hearing a loud clang above him, and looked up…soon gaping in shock.

"Leviathan's breath…this beastie has a Hell of a throwin' arm!"

As for the main monster, it stopped shaking its head and let out a stream of deadly miasma again, right for Cid. He quickly ran away from it, and barely got out of range in time. Still…the horrible mist seemed to melt certain substances that flowed over it, like sealant and rubber, and some of it still tagged the back of Cid's power pack, actually staining the metal a putrid color.

The axe, meanwhile, returned to Ceja, just as the thing swiveled around and exhaled more of its bad breath, creating a wall of miasma in half of the chamber. Cryder quickly rose up and ran away from it. That would have normally been too slow based on the angle...but Carbuncle quickly charged behind him, jumped on his back, and teleported him a short distance away from the toxic fumes. Cid, on his part, kept going as fast as he could. Ceja quickly readjusted her axe and tried throwing it in a vertical slice next…but the miasma was closing faster, and her aim and focus was off as she let it go. It went out to the thing…but the creature merely sidestepped, letting the deadly weapon shoot past, tear up the ground where it was, and then recoil to her. She didn't even have time to grab it right away, needing to turn and run back and away from the poisonous cloud. The axe was left to be left behind in the expanding miasma, leaving her unarmed in turn.

However, all of this had an additional effect, that Bahamut looked up and began to realize. The others were now separated from him…and the Malboro was free to devour him at leisure. Since the miasma was a magical-type breath weapon rather than purely biological, even Carbuncle couldn't teleport through it while it still hung in the air. The monster obviously intended for that to happen, because it immediately swiveled around, cutting off its breath, and began to scuttle up to him.

The boy was on his feet in a flash, forcing himself to get up. He tried to run for cover, trying to go forward and shoot past it. Running back would only make things easier. He had to get around. Yet as he went up to the broken cylinder with jagged glass remains still pointing upward…the Malboro was on him. Before he could go any farther, filthy tentacles shot out and lashed around either leg, jerking him to a stop. He would have fallen over in moments…if not for another two tentacles shooting out and lashing around his torso, freezing him in a "standing" position as it yanked him off the ground and into the air. Bahamut's eyes widened in shock. The horrible putrid stench from it nearly gagged him again, making his eyes and lungs burn… In spite of that, he pulled his sword forward and began to hack way at the creature's giant lips and gums. It did absolutely nothing, even with his enhanced strength and well-made weapon. The thing was more than used to this from all its prey, and simply opened its cavernous mouth and shoved him inside.

The stench alone was nearly enough to make Bahamut pass out, but as it threw him into the cavernous hole…it released his legs. Having only a split second to react, as the monster began to close its massive mouth, he planted his legs on the bottom jaw, brought his shield over his head, and soon went rigid to force the thing to keep its mouth open. It tried to shut it…and the force was indeed incredibly strong…but so was Bahamut. The thing tried to shut severel times, but to no avail. Letting out another ghastly belch, it began to bear down on the boy…and, in short order, his muscles began to strain and burn as he tried to hold back the massive force. Worse yet, it kept the tentacles on his torso, and tried to push him deeper into the cavernous hole…which still smelled like melted meat remains…which only unsettled the boy further. Soon, his strength began to give. The mouth slowly began to close…and he was slowly pushed more inside…

Yet Bahamut realized that wasn't fast enough for the monster. Its head began to rattle and shake. It was getting ready to exhale its foul breath on him, leaving him easy prey. There was only one move left he could make… It was risky, but when faced with a miserable death…it was worth it. With that in mind, as he felt the pressure and tentacles increase even more…he did something crazy. He slipped his shield out, and held up his sword with one hand and all his might.

The tentacles immediately pushed him in…but on feeling him going, they released…letting him fall on his back into the mouth. Disgusting as this would be, he held out his shield to hook around the outside of the monster's jaws…and kept his blade up and hard, as steady as he could. In split seconds, the mouth began to slam shut with a heavy machine's force. The stench and putrid feeling intensified, the darkness of the mouth closed around him…

But then, the mouth, closing with such force, bit down in the roof of its mouth on top of the outstretched blade. The monster was armored inside and out, so normally it wouldn't have made a difference…but its jaw strength was too strong. It slammed the inside on the blade…and drove it in several inches.

Immediately, the mouth opened again as thick green blood fountained out of the internal wound, and the monster bellowed in a hideous cry. Yet as the mouth opened, Bahamut yanked back on his other hand, letting the jaw catch his shield and pull him out of the disgusting maw of the beast, enough to get on his feet. As soon as he was, he sprang out of the mouth as fast as he could. Nothing tried to stop him. The tentacles were flailing wildly now. And so, he quickly moved off and away from the hard mouth of the creature, and stepped backward, actually putting a foot on the edge of the broken, jagged cylinder nearby. There he stayed a moment…holding…temptingly just outside of the monster's injured mouth.

Just as he thought, it wasn't long before it got enough of its bearings to raise three of its disgusting tentacles at once, and swing out for him…and he responded by immediately jumping off, wide, and to one side. The Malboro was left to swing its tentacles down onto the broken glass edges…spearing it and holding it in place. More blood oozed, but even if it didn't hurt as much as before, it was enough to immobilize the monster for a few moments.

Bahamut, on his part, landed and tumbled clear, then snapped his head up and looked to the end of the chamber. "Now, Ceja! It's stuck!"

The miasma was finally dying down…and, sure enough, the Malboro was dim witted enough to try pulling its tentacles free…tearing them up worse in the process. That gave the Fuliet Warrior all the incentive she needed. Quickly, she darted forward to her discarded axe and snatched it off of the floor. Taking only a second to aim at the thing, she swung herself around two more times, and then let it fly with the deadly cutting sound whistling through the air. The monster, if it saw it coming, couldn't move. It was too dim witted to realize it needed only jump again to both free itself at the price of maybe losing some tentacles, thinking it was anchored and needed to rip free first. It could do nothing as the axe met it…and sliced through its hard carapace as easily as any other bit of armor.

As the deadly axe cutter whistled by, green ooze-like blood flew everywhere and the entire upper half of the Malboro's head flew into the air, the upper jaw still attached. It toppled through the air over itself again and again for a few moments, as the whirling axe went around and cycled back to Ceja, who snatched it out of the air and halted it before the top of the head fell back down again. Having only a primordial nervous system, it took a moment for the rest of the body to slowly stop moving and then collapse…but it did. All motion ceased, and the creature lay dead.

Bahamut, who had landed in a squat, got back to his feet and exhaled, looking at the dead monster. After that, he looked back to the others, and gave a nod to Ceja. "Thank you."

She simply nodded back.

"You alright, Lord Bahamut?" Cid asked.

"…I have a few new memories that I would rather do without…but yes." Bahamut responded. "At any rate, we're far from being in the clear. By now, the Sybenians have to be cutting their way in. Let's move on…and make sure not to open any more of these cylinders."

No one disputed that. Quickly, everyone got themselves together and looked to the bend in the path. Unlike everywhere else, the door here, which was much larger than the others, was shut. It didn't look sealed, however. As Cryder, sword still naked, began to move up to it, Bahamut cleaned his own weapon as best as he could before putting it away, keeping his shield out, and running forward to meet up with the others. However, while still at a distance, Cryder reached the door first. Pressing a button on the side, the heavy metal bulkheads opened up, and he began to venture in.

On the other side was another advanced lab space. Pretty high tech too…with lots of top-of-the-line equipment. But it appeared no real work had been done in it for some time. Nothing was lying out, only one computer was active, and the various lab appurtances were clean and looked as if they had been that way for a while. No sign of anyone else either, although there were plenty of places to hide.

"'Ello, lads and lasses!" He called inside. "Anyone up for a spot of-"

_Click._

Cryder froze in mid-speech. The sound came from the side of his head, and he turned his glance over…seeing that a handgun was pointed at his temple and cocked. It was in the hand of a rather fierce-looking woman who looked like she was once a well-dressed and well-kept lady, but was disheveled and tense now. Her makeup was running, the bun her hair was in was loose with strands hanging down, and her glasses were askew. She was dressed like a researcher, however…one for the Sybenian military.

Not only that, however…but he saw a few more things nearby.

A suitcase was hastily packed and at her side…and two soldiers were slumped against the wall. Both had been shot…one in the head and one in the chest.

"…Perhaps not." He said.

"Drop your sword." The woman ordered, her voice cold, but also a bit crazed…clearly showing she wasn't in the right frame of mind. "I'll pull the trigger. I swear to God I will. I've already killed two people in the past ten minutes. Don't think I won't do the same to you. Don't move your hand either. You think I don't know you're a geomancer? You think I don't know what you can do?"

The pirate said nothing to this. He simply dropped his sword and let it clatter to the floor…but the opening back into the previous chamber was still there…and the way the woman was angled…she couldn't see inside. Neither could he at the moment, but the fact that the others were quiet meant that they had to be working on something. Instead, he smiled back at the woman.

"…Dr. Lindst, I presume? Nice to finally meet the Professor Cid of our time. And of course you know all about geomancers, lass. How many did you send to an early grave again?"

"Shut up!" The doctor snapped back, driving her gun barrel forward and actually smacking it against his temple in a painful manner.

"As you wish, lass." He calmly answered with a slight wince from the pain. "But do tell me…how do you plan to get out of this? You can blow my face off, but it won't do you no good. You planning on using whatever bullets you have left in there…let's see…" His head turned slightly.

"Keep your head forward!" Lindst snapped back.

"…Five, give or take…to get past all those men? I bet they won't be too happy to find out you went and shot your escort…"

"I said shut up!" The doctor retorted…although the words that he said began to make her quiver nervously. She held for a moment, clearly trying to think, and then finally spat. "_You're_ getting me out of here!"

The pirate snickered. "And why would I do a think like that, mate?"

"Because I'll blow your brains out if you don't!" She shot back. "None of those soldiers know I did this…they were coming here to get me out…I'll just tell them I'm your prisoner and you can walk out with me!"

"Heh…not a bad idea for being on the fly, love." Cryder answered. He began to go for a cigarette.

"Keep your hands down."

He did so, but kept smiling. "Only one problem with your plan…"

Abruptly, Cryder was seized from behind and thrown out of the way…before the muscular, furious form of Ceja shot in and seized Lindst's hand and the gun. She gaped in shock…but that soon gave way to agony as the warrior put both hands on it and tightened her grip…crushing the gun in it as well as her finger and thumb, audibly enough to where the sounds of bones breaking could be heard. Lindst soon cried out in agony, and Ceja, giving her a sneer, ripped the gun out of her now-flaccid hand and threw it behind her, before slapping the woman on the side of the head and sending her crashing to the ground. It was only a light hit…but even that was enough to split her lip. What more, the woman clearly wasn't built physically. She was in pain now, and remained on the ground.

The others soon stepped in, one after another, as Ceja glared darkly at the woman. Cryder resumed pulling out his cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it up. After taking a drag, and seeing Lindst still on the ground, he gave a shrug. "It didn't really allot for more than one bloke breaking in, did it?"

After taking another drag, he advanced on her, reached out, seized her by the lab coat lapel, and roughly yanked her to her feet. He knew this type. This woman barely knew how to use a gun. She wasn't going to put up much of a fight or have a concealed weapon. As soon as she was on her feet again, she began to tremble all over violently and shrink away from the others. She knew full well what she had done, and that these four had little incentive to be kind to her. Immediately, she cowered and put her hands up defensively.

"Alright…alright!" She said as Cryder continued to seize her and forced her back, toward some of the minor lab equipment. "Look…look, just wait a second! You can't be mad at me for that! You came in here killing everyone! Look…I'm unarmed now! I'm not a-"

Cryder cut her off as he roughly shoved her back onto one of the lab benches, and once she was lying prone, shoved her over to one of the devices…a centrifuge. She looked around a bit in ever-growing fear and confusion, but he merely reached up and undid the rest of her bun, beginning to pull out her hair all the way.

"What…what are you doing?" She asked nervously. She held a moment, but then swallowed. "Alright…I'm sorry…I'm sorry! Just…just please…get me out of here!"

"Looks to me like your friends over there had that already taken care of, doc." Cryder answered as Bahamut, Cid, Carbuncle, and Ceja began to advance. Ceja was rather cold still, and Carbuncle, tough as he was, let all of this happen…but Cid began to look uneasy as well, seeming to wonder where the pirate was going with this. Bahamut secretly thought the same…but was willing to let it go on for now. "You gonna do us like you did them? Besides…do I look like a metro conductor to you?"

"I had no choice! They would have kept me in the country or given me over to-" The doctor's eyes suddenly widened, and she cut herself off. She had clearly nearly spilled something.

The pirate smiled. "Oh, don't stop. Please…continue. You were saying?"

The doctor said nothing more. She trembled. "Please…please, get me out of here… I'll do anything you want…"

"You can start by telling me everything you know." Cryder answered. "And you can start _that_ by telling me why you're so dead-set on getting out of Sybenia."

The woman merely trembled in response, swallowing hard.

Cryder's eyes narrowed…for once turning deadly.

"Lass…you've got three things going against you right now. One, I'm a pirate, and Sybenia's caused me a lot of Hell. Two, I'm a geomancer, and _you've_ caused me a lot of Hell. Three…" He looked in a bit closer. "…I don't go easy on women."

With that, he reached over and flipped open the centrifuge. That done, he seized some of her long hair and draped it inside, then slammed the lid. The woman began to look up in fright. "What…what are you doing…?"

Before she could go far, the pirate slammed his hand down on her neck, firmly holding her head in place. "Warning label on this gizmo says to keep long hair and dangly things away from it while it's on." He told her. "I reckon I flip this little switch right here…and you'll get to experience getting scalped, mate, once it starts pulling on your hair."

The doctor began to panic. "No…no, please!"

Cid began to move…but Bahamut's hand shot out and placed itself on his chest, keeping him back. Carbuncle began to retreat a bit now. Even Ceja's cold demeanor was softening ever-so-slightly…but the boy didn't care. He was willing to let this go…for a bit longer, at least.

"I'm a simple pirate myself, lass. Not very technically inclined." He answered as he easily held her down and set his sword on the far side of the table. His other hand moved for the main switch. "I see a big button…I just push it…"

"Stop, please! I'll talk!" The woman begged.

"Better be a tune I like, dear. Until it is…" He rested his forefinger on the switch. "That stays right there."

The doctor was practically tearing up now, gasping and near hyperventilating. But she swallowed it down and began to speak.

"The truth is Rozan Hierarch gave me a couple days to come up with something that would decisively swing the war back entirely in his favor! But nothing I came up with was any good! Even after everything I did for him, I couldn't give him what he wanted!"

"What did he want?" Bahamut interjected, but even colder than Cryder.

"He wanted what that person calling the shots told him to make! An individual who could relive history by tying into the spiritual memory of their ancestors!"

The boy looked confused. "Why would anyone want that?"

"I don't know! It might be a way to power or something!" The doctor whined in response. "All I do is what he tells me to do! I may be a genius, but I'm still just hired help! But he got enraged when I couldn't make it! I told him no one could make it! I'm a scientist, not a miracle worker! He wouldn't take that for an answer! He said for me to come up with something that _looked_ like it and he'd use me as a bargaining chip! I'd be dead if I stayed here! That's why I have to get out! Please…get me out of here!"

"Why does he want you in the first place?" Bahamut asked. "Who is this person?"

"I don't know!" Lindst answered. "I worked in Esthar's military division prior to the Depression hitting! I found some unpublished notes by some crackpot scientist! I came up with some theories that I could replicate magic in any individual using artifical means, but Esthar wasn't interested! They outlawed anything that had to do with manipulating spiritual energy years ago! My job got cut when the government income started to run out! I had nothing! Then this man came up to me saying he represented a Sorceress!"

Bahamut went rigid on hearing that, his cold look fading. Cid, however, nearly had his jaw drop. "Wh…what? You mean…like an Order of Hyne Sorceress? Or some sort of street perform-"

"A real one!" The woman shot back. "We don't have time for this! Please…let's just go! I'll tell you everything later!"

By now, everyone had gone unusually still. Even Ceja looked visibly unsettled, her warrior exterior cracking. Bahamut thought over this a moment. Was there a chance she was lying? Or, if she wasn't, that she only thought she was telling the truth? Possibly…but he didn't know for certain. None of them did. What if she _was_ telling the truth, however? Bahamut considered that only a moment…and then called out again.

"Which Sorceress?"

"I don't know which! Like I said, this man only came to me saying he was a High Child of hers! All of her messages and threats got passed on through him! Sometimes I'd get them through Rozan, sometimes she'd pass them straight to me! Please, let's just go!"

Cryder was as shaken as the rest, for all of his supposed disdain of the Order of Hyne. However, he soon spoke up again. "Not yet, lass. Keep going on with your story. It's just gettin' to the good part."

"I told you, I'll tell you everything if-"

Cryder turned the switch on and off rapidly. It was just enough to pull her hair in a little bit, and make her yell, but not any more. Fearful and more frantic than ever, she continued.

"He said she'd get me citizenship in Sybenia if I agreed to work for the military's science division! I could finally get my work out in public!"

"You mean you could start harvesting people for research." Ceja darkly answered.

"I'm a member of a military organization! You don't have room for morals! There's only our side and their side! Come on! You'll kill me over having the same mindset as everyone in Esthar's military?!"

"No…I'll kill you if you don't start getting good again." Cryder answered. "Start telling us more we don't know."

"I don't know anything else!" She cried. "I made some ways to enhance magic! I made the lot that causes people to be able to draw spells! I found out ways to force a junction and to enhance it! I even came up with some ways to manipulate Guardian Forces directly! What more do you want from me?!"

"The essences." Bahamut stated firmly. "Where are they now? You had to be researching them."

"They're all gone! The last of them was used two weeks ago when I learned everything I could from them!"

Bahamut paused again on hearing that, growing rather uncomfortable. There was no telling what else was unleashed at this point. What sort of monstrosity. Even if there wasn't, that meant there were more than just Raven left who had junctions…

"You said you were going to be used as a 'bargaining chip'. What for?"

"If I tell you, I'm a dead woman." She whined.

"Pretty damn close to that right now, lass." Cryder retorted darkly, beginning to push down more on the switch again. "Spill your guts."

The woman, closing her eyes in pain and fear, finally began to choke it out.

"Whoever hired me is counting on Rozan dying today! Once he's gone, she's going to-"

A loud gunshot rang out…and half of Dr. Lindst's head erupted. She barely got out a final cry of agony…before she went limp forever.

In shock, the group snapped to the source…and saw that the soldier shot in the chest wasn't dead yet…and had recovered enough to pull his gun and tried to shoot at the group and the doctor. His aim was so unsteady, however, that he missed them entirely and hit the supine doctor. Cid, in mostly a panic move, twirled around and immediately fired two shots from his nailgun…both of which hit the target. The soldier went limp…and then slumped again, this time for good.

The room was quiet afterward. No one said a word. They looked back to Lindst…but she couldn't say anything else. She had been silenced and was beyond medical or magical help. Yet the few things she had disclosed left everyone in the group unsettled. They all looked up and to one another…each one now filled with fear and anxiety. Bahamut looked more troubled than any of them.

"…So our worst fears were right all along." He stated darkly. "This entire operation was planned. Once again…we're doing the work of whoever wants the power of the Void."

"And it's a Sorceress, to boot." Cryder stated grimly.

Cid immediately snapped his head up. "…We don't know that. She might have been lying. Or maybe she only thought it was supposed to be…"

"She wasn't lying." Ceja stated grimly. "She was a coward when faced with her own mortality. Besides, if what she said was true, then she had nothing to gain from protecting the individual."

"…Perhaps this individual was only masquerading as a Sorceress…or even acting on behalf of one." Bahamut added after a moment. "Although it makes little sense for that individual to do so. If they were acting as a 'mysterious benefactor', they could have pretended to be anyone."

Cid looked to Bahamut at that…his face rather worried now, like a child who had just caught their parent doing something awful. "Lord Bahamut…you can't believe Faerio would-"

"Even if it _was_ a Sorceress, there's no guarantee it would be Faerio any more than it would be Mianyl, Cybus, or Veriguno." He simply responded. "It is, at this time, irrelevant. It matters little compared to what our current dilemma is. We know one thing for absolutely certain." He looked up to the others grimly. "…We were supposed to assassinate Rozan Hierarch. Obviously, whatever political or world-wide effect that his death will have on the world is another part of this 'puppeteer''s plan."

"So what are you suggesting, Lord Bahamut?" Carbuncle spoke up. "That we just walk away? Spare Rozan's life?" He gave a snort. "I'm sure we'll be a bit hit in Esthar after _that_."

"It doesn't matter." Bahamut responded. "All that matters at this point…more than this world war or anything else…is keeping Nyx Gaia from getting any closer. Even if it means things with Sybenia will continue, that's precisely what whoever is behind this _doesn't _want…so we need to act on that."

There was a moment of silence from everyone…but they all knew that was the truth. None of them had much love for Rozan or what he had done…but if whoever was playing them for fools and increasing the death and chaos in this world wanted him dead, then there was no question that he had to be saved. Cryder and Ceja both grimly acquiesced as Cid once again got out his earpiece to look to the radio, obviously for any developments in the main building. As for Carbuncle, he let out a long sigh and an eye-roll with his button eyes, but could say nothing else.

Bahamut turned his head to the floor. "Carbuncle…teleport us back out to where we were stationed before we came in, and then get to the top of the capitol building as soon as possible so you can teleport the rest of us back in there."

The green creature frowned a bit. "That's not going to be easy. Don't think just because I can squeeze in some ducts that I can move terribly fast on these tiny legs. Plus…they may not have seen me talk, but they saw me go in here…and then this happened. That's going to make me someone suspicious."

"Just get up there as fast as you can."

"He may need to be faster than _that_, guys…"

The group looked to Cid, as he grimly looked up from his radio unit.

"They're sending out word on the general alert now. The High Dictator's personal guard has been wiped out. There's nothing standing between the others and Rozan Hierarch."

* * *

><p><em>Beep.<em>

The elevator, for being private and styled with gold and ivory on the inside, still let out a rather characteristic noise as it ceased moving. Soon after, the doors slid open…and what was beyond was revealed.

In truth, it looked very much like the last floor in terms of art and décor. As with the rest of the Guiding Hand, everything depicted the greatness of the old kingdom that had been founded by Odin. Very ancient architecture and bas reliefs. Unlike the previous floor, however, the walls here were clear…nothing but a series of slanted archways that were filled with glass windows. From here, with an easy view of the entire city, including the smoke-filled skies and the battle far in the distance…which was growing smaller now, as it seemed the attacking fleet was pulling out…and no airships were visible anymore…but the view made one look rather like a god before a sprawling landscape. 'The king of all he surveyed', and what have you.

Aside from all of this…the edge of the room was at a slightly higher elevation, in a ring of steps. There was only one bit of furniture…a desk also plated with gold. Very official…nothing more than what would be on any other high executive's desk. All of the papers had been cleaned and put way, however. The various items had been picked up that were loose, and the office supplies and standard of the Guiding Hand and Sybenia alike were both cleaned up. The chair was pushed in too.

Dael, on the elevator opening, only looked to that for a moment…before focusing entirely on what was beyond.

Back to her, arms crossed behind his own back, and holding onto what looked like an ornate spear that was both old and well-made, stood a young man with dark, almost slick-looking, black hair, slightly messy and unkept.

Dael narrowed her gaze, and stepped out of the elevator.

The others followed behind her…patched up as best as they could be. Taraketh was back at the "top of his game" in terms of magic, even after having used quite a bit to heal up everyone else. They all had their aches and pains, but all could still fight nearly at full again after he was done with them. One end of his kusarigama was useless, but he still had the chain and the hammer. Next was Quaren…down to his last clip in his rifle, which were anti-personnel bullets. He looked a bit unsteady, but was still determined. Finally, there was Jalab. He had thrown his staff away downstairs. It was one blow from shattering into dust. From here on in, he only used his fists. And, of course…Dael was in the lead, the Save the Queen put away at her side for a moment as her eyes narrowed ahead.

Each footstep they made echoed loud and long. By now, the explosions were gone. As the city burned all around them, they were left in silence save for the humming of internal machines to the building.

Finally, about halfway to him, Dael stopped, causing the others to halt as well. A hand went on her sword.

"…Rozan Hierarch." Dael stated rather coldly.

The young man didn't move.

"You now have two choices available to you. You can either come with me quietly as my prisoner to Esthar, or you can die right now where you stand. What will it be?"

The figure said nothing in response right away. The silence lingered a little longer. But he did eventually speak…and his voice was just as thin and cruel as ever.

"So…the executioner has passed my final obstacle…and now is here to carry out the will of her master like a good little doggie…" He spoke coolly. He soon let out a snicker. "…Bitter irony. I suppose I can't really fault you. After all…_I _danced to the tune up until today. Until I started realizing I was just another stalk of wheat to harvest."

Dael's gaze narrowed, but she didn't change. "…Who was helping you, Rozan? Who's been dictating your actions?"

A snort came out as the head turned…just enough to see his thin, cruel face.

"Don't talk to me as if I'm on your level, bitch. Or as if I'm willing to grant any request you have." He held for a moment longer, but then exhaled, closing his eyes, as he fully turned to the others.

"…I believed in the Guiding Hand and its principles. And why shouldn't I have? I was my father's son, after all… You people of Esthar…you all think it was an elaborate ruse. A sophisticated system. Something designed to pull the wool over the eyes of an entire nation and secure power for myself. And you know what? Perhaps it _did_ become that. Yet I know what you're all thinking even now…thinking I had my own family killed just to secure my own power."

He scoffed.

"You know nothing of sacrifice. None of you. None of you have ever been leaders. All you've ever done is fetched sticks that your masters told you to. Do you think it is a petty or an easy thing to have your own brothers eliminated? To order the execution of men you once met at parties, and trusted whole-heartedly...even knew their wives and children personally? Who you knew were the best for the job in your heart of hearts? Political ideology is a horrible thing. If you want to create anything with it…you must also destroy. I believe in the Guiding Hand. I believe in a world without magic. I believe in a world without gods or mages…only men. And I knew I was the only one who could fulfill my father's legacy when he grew too weak to do it himself. How many great men…great commanders…great leaders…had to go their lives being despised and hated? What is the difference between the glorious, noble rulers who were on the 'winning side' of history, and the depraved, cruel, demented leaders who were on the 'losing side'?

"But none of you would know anything about that. You're only ants. You do only what people like me say, just as you always have and always will."

He formed a wicked grin here.

"…I don't think I wish for anything else in the world more at this moment than to see the looks on your faces when you feel the proverbial knives in your backs. I wouldn't have to wait long either…"

Taraketh grit his teeth here…the earlier memory of what Raven said coming back. "Shut up…" He sneered.

Rozan's grin faded into a smile. "Out of all the people it could have ended up being…it's you two." He stated after a moment. "High Child Sir Taraketh Sabian…and Commander Dael Levinson. Or is it 'lieutenant'? Or 'captain', even? I never forget a face. I remember you two well from when this all began…when I was told to start setting everything into motion. How strange…that one who has so much loathing for magic ends up doing what a magic user wants, no matter what she requests. Now…she rewarded me handsomely, to be sure…at least, until it became clear beyond a shadow of a doubt what she wanted. Now I'm simply a liability…or another phase of the plan. Now she intends for me to simply roll over and fall into place like you four did…"

His smile faded, and his gaze narrowed, as he swung his arms out from behind him and crossed the spear underneath him.

"…But I'm not the type to simply roll over and die. Perhaps she forgot the supreme condition I gave for my help…the thing that my father could never possess but that I made sure I would attain so I would never falter as he did…immortality!"

Dael and the others reacted to that for a moment. For a few seconds, she furrowed her brow. What did he mean by that? However, she shook that away. Her own face tightened, and she drew the Save the Queen out in a flash. The others quickly moved away from her a bit and readied their own weapons and attacks.

"If you want to die here, then so be it." She retorted. "Whether I'm doing the will of another or not, I'm not going to let you live to one day launch those missiles!"

For a brief moment, something happened that surprised everyone…

Rozan's face turned to a hint of puzzlement.

There was a moment of silence, with either side looking at each other. But then…Rozan's smile returned as his eyes grew wide and crazed. He began to chuckle darkly, soon breaking out past that into a laugh, and soon booming past that in a bellowing chain of mocking laughter. His face turned more demented and cruel than ever.

"You simple ants…you really don't know anything, do you?" He said in twisted glee. "You're dumber than sheep already in the slaughterhouse!"

Dael's surprise gradually faded…giving way to unease. "…What are you talking about, Rozan? What about the missiles?"

He laughed out loud again. "Forget it! You think I'm actually going to tell a mindless cow that? What would you do with it? Carry out the order like you carry out everything else your master tells you?"

The Esthar's Hawk was getting angry now. She tightened her grip on her sword, already looking for the spiritual divide again. Rozan looked pathetic enough, but no sense in…

_…What?!_

His grin returned as he calmed and glared darkly at the group. "I'll make a deal with you… I'll tell you right as you're hovering on the edge of death!"

Dael couldn't explain what she was seeing…but Rozan's aura was _blazing_. It possessed more spiritual energy than ever before. It almost looked like there was…

She didn't get another thought off…for in an instant Rozan was in front of her and swiping the end of his short spear at the side of her head. She only had time to gasp, along with the others, as she felt the blow both hit her and open a bloody gash across her cheek. The force wasn't as powerful as Raven's…but between her exhaustion and stamina loss, she was still torn off of her feet and thrown to the ground.

The others snapped to him…but before they could get an attack off…he vanished again and reappeared in front of Taraketh. The High Child went wide-eyed, forgetting to use a spell, before the staff portion of the spear went out, slammed in the side of his head, and threw him to the ground as well. He shifted again…and this time was right in front of Jalab…and drove the end of his spear deep into his right pectoral muscle. Jalab's eyes went wide. He didn't cry out, but showed clear pain as the man used that for leverage to yank himself up onto his chest, and then shoot out with two kicks so fast they seemed to gleam with light, striking him in the head one after another and sending the monk spilling back. He ripped the spear free as he did so, snapping away and landing on the ground.

Quaren quickly raised his rifle and took aim as Rozan snapped to him with an almost fiendish look. He immediately opened fire…only for the High Dictator to snap his head and body one way and the other, letting the bullets harmlessly shoot by as he moved too fast to even see. He simply seemed to leave one region of space and pop into another. Although the corporal had a dead eye and was fast on the trigger, the High Dictator dodged each one with a devilish smile. He seemed to actually strain a bit to do so…but none of the bullets even came close to grazing him as he closed in closer and closer. Even at point-blank range, Quaren's last shot only managed to just tear the edge of one of his shoulder lapels before he drove forward with his spear right for Quaren's gut. The Esthar's Hawk gaped and dropped his gun to quickly fall back…but it was only due to the fact he was wearing the more uniform and torso protection of a basic "shock troop" in Esthar's Hawks that the spear didn't pierce his abdominal wall. As it was, he snapped back and still got a thrust in the gut along with a stab, drawing blood as he spilled backward. His gun momentarily was dropped as he grabbed for his middle.

Dael, on her part, rubbed a hand along her face…wincing as she did so. The cut was fairly deep…but luckily hadn't gotten any of the musculature, or she'd be giving "half-smiles" for the rest of her life… She did look up and grit her teeth at Rozan, however, who had taken a moment to actually pause and put his spear at his side, looking down on them maliciously.

"As I figured…you thought I was just some obnoxious brat, didn't you? I studied with the spear for years. But even if I didn't…I'm much more than that. You didn't think I'd let the Elite Hounds 'hog' the junctions all to themselves, did you? I was the first one to be junctioned long before them. And my Guardian Force emphasizes speed. The fastest living thing. You really think you all can stand up to that?"

The captain merely grit her teeth and, in a snap, got back to her feet and held her sword before her.

"You may have speed…but everything else is lacking. Even Jay could hit harder than that." She retorted. "My guess is your stamina isn't much to speak of either. A few solid hits, and you'll be down for the count."

Rozan merely snicked in response, calmly letting Quaren grasp his side and go for his gun once again. He didn't react to Taraketh rising and starting to chant a spell, or Jalab getting up and focusing his aura.

"You make that sound so easy… I know full well I wasn't a match for them. Then again…I'm sure Raven and my Kaiser Raidens already knocked a lot of the fight out of you… But if you insist…then come! Let's see who earns the right to watch this world pass away!"

Giving another demented laugh, Rozan vanished and reappeared again, going right for Dael first.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	57. Demons and Fire

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I only did a glancing edit of this chapter, so please forgive any typos.

* * *

><p><em>It seems they made an entrance at least…<em>

Thanks to how much chaos the city was in, there were places to hide even within the square…albeit filthy ones. The location that Bahamut's group had chosen was an innocuous dumpster toward the rear of one of the various administration buidings within the complex. From here, they had a pretty good view of the capitol building itself…although getting in would be a bit more of an issue. At this point, they had to trust Carbuncle to be able to get past the defenses without bringing down the bulk of the army on them.

There was a mass of soldiers already guarded around the building base. Most of them were establishing a perimeter at this point. Already, a large number of soldiers and advanced drones, including Aegis Armors and a few new Kaiser Raidens, had gone in and were heading for the top floor, but according to Cid's radio, one of the main elevators was already destroyed, as was a stairwell shaft, and they were nervous that there was more sabotage awaiting them on the upper floors. Auto-defenses had been enabled, but that did little good. Apparently, the targets were already not only in a non-defended area, but they were also on one that was off camera. Bahamut had to gape a bit at the sight on the street, though. Several smashed Kaiser Raidens were strewn about, apparently having been knocked out of the top floor or near the top. Even they couldn't survive that far of an impact.

Cryder exhaled a puff of smoke and gave a whistle. "Phew…that fiery lass is sure makin' an impact, ain't she?"

Ceja frowned and waved in front of her face. "Must you insist on smoking while we are forced to hide in this metallic box?"

"Keeps me from stressin', lass." The pirate responded. "Besides…it's either cancer smoke or mildew. What smells better to you?"

The Fuliet warrior said nothing, just merely glared ahead.

Cid was keeping his ear on the radio, and suddenly went a bit rigid. Bahamut looked to him immediately at that, picking up on it at once. "What is it, Cid? Is it Dael?"

"No…well, yes…but…" He paused, and then exhaled. "…Raven's dead. They just confirmed it on their own stations. They say he was run through. They haven't been able to get up to him yet, but the security cameras show it all."

Ceja bowed her head a bit. "…I must admit, I feel a touch of jealousy at that. Dael was able to contend against their strongest warrior. I never received the chance to test my mettle against him."

Bahamut merely snorted in response to that. "Human pride…their desire to bash each other's heads in… I've never understood it and I never will."

Cid suddenly changed again, this time giving a grimace.

"…That ain't never a good look, mate." Cryder spoke up, being the one who noticed it this time.

He looked nervously to the others. "We've got a problem."

"Just _one_?" Bahamut answered.

"The Esthar force had to pull out." Cid stated nervously. "Lady Veriguno moved in on the south and started using her power. It's drawing away a lot of the force, but…not enough. They still have more to spare, and they're headed for this building right now. I mean…it's their High Dictator under assault. This kind of has priority."

"How long until reinforcements arrive?" Ceja asked.

"They're already on their way. Six minutes."

Bahamut frowned. "…There's no way we're going to be able to get to the top of this building without Carbuncle's help once they get here. What about the airfield?"

He shook his head. "No problems reported there. They must have been able to take it."

"Or they never made it." Ceja stated grimly.

Cid swallowed a bit. "…That's a possibility."

"In either case, they're going to be taking off soon." Bahamut responded. "Raven may be dead, but he effectively ruined any chance we had of 'slipping in and out'. And now they have the luxury of being able to focus on us. We have to get to that airship and make them wait."

Cryder raised an eyebrow. "Sure Dael would want that, lad? She's all about completing the mission just like any duly designated member of Esthar's Hawks."

"Last I checked, I am _not_ a member of Esthar's Hawks." The boy grimly answered. "And I don't abandon friends."

The pirate immediately grinned in response. "Aye…that sounds about right. In that case, you and the feral one stay here. Cid…gonna see if you can't lend me a hand with your tools. I'll make sure that airship waits for the lot of you."

Everyone looked a bit curiously to Cryder at that…except Cid, who was more of the 'nervous' kind. "Uh…er…me?"

"Are you sure?" Bahamut asked in some incredulousness.

Cryder pointed to himself. "Pirate, remember? I do this sort of thing in my sleep. Just requires a little 'unconventional thinking', mate." He looked over to Cid. "Do me a favor and cut out the back, would you, mate?" Look a little less obvious than just popping out of the dumpster for someone to see."

Cid hesistated, but finally sighed in acquiescence. "Alright…just keep in mind I'm at about 35% power…" He answered as he began to get out his cutting torch.

Bahamut stared at the pirate for a moment when he said this. Human pride was something he had little stomach for. Human tenacity, on the other hand…it still shocked him after thousands of years. Their ability to meet a challenge head on with little more than spirit going for them, and somehow succeed in the fact of terrible power and odds. While it seemed ridiculous all those years ago…it seemed Griever was right to fear them. For all the terrific power that the espers possessed, it was humans who were a greater threat and force than they could ever be. Cryder had found a way to go through that Arcadia facility. Maybe he and Cid could find a way here.

_Hopefully Carbuncle can find his way soon too._ He thought a bit darkly. _Whatever's going on in that upper floor, even if the mission is succeeding, can't be good._

* * *

><p>Unfortunately for Bahamut…he didn't have to worry too much about that.<p>

Dael, trying to put as much of her own speed on as possible, dove forward and stabbed for Rozan's back after his latest move. He turned his head slightly, grinning wickedly at her…and then vanished, leaving her to stab only air. She cursed mentally, but not nearly so much as when he appeared at her side a moment later, swinging his spear out in a slashing move for her side. That was the only advantage she received…the fact that he moved at more "regular speed" to slash. As such, she was able to snap her body back to avoid the blade. However, the staff still hit hard…missing the rib bone and instead hitting the kidney that was underneath it partially. The blow was a good one, and it made her gag from the sheer amount of pain as she faltered to the ground, while Rozan brought his spear around and looked down at her devilishly.

Quaren immediately fired at the side of his head…only to have Rozan vanish and appear in front of him, grinning and spear tip already aimed for his head. Yet as he drove it inward, the Esthar's Hawk quickly called to mind his own combat training and quickly dropped down to the floor, aiming a leg sweep out for him. He only heard a devilish snicker from Rozan as he easily leapt over for it and snapped out with a kick to his face. It connected hard…ripping him back and sending him crashing to the floor again. When it did, the rifle toppled out of his grasp. Quaren went for it…only to have Rozan materialize over his outstretched hand and dive down in a thrust kick that broke two bones. The corporal's eyes went wide and he cried out in agony as the High Dictator stepped off, and he grabbed his hand in agony, ignoring the wound that may or may not have clotted yet on his abdomen.

Still grinning, he looked up…seeing Jalab was planting his feet, bringing his fists inward, and summoning his aura again. Clearly, he was planning another energy attack, but he was taking his time, as it seemed. The young man turned fully to him and merely kept showing his teeth, waiting for him. A second later, he shoved both fists forward and fired off the beam at him. In response, Rozan vanished again…reappearing in the air…

When Taraketh, behind him, finished one of his own spells and fired out a Thundaga bolt at him from behind. However, as one deadly beam of energy went above, and the other sailed for him, Rozan merely let out a twisted giggle…and vanished again…going even higher than before, now letting both attacks go underneath him.

Both Jalab and Taraketh gaped in shock at how Rozan dodged their move, and Dael, who by now was swallowing enough of her pain to rise again, did much the same as she looked up to him…realizing what he was doing. Rozan wasn't kidding around…he _did_ have some advanced training with him. This wasn't just him moving fast. The ability to "ricochet" off of air itself…that was the mark of a special type of warrior. And the way he handled the spear…he could only be one thing. A Dragoon knight.

She saw further confirmation a moment later when, seemingly impossibly and defying the laws of physics, he dove like a shot straight down for Jalab with spear drawn. The monk's eyes widened, for although he wasn't moving in a blaze…he was still moving fast. Cutting off his beam, he quickly struck out and smacked the spear head away with a deflection move…but it not only still managed to slice his side, but a second later the foot of the man landed square in his chest. Although normally that part was the most durable, Dael still thought she heard bones creaking as he was ripped backward and sent flying to the ground. Again, not as good as Raven…but definitely the strongest hit he had made yet if it wasn't enough to drop Jalab.

In a flash, he immediately snapped around and flung his spear in a straight line behind him…right for his other attacker. Taraketh's eyes widened, but quickly he laced his "bad end" of his kusarigama around his hand and struck upward, deflecting the spear…but not as much as Jalab had. It was too powerful. It lodged itself in his upper shoulder, nearer to the collar bone. He was lucky that it missed the brachial artery…although he was feeling far from lucky at the moment when the spear tip went into the bone. His face tightened with agony as he cried out…before Rozan appeared before him and kicked him hard in the gut while grabbing onto the other end of the spear, ripping it out again and leaving a bloody trail in the air while also knocking Taraketh back to the ground.

As he stood there, Dael gave a yell and charged at him from behind again. Yet she was too slow. The man had both the time to snicker and shake his head sadly before vanishing again, reappearing behind Dael again just as she drove her sword forward. His spear was out, and he aimed it for her neck this time…only, when he stabbed inward…she too vanished to the tune of some arcane babble. For a moment, his smile faltered and was replaced by confusion, while she popped back into existence right next to his outstretched spear and drove right for his stomach with the Save the Queen. Yet a full three inches before it could pierce him…he vanished yet again, reappearing at her side, snickering all the way, and swinging his spear shaft around hard to drive it into her throat. Feeling her windpipe crushed, Dael's eyes went wide, and her arms fell, nearly dropping the sword, as she went back and gagged. Naturally, she was helpless to stop Rozan from lacing his leg around hers and violently tugging it out…dropping her on her face afterward.

A blaze of aura was heard shortly thereafter, and Rozan turned his head slightly…just in time to see Jalab burst into six flaming images and storm right for him. However, he merely let out yet another twisted chuckle…before diving right through all of them in a flash and driving his spear right for the "lead" one. Immediately, the flaming images aborted as Jalab came back into reality, eyes wide and grasping a spear aimed right for his heart in a "blade catch" as hard as he could. Rozan was poised over him cruelly for a moment, holding the spear there as the monk sweat, before his leg went out and rapidly slammed Jalab's head one way and another three times, and then drove forward hard, making him stagger back and fall again.

Snapping around, he grinned in delight at Taraketh next, who was grasping his bleeding shoulder, but had recovered enough to start focusing again. Letting out another demented laugh, he vanished and reappeared right in front of him…only to have Taraketh finish his spell. He didn't aim it at Rozan, however. Instead…the area around him ignited in flames. The High Dictator once again looked momentarily perturbed…and was forced to pull back and away. In response, Taraketh quickly brought his hammer up while still surrounded by fire, whipped it around, and then flung it at his spear…and connected, lashing around it. He quickly yanked back and gave a sharp tug to try and get rid of it…but Rozan's surprise vanished as he giggled and disappeared, leaving the spear behind. He soon reappeared over Taraketh's head, and the High Child looked up just in time to have a foot sail down and smash him in the face, ripping him out of his own fire spell, snapping his head back and out, and sending him sliding across the entire room with a rough impact agaist Rozan's own desk.

Again, someone tried to hit Rozan from behind. This time, it was Quaren. His assault was rather pathetic. With one hand broken, he couldn't very well aim his gun. And so…bracing the entire weapon on his shoulders like a crude club, and pressing his bad arm against his stomach wound, he charged right up for Rozan and swung out for his head. Long before it reached him…he flashed out and appeared facing him, simply putting up the staff of his spear to block the rifle as it swung toward him. He grinned maliciously at Quaren. In spite of himself, the corporal showed fear…but didn't let that stop him. He kept pushing, although it was in vain.

"What a joke." He snorted. "How on Gaia did you ever end up an Esthar's Hawk? Whatever do you think you're doing with this pathetic assault?" He grinned again, his eyes narrowing. "…Get out of my sight."

With that, he drove his fist forward while still holding Quaren's rifle back easily with one arm and send him flying back a few feet before dropping him to the ground. The blow was hard, definitely leaving a mark even if it hadn't broken anything, and he writhed a bit on the ground.

By now, Dael was just getting to her feet, look still determined in spite of her pain, and blood at the corners of her mouth. She leveled the Save the Queen in front of her again, although she was more wobbly than before. The others were only slowly getting up again. As for Rozan, he cracked a smile…and snapped out of existence again. Dael readied herself for a fight…only to see him pop in at a distance.

"Pathetic." He mocked. "Raven had such a hard time with _you_?" He paused a moment, and then sighed as he ran a hand through his messy hair as the other balanced on his spear. "…Then again, I suppose he took just a little too much of the fight out of you. Seems I won't be executed today. I guess I'll get to spit in her face after all… I'm getting a little bored, so I think I'll end this now."

Dael continued to pant as the others slowly got up. Jalab rose next, and breathed in and out a few times to stabilize himself. Taraketh was next, gritting his teeth and glaring hatefully at Rozan. After all…this was the true culprit. This was the man who had ordered the massacre of his order and people. And although he was trying hard not to be consumed by a desire for revenge…he wanted him down badly. Quaren, however, was only on his knees, having to pause to bandage his wounds. Yet that wasn't all. He began to reach into his boot for a cutting instrument of a sort.

As for the captain, she finally did something else. She smiled right back at Rozan.

"…I agree. It's time to end this fight. Though not in the way you're expecting."

For a moment, Rozan's smile ebbed…but then he merely broke into a grin and chuckled. "Oh my…did I knock part of your brain loose? You have yet to even lay a hand on me, shock trooper."

"You're a decent warrior." She answered. "But that's about all I'll give you. You have nothing on those Elite Hounds. Your only edge on any of us is speed."

Rozan's smile faded a bit more as his eyes narrowed. "…And it seems that is more than enough, doesn't it.?"

"Hardly." Dael instantly retorted…causing the smile to fade all together. "You lack a lot of control and focus. None of your blows have anywhere near the power they're supposed to. And you can't launch them quickly, either. Otherwise…you would have simply moved so fast that none of us would have seen anything but your blade 'materialized' in our bodies. You must lose all focus at that speed, meaning you have little experience using it in battle."

Now, the High Dictator began to show some anger. "Little whore…all of your blithering and blathering doesn't change the fact that I'm the one breaking your bones and spilling your blood while you're all looking around blankly."

Quaren, by now, began to chant a spell…just enough to heat up a knife he had gotten out. Once that was done, he began to "saw" the end of his own rifle barrel, removing the end a bit to make it easier to handle… Yet no one paid attention to this.

"That will change now, I assure you." Dael stated coldly and firmly. "Do you think I was able to go toe-to-toe with Raven right at the first go? No…I had a chance to learn his moves and how he operated from two prior battles. You, on the other hand, have less of a repetoire. I'm pretty sure I've got you know. I'm an Esthar's Hawk. It's my job to study my opponent in real time and respond. And I'm sure the rest of my team has the hang of you too."

Now, the High Dictator began to quiver in anger. "Miserable slut. I think I've had enough of your smug attitude. I'm going to carve that condescending look off of your pretty face."

With that, he vanished again…but reappeared in mid-air. He was faster now, and immediately went into a dive straight down for Matuhari, spear out and aiming right for her. The power was considerable and the speed was even faster, but she held her blade up and waited for him to come, even if she couldn't block at that speed…especially if he decided to move fast on air before she could see it and simply take a new angle.

Yet a split second before impact…her body was beaten out of the way by an impact from behind. Although it was a powerful blow that did it…she almost seemed to subconsciously expect it, and immediately rolled forward with it. Rozan's wild look abated in a moment of time, confused at what had just happened…before the source of the blow immediately moved into place. Jalab stepped forward, both of his arms crossed in front of him, sweating as he made his aura blaze…

It was too late for Rozan to move. His spear went in…right in the junction of the two arms. But at this point, Jalab was focusing almost all of his power into his body itself, and had concentrated his center of focus so that the spear would hit in the most well-defended, lowest priority spot. The spear connected…and even went in two inches…and made Jalab buckle and strain under the power. Yet in spite of that…the man only went back an inch, and actually held firm against the attack. Rozan's eyes actually went wide when he saw the monk stand up to a direct hit from one of his jumps…

Yet he had little time to worry about that…for Dael quickly snapped back up from her landing position and tore backward, bringing her sword out and swinging it in a wide arc for Rozan's exposed back. The High Dictator was actually surprised to see that he was being attacked so soon…and, worse yet, his spear was embedded in Jalab's arm, and the appendage had seemed to become like solid iron. He actually struggled for a moment before he was able to move rapidly again…pulling it free just in time and vanishing.

He reappeared behind Dael with the same devilish smile, moving in to stab her…only to lose his smile a second later when he saw the woman wasn't following through with her attack, snapping around and bringing the sword out to take off his head. Quickly, he moved away again, this time to the side, and behind the swing, so he was at an easier angle. Sure enough, he appeared at Dael's exposed side, and immediately laughed as he dove out to stab for her flank…only to turn into a cry of pain a moment later.

The hammer of Jalab's kusarigama sailed through the air and beaned him solidly on the side of his own head.

It wasn't enough to break any bone…but it would be ridiculous to say it didn't hurt. The young man cried out in agony and actually stumbled…but he didn't get a chance to breathe. Dael, sweating and working hard to keep up her own speed, managed to break off her attack and shoot right for him in a chop. He tried to get enough of his bearings to move…but the best he could do was weakly look up, and just place his ornate spear across his chest as Dael swung down Save the Queen on it. Soon, he was caught in a clash…and it was only because his spear was indeed ancient and well made that he didn't have a bloody slash across his chest. He looked honestly stunned. How had he ended up like this? Not only hit in the head, where a large bruises was forming and oozing blood out of one spot, but actually pinned down by Dael. It wasn't a good place to be, either…for she quickly forced down her sword on him to try and overwhelm him…and he was her inferior when it came to raw strength.

Soon, his look went from surprise to rage. In a blur…he vanished from under the sword, aiming his spear for her backside. Yet before he could press any more, Jalab, still blazing with aura, broke out of his "defensive" stance and aimed his palms at him again…firing off another beam. He snapped to him and hissed…immediately flash stepping and appearing right in front him, swinging his spear tip out for his neck. Jalab was forced to cut off his beam and quickly put up his forearm…catching the blade there. It hurt more this time, making him wince as it cut deep…but it also held onto his weapon yet again. That gave Taraketh a chance to finish his own spell, and soon his aura blazed as his hands extended and sent a storm of deadly icicles rocketing for Rozan. The young man snapped in surprise to this, and immediately went on the move again, moving like a rapid blur, looking like a piece of badly edited footage, as he dodged each and every one. As he did, he began to advance looking to try and come closer to Taraketh, trying to hit him with the spear and strike him down…

Yet just as he got within striking range, and Taraketh cut off his own attack, Dael shot forward and swung out with her blade again, deflecting his spear far and to the left. Rozan let out an audible hiss in reply, annoyed at this distraction, and quickly moved again. He reappeared in midair, clearly ready to launch another jump attack, this time on Dael… But before he could, he suddenly saw a muscle-bound, bleeding body shoot right up and into his path. His eyes barely had time to widen before a fist headed for his gut. He tried to move again. In fact, he spasmed in midair. However…he had no terra firma this time, and a Dragoon can only jump "on the wind" so many times per move…leaving him helpless to do anything but have a powerful fist smash into his gut.

Rozan actually gaped in shock as he crumpled around the fist, his crazed eyes going wide from the hit. Even with a junction…even with Jalab severely weakened…he couldn't shrug off a hit so easily. Soon, his head was snapped one way and the other as the monk's fist smacked it one way, and then another punch sent him crashing back down toward the floor.

Somehow, the young man landed on his feet, although he faltered for a moment and nearly dropped down to one knee. However, when he snapped his head up…his malicious glee was replaced to fury and anger. He had a number or bruises and aches now, and sweat was beginning to accumulate on his brow. But even now, he hardly had a chance to plan any counter, for Dael was diving at him again, keeping up the pressure. Immediately, she swung her sword at him again. He managed to raise his spear up to block it…but the impact drove him into more pain and caused him to fall back further. She followed up with another slash, which he deflected, but only barely this time. He was slipping, and each blow he took was making him focus too much on straight fighting rather than speed…which he didn't have time for.

On that note, he snapped free, dodging Dael's next thrust and countering for her neck…but he didn't get a chance. Immediately, he was beset by a flaming image of Jalab, forcing him quickly move away. Another flaming image came at him, and he quickly dodged that as well…but before he could move in closer to Jalab, Dael dove at him again with another slash. He quickly corrected and moved back…only to have to dodge another flaming image. Growing both more irritable as well as increasing in his amount of sweat, he snapped free and dove for Dael again…only to have her vanish as well and stab at him from behind. This time, when he got free…a bloody gash still ripped along his backside. He winced in agony, but more in fury at how she got him, and how he couldn't even counter due to the flaming storm still coming. He might have been able to move faster than her teleportation…but that was when he didn't have to dodge another attack as well.

The flaming images soon died down…and he dodged another hit from Dael and three successive ones. He didn't try to counter right away. He needed a moment for his pain to subside. But as he finally recovered enough to advance again…the ground suddenly started to rumble violently around him. A quake spell had been used by Taraketh, and it began to tear up the area all around him, shattering the fresco on the floor into sections. Suddenly, bits of rock began to erupt from it. Some of them came dangerous close to him. He dodged one, then another…but a third still shut up and smashed into the side of his head sending him staggering…

Dael seized on that moment and came forward again. This time, she put as much power as she could into the blow, bringing it up and over her head as she barreled right for the High Dictator. His eyes snapped open, and he spotted her. Quickly, he brought his spear up to counter, but he was weakened, stunned, and off balance. He managed to bring it up in protection while still moving back, but Dael's sword still came down hard, connected with it…and severed it in two. Rozan's eyes only had a moment to gape in shock before Dael followed up with a thrust kick toward his gut…stronger than his. He let out a loud "oof!" as the air was knocked out of his lungs, he was ripped off his feet, and sent sliding back, his feet grinding on the floor. As the quake subsided, he landed and slid across the floor a distance before coming to a halt.

Once there, he faltered again, dropping the non-bladed end of his spear and grasping his stomach. The blow had not been light. Even if it hadn't broken any bones, it had still done some damage and taken something "out of him". His body may have been more durable than a normal man's, but it wasn't used to taking a beating. He grit his teeth and gasped for a moment, catching his breath…until he saw just how bad his current state was. His weapon, one of the finer, ancient spears, had been cleaved in two, removing his ability to use his Dragoon jump that well.

He snapped his head up a moment later, glaring hatefully at his opponents. Quaren had just finished managing to knock the end off of his barrel. It wasn't the most scientific or accurate weapon in the world…but at this close range, it hardly mattered, and now he could use it with one hand thanks to his own junction. Taraketh had stowed his weapon and was ready to cast another spell. He seemed to want to finish Rozan through magic. As for Jalab, he was bleeding and hurt, but channeling his pain so that he could keep fighting at full. Dael herself was still breathing a bit hard, but had her sword at the ready. By now…neither side had a clear advantage anymore. And if it came down to a simple matter of four on one…the outcome was decided.

Dael knew that…but also knew that this was too easy. She doubted that Rozan, confident as he had been, would have exhausted his "trump card" already.

She was right.

After a moment, Rozan's pain ebbed enough for him to form his sadistic grin again.

"Silly me…thinking the master's bitch would be so easily put down… I could kill you all right now easily enough…but that would take all day. So before I destroy any chance of victory you have and smash your pathetic hope to dust in the face of a true immortal…I think I'll bring out enough power to have you howl for mercy like whipped puppies."

He drew in a deep breath, forced himself to his feet with his half a spear, and then grinned darkly. After that, he looked down to his broken weapon…and then simply tossed it away. After that, he inhaled once, exhaled, and then began to chant.

_A spell…_

Immediately, Dael snapped at him. She shot out for his now-unarmed body with sword outstretched for his throat. However…he had them all on one side now, and he simply flash-stepped backward and out of range, not only of the stab, but well out of range of a follow-up hit. Quaren leveled his cut barrel over his bad arm for balance and fired, but the High Dictator sidestepped again…although this time he winced and turned his head to one side…for the bullet managed to rip off part of his left ear. Taraketh fired a ball of flame at him next…but he only moved rapidly to get around that too, popping into the air in a burst of light, letting the fireball go under him and smash into his desk, immediately covering it with flames, and then landing again lightly. Jalab, unfortunately, couldn't throw in his own blow. He was focusing too much on defense, and it took an "adjustment" period to get out of it.

Rozan's look only turned more crazed and malicious as he continued to chant. Finally, he finished, letting out one last arcane word…one that Dael wasn't familiar with. However, as she and the others braced for a spell…nothing happened. At least…nothing directly from Rozan. Instead…the room began to darken. Dael realized what it was.

_A summon…_

"Oh, come on!" He taunted. "Big bad Valkyrie of Esthar…you aren't so scared you're trying to stop me before I can finish, are you?" His eyes narrowed, his pupils seeming to shrink. "You should be…"

The dark portal appeared behind him…and something began to emerge. Dael tried to recall her magical barrier spell. Unfortunately…she didn't use that as often as teleportation, images, or physical barriers. Not only that, but her magical stamina was running low. Instead, she began to reach down for her Mage Gun. Maybe she could use that instead… Yet even as she did, the thing inside the portal leapt out and slammed down on the fresco in the chamber, letting out a monstrous roar…or, rather, three of them.

The beast in question was the side of a dire bear if not larger. It was almost all black and gray with sleek fur, canine paws topped with deadly, razor-sharp claws, and rimmed with blood red trim around various body parts. Yet although it was rippling with muscle…none of that really meant much compared to the most fearsome feature of all. It possessed not one, not two, but three canine heads. Each one possessed a fearsome maw showing off rows of razor-sharp teeth, and the eyes seemed to glow with spectral, yellow light. Dael wasn't a member of the Order of Hyne, but by now she had done enough research to recognize this one.

"Cerberus…"

"Unfortunately, I'm not surprised." Taraketh stated darkly. "It was known he was somewhere in this region…"

However, after saying this…nothing happened. The fearsome monster just stood there. And Rozan, on his part, calmly walked over in front of it. Dael soon realized something was wrong here… Why wasn't it performing an attack? Isn't that what summons did? Why was it just standing there…?

"We worked out a special relationship, Cerberus and I." Rozan said twistedly as he moved right in front of the beast. Once there, he did something surprising. He suddenly reached out with one of his hands, seized his own elegant uniform and tunic…and ripped it right off of his body, revealing his scrawny…yet well toned…body beneath. Dael and the others were confused at this…but realized it couldn't be good. "We both hate magic users and Sorceresses…as well as their lap dogs. And so long as he got a chance to kill humans, he was willing to serve me. He was even to allow me to make the 'supreme sacrifice'."

Dael only looked more puzzled when she heard that. "…What are you talking about?"

"You don't really mean…"

The captain turned her head slightly to that sound, but kept her eyes on Rozan and Cerberus. However, even without seeing the person…she knew who had spoken. It was Taraketh…and he didn't sound very well at ease.

As for Rozan, he spread his legs out, raised his arms to his side, and stuck out his chest, grinning madly the whole way.

"Even if I kill you…she'll come for me regardless. So why prolong the inevitable? I'll show you all what you have to sacrifice to obtain the true power of a junction…right before I kill you with it."

Abruptly…Cerberus moved too. The monster dog suddenly reared up on his hind legs, and somehow managed to spread his paws out as he left his head, and then came down and over Rozan's own extended body, overlaying his own limbs on his. Dael didn't know what the point of this was…until she saw something horrifying.

Rozan seemed to _recede_ into the chest of Cerberus. The flesh, hair, even the bones (from the sound of the snapping and popping) seemed to merge together. He literally sank into it, and his own chest musculature, even his skeleton, twisted and adjusted to accommodate it. It sounded horribly painful at best…or just plain horrible at worse…and caused the others to freeze and simply stare in shock. Yet the scene only got worse. It looked as if Rozan's legs and hips were swung backward, like he was an oversized, over-articulated action figure. Those merged with the same flesh of Cerberus, only they went all the way in and vanished.

As his head pulled back into Cerberus' chest, the heads themselves shifted and readjusted, so that they were more of a triangle placement rather than in a line. Rozan himself moved in the midst of them, and continued to have the bulk of his body sink inside as, with a wet ripping sound and to the tune of bones crunching, Cerberus' forelimbs, combined with Rozan's own, split in two. Two of them snapped up to form a pair of limbs decked with claws for forelimbs, only continuing to have human musculature. The others remained below, fully regrowing into the original limbs. The tail lengthened to offset this counterweight, and the torso of Rozan receded more until it was about two thirds completely within the Guardian Force. Only then it stopped…like some estranged feature of musculature protruding from the body. The head was mostly still protruding from the midst of the canine ones…looking almost like it was simply resting in the "nook" than actually joined with the rest of the body.

Here, at last, the sounds of flesh and bone changing were done…and what stood before them was a nightmare. Rozan looked like he had actually united with Cerberus in the same body. Although the air turned light again…the horror remained before them. After a moment, Rozan, eyes still filled with madness and maliciousness, looked up to the others.

_"Like what you see?" _He asked…his voice now a twisted mass of his younger, demented self as well as the ferocious growling of Cerberus.

Dael was at a loss for words at what Rozan had done, not really able to comprehend it. However, one among them was.

"A full junction…I didn't think anyone would be crazy enough to actually do it…"

The captain, in spite of her better judgment, looked away from the monster and to who had spoken: Taraketh again. She wasn't alone. Quaren looked as well.

"What are you talking about? We're junctioned and we don't look like that!"

"That's because only our spirits have been linked!" The High Child responded. "He's actually junctioned to the body as well! But that's suicide! He can't break off again without killing himself!"

Rozan merely grinned and chuckled in response. _"Not like I would have lived much longer if I had stayed in that body to begin with. Think I'm so flawed as a fighter?"_

Abruptly, he was gone. Dael's eyes widened, and the others reacted in surprise. All they heard was a crack of what sounded like thunder. Immediately, she raised her sword, waiting to fight back…when she heard a monstrous voice from behind them.

_"Too slow, wench."_

She and the others snapped around, seeing the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid now standing behind them, grinning wickedly all the while.

_"Come on…you're not that surprised, are you? I could run rings around you even before the full junction." _He hissed. _"But what was that you said? That I had to take time to put some power into my punches? In that case…"_

Dael wasn't sure what had happened. Next…only that she felt terrific pain lash across her body like a whip, and at once the sheer force ripped her backward and sent her flying. Somehow, she kept her wits about her enough to see…and saw it wasn't just her. Everyone else was flying away too from being smacked away. This blow was by far the strongest one Rozan had inflicted yet, and it happened so soon that her body and mind had a hard time comprehending what had just happened. She didn't even know the cause…only that Rozan was suddenly standing where they had been a moment ago, and they were flying away from him in all directions. She landed hard a moment later, jarring her body and causing her gun to go out of one hand.

Head spinning, she figured that Rozan had attacked…moving so fast she couldn't even see it. But this time was worse than before. Even if the speed was the same…the power had increased, and now the blows came just as fast as the rest of him. Although her landing was rough, she quickly snapped her body up into a roll, struggling to get to her feet again. Not only her, but the others, writing and sore as they were, with Quaren looking the worse though Taraketh not far behind, began to roll up as well. But she and the monk got up first…

And it happened again. All Dael managed to see clearly was the hideous monster moving around her in a blink of an eye, like some demented thing of nightmares. But every time she saw an image…she felt a powerful blow, like a ball of iron, smash into a part of her body. It teleported and moved around her again and again, smashing here in her stomach, then her chest, then her face, then her leg. Some of the blows were good and some weren't, but they literally hammered her so fast that she hadn't a moment to cry out from one before another struck her. The beating was so savage and severe she literally felt her body elevated off the ground…and then hover there as she was pummeled again and again, knocking out a lot of her health and stamina that she had regained from Taraketh…

Finally…after what could have been no more than five seconds, although it felt like forever, she was released…left to drop in a pile on the ground. Her body was wracked with so much pain and trauma she went limp on doing so, letting her sword clatter out of her grasp. Thankfully, only so many of the painful blows had been to her head, and she weakly looked up and out…only to see that the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid had already moved to another. Jalab was now being beaten around from all angles. He had to have solidified his body still, because he was bearing up with it remarkably well. But the blows came so fast and rapidly that all Dael saw was a haze of a monster running around the monk, and impressions in his skin as each blow went out one after another.

The young officer held for a moment, looking this over. Rozan's power had definitely increased…and now it seemed he didn't have to stop moving to focus his blows. Dael began to feel herself sweat to see this. He had removed the weaknesses he previously had…and she knew they couldn't "adapt" to him so well this time. It would be hard enough at full power, but all of them were beginning to run on fumes… There was no way they were going to end this now unless they somehow managed to slow him down. Her teleportation was useless now even if she could do it again…which would be taxing if she managed to get out another one. However, she did have one other thing in reserve…

She realized Jalab was able to keep up a lot more with this pounding. Even the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid wasn't quite as tough as Raven…which meant he could take it longer. And with his current technique, he was somehow taking the beating and occupying Rozan. With that in mind, he began to drag herself over to the Mage Gun. It wasn't far, and she knew the Gravija bullet was inside. It had a pretty good area of effect…but even if she couldn't get him in the vicinity, she could shoot while he was occupied with Jalab… The monk would forgive her if it finished him…

After a few steps, she reached out grab it…only to see a bestial claw materialize next to it and sweep out…instantly kicking it across the room, before vanishing again. Dael reacted in shock, only to see the form reappear right next to her. She snapped her head to it and looked up in shock.

The Rozan-Cerberus hybrid was grinning down at her…but only for a moment before it changed position slightly, like a bad piece of film, and kept grinning. She blinked for a moment at this…before she realized what was happening. Jalab was still being smacked around in the background, being kept from touching the ground just as she was. He was moving so fast…he had time to come out and gloat over her in between blows.

_"Ah-ah, little magic whore." _He scolded in between teleports. _"No more of that from you. I'm just softening you up for the finishing blow, after all. I want to be able to torture and kill your four at my leisure, without interruptions…"_

With that, a blow came from one leg like a piece of steel dropped from a roof…and she was again ripped off of the ground and sent flying back until she collided with the wall of the chamber, far from her weapon. This time, the blow was so severe, she was stunned and dazzled momentarily. At first, all she could do was writhe, and after that all she could do was open her eyes.

Jalab had held out well…but he was faltering quick. He wasn't invincible, after all. Yet as he continued to get beaten, Taraketh again managed to prop himself up. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and after a moment held out his hand as his aura ignited. In response…Rozan suddenly vanished, letting Jalab fall to the floor…just before a "clock face" of white spheres appeared where he had been and began to spin around counter-clockwise, growing slower as they did so. However…they hit nothing.

The Rozan-Cerebus hybrid had already reappeared at the side of Taraketh, grinning at the entire thing, letting it go by while he was helpless to react. Only when he managed to break off the spell and start turning to him did the monster simply backhand him away, sending him flying…and then reappeared behind him in his path and slammed him down. He didn't bother repeatedly beating Taraketh like the others. After all…he didn't have the physical strength, and he was already weary. Once he was down, he only ran up to him to start lashing against him with his powerful tail to try and put him down longer.

Dael knew she had to do something, and she only had moments. She had to try to stun him long enough to land a hit…hopefully a fatal one. Quaren, she saw, was rising…but doing so slowly. He knew full well what would happen if he did so fast. The same thing that happened to Dael. Instead…the woman concentrated for a moment. It was getting harder to use magic. This move alone was taking a lot out of her…but maybe it would buy at least a second…

Finally, her aura ignited. Unfortunately, Rozan was more alert now in addition to more powerful. The instant that the light erupted off of her, he teleported again…in front of her once more. But before he could strike any blows, seven Daels leapt off of the one on the ground, picked up their swords, and began to rush at him. Even with his speed, she hoped, at the minimum, it would be enough to hold him fast for just a moment or two through distraction if nothing else. She herself force more strength into her limbs and took up her own sword, hoping to possibly throw it at him or something…

No such luck.

The Rozan-Cerberus hybrid had enough time to actually laugh at the attack…before, seemingly all at once, all seven images vanished. Dael hardly noticed…for they seemed to disappear at the exact moment she felt herself struck in the gut so strongly that she crumpled around the fist, again leaving the ground. The monster didn't bother moving fast this time. Instead, as he formed again, he was standing right there ,with his limb still pounded deep in her stomach. The blow was accurate…right in the solar plexus and leaving her both drained and weak. She could only moan as she saw Save the Queen clatter out of her grasp to the floor once again.

A moment later, his other monstrous fist wrapped around her throat and hoisted her in the air, so she could look at his devilish face from the center of the three beast heads, each looking ready to rip her face off.

_"You're pretty dumb, dog. You don't seem to know when to quit. Is that a trait of a 'true Valkyrie'? To not stop until they're torn apart? Perhaps I can oblige you…"_

The fist began to clench. It closed the windpipe…but Dael was more worried when she felt it start to pinch the carotids. If that happened…she could pass out in moments…and die soon after…

Yet, suddenly…she was released. As she gasped, she fell to the ground in a heap. Somehow, she got her legs and arms beneath her enough to keep her from collapsing entirely…but her throat was tender and she began to gasp. She weakly looked up to see the cause…and saw it soon after.

Taraketh had raised a barrel up to his head and aimed for Rozan again…but now, that barrel was flying through the air and far from him, while the corporal was in the grasp of his large fist and being throttled the same as Dael had been. She could do nothing, though. Even if she could muster a spell, her throat was choked and raspy, unable to make a sound. She could only see Taraketh standing in pain, grabbing the arm with one hand, and see the barrel fall far from him.

_Wait…that's not…_

_ "You still trying to live, little wretch?" _The monster snorted at him. _"What a joke. Some spoiled little rich snot in the Esthar's Hawks. You're the only greater embarrassment than recruiting wo-"_

_BLAM._

Dael's eyes snapped open in spite of her pain. Jalab looked up as well…just in time to see the back of the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid's skull explode straight through the chest. Quaren had his teeth grit…but no longer in pain. They were in fury as he held his cut-off gun barrel underneath the chin of the monster. Slowly…the hand loosened and let him fall to the ground…but although he faltered, he continued to stand with his sawn-off rifle barrel.

"That was my periscope I tried to 'shoot' you with, jerk." He snorted in the boldest tone the mild-mannered young man could manage. "I still had my gun on me the whole time."

Rozan, naturally, didn't answer…just bled from beneath his chin and out his back. His body slumped down, and managed, either by reflex or some other power, to stagger back a few feet away from Quaren…and then collapse…first on his limbs, and then completely to the floor at an angle. He lay there and moved no more.

The corporal finally relaxed and began to rub at his neck. His gun was still smoking, but he lowered it, and weakly looked out to the others.

"Are the rest of you alright?"

Taraketh was only slowly coming back into awareness, not able to rise or do much yet. Jalab had taken quite a beating…but the man had the body of a granite mountain, it seemed, and even now he was somehow pushing himself up in spite of his mass exhaustion and energy expenditure. Dael was in a lot of pain, but she forced herself to ignore it and push herself up once again. She only managed to make it to one knee, though, and grunted as she reached down and shakily grabbed her sword handle. However…most of her look was reserved for Quaren…as well as a wry smile.

Again, she was reminded of the "rich kid who wouldn't quit" from the Academy. It seemed Rozan himself lived a life of privelage only to be ignorant of what a person could do regardless of that when the time came. She actually felt a bit of pride at him for a moment, and he knew it. He managed a weak smile back.

Unfortunately…those were the only smiles exchanged.

Suddenly…both of them felt very warm on their sides facing Rozan, like the room was heating up…and the light was growing brighter.

"Beware…" Jalab's voice suddenly rang out.

Dael and Quaren snapped to him on hearing that, and saw the monk looking rather tense and fearful as he looked up and ahead of him at Rozan's body. Something was happening. The air above it was rippling with intense heat…and glowing. It was a yellow, burning light…dim at first, but quickly growing stronger…and hotter. The two had barely noticed it when it was already as bright as a flashlight in the face, and growing brighter. They were forced to shy away from it after only a moment, but it continued to grow brighter and more brilliant yet.

"Beware!" Jalab shouted. "Rozan…spirit lives!"

Quaren looked to him. "What does that mean?" He asked in a nervous tone.

However, the only response that occurred was the brilliance growing even stronger, becoming dazzling. Almost like a piece of the sun had come into the chamber. The heat grew so strong that Dael had to get up just to recoil away from it. But suddenly in the middle of it all, a burst of fire went off that drove everyone back further from the heat…but also made the center just dim enough to see. Dael recoiled for a moment, and then looked into it.

To be honest…she found herself in awe. From the midst of the miniature sun, which now burst into a million flames of solar light, she saw a glorious, magnificent sight. A bird as radiant as the sun and seeming to be made of living fire, like the light of a soul personified, was hovering there. It's wings were long and spread out like recurved flames, it possessed long flank feathers like tresses, brilliant tail feathers that were made of "links" of peacock-like tips in a chain, and the bird itself was as fantastic and graceful as an eagle and shimmering and beautiful as a male tropical avian. The feathers on its wings closest to its body were the most brilliant…as iridescent and glorious as a rainbow, with the light the great bird generated causing them to shimmer and sparkle. At full wingspan and height with the tail feathers, the bird had to be a good twelve feet long and fourteen feet wide, and like the sun, or even life, embodied, it hovered there a moment…

Then, all of the sudden, it swept down on the remains of the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid and swept its wings over it. Immediately, the bird burst into intense, roaring flame that made everyone, including the recovering Taraketh, recoil further. Immediately, the bird was consumed utterly inside of it, as was the form of Rozan's body. The fires were so intense, it took only moments…although, with that much heat, it should have set the room on fire or burned a hole through the floor.

As soon as it was done…the heat evaporated just as easily as a gas balloon lit aflame…in fire one moment and then gone the next. All that was left in its wake was a pile of ashes. Well…perhaps 'pile' was too light of a word. More appropriate would be a mound, and a big one. In fact, as Dael looked to it, she figured that it seemed a little too large for a couple of burned bodies. But why exactly would that bird have incinerated itself and him in the process?

She didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Spirit lives!" Jalab exclaimed, struggling to get up.

Dael heard that phrase again, and thought for a moment. What if she tried looking to him using that "spiritual vision"? With that in mind, she decided to give it a shot. It came easy enough when she was like this. Yet when she used it…she gaped at what she saw. Rozan's spirit, blazing and big as ever, was still in the midst of the ashes…and soon she saw why.

The mound shuddered once, before the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid, without a mark on it, rose up from the ashes, scattering them everywhere, and began to crack his necks…all four of them.

The four, for Taraketh now had gotten enough bearings back to look up, were overwhelmed. There wasn't even a scar from the bullet. As for Rozan, he finished cracking and grinned at Quaren.

"_Nice one, you little twerp." _He sneered. _"Savor the flavor, because that was the only hit you'll get. Not like it would matter anyway, though…" _He looked out to the others. _"Still underestimating me, are we? Did you think I was lying when I said I've attained immortality?"_

"What…was that…bird…?" Taraketh managed to choke out.

The monster crossed his arms. _"You really want to know? Fine…I guess I can let you in on that much if it'll crush your spirits a bit more." _He grinned on all four heads. _"…This was a gift that only I had access to. Courtesy of Dr. Luccia Lindst. She modified my body so I could junction myself to more than one Guardian Force at a time."_

The group was stunned yet again. "That's impossible…" Taraketh began to groan from the ground. "A human body…can't handle three spirits inside of it…"

"_True…I had to be careful with this one." _Rozan answered. _"I definitely couldn't even do a full spiritual junction. But that matters little when I still benefit from its greatest power. You're a Child of Hyne, worm…don't tell me you didn't recognize that Guardian Force."_

Taraketh merely grit his teeth back. "That was no Guardian Force…we have all the ones in existence recorded… That was a firebird that can heal injuries. There was never even an esper like that except for-"

He suddenly cut himself off, eyes going wide in realization.

Dael didn't like that look. "…Except for who?"

He held a moment, and then answered. "…Except for one of the original espers…one of the most ancient…the firebird Phoenix…the legendary creature that had the power of life over death itself. Whose down and pinions continued to reproduce themselves of their own accord even after they were plucked from her body…"

"_A lovely combination of a history and a mythology lesson." _Rozan cut off. _"You have no idea what I had to go through in order to make Phoenix live again…how much time and resources were required under strict conditions. But it was well worth it. I'm junctioned to Phoenix. I can't die." _He grinned wider. _"But all of you still can. That's why I haven't killed you already. As you're only able to taste death once…I want to make sure it's lingering…"_

With that, he disappeared again…striking Quaren with a blow to rip him off of his feet and send him falling to the ground again. From the position, it looked like he punched him in a stab wound. Dael grimaced at the sight, realizing what he said meant…realizing how dim it made a chance of victory look.

_Now what?_

* * *

><p>Bahamut was getting rather nervous now. He thought he could hear the sounds of an airship engine warming up. Was Cryder too late? The man couldn't do everything, after all. He wasn't even sure how he managed to get in…only that he ran around to the back of the building on an unprotected side in the shadow of one of the support towers, and then did something. As to what, he had no idea. But that left him and Ceja behind, and both were getting more nervous. Every minute that went by brought more soldiers to the front of the building. Many of them were heading straight inside. Alarms inside the building were going off outside of broken windows. What did it all mean? He was hoping it indicated they were on their way out…even if the only way that would be true would be if Dael had succeeded in her mission, which was, at this point, something he didn't want.<p>

Frankly…he just wanted to be on his way out of here. The emergency crews were already deploying to the damaged areas, and although he couldn't hear the radio transmissions, even if Veriguno was still launching a distraction move, this was the "hottest place" in Sybenia right now. And it was getting worse every minute. It was only a matter of time before they brought a mech or other war machine out that could shut down an airship. And if the soldiers got too high, as he feared they were, then that meant that they wouldn't be able to fake Rozan being moved out…which he assumed would be the main "cover story" for getting the airship out of there without being shot down on sight…

Ceja was pretty anxious as well. She may not have grasped the entire situation as perfectly as Bahamut, but she knew that things were getting worse when she saw them. She looked ready to get into battle, the way she kept gripping her axe. But starting a fight here would accomplish little and Bahamut knew it. They'd only be able to cut through so many before they were shut down. It wouldn't even work as a decent diversion. Their only way now was Carbuncle…

And just as he thought that…a ruby flash of light ignited, and he popped in right in front of them.

Bahamut and Ceja turned to him in a snap, even as he rubbed his nose and snorted. "You couldn't find a less smelly place while I was gone, you guys?"

"Forget that." Bahamut retorted. "Did you make it to the top?"

"Close. The last room was a mess. The elevator was shut down. I couldn't get inside…at least, not with these little paws." The Guardian Force responded. Soon after, however, he looked puzzled and glanced about him. "…Hey, where did Cryder and Cid run off too?" He frowned. "Come on…I wasn't _that_ late…"

"Forget that for now." Bahamut answered. "Just get us up there. We have to stop Dael before she kills him."

"Alright, alright…keep your shirt on." The green creature grumbled. "Just grab onto my back."

Immediately, Bahamut and Ceja seized his fur, making him yelp.

"I meant touch me, you idiots!" He snapped back. Afterward, he let out an exhale. "However…I'd be careful when we get there." He grimaced. "From what I heard going on upstairs, they're not exactly swatting Rozan like a fly…"

Bahamut was puzzled by this remark, but before he could inquire any further, Carbuncle enveloped them both in light and teleported.

* * *

><p>Dael felt herself turned into a bullet. Apparently…the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid could be brutal and fierce when he wanted to be. Still not a strong as Raven…but that wasn't saying much. He was on the level of the other Elite Hounds now, and that was more than enough. She found that out when another tail swipe of his was stronger yet, leaving a painful bruise that gave way to a gash across her chest, and flinging her against the wall. She merely slammed into it…didn't leave a hole or impression in it…but her body didn't really care. After all, if the wall insisted on holding…it was probably because she was breaking first.<p>

As she peeled off of it, she fell to the ground again. Normally she would have collapsed…but somehow she called on strength and reserves she didn't really have, stretching her body to the breaking point, and slammed her palms down on the floor. Although it hurt terribly and strained her to the breaking point…she didn't collapse. Giving a grunt and a mild yell, she pushed up sharply and forced herself back onto her feet…staggering as she was. She had hardly finished doing so when Jalab slammed into the wall next to her. The sheer drag of the wind felt like it would bowl her over…but she somehow withstood it.

As if that did any good. The last blow had knocked the Save the Queen out of her hands. It was only about ten feet away…but it might as well have been ten miles. The Rozan-Cerberus hybrid likely let it lay there to smack her away each time she tried to get it, just like it had done with her Mage Gun. There was no way to get to either. His sadism was becoming apparent as he simple continued to "play" with them…let them think they could get to them and use them against him…let them think they had a chance. Normally, Dael would think the overconfidence would be a point in their favor…but at the moment it seemed rather justified.

Taraketh was barely able to stand, but using every bit of magic power he had regained to bathe the floor in flames. At the bare minimum, he hoped to slow Rozan down. Unfortunately, at this point, the monster could move through the fire without restraint. After all, he was going too fast to be burned by it. Only when he briefly stopped to gloat or slowed down (although to an imperceptible degree) to hit them could he feel the fire, and those points were few and far between. For all of his work, he could do little to stop Rozan or even distract him. He had more than enough time to lash out and hit anyone whenever he felt like it.

Sadly…Quaren was that punching bag. He was down now, but Dael had a good feeling he was playing possum. She hoped he was. Rozan had given him a savage beating for actually landing a fatal gunshot on him. No doubt, revived or no, he had felt the pain of what that wound had done and didn't like it. He was probably laying low, trying to come up with a new strategy. Yet the hybrid was keeping an eye on him. Every time he moved even the slightest, he came over and gave him a sharp kick in the sides. Quaren couldn't take much more of this. But then again…none of them could.

She glanced over to Jalab while she still could, knowing the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid would soon return to strike her again. He was still struggling to get up, to make his aura flare again…but she could tell his chi was slipping. He was almost out of juice. He was turning himself into a punching bag in hopes of buying the others some time, but his efforts were all but wasted. None of them could think of anything or do anything.

Dael herself wasn't even sure anything would work if it landed… She had managed to perform that "Shock" move on Raven, but that was something deep seated and after a ton of abuse. She honestly didn't think she could last long enough to let that threshold happen again. She'd die first. She had already been running on a "quarter tank" even with healing when she came into this fight. And even if she did, she could only confidently say she had a 50/50 chance of doing it right. That left the Mage Gun…and Rozan would never let her get near. Even if she did, it wouldn't stop him.

There was one chance…even if it was mostly "grasping at straws".

Turning her head to Jalab, who was struggling not to collapse as he landed on his feet after bouncing off of the wall, she called out. "…Can you pull off that move you did on the mech downstairs one more time?"

Jalab, in spite of being sore and dazzled, snapped to her at that. "…What?"

"Don't get cold feet on me now, Jalab." She stated. "Can you do it again on Rozan?"

The monk hesitated a moment longer, but then nodded. "But he need stop moving."

"I'll take care of that." Dael answered. _I hope._ "Just be ready to hit him the second you have a shot."

The monk nodded…before the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid suddenly appeared in front of him. He snapped to it in response, only to get punched in the stomach once to double over, and then again in the head to smack him back against the wall. The monster didn't move again right away. Instead, he looked to Dael sadistically.

_"You wouldn't be trying to make some feeble plan, would you, dear?" _He taunted. _"About the only thing left that's still catching me off guard is how resilient you all are. I thought you'd be dead by now…but apparently you've gotten more out of your junctions as well. That just makes it more fun for me… Go on…" _He sneered with a grin. _"Go for one of your weapons."_

Dael hesitated only a moment…and then took off. Even though the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid mocked her with biting laughter, and she was sure he was shaking his head at her…she didn't care. Just so long as he focused on her…and gave Jalab the time he needed to charge that attack again. Hopefully, he wasn't too dazzled from that blow and was trying to prepare that move… Hopefully he still had enough power after those latest series of blows… But Dael couldn't worry about that. She had never tried this before. It would either work well and possibly snag them a chance…or fail miserably and leave them back where they started.

She ran right past her sword…and she was glad for that. She thought he might try to stop her before she had the chance to go for her gun. This would be hard enough at a distance…but if she could get closer it would be easier. At about twenty feet from it, she braced herself for what was coming. First…she began to chant to herself, getting the spell ready…praying it would work…

Not much farther, it happened. Suddenly, Rozan appeared before her…and slugged her across the face, making her immediately fall to the ground. The blow wasn't even that strong now, but she no longer had the strength. She slammed against the ground…but still had the spell in mind. She quickly let it slip through her teeth, even as she heard the hybrid mocking her with his laughter.

_"Simple trash. Now you really do look like a harlot…and you're smacked aside as easily as one."_

Dael didn't answer. She continued to chant…and finally it happened.

Although it caused a tremendous strain on her mentally, pushing her to the breaking point, she managed to cast a teleportation spell…but not on her. On the Mage Gun. As she reached her hand out to it…and it felt like it was ripping off of her body…the gun vanished where it was, and quickly landed in her hand. Her head was pounding now…but she realized she wasn't anywhere near done. Gritting her teeth, she realized she had to keep going.

She knew that as soon as she heard Rozan laugh.

_"Not bad…for a weak twit."_

Immediately, he vanished…and she knew in another split second, he would appear to kick it out of her hand and then begin to beat away at her again. That's why she had scarcely gotten the first spell off than, in spite of the pain and stress she was under, she began to chant again. Her aura erupted just as Rozan reappeared and swung out for her arm…

But he hit nothing. Dael vanished in a flash of light…and reappeared twenty feet away, gun out and aiming for Rozan. However…her head was throbbing now. It felt like it was splitting in two. She was dizzy and felt sick and weak. For a moment, she was stunned. Although she tried screaming at herself to shoot, it wasn't enough. She was just too drained. She could barely keep her arm aimed at him. Yet as he realized what had happened, and looked up to her…she finally used what strength she had to pull the trigger.

The Gravija bullet streamed out of the gun and shot through the air straight for the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid. However…it was painfully slow moving, relatively speaking. It was more like firing a mortar than a gunshot. And as a result…Rozan looked to it for a moment, and then let out a bored sigh.

He flashed just as the shot was about to reach him, and then reappeared where he was…the Gravija bullet still flying.

_"Completely pathetic. You're nothing but a miserable joke, 'Valkyrie'."_

Dael's eyes were half-lidded now, and she was shaking all over. The Mage Gun fell from her grasp limply. A spell of that power took something out of her, after all. That arm had pretty much gone numb and her headache had intensified. However…she was also doing one more thing. Now that she knew she could "project" her teleportation power, at least over small distances with small objects, and at the price of a lot of pain, she knew she had to do one more thing. Risky as it was, and as much as her body and brain begged her not to…she had no choice. This was her only chance. And so…shortly after firing, she had begun to slowly chant again. Luckily, at this point, Rozan was taking his time. Everyone else was down. Jalab was on all fours, although she was too weak and sensless to notice at this point, but staying there as he prepared the attack. Hopefully she wouldn't die giving him his chance. Although it hurt her to do it…she called forth one final spell.

It was agonizing. It felt as if her skull was cracking open and what was inside was coming out. Her numbness spread up her shoulder. She felt short of breath, like something was smothering her. And after this…there was no more question. Her stamina was gone. Her arm collapsed as did the rest of her. She could barely even see anymore. She was only semi-conscious at this point. However…it was not in vain. The last spell, as painful and draining as it had been to cast, went out.

The bullet that had been sailing away from Rozan teleported slightly…now facing the opposite way and headed right for his back. The monster never suspected a thing…not until the moment it struck him in the back and ignited.

The black sphere enveloped him in an instant, instantly expanding over him and sending out rippling waves of darkness. He tried to get free…and to his credit, he actually moved so fast that he got partially out of the edge of it… However, there was nothing that could escape that much gravity. That much was clear when the group actually saw him move this time. Yet he slowed more with each step…and finally, after coming to a halt…he was sucked back in the middle and slammed to the ground. He actually reached out and placed all six of his limbs against it to try and hold up against the power…but even with that, his body was "compressed" by the immense gravity, squished down in space and slammed further into the floor. He wasn't going anywhere.

There was little anyone could do, though. Dael was barely conscious. Taraketh was still reeling from his last beating. Quaren had barely managed to sit up, and was struggling with his gun, which was down to one bullet left. By now, he had been beaten so many times it would take everything he had just to aim a shot. However…one individual was still forcing himself to stand. Jalab was somehow still generating his aura, and was driving himself into more agony to try and get one last bit into it. Yet still, his chi was flaring. It was clear this would probably be the last thing he could do…so it had to count. He held as long as he could, charging more power, but also keeping his eyes open…

Finally, the gravity effects wore off. The dark lines faded…and the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid expanded to "full size" again. Yet he was panting and sweating now. That last attack had taken a lot out of him. Perhaps he could have moved fast again in a moment…but that was a moment too long for him. For a brief second, he could only sit there…and Jalab seized on it. Immediately, he darted forward…blazing out like a brilliant beam of light…and attacked.

Quaren was the only one who could clearly see it and hear it. Jalab did the same move he did on the Citadel. Soon, he was dancing all around the monster, hitting him again and again and again. Each blow let out a massive roar of pain from Rozan and the Cerberus heads…at least, for the first few blows. That was when Jalab's fists to his body knocked out enough wind from him that he was no longer able to cry out. Instead, his eyes only looked about in shock and agony as one hit after another landed on him…not only beating his body in, but leaving those white glowing fist marks on him. One after another, the move transferred chi into him…until his whole body was vanishing in white aura…turning him radiant from a different source…

And then…it broke. Jalab appeared in front of him…his body covered in sweat…his muscles actually decreasing in size…his body moments from collapse. He let out low moans and grunts as he struggled to stay standing…and failed. He soon dropped to one knee, and looked like he's fall the rest of the way. But in spite of that, Dael managed to open her eyes a bit more and look to the anguished, glowing form behind him…before the aura ignited in a brilliant flash from within the monster.

It was a good thing she didn't have her full wits about her…or she might have reacted the same way that Quaren did, who looked aside and then threw up. Jalab hadn't been kidding. The body simply disintegrated…like it had been held together with a great deal of internal connections…and they were suddenly gone. It wasn't so explosive that she was splattered with remains…but it still erupted as the aura blasted out…and the pieces of Rozan went everywhere. The most intact pieces that were left of him were his hands and feet, and then only the "lower pieces".

Dael gained just enough stamina back to open her eyes and look…but she knew she was done. She couldn't even lift Save the Queen now. All she could do was watch. And as she looked, Jalab collapsed all together. He had burnt himself out too. The pain and constant use of his chi had to have damaged him more internally than any attack had. Yet there were also only pieces of the monster left. Dael exhaled a bit on seeing it.

"…Come back from that, you bastard." She exhaled.

Yet after saying that…it began again. Just as before, the fiery light appeared again, and quickly gained brilliance and power, glowing bigger and brighter. The woman looked up to it as long as she could, but then had to look away as it grew stronger. When it did so, she began to grow nervous. She told herself to ignore it. It was just a last bit of power. But it couldn't save him now. It was a futile attempt…too little, too late…

But if so…then how come Cerberus wasn't transferring to her as the Doomtrain had?

_Impossible…_

Moments later, the Phoenix again took form, glorious and radiant. Soon afterward, it swept down and over the few remains of Rozan that were still gathered in front of it. In spite of what was there, or the terrible damage, it brought its wings down and over it…and once more burst into flame, consuming both them and itself.

Dael held on…unable to believe that Guardian Force could do anything from this. After all…it wasn't possible, was it? Regenerating a body was one thing…but this guy were literally nothing but fragments… Then again, it was burning him into ash… She began to grow rather fearful as the two burned…and once again the light faded and left nothing but a gray pile behind. Unfortunately…it was once again more of a mound. For a fateful moment, she looked at it and waited…hoping nothing would come from it.

For a few seconds, she was enthused when it did move. It parted…but all that emerged from it was the firebird itself. There was no glorious surrounding this time. No great balls of fire about it, although the bird was still shimmering and glorious. For a moment, she thought that was it…that it hadn't been able to do anything…

Yet that hope was shattered. The air shifted again, and, without a scratch on him and back at the top of his game came the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid. He actually smiled a bit and exhaled as he came out and cracked his neck a bit. He actually took his time to lace his fingers and crack them, while the firebird went to the ground nearby and landed for a moment. Apparently…it was more like Tiamat. It wasn't summoned at all, but the actual Guardian Force. That was little concern to Dael now, though… She was more focused on the fact that the firebird had done the impossible a second time…

And as for Rozan, his eyes opened and flashed maliciously.

_"…What part of 'immortal' did you not understand?"_

Dael couldn't even form a shocked or nervous look. She had drained everything she had between this fight and the one with Raven. She was finished. And as she looked around, she saw the others were no better. Taraketh was unconscious at this point, and Jalab was either the same or simply out of all remaining chi. That left only Taraketh with his one bullet left…but he could only stand there and stare nervously. Even if he could manage to hit Rozan with it…what then? None of them had anything left, and their opponent knew it. That was why he wasn't bothering beating them further.

After a moment, the hybrid turned to Quaren. _"Want to go ahead and use your last feeble attempt to kill me?" _He hissed. _"I'll even stay put and let you shoot, if you want. What fills you with more despair, hmm? Seeing me dodge your last bullet or simply have Phoenix revive me again after you shoot me?"_

Quaren hesitated. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't even shoot straight from this distance, Dael knew. But even if he could…she realized it didn't matter. Even at full power, what good would it do? How many times could he revive himself? What if he could do it endlessly? What was left to them?

Yet as she tried to think of something else…something distracted all of them together.

The elevator suddenly dinged.

Quaren, in spite of his anxiety, turned to the elevator. Rozan didn't bother seizing on it, and Dael didn't bother looking to see if he would. She weakly looked over to the golden column leading into the chamber. As she did, the monster gave another snicker.

_"Well now…who could that be? Some of my men to finish you for me? Or some of yours who want to die with the rest of you?" _He chuckled in a twisted voice. _"I honestly don't know which I'd prefer…"_

Dael couldn't have responded even if she could have thought of a good retort…but it didn't matter. The elevator soon popped open, and she looked to see who it was. For the life of her…she wasn't sure which she could have preferred to be on the other side either. Either death or seeing more of her friends suffer…

A moment later, three figures burst from the inside out of it…but then immediately froze at the sight that they witnessed. Dael recognized them all immediately: Carbuncle, Ceja, and Bahamut.

The green creature paused for a moment, looking about him and seeing everyone exhausted and beaten. He looked severely confused as he turned over to the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid. "…You've got to be kidding me. You four couldn't thrash one little greasy piece of craaaaa…" His voice froze as his eyes rested on him. "…aaaaAAAH! What the f*** is that thing?!"

Ceja spotted it as well…and, for once, didn't immediately respond with a throw of her axe. She gaped in horror instead and quickly muttered a prayer in her native tribal language.

However…there was one reaction that was vastly different from all the others.

Bahamut didn't seem to even see Rozan or acknowledge his existence. His attention was entirely on the firebird. His arms, which had started off holding his sword and buckler, dropped all together out of his hands with a loud clatter. His arms hung limply at his sides. His jaw had loosened, and his eyes had gone wide. In all honesty, Dael had never seem him look this shocked in his entire life. Had she a good a grasp on "historical mythology" as the Guardian Force in boy form did, she would have realized the reason for his reaction. But as she didn't, she only puzzled over it for a moment, or how Bahamut could ignore everything else except that. He didn't seem to care about anything more.

"…Phoenix?" His voice called out after a moment.

The firebird, on her part, didn't even look to Bahamut.

Rozan snorted. _"You know my Guardian Force, boy? Funny…I didn't think they had scholars in the Order of Hyne as young as you… Glad you admire her…but perhaps you should concentrate a bit more on the main threat before you."_

Bahamut didn't respond. It didn't even look as if he had heard Rozan. His face had actually turned a bit white, and his eyes were widening. He didn't reach for his weapons or mount any sort of defense, even as the hybrid itself seemed to prepare itself to counter. To Dael…the boy-like qualities he had occasionally around her resurfaced. But it wasn't due to a desire for childhood. Rather…it represented something regressed…something from back when he was indeed no wiser than Dael was now.

Abruptly…he did do something, but it wasn't combat related. Seeming to ignore everything else, he walked forward a few more steps, straight for the firebird.

"Phoenix…you're alive…" He exhaled. "It's me…"

The creature didn't answer.

"I know you can't recognize me like this…but it's Bahamut. Your brother."

Dael reacted a bit to that. _What did he say…?_

_"What are you rambling about, brat?" _The Rozan-Cerberus hybrid snorted. _"Get ready to fight."_

However…there had been a change. Only a slight one, but one none the less. The firebird had very slightly angled her head toward Bahamut on hearing what he said…on hearing his name.

"You may not believe me…but you have to know me!" He continued, growing more insistent. "You have to know that name! I was one of the only people you knew when we lived! It's me! I know how you died! You sacrificed yourself to help us! You saved Palad's life! You saved Wyvern's life! You have to remember that, just like I remembered everything before I died! Speak to me!"

The firebird didn't…but something did happen. It progressively looked more toward Bahamut. And as it did…its face, which was as stoic as that of any other bird's, began to shift. The eyes seemed to grow irregular, and the beak began to split. This effect wasn't lost on anyone…least of all Rozan. He looked to the bird, and then back to Bahamut.

_"…What are you doing?"_

"Phoenix! Say something!" Bahamut shouted, ignoring Rozan.

The bird's head was now beginning to twitch, as it got worse. After a moment, it blinked. The head began to go one way and the other, like it was having some sort of mild fit…

_"Stop it. Stop it now…" _Rozan threw in. He clearly didn't like how this was going. _"Phoenix, pull back again!"_

Finally, Bahamut seemed to notice Rozan…but it only made him more confused. "Phoenix, are you obeying him? Why? You never wanted to see anyone die! Why are you helping him now? What are you doing here? Can't you remember anything?"

The firebird, by now, was throwing a progressively larger fit. Her wings were beginning to rise. Now, her head began to twitch from one side and the other, looking like either some sort of episode or confusion. The bird wasn't able to obey either command…either to pull out or to say anything. Rozan, at any rate, was completely focused on the bird now, and looking angrier.

_"I said pull away!"_

"Phoenix! It's Bahamut!"

The Guardian Force only went wilder at this, beginning to shift on her feet and starting to weakly beat her wings. However…Bahamut and Rozan continued to concentrate on her. As a result, Dael saw something they didn't…Quaren taking aim once again, and easing up enough to get a clear shot… It took him a bit, but his aim slowly stabilized.

Finally, something happened. Phoenix finally arched her head up and gave a cry. It was a strange sound, like the mixture of a thrush "flute" and the cry of an eagle. However, after that was done, she ignited in fresh flame again. It wasn't to burn her or Rozan this time, however. Instead, she took to the air, spun around, and went straight for the nearest window. Even if the glass was durable, it provided no impediment to her. She only wrapped herself in more fire, and began to melt through it even as she neared it.

_"Stop!" _Rozan shouted after it. His eyes had gone wide in shock at this point. _"Get back here! You were given to me!"_

Assuming the firebird heard and understood, it meant little. It continued to fly without even pausing. The heat it generated must have been far beyond that of the resistant glass, and it flew off to the skyline beyond. Dael saw that Bahamut actually reacted to that. He stepped forward again and held out his hand.

"Phoenix, wait!"

The firebird didn't pause for him either. Instead, it picked up more speed than before, and was soon flying away from the building like a shot. Assuming anyone saw it, apparently they weren't miffed enough to try and take any shots or missile fire at it. It streaked off into the fire-tinted sky and soon was lost to view.

Bahamut actually look hurt. The expression on his face…laced with regret and long-hidden pain. Dael had honestly never seem him look like that before. He seemed to have forgotten everything else. Yet even as he stood there and watched, Rozan gave a far different look.

He turned back to the others, his body tensing…every warped, interlocked muscle tightening. His claw-like fists began to clench as he glared at the group in absolute rage.

_"Damn you, little brat… That Guardian Force was under my command! How did you get it to break off its connection to me just like that?!" _

Bahamut didn't answer, not seeming like he heard again. However, the Rozan-Cerberus hybrid only snorted after a moment, his mad eyes still filled with rage, but calming only slightly.

_"Forget it. It doesn't really matter. I'll kill you and your barbaric consort just as easily as-"_

_ BLAM._

Rozan's eyes suddenly widened for the second time to the tune of a gunshot. This time, however, it wasn't in his head. He continued to gape for a moment, but then looked down to his mutated, fused chest…and saw blood slowly leaking out of it. The blood itself came out in short "spurts"…a sure sign that it came from an artery. Based on its position…it was likely that it was coming from the heart itself. Somehow, he had enough power to not die instantly…but his face, a mixture of shock as well as anger, slowly looked up and to the source.

For the second time, he found himself looking at Quaren. He was trembling and beaten, but glaring fiercely at him.

"One thing they taught me in Esthar's Hawks…always go for the kill." He coldly stated at him. "After that last shot…you should have killed me when you had the chance…not gone around thinking I wouldn't get another try."

Rozan stared at him for a moment, and then, with a stiff jerk, looked out to the window behind him. However, Phoenix was nowhere to be seen. He actually managed to raise a claw to it, as if trying to call her out. His lips began to move slightly, but barely any sound came out, and if he was chanting it didn't even look like he would finish it, let alone possibly summon her back if it worked. That didn't stop him from trying for a moment…before something new happened.

"His" arm…the portion of the limb that was "Rozan" as opposed to "Cerberus"…began to enlarge and come off of the rest.

His eyes widened…but not as much as normal. He seemed to be too weak to show much.

_"No…"_

Soon, it began to spread over the rest of his body. As his chest continued to fountain out blood, he looked down to himself and saw his chest surge out of Cerberus again. His head pulled free, and the other three heads of the beast began to pull in once again. His limbs lowered and merged with the forelegs, and then his hands began to separate. His human legs snapped and cracked, and then began to pop back out of the chest. Rozan, becoming distinct from Cerberus again, looked desperate to try and stop this…tried to push himself back into the Guardian Force…but it was for nothing. His body continued to slip out, even his old clothes reforming on his body as he did so, and one by one all limbs went free until he was merely dangling, attached, to Cerberus' chest. The three-headed dog itself became "normal" again, slipping back down into a canine posture, and then suddenly "sloughed" off Rozan, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground. When it did…a bloody exit wound on his back became visible. Cerberus themselves, however, showed no injury as he resumed his former shape completely.

Rozan began to gasp, and Dael recognized what was going on. He was in death throes. It mattered little to Cerberus. The room turned dark and dim for but a moment…just long enough for the monster to give one last roar with his three heads before he vanished. As the lights came on again, all that was left behind was Rozan Hierarch…bleeding out of both sides of his body and stomach-down on the ground. His head was turned to one side, and he looked out…the last of his anger fading and replaced with nothing but shock. He saw no one, however. By now, his sight had to be leaving him. Instead, he merely looked out with a glazed look in his eyes.

"I…I was to be…the greatest conquerer…" He practically exhaled. "And now…now…I die…nothing more…than her pawn…"

Letting out one last gasp…he went still.

The High Dictator, the head of the Guiding Hand of Sybenia, was dead.

A few moments of silence passed. Dael looked to him, seeing him fallen, but paid little attention to his last words. She was still too much in shock. It was done. The man who had brought over half of the world to its knees was dead. And the Guiding Hand lacked a stable structure underneath him. No dynasty here. That meant that the power of Sybenia itself was broken. All done here…with the death of one man, considered to be untouchable and the most powerful on Gaia… Such a thing couldn't just be "accepted" readily. She actually had to stare a moment, to believe it was real…

As she did, Taraketh remained unconscious. Quaren, exhausted, dropped his "half" of a rifle and collapsed as well, although he landed on his knees. Jalab may have been alert, but if so he was too exhausted to move at all. That left Bahamut and Ceja, the two new arrivals. Yet for the longest time, Bahamut only looked out the broken window, toward where Phoenix had gone. It was doubtful that he had even seen Rozan die. Yet finally, he looked away and to him. There he too stood silently a moment. Dael couldn't see his face from this angle…but if she had, she would have seen it was a bit stunned, and very grim. In the end, he slowly exhaled.

"…Damn." He simply stated.

At this, however, Ceja finally looked away as well, and about the room. Soon, her eyes fell on one in particular, causing her to actually drop her axe. "Sir Tierras!" As it was still settling, she broke from Bahamut and ran down and to his side. She immediately flipped him over, although he winced and grunted when she did so, and looked his battered, weakened, almost burned body over with wide-eyed alarm.

"Sir Tierras…you must have fought like a raging Dire Basilhound…" She remarked as she looked him over. She turned to him. "Are you alright?"

"Slice…of…pie…" He managed to groan between grit teeth. "But…body…not want to move…"

Dael meant to call out that he had spent all of his chi, and she doubted he had any energy left at all after all of that. However, that didn't come out. Instead, her lips barely parted and she gave more of a thin, whining groan that had just enough "purpose" in it to confirm that it was an attempt at a sound and not just a subconscious noise being made from a body. It caused Bahamut to snap over to her, again distracting him. He still seemed to be brooding, but on seeing her there, his look turned to concern. He turned and looked to Quaren soon after.

"Can you stand?"

"Just…give me…a second…" Quaren groaned as he tenderly and weakly began to put his legs and arms underneath him again. "Really…not feeling good…"

Bahamut immediately began to walk over to Dael. As he did, he looked out to the Fuliet warrior. "Ceja…I don't think Taraketh or Jalab can move. You'll have to get them both out of here."

"I'll see how we're doing on time." Carbuncle finally spoke up from his own position. "Not like I can carry any of you anyway…but I think those reinforcements were nearly here when I teleported you two downstairs." With that, he vanished in a flash of ruby light.

The warrior continued to look to Jalab worriedly for a moment, but the monk managed to give her a weak smile…enough to know he was "alright", or as alright as that could be. Encouraged by that, she reached down and began to scoop him up under one arm. It was a testament to her strength that she could do it, but she was reluctant. Jalab visibly winced. His body was so battered that he couldn't move a muscle without pain. To be honest…now that her adrenaline was dying down…Dael found herself growing very tired… She managed to fight it for the moment, but she already knew she couldn't last much longer… She had put everything in her through the wringer.

On reaching her, Bahamut knelt down and began to put his sword and buckler away. "I'm not sure I'm big enough to carry you not awkwardly, Dael. I may have to see if you can at least try to walk with me."

Dael tried to answer, but only managed a few grunts.

"Don't try to speak. You need an ether as soon as possible before any lasting damage is done." He stated. "You did something incredibly stupid…although, since it preserved your life, I suppose it wasn't that dumb. Don't you know when you exhaust your 'spiritual stamina' and try to go farther, you actually start taking your own life force? You probably took two years off your life to cast one more spell… If it had been something like Meteor, you'd be a dead woman. I've seen this before once…back when I was training the Light Warriors. Harbaro had nothing left and yet he tried to use another Flare spell. He was immobile for a month and it was two more before he was back to reasonable power. You don't have that kind of luxury. Things might get a lot worse than this soon."

Dael didn't like the way he said that. However, she was too weak to make any noise. Instead, as he began to lean down to start helping her up, she mouthed something to him quite clearly.

_Is that why you said, "damn"?_

Bahamut paused a moment, looking dark, but then shook his head. "It was…but that's moot now. You either had to kill Rozan or be killed by him, simple as that. I'll tell you the rest once we're away."

The woman said no more. However…she immediately realized that their journey to the database tower had not been for nothing. They had to have discovered something rather bad… So much for being able to enjoy a bit of good news. At any rate, she was so exhausted that she began to feel her wits slowly fading. Nevertheless, she struggled to move her feet beneath her…as little as they moved. Bahamut put the arm that still had feeling around his neck, but the other lay limply. He slowly began to lift her up again…

Just as he got her to where her feet could go low, and Ceja managed to move over to Taraketh, wincing all the way on seeing how much pain Jalab was in, and Quaren was just starting to limp himself…Carbuncle suddenly popped back in. He didn't look like he was feeling very well.

"Uh…I don't suppose any of you have enough power to do some sort of big attack that can demolish this elevator or something, do you?"

"Why?" Bahamut asked…anticipating Dael's question.

"Because there's about a hundred Aegis Armors breaking in downstairs and are on their way up." He answered. "…Of course…" He added with a shrug. "They can always blow out the elevator and just go up the shaft. And that's not even counting the Kaiser Raidens that are just scaling the side of the building for this floor at the moment…"

Dael let out a groan. So much for a clean escape. Even if they were all at full, she wasn't sure if they could get out of here. She had no idea what time it was, but she was sure they were well past time. There was no way they could get to the airfield now, and if the pilots had any sense they were taking off and going while they could. Carbuncle might be able to teleport them out of here…unless, of course, they were using Eris Bells again. Maybe he could at least get them out of the city limits…

Yet even as she tried to think of something…a rather loud roar of distinct jet engines became audible. It was from right outside…clearer than ever thanks to that hole in the window. The group halted in place and all looked to the source as it rapidly grew louder…not due to it being fast, but rather running so quiet that one couldn't hear it until it was nearly on you. And sure enough…such was the case when a large shadow fell over all present in the room from the frame of an airship moving up into the view of the window.

Unlike the large, cumbersome, tank warship that had been the _Enterprise_, this airship was far more plane-like. It still possessed a magnetic airbag, but it was vastly reduced. Rather than relying directly on magnetic repulsors, it had four massive turbine engines mounted on four corners of a sharp, angled craft. It was a bit sleeker than the _Enterprise_ as well, but that was only so it could repel cannon fire more easily. The armor was clearly thicker, and it was armed far better than their "stripped-down" airship. Possessing the latest in military technology with four gatling batteries, two missile bays, and even two of those "electric batteries" for close intensive combat. And at only a third of the size of the impressive _Enterprise_, it was definitely more motile.

Whoever was at the helm wasted little time. For a moment, there was the sense that these individuals might be hostiles rather than allies. That was a distinct possibility, after all…and one that only became more likely as the ship came into a hover across from them and angled two of its gun batteries toward the glass. However, as it did so, Dael noticed that they were aiming high…and that the side panel, normally kept closed except in emergency situations, was opening and the ramp deploying. A moment later, the side opened fully…revealing a man in Sybenian clothing on the other side. However, Dael knew him by his face as one of the Esthar's Hawks.

He immediately shouted out to them and began to wave with his hands. The woman couldn't hear a word, but she knew what it meant. Immediately, the group turned away and quickly went down, shielding themselves and those with them as best as possible. Bahamut himself put his shield on his back and covered Dael as best as he could with his own smaller body. Right before it began…she heard him speak.

"…Doesn't really make up for Helheim…but I feel a bit more even now."

Dael wasn't able to react to that, although she heard him say that…right before the bullets erupted. All of them aimed high, making sure to use the force of impact to shatter out the window pane. Even so, the spray was more than enough to send shards of glass raining through the entire chamber. Luckily, it was the "better" kind, the stuff that shattered completely if it did go out. Most modern buildings did feature that, after all. Even with fragments of glass striking them, nothing happened. The minigun continued to burn for a few more seconds, until its work was done. The wind of the skyline was much sharper now, tugging on all of them. The sounds from outside began to flood in. Although the distant battle was over, the rest of the landscape continued to make noise, from the sounds of sirens below, to vehicle engines, to even the noises of metal on metal as the Kaiser Raidens no doubt continued to scale the building. Yet no one listened to that for long. The airship angled in more. Whoever was flying it was quite skilled, for it closed to within a mere foot of the broken window, before more Esthar's Hawks moved in and beckoned frantically, yelling over the engines to come.

Bahamut somehow yanked Dael up and began to lead her out. She only managed to help with a step or two before it was too much for her. Her senses were still fleeing her…and she simply couldn't stay alert any longer. Even as she neared the bright exterior, with the sun poking through the clouds, things only got dimmer and dimmer. She was only half conscious by the time Quaren came over and grabbed onto her and helped, pausing only long enough to take up her gun and new sword. When she was "handed off" to the men who were brave enough to walk out on the ramp and straddle between heaven and earth…the last of her senses went to black…and she honestly didn't know whether or not she made it on before all faded completely.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	58. Suspicion

_Four Hours Later_

* * *

><p>Dael's consciousness returned very slowly and gradually. She was in a lot of pain when it came back, both in her body as well as her head. Her skull was still pounding. Where earlier it felt like it had been cracked open, now it felt like it had been hastily bound back together with tape but was still trying to "get out". Her gun arm was still mostly numb, but some feeling was back. Very weak now. She was in one of those rare states where a person ironically found themselves "too tired to sleep". Between the spells, spiritual divides, and the torture of fighting two superhuman opponents back to back…she was completely wiped out. As she slowly got her bearings back together, gradually fading out of sleep and into consciousness, she realized she already had to have been treated with painkillers, magic, or a mixture of both. Her entire group had been in bad shape, after all. She was sure they didn't wait for them.<p>

She figured she lay there silently for about twenty minutes. She wasn't sure if she was trying to go back to sleep or just "lazing". After all, considering all she had been through in Sybenia, she probably had a good reason for it. However, at length, she knew she had to get up. There had been too much that had been discovered. With that in mind, at long last, she slowly cracked open her eyes.

Whereas the _Enterprise_ had enough room for more of a clinic than a sickbay, with other rooms besides…it seemed all of the injured in her group were stuffed in the same chamber on this Sybenian model. It took only moments for her to realize it was still on board the enemy airship, however. That much was clear from the sounds of the engines outside. Unlike the Esthar aircraft which had more emphasis on bells and whistles, this one let the full engine sound ring out. However, as this airship was designed for private use of VIPs, it was well equipped, clean, and rarely used…at least until now. She herself was on a mattress that served little other useful purpose than a place to stuff someone in flight. It might as well have been one of those mats they used in grade schools in the nurse's office. Nevertheless, it was better than a floor…and it did have a pillow at the minimum. Her wounds had been doctored by now. To be honest…she realized she had gotten through that relatively well compared to everyone else. After all, she hadn't the luxury of allowing Raven to hit her too many times. Still…her neck was rather sore from the constant throttlings along with everything else. She wasn't sure she'd be able to sleep again without more treatment or even a drug.

She looked to the others, however. Quaren had passed out. He looked sore and tender, but still seemed the most intact out of all of them. Taraketh was still out of it. After all…he had put his own magic on overtime. However, he didn't look to be in pain at least. Jalab was, by far, the worst. It seemed like almost every bandage in the sickbay had been used on him, and although he was only breathing shallow…it looked like every single breath he took drove him into more pain. Unfortunately, Taraketh was the best healer among them, and it would take time for him to get up to actually do anything, assuming he had any stamina left. It seemed they were stuck with modern medical care as it was. And she doubted even someone as high-income as Rozan would be able to keep his airship stocked with elixirs.

Finally, she saw one other person sitting in there, watching them…watching her, in particular.

Bahamut was seated in a pull out chair, looking over her and meeting gazes as she woke up.

Dael stared back for a moment silently, then spoke up. She was pleased to hear she could speak again, however quietly.

"…Did we make it out of Sybenia?"

He nodded. "We're out of their territory now. Still on board their airship and headed for home. Not nearly as fast as the _Enterprise_, but faster than anything they had ready to go after us. I think they required some sort of executive clearance to dispatch fighters after us…and that wasn't going to happen. The radio broadcasts have interrupted their traditional chain of speeches and are trying to tell everyone to remain calm and that nothing is 'confirmed'."

The woman paused a moment. "Did you get yourself treated?"

Bahamut grimaced a bit. "I would get medical attention if I needed it."

Dael formed a shadow of a smile. "Somehow I doubt that… You smell like vomit, honestly…"

He exhaled a bit and ran a hand through his hair. "…I'll admit I need a hot bath after what happened, but that's about it."

She looked out again, over to Jalab, and then back to Bahamut. "…I actually thought Ceja would be in here with him."

"He's not comatose or unconscious, if that's what you're worried about." Bahamut answered. "He's in a meditative state. Trying to replenish his chi. However, even if he wasn't, she was in here earlier. She looked very conflicted. A part of her wanted to stay at his side, I think…but a part of her remembered that her culture sees such a thing as weakness on his part as well as hers. So she let him alone. As it is…I think she's outside at the moment."

Dael nodded slightly in response. In spite of her pain, the rest had done her some good. Thanks to the junction, she healed a lot faster than normal…but she wouldn't be 'bouncing back' from that after only a couple hours. At length, she focused more on Bahamut. Now that Dael was up…she began to see he was brooding quite a bit. She didn't have to look at him long and see that stare in his eyes before she knew why.

"…Who is Phoenix?"

Bahamut was quiet for a moment. He turned his head away and exhaled.

"Taraketh probably knows better. There were eight espers originally. Seven children…and one who came into the world as an adult and full of knowledge, who could raise us in place of our true mother: the Planet. However, since the one, Crusader, came into the world filled with power and knowledge, it grew arrogant and prideful, deciding to oppress the rest of the world and rule it while keeping us oblivious. We rose to destroy it in response…but we didn't get through unscathed. Our sister, Phoenix…within her was the power to raise the dead. As the fight wore on, she used her power to revive us when Crusader struck us down. However, it eventually figured out who was doing it and killed our sister. Her remains are what you obtain Phoenix Downs and the like from. They're the main ingredient."

Dael blinked momentarily. "…But that was thousands of years ago. Surely they had to be used up by now."

"Not with her. Since she literally embodied life, even her down continues to reproduce itself. So long as it's not taken beyond a certain level, it never runs out."

The woman paused again…and when she did, Bahamut sighed.

"…She didn't even recognize me. And she was helping Rozan in her native form." He answered. He paused a moment. "There's little doubt in my mind to the cause. She was under control. Maybe not magical influence but artificial…but I've seen that before. Yet now…" He exhaled. "…Now someone else must be using her. Whoever was behind Rozan…she must have been truly obedient to her rather than him. Whoever it was wouldn't be stupid enough to release a Guardian Force who could always bring you back from the dead…"

He exhaled.

"…But if that's true…then it only makes me feel more uneasy. And not just because they have the ability to raise themselves from the dead. It's the fact that it's Phoenix… She actually alive again after thousands of years…since time immemorial. Someone from my life who's been gone for so long I've honestly almost forgotten her… I knew there was always a chance when I heard of the essences…and now she's here. There's no mistake that was my sister." He frowned. "…And the fact that she's being used by another…"

He paused.

"It fills me with pain…anger…sadness… To think…I only have to sit here and know it's my sister being used. I wonder how Leviathan and the others were able to endure it during the War of the Magi… Perhaps they weren't. Perhaps it broke their spirits and that's why we lost in the end…"

The woman was silent for a moment, listening to all of this and taking it in. Finally, she exhaled and leaned back, pushing her head up a bit, but only enough to cross her arms.

Bahamut noticed this. "…Something wrong?"

"Not really…just thinking it must be nice."

He raised his eyebrow a bit at that.

"Having a family." She answered.

Bahamut frowned a bit in response. "I _don't_ have much of a family anymore."

"But you did once. Brothers and sisters and all that."

"It was hardly a pleasant experience." Bahamut responded. "Some of us became corrupted and mortal enemies. As far as my mother is concerned…I hardly have any knowledge of her at all. No more than anyone else. At my level, I'm nothing but a speck of dust and a voice among billions. I can only make out the voices that make her up…never hers." He exhaled again, bowing his head. "…I figure she must have a miserable existence. Effectively blind, deaf, and paralyzed…only able to watch countless little insects fill her with pain, unable to hear her or appreciate her."

"You never know." Dael answered. "After all…somehow she 'sired' you. Maybe she's more aware than you think. Or at least has times in which she can hear you."

"…Makes me wonder, sometimes." Bahamut went on. "What it's like to have a real childhood…a real mother. It never bothered me for the longest time. But this experience has me thinking less like a god and more like a mortal. It makes me appreciate a lot more. Makes me see how small things that I thought were 'beneath' me for so long are so important."

He paused for a moment after saying that. To be honest…Dael felt a bit more for him then. She had never thought much of family until now herself. She wondered a bit about Bahamut's "mother". What kind of creature was she? Why did she give rise to him and the rest of the espers in the first place? What was it like to do so…to give birth to a creature that you would never be able to meet or talk to or even hold in your arms? There was a temptation to think that the Planet was nothing more than just a puffball flower…scattering its seeds on the wind and then forgetting it.

But somehow…Dael didn't think that was the case. Somehow, she felt that the planet was more sentient than one would think. Just on such a level that it couldn't relate to all other "sentient" things. Perhaps it knew full well that even if it had children, it would never be able to meet with them or share in their joys or sorrows. Perhaps that was why she only had eight of them…that in spite of loving them all, she couldn't bear the pain of never knowing anything about them other than when they lived and when they died…

_…Why am I thinking about this? I don't have time._

She looked back to Bahamut. "…You cursed when you saw that Rozan Hierarch was dead, or did I imagine that?"

The young man paused a moment, and then looked up to her.

"No, you didn't."

"Then why did you?"

He was silent again afterward. He slowly inhaled and exhaled. "…Perhaps it would make more sense if we gathered everyone together and shared together all we learned at once."

* * *

><p>It took about fifteen minutes for all of that to happen. Luckily, Taraketh got up not long after. He was stiff, sore, and mentally tired…but he was also able to rise. Dael felt she could too if the situation called for it. However, she settled for just sitting up in bed for now. Jalab wasn't going to be moving anywhere, but he did "wake up" enough to look around and be alert again. Soon after, the others came in. Ceja led the way and went straight to Jalab's side. Cryder, ignoring the fact it was sickbay, was already smoking a cigar, although it was nearly done, and had a bottle of his "victory liquor" in his hand…although Dael noted it hadn't even been opened. Carbuncle had moved over to Dael's lap and curled up inside of it. Cid, however, was missing. He was helping fly the aircraft at the moment since no one had directly trained, and was trying to establish radio contact with the relays as well as make sure no Sybenians were coming after them on stealth…or no missiles, for that matter.<p>

None of them had very happy faces. Although the mission had been a success and all of them had escaped with their lives…none of them were feeling terribly "heroic" at the moment. Although neither group was privy to what the other heard…none of them felt very well about it. Dael managed to keep a stoic face. Jalab was either too tired or staying calm himself.

But Taraketh… Now that the moment was over and he had a chance to recall what Raven said, he was looking rather irritable again. Almost his old "grumpier" self…although this wasn't mere grumpiness this time. At any rate, with as many of them gathered as possible, she began.

"To everyone who wasn't with us…Raven said a number of things in our fight prior to dying. Some of them were rather vague…others more troubling. However, almost everything he said was hinting at the fact that we were all right where he wanted us. He even seemed to expect that we would end up killing him. The most disturbing thing he said, however, was right before he died. He said that-"

_"Claimed."_

The single word came from Taraketh. Everyone looked up to him, but he gazed darkly back. "He only 'claimed' it. Doesn't mean one word of it was true."

Dael paused for a moment.

"…He 'claimed' that the one who gave him his power was a Sorceress. Furthermore, he said it was a Sorceress who gained access to the essences and gave those to Sybenia as well."

"It's all hogwash." Taraketh nearly snapped. "Doesn't mean a thing. He couldn't fight anymore, so he died trying to sow dark thoughts within us."

Dael said nothing in response to that, but was silent momentarily. "…When we got to Rozan, he spoke even more cryptically. However…he definitely had been in contact with whoever was controlling everything. And he definitely mentioned it was both female and a magic user. Apparently, this person planned on us making it to him and killing him. She only wanted him for some favors, it seemed."

"She also wanted him dead." Bahamut put in at this point. "Dr. Lindst said as much right before she was killed. She confirmed she was brought in by her for various magic-related experiments and was using Rozan as much as her. She mentioned something about wanting to make an individual who could access the memory and pasts of others through spiritual connection, but whatever that means it was simply a 'Plan B'. It seems that whatever 'Plan A' is, it's going ahead on schedule for the time being. And we can assume that it has to do with Nyx Gaia. At any rate…she said the same. A Sorceress had been the one that hired her."

"And she was lying just as much as Raven was." Taraketh immediately retorted.

Jalab, however…was losing his cool exterior as he heard this. His normally calm face was filling with trouble. Ceja spoke up what he was thinking. "A spontaneous lie is one thing…but to hear the same from two different individuals…"

"I don't care if every last dog in the Sybenian Army said it was true." Tarketh retorted. "You can't trust the word of your enemy. They have nothing to gain by it."

He sounded a bit angry…something Dael didn't like.

"…There was something that makes me far more uncomfortable than anything else." The young officer went on after this was done. "Both Raven and Rozan hinted at the same thing…that their death would somehow be a 'turning point' for whoever is behind all of this. That just as they got backstabbed…whoever was behind it was going to backstab us fairly soon."

"Wonderful…" Cryder said with an exhale. "That's why I left the Black Corsairs."

"That pretty much removes any doubt that whoever is behind all this isn't a high-ranking member of Esthar." Carbuncle said with a sigh.

"At this point, I unfortunately have to conclude that this entire operation was planned to only benefit our 'puppet master'." Bahamut grimly stated. "Even the 'savior' of Sybenia, Tiamat, was brought out not to repel the enemy but to do as much damage to both sides as possible. There's no telling how many thousands died today aside from Rozan. No doubt, it was her intention the whole time."

"Or his." Taraketh interjected. No one paid much mind.

Not even Jalab…who was looking more and more uneasy.

Dael paused, thinking over all of this. Taraketh looked to her and waited, seeming to be anxious for her to back him up. After a time, she moistened her lips and spoke again.

"For a few moments…let's proceed on the assumption that a Sorceress is indeed behind this."

The result was instant from Taraketh. "Dael, you can't be serious! You know the Sorceresses!"

The woman exhaled. "…When you put together a puzzle, Taraketh, and you see a piece that looks like it might fit in spite of not thinking it's the one, you try it out first before you throw it back into the pile."

"But-"

"He's right, Taraketh." Bahamut darkly responded. "We should at least come up with a definitive reason to say nay."

The High Child wanted to protest more, but he looked over the room and saw no support for it. Even Jalab didn't offer any, but sat in silence. On seeing this…Dael saw more than just resignation. She saw him actually grow a bit angry. More of his older nature seemed to come out. However, he was still afterward. Frowning, he crossed his own arms and said no more.

Cryder noticed this, and hesitantly took a puff from his cigar before laying it aside and knocking off some ashes to the floor. "…If we're gonna go with that for the time bein'…then the evidence ain't too good. You say we'd need someone who was in power to do all this."

"Did the Sorceresses only move into power after things turned ill, however?" Ceja asked.

"They did, but my understandin' is they had their hand in things in Esthar long before that."

Quaren exhaled. "…Cryder's right. The Sorceresses had been advising Chancellor Barbarossa for years. They not only would have known everything he was planning and had an ear in on all confidential negotiations…there's a good chance that he acted on their advice more than once."

"And when things went ill for his Esthar highness…it _did _mean good things for them." The pirate threw in.

That was almost too much for Taraketh. Dael actually saw him glare at him and begin to rise. "You son of a…"

"This is all hypothetical, Taraketh." Bahamut quickly cut off, trying to calm him.

Although the High Child stayed in bed, his anger failed to abate. "You're one to talk about who gets good things off of other people's misery, _pirate_." He snapped at Cryder…something Dael didn't like. He hadn't called him by that dismissive title in a while.

"Just pointin' out the elephant in the room, mate." He answered with a shrug. "Someone had to."

"Did she take power? Of course she did!" The High Child shot back. "Who else was going to do it? Who else in Esthar was willing to take a stand against anything? All any politician in that country ever did was whatever got them the most votes! And when the enemy was at the gates, they ran and hid! The Sorceresses did something noble! Not to mention they put themselves in danger to keep the people of Esthar safe! Did anyone ever condemn the kings and queens of the past who stepped in when no one else would?"

"No, Taraketh." Dael retorted. "But you should keep in mind, once again, that we are only assuming things at this moment. We are not accusing _any _Sorceress, or Lady Mianyl specifically, as you seem to think we are."

The High Child paused here. This latest phrase seemed to get him to ease up, and he calmed just enough to be silent again.

When he did, Dael looked to Quaren. "That solves the issue of someone having an ear in on all of our operations in Esthar, but what about the Vaults? Is there any way a VIP could get into it?"

Quaren thought for a moment, but exhaled. "I don't know. Access is granted on a limited basis, and usually only on a need-to-know one. Doctoring the footage would be even worse. However…" He slowly exhaled. "You said earlier that Dr. Lindst had been working for the Esthar military before she was 'relocated', right?"

Ceja nodded. "She said that before she was killed."

"She'd be only one of many who got the government 'axe'." He elaborated. "When the Depression hit, the first thing that Esthar cut to make more money was the military. They figured Esthar's Hawks could handle the whole deal and they got rid of anything and everything that wasn't producing a profit. There's a good chance that whoever made contact with Lindst also made contact with people going out…including those who had connections to guard personnel, commanding officers, those who were in charge of security…"

"In truth, one could walk right in and out of there if they just knew the right people to talk do and what to say at the opportune time then, yes?" Bahamut answered. "And if it wasn't a 'registered visit', and no one other than the guard staff clocked in and passed the security…it would be all but invisible."

"So that's two criteria they meet." Dael answered.

"All I hear are two coincidences." Taraketh spoke up again. "I don't hear any hard evidence. I don't hear a motive. All of this is nonsense to me. You might as well accuse yourself, Dael, or one of the Guardian Forces for all the sense this is making. What profit would it be to any of the Sorceresses to do this? None of them lust after power. They all have their own lives and they're content in them. This would go against the entire philosophy of the Order of Hyne."

"True." Bahamut responded. "They have their tenets, their beliefs, and their ways of life…but they have more than that as well. They have knowledge that no one else is privy to. They have insights into the past of this world and forces and people, both for good and evil, that no one else knows about. Very few people in this world had the slightest inkling of the existence of Nyx Gaia to begin with. Even among the very wise, that knowledge is few and far between. If the intent is to truly bring the Void to this world, then whoever knew of such a thing had to either be extremely learned or have access to such information. And as there is nothing of that sort in the 'conventional' records or even in the Vaults that tends to it…we're left to conclude only in the records of the Order of Hyne itself could that knowledge be found. At the bare minimum…that confirms that whoever did this was a high-ranking member of the Order of Hyne."

Taraketh began to flare again…for once not caring if it was Bahamut he was talking to. "How can you-"

"If I am wrong," Bahamut cut off at a louder volume. "Then tell me where. Can a Child of Hyne access the ancient records at will?"

"Of course not!" Taraketh answered. "But…"

"Can a High Child?"

"No, only the least important ones…"

"Can a Sorceress Knight?"

Jalab looked up slightly at this…but his face was sinking more all the time. Dael, by now, could guess why. The monk was not as slow as he let on. No doubt…he had been thinking heavily of all of these things every since they left.

"No, but…"

"Then I am to understand that only a Sorceress herself has full access to the records and whatever knowledge, permissible and forbidden, is contained inside?"

This was too much for Taraketh. Abruptly, he scowled as he began to get up and off of his bed. The others silently watched him as he forced himself to get up. In spite of being sore, he began to limp out of the room. When he had reached halfway to the door, however, Dael called out to him.

"Taraketh…"

"I'm stepping out for a while." He cut her off. "If I hear any more of this madness I'll do something I regret. I've learned to think of you all too highly to do that."

"Taraketh…we've gone too long with 'blinders in place'." Dael stated. "We have to try and think of something else. I'll admit, we don't have any hard evidence at the moment, but we have to consider this to be true. There's only a few people in the world who meet these conditions. If we try to ignore any now due to personal feelings…"

She cut off as Taraketh looked to her with a snap of his head. His look was fiery and impassioned…but there was more than that. Beyond that was a hint of betrayal, and the hurt that comes from it.

"…Mianyl took off her finery and propriety to get down on her knees and tend both you and me like a common nurse looks after a patient." He stated more quietly, but no less fierce. "She embraced you fully as a friend when you were hated by the rest of our order. They taught me everything about love, compassion, understanding, mercy, and kindness that I know. I won't stand here and let you spit on that. I won't let you insult every wholesome and good memory I've accumulated through my life. When you're ready to find the _real_ culprits, I'll return."

With that, he turned away and stormed out to the door, opened it, went into the hall, and let it shut behind him.

The room was rather silent after that. Even Cryder didn't feel like saying anything snide. Dael looked around the room a moment…and over to Jalab. He wasn't just troubled anymore. He looked…honestly scared. He looked like a child who had caught his parent doing the most horrible thing imaginable, and now was trying to reconcile a "saintly" image with a horrible deed.

…In truth, Dael realized, if not for her training, she was sure she'd be a lot like Taraketh right now. The fact of the matter was she didn't want to believe it. Not in the least. Of all the people in Esthar, all of those who were in power or wielded authority…there was no one, not _one_, who held as much esteem to Dael as Lady Mianyl. She had come to their aid when they were abandoned. She was kind and powerful…a woman who wasn't afraid to get done what needed to be done. If there was anyone in the world she would see herself able to follow for the rest of her life, it was her…a true ruler that Esthar needed. And she realized there was more than a good chance that she was innocent. Only one Sorceress had been mentioned. It could have easily been Cybus, Veriguno, or Faerio as much as her.

But even that was cold comfort. She realized she thought of all of the Sorceresses as her friends and allies. She couldn't just pick her "least favorite" and hope for the best. And frankly…the thought of motive made her more uneasy. There was, in truth, no motive…not unless the Sorceresses had been "pulling the wool over their eyes" for months…not unless their true natures had been hidden until now…

Dael didn't like to think about that.

"…Taraketh has one good point." Quaren spoke up after a few moments. "We don't have any hard evidence. Right now, a lot of things 'fit', but he's right…the only testimony we have so far is from our enemies. That's not terribly conclusive."

"We'll hopefully have that 'hard evidence' soon." Dael answered. "Whether it points to the Sorceresses or otherwise. I decided to launch my own investigation into the Vault theft right before we left."

Quaren looked up to Dael in some surprise. "...What?"

"I'm a captain now. I'm within my rights to do so." She answered.

The corporal looked uneasy. "But Dael…only with the sign off of the colonel. Did you get that?"

"Of course I didn't." The woman responded. "If whoever's in power behind the scenes knew about that, they'd be able to cancel it or know exactly what I was doing. I haven't told anyone."

"Dael…I know that by-law in the charter…but people can get around that really easily. What if they do? What if you get court martialed?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take to find the truth, Quaren." The woman simply responded. "We haven't gotten very far 'playing by the book'. Maybe if we do something different they won't expect it."

Quaren still didn't look that happy about it. Dael didn't blame him. To be honest…this was taking an awful risk, and had this been her a few months ago she never would have thought of doing it, captain or no. The colonel, as well as the Grand Chancellor, had certain rights available to them to supersede what she had done. As a captain, she was within her rights to begin the investigation…but if it bore no fruit then she'd be in big trouble. However, she was willing to accept that. If it found who was responsible, then it would be worth it. If it didn't…then there was no need to ever make the investigation public knowledge. A fairly 'no-lose' situation…

She hoped.

Yet while she was still considering this…the relay on the wall of the sickbay suddenly clicked on. Cid's voice came through it.

_"Bridge to sickbay, over."_

The group looked to the wall radio. After a moment, Bahamut rose from his seat and moved over to it. On reaching the station, he put out his hand and pushed the response button. "This is sickbay, over."

_"Oh…Lord Bahamut." _The voice answered after a moment. _"Sorry to bother you, but…is Dael up yet?"_

Bahamut clicked in response. "She is. What do you need?"

_"Could she come to the bridge as soon as possible?" _He asked. _"We're getting a broadcast from Esthar for her. It's the Grand Chancellor."_

* * *

><p>The bridge of this airship wasn't nearly as "classy" as that of the <em>Enterprise<em>, but considering that even the grand airship was fairly "bare bones", that wasn't saying much. This looked to be more of a combination of a tank and a warship. Very enclosed with no visible windows. Those only made for targets. A viewing screen was on, but it showed little other than darkness at this point. More useful were the sensors running, sweeping the surroundings for signs of bogies or hostile fire. The communications console was continuously broadcasting clearance codes to the Lamb Archipelago. Soon, it would have to switch to Esthar as well. The ship was entirely crewed by Esthar's Hawks, but they seemed to know what they were doing. There were eight of them up there at the moment in spite of the lack of stations compared to the _Enterprise_. Among them was Cid, who himself was at the communications console. Earlier, he had lent a hand both with stealth technology as well as code breaking to ease in their escape, and with his help the airship had made mostly a clean getaway. Only two shots were fired anywhere reasonably near them, but no casualties or damage resulted.

Since the airship was more "top of the line", not to mention designed to accommodate the High Dictator, it had a viewing screen at the console as well as a long-range radio. Normally considered a "frivolity", it was actually something useful in this case. After all, if the High Dictator was in a dangerous situation and forced to flee, it would be useful if he could send a transmission with his face on it. That way, his followers would know he was still alive. It also worked as a useful security measure. Voices might be faked, but faces were harder to do as well. At any rate, it wasn't being used for anything quite so important at the moment. Instead, Dael was seated at the console and currently looking into the monitor.

The face of Lady Mianyl was looking back at her. Amazing…even when just a digital readout, her face and eyes seemed to radiate such power… Yet at the moment, Dael had a number of thoughts of her mind that didn't focus so much on Mianyl's power as her order. She voiced none of them though…not yet.

_"Captain Levinson…if you don't mind me saying so, you don't look so well. I'm grateful to see that you're alright and Taraketh and everyone else are accounted for…but it can't have been easy. How are you feeling?"_

"I've honestly been better, my lady." Dael answered. "But I can bear with it."

_"You can have all the time you need to rest and recuperate after this." _The Sorceress continued. _"You've more than earned it. Your actions have turned the course of this war and made victory more than possible but now likely. Everyone in Esthar owes you a debt of gratitude. I can't wait to award you all personally for what you've done. Of course, I'll give you whatever time you need first. I don't want to drag you off to some award ceremony the moment you return. If you wish for me to heal you personally again, I'll also be more than happy to."_

"I appreciate your concern, my lady…but our injuries aren't quite so severe that we're beyond medical help. Just a visit will be fine, if you can manage."

_"I will indeed." _The Sorceress answered with a faint smile. _"No matter what it takes to make the time. Unfortunately, we're just getting started on our end, although hopefully there will be no more missions such as this one for the remainder of the war."_

When the captain heard this…she registered some puzzlement.

"…Begging your pardon, my lady, but I thought that main purpose of this attack was to remove Rozan Hierarch and let the instability of Sybenia solve our problem for us."

_"It was, captain. But we cannot afford to 'rest on our laurels'." _The Sorceress answered. _"If one of the factions within Sybenia manages to come to power and rally enough support to take the country, and shares the tendancies of Rozan Hierarch, it will be disastrous. Also, let's not forget that they still have those missiles. Unless the data that Sir Boer managed to obtain yields something to their location, we're far from 'out of the woods'. Yet now that the country is unstable, direct strikes and espionage operations can resume. With any luck, we can cripple Sybenia's attempts to rebuild any sort of military machine while continuing to produce our own might. By the time Sybenia gets back on its feet, we'll be more than ready for them."_

By now…Dael was feeling more than a little unease at what she was hearing. Now, the plan was perfectly sound. And to her, it made sense. So long as Sybenia was down, why not 'kick it'? Why give it the chance to regroup and come back as strong as before if not stronger? Besides, she had a point. They still needed to find the missiles. However…that was something she expected from a military mind. That wasn't something she expected from a Sorceress. It seemed…just a touch ruthless…a bit too pragmatic. And while she may have thought pragmatism was more useful than ideals…she knew they had their own spot in the world. And she expected the Sorceresses and the Order of Hyne to be maintaining that "angle"…

"…Again, I'm begging your pardon, my lady…but what of Nyx Gaia? The need to prevent more disorder in the world?"

_"Your concern is well founded, captain." _The woman responded. _"However, I am afraid that we are in something of a 'Catch-22'. We either intervene now and try to bring everything to a close as soon as possible, or we risk something worse if Sybenia is able to regain its old strength. The death of Rozan Hierarch may have destabilized the nation, and the end of the partnership with Leuco may have 'starved' it…but we should not forget that they still boast weapons and manpower greater than any other military on Gaia. They're still a threat, at minimum, until we've disabled their way to wage mass destruction with minimal personnel."_

Dael paused for a long time after hearing this. She looked on at Mianyl…betraying nothing save silence.

Mianyl blinked after a moment. _"…Captain? Is something the matter? Did my last transmission not make it through?"_

"…No, my lady." Dael finally answered. "All is well."

She nodded. _"Make sure that Cid gets that data to intelligence. It might help to end this much faster. And at your earliest convenience, I would like to meet you and Taraketh again. Separately or together, I don't mind." _She smiled a bit. _"It will be nice to have a relaxing tea once again."_

Dael forced herself to smile slightly. "Yes, my lady."

Mianyl gave another nod. _"I'll see you home safely very soon, Dael. Esthar out."_

The image shut off, going out instantly and turning back to a dull black screen. Dael's smile faded just as readily. She leaned back into her seat…while her mind was already filling with dark thoughts. She found herself clenching and relaxing her fist multiple times…thinking a lot of Mianyl's smiling face, her soft demeanor, her kind words…everything about her, really. The sense of peace she gave…the notion that everything was going to be alright…

"Dael…"

The captain snapped out of her thoughts and looked up. Cid had placed a hand on her seat. His head was bowed…and she saw something strong in him. Just as much as Jalab had been…he looked very nervous. Very uncomfortable.

"…Faerio has been more than my Sorceress." He said quietly. "She's been like a little sister to me. I love her like family. I've known her for years…"

"Cid…" Dael spoke back quietly. It was enough to get Cid to look up to her though. When he did, she motioned behind her…back toward the cockpit. A clear sign not to speak things that might be treason, or at least sow unrest, so openly. The engineer paused, but then moistened his lips and turned in such a way that his back was to the cockpit, but his profile was to Dael. When that was done, Dael spoke again.

"There's no guarantee that it's Faerio…or anyone, for that matter. We have no definitive proof. It could be just as Taraketh says…a pack of lies."

The Sorceress Knight paused for a moment…but when he moved his smile was weak.

"…That's kind of you, Dael…but do you honestly believe it?"

"I do." She immediately answered. "Do I have suspicions? Yes. But my gut tells me not to believe them. After all the kindness the Sorceresses have shown us and what they've done…I trust them almost as much as the next Order of Hyne member, I dare say."

Cid only looked very slightly comforted by that, but still full of trouble.

"Dael…you know as well as I do that if there is an 'odd man out' in the Sorceresses…it's Lady Faerio. She's always been more of an advocate of war…using force to solve problems…"

"That question is moot." Dael answered. "Under that criterion, it could easily have been me, Colonel Regalis, or any number of people in Esthar's Hawks who were high ranking. Faerio saved us in Leuco when we went to rescue Bahamut. I can't honestly believe she would backstab us now."

Cid paused for a bit, but merely exhaled in the end.

"…Don't break down now. Not here." Dael finally stated. "Keep it a secret until we get somewhere where no one can see our doubt."

"…I just want to know who's really behind it." The engineer admitted after a moment. "I…I don't like this. To be honest, I'd only feel a little better if I knew for sure it wasn't Faerio. Just thinking it's any of them…" He sighed. "It'd…well…it feels like…"

"Cid." Dael stated more firmly.

The engineer paused a moment, cutting himself off.

"…Cid, find something to do, and do it." Dael flatly said. "Give yourself some work to do. Make more mage bullets if you have to. But stop thinking about it…and more importantly stop talking about it. Understand? That's not a suggestion anymore. It's an order."

The Sorceress Knight snapped to Dael at that in surprise…but the look he received was cold. Dael was serious. Cid needed to be quiet about this right now. This was something for the private chambers, not out in the open. And if he couldn't restrain himself, then she had to do it for him. After a few moments, he seemed to understand this. Inhaling a bit, he finally nodded to her. It was hesitant at first, but gained confidence and surety with time.

Dael merely stared back…sighing a bit on the inside. She didn't want this to get much worse… However, Cid resumed his duties and did as the woman said. With that in mind, the captain began to rise to head back to sickbay. That place was at least a little private. If anything else leaked…they could hopefully keep it quiet.

* * *

><p>Getting back to the room showed little improvement. When Dael returned to the door and opened it up, she saw everyone had scarcely moved. Taraketh hadn't returned yet either. Cryder normally seemed to be oblivious about these things, but even he had left his liquor bottle closed. He was still working on the same cigar as well, short as it was, and had found a seat to go down in with an uneasy look. Quaren was trying to get up and busy himself with something…but as all of his weapons were gone, there was little to do. Bahamut had crossed his arms and bowed his head, looking like he was trying to rest, but not having a whole lot of luck. As for Ceja and Jalab…Jalab had tried to reenter his meditative state…but wasn't having much luck. Not only that…but Ceja was now looking concerned as well. She had her axe out and was sharpening it with a tool…but she was only half into it. Carbuncle was curled up on Dael's bed, but only had a far-away look in his black button eyes. For once, it didn't seem like he could sleep, and that he was as down at the rest.<p>

All in all…spirits were pretty low.

Exhaling, Dael moved back into the room. She was still sore and tired herself. She figured she might as well try and get some more rest. On returning to her own "bed", she picked Carbuncle up, got in, and set him on her lap. He didn't fuss and neither did she for once. She leaned back on the thin pillow for a moment, and then finally looked out and over a bit to the side…toward Ceja.

"How's Jalab?"

"…Quiet." She said after a moment, her own voice low and softer than normal. "He does not seem to think of this too well. He decided to meditate again."

Dael paused after hearing this. It wasn't so much what she said as how she was reacting. Even she looked to be troubled now. That only made Dael herself more uncomfortable.

"…Are you alright, Ceja?"

The Fuliet warrior hesitated a moment, but then nodded. "Of course I am. I am a warrior. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred today that would upset me."

Dael's look didn't change. "…Are you sure about that?"

"I am."

"…Then what are you thinking right now that makes you look that way?"

Ceja was silent for a moment. In the end, however, she finally acquiesced. She bowed her head a bit and exhaled.

"…I have been thinking to myself about what you said and what I myself have heard…about the chance that a Sorceress has…"

She trailed off, looking to Jalab. She seemed to worry that he heard her and would be upset. Moistening her tongue, she looked back to Dael.

"Faerio has been our ally and friend and has come to our aid more than once, and although her spirit is strong and raging as a wildfire, I do not believe she has any ill intent for us. Veriguno is praised by Sir Tierras as having been his constant companion, teacher, and guide from his youth up until today, and he has lived with her so long I doubt she could ever betray us. Lady Mianyl has extended nothing but kindness and desires for peace, and we have two among us who would praise her as an individual and a leader."

Her face looked regretful.

"…So I am left to conclude that the one who we know the least about is Lady Cybus, and this troubles me greatly." She admitted. "I may not be a Sorceress Knight or a member of the Order of Hyne. There are times when I thought of Lady Cybus as being an outside influence of Esthar who sought only to impose its interests upon us. But now…now I see how that is foolishness. Cybus has always dealt just as one should with everyone on the plain…with firmness and fairness. She was always strong where discipline was needed, but never sparing of kindness and mercy where there was room for it. When so many of us were like savages due to the pressures of the plain…she gave us order and the thing called 'humanity'. It was she who made some of us think that the outside world was something worth joining and not rejecting…that we could keep our identity and still make better lives for ourselves. And from what I hear…it was she who brought up both Sir Sabian and Lady Mianyl. Can a bad tree give good fruit?"

Dael heard this…and couldn't help but feel troubled again. She had to admit that Ceja had a point. She didn't want to see Taraketh (or herself, for that matter) hurt, and neither did she want to think ill of Faerio or Veriguno. However…that left one Sorceress left who had simply by virtue of being the one she knew the least, she regretted to say, had led her to think that she might be the "most acceptable" loss. But she was wrong. Cybus would not only hurt Ceja greatly…she'd hurt everyone. Taraketh was the most attached to Mianyl but he had been raised by Cybus. For that matter, so had Mianyl. So if Cybus ended up being the traitor, it would devastate Mianyl as much as the rest of them. Even more so. She hadn't considered that.

This was a horrible mess. She wished she could just dismiss it all as lies. Forget the whole thing. The more she thought about this, the worse it became. She began to realize that if it ended up being true, no matter who it ended up being…it would feel horrible. And that only made her feel more anxious and nervous. What if Rozan had indeed been telling the truth, then? What if it was happening exactly as he said? That they would be stabbed in the back and hurt more than ever?

Even as she thought and stewed over these things, something happened that gained her attention as well as that of everyone else. Dael's cellular suddenly rang.

In a moment, all eyes were on her. Dael herself froze momentarily. She never got any calls on this, and now would probably not be the best time either. She would only get them if they were coming via one of the relays from Esthar. And she knew full well that there was only one person she expected to call her using that method…

The woman swallowed, letting the phone ring a moment longer. Should she go out of the room? She considered it a moment, but in the end decided against it. That would do no good. She'd only come back to share whatever she had learned. Better to get it over with now, even if it was something she really hoped not to hear. Even then…she stalled a bit longer. This was it, after all…whether she would get to sigh in relief or would have her worst fears confirmed. For a brief moment…she considered not answering. Not now. Not when they were all at their lowest…

Her finger moved over to the answering button and pressed it, then held it to her head.

"Captain Levinson here."

_"Captain? This is the IT group. Private Roy." _The voice responded. _"You wanted us to look into the Vault tapes?"_

A cold ripple moved through Dael's heart. She swallowed. "…Yes, private." A pause. "What did you find?"

_"It wasn't easy, captain. This data is normally encrypted so that no one can just come along and watch it without the proper key…but this record was something else. Turns out there were some old hard carbon copies that had asked for it to be destroyed, but it was never granted. So instead, not only do they use an alternate encryption key, but get this… They key itself is what encrypted it. All of us IT guys automatically run the thing whenever we look at this stuff, so what happens? We code the thing with some bogus 'tape-over' broadcast and we're at a loss of how to decode it. Took us three days to finally figure out what went wrong, but we got it. I mean, I may not have done too well in basic, but I-"_

"Private, I appreciate your extra effort, but I'd like to know what you saw."

_"Oh…sorry ma'am." _The voice paused a bit longer, but then spoke a bit more firmly. _"As it turned out, the footage showed a small retinue coming in…about five individuals in all. Some of the Vault guards were escorting them. It was a bit hard to make them out at first, but after we cleaned up the images we confirmed them."_

"As what?"

_"Four of them were High Children in the Order of Hyne. The fifth was a Sorceress. After studying her crest enough, we confirmed her identity and double checked it when she came out again. We had a clearer shot then."_

Dael was certain that the man telling her all this didn't hesitate…but nevertheless, time seemed to freeze for her momentarily before she finally heard the words.

_"It was Sorceress Mianyl the Wind."_

The woman didn't have her phone on speakers although it was loud enough in the silence of the room…but that didn't stop everyone from immediately tensing and looking uncomfortable the moment they saw the color drain from Dael's face. For the first time Dael could recall…she felt herself emotionally weak. The phone nearly slipped out of her hands. Her grip began to tremble. Carbuncle himself looked up to her…for once losing any look of being sardonic or crass. His face merely looked troubled. After all, his ears were long enough to where he had heard the name… Dael merely sat there, looking forward, seeing nothing, and in the silence of the chamber heard the sounds of the engines of the airship continue to slowly run.

_"…Captain, are you there?"_

Dael wasn't sure how long she was quiet. She assumed it had to have been some time if that was the response she got. She tried to respond…only to find her voice weak. Finally, she croaked out something mild.

"…Are you sure, private?"

_"I've got the feed right here. Give me a second. Look at your phone."_

Dael hesitated, but then pulled the phone away and held it down. When she did, Bahamut readily moved over to her to look at it. Cryder got up and went over too, and Carbuncle raised his head. It took a few moments, but soon Dael was sent a short video. It was encrypted as a video message for Esthar's Hawks, so after quickly running her own phone's decryption, she looked at the result.

The footage wasn't the best in the world. Security camera footage rarely was. However, it was detailed enough to make out perpetrators. It showed a large sealed door with numerous scanners and security checkpoints nearby, along with actual guards. A group walked up to it. Sure enough…four Children of Hyne…and a Sorceress. Dael knew that emblem that she wore all too well… She had seen it on banners and on the woman herself many times. She couldn't see her face, but she knew it was hers. A guard escort with them went up to the security pad, deactivated it, and let them inside. Once all were in, the doors shut behind them. The clock on the footage skipped to about four minutes into the future…and the doors opened again. The five exited, carrying with them objects that seemed to be containing the essences although they were more "ornamental", having been moved into those perhaps. This time…there was no mistaking the face of the one in their midst, who the men bowed to gracefully.

Lady Mianyl.

Dael stared at it without expression, although she continued to quiver. Cryder looked on at it, holding his cigar out…and didn't take another puff. Carbuncle slowly bowed his head, letting his ears lower. Bahamut was perfectly grim, showing nothing.

When the video was over, Dael nearly replayed it…but there was no need. The image was already burned in her mind. She wasn't one of those foolish people who tried to delude themselves and say maybe it wasn't really her. There was no mistake. And so…she just sat there…trying to ignore the cold and hollow feeling inside of her. Trying to cut everything off. Trying to say this evidence meant little. All of that she knew was untrue. She remembered what they had concluded from Leviathan. This bit of evidence…the essences right here…they were the connection to everything else. Even with some doubt still in place, Dael already knew the truth, and she further knew to deny it was just trying to protect her emotions with lies.

Rozan, Raven and Lindst were telling the truth.

The feeling continued to persist in her, only growing more. The very foundations of her mind seemed shaken. Dael had never been really attached to too many people throughout her life. And life in the military was always tough and, due to being a female, not always fair…but fair enough. She had never truly had to deal with the pain of betrayal before. And Rozan was right…it did indeed hurt. It left a painful wound inside her, leaving her feeling weakened not only physically but mentally and emotionally. Lady Mianyl…who had been such a great friend…so kind and compassionate…so forthright…a standard that she thought they could all live up to. And now…gone. The image she had of her now was like some shattered dish…only a pale shadow of what it had once been. This wasn't a knife in the back. It was as if someone was carving out her heart…

She wanted hard evidence…and now she had it. It didn't mean everything yet. There was still a remote hope for a 'reasonable explanation'…but even if there was one, not only would it not stop an arrest…but Dael wasn't sure if it would turn up anything. She began to realize that for all of the misery that had been happening…Lady Mianyl had her voice in on both sides. In that closed door meeting with Rozan Hierarch, they could have been talking about anything. As for everyone else on Gaia, all of them were freely open to her words. There was no government building, no seat of power, that a Sorceress couldn't get in touch with. She hated to admit this more than anything in the world…but this made the most sense.

It didn't make it any less painful.

As she sat there, the question was finally poised to her broken emotional side by her more "logical" side.

_So what do you do now, Dael? Do you sit here and moan and lament just as Rozan wanted you to?_

She hesitated for a moment, thinking things over a bit more.

_No…you do what any true Esthar's Hawk would do. Your duty._

About that time, a voice on the phone spoke again.

_"Captain, given the nature of this recording…should we alert the colonel?"_

"No." The woman answered after a moment. "Don't alert anyone. Don't let anyone else know about this. There's no telling how far we've been compromised. I'll deliver the message to the colonel in person within eight hours of returning to Esthar. Just pass the message along that I wish to talk with him personally and don't send any word to Lady Mianyl. Keep this secret like you keep your life, private. There's already been a number of people who have died because of this information."

The private was silent on the other end. Obviously that last phrase unnerved him a bit…but it also drove the point home. _"…Understood. Over and out."_

The other end hung up shortly thereafter. Dael held a moment, almost as still as a statue. Only after a full minute had passed did she press the button to end the connection. The others who hadn't seen, namely Quaren, Ceja, and Jalab, all looked to her. However, Jalab was by far the grimmest. Even though this was "good news" for him…it wasn't the best news by any means. He still owed loyalty and fealty to Sorceress Mianyl, after all. For that matter…so did Dael.

"…What was it, captain?" Quaren finally asked.

Dael hesitated a moment longer, but then spoke, for the first time in a long while, in a soft undertone. She wanted to make this gentle.

"…The security footage that was missing from the Gordian Vault has been found and decoded." She stated after a moment. "It shows Sorceress Mianyl leading a group of High Children into the Vault around the time in which they can confirm the essences were taken, and emerging with what looks like them."

Jalab slowly closed his eyes and exhaled…using what little strength he had to lean his head back and up. The gentle giant looked shaken to his very core. It almost made Dael's own heart break. She was glad that Taraketh and Cid weren't here for this as well. She didn't think she could take all that grief. As it was…everyone else in the chamber was stunned. Quaren was by no means the least. His jaw actually slackened a bit as he stared at Dael, as if expecting her to say "I'm kidding" at any moment, even if it wouldn't be characteristic of her. But when nothing came, he bowed his own head.

"The most respected person in Esthar…the most loved person on Gaia… I can't believe it."

Bahamut moistened his lips and exhaled. "I wish I could say the same…but I can't. One doesn't live for over 6,000 years without learning how it feels to have a knife in the back…and the handle being grasped by someone who you trusted and loved." He looked up a bit. "…This really is no less shock to me. Lady Mianyl was earning my respect the same as with the rest of you. But if you think I'm 'aloof' from all this given my history…I want to tell you all how sorry I am. There is no balm or relief for a time like this. There truly isn't. The only thing one can really do now is gird their loins and do what needs to be done."

Dael sat in silence a few moments longer, but then nodded. "…And we will do what needs to be done." She stated after a moment…a bit hesitantly at first but ending with decisiveness. "Everyone…I'm going to report this to the colonel when we return. And then we're going to have Lady Mianyl arrested and charged with treason against Esthar. I'm only going on assumptions for right now…but I think it wouldn't be a stretch to assume one or more of us will be called on to help, so we'll need to heal up as quickly as possible."

Carbuncle frowned. "Yeah." He said sarcastically, looking to Dael's bandaged wounds. "Hear that, Dael's body? Heal up faster! Not at your normal speed!"

Dael merely frowned in response to that. However, the others realized there was more serious business. Quaren looked up with a sigh.

"Someone's going to have to tell Cid…and Taraketh, for that matter…" He muttered aloud.

"…I don't think you have to worry about Taraketh, Quaren." Bahamut soon answered.

That prompted the others to look up to him. However, he merely made a gesture with his lips to be quiet for a moment, and then looked to the door to sickbay. Dael did the same. They saw nothing and heard nothing but silence for a few moments. However, eventually a sound did go out…of footsteps slowly turning and only very gradually walking away. The young officer couldn't help but grimace on hearing that. So…he hadn't gone as far as they all thought. She supposed she knew he wouldn't. He knew, as well as her, that doing so would just be sticking his head in the sand. Or maybe he wanted to stay close in spite of his own fear…wanted to hurry up and hear whether or not it was true.

Dael couldn't see Taraketh now, and she had no idea what was running through his mind. She only knew that as bad as she felt right now…he had to be a lot worse.

"Leave him alone for now." Bahamut finally stated. "This is something he has to accept for himself."

The young woman nodded soon after. "You're right. We need to focus on this now ourselves." She exhaled. "I can already see all the problems this is going to cause even if everything goes smoothly… We destabilize Sybenia just to throw our own country into chaos…"

Cryder finally pulled up his cigar and took another drag from it. After letting it out slow, he held up a finger. "One question, lass."

Dael looked up to him, as did the others.

"We've all seen the Sorceresses in action. We can assume that if she's the one we're looking for, she's got everything ol' Rozan had…namely that firebird and that dragon monster, but even if she didn't she can take them both herself. Exactly what do we do if she decides to 'go out swinging'?"

The sickbay was silent as a tomb in response to that. Dael herself didn't offer an answer.

Frankly…she didn't want to think about it.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	59. Necessary Sacrifices

_Six Hours Later_

* * *

><p>Even considering the speed of the stolen airship, for it was one of the better models Sybenia had produced, it took quite a bit of time to go halfway around the world. Not enough time to heal, unfortunately. And Taraketh had been missing practically the entire time, so they could get little in the way of magical healing. That was yet another thing Dael felt was severely unfortunate. But she knew even if they had that power, it wouldn't fix some things. For example, she still had a mild headache from use of her own magic, but she supposed she should have been fortunate enough that it was only down to a dull, chronic pain rather than the horrible pounding from earlier. Still, medical science in terms of physicality was pretty good. And even if the airship hadn't had any elixirs on it, it had a large number of other advanced medical supplies for severe injuries. By the time the six hours were over, everyone was walking around and fairly normal with the help of some mild painkillers…except, unfortunately, for Jalab. He was able to sit up in bed, but even with all of the treatment and his constant use of his own mantra, he was drained and battered. He requested food instead of medicine…and Dael saw, after a moment like he had back in Sybenia, that the man could put away a ton when his aura was depleted. He must have ate half of the food stored on the ship. None of it was even that good, but she didn't argue.<p>

The time was used to listen to the radio. Sybenia was "silent", relatively speaking. It seemed the people in power over there didn't know what to do. Therefore, they had abruptly cut all news broadcasts and were running recordings of Rozan and Roz making their endless speeches. However, even the populace had to know that such was a stall and diversionary tactic at this point, especially since they had run so many times they knew that it wasn't new dialogue. Their city was severely damaged and now they were hearing nothing from on high. They had to be circulating the rumors. She was sure the various factions within the Guiding Hand were already starting to form as they were trying to decide who would be the new leader.

It was a different story in Esthar. Although there were no state-mandated celebrations, the knowledge had already been leaked that Sybenia had taken a major blow and that Rozan Hierarch might be dead. Spontaneous beer fests erupted in the bars. People went out in the streets in the middle of the night and began to throw block parties. Even the armed forces and Esthar's Hawks didn't see any lack of revelry. Dael, to be honest, felt rather unhappy about it. Now that it seemed as if Lady Mianyl might be the one they sought and had her hand in everything…then this was only a bad sign. The nationalism of Esthar would surge just as much as Sybenia's did, and they would be eager to go "over there" and not only finish the job, but emerge as the strongest nation in the world.

On the good side, she was able to talk to Colonel Regalis directly. She said nothing of her suspicions, only that she wished to meet with him personally. The colonel told her that on request from the Grand Chancellor herself she was to be given an extended leave to say thanks for everything that had happened, and furthermore that she wished to see her as often as possible now that things had "calmed down". Dael couldn't help but struggle to mask her nervousness at all of that. She really didn't know what to think. If Mianyl was truly the one they wanted, was she just "playing with her" through these gestures? Or did she want to disclose her more secret intentions to her, feeling she had earned her trust? Even if she wasn't…then what? Was she wanting her to retire from Esthar's Hawks and join the Order of Hyne? At any rate, she declined, saying she could only manage one meeting on coming back for today…although, in doing so, she managed to persuade the colonel to only have an audience of himself. That was good. Now she could confide in him without risking Mianyl's intervention.

That done, everyone did their best to get moving and make themselves presentable. That wasn't easy. Frankly, Dael needed a hot shower and perhaps even some fresh dressings. Even so, she was glad for one other thing. Thanks to talking to the colonel, she had arranged for concealed transport to the airfield. She really wasn't in the mood for any interviews today, and she knew the place would be swarming with reporters wanting to talk to them. Luckily, there was a degree of anonymity that was afforded to military personnel. It was frankly none of the public's business as to who specifically had taken out Rozan Hierarch. He even arranged for a "dummy" landing spot to distract whatever reporters managed to get through. On hearing all of this, Dael had to realize she had a case of cold comfort. Even if Mianyl had betrayed them…at least she knew her mentor and teacher from growing up was still authentic.

And now Dael found herself standing at the hatch, ready to disembark as soon as they landed. The pilots had already announced they were making their final approach to Esthar, so it should have been too much longer before they reached the airfield. She had to admit, she didn't look that good at the moment with her torn up clothing, but hopefully they would be in and out as soon as possible. The others were gathered around her, ready to go as well. In spite of his situation, Jalab was on his feet. Although Ceja stood close by and looked to him anxiously, she wouldn't reach out a hand to help him. Although the monk wasn't quite into as much of the warrior mentality as she was, she knew full well that he still had some pride. If nothing else, he didn't want to inconvenience anyone else. Just the same, he looked like he was barely balancing himself. She had to admit in addition to the physical toll, he wasn't doing well emotionally. He was doing his best to mask it, but it was far too soon. Cid was much less. He looked as if he was struggling to even walk. He was eager to get to Faerio as soon as possible, but he knew that if he went he'd be tempted to talk about Mianyl, and so the others told him to just make excuses for now. To be honest…Dael wasn't sure he could keep up the illusion. He looked on the verge of tears more than once. Yet there was nothing else for it.

There was only one absence…Taraketh.

The thought made Dael sigh a bit, but she knew he'd be back before they landed. At least…she hoped he would.

As she waited, she looked out to the others. Bahamut looked back to her readily in response. "So…what do we do first on landing? Do we come with you to Colonel Regalis?"

"No." She answered. "I'll go straight to him and give the information. He'll probably want to see everything with his own eyes, so it will take a while to get it cleared. After that, however…all bets are off. Now…I'm going to schedule personal meeting times at the mess hall at 0700 and 1900 hours every day. I'm not going to risk sending any interpersonal communication. But if we all meet at the same place and the same time, we can share whatever we find. In the meantime…everyone rest up and make sure you get your weapons repaired and in full order."

"Sounds good to me, lass." Cryder answered with a nod. "To be honest, since that bastard whipped out Tiamat…I'm a mite concerned about what happened to the _Ragnarok_. I think I'll check in on that."

Dael turned her head slightly to Cid, still looking morose. "Sir Boer…how about checking out the airships? I know at least one was destroyed, but I'd like to see how many we still have. I'm a bit nostalgic about the _Enterprise_ and I know you are too."

Cid was silent a moment, but then managed to look up and nod. He understood. That was a favor to him…a suggestion to keep his mind off of things.

As Dael looked to him and watched for a moment, making sure he was taking this in…a noise distracted her and the others. Footsteps again. They all looked up…and soon saw a new figure approaching them.

Taraketh too had cleaned himself up as best as he could, and probably better than all of the others. He had taken his remains of a weapon and cleaned and polished that as well, tying it up around himself as he always did. His face was not at ease…but neither was it angry. Instead, he had a look of being firm and resolute, like he had come to a decision. Dael wanted to think that he had realized the truth and accepted it…but somehow she doubted that was the case. At any rate, he soon moved in and up to them, heading straight for Dael. It caused her to turn fully to him. The others soon did likewise.

When he finally reached her, he came to a halt and slowly exhaled, then looked right at her. At the least, Dael was relieved to see his earlier anger was gone.

"Dael…I have a request to make."

The woman was silent for a moment. She turned and looked to the others, then back to him.

"…Alright. What is it?"

"I request that you not present this information to Colonel Regalis."

The woman stared silently back for a few moments. Taraketh, however, moistened his lips and spoke again.

"Dael, I know this looks very bad right now. I know that now we have hard evidence. But I don't think we can convict Lady Mianyl on everything that has gone wrong based on one scrap of evidence. I mean…the only thing we can even presume to know right now is that she took the essences without telling anyone. And I'll admit…that's suspicious…but I believe she had her reasons. After everything she's done for Esthar, I think we owe her the benefit of the doubt. A chance to explain herself."

The group was silent in response. However, both Cid and Jalab looked to Dael…both a bit anxious. Bahamut exhaled slowly, and looked as well, waiting for an answer. As for Dael, her face remained stoic as she stared at Taraketh. She didn't change too much. Inside…her mind thought over what he said. Her personal feelings went out and gravitated to them. After all…perhaps he was right. Lady Mianyl had "overstepped" her authority before for the sake of the greater good, and had done a great deal of help for their country. Perhaps it was just a big misunderstanding… A large part of her wanted to treat it as such…

However…she had trained enough by now to not let sentimentality breed stupidity.

"Permission denied."

Taraketh actually froze, genuinely taken back by that. In another moment, his anger might have been enkindled. That wouldn't do anyone any good, so Dael tried to "curtail" it.

"Before you say anything, Taraketh…this is something much bigger than just a personal difference or dispute." She cut off. "This isn't a criminal investigation. This is something that concerns the fate of Gaia and the future of humanity. Someone has been playing us for saps and fools for months now and had us running around doing one act of chaos and discord after another, and all of it has just worked out to the benefit of whoever is responsible. We can't afford to let them have their way any longer. We're going to do this by the book, just as planned. We're going to relay this information to Colonel Morrick Regalis. He'll relay it to the rest of the surviving Senate members. They'll make the decision, and if it's to place Lady Mianyl under arrest…" She hesitated, inhaling. "…Then that will be carried out too. This isn't an execution or a trial. If she can explain herself…then she'll have her chance to do so then. But the fact remains that she handled classified and high security prohibited materials, Taraketh. That's incriminating evidence. I wish it wasn't…but you have to admit at this point we can't afford to go on blind faith."

A great deal of the High Child's anger evaporated at this. If he hadn't genuinely changed, if he had still harbored thoughts that Dael was a 'grunt' and just been pretending to have esteem, he might have snapped back and lashed out. But as he did…he said nothing more in that regard. Finally, he exhaled again and looked up to her.

"…Alright." He finally said. "But if you won't allow me that, then allow me this. I want the chance to meet with her first. I want to talk to her about this."

"I'm sorry, Taraketh…but I'd be an idiot if I let you do that either." Dael responded. "When you're getting ready to arrest someone, you don't have someone go and tell them that the police know about their crime. If you go there and talk to her about this, even if you don't say anything about how you know about it, she'll know that others know about it too, and then she'll run for it."

"No she won't." Taraketh answered. "I'll cook up some cock-and-bull story about how I've heard a rumor or something. If I'm fine enough on the details, she won't be able to lie about it without knowing I know the truth. But I'll keep it a secret that the rest of you know. You haven't given her any reason to believe you suspect anything, right?"

Dael hesitated on hearing this. However, before she could answer, Carbuncle spoke up from the floor.

"Yeah…that would work…provided you _don't_ say anything about the rest of us knowing, and I'm not too keen on that, Sir Sabian."

The High Child looked down to the Guardian Force in surprise, but he merely crossed his forepaws and gave a look at him.

"Don't give me that look, kid. I wasn't born yesterday. If Dael wasn't as conflicted about this whole thing as she is right now, she'd see it clear as day too. You told us all how Mianyl's more than just your superior. She's your friend who you grew up with. And if friendship means anything to you at all, you aren't going to try and stab her in the back. Even if you don't think you'll do it now…your opinion will change when you're in there with her smiling all innocent and sweet at you while she's pouring tea. She'll melt your heart like a pound of butter."

Taraketh held for a moment. Dael could tell…what Carbuncle had just said had gotten to the heart of the matter. He hesitated for a bit, and then finally shook his head.

"I won't." He finally stated. "Does Lady Mianyl mean a lot to me? Yes. She does because she and the other Sorceresses have taught me a lot, including being doers of the tenets of the Order of Hyne and not just speakers. And the tenets include enforcing justice and not backstabbing one's friends." He looked more insistently at Dael. "…But you also have to understand that I trust Lady Mianyl more than anything in the world, and I've never seen her do anything wicked or untoward. I have enough respect for her to give her the benefit of the doubt, which is why I have to do this. If she denies it in spite of the evidence…avoids it…tries to order me away from it and to forget about it…" He slowly inhaled and then exhaled. "…then fine. It will be, as they say, 'giving a person a length of rope and watching them hang themselves with it'. Then, painful as it is, there won't be any doubt left in my mind. But you _have _to let me try. She's my best friend as well as my mistress. I owe this to her or I'll never forgive myself."

Dael was still hesitant. She could understand how insistent he was about this…and part of her just wanted to let it go. But even if he was telling the truth about all of this, there was another concern…

"…Taraketh." She stated flatly after a moment. "If Mianyl is innocent and this all goes well, you've nothing to worry about. But have you ever stopped to think what might happen if she _is_ guilty? What she might do if you're alone with her in a room?"

"You remember what she did to Tiamat, right?" Quaren interjected with a worried tone…seemingly a bit surprised himself that he was showing this much concern for the High Child who had treated him as "trash" for so long.

The High Child hesitated for only a moment, but then grew more resolute.

"…I trust Lady Mianyl more than anyone else on Gaia. I'll be alright. I promise."

Dael stood there and stared for a few moments more. She didn't bother looking to the others, however. She was sure some were more considerate, while others thought this was an all around bad idea. In truth…she wanted to believe Taraketh. If somehow there was an explanation for all of this, she wanted it to come to light. But if there wasn't…then this whole thing was foolishness. Yet she knew full well that the man in their group that knew more about Mianyl than any of them was the one who wished to do this. He had actually grown up alongside her. He would know better than any of them what sort of hidden sides she might have.

Finally, she exhaled.

"Alright. But I'm still going to the colonel with this." She finally said. "However, I'm going to ask him not to make a move until we hear from you. If you insist on meeting with the Grand Chancellor, try to get it as soon as possible and report in to us on what you found."

The High Child hesitated a bit afterward, but seemed to realize this was as good as he would get. He gave a nod. "…Thank you, captain. I'll be right back. I left the broken part of my weapon in sickbay."

Giving a bow to her…a sign of respect…he turned and ran back the way he came. As for Dael, she turned forward and back to the hatch. The others hesitated, but gradually did the same. Carbuncle let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. Bahamut, however, was calmer as he stood next to her.

"Are you sure about letting him do this?"

"Not at all." She answered.

"You shouldn't be." Bahamut went on. "I told you that even people you've known since you were a child can turn out to have dark hidden sides."

"Maybe." Dael answered. "But you can't expect someone who was this close to her and knew her for this long to just 'go along' with this plan without getting some form of closure."

"Unfortunately, no, I can't." Bahamut answered. "Which goes to show that emotions can make people foolish as well as noble. Let's all pray neither Taraketh nor anyone else suffers for this."

* * *

><p>To be honest…Taraketh <em>did<em> feel a little mad.

He thought the others had really begun to appreciate the Sorceresses as much as he had. In spite of how bad the situation looked, he still felt this was relatively little. Alright…so Lady Mianyl had handled the essences. So what? There was a big difference between that and trying to use it for experiments or giving Guardian Forces to madmen… Besides, how much sense did it make to sic a Guardian Force that would have arisen from her intervention if she was the culprit just to get in a life-or-death struggle with it? Why would she tell Sybenia to experiment on her own people? None of it made any sense. He had hoped the others would have seen it the same way. It nearly made him start digging up his old thoughts regarding Dael…that, in the end, she really was just a military grunt…

However…he wouldn't let himself think that. She was just being thorough. He supposed that if it was any other member of the group, they might be led to think the worst. But he was sure there was a reason for all of this that Mianyl could tell him.

There had to be.

Dael had done a good job getting them back to Fort Morningstar. He had no more love for reporters than she did, after all. He wasn't in the mood for being treated like a hero for helping kill a man. As much hatred as he had for him and how much he had done to his order…in the end, it was something that had to be done…no more and no less. Luckily, they hadn't had to be delayed long. They arrived on the airfield, the doors opened, and there was already a truck waiting for them. No doubt, some of the reporters at the wrong location had to have seen where the Sybenian aircraft landed and tried to move, but long before they even got in range to snap a picture with a zoom lens, the truck was already headed out.

Taraketh didn't care much for what happened next either. The people in Esthar were reveling more than ever now. There apparently had been parties in the streets in the middle of the night to start celebrating the death of Rozan, and things were only bigger now. It made the whole thing seem rather grim, especially considering how many more people had died as a result of this operation…and how much more disorder had occurred. Taraketh found himself looking to the sky more than once. But as it was the middle of the day, there was nothing to see. Even the faint outline of the moon wasn't visible right now. He supposed that was for the best. He wondered what astronomers were thinking now…if they were still clinging to the idea that Nyx Gaia was only an illusion…

Although it was hours to get to the fort…for Taraketh, it was the fastest ride of his life. Any chance at postponing the inevitable was ruined. Once he arrived, he quickly broke off from the others and ran inside. Normally he'd try to at least lend a hand…but time was of the essence now. Although he trusted Dael to wait…a worm of doubt was in his heart, wondering if they'd move on ahead without him. Yet once he was away from them, the next thing that came to mind was that Lady Mianyl might not be available. She was Grand Chancellor, after all. At first, he thought that was a good thing. It would mean it would be some time before he could report to the others. But on the other hand…perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to wait…

There were a few areas in Fort Morningstar now set aside for the Order of Hyne. It wasn't much, but it was places where they could get their customary clothing and effects, treatment for overuse of their magical powers, and could conduct some affairs of their order's religion. Taraketh was there often in mediation or even just for straight resting. The presence of a high ranking and able High Child like himself was a good impact on morale, after all. The largest section set aside was the northeast wing. The Order had actually converted it into a small shrine by now, and Lady Mianyl herself came here for prayer and mediation when she was present and unable to return to the city cathedral.

On arrival and seeing his state, he quickly was healed up fully by the resident children, as well as given a fresh set of clothing. Some of the toolmasters took his kusarigama to quickly go about repairing it. They also gave him the "good" news.

"Oh, Sir Sabian! Lady Mianyl was hoping that either you or Captain Levinson, or both, would have a moment. On the chance that you would, she came here for tea today and requested that if either of you should come around that you should come right up at 2 PM. The High Children guarding her will lead you right in."

Taraketh masked a swallow at that. "…I'd be deeply honored. I'll head up there at once when I'm cleaned up and more presentable. But I'm afraid Captain Levinson has a pressing matter to discuss with Colonel Regalis and won't be able to attend."

"Oh, that will be fine." The High Child answered. "I received the impression that her ladyship was interested in speaking with you privately if possible, after all."

This actually made the High Child pause. "…Me…privately?" He echoed.

The Child nodded. "She mentioned something about a private, yet pressing, matter."

Taraketh had to struggle not to turn red. Was this what she had been hinting at before? Was the time finally here? He almost felt like banging his head on the wall. Why now? Finally, it looked as if his dream was coming to light…but now with this latest matter, it had gone from being something joyous and wonderful to potentially terrible…

Finally, he nodded. "Alright. That should give me all the time I need to make myself presentable. Thank you."

"Of course, sir."

* * *

><p>Dael was too much of a trained soldier to appear before the colonel inappropriately. She had taken the time to clean herself up and get in a fresh dress uniform. She had to do it in a hurry. The appointment with the colonel was scheduled pretty close to her arrival time. However, things in the fort were a little less hectic. Everything was still crowded, but with the recent victory, there was cause for some relaxation at least temporarily. She was able to move fast, in her chambers and out of the shower even before Bahamut arrived. Soon she was dressed again and made straight of the colonel's office. She kept her eyes open as she did so…especially on the Children of Hyne inside the facility. At least four High Children had gone with Mianyl into that chamber, so that meant that she couldn't fully trust them anymore either. Any one of them could be reporting on her. For once…she actually felt more at ease when the guards outside of the colonel's wing began to look over her. At least they were security that she trusted.<p>

Once inside the wing, she went straight into the office. After exchanging the formalities, she got right to the heart of the matter. She sat down in the chair, saying how she had conducted the investigation under her right as a captain in Esthar's Hawks, disclosed all of her suspicions, and then, to "ice the cake", presented him with the phone that had the footage that had been sent to her.

Colonel Regalis was always a stern, silent man. Yet after giving him the phone…she couldn't help but see his face turn a bit darker. She knew why, after all. She felt bad about this whole thing…what it meant…what level of betrayal it was. But the truth was he had to feel much the same. He had accepted Mianyl as not only his Grand Chancellor, but someone he would be honored to serve under. Someone who would fight for justice and "set him free" to do what needed to be done to be effective. And now…this. Now the truth came out of just how much of that might have been falsehood. The person they had been searching for that had been the leak, the wolf in sheep's clothing, had been the one who had been their closest ally…the one they trusted in their hour of darkness. And that wasn't something anyone could just so easily turn off.

When the phone video was finished, the colonel continued to look at it a moment. His gaze went downward, clearly thinking about this a bit longer. In the end, he slowly reached out and set the phone down, and then looked up and over to Dael again. His arms slowly crossed.

"…I only have one question." He finally stated. "Why didn't you ask me for clearance to handle this investigation?"

"Because I couldn't be sure it wasn't you, sir." Dael readily answered, not shifting her look in the least.

The colonel paused a moment, but then formed a half smile and a snicker. "…Sounds like a good reason to me, captain." He said as he slowly leaned up a bit in his chair, sounding tired and weary at this point. Yet he inhaled once and then slowly exhaled, trying to "let it out". After doing so, he looked back to Dael again. "…You've changed a great deal, Ms. Levinson, within the span of less than half a year. You've gone from being a frightened 'girl scout' always eager to please and 'do her best with honors' to this point. It's easy to see how you managed to somehow pull off a captain's rank in this short period of time."

Dael hesitated a moment, but then responded. "To be honest, sir, I think I was just the right person in the right place at the right time. Nothing special."

The colonel gave a weak smile. "'The right person in the right place at the right time.' That's a good answer, captain…and you'd be surprised how much of history is nothing more than that. That's what sets apart most of us from those who change the world…people who do the right thing at the right time and have the resolve to do it. I wouldn't downplay it so much. True, much of what happened to you might have been luck or, better yet, fate…but it wouldn't have gone as far if you hadn't been prepared to meet it head on." He leaned up a bit, folding his hands in front of him and exhaling.

"…I didn't want to ever tell you this, captain. But this was what ran through my head clearer than anything when you were found dragging your bleeding body along the road and shipped to a hospital. You were always someone who did everything flawlessly and by the book. That's how you aced everything in school. What got me really thinking that day was that was the first time you ever 'failed a test'."

Dael looked up a bit at that. He looked back up to her darkly.

"A rule for an Esthar's Hawk in a crisis situation, the ultimate fallback rule when you are alone and outmatched, is to do what is necessary to keep alive without betraying your corps or your country. Like I said, I never wanted to say this to you…but you have to realize based on your training that the proper thing to do in that situation would have been to 'take it'. That's what you were raised for…to be able to put up with that kind of humiliation, that kind of dishonor, and that kind of pain. Because so long as you lived through it, you could always come back to pay them back one day. You can say that's sexist, demeaning, horrible, and that I'm some stupid man who has no idea what it's like to be a woman for saying that, and you'd probably be right on all accounts. But that's also how Esthar's Hawks does things. You decided against that. You decided it would be better to take a small victory away from the enemy if it meant keeping your own honor, even if the cost was your life. You didn't think as a soldier that day. You failed as an Esthar's Hawk."

Dael was actually tightening up a bit on hearing this. She couldn't help but feel a bit of anger inside. But before it could swell to the point of becoming visible, he leaned forward again and leveled a stronger gaze at her.

"…And I'm very impressed that after fifteen years of training and graduating as a young, up-and-coming officer who was the top of her class and a model Hawk…that you were still able to fail when you needed to."

The young woman blinked here.

"The future of Esthar is not going to be decided by people who do things by the book and follow what's logically best. That's how we ended up in our current state." Regalis continued. "If there's nothing else you learned from all of this, captain, I hope you learned how people have to hold themselves to higher ideals. That some sacrifices are worth making even if you're going to 'end up behind'. Would I think you were acting as a smart, proper soldier if you had let those cadets have your way with you? Yes. But I don't think any other action would have made me so proud of you. Even how you did on your final exam was nothing compared to that. We can train your bodies. We can subject you to endurance training. We can simulate the worst type of battlefield scenarios. But there is no training, no test, and no classroom that can teach an individual to be a great person. To have true honor and true courage…the courage to know that some things are worth paying the ultimate price for no matter how hard it is. Seeing you in that hospital…bound up…braced on both legs…covered with bruises and lacerations…and yet having not so much as a speck of one man's DNA on you…I had never been prouder of you."

Dael was stunned. Never before had she heard the colonel speak of her like this. It wasn't just the words he said…but the way his voice changed. He was usually so gruff and business-like. He had never sounded this caring before, not even when she was checked into the hospital. Although he had been good-natured in the past…this was something different. When she looked into his eyes now, she saw such pride in them…such admiration…it was something completely different from what she was used to…

_I knew that the colonel knew almost every Esthar's Hawk from their days in the academy. That gave him a special bond with all of them. But…but I don't think I've ever seen him look this way at another soldier before…_

_ But I didn't join the organization like everyone else. I was practically born into it…adopted just to be shoved into it… He's pretty much seen me my whole life…watched me grow up inside the organization…_

_ Maybe that look is more than pride…_

However, the colonel only indulged it for a little bit. In the end, he took in a deep breath and leaned back again, folding his hands in front of him.

"…We're now in a critical situation, captain." He stated, once again going back into "business mode". "The Grand Chancellor is probably the most respected individual in Esthar at the moment as well as much of the rest of the world. There's a good chance that an arrest of her will destabilize this region as much as Sybenia is right now. Maybe even more. With her gone, all we have is a fistful of senators who may be the bravest, but are also inexperienced with taking command. Not one of them volunteered to fill the void when Mianyl proposed to them to come in. Besides, they already confirmed her as the Grand Chancellor. That gives her a certain level of immunity. She can be arrested with a two-thirds majority of signatures from the surviving Senate and I'm certain we can get them as that would be about five people at this point…but this is going to hurt the country a great deal. It might make the war last for years longer."

"That's a chance we have to take, sir." Dael answered. "You know as well as I do what's coming. And there's little doubt in my mind that no matter how bad this war becomes or how many years it lasts, this will be a much worse situation if we allow it to continue. Whoever's behind this is not interested in waiting or dragging this out for years. Every week it seems they come out with another way to bring Nyx Gaia closer. We can't hesitate any longer. We'll just have to take whatever comes with it."

The colonel slowly exhaled again. His look grew darker yet.

"In that case, we will need all the support we can get…and unfortunately that's a bit scarce, captain. The Esthar's Hawks, obviously, will do all in their power…but what of the Order of Hyne? If Lady Mianyl is the culprit, and she is acting alone, then it is a simple matter of informing the other Sorceresses of what we have discovered and enlisting their help. That would probably be the most conducive. However…you know as well as I that the Order of Hyne had great loyalty to Lady Mianyl. More than our government, the civilian populace, or anything else. Even if what she was doing was blatantly wrong, which, I'm sad to say, is not so obvious in this case…they might be willing to always do as she directs. And you know that's a best-case scenario. The worst is unthinkable."

Unfortunately, Dael did know that…and had hoped it wasn't true. They had only confirmed Mianyl for now…but what if the other Sorceresses decided to "sign off" on her behavior by virtue of the fact that she was the highest ranking member? After all, they did have a hierarchy in their order…and they obeyed the will of the highest sorceress…

"…Then I suppose we'll have to do this on the authority of Esthar alone."

The colonel sighed. "…That won't be easy. Both the Order of Hyne and the public itself will demand an explanation, and we'll have to give them one that won't start a city-wide insurrection. The Order of Hyne is now as widespread as Esthar's Hawks themselves. We've been working hand-in-hand on everything."

"It may not be easy…but wasn't the point of what you just told me that sometimes doing the right thing means doing something that's not easy?" Dael simply answered.

This made Regalis pause a moment.

"…There's no way we can make an arrest without it going public. The press knows where the Grand Chancellor goes at all times."

Dael hesitated after hearing this. She slowly clenched and unclenched her fist.

"…There might be one way." She finally stated.

Regalis looked more intently at her on hearing this. Dael herself looked up to him.

"Lady Mianyl still conducts the prayer service every morning at 0800 hours at the Cathedral ever since moving into Esthar. Six days of the week it's public. On the seventh, which is tomorrow, it's private. She'll be there alone. Her retinue will be outside. We can go in through the back. That's the route she leaves open in case someone needs to give her some important information."

The colonel looked to Dael a bit longer at this. "…How do you know all of this?"

The young woman paused momentarily. "…Sir Sabian told me when he talked about the prayer services that he used to attend with her. He said it in case I ever needed to get in touch with her in an emergency and wanted to make sure I was alone."

Regalis slowly shifted, uncrossing his arms and folding his hands in front of him.

"…And this information was on a secret basis, wasn't it?"

"Where the security of Esthar is concerned, to say nothing of the future of this world, nothing is secret." Dael responded simply. "If you're asking me whether I like the fact that I'm betraying Sir Sabian's trust, I don't. But the future of this world has to come before everything else. Even my friendship with him. And I know that he would be hesitant if I asked him about it. I can't afford to stall out on a potential criminal for the sake of one man's wishes."

The colonel moistened his lips again, once more hesitating as he bowed his head, cleared his throat, and then looked back up to her.

"In that case…is your intention to postpone this arrest for eight days? Take the time to explain the situation to Sir Sabian and hopefully win him over?"

"No."

Regalis paused on hearing this…but Dael's face was immoveable.

"I'd prefer if we planned on doing the arrest tomorrow morning by default. I'll talk to Sir Sabian this evening. If something comes up or it seems bad, I'll give the word that we should cancel the arrest. But if nothing comes through from me…I want everyone to plan to go ahead with it."

* * *

><p>In truth, Taraketh wanted to take as long as possible to get fully cleaned up and dressed. Yet there was little reason for it. He wasn't sore or injured anymore…back at the top of his game. Even his head felt fine. His kusarigama was still being repaired…but what kind of excuse would that be? Saying he was late because he wanted to make sure his weapon was nice and sharp? Besides…in the end, he realized he didn't want to give Dael and the others reason to wait. He wanted to get this discussion over with. He wanted to exonerate Lady Mianyl, tell everyone about it, and have this whole mess called off. He not only wanted it…he <em>had<em> to do it. At the moment, he was Lady Mianyl's only ally, in his mind. At least…as far as the group was concerned.

Nevertheless, he felt himself growing increasingly nervous as he went up to the skydeck and the executive lounge. It was quiet up here. Far way from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the fort. All that was here now were a few Esthar Hawks acting as guards and, moreover, some children of Hyne. Most of them were High Children, and in full regalia with their cloaks and clasps. Taraketh couldn't even remember the last time he wore his, or had looked so stoic and expressionless. For the first time, he thought of those faces as being cold and unfriendly as opposed to disciplined and reverent as the elevator took him to the proper floor, and he walked down the posted guards in the hall all the way to the lounge.

After what seemed like a similar march to the gallows…he reached the main doors leading to the executive lounge. They may not have been large, impressive, gilded, or had anything about them like a temple area…but they were still more than ominous enough for Taraketh. On arriving, it took only a moment for those guarding the door to bow in greeting, and then take either handle and open it. After almost absent-mindedly returning the greeting…Taraketh stepped inside, and the High Children readily closed the door behind him.

The fort had seemed as silent as the grave before coming here…but now, he could swear he could hear everything. The place looked so isolated. Although he had been here before and it still had all of the décor from prior…it was emptier now. There was no one else this time. No other guests or dignitaries…and no watchmen either. The landscape of Esthar stretched far and wide out in the distance. It looked almost as if the glass wall wasn't even there, and that, from this vantage point, one was really looking out "as far as the eye could see".

And in front of that glass…there she was.

A small setup had been put there for her to brew her own tea, and she was at it at the moment. It seemed the kettle had just boiled when he had come in…and now, Lady Mianyl, still dressed officially but more "loosely" (lacking the crest, for example) was pouring herself two cups…one he could only presume was for him. He actually stood there, hesitating for a few moments.

After a short time, however, Lady Mianyl looked to him. Her lavender eyes looked beautiful, and her smile was warm and inviting…full of innocence.

"Well, don't stand there like a stranger, Taraketh." She said with almost a laugh on her voice. "Come on in. Have a seat. The tea will be ready in just a moment. Help yourself to some cake."

Mianyl turned back to the tea…but Taraketh didn't move. He swallowed and stared on at her. He felt horrible already. He felt like he had come in to throttle his best friend while her back was turned…which wasn't too far from the truth. He couldn't budge. He could only stand there silently.

Finally, however, he managed to say something.

"You…aren't having an attendant do that?"

Mianyl let out a laugh. "Please, Taraketh. If I had any more 'attendants' I wouldn't be able to bathe myself. The least I can do is make my own tea. I still remember how to do _that_ after all." After a few more moments of adjusting some things, she called out again.

"You look well. You aren't still in any pain, are you?"

"No, my lady."

"How about the others? Are they fine?"

Taraketh let out a swallow. "…Yes, my lady."

The Sorceress finished getting the tray ready and began to pick it up. "I'm glad to hear it…but I'm honestly surprised. I thought for sure that everyone would be hurt after a mission like that. I'm glad to see you and everyone else are back on your…"

She trailed off as she turned with the tray…for she saw Taraketh was still in the doorway. She blinked a few times.

"…Taraketh, is something the matter?"

The High Child swallowed again. Before he knew what to say, he forced a smile and shook his head.

"No…no, nothing, my lady. Just…well…you know, a bit embarrassed to be alone with you having tea."

Mianyl let out a bit of a sigh, but also smiled at him and shook her head. "Same old Taraketh. Always treating me like royalty when you first knew me as just a child in an Order of Hyne orphanage. Come on. Don't be shy any longer." She began to walk toward the floor table, but gave him a sly look as she did so. "Don't make me 'order you to relax'."

A bit of Taraketh's smile became genuine at that…even as he felt his feet begin to sweat. He realized if he stayed there much longer, it would be more than obvious that something was wrong. Soon after, he began to advance, consciously forcing his feet to move and trying to make them regular. Mianyl reached the table first and set her tea tray down, while the High Child moved to the opposite side. He soon saw the place had been set up for just the two of them…and they were seated across from each other. That only made sense. It was the best spot, after all. Yet the thought of being forced to look Mianyl in the eye…

He tried not to think about that as he set himself down. He was so distraught that he didn't even bother telling Mianyl "you shouldn't have done that" as she served him up not only a cup of tea but a piece of cake.

"Normally I try to eat something 'lower calorie'…" She said in regards to the food, but then smiled and waved her hand…freely letting her hand come out of her sleeve and showing her claws. "But why not? We don't get nearly enough time together."

Taraketh forced himself to smile. It felt so quiet in here. The tension, for him, was thick enough to cut with a knife. Even the smell of the tea and cake seemed unusually strong. As for Mianyl, she eased down as well, adjusting her dress, and then pulled up the cup and sipped from it.

"Speaking of which…I want to thank you again for all the help you gave me before you left." She said with a smile as she pulled the cup away. "I don't think I felt that at-ease in some time. It's not just that you're so dutiful and proper, Taraketh. It's just the feeling of having a friend close at hand…someone to trust and who I know understands me as a person and not just an object to be revered. That's very important to me. That's why…"

At this point, Mianyl trailed off. Taraketh grew nervous at that, but he could guess the reason why. The High Child hadn't said a word, hadn't touched his tea or cake, and hadn't looked up once.

Lady Mianyl soon put her teacup down. "…Taraketh, is something wrong?"

The High Child paused. He swallowed a bit. "…No, my lady."

She didn't change. She folded her clawed hands in front of her and exhaled. "…Taraketh, I've known you practically your whole life. I know when you're troubled…and I know how you try and hide it. You can talk to me, Taraketh. Even if we didn't have a personal relationship, as a Sorceress I'd want you to come to me with any of your concerns or troubles. Yet even if that wasn't true, you know I'd never judge you or cause you more grief."

That statement was so ironic that it nearly made Taraketh feel a bit misty. He swallowed again, and stayed silent. He continued to sit there, but it was pointless to resist now. Mianyl sat quietly and calmly and waited. At this point, she wasn't going to break off. She would sit there as long as it took for him to start talking, and he knew it. That only made him more uncomfortable.

He swallowed again, and finally put his hands down and on his teacup. It was simply to be able to grab onto something.

"…Lady Mianyl," He finally started. "While we were over in Sybenia, some of us broke off to try and find out more about who was behind all of this. Who Rozan was working under, possibly…and who might be trying to bring Nyx Gaia closer."

Mianyl showed nothing. Not the slightest change. She continued to look to him.

"…And what did you find?" She asked. You couldn't wish for a more neutral tone.

The High Child hesitated again.

"…They found Dr. Lindst. She was trying to escape Sybenia, but she was killed by one of her own bodyguards that she tried to shoot herself. Before she died, though…they talked to her briefly. She claimed that she was brought to Sybenia from Esthar and encouraged to develop her experiments by…"

He hesitated only a moment.

"…by a Sorceress."

The young woman was silent and expressionless. She merely stared, still as a statue. Deciding to use the moment, he continued. After all, if he stopped here he might not get it all out.

"That wasn't all. Both Rozan and Raven claimed, before they died, that they were operating under a Sorceress. That a Sorceress had given them their essences that they used to harness the power of the Guardian Forces. I didn't believe it at first. I had no reason to." He swallowed here.

"…But…" He hesitated again, and then said more resolutely. "…I had to know. So…I did some asking around and made some inquiries. I won't tell you what exactly I did or what I found…but I found some evidence to show that a Sorceress had entered the Gordian Vault prior to all of this taking place and coming out with the essences."

He inhaled a bit, and slowly exhaled…before forcing himself to look up to her. Mianyl still hadn't changed, for good or ill.

"…I got a good look at her face, my lady." He said at last.

Mianyl still didn't show much in the way of reaction. She looked downward just a moment, and then looked up again. Taraketh continued to stare at her, however. He was silent at this point, holding and waiting to see what she had to say about it. Would she feign ignorance? Would she deny it? Would she break down and admit everything? Would she…grow angry? He didn't know, but he held and waited for some sort of response.

After about ten seconds, finally she reacted, leaning back a bit and folding her hands in front of her.

"So…that's why you're acting this way."

He moistened his lips. "…Lady Mianyl, you know I trust you above all else, and I know you have always acted in a way that has been for everyone's benefit and has favored no 'sides'." He paused. "That's why I believe whatever you say. However…in this current situation…I'm feeling a bit worried and concerned… I would very much like and appreciate it if someone could explain to me what I saw…"

Mianyl continued to stare at him plainly.

"…And you're not the only one, are you, Taraketh?" She said slowly and calmly.

The High Child paused here, but she continued.

"There are others who want an explanation as well, aren't there?" She explained. "People who are in Esthar's Hawks, perhaps? Or within your task force?"

Taraketh paled a bit. Apparently, he was far too transparent. He meant only to implicate himself in knowing the truth, but Mianyl had seen right through that. He tried to hold out for a moment…but he realized she already knew anyway. And so, he exhaled.

"…Yes, there are."

The Sorceress sighed and leaned back. "I figured as much. Taraketh, I respect your ability and talents, but I also know your loyalty. I know you wouldn't have begun this investigation on your own. I know you trust me too much."

The High Child was quiet, saying nothing and not looking up. As for Mianyl, however, she reached out and took up her teacup, taking a sip.

"…I don't blame you, Taraketh. There's not a great deal of faith in this world, and I can't blame the world for being a distrustful place. One of the things that should have become more than clear over the past six months is that there's a lot of evil and heartlessness in the world. A great deal of immorality and treachery. It only makes sense that people would want to distrust others…even within our own order, although I had hoped to create a situation where that wouldn't be the case.

"…As to what you said…how you wanted an explanation for this individual's actions…" She sipped her tea again. "My response is that this individual would have no doubt turned a few heads if she had done something like this more openly, but that would be because the world would understand so little. The world likes to think there are easy answers for everything. They like to separate the world into light and darkness and never see anything in between. In one breath they blacken all of the whitness on 'the other side', and in the second they whitewash all of their own blackness on their own."

The young woman looked up slightly, and smiled a bit.

"Do you remember the day you first found out I had claws, Taraketh?"

The High Child looked up at last at this, a bit surprised at such a question as he looked to Mianyl. She stared calmly back. After a moment, he swallowed and bowed his head again.

"…I was six, I think. Out in the playyard, I noticed how you were always scared to play with everyone else…how you always stuck close to Lady Cybus. Then one day you tried playing a bit with the ball, but it was hard when you wore those long sleeves. I saw you fall down with the others when they were all going for it, and…"

He swallowed again.

"…One of them got up and had a big bloody scrap across the back of their hand. He shouted: 'She scratched me! She scratched me!'…and I saw you run off crying…"

Mianyl remained quiet.

"…After Lady Cybus got everyone, including the one who was hurt, to believe it had been a sharp rock on the ground, I went out to try and see you. But you were gone all day. I heard the washroom sink run at one point and I looked…and was just in time to see you run away. When I looked in the sink, I saw a drop of blood on the edge. And though I was only six…I knew."

The Sorceress looked to the side slightly. Taraketh, however, was a bit more strengthened, although he spoke more quietly.

"…I spent all day looking for you, and I finally found you after sunset…right back outside at the jungle gym. You got back on when everyone had left. You looked so sad…and I guess you were thinking so much about what had happened that you didn't see me coming until I was on you. I remember how you got up and tried to pull away…and I begged you to stay. To trust me. I said you could trust me with anything, now and forever. That no matter what it was, it wouldn't change how I cared about you." He paused. "And then…"

Mianyl looked up again, her smile a bit wistful. "…And then I showed you my claws."

Taraketh grimaced a bit. "…Your 'hands', my lady."

She slowly shook her head. "No sense in calling them anything but what they are, Taraketh. Hand or claw…it's what one does with it."

The High Child was silent in regards to that, but looked up to her again. Mianyl smiled a bit more, and gently reached out with one of her claws and, with amazing gentleness, took Taraketh's hand and held it in both of her own.

"You didn't finish the story, though." She went on. "I could clearly see the fear in your eyes for only an instant…and then you banished it away, and I haven't seen it since. For only a heartbeat, I felt as if I was truly alone…that the world would never truly appreciate what I was or would accept me…that I was more monster than person. But then…when you changed…when your acceptance came out, and you came forward and took my hands in yours…the first time I could ever recall someone who wasn't Lady Cybus taking my hands…I knew. I knew you had told the truth.

"You have no idea how important that moment was to me, Taraketh. How it showed me that there was purity and goodness in this world. And ever since that day, when I feel weary or weighed down, when I feel things have gone to a point of no return…I remember that day…how a young man accepted me completely and swallowed his fear and hate, replacing it with love and care."

Taraketh looked up a bit more at her at that, his face softening more. "Lady Mianyl…"

She held a moment, and then held his hands a bit more firmly.

"…I would love nothing more than to have that young man at my side for the rest of my life."

The High Child's eyes widened on hearing that. The breath caught in his throat. "Lady Mianyl, do you…?"

She smiled a bit more and let out a small laugh. "Taraketh, you're not really that surprised, are you?" She asked. "I've wanted you for this position ever since I was a little girl. There's no one else I've thought of more for it. I just wanted you to 'grow' more first…to stop being so narrow-minded about people and what's good and evil in the world. And you've done that. You've grown so much after joining Dael's task force. And now…I want you to help me grow. I'm only at my best when you're near me."

She held up his hands and leaned in closer, to fold herself closer to him.

"Taraketh…I want you to be my knight."

The young man, in spite of expecting this, hoping for it, and being eager about it…nearly felt himself pass out. His hands trembled in Mianyl's grip. But she merely smiled back pleasantly and continued to hold them. His jaw slackened. He didn't really know what to say now that the moment had finally come. After a moment, however, she looked in a bit more.

"…You will, won't you?" She asked.

The High Child stammered. This was his dream. Finally, he would never be apart from Lady Mianyl again. He would be her closest confidant and friend. He would be with her all the time, and he could think of nothing more than he wanted for his life. Nothing except…

_Dael…_

In spite of how great he felt, how much he wanted to accept right there…he still had a few wits to realize he didn't know the truth just yet. He held a bit, but then realized he couldn't accept this unless he knew. With that in mind, he smoothed out and looked to Mianyl again.

"…But the essences…"

Mianyl's smile faded a bit, and she exhaled. "…Taraketh." She said after a moment. "You know me, and you know who I am. When have I ever not done anything that was for the good of everyone involved, as best as I could make it? You said once that you trusted me, and that I could trust you with anything, now and forever. Is that true?"

Taraketh hesitated.

"…Is it?"

The young man paused a bit longer, but then nodded.

"…Then I will tell you this. There is an enemy to this world and to all things far greater and stronger than you, Dael, Esthar's Hawks, or any Guardian Force will ever know. And I have to stop it. No matter the cost and no matter what it takes."

Taraketh reacted to this. He had expected an explanation…but he had never expected that. He blinked in confusion. "…What? What do you mean, my lady?"

"I can't say any more right now…suffice to say I believe I am the only one who can stop it, as Hyne's Descendent." Mianyl answered. "But I can't do it alone. I need you behind me, Taraketh. I need you to believe in me. Even if some things look dark and foreboding…I need you to trust me and help me. I need you to ensure that I can keep going until this enemy is gone. Will you help me? Will you be my knight?"

The High Child was stunned. What was Mianyl talking about? Was this Nyx Gaia? Or something else? Was it the true power behind everything…the one they had been seeking? Why had Lord Leviathan said nothing of this? Did he even know of it? Needless to say, this sudden revelation left Taraketh a little stunned. What did it mean? Why couldn't Lady Mianyl tell him more about it? This was a large leap of faith. Even for him, she was asking him to essentially forget about the essences and what he saw…

But in the end, none of that mattered. Mianyl was looking to him with fierce, hopeful eyes. She was depending on him. For the first time in years, she genuinely needed something from him…something that only he could provide. Mianyl was his friend and the one to whom he was devoted above all other things. He indeed trusted her, no matter how dark or grim things seemed. He believed in her…and now she was asking for his help specifically. As a result…there was no way he could deny her.

He paused only to make himself resolute, and then finally nodded.

"I will, my lady."

Mianyl smiled a bit more at him, soft but large…and then leaned over the tea tray more, not caring about upsetting the cups, so she could put her arms around Taraketh's shoulders tightly. It was a good feeling, and he soon put his own arms around her and hugged back. It had been so long since they had embraced like this…but it was a wonderful feeling. He took a moment to relish it…to think of what this now meant. To have his arms around her…to feel like, even now, he was guarding her and supporting her. As time went on from his decision, he began to feel better and better. This was his dream, after all. This was what he had hoped to gain in his life…and now it had come to light. He was finally with Lady Mianyl for good. And as he focused on that, his earlier concerns and fears slowly faded. He trusted the Sorceress…and he believed her when she said she was in a difficult time. He was intent on helping her with it, no matter what.

After a long while, the two slowly parted. They both extended long enough to hold each other's hands and hold a bit longer, smiling at one another. Finally, after that was done, both eased back, and both pulled their hands back and set them in front of themselves. At this point, Mianyl reached down and began to take up her teacup again. This time, Taraketh did the same.

"Now, Taraketh…I need to know something from you that's very important." She said as she brought the tea up and blew in it. Before taking a sip, however, she looked out to him.

"…Are Esthar's Hawks planning on arresting me, and, if so, where and when do you think they'll try?"

* * *

><p>Dael hadn't had much to smile about ever since the day she became a full Esthar's Hawk…but anyone could tell, whether they knew her or didn't, that she was in an ill mood for once. She had managed to recline a bit in the mess hall chair, and was drumming her fingers again and again against the countertop…so many times that one would think she would have bored holes into it at this point. She did it to try and pass the time…to wait a bit longer, hopefully that time would pass faster. In the end, however, she couldn't resist it. She looked to the clock again.<p>

1923 hours.

She slowly exhaled…her sigh a mixture of regret and a bit of irritation.

She looked around the table. The others were all there already. The last of them had shown up a full ten minutes before the hours, at 1850 hours. And now, they all sat silently and looked at the one empty chair on the table, for the one individual they had hoped would be there. After all, everything was supposed to proceed or cancel based on what Taraketh told them. If he wasn't here…then what?

Dael looked forward and continued to tap her fingers.

A few of them had gotten something to drink, but none of them had much of an appetite. This was bad business. One would have thought the death of Rozan would have given them some measure of peace or relief, but all of them were more tense and uneasy than ever. Cryder, normally the most relaxed and carefree of all of them, wasn't even drinking or smoking tonight. He was just sipping a glass of water…which was so unlike him that it set everything on edge... After all, he had rubbed lemon juice in their wounds when he arrived. During the battle at Sybenia, the communication relays had been knocked out for the _Ragnarok _early on. Gradually, those for the airships had also been disabled...assuming they hadn't simply been taken down like the one Dael had spotted. As a result, their fate was totally unknown. The last transmission reported all were heavily damaged and struggling to stay active...

He took another few sips, as he looked to the time. He watched as it slowly ticked from 1923 to 1924…and then pulled his head away and moistened his lips.

"Much as I want to chalk this up to runnin' late, lads and lasses…I don't think our mate's comin'."

Quaren swallowed a bit on hearing that. He had gotten himself a soda, but hadn't touched it. By now, it had to be quite flat and watered down from the ice, but he didn't seem to care. "You…you don't think…" He began to say.

Carbuncle cut him off from his own position with a grim head shake. "He's alive. Don't worry about that."

Quaren looked to him when he said that. "…How are you sure?"

The green creature looked grim as he exhaled. "…Because I wanted to make sure he got out of that 'tea ceremony' in one piece myself, so I teleported up to that room and waited for him to come. Didn't show myself, though. I watched him instead. And I watched him walk right back to the northeast wing…and, as far as I know, he's still there."

The group was quiet after hearing this. Some of them immediately assumed something from this. Others, however, didn't pick up so quickly. Cid looked up a bit in puzzlement. "What does that mean? Did he forget?"

Dael, in response, closed her eyes and sighed, prompting Bahamut to look to her. After a moment, she finally pulled back her arm and leaned up, and then looked to the others.

"…It means we can't rely on Taraketh for this one. We might not be able to rely on him at all anymore." She answered a bit crossly.

The tone actually made the others pause a bit. Some of them looked regretful. Dael, however, remained firm…as much as it hurt inside.

"It was simple. We told him to come back and tell us if we were good to go if he found reason to believe that Lady Mianyl was innocent. He didn't come back. He didn't try to call my room or anyone else. That means only one thing to me. He couldn't find anything, and if he came here and didn't have anything to say in Lady Mianyl's defense, that meant he would have let her down. That he'd be forced to admit she was guilty. He couldn't stand that, so he didn't come at all. That way he's trying not to betray us but not betray her either. I told him we wouldn't proceed unless he gave us clearance. So…he doesn't give us clearance. That way we don't go after her."

Ceja looked up a bit at that. "…You really believe that's true, Dael? That he would endanger everything to protect her?"

"I do." Dael immediately answered. "I should have seen it the whole time. I should have never agreed to what he asked for. I knew just looking at him that he was too attached to Lady Mianyl when he said that…that he never intended to go through with agreeing to persecute her."

Cid grimaced a bit on hearing that. "…Sheesh, Dael…it's not like _any_ of us are that easy about this. He grew up with Lady Mianyl. He's as close to her as a brother. Maybe more than that…"

"And here I thought your ol' 'heartless' streak was just about done, lass." Cryder threw in. "You could be a bit more understanding, you know… How would you have reacted if it was the colonel?"

"She would prosecute him with no less enthusiasm than she wishes to prosecute Lady Mianyl, and it would be every bit as painful to her."

The group went silent on hearing that, turning to who had spoken last. Bahamut was looking up and leveling his gaze on everyone. His face had turned stern and firm…hard as flint, and worse than Dael's by far.

"You can feel as ill as you want to about how this has to be, but _do not_ presume to call Dael heartless for this. There is a time for sympathy and mercy just as much as there is a time for anger and wrath, and just like those ill emotions, good will can be misapplied. She is taking on the burden of a true leader and someone who has the good of all in mind, and that is never an easy thing…and it is not being someone's friend. Because right now, Dael isn't doing anyone any good being a friend. There was an established way we agreed on to give Lady Mianyl a berth, and she didn't meet it. Now we go on as planned."

Everyone was quiet for a few short moments. Bahamut was being firm and stern, and as a result…he was making them all pause and think about the situation again. Although none of them wanted to admit it, they had to agree…Bahamut had a point. Nyx Gaia was getting closer. They couldn't afford sympathy now. If Mianyl was really behind this…then they couldn't hesitate.

In the end, Quaren exhaled. "…But we're still stuck. Without Taraketh clearing anything, we can't proceed with the arrest."

"The arrest is happening tomorrow at 0800 hours in the cathedral."

Both Jalab and Cid snapped up at this, looking rather shocked. However, the others looked no less amazed. The only one who didn't was Bahamut, who bowed his head slightly and remained grim.

"…Captain, you said we wouldn't clear it until we had the go-ahead from Taraketh."

"And I never counted on getting that from him, corporal." Dael responded simply. "Nor do I think there's anything to be gained from confronting him now. We're going ahead tomorrow morning."

Cryder couldn't help but let out a snort. "…So you're backstabbing him then. Just using a little knife, mind you, but it's definitely going in the back."

Bahamut spoke up at this, although he didn't look up. "Cryder, are you, of all people, about to lecture Dael on something like this?"

This only made the pirate snort more bitterly than before. "Thousands of years old, and you're resorting to what amounts to 'I know you are but what am I'? Also defending her, I see."

"I didn't ask him to defend me. Nor am I going to justify myself." Dael immediately answered. "It is what it is. If you want to accuse me of betraying Taraketh's trust, then go right ahead. That's what it is. Even if it's for a good cause."

"Taraketh is never going to forgive you for this, Dael." Cid stated. "It doesn't matter if Lady Mianyl gets off or…or…" He swallowed. "…of if you're right."

"It's a sacrifice I have to make." Dael responded.

"Maybe he was right about you being a military grunt deep down inside…" Cryder mused aloud, making sure everyone could hear it.

At that, Dael snapped her head up. Her eyes looked fierce as she stared at the pirate with ferocity. Her look was so direct and commanding that he was unable to casually look away. He had to stare back at her, for that was a look that wasn't going to tolerated being "jerked around". If he wanted to have the privilege of condemning her, then he had to endure that gaze.

"Look me straight in the eye and tell me Taraketh would have given us the go ahead if Mianyl had ended up guilty." She stated almost coldly. "Do that, and I'll call the whole thing off."

The pirate was silent. He looked back at Dael, and was able to look into her fierce gaze…but he wasn't able to turn his head fully to her. And he wasn't able to say those words.

She looked out to the others. "Cid. Jalab. Any of you. Look at me. Look at me straight on and tell me Taraketh will give us the word. Make me believe it. I don't care who does it. If one of you does, then fine. I'll call off the arrest. I'll tell the colonel it was a mistake. We shouldn't move. Go on. Any of you."

A pause.

"I'm waiting."

The group was silent. Most of them looked away from Dael…including Jalab. None of them said a word. None offered any more criticism.

After a moment, Dael eased, but just a little. "…Alright then. That means you all aren't blindfolding yourselves like Taraketh is. That means you all know, deep down inside, that he'd never tell us. That means he couldn't find anything. That means, as it stands, Mianyl is still a suspect…and that means, in the worst case scenario, that she might be about to do something that could bring about the end of all life on Gaia and completely destroy this world. All of you know that. All of you accept that. Now let's try this again… No mincing words. No moral high horses. No beating around the bush. If any of you want out of this…then tell me straight to my face, right here, and now, verbatim: 'Dael, I don't think risking the future of this world and every living thing on it is worth losing your friendship with Taraketh.'"

Silence remained. Bahamut was the only one who stared at Dael boldly. All of the others looked uncomfortable. However, she wanted this now. She was content to "take the pain", before…but she wasn't about to have the others turn on her too and make her out to be a monster when she was doing the only responsible thing that could be done. She wasn't going to have them all shake their heads at her and call her despicable when they all knew full well in their own heart of hearts that she was right. That was exactly what all of the incompetent leaders of Esthar had done. They had worried too much about feelings and making people feel good about themselves to make a single hard decision. And this _was_ hard. She made it look easy. It was tearing her apart inside. For the love of God…_Taraketh_ _had let his eye get torn out trying to help her. _Did they all think that was something she could just throw aside? But hundreds of thousands had already died at the whims of the mastermind of this. Their lives couldn't be for nothing.

At last, Cid looked up a bit.

"…Lady Faerio gave a call to me earlier today. She wants me somewhere tomorrow morning. The same with Jalab. So…" He paused, and shook his head. "…I'm sorry. I can't be there for that. Definitely not inside the cathedral…taking her while she's _praying_…"

"Can't come." Jalab stated softly.

Dael looked to them both a moment, and then to the others. "Alright. Anyone else?"

"I've been in times like this before, Dael." Bahamut stated plainly. "I won't let you face it alone. I know how hard it is."

"It's got to be done, no matter how we feel." Quaren stated. "I'll be there."

"This betrayal stings far worse…but I have felt it's pain once already." Ceja stated. "And there is but one law for traitors. I will go."

"I'll be there." Cryder finally said after a moment. He hesitated, then looked over to Bahamut. "…You're right." He finally said with a sigh. "I promised myself I'd be there for people from now on. That's got to include the worst of times."

The group was silent for a few moments. Now…the proverbial lines had been drawn. Now it came to it. In about twelve hours…they would do something immeasurably harder than defeating Li Juanhong or assassinating Rozan Hierarch. After all…those two were at least enemies of theirs. Facing a friend was infinitely worse.

"Me too."

The group looked down, and saw Carbuncle seated on the table, raising a paw. However, his look was even darker and grimmer than Dael's and Bahamut's.

"You'll need me there…for all the good I can do." He said after a moment. "I'm still worried about what's going to happen if Mianyl decides she won't be 'coming quietly'…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>NEXT CHAPTER: The 'puppeteer' revealed...<p> 


	60. In Shepherd's Clothing

Dael had another nightmare that night. The voices were back, and they were no longer tormenting her…but she wasn't any happier. They were quaking in terror. Each one was crying piteously, scared for their lives. It wasn't her, but it was something else. They were all focused on something distant and dark…something that was somehow able to threaten them all together no matter how many billion they were. And then…she started to hear them scream. At first, it was just a few…but soon it spread to all of them together. Somehow, in the dimness…she saw something much larger and darker coming in…something big, huge, and all encompassing. It was almost as if she was floating in space and headed straight for Gaia, only instead of a planet growing larger to encompass all things, it was nothing but pure blackness…so dark and so abysmal that the sheer lack of anything inside it was maddening. You couldn't look into it without thinking it was looking right back at you…into you…through you…and very hungry. The voices had to see it too, for they only cried out all the louder as it came to eat them. And Dael…for the first time, she realized something. In spite of how much they had tortured her and wouldn't listen to her…she didn't want them to die. Yet she could do nothing. As always, she was powerless and without voice. And then, the most terrible thing of all occurred to her. The darkness wasn't going to stop at the voices. It was going to consume her too…

She barely had any time to start feeling terror when she woke up. She didn't scream this time, but she was sweating…and feeling a deep fear she didn't think she was capable of. She noticed that it was 0430 hours when she awakened, but she knew she wouldn't be able sleep again. Not after that.

And that's when she noticed something else. Both Carbuncle and Bahamut were awake as well, lying in their respective beds.

"…Did I wake you?" She asked.

"No." Bahamut answered. "I had a dream."

Dael paused. "…About what?"

"I don't remember exactly. But what I do recall…you don't want to know."

"Try me."

"Millions of people were dying."

Dael hesitated again. He was right. She didn't want to know that. She looked to Carbuncle. "What did you dream about?"

"Nothing." Carbuncle answered with a sigh. "I just got a bad feeling this is going to be the last time I get a stiff drink and sleep in a soft bed…ever."

While that was rather mild compared to Dael and Bahamut's concerns…it didn't make her feel any better. None of them felt any good after that. They forced themselves to lie down until 0500, trying to go back to sleep. After all…they needed all the rest they could get. But it was impossible. All of them felt like they were marching off to execution at 0800 hours. None of them could sleep. In the end, they had no choice but to just get up at that time.

Dael forced herself to go through the motions as fast as possible. Every inch of her body felt reluctant to move. She thought back to yesterday with anger. She hated appearing so "heartless", but she didn't really have any other option at this point. She would feel better if she knew Taraketh, Cid, and Jalab would be behind her today, but she knew she couldn't trust Taraketh, and Cid and Jalab were treating her like she had betrayed _them_ practically. This whole thing was bad to her. She knew Taraketh would probably never speak to her again after this, and honestly that hurt. She didn't think of him as a partner or associate…but as a friend. In spite of how rough they had been for so long, he was her friend. And that meant this wasn't easy in the least. She wanted it to be over with as soon as possible. The faster it was, the sooner she could try and get on with her life.

She found herself beginning to hope that Lady Mianyl _was_ who they were looking for, and for a new reason as she got ready. If there ended up being an explanation for all this…then that meant she would have betrayed her too.

It took Dael a full ten minutes longer than her usual speed to finish showering, cleaning herself up, and then getting dressed. Today, she put on her full official uniform. She had taken just enough time to have a proper scabbard made for Save the Queen, and now wore it as part of her ensemble. She ended up going for a holster. The sword was just short enough to keep at her side if she wore it high, and she was used to having a blade there as opposed to her back. Putting on her Mage Gun was a bit harder. She still had one unused Thundaga bullet inside that Cid had given her. She supposed she had better not expect any more "free bullets" after today… At any rate, although this was grim and official business, and technically Bahamut didn't really have a place in it…he dressed himself as presentable as possible, took his own sword and buckler, and was at her side. To be honest…she was glad he kept his promise to do so. She could use some support.

No meeting in the hall this time. The agreement was to meet at 0600 in the main meeting room. The queue had been cleared for the day to allow it. She arrived early, but found that the colonel was already there. He too was in full uniform with a grim look about him. At the moment, he was leaning against the podium rather than standing erect as normal. Along for the ride were some of the best soldiers he could spare from Class II. Each one was well armed and had visored helmets to hide any expression on their faces that might betray emotion. All seemed dedicated to their current goal. When Dael walked in with Bahamut and Carbuncle, her first order of business was to go right up to the colonel. On arrival, he didn't get up, and so Dael, for once, didn't salute in greeting.

He looked at her only a moment, and then reached into his own uniform lapel and pulled out a folded letter, crisp and new. He passed it over to Dael. She paused only a moment before taking it and opening it up, seeing the official letterhead and the print.

"An official national warrant. It took them an hour to find the proper format." The colonel stated softly but darkly. "It's official. The surviving members of the Senate have authorized the arrest of Sorceress Mianyl the Wind on suspicion of treason. All that's left to do now is to serve it to her and then bring her in. I've already given the order to clear out a space in Fort Morningstar's brig. I don't want to risk the people of Esthar seeing her marched into a jail or have the press question her."

Dael only glanced over the document. She wasn't about to assume that the colonel wouldn't go through with all the proper 'ts being crossed' and 'is being dotted'. However, she did note that Quaren's mother's signature was on the list before she folded it up and passed it back to the colonel.

She didn't bother sitting, but remained standing as she waited. Not long after, the door opened and Quaren, fully armed himself with fresh weapons and in the same combat uniform as the other Class IIs, only not wearing a visor, stepped up as well. After that came Ceja. She had dressed up as best as she could, but was still in tribal attire and with her giant axe. It earned more than a few looks from the men, but the colonel said nothing to her about it. After that, at last, Cryder came in and joined them. He looked the most "casual" out of all of them…even Ceja, who seemed to have at least done herself up a bit in her own tribal manner. He had a cigar when the door opened, but he immediately extinguished it and then joined the others. When all were assembled, and 0600 hours came, Dael looked to the colonel.

"…Sir Sabian, Sir Tierras, and Sir Boer won't be joining us on this assignment, sir."

The colonel looked back silently and expressionlessly for a only a moment. "Understood. Let's go."

There wasn't any delay. At once, all of the Esthar's Hawks, Dael and Quaren included, immediately moved out. Bahamut kept up as well. Only Carbuncle, Ceja, and Cryder showed a bit of a delay…but they soon followed. None of them went the way they came this time. Instead, they moved out straight to the back entrances, the ones that Dael had seen the colonel enter through and exit from before, along with Lady Mianyl herself. That was for more "executive" roles.

Soon, Dael was moving through a series of thin corridors she had never been through before. They were reserved only for the highest levels of command, after all. There was a periodic MP, but other than that not much. The area was clean and clear, and there weren't even security cameras placed here. In other words, one of the most private areas of the fort. They took no elevators. There were only stairs here, and they went down for a short while before taking a corridor that was still several floors from the bottom. Dael had a good idea of where they were headed, but soon it was confirmed when they finally took a door exit to the executive helipad. It had been cleared, and three Stratoaevis aircraft, each one prepped for launch, was ready to depart. At once, the entire ensemble broke up and loaded onto them. As for Dael, it ended up that she, Bahamut, Carbuncle, Cryder, Ceja, and the colonel himself took the first one. After only a two minute delay, they all took off, angled toward Esthar, and went off at full cruising speed. Any faster, and they'd set off minor air-traffic alerts. They wanted to avoid causing unnecessary attention. This alone, however, would be fine. They'd be there in an hour…more than enough time.

The woman soon found herself wishing the time would go faster though. She had no idea what was going to come from this. Even in the most ideal situation, it would change a lot of things. And if Mianyl ended up being innocent, they were back where they started. Someone would still be behind the scenes of everything, wanting this world to tear itself apart to bring Nyx Gaia in. She began to think…what in the world would possess _anyone_, be they a Sorceress or not, to want such a thing? There was still no motive here…and that only made the situation worse. What did any of this mean?

_I just want today to be over… I feel worse and worse about what's coming as time goes on…_

They didn't go straight to the Cathedral. They were early, after all. Rather, they dropped speed and did a more gradual fly-by over Esthar, until they hit the north. If anyone wondered what the three Stratoaevis aircraft were doing, the idea was to make them think they were on unrelated business. The actual operation was slated for fifteen minutes and no more than twenty, although they had taken into account something ill might take place. As they flew over the city, Dael noticed that the sky rapidly turned gray and ominous. A storm was coming again. It was nothing unusual. After all, the whole world was seeing more gray skies nowadays. The city normally saw rain half the time over the past two weeks. However…in a situation like this, the omen implications were undeniable.

Thanks to their slow speed, there was no need to "hover" anywhere. As soon as they reached the city limits of the barrier, they turned and made their way back again. Dael looked to the time when that happened. 0740 hours. All things considered, time had moved fast indeed…but she still felt like it had taken forever. By now, her feet were sweating and she was struggling not to tap them, eager to be done with this at long last. She actually looked out the cockpit window as they went along, and saw them as they returned to Esthar, very slowly went over the skyline, and finally had the Cathedral in sight.

"Landing right in that lot seems a bit of a warning sign." Carbuncle mused aloud, the first words spoken since the flight began.

"There's a helipad in the back for shuttling VIPs." Quaren quietly answered after a moment's hesitation. "Four Stratoaevis craft are unusual…but not suspicious."

Cryder looked up a bit as they approached. "Four?"

He soon got the answer. A modified Stratoaevis for increased transport was coming in at the opposite approach. Dael knew what this was…the "paddy wagon" of the bunch. It had been modified to transport a prisoner, specifically a high security threat. She exhaled a bit when she saw it, feeling another wave of unease around her. No one said anything else as all four aircraft made their final approach.

Two minutes later, all four were touching down in perfect arrangement on the large landing field. A few Children of Hyne were stationed around it, though not really watching or guarding it. They simply were tending to the courtyard. They reacted, understandably, with some surprise, growing progressively more confused as the wind began to blow them about and they saw them touch down only to immediately open up and start letting Esthar's Hawks out. At once, the soldiers went up to them and began to tell them to stand aside, and they could do little in protest to tell them otherwise.

However, the colonel paused for just a few moments more, not letting anyone exit his Stratoaevis right away. Dael noticed that he pulled out something from his uniform…a large caliber sidearm that was standard issue for high officers. After checking the weapon, polished and almost gleaming, and making sure it was in perfect order, he put it back in his holster and capped it. He pulled out the warrant again and held onto it in a gloved hand.

"If any of you wish to bow out of this operation," He stated behind him. "I won't hold it against you and I'll excuse you. But now is the time."

No one said anything. Even Cryder let out a slow exhale, but said nothing else.

Without another word, the colonel got out of his chair, went to the side hatch, and opened it up. The others rose and followed out after him one by one.

The engines were left in the "idle" state, so they could take off as soon as possible. The soldiers had finished clearing off the Children of Hyne for now, although they were beginning to attract more. They needed to move. In no time at all, the colonel moved to the front and took point. Dael quickly fell in behind him to his right, and the rest of those in her group fell in behind her. Finally, behind that came the soldiers, each one in perfect formation and filling out behind him. That done, they all began to march, straight for the rear entrance. Just as Dael had heard from Taraketh, there was no guard posted there. No High Children. Just a regular Child of Hyne watering the flowers, and when he saw them coming he readily broke for it, although he was as confused as the rest.

In moments, they were at the stone stairs leading up to the rear entrance, and soon they ascended them in a line, going in groups of twos. Only the colonel went forward alone, and behind him Bahamut and Dael walked side by side. She took a deep breath as she reached the top to the open back door, right before crossing the threshold.

Inside, the air seemed distinctly cooler…more so than what the stone could make. It was actually so chilly that, in spite of her best efforts, Dael gave a shudder. She wasn't alone. Bahamut seemed to do the same, and she could tell he was definitely trying to hold it as well. At any rate, they emerged back in a small kitchen mostly used for making the candles for services and storing of articles. It was quite abandoned, and had a large door on one side that led to the outer perimeter of the Cathedral. Dael knew from the layout that, from there, it led into the Apse. There would be where Lady Mianyl would be located. At the bare minimum, they could at least approach her head on and not while her back was turned with this layout…

The colonel moved in only enough to let everyone file in first and shut the door behind them. It was quiet inside, but from this position, there was no echo so long as they were in this enclosed antechamber. He only waited until they were all assembled, and then led the way to the door leading out. Although he would have been within his rights to let someone make the move to open it, he did it himself instead. Dael knew why. The same reason he was taking the point. He understood Dael better than she realized. He knew full well, even if her own friends didn't, that this wasn't easy for her. So long as he led the charge, she could at least, in a small way, think of this as being someone else besides her doing it. At any rate, with the door open, he quickly led the way out, and everyone followed again. Once more, he paused and waited for them all to exit.

When they were all gathered again, and in formation once more, the colonel looked over them one last time. They were in one of the chapels now, with one of the past Sorceresses framed in the back in remembrance. The Apse was only partially visible from here, and all one could see was on the side. No one else was visible, including the Sorceress or where she was praying. Dael inhaled one last time as they all went into formation. When that happened, the colonel gave a nod, and then turned and led the way. No running. No rushing. Just calm walking. They went right around the edge of the chapel, moved out in front, and marched forward straight to the Apse in lock step. They barely set foot in there before their steps began to echo loudly throughout the otherwise silent Cathedral.

Just as quickly, they began to diminish.

The colonel actually slowed in his step. Even if he hadn't, Dael slowed of her own accord, as did the others. They struggled hard not to look surprised, and Dael, on her part, didn't succeed too well. Yet surprise wasn't the only reaction she felt.

Coldness was more appropriate…as was fear.

The Apse wasn't empty in the center, and neither was Lady Mianyl at the base of the elevated portion of the other side. Rather…she was standing right in the center, and she was in full regalia. Her crest, her ceremonial attire, and her eyes flashing with so much power that it arrested everyone's progress. Dael had long since gotten used to it…or thought she had…only to find her body seizing again on seeing her looking straight at them the moment they emerged, as if she was expecting them the whole time. She only had to look once at her face…no longer fair and innocent but now stern and firm…and know that to be true.

She wasn't alone.

Flanked on either side of her at the next elevation down were others. To her right side stood Lady Cybus, similarly in full regalia and with the same sharp, firm look. Yet as an even bigger surprise, and one that Dael wouldn't have been able to figure out even if her mind was free to fully think at the moment (it wasn't) was Lady Veriguno, in her own full regalia and wearing the mountain crest. Finally, two levels down and before her, standing at the base, was Lady Faerio, also fully clothed and with a bit more impassioned look. She could see the anger on her face, even if it was only slight.

That, unfortunately, wasn't all. Cid stood at Faerio's side. He was stripped of his machines, and instead had his arms folded behind him. The only remaining weapon he had was his atomic hammer, and he had that set before him. He didn't look terribly angry like Faerio did, but looked firm just the same. At Veriguno's side was Jalab. He didn't look angry either, but still stern. He seemed slightly unsteady still from Sybenia, but he had a new staff with him and held it steady. At the side of Cybus stood Aizel…at last with his weapon. He was balanced on what looked like a massive bat at first glance, but looking a bit closer one saw it was something quite different…a macuahuitl. Each stone embedded in the sides was sharpened obsidian…very intimidating and powerful for a native warrior. Finally…there was one other present, this at Mianyl's immediate right, but much closer…wearing a new silver clasp around his cape…the mark of a Sorceress Knight.

Taraketh.

Dael actually met gazes with him for just a moment…and when she did, his eyes narrowed. She saw genuine anger in them…genuine loathing. The kind she had not seen since they first met…and now worse. That look that showed anger at her being here…for he knew what it meant. She had taken what he had told her and was now using it to try and take Lady Mianyl captive. She had gone against what she had said she'd do, which meant she had not only gone against the Sorceress, but also him. There was no denying the look in his eyes. It had broken off whatever thoughts of friendship that it once held for Dael. She was once again "just a grunt" to him. But even if it hadn't, Dael could tell from the new clasp on his cape all that she needed to know.

In reality, if the current situation had been so severe…she would have scoffed at it. Far from looking to see if Mianyl was against them, he had thrown his lot in with her more than before. Actually endeared himself more to her than before.

_…He's made his choice._

Yet he could only command her attention for a few moments. What was far more pressing was not only the fact that all four Sorceresses were gathered in full attire, and that all four Sorceress Knights were with them, but there was one other thing… Behind them there were no less than thirty High Children of Hyne. It must have been all of the ones in the city proper. And all of them were just as expressionless and cold as the Esthar's Hawks with guns. There was no denying anything from this…they had known they were coming.

And now…something far worse was happening.

Enduring the gaze of one Sorceress was hard enough. Two was much worse. But four of them together, in all their glory, and flanked with so many others? Dael knew now why the air felt cold in here. It was them…the sheer power they were radiating at the moment from being gathered together. Even now, they seemed more "vivid"…more "alive". They almost seemed to stand out from reality more than the rest of them. Every step that brought them closer only made them feel more charged, like their skin was itching or crawling. They slowed more yet, but didn't stop. They continued to gradually make their way forward. Dael wanted to say it was due to bravery or sheer will power, able to contend with the Sorceresses themselves.

But that was a lie. The truth scared her, and everyone else, more than anything else.

The only reason they were still walking forward toward them is because they _wanted_ them to keep coming.

Dael's mind…what she could force to keep working, for even thinking in the presence of the Sorceresses seemed labored…was ablaze with a great deal of things at the moment. A part of her entertained the idea that this gesture was just to "teach them all a lesson in respect"…but she doubted it highly. No…they were _not_ in a good situation. In fact, Dael felt like she was a mouse before a group of tigers at the moment, and had she and the others not been well acquainted with fear and trained…they would have been doomed. Yet even so…Dael feared greatly for all of them now, and even having all of these soldiers with them seemed a useless gesture.

In the end, she had to focus on the one who, if he was affected as bad as them, somehow managed to shrug it off. The colonel slowed initially on seeing the scene, but then kept moving forward, not changing his step. He only straightened himself out a bit more. Dael, latching onto that, kept moving.

After a few fateful moments, they were at the base of the platform at the Apse…looking up to the Sorceresses. From inside the Cathedral, with them surrounded by their retinue…it was like mortals before gods.

For once, Mianyl's look had no warmth.

"I take it that since you came to me during my private prayers, colonel, and through a back entrance rather than the front, where my attendants would have alerted me, that you have a pressing matter at hand." She stated. Even now, Dael felt herself weakening from the power of her voice. It was back to when they first met her. Only now…there was no kindness. No encouragement. The woman had changed…almost like a different person.

Dael soon noticed it was enough to make everyone uneasy…and not just in her group. She saw Cid actually move his lips a bit on hearing that voice…

After only a moment, the colonel responded.

"Grand Chancellor…but the power and authority vested in me by the government of Esthar, as the duly-designated officer of the highest legal authority in the land by current martial law, and at the bequest of a two thirds majority of individuals in the Esthar Legislature, I hereby place you under arrest for the crime of treason against the nation of Esthar. You will accompany me now to Fort Morningstar where you will be held until you are placed before the bar to stand trial."

The colonel's last word echoed long and heavily through the Cathedral, which seemed more empty and hollow than ever. Dael, in all honesty, was amazed at him. He still had the edge on her in this. She didn't think she could have brought up that sort of force against her…not now…not when she almost seemed to shine brighter than all other life.

Finally, she reacted by raising an eyebrow.

"…Is that so? Gracious." She stated in a mundane tone. "I presume that piece of paper in your hands is an official warrant. May I see it?"

The colonel, without hesitation, began to advance. However, he only got as far as Lady Faerio when she called out again.

"That's far enough. Taraketh, would you please go get it?"

Without expression or change, the new Sorceress Knight moved down the steps and took the document rather quickly from the colonel. Any faster, and he would have snatched it. He returned to Mianyl's side and gave it to her. She accepted it at once…and, at the same time, Dael felt more uneasy than ever.

When she took it, without hesitation or modesty, she let her sleeves fall back…revealing her claws. Where before she had always taken great pains to hide them, she let them free now…and caused several reactions among those with her, including Bahamut. A few of the soldiers actually let out an audible inhale in the Cathedral. Now…Dael was definitely no longer at ease. This wasn't right… Suddenly, she felt they should get out of here as fast as they could. They were in grandmother's house with the big bad wolf calmly telling them to come closer, and all they were doing was going through the motions…

_Grandma, what big eyes you have!_

Mianyl look over it a moment, never reacting. After a few seconds, she exhaled. "…Everything here 'seems' to be in order." She finally stated after a moment, calmly folding it again and then passing it back to Taraketh before looking up. "However, these are very serious charges. And, after all, this is a situation in which martial law is in place, and you are seeking to remove the Grand Chancellor. I'm afraid before I consent to go with you, I desire proof of these allegations. I wouldn't want to abdicate such a key position at such a critical juncture just on a whim of the Senate."

_All the better to see you with, my dear._

"This is hardly a whim, Lady Mianyl." The colonel responded. "We have documented evidence showing several months ago that you went into the Gordian Vault and appropriated the Guardian Force essences without documentation of authorization. Furthermore, the footage was altered in an attempt to cover up the action."

_Grandma, what big ears you have!_

"Really, now." Mianyl answered calmly enough. "And did you happen to check your records accurately? Did you make sure that no prior officials or senators gave clearance for such a maneuver? Did you look into who, exactly, decided to doctor the footage? Or are you simply assuming that a holy woman who spent her life in temples without electricity and running water somehow had the sophistication to alter an advanced, encrypted security system?"

_All the better to hear you with, my dear._

"There are other extenuating circumstances that cast great suspicion upon you, Lady Mianyl, and I am not legally required to give you all the details at this time until you have been properly questioned or have appointed a legal council. The warrant is legitimate and a two-thirds majority deemed it so. If you violate it, then you are going against the law of the land of Esthar and resisting arrest will be added to your charges."

_Grandma, what a big nose you have!_

Mianyl was quiet for a moment, standing still. However…there had been another change. Dael just managed to see it. After all, not only was her attention focused on Mianyl at the moment, but it was literally being commanded by her. Nevertheless, she still glanced for a moment at Faerio's face…

…And saw that it didn't look entirely at ease either.

"I see." Mianyl finally said. "And…how exactly did you obtain this evidence?"

"That's not important."

"Oh, I beg to differ."

_All the better to smell you with, my dear._

"You seem to be a man who adheres to duty and the law, colonel. Therefore, I am more than a little surprised that you seem to not be familiar with the full details of the Emergency Executive Powers Act that was passed with Senate approval not six weeks ago." She reached one of her claws into the folds of her own dress, and soon emerged with a set of papers herself. "Allow me to remind you."

Licking a clawed finger, she flipped through a few of them and came to one page, which she held before him. "Ah, right here in Section 7 – Rules of Law in Regards to Prosecuting a Major Official in a Time of Martial Law. 'Section 7-B. No investigations of the following officials will be allowed unless authorized by the current head of the legal authority.' The Grand Chancellor heads the list. As for the current head, that would be you, Colonel Regalis. And according to my Sorceress Knight, this investigation was carried out without your approval. 'Section 7-C. All arrests and other movements into custody will be done with the full knowledge of the public to eliminate ambiguity.' This is hardly a public venue, colonel. In fact, one might think you came to me here to avoid any public scrutiny. 'Section 7-D. All evidence appropriation for the purposes of prosecution may be allowed without verification by an expert, but only if all releases and investigations are carefully documented, all personnel responsible for obtaining the evidence are recorded for later use, and only if the evidence represents a clear and present danger to the government of Esthar as opposed to probable cause.' I see no lists of who obtained this evidence, and assuming you can prove that I was directly handling the essences in the footage you obtained, that is neither authorizing an attack on Esthar, nor giving aid to an enemy, nor selling secrets to a hostile party, nor casting my support for a foreign interest. And yet you seem to think that it is grounds to accuse me of treason."

The colonel had stiffened a bit, but still hadn't broken. "The Legislature is still the supreme law of the land, and they have decided. The Grand Chancellor is not above reproach."

_Grandma, what a big teeth you have!_

"I'm afraid you still haven't kept up too much on martial law, colonel." Mianyl simply answered as she looked to the paper again. "Ah, right here. 'Section 7-H. Any violation of the standards set forth in this legal amendment shall render all other proceedings and satisfied requirements null and void.' That means your 'Senate approval' is also rendered null and void, colonel."

She put the paper away again, crossing her arms afterward…letting her claws drum on her elbows and showing them off.

"I'm well aware of what your 'extenuating circumstances' are, colonel, as my Sorceress Knight has informed me of them. Here is what you have. Two enemies of Esthar making spiteful claims about their greatest enemy that have little to no substantiation or proof. A woman who was being tortured for a confession who made a few half-mad ramblings…which, I might add, are inadmissible anyway even if they were fully documented under the Anti-Torture Intelligence Act passed seven years ago. And a tape that I can only assume shows a few seconds of what may or may not be a Sorceress with what may or may not be a few High Children walking into a secure area, and then walking out again showing ornamental containers that could have anything, or nothing, inside of them. And you believe that all of that is sufficient reason to charge me with the very serious crime of treason, and enough to have you intrude on sacred ground that your forebears and predescessors always respected, armed to the teeth, like a black operations team going after a common warlord, without the knowledge of the public or much in the way of any official documentation, assuming any of this is on the record, and coerce me with this gesture to come with you, clearly giving the impression that I will be removed by force or even shot if I refuse."

By now, the room had grown quite cold indeed…enough to where Dael was forcing herself not to shudder. She couldn't imagine what the others were doing…but she had a crazy impulse to tell everyone to leave now. Yet she couldn't do that either. She realized the will of the Sorceresses were keeping her here…like an insect in a spider's web.

As for Mianyl, she inhaled a bit and turned firmer…darker…

"Now that I have heard _your_ reasoning, colonel…I believe I will present you with _mine._ I don't believe I have committed a single act of treason. _You_, on the other hand, have. That warrant you gave me stated that you were the one who initiated this investigation and these legal proceedings. Yet I know that's not true. My Sorceress Knight further informed me the one who initiated this entire mess, violating the law to do so, was the one standing at your right."

For a moment, the eyes went up to Dael…and the woman almost felt her heart freeze inside her. Mianyl's eyes narrowed, and Dael almost felt her senses dim as she did so.

"Captain Levinson…you truly disappoint me." She stated in a tone that was more cold than sad. "I thought we had grown to see each other as allies and friends. After all the support I gave you, after I welcomed you like a sister…this is what you do to me. You aggressively pursue these flimsy charges, resorting to breaking the law to obtain feeble amounts of so-called 'evidence', and even violate the sacred trust that I and Sir Sabian placed in you against me. There was a time, captain, when I had entertained the notion that after this war was over, I would welcome you into the fold of the Order of Hyne as my personal student. But I'm afraid you have proven to be faithless in that regard."

The gaze left Dael…and he felt as if an elephant that had been sitting on her chest got off of it, making her audibly gasp.

"Yet be that as it may, colonel…none of this would have ever gotten so far if it hadn't been for _you_. It was you who went about gaining the signatures of the 'two-thirds' of the Senate…and since the Senate only has eight members at the moment, I would say claiming you have such a thing is a joke in itself. You were the one who authorized this entire operation. You were the one who tried to do it all quietly and without anyone's notice. I would say I definitely have 'probably cause' to accuse you of doing something underhanded. And considering the fact that I am currently the real power in Esthar, considering the fact that Sybenia is reeling and destabilized from the loss of its own high executive, I have little reason to doubt that you, who has been the head of the only real military power in Esthar for years yet always relegated to the position of a common soldier, would not finally see this as your chance to seize the true power in this country with the Legislature in pieces.

"And _that_, my dear colonel, is a clear and present danger."

_All the better to eat you with, my dear._

The sounds of footsteps began to ring out. Now, Dael finally broke her gaze and looked around…and watched as the High Children from the back began to move out in two lines…forming a ring around the Apse, but also around the group gathered before it. Their looks were cold as they slowly moved to surround the group of Esthar's Hawks…expressionless and merciless. The captain began to feel herself sweat. The roles had been fully reversed by now…and she realized that even if she tried to run, it was too late. They were ready to use as much force as the rest of them.

There were more changes now. Jalab's own look finally began to turn to puzzlement…but Veriguno remained as cold and steady as her namesake. Cid's mouth was actually opening, and Faerio herself looked progressively more confused as well. Taraketh had only a moment's hesitation in his eyes before it vanished. All the others remained cold as they glared down on the group like angels of judgment.

"Given this act…and given that it has happened as a result of the highest authority of Esthar's Hawks…and an individual who has seen an abnormal amount of promotion and advancement in a very short period of time…" Mianyl moved on. "As Grand Chancellor of Esthar, I conclude that not only are you traitors to the government of Esthar, but that Esthar's Hawks itself has been compromised, and is, indeed, the source of the security leaks that have taken place that have led to thousands of deaths within this nation.

"Therefore…I hereby place all of you under arrest for the crime of treason, and from this day forward I declare that Esthar's Hawks are officially disbanded and will be replaced with a new security force that I shall establish in the coming days."

Dael's eyes widened like saucers. All at once…the last trace of doubt in her mind, the last bit of regret at betraying Lady Mianyl…vanished…as the truth became clear.

_It WAS her._

_This is what Rozan was really talking about. This is what Raven knew would happen. This is what they knew was coming. They knew exactly what would result when we tried to go against her. And that means…_

_ She was behind everything…_

Until now, the pain had been bearable because Dael had entertained the notion, deep down inside, that it was all a misunderstanding. That it would all work out. That the investigation would turn up nothing. That, in the end, Lady Mianyl would be innocent and still be worthy of all of her respect and admiration. Yet now…Mianyl was changing into something else. She had already altered dramatically…but she was doing something far worse now. Before, it was merely her exterior, her mannerisms, and the like that had turned dark…yet now she could see that her inside was just as foul…

Even this arrest had been planned. Now…it gave her all the excuse she needed to fully take over Esthar.

By now, Faerio was starting to look rather uncomfortable. However, none of the rest of her brethren were. Cid actually looked to Faerio now…his uncertain look almost seeming to ask her to "do something". Yet the youngest Sorceress was still uncertain. She actually turned slightly, however.

"Lady Mianyl…"

She ignored her. "Colonel Morrick Regalis…Captain Dael Levinson…please go quietly. Resisting arrest at this point might lead to something unfortunate in a sacred house."

At least now, with Mianyl starting to show off her dark nature, the power was somewhat lessened. What she was doing inspired feelings of shock and anger among the group, and so…they were able to ignore the feeling of the Sorceresses somewhat and look around. The High Children nearest to the group began to close in, already reaching for what Dael presumed were handcuffs. The colonel looked around himself a moment, and then turned back to the Sorceresses. His face was no longer calm, but incensed.

"What is the meaning of this, Lady Mianyl? Are you thinking of destroying the republic of Esthar? Making yourself into a new High Dictator of your own private empire?"

To this, Mianyl merely raised an eyebrow.

"…Republic?" She echoed quietly.

A second later, her eyes narrowed.

"How exactly do you 'define' a republic, colonel? How is it superior to a dictatorship? Now, instead of one voice, you have a group of them? Do they not all ultimately serve their best interests? A dictator seeks to keep himself in power through force. A senator seeks to keep himself in power through smiles and laughter and votes. In the end, they both resort to whatever means necessary to keep their position. It's simply that while one tries to do so through crushing all opposition, the other uses a honey-soaked silver tongue and wordplay. One uses guns and the other uses speeches. One uses bombs and the other uses town hall meetings. One uses ethnic clensing and the other creates invisible foes such as 'our barbarian Fuliet tribes to the north' or 'warmongering senators in the opposing political party'. And in the end, both sides keep their opposition quiet and themselves in power.

"Do you truly think that just because you happen to wear a hawk instead of a hellhound on your lapel that you're anything more than a shock troop 'born to kill', Colonel Regalis? Your entire life, your entire career, you merely destroyed and killed what you were told. You Esthar's Hawks didn't even have the decency to meet your foes on the field of battle. Oh no…that was far too honorable. Far too 'fair'. You had to resort to espionage. Assassinations. Attacking people in the dark of night and behind their back. And yet somehow, you all thought that made you morally superior to your enemies. That because you slipped knives into backs instead of gunned down men running out of a trench that you somehow wielded some sort of advantage.

"The truth of the matter is simple. There is no rule saying that a republic, a democracy, or a socialist state can't become as broken, and _won't_ become as broken, as a dictatorship. The world itself needs to change. _Esthar_ needs to change. And under my direction, it most certainly will. From this day forward, the Order of Hyne is the supreme law of the land in Esthar."

By now, Jalab was looking rather shocked himself. He turned to Veriguno, but she showed nothing. Cid was overwhelmed, clearly gaping. And even Faerio had broken her position and looked up to the others.

"Lady Mianyl…you never said we were going to do this!" She suddenly protested, breaking the silence of the rest of the order.

The Sorceress paused momentarily, and then turned her head down toward the youngest member.

"…I'm sorry you aren't learning about this until now, Faerio." She calmly answered. "And I'm also sorry to see that you clearly aren't embracing it as well as the rest of us have. But unfortunately, I never felt I could confide in you. You were always isolated on Lamb with no way of being met with. And you always had a rebellious streak. I entertained the notion briefly during our meeting in Lamb that you would come over to our side because of that…that deep down, you wanted to do what was necessary to create a future and destroy the real enemy of this world and, indeed, of all things. Yet I could see beyond that…how your contrary nature would never allow you to go with the fold no matter what we decided. How you would always hold yourself to a different standard. After that meeting, I knew all I needed to know…that I couldn't trust you with this information. That I couldn't depend on you to keep our interests a secret until now. That was why both you and your Sorceress Knight had to remain unaware."

Faerio blinked in astonishment. She looked as overwhelmed as Dael was…and, on seeing it, the captain learned another truth. From the looks of it…she, ironically, the most rebellious and hot-tempered of all of them…was the only one innocent. At any rate, she looked to Cybus next.

"Lady Cybus-"

The older woman simply smiled at her and softly shook her head, like any adult might do to a "simple child". "Please, speak no more, Faerio. You are young and idealistic. You have every right to feel a touch of betrayal and hurt right now…but that will pass in time. When you're older, you'll understand what I feel now. How I feel when I raise so many young and upstanding children into noble people only to see them wrung dry by the evils and wickedness of this world. How, one day, you realize that you have been given a great power…but it is useless if you do not use it to change the world for the better."

This only left Faerio more stunned. "You too…"

Jalab now fully faced his own Sorceress. "Lady Veriguno…please…"

The woman only continued to stare forward, as impassive as a mountain.

"…My only regret, Sir Tierras, is that I didn't tell you about this before. But I felt it wasn't needed. You have always been loyal and obeyed everything I have said without question, and known that I have always acted in the best interests of everyone…even if it meant forfeiting certain things for others."

By now, the High Children had reached the group. They began to reach out, meaning to lay hands on them and restrain them. Dael looked about, not sure of what to do now… Did they fight? If they did, what good would it do? They were surrounded, and standing before four individuals she wasn't even sure they could beat even if they had all of the original group and did them one at a time. They had fallen right into a trap…

Yet before she could think to reach for her gun or sword, a reaction happened.

The colonel suddenly snapped his elbow up to an approaching High Child's neck, and smashed it into it. Immediately, the Order of Hyne member gagged and clutched his throat in pain, stumbling back. Before any of the others could react or think of a spell, he seized the one on his other side by the skull and drove his head down on his own knee. The High Child was helpless to react before he was struck so hard blood was drawn, and he was thrown aside by the colonel. In a flash, his hand went down, uncapped his side, and seized his pistol. Moving forward a few steps, out of the ring of any High Children able to stop him, but still far from any of the Sorceress Knights to do the same, he raised the weapon and took aim right at Mianyl.

It wouldn't be for a while that Dael would figure out the real reason he bothered to move forward rather than just simply shoot from where he was…because he knew there was an excellent chance what happened next would happen.

Mianyl, looking to him expressionlessly, raised a clawed hand and gestured with two fingers.

For a split second, Dael's enhanced senses thought she caught a glimpse of what looked like faint lines of smoke. She remembered seeing it before. It was like the wind slash technique that Cryder used…only much fainter and seemingly much weaker. However, it was much faster as well. Had she blinked, she would have missed them as they shot out from her hand like rays of light, without her saying a single arcane word, and then moved across Colonel Regalis.

He froze in mid-step. His mouth opened and, unseen to Dael, he gagged. It happened so fast that only now did Dael see clouds of red mist erupt from his body in various places together, and then fade into the air. At this point, Dael would wonder later…why didn't he shoot? Get off one last shot? Her mind only slowly realized he couldn't. The tendons in his gun arm had been cut along with many other places. That was why the pistol simply fell out of his grasp.

He stood there immobile. Faerio, Cid, and Jalab all gaped in shock. Even Taraketh stiffened, his cold look fading for a moment as his eyes widened. Yet that was nothing compared to the shock of Dael and the others. For a moment…she forgot she was an Esthar's Hawk. Forgot her discipline. She simply let her own jaw hang and stared in horror.

The colonel remained in his position for a moment…as everyone slowly saw red begin to soak into his clothes, tracing out lines criss-crossing his arms, his torso, his legs…even his head and face. Then, somehow, he lowered his arm. He rose into a standing position again. After that was done, he simply turned around…although he did so stiffly, as if numerous body parts and muscles weren't working anymore…just enough to see Dael.

He looked at her as blood began to run into one eye, down his cheek, and across his nose.

"Finish…the mission…captain."

And at that…he fell down…and apart.

It was so horrific that even Taraketh couldn't restrain it. He actually let out a gasp. The blades of air that Mianyl had generated with the smallest gesture had only cut all the way through in some spaces. In others…it left the job "half done"…so that when he fell down parts of his body actually hung up and down to the side like a sausage that had been errantly sliced here and there with weak knife strokes. Blood flowed everywhere, staining the once pristine and "holy" ground of the Apse crimson red.

Dael had seen many terrible things in her life and even more recently, but now she gasped in absolute horror. She broke now as she began to shudder all over. Her legs began to weaken beneath her at the sight. She had never known her parents. She never had a family. But the colonel had been with her since as far back as she could remember. He had always watched her closely, driven her, and treated her the same as all of the male recruits and disciplined anyone who tried to do differently publicly. He may not have been a good "father figure"…but he had been the closest thing Dael ever had to one. And he had been a constant of her life for all of the days of her lives. He had been a role model…an inspiration…the image of what a true perfect soldier could be, and all the nobility and bravery it entailed.

And now…he was gone.

The woman looked up to those around her. Although her group was just as aghast, and although Jalab, Cid, Faerio, and even Taraketh showed their own horror as their faces paled…she saw none of the same from the rest of the High Children. And the Sorceresses were fully stoic and immobile. They showed no more regard for what had just happened than someone who swats a fly. In the eyes of Cybus, Veriguno, and Mianyl…that death had meant absolutely nothing to them.

Just something else that was in their way that they brushed aside.

From that time on, any "saintly" image of the Order of Hyne, any thought of the good they did, any of their works of mercy or charity…they were forever dispelled and destroyed in Dael's mind. This wasn't a higher order. This wasn't a group devoted to good. It was a group devoted to the Sorceresses. And whether their will was good or evil, so went the rest of the order.

Dael stared in shock for a moment longer…her eyes nearly forming tears.

Then…her arm snapped for her Mage Gun.

Immediately, a strong arm clamped on hers and held it down. At the same time, the other High Children, who had recovered by now, and now no longer went "easy" on the group but instead began to raise their own weapons toward them, snapped forward, moving not to stop her but to kill her if she moved any more. Dael noticed none of that. She turned to the one who had grasped her…and found Bahamut staring hard at her.

"They'll kill you." He stated coldly. "You'll die for nothing now."

Dael might have responded to that…but she didn't get the chance. She heard noise behind her, and looked. Three of the Esthar's Hawks soldiers immediately whipped out their guns and tried to fire on the others. At once…they were set on by the High Children. No spells were necessary. Instead, their own personal weapons flashed. One managed to put a bullet into the gut of another High Child, and another fired errantly…causing a small plume of stone dust to erupt from the ceiling far in the Cathedral's arches…but then they all cried out as the High Children set on them and put them down quickly. A High Child might not have been a perfect match for an Esthar's Hawk, but they were not weak by any means either. They didn't have a chance when so much of the advantage was already theirs. Dael saw this…and realized how futile it was. When she looked back, she already saw exotic weapons hovering only an inch from her chest. Other High Children moved back and readied to use spells.

Bahamut was right. She hated to do it. She hated to see her commanding officer dead at her feet, his own blood beginning to mount against her boots, and unable to lift a finger against it. Yet she knew the truth…she knew that the colonel wouldn't have wanted her to throw it away now… Instead, she looked forward again to the Sorceresses.

At last, it seemed to be too much for Faerio. She turned fully to the others. "Lady Mianyl, this is insane! The Order of Hyne is not made up of murderers! This is against every tenet we possess! What we adhere to! This is too far and you know it! You just killed a man! A good man!"

Mianyl looked down on her indifferently. "Self-defense, Faerio."

"That's a load of bull!" She snapped back. "You know our power is so great we can protect ourselves from common bullets! You know you could have used a holding spell! Admit it! You wanted him dead!"

Cybus smiled a bit more at Faerio's complaints. "I hate to say I told you so, Lady Mianyl…but I warned you long ago that Faerio would never see things our way. I think she has a little too much of Aerith the Radiant's blood in her."

"At this point, she would only be a liability toward our true purpose." Veriguno added…prompting Jalab to snap to her in disbelief.

Faerio's eyes widened on hearing all of this, registering some shock. Mianyl, on her part, smiled as well, more smoothly and softly.

"The 'tenets' and 'ideals' of the Order of Hyne, Sorceress Faerio the Dayspark, are nothing more than what the Sorceresses say they are." She simply answered. "You've wanted us for years to take a more active role…to remake this world into something that was better. And now that you finally have your chance, will you be childish and foolish enough to refuse it?"

The young Sorceress hesitated a moment. She bowed her head and seemed to think for a second. Yet then, she looked up and behind her. For a moment, Dael's eyes met hers…and she saw the indecision and conflict in them. She looked to the others in the group. Then he looked down to the body of Colonel Regalis. She looked around again…and to Cid…saw how fearful he looked…how anxiously he stared at her…

With that, her face turned to resolve and looked back to Mianyl.

"…You're damn right I am." She finally stated. "I always wanted the world changed for the better. That means I don't want anyone, whether they call themselves a High Dictator, a Grand Chancellor, or a Sorceress, holding people under their boot and simply getting rid of anyone who disagrees with them!"

Mianyl looked at her simply for a moment, never batting an eye. Finally, she let out a bored sigh as she raised her hand toward her, fingers outstretched. Dael could feel the air beginning to charge as fresh magic came to her. Faerio, on her part, lost some of her boldness for fear at this.

"Have it your way."

Cid, on seeing this…finally broke. He was respectful to the Sorceresses to the point of death…but there was one he held loyalty too far greater than them. This moment put him over the edge. Until now, he had been nervous and afraid, like a small child among arguing parents. Yet this latest act…it was too much.

Suddenly, he stepped in front of Faerio and crossed his atomic hammer in front of him, shocking not only Faerio but Dael and the others as well.

"Lady Mianyl…" He stated in a quivering, fearful voice, barely holding onto his resolve and trembling. "If you hurt Lady Faerio…I'll…I'll…"

He swallowed a moment, then forced himself to look fierce and shout it before his resolve could fall completely.

"…I'll kill you!"

Mianyl looked only a moment, before letting out just a faint, bored snort…and fired off a massive bolt of white-hot electricity from her fingertips straight for Cid, clearly meaning to blast clean through him to the other side.

The lightning was magic and therefore didn't move like true lightning…immediately hitting its target far faster than any human could ever react to. It took a few instants to go. And in that time…Faerio, with power that belayed her size and frame relative to Cid, reached out a hand, seized him by the shoulder, and flung him out of the way. Whether she had cast a magic barrier beforehand, cast it then, tried to, or failed on all accounts…Dael didn't know. All she knew was that as Cid was thrown to the ground, his Sorceress cried out in agony and went rigid as her body writhed like a puppet being dangled on a string from the electricity snaking through her. The impact was enough to fling her back, and her body fell the rest of the steps and flew over Regalis' remains…but it didn't strike Dael. From there…it seemed to hold her and continue to torture her.

Dael helplessly stared on in horror as the girl continued to scream. She could see her clothes burning along with her flesh in places. Cid snapped his head up and around from the ground, gaping in horror. He struggled to rise, but was too slow to do so quickly, and he could have done nothing anyway.

Jalab saw this…and finally he broke too. He snapped to Mianyl, and saw she was not only continuing to shoot Faerio…she was continuing to _torture_ her. With that, he clenched his staff and began to advance to her.

He didn't get far at all. At once, Veriguno's stony gaze flicked to him, and she moved. In spite of being such a large and muscle-bound woman, it was nothing to her to snap around, form a fist, and then backhand Jalab with a force so strong that the air seemed to crack. Another round of shock went through everyone as Jalab was sent flying away, his head and neck snapping up and rigid as he was sent flying off of the stairs and down as well…out of the presence of his Sorceress and the others…down below to the others who had earned their wrath.

And Dael saw something on his face…as he hung between heaven and earth…frozen for a few moments. It showed pain to be true, which was stunning enough. What sort of person was Veriguno that she could inflict pain on Jalab, muscles or no muscles? Yet it wasn't just physical pain.

His face was more blank…more expressionless than that. His eyes were wide, and his pupils seemed to have shrunk. His mouth hung open. At once…it became clear. He was feeling the same sting they all were feeling…even worse than they were…the taste of betrayal and rejection.

He didn't even try to brace himself when his body slammed back down at the base of the platform. He didn't guard against he fall or the impact in the least. He simply remained limp…letting himself fully collapse and lie there like a man already dead.

And still Mianyl continued to torture Faerio.

Dael finally snapped away and looked to the Guardian Force with them. "Carbuncle, get Faerio and the rest of us out of here now!"

"I can't!"

She turned more to him. "What? Why?!"

Looking fully at the green creature, however…she saw something that filled her with more fear. He was looking at the Sorceresses just as fearful as the rest of them.

"_They_ aren't letting me!"

Dael froze, and then snapped back to the Sorceresses. Sure enough, now…Veriguno and Cybus were looking down on them with a gaze radiating so much power that it seemed to freeze one's soul in place. Even Mianyl continued to burn it as she used her power on Faerio. She didn't look the least bit strained or tired…in spite of the fact that Faerio was so powerful that she could shrug off almost any advanced spell. There was only one person who showed even the slightest sign of difference…

Taraketh's mouth continued to hang slightly open as he watched Faerio scream and writhe. His own eyes were wide…filled with hurt and shock.

Dael looked to him for a moment, looking right in his eyes. She wasn't sure if he could see her, but she tried none the less. Tried to issue a silent plea…tried to get him to so something…

He stared on for a moment longer…before he forced his mouth to shut. He forced his eyes to look hard again afterward.

To be honest…Dael had been deluding herself earlier when she thought he had "made his choice". Now, however…she saw the clear truth, undeniable. And she could only gape in astonishment.

At last, Mianyl, more out of boredom than anything, it looked like, cut off the power by lowering her fingers. Faerio was dropped to the ground…right before the others. When that happened…everyone moved. Bahamut suddenly bent down to her side, although he could do little. She looked terrible. She had third degree burns in five places on her body along with clothing and flesh so burnt it seemed to have fused her attire to her body. Her eyes had shut, and Dael couldn't honestly tell if she was unconscious, comatose…or even dead. Ceja immediately burst from the side of the others, running through the line. She nearly got stopped by the High Children…but they halted when they saw her simply run up to Jalab's side. Although the blow had been powerful…all things considered, it wasn't enough to take him down permanently. At first, he lay there still as death. Yet when Ceja went over him and began to call out to him…his strength stirred within him. Although he moved a bit slowly, he put his hands underneath him and began to push up.

Cryder and Quaren would have moved…but were powerless to do so. After Ceja broke free, the High Children pressed in on them even more, keeping them as restrained as Dael. However, Cid wasn't so restrained.

_"Faerio!"_

Immediately, staying on his hands and knees, dragging his hammer behind him on a tether, he crawled up to her side. In spite of her injuries, he immediately grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Faerio! Wake up!" He said as he shook her, his face filling with desperation, his eyes filling with tears. _"Wake up!"_ When she showed no reaction…not even wincing in pain…his tears only continued to flow. "My lady…I'm sorry! I failed you! I should have protected you! Please…please don't die! Please…!" The engineer, unable to compose himself anymore, bent down over her and hugged her tightly without lifting her from the ground.

Dael couldn't believe it. What on Gaia had just happened? This was like a living nightmare… She began to think this couldn't be real… Regalis literally cut to pieces… Faerio…she could actually smell where she was burned… The Sorceresses having gone mad and Taraketh siding with them… And all of them helpless. She looked up again to them…and saw how heartless they looked…how cold…no longer anything warm or noble at all. Just nightmares embodied…

Fallen angels…

Demons…

And yet, through it all, Mianyl's gaze met Dael's…and burned into it so hard it seemed to drain her ability to move once again…leaving her only able to stare back.

"Truly, Captain Levinson…I admired you greatly." She stated calmly. "I saw boundless potential within you. And I still do. I still feel you would be far better off throwing your destiny in with the Order of Hyne as opposed to Esthar's Hawks. And now…now that Esthar's Hawks is coming to an end…do you not see that such a choice is even clearer than before?"

Dael actually recoiled in shock on hearing this. She was held by Mianyl's gaze…and strong as her will was, the Sorceress' was still stronger. She felt almost like a paralyzed victim before her. And yet, somehow…thinking of her friends…thinking of Faerio…thinking of Regalis…her hurt and anger was enough to free her.

"Are you out of your damn mind?" She said in a dark voice. "You really think I'll ever do anything you say again after this?!"

"No, actually." Mianyl answered. "A true pity. It's true that the rule is one Sorceress Knight and one Sorceress…but I would have been willing to break from tradition to have you at my left hand and Taraketh at my right. At the bare minimum, I thought you would have saw it as a way to save yourself. But it appears that your greatest asset, Dael Levinson, is your willingness to always die before you surrender. It makes you the perfect soldier…and it also means you will do as all perfect soldiers have done before you."

Her gaze narrowed.

"You will die for your country."

"Cid…" A voice croaked at Dael's feet. "Dael…"

In spite of the fact that Mianyl was already beginning to raise her other hand…clearly planning something worse for Dael…she looked down to the voice, somehow able to avert her gaze from that deadly look. She was just in time to see Cid lean off Faerio, gasping a bit as he looked to her. She saw Faerio lying there…saw, in spite of her agony, her crack her eyes open.

"…I didn't know…I swear I didn't…please…believe me…"

Dael stared back at her. In truth…she didn't want to. The other Sorceresses were standing like gods…judges of mankind…and she was one of them. One of their order… Even in this state, she could feel the power radiating off of her…

And yet, on looking into those eyes…seeing them nearly tearing up as they gazed intently at Dael…not for herself, but for the fact that they might think she as part of this evil…Dael knew. Without any doubt or suspicion in her heart, she knew.

Somehow, she managed to make her face firm.

"…I do, Lady Faerio."

"I know, my lady…" Cid managed to say through a choked, strained voice, forcing himself to smile at Faerio between tears. "I trust you…I'll always trust you…"

For a brief moment, Faerio somehow managed a smile as tears rolled out of either eye down the sides of her head.

By now, the air around Mianyl charged again as she aimed her hands at Dael, and power began to issue forth…but it was too late. Before any attack could come, Faerio's eyes closed…and, for a moment, her aura blazed…bright and shining like the coming dawn as she used what strength she had remaining after her torture to call out a single word.

And Dael, Cid, Bahamut, Carbuncle, Quaren, Cryder, Jalab, and Ceja were soon illuminated in that same light…before vanishing in a flash.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those of you who read the first version of "The Sorceress Cycle"...now you now it's the same as before.<p>

I did everything I could to try and "cover it up" and not make it obvious. Before I got rid of the poll of who you thought the best villain was, I purposely removed Mianyl so no one would suspect anything, or it would have been too clear.

Although the Big Bad is now revealed...the motivation isn't yet. That, unfortunately, won't come until Chapter 62.


	61. Five Fingers of Doom

Dael collapsed the moment they arrived, not really caring where they were, what time it was, or anything else. Until now, she felt like she had literally been suspended on puppet strings by the power of the Sorceresses…or, more accurately, in the claws of a ravenous beast. Now that it was gone…her body was weak and was allowed to fall. She went down to her knees and held there. Her heart was still racing. Her breathing was long and deep. She had to take a moment to recover as her adrenaline eased.

The others were there too, but she didn't see them. Not at first. Her mind was too stunned…too filled with the residual images of what she had seen. She wasn't able to process anything. She simply hung there and saw it again and again. The death of Regalis. The utter betrayal of the Sorceresses…striking down their own. Faerio being wracked with torture. Cid's heart breaking. The look of abandonment on Jalab's face as he was struck aside. Even now, the whole incident seemed like a nightmare. How had it come to all of that? How could it? Did she really see all those horrible things, one after another? Could something so terrible really happen in a single day?

Even as she thought, she felt an icy cold drop on her nose. Soon another was on her scalp. Then her cheek. She blinked a few times and then looked up. The sky was clear here. It was always clear in Esthar…but there was no skyline here. No buildings to "frame" her view. Just the dark, cloudy sky, churning and mixing. The rumble of thunder went out. A moment later, a lightning bolt snaked, and another gentle roll went with it. Rain began to fall down. It was only a drizzle for now, however.

She slowly looked down, and then around her.

The others were there. They weren't in their exact positions. They had been dropped around a bit. Carbuncle was nearest, panting and breathing hard. The Sorceresses had him "pinned" back in the Cathedral. Their will had been exerted on him far more than the others, and he looked as if he had been buried alive and just dug out. She had never before seen the green creature so shaken up.

Bahamut stood nearby, although he too was struggling to calm himself after that situation. He was doing rather well, though. Better than most of them. He had just caught his breath, and now he turned and looked to Dael. He was quiet, however, saying nothing. Just looked to her to see what she was thinking now. She didn't meet his gaze. Not now.

Cryder was up…but he moved over to a rock nearby and put his foot on it. The fact that he did so forced Dael to start taking in the area…recognizing it as somewhere broader, rockier, dustier, and with only an occasional plant springing up. It was dry as well, in spite of the coming rain. But her mind wouldn't tell her where she was. It wasn't working now. She only saw Cryder bend down and lower his head, so he could put his arm down and balance on his knee, and rest his head in his hand.

Quaren was nearby. And now, the moment over, all of his shock and fear gone and his own adrenaline cooling, he sat down on the ground and looked utterly hopeless. He seemed like he had just been in a car accident, or had a stroke…left with nothing more except being in a state of paralyzed, apoplectic shock. He absently tried to balance his rifle across his body as he sat…but it tumbled from his grasp and fell down on the ground, beginning to be soaked with rain. He didn't move to pick it up again.

Ceja had, at last, abandoned all of a warrior's decorum. She was on he knees now next to Jalab, and had turned him over on his back. But he lay there much as he had back in the Cathedral again…like a man already dead…a man whose life had been a lie and whose supposed purpose had gone up in smoke…like he had absolutely nothing left. He stared at the rain without seeing it or moving, as if he didn't have the will to keep moving anymore. And at this point, the Fuliet warrior didn't try to be proud or noble. She just pulled him so his head rested on her knees, and kept her hands on his shoulders. Her axe which she prided lay discarded on the ground as if it was nothing to her. All of her thoughts were on Jalab now…and her face had never looked so soft or compassionate.

At last, there was Cid.

Dael wasn't sure how long it took for her to look at him. It had to be several minutes. But before she did…she was sure he had been lying on the ground, in the same position he had been with Lady Faerio…and had been still, glaring at the rock and stone around him where the injured yet smiling face of his mistress had been lain, where he could still see her…and then realized she was gone. When that happened…he had become as he was now. Like a devastated boy, he had curled into a ball and was sobbing audibly. As the pitter-patter of rain gently came down and built in speed, his weeping slowly was mixed in with the noise.

The woman looked forward again, still not truly seeing where she was or what was going on. By now, her hair and clothing began to grow damp, but she didn't notice. She didn't know what to do now. She didn't know what to think. Every time she tried to focus on one thing, something else came to her mind. She hardly knew where to begin. She was like a person right after a car accident, trying to wonder where they were, what was going on, if the car was wrecked, if they were hurt, etc….a thousand thoughts while being both in pain and stunned and therefore unable to focus on even one of them. Her discipline and mental training was gone. She couldn't even get enough wits to start thinking of that.

What was left for her now? What was left for any of them?

She realized it wasn't just the betrayal. She hadn't just lost her trust in the one leader she had ever respected. She hadn't just been betrayed by a person she had thought of as a good friend…by _two_ such people, to be honest. It was worse. She had lost her mentor. And now, she realized…she had lost her entire life. Everything she ever knew…everything she had ever done…what had defined every aspect of her existence until now…had been Esthar's Hawks. And now it was gone. Right now, she knew, Mianyl had to be telling the entire city how she had an attempt on her life and an insurrection. Esthar's Hawks was being disbanded…and God help anyone who tried to settle things personally with Mianyl for this.

She had nothing.

The life she had made for herself…all of her plans for the future…they were gone.

She was a woman without a military corps. She was a woman without a country. She was a woman without an identity. What was she going to do now?

For a moment…she thought of giving in to all the confusion and hopelessness. Why not? What was left for her now? No more great Esthar to defend. No more dark Sybenia to fight against. No more commanding officers to give orders. No more codes or tenets to adhere by. What was the point of going on now? What was she other than one of the countless individuals in history who found one day that the country they had devoted allegiance to and defended for years faithfully was no more? That they were living relics? No more than some ancient weapon on a collector's shelf? What reason did she have to go on? Why not just stay here in the rain…?

Yet even as she thought of this and her thoughts turned to despair, she saw a figure cross in front of her vision. Not intentionally…just because he was moving and looking about.

_Bahamut…_

Her thoughts, at this point…turned strange…

When they met, with her picking him up from that alleyway and carrying him into the library…

Wrapping her arms around him to try and shield him from the pain of the antiseptic hose…

Cradling his head as he came out of that tube…and carrying him beyond to safety…

Training together…talking together…eating together…sharing their fears and hopes together…confiding in each other and being there for each other when both were low. How he supported her when she was uncertain and when she comforted him when he doubted his own identity…

This was insane. It was silly…childish, even. Bahamut was a thousands of years old dragon. Human body or no, he needed nothing. He could care for himself fine. Even now, he was caring for himself better than the rest of them. The only one able to rise from grief and the pain of the moment.

And yet…she realized something on seeing him.

She still had at least one thing left. She still had someone to fight for…to defend…to comfort and support…

To live for.

She blinked here, as if slowly awakening from a dream. And she began to look around herself. She saw how everyone was at their lowest. The remains of her task force…shaken and broken emotionally. And right now…she realized she had to go on for them too. She was a leader. Her group needed her...now more than ever.

There were no more orders. No more commanders. No more national leaders.

From this point on…Esthar's Hawks…the Order of Hyne…Esthar itself…it existed right here within them. The task force's true purpose and potential came now. They had been told at their inception that they had the right to choose their own path. Now came the point where they would indeed choose their own destiny. And Dael, as she sat there, looking over them all…slowly realized she already knew what she would pick.

She held a bit longer, still looking much like the others. After a time, Bahamut turned and looked to her silently. When he did, he began to approach, seeing her still on her knees, still with head bowed. His own face lost some of its coldness and turned to tenderness.

Yet without even fully looking at him…she raised a hand in a halting gesture to him. The boy froze, and honestly looked a bit surprised at this. Dael, however, inhaled deeply…before her face changed. A trace of the "old captain" slowly began to come over it as resolve filled her features. When that happened, she looked up to Bahamut, and shook her head.

He understood. At once, he stopped where he was and simply stood still.

Dael paused for only a second longer before looking around again at the others. Where to begin? Some of them might only need a nudge…but some needed more. And she could see who needed the most right before her. Cid was still crying softly as the rain continued to come down. She hesitated. This wasn't exactly what she was good at, and it felt awkward and made her uncertain. However…she was still a leader, and these people…her friends…needed her. So she'd do this.

With that in mind, she slowly pulled herself up. She didn't rise fully, but got on her hands and knees. Ignoring the rocks and progressively muddier ground, she began to move over to Cid. He wasn't too far. She soon reached his side. Not waiting for protest, not pausing long enough to consider if this was "appropriate" or not, she lowered her arms and took him by the torso. In a simple move, he pulled him up into a seated position, and then put his arms around his chest and hugged him.

Cid slackened off only for a few moments, but then bowed his head and continued to cry. The gesture wasn't one of romantic love or attraction…but it _was_ done out of love and concern. Dael knew he needed it. He had been the only one who's Sorceress…whose "sister"…had remained true, and she had suffered greatly for it. Yet worse than that, she knew full well, was that Cid would have done anything to help her. He had been ready to die for her. Yet he didn't have so much as a mark on him now. His one time he had…his one chance to step forth for Lady Faerio when she needed him…and he hadn't been able to do anything. He hadn't stopped anything or protected her. And no one could deny that he loved Faerio more than anything in this world. That was why he was weeping now and why he needed support now. Dael wasn't sure if he'd ever realize that it wasn't his fault…that Faerio had shown him just as much love by pushing him aside and then sending him away…but for now he just needed a caring touch.

This gesture was not lost on the others. Even in the midst of their own despair, with the rain picking up and beginning to run down their faces to ball on their chins, they were able to look up and see this gesture. However, they remained silent and still for now. Perhaps a bit of their wills were coming back, but at the moment it wasn't strong enough to get them to move or react. Not just yet. However, as Dael continued to hold onto Cid, she looked around a bit more…and her eyes went to who was probably the next who needed help…

Jalab was still staring at the sky like a dead corpse whose eyes hadn't been shut, and continued to lean on Ceja's lap. She had shifted her hands now. She actually held the sides of his head and gently ran her fingers across his cheeks. She showed surprising gentleness…more so than she ever had…and yet wasn't getting through to him. He didn't even react to her touch. As she continued to do so…Dael saw a change come over her. At first, it was sadness toward him…sadness to how he looked like a man with nothing left…who had shut out the world because there was no reason to listen to it…that he had lost everything of value to him.

However, that form of sadness didn't last. A deeper hurt beyond it slowly came out. Dael could see it in her eyes as the rain soaked into her hair and spread it down around her face. At last, she bowed her head more, letting it fall around her face. When that happened…her hands stopped stroking his face and went down to her sides. Dael couldn't see much from this angle…but saw her face turn firm and her jaw tighten.

The silence was at last broken.

"…It is time to get up, Sir Tierras." She said flatly, quietly, but enough to be heard.

Jalab didn't move. He didn't even look like he heard.

Ceja's hands slowly began to cup…turning into fists.

"…Did you not hear me?" She said, only a little louder. "I said it is time to get up."

Jalab continued to lie there, completely oblivious.

This only made Ceja's face tighten further.

"…Are you going to continue to lie there, Sir Tierras?" She asked. "Are you going to spend the rest of your life lying in this spot? Do you have nothing left, Sir Tierras?" Her voice actually began to grow angry. "Is it because you have nothing and are nothing more that you are going to remain here until you die?"

Jalab reacted very slightly to this…enough to make his mouth close a bit, and to turn his eyes slightly to Ceja. However, she only continued to grow angrier yet.

"Are you that pathetic of a man, Sir Tierras?" She said with increasing bitterness. "That you are willing to lie down and die right here? Are you so flimsy and weak that you think your entire life was defined as your relation to one person? That without the approval of a traitorous, backstabbing woman you literally amount to nothing?"

Everyone was looking at her now…including Jalab, whose catatonic state gradually began to fade in favor of looking straight at Ceja. She wouldn't look to him now. Her face was full of anger at this point...and it was giving way to rage. Her hands were fully in fists and she quivered all over…before she did something.

Her right hand formed a palm and she slapped Jalab across the face with enough force to jerk his head to one side. The power was so great it "shocked" Jalab fully back to his senses. Yet what followed it was his head being dropped a moment later as Ceja suddenly got to her feet from underneath him. He continued to lay on the ground, but she raised up and glared darkly down at him.

"I hate you, Sir Jalab Tierras of Pallas!" She suddenly cried at him in a hateful tone. "You're a weakling, a fake, and a _liar!"_

Jalab was so stunned by this, that he actually rolled up and turned, to face Ceja fully. She kept her head bowed as her jaw began to quiver.

"You're the most despicable man I've ever met! How could you be such a deceptive mongrel? Here I thought you were more than this shell of a man! I thought you were a great and noble warrior! I thought you embodied self-discipline and control! I thought you believed in becoming a great warrior for the sake of improving yourself rather than simply slaughtering your enemies! You made me believe that a real warrior was one who didn't always have to fight…who took up a cause not for his own glory but for those they loved and cared for! I thought you had a greatness and nobility to you that made you a respectable man not because you had any honors or awards, but because _that's what you were!_ Who never needed any golden clasps or banners because he had all the honor he would ever need inside him, and it shone through his face for the world to see and know that there walked a great man!"

The monk, even if he would have said anything, was speechless to all of that. The rain was falling harder and harder…and yet through it…Dael and Jalab alike saw tears running down Ceja's cheeks to mingle with it.

"But most of all…" She said quietly, then again with more resolve. "Most of all…"

She snapped her head up…and her fierceness and rage was gone…replaced with deep hurt.

"…Most of all, I thought that if you ever reached a time like this, in which you thought you had nothing left and no one to live for, that you would know that _I _was still here, and that I would always be there! I thought you would know by now that being a Warchief or the greatest warrior of Fuliet means nothing to me if I cannot be at your side! I thought you would see how deep a wound you left in me by making me feel love for the first time, and that I hoped beyond hope, and was led to believe, that you might have had some for me! Do I mean so little to you that even now, as I stay close to you, and cast aside all of my pride as a warrior to hold you to me, that you feel nothing? That I have no value to your life? That you cannot derive the slightest bit of honor or pride or strength from having me with you?"

She swallowed.

"Because you mean the world to me, Sir Jalab Tierras! And if you intend to cast me aside so you can selfishly lie here and die, _then do me the honor of killing me first!"_

The field was silent. Everyone stared. The truth was fully out now. Now…she stood in the rain, head bowed, soaked from the downpour, and continuing to cry. Her hands were still in fists and she was rigid, but it was the last bit of pride she had. Her outpouring of emotion had been enough to fully "awaken" everyone else and stop Cid's own crying. Jalab, however, was the most stunned of all. He now knew the whole truth as he looked up to her. He had new shock on his face…and none of it was related to Veriguno or what had happened. It was all in regards to the woman before him.

"Ceja…" He said quietly, so quiet that Dael could barely heard it.

The Fuliet warrior couldn't answer. She continued to sniffle, struggling to hold back her tears, to be a "true warrior".

Jalab looked at her a bit longer, fully realizing everything. Realizing how much Ceja looked up to him…how much she loved him. Realizing that she saw everything in him for what he truly was and not what honor he had as a Sorceress Knight. He saw how much he still had…and saw that he had something incredibly precious very near at hand that he hadn't given any thought to. Yet now, in this light…there was nothing else he could think of or focus on. And he fully began to realize something else as well as Ceja stood there in the rain…

At last, his jaw collapsed. Ignoring the mud, he pushed up from the ground and fully stood…once more looking large and powerful again. Ceja didn't even look at him. She continued to hold there, trying to maintain her pride. He didn't hesitate, his eyes soft now as he looked at her, but came forward. At once, his own arms reached out and wrapped around her, and then pulled her close to his chest. After that, he gently leaned his own head down over her. Ceja, being average to below average in height…and Jalab, being a giant of a man…she seemed dwarfed underneath him as he almost seemed to wrap all the way around her. He said no more here…he just held her.

Ceja herself continued to hold a bit longer herself, clinging to her pride and honor…but she continued to break down more, more tears coming forth.

"Ceja."

This word was firmer now…louder. The woman held, but then looked up to him. Her anger and sadness had both faded for a moment, as Ceja looked back to her solemnly. He was silent for only a moment.

"…You are my lady, now." He said. "I am your knight."

Ceja's own jaw dropped as her eyes went wide. She stared blankly back at Jalab, unable to believe what she was hearing. Jalab, however, stared on in all seriousness…just long enough to let her know he meant it…and then finally smiled at her. On seeing this, Ceja's eyes filled with tears again, and, finally, she put her own arms around him tightly and placed her head against him, beginning to cry again…but no longer from sadness or pain. Jalab supported her…as he would now and for the rest of his life…smiling and letting tears flow from his own eyes.

Dael herself watched this…and she gained something new from it. She could see things a bit more clearly now, and it made her own resolve increase. As the rain went from a shower to a downpour, she felt her strength return to her. She slowly pulled her arms off of Cid, causing him to turn and look back to her. Bahamut looked as well, and Quaren raised his head. The others soon looked too…even Jalab and Ceja…as she stood up to full height. Her face grew firm again.

"…There is no more Esthar for me. No nation and no military order." She stated. "Neither is there one for any of us. Neither is there an Order of Hyne for any of us. There is no longer an enemy army. There is only one thing."

She looked to the sky as the lightning flashed, and pointed up to the clouds.

"There is Nyx Gaia there…and it's going to continue to get closer and closer until it merges our worlds and destroys everything…our pasts, present, and future."

She lowered her hand.

"I am going to satisfy the last request of Colonel Regalis…not because I have to due to being ordered, but because I want to honor the last wish of a great man, and because I want this world to live. I am going to return to Sorceress Mianyl…and I am going to kill her. From this day on, I am no longer living for any cause that I don't believe in with all of my heart. I am no longer doing anything because of what I'm told…but because it's the right thing to do. Now's the time we all need to make that choice. Our lives are no longer being told to us. We make our own choices now. Jalab has made his. What do the rest of you choose?"

The group paused…not out of indecision so much as just taking in what Dael had said and what she meant by this…how much of a change had come over her. They had all known she was their leader for some time, but all of them had wondered how well she could stand up without Esthar's Hawks behind her. They were now seeing it. She had been weak for a moment, but now she was emerging stronger than before, able to stand without the support of any external authority. And she was right…this was a turning point for them all. Did they let the pain of this betrayal stop them…or grow beyond it while this world still had time?

Finally, the silence was broken as Bahamut was first to step forward, although there was little doubt where he had been concerned.

"Dael's right. This is far from over. This just puts everything into perspective. I don't care if I'm stuck in a child's body or any other body. This world still needs saving…and now we may be the only ones who have a reasonable chance of doing so."

Cryder looked up from his hand, and made a grin as he reached into his vest. He pulled out another cigar, but on seeing it soaked, he shrugged and flung it out to the rain as he rose up and got up, stretching a bit.

"Guess it wouldn't be much fun if it was easy, eh?" He asked. "And the easy path only leads to the boring ports, mate. Why not? I only got my life to lose, and I took that without askin' for the fine print. I mean…we're only essentially fightin' a trio of goddesses. Easy peasy, am I right?"

Ceja finally parted from Jalab, and reached down to the ground. Taking up her axe again, she rose to full height and set it at her side.

"My entire life, I've only ever concerned myself with Fuliet, and even then only my tribe. Yet even being the Warchief is not enough. It is not enough to care only for my nation anymore, or my nation will only ever be what it has always been…a group of feuding tribes who cling so hard to the past they let the future blow them about like the wind. I will change the world now. I will end the life of all traitors to Fuliet and this world…including Cybus the River and Mianyl the Wind."

Jalab looked to her when she said this, and then to the ground. His own gold-colored staff was there, and so he bent down and took it up, then rose to full height and stood at her side.

"…I will protect this world." He stated firmly. "I will protect Lady Ceja with my dying breath."

The Fuliet warrior, in spite of everything, couldn't help but turn red…and have a trace of another smile begin to turn the corners of her mouth.

Carbuncle looked around at all of them, and finally groaned and rolled his eyes.

"You silly, stupid humans… Look at you all posing for a major motion picture out here in the rain. You _always_ do this. You go up against some living nightmare made flesh who eats fleshbags like you by the dozen for breakfast and all you can do is smile and beam like a Light Warrior in the jaws of Chaos. You're completely stupid and hopeless…"

He hesitated, then groaned and shrugged.

"But…that's what I like about you stupid jackasses. I guess _someone_ with half a brain has to come along and keep you all from getting yourselves killed with the first hit…"

Quaren, seeing everyone else standing, seeing their resolves strengthened…hesitated for a moment. He moistened his lips slightly…giving enough time for Dael to look to him along with the others. Finally, he took in a deep breath…and suddenly snapped up to stand. At once, his feet were locked together, his shoulders squared, his head level, and his rifle at his side.

"Captain Dael Levinson." He stated. "As the last intact captain of Esthar's Hawks who was not disbanded, as you were under arrest at the time and therefore immune to the Grand Chancellor's order, I consider you to be the rightful successor to Colonel Morrick Regalis and the last remaining name of Esthar's Hawks. I profess myself to you from this moment forward and commend my full allegiance to you as the last remaining superior to whom I still owe my oaths. From this day forward…I will follow you into the jaws of death and the gates of Hell itself."

Dael looked to him silently for a bit…before she saw one other thing added. Using his free hand, Quaren gave her a salute…and a smile. Only when that happened did Dael smile back.

"…Alright." She said after a moment. "But from now on, Quaren…it's Dael. My first order to you is to never call me 'captain' again."

"Yes ma'am." He answered.

Dael paused. _…He'll get used to it._ She finally concluded, and nodded.

That left only one person. The group looked to him. Cid had stopped crying now, but he still sat on the ground, unsure…saying nothing. He held for another half of a minute. Yet, in the end, he inhaled deeply, and then put his legs beneath him, and pushed himself slowly up.

"…Lady Faerio believed in me when I barely had enough magic to be accepted into the Order of Hyne. She gave me her love, her friendship, and everything that I am. And now, she saved my life. I owe everything to her…" He paused. "…and I'd be insulting her and slapping her in the face if I spent what she gave me just mourning. She saved my life because she believed I could still make a difference. That's what I'm going to do.

"I may be a pathetic guardian. I may not be skilled or good with weapons. I may be terrible at magic. But…I serve the only true Sorceress left, and I will keep my vows to her and the rest of this world until the day I die."

He inhaled deeply, and made his face firm, forcing out more of his indecision.

"I am Sir Cid Boer, Sorceress Knight and Retainer to Sorceress Faerio the Dayspark…and I will save Gaia."

There they stood, as the rain continued to fall and soak into them. In spite of it being so dark from the thunderstorm that it seemed like evening, in spite of how the sky thundered and rolled…they generated their own small "dawn" in the midst of their group. It was well enough. If this was truly this world's "darkest hour"…then they were its light now. In spite of the odds against them being worse than ever…they all now lived according to their own purpose, and they had made a decision in regards to it that they would stand by. After all…when one has nothing left to lose…then they had everything to gain.

After a time, Dael finally broke to look around her a bit. She finally gazed beyond the rocks and small plants around her and looked further…soon seeing rocky peaks in the distance to the north and thin mats of dried-out brown to the south. Beyond that, just like metal grass growing on the horizon for now, was a great, far-strung city…that Dael realized had to be Esthar. With that in mind, she looked to the others.

"We're in Fuliet…but not too deep." She stated. "Lady Faerio must have only had enough power to teleport us twenty or twenty-five miles outside of the city limits."

"Or she only wanted to send us far enough to get away…not far enough to where we'd have a hard time coming back." Bahamut answered.

Quaren blinked a bit at this, however, beginning to look around more earnestly. Ceja was already doing the same. "…If we're in Fuliet, then I think we're in trouble. That place got so bad no one could live in it…"

"By now…many of the predators have to have starved to death." The Fuliet warrior answered. "But you are right…this place is not safe. We have been lucky not to have anything come upon us now. At the moment, the monsters must be so thirsty they are drinking the rain from whatever sources are left. When it stops…we'll be vulnerable and exposed."

"Ain't exactly in the best shape for a fight, lass." Cryder added as he looked around. "We don't even have a Tent Pack between us."

Dael exhaled a bit, but then took on her commanding tone again. "Alright. In that case, the first order of business is to start heading south again. Either we need to get back on the other side of Esthar's barrier or get to some shelter before the rain stops. That's our first priority…we'll worry about where we go from there once we find a place to rest."

* * *

><p>The group ended up walking for about three hours before they found a spot. They did so at a good clip, but didn't run. In all of the mud and loose rocks, they couldn't exactly go as fast as they had back in the tunnels of Sybenia…which, in spite of being only a couple days ago, now felt like not only an eternity…but on a different world in a different life. Dael supposed that wasn't too far from the truth. Sybenia had dominated their thoughts for so long…and now it didn't even matter anymore. Now that her resolve had returned, she had enough time to start seriously thinking about everything else…and how most of it made sense.<p>

So the Sorceresses had all been in this together. They had stoked the fires of war for years. Mianyl had to have made contact with Rozan at some point…likely when Roz was still in power. She passed him along with the magical technology and gave him help in building up that aspect of his empire, including the Elite Hounds. Perhaps she continued to assist him from behind the scenes. Why pick him? That was obvious enough… The Guiding Hand had the nationalism, while Esthar was an inept, broken republic. After giving them the essences and the means to use them, she was the one who told them to hire out the Lamb Archipelago to try and go for the essences she had already taken. The result? Esthar's Hawks went on a snipe hunt. It would take them weeks to track it to Lamb, and once that was done it would take more effort to trace it back to Sybenia. Once there, they would feel no need to probe the matter further, especially since Sybenia locked themselves up. Like an archeologist trying to find an ancient city, they stop when they think they "reach it"…not go deeper to try and find the foundations on which it was buried.

With Mianyl's "gifts", Sybenia becomes bigger and more dangerous than ever. And because she used the Guiding Hand, which persecuted magic users, they were able to research how to use magic in newer ways while, at the same time, throwing off all suspicion on the Order of Hyne. After all, why would a Sorceress sell out her own people? The perfect alibi. Not only that, but when the Order threw its support behind Esthar, it was genuine. It didn't matter if Esthar citizens died or Sybenians…both created more disorder. Mianyl could safely play both sides of the war and benefit no matter who won and who lost.

Eventually, however, she must have intended on Esthar winning. And to that end, she sold out the capitol. She was the one who had to have used her connections to get the modulation frequencies and have it bombed. All the while, she was more than willing to take command. When Tiamat attacked, perhaps it was a genuine fight…but it didn't matter. After letting Tiamat ring up a few thousand more deaths to her cause, she merely repelled him but didn't destroy him. As for Crow's group…if she had succeeded, it would have weakened Esthar further and led to more deaths. But even when Dael and the others had stopped her, it wasn't enough to change anything. She had to have slipped her group in as well, however. Told them all about the Iron Channel.

Finally, there came the Leuco mission. She knew all along that they'd find the bomb. She set up Raven to give them the no-win situation, knowing one would try to call their bluff by setting one of the bombs. Raven didn't even show up until they got access to them, after all. And once that was done, it was a simple matter of locking Cid out and letting it go off. With those weapons discovered and demonstrated, she was free to use whatever means necessary to stop them as well as drive Sybenia to the point of desperation.

The Sybenian mission… She knew that destroying the crops would make people suffer. As for the shipyards and the train…Dael grimly realized neither had to be as abandoned as she hoped. Perhaps there were POWs or even Sybenians on the cars and the boats that they sank. That was hundreds, even thousands, more people dead… Finally, they kill the leader of the Guiding Hand, giving him excuse to use Tiamat again, destabilize the region, and send everything into more chaos than before.

It still wasn't enough, though.

Where did what happened with Bahamut fit into this? Why did they want this power to begin with? If they truly had the records of the Void throughout history, then they had to know how bad it was…how it had destroyed everything that had tried to use it without distinction…how it would kill them as easily as everything else. Was this just another mad "power grab"?

Lastly…Dael had done some counting, and realized that there was still one essence not accounted for, even taking Phoenix into consideration…

Lots of questions and not enough answers. At the bare minimum, Dael felt they were on the right track. They at least knew where to look to get the rest of the answers now. She tried to content herself with that as she stood in their "shelter".

As the rain had slackened off, the group had found a dry enough cave that had tribal usage in the past, before Esthar discouraged people from Fuliet getting so close to their borders. It wasn't too deep but had a narrow entrance and the ceiling was bored in order to allow smoke from fire to come out. Too bad there was little out on the plains to burn…especially after the dry season had withered everything. Still, it had to do. After setting up in there, the group moved a bit closer to the border of Esthar to try and see if they could find anything else to use or if there was anything hostile coming their way. As it turned out, there was an old "proving ground" area for recruits in past "Northern Rancors". Among the campsite were the remains of several bits of broken apparel. Not enough to be used on its own, but whatever looked somewhat intact was brought back. Taking that and Quaren's standard-issue radio, Cid had used his one remaining toolkit stored in his boot (miniature, of course) in an attempt to enhance the radio enough to pick up broadcasts from Esthar. At the moment, it was their sole method of getting intelligence. Dael would have preferred if they could get a message sent back to Esthar as well as received, but she knew that was too much to hope for with what they had on hand.

Most of the group was in at the moment, standing eagerly around Quaren and Cid as they operated on the radio. Quaren wasn't as much of a help, but he had enough grasp on fire magic to do soldering where it was needed and melt through other wires. Everyone else was mostly left to just waiting behind in the flashlight that Quaren had brought with him as standard issue. Another handy item he had was his binoculars…although they were the short range kind and not very useful. Dael had them and was using them to watch the horizon. At this point, they were a little less than ten miles from Esthar's border, and the city was clearer than ever. She was glad she could see no signs of flames or riots…and was even getting a brighter look as the sun began to peak through the breaks in the rain clouds. Still, she wished this could have happened outside of the Cathedral. Cid had, for once, been out all of his tools…and those were still in the grounds, as far as she knew. She definitely wasn't going back for them if she could avoid it…

Abruptly, the one missing member of their group came up to the cave entrance. Dael readily stood aside to let Ceja, a young, somewhat-emaciated buck over her shoulders along with her axe, walk in. She had to turn slightly to fit inside, but carried it to the others and threw it down, making Carbuncle, Cid, and Quaren all jump a bit.

"This is the largest game I could find." She stated as she immediately took off her axe and began to go for some stone tools she had hastily made out of rocks. "I'm surprised I found something that wasn't a predator to begin with… I may normally not take young creatures, but there is no telling when we will eat next."

"Uh…I would have been good for a bit longer…" Quaren admitted as he grimaced at the carcass.

"You will eat with the rest of us." She sternly responded as she went right into using a rock knife to cut inside. "We will not go without food today. We need strength more than ever now."

"She's right, Quaren." Dael called from the entrance. "We should probably try to get something for fuel for a fire, though… No one looks like they're coming after us. Probably don't even know where we are." She looked back a bit more. "How's the radio coming?"

"Give me another minute or so…" Cid said a bit quietly. He had picked himself up, but his mood was still low. Now that they all had a chance to rest and think…Dael knew why. Mianyl had tortured Faerio, but she wasn't dead when they saw her last. She had no idea if she was dead now after saving them…but there was a chance she wasn't. And if so…

"Cid."

Before Dael could think anymore, Bahamut spoke up. The engineer paused in his work, and looked over to the boy. He was leaning against a wall, but he gave Cid a firm look.

"…If Faerio still lives, we'll rescue her first."

Technically, Bahamut was going against Dael's authority by saying that…but she didn't say anything against it. That's what she intended, after all. She realized at this point it could have all still been "a lie". That even this last action might have been some hidden "dark plan" or "ulterior motive" to once again make them think at least one Sorceress was still on their side, so that they could still be backstabbed later by trusting her. However…she didn't believe that. Not this time. Not after seeing the pain the Sorceresses drove her into. Not after seeing her gaze…how she begged not only Cid but Dael to believe she was innocent… Until now, the power of the Sorceresses had always set her on edge. They had always forced her to "gird her loins" against them. However, not with Faerio. For a moment…she was just a girl begging to be trusted. That look in her eye seemed to be the only thing she had seen in a long time that wasn't "made up" in some way.

She was innocent…which meant she was "one of them".

That meant she had to be helped. Dael had already seen one innocent person killed almost casually and off-handedly by the Sorceresses... Hopefully, her status was allowing them to keep her alive just a little longer…

"So…what's the plan for getting back into Esthar, love?" Cryder asked for a moment. "Even assuming we can just waltz through the barrier into the suburbs, every station and road has to be under a watch."

"The Order of Hyne members are far from infinite." Dael answered. "The only reason there was a semblance of order before was because Esthar's Hawks were helping them. And Esthar never invested heavily in automatic guards and drones. We have maybe 50 older models still in operation, and they're mostly guarding scattered priority targets. They'll have to leave some entrances unguarded. My guess is the older sewers are still in operation…the ones discontinued when we started using less water-intensive waste disposal. We never had the money to fill them in due to the Depression. They're mostly cut off, but it's something of a 'trade secret' for Esthar's Hawks. It'll be enough to sneak us inside. Let's be honest…Order of Hyne members aren't trained to be vigilant or observant."

"Let's not forget that Mianyl sacrificed her own order to Sybenia in allowing their ethnic cleansing." Bahamut darkly added. "If she ends up revealing any of this, she won't be able to use her own order."

"She would be a fool to do so, however." Ceja answered as she began to break open the rib cage with her bare hands now that the insides were exposed. "Three women can not run a country by themselves."

Bahamut only turned grimmer at that. "…My fear is that they only feel the need to run the country for a few more days. Long enough to finish what they have begun."

"The war's all but at a standstill, lad." Cryder answered with a shrug. "How does she plan to do that?"

"By no longer bothering herself with 'keeping up appearances', for one." The boy answered. "That frees up a great deal of her power… Yet that's the least of our concerns. Mianyl is behind everything and so, we infer, she is intentionally bringing Nyx Gaia to Gaia in order to merge the two and open the Void. All she needs to do to accomplish that aim is continue to create discord and panic in terms of stress and death. For that reason…I'm not sure she wants a 'smooth' takeover of Esthar. She probably wants a chaotic one. Yet I'm not sure even that is enough for her. This whole world has to be immersed in chaos…"

"She's strong, but the only nation in her pocket at the moment is Esthar." Quaren answered. "How does she plan to do that?"

Before anyone could answer, Cid suddenly looked up. "Alright…I'm sorry, but this is the best I can do. With these parts and how much I'm having to bypass them and rig stuff up with resistors I'm not even sure work or have the right rating…the best I can do is tap into the radio broadcasts in Esthar. No way I can get into the secure lines without better tools and equipment."

"It's something, which is better than nothing." Dael answered as she turned around. "Turn it on."

Cid manipulated a few more things. It seemed he had to hold some of the electric circuits together just to get it to work, but he managed to after a moment. It didn't immediately produce anything, so he had to work it for a bit longer…until he finally heard a sound. He skipped by it at first, and had to readjust a few times, but finally the voice of what sounded like a radio anchor came on. Dael only listened to the radio occasionally, but she recognized it as an Esthar personality.

_"-have refused to disband, calling the action: 'unconstitutional', but the Grand Chancellor responded that she is fully within her rights as Chief Executive to terminate whatever branch of the military she so chooses without legislative approval. None of the remaining senators have been reached for comment in the wake of this latest incident, and so, as of now, we are still uncertain about their reaction to this momentarily decision despite it happening at a crucial time in the midst of a war."_

Quaren swallowed a bit at this, and Dael could hardly blame him. After all, his mother was one of those who signed the warrant for Mianyl's arrest. However, Cryder snorted at the whole thing.

"Of course they aren't. They ain't foolhardy enough to let anyone know where they are after that."

"Shh." Dael answered. "Listen."

_"It's safe to say that out of all the people around the world eager to listen to this broadcast by Grand Chancellor Mianyl, probably the greatest interest is coming right from her own home."_ The newscaster continued. _"There is considerable unease and uncertainty today, reflecting both in the markets as well as in the streets. The earlier enthusiasm over the apparent death of Rozan Hierarch has diminished in light of this latest news. A few hours ago, when Lady Mianyl made the announcement that she was holding not only a press conference but a national conference that was to be broadcasted on all international affiliates, and requested additional nation affiliates to be connected, it was only the latest in a chain of odd moves on behalf of the Grand Chancellor that has generated puzzlement."_

Dael looked to the others, and they looked uncertainly back. This didn't bode well.

_What are you planning, Mianyl?_

_"…It seems the Grand Chancellor is coming up to the podium now. We'll cut to the live feed from her mics to bring you her speech in real time."_

The radio went silent momentarily, broken only by the sounds of the occasional flash bulb from journalists within the audience. The group, however, went all the more silent, drawing in a bit closer to hear. Soon, the voice of Sorceress Mianyl came through…and Dael immediately stiffened along with the others. The old warmth and care within her tone was still gone…replaced by the colder persona they had seen earlier. The truly bad part was that she still had to have some "lightness" to her voice, as if she regarded this event as so little and with her old sweetness. That only made things worse. Now it was like something sickening and deranged to the ears of Dael.

_"I have a two-fold message that I wished to issue at this press conference. I am well aware that many, if not most, in Esthar are watching this broadcast. However, I sincerely hope that those who are overseas are doing the same, as I have a strong message for them as well as in this country. I urge whoever is listening, whether in Esthar or throughout Gaia, to bring whoever else is not paying attention forward. I don't not wish to have to repeat this message, unlike the Guiding Hand which seemed content to make their words all one could hear. Unlike them…I wish to be heard once and only once._

_ "As I said…this message is in two parts. The first part is for my nation of Esthar. To them…I would like to begin by saying that the thought occurred to me to keep this quiet. I considered trying to keep the matter closed for a bit longer…allow you all to labor under a delusion. However, I see no need. I am not like your previous elected officials…who enjoyed telling you what you wanted to hear and all of you were only too happy to listen." _

Her voice changed slightly to inflect.

"_You sit very secure, do you not? Day after day…week after week…you go out to your businesses, you make a bit of money, you eat at your fast food restaurants, you buy your clothes from designer stores, you download your music, and you kick back and let the only problem that ever troubles you be how your tax dollars are being spent."_

A snort.

"…_You like that, don't you, Esthar? Half of you like to think your little world will come to an end if you pay a few dollars more for welfare and social security, while the other half likes to think the only reason you aren't living like a millionaire is because all of the rich stole what was yours. You run around and around thinking about your tiny problems, and when the day comes that danger comes knocking, you would like to spend most of your time pointing fingers at the very people you elected and then pray that a 'savior' will come and deliver you. You like to think of yourselves as so much greater than Sybenia. So much 'freer' and 'morally superior'. Did any of you ever pay any mind when Sybenia rolled over its surrounding city-states? Did any of you ever give any thought to the people being subjected to genocide? Did you rather like to think of it as something far off and happening to someone who wasn't you? Or…worse yet…did you secretly drink from the fountain of the Guiding Hand, condoning them in your heart of hearts?_

"_The apathetic always seek to remain that way. Those who are concerned with keeping things the way they are give no thought to anything except that some factors, for good, ill, or horrendous, continue to keep things they are. Like a lovely flock of sheep, you wait only for a good shepherd to tell you exactly what to do."_

Mianyl paused, and the group stared grimly at the radio. By now…the flashbulb sounds had cut off. Whatever audience was watching the Sorceress, they were now clearly unsettled.

"_Well, on that note, I am here to tell you that I shall give you exactly what you always long for and what I have given you since the day I took command…someone to handle your problems for you. Someone to relieve you of the burden of thinking and responsibility. Someone to _obey_. I have looked into your country for some time and have found there is not one among you who has the will power to truly lead, and so my conclusion is that I must continue to do so. The rumors you have heard are correct. Esthar's Hawks no longer exist. Yet now I believe that is too little. From this day forward, you may consider the Legislature also dismissed. Any remaining bureaucratic agency will report directly to me. At this point…the will of Esthar is the will of the High Sorceress. You may now consider this entire nation to be part of the Order of Hyne and under the dominion of Hyne's Descendent."_

There was no shortage of murmuring from the audience. It soon grew louder than murmurs, and became a clamor, with increasing volume and outrage. Yet suddenly…everyone, both there and listening to the radio, gave a jump as what sounded like a thunderclap blasted through the radio, nearly blowing out the speakers and making everyone recoil. And at that…everyone in Esthar listening went silent. For a moment, it seemed as if the transmission was over…but it wasn't. People had just gone quiet.

"_Look at you." _The voice continued darkly. _"All of your civilization…all of your wealth…all of your 'laws' and 'order'…and all someone has to do is crack a proverbial whip across your backs and you fall in line as easily as the peons who built the ancient monuments. You have all grown so fat and weak that you no longer even know how to disobey properly. You still expect those you 'rally' against to simply stand there and listen to you…not give you a proper 'spanking'._

"_Now then…I am certain that even after that little flex of my index finger, there are those of you listening in your homes who do not like this arrangement, despite having been more than happy to accept my rule before now. In case you are wondering…none of these people are dead who stand before me. Simply given a 'mild slap' to tell them not to speak when I am talking again. There will be no massacres. No mass arrests. No banning of laws and personal rights that you all love so much above everything else. That is…none of that will happen provided you simply do as you always do and submit to the status quo. Things are simply under new management. Nothing more. I do warn you sternly, however…"_

Her voice grew so icy Dael could almost feel her power through the cobbled-together radio.

"…_do _not_ test my goodwill and friendship. I do not give warnings. I do not give reprimands. I do not use a 'progressive discipline' system. I merely burn, like chaff, everything that stands in my way. Believe me, Esthar…you will suffer greatly if you dare to test my power._

"_To show how serious I am, I am announcing what will hopefully be the one and only public execution of my administration…although, as I said, that depends entirely upon you. At 9 AM tomorrow…_after_ I have finished my morning prayers…"_

Dael felt herself grimace on hearing that detail.

"_I will have all local news affilates broadcast the execution from the top of the current appointed administration area: the Odina Building, for those of you who wanted to know. The one to be executed, for the crime of treason against the Order of Hyne which, in turn, means treason against the entire nation of Esthar as I have all just informed you…Sorceress Faerio the Dayspark."_

Cid reacted strongly to this, but although Dael felt something…her eyes merely narrowed. So did Bahamut's.

"_For those of you who are interested, I shall either be in the Odina Building or the Cathedral for the rest of today and tomorrow, awaiting this event. This demonstration should show you all that I am quite serious about my claims. Not even a dissenter within my own order will be shown mercy._

"_Now that this is taken care of…on to the matter at hand. I now address those of you abroad…but those of you who are in Sybenia and listening should pay extra close attention."_

Now, all of the fake sweetness vanished as well. Harshness replaced it. Nothing but cold, quiet hardness.

"_I am not a High Dictator. I am not a Boss. I am not a President. And I am not like any Grand Chancellor this world has ever seen. Unlike my predecessors, I do not waste time with half measures and giving people things such as 'chances to surrender' or 'warning shots'. Esthar is _my_ nation…my possession now. And I will not tolerate any violence toward it of any kind. Nor will I forget how the terms of peace that were agreed on by Esthar and Sybenia, terms that I myself gave them, were so quickly and utterly violated. _

"_Sybenia… The Guiding Hand murdered my order without pity and put countless magic users to death in your laboratories for the sake of gaining power. Now…there are a select few out there, those who have more knowledge than others, to perhaps claim that certain individuals were to blame for this…that certain people who live in glass houses should not throw stones…that might even assign the true blame to said individuals…"_

Dael actually reacted a bit to this, realizing she was giving a veiled clue…talking of herself.

"_Yet to that I say you are no less guilty than a man who shoots another to death and blames the company that built the gun he purchased, loaded, and fired all of his own free will. You were given tools, nothing more. You chose to use them in a reprehensible way. Neither is there a man, woman, or child in your midst who is any less innocent. All of the innocent who made a stand against you have already had their blood fill the streets. The rest of you are as guilty as the men you too supported, either directly or by your silence. You mounted up body after body with your lust for power, never once thinking that the Reaper might have been sharpening its scythe for you, stubbornly believing yourselves to be the descendents of Odin and the heirs to the world's greatest kingdom."_

A pause.

"_Yet none of you ever recalled that Odin was crushed utterly without so much as a tear shed for him at his death, so fast that none even noticed he was gone. So shall you be…right now."_

There was a moment of silence on the radio, but as it happened, there was the sound of movement of small devices. After a few seconds, it ceased…but there was something faint in the background. It was only audible when all else was silent, including everyone on the radio, but they could hear it faintly coming through.

"_47…46…45…44…43…42…"_

"_Do you know what that is, Sybenia?" _Mianyl said quietly and calmly, as the numbers continued to count behind her. _"Each number is Death taking a step closer to you. Did you truly think you were the only one on this world who possessed the power to visit instant death upon your foes?"_

At this, Dael's eyes widened. "No…"

Bahamut himself went rigid and more fearful than he had ever been. "Good lord…I was afraid of this but I hoped that, at the minimum, she had no way to use them…"

Quaren looked up to both of them. "What are you talking about?"

"The thermonuclear weapons!" Dael immediately shot back. "Don't you get it? The ten that went missing in the Leuco facility!"

Cid, by now, had turned horrified. "It can't be… She couldn't…"

"_To the rest of the world…sit and watch…and take note." _Mianyl coolly continued. _"Ask yourself shortly…is anyone within your nation 'shooting their mouths off' worth this? I suggest, in the future, you watch your tongues as you watch your lives."_

"_25…24…23…22…21…20…19…"_

Cid snapped to Carbuncle. "Can't we stop it? Can't you teleport to them and stop them?!"

"Even if I knew where to go, I'm not an engineer!" Carbuncle answered. "What am I supposed to do with these claws?"

"We can't just sit here! Good god…she's going to kill…"

"Maybe it's a bluff." Quaren suggested. "Maybe she's just trying to scare someone… I mean…where could she have built sites to launch them in the first place?"

_Anywhere. _Dael darkly thought. There were so many areas off limit as security zones following the "militarization" of Esthar…

Sybenia was full of soldiers and robots and war machines…but it was also full of people…people who were now confused and lost without a leader…people who had no choice but to be born there and live there…

"_10…9…8…7…"_

"Can we summon Alexander?" Ceja asked.

"And have him what, lass? Attack all of Esthar until he finds them?" Cryder asked.

"_6…5…4…"_

"Have him destroy those weapons when they launch!" The Fuliet warrior insisted.

"No good."

The single statement caused everyone to look to the source…and they soon saw Dael grimly staring at the radio, eyes burning.

"…Taraketh has his power. He won't attack if he's there."

The group silently stared back in response…realizing there was nothing they could do. Like everyone else listening to the program, they could only sit and listen.

"_3…2…1... Launch."_

The radio let through a faint sound. After all, it had to be faint. Far away, the broadcast source was another radio terminal. On the other side of that was whatever control center was at the missiles. And beyond that…the launch pads themselves. Therefore, what had to be a deafening roar that was good for a space capsule merely came out as dull murmur. Yet it was the most bone-chilling sound any of them had ever heard…especially to Dael. Faint as it was, she knew she was hearing more than one…

"…Look."

Dael raised her head, and turned to Bahamut. The boy was grim and stoic…and pointing outside. She turned and looked as well…and were she less disciplined she would have cupped her mouth in shock and horror.

This close to Esthar, there was little mistaking it. It couldn't have been much farther south from the city proper. Mianyl hadn't made the emplacements any closer to the south. She hadn't bothered. She had done it right under their noses. Were they rocket pads like the ones used to launch the Phobos? Or were they mobile platforms? She didn't know…and it didn't matter. All she knew was that she unmistakably saw five smoke trails take off and streak into the sky. They moved far faster than any airplane or jet or even airship would go. It was almost amazing to see them move from here…realizing how fast they had to be going…how soon it would be before impact. There was nothing any of them could do to catch them even if they were on the _Enterprise_. And soon…they saw that they left the region of sky that was still open and drifted away into the clouds. Yet even as they left…the plumes continued to streak behind them.

It had to have taken about a minute. It seemed far shorter though. The missiles picked up speed as they went. And the group, like everyone else, could only stare.

"_Those of you in Sybenia…gather your families, kiss your wives, put your arms around your children, say your prayers, spend your money, break out the fine wine…do whatever you always wanted to do that you can within the next 36 minutes…because you are about to burn and die along with the rest of the Guiding Hand and Sybenia. The rest of the world…look on well. Let the death of this country serve to keep you all thinking rationally._

"_And Esthar…I will see you tomorrow at 9 AM."_

The radio clicked off. It had to have gone back to the affiliate at that point, but there was nothing there. Nothing save radio silence. It had to be the same on every radio station and TV station throughout all of Esthar at that moment. Indeed, throughout most of the world. Dael thought of those words…thought of what this meant…thought of all of those people in Sybenia… For the first time since the war began, she genuinely feared for them…felt for them… All of those innocents…

She didn't even say where they would land. Perhaps some of them could make it to shelter. Perhaps some could flee the city. But…

_It doesn't matter. The people in Leuco had a chance a hundred fold better than them…and look how many died… She sacrificed the opponent she built to make more disorder…_

Dael watched for a bit more, and then looked back to the others. She nearly spoke.

"Everyone." Bahamut cut off, both her as well as all others.

In turn, everyone looked to him. His face was very dark.

"For the next 36 minutes…let's just wait." He stated slowly. "Depending on what happens in that time will dictate whether we should move on Esthar…"

He slowly exhaled.

"…Or whether it will even matter."

That was a dark note to end on…but Dael realized that it was reasonable. A chilling note went through her. The fact of the matter was that five of those weapons had been launched at an area that barely had any advanced warning and far more populated than Leuco. It was more than likely that it would kill more than five times as many people…maybe even more than ten times as many. That much disorder…that much radiation in the air…that much wasteland… What if it was enough to push everything "over the edge"? What if they had already failed in their last possible chance to stop Nyx Gaia from coming?

Dael tried not to think about that. It wouldn't help anything now. She turned and looked to Ceja and the others.

"…Let's get that food prepared and eat." She said. "Because if we get through this, we're going to need to move ASAP."

* * *

><p>The time went by quickly when they were busy preparing the kill. Dael had never gone hunting or field dressed anything, but Ceja was more than good enough at it. There wasn't much in the way of fuel, but there were a few ashy remains with charred coals that even Quaren's small grasp on fire magic was able to heat up again to a decent heat source. Even so, it was taking some time to cook the rather unappetizing looking creature. It wasn't quite done by the time the half hour had gone by.<p>

The others either tried to help or do whatever they could to stay busy, which wasn't much in a dark cave. A few other beasts came by, each one looking thin, sick, and weakly. They spotted Dael at the entrance…but they didn't bother to attack. At this point they were so hungry that they couldn't even eat anything else besides carrion until they got stronger. Cid tried listening to the radio some more, but whether on the original station or the two others he managed to pick up, the answer was the same in all cases…prerecorded messages of "Please Stand By". She could imagine the people in Esthar were rather nervous, panicked, and frightened at this point. She wondered if any were planning resistance. She wondered if she _wanted_ them to plan resistance…as it might not matter… Most of all…she wondered what was coming in the next thirty minutes.

As time passed, everyone grew more uncomfortable. They began to wring their hands and shift where they were. Even Bahamut lost his normally calm exterior. It might already be over, after all… Jalab spent practically the whole time praying himself, although everyone else gave one too. Even Cryder did so…and for that matter, Dael, who believed she had lost all spirituality the moment the Order of Hyne betrayed her, found herself giving a few.

As the time neared, Carbuncle finally broke the past fifteen minutes of silence.

"…Is that damn meat done yet? I'm starving."

"The creature looked sickly. I have to make sure its done before we risk eating it." Ceja answered as she continued to turn a hastily-made spit.

"Well, damnit…someone say something. Talk. Just break the f***ing silence." Carbuncle stated.

"I can't really think of anything to say…" Quaren answered quietly.

"I don't care. I'll make up words if I have to…just make some noise."

There was silence in the chamber for a moment. Everyone just looked around for a bit. No one knew what to say or do. Finally, Cryder leaned back a bit and exhaled. He began to sing aloud quietly.

"'Where are me boots? Me noggin', noggin' boots… They're all gone for beer and tobacco…'"

The group slowly looked to him. He continued to sing, slowly and quietly.

"'For the heels are all worn out and the toes are all kicked about… And the soles are lookin' out for better weather.'"

He slowly inhaled, closing his eyes.

"'And it's all for me grog…me jolly, jolly grog… All for me beer and tobacco… For I spent all me tin on lassies drinkin' gin…across the Central ocean I must wander.'"

He picked up his volume a bit.

"'Where is me shirt? Me noggin', noggin' shirt… It's all gone for beer and tobacco… For the collar is all worn, and the sleeves, they are torn… And the tail is lookin' out for better weather.'"

As he did the chorus again, Carbuncle tried to join in.

"'And it's all for me grog…my jolly, jolly grog…'"

Now, Quaren and Dael tried to join in, even though the woman was never much of a singer.

"'All for me beer and tobacco…'"

Bahamut, Cid, and even Ceja tried to help now.

"'For I spent all me tin on lassies drinkin' gin…across…'"

No one got any further. They trailed off here…for the ground beneath them began to tremor. It started off slow but built soon into something more fierce, and it was enough to make the song end. Everyone stopped and looked around as the shaking continued, and the ceiling began to make cracking sounds as dust and pebbles rained from it. It wasn't just the cave, however. It was the whole landscape. The group's momentarily merriment ended as they looked to each other.

"Everyone outside. _Now."_

No one needed to be told twice. The meat was forgotten as everyone got up and quickly ran out of the cave. Luckily, the intensity grew no higher. It couldn't have been more than light tremors, to be honest, although in that situation even something small like that could cause trouble. One by one, they all poured out of the cave and into the open. Even if there were monsters roaming outside, Dael wouldn't have cared. Yet she had only run out a short distance before she saw the sky…and quickly slowed to a halt.

"What on Gaia…?"

The others quickly ran out as well, falling in behind her, and they too froze and looked up to the sky. It was changing again. For a moment, Dael thought that the nuclear weapons had been mistaken…that they had gone off here. It was the only explanation she could think of at first. Until now, the storm had been breaking. The clouds had fragmented and rays of light began to shine down. Even the blue sky had become visible. That was gone now.

A storm was brewing again…one unlike anything Dael had ever seen. The sky no longer looked like it was any storm known to that generation of mankind. It had gone from dark gray to nearly black, and all within moments. It churned about violently now. Where Dael had seen storm clouds churning and circling in the past, this was something far worse. It almost looked like there was an invisible hand of a god somewhere far above the clouds, turning them about and stirring and working them as if they were nothing more than a great mass of black bread dough. Yet as the tremor continued and they still watched, it continued to get worse and worse. The clouds hung lower and lower before their eyes. Thunder and lightning began to ring out and flash. It quickly built up in intensity…and proximity. After all, the sky as far as they could see was quickly turning ominous and black.

"Oh no…are we too late?" Quaren said nervously.

"Look at that!" Cryder exclaimed, pointing to one end of the horizon.

Dael looked, and she soon saw what he meant. Although it was far, far away…what looked like geysers or spray was reaching for the sky. She had no idea what it could be. The nearest body of water was the ocean itself, and that was even farther away than Esthar and behind cliffs and mountains. Yet the thick mist rose into the sky and kept rising. She soon saw similar plumes, until she saw it rising all up and down in a line as far as she could see.

"Is that smoke?" Cid asked.

"Water." Jalab stated. "Never seen water move as that."

"…Gravity." Bahamut stated after a moment.

The others turned to that, noticing how readily Bahamut stated it. His face was tense.

"Tides are caused by the gravity of the moon pulling at Gaia itself. The oceans themselves are the clearest indicators of the effect of the moon's pull. So, if a much larger mass was to join in with it in an abrupt manner…"

"The oceans would swell and churn just like they are now as a result." Dael finished.

"…What does that mean?" Ceja asked after a pause, her own bold tone cracking again. "Does that mean we failed?"

The only response anyone could give was the storm continuing to build in intensity. The winds finally caught up with them and began to tug and pull at them violently. Storms started to rage, and the spray grew higher and higher on the horizon, like walls of water… They saw not only the storms, but tornadoes begin to form. At least five of them where they could see, although none were close to them. That mattered little, however, as the winds grew icy and fierce, tugging and ripping at them. Lightning flashed again and again, and the thunder became deafening as well as almost continuous.

As things grew worse and worse, Dael thought for certain it was over. The world was coming to an end. Chaos was about to rip the very planet apart… Mianyl was almost forgotten in the light of these changes. What did it matter now, after all?

Yet as they all feared the worst…it "evened out".

The storms continued to rage and fume, but considering how fast and abruptly they had been building…it was easy to tell that they had stopped. They did so now. They thundered and crashed and continued to send their columns of death down on the ground below…but they got no worse. The walls of spray continued to hang in the air, but grew no higher. After a few moments more…they started to fall again. The sudden "pull" brought on by the increase of gravity had to have dimmed as whatever was doing it stabilized. By now, the oceans had to be swelling far above their normal limits…but no more. The tremors slowly died down as well, so the pull on Gaia's tectonic plates had to have lessened too.

The wind continued to blow and the storms raged…but then the rain began to fall. Whatever had held it back was released and began to pour. Soon, the group, which had just started to dry, was soaked again. The storms continued to rage and blow, but even the thunder and lightning very slowly started to diminish. As it did, the clouds above the city slowly began to pull up and back again. They were thinning out in the center, like a great eye of a storm. Only the churning was fading as well. It was breaking up again. When that happened, the group knew the truth.

"…It stopped." Dael stated.

The eight were silent for a few moments.

"Good lord…I wonder how people managed to survive the Collapse if that wasn't the half of it…" Bahamut exhaled. "Fear alone must have killed half of the dead…"

"I've dodged bullets, before, lass…" Cryder added. "…But I think I need a change of the ol' underwear after that one. I think it's safe to say it'll be in my drawers if she lets another one of those missiles fly…"

"That won't be the worst of it." Quaren grimaced. "She could shoot again at any moment…finish the job…"

"Maybe…maybe not." Dael answered. "Those were five missiles. She may have been able to get a lot built and done…but even building five launch pads in that short of a time is a tremendous feat. She needs five more to launch the others, and I don't think they've had a chance."

"How can you be so sure?" Ceja asked.

"Because there would be no reason not to launch the other five now. No reason to do anything except fire them all and kill as many people as possible." Dael answered. "Definitely no reason to make that radio broadcast. She wants people to panic…but she also wants them to stay where they are long enough for her to launch the others."

"Or fight her." Jalab grimly stated. "Kill invaders…raise discord."

"That's true too." Dael answered. "Esthar may not be too militarily sophisticated without Esthar's Hawks, but thanks to Sybenia's efforts and now hers…there isn't a decent army that can take the Order of Hyne left. She probably made this statement wanting people to try. Anything to draw things out just a little bit longer."

"Until what?" Ceja asked.

Dael exhaled. "I wish I knew. Maybe to finish five more launch pads. Maybe something worse…"

"Lovely." Cryder muttered.

"Unfortunately, what Jalab said is more accurate than he thinks." Bahamut stated. "There was no reason for that public execution or the announcement either save one…she's calling us out. It's obviously a trap. She even told us exactly where to find her."

Cid swallowed a bit, but looked to the others. "…We're still going to go, right?"

"We'd be daft if we did, lad." Cryder simply responded. "Might as well put our heads in the gallows. Still…" He grinned. "Not like this whole mission ain't already harder than gigas balls. And I may not have a whole lot of love for my ol' mates in the Black Corsairs…but they deserve a warnin' not to go doin' anything heroic after a lifetime of bein' weasels. Not when they'll play right into that witch's hands. 'Specially since I'm sure the Commodore made it outta that pinch in Sybenia and is on her way home right now with the rest of my crew."

"How do you know?" Quaren asked.

"Pirate's intuition, lad. Never let me down yet."

The former corporal frowned. "How about when we were trying to get a lift back in Leuco…?" He muttered.

"I am still the Warchief. I need to return to do the same to my people." Ceja announced. She frowned afterward, bowing her head. "A Fuliet warrior would rather die than show the cowardice of fleeing…but I know there is nothing to be gained by opposing the Sorceresses. Even the full strength of the Nine Winds of the North cannot hope to contend against the weakest of them. They will throw their lives away for nothing if I do not warn them."

"Sorceress Mianyl has taken too much from us all already." Dael stated. "Even if the odds are against us…we won't leave Faerio to that fate. At the bare minimum, if they're expecting us to come and plan to deal with us themselves…that means we'll be able to find them all in the same place without having to locate them one at a time."

"Although it still leaves the question of what we'll do when we find them…" Carbuncle muttered.

"Don't any of you forget," Dael suddenly announced, gaining everyone's full attention again. "This is the best news we've heard in quite some time."

In response, everyone, Bahamut included, looked rather puzzled. As for Dael, however, she looked up to the sky again, toward the clouds in the middle that continued to elevate and fade, clearing the way for the open sky as the storms moved away for a time.

"The Sorceresses are 'calling us out', wanting us to walk right into their trap."

Her eyes narrowed as, for the first time she could recall, she gave a dangerous smile.

"…That means they're worried about letting us be. They're not above fear yet. They still think there's a chance we can stop them."

The group all paused on hearing that. Slowly, they let that realization sink in. Bahamut himself looked out for a moment…and then, in a rare gesture, he smiled as well.

"…Eight thousand years old, and it seems an eighteen-year-old human is still more clever than me in some ways."

"You're got a good point, cap…er, Dael." Quaren added with his first smile of the day. "I should have remembered it myself from training. If the enemy really thinks they're unbeatable, they won't bother fortifying their position."

"…You're right." Cid said with the first increased enthusiasm he had shown today. "Maybe we're not as bad off as we think we are."

"Heh, when you put it in that light, lass…I'd say our fortunes are lookin' up." Cryder chuckled.

Carbuncle whistled a bit, turning his head and flapping his ears. "Alright, alright…so we got a bit of optimism going for us now. How about a beer and fries to go with it?" He paused a bit. "…I'm serious. I'm not helping you guys 'storm the proverbial castle' when I'm sober. That's for damn sure…"

In spite of the direness and seriousness of the situation, Dael allowed herself to chuckle. Why not? This was probably the last time they'd get to laugh before they wished they were in far better moods. She saw how easily they were struck back before the Sorceresses before. She knew this wasn't going to be anything like Raven or Rozan. Still…they had to somehow win. At the moment, she believed they were the only ones who'd even try. They had a lot to do before 9 AM. It would take a lot of their strength just to make it that far, and they still had to have enough stamina for whatever came next. Whatever it was…Dael doubted it would be pretty. Right now, she frankly wished she had a lot more of everything…not the least of it being mage bullets and elixirs… Hopefully not only could they save Faerio, but she could give them a glimmer of hope against the other three Sorceresses.

Pushing that aside for the moment, Dael moved to give the call to move out and start heading to Esthar. Yet as she did, Jalab, who was growing more good natured as well…paused and looked to the sky.

"Moon…too large…"

Dael and the others reacted to that. They looked, and saw that the monk was looking to the sky. Soon, the former captain looked up as well to the sight.

The clouds in the middle were continuing to elevate and fade, and now were showing the sky. But there was something blue-white beyond it, thanks to the tinting of the sky. Dael had seen this many times before. Depending on the time of day, one could occasionally see the moon. Yet this seemed much bigger…much brighter. At first, she mistook it for just a cloud. Yet as the real clouds parted, it revealed it self to be much higher and "flatter", so far away that it seemed a seemless part of the sky.

"What is that?" Quaren asked after a moment. "An airship? A sky banner?"

"Too big and too high for either." Cid answered.

Finally, the clouds parted enough to get a clear view. When they did…they revealed that the object looked vaguely like the moon in that it was spherical and highlighted blue by the atmosphere. However, this thing was much larger. The diameter was a good six times longer than the moon. Not only that…but it didn't have craters. Rather, it was like looking at some sort of smoke-enwrapped cloudy sphere. There were barely any breaks in it, although there were many swirls, looking like spirals dotting it all over.

"That's not the moon." Ceja stated in response to Jalab. "It doesn't look like much of anything except a cloudy sphere…"

"…Global storms." Bahamut stated grimly. "Ones covering the entire planet. Bigger than any hurricane we've ever witnessed. It could be as hot as a volcano or as frigid as the arctic there. It seems that world already fell to the Void many ages ago…"

"I doubt if any scientists in the world are still troubling themselves with this that they'll be able to write it off as an after-image now…" Dael inhaled and exhaled. "Ladies and gentlemen…say hello to Nyx Gaia. I really can't say how much closer of a look we'll get of it."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	62. The Sorceress Cycle

AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you can catch the "Final Fantasy VIII" easter egg in this chapter...good for you. :P

* * *

><p>Getting back into Esthar was easier than any of them had anticipated. For a "takeover", it was one with the lowest amount of backing, it appeared, that Dael and the others had ever seen. Rather than finding any sort of armed guard waiting for them when they ran back to the barrier and reached it, they saw it was completely open. The one outpost that had been set up for security purposes was abandoned. After all, it had been maintained by Esthar's Hawks. They had taken most of the weapons and gear with them, but there was enough left behind to resupply at least a bit. The group paused there to stockpile whatever they could of use, and Cid himself grabbed all the conventional tools and bits of material he could carry. Even as they walked along from there, his hands weren't idle, but went back to work trying to rebuild his tool set. At any rate, there wasn't even a security combination at the opening in the barrier, and the group walked in easily. On the other side, there was no more resistance to their approach.<p>

That didn't mean the way was comforting.

The sky temporarily showed the great gleaming sphere that was Nyx Gaia before it clouded up again. Not as bad as before, but now it was overcast almost all the time save for a few occasional breaks. The rain resumed and continued. Dael knew it would for days now that there was more moisture in the atmosphere. The world even felt weirder…the air seemed of a different quality. Everyone in the city…everyone on half of Gaia…now knew without a doubt that this wasn't an illusion or a copy but another planet actually drawing nearer to theirs. And with their leaders having pretty much turned the world upside down…that was a recipe for panic.

Even without soldiers or guards trying to stop them, the group had to move to the shadows, for the citizens had utilized whatever type of weapons they could manage or build to defend themselves. Most of them boarded up their homes and turned the lights out. But even in the suburbs, they heard the sounds of people going wild, distant cars revving along with the noise of gunshots. Screaming and yelling and the sounds of breaking and smashing. Even this far out, the city was beginning to see signs of anarchy. With no government left, and with what looked like a clear sign of the apocalypse in the air, anyone who had barely been restrained by societal constraints before now was coming out en masse to start ripping civilization apart. She knew it would only get worse from here…and there wasn't even a decent police department to keep things together.

She knew the city had to be far worse. That became clear enough as, while moving through the streets, they began to see smoke and lights from the city up ahead. Fires being set by looters and rioters. Mianyl, Dael knew, would let this happen. She'd only stop it if someone intervened to take control. She'd let panic and fear fully set in and start driving the city to eat itself alive. So long as everyone was fearful and aggressive and attacking each other, they would ignore the problem. No doubt, no one even had the slightest idea that this was all part of Mianyl's "master design"…that she was causing this. They'd be too busy doing what they always did…worrying only about themselves. Yet if anyone _did_ try to keep order, Mianyl would crush them flat.

This was only one city, though. Every city in the world had to be doing the same. The appearance of Nyx Gaia pretty much was a global sign that this was "the end". Every city had to be rioting too. Who had any leader who could take control now? Who could corral everything? The Sorceresses didn't have to worry themselves with any more destruction. By now, the entire world was in so much chaos that the rest of the work would probably be done for them. One could probably measure Nyx Gaia growing closer by the hour now… Yet somehow Dael didn't think they were satisfied with that. They were going to wage more destruction…more death. They wouldn't stop until they had the power of the Void. Even if it might not be possible to save the world at this point from the growing disorder…Dael _knew_ it wasn't possible so long as those three lived.

_But I still don't get it… Why do they want the world to die so badly?_

The group needed to move fast, but the truth of the matter was they could use some time to prepare. At least a couple hours of rest and some food, or they'd be falling over themselves when they tried to stop the execution tomorrow. A plan wouldn't hurt either. As the sun went down and the sky turned black, lit up only by a periodic bolt of lightning, the group decided to look for at least a couple hours of shelter and rest to regroup for the main push on the city. As it was, they probably needed to steal a car. Getting there on foot was too reckless and time consuming. Much as she hated the _Enterprise_, Dael admitted it would come in useful now. Yet that only made something else they needed to do. If those airships or Black Corsair ships had somehow survived, then they needed to make contact with them. They were the only serious force that could make a difference now. However, that window was shrinking fast too. There was, in fact, an emergency line hidden within the public service lines of Esthar itself to try and make contact with Esthar's Hawks units and affiliates, which would include the airships. Yet Dael wasn't sure if the Sorceresses knew about them and had cut them off or, if they were still in operation, the chaos in the city had already caused them to be neglected and abandoned. They needed to stop for that too.

At last, Dael settled on one building in particular: a public school. It had worked as a relief emergency shelter that was now quite abandoned. If there were any weapons, food or medical supplies, all of them had no doubt been raided. Nevertheless, it would be somewhat safe to sleep in tonight, especially if both Eshtar's Hawks and the Order of Hyne had abandoned it.

On arriving, they found most of it was dark and locked up. The gymnasium had become the actual shelter, although it had already been raided and abandoned. There weren't even homeless there at the moment. The medical supplies were gone save for a few bandages, but, fortunately, the thieves had left something behind. A few ethers were still there. No doubt the Order of Hyne had kept them, but other than a mild anesthetic they were useless to non-magic users. The group picked them up, but there was little else in terms of gear. All of the food was gone too…at least, the obvious stuff. However, they soon moved to the locked teacher's lounge, broke the lock, and moved inside.

There was a working phone in here. Quaren was messing with it at present, trying to get the outside line (as most phones within public schools were localized inside the buildings themselves). Cid had gotten back to work trying to make some new tools, and had even found a few left behind in the shelter to get to work as well. His skill was fantastic. He looked like he had almost succeeded in building a new tool. Yet even if he didn't, he still had his atomic hammer. Ceja moved to the window, which was shut with blinds, to act as sentry. Jalab took position at the door to the actual chamber. Dael was taking the moment to adjust her own weapons. She still only had the one mage bullet, but she couldn't ask Cid for more. Instead, she was using the moment to cut off the allegiance distinctions from her uniform. It was only with great reluctance that she slowly ripped off the old gold and blue hawk from her shoulder…but that order was dead now. It was time for a new start.

Bahamut had decided to sit as well across from Dael and make sure his own weapons were in order. Carbuncle was curled up in one of the cushioned chairs himself, frowning at a cup of coffee he had poured for himself and rubbing his forehead. That left Cryder, who, at the moment, was using an old metal trash can as a lever to break into a vending machine. It was pretty loud, but there was little for it. He finally managed to fracture the front, and when that was done he tossed the item away and began to scrape glass aside with his sword and scabbard to make enough room to take things out.

Cid looked up and grimaced. "I don't feel too great about being another looter…"

"At this point, lad?" Cryder answered as he began to move his hand around on the inside. "A little theft is the least of this world's worries. As it might end before long, I'm wishing we were knocking over a five star restaurant instead of a cube of trans fat…" He yanked out some chocolate-chocolate-chip cookies and tossed them over to him. In spite of his complaints, he took it. He soon pulled out another pack and threw it to Bahamut. "There you go, Guardian-Force-mate…a lovely package of golden sponge cake filled with cream."

Bahamut seemed less than thrilled as he took it. "I guess it's too much to hope for there being beef jerky in there at least."

"Mate, you're talkin' to a man who once lived for three months off of rat chum. This is a Sunday spread to me." Cryder answered as he pulled out more things. "Always wondered what in blazes the damn things were livin' off of, though…"

Carbuncle merely grumbled as he sipped his coffee. "I'm still mad at humanity for outlawing vending machines that sell booze and cigarettes…"

Quaren actually looked up from the phone receiver he had against his head and looked to the green creature in disbelief. "You smoke?"

"Well not anymore…" He complained in response. "Not since I moved into the smoke-free environment Hell that was Fort Morningstar. I could use a drag…but good luck getting one from that guy." He gestured to Cryder. "You could share a cigar or two, man…or at least not smoke them in front of me."

"I chased the damn Lamb trade boat for eight days to raid this shipment, mate. I ain't just givin' them away for free." The pirate retorted as he tossed a marshmallow/rice cereal treat to Dael.

The woman snatched it out of the air and began to open it up. "Alright, junk food and vices aside…we need a game plan. We're going to head in through the unused sewer systems. That should get us from the edge of the suburbs into the inner city. After that point, we're going to have to go on foot for another two or three blocks. Unfortunately, my guess is that if there are any Order of Hyne members left, they'll be there waiting for us."

She pushed a piece of paper she had been sketching on forward, letting those nearby look over it.

"This is crude, but it's a basic map of our path into Esthar. The 'square', which contains the Cathedral as well as the Odina Building, is our destination…but the Odina Building is pretty much on the other side from where we approach, and surrounded on either way by the grounds."

"Could we go around?" Bahamut suggested.

"We could, but we're pressed for time as it is. I only want to stay here another hour or two at the most before we try to get to the city. It's going to take time enough as it is to work through the old sewer line. Going around could take anywhere from another three to four hours…maybe longer if the city is as jammed up as last time. What time is it right now?"

Cid looked to his own wristwatch. "2149 hours."

Dael nodded. "Exactly. We're going to be pressed for time as it is."

"I wish to make one thing clear." Ceja spoke up from the window. "I am with you, Dael, as well as everyone else. But once Faerio is safe, if we somehow fail to destroy the other Sorceresses during the rescue, then I must find the other members of my tribe and rally them. Clearly, they decided not to tarry here, no doubt since Aizel betrayed them along with Cybus. Yet I am responsible for them now."

Dael hesitated, but only a moment. "…Alright." She answered. "That might be a good 'next step' after this. At the moment, I trust the tribes of Fuliet for allies long before anyone else. Somehow I doubt, even if they've fled for now, your people have 'given up'."

"Once we arrive," The warrior continued, now that this was confirmed. "How do we engage the Sorceresses? After seeing what happened to Sir Tierras, it is safe to assume that they possessed enhanced physicality."

"I also watched them battle Tiamat…and they had to be going 'easy' to make sure he'd survive." Dael grimly responded. "Mianyl alone was able to hold off its breath…something that turned a city block into ashes in seconds. Cybus and Veriguno were weaker, but…" She inhaled a bit and exhaled. "…Speaking as a warrior, my guess is that their magic power is as good as Raven's when he was attacking the fleet at Lamb…at minimum."

"We have few weapons that can combat that sort of magic." The Fuliet warrior stated.

"New Guardian Forces." Jalab stated.

Bahamut gave a nod. "From my research, Doomtrain is one of the stronger and faster Guardian Forces…although I'm not sure even he can contend with that much strength. Cerberus' greatest asset, as we saw firsthand, is giving speed and power. He'll be more useful no matter what we pick. Yet I'd say we only have two weapons at our disposal that are 'guaranteed' to be effective. One is our untapped resource…Alexander."

"We haven't tried summoning him yet." Dael stated grimly. "But it was warned that we need three of us to do it…and we won't be going anywhere once we do it. Therefore, that's got to be our last resort."

She looked up to the others.

"Everyone, listen well. The code word for when we summon Alexander is this: 'Casting down'. When I say it, whoever's closest to me get to work summoning Alexander and everyone else run interference until we bring him out. I don't want to have to shout this later. It's going to be telegraphed enough as it is."

The group all nodded in response, committing this to memory. When they did, Dael looked to Bahamut. "What's the other weapon we have?"

The boy blinked a bit. "…Isn't it obvious?" He echoed in response. "Your spiritual divide technique."

The former captain recoiled a bit. "Pardon?"

"The boy speaks the truth." Ceja added. "There isn't a warrior in Fuliet who can match that technique."

"Lass… You. Cut. A. _Destroyer._ In half." The pirate threw in. "I don't think even little miss high-and-mighty can ignore somethin' like that."

Dael only groaned in response. "Well, I hate to put that kind of pressure on myself since this is incredibly unreliable. I think I got the hang of the 'Shock', but that doesn't matter. I only have one more of those things in me after Rozan's beating. I don't think I can take them all down with just one of those. And if they're still standing after it's done…we're toast. I can't whip out another one until I get beaten half to death again. You think if they survive that attack they're going to give me that option?"

"Spade in the burrow." Jalab answered with a shrug.

"I think he means 'ace in the hole', Dael." Cid answered. "So far, the only enemy we've run into who you used that on kicked the bucket. No one knows you can even pull off the Shock. Only three other people ever did it."

Dael paused on hearing that. "…Alright, fine. Just try not to place all bets on me."

"It occurs to me that, for now, we might just try to break in, save Faerio, and then escape." Bahamut answered. "I don't think Faerio alone can take any one of those Sorceresses, even Veriguno, but she knows a great deal more about them than we do. She might be enough to tip the scales against Mianyl."

"Even if it doesn't work out that way, no shame in a back-up plan, lass." Cryder added. "Leave ourselves an out, and all that."

Before anyone could say any more, however, Quaren suddenly looked up and spoke aloud. "Hello…hello? Is this Fleet Commander?" On hearing that, everyone dropped what they were doing and looked to the former corporal on the phone. He suddenly grew more excited. "It is?! Tell me who's in command! Who's left?"

Dael looked intently at Quaren at this. At last…some more good news. The attacking force wasn't fully wiped out. She had to imagine they weren't having an easy time with how the oceans were changing and with the storms around the world, but they were at least secure enough to get a transmission out. She and the others waited for Quaren to finish the discussion or pause.

He paused for a bit, and then nodded. "Ok, who's in command?" Another pause. "Alright…alright…alright—no! Don't return to Esthar! Stay away from here! You heard that broadcast, right?" A pause. "No one's around to help you out now." Another pause. "Look, if you come here to dry dock, you're dead." Another pause, and a sigh. "I'm sorry, but we can't do anything! We're hiding ourselves!" Another long pause. "Ok…ok, wait…hang on. Stand by for a bit."

He lowered the phone and looked to everyone.

"It's not as good as we want… Only two ships and one airship survived that operation by the time Tiamat and the Sybenian fleet was done with them…especially since the latter chased after them. One of them is disabled completely…but the _Ragnarok_ has it tethered to one of its docks and is dragging it along."

Cryder looked up at this, and soon grinned. "Heh…told you that the Commodore could get out of anything."

In spite of him saying that, Dael could hear immense relief on his voice.

"The _Ragnarok_ didn't get out of it unscathed, though." Quaren went on. "They say they're only running on auxillary power for right now. It'll be two more days before the main reactor is online again. Definitely not battle ready. Other than that, the _Enterprise_ is still airborne, although they're damaged. They piloted it over to the south of Esthar in that rocky archipelago. It's pretty safe now that Sybenia's fleet pulled out. They're trying to get the _Ragnarok_ there too since no other place seems to have a dry dock they can use. At least not one big enough to fit the whole ship…"

Cryder scratched his head a bit. "You should pass along the message to give Leuco another shot." He said. He gave a shrug. "Ain't no Sybenia or Esthar as we know it anymore. No one can really afford to turn down friends at this point. Just have them say they'll defend the city if they agree to it."

That was an idea, but Dael had something else in mind. "Can the _Enterprise_ still do a flyby of Esthar? In other words…can it make a stop at a landing strip for a few minutes?"

Quaren took a moment to get back on the telephone and relay both things, both what Cryder stated as well as what Dael asked. It took a while to get a response, but eventually he pulled the phone away after another "stand by" message.

"They say they need to do a few more repairs, but they can manage one in a couple hours." He grimaced a bit. "But they sound a bit nervous, Dael. Can't say I blame them."

Dael ignored that. "How close can they land the airship to the Odina Building?"

Quaren blinked. "The Odina Building? They'd be nuts to-"

"Just ask."

The former corporal sighed, and then put the phone to his head and talked a bit longer. It took a while to get a response in spite of just being one question, but finally he looked back.

"I don't think we'll be able to get them to do it, Dael. They said they're terrified of getting shot out of the sky by a Sorceress…but if we're asking if it's possible, then they say the closest they could get would be the intersection outside the front of the building, between the courtyard of the Cathedral grounds and the building itself."

"Alright." Dael stated. She thought for a moment. She recalled the time. "…If we can guarantee that the area will be clear, can they land for one minute? Between 0900 hours and 0901 hours?"

Everyone knew the significance of that time, but said nothing. Quaren himself hesitated before he spoke again. "Can you do a landing between 0900 hours and 0901 hours?" A moment later, he sighed and shook his head. He pulled the phone away. "Dael, they say any landing is nuts when it's right in front of the Sorceresses. They want to know how we can guarantee their safety."

"Tell him we can guarantee that we'll make that area as clear as humanly possible," Dael responded, her voice growing cross. "But also tell them that if they aren't willing to risk doing this then they might as well just find a nice little corner of the world to hide for the next few days until the world ends, because they have one of the few remaining machines on this planet that might be able to save it but it's useless without a crew willing to act when all they have to risk is dying a few days sooner than everyone else."

The room was silent at that, and Quaren was left holding the phone out. There was no reason to actually repeat that. The echo had already reached the phone and the ears of the person on the other side. And the fact that no noise arose in response from the other end meant they considered that for a moment. As for Quaren, he held for a bit, before slowly raising the phone back to his head and putting it against his ear. Time passed for a few moments…before he finally gave a nod. He looked to Dael and nodded again.

"In that case, be there at that time tomorrow. Take whatever path you need to get there…just make sure that airship is on the ground from 0900 to 0901."

Quaren spoke. "Be at that crossing from 0900 to 0901 tomorrow. Do whatever you need to in order to get there." A pause. "We'll do everything we can." He looked to Dael, and she gave him the "cut" sign. Looking back to the phone, he concluded. "Ok, that's all. We'll go from there. Talk to you tomorrow." A pause. "Over and out."

He clicked the phone and exhaled. "Well…can't say they liked it, but as we're pretty much the only 'semi-military' authority left in Esthar, I think they'll do what we say after you pointed out the obvious."

Bahamut looked to Dael after this was said. "The Sorceresses do seem to have one weakness…they can't be everywhere at the same time. That said…I suppose you're planning on splitting our group now?"

"We need to have 'something' in reserve." Dael admitted. "Even if we didn't, we don't know what kind of resistance is going to be there. Besides…you all seemed to agree our only real weapons are my spiritual divides and Alexander. We don't need everyone for that."

"You sure about that, lass?" Cryder asked. However, he paused momentarily afterward. "Then again, I think I'm talkin' a bit suicidal now. I don't fancy goin' before those god-like wenches myself in the flesh unless I have no other choice…"

"_I _want to." Cid insisted. "That's Lady Faerio up there. I want to be the one who rescues her…or at least help out."

Dael gave him a bit of a look. "Are you sure about that, Cid? You have your Atomic Hammer…but nothing else. You're still working on rebuilding your tools."

"Then we need to stop by the Cathedral." The engineer stated. "They're stored in the East Wing."

Everyone gave Cid an uneasy look at that.

"…You want to waltz right into Order of Hyne central?" Carbuncle asked. "You running on all eight cylinders, dude?"

"I can't make more mage bullets without my gear in my pack." He insisted. "And it's not like I can make more atomic cores. My spares are in that pack too. The Sorceresses won't be there. You really think they're leaving my pack be just as bait? We can get through anyone else, right?"

"We might have some trouble with the High Children if any are there." Dael stated. "And I'm not too eager to go right back to the spot where all of this went to Hell. We have no idea how many members of the Order of Hyne are stationed there. The ones back in the Cathedral pretty much acted without hesitation, so we can assume-"

"Six approaching the front." Ceja suddenly called out sharply in a low tone, so not to be audible.

At once, Dael shut up and quickly slammed to the ground. Everyone else soon did the same as Ceja moved to one side of the blinds, and Jalab to one side of the door. In moments, the lounge was as quiet as the grave. No one had turned on the lights. The only illumination was what was leaking in through the blinds. No one moved or reacted now. Dael looked up to the blinds, but the way they were shut only Ceja could currently see through them. They had to rely on her. They couldn't hear anything else…at least, not at first. After a while, a clicking was heard.

"What's going on?" Dael said in a faint whisper.

"They are entering the building." Ceja stated in an equal whisper.

"Did we cover our tracks?" Cid asked.

"We did…but we've been rooting through stuff…" Quaren said quietly.

Soon, there was the distant sound of doors closing. After that, there was silence for a bit. The group slowly sat and waited. They listened for any more noise…and, after a time, they began to hear it too. The sounds of footsteps coming down the hall.

Jalab looked to the others and spoke softly as well. "Coming this way."

"They might be a patrol…" Bahamut mused quietly.

Dael didn't answer. She looked up to the monk, and gave a nod. He nodded back. She looked to Quaren next and gave him a similar look. At once, without a sound, he rose up, moved to the side of the door, and readied his weapon. Everyone else soon repositioned themselves to move forward and closer to the door. Carbuncle used his power and flashed a small bit of ruby light to cover each one with a magical barrier. Dael realized she should work on studying that. It would be more important than physical now. Yet that didn't matter at this point. Taraketh had been an exception rather than a rule. Most Order of Hyne members had their spells, but not much else. If they got the drop on them…they could hopefully take them down fast.

The steps continued to get closer. They moved slowly…tentatively…and Dael realized they were practically creeping. They had to have suspected someone was there. With that in mind, she tensed even more, putting her hand on her Mage Gun instead. Everyone else waited a bit longer, waited for the steps to get nearer…

Abruptly, they reacted.

Jalab shoved the door open, lashed out, and seized the one in the lead. In the glimmer of light from the windows, Dael saw a flash of bronze as the Order of Hyne member, fully clothed, was yanked into the chamber, swung around, and slammed down on the coffee table. At once, Cryder was up and with a sword to his throat. Quaren, on his part, snapped out and immediately aimed his rifle point-blank at the next in their group, who seemed to be another High Child based on the clasp. The others were only Children with iron clasps, but Dael raised up and pointed her Mage Gun at them. Her eyes were cold and fierce.

"Not one word." She ordered.

Only now, after all of the movement, did she have a chance to see them…and saw they were all shocked and dumbfounded. Quaren, on his part, indicated for them to get in the room. As they did, Bahamut came forward with his own sword naked and motioned for them to do the same. The Children paused only a moment, before they began to enter. Quaren kept the rifle aimed at the High Child's head as they filed in, one after another. Ceja came forward and pressed her axe blade into the backs of two at once, and even Cid took up a thick wrench he had found and threatened to bludgeon them. Only when all were in did Quaren back up, keeping his rifle on the other High Child, and motioned for him to follow. He swallowed, but did as he was told. Once all were in, Jalab slammed the door shut, and the others quickly moved to push the Order of Hyne members into the center and cover them.

Only when this was done did Dael put away her Mage Gun and go for her sword. Yet as she was about to draw it on the first one pinned under Cryder…she paused.

The group could see better in the dark than the Order of Hyne members, because they had been in it longer and let their eyes adjust. However…the High Child wasn't defending himself. He wasn't trying to chant a spell or even tightening up to brace for pain or injury. He wasn't looking about fiercely or anything…just lying there with a defeated, hopeless look on his face.

She stared a moment, and then looked to the other High Child. Even with a rifle pointed to his head, he merely bowed it silently, eyes on the floor, as if to ask Quaren to "get it over with". The other Children likewise looked hopeless. No one tried a spell or went for a weapon, or looked like they would do anything else except wait to be killed.

The others slowly realized this as well, and, as a result, all of them began to ease slightly.

"…About the most lackluster search-and-destroy lot I've ever seen, Dael." Cryder muttered.

"I don't think they were sent to intercept us…" Quaren threw in. "Even if they're not military, they don't look the type…"

"…Just kill us, already."

The quiet voice, barely audible, came from the first High Child. At once, the others turned and looked to him. His eyes were already to one side, his face sullen.

"…What'd you just say?"

He closed his eyes. "Do whatever you want to us. You'll be doing us a favor…"

"We have nothing now." The other High Child stated. "No one does."

The others continued to stare at them.

Some remained more suspicious...but all of them slowly realized as time passed that they weren't a search-and-destroy team...or any other team. As a result, one by one, they began to put their weapons away.

"What are you talking about?" Dael asked as she stowed her own gun/

The Order of Hyne members looked to them somewhat curiously at that.

"…Don't you own a radio or television?" One of the Children finally said. "The Sorceresses have gone mad. They've taken control of Esthar, murdered the civilians and military of Sybenia alike, and have threatened to destroy those who oppose them."

"There were Order of Hyne prisoners still in the lower portions of Sybenia when they fired those terrible weapons, but they were killed along with everyone else…" Another one added. "And now, with this world facing the apocalypse, they only order all of us to kill anyone who dares to organize against them and burn the entire street where the insurrection arose."

"Lady Faerio trained the six of us…and now they will kill her without even proclaiming her crime." The second High Child added. "Whoever we looked to who hasn't abandoned our code and tenets is being killed. The Sorceresses will tolerate no dissention."

"Them's the breaks, eh?" Cryder answered with a faux head shake to all of this.

Cid gave him a dark look. "Cryder…"

"So what are you all doin' about it?" The pirate cut off, removing his sword and inserting it back in its sheath. "From the looks of it, you're tucking your tails under your legs and running and hiding."

"What would you have us do?" The first High Child grimly answered. He let out a sigh and looked down. "There's nothing left for us. Our own order turned into a nightmare."

"When we were kids, we were feared and made outcasts for our magic abilities." One of the Children spoke up again. "We were the trash of society. We had nothing. No family…no homes…no place in the world. The Order of Hyne took us in and taught us how to use our powers to make a difference for good…or, at least, we thought they did. Now it turns out we're just living and dying at the whims of the Sorceresses. Our whole lives we thought we were making a difference…that we were bringing about a better world. Now it's all a lie. Everything we've ever done or believed in meant nothing."

"Just do us a favor and kill us if you plan to." The second High Child said quietly. "We're nothing now. No good to anyone. Our own allies and fellow brothers and sisters drove us away when we refused to follow the Sorceresses. There were ten of us originally, and four are now dead…killed when escaping. We're nothing but fugitives now with no country or order…"

"We've got nothing left. We don't even have a reason to live." The one Child spoke again grimly. "Even if we did, what does it matter? Everyone will be dead soon. There's nothing we can do to change that or save anyone. We might as well die now and get it-"

_SMACK._

The slap rang out loud throughout the entire lounge…seeming to echo throughout the whole building…and was enough to snap the other five Order of Hyne members out of their funk momentarily and look up to what had happened.

Dael kept her hand extended from where she slapped the Child across the face.

"I've heard enough." She retorted coldly. "Your self-loathing and pity isn't doing anyone any good, especially yourselves."

The Child was shocked at the slap, but soon had her face fall again.

"…Go ahead and hit me. It changes nothing."

Dael's eyes narrowed. For a moment, an angry look appeared on her face. Suddenly…her hand shot out, wrapped around the Child's throat, and then tightened into a crushing grip. The Child looked up in a bit of surprise, which increased as her windpipe was cut off. She was being strangled.

The others stared blankly at this. The Child stood there a moment, but soon the lack of air made her face turn red. She began to stiffen and shudder. Her companions stared at this a moment…looking a bit fearful…but Dael didn't stop.

"…You want to die?" Dael said quietly. "Then just stand there for a bit longer."

The face began to go from red to purple. The girl's look grew more uncomfortable.

Quaren began to shift uneasily. "Dael…I…I think you made your point…"

"No I haven't." She stated coldly, never looking away from the woman. "I'm waiting."

She continued to turn purple, looking more agonized and in pain.

Jalab hesitated, then began to reach forward. "Stop-"

"No one interfere." Bahamut coldly retorted. He understood. He watched and waited along with the woman.

The other Order of Hyne members began to grow nervous. They started to move and looked to protest…only for Cryder to draw his sword and point it at them.

"No one move or you'll die a lot faster." He threatened.

Dael continued to look without pity or mercy. She kept choking the woman. By now, her face was starting to turn blue. She didn't look comfortable or at ease or depressed anymore…only frightened and desperate. At long last…she did it.

She raised her own arms to grab Dael's in a vain effort to pry off her grip.

Although she never could have, Dael immediately threw her forward into the midst of the rest of her order members and released her at the same time. She soon coughed loudly, and then began to gasp as best as she could. Dael had left bruises on her throat, and she clutched for it and winced…but also gave as many gasps for life-giving air as she could.

"So you want to live after all." Dael answered as she lowered her head. "Your order might be gone…this nation might be gone…this world may be ending…but you still want to live." She frowned more. "Then start acting like it instead of like some pouting child!"

The Order of Hyne members paused and looked up to her at that.

"Do you have any idea how many people are scared right now? Hiding in their homes afraid of everyone who's turned looter and rioter? You think the hospitals are still working? How about places to get food? Even having power to cook raw products or get clean water? All of those people need you right now! Magic users who actually have the guts to not just stand around and do what the Sorceresses say! So they may hate you and fear you…so what? Would you rather go away and hide?

"The Order of Hyne may be gone, but are you trying to tell me that the only thing you did for ten or more years was whatever the Sorceresses told you to? You never once tried to heal a person or protect a family or feed a hungry kid unless you were told? Are you trying to tell me you believed so little in things like that…that you're such a weak bunch of sheep…that you can't do that _without_ anyone telling you? This world needs the Order of Hyne, how it _originally_ was, more than ever! A group that gives people hope when they're scared to death! If you don't like what happened to your order, then make a new one! Starting now!"

The six were speechless. The others with Dael looked to her…and began to realize fully that any doubt or hesitation she had before was gone. The loss of Esthar's Hawks…the betrayal of Sorceress Mianyl…it had not only failed to make her weaker…it was making her _stronger_. She was emerging as more than a leader of a task force. She was becoming someone greater… She wasn't just able to keep herself or her group going…but others going as well. That soon became obvious as the six members thought over her words. Although they still looked conflicted, they began to have their spirits at least stay high enough to consider what they were hearing.

The Child that Dael had initially choked still looked to be in pain, but she managed to look up to them. Her voice was sore and tight, but she spoke to her."Who are you people? You're not thieves…"

"We're here to do what we can, while we can." Dael simply answered. "That's all you need to know. At any rate, we aren't going to hold you here any longer." She looked up. "Quaren, open the door. Let them go."

The rifleman hesitated only a moment, before giving a salute. He wasn't obligated to…but he felt like it. Giving someone he felt deserved his honor what was due. That done, he turned to the door and opened it up. There was more light in hallway, and, coupled with how their eyes had adjusted, the lights came on enough to see who was in. When it did, the six members gaped. They saw not only Sir Jalab and Sir Cid…but also Dael. By now, she was a legend in the Order of Hyne as well as in Esthar. And on seeing them, they knew the truth…they knew what they intended, and that they weren't dead at all.

The six stared a bit longer. However, without having made a final decision, they began to rise again. The Children went first, getting up and moving to the door. One by one, they went out…save for the one looking at Dael. The High Children were next. They were more hesitant, and they looked behind to the others. For a second, they paused and looked back, but in the end moved on.

That left the one Child. She stared a bit…and then turned to move out. Yet halfway there…she froze. She turned and looked back to Dael at that, and the group saw it…that she had made a decision. But she didn't look like one who had given up or was prepared to die anymore. She had more resolve now. She had taken Dael's words to heart and would act on them, they realized, in spite of how hard the woman had been with her. However, she still had one question left.

"…Can you take me with you?"

"You don't want to go where we're going." Dael answered. "And we wouldn't take you if you did. What's your name?"

The young woman paused a moment, but then answered quietly. "Marla Kramer."

"Ms. Kramer…a lot of people in this world, starting with those other five, are going to need you, and your job isn't going to be any less important than whoever's on the 'front line'. Everyone has to do what they can to save this world now. If there was anything worth keeping in the Order of Hyne, let it live on through you from now on."

The former Child paused momentarily. A part of her was scared that she couldn't stay, that she had to "go it alone". Yet a last, she accepted it and nodded back.

"It will."

* * *

><p>Getting a vehicle wasn't hard. It seemed some of the school busses that had serviced the school were still stored in the back. The group opted for one of the smaller "special service" ones, used for special needs students. After resting as best as they could after the short incident, they got on the move again. Although they all would have preferred to use the time to sleep for just couple hours, the truth was with things the way they were, they had no chance to get any intelligence on the area or the situation in the city. They had to go with what they had. With that in mind, they all loaded up and got en route.<p>

Ninety minutes later, the city proper began to come into view. Things were getting worse. There were the sounds of more violence here…more chaos. Looters and rioters progressively picked up in frequency and occurrence, and they were at their highest point here. They didn't see any guards or sentries…Order of Hyne or otherwise…en route, but they did hear more screams and gunshots. Although every gun had supposedly long since been brought into military service, it seemed they were somehow still making their ways into the hands of the criminals. Most of the public work lights were still running as they neared the city, but a good number were out, and now mingled with fires. Dael had no idea how big or bad those would become. Without a fire department working, then it would only be a matter of time before a large portion of the city would fall. Luckily, however, it only stopped raining for periodic bouts before new storms would arise, and that kept them from getting too bad. Yet still, the city was going to Hell. What few vehicles they saw were the faster-acting citizens, gathering their things and fleeing for it with their families while they could. However…Dael grimly knew there was nowhere to go. Not on the Eastern Continent, at any rate.

At long last, they did see some form of roadblock. It appeared the Sorceresses had enough Order of Hyne members still loyal to them to post someone on one of the main roads leading into town. There were about six of them…turning away any car that wanted to go into the city. They let the ones fleeing do as they liked and, in truth, there weren't many, if any, people willing to go back inside. The group themselves only went far enough to see the roadblock before they exited. Dael directed them toward the sewer access from there. It had long since been boarded up with a plywood wall and left to rot with warning tape and a few other construction notifications. It looked, on the exterior, to just be a common storm sewer, and so it had never attracted attention. The group parked the bus in front of it and dismounted.

Cryder snickered as he began to pry away the wood. "Ah, subterranean public works… Where would schmucks like us be without them? We'd have to actually fight through everything…"

"This isn't going to be quite as nice as Sybenia's subway." Dael answered. "For one thing, it'll be single file in a lot of places…and filled with things a big bigger than mutant rats. We'll have to make as good time as we did over in Sybenia, though, if not better."

Dael wasn't kidding. She went ahead and took the point with a flashlight, and had the honor of running into some of the mutant creatures underneath Esthar. Although it prided itself on being a lot cleaner than places like Leuco, the fact of the matter was there was enough waste in the older sewers to easily sustain quite a few mutations for a long time. In a way, this area was even more deadly because constant pollution runoff generated more mutations and sickness that killed off some of the monsters. Being shut off for years meant only the "strong mutants" had survived and bred. And it didn't help that they loved to live in narrow passages, where the first thing you'd see is a wall of flesh, a shifting, and then some horrible mouth wreathed in thin tentacles. Luckily, it would take more than a couple mutants to slow down the group now, but Dael was still a bit upset that she had to use the effort at all. She really wanted all the strength she could get for what came up ahead.

_That was a good point… Just how _are_ we supposed to take out three Sorceresses? I don't think we're lucky enough to fight them one on one…and I'm sure that they're not going to let Faerio out of their sight long enough for us to slip in, get her, and go out again. We really only have one shot. We got to summon Alexander and hope he's at least enough to keep them at bay for a few seconds so we can get Faerio out of there. If she recovers and we come back with her…_maybe_ we can win. Unfortunately…the only one among us who has something that might actually keep them busy is me… No pressure, right?_

The trip didn't move quite as fast as in Sybenia, between the narrow corridors and the periodic fights, but even those were nothing compared to the "roadblocks" they had back on the Western Continent. Therefore, they still made good time, which was so much the better as the city of Esthar was a lot longer than the distance they traveled last time. Even at a decent clip in a vehicle it would normally take an hour to reach their destination from where they came in, and enhanced individuals like them couldn't jog quite that fast. Yet they were knocking out miles rapidly, and they had a bit more time now to use. As the night wore on, they continued unabated, running into no bulkheads or obstructions or defenses other than a few mutants.

Dael realized they might get in a bit easier than they thought. Esthar didn't have half the security measures on most of its buildings that Leuco possessed, let alone Sybenia. And in addition to being undermanned, apparently there was "dissention in the ranks", considering the six they ran into. As they went along and ran into overhead storm-sewer access points, she heard sounds, periodically, of more rioting and panic. Cars wheeling around. Guns going off. People screaming for help. It was bad…but also, unfortunately, good. The Sorceresses may try to ignore it or forget about it, but the fact was the more chaos ran rampant, the more the Order of Hyne members still serving them would be distracted. The easier it would be to hide an insurrection or insurgency… There probably wasn't enough time for it to come to fruition, but for now…it was good for them.

Dael kept an eye on the clock, however…and finally, at around 0600 hours, they reached one point in particular. She had been scanning the walls for a bit now, looking for a specific sign that they had reached their destination. Esthar's Hawks had long since put in a few innocuous icons in case they ever needed to use the passage. At last, she saw it. There was an arrow that pointed upward with the letter "S" spray painted in bright red. At the time, it meant "Station", she remembered, using it for a landmark rather than a zone of operation. It was also a warning that one was reaching the end of the tunnel before it had been shut down and filled in. With that in mind, she led them to the next access point for the storm sewer, and then began to climb upward.

Much like the entrance had been, this was covered. It was at a utility sub-station that was normally exposed to passers-by via the chain link fence around it, but it was also nestled between two buildings, had a roof over it, and old plywood and security tape had been erected over the top. When the group surfaced, they found themselves in the midst of multiple pipes and valves and "boxed in". Rainwater leaked down through the room, the air was much cooler…more like autumn than summer now. There was a fairly steady breeze. From this spot, they could hear, far in the distance, the city's chaos continuing to build…yet it wasn't quite as strong as one might think. It was actually fairly quiet at this point. Dael supposed even a looter kind of "lost the urge to loot" when the world might come to an end… All of the chaos seemed to be elsewhere, far from this area. Yet there were no sounds of civilians, either. The courtyard of the Cathedral had once been the biggest source of emergency help in the city. Now, she was pretty sure even a starving homeless man wouldn't come anywhere near it.

There were a few knotholes in the plywood easy enough to knock out, but the group didn't bother going _that_ crude. They could access the surrounding buildings from the station, due to boarded-up windows adjacent to it. Both were evacuated. Apparently, the people had fled from being close to the "government court" once Mianyl had gone off the deep end. From there, they were able to go up a few stories and then break into some of the abandoned apartments. Once inside, they went to the windows overlooking the area and whipped out the binoculars they took from the station, which were far higher quality.

From this height, it was actually a pretty good view of the complex. It was pretty much deserted except for a few Children of Hyne walking the grounds. They were in full regalia, keeping their heads and faces concealed. Therefore, it was a bit hard to see how "conflicted" they might be. Then again…it would make killing them "easier" if necessary. From here, they were prime targets for sniping. They hadn't even had the presence of mind to be watching these vantage points. Not only did this show a lack of training and experience in the basic Order of Hyne member…it was something the Sorceresses should have known but obviously neglected. She doubted it was due to smugness, either. They were leaving themselves unprotected on purpose…although why was a mystery.

The Odina Building was noteworthy for being a "staggered" structure of a sort. What that allowed for was a large veranda at the skyline of the city…big enough to afford an entire amphitheater on a subfloor. You could actually fit an audience of 300 up there as well as a decent sized stage. Originally intended as a venue for a high-end theater, the insurance costs became too far through the roof and that had to be avoided except for special occasions. After all, it was too high to snipe from the surrounding area and an assassin could only go in through one doorway, making it easy to protect. There was the possibility of airborne terrorists, of course, but there wasn't a plane that could get close enough to hit unless it was a foreign invasion, in which case no one would be in high-rises anyway.

The day was overcast, so although the sun should have been close to rising it was still quite dark out. The lights in this part of the city were still on, and Dael was able to look through the rain, which was gently falling, up toward the Odina Building. She was slowly adjusting the focus knobs at the moment toward the top. From this distance it was still over two blocks away, after all.

The others patiently waited. Each one had their weapons at the ready and kept an eye on the entrance to the room they were in, but no one attempted to accost them at the moment. Finally, Dael pulled the binoculars away and looked to Quaren.

"You're going to have to take over and just tell me what you see." She stated. "My eyes aren't quite as good as yours."

The rifleman accepted the binoculars, and Dael soon stepped away from the window and let him take her place. After that, she looked to the others.

"Well, it seems Mianyl had enough followers at this point to keep herself protected. I'm not sure if she hacked the few autoguards, but if she did they're probably in the building itself. What we've really got to worry about is the Children of Hyne. Most of them are just low-level mages out there, but I'm guessing they have enough protective magic to send for High Children. And the High Children are the ones to worry about. It's best to use ranged, physical attacks. Geomancy and spells probably won't do much good. Sneaking in, however, isn't going to be much of a factor. They're all in the open. It means they're vulnerable to a large scale assault…but we aren't 'large scale'. It's eight against all of them. When one falls, the others will see it. And we can't get close without someone noticing us. I can't tell for sure, but I'm pretty certain they've got the Odina Building perimeter well guarded."

"Building bad." Jalab stated grimly. "Hard to get to top without fighting."

"If this was tribal combat, my answer would be to create a diversion." Ceja stated. "If many warriors have taken the field and their eyes are on everything, draw their eyes away from it."

"I've got our diversion right here." Cid stated, swinging around his atomic hammer and giving it a pat. "I need to break into the East Wing to get my tools anyway. Sir Carbuncle has been through that thing before. He can teleport me in, have me get my stuff, use my hammer, and then get out again. If I swing this baby into one of the walls and destroy a flying buttress, it'll cause a chain reaction that'll knock down an entire side of the Cathedral."

Cryder raised an eyebrow at that. "Really now? That Cathedral's over 200 years old, lad. They say some stones were pulled out of that Midgar ruin to make it."

Cid hesitated for a moment, but then simply shrugged. "It's just a building. Everything crumbles eventually."

"You're pretty wise for a young man." Bahamut echoed in response. "That will definitely get most of the Children moving. Especially if it happens around 0800 hours. All of them will assume, or at least assume that _we_ assume, that we're attacking the Sorceresses while they're in daily prayer once again. And if they have no coordination like a true military unit, almost everyone who is loyal will still go. After that, we need to storm the building."

"I can teleport someone in to get the tools and then back out again…" Carbuncle grimaced. "But I've never been to the Odina Building or its ground in the past several months. Best I can do is the outer courtyard around where we landed yesterday."

"If you can just run to cover from there, it should be enough." Dael answered. "We're going to go right to the tower after that. Then…" She slowly exhaled. "Some people stay on the ground floor and keep the area secure while everyone else heads up to save Faerio. Obviously, I'm going."

"So am I." Cid immediately answered.

Dael held, but didn't bother arguing. Cid was never going to back down. Not when it was his Sorceress Knight.

"I go." Jalab stated. "Save last true Sorceress. Last act as a Sorceress Knight."

Ceja looked up to him at that. "Then I'm going too."

However, the monk looked to her and shook his head. "No."

"I'm not weak, Jalab." She responded, insisting…and using his first name for the first time Dael could recall. "I want to fight with you."

The monk, however, fixed a firm gaze upon her. "I want to protect you. Can not fight Sorceresses and think of keeping you safe at same time."

She only frowned at that. "I can keep myself safe!"

"I know," He answered. "But I will still be filled with fear. Can not fight with everything."

Ceja paused. She clearly didn't like this. That was obvious from the look on her face. However, she seemed to realize what Jalab was saying. Now that his feelings were out in the open as well as hers, he was being honest…that he'd never be able to fight to his full potential against his former masters if Ceja was there, and he was constantly fearing for her life. If she wanted him to be at his "best", then she had to stay at a safe distance. Reluctantly, the Fuliet warrior exhaled and backed down. "…As you wish."

Dael exhaled. "Three going up…one staying behind so far. Quaren, I'd prefer you down below."

The former corporal snapped away from the window, lowering the binoculars, and nearly protested.

"In closed quarters, everyone can see you shooting at them and that's not terribly useful." Dael cut off before he could say a word. "But out here in the open you can pick off any Order of Hyne member before they get close enough to confidently use a spell. I've noticed that only the High Children are really good in accuracy at range. Besides…ranged combat will serve us better down here than up there."

Quaren sighed, but nodded after a moment. He realized she was right, and maximizing their strengths. "Alright, Dael." He finally agreed, turning back to the window and looking out again.

"I'm going up. That's for damn sure." Carbuncle answered. "Not sure what I'm supposed to do if they all give me 'the look' again…but if I can get enough of my head together to do a reflection spell, even that lightning magic that Mianyl used will go right back at her. I may just have to keep my back turned, it all…"

"Well, don't let this sound like downright cowardice, lads and lasses…but I'm stayin' below." Cryder stated. "Turns out I'm pretty good at steerin' those hunks of junk, so if we need to get out in a hurry or stick around for a spell, I'm takin' the helm. Especially since our man Cid ain't gonna be part of the welcomin' committee."

"Fair enough." Dael answered. "That only leaves one person. Bahamut…you're staying behind."

"Like Hell I am." The boy responded. "I'm going up there with the rest of you."

Dael's gaze narrowed a bit. "No, you're not. This is too dangerous. We've got three people up there already who can summon Alexander. We're not going to risk more lives for nothing."

"No, you've got _two_ people." Bahamut responded. "Unless you somehow think you can summon Alexander and keep the Sorceresses busy at the same time."

"Even with a junction, you're the physically weakest among us. You can't take a pounding from their spells if they hit, which they _will_."

"I'm still going." Bahamut answered. "This isn't just about helping you this time, Dael."

The woman paused, as did the others, on hearing that. "What is it about, then?"

"We still know far too little, and in my experience it is never good to go forward knowing too little." Bahamut responded. "We don't know why Mianyl is doing this. Is this just another foolish grab for power like others who tried to harness the Void in the past? Plus, if my memory is correct, then at some time Mianyl had to have possessed my essence just to cast it aside. Why? What did she hope to gain from doing so? Why did she have that boy shot just from stumbling upon it? What was she trying to conceal even from some homeless child? The incident yesterday left too many questions unanswered. I may be trapped in this body for another 80 years at most before I die for good…but I want to know why and how. I think Mianyl knows the reason."

"You think she's just going to tell you all of that, even now?" Dael responded.

"No, and nor do I plan on making my presence explicitly known to increase the likelihood." Bahamut responded. "Ideally, we'll be in and out without ever running into the Sorceresses. But I want to be there just in case."

The woman exhaled. "…You're insane, you know that? And you plan on me being fine with putting you in mortal danger. You don't even have a gimmick or 'trump card' up your sleeve."

"Don't be too sure about that." Bahamut answered rather firmly. "You remember what I did in our first meeting with the Elite Hounds, yes? I think sufficient time has passed to where I might be able to pull off a similar move again. At the minimum, it will be like one of your spiritual divides. And surprising enough to catch them off guard."

Dael held back. She continued to fix Bahamut with a narrow glare. After a time, she turned her head slightly. "Carbuncle?"

"What?"

"Forget protection spells. Your focus is to give us an 'emergency exit'." She answered. "And you better come through with it because we may need to get out of there in a real hurry."

The green creature frowned in response. "You ordering me around, Dael?" He asked.

"You're damn right." She readily answered.

"'Bout time." He answered. "I'd hate to think I ended up pasted to a wimpy human who didn't even have the guts to order around something the size of a cat. I guess now you'll order me to stay sober, though."

Dael was actually a bit surprised at that response, and frowned inwardly. He would have stopped acting like that months ago if she had just ordered him to, in spite of all of his complaining that he wouldn't follow the orders of a member of Esthar's Hawks due to not being a member. She sighed in response, but said no more. Instead, she looked back to Quaren. "What do you see?"

"I've got the roof in my sights. I'm at the limit of these things so if I shake too much I can't make out anything." Quaren answered as he continued to look. "But from what I can see, on the side closest to the edge, where the seating would be, there's tons of things draped in rain-proof tarp. They were kind of hard to make out at first, but we're seeing a bit more daylight now and I can see some bright orange. My guess is those are covering up automatic cameras for networks. Not sure if they were already there or set up earlier…but I'm guessing they're to make sure the execution is televised. My guess is it's going to happen there."

"Anything else?"

"Not really. Not the best place for it. I mean, there's a few windows on the upper floors of the rest of the Onida Building where they can throw up some snipers, but they don't really have a great shot if someone was in the audience messing things up… And none of the other buildings around are tall enough unless you can hit a target from 1,000 yards, which isn't exactly easy even if you graduated with honors from a Sybenian sniper school, let alone a temple where you learned magic more than gunnery. It looks like there's a rear entrance…some sort of curtain or archway…that must be how you get in and out. Other than that, there's this one little bit of color… Hang on."

Quaren suddenly leaned in on the window edge and propped his elbows up, and then balanced them out and placed the binoculars more steady. He looked up and out again, and tried to zero in on the spot. He continued to look for a moment, letting out an exhale. "It's still too dark, so I'm having a hard time making it out, but…" He looked in a bit more and was silent.

The others waited patiently, looking to see what he'd come up with. The former corporal continued to stare…when something in him changed. He suddenly leaned back, and Dael could automatically show that he was a bit stunned. After a moment, he turned slowly and looked to the others.

"…I think Lady Faerio is out there."

Everyone reacted to that, but Cid most of all. "What? Are you sure?"

"There's something with color hanging from a pole, swaying a bit in the wind." Quaren answered. "I can't really tell from this far…but it looks like a person hanging from a cord or chain or something…dangling off the ground. I remember what Faerio was wearing. It kind of looks like that…a fire-colored gown. And I didn't see anyone put her out there."

"Neither did I." Dael answered. "There wasn't any movement when I looked at the roof. She has to have been hanging there since before dawn…probably a lot longer."

Cid looked rather unsettled at all of this. "She's…she's not…"

Bahamut shook his head. "No, Cid. She's definitely not dead. I'm sure she's weak and hovering somewhere in between life and death…but the type of prey Mianyl wants to catch demands 'live bait', not dead."

The engineer looked confused at that, but everyone else already understood. Ceja let out a sneer at the thought.

"Despicable creature. Only the most loathesome tribes, even in Fuliet, perform the 'Lame Kid'. Traditionally, we use it for hunting when food is scarce. We break the leg of a Tamranto's kid, and then leave it in an open space. Its bleating for its mother to help it draws the predators for miles, where they are easily killed. Some tribes, however, are foul enough to violate or torture a prisoner and leave them half-alive in a spot, seemingly to die of dehydration, starvation, exposure, or simply wild animals tearing them apart. When their fellow tribesmen come to rescue them, they are easily ambushed."

"If there was any doubt left that this wasn't a trap…" Cryder muttered. "They might as well be dangling her in front of our faces and sayin': 'Here she is! Come and get her! Come on, boy!'"

"Trap or no trap, they're going to kill her if we don't try." Dael answered.

"We're at an incredible disadvantage." Bahamut responded. "Not only do they know almost all of our capabilities, they would be mightier than us even if they didn't. This mission is effectively suicide and foolishness of the worst kind. Faerio saved our lives, however. And even if she didn't it'd be despicable just to stand back and let her die."

"…But it _would_ be the smart, logical thing to do, right?" Dael answered after a pause. "If we're the only serious threat to the Sorceresses now, we're basically taking ourselves out of the equation by going into a situation where they have everything set up in their favor."

"Correct." The boy answered.

Dael paused a moment, and then snorted.

"…Very well then." She answered. "Esthar's Hawks is gone, so I'm through acting like a soldier all the time. I might as well start doing things motivated by sentiment that are reckless and stupid."

Bahamut stared back, but then cracked a half smile. "…Maybe _this_ is why you humans are always so pigheaded and dumb. Occasionally…it's an endearing trait."

Quaren pulled back and away from the window with a smile of his own, even if it was a bit more nervous, and exhaled. "Alright…so, when do we head out?"

Dael looked to the time again. "Alright, at the moment it's about 0631 hours. This may be a trap, but I doubt the Sorceresses are standing right up there for an extended period just waiting for us to walk out there. They have to be using a security system or something. That means the most ideal time to strike would be between them keeping an eye on security and looking away so they can go out there themselves, as it will be the one 'blind spot'…assuming we're lucky. That doesn't leave a big window of time between us triggering the divesion and getting there, though. Now, I may not have ever gone up the Odina Building before, but as a high ranking Esthar's Hawk in a time of marshal law…" She lowered her hand to her side and patted her pocket. "I have security access to places like that unless they were smart enough to change the codes in 24 hours. They might have been…but that's one of many details I'm betting they probably ig-"

The former captain cut herself off, and everyone was soon distracted, when they heard a tremendous blip of static, followed by a dull "buzz" behind it. It was coming from outside, but echoing up and down every street. They all looked to each other for only a moment…before they recognized what that sound was. They had all heard it before.

The emergency broadcast network.

_She's making another transmission… _Dael realized. She and the others soon turned their full attention to the window, for they could hear it from here even over the rain and through the wall. As for the rest of the city, they too began to go silent and listen. This answered another question, though…how Sybenia knew of the codes to send their last threat with the sole message of creating panic. By doing so, everyone knew that Tiamat had been sent by Sybenia…and ended up accepting the Sorceresses for repelling him, but only after he had killed thousands.

The static lasted a bit longer…then cut off. The voice from yesterday spoke, but much clearer now.

"_People of Esthar…this is your Grand Chancellor. As you no doubt realize by now, the transition is probably not happening as 'smoothly' as you all wish. You have only yourselves to blame. There is a very low amount of support for the current administration, from among law enforcement to utility companies to those simply running the mass transit system. Therefore, as you sit in your homes without power, food, or running water…you should ask yourselves if you prefer 'silently protesting' me to not being miserable. However, that is not the main reason I am making this broadcast._

"_You were specifically warned yesterday not to test my goodwill and friendship…but some of you were ignorant enough to think you could spit in my face just the same."_

Dael stiffened on hearing that. So did the others. For a moment…the dark thought entered their heads that they might have been found out. That somehow they had alerted someone. Perhaps those six they ran into were spies… They all felt colder as they kept listening.

"_I have now a report that many members of the now-defunct Esthar's Hawks, the remaining higher officials in the former Esthar government, including the senators, and even some of my own…former…followers have aligned together and have taken up residence somewhere within the Ginterberg district of Esthar…an area of approximately eight blocks by eight blocks, and therefore sixty-four blocks all together."_

The group felt only a tiny amount of relief to realize she wasn't talking about them. Yet that soon vanished…especially with Quaren. The remaining officials included his parents. His face soon started to pale.

"_I further warned you that I do not issue warnings or half-measures." _The voice went on. _"But you didn't believe me. Or if you did, you thought you'd test me. Well…ask yourselves now if you think it was worth it. That will be the final question you ever are able to ask yourselves, I'm afraid."_

Quaren's eyes widened.

"She's not daft enough to launch a nuclear weapon in her own city, is she?" Cryder asked.

"That would be suicide, not destructive." Bahamut answered. "But she doesn't need to…"

"_Everyone else…I ask you only to listen. Listen…and remember."_

The transmission cut off. The city was silent. Even the distant rioting had seemed to die down in the wake of this latest transmission. The wind slowly blew, and the rain continued to fall. Nothing changed.

Then…the wind began to pick up. The trash in the road, in spite being soaked, was soon pulled at and began to fly up and around. The rain itself started to visibly whip about, going into small "eddys" and cyclones that started to blow one way or another. A whistle went through the air…and the sky far above changed. The clouds suddenly began to pull in a new direction. It started very gradually…but soon built speed to a ridiculous, unnatural degree…shooting all in one direction and being drawn out into a line.

The group knew.

At once, Quaren got off of the ground and began to move for the exit.

"Quaren, it's too late! You'll die too!" Dael immediately shot back at him.

The former corporal only ran harder, not thinking straight.

"Can you take us there?!" Ceja shouted to Carbuncle. "Maybe we can still summon Alexander!"

"I've never been to that district!" Carbuncle shot back.

"It's too late, we can't summon him in time!" Bahamut yelled.

"But-!"

No one said anything else. Even Quaren was soon on the ground covering his ears as hard as he could as the roar broke out…the sound of what seemed like not only air but reality itself slamming together with such inconceivable force that it shoot the entire city down to its roots. The distinct of Ginerberg was a couple miles away. As a result, it wasn't like last time…not with seeing the windows around them shatter and seeing the streets filled with flame. Yet they all knew without a doubt, as everyone else did, what happened.

Tiamat had been brought forth.

The roar continued to erupt as the initial "break" subsided, but the sounds of more explosions and fire breaking forth followed. So deafening it was like being in the midst of an eruption. The world continued to shake and rattle…but, somehow, Dael was able to look up and uncover her ears. Although it was painful to listen to, she forced herself to her feet. She stumbled out the same way Quaren had tried to run, going into the hall of the abandoned complex. Soon after, she fell to the ground again…another reality-shattering wave going out, this time with the sound of what could only be called "divine breath" breaking forth and waging more death and destruction. It was enough to keep her from rising for a moment with how terrible it was. Yet she grit her teeth, shoved her legs underneath her, and forced herself to rise again. She stumbled the remaining distance to go down the rest of the hall, toward the window that was unboarded and facing the direction of Ginerberg. She reached it just as another roar snapped through the air, and she spilled forward, throwing out her hands to stop herself from going right through the window. She looked out, and far in the distance toward the skyline.

It was as horrible as she feared. Worse.

She realized now the dark truth. Tiamat _hadn't_ been causing as much devastation as possible last time. Even then, he had to be restrained. Yet now…with the daylight breaking…she saw the dark and fiery shape that was the hellish Guardian Force as he streaked freely in the distance, turning Ginerberg into ash as easily as diving through the air. Just like last time, rifts of fire seemed to erupt at will from the landscape, but they weren't confined to just a few streets and roads anymore. With a single extended blast from his throat, Tiamat was shooting over the cityscape and not stopping until he turned five blocks at a time into fire and death. He was even more terrible than before… More unstoppable. Even if the whole of Esthar had stood before him, their power was nothing compared to that. No missiles, no airships…nothing could stand up to such horrifying wrath. Smoke and fire rose higher and higher, and the monster only added more and more to it.

Dael stared at that…and felt both helpless and weak. All she could do was stare and watch as Tiamat spun around and exhaled another horrific blast, lighting up more. From this distance, it seemed to have no more impact than a child destroying a toy city they had been set up. Yet she knew worse than that. There were thousands…tens of thousands…dying so instantly and abruptly they likely hadn't the time to know what was happening. Yet the monster was relentless.

As time passed…the skies began to grow darker again. The clouds started to churn once more. The ground shook harder, not just from the destruction, but from a new quaking sensation. Dael saw this…and helplessly grit her teeth and balled her hand into a fist. It was happening again. Nyx Gaia was seeing the rest of the chaos that Tiamat was unleashing and was drawing nearer. It wasn't as bad as before…but by now the planet was so close that even if it only drew a few miles closer, one could still feel all of it. Dael thought of teleporting as close as she could, running the rest of the way, then trying to use Alexander. But it was no good. She knew the fire had to be spilling into the surrounding streets for a good mile, killing anything that got close. All she could do was just stand and watch.

After an eternity, Tiamat finished. As soon as Ginerberg was nothing but ash…and with it the last of Esthar's old government and what Esthar's Hawks could still organize…the creature took off into the black, monstrous, thundering heavens and vanished. He left a little piece of Pandemonia behind, burning and towering into the sky. There were no firemen to control it now…and even as the sky thundered and began to cover it in a downpour once again, it wasn't enough to smother to inferno. Dael watched it burn…watched it fill Gaia with more chaos with no one to stop it or check it.

Finally, she was able to look away. She could do nothing else…nothing except be firm. This was yet another horror they just "had to take". Trying hard to put it out of her mind, although she could literally see the city burning in her mind's eye like a photonegative, she forced herself to walk back to the room once again.

On reaching the still-open door, she pushed it open…and saw the others sitting there silently with heads bowed. Once again, Jalab prayed. This time Cid and even Cryder had joined in. Other than that, nothing. They all knew the truth without Dael saying a word. They merely stayed where they were.

Dael looked over them for a bit…but then looked down to the ground, where Quaren had fallen before reaching the door.

He continued to lie there, his face down.

Dael, and everyone else, could hear sniffling. She was sure if she could see the floor, a small puddle of tears would be underneath his eyes.

The woman was silent. Everyone was. Their own dark feelings at what had just happened faded, and they turned fully to Quaren. There was a chance, of course…a chance that Quaren's mother and father hadn't been there when it happened… Even so, however, Dael knew Mianyl would never let live one of the senators that had put her pen to the paper calling for her arrest…who had made a stand against her. To tell the truth, they had no idea what was going on. Quaren hadn't even tried to contact her yet…afraid of what he would find or, worse yet, they'd trace the call.

Yet now…

"Quaren…"

Yet the moment Dael said this, not firm but soft and compassionate, Quaren had a change. Suddenly, he made a sharp inhale. It was taking all of his strength…but she realized he was forcing himself to stop crying. Pushing up…she did indeed see the puddle of tears, but he raised a sleeve to his eyes and wiped vigorously. They didn't stop, and he continued to look devastated. So his face turned to rage and he rubbed all the more furiously, showing anger at himself for doing this and kept going.

_Battle Psychology General Tip #7: When feeling despair and depression, make yourself angry._

Finally, he forced them to stop. His eyes were red and cracked, and he sniffled…but he also rose to full height and stood at attention.

"…I am an Esthar's Hawk, Dael." He stated, forcing his voice to be firm. "I can put my emotions aside until the mission is over. And I will until Mianyl is dead."

The last phrase was said with an underlying emotion Dael had never heard from Quaren: hate. Dael couldn't say she was entirely thrilled about it, but she ignored that. She looked him over a moment, and saw how he was making himself steadfast and resolute…ready to end this. She suddenly realized, with a grim thought, how lucky she was not to have anyone she really cared about left out there other than the people in this room. Now there was nothing the Sorceresses could do to really "hurt her". Yet on seeing Quaren's resolve, she again remembered how, for all of his "softness" and "emotional nature", Quaren was as much an Esthar's Hawk as the best of them. Possibly better.

This latest move had done nothing to the group except to steel their resolve, and increase their desire to win. Looking over the others in the group, seeing them snap out of their own moment of darkness and "stiffen up", was all the more confirmation she needed.

With that in mind, she exhaled.

"We attack in two hours. Everyone make sure they're ready and in position."

* * *

><p>Getting close hadn't been that hard. The area may have been flat and had a great deal of visibility for people on the ground, and, to be sure, a fight that broke out would immediately divert everyone's attention, they still weren't as observant as they liked to think they were. The rain was pouring again, and that created more than enough excuse for the group to run out, grab some old newspapers, and use those as hasty umbrellas to move along to get closer to the actual site. Luckily, the court had long since had barriers erected around it along with mounds to hide behind and fire out from. After all, this area was supposed to be defended if an invasion every happened…to protect the people gathered there who had sought shelter. Now, all of this debris acted as effective cover. Still, Dael moved cautiously. No one was stupid enough to try and wander around out here, right in the public eye of the Sorceresses. So they moved out one at a time to close the last distance and approached directly from the side roads as opposed to trying to walk around in full view.<p>

The former task force had spread out now. They thought of going in only a couple small groups, but Dael had decided against it. Instead, they had all moved in slowly, carefully, and positioned themselves as close as they could to the front of the Odina Building as possible. The way the area was shaped, that wasn't too terribly good. The courtyard, obviously, didn't offer the best protection or coverage. Further up, associated buildings offered more "sneaky" ways of getting to the Odina Building, but all of them were locked up and sealed tight, with security systems on them. Although the Order of Hyne seemed spread thin, Dael really didn't want to chance it.

She couldn't even see the others at the moment, which was the intention. She shouldn't have been able to if they were well hidden. However, the ways they had been positioned were in a "fan shape" around the actual area. Some of them had actually managed to sneak into the courtyard and were hiding behind ornamental trees and shrubbery or other small items lying around. There was no one tending the gardens today, so no one would spot them. Ironically, the sentries out there were even less observant. Dael was positioned at one of the barricades at the corner of the courtyard, adjacent to a street leading right up and back to the Odina Building. From here, she could actually see the front. Six Children of Hyne were there, and she assumed at least two of them were High Children. The sky was still dark and overcast, and pouring down rain, reducing visibility. But the sun was definitely higher now. It was day at this point, and everyone could tell. The storm was starting to slacken again, however. After going strong for a few hours, it was again simmering down into a more gentle rain. Dael was already soaked to the bone, however, and was sure the others were much the same, but she ignored that.

She looked over herself. Her sword…and her Mage Gun with a single Thundaga bullet. Not exactly the best gear to work with. No intelligence. No special equipment save for her key to the elevators that may or may not work. Speed and power…almost everything from themselves or their junctions. And they were supposed to somehow rescue Faerio, even if they had to take down three Sorceresses to do it, with just this. To be honest, she had to keep making herself angry. She had to think of how they treated Regalis like meat to be carved up. She had to think of how they tortured the woman she was trying to save. She had to think of how they mercilessly killed everyone in Sybenia and in the Ginerberg district. She had to do everything she could to keep herself angry and infuriated at them…because although anger was reckless it was also helping her to ignore her fear and the blatant fact that they had almost no chance against Mianyl, Cybus, and Veriguno. As it was in the case of almost every operation in Esthar's Hawks, even if the organization no longer existed…failure was not an option.

She looked to the time. Her own timing couldn't have been more perfect to do so. She was just in time to see the clock tick down to 0845 hours.

Inhaling sharply, she put a hand on the sword and looked up, ready to move.

As it turned out, it wasn't for two more minutes that she actually acted, and although she would have preferred if the time was a bit "tighter", she didn't get upset about it. Cid wasn't a professional when it came to this, after all. It would take him a bit longer. Still, two minutes nearly pushed it. She was moments from checking the time again…when it happened.

A sound like a tremendous bomb going off, sending a tremor throughout the area and causing a loud clap of thunder to ring through the air throughout the entire square and echo up and down the surrounding streets, rang out…enough to make Dael recoil. Yet as she did, she cast a side glance to the Cathedral…and was just in time to see, with all of the precision of a timed demolition, the entire eastern side of the ancient structure begin to collapse, the flying buttresses falling like dominos and taking the rest of the cathedral with them.

_Now._

At once, Dael popped out from behind the barrier. She had picked a good spot, one that was easy to vault over for someone like herself, especially junctioned. In moments, she was over the barrier and running forward. She quickly chanted…and, in a flash, there were eight of her dashing down the road at once.

Almost all of the Children of Hyne who had been standing guard had turned their full attention to the sudden mass devastation of the two-century-old cathedral, and had gone running in that direction. However, there were two immediately in front of Dael who were still standing. The nearest one snapped to her, but, if they could have gotten a spell off, it didn't matter. They were too distracted by seeing eight opponents charge at once. Before he could make a move, Dael let her sword flash as she dashed by. For a moment…she thought of ending the Child of Hyne's life. At this point, if they were still serving the Sorceresses after all of this, they were hardly in a position to be "redeemable". Yet she figured enough people had died as of late…and merely gave them a deep cut in the side. The Child cried out and collapsed. They'd be in too much pain to do anything else. The other one, however, spotted her in enough time to quickly summon her own power. Her aura ignited before Dael could reach her…and soon a hailstorm of ice shards ripped through the air and straight for her.

Dael brought an arm in front of her to defend her eyes. Three of the other copies got hit by the ice and instantly vanished…but the other four soon did the same as well in spite of not being hit. That was the downside of using magic illusions, she remembered at that point. They could distract physical attacks, but a magical attack caused the weak constructs to deteriorate and vanish from disrupting the illusion. Even so, Dael herself had grown too strong and formidable in both the magic sense as well as the physical one. The ice shards shattered against her causing only light stinging sensations, and soon she was on the Child. She tried to cast another spell, but Dael flashed out with her sword again, opening a slice across her gut. Deep…but didn't hit the vitals. She wouldn't be doing anything else the rest of the day as she collapsed.

The former captain looked ahead and saw that everyone else was making their move too. The next nearest was Quaren, who popped out of the shrubbery he had managed to hide behind in the inner courtyard and began to run. A few of the Children had noticed that this was a diversion and had paused, looking to double back, but Quaren's bullets soon took them down one after another from range, too far for them to even automatically realize where it was coming from. At this point…Dael couldn't tell if he was killing them or not. He looked so enraged after what Mianyl had done that he might be doing so. If so…she really couldn't afford to yell at him now. Just let him continue to use his rifle. After picking off the nearest ones, his gunshots had alerted more, but he continued to fire at them all, never letting them get within a hundred yards of him, which was too far for most of them to fight back.

The only other person on their side was Bahamut. At first, Dael couldn't see him. Yet as one of the High Children broke off from further up the street and ran down to intercept Quaren and Dael, he positioned himself in front of a blacked-out window of one building. He began to generate a spell, and one a lot bigger than the first one. Yet before he could get anything off…the glass window erupted and the boy sailed out, shield before him, and smashed into the High Child before he could even react. He was forced to the ground, where the boy gave him two more strong blows to the head with the buckler before he was stunned enough to let Bahamut give him a powerful blow to the throat. The High Child spasmed, and then merely writhed. Bahamut soon rose again and continued to charge, actually in front of Dael. Two more Children had broken off, and now began to fire upon him, this time using fireballs instead. Poor planning on their part, as he simply deflected both shots with his protection. One got the idea to switch to lightning at that, but didn't get a chance as Bahamut swung his shield out like a discus and slammed into his head, ripping him off of his feet and casting him down before the weapon returned to him to be flung at the next.

Only when they had run a short distance did Dael catch the others running up the way. Ceja was definitely not showing any mercy. Dael could tell that when she saw her deadly axe cutter fling through the air and slice through another Child of Hyne. There was a chance it was a non-fatal hit…but only if the Child of Hyne got medical help or a healing spell very quickly. Another one up ahead gestured at her and tried to use what looked like a Poison spell to weaken her or slow her down, causing a cloud of green foulness to erupt around her. She slowed for maybe two steps before giving a war cry and charging forward into the one who did it, shrugging off the weak spell before giving the Child the staff of her axe, ripping him off of his feet and slamming him into the ground. Another Child just up ahead tried using a Slow spell on her…but if it had any effect she only sped up more. Soon, she seized the man's head in one fist, ripping him back, and then swung him around and into the pavement so hard she had to have broken some ribs.

Ceja may have only been charging forward, and therefore not paying much mind to her side. But she didn't need to worry about that. She had a "guardian angel". Jalab, although running across the cluttered courtyard, matched her speed perfectly, vaulting over shrubs, around benches, and avoiding counter-fire from Children of Hyne chasing after him, trying to throw spells at him. Every time any of them tried to get Ceja off guard, he would fling off a blast of force from his staff and bowl them over, often knocking them about fifteen feet into the air in the process. He easily swung his staff around and did the same to those behind him. He didn't pull out his "stronger" powers. Either he was saving himself up, being merciful to his former order…or simply hadn't recovered enough of his power to be able to pull it off. At any rate, none of it mattered.

Cryder seemed to be having the easiest time. Without even drawing his sword, he charged right down the "middle" of the courtyard, nearly directly across from the Cathedral. One could even suspect that he was the one who had done the damage to the Cathedral. At any rate, he was gaining a lot of attention…but doing surprisingly little fighting. While he charged over the ground with ease, those who tried to follow after him or use any spells on him suddenly slipped and fell on their backs, as if the lawn was soaking wet and they stepped wrong. Yet apparently it wasn't so "accidental", as Cryder laughed out loud the whole time. In fact, he looked more enthused to see the entire setup of the courtyard itself, and soon burst through them and made a bee-line for the front of the building.

Cid came last, with Carbuncle still at his side. He was fully armed again, his oversized power pack with all of his tools on his backside, although he still had his atomic hammer as well as the new device he had been working on nearby. Yet he had shifted to his nailgun as he charged across the field as fast as he possibly could, running every bit as good as a recruit during the "scorched earth" drills. He too seemed to have no problems slipping as he charged across the courtyard, huffing and puffing and pushing himself on. Every so often, he'd fire off his nailgun at seemingly nothing. However, those who tried to stop him soon found out the reason for this, when they ran too close to one of his mining darts and found themselves blown into the air. He continued to fire out about six of them before he suddenly pushed that weapon away and got out his blowtorch. After taking a moment to link it up, he spewed out a jet of flame behind him, creating walls of fire on the courtyard to impede the progress of his pursuers. He still got a few spells aimed at him…but soon his foes were the ones crying out when Carbuncle's reflection spells sent them back to "sender".

The group was soon converging on one spot…the front of the Odina Building. In addition to the guards still there, more soon came out from inside…upping the number to eight High Children all together. And as they saw the other defenses being broken through, four of them moved out and quickly went to work generating barriers, both magical and physical. That would be a problem. As Dael ran forward, the next four moved up on the front steps of the building and took position at the attackers. The former captain soon had to quickly dodge to one side to avoid being ripped off of her feet from a powerful bolt spell. Bahamut, who had come out nearby, had to slam himself to a ground and roll for it to avoid another lightning blast aimed for him. Ceja crossed her own blade in front of her to act as a shield, but the fire attack that shot through the sky from another High Child was enough to blast her off of her feet and send her back to the ground for a moment…although she quickly rolled to dodge the follow-up attack and was soon charging once again. Even Jalab soon had to freeze and brace himself when a flood rose around his feet from the lawn and pavement and rushed at him, nearly bowling him over and ripping him backward.

Dael dodged two more lightning blasts, able to keep moving forward. Bahamut did the same by putting his agility and speed to good use. As for Ceja, she leapt over further attacks or deflected them, allowing her to keep advancing forward. Even Jalab had steeled himself so that when the High Children tried hitting him with a flood again, he merely called out a "Kiya" and punched into it…shattering the wave of solid water and continuing to go forward. In addition, Cid and Cryder were coming up right down the middle. With that in mind, all four High Children changed tactics. They all folded their hands and focused for a few seconds. When they did so, Dael felt the air change for a moment, before it suddenly grew dark overhead. Her eyes widened a bit, and she looked overhead…and saw that the clouds, and even the skyline, had vanished…replaced with what looked like "holes" of space…

She remembered the Leuco facility and what that meant.

Everyone was forced to stop for the next bit. This was "cosmic" magic that bent reality itself. No protection would work against that, and she wasn't willing to try and "take" it like Raven had. Instead, she ground to a halt and immediately snapped around and leapt out of the way…just in time to miss a soccer ball sized rock shooting out of the sky and blasting the pavement, knocking up a huge spray of flaming roadway pieces from the impact. The others likewise quickly halted in their step and tried to recoil. Bahamut put his shield over his head, ducked, and rolled for it, but his comet still blasted where he was and pelted him with refuse, meaning it was a good thing he kept the armor in place. Ceja herself employed almost an animal-like move of abruptly pitching ninety degrees and running in a different direction to dodge her comet, but even so was nearly knocked off of her feet by the blast. As for Jalab, he brought his staff in front of him, planted his feet solidly, and created his "golden shield" again. Yet the impact still made him stagger back several feet, and he winced and shyed away from the bits of rock and debris that went off around him.

Dael paused for a moment, looking forward to see they were still too far to use anything physical. Quaren, by now, was close enough to start firing at them, but these were High Children. They managed to keep strong enough barriers to negate bullets, even ones from rifles as good as Quaren's. And magic wouldn't work either. The only one who had enough power would be Taraketh…who was no longer with them. Individual attacks might only spur the wrath of the others, anyway. Dael thought of using a summon to overwhelm them all at once…but that was no good. It would take too long, during which the rest of the Children of Hyne could run up behind them and put them back where they started. They really didn't need to be pinned down right now…

As it turned out, they didn't have to worry about that long. As Cryder, Cid, and Carbuncle neared the area, the engineer put away his blowtorch and whipped out his new, crude device, taking aim at the front of the Odina Building. A moment later, he began to fire rapidly, sending out six shots in succession. However, they made "dull" noises on launching, sounding more like mortars than anything else, although miniature. Dael saw they had a much faster impact, though, like bullets. They erupted against the magic shields that the High Children had set up…but immediately spread out a thick, white mist all over the area, like an eruption of flour. When that happened, the eight only had a moment to gape in surprise, before their eyes began to sting and water, and their throats started to burn. All of them who were chanting stopped doing so, and began to cough, retch, and hack.

Dael was impressed at Cid's foresight. Realizing they were going against magic-using opponents, he hadn't wasted time with trying to rebuild his old machines. Instead, he had made something completely new that used the principle of long-unused "mute rounds" that Esthar's Hawks had kept in reserve for magic-using opponents. Spraying the area around the enemy with a choking mist that kept them from being able to focus or even speak, and rendering them helpless. The High Children were skilled enough to go for their weapons, but most of them didn't even have them out by the time the group was on them.

The two that did manage to draw their weapons cried out and went down when Quaren's bullets shot out their knees. Cryder soon ran up on top of them and gave them both a couple of punches to ensure they stayed down. As for Dael and Bahamut themselves, they ran up, with Dael tackling one and putting him down with a couple rapid blows, and Bahamut opening a wound in his opponent's side before smashing them in the head to drop them. Jalab and Ceja rushed on the last four, with Ceja going for the ones on the ground level and Jalab literally vaulting over all three of them and tackling the other two. Ceja was so brutal she broke bones in the High Children she hit, although the trauma was enough to knock them out without killing them. Jalab inflicted nerve-hitting punches to drop his two High Children in moments with relatively weak hits.

The others soon ran up together to join the others just as they finished clearing out the resistance. At that point, the eight froze and looked around for a moment. Dael assessed their condition, and saw, in spite of the more advanced magic being whipped out, they were all in good condition and at the top of their game. The others realized the same, and turned and looked behind them.

While the Children of Hyne were far from tactical, they at least had enough sense to realize they had been tricked. They were now rushing up en masse. Some of them were smart enough to move in the roads and approach from there, clearly meaning to flank them. The bulk, however, were going right down the middle. They had used ice magic of their own to put out the flames, and were coming right up the center. Some of them were deploying more barriers and shields. There were quite a few, as it turned out. The bulk of those that were left in the city had to migrate here. They had done good so far based on surprise, but if they really "knuckled up" like they did when they helped in the invasion, they would be a lot tougher… And Guardian Forces might not work against some of them.

The group looked only a moment, before Cryder let out a chuckle…causing them to look to him. He kept his sword in its sheath as he walked forward, flipping up the collar on his vest and looking out at the courtyard and the bulk of the Children of Hyne. He looked back slightly for a moment to the others.

"Take care of the ones on the sides, lads. I've got this."

Dael looked a bit more critical. "I don't think some mud traps and wind are going to stop them all."

Cryder, in response, only chuckled as the mass grew closer, then looked fully in front of him.

"Want to know why I always wish we'd go somewhere with a forest, lass?"

With that, he held his hands out to the courtyard…in particular to a pair of ornamental trees flanking either side of the gate leading through the wall inside. The two trees remained as they were for but a moment…before both of them suddenly began to grow fiercely…almost aggressively. Their bark bulged and cracked, new branches seemed to erupt from the trunks and immediately split and divided, and the roots snapped out and began to hungrily thrash at the soil and cobblestone and rip it apart. Within moments, the trees went from being "near shrubs" to towering into the sky about twenty feet, and looked gnarled and twisted. The roots and branches alone fanned out to create a "barrier" of sorts across the path…but their mere appearance was enough to make the Children of Hyne slow and stare in surprise.

However, it didn't hold for long. Abruptly, a twisting and snapping rang out as the tree aimed its branches at the oncoming mages…and proceeded to split and fire pointed branches like spears and arrows at them. Some of them soon cried out as they were pierced with the deadly shards, many of them enough to be seriously injured in spite of barriers. If that wasn't enough, the leaves broke off and developed razor-sharp, serrated edges, before blowing at the group in a furious storm. Normally, it would have merely been a bunch of leaves on the breeze…but with each one turned into an object as deadly as a metal shaving, the Children of Hyne were soon crying out as blood flew, and their covered their eyes and mouths and struggled to retreat.

Dael was stunned. There was a good sixty of them in that group…but Cryder's attack had sent them all flying to reorganize. _Now I suddenly wish there were more forests left on Gaia…_

At any rate, with that gesture done, Ceja quickly moved down, hefting her axe again. Quaren himself ejected his current magazine and went for another one. As he slammed it in, he looked back to the others. "We've got this, Dael. Go on and get going."

"Pull back into the foyer if you need to." She responded. "We've got to hold this position for thirteen more minutes. That's a tall order."

"We will not fail." Ceja answered without turning around.

Dael didn't ask for any more confirmation. Instead, she looked to Jalab and gave a nod. The monk nodded back, and then inhaled deeply and held it for a moment. As he did, he tightened his muscles and focused once again, taking a few steps closer to the front doors yet still staying far from them. As he did, his aura blazed once again, enveloping him in blue light momentarily. Everyone else got back from this, including Dael. Even if his power wasn't fully back, this was more than good enough for her. A moment later, he aimed both of his arms forward and gave a yell again as a beam of mystic purity erupted from his body and straight for the front doors.

Power drain or not, the force was enough to instantly blow the reinforced glass doors right off of their hinges along with surrounding windows, and send the entire assembly blowing into the Odina Building. If anyone had been planning an ambush or sending reinforcements, they had just been scattered by a force better than any explosion. The beam didn't sustain itself. It cut off after only a moment…and Dael, leaving the Save the Queen naked, rushed right for the now-open entrance while it was still settling. At once, everyone else who was coming fell in behind her as she charged in.

Inside, she found a few Order of Hyne members scattered on the ground at the lobby entrance, and some even struggling to rise. Others had dove for cover behind benches or décor and popped out now to try and fight back…yet Jalab hadn't rested long. He quickly fell in behind Dael and Bahamut as they ran in and followed up with more swings of his staff, having enough power to immediately slam their protection away and bash whoever was on the other side. Cid soon followed up behind, continuing to fire his gun away into the chamber. The white powder pellets were sent flying into groups of mages who had managed to find a shield, and soon filled their eyes and lungs with caustic smoke to render them harmless. Anyone who _did_ manage to get a spell off soon found the power returned to them as Carbuncle manage sure to stick with the group and keep his own protection coming.

There was one other threat, however. When the group broke in, Dael saw the wreckage of a pair of drone guards. They may have not been the top of the line, but they were armed with large caliber weapons that could cut them apart, barrier or no barrier. Therefore, she put her speed to bear as soon as she was on level ground and kept charging forward. A pair of the drones were at the main corridor toward the back, and both of them popped out shortly after the group came in with the intent of shooting them while they were still messing with the initial defenses. However, they hadn't planned on them breaking through so soon…and in moments Dael and Bahamut were on them before the older machines could turn fully to them, and with a pair of sword strikes cut them down. Within seconds, everyone was out of the lobby where the Order of Hyne had hoped to make a defense, and were running out into the hallway beyond.

Dael spotted the main elevators toward the back, but she soon spotted something else. Apparently, four more of the drones were waiting for them. Unlike the previous ones, they had been aimed forward, and now that the group was getting in range they all began to rotate their barrels in an attempt to fire. Unfortunately, it took a moment for them to warm up, which Bahamut exploited. Letting out a chant, he finally let loose a spell of his own. The machines were a split second from firing when the air in front of them rapidly cooled and condensed, forming a flood spell of his own. In this narrow passage, the effects were both enhanced as well as leaving the targets no way to escape. Before any of the drones could hope to do anything, the concentrated water slammed into them with enough force to rip them all backward and cast them down the hall into the elevator entryway. Furthermore, since these were older drones that weren't properly insulated, the water broke into their circuits and soon caused them to begin to short out. Even if it didn't, the machines were soon helpless and on their backs, unable to do anything except wiggle. Definitely not up to modern standards.

The water faded soon after, and the group ran into the same space where the now-helpless machine lay. Jalab snapped around behind them and fired off one more beam of his aura to dissuade anyone who might have been able to rise and try and follow after them, and then brought his staff up, took position at the back of the hall, and began to twirl it around rapidly, once again generating his shield. As for the others, they quickly moved to the elevators themselves. Dael's hand was already on her key and getting it out. She looked to the others only a moment as she reached the control panel.

"Probably not a bad idea to keep your fingers crossed…" She said as she shoved the small microchip-infused metal inside the hole and then tried to turn it. Much to her relief, it held only a second before turning all the way, automatically lighting up the "up" button. She quickly pulled out the key and leaned back. Since the elevators were already all present on the bottom floor by default, one of them soon let out a chime and opened up. She looked again to everyone else.

"Let's go."

In a moment, Dael, Cid, Bahamut, Jalab, and Carbuncle were all on board, with the doors shutting behind them, leaving behind the confusion and destruction they had wrought.

Once inside, Dael quickly inserted the key again to take over operation of the elevator itself, and then looked over the controls.

"It suddenly occurred to me that even thirteen minutes is a practical eternity for a fast military operation." Bahamut stated. "We got in here easily enough, but I really can't see it continuing to be easy for too long."

"Worry more about us, Lord Bahamut…" Carbuncle grumbled. "We're the ones who are going up this damn high rise to spit in the eyes of the three strongest humans in the world."

After looking a moment more, Dael pushed a button. It was the floor beneath the one marked "Theater Access". Cid noticed this and looked confused. "Wait…don't we need to go one higher? The theater's on that floor."

"I'm sure it is, Cid…along with the remaining security drones, the strongest High Children, and, most likely, at least one Sorceress." Dael answered as the elevator began to rise. "They're wanting us to go to that floor as it's the path of most resistance."

"But we still need to get to Faerio…"

"We will, but I'm just using a trick I learned back in my infiltration course." Dael answered. "Most modern theaters utilize an orchestra pit. It's a pain in the rear to try and move a grand piano into one for a musical only to take it out again for a play, as well as the rest of the instruments. That's why most pits have a hydraulic lift that goes into the next floor down, which is where they move instruments in and out and then elevate them into position. It's something a lot of people don't think of covering up or, if they do, it's under such low security and locks that they hope no one thinks of it."

Carbuncle turned his head a bit. "Not a bad idea. It might actually work out. Movies don't usually feature the good guys coming in through the orchestra pit…"

"Don't ease up too much." Bahamut warned. "I'm sure we're under surveillance right now. The only advantage this gives us is a route that's not guarded the moment we get there, which means we only bought ourselves a couple minutes at most."

The group went silent after that, readying themselves. This was it. Until now, it had been fairly "routine"…but now they were definitely wandering into dangerous territory. There was no telling where the Sorceresses were…but they were somewhere at the top of this building and waiting for them. Even if only one of them had been guarding the place it would have been bad enough. But to think that all three of them would be there… With Aizel Kite as well…

…_And Taraketh._

Dael tightened her fist at the thought…but couldn't help but still feel regret inside her.

The elevator finally stopped. The moment it did, Jalab moved out in front and put his staff to one side. The doors opened…revealing a pair of Order of Hyne Children. Yet neither of them even had a chance to fully realize what was happening before he reached out, seized both by the head, and "kloncked" them together, knocking them out. Assuming they had been waiting for an ambush, their lack of experience and training had shown once again by leaving them totally off guard. They should have been a good distance from the elevator to at least not be vulnerable to the first thing that came out of it. Yet Dael was only glad to be by them when they collapsed. Jalab retracted enough to let the woman out, and soon everyone else followed.

The former captain looked around momentarily. This part of the building was more "industrial" with less attention to aesthetics. It was intended as a point of transit and maintenance and nothing else. However, there were no additional guards, and only a reflective emplacement that likely held a camera. Aside from that, just a hallway leading to various doors. She looked to the others and motioned, no longer saying out loud where they were going, and took off at a good clip. Everyone matched her step and stayed on her heels.

Most of the doors were self-explanatory, even without any directions. There weren't many side paths in this place either, just long, high-ceilinged halls with the inner girders and spray-on insulation still visible. No workers or guards either. To be honest…Dael was a bit suspicious. There was a good chance that the only people still in the building doing anything for the Sorceresses were the die-hard Order of Hyne members and that this area had been all but neglected due to lack of personnel…but she wasn't completely sure about that. The going seemed a bit too easy…even more so than Sybenia. Of course, that could be simply due to lack of will to fight. At any rate, she kept going on, leading the others forward.

At last, as she looked about, a set of metal double doors, locked, reinforced, and chained appeared on the right side of the hall they were walking down. The doors were both extra wide…large enough to easily push a piano in and out. When she drew close enough, she actually saw, in metal stenciling clear as crystal, "Orchestra Storage". She didn't bother letting Jalab handle this one. Putting out a hand to tell the others to get back, she brandished the Save the Queen and gave one powerful chop…easily slicing through all of the locks with a single curved slice. She lashed out with a foot and kicked the door clean open afterward.

Because the building was so new, the room hadn't had the chance to grow stale and musty yet, although it was dark. Keeping her eyes peeled, Dael inched forward, reached out tentatively, and hit the light switch. They came on, but revealed nothing other than racks and racks of storage both of orchestra materials as well as various covers, curtains, scrims, and anything else that might be needed to be put on stage or in the orchestra pit but was so big that it needed this room to be stored in. She looked around a bit more afterward. There were lots of hiding places in here…but she also knew that the Order of Hyne was far from stealthy. On the contrary, chanting spells would give them away. Nothing popped out. With that in mind, she lowered her blade a bit and moved in. The others quickly fell in behind, and soon the doors, or what was left of them, shut behind.

The room was deep, but Dael only had to venture inward a short distance before she saw a set of large black shutters toward the back. They were painted with yellow and black warning tape, indicating numerous mechanical hazards. Venturing a bit closer, she saw little "stick figure cartoons" illustrating the various hazards and even saw explicit warnings written in more than one language. She also saw a control panel that was already lit up. There were only a few words and controls on it, and it was easily to understand. Most conspicuous was a pair of buttons and a large light, which was turned red.

"I guess these are the lift controls." Dael stated.

Bahamut looked to a switch to the side. "I think that opens the shutters after you lower the platform."

Jalab pointed. "Sign say: 'Do not lower the platform if the red light is on. The pit covers are still in place.'" He also indicated to the light. "Light is red. That mean…"

He didn't get a chance to finish as Dael simply leaned over and mashed the "down" button. Soon, all of them, even Dael a bit, were grimacing as they heard groaning, grinding, whining, creaking, and finally the sounds of cracking like branches of a tree being ripped off in a wind storm. It was rather loud and sudden…but once it was done, the slow, dull tone of a hydraulic lift lowering rang out. There was more scattering of loose bits of material as it lowered, obviously things periodically breaking loose. Yet after about a minute, the lift stopped. At this point, Dael leaned over and mashed the control near Bahamut as well.

A motor whined, and soon the black shutters pulled up. The moment they did, broken bits of wood and even twisted thin steel girders came out and began to roll through the entryway. As the shutters kept rising, they eventually revealed a considerably large pile of debris mounded up behind the wall in a thin, vertical corridor. It was rather extensive…and enough to make Dael grimace a bit. She hadn't thought she had done _that_ much damage… Yet there was no time to sweatdrop about the whole thing. Quickly, she put her sword away, moved forward, seized the largest piece of debris she could find, and flung it behind her with enough force to cast it across the room. Normally, the bigger parts of the covers would take three or four men to move, but for Dael it was a snap. She quickly seized more and threw that behind her as well, bit after bit, to try and get it out of the way as fast as possible. In moments, the others began to join in to help, putting up their own weapons and quickly digging through the rubble and casting it aside.

They didn't do so long before they noticed water was falling from overhead, and that there was dim light far above them. As they made their way inside, Dael noticed that the orchestra pit was wide open and exposed to the exterior. She could see the black, churning clouds and see the rain slowly coming down. It had slackened more, but was still at a good clip. Apparently, they had ripped down all covering all together. Yet that was only good news for them. She couldn't hear anything up there…although there was a good chance that some sort of ambush was waiting for them. Nevertheless, this was their route. As soon as enough debris was gone, she moved onto the platform. Jalab, Carbuncle, and Cid soon did the same. Bahamut took only a moment to mash the "up" button, and then ran forward and leapt onto the platform as it began to ascend.

As the lift slowly rose, Dael pulled out her sword again and put it at her side. She looked straight up into the stormy sky, closing inhaling and exhaling. She felt a cold chill move down her back that wasn't from the rain. Some of the water that went down her face tasted salty…sweat and not merely moisture. Soon, her clothes were getting soaked anew along with her hair, but she ran a hand through it and put it back, continuing to look up. The others looked up with her, pulling their weapons out and at the ready. Cid, at this point, removed his hammer just long enough to pull out a fresh core from the pack, place it inside, and lock it. That done, he went for his new weapon. Jalab tightened his grip on his staff. Dael didn't look to either man, but she knew they were both swallowing at this point, trying to stay focused. Those two knew the full power of the Sorceresses better than most others on Gaia. They would know for sure what they were up against. It wasn't terribly comforting, but so long as they were standing firm, it meant they weren't giving up. Neither would Dael. She inhaled one last time, just as the light of the dim morning began to spill into the pit and over her, and looked up and around as they slowly elevated into the amphitheater.

Like most theaters, there was a lip between the pit and the stage on one side and the audience on the other, with the former being taller than the other. Hence, Dael saw out into the audience first…seeing nothing but empty, rain-soaked chairs and covered cameras, waiting to be used. Stretching beyond them was the skyline, and, far below in the street in front of the Odina Building, she could still hear the sounds of fighting and struggling in spite of being this far in the area. At the moment, most of the crying out, faint and distant, was coming from the Order of Hyne. At any rate, there was nothing else over there…no hostiles, automatic guards, or anything to be concerned about. The pit soon clicked into place, and she turned to the main stage.

It was set up for a "presentation", in one of its natural "archaic" states to try and make it look more dynamic. The stage itself was a hybrid between a traditional box stage and a "theater-in-the-round", which a projecting platform going out toward the audience, at which the orchestra pit was at the bottom. The stage itself was arranged with semi-circular stairwells on either side, leading up to an almost "fairy-tale castle" like balcony on top. There was a vaulted archway in the middle, as well as an entryway on the bottom. Most of it was curtained off, however, and underneath an overhang that just kept it from getting soaked. No one was there either…neither guards nor Sorceresses. Yet the object that she had seen before was still out in the open, and mounted right in the center.

On a metal stake, dangling by thick, heavy chains with large, thick shackles and a collar, was Faerio. The young woman looked half-dead. Her terrible burns hadn't been treated and left to fester and grow infected, and she had been beaten additional times to where her body was dotted with bruises, her face swollen, and her elegant dress now in tatters and rags. The chains were so heavy that they had to be hurting her, and her arms were overhead and letting her hang. Most people thought simply the act of hanging wasn't bad…but such people had never tried doing it before. There was a reason that crucifixion in ancient times was considered the worst way to die. If you thought hanging from something wasn't too bad, one should grab onto a couple rings in a gymnasium and see how much their muscles burned after one minute…let alone several hours. Just leaving Faerio like this would eventually kill her through agony alone…assuming she wasn't already dead. The only movement she had was from the wind, although Dael would be honestly surprised if she could move at all. The collar alone was more like a horse collar than even a neck restraint, and her head was slumped on it.

Cid, naturally, on seeing this, was the first to break for it…almost recklessly. He would have dashed right over the lip of the pit for the stage if he could have, but with the pack it was impossible. Instead, he quickly ran for the side to the stairwell to run up. Bahamut and Carbuncle went for the other side, but Jalab quickly grabbed the edge of the lip and pulled himself up and over. Dael did the same. As she rose up…she looked to Faerio. The young woman wasn't even reacting…and, to be honest, after being exposed to the rain and elements for so long, she was already nearly as pale as a corpse… She couldn't see her breathing at this point.

"Lady Faerio!" Cid called out…a bit too loudly for Dael's tastes…as he went around the edge and began to rush right up to her.

Dael watched her for a moment. There wasn't any reaction…and Dael thought for a moment that there wouldn't be one. Yet as she stared on, wondering if they should turn around now…she saw the lips part. In a voice that had clearly been saving itself since yesterday for a moment like this, and without showing any other sign of life, the once fiery and passionate voice of Faerio the Dayspark let out a mixture of a moan and a mumble.

"You shouldn't have come… It's a trap…"

The voice was soft, but just loud enough for Cid to quickly rush over to her. The others, in spite of the situation, in spite of Faerio's warning…felt a bit of relief. Even Dael. Faerio was still alive, at least. Now they had to get her out of here… At any rate, Cid quickly splattered the rain as he rushed up to her, and the others closed in.

"I thought as much," Dael responded. "But you're mad if you expected us to leave you to die."

Cid soon rushed in, and on arriving at her side, before even going for a tool. He reached out to try and take her hand. After all, she was still as limp as a corpse.

"My lady…I'm here." He told her. "I'm going to get-"

Yet without looking up, before he could reach her, she spoke again. "Don't touch me."

The engineer froze, and the others with him, on hearing that.

"This collar…has both a bomb and a miniature Eris Bell inside it…" She explained. "I speak too loud, chant a spell, or if anyone tries to remove my chains…it blows up and takes my head with it."

Cid instantly froze. He held for a moment. Moistening his lips, he pulled his hands down, and slowly, very carefully, moved then past Faerio's arms, down past her head, and finally over the collar. Once there, he swallowed and moved forward, slowly putting his hand on it. Faerio's eyes cracked a bit, but she didn't tense. She merely watched. He others looked and waited. He began to feel along it, and looked like he would have moved it once, but stopped himself before he could.

"Well?" Dael asked.

He swallowed. "…Seemless. I can't find the slightest thing that indicates a panel. If there is one, it must be inside her neck…and I can't get to that without risking moving it."

The former captain paused, then looked down to her feet, seeing Carbuncle standing close by. "Can you teleport her out of it?"

The green creature paused. "I don't really feel an Eris Bell from here…" He tried venturing forward. He had no reaction even when he was right next to Faerio. However, when he raised his paw to touch her, he froze.

"…It's like the vibrations are coming from her. That collar must be using her own resonance to make it happen. This device isn't enough to stop us from more than a couple inches away. I think it's specifically so she can't use magic to get herself out and no one else can either."

"Cid, can you disable it?"

"Maybe if we had thirty minutes…" The engineer uneasily stated.

"Alright, no then." Dael answered. She regreted it, because it immediately made Cid wince and look uncomfortable. However, it didn't change the fact that they really didn't have whatever time it would take. At any rate, she looked to Carbuncle next. "How about you?"

"I might be able to focus through it, but it's going to be rough and take a lot of concentration." Carbuncle answered. "And even if it works, it might not take thirty minutes but it'll take more than long enough."

"Do it." Dael answered, glancing up for a moment. "We'll cover…"

She trailed off…and then looked to Faerio, seeming to study her restraints for a moment. Carbuncle, on his part, moved up to the base of the stake, put a paw on the young woman's exposed foot, and began to concentrate. The others, however, looked to her.

"…Dael?" Bahamut asked.

"Look around at Faerio, as if you're trying to find a way to get her out." She stated coolly and quietly…but with a dark edge in her voice. "…They're here."

Everyone stiffened a bit on hearing that, but tried their best to hide it before it became too obvious and did as they told her. As Bahamut put a hand on a shackle itself, pretending to look for a catch, he kept talking.

"I don't see anything."

"Top of either side of the stairs."

"You sure?"

"I can _feel_ them."

"I do not feel." Jalab responded as he pretended to poke the stake with his staff.

"I don't either." Cid said as he began to go for his cutting torch.

"She's right." Faerio said quietly without opening her eyes again. "I can sense them too. Cybus is on the right. Veriguno is on the left. There's more coming. All of you…get into the pit…get out of here…"

"Cid, get your nailgun out and aim for the left." Dael stated quietly, ignoring Faerio and still not looking up. "Jalab, send a blast to the right. Fast attacks. We can't give them time to react to have any advantage at all. I'll move out and away from Faerio and launch the Shock. As soon as I start to move, the three of you summon Alexander. Carbuncle…stay behind here out of sight and get Faerio out ASAP. Bahamut, stay back and cover him. If they focus on you, they won't notice him."

"Easier said than done, but it'll go quicker if you stop distracting me…" He grumbled.

Dael said no more. Everyone felt a wave of anxiety over them. This plan was hasty and might not yield anything against such power… However, Jalab tightened his grip on his staff, and Cid switched his grip to take the nailgun instead, while still behind him. The former captain exhaled, and then whispered.

"Now."

Immediately, everyone save Carbuncle snapped around. While both Jalab and Cid popped up and took aim, Dael and Bahamut shot around the stake, practically pivoting, and moved before it.

Unfortunately…Dael had made a miscalculation. She knew that Jalab and Cid had turned their backs on the Sorceresses now. Even their own mistresses. In spite of that, she made sure neither of them was aiming for a former mistress to further strengthen that. Yet that wasn't enough. She wasn't dealing with people who had been hardened soldiers since they were kids, and even if she had she was they were attacking people who they had trusted as goddesses among humans for their entire lives until yesterday. As a result, in spite of Dael's hope that they would strike quickly…for the first time since she knew them, she saw both of them hesitate. Not fire the second they could. She and Bahamut were both fully in front and she began to call on the Shock…and neither had fired yet, only pointed their weapons…

Now it was too late.

Dael saw something happen before she even fully saw the very targets she had called out. A moment of light, without one word of chanting…and something surrounded all of them. It looked like a ring of smaller circles, each one made of pale white light. They spun around all four of them for a second…and then suddenly broke in all directions, shattering at the same time. She had no idea what this meant, for she had the least experience with magic out of her part of the group. Yet she didn't immediately feel bad, and wasn't willing to waste time waiting for a reaction. Even without fully realizing what the spell had done, she began to swing her blade up to perform the Shock…

When multi-colored spirals of light suddenly broke up and encircled her, spinning around like some sort of electric tornado. It wasn't just her, but everyone else as well. They suddenly lit up like a neon grid and went up and down their bodies in a few fractions of a second. Dael was confused by this as well…but only for a moment. She recognized this spell…a holding chant. She tried to push herself farther, to hurry and get out a swing of her sword…but it was too late. Her blade literally slowed before her eyes like it had dipped into thick concrete…and in moments stopped all together. To her shock, but more her fury, she saw that she was immobilized, frozen in a statue position. Not only her, but as she looked to either side of her, she saw the others were frozen in similar positions…

_Wait…how can I do that?_ Dael actually was confused for a moment. If this was a paralysis spell…how was she able to look around? Soon, she found she could do more than that. Her entire head and neck was still free. Her tongue muscles and vocal cords seemed the same… With that in mind, she realized she could get out of this. She began to chant, and got out one syllable…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, captain. That collar on Sorceress Faerio's neck is still too close. You cast Esuna…and even if you survive the resulting blast, she won't."

The voice was as smooth and light as it had been on the emergency broadcast, and caused her to forget about the spell for a moment and look upward to the stairs.

As the rain continued to gently fall, the curtains on either side of the upper balcony pushed aside…and in walked, just as Faerio had predicted, Veriguno on one side and Cybus on the other. Both of them were letting one of their hands fall to their sides…indicating both had just cast a spell. After a moment, the curtain next to Cybus pushed aside as well, and Aizel Kite, still holding his macuahuitl over one thickly-padded shoulder, to keep it from slashing himself.

Yet the bulk of Dael's attention wsa focused on the middle portion of the upper balcony. Slowly…she saw the tips of humanized claws come out and push the curtain aside. Soon after, having not changed a bit since yesterday externally, came Sorceress Mianyl. She walked out all the way to the edge of the balcony, looking over the side and resting her hands on the railing. Each nail of her claws was visible as she touched it. Her eyes were still burning…gleaming out through the dull, gray gloom they were surrounded by like a couple of ethereal lights. And, once again, the power that radiated from her and the others was so strong that it made her dizzy just to look at them. It was a good thing that she was being "supported" by the spell…or she might have collapsed all together.

Just like yesterday…they found themselves the easy prey of the Sorceresses. Dael had hoped they could do more this time…but even if Faerio wasn't currently being used as a hostage, she couldn't break this spell. She knew most individuals with her mental fortitude could shrug off immobilization like this…but the Sorceresses were on a whole separate level from even the strongest High Children. It was hopeless here. Everyone had been right…this had been a trap. But she had entertained the idea that somehow they could have escaped regardless…done just enough to get Faerio and move out. Now they were trapped along with her.

Only one thing was "different". As she stood there and watched Sorceress Mianyl…only slowly did the curtains behind her part again, and she was joined by her own Sorceress Knight. Taraketh Sabian held his head high, squared his jaw, and had an indifferent look as he kept his hood drawn over his head and eyes. For the most part, he looked like just another "solder" for Mianyl…loyal and obedient like a trained animal. It would have been easy to hate him now if she judged just based on that…seeing him continuing to be her "monkey boy" after all she had done in the past 24 hours.

However…she wondered…

Yesterday, Taraketh had boldly looked straight in Dael's eye even when Faerio was being tortured. He had hesitated, but in the end committed himself to his mistress. Now, however…after seeing the nukes being launched…after seeing Tiamat be unleashed…he was hiding his face. And somehow, Dael thought it wasn't just from her. He had, perhaps, a weakening of resolve he didn't want someone else to see…perhaps even himself.

She thought of this momentarily, before Mianyl looked down at her and spoke calmly.

"It seems you either didn't pay close attention to your magic lessons, or my Sorceress Knight didn't teach you adequately." She answered. "When against experienced mages in pairs, they use a 'double-tap'…Dispel followed by whatever other spell that you could have negated or reflected in the second go. A pity…even a minor magic barrier would have been enough to keep you from how you are right now."

She inhaled and exhaled slowly.

"You know, Dael…for a moment…I thought you might actually not go for such obvious bait." She continued. "I actually entertained the idea that you were too cunning for it. Too familiar with hostage tactics. But I feel fortunate to know that sentimentality always overrides reason. Now, I'm sad to say, you can join in today's public execution. Truth be told, it's more of an 'event' to signal something greater."

Dael glared back at her for a moment. In truth…she felt no small amount of terror inside her. She had nothing left and was helpless to move. Even if she could, or even if she was willing to sacrifice Faerio, the fact remained that they were "in the sights" of the Sorceresses. They could kill them all now if they wanted to. Yet she refused to show fear. Even if her own determination wouldn't help her now, the one victory she could have would be that she would refuse to let Mianyl know she was beaten. Yet that gaze had too much power. It seemed to erode what will she had…and she could only look her straight in the eye for so long before feeling like being so far beneath her that she couldn't even look upon her face…

Instead, she let her eyes drift to Taraketh again. Faceless as he was, stoic as he was, he was bearable.

She tightened her jaw a bit on seeing him.

"Tell me, Sir Sabian," He called out. "Where in your order's tenets did it tell you to agree to public executions?"

"…I don't have to answer the questions of a traitor to both me and Lady Mianyl." He sternly answered…yet not quite with the resolve he used to have when they first met, though. "You made your choice, captain. You could have helped make a new and better world, but you decided to become the enemy of her ladyship instead."

"Really." Dael flatly responded. "Since when were the only two choices for my life 'make a new and better world' or 'oppose a genocidal madwoman'?"

Taraketh stiffened a bit beneath his hood. "…You're only making it worse for yourself by blaspheming."

"'Blaspheming', now." Dael retorted. "Is that what you call it whenever you think about all of those innocent people on the Western Continent who had no choice but to support the Guiding Hand? How about those men, women, and children who were huddled in their homes in fear among the senators and Esthar's Hawks when Tiamat burned them to death in an instant? Or whenever you think for even a moment that maybe, possibly, in spite of all of your loyalty and dedication…you're on the wrong side?"

"Quiet…" Taraketh choked out at that…but not as firm or solid as he wanted, causing his face to tighten. "Shut up! You don't understand! None of you do! You're just a worldly grunt who only sees people she can shoot and people who do what she says!"

"Something tells me _you_ don't understand your ladyship anymore than I do, Sir Sabian." Dael retorted, before looking to Mianyl again. Taraketh had unknowning done her a favor…enkindled her anger enough to be able to speak boldly once again.

"So I'll ask the question I think your 'minion' wants to ask but respects you too much to do so, _Lady_ Mianyl. Why are you doing this?"

The young woman cracked a slight smile as her eyes narrowed. "…Do you really think you're going to gain anything by stalling for time, Dael? There isn't any 'backup' to help you this time." She gestured toward the sky. "…Are you hoping that the _Enterprise_ might give you some assistance?"

In spite of herself, Dael's face fell a bit.

"I had it shot down last night around 0200 hours." She said with a near-laugh on her voice. "After all, even after my radio broadcast, I still was able to order around a couple of emergency Esthar reserves that were on stand-by…including the _Excalibur_. A bit ironic, don't you think?"

Dael's dark look faded even more…seeing the smiling woman looking at her, and watching, in her mind's eye, as the ship fired off a missile right into the unsuspecting path of the incoming airship as it tried to find a place to hover until time for the operation… That had been their one escape route. Without it…even those on the ground couldn't hold forever. And they might end up continuing to fight even with no one coming to help them…

"You still feel the need to know my reasons, captain?"

The woman hesitated for a bit longer…but, ultimately, forced her gaze to narrow again.

"Yes, actually." She answered. "Even if I wasn't asking the question on behalf of your 'knight', I want to know for me. There was a time where I _did_ think of you as the one person I could trust in power, Mianyl. I actually _was_ tempted to become your pupil from time to time. Now…I want to know why. I want to know if I was just a stupid, gullible fool for ever falling for any of your flowerly language, motherly mannerisms, and loving nature or if there was some kernel of truth in them that made them real. And if there was…for a person who claims to want to protect this world…to defend all life…I find it hard to believe you turned into a homicidal maniac."

Mianyl merely continued to smile at her. "Since you are addressing the closest thing this world has to a goddess now, Dael, I wouldn't remove the 'lady' title so easily…"

"The only reason I ever called you 'my lady' was because I thought it was a title you deserved!" Dael snapped back. "Right now, I think more appropriate titles would be along the lines of 'bitch' and 'cunt'…"

This made Mianyl's smile ebb a bit and her eyes narrow. When she spoke again…her voice seemed to quake the air slightly.

"…You should take Sir Sabian's advice, Dael, and watch your tongue. It's growing annoying. If you think you've even seen the half of my power…that you know even remotely the amount of pain and misery I'm capable of putting you in…how I can leave you pleading for death in spite of all of your training and discipline…then you're far more foolish than I anticipated."

"You still haven't answered my question!" The young woman forced herself to retort…in spite of the fact she could feel her own heart pounding in her chest at this latest change, feeling at any moment she'd unleash some horrific abomination on her. Like a cowed child who finally gained the strength to talk back to her mother, she continued. "How can you kill so many innocent people without batting an eye? Where's your love? Where's your compassion?! Where are you even a shadow of Aerith the Radiant?! Are you afraid to tell me because if you do you might lose someone who's standing at your side?!"

For a moment, at the 'Aerith the Radiant' comment…Mianyl's hand had begun to rise. It looked as if she was going to shut up Dael for good. Yet the woman forced herself to say the last sentence…and it made her pause halfway. She didn't look back to Taraketh…and it might have been good for him that she didn't. For all of his efforts to conceal himself so no one would see his resolve shaking, Taraketh was now trembling slightly. From what, whether fear of Mianyl's power or a shaking of resolve, was unknown. But the Sorceress held a bit longer, before she slowly lowered her hand.

The rain continued to gently fall. The pitter and patter accentuated the tension between the two sides. Cid and Jalab were still frozen in their last positions, still aiming at the Sorcereses but unable to do anything. Bahamut was in the back, watching all of this. And, unseen…and still fully motile…Carbuncle worked.

Finally, the smile faded all together as Mianyl focused on Dael.

"Like I said before, Dael…my one goal is to defeat the greatest threat to all things. My goal is to break the Cycle."

Dael's anger abated a bit on hearing this calm response. However, Mianyl merely exhaled and turned to one side, walking along the balcony, letting her claws slowly trace along the bannister.

"…I was once what many in this world would call an 'idealist'." She snorted. "I think there was a time in which everyone, including myself, would have mistaken me for Lady Aerith in mannerisms and beliefs. After all, that was what I struggled to be. I figured the greatest model I could become was our Great Matriarch. Yet that was only a starting point…a base. For although our Great Matriarch was powerful and brought a great deal into this world, she failed to change it. It was still what it had been before, what it was then, and what it would be in the future: the same."

She paused and traced a shape on the air…using her power to do so. A small violent energy cloud, taking the shape of a wheel, formed.

"A Cycle, you might say… It's what I eventually realized it to be. What is the story of history, Dael? Mankind builds its kingdoms and nations, the world fills with life and abundance, and all is peace and prosperity…and then it suddenly comes crashing down. Something comes along that wants it all for himself or herself, and burns it all to ash. What's left is a fragmented, rent world that only slowly begins to rebuild itself…until the day it is back to where it was before, and the same thing happens again. It struck me one day…the folly of both attempting to conquer a world as well as to rebuild one…for neither ever succeeds. I wanted a solution. I wanted a way to break this deranged 'Cycle'…to establish a perfect, sustainable world…one in which there would be only peace and life and happiness for all and where evil would not be allowed to thrive and reach the point where it could ravage this world so… And to answer the question, I applied all of my young life to study. Not only history…not only political science…but psychology, spirituality, and even biology…"

She made a cutting motion with her finger, making the circle vanish.

"I was frustrated for years…until the truth suddenly dawned upon me."

She looked down to Dael again…so subtle and sudden that it was enough to unnerve her again.

"Tell me, Captain Dael Levinson of Esthar's Hawks…are you familiar with the expression 'the miracle of life'?"

Dael could only blink in response, as Mianyl held up a hand and gestured again, making a new image…of a baby fawn.

"Such a pleasant phrase… Such a notion…to fill one with feelings of warmth and happiness…" She remarked as the image danced around her. "What could be more precious? More sweet? More innocent and pure? A creature gives forth a new life into the world…a new individual…full of promise and hope and dreams…something to enrich this world with a new set of experiences… For after all…who in the world can estimate the full value of a life? Even begin to fathom all it contains and pertains to? What impact it will have? What surer testament can their be to beauty, peace, and balance in the universe than to bring forth a new life into it?"

She paused at this, her lips turning into a frown.

"…But before a life can be born, much must be done."

She turned her hand around, making the fawn shrink and "regress". It turned smaller as it did so, yet magnified…breaking down to a baby, then a fetus, then an embryo, and finally not even that…breaking apart into the egg and sperm. As she spoke, the image went through to "illustrate" her words.

"From the moment life begins, it is a cutthroat struggle. Millions of these tiny seeds must die to allow even one to reach the egg, and when it does…the membrane must be violently dissolved and torn open to force this tiny aggressor into the 'innermost sanctum', where it will destroy itself and the egg with it…_two_ lives sacrificed to give rise to _one_.

"From that point on…the mother will constantly kill and eat. She will grind down plant after plant, ripping them up and swallowing them so that her body may rip their remains to pieces and cut and paste a new body from the refuse…will erode rocks and bone, even devouring the antlers of her own kind, to get the necessary building blocks to make the skeleton… She will give rise a creature whose only purpose is to sustain this new life…the placenta…which will siphon blood from her to transmit its oxygen, which even at that point is killing both the mother as well as the newborn before it even has had a chance to be born, to the growing creature inside it. To even fully develop properly, it will kill its own cells selectively as it goes about shaping its body.

"When it is born, it will practically rip out of the mother in a violent manner, killing the placenta, needing to be torn clean from it, so that it might rise and start burning through countless stores of energy inside it to make it move. The mother will have to continue to consume and consume in order to sustain the child by making milk, until the child might start ripping up plants of its own, tramping insects and grass alike as it moves about, shedding waste everywhere from what it destroyed and consumed…

"In the end, a 'beautiful miracle' is nothing more than one act of destruction after another. What everyone sees as life was nothing more than a series of deaths."

She waved her hand to dismiss the image, and looked squarely at Dael.

"…Do you ever stop and think how many dozens, hundreds, even _thousands_ of lives must be sacrificed to give you even one day of life, Dael? How many things must be 'cleared away' to make room for you? Look around you." She gestured wide. "See this vast city. Think of how many mountains were ripped apart to find the iron and stone to build it. Think of how many forests and fields were torn up to pave these streets. How many rivers were clogged with sludge to give proper plumbing. How many skies were filled with poison to provide jobs and cars for them. How much more profitable land had to be turned into a monoculture waste to feed all of the people here. How many creatures had to die so that they could have beef and chicken in every meal. Even as you stand there doing nothing more than breathing air, your body must fight and kill hundreds of bacteria every minute to be able to live. Do you think those bacteria deserve to live any less than you because you happened to be born with multiple cells and a brain? Do you not know there are millions of worlds in the universe in which bacteria is the highest form of life they will ever see?

"It's not just the carnivores and herbivores. Even a 'producer' must break down the soil and absorb it, suck chemicals from the air, and take the disordered byproduct from the sun and process it into an even more disordered compound that it can feed off of before it ejects more waste into the world. Nor is it just life… To give this world water and soil…things must constantly move. Volcanos must rip this planet's mantle apart and shift it about. Water must lap away at rock and shore. The sun must fuel the wind to lash about and erode and blast. And all of this…triggered by nothing more than a huge furnace, burning through more matter every day than a human mind could possibly understand simply to spew loose energy and heat into the universe. Even this world is nothing more than the refuse and remains of stars that annihilated themselves one day."

By now, Mianyl almost sounded a bit more incensed.

"What do these all have in common, Dael? What is the price of creating such 'life' and 'wonder' and 'beauty'…to even have existence? What is happening to achieve all of this? Billions upon billions of energy reactions…each one spewing out more heat and disorder into the cosmos…and all so that even the single smallest cell of your body can even have a second of life. All of this energy and power…constantly pumped into the vastness of space…a tremendous waste…all to sustain a thin layer of scum upon an invisible speck floating in blackness. People cling to their governments, their religions, and their lives with such vivacity…and spew more and more of their disorder and heat into the vastness of the universe as if they mean the slightest thing in the great scheme of space and time…"

Her voice was definitely sounding angry now.

"The truth of the matter, Dael, is that it _doesn't_ matter if you're a man who sets a fire or plants a tree…a person who claims to promote destruction or to give life…you're both the servant of the same goal. Esthar…Sybenia…Leuco…" She snorted. "Add to those names Midgar, Junon, Vector, Doma, Figaro, Tycoon, Walz, Baron, Mysidia…every last name of every last city and every last nation and everyone from the most innocent child to the most violent tyrant…and it all ultimately comes to one thing. Unbalance. Disharmony. Disorder. Raze a city to the ground and you fill the world with the chaos of human death and urban destruction. Build a peaceful kingdom and you fill the world with the chaos of environmental destruction and degradation. Nothing you do…nothing _anyone_ does…nothing _anything_ in this entire universe does serves any end except more disorder and unbalance."

She gripped the railing again, enough to put her nails inside it…and stared squarely at Dael.

"Do you understand now, Dael Levinson?" She looked up to the others. "Do you _all_ understand? Do you know, now, that whether you're a soldier or a monk, you are living a complete and total lie? All of your hopes and dreams…whether for yourselves or your personality…or some higher goal of promoting life or peace…in the end, you're as destructive and wrathful as the mass murderer and destructor? I understand…and I know now the one true destiny of all things…the one true purpose and mistake of everything on this world…"

She nearly showed her teeth in loathing.

"Life is nothing to nuture or to destroy. Life is nothing more than a series of chemical reactions that started running 4 billion years ago in a freak accident and are continuing to run out of control to this day. _That_ is the Cycle. That is the problem with all things…with existence itself. The supreme paradox…that all existence itself, whether living or nonliving…tries to achieve balance by unbalancing everything, only making everything worse." She paused. "I regret that answer. I wish for lasting, eternal, unending peace. And now…I have the means."

She looked straight up into the sky, toward the cloudy heavens pouring down rain. Dael, in spite of herself, looked up as well, along with everyone else.

"The world you call 'Nyx Gaia' is up there…and it draws closer with each drop of blood spilled, by me or anyone else in this world. The Void within these twins yearns for birth…desires one final act of destruction to bring it to life. I will give it that. I will mount up destruction until these two worlds at last become one and the Void manifests itself. And then…I will give it the greatest gift of all…a life that doesn't desire to control it or bend it to its will…but simply to _unite_ with it."

"…What?" Dael heard Bahamut echo behind her.

"The Void has slowly gained a will of its own for thousands of years from the constant influx of chaotic souls…the dregs of this miserable mistake called 'life'." Mianyl answered. "Yet always it must 'steal' them. Always it must contend with those who desire to go on living. Not so with me. I see the truth now…that all things must become chaos. The supreme fallacy to all things is that there is such thing as 'order', but that is the blackest of lies. There is only chaos. There has always only been chaos since the beginning. And all things must return to chaos, including this world that refuses to return to its original, true state. I will sacrifice myself to the Void. And when I do…I will grant the Void what it needs more than anything: a conscious, sentient will. A will to no longer just accumulate the chaos of this universe but to seek it, encourage it, and feed upon it.

"It will continue to consume more lives and souls, growing ever more powerful…ever more sentient. It will bring more and more chaos and disorder into the universe. All living things will die. All _existence_ will die. And when it finally happens that the destiny of all things is reached…that all in the universe becomes hot to the point of equilibrium…the point where not even the slightest chemical reaction can transpire…"

She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

She smiled.

"…True peace and balance will be obtained. A universe filled with nothing but blissful, indifferent, unmoving chaos. An end, at long last, to the birth of the universe and all things. No more stars or planets. No more movement. No more matter or energy. Just…nothingness. Beautiful...eternal...nothingness."

She opened her eyes.

"The only thing I regret is that it will no longer be possible for anything to live, let alone see it in all of its wondrous glory…a wondrous, monochromatic, singular, monolithic void of nothing but chaos. Perfect peace…where nothing can do anything good or evil anymore. Where nothing can even _be_ anymore."

She looked down to Dael with the same smile.

"Tell me, captain…is there anything nobler…anything more beautiful…any more worthwhile goal in all of creation that one can think of trying to achieve?"

Dael didn't answer. Now, at last, she understood. In the midst of all of this rambling…a person who had thought that she needed to bear the burden of the world on her shoulders since the day she was born…who had been so obsessed with ideas of making a new world… She had no idea what the others were looking like. She wouldn't even look to Taraketh at the moment. Her eyes were fully on Mianyl. In all honesty…she couldn't even see a shadow of the woman she had once known and called a friend. That person was gone…consumed by this demented creature waltzing around in her body. Or perhaps what she had seen before had been the illusion. In either case, it didn't matter.

"You're completely, utterly insane." She finally said.

"No, Dael…this world is." Mianyl answered. "You're biased just like everyone else because all you can think about is how to bring more life into this world. Life is a lie. Order is a lie. Balance is a lie. The only true destiny of all things is raw, unbridled, pure chaos. I don't know what cosmic fluke took us from being completely neutral chaos to actually start having things such as matter or energy, but I will do everything I can to put an end to it."

"You don't have the right to decide who lives and who dies!" The woman snapped back. "You're not a god!"

She snorted. "God…mortal…who assigns these terms? Merely human conceptions of things they don't understand. To a tiny ant that scurries about, you might as well be a god, Dael. The only true titles are how much power one has been given. I've been given the potential to finally rid this world…hopefully galaxy and possibly this universe…of the crime of existence. The only real crime I could commit would be _not _doing it…not creating a world where no one ever need feel neither heat nor cold…neither pain nor pleasure…neither love nor hate… To finally achieve a great 'nothing'."

"And what about people who don't feel like being 'nothing'? What about them?" Dael retorted. Here, she looked to the other Sorceresses. "Are you two so eager to cease to be?"

"Of course we are." Cybus calmly answered.

It was such a ready response, Dael actually was taken aback. Cybus, on her part, let out a small chuckle. "Silly girl…didn't you hear yesterday? The will of our matriarch is our will."

"Lady Faerio disagrees." Bahamut spoke up from behind Dael.

Cybus gave a light shrug. "Which is why she is a traitor and must be destroyed. I'll admit I was a bit stunned when my greatest student first proposed such a radical idea, but in time I came to see the wisdom in it. The futility of life and good or evil. I spent my life trying to bring up children to be good and upright creatures, yet for all my efforts chaos holds sway. Some of them still do evil in spite of my best care and some do not in spite of my gross negligence. And even if they didn't…one day I will die and all of my work will be in vain should I be replaced with a cruel matron."

"Living on the desert, one realizes the only true peace exists when there is nothing good or bad around you." Veriguno continued. "When you can feel nothing…think nothing."

"The Sorceresses have always known what is best for everyone." Aizel added, despite having not been called. "I have always known that since I joined the order. I am tired of fighting to always stay alive and try and maintain a small bit of dust for myself in this world, whether it be against Esthar or against nature. It is time that all struggles and pain of my people be brought to a final end…no longer subjected to the pain of dying…no longer going through the agony of bringing new life into the world."

"I've encountered those who were mad before…but never before have I encountered a group that embraced the same madness so readily." Bahamut muttered aloud from behind Dael. "Even in the past, there were those who thought they were getting something in terms of power or pleasure out of aiding a lunatic…but this is just mass insanity in its purest form… Not everyone has sworn fealty to the Order of Hyne, Mianyl. You can't just decide to give them this 'gift'."

"They really don't have a choice now, Lord Bahamut." Mianyl answered. "And they will do as they have always done. They will kick. They will scream. They will whine. They will complain. And then…they will die. And history will go right on without their consent proclaiming the victor as the righteous one as it always has. You are as much a slave to the Cycle as they are. You can't deny it now that I have ensured that you spend the remainder of your time in a mortal body."

Dael stiffened on hearing that. She couldn't see Bahamut, but she was sure it was far worse. Mianyl now looked past Dael to him.

"I had need of your essence, Bahamut, as well as need of Tiamat. I just didn't need _you_. I wasn't ambitious enough to think the control devices that Dr. Lindst came up with would be enough to restrain the will of someone who clawed their way back to life time and again. And the essence of the sun was mingled with the essence of the moon. It took months of work with magitek devices to extrude the sun essence little by little until I finally had isolated the key component of it…what would bring a Guardian Force into this world…what I suspected would bring _you _into the world. And when I went to Leuco itself to conduct the 'transaction' of the 'purified' essence, and saw that annoying little 'nugget' still there, I could think of nothing better than to simply dump it out into the rest of the gutter trash. I expected a rat or, at worse, a homeless drunkard to gain the power and then easily die within the next few days. Yet it seems _you_ are what I ended up with. You even proved to be a minor difficulty to the Elite Hounds in spite of your lack of 'spirit', in the literal sense of the word. Yet, in the end, you're helpless to change anything."

Dael had no idea how Bahamut was reacting. If it was anger or fury or determination that coursed through him. She could feel a silent fury behind him…but, more than that, she felt fury inside her. Her spirit was flashing again…feeling anger when someone was trying to hurt Bahamut emotionally…like watching a bully make fun of her son on the playground…

"…You aren't all speaking in unison, Mianyl." She finally stated. "I haven't heard anything from Taraketh for a while."

The woman looked to him as she said this…and saw that, in spite of his best efforts to remain stoic…he was breaking down. By now, his previously tight jaw had gone flaccid and his mouth was slightly ajar. He was looking at Mianyl now, and seemed to be in a state of stunned shock and disbelief. He wasn't saying anything…but Dael got the idea that this was far from something he had "signed up for". He knew now, without a doubt, what Mianyl was planning. What "noble goal" she had recruited him to help fulfill. Yet that still left a big question…would it make a difference? Had Taraketh made himself so completely devoted to her that, in the end, he would become another "Aizel"? Or would he do something about it?

Mianyl, on her part, raised an eyebrow. "…Is that what you hoped to gain from all of this, Dael? To have my Sorceress Knight 'see the light' and come to your rescue?" She snorted. "I expected more from Colonel Regalis' star pupil than to hope for a savior. But I suppose that's what everyone in this country is conditioned to do…pray that an individual will rescue them. At any rate…you've heard quite enough. I'm afraid as close as I've made Nyx Gaia come to this world, it's not nearly enough to cause them to remerge. And I'm not satisfied letting my five remaining nuclear weapons do the trick, which I doubt they could anyway. It seems to get harder to get them closer with time. To be honest…I'm getting only a slight bit annoyed that all of what I've done thus far hasn't opened the Void yet, so I'm afraid I'll just have to become far more 'severe'. You won't be around to see it, though. Your part in these things ends now, along with the part that anyone on this world had to play."

At this, Cybus looked to the side, straight at Aizel, and gave a nod. In response, the man brought his ancient weapon in front of him, and then leapt into the air with surprising force and speed, spiraling over through the sky a few times, and finally coming down to land right in the middle of the stage with a light click. He rose to his full height, in spite of having leapt a good twenty feet, and then began to remove his cape as he advanced forward from under the lip and into the rain.

"As I said, I never intended to make this public execution just to apply to Faerio. Yet I don't really want any heroic speeches from you or defiant moves either. I want people to give in to their despair and feelings of helplessness and inevitability. Which is why I only want you on the edge of life when you die before those cameras. I want your appearance to be so deformed beyond recognition that even looking at you will be enough to make people lose what little hope they have left that they will be able to continue to retain their lives. And so…I will have you all beaten to the edge of death one by one. Starting with you, Dael. I don't think I need to waste time asking if you'd like to help me in this goal one last time, after all."

She raised her hand and aimed for Dael, clearly meaning to release the spell…but she didn't get a chance.

"No! Fight me first!"

Dael couldn't look around that well, but she recognized the voice and turned her eyes to it as best as she could…realizing it came from Jalab. It was so sudden and loud that the other Sorceresses looked to him. Dael could just see his teeth gritting and his look fierce.

"Are you being noble, Sir Tierras?" Veriguno asked after a moment. "That was always your best quality…willing to take whatever blows and punishment were meant for others…"

"No…pride of warrior." Jalab immediately retorted, his voice unusually fierce. Whether it was an act or his own anger genuinely stoked from that he had heard, Dael didn't know…but he certainly sounded bold enough. "Aizel is traitor to the code of order. He fights for death. I still fight for life. I show you difference between human with noble goal and human with madness."

Mianyl looked back at him blankly for a moment, seeming to be taken aback by this statement, before she simply grinned and burst out into a light laugh. "You must be joking, Sir Tierras. You actually think you'll sway Lady Veriguno or any of the rest of us simply by triumphing in a contest of meatheads? For all your self-discipline and honor, Jalab, so long as you take on the mantle of warrior you're still just a man who beats in people's heads. It doesn't matter if you fight for peace or war…it's all the same. Even if you could win, it wouldn't prove a thing."

"Actually, my lady," Cybus spoke up, raising one of her own elongated nails to the side of her face and gently running along it in a thoughtful notion. "I'm somewhat intrigued in seeing this. I've always wondered who was greater…Aizel or Jalab."

"I have as well." Veriguno added. "Jalab was always the greatest warrior I had ever seen in spite of his pacifism."

Cybus let out a single chuckle. "Aizel has never tasted defeat against the most fearsome monsters and human opponents in the world, though. I think his brute nature will prevail this time against control and training."

Mianyl looked to either individual, smiling a bit at these comments. "…A true dilemma? Well now…this _is_ intriguing."

At this point, Taraketh finally swallowed and began to speak. "L…Lady…Mi-"

Mianyl ignored him and aimed at Jalab instead. She waved her hand once. Abruptly, like a puppet cut from strings, Jalab's limbs fell down around him. He managed to move again just in time to keep himself from collapsing, and soon rose again. In a flash, he snapped his staff in front of him, and stared at Aizel. He breathed in and out a few times afterward…but held.

Cybus smiled more at this. "I'm afraid, Lady Veriguno, that Jalab isn't quite recovered from the beating that he received in Sybenia. This fight won't be nearly as even as you think."

"Even so, Jalab never gives up. He will make sure to make this interesting even after Aizel has broken him completely." Veriguno calmly answered.

"You two are just 'all heart', aren't you…" Dael darkly answered.

"If you think it's going to be so easy, then let me in there!" Cid suddenly outburst, prompting Dael to turn her attention to him next. "You can even shove Taraketh in there if you want! Two of us against two of you!"

"Please." Mianyl said in a bored response. "Don't be so eager to die, Sir Boer…and don't flatter yourself either. We all knew Faerio was too sentimental the day she made a scrawny tinkerer her Sorceress Knight. She didn't even take such a position seriously. I thought for a moment that your blind loyalty and affection for her would be an asset, but it only was insofar as she followed us. Since she didn't…you serve no purpose any longer. The only reason I approved you in the first place was because I wanted an edge on technology. You _did_ come in useful in setting off the nuclear weapons to kill so many in Leuco…although you would have done much better if Faerio hadn't gone with you without my approval to give a few thousand people a few more weeks of selfish, wretched life…"

Cid stiffened on hearing that, bad memories being brought up. It clearly caused him more pain to hear this…to realize he had been used as a pawn. Yet the engineer was through breaking down. He turned his sadness into anger and only doubled his determination.

"You may have your chance right after Sir Tierras is utterly shattered." She finally stated. "Who knows? You might actually tire Aizel enough to make the fight with Dael a bit intriguing." She looked to Jalab afterward. "Step forward, Sir Tierras. 0900 is approaching. We may end up being a little late, but I wouldn't want all the people who tuned in to watch an execution see a gladiator match instead."

Jalab didn't hesitate. Keeping his staff before him, he began to approach the middle of the stage. His eyes focused completely on Aizel. The warrior, in turn, was just as cold and focused…not to mention fierce, muscular, and powerful looking. He held a hidden fury that made him look more beast than man as he brought his macuahuitl in front of him and tightened his grip. Like an "evil Ceja"…or, more appropriately, _three_ Cejas crammed inside one body.

Dael, for all of her defiant looks and intention to not be defeated…really had no idea what they could do now. They were outclassed in every way. Not one of them could make the smallest move without the Sorceresses seeing them and responding. And they seemed to have every confidence that Aizel could kill them all himself. For all she knew, he could. He was definitely far more a "Raven" than Rozan Hierarch had been and just as mysterious in terms of true fighting power. Unlike before, they didn't have the luxury of "losing" a battle or two in order to learn all of his moves. This was life or death. And even if she somehow got out of this to help him…she had a feeling that the Sorceresses would either immobilize her again or simply kill her outright.

This was a fine mess. They had come here to save Faerio…and now their heads were all on the executioner's block. So much for her first attempt to act on her own accord…

_Now what do we do?_

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><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	63. A Succession of Witches

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The return to college has been very stressful. I can only do about two pages a day and this chapter took me forever to get done. I actually cut it a little short in order to be done on time. My apologies if the end seems "rushed", but there's only so many ways you can go through a person being "shocked" before it gets old.

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><p>In spite of Dael's growing unease, Jalab wasn't showing any of his own. He walked out just far enough to get separate from the others, ensuring none of his moves would hit them by mistake, and then choked up on his staff and held it before him, similar to a bo staff rather than a quarterstaff as he did normally. Aizel, on his part, cracked his neck and held his macuahuitl in front of him, in a position that seemed to be a mixture of a ball player holding a bat and a swordsman. To be honest, it looked as if he could easily wield it with one hand alone, but having no buckler or guard for his other arm, that made little sense.<p>

Dael looked up to the Sorceresses and saw that they were calmly regarding the entire situation. Taraketh had gone silent again, although he was still tensed up and clearly very uncomfortable and uneasy. The former captain really didn't care. If he was going to still stand there like a little kid with no will of his own, then he wasn't any use to them and neither was how much he "disagreed" with everything he silently ascented to. As for Mianyl, however, she held out a hand.

"One moment…there's one more thing I forgot."

Aizel didn't turn, which put Jalab on edge and didn't make him look up. However, the Fuliet Sorceress Knight soon rose slightly, relaxing a bit. That was enough to let Jalab risk looking upward. After all, he still had a good view of him even from that angle.

"You'll be using a Guardian Force, won't you, Sir Tierras?" Mianyl asked. "In that case, I think it's only fair that Aizel be junctioned to one as well."

At that, there was a flapping of wings that came on the cool breeze and falling rain. It was very gentle, and as time ticked by it only got louder very slowly. The group looked upward on hearing it incoming, realizing it was coming from the skyline around the Odina Building. A moment later, something came that Dael expected…but nevertheless still sweat on seeing.

Gleaming like a fire with wings, the form of Phoenix soared around the edge of the building and rounded it toward the amphitheater. She swept upward as she came to the front, until she neared the décor and "theater emblem" that had been engraved over the stage. She gently alit and swept her wings behind her, perching there normally.

"You all remember Phoenix from Sybenia, don't you?" Mianyl inquired in an almost light voice. "You're familiar with her power too, aren't you?"

Dael tightened her jaw. She could see visible unease going through Jalab. Normally he'd be as impassive as a mountain, but she knew for a fact that he wasn't exactly at his best and having a hard time "holding it" in the face of this latest revelation. She supposed it was just as well… So long as they had Phoenix on their side, she knew they were effectively invincible. Aizel was hopefully the "weakest" of them, which meant that she was hopefully "wasted" on him.

Of course…that was all relative. Aizel was easily more than Rozan could ever be…speed or no speed advantage.

"You actually did me a favor back in Sybenia, captain." She addressed. "Even with the strain of a dual junction barely possible, you should know that breaking a junction by force results usually in the death of one or the other partner. And I couldn't rely on Rozan to be the 'martyr' any longer. Luckily…simply inflicting a mortal blow is more than sufficient, but I would have had to have somehow gotten Phoenix to not assist him long enough to be killed. That would have been very difficult given what I've had to do in order to control her, but luckily…it seems even as just a shred of a soul in a human body, Bahamut proved to be useful in that regard."

The woman tensed at that. However, she also expected something from Bahamut at that point…preferably something that would try to do what happened in Sybenia. The head of the Sorceresses must have come to the same conclusion, because she suddenly smiled.

"In case you're waiting for that archaic relic trapped in an urchin's body to start calling out to her again, Dael, don't hold your breath. I reinforced her control device this time, but as an added precaution I just increased the paralysis spell to immobilize Bahamut's throat and tongue. Pity none of you could have seen it based on your own current positions. Now you'll just have to watch as you're all beaten to death one by one."

The former Esthar's Hawk seethed. "And just what is this 'control device'?"

"Oh, be a bit more subtle than that, captain." Mianyl answered with a light chuckle. "Do you really think I'm so stupid that I would tell you that? I believe I have the situation currently in hand but that's not a reason to tempt fate, is it?" She rose a bit more. "To tell you the truth, Phoenix's power isn't without limit, especially depending on the individual and how strong their spirit is…how much of their life she wants to give back to them… If you somehow manage to kill Aizel, say, fifty times, I'm sure he'll stay dead after that. However…" She smiled widely. "I don't think you'll last longer than two at the most…and that's for all of you."

She raised a clawed finger again, and made a slight motion with it to Aizel. At that, he seemed to know exactly what she was doing, and so he got back into position.

Jalab looked away from Mianyl and stared fully at him, then raised his own weapon. He tightened his grip and forced himself to tighten up, to not show any lingering weakness or weariness.

"Why kill, Aizel?" He called out to him, although his face stayed firm. "I thought you learn value of life."

"Life is, as Lady Cybus might say, 'overrated'." Aizel simply responded. "My people desperately clung to a few shreds of life for generations, clawing each other to pieces, prying themselves from the jaws of ravenous beasts, enduring heat and cold, and all so that they could reach adulthood to produce a new generation to follow the same fate and raise them to care for themselves before they died young and in pain. If Fuliet gets its way…if that new Warchief gets her way…they will make many more generations continue to suffer through that living Hell. It would be as if they would live lives in torture chambers. I would rather they be nothing."

"Not your choice." Jalab answered, before his eyes narrowed. "And to not talk of my lady that way."

"She will not even see me coming when I visit death upon her." Aizel calmly and flatly answered. "Just as she never saw the assassin I sent to kill her. She lives now only because you guarded her then and guard her now. She is exactly like her uncle was…a crippled newborn that should have been left to die on the bare ground with the rest of the weak offspring. To think…I would live to see a mere woman as the Warchief…"

Aizel got out no more than that. In a move that Dael thought was more appropriate to Rozan than the monk, Jalab immediately snapped forward in a lunge for the Sorceress Knight. Although she did see him try and raise his weapon to deflect, it was too slow, and soon the end of Jalab's own staff smashed into his head, knocking it one way. Unfortunately, although Dael saw his head and face turn…it wasn't as much as she thought it would be considering the sound of impact. Jalab quickly followed up with another, however, knocking his head the other way. She saw his shoulders move a bit…but he didn't shift weight or lose his footing.

As Jalab prepared another…Aizel's head snapped up and he brought his macuahuitl up and around, intercepting the staff before he could swing another blow…and soon proving his own strength was nothing to sneeze at as he tightened both arms and swung the staff down so hard and abrupt it smacked against the ground while leaving Jalab temporarily open. Immediately, he shot back upward and slashed his weapon out for his chest. The monk was caught off guard by the power, but quickly backpedaled to try and avoid it…only to find he was too late. Unlike a true blade, the macuahuital didn't have a nice smooth edge on it. It had a jagged, haphazard one made from obsidian fragments. It didn't just slash his chest… Dael saw bits of blood seem to get ripped out of it, and she was sure there was some skin…maybe more…that went along with it too. Even the disciplined monk showed some pain on his face as the slash went against him, and nearly stunned him. Still, he managed to recover enough to backpedal as Aizel brought the "ancient bat" over his head and swung it around his head twice, cutting the air loudly, and forcing Jalab to retreat or take a serious blow that looked like it would take his head clean off.

Yet the monk only dodged that for a while before he aimed a thrust of his staff out for Aizel's head. It didn't land, unfortunately. The man swung his own weapon back and crossed it in front of him, and the two locked for a moment. As if to show each other how "effortless" it was, neither of them leaned in. They held with their arms and shoulders alone. Dael honestly couldn't tell if they were "showing off" or if they were really holding each other back…but she was pretty sure Aizel was, as his face remained grim.

"For a Pallas monk, I expected you to hit a bit harder." He said with only the slightest tension on his voice. "Is it that you are still weak from your fight with Raven and Rozan that you are not at your best? Or is it that you have abandoned your own code and are now fighting with emotion rather than control?"

Jalab's only answer was to suddenly surge in strength and throw the macuahuital aside, then advance on Aizel with a series of "hammering" blows from his staff, before driving it out straight for his head. Although Aizel broke off and fell back from the attack, he didn't even need to bother deflecting the blows, and he merely swung his head to the side to avoid the thrust from Jalab's staff at the end. After that, he came back forward and swung his weapon out for Jalab's stomach, forcing him to recoil. After all, he couldn't afford a gouge in that vital area. He tried to run forward to seize the advantage, swinging his staff down at Aizel's neck, only for the man to swing his weapon up and deflect it, and then swing out again…this time for his head. Jalab's eyes widened, but quickly he reacted by bringing up his forearm to guard. Although it wsa a painful move, and Dael could see his skin being lacerated as the weapon dug into it and stuck…it also held the weapon for a moment. In spite of how much pain it had to be in, he jerked his arm wide enough to bring his staff around and down, deflecting the entire macuahuital to one side and leaving an opening in Aizel's. Immediately, he snapped up and dug his foot in hard and deep into his side, just close enough to the ribs to put a severe amount of strain on the lower one. In spite of all of Aizel's confidence until now…his face visibly tightened in pain, and he twisted into it to try and deaden the sensation.

Giving a grunt, he ripped his weapon back and free from the man, pulling out more blood afterward. After that, he began to advance harder and faster, swinging and slamming his weapon down in battering motions. Jalab quickly brought his own staff back to guard against it, and with his strength he could stand up to it well…but not perfectly. His strength was already lessened from before, after all. Finally, gritting his own teeth, he swung the bat out of the way and gave Aizel another pair of blows across either side of his head…but still to no avail. With undiminished enthusiasm, the Sorceress Knight drove his bat forward with such force that when it smashed into the monk's skull, it sent him staggering back a few steps. He quickly advanced to try and follow up…when Jalab snapped back forward, loosened up on the staff, and then lunged right into his path with a swing and a thrust, striking the man with a blast of power from his chi. It was a testament to Aizel's strength that he stood up to it, but he was still forced to bring his bat back and guard against himself as it hit him and drove him backward.

Blood flowing down his face now, Jalab used the moment to come forward and swung the end of his staff with extra power down and hard against the top of Aizel's skull, smacking it down with a sickening crack and deflecting his upper body downward. He quickly snapped it back up again, causing his body to snap back upward from an impact underneath his jaw and making him recoil yet again. As one final blow, Jalab pulled his staff back and then drove it forward solidly right into his opponent's exposed gut, resulting in an audible sound as he was sent staggering back further.

As Jalab came in for a follow up blow, however…Aizel snapped up to life and swung his macuahuital out for Jalab's face. He reacted and quickly snapped back…but not fast enough before the jagged obsidian ripped another gash out from his right cheek, sending blood splattering on the ground. Quickly advancing, Aizel brought his weapon up and brought it down on Jalab's shoulder as he recoiled, smashing in the collar bone region. Dael was sure that would have broken it, especially with how hard it hit, but at least he didn't use the sharp edge this time. At any rate, that arm faltered, and Aizel swung the weapon out and off of the shoulder to try and cut into Jalab's head. The monk staggered back again, able to avoid it…but Aizel kept coming even after that. Luckily, the monk wasn't taking this idly. In spite of the fresh pain he was in, he quickly focused his power…and his aura blazed once again. As Aizel moved on him again, this time with a "cleaving" lunge, he suddenly sprung up and, in spite of the sore shoulder, met his weapon with his own staff and struck it away to one side. After doing so, he aimed the middle of his staff forward at Aizel…and fired off a beam of mystic purity at him.

Aizel's face showed reaction to this, but it was too late to dodge or block. The beam struck him head on and immediately blasted him backward with terrific force, taking him clean off of his feet and sending him hurtling back toward the main stage. Yet it wasn't as powerful as Jalab normally did. It wasn't even equivalent to what he had done to tanks and robots in the past. It only took him back about thirty feet before Aizel managed to plant his legs and take the remainder of it. When Jalab cut off the beam, the man's chest was only a bit burned and smoking, but he was still standing without even buckling. However, he scarcely had enough time to recover from the beam when Jalab shot straight up to him from the freshly-disengaged beam. In a snap, he threw his staff up and high into the air, and shot right for Aizel with his bare hands. Before the Sorceress Knight could react, he found himself seized by the chest and neck…and Jalab snapped back like a crack of a whip, hauling his body over his head, over and behind him, and smashed him down face-first into the hard theater surface enough to crack the floor.

This had to have done some damage…but Aizel didn't show it. With a seemingly inconceivable threshold for pain and stamina, Jalab had scarcely released him and risen again when Aizel suddenly snapped his body down, around, and swept his leg out for Jalab's own…yanking them out from behind him and sending him falling back. Moving just as rapidly as the monk had, Aizel continued to bring his legs around and quickly snapped up to his feet. As soon as he was up, he brought his macuahuital, which was still in his hands, around and prepared to drive it down on the man. Yet Jalab wasn't being idle either. He had hardly landed on the ground when he reacted like popcorn to heat, quickly springing up and back, using his legs to yank back and over his head and roll out of the way as the weapon sailed by and fractured the floor harmlessly. Jalab's aura began to ignite again as he rolled back, bursting forth in full glory again…and turning red this time. With the staff only now reaching its zenith and lowering once again, Jalab took off…splitting into seven flaming images before Aizel could fully realize what was happening or make a move to defend himself.

A moment later, the images seemed to work with Jalab to deliver a new variation on the "pummeling" attack Dael had seen from him earlier. Flaming fists lashed out, smashing again and again into Aizel. His head snapped around like it was on a spring, his body was kneaded like dough by the thundering fists, and he was snapped off of his feet one time after another. It was such a terrible chain of attacks that Dael doubted even Rozan could have stood up to it…perhaps even Jay or Crow. And truth be told, it moved so fast his opponent didn't have much time to do anything, even just "dangle limply" as he was pounded. Yet Dael still saw that he wasn't going as flaccid as she would expect. He was holding up well to the blows. It wasn't for a while that he finally looked as if they were taking his toll on him.

Jalab himself looked to be tiring toward the end…so he delivered his last three hits with astonishing force…giving Aizel a blow to the side he targeted earlier so hard that she heard the rib go "snap". He followed up with a powerful iron palm into his solar plexus…and she almost thought she saw the Fuliet warrior's body quiver with that one. Finally, he pulled back, locked both of his fists together tight, and swung around to smash them into the side of the man's skull with a sickening crack. This blow was too much even for him to withstand. The man's head flew one way, his face contorted in visible pain at last, before he was knocked again off of his feet and to the ground. Although his hand remained on his macuahuital, it fell down to his side.

The staff finally descended again, and Jalab reached up, snatched it out of the air, swung it around himself, and aimed it at his side in a ready position. However…even though the exertion of power had been small compared to what he had done in earlier fights, Dael noticed that the strain was clear. Jalab's brow was covered with sweat, and he was breathing a bit hard. His wounds were rather bad and still bleeding. That bit of fight had clearly taken more out of him than he wanted. However, Aizel had been far from immune to that assault. He lay flat on his back and didn't attempt to rise right away. His eyes were closed, and Dael wondered if he had actually been knocked out from that intense assault.

However, after a time, he finally made a noise. A small snort.

He spoke, but his voice barely indicated any true pain on it, in spite of what he had to be feeling and visibly wincing from his rib injuries.

"Even assuming you are merely meaning to beat me down rather than kill me, so Phoenix can not just simply 'revive me at full' once again…" He spoke softly, but just loud enough for everyone to hear over the rain. "I expected far more from you. You have either lost your edge or you are still too weakened. I believe the former. You have lost a true warrior's spirit…a passion to cling to life and take it from a predator…"

Before Jalab could react, assuming he would have, a fiery glow lit up behind him, casting a shadow. Thinking it was an attack, the monk quickly snapped around and went to one side…only to see it wasn't an attack at all. It was Phoenix…and she went right past where he was and straight to Aizel. She immediately burst into flame and washed it over him as well as herself. Dael reacted in surprise…as well as tension. She had thought that Phoenix could only heal someone who was dead. However…she realized something. All of the "Phoenix Downs" that had been made over the years weren't used to revive people…just to treat bad wounds… It was therefore reasonable to assume the firebird would do the same.

Dael knew, at this point, there was something else that could be done that might even the odds…kill Phoenix. However, that thought genuinely unnerved her. Aside from the fact that they would be killing an innocent creature under control, and aside from the fact she wasn't even sure if a Guardian Force could "die" in the same way she was used to…that was Bahamut's sister out there. How would he react if he saw her killed? She didn't know, but…for some reason the mere thought of it seemed almost painful to Dael…like what would happen if she lost Bahamut…

It was moot anyway. They couldn't move, and Jalab, although he stiffened on seeing this, definitely wasn't moving. He may have cut his ties to the Sorceresses, but even if he could bring himself not to hesitate when fighting them, that still left his loyalty to the Guardian Forces themselves. He only stood there as he watched the flames burn for a moment.

Unlike before, Aizel was not fully consumed when the flames subsided. He wasn't even burned. As Phoenix again flew off to her old perch, the man easily swung his legs out and snapped back to his feet, taking up his macuahuital with him as he did so. In moments, he was up again. He looked a bit sore…but not nearly as much as before. His wounds were definitely gone, including his broken bones, and he was back at "full" as he cracked his neck and readied himself to fight again. Jalab merely tightened up on his staff, showing no fear.

The Fuliet warrior, on the other hand, looked at him a bit darkly.

"I think I have treated you as I would a young brave attempting to prove himself long enough, Jalab Tierras." He stated. "Now, I shall treat you more as an enemy."

He dove forward again, holding his weapon out for what looked like a thrust move, even though, to Dael, a slash looked like it would have been better. He didn't necessarily move much faster than before, but his sudden lunge coupled with the unconventiality of the move caught Jalab off guard. Still, it didn't look like much. It wasn't even a slash, just a thrust…and it wasn't even aimed for his head, neck, or stomach. It went for one of his upper arms, specifically the left one.

So everyone reacted rather strongly, most of all Jalab, when, on barely touching the limb…a large crack sound went out…and Dael actually saw his arm bend in a bit.

The former captain's jaw dropped. She was sure the others were the same. As for Jalab, his pupils immediately shrunk as his eyes shot open wide. Instantly, both of his hands faltered and let go of his staff. Although he managed to keep himself from crying out, his good arm raised its hand and grasped the bad one immediately, his face contorting in pain. Dael continued to stare in disbelief for a few moments, wondering if she had really seen what had just happened…

Jalab's forearm was broken from that light hit.

Dael was sure the others were gaping at this much as she was. Even if Jalab didn't have the ability to focus his mantra to give him enhanced durability, that thrust shouldn't have been nearly enough to break a bone. The pain was evident on his face, but even more so the surprise. As Aizel brought his weapon back up, not following through, letting this "sink in" for a moment with Jalab, he then began to advance. For a moment, the monk was stunned…before he managed to lash out a foot, knock his staff into the air with it, and snatch it up with his good arm. However, he winced as the weight of his forelimb pulled on his bad arm and he had to leave it hanging. He also had to back up, because Aizel was moving forward slowly.

"Ah, I see you've gotten a first-hand demonstration of Aizel's own art." Cybus spoke up with a soft smile. "The native name is too hard to pronounce, but the loose translation is 'Feather Bone'. One of the hardest skills to master…" She chuckled a bit. "Far harder than a flying axe or a silent bow, at any rate. Aizel can snap any bone by hitting it in the right place at the right angle, no matter how strong the opponent is or how thick the bone is. The only reason he hasn't done it to your skull, I think, is because he's giving you a handicap." She clapped her hands. "Now this _is_ more entertaining. I suppose every time Jalab knocks Aizel down, he'll break another bone on standing until he can't knock him down any longer. Far more interesting than watching him try to kill Aizel. That would get boring after a time with all of the fire and 'rebirth'…"

Dael had thought the Sorceresses couldn't get any worse…but this was beyond belief. She couldn't comprehend how they had managed to hide this level of sadism and insanity from all of them. Then again…she realized they had been so secluded, cloistered, and secretive that they could probably have hidden quite a bit from them. At any rate, that didn't matter. Aizel was still advancing on Jalab…and the monk was refusing to give up. Gritting his teeth, he moved his staff down and used it to raise his own forearm, wincing and agonizing the whole way as purple splotches began to form underneath the skin on his exposed forearm. Somehow, he slipped it into his vest to at least act as a partial sling, and then brought his staff in front of him again, although only holding with one arm. With that, not giving time to prepare any more of an offense, for he had already pushed him back far…he lunged forward and swung out for Aizel's head. The blow was blocked fairly easily, however, this time with Aizel not even needing to do more than plant his feet.

What were they supposed to do now? Dael couldn't stand this. She couldn't even die "on her feet". She was stuck here playing this twisted game…

"Dael…"

The woman nearly looked up at this. It was coming from behind her…soft and weak, but just audible at Dael's distance.

_Faerio._

"Don't react…don't let them know I'm talking… Don't even say anything."

The woman was still. Luckily…this was the sort of thing she was good at. In a moment, aside from a brief change that could have been anything, she was again in the same state she was before…looking despairingly at Jalab. She only hoped the others were doing the same…Cid in particular. Just hearing Faerio talk was probably enough to lift his spirit to the point of reacting.

"Carbuncle isn't frozen… Neither am I… He'll have me free…in a few minutes…" She spoke slowly, clearly making an effort. "I'll only have time for two spells the second I'm free…I'm too weak for anything else without a moment to concentrate… With my first…I'm going to use Esuna to remove your paralysis… My second will be a new barrier…stronger than Carbuncle's, I hope, which means they won't be able…" She paused to breathe a few times. "…be able to take it off right away…"

She swallowed.

"Dael…look at Phoenix…look at her head…see if one of the feathers is out of place…"

The woman did so, making sure to make it look as if she was doing something else and not at all concerned…more like just glaring up in frustration and rage. When she looked up, she stared again at Phoenix resting on the bust. Around her head, a few curved feathers were coming forth from the back of her skull, creating an almost "crown"-like array for her head. Other than that, she saw little worth concern at first…

Until she spotted it.

One of the feathers looked very slightly irregular. It was almost impossible to see it in the gray, overcast sky with such small amount of light other than the fiery glow of the firebird herself, but lightning snapped out in the distance…and caused a gleam to go across Phoenix for a moment. When it did, one of the feathers "lit up"…a sheer sign of being made of a more reflective substance than the rest of her feathers…like metal.

"From what I heard from Cid…yesterday…you have one mage bullet left…a Thundaga…" Faerio went on. "If you see an irregularity…hit it with that…"

Dael fought hard not to grimace. Faerio might as well have told her to hit a moving fly with a water balloon, enhanced senses or not. A Mage Gun wasn't exactly renown for being an accurate weapon. The way it fired was almost like a mini-mortar. The margin for error was very high. Although she knew real spells could target whatever your mind focused on if you were trained enough, she wasn't sure if a mage bullet could do the same thing. Accuracy had never been her primary concern when using the weapon so long as it just hit the target. To be honest, she wasn't sure if she could do it…

"I know they aren't very accurate…but if there's a control device on her…it's something that can withstand her bursting into flame…" Faerio went on. "Only a third level spell or greater has a chance of hitting it, and I can't free and shield you and hit it in time myself… My aim is too weak because I'm too tired… If Phoenix isn't freed…they'll just keep bringing themselves back…even if we beat them…"

Faerio said no more…but she had just put a tremendous burden on Dael's shoulders. At the moment, she was still holding onto her sword. She would have to very quickly snap her arm down, snatch out her gun, and fire that at the target area with enough focus to try and hit a target that would be nigh impossible to hit with a gun and full focus. She had neither and would likely be numb from being stuck in this position. Only Quaren with a scope and a steady spot could hope to hit it with a bullet…which meant her only chance was if she indeed could somehow manipulate the mage bullet to hit it through her own will. If not…then one more option was gone to them. In truth, if she had gotten free, her first instinct would be to summon Alexander. That was probably their only shot at this point…even if it killed Phoenix in the process.

Yet it seemed she had no choice now. She only hoped it happened soon. As she stood there, she continued to see Jalab falling short, failing to keep up the intensity with only one arm and getting numerous blows from Aizel, who had even shifted to the flat portion of his bat to avoid cutting…to make it "last longer".

She hoped it didn't take Carbuncle too much longer himself…or she had a feeling Mianyl might be the one who ended up freeing her before Faerio could…

* * *

><p>Things had gotten worse below.<p>

It seemed as if Dael's assessment was pretty accurate. The mages were initially caught off guard and went down easily. But now…they had repositioned themselves and had formed up. Whoever was still standing had moved themselves into groups, with the high children taking the front and using defensive magic alternating with wind-based spells. The later was problematic, as it kept Ceja from accurately using her axe and Cryder from using his branches. Combined with the shielding that they were using, it was nearly impossible to get a shot in on them. The rest of the mages in the groups were hurling spells. None of them were too terribly strong alone…but that was a relative term, especially now that the group's own barriers were beginning to break down.

The only projectile weapons that could still get through were Taraketh's bullets…but he hadn't equipped himself for a major operation before leaving to take Sorceress Mianyl into custody the other day. He had already used up all of his rifle bullets and was down to his sidearm, which was nearly out as well by now. No grenades, either.

Everyone else literally found themselves between a rock and a hard place. There was no place to run or even take cover at this point. The only place was the Odina Building itself, but after being smashed into, the remaining Children of Hyne inside had redeployed at the entrance and were moving down to the front doors to shoot at them from behind. To try and stall this, Cryder had used a bit of geomancy to make the small trees at the courtyard rip their roots all the way across the street, up the steps, and have them interlock the entrance. Yet that wouldn't hold forever. At first, the mere "novelty" had made the enemy pause, but now they were implementing fire magic. Everyone could smell the ash and smoke even over the rain as the roots were blasted again and again.

No one could worry about it, though. Cryder and Ceja continued to launch their own respective attacks, although at this point the "pods" coming up to them had learned to deflect them. At the minimum, it was slowing them down, but not stopping their inevitable advance. Quaren continued to shoot, but many of them had been making a serial mistake until now. When someone moved to only wound these people, the sentiment allowed the healers among the order to quickly patch their comrades up and get them "back into circulation". Quaren had been using killshots all along, but now that he was down to his handgun, there was little chance that they would end up hitting. And neither the pirate or the monk dared to run right out and take them hand-to-hand when they were in groups like that. They'd be blasted to death by spells before even having a chance to get close enough to hit.

That really only left one option, but they were trying to hold off for as long as possible to avoid it. After all…they might need it for when they got to the top floor.

But on that note…they also needed an airship.

Cryder shifted to wind slashes to "mix things up" on the nearest "pod"…but it didn't do much good. It did a bit of damage, but they had magical barriers as well as physical ones at this point, so even if any of them were particularly outstanding at magic, it wouldn't be enough to do more than inflict a small amount of pain and injury. At any rate, he looked up as he threw out two in a row. "How we doing on time, mate? Shouldn't they be here by now or did they stop for a burger first?"

"Give me a sec!" Quaren yelled back as he fired two more shots, taking out the knees of another high child. Those injuries were so bad that even moderate healing spells wouldn't let him recover, and as he dropped, he left his "pod" open to attack. After that, the former corporal quickly ejected his current clip. As he brought his gun around to put in a fresh one, he looked to the time. Yet halfway through reloading…he froze at what he saw.

Ceja snapped her arm out to quickly send her axe flying once again, taking advantage of the now-defenseless group to send the weapon flying their way. Unfortunately, it didn't help much. The remaining mages still managed to cast wind spells at it. It wasn't enough to deflect it completely, but it only gave tags to two of them, wounding but not seriously enough to disable them. The best it did was slow the group down, forcing two more of them to come forward to try and heal while another two tried to cast their own protection spells. However, as her axe came back to her and she snatched it from the air, the Fuliet warrior noticed his change. "What's wrong?"

Quaren looked up. "It's already 0906 hours!"

Cryder swung his hand out again, causing the trees to break off far thicker branches, more like spears than arrows, and fling them at the healers. They managed to tag them and cause them to falter, but all it did was temporarily incapacitate the one pod of mages. They had four more to worry about in front of them, after all. "You sure they aren't usin' a different timepiece, mate?" He called out.

"No! We're all synchronized!" He shouted back. "We all should have been on the same clock! Something must have happened!"

Ceja swung herself around with three rotations this time, and then flung the axe out again at the next nearest group. As it sailed through the air, Quaren quickly aimed his handgun forward and fired enough shots to take down the protector of that pod, and with the axe coming in so close behind, the mages had little choice but to scatter, although one was sliced fatally and two others went down. "He is right! I cannot even hear any airship in the distance! They either turned cowardly or some ambush befell them!"

"Terrific…" Cryder groaned as he waved his hands to try and get his trees to grow more. "Don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, lad and lass, but there's only so much growth I can get out of a couple of ornamental trees, especially since they're setting them on fire! I don't think I can keep this up more than another two minutes or so!"

"Something had to have gone wrong up there!" Quaren called out. "We need to get up to the top!"

"Without an airship, mate? No way to hop in and out with what might be three Sorceresses up there? I'm pretty sure they would have come down now if they could! Besides, we're kinda busy ourselves right now! I'm startin' to wonder how we're even going to get away from these mages ourselves!"

Ceja snagged her axe out of the air again only to immediately whip it around once more and fling it out again. She turned to the others. "There is only one other option! Since our 'normal' Guardian Forces are shared by them, we have to use our new ones!"

Quaren grimaced as he fired off more bullets. "I was hoping we could avoid that… I thought we'd need all we could get against the Sorceresses… But I guess we've got no choice! We can't keep them occupied for much longer… But how are we going to get up there? I don't have Dael's key to the elevators and even if we find the stairs it'll take forever to get up there! And if we can't get in and out, then what good will it do? We have to hop in and out to not all get wiped out by them!"

"Well where the Hell is the next nearest aircraft?" Cryder asked as he started generating some Will O' The Wisps to hopefully distract the opponents long enough to do something.

"Two blocks up the road!" Quaren gestured, back down the street. "If they haven't taken it out yet, there should be an emergency Stratoaevis station there!"

"Then let's get our asses out there!" The pirate snapped back. "What do we use to get rid of all of these barnacles? Can't have them shooting us in the back!"

As Ceja's axe returned again, and she snapped it out of the air, then swung her body around and planted herself on the pavement, Quaren put away his gun and looked up. "I'll do it! Let's see what we can do with that Guardian Force Raven was using!"

"I will use the Tonberry King if it fails!" Ceja called out. "We can use his body as a shield temporarily!"

"Fine, just do it before they burn the last of my trees!"

Quaren exhaled. He had used magic only in the most limited sense, and couldn't remember the last time he had tried a summon. However, he had enough experience to know it wasn't too bad. Moistening his lips, he closed his eyes for a moment, leaving Ceja to jump before him and use her axe as a shield to deflect any errant ice or fire that went their way, and concentrated. He thought deeper into his mind, into all the various Guardian Forces they had acquired and "recruited" since this "adventure" had begun. He remembered back to Raven…and his power. He remembered the odd "poison emblem" that had put itself on his palm…and then he began to see it. In truth, he had never gotten a clear look at the Guardian Force until now…and as he focused on it and saw it with his own eyes, he suddenly found himself filling with the sensation of fear, just to begin to see it form before him. He had no idea it was so large and horrendous…so otherworldly... Yet before he could second-guess himself, he was chanting the words almost involuntarily. This Guardian Force seemed to be eager to come out…eager to kill…and even as he opened his eyes his chant was concluding, and his body surrounded by the sigil.

The sky began to turn dark as it did for any other summon…but it wasn't alone at this point. Suddenly, two flames, looking similar to Cryder's own "Will O' The Wisp" move, began to spring up in the distance, up in the sky, framed against the skyline and stormy background. It was enough to make everyone look up to it on both sides. Yet soon, another set sprung in front of it…and another in front of that…and another in front of that. Dots of spectral flame were tracing out a pair of lines in the sky, arching downward with gentle curves until they reached the street, and then raked across it, going through each "pod" that had formed. The mages froze when they noticed the fire on either side of them, putting them in the midst of the two lines, before the trails themselves arched back to the heavens once again and aborted. The sky, meanwhile, turned darker yet…more than it did for other summons. As Quaren looked up and around at this, along with the others, he gained a very bad feeling…but also thought he heard a new sound faintly on the wind…

_Railroad chimes?_

Finally, the dark portal in reality opened, at the "head" of the two lines…which Quaren suddenly realized weren't true traced out lines…but actually tracks. Spectral "tracks" for some sort of locomotive. In fact, in addition to the chimes, he soon started to hear the sounds of an engine pounding…the engine chugging away and generating incredible force to yank along a large weight. He focused on the portal…and, moments later, saw the horrific vision that he had witnessed briefly.

To be honest, both sides were horrified at what they saw. What emerged from the portal at a blazing speed that only a magnetic rail could match was some horrible mass of orange rotted flesh stretched out over some twisted skeletal array. Long, thin, and sinewy…like a great Wutai dragon might have looked…Quaren saw details on the bone and, beneath it, large, skeletal wheels that gleamed like metal…and he realized it was something neither living, nor dead, nor even a train…but a mixture of all three, riding on the spectral lights. Plumes of darkness and shadow streaked from the front of it, which did seem to have a protrusion of bone like a smokestack although the black "smoke", which seemed more like dark spirits than anything, trailed from all over it and not just the front. In addition…framed at the head of the train over the skeletal, rotted "cow catcher" was a ghastly visage of a twisted, undead face with still-intact eyeballs looking out from the inside in a mixture of agony, fear, and hopelessness. It was disturbing and even maddening to look at. Finally, a spectral green headlight was perched above it, shining the way ahead as it plunged along down the track.

A full-speed train running into something would be bad and "painful" enough..but this train-shaped monster was larger, faster, and charged with a power not of this world. As frightened as Quaren was to see it…he knew that fear couldn't possibly compare to that of the mages as the Guardian Force smashed into them at full speed.

To be honest…it was horrific. It was every bit as horrid as watching a crowd of people being smashed by a train. Even for someone who had accustomed himself to seeing death and gore from the battlefield, this was terrible. He almost turned away as he saw them scattered like leaves in the wind.

He wasn't alone. As the ghastly train shot by, Ceja and Cryder both recoiled…literally seeing a body fly over their heads and smash into the front of the Odina Building. It wasn't the only one, but the nearest one to them. The others were knocked into the air and slammed back to the ground in an impact that could only be fatal. The train roared like a being from another world as it tore by, sounding like a mixture of a deafening train engine as well as a horrific beast. It continued to sound forth, yanking one bony, rotten car after another behind it, until it began to shoot back up the track again and right for another portal, just as black and empty as the other. It shot inside and in moments had vanished.

The light came on again, the rain continued to fall, and the spectral lights vanished. As they faded away into nothingness, the ones who had been knocked into the sky the hardest rained down like some horrible cartoon. Quaren could actually hear bones breaking as they fell. He wanted to look away from the sight…but he didn't. He forced himself to keep looking. There was no way any of them could have survived that hit…but he wanted to make sure they were all dead. The most horrible thing would be if some of them were still alive after that, and needed to be put out of their misery. Yet that worry was baseless. As they landed, Quaren saw something that made him nauseated. It wasn't enough that the train had smashed into them. Their skin was covered with sickness, rot, and seemed to literally be rotting off all over their bodies… The Doomtrain itself had the power of the poison attacks within it. It had to have hit them with everything when it ran into them.

Quaren, in spite of the rage he felt at Mianyl's crime which had extended to the Order of Hyne, was left horrified and disturbed. This was a terrible way to die…and these people may have been their enemies, but they were being confused the whole time, tricked into helping the Sorceresses. They didn't even die "clean". And it was because of him and the Guardian Force he summoned…

Cryder himself looked around a moment, and slowly exhaled. "…Damn, mates. That was pretty heavy. I mean…sh't…"

Ceja looked around for a moment as well. Even the fierce warrior who had attacked so violently couldn't help but look unsettled at the massacre. This was savage even for her.

Yet after a moment, she swallowed. "Let us go." She finally stated.

She didn't offer any more explanation or reassurance. She merely turned and began to move back down the road. Cryder paused only for a second before going up to Quaren and giving him a hit on the shoulder. "Mate…we gotta get a move on."

The rifleman stared a bit longer even than him, but finally swallowed and turned to start moving. He forced himself to look away from the bodies. There wasn't anything he could do now, and just standing there was hardly penance, useful remorse, or helping anyone else out. If the Sorceresses were up there and they had fallen into a trap, then they needed them. Right now, he was the only one with vehicular training in a Stratoaevis, even if Cryder was the pilot in the group. With that in mind, he soon rushed past the bodies, and then broke into a full run with the others as they went along.

"I had no idea it would-"

"Our goal was to kill them if they refused to keep coming, just as their goal was to kill us." Ceja flatly cut off while running. "That is the only rule. Whether it was good or evil is decided at leisure by the victors."

"Come on, mate…get your head in the game." Cryder threw in, a bit more serious. "You're supposed to be the soldier…all in a day's work, and all that."

Quaren exhaled, thinking about this a moment, and then nodded. "…Alright, you're right. I'm just…not taking any of this well right now. Anyway, let's get to the field and hope it's still there. I can bypass the security, but it won't do much good if there's nothing there to use…"

* * *

><p>Dael could see that Jalab had never fully recovered from his previous fight, when he had been running on fumes. Already, he was in the phase where he was pushing himself to keep going. She couldn't imagine the agony he was in right now. His arm wasn't in a proper sling, so each movement had to be driving it into more pain. She could tell that simply from the bloodstains under his skin. He couldn't hope to properly wield his staff with one hand either, although he tried at first. It deflected a few of the blows from the macuahuital, but all Aizel had to do was put more power into it, and soon he was knocking each block aside and slashing at Jalab's hands. Although he tried to keep up with just straight blows, even those were bad enough…especially since Aizel didn't bother "fighting clean". Every third hit seemed to be aimed for his broken forearm, which was hard enough to guard as it was. Eventually, he had to lose his staff, now discarded to one side, and struggled to fight against a weapon with length using nothing but one good arm.<p>

As Aizel smashed the flat of his bat-like weapon into Jalab's face, seeming like it had to have broken his jaw, the monk's head snapped to one side and he staggered backward. Advancing forward, Aizel slammed the weapon down, flat-side again, on the earlier wound he made on his shoulder, which was already bruised and splotched purple. He cried out in response and staggered back further. Immediately, Aizel advanced again, this time bringing the bat over his head for a more skull-splitting blow…when Jalab gave another one of his cries as his aura flared. Snapping back out, with only one good hand he fired a beam of his aura at Aizel. It wasn't as large as the previous one, but it was also more focused. As Aizel brought his weapon back, the beam struck it, knocking it back further and jarring it away…not only to leave the Sorceress Knight exposed but to also actually jerk his arms painfully, causing him to cry out.

The monk was far from giving up.

Giving another yell, Jalab quickly advanced and drove his good arm hard and fast into Aizel's stomach as powerfully as he could. In spite of being weaker and in more pain, he somehow put far more force in it than last time…enough to where Dael _did_ hear at least one rib snap. For all of his effort to look "unstoppable", Aizel's face contorted in agony and he barely kept himself from crying out. Yet his weapon stayed in his arms. Seeming to be eager to beat him to the point where he would at least drop the macuahuital, Jalab leapt into the air, swung his body around, and slammed the heel of his foot into Aizel's own jaw in roughly the same place he had been hit, snapping his head to one side. On landing, he quickly drove his fist forward, trying to perform a five-hit nerve pinch technique. His fist lashed out once…twice…

Yet no more. Aizel removed his hand and brought it up, intercepting Jalab's hand before it could go again and tightening with a crushing grip on his extended two fingers, trying to twist them and looking ready to break them off. With his other hand, he swung the bat around and smashed it hard into Jalab's side, hoping to target an earlier weak rib and the kidney beyond. He succeeded. The monk arched his head back and nearly cried out himself, before Aizel drove his skull forward and smashed it into Jalab's head, breaking forth another wound and sending the monk recoiling back. To further knock him away, Aizel leapt up and gave him a knee to the chin, kicking the man back and this time knocking him off of his feet. He slammed back-first onto the roof a moment later.

Aizel quickly rushed forward. He wasn't playing this time, for better or for worse. He was definitely going in for a more serious blow. And for a moment, it looked like he would get it this time as he brought the macuahuital over his head and rushed in and Jalab failed to react. However, just as he was reaching the point of contact…the monk's body snapped up, and both of his legs went erect and smashed hard under the chin of the man even as he tried to dive in, letting out a bone-jarring sound. Again, Aizel was halted and snapped back, as Jalab himself quickly snapped his legs down and yanked himself to his feet. Dael literally saw his broken forelimb shift, but he only grit his teeth, now red with pain and covered with sweat, as his aura blazed again. Abruptly, he performed a spiral, whirling around in a snap, and then letting a "scythe" of his own energy fly at his opponent.

The Fuliet warrior was stunned by the blow for a few precious moments, and when he recovered…he was too late to react. He tried to twist his body out of the way, but the blade of energy still sliced into his side, opening a bloody wound across it that stunned him further. In spite of that, when a second scythe came out, he somehow went through the pain and advanced, ducking under it and rushing forward toward his opponent. Jalab himself had snapped out of the move and dived forward as soon as he flung the second chi scythe…but as he rushed forward he saw Aizel already coming at him. Before he could block or counter, the macuahuital lashed out again with a sickening crack against his head, and send him reeling back once again.

In spite of the force of the blow, the monk seemed to "move with it" this time. He let the force rip him backward along the roof, and wobbled as he came to a stop. Yet somehow, he stayed on his feet. As for Aizel, he quickly reared his weapon back and focused, putting more power into it before he ran up after him.

Yet as he closed…Dael saw something new. Jalab wasn't summoning his speed this time…

He was chanting a spell.

Aizel's attempt to build his power had cost him time, and Jalab was soon able to call forth the arcane language that caused a magical reaction. On doing that…red clouds of light, like small orbiting masses surrounding a central object, began to burst out around him, encircling him multiple times until his aura lit up again. This time, it was red in nature, but it wasn't fire. Rather, his whole body seemed to be red at this point…

As the Sorceress Knight reached him and brought the macuahuital across in a move clearly intended to hit the already swollen side of his face for more pain…Jalab suddenly moved. Dael tried to watch it at first…but all she saw was a blur. It wasn't until she relied on her "spiritual sight" that she clearly saw what happened.

Moving in a blaze of speed…Jalab suddenly snapped forward, first swinging out his good arm to deflect the bat slightly, and then advancing forward to attempt a disarming move. It was only one hand…but it hardly mattered, as Jalab turned into a blaze and struck twice in a split second, appearing to hit both parts of the wrist at the same time, and following up with a punishing knee to the gut of Aizel. Now…the man showed true surprise at the speed at which the monk moved, his face twisting into shock as he was ripped back off his own feet and cast backward.

Dael realized what Jalab was doing. This wasn't a chi technique. Rather…he was using the spells Cerberus had taught them when they gained him as a Guardian Force. He may have only had one arm, but his speed had just gone above and beyond anything Aizel was capable of.

Aizel came down and landed on his feet, and staggered. Somehow, he had managed to cling to his weapon in spite of the disarming move, although his grip was tenuous at best. Yet as he tried to get his bearings…Jalab was on him again. Immediately, his stomach was drilled by six lighting-fast blows, before an uppercut smacked his head into the air…only for, while still in that position, Jalab appeared behind him and nailed him in the back of the busted rib with a twist kick. The hit had to have gone deep in his kidney…and it sent Aizel spilling forward. Yet in spite of staggering…he was still standing after that. He tightened his grip and tried to turn around to get Jalab again…

Only to have the monk perform a "slide kick" from Aizel's opposite side to knock his feet out from under him. As he went "horizontal" and began to fall…Jalab popped in next to him and swung his heel down, smashing him hard in the old injury of the gut both to drive him into more pain and knock him down to the roof with a loud impact. Even then, now on his back, Aizel lashed out with a leg as he rolled up into a seated position, going for the monk's ankle. Yet Jalab simply vanished…and reappeared behind him to kick him in the head so hard that he caused him to sprawl and invert, his face landing against the top of the roof first and grinding into it.

Even then, Aizel neither lost his weapon nor stayed down. He quickly flipped forward and was on his feet again, once more swinging around as he snapped to Jalab, hoping to keep him back with the next swing of his weapon. However, Jalab was too fast for him to hope to keep up. After ducking under the initial blow, he "blurred" in front of Aizel and thrust his own good fist three rapid times into the area he had struck before. Each blow took a "piece" of Aizel with him, causing his limbs to weaken again and making him stagger back with each hit. He tried to deflect, but Jalab, thanks to his new speed, was moving fast enough to strike more rapidly with one arm than he could with two. Yet that was just the start.

As Jalab's aura began to blaze again, he lashed out with a leg in a forward "hook trip", again ripping Aizel's feet out from under him and sending him falling. While still descending, Jalab brought his leg out, swung it up, and then swung the heel down on his middle, ripping him out of the air and smashing him into the ground so hard he actually bounced. As he went back up into "foot striking range", Jalab snapped around again and lashed out with a roundhouse kick…smashing into Aizel's body and sending him flying backward. He didn't go down this time. He landed on one foot and stumbled, but kept his balance. Dael was stunned at his longevity and durability. Weak or not weak, Jalab's blows could have broken through concrete at this point. He wasn't finished either. His aura fully ignited, and he took off again.

Sending out a sound like a slow machine gun, Jalab's fists danced all over Aizel's body as he arrived at him. Rather…only one fist did, but he literally moved so fast he seemed to be beating away at Aizel with five at a time. Blows went again and again into his injured side and against former wounds, bashing him around and knocking out blood and sweat from the Sorceress Knight. Dael was overwhelmed. Even for Rozan, this was a tremendous feat, especially when Jalab was slower and with one arm.

Eventually, the man did slow. Not only from what had to be a mixture of exhaustion and agony but his red aura dying down again. The spell was over already. As he finished smashing his fist into Aizel's face, knocking him up and back and forcing him to strain through all of the injuries he had inflicted on his bruised, battered body, he once again concentrated with his blue aura, meaning to clearly give a "finishing" series that would leave Aizel unable to even move…

When Aizel suddenly snapped up again, showing surprising signs of life in spite of the beating he just endured, and drove the end of his bat into Jalab's right leg. Even before it landed, Dael already felt panic settling inside her…and it was justified as she heard another wet snap as it struck it.

Jalab somehow avoided crying out yet again, but his aura immediately cut off. Face contorting in agony, his weight bore down on his now broken limb, and Dael actually saw it twist a bit before he collapsed to the ground. Now with two limbs useless, he went rigid and writhed, struggling just to stomach the tremendous pain he was in.

"Sir Tierras!" Cid cried out. However, Dael, the only other person really able to call anything, said nothing. She knew it was useless…just as she knew the grunting Cid made a moment later, a vain, useless effort to escape the paralysis spell, was worthless. Still…she couldn't blame him for trying. He wasn't even close enough to hear what Faerio had said to her a few minutes earlier. It might not matter soon, however…not with what she was seeing.

As Jalab struggled to get his pain under control even as he lay crippled. Aizel struggled to stay standing. He did remarkably well considering how much he had been hit, but was somehow not only wobbling on his feet but also had his macuahuital in his hand, although Dael, for the life of her, couldn't tell how he was still holding onto it this whole time. Perhaps it was the Fuliet mentality…to lose your weapon was to lose your life on the plain. At any rate, he heaved and wobbled, and as he did, actually panting and catching his breath, he glared at Jalab only for a moment before turning and looking to Phoenix, making a gesture for her to come down.

Dael grit her teeth further as she saw the firebird once again spread her wings and fly down to the man's side, come over him, and once more bathe him in intense flames as she ignited. She wished she could fire now. After all…this was as close as she could possibly get and still catch her off guard. The one feather did indeed seem to gleam strangely, even in the fire…but even from this far she realized her odds of hitting it on luck alone weren't good. She hoped to at least nail her here, while she was fully open and no one could protect her…or before Aizel had the chance to be healed again. However, her hopes were in vain. Nothing changed on her end, and when the fires died, Aizel was as good as new once again. He looked a bit winded, but not nearly as much as before. He was able to stand normally and didn't have a mark on him as he breathed in and out a few times. He ran a hand up and brushed back his hair with his fingers…once more strong and firm in every regard. Jalab's beating had left almost nothing lasting on him.

With that finished, he looked again to Jalab silently.

"Finish this now, Sir Kite." Cybus called out. "It's getting dreadfully late and we haven't even uncovered the cameras yet. We may have to postpone this entire proceeding at this point. Just make sure he's still clearly breathing."

Veriguno looked indifferently at him, not the slightest bit of regret or hesitation in her own appearance.

As for Aizel, he cracked his neck again, and then put both hands on the macuahuital. He began to advance on Jalab afterward.

Dael felt like yelling at that moment. _Carbuncle, unless you want Jalab to be paralyzed or permanently brain damaged, you have to get Faerio out now. _She would have been fine just asking how much time was left. However, that would blow whatever secrecy they had managed. The spell hadn't lessened at all. Dael could still chant…but she knew that was no good. It would only set off the bomb and kill them all. Then Jalab would be dead anyway. She was helpless. She could only watch as Aizel came up to Jalab's side.

The monk's determination knew no bounds. Even now, he was trying to find a way to use his one good arm and leg to keep fighting, trying to push himself up. He had, indeed, managed to sit up slightly…but that only put him in a better position to be struck. As Aizel stopped and let his bat-like weapon rest momentarily against Jalab's head in preparation, he couldn't even knock it away with his good arm without letting himself fall.

"You have great determination to live, Jalab Tierras." Aizel stated. "But so does everything that lives on the Plain…yet most still die."

He raised his weapon up and behind his head. Jalab, not showing the slightest hint of fear, gazed right back at him…like he was ready to take the beating even if he hadn't a chance of doing so.

Yet as Aizel swung the macuahuital around…the blow never came.

Before it could, an eruption of rock from the surface of the roof went out underneath Aizel's foot, throwing off his balance and making him stumble backward, so that his weapon went high and outside.

This was enough to make everyone on both sides freeze for a moment. Dael, on her part, watched what happened as Jalab blinked in confusion and Aizel himself looked surprised. Yet their gazes soon went up…and so did the former captain's. That had been an earth-based spell, not geomancy. And she knew who excelled in that more than anyone else she had every known…

As her eyes rose up once again, they rested on Taraketh.

His body was still in the position of the spell, his arm extended and aiming at Aizel. His hood was still over his face, but he was panting hard. His face was streaked with sweat. It looked as if that had been the hardest thing he had ever done in his life, and he was trembling…as if he could hardly believe he had gone through with it.

The Sorceresses all looked at him now, and, for the first time, they seemed less-than-pleased. Mianyl herself focused her powerful, violet gaze on him, her face hardening.

"Sir Sabian…" She said in a calm, pleasant voice…one that her face betrayed, as it was as icy and cold as the grave. "Do you care to explain to me why you just halted Sir Kite's blow?"

The High Child was silent. Sweat continued to run from his face. He breathed in and out before swallowing. Slowly, he lowered his hand. Not looking at Mianyl, but obviously feeling her gaze on him, he spoke in a forced near-stammer, like he was literally holding a red iron under his feet to get himself to choke this out.

"Lady…M-M-Mianyl…" His voice stated meekly. "I…I…" He paused. "…I can't do this…on f-f-faith any longer… I humbly request that you inform me of what your intentions are and your plans for this world. Who the enemy is. Please."

Mianyl's coldness abated, but only slightly. "…I'm afraid I don't follow you, Sir Sabian."

He swallowed again, and spoke a bit more firmly. "What is really at stake here, my lady? Why are we doing this? Why was it necessary to drop those weapons on Sybenia? To destroy that district when so many innocents had to be there?"

The Sorceress simply stared back.

"I believe I already told you our intentions, Sir Sabian. I really don't wish to repeat myself at this time."

"No, the real reason!" Taraketh suddenly burst out…nearly looking to her. However, he paled and composed himself again. "That is… Please, my lady. Tell me the truth… Whatever it is, I'll believe you. I'll trust you. But…I have to know why we're doing this…how it's going to help anyone or anything… This seems more senseless and chaotic with every passing moment… I don't intend to speak against you…I don't intend to second guess you, but…my faith is _seriously_ wavering at this point and I have to know. I can't just go along anymore without knowing what for."

A few moments of silence. The rain continued to gently fall. Dael didn't care. It gave Carbuncle more time…as well as Jalab and the rest of them. However, she looked to Taraketh as well. She was picking up what he was saying…what it meant. As for Mianyl, she continued to stand there.

At last, a mild smile went over her face as she turned to fully face her Sorceress Knight.

"Taraketh…" She said softly. "You've been a good friend since my youth. Someone I've already depended and relied upon to be a valuable ally and a trusted confidant. Someone who I knew would embody the purpose of the Order of Hyne one day. And because of all of that…I will have to ask you to seriously stop being so naïve."

Taraketh turned his head more to her, nearly looking at her…his face turning pale again.

"My lady…it can't-"

"I have indeed trusted you with much. But you must understand that there are some things in this world that, even shared, cannot compare to the experience of living through it. There are insights you could not gain. Had you seen what I had seen…you'd understand. Yet I'm needing you to go along now even if you don't understand yet, and to trust me as you have always."

Taraketh clenched and relaxed his fists several times. "My lady…you can't be serious with this! You're talking of wanting to end all life! All existence! You're going through this…with such a heartless attitude! You're acting so sadistic!"

He held a moment longer, then snapped his head finally to her, forcing himself to look in her eyes. Dael saw his resolve almost break, but luckily his eyes were concealed, and so he was able to do it.

"This isn't you! Where is the kind and loving matriarch? Where is our shining, noble lady? Where is…is…"

He swallowed.

"…Where is my friend?!"

Mianyl stared back silently at that. Her face, the cold looks and the calm pleasantness alike, both were gone and didn't return. Time ticked by. At last, Mianyl closed her eyes and exhaled.

"Taraketh…" She said in a soft, quiet voice…remarkably softer and quieter than her tone had been as of late. For a moment, her voice almost seemed like it had been before when she was still "good"…

"The time we spent together as children…was honestly the most wonderful time of my existence. When things were simple and all problems could be solved so easily…with laughter and love. When the world was just a small sphere in which we had control. When the only support I ever needed was you."

Her eyes opened…and they had gone cold and hard again.

"But the world was always much larger than the school, Taraketh. Full of problems that laughter and love couldn't touch, and a universe beyond that in which both hate and love were irrelevant along with anything anyone on this world ever did or will ever do. When I learned that even the most saintly individual is capable of evil…and I learned just how bad that evil could become. When I saw that there was no one who lived without exploiting other things, and realized this was not something that was a fluke or a crime but required for existence. The last ounce of love I had in my heart has long since been poured out. My last laugh left my lips before that. All that is left is what we have now…where we are now."

"No, my lady!" Taraketh protested. "It's not! As bad as things are…for everything that's gone wrong…we can make it better!"

"To what end, Taraketh? In a thousand years or less it won't even matter. There is nothing you, nor I, nor anyone else can make that chaos will not consume long, long before time has ended."

The Sorceress Knight paused, then turned fully to her. His hand went up and brushed back his hood.

"Lady Mianyl…I'm begging you…stop this and remember the woman you are! What you've done for so many! What you can still do!"

Yet in response to this…Mianyl only gave a dark smile and a chuckle.

"The woman I am…" She slowly echoed in a wistful voice. "Taraketh…the 'person' you are referring to died before you even met her. And you, it seems, have been courting her 'mask'. This has always been the 'real me'. The good Mianyl…the noble Mianyl…the saintly Mianyl…she was just another accessory I put on like my sleeves."

She held up her hands before her, letting the sleeves fall back again, and revealing her claws underneath.

"_This_ is who I really am, Taraketh. Who I was born to be…a monster so terrible that it would devour _everything_."

The High Child recoiled at the sight…not so much at what he had seen before, but what Mianyl was saying…the cold ferocity in her voice as she said it…the dark seriousness. As he stared on at this, Dael could read nothing from his face but absolute horror…and pain. He had at last realized the truth…something that his loyalty had kept him from realizing long before now as all the others had. Mianyl was indeed gone. Anything good about her wasn't there any longer…just this. And now there was no way he could deny it any longer.

Dael couldn't imagine what he was feeling right now…and frankly after all he had done, or hadn't done, she didn't really feel he deserved to be 'understood'. She couldn't see well from here…but she was sure his eyes were filling with tears. Mianyl had to be breaking his heart by now...yet seeing as the young woman seemed to lack one of her own, that wasn't too shocking. Mianyl lowered her hands and glared at the Sorceress Knight.

"…So what now, Sir Sabian? Are you too planning on defying me? Are you going to finally do what I claimed you would do the first day we met? That you would eventually turn your back on me and hate me like all the others before you? Or will you stand by me to the end and help me finally punish the crime known as creation?"

Taraketh didn't answer right away. His head looked to the ground…the rain now clearly soaking his head along with the rest of his outer garments. The only one who tried to move or make noise was Jalab…but to no avail. As he began to rise, Aizel merely put his foot on him and shoved him flat, jerking his limbs again.

Taraketh's tongue went out and moistened his lips.

"You may be right, my lady…" He said softly after a time. "Maybe everything is beyond saving. Maybe the only way one life can exist is by destroying things. Maybe there's nothing 'good' in this world that comes to be without a great deal of 'evil' backing it up…"

Mianyl watched and waited, no doubt waiting for the 'powerful word'. Dael found herself doing the same. And after a moment, Taraketh looked up to her, forcing himself to be strong, and said it.

"But...this world…is a wonderful place." He finally said. "And so is every living thing in it. And the sun is a beautiful thing…and it's warm and light. And the sky and the stars twinkling in it are a beautiful thing. And so are mountains and trees and lakes…and people. Even the most heartless, cold dictator was once something that was beautiful and innocent. This world is a good thing…and so is life…and this universe. And if this universe has to be filled with disorder to make it the way it is…then that's something I'll live with. I would rather have a universe filled with violence and destruction that makes something this wondrous and precious and 'sacred' then an empty 'nothing' of just the same chaos.

"That's what's worth defending to me…and it's what you taught me to defend, whether it was a lie or the truth. That the things of this world deserve to live…to have a chance to see everything that can happen with the gift of life, in spite of all of the pain that went with it. So…" He stiffened his jaw, and his voice gained a small amount of forced passion. "So I don't care if you say that all things need to become nothing."

He paused, and then forced himself to say more with greater force even if his tone was hollow.

"…And I don't care if you're my lady and my best friend. You were right…there is an enemy that's a threat to everything…and I'm looking at her."

Two tears rolled down his cheeks as he took in a deep breath and grew firm.

"…And I'll give my life to defend this world from her."

With that, as he continued to cry, Taraketh opened his mouth and, rapidly as he could, chanted out a stream of arcane language. The sky around him darkened as spheres of white, radiant light began to gather around him from all directions, and quickly streaked out rays of purity into one "central point", which quickly condensed and grew into a large ball of holy energy. He raised his hand to "catch" it just as it formed, and, without hesitation, he fired it off straight at Mianyl…a Holy spell.

To be honest…Dael was stunned. That was the woman he loved more than anyone or anything in the world. Even if he had taken a stand against her…to force himself to do that…when he lived a life of emotion and not cool reasoning or logic… It was shocking that he actually was able to do it.

The only thing more stunning was what Mianyl did.

She turned her wrist so that one of her clawed hands was facing forward, and made a palm.

A shell of intense, burning, violet energy, with just the barest hint of iridescence on the edge, lit up around her…without one word. The sphere of Holy magic slammed into it, ringing out like the sound of a thousand crystal chimes exploding at once…and only dipped the shield in a single inch. It came nowhere near to fracturing it. And although it continued to break against it for a few moments, exhausting its power…it never got any closer. The cast off wind, which tugged not only at Taraketh and the Sorceresses, but also Dael from where she stood…never upset so much as a single hair on Mianyl's head. Dael honestly didn't know if Taraketh had been holding back, which was perfectly possible…or if Mianyl could easily shrug off something like that. Either way, it didn't matter at the moment…

As the attack died down, Taraketh was left standing there…his look shattered. He was no doubt being torn apart by his emotions now. Feelings of betrayal. Feelings of pain. Feelings of torment. Feelings of astonishment. Feelings of loss. He was left there like a man who was catatonic. He didn't know whether to be shocked that Mianyl had survived or grateful.

As for Mianyl, she stared blankly for a moment longer, still holding up her palm. Slowly, her head bowed and she drew in a deep breath. She looked back up to Taraketh and gave a slow nod.

"…Then you can die today along with them, Taraketh." She said quietly.

Her hand glowed for only a moment…before lightning snaked out of it, ripped through the air, and pierced the man in dozens of places all over his body.

Taraketh went rigid as the electricity flowed through him. Assuming he would have screamed, he never got the chance as all of his muscles were seized. Mianyl wasted little time. She didn't hold him there and fry him slowly as she had with Faerio. Rather, using the lightning shooting from her palm as if it was a rope of some sort, she quickly snapped her arm through the air, instantly flinging Taraketh through it with the tremendous speed and smashed him into one of the concrete columns supporting the front of the stage so hard that she fractured the stone…all the way through. It was likely reinforced with a girder, but it was enough to make Dael gasp. Without stopping, she immediately flung him over again and smashed him into the column on the opposite side, smashing it as well. Not satisfied with that, she raised her palm…and sent him rocketing into the air by hundreds of feet like he was "falling up". Then, she brought her palm down…and Taraketh descended like a rocket and smashed into the space where he had stood a moment ago. Although he vanished behind the railing…Dael saw bits of construction materials snap loose and rain down from the upper level. If she could see the upper floor, she would note something else…namely that a bloody smear had been left there.

Finally, Mianyl raised her hand up, and Taraketh's body, smoking as well as dripping blood, was hoisted from the ground. She immediately flicked her wrist in one direction, cutting off the lightning at the same time. Dael didn't follow with her gaze, but snapped anyway as, a moment after that happened, the inertia carried Taraketh's body right to her feet…and then flung it down before her to halt.

In spite of everything he had done, she gasped.

His mouth was covered with blood from internal injuries, and his body was twisted and warped as if he had just fallen off a thirty story building. His flesh tone was already paling, and his eyes were wide, pupils shrunk, and not moving…frozen in that same look he had before she attacked.

He wasn't breathing.

Dael was aghast. Looking him over like that…even her anger at his betrayal melted away. Seeing him so easily broken…thrown aside…like he was nothing to her… After all they had been through together, and how far they had come… She couldn't think of his backstabbing now…how he had thrown his lot in with a madwoman. All she could think about was everything they had been to together…about how much he had changed…how she had tried to comfort him on the ship…how he had willingly lost an eye for her…

She looked back up to Mianyl again…and, in spite of her normally cold and logical self, she felt growing rage on looking at her, freshly enkindled. She felt herself beginning to quiver whatever part of her body was under her control as she felt more hatred than ever building up for this monster…

Mianyl herself glared at Taraketh's body for a moment, her look dark…but hiding a lot of emotion going through her mind. She inhaled sharply and exhaled…and finally looked away, blinking once, as if trying not to think about it. However, as she did, her face began to show irritation.

"This game has far too many interruptions, so I think I'm going to call it."

With that, she held up her hand and made another gesture…this time in Dael's direction. For a moment, she thought the end would come right there, especially when she felt a powerful gust of wind shoot by her…but it didn't. She couldn't see it, but the wind shot by her and continued to build and condense, until, similar to Cryder's move, it formed a series of "wind slashes". But unlike with his, which went everywhere, these went straight to the cameras and went to key spots on them where the tarps were and where they were tied down. They made several cutting motions…and soon, each one was exposed and free.

She shifted the position of her hand and pointed out again…and this time lightning streaked over Dael's head along with everyone else's. Again, the former captain couldn't see where it went…but it touched every electronic breaker attached to the cameras and proceeded to activate them all in one shot. Dael may have not seen this, but she heard the power go on behind her. This was shocking to her…but it would have been to anyone, in actuality. No one on Gaia had so much power focus that they could manipulate magic at will like that…

Yet more unsettling was the fact that they were live now…that everyone was watching this.

Mianyl looked up to the unseen cameras, and she was sure they were already focused on the area. Perhaps some were even focused on her while others were on the stage.

"People of Esthar…I apologize for starting late." She sounded out. "However, there will be no further delays. To all those who are still watching your televisions within this city even now, I hope you tell others what you see here. I hope you see how futile it is to defy me as you watch these individuals die horribly. Look now and see the body already cast down…"

Mianyl said more than that afterward…but Dael didn't hear it.

Instead, she heard a twinkling behind her…followed by an explosion far away in an alley several blocks from them. It was so faint she couldn't even hear it over Mianyl's voice.

"…and know that there is none safe from my power…who I will not…"

There was no more confirmation. No more warning. All she heard was the sound of arcane language immediately being whispered in a steady stream…before rays of blue and green light formed over her body and began to "rain down" as if they were made of electric raindrops.

Dael felt her feeling rush back into her. Immediately…numbness, soreness, and every other sensation that would leave her feeling as stiff and useless as a board came to her, and in spite of her best efforts she let her arm fall along with her sword.

"…spare from-"

Mianyl's voice cut off. The other Sorceresses saw this…and they showed genuine surprise. Aizel, who had removed his foot from Jalab, content that he was finished, had readied himself to split his head once again…this time to kill him with his blow. Yet he too froze on seeing the reaction of his Sorceress, and looked to what was doing it.

In spite of being stiff, sore, half-numb, and barely able to move…Dael felt herself pumping every last bit of strength and focus she could muster into her limbs. _Now or never!_

Taking her right hand off of her sword and letting her left arm fall, her hand went down to her side. In a moment, she grabbed the Mage Gun. Putting as much power as she could into it, she yanked it out of the holster and brought it up to eye level, immediately putting Phoenix in her sights as best as she was able. Her grip wavered, and she risked only a split second to steady her aim.

_Shoot the feather…shoot the feather…shoot the feather…please…_

She pulled the trigger.

As always, the shot went off with a "fwoomp" sound, like a mortar firing. A cloud of charged smoke billowed out as the shell shot through the air…but even from a distance Dael could tell it was only in the general direction. Unable to do anything else now besides this…she found herself continuing to chant over and over again to herself for it to make it, focusing on it, as if by some cosmic fluke she could control this like any other spell and make it hit. No one moved, mercifully. No one tried to cast any shields. Either they were surprised or they ignored it. Phoenix herself didn't move. She continued to stand there like a statue, waiting for her next command to come. The shell passed the halfway point…and then shimmered for a moment before it shattered. The spell was cast. The air darkened and grew more "powered" for a moment…for the power of the shell was enough to charge everyone into having their hair and clothing begin to lift…and then, the deadly beam of lightning erupted and wormed its way through the air…

And hit the feather dead on.

Dael didn't even notice it at first, based on the size of a lightning bolt. The sheer brightness, after all, dimmed any chance of seeing such a thing clearly. She thought she had just blasted her in the face. Yet the lightning made contact with the feather and lodged there. It had to hold for a few moments…but that was all it took to overload every last fine device in the metal feather through massive power-based heat loss. In a blast of sparks, the feather was annihilated, and the bolt continued to race through the air and tore a gouge in the side of the building beyond.

The lightning cut off a moment later, but even before it did, Phoenix suddenly spasmed. She began to move wildly, letting out a screeching cry. Her head began to thrash about along with her wings and feet…and Dael realized Faerio had been right. That _had_ been a control device.

The Sorceresses looked up to this and showed further surprise. They had clearly not expected that she would do that, and now realized that one of their largest assets had just had her control broken. Aizel also looked up, seeing the source of his immortality gone…

And Jalab saw it as well.

At once, whatever power he was able to call on in a moment was brought out…and with his one good leg and back, he thrust himself forward with such power that he rolled up and over and onto one squatted leg, his good one, all while bringing his fist back and concentrating so strongly that his aura ignited on that limb alone.

Aizel snapped back to him at this point, but his macuahuital and arms were still to one side. And so…he was able to do little as Jalab pushed himself a bit higher, swung his fist around, which blazed in even more power as it did so, enough to seemingly ignite the air, and delivered an iron palm straight into Aizel's chest.

Normally, such would have been a useless blow, except it did something no one anticipated due to the sheer power that Jalab had been putting into it, hoping for a moment just like this one.

With the sound of a massive wet cracking and a "splattering" on the other side…Jalab's fist plunged right through Aizel's chest and erupted out from the other size in a bloody exit wound.

For a few brief moments, everyone on both sides froze again. Cybus' face, normally so cool, calm, and always smiling…melted into shock as her jaw loosened. Mianyl at last showed just the slightest hint of surprise herself. Dael, on her part, had let her weapon fall at this point. As Phoenix's writhing died down, the former captain stared almost blankly at what Jalab had managed to do. The monk himself was sweating, red-faced, and clearly in a great deal of pain…but he also remained posed with his bloody, dripping limb still lodged in Aizel's chest. As blood began to mount in the corners of Aizel's mouth, the Fuliet warrior slowly looked down, seeing the limb stuck inside of him…and let his arms fall. The macuahuital fell to the ground soon after at last, finally leaving his grip. He looked up to Jalab after that.

He spoke so quietly that Dael could barely hear him.

"Perhaps…she does…make you stronger…"

His eyes glazed over, and his legs gave out. Jalab used his own falling weight just enough to rip his arm back out of his chest again. Once Aizel lay on the ground in a lifeless heap, the monk exhaled and collapsed as well, in too much pain and agony to go any farther.

As he lay there…Dael felt her hand tingle as fiery light began to etch the symbol of Phoenix on it. Yet even as it was still forming, the firebird herself finally relaxed from her "perch". She was still standing, and kept her head down a moment, seeming to be catching her breath. After that, however, she raised her head and looked about her. Dael couldn't very well read the emotion on a bird…but she believed she saw less confusion than she expected. There was a chance she had been aware the whole time of what was happening. Finally, however, the Guardian Force looked down to where Dael and the others were…but she didn't look to the one in the lead, but to the boy at her side.

"Bahamut!" She suddenly called out. "It's you, isn't it?"

Yet Dael wasn't focusing too much on that, when she saw something change in her peripheral vision. She looked down below, and saw that Veriguno and Cybus were both turning to Phoenix. Not only that…but the air around them seemed to be lighting up. It made sense. If she wasn't under their control…she wasn't any use to them…

"Get out of here!" Bahamut suddenly shouted, the first phrase he had said since this exchange began due to the spell. "Fly away!"

The firebird hesitated. She looked down…and saw what he meant. The two Sorceresses were already raising their hands to fire. She began to extend her wings on seeing that, but unlike a real bird that could react quickly, it was taking her time.

A weak female voice called out behind her.

"Cid…get Veriguno…now!"

"I've got it!"

At last, the former captain was able to snap around…and was just in time to see the bloody, bruised, barely-standing Faerio snap out from behind the pole she had been anchored to and cast a spell of her own, instantly throwing a large and compacted fireball straight for the next-strongest Sorceress. It was the biggest Firaga that Dael had ever seen, singing her despite not being the intended target as it roared by. When it came out, Veriguno was forced to halt what she was doing. She snapped to the attack, and quickly diverted her hands in front of her. She managed to somehow raise a shield in time…but the attack still ignited against her with such explosive force that it ripped her clean off of her feet, in spite of her physical size and power, and threw her back through the "curtains" behind her.

Cybus nearly got off an attack…but the other person who had shouted, Cid, had wasted no time on being freed. Immediately, he snapped out another attachment and within seconds after being released, he had connected his arc welder. As Cybus had readied to fire, he let it go…sending out a deadly bolt of electricity of his own, casting it in her direction. Yet it didn't strike her head on. Rather…it went high and tagged the archway over her head, digging into the stone and concrete and snapping it loose. Huge chunks of material with sufficient force to split a head, and they made her break off and look up as well at the incoming danger. Even if the direct arc couldn't hurt her, she was forced to quickly deploy a shield of her own to stop herself from being crushed, but the force still caught her off guard so much she actually fell to her rear.

Dael didn't waste her moment either. As this went on, she quickly put her Mage Gun away, kept her sword to her side, and dashed forward. She had to vault over Taraketh to do so…casting another look at him momentarily…before she ran up to the body of Aizel and Jalab. She quickly reached out her arms, got them under the monk's shoulders, and then began to yank him back and away…back to the person who could provide a measure of protection. It was painful to him…but it was worth it. Meanwhile, the attacks landed. Mianyl, on her part, looked back to the ground and made another gesture…and Dael soon saw the "electric spirals" ignite all around them. This time, however, it wasn't any good. After attempting to land for a few moments, they merely shattered and scattered in all directions. Faerio's barrier held, and there was no "double tap" this time.

In moments, the situation had reversed.

Leaving Jalab next to Taraketh's own body, Dael quickly released him, stepped over, and held her sword in front of her. Keeping his own weapons out, Bahamut went up to her side…and Carbuncle raced out from under her legs, having returned from teleporting the bomb and restrains on Faerio deep into the city where they went off harmlessly, and then moved to her other side. Cid eased off of his weapon and then immediately went for Faerio. The Sorceress nearly collapsed from her release of power…but even as she fell her own Sorceress Knight released his grip long enough to put an arm around her and hold her up…as well as close, clearly intending to be her shield now. Faerio, strengthened by this, managed to look up…and somehow managed to glare defiantly at Mianyl as well.

On the Sorceress' side…Veriguno was still out of the picture and Cybus had been knocked down by the rubble and was digging her way out again. Aizel was dead…and Phoenix had the chance to take off, immediately flying around the building so that even as she flew away they wouldn't be able to follow her with their eyes. That left only Mianyl. By now, she showed a touch of anger.

To be honest, as Dael looked at her…she felt only a little less helpless than she had while still immobilized. The fact of the matter remained that, even now, things weren't nearly as good as they could be. Yet this was her one chance to try and look defiant. She only prayed that Faerio was working on teleporting them out of there.

"You picked a good time to turn on those cameras, Mianyl." She stated. "I hope the world can see defying you isn't as suicidal as you'd like them to believe. After all…why would you bother having us publicly executed if you thought you were invincible?"

Mianyl didn't answer. She stared back without change momentarily. Dael, however, didn't want to wait. She opened her mouth, and began to say the word.

"Casting-"

"I've seen enough."

With that, she raised her hand and aimed it at all of them at once. At first, Dael expected her to unleash more lightning…and, if she did, she honestly didn't have a defense for that. However, something else came instead. The Sorceress lived up to her namesake as, within moments, the group was literally smacked down by a tremendous blast of wind. Dael, in spite of being at near full strength, was knocked off of her feet and onto her back. After all, any force that so abruptly came forth, wind or otherwise, possessed an overwhelming power when striking something at rest. She wasn't alone. Everyone else not already down was soon impacted with near sufficient force to put them there. Bahamut was able to stop himself from being knocked fully back by diving forward as the wind hit him…managing to catch a slipstream to push him to the ground before he could get flipped over. Cid, on his part, tried to shield Mianyl…but the force was enough to push them both down even after that.

Once on the ground, Dael found she wasn't just being knocked over…but the force was pushing her backward. And it didn't seem to matter that she was on a slight incline. It continued to push her none the less. She only managed to stop herself when she hit the same post that Faerio had been tied to. On making contact, she quickly used it as a point to flip herself around and balance her body. Cid, at the same time, struggled to keep holding onto Faerio as he tried to use the weight of his pack to hold him steady. Carbuncle was flung back and forced to stop himself by landing against a larger body. Bahamut pushed himself flat. In spite of this…Jalab was soon being pushed back as well, shoved against Taraketh's body as he was forced away by the ever-growing wind. As he began to near, Dael, forcing her body around to orientate in the opposite direction, planted her feet on the post and reached out with her free hand.

"Get Taraketh!" Jalab managed to shout out over the wind as she did so.

Dael actually reacted in surprise to that…but before she could say a word, he called out again.

"Still life in him! I can feel it!"

The former captain paused momentarily on hearing that. She hadn't used her "spirit sight" for a while, but she reasoned that Jalab was more in tune with the "chis" of others. Even so, she saw Taraketh's lifeless-seeming body roll right by her. She thought for a moment…about how foolish he was and how he had just stood by as all of those people died… For a moment, a twinge of spite nearly told her to just let him go…to let this ever-growing wind take him away.

In spite of that…her arm lashed out and grabbed hold of him, and firmly. She halted his progess, and Jalab, reaching out with his one good arm, seized a panel on the ground and held tight. Bahamut did the same. Unfortunately, that didn't help much.

The wind soon built to hurricane level…or that of a wind tunnel. Dael and the others had to turn their heads away to avoid having their eyes stung by the blast…but it only grew stronger and stronger yet, threatening to rip their clothes off of their bodies. The group kept themselves pressed down as long as they could, although the wind just continued to grow… Finally, however, Dael felt something that began to make her nervous. She felt her body beginning to "wobble". The wind, so intense at this point, was causing an "air wing" effect around her body. It was starting to make her pick up against her will. And still it got stronger. In fact, the more she wobbled, the more the wind seemed to go "underneath" her, as if trying to pick her up. And all the while it threatened to break her attempts to hold herself back. She couldn't see the others now…but the force of the gale was pushing her so hard against the post that she could almost "stand horizontally" against it, and she could barely hold onto her sword in one hand and Taraketh's body in the other, which seemed to be pulling more and more, enough to rip her arm free, or his, at this rate.

Yet over the growing gale, Dael heard a voice. Naturally, no normal voice could be heard over it…so it seemed to undulate with the wind itself.

"I would have just used my lightning again to end this, Dael. You saw how easy it would have been for me to throw you over the sides. But I want you to be fully aware when I show you how helpless you are before me."

The wind continued to grow even beyond that, and Dael felt her legs beginning to lift off. She began to grow rather fearful. A bit more, and all of them would be thrown into the air…likely right off of the edge of the building. It didn't help that the buffeting was starting to move her off of the pole she was balanced on. She didn't have any free hands. One held onto Save the Queen, and the other to Taraketh. She couldn't stay balanced much longer, either. The wind only needed to go in one direction for a heartbeat to make her lose her balance…

Yet as she struggled to hold on through this, unable to see from the intense wind…she heard something erupt nearby. She wasn't sure what it was exactly at first…but then her memory registered. It was a sound she had heard similar to her spiritual divides. Not only that…but she had heard it before, and not from her. Back in Helheim at the prison…

_Bahamut…_

Abruptly, the wind ebbed…yet only sounded more intense than ever as the power made a "second" eruption. She suddenly looked up, a bit surprised that she _could_ look up, and saw that the situation had changed.

Bahamut, shield braced in front of him, had exploded in power once again. Even now, a rippling energy cloud, made up of some sort of electric blue mist, seemed to surround him. He was no longer at her side, but had taken off like a cannon shell straight for Mianyl. Whatever energy he had called around him was allowing him to defy gravity, for his body was sailing straight up in a diagonal path for the balcony. He looked like he was putting all of his power behind the shield, and was flying straight up for Mianyl's head. Yet in spite of that, she continued to calmly hold her hand out and blast him with wind. His body was still being propelled by some forward force, but it was immobilized a full fifteen feet from her, and seeming to hover as her power knocked it back. At any rate, the "wind break" caused by his shield was what was allowing Dael to look forward.

Mianyl gazed at him without change. Dael couldn't see the eyes of Bahamut, but they were narrowed as he kept pushing.

"In that fragile human body, you're nothing to me, Bahamut." She said, her voice still reverberating on the wind. "Yet even if you were a Guardian Force, do you really think even you could contend with the power of Hyne's Descendent? A woman beyond the power of Aerith the Radiant herself?"

Bahamut didn't answer…but Dael almost thought she could hear him grunting over the wind. It continued to blast, and somehow…he continued to hold just like that. She honestly wasn't sure if Mianyl was the one holding him in place, or if it was some effect of his power. At any rate…she knew it was no use. Once he collapsed, the wind would batter them all full force. The sudden surge of power might even be enough to throw them right off the building at the first jump…

Yet as she thought of this, she suddenly heard something far more distinctly over the wind. It started as just a strained yell…but then quickly enlarged and twisted, turning into a bestial roar…the same she had heard back in Leuco. When she heard that, she saw Mianyl was unimpressed, but only for a moment as the aura around Bahamut suddenly tripled in intensity before his body shot forward for her again. At first, it only went slow…but it did close the distance. It only went slower as it neared, but it continued to come.

Mianyl's eyes widened. She tried blasting with more wind…enough to where Dael nearly felt herself and the others cast down in spite of Bahamut's slipstream…but he only kept coming, kept bellowing out that roar…and narrowed the distance further. He closed down to five feet, and still going steady. Four feet.

Three feet.

Two feet…slower, but still coming.

One foot.

Inches…and now, clear, beyond a doubt, that he would touch her before her power halted him…a fact that made Mianyl finally show genuine shock.

Yet that only lasted a moment before giving into rage.

Her other hand snapped up and aimed at Bahamut. As she cut off the wind with one hand, abruptly releaseing Dael, Bahamut, and everyone else, she let fly a second spell from her other hand… Dael wasn't sure if it was a 'conventional' spell or just an outpouring of power. All she knew was a bright plume of fire, like a magma eruption from a volcano, burst forth from her palm and touched Bahamut as he swung down. Dael didn't see where, and she didn't need to.

She saw all she needed from the exit wound as the space on his back directly across from his abdomen burst open from within, letting out an eruption of the same magma blast.

Mianyl's fire attack literally burst a large, flaming hole right through Bahamut's gut.

This was even more horrifying to Dael that what had happened with the colonel, Jalab, and Taraketh. It was like firing a bullet through a paper target. The sheer force of it was enough to knock Bahamut into the air and send him flying back toward the others…trailing out not blood but ash as he did so. For a moment…Dael thought she saw a glimmer of dim sunlight through the wound, although it may have been her imagination. At any rate…she didn't stand idly for this.

Dropping the Save the Queen and Taraketh's arm and moving as fast as she could, she forced herself back to her feet while everyone else was still on the ground and trying to rise. She was fast enough. She got underneath Bahamut just as he came down, and quickly cupped out her arms to catch him. Moments later, he landed hard in her grasp. Strong as she was, the impact was tough enough to catch her off guard and at a direction, so she staggered backward before falling into a squat. However, she didn't notice that. Her focus was completely on the boy in her arms.

"Bahamut!"

He was still alive…and conscious. But neither of those were good points at the moment. His eyes were wide in pain, and Dael literally felt her own clothing and skin being singed just by making contact with the exit wound. A blackened hole that was still gleaming like a dying ember was in his abdomen. She realized that he had to be getting burned within his insides even as she held onto him right here…that more of his own organs were being roasted within the coals made by his own flesh. To be honest, it was shocking he was even alive, let alone conscious. The only way he could be at this point was the junction of Leviathan. Even so, he was stiff and spasming, driving himself into more pain every moment. He had to be going into shock.

As the others saw this, and struggled desperately to yank themselves back up and over to her…none of them devoted any attention to the remaining threat. Mianyl's face was covered with darkness now, showing a low-burning anger in her expression as she lowered both hands. She glared out at Bahamut and Dael hatefully. Yet even as she did so…she was forced to slowly inhale and exhale. That last moment move had actually forced her to exert some effort.

As she stared, the curtains to her left parted. A moment later, Veriguno, dusting off her clothing slightly but otherwise unhurt, walked back out again. On her right, Cybus finally picked up a piece of rock the size of a basketball with her fingers extending a pinkie, and then threw it aside, before rising up and adjusting her hair slightly along with her clothing. She too was unhurt…even scratched. She stared one more time at Aizel, her face tightening a bit, but then looked back to Mianyl along with Veriguno.

Mianyl glared darkly only a second longer.

"…Make sure they can't escape."

By now, everyone was gathering around Dael and Bahamut. Dael continued to stare at him…this act finally breaking her of her controlled and fearless looks. She only stared blankly, her jaw loose, and breathing hard and fearfully to see him like this. Carbuncle soon ran up and around her, putting his paws up on Bahamut and looking over him, his own tiny face tight with worry. Jalab could only weakly look in their direction. He was even more exhausted and in pain after what had just happened, and looked to be wavering in and out of consciousness. As for Cid, he managed to bring Faerio up to him. She looked down at his body, but whether she would have used a spell or not in another moment was irrelevant. For as they all gathered around, Dael saw power condensing around the other two Sorceresses.

She snapped her head up to them, but was too late to react even if it would have done any good. Cybus flicked her fingers out while Veriguno made a fist and punched the air forward…both of them aiming for different people.

Moments later…and ice darts literally formed in mid-air on the path between Carbuncle and Cybus, sailing straight for the green creature, and before he even know what had happened the razor sharp blades of ice stabbed him at least an inch deep in five different places in his back. Considering his size…that was horrible. Immediately, the Guardian Force went rigid, crying out, before he fell off of Bahamut and to the ground, blood staining all five ice shards. He only lay there and writhed...seriously wounded and possibly paralyzed from that attack.

Dael would have been more horrified had her attention not been split between that and Faerio, who was much worse. The Sorceress had only a moment to look up to what happened, before her face paled. She tried to do something…for her arms began to rise even as she used strength that Dael wasn't aware she had to push herself up and away from the ground, causing Cid to look to her. Yet it was too late for either to do anything. The gesture that Veriguno had made suddenly appeared in the air…taking the form of a gray ball of dirt or, more appropriately, gray pebbles condensed together. Dael at first thought it was a projectile attack, designed to cause trauma. She continued to think that as she saw it smack Faerio square in the chest…only to see it didn't knock her back. Rather, the ball exploded and scattered the pebbles all over her…and they immediately "melted" into her skin.

That was shocking enough, but not nearly as much as what followed. They turned her skin gray and the texture hard and rough where it hit, along with her clothing…and it quickly spread from there, staining the rest of her the same color. Faerio's eyes widened and she let out a gasp…only for it to be cut off as the fast-spreading material covered her chest completely and instantly turned rigid, meaning her lungs weren't pumping anymore. She was left gaping and looked up…but soon couldn't do that as the grayness spread up her neck and along her shoulders and hips, freezing her limbs in place. She moved only a little more before it ran down the rest of her appendages as well as her face, going all the way to her scalp and spreading down her hair…and turning everything completely stiff and immobile.

Dael had never seen a petrification spell before, but she had thought that they were a myth. Magic was one thing…but turning someone into stone? That seemed a little too hard to swallow.

She was wrong.

As the former captain gawked…she saw that the youngest Sorceress had been turned into a lifeless statue.

"Lady Faerio!" Cid exclaimed, doubly shocked compared to Dael. He stood there and stammered for a moment. As for Dael, she too was shocked…seeing the young woman turned into lifeless rock so suddenly and abruptly. However, her military mindset clicked in, and quickly reminded her that this kind of spell wasn't permanent. It could be undone with Esuna, a spell she had memorized. And yet, as she sat there…seeing Taraketh broken…Jalab bloody and smashed…Carbuncle crippled, impaled, and bleeding…and Bahamut possibly breathing his last in her arms…it made her hesitate.

Unfortunately, Mianyl didn't.

"We're finished here." She stated.

Cybus and Veriguno both looked to her as their hands returned to their sides. "We didn't want to make an example?"

"These primitive ways of destroying civilization are too time-consuming. We're moving on to the next level. Lady Cybus, go to the teleporter. Lady Veriguno, follow her after you've set the timer to demolish this building."

"Aren't you coming, my lady?" Cybus asked.

"Momentarily. My power is apparently still too weak if a human boy can nearly lay a finger on me…"

The two paused only a moment, and then turned and left. By now, Dael had looked back to her…but the High Sorceress only responded by lifting her hand again and aiming at the statue of Faerio. Immediately, the air began to darken and charge once again…in moments preparing to launch a lightning strike.

"It's time." She said with only the slightest increase of emotion.

At once, a thick, powerful bolt of electricity shot down from the heavens…and shattered the statue of Faerio into a million pieces.

No one moved at that…although, in all honesty, there were only two individuals left who saw that clearly. As far as Dael was concerned, however…for a moment, she even forgot about Bahamut. All she saw was the stone face of Faerio hovering there for a moment, still stuck in its last moment of surprise…and then shattering. Even as the fragments blew away in all directions, some being cast away into nothingness, and others being spread in all directions…some even striking Dael in the face…she thought for a moment of seeing those pieces coming back together. As if it was a way of some cosmic power saying, "Ha, sorry! That was a joke! See, she's fine?"

But it didn't happen. The bolt was so powerful that it shattered her all the way down to the feet. There were a few larger bits of rock, but other than that…nothing. Not even the slightest hint that what had been there had ever been a human. Not the slightest discernable detail on the pieces that clattered to the roof like so much rubble.

Just like that…in the simplest of gestures…Faerio was gone.

The person they had all fought and sweat and struggled to save…destroyed like she was a blade of grass before a scythe. Yet another person important to Dael…another friend…snuffed out without the slightest bit of pity, hesitation, or effort on the part of Mianyl. She could do nothing but stare…unable to move anymore. She had too much shock now. Too much death and senseless killing. She was helpless to do anything anymore as she saw yet another person so casually "swept away", a life and a friendship and all that entailed a person snuffed out in an instant.

She didn't even notice Cid…see the horror on his face rekindled all over again. The hope that Dael had restored just yesterday went away again. Suddenly…the engineer broke. Collapsing to his hands and knees, he clawed his way over to the rubble remains. Dael watched, unable to say anything or move, as the engineer, so desperate and horrified, picked up the pieces in his hands and held them before himself…as if somehow that gesture would put them back together and give them life. Or perhaps he was looking for the slightest sign of Faerio still in there. But there was nothing…nothing but rubble. Not one discernable feature of what had once been a woman.

He could only hold that way for a moment. As Dael saw his hands go flaccid…saw the pieces of rubble rain from his hands to the rest of the pile…she saw him quiver all over. But it wasn't sadness this time. It was uncontrollable rage, and it built to a boiling point. Suddenly, he snapped out and seized his arc welder, still ready and primed, and rose to aim at Mianyl.

"_Damn-"_

"Please be quiet." Mianyl answered as she gestured again…sending a second bolt through the air that struck Cid with such force that it left a large, black, smoldering mark across his chest, muted his voice…and knocked him off of his feet and sent him flying backward as if he was nothing more than a doll who had been backhanded by a giant. He flew through the air until he smashed into one of the TV cameras so hard that he actually dented it in. He fell to the ground afterward…limp and unmoving.

Dael saw that happen…her jaw still hanging loose…and looked back over the group for a moment.

All down…all potentially mortally wounded…or already dead.

She was the only one left…and she literally had the dying Bahamut in her arms.

"Fulfill your final duty, traitor…"

Mianyl's voice, somehow, gained the attention of the nearly-apoplectic Dael, who turned back to her. When she did, she saw the Sorceress hadn't been talking to her. She was looking to the rubble remains of Faerio, and held her hand out to them.

"Fulfill the Succession."

Dael nearly felt her rage return. What more did this monster want? She had killed her, destroyed her body, and smacked Cid aside after torturing her for two days, treating his pain with the same disregard as an alarm clock signal. Did she want her reduced to dust as well?

Yet before Dael could gain enough wits to protest, she saw something new.

As Mianyl held her hand out to the stones, something was happening to them. They flashed. At first, Dael thought it was only a trick of the eye. But a moment later, she saw another flash. A third one, which happened sooner than the second, actually had a form she could see. A ray of light. A fourth came. Then a fifth and a sixth together. Then two more. Then three more. They continued this trend, until they were coming out continuously. And as they did, the rays became longer lasting and more distinct. They took on a glowing color, a soft pink and blue mixture…something like a ray of Lifestream, Bahamut would say if he could see it. Only something else of the same quality. It continued to issue forth, one after another, from the remains…until the rays were so long-lasting they began to curve in space. They continued to do so, growing longer and longer, until they actually curved around themselves in all directions, tracing out patterns. It went from being an "eruption" of light rays to being a cloud of them, swarming around the remains of the rubble.

As it continued to grow in light and intensity, Mianyl kept her hand out and calmly waited. The cloud grew larger until it was enough to bathe over the surroundings where it lay. Then…it changed. Suddenly, like a school of fish driven by a predator, and to the tune of an almost blinding flash that made Dael recoil in spite of her shock, the rays arched upward, pitched in the air, and streamed straight for the High Sorceress. Moments later, they made contact with her palm. Another flash of light went out…but then they rapidly began to sink in one after another, often in groups.

Dael watched this, and realized what it was similar to.

The "draw magic" she had seen in Leuco.

That meant this wasn't good.

She soon saw all the confirmation she needed of that. As she stared at Mianyl, her perfect hair began to lengthen and burst from its bun, forming long strands down on either side of her head. Her crest seemed to twist and alter, becoming more elaborate…no longer showing just the wind by changing into something that mixed ornate lightning bolts snaking through it… The crest seemed to turn from gold to platinum and reshaped downward as Mianyl's robes turned darker in the black spots and more vibrant and vivid where the purple colors were. Her face began to grow lined with "etchings", as if her very veins were tracing out runes within it…and her eyes gleamed more and more, as if they were producing light and not just merely "vivid". In addition to that, her claws lengthened further. Where before they had some semblance of human digits, they were now becoming purely animal…

Yet even without these, one could sense from the mere changes in the air and the feeling of growing intensity…the very "weight" of her aura seeming to press down on the ground…that she had grown far stronger than before.

The process ended, and her clawed hand lowered. No more strain or weakness was on her expression. She merely held her head up high, closed her eyes, and inhaled and exhaled slowly…brimming with more power than ever.

Dael blinked once, and then called out. "What did you just-"

"Shut up, nothing."

Mianyl flicked her wrist…and a ball, not of lightning, but rather what looked like raw plasma itself, hissing and spitting and cycling in a burning cloud, shot out from her palm and streaked through the air like a bullet. Dael barely had time to register surprise before it smashed directly into her skull.

Immediately, she fell backward and let Bahamut fall…a bloody gash across her forehead that began to run down her face, into and out of her eyes, and along her cheek and nose. She was unconscious.

Mianyl glared at her and the others a moment longer, before reaching out to take the side of her dress and snapping it so it wouldn't get caught as she turned around and looked up, through the rain and the clouds, and up to the top of the building. At once, she held both of her hands out at her sides…and her aura flared as more power was called to them…and both of her hands soon began to gleam with burning light, crackling out energy in the form of white-hot bolts. They held there and drew larger and stronger, beginning to crack out enough to touch the floor, where they cut blackened rifts into it, and lashed out to set the curtains before her on fire. Her eyes, gleaming already, burned even more before, nearly gleaming as much as the "electric fire" in her hands.

Abruptly…massive bolts strung out from both of her palms, larger, stronger, and brighter than any lightning that had been used, expanding to full size as they snaked through the air into the heavens, gleaming bright and branching out. Thousands in the city saw it, as well as heard the thunder that resulted. The bolts themselves went up until they could branch out all around the uppermost floor of the tower, and then lashed out and sank in on a hundred places at once, their deadly power fracturing and splintering it all over like a stone eggshell.

And just like a cracked egg, shortly after the plasma bolts struck it, the entire upper tier of the Odina Building shattered and fell down, sending massive pieces of rubble toppling off of the side the building and raining down below. Mianyl cared nothing for the additional damage done to the building as it fell, nor for the fact that there were still people below who were vulnerable to the rubble. One large piece headed straight for her…but the plasma in her hands merely shot out and annihilated it with one blast, instantly turning it into dust so fine that the wind carried it off. The rest of the debris smashed down around her, pounding holes into the floor, but luckily none went near the fallen, bleeding, broken group. She continued to stare upward at what as beyond.

A series of platforms leading upward, framed by large "bracers" that extended around it to create the outline of a sphere. If Dael had been conscious, she would have recognized it immediately for what it was: a 'Bifrost', just like the one that had been used to go to Sybenia. This one, however, was larger and summoned a great deal more power. In fact, as it was exposed, it seemed to be generating energy already…causing brownouts not only in the Odina Building but everywhere for many city blocks. Huge transformers were gleaming with so much heat from power that charge was snaking off of it. Larger coils beyond that held even more energy, and room for massive cables strained down into the bulk of the building and into the city beyond it, sucking more and more power out of it all the time to build more charge.

Mianyl looked to it only a moment, the bolts dying down but her arms still in their old position, before looking back to the ruins of the stage. Bodies litered everywhere…some dead…some dying…and some not clearly in any group. Whatever cameras had survived the onslaught until now had long since been drained of power. Yet looking away from both the group and the cameras, she looked over the gray city as the rain continued to pour down on it.

"I'm leaving you now, Gaia." She stated to no one in particular. "This is the last I'll ever see you like this. But when I return, I will bring nonexistence itself with me as my final gift to you."

Pause.

"And I will be back _very_ soon."

With that, the woman turned away and looked back up to the top of the building. Soon after, obviously under her own power, her body literally lifted up from the balcony of the stage. Her hands were still out at her sides as she raised into the air, ascending through the stormy skies through the roof. Even if anyone had been watching, the mixture of the rain and wind, as well as the flashes of light from the Bifrost, obscured everything soon enough, allowing her to vanish.

The group was left on the group in the falling rain. It slowly washed the blood and ash off of their bodies and made streaks of vermillion and soot mix in with the puddles. On the pile of rubble that was once Faerio, the loose bits of rock slowly ran out into streaks of wet mud. One of the cameras, askew over the edge of the building, suddenly fell the rest of the way and over the edge. Other than that, the only sounds were gently falling rain.

No one moved or reacted…not even when the generators over their heads warped up to maximum, gleamed as bright as the sun for a brief moment, and then, right before exploding and going out forever, sent a ray of light straight through the gloom and into the heavens…where Nyx Gaia awaited far beyond on the other side.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	64. Inherit the Wind

The pulse rocketed into the air for a steady ten seconds. As a result…it was rather easy to catch Quaren's attention. He gaped in shock as he saw the pillar of light erupt from the top of the Odina Building.

"What is that?" He nearly shouted into the mouthpiece attached to the flight helmet. "Another spell?"

"Get your eyes off of it and worry about keepin' this bucket straight, mate!" Cryder immediately shouted back into his own. "We're starting to pitch!"

Quaren snapped back to the controls, made an exclamation, and quickly pulled on them again. However, he overcompensated, and soon the vehicle began to go the other way. Ceja let out a stream of curses from the back of the aircraft in her native language, while Cryder fumbled around desperately for an "OMG" handle within the vehicle and found nothing. He finally got it steady, but then he glared at him. "Do _I _need to take the wheel?"

"I spent a week learning how to fly one of these things four years ago and haven't since!" The former corporal complained. "And I didn't learn in the rain, either!"

"Just get us up there!"

"I'm going!"

Having regained control, Quaren adjusted the turbines to output more power and cause them to ascend once again. He was still having trouble memorizing the control placement for everything, but he was also constantly distracted by looking to the terrace on the first set of roofs of the Odina Building. Over the past few minutes, things had gotten more than a bit hectic. Lightning seemed to flash out constantly from it, and huge building chunks and other debris had rained down on a regular basis…not the least of which was when the building seemed to literally peel its top like a giant fruit and revealed a device that Quaren recognized was a large version of the prototype Bifrost.

What did they need with that?

He didn't know…nor did he know what would be up there when they arrived. For now, however, he looked to Cryder. "Can we get the weapons online? I'm not sure what good they'll do against the Sorceresses, but we should have something to try and suppress them long enough to get people out."

Before Cryder could respond, a beeping from the console ahead of them, loud and piercing so that they could hear it in the headphones as well as through the rest of the ship, went off, directing everyone's attention to it. It wasn't a device on the console, per say, but rather on the display system for the rest of the ship. It soon lit up, and afterward began to show a technical grid, which outlined a building that looked a lot like the Odina building. After doing so, it swept the grid around and highlighted the lower levels, where it showed several red, flashing blocks.

"I can guess that's not a good thing, but what exactly does that mean?" The pirate asked.

Quaren, on his part, had gone a bit pale on sat silently.

Cryder looked to him. "…Lad?"

He swallowed. "There's…a bomb on a detonator timer…in the bottom of that building."

The pirate hesitated for a moment, but then snorted. "Nice one, mate. You had me goin' there for a second. But I ain't daft enough to not know that there isn't any machine that can just find that sort of thing out."

"True…unless the device is using one of the crystal decay timers for the detonator that are standard issue among Esthar's Hawks." Quaren half-gulped in response. "All of our vehicles can pick up on their frequency easily. That's how we know never to land in an area where we've set timed explosives in an operation."

By now, Ceja was listening into this. Even without a background in technology and explosives, she understood a bomb timer. "And…how long will it be before the bomb goes off?"

"We only know the signature pulse rate…not how much time it is. It could be an hour…it could be three seconds."

The three on board were all silent for only a fraction of a second, letting that sink in. Finally, Quaren yanked back on the controls far harder than before.

"Hang on."

Ceja and Cryder only had moments to press themselves back into their seats before their stomachs did loops, as the Stratoaevis suddenly rocketed into the air almost uncontrollably. They didn't have time to do this "nice and easy" anymore, or even to sneak up on the Sorceresses. However, Quaren began to think they weren't even there anymore. They wouldn't have set a bomb if that was the case. Then again, if they _did_ set a bomb…what did that mean about the others? What exactly had gone on up there?

The aircraft rocketed upward higher and higher until it passed the edge of the roof itself, and kept right on going. It took Quaren a moment to remember how to power down the engines and then stop without flinging them too hard and causing strain on the engines. Yet as he did, both Cryder and Ceja looked out to the sight, and both were shocked. Quaren looked out himself after he finally managed to stabilize the engines and then made them reduce power to cause the aircraft to lower again. When that happened, he looked out himself…and was stunned.

The group was lying in a bloody, burned, broken pile on one side of the wrecked area. There was damage everywhere from spells as well as physical trauma. The cameras were all blown away to one side, and the stage was a mess. As far as "hostile" bodies were concerned, Quaren only saw one…what looked like Aizel after something had ripped out his heart. He quickly tallied over the others as well too.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one.

"I do not see Sir Tierras…" Ceja said nervously. The two could barely hear it over the engines, but one of the rear receivers picked it up.

"He's there, lass. Keep your shirt on." Cryder stated. "Just…his arm and leg looks like they're tryin' to go the wrong way…"

"Aizel's down…" Quaren stated as he kept lowering. "And…so is Taraketh, from the looks of it…" He paused. "_Really_ down… And…" He paused. "…Oh god…look at Bahamut…"

Cryder and Ceja both looked out, and both of them paled at what they saw.

"Bloody hell…" Cryder exhaled.

"Is he…dead?" Quaren asked uneasily.

"If he isn't, he probably wishes he was…" The pirate answered grimly.

"Lady Faerio is not there either…" Ceja murmured.

"None of them are gonna be there if we don't land this thing soon."

"Alright, alright! I'm on it!" Quaren answered as he quickly evened out the thrusters and began to roll the Stratoaevis.

It took longer than any of them wanted. After all, there wasn't exactly a whole lot of good places to land the thing even if you were an experienced pilot. The best bet was the protruded stage, which the group was mostly already piled on, but even then he wasn't sure the place could hold the weight of the aircraft. He ended up having to do something highly unorthodox, risky, and potentially stupid, especially as fast as he was doing this. After bringing the Stratoaevis down and sitting it on top of the "theater-in-the-round" portion of the stage, he lowered the engine output only until he started to hear creaking and groaning so loud from below that everyone gave a start. Once then, he did a manual override to keep the engines going…actually generating just the slightest bit of upward thrust, and then "idled" the vehicle. Cryder noticed that when he finally stopped and began to unbuckle himself.

"Just leavin' the thing runnin', eh?"

"I'm not going to sit around when we need to load everyone up!" Quaren answered as he quickly undid himself and then jumped back over the seat to climb up from the cockpit area and into the ship body.

"Fair enough." Cryder answered as he got up to follow him. He hadn't bothered buckling in, on his part.

Ceja was already at the door and opening it up before they "landed". By the time they did, she had opened the side and run out onto the stage. Quaren heard it groan more…but they couldn't help that now. Hopefully they could load everyone up before it broke…or the bomb went off. Ceja, naturally, ran right out to Jalab. The others quickly poured out as well behind her and ran up to the others.

Quaren managed to take the lead, and instantly looked to Dael first. She had a great deal of blood pouring from a nasty head wound that looked like a mixture of a gash and a burn, but she was already stirring. She let out a moan as she turned her head one way and another. Still, as bad as that wound was, she probably had a concussion… Yet Quaren couldn't get near without seeing Bahamut not far from her, and confirming that he had a gaping, smoking wound in his abdomen. He had gone still now and was white, yet somehow faint breaths were still coming from him. In spite of that, the former corporal knew just looking at him that it wasn't good. He doubted a hospital, or even magic, could help him now... If that wasn't enough, he could see now that Carbuncle was nearby, hunched over and limp as well…several blades protruding from his back. He was still breathing, but that didn't look good either…

The thought of what happened to the two Guardian Forces made him fearful, but he went down to Dael's side and began to check her neck and head before trying to get her up. Ceja, on her part, reached Jalab and, barely exchanging any words, moved to help him to rise. Cryder quickly went for the "outlier"…Cid, who was slumped over a ruined camera at a distance behind all of this. After seeing that Dael seemed to be intact, Quaren began to pull her up while calling to her.

"Dael, come on! We got to get out of here!"

The former captain was only semi-conscious, and at first offered no help at all. Yet as Quaren moved to her back and forced her to sit up, she let out a dazzled moan. He doubted she was fully "there", but she managed to croak something.

"Ba…Baha…mut…"

The rifleman swallowed. He turned and looked to Bahamut again and honestly thought he was beyond a miracle now. It looked as if whatever had damaged him was burning his insides even now. He couldn't even have a lot of his vitals left…nothing to even heal…

"Nevermind, we got to go, Dael." Quaren answered more quietly. "This whole building is going to blow at any second."

He managed to pull her up a bit more, but she continued to protest. "Get…get Baha…mut…" She half-mumbled. She stubbornly refused to regain consciousness. The damage had been too severe, and she was too dazzled.

Quaren swallowed again, but finally decided he had to choke it out…get her out of this mentality. "Dael, he's…he's hurt bad… I don't…I don't think-"

The rifleman suddenly cut himself off as a wave of heat, and the glow of a fire, went off near him. He snapped around to the source at once, but he wasn't alone in noticing it. Ceja, who had managed to get Jalab on her back, froze and turned as well, letting out a gasp. Cryder, who was grumbling about Cid having "too much crap" and trying to get him up, also gave a start with the heat source slammed down in their midst.

Quaren let out a small gasp on recognizing it. The firebird from before…Phoenix.

By the time Quaren turned his eyes to the Guardian Force, she had just alit on the same terrace as the rest of them. Quaren remembered seeing a flaming object flying around the building not long ago, but he had assumed she had fled for it for one reason or another. However, she was here now…and it unnerved him at first. He recalled seeing both the dead Aizel and Taraketh. Perhaps she had come to revive them as she did for Rozan…

Yet the Guardian Force was acting differently this time. In spite of her bird-like face, she seemed more eager…more earnest…less calm and controlled as she looked about. After a moment, she spotted Bahamut. For a brief second, he saw what looked almost like pain flood into her features. But after that, her talons began to click against the roof as she moved over to him.

Quaren nearly reacted. He stiffened and actually nearly moved for his sidearm. "W…Wait just a second…"

"I'm sorry, I can't… This becomes less possible with each moment after death." The firebird immediately cut off. However, the mere fact that she spoke made everyone hesitate. It was a light, cheerful voice…but it was also filled with urgency. "For now…just know that I'm not under the control of the Sorceresses anymore and let me work. Get everyone else on that odd vehicle as soon as possible."

Quaren nearly protested, but Phoenix didn't wait. Instead, she moved right over to the body of Bahamut. On reaching him, she revealed her nature to not be that of a true bird as her wings proved "prehensile" enough to scoop the young man up into her shimmering, glorious plumage. Carrying him along, she turned away from the rest of the group and made for the audience section. The former corporal didn't know what she was doing, but it seemed the others had already snapped out of it. Ceja only watched a bit longer before beginning to move with Jalab to the ship again. As for Cryder, he went back to trying to gather as many of Cid's things as possible and get him on his feet.

With that, the young man snapped out of it too. He looked to Carbuncle and nearly reached for him…but realized he couldn't risk moving him like this. He had to get Dael first. With that in mind, he finished getting her up, got his arm under hers as well as her own arm around his shoulders, and began to drag her back to the ship.

He only got ten feet, however, when he suddenly heard an eruption of flame and felt a wave of heat rushing up behind him. He froze again and snapped back…and saw that Phoenix had burst into flame and was consuming Bahamut along with herself, much as she had back with Rozan. However, he only stared for a moment…more out of shock than anything. He then looked back to the ship. He supposed that meant she was on their side now…which was encouraging. If she was on their side…then there might still be hope. After all, she had literally put Rozan back together from pieces of him…

Getting to the Stratoaevis, Quaren quickly dragged Dael inside and nearly threw her into a seat. This wasn't a helicopter and didn't have an easy-to-access side. He had to move fast. He was sure it was a bit painful, and Dael still didn't seem to be coming around. However, as he did, the flames died down outside, leaving a pile of ash that rapidly began to first turn to mud from the rain, but then split, revealing Phoenix reborn from inside it.

At that point, Dael seemed to regain a bit more consciousness and moaned again, more audibly this time.

"Faer…Faerio… Help…Faerio…"

Quaren didn't know what she meant by this, but looked back out. Soon after, he had to get out of the way as Ceja quickly dragged Jalab to the aircraft and began to raise him inside. At the same time, he saw Phoenix rise from the ashes all together…and reveal Bahamut beneath her. Much to Quaren's relief, the boy was breathing easier now, and his bloody, burning wound was gone although his clothes were still in burnt tatters. The Guardian Force, however, had apparently heard Dael and grew morose. She bowed her head momentarily.

"I'm sorry…I can't. There's…there's not enough of her still intact… Parts of her melted away with the rain… Other parts blew away on the wind…"

The former corporal froze on hearing that, beginning to realize what she was saying. "What…what are you talking about?"

"Would you all stop chewing the fat and get us out of here!" Cryder snapped as he managed to get Cid down the stairs of the aisles and toward the Stratoaevis. "We'll talk when we're a mile away!"

This was so sudden and sharp that Quaren quickly snapped out of it, ignoring the comment for now. As for Ceja, she quickly moved to his side and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I will bring Bahamut…you go after Carbuncle."

The rifleman blinked, but then nodded before he got on a move. Neither of them wasted time. In only moments, both were at their respective figures, as Phoenix climbed off of Bahamut's body and went on the move herself. For a moment, Quaren wasn't sure what she'd do next. He reached Carbuncle and very carefully leaned down to scoop him up, making sure not to disturb any of the icicles in him until he was sure they weren't anywhere vital or he wasn't screwing up his back. The creature let out only a mild swear in response. By now, Cryder was nearly even with him, but then stopped on seeing something.

"Hey, wait a second…"

Quaren looked up again, and saw the reason for his reaction. Phoenix was moving over to Taraketh. The High Child looked as if his spine and neck were broken in multiple places and he very well might have been already dead, but that meant little to her as Phoenix scooped him up and brought him over to where Bahamut had been. She needed room, after all. The fire had melted an indentation in the ground where she had done it before.

"I have to heal him now…everyone else can wait until we get out of here…" She answered as she brought him over.

Ceja, who had lifted up Bahamut into her arms by this point, saw this and gave a snort. "He is a traitor. He merits death along with Aizel."

The firebird looked back to her on hearing that. "Look at him! He turned against the Sorceresses, and look what they did! He's clearly not their ally anymore!"

"After what he just 'let happen' without liftin' a finger? Not nearly good enough, lass." Cryder said as he dragged Cid to the ship.

Phoenix, if possible, gave a frown with her beak.

"I don't really care if you think it's 'not good enough' or not. I'm not letting anyone else die today that I can save." Without another word, she placed Taraketh down, wrapped her wings around him, and burst into flame once again.

Quaren didn't really have time to argue, and neither did anyone else. Quickly, everyone else was loaded up. Quaren brought Carbuncle in and tried to put him on a seat where nothing bad could happen to him. Ceja carried the limp Bahamut inside and threw him in another. Finally, Cryder, with some grunting, and eventually needing some help from Ceja, threw Cid inside along with the bulk of his gear. A device or two had to be left behind, but none of them really cared at this point. Once that was done, there were no seats left in the limited personnel craft, so Cryder and Ceja just climbed inside. Quaren followed and quickly headed for the front seat. Ceja watched the side, looking out to Phoenix as she burned and consumed herself and Taraketh. Cryder went for the passenger seat. Soon he joined Quaren, and both of them began to put their headphones back on.

Ceja looked up slightly and back to them. "Did she say that Faerio was-"

"Discuss it later, lass." Cryder cut off as he buckled in. "Lad…get this bucket in the air."

The former corporal switched a few things back on to disable the locks, but also looked back out the window, back toward Phoenix as she burned. The pirate looked up and to him, and then frowned. "You aren't really gonna hold us up waitin' for that lout, are you?"

"Just…hang on." Quaren answered. "We've got time."

"Uh, no we don't, lad." Cryder answered. "But fine…if you want to pick until after Esthar's Hawks is gone to grow a conscience, very well. I might have more fun throwing him out of this aircraft anyway…"

Quaren continued to hold and wait regardless. As much as he hated Taraketh right now…that Phoenix creature had a point. Whatever had done that to him, it sure hadn't been Dael or the others. He had enough background on looking at injuries visually to know that much. He was still angry…but even so, his anger was toward the Sorceresses. After what happened with Doomtrain, he kind of lost his desire to kill anyone for a while unless he had to.

The flames died down, and Phoenix sank into a pile of ash. The former corporal knew in moments she would emerge from it reborn, along with Taraketh. However, as he waited…he suddenly heard a noise so loud and deafening that even being in the Stratoaevis, with the jets idling, he winced and sank into his chair in a flash. Everyone else did as well…but they also felt several concussive blasts ripple through the entire aircraft. The area around them shuddered…and quickly continued to shudder, soon building in considerable speed and power and beginning to rattle terribly. Along with that, they noticed that they were starting to shift forward…and that the skyline was tilting up…

The building was collapsing.

Ceja let out a curse as she grabbed for whoever was in danger of falling out of the still-open Stratoaevis. Cryder grabbed onto the console and snapped to him. "Decision time over, mate! Either we pull out now or die thinkin' about it!"

Quaren went rigid for a moment as well…but there was really little time to think about the matter. Already, he felt his body beginning to "lift" from inertia, and with it the bits of rubble and rocks dotted all over the roof, as well as the ashes in the pile that had already been soaked by rain. He didn't have time for regrets or even a second look. He had to get the engines gunned. He grabbed a control, but ended up grabbing two more before his mind finally clicked in enough memory to recall where the right ones were. Finally, he seized it and began to throttle up. As he did, he looked one more time to the pile…and saw it was still ash, and beginning to slough to one side. As he stared, the top of the building picked up speed as it began to come down, and the upper tiers began to fold over their terrace to start dropping debris on it from the fracturing building, threatening to flatten the Stratoaevis in one hit. With that in mind, he quickly gunned the engines until they slowed their descent, and then began to even out…

When, suddenly, amid the rapidly fracturing stage and chaotic debris flying up around them…Phoenix erupted from the ashes far faster than before, and flew straight at the Stratoaevis. In her talons was Taraketh's body, unconscious and still stained with blood around the mouth, but no doubt alive and entire. She had to fly around not one but two building pieces, but reached the still-open door a moment later and flung him inside. Ceja barely had time to react before the High Child was tossed into her, knocking her further back into the aircraft and forcing her to release the others. Luckily, Phoenix didn't stop there, but quickly flew forward and, somehow, in the midst of the chaos, reached out a talon, seized the door, and yanked it shut with one powerful tug before she flapped her wings more strongly to try and get above and out of the path of destruction.

That was all Quaren needed as well. Quickly, he gunned his own engines all the way to maximum. Their "floating" abruptly became sinking as they were all thrown back down in their seats, but the Stratoaevis quickly shot forward and evened out completely, now stationary compared to the collapsing building.

As the aircraft moved away from the path of destruction and began to gain altitude of its own, the rest of the Odina Building fell completely. The "top" hung out the longest, over halfway to the bottom. It presented a clear view to much of the city of the Bifrost device that had been built on it. However, it lasted only for a time before the combination of the rising cloud of dust, as well as the stress from the collapsing structure, first shattered it into pieces and then obscured it behind a wall of refuse. Even its pieces soon disappeared as the entire structure was consumed in the growing dust cloud. But far inside of it, it had to be growing pulverized into nothingness to the sound of a raging echo of thunder, a rumble felt for blocks in all directions, and people having more reason to fear as they fled as far and as fast as they could from the area. The rain slowly went to work washing the cloud out of the sky…the one "boon" of the situation, to keep the chemicals inside it from spreading far in the atmosphere.

And in the chaos that resulted, few people paid any attention to the Stratoaevis flying away into the skyline.

* * *

><p>Dael wasn't sure where she was when her consciousness finally, fully returned…but she knew it wasn't a hard, wet roof. For only a few brief moments, she allowed herself to "idle", swimming back into consciousness only slowly. Where was she? What was the last thing she could remember? Slowly, the memories returned…seeing that big metal structure built on top of the Odina Building, framed by the raging skies and pouring rain. And Mianyl…having lost her mind completely…smacking her down after literally calling her "nothing". She didn't look the same anymore. Not just due to revealing her true nature. Her clothing had grown darker…her face lined with those runes…her hair hanging loose…and all because she did something to…<p>

_Faerio._

_ Faerio's dead._

She saw the image of her face, still frozen in that last moment of shock. Did she know what was going to come after? When she was shattered into thousands of pieces…

That was enough to make Dael fully alert. Though she still wasn't sure what was going on, she opened her eyes and let out just the smallest grunt.

In truth she would have been up sooner, but she was in some of the most comfortable surroundings she had ever been in. She opened her eyes to find herself in a well decorated, modern, stylish, ergonomic, and attractive room…definitely something she was not used to. Nor was the king-sized bed she found herself resting in with covers pulled up around her and her head resting on a stack of soft pillows. It wasn't a mansion, but it definitely wasn't Fort Morningstar or anywhere else she had ever been. Based on how everything seemed to be in one big extended room with only a few places for subdivisions, she realized she was in, of all places, a hotel suite. In a pretty nice hotel too.

She had no idea what she was doing here, but the area she was in had windows looking outside. Still gray and pouring rain…but also with a clear view of the skyline. It was Esthar, at least. From the silence, it seemed the building's power was out. The room was dark and the window shades had been pulled to let sunlight do the work. Other than that, the room showed signs of mild use but someone had picked up after themselves. At the table in the room, someone had laid out a great deal of military weapons apparel. And perched on one of the seats and reassembling his freshly-cleaned rifle was none other than Quaren.

He must have heard the grunt, because he stopped his work and looked to her.

"Hey…you're back with us."

Dael grunted again as she leaned up a bit more. Doing so…she became conscious of a noise coming from the side of the bed.

"Don't move so much…it's been a while since I slept on a feather comforter…"

The former captain turned to her side, and saw Carbuncle curled up in one of his balls to one side. She was first a bit surprised he was in the same bed as her, only to realize that, being a king-sized, she was so unused to having so much space that she had subconsciously gone to one side. She noticed something else, however. His back didn't have any signs of damage or wounds, and he seemed to have control of his body. On seeing that, she stopped, and then raised a hand to her head and felt. No bruise and no dressing, but it was still a bit sore, and she had a slight headache.

She exhaled afterward, dropped her hand, and looked around.

"…Where are we?"

"The Hotel Excelsior in the high-end district." Quaren explained as, while facing Dael, he went about continuing to put his rifle back together. "We needed a place to lay low. Since the Order of Hyne has gone as wild as everyone else…we could pick anywhere we wanted. So Cryder had me land us on the top of the roof, then we came in and took all of the executive suites."

The former captain's voice grew a bit more earnest. "The others… Bahamut… Jalab-"

"They're fine. They're just fine." Quaren immediately reassured. "They're not hurt."

The woman blinked at that. "…That's impossible. I saw what happened to Bahamut alone…"

"It's Phoenix." The rifleman explained. "I don't know what you guys did, but she's on our side now. She's in one of the rooms right now, in fact. She's been talking to Bahamut a lot. Anyway…she fixed him and Jalab up, good as new." He wiped his brow. "About time we had someone like that on our side…"

She paused again…before something rare happened. A bit of hope entered her expression. She looked up again to Quaren. "Lady Faerio…did she make it?"

Without Quaren even saying a word, she soon knew the answer. His face turned grim and bowed, and he swallowed as he grew uncomfortable. "…Phoenix said she needed more of her 'pieces' intact. I didn't think that made a difference until…until I heard how it happened…"

The woman's face went somber. What little hope she had entertained vanished as quickly as it came. For a moment, she wanted to pause there and shed a few tears for her. She deserved it…and more. She was the only "good" Sorceress left, and she had given everything to try and help them. They had killed her so abruptly… Treated her like she was garbage. And as for what they did to her afterward…

_…What did Mianyl do?_

Dael only took this in for a minute, and then grabbed the thick, comfy blankets and covers and nevertheless yanked them off with the intention of getting out and up in a hurry…only to find that she only had her briefs on underneath. She quickly covered up again. Quaren, seeing this, grimaced and turned his head fully to the table. "They're in the bathroom."

With that in mind, she swallowed and then threw off the covers again before getting up. She quickly started to move to the other side of the room…but she ignored the bathroom first. She was hungry…very hungry. That could only mean one thing.

"How long have I been out?"

"Two days."

The woman almost froze in mid-step and looked to Quaren's back. "…Two days? All that I got was a knock in the head."

"It was more than that, Dael. You had a bad concussion and internal bleeding. You could have been killed if you weren't junctioned." He answered.

"But everyone's already up before me?"

"Yeah…but that only figures." Quaren answered. "Phoenix said she has to sacrifice a bit of her life each time she wants to heal someone. Bad wounds while they're still alive is draining enough, but bringing someone back from the dead really takes a lot out of her. After healing Bahamut and Carbuncle and Jalab and T…" He trailed off here.

Dael paused momentarily, but she knew what what meant. Exhaling, she turned and went the rest of the way to the minibar/kitchen. Yanking open the door to the inside, she saw "slim pickings". All of the good stuff had to have been eaten by then. She settled on a couple of fossilzed candy bars. Ripping one open and forcing herself to eat it quickly, she went the rest of the way to the bathroom.

"Anyway…the bottom line is that you only had a minor wound we could treat with a Phoenix Down while they were all about to die. It took a lot out of her to do it so fast, although Bahamut says whenever she became a Guardian Force she's much better than she used to be."

The door shut. Dael turned on the emergency flashlight kept inside (fairly standard issue for a hotel) and found that, aside from some disposable toiletries that had no doubt been obtained from the front desk, her clothes were hanging from the shower. It smelled as if Quaren had washed them by hand since there was no power. She couldn't help but give a half-smile at the gesture, and then quickly got about getting them on. It was with practiced skill at this point and didn't take long. While doing so, she called out again.

"Where's everyone right now?"

"You, me, Carbuncle, and Cryder are sharing this room. That's why we're out of those mini-liquor bottles." Quaren answered on the other side, sounding a bit downcast at his own last phrase.

"Too bad." She answered as she fastened her pants. "For once…I could use a drink." On taking up her tunic, she smiled to see the Save the Queen on the other side, back in its sheath, along with her Mage Gun. She let them be for now.

"Phoenix and Bahamut took one of the smaller rooms. Bahamut wanted to be in here, but he wanted to be with Phoenix also. He spends most of his time in there. Cid and Jalab have another room. Ceja was supposed to be in that one too, but…" Again, he trailed off.

"Don't bother hiding it, Quaren." Dael answered as she sat on the toilet seat and began to pull on her boots. However, her tone was a bit dark when she answered him. "…Where is he right now?"

"In the room between ours." Quaren quietly answered. "Ceja has been watching his door."

There was no way he could have survived normally. She realized Phoenix had to have revived him too. However, she put him out of his head for a bit longer.

"…Any access to what's going on outside?"

Quaren was quiet a moment before answering. "…I think most people lost their will to riot or do much of anything else. There's a few other people in the lower floors, but they don't come up this far. After the Odina Building collapsed, it let power go out to a big part of the city. And since then there's been more brownouts. We had power in here for the first day when we got here, then it went out too. It's been quiet in the city. Not many looters. Almost everyone is staying in their homes. I mean…there isn't even any place they can really go to pray right now. We don't have TV, obviously. I have a battery powered radio, but no one's on except emergency broadcast signals, assuming anyone is even watching those. The few people I see outside are those crazy guys who say: 'The End Is Near'. Occasionally there's a group that drives through on a couple military vehicles. I think they may be survivors of what happened in that district…but no one is trying to take power."

Dael finished pulling on her other boot and tied it. Quaren sighed again. "It's really bad, Dael. Even with the Sorceresses gone, everyone's too scared to do anything anymore. It's like everyone is just waiting for the end at this point. I can't say I blame them. I saw what that was on top of the Odina Building. That was a Bifrost. That means they could be anywhere on Gaia, and we-"

"They're not on Gaia." Dael answered as she stood up from the toilet. She walked over to the door and pushed it open, stepping out again and getting Quaren to look to her.

The young man looked confused. "Huh?"

"I can't confirm it because I was unconscious when they left…but she said something about being 'done here'. I don't think she was referring to Esthar. I think that's the whole reason the Bifrost was built without our knowledge of it until they had to get us to Sybenia. She didn't want a way to get around on Gaia…she wanted a way to take her somewhere else, somewhere impossible to get in any other way."

Quaren blinked and gave a shrug. "Where?"

"Nyx Gaia."

The rifleman was a bit surprised at that response, but that gave way to puzzlement. "Are you sure?"

"Not completely, but that's what I'm betting." Dael answered. "They know more about that world than we do, at any rate. That's what I'm counting on. Besides…it's the one place they could get to and make sure we couldn't follow by destroying the Bifrost afterward."

Quaren grimaced. "…You got that right, Dael." He sighed. "You know that they destroyed the Odina Building?"

"I didn't, but I assumed as much. The way they talked, it sounded like they were setting a bomb."

"Well…you know the Bifrost is gone, then. Blown up along with it."

"There may be another way." Dael answered. "But first…" Her tone dipped again, growing a bit slower. "…Taraketh is next door, right?"

On hearing the edge that suddenly went into Dael's voice, and how dark it turned, Quaren went silent as well. He stared back only a moment, and then gave her a slow nod. The woman didn't need any more than that. Immediately she turned for the door to the room. It actually took a bit to find. This suite was large enough to almost be a condo, and so she had to look around before she spotted the familiar door with a fire escape plan on it. After that, she walked right to it, opened it up, and stepped outside. She didn't bother with a key…and she didn't have to. With the maglocks out, the locks had long since been broken off by the others to allow everyone in and out of the rooms with ease.

Once outside, Dael couldn't see anything other than a few dim emergency lights. But even they had to be running on low power if the same had gone off in the rooms. She saw that she was on the corner of the hotel building…the room at the end of the hall. Not surprising given the layout. It made it easy to find the next spot down, which had to be the one "in the middle". Even so, only three other rooms had the doorknobs broken off. She moved readily to the next one down and reached to push it open.

However, the door opened for her before she could, and she saw Ceja standing on the other side, still dressed for battle and with her large axe at her side. Apparently, she had been looking out the whole time, waiting for someone to appear or try something. On seeing her, she looked her over a moment, then up to her face.

"You have recovered."

Dael gave a nod. "I still have a bit of a headache, but yeah."

She paused. "…I am glad." She finally stated.

The woman gave pause after hearing that, before giving another weak smile. Ceja, she knew, was more of a warrior mentality and didn't normally waste time on sentiments like that. So to even have her say this was something. However, her own smile soon faded and was replaced with a stern look.

"Is he inside?"

Ceja's look grew cold as well, and she gave a nod. "He is on the cushioned armchair. He has not caused trouble, but I kept him under a watchful gaze none the less."

"I want to talk to him."

The Fuliet warrior immediately moved to one side to let her in. She did so, but even as she was crossing the threshold, she already saw him.

Just as Ceja had indicated, there was a small "common area" in the middle of this suite with numerous comfortable chairs to sit in and relax around a television set that was long defunct. And sitting, bowed over a bit, in one seat, framed before the back window and sliding door of glass framing the gray sky outside, was the High Child himself. Aside from his clothing being a bit torn up and still having stains from his own blood, he was as good as new. He had his kusarigama on him before, but he didn't have it now. It must have been confiscated or set aside.

When Dael came in, however, he turned fully to her. He said nothing and, frankly, looked too uncertain to say anything. He swallowed slightly, and looked like he was fighting not to turn his eyes away from her. As for Dael, her face remained blank…but dark. She walked right toward him, slowing her step a bit. In the silence of the chamber, each footstep she made echoed loud and long. Only halfway to him, however, he tightened his arms and pushed up from the chair, rising to full height and turning to face her. She continued to approach from there, headed straight for him. He nearly opened his mouth a few times, but in the end said nothing. He waited for her to speak first.

Finally, she reached him and came to a halt. Both were silent for a moment.

"…You're healed?" Dael asked, rather quietly.

Taraketh inhaled a bit, but then managed to speak back…a very weak tone. "…Yes. Phoenix said my back was broken in multiple spots…my spine severed in at least three…but I'm all better now thanks to her."

"Well, she missed that mark on your cheek."

He blinked. "What mar-"

The sound of flesh smashing into flesh rang out so loud that one could have heard it from the hallway as Dael slugged Taraketh across the face so hard that his body went flying backward, knocked over the chair he had been seated in, and left him tumbling to the ground. He slowly toppled out onto his hands and knees before stopping. As for Dael, she crackled her knuckles afterward and began to approach him again. The High Child stayed down momentarily, spitting once…and letting a wad of blood hit the ground.

"Alright…" He said quietly as he stayed in that position. "I deserved that…"

"No…" Dael answered as she leaned over, seized him by the collar of his clothes and, in one snap movement, yanked him to his feet and held him before her. "What you _deserve_ is to be sitting around trying to have breakfast or hiding in fear or trying to tell your crying child that 'everything's going to be alright' and then have a nuclear weapon turn you and everyone you love into ash just long enough for you to feel yourself burning away."

Taraketh somehow managed to look her in the eye, but didn't fight back. He swallowed a bit. "Look…I know what I did was wrong-"

The High Child was cut off again as his body went flying through the glass leading to the patio outside. Even Ceja reacted a bit to seeing Dael suddenly fling him through the window. The impact was hard enough both to hurt as well as cut him up with a few shards before he slammed down on the ground on the other side. He lay there, clearly in pain, as Dael began to approach him again.

"Exactly when _did_ you reach the conclusion that 'what you were doing was wrong', Taraketh?" Dael snapped as she approached. "Before or after you let them take Faerio and hang her there like a trophy for a full day? How about when Regalis was murdered? I _know_ it wasn't when she told Tiamat to kill thousands of people."

Reaching him again, she leaned over, seized his collar again with one hand, and yanked him into the air once more. She held him easily enough with one arm…and as she held him to eye level she began to walk him over to the railing overlooking the rest of the city and the road dozens of floors below…

"You only have two excuses, Taraketh…either you were so damn stupid you were ignorant enough to believe this was somehow making the world a better place…or you knew the whole time it wasn't and you tried to pretend it was. Which seems better to you, huh? Which makes you look like less of a traitor and an asshole?"

She slammed his body against the rail and let his head lean back over it just three inches.

"Which one makes me less likely to just throw you over the edge?"

Taraketh showed no fear…but it wasn't out of being bold. It was out of resignation. He looked back at Dael with his face grim and morose.

"You know killing me isn't going to change anything."

"I don't know." Dael answered. "It might make me feel a bit better after losing two people I cared about. Losing one I _don't_ care about might be a change of pace."

Taraketh grimaced for a moment, but then swallowed.

"Alright…I'll be honest. I _did_ try to pretend it was all fine. I saw everything happening, I knew it was wrong…and I went along with it. I blinded myself to it. I tried to shut it out and not think about it, because I believed-"

_"Don't."_ Dael snapped, suddenly jamming a finger in his face. "Do _not_ call up that damn defense. 'I believed Mianyl knew what was best.' 'I believed Mianyl would do the right thing.' 'I believed that my friend from childhood Mianyl would always be kind and loving and generous and a living, beneveloent goddess.' I'm sick to death of hearing that crap. For god's sake, Taraketh…you look down on me and lecture me for weeks on being a grunt, and what the hell do you end up doing? You're a bigger 'grunt' than any Esthar's Hawk could ever be!"

The High Child turned his gaze down again at this. He swallowed a bit, but was silent. He knew it was true.

Cursing silently, Dael yanked Taraketh off of the rail and half-threw him into a nearby deck chair. It nearly knocked him over, but he managed to hold. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. As for the High Child, he sat there a moment, but then finally looked up to her and spoke with greater volume, almost insistently.

"I don't expect you to understand, Dael…but do you know what defying Mianyl meant for me? It meant I had to accept the person I loved more than myself for as far back as I can remember was a monster! Mianyl was dearer to me than a sister! That made her _more_ than family! Do you have any idea what it's like to know you have to turn against someone in your own family? Not to mention I had to admit everything I ever believed in…all the tenets…the code…the order itself…that it was all a lie? Just an organization of fools crowding around three psychotic women? That everything I ever believed and held dear was a bunch of refuse?" He gestured to her. "You and Quaren might be agonized over what happened to Esthar's Hawks, but at least you still have it's memory! What do I have? Even the name 'Order of Hyne' is profane now! I don't even remember anything before the Order of Hyne! So yes, I admit it… I covered my ears and hummed to myself and tried to think it would all be alright… Can you honestly blame me?"

Dael continued to glare at him darkly, although she was calmer now.

"Are you sitting there and telling me that friendship is that important to you? That much a part of your life? That people you respect become as 'family' to you and that going against them is like killing a family member?" She said quietly. After that she faced him fully and snorted.

"Then what the hell did that make _all of us_, Taraketh?!" She snapped as she gestured to herself.

The High Child recoiled again at that, losing what little strength he had mustered once again.

"Are you going to sit there and tell me after everything we went through together, after all the trips through oceans, deserts, tundra, and rocks…all the times we were there for each other…all the times we saved each other's lives…that we were just 'refuse' to you, as you put it? That somehow we meant nothing to you when she started murdering people? That you could abandon us and support her when she tried that?"

Taraketh managed a touch of a frown. "You're asking me to choose between a sister and a friend! Do you really want me to tell you who holds sway?"

"I'm asking you to at least factor us into your 'decision making process'!" Dael snapped back. "To think that maybe, possibly, in light of what she was doing that we merited some consideration! Maybe even enough to get you to think straight! You're so big on tenets, Taraketh…so answer me this one. Who do you owe more to? Someone you love or people who _need_ you? One spell! That's all it would have taken and Faerio would still be alive! Regalis might still be alive! You didn't even think to question her until you saw enough people die right in front of you! Everyone else was just 'numbers' until that point, weren't they?"

The High Child paused momentarily. After a few seconds, he bowed his head and began to look uncomfortable again. Again, he couldn't answer that.

Dael inhaled and calmed a bit more. "And you were wrong. All of you people in the Order of Hyne were." She answered. "You never believed the Order of Hyne was a way of life or a code to live by or a philosophy. You always thought, deep down in your heart of hearts, that it was the will of the Sorceresses. That's exactly what that group we ran into going back into Esthar thought. You lose your leaders…and you're all nothing. You never thought that the Order of Hyne the way it _should_ have been could have lived on in you. Lady Faerio knew that. That's why she took a stand against the rest of her order. She may have died for it…but…"

She paused, and then sighed and shook her head.

"Damnit…she died _earning_ that title of 'Lady'. That's what they hated about her more than anything. Not that she was reckless…but because she did what was right because it _was_ right, not because someone _told_ her it was right."

A moment of silence passed. Dael stopped and waited for a response from Taraketh. He kept his head down, looking rather meek, swallowing, and trembling slightly. Finally, he inhaled and closed his eyes.

"…You're right."

His voice was much quieter now. Much softer than before as he looked back up to Dael.

"You may think La…" He trailed off. "…You may think Mianyl is full of it now, but she was right about one thing. I should never have become a Sorceress Knight. I never could even call myself a member of the order, now that I see it. The Order of Hyne was never them…it was an ideal. A standard. A goal to go after. And I let it down. I've _always_ let it down. From the day I met you until now I did everything that I thought would get me favor with L…Mianyl and not what I knew was right. If I hadn't had her even telling me to…I would have gone on hating you. The truth was…" He exhaled. "The truth was I was already the real 'grunt'."

He looked up to her.

"You're right… I'm a horrible Child of Hyne…I'm a fool…I'm a terrible friend…and I let countless people down by what I did." He paused. "I'm sorry."

Dael looked unimpressed. "You're sorry." She echoed. "…and that's supposed to make everything 'better'."

Taraketh sighed. "What else do you want me to do, Dael? Commit suicide? That's not going to help anyone now and you know it."

"Why is it so important that I 'forgive' you, Taraketh?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? I want to help."

"What makes you think we want your help?"

"Because I'm the best mage in the world who's left and still on your side." He answered. "And you know that too."

"I think I'd rather go without you." Dael retorted.

He leaned forward a bit more in response to that, his face growing serious and firm…more so than it had yet.

"Dael…if you want me dead for what I did, then there's a good chance that's going to happen anyway. And after this is done…go ahead and kill me if you want." This phrase was said with dead seriousness. "It's not like I have anything to live for anymore. And I deserve it. But until then…you still need me. I can help you. If you're afraid of me betraying you again…you saw it yourself. I'm nothing to Mianyl anymore. By all rights, I should already be dead. The only reason I'm not is because Phoenix intervened. I can't waste my 'second chance' just killing myself again right way."

The former captain remained silent.

"I'm not sure how much time anyone on this planet has left, Dael…but if I can die trying to save it…then that is at least _something_ to make up for what I've done so far, which is not a damn thing. I can still save people. Please…let me. Once this is done, do what you will…but until then at least let me use my magic to help you all see this through to the end."

Dael didn't answer. She wanted to refuse his offer…but she realized what he was saying. She honestly wasn't afraid he would betray them again. That much was clear. Phoenix wasn't freed before, so that hadn't been an "elaborate ruse". She had intended for Taraketh to die back there. He wasn't "on her side" anymore. That meant the only reason to refuse his help now…for he was excellent at magic and better at healing than any of them…was out of spite and anger. Honestly, they couldn't afford to endorse such petty things at this point. They didn't have that luxury anymore. Much as she may have hated this, he was right…they _did_ need him. Especially considering how much the magic of the Sorceresses had reduced them to nothing so far…

With that in mind, she crossed her arms again.

"…After Mianyl killed Faerio, something happened. What looked like 'draw magic' came out of Faerio's remains and went into her. What was that?"

Hearing this made Taraketh react a bit sharply. "…What did you just say?" He asked, his voice a bit tense.

Dael sighed, and explained what had happened in more detail in its entirety, in case there was an important factor in there that had to be shared.

"She said something about a 'Succession'." She finished.

On hearing that last part, Taraketh paled a bit and bowed his head slightly.

"…The 'Succession of Witches'…"

Dael raised an eyebrow. Without even being asked, Taraketh closed his eyes and began to explain.

"…This is something that's one of the greater secrets of the Order of Hyne. Something that Lady Mianyl confided in me a couple weeks ago during that brief 'trial period' to be her Sorceress Knight. Even the other Sorceress Knights don't know about it. The power that a Sorceress has is not innate to their genes…at least, not completely. It's something granted to them by the planet itself…or, rather, something that Aerith the Radiant got from the planet itself by virtue of being the first Hyne's Descendent. Her race was literally the offspring of mankind and the planet itself and inherited the 'Sorceress Power' as a gift. It was just Aerith the Radiant was the first to 'claim it'. No one else has since…"

He looked up and held his hands before him to gesture.

"Here's the thing. The power of a Sorceress is not something that is 'theirs' entirely. A part of it can be transferred, and it _is_ transferred when a Sorceress dies. The power can never 'die out'. It make grow weak with bloodlines, but always someone could be born who will have enough inner power of their own to 'awaken' it again, which is how Sorceresses seem to just 'arise' from normal people. Yet how someone normally becomes a Sorceress is that when the current one dies, the Sorceress Power leaves them and goes into the next nearest Sorceress. If it can't find one, it will find the nearest individual capable of taking the power…but if an existing Sorceress takes it, they gain their power and lineage and increase their own."

The former captain did not look at all at ease on hearing that.

"Are you trying to tell me that when Mianyl killed Faerio, she absorbed all of her power?"

Taraketh grimaced, but then nodded. "…Now she's as strong as she was before plus Faerio."

The woman uncrossed her arms, put a hand to her forehead, and swore under her breath. The odds were already against them before knowing that. None of them had been able to do much of anything to Mianyl, including even making her flinch. Now…she had Faerio's power as well. Could Alexander still hurt her, much less kill her?

Dael lowered her hand and looked back to him. "Did she say why she wanted the Bifrost? Why she wanted to go to Nyx Gaia?"

He frowned and shook his head. "I didn't even think she would have gone to Nyx Gaia…although I think you may be right now that you mention it."

The young woman paused a moment longer, but then exhaled. She turned and began to go inside.

"Get ready to leave." Was all she said to him.

Taraketh nearly asked why, but Dael didn't stop to answer. She walked right back through the broken glass pane into the previous room. Ceja was still standing by, although she looked rather put off by the glass, and seemed to think that something was up. She addressed Dael as she went to the other side.

"Is everything alright?"

The woman didn't stop moving, but sighed. "I don't think anything is 'alright' anymore…but I have an idea of what we need to do next. Where's Bahamut and Phoenix?"

The Fuliet warrior gestured outside the door. "The only room on the other side of these that we entered."

"Thanks. Get ready to leave and tell the others to as well."

Soon, Dael had reached the door, and a moment later she had opened it up and stepped through to the other side.

Inside the hall, she only had to look around a moment before she spotted the ruined door handle. It was more or less right across from the last room she had been in, after all. She walked right up to it even as Ceja, after turning one last look to Taraketh, left the room as well and began to go to the others. As for Dael, she gave a knock on it.

"Who is it?" The voice of Bahamut answered.

"Dael."

"Dael? You're awake?"

"Yes, and we need to talk. Can I come in?"

"The door is open."

Dael placed her hand on the handle and gave a push.

Being on the opposite side of the building, even with a window view the room wasn't very well lit at the moment. Thanks to the gray skies, it was quite dim in there…at least, from natural light. However, there was a natural light source in the middle of it… Although the room was identical to one Dael had just left, the furnishings had been cleared out of the center to make an open space, where numerous pillows had been piled up to form a variation of a "nest", in which the light source was currently.

Phoenix continued to gleam and shimmer like a soft bed of fiery coals even now. Her body still looked like living flame, each feather gleaming and iridescent, and as she sat there the light from her body caused a glow to be painted on the surrounding walls, as if a fire had been built in the middle of the room. Dael almost expected to see the floor singed or ashen where she lay, seated much like any great bird would be, but that wasn't the case. She looked up as soon as the door opened, staring right at Dael. However, the former captain didn't focus on her too much. Most of her attention was nearby, on a footrest that had been pulled up close to the Guardian Force.

Seated on it, using it as a chair of a sort, was Bahamut himself. He had definitely been facing Phoenix at first, but when the door opened, he fully rose from the chair and faced her. Based on the look about him, Dael imagined he had been seated there for some time. She could appreciate that. After all, if what he said was true…then this was a big deal to him. No doubt, after coming around, he had spent almost all of his time with the Guardian Force, realizing his sister…the first esper who had ever died…was alive again after all this time, and probably overwhelmed at that fact. Phoenix no doubt had a lot to catch up on as well. This world was nothing like hers. Still…Dael couldn't help but see Bahamut's tattered clothing with the burn mark where the magma burst had ripped through his insides still was. The flesh was intact on the other side…but Dael found herself already mentally thanking Phoenix for what she had done.

At any rate, once she was inside, the boy turned slightly to gesture behind him. "Dael…I know you already knew this, but I want to formally introduce you to my sister, Phoenix."

The firebird rose at this, standing erect much as she had when she was perched above the stage. It brought back a bad memory to Dael…but realizing she had saved almost all of them was enough to make her soften. When she spoke, her voice was as pleasant and young-sounding as it had been last time, although a bit nervous.

"Hello, Dael. Bahamut has told me a lot about you. To be honest…I'm still having a hard time believing this is Bahamut, even after everything that's happened. I only know him from being a great beast…what you call a dragon." She let out a bit of a nervous laugh as she bowed her head. "As you may have guessed…I'm struggling to adjust to a lot of things. Almost five thousand years of history has passed and I knew little to begin with…so I have quite a learning curve. I've only been 'alive' again for all of eight weeks or so, and most of the time I was under that control device. I remember everything I saw under control, but…honestly, it's all completely beyond me. I still don't know what half of everything is or what it means. You're dressed more finely than Starlet or Odin could have ever been, and the fact that humans even built a dwelling like this…so comfortable and secure… Bahamut has been talking to me almost continuously but there's only so much I can take at a time-"

Here, the woman raised a hand. "Um…Lady Phoenix…" She cut off, not exactly sure of her title. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm sure Bahamut had gone over at some point that we're in a rather dire state."

Phoenix paused for a moment, but then nodded. "Yes, he's told me that much." She exhaled as he bowed her head again. "In all honesty, I'm having a hard time understanding what a government or nation is…but I know enough to realize that we are in a bad situation and that something is not only threatening humanity but all life on this world…those 'Sorceresses'. The fact that they're even here is stunning to me. Humans in my era were so feeble and weak that they wouldn't even use basic tools. Now they have weapons and command over magic that I hardly can comprehend. And these individuals are in a level far above and beyond that. It's almost too much to-"

She cut herself off, noticing the look that Dael was giving her.

Immediately, she calmed. "Yet you were saying?"

"Lady Phoenix, I understand you're the one who revived Bahamut, Jalab, and Taraketh, right?"

She nodded. "I did. I just couldn't sit back when I kept sensing people dying… I had to do something."

The woman paused momentarily. "I have to be sure… Is there any way to save Faerio?"

The fire seemed to dim around the creature as she lowered her gaze and slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry…without a body, it's impossible. The spirit has to have something to return to. Even then, it's been too long. Even if she wanted to remain, she only has a narrow window to return to the Lifestream or spend the rest of time wandering this world as a 'soul refuse'…what you would call a ghost. She didn't want that, so she left this world. There was no way I could have revived her, though. Turning her into stone and then shattering her made that impossible…" She swallowed. "…I'm sorry."

Dael felt a cold feeling in her chest and slowly exhaled. However, she shook her head. "Don't be sorry. You did what you could…and if it wasn't for you we've have lost more than just Faerio. But I need to know…can we count on you to revive us from now on? You may be our one advantage against the Sorceresses."

On saying this, however…her fire dimmed so much that it nearly went out, and she quivered all over. She wasn't alone, either. Bahamut seemed to pale, and swallowed hard as he looked fully to the former Esthar's Hawk.

"Dael…" He said quietly. "The reason Phoenix died all of those years ago is because she was in a dire conflict and meant to stay and revive everyone. As a result, she was found out to be the reason we kept coming back…and so our opponent made sure to kill her first… I know how important this is not only to us and this world, but-"

"No."

Bahamut looked up at that, and saw that Phoenix had spoken again. She still looked frightened and nervous, but she raised her head anyway.

"Phoenix…"

"Bahamut…I sacrificed myself because it was what had to be done." The firebird responded. "And that was just to save the family and Palad. Now…I need to do it for the rest of this world and who knows how many others. I won't 'sit out' of this. And if I do…I may condemn everyone to death, including myself."

The boy didn't look at ease at that, but he didn't argue. He swallowed after a moment and firmed up, knowing she was telling the truth. Still, Dael felt a bit of pity for him. She didn't blame him for his reluctance. This was one of his siblings who had been dead for the far, far majority of his life, but he had loved none the less. He wasn't eager to lose her again.

Phoenix, however, turned to Dael soon after. "I'll do all I can…but you have to realize how my power works. 'Bringing back from the dead' isn't something that's easy. I have to act quick under normal circumstanes. If their spirit decides to 'move on', then I can't help them. Their bodies have to be intact too. I have to have almost all of it. Finally…I can't do it indefinitely. In order to bring a person back to life, I have to give them some of my own. Since I'm immortal, I can always regenerate it…but it will take time the more I use it. Before I died, even bringing a single person back to life was enough to drain me for nearly a day. My Guardian Force body is much stronger…and my spirit grew stronger over the past few thousand years. But even so, there's a limit on it. And the more powerful and longer dead an individual is, the more of my own life I have to sacrifice. To revive someone at full power…" She exhaled. "Well…remember that Rozan man? The only way I was able to keep bringing him back is by giving me concentrated liquids."

"She means the media that the Elite Hounds gave themselves." Bahamut explained. "Apparently, it was originally intended to enhance Guardian Forces, but they found milder doses worked on humans."

"My last injection has worn off by now." Phoenix stated regretfully. "And I do not know where to find more. I can revive you if you fall again, but…not indefinitely by a longshot."

Dael paused momentarily, but nodded. "Some is better than none. Do you know why the Sorceresses wanted to go to Nyx Gaia?"

The firebird grimaced…again, somehow moving her beak to do so. "I'm sorry. I was paired with Rozan for most of the time, and Aizel after that. They never told either of them anything, so I never found out."

The woman paused and then exhaled. _It was worth a shot…_

"…It might be moot anyway." Dael responded. "We know what they want now…to cause enough death and destruction to make the worlds merge. Obviously they think they can get it on Nyx Gaia instead of here."

"They still have five nuclear warheads remaining, although there's no telling if they took them with them or left them." Bahamut answered, looking up a bit more now. "I don't think they would have gone to Nyx Gaia just to detonate them in Esthar. First off, if that was their intention, they would have done it by now. Second, they could have left this city through far more grandiose means."

"As crazy as this sounds…I don't think five remaining nuclear warheads are enough." Dael stated. "Mianyl mentioned something about how the closer the two worlds come, the more disorder she has to make to get them to draw any nearer. Five of those bombs may be enough to destroy a metropolis completely…but I have my doubts that using those weapons is enough to destroy enough of this world to 'finish the job'. She wants something with even more power, and she obviously thinks she can find it on Nyx Gaia. That kind of makes our course of action clear…" She looked to both of them. "We need to get to Nyx Gaia and stop her."

"That's far easier said than done." Bahamut responded. "They destroyed the only device we know is capable of going to Nyx Gaia. It's not something that can be flown to, and neither is there any space shuttle that can take us there."

"But we still have one more functional Bifrost that we know of." Dael responded. "That device was similar, but it was also larger. There was no way they could have moved the Bifrost we used to get to Sybenia up into that tower and rebuilt it. They had to have made two. That means the other one is still intact and we can use it."

"Perhaps." Bahamut answered. "There's an excellent chance it was destroyed by the Sorceresses. I believe they planned to teleport from the top of the Odina Building all along." He paused. "…Yet we have no other choice at this point. It would not hurt to look into it."

"That's going to be our next move, then." Dael answered. "Even if it's still intact, I'm not sure it will run…but it's our only shot." She turned to Phoenix. "Assuming we can go, would you come with us?"

The firebird hesitated a moment. She looked to Bahamut, then back to her, seeming uncertain. "…There's actually something I wanted to look into that Bahamut mentioned…but I'll go with you that far at least."

Dael wasn't sure what exactly this meant, but Bahamut wasn't raising any dispute. With that in mind, she decided to let it set for now. After all, they had other things to worry about. And they needed to move faster from now on.

"Hopefully that Stratoaevis still has enough fuel to get us back to the square." She mused at last after a moment. "We need to get back to that basement. Hopefully we'll find something we can use."

* * *

><p>It didn't take the group long to mobilize. A bit surprising, all things considered…but Dael had to recall it had not only been two days, but this was all getting more routine. She expected Cid to be more devastated, and the truth of the matter was he was a bit quiet and still. However, things hadn't changed too much with him. He had already let depression drag him down once, and he wasn't going to let it happen again. He knew they still had a job. Not only that…but he knew that what Faerio had done still remained. She wanted him to live…to stop the Sorceresses where she couldn't. And he was going to do that. They all would. There was no time for sorrows or hesitation anymore. They would do that if and when this was over. Until then…within days there might not even be a memory of Gaia left. Until that time, they all needed to keep moving forward. Two days was already probably too much of a delay…<p>

The group didn't have much in the way of gear, but, being eager to get a move on, they didn't waste time with that. Once again, they gathered their weapons and what few things they had on them before meeting with each other and heading for the roof. Most were glad to see Dael, but also eager to get back into action. Aside from their basic equipment, Cryder was the only one who had really "loaded up", having lived off of miniature bottles of liquor for the past two days, practically. He too was eager to move, however. There was no little standoffishness in regards to Taraketh, obviously…on seeing he was coming. Everyone gave him a dark look. Even Jalab struggled hard not to glare at him, and Cid wouldn't even look at him. Yet Dael explained that they did indeed need him, and they really couldn't afford to be choosy at this point. Very reluctantly, they allowed him to come along without dispute.

The Stratoaevis was perched on the roof. There was no helipad, but the top of the hotel was flat enough to land it, and no one would try to steal it from there. It was a little banged up and scratched from the escape from the Odina Building, but any filth had long since washed away with the rain. With that in mind, they all loaded up again, many of them being wary as to not sit near Taraketh. Dael ended up being the closest when it turned out she had to sit in the back. After all, Quaren and Cryder had to take the front and with Cid being the nearest to them. Dael, Bahamut, and Taraketh were all able to sit next, with Carbuncle climbing up on Dael's lap (still a bit grumpy not only at having Taraketh along in the first place but due to the fact that he had to dig himself out of the covers on awakening). Ceja and Jalab were left with "standing room only", but they held up well as the aircraft took off and began to move toward the square.

It was going to be a short trip, but it was the first time that the "rebuilt" group was forced to be in close quarters with one another…particularly Taraketh. He said nothing, which was probably a wise move. Being too vocal at this point, even to apologize, wasn't going to help his case. It was better he just hold his tongue. Dael didn't look at him either…but, to be perfectly honest…a part of her wanted to honestly forgive him. Holding a grudge right now wasn't helping anything, and she had missed him as a friend and ally. Still…this wasn't something that could just be forgotten. Any chance at any conversation was rejected.

Phoenix flew alongside the aircraft. No doubt, she would have turned a few heads on a normal day…but there was no one out now. Just as Quaren had said, even the looters had decided to give up and just stay at home. And it was still gray…and still raining. Dael didn't like this. It looked as if everything in the world had given up the will to continue or live already…like it was mourning for how many were dead even now.

It wasn't too good of a site at the square. The wreckage that the Odina Building had left, not to mention the Cathedral, had caused the place to be totally abandoned. Not one person was trying to fix anything or clean anything up. Worse than that…Dael saw something else through the cockpit window. Bodies of Children of Hyne were littering the front yard, and they weren't ones that the group had killed. She understood what happened. A few people had remained and tried to tend to the area…but the people of this city, on seeing Children of Hyne without their Sorceresses backing them up had "taken justice into their own hands".

_There are some decent people in the Order of Hyne…but their order is no more after this. Even if we win, there isn't going to be a person on Gaia who won't want them dead…_

At any rate, the rain had stopped the dust from going too far, although the area was still layered with scum, filth, and rubble of every size and shape imaginable. It spread out into several blocks and onto most of the courtyard. However, in another show of a bit of luck, the building where they had been dropped off last time still had access at the front. The group quickly moved the Stratoaevis for that location and began to land.

On the approach, Dael saw that the situation already didn't look good. This was a military facility, which meant that if it hadn't already been looted by the remains of Esthar's Hawks for whatever weapons or supplies were still there, it had been gutted by the civilian population, in particular thugs and looters. Parts of it, in particular the large conduits, looked a bit damaged as well. Not terribly, though…or at least Dael hoped.

Quaren pointed it out as they came in for a landing. "Looks like this place got hit by the collapse, Dael…"

"Let's just look inside anyway." She answered. "It's not like we have much better to do."

"I also hate to break it to you, lass…but I think this place is a bit beyond what Cid can run…" Cryder said with a bit of a head scratch.

"And like I said…let's check it out anyway."

Phoenix landed before their aircraft did, and once it was down, Quaren initiated a full power down and locked out the controls. There wasn't anything stopping people from taking tools to it and carving it up for parts, but at least they couldn't deal with it as-is. After that, everyone unloaded. Dael realized they weren't exactly looking at the "top of their game". Jalab, in particular…after being patched up so many times and having his stamina only partially recovered, was beginning to look rather unsteady as he came out of the aircraft. Ceja followed, but it seemed she hadn't been sleeping for some time, and definitely was a bit sluggish in his step. Cid was much the same, his load seeming to weigh him down more than ever. Quaren looked to just be going through the "routines", and Cryder appeared to have lost more than a little spring to his own gait. Bahamut's sole point of encouragement seemed to be Phoenix, who, herself, was eyeing the building warily, much the same as she eyed all buildings. Carbuncle contented to ride on Dael's back as she got out.

She could hardly blame everyone for not being in the best of spirits. They didn't have much to cheer them on lately, and things only seemed to be getting worse. Still, Dael refused to let herself get disheartened. Once outside, she looked over the front. The doors definitely showed signs of being broken into, although not too violently. And the emergency lighting still seemed to be working on the inside, although it provided only the smallest amount of illumination.

"Lovely…" Cryder mused.

"At least we know the worst thing that could be in there is a looter or thug." Quaren suggested.

"At least for the moment." Ceja responded, already pulling her axe in front of her rather than on her back. "The electricity that modern society relies upon is failing all over the city of Esthar. When your protective barriers fail, then your city will be in danger."

Dael grimaced, really not needing that reminder. However, it brought something else to mind, causing her to turn to the Fuliet warrior briefly. "Ceja…were you able to somehow contact your people while I was out of things?"

The woman's look turned dark on hearing this, bowing her head. A few of the others looked much the same, and Quaren eventually looked to Dael.

"We…ended up finding out that many of them who were tribal leaders went into the district that Tiamat ruined." He stated quietly. "We tried contacting them through a few radio transmissions they should have had access too, but…even if they mastered using those, we got no response. I left three separate messages on three separate channels on Ceja's behalf to request contact at a locale, but…" He moistened his lips. "…No one showed the two times she went there."

The woman kept her head down for only a moment longer before looking up. "…Let us finish this as soon as possible and go inside now."

She nearly took the lead, but luckily for her she didn't have to. Dael merely gave a nod and turned forward, then began to lead the way. "I'll take point. I think I'm in the best shape, after all…"

The group slowly made their way inside. Carbuncle stayed on Dael's neck, looking about, and Phoenix brought up the rear but got as close to Bahamut as she could. It was interesting…how she could just slightly "fly" as she went along, defying physics to soar in place only a few feet off the ground. She seemed to have a fear of the building. Dael couldn't blame her. Based on what she had heard from Bahamut, Phoenix had never seen anything more sophisticated than a primitive tent. Nevertheless, she found herself looking to her and encouraging her a bit as they went in...not really sure why she decided to. Taraketh stuck with the others, but stayed silent. He seemed to be devoted on task. One by one, they slowly stepped through the broken front doors and inside.

Dael only had to venture a few steps to see more. In the dim interior lighting, once the exterior light was blocked off and her eyes began to adjust to the inside, she looked ahead to the security checkpoint. Those might be trouble, she realized. In the absence of power, most modern security systems had a lock down mode that required a sophisticated override to be able to overcome, assuming they would open at all without power. She expected to do a fair bit of hacking if not outright "chopping to bits" of various security systems.

So she received a bit of surprise that everyone else noticed. The first checkpoint had the security devices hacked out by what looked like cutting tools. Dael exchanged a look with the others, then broke off and moved forward a bit more. It was dark in the chamber, and her shadow cast over a lot, but she was still able to take a good look at the damage. She frowned a bit and rubbed her chin.

The others soon began to draw in more as well, with Ceja, Jalab, and Cryder beginning to look around for signs of hostiles. It was dim in the chamber as opposed to filled with shadows, but there was still a good number. It was also quite silent. Cid looked up ahead a bit to what Dael was doing, and finally voiced his own opinion. "Someone cut through the default security?"

"Yeah…but not in any way I've ever seen before." The woman answered. "Definitely not a 'hack job'. They used a cutting torch on this bulkhead but they didn't cut out anything…"

She stood to one side and gestured to it. Cid, in turn, looked ahead to the mark, and looked a bit surprised himself.

"…Whoever it was didn't have to bother cutting anything out." He answered. "It looks like they directly melted out the microchips and weaker resistors. Whoever did it knew a thing or two about the locks."

"So it wouldn't be a common looter." Bahamut responded. "Someone came in here with a purpose."

Dael didn't answer that. Ignoring the first bulkhead, she advanced from there.

The story was the same after that point. All of the remaining security checkpoints in route were likewise burned into and disabled. Some were more sophisticated, but they too had been offlined just as easily. All of this made the group a bit more wary. After all, if this was the case, then who was to say that whoever had come in wasn't still here? That was enough to get everyone on alert and looking around. However, when Dael put her hand on the burn marks, they were quite cold. They had been hacked into long ago. At length, they reached the elevator…and this one was the most unusual yet.

A backpack-sized device was attached to the main control, which had been opened with a screwdriver and hacked in a patchwork manner. Cid approached this and looked at it for a moment. He blinked again.

"This is pretty sophisticated, Dael… Not only did whoever do this hack the security locks for the elevator, they gave it this thing to act as a battery power source so it could operate even if the generators went dead." He moved it a bit more. "Looks to be top of the line, too. Definitely not something just pieced together from scraps."

"And it's still plugged in." Carbuncle pointed out. "Could mean someone is still down there and needs a way up?"

"That doesn't make too much sense…" Quaren muttered. "All of the burn marks are cool, and there isn't the smell of a cutting torch here either. If they wanted to get back out, then they have to have been downstairs for a while… Why didn't they leave yet?"

Dael didn't know the answer, but she didn't waste time thinking. Stepping forward, she pressed the down button. She meant to back up afterward, in case there was any number of nasty surprises on the elevator waiting for them. However, her fears were unjustified. When the doors opened, all they revealed was a well-lit interior to a freight elevator. Evidently, that battery was doing its job. With that in mind, she walked right on board. The others soon followed behind, although Phoenix looked, by far, to be the most reluctant to get on such an "odd device". Yet they all were soon on, and after the doors shut they were descending again.

On arriving at the bottom, the doors slowly slid open…and finally revealed something.

The security checkpoints were nothing new. Just like the ones upstairs, they had been disabled. Even being bigger and thicker hadn't stopped anything. The first checkpoint was gone, and the thick metal doors that had been installed to seal off the rest of the way had been manually cracked open just enough to let a person through. On the other side, in the chamber where the Bifrost was located, the lights were on a bit more intensely, although still operating on emergency power mode. Not only that, but there was some noise coming from it…what sounded like a person's voice, although it was impossible to make out. There was only one, it seemed, but still it meant someone was in there.

Dael paused. Just one person? By now…she realized the only human opponents that were still a threat to her were the Sorceresses themselves, and she doubted they had teleported to a place within walking distance. Still, no reason not to be careful. She had no new mage bullets. Cid had been forced to leave a couple devices behind due to Cryder dumping them so he could drag him and everything else, and so he had spent most of the past couple days rebuilding the machines he lost. No time for more ammunition. Instead, she raised the Save the Queen and kept it in front of her, then looked to the others. Silently giving a head motion, she began to walk forward.

By now, the group was quite good at being silent. Even Phoenix, noticing that they were trying to creep forward, flew quietly along…although she hung back. She was excellent at reviving, but Dael got the impression she was terrible at physical combat or magic. At any rate, the bulk of her attention was on the door up ahead. Bahamut seemed to be intrigued as well. His shield had been ruined during the last encounter, but he kept it none the less to deflect blows, and also had his shortsword. At any rate, he seemed to be intrigued by who could be in there. Dael remembered…he had reacted the last time they were there as well just a bit… Perhaps this had something to do with that.

The group continued to approach quietly, allowing them to clearly hear what was going on inside. After a time, Dael became aware that whoever was inside was…singing. It wasn't the best singing voice in the world. In fact, it seemed a bit odd and a little "loopy"…rather like someone who was drunk. It was also distinctly female. As for the song itself…it was basic funeral music. The kind one would find at any traditional service that had songs…

This only puzzled her more, but she soon advanced all the way to the opening. Once there, she pressed herself to one side for a moment, and Bahamut took the other. The rest of the group made sure to move to opposite sides, although Jalab had to gesture to Phoenix to go in one direction, especially since her glow gave her away. That done, Dael went to her side and tried to reach for a mirror. Unfortunately it had been lost at some point. Frowning, she looked up to Quaren, but he merely shook his head. One piece of gear they couldn't get. Sighing a bit, Dael merely stepped around the edge and looked inside. Keeping her sword in front of her, she advanced within.

She was a bit taken back by what she saw.

The device looked mostly intact, to be honest. A bit run down and inactive at the moment, but still there. It looked as if the scientists from before had left in a hurry. There was still refuse from their work, such as protocols, old coffee, ID badges, scattered papers, and a few broken small items. When Esthar went under, they may have run for it. The machine itself was still fine, however. That wasn't what Dael focused on though.

A single console was partially active…mostly in the sense of a single person still there. It was covered with trash…mostly of the liquor variety in the form of empty beer cans and wine bottles, of all things. There was assorted other rubbish too, such as food wrappers, old files, ledgers, even "scrap books" of a sort, from what it looked like… The person at the console was a woman, leaning back…almost drunkenly… She had a head of gray, long hair. Apart from that…there were a couple of very odd objects nearby…

A handgun mottled with blood with some of it on the floor.

What looked like a hangman's noose that had been clawed through.

And most of all…what looked like a small "funeral shrine" that had been erected from various bits of trash, debris, and other materials…hand-crafted and arranged to make synthetic flowers, improvised candles, and other accessories…all around a picture of one person in particular.

Sorceress Mianyl.

Dael actually paused a bit on seeing that, before she turned back to the person at the console. The woman was just in time to get to the "high point" of one of her songs, before downing the rest of the bottle…and flinging the remainder across the room to shatter against the back wall. She leaned up a bit and stretched as she grabbed, not another beer, but a whole bottle of wine and grabbed a corkscrew to crack it open. Unfortunately for her, the last cork was still on it, so after grumbling a bit, she leaned up to pull it off. By now, everyone else had entered the room. They all had mixed reactions, but even Carbuncle and Cryder seemed honestly surprised at all the drinking. However, as the woman leaned up…she paused. Dael saw why. Although they had come in quietly enough, their faces were reflected in the black screen on the console.

The chair could swivel, so she did so at that moment, swinging around to face them.

"Ah…wondering when someone like you would show up… Care to join the funeral service? Or just looking for a friend at the end of the world?"

Dael was honestly taken aback.

It was Dr. Maritza…but the past couple weeks had not been kind.

She looked, to be honest, sick. _Very_ sick. Her body seemed to be 'deteriorating'. Her flesh tone was almost ashy, and her skin looked as if it was rapidly aging…or even rotting…off of the rest of her. Aside from that, however, she looked both weak and drunk. She still had her lab clothing, but most of it was loose by now…having not been maintained in a while. She did indeed come down here some time ago…and it looked as if she had been sitting there and drinking ever since. Yet considering her body, she probably had more to worry about than that…

The group stared for a moment at her. Bahamut, however, ended up being the one who spoke first, he gaze not turning from her. "…What's happening to you?"

Maritza let out a snort and a chuckle. "It's obvious, isn't it? I'm dying. Wasn't easy, either…"

She leaned back a bit and pointed at the hangman's noose.

"Outdid myself too much… See that over there? Snapped my own neck but it didn't kill me. Hung there for about four hours before I was able to claw through the rope using mostly my nails… I figured for sure a nice bullet would do it or at least let me bleed to death, but…"

She gestured to the gun on the floor.

"Once again…too big for that. I figured I'd have to electrocute or incinerate myself afterward…but…that sounded too painful… But…" She threw up her hands and let them fall again. "I found a solution. Same thing that was able to allow me to age…just OD on that." She chuckled. "Not a bad solution… Seems these cells naturally 'hate' Jenova…which is kind of odd seeing as they came from it as a base… Heh…"

She leaned back a bit.

"Maybe she wasn't the only one who could 'displace' souls…" She mused aloud. "Always wondered why his wing ended up being white… On that note…you should see the thing growing out of _my_ back…"

At this point, Bahamut spoke out again more quietly. "…I know you. I never saw you with my own eyes, but…I have pieces of the memories that Ragnar gave me."

"Ragnar…" Maritza chuckled. "That's a name I haven't heard in a long time…" She said in a listless voice. "He probably wants my head now…"

"You _are_ Maritza…" Bahamut stated more definitively. "The same one from the war with the New Shinra."

Hearing that caused Dael, Carbuncle, Quaren, and Taraketh to all turn to the boy.

"What did you say?" Dael asked incredulously. "That war was nearly 200 years ago."

"Yeah…and I don't look bad for 300, all things considered, eh?" Maritza interjected with a crooked grin. "Maybe not _now_ of course…"

Dael blinked on hearing this response, looking back to the woman. "…Are you trying to tell me you've been alive for 300 years?"

"Well, 'don't look bad for 300' kind of implies that, doesn't it?" She said as she finished getting the cork off and began to jam it in the new bottle.

"That's…not possible…" Quaren muttered. "I mean…are you a Guardian Force or something?"

Maritza snickered again, yet with almost a sad voice, as she began to yank the cork out. "Oh…I'm sure at _some_ point I was human…but that was a very, very, _very_ long time ago. Now I'm more of some sort of genetic cocktail that uses Jenova as its base… I'm pretty sure at this point I've got the last remains of it inside me at this point…and those parts are dying at the moment. Once they're gone…once _I'm_ gone…that's it." She snickered again. "And killed by her own cells…how ironic. I'm glad I get to feel her die literally inside me, though… Every hour that goes by…and I feel a little weaker…I know that's _her_ struggling to cling to life…and failing at it."

Dael looked back to Bahamut. "…Who is this woman?"

"A researcher for Shinra, from what I can remember from my time as being one with Ragnar." Bahamut responded. "I don't know the whole story…only that she defected."

"Oh, the whole story?" Maritza asked as she took a swig of her liquor bottle. "I won't bore you with the details for long…but suffice to say my one and only goal eventually became to preserve my daughter. You know her by another name, I'm assuming…"

The boy raised an eyebrow at that, but Maritza only grinned as she leaned on the chair and propped her head on her hand.

"I always wondered how Ragnar managed to gain his power…Who would have thought? A junction, of all things…before anyone even knew what they were. I'm an idiot for not seeing it sooner. At any rate…Ragnar must have broken it before you got the full story…"

She set the bottle down, and went for the rest of the refuse nearby. She scattered some of it away, and soon leaned over and grasped something made out of darkened iron. She pulled it out…revealing it to be an idol of a sort. Dael had seen ones like this before…but never one so old. On looking at it, she realized what it was: Aerith the Radiant…or, at least, she thought it was… Aerith was normally made of white stone or marble, graced with angel wings, her crest a glorious halo, and clad in beautiful white. This one, by comparison…had four wings, and they looked like they were bat-shaped. The crest itself was of a crescent moon.

Cryder raised an eyebrow to it. "…Never seen a statue of that Aerith chick as ugly as that."

Taraketh, however, looked at it grimly…and finally spoke up.

"That's because it's not Aerith the Radiant."

Everyone, regardless of their feelings, looked to him. His face was stony.

"…That's a 'heretic' idol. Early in the days of the Order of Hyne there were no more than 100 people who wanted it accepted into the shrines and temples, but it was rejected and those who wanted it were told to abandon any reverence or prayer to it. It's of a part of our history that has been dubbed 'falsehood'."

"Oh, but it wasn't, you good little altar boy." Maritza answered…her voice seeming to have turned a bit cross on hearing that this was called 'falsehood'. "You're looking at one of the few remaining sculptures of Krystea the Shadow. I kept it, you see…in my personal collection."

Bahamut looked up. "…So somehow, you were able to purge Aleron out of Krystea?"

Martiza set the idol down…almost looking to it lovingly…before leaning back. "Unlike the individual she was cloned from, Krystea had embraced 'darkness' her whole life. There would be no 'moment of truth' for her when she uncovered her power. No 'rejection of the darkness for light'. She spent years…decades…after the incident with Aleron trying to become someone more like her 'sister'. Yet she was an assassin. You don't become a holy woman overnight, and you don't change the fact you use death to solve problems so easily. When her power finally came forth, it was purely for destruction. Definitely an 'attack type'… Yet one would think the story had a 'happy ending'… She kept working at it…calmed down…stayed with her sister… Hell, she even got married late in life… She only ever showed her 'Sorceress' form once or twice…and I wasn't there either time…but yes, she had the power of the 'original'…and lived mostly happily for the rest of her life…"

"I remember you now…" Carbuncle suddenly spoke up from Dael's shoulders. "You're that crazy bitch who thought you were Krystea's mom because you supplied the egg for cloning, right?"

Maritza's listless look turned dark again.

"…I _am_ her mother." She stated almost icily. "What mother ever loved their child so much to do what I did for her? Do not mistake the fact that I was never able to have a tea party with her or braid her hair or drop her off to school or take her out selling cookies for the fact that she wasn't _my_ child."

"Krystea died a long time ago." Bahamut retorted. "I'm assuming you perfected the way to keep yourself fixed at a given age."

Her smile came back. "You assumed correct, although I fried most of my brain and insides to do it and lost a good deal of my sanity… The Jenova treatment I gave myself caused me to regress aging. I finally managed to accelerate my metabolism enough to make the cells stabilize inside my body, but I was frozen at the age of eight for the next forty years."

She reached over to the console, revealing a hypodermic gun and several empty vials, even as she let out a cough. She patted them none the less.

"Samples from some half-man, half-wolf, half-bat thing that Crazy McCrazy scraped off the ground, shoved in a cooler, and forgot about. And why not?" She snorted. "He was only interested in _his_ Jenova hybrids…not anyone else's. In tiny doses, it neutralized the Jenova cells inside me enough to allow me to age for a couple months per treatment. Unfortunately…an overdose causes one to deteriorate…as you can probably see. It seems to want to 'copy itself' onto me, or something...but it can't because it's only a copy of the original itself... And since Jenova tends to become whatever organism you put it into…killing the Jenova in me is also killing me."

She leaned back and looked to the time.

"…I didn't inject myself too long ago, but I made sure to give myself enough to do the job several times over. All of it. I'd say…I've got less than an hour."

"You've lived for this long, and only now you want to kill yourself?" Bahamut asked. "Why? Why didn't you do it after Krystea died?"

Martiza exhaled. She was quiet for a long time after that. She moistened her lips and breathed slow, staring long at the ceiling...seeming to think back...seeming to ponder that question for quite a while... When she finally answered, it was in a low voice.

"…Because I was addicted to 'having a family'."

Dael wasn't sure what this meant, but before she could say anything, Maritza leaned up again.

"Whether it was the Jenova inside me…my insanity…or maybe a genuine desire, like everyone else has, to not kick the bucket…I didn't feel like throwing in the towel after Krystea died. And why should I have? I still had something. I had a 'granddaughter'. Only one, mind you…but she too had one child. And so I stayed. I looked in on them from time to time. If they had financial problems, I might have left them a check somewhere where they could find it. If one of them fell down and got scraped while playing, I might pass by with a first aid kit. I even sent some gifts for the holidays once or twice. Mostly I just watched, though…and I watched as her granddaughter had one child…and she had one child…and she had one child…and so on and so forth. Always just one child…always only one person away from ending her legacy. I told myself: 'The day she has two children, I'll end it all.' She'd endure after that, after all. Krystea would always live on. But with just one person…I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"It got worse. You see…her family was never a stranger to pain and suffering. I had to help them along. And I helped them more and more as time went on. With each new child…I began to see myself more as the mother again. That somehow I was helping Krystea through all the pain I couldn't spare her from…and I was, actually. I was ensuring her legacy lived. I had to do more, though. I paid for one to go to college in an anonymous trust fund. Another one I paid for treatment for a bad illness. Hell…I even pointed a gun at the head of one of their principals at one point and made him change a grade on an exam…" She snickered. "A loving mother…that's me…"

She held for a moment after that, and slowly exhaled as her smile faded. Her look grew faraway.

"…But it seems all good things come to an end, and that there will always be a 'black sheep' in the family."

She turned her head slightly…toward the small shrine. Dael and the others looked to it for a moment, and then back to her. The former captain realized the truth.

"Mianyl…is Krystea's descendent." Bahamut answered.

Martiza's face remained dark, staring out at nothing.

"…She wasn't always this way, you know." She said darkly. "She was a normal child…even a better-than-normal child, so long as you ignored the claws… She could have been any of you…"

Dael resented that statement a bit, but she went on.

"Her parents…they were so much like Krystea's 'original copy'… Always wanting to take the field. Always wanting to be 'hands on' with people, even if the mother wasn't a Sorceress." She looked over to Dael and Taraketh alike. "I'm sure you're both familiar with the Mahanterilhia Incident in the Centra archipelago?"

The former Esthar's Hawk gave a start at that, as did Quaren, while Taraketh's mouth hung open for a moment, before grimacing and showing a touch of his old anger.

The scientist grinned. "Of course you are. Well…" She leaned back a bit. "A year or two before that happened…that's where her parents went, taking her with her. They were brave little Order of Hyne soldiers and thought the danger to them and their daughter was worth it if she could learn a bit about what it meant to put everything on the line to help someone. At war with a corrupt government in Serenghetti, the adult population had been so devastated that it only made up thirty-five percent of the population as a whole…dooming the future generation to whatever fate the Serenghetti invaders had in mind. Mostly…it was making them drug addicts or, better yet, soldiers in their army through impressment into service. Probably both. As for the adults, well…they merely slaughtered the men. They generally raped the women first. Mass graves, genocide, people being treated like trash…the epitome of human evil.

"Against international advice and warning, including claims they wouldn't get so much as a handgun in support, the Order of Hyne sends its missionaries in. They do relief work…food, medicine, shelter…that sort of thing. They also do a lot of education. Educating children…and educating adults. You see, Mahanterilhia is dirt poor and the people ignorant. They don't even know how to prevent disease, let alone modern sustainable agriculture. The Order of Hyne tries to fix that. It's an ongoing effort…takes years…of which Mianyl's family is only the 'changing of the guard'.

"Well…Serenghetti is trying to enact a slow generational genocide on Mahanterilhia, and it doesn't like this. Not. One. Bit. They tried harassing them at first…for, oh, about a week and a half. Then they just did what worked a lot easier…beating them, usually to death, or just dragging them out of their shelters in the night and killing them. Eventually, they tried taking hostages…including Mianyl's father. They figured rather than kill them they could sell them back to the international community for some money. But the Order of Hyne didn't have the ransom, and no other government on Gaia was supporting them. They couldn't meet their demands. So they let them go…sort of. The last time Mianyl saw her father was as he was going out to try water from a well. When she saw him again…it was his severed head stuck on a pole. Heh…rather like savages after thousands of years of cultural development…

"Still, the effort wasn't wasted. The country began to turn around. The provincial government, more of a political organization than anything, even went into these camps to learn how to improve themselves and better their country, as well as to make use of world-wide information sources and the like. Among them was this little group known as Lu'Retic."

She paused here, giving a dark smile to Dael.

"Ms. Esthar's Hawk…would you kindly tell everyone how _that_ worked out?"

The woman looked back darkly for a moment, but then lowered her sword, crossed her arms, and answered.

"…The Lu'Retic eventually formed into a nationalist party within Mahanterihia for the purpose of driving out Serenghetti. However, Serenghetti had some international allies backing it. That was why no one supported the Order of Hyne or Mahanterihia…they didn't want to cause an international conflict. So to win support from the populace, the Lu'Retic launched an aggressive campaign against foreign influences of all kinds. They started off just using international anger as a rallying point…but when they saw it was successful, they began to outright blame the international community and all influences as the source of their problems, and provoked greater responses."

"Keep going."

Dael swallowed. "…On realizing the drug trade had potential to give them fast money, they started pushing that and accused international pressure against them as being the results of Serenghetti oppression. They started using other nations as a scapegoat for their own conduct. Even when the Lu'Retic grew more corrupt to the people it was trying to help, generating into another organization run by a greedy warlord, and started giving refugee children drugs of their own to make them addicts and thereby use them as rebel soldiers, the people didn't care because they managed to shove all blame on the international community. They accused anyone, even a doctor or teacher, of trying to brainwash the citizens into fulfilling foreign interests. And they incited the people into demonstrating and even rioting as a result."

"Go on."

Dael paused again. By now, Taraketh was bowing his head a bit. Jalab and Cid likewise looked uncomfortable.

"…At one point, a terrorist attack they launched on Serenghetti backfired horribly, killing only two Serenghetti officials in a bomb blast but over two hundred Mahanterihia civilians. Realizing they would lose credibility with their own supporters, the Lu'Retic leaders staged their most violent demonstration yet, telling the people that it was due to the Order of Hyne foreign influences reporting the attack to the Serenghetti that it had gone off at the wrong time and killed innocents. Within two days…they were burning Sorceresses in effigy nationwide and chanting for death to the order."

Taraketh suddenly looked up and to Mianyl, his look intense, and his face pale. "Are you trying to tell me that Mianyl came out of that incident?" He asked, genuinely sounding strained and even shocked. "That _that's_ where she came from? That the reason she was in the orphanage was because of that? No one was supposed to have survived-"

Maritza held a hand to him to shush him. "Now, now…you're jumping past the climax." She looked back to Dael, saying nothing…only bidding her to continue.

Dael's face darkened. "…During the first day of summer, on the hottest day in five years, a mob of about 8,000 people stormed the Order of Hyne camp and began to kill every foreigner they could find. There were no survivors…"

Mianyl shook her head. "No…_one_ survivor. I saw it myself…because I was there before it was over. And I saw it with my own eyes…how the only reason that man, after beating in her mother's own head with a baseball bat, didn't do the same to her is because she had claws. He called her a 'rakshasha' and then ran for his life." She paused. "…Anything else?"

"No, nothing." Dael answered.

"An excellent answer." Maritza nearly spat. "Because no one in the world did a _damn thing_. It wouldn't be for three weeks that the Order of Hyne even was able to get their own group there, led by Cybus the River, to investigate. Their country didn't even have the decency to validate their passports right away, let alone investigate the riot. They let it burn…and they let her run around in the rubbish of her own friends and family for _three weeks_. She'd be dead now if it wasn't for me… I brought her whatever food and water I could…left it for her to find it…and tried to bury whoever I could. But she wouldn't even come near me after that. The whole thing nearly turned her feral… It wasn't until Cybus arrived and took her out of there that she started talking again. But never did Esthar, Sybenia, or anyone else punish one person or investigate for even five minutes what happened there."

Dael, however, tensed up herself at this point. "…It was you, then. You're the one who dug up the research into teleportation. You put it together using 300 years worth of studying. And you were behind the second one being built on top of the Odina Building. That's how you were brought in when no one knew about it. You were another 'background figure' that Mianyl knew. You were working with her all along."

"Yes to most of that…but not quite, at the end." Maritza answered. "She knew about my technical expertise I had shoved out over the years using various pseudonyms, but she had no idea I was the same woman, or that I had any relation to her, or even that I had been the one who helped her for those three weeks. But yes…she knew I had a reputation for a being an underground crackpot even if I was very good at what I did. She brought me in to finish the design and put it out, with the express goal that she could get to a planet when it grew close enough…specifically this 'other Gaia'."

This only made Dael more upset. "…And how much of her plan did you know about? Some of it? All of it?"

"If you're asking whether or not I knew she was a bit deranged and playing both sides of this conflict…" She took a swig from her bottle, then looked to them all again.

"…Yes, I did."

Dael formed her hands into fists. "So you let thousands of people die."

"Spare me your semantics." Maritza retorted. "I don't need to be lectured by a military woman. You know as well as I do that the rule is even if you have to kill every last person on the other side to get what you want, you do it. But for the record…I had no idea what she was really planning until now. It's not until this point I realize she actually wants this entire world to die as well as everything else. I knew she was crazy…but can you really blame her after all she's been through? On this world we live in? Can you find a single good leader or morally upright person anywhere in this self-absorbed, greedy planet? She spent her early life working just as hard as her parents to bring forth ideas of peace and loyalty, and was persecuted first by the invasive government and then by the very people she had worked so hard to help. You are all probably feeling pretty bad after being backstabbed so many times…but that's part and parcel for her. It's been that way her entire life. The only thing worse than an religion that oppresses people is a religion that oppresses no one…because it simply becomes a tool itself. Everyone oppresses it, instead. Can you really blame her for reaching the point where she feels no one deserves to live? How 'existing' is just an excuse to suffer pain?"

She bowed her head and sighed.

"…But if you want to blame me for something, go on ahead. I do as well. I'll be honest…I've never cared for much before. Not governments…not countries…not 'sides' in a war that ultimately means nothing… But Mianyl…"

She exhaled.

"…I never saw what she was becoming. Or maybe what she always was. I figured she had 'gotten over it' when I saw her smiling and playing at the orphanage I tracked her down to. That she had 'moved on'. But I was wrong. The only reason she had 'moved on' is because she had made a decision. It's quite simple, really. A person depressed and grim suddenly becomes happy one day not because they got over years of depression…but because they've finally decided to kill themselves. Mianyl decided at the age of six that Gaia and everything on it needed to die. That thought has brought a smile to her face for over ten years since…"

She took another swig from the bottle…before letting it fall and spill on the floor. Even as it bubbled out, she shook her head.

"And I helped her. That's what they say…the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I've known she had to be psychotic for at least four months now. I've seen it over the years…learned how to recognize it in someone. I knew she was being both the 'victim and the conquerer'. I knew that there wasn't a single upset, mishap, or mass incidence of death in this war that she didn't plan for…that she didn't help 'make happen'." She sighed again. "…But I let it happen, because that's what any mother whose human does. They spoil their child hoping that they'll come to their senses, because the alternative is unthinkable and drives a blade into their heart. I would have had to kill this girl I had struggled to save…and I couldn't do that. Not in a million years… Now…there's no future for any of us… Funny. I thought I wouldn't really care if I was ever the one who ended the world, but…"

Pause.

"But now…now I realize that there are so many mothers out there who just want a chance to see their children grow up… Even if they never are able to say a word or do one thing for them…to just know that they're alive… To spare myself that pain I caused it to billions…"

"Not yet." Dael interjected. "We can still stop her."

Mianyl's depression lifted long enough for her to smile bitterly. "Oh you can, can you… How exactly do you plan on doing that? Holy Judgement…Megaflares…Ultima…with here, it's simple 'been there, done that'."

"Maybe if you helped us."

She only snorted again. "…Haven't you ever heard the expression 'blood is thicker than water'? As terrible as she is…as much of a monster as she's become…she's still my 'great grandaughter'…or however many greats are in there. Why do you think I made that?" She gestured over to the small shrine. "An arts and crafts project? It's because I know I'm the only one who will ever care when she's dead…"

Taraketh stiffened a little here, and nearly opened his mouth…but kept it shut at the end.

"Then why are you here right now?" Dael answered. "Were you planning on using this device, or trying to stop anyone from using it? If the latter…then why did you commit suicide?"

Maritza paused a moment, but then smiled and chuckled darkly. "…You've got me pegged, don't you? As it turns out…I _was_ hoping someone like you would come by. You haven't a chance in Hell against Mianyl, but…I've seen people pull off similar odds. And I'm guessing the reason you came here is because you want to go to Nyx Gaia, just like she did. Well…you came to the right place."

She gestured before her to the Bifrost. "This is the only thing that can get you there now. I based it off the same design Shinra once possessed. Their technology was far beyond anything that's been built even 200 years later. Even nuclear fusion technology is insignificant compared to Shinra tech due to how much power you could deliver to a device with a mako engine. It took me a good thirty years to build anything capable of holding enough power to work the Bifrost." She knocked on the console. "That jump the three of them made depleted the power cells pretty badly. Two days later…they've only partially recharged from the reactors in the city. In a couple hours, though…they won't even manage that. Without any of the civil sector employees maintaining utilities, soon this thing will be depowered without the ability to be operational again. You'd need mako power for that. It may…or may not…have one good jump left in it, though. Enough to get to the same coordinates that the Sorceresses went."

"Can you operate it?" Dael asked.

Maritza stared flatly back at her, before leaning back calmly and folding her hands in front of her. She let out another cough, but other than that she was silent.

Dael frowned. "…Can you or can't you?"

"I can do it, Dael." Cid answered, seeming eager to get moving. "It can't be too hard to figure out."

"Hope you can crack a triple encryption code first." Martiza answered with a smile.

Dael looked back to her at that. She was quiet herself for a moment.

"…You locked the system?"

"On the chance that someone like you would come along." Martiza answered. "Someone who I've learned to expect…a brave Esthar's Hawk determined to go down fighting…and also of high rank. Now then…"

She moved over to one of the consoles and moved the trackball, revealing that it was on suspend mode. When it popped up, it revealed not the operating system for the device, but an internet connection. Dael couldn't see what it was exactly at this point, but she could read it from afar as bearing the official logos of the nation of Esthar itself. She tapped against the keyboard.

"Come up here and disable the master bulkhead to the city archives." She stated. "You have clearance, being a high officer and in a time of marshal law. It wants your retina plus your password, but there's an optical scanner nearby."

Dael looked to it momentarily, then back to her. "…What for?"

"Do you want to go to Nyx Gaia or do you want to play 'Twenty Questions'?" Martiza answered. "Don't delay too long. I've got less than 50 minutes by now. And even if I didn't, once the grid shuts down, this Bifrost might as well be a ton of scrap."

The former captain, however, crossed her arms. "…The whole reason I'm in this mess in the first place is because people haven't been honest with me. I want to know why."

"Suit yourself." Martiza answered with a shrug. "You better get started building a rocket if you want to get there."

"And _you_ better be ready to die alone with your last request denied." Dael shot back coldly.

This caught Maritza. Though she masked her emotions well, this had struck a nerve in her. It was only a slight reaction…but she seemed to realize just how serious the Esthar's Hawk was. The others had almost been ready to break or reconsider, but on seeing this reaction, they solidified as well.

Finally, the woman closed her eyes, sighed, and bowed her head.

"…And here I thought your hero types were supposed to all be so 'noble'. Very well." She looked up again and sat back in the chair with her arms crossed. "Use your heads for a moment, boys and girls. Do you really think I would have just let Mianyl think she was alone for three weeks? Or that I'd still feel this strongly about my family that I'd live for 200 years just to commit suicide now, right as my 'line' is about to be ended?"

Dael was silent in response. She thought over this for a moment. The others did much the same, wondering what she meant by this statement. Yet it only took a few moments for them all to start making a connection. Taraketh was the one to announce it, sounding both surprised…as well as a bit hopeful.

"Mianyl…wasn't an only child, was she?"

Maritza leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "…Her mother's body was still warm when I found it and I saw her belly. Perhaps Mianyl didn't remember it…perhaps she blocked it out…that's why she didn't remember the real reason her mother stayed hopeful in the eight months following the death of her husband and Mianyl's father…because she had a new life inside of her. A pocketknife…that was the only tool I had on me at the moment, and I sliced open the still-warm carcass with my bare hands and brought Mianyl's little sister into the world. She was still premature…and I had to use everything I learned for 300 years to cobble together enough sterile equipment to keep her alive until she was stable enough to take her to a proper hospital in another country…one that wouldn't kill her on sight, in other words.

"I put her in as a Jane Doe…and I tried to pull the wool over their eyes…but that wasn't possible. They _insisted_ on knowing the whole story in order to try and find her parents before putting her up for adoption. I suppose if I hadn't been a crazy, demented person myself…I could have filled that role. But I'm not, so I didn't. After giving up entirely too much information which, I might add, ended up on the database of the City of Esthar, I decided to make use of it by having enough legal information to set up a trust account in her name. I put half of everything I had made for 100 years into it…not a bad sum. I knew every sh't-bum foster parent would want their share of that dough, so I hacked into the records and ensured she ended up the child of educated, well-informed, wealthy, morally upright, and prominent individuals within the city…who I further helped as of late by giving them advanced notice of every impending disaster and even providing them with a fallout shelter in the hills on the outskirts of the city to wait through all of this. Every last cent I still had I put into her account, and then I set about destroying any evidence of me plus any evidence of her true identity, everything, that is, except the digital database in Esthar. Some redundant programmer made it too hard for me to hack into without leaving a trail."

Dael took this all in for a moment. Mianyl had a sister… Apparently not a "clawed" one, but it was cold comfort at best. That meant there was another person in the world who had the chance to become as powerful as her or as demented. Perhaps the power Mianyl held now would even go to her if she was killed… But why tell them this now?

She had an idea, but she wanted to confirm it. "And why do you want to ensure no one can trace her?"

"I think you already know the answer to that." Maritza responded. "Assuming you somehow manage to beat her and the rest of the Sorceresses and 'restore peace unto the world', it's going to be open season on every surviving Order of Hyne member. Krystea, Ragnar, and Aerith were once the last of their kind. They'll be rendered nearly extinct again after this, and I'm not going to allow that. I have a legacy beyond Mianyl…provided Mianyl is killed. But I'm not going to leave her to the rioters and hatemongers of this world. I want her protected.

"When you unlock this, I'm going to upload a worm virus into the database to destroy every last record in it. Whoever tries to rebuild it will have to either do it from hard copies, which I've already altered, or a backup file, which lacks birth records. My great grandaughter's past will be erased forever and she'll be able to grow up just like any other privileged teenager."

Dael frowned. "That database contains the system controls for public works, payrolls, economic data…"

"…And the only record that my great granddaughter is in any way related to a Sorceress. I'm willing to ruin all of that for her." Maritza responded. "Do not confuse me with a hero, my good woman. This is simply a case of quid pro quo. That's the deal. You unlock this system…I unlock the Bifrost and send you to Nyx Gaia. And should you survive, you forget what I told you. You never try and find this person. Not now and not ever. What will it be?"

The former captain visibly scowled. The data contained on the city's mainframe had a great deal of important details on it for maintaining the public works in the city. Even with a backup and a full IT team working, getting the system up and running would take days…days in which people could get sick from bad water, suffer from lack of power, and generally spread more misery. Things were bad now, but it would be impossible for anyone to have the tools to "pick up the job" if this happened. Even those who wanted to help would be frustrated. There was a good chance more people could die…

Yet all of that paled in comparison to the one undeniable fact.

_If Mianyl has her way, we're _all_ dead._

With that in mind, Dael turned and looked back to the others one time. None of them looked too comfortable with it. However, when she looked to Bahamut, he gave a grim nod. With that in mind, Dael looked back to Maritza. She silently walked forward, causing the woman to move out of the way to allow access to the computer. Once there, she paused a moment, then leaned over and proceeded to type in her clearance code. She entertained a moment that it might have been altered, that she had been locked out…but it accepted it, and asked for her retina scan next. Exhaling, she put her head up to the optical coder and hung through as a laser came out and over her eye. After a moment, it was done, and she leaned up and back. The computer had one last prompt.

_Passcode Confirmed._

_ Retinal Scan Confirmed._

_ Enable Upload? Y/N_

Dael paused a moment longer. _I pray to God that no one dies for this…_

She typed Y.

The machine went to a different menu, to show and upload…but it was only a second before it started to glitch. Warning messages popped up, but they too soon began to glitch and fed back nonsense. The CPU for the terminal began to run too hard, as it was being overloaded with nonsense data. Right before her eyes, Dael was seeing the master database for the city of Esthar be destroyed as the mainframe as being irreversibly damaged. However, she didn't get to see much before Maritza leaned over and switched off the screen.

"Good girl." She stated as she leaned back. "Now…I hope you didn't forget what I told you. One jump. Only _one_. And last I looked, there's no other Bifrost over there. So you can safely consider this a one-way trip."

Bahamut, however, looked to Carbuncle at this. "Is there any way you can teleport us back to Gaia once we're done there?"

"Sure…I only need to become about 100,000 times as powerful as I am at my best." Carbuncle snorted. "This isn't like teleporting to a continent. It's across space…and it's a lot farther than it looks."

"Maybe not." Bahamut answered. "What if the other Guardian Forces were to 'give you a boost'? Channel their power through yours? Would you be able to do it then?"

Carbuncle paused on hearing that. He thought for a few seconds. Finally, he gave a shrug.

"Well…possibly, I guess. But I've never tried to teleport anything from that far…"

"Alright then…" Bahamut answered. "In that case, we need to make a decision." He looked to the others. "We can either take Carbuncle and Phoenix with us…or they can stay behind and gather the Guardian Forces together."

Cryder raised an eyebrow. "…This firebird lass can bring us back from the dead, and you want to just 'leave her at home'?"

"I'm still getting the hang of magical barriers." Dael added. "I'm not sure I can negate any of their spells if they pull out something like last time."

"I agree with Bahamut." Phoenix suddenly interjected.

The group froze and looked to her. The Guardian Force looked a bit nervous and uncertain still…but Dael didn't think that was the reason she said that. She looked to them all a moment, and then exhaled. "I don't think you should all go about 'committing suicide' on this trip."

"You can think that all you want, but that may be the price we end up paying." Dael answered. "And if it saves this planet…"

"It's not just that, though." Phoenix stated more definitively. "I'm not going to be any 'good' to you indefinitely on that world anyway. Remember, I can't bring back people from the dead forever without killing myself. And right now…I think I might be able to help us in another way if I can find something in this world."

Bahamut looked up a bit at that. He seemed to catch himself for a moment.

"Phoenix…are you talking about the Tomb of the Unknown King?"

Quaren reacted to that as well. "Isn't that some sort of historical site near Sybenia?"

"What's _left_ of Sybenia, mate…" Cryder grimaced.

Bahamut looked to them. "It's dangerous now. There's no telling of the fallout reached it from the nuclear bombs. However, it's also where my brother Odin was supposedly buried. His original body…not the armor that he was moved into. According to the records I found, when Gilgamesh, his son, grew late in life, after many years of madness and corruption as a result of Hades, he came to his senses after one of the many masters he served throughout history was killed and he lived a life of atonement up to the point where he too was killed. His body was buried there along with Odin's. In both cases…" He paused momentarily. "…ancient preservation techniques were used to embalm them."

Dael understood that, her eyes raising a bit. "…Which means that if Phoenix was to use her power on them…"

"It will only work if their spirits have remained in this world all this time and didn't pass on." Phoenix responded. "I'm hoping so. Both of them died under less-than-ideal circumstances, after all…one's that would have left their spirits filled with anger."

"Pardon me, but I ain't exactly keen on lettin' us give up our one advantage to bet on a couple of dead blokes." Cryder answered. "Did you ever think something knocked off those two at least once already? And you think they're gonna make much of a difference against the Sorceresses?"

"If this is really Odin and Gilgamesh…believe me, they will." Carbuncle answered. "You don't know Odin's power."

"Anyone Odin strikes with Zantetsuken, if they even have the slightest doubt in their own survival," Bahamut explained. "That person is dead."

"Wouldn't they have to be scared of him first?" Quaren asked.

"He's quite good at 'freaking people out'." Bahamut responded.

"Still…we should retain every advantage we have." Ceja responded. "We have too few already."

"We can still summon the both of them." Taraketh suddenly interjected.

Ceja gave him a dark look, seeming to be annoyed he was even speaking to her. "And we are to trust _you_ with that after what you have done?"

Taraketh grimaced a bit. "…I'm not asking you to forgive me. Only to realize that…Mianyl doesn't want me anymore and considers me the same as the rest of you. I have nothing to gain anymore from any association with her. And I can help."

"Don't play us for fools." Carbuncle snorted. "That was a powerful spell you used on Mianyl…but you definitely didn't put everything you had into it. Alright, so you're not on 'her team' anymore. Who cares? If you don't have the heart to even attack her-"

"I'll use summons then." Taraketh cut off, looking up. "I can't moderate their rage or power."

Cid looked over to Dael with an uncertain expression. "Dael…if he slows down even for a second or hesitates, we could end up stuck just like before. I don't want to risk that."

"Same here, mate." Cryder answered.

Taraketh frowned a bit at this, and looked on the brink of retorting. However, Dael cut him off.

"I don't like it either, but here's the situation as it stands. We seem to be the only people going up against the Sorceresses at the moment and, frankly, it would help us greatly if the Guardian Forces themselves were behind us. Not just their summons. If we fail, at least there would be a 'b team' ready to go."

Carbuncle looked up a bit at that, and scratched his head with his paw. "…Actually going into action ourselves? Been a while since we've done that…"

"We're not that much use to anyone if we only rely on ourselves being summoned in a time of crisis though." Phoenix responded. "My Flames of Rebirth can be used through a summoning as well as in person, but if I actually go with them… I'll admit, I'm too physically weak to help much. The Sorceresses would have killed me the other day if they could have. But if I'm summoned…then I can continue to help out."

The green creature frowned. "Well, _I _need to come along just to keep you out of trouble."

"But you know everything we know, and you're the best suited to update the other Guardian Forces." Dael responded. "Also, you can notify everyone we've been to already in a snap. And if there's any reason we need to come back to Gaia…or if there's any shot we have at this not being a suicide mission…it'll be because of you and the other Guardian Forces."

Carbuncle only groaned again. "Terrific…stuck being a contingency that might fall through again…"

"Do you want us to come back from this alive, or not?" Dael asked.

"Of course I do, you idiot!"

"Then you need to stay behind. You need the power of the othe Guardian Forces to get us back."

The Guardian Force muttered something under his breath that sounded like an explitive, leaning off of Dael's shoulder just enough to cross his paws in front of him in a frustrated manner.

"I hate to interrupt your little debate…" Maritza suddenly interjected as she swiveled back to the other console. She soon moved the trackball, causing it to come online to a password prompt. She began to enter a rather long and complicated sequence that Dael and the others were fairly sure no human could normally memorize. "…but I think I've reached the point where my immune system is going into total failure. That means it's only going to be a couple minutes before all this booze I drank will stop being processed and will make me loopier than ever. And I don't think I have more than 45 minutes at this point to begin with…"

Dael grimaced a bit, and then looked back to the others. Even after the discussion, most of them still seemed to be of two minds. Yet in the end, she made a decision fairly rapidly for them.

"…Carbuncle and Phoenix will stay and see if they can't work up a way to teleport us back. Everyone else…we're heading over."

There were a few frowns, but no protests. In the end, everyone seemed ready to go for it. Dael turned back to Martiza afterward. "I assume you know _something_ about that world if you were supposed to send the Sorceresses to it. Or can they live without hair and pressure?"

"No. They can use magic to enhance themselves far beyond your average human…but they're still living things and not suited to a vacuum or a planet without an atmosphere." Maritza explained. By now, she finished entering the code, and brought up a menu. Her fingers flew over the keyboard even faster now, setting some things and switching others. As a result, lights on the consoles and machines began to come on. The sounds of motors, blowers, and other devices that hummed began to come on, one after another. "You can breathe and move around there, if that's what you're asking about. But you aren't going to like where you're going. Granted I could only gain so much through the analytical methods available, but while the gravity is indeed identical to Earth's, the atmosphere has been reduced quite a bit. Sea level there is like being at 8000 feet here. You're going to get out of breath very easily. Plus, there's very reduced moisture. Those clouds you see on it? Those aren't water so much as dust from volcanic activity. So you'll both be gasping for air as well as pretty cold and stumbling in the dark trying not to fall through a magma crust, as near as I can figure." She looked to them with a grin. "…Sure you don't want to 'pack a coat' or a canteen?"

Dael merely frowned in response. "…We have some gear already. Exactly how long do you think it's going to take us to find that stuff and will this thing still run when we get back?"

"Definitely not. It'll probably burn out after this next run. It's going to have to summon a lot more power than last time."

"Then we'll have to do without."

Martiza shrugged as she typed a few more keys. A louder humming began to resonate through the chamber, especially in the large coils and cables, before she pressed one last one. This caused the pad itself to begin to light up. "Your funeral. Not like they won't kill you once you get there anyway. Hop on."

"You're sending us to the same place you sent them, right?" Bahamut asked.

"Of course. Get yourselves on. I want to see if I even have enough power for all of you."

Dael hesitated. This was nuts even if she wasn't new to the whole "acting without orders" way of living. She looked back over their things, and saw that their "gear" only consisted of a few emergency field supplies. Most of them didn't have much. And if they were going to a place where they were already strained and stressed just from regular activity…this was rather crazy. However, they did have _one_ advantage. She doubted that the Sorceresses had ever run around in any form of "extreme conditions" training. Powerful as they may have been, they were used to operating in somewhat "ideal" situations. Even ones who took the field were constantly surrounded by people trying to give them an easier time. This might be more of a stamina drain on them…

Even so…this was practically psychotic. They were supposed to get on a device that had a decent chance of not working properly, teleport to a planet that was similar to Gaia in shape only and was definitely not suited for sustaining life, and they would be stuck there along with the Sorceresses, with no more "safe havens" or places to rest or resupply. Did they even have a good number of weapons on them? Were they even at their best?

_…Do we even have time to worry about that? In the span of 24 hours, the Sorceresses used Tiamat to destroy a good portion of Esthar and turned Sybenia proper into a wasteland. God knows what they're doing now, but they went there because it would make destroying Gaia that much easier. I know that much from what I heard. I spent two days out of it. That's two days too much. They've had two days to acclimate to that world that I haven't had. For all I know, they're ready to destroy this world right now. And this thing is going to be shutting down soon anyway, and when that happens there's no guarantee we can even get there._

Dael paused, but then finally looked back to Carbuncle.

"Just one last problem. Assuming Carbuncle can teleport us back, how can he get there? We were stuck away from Esthar for days because we got separated since he didn't have a presence on that world."

"Don't worry about that." The green creature grumbled in response. "I picked it up the last time you teleported on this thing. It does a 'tracing' of a presence somehow. So long as I get a sample of what it's 'keying in on', I should still be able to go there as if I had been there before." He looked to Martiza. "This thing _does_ use that principle, right? Because I don't want to pretend that I'm completely off base."

The woman nodded back. "Sure. But if you want to have time for me to show you before I bite the big one…"

Dael didn't pause any longer. She began to walk right out for the pad. By now, the coils were warming up quite a bit. The hum was almost to the level it was when they had come here before. Bahamut soon followed right behind. The others, however, were more hesitant.

"Dael," Quaren said as he only hesitantly followed. "Maybe we should think about this for a little longer…"

"Quaren, what's the worst thing that could happen?" Dael called out behind her.

"We could all die from this…" He muttered.

"Exactly how is that any different from what could literally happen at any moment?" She responded. "Could we prepare a bit better? I'd like to…but we aren't at the point where we have a day to rest up or head to the storage depot. If I had been up sooner, we would have had time…but now we need to get moving."

Quaren was still torn. However, as he was thinking, Taraketh suddenly took off from the group and began to walk after her. Ceja soon followed, not to be outdone by the "traitor", and Jalab, staying at her side now, followed behind. Cid swallowed a bit, but then forced himself to move too. That left Cryder and Quaren. The pirate hesitated a moment, and then reached into his pocket, pulled out a "single serve" of a bottle of whiskey he had pilfered, downed it, and then smashed the bottle before moving forward. Quaren, slumping a bit and letting out a sigh, followed behind at the rear.

On reaching the platforms, Carbuncle leapt from Dael's neck and to the ground, although a bit reluctantly. He held there and frowned as he watched her march straight onto it. The others soon followed, and arranged themselves on the pad, much as before. The coils, by now, were fully charged, but continued to hum more as more power was delivered into them. The chamber was getting a bit warm, no doubt from heat dissipation, but, as a result, fans came on and began to act to cool it down.

This only made Maritza frown. As Phoenix curiously began to inch closer to see what she was doing, she typed a few more. "The system wasn't meant to see this much use in the prototype phase… Already it's using the secondary cooling." She typed a few more things. "I'm going to throw everything open wide to maximum. Now that I'm the sole human regulator, even automated this thing is going to be a beast. Alright…putting in coordinates…calculating masses and forms of data to be sent…"

"What is 'data'? Is that us?" Ceja mused from her position.

"If it is, that's not something that makes me terribly comfortable to hear myself referred to as." Cryder muttered.

After several other keystrokes, she did a check. "Alright…let's ramp this up. The circuits should be warm by now." She adjusted something else…and the coils immediately began to hum louder than ever, now actually becoming a real noise rather than something in the background. Support generators fired on throughout the city, and the cables leading into the chamber actually began to glow. A bit of electricity snaked out of some of the support array, even with the device not being on. It made the group all rather uneasy.

"Come on…come on, baby… Let's see you build…" Martiza stated as she threw a few more switches. The machine continued to increase in humming a bit longer, but then started to "level out" afterward. She watched it a bit longer, twisting her lips a bit. Finally, she gave a nod.

"Alright…it's in the nominal range. Low end, of course…but you're not going to see any better. As it is, a quarter of this city is going to go out from this at minimum…and an eighth of it isn't going to come back on."

Dael sighed on hearing that. This had better be worth it…

"Could we…die…in machine?" Jalab ventured, sounding a bit uncomfortable.

"If you're asking whether or not this teleport has a chance to kill you…without a doubt." Maritza answered as she typed a bit more. "But like you said, waiting around on this planet has a 100% chance of killing you very soon."

The monk didn't look comfortable, and neither did anyone else, but they said no more.

Martiza finished her work, and finally moved her hand over as she looked up to the group.

"Alright everyone…last chance to chicken out. Once I press this button, you'll get fried by the inductive effects around you alone if you try and step out of that thing. Anyone getting cold feet?"

Carbuncle and Phoenix both looked incredibly nervous, and the group wasn't much better. But Dael and Bahamut both forced themselves to stand tall and calm. And because they did, the others held on too.

She exhaled. "In that case, bon voyage." She moved to press the button.

"Wait."

Everyone in the group looked to Dael when she said that, and Maritza looked up as well.

"You've lived only for one thing for hundreds of years, and once we're gone, you're going to die. This might be your only chance to leave any sort of 'epitath' behind. Any chance to have any last words."

Maritza smiled at that, letting out a small snicker. "I didn't know you cared…" She said almost quietly. After doing so, she paused for a few moments before giving a response.

"The only legacy I was interested in leaving was ensuring that my family survived for the past 200 years. Now, after all that time, and living and seeing so much…I've honestly grown tired even of that. If you want me to have a 'last hurrah'…then help me make this it. Don't make this last 'masterpiece' of mind end up being for nothing. Make sure that I didn't spend my centuries-long life helping to ensure that this world's destroyer would be born…that that's not my 'epitath'. I don't want to end the same way _he_ did, after all…"

Dael never had a chance to get elaboration on that, for the woman depressed the transfer button.

Just as before, the humming began to build again. The world around them began to wave and distort as the field of energy built about the group. Dael's thoughts went away from Maritza and to what was coming. This was nearly insane. Who had ever done something like this before? What was waiting for them on that world, and would they be able to stop it? Exactly what did that planet look like compared to Gaia? What was there that the Sorceresses wanted to use? As the world began to grow wrapped with blue and electricity snaked out between coils, she swallowed and looked to Bahamut. The boy, amazingly enough, showed a bit of unease of his own…but he was holding it back. He held firm…seeming to be telling her that they could do this.

Maritza didn't count off as she did last time, but Dael could tell the system was building to a "finishing point". Although she heard noise and strain coming from the machine, and saw a few of the consoles on the side burst and began to spark…even start a fire…the noise finally reached its apex…and, in a flash, reality compressed as they went on their one-way transport above and beyond Esthar, the Eastern Continent, Gaia itself…and straight for the cloud-wrapped world that hung in the sky.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

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><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: If this chapter is badly editted, you can blame the web site for timing out left and right today. Also...I gave you a pseudo-reference to Angeal. Savor the flavor because this is the last time.<p>

Also, as you probably realize by now, chapters are no longer regular due to the worst semester yet. However, if a new one comes out, it will be on Saturday.


	65. Out of the Frying Pan

_ How could this happen?_

_ Why can't you hear me?_

_ We're all calling…_

_ Wake up…while there's still time…_

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><p>For a brief moment…less than half a second…Dael couldn't tell if she was dreaming or awake. Only that, for the first time, the dull voices from her dreams that surrounded her and talked to her constantly were crystal clear…and so few in number she could actually hear them just briefly…<p>

But before her mind had a chance to realize what had happened, reality came around her, and she was hovering in mid air along with everyone else. Gravity quickly did its work, and soon she was pulled down once again. Yet this time she was a good ten feet in the air, and she fell for a moment before landing rather roughly against ground that was more gravel, ash, and loose dirt than any soil she had ever seen, and she immediately toppled forward on it and collapsed. It was warm…which was good because the wind that she felt blasting around her and howling was icy.

Most people who ever went this high usually did so as a gradual movement rather than suddenly going from an area which was perfectly breathable to one where the air was noticeably thinner. Although Dael could still breathe without too much difficulty, her body began to gasp, suddenly realizing it wasn't getting the air it had gotten a mere second ago. She soon heard the same from what had to be the others around her…along with the sounds of them slamming into the ground as well. The dirt around her was practically ash, and so as she lay there and gasped, she inhaled some of it in and gagged. Soon, she was coughing and pushing herself up…but even then she was light-headed, from both the trip as well as what had happened just now. She continued to draw in huge breaths…but that wasn't too good of an idea. Lifting her head up, she was now in the smoke and ash they had knocked up on landing, causing her to gasp more than before. Some landed in her eyes and made them water, causing her to stagger back and land on her rear, going off of her knees. She nearly rubbed them, but at the last moment raised her sleeves and had them dab her eyes instead. After that, she pulled it back, blinked a few times, and looked around her.

Dael wasn't a fan of movies that involved infernal wastelands made with special effects, but she saw enough to know what appeared to be a hellish, half-volcanic landscape when it was in front of her. They had actually been fortunate in where they landed. It appeared to be a large valley of some sort, nestled between two towering mountain ranges that were dark and ugly, but it was far from empty. Jagged pieces of rock were broken and scattered everywhere…what looked to be volcanic in nature, like gigantic "lava bombs". That much was obvious from the magma-like appearance of the rocks, and how some of them were still gleaming. They provided dim light…the only real light Dael could see. The skies overhead were so dark with thick clouds…which Dael knew weren't simply mere clouds but had to actually be volcanic ash and other refuse, although they flashed thunder and lightning as they rolled over each other…that it was practical night conditions. But there was just enough light to make out the cruel mountains on either side, and the ends of the long valley stretching to nothing but more rocks and mountains. Yet even here, Dael could see "streams" of red, glowing light running beneath the surface in trails. Some of this ground, as ashy and old as it looked, still had raw magma underneath warm enough to glow through the surface. No doubt, that was what had made it so warm.

The thin air, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. It was quite cold. Perhaps not as bad as the snowfield they had trudged across, but still frigid, dry, and thin. Dael could already feel her cheeks being blasted rough by the stiff breeze blowing around them. It was so loaded with trace amounts of ash and heavy carbon dioxide that it smelled stale and stung her eyes, and she had a feeling that would be the case even if there was no ash to help that. Maritza had been right about the gravity, but that meant little to her considering everywhere else. The planet was literally freezing and frying at the same time.

Gradually, she began to get to her feet, standing and looking about. The others groaned and grunted, and began to do the same. Cid coughed quite a bit, and Taraketh knocked a great deal of soot from his clothing as he rose, for he seemed to land in a "loose bit". Yet eventually, they were all on their feet and began to look around the dark, underworld-like landscape.

"Very homey…" Cryder muttered, letting out a cough as a result of inhaling more of the foul air. "I think I preferred Ifrit's cave to this…"

"Even the worse parts of Fuliet are not such a wasteland." Ceja muttered.

"This couldn't all be just from Gaia coming closer to it, could it?" Cid asked.

"I doubt it." Bahamut responded grimly. "This is something else entirely. The surface of this world looks dead…and that it's been that way for a while."

"Could it have just always been this way?" Quaren suggested. "It doesn't look like anything ever lived here…"

The boy shook his head. "Leviathan would know better than me, but I remember reading at some point that oxygen doesn't get to this high of a concentration naturally…not unless there's some sort of filter mechanism to produce it, like living things."

"There ain't nothin' much livin' here now, lad. I can tell you that." Cryder answered. "I know a thing or two about whatever land I'm on, remember? Even the magma here feels a mite cool."

Jalab himself looked around a bit…before his eyes focused on something. His brow creased a bit. After a moment, he left his position and began to walk toward it. It didn't take long for the others to notice this and watch. The monk himself went straight for one of the nearest bits of rock that had been splayed on the ground.

"Is something wrong, Jalab?" Dael asked.

"Something…odd." The monk responded. "Bit of stone…not look like rest…"

The others looked to him fully after that, as he reached the boulder. Once there, he set his staff against the side, reached out to the rock, and tried touching it. After making sure it was cool enough, he grabbed on and began to use a bit of his strength. Dael could see little in the dim light herself. After all, if this would have been Gaia, it would have been after the sun had gone under the horizon. But Quaren, who had the sharpest eyes out of all of them, seemed to notice something as well and focus on it. Jalab continued to pry and loosen the stone for a moment, breaking off a piece here and there to clear it, and after a few moments he had it free.

Even before he fully turned to the others, Dael noticed that Quaren gave a bit of a pause. Soon after, the monk had it out, turned around, and began to bring it up to the others to look over. It took Dael a moment, but as she and the others drew in, she began to realize what looked like a cup-shaped object. To further confirm it, Quaren went for his flashlight, switched it on, and shone it over it.

It was a bit rough, chipped, and worn…but it was clearly a cup shape made out of tough, blackened iron with distinct bolts in a "neck" around the top of it. It had been slightly melted…but it definitely wasn't raw ore or something that had arisen from chance. On seeing it, the others began to react as well.

Cid slowly reached out a hand and pointed to it. "That's…that's a pouring vessel for metallurgy. No doubt about it." He reached over and felt it, and then knocked his hand against the top of it. "…Iron. Maybe even crude steel. It explains how it managed to hold up against the heat…at least long enough to get away from it…"

"A pouring vessel?" Ceja asked. "What do you mean?"

"Something used to take up molten material and pour it into a frame for iron casting." Cid responded.

Quaren blinked, and reached out to touch it and feel it. "…It sure feels like iron. And…yeah, it definitely looks like something you'd find back in the old days of weaponsmithing."

"And I doubt the Sorceresses would have just brought that little thing with them and thrown it into a bit of rock, lads." Cryder added with a mutter.

Taraketh stiffened a little on seeing it, and then exhaled. "Assuming no one else found out a way to teleport anything here…then it is as Lord Leviathan said. There was not only life on this world, but it grew and adapted just like us and became sentient. Enough to master this level of civilization, at any rate."

"But…" Jalab said more darkly, letting Cid take the pouring vessel from him, and looked up and around at the landscape. "…No life. Nothing."

"This world, or at least this part of it, hasn't had life on it in some time." Dael darkly answered. "I suppose that's a good thing…because that means the Sorceresses didn't do it in the two days we were gone."

Quaren looked up to Dael on hearing this, and then began to look around as well. "…Speaking of that, where are they?"

"That was two days ago, mate." Cryder answered. "They could have gone anywhere. And with this wind, I don't think they left any tracks to find. I think we got a mite bigger concerns than that for the moment…" He gestured around him. "Unless we can eat rocks and dig down and drink magma…we ain't really got any source of food or water here, let alone shelter. Anyone ever stop and think we may die before we even find the Sorceresses?"

"I can handle water." Taraketh suddenly interjected. There was a moment of hostility from a few people…but it didn't last. After all, Cryder was making a good point, and one that was filling everyone, even Dael, who had been fairly adamant about going, with a nervous feeling. "And we brought some food. If we're only here for a short while, I'm sure it will be enough time for Sir Carbuncle and Lady Phoenix to gather the others and teleport us back."

"Technically, he never said he could do it for sure…" Quaren muttered.

"Forget about that for the moment." Bahamut responded. "We know very little about this world, so we need to be cautious. We can't rule out that there's no life at all on it simply because we haven't seen anything yet. My understanding, Cryder, is that your power only works over a small area. We may yet find something else here that is both alive as well as hostile. In a place like this…my experience is that only the strong tend to survive…"

The pirate gave a bit of a frown. "Look, lad…I may not be as old as you, but seein' as I have to be able to sense the life somewhere to know what kind of power I can tap on, I would think I would know if there was a critter or two runnin' around in-"

Cryder was soon cut off, as his frown turned to a look of frozen shock. The others noticed this…as well as him suddenly bulging his chest out a bit and going rigid momentarily…before they too gaped in sudden horror.

"Reality" behind the man, taking the shape of what looked to be a long, stinging tail, suddenly rippled and moved away from the ground, like some supernatural force had taken a pair of scissors and cut out the shape of a tail from the world and moved it forward. It had driven the spike into Cryder's back.

The pirate held a moment…before his arms went down and the rest of him went flaccid. The spike yanked out a moment later, and Cryder, completely limp, eyes going dull, collapsed to the ground. Behind it, the "rippled" tail flicked out once…before more reality severed beneath it and began to move as well, like some great scuttling thing.

The group stared in open-mouthed surprise.

"What the Hell was-"

Quaren's response was suddenly cut off as another ripple shot through the air behind him and pierced him in the shoulder. He let out a mild sound that aborted, suddenly cutting off, before he too went flaccid, his eyes glazed over, and he dropped to the ground. Again, something scuttled behind him.

Dael, by now, was on full alert. She was shocked like the others, but her mind quickly told her to get to attention. She began to look around. "Watch out! There's things around us!"

The others quickly snapped to attention, going for their weapons and joined her in scanning the surroundings. But as Dael finished calling out…she noticed something. Reality was "rippling" behind Bahamut. Quickly, without shouting a warning or wasting any time, she dove straight for him. The boy hardly had time to know what was going on before she wrapped her arms around his body and tackled him to the ground. She heard a ripping of fabric as she shot by…but then landed, went for a tumble while still holding onto Bahamut, rolled twice, and then landed upright again. Not wasting a second, she quickly scrambled to her feet, seizing the boy and dragging him back with her. Bahamut, seeming to realize what happened, quickly followed and drew his weapons out. As for Dael, as she quickly backpedaled to the others and to the fallen Cryder and Quaren, she looked to her pant leg. It had a puncture wound on the side, but had gone clean through without touching her skin.

_A stinger…_

She heard what sounded like an angry insect "skree" before the form that had missed Bahamut began to scuttle again. The others were still getting their weapons out. Taraketh managed to snap his kusarigama free and began to swing it around, but his head darted about fearfully. Jalab crossed his staff in front of him and Ceja readied her axe…but they were much the same. It was very dark out there. It was all they could do to see any "scuttling", which vanished into the gloom as quickly as they managed to lay eyes on it. However, after only a few moments, they saw that the things were moving all around.

"What in the name of Orynch are these devils?" Ceja outburst. "They are not just using the darkness… They have some form of coloration that allows them to blend in seamlessly!"

Cid was looking rather nervous himself, but was quickly getting out some of his own devices. In moments, during this interim, he had managed to hook up his blowtorch and put it to full. After that, he quickly backed up closer to the others. "Everyone get down!" He shouted.

Dael, on her part, immediately slammed against the ashy ground again, doing as she was told. The others were a bit slower, but Cid didn't wait and immediately gunned his blowtorch. He soon swept it around himself in several arcs, blasting out a column of intense flame in all directions. Not only that, but the flames made contact with some of the rock and proceeded to heat it up more to a greater, fiery glow…so that even when he cut off the flames it provided greater illumination than before. Dael, who looked up the whole time even while against the ground, was soon grateful for that…

As Cid spread his fire around, whatever chameleon-like camouflage that the surrounding creatures were using was ruined in moments. Their own bodies remained "darkened", as if they were still in the same blackness, enabling them to be sharply contrasted around the fiery light. The squealed in anger, apparently not liking that they were exposed…but, worse than that, they also scurried backwards as quickly as possible to avoid being singed by the flames roaring over them. The monsters were some form of arachnid, it appeared…with long, cruel, sharp legs and some sort of pincers on the front set of claws, although they weren't as large, hooked, or defined as that of a scorpion. "Dancing" behind each one was not one but two ribbon-like segmented tails that seemed to have some sort of scaly "frills" attached to them and long spikes at the end. Each one was larger than a full grown man, although not as long as two of them placed foot to head. Still, Dael had a feeling they were plenty big already.

Worse than that…as the fire blazed around…it was revealed at least six of them had been lying in wait around the group, and at least nine, if not more, were now beginning to scuttle out of the greater area and scamper down to them. At the bare minimum, they seemed to abandon their camouflage. They started to turn a completely dark color, no longer worried about stealth. Unfortunately, that also meant they were getting up and coming at them en masse.

On seeing this, Cid switched off his blowtorch, gaping a bit. Luckily, he had lit up enough surrounding rocks to still provide at least decent dim illumination…but the monsters kept coming. "Oh boy…"

Dael quickly got to her feet. "Well, now we know this place has life on it… Let's hurry up and do something about it!" She shouted as she brandished Save the Queen.

Taraketh immediately swung his kusarigama over his head and advanced forward to the nearest one, shooting out with the hammer to bean it in what looked like the "head" region. Exoskeleton or no, the High Child could normally kill any of the insect-like creatures on Gaia with that kind of power. However…the hammer smacked into it, made the creature give an angry "squee" and recoil a bit…but then it soon came back with renewed, angrier vigor. The young man was stunned, but quickly yanked his weapon back swung the other end around, and sliced out with the sickle as the monster grew nearer. This time, it hit a joint in its own skeletal plates…but then lodged there. Screaming in pain, the monster struggled to yank the weapon out, but couldn't get its claws around it. Instead, it began to pull back, and nearly yanked Taraketh over with it.

Cid, on his part, yanked up his nailgun and began to fire away at another one of the monsters. Sparks flew out as each nail struck it…but for the most part that was all that happened. A few of the wild nails managed to land in chinks of armor, and those made it yell and stumble back…but they weren't enough to cripple it or kill it. After taking about four of them, it bellowed and raged at him again, this time brandishing both claws and readying its tails. The engineer gaped, and then, mostly out of shock, dropped his nailgun as he recoiled and raised the blowtorch again. He fired a jet of flame at the beast just as it reared up to tackle him, and the power of the torch alone forced the monster back as it bathed it in fire. It cried out in rage and pain as it staggered back, and as Cid, realizing it was working, continued to cook it, it eventually began to purposely backpedal. It was soon out of range…or, at least, so far back that Cid couldn't keep frying it without exposing himself to more of the monsters…but as he cut off the fire, he was stunned to see that the monster itself, smoking and blackened, was only shaking its head and trying to get its bearings together. It was far from dead.

Jalab and Ceja both went to work as well. Ceja started off much as she always did, getting just enough room away from the group to build up some speed with her axe, and then tossing it like a giant cutter at the nearest monster. Soon after, the giant whistling weapon landed in the creature's body and cut deep into and through it. The beast, severed into two pieces, had both parts collapse to the ground and begin to thrash about madly in death throes. However, the creature's body was so durable that it took a lot of power out of Ceja's attack…and, to her surprise, her axe collapsed to the ground soon afterward still at a good distance. She nearly ran for it…only to see more of the monsters surge over and on top of it, clearly indicating they could overtake her before she could reach it. She was forced to backpedal, now unarmed, as they closed in. As for Jalab, his aura flared, again causing the monsters to go still and recoil slightly from the sudden blaze of light, before he focused his hands forward and delivered a blast of mystic purity to an enemy nearby. Still not fully recovered, the blast wasn't his best…but was still far more focused and channeled than any one he had given in the battle with Aizel. Normally, it probably would have ripped a monster to pieces. Instead, it ripped it off of its feet and blasted it back into two of its companions, scattering them behind it before throwing it on its back. But when the beam cut off, the monster thrashed about on its back angrily for a moment, before flipping over, screeching, and then beginning to near once again.

Bahamut and Dael both had their weapons out, but being only short range they held back as the group fought on…with little success. They didn't like what they were seeing.

"These creatures are considerably stronger than the ones on Gaia…" The boy muttered. "It makes sense. This planet is so much more lethal than Gaia, that only the hardiest species could survive…"

Dael looked them over a moment, and was about to suggest a new plan…when her peripheral vision spotted something. Her head snapped fully around, and she quickly shouted out. "Bahamut, behind us!"

The boy immediately turned around, and a second later, along with Dael, began to go into action. While they had been so preoccupied with what was going on in front, they had failed to notice the situation developing all around them. Two of the monsters had closed in one the fallen Cryder and Quaren, and were trying to grab them with their pincers. Neither individual reacted. Dael realized now that these things had to work something like real scorpions. They immobilized prey with venom and then dragged them off to eat them at leisure. They were trying to get away with them…

Bahamut, being smaller and faster, reached Cryder first and managed to actually vault over him and stand his ground against the monster right before it could get him. Screeching angrily, it snapped its claws out at him. He dodged one swipe, and then quickly brought up his shield to deflect a "dual stab" as it tried to get him with its tail. A clang rang out, and Bahamut's feet drug into the dirt around them…but he held. Another pincer went up and stabbed out for the shield as well, but this time Bahamut merely deflected it, exposing a joint in the middle, and then drove his sword sword into it. It struck raw flesh and drew blood, and the monster screeched and yanked its claw back. It brought the other one around in a more slashing motion, however, and the boy's attempts to slash back were met with harmless glancing off of the exoskeleton, like it was metal on metal. The thing attempted to stab again with its tails, and this time Bahamut dove forward and under them, going into a roll straight for the beast. It reared open its mandibled jaws as he neared, but the boy, coming out of the roll, responded by driving his sword tip into its jaws and upward, trying to go for the soft interior beneath. It again struck home, and the monster screeched again as blood began to fountain out of its jaws, but when Bahamut brought his sword out again, it didn't spasm. Instead, it continued to try and advance on him even after taking a serious wound. He was soon pressed to try and deflect and protect against it again.

Dael, on her part, didn't reach Quaren until the monster had gotten there first. Immediately, he was snatched up in his claws, and the creature quickly backpedaled faster than before, trying to turn around and get free with him before it could be stopped by Dael on her companions. It managed to partially turn…but that was when the woman reached it before it could get up to speed. Giving a cry of her own, she went right for its exposed side pincer and swung down. Save the Queen was far better of an edge than anyone else's weapon, and immediately the claw was severed from its body and the severed limb began to fountain out blood. The beast cried out and dropped Quaren a bit roughly to the ground, and then spun around at Dael. In a flash, its dual stingers shot out for her, but she was a bit faster and darted back, letting them strike the ground harmlessly. She attempted to lop those off as well in a counter slash, but the thing seemed to realize she was too deadly to try and risk getting another hit, and so it quickly recoiled and yanked the strings back with it.

Then, however, Dael noticed something new. Rather than try and press its attack, it continued to hang back. Yet as it did…the protrustions along either stinging tail suddenly began to vibrate, rubbing against one another. As they did, she started to hear a "static" noise in the air. It soon grew in volume, causing the appendages to start glowing and even send out sparks…which eventually formed electric arcs between the two. She stared a bit longer, until the monster suddenly snapped its tail forward…and send out a rather massive bolt of electricity from its tail right for her. It was both blinding and intense, and it was only because Dael saw the muscle movement that she was able to dodge to one side. Straight on, she never could have reacted in time. The bolt, however, was strong enough to shatter several large pieces off of a magma rock it struck behind her.

The woman was rather stunned that it had managed that attack and quickly began to charge another…but she didn't have time to stay surprised. Two more of those things were coming in to the fallen Quaren, meaning to haul him off while this one kept her busy. On seeing this, she realized they were too strong and agile for her to get in and take them all out by just charging forward. She had no mage bullets either. That left one option…and she had hoped to save it for the Sorceresses… But it seemed she had no choice. Tightening up, she readied for the next attack…

Moments later, the injured monster snapped its tail forward again, sending out another bolt of electricity. Dael, however, was waiting for it this time even more than before, and quickly evaded in one direction. The beam shot by, but more importantly, Dael quickly advanced forward, pulling her sword back and keying into her "spiritual sight". This was a bit tricky. Not only was this a "new world", but it was also a hard tactic to hit two targets near Quaren, but not him as well. The spiritual signature seemed "weakened" on this world as well as almost in a "new language". Hence, it took her a second longer than she wanted, and by that time the monster was done firing. However…she managed to do it. She saw the "lines" connecting her to the two monsters and not Quaren. Immediately calling her power to bear, she swung her sword down.

An eruption of spiritual power flew from the end of the blade and shot out like a projectile straight for the two monsters. Neither of them had any time to fully look to the glowing, sharpened wave headed for them before they were both sliced into a dozen pieces in a straight line. Not just from the slash alone, but from sheer forces coming off of it that cut the rest of them to bits. Meanwhile, Dael, dizzy but recovering quickly, landed and kept rushing forward. The other monster had growing confused by her sudden move, and was an easy target as her sword flashed out three more times as she passed, one to lop off its other claw, once to lop off its tails in one stroke, and a final slash to nearly cut it in half at the middle. It soon began to go into death throes as well, although not nearly as bad as its brethren as it lacked any appendages left to fight around with.

Unfortunately, things were just getting started.

Killing a few of the monsters had an unexpected momentary benefit. The others creatures seemed to forget about their initial enemies and instead ran out to start feeding on the remains of their companions, almost driven into a starving frenzy by the scent of the blood. They began to rip their remains apart, even if they were still alive, and devoured greedily what they could get. Yet the scent of the blood soon added another twenty more of the things, which seemed to crawl out of everywhere…behind every rock, in every nook and cranny, and over every short hill. Dael realized as she saw all of this that they must have landed in a "nest" of whatever these monsters were…or, worse yet, Mianyl had somehow relocated them here after arrival so that they would handle anyone who tried to follow them assuming the original teleporter would work…Yet there was no time to be slowing down now. She quickly seized Quaren by the lapel and started to drag him back toward the others so he'd be easier to defend. She only hoped that the stuff they stuck him with was just a paralyzing toxin…not a lethal venom.

As the group knuckled up, and the monsters barreled forward, meaning to burst through the ranks and attack them all en masse, the group intensified. It started with Taraketh, who, while wrapping one of his arms around his kusarigama chain, freed up another hand, chanted for a moment, and then fired off a chilling blue wave that quickly turned into monstrous shards of ice that ripped through the creature on the other end. It worked far better than he intended. The monsters was skewered in multiple places. Apparently, its shell was used to staying hot while it stayed low to the ground, and some sort of thermal shock was involved by being pierced with ice. The chain broke free and returned to the High Child. On seeing the success, he blinked a moment, before snapping around and using a much larger spell to soon shower ice down on five of the incoming monsters. Not only did they screech in pain as they were pierced, the others shyed away from the ice as it formed around them, seeming to hate the cold and growing sluggish when it touched them.

Cid had more problems. As the monsters bombarded him again, he switched weapons again as fast as he could to his saw. Just as he got it plugged in, one of the beasts tried to jump on top of him. Crying out, he whipped the blade up and buried it in its mid section. At first, the armor kept it at bay, and the engineer found himself knocked to the ground and pressed down on by the monster. It tried to stab him with pincers and either crush him or move its claws into him…but after pressing too hard the saw finally "caught" and proceeded to flay some of its exoskeleton right off of its body and have the blade bury in its gut. It screeched in misery, and Cid cried out as well as giant arthropod "juice" was splattered all over him in a rather gory display, before he finally cried out and flung it to one side…just as another dove on him with both of its tails going in for a stab. Crying out again, he swung his blade off and knocked them to one side, slicing the tips off in the process, and rolled back to his feet just in time to give a whirling saw blade to the face of one trying to dart in from the other side. As he literally began to rip into its head, the bloody carcass of its friend drew off the others, enabling him to maintain his attack.

Jalab himself stomped twice, summoning more of his chi to him, before he tightened up his grip on his staff. Since beams weren't working, he moved right into the crowd of the charging monsters. His first swipe hit one in the foreleg, smashing it like a twig and beating it inward. His next swing of the staff came down hard on the back of another, sending exoskeleton and guts out in an eruption as it fractured and sent it falling. He then leapt into the air, vaulting over two trying to come in on him on either side, before he came back down and drove his staff hard into the one beyond that, crushing straight through its body and impaling it on the other side. As he came down and landed on it, he swung his foot up and around and gave a powerful kick to one climbing over its brethren to try and get him from behind, breaking more mandibles and sending it flying away, before he swung his leg forward and hooked it into the head of another, snapping its thorax region. Even so, he was having a hard time pulling his staff from the still-writhing monster…and that time gave four more monsters a chance to move in…

Yet before any of them could get close enough to strike, diamond dust in ten thousand deadly shards rained all around them, yet missed Jalab entirely. The knife-like icicles not only pierced to and through every single one of the surrounding foes, but they also spread out waves of ice and cold wherever they landed, freezing the monsters in place and preventing them from thrashing about with death throes. What ones managed to still get in a twitch or two proceeded to rip themselves to pieces from being too rigid. The shards continued to rip and tear into others in the surrounding area, spreading a wave of ice and cold all about that the other monsters recoiled from in primal terror. Jalab blinked a bit, and then looked back…to see a sweating and straining Ceja, for she rarely used magic, stand beneath an icy blue woman hovering in midair…Shiva. In a moment, the ice woman spun around and faded into nothing, her task done, while Ceja managed a weak smile to Jalab after he left. The monk, in turn, smiled back before running out past one of the frozen creatures, snatched up Ceja's axe, and flung it out to her. She snatched it from him and immediately snapped around to give a vertical cut to an incoming creature, slicing it partially in two.

Bahamut and Dael, on their part, got both of their respective "rescues" back to the others and then slapped together back to back, spinning around in an axial motion. Bahamut blocked the pincer of one creature with his shield, only to have Dael spin around and slice off the claw with one swing of Save the Queen. Another moved in to try and stab her, but she ducked and spun, allowing Bahamut to come back and lop off the ends of the stingers. As Dael moved out, two more of the monsters began to "fire up" their tails again for a shock, but she responded by chanting a spell, wrapping both in a translucent, rainbow aura. The monsters fired at them…only to have the bolts rebound off of their reflection spells and sink into their brethren. It wasn't enough to kill, or possibly even hurt, them, but it stunned both long enough for both individuals to spin in a circle with their blades out, slicing into chinks of exoskeleton in Bahamut's case, or just knocking them away to let Dael's blade go through all of them. Once done, they parted by both lunging out…Dael going overhead to her nearest opponent and slicing through its skull, while Bahamut slid under another and drove his sword out again and again, stabbing it in a joint once after another.

In spite of how well they were doing…Dael realized in short order that she was already sweating and heaving badly, and her body was sluggish and tired. The lack of air was doing a number on her, as was the ashy, toxic landscape. And these monsters were far more durable than most things she had run into on Gaia. Yet she realized two things that were much worse. One was that the things were continuing to pour out of the rocks. Perhaps actually killing them and mounding up their dead was producing a smell that was attracting them like a colony of ants…but it didn't really matter. All that did was that they weren't stopping in coming. Not only that, but looking around to the others…she began to realize they weren't in good shape. She had time to recover from her injuries from Raven, Rozan, and Mianyl…but the latter had been minor at best. Jalab and Bahamut, on the other hand, were still in a great deal of pain as well as hurting from their previous encounters. Phoenix may have healed their wounds, but their bodies were still drained and sore, and it would take more than two days to bounce back from that. None of them had ever fully healed from Raven and Rozan either… If the flow of new enemies didn't halt soon, they were going to be in trouble.

As the woman readied herself to call out to Bahamut, telling him to summon Leviathan, however…she suddenly hesitated.

The monster facing off with her and preparing for a charge suddenly halted. It gave a hiss…but then suddenly backed up a bit, crouching slightly. It wasn't alone. The other creatures soon did the same, all of them pulling back and holding for a moment…and all of them lowering their appendages. The group nearly seized the advantage, and Taraketh himself readied another spell while Bahamut used the moment to pull back and start readying his own summon, much as Dael had intended, but no one moved, and the field was silent for a moment.

That's when Dael felt it. She realized a moment later that the monsters must have been more sensitive to vibrations than the group…but she felt a tremor ripple through the ground. It started off light enough, but quickly began to build until it was a steady vibration, and definitely not anyone's imagination. For a second, the former captain thought that it was a geothermic event…like some of the lava was changing flow. But then, she picked up a distinctive rhythm on it…like a gallop or some sort of other gait.

Something living.

The creatures, on their part, seemed to ignore the group entirely. They looked up to one of the high-rising mountains on the side and spotted something the group didn't. It was too dark for any of them to see…save Quaren, perhaps…but they apparently heard whatever was coming approaching from that side.

And when that happened, the creatures let out one last cry before all of them turned and scattered, leaving their dead and injured and feeding no more. They scuttled away back into whatever holes or behind whatever rocks they had run into. Their speed was even greater than when they came out, and in moments they had left the field as blank as before.

"That is never a good omen in the wilds of Fuliet." Ceja stated grimly.

The tremors, however, continued to come, and now…what sounded like echoes over the gale of large, thick, padded feet slamming rhythmically against the ground began to join it, confirming it was something running. Dael look again to the source and thought, for a moment, she saw a faint glow bobbing along toward them. A bit closer, and she almost thought she saw two dim lights faintly going up and down.

Eyes.

"Oh boy…" Quaren's voice suddenly rang out.

Taraketh snapped to him at that. "Do you see it coming?"

"Just barely, but…it's _huge_…"

A grunting began to grow audible as Cid, in response to this, reached into his pack again, this time looking for something else to give them some light. It sounded, easily, like something bigger than the largest monsters Dael, Ceja, or any of them had ever encountered breathing heavy and deep, snorting as it ran along. This caused the others to tense up, and quickly start fanning out a bit.

Bahamut, however, had changed. Dael noticed he had stopped…but she didn't notice that his face had nearly turned white.

"Bahamut, don't just stand out there!" She called to him.

"I know that sound…I've heard it before…" Was all the boy grimly responded. "We are in _big_ trouble."

"What do you mean?" Dael shot back.

Before any answer could be given, however, Cid suddenly snapped an item off of his pack and brought it in front of him. "Got it!" He called out. "Everyone, don't look directly at this when I throw it!"

With that, Cid pulled his arm back, and then cast the item he removed forward. Dael wasn't sure what it was in the darkness, but when it flew through the air, it seemed to break open, and soon it shone forth with a blinding light so strong that she had to put a hand in front of her eyes and look away. The others soon had to do the same, being too bright for them to withstand. Yet as it flew through the air…they weren't the only ones that reacted to it.

A roar that made Dael's ears throb in agony suddenly peeled out, and she swore the ground rattled far more from that than anything else. It made her recoil further, wincing and actually crying out in pain a bit herself. Yet she forced herself to look forward until the flare that Cid had thrown died down a bit and then sank to the ground, producing a beacon of light, glowing and white, that bathed the entire area. Then…she saw it, and her jaw nearly dropped.

It was some sort of dark purple monstrosity who had a mane of wild red fur…and was colossal. The monster was easily larger than a Tyrant Lizard, and looked to be nothing more than a solid piece of well-toned muscle, rippling with might and power. Each hand bore five long, cruel, red-tinted, razor-sharp claws that literally ground both stone and ore alike to dust as it charged forward. Thrashing behind it, knocking aside magma rocks like they were nothing more than crumpled up balls of paper, was a broad, thick tail topped with irregular spikes on the end. Bat-wing-like fins came out of both shoulder blades, both of them tipped red, and powerful, thick horns burst from over its lion/wolf-esque face to curl and twist out for impaling.

As it snorted and breathed, Dael could have sworn she saw fire spurt from its mouth from the sheer heat of its breath. And its eyes more clearly glowed like spectral jewels as it neared. It didn't seem to like the flare…but on looking up and spotting the others, it slowed down none the less, now focusing entirely on them. As it did, Dael saw its massive muscles tighten further while its claws appeared to extend more.

"What the Hell is that thing?!" Dael found herself outbursting.

"I have never seen the like before!" Ceja responded.

"I don't know either!" Taraketh shot back. "There's no record of anything like it in any archive I've ever studied!"

"It's a behemoth!" Bahamut finally called out, causing Dael and the others to look to him briefly. "I have no idea how one ended up on the surface of this world, but it's one of the deadliest creatures ever to exist! It's worse than most dragons!"

By now, the yelling had seemed to annoy the creature. It let forth another blast…so loud and strong that it made everyone recoil in pain again, and seemed to fill the air with near-searing heat from its breath alone. Dael was shocked. This thing was that powerful just from its _voice_? It was enough to almost bring her into a squat. After a moment, however, the monster cut off its roar. It would have moved in another second…

But Jalab and Cid reacted first. Cid raised his blowtorch, tapered the nozzle a bit more, and then soon shot out a blast that went twice as far as before, while Jalab's own aura flared before he fired off a beam. Either attack was aimed at the behemoth's eyes…both landed in the targets…and both did nothing more than make the thing snort in irritation and step back for a moment. That only lasted a second, however, before it snapped its head forward, let out another bellow of rage, and then lashed out with its massive, thick tail like a whip for Cid. Even with his reaction time, he barely managed to stumble backward…before one of the spikes clearly and cleanly chopped the end off of his blowtorch, ruining that attachment. What more, hitting the ground with it caused an eruption of pebbles and rocks to bombard him and knock him over. Yet the behemoth didn't press his attack on him. Rather, it snapped its tail around and whipped out for Jalab as well, who crossed his staff in front of him and swirled it about for a protective barrier…only to have another spike swing out so fast it chopped it in not two but _three_ pieces. The impact of the tail against the ground was, again, enough to send the monk staggering back…but he was shocked to see his weapon destroyed so easily.

Dael didn't waste time while it was doing this. She immediately tore right for the colossal beast, readying the Save the Queen to slice into its exposed foot. To her displeasure, the claw alone was about half the size of her, but she aimed for it anyway. To enable her to get out as fast as possible, not wanting to get stomped on by the monster, she brought the teleportation spell to mind and began to chant the first few syllables. Yet as she neared the site…she suddenly no longer saw the foot of the beast but rather its entire head, jaws opened wide and ready to bite the woman in half in the next moment. She gasped, and, more out of instinct than anything, finished the spell. A good thing too…for an instant later the behemoth snapped its jaws down so loudly the impact echoed for a half mile…although it grabbed nothing but a flash of light.

Dael herself, however, reappeared about twenty feet away, yet so haphazardly and unexpectedly that she lost her footing and fell onto her rear. She quickly got up again, but blinked at what had nearly happened to her. She also caught a glimpse of Bahamut dashing in, apparently having been right on her heels the whole time. His sword was out and he dove in to try and slice across the beast's face so long as it was still in biting position. But to Dael's amazement, the monster suddenly snapped its head back and forward again like the crack of a whip, far faster than she thought possible for a monster that size. Bahamut somehow reacted in time, bracing his shield in front of him and pulling back to "ricochet" off of the giant, saber-like teeth of the monster, but even the impact was so jarring he staggered and landed on the ground on his back. He quickly scrambled to his feet and managed to dart to one side before the spiked tail of the monsters obliterated where he had been standing a moment ago.

"Damn, it's fast…" Dael stated as she quickly brought the sword before her. With that much speed and power, it was hardly a good defense…but hopefully, even if it decided to just smash her, she could at least give it some pain in the process…

Cid quickly rolled onto his belly and tried to scramble away while getting out a new device to replace the ruined blowtorch, but Jalab quickly tossed away his fragments of a staff and ignited his aura again. This time, he rapidly spun around in a circle as he had before, and then flung scythes of deadly aura, sharp as razor blades, at the monster. However, its focus had turned to Bahamut, not Jalab, and it began to stomp after him with letting out a growl. The scythes flew at it from multiple angles…but it merely swung its head out of the way of for some, some it knocked aside with a flash of its horns and mane…and some it just let hit it. To Dael's shock, the blades that could cut through a tank seemed to leave scratches at the most against its purple hide…and she wasn't even sure they managed to draw blood. However, it didn't ignore the source entirely. Its tail suddenly flicked out…and Jalab didn't even have time to cry as the blow smashed into him, this time faster than he could see, and sent him flying into the ground so hard he mashed up a three-foot mound of rocks and ash in his wake. Dael was shocked. She wasn't sure he was still conscious after a thing like that…and, to be honest, she wasn't even sure he wasn't worse than unconscious… And he was the "tank" of the group…

Taraketh, by now, was moving in, actually risking running closer to the monster. His kusarigama had been put up, and now he called on more of his magic. With a few calls and hand gestures, the sky overhead, thundering already before, now began to fume and rage more than ever, lightning up and casting bolts about like it was an overcharged dynamo. With one final gesture, a massive bolt of lightning erupted from the heavens and struck the head of the beast straight on, hitting it with enough power to light up the entire city of Esthar for a moment and making half of the monster vanish in the electric blast.

Yet when the lightning died down, Taraketh, as well as everyone else looking other than Bahamut, was stunned to find the beast hadn't done more than take a half step backward, and then charged again. However, it also let out an angry snort…before the tail flicked out again, raging right for the High Child. He was more prepared than Jalab, at any rate; instantly causing a wall of rock to erupt in front of him as a shield. Unfortunately…that didn't seem to matter as the tail shot right through it and smashed Taraketh with the fragment boulders, sending him flying too and landing on the ground hard and with a violent tumble. Not quite as hard as Jalab, but when he came to a halt, he groaned and gagged…letting blood dribble out of his mouth. He wouldn't be able to rise right away.

Ceja, however, used the moment to quickly snap her body around, once more warming up with the cutter, and this time swinging it two more times for additional power before she let it fly. It hurled through the air faster than ever, letting forth a sound Dael had never heard from it before. The behemoth was heedless as he nearly got in range to attack Bahamut, and Dael herself barreled at the monster from the side, hoping that maybe she could catch it off guard from that angle instead. She readied a teleportation spell for that purpose, but as the monster reared its head back and readied to attack…the cutter came around and struck its thick, muscular neck. Dael saw blood erupt from the wound site and, finally, the huge monster halted in mid-step, its claws dipping hard into the ground, thrashing its tail around behind it to tear the earth up, and bellowing in rage and anger.

Bahamut ground to a halt and snapped around, quickly concentrating and struggling to use some sort of spell of his own. However, everyone else just gaped in shock…especially Ceja.

The axe had gone in about a foot…but no more. Blood poured down its neck, but only slowly, not from any veins or arteries having been sliced. What more, it was now stuck there. The monster was so tough that even a move that would have taken the head off of a Tyrant Lizard had only given it a light wound.

Dael stared for only a moment longer…before the behemoth swung its head down and snarled…then let out a roar so intense that it seemed to indeed catch the air on fire before it went mad.

Bahamut barely had time to open his mouth and begin to chant the arcane word that would have allowed him to make a summon, this one Cerberus who could have enhanced the group, when the behemoth, going into a mad rage, swung its body around and knocked up a cloud of rocks and debris. One of the larger stones sailed right for him and smashed him squarely in the face and torso before ripping him backward and grinding him into the dirt. The blow hadn't been as strong as with Jalab…but Dael doubted he could just "shake it off". Nor did she have the time to worry. She soon had to slam herself into the ashy ground herself as the beast ripped apart rocks with its claws, sliced magma bits in half with its tail, and smashed again and again with its entire body to grind everything in the area to dust. It tore through remains of the arthropod creatures and even plunged its claws down into hidden burrows to rip them apart inside as well. All the while, it fumed and raged. The former captain was able to evade the initial barrage by going low to the ground, but when the beast started to swing its tail up and down and smash everything else to bits too, she had to dive for it and huddle, struggling to find cover in between its appendages flying around. One swing would flatten her…

The others did much the same, struggling just to avoid being killed by one panic move of the creature. Yet finally, after the tail swung over their heads with more than enough force to take half of their bodies off, Taraketh suddenly sprung out again, aiming his hand at the monster. He quickly let out another chant, this one longer and stronger than before, before his aura ignited. Much like with Mianyl before, the sky was filled with light for a moment as radiant beams interwove and joined together in an almost crystalline array before a ball of holy light streaked forth from the sky and smashed right into the same place on the behemoth's head that the lightning bolt had struck, sending out a crack so strong the surrounding boulders shattered.

Dael used the moment to get to her feet and quickly call to mind some of her own magic. But in the interim, she looked behind her toward Bahamut. In spite of what had happened to him…he was weakly pushing the now-cracked boulder that had struck him aside and, with blood oozing from his own head and mouth, staggered up to his feet with a wobble.

She looked back to the behemoth at this point…and didn't like what she saw. There was no questioning the power of the Holy spell that Taraketh had used this time. Yet in spite of that, the monster only had a burn on the side of its face, and had only reared its head back a bit. Soon, it snapped it around in fresh fury.

"That's…that's impossible!" Taraketh outburst. "That was a direct hit!"

"Magic doesn't work on a behemoth! Their skin all but nullifies it!" Bahamut managed to cry in spite of his condition.

The behemoth opened its jaws wide and took one step toward Taraketh. The High Child snapped around to try and run for cover, although it was clear he wouldn't make it. However, before the monster could snap its jaws at him, Ceja suddenly leapt up and onto its side. It wasn't out of a desire to help Taraketh so much as to reclaim her axe. The beast had sleek fur, but somehow she not only landed on its thick neck but held tight, and then seized her axe and tugged on it a moment. The result drove the behemoth into more pain, and, bellowing in anger, it tried to shake her off. But apparently it couldn't do so terribly well…and the woman seized its mane with one hand and yanked the weapon free with the other. After that, she gave a yell and swung the blade around and against its side. It went in only a few inches, but it did draw forth more blood, making the beast rage and thrash about more than before. Ceja merely struck it again, causing it to roar even more. She leaned her weapon back for another strike…

When, to the shock of everyone, it suddenly lashed itself out in a snap…and smashed its entire side of the neck, which Ceja was still clinging to it, into the rocky ground with enough force to shake everyone off of their feet.

Dael gaped in surprise as she saw the behemoth rise again…and nothing but a bloody stain on its neck. It looked to only be the monster's blood, mottled from the three wounds…but even if it wasn't, Ceja had just been "peeled off" in a way Dael doubted even she could bounce back from… As for the monster, it turned to the survivors and snarled again.

_We're in real trouble…_ Dael thought nervously. _I hope this sword can pierce its hide better than anything else we've used so far…_

Before she could launch an attack, however, a new beam lashed out. It was electric this time, arcing through the air before impacting close to the area around the behemoth's eye on the opposite side of its face. The lightning etched around and into its eyeball, yet aside from leaving a bit of smoke and making the monster wince from the light, it didn't do much. After all, the thing had already stood up to a much larger bolt of lightning. However, it did make the monster snap its head over to Cid. Unfortunately, the engineer wasn't far, and as soon as he looked to it, he immediately dropped his weapon. Giving another fiery roar, it snapped fully to him and charged. Again, its jaws opened wide, and it darted in to snap down on his body…

Yet before it could, Cid snapped his arms up again…this time holding his drill bit. Gunning it to maximum power, letting out a powerful, loud whirring sound, he drove it up into the behemoth's mouth as it tried to clamp down on him.

Instantly, the behemoth snapped back and reared up on three legs for a moment as it ripped its mouth off of the drill again, splattering blood everywhere and shaking its head. In anger, it swung its one elevated paw out for who had hurt it, and Cid was again forced to abandon his attack. Yet even as he turned, the claws flashed out and ranked over his drill. Not only did the impact sending him tumbling a short distance…but it also gouged right through the generator and backup batteries, resulting in the drill soon sparking, flaming, and spewing out smoke as it shut down.

Dael felt only a twinge of regret at that as she focused on the monster. _Now or never…_

Immediately, she took off in a flash straight for it. The beast's mouth continued to bleed, and it rubbed its own jaw with the same paw that had smacked Cid. However, it also noticed Dael coming. It readied its tail to smack into her…when suddenly the woman split into eight individuals. The massive creature actually paused and looked about in a bit of confusion. Large and powerful as it was, Dael realized, it could only focus its attention one target at a time. Perhaps it was hardwired to only go after one…but at any rate it gave her a distinctive advantage for a few moments. As the behemoth struggled to pick one of the charging Dael's, the woman herself chanted another spell, and soon vanished to reappear on the beast's back.

Soon after landing, the back immediately began to ripple and twitch. The monster knew she was there, but it seemed unable to throw her off so quickly. That must have been why it didn't smash Ceja right away… Trying not to think about that, she let the inertia go ahead and take her footing out from underneath her, letting her fall to her knees, and then bringing her sword over her head, orientating it so that blade went under her hands. As for the behemoth, it finally lashed out with its tail at an image…and instantly made it turn into vapor. Amazingly…she felt the creature calm a bit then. She realized that it was smarter than it looked…seeming to realize the others were fake. That meant it might pay attention to what was on its back after a moment. Not wasting any more time, she quickly plunged her blade into it.

Behemoth or no, the Save the Queen sank all the way to the hilt into its back…and the monster bellowed in such rage and fury that Dael felt like her ears were almost bleeding. Immediately it went into a more pitched and violent fit than ever, struggling madly to throw her off. She was yanked off of her knees and onto her body, but somehow she was able to gain a measure of traction from the mane and held on. Gritting her teeth, she measured its thrashing, and then yanked herself up, pulled the weapon out, and quickly drove it in two more times. She tried to aim for the monster's spine, but it was impossible. It was moving too much, and each missed stab only made it fling about more wildly. She also couldn't get good leverage. She needed to be able to dodge as necessary if it tried to slam down…

Suddenly, the back arched. Dael was puzzled about this only for a fraction of a second…before she realized that it was using its tail. She snapped around, and saw the spiked appendage rise and ready itself to swing down. Gasping, she quickly seized her blade and ripped it from the monster's body, and then ran back and alongside its back region for the tail. As she did, the end came up and slammed down at the same region she was a moment earlier. It missed, but the force of the impact and the way the body moved soon made her slip and lose footing. She tried to balance and keep running, but she realized she was going off of the flank. Finally, she felt herself beginning to fall as she reached the base of the tail…so she tried one last maneuver.

Using her remaining strength and balance, she held the Save the Queen out and leapt…bringing the blade up to the tail. She met some heavy resistance, but she was still moving fast enough for the blade to sink into and through the spinal region. In moments, she had half-severed the tail from the body of the monster…before falling the rest of the way and landing flat on the rocky ground.

It wasn't a very graceful landing. Not using any of her learned techniques for how to "fall properly", frankly, it was agonizing. It left her stunned and weakened, and she only slowly groaned and painfully pulled herself up to try and scramble away. Behind her, the behemoth tramped around and sprayed blood everywhere from its tail region. The appendage was still attached, but with the spine severed, it was nothing more than dead, numb flesh hanging loosely. Yet in spite of this, Dael knew even in her stunned state it would only take the monster a moment to recover, and she tried in vain to get away first.

Bahamut, not willing to leave her hanging, had managed to get himself going in a hobble/limp to try and rush over to her and pull her free before the monster got mad enough to bring its foot down on her. Yet as he charged to reach her…the sky grew dim, even with the flare. Not only that, but spectral lights began to come on, tracing through the sky and straight for the behemoth. On seeing this, Bahamut froze in midstep. Rather than look relieved or emboldened by this gesture, he spun around to Taraketh, and saw him just as the sigil around him died…indicating he had summoned something.

"NO!" The boy immediately cried, even as he saw it was too late.

The High Child, on hearing this, looked to Bahamut in confusion, even as the spectral lights formed right through the behemoth before going into the sky. The sound of a living train engine blared, and the monster stopped thrashing and hissed angrily as it looked about…only to see the lights before it.

"Why?" Taraketh asked. "This is the strongest summon I can hit it with!"

"You can't hit a behemoth with a summon, you fool!" Bahamut shot back. "That's suicide!"

Dael was still coming to her senses, and wasn't able to ask why as she struggled to get up. Taraketh tried to call out again, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the train. The two looked out, and saw as the spectral, nightmarish, bizzare form of the Doomtrain erupted from the black portal and began to switch around and around on the tracks, headed in its inexorable path toward its target. Dael wasn't sure if the behemoth was capable of expressing fear…but if it was, she had to admit as she looked at it…it didn't look very scared. For one thing, it was of considerable size, but even something that big couldn't just stand in front of a train, spectral or otherwise, and expect nothing. Yet it stood there, leveled its head at it, and dug its claws deep into the rocks and earth, snarling softly at it…like an angry bull waiting for a charge.

A few moments later, the Doomtrain came into it at full speed, going every bit as fast as a bullet train. On making contact, a blast of power rippled over the area like a minor shockwave…and the behemoth was forced backward from a head-on collision a grand distance of about twenty feet…

…Before it flung its head upward, hooking the train with its horns, and sending it rocketing in a twisted, convoluted pile, like a snake compressed into a wad, into the air and off into oblivion.

Dael's jaw nearly hit her chest. Taraketh's arms fell as he watched one of their strongest summons cast away like refuse. Cid had just about been ready to get his atomic hammer out…when he let it fall to the ground. The sky brightened again, and, although it hadn't gone into the portal, the Doomtrain faded away into nothingness. The behemoth snarled and shook its head, dripping an amount of blood from a rather nasty bruise on its skull.

Other than that…nothing.

"What in heaven's name is this thing…?!" Taraketh nearly gasped.

As for the monster, however, it let out another deep throated growl…this one so deep and resonating that Dael almost thought her bones were quivering. It didn't charge. It didn't thrash. It didn't roar. It just growled for a moment, staring at the remaining fighters. To be honest…it was almost being quiet when the growl died down.

Then, Dael saw it. The fins on its back suddenly began to glow like embers being brought to life with a bellows. The air began to grow charged…the sign that magical power was coming. That alone was shocking enough. What kind of magic could something that big actually do? Yet even as she thought of going on the defensive, of summoning Carbuncle while she still good for a magic barrier, Bahamut's voice rang out sternly.

"Get behind cover as fast as you can and don't worry about protection magic… It won't help you."

Dael snapped to him at that. "What did…"

She trailed off, for the young man was already turning and trying to run for it…even as Dael suddenly found light shining overhead. She turned her head back up and looked to it…

And saw that the cloudy sky was opening. But there was no sun or Gaia on the other side…just the vastness of space, and an ocean of stars…

She remembered, and she nearly stammered in horror.

"Impossible…"

The fiery lights, glowing as brilliant as Cid's own flare, began to reach the hole in space and time, and Dael immediately snapped around and ran for the nearest cover she could reach the second it began.

Before she got far, the meteorites began to shoot out of the opening and make contact, sending out tremendous, fiery explosions, concussive waves, and ripples of intense energy like bomb blasts. It wasn't one this time, but one after another. Dael hadn't gotten behind cover before she felt the shockwave of the first two blasts rip out and slam into her with enough force to fracture stone. She screamed in agony, but that meant little as the sound of one explosion after another slamming down drowned her out within moments. Much as had happened to the others before, she was violently cast into the air and flung away, being "juggled" almost by the successive explosions, each one ravaging her even if they weren't direct.

She had no time to figure out what happened to the others. She couldn't hear them or see them, or hear or see anything much as her senses were overloaded and her body wracked with pain. Hence, she certainly didn't notice a thing as her body was slammed down onto the ground, right onto the dead body of one of the creatures she herself had vivisected. In between the rest of the pain, fire, noise, and fury all around her, she didn't even notice the spikes on the end of its tail being driven into her own skin.

The only thing she did notice, for about half a second, was the world fading into black oblivion.

* * *

><p>When the Meteor spell was finally done…all that was left of the landscape was a flaming series of craters. The impacts had been so strong they had ignited the impurities on the already ashen landscape, and two of the meteorites had been so powerful they had blasted holes in the surface deep enough to let the raw magma start to bubble up again. At any rate, no one was left standing. In fact, to the naked human eye, it was all but impossible to see anyone, for the bodies had been covered with ash and shoot now and blended in well with the landscape.<p>

The behemoth, on its part, only slowly began to "regain its temper". It snorted and hissed, clearly very angry at what had happened. It was used to being one of the apex predators…not such tiny, odd opponents putting it into so much pain and leaving it crippled. Even if it ate them all now, it wouldn't make up for the pain and damage that had occurred. Yet it would make up for some, at the minimum. With that in mind, it began to step forward, turning its head down to look for the remains…

Then, it stopped.

If someone from Gaia had been both close as well as alert enough to hear it, it would have been a sound unlike anything they had ever encountered before. Under the most strictly-speaking terms, it was similar to some sort of foghorn or siren, like an air raid. Yet it sounded like something far more than that. It seemed to have some sort of living quality to it, like it was the bellow of a beast rather than any device. What more…it was loud. Far louder even than the behemoth's own primal roar. Based on the positioning and Doppler effect, it had to be easily ten miles away. Yet it rocked so loud and intense that the ground actually gave a tremble as it roared by. Not just the immediate area, but the surrounding mountains as well…actually letting a few pebbles topple down from the top.

Immediately, the monster forgot all about its prey and snapped its head in the direction of the noise, like a common frightened deer might.

Far above and beyond the hills, a faint ripple of light traced over the mountain chain line, glowing softly in signature rays, before dying down into the blackness again.

If possible for something that large and formidable, the behemoth actually gave a pathetic whine. Snapping around, it ignored both its prey as well as the damage to it and began to run off once again. It didn't bother going up the mountains this time. It ran down the valley…not wanting anything to slow it down and, moreover, not wanting to risk being seen by climbing to the top of the hill. It moved quickly. Although it rocked the ground with each footstep and left quite a noise, it vanished in half the time it took for it to get there before. When that was done, the area was silent and still.

Time slowly ticked by. The various group members lay around, broken and unconscious yet again. No one moved or rose…but not one of the monsters from earlier tried to come out again. The clouds continued to rumble and thunder overhead. Occasionally, more rays of light would be seen far on the horizon. The thunder rocked the ground occasionally, though just a little. But was it really the thunder? Or something more distant…

At last, something did change on the landscape. Again, it came from the ground. But rather than be the result of a dark shadow or hole, one of the slabs of intact rock moved away to one side, exposing an opening. For a moment, it stayed that way.

Abruptly, a creature popped out. While not found on Gaia, this one looked far less deadly than the other ones that the group had seen on Nyx Gaia until now. Colored almost like a red fox, with a white underbelly and fiery red coat, and standing only about a meter tall was a furry, humanoid creature. In the darkness, its yellow eyes, lit up with mirror cells, gleamed in whatever dim light could be found. Its fur was bushy and wild like a flame on most of its body, and while its mouth seemed to be so small it nearly blended in with its fur. Its paws were massive, almost the size of its head and tipped with sharp, pointed claws. It had long ears and a tufted tail, both looking like little tongues of fire as it flitted both about, looking around itself. After a moment, it lowered itself and scampered forward a bit more, sniffing the air. After a moment, another one of the creatures popped out of the hole. Then a third and a fourth. Each new one spread out a bit further.

After a fifth and a sixth came out, a humanoid figure completely coverered in a thick cloak with some sort of odd device pressed over its face came out. As it was hooded, it was impossible to make out what it was. However…both of its hands had fingers at least a foot long and tapered almost like claws, to say nothing of being pale yellow. It was certainly not human. This one looked around more deliberately, less like an animal and more as something sentient. A second soon joined it and looked around as well.

Abruptly, one of the fiery creatures gave an audible cry that sounded like a mixture of a shout and a meow. It had found one of the group members. However, on it calling out, one of the hooded figures immediately snapped to it, extended a finger, and placed it over where its lips would be. The creature's ears fell a bit, and it shrank slightly, but it stayed near. Soon after, the other fiery creatures began to find others, and turned and began to motion to the two humanoids. Usually, they bent down and licked them once, and had one been close enough and with enough light, they would have seen they were licking fresh blood from their wounds. When they did, their yellow gem-like eyes flickered red for a moment before turning "normal" again. However, they would occasionally move on when they spotted something new, usually another body. They'd signal at that too, and also taste the blood.

As the hooded figures came out and neared, one of the fiery creatures finally turned to them, made a fist with a claw, and slapped it eight times.

The nearest one turned to the other and held up its fingers, indicating "eight".

At this point, the "foghorn" from before suddenly went off again, seeming to be louder this time, almost pushing back the stormy clouds themselves. The entire gathering snapped to it in fear, feeling the ground shake again. The rays once again danced from behind the mountain range.

One of them spoke to the other in a quiet tone, but in a language not heard on Gaia. If one could have understood, however, they would have heard the following.

_It can't be more than nine miles away now._

The other looked to that one.

_Can we get them underground enough before it's close enough to smell us?_

The first looked to the fiery creatures.

_We won't unless we move now._

He made a series of gestures to the fiery creatures. Immediately, they turned to the nearest blackened individuals they could find and rapidly picked them up and began to carry them back to the hole. The two humanoids moved in to help out. They didn't have enough to carry them all together which meant they needed to go "round robin", and fast.

It could smell them from one hundred feet underground once it was within five miles, after all.

* * *

><p><em>Talk to us.<em>

_ You can hear us, can't you?_

_ We're all waiting for you…_

* * *

><p>By now, Dael was growing a bit accustomed to waking up in strange places under strange circumstances. She had barely been awake for twelve hours, it seemed, when she felt herself slowly fading back into reality, her body sluggish from disuse…far more than it had been before. As she slowly began to feel herself come around, however, her senses appeared to "go online" faster than before. She wasn't anywhere as comfortable as the hotel suite she had awakened in, but it was at a comfortable warmth. She wasn't covered up either, although she felt like she was lying on a cushion. The air around her felt somewhat open from a large room, but not so much to be outdoors. Before opening her eyes, she took a moment to try and feel her surroundings. She could feel little, however. There was some sort of softer cushion under her head, like a pillow, and her body wasn't in pain or dressed either. She thought for a bit longer, but realized everything else about her felt foreign.<p>

With that in mind, she opened her eyes.

She nearly recoiled with a start at what she saw.

A furry face that was like some sort of fox or moogle or other animal, red fur like flame coming from its ears and head, and yellow gem-like eyes glaring at her unblinking, was in her face. The only reason she didn't instinctively lash out at it was due to still coming around, although she immediately began to reach for her side…

Yet there was no weaponry there. Just thick fabric pressed close to her…definitely not her regular clothes.

She nearly looked down to it…but she didn't want to risk looking away from the creature. She stared on, and let her peripheral vision trace over it. After a moment, the fiery beast turned its head, and let out what sounded like a mixture of a meow and a howl before pulling back slightly. It was odd, but Dael thought it was giving her "breathing room". She stared back at it for a moment, but then leaned up and back a bit more before stopping again. This was something of a test as she stared straight at it…as if trying to tell it "that's not enough room". In response, it gave another call before backing up a good distance, and then sitting on the floor. At that point, Dael realized she was indeed on a floor herself. One that was black, old, metallic, and rusted in some places although it had a few fragments of a design on it.

She didn't look around too much more for the moment. Since the creature was now seated and at a distance, she took a moment to look over herself. She grimaced a bit. Her old uniform was gone. It had been mostly rags anyway by now, but now she was wearing more durable, but also more tight fitting, clothing. It wasn't enough to cause her discomfort or show off her curves, but it was much closer to her body. Still, she blushed at the thought she had been undressed by someone… She noticed another folded pile of clothes at the foot of the cushion she was lying on, which looked like some sort of dark colored futon, only rougher and harder. None of those clothes were hers, either. Looking around a bit more, she saw the others were also in the room, and looked to be waking up. However…much like her, more of the fiery creatures, about a dozen in all, were intermingled around them and watching them. At least they didn't seem hostile…or carnivorous. It seemed, oddly enough, they were all beginning to recover at about the same time. They were all also dressed in a similar way to her.

She soon noticed one other thing. There was an impression on one of her arms where a cuff had been pressed to her skin…as well as a bandage over a vein. Someone had given her a transfusion of a sort…

She looked up again afterward, trying to find a device that could have done it…and let out a mild gasp.

Now she fully saw the room they were in. It looked vaguely metallic, but not like anything she had ever seen before. Definitely not Gaia technology. What more, the ceiling was partially collapsed in, and all that was on the other side was rock…indicating they were underground. The damage that had been done had been patched but not repaired, yet there were large pale white lights that were producing heat glaring over the group, like some sort of hot lamps. This was all on a slightly raised platform…and beyond that, in a larger chamber, was a crowd of creatures…all staring at her.

On first glance, they looked humanoid, but a closer look proved they were definitely not human. There wasn't any hair on any of them. Their heads seemed humanoid enough, except the eyes seemed a bit sunken in, their ears were long, flap-like, and fallen over the sides of their heads, and they had rather large "jowls" around their mouths. Their eyes themselves were almost like dark dots. Their bodies were almost completely enclosed in thick robes, and, although they were seated, Dael figured that most of them were only around four feet tall. Their feet, which were drawn up to them and protruded from the bottom of their robes, looked to almost be flippers rather than true feet. Most of all, their hands and fingers protruded from underneath their robes, and each finger was easily a foot long and tapered to a thin point at the end. Their skin was pale yellow. There was at least twenty of them, all somewhat different, but all staring right at her.

The woman was silent. She wasn't sure what to say or do. She didn't know where she was or what was happening. She risked looking around herself again, but the fiery beasts continued to watch over them. The others were still out…at least, for a few more moments. After a time, Bahamut began to stir from his own place, and finally leaned up and opened his eyes. When his eyes opened, he likewise froze, just as surprised as Dael was to see the fiery beasts, his situation, and the yellow men looking at them. He looked over his own body and, as he did, Dael saw that he too had the imprint of a cuff as well as a bandage. Finally, he looked up and to Dael. He said nothing, but his look showed he was just as confused as she was.

The two both saw something out of their peripheral vision, and turned to it. They found themselves looking back to the crowd of yellow people, as one of them rose from their midst. While the others seemed to be fairly short, this one stood taller than most men. He looked "older", somehow, and his face had sunken and fallen so that a large flesh projection hung from his chin like a stereotypical old man charicature. Neither of them paid that much mind as he let his own massive hands go to his sides, and walked right up to the platform. On reaching it, he readily stepped on top of it and pulled himself all the way up, and then walked a bit closer, positioning himself as close as he could to both people at once. He looked over him both at that. Both Dael and Bahamut could only stare back, not sure of what to say.

Finally, he looked to Dael, seeming to settle on her. His lips parted.

"You are…humans."

Dael blinked in a bit of surprise on hearing that. "You can talk…and know our language?"

"Only I." The creature responded, his voice a bit light, but soft and aged. "None of the others. They never studied. But…you are humans, are you not? And you came from the blue world."

Bahamut leaned up a bit more. "Blue world… You mean Gaia?"

The old creature looked to him slowly. It stared a moment, then looked back, bowed his head, and shook it. "I do not know. We have called this world Gaia for many years, since long before I was born. But there is little that makes sense to us now… What little we knew seems to be nothing."

The woman paused on hearing these things. They were a bit confusing…and didn't help the fact that she was rather confused herself at the moment as to what she was doing here at all. She looked around a bit more, but everyone else was still out of it. Finally, she looked back to him. "…My name is Dael Levinson of Esthar. That boy is…" She trailed off for a moment. "…Well, let's just say his name is Bahamut."

The old creature looked up slightly at this, seeming to have gotten his attention. In spite of noticing this, Dael kept on.

"What's your name?"

The creature looked back to Dael, but then shook his head.

"I do not have one. None of the Shumi do. I am the Historian."

Bahamut blinked. "Shumi…that's what you are?" He asked. He looked around a bit. "…What about these fiery creatures?"

"They are Shumi as well…only ones that have evolved." The old creature answered. "It is one of many forms we become, although the most desirable. They are the Moombas."

"As well? Evolved?" Dael echoed. "What do you mean?"

The old creature again slowly looked to her. "…And here I thought you would answer _my_ questions." He mused aloud. "Why did you come here? Are you like the others?"

Both Dael and Bahamut reacted to that.

"Others…" Dael repeated. "You mean the Sorceresses?"

The Shumi raised an eyebrow ridge at that.

Quickly, Dael explained. "They're…well…they'd look like women…" Suddenly, she looked over the crowd of Shumi, and realized if there were any women in that group she'd never know it. "…Alright, they look like most of us only, well…larger…right here." She indicated to her chest. "They have metal coming out of their backs. There were three of them."

"We know of them." The Shumi responded. "Are you one of them?"

"No." Dael answered, immediately shaking her head. "No, we came to stop them. Where are they?"

"A quarter day's journey north of here." He answered. "They reside there now. They have for the past ten days."

On hearing that, both Dael and Bahamut froze.

"…Did you say 'ten days'?" Dael asked. "But we came after them after only two days…"

"You have been unconscious for the past eight days." The Historian responded. "Several of you were stung with Hellgramite venom, but even if you hadn't been, you were badly injuried and the poison of this world's soil and air had gotten into your wounds. You were strong to be able to injure a behemoth, but still not strong enough to survive on this world. So you were given transfusions of Moomba blood."

Dael and Bahamut alike both looked rather surprised to hear that, and looked down to their bandages. That explained it…

"Moomba blood, fortunately, has a catalytic effect with whatever creature it is injected with. It accelerated your healing and made your bodies more efficient as well as accelerated your natural processes. You should be strong enough to handle our atmosphere without difficulty now. Even so, the venom you were stung with should have left you helpless until you died. It took eight days for the Moomba blood to enhance you metabolism enough to purge the toxin. The others had various injuries that also needed healing, but you have been treated in such a way that all of you would wake up at roughly the same time."

Dael blinked a few times, but decided not to question it. Besides, if she could move freely in the atmosphere of this world now, then perhaps she had gained an advantage. Or, at minimum, maybe the blood had made her a bit stronger. She could use that at this point. Frankly, eight days of sleep had left her feeling very refreshed. She didn't even feel that stiff or sore.

"Can you take us to where those women are? We have to stop them. They're going to do something terrible."

"Not now. It's too dangerous to risk going to the surface." His face darkened a bit.

"…It is near, and looking for us."

The woman blinked. "…This is very important, but what's looking for us?"

"The reason there are no humans left on this world." The Historian answered.

This caused another reaction from both people.

"You mean there used to be humans living on this world after all?" Bahamut asked.

"But there isn't anymore?" Dael echoed.

The Shumi looked between the two of them, and finally exhaled a bit tiredly, bowing his head a bit.

"…We will get nowhere unless I explain things to you, it seems, although I thought you would have known more than I. Come."

He turned and began to walk back off of the platform. This caused both Dael and Bahamut to hesitate. They looked to each other, and then back, seeming to decide what to do. However, the Historian paused after only a few steps, and then looked back to them.

"Your companions will awaken shortly, and you can explain to them best what I shall tell you now. However…make sure to wear the thicker robes we prepared for you. The air in this settlement is very chilly this far underground."

* * *

><p>The Historian wasn't kidding. Dael nearly huddled into the thick robe she had pulled over herself, even bringing the hood over her head. Her breath actually misted a bit as she walked along. Apparently, the reason for the heat lamps had been to protect them from it. It wasn't quite as bad as the snowfields had been, but it was still like walking through a rather cold refrigerator. Normally she could have taken it, but seeing as she had just woken up, her body was still fully "coming on". Plus, it didn't help that footwear seemed to be a totally foreign sensation to the Shumi. They had provided them with some cloth to wrap their feet, but she still felt the cold floor…especially since it was made of metal and stone. Bahamut, smaller and thinner, wasn't doing much better, although he ignored it as he followed her.<p>

The three now wound their way through a twisted, subterranean corridor. There was no doubt in Dael's mind they were underground now. It looked like it had once been a metallic, sophisticated underground passage, but now it was collapsed left and right by rocks and cave-ins, with rubble poking through the ceiling in more than one place. There were lights here and there, but they were unlike any kind she had ever seen before, and four out of ten of them were out, creating a dark, flickering passage that honestly would have been a bit unsettling under any other circumstance. Even with a guide, it wasn't exactly comforting. It was so quiet that every step they made gave a resounding echo.

At one point, there was a light tremor through the cave. Not even enough to shake any dust or pebbles from the ceiling. However, the Historian immediately stopped and held up a hand to them, indicating for them both to stop as well as stay quiet. Dael did as indicated, but wondered why…or if the others were already. After a few minutes of nothing, he led them on again.

"…You didn't build this place." Bahamut finally stated as they walked along.

"We did, actually, at least in part." The Shumi answered. "But that was a very long time ago."

"How long?" Bahamut pressed.

"Oh…" He held his head up and thought a moment. "From what I can figure, around 2,000 years ago, by your frame of time."

"So you lived on the surface before then?"

The Historian gave almost a bitter chuckle. "Before then, we didn't live at all."

This was a puzzling response that made both Dael and Bahamut remain silent for a time. At length, however, Dael was the one to speak next. "How many of you are there?"

"There are twenty Shumi, and thirty-five Moombas." He responded.

Bahamut looked about. "We've been walking for a while…it would seem there would be room for more."

"There was, at one time." The Historian answered. "In its day, this dwelling could support over a hundred thousand Shumi. We are all that is left now, I am afraid. And the knowledge to repair and upkeep this dwelling is gone. In fact…it has been twelve years since we have heard from another colony. Either they no longer want to risk making contact…" He turned grim. "…or they simply aren't there anymore."

"How are you related to the humans? And how do you know our language and customs?"

"I don't. It is simply that they are nearly identical to those of the humans that used to live on this world. That is my purpose…to retain knowledge of the former race of this world and its history. So that they are not lost forever."

Dael didn't like the sound of "former". Before she could press for any more information, however, the three began to approach a circular portal with large metal doors mounted on the front of it. On reaching it, his large hands went out and grasped a ring.

"It is best to start from the beginning…"

He gave a yank, and the door gave a loud, rusty groan before it slowly opened up. There was only darkness on the other side, but the Shumi, after opening it up, freely walked inside. After he walked in, lights flickered on inside, no doubt due to a sensor. As for Dael and Bahamut, they looked to each other once, then turned back and walked in.

Inside was a rather odd sight. At first glance, as the lights, which were more yellow in color rather than the harsh white, came on, it appeared to almost be like an oversized storage garage. The room itself was about the size of a grade school gymnasium, but it was stuffed along every wall with items. There were rows in the middle that had even more, making it almost impossible to walk freely forward in some places, and also filled with more things. As for the items themselves…Dael realized that they looked almost like things you would find in a museum. At least, some of them were. They were ancient tools, all hand powered, articles of clothing, pieces of architecture, primitive steam devices, even old books and toys. Many of them were things Dael recognized, but some of them were not. In spite of being old, they were things she had never seen the like of in history books or the modern day.

In particular, one thing that caught her eye was one shelf that held a rack of helmets on it. One of them nearly looked like some strange onion shape…

Bahamut himself went to one shelf and looked over the items, before spotting something else. Going over to one shelf that had more ancient materials on it, he reached over and picked off a stone tablet. He held it in front of him and looked it over momentarily, his brow furrowing.

"Please put that down."

He looked up, and saw the Historian staring at him.

"That's very valuable. It's the only one of the four tablets that wasn't smashed."

Bahamut hesitated, but then set it back on the shelf. He looked back to the Historian afterward. "It has the same characters on it that Leviathan used to use."

Again, the Shumi looked intrigued. "…Are you certain I should not be the one asking you questions if you know of Leviathan?"

Dael looked away from the onion helmet and back to him. "It's…rather complicated. I don't really know how to explain this. But…that world…that 'blue planet' you mentioned…think of it as the twin of this world. It's a lot different from this one, yes… It has clean skies and plants growing on the land and its filled with people and civilizations on the surface, but at some point in history it split off of this world as a twin, because it came from the same 'crystal', or something…which…" She sighed, beginning to confuse herself.

"The crystal is like a world's 'genetic code'." Bahamut answered for her. "Since both worlds came from the same source, that's what happened."

The Historian paused and stared for a few moments. After a time, however, he gave an exhale…a tired one. Remarkably enough, he seemed to "get it".

"I see…now it makes sense." He finally stated grimly. "And it is also clear what those three intend for our world. The same mistake Exdeath made."

Bahamut blinked again. "Exdeath? You know of Exdeath?"

Dael looked to Bahamut. "Who is Exdeath?"

Bahamut waved his hand. "One of countless dark sorcerers throughout the ages who sought the most violent paths to ultimate power. He was stronger than most, having come from an amalgamation of hate and darkness that poisoned a great tree…but ultimately not a true threat. At this worst, he managed to threaten about a quarter of our world during the first few decades of the War of the Magi, but he was struck down by a combined effort of the rest of the world's armies and warriors. There were at least a dozen figures like him in history as anecdotes."

To all of this, however, the Historian gave Bahamut a rather dark look.

"…You seem to regard very lightly the one who nearly fed our entire world to the Void."

This, of course, only made Dael and Bahamut react even more strongly.

"You know of the Void, too?" The boy answered.

"I should think so considering how many times it nearly destroyed our world." The Shumi answered. "I wouldn't even have to be well versed in human history for that."

Dael blinked, but then exhaled. "…It's like Leviathan said. This world is a twin of ours. That means some people must have arisen on both worlds as 'destiny' or something set up by the world's 'genetic code' or that crystal or whatever. But after that, history had a chance to change." She focused again on the Historian. "Perhaps it's best if we hear your story first… How do you know of the Void? Or humanity? What happened to them?"

The Shumi looked at them both momentarily. He seemed a bit tired, as well as somewhat confused himself, yet he finally acquiesced. Getting himself into a more comfortable standing position, he began.

"If your world truly is a twin of this one, then perhaps it knows something of what I am going to say. I do indeed know of the Void. It has been a lurking threat to this planet for the whole of its history…ever since humans came into power during the Third Age and into the Fourth Age."

Bahamut looked up. "The Third and Fourth Age? Do you mean the Age of Espers and Age of Humans?"

He gave a nod. "That is what the espers called them."

The boy reacted a bit more to that, but stayed silent.

"Even the espers knew little of what took place on this world during the First and Second Ages…save for the fact that humans dominated both. And during that time, they dwelt heavily in war, hatred, and violence. Even after their decline and resurgency, that continued to remain. It appealed to the Void. Somehow it made it long for this world. I do not know why it favored our world over yours, but it attempted to destroy ours while the planet was still developing, fracturing the crystal of our world. By now…I realize it had to have fractured it a second time, the first being whatever made your world and ours."

"Leviathan told us that it did that in order to contain the Void…to keep it from consuming the unified world." Dael responded.

"And so it did the same here." The Shumi continued. "I won't pretend to know all of the details… The human myths subscribe numerous causes, not the least of which lays the blame on an evil wizard called Enuo. At this point, it is irrelevant. The point being is that our world was broken…split into yet another copy to try and contain the Void. Yet even then, the endless abyss continued to hunger for our world. It seemed the crystals themselves, the most innate form of 'existence' itself, was what held it at bay. It wanted them destroyed more than anything. And as time went on, the Void seemed to gain more and more of a consciousness, even a desire to send everything into nothingness.

"It nearly succeeded once. It ensnared one of the greatest mages in our history, a man named Xande, and used him to try and corrupt the four crystals of our world. Even though it failed, it still managed to increase the amount of disorder in this world, to say nothing of its hate, misery, and anguish, ultimately with the capstone of Xande's own death, to evoke itself in the form of some…" He exhaled. "I don't know…some…'cloud of darkness' that had a female physique. It was pushed back then, but ever after did it seek more people to ensnare so it could finish its work."

Bahamut frowned darkly. "It seems as if the Void on this world is far more 'sentient' than the extension on ours…or maybe it simply can manifest itself better on this world than Gaia."

"How is that possible, though?" Dael asked.

"We don't know, but the most likely reason is because the Void was used as a 'prison' of sorts for the greatest threats of our world." The Historian answered.

Bahamut heard this, and soon scowled.

"…The Banish spell… Leviathan was right."

Dael looked to him, and he exhaled as he explained.

"A forbidden magic. It was discovered prior to the War of the Magi, when I was still in power. Casting it casts an individual into the Void itself. Leviathan banned it when he realized it was too dangerous. There was no telling what happened to those individuals…if it was a fate worse than death or if they could join together and return. Terra and her group used it again, but I warned her not to when I found out she knew that spell."

"Time has no meaning in the Void." The Shumi answered. "One is both infinite and singular there. There is no aging or natural death. Each individual thrown inside went through billions upon billions of years of existence, until whatever reason or humanity was left in them was destroyed by the endless entropy. The Void fed off of this to give itself more sentience while embuing them with its essence, making them larger, deadlier, and more formidable than ever. As it continued to gain more of a will of its own, it began to appeal to and seduce other dark men of this world, including Exdeath. When the people of one world forgot the true reason their worlds had been split to begin with, they foolishly sealed Exdeath in the space between them, where he made partial contact with the Void and was tempted by its power. It was he who destroyed the four crystals on both worlds with the intention of merging the two on the aspect of the Void that was left behind, and then seizing the power for himself."

He sighed. "…Naturally, he was consumed just as Xande was the moment he tried to gain its power, becoming an engine of destruction that sought only to end all existence, including its own."

Dael shifted a bit on hearing this latest bit. "…That sounds a great deal like someone we know."

Bahamut bowed his head. "…I cannot honestly say if Mianyl has been consumed by her own madness, or if she's just being used by the Void as this 'Xande' and 'Exdeath' were. Although it hardly matters either way." He looked up again. "So…is that what happened to this world? The Void consumed it?"

"Of course not." The Historian answered. "There would be nothing left but empty chaos if that had happened. In fact…the Void seemed to have been 'defeated' for good, following that. After the Void-possesed Exdeath was destroyed, the Void itself lost a great part of the sentience it had stolen and poured into him. Losing the ability to manifest itself, the crystals were able to be reformed, now four instead of eight, and appeared to 'shut off' the portion of the Void that tried to consume our world. For 1,000 years, we enjoyed peace and prosperity…at least, the humans did."

Here, the Historian paused. He slowly exhaled, and looked to the ceiling. His gaze seemed to go past it, looking far above and beyond to the surface.

"That was when _it_ came."

This was said so quietly and darkly that both Dael and Bahamut grew a bit uncomfortable.

"…It?" Dael echoed.

The Shumi inhaled, and slowly exhaled. He bowed his head and turned away. He began to walk slowly through the chamber. Dael paused only a moment before following, and Bahamut went after her. As he walked, he spoke quietly again.

"…No one knows where it came from. Humans and Shumi alike made many theories. Some are more myth than real, while others are more real than myth. What we agree on right now is that it came from either the end of the First Age or the early part of the Second. There is reason to believe it was what caused the first decline of humans…and the end of the world at that time."

That chilling statement sent no small discomfort through Dael.

"A human nation...it no longer matters who...built a weapon…a terrible one. One that was not driven by men but had intelligence of its own. Powerful…destructive…ruthless…unstoppable. A weapon that could lay waste to entire continents by itself…truly, the whole planet if need be. Made perfect in every way that technology could make it. Worse of all, however…was the fact that if anyone could destroy it, it would not only rebuild itself, but rebuild itself with the characteristics of its destroyers…all the traits that were superior to it when it was ruined. Both in terms of its body as well as its programming. Always evolving…always improving itself…and always returning until it won. Designed to be the ultimate solution to war…to wage total, rampant destruction without the side effects of dirty bombs…and to be the last thing standing when it brought death and destruction to all else. Hence, it's name: Omega."

The Shumi inhaled and exhaled.

"It's creators made a terrible mistake. They built it too well…made it too capable of 'evolving'. It could even evolve in response to itself. They made it so that if an enemy tried giving it a 'stop control signal' to make it halt, it would evolve past that. As a result…it saw its own programmed commands and 'stop lines' as things to be evolved over…things that tried to keep it from its mission of bringing total destruction to all things. It became an engine of death…designed to keep running until everything was destroyed.

"The people of that time must have been at a loss. Their knew if they tried to destroy Omega, if even a tiny part of it somehow survived, it would return stronger than all of their greatest weapons combined. Any move made against the machine would be adapted to. In the end, they had no choice. They did the only solution they could think of: 'trap' it in a dimensional prison that would send it to a realm of absolute nothingness, where there was nothing to mimic or adapt to."

Dael slowly exhaled. "…The Void, in other words."

"Its story might have ended there if it wasn't for the Banish spell, when it was given more things to observe and adapt to. Even then, the other prisoners of the Void quickly learned to stay away from it or be annihilated. But when Exdeath tried to bring the Void into our world, he allowed people to slip inside to stop him. They encountered Omega and, as it had never truly been tested in battle before, were able to destroy it and smash it to bits…not knowing of its abilities. As they went on to destroy Exdeath, they ended up killing many of the greatest monsters that had been sealed inside. Omega, even while rebuilding itself, somehow reached out to these individuals and took on their characteristics, absorbing the worst parts of them and gaining incredible new power. From the wizard Azulmagia, it gained mastery over the deadliest Blue Magic. From the abomination Catastrophe, it learned how to manipulate gravity in battle. From the fiend Twintania, it learned the power of Giga Flare."

Bahamut's eyes widened considerable on hearing that, but the Historian continued.

"That was just a sample of the powers it gained, becoming a collection of the deadliest and strongest attacks our world ever knew. Even so, when Exdeath was destroyed and the Void slammed shut, it should have been sealed away again…but it attempted to escape in the process. The act of trying to cross dimensions sheared it into bits, completely destroying most of it again…but still leaving a few intact pieces, along with all of the powers it had obtained, and flinging them about our world…both on the surface as well as throughout it." His gaze darkened. "…And one part of it reached the center.

"Deep inside our planet, the world itself, on seeing the threat of the Void to it, had grown 'self-aware' enough to try and act. It had begun construction of a living bio-weapon of its own, a giant monster bred only to kill whatever was causing it distress. It named it-"

"WEAPON."

The Shumi paused, looking to Bahamut, who glared back grimly.

"…The same thing happened on our world."

The Historian looked uncomfortable at that, but turned back and continued. "…It was indeed called 'WEAPON', but it was never 'finalized', only partially made. Yet some of the fragments of Omega landed next to it, wherever it was in Gaia…and began to take on its characteristics as well as it started to rebuild itself. Perhaps it even took some of the bio-weapon itself into it, or simply used the partially-complete WEAPON as its own body. It took centuries for it to slowly put itself back together, but it eventually did…possessing its own power, all of the skills of the Void's greatest prisoners, and the power and durability of the Planet's own WEAPON. At that point, it was neither the original machine nor a WEAPON itself. So our history books simply called it 'Omega Weapon'…and we have to this day."

He continued to walk, sighing again as he looked to the ceiling.

"When it emerged, it immediately began to kill and destroy. At this point, there was nothing the strongest weapons or armies could do against it. It was smart. It triggered volcanic eruptions to plunge the world into darkness and fill the air with poison, killing almost everything through sheer lack of sunlight to let plants grow or letting them smother. It devastated our ecosystem within a year…letting the wasteland kill far more than its own weaponry could. Not satisfied with that, it roamed the world destroying everything. From the largest city to the tiniest ant, it wanted nothing more than death, death, and more death. Perhaps it was its original programming, or perhaps the Void itself had taken over its intentions, but it wanted everything gone. It would not be satisfied so long as there were still things to destroy.

"Humanity knew its end had come, but it didn't want there to be nothing left behind, for Omega Weapon would ensure there was not even a memory left. They used the last of their time, utilizing both their magic and technology, to make us: the Shumi. Creatures that were hardier and more skilled, and who could evolve as well…ones that would survive when everything else was gone. They built underground dwellings for us that ran off of geothermal power and gave us the means to both live as well as to carry on the future of this world. Humanity's last wish was that we would one day give life again to this world…that hopefully one day Omega Weapon would see nothing left to destroy and then would either shut down or destroy itself, leaving us to rebuild. Then, they too passed on as almost all other life on this world has now. Only the most savage and hardy of creatures still grace the surface."

The boy was rather dark on hearing all of this. "…And this foe destroyed all of the espers on this world, didn't it? Including Leviathan?" Pause. "…And Bahamut?"

The Historian nodded. "That's right."

Dael was rather chilled at this point, beginning to understand what this meant. She looked to Bahamut.

"That's why she came here. That's what she's trying to do. Destroying our world the 'conventional' way will take too long, so she wants to use Omega Weapon to do it…the most destructive thing available."

The Shumi looked up at this. "What did you say?" He nearly outburst.

The woman ignored him for a moment. "Do you think that our world is advanced enough to stop it? That our weaponry can do better than that of this world?"

"Even if it could, which I doubt," Bahamut grimly responded. "The governments and military of our world are in pieces. No one is left standing to mount a major assault on Omega Weapon."

"What about the Guardian Forces?" Dael asked.

He stared grimly in response. "…We're a bit stronger than we were, but I don't know if we could make a difference. I have no idea if any esper like Alexander ever existed on this world. If it didn't…maybe. If it did…then I really don't want to find out whether or not it's too strong for us."

"Are you saying that your world still has life and humans, but that the three who came here want to use Omega Weapon to destroy it?" The Shumi interjected.

The two looked to him. "Yes."

"For what purpose?" He asked incredulously.

"To merge our two worlds together as they once were and to gain the power of the Void as your 'Exdeath' did." Bahamut answered. "Only the woman we're after doesn't want to conquer or rule anything with it. She wants to use it to destroy all existence, if she can."

The Shumi looked rather stunned on hearing that. Bahamut, in turn, looked back to Dael. "Whatever happens, we can't let Omega Weapon get released on Gaia."

The former captain was a bit more grim than that. "That's not enough." She answered. "We can't leave these people on this world with it, either. It's a death sentence."

Bahamut paused momentarily. It seemed like he might have protested this. After all, this wasn't what they came here to do. However, Dael's old mentality of only looking out for her own country was fading more all the time. It would be inhuman to leave Omega Weapon on this world with these people still here. It would be like locking someone in a cage full of hungry lions. After a moment, he exhaled.

"…Very well. But how do we go about that?"

Dael paused momentarily. "…Stopping the Sorceresses is our primary priority. If that fails, then anything we do in regard to the Shumi or Omega is irrelevant." She looked back to the Historian. "Can you take us back to the others of our group? We need to tell them about this. And then we need to get our weapons and clothes, if we can."

The Shumi stared at them a moment. He still seemed to be thinking about all he overheard from them, especially the latest bit. Finally, however, he gave a nod. Without a word, he began to lead them back.

* * *

><p>Everyone was feeling more than a little awkward when they woke up, considering the bandages as well as the odd clothing. Some of them were already awake when they returned, and rather confused by both the Moombas as well as the Shumi. However, they relaxed more on seeing Dael and Bahamut return. After that, they quickly joined them to start explaining everything in clearer terms, both the Shumi as well as Nyx Gaia in general. As for the Historian, he had been giving them odd looks the whole way back, and on his return addressed all of the Shumi in the chamber, which Dael realized numbered about twenty to begin with. They must have all been fascinated by them…intrigued to see the first humans in thousands of years…<p>

However, her focus was soon on the group as she explained everything, including their clothes and the bandages. Ceja, at one point, tried to slice into her own skin with her nails, but noted that it seemed a bit "tougher" now. Apparently, the blood had increased their durability a bit further. Dael was grateful for it. Lately, they had been "smacked around" far too much, even with the junctions enhancing them. Yet the primary focus was soon on what Dael and Bahamut had learned.

"How can we destroy a foe that only becomes stronger with death?" Ceja answered.

"We can't." Dael grimly responded.

"The only thing that could do it would be a Banish spell, possibly. That would cast it back into the Void." Bahamut responded. "But even if we had the time to properly learn and perform one of those, something that powerful won't just let itself be drawn into it. It would take a blow with sufficient power to cripple or wound it seriously to weaken it enough to get put inside, and I doubt we have that level of power."

"In short, the only way to stop it is to make sure it stays on this world and away from Gaia." Dael answered. "We need to bring the surviving Shumi onto our world. This one is doomed as it is…"

"I'm not so sure, Dael." Cid suggested. "There's obviously geothermal activity. There's still an atmosphere. That suggests, based on what I learned back at the Lamb Temple, that this world still has a 'spiritual cycle'. Some way it is still gaining and giving life."

"Be that as it may, unless Omega is dealt with, it'll just destroy whatever life arises." Dael responded. "And since we can't deal with it, we have to work around it."

Jalab rubbed his chin. "Planet have life… Means crystal still here."

"That's what worries me." Bahamut darkly responded. "At the moment, we're assuming the Sorceresses want to somehow send Omega Weapon to Gaia. That won't be easy even for them. It's not like they have Maritza or anyone else around to build one of those teleporters for them, or the guarantee that Omega Weapon wouldn't simply destroy it on sight before getting inside to be teleported even if they did. But if what Jalab and Cid say are true…that means this world's Crystals are still here. The ones on Gaia were made to be inaccessible and the knowledge of their locations destroyed. But this world's Crystals, on the other hand…" He exhaled.

Taraketh frowned. "If this 'Exdeath' managed to merge this world by destroying a set…not to mention opened the Void…"

"That simply brings us back to the matter at hand: the Sorceresses have to be destroyed." Dael responded. "Hopefully, they can take us where they are."

"Speaking of which…" Quaren spoke up, looking around a bit. "The Shumi seemed to run off. All that's left are those Moomba things…"

Sure enough, only about five of the fiery creatures were still in there, although they seemed to be "rubbernecking" around the group, sniffing them and listening in on the conversation. Some of them seemed to be keen on Cryder, who gave them a grimace.

"Mate…why don't you make yourself useful and get that liquor you lifted off me, eh?"

The Moomba only made a strange meowing sound in response, which caused him to roll his eyes.

At that moment, however, the door to the chamber opened. Dael immediately looked out and saw the Historian entering again. Along with him were two of the younger, smaller Shumi. However, they all seemed to share the same general appearance about them. Each one of them looked a bit earnest, like they had been discussing quite a bit. They came right up to the same platform where the others were, and looked up to them. They looked back, breaking off their own conversation.

There was silence for a moment, before the Historian spoke up again.

"I discussed what I heard you say with the others. Are you telling the truth?" He asked. "Do you truly intend to remove our race from this world and take us to yours?"

Dael looked back for a moment. "…I can't promise we can do it right away, but that's the plan. This world may still have life or a cycle on it, but it's a deathtrap. Even the most inhospitable region on our world would be a much better life for you. You can freely go out in the sun, at the least, and not have to live in terror of that Omega Weapon thing."

The Historian looked to the others at his sides, saying a few words. The two looked up a bit hopefully at that, before the three looked back to her.

"…You may very well save our race if you do that. To be honest, some of us were beginning to despair that we might be the only ones left. However, we are afraid at the moment. The three that came before were not interested in meeting with us. The scouts that roam the surface noted that they cared only for venturing to the location I mentioned and beginning to build."

The group looked a bit up on hearing that. "…Build?" Bahamut echoed.

"A great structure…golden and glowing like the heavens. That is what the Moombas say." The Historian answered. "The light and height attracted the behemoths…but they slew them with a wave of their hand. Our people were terrified and fled on seeing that…power that treats the strongest monsters on our world as nothingness. Even Omega would seem to be little compared to that…"

That thought sent a unified chill through Dael and everyone else. Even with Save the Queen, it had taken strength on her part to be able to cut into one of those monsters. And even the group united wasn't a match for those things… Some of the weaker members looked rather uneasy to hear that. However, Dael steeled herself and nodded.

"It is the only structure that has stood untouched by Omega in over 1,000 years. Because of that, the Moombas have named it the 'Tower of Order'. If you truly intend to help our people, we will take you there and make sure you are supplied for the journey. However…"

He looked again to the other two, then back to the group.

"…We have reached an agreement. We have decided, based on all that you have told us, that if you fail in this regard, it will mean there will be no home on this world or on the planet you call Gaia for anyone, including us. We doubt we will ever see others like you again, or that we will last long enough to see any if you are coming. Because of that, we wish to help you by opening the Sealed Armory."

Dael turned her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"In times past, all of those items that you saw within that one chamber were kept in much larger museums. Over time, Omega Weapon's actions have destroyed them all, including the ones in this place." The Historian answered. "What items we could salvage were stored in that room, save for a select few. Before the humans of this world died out, they attempted to modify and enhance their strongest and most legendary weapons to be capable of destroying Omega." He frowned and bowed his head. "…We have no idea how successful they were. We have one of the descendants of the 'armorers' here…" He indicated to one of the Shumi, who gave a bow. "…but the other ones that had the knowledge died hundreds of years ago childless, and took the secrets to their graves. All that was left was a collection of weapons that had already been modified, and over the years attacks on the colony destroyed more here and there. However, we have some left that may be of use to you."

Cryder twisted his lips a bit. "…If you had these weapons, why didn't you use 'em yourselves, mate?"

"We couldn't use them ourselves because of a design the last humans made. Only humans can even wield them." The Historian responded. "The idea was that if they were effective on Omega Weapon and it tried to adapt to them, it would be forced into making the mistake of turning itself into a frailer state. As near as I can figure, these weapons were never used on Omega, but they were designed to be effective. They should be powerful assets against those Sorceresses you mentioned."

Dael looked to the others for a moment, and they exchanged glances. She supposed it couldn't hurt. She looked back to the Shumi a moment later.

"Alright."

* * *

><p>Dael wasn't sure what sort of mechanism they used to repair the clothing, or even if these were their original clothes, but it seemed to do well. When she got her uniform back, it was definitely more tough and durable, even in the places that hadn't been repaired. She was a bit regretful that it might hamper mobility…but as it was her dress uniform before, it wasn't exactly all that mobile to begin with. It definitely felt different, like it was some sort of new fabric entirely. She didn't really care at the moment so long as it held up. Most of the group had needed a good "mending" for a while. The only one truly out of sorts seemed to be Ceja. Naturally, they didn't have the same hides that had been used to make her attire. Instead, based on the coloration of her leather, Dael believed she was wearing the skin of a behemoth herself.<p>

_Considering how hard it was to piece that one's hide? _She thought. _I'd say it's a big improvement._

Although the clothing had been replicated as best as possible to the original attire, Dael realized that wasn't perfectly conducive to where they were. They were marching around in a giant fridge, after all, from the feel of it. Yet she didn't try to push it too much. She was alright enough, and Jalab, who showed the "most skin" seemed to be handling it well. On that note, the group readily followed the Shumi again after their clothing had been presented to them. After winding through more ruined passages and dim, flickering lights, they finally arrived at another set of doors.

These ones actually seemed to have some sort of lock. One of the smaller Shumi produced what looked like a form of digital punch card. Dael wasn't sure what to make of that…if it meant the technology they possessed was better or worse than a certain level. At any rate, the lock inside disengaged and, as before, they grabbed the large handles and opened it up. Again, as before, the lights immediately came on inside. And since this chamber seemed to be newer than the others, the lighting was both white as well as better. He turned and quickly beckoned to theem to enter. Dael took the initiative and went inside.

It was a weapon's chamber of some sort, all right. But it was far more "high tech" than the previous room they had been in. Nevertheless, it wasn't so advanced that it even seemed to be up to modern standards. There were various devices and weapon items lying about. Most of them looked only half completed. Some of the chamber looked like it had been damaged or ransacked a long time ago. Nevertheless, there was a space in the middle with some sort of rotating column that had electronic locks of a sort, holding onto weapons. Not all of them looked perfectly "futuristic". Some looked to be about 200 years old, at least in terms of Gaian craftsmanship, or older. Still, they were well maintained, just like the items in the other chamber.

One of the smaller Shumi immediately pushed past the group as soon as they walked in and went up to the column. He pressed some sort of switch, and it swiveled around until it stopped on one location, and proceeded to extend a panel to reveal the first weapon: Save the Queen. He removed it, revealing it now had a perfect sheath, and brought it up to Dael. He said something in his native language.

The Historian, who moved in nearby, translated. "He says this sword is yours. We have no blade better than it."

Secretly, Dael was glad they didn't. She felt almost a connection or sense of "rightness" about that blade, and she accepted it back. The Shumi returned to the column and had it move one more spot. When it opened, he pulled out her Mage Gun and holster, and then brought it over to her, speaking again.

"He says he could not make any ammunition for this weapon, but he did not want to discard it."

"I'm grateful." Dael answered as she took it and began to attach it along with the sword. "Even if I can't use it, I feel somewhat better just 'having it'."

The Historian answered the Shumi with what she said, and he nodded before returning to the column. Soon he opened another bay, and pulled out a new weapon. It was similar to Taraketh's former kusarigama, only instead of being hastily patched, this one was brand new and made with an intricate spike that looked almost like a fang, while the hammer seemed to be made of some sort of new metal. He brought it over to the High Child, who looked at it a moment before accepting it, studying it a bit as he did so. The Shumi spoke again.

"He says we had several powerful items within here. On seeing your weapon, he tried to make a weapon like yours from them, and tied it to a weapon we called the 'Dragon Whisker'. He calls that the 'Wrath of the Dragon'."

On hearing this, Taraketh hefted it a bit. After that, he distanced himself from the group a little, and tried a few practice moves with the hammer and sickle. After a few moments, he nodded and looked up to him again. "It's a good weapon. It feels similar to my old one. Thank you."

The Shumi went to the column again and activated it, this time going through a few empty slots. As he did, the Historian looked to Cryder and beckoned him forward. The pirate soon took a few steps. The column stopped, and the Shumi revealed a short, curved blade. If there were still ninjas in the world, Dael would have assumed it was one of their kunais. This seemed very well made, though. And it actually had runes similar to that of one of the elegant Western blades etched upon it. The Shumi carried it in its sheath up to Cryder and handed it to him. He spoke a bit more this time.

"He says we don't have a good blade just like yours. The closest he could find was this: the 'Kagenui'. Somehow a poison has been imbued in it that causes temporarily paralysis in the limb it strikes…at least on all living creatures the technique was ever tried upon. He's not sure if it will work on a behemoth or anything stronger."

Cryder took a moment to tie it to his side, and then put his gloved hand on the hilt, thumb on the bottom. With one snap, he yanked it from its sheath and aimed it before him in a blocking position. He gave a nod in response, and then slid it back down and inside. "Not bad… A bit different from what I'm used to, but as I've been stickin' with my geomancy for the most part, I'll take it."

The Shumi returned once again to the column, and the Historian beckoned to Jalab this time. The monk came forward as Cryder went to one side, doing a few more practice swings. He seemed to be needing to change his fighting style with this weapon, although he didn't complain. After the column stopped, the Shumi pulled out a long pole. It seemed to be about the length of Jalab's traditional pole, but was a bit thinner. Still, it was etched with runes of its own. This time they were emblems seeming to signify nature of a sort, but the material of it looked to be a mixture of metal and gem, and it shimmered and sparkled in the dim light. The Shumi brought it back and held it out to him, once more explaining it.

"He calls this one the 'Whale's Whisker'. It was made by finding a rare giant bivalve on the ocean floor and giving it the original staff, which was already a legendary item of great power. Over many years, the natural process of the bivalve overlaid it with a pearl-like material until it became that…a pole imbued with the nature of the sea, as the humans said. The substance it is made of seems to grow stronger on being struck rather than weaker, although I do not know how."

Jalab looked it over and tried out a few twirls, and he seemed very impressed. He looked to the Shumi and gave a bow of gratitude.

As the Shumi went back for the next, the Historian looked to Ceja. The woman was rather uneasy on being stared at. While the smaller ones reached the right bay, she let out an exhale. "I am accustomed to my own weapon. I would prefer to have that one."

The Shumi, while still moving the bay, called behind him. The Historian looked to her.

"He said that your weapon is strong, but this is far greater."

The woman didn't seem too convinced, but didn't press it. She simply exhaled and waited. As for the Shumi, when he got to the bay and opened it…he ran into a problem. He seemed to have a hard time pulling it out, as if it was far too heavy. Ceja watched him for a few moments, waiting for him to do it. However, when he failed to pull it off, she finally exhaled and came forward. Reaching in herself, she soon pulled the weapon free, although even she seemed to have a hard time doing it one handed.

The weapon was a massive axe, definitely one that required two hands with a blade larger than the woman's own torso. That said, the blade wasn't as large as her normal bone axe. This was metallic with a golden finish as well as runes emblazoned on it, this kind more of the "magic" variety. The Shumi was unable to support it, so she simply hefted it and looked it over. The Shumi began to speak to explain it, while Ceja held it out before her with a look of disdain.

"That's a weapon called the 'Rune Axe'." The Historian translated. "It ties into the same magical power you use, I believe, and what the Sorceresses would use-"

The woman sighed and cut him off. "It is also metal, not the same shape as my bone axe, and therefore is also harder to wield and not as suited for throwing. It would take me time as well as muscles I have not properly developed to be able to make full use of it, and its color is awkward and distracting to me…"

The Shumi, however, had kept talking during this time, and the Historian finally got a chance to interject again.

"He says the runes emblazoned on it react with the magic power of a magic user. It negates it on the area of attack while enhancing the power of the axe itself. In other words, it would use the power of a magic user, such as a Sorceress, to be able to inflict a stronger blow than a regular axe."

Ceja looked up on hearing that, staring at the Historian for a moment in surprise. She held for a moment, then looked back to the smaller Shumi. He was done, and simply looked up at her.

After a moment longer, she fully accepted the axe, made a Fuliet gesture of gratitude, and then took the weapon, immediately beginning to heft it to try and get a feel for it…

The Shumi returned and opened another area. The Historian looked to Bahamut this time. The young man exhaled, and then walked forward as well. A few moments later, the Shumi pulled out one weapon, but he immediately moved it again to pull out a shield as well. He turned back to Bahamut afterward and advanced before him, before holding out the blade.

It was a bit longer than a standard shortsword, closer in length to a bastard sword. It was definitely broad, with etchings on it that weren't runes but rather a metal pattern to provide reinforcement, although it was decorated here and there. The hilt had a number of guards on it that were bodkin like, as if it could continue to slash even if it was driven all the way in. The hilt was segmented, almost like scales. It made Bahamut pause to look at it…even touch it…as if it brought back memories. The blade itself was shimmering and perfect. It was definitely supreme masterwork, if not better. After a time, Bahamut finally removed it and held it before him. He moved it around a few times, testing its balance as well as its weight and shape.

The Shumi spoke of that a tone that indicated greater reverence.

"That is 'Durandal'." The Historian explained a bit softly. "As its base, it has fragments of older, strong weapons of the time of humans. It was one of the only weapons ever produced by the Shumi, although it was at the time of humans and intended for their use. It doesn't have an equal. With a single strike, it could cleave a rock of dolomite in two. Its sheath is specially made to keep it from destroying whatever it is in while inside of it."

The Shumi indicated to receive the blade back, and Bahamut obliged him after a moment of pause. Before moving to put it in its sheath, the Shumi passed the shield to Bahamut. He looked to it for a moment, staring for a second or two. Much as his old shield had been, this was intricate, knobbed, and overlain many times over with cross reinforced steel. It wasn't circular in nature, but shimmering, smooth, and flawless save in its intricate details, which seemed to reflect a sort of ancient architecture. He took this from the Shumi, looking over it.

"And that is the Raidos Shield." The Historian continued. "The greatest piece of armor we have ever developed. Not only does it absorb all of the elemental magics used against it, it cuts the power of all other non-piercing magic down to a tenth of its normal strength, as well as possesses an 'atomic lattice'…whatever that is, I'm using his words, not mine…to decrease the impact of all blows. Even you would be able to remain standing from the swing of a tail of a behemoth if it hit you while wielding that."

Bahamut shifted it to one arm and tried maneuvering with it. "…I can't use the 'shield throw' anymore with this oblong item…but it is light enough to not hamper me. And I think I'll work better as a 'wall' as opposed to an offensive object in the coming battles."

The Shumi soon returned with the sword, and he immediately took it and began to attach it. He nodded to both of them. "I am grateful for such weapons. Thank you."

The small one returned to the column, while the Historian looked to Quaren next. He too seemed rather uncomfortable. In the end, he did move forward, but scratched the back of his head.

"Um, look…I'm sure you've got a nice weapon and all, but I've trained on guns. If you can get me those weapons back, great. If you got rid of them, um…"

"We didn't." The Historian answered. As if to accent that, when the column stopped again and the Shumi opened it, he removed both Quaren's handgun and his rifle, and carried them over to him. The former corporal nearly sighed in relief as he accepted them and began to put them back on his body. As he did so, the Shumi went back and returned his spare ammunition to him as well, which he also readily put away.

"Thanks." He exhaled. "I'd be up a creek if I didn't have those weapons. I mean…I'm sure you got some sort of 'super bow' or 'magic sling' or something, but really…"

Quaren trailed off. The Shumi had returned a third time, and was coming back with something else…what looked like a rather large and intricate "hand-cannon" like weapon, made of more sophisticated technology but also covered with décor and etchines to make it look like something archaeic, almost from the Pre-Collapse era. It seemed both large and heavy, and the Shumi struggled under it as he brought it out to Quaren, before setting it down. The barrel was longer than most bazookas and RPGs, and was about as large around as a thin drain pipe.

The Shumi spoke a bit about it, and then ran back to the column yet again.

"He calls that the 'Fomalhaut'. That's the name the humans gave it when they were trying to build it, at any rate. This is one weapon he was able to make himself." The Historian answered. "It's the primary way we were able to defend ourselves from the larger creatures for years…weapons like that one. This one, however, is one-of-a-kind. We were never able to find the materials to make another. Since you had similar weapons, we figured it would help you."

The Shumi soon came back, bearing an 'ammunition belt'. However, considering the size of the weapon, they looked almost like fireable grenades. He spoke again as he held it out to Quaren.

The Historian looked up a bit, then back to him.

"The strongest weapon of this kind we have made before it, and that we have tested, the Arcturus, once severed the head of a behemoth from its body while it was at a great distance. He estimates that this weapon can produce a shot twice that powerful, but there are only six pieces of ammunition for it in existence."

Quaren's eyes widened considerably on hearing that report. He blinked at the Historian for a moment, then looked back to the Shumi offering the ammo. He moistened his lips. "Well…I may have a hard time carrying all those weapons at a time…but I'd be an idiot not to try." Immediately, he took the ammunition belt and began to tie it around his torso."

Cid stepped forward here, rubbing his beard a bit uneasily. "I think I'll just have to stick with my tools...I'm not too good with conventional weapons..."

The Historian nodded, as did the smaller Shumi. He moved over to a nearby cabinet closer to the group and opened it up, revealing the power pack as well as the surviving machines. Cid gave a sigh of relief of his own as he advanced to it and began to pull them out. The Shumi helped as he spoke to him.

"He says he was unable to repair your damaged weapons."

The engineer sighed but began to put the power pack on again. "...Well, stuff happens. Just have to make do with what I got."

"One final thing." The Historian stated. He looked to the Shumi and nodded again. Immediately, the smaller creature left Cid and went over to one of the sides. Along with him went the other small Shumi. They reached what looked like some sort of cabinet or storage shelf and pressed something on the side a few times, like some sort of lock. It popped open soon after, revealing a row of small devices. The Shumi began to remove them one after another. He carried four all together, for any more was a stretch even for his large hands, before letting the other pick another four. After that, the first turned and walked up to Dael, holding one out to her in the tips of his fingers.

The woman paused a moment, but then took it from him and brought it to her. She looked it over for a moment. It seemed to be some sort of electronic device with a slight curvature. She noticed flaps on the sides that seemed to be instantly collapsible. As the rest were handed out to the others, she located what seemed to be a button. Immediately, on pressing it, an internal motor flipped open the sides, revealing some sort of clasp. She was surprised at first, but then reached in and pulled it out. It was tensile and recoiled as she pulled it out and let it pull back, like a tensabarrier that one might use for sectioning off crowds. She also realized it had to work similar to a belt. With that in mind, she gave a shrug before lowering it and putting it against her waist. She pulled out the other end, brought it around, and buckled in.

To her surprise, two more straps immediately came out above and snapped over her shoulders, locking in immediately on the other side. All of them immediately pulled taut until they were as snug as a life jacket strap, but didn't go "crushing" or hampering. She was rather surprised at that, but even more so when she heard the device on her waist begin to "come to life", hearing a small generator inside beginning to run. The others, still receiving their own, paused and looked to her. The Historian gave a nod of approval, however.

"Ah…you've already figured out how to put it on."

Dael grimaced as she looked over herself. "Put what on, exactly?"

"It's called a 'Mirage Belt'." The Shumi responded. "We had hundreds of them originally, but they only operate for about a week and then shut down for good. We haven't figured out how to charge them again, so we normally use them only for emergencies."

"What does it do?"

"I'm not sure how precisely…and neither are any of the other Shumi," The Historian answered. "But it seems to somehow make a thin layer of the air around your body vibrate at any incredible rate, creating a manner of barrier. It will make you at least two to four times more durable than you are now."

Bahamut's own suddenly gave a noise, causing everyone else to look to him, as he put his own as well. Seeing it lock into place and start running, the others looked to theirs a moment, but then began to do the same. One by one, their activated their devices as well, until all were wearing them. Taraketh himself put his own weapon away like his old kusarigama and then looked over himself with the new device. He frowned slightly.

"I don't feel very different… My weapon still holds against me the same as before. How do we know it's working?"

In response, Ceja turned and walked over to him. The High Child looked up to her as she neared…just in time to see her whip her arm back, make a fist, and then backhand Taraketh across the cheek. His head immediately snapped to one side, and a small red mark appeared…but nothing else. Considering Ceja's power, she should have split his lip and knocked out a tooth. As it was, he immediately snapped his head back, having not even shifted weight, and glared angrily at her.

The Fuliet warrior snorted, and then looked back to the others. "Whatever magic they use, I would say it is effective."

Taraketh turned his head down and snorted, but said nothing else.

Dael herself gave a nod. "Good…between these new weapons and this armor, we might be in for a far more even match against the Sorceresses."

"It'll be nice to surprise someone else with our 'new power' for a change…" Cryder murmured as he continued to play with the "ninja" sword, seeming to get a better feel for it.

"So long as they hold up well against magic." Cid grimaced. "These 'belt buckle' things don't seem too terribly durable…but I'm not about to try mine out in terms of what I have to do in order to break it."

"Everyone remember to beware of any Flare spells or Meteor spells." Bahamut stated. "Only a reflection spell can negate a Flare. Anything else…its very nature targets the weaknesses in things. There is no way to protect against it or lessen its impact. As for Meteor…that is in the realm of 'cosmic' magic. It's in a class on its own. No protection of any sort can work against it…other than, of course, having something get in its way."

"So, in short, we run into any more behemoths…we don't summon anything to kill them again, right?" Quaren asked.

Bahamut nodded.

Dael exhaled. "Then that seems to be about it." She looked back to the Historian. "We don't want to waste any more time than necessary. Speed is crucial. We've pretty much given these women a 'ten day head start' and there's no telling what they've done in that time. We need to get to them as soon as possible, so we should probably start making that trip you alluded to as soon as we can."

The Historian nodded. "Of course. We actually have a route that may get us there pretty quickly, if it will still run. We'll take you as close as we can on it."

"A transport?" Bahamut asked.

The large Shumi nodded. "Yes. Come with me and I'll show you."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	66. Servant and Guardian

The group didn't have to go too terribly far, but they did go further "down". The three Shumi led them to the lower levels of the facility. It grew slightly warmer as they did. Dael had no idea how far underground they were, but she assumed that they were down deep enough to where it was rather cold from lack of surface heat. She knew full well under the right spots, especially given the surface, it was probably rather warm due to the magma flow. And she wouldn't be surprised if the facility ran off of geothermal power. Of course…that also might explain why there were only a few, if not one, colonies of Shumi left. If they had naturally built their facilities underground near geothermal sources, then when the planet started growing unstable, they had to have been flooded with magma or crushed by plate activity… This facility showed a great deal of damage from what had to be the earth moving. Perhaps it had narrowly escaped the same fate…

The levels of the facility seemed to converge as they grew lower, eventually entering into one corridor that, in spite of being a different architecture, reminded Dael of some sort of subway station, similar to ones they had been into so many times before. However, on descending the last staircase and entering it, she saw there was nothing of the sort to indicate train tunnels. There was a long shaft of rock, however. Perhaps it had been used in mining, or maybe it was intended to one day become a subway or transport system of a sort.

In any event, the floor of it was more or less even. Definitely not enough to drive a standard car through it, but a heavier vehicle might make it. In addition, there were the ruins of several vehicles that looked like construction equipment or mining related lying about. Most of them were rusted and old. The few that weren't were mostly in pieces, having long since been taken apart and scavenged for material. In fact, some of them were being scavenged right now, because the area nearest the stairs was crowded with most of the remaining Shumi and the Moombas. They were working intensively, in particular, on one vehicle. It was larger than the others, and seemed to be mostly for transporting personnel through rough terrain underground rather than doing operations. It wasn't a car or a "bullet train", but it should still go pretty fast over rough ground like this cave, she reasoned.

As the group neared it, Cid, his engineering curiosity piqued, moved forward a bit. "Is this what we're going to be taking?"

The Historian nodded as he halted at a distance. "Most of these vehicles have fallen into disrepair over time. We think there are enough parts here to get one of them working again. Only two Shumi among us have enough knowledge to possibly get it moving, however."

Cid looked to him. "You don't mind if I try and lend a hand, do you?"

The older Shumi seemed a bit surprised at such an offer, but he didn't dispute it. He indicated forward. "By all means."

The former Sorceress Knight immediately went forward, already getting out some of his remaining tools. The others watched him as he neared and pulled into the "ranks" of the other Shumi. At first, they were a bit surprised. But when Cid jumped right in and immediately got to work, they soon saw how knowledgeable and at-ease he seemed to be about everything, and how he instantly started to make repairs without any explanation necessary. Apparently, the technology on this world was similar to that on Gaia in multiple respects, at least at this point of development. Soon, they began to try to imitate him in their own work. The Historian himself watched this for a brief moment, then looked back to the others.

"If you can really move us onto your world, I think what's left of my people would enjoy learning about your world and the skills and crafts there." He mused aloud, before turning to move up to the other Shumi and begin to talk with them.

The group was left alone for a moment, which made Taraketh speak up again. "I hope Lord Carbuncle hasn't been trying to teleport us and without success…"

"Even if his power was increased, he would still need to connect with Dael." Bahamut reassured. "She's the one he's the most closely linked to."

Cryder himself was frowning at the Moombas. "…I noticed my pockets were emptied of all that liquor I swiped from the hotel. Maybe that's why those overgrown gophers were trying to sniff me…they wanted more of my rum…" He muttered, before looking to the others. "By my count, lads and lasses, our mate Cid lost his blowtorch as well as his drill. Couple of weapons I would have preferred he still had…"

"We'll have to make do. We don't have anymore time for repairs." Dael answered. "I'm already dreading to think what's been going on back in Esthar while we've been at this."

"He still has that 'Atomic Hammer' thing." Quaren added.

"Yeah, but that's only good for two shots 'fore it becomes a clown's mallet, mate." The pirate answered.

Before anyone could say anything else, the older Shumi began to return. A Moomba was at his side this time, looking like a more "rough and tumble" one, to boot. It actually wore a bit of clothing, although that seemed to be to protect itself from damage rather than warmth. Some of its fur was matted, jagged, or haphazard…as if it had been through a lot. It also had a few visible scars on it from over time. On arrival, the Historian indicated to him.

"This Moomba is our more 'senior scout'." He explained, his tone a bit grim. "He's the one who has been keeping a close eye on the Tower of Order, and he has some rather distressing news."

"At this point, if it was 'good news', I would have thought something went wrong somewhere…" Dael half-sighed, but then looked to him. "What is it?"

"The Tower seems like it was built over a long-extinct colony of the Shumi." He explained. "He knows because when the tower was constructed, it uprooted pieces of the ground, and many machines and bits of architecture were pulled up with them and arranged into the structure. We now are fearful as a result, if what you said was true."

"Fearful of what?" Bahamut asked.

"As we told you, the Void came about once due to the crystals being shattered. But the crystals could not be destroyed by direct force from outside alone. Otherwise, the power of Exdeath would have broken them itself, but as it was even one crystal was enough to hold his power at bay before. The crystals only became weak enough to break when he forced them to release their power to its utmost, which he did by using his influence to possess others to force them to push forth their full power.

"After our worlds were merged, we locked the crystals away and made sure they would never be able to produce that level of power again. And to further assure that no one would, when Omega Weapon began his wave of destruction, the crystals were taken by one of the colonies without anyone other than the colony itself knowing which one. For centuries now, we have believed that the colony that might have had custody of the crystals was destroyed. That meant nothing to us, however, for it only ensured the crystals would be buried and left inaccessible to others. Yet now…"

Dael grimaced. "…Now you're afraid the Sorceresses may have found where they were located, which is why they built that tower there."

"It would explain why they chose to land here of all places." Ceja answered. "Close to where they intended to use those crystals, yet so far that anyone who tried to follow them would be devoured by the predators of this world."

"Something tells me that building a sort of device or structure that would force the crystals to start producing too much power would be vastly easier than trying to build a teleporter for Omega Weapon…" Bahamut murmured.

"Yet another thing we have to stop them from doing…" Dael murmured. "Let's just hope that this stuff works."

The Moomba let out a few noises. The Historian looked to him, and then back to the others.

"He said that this passage is mostly intact and not infested with any monsters, at least so long as you stay in the vehicle. It will go most of the way to the north. It breaks before you can reach the area of the former colony, but the last access to the surface is a bit before that. Still, from there you can still see the Tower of Order. It will be easy for you to walk the rest of the way from there."

Dael nodded in response. "Thank you. How soon before we can get underway?"

The Historian looked to the Shumi who were working and called out. One of them called back with a long stream of dialogue, but eventually he looked back to Dael.

"Thanks to the help of your human friend, it should be ready to go in about fifteen minutes."

The former captain nodded. "Good. We'll leave as soon as it can go."

* * *

><p>The trip wasn't the smoothest in the world from the perspective of a non-bumpy ride. In additioned to being jostled around worse than a hay ride over a pothole-filled dirt path, the machine they rode in was so loud they had to keep their ears covered all the way. None of the Shumi had a need for earplugs…not the way their pinna were flapped over their ear canals. Cid was fine, though. Some of his tools were so powerful he kept earplugs on him to begin with, and he inserted a pair. Everyone else just had to keep their hands over their heads and grit their teeth from the loud engine noise and rattling. It gave Dael a splitting headache, which was never a good thing to start with in this sort of situation. She could only assume the same happened to the others, and wondered if it would be twice as bad if she wasn't wearing the Mirage Belt and had Moomba blood inside her.<p>

Their ride worked a lot like a tractor or tank of sorts. It had massive metal treads and a cab on top that could seat multiple people like the bed of an army truck. The vehicle had no enclosed windows, which only figured. Any glass would have long since been fractured by the machine being in operation. They had window openings, but that wasn't very comforting. It allowed the group to look out into the wide, rocky passage, and saw nothing but darkness and the occasional rock that was close enough to the vehicle. Occasionally, Dael saw eyes looking out of the darkness, or at least a faint gleam that indicated something translucent like an ocular orb. Nothing ever came close, however. Whatever rattling and noise the machine was making, it was enough to repel the native creatures. Nevertheless, the transport only had one functional headlight, and most of the trip seemed to be them going through inky black nothingness. One of the Shumi was driving and seemed to know the way, however, as did the Moomba seated nearby which seemed to call directions whenever the occasion arose.

All in all, the trip was at a fairly fast speed. The group could maintain a pretty good run by themselves at this point, but against this kind of terrain a vehicle such as this clearly had the edge. While they could probably jog at the same speed if not faster, they would have been hung up on the rougher terrain and spent energy that they needed to conserve. The tank, by comparison, went right over all of it without missing a beat. Some of the path was rather steadily uphill, so she was grateful for it. Dael kept her eyes on the exterior as they went and saw the rate was always fairly consistent. As time went by, she began to try and assess how far they had gone. She wasn't exactly sure how much a "half-day's journey" was for a Shumi or Moomba even assuming they had the same basic 24 hour day on Nyx Gaia as they did on Gaia, but she believed they had to at least shave the time in half if all one was doing was walking.

Sure enough, after about three hours, the Moomba up front seemed to leap up and start making some noises. In response, the Shumi slowed the vehicle to a stop, alerting everyone else. He threw on numerous brakes afterward, but didn't seem willing to power the engine down all together. Hence, there was no way they could talk from this distance. Instead, he motioned to the side…into seeming black oblivion. That wasn't terribly comforting. Dael already knew there were monsters in this passage, and going out of the vehicle into the blackness seemed to be inviting one of them to pop in, especially if there were more of those ones who had octopus-like camouflage. Cid, luckily, spotted them by yanking out another flare and tossing it into the gloom. When it ignited, not only did it illuminate a good amount of the passage and reveal there were no monsters, it also highlighted a man/Shumi-made passage just a bit beyond that led up into another corridor.

The Shumi and Moomba both exited, prompting the others to get out as well. Moving with him, they went over to where the flare had been set, all getting close to the light. Nevertheless, Dael made sure to keep enough distance to still let its rays go everywhere. She didn't want to block sight of something that could sneak up behind them, after all. Once they were all gathered, they looked to both creatures.

Unfortunately, without the aid of the Historian, they had a hard time showing what was going on. But between the two of them, they managed to make a series of gestures indicating for the group to go up, as well as "tired" gestures, indicating that it would take some distance to climb. To finish, the Moomba turned and pointed in the direction of the tunnel. However, it wasn't indicating the tunnel itself, but rather the direction.

"I believe that means this is where we go by ourselves." Ceja stated. "We scale this passage to the surface."

"It seems like it'll take a bit…" Quaren muttered.

"Well, it's not going to get any closer to the ground from us standing around." Dael answered. She gave a nod to the Shumi, and then held out a hand. She knew it would be a foreign gesture…but if humans and Shumi were going to be living together soon, they had to start learning human customs. Sure enough, the creature blinked…and after a while tentatively held out its own hand. When it did, Dael took it and shook it. The Shumi was puzzled, but eventually shook back. Once that was done, she released, turned, and began to go to the tunnel. The Shumi and Moomba watched as the others followed after her, and then finally turned and went back to the vehicle.

On reaching the opening, the group found that it went up a short distance in what appeared to be stairs, but not for terribly long. After that, the shaft proved to be broken and disjointed. Not to mention incredibly dark. One could hear an echo going loud and long through it, but it was impossible to tell how high up it went, or when or if they'd run into trouble. Dael figured those "Hellgramite" things had to be up there. After all, they seemed to infect every hole they could get into, from what she saw before.

After looking into it for a few moments, Dael tilted her head back out. "We're going to need some sort of light source or we'll never get far up there. All it looks like is a black tunnel."

"I lost most of my gear, Dael." Quaren muttered. "They made sure to give me my weapons back, but that's about it."

"And I'm not sure how much charge my power pack has left." Cid added. "It could be a while before we get to the top…"

"Do you have more firesticks?" Ceja asked.

"…They're flares, and yeah." Cid answered as he reached for his side again. However, after feeling a moment, his face grimaced a bit. He finally pulled it out again, but revealed only one. "…This is the last one."

"How long does it last?" Dael asked.

"I dunno…thirty minutes?"

"Then let's climb fast." The woman answered as she took it from Cid. She ignited it a moment later, causing everyone to recoil for a moment as the light burst into full glory. Yet she only waited long enough to get used to it before turning back for the tunnel and beginning to climb up the first set of stairs. They looked stable enough to hold her for now. "Everyone fall in behind me. Try to keep a hand free for weapons."

* * *

><p>Several minutes later, and the group was making good time in spite of the rather poor state of the tunnel. It almost was, for all intensive purposes, just a deep, rocky hole. The sides were so badly ruined and nearly collapsed by earth movements that the group honestly had to stop more than once to plan their next move. They had hardly gone up three stories before any remaining stairs became useless to them. From then on in, the group had to just climb up the "hard way", spreading themselves through the shaft and making their way upward. Luckily, they were all well healed and recovered now. Eight days of rest would do that.<p>

Dael had probably the hardest time. After all, one of her arms had to keep hold of the flare, and she couldn't very well let go with her other to draw her sword. This became especially nerve wracking whenever she would enter a "floor" where she saw numerous holes surrounding her. From what she had glimpsed earlier, one of those monsters could compress itself rather thin to squeeze through any one of the holes. She wasn't very keen on the idea of coming out of one with one of them popping out to say "hi" like a Jack in the Box.

The others, of course, weren't doing much better. They had to crawl upward single file, after all, and some of them were clearly better than others. Bigger ones could press themselves against the wall, but Bahamut's small size made it harder for him to gain any leverage. And Cid was straining under his own weight. Quaren wasn't doing much better now that he had three guns. In spite of all of this, however, they were making pretty good time. It had only been about ten minutes, and they had to have climbed hundreds of feet. The air was growing fresher, and Dael almost thought she could hear the breeze overhead.

She also noticed that her hands weren't getting as sore as easily as she thought they would. Enhanced or not, climbing up a rock face wasn't an easy task if you did it too long for one stretch. Yet they were holding up well and her muscles were only a little fatigued. That Moomba blood she had been injected with had to be enabling her to have more stamina than ever. Considering the fact she had already been junctioned to begin with, she wondered if this planet would have long been poison to anyone from Gaia…

At any rate, she paused for a breather here. Pushing herself up against one side of the rock tunnel, she wiped at her brow a bit, and then looked down below. She heard some of the group members still climbing at the moment, but she truly felt very bad for whoever was at the bottom. After all, they probably couldn't see much of anything… To make things a bit easier, Cid was utilizing some bright, reflective paint that he had in his pack to make a mark on rocks as they climbed, to at least point out what was a good handhold. Yet even that was of limited use. To help out a bit more, Dael held the flare below her to give slightly more visibility.

Taraketh was immediately below her, and after him was Cryder, a bit further down. After that was Cid, whose own equipment made him a little slow. As a result, they were only slowly ascending. He needed this time just to catch up so that everyone behind him didn't get backlogged.

"How's everyone holding out?" Dael called down. "Is everyone still here?"

"No problem." The distant voice of Jalab called from the very bottom of their "queue".

"We're doing fine, everybody." She called down again. "I think we're already nearly at the top."

"Let's not jinx it now, lass…" Cryder answered as he continued to climb up to try and catch her. "Don't want to enter a sheer spot…trigger some damn cave in…or maybe-"

Abruptly, a hissing sound was heard…and the mandibled head of one of the Hellgramites popped out only inches from Cryder's latest handhold. The pirate snapped to it, and those near enough immediately snapped as well. A moment later, and the monster began to extend its pincers, while, from inside the hole, its tail suddenly snapped out for him. He quickly dodged, however, seeming to just miss it, before his hand went to his side and, in one fluid motion, he snapped out his kunai and drove it into the monster's head. Unlike before where weapons had a hard time piercing, it cut right through the exoskeleton and went clean through the skull on the other side to pop out from below.

The monster made a death gurgle, and then collapsed.

The group was frozen for a moment. All of their hearts were still racing. As for Cryder, however, he let out a whistle as he pulled out the blade and wiped it on his trousers. "Yeah, I think this knife can definitely grow on me over the cutlass… Same thing with that Mirage Belt buckle." He looked up to Dael. "It tagged me, lass. I tried to dodge, but it still grazed me. Didn't even break the skin."

"Perhaps our luck is finally changing…" Bahamut stated from below.

Dael herself was still feeling her heart relax, but then called down again. "Be that as it may…I'm going to keep us climbing a bit longer. I want to get to some place that's relatively 'hole-free'. One of those monsters we might be lucky enough to deal with, but last time we ran into them, one being dead quickly drew out more of them…"

* * *

><p>Whether due to luck or fate, the group didn't encounter any more difficulty en route. No more of the giant scorpion-like insects emerged. Dael wasn't one to question providence. After all, she wasn't in a good position to even pull what Cryder had just done. And he had managed to partially dodge the hit that came for him because the monster had been dumb enough to reveal its head first. She didn't want to see if that would happen again. The flare was still going strong when Dael began to recognize the cave opening overhead. There were no sounds of distant roars or rumbles indicating the presence of Omega Weapon, although the group had not, in fact, heard the sound of the foghorn-like roar as of yet. Still, they could guess that it was far bigger than the behemoth they ran into…<p>

As Dael neared the top, the opening became even more distinctive. That was because, in spite of the sky being black and filled with the storming clouds that flashed lightning, there was a glow from nearby that was quite distinctive. The closer she got, the more she realized it had to be some sort of light source. A big one too, by the looks of it. Something larger than a fully-illuminated skyscraper at any rate, and that was no small matter.

The former captain went up just a bit further before she started to feel the same icy, dry wind as before. At this point, she snapped up, grabbed the side with one hand, and tossed the flare away in another direction before putting that hand down to drag herself the rest of the way out of the hole. Once there, she distanced herself enough for the others to get out, and then paused and looked around. She couldn't help but let out a little gasp.

In terms of landscape, she wasn't in a valley like last time. The surface of the world was still rough, rocky, and covered with darkened ash. However, she was at a higher elevation now and looking down into a much longer, broader valley…like a basin. The rocky cliffs and mountains arose on all sides, deep enough to have crags in some places, while flatter in others. They seemed to gradually descend toward the flatter valley below, although it was fairly gradual from where Dael was, and only went down a few hundred feet. All of that was nothing she hadn't seen before. The wind was a bit colder and stiffer, but other than that there was nothing too terrible.

Yet what arose from the center of the valley was totally new.

Dael honestly didn't know how the Sorceresses had done it. She had no idea they had that level of power…even Mianyl. She feared that perhaps the death of Faerio had granted her far more…enabled her to do this. At any rate, there was a towering pillar rising from the ground and stretching practically to the heavens. It was made of a golden-white color that gleamed so brightly she could see shadows cast on every rock and stone for miles in all directions, creating the idea of a radial array surrounding the structure. It seemed to be made of some sort of shining metal, although Dael couldn't tell what from here or even the distinctive shape, much less how it was operating. It did seem to start at the base with a series of colossal spires rising into the heavens. As the spires continued to rise, she saw that some aborted while others went higher, and those were invariably toward the center. As she stared, it even looked as if some of the spires were rising ever so slightly. It gave the impression of seeing a crystal forming in "real time"…something that would take thousands of years occurring within seconds. The effect was like seeing a bundle of wires put together and something pushing the ones in the center upward, gradually creating a displaced and ever-growing structure. Indeed, the building seemed to be "growing" as opposed to simply being built upon. And it was already quite tall. It looked as if it scraped the same low-lying clouds already on the edge and the center went up and beyond them.

The woman was transfixed on watching it. One by one, the others came out of the hole and saw it as well, only able to move to one side before they were too awed and shocked by the structure. The wind continued to howl and the tower continued to grow as they finally were all in position. No one said anything for a few moments.

"…Everyone's thinkin' it; I'm just sayin' it…" Cryder said after a moment. "This trip might end up bein' a lot more suicidal than any of us want."

"I'll admit I'm rather stunned myself." Bahamut answered. "Being able to drive away the creatures of this world with a few gestures is one thing. To actually make a structure like this within ten days?"

Cid looked up a bit. "How is it even standing? It looks almost like it's reaching to the heavens… Like she's trying to make a 'bridge' that goes the rest of the way between worlds…"

Quaren was stunned. "…Can she even pull that off?"

"Even if she can't, she probably wants to be closer to Gaia anyway. Close enough to try and connect with it." Bahamut responded. "It would aid in a teleportation."

Dael looked to Cid. "Just out of curiosity, would your Atomic Hammer be able to knock that thing down?"

The engineer grimaced. "I'm sorry, Dael…I think that's too tall an order."

Cryder snickered. "Heh, I see what you did with that… 'Tower of Order'? Funny, mate…"

Cid merely blinked, obviously having not intended that. Dael, on her part, rolled her eyes. "I wonder if Alexander could knock it down…"

"If he hit a good spot, possibly." Bahamut answered. "But there's no way to know for certain."

"We'll have to get closer at any rate, I'm assuming?"

"Close enough to be spotted?" Bahamut asked. "Potentially. With all the rocks and shadows down there, this field is still fairly open."

"Nothing for it. Maybe it will just speed things up." Dael answered with a sigh. She drew the Save the Queen and held it at her side. "Alright, first…we're going to throw up some magical barriers. Mirage Belts or not, we can't let what happened last time happened again. After that, we'll spread out a bit so-"

Dael cut herself off as she heard a deep throated beast noise, from just a bit ahead of them, where the slope turned down. She and the others froze and looked to it, just in time to start seeing large, powerful muscles begin to move as something big "got up". Based on the familiar noises it was making, they soon could guess what it was. Sure enough, in just a few more moments, the full-sized creature arose.

Another behemoth, every bit as large and fearsome as the previous one, came to full height, snorting and grunting as it turned its massive head with its glowing eyes toward the small creatures in front of it.

"That explains why there were no more of those insect monsters…" Ceja stated as she began to pull out her axe.

"Spread out…hit hard and fast." Dael simply answered as she raised the Save the Queen before her, but didn't shift her step. In spite of the massive creature beginning to move its claws forward and advance on them, she stood her ground. Before, she had been tired, off guard, and not expecting it. However, the group was "all new" now. She was ready for this one…she hoped.

However, the group seemed to have much of the same mentality. No more panic this time. Moves were deliberate and prepared as their weapons came out, got to the ready, and they began to take positions to prevent the thing from trying to hit them all at once. The only spell Taraketh began to chant this time was for protection, even as he brought out the Wrath of the Dragon and began to swing the scythe around in increasing speed. As for the behemoth, it looked about, growling lowly and grunting, but not attacking right away. It seemed to be sizing up the entire situation. Dael soon realized they had made a large mistake last time. They had been so intent on hitting the thing that they didn't realize just how "mild-mannered" it could be. It didn't even seem keen on attacking unless attacked first. Whereas last time every action prompted a deathblow from it, this time it seemed patient to wait.

Eventually, however, it began to show its teeth as it neared, and finally made a move. It looked to who it thought was the smallest and weakest: Bahamut. The boy himself had advanced himself nearer, and Dael, on seeing that, realized he was trying to incite it to attack. She wondered what could have possessed him to do that, but had little time to worry as the monster let out a horrible growl before swinging its massive, spiked tail around and right for him. Bahamut, however, didn't try to dodge or move. Instead, he braced his shield across his body, right in the path of the appendage, and let it strike and connect.

The result was like thunder, and Bahamut was ripped off of his feet. However…it wasn't half as bad as before. He went tumbling to the side and rolled twice…but then planted his feet and snapped up again. His shield was undamaged, and he had gone a grand total of fifteen feet at the most from a blow that should have sent him flying a hundred yards. To everyone's surprise…broken spikes fell to the ground from the behemoth's tail. His shield and power had been strong enough for the monster to actually _hurt itself_ attacking him.

Immediately, the monster opened its mouth wide and reared up, letting out a bellow of pain. In the process, it exposed its neck, and Taraketh immediately shot forward and exploited it. No spells this time. Instead, he quickly swung his scythe out in a straight line for the exposed, thick neck region. It made contact a moment later…and sank into, through, and erupted from the other side with a splash of blood. Even Taraketh seemed shocked that the Wrath of the Dragon was so powerful, but he immediately choked on the chain and ripped it back. The behemoth, which was just beginning to let out a gagged, pained roar, gagged again as the scythe slashed out again, opening a massive blood vessel and soon causing red fluid to spray out of its neck. The monster issued a wet bellow in response, for blood was running from the wound into its throat. In rage, it began to rear up…

Yet Dael hadn't been standing idle either. Quickly, she snapped forward, bringing Save the Queen to her side. She had learned to take advantage of the behemoth's rage rather than wait for it to start using it. Scarcely had it managed to rear up than she ran upon it, and flashed out her sword for one of its limbs. This time, the blow was focused, directed, and accurate…and the large blade sliced clean through its ankle region and lopped the entire massive claw from its body.

No longer supported and unbalanced, as well as in fresh pain, the massive creature spilled forward and began to fall to the ground, its entire upper torso looking to collide with it. Yet even as it came down, Ceja was already coming forward, her arms back and the blade of the golden Rune Axe flashing back and ready to swing. As the behemoth's head slammed down with a rather jarring impact against the ground, she quickly snapped to its side and swung the end down with full force. The creature barely had time to give one last grunt before, with the sound of flesh searing and another eruption of blood, the head was neatly severed from the body, actually flying off a bit before landing on the ground and going still.

The head's expression quickly relaxed, and a rush of air came out of the open hole of the throat as the lungs deflated. The rest of the body went flaccid and collapsed, blood oozing from the wound.

The behemoth was dead.

The eight actually paused and stared for a moment. Even Ceja, who had been the one to inflict the final blow, looked at her axe for a moment in disbelief. A few seconds of silence slowly passed.

"This is a finer weapon than I believed." The Fuliet warrior finally stated. "Perhaps its benefits will outweigh its detriments."

Dael herself looked at her own bloody blade for a moment, but then went about cleaning it as she looked to her side. "Bahamut? Are you alright?"

The boy put his shield to one side and cracked his shoulders a bit through rotations. "It did jolt a little, but most of the reason I was knocked was the ground beneath me gave way under my feet. It seems this shield is rather powerful. And the combination of the Mirage Belt and the blood infusion helped as well."

"Considering the fact we were all brought to our knees eight days ago and that we slew the beast within seconds today?" Taraketh said as he cleaned off his own scythe, seeming to almost be fearful of how sharp it was, before he began to put it up. "I'd say we've vastly improved."

"We didn't even all have to join together." Quaren added, his voice still sounding a bit awed. He looked to the Fomalhaut. "I'm a bit eager to see what this thing does…"

"Don't get too eager. You have limited shots." Dael answered, although Taraketh made an excellent point. Victory was seeming more possible than ever now if their latest great opponent had been taken down so easily. Still, she wasn't about to tempt fate by letting herself get a swollen head. She motioned down the hill. "Let's get a move on. Try to stay near the shadows and the rocks. If they're all the way at the top, I doubt they can see us…but I really don't feel like taking the chance."

Her blade clean, Dael returned it to the sheath and immediately took the lead again. The group looked back to the fallen behemoth one more time. After all, its dead body, monstrous as it was, provided some needed "pep". They hadn't had a whole lot of reasons lately to have faith that they would be able to succeed in this mission. This, however, at least gave a sensation of hope and possibility. With that in mind, they soon followed after Dael.

* * *

><p>The Tower of Order was still a distance away. It only appeared to be nearer due to being so massive. It spanned a rather great distance across, although due to the sheer height and the glowing against the darkness, it was impossible to tell for certain. Dael noticed, fast as they were moving, they only slowly seemed to get closer. Granted, they couldn't go straight due to her intention of keeping to the shadows, but it was still a good pace.<p>

As they gradually made their way down the hill, Dael soon noticed that this area was different. The wind continued to blast, but it was no longer dry and cold. It slowly gained a good level of moisture as well as warmth, something that made Dael feel regretful. She had hoped until now that the Sorceresses would still suffer ill effects from the climate. This pretty much eliminated any possibility of that being the case. They must have possessed sufficient power to make this tower cast an "environment" about them that was more suited to their needs. As they closed in, the wind changed to where it was no longer faint or somewhat chaotic and only from a general direction. On the contrary, it seemed to be blowing around the tower itself in a circular pattern. The woman began to associate this with something more familiar to her…radar sweeps. She began to wonder if this structure was somehow scanning for individuals, and had some sort of security system to deal with them as they neared. It would make sense. After all…there were no other creatures, behemoth, hellgrammite, or otherwise, lurking about. Something about the structure was repelling them.

Nevertheless, Dael, and everyone else, felt themselves grow more anxious as they grew nearer. The winds seemed to lessen although they were still clearly "circular", but the cover began to vanish. The boulders and rough spots progressively smoothed, and the ground grew more compacted. As the great tower continued to dominate more and more of their vision, and Dael began to think she could practically hear a "crystalline" sound on the air, the world grew quieter. The lightning seemed to hold its distance. The clouds seemed to elevate more. It was a strange sensation, like wandering into a room despite still being well outdoors. She could almost feel eyes upon her…and it filled her with greater unease as they descended further.

Finally, they reached the part of the ground where the valley as mostly flat. From there, they went forward again, but it wasn't long before Dael felt herself begin to slow in her step. As she went forward further, she only grew more and more uncomfortable. A fear was beginning to come into her from something in the air. She tried to place it, but unfortunately it wasn't possible. While the air felt uneasy, a source of danger eluded her. Yet on taking another few steps, she noticed that no one behind her was telling her to slow. They had to feel it too…

A few more steps, and Dael felt herself slowing almost to a walk. She looked around more here. Despite how quiet it had become, and how far they were from the Tower of Order, she found herself trying to listen more than ever.

"Why are we slowing?" Cid finally asked, although even his voice was quiet.

"…Something's not right here." Dael stated in response.

Cryder snorted. "Something's not right about any of this, lass…"

"No…it's something else." Bahamut answered. "There's something not natural about this. I expected a Sorceress to come out to intercept us if I thought we were being watched. Right now…I definitely have that sensation, but I see nothing."

The group walked a bit further, looking about, everyone doing so now. Yet after taking only a few more steps, Ceja suddenly froze and turned her head to the sky.

On seeing one of them stop, everyone else almost immediately did the same and looked to her. No one asked anything. They didn't need to. The woman soon gave an answer.

"…I hear something fell on the wind."

Dael felt her blood run a little cold. She looked up to the sky afterward. She heard nothing at first, but she believed Ceja and kept listening. The others did so soon after. After a moment more, she caught it.

Something coming in at sonic speeds…

Something they had all heard before.

Everyone went white.

"Oh no…" Quaren murmured.

"I had forgotten about him…" Taraketh admitted, his own voice lacing with fear.

The squeal of the incoming sound quickly grew louder, but Dael didn't waste any time on banter or surprise even as she felt her heart racing with fear. In all honesty, even if he was the weakest one of their potential opponents, Dael was terrified at the prospect of fighting this monstrosity. She didn't feel a rush of battle or danger upon her. She felt simple terror. Quickly, she called to mind the chant for Carbuncle. She rattled it off as quickly as she could, hoping and praying that she could get it off before the source of the noise arrived. As they others quickly got out their weapons and looked to the sky for the source of the noise, they found it impossible to find. The roar seemed to fill one end of the sky to the other. However…the light of the Tower of Order dimmed slightly along with the lightning flashes, signifying a summon was coming. Even so, Dael felt herself staring anxiously as the portal formed, wishing that Carbuncle would come out already…

As a red glow began to appear in the heavens above, the green creature finally emerged from the portal. Seeming to sense what Dael wanted, he immediately got to work. As the glow became more distinctive and started to streak through the heavens, he held out his head and put his paws to his ruby, soon igniting it in light. Dael didn't watch anymore at that point. She looked back up to the sky, and saw as the blaze emerged from the darkness and streaked right for them. She actually held her sword before her…as if that was supposed to so anything…as the raging Guardian Force broke the clouds and shot by them. She saw a ray of light streak from its mouth and head for them in a snap, barely catching an outline of ruby light about her body before it landed…

The world seemed to be torn apart in an instant. Dael had experienced something like this before, but never nearly as powerful or terrible as this. Although she felt no direct pain, all of her other senses were thrown wild. Where before the attack had happened so fast in Esthar that there seemed to be some "lag" on hearing it, when the attack was happening to her that was something else entirely. The top layer of ground seemed to melt beneath her feet, and the rest of it fractured and was thrown into the air to the tune of fire and heat. The world swum violently around her with head, noise, and voice, and for a brief moment the air was robbed from her lungs as the intense fire sucked the oxygen out of her surroundings. When that happened, the world _did _go silent for a moment before the noise returned. Her mind was thrown for a loop. She herself felt like she had just been cast into hellfire, as she was suddenly wrapped in flame, heat, noise, and violence. She had no idea what end was up or what had happened.

Then, her body landed on the ground, back first. It was as hot as coals, and immediately she sprang up again, instinct taking over where awareness would not. As she shot to her feet again, she found herself inside a molten, burning trench, with just a small amount of cooler dirt forming a series of "fords" across it. Those "fords" were, in fact, the result of a reflection spell that had come up just in time. Even so, Dael was dizzy and disorientated to see herself suddenly in one of those horrifc, flaming lines of destruction that seemed to provide a route to Hell. Although she was still stunned and wondering what happened, she quickly began to tear for the side of the trench to climb up and out of it.

Her senses came back to her as she managed to claw over the top and back onto cooler ground, at which point she quickly stood up and looked to the sky. It was lit up at the moment. She saw a series of burning red lights shooting into the heavens. There were eight of them in all, and quickly vanishing into the ash and gloom. She knew what that meant. The reflection spell from Carbuncle had to have protected them from instant annihilation. Yet the attack had so much power that it still destroyed the ground around them. In fact, she soon had to move further away from the trench to avoid the horrendous heat coming from it. It could have opened the crust of the ground to the magma beneath, but she suspected the real reason was simply the heat from the attack. At any rate, she saw the clouds bend and streak from the beast flying back into it. He had moved so fast that the reflection had only really served to preserve them from annihilation rather than "hit it back". Perhaps it has learned its lesson in regards to those attacks…

She looked around a moment later, watching as they others clawed their way out and got to their feet on the other side. They all looked up as well, and saw the clouds were beginning to turn. The creature had to be coming about, readying itself for another attack. It was moving slower now, however. Although its speed in a straight line was tremendous, it must have been forced to drop considerably to turn.

"Tiamat." Jalab stated darkly.

"Monstrous scourge…" Ceja muttered. "How can we hope to destroy such a fiend?"

"We better come up with a way, because if we can't even defeat him, we haven't a prayer against the Sorceresses." Bahamut darkly responded.

Abruptly, the clouds parted, and out from them came the hellish form of the Guardian Force. He was definitely moving slower now, flying only more gradually. Its blue scales seemed tinted nearly black against the darkness, and its belly still gleamed as if it was a hot coal. Dael almost thought she could see the two orbs that represented its eyes flashing down and looking at them. As it glared below, she saw another light beginning to form around its jaws…

"It's firing again!" Quaren shouted.

"Everyone split apart! Spread out!" Dael shouted. "I don't know how long this reflection spell will last but that attack is hopefully too focused to hit multiple targets apart from each other!"

The group immediately did so. Part of them went to one side of Dael and began to fan out, while part of them went another and did the same. Dael didn't waste too much time keeping track of who. She herself began to pull back, to try and create a scattering of targets. Even if it could hit multiple people at once with a blast, the idea was similar to that of predators and prey in the wild. A cluster of targets confused the attacker into never being able to pick one. Sure enough, Tiamat seemed to look around a bit, enabling them to spread further and further. Yet as it came into range, it opened its mouth again and exhaled another deadly blast.

Dael was somewhat more prepared this time, but still felt her senses and awareness thrown for a loop as the world vanished in fire and destruction around her. Once again, she was in the path of the breath attack. Her body went sailing into the air. This time, since she was running forward, it spilled around face-first as it flew through the air, before beginning to descend not in the "cool spot", as last time, but, to her shock, straight for one of the flaming pits of fire and magma on the other side. The horrendous heat enveloped her as she descended as if she was already burning.

She couldn't afford to "land" on this one. Quickly, as air rushed back to her and she nearly fell in, almost feeling her clothing beginning to smolder, she called out a spell…

A second later, she finished falling as she slammed onto the rocky, ashen ground. It was hot, but not nearly as hot as a lava bath would have been… Quickly, she scrambled out of it and back to her feet. She had done mostly a "blind teleport", simply throwing herself out of the path of the destruction and hoping she was landing somewhere cool. It seemed to work, as to her left a towering line of fire surged into the air. Tiamat, on his part, had picked up speed after attacking, shooting past the group to avoid being hit by its own reflected breath. Dael looked up to it momentarily, watching it streak across the sky but not vanish back into the clouds, before fully readying herself again. She immediately began to move away from the trench. Now that there were two of them, and magma was even bubbling out of the first, the air was getting rather hot. She felt small shakes beneath her, as if the flares had loosened up the crust of the ground as well.

The others were a bit distant, but not too terribly spread out. Barely enough to cause Tiamat to have to strain to target multiple people. Nevertheless, only five of them, Dael included, had been tagged this time, and once again due to the reflection spells they were able to get to safety. One of the nearest ones to Dael, Taraketh, groaned as he extinguished a bit of his own robe. He looked to her afterward.

"We can't fight it like this. So long as it's in the air and using its breath, it will eventually wear us down."

"Don't worry about that." Bahamut darkly answered, farther away on Dael's opposite side. His eyes were still on the sky, and he pointed to direct the others. "Look."

Dael did so, and saw that the beast had already slowed again and was hanging a sharp turn, nearly pivoting around in midair, and aiming itself back at the group. But no more flares came. Instead, it readily began to descend to the ground. As it did so, it slowed more and more and began to extend its claws.

"I think it realizes that it can't kill us with its deadliest move…so it's going to do it with its bare claws." Bahamut grimaced.

"If you have any pointers on how to deal with this thing, please share them while we have time." Dael stated as she glared at it, watching it continuing to descend.

"Tiamat was the most 'perfect' of the Four Fiends that I encountered, in terms of speed, strength, and durability. Yet in retrospect, I can't help but feel that Griever somehow saw my potential and tried to make me similar to him." The boy responded. "If so, then he can't use his strongest attacks without lowering his guard completely…even his own innate resistance to pain and damage. Keep him on the ground. If he stays in the air, he can destroy us at leisure once our ability to reflect pops out. He also can't sense as easily as an esper can. He didn't keep a good eye on his surroundings in the previous battle. Try to keep him guessing where an attack is coming from."

"Right." Dael responded. Immediately, she increased her volume and rattled off commands. "Jalab, Cryder, Quaren, Taraketh…hang back and hit it with whatever ranged attack you can muster. If you can't hurt it, go for distraction. Quaren, only use that Fomalhaut if you think there's no way you can miss. The rest of us go in and try to keep it busy. Try to counter. Let it make the first move. Be cautious. Only make a move if you think you can get one in. If it looks like we're not doing well or it charges another breath attack, I'm going to yell 'Kingdom Falls'. At that point, Jalab…you join us in fighting and Cryder, Quaren, and Taraketh are going to summon Alexander. Everyone got it?"

"Yes." Bahamut stated as he leveled his shield before him again.

"Don't think I have a choice…" Cid muttered as he readied his saw.

"Slice of pie." Jalab responded, putting his staff before him at the ready.

"Let's move before it lands." Ceja answered before taking off for the beast.

To Dael, it seemed like she was giving new definitions to insanity and suicide all the time. Now she found herself barreling right for the most nightmarish Guardian Force in the world. In spite of it being weaker tham Mianyl, she was far more terrified to be barreling toward it than anything else. Everyone else swallowed their fear and broke for it as well, although Jalab and Cryder went wide to one side and Quaren and Taraketh went wide to the other, moving to flank it. The direct combatants…Dael, Bahamut, Ceja, and Cid…moved more straight for it, although they began to spread out to flank as well. They definitely wanted to command the monster's attention.

Tiamat's claws swung out, and he touched down on the ground just as Dael was arriving. Immediately, the woman steeled herself, calling to mind her spells. Having taken the point, the terrible Guardian Force soon aimed its gaze completely on her and began to snarl. In response, she chanted to split once again, although she only did six this time, and each one spread out and came in at once. It gave the others a chance to move around more…or at least she hoped it did. She readied the Save the Queen as well as another spell as she came to the beast.

Suddenly, it snarled and flashed out, leaping forward with a tremendous surge and trying to bring its massive right claw down on her…and it went straight for the real Dael. She panicked only for a moment, wondering if the monster somehow knew or if it had just been lucky…although she feared the former case. Yet that moment passed quickly. She wasn't about to make a mistake like the behemoth…and immediately her mouth let out another spell. The claw slashed only air as it drove down into the ground.

As for Dael, she in a different place this time…right underneath Tiamat's chest, on her back. In spite of the hot ground, not to mention a seemingly volcanic heat seemed to be rolling from underneath the creature, she also was in a prime position to attempt to end the battle. Immediately, she drove the tip of her sword up and into the gleaming, molten-looking exterior of the creature.

She expected some resistance…but not nearly as much as what resulted. Almost to her shock, the blade tip went in and had most of its force taken from it as it pierced a scale, before only going in a couple inches into the creature's flesh beneath. A few drops of blood immediately ran down the blade, but that was all.

Tiamat, however, was far from happy about having received a hit. The Guardian Force raged and immediately ripped its body back…and to Dael's shock tore the Save the Queen right out of her grasp. She could only stare as she saw the chest of the monster pull back, the weapon still in it, before the great beast backpedaled and looked down at her with savage fury and anger. Giving a bellow, it immediately snapped its head forward to try and bite her. Although Dael tried to rise…she quickly concluded she didn't have nearly enough time. Instead, she quickly chanted again, and the jaws smacked only light.

When Dael landed…it was only a few feet away, still in range to feel the breath of the monster blasting her. A wave of dizziness came over her. She had cast about three spells in less than ten seconds. Durable or not, she didn't have that stamina. She ended up collapsing back down onto her rear, with a wave of dizziness and pain flooding her head. She struggled to rise, but she just couldn't get her bearings together… Meanwhile, Tiamat bellowed and charged forward again, ready to snap his great maw down on her.

Luckily, it seemed Bahamut hadn't gone far. Even as it was descending, the boy dodged in front of her. This time, though, he didn't try to intercept the blow with his new shield. As the monster came down, he twisted the Durandal out into a stabbing motion…and drove it forward perfectly into the monster's descending nostril. Unscaled, unprotected, and with Tiamat's own force pushing it forward, the blade managed to sink in almost to the hilt.

Instantly, the monster snapped back so fast that Bahamut cried in pain. Dael, her senses coming back, looked up and watched as the boy's arm was wrenched the wrong way, and she thought she head a popping sound…that of his shoulder being dislocated from the knockback force alone. She gaped slightly at that, but quickly got to her feet as he hunched over, dropping the bloody Durandal to the ground. Quickly, she reached down and snatched it up, as Tiamat reared back and bellowed and gagged in the same token, blood obviously running not only out of his nose but down his throat and choking him. Yet it didn't stay distracted nearly long enough. Even as Dael took the shortsword and grabbed onto Bahamut, still stunned with pain, to try and pull him away, the Guardian Force reared up on its hind legs and then slammed its whole body into the ground.

The force sent out a shockwave that rippled the ground itself, but far worse than that was that the force of it ripping its claws into the ground was enough to send up a shower of red hot coals and ash and fling them straight at the two. As they were knocked back and both sent falling back and crashing to the ground, Bahamut had to snap out of it just long enough to hold up his shield to protect their faces. Even so, the bits of hot ash and even magma slapped into them all over their exposed clothes and legs. The bigger ones hit with the strength of bullets, while the smaller ones quickly began to burn into their clothes. It was painful, and Dael quickly reached out to smack them out before they burned too deep. Definitely, without the junctions and protection, she might have burned through her hand doing so.

Tiamat began to storm forward after that, even as Dael recovered and began to yank Bahamut back up again. The boy was coming too now, but still couldn't hold Durandal. As he did, Tiamat began to storm forward, shaking the ground with each step, and would have overtaken them in a moment…

When it paused and winced, letting out another growl. Much as with the behemoth before, Jalab had fired a beam at one of its eyes, focused and powerful, while Quaren let out gunshots into its other eye with his rifle. The Guardian Force bellowed and sneered. Perhaps the attacks weren't blinding it, but they were strong enough to at least sting its eyes. As it struggled to move closer to Dael and Bahamut, it began to stagger and wave. Taking that moment, Dael put an arm around Bahamut's body and quickly dashed to one side, evading the monster as it ripped back, unable to see where it was going. It tried to lash out for them as it went, but the constant barrage on its eyes was too much for it.

Once clear, Dael immediately snapped around to Tiamat again. In spite of being dizzy, she held out her free hand and chanted a bit. This was the hardest move for her to pull off, but she needed to try. As a result, a moment later, her magic came forth, and a flash of light went off from around the Save the Queen before it returned to her hand. Yet the pain immediately became unbearable. Her head again throbbed, and she soon collapsed to the ground with a moan, letting both Durandal and the Save the Queen tumble out of her grasp. She grit her teeth and struggled to rise again, but it took time. Yet during that time, Bahamut looked to his arm and, after taking a breath or two, leapt slightly and landed down on the ground shoulder first. A massive "popping" rang out, and he cried out in agony as the shoulder was popped back into place. He lay there stunned a moment, but managed to look up to Tiamat.

The Guardian Force only tolerated the two striking it for a moment longer, before it growled in rage. Suddenly, it snapped its head to one side and fired a quick breath attack out of its mouth. Even its small attacks far surpassed a Firaga, although that shouldn't have mattered. Yet as Dael and Bahamut began to look up, they noticed the attack was not aimed directly at the opponent, but rather at the ground right beneath him. In response, Quaren gave a cry of pain as hot, burning rocks were suddenly launched up from beneath him, smashing into his body and sending him flying. In a snap, Tiamat wheeled around to Jalab and did the same, sending the monk recoiling as well. He too let out a noise, though he kept his footing.

Dael, in spite of her pounding head, began to rise again, taking up both swords, with the Save the Queen in her dominant hand and Durandal in the other. "Bastard learns quick…"

"Seems a bit smarter than the Tiamat I remember…" Bahamut grunted as he forced himself to rise.

Tiamat immediately snapped around to them again, seeing them still the closest, and took a single step toward them…before Taraketh let out an arcane word and sent a blast of holy power flying toward its eyes again, resulting in a powerful white explosion full of radiant brilliance. It was enough to make Tiamat's head snap slightly, but more importantly it blinded the beast in one eye. That was when Ceja leapt out with the Rune Axe brandished and gleaming, and went for the nearest body part she could hit without risking a rebuttal. She moved for one of his balancing forelimbs, one he couldn't pull up right away while blinded and putting his weight on it, and slashed out at it. Even removing a limb would help their odds, after all.

Yet when the blade swung around and smashed into to the limb, Dael only saw a flash of sparks that were golden colored, clearly not metal alone but something else. Yet if it had managed to leave more than a slight slash or dent, Dael couldn't see it. It made Tiamat react, snapping around to Ceja…but other than causing it pain, or even simply annoyance, it didn't do any more damage. Immediately, his mouth snapped open and lashed out at her. Ceja used the power of the blow's recoil to pull her back and leap in reverse, but the jaws still nearly came down upon her…

Yet as it came forward, the ground under its jaw erupted, causing a geyser eruption not only of scalding hot steam, but actual magma. A tower of the stuff shot into the air and splashed both on its face and in its mouth. In response, however, Tiamat merely hissed, snarled, and recoiled, shaking its head for a moment to clear the magma, or at least the bulk of it, and then snapped forward again, toughing through it. The jaws hit nothing, however. Ceja managed to use the interruption to get away to a minimum distance, and then used the moment to swing her axe down on its snout as well. Another flurry of sparks went off, but that was all. It was enough to make Tiamat snap back again, but then quickly began to lunge forward once more, surging at Ceja. The Fuliet warrior quickly backpedaled, but before it could attack a third time again…another Holy spell shot through the air and smashed into its head, giving it enough force to shove it aside and right into the path of another magma geyser. It snarled in anger.

Dael, meanwhile, quickly began to push Bahamut back to try and get further back. The boy continued to let her use both weapons while he struggled to concentrate on his shoulder. He began to summon arcane language of his own, trying to generate a healing spell. She caught a glimpse of Cryder on one side and Taraketh on the other, both running around the monster while Jalab and Quaren began to get up again. Ceja continued to move away from it, looking for an opening to dive in again, but the dragon-like creature wouldn't let her. It soon recovered from the blast again and snapped out for her two more times, forcing her to devote herself to bouncing backward, but still barely missing it. On seeing this, Dael realized she couldn't stay with Bahamut anymore. Leaving him back, she began to advance again. As she did, the Guardian Force finally caught up to Ceja and nearly snapped again, only to have another dual assault from Taraketh's Holy and Cryder's geomancy, this time splashing the lava jet right back into its face, this time at an angle to put pressure on the eyes and nostrils. The combined assault was enough to make it stagger back a step or two, but then it surged again, once more on the heels of Ceja.

"I can't keep this up forever!" Taraketh yelled, a panting noise on his voice. "This is my strongest spell! It's taking a lot out of me each time!"

"And this bastard spews fire, so he doesn't seem to mind the lava, mates!" Cryder shouted as well.

Unfortunately, at this point, the Guardian Force seemed to be tired of having to deal with constant interruptions, and snapped its head out in two directions, one toward Taraketh's voice and one to Cryder's. Both of them seemed to at least be expecting this, and quickly turned and bolted for it…for all the good it did. The most they managed to accomplish was putting their heads to one side before the force of the blast sent both of them flying. By now, however, Dael was nearing the beast. Her swords went to either side and she tightened her grip. She had never acted as a dual blader, but she knew the tactics. She brought them to mind as she neared.

She nearly gaped a moment later when Tiamat suddenly whirled around right for her and, since she was in range, swung out a claw with such force that it easily would have sliced her in two. It stunned her…but also wasn't completely unaccounted for. She couldn't afford more spells, so, instead, she launched into the air, doing a flip while the claw sliced below her with such force she felt the slipstream try to slice through her clothes. Yet as she descended, she came out of the flip and swung both blades down as close as she could get to Tiamat's limb. It managed to connect with a glancing blow, but only let out a few sparks, damaging the scales rather than piercing them, before she landed.

Bellowing in fury, Tiamat completely turned to her and began to focus its assault on her instead, stabbing and slashing with its claws again and again at her. The first move was simply swinging its claw back the way it came, swiveling the hand around to aim the deadly digits out once again. She still had her forward momentum at this point, and so she dropped to the ground and slid forward, shooting underneath the swinging claw and back for its belly. This time, she tightened her grip even harder and put more power into it as she drove her longer blade out for its chest. It only broke slightly this time, although a few more drops of blood came out from the beast as a result. It didn't even seem to notice the pain though…instead leaping up and back, using its wings to help it, and slamming down on the ground so hard that Dael, struggling to get up again, was knocked down once more. Now on the ground, it snapped and slashed at her again and again, forcing her to roll, both side to side as well as backward, to avoid being carved up. Still unwilling to use anymore magic, she managed to flip back at one point, dodging a thrust into the ground of a claw which sliced up more rock, and put herself onto her feet, getting up and cross slashing with both blades as hard as she could against its hand. Another shallow cut was made and blood spilled, but not enough for a serious wound. The beast surged forward and opened its mouth wide for her…

When Ceja darted in and slammed the blade of her axe in an overhead chopping motion against its head as hard as she could. The result caused it to be driven to one side, and Dael quickly followed open by driving her sword forward and into its unprotected gums. This time, the blade sank in and spilled more blood, making it snap its head up and roar in a deafening note at both women, enough to make them both cry out and stagger from the pain to their eardrums. It didn't stab anymore. Instead, hissing, it opened is mouth wider and began to summon its breath power. Dael saw light beginning to burn in its belly, gleaming brilliantly. The former captain, to be honest, froze. Assuming the reflection was still working, would it matter at this distance…?

Luckily, the blow didn't come. The attack suddenly cut off, and the monster roared in pain and anger again, as another flurry of sparks shot out from behind it. The beast, and Dael for that matter, looked to the source, seeing that Cid had finally seized a moment to go in, saw running at full speed, and buried it into the back of his leg. It was obviously meant to try and hamstring him…but, instead, all he really got was damaged scales, sparks, and a few drops of blood. Realizing he wasn't doing much, Cid cut off and looked up to the monster in a mixture of fear and shock. It growled and nearly went up to him, only for him to "panic move" and raise another weapon to him with a scream. It was his sealant gun, and he soon sprayed a stream of sticky white paste right in the beast's eyes. It made it bellow from the caustic fumes in its eyes, reeling back and writhing…and giving Cid a chance to retreat. Freshly angry, and as it moved to claw at its eyes to get the substance out, it opened his mouth to try its breath attack again. This time, it would likely just incinerate the entire area, especially since it took a moment to warm up…

But at that moment, the first two Tiamat had "knocked aside" managed to come back. Jalab suddenly shot through the air from the side, in a lunge with the Whale's Whisker. When he did so, his aura was rippling with power, blazing at full glory, enabling him to deliver an "air-shaking" blow of his own as he swung it around and smashed it into the back of Tiamat's head with the power of a thunderclap. Remarkably, even the powerful Guardian Force couldn't stand up fully to that blow, and the force snapped its head back down, slamming its mouth shut to cut off its attack, and aiming it back low to the ground.

However, that was only a set-up attack. The second it did so, a sound that seemed to be like a funnel in time and space had suddenly opened began to ring out, or some sort of futuristic, low-frequency generator. Dael turned her head to the source…and saw Quaren, a bit bruised and smoldering, in a "one knee" position of a shooter as he aimed the Fomalhaut up and at the Guardian Force's head just as it came into view. This was a "delay" on the weapon…before it went off with a strength bigger than any cannon Dael or the others had ever witnessed. She and Ceja actually both snapped back in shock as the world dimmed before a blinding ray of light the erupted from the barrel, almost the size of Quaren's own body, and tore through the air like a flash of lightning with a sound that resembled the Gravity spells, like reality itself was distorting. Tiamat never had a chance to recover as the shot landed on his skull.

The cast off power alone was enough to send both Dael and Ceja back, ripped off of their feet and somersaulting backward. They managed to stick in their legs and stop after that, but the shockwaves and winds from the attack continued to blow over them as they looked forward…only to see a much better result from Tiamat. They could barely look into the brilliant white light that resulted, but the force finally ripped the entire massive beast off all four limbs, flipped him back, head-first, and sent him crashing down onto his back with such force that his inertia plowed up the crust of the ground behind him.

As the shockwave died off, Quaren lay on his back. The recoil of the weapon was so strong it had spilled him in reverse and spread him on the surface. Everyone else, however, including Cryder and Taraketh, who managed to look up again, gaped at what they saw. Tiamat was actually only slowly moving and snarling.

"It is actually dazed…" Ceja echoed.

"Everyone! Hit it as hard as you can before he gets up!" Dael shouted before bearing down on the creature.

She reached it first, and immediately launched as everyone else steeled themselves and joined in with her. Not worrying too much for a vital spot, she quickly went to its leg, threw both of her blades forward and drove them in as hard as she could into its hamstring region, trying to render one limb useless, at least. Gritting her teeth and putting extra power into it, she managed to drive both blade tips inside…pushing them in a few precious inches more than before. At the same time, Ceja leapt into the air, swiveled a few times, and gave an almost feral cry as she swung her own axe down hard on the tail region of the beast, cutting through the scales and halfway into the flesh on the other side. Fuming in anger and quickly coming to its senses, the beast began to lash out with its claws and tails to try and smash them away even as it began to rise, but Dael and Ceja alike both focused and moved back, under, and, in Ceja's case, even leaping away, slashing at the limbs every opportunity they received. A few of the edges of the claws managed to tag Dael from time to time…and twice they opened a bloody slash, but still she continued to attack to distract it further.

Jalab had landed on the other side of Tiamat, but quickly snapped around. Giving a cry, he ignited his aura with double the power, and quickly lashed out to fire a beam toward its head. This time, it was so dazzled that it was enough to snap its skull to one side, and Taraketh, seeing this and advancing as well, immediately followed up with a stream of arcane language that made, not one, but multiple columns of earth come up from the ground like ramrods and smash repeatedly into the side of Tiamat's skull. As for Jalab, he continued to dart forward as Tarkaketh slung out the assault as hard as he could before switching tactics and summoning a new spell. The monk darted toward Tiamat as he swung out a limb in his direction, only to quickly vault over it, somersault through the air much as Ceja did, and brought down the Whale's Whisker hard on the side of the beast…going for the gap under the ribs where the kidney would be exposed. On landing, he cried out again before his body moved fast enough to generate ten limbs at once…and he began to hammer his staff's end into the side with a sound like a minigun.

As Quaren grunted and forced himself to stand, his entire body still sore and throbbing from the previous attack, he forced himself to advance and stagger toward Tiamat, putting the Fomalhaut away to one side and getting out his rifle, loaded with armor piercers, and began to fire upon the beast at every gap and damaged scale he could find. As for Tiamat, being battered by the rock barrage from Taraketh, and still blinded from the paste, the Guardian Force reached for its eyes to claw away the material with one set of talons while firing errantly before it, including in Quaren's direction. However, as one of the flares neared…Bahamut dashed forward, bracing his bad arm and good arm alike behind his shield and planting his feet to deflect the powerful attack to one side. He dug in a bit, but managed to hold…and now charged forward along with Quaren. As Tiamat fired more shots in his direction, he deflected each one and guarded Quaren, who was able to fire again and again at the beast. And as Bahamut advanced, he began to change anew just as Taraketh did…

Cid after regaining her bearings, decided to try running forward again while Tiamat was done. He quickly switched out his putty gun for his nail gun, and quickly laced it with the mine charges before opening fire. The shots streaked through the air and hit Tiamat at every opening he could muster. His aim was off and seemed to only occasionally hit a vital spot, but the concussive charges still drove the beast into more pain. Yet even as he did this, and Tiamat pulled most of the putty from his eyes, the ground suddenly erupted around Tiamat and caused a burst of fire to tag the compound…immediately lighting it up and causing a fire over the Guardian Force's own vision. It bellowed and hissed, blinded again. Cid, who by now had put his weapon down and was raising his saw again, blinked in surprise at this…only to have Cryder run up behind him and grab onto him from behind, the source of the fire eruption. Before he could say anything, he found himself hoisted into the air as the pirate barreled forward.

"Oi, you weigh a ton with this pack, lad!" He yelled even as the wind seemed to pick up behind him, pushing him and Cid alike past running speed and seeming to nearly bear them along closer to Tiamat. "Let's see if I can't give you a bit extra pep on your thrust! Give him everything you got with that saw, mate!"

Cid blinked only a couple times, but then went with it, quickly ramping up his saw to full speed and moving up with Cryder. As they neared, however, Cryder let out a grunt of his own as, still clinging to Cid, he leapt hard enough, with the air of the wind, to lift them both off the ground and sent them in a lunge that added the power of gravity as well as the force they both possessed forward. As he did so, he drew the Sasuke while pushing down on Cid to put both of their weights into the saw. A moment later, they landed on the side of the beast, pushing in hard with both of their blades. Cryder's own weapon only managed to insert slightly into the body, but between the lunge, the force of gravity, and both of them pushing…the saw blade ripped out scales and buried itself in between a space in ribs, searing and rending flesh and forcing itself in.

That was the last straw for the monster as a bigger wound was cut into its side. Yelling out with a roar so sonic and resounding that everyone was stunned from it, feeling like their brains were rattling in their skulls, the terrible beast reared up and rose again. It stared by clawing at its eyes one last time to free them of flaming gunk before swinging its claws down and into the combination of Cryder and Cid. The impact hit hard with an audible wham, and both of them were sent flying, their weapons scattering through the air along with them as they were thrown away like they had been launched from a catapult. A similar backhand from the other claw caught Jalab hard, ripping him into the air and literally sending him up and back a height of forty feet before he went down again. At the same time, it lashed out with its feet and tail at the same time. Ceja managed to avoid one, and Dael tried to do the same, but the claw still lashed out and caught her on the side of her torso. It felt like a car had just run into it, and her body was not only sent flying back but she went into a crazy spiral before landing hard on the hot, ashy ground, and going back in a tumble. The tail also flashed out with sufficient force to crack rock. It sailed straight for Bahamut and Quaren. The boy raised his shield to block, but with only one good arm both of them were soon sent flying as well…and Bahamut's chanting was interrupted to the tune of a cry of pain as he and the rifleman were thrown aside.

As Taraketh tried to cast a spell and Ceja tried to regroup to counter, Tiamat, in a nimble move that showed neither pain nor exhaustion, suddenly flipped his massive body around, rending rock and coals and flinging them about, before unfurling his clawed wings in a snap. Even the edge of the wing alone lashing out to strike Taraketh's in the face caused him to cry as a bloody gash was made across it, and his body was flung back by the combination of direct impact and the blast of wind. His chanting was cut off as well, although his blow wasn't as serious…and somehow, even as he landed hard, he continued to concentrate...

Ceja herself was readying for another move, but Tiamat was fully up and snarling at her again. It paused only to flap its wings once, knocking away the group members close to it with a gale like a tornado, and nearly ripping the Fuliet warrior off of her feet as well. It also snapped its head around, suddenly sending out another beam of death. Those on the ground, sore, beaten, and bashed from the attacks, nevertheless had to rise and flee for it as the ground once lit up around them and burst into magma and fire. Even if the attack wasn't as powerful as before, their reflection spells had fallen. Cryder himself had his path to his weapon cut off, and Quaren had his military-issue hat ignited in spite of having more durable clothing, forcing him to throw it aside. As for the Guardian Force, with one powerful bound, it suddenly shot forward, spread out a claw, caught Ceja, and slammed her to the ground. She cried out in agony as her body was smashed on the rocks. Mirage Belt, natural strength, and junctioning aside…her body could only take so much raw power, and the blow hurt badly. Yet Tiamat, eager to be rid of one of its foes, began to push down more, threatening to crush her like a bug. As it did, it opened its monstrous mouth wide and prepared to bite down upon her…

And, in doing so, it failed to notice the sky around it darken or the black portal form before a green creature in a brown cloak with yellow eyes emerged and drove a butcher knife straight into its shoulder, as if it was nothing more than made of gelatin. This wasn't a light wound. At last, a serious one had been made, as blood erupted from it like it had been a water balloon.

Immediately, Tiamat bellowed in agony and staggered back. Yet now, it limped. Its arm was badly wounded. It couldn't keep itself up anymore on all four legs. Dael, from where she was, grunted, in pain all over and one of her arms numb from that last blow. But somehow, she managed to get her hand working to grab Durandal with that arm and the Save the Queen with the other. Yet as she got her feet underneath her…she realized that the sky was still dark even though the Tonberry King had vanished. She looked to Taraketh, and saw he was panting and struggling to rise as well. He had been the one who summoned that. Which meant…

She heard a sonic screech that seemed almost whale-like in nature, and snapped to the side to see Bahamut on his feet again, still bracing his shield in front of him, and standing firm as Leviathan in all of his glory stood framed in the sky before a tsunami twice as large as the previous ones seemed to form in midair. Tiamat continued to hobble in pain and was unable to move…but the others managed to roll or crawl to one side before the massive wall of earth-cracking water surged forward and slammed into Tiamat with all the raw force that the sea could muster. For all of his power and durability, the beast was yanked off of his feet and smashed into the nearest solid rock mound…before being plowed right through it and pummeled even more by the colossal wave. Dael almost felt cold from all of the rushing water running by…

The tidal wave died after a few moments, but in that time, the group, sore and battered even with protection after having only taken a hit or two from Tiamat, forced themselves up. Dael noted Ceja as she rose, and saw the Fuliet Warrior holding her side, but once up, grit her teeth and grasped the Rune Axe with both hands. Cryder managed to get up and summoned a gust of wind to blow back the flames long enough for him to jump, grab the Sasuke, and then leap back again. Bahamut was panting a bit as he shifted to one hand for his shield, and Taraketh rubbed blood off of his face as he grit his teeth and forced himself up. Everyone else looked to the water wave as it died down, waiting to see what the result was.

"Did that get him?" Quaren asked with a stiff moan, his head still smoking a bit. "I thought for sure he'd be dead after hitting him in the head with that gun…"

"Dragon crests are the hardest parts of their bodies, and Tiamat is effectively a dragon…" Bahamut hissed through his own clenched teeth as he tried to get his bad arm moving again. "A 'headshot' is the hardest way to kill one, although even I'm shocked he stood up to that…"

The water died down. Dael grunted and lifted both swords, ready for more to come, waiting to see what had happened to Tiamat. To her horror, she didn't have to wait long. The water wave had hardly died down before Tiamat, much as he snapped up before, snapped to his feet again and bellowed in rage across the field at the others. If he was any sorer, it barely showed. The only visible sign of lasting damage was he stayed off of the wounded limb.

The group was overwhelmed.

"What manner of nightmare could have stood up to that attack without even slowing?!" Ceja exhaled.

"He nearly ruined the diamond saw and I could barely cut him!" Cid protested from where he was. "And I only have two cores for the Atomic Hammer! I've got to save those for the Sorceresses!"

"Assuming we even get through this fight alive, mate! Which ain't lookin' too likely at the moment!" Cryder shot back. "We're hittin' this damn thing with all we got and I think he's gonna outlast us!"

Tiamat, however, didn't charge right away. Instead, it extended its wings fully about it. Yet it didn't flap. Instead, it just held them, and began to lift its body up.

When that happened, a faint "draining" sound began to ring through the air, and the shadows seemed to grow even darker about it than they had with the summonings.

Bahamut, on seeing this, nearly gasped. "That's…that's impossible…"

Several of the others, Dael included, looked to him.

"He shouldn't be able to do that attack!" Bahamut shouted again.

"Do I even want to know?" The former captain called back.

"It's impossible…but he's charging a Noc-pyrin! A Shadow Flare!" The boy retorted. "That's an attack only Wyvern possessed! It was unique to him! It was his Omniapex!"

"Maybe you oughta go on up to him and tell him that, lad?" Cryder muttered. "Maybe he'll stop tryin' to make one…"

"Good lord…that attack is stronger than a Sun Flare if the records are right!" Taraketh shouted back. "Even Lord Bahamut couldn't counter it directly!"

"Unfortunately, the records are _very_ right…but even if they weren't I couldn't manage a Sun Flare now!" Bahamut shot back.

"Summon Carbuncle!" Jalab shouted.

"Don't bother…no reflection spell can stop a pure Omniapex!" Bahamut shot back. "We have to stop him from finishing now!"

Hearing that, Dael called out again.

"Kingdom Falls!"

The group looked to her for a moment, but she was already taking off for the beast. She didn't bother to shout anymore or to reiterate. With that in mind, the group broke as well. Jalab took off after her. Ceja bit through her pain and followed. Bahamut exhaled but then hefted his shield and ran, and Cid grimaced before he took off as well, putting away his saw and trying to find something else that would still be good to use.

Even as she took off for the Guardian Force, Dael saw that power was beginning to stream toward Tiamat like some horrible living darkness seeping into him. Seeing that, she wasn't willing to run the rest of the way to him. She had recovered by now, and so she shouted out a stream of arcane language….immediately vanishing in a flash of light a moment later. Although it was a bit far and made her head pound a bit…she still successfully reappeared right behind the beast. She activated her power again promptly. Luckily, she still had reserves from last time in addition to what the behemoth had "added" to it…but she was reluctant even now to use a Shock. Something had to be saved for the Sorceresses… Instead, she used something ideally suited to her two-sword fighting, and she dove at the back of the beast and unleashed a powerful triple slice, swinging both swords at once. The blades didn't go as deep as she wanted, but still carved in powerful slashes in a cross shape that ignited with power, sending a thunderous blast of strength through the beast's body that actually made it stagger.

Snarling, it snapped around and swung a claw out straight for Dael's head. She was shocked at the speed and power. Although it now had a deep and serious bloody wound in its back, it still hadn't slowed or stopped, and it was only because she managed to raise her bloody swords to intercept that she wasn't killed. As it was, she was caught hard, both of her arms jarred, and her body sent flying away and nearly crashing into the ground. Somehow, to the tune of immense pain flowing through her ankles, she got her feet underneath her and managed to grind to a halt. That was a good thing, for she hardly managed to get her bearings about her before Tiamat surged at her, bringing the heavy claw down with killing force and forcing her to leap out of the way or get obliterated. Yet as she dodged…she noticed it was still growing darker and colder around the Guardian Force. He wasn't breaking off his charging, able to keep going even now…

Jalab, however, was again able to utilize it's lack of awareness to shoot onto its back, aiming for the same wound that Dael had made in it and which was still bleeding badly. Immediately, he ignited in a blaze of white light and began to pound away at it using the move he had demonstrated back in Sybenia: the Dance of the Phantom. Each punch made the area glow white, and he even began to dance around the entire beast with the attack, although the majority of his hits were still targeted on the wound site. Unfortunately, he couldn't finish. He was only halfway through it before Tiamat's crested head suddenly snapped out, and he caught Jalab, in spite of his blazing speed, with his horns…immediately smacking him out of the air and sending him flying. The blow was loud and solid enough, but somehow the monk had to have enough of his bearings to "call his chi" back to him…for the existing hits went off at that point, plowing more bloody blows into the wound region as well as other hits around the Guardian Force's body. It staggered at this, slumping on its two good rear claws…yet still didn't slow or stop.

As Dael herself got up, readied her blades, and darted in, she took aim for one of the rear legs. If she could wound the one she hit earlier more, perhaps he wouldn't even be able to walk. Yet Tiamat was still ahead of her…seeming to expect attacks on its "blind side" now, and wheeled around to snap at her in response. Immediately, she ground to a halt and, although it jarred her legs, she managed to leap back to avoid the jaws as they snapped down and tried to bite her in two. Not satisfied with that, however, it opened its mouth and fired a more powerful flare at her. Luckily, Dael had been thinking ahead even now and calling to mind a spell she did earlier. She let out a stream of arcane syllables that enveloped her with a prismatic shell just in time…but the force of the blast against it still sent her flying backward from recoil alone and smashed her hard into the rocky ground again. She grunted after this. She couldn't get up so quickly after that hit…as the blows were taking their toll…

However, Tiamat was also too close to dodge the reflected flare, which went right back into his face and detonated, making his head snap back from the power. Yet still, he continued to charge…and still the others came in. As he stood there, staggered, a golden glimmer suddenly cycled through the air as Ceja, now in range, flung her axe out for a wing joint. She couldn't use it as a boomerang now, but it still worked effectively as a "tomahawk cutter" as it slammed into the joint, piercing the scales and drawing blood, actually embedding there. Yet if Ceja had hoped that the blow would wound or even sever the wing…she was wrong. It only caught there, and the wing remained functional. Instead, the Guardian Force looked to her and opened its mouth, instantly unleashing a sustained blast in a beam format. This wasn't just to try and vaporize her…but also who was nearby, namely Cid and Bahamut rushing forward in tandam. However, as the beam streaked out, Bahamut, still charging forward, leveled his shield and had Cid push in behind him much as Cryder had and continued to bear him forward. The blast barely managed to deflect off of the piece of defensive equipment, but even though it forced him back a little…the two kept coming. As for Ceja, she valued in the air, leaping a tremendous distance, over the beam. Tiamat immediately arched up, trying to tag her, and even though he never landed a direct hit or even glance, the cast off waves of the heat still ripped by her side and opened a flash of flame. Nevertheless, she only cried out, using the pain to fuel her, and landed on the axe with her full body weight, slamming the weapon in deeper.

Tiamat raged, and then snapped out for her. However, she leapt off again in response, ripping the axe free in the process, vaulted over his head, and slammed the axe down in his other shoulder. It didn't go in as deep, but still drew blood and pain, causing the beast to swing his head out and lash out for her body. Yet the Fuliet warrior simply leapt again, causing him to snap at nothing. In turn, she crashed back down right on the same wound that had been hit earlier and drove her weapon in more than before…due to the already damaged scales. The beast again roared in pain, flailing for a moment…but still, impossibly, wasn't stopped or stunned. Instead, it snapped around and prepared to do much as the behemoth had done earlier…smash her and the axe against its own body. Ceja seemed to learn from last time, and anticipated this, ripping the blade free and jumping for it. Unfortunately for her, Tiamat seemed to be ready and waiting…and went back up in a flash before it lashed out with a swipe of its tail to catch her and slam her into the ground with a thunderous clap.

Snapping back to Bahamut and Cid, who were nearly in range, but still not present…it surged forward in a full body lunge with its three good legs. As it did so, it discharged another sustained blast at both of them together from even closer range. Bahamut quickly raised his shield to block, but he could only take so much power from that range, and cried out as he was forced to one side and collided with the ground in a tumble. The beast surged for Cid next, who gaped in shock before quickly falling backward, part out of dodging and part out of surprise. The draconian jaws of the beast snapped overhead, but so long as they were there…he drove his current weapon up into them: his buffer. It had been reconfigured by now for a harsh surface and gunned to a high speed, causing it to immediately begin to strip away scales on impact and start flailing skin underneath. It was enough to cause Tiamat to snap off again, and as soon as he was back, mostly out of desperation, Cid snapped his nailgun up and began to fire away at it. Yet the shots were too wild, and most did nothing until the monster managed to recover and glare at him again. Surging forward at the man while he was still on his back, Cid gave a cry before tossing his gun away and going for one last tool…a set of large, seemingly-hydraulic pliers. Going for anything he could find, he immediately swung them out and opened wide for the first thing he could get…which happened to be Tiamat's own tongue. Unable to wait for anything else, he quickly slammed them down upon it, letting out a crushing "squish" noise in response.

Tiamat's charge aborted in mid-lunge, and it snapped up with such violence that Cid didn't have time to let go. Instead, he was yanked into the air, still clinging to it, his own arms nearly wrenched out by the power of the sudden jerk. He had to release soon afterward, his body flying through the air a bit, though not as bad as the others, before he was dumped unceremoniously to the ground. Yet even as he landed, Dael was back up again at last and readying her swords, while Jalab and Ceja was rising again as well despite the jarring blows they had received, surrounding the Guardian Force on all three sides and readying for another round. Still, Dael was nearly overwhelmed. In spite of all the attacks they had put on the one area, not only was it still standing, it was still charging its attack as well.

For that reason, she grew nervous when she saw that it _didn't_ press its attack on anyone. Instead, it stood tall again, fanned out its wings more, and reared its head back. For a moment, she thought she saw the darkness about her deepen far more and begin to form "rays" of blackness, streaming toward its mouth…

However…the darkness didn't increase just from its attack, as it soon found out…

Suddenly, the darkness broke…and was replaced with a glow of dazzling, radiant white…so glorious and brilliant that it nearly outshone the Tower of Order in the distance. This light was not just grand, but had a softness and "brightness" to it, an inner purity that radiated even more magnificently than that of the tower. And on seeing it, Dael and the others froze and looked to the source, as did Tiamat himself. Only here did the attack it was building finally break, and its wings relaxed as it gaped and beheld the same sight that Dael did.

She had never seen Alexander "in the flesh" before…and she was captivated in awe at the result.

It was a colossus of a Guardian Force…stretching up into the sky like a tower in and of itself. Dael couldn't honestly tell if it was supposed to be a robot, a citadel, or something else entirely. It was intricate and overlaid with elaborate designs, like an ancient castle somehow brought to life. In particular, it balanced on two massive pillars the size of skyscraper towers. The bulk of its "main body" looked like a tremendous suit of armor, and its head was intricate and ornate like an elaborate helmet. On its shoulders were two great projections the size of building chambers, looking almost like advanced armor plating or décor. It looked to be a mixture of stone and brilliant, flawless metal. It gleamed radiantly, letting forth a glow with all the power and yet gentleness of the strongest Holy spell. Most of all…it towered over them all like a man does before insects. Even though it was barely moving, save in its metal joints, it made one feel so tiny and insignificant before its size and power…one could feel the might and glory coming off of it.

Both Jalab and Ceja uttered prayers in their respective languages.

"Good god…I had no idea…" Dael exhaled.

"This is Leviathan's masterpiece…the power of the Crystal Stone…" Bahamut muttered. "Unbelievable… No wonder Wyvern never had a prayer…"

Suddenly, a massive metallic sound rang out with clanging like that of bells. It was to the tune of Alexander's shoulder "pads" suddenly flipping open…revealing what almost looked like archaic "missile bays" of a sort. As this happened, the ground around Tiamat, and around the group for that matter, suddenly began to glow. Not all together, but rather in traces. As Dael looked down and around, she saw a radiant white sigil beginning to ignite, with Tiamat in the center. At the same time, similar lights began to ignite from within the shoulder "bays". The Guardian Force was ready to fire.

Dael immediately snapped her head up and shouted. "Move! Get away from Tiamat!"

Immediately, she turned and began to take off for it. The others needed little incentive. Even if they were only now able to drag themselves onto their feet, they turned and bolted for it as fast as they could. Dael hung back only long enough to see Bahamut gaze in awe at Alexander one more time, and then turn and begin to move…

_"Nnnnnt…frrrrr…"_

Yet scarcely had Dael begun to look away from him when Bahamut froze in his tracks. Immediately, he snapped back around and looked behind him. His eyes went a bit wide.

"What…what did he…"

Dael herself had managed to hear the noise from Tiamat. Any noise the beast made resounded, after all. But she didn't really care at the moment, not when it was moments from being hit. Immediately, she ran back over and tapped Bahamut on the shoulder with a blade pommel as the sound of about fifty Holy spells together began to hum from Alexander, and the sigil on the ground began to grow bright enough to have to avert ones eyes.

"Bahamut, come on!"

The boy hesitated only a moment longer, but then looked back to Dael. After a second, he began to run after her again although he looked back, and a second later he turned away from that as well. Soon both of them were charging back as fast as they could, along with everyone else. Moments later…there were a series of eruptions from the "bays". They streaked through the air, curving like missiles with plumes of smoke, but they weren't missiles at all…but rather what looked like "darts" of pure, radiant, holy energy sending out rays of light behind them. Each one acted as if it was alive, like a school of fish rather than a beam or a missile, and each "launcher" fired one after another after another…causing them to streak down and impact all over the sigil.

Dael didn't turn back…only heard a terrible explosion seemingly louder and fiercer than anything yet. The ground rocked and surged violently and fractured all about them, spewing up traces of lava and ash here and there and nearly dumping the fleeing group more than once as a towering pillar of holy light rose into the air from the blasts. Yet, remarkably, in spite of feeling more power and fury from this eruption than any prior to it…Dael wasn't hurt. None of the gigantic pieces of debris or bits of land smashed into her or anyone else. The explosion, loud as it was, didn't make the ears recoil in pain either or seem to rattle the mind. Dael was able to keep her balance and keep running all the way until she finally felt clear of the destruction. Only then did she pause and look back.

By now, the group was heavily separated. Dael looked to one end of the field and managed to see Cryder, Quaren, and Taraketh, but the former two collapsed while the High Child just managed to land on one knee, panting heavily, it seemed, although Dael couldn't really tell from this distance. What looked like a 'holy mushroom cloud' was emanating from where Tiamat had been, and Dael could feel the warm, radiant "fallout" actually ripple past her, enough to make her wonder if that attack had somehow been radioactive. Considering the fact there was a rather large crater where Tiamat had been, that ruptured the landscape, she couldn't make out anyone else right away. All that was audible was a long, slow, fading thunder from the blast. The towering Alexander himself was already fading away, and the sky turning brighter again even as the radiance slowly dimmed. The resulting explosion very slowly ebbed, resuming the darkness and thunder of the sky and the glow of the lava.

On that note, lava was oozing in multiple places now, although it seemed to rapidly be cooling. Apparently, pressure had forced it to the surface. Dael looked back to the crater for a moment longer, waiting to see what the result was…although, for the life of her, she couldn't see how anything could have walked away from that unscathed. The blast had somehow been focused enough to not hurt anyone else, but it was still great and terrible. Somehow, Alexander had to have the power to actually manipulate the cast-off energy of his own attacks…because there was no way the shockwave shouldn't have devastated them as well as Tiamat…

Bahamut, after a time, looked back as well. Dael wasn't focused on him, so she didn't really see the look on his face as he gazed into the eruption.

At length, as the power neared the point of fading completely, Dael exhaled. "…I think that did it. Even if it didn't take him down, that was good enough to be a match for the Delta Attack of the Sorceresses. It would be enough to send him fleeing…assuming the Sorceresses didn't just make him retreat when they did that attack…"

"…I'm not sure now if I want to wish he was dead more than ever, or hope that he's alive, as insane as such a thought would be…" Bahamut muttered in response.

Dael immediately turned to him at that, giving him a puzzled look. But sure enough, he looked into the crater almost hopefully. "What are you talkin abo-"

Abruptly, Dael's voice was drowned out by the sound of a bestial roar ringing loud and long throughout the entire landscape…sounding draconic. Immediately, her head snapped back to the crater, just as, to her horror, Tiamat came flying out of the hole, wings beating hard and strong. His scales were damaged in numerous places, fresh lacerations were all over him, and his whole body was smoldering…but he was still very much alive. Not only that, but darkness had resumed gathering around him, forming tendrils once again.

The woman's jaw nearly hit the ground.

"What the… What in god's name is that thing made of?!" She exclaimed, her voice showing a rare sign of genuine panic. "It's still not even slowing down after _that?!_"

"Dael!"

The sudden name call was so insistent and fierce that Dael, in spite of her overwhelming shock that Tiamat was still up, found herself snapping to Bahamut. In response, he looked at her fiercely, no longer looking at the Guardian Force himself.

"You need to teleport over its head and cut off the end of the spur on its crest!" He immediately demanded.

Dael blinked. "What do you-"

"Just do it! Do it before he fires or we're all doomed!"

The captain hesitated only a moment longer, but then turned her head to the sky. Tiamat was still ascending. Pretty soon, he'd be beyond her range, assuming he wasn't already. And she had already used a good amount of magic she was still sore from. She hadn't tried to teleport to a moving target before…at least not like this. But she realized Bahamut was insisting and the longer she delayed, the harder it would be to pull off. With that in mind, she suddenly thrust Durandal out to Bahamut. He paused only for a fraction of a second before letting the Raidos Shield fall and taking it. Immediately, she grasped the handle of Save the Queen with both hands afterward and looked up to Tiamat. She could only do so many successive teleports, and from this distance she couldn't afford course correction. She still had to make sure to swing her blade down with all its strength, as the scales of the beast were so tough she doubted she could pull it off.

Focusing herself, breathing in and out a few times, and narrowing her gaze on the target as best as she could, she chanted the words and vanished in a flash of light.

Wind soon whipped by her...cold, fierce, and charged with more energy than she had ever witnessed...as gravity yanked on her body and began to pull her down. For a moment, she was totally stunned, flailing through the air. She couldn't believe it…she had actually managed to teleport that distance…even if she felt her head begin to pound soon afterward. It felt practically like flying, as hard as she was, unable to tell how she was falling save that she was descending rapidly. And she also saw, in spite of the vertigo and loss of balance, that Tiamat's body and his accompanying cloud of darkness was headed right up for her.

With that in mind, she struggled to pull her sword to her and "aim" her descent. Only one shot at this. She zeroed in on the spur in question, although the beast was moving so fast she had no idea how she could hit it. Yet she had no time to worry or second guess. Focusing as hard as she could, putting all the power she could into it, she raced up to Tiamat, who never saw her coming, and then brought the Save the Queen up and then down in a slicing motion for the spur.

Miraculously…it made contact.

For a brief moment, Dael saw something in response…a flash of what looked like sparks…with very little resistance…

She didn't swell on that. As she shot by Tiamat, she quickly concentrated and summoned the teleportation again. If she let herself fall too far, she'd still die even on landing from conservation of momentum. A moment later, she called out the words…

And reappeared over the ground a short distance. She landed a moment later, on rockier ground rather than ashier, unfortunately. The impact was so hard that she felt jarring pain throughout her body of a rather solid impact, even with her additional protection in place. It was a good thing that she hadn't landed on her face. She wasn't even immediately sure how closer she was to Bahamut, only that the landing was very hard and wracked her with pain throughout, enough to stun her and leave her on the ground momentarily.

After a few moments of nothingness, neither the sounds of Tiamat firing nor anything else save the wind and thunder, she heard footsteps rushing up to her, crunching on the ground. Soon after, she felt a presence crouch down nearby. Based on the feeling of him, for Dael still had a touch of her "spiritual sight", she realized it was Bahamut. Evidently she managed to land close. She couldn't speak to him, however. She was face down, and she began to feel she knocked the wind out of herself. She had to take in a few deep breaths before she was able to relax and start biting back her pain. When that happened, and she slowly recovered, she began to push underneath her with the intention of rolling over.

Yet as she did, she felt Bahamut leave her side. Specifically, she heard him shift, but the footsteps only turned. They didn't go away completely. She realized he was standing up. Not only that, but she suddenly felt a cold wave of air come over her…powerful and strong. The light around her seemed to grow darker…before she felt something new. A sense of weakness and meagerness…a feeling of being small and insignicant before something vastly stronger and mightier…and nearby.

When that happened, she pushed up a bit, and looked to the side.

In spite of her military training, she struggled not to gasp.

Tiamat had landed right next to the both of them, and had perched as best as he could on three limbs before folding his wings. Now his full body, covered with injuries but still more than capable, looked over them both, his shadow and presence filling her world.

Dael couldn't move. Even if she had the strength…she suddenly felt herself stricken with dragonfear. She couldn't believe it. She had fought this monster boldly not long ago, but now…she was helpless before it. Too timid to move…barely brave enough to breathe. She couldn't even shout out a warning to Bahamut, who merely stared right back at it…unmoving and unshifting. She couldn't tell if the boy was terrified too, or actually brave enough to be defiant before it. But he didn't lift his sword, and the Raidos Shield remained on the ground.

Slowly, the massive head of the beast extended on its thick neck, getting closer to Bahamut…until its hot breath went over him, his serpentine eyes burned into him, and it was practically touching him. Dael could see his clothing move with each gust of air Tiamat took…but Bahamut never moved.

At length, however, the beast let out a snort…and spoke.

_"I see it…but I don't believe it." _A deep, near-growl uttered. _"Could this be true? Could this be the ultimate irony for Great Bahamut, King of All Espers?"_

"The feeling is mutual." Bahamut responded, his tone far darker and grimmer than any Dael had ever heard from him before.

Tiamat looked him over for a moment, and then snorted so badly it nearly made Bahamut buckle. What looked like a smile appeared on his face.

_"It would be so easy now, you know. You in that feeble little body… Ironic too. That you die in the body of one of the fleshpots you loved so much…"_

Bahamut didn't buckle. "Then why don't you do it?"

_"What makes you think I won't?"_

"I learned something about you over time. It's not enough for you to be the 'biggest' and 'best'. Not unless someone can 'appreciate' everything you did to get that far."

Tiamat paused, before snorting again and pulling back his head.

_"…You think you know me so well. The only reason I haven't rent you to ribbons is because, believe it or not, you're not very high on my 'revenge' list at the moment. Especially now that I have my full faculties. But rest assured…I _will_ kill you as soon as they are dead."_

"I thought as much." Bahamut retorted grimly. "It was too much to hope for…that somehow only one of us could stay here for very long without the other. Maybe you're right…maybe we are cursed."

Tiamat grinned wider. _"Come now… After all, as long as there is the sun…it will always cast a shadow. And I honestly did think it was all over last time… Believe it or not, it was…surprisingly peaceful. Relaxing, even… Pity it didn't last…"_

By now, enough of Dael's dragonfear began to ebb where she was able to start pushing herself up. Yet the moment she did, Tiamat turned her full attention to her…and immediately thrust his head in her face. She froze, although she didn't recoil.

_"And here's the little maggot who actually did the deed…" _He hissed. _"I wonder if she even knew what she was doing. You did me a great favor, little worm. To say 'thank you', I won't kill you before I kill Bahamut. Who knows? Maybe I might let you live…"_

Dael, in spite of her dragonfear at the moment, held firm. She even managed to look somewhat defiant. However, Bahamut lost all of his coolness.

"Back away _right now._" He flatly stated like an order. "You won't touch her."

_"Right…just like I wouldn't touch Rydia…or Terra…or Ragnar…or any other of the countless maggots you couldn't protect from me."_ Tiamat chuckled. _"What exactly can you do to stop me in that pitiful body?"_

"As I recall, I'm almost always 'beneath' you yet I manage to beat you just the same." Bahamut responded. "And you're not really on good footing yourself now. I'm sure now that the control device the Sorceresses put on you is gone, you're starting to feel all the pain that we put you into and you're not enjoying it. And don't try and lie and say that Alexander didn't take a lot out of you. You think we can't summon him again?"

Tiamat paused on hearing this. He never looked away from Dael. However, the woman, on hearing Bahamut's own defiance, only grew in her own. Her look became bolder as she stared harder at Tiamat. For some reason, the longer she stared at him…the more she felt her fear ebb, in spite of his threats and boasts and obvious power. Enough to where she even was able to tell him flat out…

"I'm not afraid of you…and I can still hurt you."

Tiamat merely snorted again and let out a louder chuckle. _"I see a few hundred years has done nothing to curb human pride… I guess I _will_ kill you slowly and horribly to teach you your place, miserable nothing. But fine…" _His head pulled back. _"I'm not interested in fighting you right now. You took advantage of my weakness to deliver a solid beating, so I'll settle things with you and my brother later."_

Now, Dael sat up the rest of the way and registered some surprise. "…Brother?" Immediately she turned to the boy. "You said Tiamat was one of the Four Fiends of the Elements. You never mentioned anything about him being your brother."

Bahamut's gaze remained on Tiamat and narrowed. "…That's because Tiamat isn't my brother anymore than this is the 'Tiamat' I knew. I'm not sure if the Sorceresses mistranslated the name or thought they revived the wrong beast…but this explains why he had that Omniapex…"

_"I hated the title myself at first…being compared to the bastard." _'Tiamat' continued. _"But you know…it somewhat grew on me. After all, Leviathan and the rest of your little minions worked so hard to have me removed from the annals of history…so why not appreciate the name of someone who gained more notoriety than me? Something that invokes more fear…"_

Dael blinked a moment, but then realized the truth. As she turned to 'Tiamat' again, her mouth hung for a moment, before she spoke slowly.

"Wyvern…"

_"Perhaps your race isn't so stupid."_ The Guardian Force responded. _"But just to keep confusion to a minimum, I'll let you keep using that title for now." _He looked to Bahamut briefly. _"Tell me...how did you know?"_

"I wasn't there when Alexander destroyed you." Bahamut responded calmly. "But I know there is nothing you find more terrible in this world that the knowledge that something is greater than you. Even under control, that fear remains. When you saw Alexander, it triggered your memory, did it not? That's what you muttered...'not fair'. The same thing you said hundreds of years ago, that you could have gained so much power from your alliance with Kuja only to find an Eidolon that treated you as nothing."

The beast growled. _"And you always enjoy rubbing in where I'm not as mighty as others, don't you?"_

This only made the woman tense up more. According to the history books and, moreover, what she had heard from Bahamut, this was _much_ worse than the true Tiamat. This monster could destroy an entire planet himself and think nothing of it. Apparently, in spite of her attempts to look bold, she let forth a touch of fear. In response, 'Tiamat' let out another scowl.

_"No need to exude so much of your stinking fear, human." _He retorted. _"As I said…I've no interest in killing you for the time being. That honor goes to my 'revivers'…"_

Bahamut looked up a bit, as Dael used the moment to push herself fully to her feet. "…The Sorceresses?"

Tiamat snorted again. _"No, Mognet. Of course the Sorceresses! As appreciative as I am for being brought back to life once again, especially considering the painstaking amount of energy it took to distill my nature's essence from yours, Bahamut…I do not appreciate being restored only to be treated as a 'pet'. I'll show the Sorceresses my disgust by searing the flesh from their bones."_

Dael actually looked a bit surprised on hearing this.

"You're actually willing to help us?"

_"Hardly." _Tiamat spat. _"For one thing, there is no 'us'. There is only me and my grudge. The rest of you can stay out of my way. It's not like you'd do any good. I've actually experienced their full power firsthand, unlike you. Stay out of my way or I won't hesitate to kill you as collateral damage. Considering the fact I need to flee to the dark side of this world to regenerate after what just happened, you're fortunate I don't kill you now. However, if you're wondering if this will have the 'fringe benefit' of saving Gaia, you're right."_

"I thought you were willing to destroy a world just to get even with me, Wyvern." Bahamut responded. "Why do you care?"

_"Etteca meant nothing to me. Gaia, on the other hand, is the place of my birth and where I return when I pass on." _Tiamat responded. _"It is also my mother. Besides, even if I didn't care, what's the alternative? Become nothingness along with it? It's not like I can travel between worlds anymore without teleportation magic beyond even my skill… Now, if you're done…"_

The Guardian Force began to rise up.

_"I'll be going to heal myself up. Normally, if I cared whether you lived or not, Bahamut, I would tell you to stay away from the Tower of Order and let me handle this in my own time. But I'm sure you won't. Try to at least keep drawing breath after Mianyl's finished with you…because I want to be the one who ends your life."_

"You can't win, Wyvern." Bahamut responded. "And you know it. Not if you had this much trouble with us."

Tiamat chuckled. _"And what, pray tell, is the alternative? Letting _you_ 'handle things'? If I can't do it, what makes you think you can in that pitiful body of yours nearly robbed of its essence?"_

"He's not alone." Dael retorted.

The dragon-beast laughed again. _"Oh yes, I almost forgot… You _can_ perform math, can't you, little wench? You should know zero times eight is still zero."_

"If you think so little of me…" Dael answered as she tightened her grip on her sword. "…Why don't we continue our fight where we left off?"

Tiamat paused. His smile faded a bit as his gaze narrowed.

_"…You're quite the foolish one, aren't you, girl? Consider how easily I could end your life, I'd watch your tongue a bit more lest I rip it out."_

"If I'm really 'nothing' to you, then how come you need to run and hide while you heal up?" The former captain challenged.

Here, the entire beast shifted, turning fully to Dael and actually rearing up a bit more. An edge of a snarl began to sound forth from his throat. However, he halted a moment later, and then calmed once again.

_"…I think I will indeed enjoy killing you, human. At least making you lick my claws before I give you the release of death. Yet that can wait." _He turned to Bahamut afterward. _"It seems you insist on playing a fool and getting yourself torn to bits, Bahamut. I'm used to it by now, but I'm afraid this time you've far overstepped yourself. Seeing you so bravely march to your own demise is a bit too pathetic even for my tastes. So I'm going to do something I never thought I'd do in thousands of years…I'm going to give you a 'gift'. After all, it's not like you're a threat to me even with it…"_

Before Dael or Bahamut could react, Tiamat suddenly swung his massive claw down and seized Bahamut in his talons, wrapping his grip around his entire torso. Both of them reacted to this, but neither had a chance to move before a huge noise, like a massive ram pounding into a mountainside, suddenly rang out with enough power, to Dael's shock, to smash a crater into the ground through some invisible force around Bahamut as well as shatter the stone about it. Immediately, Bahamut's eyes bulged, before his skin turned white as a sheet and his pupils nearly rolled back in his skull.

Abruptly, the claw released, and Bahamut, limp as a dead body, collapsed to the ground. He lay there only a moment before he started to writhe a bit. Not only that, but his skin and musculature seemed to tighten up. His face slowly went from shock to pain, and his face went from pale to red as he began to sweat. Soon, his writhing gave way to thrashing, and as he kicked about the heat around him grew so much that Dael actually saw the air ripple about him…could even feel the heat coming from him.

Immediately, she snapped to Tiamat angrily. "What did you do to him?" She demanded.

Tiamat simply grinned in response as his wings extended again. _"Tell him if he wants the rest…he'll have to get it from them."_

With that, the beast gave a massive flap of his wings…so strong and powerful that Dael was blown back and thrown to the ground. She managed to land on her rear, but Tiamat instantly took off for the sky like a shot. At first, the spray of ash that came up from the flap stung Dael's eyes, and she was forced to shield herself. However, she recovered quickly and looked to the heavens, and saw as the Guardian Force, his belly still gleaming like hot coals, arched away from the Tower of Order and immediately took off, quickly building to his former speed and streaking across the sky fast enough to leave a thunderclap in his wake.

Dael scowled at him for a moment, thinking that he had done something horrible to Bahamut. Quickly, she looked to him…and then froze at what she saw.

His body was still stretched out, bulging in every muscle and tendon. Dael was afraid he might be on the verge of erupting, just like Crow… And he was thrashing madly and casting up more heat than ever. Yet even as this happened…he suddenly went rigid. And it was due to his own action. He slammed his arms down, locked his legs, grit his teeth, and let out a massive, pained grunt…but he moved no more. And when he did, Dael began to hear muscles tearing and rejoining, bones shifting and bulging, and more signs of pain. Yet rather than bulge more, as if he was ripping apart, the straining eased up…for it did something different. She watched as she saw his ankles poke out more from his legs. His wrists extended further from his sleeves. His nose and ears enlarged as his head became larger and broader. As it did, the heat slowly died down, and the red look vanished, fading into a more flesh tone.

Dael's mouth hung slightly as Bahamut continued to calm, his grunting releasing into a pant, which quickly stabilized. With each breath, he relaxed more, and eased up on the ground. He continued to do so until he relaxed completely, and was the same as he was before. Better, even, for his shoulder seemed to be normal again. However, Dael continued to gape at him…because he seemed to have _aged_. He was now almost as old as she was. Not only that, but his hair had turned a bit paler than before, although was still a light brown.

Beyond that, he blinked a few times, seeming to be more stunned than anything else for the experience. He stretched his arms a bit…and paused, seeming to realize he had no more pain. He looked to his shoulder and turned it a bit…only to pause again. He seemed to see the relative size of his clothes to his body now. He looked over the rest of him, and actually felt his face a bit. After a moment, he looked to Dael, seeing her clear difference in expression. Dael, on her part, noticed his eyes seemed to be a bit bluer…a bit "deeper"…

"Bahamut…?" She asked uneasily after a moment. "Are you alright?"

He paused a moment, then looked over himself one more time before looking back up to her.

"…I'm fine." He stated. "In fact…I'm better than fine. I feel a bit more like my 'old self'… Just a _bit_, mind you…but far better than before."

To accent that, he suddenly gave a nimble flip of his own body. In spite of sitting up…he was on his feet in a flash, and as he slammed his legs down Dael saw the rocks break beneath him, indicating his increase in power. He looked down afterward, and immediately reached over and took up Durandal and the Raidos Shield. He looked at them both a moment, but then nodded.

"Luckily, I'm still good enough to use these. I can't go double-handed on Durandal anymore…but it should still work as a shortsword and buckler."

Here, Dael blinked before rising as well. "What happened to you? What did he do?"

Bahamut paused a moment. He looked over his body again. He moved a bit more, seeming to "test himself out". His brow furrowed.

"…I'm bigger than before, so this body should be ungainly and awkward to me…but it's just the opposite. I feel more suited now than I did a moment ago…"

Suddenly, he stopped. Realization flowed into his eyes.

"My essence…" He said slowly.

The former captain looked up a bit more at that.

"If this essence truly had the power to make a Guardian Force in it, then Mianyl wouldn't cast it aside so easily. She retained it…tried to use it devoid of my presence or any other presence being in it, so she could use the power it represented… Who knows…perhaps it enabled Wyvern to use the power of the sun itself instead of just darkness…" He looked at his body. "I've regained a good chunk of my old power. Not half, a fourth, or even an eighth…but I'd say my 'base' now is about one tenth of my former strength, which isn't bad."

Dael stared a moment. "…How much is a tenth?"

Bahamut looked to her. After a moment, he raised Durandal and set it against the back of his hand. With just a slight move…he opened a bloody gash over it. For a moment, blood ran forth from it, enough to where a few drops lowered…then, before Dael's eyes, the blood seemed to seep back into the wound. A few seconds later, it went back inside and the wound sealed and scabbed. A few seconds after that, it began to fade to pink. A few seconds after that, it was nearly gone and fading completely.

"I used to be able to close a wound like that instantly…but this isn't bad."

Dael was in a bit of disbelief. "I'd say not."

"Some of my old magic is coming back to me too…though nothing terribly useful." Bahamut went on. "It must be because I was in my old body for so long my spirit already 'cleared out'. I don't have to wait like Leviathan did…"

He concentrated a moment, looking to his body. Abruptly…the clothing lengthened a bit more and enlarged until it was his current size. He exhaled afterward, panting a bit.

"…That took more out of me than I liked, but at least my ability to conjure seems intact."

The woman was still overwhelmed at all of this, both at Bahamut's new power, his appearance, and his abilities. Nevertheless…she couldn't help but feel a bit regretful. She had been used to the "boy" version of him for so long, this almost seemed to be a shock. However, she ignored that for now. There was something else on her mind.

"Tiamat said you'd have to 'get the rest from them'."

Bahamut paused, then narrowed his gaze with a frown. "…But of course. Mianyl separated my essence once…so she did it again. She must have distributed the rest of it for some reason. Maybe even kept some for herself. That's why this is as close as I can come to looking like my 'true' form."

"Can you 'charge up' yourself now?"

"Even if I can, we don't have time." He looked down to himself. "This 'new and improved' body will have to do. Hopefully it's yet another factor in our favor…because I don't relish the thought of fighting Wyvern after Mianyl…"

To be honest, neither did Dael. But rather than press it, Bahamut looked behind him. The others were already incoming. They had been spread far and wide after the blast, and then kept their distance and approached only slowly when Tiamat landed. Now that he was gone, they were rushing in again, some of them already showing visible surprise on Bahamut's new body.

"…Tiamat may have been right. He might have a better chance against Mianyl than we do."

Bahamut frowned again as he looked back to her. "We'd _all_ have a better chance working together, even if the thought of fighting alongside Wyvern makes me grimace… But he can't win. I'm not foolish enough to think if Mianyl couldn't defeat Wyvern by herself that she would have been able to use him, even if Wyvern himself refuses to believe it. At any rate, she's not going to wait…certainly not for us to 'catch our breath'. She just lost her best 'servant'. She may think we're 'worthy of her time' pretty soon, and we need to be ready to fight if that's the case."

Dael exhaled. "…Very well then. Let's not dawdle. Let's patch up what we can and keep going. I have a feeling this was only the start…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	67. Gaia's Last Offensive

AUTHOR'S NOTE: School has been horrendous, and I've been struggling to keep writing. This chapter should have been out in a week, but then things went bad. It's a fairly short one, and mostly the setup for the next four chapters.

* * *

><p>Naturally, the others were rather confused when they saw the newer, "older" Bahamut, especially when they found out that Tiamat was responsible. Not wanting to waste too much time on explanations, Dael gave them the "short" version as they first patched up everyone quick with a chain of healing spells from the better casters, and then ran toward the Tower of Order once again. The fact that even now it was only slowly getting closer was testament to the fact of how large it was. There were apparently some issues of perspective. However, they encountered no more threats. The monsters, on their part, had long since run off. Although it continued to grow quieter and stiller, almost to the point where, as the ground became flatter and smoother, one could almost hear echoing against the ground, and the voices of the group seemed to resound off of nothing, and they kept coming at a steady pace. Dael forced herself not only to stay in the lead but to keep up a good clip.<p>

The base was growing more distinctive, and details of what looked to possibly be entrances became clear, as they finally finished the explanation.

"Well, so long as he can fight better like this, he's got my vote…" Cryder answered.

"Is this how you truly appear?" Ceja asked.

"Hardly. It's a bit closer to the 'default human form' I used to take, but still is a far stretch."

"You were able to take your true form briefly back in Leuco." Taraketh interjected. "Can you do it for longer now?"

Bahamut held for a moment, thinking that over. "…There's no way to tell for certain without actually doing it. That said, I had to inject myself with the same material that the Hounds used in order to allow only a few seconds. In this body…I might be able to manage a full minute…but I'm not sure exactly what I could do, or if I'd be useless afterward. This is only part of my essence. To have a chance at retaking my former form, I have to try and gain more of it."

"Terrific…" Quaren moaned. "If Tiamat was able to shrug off the Fomalhaut, what can we do against those three?"

"It's not as hopeless as it seems." The young man answered. "I told you Tiamat was more durable. There's a good chance even if the Sorceresses have him outclassed in power, he still surpasses them in terms of resistance to damage."

"We must reach them first before we can worry about that." Ceja answered.

"And on that note, lass, I hope that thing has an elevator." Cryder mentioned. "Because if we have to walk, that is a _lot_ of stairs."

"I think I can see something that looks like an entryway up ahead…" Quaren responded, looking forward. "Kind of an archway with a set of stairs like a porch."

"We're nearly there." Dael answered. "Nobody ease up now. This is where things get _real_ interesting…"

Sure enough, by now, even the former captain could see where the ground rose to meet the foundation of the almost moonstone-like tower. The glow was so bright that it managed to overshadow them from behind as well, glowing like the day. However, she soon saw the entryway up ahead as well, only about 400 meters away. From there, they'd have to start making their way to the top. Dael had no idea what might be there, but it had to be easier than Tiamat…she hoped.

The group continued to run a bit closer…before something made them all freeze.

With a sound like a mixture of a crackle and a zap, something snaked through the air and smashed into the ground right in front of them. It was a massive blue crystal, but it only stayed that way for a moment before it seemed to snake more crystal across the ground, forming more rigid shapes and spreading out a distance. It made everyone grind to a halt immediately in response. Dael looked and saw the ground instantly begin to steam as she felt the air about her grow a bit cooler again. That made her realize something rather quickly… It wasn't a crystal. It was ice.

Abruptly, the large crystal in the center split in two, and the dual halves fell to either side and immediately shattered into thousands of tiny bits that blew away like snow. When that was done, it revealed a figure on the inside, a lyre, gleaming like ice itself, nestled in the crook of her arm, and in full regalia matching that of an older Sorceress. She smiled pleasantly as she began to walk out of this ice "cocoon" and approached the group.

Everyone tensed up and readied their weapons. Taraketh himself only hesitated for a fraction of a second before preparing his kusarigama. Dael aimed the Save the Queen forward and narrowed her gaze.

"Cybus…"

"_Lady_ Cybus, dear. I _do_ prefer that title." The woman answered as she halted, still in the spot with the ice, and still smiling. "Look at you, captain…you've made it all this way with barely a scratch on you. And Sir Bahamut…it seems you actually regained a bit of your former power. Based on the fact I saw Tiamat flying away from you without having used a single Shadow Flare, I'm assuming that you either managed to defeat him or, more likely, removed his control device." She let out a small laugh. "Truly, you eight are remarkable… Perhaps you alone would have been enough to bring the world to its knees with the proper support…"

"I will take great pleasure in cutting you down, witch…" Ceja hissed in response. "Especially with the weapon I now possess."

"I know full well it's pointless to try and reason with you," Dael spoke, in a more controlled but still deadly tone. "So I won't even tell you to step down…only that I'm ready to cut my way through you to kill Mianyl and I'll gladly do the same to you so long as you keep trying to help her."

Cybus, however, merely let out a laugh in response…before letting her long nails go over to the lyre and stroke the strings, letting out a pleasant-sounding chord.

Dael tensed, immediately expecting a similar attack to what she saw happen to Tiamat back in Esthar. However, she received nothing of the sort. Instead…something made her tension evaporate. The musical chord she heard was so lovely, so pleasant, so light…that she found her focus moving off of Cybus and toward the sound instead. As for Cybus, she immediately began to play a delicate tone upon the lyre, never moving more than her arm and fingers. Dael tried to refocus on Cybus…only to hear more of that beautiful music…until her attention was focused more on the lyre, and eventually completely on it. Soon, she wasn't even looking at Cybus' face anymore, only the beautiful lyre as she continued to play.

That's when she realized what was happening. Her grip was relaxing. All of her muscles eased. It felt good…like a refreshing river…to just let her muscles relax… Her sword slowly lowered as her body lost its tension, letting everything go flaccid. Dael, at this, tried to look back at Cybus…but found she no longer wanted to. She just wanted to listen to the beautiful music and focus on the fine playing. The rest of the world was dimming except for the enchanting melody… She couldn't see it, but the others were being drawn in by the same song. In spite of their respective anger or power, they were forgetting almost completely about their anger at Cybus and their determination. All they felt themselves wanting to do now was listen to the beautiful melody.

Worse than that…Dael began to feel her eyes growing heavy…along with the rest of her body… Her eyelids were progressively weighing more as her arms fell to her sides…

_She's putting us to sleep! _She thought…but was unable to move her lips. Controlling any part of her body seemed to be sluggish now, and the longer she listened…the more her thoughts fogged…

Cybus, on her part, chuckled. "How, little children, do you plan to kill me if you can't even stay awake for a simple lullaby?"

Dael struggled to fight it…but it was a losing battle. She was losing her ability to fight with each passing moment. She didn't know what was happening to the others. In fact…she could no longer think of the others, and would soon lose her ability to think about anything. Her hands released and her sword clattered to the ground, but she didn't even hear it land. Her body was slumping and her eyes were continuing to close.

_Fight it! Fight it… Fight…it… Fight…what? What am I doing? What am…I…? What… Tired…so tired…_

Right before Dael's conscious thoughts forgot why she was trying to resist at all and she nearly crossed the "point of no return", Cybus stopped playing. Yet even after that was done…her mind was kept in a fogged state. Even as her will came back, she was barely able to fight the groggy feelings…barely able to regain her consciousness. That was the side effect of being partially enchanted, after all.

As for Cybus, however, she gave a light, sweet laugh as she finished playing. "It would be so easy to kill you all right now…to just lull you to sleep and feed you to a behemoth… Lady Mianyl is powerful but she never learned to be subtle…never learned how she didn't need to use overt power to break people with your magic. Yet I haven't come here to kill you. Lady Mianyl knows how much power you possess…and how you would be far better suited to generating more chaos to making our job easier. That's why she sent me to restrain you all long enough to explain that you have larger concerns than us at the moment…"

Dael's vision was still dim, but she was able to look back to Cybus. She figured the others were as well, because Ceja at least was able to hiss. "You…mongrel…"

"What…concerns…?" Bahamut's voice rang out.

"Things that may or may not mean a thing to you, dear…although by now we should expect you lot to be so resourceful you know at least _something_." Cybus answered. "Let's start simple, then. Are you at all aware of the very large and powerful bioweapon currently roaming the face of this world? The reason for its current state?"

"Omega…" Dael answered.

Cybus smiled a bit wider. "Ah good, I don't have to explain that. Let us try a different question. Do you know about the Four Crystals?"

"You're trying to push them to break…" Dael answered, somehow able to push herself up a bit…but only a bit. "Trying to merge the worlds…bring Omega Weapon to Gaia…and have him destroy it…"

Cybus chuckled. "Close, dear. It's true that Omega Weapon is our ultimate solution to filling the Void with enough 'fresh' chaos to unite Gaia and 'Nyx Gaia', or whatever you wish to call this world, but you're using circular logic. If we could unite the worlds to begin with, why would we need Omega Weapon at all? No…I'm afraid we'll need to teleport him to Gaia for that. And that, no doubt, as you may have guessed, is why we built this tower right here…to gain access to this world's set of crystals for just such a purpose. Unfortunately, it seems even now our two worlds are not nearly close enough to bring Omega Weapon over. That bioweapon is simply too strong…negates too much magic acting on it even if it is only giving it a new world to destroy. So…we have decided to enact a dual plan to create more chaos and push the worlds closer as well as strain the crystals to the breaking point."

Dael glared on at Cybus, her head clearing and her body slowly rising a bit more, now able to frown darkly at her. "What plan…?"

The Sorceress simply smiled and gestured upward. "See for yourselves."

As if on that note, Dael's hearing, as well as that of the others, cleared up enough so that they were able to sense their surroundings and what was going on to the point of paying attention to something besides Cybus. And when that happened, Dael became aware that she was hearing a loud noise. Distant…but loud. It seemed to echo for a long distance through the sky like a distant thunderhead, yet based on the intensity she couldn't be too far from it. On realizing what Cybus was indicating too, she turned her eyes skyward. Again, she couldn't see the others, but they looked as well.

When she did, she saw that the tower was changing. Had she been any more alert, she might have went a bit wide-eyed at what she saw. As it was, she grew progressively more surprised as time went on. Four corners of the tower…indeed, what appeared to be four large sections of the crystalline structure that made up the four cardinal directions…were groaning and shifting. It looked as if sets of spires were stretching, bulging out, and then sliding downward, almost as if the Tower of Order was transforming in a way. And as the spires on the four sides slid down, they revealed massive cavities on the other side, like they were opening entrances or "hatches" or something. Most notable, however, was that the interiors of the hatches were completely dark. Even though they were very high above the group and the others, high enough to where the glow of the structure would begin to obscure details, Dael noticed that the openings were so dark that they acted like blackbodies…absorbing all light and leaving only black space and emptiness on the other side.

Dael and the others stared a moment. Although the former captain continued to grow more alert, she no longer focused on rising. She just looked at the massive openings as they grew larger and larger, enough to where a small skyscraper could fit into them, considering the side of the Tower of Order. That wasn't all that was happening, however. Dael noticed that bits of crystal were breaking off from the main tower. Fragments that had to be the size of busses were moving away, hovering, and spreading out to form a vague ring shape around the tower. Of course, from this far down, they looked like specks, but the fact that Dael could still see them anyway from this far meant they had to be large. And as they moved out, another change happened. The sky above seemed to begin to break. The ashes, clouds, and smoke were pushed heavenward and out. The act of forcing it up, naturally, caused more wind to begin to churn about and more thunder and lightning to crash, but it happened regardless. Soon, Dael actually began to feel the "vacuum" resulting as the wind about her went straight up and into the heavens.

The clouds continued to roll and rage as they grew higher and higher, going up behind storm level and toward those of the highest altitude clouds, and showing no sign of stopping there. They were also thinning, breaking out and moving to the side. Dael figured she might actually be able to look up and above to Gaia soon. But before that happened, she saw something else.

A flame came out of the darkness…a large one. Far larger than that of the speck hovering about the tower, which meant it was even larger than a bus. It wasn't a true fire, however. It was blue, like the spiritual flames that Cryder used. The flame went from the darkness to the side of the tower, and then…a larger fire attached to it came forth from the blackness as well. As it issued out, Dael soon saw the entire burning form had to be as large as a skyscraper itself… And based on the shape…

_Wait…that's not…_

Dael looked at the flaming object more clearly. The flames, in fact, were dying quickly. They seemed to start to fade as soon as the object emerged from the opening. And as it stayed there, more crystal pieces moved into position, and electricity suddenly snapped out between a few of them, hissing and spitting. It started off as only a couple, but soon proceeded. Dael realized it was very similar to the teleporter…although she didn't think much of that. Her eyes were on the object…as the flames continued to die down around it. Slowly, she made out the shape…and saw that it appeared to have the shapes of limbs and a torso…

"That's…that's a…!" Bahamut suddenly began to exclaim, but the voice caught in his throat. That in and of itself was distressing. Things rarely surprised Bahamut.

"It looks like…an animal…" Taraketh's voice issued.

"No…a monster…" Quaren added. "The biggest one I've ever seen…"

"It's more than a monster." Bahamut finally added. "It's a…" However, he trailed again. He seemed to not want to say the word.

However, this only made Cybus let out a short laugh, causing Dael to look back to her. "Go on and say it, Bahamut dear. There's nothing wrong with calling it what it is." Her face remained merry and pleasant for a moment, before it flashed a shade dark.

"A fiend. As in…Four Fiends of the Elements."

Dael's jaw loosened slightly. Everyone else stared at Cybus blankly.

"_Those_ are the Four Fiends?!" Quaren exclaimed. "They're huge!"

"That's not them..." Bahamut maintained. "They weren't that large and formidable."

"Well, maybe the _old _ones weren't, dear," Cybus explained with a hand wave. "The ones that merely spawned from forcing a dark nature onto the Crystal. These ones are our own 'recipe', however. We start with the dark nature of a Crystal as a base. After that, add a bit of Lady Mianyl's own new powers and abilities to warp and reconstitute creatures themselves. Finally, to finish things off, we add the most special ingredient…some of Bahamut's own essence."

Dael, at last, looked a bit to her side and over to Bahamut at this. The young man was stunned into silence as he stared at her. Cybus, however, gave a light laugh. "Ironic, is it not, dear man? After so many thousands of years acting as this world's guardian and servant, it will be power that should have been yours that destroys it. And yes indeed…these four _will_ destroy most of what's left. Even one of them alone would be enough to eventually bring Gaia to its knees, but why wait that long? Each one destroys one of the remaining population centers on Gaia, and brings forth enough chaos to send Omega Weapon to 'finish the job', so to speak. Two ways to succeed. Even if humanity somehow manages to kill the four of them, they won't survive the follow-up stroke."

Cybus let out an exhale and then looked back to the tower. "And, I'm afraid, this is where I take my leave of you, ladies and gentlemen. If you're interested…" She pointed up above her to the four corners. "That one is Yug of Fire, that one is Shaddamehl of Earth, that one is Soddoth of Wind, and that last one is Hulukith of Water. You can't really see them at the moment, I'm afraid. They're 'fresh out of the oven' as it were. So…you'll just have to use your imagination." She paused, and looked skyward again. "Oops…looks like it's time already."

As she said this, the entire Tower of Order suddenly began to hum. But it wasn't a slow build like before. Almost immediately after beginning, it immediately "ramped up" to a very loud, resonating noise that actually made the ground around the group ripple. When that happened, the light glow from the Tower of Order began to issue forth in waves streaking up into the heavens. As they rose up, a beam of light suddenly moved up and parted the clouds the rest of the way, sending a "spear" of light directly into the heavens. It left the dark sky completely behind…leaving only the twinkling stars of space…as well as the rather large and close planet Gaia, framed perfectly underneath it, as if the Tower of Order was firing a beam into it. By now, lightning formed a web or "cylinder" around the entire tower, made by the floating crystals.

When that happened, the clearest shape, which only had a few blue flames on it now and was beginning to expose white skin underneath, suddenly "leapt" out of the huge opening and into the space around the tower. However, it only hung there a moment, as if it stepped onto a wind tunnel or into weightlessness, before it was lifted upward by an unseen force. It picked up speed quickly, and soon became a blip, like a ray of light itself, and was launched upward and into the other world, vanishing in a moment.

"And that's one." Cybus answered. She looked back down briefly. "I'll leave you all to decide what you plan to do from here. Either sit and see the other three off and then watch your world be torn to pieces before we send along Omega Weapon to finish the rest…or climb the tower first so you can enjoy the lovely view with the rest of us. Now…naturally…I'm counting on you doing whatever you can to try and follow them to Gaia. And, as a matter of fact, Lady Mianyl is hoping that you do. You have until we close the 'portal' we opened, as it were. See if you can destroy them before they cause enough disorder to bring Omega Weapon over and all that. We're hoping you'll bring forth a great deal of chaos yourselves as you vainly try to stop them, after all." She smiled as she began to step back to the ice. "That's the lovely thing about chaos…whether you're doing 'good' or 'evil', it's always increasing. Anyway…ta-ta!"

She waved to them as she stepped back into the center of the ice…and immediately the crystals swung up and came together around her, putting her in a crystal once more. As rapidly as it had slammed down in their midst, it suddenly tore back up into the air, headed for the top of the tower. As the group looked up to it, they were just in time to see another form leap out of the opening of the tower and into the "teleportation stream". Immediately, it shot upward and vanished in a ray of light as well.

Only now did enough of Dael's control come back to seize her weapon rise to full height, and immediately she grit her teeth and scowled. "Damnit…"

She looked back down and to the others. They all showed mixtures of concern and unease. They were tense again, and no longer with raw determination but with anxiety as well. They looked to her after a moment.

"What now, Dael?" Quaren asked after a moment.

"We don't have much time to argue, mates…" Cryder muttered. "Once that last big'un goes through the 'pipe'…we're stuck here with them whether we like it or not."

"It doesn't matter." Taraketh answered. "We have to stop the Sorceresses anyway. Nothing's changed."

"Yes it has." Bahamut instantly returned. "Even if the Sorceresses are stopped, those monsters are still running rampant. They're spreading destruction, and they'll cause our worlds to unite and the Void to open with or without the Sorceresses here to exploit the situation. It's similar to what happened with Meteor, when one thinks about it…" He shook his head. "But forget that. We have to stop them."

"But we don't even know if we can." Quaren maintained. "And once we're back on Gaia, there's no telling if we'll be able to come back here."

"And if we cannot, the Sorceresses will make more of these abominations until we can no longer stop them or Omega Weapon is able to come to our world." Ceja added.

"No…Bahamut right." Jalab interjected. "Must stop them either now or later, and cannot wait until Sorceresses gone."

"He's got a good point, mates." Cryder added. "'Sides…things have a way of workin' out even if you play it by ear in situations like this."

"They haven't so far…" Taraketh muttered.

"Yeah, but I'm betting that we can get teleported back this time around." The pirate answered. "Our little green pal has a way of coming through for us, you know."

"If we're going to decide, we better decide fast!" Cid suddenly interjected, his eyes up on the higher part of the tower. The others quickly stole a look, and were just in time to see the third form hop out from the opening, and instantly be caught up in the power stream, shooting it up and toward Gaia. Seeing this made Dael tense a bit at the thought.

Cid quickly looked down and to the others. "When that thing closes, our decision is pretty much going to be made for us…"

Bahamut let out a groan, and then looked up to Dael. "…We have a risk either way, ones that you are surely aware of, Dael. So rather than go over them, I'll simply trust your judgment to choose whatever you see fit. We have no more time for arguing."

Dael paused momentarily. Anxiety began to fill her. This was bad enough when they only had to worry about the Sorceresses…but both sides had a good point. Gaia and Nyx Gaia were dangerously close already. Assuming that they could defeat the Sorceresses and _then_ these new abominations…there was no telling if it would be too late by then. The Void could consume Gaia and Nyx Gaia _without_ the Sorceresses behind it, after all… And if Omega Weapon was able to reach Gaia somehow through the actions of these new monsters…they were dead anyway. She was beginning to get the sensation that Omega Weapon was too much even for _them_, let alone her own group. But if they ended up stuck on Gaia…if the reason that Carbuncle hadn't made contact with them yet was because his idea had failed…then what? How could they stop the Sorceresses at that point? They'd just make more of these monsters until they eventually caused enough chaos to accomplish their ends. What could they do?

Either way they took a chance… There was only one thing they could reasonably assume. It had to have taken at least a couple days to make these four monsters…and if they were destroyed, Bahamut would possibly regain his essence from them… This might have been what Tiamat was referring to. If Bahamut was restored to full power…then their odds of victory would increase considerably…and any more monsters the Sorceresses could make would lack the power of his essence…assuming they didn't still have a "supply" of it on hand…

With that in mind, Dael exhaled and made a decision.

"…We're going back to Gaia."

"How do we do that?" Taraketh immediately retorted. "It looks like there's some sort of 'slipstream' up there…but we can't feel it from down here. We need to get into the air to do that."

"And that's over a mile, easy." Cid answered as he looked up. "There's no way we can climb that high in time…"

"Look!" Jalab suddenly outburst, pointing again to the upper tower.

Dael and the others did so, and were just in time to see the fourth and final monster start to pull itself free, getting ready to jump into the "stream" as well.

"That's our only way back, mates!" Cryder answered. "If we don't get in there now, only way we're getting on that road is by forcing Mianyl to open it again, and I don't think she's too keen to lend a hand!"

Bahamut himself looked up a moment longer, but then bowed his head and exhaled. "…Everyone get as close to me as possible right now, and don't distract me!" He immediately shouted, his voice sharp and ordering for a change. "I hoped to save whatever new power I had regained for the coming fight, but right now you all need to pray I have enough of my old powers to carry this out! I'm going to have to throw everything I've stored into this and if it fails we'll probably fall to our deaths…"

Dael and the others all looked to him in some surprise at that.

"…What'd he say?" Cryder echoed incredulously.

"There's no time to argue! Just do what he says!" Dael responded as she quickly moved in near him. The others only hesitated for a split second as they quickly moved up to him as well. Even as they did, the fourth and final flaming beast leapt out of the opening and into the stream, and was soon carried up and sent away in a flash of light. Even as he was "transferred", the air began to change again. Whatever had opened the portal began to close once more…

Dael and the others spotted this, but were soon distracted by something else as they noticed the light was growing around them. It wasn't coming from the Tower of Order or any of its behavior, either. This was something new, and spreading around simply to envelop their group. It was similar to the aura released by a magic spell, except while that typically bore the energy signature of the verdant green of the Planet's own Lifestream, this light was blue in nature, with a touch of red to give it almost a purplish hew. The sounds of the wind, the tower, and the electricity overhead began to fade rapidly. Part of it was due to the fact that the portal over their heads was beginning to slow down, the lightning dying around the crystals and the clouds beginning to return, but most of it was because a new sound of burning from a raging aura came up around them.

The former captain looked down to her side, and caught a brief glimpse of Bahamut. His eyes were wide open and skyward…and had gone yellow and reptilian. However, every muscle in his face was tightenend to the ripping point. His muscles and tendons throughout his entire body was pulled to maximum strain, and his face was going from red to purple as a tremendous power surged through him. His teeth were gritting and almost seemed to turn reptilian themselves as he grunted, focusing entirely overhead…

Then, abruptly, Dael and the others were thrown for a loop as a tremendous force launched them skyward, like they had just been fired out of a cannon. The sheer number of Gs that Dael soon experienced made her feel like her brain attempted to shove itself down her neck to go into her feet, and it was enough to make her nearly black out as she felt like a missile. Yet in what few dim senses she had left, she was able to see herself hurtling into the sky and into the "ring" of crystals…and when that happened the last of her senses were thrown into blackness as the world seemed to stretch into infinity and her own existence, for a brief moment, seemed to vanish…

* * *

><p>Similar to how Dael had arrived on Nyx Gaia…her body felt, for a brief moment, a rush of air and wind around it as gravity pulled on her…before introducing her to her first real, sharp sensation…crashing into a rocky ground. Her senses were so thrown for a loop that she had no idea how long she had fallen. She had nearly swooned completely, and although she recovered quickly she couldn't tell how far it had been. The impact was rough enough, but not enough to break anything. However, that might have been a result of the Moomba blood or the Mirage Belt she was wearing. She did feel other heavy, hard objects land around her, indicating she was in more of a pile this time, and there were mild cries of pain and soreness as they all collided, just like her. Yet even they were able to moan and writhe around her afterward, indicating they were alright.<p>

Her next sensation was a feeling of brief euphoria and even slight pleasure. The air around her seemed fragrant and lovely. It threw her senses for a loop only briefly, before her mind immediately began to clear and sharpen far faster than it should have. When it did, she became aware that she was wincing even though her eyes were closed. Some sort of pale light was shining all around her. It wasn't much, but considering the bleak place she had been, it was dazzling. That made her fully aware of what was going on.

_We made it. We're back on Gaia._

Dael opened her eyes and blinked. Thrown for a loop, her body didn't instantly see everything around her and process it. She had to look around for a few moments. Yet after noticing the sky, seeing that it was still overcast, dark, and stormy…and yet, at minimum, not filled with ash and still letting enough sunlight through to have some brightness…she noticed surrounding rocky hills with sparse grass and vegetation on them, as well as the occasional tree. They looked familiar. As she looked further around, she saw signs of previous battle. There were craters and evidence of wrecked equipment and fires littering the place, but all of them were small in scope. There were also a large number of machines that appeared to be perfectly intact but were nevertheless non-operational, and all of them seemed military-based. They were also weather beaten…and most of them were of Sybenian or Leuco make. Looking around a bit more, seeing the hill slope and the placement of the hills…Dael began to realize where she was.

Yet before voicing that, she looked down to her immediate area. Sure enough, she was in something of a pile or heap with everyone else. They all looked a little sore from whatever rough impact they had gone through, but they were alert. And right now, they were slowly beginning to pull themselves apart. She quickly joined in the effort. As they all recovered and untangled themselves, they all began to look up and around.

Cryder was the first one to speak as he scanned the air and his surroundings. "…Maybe not the cheeriest sight in the world…but I'd say we made it back to Gaia in one piece. Everything around me feels 'familiar' again."

Quaren himself lifted his head and looked a bit around, blinking. "Not only that…but we're back on the Eastern Continent."

"Are you sure?" Taraketh asked as he began to push up.

"Positive. This is the battle site we had with Sybenia. Look at all the weapons that got shut off by that bomb. Besides, I'd know the landscape anywhere."

Dael, now far enough away from the others, began to rise to her feet. As she did, she looked back to Bahamut. He was still lying on the ground, but at this point he seemed to finally be recovering. With a grunt, he began to get his hands underneath him to push himself up.

"Bahamut, are you alright?" She asked, her voice once again showing clear concern, in spite of the fact that he was now closer to her in physical age.

"Just have a pounding headache…but it's clearing fast." Bahamut grunted as he began to push more. Slowly, his body started to lift up, and his limbs came down to get beneath him. "Along with my essence came better regeneration plus the power to get some strength from the sun, it seems… Still…I just used whatever power I had saved up on that spell. Nothing more than telekinesis, really. I was never too good at it…and that would have been a stretch for me even in my full-powered body…so naturally I had to sacrifice a lot to do it. I basically just threw us up into the portal 'slipstream'."

The others began to rise here as well. Cid, on his part, was rather sore from having landed on his power pack, but as he got up and began to crack his spine a bit, he looked around sorely. "…But if we're back on Gaia, where are those things?"

Jalab himself was already standing by now and dusting himself off as his staff was at his side, and he looked about in all directions. In the end, he shook his head. "Do not see. No trail. No trace."

Dael looked around a bit more, before she heard something coming in the distance. Yet it definitely wasn't a monster. It sounded like a car engine. When it first became audible, one might have mistaken it for something passing on a road nearby. In short order, however, it became clear that it was drawing closer. The group looked to it, just as Dael and Quaren began to recognize the noise…a standard Esthar's Hawk "off road" transport used for non-paved areas. It still needed fairly flat ground, but it had a better drive to enable it to move about.

Sure enough, they soon saw one of the transports round a hill up ahead. It was one of the wagon-style vehicles, used normally to shuttle platoons about. It was uncovered in the back, though, revealing neither troops nor cargo. The group could easily see that the cab had two drivers inside of it. It moved fairly quickly and erraticly, not at the measured "standard" pace that was normally ordered for such things, and pulled to within a short distance of the group before coming to a stop. At this point, all members were standing and looking to it, and Dael herself moved out ahead and before them all to address whoever it was.

Seconds later, the doors on either side opened as the transport was shut off. A pair of young men in Esthar's Hawk uniforms…tattered, torn, and dirty, but still there and bearing the rank of private…bearingf haggard, worn, and yet astonished expressions climbed out and looked to them. To be honest, Dael's own look turned to surprise on seeing them. Two Esthar's Hawks driving a transport from the same group? If that was the case, then did that mean some of them were still left?

After a moment, they both looked to Dael in a bit of surprise. One of them blinked only a moment before quickly snapping to attention and saluting. The other, however, stared a bit blankly first. "Captain Levinson…? That's you? You're the one who came out of that light?"

Dael, naturally, had no idea what that meant, and simple blinked. "Light? What are you talking about?"

The other one went at ease here, but the first one who spoke continued. "The light we spotted while on a perimeter sweep of the temporary base of operations. It was just like the kind that we picked up an hour ago. We thought it was another monster, but…it was you? Where have you been over the past week and a half?"

Here, however, Taraketh looked up as well. "An hour ago? We were right on the heels of that last one…"

"Don't be too certain." Bahamut answered, keeping his eyes on the two privates but answering Taraketh. "We didn't exactly arrive back on Gaia by straight travel through the vacuum of space. We got here through some sort of powerful spell that was able to warp time and space like teleportation magic. If we were even delayed for an instant compared to them, the displacement could have been immense. We're lucky we were only an hour behind, and not a few days." He then addressed the two. "But you two mentioned 'another monster'. Does that mean you know of the creatures that were sent to destroy Gaia?"

"I'll say we do…" The other one muttered. "Anyone who still can put any eyes out in Esthar and the rest of the world knows about those things being on the move…and we still got that on board the _Ragnarok._ But what about you, sirs? Where have you been? After that broadcast, we assumed you had all died when the Odina Building collapsed…"

However, Dael, and the others for that matter, had barely heard that. Cryder himself looked taken aback for once, staring in wide-eyed surprise. The former captain was the one who spoke up next, however.

"What are you saying? Are there more Esthar's Hawks still in service?"

The private blinked, but then nodded. "Yes sir. We got together with whoever was left and tried to mount some sort of counter-offensive…but we had to leave the city after what happened to that residential district. We resettled down here in the demilitarized zone since there's no way to track into it. Us, the Black Corsairs, the Fuliet people who weren't in that district…even a few Order of Hyne members, if you can believe it."

Ceja looked up here. "…The people of Fuliet live?!"

Dael, however, in spite of the good news, quickly shook her head and put it side. She began to advance to the soldiers. "Let's talk about it on the way. Get us to your base of operations. We don't have a whole lot of time and we obviously have a lot of information to exchange…"

* * *

><p>Once all were loaded on the truck, it swiveled around, and began to take them for the nearest semi-intact road to start bringing them back to the south, the full story was given. It turned out that many of the Fuliet warriors had never remained in that district. When things went ill, they no longer trusted the city or those in power, and had quickly moved to leave it. Without Esthar's Hawks or most of the Order of Hyne, slipping to the south had been fairly easily. None of them were going back north, after all, and the few that were "learned" among them wanted to see if they could rejoin with those who were at sea. They had at least the presence of mind to realize that they were better off staying with the Black Corsairs and Esthar's Hawks that were still "in force".<p>

Sadly, many of the surviving Esthar's Hawks who weren't routed or disbanded perished in the attack Tiamat conducted. They had been moving to try and give some support to the remaining senators and representatives…who also perished in the blast. Quaren was stiff on hearing this, but didn't bother to ask if his parents had been among the blast. If they had…he didn't need their deaths causing him trouble now or distracting him. However, as it turned out, two platoons had been spared as a result of reading the radio transmission wrong. The location they were told to meet was a code, and standard procedure, to move them to an alternate spot. Mianyl saw the ruse, but due to one factor or another, the two had failed to decode the message…ironically sparing their lives by sending them to the wrong spot. After that, they made their way south to flee the city. En route, apparently they had met with defecting Order of Hyne members who helped secure their escape before joining them. Once outside of the city, they met up with the remaining Fuliet Warriors and continued to move south.

By the time they reached the coast, the _Ragnarok_ managed to pull into dock. Military engineers, civilian engineers, volunteers, and just people with strong backs among the small gathering had gotten to work trying to patch up the remainder of damage and get the vessel completely seaworthy once again. The _Excalibur_ had shown itself to be a ship of the line by being the only other boat that managed to pull into dock, although she was still fully functional, especially since it was easier to fix her than anything else. Last but not least, the _Enterprise_ had returned two days ago. Since then, the engineers on the _Ragnarok _had been cannibalizing their older ships, wrecks, and spare munitions for parts in an attempt to get the airship fully refitted and ready for combat. It actually had gone rather well.

"She should be a force to reckon with soon, sir." The private in the passenger's seat stated.

"…No offense, private, but without armor plating, the _Enterprise_ won't be useful for anything except transport." Dael responded.

However, the two privates merely exchanged a look at that, and actually managed a small smile…like they knew something the others didn't. "I think you'll be surprised just like the rest of us, sir."

Dael ignored that. "How many of you are there?"

"At our last count, 181 sir."

Cid shook his head. "At least 125 of those will be needed to make all three of those ships 'battle ready'. And I'm sure a lot of them are Fuliet Warriors without experience."

"Who's in charge?"

"Well…the highest ranking officer still left other than you is Lieutenant Briggs, captain. Mostly…well…due to having no other structure, we've kind of been letting Commodore Leila call the shots."

Cryder let out a chuckle and a small smile at that. "That's my girl…"

"I radioed ahead to let them know you're coming." The other private stated. "To be honest, ma'am, we're all on edge about those things we saw incoming. A lot of people really think it's the end of the world now…including in our group."

"Well, I wish I could tell you differently, private," Dael responded. "But let's just say you better get us there fast if you don't want that to become reality."

The trip was rough and uneven due to the road being in poor condition, but they still went as fast as they possibly could. Faster than a normal human could have run, at any rate. And they weren't terribly far from the temporary port to begin with, which was a plus. They had barely reached this point in the conversation when they began to see a familiar sight. Fuliet Warrior lookouts, perched on hills, broken towers, or mounds of scrap, were keeping watch at various locations up ahead. All of them were in full battle regalia, including their paint and decorations. On seeing the transport incoming, Dael noted that they broke and quickly rushed back the same way the transport was going. Obviously, they had gotten the message as well.

A bit further, and Dael and the others were able to look out the sides of the transport and see what small "camp" had been erected. A few military grade tents were scattered about with camping supplies, temporary fires, and stations for field duty. The remaining Esthar's Hawks knew well how to handle something like this, as did the people of Fuliet. Moving in the Order of Hyne members was no problem. As they went on, they soon spotted a few of the people in this gathering. They seemed to be preparing for combat, and whenever they were done they went the same direction as the armored transport was going. There were no arguments or cold looks here. It seemed everyone, regardless of background, was here for the same purpose and working united.

A bit closer than that, and Dael was able to look forward out of the side. Sure enough, the massive _Ragnarok_ was docked at the shore. It looked as if the temporary dock facilities that had still been intact had to be modified just to contain it alone. Not only that, but it looked to be covered with crude supports, bracing, and other items that were made to allow large numbers of people to work on it. In fact, they seemed to be working on it a lot right now, in particular one of the large floating support struts that made up the landing strip. She couldn't see if the same situation was on the other side. After all, the ship was quite large. Some larger tents had been set up near the shore, right before the gangplank rolled down from the _Ragnarok_ to the coast. There was a smaller one nearby…reserved for the tinier yet fully-repaired _Excalibur_. Dael almost smiled to see her looking good again. However, there was no sign of the _Enterprise_, although she thought she could hear, just over the engines, the sound of a distant airship.

At any rate, everyone was flooding down to the coast at the moment, not just the armored transport. There were a few vehicles and munitions stockpiles down there, and they were rapidly being raided. Following that, soldiers, mages, and warriors were fanning out and moving to various ships. Naturally, not all of them could help out on a given ship, but it seemed they weren't being choosey. In the meantime, some of the pirates were actually moving off of the _Ragnarok_ in favor of the _Excalibur_, no doubt to provide a good crew with experience. A number of them, as they came, paused and looked into the transport. Many of them noticed who was inside. And on doing so, Dael couldn't deny it. She saw spirits rise and hopes increase. They seemed to move more faster and more enthusiastic.

Dael wasn't sure such a reaction was justified. However, on thinking of it a bit more…she supposed it didn't really matter if it was or it wasn't, so long as it raised their spirits. Furthermore, they _were_ the first people to stand up to the Sorceresses and come back alive, even if it wasn't intentional. And they were more help than ever now.

The transport finally pulled into a stop in front of the main tent, posted right before the gangplank. Once there, the drivers rapidly began to unbuckle themselves and dismount. They also began to gather up their own gear with them. Obviously, they were heading into battle as well. Dael, on her part, already had her things along with everyone else. They more readily got up and began to pour out of the transport, exiting one after another through the back. They stayed only until Dael was out, looking to follow her lead. She didn't, in truth, really know where to go, so she started by turning to the tent and beginning to move up to it.

She could see even from a distance that it was bare on the inside. Whatever had once been housed there was rapidly being cleaned up and put aside, and whatever supplies had been stored underneath were almost gone. However, as they rapidly approached and went under it, they noticed another group coming out rapidly to meet them. It consisted of a lieutenant in Esthar's Hawks, one that Dael assumed was Briggs. He had one private with him, obviously acting to pass along information. By comparison, the other individual with them was Commodore Leila. She looked a bit banged and bruised, and her artificial legs gave a loud whine with each step, but she continued to move forward rapidly just the same, if with only a bit of a limp. She seemed to be used to having a retinue with her, and so four pirates were in tow.

Finally, Dael saw a familiar sight at her side, something that also made her feel a bit pleased, and even happy. However, she didn't actually hear any of his signature tone until they both passed under the tent, at which point his crass, grouchy voice rang out.

"Well look who's finally back! I don't know how you idiots got so lucky, but your 'brilliant scheme' didn't work worth crap! I finally get all of the Guardian Forces to meet in one spot, and what happens? I find I still can't make the teleport without a presence established! You all could have been stuck over there forever! And now that you _are_ back…obviously things are worse than before! If we had time, I'd bite off your kneecaps!"

"…Glad to see you're alright too, Carbuncle." Dael called back as she came forward. After all, she knew this tirade, by now, was Carbuncle's way of showing he "cared".

Leila, on the other hand, gave a look to Cryder. She snorted. "I should have known you'd somehow make it back. That's what you're best at…having more lives than a cockroach."

The pirate, in turn, raised an eyebrow. "You _should_ have known, lass? Don't tell me for a moment you were worried I'd cash my chips, eh?"

Realizing her slip, Dael saw something rare…Leila's face actually go red for a moment, and not from anger. She stiffened up fairly soon afterward, and looked away from Cryder, focusing on Dael. Soon after, they met in the middle of the tent. Lieutenant Briggs readily saluted. Dael paused only a moment before giving it back just to get him to relax. He looked fairly raw…which was to be expected. Why else would he have messed up the protocol? She couldn't really expect him to break code right now. It might have been all that was keeping him sane and calm.

Having recoveresd, Leila began to speak. "It's a good thing you got here when you did. In fifteen minutes you would have only seen a 'ghost town'. I won't bother you for telling me exactly where you came from and how you got here…especially since I'm having a hard time believing what the green squirrel over here told me."

"…You just wait until I think up a good insult involving people with metal legs…" Carbuncle grumbled on hearing that. "How hard is it to understand they were on Nyx Gaia?"

"…Considering the fact you'd need a rocket to get there?"

"We don't have time for this, commodore." Dael interjected, trying not to sigh as she did so. "I won't tell you how exactly we got here, but there are four very large monsters that were sent here from Nyx Gaia to start tearing up the world."

Leila frowned. "Tell me something I don't know. It's only on every last radio and TV broadcast in the world at this point."

"So you know where all four of them are right now?" Bahamut threw in.

The pirate looked to him, but then suddenly froze. Her eyes turned a bit. Carbuncle looked as well, and likewise froze. Apparently, the two of them were noticing how Bahamut had aged as well.

"Weren't you…?" The green creature began to say, pointing at him with a paw.

Bahamut cut him off with a sigh. "As Dael said, we don't have time for that. Do you know where they are or don't you?"

Leila snorted slightly, ignoring the new appearance. "I should think so. The first one landed about 70 minutes ago just a couple miles north of where you landed. Immediately started making its way north, too…toward Esthar. The second one arrived a couple minutes later halfway around the world, over on the Western Continent in the desert and started heading south. The other two landed in the Medieval Ocean. One's headed straight for the Lamb Archipelago, and the other's headed for the main megalopolis of the Southern Continent."

Bahamut exhaled a bit here. "Esthar, Garrado, Lamb, and Leuco…the four last great population centers of this world…"

"If all four of those get destroyed, it'll probably bring the death total for Gaia to at least one out of four people, assuming no survivors…" Quaren muttered.

"I'd assume that would be at least enough chaos to bring the worlds close enough together to bring Omega Weapon as well." Taraketh exhaled.

Leila raised an eyebrow. "Omega Weapon?" She echoed. "You mean there's a fifth one of these things?"

"We hope you never get to find out." Dael answered. "I'm not sure how many good soldiers and sailors you have, but we need to get a move on. We have to try and stop them."

"What do you think all of this is back here?" The commodore sardonically answered as she gestured behind her. "We're 'trimming the fat' off of the _Ragnarok._ This is probably her last hurrah, anyway."

At that time, the roar that Dael had thought she may or may not have been hearing from an airship's engines grew more distinctive. At that, Leila raised her head to the sky. For a moment, the group thought they saw a hint of a smile on her face.

"And here's our trump card…"

Dael was puzzled about that for a moment, before the wind suddenly whipped around the tent fiercely, the sign of drafts coming from a low-flying airship, before, behind Leila and her entourage, she saw the airship landing. At first…she didn't even recognize it, for it was no longer the _Enterprise_ she knew. Instead, it was now glimmering and shimmering like precious silver all over, shining even in the dim light coming from the gray clouds. It was moving faster than ever as the massive bulk of the warship came down and around to start landing on the deck of the _Ragnarok_. And on going still, the group noticed there wasn't a single colored space left on it. All of it was that same shining metal.

The former captain looked at it only a moment, before her jaw loosened slightly. She realized the truth…

"It's coated with mythril…" Cid remarked.

"It impressed me too…and I kind of hope it gets blown out of the sky because that ship is worth trillions of gil…maybe more." Leila commented. "According to whose left of the crew and the Acting-Captain McCool, they barely managed to land it near the same region where we ran into each other and tried to hide it while waiting for a break and making repairs. They had these little brown things on the ship…and suddenly they started repairing the holes themselves. But they couldn't leave right away and had to fix the interior, while the little guys patched the hull and then began to eat the rest of it out and replace it with mythril. I won't pretend to claim I know how they did all that, but they did it. Not only is she more lightweight and fast than ever, but I don't think there's much that could possible sink her. Definitely not any weapon we have…"

Dael had to admit, with that sort of plating, the _Enterprise _was not only faster than ever, but also practically unstoppable… However, if it didn't have a payload to match it, it wouldn't help too much. She looked back to Leila afterward. "Alright…what do you have planned?"

"The Fuliet Warriors aren't too keen on the ships themselves…so they're going to try and go after the one headed for Esthar." Leila answered. "It's pretty fast, but…luckily it's stopping to tear crap up. Not sure what they can do against it, though… For that matter, I'm not sure we're any better off. We're taking the _Ragnarok_ to Garrado while the _Enterprise_ is headed for Lamb, but both of those are pretty far, and I'm sure the airship can make it long before us. That leaves the _Excalibur_ to go to Leuco with a skeleton crew and not much in the way of firepower. If you had seen any of these things in action, you'd understand that we're all not thinking too highly of our chance of success."

"I don't think it would necessarily be pessimistic for you to think that way." Bahamut answered. "I don't think these four are on the level that Tiamat is, but I doubt you'll notice. When they only have one standard military target to fight against, there'll be no comparison."

"So what's your solution?" Leila answered a bit crossly. "It's not like there's a whole lot of other navies and armies hanging around. Someone's got to try and stop them."

Cryder couldn't help but smile a bit here. "Listen to you…sounding like a regular martyr. Not very becoming of pirate, don't you think?"

"You looked around lately?" She retorted. "Pretty soon there ain't going to be an ocean left to pillage." She looked back to Dael and Bahamut. "But seeing as you two have gone against fellows who can rip apart navies with some mumbo jumbo and hand gestures and offed them to boot…I'm assuming you're trying to say you're the only ones who stand a chance against these things. Well, I can hardly argue with that. You eight seem to be worth a fully armed war airship apiece, at minimum. In that case…hurry up and pick a team to go with. We don't have a whole lot of time before they start hitting populated areas."

Dael looked up a bit at that. She turned and looked back to the others. All of them looked rather uncomfortable at this latest fact.

"…There's four of them." Quaren said after a moment. "And we have no idea how hard they'll be to kill. While we're trying to kill one of them…"

"Many others die." Jalab stated grimly.

Dael looked around a bit more, but then finally exhaled.

"In that case, we split up. Two of us will go after each of them."

The group members looked up at that. For a second, a wave of unease and uncertainty went over some of their faces. However, it soon faded. Both Leila and Dael were right. Considering the foes they had faced on Nyx Gaia, there was little disputing that they were the single-greatest defense anyone on Gaia had against the monsters. And considering how the world might only need a "little more" chaos to bring Omega Wepaon over…they couldn't risk that. They had to take them all out now.

"Very well." Ceja stated.

"Can't say I'm feeling too confident…but you got it." Cid stated.

"Just one problem." Cryder answered. "Four monsters…three ways to get to them. We have a mismatch."

"Uh, hello?" Carbuncle announced. He patted himself. "Master of Teleporting here?"

Bahamut gave a nod to him. "We know that. That's why you're going on the _Ragnarok._"

The green creature looked to Bahamut at confusion. "Huh?"

The young man pointed out to the massive aircraft carrier. "That ship is powerful but there's no way it can get to Garrado outside of a few days…unless you teleport it and its crew the bulk of the way."

The little black eyes seemed to turn into saucers. "Uh…er…"

Bahamut raised an eyebrow. "…Didn't you just call yourself 'Master of Teleporting'?"

He scratched his head with his paw. "Uh…yeah…but I haven't tried teleporting anything nearly that big since the onset of the War of the Magi…and it was smaller than that plus I had a lot of help."

"Did you, or did you not, spend the past ten days gathering the Guardian Forces to boost your power?"

Carbuncle gulped a bit. No more excuses. Finally, he exhaled. "Alright, I'll try…"

Dael, at this point, gave him a look. It was stern, but only a little. It also had hints of encouragement and even faith. "Carbuncle…what's the first rule of an Esthar's Hawks cadet?"

The green creature frowned. "I ain't a member of Esthar's Hawks." He responded. However, after a pause, he sighed again. "I'll _do_ it."

"Alrighty, but that doesn't solve our problem." Cryder reiterated.

"It doesn't have to. One of them is already headed for Esthar." Dael answered. "They can go on land. Now…how do we split this up?"

"I will slay the one bound for Esthar." Ceja immediately stated, the tone of her voice showing not the slightest wavering or hesitation. "I am the Warchief. It is my duty to lead the unified tribes into battle anyway."

"I am Lady Ceja's knight." Jalab stated as well, causing some puzzled looks from both Carbuncle and Leila. "I will stay at her side."

Ceja, in spite of her attempts to be bold, fierce, and fearless at the moment, couldn't help but blush a bit and show just the hint of a smile.

Cid gave a shrug. "Works for me. I'd be at home on any one of the other ships."

"Good. Welcome aboard." Leila immediately stated.

In response, the engineer looked to her, his face falling a bit. "Er…uh…"

"That last battle killed our head engineer, and Moginson needs a hand since he's pulling double duty. Tay also took a bad shrapnel hit."

For a moment, Cryder's mirth and casual attitude evaporated, turning to genuine concern. Leila seemed to notice this and exhaled. "Don't worry, he'll pull through…but he's not leaving bed for a while and we're short our best gunner."

Quaren exhaled. "Alright, then I'll come along too. I'm still a 'rookie' when it comes to naval artillery, but I did pretty good on the _Excalibur_ and I learn quick."

Leila looked him over a moment, but finally gave a nod. "Alright. You, 'red-beard', and 'squirrel' are going with me to Garrado."

Cid looked a bit stunned at his new nickname. Carbuncle barely restrained his claws. Cryder's concern vanished and became more calm again, and soon he grinned at her. "Heh…thinking just the way your old man would, aren't you, lass?"

Leila shot him a look.

"Not pairing us together on a ship? That way, if things go wrong, no excuses to just give up and say our 'last goodbyes' and 'apologies'? Now we've both got to live if we ever want to get anything we've got to say off our chests."

"Don't flatter yourself, _Morningjay._" Leila retorted. "You're not coming because this ship doesn't need _two_ captains, just an engineer and a good gunner."

He shrugged. "Fair enough. In that case, I'll take a ride on the _Enterprise_. Always thought 'Captain Cryder Morningjay, the Mythril Raptor' had a nice ring to it…"

"I'll go aboard the airship as well." Taraketh suddenly announced.

This caused a number of stares toward him, including from Cryder. However, he swallowed a bit and remained resolute. "I let the one true Sorceress down, and I didn't try to help her until it was too late. The Lamb Temple was her home…the one place where I can say 'true' Order of Hyne members came from. I can't help her now, but I can protect what she would have protected."

Cryder held for a moment. Yet, in the end, he actually smiled. "Well lad…I'd be lying if I said I don't hate your greasy black guts as much as the next fellow…but, seeing as I tried to sell you for a wad of gil myself, I'd say that not only makes us even, but gives you a hint of pirate in you too. Why not? Can always load you into the cannons if I don't like your face…"

Taraketh blinked a few times, and winced slightly. "Um…thank you…I think."

Bahamut looked to Dael, and slightly exhaled. "That leaves us yet again, Dael. However, even now, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this pairing."

The former captain gave a rare smile. "Same here." She admitted. "I'll admit, the fact that you're not a kid anymore was off-putting at first, but…it's weird. I feel more connected to you now than before, if you can believe it."

Cryder let out a groan on hearing that. "Oh boy…first it was 'mummy and her little boy'…now they need to rent the chapel… Can we save it for after we're done, lads and lasses?"

Both Dael and Bahamut grimaced a bit on hearing that…but it brought something else to mind. In truth, it wasn't like Cryder was saying at all. If anything, Dael felt _more_ of a mother-son attachment to Bahamut now that he was an adult only slightly physically younger than her. But was that the real cause? Or was it because he had regained some of his essence…?

"Well, if you're finished 'assigning teams'." Leila stated, already turning around. "Hurry up and get to your positions along with everyone else. Everyone for the _Ragnarok _and _Enterprise_ is with me. The _Excalibur_ is right over there. Those that are wanting to stay on land, head over to the temporary heliport we have to the northeast of camp. The last few Stratoaevises are there and they'll get as many of you to Esthar as fast as possible."

"And after this is done," Dael added. "Everyone head back here. Carbuncle and the Guardian Forces may not have been able to get us back from Nyx Gaia…but let's pray that they can send us there."

"Assuming it isn't here already…" Bahamut muttered, before they all turned and moved out in their respective directions.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	68. Yug of Fire

Ceja's "love" for modern technology had not grown any more since the day she had first come to the city of Esthar. Even that "ride" that she had taken on Nyx Gaia in the transport had left her feeling uneasy and uncomfortable. However, she couldn't dispute the speed advantage that it gave, or the fact that, strong as she had become, she wasn't about to run for miles and miles on end to get back to Esthar. Her people could tolerate it even less than she could. A fistful of them still thought the ships ran on magic, after all, although all of the younger ones realized it was some sort of engine power that ran off of fission. Nevertheless, none of them felt very safe being in the air as they took off and began to fly for the city. That left Ceja and Jalab in the front of the lead Stratoaevis to handle the business of looking outside.

Naturally, none of the Fuliet Warriors could fly the aircraft themselves. They needed pilots who were experienced. And since those were in limited supply, they had eschewed copilots and only had a single pilot per craft, which ensured they couldn't use weapons with them. They had agreed to stay with the aircraft simply due to not being able to catch up with the warships and airships after this was done, which gave them at least a "height" advantage. According to the news reports that were coming in, this monster appeared to be stuck on the ground, which meant so long as they were airborne, they had an edge. Unfortunately, there were only five functional Stratoaevis craft left…two of them having been stolen by the Black Corsairs and refurbished. They were of different configurable sizes, meaning they could get no more than fifty of the available Fuliet Warriors on them. Definitely not a healthy number against the foe they were going up against.

Even from a distance, finding it was not a problem. Only going a few miles north past where they had arrived, they began to see the monster's trail. Apparently, in its wake, the ground had grown black and scorched, like a forest fire had broken out on it although there were no trees and little in the way of brush save in brief interspersed spots. They followed this path and soon saw that it moved straight to the north. It was unlike that of any creature that Ceja had ever seen on the plains, but she supposed so long as it was this great and terrible, it had little reason to "wind". Especially since each footprint it made would easily stomp Ceja flat if she was under it.

As they continued to go north, however, the footsteps began to "light up". Ceja and Jalab thought they imagined it at first, but as they continued to go further north, the glowing only increased, revealing dying embers resting in the footsteps. They continued to glow bigger and brighter as the city itself began to line the horizon, until they were in distinct foot markings. Not only that, but smoke began to rise from further ahead. At first, it was only a trail coming from the path…but soon that gave way to a much larger set of smoke from up ahead, something that could only be triggered by something the size of a building burning…

"I think this shows which monster we are hunting." Ceja stated on seeing it.

"Yug…of Fire, the Sorceress say." Jalab responded, his muscles already seeming to tighten up and tense.

The pilot nearby swallowed a bit himself. "We're still miles off, but the tracks are this fresh… It must be one fast son-of-a-bitch…"

Ceja ignored this comment and turned to him instead. "How may I send a command to the other flying machines?"

The pilot looked up a bit in puzzlement, before he realized what she was asking. At that, he pulled up the second headset and handed it to her. "Put that on and I'll turn on the radio."

The Fuliet Warchief grimaced a bit on seeing it, hating to do anything with technology…but especially strapping it to her head. However, she swallowed it back and accepted the device, raising it and slowly putting it on her own skull. She didn't do it properly at first, but Jalab at least had more experience with such things and quickly adjusted it for her.

"My people, I want you to-"

"Hang on! I'm still patching us in!" The pilot responded, continuing to throw switches.

Ceja frowned, but waited a bit longer. After a few more moments, he looked to her and nodded. Familiar with that "expression" by now from her interactions with the others, she spoke again.

"My people…warriors of Fuliet…since we cannot use the weapons on these machines, I want those of you with ranged weapons to prepare fire upon the monster from the openings in the side of the flying machines when we pass by it."

She removed the headset afterward, and then turned and looked behind her. Ten additional warriors were in their own aircraft, four of them possessing bows. "That is the same command for the rest of you. Move to those openings and ready to fire." She hated speaking in the Esthar language, since most of them didn't know it too well, but she wanted to make sure everyone could understand her, including the pilot.

The warriors looked up a bit here to her, but also were puzzled. They looked to the sides, but they saw no openings of any kind. Realizing the confusion, Jalab called out.

"Sliding metal door." He said, making an indication of the same.

At that, some of the more "experienced" Fuliet Warriors began to understand, and rose from their seats. None of them had bothered to "buckle in" after all. As for Jalab, he turned to Ceja.

"I take post as well." He said, motioning to his hands as if to indicate his power.

Ceja nodded back. "Yes, that is a good idea." She barely contained just a hint of anxiety on her voice.

Jalab began to move toward the back, taking up the Whale's Whisker off the wall as he did so. However, he didn't fully move back with the other Fuliet Warriors. He still wanted to be in earshot of Ceja, it seemed. As for the warriors themselves, they tentatively rose and went to the side doors. They hesitated a bit before trying to open them. They weren't successful at first, requiring the pilot to initiate the manual overrides, but on doing so they slid them open. They shrank back from the wind at first, and the gale was strong enough to make any loose jewelry or items on them flip about wildly. However, with time, the warriors who could shoot began to risk coming forward. One of them yelled out in his native language to Ceja, however.

In response, she turned to the pilot. "They cannot fire their weapons at this speed."

"I'll slow down when we get closer." The pilot simply answered, continuing to go forward.

Only a bit further along, and the smoke began to grow larger and thicker. Only part of it was due to them getting closer, however. As the trail itself and not just the footsteps began to show signs of dying embers and touches of molten slag, the smoke grew thicker and billowed more, indicating more and more fire. Jalab couldn't see that well from his position, but he lowered his head a bit and managed to peer through the window enough to get a sense.

"Like fire from Tiamat…" He murmured.

"It is still moving straight, as if it knows what it wants…" Ceja remarked.

The buildings continued to draw closer. As they did, everyone looking out the window of any of the five Stratoaevis aircraft incoming would have started to see tongues of flame on some of the buildings from within the smoke. A bit closer, and some of the buildings proved to be engulfed on the edge of town, with many smaller fires sprung out on adjacent buildings, along with what looked like trauma damage. The pilot's anxiety clearly grew as Ceja looked out, and began to see what appeared to be talon marks or claw scratches lining the buildings in places. Certain cars were slashed, and light poles severed in two, all with gleaming on the edges…almost like Faerio's flaming whip had lashed out against them.

"The same markings as a tail from a large predator…only heated." Ceja murmured aloud. Suddenly, however, she looked up. "There!"

Immediately, the woman pointed out a finger. The pilot was first surprised by her outburst, but then looked to her. On seeing where her finger was pointing, he looked as well. It seemed she was gesturing to one particular road going straight into the city, but it was wreathed by flaming buildings on either side and a "tunnel" of black smoke. If that wasn't enough, a distant noise, as deep and booming as that of a behemoth, yet seeming to have a "reptilian" nature to it as well as being like a "hiss", rang out from the lane.

Jalab was closer to the openings and, like the Fuliet Warriors, looked up in puzzlement and just a hint of fear. There was no telling where it had come from exactly, but it seemed to originate from the city at minimum. "It is close!" He called out. "No more than kilometer!"

"This is unusual." Ceja remarked as she looked over the lane. "It went straight until this point, but only now did it bother going down this road as opposed to any other… That is of no matter." She looked again the pilot. "Follow it down that road."

"Like Hell." The pilot retorted. "I'm not flying this thing through a cloud of black smoke that could be leading to fire or that giant thing. We'll go parallel to it for now."

Ceja nearly protested, but in the end she held her tongue. This pilot knew more about the vehicle than she did, after all. And soon, he pulled the flying vehicle up and around. As he cut the engines to drop speed, he went down the first road that was parallel to the same path that the unseen beast had taken. Immediately, the other Stratoaevises did the same and fell in behind him, tightening up in pairs so they could more easily move through the lane. To top things off, the lead aircraft lifted up so that one could see over most of the buildings, and then went into the road.

The Fuliet Warchief immediately noticed people fleeing away from the "flaming" road. No doubt, many of them had been in their homes before now, but at this point were running away as the fires spread, especially since there was no fire department to put the flames out. Smoke billowed down every road that went across, and more was arising all the time from up ahead. Yet as the aircraft went on, the smoke began to level off since the flames were more "freshly set" as opposed to having burned and expanded for a while. As they went on further yet, they definitely began to outstrip the creature. Although it had to be moving fast enough to be a car vehicle, it was still moving slow enough to spread destruction. As they neared to match pace and the fires continued to level off, gradually Ceja began to see bits of debris flying up in the wake of the monster. It was still "short enough" to fit below the skyline, but occasionally they saw a flash of what looked like red magma, followed by pieces of "destruction", normally in the form of building chunks and the occasional half of a truck…

"It runs like a mad animal during the Northern Rancor…" Ceja remarked. She felt a touch of fear at this point, but she didn't show it. She had long since trained herself to control her fear in the "mode" of a hunt, and that was what she was treating this as. "If it came to destroy the city, why does it not burn everything it can instead of running straight through?"

Jalab rubbed his chin a bit as he looked out the window as well. "Must have goal. Something need to destroy."

"What is along this road?" Ceja asked the pilot.

"_This_ road? Nothing much. Same thing with the road it's on. It's not even a main thoroughfare. No major targets this way." The pilot responded. Even as he said this, however, a beeping suddenly went off from his console. Ceja immediately looked to it, and found it was the small display, similar to the one that Quaren had looked at. She couldn't make sense of it, but the pilot reached down and threw a switch or two, and then went a bit wide-eyed.

"Oh crap…yes there is!" The pilot exclaimed. "The computer is reading it as a bogey, and it's calculating what it's going to run into in its path…namely the No. 3 Backup Reactor for the city!"

"What does that mean?" The woman asked, not sure what a 'reactor' was but definitely picking up on the sudden tension in the voice of the man.

"It's one of the backup fusion generators for the city and it's probably in operation right now because of everything that's going on… It's underground and supposed to be armored against any bombardment other than a direct hit, but…"

"Monster hot. Burn its way in." Jalab stated darkly, overhearing this conversation.

"And if it melts the core, not only will it cause a big explosion…it will irradiate a third of Esthar in one shot." The pilot finished.

"How long until it arrives?" The Fuliet Warchief asked.

"I don't know…two miles? Maybe less?"

Ceja's gaze narrowed. "Increase speed. Bring us so that we can shoot by the monster. Tell my warriors to prepare to fire."

The pilot looked to her in shock. "Are you nuts? We aren't even sure what we're dealing with! But if it's throwing up that much debris, then there's no way a few arrows will-"

"I said bring us past the monster!" Ceja snapped with such force and violence that the pilot, in spite of not being under Ceja's command, immediately shrank back a little. He cringed a moment, before sighing and getting on the radio again. As Ceja raised herself up, he issued the message.

"All SAs…alert your crews to prepare to fire. We're launching a strafting maneuver of the hostile. Follow my lead."

With that, he began to increase engine speed. Ceja looked behind her and called out in her native language so that no one would miss what was said. As for Jalab, he had heard the previous order and quickly moved back along with her staff to help out. Soon, he took place in one of the openings, and quickly motioned for those on one side to move to the other so that they were all at one openings. Bows, javelins, and whatever else could be readied was made so.

Everyone held on for a moment as the aircraft accelerated dramatically to increase its speed. By doing so, the "cloud of destruction" gradually moved away from the front, to the side, and finally behind them. When that happened, the pilot banked a sharp turn around a building corner, and quickly moved perpendicular to the monster's path. It was well timed, for the most part. The beast was incoming fast, and Ceja, again feeling a touch of fear, quickly looked out the window opening on the side to try and catch a glimpse of it. For a moment, a few buildings rapidly shot by, with nothing but a gallery of windows and concrete passing Ceja's gaze…before the road broke.

In spite of all the woman had seen, she had a hard time not gasping.

In the most "strict" terms, the monster revealed some sort of a cross between a frilled lizard, a salamander, and one of the "archaic" amphibians with feathery gills that were occasionally found in streams. It walked erect on two legs, both topped with deadly claws like one would find on a Tyrant Lizard. The legs themselves, however, were spread out with splayed hips more like a creature that had shoved itself up on two legs and was pushing itself along. Its other two arms had deadly, thick claws, and it seemed to be errantly raking them across the buildings and ground as it stomped along. Its head was broad and repitillian, with its mouth possessing snake like fangs that dripped what looked like pure magma as it hissed and snarled. Its eyes, however, were small, black, and beady…save for a glowing serpentine pupil in the middle. All around its neck was a "feathered frill", and a long tail snapped to and fro behind it. Aside from that, the monster looked to be made of pure magma. Almost its entire body was gleaming like a thin crust on top of flowing magma, with "cool spots" like scales and gleaming heat underneath. Aside from that, the only "cool" areas seemed to be its feathery gills, which were black instead of the distinct glowing color. Still, it generated so much heat that glass around it seemed to melt and disform as it ran. Last but not least, of course, was its size. It had to be seven or eight stories tall. It was really impossible to tell with how it was moving.

Ceja didn't have much chance to look at it, however. As they shot by, Jalab gave a call, and immediately his own aura ignited before he formed it into a blade, and flung it like a deadly disk at the monster. The other warriors fired off their weapons as well. Yet, just as soon as they did…the ship went back behind the building on the opposite side, and the monster was hidden from view. Even unable to see the end result of their "strike" as well as that of the others, Ceja immediately knew it hadn't gone well. Jalab's attack had been the only one that was somewhat accurate. The other shots had gone wild. None of the warriors were used to firing at moving targets while moving themselves. As they went into the street on the other side and turned to go straight once again, once more going parallel with the monster, she didn't even have to look to see that the beast hadn't even noticed being struck, and was still moving forward unslowed.

"You moved too quickly!" She shouted at the pilot. "We had no time for a decent shot!"

"Lady, did you see that thing coming at us? You want me to actually _wait_ for it?"

"That creature must be stopped! If you insist on going fast, then you will have to pull up alongside of it!"

The pilot nearly snapped to her in shock. "You're crazy! There's no way I'm taking this Stratoaevis anywhere near-"

He cut off again as he suddenly felt just the tip of the Rune Axe pressed to the back of his neck, drawing a single drop of blood.

"You do or you die." Ceja coldly responded. "Our lives are as nothing compared to that of this city and this world."

The man swallowed once, before muttering about how she was insane. Nevertheless, he dropped speed again, only enough to let the flaming monster, Yug, get some distance on them. Once that happened, he suddenly whipped the Stratoaevis back in its direction. As he did, he reluctantly spoke into the radio again.

"All SAs…we're going to try and flank this thing. Try to stay close and watch the fires and debris…"

If there was any dispute or argument on the other end, the pilot never heard it. He turned off the radio soon after and focused on flying, sweating a bit now. It wasn't entirely due to anxiety. Now that they were flying back toward Yug's "wake" as opposed to ahead of it, everyone was getting hot quickly. The smell of sulfur and pitch began to flow in via the openings, and all of the warriors formed a disgusted look as they began to draw near fresh fires, melted streets, and clouds of smoke. Ceja actually saw a flash of Yug's tail as they went toward the intersection. However, they reached it, and with another sharp turn soon pulled in behind the beast.

The heat grew here, now that they were downwind of it. Soon everyone was sweating as it felt like they had just stuck their faces in front of an open oven. Still, they held on as the Stratoaevis craft increased speed and went after the monster. The beast seemed unaware of them, still going forward and tearing up pavement and buildings alike as it stomped forward. Nevertheless, the heat only increased. It felt like they were progressively nearing a fire, which wasn't too far from the truth. Based on their position, Jalab led the warriors to the opening on the opposite side and readied them to fire, but it only continued to get hotter and more overwhelming. Enough to where even the hardy warriors were having a hard time bearing with it.

As they neared the dangerous flicking tail, the aircraft pulled up and tried to go over it and out of its path. Abruptly, the speed increased more, and soon the Stratoaevis craft began to pull over the beast. Yet it felt almost as if they were trying to fly over a forest fire when that happened, with the rush of heat all around them. The air rippled, and soon the alarm systems on the Stratoaevis itself began to blare, indicating that the ship was overheating. But still, they managed to pull over its body, and Jalab, wincing in the intense heat, focused his own power, his own aura igniting large and bright as they reached position.

Ceja, wincing in the intense heat and feeling the hot air whip around her, motioned. "Strike!"

The warriors continued to reel, but in spite of the heat, noise, and the fact that a large and formidable monster was raging beneath them, they attacked. The arrows and javelins went flying again. Ceja, in spite of her own state, managed to turn her head to the opening and look…only to see the weapons do next to nothing. Why would they, after all? As the arrows and spears flew and struck the side of the beast, it was like dropping them into lava. All that resulted was that they were immediately melted and annihilated. The beast didn't even flinch.

Jalab took a moment to charge further, his glow beginning to fill the entire rear of the Stratoaevis. However, as he did, Ceja saw the other Stratoaevises move around the beast and fire…but failed to even make it take notice of them. Finally, she called out.

"Aim for a vital point! It's eyes or its-"

Ceja abruptly cut off, for suddenly the aircraft was reacting badly. It began to yaw and whip around, as well as buffet up and down. When this happened, she turned back to the pilot, and saw that another siren and alarm had gone off as he struggled to hold on.

"What are you doing?"

"It's not me! This thing is putting off so much heat its damaging the aircraft and sending up a thermal! We have to pull away before it crashes us!"

"But-"

Ceja's protest was interrupted as the pilot, without stalling anymore, began to pull the Stratoaevis up. It was so sharp due to the hot air pushing against it that it threw her askew for a moment, making her lose her balance and fall to one knee. The other warriors were flung down. However, as the other aircraft outside did the same, Jalab alone managed to keep standing. Not only that, but he finished charging his power, and let out a cry before firing a beam out of the window straight for the side of Yug's neck.

The blast connected, even if not as focused as he had hoped. However, it hardly seemed to matter…as the beam still impacted the beast so hard that it actually managed to knock a few magma fragments clean off of his body, and forced the beast slightly to one side. It wasn't enough to make him stumble, but it was also something he couldn't ignore. Jalab was forced to cut the beam off as the aircraft went up, but when he did, the monster snapped its head up to the five ships…and immediately let out a sonic roar full of heat and power that made the air ripple all about them with more searing heat than ever. Enough, in fact, that Ceja actually cried out, feeling the more 'flammable' portions of her attire nearly light on fire…

Abruptly, Yug snapped its body up and lashed out with its tail at the rising Stratoaevis aircraft. Four of them managed to clear it…but the fifth one hung behind, and the tail sliced through it as easily as if it was a hot length of razor wire over softened butter. With one gesture, a wing and the entire tail region was cut off of the aircraft. In spite of the heat seeming to drain the air from her lungs, Ceja forced herself to look up and out…and was horrified to see the ship in three pieces, the edges still glowing as red as hot coals, and beginning to sink. The flaming monster wasn't finished, however, and immediately cracked its serpentine mouth open wide, seeming to unhook its jaw, and exhaling an intense blast of fire that looked like a literal pillar of flame at it. The aim was true, and immediately the still-falling bulk of the ship was engulfed… When the flames passed, to her horror, nothing was left of the ship and its crew than a ball of burning metal so hot that it literally shrived up like paper before her eyes. Ceja's heart nearly froze. There had been her people on that Stratoaevis…

Yet Yug wasn't finished. Now angrily, it turned its head to the sky, and immediately began to spew off columns of fire like missiles, struggling to knock the remaining four aircraft out of the sky. The alarms in the cabin blared more loudly than ever, even though they were moving into "cooler" regions. The pilot looked to a monitor that seemed to display the surrounding situation, and instantly gaped. Cursing, he quickly swept the aircraft to one side, narrowly missing getting incinerated by a column of flame. But even then, it was so heated that the air buffeting began to shake the entire aircraft like a toy. Ceja, still stunned both from the death and the first "climb", stumbled backward, moving dangerous close to the open doors. Jalab, however, was somehow keeping his balance, and quickly seized her with his one free arm (the other holding his staff) and stabilized her.

The fire fiend continued to blast more and more columns into the air as the aircraft went out of range. Soon, they were flying in all directions to try and avoid getting obliterated, but, luckily, this time no one was hit. Still not satisfied with that, however, the monster, still stomping forward, snarled before crouching a bit…and then literally leapt into the air after them. Ceja had scarcely recovered when the pilot cursed again, and soon climbed higher to avoid the monster from striking them with its tail or lashing out with its jaws. The others did the same, but the beast still wouldn't stop, and began to fire columns of heat after them again from its improved height. When it landed…its impact fractured the street, shook buildings to their foundation, and sent flaming bits everywhere…but it didn't stop it. It only crouched and leapt even higher the second time, snapping at them violently again. Despite its size, the monster seemed capable of leaping to its own height and higher yet… The worst part was, in spite of all of this, it was continuing forward in its path, unstopped.

The pilot, who was struggling to maintain control through all of the warnings, buffeting, and heat, shook his head as he fought the controls. "It's no use! I'm pulling us away from this thing before it crashes us!"

"We must destroy it!" Ceja shouted back, even as Jalab pushed her to a handle she could grab.

Yug bellowed at this, and leapt again…even higher than before and firing again. The Stratoaevis had to duck this time to let its move go under it instead, nearly sending everyone into the ceiling this time.

"Forget it!" The pilot shouted back. "We can't stop that thing! We need to just get away from it!"

"People will die if we do not stop it!" The Fuliet Warchief responded. "Show your courage!"

"Courage nothing! I can't stop it and neither can you!"

"Then we must die trying!"

"_You_ do that!"

"Silence!" Jalab suddenly shouted.

The exclaimation was firmer and more forceful than how the monk normally talked, and it seemed to almost resonate. As a result, Ceja and the other warriors, still trying to disentangle themselves from the back, looked to him, and even the panicking pilot calmed down. In that moment of quietness…something immediately became clear. Yug wasn't snarling or snapping…and he wasn't firing or leaping at them either. Jalab, on his part, spoke again more quietly, yet still forcefully.

"Listen!"

The people on board the aircraft paused, but then did as he said. At first they heard nothing. The sirens were still blaring and the engines were too loud. But after a moment, the sirens stopped…and when they did, they heard Yug again. However, he was far below them now, and he was making a low sound…like disgust, almost, if it was possible for a beast to feel disgust. At any rate, it wasn't rage or madness like they had heard until now. With that in mind, the pilot slowly leveled out the aircraft, and actually risked turning it around a bit, now that they were much higher than before. When that happened, Ceja, Jalab, and whatever warriors were nearest looked down and out of the Stratoaevis toward the ground.

Yug was in the middle of the street, and had finally halted. Something seemed to be making it think twice about proceeding. In fact, it was even shrinking away a bit from moving forward. At first, Ceja couldn't see anything that it could be. Yet as the pilot continued to bring the aircraft around and risked lowering it, she spotted that something had changed.

Coming down from its last leap, its claws had sliced away at a large reservoir tank perched on top of one building. As a result, water was flowing out at a steady rate, creating a veritable "waterfall" right in the monster's path, with no way to slip around it without getting wet. It looked at that a few moments more. It even stepped back slightly to make sure the water didn't get upon it…

Finally, giving an angry hiss, it snapped around and went to a side road instead. It only did so until the next turn, and then snapped forward again, and hung another turn soon after to get on its previous path. It continued to burn and stomp as it did so…but it also made Ceja and Jalab pause.

"Fears water!" Jalab exclaimed. "Like living fire! Does not wish to go out!"

"It is more than a demon that uses flame…it actually is made of it, and just like a true flame cannot risk being smothered…" Ceja remarked. "Perhaps there is a way to kill this beast…"

"Hey!" The pilot suddenly shouted, causing Ceja and Jalab to look up to him. "It's only got about a mile before it hits the site! We need to get out of here! We'll die in the blast at this distance!"

The Fuliet Warrior frowned slightly at the man's "cowardice", and then spoke out. "I need that machine I wore on my head once again. I must talk to my people."

The pilot groaned, but then began to reach out for it impatiently. As he did, Ceja turned to Jalab. "I am not familiar with the cities of men, Sir Tierras…but you are. Is there any way we can use water to drive that monster where we wish for it to go?"

The monk paused momentarily, trying to think. He looked back down to the streets, even as Yug pulled back on the previous road and continued. Yet as he did, Jalab snapped back to Ceja.

"Fire hydrant."

"…What?"

He began to gesture with his hands. "Red…thing. On street. Uses for fire people to attach for water…to put out fire."

Ceja looked on in confusion. The monk sighed and tried again.

"Fire people…fire men…get water from red thing. Spray buildings on fire with them."

The Fuliet Warchief stared a moment more, before realization came upon her.

"Oh! Those people I saw working to put out the fires in Esthar! They used long ropes that spewed water! You say they attached them to these 'fire hydrants'?"

He readily nodded.

Ceja thought for a moment. "…Yes, now I remember. I saw one that had a side removed, and it let out a yet of water that children were playing in. It would bar its way…" She looked back to the ground. "…So long as it does not think to try and jump over it… It could have done so just now, but it did not seem to occur to it. Hopefully it is so young that it is not yet that smart…"

The pilot, by now, had the headset and passed it back. "Here! Are you telling them to turn back?"

The woman turned to the man, and quickly took the headset and began to put it on. She again did it wrong, prompting Jalab to help her. As he did, she spoke to the man again. "Is there something large and cold nearby? Anything that could be used to put out a large fire or to use a great deal of water?"

The pilot, realizing they weren't pulling out, let out a sigh. "Sure. There's a refrigerant chemical plant about four blocks to the right and six blocks ahead. But there's no way we can drive it that way!"

"Yes we can." Ceja answered. She immediately came forward and pointed. "Land me and my people in the monster's path six blocks ahead. We will drive it toward that plant, and then cover it with these 'refrigerants' to kill it."

"You're going crazier by the second!" The pilot retorted. "That's four blocks! There's no way your people can get there in time! That monster will just stomp right past you!"

"No it will not." Ceja responded. "I and my knight will keep it busy."

Jalab looked up a bit at that, obviously not expecting it. However, he didn't dispute it. When Ceja looked back to him, he simply gave a nod, showing his support behind her idea. The pilot continued to look uncomfortable, however.

"This is-"

"After you have dropped us off, you and the other pilots may withdraw until the beast is killed. Then return to pick us up." Ceja cut off.

"And what if the monster kills you first?" The pilot shot back.

"It will not. Too much is at stake for us to lose." Ceja responded. "But if it does, you will still be safe and you will no longer have to throw yourselves into danger."

The man still didn't seem to like this that much, but after receiving a death threat earlier, he didn't complain about it. Shaking his head, he exhaled and then turned back before making an adjustment to speed up to Stratoaevis while landing it. As he did, he turned a switch on his own console, and then looked back to Ceja. "…You're on."

The woman didn't speak in the Esthar's tongue this time. Instead, she spoke in her native dialect. She had a great deal of instructions to give and she couldn't risk anything being "lost in translation". Even as she said this, the Stratoaevis continued to lower toward the ground while shooting ahead of the path of the monster, coming in for a landing. She couldn't judge distances that well from the aircraft, but she guessed that they only had about a half mile to go until the destination. They could not risk the beast getting closer…although, given the heat it was casting out, she wasn't honestly sure how they were supposed to battle this horror…only that she would die trying if she had to. As soon as she had said the instructions, she immediately spoke again in the more "common" language.

"To everyone who is running the flying machines, drop off my people where I am dropped off, and then pull away. We shall handle it from this point. Come back to reclaim us when the monster is dead."

With that done, she took up her own axe and tightened up. She looked back to the others. They had heard her speaking into the headset, and as a result had begun to prepare themselves. They had taken up their weapons and tightened their muscles. They were all nervous, but also determined. Fuliet warriors were taught to control their fear in the face of certain death, after all. Instead, they all got up and ready. On the plus side, they would soon be off of the Stratoaevises and feel more "in control" of the situation when they were on terra firma.

The aircraft abruptly dropped speed, causing a minor shake of the people on board, but also slowing the Stratoaevis down. As it did, it swept down in between the buildings and approached the intersection of the road that Yug was coming down and another, wider street. It continued to slow down and lower, reaching the street itself, and as it did the group gathered to the opening on either side. Finally, it ran parallel to it, and at that point Ceja led the charge in going out. Jalab was at her side as she landed on the ground, and both quickly ran clear of the aircraft. Immediately, the other warriors filed out was well. Sure enough, they already seemed more eager and confident on touching the street.

As soon as they were clear, the Stratoaevis took off again and ran for it. The others immediately swept down and landed, quickly letting their occupants exit as well. They didn't bother going one at a time, instead sweeping down at multiple points on the large intersection and quickly letting them off. Yet even as this happened, Ceja felt the ground giving a light tremor…the tell-tale sign of Yug still incoming without stopping. Although that was fairly a given, each footstep indicated they had to be as fast as possible. She kept her eyes down the street as time passed…seeing the monster continuing to get closer and closer, gleaming brightly and billowing smoke. It figured that it wouldn't rain now when they needed it…

Luckily, the whole dropoff was carried out in a way that would make Esthar's Hawks proud. Soon, all Stratoaevises were unloaded, and the last of them took off again. By now, the monster was only about a block away. Instantly, Ceja turned to the warriors and motioned to her left. She shouted out to them her commands in their native tongue, making sure to add a prayer of blessing for a successful hunt…as well one last phrase that was said by her own people right before they intended to die fighting. The warriors only gave her a sharp gesture of honor before they turned and took off. Even without junctions or enhancements, they were fast, tearing across the street and running for their destinations as quickly as possible.

With that done, Ceja turned her weapon in front of her and faced the flaming Yug. Jalab quickly moved to her side and braced his staff before him, his aura already beginning to ignite again.

"…Do you fear death, Sir Tierras?" Ceja asked as the monster neared the last half block, his horrendous heat beginning to sweep over them, his jaws gnashing and snapping, and the ground shaking more than ever.

"In every death…there is life." Jalab answered even as his chi continued to flare. "Just not always easy to see. All must die one day…only question is how it is faced."

Ceja held a moment, and then actually managed a fierce, determined smile as her grasp tightened on her weapon.

"I will face my death the same as I always have…prying my life from the jaws of my would-be killer."

With that, Ceja gave a war cry and, in spite of the heat, magma, and fury of the oncoming beast…she tore straight at it to meet it head on.

Jalab himself immediately opened by giving a louder yell than he had on the Stratoaevis, before firing off a much larger beam than before. This one actually depressed the ground beneath him and was double in size. It was clear this sort of blast would have destroyed the aircraft from cast-off power alone, which explained why he hadn't used it earlier. But Ceja was so focused on her target that she barely noticed…only saw as the beam slammed into the bottom jaw of the rampaging monster with tremendous force. Even if the blast itself lacked the power to do much to the monster, it at least produced a "hard" surface that Yug had smashed himself into with his own forward momentum, snapping his head up and forcing the beast to grind to a halt. It hind claws splayed out in front of it, tearing up the road into molten, magma bits with each rake of his deadly talons, kicking up pavement in his wake. However, it also stunned the beast.

Ceja ran as fast as she could for her target…the right leg. Speed was of the essence, not only for what the monster could do to her, but also to get in and get out as fast as possible. The heat was too tremendous. Already, while only a short distance away, it felt like she was running straight for a fire. While still far off, she began to hiss and tighten her eyes, the heat going from unbearably warm to burning hot. Closer yet, she began to register pain…and yet without fear she continued to charge forward, somehow forcing herself to ready the Rune Axe and concentrate with all the power she had. Yet she was still not there…and as she ran closer, she would have cried out in pain as it felt as if her flesh was beginning to burn…and she could smell the scent of things roasting around her…

Finally, it proved to be too much. She managed to get close enough to swing out, but not anywhere near the full power she intended. Luckily, her blade was stronger and more "treated" than she gave it credit for, and it still managed to lash out and and slice into the body of the beast…cutting out a large slash through its ankle that spilled magma fragments and lava-like blood. Yug bellowed and immediately reared its foot up, for it was just recovering from the initial blast, and now tried to slam its foot down on Ceja. The Fuliet Warrior was faster, however, and quickly crouched and leapt to the side, just missing the burning claw from smashing down. Once away, she quickly leapt successive times to get more distance, especially as the beast immediately spat another column of heat and flame after her, obliterating her initial landing place.

When she was finally clear, Ceja found she was still in pain. Her body was covered with burns, but, worse yet, parts of her clothes were on fire. Quickly, she dropped to the road and rolled in it to extinguish herself. Yet even so, her body was driven into more agony. The burns that now covered her skin made any move agonizing. Worse yet…she realized she was now all but useless in this fight. Unable to throw her axe like a boomerang, she had to either throw only once or be burned to death from trying to fight the living fire in close quarters. She had little in the way of magic power… All she could truly do was try summoning Shiva…but would she be enough against this monster? Besides…she already planned on using Shiva for a different purpose if they could stall it long enough…

As for Yug, it would have thrown another blast of fire at her, but didn't have the chance. As it opened its mouth again, a potent force slammed its jaw shut and jarred its head to one way. It was weaker this time, but by now the monster had halted, and snapped its head to the source. Jalab was standing against it, having used his staff and one of his "force moves" to attack it. He now faced off against it, although he didn't care get close. He knew he was at a disadvantage too. His strongest moves could only be inflicted with his fists…and unless he wanted the flesh seared off of his knuckles, that wasn't an option. Instead, he tried acting mostly as a distraction.

The fire monster hissed like an angry viper and curled its body to the ground, raising its long tail behind it and squeezing its fangs, dropping out more burning liquid to the road that smoldered and melted it. Suddenly, the tail snapped forward like a whip. Luckily for Jalab, he had experience from the behemoths, and had learned where to "watch" on large creatures like this. Quickly, he sprang back, and a flaming rift was cut in the ground where he was. Hissing almost like a snake, Yug advanced in a crack of a whip, and lashed out again. The monk quickly dodged this one as well. A third strike went out, and Jalab went away one more time…but this time while he spun around as he did so, his aura flaring once again…and as he came out he hurled a deadly arc right for the beast. Unfortunately, in spite of its size, it wasn't exactly "standing idle" either. Immediately, it "ducked and swiveled", moving its body out of the way to let the arc sail past it before it suddenly rose to full height, much like a snake would prior to a strike. Sure enough…moments later it darted forward so fast that it did indeed resemble a serpent striking, and Jalab, with all of his own speed and power, barely managed to miss it as its head went in front of him and nearly drove its massive, flaming fangs into his body. However, with the beast's head in front of him, and the horrendous heat pouring off it, making it feel as if he had been set on fire, he nevertheless had a target right before him. He quickly brought back the Whale's Whisker with the intent of swiping at it…only for the monster to rear its head back as fast as it had striked. The monk's eyes went wide for a moment as the staff shot by nothing…moments before the whip-like tail of the beast lashed out again. This time, Jalab wasn't quite fast enough to snap back, and he actually gave a grunt of pain as the tip of tail managed to lash across his arm. Considering the fact that it left a large, flaming, and glowing cut…it was amazing that a grunt was all Jalab gave. His body was soon contorted in so much pain that he couldn't even more, for he could feel the injury continuing to burn a slash into him…

Yug didn't let up for a second, and prepared to slice through Jalab's neck with the next hit. Yet as Jalab struggled to move himself back to try and recover, it seemed Ceja had not been "sitting idle". Instead, in spite of her pain, she had stumbled over to the nearest fire hydrant…this one crossing the path that went back the way Yug came. On reaching it, she quickly cut off the end of it…letting a torrential blast of water erupt from the plug. In spite of the force, she quickly thrust herself into it and let it pound and beat her, agitating her wounds…but also soaking her completely with cold water. Once that was done, she bit back her pain, snapped around, and then charged after the monster again. She made only one mental note…other than Jalab being in danger, of course. That was that it did indeed seem to be "limping" very slightly on its bad leg. Although the monster seemed to be made of living fire, it appeared to have some sort of innervation, muscles, and skeleton…something that made it act like a true beast. She tried to find more weaknesses, but truly didn't have the time when she saw the tail come back for a finishing blow. Once more, she ran in close to it. It wasn't nearly as bad this time. The tail was not as "thick" as the rest of the body, after all, but also she was soaked with cold water, making it harder to feel a heat effect. Hence, as the tail swung around, trying to tag Jalab…she gave out a cry and swung her axe up and in its path…slicing right through the end of it.

Immediately, Yug gave an angry, snake-like bellow as the tip of its tail fell from the body and landed in the road, and burning magma bits of "blood" began to drip from the end and were flung about everywhere as it completed its arc that was supposed to hit Jalab. However, the tail itself didn't hit Jalab, and he reacted only in a moment of surprise on seeing Ceja save him, before he turned and forced himself to run for the hydrant opposite the one that Ceja had sliced. The Fuliet Warrior herself, however, was not so lucky. Cutting off the end of the tail had caused droplets of magma-like blood to fly around her as well, and one of the drops landed on her shoulder and almost instantly burned through. Barely stifling a scream of her own as she felt horrible, burning pain feel like it was trying to "melt" its way through her, she ripped off her entire upper clothing except for her simple braissere…but even before she could she already had a new second-degree burn…maybe a third degree. What more, her clothing had been soaked with cold water. Without it…she had lost a good deal of her "protection". Yug himself, naturally, wasn't happy about what had just happened, and instantly snapped his head around and began to fire off columns of flame at her again.

Quickly, Ceja took off. She struggled to call to mind the fastest and lightest animals of Fuliet and use them in her movements. As a result, she dashed right past the first column of heat, nimbly leapt over the second, and darted, pivoted, and bounded about the third. However, she couldn't keep her focus this time. The pain required a great deal of concentration to put down, and even the cast off heat "lapped up" her cold water protection, to the point where she soon felt like she would burn again… If that wasn't enough, the monster soon realized its "shooting gallery" approach wasn't working, and began to thrown in lashes from its tail as well, forcing Ceja to dodge and leap more than ever…and know she couldn't keep it up for too long…

_I must strike…strike now while I still have enough cold water on me to do so… Think of that monster from Nyx Gaia…_

As Ceja bit back her pain further and struggled to remember the move of the behemoth and "apply" it to herself, Yug abruptly snapped its whole body around and simply leapt at her like a savage predator, again belaying its size and mass and surging forward with a mass of heat, fire, and force. Its body seemed to heat further as it did so…as if, even if it missed, it intended on burning Ceja alive. And the move was so fast, she couldn't dodge as before. She lost her focus, and ended up doing a weak leap forward, more of a tumble, and instead crashed down onto all fours on the street as the massive, burning beast slammed into the ground behind her, claws outstretched. It missed…but immediately she was covered in the horrible heat, and the impact of the beast alone nearly jarred her into collapsing again. As it tightened its claws into the pavement, it quickly snapped its head around and lashed out, meaning to strike and finish her…

Yet, amazingly, it was too slow. From her "all fours" position…Ceja suddenly snapped up and leapt right at the beast even harder and faster, much like a behemoth's own "counter strike" would have done. Before Yug's jaws could reach her, she intercepted it first ahead of time, and used the combination of its own power as well as the fact she was holding her own axe blade out to let the creature's own surge drive the weapon deep and hard into the monster's snout, enough to where fresh magma blood poured out all around it, nearly gushing from it. In a split second, the last of the water was evaporated and Ceja's body began to burn again, forcing her to quickly leap back before she could get hurt anymore…but even this was done just as a proper behemoth, snapping back with the same lightning speed, and ripping the axe free. She landed where she had been a moment later, in fresh pain, dizzy from heat, and her old injuries hurting more than ever…and, as a result of all of this, sprawling back on the ground.

As she struggled to tough through her pain to get up and soak herself again, Yug reared back and snapped its head around furiously, spreading molten blood all around it and scratching angrily at its face. The Fuliet warrior, while trying to rise, forced herself up like a crab and struggled to scoot back, trying to avoid its wrath. Yet even as she did…the monster suddenly "came out of it", and glared down angrily. She didn't freeze thanks to her warrior's mentality, but she did feel fear ripple through her when it did this. It moved to lunge again, this time, no doubt, planning on just smashing her flat under its flaming body. And she didn't even have her proper footing. With that in mind, she did the only other thing she could do. It might have been a "useless" gesture, and it wasn't nearly as strong as she wanted…which meant she had to do it fast to hopefully use "surprise" to her advantage. Moving as fast as she could, she snapped the Rune Axe up and flung it like a tomahawk straight for the head of the monster.

The idea with such an abrupt move was not power, for she hadn't the proper leverage for that, but to hopefully be so fast the beast wasn't expecting it and couldn't move. And sure enough, it did seem to be too stunned at first to move out of the way of the whirling axe. But before it could land on its face, the beast abruptly pivoted its head to one side, out of the way. For a second, Ceja despaired, knowing it would move in again in a second…

However, Yug wasn't quite fast enough. As he tried to move his head, the blade whizzed by, and proceeded to slice off the tips of some of its feathery "frills". Only about a foot worth, granted…and the axe, too lazily thrown to even go straight, soon spun only a few more times before it toppled to the ground behind Yug and landed lamely, well out of reach. But in spite of that, Ceja's blow seemed to have been far more successful. Not only did the attack make Yug cry out again and stagger, and raise a flaming claw from the frills…but Ceja noticed that blood flowed through them a great deal too.

And not blood like before. This was black…

It began to make her think…

Unfortunately, her thinking may have costed her, as the beast again recovered quickly, and snapped back to her in greater rage than before. Finally, it charged forward, and she had been so distracted by the unexpected effectiveness of her last move she hadn't risen. She struggled to do so again now, but it was too late…

However, the attack never came. The monster abruptly reared up in fresh pain…courtesy of Jalab. The monk had reached the fire hydrant on the opposite side of the street, and proceeded to slice that one open as well. As it gushed forth, he first soaked his wound to stop all of the burning, and then soaked the rest of himself afterward. Although the wound was still bad, he forced himself to "compartmentalize" the pain and tore after Yug again. Now, as it moved to attack Ceja once more, he ripped off his outer tunic, wrapped it around one fist to create a cold, wet "boxing glove"…before dropping to the ground when he had sufficient momentum and shooting underneath the beast in a slide. Since heat rose, fighting above it was horrendous…but sliding below it, one could get within a much closer distance before the fire became too much. Underneath it, he immediately drove his fist forward and, using his one physical move he could afford, smashed it again and again into one part of his body in his "multiple fist" technique…enough to bash out more sections of coals and fire from it.

The end result made Yug rear up in pain again and go to one side…seeing Jalab underneath it. Roaring in anger, it quickly tried to stomp him flat…but Jalab was faster by crying out again, slamming the Whale's Whisker down to his side, calling forth his aura, and using the "recoil" to launch him out of the way of the flaming foot. Taking advantage of this, Ceja quickly shot to her feet and ran off and around the beast the "long way", struggling to get back to her weapon. As for Jalab, he snapped around and returned to his feet, and soon cried out further as he sent one "air blade" after another at Yug. The monster wanted to surge forward, but was too close…and instead was forced to constantly snap its head and body to one side even as it tried to move in to land the final blow. It couldn't dodge otherwise. Ceja, meanwhile, shot around behind it, pausing only for a moment to spot some of its "black" blood. She noticed, by now, that the "magma" blood was slowly cooling and starting to resemble the black pieces. Not only that, she actually risked extending her hand and touched a patch of the black material as she passed.

No burns resulted. The blood was a bit warm, but no more than real blood. She slowly began to realize something at that.

At any rate, she kept running for her axe as Yug reared up, hissed a bit, and then lashed out to try and strike at Jalab again. At first, the beast had to abort it at the last moment, to avoid another deadly slice of chi hurled at him from the monk. It was too close this time, and the reptilian monster hissed as a "cheek" was sliced open by the assault. Yet it didn't dart back too far…and immediately used the pain to push itself to strike again, lowering its head slightly and going for Jalab's side as he spun around to prepare another blade. Its intention was to lash out at him while his back was turned and bite into him when he came around…

Unfortunately, for the monster, Jalab was a bit more prepared than that. As it came forward, the monk _did_ snap around…but faster this time, and with his staff fully extended. As Yug opened its jaws wide…the Whale's Whisker lashed out and struck it in the fang, bending it askew from the sheer force. Again, Yug reared back in pain. Yet this time, Jalab didn't give it the "luxury" of standing around. His aura flared again as he quickly brought his power to bear as fast as he could, before aiming again and firing yet another beam. As the monster recoiled…the beam hit it at just the right time to knock it back with more force, unbalancing the monster all together. The end result was that the huge, flaming, serpent creature lost its footing on its bad leg, and toppled over all together to slam into the street.

It didn't stay down long, but even laying on the ground like this, it was stunned momentarily. Ceja quickly took advantage of it. By now, she had claimed her axe again and, tightening the grip, stopped only long enough to soak herself again before barreling straight for the beast. It was still shedding a horrendous amount of heat, but the water protected her long enough to do one move. While the monster was still on its back, she called to mind the abilities of a Fuliet Sauron and immediately concentrated, swallowing her pain and bringing her power to bear…before she launched herself over it in a horizontal bound.

As she did, she swung her axe blade out and around her, turning her entire body plus the axe into a "tomahawk", and slicing out and across the belly of the beast. A two meter long, half meter deep cut resulted as she went over it, spilling out more burning blood in its wake.

As for Ceja, she managed to "stick" her landing perfectly on the other side…and immediately took off, for the beast began to thrash about and rage in more pain than ever, spreading more of its deadly, molten blood all over and hissing and spitting angrily, casting its hot venom around as well. Jalab was forced to shoot back as well to avoid being tagged by it, and the Fuliet Warrior didn't look back. By now…she was in pain and tired. Just that one move had made her spend so much time over the beast that she was "dry" again already. She knew she and Jalab couldn't fight it for much longer. All they were really doing was making it mad, after all, not seriously hurting it or incapacitating it… Besides…it was still moving too fast for her plan that was now forming…

With that in mind, Ceja, finally at a good distance, snapped around back to Yug even as it began to rise again, still spilling blood. As it did so, she quickly jammed the blade of her axe into the ground, folded her hands in front of her, and then closed her eyes and concentrated. She may have not been good at magic…but she had gotten fairly good at summoning at this point. After only a moment, the sigil materialized around her, and the gray skies, which had already been turning darker as it was, darkened further. A moment later, the black portal opened…and coming out from it, shining as an icy blue light in the gray world, was Shiva.

Not wasting any time, the Guardian Force immediately swept her hand around, and the air about her grew deathly cold. Ceja and Jalab could literally see the "rippling" air rapidly still and become calm, indicating the loss of heat. A moment later, and shards of ice began to form about her, just as Yug finally got up. The flaming monster looked to her…and, just as it had for the water before, froze where it was. It hissed lowly and dangerously, but didn't make a move. For a moment, the beast looked about. A hydrant was severed to the north and to the south…and now this ice woman blocked its path to the west. Only one was remained.

As Shiva swept her hand forward, and let a shower of deadly diamond dust rain down in Yug's direction, the flaming monster snapped about and barreled down the remaining street. The ice struck the ground and froze it, making it hiss and cool from how much it had been heated, but none of the ice shards hit the monster itself. It was running too fast.

Ceja wasted little time. Even as Shiva was still finishing her spell, she snapped around and began to take off for Yug as fast as she could. "Quickly!" She shouted to Jalab. "Follow it!"

Jalab snapped about, a bit confused, but doing as Ceja said. The two were soon racing after Yug. Normally, that wouldn't have been nearly enough. The beast was too large and fast even for them, from strides if nothing else. However, Jalab wasn't sitting idle either. As he ran, he quickly chanted as well, before his own aura ignited. Not a Guardian Force this time, but, instead, a spell that surrounded both with rings of spinning light that were bright red…a Haste spell. He wasn't the best caster in the world himself, but enough for this. The two immediately tripled in speed…enough to begin to not only maintain distance with Yug, but actually slowly start to close it.

Yet even from a distance, the two saw that Yug was nearing another intersection, and even began to slant one way with the intention of going north again. Obviously, it meant to keep going on to its destination from here…

Just as it was about to turn, however…Jalab and Ceja alike caught a glimpse of something small…one of the Fuliet warriors on the street to the side of one of the fire hydrants. As it neared…the warrior suddenly lashed out with his weapon and sliced the end off of the hydrant, sending out a torrent of water across the length of the road. At the same time, one on the road leading south did the same.

As Yug neared, it actually slowed for a moment, seeing that its intended path was barred with water. Letting out another hiss, it continued to run on its current pathway, having no other choice.

The monk's eyes widened as he understood. "Herding it!"

"We use similar methods to lure big hunts into narrow passes to kill them!" Ceja shouted back. "I told my people to drive the monster toward that building that had the 'refrigerants' inside it! Once there, we can hopefully kill it by covering it with them…or at least stall it long enough to destroy it by striking its weakness!"

"Weakness?" Jalab asked, seeming surprised that Ceja had found one.

"Those feathery gills!" She shot back. "First chance you get, cut them off! But hurry! We have to get ahead of it if we are to cover it with the cooling liquids!"

Jalab didn't argue anymore. He simply ran after Ceja.

As the two struggled to outstrip the monster and slowly closed the distance, the plan proceeded. The Fuliet warriors continued to slice off hydrants just as Yug arrived. In doing so, the monster was always halted from going further north, and had to keep being driven to the east. It did so for one, two, and three blocks…always being herded on. As the two ran harder and faster after it, slowly catching up to it from behind, and gradually starting to feel its "heat" again, they looked forward and saw that there was indeed a "non-standard" building at an intersection that was getting closer, and before it…towers that looked like giant tankers for storing chemicals. It seemed like their location. Yet as Ceja and Jalab just began to start running under the tail region…she noticed the plan had potential for foul-ups…

For one thing, the Fuliet warriors weren't nearly as fast as her. In fact, as they ran along, some of them were still running themselves to get into position, and were winded from having run down the street for four blocks. Some were still visibly getting into position as Yug charged…and now that they were to the critical "last part", to drive it out of the last intersection, Ceja saw that the last group was still running hard and only now turning to the corner. She soon realized it would be a "race"…to try and see which individual would get there first. Yug was quickly coming up to the turn himself, and getting ready to snap around it quickly. Apparently, the monster had enough intelligence to know that it needed to beat the Fuliet warrior from stopping it in time…and it would be closer…

Ceja actually felt herself grow nervous as she began to see around the corner…only to see the out-of-breath warrior still staggering toward the hydrant. Moments later, Yug reached the corner. It began to turn around, moving to try and outstrip the water. Yet a split second before it could, the warrior, realizing he wouldn't make it, raised his bow, knocked an arrow, and fired it with the tremendous force of one of the Fuliet warrior's bows such that, in spite of being a seemingly "mere arrow", it struck the cap on the hydrant…and immediately broke it off, letting out a stream of water right in front of Yug. The Fuliet Warchief was enthused for a moment…

…Before she turned to terror.

Yug was going too fast. It tried to stop…but the momentum carried it to and through the jet of water. When the liquid struck its leg, it immediately hissed and roared in the most pain it had shown yet. She could see steam billowing off of the leg…and, in addition to that, the very "flesh and bone" of the creature turned black and brittle and began to snap and flake off. The end result was as if someone had run into a "trip line". Yug suddenly spilled forward…and smashed down heavy and hard into the street. He dragged a few feet afterward…but then halted…well on the other side of the fire hydrant. Jalab and Ceja turned the corner soon afterward, seeing the flaming beast belching smoke and heat as it melted into the road.

For a moment…Ceja hoped that it was crippled at least. Its one leg was black and damaged around the ankle, after all. Yet as the monster lay there, it began to make deep "breathing noises"…and, for a moment, the gills of the monster itself began to glow slightly. Soon after, the leg began to "heat up" again, turning red and molten slowly, and the beast growled before it started to gets its legs underneath it while simultaneously pushing and readying to move again.

"It is rising!" Jalab shouted. "Have to stop it now!"

Ceja readied her axe, trying to pick out one of the gills to go for…but it was no good. The monster was too far ahead of her and keeping its head low until it was up to its feet. She didn't have a good shot. And it was already starting to increase its speed again even as it just managed to get its hind claws underneath it… Jalab's aura began to flare up again, obviously meaning to try and strike it to distract it at least…but Ceja saw they were already in closed quarters in the lane as opposed to the intersection. And there were no more readily available hydrants that could be used to drive it back to the building with the chemicals… What could be done now? They didn't have time to set up again, or any way of giving commands… The only true solution now seemed to try and be to cut its gills while she could…

Yet as she looked to its head and tried to find a way…she spotted something.

At the end of this lane was a t-intersection. But right at the intersection was another hotel building…similar to the one that she and the others had rested in for a few days to recover…

At once, she looked to the roof, and got an idea.

"Sir Tierras!" She shouted.

While still charging, Jalab looked to her. "My lady!"

"You must lure the monster to the base of that hotel and hold it there!" She shouted. "Between you and myself…I only trust that you have the power to do so!"

Jalab actually looked away from the beast for a moment to Ceja on hearing that. She turned back to him…and gave a small smile. He held for only a moment, but then smiled back and gave a firm nod.

"With my life." He stated.

Without another word, he snapped forward, planted his feet, and fired off another beam. This time, he aimed it right for the still-healing leg of Yug, and on impact, more molten fragments were blown clear. Bellowing in anger, Yug stumbled and fell to one knee momentarily. It growled angrily for only a moment…before it whirled around in a flash and surged forward in this new direction, leaping right at Jalab with its entire body lunging out to either crush him, rend him, or incinerate him. It wasn't wasting time glaring or roaring anymore...just going to kill whatever hurt it. As frightening at the sight was…Ceja forced herself not to stay for it. She didn't have the time. Using the power that Jalab had given her in his spell…she instead snapped forward like a shot, pushing more power into her that she didn't know she had, and barreled straight for the intersection.

As for Jalab, he cried out again as he snapped his staff around and fired a beam behind him…again using the power of the recoil to send him streaming like a rocket out and right underneath the beast as it came down, "shooting the gap" between its legs. As the monster landed, it tore the street to shreds beneath it. Its heat seemed greater than before, instantly melting the bits of pavement into blacktop "goo", and tearing it to shreds as it whirled around to glare down on Jalab. The monk himself planted his legs and stopped, although his aura was still blazing, and he soon sent out more of his chi "blades" in an attempt to cut or wound the monster.

Yet Yug himself was "toughing through" this time. Immediately, the beast continued to barrel straight for him. No more dodges. Each slash that went into it opened more of its raw magma blood, but it continued to surge at Jalab, claws out, ready to rend and tear him to bits. On seeing this, Jalab aborted his attacks quickly, and instead raised the Whale's Whisker and began to spin it violently to generate the shield. A moment later, a flaming claw swung out for it. With a clash of sparks and magma that went all around Jalab, surrounding him with intense, burning bits of heat, and a force that jarred his arms and forced him back, nearly flinging him to the ground, the swipe was deflected. However…it took all of Jalab's remaining power and focus to do so. And had he not had his new weapon, it wouldn't have mattered. Not letting up for a moment, the monster bellowed and swung out again…and again after that, soon hammering blows at Jalab furiously to knock him aside. In response, the monk quickly backpedaled and began to shift his staff one way and another, struggling to fend off the attacks. Success was limited…for the monster kept slashing, whipping, and tearing at him, trying to smash him flat and forcing him to move back just as fast and hard as he struggled to defend. No other person could have done it. The combination of the Mirage Belt and his own chi-enhanced strength was the only thing that kept him alive…but even doing that was soon putting sufficient force on his limbs to risk ripping them clean off…

Ceja wouldn't look behind her even as Jalab and Yug neared her more quickly than she hoped. She reached the front of the hotel, but didn't bother going inside. Shifting her axe around and taking a few seconds to adjust it to the strap behind her, so that it was now attached securely to her body, she called to mind the same Kaiser Raidens she had seen before…and began to mimic them. Moving like an expert ape, she quickly leapt into the air and sailed upward three stories before seizing a narrow awning just as she came down. She held on tight from there, dangling only a moment, before yanking her legs up and bracing them against the wall of the building. From there, she launched herself up into a somewhat deeper window frame another floor upward. She launched again from there, leaping to another one that was two floors above. One of her hands slipped, and she nearly cried out on reaching it…but the other hand held and, aside from a painful jerk, she remained there, and quickly pulled up to keep ascending…

Yug continued to thrash again and again against Jalab, the heat rising…and continuing to bake him as it moved its limbs in closer. The monk grit his teeth through it, but one could see his skin progressively browning, and smell the beginning of burning. In spite of all of his power and enhancements, it was honestly inconceivable that he was able to keep standing and fighting against the monster. Literally every strike jarred his wrists more painfully and knocked him further back with dreadful force. Yet somehow, he managed to keep himself standing up and continuing to deflect each new hit. It seemed he was running on nothing other than raw determination…but somehow he was able to get up each time he was violently smacked and knocked back. Although sweat poured from his brow and his muscles burned, he continued to twirl the staff before him and intercept each hit for as long as he could…

Unfortunately, he got a bit slower with each new strike…and he was being forced back into the intersection now, nearly the wall of the hotel itself…where he could go no further… All the while, Ceja continued to climb…

Finally, it happened just as the monk was almost to the wall. As Jalab struggled to recover from the latest blow and intercept it, Yug lashed out with its claw once more…and with a mild cry, the monk lost his grip on his weapon all together. The Whale's Whisker was knocked clear and clean away from him, sending spinning down the street to his right, before landing and clattering with a loud, hollow sound that somehow rang out in spite of the growling and ferocity of his opponent. Yug, seeing its chance, opened its mouth wide, still having the bent fang, and, fire roaring from its lips, it shot forward to try and engulf the monk in one bite…

As for Ceja, she reached the top of the building. It was a "slanted" roof…and so the last leap was a bit tricky. Still…she managed to grab on, and with a bit of effort, yanked both herself and her axe over the edge. Once on the ledge, she quickly went over the railing and landed…on a beachside patio, just as she expected from what she had seen at the other hotel. It seemed as if the people who lived in urban areas preferred that their temporary housing locations came complete with certain amenities…

Such as a fully filled swimming pool on top of the building...like this one had.

Immediately, Ceja looked back down to the street. As she did, Jalab, giving out one last cry, fired a beam with his bare hands straight into the mouth of Yug. The beam had such force that it actually slowed the head practically to a halt. Yet in spite of that…the monster kept pushing in. It was slow, but it was gaining ground. And as it continued to bring its head down lower, the heat pouring off of it grew worse and worse…again not only surrounding Jalab with a burning sensation, but making it harder to breathe…

The Fuliet warrior recoiled at that and quickly undid her axe, running back along the patio to a space roughly in between the edge of the building and the swimming pool. She only had one chance at this…and she was hardly an engineer or a "tapper". This had to work…or Sir Tierras would die, as well as many within the city.

As soon as the axe was out, she turned herself to the building edge over Yug, and grasped her axe hard. She closed her eyes and focused again, trying to recall the move of the Tonberries again…the ability to strike something within its "core". As she did, for the first time in a long while, she found herself saying a prayer to her ancestors that this would succeed. Then, with all the force and power she could muster, channeling the "style" of the Tonberry, she raised the Rune Axe high over her head…and slammed it down with the sound of a blow that echoed loud and long throughout the skyline for a mile in all directions.

The blow was the most powerful that Ceja had ever dealt…so much that she was immobilized for a few moments afterward. However…it had its proper effect. Immediately, the patio fractured wildly from the site of the axe swipe, expanding not only outward but downward as well. It rippled fast through the entire coating of concrete and the superstructure as well, moving all the way out to the edge of the building…before bits of material began to rain down. Fragments snapped loose one after another, until it caused a "domino effect" that made the entire section of building began to rain down. Ceja herself, grunting, for she was stiff as well as in pain now, quickly leapt off of her growing fracture and tried to run to the non-broken-parts of the roof…just as the cracked reached one corner of the pool and expanded into them.

As they loosened, the effect was instantaneous. The thousands of gallons of water immediately pushed, and, within only a few seconds, the transmitted force pushed out the entire section of roof, bit by broken bit. The water behind it immediately surged out as well, soon pushing the section of railing, flooring, tile, and everything else out over the edge…and freeing the entire contents of the pool to rush out of this newly-created channel and roar down the side of the building…straight for Yug.

As Ceja moved to the unbroken edge of the building and, without fear, leapt over the edge and began to "bounce" down to the ground on awnings…Yug cut off its breath and turned its head skyward as building chunks began to pelt it from above. The bigger ones made it shift a bit, although none appeared to hurt it. But with its fire and its own attempt to engulf Jalab cut off, the monk quickly rolled to one side, shot to his feet, and darted out of the way…and he did so just in time, for Yug's own serpentine pupils seemed to narrow as it saw, behind the mass of building material, a torrent of water coming down upon it. It struggled to rise…but it was too late. It barely managed to even stand before the massive amount of water slammed down on top of it.

A sound of great cracking and hissing rolled out, mixed with serpentine roars of agony, as Yug reared up and thrashed…or, at least, tried too. It failed in that regard, for as the water slammed down on it, its body rapidly began to blacken and cool. And in the process, it also grew stiff and rigid again. The slightest move sent it into more pain, for huge sections of its blackened body snapped off now, letting raw magma blood flow beyond…which, in turn, was also cooled by the stream of water. It was soon immobilized under the torrent, and screeched out louder and louder as it continued to get battered by the water. The monster cast up so much steam, and hissed and cracked so much, one would almost have thought it was boiling.

Yet Jalab got clear and snapped back to it. In spite of his own pain and soreness, he quickly readied his staff. As for Ceja, she continued to leap down from edge of a window to edge of a window, until she cleared the fracture at the top of the building and began to round it again, moving to the front so she could clearly see the beast, and then began to lower further. The water from the pool gradually ran out, although the steam continued to come from the monster, and it continued to hiss and spit. Yet at that point, both waited for a moment. It was lost in a steaming fog, and it was so drenched that it had to boil off the water first before the steam could become visible. However, both kept their weapons ready…waiting for their opening…

Finally, the steam cleared as the water began to evaporate. The monster was still "cold", however, and remained black and rigid. It looked almost like a statue or a bizarre, black sculpture made of volcanic rock. Yet there was one part of it not rigid at all…its feathery gills, which continued to move freely. However, that lasted only a moment. Soon, it began to shift again. More blackened pieces of it fell off as a result, and the sound of heavy deep breathing, like gasps, began to come from it. The gills started to slowly turn red again…and, along with it, the core of its body…

That was as far as it got.

Ceja gave a war cry as she leapt from the last few stories of the building and, with all of the power she could muster, flung her axe right for one of its feathery gills, using it as a tomahawk once again. Jalab was even more direct. Shifting the staff to his good arm, he charged forward, and was so bold to actually run right up to the flank of the immobile creature and charge straight up its still-smoldering body. It was hot, and more than warm enough to burn…but not instantly. Nothing was able to stop him or impede him before he ran and leapt up its legs, along its hunched back, and up to the other side of its head, leapt forward and over its shoulder, and, as he did so, generated one last arc of aura at close range at the other set of gills.

A pair of slices later, that sent a spray of magma blood as well as black blood flying, and the two sets of gills flopped to the ground, oozing out more of the foul material.

In spite of being nearly immobile, somehow Yug was in enough pain or distress from that move that, to the tune of what sounded like hundreds of branches of wet kindling snapping, it rose to its feet and let out a horrible sound. It might have been meant to be a roar…but it was harsh and cut off. It sounded more like a gag. In the process of rising, it snapped loose sections of its body as thick around as small tree trunks…letting more of its blood fly and more of its insides…but it didn't care. It only tried to gasp more and harder than ever. As a result…sprays of blood came from its neck. They were glowing at first…but quickly dimmed to black. What more, its fresh blood was turning black too, and hardening and solidifying.

Ceja landed on the road not far from where Jalab landed, and she, although unarmed, moved to his side and readied herself along with him. They both looked to Yug as it continued to rear up and move, tearing up its own body more and more, parts of its splintering off and breaking left and right, but also growing blacker and blacker again. Even the parts that had begun to heat started to die out again. As it continued to gasp…growing weaker each time, the monster actually started to hunch over and bring its rapidly desiccating limbs around itself…shuddering all over. It looked as if it was getting cold…freezing even. Yet with one more step…all of the hardened muscles and sinews from its bottom leg snapped loose, and its foot became dead. It spilled over afterward…not making the slightest attempt to stop itself this time…and smashed down on the street again, this time with sufficient force to fracture its remaining limbs clean through. It let out one last gurgle…sounding like a violent shiver…and then went rigid completely. A gasp issued from its neck…and no more.

The Fuliet Warchief and the monk stared at it for a long time. They didn't know how long they stood there watching it…but as they did, it failed to move at all. The air around grew cooler and cooler, including about the beast. In truth, it was slowly resembling a smoldering, dead log. As even its wake that it cast up behind it dimmed and faded as well, the sounds of footsteps in the street rang out. After a time, Ceja and Jalab looked to it…and saw the surviving Fuliet warriors incoming. They looked back to Yug, but the beast didn't move at all. At last…they accepted it was dead.

At this, Jalab turned to Ceja. "Fiend destroyed."

She gave a nod. "Yes."

He continued to stare. "Feathery parts…"

She looked to him at that, and he motioned around his neck, to indicate the gills that Yug had. "Cut off…monster die. How you know?"

Ceja looked back a moment, but then smiled. "I did as my uncle wished for me…I thought about the beast in a different way."

Jalab turned his head slightly, confused at that. Ceja proceeded to explain.

"Going into the battle, I thought of it as any large predator or hunt that I had ever been on…only bigger. Yet as time went on, I began to see how much it was like fighting a roaring bonfire. A fire needs fuel and heat…but it must also have air or it will die. Then I saw its gills. I know from the newts of the Fuliet streams that they must breathe through gills such as those…but I noticed they were different from the rest of it. They were cool, and had blood that was cold. That was when I began to think that perhaps the fiend brought in air through those gills to stoke the fires within itself. It seemed to be more in pain from them being sliced than the rest of it. Remove the gills…and the creature has no way to 'fan its fire'. And since it is living flame…without fire, it dies."

Jalab took all of this in. When Ceja was finally done, he thought about it only a moment more, then smiled as well and gave a nod.

"…Very wise." He stated. "You are wise leader, Ceja Dracocorazon. You think as my order does. See world in more than one way. See new way to solve same problem."

Ceja's smile ebbed a bit at that, but she continued to look at Jalab. After a moment, she turned and looked to the warriors approaching, still coming toward her. She slowly inhaled and exhaled. Her lips moistened.

"…I can go into any battle without fear, Sir Tierras. Yet I fear what may come to me now. I can see now that even if we slay the Sorceresses, everything in this world will change. Fuliet will have to change with it. But I wonder how many of my people would prefer to die clinging to the past than go through the pain necessary to adapt and survive in the future. I wonder how many of them will look to me to 'lead them' in that regard." She looked back to the monk. "…I barely understand how to live in the 'modern world' myself. How can I bring anyone else into it?"

By now, she had a hint of fear in her voice, even if only a little. However, Jalab seemed to see that, and smiled in response…the same way he always did: innocent, calm, and pleasant. He extended a hand and placed it on her shoulder. He would do no more…not in front of her people…

Not yet.

"New teacher always learn more from student than student learn from teacher at first." He told her. "Take time. Do not think you alone must carry people, for others will carry you…now and always."

Ceja hesitated. She thought about this for a time. For a few moments, so long as her face was away from the Fuliet warriors…she let herself become soft and pleasant. She let her hardness fail her, and simply gave Jalab a gentle smile. For a long time, she simply gave him a soft, warm look.

Then, at last, she inhaled, closed her eyes, and turned back to the incoming warriors. When she opened them again, she was once more the fierce Warchief of the Fuliet tribes. Jalab let his hand withdraw, and too became once more calm, controlled, and "official". As they both did so, the distant sound of Stratoaevis engines roared out. Apparently…they had figured out the monster was dead, and were coming around.

"We cannot afford to rest here." She stated. "We need to treat our wounds and then move to where we will meet the others…and hope that we encountered the deadliest one or, if not, that they can fight more strongly than we could. Esthar is safe now, but there are three other cities in the world still to rescue…"

Jalab looked once more to Yug's body as the warriors finally began to come to a stop in front of them, and then back to Ceja. "Monster made of fire."

"And Cybus said the others were earth, wind, and water. All can be destructive…but I doubt they can be as bad as fire itself…or at least I _hope_ they can't…"

"Even if that true," Jalab darkly responded. "Fiend fear water because cannot make fire if wet. Need consume own body and other things to make more fire…become strong."

Ceja turned to him at that, and saw the monk's face was grim. He gestured around him.

"World not filled with fire…but world filled with earth, wind, and water." He shook his head. "Other three…become stronger from everything."

The Fuliet Warchief thought about that for a moment, but didn't seem to react. As she looked back to her people, not answering Jalab, and instead telling them to move to one side to prepare for the arrival of the aircraft…she never let anyone get the slightest inclination that Jalab's words had sent a cold feeling running down her spine.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those of you out there who read the original, you probably noticed similarities in this battle to the previous one featuring Yug. These other three battles should be somewhat similar as well.<p> 


	69. Shaddamehl of Earth

Quaren and Cid were now on the bridge of the _Ragnarok._ It was the first time either of them had been there and, to be honest, it was the first time Commodore Leila had let any "civilians" on it in her career since taking the ship. To be honest…it stank. After all, unlike the proper decorum and duty of the Esthar's Hawks and the associated transport service, the pirates pretty much just did whatever. They brought books, food, drink, alcohol, weapons, drugs, and whatever else they wanted and threw them all over the place. Leila at least made sure that the controls remained clean…but that only meant the small "spheres of influence" around each console where the pirates worked were clean. Everything else around was piled high with knickknacks and garbage. The floor itself was cluttered with various items, including clothing and trash bags that had been used in a haphazard method to try and clean up the mess in a hurry, but then hadn't been properly disposed of. Needless to say, the whole area smelled musty and old. It didn't help that, unlike most groups they had been in so far, Leila had quite a few demi-humans working for her…not just Heck and Gill.

The former corporal had lucked out. Tay had been pretty much the only pirate who made sure to keep his station spic and span. It was probably why Leila trusted him as first mate. However, there were still numerous issues. One was that everything was set up for someone considerably smaller than Quaren, forcing him to adjust the console and remove "prostheses", of a sort, that allowed Tay to reach out-of-the-way buttons without rising from his chair. Not only that, but the fact of the matter was this interface wasn't in "beginner's mode" as the controls for the countermeasures on the _Excalibur_ had been. These were far more advanced, and they might not be able to afford the "defaults" this time. It was nearly impossible for the Esthar's Hawk to figure out.

That left Cid with the task of trying to not only learn the system himself, but then immediately give Quaren a "crash-course" in it. And since he had to learn the engineering basics of the massive aircraft carrier himself, that meant he continuously ran in between the main engineer's console and the weapon's console, relaying information. Needless to say, it wasn't terribly efficient.

Moginson, the "default" engineer, was pointing things out. "Alright, listen up, kupo. The Firebird cannons only get off one shot at a time and then need at least a one minute cooldown. The Etherbird cannons get off one shot at a time and take _three_ minutes to cool down, but require a reactor channel clearance from the engineering station because the cores can only handle five shots in that window of time before they need to coolupo for ten minutes, or can do sustained shots at once every five minutes. The Thunderbird cannons need a two minute cool down _but_ they fire in bursts of ten. If you fire them one at a time they only need a ten second cooldown, kupo. Got it?"

Cid hesitated a moment, but then nodded. "Got it." Immediately, he broke from the console and ran over to Quaren. Once there, he relayed the information.

"Alright, Firebird cooldown is one minute. Thunderbird is two minutes for a ten-shot burst or continuous every ten seconds. Etherbird is three minutes for five consecutive shots before a ten minute cooldown or once every five minutes, and you have to make sure to get engineering clearance."

"That's just the guns, though." Quaren protested. "What about rockets? How do I switch modes?"

"…I'll ask him."

Cid rose and quickly ran over to Moginson again. The scarred moogle sighed as he came back, and addressed him. "What is he confused on now, kupo?"

"He wants to know how to switch modes between guns and rockets."

"He shouldn't have to, kupo. You can fire conventional rockets so long as you have the clearance codes locked in and you're not firing the Perseus rockets. And I already told you how to do those. Is that what he's asking about, kupo?"

Cid paused a moment, then grimaced. "…I'll go check."

Moginson grumbled as he ran back over to Quaren.

"Are you asking about firing the Perseus rockets?"

"What? No…just conventional ones."

"You can fire those as long as you have the clearance codes locked in."

"Do I have to request the clearance codes or does the engineer do it himself and then send them over to me somehow?"

Cid hesitated, and then exhaled as he turned and ran back over to Moginson. The moogle gave him a frown as he returned.

"Yes?"

"How does he know which rockets are good to go?"

"It's on the display, kupo! All he has to do is launch the ones that are there! Or is he asking about what codes he needs to put in to access the navigation chips in the firing rockets?"

The engineer froze. He thought a moment.

Moginson facepawed. Right before Cid could take off to run back again, he shot out his other paw, grabbed his sleeve, and yanked him (with surprising force for a moogle) in front of the console, and then began to flap over to Quaren. "I'll handle _him_, kupo. _You_ keep studying the schematics on the console."

Grimacing, Cid leaned over and began to do so.

At first, the commodore was understandably annoyed at all of this. She wasn't used to much bantering going on within the bridge, and the more questions Cid and Quaren had, the more she began to wonder if they were as valuable "replacements" as she had been led to believe. Yet that faded now. Instead, she was focused in looking out the front "window" of the bridge…which was, in fact, not a window at all but a large, real-time, and high-resolution semi-panoramic holograph display that had been used from cameras outside to provide the illusion of "hovering windows" that would make up a standard bridge. Everyone could see them, and it made it look as if they were indeed looking outside of "magic windows" at this point to the surrounding sea. In particular…she was focused on a small green spot far and away in the middle of the deck.

She had been staring at it for a bit…and looking more and more annoyed.

Finally, as Moginson moved to "coach" Quaren, she passed her hand over to a set of hand-level controls, obviously meant for the convenience of the ship's captain, and pressed a button. Outside the ship, her voice immediately went on a blaring loudspeaker.

"Are you ready now or not?"

While on the bridge it seemed to be just a normal phrase, outside it echoed so loud and booming that the green speck jumped into the air once, and then whirled around. A moment later, a mic-received voice shouted over the bridge's speakers.

_"Don't do that! You're breaking my concentration!"_

"You've been 'concentrating' long enough!" The commodore snapped. "We've been waiting for an hour! We need to get there!"

_"Look, it's something that can't be rushed! Especially when you keep breaking my concentration!"_

"Are you going to teleport the ship or are we better off sailing there?"

_"Icy bitch…"_

"…I heard that, and on _my_ ship I can pretty much have anyone I liked sliced into chum. Maybe the fish would like more 'phosphorous' in their diet…"

_"Just move us out! It'll work better if the ship is in motion!"_

Leila switched off the control, and looked around her. "You heard him! Get the ship moving!"

Immediately, the pirates at the other stations went to work. Most of them were the operations, in particular starting up the main engines. Others began to throw other controls. Cid tried to keep an eye on the engineering console himself, looking for signs of activity and what was doing what to get a "feel" for the overall running of the ship. Yet even as everything went to work, and the ship itself began a dull "purr" before the engines started to roar to life, he gave a bit of a start as he heard what sounded like massive gunshots going off all around the bridge, one after another. In fact, he even leapt a bit and issued a yelp as they went off around him.

Several pirates looked to him, Moginson included. However, the former snickered in response, and the moogle merely shook his head. "You're too jumpy to be on a warship, kupo. You looked like you were going to piss yourself."

"What the heck was that?" Cid exclaimed, trying to suppress a whine in his voice. "It sounded like someone was shooting!"

"It was the last few charges, kupo." Moginson answered, pointing to the holographic windows. "We're casting off. Seekupo?"

The engineer looked in response, and was a bit amazed at what he saw. Outside the ship, the noise audible all around him and the ship shaking in response, he saw the two massive "floating supports" on either side of the _Ragnarok_ snap clean off. To be accurate, the remains of the one fell while the other came off all together…but still, it didn't change the fact that massive sections the size of aircraft carriers themselves broke off the ship and went into the water. The broken one immediately sank into the sea. The other remained floating for a bit, but then slowly began to turn over. As for what was left behind…the result was a sleeker, smoother "sword" of a ship. It was still far more massive than a regular aircraft carrier, but it was armed more like a battleship and "leaner" than ever. Soon afterward, the engines ignited more powerfully than ever, sending a resonating hum through the entire ship.

Leila actually grinned as she smacked her hand against the controls again. "Listen to that kitten purr…"

As she said this, hydraulic humming went out as a metal panel on the floor in front of her suddenly parted, revealing a cavity. A moment later, Cid watched as a steering column, complete with a more "archaic" wheel, raised from the floor and to breast level with her. She advanced and immediately took the handles, planting her feet and readying herself. She called out again soon afterward to one of the men in front.

"Mr. Finch."

The pirate turned in response.

"Please make yourself useful at navigation. My apologies, sir…but I'll be driving the _Ragnarok_ on this one. As this may be our last voyage, I'm afraid I may never get the chance again."

Finch merely saluted in response. "Aye, captain." He answered, before pulling himself off of his current console and moving to another. As he did, Cid could tell from the viewing window that the _Ragnarok_ was gaining speed quickly. Maybe not nearly as fast as the _Excalibur_, but definitely nothing to sneeze at either. Faster than the latest aircraft carriers, indeed…which was rather impressive given its size. He actually looked over the engineering readout for a moment in response, looking it all over. To his surprise, he noted that the engines were currently being rated at 110% capacity, and the main reactors were running in the 98-99% output. That made him rather tense.

"The values we're putting through the ship are too high! The reactor can't handle more than 95% output without taking some damage..."

"Where's your sense of adventure, kupo?" Moginson retorted from the console with Quaren…in spite of the fact that the corporal heard what Cid and immediately turned to him. The moogle himself left his side soon after and began to flap back toward the engineer console. "How far you plan on getting in life just 'playing it safe'? We don't give her all she's got now, when are we going to get the chance, kupo?"

"Start thinking like a pirate, mate." Leila answered as she took up the task of steering the ship. She made a few slight turns, just to start getting a feel for it, as she continued to talk. "This isn't just about the looting and contraband. When you don't live by rules, you go all in at every chance you get. Sure, you crash hard most of the time…but every once in a while when opportunity floats your way, you make it big time. How else you think this old girl survived that dragon from hell back in Sybenia?"

The engineer merely grimaced in response, as Moginson moved back up to him. He soon gestured to the weapons console. "You help that guy out, kupo. You learn quickupo enough. He's the one who's thinking too hard. Besides, I'm better suited here."

Cid paused a moment, before just barely suppressing a hint of a frown. He nodded, and then turned and moved up to the weapons console, soon coming in behind Quaren. The corporal was continuing to look over all of the ins and outs of the console. Being a "crash course", he didn't have time to learn all of the details, but he was still covering all that he could. And he seemed to be doing as much "practice" as possible too.

The engineer, as he moved in behind him, planted his feet and looked down a bit, over his console. After looking around, checking to see that the _Ragnarok _was gaining more speed and leaving its remains behind along with the remains of the dock…as well as the fact that the sky was getting darker and stormier once again, indicating something was "on the move", he let out an exhale. He then looked to Quaren.

"…Are you getting it?"

Quaren paused a moment. He rarely talked to Cid directly, and vice versa, after all…unless it came to the current crisis. After a moment, he gave a nod. "I think I got it now…trying to figure out how to do the rest myself."

Cid nodded. "Good strategy. That's how I learned to be good at building."

The corporal continued to work. Cid, on his part, watched the controls a moment. Yet after a time, he moistened his lips, and bowed his head slightly. He looked up again soon after. He opened his mouth, then closed it. He tried to speak again a second later, but hesitated once more. Quaren was not aware of any of this, his back to him. Finally, Cid managed to choke it out.

"Can…can I ask you something?"

Quaren actually paused on hearing that. He looked back to Cid slightly.

The engineer paused for a moment before he could speak, moistening his lips, but finally looked to him. "Were...were they right about…me?" He finally said quietly.

The former Esthar's Hawk looked confused. "Huh?"

The engineer sighed. "…There's no need to try and cover it up. It's not a secret to me. I knew it ever since the day it was declared…" He bowed his head a bit. "I'm not really 'Sorceress Knight' material, am I? And I never was. So I was good at machines…big deal. I still can't cast a decent spell to save my life. Besides…I kind of failed the one thing a Sorceress Knight is _supposed_ to get right…" He murmured slowly. He held a bit, but then exhaled. "I know what Dael was saying…and I don't want to give up, but…does it really make a difference if I do or I don't? So I can fix machines here or do some damage there… None of it changes the fact that I'm still a useless wimp against the Sorceresses… Am I just a fifth wheel?"

Quaren was silent momentarily. After a bit, however, he grimaced slightly, and then looked back to the console. "…Maybe we're more like each other than it seems."

Now it was Cid's turn to look perplexed. Quaren exhaled as he kept trying to work.

"…I may have made it as an Esthar's Hawk, but the truth is I made it on marksmanship and 'guts'. Heck, I'd have been killed by my own military classmates if Dael hadn't defended me that one day… I didn't have anything else. I wasn't as thick skinned, I barely passed the basic physical requirements, and without a gun the other Esthar's Hawks pretty much turned me into a whipping boy in wrestling matches." He paused. "…But the worst thing of all…was that I joined the organization to try and prove that I didn't need to live in the shadow of my parents' money and the family name." He exhaled. "Look how that ended up… They may have been killed in that strike, and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"None of us could have." Cid interjected.

"…Somehow, I have the feeling Dael could have." Cid answered after a beat. "That's what I hate most of all. I'm a full Esthar's Hawk and a step away from being a commissioned officer…and yet Dael still has to be the one to get me out of things. She has to tell me what to do. She has to support me when I get confused. She even…" He hesitated, and finally admitted it. "…She even has to comfort me when I'm _scared_, for goodness sakes. If it wasn't for her leading me, then I couldn't do anything… Finally, at one point, I finally realized something about myself. I'm not a leader. I'm not a 'take-charge' person like her, and I don't have as much power or drive to go against danger and death as best as she can."

He paused again, and then seemed to draw himself up.

"And then I figured that may not be as bad as it sounds. Maybe I can't 'lead the cavalry' like Dael can…but I can make sure she always has a cavalry behind her. Maybe I can't give the orders…but I can make sure what she wants and needs done is carried out. Maybe I can't be the one who strikes down the target…but I can make sure she gets to the target. People think so much that if you're just a 'follower' or a 'helper', you're nothing because you're not the 'leader'. But one day…I realized that there are few leaders in this world, but there are hundreds…thousands of followers and helpers. And I realized that if all the leaders in the world didn't have people they could trust and rely on to get things done, or didn't have hundreds of people coming in and out of their lives just to give them a 'hand up'…they wouldn't be leaders at all...just people like everyone else.

"In the end…I guess that's good enough for me. Even if Dael is ultimately the only one of us that 'matters'…well, her and Bahamut…I know she never would have gotten where she was if I hadn't been backing her up and assisting her. And Dael knows that too…and she appreciates it. So I don't really care about anything else." He looked to Cid.

"And maybe neither of us helped those important to us when they needed us…but we're not dead yet. And right now, we're making a difference. Right now…this is our chance to save the world. Something that only _we_ can do, not Dael. So I'm not going to let it past. I'm not going to fail." He paused. "…And neither should you. Because if we win here…we save the planet. That means you carried out Faerio's hope."

Cid paused on hearing this, his jaw actually loosening. He had never thought of it that way before. Truth be told, he thought he was going to fail again at this point…after failing to help Faerio not once but twice. Yet as painful as her death had been, it did bring just a small measure of comfort. Now he couldn't feel like he was "doomed to fail" anymore. Not only that, but now he was in a place like this…in his element. He had to admit, confusing as the schematics were, he was learning quickly. He still remembered everything he had told Quaren about the console, as well as every detail Moginson had given him. No longer feeling the burden to "prove himself", he had inadvertently slipped back into his "element". But now…he realized that this was succeeded here…if he stopped this latest monster…then it would mean he had, in fact, saved the world…even if he only defended it from one threat out of many. After all, the one threat still could have led to its end…

_"Alright! I think I've got it…"_

Carbuncle's voice over the speakers snapped Cid out of his thoughts, and he and Quaren both looked up along with everyone else, including Commodore Leila. His voice seemed a bit strained now…like he was concentrating on something as he spoke, but he went on.

_"This is going to take a ton of the power I gathered and I'm not guaranteeing this ship will be in one piece…"_

"It better be, you mangy green lint." Leila snapped. "I'd rather fight a hundred of these giant monsters than go through what it took to steal it a second time."

_"Sheesh…you women… Everyone just hold on tight and try not to move around too much. Probably wouldn't hurt to pray to whoever, either…"_

One last exhale went off, and then nothing. However, both Cid and Quaren held on tight and fixed their eyes out the window at him. They had seen teleports before but…nothing like this, obviously. The rest of the pirates themselves held on tight and watched. One or two seemed to even use the remaining seat belts. Shortly thereafter, Cid began to feel the air about him change. It was similar to whenever a very powerful spell was used…how the air itself seemed to "charge". He had never felt it happen with a teleportation before, though…but then again it had never been this size. As he looked to the holograms, the air grew so tense that strands of hair on some individuals began to rise, and what looked like small flashes of electricity snaked across the bow of the ship. Just little ones…but bright enough to be seen. The images soon began to flicker too, followed by "pixels" seeming to move out of place…

That was as far as it got, however. Soon after, a brilliant flash of ruby light came from the small green dot, which moved out rapidly like a "light shockwave", rippling down over the entire front deck of the ship and quickly spreading out. Normally, it would happen so quickly there wouldn't be a chance to see anything…but this time Cid and Quaren alike were able to see it spread all up and down the ship, move all the way to the tower with the bridge, and see it move right through the walls and come forth to cover them to, before going off in a tremendous flash of light…

* * *

><p>Cid stumbled a moment later, and almost everyone did as well. For a brief moment, he had a sudden onrush of exhaustion and tiredness, making him dizzy. His muscles felt weak all of the sudden, and he nearly slammed into the ground, barely able to stop himself one one knee. Only Leila seemed to not falter…but that was due to her prosthetic legs. As for the ship, everything began to flicker. A few alarms went off…not major, but still present. Systems all over the ship flickered, and the monitors went out in a single snap.<p>

For a moment, there was silence, save for a few groans and moving around. Cid himself paused, thinking over his body and state. After all, based on what Carbuncle had said… Yet he felt nothing. The weakness, he realized, was from numbness, and he began to recover fairly quickly. His head had a feeling of some gap of being awake for a long time, but his brain began to adjust to that too. Soon he, along with many of the other pirates, began to rise again. The lights came back on for the most part, although some still flickered and others were dim.

At that, Leila gave a snap. "Alright, you rats…what are you waiting for? A wake-up alarm? Get this ship back online ten seconds ago!"

It seemed whatever bewilderment of confusion there was didn't compare much to the command of the pirate commodore. Immediately, everyone scrambled about getting their consoles in order. Even Quaren began to look over his own console, trying to get it online. It had gone on the fritz along with everyone else. Cid didn't have long to consider that, however, when he heard a sharp call behind him.

"Hey!"

The engineer turned in response, and found Moginson beckoning him.

"Give me a hand with these relays! The whole system is set high! Hurry before we get a current overload!"

Cid only blinked once, before rising and running over to the moogle. Soon, the two of them were getting down on the floor and prying open a service panel. Quaren himself soon came up dry, and turned to try and ask Cid for help, only to find he was already working somewhere else. Grimacing a bit, he turned back to his own console and tried to work on it a bit more.

In spite of all of this, within a minute's time, the lights were flickering back on to full brightness, and the holographic "windows" were coming back on line. One console after another came back on as Cid and Moginson began to reset the relays. Once everything seemed good on that end, the moogle moved back to the console and started placing calls to the engine room to see how they were doing there. As it turned out, much of the ship was "on-the-fritz", but it just as quickly began to come back online again. Cid actually earned a moment to go over and do a soft reset on the programming running the weapon's console, finally bringing it back online for Quaren. At this point, the images finally popped back up, and as they gained higher resolution, the radios came on too.

Outside, the area was definitely a bit darker. The ocean was churning a bit more, but only just enough to make it look different from the bay at Esthar. Just enough to make it clear that they were not in the previous spot. As the image continue to resolve, no land came in sight. When the commodore did a full panoramic look, she saw nothing in front of them or behind them either except for ocean. The ship was going back in motion after the hiccup in the engines, however, and she reached over to type on her own microcontrol.

"Hey! Green guy! Where are we?"

A moment of silence reigned afterward, with nothing but an empty channel. Cid looked up at this. Along with Quaren and Leila, they looked to the deck. It was still resolving…but even now they could tell there was no green shape on it. Both began to grow a bit nervous.

"Repeat…Carbuncle! Talk to me!"

There was another pause, shorter this time, before a pirate snorted.

_"Wastin' yer breath, commodore. The mate's 'out-to-lunch', as it were. Went flat like a stuffed toy after that flash died. We went out and brought him in. Kinda mumblin' 'bout booze and lassies at the moment."_

"Is he hurt?"

_"Nah…nothin' a hard drink or two and a wee nap shouldn't fix. He ain't gonna be able ta' do much right now, though."_

The commodore sighed. "Fine. Finch, where are we?"

"The satellites are still locking in…" The pirate answered. However, before Leila could give him an earful, he suddenly spoke up. "Wait…got a signal now… It's still generating the map for everywhere else, but I've got the latitude and longitude. Based on a regular map chart…" A moment later, the eyes of the navigator widened, before they finished a bit more quietly. "I'd say we're about a hundred and fifty miles from the coast of the Western Continent, Garrado side."

The other pirates looked up at that as well. Even though they knew that Carbuncle's goal had been to teleport them halfway around the world, the fact that, in the blink of an eye, they were on the other side of Gaia would be shocking to anyone.

"Well, it looks like it worked then. I suppose that's as good as we're going to get…the wrong way and we would have beached ourselves. Get that map online and give me where we are compared to the rest of the continent." She turned her head soon after. "Communications! What's on the horn?"

Cid managed to catch a look at this pirate, and he was soon unsettled to see the rather dark appearance on the face of the officer. He gave a very grim head shake.

"Nothin' pretty, sir. What few stations I can get…they're mostly screams or panic. Definitely nothing on the militia side, assuming they managed to get back up following what happened to Sybenia."

The commodore hissed. "Damnit, that's not good enough. It's not like we're a damn sci-fi starship that can just scan for damned 'life forms'. We need to know what's going on over there!" She snapped back to navigation. "How soon can we get the map up?"

The pirate shrugged helplessly. "We've never rebooted the entire system since we stole her! It could take a few hours!"

"We don't have that time." Leila retorted, before turning to Moginson. "She's barely going as fast as she could before we dumped her buoys! What's going on with the engines?"

"I'm still trying to get contact to most of the ship, kupo!" He responded. "Including the engineers! All I know is there's a lot of flooding in the reactor lines and it's going to take time to work out the purging!"

Leila let out another scowl afterward, and looked back to the monitors. "Biggest and best warship in the world, and we're more or less 'running blind' at the moment and not even close to the action…" She paused after that, seeming to consider everything for a few seconds. As for the crew, they continued to work and tried to reestablish all of the systems, but by now the "quick work" was done, and they were doing the slower stuff that would take more time. After a moment, however, she snapped her fingers and looked out again.

"Moginson…do we still have the _Apollo_ on board?"

The moogle looked up from his relay. "…Of course, kupo. Ol' Cal managed to crash land it on us before she bought the big one. Damn bullet had gone through a lung…"

"But the _Apollo _will still fly, won't it?"

He scratched his head a bit. "Hell, I don't know. It was only my last list of priorities to fixupo. But…" He hesitated, and then shrugged. "I think so. All of the bullet holes looked dermal. Scratched a hose or two at the worst and I patched up the landing gear quickupo. I think she was just trying to make sure we didn't lose her."

"Alright then." Leila answered. "I want you, Heck, and Gill to head out there. You're about to become our 'spy drone' for whatever is going on over there."

Moginson, however, frowned in response. "Look, commodore, kupo…I'm still head engineer on this boat and aside from this bridge we've got reduced or non-functionality in almost every wing of the ship following that teleport. I can't get on that thing."

"Well, all of the other pilots we had who could fly it are out on the Stratoaevises!" Leila retorted. She gestured to Quaren. "And it's not like I can put boy scout on that thing or I lose my one gunner! Granted, I guess we could do it with missiles alone, but if this guy is half the crack-shot I've been led to believe, I want someone manning the Firebirds and Etherbirds too!" She let out an exhale and thought a moment. "…I suppose _I _could do it."

Several pirates looked nervous on hearing that, and the moogle himself shook his head. "I wouldn't do that, commodore. I don't count on these bilge rats to even whiz properly when you're not around, kupo, especially on the bridge."

"If you know anyone else who can fly the _Apollo_, Mr. Moginson, you better start talking now." Leila retorted.

The moogle groaned. "It's too specialized of a craftkupo. The best we could get right now would be someone who could fly and adapt pretty easily to a new…"

He slowly trailed off, and looked to one side. After a moment, Leila looked in the same direction, as did Quaren. Not long after that, other pirates on deck began to turn as well. In moments, all eyes were on Cid, and he let out a visible swallow to see that…

* * *

><p>Cid was soon struggling to contain his anxiety. Considering everything he had gone up against, flying this small aircraft wasn't much of a challenge…right? Unfortunately, the craft seemed so flimsy he would have preferred to fly on the first model tested airship…the one that claimed the life of its inventor. It definitely had little in the way of armor, and he couldn't work its weapons…which themselves had been added on. The aircraft itself was more of a 'patchwork' plane, in fact…having been slapped together by different parts with a bit of spot welding and bolts, and Cid had a sinking suspicion that none of the crew members, including Moginson, had been thorough enough to give the result a rigid bit of testing to confirm it could operate under any condition. If that wasn't enough, he was struggling not to gag on the smell.<p>

The main body of the aircraft was that of a small helicopter. It had been modified to allow for two weapons in the form of "sliding batteries" that operated belt-fed miniguns, but in "collapsed" mode the two guns took up most of the inner space. That left his two "shipmates": Heck and Gill, pushed up close to the front and nearly crushing in on the pilot seat, which was already rather cramped to begin with. Cid could move his arms a bit, but that was about all. Any more and he'd hit a switch or button. As a result, he had to deal with a smell like rotting fish from Gill, and a smell like a dead Dual Horn from Heck. It was rather nauseating and making him dizzy, to be honest.

The cockpit itself had most of its controls peeled from a Stratoaevis and repositioned and hooked up over a smaller space. The aircraft he ran itself was using Stratoaevis engines, but on a body about the third of a size and mass of a full-sized craft. The result was an odd machine that, in theory, should have been just as maneuverable as a true Stratoaevis only faster and more accurate, considering how much less it was pushing. However, that matter was up for interpretation. The aircraft already felt a bit unstable, and it was draining too much power, in his opinion, to give juice to the relays and sensors on it. The _Apollo_ was used for strafting maneuvers normally…the fastest, lightest aircraft that could attack a target using the miniguns, but not having much of a payload besides. However, it was also frequently used for recon. Small and quiet, it could easily "buzz" over a potential target and send back the information. The way they had it set up, the _Apollo_ was sending a coordinate signal at all times, so that even if they were forced to run "silent", all the ship would have to do is circle an area to let them know they found something. However, it also made everything else a bit "unstable". Cid didn't like how the console flickered from power loss every once in a while and struggled to keep things "turned off".

Prepping and launching the _Apollo_ hasn't taken long. After settling on him, Leila pretty much ordered him out to get on the ship. He met Heck and Gill along the way. Both of them regarded him dimly, while he swallowed a bit. After all, he wasn't really used to working with a gigas and a sahagin. When the aircraft was brought out, Cid knew more than one of the still-present bullet holes on it could have clipped key wiring or even a hydraulic piston, but seeing as it "checked out" (at least, according to the one-eyed engineering tech with the neck tattoo who periodically twitched), he loaded up and took off.

Now, the front shore of Garrado was becoming visible. The _Ragnarok_ was still incoming too, although it was still far off. Cid estimated that the Etherbirds were already in range as was half of the payload of rockets, and, hopefully, within the next ten minutes, the Firebirds and the bulk of the remaining rockets would be there too. However, they still wouldn't be at full battle capacity for a while. And the sensors still had "hiccups" in them as yet another problem Moginson needed to take care of. By comparison, the solenoids on the _Apollo_ had been removed when the teleport happened, and on reinserting them…although the range wasn't too great…the navigational computer was fully online…if not on a tiny screen. Cid had to look a bit closely, but he could make out a notification that they were reaching one of the suburbs of Garrado right now, and would be over it on coming to shore. Considering the speed of the _Apollo_, for it was indeed fast, they'd be there in less than a minute. Already, the details were becoming more defined.

However, on seeing his current state, Heck let out a snort that Cid nearly jumped at. "Calm down, buddy. You're making _me_ nervous with how jittery you are, since you're the one flying the plane."

"Yeah…I'd prefer to die in the water than in the air…" Gill griped.

"Sorry…" Cid answered lamely as he kept flying. To try and take his mind off of things, he leaned over to the radio relay and flicked it. "_Ragnarok, _this is _Apollo._ We're nearly to shore now. Any updates on the radio side?"

_"Nothing you want to hear." _The commodore's voice retorted. _"They've all gone to static, but the last active one, before it went out, had some guy saying: 'God help us all.'"_

Cid swallowed and turned his head to the side before muttering. "If it wasn't something I wanted to hear, why did she tell me…?"

_"Keep an eye out. Our sensors still can't pick up anything that big. Don't know if we could even if they were operational, though. These are for warships, not monsters."_

The radio clicked off. Grimacing, Cid raised his head again to focus on the path. By now, they could make out the beach of the shore itself. Yet behind that, the engineer soon blinked at the sight. He leaned in close and looked a bit more closely, but only seemed more confused. After a moment, he seemed a bit uneasy as well. Beyond the sandy beach, there seemed to be nothing but piles of block rocks, jagged and lumped about, loosely on each other. Most of them were rather big. Boulder-like…possibly even larger. Not only that, they seemed to stretch for a good distance.

Heck looked it over a moment, then gave a shrug…which, with four massive shoulders, caused Gill to be bumped and to look to him angrily. He didn't notice, however. "Why you look so spooked, buddy? It's just a bunch of rocks."

"Yeah, they use those things for natural breakaway. Common as sea foam." Gill snorted.

"…According to the relay, there's not supposed to be a breakaway here." Cid answered quietly after a moment. "There's supposed to be a street giving way to a neighborhood. And even if there was…look."

The two looked up as Cid pointed higher. He also began to increase the altitude of the _Apollo_ as he did so, giving them a greater view. Soon, both of them were rather unsettled as well.

The rocks weren't confined to just the coast. Rapidly, they expanded outward from it all along up and down the shore, and as far back as they could see. And they only grew larger and more jagged as they went along. For a while, it seemed as if it was just a rocky mess. Yet as they continued to fly over, Cid noticed that most of the rocks were nearly black and had the look of soil on them, indicating they weren't rocks at all but pieces of upturned landscape. And it only looked more and more upturned as they went into shore.

Cid pushed the aircraft harder, increasing speed, but the area looked more and more nightmarish. It was as if Gaia's crust itself had splintered. Some of the pieces were nearly two-hundred feet high and turned on their sides. Others looked like shattered earthenware. Yet as they went on…if there was any doubt that they were not where they were supposed to be, that was soon alleviated. For one thing, to the left of the aircraft, the irrigation canal for this suburb was still in operation. Several large rock pieces had fallen into it, to be sure, causing some blocks and overflow, but it was still clearly there, just as on the map. A more chilling bit of proof was, as they ran along, Gill looked out one window and saw a massive slab of rock and earth fifty feet thick was lopsided over what looked like an elementary school building…and that building itself had been two or three stories tall. After seeing that, they periodically saw fragments of other buildings, cars, and bits of road that had survived. Yet that got harder further on as things continued to look "churned". As they went on, far on the horizon, they finally began to see bits of intact land…but only surrounding such destructive chaos that none of them could believe it.

"Looks like Kjata itself took a plow to this land…" Heck snorted.

The engineer himself, beginning to get a bit nervous at how the monster had managed to do all of this, brought the radio up again and sent a message, deciding to leave it live this time. _"Ragnarok…_we're still looking for the monster, but…we're definitely seeing what it left behind. The suburb…it's gone. It's like Gaia's crust turned inside out on it."

_"What does that mean?" _Leila answered.

"It means it's like some mole the size of the Lunar Whale went rooting for earthworms and what we have left is a pile of mud and rocks that's likely got the remains of everyone living here buried underneath." Gill shouted loud enough for Leila to hear, which made Cid wince from the sudden noise. However, he also added to it.

"If this thing did all this…my guess is it's the earth one…Shaddamehl, or something. I also think it's a safe bet it'll do the same to the rest of Garrado, no problem."

A pause on the other end. _"Well, where is it? We need a location if we're going to do something about it!"_

"That's…uh…a problem." Cid answered as he looked around. By now, they were reaching the "edge" of destruction, but didn't see anything else…definitely not anything making more of it. "We're still trying to find it…"

_"…This monster is that big and you can't see it? Are you sure it's really tearing up the landscape if you can't even find it?"_

"I'm positive!" Cid immediately returned. "It's just…I'm not seeing it right…"

Cid trailed off at this. Gill, his eyesight being not the best on land, didn't catch it, but Heck stiffened a bit himself. His eyes were out the window and he saw much the same.

Abruptly, a large section of ground had heaved…as if something was moving underneath it. It was indeed, as Gill had suggested, like a mole…only _much_ larger…enough to pretty much shove a small building off of its foundation.

"…Did either of you see that?"

"I didn't see anything." Gill answered.

"I did." Heck answered. "It's down there."

"Where?" Gill asked.

"Everyone keep looking…try to see where it comes up again." Cid instructed, dropping the speed a bit and scanning the ground himself.

_"What's going on over there?"_ Leila asked.

Cid ignored her for a moment. He continued to look, along with Heck and Gill. Time slowly ticked by. The ground remained still. There were a few signs below of rocks "tumbling" and breaking, but that could have been anything, not necessarily seismic activity. The only way to know for sure was to land…and there was no way the three of them were doing that.

After a time, Gill shrugged. "Maybe you imagin…WHAA!"

The sahagin gave a reptilian hiss and recoiled as a _massive_ bulge, like the body of a whale, surged under the surface momentarily, pushing a _huge_ section of landscape up and down as it went by. All three men on the aircraft spasmed and shot back in alarm. Cid himself nearly jerked the controls wild, causing the _Apollo_ to "jump" a bit. It stuck around long enough to make itself known before going in again, and, when it was done, all three were rather pale.

"…Still think we're making it up, you jackass?" Heck snorted at Gill.

"That thing has to be bigger than a sea serpent!" He snapped in retort, ignoring the gigas. "That was only part of its body!"

"I should have known…it's an 'earth monster', after all…" Cid groaned, before focusing on the radio again. "We saw it! Well…part of it, at least! It's burrowing under the ground! That's how it's tearing everything up!"

* * *

><p>Back on board the <em>Ragnarok<em>, Leila took in this information for a moment. After that, she turned to the sensors group. "Are we back online yet?"

By now, two different engineers were at the station along with the normal operator, and all of them were looking equally hopelessly at the console. They looked back to the commodore and grimly shook their heads. "The whole thing needs to be recalibrated. We're just now getting global positioning back online and the error ratio is shot to hell…"

"Get it ready!" She snapped, before looking over to Quaren so sharply that he nearly snapped back. "Get whatever rockets are in range live and stand by on cannons! I want you to shoot as soon as I say so!"

The corporal swallowed a bit, but then began to go to work. To be honest…he was nervous at the prospect. It was never good to go into a situation "firing blind"…but this was ridiculous. The targeting computer that was feeding him coordinates from the sensor array was so out of whack that the error ratio was practically 65%. That was worse than "musket level", where you could safely stand in a line and fire at each other knowing there was very little chance either side's bullet would actually hit… As for Leila, she got back on the horn.

"Listen you three…we're getting ready to shoot, but we can't very well blast through dirt. You're going to have to find some way to bring it to the surface while we're trying to get a bead on it with _something_ around here…"

* * *

><p>Cid, Heck, and Gill all looked blankly at the radio for a moment. Abruptly, the sahagin reached over and switched off the radio momentarily.<p>

"Is she insane?! Even Captain Morningjay wasn't that stupid on his worse hangover!" He snapped.

"You land this thing, and I'm tearing your arms off." Heck added with one of his four arms pointing a dangerous finger at Cid.

He swallowed and looked forward again. "Believe me…there is nothing further from my mind at this point than landing the _Apollo_. We'll…fly low, or something." He reached over to turn the radio on again, wanting to keep a live feed to the commodore, and then began to push up on the stick, lowering the aircraft.

"…Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start getting back on the guns." Heck grunted after a moment, before he began to move to the rear. That, naturally, proved to be harder than it looked, considering how jam-packed he was inside. It wasn't long before he was grunting and straining quite a bit to try and turn himself around. Gill, getting pushed back frequently, let out a snort of his own.

"At how long it's going to take you to get in the damn seat? I agree…"

"Shut up."

Cid himself soon brought the ship down toward the ruin. He quickly did a mental guess of how high that crest had been when that thing went above the ground, but he tried to set himself above it as much as he dared. Soon after, he evened out, and had to restrain himself from pushing the throttle higher. Instead, they soon hovered at a fairly low level above the ground, just high enough and in the right path to avoid needing to raise the ship to avoid debris. From here, the engineer slowly inhaled and exhaled, keeping his sweaty grip tight on the wheel and looking about a bit. As he did, the other two continued to move in the back. At length, Heck finally got to the guns, and began to crawl over toward one of the mounted "seats".

At this point, he called over and behind his shoulders. "Hey…could you guys look out the windows please? I can't see too much from here and it'd be good if we could all keep our eyes open."

"Yeah, yeah…just let me get the door open…" The gigas answered. A moment later, Cid felt a sharp gust of wind tug up around him and nearly throw his own messy hair over his eyes as the hatch opened up, letting a rather fierce gale shoot by. He winced in it, but forced himself to grin and bear it, especially when it became twice as bad a moment later and the second door was opened. After that, both pirates looked outside one either end of the _Apollo_, apparently having no problem sticking their heads out to do so. Cid continued to look forward, trying to ignore the gusting sound and keep his eyes on the ground.

"See anything?"

"Probably the wrong guy to ask." Gill snorted. "Out of water, I have a hard time seeing things…"

"Well, I don't see sh't." Heck snorted. "Maybe we aren't low enough…"

Even as he said this, however, he trailed off. This got the attention of the other two, before he started to speak up again.

"Wait a second…the ground down there looks like it's rippling, like something's shaking it."

Gill looked again, for all the good it did him. As for Cid, he looked out the front window himself and tried to scan the ground, but didn't see anything either. Before either of them could talk, however, the gigas spoke again.

"It's more below and behind us. It's picking up too." He answered. "I can see little bits of rocks and crap rolling down from it…it's starting to bulge a little…now there's a cra-"

Heck's voice cut off and turned into a bellowing curse only a gigas could make, but it didn't really matter a moment later when it was drowned out as the ground abruptly fractured…and out came Shaddamehl. In spite of nothing being able to see it directly, to Cid there was no denying the massive roar, the blast of air, and the dank, wet, rotten smell of something's mouth. He snapped around, slightly, only to see, framed by the open doors, a massive dark shadow looming forward to engulf them.

The concept of monstrous worms was nothing new to Gaia, but this thing was on an entirely different level. It was even larger than it had been when it was "born" at the Tower of Order, as if it had been doing nothing but gorging itself and growing larger and larger. That wasn't too far from the truth. The group had no familiarity with the monster that even now was being fought in Esthar, Yug, but part of the reason it was so small by comparison was that there was no fire for it to "eat". On the other hand, the world was filled with earth, and the monster had grown larger and larger by devouring it. At this point, it was large enough to engulf small buildings with its massive, three-pronged mouth, which gaped open wide for the _Apollo_ to reveal row after row of circular teeth leading to oblivion. Its body was flesh with no bone, but had "ridges" of nearly solid muscle to give it an almost skeletal-like appearance, and its entire body was a brown and black color, like the very soil it was eating.

Globs of grotesque saliva actually splashed onto the small aircraft as it went to eat them, and immediately, Cid gave a rather "un-manly" cry of fright before, in mostly a panic move, he gunned the thrusters to maximum in one shot. They wouldn't immediately go that fast, and he was slammed into his chair and Gill and Heck were slammed into the back of the aircraft as the small ship shot forward. Moments later, a thunderous crack went out as Shaddamehl slammed its jaws shut, only to connect with nothing. It parted the jaws only for a moment to growl angrily once…and then dove its entire body forward. Like a mythological whale, it plunged back into the ground as if it was nothing more than water, sending up a plume of dirt behind it and soon vanishing below the surface, dragging its body along with it.

Cid, his heart racing and sweat beginning to pour from his brow, turned his head around in a flash. "You guys alright?"

As it turned out, Heck and landed on Gill, and sandwiched him against the back. He hissed angrily. "I'm just dandy, you f***ing idiot!"

Heck growled as he reached out all four of his arms and yanked himself forward. Quickly, he pulled up to the door opening as Gill hissed again and pulled himself up. Yet as the gigas reached the door and looked out…Shaddamehl burst from the surface again. It was far, but it wasn't lunging at the ship this time. Rather, it immediately went back into the ground again, yanking its body behind it. It was treating the dirt like a dolphin or sea lion might, and it was picking up speed. As it went down again, it pushed more earth aside, indicating where its path was headed…right for them.

"Don't ease off of the throttle!" He roared. "Lift up and get us out of here!"

Cid hesitated a moment on hearing that, before easing on the throttle a bit, keeping them at current speed, and maintaining the ship level.

Both Heck and Gill noticed this, and were stunned. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"We can't shoot the thing while it's underground! We've got to keep it on the surface!" Cid cried…already beginning to wonder if he was insane for saying these things.

_"What's going on over there?"_ Leila's voice suddenly went off in the earpiece.

To respond, Shaddamehl suddenly burst out of the ground again, this time close enough to once more try eating the _Apollo._ Cid yelped and quickly swerved it around to dodge its triple jaws, and nearly flung Heck out the opening in the process while slamming Gill into the side. Needless to say, as the jaws clicked behind them, both of them looked at the engineer rather sorely. Cid, however, immediately yelled back into the radio.

"It's out! It's out! It's chasing us! Fire!"

* * *

><p>Leila immediately snapped her head to the sensors console the moment she heard that on broadcast. "Do we have a target lock?"<p>

"No, we've got nothing!" The pirate shot back.

"What do you mean you've got nothing?!" The commodore snapped back. "You heard how big this thing is!"

"Best I can get is a weak motion capture!" The pirate shot back. "But the error is way beyond the standard!"

"It'll have to do!" Leila snapped back, before whirling her head around to Quaren. "Fire the Ereses as soon as you get the coordinates!"

The corporal didn't hesitate, but quickly ran his hands over the console. Although he had been "iffy" on learning before, he knew what he was doing now, and in moments had four of them prepping for launch. He only waited for the coordinates to come through in order to send them off. A few moments later, he got them.

He nearly did a take on the screen. "Commodore, these coordinates have an error ratio of close to 50%! The only way I can guarantee a hit is if we're about 50 meters away with this kind of inaccuracy!"

"Don't bitch about it! Just fire!" Leila snapped back.

Groaning slightly, Quaren quickly began to lock the four missiles on the coordinates and gave in the launch code clearance. As he did, Leila quickly switched the relay at her own station briefly. "Moginson! Drop what you're doing on the reactors and get the damn sensors running!"

_"Three of the feedback controls are friedkupo!" _He immediately shouted back. _"If the fourth one goes out, this reactor will blow in minutes! I'm not doing anything else until I get one more operational, kupo!"_

Leila hissed. "Damnit, does anything on this ship _work?!_ This was supposed to be the greatest warship on Gaia!"

As she finished uttering this, Quaren smashed down on the "fire" control. In response, a loud rushing came from outside of the ship as one of the bays opened, and four Eres rockets erupted, one after another, and began to streak across the sky.

"Rockets launched!"

* * *

><p>By now, Heck and Gill had both managed to climb into the seats for the guns. At the bare minimum, it seemed, in spite of the shoddy condition of the aircraft, they had been built with people of that size in mind. Now that both were locked in, either one reached out, one after another, and threw a pair of switches mounted against the door. Supported by some sort of thick railing, either individual, complete with their gun and seat, rolled out on either side, and locked in position, suspended from either side of the ship. Cid was a bit stunned at how casual they were about it, but could hardly argue as they went about pivoting the chairs around to face the rear, and both loaded the first chamber into the belt feeder and fired up the motors. Right at that moment, Shaddamehl burst through the surface once again, roaring and raging as it attempted to snap at them once more. Much to Cid's fear, it was faster this time. It seemed to be learning quick…<p>

Both the gigas and the sahagin gave a yell at once, barely audible over the noise, motors, wind, and engines, but then squeezed the triggers and began to pump out steady streams of minigun fire behind them. The belts whirled rapidly and casing poured off the side of the craft as bullet after bullet streamed from both guns. Unfortunately, it was practically a useless gesture. The mouth of Shaddamehl was like a cavern. Pouring lead directly into it seemed like dropping bullets into an abyss…nothing happened. What more, the mouth suddenly applied a "burst of speed"…shooting forward to try and engulf the aircraft all together. Luckily, Cid was keeping an eye on it by now, and quickly gunned the throttle again…once more barely missing the snapping jaws.

Although Heck and Gill were tossed around a bit, they managed to grit their teeth, lean up, and resume firing now that the thing had its mouth closed. Streams of gunfire raked over its triple jaws or "beak" or whatever it had, and trails of dark reddish blood were lit up across its face like someone was painting a giant X across it. Yet that's all it was, ultimately…like painting an X. Shaddamehl didn't even seem to notice, and why should it? Those guns couldn't be anymore than "owies" to it, assuming they were even that much. The monster plunged into the ground soon after.

When it came out again, once more it showed it was "learning". Rather than trying to come in through the side, it utilized the fact that Cid was piloting the _Apollo_ as slow as he dared to move in to the side and jump at it from an angle, making it harder to escape just by applying speed. What more, the only reason Cid was able to jerk the aircraft to one side to avoid it was because he managed to catch a brief glimpse of the ground moving to his rear left, which he had only caught on its own by continuously turning his head around to look through the open doors. Nevertheless, to the tune of a severe "whip", the aircraft spun around, and Heck and Gill were thrown for a loop as they opened fire again, tearing more red lines across its body and face. Yet, again, the monster noticed nothing…and soon sank into the ground again.

"Where the hell is the _Ragnarok?!_" Gill snapped. "These things might as well be water pistols!"

Not long after saying that, however, a sound of "whining" was heard…obviously the tune of rockets incoming. Shaddamehl didn't seem to notice. It continued to chase after the small aircraft as it whipped around nad flew again, trying to get at a good enough angle to pop out and bite once more. It was staying close to the surface now, it's bulk constantly breaking through it again and again…even tempting Gill and Heck to shoot at it some more. Finally, it broke the surface again as the rockets neared impact, opening its mouth wide and lunging for the _Apollo_ again…

It was a good thing Cid quickly snapped the controls around again, for the four incoming missiles didn't even come within two hundred yards of the monster. In fact, one of them shot so dangerously close to the aircraft that it got shaken up quite a bit in the slipstream, forcing the firing of the two pirates to cut off. The missiles themselves landed everywhere else, scattered all over the place. Each one set out a rather potent explosion, for all the good it did. Shaddamehl didn't even hiss from the annoyance.

"Where are those idiots aiming?!" Heck roared from his gun. "They almost took _us_ out!"

"They must not have targets locks yet!" Cid retorted. "It's not a machine! They have no signals to lock onto! And the motion sensors wouldn't do much good against this even if they were working right! It's moving too quick!"

* * *

><p>Hearing this same tirade from Cid, Leila let out an angry scowl in response. Cursing once, she looked again to Quaren. "Fire a spread of Rays! If we can't hit it directly, we'll saturate the area!"<p>

The corporal sighed in response, knowing the weapons well enough that it would do little good. However, he turned back to the console and programmed the new shots in. The targeting was no better than before, and he shook his head a bit before mashing the button to fire, sending out a salvo this time from a different missile bay.

* * *

><p>By now, Heck and Gill were having to stop firing. Even if they weren't jerking around everywhere at this point, the miniguns needed some cool down time. Instead, they were soon holding on for dear life like a deranged roller coaster as Cid drove the <em>Apollo<em> one way and another, trying to avoid the progressively closer strikes of the monster. At that moment, he hung a sharp left, only for the beast to snap his head around before bringing down his jaws. The loudest "click" yet rang out and the ship buckled as it shot away.

"Bring the speed up, you idiot!" Gill shouted. "That thing nearly took off the tail section! We go down and we're worm food! Much sooner than I want!"

"I can't! I've got to try and keep it above the surface as much as possible!" Cid shouted back.

"At least take us out further!" Heck barked. "All this whipping around is going to make me throw up!"

"It's already torn up this suburb! I'm trying to keep it confined to places it's already torn up!" Cid shouted back.

Moments later, sounds like a group of rapid-fire bottle rockets that could be bought from fireworks stands rang out. Unfortunately, the sounds were far more distant than any of them liked. Shaddamehl went back into the ground, although its body continued to bulge and sink above the surface, but none of that mattered. The rocket fire streaked through the sky and let out a "carpet bombing" like series of explosions…easily a good quarter to a half mile away from them, far and to one side. Shaddamehl hadn't even been in that area at any point.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Gill yelled.

"Just get us out of here!" Heck roared. "The _Ragnarok_ can't even hit it from here!"

"The destruction is on the edge of Garrado! We pull out, and nothing's left to stop it from tearing up the main city!" Cid shouted back. He then directed his attention to the radio. "You guys over there have to think of something!"

* * *

><p>Leila let out her strongest curse yet, nearly smashing her hand against the console, before snapping to Quaren again. "Just arm everything! We'll bomb the entire area!"<p>

Only now did Quaren finally have enough. His own face turning stern, he looked to her with a forceful glare. "If we do that, we're just as likely to hit them as we are to hit it! And the cast-off explosions will definitely catch them!"

The pirate commodore looked back at him with a fierce glare. "On my ship, you do as I tell you, whether you're civilian or part of my crew!"

Quaren balked, but only for a split second before he remained just as firm. "We'll waste our ammunition and we have no guarantee of hitting it! And we sacrifice the lives of your crew and my friend!"

"I gave you an order!"

"And I'm telling you to shove it!"

In spite of the alarms, the engines, the roar over the radio, and everything else that was going on…the bridge went silent. Every last pirate dropped what they were doing and looked to Quaren as if he had just shot a child in the back of the head. Even Leila seemed momentarily taken aback. The former corporal stared…realizing what he had just said. As he stared at Leila, a quiet fury slowly came over her, one that she barely held back.

"…What did you just say?"

For a moment, the young man thought of apologizing or reneging. However…in the end, he held. He knew he was in the right. Stabilizing himself, he spoke calmer, but still firm.

"With all due respect, commodore…you don't know what you're doing. You're used to plundering things right in front of you that you have a bead on. It won't work this time. Not with the sensors in this much disarray and now with a target moving this erratically. You can't treat this like a naval target or a land-bound one. You're just wasting ammunition on things that aren't going to do any good."

Leila stared back at him quietly for a few moments. Quaren could tell just by looking at her that she was holding back anger. She wasn't used to being talked to like this on her own ship, after all. And in any other situation, Quaren might have found himself fired out of the cannons himself. However, luckily for the former corporal, Leila was more prudent than she seemed. She hadn't gotten to be a pirate commodore otherwise. With one swallow, her anger was restrained, and she looked up.

"…If you have any better suggestions, corporal, then I'm all ears so long as they're fast."

Quaren held for only a moment, as he felt like a weight had been lifted off of him. He felt sweat come from his brow now. In all honesty, he realized that he had expected to be killed for that. He had never asserted himself like that before to a "superior", in Esthar's Hawks or otherwise. Yet on hearing this, he realized more than that. Not only was Leila letting him have his turn…but she was actually asking for his opinion.

Emboldened by that, he exhaled, and then went into "officer" mode.

"Alright…first I need to talk directly to Cid. Next I need this ship fully stopped right here, right now."

Not only Leila, but many other pirates looked incredulous at that. "We're trying to get in better range!"

"I don't need a better range. I need a fixed range." Quaren instantly responded. "I can't do this with a moving target."

Leila stared a bit more, but then gave a nod. She turned to the crew. "You heard the man. Bring the ship to all stop and route the weapon's console mic to external."

As she went to her own relay to release control, the pirates began to go about their work. They might have disobeyed Quaren, but with the commodore backing him, they'd do as told.

* * *

><p>As Shaddamehl dove into the ground again, the resulting eruption of dirt was so strong and high that pieces of it smashed into the <em>Apollo<em> itself. Luckily it was more soil than rock, but even so it jostled the entire lightweight aircraft and nearly got it pitching. Again, Cid was forced to hold on tight and push the throttle forward to get clear, but even then the craft needed some time to stabilize. Worst of all, a warning light came on at the console. It wasn't serious…but it definitely indicated a problem that couldn't be solved while they were in motion. Unfortunately, Cid had no time to study what each individual control did before taking off.

If that wasn't enough, Heck gave a curse from his mini-turret. "Damnit! That last hit interrupted the feeder! The damn gun's jammed!"

"Can you fix it?" Gill shouted back.

"Not with the damn aircraft jumping everywhere and without tools!" The gigas snapped. "We're down to one gun!"

"Not like it's doing any good!" Gill retorted as he fired off another burst. "I don't even think I'm making it mad and it has no weak points!"

Cid, by now, was beginning to reconsider flying away anyway. Although they couldn't afford to leave this monster, it wouldn't do any good to just wait here to get killed by it first. Maybe they could come up with another plan… However, before he could think too much of it, a voice came over the radio.

_"Hello? Cid, can you hear me?"_

Heck and Gill were too busy with the thundering guns to hear this, but the engineer went wide-eyed immediately. "Quaren? Is that you? What're you…"

_"Cid, just stay quiet and listen to me." _His voice shot back. _"I need you to get to a place where you can hold still for a bit."_

The engineer went a bit wide-eyed. "…Hold still? Quaren, this thing is trying to eat us and it's getting better with each try!"

_"Then pull away from it! But I need you to stay still for a good thirty seconds at minimum! Until you see what's coming and where it hits!"_

"Where what's coming and where what hits?"

_"I'm going to shoot at you with a missile!"_

This was said right when Heck and Gill both had a break in firing, Heck due to a jammed gun and Gill for a cool down, and both of them immediately snapped to him.

"What the f*** did he just say?!"

"Is he out of his g**damn mind?!"

Cid himself wasn't feeling much better at that prospect. "Quaren, what are you-"

_"I'm not going to hit you!" _Quaren snapped back immediately. _"But you've got to do it and you've got to do it now! The more time we waste the harder it will be! And you _have_ to give me a good estimate of how far away off the mark it is! I'm talking within five meters and with reference to a cardinal direction! You're the only non-sniper I know who has a chance of getting it right!"_

"You've got to be kidding me, Quaren! I'm bouncing all over the place, I'm a bunch of nerves, I can't keep track of-"

_"You've _got_ to! I can't target that thing unless you do! The only accurate reading we can get right now is the beacon on the _Apollo_! It's the only thing I can use to try and calibrate the weapons!"_

Cid held a bit longer. Sweat was definitely rolling down his brow now, enough to make him raise his hand and wipe it away. He swallowed soon after. That done, he exhaled before he increased the throttle speed, much faster than before. Soon, they were gaining ground on Shaddamehl, although it continued to chase them. In truth, he hoped he didn't get too far away…or they'd have to lure it out again, and the second time they might not avoid being caught off guard, as "smart" as it was getting.

On seeing the _Apollo_ pick up speed, both Gill and Heck looked behind. Neither of them seemed comfortable.

"You're not honestly stupid enough to do this, are you?"

"He's talking like an idiot. Even if this does work and we don't get eaten, he'll never be able to calibrate it from this far."

Cid didn't answer this. He was already struggling to stay brave. He didn't need any more doubts cast on him now. He continued to outstrip Shaddamehl, leaving it far behind in the dust…or mud and rocks, as was more appropriate. However, he went even lower than before, making sure to check the altitude meter. Once he had gone what he hoped was far enough, he began to cut the speed dramatically. He didn't stop, however…not until he got the word. He felt his flesh crawling and a chill down his spine, but he also knew they had to destroy this monster. It had already killed too many. Letting it go was not an option, even if it cost him more than he cared to lose…

With that in mind, he spoke into the radio, causing Gill to issue a mutter and a curse.

"Ready when you are, Quaren. I'll stop when you give me the signal."

* * *

><p>Back at the console, the Eres was ready to launch. They still had a spare bay, after all. As he continued to enter in the data, the engines dimmed considerably, the tune of the propellers being turned down. By the time he was finished, the ship was rapidly slowing. It continued to drift a bit further, but the drag was enough to slow it quickly when the ship's "water brakes" were on, creating additional drag.<p>

"Send me the link to the _Apollo!"_ He shouted after a moment.

Very reluctantly, the sensor crew typed in the frequency. It popped up a moment later on Quaren's console, and in moments, his fingers flew and locked the rocket onto it. After doing so, he looked over the screen for a moment, and then set the timer option on it.

That done, he shouted into the mic. "Cid! Freeze now!"

With that, he fired again, sending a single rocket out from the missile bay this time.

* * *

><p>The <em>Apollo <em>was immediately thrown into hover. Small and lightweight as it was, it was, at minimum, responsive…at least for now. Another warning light went off as soon as the engines swiveled to apply and "air brake", and then held. He paused only long enough to swivel around, to face the way they came, before the vehicle halted and posed there.

Heck and Gill both swung their turrets around to face forward, but then looked rather nervously at Cid before staring in front of them again. Gill, however, couldn't see that well at too much of a distance, and Heck immediately began to pound and yank on his belt feeder to try and clear the jam "the hard way". As for Cid, he looked forward and watched.

Shaddamehl was quite a distance away…enough to make Cid feel like it may have "given up the chase". He only half wished that it wouldn't have. Yet as he hovered, there, the monster burst forth from the ground once more, seemed to "look about", in spite of not having eyes, and then plunged in again. Moments later, the sound of rumbling slowly began to become audible. The ground heaved and broke from time to time…showing, quite clearly, that the creature was headed right for them.

Heck continued to pound on his gun, but soon devoted more and more of his attention to the approaching monster. Gill swallowed a bit. "I may not see that well, but I'm pretty sure the bastard is going to get to us before 30 seconds are up…"

Cid forced himself to look away and around. He needed to find reference points. That one protruding piece of rock was about 50 meters…but that piece of tire below was 25 meters… He thought of the angles as well as the distances, running mental equations…wishing he had a scientific calculator at the moment…and finding his gaze continuously returning to the monster as it kept coming. It was indeed closing the distance fast. Now that it wasn't weaving around anymore, it wasn't wasting time. It was already only a mile away…

Cid looked to the onboard clock. Fifteen seconds… Had it been two miles away when they started? Did it matter if it was picking up speed? He said a _minimum_ of thirty seconds.

Heck continued to pound, and finally began to yank at the bullet belts. With a surge of strength, he ripped it clean out. Groaning, he flung it aside and turned around. "That thing's getting close. You better be ready to move us."

"Not yet…" Cid answered, wiping more sweat from his brow, but moving his gaze fully to the monster at this point.

They could hear the ground shaking at this point, breaking and settling with each "breach" of the surface before it sank again. A trace of a growl began to come out as well. All three were getting nervous. Cid looked to the time again, just as it ticked from eleven to ten seconds. Cid didn't try to calculate the distance now…not wanting to see that it already looked closer than a half mile.

"Hey…I think it's about time we moved…" Gill said with increasing tension.

"Not yet." Cid answered, even as he hovered his hand over the thrusters.

Shaddamehl moved one "mound" closer. At last, at this point, far in the distance and barely over the sounds of the closing monster, they began to hear a whine.

"The missile's coming! Let's go!" Heck outburst.

"No, not yet!" Cid insisted. "I have to give it a reference target!" He immediately looked down to the directionality, trying to place a good spot on a landing. Shaddamehl let out a growl so distinctive the _Apollo_ quivered a bit, still coming in fast and hard.

"Even I can see how close it is now!" The sahagin snapped. "Get us up and out of here!"

"Just a little longer!"

"We won't be able to get out of the way at this rate!"

"Just hold on!"

Hissing, Gill aimed the barrel of his weapon at the oncoming monster, definitely within a quarter mile now. The smell of its bile was on the air. He actually swiveled the weapon down to face it and began to open fire, trying to target one of the "mounds" that its own body bulk made up. Even from this distance, it held "still" long enough and was large enough to still hit, for all the good it did. It was more of the same, not slowing down. Finally, the monster plunged down again…and began to draw the rest of its body down with it. Right below them, the earth began to tremble terribly.

"The bastard's right below us!" The gigas yelled. "It's going to come up right below and eat us with one bite!"

Gill actually moved to recoil to pull his seat back, looking like he was ready to burst in and seize the controls himself. Yet as he did, Cid finally spotted the missile. Racing through the gray sky, the deadly weapon began to descend, headed right for their location. Well…not exactly. After all, the error ratio was still too high. The missile streaked down, clear enough that, for a split second, those on board the _Apollo_ could actually see the full state of the missile head and the shaft itself, before it slammed into the ground at a distance away and ignited in a fireball. Other than send a mild tremor, which was made invisible by the shaking ground, nothing.

"Now!" Cid yelled as he hit the thrusters to maximum…backward. Heck and Gill were shoved onto their own guns and the engineer himself hunched over his controls, just as Shaddamehl burst from beneath them and rose up to engulf them. The aircraft too a moment to overcome the inertia. As a result, the stench of stomach acid surrounded them completely and the sky grew dark as, to their shock, three gigantic mandibles rose around them and immediately started to close. But luck was still on their side, it seemed, for one of the openings was directly behind them, and they soon slipped through just as the jaws clicked shut. Cid didn't stop, but continued to blast backward faster and faster, even as it swung down its head to try and at least smack them out of the air. The resulting slipstream made the aircraft buckle, and set off a larger alarm. This time, it was big enough to get Cid's attention. The hydraulics were under incredibly strain that stabilized the aircraft. The constant force and torsion on it from the gales around the aircraft was putting too much pain on the system. And now, it was getting into the serious levels. Nevertheless, the _Apollo_ got clear, and the angry earth fiend burst back into the ground to chase again.

While still flying backward and trying to swallow his heart back into his chest, Cid looked to the radio. He stammered a moment, then spoke as calmly as he could.

"The missile landed…about 70-80 meters off the mark, and at an angle of 310 to 320 degrees. That's as accurate as I can make it."

* * *

><p>"Alright!" Quaren said on his end. Immediately, he looked down and began to think aloud. "70-80 meters…average 75… Average angle 315… 75…315…75…315… Account for windspeed…account for lag…timing delay…"<p>

The other pirates looked to him and watched this, Leila included. She continued to get the idea of what he was doing, but it only made her more baffled when she did so. Another pirate pointed to him. "Is he trying to do the math in his head?"

Quaren suddenly looked up. "I need pencil and paper."

The pirates blinked, looking at each other. "You need pencil and paper? Like…a notebook or…"

"Yes, give it to me! Now!" The soldier snapped.

Leila, letting out a groan, simply went up to one of the older pirates. Without a word, she seized a book of his he had sitting on top of his console and tore a pen out from behind his ear sharp enough to make him wince. Abandoning the controls for the moment, she went over to him, flipped open the book to the end page, and then put it down in front of Quaren along with the pen. The one pirate nearly protested, but merely sighed when Quaren took it and began to write furiously. As for Leila, she turned around and began to move back to her own space.

"You're nuts, young fella." One of the pirates called out to Quaren. "Trying to do the math on the targeting for a missile can't be done by hand."

"I'm not trying to calculate a missile. I'm trying to calculate the cannons." He responded.

This caused a number of stares. "We're not anywhere in range for the cannons to be even remotely accurate." Leila responded.

"I know ballistics better than any other Esthar's Hawk." Quaren responded as he kept writing. "And I've researched the technical specs on every weapon that we know about, including Thunderbirds, Firebirds, and Etherbirds. I'm a sniper. I know what to do with a firearm and how to get more out of it. If everyone always stuck to just the straight specifications, the greatest shots in the world would never have been made. Wouldn't even have been possible."

As he finished up, another radio message came in, sounding rather nervous.

_"Um…_Ragnarok…_we have a problem."_

Leila, now back at her own controls, reached out and hit the switch. "What now?"

_"I threw this thing in reverse to get away from the monster, but…I didn't know it maxed out at a low speed. The engines are getting too strained and it's catching up… If I swing it around, it's going to get us before I can get us in forward motion again and it's too close to turn. We could really use your help right now…"_

At that moment, however, Quaren slammed the pen down and immediately went to the console. "I've got it!"

"This isn't a sniper shot, mate." Leila told him. "You don't even have line of sight."

"I've seen artillery in action before. I can estimate what'll do. I'm putting in a custom-made error compensation to a target for the _Apollo_. If it's that close, it should hit it."

"That's a one in a million shot!"

"Not for me."

"You've never seen this model of Etherbird fire before! Or any, for that matter!"

"Yes, but I've seen comparable systems and I can account for the change in ratio!"

"This isn't a damn chemistry set!"

Quaren groaned as he punched in the last coordinates and began to bring the Etherbirds online. Outside of the ship, a great whirring occurred as the massive cannons began to move out and lock into position for the new target. "It's either this or nothing because I'll never hit that thing with a rocket!"

The commodore sighed again, clenching her fists in frustration, but held her tongue. She looked out and to the holographic displays again.

_"Guys…are you listening?!" _A more panicked Cid shouted.

"I hear you, Cid!" Quaren responsed, quickly authorizing the fire, eschewing the manual target, and mashing the button. "Firing now!"

A sonic hum, similar to the electric generators that had been in Maritza's teleporter, went out as rings of electric energy and light condensed around the conical cannons…before they fired out a twin pulse of bright, blinding energy.

* * *

><p>Cid hadn't been joking. It hadn't taken much time at all for the monster to start leaping after them again, and it was steadily getting closer with each snap. The displacement of air it made each time, which was getting not only closer but faster and more aggressive with each lunge, put more danger on the stability systems, threatening to break them. Yet it seemed they'd hold out a bit longer…at least long enough for Shaddamehl to destroy them itself. Even if it didn't devour them, the monster was so large and their aircraft so flimsy that all it had to do was swing its head around to smack them out of the sky to doom them. With its last two lunges, the mere force of it roaring as it burst from the ground had left more sickening fluid splashed on the windshield, and Gill and Heck were both retracting to avoid having it hit them as well. Yet it seemed the monster would only need one or two more jumps to tag them…<p>

Gill let out a nervous-sounding hiss. "Damnit, I wish I brought my trident… At least I could go out trying to stab that thing from the inside…"

"They just fired…" Cid stated in response, trying not to tremble. "Just give it a little more time…"

"I don't think we've got anymore time…" Heck groaned, struggling not to look fearful at the windshield itself.

The engineer was inclined to agree, but he swallowed and kept flying back, trying not to focus on the sirens, the noises the engines were starting to make, or…most importantly…the fact that dirt smashed into the bottom of the _Apollo_ as Shaddamehl burst forth again, opened its mouth wide, exposed its rows and rows of teeth, and shot out to try and engulf them whole…

But then was cut off. A sound of what seemed to be a mixture of electricity and light…if light itself could be audible…streaked through the air, and smashed into the side of the great beast, blasting it hard just underneath the "head" region.

Instantly, the monster cut off its advance, and turned its head to the sky to blare in agony. As it rapidly backpedaled from them…or, rather, they _Apollo_ continued to move as it froze where it was...Cid, Gill, and Heck all gaped in astonishment. The beast itself writhed under the power of the blasts smashing into it, seeming to both dig deep into it and nearly pierce through to the other side. The force was so strong that in addition to setting off piercing, glowing eruptions in two different places, the entire bulk of Shaddamehl curled around the blast as the force ripped part of its body out of the ground entirely and then slammed it on the surface with such force that the entire world trembled. The beams cut off a moment later, but not before leaving monstrous plumes of smoke coming out of two different wounds, which glowed brightly from heat.

Cid calmed down enough to ease off of the throttle, and as he did so, finally giving the engines some relief, he took the moment to right the _Apollo_. Gill and Heck themselves swung their turrets back out so that they could look down and below from a better angle. When they did, they, along with Cid, saw that rather sizable craters had been blown into the body of the beast…easily large enough to fit a couple _Apollos_ inside. More of the rustic blood was pouring from the wounds, and the beast itself was definitely stunned and wounded…perhaps seriously.

The three blinked in astonishment.

"I see it…I don't believe it…" Gill muttered.

"That bastard actually hit the thing…_hard_." Heck remarked.

Cid, feeling a smile come over his face, quickly shouted into the radio. "It's a hit! You got it!"

* * *

><p>Back on board the bridge, Quaren fought hard not to register surprise…because, in all honesty, this had probably been the most initiative and faith in his own abilities he ever had. It had required a lot of guesswork and planning…and yet it had worked. The pirates, however, didn't dispute it. Immediately, they began to rear up, cheer, roar, and looked about moments from breaking out the grog. Even if the move had been somewhat of a panic strike and had been a dangerous risk, the fact that it had actually worked rubbed all of that out. They nearly gave way to full revelry…when a single voice shut them up:<p>

_"Quiet, you bilge rats!"_

The snapping, cold voice of Leila immediately made everyone calm, and even Quaren's momentarily bravery and force evaporated, causing him to look to her along with everyone else. She gave them all a dark look for a moment, before she turned back to the sensors group.

"…I don't believe I told you to stop trying to get those online." She looked to another. "Make sure the Etherbirds are ready to fire again the second I say so." Following that, she looked forward again. "_Apollo, _how does the monster look? Is it dead? Can we hit it while it's down?"

* * *

><p>Getting this message, Cid looked out the window again. Sure enough, Shaddamehl looked pretty stunned and possibly badly hurt, but it hadn't stopped moving. Soon, its jaws began to click again, and it let out groaning sounds as it continued to bleed. He was about to say to try a finish up shot…when the monster suddenly began to move again. Pulling its head up weakly, it brought it into the air for a moment. Not enough to lunge at anything, and they were too far anyway. It just held a moment, straining and struggling to bring its wounded body up.<p>

"Hold on a second, _Ragnarok…_" Cid stated. "It's moving…doing something now… It looks slow and weak, but…I don't know, I don't think it's done. Get ready to fire again when I say."

As he finished this, Shaddamehl was finally up again to suddenly bring its head forward and drive it into the ground. Not as fierce or strong as before, but it worked, and soon it pushed its head inside. When it did, it rapidly brought the rest of its body, including the wounded portion with it. Cid nearly told to fire again quickly, assuming it was trying to hide to recover. However, much to his surprise, Shaddamehl burst from the ground again a second later, but only enough to open its mouth wide…and scoop up dirt before diving again. Soon, the rest of its long body began to follow it, and was dragged under and above the ground as well. A moment later, Shaddamehl, coiling up around itself, moved up again, engulfed more dirt, and went down once more. It repeated this, coiling itself around again, moving over its own body in and out of the dirt.

"…What the hell is it doing?" Heck grunted after a moment.

"Looks like a hatchling playing in a bath…" The sahagin grunted.

Cid, risking a bit, decided to move the ship closer now that it had come to a stop. It was far more agreeable for forward motion, even though the alarms were still going off. The engineer got a better look at it from doing so. However, he noticed something else as it continued to do this…something not very welcoming. At first, it had continued to stain the ground and spread its blood about as it churned and turned. Now, the ground was no longer being stained, and it was moving progressive faster…

The three watched a bit more, wondering if they were seeing things…before it became more obvious. As Shaddamehl continued to roll around and eat more dirt, and as they got nearer, it continued to go faster and more "purposeful" with its acts, looking less tired and sore.

"Is it just me, or is that thing looking less and less sickly as it rolls about?" Gill finally suggested.

"Normally I'd blame your eyes, but I'd say it's not you…" Heck grunted, sounding a bit nervous.

Cid paused a moment, but then suddenly looked to the two. "…You know, I just realized. All the while it was chasing us, I never saw any of those wounds you left on it. We should have at least seen the blood, right?"

The three were silent after hearing that, and looked again. Shaddamehl continued to pick up speed, approaching its former quickness. For a moment, they continued to look and near, until, at long last, they spotted it. As its head broke the surface and rolled over on the ground, they saw the region where it had been shot.

To their shock, the wound was no longer bleeding, and wasn't really a wound at all anymore. Instead, it had closed up dramatically, each hole only about the size of the _Apollo_ itself, and visibly _closing_. In moments, it wouldn't have a wound period.

"Oh sh't…" Gill hissed.

Cid, swallowing a bit, as he saw Shaddamehl roll through the soil one more time before snapping to one side, leaving its "dirt bath", and plunging into the ground to move with the same vigor and speed as it had before, got on the radio again. "_Ragnarok…_we have a major problem."

"Yeah…we're screwed." Heck snorted over the radio line.

The engineer swallowed, struggling not to share that sentiment. "This monster _absorbs earth…_and it uses it to heal itself. Those two shots left major wounds, but…in less than a minute it ate enough dirt and rolled itself around in enough to fully heal. It doesn't have a mark on it and it's not even tired."

After saying that, however, Cid saw another chain of movement, the monster rolling around and beginning to head for the ship again. Swallowing, the engineer quickly gunned the engines once more, causing more protest than before, as it spun a bit and then took off once again, this time going the "right way" to gain distance on it, even as the warning lights and sirens continued to go off.

* * *

><p>Leila paused on hearing this latest bit of information. Since it was on speakers, everyone else hesitated as well, looking to one another. After a moment, the commodore looked to Quaren again. It was no longer angry or upset, just firm. "…Can you hit it again?"<p>

Quaren hesitated a moment, and then exhaled a bit nervously. "…I honestly planned to kill it with one shot. I'm not sure I could get it with Firebirds from this range. But even if I could, I don't think cannon fire would be enough…"

The sensors pirate looked up. "I reduced the error ratio on missile targeting. You could probably get it with a salvo this time."

The corporal paused, looked to the controls, and saw the error ratio was now hovering around 25%. He exhaled and then looked back. "That's still pretty high. I mean…I could try, but there's no guarantee. If this was a standard monster, yes, I could do it. But if it only needs to touch the ground to start healing itself…"

"Can't you stun it with another shot of the Etherbirds and then unload on it?" Another pirate asked.

"Sure! We could lower the error ratio to 10%, maybe less, on a stationary target!" The sensors pirate suggested.

Quaren sighed and shook his head. "That's no good…no guarantee. It's still on the ground. So long as it's on the ground, it can regenerate. The only way would be all direct hits…blow it up so there's nothing left or its too damaged to survive. If it's even only a little alive, it'll come back."

"So the issue is how to get it out of the ground and keep it on the surface, right?" Leila asked.

The corporal shook his head. "No…the issue is to keep it from touching the ground at all and making sure it doesn't after we've hurt it until it dies."

The commodore groaned. "That's just wonderful. How on Gaia can we do that?"

* * *

><p>Naturally, Cid heard this entire conversation even as he increased speed a bit more to keep Shaddamehl from outstripping them. He wanted to keep it "balanced", to not gain or lose distance, so that it would keep chasing them but not give up. As there was no immediate threat, he risked the time to fret. He looked down to the console, watched the green screen as it showed the landscape in the area and the large mass periodically moving behind them whenever it broke the surface, but thought of nothing.<p>

"What can we do?" Gill finally asked.

"We can't do anything. " Heck snorted. "We have to pull out."

Gill hissed. "Much as I want to agree with you…not now. Can't we make it bleed to death or something?"

"Not when it's touching the damn ground." The gigas retorted.

"Well hell! It _always_ has to touch the ground!" Gill snapped. "How do we get it off of it? It's not like we could airlift the damn thing!"

Perhaps it was a stroke of luck or fate, but right as Gill said that last phrase, Cid's eyes drifted to one area in particular. Not far from where they were, there was a critical part of the river…nestled in a high-reaching valley with a large, man-made lake behind it. Courtesy of one thing made of concrete and steel…

The engineer thought for a moment. This would certainly make "more chaos"…but not nearly as much as Shaddamehl would make if it was allowed to live. This was a risk too. It might not do anything. But if it didn't, then it was only hastening the inevitable slightly…

Hoping this idea would work, Cid began to turn the controls even as he spoke in the radio again.

"Quaren, you still there?"

A pause. _"Yeah, Cid. What have you got?"_

"An idea. You said you have a good chance of hitting it if it stays still with a lot of missles?"

_"Yeah…but it won't do any good if it regenerates."_

"Get a salvo ready. Everything…everything that will launch. Do you have enough of your map to see where a dam is on the main river?"

There was a pause for a few moments. Cid actually dropped his speed a little, allowing Shaddamehl, who was quickly growing more aggressive and furious, to close the distance again. Finally, there was an answer.

_"You want a carpet bomb of that area?"_

"The area in front of it, yes!"

_"…I can do it, but like I said, even if you lure it there-"_

"Nevermind that! You got the error ratio on the Etherbirds, right?"

Another pause. _"Yes, but I can't-"_

"Good! When I tell you to, correct for the error and fire right at the _Apollo!_ Shoot like you mean to hit it!"

Gill and Heck immediately turned to him and opened their mouths to speak, but before they could say anything, or Quaren for that matter, he spoke again.

"I'm going to pull out of the way! You're just using me as a target!"

There was one last momentary pause, but then an exhale. _"Fine…but I don't know what you're doing."_

With that, Cid looked forward again, finishing correcting the course. He increased speed only slightly…just to maintain the distance. Both the sahagin and gigas looked to him.

"What are you trying?"

"Something that hopefully works…" He mumbled in response.

* * *

><p>Back on the ship, Quaren quickly began to arm the payload. He threw open every rocket bay he could, including the ones that were just finishing reloading. Sensors sent him the coordinates, and he began to aim them all to the one spot. As he did this, he also readjusted the targeting system for the Etherbirds and aimed them directly at the signal that the <em>Apollo<em> was producing, making sure to correct for error this time so that the shot should at least strike part of the ship, if not hit it directly. After that, the cannons outside "whirred" slightly as they continued to track the moving ship. As for Leila, she could only watch this and wait, not knowing what was happening now.

The former corporal, however, began to get an idea. Shaddmehl was impossible to kill on land, but there was no way they could take him into the air. However, what if it was immersed in an element that was neither earth nor wind? It was worth a shot. They had nothing left, after all. Literally. They were using almost every last bit of firepower they had for this last salvo.

Once the last was set and locked on, he turned full attention to the Etherbird, and watched the screen and the error ratio like a hawk.

* * *

><p>Thanks to the slowdown, Shaddamehl had closed part of the distance by now, but was still nowhere close to actually hitting them. As for ahead of them, they had come up on the dam. It was quite a large one…likely one of the bigger ones on Earth. It was a good thing Shaddmehl had already destroyed almost all of the countryside around it. Cid only hoped the reason it hadn't done any more than that was because it hated the water, and naturally wouldn't touch the dam.<p>

As he came in the final stretch, both Heck and Gill pulled themselves and their useless weapons inside. Cid, on his part, scanned the dam on the approach. He tried to find whatever looked like the most vulnerable spot, whatever would make the entire "lake" behind it discharge as fast as possible. He wasn't a structural engineer, but he knew a thing or two from everything he had done at Lamb Temple. Finding what he believed would be the most vulnerable spot, he made one last burst of acceleration, again outstripping Shaddamehl and shooting right for the target zone.

For a moment, he feared the monster would stop and turn away. After all, if it hated water and it _could_ sense it, then it would avoid the ship at this point, right? That was so much of his main concern that he neglected to think of any other factors…such as the fact the alarm was still going off and the situation had reached critical. He didn't care. All that mattered was this, and then he'd take the _Apollo_ back on the gentlest flight he could manage, if necessary.

Slowing down the ship on approach, Cid quickly piloted it forward toward what he perceived to be a weakness…at least, hopefully one that a shot would open up easily. He continued to slow until he was as close to it as he dared. After that, halted, pivoted the ship around, ignoring the increasing siren, and looked out. Luckily, Shaddamehl was still coming, doing the same thing as before.

With that done, Cid waited only for it go get a little closer, and then gave the command. "Fire!"

* * *

><p>Immediately, Quaren pushed the button. Again, the two cannons warmed up only for a moment, before firing out dual pulses of powerful energy. That done, he quickly moved to launch the salvo, but waited for the word.<p>

* * *

><p>Shaddamehl continued to bear forward, and the shot was coming. Cid had no idea on the timing, but he knew it would be far faster than the rocket, especially after last time. Immediately, he moved the control stick up to raise the aircraft.<p>

Other than more siren beeping, nothing.

Gill and Heck looked around a bit. The engineer, on his part, moistened his lips and tried to move again. Nothing. He pulled up on the stick a few times. Still nothing.

Heck snapped to him. "That cannon fire will hit us any second! Get us out of here!"

"I'm trying!" Cid responded. "It won't lift!"

He continued to jerk repeatedly, until a clicking and grinding was heard. Gill looked overhead at that, and then back to Cid as the monster kept coming. "You've fried the gears! You were putting them through too much strain!"

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"That siren kept blaring, you dumbass!"

"I couldn't really afford to pay attention to it with that thing coming after us!"

"It's overheated! The gears are locked!"

Cid, his heart rapidly racing, looked up again. The monster was still coming. He couldn't see the shot yet…but he knew it would move so fast it wouldn't matter. It would only be a flash of light that would happen any second, and then…

"Just lower it!" Heck shouted.

"We'll be in the path of the dam, you idiot!" Gill snapped back.

Shaddamehl was now close enough to brace for a lunge. It dove down deep again, preparing to launch. As for the sky, Cid saw a blip of light in it, and realized he had no time. Immediately, he reached over to the controls, and in one quick snap, powered them down completely.

Gill and Heck barely had time to look to him in shock before the whirring of the engines cut off, and the entire aircraft began to drop like a stone. Soon, both were being forced to the ceiling from the force of inertia, while Cid himself felt his stomach fly up into his neck and the force begin to fill him with a sense of vertigo as they went into free fall. A second later, twin beams of burning energy ripped through the air where they had been. Quaren would have scored a perfect shot. Instead, however, they went by where it had been and blasted hard and deep into the dam itself. The entire concrete and steel structure groaned and cracked as massive breaks were blasted into it, and the sheer impact immediately pounded in a crater. No flames or glowing this time, however…for the entire dam was broken through and immediately made contact with water on the other side. Even before the beams cut off, the water began to surge forward, and quickly spread more and more cracks over the entire dam.

Shaddamehl burst from the ground a moment later, mouth open wide and surging at the _Apollo_ in an "arch". It wasn't stupid enough to go straight into the dam. Instead, it curled itself over, meaning to bring its body down on top of them. A shadow loomed over the descending aircraft as the ground rapidly rushed up to meet them. The mandibles opened wide and descended, and all the three could see was an eruption of dirt and the mountainous bulk of the earth fiend. However, before it could connect, Cid quickly threw the engines back to full power. He prayed that the brief "respite", though no more than a couple seconds, gave the cooling systems just enough time to make the gears loosen again.

Immediately, the siren went off again…but only at the "caution" stage. With that in mind, Cid quickly swiveled the engines and gunned to maximum. As Shaddamehl came down, the _Apollo_ rocketed forward, pitching a bit like an insect, and slipped through the mandibles once again, even as a thunderous sound equal to that of the monster echoed behind them as the entire dam began to burst like a house of cards. The small aircraft rocketed away from the mouth, barely swiveled under Shaddamehl's descending body, and then quickly ascended again to avoid both the bulk of the monster and what was coming beyond it.

As the massive beast was helpless to chase, it instead inclined its head forward…as the dam totally collapsed and sent out a deep lake worth of water spilling right into it…and crashing directly into the thing. It tried to rear its head up, tried to get away from it…but was soon caught in the great deluge as millions of gallons of water poured over it.

Cid shot the _Apollo _up and away as quick as he could, even as the gears went to a warning once again. However, he stopped when the ship was high and away, and then quickly swiveled the craft around before going into a hover. Gill and Heck almost pressed their faces to the openings while Cid looked out the window, and saw the sight below.

The water was rushing out in a steady deluge. It had splashed over most of the bulk of Shaddamehl. Some of it was still buried or had managed to stay dry…but that didn't matter in a moment. That much water was quickly sinking into the ground and saturating everything under it. Especially considering how much that Shaddmehl had "aerated" it, leaving openings beneath for water to soak in and flood. What more, the very strength of the creature seemed to ebb from the water. In spite of being so large, it seemed unable to respire when it was wet, much like any worm would. Soon it crashed into the ground and began to writhe and flop about, in turn making itself wetter and wetter as the waters poured over it. They continued to fill in the area until it was no longer appropriate to say it was in mud, but rather a giant brown puddle. It actually pulled itself completely out of the ground. It was a paradoxal movement…but only due to the creature's still-developing intelligence. It wasn't smart enough to know to go deeper into the ground, since the water was trickling down. It tried to go higher instead, where only more "harsh, unforgiving air" was waiting for it.

The engineer realized the truth. _It worked…_

"It's stuck on the surface!" He shouted into the radio. "Fire now! Fire everything you got!"

* * *

><p>Quaren immediately ran his fingers over the switches, firing off some missles individually, some in batches…but soon set off the whole payload. The <em>Ragnarok<em> thundered like it was a fireworks barge during an independence ceremony as rocket after rocket erupted from it and left dozens of streaks of smoke through the sky as they curved over it and toward the destination.

* * *

><p>Cid only gave enough time for the <em>Apollo's<em> engines to cool, and then lifted up and pulled away further. At all times, he kept an eye on Shaddamehl and the water. If it ebbed too much, after all, there was a chance the monster could flee. However, such didn't happen. The water continued to rush over it, and struggle and thrash as it might, it could do nothing. It was like a helpless fish on land, unwilling to burrow through the water to get to earth, and unable to get any traction to get to dry ground as more and more water rushed over it. Eventually, as the deluge moved beyond, the water subsided enough to expose most of its body, but it was soaking wet and only running around in more water…unable to get free from any of it. Perhaps it would have eventually, but how long that would take would never become clear…for the sounds of whines, many, _many_ more than last time, streaked through the air and sank into the beast…one after another.

Horrendous screaming soon sounded forth as Shaddamehl was pounded again and again by rockets of every shape and size. In spite of their distance from the monster, Cid, Gill, Heck, and the _Apollo_ rocked violently from the chain of explosions ripping through the air. Dirt and water alike was thrown everywhere…along with huge chunks of flesh and eruptions of blood and gore. Granted, a good number of the missiles missed the earth fiend entirely, but even the misses were often close enough to do concussive damage. And with its whole body exposed in one area, the majority of the missles hit pay dirt, ravaging it and opening one gory wound after another, spilling more of is rustic blood all around it, and two well-placed large missiles blowing one of its three mandibles clean off. The rest of it vanished into smoke and fire, but still the rockets came in and lit it up more and more.

At last, the final amount of missile was delivered and ignited. The flames subsided quickly. After all, the area was still covered with water. The only places that remained on the surface and burning were large pieces of the monster that had been blown clean off with enough high-temperature explosive to ignite. They continued to give off foul smoke. As for the remaining vapor, it cleared quickly after…revealing what was left.

Shaddamehl's body was lined with craters, and half of it seemed "dead". The living half was barely moving. On its two remaining mandibles, it struggled to slowly writhe, trying to get to the nearest patch of dirt. But it was useless. It was surrounded by water, air, and fire…no dry soil to be found anywhere. The nearest patch might as well have been on the other side of the universe. There was no way it could move itself there now, although it vainly tried for a bit longer. Each movement, however, weakened it further, made it move slower and slower…

Finally, it turned its head up, gave one last "gurgle", where more of its blood flowed out of its cavernous mouth, and then fell to the ground with a large wet "whump". It moved no more, save to "sink" a bit, like a deflated bag.

The engineer finally felt "normal" again. As his heart slowed and he leaned back, he became aware he was soaked with sweat. Gill and Heck leaned back for a moment, before the gigas gave out a hearty laugh and put one arm around the sahagin and another around Cid in his chair, and gave them a crushing hug. In between what sounded like his shell cracking a bit, Gill let out a more high pitched laugh followed by a cry in his native language of victory. As for Cid, he gulped a bit under the hug, before calling into the headpiece.

"It's over! It's dead! We got it!"

* * *

><p>Leila, for once in her bold, brash life, nearly collapsed where she stood. As for the pirates, they broke into full revelry once again, this time without restraint. Some of them pulled out guns and fired them into the air with little thought to who was overhead or conduits. Others indeed broke out the liquor as before and began to guzzle it in between cheers. Others simply threw their hats and rose to dance about.<p>

Quaren himself nearly collapsed in his own chair, reaching up a hand to rub at his neck. He had no idea it would be that difficult… There was no way they could have killed that thing on land. It was a totally different type of monster. But, although luck had been more of it than he cared, he risked relaxing for a bit just to breathe easy. He had come through for Dael. Their group had taken out "their monster".

The commodore straightened up a bit, and then exhaled and wiped her own face. It seemed she had been nervous as well, if for no other reason than victory looked pitifully slim. Finally, however, she went over to the console even as the revelry continued, but died down a bit. Pressing a button, she soon got on speakers.

"Moginson, how's it going down there?"

_"Now that we're not pushing the engines so hard, better, kupo. The second control feedback is online again."_

"Good. Get us ready to move out as soon as possible…and get that green squirrel awake. He's got work to do."

She shut off the radio soon after. Out of all the revelers, only Quaren, of the more conservative and controlled background, had paid attention to this. Everyone else had continued to party and celebrate. As for Leila, she looked to him. "What's our payload look like?"

Quaren reacted fairly quickly, in spite of the sudden question. He looked over the console. "…About five rockets left all together although the guns are holding out pretty well."

The commodore gave a nod. However, she didn't look away right away. She stared at him silently and expressionlessly. After a time, her gaze lowered and looked to the floor. She slowly exhaled.

"…You were right."

The corporal paused momentarily. Now that the danger was gone, that statement made him a bit nervous as it brought back to mind her anger earlier. However...she didn't look in the mood for actually being violent, which soon let him to calm. After a lengthy pause, he merely shrugged. "It's what I know."

Leila didn't answer. She kept staring at the floor and sighed again. "I almost made a bad choice."

Quaren paused. He swallowed a bit. "Everyone does."

"Captains don't…not if they want to live." Leila responded. She snorted, and then reached down to her own artificial legs. She gave a knock on them. "You know…for eight years, I swore that if it was the last thing I ever did…if it took me my dying breath…I'd kill my father for what he did to me back there."

She paused.

"…I was an idiot. I should have swore I'd never do what he did to me. I nearly killed three mates in something that would have never worked…meaning I would have killed them for nothing. I nearly did what he did."

The corporal stared back for a bit longer. In the end, he firmed up a bit as he answered.

"A lot of us have made some pretty bad mistakes and errors in judgment over the past couple months. Some worse than others. All we can do is live and learn, same as any battle you lose or any fight where you get creamed. There aren't many people on Gaia capable of fighting back. We're some of those who can. The world can't really afford to be 'choosey' right now. Besides…Dael once told me back in school…"

He hesitated here, causing Leila to look back up to him.

"'Do you want the last thing you ever do to be shooting for success or brooding over a failure?'" He shrugged. "The nice thing about dying in battle is you never have time to regret what you could have done…only what you went out trying to do."

Leila herself stood silently for a moment, looking back at him. He stared back.

Finally, she smiled.

"My old man may be a worthless son of a bitch…but he really does know how to pick good mates. You may be some rich snot, but you've got iron balls to defy me to my face. That's why, instead of keelhauling you off this hunk of junk, I'm going to buy you a drink the first chance I get." She hesitated a bit more, and then shrugged. "…And I think I'll invite that old bastard along too, for old time's sake."

Quaren couldn't help himself, and he actually risked a smile for a moment. Leila's own smile, however, faded, as she snapped back around to the pirates, and boomed out in a loud voice.

"What the hell you all think you're doing?!"

Immediately, the revelry cut off, and all of them turned to her as one. Most of them looked rather confused at why she had cut them off, but she continued.

"This fight's not over! It's just getting into the heat! Those sensors are still offline and I want them up! Everyone else, get ready to move out! I need you all still working sober! As soon as we're up, set a course for Leuco unless that rat can teleport us there!"

The pirates looked rather disappointed, but then began to do as told. As for Leila, she turned forward and back to the wheel. She continued to speak aloud, but in a calmer voice, and clearly more directed toward Quaren.

"We're getting a move on as soon as those three come back. Things can only get harder from here… That thing put itself back together just by eating the ground. Now this world might be three-tenths earth, but last I checked it's seven-tenths water and surrounded by air. There may not be any open flames around for the fire one, but that still leaves the wind and water one, and I'm guessing they're going to be worse than this one could ever be. Before today is up…we may have to take up some more slack…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	70. Soddoth of Wind

Taraketh had to admit…he was hardly in his element. The last time he had been on board the _Enterprise_, he hadn't proven too useful. This was more the domain of those who were "technically inclined". Now, he didn't even have the advantage of familiarity. The pirates and surviving Esthar's Hawks had managed to fill the ship almost to maximum capacity of crew, and they had brought all of the old weaponry back online. Combined with the fact that the hull was now redone with mythril, and it felt almost like an entirely new situation. All of the "luxury" qualities had been tossed aside. The ship was more like a true warship now. Naturally, he was far from settled.

Cryder, of course, was a different matter entirely. He was growing more enthused by the moment as he literally ran all over the place…not just the bridge but the ship. He studied everything that was brought online, all of the new "ratings" now that the ship was lighter than ever, the weapons that they were armed with, and making sure each and every member of the crew, from the bridge officers to the engineers and weapons controllers, knew who he was and were ready to respond. For the most part, he settled into things well. With a ship under his command, Taraketh had to admit, in spite of his disdain for Cryder, he was shifting into a more "commanding" persona of his own. He seemed to have a natural "ease" and sense of how to act in this situation. He was in his element, and exuded an aura of savvy and know-how. Taraketh assumed he might have recognized it earlier from their initial "meeting", but seeing as he felt only a mixture of pain and loathing during that time, he couldn't really say.

But what was he doing at the moment? Little more than finding a quiet corner on the bridge to stand and trying not to get into people's way. After all, he couldn't even guess at most of the functions of even the simplest console, and with the ship fully armed and armored, his magic was a bit superfluous. He had been tempted more than once to simply retreat to some place in the ship he couldn't even be seen. What good was he doing here, after all?

Yet, in the end, he held out. The fact that Cryder was there reminded him of why he needed to, after all. In spite of him giving his all on Nyx Gaia, there was a lingering aura of distrust. Even if there wasn't…he retained a feeling of failure himself. The more and more time went on, the more of a fool he realized he had been. He should have known all along that if Mianyl had really been "the Mianyl he knew", she wouldn't have made him choose between her and his…

_…My what?_

…between her and them. Not over something like this. But like so many others, he had blindly gone along with the whole thing because he didn't know what else to do. That's what his life was…following orders. Every bit as much as the Esthar's Hawks that he had dismissively called "grunts" so many times. That's why he had to be here now. He had to do _something_…something without the others behind him pushing him or directing him. Something more "independent"…or at least as independent as he could be with Cryder. Even in his greatest moments of obedience, he never wanted this world to die. He had to do this to prove it…if not for himself but for everyone. That he was firmly "one of them" and not the servant of Mianyl.

As he was thinking of this, Cryder was currently hovering over the engineering station. Although there was a man to operate it, he decided to check out the screens himself. He had been running his finger over it for a while, seeming to run a silent count. Once done, he switched it off and let out a whistle loud enough for Taraketh and multiple others to hear.

"Well, this girl might have a little too much glitter to be hid, but she's got it where it counts." He said with a chuckle. "The main turrets are fully loaded and we've got enough ammo in here to give a full broadside volley on either side three times with conventional and once with incendiary. Even have two payloads worth for dropping bombs on the damn thing if we need to. Now all we need is to get it in front of us. And on that note…"

He turned away and looked over to the navigator console. "How close are we?"

The officer shook her head. "Still not on radar, sonar, or any other sensor device we have."

"I can't get any sort of relay signal either." The one at the communications console added. "Whatever it's doing, it's disrupting all of the buoy sensors. I didn't think anything short of a category four hurricane could have done that…"

Cryder turned to him with a snorting chuckle. "I suppose that means we won't be hearing from Lamb, either…" He snickered and shook his head a bit. "Heh…this one certainly ain't easy on the nerves."

Taraketh had to fight to suppress a frown. That was all he could say? While he was acting so casual, that monster might have already been busy destroying the Lamb Archipelago and killings tens of thousands. However, what kept the High Child from saying anything was the knowledge that he had been in a similar situation and simply did nothing…

The engineer looked up to Cryder here. "We're only at 85% on the engines, captain."

A moment later, the engineer gave a start when Cryder chuckled and clapped him on the back. "And that's more than good enough, lad, seein' as the _Enterprise_ is more lightweight and faster than she's ever been."

"We can push her faster though, captain."

"Not without damaging the engines. And I want to be at full power when we get there."

The officer frowned a bit. "Sir…the longer we delay, the more lives could be lost."

"I agree. But how many lives do you think will be lost if whatever's waitin' for us knocks us out of the sky and then runs unhindered to swallow the entire Lamb Archipelago and everyone in it…and all because we ran our engines too hard before we even got in firing range?"

The engineer kept his frown, but, after a lengthy pause, exhaled and then turned back to his console. "Aye, sir." He practically muttered.

Cryder didn't seem to let it get him in a foul mood. He soon turned and began to walk over to Taraketh next, which actually surprised the High Child a bit. He didn't let it shake him up, however, nor the fact that, as captain, he probably should have been staying up front. At any rate, on arrival, he readily reached into his vest as he grinned at him.

"Don't look so down in the mouth just yet, mate. I'm sure there'll be plenty of action for everyone once we go toe-to-toe with it. Only hope they ain't trying to give us any pointers, what with the buoys down and all these storms keeping satellite communication crappy." He soon pulled out something: one of the fine cigars from before. He soon held it out to the High Child. "On me, mate. I'd offer you a drink but between being knocked around so much and those flaming rats, I'm high and dry myself. Have to settle for the smell of heaven if we can't have the flavor."

Taraketh didn't reach for it. He continued to stare at him. "The engineer had a point, you know."

"Of course he did. Most mates do." The pirate answered, keeping the cigar held out. "If only one course of action ever 'had a point', we wouldn't very well need captains, now would we? But it's our job to find out which is the 'best' point. Sure you won't take it? You'll never find a better leaf if you spent 25 years searching the world over, mate."

The High Child kept his look. "…How can you be so cheerful right now? Radio contact or not, the sky is getting darker and the air is changing. Things aren't going well. Even assuming the others are killing their targets, they're still spreading more chaos. Even if we win, this may not do any good. The Void might still open and then this is all for nothing. And even if we avoid _that_, they might still bring Omega Weapon over. And if we avoid _that_, we still have to go up against the Sorceresses. We don't really have a lot to be happy about right now."

Cryder simply answered with a shrug. "True enough, mate. But you're forgetting to ask yourself one big question in all of that. Maybe I ain't got much of a reason to be in a good mood, prancing aboard this shiny new ship, enjoyin' the feel of commanding my own airship fully staffed and ready to raise hell. For all I know, this abomination we're comin' up on might eat mythril for breakfast and wash it down with fire. But if that's all true," He gave a shrug. "What good am I doin' being unhappy about it?"

"Maybe showing you have some concern." He answered. "As if you care what happens to those people."

The pirate merely sighed and shook his head. "Lad…of course I care about those people. That's the problem…that's why none of you people ever understand pirates…or, moreover, geomancers. You think that's all we do. Because we aren't always worrying or sad or fretting or crying that somehow we don't care. It ain't like that at all. We know…and, for that matter, _I_ know…that all the worrying in the world isn't gonna help those people one damn bit. But people in this world…whether you're in a dictatorship, a democracy, or some damn cult…you all think that somehow you make the world a better place just by losin' sleep over things. If you can fix a problem, fix it. And if you can't, then why are you losin' hair over it?"

He leaned in a bit closer to Taraketh at this, and spoke quieter…as well as bit more firmly.

"You been lookin' around nice and hard lately, mate? Maybe you should look again."

Taraketh paused on hearing that. However, after a moment, he turned his head and looked about a bit. At first, all he saw were the various officers and pilots at their consoles, keeping everyone smooth and running. However, on looking closer, he saw a number of them were pale. Some were wiping their brows and eyes often. Others looked exhausted, physically and emotionally. Still others seemed to be biting back tears.

"You and me…we've been through hell and back. But so have they." He told him softly. "They're runnin' on fumes, lad. Some of them are barely holdin' themselves together. It's all they can do to keep working. What they need right now is something that shows them things aren't near as bleak as it seems…that the person leadin' them into battle doesn't doubt for a second they'll all come home safe and sound. Come on, lad…you're a High Child. Supposed to care for people when they need it the most. You about to tell me you didn't know that much?"

The High Child couldn't answer. However, his look had softened quite a bit. As for the pirate, he soon leaned up, reached over, and then slipped the cigar behind the High Child's ear. He nearly recoiled, but in the end let him. Once it was there, the pirate gave him a smile.

"Like my old motto on my first ship, mate: 'Don't take life too seriously. It ain't like you're gonna get out of it alive.'"

With that, he turned and began to head back to the front. Taraketh was left standing there. He looked after him a moment, before he exhaled and looked down.

_I can't stand how I've spent my whole life trying to learn about control and inner peace…and Cryder is better at it than I will ever be. I don't even know what to do with my life after this is over. I've lost everything…not just the order but my philosophy, my life…and my best friend. Lady Mianyl has to be stopped…but it's not going to be easy. I've been too close to her for too long. But even if victory is possible against her…then what? What will come after that? I thought I was so close to the order's "mindset"…but now look at me. I'm a joke compared to others. Even the lowliest Children of Hyne are more devoted to their cause…more loving, more generous, more accepting, and more sacrificial._

_ I only had one group of people in this world outside of the Order of Hyne…and I stabbed them in the back. Even if I somehow manage to save their lives continuously forever, I'll never feel like I've regained their trust…and, more importantly, I'll never feel like I'm worthy of their trust. Is this how the rest of my life will play out? Wallowing in guilt? I had blood on my conscience long before what happened in Esthar. It was then that Dael ended up being the one comforting _me_…but there's no relief now._

_ …She's so much more than I'll ever be._

_ Even thinking about all the times I dismissed her and scoffed at her…it just makes me feel more and more like a fool. She may not have been perfect in her views…at least at first…but she held more love and devotion for this world and everything in it than I ever could. I don't even deserve to fight at her side…_

_ I was a fool…but I know better now. I know what has to be done. I know what's more important than me or Lady Mianyl or anything else that the Order of Hyne ever did or ever will do. And I know who's the 'right side'…_

_ But how I can prove it her?_

_ How can I prove it to myself?_

"Sir…we've got something on sensors."

This one phrase instantly shook not only Taraketh from his thoughts, but soon put the entire bridge on alert. For a moment of silence, it seemed as if the room had grown colder as people realized what that phrase meant. No one was even optimistic enough to think that perhaps this was nothing… At any rate, Cryder, back at the front of the ship, immediately turned to the station.

"'Bout time…what is it, love?"

The officer in question looked a bit puzzled, and even unnerved. "Well…it's something, and it's definitely not natural. But beyond that…it's like nothing I've ever seen before. It isn't a 'bogie' in the traditional sense of the word, and isn't putting out any sort of machine signal or heat signature."

"What is it, then?"

"It's…it's something like a tornado…or even a hurricane."

Cryder raised a brow at that. "You certain you ain't just readin' a storm, mate?"

She shook her head. "No. At least…I don't think so. It's the most unusual pattern I've ever seen before. It's like a storm…changes in pressure and all that…but it's extremely localized. More so than any storm I think this world has ever seen. At any rate, it's stationary and it's on one of the islands. Assuming it's the target, I think it's positioning itself right over the islands and destroying them in some way. All I can tell for sure is that the winds being generated on that point are easily in category five."

This caused some puzzlement not only from the captain, but from everyone else on board. He held for only a few moments, before he gave a simple nod and gestured forward. "Let's fire up the frontal view. I think we're close enough for that."

Until now, the ship had been running mostly "self-concealed". After all, there was no reason to bring the monitors up when they weren't actually in battle and needed to keep track of anything. At this point, however, one of the officers adjusted a few controls, and the display "windows" fired to life. They didn't take more than a few seconds to warm before they produced images clear enough to be windows. Everyone looked…and everyone felt a bit more tense.

The sky was darker now, to be sure. It looked like it was approaching the level of another storm. The sea that they raced across reflected the change. It was getting violent and choppy. It was of no concern to them, but at this point if anyone around was on a boat or living near a shore, they were in trouble. And considering the fact that they were nearly to the Lamb Archipelago, that possibility was more likely than not. Yet what truly caught everyone's attention was something dead on the horizon ahead of them.

According to the sensors and GPS coordinates, they were nearly to one of the southernmost islands in the Lamb Archipelago. It wasn't much, but it did have dwellings and businesses there, being the territory of one of the other, larger islands. But whether it was or it wasn't, the bottom line was that there were people and facilities living there…as well as the fact that there was what looked like the oddest "tornado" in history touching down upon it. It wasn't like a true tornado at all, but rather as if the clouds overhead had become "befouled" or "corrupted"…something that made the clouds turn from dark gray to nearly pure black, like smoke or fire. Perhaps even blacker than that. And there was a vague conical shape upon it that tapered somewhat thin, but one would hardly notice it. Great wisps and plumes of cloud splayed from all sides and seemed to "move about". And based on the relative size and shape, they were moving quite fast. The way they were positioned, it almost looked as if this "tornado" was falling apart, yet somehow still churning about. Almost as if the clouds weren't clouds at all but almost fins…or even limbs of a sort. That effect only grew more distinctive as they drew closer and closer.

The destruction it was leaving, however, was undeniable. Even from a distance, one could see it when the magnification was increased…and it was far worse than any tornado or hurricane any of them had ever witnessed before. The wind seemed to be going about so intense, so beyond what should have been capable of a storm, that it was literally casting about large rocks, vehicles, even _houses_ about it, from how it appeared.

On seeing this, Taraketh himself began to advance forward at last, staring at it with his eyes wide. It wasn't just what he was seeing, however. From this far, he was actually sensing it…

Cryder himself rubbed his jaw a bit, studying the object. "Never seen a storm like that one… I doubt even that Pandemona fella could make that. But where's the source?"

"I think we're looking at it." Taraketh responded aloud.

This caused not only Cryder, but several other officers to look to him, but he gestured forward. "I can sense a tremendous amount of spiritual energy coming from that storm…just as it was back on Nyx Gaia. Whatever it is, it's inside the center of it. It must be driving it around somehow. It's not entirely unheard of in history. Ages ago, there's a story of a dark wizard using incredibly powerful magic to make a directed cyclone. He was able to wipe out most of the civilized areas of Gaia with it, too…"

"Don't suppose those stories mention how to stop it, do they, lad?" Cryder asked.

"Fairly simple…destroy the source." Taraketh answered. "Most of the destructive power is located on the lower half. The people in that age road a Wind Drake over most of the gale and went right in to destroy the caster. I think the _Enterprise_ will do just as well."

"Better than that, mate." Cryder answered, turning forward again. "We'll blow it to kingdom come from a distance. That is…assuming we can get in firing range. On that note…" He looked again to the sensors officer. "Can we?"

"Normally even getting this close to a weather pattern like this would be devastating." The officer answered. "But…it's incredibly localized. I'm not scanning anything here, and whatever weather satellites we can pick up say it's clear almost all the way up to it."

"Good. Keep an eye on them. Let me know the second we start heading into it. Helmsman, get her a bit closer and then slow her down so we can pull around and flank it. Tactical, the moment we're in range of the broadsides, we're going to bring it around and let this thing have it."

Everyone immediately stated to execute the orders, even if they gave the dark plume a bit more of an uneasy look as they did so. The ship did have a bit of a "braking issue" as it slowed, due to not being used to its own lightweight frame thanks to the mythril. Nevertheless, it adjusted well after a moment due to built-in compensation methods, and soon everyone, in spite of the chill and unease they had from this latest revelation, did as they were told. The magnification switched off, but even when it did the plume was still quite distinctive, and getting closer fast even with reduced speed. The call was made from tactical to move to battle stations, and the lighting shifted and silent alarms went off to give the signal for everyone to prepare for a fight as tensions began to rise.

However, none had more tension than Taraketh.

The young man had seen many storms in his time, and he had familiarity with every type of "elemental" magic there was. After all, Mianyl's own title was "Mianyl the Wind", and so he knew what it was like to feel raw power flow so easily out of an individual that it seemed to be a natural extension of them. This was something far different. The wind didn't "feel right". Although it had to be magical in nature, it didn't, in fact, feel to be magical "in origin". There was something different about this…something unlike anything he had ever seen in mage or monster. It was likely it was different from anything anyone had ever seen… Although he had no proof at this point, Taraketh had the sensation that even that infernal cyclone hadn't been generated like this. After all, Mianyl had to have known about it as well. If she wanted something like that, she could have simply cast it herself…

At any rate, the _Enterprise_ steadily grew nearer. It didn't take long, which was good because the black twister wasn't stopping. Although it moved unnaturally slow, that seemed to only be to ensure that everything around it was completely annihilated. Not only that, but as they got near enough, they noticed something else. Apparently, the black twist of cloud was generating lightning as well. Bolts erupted from time to time from it…and all of them seemed to be directed toward something designed to do heavy damage, such as something flammable. One bolt in particular, Taraketh saw distinctly strike some sort of oil truck that had been picked up, instantly turning it into a fireball. Of course, that seemed just a bit superfluous, as it was whipping around so hard and fast it went out almost the moment it ignited. The wind was literally so intense it was draining air from wherever it passed…which meant if anyone was lucky enough to be in shelter during the onslaught that wasn't uprooted…

"How we doing?" Cryder sounded, interrupting Taraketh's train of thought again as he looked to the officer at the sensors.

"Still stable." The officer responded. "No real changes. We still look like we're isolated from it."

"We're nearly in firing range." The tactical officer responded.

The helmsman himself didn't bother to say anything. He just continued to slow, and then began to swing the ship around. Cryder gave only one more announcement, to keep the view focused on the actual black plume as they came around. From this close, it looked larger and more monstrous than ever. The various "tufts" of smoke coming off of it did seem to move a bit from this angle, but here, sharply defined, they looked more like limbs than ever. And the sheer amount of material it was casting up testified that it's power was not to be denied… It was honestly nerve wracking…and frightening. However, everyone held on and continued to ready the ship. Taraketh actually stepped out further, wanting to get a better look at this, as the ship slowly pulled perpendicular to the "storm" and then began to move around it.

At this point, deep in the ship, the sounds of numerous hydraulic lifts went out. Each one of the doors had been "reopened", no longer welded shut as they had been in the previous trips Taraketh had taken on the _Enterprise_. With them working, the entire payload of cannonry moved out and took position, each one aimed for an attack on the black plume. As the machinery cut off, the tactical officer looked to Cryder. "Port broadside guns are ready, sir."

The pirate motioned forward. "Let 'er have it."

The tactical officer turned back, pressed only a few controls, and soon the _Enterprise_ gave a massive and unexpected lurch as the eruptions went off from deep in the ship. It was so stunning that everyone was nearly thrown off their controls, and quickly everyone had to get back to work to stabilize the ship before it drifted out of control. It seemed a flaw had been found with the mythril. Being so lightweight, the ship didn't have enough inertia to stay in place with that many cannons firing at a time. Taraketh was honestly a bit surprised, but only for a moment. The rest of the ship quickly stabilized as the crew went back to their controls and evened everything out. That done, everyone looked up and ahead to the "storm".

It was easy to see the "hail" of ammunition rolling through the sky. The shots were pretty good, too. Given its size, only a few of the cannon shots went wild of the actual "tower" of black cloud. However, on reaching it…the result wasn't what anyone had hoped. The shots vanished into the blackness…and then nothing. Certainly no impact. The crew watched, expecting a result, but nothing came. There was nothing solid in the storm to hit. However, before they could declare the shots duds, there was finally a series of explosions, but they were far on the other side of the plume, from when the shots arched to the ground and impacted.

Cryder again looked confused. "What the devil…?" He looked to tactical. "What happened?"

The officer, just as confused as the others, looked over his readout. "…The shots didn't hit, sir. They just went straight through the storm and smashed on the other side."

"Maybe it's higher than where we were aiming." Taraketh suggested.

"Higher nothing, lad." Cryder responded. "We just fired into a twister that's yanking up pieces of landscape. If nothing else, the shots should have whipped around the thing." He looked to the helmsman. "Just the same, take us up a bit higher." He looked back to tactical next. "Arm the second salvo. Let's give it another shot."

The officers quickly went about their work, and, as Taraketh soon realized, it was a good thing they focused on their consoles, because others like him who kept watching the screen were soon a bit unnerved.

As they looked at the black smoke churning about, there seemed to be…changes…every now and then. For a moment, every so often, Taraketh thought he would see what looked like wisps of a more "purplish" smoke inside of it…and even white "threads" of smoke. Threads was appropriate, because they were so thin and wispy it was hard to imagine that they were actual clouds. They looked more like…well, it was impossible to say what they looked like. Definitely not mere "weather". It was probably worse on Taraketh, however. He could almost swear he had felt the power "pick up" inside of that thing after it was shot at, in spite of not hitting anything or seeing any changes in the destruction.

"Something's not right here, Cryder." He said out loud.

"Tell me about it, mate."

"No…this isn't right at all. I don't think we should be shooting at this thing."

The pirate turned his head long enough to give him a look as the _Enterprise_ evened out and the reloading continued. "…What do you suggest then, mate? Asking it nicely to stop wrecking everything?"

"This storm doesn't feel right." The former High Child answered. "You have to feel it too if you're a geomancer."

This made Cryder hesitate. He looked to the storm for a moment. After a few seconds, he exhaled. "I'll admit, mate…this isn't anything I can control. I can't even 'hear' it, and that's the first time I never heard a storm before. But we ain't got a choice, lad. Don't really have too many other options."

"Port broadsides are ready, captain."

"Light 'er up."

Taraketh nearly protested, but it was too late. Again, the controls were pressed. By now, the crew were more accustomed to the firepower, and so they managed to keep the _Enterprise_ far more stable, although it still recoiled rather heavily. Nevertheless, the shots went out and began to streak through the sky, just as before. Once again, they sailed to the black monstrosity, reached it…and sank inside once more. This time, Cryder didn't bother watching and waiting. He turned straight to the tactical officer, who was already looking over and waiting for the "verdict". After only a few moments, however, he looked back up and shook his head. "They just went right through again."

Cryder began to scowl. "Well, damnit…we're going to have to find out where…"

However, the pirate trailed off soon after that, but it hardly mattered as no one was really paying attention anymore.

While the shots had not struck anything "vital", they had an effect. Apparently, whatever was controlling it seemed to know what was going on…and, at that moment, the "twister" motion abruptly rearranged. In a snap, the plume went free both from overhead, reaching up into the clouds, as well as below, ravaging the landscape. The rotation slowed, allowing the large objects to fall once again, although a few smaller objects were still caught up in it. As for the rest of the phenomena, it immediately began to draw itself up into a central "mass" of some sort. It was still quite large, and it still splayed about bits of cloud like limbs. However, it now became more like a true mass of cloud…or, at the least, a cloud shape. That was because the few glimpses that Taraketh had seen before of color now came out full force. The "blackness" seemed to fracture all over to form one purple shade after another. And it was not a mere color, but rather "streaks" or "hazes" nestled within the cloud. Not only that shade, but uglier, nauseating yellow plumes mixed with it, as well as the occasional strain of white. The mixture of colors was both eerie and sickening to even look at, especially they way they moved about. It didn't look like clouds, smoke, or even paint…but almost like something living and sickly mixing together in strange, uncomprehensible ways as it came together to form a great mass in the air.

After staring for a moment, Cryder couldn't help but "breach properity".

"What in the name of Leviathan's maw is that?"

"I don't know, but I can feel whatever was making that twister seeming to 'condense' inside of it…" Taraketh responded, keeping his gaze focused on it.

"I don't feel anything from the world." Cryder added. "This thing ain't natural in any way."

The sensors officer, however, looked more nervous than either of them, and suddenly spoke up. "Captain, the wind is picking up around us. It's growing more powerful and turbulent. I can't focus on a direction…"

Just as the officer finished saying this, however, the "form" seemed to be "complete"…or, at least, drawn into one spot. When that happened, it began to churn over itself more violently than ever, and gradually, parts of it seemed to "split" and spread out. When that happened, it revealed something new inside. What looked like a series of non-uniform-shaped pale spheres rose out of the depths of the thing. They weren't even arranged in any way. They just seemed to poke out of the interior of the thing. As the wind continued to increase, Cryder, Taraketh, and the others looked into the spheres, seeing that they were some sort of "rotten milk"-like color…

Before, deep in their midst, everyone managed to just barely see a second jaundiced, sickly-yellow orb in each one poke out and aim at them.

"Those damn things are eyes…" Cryder exclaimed aloud.

"Great Aerith…that monster isn't causing the storm…" The High Child remarked. "It _is_ the storm!"

At this moment, another split happened…revealing a cavernous, black void in the midst of the beast. It didn't have a true "mouth", but it certainly looked like one. And, immediately, it blasted out a heaven-rendering note so strong that even the vibration-resistent mythril hull gave a shudder. Its "wisps", now revealed to not only be wisps but actual "appendages of air", thrashed about with frightening speed.

"Soddoth of Wind…" Taraketh muttered.

"I don't give a damn if his name's 'Big Blue the Sandwich Monster'!" Cryder snapped before looking back to tactical. "Are we reloaded yet?"

The officer, who had nearly been stunned into not even checking his console, did so no. "Yes sir!"

"What are you waiting for! Put its eyes out!"

Immediately, the controls were manipulated again, and the third broadside attack erupted from the _Enterprise_. Everyone was so stunned by the horrific monstrosity they were looking at…one that seemed almost sickening or even unnerving to witness, based on its constitution and how it continuously seemed to change without ever having anything that could be "identified"…that they let the heavy recoil snap the airship again, this time with so much force that the airship must have actually shot away to one side. After doing so, the crew snapped out of it and got to work stabilizing the aircraft, with the helmsman already moving to bring the engines up, yet Cryder and Taraketh watched the volley of shots sail through the air…

However, in spite of the monster "condensing", it did nothing. Just as before, it was like shooting smoke. The shots sailed right through it, leaving only "ripples" in the body that quickly recondensed. Not only that, but even the shots that struck the orbs, of which there were many, simply "dispersed" the smoke temporarily, revealing the orbs, for as solid as they looked, to still be nothing more than foul gas. And, again, as soon as they were gone, the orbs rapidly congealed again and reformed.

Cryder, Taraketh, and whoever had looked up to watch were horrified.

"Worse than trying to force smoke into a bottle…ain't that what they say?" The pirate muttered.

At any rate, Soddoth had apparently "seen enough" at that point. Hardly had the shots gone through it, when it let out another horrible, thunderous sound, and then sprung forward. Perhaps the monster, being gas itself, could somehow launch itself off of air as well, for in a flash the noxious cloud was surging forward with all the speed of a missile.

"Helmsman, get us out of here!" Cryder snapped.

The crewmember immediately got to work, and had, in fact, been ready for this. However, it was useless. The monster wasn't a bulky machine with engines that had lags or warm up times. It simply launched itself at the ship. Although the helmsman settled for trying to shoot away from the side before it landed, there was no time. The engines had barely fired up before the cloud reached the ship, and immediately the screens became covered with black as it swarmed over it.

Things quickly escalated. In moments, there were alarms going out all over the ship. The screens themselves flickered and died, before all of the sensors began to go haywire and blare error messages. The _Enterprise_ itself began to pitch and rock. In essence, it was from the turbulent winds that had suddenly enveloped it, but that made little difference. The gusts, tugs, and blasts of air were so focused and rapid that it seemed more like the _Enterprise_ was now in the jaws of a hungry dog, and began to pitch and cast about wilder and more sudden than it was ever built to handle. Taraketh himself felt his foot go out from under him, and instantly he fell to the floor, before being slid around violently. Everyone else standing "in the open" did the same, save for the officers who managed to grab onto the handles on their consoles, and Cryder…who remarkably managed to hold on.

Yet that wasn't the worst of it. The communications console suddenly blasted signals all over the place. In spite of the chaos and how things were rattling and shaking worse than ever, the officer grabbed on and began to answer the calls. Over the noise and racket of escalating sirens and the entire ship being rattled like a bad amusement park ride, he shouted out.

"Sir! We're getting reports from all over the ship that toxic gas is leaking into the _Enterprise_! We already have six casualties…" He held a bit more, and grew more nervous. "…At least two fatalities!"

The engineering monitor had a similar bad story. "Everything's going wild on the exterior machinery! We're losing electrical power to the entire external hull and all associated devices! We can't get any signals at all!"

"We're getting _one_ signal!" The sensors officer outburst. "Air is going dead all around the ship! Some sort of inert poisonous gas with lower than atmospheric pressure!"

"And that's straining the hull all over the _Enterprise!_" The engineer shot back. "And if that thing is using toxic gas, then it's leaking into the ship!"

Cryder had heard enough. He snapped to the helmsman. "Waitin' for you to get the ship out of this any time now, mate!"

"I can't do anything!" The helmsman answered. "It's draining current to the engines while making negative pressure in the fuel line! I've got no engine power!"

"Then cut the magnetic repulsor, for cryin' out loud! We'll drop out of it!"

"It's no use! The current's too weak!"

"Can't somebody bypass the damn thing?"

"The area's already flooded with whatever poison gas that thing is using!" The engineer shot back. "It's death as soon as anyone gets in there! I barely got it sealed off behind the bulkhead before the gas got in! I'm sealing off all I can but it's still finding ways in! I'm only slowing it down!"

Taraketh, by now, had dragged himself over to the nearest unoccupied console with handles, and tried to use it to begin to pull himself up. Yet even as he managed to get to his feet, sirens started to blare all over the ship once again. Much louder this time. He instantly looked around at that, but only saw more panic.

"What in blazes is that?!" Cryder shouted, only now starting to get agitated.

"There's at least eight different points on the hull showing structural damage!" The engineer shot back. "I don't know how those damn things wired in the leads when they replaced it with mythril, but we're still getting alerts! Something large and powerful is attacking us all over, trying to rip into the ship!"

"What do you mean 'rip into the ship'?! We're plated with _mythril!_"

"I don't think it cares, captain! It's taking some time, but it's still going to do it pretty soon! Plus, all of the engine blocks and turrets are showing strain!"

"I can't do anything in here!" Taraketh suddenly shouted. "I can't cast spells on what I can't see! I'm heading for the upper deck!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Cryder shot back. "Aren't you listening?! We're surrounded by poison gas on the inside and low pressure on the outside! Even if you can hold your breath, you're damned once you try!"

Just as Cryder finished, a second alarm went off, this one far louder and more intense, like a siren. The ship began to shudder harder than ever.

"We've got a hull breach!" The engineer shouted as he struggled to move his hands over the console. "I'm trying to seal it off but we can't take much more of this! The damage shows its ripping the hull open like a banana peel!"

The pirate stared at this for only a moment. Taraketh opened his mouth, ready to insist that he had to go, that they had no choice but to let him try and that he'd attempt to use some sort of magical protection to keep himself from being poisoned. However, before he could, Cryder snapped around and looked to the helmsman.

"Get ready for a speed burst! I want this thing going so fast anyone not holding on or strapped down is going to get a broken bone when this thing takes off! And you take off the second I say so!"

The helmsman was confused by this, but before he could press it, Cryder snapped his head out. "Hear that, you louts?! Grab on and hold on tight!" After saying this, he looked to tactical. "Now fire the opposite broadsides now!"

The tactical officer looked up in shock. "Wh…what?"

Another siren rang out as a second hull breach began. At this point, Taraketh, while turning to seize the handles to the abandoned console, began to notice some sort of foul odor was beginning to leak into the bridge. Yet Cryder blasted back at the officer.

"I'm a bloody pirate, mate! I don't give casual orders! Fire the damn guns!"

Naturally, the officer had no idea what good that was supposed to do. Even if they went off, they were too close for firing. However, the sudden violence and force of Cryder was not to be denied, and so he turned around and quickly activated the weapons. Moments later, the guns blasted on one side of the ship…and, as a result, with not one crewmember trying to stabilize the airship, the entire _Enterprise_ was subjected to a violent, snapping recoil and nearly thrown through the sky.

As many were thrown to the ground again, the others only holding on due to the handles, Taraketh realized the wisdom of this. The engines might not have worked, but the guns still had their recoil, and in this light ship it was sharper than ever. The viewscreens didn't come back on right away, but the power almost immediately flickered back to life. The foul odor died out again, much faster than one would think possible, and systems immediately started to come back online. Yet as the ship was still snapping to one side, Cryder gave the shout.

"Hit the nitro or whatever the hell we got!"

The helmsman didn't waste time, immediately punching the controls up to maximum. Sure enough, not only could the _Enterprise_ accelerate at a seemingly physically impossible rate, but with the mythril body it was faster than ever. In spite of the order to "hold on", some people were still snapped loose from their controls so fast they were flung back into the rear of the bridge with rather loud noises from their collisions. Taraketh himself had one of his hands slip, although he managed to hold on tight with the other. As for the ship itself, it rocketed off at a rate good enough for an ICBM. All of the shaking ceased save for that from the intense engine output and drag, generated by the new holes in the hull, and the sirens continued to blare for a bit, but only to signify damage. The engineer quickly began to override them while finishing sealing off the ship.

Within only a few seconds, the power came fully back on, and the viewscreens flickered to life again, showing them now shooting forward through the sky at an incredible rate, the dark clouds and ocean rushing around them from both above and below. The rest of the airship began to come completely online, although there were still some malfunctions and the ship wasn't working quite as well as before. Nevertheless, the engineer looked up.

"All of the gas is contained…but it hardly matters anymore. It's almost like we left it behind back there…like all of it was connected to that thing."

"We're clear." The helmsman stated. "Engines running at full power now."

At that moment, however, another siren went off…this time from the sensors station. Immediately, the crewmember there looked to them, and her face paled a bit.

"Captain…we're clear of that thing and the sensors are coming back online, but…it's not letting us go. It's right behind us on an intercept course."

The pirate, who had just been starting to relax himself, looked over to the sensors station at that. What more, what little relaxation and confidence had begun to pervade the crowd soon evaporated as they looked nervously up once again. Cryder immediately motioned to the helmsman. "Give us a rear view. Let's see what it looks like…"

The officer swallowed a bit, but then reached over and types a few buttons. The viewscreens, working well again, soon changed to give the rear view of the _Enterprise_. Sure enough…the blob-like cloud, still swirling nauseating colors of purple, yellow, and white within its miasma-like body, was shooting right after them. What more, its body seemed to have "sharpened" and "smoothed" itself, as if it was making its body sleeker so it could even more easily move through the air. It was rather small at the moment…but it was unmistakably slowly getting bigger. It was closing the distance. Maybe only slowly, but undeniably.

"Bring us to full speed." He immediately ordered.

The helmsman shook his head. "I'm already getting all the power I can get out of the engines, sir. I brought it to full power when we took off. We're already exceeding the cooling limits."

Cryder gave a whistle. "Well then, it's a good thing I told you to 'spare the horses' before now, ain't it?" He said with a half-chuckle…although this time it was rather weak and showing a bit of his own anxiety. He looked back to tactical. "Are the turrets and rear guns online?"

The officer nodded. "Yes sir, but…the shots don't do anything…"

"I'd rather go down tryin' something that doesn't do anything than just patiently waitin' to get devoured alive." The pirate responded. "Get the turrets ready and try settin' them on a proximity fuse instead. Then start unloadin' into that cloud until I give you further instruction from the hold."

This caused a few curious looks at the pirate, including from Taraketh.

"The hold?" The High Child asked.

Cryder turned to him with a half smile. "Don't give me that look, lad. You're comin' too. Only so much a couple of mages like ourselves can do from a bridge. Let's see if we can't let that thing have it with somethin' new…"

* * *

><p>Getting to the bottom deck didn't take too long. As large as the ship was, the two didn't waste any time getting there. With Cryder leading the way, Taraketh was able to follow on his heels and quickly rush down the service ladders to the lowest level, then run the rest of the way before dropping into the hold area. The whole time, the engines of the <em>Enterprise<em> continued to blast full strength. No further sounds of cannon fire erupted, but that was likely because they were still trying to configure the weapons to run on proximity fuses instead of impact…at least, that's what Taraketh assumed. He honestly didn't understand the weaponry, but he really didn't care at the moment. All he realized was that he could do something in this situation to help. Clearly, the monster wasn't reacting to conventional weaponry. Hopefully his spells could do more damage…

The hold wasn't much different from their previous times in the _Enterprise_. Once down there, they readily moved to the back. The area was still clear at the moment aside from two crewmen. The others had cleared out long ago by now. This was one of the first areas to flood with toxic gas during the last strike, after all…and anyone in that area risked getting poisoned. There wasn't much in the way of storage either, save for a few bombs that were being held in reserve. On reaching the rear region, they spotted the two crewmembers. One was finishing reconfiguring a relay, while the other was posted at the controls.

As they rushed up to them, one of the crewmembers turned to him and gestured to the relay. "Just finished resetting it, sir. It patches in directly to the bridge."

"Here's the rear loading controls, captain." The other said from his position. "From here we deploy the main cargo doors. We can even dump a bomb or two out of it if we need to."

"Not just yet, mates." Cryder answered as he drew himself to a halt. Taraketh readily stopped behind him. "Alright, turn that relay on and open the door…then get your asses back topside."

Both crewmembers hesitated at that. Even the High Child gave a look. However, they didn't dispute it. Both of them gave a few swallows, and then nodded. The one at the relay turned and activated the controls, then rapidly ran by and started to head for the upper deck. After that, the other one exhaled and then mashed the master override button. Immediately, to the sound of several powerful hydraulic pistons, the rear door split open and began to lower. Not wasting much time either, the crewmember turned and left.

Even when the door was only barely open, the wind immediately picked up fiercely, with a vacuum effect streaming out of the plane and an amount of suction pulling on the two. Taraketh's own robes rose up around him, and soon flapped over his arm and face. As a result, he struggled to hold on and adjust for a moment, before he sighed and merely reached down and began to rip off all of the loose portions before letting the wind carry them out. As the door continued to lower, Cryder backed up and shielded himself a bit, but then grinned at Taraketh.

"Sorry if you were hopin' for a touch of privacy, mate!" He shouted over the growing din. After all, the engines could be heard pumping louder than ever as the door opened. "But can't very well run to and fro the relay! Guess the bridge will just have to listen to us jabber, eh?"

"Doesn't make any difference to me! And it won't to them either if we don't kill that thing!" Taraketh shouted back as the ramp kept lowering.

Not long after, the ramp descended enough to where they could get a good view behind them. It was rather dizzying for Taraketh, to say the least, making him a bit nauseated to see the sky rush by above and the sea spread below. However, what really captured his attention was soon the large purple mass tailing their airship. Now that they were closer, a bit to Taraketh's surprise, the monster was forming "fins" of air and smoke once again, although at this point they looked more like tentacles as they lashed out and seemed to cling to nothing but air itself to rake itself forward as it tried to chase after them. It was unusual to say the least…but coming from this bizarre creature, it was almost, to be honest, unnerving to look at…even a bit maddening. Needless to say, neither of them paid much attention to it directly. Only at how much distance it had closed.

"It's getting nearer!" Taraketh shouted.

"Worse than that, mate!" Cryder yelled back. "You may not notice it, but those engines ain't makin' the noise that they're supposed to! They're already starting to get overheated! We can't run from it like this for long!"

Before Taraketh could respond, both of the men suddenly recoiled and covered their ears as cannon fire rang out. Moments later, all of the rear guns and the dual turrets had thundered, and sent another volley of artillery fire straight for Soddoth. It was easier this time, now that it was downwind of them. The shells once more rocketed toward the monster…and, just as before, parted through it like stones in a pond and shot straight through.

"I thought those were supposed to be proximity fuses?" Taraketh immediately asked.

"Well, assumin' this thing is nothing more than a giant fart, lad, it doesn't make much difference!" Cryder answered. "If the damn things were supposed to go off when they were close to 'air', they'd blow as soon as you shot them!" Immediately, he shouted out to the relay. "Bridge, can you hear me?"

It took a moment, but soon there was static and a response. It was a bit hard to hear over the engines and the wind, but it sounded just the same. _"I read you, cargo bay."_

"Try setting the ammunition on a timed fuse! And shake a leg! That thing's getting' too close! Some of those tentacles its got looks like they're nearly long enough to slap us on the ass!"

There was a pause from the bridge, one that Taraketh thought was unnaturally long. Finally, the voice only slowly answered. _"…Aye sir."_

The High Child looked to him. "What as that about?"

"Lad's got a good head on his shoulders!" Cryder answered a bit wistfully. "Knows full well a time fuse at this distance…we run a good chance of blowing ourselves to bits if something goes wrong!"

Taraketh didn't really care for the sound of that, but the pirate soon looked to him again.

"Anyway, enough of this! Let's see if we can't knock that thing out of the sky! Sorry to say, this far up in the air, I'm a mite of a one-trick-pony!"

With that, Cryder looked out to the approaching monster and immediately began to make some gestures. Taraketh held a moment, but then looked out as well. He quickly tried to think of an appropriate spell. Ice was out of the question. It was too solid and physical. Perhaps the cooling would have an effect on it like it would any weather phenomenon…but he didn't want to chance it. What about wind? It might disperse it… He certainly didn't have an Aero spell of his own strong enough, but maybe if he summoned Pandemona…

While he was still trying to prepare a spell, Cryder finished his own technique with one final gesture. In moments, dozens of whirling blades of air condensed in the middle of the sky and began to shoot out for Soddoth. Unfortunately, even his strongest geomancy wasn't much compared to it. The blades shrank pitifully small on the way to the thing, indicating its relative size. But even when it touched, the blades simply sank inside. The creature never slowed…never even dispersed.

Cryder frowned. "Let me try somethin' a bit stronger…"

As for Taraketh, he decided on an alternate spell. Chanting a few arcane words, his aura flared, and the sky darkened momentarily. Not enough to summon, but enough to soon send several large bolts of lightning thundering from the heavens to strike the cloud of miasma. This time, the bolts at least struck it, and began to cycle about within it, soon filling the entire creature with electricity. However…far from stopping it, Taraketh thought it actually grew a bit _larger_ when that was done…and added some speed as well. Quickly, on seeing this, he decided to bring out the "stronger" techniques, and went to work right away summoning…

As for Cryder, he gestured again, this time condensing only a single blade of air. It was an odd color this time, charged with spiritual energy to give it a bright greenish hue, before it streaked across the sky straight for the oncoming monster. This one moved faster and more straightforward. Just like the former one, it struck the beast…and also just like the former it sank in immediately. A moment later, to Cryder's shock, the monster visibly increased in size and speed again. This time, it was growing closer than ever, and quickly getting "in range".

"Bugger!" He shouted. "That attack was either supposed to cut the thing in two or nothing…not make it bigger than ever!"

"You can't use anything wind related against it!" Taraketh shouted, somehow still concentrating as he did so, making the sky darken once again. Cryder look to him, but before he could say anymore, he let out an especially long litany of arcane words…ones that Cryder had heard before. Moments later, spectral torches began to light up the sky as it darkened again, painting out the tracks of the Doomtrain. Yet even as the Guardian Force continued to form, Taraketh lowered his hands and looked to Soddoth.

"I get it now… That monster is the Fiend of Wind! More than that, it's corrupted air incarnate! What I'm sensing is raw black magical power in the form of the wind! We may not be able to hit it with blunt-force trauma, but if we try to hit it with something wind-based, it only gets stronger!"

Moments later, the Doomtrain shot through the sky, racing a deadly path through the air, pitching one way and the other, before shooting straight into Soddoth and bursting into the monster. The power was so raw and formidable that soon a hole was punched straight through it, its sickening miasma being trailed out behind it in the path of the Doomtrain as it rocketed through the sky. However, the Guardian Force soon went into another portal and faded. And once it did…the miasma simply recondensed, and Soddoth was closer than ever. As its tendrils continued to lash out at the air, it was getting very close now. They could see the tendrils getting nearer and nearer to the ship, and literally cutting the air with each slice. They could almost smell it.

Taraketh, however, merely cursed at his latest failure. "It's completely invulnerable to the strongest summon I can muster! But even if we had someone with us, I'm not sure what Alexander could do against this thing! If the wind itself makes it stronger, just simply being in the air is constantly feeding it power! It must be getting stronger by the second!"

Abruptly, Soddoth pulled back some of itself. For a moment, its sickening "body" seemed to bubble and churn for a moment. Both Cryder and Taraketh stared at this, expecting it to be doing something new, and wondering what it was. They received the answer a moment later when a very long tentacle with a hooked end shot out from it. Taraketh hated to admit it, but it looked a great deal like his own kusarigama…and it shot over and past the ship, out of their range of view.

However, they soon realized what it was doing. Abruptly, they heard a clash of metal and sparks, and the entire _Enterprise_ gave a rolling pitch that nearly shook both men forward and out the open cargo bay. It was shared all over the ship as the rest of the aircraft lurched violently. For a moment, one of the engines sputtered. It quickly went back to full power…but not before the ship had lost a great deal of speed. Immediately, five more tentacles shot out and lashed itself all over the ship in various places. More sounds of grinding went out as the sharp "blades" of the beast began to cut into it. Soon, the power drain began to happen again, causing the lights to flicker, and Soddoth began to push itself forward with frightening speed. It started to open its cavernous maw once again…

Cryder, eyes wide, began to shout as Taraketh tried one last idea…one he prayed would work…as he chanted a spell.

"Bridge! It's now or never!"

Luckily for them, tactical had been just about to fire already. As Soddoth yanked forward, the cannons thundered once again.

Taraketh soon found Cryder wasn't kidding. With the monster coming in close, the timers had to be reset one last time before firing, and made the explosions dangerously close. The shots were fired, sailed through the air only a short distance, and then ignited…very close to the open cargo bay. Immediately, the mage had to break off his current spell chanting and quickly generate another one, this time a barrier spell. Even before he got it up, heat, fire, and bits of sharp debris were sent out of every explosion with sufficient force to smash into the _Enterprise_ itself. The mythril hull protested most of it, but with the cargo bay open, Cryder and Taraketh might as well have been showered with bullets. Luckily, the mage was good at getting the spell off, and both quickly ran for cover on opposite sides of the hydraulic piston in the chamber.

The timers seemed to be "scattered" on the shots. As a result, some blasts still went right through the monster and detonated well behind it. However, some managed to land very close to it and go off. The result was "blasts" going off around within the bulk of the monster, scattering its miasma body. These weren't mere "ripples" as before, but the smoke actually being forcefully dispersed by the sheer force of the blast. Soddoth didn't seem to mind, however. It continued to try and yank itself forward while cutting into the ship at first…but eventually that didn't matter. Some of the blasts seemed to "sever" its tendrils. And when that happened, it had no choice but to break off and fall back. Its body may not have been taking damage, but it wasn't able to hold itself together enough to keep going. The connections were all "cut", and the monster was broken up so much that it fanned out, forced to move back as a result.

When the salvo cut off, Soddoth had drifted behind the ship a considerable deal. For a moment, it looked as if some lasting damage had possibly been done. Yet it only lasted a moment, before, just as all times prior, it drew everything back into itself, including the bits of miasma that had been former tendrils. In no time at all, it was again entire, and shooting forward once again. If that wasn't enough, it appeared to have done enough damage to the engines on the last strike that it began to outstrip the _Enterprise_ more than before.

Cryder let out a groan. "Wonderful… Another 'temporary' fix! We can shoot the thing again, but we only got so many shells left after firing the broadsides four times… And I doubt we can get lucky enough to hit it with just the turrets…"

Taraketh didn't answer. As soon as he had gotten to cover, he had begun to summon yet another spell. He put a bit more power into this one, and he hoped that his suspicions were right about this thing's power. A moment later, as Soddoth began to near the range to lash out with its tendrils once more, his aura flared before he aimed his arms out. Instantly, a massive chain of fireballs erupted from his hands and sailed straight for the monstrosity, the sign of a Firaga spell.

The pirate stared for a moment. In all honesty, he wasn't sure how this would fare any better than lightning, but he was pretty sure the High Child knew what he was doing in the attempt. At any rate, unlike timers and fuses, spells seemed to have at least some of the same "will" as their caster did, and there was little trouble directing the attack right into the midst of the creature and then calling on the power to ignite, soon exploding into a storm of fiery eruptions. Against something this huge, it was rather small. It barely took up more than a quarter of Soddoth's body, let alone been nearly large enough to engulf it completely. However, the result was unmistakable.

A shrill cry echoed through the air with sufficient force to make both Cryder and Taraketh stagger back in pain. Yet they managed to look forward as well, and watched as Soddoth immediately _recoiled_ from the fire. What more, as it pulled back, Taraketh and Cryder both saw something new. The monster had a hole in it again, but it didn't immediately refill. It lingered for a moment, sustaining a "gap" in its body was was surrounded by "thinner" miasma than the rest of it. It was almost like a wound. It didn't last, of course. After all, if it was truly feeding off of the wind itself, then it was still surrounded by it. Soon, the hole began to regenerate. But that's what it was this time…regeneration. Not merely being blown apart and putting itself back together. As a result, the _Enterprise_ soon gained a considerable distance on it, and Soddoth shrank more and more in the sky. They might have actually lost the beast on normal conditions. Yet as the sound of the engines grew so labored that it was no longer mistakable even to the former member of the Order of Hyne, Soddoth again reformed its body and took off again. Faster and seemingly angrier than ever, it lashed out with its tendrils to yank itself forward toward the fleeing airship.

Cryder blinked, and then ran a hand through his hair. "Well, we're back where we started…but hell, at least we scared the bastard this time…" He looked to Taraketh. "What in blazes did you put in that spell?"

Taraketh, still watching it, shook his head. "Nothing! Just a basic Firaga! That's why it worked! Regardless of what element you try to use, they still follow basic rules of physics as well as magical properties! Wind can't exist without air, but neither can fire! When I used to Firaga spell, it consumed the air around it…effectively destroying the wind! That's why it not only was hurt by it, but fled from it!"

The relay suddenly got a blip of static. The voice of the engineer on the bridge soon rang out. _"Captain, we're got a major problem. That last attack knocked out one of the coolant lines to the starboard engine. It's overheating fast now, as hard as we're pumping it. It's only got another minute or so before it breaks down…"_

The pirate paused to listen to this. He didn't bother stating the obvious. With even one engine gone, Soddoth would overtake then in a moment, and would engulf them as before. Now, they had enough ammunition to do the same maneuver as before…at least, so long as they only did it two more times…but even if they did, without full engine capability, they'd never be able to outrun it. It would just engulf them again, and then either poison them or rip them to bits.

However, a plan was coming to mind this time.

Immediately, he called out again. "Alright…I want the rear guns and turrets loaded with the incendiary bombs! I want them timed as best as you can after that last volley! We need to make sure to hit this thing with as many as possible!" After that, he looked to Taraketh. "We'll turn the thing into an extra-crispy belch, mate! You throw in whatever fire you can and we'll burn the rest!"

The High Child merely shook his head in response. "That won't work! Look at the situation! We're on Gaia! We're surrounded by air and wind! The way it looks, if even a decent-sized piece of this thing survives, it will just feed off of the wind that comes rushing in when the fire makes a vacuum! We can't consume the entire atmosphere! The only way to kill completely would be to put it inside a giant vacuum!"

Cryder gave him a look. "…You want us to turn the _Enterprise_ into the world's biggest vacuum cleaner?"

Tarakth groaned, a bit of his old irritation coming back. "Not a vacuum cleaner! We need to contain it in a space void of air! It can't live without wind!"

"Well, that's just peachy!" The captain retorted. "It's not like we can get it into a giant glass bottle and then drain out the air! Look at the size of the bugger and how it just goes through whatever crack it can find! How are we supposed to stick it somewhere without air long enough to kill it?"

The High Child thought for a moment. He looked out to the sky, and then back to Soddoth. He quickly tried to think. He wasn't an engineer like Cid, but this was something that might have been more taxing anyway. After all, Cid was just exerting brain power. He would be exerting his spiritual power as well… To be honest…he wasn't sure he could do it. For all of his pomp, power, and former declaration of his abilities and his faith in himself…this was something on a whole different level. No one short of a Sorceress had ever attempted anything like this before. And it was understood in the Order of Hyne that no matter how high you got or how skilled you could become, you would never be on the level of a Sorceress. You were simply inferior to their natural ability…

Yet he thought for a moment after that.

_We're supposed to be going up against Lady Mianyl and the others. Somehow, we have to win. That means I have to prove myself to at least be as great as a low powered Sorceress at minimum. If I was back in the Order of Hyne, I'd be scoffed and derided for saying such a thing. After all…_I_ would say to any mage who tried that they were a fool. The power is not something humans are capable of. That's why the Sorceresses are what they are. And yet…I'm more than a human myself now thanks to the junction. And times have changed now. As impossible as it is, we're going up against the Sorceresses. The old Order of Hyne is gone. I have to make history somehow…_

_ Now, more than ever, my talent is needed…_

"I can do it!" Taraketh finally said, still looking out the cargo bay at the approaching monster.

Cryder turned to him. "Huh?"

"It'll be the same principle that Pandemona uses!" Taraketh answered. He looked to Cryder soon after. "You can load all of the guns with those 'incendiary' things you spoke of, yes? And you can set them to erupt after they've traveled a distance of about fifty yards?"

The pirate, who had been merely puzzled until now, let out a bit of a snort on hearing that. "Well, I'd prefer to be closer to a hundred away from the bloody things, but…"

"Alright then!" Taraketh stated, cutting him off. He looked over to the relay himself. "Um…bridge, this isn't the captain, but right now I need you to get all of the weapons you can ready to fire with those incendiary or flaming bombs or whatever you have, and then get them ready to fire at a distance of fifty yards!"

_"What did he just say?" _The almost incredulous voice of the tactical officer answered. _"We may blow up part of the ship doing that!"_

"Keep your shirt on a moment, mate!" Cryder quickly answered, before turning full attention to Taraketh. "What are you talking about, mate? You just told me there was no way we could pull it off just shooting it with incendiary artillery."

"Not directly, but it _can_ be done if a vacuum is made around the monster!" Taraketh answered. "Hopefully, if it really needs wind to live, and fire does hurt it like it did just now by consuming its body, then if it's just held in place for a few seconds in a contained air pocket while fire consumes all the air within it, it will make a vacuum while burning up its body and it should die!"

"But we still don't have a vacuum!"

"Yes we do! I can make one!" Taraketh answered. "I can generate a wind spell similar to what Pandemona uses that creates a 'sphere' of air current whipping around it so fast that the pressure is too high for anything around it to get in! It wil create a 'bubble' of air around it!"

Cryder was still in disbelief. "Lad, that thing is big enough to swallow the _Enterprise_! You ever tried doin' whatever the hell you just said on something that big before?"

The High Child paused a moment. His face was remaining calm and straight, although it blanched a bit temporarily.

"…Actually, I've never anything like it before! But I'm pretty sure it's possible! A Sorceress could do it!"

The pirate rolled his eyes. "Well, unless you're the flattest lass I've ever seen, mate, I don't think you fit that bill!"

"I can do it!" Taraketh insisted. "I'm junctioned and I'm the best High Child the Order of Hyne has in terms of magic! I'm way stronger than a normal mage!"

"But you ain't a Sorceress!"

"We're going to be going against the Sorceresses after this! If I can't match the power of even their weakest one, we don't even have any business fighting them to begin with!"

"The fact that we're goin' on a suicide mission against someone who can beat us into the ground doesn't mean that we're suddenly strong enough to do the same to them! Use your head, lad!"

"That monster is going to kill us all! We can't outrun it and we can't escape it! We don't have time to think of a different plan!"

"And if this plan doesn't work, we'll waste the only ammunition we got that hurts it on nothing!"

Taraketh, his exterior cracking and getting more strained, exhaled before insisting in a firmer voice than before. "I can do this!"

"How do you know?"

"I just can! I'm good enough!"

"Well that ain't 'good enough' for me! I want to know why you think you can suddenly do this before I try to help you with it!"

_"Because if I fail, I die! And if I die here, then I'll not only let Dael down, but the only thing I will have ever done with my power is let innocent people die!"_

This sudden outburst was stronger than the previous ones, signifying a "breaking point". Not only that, it made Cryder pause. He stared for a moment at Taraketh, whose coolness had vanished now and was strained instead, with an almost desperate look to it. And when the pirate saw that, he understood. In spite of how callous had had been before, Taraketh, deep down inside, had a genuine desire to help people. And he had failed on numerous occasions, first when the bomb went off in Leuco, and then again when he stood by and did nothing when Tiamat destroyed that district in Esthar. He wasn't as "kind-hearted" as most other members of his order. His power was geared toward destruction. And so far…that had been all he was good for. Killing one side or the other in the war that had brought the world to this point. He wanted to do something that _saved_ lives for once. He wanted to stop the Sorceresses…because, in his mind, it was the only way to atone for his sin.

But there was also what he had said first. In spite of all his earlier anger, all of his condescending remarks, all of his jealousy and pettiness…he not only had come to see Dael as a friend, but as a friend he was lucky to have. Someone he thought he wasn't worth having as a comrade. In a sense…he held her even higher than Sorceress Mianyl, because he at least could see himself serving at her side as her Sorceress Knight. But for Dael, he needed to "prove" himself.

Cryder saw that determination, that drive, that enthusiasm in Taraketh's eyes…and realized what was behind it. And when he saw that, his own shocked look slowly faded, and he actually gave the High Child a grin. Before Taraketh knew what had happened, he lashed out and gave him a punch in the shoulder.

"…Now _that's_ a man I'd love to have on my crew." He stated quietly, barely audible over the noise. "I think this is the first time I've looked at you since I can remember and not gotten at least a little bit sick to my stomach, _Sir_ Sabian."

Taraketh blinked a few times at that. At first, he was surprised. Cryder had been disgusted by _him_? However, more than that, he focused on the title he used. Taraketh no longer cared for it. It was as dead as the Order of Hyne. Yet when the pirate said it…for the first time in a very long while, he actually felt a sense of honor, even if it was from a man he had once thought so little of.

With that, Cryder patted him on the shoulder once. "Get to it!" He said, before whipping around to the relay. "You heard the man, ladies and gentlemen! Get those shells ready to go off at a distance of 50 yards!" He paused, and looked back to Taraketh. "…That's how close you have to be to cast the spell, right?"

The former High Child hesitated a moment, still getting over what just happened, but then nodded. "Yes! I can warm up a bit before hand and set myself, but that's what I need!"

He looked back to the relay. "Right…50 yards, lads! Only make sure it's the broadsides that get loaded! Helmsman, get ready for us to do a banking turn! I want this thing to go from what it's at right now to perpendicular so we can give that thing a mouthful before it even knew we were serving supper!"

There was an even longer pause from the bridge this time. _"Sir…we may break the ship apart if we-"_

"What, this old girl? She's plated with mythril!" Cryder scoffed in response. "I'd say that makes us go from having a 'probable' chance of snapping the ship in two to a 'likely' chance…and trust me, I ain't about to blow our shot of takin' this thing out if I don't think we've got a good crack at it. Now hurry it up! When I give you the signal, you snap this ship around to the good broadsides and then let her fly! Snap to it! That pile of puke is nearly here!"

He looked back to Taraketh afterward, who seemed rather stunned at what he just said. However, he merely clapped his hands. "Get to it, mate. Didn't you hear? That thing is closin' too fast and even if it wasn't that whine on that engine could turn into a 'ka-boom' any second!"

"But…" Taraketh began to interject. "What did you…"

"Damnit, mate! You do somethin' big or you don't do it at all!" Cryder shot back. "We're pretty much on the eve of destruction! You want to go only 'halfway' right now? That thing will be in attack range at 50 yards, but if we snap on it and nail it before it even knows what's going on, we'll be in business!"

Taraketh held only a moment, before realizing he couldn't argue. Besides, Cryder was right. Soddoth was getting close to 200 yards right now. They had no more time for arguing. And he had a big job to do. He simply nodded. "Alright!"

With that, the High Child immediately went over to the cargo bay doors. After doing so, he looked out before him. He saw where Soddoth was, and he tried to imagine where that monster would be when it was about 45 meters away. There was a lot of "guesswork" in this. True, he wanted the area to be big enough to encompass the entire monster…but anything bigger than that would create and unnecessary strain that he didn't need. With that in mind, he exhaled, closed his eyes, and concentrated. There was no need to keep his eyes open, after all. If Cryder snapped the _Enterprise_ around, he wouldn't actually be able to see the "fruits of his labor" anyway. He had to hold this in his "mind's eye"…which, in truth, made it harder than before, but he did so just the same.

_I've never done anything like this before…_

He only allowed himself to think of that once before concentrating. He had an idea of what he needed to do. He needed to cast and Aeroga spell of more power than should have been possible, and cast in in a "sphere" or ovoid prism space around the area. It had to be large…far larger than anything he had ever done. With that in mind, he tried to think. As hard as he could, and as fast as he could, he tried to visualize the area in that space. He tried to reach out with it and connect with it on the spiritual level. And as he did, he pushed himself beyond anything he had even known or tried before. He knew the "traditional" methods so well it was like riding a bicycle. But this was something far worse, he had to think harder…try harder…consider something he had never seen before and push past all of his limits, which he could only hope were imaginary…

Just concentrating alone was hard. He couldn't visualize it a "piece at a time". It had to be all or nothing, or he would lose it. And that only made it more of a struggle. He had spread spells out before, but this was ridiculous. This was like trying to hit an entire building with lightning, especially since wind was already such a turbulent force to deal with. He tried to reach out and control the spiritual energy, to give himself some form of basis for it, to connect with the planet. But it was too hard. The wind was too violent, pushed around not only by the _Enterprise_ and by Soddoth, but by all of the chaos that was escalating throughout the world. He struggled to tough through it, to try and get some semblance of what was going on…but it was useless.

"About 150 yards left, mate! I'm thinkin' we need to turn no later than 100…" Cryder announced.

"I'm trying…" Taraketh managed to answer.

"Try a mite harder, lad! Try as hard as you wanted it just now!"

"I do! It's just…the wind is taking me to long! It's so turbulent that I can't get the planet's energy to connect with me!"

Nevertheless, the High Child did as he was told and tried harder than before, trying to force his will even more stronger on the flow of spirit. He had to get it to work. He had to! This wasn't just saving them or saving Lamb…it was the future of the world! Slowly, he began to feel himself getting a grasp on it, starting to see the pattern that he wanted to spell to go into…but it was happening too slowly. They'd be at 100 yard before then…

Yet suddenly…the flow of the Planet in the area grew far "easier". It seemed to conduct into him far more naturally. A great deal of the turbulence just seemed to naturally "subside", and the connections, while still overwhelmingly difficult and far harder than anything Taraketh had ever done, soon formed at a much more rapid rate. Before he had to devote all of his mind to the spell, he thought for a moment about what had caused this…only to hear a chuckle from nearby.

"Heh…essence of geomancy, lad! You don't force the world to do anything…you just let her do her stuff 'bigger'!"

Taraketh realized what that meant. For once, he actually smiled a bit before he concentrated again.

Almost the entire outside world was shut out. Just the spell mattered now. He continued to expand his attention and focus, and, finally, he saw it. He could visualize the area…target the entire "sphere". But now came the hard part. An Aeroga spell would be strong enough…but too limited range normally. It had to cover the entire space. And, as any spellcaster knew, the more targets one hit with a spell, the weaker it became. This spell would have to be strong enough to hit the entire surface at full power. If this had been any other time, even on the same day, Taraketh would have declared it impossible.

But he didn't have that luxury this time.

With the target in mind, Taraketh closed his eyes and pushed every last thing he had into the strongest Aeroga spell he had ever done. It wasn't even his speciality, but he didn't care. He called on every bit of magical power within him. He knew, already, it wasn't enough…so he didn't stop with tapping his own mana. He knew what the "suicidal" spellcasters of old had done. If need be, he would destroy himself to do this…but for now, he felt himself tapping into his own vitality, his own "raw essence"…literally removing years from his own life. And such a thing was not exactly "easy". The pain he felt from the experience seemed to echo down into his very marrow…as if every cell of his body felt like something was being "ripped clean" from it. It actually made him pale…seemed to still the blood flowing through him…made him nauseated and weak-kneed… However, it also gave him a surge in power he didn't think possible. And so, he continued to draw in it, even as it made him hurt more and more…

He couldn't see it, but Cryder noticed that Soddoth was nearly at 100 yards, and was beginning to lash out more aggressively with its tendrils, trying to get close enough to latch onto the _Enterprise._ In addition, the bad engine suddenly gave a loud squealing noise…the sign that something had broken loose in it…that it was giving out. There was no time left. With that in mind, he nearly told Taraketh to do something…when it happened. The High Child, looking wretched, like his own skin was being stretched on his skeleton, he managed to call out the first bit of the arcane words. He was chanting the spell.

Cryder waited only a few more moments…until Taraketh managed to bring it forth. It took time, during which the monster drew dangerously closer, enough to where it began to ready its tendrils once again… Yet the pirate was patient a bit longer, instead going to one of the service winches, yanking it out, and rapidly crossing it around his body and fastening it with the hook. Just as he finished, and before the monster could attack, Taraketh's eyes opened at last, and he issued one final word before his aura exploded.

Instantly, the pirate ran for him. "Now! Bank and fire!" He yelled as he did so.

Taraketh wasn't aware of what happened next. No sooner had he cast the spell than his senses left him, and he passed out. His body, looking pale and weak, began to collapse…but was stopped by Cryder as he quickly wrapped his arms around the former High Child and held on with the sort of grip only a man who had sailed through typhoons would have developed from clinging onto the ship or even crewmates. A moment later, both of them were flung violently into the air and swung around by the chain as the _Enterprise_, in a move that burst two of the subordinate engines, reversed power to half of the engines and kept the others running at full. Several systems and conduits overloaded, but, as a result, the ship violently snapped to one side. Had it been the original construction, it might have critically damaged the aircraft. As it was, both people on the bridge and throughout the ship were suddenly ripped off of their feet and flung both aside and upward with incredible velocity…far worse than the recoil from earlier. The only reason Cryder and Taraketh weren't immediately flung into the oblivion of the open cargo bay door is because of the chain. Instead, they were swung around like a tetherball, over and around the entire cargo bay, actually shooting over to the empty void of the rear door for a moment before coming around and practically slamming into the wall of the conduit side. It was a rough impact for both of them, but luckily their Mirage Belts took most of it. Unfortunately, they were too stunned to see what happened after…and weren't able to tell anyway from how the ship had turned.

However, Taraketh's spell had gone out with timing that was so perfect, one could hardly imagine it was "slapped together". As the _Enterprise_ sharply turned, Soddoth was left to rage forward for a few moments more. Perhaps it did slow, realizing too late what was going on, and that something was coming. And in that time, the spell went off…and immediately enclosed the monstrosity in an "airpocket". Had it only a second to "think", it would have run for it. After all, it was surrounded by wind. Neither Cryder nor Taraketh had paused to realize it could easily slip through the barrier, and get stronger as a result by absorbing the Aeroga spell. But it never had the chance to even realize the barrier was there until it was too late. The tactical officer had gone flying along with everyone else, but he already set the controls. As Soddoth was enclosed in the bubble, the _Enterprise_ whirled around and soon set off another broadside salvo, which immediately fired and launched into the airpocket. The wind was gusting around so much from the power of the spell that most of the shots were shifted, and normally would have been deflected…but being ship artillery, the shots were still able to pierce it. After all, this wasn't natural wind but a spell, and hinged on the will of its caster…especially when he had literally poured himself into it. As a result, the shots sank in, and detonated.

The sounds of explosions soon rang out, and just the hint of another screech from Soddoth. However, it lasted only for a moment before it was silenced. As the air inside the pocket was drained and self-contained, there was no way for it to escape, and what was left was silence. That wasn't to say the damage wasn't terrible, however. One shell after another went off and detonated within the air "packet", filling the entire self-contained area with raging flames and intense fire. It was an odd result. To those on the bridge with enough sense to adjust the viewscreen and watch it, it looked like a massive fiery "gem" full of living flame just hovering in midair. But beautiful and yet strange at the same time. However, the fire didn't last nearly as long as one would have thought. Almost as suddenly as it had come out, it died once again, fading into nothingness as the air was removed.

When it did, one would have seen Soddoth…or what was left of it. By now, it was only a haze. None had been capable of looking into the contained air or hearing what had gone on inside, but if they had been able to for a brief moment, they would have heard horrible screaming not of this world and saw thrashing of an amorphous blob impossible to describe or even rationalize. It was, much as it had been before, maddening to even look at…or would have been if any could have seen it. Yet the monster couldn't escape. It was surrounded by fire on all sides, and all of it lapping up at its oxygen. Had it had any more intelligence, it would have realized it needed only sacrifice itself for a moment to clear the flames, burst through the airtight barrier, and then be in the clear. As it was, it sought only to escape the fire, and, as a result, found nowhere to flee. In moments, it was utterly bathed in it, every part of its body surrounded by air-draining fire…

The miasma rapidly thinned out. The noxious colors faded, leaving only dull gray behind. That too was soon "eaten" by the raging fires. In moments, it was all over…and by the time there was no air left to sustain the flames, only a haze remained of Soddoth…hardly distinguishable from smoke. Had the spell faded at that point, it might have been all for nothing. It would have refueled and come back stronger. But it was left in a vacuum, with nothing at all left. Not the slightest bit of wind. The spell held for a few more key moemnts, and there was nothing left except for it to fade into nothingness.

The spell wore off a few moments later, but nothing else came. The miasma was gone. Soddoth had vanished.

Cryder, rather sore from being swung around and bashed into a wall, not to mention having deep bruises from where the chain had been attached, grunted as he slowly pulled his head up and off of Taraketh. He released the High Child, letting him roll onto the floor, still looking ashy and pale, and slowly craned his head up and looked around. He heard a few words from the relay, but none were spoken directly into it, and he couldn't make them out. However, he soon heard what sounded like cheering. Finally, as the ship was brought around, the engines already being cut to only a fraction of the former speed, he looked out to the sky…and saw only a few traces of ash falling to the ground.

On seeing that, he grinned weakly, more from being stunned than anything. After that, he looked down to Taraketh. He soon snickered again...seeing, in spite of all of the chaos that had occured in the battle, Taraketh's cigar was still behind his ear. He immediately reached out and plucked it, then held it in front of him. There was no need to shout anymore. The ship was moving slower, cooling down.

"Hey lad…look."

The former High Child didn't move.

Frowning a bit, Cryder leaned over and began to give him some light slaps on the cheek. "No time to be sleepin' on the job, mate. Come on…come to."

Taraketh didn't react at first, and if one wasn't seeing his chest weakly rising and falling, they might have assumed that spell had done something more serious… However, after a moment, his pallor slowly began to return. His breathing grew stronger and more stable. After that, he began to wake up. His eyes fluttered, and then opened.

"Hey, I'd offer you a swig to get you back on your feet, lad…but, as you know, I'm dry at the moment." The pirate answered before rolling back and beginning to pull up. "Still got your cigar, though, and you need to light it up. Let's get you back on your feet. Thought you may have been 'broken' after all that."

"Not quite…" Taraketh groaned. "I just had to forfeit about seven years of my life…"

Cryder had been moving to give Taraketh a hand at that, but then he froze. For a moment, his look grew serious as he stared at him. "…You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

The High Child weakly looked to him, but then shrugged. "Like you said…you have to go 'all in'. I knew I didn't have the power for that, so…"

He trailed off afterward. The pirate hesitated a moment, but then shrugged. "Well…if it hadn't have worked, we wouldn't be hear talkin' about what we could have done, so no sense frettin' about it now." He snickered afterward, though, as he put the cigar back in his vest. "No smokin' for you though, mate. Already took off some years of your life." He joked, before he reached down and grabbed him by the shoulders to start pulling him up. Taraketh groaned a bit, but still came. "You ain't plannin' on doing that with the Sorceresses, though, right?"

He shook his head as he sat up. "It'd probably kill me…so if I did it on Veriguno or Cybus, I wouldn't be able to help with Mianyl. As for Mianyl…" He turned grim momentarily. "…It won't really make a difference."

"Ah no, lad." Cryder said with a chuckle. "No talkin' doom and gloom when we haven't even had a chance to revel in one victory. We have too few of those nowadays. On that note…the bastard's dead, right?"

Taraketh, taking a moment to recover now that he was sitting up, gave a nod. "I can't sense its energy anymore. It was essentially a 'living spell' to begin with, and now it's done." He held for a moment after that, looking out the cargo bay doors, and then, at last, turning back to Cryder.

"…I couldn't have done it without you, though."

The pirate snorted. "Bah…just sped things up a bit."

"Yeah, but if you hadn't, I never could have gotten it off in time." Taraketh answered.

"Well, you're the one who actually cast the spell, mate."

"The spell would have never gotten off if it wasn't for you. We'd have been dead anyway." He paused a moment, and then spoke more firmly and definitively.

"Thank you."

The pirate merely chuckled at that, and gave Taraketh a stiff slap on the back. "Heh…why so solemn and downcast, lad? Actin' like we ain't mates after all we've been through?" He said as he began to get up.

This response, however, made the High Child look confused. "I've had nothing but dislike for you for months, not to mention the fact that after what happened with Sorceress Mianyl…"

Cryder cut him off with a sigh. "Lad…I already told you. If I held a grudge for every bloke who ever stabbed me in the back, I wouldn't have any friends or crew. I'm a bloody pirate, from cryin' out loud. If you don't get backstabbed at least once a week you start getting uneasy."

Taraketh was still puzzled. He began to get up himself now, anyway. It was hard, but bracing himself against the wall he could do it. "…But I could have gotten you all killed. You said you were disgusted to even look at me…"

"Most days on the _Gungir_, I was disgusted to look at half the crew, mate." Cryder answered. "And not just because they were ugly as sin. I'm surprised they never taught you this lesson on day one of your Order business. You go around just thinkin' everyone is all good or all bad all the time, and you're gonna end up generalizing just about everyone on the face of the planet. If you got to look to see if someone who seems good is planning on hittin' you over the head, don't you think it at least makes sense to see if some son of a bitch 'just needs a hug'? That's your problem, mate…you sell everyone short, including yourself. There's more to one side to people. Sometimes you just got to look for it."

The High Child hesitated, thinking that over for a moment. Again, his thoughts briefly turned to his life after today…assuming that Dael and the group managed to kill the Sorceresses. However, he pushed that away for now. He couldn't think about "if"…only that he would do it. Soon, he managed to get up, and then looked outside again.

"Until now, I assumed these monsters were simply that…monsters. Even the historical Four Fiends of the Elements couldn't just absorb the elements around them. This may be a lot harder than any of us thought…"

"At least the rough part's over, eh?" Cryder answered, looking out as well. "We just wasted the one that can 'eat wind'. Seeing as wind's everywhere, it's all 'downhill' from here though, right?"

Taraketh merely continued to stare at the space, his look dark.

"…I'm not so sure."

Cryder snickered. "Come on, mate. None of the elements are as bad as wind in terms of findin' something to power you up."

"Maybe not." Taraketh answered. "But that's not all that's at stake here. There was wind everywhere, but fire negates it, as you just saw, by consuming it and leaving it with 'nothing to eat'. Now, naturally, we don't have fire just lying around everywhere. The earth is bad, but assuming it works just like Soddoth did, then if you could get it into the air or in water, it wouldn't be touching 'straight ground' anymore. And this one was difficult, but you saw we could get it. Now…water may not be as abundant as air, but most of the planet is water and there's a lot of water in the air, especially if it rains. And unlike wind, you can't make an 'airpocket' around water like I just did. It would sink right through. Put it on the ground, and it can run out to someplace else with more water. Try to burn it up…and its water. Water is one of the hardest things to change form. There's a reason that Lord Leviathan was King of All Espers for so long. Throw any attack you want against a tsunami, and it will be like nothing to it."

Hearing all of this, the pirate paused a moment. Slowly, his look began to grow more uneasy.

"…Come to think of it, lad, I'm not using my own head. I can just sit back and enjoy a raging thunderstorm on land. But stick me on the high seas with that same storm…"

Taraketh exhaled a bit, but then looked back to him.

"Let's just get back to the bridge for now and start heading toward the rendezvous point. But while we're at it, let's see if we can find out how the others are doing…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: There are only ten chapters to go and an epilogue. The next chapter will be a bit longer than the previous three, I'm guessing, because in addition to wrapping up the final of the "four battles", I'm also planning on having the group reunite and the story proceed.<p> 


	71. Hulukith of Water

Ironically, although the _Excalibur_ has the shortest distance to travel, it probably took the longest to arrive. Even the fastest water-bound ship in the world was little match for flight and teleportation, after all. The fact that only a scant three crewmembers had been spared to use the _Excalibur_ didn't help much. It was just enough to basically keep the ship running at full speed. There were other people on board, but both Dael and Bahamut had told them to simply stay back at first. After all…if, with all their power, Dael and Bahamut couldn't defeat this monster, then it was likely no one could.

It wasn't too long into their voyage before Bahamut had begun to describe the battle that lay ahead of them, even before he should have known anything, presumably.

"Our opponent will be Hulukith of Water." He had stated definitively. "All the more reason the _Excalibur_ should stay as far away as possible. There's no telling what sort of attacks it will use against something in the ocean."

"How can you be so sure?" Dael asked. "If you're basing it off terrain, wouldn't the Lamb Archipelago be the most susceptible to a water attack?"

"Based on the positions our quarry are taking," Bahamut explained. "Two are on land and two are in the ocean. I'm guessing the reason why is because they are earth and fire. Earth loathes the ocean, and fire, obviously, can't live in water. After that, it's a matter of what could do more destruction. True, water would be effective at the Lamb Archipelago, but wind would do just as well. There are no shelters in Lamb, because it would require digging below sea level and a storm would flood them. It would be an easy target for pure wind-based damage. As for Leuco, I have a feeling I know why water would be more deadly there. You remember what Lamb did after those nuclear weapons were set off, yes?"

Dael thought for a moment there. She had heard a few news reports, but she didn't try to focus on them too much. It was too much of a reminder of what her group had inadvertently done. However, she did recall that the nation effectively had to be split in half to insulate it from fallout. Nothing in the middle of the country could be accessed. No roads, no resources, and no…

At once, she realized it.

"…The rivers and channels running through the country." She stated. "They've sealed off all the ones they can because the water is loaded with fallout debris…"

"It may not be as 'direct' as the Sorceresses would prefer, but if this monster breaches a few of their dams, levees, and channel gates that are currently restraining the radioactive material, then when it leaks into the main water supply I'm sure it will still be more than toxic enough to slowly kill all life. Whether it takes place in hours or a couple days, it will still happen." Bahamut answered. "And once the water is contaminated, anyone who manages to survive Hulukith's assault will be sentenced to slowly die of thirst while surrounded by water. Perhaps the ironic cruelty of this action will breed more chaos than death alone would…"

With that in mind, the _Excalibur_ didn't go for the nearest port, but rather went around the edge of Leuco. Seeing as Esthar and Leuco still weren't on good terms, technically, they tried broadcasting a message ahead of time that they were coming on a mission of mercy. However, they received no response. No one seemed to be operating any of the port authorities, and there were no ships in the water. A mixed blessing, but one they would take. Despite the fact that the sea was already getting choppy around here, no doubt from the coming of the monster, Dael had a feeling the primary reason was simply raw panic. The whole world had to be reacting a bit like Esthar now. What nation had been spared destruction or the madness of the Sorceresses, after all?

Where they ended up docking was on the far side of the city, toward the western edge. They had no trouble finding a space anywhere, but that was as close as they could get to the river and the nearest dam. On landing and giving the news for those on board to hold back, Dael and Bahamut both dismounted, and then took off on foot down the coast. They had no vehicles, but from here it hardly mattered. They were quite fast on foot with all of their enhancements, after all. What more, there was little time to waste. They had barely started to run when Dael noticed the seaside. The water was beginning to get a progressive stench to it. It was only a mild odor at first, enough to be mistaken for just one's imagination. Yet as they ran on further, and the ocean continued to grow more turbulent, it was unmistakable.

However, the worst happened only two miles down the way. As the skies began to grow darker once again, signifying an increase in the chaos in the area, the smell suddenly grew much sharper. It was foul, but no longer toxic, and the reason soon became clear. The ocean was beginning to bubble up with dead fish. And not long after running onward, they began to see them in steadily increasing numbers. Soon there were enough to actually cover the ocean, and the fiercer-growing waves began to push more and more to shore.

As the urban landscape began to fade, making way for the roads and the distant rocky hills, a few abandoned "shantytowns" from the worst districts, and, finally, signs that indicated the way to one of the main dams of the country just along the highway, the waves of the dead were beginning to mound up, and more waves, which now smelled highly toxic and even had a slightly greenish tint to them, prompted Bahamut and Dael to turn away from the coast and run further inland to their destination.

"How bad is this monster that it can poison so much of the ocean?" Dael asked rhetorically.

"It's not poisoning the ocean. It's doing worse than that." Bahamut responded. "It's actually making it acidic."

The former captain looked to him. "How can you be so sure?"

"The smell. It's similar to what the flans use." Bahamut answered. "Just in far greater amounts. It's not enough to dissolve them, no. But that's not necessary. It must have destroyed their gills and caused them to suffocate. However, it's a safe bet to assume our foe is acidic in nature."

"Wonderful…" Dael sighed. "I hope our weapons are acid-proof."

"They should be. Unfortunately…we aren't made out of them."

The two didn't run much farther. They were beginning to breathe hard at this point, and they wanted to save the rest of their energy. Besides, this was close enough. It had a good view of the ocean, and was slightly uphill. A good thing too, because the tide was coming in strong. The ocean was now periodically sending in large waves, despite the lack of wind. It would be coming up pretty soon not far from there, and no matter which direction it came from they could see it. From there, the two stood and waited. By now, they knew the others were either engaging their own opponents or were close to it. None of them dared thing they had lost, even though they had little expectation of what was coming. However, one thing was clear…none of the monsters were dead yet. If they had been, Bahamut's essence would have returned to him. As it was, he felt no stronger than earlier.

After a time, during which the sea continued to rage and surge, Bahamut looked to Dael. "Does the _Excalibur_ have the coordinates for this location?"

"No. I disabled the GPS portion of my radio." Dael answered.

Bahamut was a bit puzzled by that response, or at least looked it, but she soon exhaled in response.

"I doubt artillery will make much of a difference compared to whatever power we can put out, between your strength and my spirit divides. But if that monster takes a hit from naval artillery, it might shoot off looking for it."

The young man held a moment, and then nodded. "I won't say whether it's bad or good to remove them from this fight. Only that it's likely what I would do as well." He exhaled a bit as he looked forward. "Very strange…I don't think it's before I met you that I ever went into battle believing I would have to work as a team rather than just ultimately step in and do everything myself. I haven't fought alongside anyone else for so long…" He hesitated as he looked to the sea. "Perhaps when I receive the last of my essence and regain my former form, I'll resume fighting in such a way…"

To Dael, he almost sounded regretful saying that. She looked to him in response, seeing him staring forward, but seeming to be contemplating what this meant. After a moment, she spoke again.

"If we regain your power, can you defeat Mianyl?"

"I'm not sure." He responded. "The bodies of a Guardian Force are radically different from esper bodies… I can't even reasonably say how I would 'measure up'. All I can say is that if we can rely on what we have seen, even Wyvern, or Tiamat if you prefer, would have a hard time with her…and may not even come close. Assuming they were just 'fooling around' in that fight we saw in Esthar, then that's not a problem…but if they weren't, then it won't be easy. I have the advantage of intelligence, but that's all. In any event, as always, I am prepared to die to destroy her."

Dael couldn't help but grimace. "A rather grim outlook, if you ask me."

"True, but it's practical." Bahamut answered. However, his face turned a bit more after that, and he exhaled. "…Then again, being an immortal, you sort of lose your will for many things over time. As my power has waxed and waned over the years, I cannot help but feel that a part of me is not as eager as it used to be. True, when I intervene, it's the world at stake. Yet for an immortal, even that fails over time. It's always 'the world at stake'. And the world becomes so much of the same to you over time, that saving it just becomes about as meaningful as saving an old vase. It's the people in it that are new. It's them who I think of."

He swallowed a bit.

"…It's the same this time, but it's also different. Even in the past…even, I regret to say, with Terra…I had the sensation that I was in a world full of small, weak creatures that I had affinity for but I couldn't completely respect due to them being so weak. Now that I've been forced to live as a human…to have times where I honestly believed I _was_ human…everything's changed. I haven't felt so mortal since before I can remember… Unfortunately, it's not a good thing. It makes me feel more vulnerable. But more so…it makes me feel uneasy to fight alone…even afraid." He paused, then exhaled again. "Hopefully, that will fade along with me regaining my power."

Dael was silent in response to that for a moment. Her own look grew more morose.

"Bahamut…when this is all over…if we win…no, _when_ we win…where do you go from there? Once you have all of your power back, what happens?"

The young man paused again at this. The look on his face was rigid momentarily, as if the thought genuinely had not occurred to him, and the decisions he was making in regards to it troubled him… He couldn't answer for a moment, even as the green waves regularly began to cross onto the boardwalk.

"…I suppose the same thing I did before. I rejoin my kind, live somewhere suited to me, and keep an eye on the world until I'm needed again."

Dael continued to stare.

"…And?"

Bahamut was silent.

"…And nothing." He finally concluded.

"…You don't _have_ to go become a hermit, you know. You could stay with us. You're one of us, after all."

The young man paused.

"Only on the outside." He said after a moment.

"You said it yourself, Bahamut. You enjoyed being a human. Why not enjoy it a bit longer? You can turn into a human, right?"

"I'm an esper…or a Guardian Force, Deal. Whichever you prefer. That's not for me."

"Why not?"

"It's not the type of creature I am."

"You seemed to enjoy it just fine so long as you were confined to a human body." Dael answered, her tone actually going slightly sharp. "My life isn't the best in the world. It wasn't the classiest or most comfortable. But so long as you were living it, are you going to say you weren't happy? Are you honestly going to tell me you'd prefer sitting around in a cave getting a visitor every few years, if you're lucky?"

The young man paused even longer this time.

"…Things aren't that simple, Dael."

"Only because you're making them difficult. You can 'keep an eye on the world' just fine living in a house, eating three meals a day, sleeping in a bed, taking showers, and doing everything else a human does. Even if you only ever end up doing routine chores, it's _got_ to be more productive than just putting yourself into self-imposed exile."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?" Dael shot back, her volume actually growing. "It's not like I'll have anything after this is done. Why not just stick together?"

At last, Bahamut turned to her. He raised an eyebrow.

"…Stick together?" He echoed. The tone actually made Dael retract a bit. "…What is this you're trying to say, Dael? You want me to go back into the body of a child so you can pretend to be my guardian again? To live out this odd, deranged 'family dynamic'?"

The woman groaned. "Of course not. That's just weird. But…"

"But what?"

"But…I don't know… I just don't want this to be 'the end'. I don't want you to fly off when this is all over and I never see you again."

"Are you wanting me to 'visit', Dael? Drop by every once in a while? What are you talking about?"

The woman fumed yet again and bowed her head. "I…" She stammered. "I…I…"

She had to hold for a moment. She thought for a few seconds. She finally sighed.

"…If you want me to be honest, I don't know what I'm saying exactly." Dael answered. "All I know is even if Esthar's Hawks came back into being tomorrow, I can't do that anymore. Something's changed in me. And it's not just because of what Mianyl did. It's everything. I don't feel like anywhere close to the woman I once was. I don't know what to do after this or where to go, but I know one thing. Something inside me…something I feel without a shadow of a doubt and deep in my gut…is telling me that I'll be unhappy forever if I let you just do as you say…and so will you. It'll feel like something's missing…or that I'm just letting something bad happen. Can you understand that?"

Bahamut did not answer right away. He simply stared back. However, his face soon softened a bit.

"…I can, actually."

This made Dael focus on him a bit more. "…You can?"

The young man closed his eyes and exhaled. "…Because I feel the same way." He opened his eyes after a moment. "Don't get me wrong, Dael. There is only one woman who could have ever been my wife. There's only one woman I will ever love in that way. And yet…I'm feeling something with you that's more than friendship. Until now, I thought it was a silly idea, the way you tried to order me around like a guardian would. And yet…something about me was inclined to obey. Something told me to let it happen. And I'm feeling something that I've never felt before while in your presence. There's something about you that makes me feel a bond…and it's not mere friendship. It's more like the feeling I get being around Leviathan…an almost 'familial' connection. I honestly don't know if this is something we've developed in our relationship just from experience or if this is something on a greater level than either of us understand, but…" He hesitated. "I've never developed such non-sensual love for a person before. And I don't know why."

The former captain could only stare back. To be honest…Bahamut might as well have been reading her own heart. When he finally put it in those terms, she realized what it was…love. Definitely not sensual, but love just the same. But how? Why? Had their relationship really grown that much in a few months? She realized it hadn't. Even the day they met, she felt something stirring inside her. But what? How? She didn't know…simply knowing there was some bond to him, some line attached between their hearts. That had to be why she felt the way she did. She couldn't stand to be apart from him…but, at the same time, she knew if he went away, it would hurt him as much as her…

Yet in the end, Bahamut turned away.

"But it's irrelevant, Dael." He concluded. "For a moment, I thought of indulging it while I was still in a human body. But now that my power will return, it no longer matters. I don't wish to sound dark or depressing…but you are mortal and I am immortal. You are strong, but I am stronger. Disease, injury, or even time…one day we'll have to be away from each other forever until we're reunited in the Lifestream. And for me…that will not be until this world itself passes, at which point there will be nothing for either of us except where our souls will spend eternity. It's pointless to say anything else is so. It'll be easier on both of us if we stop this now and just try to live with it."

Dael tensed on hearing that answer. It wasn't really what she was looking for by starting this conversation, and she couldn't accept it. Bahamut was right, of course… Even if she wanted to stay friends forever, the trend they had until now would soon change. Bahamut would always be the same, but she'd eventually age and die. Still, she couldn't think of things in that light. Even though it was true, she couldn't just abandon a friend like that…let alone someone she loved like family. And she couldn't believe Bahamut wanted to do the same. There had to be some solution…

Yet before she could think of anything else to say, Bahamut's gaze narrowed on the horizon.

"It's here."

Dael immediately looked as well. Sure enough, the water was changing again…and the worst yet. A very large wave was coming in, but it wasn't like a traditional one, spreading all up and down the shore as it came. This was more of a centralized mass, and it was growing rapidly…the sure sign of something very big underneath. In only moments, it had grown considerably, now looking unnatural. The water seemed to be swelling, but that, in and of itself, was impossible. Water couldn't "swell" from something beneath it. It would run down the sides before that happened. That could only mean that this was something new. With that in mind, she turned fully in front of her, again wishing she had some mage bullets left.

The water continued to raise and swell a bit longer, going about twenty to thirty feet into the air. As it did, something a brighter shade of green appeared beneath it, veiled by the water itself. It almost seemed to shine and shimmer a bit. However, the color was sickening to look at, especially as it grew taller and taller from rising up. But then, abruptly, the surrounding water seemed to slough off of it, and what was beneath quickly rose high into the air, soon towering far beyond fifty, a hundred, and even two hundred feet…and slowly weakening the determined stares of Dael and Bahamut.

The monster was colossal. Neither of them had seen any of the other fiends, but this one was easily larger than Yug, and although it may not have matched Shaddamehl in length, in overall breadth it was even bigger. The entire creature was semi-transparent, made of what seemed to be a sickening, even dizzying-to-look-at, sludge that was filled with particulate matter and stank horribly. It was in a shape like some gigantic, nightmarish, gelatin mold had been made in order to make it into something. The appearance was vaguely humanoid although a bit broad and twisted, with a head that looked to be nothing more than some hellish octopus with thrashing, writhing tentacles and eyes that were pupiless and yellow, an even more sickening look that the rest of it. The color was so unnatural and maddening that even looking at it disturbed Dael on an inner level, like the rest of the world was warping or her own perception of reality was changing whenever she looked at it. In other words…if she was forced to keep staring at it too long, she felt like she'd go insane. Yet looking away from the face wasn't much an improvement, looking at the side of the hideous thing. The smell was horrendous. It actually felt caustic to the eyes and lungs as it was breathed in.

Last but not least, as it emerged enough from the water to where it began to show legs, which started to walk out of the sea and onto the land, treating the entire boardwalk dock like one gigantic step on the stares, greenish globules of its own body dripped onto the pavement. Dael had no idea if it was its own body or if it was simply excess moisture coming off of it, but she knew it was a brighter color than the rest of the water. And as a droplet hit the ground, a small plume of smoke was visible as the droplet immediately etched out a hole in the pavement.

That was enough to unsettle both of them, even at a distance from the colossal beast.

"It _is_ made out of acid…stuff more concentrated than you can find in a chemistry lab…" Dael murmured.

"And water is a buffer. Being in the ocean should have neutralized it, but…" Bahamut began to say, before trailing off.

"We can't risk getting anywhere close to that thing. Only some of my spiritual divides will even work at range…"

"Forget that for now. Just summon Cerberus while I summon Quetzacoatl. We're going to need speed for this one…and to get its attention fast."

Dael nearly questioned that, but soon realized she didn't have to. Hulukith didn't even bother looking around once on land, but immediately turned its head toward the valleys. It was going to head straight for the nearest channel or levee. And Dael could see from the road signs on the way up that it was only about three miles away from one. With that in mind, she quickly did as told and began to summon. Bahamut soon did the same.

Because Cerberus was so much more advanced of a summon, and the young man had improved in all categories, including his ability to call on magic, he succeeded first. While Dael was still chanting her own call, Bahamut finished his and the sigils appeared in midair. A moment later, the skies darkened, the portal opened, and Quetzacoatl soon emerged from within and sailed straight for the monstrosity. Dael, in the midst of her own chanting, and soon bellowing forth her own last syllables to bring forth Cerberus, figured it was a good move. She wouldn't be foolish enough to try fire against this thing, but thunder was probably its greatest weakness. It was made of water, and it had to have a lot of ions in it… At any rate, Hulukith didn't even look to it in spite of the fact that she was charged with so much electricity she shone like a beacon. A moment later, she was on it, reared back to let more lightning thunder from the heavens into her, and then snapped her beak forward to blast the monster with a tremendous bolt of lightning.

Immediately, the bolts snaked all over the colossal monster, and it opened a large mouth concealed under its tentacles, bellowing and recoiling in what seemed to be pain. It raised its arm to vainly try to shield itself from the electricity coursing through it, and actually staggered back a bit on it towering limbs. Yet as Quetzacoatl snapped into the air and disappeared again, and as the lightning died down within it, it simply let out a low growl, sounding like some deranged mixture of whale noises and other things one might hear on deep sea radio, before straightening up again…and immediately snapping its attention to who had struck it.

"Seems we got its attention…" Bahamut muttered.

A moment later, a second portal opened, causing the three headed monster dog to burst forth and immediately bellow before sending out streams of red, rocket-like burst of energy toward both of them. However, the entire process was almost painfully slow to Dael, as Hulukith was already beginning to storm forward to both of them. It wasn't the fastest thing she had ever encountered, but considering its size, it had a terrible stride on it. Cerberus had hardly managed to finish using his power to speed both of them up when it had already closed half of the distance to them, and the stench became so potent that Dael felt her eyes and throat burn and her head begin to pound. It was likely poison of a sort, but she wasn't staying to find out as she snapped around and immediately began to run back. Bahamut did much the same, and with their enhanced speed they managed to gain some distance on it for a moment…

Unfortunately, it was only a moment. In spite of its size, the beast began to take up a more rapid gait. And despite being water, it still had to weigh hundreds of tons as the ground shook with each step after them. Immediately, Dael began to call on another power. Quetzacoatl had hurt it, but she definitely hadn't crippled it. They had to use something else that would hopefully work better. With that in mind, she decided to try Shiva. Perhaps a bit of ice would slow it down…

Even as she called the next Guardian Force to mind, however, Bahamut froze, snapped around, and planted his feet. Dael looked to him in a bit of surprise, and slowed herself as Hulukith continued to pick up speed. It began to curl its own human-like hands into fists. A blunt attack might not have been much, but if it was from a mass of acidic gelatin…it would be more than fatal. However, Bahamut continued to hold for a moment longer, seeming to concentrate on something. Finally, a bit to Dael's surprise, the air around him rippled and waved with a sudden surge of power, before he snapped his head up, opened his mouth wide, and send out a stream of what looked like bright, fiery balls out of it in an almost beam-like stream straight for Hulukith's left shoulder. Now Dael truly did stop and gaped in surprise, almost forgetting to keep summoning herself. That attack looked almost like a Flare…although smaller and weaker-seeming.

At any rate, on impacting with the target zone, it behaved just like a regular Flare. The stream of power immediately sank into the point of impact, and then erupted in a piercing explosion. As a result, the monster's shoulder suddenly erupted in a flood of greenish fluid, sending off a spray of the toxic material everywhere. Both Bahamut and Dael immediately had to backpedal to avoid getting any of the foul fluid on them. As it touched on the ground, it splashed, but also hissed and spit as it ate its way into the pavement. Unfortunately, other than make the watery abomination snarl, it didn't seem to do much damage. With its other arm, it formed a fist and, with surprising power and speed, swung it down to try and smash flat on both of them. There was no room for "backpedaling" this time. Both of them had to turn and take off to get away from this massive appendage.

A moment later, the fist connected with sufficient force to fracture the road, sending up pavement pieces in massive upheavals, and buried itself deep into the ground. If that wasn't enough, more of the foul fluid splashed up as a result and lapped at the heels of Dael and Bahamut as they ran off. Soon, both of them had to deal with the pavement fracturing beneath them, the shockwave of the impact, and the potential of making contact with its caustic body. If that wasn't enough, simply being this close to it filled Dael's nostrils with such an overwhelming stench that her eyes teared and her senses actually grew woozy. She nearly lost the spell she had been generating, but managed to get out the last word with a concerted effort just as she ran clear of Hulukith, and it drew its fist up again. Snapping around, she looked to it as the sigil erupted around her, and the portal opened again.

Shiva soon came forth, going right for the middle of the tentacle-headed monster as she gathered a frigid mist and light about her. Hulukith looked up in response, seeming a bit confused for a moment…before she swept her arm up and around and sent out a frigid blast at the nearest part of the creature: its still outstretched arm. In moments, rigid ice crystals condensed around it. The beast actually made a noise that sounded like curiosity and stepped back, before abruptly its arm stopped moving all together and rapidly cooled, freezing into a solid piece of ice in moments. Hulukith obviously felt pain from that, for it soon bellowed in agony from the move. Worse yet…as it pulled the arm back abruptly it proved to be too rigid, and the entire forearm snapped off and fell to the ground, shattering further on landing. Now it truly did step back and bellow in pain.

Neither Dael nor Bahamut had long to relish this victory, however. Even as they saw this, and quickly prepared to launch another assault to keep the pain up on the thing, it suddenly snapped its head back up, opened its mouth wide, and then issued out a potent, focused stream of its own…this time made of its own foul fluid.

A fire hose had nothing on the stream, and it came so fast and sudden that Dael forgot to simply teleport away. The stream didn't immediately make impact on either of them, but as it blasted into the road, it was just as bad as the fist of the monster, punching into the street and sending foul fluid spraying everywhere, corroding everything it touched. But immediately, the head of the monster swung one way in an attempt to tag Bahamut. He quickly turned and ran for it. His speed seemed to be just as good, if not better, as it was when he was still in a child's body, but the material chased after him, seeming to nip at his heels as he ran. The only thing that kept him from being overtaken was the fact that Hulukith, unlike its brethren, was actually a bit slower in the proportional sense. Yet Dael hardly had time to think about that before it snapped its head back around, and soon the green stream headed right for her.

Immediately, she turned and took off. Coupled with Bahamut's own running, they were soon going around either side of the monster. Yet it continued to whip its head one way and another to get them, all the while melting a trench into the ground from its foul breath. As it did, the ground continued to melt and put up fumes both from the corrosive material as well as the remains of what it hit. The result was a stench so bad that Dael actually began to wobble in her step. It was only by focusing herself on running as fast as she could that she managed to keep going through the nauseating fumes, the fluid just missing hitting her with droplets.

Hulukith continued to bellow at both for a few moments, but then finally cut off. Only when it did so and stood momentarily, snarling and looking on either side of it, did Dael begin to start thinking up another technique. Freezing and lightning seemed to do the trick. If they kept hitting it, then maybe it would eventually leave a mark to stop it… Yet as she risked slowing enough to look to it again, still running to get away from the result of its foul breath, she reacted in shock.

The fluid that was being knocked off of it didn't remain on the ground. Rather, it immediately began to draw itself up again after splashing on the ground and corroding it. What more, the frozen pieces of the creature seemed to be melting quickly, and as they did they leaked out of it and streamed back into slimy trails to the foot of the beast before drawing in. As they did, the severed limb of the monster began to extend and regrow. The entire process was quick. Likely, it had been ongoing ever since the monster first attacked, and soon its limb was complete once again. Dael also took the moment to notice that no lasting damage seemed to be done in the shoulder wound, either.

_It regenerates…_ She thought. _Great_,_ how do we kill it?_

Having little other choice, both Bahamut and Dael began to renew their attack. As the bearings of Hulukith seemed to come back to it, Bahamut once more chanted, and soon the sigils appeared before a portal opened again, once more bringing forth Quetzacoatl. As the thunderbird raced toward the water fiend, however, this time it snapped its head around and exhaled another blast of foul fluid, thinner, faster, and more powerful this time. Dael gasped at the thought of what would happen if that material hit her, but luckily the lightning Guardian Force was as quick as her namesake. The fact that Hulukith was now fighting back to try and keep itself from being hit was bad enough, but the real utility of this was that it was now distracted. With that in mind, Dael quickly stared at the monster as she drew her sword and took careful aim. In moments, she had traced the spiritual divide, but held for a moment longer…

As she did so, Quetzacoatl snapped her head forward and delivered a seemingly harder blast of lightning to Hulukith than before, striking it higher in the chest this time and sending energy snaking through it. Roaring in pain, the monster began to stagger backward and away from it…and toward Dael. In response, the woman quickly readied her sword and then gave a swing, aiming as high as she could. Her intention was to go for the head, thinking it would be a vulnerable spot, but she ended up having to settle for the chest. A thunderclap roared out before a beam of raw energy in blade form shot out from her body and up toward the chest of the beast. A moment later, it connected…and the result was a torrential break of fluid, like one of those 'giant buckets' at a water park being dumped, that poured off of it as the blade went all the way through.

Soon, a deluge of green filth was headed right for Dael. It seemed almost as if the eruption had intentionally tried to go her way. Seeing that, but without the stench overwhelming her this time, she quickly called a teleportation to mind, not trusting even in her enhanced speed to get away. In a flash of light…she reappeared a good fifty meters behind it, but winced as she felt a sharp headache. She cursed a bit at the thought. She wasn't used to using summons repeatedly. She forgot how fast it drained one's spiritual power compared to other forms of magic…

At any rate, her attack left little impact. The body of the creature separated quickly and then came back together just as quickly, as if it was nothing more than dropping a stone into a lake. Soon, it righted itself, but didn't focus on Bahamut. Instead, it snapped around completely to Dael. She had little time to wonder why it had decided on her rather than the young man, for he had seemed to be the one who actually hurt it…before its mouth tentacles immediately erupted forth and lengthened incredibly, enough to actually reach the ground itself. Soon after, it began to lash out furiously with them, one after another, for her.

Dael was soon in big trouble. Each acid-laced appendage that flashed out ripped another rift into the ground, and they struck like cracks of a whip, lashing out far faster and spraying more fluid than ever with each strike. Every bit of Dael's enhanced speed soon had to be put to bear to keep herself from being vivisected by the acidic appendages. She was nearly overwhelmed by their sheer ferocity and power, and had she not already trained herself to track the spiritual signature of a creature (and this one's did stand out like a sore thumb), she never would have been able to survive. That said, she found herself being pushed back further and further with each strike…

Realizing she needed to know where she was going, Dael risked a look behind her to make sure she wasn't being pushed back into a rock face. After all, she was being driven nearer and nearer to the hills. But what she saw soon frightened her far more than that. She was being forced back to some sort of storage area for hazardous compressed cylinders, seeming to be used for some sort of industrial purpose or construction. She didn't know what was in them exactly or what they were, only that they seemed to be contents under pressure. They were well secured at the moment behind some sort of metal reinforcing cage…but she knew that meant little when one of the "whip" tentacles of the creature flashed out for her and instead tagged the metal cage, melting through it in instants and starting to erode the cylinders beneath. Although it was risky, Dael had little other choice on seeing this but to run for Hulukith to avoid it. She couldn't afford to be caught in the blast. As she suddenly changed direction to barrel forward instead, the tentacles lashed out for her more furiously than ever, and were harder to dodge than before. She tried to angle herself to the side to get away…

Suddenly, a powerful explosion went off behind her. Maybe not the strongest she had ever witnessed, but sudden, deafening, and with enough power to bowl her forward just as she was moving to dodge a tentacle. For a moment, a horrid stench filled her nostrils as she was blown over and away from it…before she felt a touch of wetness on her leg.

She had made contact.

As she landed on the ground and went for a tumble, the wetness quickly gave way to a feeling of burning. The material had landed on one of her pant legs, and it immediately began to erode it while eating its way through. She had no time to waste. The moment she was down, she ignored all her pain and seized her lower pant leg, ripping it off and throwing it away as far as she could. However, the pants already had a sizable hole burned into them, and the residue behind continued to burn her leg afterward, quickly going from merely cold to hot to distinctly and painfully burning, and sending forth a foul odor in her nostrils. Gritting her teeth in pain, she quickly reached down for the bare dirt and slapped it on it in a desperate attempt to stymie the sensation. Yet even as she did, her pain-wracked brain quickly thought up the Esuna spell. This stuff had to be poison. Sure enough, she was already feeling dizzy and nauseated, and not from the fumes… With that in mind, she quickly cast it as fast as she could, wrapping herself momentarily in glowing light as her aura flared again.

It faded after a few moments, and most of the burning ceased…but she still felt sick to her stomach and dizzy, even lying on the ground. Realizing this, she quickly chanted the Esuna spell again. She was so focused on this that she didn't notice something…namely that Hulukith hadn't tried to press its attack. On the contrary, it had taken up walking again and wasn't even looking to Dael. As for the former captain, she cast the spell again, once more surrounded herself with healing light…and, when it was done, felt just as sick and nauseated as before.

As she leaned back and panted, wondering what was going on, she finally sensed the tremors indicating the footsteps of Hulukith…but they were moving away from the area. Yet after only a few moments, she heard another sound join them…much smaller and more rapid. She looked up a bit, and saw Bahamut rushing up to her using his enhanced speed. In moments, he was at her side and bending down nearby.

"Dael, are you alright?"

"I got tagged by his body…" She grunted. "I neutralized the burning before it could do much damage, but…I feel a bit sick… I tried using Esuna, but it's not working…"

Bahamut looked at her a moment, seeming to study her face. After a time, he reached out and touched her skin. She patiently waited for this, but as it happened she looked behind her and saw the water fiend wasn't paying attention to Bahamut either. It was reaching the hills and beginning to enter the valley in between. After a moment, the young man looked up with a frown, removing his hand.

"This is far worse than poison." He stated. "It's a magical virus…the same that comes through in a Bio spell."

Dael looked up a bit on hearing that, her face registering surprise. "I know those… Don't they just keep deteriorating your body until…"

"Within ten minutes, unless magical healing is used to extend that time period…" Bahamut darkly answered. "Until then, you'll get weaker and weaker…and the only way to break the spell is to kill the caster…"

Dael froze on hearing that. After a moment, she looked out to the hills, seeing Hulukith moving behind them. With that in mind, she grit her teeth and quickly rolled herself up onto her feet. In spite of feeling sicker and dizzier as a result, she forced herself up to a stand. Her head pounded a bit, but she immediately turned and, without another word, ran after Hulukith once more.

Bahamut was a bit surprised by this, but soon took off after her. He didn't really question her only after a moment of thought, however. He knew full well his chances of beating Hulukith alone were practically non-existent, and if Dael didn't do all she could while she could, then soon it wouldn't matter. Although Hulukith was actually picking up speed, she poured on all she could and soon began to outstrip it again.

"He didn't even try to attack me when I was down…" She muttered aloud as she ran after him, trying to ignore the pounding in her head that was already getting worse. "Was he that sure I was no longer a threat after infecting me?"

"Doubtful." Bahamut answered as he kept up. "He's just being more efficient. If he breaks that levee now, it won't matter if we're still standing or not. The fallout-laced water will do the trick where it couldn't."

"We have to stop it…" Dael answered as she kept running. They were still catching up, but she already knew, in spite of the speed both were displaying, the monster would get an entire mile closer before they could engage it again. "What do we have left?"

"Not much. Lightning hurts it, but…I lack the power to get a strong enough spell to critically damage it. Or maybe it's just regenerating from moisture in the air… Freezing it only stops a part of its body for a few seconds… My Flares are useless and just about any other trauma doesn't do anything…"

"There's got to be something in it that controls the rest…" Dael said with a pant, wiping some sweat from her brow. "I want to get to its head and see if removing it does anything… But if that doesn't work, how many more times can you call Quetzacoatl?"

"Not many. Summons take the most out of a spellcaster. Two or three at most…"

"It's not even slowing down… Save them then. I'm going to need them if things go bad…"

Bahamut didn't dispute that. Neither of them were the best in the world at healing, but Bahamut was a bit better on the magic side than Dael, so perhaps he could be of a bigger asset to her. As for Dael, she knew that left the responsibility for most spellcasting to her, and she was quickly losing that ability. When the pain and weakness grew too strong, she wouldn't be able to get out a single spell. She had to do what she could before that happened. And, on that note, she began to summon Shiva once again…

Bahamut recognized the language, but trusted Dael to do the right thing as he himself tried to think of another attack he could possibly do without the aid of magic. A moment later, the sky darkened again as Shiva came forth. There was no way that Hulukith didn't notice the change in the environment, but this time didn't seem to care. It _was_ continuing to pick up speed after all. However, it noticed what happened next when the ice woman went right for one of its feet and called forth its cold again, firing out to freeze the thing at the foot and the ankle. It moments, the lower part of one of its limbs became completely rigid. Again, it issued forth a groan of either pain or distress, but that was only for a split second before its forward momentum cause it to snap its foot off all together. With a roar of greater agony and distress, it suddenly snapped forward on its now-missing appendage, and the entire bulky monster swung over and collapsed down on the ground.

As it neared a landing, Dael and Bahamut found themselves with it in a rapidly narrowing rock valley that had signs of equipment used for construction, obviously being used by Leuco to try and build a secondary levee or flood control if the first one broke, and therefore all recent. All that meant for them at the moment, however, other than dotting the area with machines and materials, was that they were in a narrow pass. Immediately, both went to either side of the falling monster, meaning to run around to get up to its head before it could recover. However, that plan was soon aborted as, on landing, the monster didn't simply smash into the ground…but instantly changed its consistency to become greenish fluid instead of gel, and instantly burst into millions of gallons of corrosive water, which erupted around it and quickly spread out to fill the entire valley. Instantly, both Dael and Bahamut froze as they saw the fluid erupt around them. Dael herself only had a moment to realize that some of the foulness had covered and surrounded a bulldozer nearby, and already it was visibly melting like a time-lapsed sculpture of candle wax. In a flash, she began to backpedal, no longer running backward, but actually jumping back through the more faster method. It wasn't easy in either event…for by now she could feel weakness growing in her limbs…

Hulukith didn't seem to be satisfied with that. As its frozen foot melted and rapidly began to rejoin the mass of the rest of its body, it condensed into a mass of fluid, which soon erupted into a storm of tentacles that lashed out for both Bahamut and Dael. At the time, Bahamut was nearer, and he quickly brought up his shield to intercept the first two strikes. Thankfully, the item seemed immune to Hulukith's acid, and when the fluid broke against his shield, he managed to avoid getting any droplets on him before he moved back. Dael herself had no such protection, and could only push herself harder…getting more and more difficult as her headache grew. Yet the tentacles continued to lash out for both, each strike threatening to melt off a limb or kill them horribly, and, worse yet, the creature seemed to be getting smarter. It aimed most of its strikes to the sides, trying to force them back toward the rock walls where they'd have less room to avoid…

Bahamut himself began to realize this, and figured he'd have to end up using magic on it anyway… Quetzacoatl, at least, would stun the monster momentarily and make it break off the attack… Yet as he feared he would have to do so, he looked behind him to check his progress…and saw that he was nearing some of the construction materials. In particular, several stacked bags of cement mix. Seeing that, a thought occurred him. Looking back to Hulukith, he actually put Durandal and the Raidos Shield aside for a moment, shifting them into one hand, and instead reaching out and seizing one of the 50 kg bags as he shot by. This would be impossible for anyone normal, but given his strength, he easily snapped it up, swung it around his head like it was nothing more than a sling, and then tossed it at the nearest encroaching tentacle.

The cement connected, and the watery limb apparently had enough density to it to cause it to burst, instantly smashing it open and surrounding the limb with the cement mix, which quickly soaked in. Hulukith, in spite of having a mouth, gave a yell of anguish, as the limb instantly grew more sluggish and stiff. It actually caused the other tentacles attacking Bahamut to halt, and he used the moment to snag up four more bags and quickly toss them as well, smashing into more tentacles. This wasn't like breaking into pavement and melting it like before. This was fresh reactions, and they were forcing parts of its "body" to solidify to the point of being practically immotile from the resulting mix. The water fiend likely didn't know what was happening, but it quickly yanked its limbs back, not wanting to find out and not spending the time eroding the cement within it.

Once this was done, Bahamut snapped his head over to Dael, who was still being pursued by her own tentacles, and who he also noticed was panting and gasping. Indeed, the dodging was getting worse on her, especially as she felt strength continue to leave her limbs and her body continue to slowly give out. In response, Bahamut quickly seized another bag and tossed it with sufficient force to shoot across and connect with the nearest one, soon covering it with cement as well. He quickly snatched up three more and did the same to three more tentacles, causing Hulukith to screech and pull its limbs back from that attack as well.

All of the green limbs returned to the mass at this point, and Dael, as she stopped and panted for a few moments, trying to get her pounding head "under control", saw its body slowly form and rise out of the puddle of green ooze, as if it was "melting in reverse". She tried to think up another attack to follow up with what she had just done, but she was too dizzy and tired. She couldn't concentrate on anything, let alone cast it. She struggled to push it out of her mind, struggled to suppress her feelings of weakness…

When, suddenly, a great deal of her pain and exhaustion was alleviated. It wasn't enough to suppress it completely, but it was enough to get her to raise her head again and see clearly. As a result, she also saw the reason…Bahamut nearby, his own aura dying down from having just used what had to be a Cure spell. She looked to him for a moment, and then exhaled before she straightened up again.

"I could have suppressed it that time…"

"Maybe, but my Cure magic isn't nearly as good as Taraketh's. When you need it, I may not be able to restore your power enough to be effective."

Dael could hardly argue with that. But even as she tried to plan again, she noticed that Hulukith's regeneration picked up speed as it rose. Already, it was reforming its main humanoid body, but not standing around to wait for all the "details", it had already turned and was proceeding again, and faster than before. It seemed to be taking up a "power walking" pace this time.

"Damnit…" Dael cursed before beginning to run after it again. She quickly pushed herself up to full speed once more. Again, they could outstrip it, but only by going at full speed, and already Dael felt her head starting to pound again. "Nothing hurts it enough to even slow it down…assuming it hurts it at all… We have to actually strike whatever is holding that thing together…"

"It might actually _be_ what's holding it together…" Bahamut answered as he ran along. "But we have two options…the Tonberry King and the Gigantuar. Both of them are able to strike at the 'core' of what makes up an individual…"

"Tough as the Tonberry King is, the acid might still kill it or at least ruin its knife…so I'll go with the Gigantuar."

"Dael, that's a powerful summon. It will probably take almost all the energy you have left. You'll be done with summons. I'm not saying not to do it…just warning you how much our options decrease if it doesn't work."

Dael simply nodded in response before she began to chant again.

The construction area was left behind as the pass narrowed. It would widen again at the levee, but they had gone over two miles now. They were "in the home stretch"…and didn't have much time left to stop this thing. What more, the combination of running hard to get closer, calling on her power to summon a strong Guardian Force, and her growing sickness soon began to sap heavily on Dael's energy. The feeling of weakness returned, but she just pushed through it. Once more, as she got in range, she began to call out another attack…

When, suddenly, Hulukith's reformed head rotated 180 degrees and aimed at them. Both Dael and Bahamut ground to a halt so abruptly they actually pitched up a bit of rock beneath them, before the monster's mouth opened wide and discharged another torrential blast of acid. Dael, her focus split on thinking straight, summoning, running, and suppressing her feelings of illness, was unable to move or react in response. It was too abrupt for her…

Luckily, she suddenly felt a powerful force, practically like a full speed car, grab her around the middle and tear her to one side moments before the acid would have covered her. The force didn't stop there, for the acid quickly snapped around faster than before and went after her again. She was carried off by it, and it even began to start leaping around when the stream arched up to try and tag her. The effect worsened her headache for a bit, but her sudden salvation allowed her to look to the source after a moment…and saw Bahamut carrying her…

"Damn good thing I have some of my essence back…or this would be impossible…" He muttered.

Again, Dael didn't hesitate. While Bahamut continued to run her around, she focused all her attention on the monster trying to blast them with acid spray, and quickly concentrated and summoned again. It took more power this time, and left her feeling noticeably weaker and dizzier, but it worked.

Moments later, a massive black portal opened to allow the sheer size of the Gigantuar to emerge, who instantly aimed himself at Hulukith. Never letting up for a moment, the monster snapped its head up and fired the acid straight at the great green creature. Dael nearly panicked. She knew full well that water was the weakness of a Cactuar, and nearly cursed herself for not thinking of that. Luckily for her, there was little to worry about. The Gigantuar was already nearly ready to fire. And as the water hit it, it indeed did start to swell up…but not enough to stop it. The acid properties itself were wasted on the great green cactus creature. It was plant based, and so it was made of cellulose…practically impervious to acid. The attack may have hurt the beast, but it didn't stop it from soon firing forth 10,000 tiny needles.

Remarkably, Hulukith roared in pain and staggered back under the hail of quills, in spite of not seeming to have anything capable of being hurt. After all, most of the needles just simply sank into or through its gelatinous mass, seemingly not drawing blood or anything else. However, the attack was effective none the less, stunning it, forcing it to abort its attack, and causing it to move back. Seeing that, Bahamut stopped, and Dael immediately began to get out of his arms. He took a moment to heal Dael again, although she didn't stand around and wait for it…only enjoyed feeling her head clear a bit again before she ran right at the thing. Once more, she was bringing out her spiritual divide and focusing again. This one would be more risky, but she had to try something with greater power than last time…and try to move away as fast as she could once this was done.

As the Gigantuar cut off its attack and began to vanish, Dael moved almost to the base of the giant creature. From this range, the corrosive stench felt as if it was trying to eat away at her lungs, and all it needed to do was shift to step on her, or even break apart into liquid again, to kill her with ease. However, she held on none the less, traced the line within it, and then focused her power. As Hulukith regained its bearings to look down to her, she launched another attack…the same one she used against Jay. Swinging her sword down once, she suddenly ripped it into the air, sending a sharp blade of raw power ripping into the sky with such force that it split underneath the right leg of the beast, tore up through its torso, and divided its head in two from the lower right "chin" region through the top of its head.

Hulukith staggered again, once more falling back, and seeming to be ready to break into liquid again. Fluid from the wound once more poured down like a waterfall, but this time Dael was ready. She soon teleported again, just enough to get out of range. Yet on landing at her new location, she groaned…fell to one knee…and vomited. She couldn't keep that up much longer. Her magic was nearly dry as it was, and the sickness was flaring again… Still, she somehow managed to look up to Hulukith, hoping to see some form of lasting damage and expecting to see it fall to the ground again.

Instead, to her shock…the wound simply closed up again. The fluid that fell on the ground rapidly returned to it and was reabsorbed, and Hulukith was as it was before without a stroke of damage on it. Worse yet, it seemed to be "done" trying to annihilate the two small pests irritating it. It simply snapped around and, to Dael and Bahamut's horror, let its legs fall apart and become a raging torrent which immediately bore it along, away from the two of them and toward the levee. Its entire upper body even swiveled around to let it go, bashing into the rocks around it to erode them as it went forth. Soon, it was quickly enlarging the distance…

Dael grit her teeth, pushed herself up, and forced herself to cry out. "After it!" She shouted before taking off in a full speed run.

Bahamut quickly fell in with her, soon running as fast as he could as well. Unfortunately, his speed a moment ago seemed to be another one of his "bursts" rather than what he was capable of normally. As a result, he simply couldn't do as well as before. What more, the illness, exacerbated by the stench of Hulukith, was sapping Dael's strength once more. She felt weak and dizzy all over again. There was no way they could catch up at this point, especially since Hulukith seemed to be picking up speed. Plus its current way of moving seemed to leave pathways of acid behind it, which Dael and Bahamut wouldn't be able to follow normally even if they were as fast as the water fiend. Yet what made things worse was that as they ran forward, the valley suddenly expanded…and just up ahead the levee became clear far in the distance. There was even a final roadblock up ahead, with warning signs about radiation levels. Just a bit closer, and Hulukith would be able to shoot it from a distance.

There was only one move she could make to try and slow it down now…although she had no idea what she would do after that. She had tried this before from this distance, so she could do it…but this was the last teleport she could make…

"Catch up quick, Bahamut." She stated.

The young man turned to her to ask what she meant by that as they ran, but she didn't answer. She merely chanted a few words, braced herself for the pain, and vanished in a flash of light. Moments later…she reappeared, still running forward, right in Hulukith's path…and it took everything she had to keep from collapsing on the spot. Her head felt like someone had took a hammer to it in an attempt to crack it open, and her legs nearly gave out, feeling a bit like gelatin themselves. Having nothing more than raw determination fueling her, she snapped around and looked to Hulukith, holding her sword up although she knew she couldn't swing it to save her life, and it would matter if she could.

Luckily, it seemed to have the desired impact. Hulukith, in spite of literally riding a flood forward, halted, and drew the foul water into itself again. The stench still ran into Dael, again nearly dropping her, but the monster itself rose to full height in an instant. It was still in the valley now, and it was at its narrowest point before opening again. All it had to do, really, was blast her with more of its foul acid. Yet it didn't seem to waste time with that. Perhaps it saw how weak she was getting. She didn't know, but it didn't matter as she had nothing left to dodge with. She was using everything she had just to stand. Abruptly, it snapped a fist up, and then brought its arm down with the intention of smashing her again, and this time there was no way to dodge…

Yet, suddenly, the fist itself exploded in an eruption of green material with such force that the corrosive fluid was blasted out in all directions, but well over and away from Dael. In spite of her weakness and dizziness, she gaped a bit…seeing the Raidos Shield emerge from the other side and, behind it, streaming like a living rocket as he had back with his attack on Mianyl, was Bahamut. Remarkably, he had struck with such power that he had managed to blow through the attack clean, not getting any of it on him. He continued to shoot through the air, right for Dael's location, and finally did a single flip to land on his feet in a crouch. Immediately, he rose up again and spun around, staring at the monster as it held its severed limb and moaned in agony.

Bahamut exhaled a bit, clearly panting and tired himself. He even wavered a bit on his feet as he rose. "…That's it, Dael. All I can get out of my current body… I'll need a whole day to do that again…"

"I don't think we have that time, Bahamut…" She groaned in response, still struggling just to stand. However, she could see as well as him, as Hulukith's limb remains were quickly drawn in once again to it, and the hand reformed. If anything, it was getting faster at doing so… In moments it was entire again, and glared hatefully at the two of them through its jaundiced orbs. It's mouth began to open wide…

Dael could only cast one last spell, bad as it was. She had no more power after that. However, she did so now, and in moments she spoke the arcane words that wrapped her and Bahamut in a white shell as well as a rainbow prism one. Bahamut, seeing this, quickly did the same. After all, he had the same knowledge of spells as she had. Perhaps his technique wasn't as great, but in moments another two barriers had gone around them both. Moments later, Hulukith snapped its head forward and blasted with the torrential acid again.

The former captain knew full well even barriers and magic barriers wouldn't protect one completely from damage. However, when two of the spells were stacked on one another, it seemed to have enough power to keep her and Bahamut safe. The acid washed over them and immediately enveloped them, but an invisible prism seemed to keep them isolated from it. However, it did little good. The stench was so caustic and overwhelming that both of them were almost immediately blinded, and the air quickly turned so foul and wretched it was unbreathable. Furthermore, Hulukith continued to blast with the force of a waterfall, trying to break through to them. It strained the barrier to the breaking point in only a few seconds. All this had done was spare them time, and Dael, stricken with magical illness, began to feel her legs give way as she started to black out, knowing she hadn't a chance. There was no more or power left…nothing that would hurt it…as she collapsed to her knees, through the green sludge, she saw the world already turning dark…

But…was it her vision darkening…or was the world just turning dark?

Like…a summon?

She didn't know and, in a moment, it wouldn't have mattered as she was moments from unconsciousness…when suddenly the fluid cut off, just as the barriers broke. For a moment, she heard a yell from Hulukith of agony…before that was suddenly cut off by what sounded like a slice. She couldn't really focus on it at first, and neither could Bahamut. However, moments later, the rush of cool, fresher air washed over her and revived her senses a bit, enabling her to look forward to Hulukith…and see there had been a change, and a dramatic one. Not only to him, but to the rest of the world around her…

Summons made the world darker, but now…the sky had turned completely black, just like night. However, there was still light on the ground enough to see clearly somehow…and she saw Hulukith staggering back again. Its entire body was covered with slices, like a knife had been used to hack wedges into gelatin. The pieces of it that had been carved out were still falling to the ground. And unlike with Dael's own slice, something about the cuts seemed to negate its ability to regenerate, or at least slow it down to where Hulukith could only stagger backward. The yellow eyes of the creature gazed about with an almost frantic appearance despite how "dead" they were, as if the creature was unable to comprehend what had happened, and it honestly felt terror as a result. Finally, she looked toward the ground, and seemed to spot the "source".

Some man, tall and dressed in a red cape and cowl, held out four arms with gray skin, each one of them bearing a sword dripping some of the green ooze, and his head bearing a horned helmet of a sort…

Dael didn't know if she would have called out or not…but she didn't get the chance. Abruptly, a loud whinny went off from behind her. She had no idea what that sound was. Only Bahamut, who was nearby and also recovering, did as he snapped his head up and looked to the source. After all, no one who lived had ever heard a horse before…although in Bahamut's case he knew he was hearing one specifically. Yet as soon as he turned, he was just in time to see a warrior clad in thick, dark armor, his own head bearing a golden helmet with black horns, and flashing a curved sword like a streak of lightning, barreled through the sky in a lunge. Just as it did so, his own memory registered. For a moment, he didn't bother to think of how it was seemingly impossible…just focused on the fact that he saw it, and also saw the sudden fear in Hulukith's eyes…

The fear that he knew had sealed the monster's fate.

A moment later, the warrior swung his blade across the towering monster with such a violent flash of light and such raw power that, to Dael's astonishment, the entire upper half of Hulukith flew from the rest of its body, and danced over itself as it went through the air for a few moments. In spite of its massive size, the millions of gallons of foul fluid did so momentarily none the less as the horse landed…a horse with six legs instead of what was once the traditional four, and then bounded away again. As for the monster's upper half, it collapsed to the ground and instantly broke in one last acidic splash before dissipating again. The lower half of its body soon collapsed as well. It continued to erode away and eat at the rocks and ground, but unlike before…it soon had fully reacted and simply flattened out before seeping into the soil once more. It didn't draw itself up again, and the lingering stench soon began to fade. It did not stay together or regenerate this time.

If there was any doubt left in Dael's mind as to what had just happened, her own body soon confirmed it. At once, her headache subsided. Her legs became strong again, and her weakness was replaced by strength. There was some lingering exhaustion, but the magical illness had faded…meaning the source was dead. Unbelievably, Hulukith was destroyed. She had no idea how, but nothing had changed that it had happened.

That wasn't all, however. As the last of its remains sank into the ground…a cloud of white mist rose up from the remains. Normally, it would have faded instantly into the air, but at this point it rapidly condensed, first being mist, then a cloud, and finally compacting into a bright, radiant sphere that turned from white to yellow…like sunlight itself. Bahamut looked up to this as Dael finally lowered her sword, and actually stepped forward to it. For a moment, it hovered there like a miniature sun…before, to the tune of a sonic burning noise, it split and sent a ray of light out and straight into Bahamut's heart. A fiery mist wrapped around it as it did. For a second, Dael panicked and looked to Bahamut, thinking he had just been killed by some magical weapon. And sure enough, the force ripped Bahamut back a short distance, and made him go wide-eyed and strained again, similar to how he had been on Nyx Gaia. Yet it lasted only a moment. His eyes slowly closed, his teeth grit, he grunted, and he let it strike him.

As it did, Bahamut slowly began to age again. Not as much as last time…only enough to firmly make him physically only a couple years older than Dael, definitely in the prime of his life still. His hair, which had begun to pale until now, faded even more, approaching a pure white. Yet it did not look old, but rather had a look of health about it. As his muscles enlarged and developed more tone, his skin lost more of its imperfections, making him closer and closer to a physical human ideal. His eyes turned bluer again…and grew far deeper than before. Now, Dael wasn't sure she could have looked straight into them, for they were far vaster and deeper than ever. Yet her spiritual sight saw his body flooding with more power than ever before…easily making her nothing compared to it. By now, Bahamut was above Raven on his best day. He could have beaten him with one arm.

The ray slowly faded, seeming to "spend" the orb as it did so, and Bahamut panted a few times before he rose to full height again. His strain faded, and his look became calm and controlled as he cracked his neck a bit. Dael stared at him for a short while, and then called out.

"Are you alright, Bahamut?"

_I can definitely feel my powers returning now._

The woman nearly jumped on hearing Bahamut's voice directly in her mind, recoiling a bit from the experience. However, she calmed quickly, as Bahamut turned his head to her.

"…Including telepathy." He finished the statement he had begun mentally. "It seems like ages since I used that… Assuming my body was 'used' to the spiritual flow, I might be able to actually conjure now…"

With that, he aimed his hand at a loose piece of rock nearby. Dael looked to it as well, getting over her initial shock. For a moment, nothing happened, but Bahamut grit his teeth and grunted a bit…finally causing a few pieces of it to fly off and a vague, crude "goblet" shape appeared, like it had been hewn from wood. He sighed and released.

"…I meant to make that into something make out of glass and gold. Seems I've still got a lot to go." He answered. "But what you saw before was merely a Pyro attack. I think I can manage a full Flare now. And I hope you don't feel too embarrassed…but I think I could beat you with relative ease at this point."

"Forget that." Dael simply responded. "I'm not interested in stroking my ego so much as saving the planet. But on that note…who just saved us?"

Bahamut didn't answer. He looked forward again. Dael did much the same. The figure in red was still there, although his arms inverted and he proceeded to insert his swords back into unseen sheaths beneath his red cloak. After doing so, he turned around fully to face both of them, unnerving Dael a bit. After all, she had no idea if these were friends or foes. And when the individual turned, he proved to be massive, both in terms of muscle as well as height. Easily seven feet tall and maybe eight. Almost all of his body was covered with red, but what parts Dael could see wore ancient desert clothing of elaborate color, and his skin was indeed gray with streaks of blood red like his cloak, almost like tattoos. His eyes were completely white, and were about the only things exposed underneath his cowl and horned helmet.

A moment later, and the white horse with six legs landed nearby, seeming to "fly" to the location, and immediately came forward. Dael herself had never seen a horse, four legged, six legged, or otherwise, and so she was a bit nervous about it, but she held as it came forth and the rider dismounted. He was dressed in splendid armor of silver, gold, and black iron. It was spectactular to look at, but the rider himself was even larger and more impressive than his companion, despite being purely humanoid with only four limbs. His own face was gold and gleaming like a mask or helmet, although Dael strongly suspected that it was his actual face. His horns were even more pronounced and might have actually been his head, and his eyes were totally black except for the retinas, which were bright red. He was an intimidating sight to behold, and Dael could sense both of these individuals had more power even than Bahamut's new body…yet somehow she only felt in awe of the power, not fear. In spite of their frightening appearances, they both seemed to radiate an aura of "goodness".

The larger warrior looked to them both for a moment, but only gave a brief glance to Dael, before looking back to the white-haired man with him. Unlike Dael, he showed only a bit of amazement, but no fear. After a second longer, he spoke in a great, booming voice.

"It's been a long time, Bahamut…and even longer since I've seen you with my own eyes. You didn't seem like him at first…only in the weakest sense…but after killing that monster, your spirit feels more like his than ever. You must be him."

Bahamut exhaled slowly. "Odin…it really is you, isn't it?"

"As if any other weapon could have destroyed that monster with one blow, especially given its nature." Odin responded. "It seems Gilgamesh was right in believing it could feel fear in spite of seeming to be a mindless abomination."

"…Does that technically mean I have the credit for the kill?" The other, Gilgamesh, spoke as he crossed one of his sets of arms and put the others on his hips. His voice too was powerful, but also had a chuckle on it, as if he didn't mind telling a joke or two.

Odin, in turn, looked to him darkly for a moment, or perhaps that was his natural face. However, after a bit, he gave a nod. "It does. I would not have thought to use Zantetsuken's power against it otherwise."

Gilgamesh actually froze on hearing that, as if not used to hearing such a thing. However, after a moment, mirth aside, he gave a nod. "…I only supposed it was worth a shot. Without Zantetsuken's own power it would have been meaningless…" He responded, as if now shirking the honor.

"But if you're both here…" Bahamut responded. "And the one remaining essence is still in Mianyl's possession, then that can only mean…"

As if on cue, both Dael and Bahamut felt a pleasant glow behind them. Both of them turned, just in time to see a warm, fiery light come over them, before the source landed on the ground behind them. Phoenix, in all of her glory, burning and bright, yet also looking a bit on the weak side, her head lolling a bit, looked up to both of them.

"It took me most of my power…" She admitted. "And I'm still recovering even after three days…but it seems that so long as I can rest sufficiently between, I can still raise the dead in the right circumstances. It took me a couple days to find the Tomb of the Unknown King, however. And after that was done…I had to spend most of the time trying to explain had happened since they died…" She actually let out a snicker. "Ironic, no? Seeing as I've been the one who was dead the longest…"

"Naturally, I assumed the entire matter was a trick." Odin responded. "After all, Phoenix had been dead since almost before I could remember anything. But I had the 'luxury' of having lived as a wraith as Phantom Odin. It allowed me to recall dying before, so I knew that claim was true."

"I believe I actually knew more than my father did or Phoenix." Gilgamesh said with another one of his chuckles. "Not that it did much good…I didn't even know this world could change so much in less than 2,000 years…"

"It seems the situation is little improved from when I died, however." Odin darkly stated. "The last thing I remember, the world was on the brink of destruction. Now it looks even more so…with few of our kind left, reborn as things called 'Guardian Forces', and you, Bahamut, returned only to seemingly be reduced to a severely underpowered form. I must say I'm rather surprised…even all things considered. Still relying on weak creatures like the girl next to you to save the world…"

Dael actually felt a bit of indignity at that, and was nearly driven to respond to the powerful warrior. However, there was no need as Bahamut cut off.

"Your opinion aside, Odin, that is our current situation. And now that you have been revived along with Gilgamesh, we need your help. But that can wait for a bit longer. First we have to get back to the _Excalibur_ and check on how the remaining members of our group are doing against their foes."

Phoenix elevated her head slightly at this. For a moment, she looked to the sky, as if seeing something they didn't. "…I don't think that will be necessary, Bahamut. Look up that way."

Both Dael and Bahamut looked up in response to where the firebird indicated, and Odin and Gilgamesh looked up as well. For a moment, they saw only the sky, which, although it had turned darker and stormier yet, was holding. Yet as they stared a bit longer, one of the clouds seemed to glow…and not with lightning. More with a sun-like glimmer. Soon after, the glow became brighter, and began to condense. When that happened, Dael realized it was the same kind of essence as before. Not only that, but soon another cloud in a slightly different direction began to glow as well. Not only that, but Gilgamesh suddenly turned his head to one side, and when Dael looked up in that direction, she saw yet another glow forming.

"Three of them…" Dael remarked. "One for each of the remaining monsters…"

"Still accusing humans of being weak, Odin?" Bahamut sounded. "They didn't have any help from you to kill the three brethren of this horror."

"No indeed." Odin responded. "I suppose that simply means _you_ have gotten weaker with time."

Bahamut actually smiled a bit and chuckled. "Never could tell if comments like that from you were jokes or seriousness…but in any event, you all need to get back. With any luck, I'm about to find out what I look like as a Guardian Force."

Dael actually found herself reacting on the inside to that. That was right…with all of his essence, he could turn into the same pillar of might and raw power than Tiamat was. To be honest, part of her would be disappointed to see the 'human' Bahamut go, but another part of her would love to see him at full power. Perhaps it would give her a greater sense of hope. At any rate, she turned and obeyed, running to a good distance before planting her feet and turning around. The other three did much the same, and soon all eyes were on Bahamut. As for him, he combined the Raidos Shield and Durandal again, and set them to one side. After that, he made his hands into fists, braced himself, and looked to the sky. Just as he did, the first essence finished condensing as it neared him, and fired the same ray of light as before.

Bahamut was so strong at this point that other than grit his teeth and tighten up, it had no immediate effect on him. He withstood the power, even as his own body began to glow with a golden aura, like his own flesh was radiating an amount of sunlight. Dael could see him through her spiritual sight, and saw that his power was flaring again, growing even stronger than before. His body continued to improve and tighten up. Yet just as he was beginning to absorb the essence, another reached him and fired into him as well. He actually let out a mild cry and faltered, falling back and landing on the ground hard enough to smash an impression from the raw force cascading through him, and his power continuing to flare. His hair finished turning completely white and began to lengthen, and his muscles bulged and increased. Not only that, but his finger tips began to curl into talons. His teeth started to sharpen as his nose started to be stretched out, and ridges appeared on his face.

_He's doing it…_ Dael thought.

The glow also continued to build in strength, and by now Dael couldn't even see him that well anymore. But while the first of the essences was still pouring into him, the third came, and when it fired into him he arched his head up and yelled…his voice quickly morphing into a roar. More and more power poured through them, and the glow became so bright and dazzling that Dael had to look away along with everyone else. The sheer force made her feel a warm glow over her that quickly turned hot, and she could feel waves of power and energy coming off of him, washing over her and all the others. The roaring continued, and she heard the ground fracture and break as she heard bones shift and muscles stretch. He had to be transforming now…and Dael knew in moments he'd be again the strongest of all espers… She found her regret turning fully to anticipation as she held and waited, wanting to see the result, imagining what it might be…

Then, suddenly, Bahamut let out the loudest roar yet…and when he did, the glow and the power around him shattered and blasted off with tremendous force, tugging at Dael and pushing her back slightly. However, she held her ground…and soon was confused. For as Bahamut roared, his voice "shrank" again, becoming milder once more, returning to being human… She wondered what this meant, but soon realized the glow had died. As a result, she looked back.

Bahamut was standing in a small crater now. His arms were still tight and his hands balled into fists, and Dael could feel more power than ever radiating off of him. By now, he had to have surpassed Faerio in terms of magical power. There was no telling how much higher he had gone in terms of physical strength. However…that was all. He was fully human again, only now with longer white hair stretching down to his back. He looked more powerful now, though…both old and young at the same time, if that was possible. His face had an inner appearance of age and knowledge. Had he looked like this when they first met and said he was Bahamut the Great Dragon, she would have been inclined, at least in part of her, to believe him, especially if he had looked her in the eye. But…he would have still been human.

He realized that, the same as the others, as he looked himself over. His face showed a bit of surprise only a moment before it calmed again. Slowly, Dael began to walk forward again. Soon after, Phoenix, Odin, and Gilgamesh did the same, still staring at him.

"…I'm sorry, Bahamut." Dael stated.

The man said nothing for a moment. "…I was very close this time." He said after a time. "It just felt like there was a thin invisible wall between me and what I desire."

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Bahamut." Phoenix responded. "Your old body or not, you're radiating with more power than you ever did in your youth…"

"Perhaps you reached the level of your original Omniapex…" Odin commented as well. "But unfortunately, Phoenix, this isn't his best by far. He's definitely not at his maximum, even from what I remember."

Bahamut exhaled, and lowered his arms. He soon looked back to Dael. "There's only one explanation…Mianyl still has at least one more essence. Based on how close I am, I believe it's only one more…but it's still in her possession. And until she releases it, I still cannot use my full power."

Dael held momentarily on hearing that. Truth be told, she could tell he was far above and beyond the rest of them now. Perhaps, all together, they might be able to stand against him…but that advantage alone had to give them some help with what was coming up. At any rate, she realized that Bahamut had to be feeling disappointment at this. He had hoped, as she had, that he would have reverted back to his true body after this. And in spite of the fact he had to have most of his powers back by now, it wasn't his real body. Strangely enough, in spite of her regret at losing the "human" Bahamut…she found herself feeling regret at his being unable to transform too…more than she would have thought…

She didn't have a chance to voice these feelings, however. With an inhale, Bahamut raised his head again.

"It doesn't matter. Even if I had never regained any power at all, I would have still gone against the Sorceresses. Now that I have most of it, I will be that much more effective in battle. Let's return to the _Excalibur._ We need to reach the gathering spot and make sure our efforts weren't in vain…"

* * *

><p>As it turned out, they weren't. Dael was a bit overwhelmed. For once…it seemed they had thrown a serious "wrench" into the plans of the Sorceresses. Their attempt to destroy Gaia, either with their four monsters or through creating enough disorder to bring Omega Weapon to it, had failed. The two worlds had gotten a bit closer, yes…but not enough to send the beast. At least, not yet. No doubt, the lingering disorder would do more over time, but it seemed for now Gaia was safe. Listening to the radio as stations slowly came back on actually showed signs of hope as one report after another mentioned how the massive beasts had been struck down. They also reported the death and carnage they caused…but there was at least some sense of joy to know they were dead. Over the next few hours, that might give way to fear of more coming…so Dael knew they had to work fast.<p>

Much the same idea was passed among everyone else in the other groups. They realized they couldn't rest, and so each group broke out whatever medical supplies were left. As it turned out, the Esthar's Hawks and Black Corsairs had retained large amounts of emergency healing medicines, including ethers and elixirs, which they now gave to the group members to patch up their injuries. After quickly replacing or mending their clothing and resharpening their weapons, they were ready for action, clamboring aboard their vehicles, and headed back with all speed. Only Cid and Quaren's group knew this, but the moment Carbuncle was awake again and saw the success they had, he teleported away again. The Guardian Forces had been gathering, and now was the time to bring them together. With their power united, it was time to finish the job and send the group back to Nyx Gaia and the Tower of Order.

The _Enterprise_ arrived first. By that time, Taraketh had downed enough ethers to be back on the top of his game, and Cryder looked more eager than ever to get a move on as they ran out of the ramp and back onto the now-abandoned docking camp. The monk tried to latch onto the pirate's enthusiasm. After all, he was feeling rather nervous now. They had felled these monsters…but their progenitors were still to come and would be far worse. Yet he let his determination push him. He had one success, and he would have another. And as for Cryder…he wasn't about to let a little thing like mortal peril get him down, even if he did wish he had some liquor to get him in the mood. About the best he could do was a can of beer he found in one of the old executive lounges on the airship…

They didn't wait long before Ceja and Jalab joined them. They had been closer, but took a bit longer to make sure everything was alright and that the tribal members had been put to work on fire detail. Remarkably enough, in spite of being a "tribal leader", some true guidance came forth from Ceja as she ordered her warriors to remain there and start reinstituting law and order, to find out who was still available who "ran the city" and to get to work getting it operational again to create some "stability" in the world of Chaos. Jalab had been with her the whole way. His persona almost seemed to be both calming and encouraging at the same time, and anyone who would have "never listened to a tribal woman" was made to obey from his own intimidating presence. Their burns were gone and both were eager to finish Gaia's salvation.

It wasn't for another twenty minutes that Cid and Quaren arrived. Just the two of them…not the _Ragnarok_. That would have been too much to teleport a second time. Cid had a few remaining tools and still packed his atomic hammer, which had two cores remaining. As for Quaren, the pirates had loaded him up with all of the black market ammunition they could muster. Although the Fomalhaut was what he was betting on, with only five shots left it was hardly going to be an "all purpose" solution. There was no telling what still lay ahead. Both of them probably looked the most tense of all, but with the others looking eager and ready, so were they. After all, they had come through in destroying one of the monsters the same as everyone else. That had to count for something at a time like this. All that was left was to wait for Dael and Bahamut.

Finally, they came ten minutes later, running up from the shore where the _Excalibur_ dropped them off and running to meet up with the others. As they neared, the other six immediately paused and stared, for they had something new to see as they arrived. Not only was Bahamut in yet another new body, but they were being followed by two large warriors as well as Phoenix. Needless to say, all of them were rather surprised for a moment, until Taraketh sounded it out.

"Is that…Odin and Gilgamesh? It looks just like the books…"

"It seems Phoenix managed it." Jalab stated, stumbling a bit with the words.

Cryder merely chuckled. "Leave it to the fiery lass to come back with even more Guardian Forces backing her up. If I was ten years younger…"

His thought degenerated into a mutter as the group arrived. Odin and Gilgamesh stopped at a short distance, and Phoenix soon came around for a landing, but the two of them quickly moved up to the others. "Everyone's here and alright?" Dael asked as she looked them over. "Good."

"The other monsters are all neutralized." Quaren announced, almost with a dutiful tone. "It wasn't the easiest thing in the world…but Gaia's safe again for the time being."

"Looks like Bahamut's better than alright." Cid remarked, pointing to him as the white-haired man neared and halted as well.

"But…you're still in human form…" Taraketh remarked.

Bahamut exhaled a bit. "It can't be helped. Obviously, the Sorceresses still have some of my essence. It would make the most sense for it to be in Mianyl's hand…which means I will probably just have to go as this from now on. A pity…for if I was a Guardian Force, I likely could have given you all the ability to cast Flare. As it is, I'll just have to make do with what I have the same as you."

"You have a second option, Bahamut…" Odin suddenly called from the side, causing everyone to look to him. In fact, some of the group members were a bit surprised that the "helmet" on Odin actually spoke. "A wiser one. Why not allow the more powerful among us to go in the place of you and the humans? We have greater power and a greater chance of victory."

Bahamut, however, simply shook his head. "I already told you we were stronger than we look, Odin. Don't think because you slew Hulukith with one stroke that it was simply due to your power. If not for your ability to inflict instantaneous death, no other esper or Guardian Force likely could have destroyed him. And that power may yet be necessary. If we fail…the Guardian Forces of Gaia are the last defense against the Sorceresses. And they're stronger together rather than separate. Besides, it will likely take the unified power of all Guardian Forces as well as you and Gilgamesh to teleport us back to the Tower of Order."

Odin frowned in response, grunting and crossing his arms. Gilgamesh, however, exhaled. "I suppose my dad doesn't exactly know how to tolerate being asked to 'sit out'. Yet I'm happy that for once if I can't help, he can't either."

Dael looked to him at that. "Why not junction to us? Then we can call on your power from there."

Phoenix, however, shook her head on hearing this. "I'm afraid it's not that easy, Dael. You see…both Odin and Gilgamesh are _espers_, not Guardian Forces. When I brought them back, they came back to life as espers, just as they were originally. They can junction, but…not as well as one of us can. It would potentially be fatal to them, and would be more like a fusion…something irreversible but once."

"I'm afraid we'll have to content ourselves with waiting for your 'leftovers'." Gilgamesh answered. He held up a finger and shook it at her. "So don't let us down."

"I don't intend to." Dael answered, and then turned back to the others once again. "Well…we have us and we have some of the Guardian Forces. What about everyone else?"

"They should be arriving any moment, Dael." Quaren answered. "Carbuncle went to go bring them here."

As if on cue, a noise began to thunder through the heavens. In a sense, it resembled a rocket…but in reality, it sounded almost like a mixture of a rocket and some sort of bells chiming, or even a choir singing…if such was possible. It rapidly grew louder, and soon began to command everyone's attention. In response, they turned and looked to the source, and saw a light in the sky. It streaked like a rocket…but unlike a rocket, the light that came forth from it seemed dazzling white, and even from a distance…had a purity and even beauty to it. It rapidly enlarged as it grew closer, bearing with it whatever was the source, which soon proved to be far larger than a missile…

Yet long before it landed, on the field before the group, a flash of ruby light went out…before the ground began to shake, parts of the sky started to heat, others grew cooler, the skies stormed, and in the midst of it all, a green creature popped in from the flash and dashed forward.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" He announced. "…the gang's all here."

Immediately, the sky broke temporarily, showing off the surface of Nyx Gaia, closer than ever, for only a moment before a brilliant thunderbird swept down, snaking out lightning all around her as she went to the ground, and, at her side, riding a whirlwind, was a purplish assymetrical humanoid creature made of odd body parts who soon swung around and landed nearby. They landed on either side of a woman made of sheer ice, seeming to condense and form from the very air around her. The earth cracked and broke soon after in two separate places. A magma eruption belched forth from one as a fiery canine beast burst from one while a pair of hulking minotaurs, although one far smaller, crawled out of the other. Spectral green lights formed a track ringing the area from out of the sky, causing a living "ghost train" to land soon afterward…although, riding on top of it, practically nude and smiling cruelly, was a jaundiced woman with feather like hair who lightly hopped off as the skeletal train came around and halted. In a flash of light easy to miss if one blinked, the ground soon upheaved a bit as the monstrous paws of a three-headed dog came to a halt, all heads snapping, while a massive Tonberry wearing an askew crown slowly plodded forward on the opposite side. Three tiny spines poked out of the ground for a moment…before a colossal cactuar with a mustache set of holes erupted from the ground…and soon he leapt once again as the ocean surged and swept over the area, bearing a massive, ancient blue sea serpent, nearly hitting him with water that would have caused him trouble. Last but not least, the "rocket" from earlier arrived, and on its jets slowly lowered itself to the ground and touched down behind them all…revealing a massive, building-sized holy machine that shook the ground for miles as it touched down.

It was an awesome sight to behold…something that none who lived in the human generation had ever witnessed before. All of the Guardian Forces together in one place, some tiny, some massive, and all looking fearsome and fantastic. The group was honestly in awe, only able to stare at them for a few moments. Phoenix readily began to turn to move over to them, while Odin and Gilgamesh paused only a moment before beginning to walk around as well. As for those that had arrived, they paused momentarily and looked to one another. Dael soon saw not all of their faces were friendly.

The jaundiced woman, obviously Siren, let out a dark chuckle. "Well, it's been a while since we've all been together… Not since that battle in Junon. Of course, we seem to be short one member…"

"Uh, yeah." Carbuncle snorted. "You really didn't think I was dumb enough to ask Diablos to 'join us', did you?"

Siren shrugged. "Why not? You were foolish enough to ask _me_, after all. I'm tempted right now to start singing and watch you all literally eat each other alive…"

"And once we are dead," Shiva stated icily in reply. "I suppose that will leave you to watch the world die?"

She snorted. "Always a killjoy, you are."

_"We'll just make one thing clear right here and now." _Cerberus' three heads snarled as one. _"The only reason we're here is because we don't want to die. This doesn't mean we've forgiven humans in the slightest. And after this is over, we leave again and none of you comes after us unless you wish to die too. Understand?"_

"It's not like I'm not feeling a little 'gamy' myself just working with you for a couple hours, you mangy mutt." Ifrit snapped.

_"You're one to talk, you smelly bag of fleas."_

Ifrit growled. "How about I burn yours off of you? I may singe you a bit in the process…"

"Both of you can stop that right now." Leviathan suddenly snapped as he came forward.

Siren laughed in response. "Isn't that like good old Leviathan to be the noble boy scout… Is your brain addled, old man, that you don't realize that 'folks' like myself and Doomtrain have been living it up with each new drop of innocent blood spilled? That we're relishing in seeing the 'proud, strong, advanced' human race degenerate into apes as we watch them die by the thousand? The Hounds may have taken me by force, but I'll admit…I'd never had such a good time, including when I made that woman suffer until her last breath…" She looked to the group here…Jalab in particular, who actually looked taken aback. "…Such a pity that one had to spoil my fun. Maybe I could have fun with_ him_ instead…"

"Perhaps you should concentrating on thinking instead of being cruel, Siren." Leviathan calmly answered. "I don't know if Carbuncle informed you of this, but what's at stake is the existence of Gaia itself. They don't seek a world of evil, but no world at all, and no existence anywhere."

Siren sighed in response, looking back to him. "I'm well aware of that, old man…and thank you _so_ much for being a killjoy as well and reminding me of it. Still…you have a point. A universe without happiness or joy is just fine…but one without suffering and misery? No fun at all in that… I suppose I'll have to lend you all a hand…"

A bellowing note suddenly came forth from the Doomtrain, sounding like a mixture of an undead growl along with a train whistle. This directed everyone's attention for a moment to him. After a few seconds, however, it ended and they looked away. Leviathan proceeded to translate. "He said that while he embraces bringing death, if there was no life to balance it, eventually he would be unable to continue to relish in it. Therefore, he is with us."

"If you're all done gabbing…" Carbuncle suddenly snorted. "Let's get this show on the road. Everyone, get around the humans and…" The green creature paused, seeming to notice Bahamut for the first time. He stared in confusion a moment, and then merely sighed and shook his head. "Whatever, dude. Just get around them."

"Really now…" The airy voice of Pandemona rang out. "Mere humans? Why not just send us?"

"I already told you all it's going to take all your powers channeled into mine to make this work!" The green creature griped.

"Besides…" Quetzacoatl murmured aloud as she began to flap over to her own position. "Considering how much we're arguing now, I don't think it's a good idea to work as a team…"

The rest of the Guardian Forces began to slowly move about. In some cases, this was more awkward than others, as the Gigantuar "dragged" itself into position, leaving a massive trench beneath it, and Alexander "walked" forward, shaking the ground with each tower-sized step. Cryder couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle at the whole thing. However, out of all of them, Leviathan was the one who readily came forward to the group individually. As he neared them, his head gazed over the group as a whole before focusing on Dael and Bahamut.

"This may seem like an awkward question…" The great sea serpent hissed. "But is everything alright?"

Dael, to be honest, was a bit intimidated…not only by the power coming from all of the Guardian Forces surrounding her, but the fact that she was used to talking to Leviathan in human form…not in his true body. However, considering all she had seen, she calmed quickly and gave a nod. "As best as it can be." She answered.

"Considering we're once again going into a life and death struggle and the anxiety inherit in that, I'd say we're doing well." Bahamut answered.

"You're still not at full power, though." Leviathan stated. "And it may have been thousands of years since I've lived close to you, Bahamut…but I can tell that fact is unsettling you."

"It wouldn't be the first time I was forced into a battle where I thought I was at a disadvantage." Bahamut simply responded. After saying this, however, his voice turned dark. "…I encountered Tiamat on Nyx Gaia, Leviathan."

The sea serpent nodded. "I know. I saw it when I was summoned."

"You don't understand… It's Wyvern. He's been reborn yet again."

This made the great sea serpent freeze. Anxiety visibly went through him, if it was possible to see such a thing on an ancient sea monster. "…You're certain?"

"Leviathan, I talked to him."

The beak of the serpent closed as he let an exhale out of his nostrils. "Damnation… He's aiding them willingly?"

"No, which works to our advantage for now." Bahamut responded. "He's recovering, and then he's going after them for enslaving him with a control device similar to what they used on Phoenix. He's out for revenge."

"I cannot honestly say, from what I have seen, if he will succeed or not." Leviathan answered. "Although I tend to think in the negative. Odds are you may find him fighting the Sorceresses when you return. If you do, odds are also that you might seem him get struck down."

At this, the yellow eyes of Leviathan flared as he focused on Bahamut.

"Now…if that happens, Bahamut…can I rely on you to-"

"You need not worry about that." The white-haired man responded. "Wyvern, or Tiamat, thought an entire planet deserved to die if only to put me in anguish. Such madness can't be allowed to live no matter what I feel."

Leviathan, however, continued to stare at him.

"…As one who was forced to sentence his own brother, Bahamut…I know how painful that is. And I also know that some ties of blood cannot be broken no matter how many times an individual hacks at them with a sharpened blade."

"I will not allow Tiamat to harm another living creature, brother." Bahamut responded, his tone firm and resolute. "I merely told you this in case we are forced to give up our lives to stop the Sorceresses. It will be up to all of you to finish him. He'll have to be weakened, even if he's strong enough to kill them."

The sea serpent hesitated for a few moments. He seemed to be probing Bahamut, trying to see if he was authentic about all of this. Yet in the end, he gave a single nod. He turned to Dael next. "Ms. Levinson…I wish you and your friends all the luck, wellness, and prayers in the world. Call on us as often as you can. That is the only way we can aid you now."

Dael nodded. "I intend to. And it does give me some confidence to know that all of you are on my side…" She paused, then snorted and shrugged. "Well, that and the voices."

Leviathan paused, and raised an eyebrow. "…Voices?"

Dael shook her head. "Sorry, it's nothing. Just a joke on my part. I always dream about voices, but while I was on Nyx Gaia the dreams were 'clearer', like I could understand what they were saying. Sorry I confused you."

The sea serpent, however, continued to stare. As for Bahamut, seeing everyone else nearly in position, he looked back to Leviathan. "You better get ready, brother. We need to be off before the Sorceresses can make more fiends."

"One moment, Bahamut." Leviathan answered, and then focused entirely on Dael. "...You say you always hear voices in your dreams? Like…a recurring dream, or…?"

Dael sighed. "This really isn't the time, but no…it's a dream I have constantly. The _only_ dream I ever have."

"What dream?"

The former captain stared. "...You're really asking me this now?"

"Quickly...just as a curiosity."

Dael exhaled. "It's just being in a black oblivion surrounded by voices, and they all talk together and I can't make them out, but sometimes they're angry and sometimes they're afraid and I really can't sort them all out…"

The sea serpent continued to stare. "…You're not making any of this up, are you?"

The former captain sighed again. "I'm not."

"Where were you born?" Leviathan immediately asked.

Dael looked confused. "…What?"

"Where were you born?" He asked again…actually sounding insistent.

Bahamut interjected here. "Leviathan…"

"Last question, I promise." He quickly told Bahamut, almost distracted, and looked back to Dael. Now, the woman was a bit unnerved. The sea serpent was actually gazing at her intently now. His serpentine pupils were almost probing or piercing… "Please…where were you born?"

Dael paused a moment, but then shook her head and shrugged. "I have no idea. My guardians enrolled me at the youngest level into Esthar's Hawks and then died before I was even old enough to start asking about them, leaving me only the family sword and Mage Gun. They were the Levinsons…a military family, and I was adopted by them anyway."

Leviathan held his position, continuing to stare at Dael silently. By now, it was definitely making her uncomfortable, especially the silence.

"…Is that all?" Bahamut finally asked. "Or have you found something?"

The sea serpent held a bit longer. Finally, his gaze fell. He slowly exhaled.

"…Nothing." He finally said. "Probably nothing. Just the same…I might try to get the archives of Esthar after we've sent you."

Dael didn't know what that meant, but the only further explanation she received was from Leviathan as he gave a head nod to her, and then turned to get into position with the others. By now, all other Guardian Forces had surrounded them, forming a vague circular shape, and even Odin and Gilgamesh had joined in. The former captain watched Leviathan as he took his own position, a bit puzzled as to what this all meant, but then shook her head and looked away. She didn't have time to dwell on that or what that meant. Soon, neither Esthar or its archives might exist, after all.

With the group all in the center and the Guardian Forces around them, Carbuncle quickly ran forward, although he stopped just outside from where they were.

"Alright…" He said with an exhale. "With the new powers plus how close Nyx Gaia has come, plus your presence on it, I should be able to teleport you all there. Getting back, once again, might be a problem…but we have a much better chance now than before. Still, just feel like warning you that while I can get you there, getting you back is something else entirely…"

"I trust you, Carbuncle." Dael answered. "We're ready."

The others similarly gave nods. They looked a bit more nervous, but were all prepared.

The green creature exhaled. "In that case, I'm going to try and send you right to the Tower of Order…in other words the last presence I got from you. Without further ado or pomp and circumstance…hold on to your asses."

Immediately, the green creature spread out its limbs, closed its black button eyes, and began to concentrate. "That's your cue, everyone! Give me your power!" He shouted.

In response, everyone else quickly started to concentrate as well. Closing their own eyes, they summoned forth their own magical strength…and as a result, each one was enveloped in an aura matching their own nature. Dael soon saw immense amounts of power flare up around her…and was quickly amazed. Her very body tingled with the force that was generated. After all, this was the sum power of all the Guardian Forces… With them all together, they dwarfed the power even of any of the beasts that had been sent to destroy the world. The group looked around in amazement, for even the weakest magic inclined among them could feel the raw force coming from all of the Guardian Forces together. What they couldn't see so clearly, however, was that the power was being massed near the middle…right where Carbuncle was. The fur of the beast began to flutter as he strained and dug his paws into the ground, gathering more and more energy to himself. His tail went out and went rigid as a glow came from the crowd of Guardian Forces, bathing them all in aura light and gleaming fantastically. As it glowed brighter and brighter, the gloom of the stormy skies seemed to fade, and the clouds above began to rise up and flow away, much as they had back on Nyx Gaia.

Knowing what that meant, Dael quickly tightened her hands into fists and braced herself. She looked skyward and held on tightly, realizing this was finally it. Nothing else standing between them and the Sorceresses. Now they would see if these weapons, trials, magic, and all of Bahamut's power would really help them. But they hadn't come this far for nothing. They had stopped these monsters…somehow they would stop these three as well.

The clouds continued to rise higher as wind blasted around the group. As the auras burned brighter and brighter, Dael could feel the air come down around her and the others…whipping about them in a furious whirlwind just as the last of the clouds parted to see Nyx Gaia above. And when that happened, Carbuncle's jewel erupted in the most brilliant flash it had ever managed, and enveloped them all in a brightness so powerful they seemed to merge with it…

* * *

><p>A flash that did not go unnoticed…by a woman seeing four statues made of clay around her. Once they had been given four forms…Yug, Shaddamehl, Soddoth, and Hulukith. Now, they all lay in broken piles, each one shattering when its "real life" counterpart was slain.<p>

"…They are coming back. They actually triumphed. They're more powerful than we ever dreamed."

"We have the Ana…"

"They will only serve to weaken them slightly, if that. No…we have no further defense…"

Violet eyes looked to one of the order.

"It must now be one of us."

"…As you wish. And if I fail?"

"Failure is irrelevant. Either you destroy them or they destroy you…and in either case they are doomed. You know this, do you not?"

"…I do."

"Take heart, and if they prove themselves to be your better…rejoice that you will embrace the beauty of non-existence sooner than they will…"

"I am afraid, my lady, that I do not intend to embrace it prior to _them_."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: The next chapter is going to be big, so it might take a couple weeks to get out, especially with college getting intense. However, in the next chapter...<p>

The group vs. Veriguno the Mountain...


	72. A Sacred Horror

The ruby flash died…and at once, it all came back to her. Dael once again felt the pressure from the thin air. She could taste how try it was, how the air was cold behind her while hot in front and to the ground. The light foulness to the air from being old and stale. And far above her, the winds whipped more furiously than ever, and an almost constant stream of lighting snaked through the air, making it not even look like clouds, but just some strange otherworldly phenomenon. It seemed this world was getting even more chaotic to match Gaia itself. However, there was one thing in particular that dominated her view.

The Tower of Order…right in front of her. Not only that, they couldn't be more than fifty meters from the staircase she spotted seemingly an eternity ago. And now, it was clear that there were doors there. Large, white, stone, and ornate like the rest of the ever-growing tower, which already seemed larger than it was when they had seen it last…but also unlocked.

Carbuncle had been better than she had hoped. He had taken them right to the tower itself.

She paused only long enough to look around her. Bahamut was already at her side. His blue gaze was forward, but when she looked to him he looked back to her. As for the others, they were all assembled behind her. A few of them looked a bit intimidated that they were already here, already feeling the glow of the huge tower and the warmth and might radiating from it, but they were also ready.

With that, Dael looked back to Bahamut again and gave a nod.

"No sense in delaying it. Let's go."

He nodded in response.

Both turned their heads forward, paused for only a second longer, and then began to walk. They didn't immediately break into a jog or a run. Dael couldn't really bring herself to do that just yet. She simply advanced up to the tower, her eyes on the doors. Inside, her heart began to beat faster. She actually felt goose bumps on her skin…the first time she could recall doing so since she was a child. Although she was certain there was some form of defense in the tower, she knew it couldn't be as bad as the fiends they had just destroyed. No…there was nothing now left to stop them except the Descendents of Hyne themselves. And that meant only one thing…

It was confirmed only a heartbeat later.

Suddenly, a blur shot down in front of the group, plummeting like a stone, and smashing into the ground so hard that pieces of the crust were thrown up in jagged, haphazard directions. A few stones were actually thrown out in the direction of the group, but none came near. Instantly, the group halted. In moments, the weapons were out. The Save the Queen flashed and went into the ready position while the Raidos Shield came forward and Durandal was poised to stab. The others behind them quickly spread out and staggered…although Jalab immediately pushed himself to the front with the Whale's Whisker, and Ceja, not leaving his side, quickly advanced as well with the Rune Axe. Cryder and Quaren went out to one side, with the former bringing out the Kagenui and the latter readying the "big guns"…namely the Fomalhaut. Taraketh moved to the other side, visibly trembling but his face firm, as he prepared the Wrath of the Dragon, and Cid was nearer with his saw already out and beginning to warm up.

A small plume of dust resulted from the impact, but it cleared quickly. As it blew away, a massive warhammer, with a head that should have been too large for anyone to lift, save maybe Ceja's ilk, was revealed…the head glowing like molten magma itself. It had a staff for two hands and one side was almost like a cleaver. The staff was currently upright in the ground, allowing the wielder to slowly push up from her current squatting position.

Despite the wind, thunder, and even the "shimmering" sound seeming to come from the Tower of Order, Dael could have sworn she heard the muscles tighten as the large figure who had dropped to the ground stood up. She was in full regalia…complete with her crest and the trails of her dress whipping behind her. However, she always dressed more "conservatively" than the rest of the Sorceresses, and so it was still functional, and revealed a great deal of muscle. When she looked up to them, her eyes as hard and immovable as her namesake, Dael, in spite of all the power she had gained, had to steel herself to stand under that gaze. However…the fact that she somehow managed to look back in its power was encouraging. It meant she had grown strong enough to stare into it full force at least…

Sorceress Veriguno the Mountain now stood before them.

Cryder let out a mutter from his own position. "…Looks like they don't want to keep us in suspense waitin' for 'em."

"I hate to refer to this as something so 'routine', Dael…but we can't afford to waste too much time and energy on her." Bahamut murmured. "Hopefully it doesn't take too long…"

"Yeah…she's only one of the strongest beings in the history of Gaia…" Dael muttered in response. Casual as her tone was, fear was already beginning to sink into her. Even if she was able to stand up to the gaze of Veriguno, it didn't change the fact that this was a Sorceress. Someone she had spent much of her life thinking was on a whole different level from her. That was nerve wracking enough for anyone.

Veriguno stared only a moment before beginning to walk forward, her massive, muscular legs leaving the small impact crater she made and advancing a few steps. The others stayed where they were, and aimed their weapons at her.

"You may leave freely or attempt to pass me." She stated simply. "Your choice matters little. You can either die within a few hours, or you can die at my hand now. Your fate is already inevitable. Death and nonexistence is all that awaits you. What is your decision?"

Dael answered by aiming her sword tip at her.

"Stand down now and you don't have to die, Veriguno." Dael responded.

However, another voice spoke from behind to join her. Jalab himself looked to her and called out.

"Veriguno…it is done. Please…stand away."

"Do not bother to address me, Sir Tierras." Veriguno answered without looking to him. "Your words are meaningless now following your decision to side against us. You could have helped usher in the blissful end to all, but instead you chose to pursue temporal desires and long for a woman's company…even after your own creed swore off attachment to the opposite sex."

Hearing this, Ceja registered surprise. She looked to Jalab, clearly wanting an explanation, but before any could be given Veriguno continued, talking to Dael.

"You must realize by now the inevitability of everything, Dael Levinson. How meaningless all of this is. The world will soon end and we shall all embrace one another in nothingness."

"I'd say you haven't been keeping up yourself, Veriguno." The former captain retorted. "Or didn't you notice how we destroyed your creatures?"

"Irrelevant, just as everything you have done and will ever do is irrelevant." Veriguno answered. "Even now, the Tower of Order is being filled with fresh creatures, including newer and stronger versions of the four you destroyed with all the knowledge of their predecessors. You did nothing but improve their design."

"Then they will be destroyed along with you if you plan to intercept us." Bahamut responded. "My power is nearly restored, Veriguno. I am not the pushover that you think I am. None of us are. Even you won't be able to easily destroy us alone."

Veriguno stared silently back for a moment.

"…Why do you speak as if killing me will somehow bring you closer to changing the inevitable?"

The group paused on hearing that. Dael, in particular, didn't like the way it sounded.

"Defeat is your only option. Failure is your only option. Oblivion is your only option." She stated calmly. "If I win, then you all die here. If you win, then when I die, my power will go to Lady Mianyl just as Faerio's power did before me. Already, you all are nothing to Lady Mianyl. But with the addition of my power, she will become that much greater. Therefore, as you can see, victory is hopeless. Just as our lady predicted, you are enacting out the ultimate futility: life. In attempting to survive, you only hasten your own destruction."

"Thanks just the same for yer concern, lass." Cryder retorted. "But if all that awaits us all is a big, black nothin' either way, we're gonna live how we like first. But since you seem dead set on goin' that way anyway, how 'bout killin' yourself and savin' us the trouble?"

"We're not backing down." Cid stated, bolstering his own courage. "I'd rather die here than just wait for everything to die."

"Veriguno…Lady Veriguno…stop this!" Jalab suddenly insisted, his voice growing louder. "I do not wish to fight you!"

The Sorceress didn't answer, merely prepared her weapon.

"You were good and noble woman!" Jalab shouted. "This is madness! You do not know what you are doing! Please!"

Veriguno did not respond. She only tightened her grasp on her warhammer as she braced it in front of her.

This, however, was enough to incense Ceja. "You wretch of a woman…" She suddenly hissed. "Are you completely without love or loyalty? Sir Tierras served you faithfully for years as your friend and servant! And yet you struck him aside as if he was nothing to you! Where is the care and love the Order of Hyne claims to possess? Where is the bond between Sorceress and Sorceress Knight? Does he mean so little to you and your black heart? Does he-"

"Are you _quite_ finished?"

The tone was so biting that it actually silenced the Fuliet Warrior. Veriguno's shoulders shifted as she inhaled deeply and exhaled.

"You are all nothing more than confused, impulsive children…much like once was. I used to think that things such as love and hate made a difference. They don't. You are only eight individuals out of countless millions on this world, all of whom somehow think their feelings matter, that somehow the world and even the universe will bend to spare you pain. It won't. You will suffer and die the same as everyone else regardless of the good or evil you do, better or worse than others who deserve worse or better. All such feelings must be cast aside to make a difference in anything. That is what it truly means to believe in an ideal or a cause…to empty yourself of petty feelings and desires and only do what needs to be done. That is the way of the universe…the way of chaos. That is the way the matriarch embraces…and what I have embraced after far too long allowing myself to think my emotions meant anything."

Before anyone else could respond to this, however, Bahamut let out a rough snort.

"If you truly believe that, then you are a fool along with your matriarch." He coldly responded. "It's through those feelings that sentient life is pushed beyond mere survival. They seek to better themselves and others. And in case you haven't been paying attention to the past few hundred thousand years of evolution, it's worked out fairly well. Otherwise you'd still be a dull creature yourself and not standing here assisting a madwoman. Even now, it's feelings that are driving you to this by your own admission. Living a life of pain became too much for you, so now you feel all things must die so you can have peace. You've lived so long by yourself in the wilds that you've grown in touch with nature but you forgot humanity. Deep down inside, you sought to hide yourself from the world, didn't you? It was too full of pain…too full of sadness… And when the world expanded to your 'doorstep', you felt threatened again, didn't you? So now you follow Sorceress Mianyl because you think it's better to not exist at all than to feel pain…am I right?"

His gaze narrowed.

"There is _one_ emotion than sentient life could do without, and it's exactly what you've embraced in your madness: selfishness. The idea that all should suffer to ease your pain. You haven't the right to decide for this world whether people should be spared the joys and hardships of life, no matter how much power you possess."

The Sorceress was silent after hearing this. Her face betrayed no emotion, although the mere fact that she didn't seem capable of responding right away meant that had struck a chord in her. However, in the end, the only reaction Dael saw was her power beginning to flare, and her aura beginning to surround her as her dress elevated.

"I see talk is useless. In that case…I will see firsthand what power _you_ possess that makes you certain _you_ get to decide what's best for your world."

Immediately, she reared up and began to swing her hammer around her head, somewhat in the same way that Jalab used his own staff. The monk yelled out a word of warning in his native language, not having time to translate. It didn't matter…for his actions alone showed what to do as he immediately leapt and took off to one side. Spotting that, the others quickly began to do the same. Dael and Bahamut quickly split, Taraketh and Quaren ran on one side while Cid and Cryder went on the other. Only Ceja held for a moment, which was almost too late as Veriguno's aura blazed. The power she radiated, which seemed to erupt from her hotter than any plume of lava or volcano, quickly surged to be so overwhelming that it was like Dael had to walk through a fog to tolerate it. Soon, the woman was glowing with a earth green aura all around her, her eyes blazing up like torches…or like she had morphed into some otherworldly creature. Then, she swung her hammer down on the ground.

A sound like the very plates of Nyx Gaia splitting rang out as deep fissures burst forth in all directions outward. It was so fast and unexpected that Cid actually tripped into one and Quaren stumbled on another. He went down, but quickly began to raise the Fomalhaut to fire upon her. Yet he never got the chance, and neither did anyone else as the force of the impact brought forth a hundred knife-shaped pieces of rock, which instantly shot out in all directions in a deadly shower. Everyone had to stop to try and protect themselves. Dael cried out and swung her sword in an arc in front of her to cleave through the ones aimed for her head and torso. Ceja managed to recover from her shock just soon enough to dig in and protect herself with as much of her axe blade as she could. Cid quickly shouted and rolled over to have his pack face Veriguno, letting the shards of rock pierce it but not do any lasting damage. Cryder quickly grit his teeth and brought up his own power to caused a powerful gust to deflect the rocks, Taraketh quickly twirled his chain to deflect them, and Jalab did the same with his own staff. However, in their case as well as Dael's, the impact still drove them backward. Each rock piece that struck threatened to pierce past their weapons and hit them regardless. As for Bahamut, he brought the Raidos Shield up and intercepted the rocks with ease, not even flincing in the face of them. He never shifted weight as he let the shots harmlessly fire. Quaren, however, could only throw himself flat for a moment…

Dael knew they couldn't afford to go on the defensive. They were dead if they didn't keep the pressure on her. Hence, as soon as the first storm died down, she immediately tried to prepare a technique. She had to hit her before Veriguno brought out the "big stuff". Yet before she could launch any attack of her own, the others were already ahead of her. Cid flattened back out and immediately fired from not one but _two_ different nailguns at her. Taraketh quickly chanted as fast as he could before his aura ignited, and he sent out a large lightning bolt for her. Bahamut himself stood his ground, pulling his shield down only to open his mouth, let fiery light gather in it a moment, and then exhale a blast even larger than the one done at Hulukith. All while Quaren quickly rolled himself up, got to one knee, and took careful aim at Veriguno.

Unfortunately, it was all for nothing. No sooner had Veriguno drawn her hammer back up than the ground around her crumbled away, and immediately huge boulders flew up around her and began to encircle her fiercely. It was similar to what Jay did earlier, only this time with the rocks themselves obeying her. The various blasts hit each rock. Cid's attack broke some, Tarkaeth's bolt shattered a large boulder, and Bahamut's own blast actually cleared a quarter of them. But Veriguno, as immobile as her namesake, never budged an inch. Instead, giving out another call, she raised her hammer…and instantly every last crack she had just pounded into the ground erupted with columns of magma and fire a hundred feet tall.

Dael's attack aborted as she gaped in shock. Immediately, she chanted a teleport spell as everyone else broke and moved back. Quaren squeezed the trigger, but a spurt of magma caused him to go high and outside. As a result, he cried out in pain as the force of the weapon ripped him backward, drove him into the ground, and shoved him back with incredible force. The cannon-beam-like shot ripped high and outside and struck the Tower of Order…proceeding to smash a rather large and deep hole clean through it at near the base…but did little else. Everyone else was quickly forced to shoot back…save for Ceja and Jalab. The former grit her teeth and charged forward, right for one of the plumes that seemed more fire and less lava, bringing her axe before her. Jalab, on his part, swung his staff faster and harder behind him as he charged forward, barreling straight at Veriguno and banishing all remaining sympathy from himself. His face was stone and firm…clearly meaning to not hesitate.

Dael herself reappeared behind Veriguno, and quickly dove forward, trying to take advantage of the break in her "earth wall" to pierce her from behind. However…more massive boulders, even larger and thicker than the ones she had used before shot straight out of the ground and deflected and intercepted her stabbing blow. She reacted in shock…before Veriguno suddenly swung around, with power like a landslide, and shot out to smash her hammer into the Save the Queen. Dael would have had both shoulders dislocated if not for the Mirage Belt…but as it was she screamed in pain as her sword was knocked out of her hands and sent flying a hundred yards, even to the point where she couldn't see it anymore. Her forearms were wracked with pain, and she actually recoiled and let them fall.

_One hit?! One hit and she did that?!_

The former captain had never heard the full story from Jalab. Veriguno was not only massive and powerful, but she had studied the same techniques that Jalab had. Moreover, she was a master of enhancing herself with magic to give herself greater speed, power, and resilience.

However, she couldn't give another blow to Dael. Instead, she snapped around just as Jalab and Ceja were running in, the latter already swinging around and looking to bury her massive axe right into Veriguno's stomach. Both of them seemed to disregard the earth wall as they came forward, moving fast enough to get in and around it. However, in spite of her power, Veriguno snapped her hammer around and swung it out…not in a block but a counter hit. In spite of her size, she was faster even than the Fuliet warrior. And on connecting, Ceja too cried out as her arms were wrenched and her axe forced to the ground. Jalab, spurred on by the cries of pain, drove his staff forward straight for her head, but, seeming to "skate" on the ground…Veriguno merely slid to one side, letting the staff whiz harmlessly past before she swung around in one loop of her own, and drove the massive hammerhead straight for Jalab's own. The monk quickly brought up his staff and twirled it to make a shield…and still cried out…actually _cried out_ for once as the hammer slammed right through it and smashed him in the head with a blow that would have taken it off if not for the Mirage Belt. As it was, he was turned into a projectile as he was bowled away. After that, she whipped back on Ceja, still struggling to rise from the staggering blow, only to plant her feet and said a single arcane word…before one of the blocks of earth turned into a massive fist, snapped around, and buried itself against her head, ripping her backward, and then slamming down into the ground with titanic force, literally grinding her into the already fractured ground.

Dael gaped in shock. This had all happened in moments. However, she had little time to waste on being stunned, for Veriguno's eyes flashed again…and abruptly all of the magma that had erupted from the cracks condensed, forming what looked like living "snakes" of fire, which immediately began to whip around furiously, seeming almost to "bounce" in and out of the ground, worming their way in and out, and shooting up right for those who were running in…namely Cryder, Taraketh, and herself. As one of the flaming snakes neared, however, she quickly chanted…and vanished in a flash, reappearing at a distance, just as the Save the Queen was landing. She quickly snatched it up again…

Back at the fight, Cid was forced to recoil quickly, snapping out another one of his weapons in an attempt to fend off the fire snakes. However, as he retreated and tried to get it going, Bahamut began to barrel forward, using the Raidos Shield to protect him. Cryder did much the same, only using straight speed and agility this time. For all of their efforts, however, somehow Veriguno was able to keep the pressure on them both, beginning to not only sprout more lava snakes at them, but also maintaining her shield and slowly heating up the ground below them. Yet even as they did this, Taraketh had readied another spell, and soon called out before gesturing forward, summoning a hail of tremendous icicles together with a blast of icy wind and throwing it at her. He meant to both negate her heat as well as hopefully slow her while she was preoccupied. But the Sorceress had too much power. Freeing another hand, she quickly gestured in his direction. Not only did the rocks spin with such speed that they created a whirlwind that threw the rock wall in all directions, shattering the ice as well as striking Bahamut and making him stagger back this time, but the very earth about Taraketh suddenly sprouted forward in four colossal pillars around the former High Child, immediately moving inward. He snapped around in shock at this, and quickly chanted as well…before they all slammed in with force that would have turned any other human to jam. Unfortunately…no one could afford to see what had been done.

In spite of the rock attack, however…Cryder had not only managed to evade it, but was still shooting inward straight for Veriguno. His Kagenui was under his fist and ready to move in. However, in spite of the opening, as the pirate neared, Veriguno turned straight to him. Glaring darkly, she brought her hammer around and down, meaning to split his head in half with one blow as he came in. Yet as the hammer went over, above, around, and down on him…it suddenly collapsed into gravel, a move that made the Sorceress' eyes widen. Cryder grinned, knowing his geomancy was enough to sap the rocks right out from under her. Immediately, he dove in with his blade naked…

And got no further. To his shock, Veriguno, faster than ever, launched out a massive fist to seize his hand holding his ninja sword, and immediately tightened like iron…soon breaking four different bones in a matter of seconds. The pirate only had a moment to gape at the power that had been used, before her other hand came out, seized him by the head with a likewise crushing grip…enough to send him into agony and just short of breaking bones…before his body was swung around, head first, shaking the Kagenui out of his grip in the process…and driven right into a boulder that she made come out of the ground behind her in that same moment. He went limp immediately and fell to the ground as released.

By now, Bahamut had recovered, and he was headed straight for Veriguno, his own sword naked and his shield still braced in front of him. However, the woman snapped to him a moment later, and held out her hand. In moments, more rocks had come from the ground and into her hand, forming a new "volcanic hammer" even larger and stronger than before. Immediately, she brought it up, swung it around, and moved to bring it down on Bahamut with even more force than she had used on Cryder. However, the man knuckled up, raised his own shield, and braced himself under it. The blow connected a moment later…letting out a tremendous crack…and sending Bahamut sliding back a whole six inches…but nothing else. Veriguno's eyes actually widened a bit, before Bahamut snapped forward with surprising speed and lashed out for her. A bit surprised that he so quickly recovered, the Sorceress was actually forced back, especially when Bahamut readily advanced with slashes and stabs.

She only took this a moment, before she let out another grunt…and the stone shield rose up around her again. This time, the rocks were jagged and razor sharp, and occurred right as Bahamut was driving his hand forward. A moment later, a rock sliced deep into his hand as he drove it forward…cutting the tendons. He cried out as Durandal dropped to the ground, leaving him with only his shield. He quickly yanked his hand back, only for his new power to immediately regenerate it. In seconds, it was healed…but before that could happen, Veriguno began to come forward again, her hammer blazing, and swung it down on Bahamut again and again. He had no choice but to quickly backpedal, bringing his shield up to bear. Inconceivably, in spite of his new power, he actually registered both pain and strain as he deflected each blow. Had he been any other member of the group, he realized having the shield wouldn't have helped him. As it was, he felt more pain and heat with each strike…

Yet her attack was forced to be aborted a moment later, when suddenly she saw eight Daels pop out of nowhere around her. Immediately, she snapped back and looked about…clearly realizing that Dael had not only recovered and used both a teleportation and an illusion spell to return to her in an instant, but she had also reclaimed the Save the Queen, and instantly went in for a stab. For a moment, it looked like it might land… However, at the last second, Veriguno's own surprise recovered, and her ability to sense power of her own caused her to swing a boulder down and right in the path of Dael's sword, blocking again.

_Damn…_

Veriguno instantly snapped around, moving to bring her hammer down upon Dael's sword to knock it out of her grasp again. However, she backpedaled this time, not allowing it to happen. Yet Veriguno quickly moved in again on her, bringing up more rocks about her, mixing in large ones with the razor sharp ones. Dael was stunned. It was like trying to fight a twister made of stones, and in moments the seven illusions were destroyed. And as Veriguno advanced, she began to swing her hammer around again, clearly meaning a blow. Dael tried to cut her off, tried to move in with a stab or two…only to be cut off each time by the whirling rocks. As she did so…Bahamut suddenly lunged in from the side. He still couldn't recover his blade, so he attempted to break straight through, shield out. He shattered a few of the larger boulders and broke through a few smaller ones…but before he could get close the constant barrage of the boulders forced him to stop and stand still…before a large one swung down, connected solidly, and ripped him off of his feet and flung him through the air and away.

Dael was stunned by this, wondering if he was hurt, and realizing it probably only got him off balance…but she had little longer to worry about that as Veriguno finally swung her hammer around and forward in an underhand thrust, looking like she was aiming to take Dael's head off. The woman, however, was completely unprepared, and quickly backstepped to avoid it…hoping to dart back in again in a moment since she lowered her shield to enable herself to make the hit. However, she realized that was a mistake. A moment later, the ground in front of her exploded like a land mine had been under it, and a column of rock ripped forward and at an angle and smashed her in the face…

Dael's world went to stars from the power of the blow. She hadn't felt her teeth ready to fly from her gums since her fight with Raven… An odd thought to be sure, but all that could go through her mind as she was ripped back and landed hard, sliding back soon afterward.

A yell rang out here, prompting the Sorceress to look to her side, and see that Ceja was up again. In spite of her own bloody and bruised face, she raised the Rune Axe over and behind her head before throwing it like a tomahawk at the Sorceress. She didn't seem too terribly worried, however. In spite of the axe's ability to weaken a mage user, Veriguno simply gestured…and two huge pillars of rock erupted from the ground and slammed around the incoming weapon in a "blade catch". They crumbled soon after, dropping the Rune Axe to the ground buried under the resulting rock remains.

Yet that was only Ceja's opening…as she quickly barreled forward like a panther headed for a kill, right at the woman. Veriguno, in response, brought her hammer before her and then began to send off pieces of her shield…some small, fast, and razor sharp…some large, heavy, and powerful. However, as one piece after another came at her, Ceja ignored it all, either dodging the small ones with pivots or leaps, or leaping up and vaulting over the bigger ones, even bouncing off of them at some point. In doing so, she not only neared Veriguno, but forced her to break her shield. She soon leapt into the air, bringing a fist back and meaning to attack her directly.

That, unfortunately, seemed to be an error on her part…for the rocks that Veriguno had sent her way that she had evaded didn't merely fall to the ground…but hovered and then shot back the way they came, making right for her from behind. When she leapt into the air, a large rock sailed up behind her, one of several, all with the intention of breaking as many of her bones as possible…

Yet at the last moment, Veriguno's eyes widened slightly as Ceja snapped her body around and grabbed onto the boulder meant for her, clinging to it and letting it carry her over and above the Sorceress rather than press the attack. The woman was confused only a moment…before she learned too late that among the boulders she brought back…Jalab was on one of them. The entire move had been a distraction to get her to lower her shield. As she looked back, she was just in time to see the monk leap off of one and to the ground, focus his power, and then yell before driving his fists forward like a couple of machine guns, beating again and again at the exposed chest of Veriguno. Each fist that came forward rang out like a clap of thunder as his arms seemed to multiply five fold from the stream of blows going in.

Yet as Ceja landed farther away and began to look toward her axe again, she, along with whoever else was managing to recover, gaped in shock. Jalab himself, having punched so hard his knuckles were actually bruised…looked up in stunned amazement.

Nothing. Veriguno hadn't even shifted weight.

In truth, Jalab had known that Veriguno had studied a similar art to his…hers known as "Iron Body". He thought she used it solely for desert survival. After all, with the power of Iron Body, she could last for weeks without food or water and never weaken, or be baked by the sun or frozen by cold with no ill effect. But it turned out she had mastered the true power of it…being almost invulnerable so long as her mind was focused. She didn't even need protection magic, although she must have had that as well. At this point, there was little that could be done to hurt her. That had just proved it. That move would have punched through steel multiple times. She didn't even seem to notice.

And before Jalab could react, she swung her own head forward and smashed it into his skull, sending him flying to the ground at an angle, the force dragging him away as a result.

However, as Ceja spotted this, freezing her in the middle of going for her Rune Axe, a loud gunshot rang out, and Veriguno, who hadn't actually reinstated her "earth wall" yet, suddenly snapped her body back a bit, her face registering a bit of pain. She looked to the source, and found a red welt riding over her shoulder. Normally it would be considered a flesh wound…but the blow had been aimed for her brachial artery. It would kill someone quick if it had landed. She looked out to the source, and saw Quaren, in spite of still being stunned from the Fomalhaut misfire, was back up, and now he was aiming his rifle at her, pumping out bullets. Another soon hit her, this time in the forehead, and made her wince. Immediately, she pulled back the rocks and made them whirl around her again…only to have the bullets shoot right through and strike her repeatedly regardless. Quaren's aim was not only good, but he was using armor piercers. The shots were tearing through the rocks and hitting the target on the other side.

Unfortunately, it didn't last much longer. Suddenly, Veriguno stomped the ground…and immediately it changed consistency again. A "line" of ground stretching from her to Quaren immediately went off, causing the ground to turn sandy and loamy…and rapidly collapse. It stetched right up to Quaren as he finished his last bullet and moved to reload…only for him to give a gulp as he suddenly began to sink into the ground, as if the ground had fallen underneath him. It hadn't, however. In reality…the ground had turned to quicksand in moment and hungrily went to gobble him up. That was doubly dangerous…not only at the chance of being smothered underground, but the mere fact that it could be used to drop him right into magma. Quaren barely had time to look shocked before his head vanished under the surface, followed by his arms, then his rifle…

But before the barrel could fully go underneath, he had a savior. Cid, who had finally managed to attach his weapon, aborted his attack to quickly run over to Quaren, realizing what would happen before it occurred. He made a dive for him, and, as he did and landed on the ground, he snapped out one of his wrenches and quickly expanded it to full length…shooting it out and clamping it on the barrel of the gun before it could go under. Cid was left stretched out hanging onto the end, straining and grunting, and struggled not to go under as he moved the control to retract. Slowly, the gun was pulled back out of the ground. He only hoped it wasn't before Veriguno finished them…

Unfortunately, that was exactly what the Sorceress looked to do as she extended her hand, meaning to turn the ground into rock and entomb Quaren…before another arcane word burst forth and the light around her dimmed. Abruptly, her spell was cut off, and she looked up just in time to see a tornado snap out of the heavens like a lightning bolt and smash into the ground. As it tore into it, the purple, assymetrical form of Pandemona leapt out and immediately began to inhale through his air bag, generating a "sideways" tornado in moments that rapidly began to wrap around Veriguno. The Sorceress' eyes again widened, but she quickly steeled herself and planted her feet. The tremendous gale soon stripped her of her barrier once again, leaving her exposed save for her magic and iron body, but even though the ground around her broke, she continued to plant her feet and hold steady. Somehow, she seemed to become an iron pillar with the ground and not move, no matter how much Pandemona inhaled.

Finally, the summon was forced to stop, and then exhale again, sending a deluge of debris flying hard enough to smash through a fallout shelter at her. However, in spite of that, she swung her hammer down in the interim, instantly bringing a massive, towering boulder erupting from the ground and intercepting the shot. For all its power, and even though it broke off the larger boulder into smaller pieces, it couldn't get through.

The source of this summon was astonished. Taraketh, standing covered with mud and dirty, and looking bruised and sore in multiple places...for he had barely had the time to cast a "counter-quake" of his own to stop the pillars from crushing him into nothingness...felt his own jaw loosen even though he knew well the power of the Sorceresses. Veriguno had been able to counter wind's own natural weakness.

Not only that, but she pounded the ground again…and Taraketh only felt the ground quake a moment, giving him a split second to recoil, before it erupted below him…this time in a "porcupine" of quills. Deadly stone spikes shot everywhere, and two of them touched him, one going through his forearm and another the side of his leg. Miraculously, they missed anything vital…but still left him pierced and yelling in pain, suspended on the stone bits.

As this happened, Pandemona vanished, and Veriguno moved to advance…only to find Bahamut coming at her again, sword back with one hand and shield out in a charge with the first. She barely managed to spot him in time, but she did, and as a result met him with another swing of her hammer. The blow connected with the Raidos Shield, and once again made Bahamut backpedal. The head of her hammer began to glow, and soon she aimed it upward and at him…before rocks seemed to stream out of the ground, go to the hammer head, condense, and then send out one flaming boulder after another at him. In response, Bahamut began to swing the Raidos Shield one way and the other, smashing them into each "lava bomb". The result was an eruption of magma and fire over him with each strike, plus sufficient force to push him back. Although he strained and grunted, however, he looked far from tiring out, meaning the woman would no doubt try something new in a second to get around him…

Yet as she struggled to advance…suddenly her attack cut off, and she reared back and gave out a small grunt…the first sign she had shown of pain, her face tightening up with it. Bahamut actually stopped himself in surprise. He hadn't done that. However, the source soon became apparent…as a form leapt up behind her, his knife still out and jabbed in her back as best as he could…which wasn't much. The Kagenui may have been the sharpest knife on Nyx Gaia…but against her iron body it only went in about an inch and missed the spine. Yet as she snapped around to see who it was, she registered just a hint of surprise of her own.

Cryder, his forehead barely even bruised, grinned at her.

"Tryin' to break a geomancer's skull by shoving him in a rock? Not too bright, lass…"

Veriguno glared back…before she whirled around and slammed her hammer into Cryder's middle as hard as she could. It was still charged with magma, and as a result both burned and smashed into him. Soon, he too was sent flying, only worse than anyone else so far. After all, he wasn't as resilient as ones like Jalab and Ceja…and it didn't look as if his geomancy had protected him that much…

However, Veriguno, in spite of her stony face, must have shown too much anger…or at least not considered her opponent, for she now left Bahamut open, and, in a flash, he shot forward with Durandal out. She began to snap around, raising the hammer up to no doubt smash into his head…but she had miscalculated. He was faster than she thought, and he immediately ducked to let the burning weapon fly over before driving his shortsword forward, right for her side. Unfortunately, even if it would have been able to pierce, she was still a touch too fast, and rapidly shot her body to one side to avoid getting stabbed. Still, she wasn't quite fast enough. The blade was too sharp and thrust too hard…and it proceeded to slice through the fabric and soon open a shallow cut across her middle. Again, she grunted as a trickle of her blood was spilled.

Immediately, her eyes flashed again, and as Bahamut yanked his shortsword back with the intention of advancing and delivering a slash…more rocks suddenly streamed out of the ground. Not to her this time…but rather to Durandal. Like some sort of weird, rocky goo…they instantly adhered to the blade and increased its weight dramatically in moments. All of it happened so fast that it yanked Bahamut's arm down, clearly meaning to leave him open to a follow-up strike. The white-haired man reacted to this…but didn't go for it. As Veriguno brought her hammer up behind her, he suddenly released his weapon and lunged right at her, aiming his elbow out for her neck. She barely had time to react before it smashed in hard.

The power wasn't enough to seriously damage her…but apparently that force was something even she couldn't just shrug off, and she made a very slight gagging noise before being distracted. Immediately, Bahamut snapped his fist down again and drove it as hard as he could in a hook into her side, right where the wound was. He could actually feel the resistance in her body, like he was punching the hardest substance in the cosmos…but he also felt it give ever so slightly. It was enough to actually make Veriguno step backward, so he pressed his advantage. He quickly whipped his shield back, focused himself as much as he could without tapping into his "reservoir"…and then spun out and slammed it against the side of her head for all he was worth. The sound of the resulting crack was enough to make the landscape shake, and actually hurt the ears of everyone who was close. But in spite of the power of the blow…Veriguno's head only went a bit to one side before she staggered back two steps…and no more.

Quickly going down to snatch up Durandal again, and slamming it once against the ground to try and knock off as much of the rocks as possible, Bahamut lunged at Veriguno with the sword, trying to reach in deep and stab her through the stomach. Yet he was forced to plant his feet and whip back as new "snakes" erupted from the ground…these ones the worse yet. Instead of being made of magma, they were made of pure iron…which immediately condensed and formed into massive spiked chains of razor wire, which whipped about her so furiously and quickly that it sliced the surrounding ground into bits. Bahamut quickly had to backpedal, putting the Raidos Shield up to deflect against them, barely keeping himself from being slashed by the deadly weapons. Yet as soon as Veriguno had some breathing room, her earth-green aura erupted again…before a tidal wave of pure rock thundered out in a crack so loud it seemed as if as if the world was being split in two. Everyone else staggered or fell back as a wave of stone rose from the ground and began to slide forward in a deluge, picking up speed from a crawl to a car with the accelerator mashed in moments. Bahamut had hardly time to react to the speed with how she did that before the massive rockslide tore into him and ripped him backward, grinding him under boulders as well as smashing him and carrying him back.

Veriguno was still casting the wave, however, when the sky turned dark again. This time, she felt the ground tremble, and the air charge with so much power that even she couldn't deny it. This was no "conventional" Guardian Force…or even a standard "advanced" one. She knew of only one it could be, and as she turned around…even she seemed a bit perturbed to see a towering holy monolith rising up from the ground and glaring down on her…the full radiant form of Alexander, shining even more brightly than the Tower of Order.

Nearby, just behind it, Dael, Jalab, and Ceja were all standing…bruised, beaten, but focusing all they could into summoning Alexander. Taraketh hadn't been kidding, Dael realized. Already, her body felt like lead. In spite of all the power she gained, it felt like she would collapse…like an elephant was seated on her chest. Somehow she kept herself standing, however, and looked to Veriguno. She only hoped this took something out of her. If she was able to stand up to Bahamut smashing punches into her that would drop a Behemoth…

As for Veriguno, her face soon turned "stony" again, before she quickly crossed her hammer in front of her. A moment later, and the ground erupted as not rocks but _gems_ burst forth from it. Many shapes and many sizes, but all perfect cuts. Immediately, they began to whirl around her furiously, just as rapid as the stones before. Dael saw this and assumed she was "upgrading" her shield. Gems were harder to shatter and would cut on the edges. But she didn't see how she intended for this to help her that much…and a moment later it didn't seem to matter anyway as Alexander's headpiece broke, and he instantly fired a beam of holy energy straight for her. The Sorceress didn't move, continuing to stand there and bracing herself as the beam neared and struck the crystals…

At once, Veriguno was enveloped in bright, holy light…light that had smashed Tiamat aside earlier. Indeed, it was almost impossible to look in, especially as weakened as Dael was now from the act of summoning. Yet as she looked to the blast, wanting to see if Veriguno would be knocked away or at least look wreathed in pain, she managed to just see into the blast…and saw something else. The barrier swirling around her had suddenly frozen, and the light struck it…and immediately cycled through every part of it, making every crystal glow brightly. To Dael's astonishment, the holy beam wasn't striking her. Her new shield seemed to turn it into a refractive prism that was containing the blast around her…actually _intercepting the attack._

The most powerful weapon in their "arsenal"…and she had stopped it.

Alexander soon vanished, leaving the three of them dumbfounded and staring. Taraketh had just managed to get off of his own imprisonment, and Quaren, still coughing and covered with sand, was being helped up by Cid, and they too looked to see the power being held in the gems, burning with holy energy, as they turned and reorientated themselves at the group itself. Dael's eyes widened. They were aiming for them…

Moments before the beams could fire back…a red-hot shot erupted from the side and blasted the ground in front of Veriguno. The explosion was sharp and piercing, and soon threw a number of rocks high and up into the air around it. As a result, when the holy beams went off, the resulting blast was broken an interrupted…but that didn't stop Dael from still getting a mostly intact beam directly to the chest as well as other blasts pounding the ground all around her, sending up concussive explosions and debris everywhere. The wind was instantly knocked out of her, her body wrought with intense pain, and her entire figure turned into a projectile as she was violently flung away from Veriguno by the sheer force of the blast. Mercifully, her senses went dead before she could get battered too much, but as the world swirled to black…she feared that she might not get her senses back…

After being hurled a considerable distance and slammed roughly back into the ground, going into a violent tumble, Dael finally came to a halt. Even with the Mirage Belt and her own protective magic, her entire body felt like an open sore. Her senses coming back only emphasized the incredible amount of pain she was in. She had to lay there a moment, struggling to recover…but in the end she clenched her teeth. She didn't have time to writhe in pain here…

Quickly, with an effort of mind-over-matter, she forced herself to roll onto her feet and stood up, even as her body continued to protest, burn, and feel aches all over. As she snapped up and readied Save the Queen, seeing the others spread out far over the battlefield, some rising…some staying down at least for now…she saw something far more horrific in front of her.

Veriguno's power was flaring again. The "razor snakes" she had generated before had increased, and were now encircling all around her. If that wasn't enough, but the very ground around her was suddenly condensing and sharpening, until it formed what looked like a field of metallic blades of grass. However, if they were anything like her other weapons, then no doubt one step on them would slice your foot up like a hunk of deli salami. And she quickly began to expand the range of both, surrounding herself in a metallic blade "hell" as she continued to wield her gleaming hammer and surge with power. Even now, it was still so overwhelming that it made Dael dizzy just to concentrate on it. To top it off…the gem shield still surrounded her. In spite of the few tiny marks she had on her body, she hadn't slowed at all. Her power was still apparently boundless…

As she focused on her, seeing her attack intensify…she suddenly heard something.

_Dael, are you hurt?_

It was the voice of Bahamut. Dael looked up momentarily…only to realize he had spoken in her mind again. She looked out over the field, and after staring a moment, she saw Bahamut far out and to the right. He definitely looked in the best shape. His clothing had been burned and tattered a bit, but aside from a bit of heavy breathing, he didn't even look sore. She couldn't say the same for the others. The only other one she could see getting up was Taraketh, who was using a spell to seal off his stab wounds at the moment. Naturally, being a powerful mage, he had been able to "take" the Holy spell the easiest. However, he also looked up…and, to Dael's surprise, spoke in her mind as well.

_What… Lord Bahamut?_

A moment later, he heard yet another voice. _What…what is this…devilry? _It was Ceja this time.

_Since I've regained most of my powers of telepathy, I'm linking us together right now. Just think…don't say what you're going to do. It's faster. _Bahamut responded. _My body is holding out well, but…even I'm starting to feel a bit of pain after that one._

Dael frowned. _I'd take a "bit of pain" over what I'm feeling. Half of my ribs were nearly strained to the breaking point, and she's only getting more fearsome…_

A new voice joined in…Cid. Apparently, Bahamut was broadcasting to everyone, including those on the ground, but only some were responding. _Ugh…can't you take her yourself, Bahamut?_

_I'm still not good enough to defeat her myself. I can inflict pain on her, but…as resilient as she is, she can always force me off of her before I can land more than a blow or two. And her body is too strong even for me to run through unless she stays still and just lets me stab her…_

_Forget that._ Dael immediately thought back, going into commanding officer mode. _Bahamut…you may be durable, but we aren't. If she can repel even Alexander's power, we can't hope to overwhelm her directly._

_ What do you suggest? _Ceja asked.

Dael looked to Veriguno only a moment, her power still expanding.

_…Alright, listen up because we need to do something soon._ _Bahamut…stay out of the direct fighting unless you see a glaring opening no one else can take._

There was a pause in Dael's mind. Even if she couldn't read "emotions" as well as thoughts, she knew everyone, Bahamut included, was surprised by that. However, she continued to explain before there could be any debate.

_You have that shield and your power…meaning you're our 'barrier'. I don't think anything she can throw at us can do much to you with that. Everyone else…that doesn't give you permission to move around, though. Quaren, are you conscious? _

_Yeah…just…sore…_

_As soon as you can get up…stay back, stay under cover, and try and find an opening with the Fomalhaut. Don't miss again. We only have four bullets left and two more after this one. Cryder..._ She swallowed...wondering if he could even hear her._ ...Stay far and outside. The Kagunei's range is too short and your geomancy isn't enough to stay with this…so instead I want you to drive her nuts by breaking up every bit of stone she makes. I want you to be opening holes in her defense as fast as she can make them._

_Bein' a pain in the neck? My kinda job. _The voice instantly answered. Dael was silent in response, before a chuckle came back. _Think a little thing like having three or four ribs busted and getting a second or third degree burn can stop me after all the hell I've been through? Well...maybe if she rubbed some salt water in it..._

Dael didn't keep listening...was just relieved he somehow took the blow.

_Cid, you're with me and Ceja. We're going to harass her as much as possible. She may be powerful, but all of her moves have been "generalized" so far. She's encircling herself with a catch-all defense. My guess is because she can't split her focus on all of us. Nothing serious, though. Our attacks are going to do as much damage to those barriers she's throwing up as possible. Target the gems especially. Jalab…Taraketh…you're going to have to be our main attackers._

_She's negating spells, Dael…_

_No she's not…she's just throwing up too much stuff for them to get to her. _Dael answered. _She may be able to take a physical beating…but I'll bet a million gil she can't stand up to magic._

_She's right. _A voice suddenly spoke up…eloquent and perfectly phrased with no accent: Jalab's. _My power draws from the inner spirit to magnify physical strength…but, in the course of doing so, it saps the spiritual ability to resist spells. Even weak magic has greater potency with this. If she can be shot through her barrier, with as much power as she's putting out, Veriguno will have little magic defense._

Dael was actually surprised momentarily…before realizing if this was indeed their minds they were speaking through, then it made sense that they would hear each other clearly. It was just she never heard Jalab without his accent and speaking eloquently before. She had been tempted to even think he was a bit slow-witted in the past… But she put that out of her mind.

_That means you keep shooting at her at whatever opening you can get. Bahamut, if you can squeeze off any Flares, use them._

Even though Bahamut was strong enough to easily grind Dael into the dirt, there wasn't even a moment's hesitation on his part.

_Alright._ He immediately stated.

Dael wasn't sure why, again. Part of it was probably because he wasn't used to fighting as a team. However, the other part was once again something odd…that even now…he should be following her directions. She didn't have time to worry about that, however. Recovered as much as she was going to be, she brandished Save the Queen before her again and immediately took off, straight for the metallic "hell" that Veriguno was whipping about her.

By now, the former captain had enough power to manage another Climhazard…perhaps even a Shock. Yet she didn't take it right away. That was going to be her trump…hopefully for the finishing blow. Instead, as the hellish vines drew nearer and the ground continued to sharpen, she ran right at it and brought her sword down on one of them. Strong as they were, they were little match for the superior blade, especially in the hand of Dael. She instantly cleaved three times, severing the metal bits one after another. They not only quickly began to reform, but some of the free ends snapped out for her. However, she had been attacked by numerous stabbing weapons before, and she was far from helpless against them. Besides, at this range, they were both slower and less focused than when right in Veriguno's face. Dodging nimbly, shifting from one side to another, and occasionally leaping or ducking, Dael continued to fight back, slashing out to sever one end or another. She kept creating as much damage as possible…kept making things as hard on Veriguno as she could…

Just as the Sorceress focused on her to try and attack further, to focus on knocking her out…she soon had two new problems. Ceja, her own body sore and smoldering, had run around while Dael had been fighting and had taken position at an exposed side, and now ran in with the Rune Axe and began to cleave even more furiously than Dael. Unlike her, her own slashes not only cut through the iron, but ripped the deadly metal out. She even began to slice down at the ground, cutting away at the metal blades to try and get closer, looking to try and carve a piece out of the woman herself. Seeing as her attack was far more fierce, she tried to readjust to her…only to see a bright flash ring out from her other side as a blast of mystic purity shot right into the midst of the metallic vines. It wasn't enough to get through…but the power was so intense, raw, and burning that it slammed multiple chains together and quickly melted and deformed them, not only ruining their edges but "gluing" them together. The end result was to frustrate Veriguno far worse than before. She couldn't simply reform these without trying to split them apart first, which required more mental energy. She turned her head to the source, seeing that Jalab was back up as well, looking as formidable and resolute as her, and already swinging his staff in a circle for another blast.

Moments later, the ground began to shudder under each of the three as she sent out more of her razor rock spikes, similar to as she had done with Taraketh. However, the three merely turned and ran for it, and as they did they continued to lash out. Dael let her blade fly one way and another, slicing off one metal chain after another. Ceja leapt around like a ferocious monkey, hacking and slashing off one bladed vine after another. Jalab discharged more of his beams into the mass, melting more of them together, and used the power of his force generation to smack away others in between shots. With the radius she had established, and all she was controlling, Veriguno's focus was finally at a limit. Her attacks came close once or twice…but the three were too far for her to attack normally, especially since each one was going fierce enough to try and move in the moment she let down her guard. At one point, she singled out Dael. Immediately, she swung her hammer at her…breaking off the end and sending a powerful, flaming gem-like stone right at her…

However, Dael didn't even break off her movements. Instead, Bahamut, Raidos Shield out, ran in and "checked" the object as soon as it came at the former captain, knocking it aside and out of the way. Worse than that, while she had been doing this, Ceja and Jalab had worked out another attack. Suddenly, Ceja had snapped her arms around and thrown the Rune Axe like a tomahawk. Veriguno actually looked a bit stunned when the powerful weapon cleaved through all of the vines in its path and struck one of the large gems surrounding her…shattering it on impact from the raw force. It would have fallen to the ground afterward…except Veriguno was nearly caught again when Jalab swirled around and flung a couple of his air blades at her. She was forced to bring another gem around to catch one…while the free curved attack moved in such a way as to "catch" Ceja's axe and carry it up and out to one side…where Ceja, still running around her, came by and snatched it out of the air a moment later, just in time to cleave more metal vines.

As the three moved about, Veriguno quickly tried to rebuild her barrier…but found that her spells weren't nearly as effective as before. She had a harder time drawing the ores out of the bits of earth, and they didn't seem to want to "come together" as easily as before. She was smart enough to realize the source was the geomancer…but she hardly had time to look for him when the attack escalated. Abruptly, Cid reached the perimeter and joined the fray with his own weapon, a modified tool to spray coolant instead of flammable material. Soon, he was blasting away at the burning portions as well as whatever else he could find, making the rock portions more rigid and harder to move while locking together others. When that happened, Jalab snapped back and devoted his full energy toward beams, soon shooting into the midst of the barrier with blasts aimed directly at Veriguno, trying to break through the shield in order to attack her. And with the three moving about in all directions, attacking at all times for all they were worth, the shield had weakened enough for Jalab's blasts of chi to come much closer than before… Even if they weren't hitting her, they were melting or fusing other pieces, making the shield harder and harder to maintain. As one bit of chain or rock fell about her after another, she had to concentrate more and more to break free. She struggled to focus on Jalab, meaning to try and knock him out as his attacks were getting the closest, but it was no use. He was too strong to take anything other than a direct blow…

And as she tried to focus on him, she soon suffered for her lack of attention as a storm of fireballs rained on her from the opposite side. She spun around and tried to shield herself…for although she was using heat in the form of magma, she was far from fireproof. She quickly orientated her shield to intercept the fireballs, the blasts taking out several of the pieces…and one of them actually making it to one of the inner gem shields and striking it with such force that it blew up in her face, forcing her to look away as burning gem shards flew up around her. Somehow, it didn't pierce her skin, but when she looked around, she saw the source…Taraketh again. After a moment more, he began to chant again…and soon the ground beneath Veriguno began to grow dramatically unstable. In spite of her formidable nature, Taraketh's latest spell was a variation on a earth magic itself, and served to unbalance her more. Combined with the fact her shield was getting more and more picked-apart and no one else was stopping their assault, she soon began to leave openings in her shield…and they were growing larger and larger.

Seeing too many targets, she grunted before summoning an even stronger earth spell…one that blasted a ripple of razor-sharp rocks into the ground around her and soon had the force radiate outward. However, the attack was too generalized and unfocused. Cryder, still keeping his distance, utilized his own geomancy to weaken the earth "ripple", and Bahamut darted before Cid and Ceja just long enough to pound the ground with his own fist, shattering the earth "wall" before them and freeing them up. Jalab himself blasted out with his "force aura" again to shatter the wall headed for him and Taraketh, before both of them launched a dual-assault, one with beams and the other with a holy blast, right for the ground at Veriguno's feet. Had they aimed higher, the gems would have simply negated the attack…but with this new dual assault, the Sorceress' ground was made more unstable as well as her shielding. As for Dael, she drew on her focus momentarily, focusing hard on Veriguno and not the earth wall coming for her, and finally snapped out as she connected with the spiritual divide. She immediately traced a cut shape with three slashes in the air, which ignited…and seemed to send a column of burning force forward. Veriguno, too distracted to mount a proper defense, tried to bring her power back…only to have the slash shatter three gems and impact her directly in the skull.

That "iron body" technique had to be something, because she stood up to it…but not without effect. Dael managed to see her head snap back, and she too staggered, momentarily losing control of her barrier, with a small trickle of blood flying through the air. She had taken a hit.

Instantly, everyone pressed in their attack, forcing their progressively-tiring bodies to "push harder". Veriguno barely managed to plant her foot and steady herself in time, bringing her shield up moments before the blows hit. Yet in spite of that, she remained "askew" and unfocused as everyone fought harder than ever. Getting desperate, she began to make the ground around her explode in one column of rock after another, trying to hit someone to lessen the attacks. But everyone kept moving and kept striking. When she shifted to try spikes, Bahamut came in with his leg sweeping, knocking them all out and keeping the ground moving as they kept relentlessly hitting her…all the while setting up for something greater.

Finally, Taraketh drew back and, brow sweating and focus slipping, he made a summon. A moment later, the sky darkened before Leviathan seemed to materialize from whatever moisture was in the air. Crying out a moment later, the Master of the Seas sent a raging tsunami flying right into Veriguno's direction. However, the Sorceress was still trying to fend off everyone else's attacks, and it wasn't until the wave was nearly on her that she whirled to it and quickly swung her arms around, bringing forth all of her shielding before her and then reinforcing more of it from the ground. A moment later, and the wall of raging water slammed into her hasty barrier, and even a woman such as her grunted and showed visible strain, even sweat, as she attempted to hold the attack back for all she was worth. Thousands of gallons of water broke against the barrier, and the spray alone soaked the towering woman. The force could have splintered a mountain…and yet somehow she held up against it.

However, she also left one side of herself open. And as the power died down, Bahamut saw his "opening" at last. Taking aim at her exposed side, he opened his mouth again, gathered heat and power…and then fired off a Flare. This time, Veriguno only had a moment to realize he was attacking before the searing, brilliant orbs struck her in the back and immediately burrowed in…before igniting with so much force that it looked as if the powerful woman had been slapped in the back by a falling tree trunk. She actually let out just the slightest louder grunt…indicating true pain as the force made her stagger. As the smoke died down…a raw, burning wound was revealed in her back, hampering one of her shoulders from moving. But most of all…she lost her ability to control the barrier around her.

Jalab didn't press the attack. Not out of mercy…out of an attempt to summon as much power as possible. But the others were not so generous. Dael ran forward with the Save the Queen flashing, drew it up and back, and slashed it out at Veriguno's chest. In response, the Sorceress, in spite of still staggering from the last blow, brought up her hammer and thrust it out to intercept. However…this time, the flawless blade sliced through it and went to her chest. Even now, her iron body was protecting her…but it didn't stop a large slash from being opened. She winced in pain and staggered back…right into the path of Cid, who took the moment to run up behind, having switched to his saw this time, and drove out for her back on her already-bad shoulder. In spite of her resilience, the chainsaw cut deep…ripping a much larger gash into her burning wound and opening a grievous injury.

Yet Veriguno, even now, in spite of her growing pain, was far from done. Snapping back to her full height in spite of her wound, which was now putting her face in visible pain, she swung her hand out at Dael. Before the former captain could react, she was shocked to see the ground erupt and form what looked like a "breastplate" of rock…which immediately lashed out and smashed into her. The impact was hard and painful, enough to dislodge Save the Queen from her grip, and she gave out a mild cry before the force took her to the ground. However, as she lay there stunned, she saw that the "breastplate" had fastened around her chest…and rather snugly too…

As Dael tried to understand Veriguno's latest move, Cid had to deal with the Sorceress' wrath as well as she wheeled on him next. He hardly had time to even react to her burning, inhuman gaze glaring at him…before a spke of rock erupted out of the ground and straight for his torso. Bahamut spotted this and immediately ran for him…but, unfortunately, he was a hair too slow. Cid's eyes went wide as the spike sailed right for his middle and made contact, pushing his body out…before the man seized him and quickly ripped him backward to the ground, trying to get him away from the rock intended to impale him. However, before Veriguno had any chance to see if this had an effect…another combatant was already on her. She saw a flash of gold for a moment and turned her head to it…and was just in time to see Ceja raging at her, and bringing her axe down on Veriguno's still-extended hand…

And a moment later, it connected. Either her iron body didn't apply to her arm or it didn't matter, for the golden axe seemed to shimmer for just a moment before the blade sliced clean through the appendage, removing it from the woman's body to the tune of blood erupting from either end of the limb.

That blow would have been terrible enough for anyone, but it seemed to affect Veriguno more than before…because it had been from the Rune Axe. Her own power had been drawn out and used to strike her, sapping her strength…and, more importantly, shattering her focus. The woman's eyes widened before she grit her teeth and let out a pained grunt, staggering backward and releasing the severed part of her hammer to clutch her now-bleeding stump of an arm. Instantly, her power was released. The metal snakes died down, the magma cooled, and her own quakes subsided as she staggered back… In other words, her body was completely exposed.

In spite of the pain and the blood running down her arm and splashed against her chest, Veriguno managed to look up after a moment. Perhaps she would have even started to fight back soon afterward…but she didn't get the chance. Instead, she began to hear a small whine, like an electric device being turned on, and she looked to the source…finding Quaren once again aiming the Fomalhaut at her. This time, she was in too much pain to try and negate it before the trigger was squeezed and a beam of pure energy erupted from the end and slammed into her.

Dael managed to look up, even as she felt the crushing weight of the dense stone on her chest seem to tighten. She watched as the sky darkened and the cannon-like energy allowed Veriguno to only look shocked a moment before she was ripped off of her feet and thrown violently back with inconceivable force…eventually smashed into the side of the Tower of Order itself with more than sufficient power to punch her into it. Dael had no idea if the beam went straight through again, too close to the base, but she did see sizable building pieces smash in and around the point of impact, and the beam continued to blast in and burn for a few moments more before cutting off.

There was silence momentarily. Dael, a bit sore and tired, tried to rise, but found she couldn't. The armor was weighing her down too much. As for the others, Bahamut was still with Cid and she couldn't look to him, although she heard grunting and straining from nearby. However, Ceja and Jalab alike both staggered forward into view, looking to where the point of impact was, and a moment later she heard a whistle that could only be Cryder behind her.

"Nice shot, mate."

"Well…" Quaren's voice answered with a pant. "Sniping is all about waiting for that split second for a perfect shot and then taking it…"

"Is the witch destroyed?" Ceja asked.

"Perhaps." Jalab answered. "Ones who train in my art…not easy to die…"

Dael exhaled a bit, and then tried to speak. "…Can I get a hand from someone over here, this armor is…UGH!"

Abruptly, she cut herself off as she felt the stone around her chest tighten to the crushing point. She felt it begin to apply pressure to her entire torso skeleton, both the ribs and the spine at the same time, and start to squeeze the air out of her lungs. As a result, she was helpless to finish her statement, merely arched back and began to writhe in agony from the stone breastplate. The others immediately snapped to her, seeing her arch back and begin to moan and grunt. In spite of the incredible pressure, which she now felt tightening like a constrictor, she held her breath and didn't dare scream in pain. That's what it wanted…for her lungs to deflate and then keep them from being expanded again...

She couldn't see it, but behind her, Bahamut rose and snapped to her in surprise, while Taraketh, finally moving up to the others, was already focused on the "hole" in the Tower of Order, which seemed to be shuddering now and raining down more bits of debris and damage. He quickly started to gesture again. "She's still alive! I can feel her power surging more than ever! Brace-"

He was cut off as, like a bullet, a solid stone "brick" of debris erupted from the hole as if it was a cannon barrel. It sailed through the air and immediately smashed right into Taraketh's throat. His eyes bulged, and he let out a gag…nearly having bit off his own tongue from this. However, the stone stayed latched around his throat even as blood ran from his lips, turning to a clay-like material which spread around his neck and solidified into a collar before a stone chain from the ground shot up, seized it, and began to yank him back sharply. Even as it did so, the ground beneath him began to turn "soupy" once again, meaning to drag him under to smother him…although, from the looks of it, the stone had already crushed his windpipe and wasn't about to open it again.

Bahamut snapped to this and nearly intervened…before a brick made out of diamond lashed out and crushed into his throat with even more force. Not only was he not strong enough to withstand this, but he actually staggered back before the diamond did the same thing it did to Taraketh and began to drag him back as well. This time, the chain was made of diamond…and for all his strength there was no way for the man to break free.

Cryder spotted this with as much shock as everyone else, and soon began to run toward them, yanking out the Kagunei at the same time. As he did, he shouted out to the others. "Brace yourself for a big 'un, lads! The world all around me is groaning like a rusty winch! And it ain't listenin' to me this time! She's pullin' out all the stops!"

Ceja and Jalab both snapped forward on hearing this. Ceja readied her tomahawk move while Jalab merely stood his ground, beginning into inhale and exhale slowly. He was focusing something big…no doubt his most powerful move: the Dance of the Phantom. Quaren himself quickly moved to reload the Fomalhaut…but before he could do so, another projectile shot out for him. Ceja actually saw it coming this time and attempted to slash at it to intercept…but before either she could do anything or Jalab could react, the ground in front of them suddenly turned to gray mud and surged forth up and over like a tsunami. Both snapped to it in surprise, but before they could move, it went over and splashed on both of them, covering them completely by it. Dael, weak as she was, vainly managed to look up in surprise as she bit back her pain to see what had happened…shocked at the sudden surge of liquid rock. However, it died quickly, solidifying again…and on doing so it receded to reveal a pair of humanoid statues completely immobile. To Dael's horror, the move had been like dunking both Ceja and Jalab in concrete.

Yet it was the worse for Quaren. Seeing the attack coming, he tossed the Fomalhaut aside and pulled out his handgun, meaning to shoot it out of the sky. But this attack wasn't like the one before. His shots hit…and sank right into the stone, revealing it to be a type of thick mud instead of a rock. Before he could do anything else, it slapped onto his face like a quantity of heavy putty, and immediately adhered there. The force was enough to knock Quaren to the ground, and he immediately reached for it…only to find the outside had become solid. The rest, however, was still thick and liquid…and had sealed off his air and was now in the process of trying to go up his nose and mouth to fill his lungs.

Dael, on her part, was helpless to do anything as the pressure continued to tighten. Yet as she lay there, she saw that the ground began to fracture and shudder again…worse than ever. It wasn't like a typical earthquake. Instead, the ground began to "pulse", undulating slowly to go up and down…up and down…breaking it up more and more with each new undulation. Dael found herself beginning to wave too, the world rising and falling around her. However, this effect went on for a huge distance, enough to encompass everyone. And as it went up and down more and more…she began to see they were going lower each time…

Finally, the hole in the Tower of Order erupted as a form shot out of it. Moments later…the ground before the group fractured as Veriguno slammed into it, pounding huge cracks into the already-fracturing landscape. Her clothes were in tatters. Her body was covered with severe burns. Her stump was cauterized, but some of her hair was gone and her clothing and crest were melted. Yet she still blazed at near maximum power, her eyes burning wilder than ever and her muscles tightened. By now, she seemed to almost lack pupils, and the veins in her skin had turned so dark that she looked almost like an anatomy drawing of the circulatory system. Yet no sooner had she landed than she was surrounded by a fresh shield…this time completely one of gems, and rotating about her so fast and furiously they were like old models of atoms. And the ground continued to heave more and more as she let out a low growl deep in her throat…

As the ground kept heaving to the tune of resounding, earth-shaking noises…suddenly parts of the ground erupted all together, letting out blasts of steam. Moments later, one of the holes spurted out bits of lava as it went down. Another soon followed. By the time a third did, the first was beginning to form a pool of lava around it…and Dael understood as she felt her spine almost bending… Veriguno had gone wild. She was going to plunge them all into the mantle of Nyx Gaia. Sure enough…by now, she saw they had descended quite a bit…almost twenty-feet from the surface and going deeper with each pulse.

She had to stop her…but the Sorceress had been too smart. The moment Dael said any arcane syllable, the breastplate would tighten to fully compress her lungs, first stopping her from finishing a spell, and then killing her. She only had her spiritual divides otherwise…but her sword had fallen from her grasp during the first tightening and was just out of view, and if she devoted any effort to grabbing it, the chestplate would kill her. Already, it was moments from breaking her back… Even if she had her sword, she wasn't sure she could focus on where the "spirit lines" met. The pain and pressure was too much to concentrate, and the heat was increasing…from them getting closer and closer to where the magma flows ran through Nyx Gaia. Soon she wouldn't have any of the sight at all, and she began to wonder what would happen first…her bones giving out or the crust breaking…

When, suddenly she heard a small whine of servos nearby. In spite of her pain making it harder to concentrate on anything, she looked to one side…and saw Cid, his shirt a bit torn with a few drops of blood, but other than that nothing, cocking back one of his automatic hammers as he crawled to Dael's side. If Veriguno spotted him, it was too late…for he soon swung it around and on top of the breastplate…and delivered it such a powerful blow that it smarted Dael painfully, perhaps even broke a rib…but also shattered the stone off of her. Instantly, her lungs expanded and she gave in one mighty gasp.

Veriguno, in spite of the power she was flaring, did see this, hearing it if nothing else. In mid-surge, she looked down to the former captain, but she wasted little time before she reached out and seized her blade. She barely had time to start to speak before Dael instantly snapped herself up and to her feet, ignoring her pain and injuries, and immediately focused again, tapped into her utmost power, and then swung her blade upright…unleashing the Shock.

The Sorceress cried out again as a ripple of almost reality-shattering energy blasted off in all directions like a shockwave. Deep cuts went off all over her body, and each and every one of her gems was shattered. The pulsing immediately stopped, dropping everyone back to the ground. Not only that…but the radiating power targeted the restraints as well. Quaren's face was released, and he immediately gasped for air himself. Both Bahamut and Taraketh were freed as well…a good thing because even Cryder's blade wasn't breaking them free, and he actually recoiled in surprise at the sight. But most of all…the stone prisons around Ceja and Jalab were annihilated.

Better than that…while Ceja looked stunned…Jalab looked like he had been planning for this all along. His body was still in the poised phase to charge…and now that it was open, his eyes opened wide…seeming to radiate a white aura.

Seeing this, Veriguno, in spite of bleeding all over, tried one last move. Her hand went out, and, once again, spikes began to roll out of the ground, starting to move toward Jalab, trying to kill him when he was at his own weakest point…

But the attack suddenly shattered, and Veriguno, already covered with blood and injuries, reared back as she grasped her eye, face tight with fresh pain in spite of not yelling. Dael saw the source. She heard it from right next to her…just as Cid had snapped out, dropping his hammer, and taking up his nailgun. With Veriguno's defense destroyed, he had taken aim from close range into her left eye and let one of his nails fly… Now, the woman staggered back in agony…and was totally left open as Jalab's eyes flashed before he took off like a shot.

Dael had seen this before, but she still found herself grimly watching and paying close attention as she saw Jalab seem to split into ten copies and surround Veriguno, pounding into her again and again with punches that sounded like gunshots. She saw her body slowly become covered with the light from Jalab pounding his own chi into her, striking her in one vital spot after another with his powerful technique. The sound of the fists smacking was almost mechanical in how regular and fierce it was…but it finally abated. When that happened, he snapped away, just as he had the first time, and landed on the ground in front of her, his back to her.

For a moment, Dael looked into his eyes. They were firm…but also paused. They simply looked forward, silent and steady…and nothing changed. The former captain watched him hold as Veriguno continued to stand behind him…before she finally saw it.

A single tear rolled out of one of his eyes before he clenched his fist…destroying the chi that he had put into Veriguno.

Sounds like explosions went off from her as her body was turned into a rag doll. More blood and wounds erupted all over her body as her skeleton was turned into gravel and her internal organs were rearranged beyond recognition. The sonic power reverberated through her, ravaging her in every conceivable way. Dael and Taraketh alike both saw it…her power rapidly fading. It didn't matter that she had magic "stamina" to spare…it was annihilated in an instant. She was reduced to a piece of bloody flesh as the chi erupted.

Finally, it stopped. And when it did, Veriguno actually managed to land on her feet, though it was only by pure luck. It was unlikely a single leg bone was unbroken. The others, sore, in pain, but also capable, got back to their feet and readied their weapons. After all that…they expected her to fight back again. Even Dael found herself aiming the Save the Queen at her. Only Jalab kept his back to her, calmly rising and taking up the Whale's Whisker again. The woman…hardly recognizable as a woman or even a human being…nevertheless continued to cast a dark and ominous presence with her sheer formidable power and size. And yet…as Dael looked in her one good eye, she saw the glow finally die out and become "mortal" again. When it was done…there wasn't any power left in it. Letting out one exhale, Veriguno's body gave out, and she fell backward and landed on the floor of the pounded crater. She moved no more…simply continued to bleed from everywhere.

However, the area wasn't silent after that. As the group members picked themselves up, Dael looked nearest to her…seeing Cid slowly rise. While he had been firm before, he was now panting audibly. His fist was tightly clenched around the nailgun. He swallowed, quivering a bit, as he looked to Veriguno. He stared at her fallen body as if he was hypnotized.

"…I shot her." He said quietly.

Dael stared back for a moment, but then nodded. "Yes, you did."

"…I didn't honestly think I would ever hurt her." Cid answered. "I'm so used to thinking they're gods…that I was terrified." He paused, and then stopped trembling as he swallowed.

"…Then I remembered Lady Faerio dying. And…and for a moment…I hated her more than I thought I could hate anything. And I used that to pull the trigger. I…I still can't believe it…"

He trailed off after this, still looking at the body.

There was silence for a few moments. Dael looked up and around a bit. Taraketh was at a distance, staring at Veriguno. He too seemed almost transfixed upon her body…and was struggling to hold himself steady. After all, he was still trying to revoke years of reverence toward these women, even if he had tried to kill her moments ago. Cryder himself was wiping his brow and catching his breath. Bahamut had moved over to Quaren, beginning the process of tending injuries by calling on his own healing spells, but also kept his gaze on the Sorceress.

That left Ceja and Jalab.

The Fuliet warrior looked to the monk, who had finally turned and was now staring at Veriguno. He was as still and impassive as a statue himself for a long time. Finally, however, he shifted…and began to walk toward the fallen body. As for Ceja, she nearly stepped toward him, her "warrior face" leaving her for a more concerned one, but she ended up holding back, letting him do this.

After a time, she reached the side of the bloody hunk of flesh that was Veriguno. He stood and looked over her for a moment. The others began to draw closer at this, focusing more on them. Bahamut, having finished casting the spell, began to approach as well, but stopped at a good distance. Taraketh himself moved up close to Dael's side opposite Cid.

After a bit longer, Jalab knelt next to her body and began to perform gestures with his hands before he started to speak in his native tongue.

Dael looked a moment, then turned her head slightly to Taraketh.

"…If it's not too private, what is he saying?" She asked him quietly, not loud enough for Jalab and Veriguno to hear from this distance over the breeze.

"Funeral rites." Taraketh said darkly in response.

For a few moments, this took place…before Veriguno's voice, once powerful, now weakened and feeble, came forth from the bloody, split lips with the multiply-fractured jaw. It came out as more of a moaning mumble…but that didn't matter as it was in the language Jalab was speaking. Jalab was silent himself after hearing them.

"…What now?"

"…She asked him… 'Do you really wish my soul to be at peace? Would you not rather I wander Gaia aimlessly in torment?'"

Jalab was quiet a bit more…and then finally said a few words of his own.

"He said… 'If you really thought your purpose was the right thing…why did you never tell me?'"

Veriguno was quiet, and then answered slowly.

"'The human heart is the weakest part of the body…and you relied on it too much. You knew full well the old legend…how the fact that man's heart is the surest way to kill him is the reason he falls so easily when he thinks of it.'"

Jalab retorted.

"'You're wrong. Your heart made you stronger than I ever was.'"

"'Then how did you defeat me?'"

"'Simple. You stopped living with your heart…and you let it wither.'"

"'Is it your heart that drives you to attempt to give me peace in my final moments, when all you should feel is hate for me?'"

Jalab was quiet for a long time. Finally, he leaned in…and put his hand on her own bloody, broken one.

"'My hate will soon die along with you. The way I chose…is to bury hate along with the dead. Can we not part from each other in this life in the same way we lived it together for so long?'"

Veriguno was silent for a long time in response. Jalab waited, but she remained lying there…until it seemed as if she was being silent on purpose. Perhaps she was dead at this point. Dael couldn't see her chest rising and falling. However, after a bit longer…she saw a light beginning to come from her. Soon after, it became distinctive: an aura. When that happened, tendrils of light began to stream from her. Short and fading easily at first…but soon increasing both in duration and number.

"As you see…" Veriguno spoke up in a barely-legible voice, but in Dael's language. "You only fed the cycle in the end. The more you try to defy it…the more it continues. I indeed breathe my last…and pass on my powers as they were once passed to me. They will never know rest until they have accomplished their goal… Your fate…the fate of Gaia…remains unaltered…"

Cryder couldn't help but give a snort. "Typical. Gets her ass handed to her on a silver platter, and she dies boastin' about how it doesn't mean anything…"

"Veriguno…" Jalab spoke, once again in his native tongue, slower…but more insistent. He truly wanted an answer.

The Sorceress answered by closing her one remaining eye. For a moment, it seemed she had breathed her last. But then, she swallowed and spoke gain in Dael's language…but this time addressed one person. Her voice was growing weak now. Failing…

"Jalab… Do you remember…the day you came back…after ten days of searching for the lost chocobos? It was…so long ago…"

The monk looked silently back, but nodded.

"I told you…to give up…after five days…and I thought you were dead…but you brought them back…and yourself…"

She swallowed again, looking like it was growing laborious now.

"Remember…how I said…if only Gaia was filled…with men like you…how wonderful the world…would be?"

Jalab nodded again, slower this time.

"It…wasn't a joke… I…" She stiffened, and choked out the last bit.

"Meant…every…word…"

With her last breath, Veriguno ended the 'word' sound…and the rest faded. Her body went still afterward, although her body soon sent out a mass of streams of light…and all of them went straight up into the air, headed far for the highest part of the Tower of Order. It took quite some time for them all to leave…much longer than it did for Faerio…but eventually they were gone. Dael saw through her spiritual sight what power was left in Veriguno left it and streamed into Nyx Gaia itself…perhaps this world's own "Lifestream".

She was gone.

Jalab didn't cry. He just stared silently at her. After a short time, he reached over with one of his hands and placed it on her bloody forehead. He held again, but then said the last few rites before closing the remaining eye. That done, he exhaled, and rose from the ground.

Ceja looked to him with concern. "Sir Tierras…"

The monk answered by inhaling sharply, and then turning to the others, Dael as well as Ceja.

"…We cannot remain here. Fight not over."

Dael held for a bit, but then nodded back. She began to look to the others. "Right…let's get to work healing up as fast as we can then get a move on. This is just getting started."

Most of the group members weren't that good with healing magic. Bahamut moved onto Dael next, and Jalab finally looked to Ceja, smiled a bit, and then approached her to bring out his own mantra. Taraketh, however, remained staring at the dead Veriguno for a moment. He still seemed caught up in it. After a time, Dael shouted out to him.

"Taraketh. We need you."

The former High Child stared a bit longer, and shook his head a bit. "I…I still can't really believe it." He stated. "We actually did it… We actually killed a Sorceress. Two months ago I would have said we'd be insane to even try it…"

Cid gave a weak nod. "He's right. I…I mean…wow. I'm still unable to process it…" He said as he looked to her. "I feel like I'm going to wake up at any moment… I mean…I came into this planning to fight her, but…we actually won…"

"Yeah, well don't go spankin' each other's asses yet." Cryder retorted. "Keep in mind that was the 'easy' one…and now everything she had, the Junior Psychopath on the top floor of that building's got."

"And I doubt she's done with surprises." Dael answered. "Taraketh…get to work healing."

The High Child shook his head a bit, snapping out of his daze, but then nodded. He turned and began to walk over to Cryder next. "…I'm sorry. I'm just…still trying to adjust to this frame of mind. I'm fighting the urge to want to spend time burying her…or thinking I've committed some sort of sin…"

"If you must focus on something, focus on the incoming danger that looms more eminent than ever." Bahamut retorted. "The death of one woman, even one this powerful, may not be enough to make a measurable difference…but the fact that she ravaged this area trying to destroy us means she brought forth enough chaos for ten thousand humans and maybe more. The mere act of her fighting us to the death no doubt brought forth enough chaos to move Gaia and Nyx Gaia closer than ever…and there's no telling when it will hit the 'threshold'."

As Dael felt her body begin to regenerate and her aching bones heal and become firmer than ever, she had to agree with Bahamut. She had never really thought about how just the act of fighting would bring forth more chaos… She was too busy focusing on trying to win the fight. And, to be honest…she didn't know what to do from here. They had managed to kill Veriguno. There were now only two Sorceresses left. However, that was a little like saying after tunneling through a wall of bricks with a needle that all she had to do now was tunnel through a wall of metal and then a wall of diamond…with the same needle. Still…she refused to allow herself to dwell on that. It was supposed to be impossible for them to slay even a single Sorceress, one of the three most powerful beings on Gaia. They had succeeded…and that meant that their odds of survival were a bit better if the remaining ones decided to unite against them. There were now only two targets…

"How's everyone holding up? I had to use my threshold for that Shock…but I'm not stupid enough to think it won't get refilled soon…"

Quaren just finished shoving his latest round into the Fomalhault, and got it ready. "Three shots left, Dael…but I'm doing pretty well after that last fight. Didn't get really 'pounded on'."

"I would be lying if I said I am not feeling a bit tired…" Ceja admitted. "But I'm a Fuliet warrior. I will stop fighting when I no longer draw breath."

"I as well." Jalab immediately added.

"Not sure if I'm gonna be a fifth wheel or not, lass…but I'm with you so long as I can keep spittin' in their eyes." Cryder answered.

"I _did_ use a good deal of magic…" Taraketh admitted. "But I can still fight."

Cid, while he removed a few broken parts from his pack and got the other tools ready, exhaled a bit. "My Atomic Hammer still has two hits left…one for each of them."

"And…I regret to tell you all…I feel fine." Bahamut stated. "She did do a number on me more than once, but not only was I probably more resilient than most of you, but I have enough of my power back to do a good deal of regeneration. I think Dael's original idea will work best. I should keep acting as a 'shield' as much as possible."

The former captain nodded back. "Alright." After saying this, she looked to the tower. They were still in a rather deep hole, but getting out wouldn't be much trouble for them. She couldn't see the Tower's side all that well from here…but she could see it was still growing. There was a chance that it already "regenerated" the blast damage to it. However, Dael didn't really care. It didn't change much. She looked around to the others as they finished casting spells and once again got their weapons together.

"…Is everyone ready?"

"As ready as one can be who is waltzing into mortal danger." Bahamut answered. "Let us be off. If we are heading to our deaths, there's little we can do of use by forestalling it."

* * *

><p>Cybus waited patiently for Mianyl to finish. As the last of Veriguno's power went into her, she was pleasantly surprised at how much their Matriarch surged in inconceivable power…far above and beyond anything she thought would ever be possible for anything, human or otherwise. Already, Mianyl was too much for anyone else, including her…but now she was in a league that could decimate her previous body with ease.<p>

Once it was done, she approached the chamber. Although Mianyl never turned and faced her, she didn't need to. Cybus saw her "new look"…and how it was both great and terrible at the same time. Even the older Sorceress felt a touch of fear inside her…as if the very life within her blood was shying away from her.

"…You must know by now that Lady Veriguno is dead." Cybus stated after a time. "I just came to tell you that the ones responsible suffered no permanent injury. To be honest…I'm quite impressed. I figured Veriguno would be hurt fighting them…but not that they would not only succeed but still possess most of their power. I honestly never saw them growing this strong…" She let out a small laugh. "…If Taraketh was still on our side, I'd think he was wonderful. But anyway…I suppose I will go next. And were I using 'brute force' as Veriguno did, I would not be very confident in my success. Yet after earlier, I don't think stopping them will…"

"That will not be necessary."

Cybus paused and blinked. "…Lady Mianyl, if they defeated Lady Veriguno, then even our strongest Ana in the tower won't be able to slow them down…"

"It does not matter." Mianyl answered quietly. "I will give them what they came for…an audience with me and a chance to kill me. The way they struggle against nonexistence…it makes me almost pity them. I begin to see a wider and wider gulf between myself and others as I gain more power… It is good that I am going to become nothingness itself soon…for now I have such a hard time relating to 'normal' humans that it would not be long before I would become a force of destruction as devastating as Omega Weapon…and destruction is as meaningless as creation."

Cybus hesitated, but then nodded. "As you wish, my lady." She began to turn to leave.

"Hold a moment."

The Sorceress stopped, and looked back inside…just as Mianyl turned and looked to her. She almost gave a start at her face…and even she couldn't look into her eyes. However, Mianyl spoke as if nothing was wrong in the same quiet, measured tone.

"There is only one thing I must know before I allow them to come before me…"

The older Sorceress turned fully around and waited for the instruction.

"…Does the entity that calls herself Dael Levinson remember anything?"

Cybus shook her head. "Not a thing. She doesn't even suspect the truth."

"Then there is no need for me to even consider worrying about the outcome of our next meeting. Thank you."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	73. The Final Ascent

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another late chapter...but I'm going to try my best to finish this story before January 13th. I'd like to get it done before I go back to school next semester.

* * *

><p>It had indeed been an entrance. The doors seemed to have opened of their own accord. Whether this was automatic or whether whoever was still in the tower was letting them it was unknown, but they didn't even have the tackle the enormous task of trying to push the doors open. Now Dael and the group found themselves on the other side of the gate and within the Tower of Order itself.<p>

It was literally like nothing from the world…and like nothing that Bahamut or any creature that drew breath on Gaia had ever seen. The tower interior was like no standard "room" of any structure ever built. Rather, just as the exterior had the look of great pointed quartz fragments growing ever higher, so did the interior. The "growth" was not as visible here, although areas that had been damaged as a side effect of the fight that had transpired outside were clearly regrowing before their eyes. The rest of it seemed more or less "mature", and formed an endless array like some sort of fractal "hive" or natural crystal or shell formation extending deeper within the tower. More or less, the area from the entrance expanded rapidly into a cavern that looked like a mixture of crystal, shell, and a natural cave. Yet in spite of its natural feel, it had just the slightest sense of order to it…as if everything in the tower had a natural pattern to it if one only looked and studied hard enough. Sure enough, many parts of it, as randomly as they seemed put together, were indeed highly ordered. Crystal arrangements for spires that lit up with white light, seeming to provide the beacons for illumination, were all the same structure. The floors seemed to repeat regular "smooth" sequences to create a flat surface to walk forward. Even the randomness had a sequence and "symmetry" about it. It was so fascinating that the group actually hesitated for a fraction of a second on entering, as the massive crystal doors swung shut again behind them. They were slow enough to dart through, although getting caught in them would likely crush someone, but no one made a move for them as they shut. They were too focused on what was ahead.

One thought ran through Dael's mind on seeing the inside of the structure.

_Order from chaos…_

She shook her head soon after and motioned forward. "Let's go." She stated before immediately breaking into a jog, going deeper into the bizarre, complex structure. Bahamut had nearly been about to take the lead himself and fell in alongside. Soon after, the others ran in behind.

As they began to go in, the complexity of the structure rapidly surrounded them. Large and cavernous as it was, with its multitude of openings, twists, and details in all directions, it was almost like walking into another realm…another reality. It astonished all of them as they went along.

"Must say I'm impressed, mates…" Cryder muttered. "All this in just over a week?"

"I am merely pleased that the air within here is warm, normal, and not dry." Ceja responded. "I will not be hampered by it."

"Climbing to the top will take forever, though." Taraketh stated. "This building is taller than the highest mountain and getting larger and taller by the second…"

"Try to find anything that can be a 'vertical shaft'…" Dael mused as they went along. "If there is one, it's probably in the dead center of the structure. From there, we can do something…hopefully find a lift or something that can take us all the way to the top with some ease…"

As she was finishing this, however, one member of their group suddenly slammed to a halt. Quaren broke off from the others, his eyes suddenly shooting forward to the walls up ahead with side passages. He stared coldly for a moment, but his stop soon caused the others to notice and immediately halted as well. When that happened, they all turned to him.

"…Quaren?" Dael asked.

The former corporal's only response was to put the Fomalhaut aside and instead began to bring out his standard rifle, readily getting out anti-personnel ammunition for it. "Something's here…something's in the walls."

The others paused on hearing that. Soon, they began to look around as well as Quaren loaded up. After only a moment, however, Bahamut turned his own eyes ahead to a different part of the wall, and stiffened as well. In a moment, Durandal and the Raidos Shield were aimed forward. "I saw something move as well…"

This was enough to make the others immediately tense up and ready their own weapons. They quickly fanned out a bit for more mobility. Yet as they did, Cid looked to Bahamut. "Another Sorceress?"

"Unlikely. They would have little reason to 'sneak up on us'…" He muttered in response.

"No, not a Sorceress." Ceja announced. "I spotted it too. Something white with inhuman appendages…looking almost like it was spawned by the same raw crystals that make up this tower."

Dael did something a bit more "unconventional". She shouted out. "Whatever is waiting for us, if you can understand us, then show yourself! I don't have time to waste on these hiding games! We have powers that can annihilate this entire floor rather than trying to flush you out, so you might as well save yourself the trouble!"

It seemed like a bit of a foolish challenge, but Dael wasn't in the mood for wasting time. They really couldn't afford to. She was certain the death of Veriguno had done more than increased the power of the Sorceresses at the top of the tower. It had likely also increased the chaos between the two worlds. However, luckily for her, it seemed as if her words were not without effect. It wasn't long before something made an appearance.

From out of the side halls flanking either side of the path leading forward came groups marching in file like old-time soldiers from the days when muskets reached widespread use. Only these ones weren't bearing firearms. Rather, they were quartz crystal warriors of a sort, clad in radiant, shimmering armor. In such a place like this, Dael expected any armored warrior she might run into to be a hulking ball of steel and iron, formidable and imposing. However, these ones were more of the "proper" build…a perfect build, even. Though they were concealed by armor, it fit close compared to most suits, and the proportions were nothing short of perfect. From Dael's own experience, so were the moves they made. They were equipped with archaic weaponry…large shields plust broadswords, all made of the same material, it looked like, but they were perfect in step and the way they carried themselves, looking more like automations, as a result, than real individuals…

"Seems she's got a defense or two, mate." Cryder murmured as he already got the knife out. "Not sure this is the kind that bleed, either…"

"More than them…look!" Quaren soon added as he finished readying his rifle and took aim. Sure enough, not long after the first wave came out, they were joined by additional ones. About five other warriors, these ones standing head and shoulders…and even torso…above their companions came out. They too looked like they were made of the white quartz material and armored, but these ones had enough muscle to have a great deal of its bulging out from beneath plates…and revealed what was beneath was covered with white quartz fur. The helmets, in particular, had wild manes coming around them, and the helmets were reconfigured to form what looked like Western-looking lion heads. In other words, these ones looked to be more of the "bruiser" type. Sure enough, they had no weapons save for mounted claws on their gauntlets. And they definitely flexed their muscles more as they neared.

If that wasn't enough, it wasn't long before Dael heard another noise behind her, this one unlike any footsteps she had heard until now. She began to turn to it, but before she did Ceja had already spun around, and now pointed outward. "Behind us."

The former captain finished turning, and saw that they were seeing other individuals now gathering behind them. No less than forty new creatures colored like white quartz rushed out into the hall, filling the space between them and the exit doors and rapidly forming ranks. These ones were vaguely humanoid, except their knees were recurved and their upper bodies were more solid and thick with muscle, particularly around the neck region. That seemed alone to be unusual, but the truly unconventional part was that their heads were mounted with curved antlers, rather like a ram or a bighorn sheep. A bit closer look revealed they didn't have human feet either. Instead, they had armored hooves tramping on the ground, pacing like a herd of wild animals poising to charge. And a moment later, they leveled themselves on the ground, leaning over, putting their hands out, and aiming to prepare to charge forward.

At the same time, the sounds of metal sliding on metal rang out as swords were drawn in front of them. At once, all of the armored warriors made themselves ready and prepared their weapons for an attack. Dael quickly looked to them, then back to the others.

"Defenses indeed…" She murmured.

"Each one of them is stronger than most monsters on Gaia…" Bahamut murmured himself as he looked about. "I can sense that much in terms of magical energy coursing through them…no doubt their source of life. They shouldn't be too much of a threat to us at this point…but they'll definitely slow us down."

"We can't afford that." Dael retorted. Readying the Save the Queen, she turned her head forward. "Everyone…let's break through! Now!"

Without waiting for any more preparation or planning, Dael shot straight forward at the encroaching enemy. Immediately, the warriors began to charge as well, even making war cries of their own as they came toward her. The roaring of the lion giants echoed loud and long through the hall before they came forth as well. The others turned and moved to join Dael, but they soon found they couldn't so easily. At that moment, the ram warriors from behind immediately burst into a charge, and soon they were barreling at the group in a stampede. With that happening…the group hesitated only a moment before rearranging. Bahamut, Ceja, and Jalab quickly spun around and moved to the rear to meet the rams, while everyone else kept charging forward…and the battle was soon met.

Dael ran right into one warrior, who immediately lunged out in a stabbing motion. It was fast, to be sure, and done both with focus and power. It was better than most of the top-rated Hounds who had been enhancing themselvese…but it was still below Jay. And Dael had improved quite a bit as well. With an easy spin, she sidestepped and "rolled" away from the stab, all while bringing her sword up and letting it flash across the neck of the warrior. There was definitely some "hesitation" in the slice, even with as sharp as her weapon was, but in the end the opponent's head left his body and he immediately fell. At once, another armored warrior came in with sword over his head to do a slash against her, forcing her to backpedal a moment as the blade came down with enough force to slice a chunk into the floor. She soon had to swing out her sword to parry another stab coming in, and soon parry again to deflect another blow as more of the "crystal knights" moved in to try and stab her. But when two came from either side, she crossed her blade in front of her and caught both weapons in an "X" for a moment, before adding a bit more force and pushing back, shoving both the sword and the powerful warriors on the other side back. Instantly, as they pushed their companions back, she ran forward and drove her sword into one that was charging dead ahead and ran it through a slit in his face mask, soon inflicting a fatal blow on that one as well. As one came in from the side to try and slash on her, with another coming from her other side to stab, she nimbly kicked up a foot and nailed the armored warrior in a more "linked" area around the midsection. The automations seemed to feel pain easily enough, and quickly staggered back while she swept her blade out to deflect the other one's sword, and then flashed her blade around in an arc to cut through armor, swords, and shields of those closing in on her with one rapid slice. Once that was done, she seized the helmet of one stunned warrior and smashed it down on her knee before driving out the Save the Queen in a stabbing motion for another one. It raised its shield to block…only to have the blade go right through the shield and into its chest on the other side.

The battle was soon joined. Four of the knights tried to charge in front the side, only to have a large section of the floor break free and smash into them like a solid, crystal ram, knocking them back and sprawling them out. However, the move, a quake spell from Taraketh, would have normally shattered all of the vital bones in the bodies of any human opponent, enhanced or not. The former High Child didn't follow it up with more magic, however. He couldn't afford to spend any more of that. Instead, he snapped out the Wrath of the Dragon and brought it to bear, soon swinging around either end in deadly moves, flashing it about with a glimmer of light that made it dance through the crystalline hall as if it was a living thing. He moved right up to the nearest knight and swung his bladed end around in a bizarre, swiveling cut before bringing it down on the warrior, slicing right through the thick armor and into whatever was on the other side, dropping it in an instant. He soon made the weapon "dance" again around at another trying to move in and stab him, only to cause the warrior to freeze at the sight and stay that way until the weapon was brought around to slice right through it as well. A third charged forward, past him, looking to move at the perceived weak link, which happened to be Cid, but got no closer. A swing of the hammer dented in half of the warrior's helmet and dropped him forever.

Cid himself was being as fearsome as possible, pushing himself full of determination as he snapped both of his wrenches free and barreled forward. He might not have been the best in the world, but he was still able to aim forward and fire off the "expandable" ends with enough force to nail one in the throat and the other in the head with at least sufficient force to drop them if not keep them down. Another knight charged over them and began to barrel forward, sword naked, and swinging it down on him. He panicked only a moment, before swinging both of his wrenches out and intercepting the blade in the prongs. Immediately, as the power pushed down on him, he pressed the buttons, causing the wrenches to rapidly collapse and retract…soon breaking the sword in two different places and leaving the knight swinging down with just an empty hilt. However, Cid quickly tossed the weapons aside and seized his dual nailguns next, pulling them both up and opening fire with either weapon at "point-blank" range, causing the warrior to move back. Immediately, he shifted both to a continuous output and snapped to the other incoming warriors, firing on them as well, forcing them to either put up their shields and pull back or get potentially killed by the powerful nails. Yet even as he was continuing to open fire…one of the lion warriors began to barrel forward. It didn't shove the other knights out of the way, but it hardly needed to considering its size and that they were breaking. One of its bladed gauntlets arose as it neared Cid, oblivious to the nails hitting it and moving into strike him down…

When a rifle shot ripped through the air and a hole pierced the armor over the forehead region on the helmet, causing the head to snap back and slowly ooze out a trickle of blood. The beast actually wavered for a moment, but didn't fall. It even looked to recover for a moment before a second rifle bullet went out, this time hitting the same spot and pushing clean through the skull on the other side. Only then did it collapse. Quaren didn't waste time from his distant position, instead quickly reloading his weapon and swinging it down to the crowd of warriors. Three more gunshots went out, and three more went down. However, he had to break off there, as another one of the lion warriors was trying to get Dael while she struggled with three other warriors, each trying to clash with her at once. The beast was moving in to stab her. Not having time for a headshot, Quaren instead aimed at its wrist and fired…sending out a shot that severed most of the tendons and made the stabbing hand go flaccid. It soon pulled back, bellowing in pain with a lion's roar, and Quaren continued to fire into it from then, putting more shots into as many vital spots as he could. He thought he nailed the brachial artery and one of the eyes when a storm of other warriors broke through and came up on him, swords aimed for his throat…

But that was before they were engulfed in spectral flames, each one featuring a ghastly image of a demented pirate moving around them. Apparently, in spite of the fact they were constructs, they had enough mentality to immediately go in a panic and break for it. Only one was left, and Cryder darted out in front of him as his companions fled and buried the Kagunei into his midsection, making the blade go up into the chest cavity. Being light on his feet, he quickly ripped it out before the dead weight of the warrior could collapse on it and weigh him down, moving back quickly just as another warrior sprang up to take his place. The large sword came around and swung down on him, but the pirate seemed to have mastered the ninja sword quickly, swinging it around to deflect one slash to one side, and then another to the opposite, before bringing the blade up abruptly and through the tendon regions of the warrior to cause his sword to topple from his hands. He paused only a moment to snap his hand up and gesture to send a storm of "wind slashes" flying through the air and into the eye regions of more approaching warriors, blinding them and making them stagger back, before he drove his weapon forward and into the head of the knight he just disarmed. After that, he quickly snapped back, dodging another blade from another knight coming in from the side, before gesturing again to turn the floor beneath the knight to the consistency of quicksand and dropping it down into oblivion in a heartbeat before it even had a chance to react.

Jalab greeted the charging hoard head on, charging right into them himself and opening by swinging his staff around and directing a blast right into the heart of them. It was a testament to their power that there was such little reaction, but six of them were still scattered and others were driven aside. However, the monk wasn't finished as he brought his staff over his head and twirled it fiercely while running right into the midst of the ram warriors. A moment later, the staff swung around with sufficient force to smack one aside like a baseball meeting a bat, and another swing of the staff smashed one into the ground like a hammer does a nail. He too didn't seem to be using much of his chi in and attempt to save power for the "real" opponents, but his raw strength was just as fearsome as ever as he soon planted his feet and began to twirl his staff faster yet, raking it along the ground and kicking up debris to fly in the faces of the crowd and making them scatter. Any time any of them came close, he swung his staff around in such a force arc that the power caught them and swung them back.

Ceja was much the same as she bore straight at the rams, not caring for them at all in spite of their resemblance to a stampede. Giving a furious bellow, she swung her axe out for the front line with sufficient force to slice clean through four of them, sending their body parts and torsos flying. The remaining ones kept charging, and one laid right into Ceja. However, the fierce warrior merely planted her feet and took the tremendous force head on. Her feet dragged a bit and knocked her back slightly…but in the end she held her ground, and immediately threw her axe up so that she could seize the ram warrior by the horns and give a mighty twist to snap its neck and throw it aside. Then, she immediately went into a "dive blow" like the sea creatures she had observed so long ago to shoot right at the next one with a strike so thunderous that it dented the helmet and stopped it in mid-charge, throwing it back and away into its companions. After that, the Rune Axe came down, and she seized it and began to cut down all of the ram warriors that had been forced away by the actions of Jalab.

Bahamut was even worse for them. He merely ran right into the midst of the warriors and smashed into them. One after another, he swung out the Raidos Shield and slashed out with Durandal. The rams never had a chance. Each swing of the shield shattered most of their skull bones and sent them flying into crystalline walls with sufficient force to fracture them. The sheer power of each swing of his blade vivisected warriors completely. And he struck so fast and hard again and again that they would never be able to break through. A few of them tried to redirect themselves to him, but that was pure suicide. His blows not only killed on impact, but sent them flying back to their companions. Before long, they began to try and move away from him…but that did no good. Bahamut soon opened his mouth and discharged Flares into the midst of them, sending five or six of them flying into the ceiling at a time with each explosion, all while he ran into the midst, faster than they could, and began to bash and slash through them as well.

It wasn't long before the group was piling up the dead on all sides. Fearsome and numerous as the enemy was, the best they could do was keep them in a place temporarily. Dael herself shifted away from the standard warriors as one of the lions charged forward and began to lash out at her rapidly, much like any fierce animal would. Dael quickly had to backpedal and bring up her sword to parry each blow…but she wasn't overwhelmed. She kept her focus and only felt herself grow a little warm from the struggle. After all, she had fought just as hard and fast before with Raven. As the lion tried to stab for her face, she swung the blade around to be "blade out" and ducked her head to one side, letting the claw go by and letting the power of her blade sink in between the "claws" on the gauntlet and had the lion's own force drive its flesh and bone to divide along the edge. It froze and its eyes, beneath its helmet, widened…but before it could cry out, Dael swung her blade to one side and slashed through its arm, leaving it a bleeding, severed mess before darting forward and slashing out for one of its legs…removing it clean. As the towering beast collapsed to one stump, Dael spun around and used a "dispatch thrust" to drive her sword into its chest. It gagged once, and then collapsed, its weight pulling it off of the sword. Dael quickly swung the blade out and readied it again, only to look up and see something new.

What looked like mixtures of eagles and wolves were running out of the openings closer to the ceiling, having bird heads and canine bodies. They too were crystalline and armored. As they ran out and leapt into the air…their backs erupted to form two sets of wings, and immediately they started to flap around in the air, cycle about, and lowered themselves to try and join the battle. Quaren and Cid, on spotting this, immediately broke off their attacks and aimed high, beginning to fire away at them. They soon dropped a few, but they proved to be rather maneuverable as they moved out of range and started to draw what looked like javelins from their sides. Not only that, but they were continuing to issue forth from the openings. There were twenty of them out now, but a few seconds later there were thirty…then forty…with three more coming for every one Quaren or Cid shot down.

Taraketh, suddenly having more warriors to fight now that Quaren and Cid had broken off…not to mention additional knights were arriving from the sides…let out a hiss of anger. "We can't waste time and energy here! There could be hundreds of thousands of these constructs!"

"Everyone get back and get ready to run!" Bahamut's voice suddenly boomed, loud, long, and reverberating through the crystalline hall in spite of all of the clamor. "Don't stop! Keep pushing forward until we find a way up!"

Dael didn't answer and neither did anyone else. They simply did as was told. Continuing to parry and fend off opponents as best as she could, she moved away to one side of the hallway. Cryder, parrying and stabbing with his own weapon, did much the same, leaving Cid and Quaren to split on either side with suppressing fire. Taraketh continued to suppress the urge to use magic as he went to one side with Dael. As for Jalab and Ceja, they continued to lay into their own foes, batting them back and down in a seemingly tireless manner even as more poured out, one after the other. However, Bahamut didn't yell at them. Instead, he snapped around and faced forward. He planted his feet and began to breathe in and out, his muscles tightening up as he did so. He was obviously building to something. As he did so, a few more opponents came out and tried to get him from the sides…but all to no avail. Any time any came near after bypassing Ceja and Jalab, a single backhand or other blow from him was more than enough to send them flying and down forever. Meanwhile, Quaren and Cid continued to fire at the air, but they only managed to his some of the swarming flying creatures while others still got by, and they were beginning to throw their javelins as well. One flung its right for Dael…forcing her to lash out to strike it out of the air.

Yet as she parried another one, she felt the heat behind her rise sharply. If she had been using her spiritual sight, she would have seen Bahamut burn like an inferno again. But even without it, the crystals seemed to dim around her momentarily and the ground shake in a sharp tremor. A few bits of dust went from the ceiling, before Bahamut's inner body began to glow bright. It actually shone through his skin, shining from behind his closed eyes, his mouth, and his nostrils…as if it was highlighting his skeleton. However, before it could get much brighter than that…his mouth snapped open, and what could only be described as a "Mega"-Flare ripped out from his mouth, with so much power it actually snapped him back in spite of his efforts to stabilize himself. One searing, burning ball of light after another ripped out of his mouth with enough cast-off heat and force to burn flesh and armor alike, and to rip bones and skin. Yet it came out all together as a torrential blast, forming together into a beam, practically, and annihilating everything in its path. The sheer cast off force was enough to rip the flying ones out of the air from the slipstream and into the deadly attack, vaporizing them in instants. Others were turned to ash, and those that weren't were either sucked in or burned from the power. The rippling force going through it was nearly concussive in nature, flinging the remains away and slamming them into walls.

In moments, the colossal blast had scattered the entire hoard. Most of them lay on broken piles on the ground not moving. The few that were moving were writhing more than anything, clearly seriously injured. The majority of them had been annihilated. The blast was so strong that even the ram warriors seemed to give pause for a moment, seeing the force that had just been unleashed. Dael herself hesitated and looked back to Bahamut.

He looked a bit dizzy. Clearly, it had taken a lot of his power. However, he wasn't nearly as drained as old moves had left him, and soon he was already forcing himself to move forward, and not long after broke out into a steady gait that moved to a jog, and following that toward a run. Dael had seen enough, and quickly snapped forward as well and gave a shout.

"Everyone! Run!"

Soon, Dael was taking the lead and tearing down the newly blasted hall. To be honest, it was hot, and the floor sizzled a bit from the blast that was just discharged, but she didn't waste time with that and kept running. Bahamut soon managed to gain enough speed to fall in behind her, and Quaren and Taraketh leapt in behind them, charging forward as the High Child retracted his weapon and the corporal ejected his empty clip for a fresh one. Cryder and Cid were next behind them. Finally, Ceja turned and took off, only giving a call to Jalab to follow…and he held his ground just long enough to charge another beam attack and then fired it off as the still encroaching ram warriors. Twenty of them were blasted back into the others, but the sheer recoil force was enough to force Jalab back toward the others. Once he cut off the beam, he turned around and charged with them.

Already, the side halls were beginning to fill with fresh crystalline warriors, who began to run out to try and catch the group. However, Dael quickly brought herself up to full speed as she ran along. And the knights weren't fast enough to keep up with that. One or two managed to jump out in front of her, but a single slash or two of her blade was enough to put them down forever. Bigger concerns were the flying enemies, who soon zoomed out from their holes and began to swarm around the group like astranged vultures. They cast their javelins at them and seemed to be good at hitting moving targets, but Taraketh risked using a shield spell to deflect the bulk of them. Following that, Cryder hurled the occasional wind slash at them to smash them into each other while Cid and Quaren defaulted to their guns. Cid's shots were mostly wild and used for scatter, while Quaren shouldered his rifle along with the Fomalhaut and whipped out his sidearm instead for easier movement. He was rather deadly with it, after all. Jalab periodically threw a wind slice of his own, or a force blast or beam, at the pursuing rams, who at full speed were just enough to outstrip the group and therefore needed to be bowled back from time to time. Ceja and Bahamut were left with little else to do but strike down any enemy that got close on the sides. Mostly they were knights, but once a lion warrior used its superior speed to bowl right for them…and was promptly dispatched when Bahamut leapt up and kicked it across the neck so hard he shattered half of its spine to drop it.

The group continued to battle their way forward, running through the odd, "naturalistic" halls as more and more of the crystalline creatures "crawled out of the woodwork". As Dael's sword flashed again and again at anything that got near her…including a few of the flying creatures…only more and more arose to meet them. Jalab was having to use his power more behind them to scatter those lapping at their heels, and yet from each new hall they went through, more arrived. It wouldn't be long before they would have to call up their 'larger' powers again just to keep moving through it. However…they seemed to be coming out of every nook and cranny of the entire tower. Had Mianyl really managed to make so many in such a short time? Enough to fill the entire building? And if she had…how were they supposed to stop them all?

Just as Dael was about to wonder if they should try a new plan, however, things finally changed.

Just up ahead of them, the corridor opened up again, this time into a much wider inner chamber. As she ran into it, her view up above just rose higher and higher, with no ceiling in sight. In fact, as she continued to run into it, eventually she realized she couldn't see the ceiling at all. Rather, it was a massive vertical shaft that simply rose straight into the heavens. Not only that, but a stream of electricity or plasma was shooting straight down like a ribbon or pole and embedded right in the middle of the area. It seemed they were in the center of the tower…or at least in a passage that went all the way to the top. And as the warriors continued to rush in on them, and the group fully went into the central chamber (which, as it turned out, seemed like a sort of "hub" in which all other side passages were streaming, thereby allowing even more warriors to enter), she noticed that there was a circular platform beaten out of silver like a crest or rune right in the center, with a silver statue rising out of the center of it. It was little more than an oddly geometric object, but it seemed to have the line of plasma running right into it.

"Look there!" Dael called.

"Maybe it's a lift, like the ones they had over in Sibenia?" Cid called back as he loaded another clip and immediately began to discharge it.

"It's as good a place as any! Head for it!" Dael shouted back.

The hoard was closing in on all sides, but they seemed to stay away from the middle of the chamber, which was exactly where the group was going. As a result, they were able to make it to the platform before they could be pinched off by the mass of warriors. Dael herself jumped right onto the silver crest on arrival…and didn't stop. She dashed right over to the other side, where some of the ram warriors, noticing that they were going for the platform, went ahead and began to charge forward to try and knock them off again or at least trample them. She rushed right into them and flashed out with her sword. They soon flew to pieces as easily as the Fuliet Saurons did the first time Dael had on the day she found out what her new power could really do. Bahamut, however, was more fearsome. As he landed on the platform, another lion warrior leapt out in a flying lunge for Dael. Yet again, he intervened, putting his shield and sword away and behind him for a moment, and then leaping into the air, meeting him halfway, taking him down to the floor with a solid impact and stunning him, and then leaping off again. While the warrior still tried to recover from his injuries, Bahamut seized him by one leg and began to twirl him around in a circle, rather like one would build up for a hammer throw. Yet he went to the edge of the platform, and instead of throwing, he used the lion as a colossal "bat" to smash into incoming warriors and send them flying. He continued to swing the lion around again and again, batting away more and more and soon clearing at least a third of the platform all by himself. Between him and Dael, half of it remained clean, allowing the others to pile on one after another, and immediately spill around and bat away the others as they came in.

As Cryder snapped around just in time to wave his hand and break up the ground beneath a number of charging knights, making them slip and fall on their faces and, in turn, block the others behind him, he gave a shout. "Can someone get this damn thing moving?!"

"I got it!" Cid shouted back as he ran up to the statue in the center. Naturally, on arrival…he was a bit bewildered. All that seemed to be there was a conventional statue. There were a few "icons" on it, but they were in the form of ruins that may or may not have been anything more than décor. He actually looked over it for a moment or two, trying to recall the rune studies he had done back in the Lamb Temple, before finally his mind clicked. He reached over and pressed a couple of the runes, and soon after…everyone gave a bit of a stagger as the platform suddenly took off.

It accelerated rapidly. After all…this building was taller than any mountain on Gaia, and it had to get up to a good speed to hope to be there in any short length of time. The group themselves were nearly thrown to ground, barely keeping their legs underneath them. So, naturally, the warriors on the sides who had tried to leap on immediately were yanked off and fell back to the ground, which was already a hundred feet below them and getting farther all the time. The others were stunned…and as a result made easy pickings. Quaren discharged the last of his clip into some of them, giving them enough knockback force by the bullets to send them off the edge, if not kill them outright. Bahamut tossed his lion over the side, while Jalab and Ceja quickly swept out the rest. Taraketh looked around for another target and, on seeing the area clear, quickly retracted his kusarigama. Dael herself looked around a moment, but then saw the platform was clear. She soon put down the Save the Queen, and began to look about a bit more.

The world was rising rapidly around them. The entire structure was lined with crystalline walls, caverns, and as interconnected on the higher levels as the lower ones in a strange geometric order. However, they were rising so fast it was impossible to look into any one individual floor. The "elevator", or whatever they were on, soon stabilized, but that only kept the force from pushing on them. They continued to rise extremely rapidly.

For a moment, Dael merely steadied herself. But then, she and the others began to look around again. She saw that there was still no ceiling to the building in sight, but they were rising higher and higher. She saw thousands of corridors leading in various directions overhead, and some of them having major chambers. So long as she wasn't trying to see them "on her level", she could see them well enough even at their speed. Some of the others did the same, but some of them also looked through the "slits" in the silver crest they were standing on. Quaren was among them, and he soon marveled.

"Wow…that looks like 800 meters…900! Almost a kilometer!"

"And I still cannot see the top floor…" Ceja muttered as she stared at the ceiling.

"Don't 'enjoy the ride' too much." Bahamut responded grimly. His own eyes were on the crest on the floor, and he pointed at an opening in them. "Look."

This time, Dael and the others all looked down at the floor as well. They were passing by hundreds of corridors…but occasionally, when they went by, they would see some of the flying creatures burst out from the passages and start flapping furiously, trying to go after the elevator. They weren't much faster than it…but they _were_ faster, and soon they were gaining ground. Not to mention "new arrivals" kept popping up higher and higher, closer to their elevation, meaning that the whole shaft had to be alerted.

Cid let out a groan as he checked his nail counts, while Quaren simply went about reloading his sidearm and getting his rifle back out. Taraketh stopped in mid-recoil and began to get out the Wrath of the Dragon again. Dael, on her part, held her sword up, although she knew it wouldn't do much good unless they came right in front of her. Instead, she looked up a bit, trying to see if any were "getting the drop" on them from overhead. But as she did so, she let out a small gasp…enough to alert those nearby to look to her, and then follow her gaze to what she saw. This prompted the others, and soon they were all looking and reacting as well.

As the elevator rocketed up to the heavens, they passed by what looked like an enormous cavity in the side of the Tower of Order, right alongside the shaft. It seemed to have some sort of translucent barrier around it, sectioning it off and filled with some form of fluid or medium that was shimmering and slightly green in color. And as they grew nearer they some massive abomination curled inside, over a hundred feet high, and seeming to be in some sort of fetal position…like a large animal in a womb. What it was defied description, only that it was gigantic and deadly and dangerous looking. It seemed to be hexapodal at minimum with horns and scales, and it was honestly a bit disturbing to see a monster so large even if it was immobile and they went right by it. Dael, on her part, could "see" it's power…and it was horrific.

Yet worse than that was that they soon passed numerous other similar chambers, at least eight of them, and that all bore a different giant creature in a similar setting. It was enough to make the group rather nervous. It didn't take them very long to figure out what they were doing there and their purpose…

"Veriguno not bluffing." Jalab stated darkly. "More coming…"

"New fiends…twice as many as before…" Taraketh answered. "Probably stronger than the previous ones… I don't think Gaia can stop another 'set' of them…"

"Then that simply means we have even less reason to fail than before…" Bahamut stated…before suddenly snapping out and flinging his shield. The group looked up at that…and was just in time to see one of the flying creatures come over the edge of the platform and get beaned by the weapon with sufficient force to fracture its skull and send it back down to the ground.

Soon after, the rest of the flying creatures began to catch up. However, so long as they were beneath them, they were at a distinct disadvantage. The group spun on them and immediately began to counterattack. Quaren was a dead shot with the rifle, picking them off as fast as he could reload. When they grew to be too much, Cid started adding in with nailgun blasts. Finally, when even that proved too little, Taraketh advanced to the edge and started to flick out his kusarigama as well, breaking bones with one end and slicing flesh with the other.

Eventually, some of the flying creatures outstripped them, and started to dive on them from overhead. Then Dael saw more action. In terms of her sword, she couldn't do much. The creatures weren't very maneuverable when they were forced to devote most of their muscles to keeping pace with the elevator, but they knew enough to stay out of blade range as they flung their javelins. However, Dael wasn't exactly "dry" on tricks herself, and split into multiple images to have the deadly darts thrown at empty mirror images. And as soon as a javelin landed, Dael rushed over to it, snatched it up, and flung it right back at her attackers…pegging one each time. And they were going so fast, a few light pushes from Cryder or even strong gusts from Jalab were all that was needed to break wing bones or grind them against the rising column. One was even passed into the plasma line…and instantly sliced in two.

More began to come in, but they fared no better than their predecessors. Each one was still struck down, one after another. Even when more of them got off their javelin throws, none of them were as good as they probably wanted, having to devote so much effort just to keep even pace with the elevator. None of their deadly missiles hit the target. They at least gained enough intelligence to stay far and clear as best they could, but it did them little good. It only ruined their aim further to try and hit the targets. As for Dael, in between looking for ways she could strike back, she looked up…and finally saw the top. There was no telling how high they were now…since the bottom seemed to shrink into a point or even oblivion…but there was some form of crystalline array, beautifully geometrically arranged, constituting the top floor. To be honest…it looked like they were headed up to be smashed into it, to be dashed about and then have their remains flung to the ground. However…Dael didn't balk yet. She somehow doubted that there had been such an "elaborate trap" meant for such a simple purpose.

At any rate, the flying creatures abruptly cut off their attack as they kept rising. Their wings collapsed, and they let themselves fall back to the ground to abandon the lift. As the group paused and looked around, wondering why this was, they already felt "lighter"…the sure sign that the platform they were on was beginning to deaccelerate. A few more moments passed, during which they continued to feel that sensation, definitely noticing that they were slowing now just by looking around. As a result, the group took the moment to look up again. Soon, they all saw the same ceiling. It was still lined with crystals that seemed to be growing together in some sort of ornamental pattern, but now Dael saw that they were no longer going to be smashed into it. Instead, it was quite clear that there was a small opening up above it…which they were headed right for. It seemed to be just the side of the lift, as well.

"It seems we're at the top." Bahamut stated.

"It also looks like the guards gave up…" Taraketh mused as he looked back through the sigil down below, seeing the flying creatures rapidly turning into dots as they unfurled their wings to fall lower.

"Why would they do that?" Cid asked. "We're stopping now…"

"We're stopping up where the Sorceresses are, mate." Cryder said with a bit of an uneasy head shake. "You really need me to 'draw a diagram'? Those gents are a bit superfluous compared to them…"

Dael didn't answer. She merely exhaled and used the moment to regain her stamina and focus for the task at hand. Once that was done, she looked up to the ceiling again. By now, they might very well be out of the atmosphere of Nyx Gaia…although it didn't seem to matter much. The air didn't even feel any thinner here. The pressure and temperature was the same here as it had been for the base, which was far, far below by now. She was free to focus on the task at hand. One by one, the others also turned from the sides and looked skyward. Some reloaded, some cleaned their weapons, but everyone had their eyes upon the opening.

At last, the sigil reached the opening and went through, and pushed the group up through the ceiling and to the "top floor". Dael immediately noticed, first off, that it was darker. Whatever lighting had been radiating through the crystals below was not present here, or at least much dimmer. This area was made out of a purer crystal, one that seemed more like ice or glass. It was even more flawlessly arranged here as well. Yet the whole area had "darkness" about it. The chamber was blackk and, unless one looked carefully, gave an illusion of being infinite. It had an odd solace about it…a quietness divergent from the rest of the tower. Where the rest seemed to have a power coursing through it…this chamber was more quiet and still… Perhaps it was because they were nearly in space by now… Somehow, the light had to still be coming, for although the crystal itself was dark, the area was clearly seen, as was the group itself.

For this "final stretch", there were more arrays of crystals on either side of them, "framing" a flat, crystalline floor. The arrays were geometrically perfect crystals…and yet they were allowed to "freely grow" here, not form into perfect patterns for human usage. Up ahead was a wide, tall, crystalline staircase. Looking up a bit, Dael could see it went straight up and out for several floors, before banking around and going up higher…toward what looked like (through the crystal floor and in the darkness) a set of large crystalline doors leading onward.

There was only one other thing of note…and Dael soon spotted it. When she did, her eyes narrowed and her grip tightened on her sword. Bahamut soon did much the same, pulling out his weapons again, and everyone else aimed forward, trying not to let their anxiety and fear get the better of them as they steeled their minds…

Cybus was standing at the top of the first flight of stairs, calmly posed with her hands folded in front of her, smiling down on them…and radiating just as much power as before.

"It seems our lady…well, I suppose _my_ lady at this point…was right in saying that the Ana wouldn't stop you. Even against armies of thousands, with each member being stronger than an enhanced Hound, you still break right through without even a mark on you."

"I'm going to assume that you know Veriguno is dead." Dael responded.

"Of course I know, dear." Cybus answered with her smile widening a bit. "How else did my Matriarch become greater than ever?"

That send a cold chill down Dael's spine. She had little reason to think that wouldn't have happened…but it didn't make the matter any easier. She steeled herself, and began to advance soon after.

"In that case, you know why we're here…and what will happen to you if you stand in our way."

Cybus merely cupped a hand to her mouth and gave a light, airy laugh. Dael didn't stop, continuing to advance. The others followed, Bahamut moving up closer to Dael's side, no doubt planning on jumping in front of her if necessary. As for Cybus, she looked up and swept her dress behind her before beginning to move along the platform, toward the switchback.

"For people who hate the idea of a universe filled with blissful chaos…you seem to resort to it often. Even you have to realize now how much 'quicker' and 'easier' it is to settle things by destroying an opponent as opposed to making an agreement."

"Cybus…why are you embracing this madness?"

The voice came from Taraketh, and Dael nearly looked back to him at that. His voice was insistent, after all. Even a bit desperate.

"You were a model Sorceress for all of us. Showing how someone could be stern and just and yet still loving and kind. You saw potential in everyone."

"I did indeed…" Cybus answered as she reached the switchback, and soon began to calmly climb the stairs, vanishing from view. In response, Dael began to ascend the steps as well, going after her. The others quickly followed. But even with only the train of her dress clearly visible, she continued to speak.

"Do you ever stop to think about something as simple as what a 'charity' represents? Some organization out there collecting money to give impoverished children a bit of food?" Cybus continued. "What is the mindset the typical person thinks of when they see that? The welfare of a child? Or what's 'comfortable' to give? How do they sway you to pay? Floating some numbers such as 100,000 or 1,000,000? And what do those numbers mean? Nothing more than words. No one ever appreciates figures like that until they've seen them face-to-face. And perhaps it is good they didn't…or they would realize the difficulty in trying to feed a million…

"My point being is simple. Humans pride themselves on being such social creatures…and yet as the world expands, as technology expands, and we gain the ability to make more out of even the lowliest creature…we only grow more cold and distant. More prone to want to easily push everything into nice, easy categories so that we can forget about it. I don't mean to boast…but you know full well I was one of those who sought to 'push back' against this trend…to take lives that people dismissed as nothing and make something out of them…"

Cybus paused here. Dael and the others continued to climb faster than her, but were still too far down. However, her face, always calm and proper, suddenly creased and turned to momentary anger before she looked down to them.

"…Do you think such a thing is 'easy'? Do you make light of what I did? No…the reason I was so effective, Taraketh, is because I saw each and every child that came under my care as my _own_ child. Years passed, children came and went, but none of them, not _one_, did I ever consider to be 'good on their own'. Not one did I ever neglect as so many selfish people do…taking them for granted and casting them aside. I loved them with every ounce of love that a real mother has for them. I felt joy and pride and cried tears of happiness as each one became everything I had envisioned for them…lights against the darkness of this dirty world. Sources of hope and inspiration for all. My love for them only grew as their lives progressed…"

She trailed off here, and then looked forward and walked again, more decisively.

"…And I had my heart broken each and every time I heard one died due to some corrupt government engaging in genocide. Every time I heard of them being neglected and abandoned to fend for themselves. Every bomb that misfired. Every peacekeeping mission they fell on. Every poor family that betrayed them and stabbed them in the back for being of the wrong religion. For years I accepted it as the way to peace…the tradeoff one must have to love others. Even as one icy dagger was plunged into my heart after another…

"Yet as time passed…I began to ponder the utility of it all. I began to question it. Why must it be the innocent and kind who are martyred? Why must it be the cruel and wicked who get to live comfortable, long lives, producing waves of tyranny and oppression, only to safely go down into the earth and spawn offspring to continue the legacy? Will any of these worthless men and women be 'killed by kindness'? No…they will only go down when the blood of more innocents has been spilled and bodies piled up on both sides. It is small wonder the wicked are always sure of themselves…never once fearing a moral reprisal. They know full well they have nothing to fear. It's only the innocent…the just…who need fear. Who have to be all-too-happy to die for their causes…which the evil are more than pleased to grant them."

Dael and Bahamut had reached the previous tier, and ran around and looked up. Cybus was still ascending, rising toward the doors at the top now. However, Bahamut called out to her.

"And is that why you encouraged Mianyl at a young age to want this? To want death to everything?"

"Everything dies, sir." Cybus answered without turning, still walking. "The question is how much of a drain on existence you'll be before then. How much you'll consume and destroy. How many hearts broken you will cause and how much pain you yourself will endure. I did one thing and one thing alone…I encouraged Mianyl to become whatever she wished and to settle for nothing less…certainly not some petty figurehead Sorceress who would roam about roaring like a lion without teeth. I only want the cycle to end. I want a world without evil, and I knew from the day I put a blanket around her and took her into my arms, away from the dead remains of her friends and family, that one day she would create a world where there would be no evil. And if she chose to do so not by domination but by ending this world…then it is all the same to me. This world deserves to die along with every living creature on it."

"Would that include you, lass?" Cryder answered.

Dael ignored that and kept walking upward. "And you think you're a judge who has the right to say that."

"I judge nothing. All of you bear witness against yourselves." Cybus answered, her tone growing light again. "Come now, captain. Have you ever struck another soldier out of rage? Or vengeance? Have you ever killed one out of desire more than necessity? Have all of you ever entertained thoughts of pride and superiority? Have you ever lusted after another person or their wealth or goods? What is a human being if nothing more than a sickening, dripping, ghastly wad of sins? Scurrying about on this speck in the cosmos as if they think they matter in the grand scheme of anything…failing to notice how this world and all life on it is ultimately useless and fading… The evil of this world is too much. It must be destroyed…even if in the process good itself must be destroyed as well. At least then there will be nothing but amoral chaos…no right, no wrong…just peace."

"And your vision is so 'lovely' that no one on Gaia except you and Mianyl want it." Dael retorted.

Cybus gave another airy laugh. "Silly Dael…a universe of uniform chaos is what _everyone_ wants…free to think of good and evil. You saw it yourself. People don't want to struggle against evil or promote good…they want to sit at home watching their television sets or buying new bits of digital music and know that everything is the same today as it was yesterday as it was in the future. You, of all people, should know that by now…"

Dael grimaced a bit on hearing that, but couldn't deny it as she continued to close on her.

"At any rate, I'm not here to fight you." Cybus answered. "I won't even stand in your way. You came here to confront Mianyl the Matriarch…and so you shall. Oblivion will likely be preferable to attempting to fight her, however. By now, you eight warriors are no more than eight mice to her."

By now, she was at the top of the stairs, and she proceeded to move to one side and gestured to the crystalline doors. "But do not take my word for it. In fact…I believe you're just in time to 'enjoy the show'."

This didn't sound good to anyone.

"…What 'show'?" Bahamut asked.

"Perhaps your senses aren't back as strongly as you like, Lord Bahamut." Cybus responded. "It seems, for once, you will get to watch your brother die without having it be at your hand."

Bahamut went a bit wide-eyed at that. Not only him, but the others as well.

"Tiamat is already here?"

"Go on. Have a look." Cybus answered. "See if you can learn despair without needing to experience it firsthand…"

Bahamut didn't respond…only increased his speed to charge up the stairs two at a time. Dael rapidly followed in his footsteps, although she couldn't help but stare at Cybus as she did so. She had an air of perfect calm and confidence on her face as she merely crossed her arms and watched them. However, she couldn't worry about her now. She continued to run up, and the group soon fell in behind them. They reached the crystal doors soon after. They certainly looked large and thick enough, But Bahamut merely snapped out, put his hands on them, and pushed to make them swing open with ease. Whether it was the doors had more give than one would have thought, or whether it was because he was simply so strong was a mystery. It didn't really matter in either case, as he charged right through to the inside, and Dael soon matched him.

Inside, however, the group found themselves taken aback in spite of the sense of urgency. This place too was suspended on a vast, seamless platform of crystal, flat and broad except on the edges where natural crystals seemed to form. However, all about it was darkness…or, more appropriately, space itself. Dael had no idea if they were actually looking into space from a first-person view or some sort of image…but she bet on the former. An ocean of stars was all around…but looming overhead, dominating most of the view (for the ceiling too was transparent), was the turbulent and chaotic world of Gaia…practically indistinguishable from Nyx Gaia now. Dael could see how close they were at this point. Had the cloud cover not wrapped about the world so much, she'd actually be able to pick out cities at this point. Yet the storms were raging larger and more fearsome than ever…seeming to form multiple hurricane-like "eyes" on the word as they churned about. It was overwhelming. It was like hovering in space on its own…but the fact that it was so shocked Dael even more than the view itself. She had no idea this was how bad it was getting…

Yet in moments, her attention was ahead. The door was "recessed" into the floor a bit, so first the group had to run up a short staircase. But on doing so…and seeing the broad, flat floor behind…they felt a wave of intense power sweep over them so strong, potent, and energized that it nearly made Dael swoon and fall right back downstairs. To her alarm, even Bahamut looked the same way. Such was the power of the sight before them.

It was a good thing this topmost chamber was so large…for perched in the middle of it, stretching to full size and ferocity, was Tiamat. The injuries done to him previously were gone. After all…when one's power was derived from darkness and they were on a world where the sun never shone, regeneration was easy. He was as great and terrible as before, his blue scales glimmering like flawless armor, his breastplate lit up like raw magma, and his terrible wings fully extended, making him look more fearsome than ever.

Unfortunately for him…Dael could still clearly see the difference in powers between him and…the "thing" on the other side of the room.

The last time Dael had seen Mianyl in the flesh was their brief encounter on the Odina building, where she had seen her new "form" just long enough to be smacked aside with ease. Now, when she looked to her…she became conscious of a "creature" dressed in something large, elaborate, flowing, and black as shadows, with only a dark purple tone mixed in with it that seemed to shimmer in the barely visible light. She looked taller…and thinner now. Dael, in all honestly, couldn't make out all of her details at first. However, her previously golden crest had turned to platinum…and had three emblems on it now: wind, fire, and earth. The crest itself had become more "jagged" and haphazard…symbolizing something far removed from order.

She seemed to nearly meld with the shadows. Yet as Dael came to a halt and stared…she made out enough to see that her hair had grown almost to the point of touching the floor…and was arranged in strands that splayed out a bit from the back of her head, creating a volume or "layed" effect behind her. There was definitely no "normal" state of hair that would have that tendency. Her hands were fully gloved, but tightly so that the contour and the shape could be seen. Her fingers had grown longer…with thinner, crueler claws…

Before, Mianyl's claws had been simply unsettling to Dael. Now…she was getting less and less of the sense that she was looking at a human being… The power radiating off of her didn't help.

At any rate, neither Tiamat nor Mianyl paid them any mind. The draconian beast was fully focused on her.

"Thousands of years ago, other creatures tried to 'yoke my strength'…and suffered dearly for it." Tiamat stated as he glared at the woman. "For someone who seems to recall history so well, that was a rather large blunder on your part. I'll give this to you…you're the most powerful human I ever encountered. Not that it will matter. Your kind will always be weaker. I'm going to enjoy watching you die very slowly…Mianyl, was it? Tell me…how would you prefer to perish? Relatively quickly…sliced to ribbons by my talons? Slowly…digested alive within my stomach? Or would you prefer the traditional 'blaze of glory' in the most literal sense I can think of?"

Dael didn't move. She stood there, frankly, immobilized. Even if she had the desire to charge, the two of them were radiating too much power… She could barely fight against Tiamat before. Trying to overwhelm two of them together was far too much, even for her. However…she didn't want to charge anyway.

A small part of her would have preferred to just stand on the sidelines and hope that Tiamat would win and solve the problem for them. Yet as she looked at them…she had a fear that this wouldn't be the outcome. She could sense one power well above the other one…

"Wyvern…" Bahamut stated as he too stood there. He didn't look to move in, but he spoke loud enough to clearly be heard.

"…So, at least you smell and 'feel' like yourself again, Bahamut." The dragon creature answered after a moment, but continued to focus on Mianyl's back. "You're still sickeningly weak, however. You'll simply have to stand aside and watch me rend this girl to pieces, I'm afraid."

"Don't be a fool, Wyvern." Bahamut retorted. "You have to sense that she's stronger than you…"

"What does the strength of a maggot matter to an esperkind?" Tiamat answered. "Besides…you should know full well that strength alone doesn't decide a battle. Otherwise I would have killed you a lot sooner. Now don't interfere. In fact, if you value your life, I'd run far from here. I'm not about to hold back on your account. Killing you and your companions through 'collateral damage' will only be an added bonus…"

"What an ungrateful hound…"

That voice didn't come from Mianyl or any of the group, but rather from behind them. Immediately, they snapped back to the doors, watching as Cybus walked in and then pushed them closed behind her. She still had that smile on her face.

"Surely you haven't forgotten how the only reason you draw breath once again, 'Tiamat'…or whatever you wish to call yourself now…is because of us. Do you think you'd even exist otherwise? Who else would have been willing to risk reviving you? Not to mention we gave you what you've always desired…power and the ability to kill those lesser than you. Fear and respect."

"What I 'want', as you put it, is dominion…everyone on this world acknowledging me as the greatest of all living creatures." Tiamat retorted. "And if you're expecting gratitude…clearly you aren't familiar with how I 'thanked' the last pitiful creatures that revived me…"

His wings shifted. Dael could tell there was a change on the air…like the space around Tiamat was growing darker. She could guess what this meant. He was summoning a Shadow Flare. That, in itself, scared her. He wasn't kidding about killing them all along with her. Soon, the room began to shudder as the shadows deepened around him.

"Do you wish to say anything before the end?" Tiamat growled at her. "Make a last 'defiant statement' like so many of your kind do? Boast how I cannot destroy you no matter how powerful I am?"

Mianyl continued to stand with her back turned to him. However, she finally began to turn. By now, the heat and energy mounting around Tiamat was making an audible sound, and quickly growing louder. Even the breath of the great beast was enough to shake the air. And in spite of all of that…every move Mianyl made seemed to echo throughout the chamber…and the way it was framed, it seemed to echo through space itself. As her head snapped around…Dael almost passed out at what she saw.

The "runes" in Mianyl's face had turned black…and looked almost like fissures into her flesh, as if her face was a composite of skin pieces around darkness…or a mask over something far more sinister and formidable. Her eyes blazed out like gleaming irons in the darkness of the chamber…seeming to pierce the flesh and spirit alike just glancing over. Certainly not a young woman anymore…certainly not even a vestige of human…

"I do not banter with former pets." She stated at last, her voice seemed to shake Dael to her core and made her knees falter. "Neither do I waste time fighting them."

With that, she held up one of her unnatural hands and aimed the palm at him…before an eruption occurred. To be honest, it made Dael stagger back…and then actually collapse to the ground. Not all the way, but she did fall off of her feet. She felt…terrible, all of the sudden. It was similar to the feeling of Raven's Darkness attack mixed with one of the "siren calls"…a feeling of sudden senselessness, coldness, and dizziness. A wave of some sort of power radiated over her…and suddenly her thoughts seemed to mishmash. Her body seemed to both numb and tense all at once. And this was only from the cast-off power…

What she saw before her was much worse.

A monstrous black cloud burst forth from the palm as if Mianyl's body had been holding compressed gas. It immediately expanded into a tremendous wave, to the tune of the woman saying something. She couldn't make out the word. Only that it was arcane, and even to hear it seemed to hurt Dael's ears and make her dizzy. It did not stop growing until it was a monstrous size, and then it immediately spilled over Tiamat. He didn't take it lightly, of course. Snarling, he broke off charging his Shadow Flare and thundered forward…but he was too slow. The wave immediately covered him…thick, black, and oppressive…and he vanished into it. Yet that was only the beginning.

Instantly, booming, deafening noise, violent swirling, and flashing of every color Dael could imagine, and many she couldn't, all mixing together like paint thrown into a tornado burst from the deadly nexus of mist that Mianyl unleashed. Feelings of freezing cold and burning heat washed over Dael. Alternating sensations of thick humidity and arid dryness came and went in a heartbeat. A sound radiated through the chamber as what she could only explain as pure chaos unleashed in front of her. It was like an explosion…and yet not like any eruption she had ever seen. It was more as if reality itself was being compressed and expanded repeatedly several thousand times a second, and everything and nothing was being created and destroyed in the same period of time. She couldn't tell if she was looking into light or darkness…into something real or unreal. In the blink of an eye, it was one thing to her, and in another moment, something else.

The attack hadn't even targeted Dael, but it was painful to look at. And yet…she couldn't look away. It was bombarding her senses too much, leaving her stunned and practically hypnotized. And as she was forced to look into it…everything she had ever known, everything she thought was real…began to peel away and deconstruct. It was literally maddening. Her mind was using everything it had to try and understand it and coming up empty, exhausting her, torturing her mind…

Thankfully, it disappeared not long after, fading away into vapor in the room. It continued to blast forward in a straight line for a bit, but on hitting one of the crystal walls, it broke apart and quickly dissipated. What was left behind attracted more of Dael's attention, as her wits…perhaps even her sanity…slowly came back to her. She blinked a few times, and then looked up, and her jaw soon loosened.

Tiamat was frozen in mid-striking position. However…the "heat" on his belly seemed to have dimmed. His dark scales, beautiful and deadly-looking, appeared to be paler. "Duller", even. The fierce lights in his eyes had vanished, leaving them dull as well. His own jaw hung open, but his mouth looked dry now, and a slow, breathless exhale came from them. The powerful Guardian Force stood there immobilized for a few more seconds but then lost all strength. Giving one weak groan, his eyes closed…and, to the tune of a ground-shuddering impact, the massive creature collapsed in a heap to the ground and went still. He almost looked dead.

The group was totally silent. Even Bahamut was unable to move or make a sound. Dael felt something that she hadn't allowed into her before now…but was now undeniable. Icy fear gripping her heart. She couldn't sense any more power coming from Tiamat. There would only be just enough to sustain life.

_One spell._

_ She defeated him…with one spell._

Mianyl lowered her hand calmly and began to walk toward the fallen Tiamat. Only then did Dael begin to hear small noises coming from him…perhaps a twitch or two. But nothing else. As for her…her own shadow only seemed to grow larger and darker as she fixed her glowing eyes on him.

"The title 'greatest of all living creatures' means no more to me than 'greatest of all butterflies'." She stated flatly. "All of your desires…ambitions…your petty rage and anger…nothing more than meaningless entropy compared to the rest of the cosmos. You could be a thousand times more powerful and still insignificant compared to the power of a single star…let alone the empty void that fills up more of reality than you could possibly imagine."

She soon stopped, still at a good distance, but much closer than before. After doing so, she reached out and aimed her palm again. Immediately, a burning sound, almost like a sonic screech, began to ring in the air, quickly building in volume. As it did, her hand began to glow. It was aimed right for Tiamat's head.

"The only remaining use you would have had for me was to 'humor you' and let the resulting chaos accomplish my goals. But that is no longer necessary. Now receive the peace that is oblivion."

A moment later…a monstrous attack erupted from Mianyl's hand. It was so strong that both she and the others felt, for a moment, like they were being drawn inward to it. Not just their bodies physically, but their very consciousness…perhaps even the soul, if such a thing was possible. Space and even time, for reality seemed to slow and then speed up, appeared to distort around the hand before a tremendous blast erupted from the palm. It seemed to be nothing more than a pillar of fire erupting from her palm, as blinding as the sun, and rocketing straight for Tiamat's head, with force that seemed to warp the entire room…

Yet in the middle of that blast, she saw an object flash out from her side, feeling it shoot by as well, and intercept it midway. It was impossible to see what it was…but she already had a good idea. At her side was Bahamut…or at least he was until a moment ago… Yet before she could see anything further, the two collided, and to the tune of a raging inferno, an eruption, and what sounded like a gigantic "gong" came the sound of inhuman, near-reptillian screaming…

The confusion and power was too much for Dael to comprehend. However, it lasted only moments, and then died down again…returning the world to its previous state. They were again in the dark crystal room. In fact…the walls and reality itself seemed to be "relaxing" after the blast that just transpired. Dael remained on the ground a moment, still shocked and nearly stammering. She had seen the power in that attack…and it was beyond belief. Greater than anything she had ever witnessed…even the Delta Attack and Alexander's Judgment. She blinked a few times, and then began to rise. Her movements echoed loud and long, but she didn't care as she quickly rose to her feet. Only when she managed to get up did she hear a lighter sound of metal clanging, and a bit of a swiveling in response.

She looked to the source, and found herself looking at a crystal wall. Still smoldering, the Raidos Shield had fallen out of an impression, and was now swiveling a bit on the ground. But what was it doing there?

Looking back, she got her answer, and gasped to see it.

Bahamut was stricken with agony, his sword hand having dropped Durandal and now clutching his shoulder tight enough to try and keep the artery from leaking…for he was missing his shield arm entirely. There was no trace of it anywhere. It had to have been blown clean off and then vaporized when he tried to block that attack.

As the others began to rise, they likewise gaped. Bahamut was clearly in agony…half of his torso stained with his own blood. He had stopped screaming, but his teeth were clenched hard and he was stricken with agony. Dael wasn't sure, in this body, if he could regenerate a missing limb… But even if he could, he collapsed to his knees soon after, blood dribbling on the ground around him as he actually fell back on Tiamat's own fallen body. And Dael realized the truth. In spite of the Mirage Belt and the Raidos Shield, as well as Bahamut's colossal strength…even he hadn't been able to weather a single attack by Mianyl without serious injury. Her heart was beginning to race by now…

Tiamat's lips parted, and he gave a low snarl. "After…all these years…you're still…such a sickening…stupid…fool…to take a fatal blow…meant for me…"

Bahamut didn't answer, but Dael, watching him, suspected that this action didn't come out of compassion. The man had to realize, by now, that their only real hope of defeating Mianyl would be if Tiamat was able to destroy her. He was the strongest of all of them. Yet now…what could be done?

As she was still thinking this, however…another sound like a "cosmic engine" firing up went off near her. She had just enough time, as the world darkened about her, to identify the Fomalhaut firing again. She realized Quaren must have been taking a shot. However, she barely had time to look up before she was nearly blasted down again as a colossal beam of light burst forth from Quaren's direction, ripped past her and whoever else was ahead, and shot straight for Mianyl. Her burning eyes never even looked to it as it struck her…

…And, at once, a "ripple" of light burned in all directions, blasting through the entire crystal chamber. Yet even seeing that, Dael felt her heart sink again. That beam should have kept going, or should at least have pushed her back… Instead, it seemed to be "splaying out" in all directions, burning and blasting, wrecking some of the crystals on the periphery and ground…but not budging from the spot.

The beam cut off a moment later. Dael wasn't looking to Quaren, but he lowered his weapon and looked eagerly into the aftermath, only to let out an audible gasp.

Mianyl hadn't even bothered raising her hand to reinforce her shield. Her eyes never left Bahamut and Tiamat.

"…Are you done now?" She calmly asked, still not looking up. "Are there any more pointless, stupid acts of 'heroism' or 'bravery' you wish to indulge in? Would it make you feel more 'satisfied'…that you're 'doing well'…if I merely stand here and let you hit me? Or would you prefer I 'fight back' and lay you low as easily as Tiamat? Or perhaps you would like it if I merely immobilized you like last time? Give you an illusion that you may 'break free and triumph'?"

Dael couldn't answer. No one could. She looked to Bahamut. He was weak…but he seemed to be holding. Perhaps it was his regeneration or his pressure, but the blood flow was slowing. It was mostly old blood dripping. Nevertheless…she was shocked beyond belief. Not just at the power of that attack, but seeing him so hurt. Yet this time, in the face of such power, her anger at what Mianyl had done wasn't enough. She couldn't even get enough of her wits to try a spiritual divide…if it would even work.

"None of you seem to understand." Mianyl continued, her glowing eyes raising to look over them all. Each glance made Dael's heart skip a beat. "Or perhaps you've let your notions of revenge or fairy-tale visions of pride and determination delude you. The world isn't a 'happy ending story'. You cannot come before a being like me with nothing more than notions of 'glory' and 'justice' and 'spirit' and expect to not be broken. That's the same foolish vision so many others like you have had before. All sorts of noble men and women…and all who were killed as easily as the wicked and depraved. That's the nature of chaos. That's the nature of _everything_.

"What exactly was your plan coming here? To stand before me, muster your full strength with your new weaponry, fight an epic battle over the future of this world, cast me down, and restore peace and order? Did you really think a few 'new toys' were going to make any difference against me, much less against destiny? Did you think that simply because you 'wanted it more' that victory would be yours? I was indeed a fool for thinking _any_ of you, especially you, Dael Levinson, and you, Taraketh Sabian, would ever see the truth…"

Her black train flourished abruptly as she turned away both from the group as well as the Guardian Forces. Her back was to them again. Dael could strike her now. Use one of her basic attacks…or simply hit her with a Shock. Ceja could throw her Rune Axe. Jalab could do the Dance of the Phantom. Anything.

No one moved.

Dael realized she didn't have the will to fight. Not now. Not after Mianyl revealed how little any of their attacks mattered…how pathetic their power was compared to hers. If neither Tiamat nor Bahamut could even lay a hand on her…she realized it was impossible for the rest of them. They couldn't win. No matter how hard or 'smart' they fought…there was no way to defeat her. She couldn't even muster the will to try.

"I am no 'god'…merciful, vengeful, or otherwise." Mianyl stated after a moment. "I am merely to be the sacrifice that will give 'life' to the Void. But before I do…I will indeed grant the wish you all hold in your hearts. I bid you all now…be still and listen a moment."

Even if Mianyl hadn't have said that, everyone would have been quiet. After all, the remaining members of the group, Dael included, could only stare at her quietly now. Bahamut, however, bit down and stopped his own panting breath. As a result, the chamber grew quiet once again. As still as a tomb. And for a moment, that was all that it was. Yet then…there was something else.

The tower seemed to be…vibrating slightly…and rhythmically. Dael could feel it beneath her. Yet it was more than that, after a few moments.

Far, far below, near the base of the tower, she heard a sonic noise verberate up to her. It sounded almost like some sort of foghorn or siren…and yet also had an almost "living" quality about it, like it was a form of roar. Considering how high up they were, it had to be loud indeed. Louder than any behemoth, for certain. And on realizing that…Dael realized the truth as well.

_No…_

Bahamut must have known it too, for his pupils shrank as his face showed visible anxiety…perhaps even fear.

"It's almost unnecessary now…" Mianyl answered. "I may not have gotten instant results, but between you destroying my Four Fiends and Veriguno, the chaos between our worlds is higher than ever. If you look close…you can actually see our two worlds growing ever nearer. In no more than a day or two, we will be united and the Void will come forth at last. Yet I think that's a day too long…"

With that, a long black finger went up. Immediately, a sonic vibration began to erupt through the entire tower. The outer crystals gleamed and, just as with the Four Fiends before, a column of light, rippling with powerful rings and sending out bolts of electricity all around it, began to shoot up into the heavens from the Tower of Order. Only this time, the group was at the top. They could see its progression…and they saw as it seemed to fire a beam straight at Gaia…piercing the clouds there as well for the land below.

She was opening another "passage".

Surprising everyone…including herself…Dael suddenly found she had enough strength, in spite of the power Mianyl was radiating and her own desperation, she call out to her.

"What are you doing?"

Mianyl looked to her momentarily. Her hesitation might have been a sign she was surprised that Dael responded, but then spoke normally enough.

"You came here to destroy me. You came here to 'save the world'. You came here to see 'order triumph over chaos'. Very well. If you truly intend to show your resolve and power capable of handling such a feat, then you now have your chance. And in the process, as you spend the last of your power fighting a hopeless battle against an unstoppable foe, I will finally get my 'final push' to bring these two worlds together and open the Void."

Immediately…the crystals in the room began to glow and verberate as well. They too started to produce energy that radiated upward, seeming to mingle with the "beam" now surrounding the tower. And as it shot upward, Dael began to feel energy starting to ripple through her. In fact, she felt her body rapidly getting lighter, and her hair started to rise…

"This is the last time we will see each other, Dael." Mianyl told her. "And the last thing you shall ever do for me. Perhaps, to grant you a bit more incentive to have your indominable resolve hold just a bit longer…you should know that the last of Bahamut's essence is being sent with him."

Before Dael could question what this meant…the same feeling as her last "teleport" from Nyx Gaia occurred. Abruptly, the world grew infinitely heavier as she felt herself hurling out right into the vast cosmos before her. She wasn't sure how she avoided smashing through the ceiling…but she hardly had time to consider that before space itself around her stretched on and on into oblivion, and at once she was cast into the sky and into seeming infinity…

* * *

><p>This was the fourth "jump" between the worlds that Dael had made so far, but it still wasn't any less unsettling or confusing as any of the previous times. At once, her consciousness was thrown for a loop, and all of her senses were mishmashed together, leaving her only in a state of semi-consciousness as, in the times before, she felt herself falling through the air for a few precious seconds before landing on a hard, rigid, and somewhat jagged surface. The impact wasn't quite as "high" as last time, but was no less painful as she collided. As before, she sprawled out and laid still a moment, letting her bearings come back to her.<p>

However, she was getting more "used" to this. She at least knew immediately, in spite of being thrown for a loop, that she had once again been cast out of Nyx Gaia. And considering where that "beam" had been aimed…she must have returned to Gaia yet again. That alone was enough to fill her with greater anger. It had taken forever to gather the Guardian Forces to teleport them there last time… Yet her thoughts didn't dwell on that long as more of her memory came back. What would it matter if they _did_ go back? Mianyl was no longer a demigod at this point… She was practically a god herself…at least as far as she was concerned. She had struck down Tiamat and Bahamut so easily. She hadn't even flinched when the Fomalhaut fired on her. What was left? There was a chance she was "bluffing" a bit…that she actually used her full power on both Tiamat and Bahamut…that she had a powerful shield in place the whole time… But even if that was the case, then what? How could they possibly stop her now?

As she thought this, more impacts went off around her…including an especially large one. Soon after that, she heard a rather low growl…as well as deep breathing. Much deeper than any human. It was only something that could come from a large beast… On top of all that, she felt a rather icy breeze whip by her, and the jagged rocks she was sprawled on were rather cold as well. With all of that in mind, she opened her eyes.

Gaia was getting darker. Perhaps night was falling…but she doubted it. The skies overhead were merely too dark and ominous. They were churning rather badly now, issuing lightning and thunderclaps of their own. They looked on the verge of storming…and considering how cold it was at the moment, it might end up being sleet. If Dael didn't have her mind on pain and fear at the moment, she might have shivered. As it was, she cracked her eyes open and, with all the force she could muster, flipped herself over onto "all fours" and began to look around.

The others were lying in piles all around her, having been unceremoniously dumped much the same as she had been. They were now only slowly picking themselves up once more, none of them looking in the best shape or spirits. Dael first did a quick look to confirm everyone was there…and then looked around a bit more earnestly, searching for Bahamut.

As she did, Cryder let out a groan as he leaned up and pulled out some gravel from his neck. "…I just 'love' those little trips of ours…"

Quaren himself leaned up and shook his head, before he opened his eyes and revealed a rather fearful look. "Nothing… That gun probably could have blown a hole through an aircraft carrier…and it didn't do anything at all to her… It-"

He cut himself off…for a low growl suddenly went off from nearby. The others likewise paused.

"…I hope that's not who I think it is." Cid let out in a half-whine.

Dael continued to look, and finally saw Bahamut. He was somehow still on his knees, and his bleeding seemed to have stopped, at least…but he was still covered in blood and holding his wound tightly, letting out pained grunts. However, it was not his pain that made the sound…but rather that of the one near him, sprawled out on the ground.

Tiamat had been sent to Gaia as well.

The others immediately scrambled away from him, keeping their eyes on him nervously. After a moment, Taraketh aimed his hands in preparation of a spell, while Ceja reclaimed her axe, which had been knocked loose on landing, held it up, and readied herself to fight. Dael alone only cast a glance at Tiamat, and then focused on Bahamut. Immediately, she got up, even leaving the Save the Queen on the ground for a moment, and then ran up to his side. On reaching him, she bent down and began to go to her uniform, looking to tear off a strip of the more ragged portion.

He shook his head immediately. "Don't…bother…it's stopped bleeding… I'm just…trying to bite back the pain…"

Dael held for a moment, but then began to move her hands over it. "Then I'll heal you."

"No…don't…" He grunted in response. "Save your magic. Healing me…won't help… That attack stripped me of most of my power… I can barely fight now…and I don't think I have enough…of my old ability to regenerate this…"

The woman looked up to him with concern. She held momentarily, and then spoke more resolutely. "Then we need to get Phoenix out here."

"Save Phoenix's power…for yourselves… You need it to fight…"

She sighed. "Damnit, I'm not doing this just to get you 'battle ready', Bahamut. I'm doing it to make sure you don't die from trauma."

Bahamut paused a bit on hearing that, looking at her and seeming to forget his pain momentarily. However, the moment was broken a second later when a deep hissing "chuckle" was heard nearby.

"You like doing things in 'reverse'…don't you, Bahamut…?" Tiamat's voice grunted. "First you lose your wife-to-be…then your best friend…and now you attach to a 'mother' to lose her too…"

Bahamut didn't bother answering. Dael, however, snapped to him with an angry look.

"Just because _you_ never cared about anyone but yourself doesn't give you the right to mock other people who've lost loved ones."

"Oh please…" Tiamat sneered. "What's next? Are you going to hold my hand and sing a friendship song…?"

"And what exactly has being a friendless a**hole ever gotten you?" Dael retorted. "You want to boast to me about living for so long and seeing so many things? All you've ever done with all of your years is seen one thing…how much you hate Bahamut. And that's all you lived for. Haven't you realized after all this time how much of your life you've completely wasted? People who died before they reached twenty-one lived a more fulfilling life than you ever will."

"Foul-mouthed maggot…" The Guardian Force growled. "I'd shut up your blathering for good if I could raise a claw…"

Behind Dael, Quaren and the others began to get up as well, although they looked warily at Tiamat. However, they also focused a lot on Bahamut and Dael…particularly Bahamut. Without his help, they couldn't even hope to defeat Cybus… But even if that wasn't an issue, he was still "one of the group". At any rate, Jalab looked around a bit, and finally focused on the distance. He pointed out.

"Snow mountains."

The others looked as well, and Quaren, on spotting it, soon called out. "We have to be either in northern Fuliet or close to the border with the snowfield regions…"

Sure enough, they seemed to be in a rocky valley at the moment. Hard enough to navigate through, but it had its flat portions where movement was easily enough. And the rocks weren't so razor sharp that they were impossible to move through. Still, this was a fairly inaccessible valley, framed between two mountain ranges in the distance. Perhaps it was where glaciers had moved through at one point…but that hardly mattered. The only important thing was that there may have been enough room to move, but not nearly enough to land any vehicle.

"No one for miles…" Taraketh stated. "No civilization here either. Perhaps we should try to contact the Guardian Forces…except I'm sure if so many are gathered that they're 'keeping an eye' on us now, and are likely on their way already."

Ceja stared a moment, but then looked back to Dael, Bahamut, and Tiamat. She glared at the latter and tightened her grip on her axe. "…Let us kill him now and eliminate him as a threat later."

Tiamat merely closed his eyes and gave a weak, dark chuckle. "Don't trouble yourself with such stupid thoughts… Besides…if you want me dead, you won't have to wait very long."

Dael looked up a bit at that. "What do you…?"

"Everyone…" Bahamut suddenly spoke out, prompting Dael to look back to him. His face was growing dark and grim once again, and he gestured to the horizon as he trembled from blood loss. "Look…"

Before Dael even turned around, the others already saw it, and were soon staring as well. When Dael turned, she was just in time to see the dark, ominous clouds part yet again. Much as they had back on Nyx Gaia, only "in reverse"…they drew back and swept downward in columnar form. Yet long before they stretched to the ground, the column of light, surrounded by rippling rings, shot down all the way to the hills in the distance. It was just slightly upland, enough for the group to get a good look at it, as it landed. Yet a moment later…the ground shuddered noticeably, enough to make Cid fall back and the others to nearly lose their footing.

The light lasted only a moment before cutting off. The clouds slammed together again, and as they did a thunderclap rang out for hundreds of miles in all directions. From their distance, the group nearly covered their ears. Yet as Dael reached to shield them…she felt it.

The cold air was blowing against her now, away from the point of landing. And it was no longer cold at all but warm. Very warm. And there was something there as well. Something as large as Mianyl's Four Fiends had been…and rippling as much power as she had radiated.

_More_ than that, perhaps.

It started off hunched on the ground. But slowly…it rose to its full height, every move it made echoing loud and long over the landscape, as if the world itself was groaning with every move it made. Dael's face was pale and the breath caught in her throat…but somehow she still pushed herself to her feet and looked to it. She saw its entire body was a mixture of blacks and grays…and had almost a metallic luster to it, giving it the appearance of a very, very old machine that nevertheless still worked. It was a hexapod. Like a hellish centaur, it balanced itself on four massive legs attached to a large, armored, and thick body. One rear leg was like a deer. The other was like a lion. As far as the front legs, one was like a dragon. The other was like nothing anyone had ever seen. The best approximation would be some sort of multi-jointed, razor-clawed "monkey" leg, for it seemed to be prehensile and gripping as it pressed out. Framed in front of it, letting out low growls that shook the ground, a roaring inferno in its mouth as bits of flame and magma ran from the jaws, was a wolf's head, with eyes that burned so bright that hellish light was cast in a pair of beams before it.

Mounted over the "shoulder" region of the "lower" body was what looked like a humanoid torso. It was covered in the same armor…or perhaps that was simply its exterior…but one of its limbs was normal and humanoid, save for a taloned gauntlet…while the other arm was massive…like a gorilla limb that nearly dragged to the ground, and having only four fingers but a long reach and obviously tremendous power. As it slowly uncurled upward, it extended two massive wings. Both were the same quasi-metallic nature, but one was clearly that of a bat while the other was that of a high-speed bird. Both looked vestigal...at least from here...but it was impossible to tell.

Lastly, there was the head. Much like Odin's own head, it was impossible to tell if it was armor or the actual face. It was recessed into the shoulder "armor" of the creature, and it was jagged and haphazard, as if pieced together from various other faces. It had horns as well. One was that of what looked like a stag-like creature…grand and multi-pointed. The other was a tremendous longhorn like a bull…or more like a demon.

It stood there only a moment, slowly turning its "upper head" around, as if taking in its surroundings. Its massive limbs constricted and relaxed a few times, and its legs stamped on the ground, sending small tremors through it as they grinded a few bits of rock to dust. Finally, it turned its head a bit, looking to the snowy mountains to one side of it.

As it did…the darkness around it suddenly grew, and the world about it seemed to be cast into shadow from an unseen force. Much to Dael's surprise, tendrils of black lightning snapped out of it and began to lash out at the ground, tearing into it or obliterating anything in its path. Yet through the darkness and dimness…she saw the light within the jaws of the wolf head grow. It blazed forth out of the gloom with infernal light, and rays of pure fire and head seemed to stream out of it. Soon, the head began to quiver, as if a tremendous force was contained behind it. As it began to buckle, the twisted mouth of the "upper head" opened…and it let forth a call.

The same horrible "foghorn" as before…removing all doubt.

Then, in a flash, the body of the massive creature snapped around and blasted out a pure Gigaflare at the mountains. Unlike Neo Bahamut, who was forced to stand still, this thing had no trouble slowly rotating as it did so, blasting out its deadly beam which seemed to banish the day into night, and letting it rip across the mountainsides. When it made impact…the group could only gape in shock as, to the tune of tremendous shockwave blasts, the ancient, formidable, strong mountains were blown away into nothingness. They were pulverized into rocks which were quickly annihilated into dust and then vapor. And as it swung itself around, it continued to do that to the mountain range, turning the entire landscape flat within a few seconds of sustained power.

At last, the thing cut off its blast. The darkness vanished, and it was again clear and visible. The group stared in open-mouthed shock. The mountain range to the northwest was nothing more than a cloud of black smoke and dust rising to the thundering heavens. Fire and magma just as bad as Tiamat's own worse attacks ringed the horizon as if the entire world itself was sliding into hell. In moments, the monster had destroyed what took millions of years to create. Yet it thought little of this. Immediately, it turned its body slightly, and then began to walk. Even as it did so, the shadows gathered again. It was preparing to fire again already at something else to level…and even Neo Bahamut had needed time to rest.

"Great Leviathan…" Cryder exhaled, for once having nothing smug or remotely cocky to say.

"It's the only thing we feared as much as the Void…" Taraketh stated. "Omega Weapon."

"No thing that lives and breathes could possibly slay it." Ceja said darkly, before saying a prayer in her own language. "Even the gods were never told to possess such power…"

Dael continued to stare at it…feeling the despair in her increase. Something of that power…impossible. None of them could kill it. Nothing could. Their only hope had rested in keeping it trapped on Nyx Gaia. Now that it was here…it was really and truly the end. She knew after witnessing that, feeling its invincible, unstoppable power…none of them would even be able to slow it down. It would be like trying to split the continent in two with a pick axe. It was all over. Nothing was left now but for Omega Weapon to systematically destroy every last thing on Gaia…or at least enough to cause the worlds to merge and the Void to appear. Even all of the Guardian Forces behind them wouldn't mean anything to the creature besides one extra blast of a Gigaflare. They were all going to die.

As the former captain looked on it and saw this…saw the hopelessness and inevitability…she finally closed her eyes, swallowed, and then put it down.

_If we're all going to die…what difference does it make if we do so a bit sooner than everyone else?_

With that, she opened her eyes, her face more firm and resolute, and walked forward. She went until she reached Save the Queen, then bent down and picked it up. She inserted into her sheath for now, and as she did she called out.

"Everyone…get yourselves ready. We're going to fight Omega Weapon."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

NEXT CHAPTER: The Alpha and the Omega...


	74. Alpha and Omega

Bravery, at this point, had almost evaporated from the group. In response to Dael's proclamation, the group merely stared back silently. A few of them looked slightly determined…but no one looked eager. Not after everything they had seen. There was a moment of silence in which no one seemed willing to speak their mind. Dael alone stood looking at them, seeming to wait for them to gather their things and "snap to it". Bahamut watched a bit from a distance.

Finally, the silence was broken. Cryder let out a sigh.

"Look…lass…it's over." He stated. "And don't look at me like I'm the 'coward' either. Everyone's thinkin' it…I just said it."

"…No, Dael's right." Taraketh managed to say after a moment, although his voice was hesitant. "We have to try to destroy it."

"You can die trying…" Tiamat snorted from where he was. "Yet since when has that ever stopped fools like you? What do you plan to do to it? Give it a rash? Or indigestion?"

No one had the will to refute the draconic creature. Everyone was silent again. After a time, however, Quaren swallowed a bit.

"…I'll go with you no matter what you decide, Dael…but I'm not stupid enough to think we can win." He stated. "You know that's not cowardice coming from me either. That's me speaking as an Esthar's Hawk that knows how to assess a situation before going into battle."

"If we die, then we die." Ceja retorted…although even her voice was weak and hesitant, not nearly as bold as it should have been. "We either perish fighting it or perish in one of its blasts. Better to die on your feet than to die lying down."

"How about where we don't die at all?" Cid interjected, looking around to everyone. "Come on…look at us! My Atomic Hammer, Jalab's Dance of the Phantom, Dael's Shock… _Something_ has to be able to kill this thing with a dead on hit!"

"Even if true…does not matter when can destroy at distance." Jalab grimly answered.

"And besides, I don't think even Alexander could do anything to this other than possibly make it mad…" Quaren sighed. "This thing destroyed every army and esper on its own world and only got stronger for it. How can we possibly beat something like that? Even if we had every army in the world united-"

"The Void." Bahamut suddenly interjected.

The group looked to him. The man himself tried to get his legs underneath him to rise, and actually pushed up a bit, but then he groaned, grew dizzy, and went back down again. Dael nearly ran to him, but before she could he continued.

"There's only one chance now. Banish it into the Void." Bahamut exhaled. "It's the only place where it has nothing to 'feed' off of to make itself stronger and no targets to destroy. Nothing has been banished into the Void for hundreds of years. This time…all it will have is empty oblivion."

The group paused momentarily, considering this possibility. "Is there some chance it could still get out? Like it did before?" Dael asked.

"In the span of time, all possibilities eventually become certainties…" Bahamut darkly answered. "Yet we have no choice. Either we banish it into the Void now and pray that it will not escape again until sentient life is strong enough to destroy it forever, or we let it destroy the world today."

As if to accent this, the sky darkened again, and everyone cringed and recoiled to the tune of powerful noise and waves of raw energy as the beast fired off another Gigaflare, this one aimed more out on the horizon. As far as it traveled, it might have hit the sea and proceeded to atomize both the water and the small rocks and islands located out there. Yet there was no telling for certain…only the sight of more colossal blasts and heat. No one was able to do anything for a few precious moments…before they leaned up and looked again. More flames were on the edge of the horizon.

Dael grit her teeth, and then looked back to the others. "…We don't have much time to argue. We're in an unpopulated area for now, but soon…"

Taraketh looked to Bahamut. "How quickly can you teach me the Banish spell?"

"Maybe if I had three years…" He growled in response. "It's no good. You have to get me out there."

"You're a sitting duck, Bahamut…" Tiamat growled. "If you want this thing destroyed…how about healing me? I'm the only one among you weaklings that will hold its attention long enough to succeed…"

Bahamut closed his eyes and growled. "Don't be a fool, Wyvern. Even if we had the power to heal someone of your size fully, that monster must key in on life. It would shoot you immediately. The only hope we have is by having all potential targets be 'equal threats'…"

"Oh, and _we_ seem good enough to be an only hope…?" Cryder groaned. "Really wish I had that last bottle of liquor now…"

"Let us not challenge it yet." Ceja interjected. "This is a wasteland. There is nothing here to destroy except landscape. If we wait for the other Guardian Forces to come here, as Dael has said, they will have a better chance."

"That's not a solution." Taraketh retorted. "Just destroying parts of the landscape itself brings more chaos."

"Worse than that…" Cid moaned. He pointed out again. "Look."

As Dael once again turned to Omega Weapon, for a moment she feared that it was looking to them, seeking to target them next and preparing another Gigaflare for just that purpose. However, the beast never even glanced its burning eyes their way. Instead, it swiveled its head further northwest and began to move in that direction, each footstep sending a powerful tremor through the landscape. For a moment, Dael wondered why Cid had reacted in such a manner. If anything, this was good news. All that was further that way was the endless snowfields where not a single human dwelt…

Until she realized the truth.

"Moogles…" Jalab stated grimly.

"So much for not having anyone to kill…" Cryder groaned. "No pressure though, eh? If we fail, they all are first to die, right?"

"The Guardian Forces won't be able to get here even if they're en route…" Bahamut grunted. "We have to stop it now…before it gets in range."

Quaren let out a bit of an exhale, but then swiveled the Fomalhaut around and put it behind him again. He looked back to the others. "Then we'll have to move right now. It's walking slow but…as big as it is and rough as the terrain is…"

"Give me a moment…" Taraketh immediately added, beginning to chant right away. No doubt he was planning a Haste spell.

Bahamut himself breathed in and out a few times, but then grit his teeth and pushed again. Somehow, he managed to actually force himself to his feet, prompting the others to look to him. As for Dael, when he began to waver, she rushed to his side and quickly braced him. Even so, he nearly fell and unbalanced her as well.

"What are you trying to do, Bahamut?"

"I'm not a master at magic by any means… That would be Leviathan…" He grunted as he struggled to balance. "I've never actually tried this spell before… I'll have to be closer to it."

"You can't even walk!"

"Yes I can…just…give me a moment…"

Another hiss went out from nearby. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this…but could one of you know-nothing creatures heal the fool?" Tiamat abruptly outburst.

That was enough to get several to look at him. His reptilian eye cracked open and he snorted.

"Don't read too much into it. I don't want to die and if he's the only one around who can cast the Banish spell, then I want him to at least live long enough to do that. It's not like I ever bothered with that magic…"

Dael only looked back silently. She held for a few moments, but then said something she was a bit surprised to hear come out of her lips.

"…If we heal you, will you help us stop Omega Weapon?"

Now Taraketh's own concentration was broken, as he and the others snapped to her in shock. Bahamut, on his part, closed his eyes…but said nothing more and didn't criticize her. Tiamat himself looked to her, actually raising a scaly brow. Then he hissed again.

"Oh…so now the little insolent human is asking _me_ for help? What makes you think I'm not going to just enjoy watching that thing kill you?"

"The fact that if we die, so do you." Dael immediately retorted. "We have a common cause, any way you look at it. The situation hasn't changed from what you said earlier. Until Mianyl is dead, we're 'on the same side'."

"Really now…" Tiamat hissed. "And after as easily as I was struck down, what makes you think I'll make any difference?"

"There was a distinct difference in your powers…but not an overbearing one." Dael responded. "You said it yourself…how you thought you could still win. That attack was powerful…but my guess is it wasn't as powerful as it looked. And I think it took more power than she let on. I don't think she can just perform it at will. And if she can't…there's still a chance you could have make a serious difference against her…which means you can do the same with Omega Weapon."

Tiamat hesitated for a few moments. For once, he didn't seem to have anything snide or smug to say in response to that. Yet eventually his eyes closed again. It looked for a moment as if he had dismissed the whole thing. But before anyone could assume that, he let out a small smile.

"…Heh…you're really that desperate to live? Unfortunately…Bahamut was right. Even if you used all of your magic power to restore me, it wouldn't bring me near up to full strength. And you don't have that time either."

"But we do have Phoenix…" Bahamut answered, causing Tiamat and the others to look up again. "She's likely to get here before the others. When she does, she can revive Wyvern immediately."

Had Dael had more time to notice, she might have seen that an odd look came over Tiamat on hearing that name. In fact, she soon heard, just under his monstrous breath: "Did you say…Phoen…?"

"Then let us go quickly." Ceja cut off, growing more insistent. "Every moment we delay to plan now may be the death of another moogle…"

* * *

><p>It was a good thing that although Bahamut had become more and more "dragon-like", he still weighed pretty much the same as before. As such, Dael was able to easily hoist him on her back and take off for Omega Weapon (as insane as the entire notion was) without trouble. He, on his part, couldn't hold on that well for obvious reasons. He had to keep one arm in almost a "choke hold" around her torso to be able to stay attached, and as weakened as he was, she could only afford to run so fast without risking knocking him off. Although she still made good time, and was able to bound and leap over whatever rocks and boulders were in their way as she wove her way through the valley toward Omega Weapon, the others were still far faster. Even Cid.<p>

Jalab and Ceja were once again in the lead, both being the most physical. None of them ran in a group, naturally. That would be suicide. Instead, they broke up as best as they could. Still, considering the fact they had just seen the monster destroy an entire mountain range with one blast...they realized it was fairly moot unless, for some reason, the thing only decided to blast straight on at individual targets. Yet as they ran onward, in spite of the slow speed of the beast, the question remained on whether or not they could even get to it. Slow as it was moving, it still had more than enough pace in its strides to easily outstrip any "normal" human on Gaia. The monk and the Fuliet warrior pulled far ahead of everyone to try and catch up to it, and it was still obvious that they were barely closing the distance. Dael, who was far behind, began to wonder if they would be able to get to it before it already reached the "outskirts" of the moogle village and began to open fire.

Yet as it turned out, for better or for worse, such fears were ill-founded.

As Omega Weapon reached the former "foothills" of the mountains it had just destroyed and began to advance to climb over the "wall of fire" it had left in its wake, Dael noticed from the same distance that it slowed, and suddenly halted. There it stood for a moment or two, its monstrous wings collapsing and its horned head turned slightly. Ceja and Jalab bravely continued to run onward, but the others slowed a bit at this. After a moment or so, the entire upper torso of the creature turned around and looked behind it. The red eyes of the wolf's head immediately flashed out and shined a beam of light on the two. Normally this would have been impossible considering their distance, but it seemed the two eyes of the wolf could swivel out and aim at separate individuals. Only now did the two slow a bit, realizing it saw both of them.

A moment later, Omega Weapon's lower body began to "swivel" around to aim back for them.

_So much for a surprise attack..._ Dael thought as she struggled to move faster. _That thing has to sense whatever life is near it that "looks bright enough". We got its attention at least...but now what?_

Soon, Ceja and Jalab were taking off again. After all, they were still a good distance from it and couldn't mount an effective attack. It took a special amount of bravery...or, more likely in this case, foolishness...to keep running at that thing at this point, but they did so none the less. As for Omega Weapon, although Dael was still far off, she, as well as all the others, for that matter, managed to see its chest open up abruptly, the plates that made up the armor sliding back. Within was a crystal orb, massive and perfect, as well as a blood red color. Yet it seemed to have four smaller facets around it, although "smaller" was purely a relative term. Each one was larger than a full grown man, and each one broke out and began to hover to the sides of the monster. Dael feared it was another attack, but none of them seemed to do much other than spread out, until they were in a vague "square" shape in front of Omega Weapon. At any rate, it continued to stomp forward toward the two, not immediately indicating which one it was going for.

Jalab, on his part, didn't bother standing around to wait. Although he was still at a good distance, he started the assault. Planting his feet, he brought the Whale's Whisker before him and began to summon his power. He couldn't afford to get much closer and bring his full power to bear without risking a counterattack, he figured. After a few moments, his aura blazed, and once more blazed as bright and strongly as he could muster, making the ground quiver a bit and depressing a shallow crater into it. After that, he aimed for the head of the approaching Omega Weapon and fired a beam of pure radiance. Naturally, as far as he was, it would have lost something en route, but it was still one of the more powerful ones of these moves he had managed to pull off, and Omega Weapon made no effort to dodge, assuming it could even do so with its bulk and size. The beam continued to slice through the air until it reached about fifty feet from its target.

And then suddenly went off as if it had hit a wall. Similar to how the Fomalhaut's own blast had "broken" against Mianyl, this blast of chakra went off around some sort of flat invisible force. There was no "wraparound" either. It merely hit what looked like a solid object. Omega Weapon didn't even slow from this.

Jalab continued to push for only a few seconds this time, trying to overwhelm the force that held back his move. Unfortunately, it was for nothing...and he realized it. Instead, he suddenly cut off the attack before he could waste any more power. However, his aura was still blazing, and now he drew his staff back and began to spin around, already trying something new. As he spun, he reached a speed seemingly impossible for any normal person, and definitely more than he had ever done, summoning a cloud of chi power around him. Then, he shifted his staff slightly, and launched a massive "air blade" about the size of a bus at Omega Weapon in a deadly arc. He soon tossed two more behind it. They had scarcely left him, however, when they suddenly split and broke into dozens of smaller, yet bright and gleaming, "air blades" that spread out in a deadly cloud as they sailed right for the monster. Again, Omega Weapon didn't react or slow, in spite of the fact that this attack literally gave it about a hundred targets to worry about. It kept moving forward to meet them, and again they closed into about fifty feet.

At that point, each one seemed to hit the same invisible wall and shattered, spreading chi outward in a blip of light. The end effect was to make it look like some solid, prismatic wall was placed directly in front of Omega Weapon, blocking anything from reaching it. A bit of a closer look would reveal the source...the crystals guarding it. The "wall" seemed to be eminating from them, uniting their power to create an indestructible barrier.

Jalab, panting a bit now from all the power he had put into this, was a little shocked. Even magical barriers couldn't normally negate the force of one of his attacks as they were both physical and magical in nature. However, he also noticed why they hadn't landed before now. Ending his spinning, he took a moment to catch his breath as he quickly tried to generate power again, intending to aim for one of the crystals. Unfortunately, his "motivation" for attacking so recklessly so far had already collapsed. He thought that by attacking from a distance that he could spare Ceja the wrath of Omega Weapon long enough to get close enough to climb on the monster directly. Yet as he began to charge his power again and the thing moved to target him, another smaller "flash" of light rang out, along with a woman's cry. In spite of his focus as a monk, he looked to the source...and was just in time to see Ceja flying back from the same barrier. Unlike any other magical barrier, one couldn't just "walk though".

Ceja herself was thrown as if she had been electrocuted by it, and, for a moment, seemed to be more seriously hurt than she was. However, as she arced to the ground, she suddenly snapped around and landed on all fours, and her head snapped up, fueled more by anger and passion than by pain. Without losing any speed, she quickly snatched up her Rune Axe again and charged right back at Omega Weapon's barrier. This time, she called to mind again the nature of a Tonberry...their ability to find the weakest point that contained the "core" of something and drive right through it. Bringing up her axe, she charged for the barrier with the intent of doing so now, and soon slammed in and drove her axe out with that intention. However, all she got for her effort was another painful jolt as her body flew off from it yet again, with an even more painful jolt than before.

Omega Weapon, by now, stopped moving, and targetted her. Jalab was still charging his own move, and could only stare helplessly or risk losing his power. However, as Ceja once again went flying away from her target, she once more managed to right herself by backflipping and landing on all fours yet again. By now, she seemed rather dizzy and a bit weaker, but she still wasn't done. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself up once again, and immediately started to swivel around. She wasn't aiming for Omega Weapon or the barrier this time. Rather, she was going for the nearest crystal, which wasn't too far from her. Perhaps if she could smash one, the others could actually inflict pain on the thing. Even as she got up to "full speed", Omega Weapon began to produce a noise, and aimed its smaller hand at her. In response, Jalab launched his own attack, firing a beam again...this time aiming for a different crystal himself. The thing was much closer this time so it didn't take nearly so long to reach it...but it had the exact same result. The beam peeled off of the crystal without ever touching it or leaving the slightest mark. And as Ceja flung her golden axe for her own target, Omega Weapon used its own power.

Abruptly, the area around Ceja and her axe became dramatically darker, and both the view of it as well as everything around it seemed to "distort". Ceja's eyes widened as her arms and legs looked like weights had been attached to them, and suddenly she slumped as if the entire world had dropped on her. Not only that, but her axe immediately fell out of the sky and slammed to the ground with enough force to crack it and begin to sink into it. Her own feet did the same as the rocks around her shattered and were pressed into the ground, and soon she was grunting and straining and buckling herself, trying to keep her feet beneath her. The monster had manipulated gravity about her, dramatically increasing her weight, making it impossible for her to move or for the axe to get anywhere near there. As she went a bit red-faced, buckling under the strain, she looked up and saw the opposite, larger hand of Omega Weapon rear back and swing out, launching a backhand at her.

All anyone else could see if what resulted from the strike was Ceja's body flying back into a boulder the size of a house...and splitting it on impact, sending up a small cloud of dust. For all of her strength and power, not to mention the Mirage Belt, there was no way she could stand up to anything that strong. Several of her bones were instantly broken on impact, many shattered, their shards driven further into her muscles and the rest of her body. Not to mention the force instantly gave her a severe concussion...probably a lot worse. It had been only a "gentle" blow by Omega Weapon...but it had been more than enough to render her incapable of fighting anymore, and she fell out of the resulting fracture to the ground and went limp.

Jalab had no time to move, protect himself, or do anything else to try and respond to that, for almost at the exact same time the "ruby" in the chest of the beast flashed before a beam of light streamed out to him at inconceivable speed. It was impossible to actually see the attack, or to sense it to dodge it. One moment it was charging...and in the next the beam that had been fired was already fading. Jalab had his "shield" in operation yet again...for all the good it did. This move by Omega Weapon, so casual it hardly even seemed to notice it, had only the slighest portion of it nullified by the shield before it went into and slid clean through Jalab's chest, leaving blood pouring out of both sides. The monk went wide-eyed, instantly dropping his staff as he felt tremendous pain and weakness flowing through him. He looked down, and as his vision dimmed, he saw that the beam had no heat in it...it had merely sliced clean through him. He barely managed to start trying to focus his chi on healing before his senses left him, and he collapsed to the ground.

Omega Weapon, on its part, began to look up to walk forward again after that. It had struck down Ceja and Jalab so easily...without even really exerting any effort, showing how little it "thought" of its opponents. Yet as it took a step forward, the ground beneath the limb, which was the dragon appendage, instantly gave way, and it began to sink inside. The large monster hesitated at that, although it didn't seem to perturbed. The reason was the next fastest person. Cryder had run close enough to it to start using his geomancy, and quickly ducked for cover behind some of the rocky landscape and began to manipulate the ground, hoping to trip it up or distract it long enough to get a hit in. After all, the others were still moving into position. They had seen Jalab and Ceja fall...but they had little time to concern themselves with them while the monster still stood untouched.

However, the move barely made the thing hesitate. A moment later, Omega Weapon simply applied more force and ripped its foot out of the ground again. With that, the "warrior" head opened its mouth...angled it down in Cryder's general area...and began to cry out. As bad as Crow's own power had been, this was far worse. It was more focused and directed this time...more driven to have a purpose. Cryder managed to see it coming and covered his ears...which did absolutely no good. Even a trace of the song "leaking in" was enough to make him peel his head back and scream in agony. Soon, his cries grew worse than mere pain. They sounded both violent and fierce, and his body, completely out of his control, for his mind could no longer focus on anything, involuntarily staggered out of the hiding place it had been in. Yet Omega Weapon didn't strike him there. It merely continued to blast him...until his hand dropped away from his ears. Then, to the shock of anyone looking, he took the Kagunei, swung it around, and drove it into his own torso. As one testament to his own control...he managed to keep it from going into his heart...but it still went deep into his midsection, and that was more than bad enough. Leaving it inside, he instantly fell to the ground and, in an even more horrible display, used whatever strength he had after stabbing himself to start flinging his body about, attempting to break more of his bones against the rocks...

That didn't get too far, fortunately...before the sky above Omega Weapon turned darker yet. It wasn't enough to distract the monster alone, but soon after, as the clouds started to part on one region of the sky, exposing not the surface of Nyx Gaia being dangerously close on the other side but, rather, space itself...the giant monster cut off its speech and looked up to the heavens. Moments later, another beam of pure white power and force erupted from the ground on its "blind side"...the result of Quaren having gotten close enough to aim and fire to Fomalhaut once again. By now, Dael was getting close enough where, if she was getting over a high elevation spot, she could actually see him shooting. Yet that wasn't all she saw. Far on the other side, Taraketh was wrapped in a green aura, and, much as Jalab had been doing, was quivering where he stood, seeming to buckle under tremendous strain from casting. Dael hadn't ever learned this spell herself...but Taraketh, being the excellent mage as he was, and having learned so much from the other Guardian Forces already, and having had contact with the energy from Odin even if he hadn't been able to junction to him, had helped make clear to him something even more powerful than Holy. As Omega Weapon looked to the sky, completely ignoring the attack by Quaren, which did little more than obscure his vision when it split itself against his shield without effect, a series of white-hot blazes ripped out of the heavens and sailed straight for it. Dael saw at once that this was not the "Comet" attack she had performed with her Mage Gun earlier, but rather the "Meteor" variety. But in the hands of an excellent mage, the spell was summoning much larger and more potent meteors than before, with more speed, power, and number.

And unlike all other attacks until now...they proceeded to ignore the shield entirely and go straight for the head and torso of the beast.

Soon, Omega Weapon vanished into a cloud of fire and power as the meteors made contact with it and began to erupt. Taraketh stood his ground and held onto the attack as long as he could, trying to draw as many meteors as possible to slam into the thing. Quaren struggled to reload on the off chance that this would somehow weaken the monster or destroy its barrier enough to shoot again, but the force of the explosions was tremendous and soon he had to take shelter. Dael herself felt the shockwaves rip out from the points of impact, forcing her to hold her ground and grab on tight to Bahamut to keep him from being blown away. Even then, she felt the heat and power from it nearly searing her. She was overwhelmed. She had no idea that Taraketh had managed to perfect such an attack, and do so all while they were more or less "on the road". Did he obtain it just now? Or did he know it for some time and had been saving it for Mianyl? Even after seeing the Sorceress take a Fomalhaut blast, Dael had to admit she didn't think she could have shrugged off this attack so easily, especially since the very nature of Meteor, drawing on "cosmic" power rather than that of Gaia itself, made it impossible to protect against using magical means.

At last, however, Taraketh was forced to cut off the attack, unable to keep pushing any longer. As his aura died, he moaned and staggered, wavering and barely able to keep himself from collapsing entirely. Quaren snapped back out at this time as the shockwaves died, a fresh shell loaded into the Fomalhaut and aiming into the cloud of fire and smoke arising from Omega Weapon's upper body. The lower body was clearly still standing, although that wasn't what he was focusing on. The problem with the Meteor attack was that it wasn't capable of being isolated. It had only bombarded Omega Weapon's upper body. But if one or more of the Meteors had managed to destroy a crystal or two...then perhaps the beast was now defenseless and could be shot at and hurt by more conventional weapons. To that end, Quaren waited for a shot to come as the fire and smoke faded.

He didn't get a chance to wait long, though. Even as he waited, an odd noise, like a combine harvester going over rocks and smashing them into gravel, became audible. It rapidly grew louder...extremely rapidly. Quaren continued to aim at the monster for a moment until the noise grew too close too fast, indicating a rapidly incoming attack...and coming from right in front of him. He quickly lowered his weapon so he could see it through the sight...and was just in time to see what looked like a seething deluge of pressurized bubbles and water moving so fast and furious over the landscape that they literally ground rocks into dirt in instants...and heading for him with all the speed of a flood through a broken levee. He had no time to realize that this attack came from Omega Weapon's base...much less possibly recognize this as the ancient "Blue Magic" that many such mages had known as "Aqua Rake"...for a heartbeat later he was cast into the violent, turbulant water. It immediately began to rip into him as well while at the same time raking him along the ground and smashing him into more and more rocks and landscape all the way. Simultaneously being drowned and battered.

Taraketh weakly looked up to this, and, in spite of having used a great deal of his magical "stamina" to cast that spell, struggled to cast another. Yet even as he did…to his own shock, the sky around him grew dark as well. He looked heavenward, and immediately saw the clouds over his own head part too, exposing the vastness of space beyond. Dael, at this point, was even closer to him, meaning if this attack was what she thought it was going to be… She thought of putting Bahamut down and teleporting to him, trying to get him out of the way. There was no way he could run from it himself, after all… Yet there was no time for that either…because this wasn't a Meteor spell.

Instead, the sky suddenly let out a sonic noise that was loud and piercing enough to both hurt the ears as well as the head. It was so intense that Dael, almost against her will, released Bahamut, who spilled back to the ground. It didn't really matter, for soon he, like her, grasped his ears in agony. For a moment, she feared it was the same attack as had hit Cryder…but no, it was something completely different. Some sort of spinning ring of light had erupted from the heavens and had slammed down around the area Taraketh was in, surrounding him. Not only that, it seemed to suck a constant stream of "stardust", or, at least, tiny blazing meteors out from the heavens and sweep them around in some sort of blazing twister. She couldn't see into the storm that well once it started…but could tell enough to realize that the resulting "pull" of the lights were sweeping them around into a vortex where Taraketh was located. Soon, tiny eruptions were going off all around him. For a moment, Dael thought he could generate a shield to negate this…

But that was before the "size" of the attack suddenly increased…and much larger meteors were ripped out of the heavens…these ones larger and more blazing like the ones from a proper Meteor attack. Dael only had a moment to gape in shock as a blazing, "electric twister" of the meteors was torn out of the heavens…before she didn't have time to worry any longer if they were hitting Taraketh or not. She quickly turned to run for it herself…

When they began to slam into the ground, sending out concussive blasts that ripped apart the stone landscape and made the ground heave and shudder. Dael was blasted by the initial shockwave with enough force to actually send pain radiating through her body, before she was flung violently away and into the landscape. She landed against several hard rocks that gave resounding impact to her, Mirage Belt or not, but luckily they also forced her away into a depression that acted like a "ditch" of sorts. Bahamut was likewise flung into it as well, being battered around quite a bit himself. When both landed, however, the sonic noise as well as the explosions only continued to ring out one after another, with no end in sight. Dael, battered, senseless, and barely able to focus, could barely get enough of her bearings to realize how terribly Taraketh was getting pounded by this. She feared he couldn't even survive this sort of attack…

At last, the eruptions died down, and the sonic noise slowly faded. Even after that, the sky remained darker and more turbulent than ever. In fact, the wind was picking up sharply again. More than just gusts this time…it seemed to be closer to a severe thunderstorm or a tornado. Even from the trench that she was in, Dael could feel it sharply tugging at her clothes and hair, knocking it loose and blowing it about. Thunder began to rumble overhead. By now, Dael realized, the resulting chaos that Omega Weapon had unleashed so far had to be pushing the planets very close to one another…and that was what had to be causing it. She almost wondered how it would "happen" if it transpired…if the two worlds would literally collide or what… Yet slowly, over the gale, she managed to crack her eyes open. Her body was sore and even cut in a few places just from the tumble, but she lifted her head up a bit. She still couldn't see from inside the trench. She only heard Bahamut grunting and struggling to rise as well. As a result, she pushed herself out further, managing to crawl to the "lip" of the trench and look around.

She didn't see much of anything other than the destructive wake that Omega Weapon had left. The landscape was uneven as it was, but in any event she couldn't see the others. All she saw was Omega Weapon still standing, looking about slowly. Taraketh was nowhere to be found...and it seemed to be looking for a new target...

A moment later...a large white "wall" suddenly lit up from behind it, causing the monster to look around. At the same time, the ground shuddered rapidly and the sky thundered again. Dael couldn't see from where she was...but she knew the source. Cid, somehow in the midst of all of this chaos, had again tried to sneak around and behind the opponent...and seemed to have made it thanks to his own reduced power. That done, he whipped out his strongest weapon...the Atomic Hammer...and had swung it into the barrier with all of his might and launched it. A blaze went out from the ground, signifying the power present in it as the core detonated.

And yet...nothing.

The crystals shuddered a bit that made up the barrier, actually being forced into a greater strain...but other than that, absolutely nothing. Cid, on his part, gaped in shock, nearly dropping his hammer. That weapon could have shattered anything with a direct hit...or rather should have...and yet it didn't even make the barrier give. He didn't even eject the core from his smoking hammer as he gaped in open-mouthed surprise. As for Omega Weapon, it looked down to him momentarily...and then merely reared back one of its rear legs and smashed out. Soon...Cid's own body went flying away as a crunch went out on impact, obviously several bones broken as well, before he smashed against the ground and actually tumbled so hard that he flew into the air for a moment before landing. He went completely still at that...not that Dael could see him anymore due to the rough landscape.

They were all down now…struck down by simple gestures of Omega Weapon in less than a minute. As for the beast itself, it didn't waste time "finishing the job". It saw far too much "order" and "civilization" on this world to worry about annihilating the remains. Besides…it had already sensed a new target. The head of the warrior and the wolf's head were already turning toward where Dael was. At any moment, it would unleash yet another devastating and overwhelming attack…

Worst of all…it didn't have a mark on it from the Meteor spell.

The former captain slumped back into the hole, her eyes wide and feeling distinct fear running through her. The others could be dead and, if they weren't, they were either severely wounded or dying. In less than a minute it had struck them all down. Its barrier was fully intact but even if it wasn't, how could they hope to hurt it? It was too powerful…beyond anything they could hope to do to it… Fighting was useless. They couldn't even damage the thing. She doubted even unloading those fusion bombs on it would stop it…

_And if that can't stop it…even the other Guardian Forces can't._ She thought to herself. _Nothing can stop it. Our only hope was to keep it from ever coming to Gaia…and we failed to do that. _

_It's over…_

Even as she thought of this, however, she felt a shadow over her before a hand clamped on her. She looked up at that, and saw Bahamut, stiff and pale-looking, had put his remaining arm on her shoulder as he rose to his feet. He now stood over her body and was glaring at Omega Weapon.

"Get clear from here, Dael." He stated firmly.

She stared back at him. "…What are you going to do, Bahamut?"

"Attempt to use the Banish spell on it. Don't turn back." He flatly stated. "It only has a one in a billion chance of working like this…but it's something. Better than letting it kill you."

Dael was taken aback on hearing that last part, but only for a moment, before she turned insistent. "You can't fight that thing, Bahamut! You can't beat it!"

"No…but I have to try." He simply answered.

"Then I'm not going to let you fight it alone." Dael retorted, beginning to rise. "The best I can do is dis-"

Surprisingly, Bahamut summoned enough power to push down on her hard enough to force her back into the trench. "You're going to stay _right here_ until I'm clear and then you're going to run for it." He retorted in a half-snap. "You're not dying here today. Just run. And don't argue anymore. It's too close. I have to go after it now before it just annihilates us both."

"No!" Dael shot back, although Bahamut somehow was still holding her down. "I'm not going to let you die here! You're the only one who has a chance of stopping this thing one day! If anyone's going to sacrifice themselves, it's going to be me! When you recover-"

"I already said I'm not going to argue." He cut off as he grunted, and forced his foot over the edge to start pushing himself up. He actually used Dael for leverage as he lifted in the air.

More fear was flowing into Dael at this point…even hurt. That feeling she had for Bahamut…it was stronger than ever now. It was tugging at her more powerfully than ever. Her friends had just been struck down. Military mentality aside, she was terrified that they might be dead. But on thinking of Bahamut dying as well…it was stirring something even greater inside her. It felt like it was breaking her heart…

"Why?" She called out to him. "Why should you die instead of me?"

Bahamut hesitated only a moment. He held at the edge of the trench, using the time to gather his strength, before he finally looked back to her for just a moment. His beautiful blue eyes showed not determination…but fear and attachment as well.

"…I may never get the chance to say this again, Dael…so I'll say it now and you can ponder what it means for the rest of your life. If I watch you die here…it would feel like I was watching my own mother die."

Dael's jaw loosened. She sat there staring blankly at him. That was why? But…that was ridiculous. They weren't related…he was thousands of years older than her…he was stronger and wiser than she would ever be… Yet after all that time together, had his mentality really reached this point? She was too stunned to respond, left staring at him blankly. He used that moment to push off of the edge, go on the ground, and, with what had to be most of his remaining strength, ran right at Omega Weapon. She looked to him, nearly running out after him…but in the end too stunned to move.

That was because she nearly shouted out something after him.

_Watching you die would be like watching my own son die._

It was impossible…insane…twisted…and ridiculous…but it was also finally clear to Dael in that one moment. In spite of how different the two were, how they weren't even the same species…she realized what the feeling was inside of her. Maternal love. She didn't know how it had happened or where…but she realized at last, no matter what form or body he was in, that she loved Bahamut as if he was her own son.

_But why? How? Why do I feel like this?_

…_Why is the feeling only getting stronger?_

She was unable to say anything as Bahamut continued to charge out. Unfortunately, the ground here was flat enough that she could see everything. Omega Weapon was definitely headed for her…but she couldn't move. She couldn't carry out his last request to her…not now. Not when the feelings inside of her were too strong to deny anymore and only growing more overwhelming. Even looking at Bahamut at this point was making her eyes fill with tears, realizing what was about to happen. She was oblivious to all else. Even the status of her friends…

Even the fact that, far behind her, what looked like a fiery bird was coming out of the sky and descending for where Tiamat lay…

Bahamut himself finally got as close as he could to the beast. He stopped and planted his feet. After that, he crossed his arm in front of him and began to chant. Dael couldn't hear the words…just knew that was what he was doing. As for Omega Weapon, it continued to stomp forward. Fire poured from the mouth of the wolf's head like infernal drool. The warrior head glared down at him, its arms both flexing and tensing with each earth-shaking step. Dael could feel the heat and power come off of it. Yet in spite of that, Bahamut held his ground and continued to generate the spell. Even as he began to buckle under the power of each footstep against the ground, he held and continued to generate it. Dael felt herself sweating. She tried to tell herself to "get over it". To "snap out of it" and just get out there and distract the thing. Yet the realization kept her immobilized too long…like she was frozen in place.

Finally, she got enough of her wits to move. When that happened, she began to raise over the lip of the trench. Even as she did, the aura of Bahamut erupted. He was producing the spell at last…

Then, Omega Weapon merely snapped out its massive hand and slammed it down on him…smashing him into the rocky ground as easily as a man crushes a bug.

The world went silent to Dael yet again. The color drained from her face. Her eyes turned wide as saucers. She forgot about springing out of the trench or moving or fighting or running or anything else. She merely stared…stared at the massive hand laying heavily on Bahamut's body. She couldn't even see a trace of him. No spell came. The hand merely lay there a moment. Then, it slowly drew back…and revealed nothing but a bloody, broken, and completely motionless body on the other side of it. Omega Weapon, seeing its threat removed, looked up and stared at Dael instead, and then began to walk toward her next.

The woman didn't care. She didn't even notice as the massive four legs of the monster passed over the "mess" that it had turned Bahamut into. She could see him in her spiritual sight…and saw nothing. Indistinguishable from anything else around him. When that happened, she slowly slumped back into the trench. Not by will…but by her legs giving out beneath her.

_Gone._

_He's gone…_

The tears that had begun to come before flowed more freely than ever now. They soon streamed down her cheeks as her face tightened. Dael had never wept bitterly before in her life…but now she felt herself doing so. Just as she had realized…she felt like she had just watched her own son die. And she didn't question it this time. Didn't guess herself or wonder why. She didn't have the ability to do that. She didn't even care that Omega Weapon was nearly on her and would soon do the same to her. She merely bowed her head and put her face in her hands, and continued to sob. The military woman wasn't there right now. She only felt like a mother stripped of her child. She couldn't do anything else but cry and felt like her heart had just been carved from her chest.

The monster stopped incoming. At that point, it looked down upon her, clearly seeing with the warrior head. When that happened, the wolf's head looked down as well. A moment later…and the sky began to darken again. Black tendrils started to snap out. It wasn't "wasting time" at this point. It was going to annihilate her and everything in the area with another Gigaflare. Yet Dael couldn't look up. She continued to bow her head and cry. She nearly did that right through the end…

But before she could, she tried looking out with her "spiritual sight" again. She couldn't talk to Bahamut now. She couldn't look at his body. So she wanted to see his spirit again…wanted to recognize him…see if she could at least sense him one more time before Omega Weapon ended it all…

Yet she couldn't find it on his body. All she could sense as far as his spirit…was from within Omega Weapon.

_The last of his essence…_ She realized.

When that happened, her tears dried up. Her face, distraught and red, nevertheless tightened. She couldn't fight…and if she could it would do no good. But slowly, she turned up and looked to the beast in front of her. The heat pouring out of the wolf's head was already hot enough to burn, but she glared at it hatefully none the less. Inside that monster…she could sense Bahamut's essence…the last part of him still here. The last part of _her son_ still here. And this monster wore it…this destructor…who had slain Bahamut on that world too…like some badge of honor. Stole the last of her memory of him…

At this, she felt her anger swell.

…And something else.

"…Give it back." She stated quietly.

Remarkably…Omega Weapon hesitated. Suddenly, the energy buildup to the Gigaflare cut. It didn't dissipate, but it stopped building. And the monster actually paused as well. Dael was too distraught to notice…but the thing actually looked…puzzled.

Dael, however, only continued to glare as she put a hand on her sword hilt and rose up to her feet, still glaring at it angrily.

"Give it back to my son." She coldly stated with more volume.

Then…something even more remarkable happened.

Omega Weapon's Gigaflare _did_ begin to lessen. Not only that, but the massive world destroyer actually _took a step backward_, away from Dael. Furthermore, it suddenly began to quiver all over, as if something was radiating through it or happening to it. As Dael continued to glare at it, it only got worse. The wolf's head and warrior head alike looked about slightly, the thing now confused as to what was happening to it. The quivering continued to grow until the ground shook along with it. Furthermore…something was changing.

Faint blue light seemed to be shining from the cracks in its armor…and growing brighter.

Face now filled with fury, Dael, in spite of having no way to fight the monster, ripped Save the Queen from its sheath and glared hatefully at Omega Weapon. With all the wrath and righteous indignation of a mother, she bellowed at it at the top of her lungs.

"_Give me back my son!"_

Then, in response, Omega Weapon suddenly arched…and the light exploded out of it. From at least a dozen cracks, tendrils of blue light erupted from the monster. They streamed out in a heartbeat, converged, and then increased speed as they spun around, over, behind, and away from the colossal beast…and right into the bloody remains of Bahamut. On reaching him, they slammed into his body with such force that his body actually flopped a bit…

And, at once, Dael's spiritual sight came to life as Bahamut's spirit returned.

And grew _tremendously._

Bahamut suddenly arched his back as power began to radiate out of him…enveloping his body in a golden aura as bright and brilliant as the sun. Suddenly, his mouth opened…and he let out a cry of a draconian roar that only grew larger and more powerful, shaking the ground and the turbulent, stormy heavens alike, which only grew more fearsome and violent as the clouds crashed and thundered and swirled. Omega Weapon, sensing the sudden surge of power, ignored Dael and spun back around to him. As for Dael…her own anger evaporated as she snapped her head to the source, and watched as Bahamut's eyes opened up…and radiated as brilliantly as the sun.

The wounds immediately sealed up, the bones snapped back into place, and, in a torrent of blood, a new limb popped out of the stump where his old one was. Still roaring, Bahamut's legs, filled with more power than ever, snapped out in a "flip" and launched him onto his feet. As his body went up and slammed into the ground…it fractured beneath him and began to depress as his golden aura burned brighter and brighter. Suddenly, his shirt shredded and peeled off of him as two large, scaled wings erupted from his back, each one tipped with three razor-sharp, deadly claws. He arched his head forward as his scalp ripped off and a massive, three-horned crest came out and plated it, before the rest of his skin shredded as his body swelled and more scales filled in with it. His tailbone erupted out to form a massive, thick, scaled tail as his hands and feet morphed into deadly claws. He soon doubled…tripled…quadrupled in size…and as he grew thick scale plates locked together and became energized with an almost electric blue color. Heat began to pour from his mouth as it filled with reptilian teeth before a "beak" of sorts, scaled and strong, formed over his lips, the last of his mammalian features vanishing as his hair fell out. He grew larger and more powerful yet, his strength continuing to surge and swell as he reached his former size, all of his new appendages filling with strength and glory that dwarfed everything he had regained until now.

Finally, he flapped his wings once downward, sending up a hurricane of force so strong it actually made Omega Weapon recoil a step in spite of the shield…yet somehow managed to miss Dael entirely, which was good because she was left standing in open-mouthed awe. At least…she was for a second longer before her heart began to surge. New tears started to form in her eyes, but no longer of sadness. She didn't know how it was possible…but it was there none the less, and it filled her with as much joy as the heartache had moments earlier. Only then did she get enough of her old "military mentality" to do as Bahamut had originally said, and then turned and quickly began to get out of there as fast as she could. She knew what was coming…

As for the restored "dragon king", he continued to soar into the turbulent air for a moment, reveling in all of his restored power and glory momentarily as he once again enjoyed the miracle of flight, but that was only a moment before he snapped around and moved back down to the space before Omega Weapon. Once there, he went into a hover, his tail thrashing about, his massive wings beating slowly, and his eyes, now reptilian as well but still radiating like the sun, burning into the massive opponent before him. His body was as flawless as a piece of blue steel, shimmering and radiating power. Where Tiamat's body had an "infernal" look to it, his looked almost heavenly; a picture of perfection. He tightened his front claws into fists and bellowed a roar at it sharp enough to be heard just as loud and long as Omega Weapon's own "foghorn"…a challenge.

Bahamut had returned.

* * *

><p>The former "King of All Espers" had to resist the urge to revel in his power. He had not felt this strong in ages. He was grateful to realize that although he wasn't nearly as strong as his ZERO form had been…he was far above and beyond his baseline power now. Coming back as a Guardian Force had made him stronger than ever…or, at least, his years of experience and power building had. Nevertheless…he realized he had to be more careful than ever now. He had no idea how Dael had managed to not only restore his strength but also his body, but he couldn't afford to get sloppy. He could sense weak signs of life from the others. It was possible to still save them…so he couldn't let Omega Weapon hurt them anymore. Furthermore…he couldn't forget his "Nyx Gaia" version was destroyed by this thing once. He would have to fight "smarter"…and carry out his plan.<p>

Before, the Banish spell had no chance of working. But if he could "soften" this thing up a bit first…exploit the fact that it seemed to not be able to realize how much of a threat an opponent was initially…

Omega Weapon's "ruby" once again flashed at this point, and soon fired a beam just as fast as it did against Jalab at Bahamut. Fortunately for him, back in his body and at full power, the powerful Guardian Force shot to one side to avoid it. Even in the air, it wasn't just "standard flight" supporting him, but his own magical power. Of course, Omega Weapon didn't take that sitting down. Soon, the ruby flashed again and fired another beam, which Bahamut likewise shot up and around, although it nearly tagged his tail that time. A third time it fired, forcing him to sweep around and forward, "rolling" this time to avoid one tagging him on the shoulder. However, during all of this, Bahamut was building up his speed and moving in closer and closer…

As Omega Weapon attempted to fire again, Bahamut suddenly brought his wings in and launched himself with far more force and power than he had shown in his previous dodges…turning himself into a living missile that came in from the side. The shot fired went over his head all together, missing him completely, as his body slammed full force into the barrier. Instantly, it held him there…but Bahamut didn't stop. Growling deeply, his power continued to pump out, making his eyes gleam brighter and more golden than ever. The barrier held for a bit…but he began to buckle against it. As Omega Weapon aimed to fire again, his body became enveloped in the same bright energy as he pushed harder and harder. The barrier continued to buckle afterward, the crystals making it up gleaming brighter and brighter themselves…before they began to flicker. The barrier soon became visible, a wall of white energy…and it started to waver and stretch. Bahamut continued to push…before giving out a cry as his force doubled. Suddenly…two of the crystals cracked…and moving like a blaze of light, Bahamut burst right through the barrier. Omega Weapon, if it was capable of showing surprise, failed to register it before Bahamut's full body slammed into the side of the helmet.

The ground fractured beneath the power of the blow, everything for miles shaking and feeling like it would rip apart as the sky overhead broke momentarily from the raw power. Omega Weapon's head went up and to one side before the strength that Bahamut displayed sent its entire staggering body shooting along the ground, digging deep trenches into the landscape as it was forced away from the area and sliding across the landmass. It actually slid back a full mile from the power of the blow it had just sustained, and part of its armored plating around its face was dented in. A few trickles of blood actually faintly went out from the cracks in its armor. As for Bahamut, he hovered a moment, feeling sore all over and his head pounding from having slammed his crest into Omega Weapon. He was actually a bit dizzy and groggy from that…and he had put a good percentage of his power into that blow as well. Yet he hesitated only to steady himself, and then took off again for Omega Weapon.

As for the beast…it now realized that this opponent had sufficient power to damage it, and that meant it needed to be more "severe". On that note, the sky around it blackened again as its barrier struggled to redouble itself, before black tendrils began to sink into it. The wolf's head staggered a bit before a beam of intense, burning light formed in its jaws…and a moment later it erupted out in a Gigaflare aimed right for Bahamut. However, the Guardian Force guessed that this monster was used to things not being fast or powerful enough to escape the blast…and he knew full well from his own limited experience that the Gigaflare tended to immobilize one while it fired. And so he quickly tore to one side, increasing his speed to maximum again as he shot through the air.

Immediately, the monster pitched its head around, struggling to tag him with it. And Bahamut had to admit, it was at least motile enough to keep it on his heels. He definitely couldn't afford to let himself get hit by it…even if there was a chance he might only absorb the solar power. As he shot around, his wings unfurled and began to drain light rays into him as well. Unfortunately, that wasn't easy. Night was falling, but even if it wasn't, the sky was growing cloudier and darker by the second. There was little light to be found…forcing him to once again tap into his own reserves. Yet as he continued to charge, he managed to pitch up briefly, letting the wolf head chase him into the sky…before collapsing his wings and going into a dive that left the monster aiming at the air while he was in the clear. He used the moment to quickly shoot inward toward the beast, aiming for one of the crystals. A moment later, his mouth opened and discharged a Megaflare for it.

The barrier was pierced and the crystal struck…but this one, unfortunately, was one of the "intact" pieces. It fractured as a result of being blasted, but still held together, and soon the monster brought up and around its larger claw and swung out for Bahamut. Before he could react, another earth-shaking strike went out as Bahamut was smacked by it and send spiraling and flying away, again rather like a fly that had been swatted. If that wasn't enough, Omega Weapon was still firing the Gigaflare, and aimed it down to try and tag him, all while aiming its smaller hand at Bahamut before launching a sphere of sizzling, sparkling darkness at him with all the speed of a bullet. This, however, was not a "standard" gravity spell. It was a technique it had taken from Blue Magic known as "Black Shock"…a power that, if it connected, would reduce Bahamut to half of his total power in an instant…

Yet moments before both attacks could intersect him…the Guardian Force used an older, yet still reliable move he had used years ago and fired off another Megaflare while still spiraling…this one aimed opposite his direction. The end result was to launch him into the air like a rocket…out of the path of the attacks and back toward Omega Weapon. The strain was terrible against his wings and body, and everything hurt from the blow he had just taken…not to mention he had to drain even more of his reserves to use it. But he was still at full strength, and as he launched back just as quickly at Omega Weapon, he forced his wings out to stabilize himself, spun around, and then readjusted his path. As Omega Weapon prepared his orb to fire again…Bahamut suddenly collapsed his wings and doubled his speed, going into a descending dive straight for one of the cracked crystals. It was too fast for the bulky monster to dodge or react, especially since the Gigaflare was dying, and soon Bahamut raced past it and discharged a point-blank Megaflare. This time…the crystal erupted into thousands of pieces. The barrier, broken, offered no hindrance as Bahamut shot by.

At that point, however, his wings were radiating with power. He wasn't finished yet. As Omega Weapon snapped its head around to try and track him, he continued to fly by until he was at a good distance, before snapping around again and unfurling his wings. Immediately, his jaws opened wide, and a gleaming ball of light and heat began to form in his own mouth. It didn't take long. After all…he was an old pro at this even after being "out of practice". Omega Weapon hadn't even had time to put its shoulder to him before rays of intense light and solar radiation were pouring off of him, before he snapped his head back and let a Sun Flare leave his mouth like some sort of "solar comet" and streak through the sky for just a moment before making contact with the back of Omega Weapon, right in between the joints where its wings were located. The resulting explosion was piercing, intense, and flashed with an intense, burning light that looked almost like a flame from the sun. Omega Weapon actually staggered forward, a few slight bits of its armor plating falling off of its massive body as a result of the blast.

By now, Bahamut was panting a bit, but he wasn't done yet. The monster had been smacked around a little…but he had to make it be hurt enough to slip into the Void. He took a moment to regain his bearings. He couldn't afford to launch too many more Sun Flares without a "power source", and he had to keep this up. The monster hadn't even taken enough damage to be wounded…only a little hurt.

Yet as he readied himself for a new move…something unexpected happened. The upper torso of Omega Weapon suddenly spun around completely and faced him. The Guardian Force, feeling the "burn" by now, barely had time to react before it aimed its "small" palm at him. Abruptly, the world around him turned darker and distorted. Bahamut went a bit wide-eyed…before the force of his own eyelids began to yank them shut again. Too late, he realized what it had done. It was using gravity again. At first…he resisted it. He was strong enough, after all, to keep himself going even now. He forced his limbs up, made his wings keep beating, and, although he lost a bit of altitude, he put in his own levitation power into it to keep himself in the air. In another moment, he would have moved away from the area…

Only to feel the gravity increase ten fold. He would have cried out if his diaphragm didn't feel so much weight that it nearly yanked his lungs to the point of not breathing. The sudden surge nearly broke his wings, and he had to collapse them and his limbs to keep it from happening. Even so…he fell to the ground like a stone. In spite of all of his effort to stay rigid and upright, and in spite of the power he was exerting, the gravity was too much. In moments, he slammed into the ground so hard that he nearly sank into it, smashing the ground around him. Soon after, he spilled forward only all fours. He had to. It was the only way he could keep himself from being pressed into the ground. Even so…every bone and scale on his body was buckling. His heart could barely keep pumping blood with that kind of mass. He struggled, drawing on his reserves again, wrapping himself in a powerful aura…but it was no good. He was still held steady, unable to move, unable to rise, and unable to escape the gravity. He was trapped.

With its target now stuck, again the air around Omega Weapon darkened while it turned in place to fully face him. Again the black tendrils streamed into its mouth, followed by rays of intense light as the wolf's head again prepared to fire a Gigaflare. Bahamut barely managed to even look up to see this. He could barely keep his head from slamming into the ground from the intense gravity around him. He couldn't speak, shift, or do anything else. He was pinned and immobilized…and had no way of dodging the attack. And powerful as he was…he doubted that even if he survived a Gigaflare from this range that he would be able to fight anymore. There was the chance he could absorb it…but he feared that wouldn't be the case. Besides…as powerful as this monster was…there was an excellent chance he wouldn't survive this attack at all…

He struggled to move…to do anything. About the only truly feasible situation now seemed to be to let himself sink into the ground…hope that it was thick enough to block against the power. But considering that it had just turned a chain of mountains into vapor, he doubted that would help… And he soon found there was no more time to decide. The streams of light finished gathering into the orb in the wolf's head, and it began to rocket its head forward and open its jaws wide with the intent of firing a beam of destructive energy…

When a blue and red shape streaked down from the heavens and smashed right on the base of the "muzzle" of the wolf's head with another heaven-rendering crack of force…enough to slam the jaws of the wolf head shut and discharge the blast into its own mouth. The fiery eyes of the monster actually widened a bit before a brilliant, blinding flash went out from within the jaws of the wolf's head…streams of deadly light shooting out from gaps in teeth and raking huge burning trenches along the ground or rending the heavens. However…the force also served to blow some of the Omega Weapon's own teeth out, blast off more armor plating, and burn and burst genuine flesh and bone on the other side. This was no light attack. It definitely felt pain…pain enough to recoil and release the spell on Bahamut. Instantly, the Guardian Force took off into the sky and to the side, making sure to get clear of a follow up attack. As he did, he looked to see his savior.

To be honest…he was a bit surprised.

As Omega Weapon continued to stagger from the latest blow, Tiamat had already taken off into the sky again and was backing off as well. The monster was dripping both magma as well as blood from its wolf head jaws, which were missing several teeth at this point, and it didn't react as the dark Guardian Force moved further away from it. At any rate…all of his power seemed to be back. He looked up to Bahamut with a snort as he yelled out to him.

"That makes us even…but I should have known you'd need me to step in!"

Bahamut was taken aback…but it didn't look as if Tiamat was going to attack him. Rather, after giving him a cruel grin, no doubt reveling in the fact that he had the joy of knowing he had to "save" Bahamut just now, he turned his full attention back to Omega Weapon, which was already rearing up and bringing its small hand forth again. From the looks of it, as unbelievable as it seemed after everything they had been through…Tiamat was actually willing to fight alongside him…

_I suppose it only figures… We both have the common cause that we don't want to die. But…this still seems to strange…that he's actually fighting "on the same side" as I am…_

_Just ignore it. This monster still needs to be stopped._

A moment later, Omega Weapon snapped its body around, actually leaping a bit on the ground and making it shudder, as it faced Tiamat and immediately fired another one of those odd Meteor attacks from before. Bahamut believed it was one of the stronger Blue Magics…Quasar, to be exact…but the fact of the matter is it was still more than powerful enough to hurt, and soon streams of light shot from the heavens around Tiamat and attempted to bring down a cyclone of meteors upon him. In response, Tiamat pitched and took off, but Omega Weapon seemed to expect that, and quickly fired off several beams in succession from its chest to try and hit him. It failed, however…for Bahamut soon moved in and fired off two Megaflares at the backside of the beast, causing its chest to shift and to misfire. Instantly, the colossal monster spun around with its large claw extended to go for Bahamut, but he expected that this time and managed to fly over it, letting it hit only air. However, the wolf's head, broken and burning as it was, snapped up to him and opened its jaws, letting hot magma and burning flames roll out, no doubt meaning to roast Bahamut with a potent flaming attack. Yet that only left it exposed to Tiamat, who responded by blasting it with one of his own "Meganukes" under the thinnest leg at the "knee" joint. The result not only blasted off more armor, but made the entire monster lurch and stagger.

It was stunned only a moment before springing back up again, and this time unfurling its wings and spinning around so violently that the edge of one managed to not only smack Tiamat, but the "feathers" on it were so sharp that they opened a deep gouge. He actually gave a cry before he began to sink to the ground, blood trailing behind him. Although he could regenerate, it would take a few moments, and during that time he fell like a stone. Instantly, Omega Weapon raised its small hand to aim another Quasar attack at him…only to have Bahamut slingshot around it from behind and swing out with his powerful tail hard enough one one of the "tarsal" regions of the small hand to send out a tremendous crack. The armor was fractured as a result. If it had any skeleton, it was unclear if that hurt it…but it did deflect the hand as a result. In response, Omega Weapon went out to try and seize Bahamut with its other hand, but the great draconian creature merely "stalled" and let itself fall to the ground, having the hand go over it before opening his mouth and exhaling twin Megaflares, at the expense of even more of his energy, enough to start tiring him, into the "face" of the wolf's head, seeming to blind it with explosions. Yet in response…the dragon leg of Omega Weapon suddenly snapped up and lashed out, tagging Bahamut hard with a resounding crash as it smashed into him, before sending him flying again. Pain radiated throughout the Guardian Force from the impact, knocking him senseless and sending him sprawling…unable to dodge or to readjust as Omega Weapon targeted him again. Yet, once more, it never got the chance to fire…for Tiamat had recovered enough by now to fly again, and shot right in front of the warrior's head before firing a Meganuke in its face, sending the entire beast staggering back again and blinding it there as well. It dumbly swung out for Tiamat…but he managed to dodge with ease and fly to one side, drawing its fire and wrath as Bahamut spread out his wings, righted himself, and, with a groan, launched back at the thing.

With all of his power…Bahamut would never have been able to defeat or stand against Omega Weapon for long by himself. Yet with "two of him", and both at roughly the same power and speed, they were able to stay ahead of it. Again and again the monster was pummeled with Megaflares and Meganukes, damaging more armor here and there and progressively doing more and more damage to it. In the grand scheme of things, it was little more than having something continuously hit the colossal monster with "small rocks"…but the pain continued to add up, and for all of its fury and power, it couldn't stop them. It soon was firing lasers and casting Quasar continuously as well as sending forth a horrible flaming attack from its jaws that seemed like the flames of Hell itself…and yet unable to hit either one. At all times, they had one on its blind side and one before it, so that it could never target both with the same attack. Every time it gained an edge on one…the other would exploit its focus and attack it from behind. Bahamut continued to pump out more and more of his power as he did so. He grew tired and sore…not only from damage but from continuing to hit Omega Weapon with everything he had in every blow. Not only that, but he was charging another Sun Flare, and had to tap into a large amount of his power to pull it off. The drain was nearly too much for him…but he kept pushing as did Tiamat. By now, his brother had to be wondering what was keeping him…why he wasn't trying to Banish it. However…there was a method to Bahamut's madness. He continued to drag out the fight just a bit longer…tried to make it a bit "angrier"…

At last, it seemed to have a result.

After sustaining the latest blow from Tiamat, Omega Weapon paused. Neither Bahamut nor Tiamat pressed their attack at that point. They were both using more "responsive" hits, waiting to see what it would dish out next. However, as it stood there, it didn't make any further attacks. Instead, it proceeded to move its feet out and fix them in place. After doing so, and digging into the ground to brace its body, Bahamut saw its chest suddenly open up further. Now, rather than just seeing the ruby "inset" within the body, it exposed both it and ruby red lines running through it. After doing so, additional armor plates moved off of it, and it flexed its arms around itself. After doing so…the sky rapidly darkened again, and the winds grew more fierce. Yet rather than circling every which way, the sky seemed to start sweeping around all together, as if forming a massive "eye" over Omega Weapon. After that happened, the air around it began to heat up…and both Bahamut and Tiamat could sense that it was building in tremendous power. Power far above and beyond anything it had done yet…including the Gigaflare. Every last crack and chink in its armor began to glow with the fiery light from the wolf's head…

Tiamat watched this…and then hissed. "Its power is getting rather large, Bahamut…and even my Shadow Flare can't counter this! It's going to destroy the area all around it! If you're going to do something, do it now!"

Bahamut didn't answer…but neither did he disagree. Immediately, he dove again. As he did, he tried to recall the spell. He just prayed he could remember it right… He had cast it once before as a human, but…he wasn't honestly sure he had done it properly that time. Leviathan was the one who had performed it before. And if this was anything else, he would never do it period. Yet Omega Weapon was only a mindless engine of destruction…the one thing that could be safely cast into the Void without giving it a "persona" as Mianyl wished. As he struggled to recall, he knew his mind was sharper than ever now that his essence was restored…but he also realized that he didn't know the spell perfectly and had never practiced it. Instead, he tried to fill in the mental "gaps" and prayed he did it right…just as he landed before the towering monster.

The heat and power radiating off of it was incredible now. The dark clouds, now black, seemed to lower over it as it swirled. Yet Bahamut continued to stand his ground. His wings flexed, and he concentrated. He was running low on extra energy, and he was still holding onto the power for a Sun Flare. Therefore…all remaining energy was put into this. He began to chant once again, calling on the arcane power and fueling it with everything it was worth. It took a few moments…but he soon believed he had it. The words came freely enough, and on saying the next to last…he was pretty sure he had it.

However, he merely held and focused at that point.

Tiamat, circling overhead, glared at him. "What are you doing?" He called out.

Bahamut didn't answer. He continued to hold…and continued to let Omega Weapon build in power. Soon, it grew stronger yet…far greater than it was only moments ago. The sky continued to darken and grow fiercer than ever. Still, the Guardian Force wouldn't attack. Even when the ground began to shake and fracture, and dripping molten flame began to ooze not only out of the broken mouth of the wolf's head but out of every crack, he still wouldn't react.

"What are you waiting for, you fool?!" Tiamat shouted. "Cast it!"

The Guardian Force didn't answer. He held a bit more…waiting just a little bit longer. However, he opened his eyes and focused on Omega Weapon. He watched him carefully. One wrong move…and he'd be destroyed along with Tiamat, Dael, and everyone else…

Then, abruptly, the power build cut off, and the massive monster began to move…

_Now._

…And Bahamut immediately said the last word, causing his own aura to flash and blaze so strongly that it made his previous blazing aura as a human look like a mere candle.

He knew full well for all the punishment he and Tiamat had been inflicting upon Omega Weapon, it wasn't having a lasting effect. He wanted, instead, to smash into it enough to cause it to unleash what he figured was its "ultimate attack". When it did so…Bahamut knew that it would have to summon enough of its own power to it to render it relatively weak and defenseless for a few precious moments…and it was right at that moment that Bahamut completed the Banish spell.

A new sound, louder than thunder and yet seeming like sound, light, and even reality was being distorted suddenly erupted from behind Omega Weapon. The beast was already in the midst of unleashing its attack…and was powerless to react to it or move. A moment later, the world warped, twisted…and then tore open entirely. As if all time and space was nothing more than a curtain, it was suddenly drawn back and thrown aside…and revealed an empty black oblivion on the other side dotted with what looked like stars. A vast vacuum of what looked like deep space, in other words. And at once, it expanded to enlarge enough to encompass Omega Weapon.

Only now did the beast cut off its attack and react…but it was too late. It had summoned too much of its own power to it. Its body was still glowing and "molten". And soon…the tremendous void behind it began to draw the world into itself. Bahamut suddenly felt himself sucked forward, and was forced to collapse his wings and dig his claws in as a hurricane like gale ripped by him. Rocks were ripped up from the ground, as well as roots and boulders, and were sucked immediately into the black oblivion beyond Omega Weapon. The clouds and even the light within them snapped around and seemed to be drawn inside as well. As for Omega Weapon itself…it was closest to the void, and soon a massive grating sound rang out as the beast was drawn backward into the empty oblivion. Its legs were planted, but the force was too strong. It was ripped out from the ground, carrying boulders with it, and sucked back into the realm of space.

Omega Weapon's strength slowly returned…but the force only grew stronger the further back it was drawn. It began to claw out for the ground with its four bottom limbs, but as it did, it just scraped and dug at the surface of the ground, ripping it clear and sucking it into oblivion as well. Yet still, it continued to fight and struggle. And as it grew stronger, it dug in deeper and harder…and actually managed to slow itself. Its massive, thick tail sank into the space within the hole of reality, and its rear legs went all the way to the edge…but then, it halted. Planting its legs so hard that they dug in almost to the knees, it held its ground. As the winds howled about it…it nevertheless stood still.

This was what Bahamut had been saving the Sun Flare for.

Immediately, in spite of the power whipping against him, he spread his wings wide and began to summon his strength to him. Rays of light…some of them being sucked into the Void…streamed into him, and he opened his mouth and concentrated his power. Of course…he realized, much to his fear, that if this didn't work…he was doomed. He was putting the last of his power into this. It would mean his end as well as that of the world…and he honestly wasn't sure his Sun Flare had enough power to do it. It wouldn't stop him from trying or putting everything he had into it…but he desperately feared it wouldn't be enough none the less…

Yet even as he thought this…he heard a light impact next to him over the howling wind. In spite of the focus he was devoting to his attack, he looked to the side…and received another surprise.

Tiamat had landed there, rays of "darkness" streaming into his own wings, and his mouth open wide with a black ball gathered in his own jaws. He had been charging his power as well…and he seemed intent on making sure that Omega Weapon couldn't escape.

Bahamut felt more surprise…but didn't question it. The brothers both aimed at Omega Weapon…just as it began to cool off and managed to start moving one leg forward to drag it away from the empty void. At that point, both Guardian Forces snapped their heads back. One attack sailed for the monster like a ray of light…the other like a living shadow…but both radiating terrific power that created thunderclaps and rent any boulder that got in their path. Omega Weapon, using everything it had to try and escape the Void, couldn't protect itself as both shots struck the warrior's head in either "eye" and detonated with terrific, concussive force that sent out powerful shockwaves radiating over its body and the rest of the area.

Its entire body snapped back violently at that…sending more of it into the Void. But even if it didn't, the resulting explosions annihilated the ground at its feet…and knocked its legs loose. Flailing and struggling to stop itself, the monster was ripped off of its moorings and cast into the black emptiness behind it. Both Bahamut and Tiamat stared as they saw the massive, unstoppable monstrosity sink into the endless abyss…right before the hole in reality, swept itself forward again, closing in on itself once more. The last they saw of the legendary abomination was it just managing to right itself and look back onto Gaia with its burning red eyes, apparently still intact, one last time before reality closed again…and it was gone. Nothing but empty air.

Omega Weapon had been banished once again from the realm of existence.

Bahamut only now let his wings falter, his arms sag, and panted. His heart was racing. He never thought he would have experienced such a surge in power…only to have it fade just as quickly. He hadn't discharged so much force against one opponent in a long time. However…it was done. The sky remained turbulent, but the central "eye" quickly faded back into the storms. It remained dark, but that was because night had now fallen. There was no trace of Omega Weapon's terrible power. It was gone.

The Guardian Force exhaled and let out a long sigh.

_We actually beat him… Perhaps things aren't as hopeless as-_

His thinking was cut off as a powerful blow went to the back of his head, and, in his weak condition, he immediately collapsed to the ground hard, sprawling out. The hit was by no means "light", and he was stunned momentarily before he grunted and managed to look up.

He soon saw Tiamat standing over him and grinning darkly. After a moment, he leaned over to place his head closer to his.

"Just making sure you don't think because I helped you back there that we're back to being 'old chums', brother of mine." He hissed. "Rest assured…I want you dead, same as before. But I'm willing to put that off long enough for you to help me kill that witch, and I need you at full power for that. After she's gone, however…I'll have no problem stabbing you in the back if you happen to be too weak to fight any longer. For now, I merely give you a 'love tap' for old time's sake."

Bahamut merely glared back at him for a moment of silence. His own look was grim and his pupils narrow.

"…Agreed."

"Good. Now on your feet." Tiamat answered as he leaned up again. "Let's get your little friends put together again. They'll make good distractions if nothing else…"

* * *

><p>Dael was so at a loss, she barely realized what had happened afterward. She naturally had watched the entire battle keenly…finally seeing Bahamut in all of his power and glory as he attacked Omega Weapon. And she had seen, in spite of all odds, how he and Tiamat had managed to defeat it and seal it in the Void. Mianyl had just lost her greatest advantage…what she intended to succeed when all else had failed. And although she could tell Bahamut had used most of his power to do it…they had still won.<p>

Yet with the moment passed, she found herself standing almost in stunned silence. Bahamut had triumphed, yes…and had done so by regaining his essence.

But how had that happened? It had been as if Dael had "willed" it to return to him…

As she stood there, trying to make sense of what had happened, not to mention the feelings inside her toward Bahamut, both he and Tiamat went around and gathered up the others, one by one depositing them in front of Dael. None of them were in good shape…as she had feared. Yet they hadn't come this far, it seemed, to die so easily. Each one was still able to cling to life. And as they put the group down in front of Dael, another figure joined them…the reason that Tiamat had been restored.

Phoenix had to practically crawl up to the group at that point. She had lost the ability to fly. The "fire" that radiated around her had dimmed considerably. It only made sense. To be able to restore a being of the power of Tiamat, she had to forfeit a great deal of energy. She could barely walk in a hobble over to the others. But once there, she quickly stood in the midst of them, all arranged around her, spread out her wings, and burst into flame, enveloping them and her inside of it. Dael had seen this before, but it was still shocking to behold. No one would think anything good could come from such a move. Yet when it was done…the group was fully restored. Aside from damage to their clothes and old blood and ash, they were all intact again.

Yet even as they began to come around, Phoenix herself collapsed to the ground. Bahamut, who had been watching this whole thing, began to advance right away. Dael, in spite of herself…felt a tug inside her too. However, before either could get near, or those around her could lean up to even realize what happened, she weakly held out a dim wing.

"No…it's…it's alright…" She said after a moment. "I just…used the last of my power… I'm sorry…I don't think I can help you all anymore…not for a while yet…"

That was usually pretty bad news. After all…they had defeated Omega Weapon, but now they needed her more than ever. However, Dael didn't press it. In fact, she just felt a sense of relief that the Guardian Force was alright. Bahamut himself hesitated a moment, but then relented.

As for the others, one by one they began to rise. Quaren was first. He blinked in a bit of puzzlement, and then looked around. Based on his orientation, he saw Dael first. He blinked at her a few times, and then looked confused.

"Dael…? What happened? Where's Omega Weapon?"

"Gone." She answered him. "Banished into the Void. Mianyl won't be using him to destroy Gaia."

"…Unless, of course, she opens the Void back up and he happens to be 'close to the door' at that time." Tiamat snorted from where he stood at the side, arms crossed and wings folded.

Taraketh, who had also sat up by now, turned and looked…and instantly froze. Others looking up, including Ceja and Cryder, turned and looked, and soon did the same. They were struck immediately by the dragonawe that came from beholding not only Tiamat but Bahamut back in his original form as well, and actually were taken aback beholding the mighty creature. Even if the bulk of his power was gone and he was having a hard time holding himself up, the mere fact that he was back in his old body was enough to leave them awed and speechless. Dael thought it was odd…that unlike them, she didn't feel the same captivating awe…the same body-freezing sensation…

Tiamat broke the silence. "…What's running through your tiny heads right now, humans? Relief or terror?"

Bahamut let out a groan. "Wyvern…enough."

The Guardian Force looked to him and snorted. "'Enough', he says…and what exactly are you going to do about it if I don't feel like stopping?"

"You want them to fight Mianyl as well, don't you?" He retorted. "You think they're going to be that inclined to work alongside you if you keep threatening to kill them?"

Tiamat hesitated momentarily on hearing that. In the end, he scowled and looked away. "…Very well. Just get on your feet and start thinking of a way back to Nyx Gaia."

As he said this, the others began to rise up. Bahamut and Tiamat had been good enough to bring their weapons to them, and quickly they took them up, and then looked back to Dael as they did so.

"Are we actually fighting with Tiamat?" Taraketh asked almost incredulously. "We can't do that! He's one of history's greatest monsters!"

Dael sighed, but then fixed a gaze on him. "…Be that as it may, if it wasn't for him, we'd have all been destroyed by Omega Weapon by now. We've got no choice but to fight along with him until this is over."

"She's got a point, lad." Cryder threw in as he dusted himself off a bit. "We ain't exactly in a mode to be turnin' down help at the moment…'specially after that."

"Speaking of that…" Quaren spoke up in response. "How exactly _did_ we get out of that just now? I mean…obviously Phoenix healed Tiamat…but Bahamut is back at full power…"

"Yeah…I thought he couldn't get back unless we beat Omega Weapon first and got his essence back." Cid responded.

On hearing this, Dael grimaced a bit, and then looked up to Bahamut.

"…I was kind of wondering that myself. How did that happen?"

The Guardian Force merely looked to her. "…I was hoping you could tell me, Dael." He responded. "Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is the feelings we had…and then being smashed…and suddenly I had my power back. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything." Dael responded. "All I did was…well…I just glared at Omega Weapon and I said…"

She blanched for a moment. It was almost embarrassing to repeat this before everyone…even if her heart continued to feel that way more strongly than ever.

"Said what?" Taraketh asked.

Closing her eyes, Dael let out an exhale. "…I said: 'Give me my son back'."

The former captain couldn't see it through her closed eyes, but a number of puzzled looks were given to her. Not the least of which came from Tiamat and Phoenix. The only one who didn't show much change was Bahamut himself, even though this confused him as much as everyone else. They all stared silently for a moment. In the end, Tiamat gave a scowl.

"…You're joking, right? What kind of freakish human are you? What sort of demented relationship do you have with Bahamut?" He turned his head to glare at him. "How weak have you become that you've encouraged such a demented thought in this pitiful creature?"

"…Oddly enough, it doesn't seem that strange to me." Phoenix suddenly spoke up. "It's…it's strange…"

"That doesn't make any sense at all." Taraketh spoke up. "What does Dael have to do with the Planet? Why should that have made any difference?"

"It makes more of a difference than any of you know…including Dael and Bahamut."

The new voice that had spoken not only immediately gathered everyone's attention, it caused Dael to open her eyes and immediately look behind her. Doing so allowed her to get a clear "whiff" of a sea breeze flowing through her nostrils…and a moment later, in the dim light of the distant flames and the lightning flashes, an iridescent, blue creature raised its head and flicked its whiskers. Dael recognized it by voice long before she saw it, but was still a bit surprised to see that he had managed to "sneak up" on her with her spiritual sight. She must have been truly distracted with her current thoughts…

Tiamat, on his part, gave another growl. "Well if it isn't my favorite worm… Sure you didn't want to bring Odin along so we could have a nice family reunion? I hope you don't think I forgot how you enslaved me to the line of summoners for so long…"

"In all honesty, Wyvern…I could care less about your petty ideas of revenge." Leviathan retorted with an almost bored voice. "After several thousand years…it's gotten rather tiresome."

Tiamat let out a hiss at that, and nearly uncrossed his arms to move forward…looking like he would attack him for that.

"…And for the record," He interjected before he could do anything. "I told Odin to stay back for that precise reason, as well as Alexander so that you wouldn't be enraged or do anything rash. I don't think I need to remind you that your recent battle with that thing that just got banished took a lot out of you…and that at this point, I don't think that you would be able to hold your own that well against Alexander. For that matter…I'm not feeling too nervous about you by myself."

That only seemed to make the red, gleaming portions of Tiamat burn more brightly than ever. His hands clenched into fists and his teeth grit. Yet in spite of that…he held back.

"…You should hit me with your oversized 'water gun' right now if you know what's good for you, Leviathan…because this is the only chance you're ever going to get."

The sea serpent ignored Tiamat, and looked back down to Dael. She too was pretty much ignoring the threats, and focusing entirely on him. "Dael…" He started calmly enough. "I need you to tell me exactly what happened…and not be embarrassed about it. You see…I've been doing a great deal of thinking about what you told me about your dreams earlier…as well as how you were born. Please."

Dael hesitated. She wasn't exactly expecting this. She thought Leviathan had come here to assist them in their next move…but he seemed to be more focused on her. Yet after only a moment, she began to relate what she knew. To be honest...for the time being, she would prefer an answer about that than moving on to Mianyl.

"…I've been feeling strange around Bahamut for some time. Some sense of…I don't know…'attachment'. I don't know why. I've never had any 'soft' notions before…but even when he gained an adult form…even when he turned into his true form…it's only felt stronger. And…" She sighed. "…As insane as this is, Leviathan…I feel a maternal attachment to him. Like he's my own son… But I know that's insane. I'm thousands of years younger than him…I'm just a 'bug' or something to him… Yet when I saw Omega Weapon attack him like that, and I could see his essence still inside of him…something snapped in me. I felt…I felt like something had stabbed me in the heart. Like I had just lost my own flesh and blood…and I felt nothing more than hate to Omega Weapon and a desire for Bahamut to live… Somehow I was able to call to Bahamut's essence and…it came out and reentered him. I don't know why."

The others had gone still and watched now. Even Tiamat, disagreeable as ever, patiently listened to this. As for Leviathan, he quietly stood there and took all of this in, and then, once it was done, let out a slow exhale. "That confirms it to me beyond any doubt… I feel like a fool for not thinking of this sooner. Perhaps it was merely chance…but I believe it was always destiny. It would explain a great many things…"

Dael looked to him. "What, Leviathan? What are you saying? And what does this have to do with my dreams?"

Leviathan looked quietly at Dael a moment more, and then lowered his head down to eye-level.

"…This isn't something you're likely to believe or accept immediately, Dael…but I have no qualms that it is true in spite of tiny possibilities that it is not. This will likely be a shock to you as well, Bahamut…as well as your friends."

Dael felt a hint of nervousness on hearing this, but Leviathan merely drew in a deep breath, and then spoke quietly.

"Dael…the reason as to why you feel this attachment to Bahamut is actually…quite simple. You see…"

He let out a small exhale.

"You _are_ his mother…and mine, and Phoenix's, and Odin's, and Tiamat's. You are Gaia incarnate."

Everyone remained silent and stared blankly at Leviathan on hearing that. Bahamut himself nearly gaped. However…nowhere was that more clear than on Dael's face. It looked utterly blank as she gaped at him.

"…Wh…what did you say?"

"You are Gaia in a human body." Leviathan answered. "The reason you feel that maternal attachment to Bahamut is because the day you ran into him…you 'met your son' for the first time. It only lends itself to my theory that there is something deeper than sensory awareness that connects a parent to her child…"

The silence continued to linger. The group looked down to Dael at this, staring at her with a mixture of confusion and awe.

"Dael…" Quaren began to say.

As for the former captain, she shook her head. "No…that's…that's impossible. I mean…I'm just a human. Alright…so I don't know who my parents were, but I was born and raised in Esthar and I've been regular flesh and bone my whole life…"

"Have you?" Leviathan simply answered. "Do you think it's normal that a human should only ever dream about the same thing? Do you think every human, some human, or even the rare human is able to perform 'spiritual sight'? Just like that? Especially after the magic in their bloodline had dwindled among all save the Sorceresses? Do you think anyone, or even a select few, would form such a bond as you have? Tell me, Dael…this 'maternal' feeling inside you…you don't just feel it looking at Bahamut, do you? You feel a sense of it looking at me as well? You don't fear me like the other humans do, do you? What about Tiamat? Most humans are afraid to say a word to him in his true form…but not you. You don't just feel a distant, removed anger at his past actions, do you? You feel another foreign sensation inside you? Perhaps…disappointment? Betrayal, even?"

Dael had gone a bit paler now…for as Leviathan listed these emotions…she realized that _was_, in fact, the sensations she felt in her heart. In fact, the mere notion in her head that she was truly the mother of these creatures seemed natural and 'right' to her…as impossible as it was.

"…But it can't be true." She said after a moment. "I mean…how? Why? I've been a human baby, a human girl, a human teen, and a human woman! I don't remember ever being Gaia or the Planet or anything!"

Leviathan paused momentarily, but then exhaled a bit and coiled slightly to balance himself for a more lengthy explanation.

"…The answer is rather simple. It was my doing about eighteen years ago."

This caused everyone else to react rather strongly.

"_Your_ doing, Leviathan?" Bahamut called out. "What does that mean?"

The sea serpent lowered his head slightly. "You think that the Sorceresses still have one essence left in their possession. Namely…the 'Eternity' essence. However, that is not the case. All they have is a flask of water with enough phosphorous compounds to make it glow slightly. The truth of the matter is I spent decades researching the essences as I slowly regained my old power following the incident with Diablos. It took countless weeks of study…but the theory I eventually realized was that 'Eternity' was potentially the imaginary 'fifth' element…something aside from Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire that could be combined…or perhaps the end product of combining the other four. An element unlike the others…both separate and yet incapable of being combined. I figured that this element was far more raw and pure…something that symbolized Order…or Chaos. Something from which the other elements arose. And as a result…I was afraid.

"Chaos and Order were the two things that the respective sides of good and evil had tried to clutch forever. All of the great destroyers, all of the great creators…and some who did both at the same time…lusted after it. Sought to unite with it. I feared that if anything was ever to use that essence…whether it be now, a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, or ten thousand years from now…the result would either be something glorious or something too terrible to imagine. I saw already that when the Death essence was misused, it had given life to the hellish amalgamation known as Diablos. I feared greatly that if this element was brought into existence…the end result would be something more powerful than any Guardian Force by far. If that thing was evil…it would have the ability to destroy Gaia itself as well as countless other worlds. I did not trust the humans to be able to contain it forever. Far too many kingdoms had been corrupted over the centuries, as well as too many good kingdoms fell. I had to try and dispose of it…for I did not even trust it to my own safekeeping. So...I managed to steal it from Esthar's possession before the Vaults were even built.

"For two years I tried to devise a method to be rid of the essence…but nothing came to light. I could not risk any of it transferring into anything else. Even doing something as simple as dumping it on the ground might eventually trace into an insect or a worm. Vaporizing it might allow anything to inhale it. The solution I finally concluded that had the most minimal amount of risk was to dump the contents into the core of Gaia itself…as opposed to the Lifestream. The Lifestream would just mean any passing soul would cling to it and might be as bad as Diablos. I assumed the core, however, was the spirit of Gaia itself…where the essences had, hopefully, been derived from…the one place where they could remain. And yet…well…"

He exhaled a bit.

"…There was a possibility, I realized, that it would somehow 'bring the Planet to life' itself. But that was remote, at best. After all…the Planet _is_ alive. It's already an entity…and it contains all others flowing through it. How could something like that be brought to life or co-opted as a 'spiritual host'? And even if it could…one tiny, little essence compared to all of Gaia… How could it leave an effect on that scale?"

Cryder rolled his eyes. "Guess we know the answer to that…"

Leviathan sighed again. "…Yes, there was always the possibility that it might. But there was a risk in everything. I took the smallest one."

"…Lord Leviathan, if I'm hearing you correctly…" Taraketh spoke up. "You're saying that Dael herself is a Guardian Force? And the one for the Planet?"

"Yes…and no." Leviathan answered. "You see…the Planet is something far too grand and on a different level than what we think of as 'sentient' to just sum up what would have happened in one 'neat' package. My theory was that the best that would happen is an 'aspect' of her would become its own entity. Otherwise this world as we know it would have ceased to function. The most likely scenario I referred to as the 'Gaia hypothesis'…which would be the world would be just as it is now, more or less. 'Gaia' would be the creator and destructor…the perpetuator of the cycle of life and death. Order from birth to passing. Not much more than now, in other words. There was a chance she could have come to life like this and none of us would have ever known it."

He looked a bit darker here. "…The second scenario, however, was something I feared far more. I feared that if Gaia did come to life…that she would embody her power and wrath…the same 'dark thoughts' that led her to create the WEAPONs. An entity of power and absolute justice…to the point where all sentient life deserved to die in her eyes. I feared this greatly…and I named it what the humans called a similar entity from their own myths: 'the Minerva hypothesis'. If this happened…I feared we'd all be destroyed as vengeance for thousands of years of destruction and war. However…there was a 'third' alternative…

"Perhaps the Planet was not this cold, distant figure that we thought of…and perhaps, in spite of her 'blindness'…she had seen enough through the ages where she didn't see all of us as 'parasites' or 'destructors'…that a part of her was more like us than we realized. A part of her was more 'human' or 'esper' or whatever you wanted to call it…that would not choose the form of a god but would rather wish to be born as something more mundane…something that could relate as one of the creatures living on it did. I named this final possibility 'the Eden hypothesis'…and it's one that I believe came to light."

Leviathan ceased here, and looked to Dael. The others soon did the same.

Dael, on her part, had gone strangely quiet. As she heard this revelation, as it all came over her…her heart only continued to surge. And none of it was denial or pain…but embracing it. As Leviathan had continued to speak, something inside of her 'resonated'…something she couldn't explain. Something all of the sudden had a 'rightness' about it. At once…things seemed clear. And even if she should have been confused or doubtful…she didn't feel that way. She only felt a sense of harmony. Now…it made sense. Even the dreams. They weren't dreams at all…they were her hearing the voices around her…that made up the 'blood' of her former 'body'. That's why she could hear them clearly on Nyx Gaia…because only the strongest ones could speak through space…

The confusion didn't linger at all. Instead…just a feeling of peace and understanding. She only felt herself relax more and more…as things came to her mind. Strange things…but things that nevertheless felt like they 'belonged' there…like an amnesiac suddenly getting a flow of memory…

"Dael…" Bahamut's voice spoke after a moment. "Are you alright? What are you thinking?"

The woman didn't answer right away. She continued to feel the new sensations moving through her…as if everything was coming together in an order. She slowly raised her head, and opened her eyes. They were on Leviathan, but she didn't see him. She was looking past.

Bits of memory slowly came back to her...from another life...

"…I _thought_ of becoming Minerva." She stated after a time…her tone deeper, slower, and 'wiser'-sounding than she had ever sounded. It was her voice…but it almost seemed like a different person. "I was tired…tired of being hurt by those voices all the time…tired of having them torment me no matter how I tried to shout at them to stop…and suddenly I had the means to interact with them and silence them forever. But…I remembered… I remembered how I had sent the WEAPONs…how the spirits they 'gave back to me' had been so filled with fear and panic when they came into me… How they looked at me and asked me 'why'? I remembered the last Cetra pleading with me for lenience…for help…and I felt my heart breaking in pity. I couldn't do it…but neither could I stand them torturing me and driving me into pain anymore…

"I wanted to know why. I wanted to see why they thought nothing of hurting me… But most of all…" She paused, and formed a wistful smile. "…I wanted to meet the children I had brought up so long ago. I knew only one was there…but I wanted to see him. I knew what I wanted to become…one of the sentient creatures about me. Maybe then I'd understand them…why some of them could be so filled with love and mercy and generosity and others filled with hate and anger and destruction…"

She slowly exhaled and bowed her head.

"…It was like nothing I ever anticipated…feeling my consciousness being compressed into that small, fragile body…wrapped in flesh and bone…and immediately feeling everything hit me. Cold…hunger…fear… I barely had enough wits to send myself to the surface in Esthar…and then I remembered nothing. The mere act of 'being human'…of seeing the world through their eyes and their understanding…to be surrounded with light and reality and everything else… I forgot everything within no more than ten seconds…fully becoming a human infant mentally as well as physically. I believe…now that I think on it…that's what I _wanted_ to happen…

"But it was too much. I became so human…I couldn't remember anything about ever being more. Not even a shadow of ever being more… Everything about me was human…including my mind, having nothing else other than an infant's wants and desires. And as I grew and felt the pain of life…more of 'Minerva' came through in me…the desire to strike down evil… That's why I so eagerly embraced what my foster parents wanted for me. Inside…at the core of me…a part of me wanted to destroy what was hurting this world. And the more I thought of that…the more of a human soldier I became. Less and less of me became Gaia…and more and more of me became Dael. The only trace of me that remained was when I went out to be close to nature…when the last few parts of my mentality that were still Gaia felt at peace…away from loud machines and dirty streets… That may have faded too with time…"

Her head raised again, and turned around to Bahamut.

"…It was you, Bahamut."

The Guardian Force looked a bit taken aback, ever so slightly, at that proclamation, but Dael continued.

"…You're the one who helped me to remember what I felt as Gaia. Because deep down inside me…in my heart of hearts…I had _one_ wish stronger than all others. I wanted to know what it was to be a mortal mother…to be able to care for my children as any mother would care for her son. I wanted to be able to touch you…to hold you…to comfort you and protect you… I wanted the chance to play with you and tend to you… Seeing you in that body…something inside me recognized you. Something inside me saw that I had a chance now…that my son was before me and at last I could show him the love I always wanted to give him but always lacked the power…"

Bahamut said nothing in response…but his face was far from stoic. He only stared back, making the same realization. As for Dael, she looked around to Phoenix and Tiamat before turning back to Leviathan.

"My children…" She slowly said. "I'm finally among you…as I always wanted to be from the first time I could feel you in pain and distress… I created Crusader for you, but…deep down…I always wanted to be the one who would get to care for you and watch you grow…"

"Dael…" Quaren began to say. By now, the group was getting slightly uneasy. Dael didn't even seem like herself anymore at this point. It was almost as if she was possessed.

On her part, the former captain closed her eyes again. "I…feel so odd… 'Dael Levinson' feels like a strange, silly game I was playing for so long I forgot that it ended a long time ago…"

On hearing that, however, Quaren frowned slightly and spoke up more boldly.

"…Well, 'Dael Levinson' is my best friend." He retorted. "And I never thought of her as 'silly' or 'strange'. And you may be Gaia…but you're also Dael."

"He's right, lass." Cryder joined in. "Come on…snap out of your fantasy already. Sure, you may be back with your youngin's…but you've still got friends here too."

"You're our friend, leader, and inspiration." Taraketh added. "Don't tell me you're about to forget that. Don't think that just because you weren't in 'Gaia's' frame of mine all this time that you didn't mean a lot to all of us. Because it was Dael Levinson who first embraced Bahamut…and was the one who helped me to believe in myself and what was right, not just what I 'thought' was right. Come on."

Dael hesitated a moment, still having the almost dreamy look on her face…before her eyes opened and she blinked a few times. She shook her head a bit…and began to look a bit more like her old self.

"Y…Yeah…" She said hesitantly, but then shook her head again. "Yes…you're right." She said more definitively. She swallowed once, took in a few deep breaths, and then, looking more like 'Dael Levinson', she turned and looked back to the others and nodded.

"…You're right. You're all right." She said after a moment. "I may be this 'Eden'…but I'm also Dael. I have a lifetime of experience as her and I'm not about to just 'throw it away'…especially not now when I need her 'warrior's spirit' more than ever. This still isn't over. We haven't won yet. All we've done is given Mianyl another roadblock. This world still won't be safe until we put a stop to her for good."

"I'm glad you feel that way."

Dael looked up on hearing that, as did the others. She soon found herself staring at Tiamat, who was practically scowling at her.

"It's a good way to think…unlike that blathering nonsense you were rambling about a moment earlier, you miserable pile of flesh." He growled. "I can't believe it…you actually thought you were my mother for a moment, didn't you?"

Bahamut's own face tensed, and he looked to him. "She _is_ your mother, Wyvern. And mine."

"Now you're rambling about that drivel that your idiot brother presented." Tiamat hissed. "You actually bought into it… You got so used to living as a human that you're clinging to this weakling girl as if she was your actual mother… Feh…and you called _me_ sick."

Leviathan exhaled. "Tiamat, we really-"

Before he could say any more, Tiamat suddenly advanced forward, nearly pushing through the group, and lowered his head to glare right into Dael's face. The heat around his mouth was intense, and his eyes blazed dangerously as he pointed a deadly claw at her.

"Get one thing straight, you little wretch. You. Are. _Not._ My mother. Or anyone else's. You're just some psychotic weakling human, and, frankly, you're insulting me by blathering as if I ever issued from some worthless fleshbag like you. And I don't appreciate being insulted. The day you try to talk to me as if I'm your son is the day I slice you in two. I'm _never_ going to acknowledge any kinship or authority from some miserable human…certainly not a pathetic little girl."

Dael stared back without fear…even if the danger was real. Now that she knew the truth…even if Tiamat refused to acknowledge it…all remaining fear of the draconian creature was gone. However…this meant there was something more here. She had a fairly good idea of what… If Tiamat accepted that Dael was his mother, then it would mean he would "owe someone an account"…that there was an authority who could declare Bahamut justified and him unjustified. And it would have to be one of the creatures he hated and spat upon for so many centuries. The mere thought was likely salt in a wound to Tiamat. It would destroy his entire mad philosophy.

She had no idea how Tiamat had grown so warped…but now that she knew the truth, it made her feel more sadness than anything. Unfortunately, she couldn't worry about him right now. The entire world was at stake. And so, she merely stared back for now.

"…Very well." She simply said.

After a moment, Tiamat leaned back. Now out of her face, Dael quickly looked to Leviathan.

"Can you bring the others here? We need to teleport back to Nyx Gaia as soon as possible…and hope that Mianyl doesn't have anything else 'up her sleeve'…"

The sea serpent gave a nod. "Right away. However…I should note something… Over the past few moments, something has seemed a bit odd about where we're standing…"

"You thinkupo this place is odd? Wait until you hear what's going on further north!"

The sudden new voice immediately turned everyone's attention. At once, they all looked to one side, closer to the north…and saw that a new arrival had come upon them while they were talking. It was a small white moogle…and, based on the dress, Dael recognized her almost immediately along with the others. It was the same moogle they had met on their trip to the snowfields…the one who had acted as the "interpreter". The former captain was a bit surprised to see her, as was everyone else. They didn't expect to find a moogle having come this far south, Omega Weapon or not. Nevertheless, she was the one who called out to her on spotting her.

"Momeo? Is that you?"

The moogle gave a nod…and then looked around a bit. She swallowed a bit before looking back to Dael. "…It looks as if you found more Guardian Force friends, kupo… I'm glad you're all safe. We saw you fighting that giant monster and thought you might have all been killedkupo… But now we need your help. Something really weird is happening up north…"

Dael grimaced a bit on hearing that. She turned and looked to the others briefly, then back to Momeo.

"…Like what?"

* * *

><p>Cybus' normally calm and pleasant exterior was a bit unsettled this time. The previous small amount of doubt she had in them being able to succeed was increased at this point. And although she knew Mianyl wasn't the type to vent her frustration on her allies…she was still tense as she stood behind the black-dressed Sorceress as she gazed out of the window of the innermost sanctum of the Tower of Order. The silence within this portion of the structure was as still as a grave. Even breathing and movement seemed quiet.<p>

"…Omega Weapon has been banished back into the Void." Mianyl remarked as she gazed outward, at last breaking the silence.

"I'm afraid it's a bit worse than that, Matriarch." Cybus responded. "Bahamut has returned to full power…and the entity knows her true identity."

Mianyl was silent on hearing that. It was impossible to tell what she was doing…thinking about this information or seething in anger.

"…They are far more effective than we anticipated." Cybus continued after a moment. "Without Omega Weapon-"

"Omega Weapon performed adequately enough." Mianyl cut off. "From here on in…I myself will open the Void. They banished Omega Weapon…but they could not destroy him. They would dare not banish me. It would simply give me what I desire."

"But the entity…"

"She knows who she is…but she lacks her power. And if they overcome the next obstacle…it won't matter either way."

Cybus stiffened only slightly on hearing that...knowing what that meant...but then relaxed. "…As you wish, my lady."

"I haven't come this close to success to let myself be stopped now, Lady Cybus." Mianyl continued. "Not when I'm on the verge of ending the crime that is existence. No one can stop the inevitability of chaos…not even some miserable excuse of a 'god'. And if she intends on standing in my way…I'll just have to see how much chaos is released when a planet itself dies."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	75. The Final Descent

This may have not been the most "conventional" way to travel…but so long as it was fast, Dael couldn't really afford to be choosy. They had no boats or airships, and they had just used up their last ability to heal themselves "externally" when Phoenix used the last of what she had to revive them. She was intrigued of the idea of riding on Bahamut…even if it would feel extremely awkward now that she knew who she was…but unfortunately he was far more drained than she had realized. He had to have been fighting at maximum power the entire time against Omega Weapon and still barely overcame him with Tiamat's help. Right now, it was all he could do to fly himself onward. Normally, he would recharge from the power of the sun…but as night had fallen, the only one steadily restoring his strength was Tiamat, who was likely flying in the same direction. And he wasn't about to let his mother or anyone else ride him…

That left one rather unusual alternative. Leviathan had the ability to enlarge himself many times his "basal" size…making himself large enough to completely encircle a large island several times if he wished. However…it also allowed him to have a veritable cavern in his primary stomach…large enough to easily carry seven people and a moogle. It would have been large enough for Phoenix as well, and she had wanted to come, but Bahamut, Leviathan…and even Tiamat…insisted she stay behind and wait for the others. Right as they left, Alexander arrived…although Dael didn't see it. She was too busy uneasily looking around herself.

Frankly, she would expect the same from everyone else…if not for the fact that they were in total darkness and trying not to gag on the smell of bile and fish. Leviathan had warned them this wouldn't be the most pleasant of experiences, but after swallowing them whole and dragging his massive body to the coast, they were soon moving faster even than the _Excalibur_ through the ocean. And unlike their previous trip north to the snowfields, this was far warmer and less taxing, in spite of the fact they had to be hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean. It definitely beat going on land. That might have taken a couple days. Momeo herself had only managed to get to them so quickly by riding a chocobo…and Tiamat's flyover had promptly spooked it as soon as it got near, causing the bird to throw its rider and flee for it. Momeo's tiny wings stopped her from getting a nasty fall…but she was rather stunned that something could actually scare a chocobo, yet shortly after ran to see what had caused it and then met the others.

Now she was moaning a bit about drool getting on her fur, although other than that all Dael could really hear was the sound of water rushing by Leviathan's body through the muscular walls around her. That would normally have been the only pleasant thing about the entire experience and might have actually been a bit relaxing…but Dael was feeling anything but relaxed. Their momentary victory was already being overshadowed by something new…

She still remembered what she had heard.

* * *

><p>"We saw how bad the world was getting, kupo." She explained in response to Dael's question. "The weather was colder than the worst winter, and the sky was all blackupo. I got visions that the world would come to an end soon. So I saddled up and tried to run south and get to Esthar, kupo. I figured that you all would be there and you'd know something about what was up since the oracles had visions concerning you.<p>

"But while I was stopping to rest, I felt the world shakupo and heard horrible noises like giant monsters! I hid in a cave with my mount and focused my sight to see what was happening…and I received a strange vision, kupo. But it was a clear one…no doubt about it. I could see my home underground…and suddenly it was filled with tunnels, kupo! More ones than ever! Filled with metal and odd things, kupo! And there were these odd yellow men in robes inside! And then, I saw the surface…and rising out of the snow was a tower miles and miles high! It looked likeupo it was made out of rough crystal and it glowed!"

By this point, Dael had reacted rather strongly. Not only her, but the others with her who had been on Nyx Gaia. Momeo, however, wasn't done.

"I got a bad premonition from there, kupo. Like whatever was going to end the world was going to rise from that…"

The group turned and looked to one another. None of them seemed very much at ease about what they had just heard. Tiamat, however, on his part didn't seem too worried.

"Why are you all so freaked out? Letting some stupid moogle hallucination scare you?"

"Moogles are better oracles than any human…or esper, in most cases." Leviathan responded.

However, Momeo gave a shrug. "Well…maybe it was nothing, kupo. I mean…I had that vision that you all were helping to bring about the end of the world…and that didn't happen."

Dael, however, grimaced in response to hearing that. The truth was that vision had been rather accurate. So long as they had been assisting Mianyl, they had been spreading more death and chaos to bring the two worlds closer and closer together… But even if that wasn't the case, she was with Leviathan. She believed the vision.

"Those yellow-skinned creatures sound like the Shumi…" Ceja remarked.

"And based on what they're saying…it sounds almost as if their home got 'combined' with that of the moogles…" Cid added. "But if that's true…what does it mean?"

"I'm a bit more concerned with the Tower of Order appearing here…" Bahamut mused aloud. "That can't be a good sign either. I didn't think Mianyl would have the power necessary to teleport the entire tower to Gaia…"

"I'm a bit fearful that she _didn't_." Leviathan darkly stated. "At any rate…our next course of action is clear. We need to head north. If the Tower of Order is truly there…this will likely be our last battle…one way or another."

* * *

><p>Hence…where the group found themselves at the moment. Dael wasn't exactly sure how far they had to go, but she hadn't been residing down Leviathan's gullet for that long. She hoped they were nearly there. She didn't exactly enjoy the idea of being in a giant sea monster's stomach… For all she knew, things might get bad when he got "hungry".<p>

However, even as she was thinking of this, the entire "chamber" shifted into a slant. Dael just barely managed to steady herself before she would have lost her balance and toppled down onto the bottom of the "throat" of the creature…something that would have left her feeling rather disgusting and nasty. She also felt an "acceleration" that made it a bit worse, and she realized, along with the others in the darkness, that Leviathan had to be headed for the surface. After a moment, she heard some sort of "water" noise outside…before she realized that he must have broken the surface.

What happened next, however, was a bit more unusual. Suddenly she saw light flood into the chamber…along with a cold, yet fresh, blast of wind. The sudden light blinded her momentarily although, all things considered, it was rather pale and dim. Her eyes had been in darkness too long. After that, however…she suddenly felt some sort of force on her from behind. The throat muscles around her body suddenly shook, and before she knew what was happening…her body was abruptly launched with a "heaving" force toward the light.

The shock left Dael mostly immobilized, and she left the somewhat "icky" dampness of Leviathan's throat and found herself out in a whiter world, before being thrown down into something wet and cold. It stung on impact, and soon after she realized she had landed in a patch of snow. As a result, she quickly shot to her feet and out of it. Yet she wasn't the only one to get a faceful of powder. The others quickly were launched out and went face down into it too…and just as quickly shot up and dusted themselves off rapidly. As they did so, Dael struggled not to wrap her arms around herself and shiver. Last time she had come up this way she had been wearing winter gear, after all…

Cryder gave a whistle. "Well…if I get through this alive, I think I've got an edge on most other Black Corsairs. How many of them can say they went down Leviathan's gullet?"

Ceja, on her part, gave a shudder. "I never thought I would wish I was wearing Esthar clothing…"

Dael looked around a bit. Snow was falling…although, fortunately, there wasn't such a tremendous, violent storm that had been going on to the south. It seemed a little surprising that it wasn't…but she wasn't about to "knock it". If it had been going full blast, she'd freeze to death in no time. She started by turning and looking behind her. They were right at the coast, it seemed, and Leviathan's pointed head had broken through the ice to surface and let them out. Already, he was shrinking again. Not only that, but a moment later, to the surprise of most…Tiamat and Bahamut touched down on either side of them. Tiamat stood straight enough, although Bahamut grunted and faltered slightly. She didn't really mind that, however. All she cared about was that they landed on either side of the group, and the warmth they radiated helped alleviate the chill.

Looming just ahead of them was a dark cave entrance. Without even having Momeo say a word, who was currently getting out of the snow herself and fluttering in the air, Dael could see some paving stones at the front of it. Obviously, this was a tunnel into the moogles' dwelling…and there was a slight warm breeze coming from it. Yet neither she nor any of the others looked at that or made for it at the moment. In just a few seconds after recovering, her eye caught something on the horizon that drew her complete attention. The source of the light…considering the fact that it was night right now and the sky, although not nearly as thickly-clouded as before, was still overcast and blocking all starlight and moonlight.

Rising up miles away on the horizon…easier to see now due to reduced cloud cover and easy anyway considering its size…was a white crystal spire rising straight into the heavens and vanishing into the darkness. It was a bit indistinguishable from here…but was none the less the same as on Nyx Gaia.

"…Another Tower of Order?" Quaren spoke after a moment.

"Sure looks like it…" Cid answered, running a hand through his hair as he blinked at it. "But…dang. They managed to build another Tower of Order this fast? How long ago was that vision?"

"No more than an hour, kupo…" Momeo answered. "But that's it. It's what I saw in my vision for surekupo."

Jalab blinked a bit, and shook his head. "Why Shumi here?" He asked. "Why bring them?"

Leviathan gazed for a moment at the tower, but then looked skyward. A moment later, he seemed to stiffen. "…I think our answer lies in the heavens."

Dael turned to him on hearing that, but only for a moment before she looked skyward as well. The others quickly followed suit. Only now did she realize how much the sky had changed. The cloud cover had lifted considerably… It almost seemed like just an overcast night instead of a stormy one. She couldn't recall the last time she had seen the clouds so high…or so faint…

Then, as they all watched, one of the clouds drifted away enough to actually expose the sky beyond, and all of them realized what Leviathan had seen.

A sky full of stars.

That didn't seem too special, but only for a moment before the truth was realized.

"…Where's Nyx Gaia?" Dael asked.

"You think it's on the other side of the Planet by now?" Taraketh suggested.

Bahamut shook his head. "No. We may have gone a far distance, but compared to a planet that large that close to us…we should still see it. Unless…" He trailed a bit here.

However, Leviathan finished grimly for him. "Unless the planets have already merged."

The group turned to Leviathan in surprise.

"Wha…merged?" Cid answered. "But…but that can't be right. Two planets colliding? It should have broken us apart…"

"…I'm not so sure." Bahamut stated uncertainly. "That obviously wasn't the case on Nyx Gaia when their own two halves merged. I won't try to explain it…but…" He looked around himself a bit.

"You sense it too, don't you Bahamut?" Leviathan asked. "How everything around us seems a bit 'off'? How the world seems to be a bit more 'extended'?"

Dael paused momentarily, but then concentrated on her spiritual sight again. Now that she knew who she really was, it seemed to come more easily than ever to her. And what she saw was indeed unconventional. The spirits still circulated about but…they seemed to be taking longer paths. They had traces of some "foreign" substance moving through them as well. It looked like spiritual energy but…it was different. Perhaps it was like how a body might see transfused blood… But even if she couldn't see that, the others could see the changes. There seemed to be patches of black, ashy rocks here and there, protruding from the snow. Even over the coastline was a ridge of what looked like cooling magma. Perhaps it wasn't as pronounced or widespread as it was on Nyx Gaia…but every part of it looked to be as it was on that world.

The former captain finally exhaled. "Leviathan's right. There is no more Nyx Gaia. Our two worlds have become one again."

There was a moment of silence after that proclamation was made. However, during that time, Cryder simply looked around a bit.

"Well…I can sense the world feels a bit 'bigger'…but other than that not a whole lot." He stated after a moment.

"If anything, the sky is clearing…" Ceja remarked, looking heavenward. Sure enough, through most of the air out to sea, the cloud cover was lifting, the wind dying, and the long storm seeming to subside.

"There were stars in the Void when it opened to consume Omega Weapon…" Dael remarked. "Does that mean we're-"

"No." Leviathan answered with a head shake. "If you fear we're entering the Void right now, we're not. The disorder caused by the two planets nearing is merely breaking down now that there are no two planets anymore. As to how we managed to merge again without causing so much chaos…I could not tell you. The only ones who ever experienced such a thing were on Nyx Gaia and have long since passed. However…I think it's safe to say that we are not being consumed by the Void right this moment."

"Grateful as I am for such a thing…" Tiamat grunted. "I am more than a little sore if we did all of this and went through the constant hell just to find out this was all a 'false alarm' or a 'dud'.

"Don't be so hasty." Leviathan answered. "The storm may have broken…but that's the only disorder that's lessened. Everything still feels more 'chaotic' than ever."

"Mianyl mentioned how the closer the Void comes to being unleashed, the harder it is to create enough disorder to proceed." Bahamut added. "Apparently…even remerging the two worlds wasn't enough to bring it forth. The Crystals are still intact, after all."

"I doubt she's going to take this 'sitting down', however…" Dael responded. "If nothing else, she'll continue to wage destruction on her own."

"If even merging the two worlds together was insufficient to bring forth the Void, I don't think even the complete extinction of all life on the surface of Gaia would succeed." Leviathan answered. "Nevertheless…you're right. Even with Omega Weapon banished, I doubt she'll stop here."

"Any way you look at it, Mianyl has to be stopped. Permanently." Quaren answered.

"So we must reach that tower at once and return to her. Now she has no place to 'send' us." Ceja added.

"I'm still not sure how we're gonna pop her off…but ain't like we've got anythin' better to do, lads and lasses." Cryder added.

"Well…we've got Bahamut and Tiamat on our side." Cid offered with a shrug. "That's going to count for a lot, right?"

"Not as you might think, I'm afraid…" Bahamut darkly retorted. "I used up most of my power fighting Omega Weapon."

"And while a weakling like you would have a hard time telling the difference if I decided to fight you…" Tiamat added. "I need total darkness to recharge best and I'm only at about half power at this point…"

"Let's see what they're up to first." Dael stated after a moment. "She has to have some other plan…and my guess is it will be more of those monsters she was breeding… Therefore, we should destroy the tower as soon as possible if it's the real thing. We'll get close and then summon the Guardian Forces to destroy the base." She looked down to Momeo afterward. "Can you lead us as close as possible to it? It would frankly be easier if we didn't have to hike through all of this snow and cold weather…"

"Not a problem, kupo." Momeo added, gesturing to the cavern. "I'll lead the way. You all follow." She paused after saying this, however, and grimaced at Bahamut, Tiamat, and Leviathan. "Er…although it may be tough for those, um…bigkupo guys…"

"You can always summon me if you need me." Leviathan answered. "I won't pretend to be much of a help against the Sorceresses in the flesh…"

"I lived in a network of mountains within caves for years." Bahamut reassured. "And if worse came to worse, I could shift into human form."

"Crawling around in a teddy-bear infested cave…" Tiamat grumbled. "Just don't get too close to my jaws. I've been feeling 'peckish' for the last two hours…"

Momeo gulped a bit at that, shuddering visibly, but then reluctantly turned and began to move. "Er…right this waykupo…"

* * *

><p>Luckily for Momeo and the rest of the moogles, Tiamat didn't live up to that threat. It wasn't like he could have if he intended to, however. The moogles that dwelt in the caves were already on high alert and anxiety following what had happened. The sight of seeing two large creatures that were effectively dragons crawling through the caves, especially since dragons that lived in cold regions had traditionally subsisted off of moogle diets, was enough to spread a great deal more panic. The fact that Momeo was leading them didn't help much as she made sure to stay clear of Tiamat herself. At any rate, no moogle even tried mounting an offense or defense as they had against the group before. That was just as well to Dael, for she feared what the result would be if they actually tried to stand in his way…<p>

As they passed through, occasionally they saw other tunnels that seemed to surprise Momeo, and these ones were unmistakably the same kind as in the Shumi dwelling that Dael had seen on Nyx Gaia. Ironically, she realized, their people had been saved. They had "relocated" to Gaia at this point, and Omega Weapon had been banished. They were at last free to live on the surface of the world again. For right now, however, she was sure that they were mostly confused and possibly getting into spats with the other moogles, who wanted to know what those strange creatures were. She could only imagine how they might react to the moombas… And although she could clear a great deal of things up…unfortunately they hadn't the luxury of time. She was hoping, at the moment, that Mianyl was confused and needing to regroup after Omega Weapon had been taken out of the equation…but she would prefer to get there and strike before a fresh set of fiends could be thrown at this world. Even if they couldn't make enough chaos to bring forth the Void, enough people had died already. They had to be stopped now.

Luckily, the actual transit didn't take that long, even if they had to do so on foot through twisting caves and tunnels. Momeo could move rather fast on her tiny wings, and the others dashed after her without tiring. The floors were pretty smooth as well. They soon went a distance of several miles under the ground, easily passing where monsters would normally dwell. Either they were in hiding due to the sudden changes, or the presence of Bahamut and Tiamat had scared them off. As they reached one last branch into a large tunnel, one in which Dael could hear wind blowing, Momeo stopped and turned to them, gesturing with a paw to the cavern.

"There you go. You exit here and you shouldn't be more than a mile from it, kupo. I've got to break off here and try to calm everyone down who got riled up when we camekupo through here."

Dael nodded in response. "Just to be on the safe side, Momeo…it might not be such a bad idea to have as many moogles back away from here as possible. Also…those people you saw here? The yellow-skinned humanoids? They're harmless. They were refugees from Nyx Gaia. If you could give them a berth and explain to them where they are and that Omega Weapon is gone, I'd appreciate it."

The moogle nodded back. "Sure thingkupo. Just…be careful, will you? That vision was one of the strongest ones I've had in a while, kupo…"

With that, the moogle gave them one more look, and then began to return back the way she had come. Dael herself moved out a bit more and looked to the others herself once before turning and leading the way. She only went a short distance into the new cave before she paused.

"It's warmer in here… I think it's the heat from the tower…"

No one said anything else in regards to that, and Dael soon led the way again. The tunnel was much like the others, although it soon began a gradual slope upward, just enough to push or pull a wagon if necessary. As they began to ascend it, Dael soon saw pale light at the end of the tunnel…the same kind she had seen on Nyx Gaia. Finally, she saw the opening, and a few moments later she and the others reached it and looked out.

Looming ahead was the Tower of Order…just as large and monstrous as ever. It didn't seem to be "growing" at the moment…and, fortunately, there didn't seem to be any wild beasts or creatures running around it either. Anything that might have infested the snowfield had to have run off too, for the winds were still whipping around it as well as the warm light. The end result had already blasted most of the surrounding area clear of snow and ice. All that was left was the monstrous tower.

Dael hesitated here and looked over it for a few moments, before looking a bit confused.

"…This is a bit strange to me." She said. "Was she really betting so much on Omega Weapon that she wouldn't try anything else? None of those monsters are loose."

"Maybe she thought once the two worlds were remerged, she'd have access to the Void…" Taraketh asked.

"Or maybe she has it already." Tiamat retorted. "Just because it appeared doesn't mean we'd all sense it…"

"Yes it does." Bahamut responded. "To creatures like us, there's no way we wouldn't feel a change." He looked down slightly. "Dael…you can almost sense it yourself, can't you?"

Normally, the former captain would have refuted such a notion. But now that part of her was "awake" as 'Eden' or whatever Leviathan had named her, she had to admit it was right. Her spiritual sight came more naturally than ever now, as if just the knowledge of her true identity was making it simpler. And as she looked to the tower, she could sense that the spirits in the area for miles and miles seemed more "turbulent" and "erratic"…and not just because the souls of Nyx Gaia had joined them. Normally, such a thing would be a benefit to the world. Perhaps a bit odd…but ultimately making it stronger. Especially since the spirits of Nyx Gaia had never been devastated by things such as mako power before… However, she could tell high above, beyond the gloom, there was still one spirit blazing "bright"…

What was a bit unsettling, however, was that it appeared to be made of three spirits…two of which almost seemed to be slowly transforming into the third. Was that what it was like to gain the Sorceress Power? Perhaps, if a spirit was strong enough, it might actually not "assimilate" into the one who took it…but would actually direct the actions of the one whose power was supposedly overshadowing it… That was a dark thought. If Mianyl was such a spirit, perhaps killing her first wouldn't have helped. Perhaps Veriguno or Cybus would have simply "become" her…

Yet as she was still musing this and about to declare to move out, something began to happen. Abruptly, the ground around them began to shake. It didn't take long to build either. It began as a rather large quake…and only increased from there. Soon, the ground was rattling so much that the more "human" group members had to balance themselves out. The tunnel overhead began to crack and fracture, and bits of stone began to rain down.

"Get out of the tunnel!" Cid called. "It might collapse!"

Quickly, they all ran out into the open, whether or not it would prompt the Sorceresses to spot them. A good thing too, for soon boulder-sized pieces began to rain down from the tunnel. One landed on Tiamat, who merely hissed and shrugged it off before running out, but the pieces rapidly grew larger, and deeper fissures started to appear not only in the tunnel, but on the ground as well as the quake grew larger and larger. Once they were all out, to Dael's dismay the entire tunnel entrance began to collapse in on itself. They soon had to run more into the open to avoid the dust and rocks from the impact.

"This quake isn't natural!" Taraketh shouted as they ran.

"Moogle settlement may be in danger!" Jalab called.

"No…it's not going that far!" Taraketh maintained. "Like I said, it's magical! It's coming from somebody!"

"Try some_thing_, lad!" Cryder shouted back as he slowed down at a safe distance, pointing back to the tower. "Look!"

The others soon slowed to a stop and checked as well. As they did, they noticed Cryder was telling the truth. The entire massive tower was rattling all over. At first glance, it would appear to merely be shaking along with the quake. However, such wasn't the case. The entire tower was vibrating rhythmically and shuddering, and, being so massive, the end result was to rattle the ground as well. The group watched it for a few moments, wondering what was going on or what this meant. Dael herself went for the hilt of her sword. Perhaps Mianyl was making her move, and the large monsters were coming forth after all. She looked up to the heavens again, thinking she'd see panels open. Sure enough, the entire tower began to shimmer, its light fading in and out, looking as if it was readying something…

Then, she suddenly noticed it.

It was hard to see at first. After all, the tower was still so large that even with thin, high-rising clouds, one couldn't see most of it. Yet as she stared on, she thought she could see the light progressively growing dimmer in the upper regions. Specifically, what looked like "columns" of light were sinking down into the base. On spotting that, she quickly pointed.

"Everyone…look up there!"

The group soon did so. Since it was faint, she initially thought she'd have to point it out more clearly. But such wasn't the case. Soon, it grew more pronounced, clear enough to see on the lower levels, and occurring in "series" or tandem.

"What is that…?" Quaren asked.

"It looks as if the interior of the tower is falling…" Bahamut stated uncertainly.

For a few more seconds, it was unclear what exactly was going on. But then, Dael began to notice something else. The upper levels of the tower that went into the clouds slowly seemed to fade…turning the clouds above dark again. A moment later, and she realized that was indeed the case. Soon, only the part of the tower that touched the clouds was still there. Then…she saw it even more clearly.

The Tower of Order was still only arranged in crystal pillars "growing" together. And suddenly, the highest one, the one just touching the tip of the clouds, dropped down in through the base. It was like one of those children toys made of pressed pins, in which one in the center suddenly fell down. Then came the one next to it, the next highest. And the next highest next to that. All of this in rapid succession, one dropping down after another. It didn't take long for the others to see this.

"The tower is…collapsing?" Ceja asked.

"No, not collapsing." Bahamut corrected. "At least…I don't think so. Wait a bit longer…"

The tower continued to "sink", crystal pillar by crystal pillar. Soon, it was clear how. Based on how they watched it fall, the inner, and highest, portion of the tower had sank first, and then it was expanding outward in an ever-growing radius, dropping one set of crystal pillars after another into the ground…as if the invisible finger of God had treated it as one of those toys and pressed in the middle, slowly making the whole tower go down into the ground.

"It's disappearing. Does that mean the ravin' lunatic is actually giving up?" Cryder asked.

"Hardly." Tiamat answered. "That tower isn't falling…it's _inverting._"

"I agree." Dael stated, actually making the infernal draconian look to her and raise an eyebrow, as if surprised she would agree with him. "Those pillars aren't being destroyed…they're sinking into the ground. It's like the tower is being reversed."

"Instead of a tower reaching into the heavens…" Taraketh remarked as the pillars continued to sink. "A tower dipping into hell…"

"I don't think that was her intention. A bit the opposite, in fact…and far worse for our purposes." Bahamut grimly stated. As Dael looked to him, it seemed like a new fear was coming over him. A greater tension than before as the tower continued to sink in. "I may not be as wise as Leviathan…but I'm growing very afraid of this latest turn of events. We were wrong… Mianyl _does_ have a 'contingency plan'…and a bad one."

The others soon looked back to him. He continued to stare and grew increasingly uneasy as he watched. "She can't bring forth the Void from merging the worlds, she can't do it from Omega Weapon's destruction, and she can't do it under her own power…at least not yet. Therefore, she's attempting to wage destruction on a whole greater order of magnitude. The crystals of the two worlds are united…but they're still creating an 'order trap' which is keeping the Void from emerging. And there's no way she can find them. However…they are merely the 'extensions' of the Planet itself…so she seeks to remove the final obstacle. Either she'll create enough disorder in the process…or removing this 'obstacle' itself will open the Void to her."

"…And what obstacle is that?" Cid asked after a moment.

"Gaia." The draconian answered darkly.

There was no shortage of shock coming forth from everyone on hearing that. They stared blankly back. Even Tiamat looked unsettled.

"…Are you serious?" Dael asked after a moment. "Even Omega Weapon couldn't blow up the entire planet… She can't possibly have the power."

"One who stabs a man in the heart need not worry about burning up the limbs to kill him." Bahamut darkly answered. "That's what she's doing now with the Tower of Order…inverting it to go deep into the ground rather than stretch to the heavens. Once there, it will continue to grow…downward this time, toward the core of the planet, the heart of the Lifestream. And once she reaches it…she will destroy it. She's the first individual I've ever encountered who had that kind of power…but I do not doubt she will succeed."

"That's pure insanity on her part!" Tiamat hissed. "If she does that, her own soul will have no place to go but oblivion!"

"That's exactly what she wants." Bahamut responded. "For it to go into oblivion…the Void."

Dael, her face growing increasingly more tense with this revelation, turned and looked back to the tower. By now, the last two "tiers" were descending into it, the outer one first. Soon, the entire structure would be beneath ground.

"Hardly a 'Tower of Order'…" Cryder snorted. "More like a…uh…er…"

"'Tower of Entropy'?" Taraketh suggested.

"I was going to say 'Pit of Bat-sh't Crazy Bitches'…but that'll do. Sounds prettier."

Bahamut, on his part, suddenly infurled his massive wings. The sound and gust of wind that resulted caused the others to look back to him on doing this, and Dael was surprised to see that he was getting ready to fly.

"I can't waste anymore time here." He stated. "I thought I might have more time to try and help the situation…or at least wait until dawn… But no longer. Tiamat…you should withdraw as well."

Hearing that caused surprise to radiate throught he group.

"Wait…withdraw?" Quaren asked. "What did you just say?"

Ignoring him, Tiamat snorted at Bahamut. "I don't recall ever taking orders from you in several thousand years…but I'll do it anyway this time. I need to be at full strength, after all. After she drains the life from you, I'll be free to move in and rip off her head, after all…"

"You are fleeing?" Ceja asked almost incredulously. "On the eve of our greatest struggle?"

"No…but I can't fight like this." Bahamut responded. "Mianyl may not have the raw power that Omega Weapon possessed, but we saw quite clearly that if I don't use all of my power and in a clever and effective way, I won't be any use to you. I'm drained after that last battle. I need to bathe in some sunlight…and for that, I need to fly to the other side of the planet where it's still shining."

"And this damn tower is emanating too much light, even sinking into the ground, for me to recharge effectively." Tiamat snorted. "Rest assured, I want her dead as well and I won't depart until I've rent her to pieces. If you're really so scared, little children, why don't you stay up here where it's safe and wait for us to return?"

"We can't do that." Dael immediately responded, prompting the group to turn to her. She looked back to them. "I'm not sure how long it's going to take for this tower to 'grow down' enough for Mianyl to get to the core of the Planet…but I really don't want to find out. We have to go down after her now."

"That's madness, Dael." Bahamut responded darkly. "The seven of you don't have nearly the power necessary to even stand against her."

"We have to try." The former captain immediately responded. "We can't just stand around here waiting. Maybe if we get to the base, we can summon something to destroy it…at least slow her down while you recharge. And it's not in my nature to just stand around and let my 'son' handle things." She actually cracked a bit of a smile on saying that part.

Bahamut looked a bit taken aback at that. Tiamat, on his part, merely snorted and muttered something along the lines of "explain Griever then". However, the Guardian Force reasserted himself.

"Dael…it is likely that you'll encounter Cybus first on your descent. And if you kill her…then her power will join with Mianyl's, and at that point I'm not certain whether or not she'll be worse even than Omega Weapon."

"Not to be critical, Bahamut," Dael answered. "But what would happen if we killed Mianyl first? Her power would transfer into Cybus anyway. And I think we've already established we can't reason with her any more easily than Mianyl."

Again, the Guardian Force paused. The others did much the same. Sure enough, that seemed fairly accurate. None of them had considered that fact before now, but it made sense that stopping Mianyl wasn't enough. They had to stop Cybus as well. And it actually made more sense for her to be beaten first… Otherwise, Bahamut and Tiamat might have to fight twice in a row… If they could "stand aside" for Cybus, that would actually be a help. Of course, that didn't make it any easier on Bahamut. He wasn't about to let the group just march into potential death. They had barely defeated Veriguno. Cybus would be far worse, and there was no "humanoid Bahamut" with a Raidos Shield to protect them this time.

"Dael…"

"Bahamut." She cut off before he could begin. She looked at him more straightly. "…As odd as this is going to sound, I'm actually going to say it." She inhaled slightly, and then spoke more calmly. "…I am your mother and you will do as I say. I know what I'm doing."

Again, the draconian creature was taken aback, while Tiamat let out a laugh. "Oh please…if you actually listen to her, Bahamut, you're a bigger fool than I thought. She doesn't have a fraction of your power, age, or experience…and you're actually going to let her pull a 'mother-knows-best' upon you?"

"Bahamut," Dael continued. "This concerns me as much as you…more so. This is _my_ 'body', after all. And I'm telling you…stop wasting time trying to talk me out of this and go get yourself and Tiamat recharged, and then come after us as fast as you can. But we need to go ahead to stop Cybus and try and slow this down. Please."

The Guardian Force hesitated. He clearly didn't like this. "…You can't stop Cybus by yourselves."

"Yes we can." Dael stated without hesitation.

"Er…we can?" Cryder muttered.

"We _can_." Taraketh stated more definitively, both for his sake as well as everyone else. It was almost surprising to hear such certainty from him, but he looked resolute as he too looked to Bahamut. "We're not useless here…and if I can't settle things with Mianyl, then I will do so with Cybus. She was the one who could have stopped this years ago instead of only encouraging it."

Bahamut looked a bit longer nevertheless. Tiamat himself gave a hiss.

"Just let these stupid creatures get themselves killed, Bahamut." He snarled. "Maybe if this miserable woman gets crushed you'll snap out of this stupid delirium of thinking she's your mother…"

He paid no attention to that, but finally looked back to Dael.

"…It's because you _are_ my mother that I'm going to trust you this time. Please don't make me look like a fool. I'll return as soon as I can and plow may way into the base of that tower if need be."

With that, he quickly moved back a few steps, practically hopping as he did so, and then gave his wings a mighty flap. Soon, he was taking off into the sky and rocketing to the heavens. Even from a distance, Dael was nearly blown away by the power of the gusts. Soon, the group was left behind with Tiamat. The second draconian creature lingered for a moment. After a few seconds, he turned his head to glare at Dael.

In response, she gave an exhale and merely stared back. "…If you're thinking of giving me another threat, Tiamat, save it. It's not helping anything. And I already know you want me dead."

The beast didn't respond. He merely glared at her a moment.

"…I don't get it. Was Bahamut always that much of a fool?" He asked after a moment. "Or did you really leave that much of an impression on him?"

The woman stared back, saying nothing.

After another moment, he snorted and turned away. He didn't bother moving as he stretched out his own wings. As for the others, they quickly retreated in response. Dael, on her part, stood her ground. Tiamat nearly took off…but again paused. He turned his head to her a second later.

"…Don't take this the wrong way." He said after a moment. "But do me a favor and don't get yourself killed. For some reason I don't think I'd like not seeing your ugly face around anymore…"

A moment later, he snapped and took off, blasting hard enough to not only bowl Dael over but actually knock her back a short distance in a tumble. As he went to the sky, Quaren nearly ran to her, but she quickly held out a hand to him to stop. Considering all the blows they had taken lately, the Mirage Belt was more than enough to protect against one violent tumble. After a moment or two, she began to push herself up, and was soon on her feet again. By that time, Tiamat had vanished into a dot in the sky and was gone as well.

Cid looked up a bit uneasily, and then let out an exhale. "I hope they come back soon… At least Bahamut. I think I wouldn't mind Tiamat staying away…"

"_I_ would." Dael answered as she turned around and began to move through the group, toward the direction of the tower. "Bahamut can't defeat Mianyl alone. He did well against Omega Weapon only because that thing relied on raw power rather than any form or intelligence or strategy. The Sorceresses are going to use their brains. At any rate, come on."

The others noticed her moving, and turned to begin to follow after her. By now, there was only one outer "ring" of the tower left, and it was slipping into the ground at the moment. Soon, she began to go into a run for it, prompting the others to soon run behind her as well. As they did so, and the tremors finally began to subside while the last pieces of crystal sank into the ground, Quaren called out ahead to her.

"But how are we going to get in there? There isn't going to be an entrance left in just a moment!"

Dael didn't answer. She continued to run, figuring that a solution would present itself as they neared and got a better look. If worse came to worse, she would "make one". The others didn't question anymore, at any rate. They continued to run after her as well. The base of the remains of the tower rapidly neared. With the tremors subsiding, the wind that previously whipped around the tower decreased as well. It only figured, considering that it had been sinking into the ground. It still glowed quite a bit from the ground, however. The glow seemed to be dimming, though…and getting a more reddish tint to it…

While they were still a few hundred feet away, the last crystal spire slipped into the ground, leaving nothing but a monstrous depression into the ground, almost like a crater. Yet just before it could slip fully into the surface of the planet…it stopped just at a small part of the edge. The end result made Dael slow a bit, although she continued to near. She looked at this new occurrence…and saw there had been a change this time.

The last little bit of crystal that still protruded altered, pieces of it falling off and shifting, until it left something behind. An archway, with a dark opening inside, only dimly lit by the reddish-tinted crystal, leading down in a slope.

Dael came to a halt at last about ten feet from it. The others stopped as well, all looking ahead to the crystal. They stood and stared at it for a brief moment. A bit of a chill whipped by them, and not just from the diminished heat of the tower.

"Left the door open for us…" Cryder mused. "I reckon she knew we'd be coming… This would constitute wanderin' right into her trap, lads and lasses."

"Maybe Bahamut was right…" Quaren remarked. "Just going into something so obvious…she's definitely planning something…"

"Whether it's obvious or not is irrelevant." Dael responded quietly.

She turned and looked back to the others. They all looked up in response.

"Down there…there's nowhere for Mianyl to go. No more escape routes. No more teleporters. No more Nyx Gaia to flee to. And right now…I don't think she plans on running again. And I don't think, if we see her again, she plans on just 'throwing us out' either. This is it, everyone. Either we go down here and defeat her…or she destroys us. We all saw what she was like before. Once Cybus is dead…it's going to be much worse.

"I _have_ to do this…especially now. If I was speaking just as Dael…I have nothing left. What's left of Esthar's Hawks exists in me now, and if I want to protect Esthar, if I want to protect this _planet_, and I want to avenge everyone she murdered…then I can't turn back. But if I'm speaking as Eden…then if I don't go after her now, she'll destroy my 'body' and all life on it. For years I've feared and felt pain from those voices around me…but they're still a part of me, and they still live and breathe upon me. I want them to live and continue the cycle of life. If I let Mianyl have her way, they'll be swallowed by the Void and become nothing but chaos. I can't let that happen. Not to them…not to my sons and daughter…and not to you.

"But I'll understand if the rest of you don't want to follow. I'm not being facetious when I tell you all that there's only a very small chance we'll come back from this alive. We may all die anyway, but-"

"Dael."

Quaren's voice cut the woman off. She looked to him. He gave her a weak smile.

"You don't really think the main reason I've stuck with you this far was because you're just my commanding officer, do you? I'll be damned if I let you go in here alone, no matter how likely it is we're going to die. You're my best friend."

"…And mine."

This somewhat hesitant statement came from Taraketh. However, he emboldened himself and drew himself up. "I can't let them get away with what they've done. If I'm really a member of the Order of Hyne…then that means I protect this planet. And…" He hesitated, then swallowed again before shrugging. "…I guess that means I protect _you_ now, Dael."

"I ain't come this far just to turn my tail and run, lassie." Cryder snickered. "You infected me with too much of that dirty, rotten selflessness of yours…"

"Cybus and Mianyl must still answer for their crimes at the hand of a Fuliet Warchief." Ceja said boldly with a dark look.

"And I will guard my lady and the world with my life." Jalab said with a nod…again causing Ceja to blush a bit.

"Lady Faerio always saw things in me that I never saw for myself…" Cid muttered. "Maybe it's time I started looking for them too."

Dael looked them all over after hearing this, as they banished their last bit of fear and hesitation. In spite of the situation, she smiled a little. Again, she nearly felt tears form in her eyes. Only now did she feel so "divorced" from the concept of the brave, bold soldier to appreciate these people not as comrades-in-arms…but almost like her family.

"Everyone…it's been the greatest honor of my life fighting alongside all of you…and to be able to call you my friends."

With that said, she drew Save the Queen, turned, and marched without hesitation straight into the archway.

The others immediately followed suit, and soon they had all gone inside. At once, they began to charge down the crystal corridor into the actual tower. It didn't take long for Dael to realize this place was much different than the Tower of Order. As they went below the surface of the ground, the crystals continued to turn the dark color, until they seemed to be a softly burning, reddish flame rather than the radiant white from earlier. However, they were so dim they looked almost like descending into glowing coals rather than crystal, especially considering the fact that there was no night sky for the light to radiate through. Just black ground surrounding them on all sides, dimming everything. If that wasn't enough, it soon became clear that the crystal passages were much narrower here. There were no wide-open corridors like before leading straight to a lift they could take all the way to the bottom. Instead, more like some sort of anthill or termite mound, the passages wormed and twisted and branched randomly and haphazardly, forming tunnels that were only large for a few people to cross side to side as they went along. It seemed "Tower of Entropy" was a good title after all. Whereas the other had order from chaos…this one was more chaos from order.

Dael didn't hesitate, however. She continued to lead onward, and went straight for the nearest branch and began to take it downward. And when a new tunnel appeared that went down, she followed it. That seemed to be a fairly good strategy. Whatever caused them to descend the crystal passages and go closer to the bottom was "good". Most of the passages were highly sloped as well. If the crystals didn't seem to have built-in "ridges" on them, acting like footstops if not stairs, then they would have slid down more than once. Yet as the first few minutes passed by and they continued to descend, Dael realized this was going to take a very long while. Assuming the Tower of Entropy was as "deep" as the Tower of Order had been "tall"…it could take days to finally get to the bottom. They really didn't have that kind of time.

"This sure is going to take a bit…" Quaren remarked after a while, the first one to speak since they began to go down this bizarre crystal tower. He actually reacted a bit when his voice reverberated with a resonating echo through the corridor. It kind of unsettled the others as well, but they kept moving.

"If we're going to just keep walking the whole way, I don't think we're going to find anything before Bahamut gets back…" Cid remarked. "I wish I didn't keep losing tools left and right… I don't have my drill or I'd just tunnel into the bottom. All I got left is the Atomic Hammer, but that only has one charge left and…I really don't want to know what's going to happen if I try to smash to the bottom…"

"I'm going to see if I can't direct us back toward the center…" Dael said as she led on. "Maybe there'll be something there like there was before… This is getting a bit easier, though. I might not seen anything else with my regular eyes besides just the passages, but with my spiritual sight I can almost-"

She was cut off a moment later as she headed into a junction, for something rather large heavy suddenly fell from the ceiling and landed right in front of her. Instantly, she ground to a halt. The others quickly stopped behind her, nearly slipping on the crystal as they did. As for Dael, she quickly brought her sword up in front of her…and her eyes widened a bit a moment later.

What looked like either crystal or magma (likely the former, but hard to tell with that fiery light going through it) made up a hulking form before them. It looked, to be honest, like some sort of hellish gargoyle. Its feet were claws along with his hands, and its face was twisted into a hideous grimace with burning eyes. It was rippled with muscle, topped with cruel horns, and had two bat-like wings that seemed to be at least partially functional. They extended as the thing rose to full height, showing off its layered muscle, pouring heat from its mouth, and rising to about eight feet in height. It immediately glared at the nearest figure before it…Dael. A moment later, it gave a bellow, raised its arms, and swung out for her head.

Dael soon saw that this "crystal creature" was faster than the ones from the Tower of Order. Not only that, but it had a longer reach. Its arms reached so long that even at full height the knuckles touched the ground, so she had to start by ducking under the blow that came for her, aimed to take off her head. It missed, but embedded in the nearby crystal wall…smashing a hole into it and breaking a sizable fracture through it. It didn't slow down the monster at all, however, and as it ripped this hand free it drove its other fist forward, trying to smash directly into Dael while she was still ducked. Quickly, she backpedaled and leapt in retreat, allowing the fist to smash into the crystal floor instead with sufficient force to imbed in it. By now, the others were quickly backing up and readying to fight as well, to give Dael room as well as to counter the thing, but considering the cramped quarters they didn't have far to go…

The former captain, on her part, swung out her sword for the beast, intending to lop off its forearm. She was a bit surprised when her sword didn't easily slice through as it would have one of the Ana from before. Instead, it only impartially imbedded. It did cause red blood to flow from the thing, gleaming and bright, but that only served to make it mad as it whipped its arm back, nearly yanking Dael's sword away from her, before it recoiled and began to flex its body. The woman, stunned from this move, had to regain her bearings and footing for a moment. But in that time, she saw the gargoyle pull its head back…and a blaze came forth from its mouth. She realized what it was doing, and barely had time to shout a warning before it snapped its face down, opened its jaw wide, and began to discharge bright, smoldering fireballs not only at her, but at everyone.

Soon, the whole group had to duck for cover and spread out…which wasn't good for more than the first few shots. Dael herself flattened her body and let the fireball shoot over her head, feeling the searing heat as it passed over her. The others either leapt off of the walls or dropped to the floor as the blasts whizzed by, either shooting down the corridor or smashing into the walls with fiery eruptions, sending off clouds of crystal fragments from the force of the blasts and fusing others into black, molten ugliness. When it soon became clear that the gargoyle wasn't going to stop at its "initial volley" and keep shooting at them until there was nowhere left to go…another group member reacted.

Quaren's rifle had already been out, and after falling to the ground, he quickly brought it up and began to fire away at the creature. Accurate as he was, this wasn't his best shot, and the monster seemed large enough to take a few bullets. Still, as he pounded shots away into its chest, aiming for the heart and lung regions, one of his bullets seemed to hit the mark, and suddenly the creature staggered and cut off its heat. Blood oozed from its mouth instead. Nevertheless, that only served to enrage it more. A moment later, its wings gave a mighty flap as it pushed off and, to everyone's shock, the gargoyle launched itself through the small amount of air it could get through and threw itself in the midst of the group, looking to crush Quaren and as many others as it could get to.

In shock, the former corporal rolled to one side, barely missing being rent by its bottom claws as it came down. The talons instead tore up more of the crystal floor. Yet the monster was going mad at this point, and lashed out for Ceja next. Although the warrior looked like she was ready to "take it", Jalab put an arm around her and quickly pulled her down and away to one side as the powerful appendage knocked more crystal free where she was standing a moment earlier. A second later, it reared up in pain again, for it had been close enough for Cryder to drive his ninja blade into the back of its leg, slicing in all the way to the hilt and out the other side. The leg faltered only slightly, however, and it swung out to try and get him as well. He too was forced to rip it free and roll back before the claws flashed out and went for his head, just missing.

Still enraged, it stomped after him, putting its massive fingers together, raising them over its head, and preparing to bring them down in a smashing blow on the pirate's body…

When a mechanical whine went out…before the monster suddenly spasmed and arched its back. It tried to let out another roar or even a "gurgle"…but it soon went too stiff for that, before a toothed saw blade ripped clean through the backside of its chest and exploded out front, spreading bits of crystalline bone and blood before it.

The gargoyle held a moment, and then collapsed to its knees. The saw continued to rotate, and finally managed to rip back out, revealing a somewhat nervous looking Cid with his protective mask over his face, still gunning his weapon which he had recently converted from circular to blade mode. He gunned it a bit more, letting the blood and bits drip off from it, before exhaling and turning it off. He pulled up his mask a moment later, still blinking in a bit of astonishment, before shaking his head and calming down. The others looked to him a moment, but then began to rise again. Dael, Cryder, and Quaren, on their parts, had gotten a bit of the "mess" on them, but they didn't seem to mind too much as they hastily wiped it off and got up. The others soon recovered and rose as well, again Ceja blushing a bit as she got out from Jalab, and then converged.

"Nice one, Cid." Dael stated after a moment.

He exhaled and wiped his brow. "Normally I don't like using the saw like _that_ but…I figured we had to get rid of it in a hurry."

"I was not expecting much of an opponent prior to the Sorceresses…" Ceja remarked, tapping the still-twitching remains of the gargoyle a bit with her foot.

As if in response, however…the crystals around them resonated, and produced a tone…one that sounded a lot like someone familiar, and appeared to echo all about them in every direction.

_"You had better grow to expect it, dear. This tower is as filled with the Hel as the previous one was filled with the Ana. And I'm afraid now that you've spilled the blood of one, the others are on their way… You see, they are attracted to the scent."_

The group immediately snapped their heads up and around. Dael, on her part, had her gaze narrow.

"Cybus…"

_"That's 'Lady Cybus' to you, Dael." _The voice responded. _"…Or do you prefer 'Eden'?"_

The woman gave a pause on hearing that. The others likewise hesitated, looking to her. After a moment, the former captain spoke back. "…So you know?"

_"The Matriarch possesses power beyond the comprehension of any esper, Guardian Force, or Cetra." _Cybus' voice continued. _"And this close to the center of Gaia…did you really think there were any secrets left to be hidden from it? It's enscribed on every foot of your former 'blood', 'goddess'. That all of it is lacking a certain…something, shall we say. As if the life of this world is merely now 'going through the motions'…that it lacks the voice it once had…the direction. But in truth…we suspected it ever since we left Gaia the first time, when we could see the flow of the Lifestream from one outside of it. Who would have thought? Everyone tends to think of you as such a loving, caring mother figure and bringer of life…and what does Gaia become when she takes human form? A soulless soldier…a faceless grunt within a meaningless military organization. Oh Dael…you would have gained so much if you had allowed our Matriarch to take you under her wing…"_

"Don't trouble yourself on my account." Dael retorted. "Are you just here to taunt us? Or do we have to go all the way to the bottom to kill you?"

_"What a nasty brute… Hardly what I would expect from the voice of the Planet…" _Cybus said with a light laugh. Yet even as she said this, the voice stopped coming from all around them. Instead, it began to move down the passage, it seemed…coming from only one side. _"If you want me…that's easy. Just follow the voice." _It continued, seeming to now come from ahead of Dael. _"But do be careful. I won't promise that there won't be more surprises along the way… Not too careful though…" _It went on as it now seemed to come from one hall in particular. _"I was telling the truth about how most of the Hel are coming here to hunt you down now…"_

Dael stiffened a bit at that, as did the others. Ceja brandished her axe and looked about to the side corridors, as if waiting for something to pop out. Taraketh himself seemed to wonder if he should put his weapon away and rely more on magic now. Cryder quickly cleaned off his knife and got it ready to stab again at a moment's notice. The former captain, however, exhaled and soon began to lead the way once more. Much as she didn't want to play this "game"…she realized she had no choice for right now if it would get them to the Sorceresses faster… In spite of the "caution" warning, she picked up the pace this time.

The going was a bit "easier" now…if not unsettling. As Dael ran ahead, and the others, somewhat reluctantly, followed behind her, they had definite directions. Every so often they would hear an echo of a whistle, a comment such as "over here", or, most disturbing of all, a haughty little laugh…always directing them down a new corridor. Dael had the feeling more than ever that she was walking right into a trap…but it couldn't be helped. At least if they followed this path, they knew they would get to Cybus…she hoped. And truth be told, as they moved along, Dael _did_ hear movement from the surrounding crystal tunnels from time to time…even sounds right on the other sides of some of the walls…

As she went along through one corridor with numerous side tunnels, almost looking more like "holes" than anything, on one of the paths that overlooked a small "cliff" that led only to jagged crystals below arranged almost like spikes, she heard that sound again. This time, it was rather distinctive. Abruptly, she paused right where she was. The others, arranged almost in a single file to get over the crystal cliff, rapidly stopped behind her.

"What is it D-" Quaren began to say.

"Shh." She immediately cut off, hushing him. She held for a moment, looking around a bit, before looking to the wall. The movement had stopped briefly…but it wasn't echoes from the group. It was something else. She waited a few seconds, before she suddenly heard it again…much louder and faster. On realizing that, she gave a shout. "Away from the holes!"

The group reacted mostly in surprise, snapping back out of instinct rather than conscious action. But it didn't matter, because it got them out of the way…and a good thing too. Abruptly, three separate, large, sinewy bodies erupted from the holes, causing the group to jump back further in alarm. Cid and Cryder were in the rear and quickly went back from the one nearest them, leaving Ceja isolated on the other side between two of the bodies. On the other one, Jalab and Taraketh were sandwiched between two more. Finally, Quaren and Dael were left on the front end. Everyone, however, showed expressions of shock as they looked out to what was coming.

They soon saw these were crystalline creatures again, and that each one was covered with gleaming scales and was made of thick, gigantic coils of muscle. As they finished extending, a full thirty feet from their holes, they drew themselves up and snapped around, revealing themselves to be serpent-like creatures, only with jaws that were more like square bear traps and monstrous, dripping fangs…likely bearing venom. Hoods soon sprung out behind them as narrow eyes zeroed in on the group. A moment later, each one gave an angry hiss before they shot toward their respective targets.

Quaren was fast, but not nearly as fast with a rifle as a handgun. Soon, Dael seized him and yanked him to one side as the monstrous serpent drove its fangs forward so hard that they pierced the crystal wall, and actually smashed into it as well, fracturing the entire edifice. The cracks rapidly radiated out up the wall and down to the walkway, making Dael a bit nervous. If this cliff collapsed, they might be in trouble. Quickly, she released Quaren and darted back, putting more power into her swing this time than she had with the gargoyle, intending to sever the monster's head from its body. Unfortunately, this thing was fast, and in the blink of an eye had already shot back to its previous position, leaving Dael to slash only at air. It soon darted forward again, fangs outstretched and practically spitting venom, and it was only due to instincts that she got her sword before her and collided with its teeth, blocking it. On the plus side, the collision made it recoil in pain and anger.

Not far from that, the other snake was diving in for Taraketh and Jalab. With Taraketh not having sufficient room to get out his kusarigama, Jalab was the one who advanced and began to spin his staff around, forming a shield that managed to deflect the first strike of the snake away. The monk staggered a bit, but still held on tight. As it reared back and tried to strike again, he advanced and planted his feet, putting more power into his next deflection. The snake soon smashed forward, and this time he managed to drive its head downward, hopefully to keep it out of his hair. Unfortunately…the monster's skull continued forward after being put down, and drove itself into the crystal wall beneath Jalab. The entire cliff path gave a shudder at that, growing rather unstable, much to his unease. Quickly, as the snake recoiled, he aimed a "force push" out at it. It connected…but other than shove the head of the snake away for a moment, left no lasting impact as it struck again.

Ceja, on her part, practically hissed a challenge to the monster, keeping her axe in front of her. Her opponent flicked a tongue at her, and then snapped its jaw open wide to try and bite. However, she quickly crossed the blade before her, letting the fangs clamp down on the broad axe head instead. After that, she got into a titanic struggle with the beast. It was a testament to her raw power that, for all of its length of muscle and power, she was actually able to hold it at bay. It took all of her own strength to do so, but the two got in a tug of war around the axe, neither gaining ground for a moment before the other pulled back. As this happened, Cryder drew his knife and Cid pulled out his nailgun, but before either could fire, the snake suddenly snapped itself free with a forward surge as opposed to a back one, and drove his head so hard into the cliff on Ceja'a side that the path was annihilated in moments, forcing the pirate and the engineer to recoil or knock off the crystal of the pit and fall into it. The end result was Ceja was now isolated.

As for Dael's opponent, it continued to strike against her again and again, trying to wear her down with its own terrific strength. Dael, on her part, managed to hold on. It was more the speed and strain of trying to hold back that got her. Quaren pulled out his sidearm and began to discharge bullets into the thing. Unfortunately, its skin was so tough it didn't even flinch. Even its eyes seemed to be protected…but even if they weren't it was moving too fast for him to get a good target. Abruptly, it lunged out from a new angle…the side. Dael struggled to counter, but the blow hit her at an awkward angle. In a flash, her sword was knocked from her grasp, and soon began to tumble into the pit nearby.

The snake hesitated for just a moment, seeming to relish its victory before moving in for the final strike. Unfortunately for it…Dael not only had learned this "trick" before, but since realizing her true identity it seemed to come even easier than before. As the snake opened its mouth wide, Dael merely stood there for a moment. When it took off for her, she chanted just a few syllables of arcane language…and the Save the Queen vanished in thin air and reappeared, hilt in her hand. The snake was too late to dodge, and so she brought her blade and her hand forward to one of its monstrous fangs. With one easy move, she reached out and seized one by the "bare" point while flashing out her sword…slicing the fang clean from its body. The giant monster, suddenly stricken with pain, continued to come forward…unable to stop itself, and Dael used the moment to spin around, out of the way, and bury the razor-sharp fang tip right in its neck. Instantly, it shot back and bellowed in agony.

As for the snake attacking Jalab, it seemed to realize it wasn't getting very far with him. His attacks weren't doing much to it, and vice versa. Instead, it looked to the side…and saw an isolated individual struggling with its brethren. Ignoring Jalab, it turned its full focus to Ceja instead, until the Fuliet warrior soon saw not one by two snakes dancing before it. Jalab soon realized this, and lowered his own shield. He began to build up his power for a stronger strike, but the deadly serpents weren't about to wait. Both focused on Ceja, and a moment later both of them struck in tandem, one after the other. Ceja herself panicked only a moment, before she let her warrior instincts come to bear and responded. As the first snake came forward, she swung her axe out in a vertical chop for it. It made contact, but the nose seemed armored and it only went in slightly. That was fine by her, because she wasn't attacking it to try and kill, but rather using it as a fulcrum to launch herself in the air. She soon did a somersault, letting the second snake shoot harmlessly by underneath her.

When she came out of it, she landed right on the snake's neck. Instantly, the creature hissed angrily and tried to flip her off, but she was already gone, launching herself off of that one to the side, and soon landing on the body of the other one, still protruding from the wall. The first one struggled angrily at this, but with its body fixed inside the crystal wall, it couldn't squirm much. As for the second one, however, it roared angrily and then struck out for her. In response, Ceja launched herself forward, leaping over the head again, and then came down…right over the pit where the first snake's body was extended. As she did so, she crossed her axe in front of her and brought it down toward the body. Soon, it made contact…and cleaved in deeply, severing the spine, the blood vessels, and sinking into the muscle…

Yet with only a few inches to go, she lost her momentum, a bit to her surprise. A moment later, she swung off of the end, and found herself dangling over the pit, attached by her axe sandwiched in a bit of monster flesh like an old log. The half of the snake that had been cut flopped lifelessly down the pit, but left her suspended. What was worse was the bulk of the snake was beginning to drag the rest of it out of the hole and into the pit as well. Ceja looked around a bit tensely, and tried to pull herself up…only to look above her and see the second snake raising its head over her body, hissing and flicking its tongue. And she was hardly in a position to fight back. Immediately, it opened its mouth wide to bite…

Only to get a mouthful of ice instead, freezing its jaws and fangs in place, and keeping the venom from dripping off of its teeth. The snake seemed shocked, and recoiled, shaking its head, trying to be free of this surprise. The result came from Taraketh, who had managed to switch to magic in the time period that it went after Ceja while balancing himself on the weak platform. And now…Jalab had focused his own power. As the snake thrashed about, inching closer to the walkway, and tried to get its jaws free, he swung around with a sound like thunder and smashed his staff into the back of its neck when it came close, sending out a monstrous crack through the air. Instantly, the snake went limp and collapsed into the pit.

After doing so, he moved to help Ceja up, but the Fuliet warrior merely gave him a smile back to thank him for the save. Then, now able to focus better, she locked her legs together, gave a mighty pull up like a gymnast, and flipped her body around and up on top of the falling snake carcass as it began to pick up speed, ripping her axe out as she did so. A moment later, she nimbly hopped back onto the cliff path as the rest of the body was pulled from the hole and fell down. Jalab was a bit surprised, but gave a smile none the less. He supposed he should have expected that.

As for Dael's opponent, the venom seemed to act very quickly. It barely had time to thrash twice before it went still, and then slumped down as well. She was a bit shocked. If that thing had bit anyone, they'd have been dead before they hit the ground… Yet as this last opponent died, she began to hear more sounds. There was more movement coming from the wall behind them, and, on top of that, there was snarling coming from the corridor they had just come through. Cryder and Cid had just been about to smile in encouragement to everyone, when they snapped and looked behind them up the corridor. They could hear the noise much clearer. Taraketh himself turned to his own hole, and heard distant hissing getting closer. At once, the group got back at it. Dael beckoned them on and quickly ran on with Taraketh. Jalab and Taraketh hopped over to her spot over the cracked walkway, and were soon joined by Ceja. Finally, Cryder and Cid brought up the rear, having to jump over two gaps. As they ran on ahead out of this area and into the next tunnel, Cid was just in time to see three more giant vipers rip out of the holes. The nearest one looked to them and angrily snapped after them…but was too late as its fangs hit nothing.

While running on, Dael heard another echoing, crystalline laugh from up ahead.

_"Almost too slow, my adorable little mice in a maze…" _Cybus' voice echoed. _"I expected so much more from the Planet personified…from the ones who bested Omega Weapon…from you all clamboring together in the name of 'order' and 'justice'. Of course…that wasn't all your doing, now was it? It was that son of yours… Truly, Dael…how far would you have made it if not for all of your little friends constantly running to your aid?"_

"If you're trying to unsettle me through taunting me, it's not working." Dael answered. "I'm not terribly intimidated or interested in the opinion of someone who can't even come before me. But I'll say this much…you seem to enjoy being like this, Cybus. You seem to like tormenting people. Is this your true side? What you never wanted to show anyone? That the 'kind, motherly teacher' was always just an act?"

_"Of course it wasn't."_ The voice responded. _"You are the ones who are making this harder on yourselves. You'd be welcomed as guests and allies by now and not having to endure one moment of this torment and suffering if you would have just embraced the peace that comes with nothingness. You'd be sitting right besides me and watching the end of this world happily…"_

"You mean watching millions of people die horribly?" Dael shot back as she ran down a new passage. "Terrified? Despairing? Struggling desperately to save their friends and loved ones?"

_"Why do you all cling so desperately to life?" _Cybus calmly responded. _"And why do you act as if humanity alone should be exempt from these things? Do you think a mouse doesn't feel terror when being crushed in the coils of a snake? Do you think a gazelle doesn't feel despair when the jaws of a lion clamp down upon it? Do you think an ant colony that you find annoying when they enter your kitchen and you spray with pesticide doesn't desperately try to save their friends and loved ones? Do you think simply because your brain is larger than theirs that you have some sort of right to life? Do you not understand that if you wish to see yourself as the meaningless bugs you are, you need only step back far enough and see this world from the vastness of the universe? _Everything_ dies, Dael. Some peacefully…most in fear and horror, struggling to cling to the last of their own lives. Have you ever paused to consider the feelings of the cow the last time you had a piece of steak? Of course not…that cow would not even have been alive if its destiny wasn't to end up on your dinner plate."_

"So that's what you think our destiny is? To be sacrificed to you?"

_"No, dear…we all share the same destiny. The destiny of all life… To die."_

Even as Cybus stated this simply, the floor suddenly exploded in front of Dael and the others. Once more, they forced themselves to grind to a halt and looked before them. This wasn't a collapse like before. On the contrary, something large and massive suddenly burst forth from the ground right in front of them. Something hideous and twisted.

Vaguely, it resembled the Tyrant Lizards…but only if some child had drawn it…a child with a sick art sense. It wasn't scaly at all. In spite of seeming to be formed from the burning crystal, it looked very fleshy…and slimy. It was long like a Tyrant Lizard would be, suspended on a set of broad legs that were more mammalian almost than dinosauric, and its arms were long and clumsy, although held close to its body and tipped with sloth-like claws. Most of it that was noticeable, however, was its ugly face. Its mouth was gigantic and filled with a horrible stench, the teeth flat for crushing…likely bone as opposed to plant material…and seeming to be shoved into the cavernous, foul-smelling hole as if they were on an estranged snowman. In addition, the eyes were large and aimed forward…or, rather, the eye sockets were. It didn't appear to have any. The entire body was a slimy mess, seeming to exude it from every pore. It was the most disgusting abomination Dael had seen since the zombie dragons.

On seeing the group, it cracked its horrible mouth open wide and bellowed a booming roar, seeming to fill the air with an almost corrosive and toxic stench. As the group faced off against it, they actually winced and stepped back from the putrid aroma. A moment later, the monster yanked its head back, and then snapped it forward. Seconds later, a sticky, gluey gob of gray, disgusting filth erupted from it, causing the group to split onto sides as the mass tried to hit them. Dael herself ducked to the right, and a moment later heard a wet smack as the object smacked the crystal floor. She looked back at it against her better judgment to see what it was, and saw a viscous sludge sitting there on the crystal, emitting foul vapors. Yet a moment later, she saw a bigger shock as the creature's bile began to dissolve the floor beneath it. In moment, it sank through and plopped out the bottom.

Bellowing, the monstrosity charged forward, gnashing its horrible teeth with a massive crunching sound, toward the three that had gone to one side. Again, they all scattered, splitting in different directions. Cryder was one of them, and actually dove under its legs in a slide. That turned out to be a bad move, for when he got up, he found the slime it dripped was trying to eat into his clothes, forcing him to quickly discard his outer vest. As for the nightmare, its teeth ripped into a crystal column, and with a single snap tore it loose, flinging it behind itself at Jalab just as he was trying to come in from the side, striking his staff and knocking him over. A moment later, it whipped out its tail for the others on the side, Dael, Ceja, and Cid, nearly taking off their heads and spreading its foul muck all over the place. The group guarded their weapons more than anything. They couldn't afford to have those damaged.

Quaren was quickly falling back on the other side, trying to switch to armor-piercers with the hope that they could do more damage. That left Taraketh, who began to remove the Wrath of the Dragon, but didn't stop there as he quickly cast another spell. As the abomination looked to him, he flung his hand forward, giving the monster a faceful of a large ball of fire. The slime seemed to make its skin a bit "moist" and hard to catch…but the heat was nothing to shrug off either, and before the flames could snuff out, they had dried up enough of it to spread all over the face of the beast. It bellowed in agony, staggering back, nearly trampling the group behind it and forcing them to break. It angrily snapped its head one way and another, spitting as it did so. It was the only way it could force potential harm away from it while it was blinded. However, as the flames died, revealing an even uglier, more malformed face than before, it glared in rage at who had struck it, now seeing Taraketh with his kusarigama out and beginning to bring it around. Roaring, it stomped forward again…

However, Cryder, now at a distance, having narrowly missed the last glob of foul substance, made a gesture with his hand…and immediately the ground beneath one limb collapsed. Roaring, the thing fell into a shallow crystal pit with one foot, which immediately collapsed around it like a pincer. It struggled to get it loose, putting more force on its other leg as it did so. Yet in the interim, Dael quickly risked moving in. Avoiding the slime and the thrashing, she reached the leg that the monster was putting most of its force on and slice outward at the ankle. Just as the horror managed to pull itself free…Dael had cleaved its foot from its body, causing it to stumble and collapse onto its side and bellow again in pain and rage.

Unfortunately, it wasn't done yet. Snarling and hissing, it began to wriggle like a worm, using its gyrations and its one remaining foot to begin to slither around on the floor, snapping its jaws and thrashing about with enough force to crack the floor and whatever wall its tail smacked against. It continued to exhale more of its foul breath, and splashed it slime and drool everywhere as it tried to find one of the group members to sink its teeth into. It began to inhale to try and spit once again…

But before it could, Taraketh ducked in. He didn't use a spell this time. Rather, he flung out his kusarigama and lashed it around the neck of the abomination…sickle end first. It wrapped around the thick neck twice before the scythe embedded in its throat, spilling more foul blood. After that, he quickly gave a tight yank and pulled back sharply on it. Luckily for him, his improved weapon seemed to be acid-proof, as it held in spite of the slime. What more, he managed to gag the monster and drive pain sharply into its neck, forcing it to pause and immobilizing its head for a few precious seconds. In that time, Quaren quickly reacted. His gun freshly loaded, he lifted it, aimed at the head, and squeezed off three rapid rifle shots in succession.

The thing merely spasmed with the first shot, but it gave a death gurgle with the second, and with the final…it simply collapsed to the ground. The rest of its body went limp and moved no more.

The group all took a moment to catch their breath. Taraketh, on his part, let out a large exhale before snapping his chain off of the beast. Following that, he conjured a bit of flame to quickly burn the slime off of it, before he began to pull it back. Quaren raised himself up and recocked his barrel. Dael herself wiped off Save the Queen as best she could. Before any of them could get much more of a breather, however, they heard the noises again from behind them. This time…in addition to things that sounded like the gargoyle, they heard more of the bellowing roars that matched the abomination they had just slain. What more, there was movement coming from the crystal tunnels again…and shadows flickering through the fiery material. Giving an exhale, Dael hoisted her blade and led on without another word. The others soon raised their own weapons and followed after.

It wasn't long after they went into the next corridor that the voice of Cybus rang out again.

_"You obviously didn't understand the Matriarch last time… Your struggles are in vain. Do you really think simply because Bahamut and Tiamat have joined forces and that you remember your identity that you can contend with Lady Mianyl's power? Whatever do you hope to accomplish by being here? Or do you simply intend to die trying? If death is the only thing you have to look forward to, then why not join with us and submit to the Void when it comes forth?"_

"You haven't won yet, and neither has your 'Matriarch'." Dael responded as she followed the voice down another turn in the path. "We're going to stop you. You didn't think we could ever defeat Omega Weapon, did you? That should show that your chances of victory are far from absolute."

_"You are a fool, Dael Levinson." _The voice answered in a haughty tone. _"Do you really think that all of this is simply _our_ doing? Do you not think that chaos and disorder has been increasing forever? That this would not have happened without our intervention? What would have taken another thousand years we accomplished in one. The Void is on the brink of unlocking. Even if you win today, what then? Will you be able to go the rest of your life without a single creature on this entire world carrying out a single chemical reaction? Without taking a single step? Without eating so much as a grain of wheat? So long as life exists, Dael, disorder will continue. Order cannot exist without creating chaos. Even as you struggle to destroy me…as you struggle to destroy Lady Mianyl…the disorder of this world will only continue to grow as a result. There is nothing you can do to stop the inevitable now. It may take a year…or ten…or a hundred…but the Void will emerge. You cannot deny your own destiny."_

"If that's true…" Dael said as she continued to turn and follow, almost going into a run at this point. "Then why don't you do us all a favor? Let yourself get defeated. After all…if it only increases the disorder in the universe, it works for you, doesn't it?"

Another laugh resounded from up ahead…seeming to come from a larger chamber than any one encountered yet. Perhaps it was the center of the tower…or at least where Cybus was residing. Dael turned to that and broke out in a faster pace, the others rapidly following.

_"I'm afraid struggling produces far more disorder than that, Dael. Besides…what good is there in my death? I can achieve much better results from that of you seven if you insist on defying us…"_

Just up ahead, Dael saw that the chamber opened wide…into a much larger room. The voice was coming from there. Immediately, she ran the rest of the way and into it. The others followed right behind. Yet as they all came in…they also all slowed once again.

The chamber was indeed large…but was also a dead end. There was nothing there. No other tunnels or passages leading anywhere. More than that…no sign of Cybus. Dael looked around momentarily, and began to fear that perhaps "charging right into the trap" wasn't the best idea…

Yet as she thought this, the voice of Cybus echoed all around her and continued.

_"And I'm sorry, my dears…but I had no intention of being killed by you today if I could avoid it. I'm afraid you'll find I'm a bit more 'talented' than Lady Veriguno was…"_

Dael tried to ponder what that meant, or what was coming. But before she could, the entire platform in the middle of the room gave way underneath the group. Like glass that had been shattered, the crystalline floor beneath them broke into thousands of pieces…and exposed nothing but dark abyss beneath, stretching on infinitely. The group gaped in surprise, but it was too sudden for any of them to react, and there was nothing to grab onto. Before any of them could think or react, they all sank down into the black void. Dael herself felt vertigo and the wind rushing around her as she sank into darkness, and tried to look back up…tried to focus on the light of the ceiling overhead, rapidly leaving her, to teleport back to the surface…

But it was too late. A "living shadow" seemed to move over it…and soon she was sinking into pure oblivion.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

NEXT CHAPTER: The group vs. Cybus the River...


	76. A Great Floodgate

"AAAAAAAH-Ugh!"

Cid's abrupt descent into blackness came to an equally abrupt end as, while still sinking into the sea of darkness, he made a rather rough impact against a floor that seemed to come out of nowhere. On crashing down, he immediately lost a deal of his tools, which spread out from the point of contact in a dull clattering, as if the ground was a bit softer than he thought at first. He soon let out a groan, and struggled to try and rise again, toppling a bit as he rolled over onto his back, letting the heavy pack weigh him down, and then looked up to the ceiling. He blinked a few times…but saw nothing but oblivion.

He let out an exhale.

_Well, that can't be good… But I can't have fallen too far or that landing would have hurt more, Mirage Belt or not… At least I didn't land on my pack again…_

He grunted once, waiting for Dael to give her traditional call of: "Everyone alright?" However, one didn't come. He continued to lay there a moment, using the time to take a breather from that run. After all, this place may have been a black trap…but at least it didn't have any monsters here…he hoped. It certainly didn't sound like it. But after a time of not hearing Dael…he actually grew a bit uneasy. Besides, some of his tools had scattered, and he needed to get them. With that in mind, he rolled over again…

He soon got a bit of a surprise. When he rolled over, he found he was rolling onto not hard ground or even crystal, but rather a field of grass and flowers. That alone caused his eyes to enlarge a bit. However, what was more unsettling was that although his nailgun was just in front of him, no one else was there.

He blinked a few times, and then leaned up and looked around. Much to his surprise, although he was still looking up to a sky of black emptiness, a field of flowers and grass spread endlessly in all directions. There were slight "rollings", like one would find on a natural landscape, but nothing else. Nothing but the field going everywhere in all directions forever. Most of all…no sign of the others.

"Oh boy…" He groaned. "Dael? Taraketh? Jalab?"

His voice didn't even echo, indicating a chamber. It simply faded into the blackness all around. His face soon showed a great deal of unease as he cringed a bit.

_Oh man… I think we were all expecting a trap, but more of that…you know…lure you all into one place and then kill you. Not this… This can't be good. Any moment now a Slagworm or an army of Mangradoras is going to pop out and try to kill me… I got to get my tools!_

Quickly, Cid clambored to his feet, knocking a good amount of pollen off of his clothes as he did so from when he had crashed into the bed of flowers. There sure was a lot of it…and as he tramped around he knocked up more. That was all he needed… What if these flowers were filled with poison? And he was surrounded by an endless field of them?

Once up, he did a check immediately of his own equipment. After assessing it, he found he wasn't missing too many things. In spite of the flowers being a bit above the ground, creating something of a "carpet" that obscured what was beneath, he quickly started to look around. In moments, he found his nailgun and quickly stashed that. A bit more searching revealed his circular saw blade. After that, he took up some of his explosive charges and one of his hammers. Sliding the last one back into his tool belt, he gave a sigh of relief.

_None of them are broken…I don't think. Good. I've already broken too many, and that's not helping things out at all…_

The thought actually made his heart sink a bit. Everyone seemed to be doing "better", more or less, than him lately. Everyone else had magic or new weapons or, in Dael's cast, her spiritual divide ability…not to mention the fact that she might have powers as Eden too. What did he have? Just his tools which seemed to be growing increasingly ineffective. He wasn't even that good of a fighter without them…and his Atomic Hammer had one more blast in it and then that would be it. He was lucky if he ran into anything his nailgun would even kill now…

Frowning slightly, he looked around, tried to find which path had the "least" flowers, and then began to make his way along. He doubted that this field could really be that big… Some of it had to be illusion magic that Cybus was making, trying to make the field look infinite… There was a trick to being able to see through a magical illusion, though. He held for a moment, trying to think of it. He had lived in Lamb Temple for a long time and picked up a lot, after all. However…he was having a bit of a hard time remembering at the moment. It had been so long ago, and he had to strain to think of it.

_What was it? No…that's duplicate spells…that's blindness… Ugh…it's on the tip of my tongue… I had to have learned in there. I know it was Lamb Temple… Lamb Temple… Man, why do I keep thinking about the grounds around Lamb Temple? Something's sticking in my head about it… Forget that! Illusion magic… What did Lady Faerio…_

Thinking of Faerio again, Cid couldn't help but slow in his step. He had been making sure not to let himself grieve too much over her. If he did…he'd never do anything. But something about being here made him think about her a lot more. He knew he had to focus on getting back to the others, but…his thoughts focused on her all of the sudden. Something about this field made him see Faerio running around, laughing and cheering, like she used to when she was younger. How she turned to Cid and told him to "put down your tools for fifteen minutes and come kick up the grass with me"…and how much just doing things like that made him feel like she was his little sister… How much her bright face was just like her name. Whenever he was feeling down…or anyone was feeling down…how she was like a "dayspark" coming from a night of gloom…

Then he realized it.

_The flowers…they're the same as what grew around Lamb Temple!_

He looked down to them, actually stopping for a moment, seeing the clouds of pollen around him slowly settle. Sure enough…they were the exact kind that would grow in thick fields around the temple. That's why he could see her in them…because the look, the smell, even the temperature of this place…reminded him of those fields when she would go out in them, either brushing past flowers or spreading her fire magic into the sky or following bees to honey… He could almost see her running through them now…and as he did, thinking about how to see through the illusion spell was forgotten…

For a moment, he thought around it. _…I don't have time to reminisce. I have to get out of here and get back to the others…_

_ …Or do I?_

He held a moment. His pack seemed heavier…

_What good am I to the others now? I don't have any ships to drive…they're all stronger than me…I've lost some of my best tools… All I'm good for doing now is drawing fire…and I'm not even that good at that now… I'm weak, I can't fight…and the one person who needed me the most…who I should have died rather than let her die…is gone… I let her down…_

The image of seeing Faerio seemed more clear than ever as Cid began to blink. As the smell of the flowers grew more inviting, he could almost imagine her with perfect clarity running around in the field. His pack seemed to heavy…and he felt so worn out…

_So what if I go back? It's not like I can stop Cybus…or even hurt her… I want to stop her, but…I'm useless… Bahamut and Tiamat will do things now…they don't need me…_

_ I feel…sleepy…_

Cid's eyes fluttered once, and he let out a bit of a yawn, before his knees began to feel weak. He didn't care about that, though. The sleepier he became, the more Faerio became "real" to him. He felt like he was sinking into a half-conscious state…but he didn't care, because it allowed Faerio to become more distinct. He could almost hear her laugh as he sank to his knees. He could feel the flowers now as the pollen kicked up around him…how soft they were…

_Maybe…I should just stay here… The group won't have to worry about me…and I'm so tired anyway…so sleepy…_

His eyes lowered once, and then opened up again. Faerio seemed clear now, seeming to be on her knees before him as a younger child, patting her lap, as if indicating for Cid to use it as a pillow.

_I can't help them…but…at least here…I can pretend like I never let her down…like she's still with me… I can have a lovely dream about her…_

_ And if the others can't stop her…then my last memory will be of her…_

Smiling a bit with a dreamy look, Cid fell forward and reached his head out to fall on Faerio's lap. It landed only in soft flowers, kicking up more pollen around him…but as he fell into an enchanted sleep, he merely landed on Faerio's lap and soon heard her gentle laugh as she rested her hand on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Jalab somehow managed to sense the floor incoming, although it was solid and in a sea of blackness. As a result, calling on his own training, he swiveled his body around and managed to stretch his feet out to catch it. It intercepted the floor a moment later, and he landed straight and tall with a click. A bit to his surprise, he didn't feel much in the way of strain radiating through his legs. The end result was that he believed he had not fallen that far at all…which was very odd…<p>

Yet shortly after landing, he looked around and saw an unusual change. The moment he had landed on terra firma, the world around him had "come to light". While the area above him was still dark and empty oblivion, he now was surrounded by an endless landscape…or, more appropriately, a grounds of some sort. It actually looked rather familiar. His people were nomadic, but in ages past, before the world had changed and there were still rivers and enough life to farm in his part of the world, there had been civilizations. His own order had once had temples of their own for mediation and training to perfect the art of mastering one's own inner spirit and being able to manipulate it. In ages past, they had been filled with monks such as him as well as students in the arts.

However, those times had passed. When the wells dried up and the rivers stopped, the old temples and cities were abandoned and claimed by the desert. Through the slow passage of time, the temples had broken down and deteriorated, gradually turned into sand themselves and made to mingle with the rest of the arid land. However, it was still tradition for the monks of his order to at least make a pilgrimage to the old sites once in their lives. Jalab himself had gone to the former foundation of the greatest temple, Croanaph, three times in his own life. This place looked a lot like it from what his memory could recall. Essentially little more than a cracked foundation with a few blocks of stone and broken columns set up in vague layouts now, and everywhere lined with cracks with the paint long since sandblasted away. Such was the landscape that surrounded him at the moment. From his position, he had to be close to the middle of the former temple complex, for all he could see around him was the cracked stone remains of the foundation, the broken support structures, and…

…Statues?

Aside from the fact that there did not appear to be any sand "dirtying up" the place, there was one other notable change. Namely…the various statues were completely intact. The monks did not pray to humans as idols. Rather, the statues that used to be present in the temple were set up as memorial stones for the higher ranking monks, often being made in positions the showed whichever of the order's virtues they had personified in life. They were made as life-like as possible with the intention of showing the students what it looked like to achieve certain states of inner peace or enlightenment, to look to them for inspiration. Jalab himself had been greatly inspired by many of them…but when he had come, most of them were blasted clean on one side or another, or had long since been broken by time. These statues were flawless and new, like the day they had first been made. One over there showed the art of force pushing. Another showed the air blade. Still another showed the hard body, and nearby, mental clarity.

Jalab was distracted by them momentarily, before he noticed something far more pressing. The statues may have been intact and looking almost as detailed as if they were real…but there was no sign of the others…

No sign of Ceja.

It made the monk rather nervous. He quickly looked around a bit farther, but there was nothing. Nothing but silence. He couldn't sense anything different on the air either. That could mean only one thing to him…this was some sort of trap or prison specifically for him. No doubt, Cybus had brought him here with intention of separating him from the others. Perhaps they were in similar situations… This place was dangerous…and Ceja herself could be in danger. He had to get out of here and back as soon as possible.

He soon began to move through the odd ruins. He had a feeling that Cybus would try something…but he didn't think about that at the moment. He was more afraid of what might be happening to Ceja. Now that they had confessed their love for one another, she had become his major concern…and his greatest fear now. He had severed his ties with Veriguno for good following her death, but he wanted to prove that he would always be there for her. Would always be there to defend her… But when Omega Weapon had struck, he couldn't even draw the attention of the beast away from her… If not for Phoenix, she would have been finished…

It tore away inside of him…and he knew that wasn't a good thing. The power of his art, the power of a monk, lay in self-restraint and control. No attachment. No severe romantic feelings. And that's what he had under Veriguno. Veriguno was his "lady" and his friend, but no more than that. Ceja was different. He felt the urge to do reckless and stupid moves about her, throwing his own caution to the wind and possibly, as a result, that of others to defend her. His power grew more erratic. And on top of all of that…he was letting fear into his heart. This coming battle against Cybus and Mianyl…he knew Ceja would charge right in without thought to her safety. It would tear him up inside. The Sorceresses would strike without pity or mercy…and that drove more fear and anxiety into him. That was his enemy now. If he lost control, he'd suffer dearly for it… He wished he could regain his focus for a short time…think more about what needed to be done…

He looked up and around him as he thought this…and noticed something. He had wandered into a new stand of statues. He didn't recognize these…but seeing as the ones in the actual temple had long-since deteriorated, that only figured. But they all embodied the same thing. Patience…control…self-denial…serenity… Many were in the traditional "focusing" poses. Others were in meditation. But all had a look of calmness and peace about them, of inner peace…the true goal of his art.

He found himself…admiring these statues. When he was a youth, he would look to the remains of the statues in the true temple and admire them. Emblems of what those who came before had done…what they achieved… And right now…he envied them. How they seemed to be perfectly focused…free of all fear and doubt… They were attractive to him…almost alluring…

_Perhaps…a moment of meditation would be good…to help gather my thoughts before the final struggle…_

Truth be told, he hadn't taken out time to meditate and focus for a while, and he could use all the help he could get. Perhaps it would make him less nervous…more in control…more powerful and less obsessed with emotions… As he continued to walk through the peaceful statues, he found himself almost desiring it…wanting it more than anything… Finally, he came to a place that looked as good as any. There was a lone, single pedestal in the midst of all of the statues without a statue upon it. He didn't know why it was there, but perhaps if he sat among the others…it would help him gather his thoughts. Soon, he reached it, climbed on, and then went into the seated position. Putting his hands before him after setting his staff to one side, he closed his eyes and began the calming mantra.

The effect was quick. Already…he felt far more relaxed than before. Far more at peace…far more calm and controlled… Why had he not taken a moment out earlier? He already felt far better…all of the tension and cares in his muscles fading. Everything seeming more at peace. However…it wasn't enough. He wanted to feel more at peace…more relaxed. He continued to slowly breathe in and out…slowly relax…slowly become as peaceful as the rest of the statues…

He continued to feel wonderful effects. He no longer felt his fear or anxiety. He no longer felt the need to rush or hurry…just to remain here and relax. All of his pain and strain slowly vanished into numbness. He felt a sense of unity with the people here…with the world itself… As his tension continued to lessen, he felt his breathing slow, his heart slow…and gradually more and more care slip away. His attachment to Ceja seemed so petty and unnecessary… His desire to fight seemed as nothingness… His desire to even _think_ felt an unnecessary bother…and so he ceased. Slowly, his thoughts began to blur, but he let them… He didn't want to think now or ever again… As his heart began to nearly stop and his breathing ceased, he desired only the peace…

Jalab's awareness was already gone by the time his body turned gray and stiffened and his mind and body turned to stone…until all that remained was another statue mediating, joining all the others already present.

* * *

><p>Dael was more than a little confused at what had happened.<p>

After landing just a moment ago, she found herself in a very odd place. It was strange enough that her "impact" had not been very painful at all, but stranger still at what had immediately formed around her. She could tell the black oblivion she had sunk into was still there…but she could barely see it now for what had just happened. Suddenly, she found herself deep in what looked to be an ancient forest. All about her, massive trees grew that none on Gaia had seen in many hundreds of years. Very old…very tall…and very thick. They almost didn't look like trees considering their age, but rather something completely different. Some sort of plant, perhaps, but definitely not a tree as she thought of it. They barely even seemed to be "tree-shaped". They were too large and oddly twisted…

She shook her head at the sight.

_I don't have time to worry about trees. Where am I, anyway? There wasn't any chamber like this in the Tower of Order… Why would she put a forest in here? Or more to the point…why would she send me into a place that was nothing but trees? The others aren't here… If she wanted to divide us and kill us one by one, this is the perfect opportunity for it. So where is she?_

She didn't know…but she had the feeling the longer she stayed here and waited to find out, or left the others wherever they are, the worse off she'd be. She immediately started to run through the forest. One direction as as good as any, although it seemed there was some sort of path running through it in the first place. The last thing she really wanted to do was follow any pre-ordained "path" for too long, but this forest was so old and overgrown it didn't look like she'd be able to get through the other places normally. So, for now, she stayed on her current heading, keeping Save the Queen out.

"If you're planning on ambushing me, Cybus, then come out and do it!" She shouted into the woods in a challenging voice. To be honest…she wasn't really sure what she could do by herself, but she still wanted to hear something from her…some indication of what was going on. However, there was no response. No haughty laugh, no calm voice, no nothing. Just more forest which absorbed her sound and said nothing back.

Frowning a bit, she kept moving. She looked around, waiting to see some sort of hidden danger or trap. She saw none. The forest was darkly colored…but still seemed to radiate some sort of inner light. In spite of the black oblivion overhead, this merely seemed like a dark wood. It had an old, rustic smell to it as well…a mixture of pollens and woods and flowers…actually not bad. Somewhat relaxing. And the colors were heavy on greens, which itself was a relaxing color… However, she doubted that any of it was real. Just "transplants" or "illusions"…nothing to focus on.

Yet in spite of thinking this, she found herself looking around more and more as time went on, and not because the forest seemed threatening or hiding something. It was no secret that she enjoyed nature…enjoyed "getting away from it all" and just relishing the life and beauty of the natural world. She knew why now. Perhaps she couldn't hear the "voices" from "inside her" consciously anymore, but by being out of the world of men, out of "concrete jungles" and urban landscapes, she felt closer to her "true nature". More at peace with the natural order…more one with her "true self". And it had been true that she hadn't relaxed in a while…

But she wasn't about to do that here. With a shake of her head, she kept running. This forest was likely just an illusion…perhaps even something Cybus concocted to distract her. Nevertheless, she decided she might as well find out. Even if it wasn't, she might see traces of life hiding among the trees…things lying in wait for her. With that in mind, she concentrated and used her spiritual sight.

To her amazement…and a bit to her joy…the trees around her were teeming with life. Radiating with beautiful voices moving through them. She had never seen it so vibrant and strong before. However, she knew what that meant. She had enough experience to know that these trees were very old…very ancient…and as impossible as it seemed, they were far older than anything else that lived in any forest on Gaia…

She grew a bit winded as she realized this, and subconsciously began to slow. Still, she looked around at the woods. As she felt her legs and arms aching a bit, making her drop speed, she realized, in all of her travels, she hadn't been to a forest. And forests had a life and wonder to them far greater than any other natural landscape she had been to. The right forest made everything else look like a desert. But even if she had…she wouldn't have run into one so magnificent…so majestic…so old and long-lasting… No forest such as this was still on Gaia…

She was panting by this point, and forced to drop into a jog. Her legs and arms felt stiff now…her joints beginning to hurt. She shook her head a bit and kept jogging for a while…but her tiredness only increased. It wasn't sleepiness so much…just being worn out. She had to have been working too hard…pushed herself too long… Soon, she dropped only into a walk. And not a fast walk either. She exhaled as she lifted her hand and brushed back her hair…not noticing that the hair around her temples was beginning to gray…

_This forest seems to go forever… It's wearing me out… Did I push myself too hard lately? I thought I had plenty of strength left… My knees are really starting to hurt…and my hips…_

As she kept walking, Dael's vision dimmed a bit. Not from sleepiness…just her eyes weakening. As a result, she didn't see her hands getting rougher…more wrinkled…along with her face getting deeper lines as more and more of her hair turned gray…

_So tired…but I have to keep walking… Walking…wh…why am I walking? Trying to get out of…of…where am I?_

Dael was having a harder and harder time thinking. She was feeling weaker by the second, which confused her…but she didn't know why. Her body began to hunch over as the wrinkles increased on her body and the last of her hair turned gray…before it started to turn white… Her sword was too heavy now. She let it slip from her hand, which was now turning withered and gnarled, but she only felt more and more exhausted. Finally, she stumbled…and fell to the ground. Even with the Mirage Belt, it still hurt quite a bit…and she didn't rise…

_Can't think…can't remember…what am I doing here? What was I doing? Where was I going? I'm so tired…need to rest…_

As Dael continued to rapidly age, getting to the point physically where it was more and more likely she would die of health problems, she lay her head down and shut her eyes. She could still see the forest at least…still feel it around her…and she just wanted to stay among it…even if it made her feel older…and older…and older…

* * *

><p>"Dael? Ceja? Cryder? Cid?" A pause. "…Anyone?"<p>

Quaren didn't get an answer…which only seemed to figure. After all, not only was he still in the midst of oblivion, but the small bit of the world that he had appeared to land on wasn't much to speak of. Just a small patch of land, like a back yard…or back door walkway, to be exact, surrounded by a wrought iron fence. Aside from that, there was only a small set of stone stairs leading up to a door with a window on it, but the window had curtains before it and he could see nothing beyond. Based on where he was, however, he figured it only let to more oblivion. That was all that was around him, after all.

Something about this place seemed rather familiar, though…

He didn't think about that, however. None of the others were around. That had to mean Cybus had them caught in some sort of trap. And obviously, in his case, this trap intended for him to go forward through that door just up ahead. Well, nothing doing there. He still had his guns. And while he may have been down to just two bullets left in the Fomalhaut, he still had a good amount of ammunition in his other weapons. Switching out his empty magazine in his rifle for anti-personnel rounds, he moved to his handgun, made sure it had plenty of ammunition, and then pointed it at the door. He was certain if he didn't go in…eventually something would have to come out, and he didn't feel like being the one to make the first move. Still…as he looked on at the door…something about it did seem oddly familiar…but for the life of him he couldn't tell what… It was a distant memory that he couldn't place exactly, but it was just on the tip of his tongue. Yet did it really matter? He had never been swimming in oblivion, after all, so the best it could be was an imitation, meaning whatever was in there…

"Quaren!"

At once, the former corporal's grip on his weapon lessened. His firm, soldier look faded slightly. Something in his heart stirred.

_That voice…_

"Quaren, are you out there? I told you not to head outside before breakfast!"

The feeling raised a bit more as his gun lowered. He recognized that voice…and, at once, he recognized the place as well. He stared at the door momentarily before he began to approach it. Not quite as carefully as he intended. He did managed to raise his gun again on reaching it, but he kept it in the air. After all…in spite of his feelings, he realized this was more than likely a trap of some sort… He had enough presence of mind for that at least. Solidifying his grip, he reached out and took the doorknob. A moment later he gave it a turn and snapped it open before looking, gun out.

He froze again, feeling his heart stirring once more, and nostalgia coming over him. There was no oblivion on the other side. Rather, it opened into a short entryway, which passed in a distance before coming to a very large and elegant kitchen. It was spotless and made in the latest designer style from when he was younger…just as his mother always loved it. And he recognized every bit of it too. From that odd machine that they used to make espresso to the garbage disposal to the walk-in cupboard. This was the kitchen from the first house he had lived in, before mom had moved into the district mansion for the representative. What he remembered as a child…making his gun arm lower again…

However, there was one difference…just as there had been one outside.

_I remember this place. I'd always go out on the garden outside… I'd call it _my_ garden…even if it was only a place to peel onions and potatoes and to have cigarette breaks or drink coffee… I'd always go out bright and early…and the maid, Jenny, always had to call me in for breakfast… But I don't see her…and she wasn't the one who called…_

Then, he saw her.

Walking in from one side, wearing an apron much like Jenny had, only not her…was his mother.

It wasn't from the years of holding office and the stress of her position. Nor was it his visions of her as of late…imagining her lying in a broken pile like some of the bodies he had seen in war footage…or buried under a rubble landscape slowly breathing her last with no way to get to her in the wake of Tiamat's destruction… It was how he knew her before he went to the Academy…only even better. She wasn't stressed now. She wasn't constantly thinking of her job, or had lines of care from trying to keep the house running, and as she looked to him, smiling so sweetly…it wasn't the kind of glance that she gave from the 30 minutes a day of time she could "pencil him in" for. It was just her.

"There you are, Quaren." She said with a smile. "Now don't bring your toys in here. Put them down before you come in."

Quaren gazed at her with an almost transfixed longing. Seeing her alive like this… A part of him realized it couldn't be real…but he ignored that part. There was too much feeling here. Here in a time before he ever felt fear. Before he knew what it meant to suffer and toil both physically and mentally in training. Before he knew what it meant to be taunted, hazed, and even occasionally beat by his classmates. Before he ever appreciated "death". Here, it seemed all the pain of his life was gone…

However, he looked down to what she said was a "toy"…and saw his gun. Why was he carrying his gun with him? Why had he brought it in here?

"It's…it's a gun, mom…" He answered.

She merely snickered as she went to the stove. "Of course it is…but put it down, would you? I don't want to trip over it later."

Quaren hesitated, but then did as he was told. He put the gun in his holster, which now seemed to hang more limply on him before he unbuckled it and put it down. Then he took off his rifle and the Fomalhaut and put that away too, all before looking to her. The kitchen seemed a bit…higher…

_What was I doing? Why am I dressed like this? Was it a field exam this week? Or was I in gunnery practice? Why with three guns?_

"Well, come on in. I've got some good news for you."

Quaren blinked, but then began to walk into the kitchen…not noticing his shoes were flopping a bit now. Or that this place seemed more wondrous and welcome to him as time went on…as well as taller…

As he began to approach her, he spoke out again…his voice now squeaking a bit, like a teenager just hitting that time of his life…

"Mom…why are you here? I thought you had to work at the Legislature…"

She smiled back as she began to turn the skillet a bit. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Quaren… I've reconsidered. You know that election coming up? The one I said I was going to run for?"

_Election?_ Quaren thought as his clothes hung low on him and he nearly stepped out of his boots. _That's…that's not for some years…right? She got elected…how long ago? I thought that's why she couldn't come to my fifth year graduation last week…_

She continued, shaking her head. "I'm not doing it. It finally hit me, Quaren. Here I am…worrying so much about matters of state and government council…but I'm not really changing anything. All I'm doing is wasting my life arguing with blowhards and career politicians… I did that for years…and I'm sick of it. Sick of making deals for favors and running that rat race…" She smiled a bit wider. "I'm a mother now. And the few years I've been a mother has been the best of my life. I want to make more time for my family…for you. I let Jenny go this morning. From now on, I'll be here to cook breakfast…and spend time with you."

As Quaren stepped out of his shoes and kept approaching, his voice sounded very young as he had to look up to see his mother. "But…what about the Academy? You said I'd bring pride to the family…and I just finished my second year…"

Quaren's mother let out a small laugh as she turned from the stove and crouched to his eye level. "You must have had a dream, Quaren… You've never been to the Academy. You never have to go there. You never have to get picked on by the older kids or being accused of being weak because you came from a rich background. You never have to learn about how to kill people or shoot weapons. Just stay here with me and your father…and we'll always be here for you now. And we can have all the good times you always wanted to have and that you always missed…"

This brought a broad smile to Quaren…no longer a soldier but now a young boy…as his last memory of the Academy disappeared and he found himself back "in the present"…right here…living out the secret desire he had always had but was too much of a "good child" to disobey his parents and voice. Forgetting about his guns and the oversized uniform he was wearing, he ran up to his mother's welcoming arms and gave her a big hug.

* * *

><p>Cryder took another step forward…and immediately it sank into the muck enough to go over the top, letting a nice "fresh" dose of river water flow into his boot and stain his sock. He immediately let out a stream of rather explicit curses fit for a pirate, before grumbling and yanking it out before it got any worse.<p>

"…Bloody Hell…" He finished, having used all of the other "seven words" at that point. "Had to be a damn swamp, didn't it? Absolutely can't stand the things… Why not throw me into an ocean?"

Cryder remembered living near swamps when he was younger. After all, where else would geomancers find themselves? Certainly not in any nice suburbs… People not only thought of swamps as being wasteland, but stayed clear of them when they could. Yet they had a dual-nature about them. On one hand, they were disgusting, rotten, smelly, and filled with all sorts of loathesome foulness in the form of spiders, snakes, and lots and lots of disease-carrying mosquitos. On the other hand…they were hotbeds of life. The world was paying for the mistake of treating swamps as complete wastelands. They were natural buffers for floods, natural filters for pollution, breeding grounds for food for game birds and migrating birds, and nurseries for fish. A pretty essential part of any complete ecosystem. They were also a nice place to practice geomancy on. As they had been neglected by human development for so many years, some of the strongest spells of geomancy could come from swamps. Even better than forests. Cryder lost track of how many times he had brought up clouds of poisonous mist to defend himself from swarms of mosquitos, or made oversized gators sink into bottomless bogs… Perhaps that was why the geomancers could stand to live in such places…

Of course, eventually the governments wanted that land too. Mostly for peat and oil… He still remembered laughing at all the news articles he read about his family's former land becoming an area of major flooding and a pollutant "dead zone". Served the politicians right…

Yet this wasn't the swamp he had grown up near. And if it was, it didn't change the fact that he wasn't in a good spot. He was separated from all the others. And while this place felt somewhat "natural"…there was the lingering feeling that something about this place was "off". It wasn't any sort of natural growth even if his geomancy would manipulate it normally. Of course…that was obvious enough from the lack of creatures living in it. No doubt, Cybus had put him here with an intent to do something to him, so he couldn't stay.

He grumbled a bit as he moved along, and not just from his now-wet boot. What exactly was the point of putting him here? Reminding him of how much he hated swamps, and that's why he went onto the open sea? Smelly…murky…dank…ugly…and full of memories of hard life for stuff that tasted like it was made of fungus. There wasn't one part of the whole thing he remembered fondly, except for possibly…

Cryder suddenly ground to a halt, his thoughts slipping, as he saw something up ahead…one welcome sight in the midst of all of this. Forgetting about the swamp, he stared at it in almost open-mouthed delight.

A Tulu tree.

_Great Leviathan…where have you been all my life?!_

The swamp may have been a disgusting and dangerous place, but it held a few delights to those who kept their eyes open for them. One of them was a Tulu tree. To be exact, it was a species of pome, kind of like an apple or pear. What was good about it in the swamp was that the fruit tended to stay too long on the tree. Only a few were ever dispersed by whatever creatures ate them. The rest remained there and let yeast move in, which began to ferment them in response. The end result was that the apples on the tree were loaded with alcohol like a fine, naturally, sweet cider. The adults of the geomancers would normally gather them in mid-autumn and barrel them up for a nice "nip" in the winter, but Cryder had been sneaking them ever since he was five. It "put hair on your chest" and "made you a man" among the youngsters. And depending on the year, they could have a real bite to them too.

Considering the fact Cryder was a habitual drinker and currently under a lot of stress, and that he hadn't had so much as a shot since the proverbial "crap had really hit the fan", it wasn't long before the only thing on his mind was sinking his teeth into one…or two…or maybe a half dozen. He could only hope they were as real as they looked as he rapidly scrambled through the swamp, not really caring about splashing himself with the muck anymore, until he got up to it. It almost seemed to be gleaming in the dim light.

His craving for alcohol intensified as he thought nothing of getting out of the swamp or finding the others, and immediately he reached out, snatched off an apple, and dug in. He didn't even know it was possible to so quickly eat an apple. This was the perfect kind. He had never tasted any Tulu apple so "hard" before in his life…and it sent a rush to his brain from the pleasing effect of the alcohol. In no time at all, the first was gone. But he wanted another. He only craved it more strongly now…only was more devoted to it as he reached out for a second, snatched it, and moved to take a bite…

Before he froze…

_Time out, mate…_

His body and mind alike didn't care for that. They practically screamed at him to indulge more. But Cryder was not the typical person. He knew what it was like to indulge in one's pleasures and vices, to totally immerse himself into them until all senses left him…and he knew when it was time to get serious. Although he preferred to do the former of the two, he realized something.

_I ain't been off the bottle so long that I should be feelin' like a recoverin' alcoholic from my first taste of the sauce… And I haven't turned down mates for a bottle of rum or anythin' else that messes up the brain and slurs the speech since I was a swabbie… And this place still feels a bit wrong…and these apples just a tad too good to be true…_

The feelings didn't diminish. He felt not only a desire…but almost a command…to forget everything else and eat the apples. It took him a full ten seconds, but finally, however, he turned his hand and managed to drop the apple in his grip, and made himself stand and not go for it or anything else. He was right. Something was bewitching him…but he wasn't going to fall for it. Part of being a free spirit addicted to this stuff, after all, was that he did it when he pleased and he quit when-

His thoughts cut off as he looked to his hand.

His skin was growing smoother, and was getting a greenish tint to it. That wasn't all. As he stood there, he noticed a fluttering…and saw, looking down, black hair…both from his mustache and scalp…slowly falling off of his head. His jaw was also feeling bigger, even as he saw his clothes around him rapidly get larger…

_Oh bugger…_

He wasn't sure if it was the apple, the swamp water, or just being here…but the changes continued. As his shirt began to rise over his head and his pants and boots got way to large for him, his fingers enlarged and bulged in places before his limbs became stocky and stubby. But he could feel his legs getting much larger and more muscular, along with his feet. He tried to move forward a bit before he fell into his own shoes, now that he was shrinking so much, but when he did, he only made an awkward gyration that made him spill forward, and soon his body was hanging out in his shirt. As it got smaller and smaller yet, his neck got thicker, his teeth fell out, and his mouth grew broader as his sword and Mirage Belt both clattered to the ground.

The changes finally stopped…but by then he was practically tangled in his shirt. He looked around again at himself, and saw only a slimy body with mottled brown on green. He opened his mouth to let out a curse at what had just happened…

All that came out was a rather deep-throated croak.

_…I'm a bloody frog. _He realized. _At least I still got my brain…for all the good that's going to do me. Not to mention that feelin' still wants me to gorge myself on more apples, though I think even one would poison me at this point… Kinda glad there ain't any mosquitos flyin' 'round because I'm feeling a bit hungry…_

_ Hell, I can't even do geomancy like this! And if there's even one gator in this swamp, I'll be gone without it even stopping to fry up my legs first! Sure as hell can't chant Esuna either and I don't see no maidens lurkin' about to give me a kiss! Now what do I do?_

* * *

><p>Ceja was <em>not<em> happy at the moment. She was used to fighting opponents on her "own terms", normally out in the wild where nothing had an advantage…at least, not to a Fuliet warrior like her…or she could at least get into a physical struggle. She had just about had it with magic and trickery. She wondered if any of these Sorceresses could call themselves real women by relying on magic rather than their own power. She doubted it. Why else were they so obsessed with having their "Sorceress Knights" with them? And Cybus was her most hated one…after knowing what she did to betray and trick her people. She would love nothing more than to fight her skin-on-skin…

However, this latest change had made her even more upset. Currently, she was stuck in the middle of seeming oblivion. She had landed on what looked like flat, sandy ground…almost like what one of her tribe would find in one of their "warrior circles" if they were about to fight. However, she saw no opponents…just a black emptiness all around her. Most importantly…she didn't see her friends and companions…including Jalab. Obviously, she had separated her from the others. Perhaps they too were separated. If so, she'd be sorry. Jalab was too powerful of a warrior for the likes of _her_. But if she tried to fight her first, she'd be happy to do the job without his involvement. After all, she still had the Rune Axe that had cleaved Veriguno's forearm from her body, and she was more than ready to use it again.

"Come out and fight, witch!" She snapped angrily. "I do not fear you! I fear nothing you can throw at me!"

As if in response, she heard a series of reptilian hisses before her. Not one, or two…but at least a dozen in front of her, surrounding her. However, only a moment later, before she could even fully focus on those voices…she heard another dozen behind her. She knew the sounds of the hisses too. After all, in the wilds of Fuliet, it was called the "Last Breeze". It was the exact sound that a Fuliet Sauron would make moments before it would leap upon you for a killing stroke. And realizing that…her heart felt just a twinge of fear inside of her. She knew that the elders had cautioned her that if she ever heard that hiss, she would have mere moments to respond to it before she was cut down with one blow… Yet to hear at least two dozen at once? Even the most legendary Warchiefs couldn't combat that…

_No!_ She told herself. _Be strong! You are a noble Fuliet warrior! No beast can be your equal, no matter the odds!_

A moment later, she received the ability to put that claim to the test…as six of them shot out at a time. Each one was in "pouncing mode", and she quickly met them. Giving a shout, she rushed up to the opponents and swung out with her axe with all the power she could muster. Luckily, between her constant battles, her junctioning, and the power of her weapons, she sidestepped three of them and swung out to lop the other three into neat halves, sending them falling to the ground, but not before erupting their blood and entrails over her. Looking just as fierce, she snapped her body around to see more trying to dive on her from behind. Yelling back, she drove her axe forward and into one of them, embedding it in its chest, and then swung it around to smash into two of its companions and knock them aside. She soon reared back afterward to smash the shaft of her weapon into the muzzle of another, compressing the entire facial bone structure of the creature, before swinging around again with the axe blade and taking off two more heads.

Another Fuliet Sauron leapt for her upper body, and as fresh blood dripped off of her from the last two, she gave a grunt and raised her axe to block against it. Its weight and power was tremendous, soon bearing down on her heavily and making her buckle and strain. Other Saurons began to move in from the sides, looking to take her from that angle. For a moment, she felt a hint of fear… She had started off well, but these monsters were all around her. Much to her horror, she saw even more were emerging from the darkness to replace the ones she had already cut down, and she could barely hold against the current one. Then…the worst happened as she heard another give a piercing yell behind her before leaping up at her exposed backside. No doubt, it would be a mortal blow… Using her pain and desire to live to push her, she managed to slowly force the Sauron on her axe backwards, trying to get away…

"Aah!" She cried a moment later as she felt the hooked talon of the one behind her rake across her back. It couldn't have possibly been too deep of a cut…or she would now be crippled and easy prey. But it hurt…and hurt _terribly_. She could feel blood running down her back and the pain seeming to radiate throughout her. Yet her strength didn't give out in the least. On the contrary…fury and anger began to fill her. Gnashing her teeth together and looking out hatefully, she flung the current Fuliet Sauron away from her with a surge of strength, and then snapped around with the back of her hand to smash against the attacking one's jaw so hard that teeth actually flew out…an impressive feat even for a junctioned individual…

However, Ceja only grew angrier at that…especially as she realized her anger was filling her with more strength. Two more Saurons darted in, one clamping their terrible jaws on her shoulder, and the other on her forearm. It hurt…but not as much as the slash had. She let her anger flow…and soon she wasn't even feeling the bites. Giving a near-bestial roar of her own, she twisted her forearm to dislocate the jaw of one Sauron, and twisted her other arm around to seize the other by the neck and snap it with a twist. After that, she gave another rage-filled bellow before swinging out with her axe, slashing through not three but _five_ of those in front of her, before spinning around and slashing through five more. Even as more Saurons came, she merely roared at them in reply…actually enjoying their fresh blood splashing across her. It made her feel so invigorated…so alive…and the desire to get angrier and angrier…

Ceja soon dove into the attacking monsters. Again and again her axe went down and blood and remains flew everywhere. As the Fuliet warrior continued to hack them to bits, she began to growl and snarl. Her increasing anger…the power she felt now flowing through her…crowded out Cybus from her thoughts. It also removed Dael and the others… Even Jalab was forgotten. It was replaced by vivid, furious, and red animal instincts. The desire to slice up and destroy anything that threatened her. To revel in her power. And she only found her power growing stronger and stronger the more she gave in to rage…

At length, she threw her axe away. It felt awkward…compared to her fingers. Soon, she was seizing and tearing into the Saurons with her bare hands…and teeth. In response, her nails grew long, thick, and hooked. Her teeth grew sharp as her mouth elongated. Her eyes turned yellow and bestial as her muscles grew, but she only fought more and more like a ravenous beast. With one throw, her knees popped out and recurved as her hands elongated and solidified…but she didn't notice the pain. Just the liberating anger and fury… She desired nothing but blood now…and to become more and more a savage beast… In response, fur began to grow out the rest of her body as her head deformed into a lupine shape, complete with pointed ears and terrible teeth. She was definitely roaring and growling now…but it was all the same to her at this point. She had ceased having any conscious or human thoughts. Her thoughts were only that of the monster she was finishing transforming into…

* * *

><p>Taraketh, as he fell, tried to recall the Float spell. It had been one of the earliest ones he had learned, after all, before he had mastered his first Quake. It was a necessity for one with Earth magic. However, he was having a hard time focusing at the moment. He knew what had to be happening. Cybus was dropping them into some form of trap…and he had a feeling they would survive the trip. Nevertheless, he didn't want to make this "easy" on her. He had experience with the woman…knew of her power firsthand… If he could only give her some trouble…<p>

Yet even as he tried to think of something, the world below changed. Abruptly, an emblem lit up…one that was for the Order of Hyne. It had an appearance, at least at first glance, of some sort of glowing rune in the midst of blackness, lit up by neon light. However, falling a bit closer, he quickly saw it was some sort of light coming from an unseen floor. And that was confirmed a moment later when he landed on it.

The former High Child was not as coordinated as many of the others with him, and ended up landing on all fours. However, the landing was only a little rough. In fact, even considering when he had first seen the rune come to light, he seemed to have fallen a shorter distance than that… He held only a moment before he grunted and forced himself to his feet. He staggered a bit once there, but looked up and around.

He saw nothing. None of the other group members were with him.

He grew highly nervous on seeing that.

_Damn it all… Cybus is one of the most highly skilled mages in recorded history… I should have known she wouldn't attack directly. She's a master of more subtle arts but no less dangerous… After all, Malboros aren't lethal because they can swallow you whole. They're lethal because they can leave you blind, miniaturized, sick, and stupefied as they slowly digest you… She's separated all of us…which means…_

"Sir Sabian."

In a flash, the hammer and sickle were out. While the chain still loosened from his body, Taraketh turned…and saw her on the edge of the rune.

She was still dressed in her concealing Sorceress attire. She had the "river crest" behind her, and a small yet elegant headdress holding her hair tightly back. The runes in her face had grown a bit deeper, however, giving her the illusion of ceremonial paint rather than her own flesh and bone. Her nails seemed a bit longer, protruding from her gloves. All in all, her appearance was as conservative as always, but even standing as she used to, hands calmly folded in front of her, feet together, she seemed just a bit more, on some level, "alluring"…or attempting to be…than normal. Of course, such an effort would be lost on Taraketh even if it was pronounced. The woman was old enough to be his mother and had raised him in a near-similar role for his life as a child.

Besides…none of it erased what she had done.

Nevertheless, Taraketh felt anxiety. His contact with Odin and Gilgamesh, as well as Bahamut, was opening his mind to all sorts of new spells and possibilities. And he had found, freeing his mind from being subservient to Mianyl, his power had grown. But against a Sorceress alone? He didn't have a chance. It didn't help when he raised his weapons to fight, Cybus only smiled wider and more softly.

"At long last, I have a chance to be with you privately, dear. Away from your friends…" Her tone dipped slightly. "…And away from the Matriarch."

"Where are they?" He shot out to her, not caring at all for this. "What have you done with them?"

"You won't like it." She answered, not stopping smiling. "But come…see for yourself."

She gestured one clawed hand…and at once six objects lit up behind her. Each one looked like some form of black gem that, if hollowed out, would fit a full-grown person inside. They seemed to hover on nothingness, but in spite of being black, they reflected the light of the runes. He could see nothing inside…but he immediately tensed.

_Illusionary traps…_

He knew them well. They were not allowed, taught only from an example standpoint of a warning of what to avoid. Unbreakable from the inside, which could be as small as a coffin or as large as another world. They utilized the sentient ability of imagination to create and reinforce the prisons. Even if someone's will was strong enough to resist the illusion, they couldn't break free, and the illusion would continue to exist and reinforce itself until at last the will was broken and the individual was caught in a dream world… However, he knew of other ways to break them…

"Forbidden magic…" He hissed before starting to swing his hammer over his head.

Cybus lightly cupped a hand to her mouth and gave a giggle. "Don't bother, Taraketh."

The mage actually slowed at that, looking to her in puzzlement.

"Don't you remember our early lessons on curses and hexes?" She asked. "What is the only way to ensure that a curse remains permanent?"

Taraketh slowed at that. What was she getting at? He held for a moment…but then remembered, sending a wave of fear through his heart.

"…To make the victim willingly accept the curse…"

Cybus gave a calm nod. "Desire, Taraketh…the enemy of all those who claim to obey 'order'. Desire turns all to chaos. And you, me, and your friends are so wonderfully filled with desires…changing them was very easy."

Taraketh's face turned to shock…realizing what had happened. Cybus had imprisoned them in those gems, fed them the lies of an illusionary world to put them in the wrong "frame of mind", and then had worked curses on them. And since their minds had been altered to accept the curses, they technically took them "of their own free will"…making the spells all but unbreakable. Effectively, they _were_ unbreakable now. There was only one recorded instance in history of such a curse being reversed. It was on a pair of children who had turned themselves to stone willingly to stop a trap. There was one mage who managed to generate an Esuna spell of so much power, so much strength, and combined with the will of many of their friends who desperately desired them to live again. It was enough to actually override the will of the children and force them to become flesh and bone. But that sort of magic had been so strong it had meant the death of the one who cast it a year later…and even the Sorceresses couldn't generate it themselves…or, if they could, they were the only ones who could do it…

Gradually, his anger failed. Instead, it turned to despair and sadness. There was no way he could break that spell…no way anyone could. They were all as good as dead…and the realization made him feel hollow inside…despairing… He actually lowered his arms and his head. He felt his throat tightening and his eyes beginning to sting…

Cybus, however, did something surprising. She began to advance forward…and spoke in the same sweet, calm, motherly voice she used to use.

"There, there, Taraketh…don't despair. I promise…they're all quite happy. They're living blissful dreams based off of their own desires. They'll know nothing but peace and satisfaction until they enter the Void and unite with it… It was done as a favor to them, that they need not spend the last of their lives in pain and suffering…"

Here, however, Taraketh snapped up, aiming his sickle to throw at Cybus. She had only advanced a few steps, and froze here as he glared at her.

"You monster…" He growled. "I'll kill you for this or at least die trying!"

Surprisingly enough, Cybus had actually recoiled and put her hands up, almost defensively. She made no attempt to generate a shield or a barrier. Instead, she simply looked as innocent as she used to.

"Dear…why are you being like this? You didn't honestly think you could defeat the Matriarch, did you? Even with the help of Bahamut and Tiamat? I only granted your friends peace and serenity. Don't you see? None of you have to suffer and die now. None of you have to be tortured by her. You can just rest here until everything is over, and then all of your worries and cares will no longer matter. Just sweet, blissful nothingness… This was my gift to all of you…"

Taraketh didn't break. As sweet and innocent…and soothing…as those words were, he closed his ears and his heart to them. The only effect they had was to erode his anger slightly…but not his pain at realizing what she had done to his friends.

"…Why didn't you do the same to me, then?" He snapped. "Why did you bring me here?"

Cybus held a moment, but then lowered one of her arms. She raised the other, however, and crossed it before her. She smiled a bit more.

"I told you, Taraketh…none of us can escape desire. Not you…not your friends…and not me. And I have had a desire for a very, _very_ long time…but I forced myself to keep it in check for many, many years, until I reached the age where I felt it would no longer matter. But now…now that Gaia will end very shortly, I see no reason to cling to my lies or masquerades any longer… Behold…something that I gained from opening my abilities to embracing forbidden magics…"

With that, she raised her hand…and touched herself on the head with it, instantly surrounding herself in a vibrant aura.

Taraketh realized Cybus had cast a spell on herself. Indeed, the Sorceress closed her eyes and stiffened, as if she was a bit in pain. Yet it wasn't her pain that soon had the mage going wide-eyed. As he looked to her…the runes remained, but the lines of age on her face slowly eased. Her hair loosened and fell down on either side of her head…instantly growing longer and healthier until two long strands dangled down past her chin on either side. Her body grew more defined and even a bit more "curvy". Her feet and hands changed positions, twisting and turning, and her voice lost any trace of a groan or worn-out tone and became far more youthful and vibrant… Her dress altered, splitting open and losing its higher collar to go right down…between her cleavage. Finally, her headdress splayed out more, forming what looked almost like golden emblem wings that spread from her head. As the rest of her fabric fit her new form perfectly, her skin paled a bit more, her colors turned to more blues, and a train went down from either arm low to the ground, still clothed in black…

Finally, she finished. The aura died, and she exhaled as if she had been holding in a great deal of pain. Taraketh stared at her slack-jawed the whole time. She finally took in a deep breath, raised her head a bit, and ran her long claws through her hair as much as she could. She had changed greatly…in more ways than one. She was definitely more "alluring" now…more showing of skin, more fluid in her movements…definitely not the matronly figure she was a moment ago. And now, she looked to be only a year older than Taraketh at the most. In the end, she looked back down to him, and gave a slightly seductive smile as she opened her eyes…which were blazing blue, making her look like something completely otherworldly much as Veriguno had.

The mage actually took a step back at first…but couldn't deny something far more "fundamental" in him. In spite of his fear of what this was, and how surprising it was…he did find this new Cybus physically attractive…

"C…Cybus…"

She grinned a bit more, her teeth almost seeming to point as she began to walk forward. Even that had changed. No longer a proper gait; it was one that was far more voluptuous, crossing one leg in front of the other…

"Do you like the 'new me', Taraketh?" She spoke in a younger…and more seductive…tone. "Now that our worlds have been merged, I can access greater secrets of time magic that didn't exist on our own version of Gaia…including the ability to both advance and regress age. It was forbidden, of course…and I had to make a few sacrifices, both personal and…external…but this is the result. The last time I was in a body this young I was everyone's 'perfect little Sorceress'. Always reserved…always proper…always dignified…" She frowned slightly. "…and always repressed. Ever since they day I became a Sorceress, my forebears told me I had to be in a state of total self control. I had to be everyone's ideal 'lady'. And for years…I believed that. I became totally reserved, matronly, and the picture of the good mother, governess, teacher, leader…whatever anyone wished me to be.

"Yet as the years went on, I grew to dislike it. Then to hate it. Then to _loathe_ it with unimaginable disgust and ire. You know _why_ I poured so much love on my 'children', Taraketh? Compensation…compensation for never being allowed to feel love between a man and a woman. For being sentenced to a vow of celibacy. For walking around as if I was trapped in an iron corset. I poured out love into all of my students…but never was I able to be loved by them to satisfy my own needs…my own _desires_. Never could any of them be my true children…and never could I undergo the process of _making_ a child… So I grew to hate the Order. Believe it or not, Taraketh…I hated the Order almost as much as you do…hated having to follow the codes and tenets that made me a great leader and a loving 'mother' but restrained me in every other way…"

By now, she was up to him, and Taraketh, hearing what she was saying, was almost immobilized. However, she smiled again here, looking into him with those burning blue eyes…which, nevertheless, from this distance showed an attractive, natural woman beyond them… Her clawed hand slowly reached up and, to the tune of a shiver running down his spine, placed itself on his shoulder. And to his surprise…he let her.

"I'll let you in on my little secret, Taraketh…one that even the Matriarch doesn't know of…" She whispered gently. "The day I saw you come in to the orphanage…saw what a ruddy, handsome, determined young man you were…I knew I couldn't wait for you to come of age."

Taraketh's eyes widened a bit more as he felt her hand slide along his shoulder.

"I had seen so many children come and go…I _knew_, one day, what a wonderful young mage you would become…what a wonderful young man…and deep inside in my neglected heart, I cursed the day I was born…cursed that I could never be with you… I respected the Matriarch and her wishes…but…deep down inside my heart of hearts…I had one desire. One reason for raising her to pursue this goal for the world…"

She raised her other hand and placed it on his other shoulder.

"If _I_ had to be unhappy…if _I_ couldn't have you…if I was forced to live in a world where I would always be a beautiful statue but nothing more…then _nothing_ deserved the happiness I was denied."

Taraketh nearly let out a gasp…and not just from the fact he was now blushing from Cybus being so close.

"Are…are you…telling me the truth?" He nearly exclaimed.

Before he could do anything else, Cybus pulled herself up until her body touched his, and her hand raised and caressed his face.

"But it's all right now, Taraketh!" She said with a hopeful smile. "Look at me! In the body I always wanted! Look at us! Free from those tenets and rules! Soon to be free from everything! I know the secrets of this world, Taraketh! I know what it holds inside it…including the means to leave Gaia forever and sail among the stars, left by countless visitors and past civilizations…"

The mage nearly gasped again…as Cybus wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder.

"Come with me, my beloved…" She said hopefully. "Let's leave this world and Mianyl to the Void…just the two of us! It will be thousands upon thousands of years before everything is turned to oblivion… Until that time…let us go to a fertile new world together… Let us live in peace and happiness…safe in each other's arms…surrounded by each other's love…to make a new Gaia in our image…to write whatever rules we want for one another…"

Then…he felt Cybus' lips press against his cheek.

"I love you so much, Taraketh… Please understand I never meant to hurt you before…how I had to fool her into thinking I was divorced from this world and existence… But now…we can be together! Forever and always! You know now there's no love in her heart…how she never appreciated you or your service…but mine is overflowing…and it wants you so much…"

She kissed Taraketh again, and then leaned back, holding her own lips out…and Taraketh realized she wanted him to kiss her back…to hold her back…to carry her out of this tower to wherever she wished and to leave Gaia behind while embracing her… And for a brief moment, he was tempted to. He felt a strong urge to forget the pain of his failure of life…to forget the burden of betrayal and how he had fallen short…to kiss the beautiful creature holding onto him…

However…a part of him did not yield.

After a long pause, he began to close his eyes, and leaned over…to kiss her on the cheek. Yet when he did, Cybus, her own eyes still closed, turned her head slightly to aim for the lips instead, and nearly reached out to him to try and meet his lips.

At once, his eyes opened, he leaned back, and he stared at her…all attraction gone in his eyes.

"…You want me to kiss you on the lips."

Cybus slowly opened his eyes, and looked to him. She blinked once, but then smiled. "Well…yes. Isn't that what lovers do?"

"Lovers, yes…" He responded, looking to her without any love in his own eyes. "…and witches who are trying to administer the 'Lilith's Kiss'." His eyes narrowed. "…And that's what you were trying to do, wasn't it?"

As Cybus froze and stared at him, he reached up to his cheek and ran the back of his hand against it. "…I thought I smelt something 'intoxicating' and 'stimulating' from your breath…" He murmured as he finished wiping, and then held it before him.

There was a tint of green on the back of it, smeared across.

He looked back up to Cybus, and then, with more force and determination against the Sorceresses than he had shown yet, he reached up, took her hands, and almost forcefully removed them from him before stepping back. Cybus didn't move, looking "caught in the act" as her hands were released by him. Yet as he continued to glare, she smiled innocently and began to step forward.

"Just to 'get you in the mood', Taraketh… Just to help you forget-"

"Forget what?" He snapped in cutting off. "Forget my friends? My life? Gaia? Anything that was ever important to me? How about the hate that I've developed for you and Mianyl ever since you betrayed me? Oh, I understand… All for 'my own good', right? Just like how you cursed the others was for 'their good', yes? The only 'good' you've ever tried to do for anyone is yourself!"

Cybus' eyes grew hurt…but also more passionate as she gestured to herself.

"I told you that I didn't intend for you to be hurt! I'm serious when I say I wish to take us both off of this world…to spare both of our lives! I love you more than you'll ever know!"

"But I don't love _you_!" The mage retorted. "And I never will! I could never love anyone as selfish as you, even if I had never been brought up by the Order of Hyne! A person who sees children as nothing but tools for their own satisfaction one day! A person who thinks the whole world deserves to suffer because they aren't satisfied with what they had in life! Because they were never bold enough to stand up for themselves! And _you_ don't love me either! All you see me as is a 'possession', just like you did when I walked into the orphanage! You're so angry at people in the world not appreciating you as a woman…while you never appreciated anyone else as a _person!_ 'Love me'? How could you possibly love me? You don't even know what love is! Love isn't something you drill into someone like an instructor or follow a recipe for like a cookbook…and it _certainly_ isn't something that you force a person to feel through magic! Go with you? Go with you and do what? Become your slave? Your toy? Mianyl is right about one thing… If that's the kind of life I'd have to live, then I'd _prefer_ to be swallowed by the Void! I'd rather be nothing than your mindless drone!"

Cybus continued to stare as he gave her his tongue lashing. Yet as she stared, her look grew more hurt only for a while…before it began to change again. Her eyes blazed, and anger mounted. It only continued to grow as she felt herself rejected after this change…for not being embraced by the one she fantasized as being her true love for countless years. Her teeth began to show as her rage flared, and her aura began to increase around her. However, she did not strike…

…and Taraketh didn't wait for her to. Ignoring her completely, but taking up his weapon, he walked right past the Sorceress without fear, even when his clothing whipped and his skin tingled as if touched by ice while he passed her. Once beyond her, he made right for the gems. There, he looked up to them, even as Cybus turned and seethed at him, her anger at her rejection being far greater than anything yet. Once in that position, he slowly exhaled, and then closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

At this, Cybus formed an angry, cruel grin and let out a laugh. "You brute… You ingrate…what in the world do you think you're doing?!" She snapped. "You think you can break that spell? You think your cheap words and pathetic notions of nobility can break human desire?! It's stronger than you'll ever know!"

Taraketh didn't answer. At once, he drew on all the magic power he could possibly have inside of him. He focused his full aura into this spell. He began to chant soon after, bringing forth a spell of Esuna. Into it…he poured everything he had. All of his memories of Dael's friendship… All of his memories of Quaren's determination… All of his memories of Cryder's drive… All of his memories of Ceja's strength… All of his memories of Jalab's nobility… All of his memories of Cid's faithfulness… He drew everything he could muster from it…drawing from all of the emotions and feelings he had from them…the strongest he had ever felt…and poured the full measure of his magical power into it…

As a result, not a white aura…but a white sigil appeared before him and around him. Such was the mark of one putting their all into a white magic spell. A holy symbol wrapped around him, radiant, strong, and blazing with might. It bore the sacred symbols for complete purging of darkness and curses from one's body. And as he continued to chant, it only radiated brighter and stronger, overshadowing the symbol on Cybus' own floor, and getting mightier by the second. The glow bathed Taraketh in whiteness… Yet, just as he expected…it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. He had to tap more.

He knew only two options were left.

One was to convert his own life into magical power. He could do that…but then he'd be useless. He had to keep trying to help. He had to be able to keep fighting. And there was no guarantee it would be enough anyway. He had restrained his emotions too much…not growing as attracted to the group as he should have. He needed something more powerful…more pure…more resonating…

There was only one other thing…

As he continued to chant so fiercely that the veins in his head bulged and his muscles strained…he brought forth the sickle of the Wrath of the Dragon. This in itself was forbidden…but only in the sense to keep a mage safe. Right now…he needed it. He soon extended his left arm.

"What are you doing?!" Cybus called over the sigil.

Taraketh ignored her. He took in a deep breath…and chanted again in the arcane tongue.

_Let the pain I freely take…and the flesh, bone, and blood that I sacrifice…translate my will to those I love…and reach them no matter how deep the darkness they dwell in…_

With that, Taraketh brought his scythe down…and sliced off his own left forearm.

The pain was just as strong as one would imagine…and that pain, willingly taken on, severed from his body along with the limb. As it headed for the ground…it burst into holy flame, and was completely consumed by the time it touched the sigil. But on doing so…the sigil blazed forth more powerfully than ever…and soon radiant beams of light erupted from Taraketh's bleeding body and shot for each of the six crystals. The force alone was enough to immediately crack all six surfaces…but in addition to that it swept over each black gem with radiant, dazzling, perfect light…penetrating inside and all around…

At once, all six gems shattered.

Only if one was looking carefully could they see everything. Cid looked nearly curled up, but his eyes fluttered and opened before he landed on his feet. Jalab was gray and motionless…but turned back to being warm and alive as he touched the ground and looked about in puzzlement. Ceja seemed almost a beast…but her fur-covered body rapidly turned back into human before she landed and her axe clattered to her side. Quaren looked no older than five for a moment before he was instantly his former age, and his guns landed all around him as he looked about and blinked. A tiny frog came out of one…but rapidly expanded back into a bewildered, yet also relieved, Cryder. Finally, an old woman nearly fell out of the last…but by the time she touched down was healthy and strong again. The group was all there…and all free of their curses. They looked around a bit in bewilderment, each one awakening from the illusionary trap, but then realized what had happened…and that they were now free.

* * *

><p>Dael herself blinked a few times, finding herself restored to her previous age, before she tried to figure out what had done it. She was out of that old forest…out of that strange desire to become as old as her "original body" was and unite with it… But where now? This place was just as black as what she had been falling into, but she figured she was definitely back in the Tower of Entropy now…only to find someone collapsing before her. In moments, she recognized him as Taraketh, and quickly turned fully to him. She nearly gaped a moment later when she noticed he was spilling a large amount of red blood on the emblem on the floor…from a missing limb. He was also looking rather pale.<p>

"Taraketh!"

The mage weakly looked up to her, shaking all over as it was clear he was going into shock. Forgetting about everything else, the former captain instantly ran to his side and bent down next to him. The others noticed and quickly came as well. Even before she reached him, however, Dael was already focusing on chanting a new spell. She wasn't the best at healing, and she needed to save her strength for her more "specific" moves…but seeing what the situation was, she soon pressed her hand over his bleeding stump and concentrated, making her own aura come out. Taraketh stiffened and winced for a moment…but the flesh regenerated enough to stop the bleeding. A moment later, Jalab was hovering over him and pressing his own hand into his chest Taraketh soon gave a spasm as part of Jalab's own chi was "pumped" into him, restoring a bit of color to his face and making him look up.

As this happened, Dael looked to the Wrath of the Dragon…and saw the blade soaked with blood. She instantly snapped to him.

"Taraketh, what have you…"

"I had to…" He grunted. "My will…had to be stronger…than yours…to break the curse… My will to sacrifice my flesh, blood, and bone…"

Dael and the others alike gathering around the former High Child froze on hearing that. The woman realized at that point that she hadn't exactly seen Taraketh's severed limb "lying around"…and on realizing that the truth became shockingly clear. She turned back for a moment, and saw bits of black gem dust and fragments scattered on the ground. She realized the truth. They were in some sort of prison…cursed by Cybus' trap…and to free them he had to do this…

As the others realized the same, those who had been holding back…who still thought Taraketh was "dirty" and looking for a chance to stab them in the back…reconsidered. It might not have made up for the people who died "on his watch", but this was worse even than the torture chamber. He couldn't get this limb back, but he gave it up anyway…

Yet before Dael or anyone else could say something…they became aware that the air in the chamber was getting both colder and more charged…the tell-tale sign, Dael had learned to detect, of a Sorceress' power building. She turned her head at once, as did the others, and saw…

"…Cybus?"

A younger, more scantily-clad woman stood there…still bearing her crest…yet with a far more enraged face. One that might have been beautiful at one point, but was now twisting into unimaginable hatred…nothing but pure malice and desire for destruction.

"It's her…she used forbidden magic…" Taraketh grunted. "Brace yourselves…"

"Don't bother." Cybus snorted. With a wave of her hand…her lyre of ice immediately formed in her grasp. Dael saw that, and immediately both she and the others tried to spring on her…but the best she could do was close half the distance before she began to play.

It wasn't "will draining" like last time. No doubt, she had been playing her music to inflict the curses on them. Instead…a wind at least four times as icy and piercing as what had come from Shiva ripped forth from her lyre and slammed into everyone. Dael actually let out a gasp as she went out of breath. It felt like the air was freezing in her lungs…like her body was being pierced with icy knives all over. She instantly slammed to the ground, and Cybus continued to play, making it colder and more piercing. She tried to fight…but soon the intense feeling of cold overrode all senses. She could feel her outer layer of skin already freezing and the rest of her body growing sluggish. The others were much the same, unable to overcome the spell. It was only moments before neither she nor the others could move but a little, and frost started to form on their clothes.

"So, you little wretches don't want to 'go peacefully and painlessly', do you?" She snapped. "And you, Sir Sabian…you want to stomp on my heart after I poured out a lifetime worth of feelings for you? Then you can suffer and die with the rest of them! And I've had it with trying to make you all just 'go to sleep and never wake up'! Now I'll see if you can feel your own blood turning to ice in your veins before I shatter your frozen remains with my bare hands!"

Dael couldn't response. She tried to chant a spell, but her teeth were chattering too much and she was too out of breath to say a single word. Besides, her face already felt like it was freezing in place… None of them could do anything to stop her…could even raise a hand…

_Her lyre…_ Dael thought…even as her thoughts began to blur. _If we…could just…hit…her…lyre…_

As Dael began to succumb to the cold along with everyone else, however…she heard one faint noise over the icy gale…

The sound of a fusion core warming up.

The last clear thought she could make before feeling as if she would black out… _Cid…_

Moments later, a resounding crash went out through the black chamber as the floor was instantly smashed into millions of pieces. It had been made of a single perfect gem…but now was totally annihilated. Cybus' eyes widened in shock as the ground suddenly gave way beneath her. And she was so focused on hate and anger…so intensely playing her lyre…that it slipped out from one of her hands as she suddenly fell. At once, the icy spell was broken…right before the group began to fall down along with her.

Cid himself "unfroze" a bit before beginning to sprawl…his Atomic Hammer soon flying away from him. He was responsible. The head had already been resting against the floor when Cybus struck them. With the last bit of his own strength, he had pressed the button on the handle that discharged the final fusion core into the floor. The end result destroyed it, but also removed the spell and now sent them all dropping.

With the cold gone, Dael took a moment or two to "thaw" before she realized where they were. To her shock…not only had the final room been a real chamber in the Tower of Entropy, but now they were right in the middle of it, similar to how they had been in the Tower of Order, and at the moment were falling through a colossal column of red, fiery crystal right down into a deeper, darker black oblivion that seemed to stretch on forever. The only good side? It was warmer here…and heat began to rush over everyone else to revive them. Soon, all seven were plummeting down the seemingly bottomless pit along with Cybus.

Speaking of which, the woman immediately brought the lyre back up and moved to strum it again…

"Don't let her play that again!" Dael shouted.

In response, Quaren, moving as fast as a whip, seized one of his guns falling down around him: his rifle. He brought it forth, took aim, and right before one of her nails could pluck even a single string, he fired a shot that obliterated the top portion of the lyre, shattering the strings. Cybus reacted in shock, glaring up at them, her blue eyes gleaming hatefully, before a new lyre instantly formed in her grasp. Yet Quaren was even faster than this, and soon fired off another shot, breaking this one as well. Hissing, the woman quickly gestured out…and a sphere of light began to surround her… She was making a barrier to ensure that it wouldn't happen again… Quaren tried to stop by firing at her head, but it was too late. Sparks were all that resulted. She was so filled with hate that even if they hurt her, she didn't show it. She immediately began to reform the lyre, and once she had it she moved to strum…

When Cryder swung out his hand and gestured to the passing walls of crystal. After a moment, they burned brighter and gleamed before they erupted in a flow of burning magma right for Cybus. Seeing this, she quickly strengthened her shield to keep the magma from touching or burning her…but the heat still melted away lyre strings in moments, again ruining her instrument. She noticed this as she guarded against the magma, gritting her teeth in fury, before she saw a much larger form shoot through the fire. Her eyes widened a bit…realizing too late she wasn't looking at magma at all. She was looking at the horned, bestial form of Ifrit…who Dael had been summoning during this time. A moment later, a massive ball of rock and magma was sent flying right at her face. And even bringing up her hands to guard…the blow still shook tremendously enough to make her head go back and her body fly down a bit faster.

Unfortunately, she snapped her head back up just as quickly, and soon raised her hands. A moment later, a shower of deadly icicles erupted from all ten of her fingers. They came forth in streams of five icicle bursts…and each one was six feet long and deadly…enough to incapacitate them if it pierced them. Dael herself soon had to try and evade several of them headed for her, but she realized that so long as she was free falling, her movements were limited. Even when she brought forth Save the Queen to try and deflect the hits, more of them kept coming with such force that her arms strained with each one she put aside. Not only that, but the others weren't doing so lucky. Jalab and Ceja were able to deflect theirs easily enough, and Cryder managed to counter with his ninja sword and his geomancy, but Cid cried out as he tried to smack one aside with his saw, only to catch one through his leg. Quaren gave a similar yell as one of his forearms was pierced through by another. And the only reason Taraketh hadn't been impaled was because he was hovering above them. Otherwise, he was a sitting duck, too much in pain to even fight back.

Quickly, Dael gave a chant…and split herself into ten images which fanned out before Cybus. They might not have been able to block anything, but so long as she was trying to hit them instead of firing completely errantly, they would obscure her view. Especially when, a moment later, Daek made herself and the rest of them aim "straight down" and begin to sail right for her.

For a few moments, she saw her copies dissipate one after another from streams of ice. But each one missed her…for the most part. An icicle slashed at one arm here and at her hip there, but she was still on target for the Sorceress, preparing to put all her power into it…

When, to her shock, Cybus brought back a hand and lashed it out for her. Immediately, what looked like a crystalline, aqua tentacle snapped out, and before Dael could react, she felt it whip around her and wrap around her body three times, rather like an anaconda. Although her arms were still free and her sword was straight out…her progress was halted with her blade still four feet from the Sorceress. She glared at her darkly.

"Thought I was stupid enough to not see through a base illusion, _dear?!_" She hissed…before immediately tightening the water tentacle.

Dael's eyes bulged before she felt a tremendous pressure constricting all around her…enough to strain her ribs to the breaking point. She tried to cry out in pain, but that was useless as she felt the air forced from her lungs. Instead, her face soon began to turn red, then violet as she felt her bones begin to bend…all before Cybus whipped the tentacle around with her on the end like bait on a fishing line, and smashed her hard into one of the passing crystal walls. It was enough to crack it and to cause a gash to appear along her face, before she was flung back and smashed into the opposite wall, this time with her hands out first. Although she somehow managed to hold onto her sword, she felt one of her fingers broken on the impact and the rest of her arm thrown into pain…all while she continued to asphyxiate…

Before, at the price of sacrificing her axe, Ceja flung her weapon down at the end of the tentacle and managed to sever it. The water around Dael instantly turned to liquid, and she gasped for air, again almost losing her sword. She couldn't keep fighting right now… She could barely hold onto her weapon. She had to have a breather…get her air back…try to heal the broken bone…

As for Ceja, bold and daring as always, she dove straight for the woman with her arms crossed in front of her. Cybus merely sneered before holding her arms out in front of her and generating, not spikes, but what looked like a massive spiked mace ball, which she fired out straight for the Fuliet warrior. However, it was not as fast as one might think since it was fighting against gravity. The warrior watched it come in response, before uncrossing her arms, reaching out, and intercepting it with all four limbs, moving between each of the deadly spikes. Somehow, she evaded them all, managing to place herself in just the right way and soon straining to catch it…not knowing that Cybus wasn't finished. A moment later, she snapped her other hand forward and sent off a deadly stream of fireballs in a column for it: a Flare attack. Ceja barely had time to react to seeing the center of the mace ball she was holding turn red…before it exploded, driving ice shrapnel into her limbs and even her chest in several points. It was enough to draw blood, although nothing seemed to hit anything vital…at least on appearance…and the force flung her back up the shaft and high above the others, away from her axe.

Cid, in spite of the damage he had taken, managed to plug in his nailgun and aim it at her soon after, firing away. Cybus didn't even bother strengthening her shield against that assault. However, it probably would have been a good idea, for he had taken the moment to bond them to his explosive charges, and soon each blast was sending a small but potent explosion around her. It wasn't enough to do any damage, but as she wasn't on terra firma, it was enough to knock her around considerably, and flood her senses. Using that moment offered by the distraction, Jalab himself swung his staff at the air multiple times to get himself at an angle, before he took aim at Cybus and then broke into six separate flaming images, each one sailing for her with staff outstretched.

Unfortunately, the Sorceress wasn't so distracted as to not be able to respond, and instantly she brought her other hand around and made another gesture…causing multiple "water dummies", each looking like images of her, to erupt from her hand and to rush out and intercept each flaming image, one after another, until the last one was extinguished and stopped in its tracks, revealing Jalab. Giving another yell, she threw her hand out again…before what looked like a bus-sized fist of ice erupted from her palm and smashed into him with air-cracking force before driving him to the side and into one of the crystal walls. Once there, it only pressed in harder, grinding him against it in an attempt to break bone and rend flesh…

Yet, once again, the walls erupted into a flood of magma and splashed over the icy fist, causing it to endure a severe case of thermal shock and shatter into hundreds of pieces. Cybus looked up, seeing Cryder giving her a grin back. In response, the woman brought her hands together again, before aiming both clawed palms forward…and sending a massive, toxic cloud of green mist billowing from them, instantly expanding to fill the whole passage and soon rolling up to those left. It didn't take long for Cryder to realize this was poison, and he swung his own hands back and summoned a whirlwind. Not a very strong one, but enough to splay the foul mist away on either side and leave a cone of fresh air around the others. However, Cybus only grit her teeth and pushed harder, looking to overcome him. And unlike her, Cryder didn't seem to be able to generate his geomancy continuously like this. Although he continued to make the gesture to enable the whirlwind, he soon began to sweat and strain as he struggled to maintain it…

Yet in this time, Quaren had ripped out his combat knife and, to the tune of a loud cry, chopped off one end of the icicle and forced out the rest. Luckily, the cold had frozen the wound, but that arm was nearly useless. Nevertheless…he released his rifle and managed to reach a different weapon: the Fomalhaut. Seizing it, he swung it around, aimed for Cybus as best as he could, using his bad arm as a brace, and then squeezed the trigger. A moment later, he too was shooting upward as the white cannon of energy erupted from the gun and shot straight through the mist, the whirlwind, and the Sorceress beyond.

Cybus, on seeing this large pulse headed for her, instantly broke off her mist attack and brought both of her hands forward. In response, a massive sphere of water suddenly erupted in front of her, much larger than her own body. When the Fomalhaut blast hit it, it was like landing in an airbag. The blast was instantly deadened and slowed incredibly as gallons of water were turned to vapor. Nevertheless, it did manage to push forward. However, Cybus merely tightened up and pumped more water into it to replace it, sending it streaming from her fingers and into the sphere to reinforce it. The blast inched closer, but moved slower and slower as it did so…

Finally, the beam began to thin out, and it looked as if it would deaden all together and soon dissipate. Yet before it fully faded, a brilliant flash swept around Cybus. The Sorceress looked up to see the source…and was stunned to see that another summon had come forth…courtesy of Cryder, who had started the moment he was free to do so. This time…it was Quetzacoatl. And while water was still streaming out of the hands of the Sorceress, a white-hot thunderbolt, raging with energy, erupted from her beak and sailed straight for the woman's water sphere. Before she could cut it off, it made contact, and instantly sent a powerful jolt streaming up the water and right for her hands. Even with a barrier intact, she snapped her arms back, now smoking a bit, and cried in pain.

Quaren struggled to reload in this time, since his rifle had flown out of range and he couldn't follow up. About all Cryder could do was fling his wind slashes at her, as she was too close to the center to hit with magma. Yet her barrier was still strong enough to negate that. Cid fought to reequip at the moment, having exhausted his newest bunch of mine darts. Taraketh tried to generate something, it looked like, toughing through his pain as he held his severed stump to his chest, but he was still concentrating. However, Cybus recovered faster than anyone would have expected, suddenly lashing out with both hands, and forming three new water tentacles with them. This time, they shot through the air and made contact instantly with Quaren, Cid, and Cryder's heads, before any of them could hope to react or dodge, instantly enveloping them. Once there, they were shocked not only at not being able to breathe, but the liquid began to force itself down their noses and mouths, intending to fill their lungs with water and choke them instantly…

However, they weren't quite the last combatants at this point.

Although she was still sore and bleeding in a few places, Dael managed to get enough of her bearings to concentrate on her hand. After popping her finger back into place to the tune of much agony, she chanted a spell to patch it up as best she could. That done, she focused on Cybus again. She had something "up her sleeve"…but she realized that it likely wouldn't be enough. Alexander couldn't hit her here while she was still falling…and Leviathan wouldn't be much use against a woman who could manipulate water so easily… If only she could summon Odin or Gilgamesh…but they weren't proper "Guardian Forces" and she couldn't junction to them. There was no way to call them…

_…Or is there?_

Dael realized she had called to her son's essence from within Omega Weapon. Perhaps it would be possible for her to resonate with Odin as well… If she could, she had a bit of an idea. It was highly risky, but she was willing to give it a shot… This would be one of the crazier things she did in a while…

With that in mind, still falling, she closed her eyes for a moment. She wasn't sure how this was supposed to work. She just tried to "feel Odin" out there somewhere…somehow send a message to him through the spiritual flow of the Planet itself… Thinking hard and trying to concentrate as she did before her "spiritual divide" moves, she called out to him, hoping he was close enough by now to hear…

_Odin…if you're out there…if you can hear my voice…and if you're near enough…I want you to throw a Gunge Lance directly into the center of the Tower of Entropy…right now._

With that, Dael looked back to Cybus, focused on the spiritual divide anew (a bit harder now that she was falling), and then swung her sword upward. A moment later, the air around her exploded as she let out another Shock. Instantly, the water enveloping Quaren, Cid, and Cryder's heads burst and vaporized as it turned to hydrogen and oxygen immediately. Not only that, however, but the power radiated over Cybus as well. It seemed her shield was strong enough to protect her…but only to a degree as lacerations opened up across her arms and legs in multiple places, causing blood to flow forth. She yelled in pain, breaking off her attack. Using that moment, Dael, still close to the walls of the corridor, swung her feet down, planting them against the crystal just for a moment, ignoring the jarring pain that resulted, and then launched herself off of them in a lunge straight for Cybus herself. She made only a slight arch before she went right for her heart…

Unfortunately, the shield was still intact, and even as she aimed the blade for Cybus she could feel heavy resistance coming forth for her. In addition, in spite of her fresh wounds, the Sorceress was still able to bring her hands out and slam them around Save the Queen in a "blade catch". While the others behind her coughed and gagged, Dael found herself caught over the woman, driving her sword down with all the strength she could muster, and Cybus fighting back to keep it from going any closer. She may not have been as physically strong as Veriguno, but the shield she generated was more than enough to negate the bulk of Dael's force. The two glared at one another, Cybus' eyes blazing hatefully while Dael's own locked on her with determination. But for all she pushed, she couldn't get through…

Yet as the two remained in this position, Dael's peripheral vision saw something else down the seemingly endless tunnel far beneath her…

The bottom.

It seemed their descent was nearly at its end…

However, even as she noticed that, Cybus suddenly gave a surge of strength, and, a bit to Dael's surprise, threw her sword up and away. Yet that was only the beginning. After doing so, as Dael fell closer to her, she watched as each one of Cybus' "claws" suddenly lengthened into longer, razor-sharp ice ones, and she proceeded to drive them forward and through either of her shoulders, impaling straight through. Dael's eyes widened before she gave a cry of pain, and then, much to her shock, suddenly had her body painfully twisted around, so that she was now on the "bottom", glaring up into Cybus' hate-filled face. The former captain realized she was going to let her "smash first"…

The woman actually risked a look below her…and saw the floor was nearing quickly. Not only that, but in true form of being an inverted tower, it was lined with sharp crystal stalagmites…or was it stalactites now? It didn't really matter, just that they would likely impale her assuming the impact alone didn't break every bone in her body. She looked back forward, but she couldn't break free with the nails of the woman wrenched in her shoulders, keeping her from moving an inch… Yet even as this happened, she saw something else overhead.

Taraketh, in spite of his weakened state, began to use his magic again. Not an offensive spell this time. Instead, he pointed out to Cid, and, instantly, a pair of white energy wings appeared around him for a moment before it was as if a parachute had gone off, and he shot into the air as he drifted down much slower. He soon did the same to Cryder, and after that Quaren. He was using the Float magic…trying to keep them from all going "splat"…but she realized he couldn't use it on her. Not without tagging Cybus as well…assuming that her barrier would even allow the spell to get through to affect her. Dael was left pinned in her position and continuing to fall as the mad Sorceress continued to bear down on her.

For a moment, Dael began to fear that she couldn't get out of this…and wondered if that Mirage Belt would possibly do any good…or what she could do now that her arms were wrenched and her pain was considerable…

Then…she saw it. Far above them, in the dark oblivion that had formed above as they descended, she saw a single sparkle of light…which rapidly began to grow brighter…very quickly…

Dael stared for just a moment…watching it grow…as Taraketh managed to cast the spell on Jalab as he went by him, and then on Ceja as she finally managed to sink back down to their level. At that point, the glow was getting very bright, and she could see it radiating through the corridor up above. With that in mind, she shouted.

"Get out of the middle!"

Cybus looked up at that in surprise, turning back to the others. When she did, she saw it…the same glow beginning to fill the chamber, and the light overhead growing stronger and stronger. But that moment of distraction as what Dael wanted, as she drove her head forward and smashed it hard and deep into Cybus' suddenly-exposed throat. Immediately, the woman gagged in surprise. Her shield negated some of it…but not nearly enough. That done, Dael, crying out in pain at the same time, forced her arms up like levers, wrenching the icy nails in her shoulders…but also prying herself loose from Cybus. As blood trailed behind her, she flipped her body out. Cybus, gagging still, looked to her, but was too late as Taraketh, with a cry of pain of his own, cast the spell both on her and him, instantly flipping them both in the air. As for Cybus, she looked around in surprise a moment, before turning her body up again…and seeing, in all of its glory, a lance of pure energy, gleaming and bright, shoot through the heavens and right for her body. Her pupils shrank into pinpricks before she quickly brought her arms in front of her to guard as strong as she could…right before the lance came down and made contact with her. Her scream of pain vanished along with her as she was wreathed in energy, and slammed down full force into the crystal spires below.

The others, already drifting slowly to the ground due to the spell, suddenly felt themselves forced upward by terrific power as a blast ripped throughout the chamber. The explosion that the Gunge Lance made may not have been a Sun Flare or Shadow Flare, but that hardly seemed to matter in this compressed space as they felt heat and force rush by them, almost to a painful and damage-dealing degree, along with a titanic eruption that nearly broke their eardrums. Fire and force ripped out through the tower, blasting everyone further away into the walls as successive shockwaves came from the point of impact. Yet as the heat and fire from the eruption was still going off, Dael looked and saw they were already descending into it…

Luckily, the Mirage Belts were able to fend off a small bit of cast-off fire, at least to the degree that it was rapidly fading. Still, it was almost shocking to descend into the flames for a moment and fall through them. Yet the fire and smoke surrounded Dael only a moment before it rapidly parted, and revealed a floor covered with crystal beneath, rough, irregular, and surrounded by jagged spires. Apparently, the attack had been so focused that, in spite of its power, it hadn't knocked over most of them. Luckily for Dael, she landed on a relatively flat area, although on making impact she struggled not to collapse. Her body was wracked with pain and soreness now, and she wasn't sure she could afford to try and heal her shoulder wounds. She nearly lost Save the Queen again as she went down to one knee, and held there a moment.

Other impacts were heard over the sound of the roar dying down, one after another. It had to be the others. The woman looked up, and as the smoke faded, she saw only one remaining black plume of smoke rising from the center of the area on the largest spike, now broken…obviously where the weapon had made contact. The rest was rather rough and irregular, with some of the spires shooting high into the air and above everyone. As a result, she couldn't readily see everyone around her. In fact, the only ones she could see at the moment was Cryder on one side, grunting as he got to his feet and shaking his head, and Jalab on the other, looking rather torn up and bloody from his last excursion, but somehow still able to rise. She did see one other thing, however. Ceja's axe that she had flung some time ago was partially embedded in one of the crystal spires about thirty feet ahead of her, over her head a bit.

Grunting and groaning, Dael tried to ignore the pain in her shoulders, which luckily had clotted from freezing, and was about to sound out to see who was still conscious. Yet before she could…she saw something…

"All hands accounted for?" Cryder shouted out instead.

"I would feel better with my weapon nearby…" Ceja's voice grunted.

"Can't really stand, but yeah…" Cid moaned.

"Not really in any shape to shoot, but I'm here." Quaren said with a wince.

"Uhn…" Taraketh's voice grunted.

"Feel like desert chocobo fodder…" Jalab muttered.

"Dael? Are you out there?" Quaren shouted again after that.

"…Everyone brace yourselves." Was all the woman answered.

"Huh…?" Cid echoed. "What do you mean…by…"

He trailed off, as did the others and any of their own private thoughts, as they looked back to the smoldering partial crater. Dael saw it before all of them, unfortunately…namely the fact that the energy radiating through Cybus had only diminished…not ended.

Now, as they stared, her dress burned, the runes in her face seeming to crack it open, much like Mianyl had earlier, blue light shining from her eyes like some wretched, otherworldly creature, and bearing a smoking, third-degree burn across his chest from where the Gunge Lance had made impact…Cybus rose again, full of more fury than ever. Her teeth almost seemed bestial as they gnashed. Although she rasped a bit as she stood, clearly having trouble breathing from what had to be broken ribs, she still wasn't down…and still had a great deal of her power to boot.

Without another word, she raised her arms, covered with blood and deep cuts now, and generated another spell as her aura exploded in such light that she temporarily turned into a dark shadow against it.

Moments later, Dael felt her boots fill with water, and looked down…and saw that the whole chamber was rapidly filling with liquid. Almost as fast as a flash flood could be expected to do…even faster. Soon it was up to her waist and still rising. She looked back to Cybus, but even if she could move toward her, she could barely lift her sword with her shoulders the way they were. Besides, before anyone could move, all of the sudden the water, while still rising, tore to one side, and soon she found herself swept off of her feet and thrown none-too-gently into the nearest crystal column. The impact was hard enough to jar her already wounded shoulder, yet that was the least of her problems when the water rose even higher, up to her armpits, and continued to push around. Soon, she found her body shoved off of the one column and thrown even harder into the next, this time enough to get an edge of crystal driven into it to make another cut. As the water kept rising, up to her neck and still climbing, she had no choice but to take off and try to start treading it. Soon, she went back into the flow, which was pushing only more and more strongly, and the water continued to rise higher and higher. It would be over her head now if she stayed out in it.

The others fared little better as they too began to be swept around the rising water. The current grew stronger and stronger as it went about, and soon proved to be moving continuously by circling around the entire chamber. Many of the crystal pieces were covered by the rising waters, but that only made it more dangerous as now none of them, while being pushed about, could see below the surface if they were able to run into any jagged pieces to cut into them or hit their feet. What was worse was that although the water was still rising, it wasn't doing so in a uniform manner. As the group struggled to stay afloat in their weakened condition, they noticed that the current had a "suction" to it, and was trying to pull them beneath the waters. That became clear when Dael realized the water wasn't merely being swept around. It was actually forming a whirlpool with the place where Cybus stood at the base. She was trying to draw them in and drown them. And as the water kept rising and pitching about more and more violently, it was draining their strength and stamina in terms of smacking them about as well as forcing them to stay afloat.

Yet it seemed even that wasn't enough for Cybus. As she held one hand that maintained the monstrous whirlpool, she raised another hand to the sky. Instantly, part of reality "shattered", similar to how it had opened up for the Banish spell. Only this time, the sky overhead seemed to break free. It revealed a sky full of stars, just as before, but also what looked like a large, burning meteor. For a moment, it seemed as if this would be the same attack as a Comet or Meteor spell…only such wasn't the case. Instantly, the meteor was enveloped in shadow, and a moment later, pieces of it began to break off, one after another, wrapped in darkness like flames, and then cast out to the group as they were in the water, starting with Quaren. On seeing it, he seized a crystal column to stop himself from getting in its path…but the resulting explosion, even from a distance, was like a depth charge on hitting the water. His column was shattered, and he was flung violently back and smashed into another as a result. The woman soon flung out a second one, this one aimed for Ceja. She tried to leap up to avoid it, but she couldn't escape the water's pull, and soon gave a loud cry as she was thrown headfirst into another column from the force of the blast. She was so stunned as a result, not to mention had a nasty head wound, that she could barely stay afloat.

Next…one of the dark meteors was flung right at Dael. Seeing this, and not seeing any columns around or any other methods of getting away, she did the only thing she could and teleported. However, much to her anger, she had used enough healing magic until now that it gave her a sharp headache, and she panicked so much she teleported "upstream", ending up only getting a short distance on the meteor before it landed and went off. Not only did pain riddle her once again from the blast ripping into her…but she was forced underwater. Immediately, the current tried to keep her underneath, and suck her into the whirlpool to keep her below. Her eyes widened, and she fought hard to try and get out and above it again…but it was no use. It was too strong and she was too weak. Having nearly been choked, it was all she could do to concentrate and teleport again…

At the expense of a much greater headache and dizziness, she soon surfaced...gagging, choking, sputtering, and barely able to move. That had taken a lot of "fight" out of her…and she realized that they couldn't take much more of this…

As she thrashed about, however, the one most "experienced" with the sea managed to cling to one of the crystal spikes. She barely managed to catch a glimpse of Cryder, Kagunei in teeth, going up one pillar while Cybus' back was turned. After doing so, he shifted the sword to one hand, and then leapt off, moving to stab her in the back…

Yet in a flash, Cybus snapped around and, instantly, formed what looked like a scythe of ice in her hand that slashed into his midsection, spilling a flash of blood before flinging him back from the sheer impact and against the wall, before dropping him back in the water.

_"Leaving so soon?!" _She hissed in what could only be described as a twisted animal version of her old voice.

As the dark meteors continued to go out, she snapped her hand one more time…and once more formed her lyre of ice.

_"I still need to play your funeral dirge!"_

The Sorceress raised her hands to play the strings. Dael, weakened as she was, could see this…and realized if that happened, it was all over. The last of their strength would be gone and it would be a matter of her playing until they were all dead from one source or another… They had to stop her somehow… But none of them were left to do anything… She was too weak and dizzy to try a teleport, but if she could react that fast, how could she hurt her anyway?

Yet as the end seemed near…a light shone forth from inside the void of space. Whereas the dark meteors created a great dark blot…one flash seemed to resound from the rest of it. It was enough to make Cybus pause, feeling the glow on her, and then turn slightly to look…before her eyes widened. To her surprise, as well as to Dael's and everyone else's, a meteor…a true one…was sinking out of the blackness of space and shooting right for her. As the Sorceress went wide-eyed, Dael knew only one of them could manage it…and looked to try and find him…

A good thing, too…for as she was swept around, she saw Taraketh, pale as a sheet, vainly holding onto a crystal with his stump while holding his own hand out at Cybus, barely able to hold on.

A moment later, the world was rocked with an explosion again as the meteor ripped out of the void and smashed into Cybus' back. The resounding concussive eruption was unblockable by her shield or any other magic shield in existence, and she cried out in agony as her own crest was melted into her back, before her body was flung forward and off of the spire. Her lyre was shattered yet again by the force. As for Taraketh, he grunted once before sliding into the water…no longer able to hold himself…but it didn't matter a moment later as Dael shot by, seized him, and, in spite of her own weakness, put him on her back to keep him afloat.

As the current ended, and Cybus' body went flying, the others immediately went to work, seizing this chance in spite of their own exhaustion and weakness.

Jalab was the closest, and immediately slammed his staff down as hard as he could right before him. Luckily for him, his weapon seemed to have a natural inclination to water, and as a result a shockwave incredibly strong blasted clear an area of dry land…enough for him to actually touch terra firma for a moment. Following that, his own aura blazed with everything he had left, and he choked up slightly as the pained, injured Cybus came right for him, before he swung his staff with all of his might right into her head. The resulting crack fractured the surrounding crystal and knocked the waters back again before they could recover, and Cybus was sent flying through the air and smashing into a crystal spire, breaking it off before beginning to fall into water again.

The flood, however, was rapidly draining, and even if it wasn't, somehow she still had the strength to rise again. With a wave of her own clawed hand, she too gained a set of white wings for a moment, before using the power of the spell to jump up and into the air, back on top of a new crystal spire. She raised her hands to start the flood again…but didn't get the chance as Cid managed to claw his way on top of another pillar and fired his arc welder, sending out a powerful blast of electricity through the air and right into her…once again just as she was gathering water to herself. Soon, she screamed in pain as fresh electricity went through her once again, this time snaking through her entire body and making her go rigid.

While this happened, and the waters kept lessening, Quaren got enough of his bearings to rise again and take up the Fomalhaut. Weak and sore as he was, he raised it up with the intention of firing on her. However, the electricity died before he could…and although she was quivering, Cybus was still standing. Seeing the former corporal taking aim at her, she tried to jump again…only to scream out instead as two crystal spikes erupted from the floor and pierced her feet, literally "nailing" her in place. She snapped her head around hatefully through her agony, and saw a soaked, bleeding, and weakly-grinning Cryder holding out his hand to her. She was infuriated…but also too weak to respond. A moment later, a sonic whine went out, and the woman turned back forward, unable to do anything but watch before Quaren squeezed the trigger and discharged a Fomalhaut blast right into her face.

The sonic, piercing beam of pure energy ripped her back off of the nails and smashed her into the same wall Cryder had been in a moment earlier, causing the pirate to give a weak whistle as he ran out from under it. The rest of the crystal around her was fused into a blackened mess as she was pounded against the walls with inconceivable force. Quaren kept it aimed at her until the last shot was totally spent, and then lowered it at last. He nearly dropped it. By now, the water was waist-deep, and everyone was able to look up.

For a moment, there was only smoke and the smell of fused minerals. Nothing was visible. But then, Dael managed to see it. A form slid out of the wall. Blackened, bleeding, barely even looking human anymore… Her crest was little more than a sagging piece of scrap metal. Her headdress had fallen and her long, loose hair was mostly burned away. Her body was a mess of bloody wounds and burns. Her eyes were still glowing, but much dimmer now. Yet in spite of all of that, she was still standing when she hit the water. And slowly, she began to walk forward.

"I…won't…die here…" She groaned through cracked, bloody lips. "Not…until…I see…everything…die…"

Yet as she walked forward…she suddenly saw a figure step in front of her. She groaned, and then looked up.

Ceja, having used this time to both recover and reclaim the Rune Axe, glared at her with just as much hate as she showed earlier, and only a hint more control.

"This is for all of my people you had Aizel kill, witch."

With that, she swung the axe around and buried it in her midsection.

Cybus' glowing eyes bulged as the axe lodged firmly in her abdomen, and her mouth opened to cough out a spurt of blood. Soon after, she staggered back through the last of the water, against the nearest crystal column, and then gagged and wheezed before collapsing against it. The glow in her eyes dimmed. The power of the axe sapped the last of her magical power from within her. Soon, her gaze became "human", and dim at that. She grunted and groaned as she lay against the column, helpless to move or cast another spell. She was beaten.

_Finally… Although…I could say the same for us…_

Dael could still barely move her arms. It had been concern for someone that had managed to get her to get Taraketh on her back. Not to mention her body was a mess of bruises and cuts as she slowly lowered and let him off. Luckily he had been spared most of the wrath, but that didn't change the fact that the healing had only dulled his pain a bit and stopped his bleeding, and he still was missing one limb and looked pale from having used so much magic. Yet in spite of himself, he forced his legs underneath him and tried to limp forward, toward the fallen Cybus. Dael held only a moment before getting at his side and helping him.

Jalab hadn't struck much during that fight, but he was still sore and beaten after Cybus' attack, only able to stagger along a bit and nearly propping himself up on his staff. Ceja was lined with cuts as she stepped back, trying not to wobble and collapse after the beating she had. Cryder took off his inner shirt as well to tie around the cut on his chest, wincing a bit before starting to limp up to the fallen Sorceress as well. Quaren grit his teeth as he raised, beginning to feel around if he had any bandages left, and doubting it, to wrap his arm, and looking to the Fomalhaut. With a sigh, he merely tossed it aside as he came forward. Cid himself was using one of his tools as a cane to come forward, wincing all the way from his own wound.

At length, Dael and Taraketh were the ones who actually went closest to the fallen Sorceress. Ceja had backed up, although she continued to glare at her hatefully. Dael's own gaze was more controlled as she looked at the beaten woman.

After a moment, she groaned, and then spoke without looking up.

"Why…didn't…she…kill me…?"

"It wasn't out of mercy." Dael responded. "Your power won't transfer unless you die, right?"

Cybus gave a cough. "It seems…she took…my lessons…about…tact…to heart… But…it doesn't…matter…"

Even as she said this, Dael saw her body begin to light up, much as Veriguno's had before. Her soul sank a bit on seeing that. For a moment, she had thought they could merely take her prisoner…keep Mianyl from getting stronger. Yet it seemed such wasn't to be. Considering how horrible that fight had just been…it filled her with a ripple of dread.

"Even…if I planned…to live…it wouldn't matter…" She grunted as the light burned stronger. "We…only need…be this near…death…"

One of her hands tightened and began to rise. The group started to raise their weapons. However, she only lifted it enough to point downward, to the floor.

"The Matriarch…is far below…" She stammered. "She's waiting…for you…"

Dael reacted a bit at that.

"…Waiting for me? Why?"

Cybus gave another cough, sputtering some blood this time as tendrils and traces of light began to rise from her body.

"You…ruined…my last chance…at happiness…" She hissed. "I wish…I could see…the looks…on your faces…when you fail…and watch…your world…be turned…to…nothingness…"

Her hand raised a bit more, and, once again, ice crystals formed on the nails. Dael stepped back, trying to raise her sword. But Cybus didn't advance. She instead forced her head up.

"I'll…save you all…a place…in Hell… You won't…be…long… I promise…you…that…"

With that, and one last look of hate toward Dael and Taraketh, she drove her own nails into her chest, having enough strength to go through the breastbone and into her own heart. Some of the group members actually gasped a bit, and Cybus went rigid, her face tight with pain and agony…before, giving one last exhale, she slumped. Immediately, the tendrils of light parted from her, spun around in the air, and then streamed through the floor. Dael could only watch them go helplessly, the same as the others.

As the light vanished, Cybus' body slowly turned dark, and finally was as lifeless as the rest of her. The group was left standing there, staring at her. No one said anything for a time.

In the end, Taraketh shook his own head. In spite of his pain and weakness, he managed to speak straight enough. "…For my whole life, I thought the Order of Hyne represented something better than myself. Until a little while ago, I would have wept bitterly over her as a great woman, teacher, and mother. Now…" He exhaled, and gestured to her. "…This burnt, hateful, twisted creature…that's all she ever was inside. The rest of her was just a mask…like the rest of the Order."

Dael turned to him. "The Order of Hyne may have indeed represented something better than all of us…but in the end, like everything else, it was only as good as the people who controlled it. Esthar was the same way. _That's_ why it fell so far…not because of the Sorceresses. It's human nature. People want to follow a leader. A lot of the times…they _need_ one. Because it's just too scary to try to lead by yourself."

Taraketh let out a bitter snort. "…Is that why all those people in Esthar had to die? Because I 'wanted to follow a leader'? Because I wanted to so badly that I wouldn't even think for myself?"

"…Learning to think for yourself isn't as easy as it sounds."

Dael and Taraketh both turned to that, and saw Quaren trying to tie his arm wound with his teeth and other hand. "I should know. In another set of circumstances…another life experience here or there…and it might have been me in your place. It's easier to follow orders. To let someone tell you what to do. Someone you respect and admire…but still someone who isn't you. It makes you think that if something goes wrong it's not really your fault…" He sighed. "…And it's also the advantage of being in the military. You know…if something does go really bad, you were 'just following orders'. So if a civilian or two accidentally gets hit by bullets…it's ok. It happens. Kind of like tornadoes or wild monster attacks…"

"Quaren…" Dael began to say.

"The bottom line…whether you had been with us or with them, you couldn't have stopped what happened." The former corporal went on. "But you at least made the right choice after that. And if you hadn't…then I know I _would_ be dead right now…or still trapped in that gem lost in that illusion of my mom…"

"…And I'd be a regular Prince of Elfheim." Cid admitted with a bit of a shrug.

"I'd be catchin' flies…and not the ball kind either, mate." Cryder threw in.

"I would have joined ancestors." Jalab said with a nod.

Ceja held for a while, but then finally bowed her head and snorted. "…And I'd be more animal than human."

"…I think what we're all trying to say," Dael stated after a moment. "Or…at least what _I_ want to say right now…is I forgive you, Taraketh. And thank you…for saving our lives."

"Thank you."

"Thanks a lot."

"Thanks, mate."

"Much thanks."

"…Thank you."

The former High Child looked back to everyone…even hearing Ceja say that…and after a while managed to weakly smile back.

However, his smile faded, and everyone else was attracted, when they felt a shudder go through the tower. It was from deeper…far, far below them, although the should have been "near the top"…or "bottom" at this point. They all turned and looked down below. Of course, all they saw was the crystal floor. There wasn't even an opening this time. However, whatever it was seemed much lower than the chamber they had been in before. After all, far as they had fallen, they were nowhere near the center of Gaia…which had to be where Mianyl was now headed. However, in spite of that, Dael gave a cold shudder as she looked down. After all, her spiritual sight was still working…

"…I can see her." She stated darkly.

The others looked to her.

"Far down there…she's gleaming so brightly now I can see her even from here… Her power…I'm not sure even Omega Weapon came close to it… Even if she wasn't in the core of Gaia…I don't think that would matter. I think she could destroy this world either way…"

The group silently looked that way, growing nervous as well on hearing this latest report.

"…How can we kill something that can destroy Gaia itself?" Cid asked with anxiety in his voice. "Could…could Bahamut and Tiamat really do it?"

"We sure can't, mate." Cryder grimly answered. "We're on our last legs as it is…"

"Even sticking around just to 'watch' is probably suicide at this point…" Taraketh admitted. "I can't even manage a healing spell now. We'd just get in their way."

Dael slowly exhaled, staring at the floor.

_The Matriarch…is far below… She's waiting…for you…_

_ She's waiting for me for some reason. What? Revenge? No…that can't be it. She kept wanting me to side with her…wanting to befriend me… She knew something…something about me that no one else knew. That no one else _knows_. For all her talk and all her power…she's afraid of me. But even if that wasn't the case…I'm finally able to see my sons. If they succeed…then I'll see them all again. But if they fail…then this will be the last time I ever get to be with them…_

The young woman drew herself up.

"…I didn't come this far just to 'wait for the end'." She finally stated. "I'm going on. This may be the last time I ever get to see or talk to Bahamut and Tiamat. And if they lose here…then it doesn't really matter whether we get killed in some 'off blast' or are all torn to pieces by the Void. We're all dead anyway. I won't have my last thought be I just sat around expecting to die."

The others looked to each other for a few moments after hearing this. That had been their hardest battle ever, and they all could barely keep going. Yet they had come into the Tower of Entropy not planning on ever coming out again in the first place. With that in mind, they looked back.

"We may yet prove to be an asset in this battle." Ceja stated as she moved over to Cybus' corpse and, without another look, ripped her axe from her.

"Now that I'm being noble for the first time in my life, can't really go back to Leila sayin' I turned tail and ran, now can I?" Cryder chuckled.

Quaren limped over to his rifle and took it up. "Still got part of one clip of antipersonnel rounds left…" He gave a wistful smile. "It'd just go to waste if it sat here waiting for the end, huh?"

The others gave similar nods and acknowledgments of approval, much as they had back topside when they first went in. Dael smiled back, even if it was faint, and then grit her teeth as she forced her busted hand onto one shoulder and tried to concentrate.

"Might as well…use the last of my own magic to heal up… I want to at least be able to swing my sword…"

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	77. Mianyl the Oblivion

Dael wasn't even "pain-free" when everything was said and done. The only thing that had really been accomplished was that the group had managed to numb their injuries and stop all bleeding while closing open wounds. Taraketh had bound his own severed stump in a bit of cloth, and was no longer looking stricken with trauma, but the whole experience had still left him very drained. He had used pretty much all remaining power summoning a Meteor. He couldn't even help with the healing. And no one else was nearly as good at him. Jalab himself didn't have much stamina to spare to infuse to others. The best they were able to do once finishing "patching up" everyone as best as they could was making everyone able to fight again…save for Taraketh. He had left the Wrath of the Dragon behind. He couldn't use it anymore, after all. Out of all of them, the only thing he could really do was give "moral support".

They were a sad-looking lot. Dael only had her sword and long-since-emptied Mage Gun. Cid had a few tools remaining…but nothing that could really cause damage. Jalab was sweating and tired, having burned off most of his stamina by now. Ceja was still holding strong, but considering her numerous closed wounds, she was likely bluffing most of her power. Cryder himself had a scarcely-healed scar across his belly from where he had been cut…and his organs probably looked the same. Too much strain and it would open again. Quaren was healthy enough, but with only a clip in his hand gun and a partially-used one in his rifle, he couldn't do much. And, of course, Taraketh probably couldn't do much more than a basic level spell. This was what they had to work with…

_But Cybus is gone._ Dael tried to reassure herself. _Neither Bahamut nor Tiamat had to spend their energy fighting her, and now they can save up everything for Mianyl…_

_ I hope it's enough._

For a time, the group didn't know what to do. They didn't know if more monsters were en route. At this point, they couldn't fight off any of the "Hels" for long. Even one of them might prove to be more than a match for them. Eventually, it became clear that they had to move on somehow, in spite of the floor looking solid. They ended up moving about, looking for some entrance to proceed…or somewhere that seemed to be dry. Perhaps Cybus' water had leaked out through an unseen hole. Nothing was visible at first, but they started to tap the ground with their weapons. When that happened, Ceja found one patch of crystal that let out a lighter "tap" than the rest of the place. With a little help from Cid's explosive putty…the last of it…the crystal floor was broken into. Following that, Dael moved up first and looked down.

Below was darkness. A narrow, thin passage leading all the way down to untold depths. Dael realized she already had to be a few miles underground, but now…this passage went so much deeper that it seemed as if it went all the way to the center of the Planet. Perhaps it was carved in the rock, but…to be honest, she couldn't see any stone. It looked as if it was just a passage in blackness…with just a slight bit of crystal leading around in an endless spiral. Unlike the other crystal until now, this was clear, letting light from far below refract up and through it. And the light itself was nothing more than a distant pale dot…like a light at the end of the tunnel that people said they saw when they died…

A quiet roar came up through it…like wind.

Dael stared down into it silently and motionlessly. She continued to do so for a long time.

"…Dael?" Quaren asked after about two minutes.

"…It feels like I know this place." She remarked, her voice again sounding less like "Dael" and more like "Eden", as it had during the revelation. "Like I've looked up through it billions upon billions of times…and this is the first time I'm looking back into it… I can almost hear the voices…"

She continued to stare for a time…before a hand reached over and touched her. As if startled, she snapped her head up…and found herself staring at Quaren. However, the others were looking to her as well. She paused a moment, but then slowly breathed in and out, "becoming Dael" once again. After that, she nodded.

"…Let's go."

The former captain moved into the lead, and soon passed into the hole. One by one, the others followed her. It took a bit of work, especially since the spiral crystal staircase was so thin…and irregular, for that matter. Yet after a while, they all managed to get in, and began to descend it.

It didn't take long before the group once again felt they were descending into another world. Only this time…even "world" was probably a stretch. This didn't feel like a world or anything else in their plain of "reality". Dael was no geologist, but she was pretty sure, as deep as they had gotten, they should only be seeing more magma and heat rising about them from Gaia's mantle. After all, that's what she assumed they had been passing…what Cryder himself had been able to call on in the fight with Cybus. But this place was not only cool, she found it harder and harder to believe it was even Gaia as they made their way down. That only increased as she saw the wind continue to rise, and from time to time it blew up a blast of white smoke or mist. As she went down further, and the light from overhead seemed to vanish far faster than it should have. The light from below, on the other hand, seemed to reverberate through the crystals more than before…make them shine like glass…

Most of all, the darkness around them seemed to "call out" to Dael. Even as she stood right in front of it, it was so pure and black she couldn't see any reflection on it indicating that it was stone that surrounded her. Seeing into that darkness, gazing about it as she descended it…she could almost see the "faint light" she had seen thousands of times before in her dreams. As their path continued to work its way down, she swore she could almost hear the sounds of the voices in it, and it called out to the part of her that was Eden. This place…seemed more and more familiar to her…more and more like some place she had been in and even dwelt before. The sensation…practically the memory…of spending countless ages, longer than any living creature could even imagine, in this place…seeped into her. It affected everything about her. Not just how she felt, but how she walked and how she moved… The memories she had as Dael, the whole vivid lifetime, seemed so small…so brief…so insignificant compared to her own as Eden… So insignificant compared to the countless billions that surrounded her…

She shook her head as she walked on down.

She looked behind her often. The others were far more ill at ease than her. Even if there was nothing here that was hostile…they knew she was down there. This place wasn't comforting them. It was something not from this world, and they were at their weakest as they went further and further down into regions more and more removed from everything they knew. Without any power to defend themselves with…at least none that would make a difference against Mianyl. While they may have bravely consented to press on anyway, there was the matter that bravery was continuing forward in spite of fear, not absence of fear. Ones like Taraketh and Cryder looked the most unsettled. They could tell this place wasn't natural…and perhaps sense the horror ahead of them by now…

As they continued, Dael began to wonder how long it would take. If "jumping" into the center of this place might be easier. The stairs had to go down for countless miles, and yet the passage never seemed to grow any narrower… As it was, they felt like they had already been descending for an hour…

Then, they heard it. A rustling overhead…powerful, like a clap of thunder. The group looked skyward. Amazingly, they couldn't see the light of where they had descended anymore, but they could see large shapes descending the passage. Dael could see them more clearly than any of the others. To her, the spirits were so much more vivid than ever in here. So much that she almost didn't need conscious control. And there they were…two blazing entities of light coming down. Different, of course. One spirit was so much more ordered than the other…which itself seemed to be raw chaos. Yet physical appearances aside, the woman almost wondered if the two really had any clear concept of how similar they were to one another…how much they had in common even after thousands of years of hate and violence…

The passage was scarcely large enough to fit them one at a time. Hence, when they reached above the group, the one in the lead froze by driving out his claws and anchoring them into the walls and crystals. It sent out a shudder enough to make the others cringe a bit, especially on feeling the raw energy pouring off of this being…far stronger and greater than what they had experienced before. It was like being near the sun itself as it came upon them. They visibly shrank back, even Ceja, when the massive claws began to work their way down the passage, their owner splaying himself across the whole of the tunnel and his appendages gripping the stairs and crystals as he lowered. It was made even worse when another being…perhaps feeling even stronger than the first…landed behind and began to descend as well in much the same way, only this one snorting at each human he passed.

At length, the first one made to the only person who hadn't changed: Dael herself. She could feel the power dripping off of Bahamut now…as radiant and glorious as the sun once again. Anyone else on Gaia would have recoiled from him, gaping in fear or stricken by his magical awe-inspiring nature. She looked into his face without change.

"You're all hurt…" He remarked.

"At this point, it doesn't really matter." Dael simply responded. "All that matters is we defeated Cybus without your help. You can commit everything to Mianyl."

Bahamut looked back at her for a moment. "…You can see her now, can't you? Just like us?"

Dael nodded.

"Then you have to realize, even now, the chance of victory is slim…" He stated darkly. "It would be safer if-"

"If we went back to the surface?" Dael cut off. "Bahamut…if Mianyl has her way, there is no place on this world that's safe from her. It's just delaying it a bit. Perhaps only by a few minutes."

"If you all are down there, you'll only give me targets to protect…"

"Then don't think of us as 'targets to protect'." Dael almost retorted, actually causing the powerful beast that could smash her with one fist to recoil slightly. Her tone calmed soon after. "Think of us as your friends encouraging you. Think of when you were still a human boy and just 'one of the group'. Think of how your mother sends all of her hopes and prayers with her sons."

Above Bahamut, Tiamat turned his head slightly down at that…on hearing the word "sons" and not "son". He grit his teeth and turned his head up again a moment later, back to glaring at Quaren as his "current victim"…

…but he did not snort this time.

Bahamut looked back to her. Amazing how a yellow, reptilian eye, so long seen as either a cold-blooded or wicked symbol, could look so innocent and pure for a moment. He blinked after a time, and exhaled. "Very well." He turned his head downward soon after. "…Let us continue."

Unfortunately, right as he said that, things changed again. Much to Dael's surprise, Bahamut's surprise, and everyone else's surprise…they felt power flow through them. It wasn't adding to theirs. It was merely swirling around them, and beginning to generate force both on them and through them. Much to their astonishment, they soon began to feel themselves lighter…much lighter. Not long after that, they were removed clean off of the ground where they stood.

At that time, they began to hear a voice from below. It was powerful, resounding, echoing not only through the crystal but through their minds…and also familiar.

_Now that you all have come…I see no reason to wait for you to arrive here under your own power._

Dael looked up for a moment, before looking below. "Mianyl…how long have you been watching us?"

"Come out here and fight me, accursed witch!" Tiamat snarled.

_Patience._ The voice responded. _You wish to see me face-to-face…and I will merely speed up the process._

At that time, even Bahamut and Tiamat began to look around, seeing the power enough to lift them up and off the wall. As for Dael, she felt the power move through her and begin to push her over to the middle of the chamber. The others were much the same, as if they were being suspended on strings. But it didn't feel like that. They weren't being held by a few forces. It was more like they were floating in something as they were all drawn toward the center of the chamber, each one hovering in midair. Dael really didn't like the fact that, from this distance, Mianyl had that power to do this to them…

But before she could think of anything else to say or react, the power began to draw them down the tunnel. It happened fast. They did take a few moments to build up speed, but Dael hardly noticed herself beginning to descend before it happened fast enough to clearly see the stairs going by. Soon after, that became a blur, and she could only see it moving on. Soon after that, she couldn't even make out the details of the stairs while moving as she was drawn downward along with the others, brought down to the gleaming center. In no time, she was moving as if she was in free fall…and not long after even quicker than that…

As Dael and the others saw themselves going down faster and faster, they noticed the light was only very slowly getting brighter. By now, they had to be going faster than terminal velocity…and yet still accelerating. Yet at this point, Dael saw something new. The spiral stairs, moving too fast to even see well now, grew brighter around her from refracting the light. Not only that, they grew rougher…more irregular…more disjointed and like true crystal… No longer white nor red. Just pure. Not only that, but the light around her grew more distinct… It no longer looked like mist or general light, but small twinkles and specks of brightness…like stars. All while the surroundings about her continued to grow larger and more haphazard, until it looked less and less like a tunnel and more like a true crystal…

_Behold…_ The voice of Mianyl radiated all around them. _The source of all of the wretched order on Gaia…the "skeleton" on which this world was made… The extensions of the original crystal. The "seed" planted in the vastness of Chaos that gave birth to misplaced Order…that caused this world to come into being._

Dael didn't respond. As she continued to go down further and further, she remembered what Leviathan had told her. Had remembered how the Crystal was the "DNA" of the world…the blueprints to build it from the point it had been made. As they continued to fall…the tunnel suddenly opened up.

Yet it wasn't into a chamber, but rather an irregular crystalline structure "world". All around her, making her and the others gasp in astonishment, was crystal. Irregular at points, but having a geometric pattern to all of it…they were literally floating in a cloud or even an ocean of crystal. It surrounded them on all points, coming out in some areas, receding in others, making all manner of amazing and complex structures. As if they were astronauts on a rocket, they blazed past all of it, seeing this crystal world filling all things about them, extending on infinitely everywhere they could see… And far in the center of it…the light continued to radiate and resonate through all of it…

_And here…the birthplace of what the Espers cherished as the "Crystal". _The voice of Mianyl continued.

Dael blinked a bit on hearing that, and couldn't help but call out back. "…I thought the Crystal _was_ the 'seed' of this world…"

_I did myself before now. _The voice responded. _But no…the crystal that became the Four Crystals first and later Eight is merely a "subversion"…a way around the true nature of the true Crystal. A representation or "extension", if you will. Similar to how the carvings that were once on the mountains of Thamasa, strong as they were, were merely a reflection of the Warring Triad. They _did_ possess enough power to unbalance this world…but not to destroy it in "one shot". Otherwise the moment one had been darkened, the rest of the world would have begun to die. No…the true Crystal is down here…_

Suddenly, the crowd began to move through the passages. They were thrown about as they were suddenly drawn into one crystalline tunnel, and moments later did another twist and turn once inside. They went straight for a bit, but then were drawn on from there. They were soon "worming" their way through the gigantic crystal, heading ever closer to the center.

_There was one who _did_ know the true nature of this place…not that any among you would know that. Far too few humans do, and neither you, Bahamut, nor you, Tiamat, were alive to see it. He himself knew only from virtue of being from a world far more advanced than Gaia. However, even he lacked the knowledge to grasp its true nature. He thought that the mere acquisition of a few million lives would somehow grant him the power to destroy all creation…as if a few million lives meant anything compared to the vastness of the cosmos. I can attribute that to pride…yet another self-centered creature who somehow thought that they could gain enough power to matter in the grand scheme of anything…_

They continued to whip through, but Dael noticed they were slowing a bit now… Not only that, but as she continued to look about, she saw the radiant crystal was growing brighter…and more ordered as well.

_He thought that by destroying the Crystal of this world…destroying its "seed"…he could nullify all existence everywhere. While such a concept is appealing to me, it is also quite folly and the reflection of a juvenile mind who assigns far too much egotistical importance to their own worth. As if the core of all creation would be a small gem that any being who thought himself a "god" could just waltz up to and destroy with a wave of his hand. However…it _would_ have indeed nullified all existence for this world…all past, present, and future. All hopes, dreams, and wishes of every miscreation that ever arose as a result of the cosmic mistake of "Order"…_

The group continued to slow. As they did…they began to enter one last tunnel, it seemed. One in which things rapidly grew more "ordered". The crystal was no longer sharp, jagged, and irregular. Instead, it began to smooth out. The tops flattened into columns, which in turn flattened together to be more even until they started to make a "path" of sorts. The rest of the area began to flatten as well, and expand once again. Where this first was a tunnel, it soon spread out, leaving only a few crystals behind like columns.

Far ahead of them…the source of the light at last came into view. One last crystal pillar…gleaming large, white, and brighter than anything any of them had ever witnessed. Yet the brightness didn't remain. As they grew closer, it began to "dim"…or, at least, some effect of their eyes made it easier to see. The result was that it revealed what looked like some vague, globular crystal "array" converging into the center at a point…

_It is the destruction of such an object that would mean the end of this world in an instant…to wipe away all Order in one fell stroke…and leave behind nothing but Chaos. Nothing but the Void._

Dael stiffened on hearing that. Yet as they continued to slow, continued to near this central area, and began to descend…she felt the power again. This time, it wasn't her senses alone. She could feel it washing over her. In a way…it was as if when she first looked into the eyes of a Sorceress…only worse. In spite of all of the "tolerance" she had built, she felt it coming over her like a blast of heat on a winter's day…or, more appropriately, a bomb blast in a frigid landscape… Only it struck everything about her…including her "additional" senses and her heart. She could almost feel it quieting in her chest and every cell in her body quivering as she neared this place… She wasn't alone. Naturally, the others were stricken much worse. As for Bahamut and Tiamat…they held better, but only slightly. It had been a long time since they had seen something so powerful compared to them…

As they drew closer yet, all eyes were eventually drawn forward to one who stood before this crystal and focused upon it.

By now, Dael wasn't sure what she would expect…but she had assumed it would be in black. It wasn't, which was part of the reason she had a hard time spotting it at first. The form that stood before the radial crystal was clothed in white…but like no white that Dael had ever seen. It wasn't truly white, truly crystal, or truly silver…but some mixture of all of it. It was loose, flowing back and behind the individual, and yet shorter than a full dress or proper "train". She could see that the hair of this individual had changed…and changed greatly. It now flowed long and fierce behind it, and yet had some sort of volume to it that made it look almost like an animal…or a beast. It extended all the way down to the ground and stood out just slightly more "bland" than the attire, with a bit more "gray" to it. Rising above it all, made of dim, pale crystal that stood out from the purity all around, was one final crest…this one bearing symbols of all four elements: Faerio the Dayspark, Veriguno the Mountain, Cybus the River, and Mianyl the Wind.

A bit closer, and Dael could tell there were long sleeves of a dress on either arm of the individual…each one bearing a train that clung to the arm so strongly it looked almost like bestial fins rather than clothing…and each hand was fully deformed into a monstrous claw. The fingers seemed to be multi-jointed compared to a human hand, and had lengthened to a good eight inches apiece…if not longer. The nails on each hand were about another three inches, making the form no longer look human. If that wasn't all…the sides of its head were arranged into hair that looked like horns from a longhorn bull on either side of the head…

Or perhaps they _were_ horns…

She felt herself put to a rest on the crystal a short distance from this individual. Only now did she take a moment to look away…scarcely able to even look in her peripheral vision. The crystal expanse, only slightly irregular from columns, was spread out for a grand distance about her, and overhead it stretched so high that it looked almost as if they were suspended in space. One by one, the others were put down behind her. But she couldn't look to them. She found she couldn't see any of them. She was in front…

"…What goes through your minds right now, all of you?"

Dael stopped thinking of the others. She stood still and looked to the…being…before her.

"Fear? Terror? Anger? Hate? Bravery? Courage? Determination? Judgment? Moral superiority?" The woman…or at least the female voice…continued. "What emotion passes through you that declares you justified over me? What sensation do you feel that I do not? What gives you all some idea that there is a divine force out there…or _anything_ out there at all…which declares that at the end of the day you should still stand and I should lie dead at your feet?

"Do you think I am all that different from you? So much more a 'monster' or 'demon'? There was a time I was as innocent as all of you… There was a time I might have stood alongside you against someone like me. There was a time I looked for someone to curse and hate for the death of my family…for the death of my people…for leaving me alone in the wake of that destruction, my nostrils filled with the scent of rot and roasted flesh, wandering about in filth and muck mixed with human remains, praying for help that did not come. In the end, the only justification…the only thing I gained for all of it…was the knowledge that there was no order, no 'karma', no cosmic force for justice, and no such thing as good or evil. There are only those who die…and those who think the fact that they are alive gives them the right to sustain it by taking it from everything else…

"You think I am a murderer and a killer, all of you. You think I am a traitor and a monster. But what is life and what is death? Are they not as meaningless as ideas of good and evil? You call on the power of one who destroyed an entire world to aide you. Even now…he stands in your ranks. And you all…how many were you forced to kill to come this far? How many people who had once been nursed at the breasts of their mothers? How many people who once looked out at days full of sun and beauty and felt only wonder and happiness? Who had families who loved them more than life itself? Am I the monster because I slew more of them than you did?

"Do none of you realize what 'life' considers to be the ultimate victor? Who in the end is 'good' and who is 'evil'? Simply the selfish, cruel, ferocious, arrogant creature that managed to spread its seed as much as possible. And look where that has led you. Look at how humanity plunders and ruins the world with pollution and destruction and overpopulation…all from obeying the 'quintessential good'. If you were to kill me now, how many millions…how many _billions _will be able to grow and survive because I slew so many in a few fell strokes? Can you stand before me and not acknowledge, in the end of all things, no matter how much you hate and despise me…I enabled you all to _live?_ Can any of you stand there and tell me what meaning any of your lives would have had if not for me? What any of you would have become if not for _my _'destruction', _my _'evil', _my _'heartlessness'? A selfish pirate…an ignorant tribal warrior…an apathetic desert monk…a reclusive tinkerer…a racist mage…two disposable shock troopers…and a pair of corpses."

The train suddenly flipped around…and she turned to face them all.

Her dress had almost split open completely, joined only enough to cover the one part in the middle. Her skin was the same color as her hair now, and her bare feet were monstrous claws almost like a lion rather than human legs. Her face was lined with red and purples that went all the way from her eyes to down her neck, with her hair splashed around her like a mane. She looked almost like a true beast there. Her body seemed so much more vibrant now…so much more powerful… The only part that even had a trace of the original Mianyl was her face, but it wore like a mask over her blazing yellow eyes…which pieced into them with so much force that Dael herself recoiled, feeling almost like a nail had been stuck in her heart.

"Your precious lives and your notions of right and wrong are not built upon life at all…but on _death!_ It is creatures that die, loved ones and friends that die, and even the threat of death itself that makes your lives mean anything at all! And do you honestly think, in the greatness of the universe, that a billion 'innocent' children or billions more than that…makes any difference? What is it about your lives…your existence…your ideals that gives you the right to say you deserve to exist?"

Dael stared back at Mianyl in silence. She wasn't sure if anyone else was doing the same. She felt Bahamut and Tiamat had to be…but she couldn't be certain. She could only speak for herself. That gaze seemed to wear her down. It seemed to paralyze her…even as much as it had done back in the Cathedral…more so now that her power had grown inconceivably…

But at last, she forced her lips to move.

"You may be right, Mianyl." Her voice finally came forth through the chamber. It was minor compared to that of the Sorceress, but it still resounded. "Perhaps people do need to kill to survive. Perhaps, in the end, there isn't one individual whose life can be enough to change anything within our galaxy, much less our universe. Perhaps compared to the vastness of the cosmos, we are all ultimately nothing.

"But in the end…you said it yourself. You said that none of us would even be here if it wasn't for the chaos and discord you caused. And you're right…none of us would be here. None of us would have become more than just base, idle, self-interested individuals. None of us would have done anything to try and change the status quo in our lives. Me least of all. I know who I am now. I know _what_ I am now. But before you began this plan to destroy our world, I was a soulless soldier. My biggest dream was simply to become a bigger solider…a bigger cog in a machine. To get an honor that meant nothing except to other soldiers. Because of you, I not only became a true defender…a true warrior…but I gained friendship. I gained family. I remembered my sons and remembered that I was meant for more than that. My purpose…my _meaning_…was born from the chaos you made.

"Because there is more than just chaos in the universe. There is more than just more disorder and disarray. Within every death that comes forth in the world…there is life. And as easily as death comes into being, so too does life. People don't just fall down dead one day and that is the end. Nothing does. From the greatest to the least of us, we nourish new existence when we pass on. Our bodies change our world from being more lifeless to more lush and fertile as they deteriorate. Our spirits fill the world with energy and light. We bring forth new birth…new complexity… There is nothing in this world…or on any star…that is born or dies in vain. Even when the day comes when the sun that brings life to our world burns out and annihilates…it will send new 'seeds' throughout the universe at its death. It will bring new creation into being…new lives that will arise as a result of our being here!"

"And, in time, those too will pass." Mianyl simply responded. "They too will be given up into chaos, until there is nothing at all left."

"But not before giving birth to countless new lives! Not before creating billions upon billions of wonderful new things!" Dael continued. "Every last atom in my body…in our bodies…in _your_ body began a journey countless ages ago that has brought us to this point! That was made into this wonderful structure that will indeed pass…but only to be made into another! Something that will live and grow…or incubate and rest in the earth…or drift through the vastness of space on a journey farther than we ever realize before being reborn again! And if it one day must destroy things to sustain itself…that isn't lost either! It joins with it and becomes part of it! Life isn't aborted…it is always moving forward! Creation and existence is always moving forward!"

"I would indeed be dead if not for you, Mianyl." Bahamut's voice suddenly arose…enough to where Dael was at last able to look behind her…just in time to see the draconic creature step forward. "I would have no meaning…and neither would the rest of us. And there are times that I have cursed not being able to 'rest'. But now…I have meaning. I have purpose. I have met my mother and I have been able to sustain and protect life once again. I have stopped simply 'existing' and have actually made a difference. Maybe not to the whole of the universe…but to the people I care about. The people who I will meet in _this_ life. Just as everything in this universe does the same…and by doing so fills it with stars and nebulae and wonders that none of us can possibly imagine. But that's not what you want. What you want is a universe filled with nothingness…an empty Void filled of the same gray nothing…where there is no good or evil or life or death. And perhaps that is all of our fate to endure one day. But it's _not_ today. For now…all of us have life and meaning and purpose because we exist and will continue to exist. Even if it is for no other reason than to 'crawl like ooze on a rock', it's _something_. Something besides simply _being_. I would rather live and breathe and eat and sleep and dream and hope and suffer and toil and have my body broken a _million_ times as 'a bit of fuzz on the surface of a speck' than be one with a colossal, gray _nothing!_"

There was a moment of silence from everyone else. Just the sound of whatever noise was coming forth from the crystal array. Yet then, a trembling voice slowly gained more force.

"M-M-My mother…my father…they didn't want me to become an Esthar's Hawk just to bring honor to the family name… Just like they didn't serve in government because they wanted to keep money…" Quaren's voice managed to say. "It was because they believed that just because someone was rich and powerful didn't give them an excuse to sit around and remain rich and powerful. They thought everyone had a duty to make a difference…and they thought I did too. And I believed them…and I swore I would! I've done more for people carrying a rifle around than I ever would have otherwise! I may have taken lives…but I've saved them too!"

"Maybe I was just out to stuff my gullet and my wallet…or to drown myself in booze and live it up…" Cryder spoke up. "And maybe I made some mistakes I can't ever make up along the way… But when push came to shove, my mates knew they could count on me. And I'd do everything I could to come through for them. Even when our ship got sunk and we were cast adrift without a gil, we could always get back together. We could always help each other up and back on our feet and try again. One shipwreck doesn't make or break a pirate, lass…and neither does two or ten or a hundred! There's always another day!"

"Life in the wastes of Fuliet was hard, brutal, nightmarish, and short." Ceja's voice rang out. "It was filled day in and day out with suffering and hard work. It was a constant struggle for survival, to find food for one day, to find safety to sleep for one evening. But do not think that it was deprived of joy because of that! Or love! Or the feeling one had of being alive! Even if I must toil twice as hard to survive, I will still do so! Even if I must live in fear and dread for all my life, I shall accept that! Only a coward does not! To live is to toil and struggle! To be able to obtain joys and love and passion, one must be willing to fight for them! It is my suffering that not only gives my life meaning…it makes my life _worth_ living!"

"I struggle whole life to find peace." Jalab spoke up. "I accept much. I put aside toil…strain…worry…all so that my soul be still within me. But I do not reject these things. I do not say they do not exist. I say there is time and place for them. I accept that life will be hard…and I embrace that when I die, I will become part of something greater that will not be nothing…but will give life to others. I live on through friends…through family…through what I leave behind in this world. That give me peace…to know that all my pain and fear is part of greater order…greater circle…and will always come back again."

"And…I know now why Faerio believed in me." Cid said somewhat quieter. "Why she made me her Sorceress Knight. It was because she knew I could do something…for other people…for her…and for myself. My whole life before that I thought I was just going to be some quiet, forgotten, failure of a mage…who had no purpose or no matter in anything. She wanted to show me that a person like that doesn't exist. How everyone can change the world…how everyone _means_ something to someone else. How someone as lowly and weak as me could be the most important thing in the world to someone greater and stronger than them… And I won't stand here and let you say that kind of thing was meaningless!"

There was a moment of silence…before a snort came from the other side of Dael…as she saw Tiamat step forward.

"What a miserable little snot…" He hissed at Mianyl. "Look at you there, Ms. High-and-Mighty… Here I was beginning to think you might be a threat…but all you are is some worthless brat throwing a tantrum! It's actually a bit funny… I guess, in a sense, I should say I'm indebted to you. For years I thought wanting to grind Big B's face into the dirt and piss on his ashes would have been the greatest thing imaginable. Nothing brought me more pleasure…nothing else really mattered…"

"Tiamat…" Dael found herself beginning to say quietly.

"But now…now that I see some dim-witted twit like you wanting to negate creation just because ol' mommy and daddy got shot up…like you're the only little ape that ever happened to…I'm starting to think a bit. You say none of us mean a thing in the great scheme of anything…well I say that goes for you too, you long-haired, pasty bitch! Your little obsession with wanting to end everything that exists doesn't mean sh't! And seeing you prancing around here as if your little heartache gives you the right to say everything should be this giant gray blob of gelatin…" He paused here. "Well…" He hesitated again. "Er…" He stiffened a bit more, and finally growled very reluctantly. "…It kind of makes me wonder if I look as moronic and stupid as you."

"Wyvern…" This time, it was Bahamut who spoke.

"Don't get me wrong, Bahamut." He snapped. "I still hate you…and I will forever. But…" Again, he was quiet. "But…damnit…I don't know if it's seeing this ugly monkey in white before me…or the fact I came back to life as a Defender Force or whatever the hell I am…or…or…" He hissed again as he cast a glance sideways. "…or this ugly bitch next to me who keeps looking at me like I'm the prodigal son…" He muttered. "But…I…I…"

He hissed again, and finally choked it out.

"…I had no right to destroy Etteca…or that blue-haired chick with glasses."

He stiffened again, and, as if it was the hardest thing he had ever done, which it likely was, he hissed out another mutter from clenched teeth.

"I'm…sorry."

Dael didn't look right at Bahamut…but he couldn't help but forget completely about Mianyl and look to his brother for a moment.

That was the first time, since the day he was born, Tiamat had ever willingly apologized or shown remorse for _anything_.

There was another moment of silence, before Taraketh spoke up at last.

"…Lady Mianyl." He began. The tone had a small amount of respect in it…but no longer any fear. It was simply a memory of what once was. "You once spoke to me about the value of sacrifice…of seeing good in other people…of seeing the potential in what seemed hopeless. And as low as you've fallen…I know deep down in my own heart-of-hearts that not all of it was fake. That there was a person once who wanted to bring life and not death to this world…order and not chaos. Maybe she died when she was a child…but she existed. You can't be an agent of chaos because you can still _feel_. Cybus taught me that just now…how we all have passions. I know…deep down inside…you have no greater purpose in you right now than trying to end your own personal suffering. To take away the sting of your parents' death by nullifying your own existence." He paused, and then exhaled. "…If I had ever been a true Sorceress Knight, or worthy of that name, I would have tried to ease that pain more than I did. That, more than anything, is why I never deserved to be your knight. I don't ask you to let that pain go now…but I _beg_ you to think for a few minutes about how that's all this is. To _realize_ that. That you don't want to end the hopes and dreams of others or take away their pain or joy…that you just want to stop hurting. That what all of this ends up coming down to…is _you_."

Mianyl stood silently for a few moments. She looked back to all of them without gesture or change. Looked over all of their faces after their proclamation.

Finally, she let out a slow exhale.

"…Perhaps you're right, Taraketh." She finally said. "But even if it does…that no longer matters. My pain as well as that of all of you has been sacrificed by now. There remains only one desire…to _end_ desire. I've pledged my heart and soul to Chaos. There remains no Order within them. And if my own pain and suffering is truly meaningless…then so much more all of _yours_."

With that, she raised one of her monstrous claws, and simply snapped her fingers.

Instantly, part of the "radial" crystal behind her splintered into hundreds of fractures. For a brief moment, Dael's heart sank. Was that it? Just like that? Yet before she could fear too much, the crystal collapsed down around from the middle of the array…and revealed it.

There it hovered in the center, like some sort of strange "core" within the heart of this entire world all about them. Slowly rotating in all directions around some invisible central axis. It wasn't too remarkable…nothing too spectacular or awe inspiring. A bit larger on one side and more irregular. Only when the light hit it just right could one get even a glimpse of the overwhelming complexity of it, sort of how a silicon wafer looks like nothing more than shiny metal until the light strikes it in just a way to see the billions upon billions of circuits printed upon it…

"Open your eyes and look upon me." Mianyl proclaimed. "Look at what I have become. All bloodlines of Hyne's Descendents are upon me. I am the heir both to Aerith the Radiant as well as to every Sorceress that has lived and breathed since that time. Hundreds of years of life and death has flowed into me. I am beyond the Matriarch. I am the way to Oblivion. I am the true Omega. I have ascended beyond what any esper, Guardian Force, Cetra, or any other prehistoric 'child of the Planet' could ever hope to be. I have power that rivals that of this world itself…that _surpasses_ it.

"And you…you creatures that rage against chaos in one breath and spread it forth in everything you do for good or evil in the next…you think you can stand against me? You think that you have any prayer? Even if everything on this world that lives and breathes was to raise their hand against me they couldn't hope to achieve victory. My victory is as inevitable as the Void itself."

Dael, in spite of the power radiating off of Mianyl that made her feel like just an ant, raised Save the Queen and pointed it at her. As she did, she felt other power flaring about her as the spirits of both Bahamut and Tiamat came forth, both of them curling and poising to strike. The others behind her readied themselves as best as they could, forced themselves to glare with all their determination and power they could manage…

"It isn't inevitable." She flatly retorted. "I don't know why, Mianyl…but you fear me. You're not above it…which means you can still lose."

"I _feared_ you, Dael…and that time has passed." Mianyl simply answered. "Now I fear nothing. I have embraced Chaos. All of the Order in this tiny speck cannot hope to do anything against it."

"If it takes the last breath in my body, Mianyl…" The woman responded, her tone getting more dangerous. "I am going to destroy you. There's far too much in this world left for me…for us…to fail now…to let you just do as you will with it."

"It is only because of my will that you all still drawn breath." The Sorceress retorted. "But if it will open your eyes to the despair and futility…if it will let you know how ridiculous the idea that you can actually fight me is…now that you are no closer to being a match for me than a gnat is for a behemoth…I give you all to the count of one hundred to kill me."

This actually surprised everyone. However, Mianyl merely stood and placed her hands at her side.

"You have until the time I count to one hundred to stop me. Then I shall strike you down and you shall watch as I destroy the Crystal with a gesture."

She looked calmly at the group.

"One." She finally said. "Two. Three…"

That was as far as Dael let her get…or Bahamut and Tiamat for that matter. Both of them immediately unfurled their wings and began to charge. They weren't wasting time with "basic" flare or hits. Both of them were immediately powering up to the "second level": Megaflare and Meganuke. Yet even Dael wasn't willing to "sit this one out". In a flash, she took off straight for the madwoman. Save the Queen was aimed forward, she positioned it toward the woman's heart, and immediately dashed forward with the intention of running her through. In moments, she was on her, driving the sword forward…

As she had expected, a shield was around her. However, until now, even against the power of Cybus, such shields had only served to negate most of the power of a physical attack. This time…it was stopped all together. It was like trying to push into a solid metal wall…or perhaps something stronger than that as the Save the Queen would have pierced that. She drove forward for all she was worth…but to no avail. As she sweat, pushed, and grit her teeth…the yellow eyes of Mianyl continued to dully look at her without fear.

Soon, Dael was joined. From the left side, flaring with power, Jalab came in, swung around, and smashed his staff as hard as he could at Mianyl's body. From the right, Ceja, giving a war cry, swung around and brought her axe up and against her, meaning to slice her in two. Yet both of their weapons held…and did not move at all. They might as well have been pushing against a mountain. Mianyl looked forward perfectly calm, not the least been stunned at three separate sides pushing at her together.

"Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven…"

Grunting, Dael leapt off again, as did the others at her side. All of them were shocked. Together, the force the three put into that would have been enough to go through any other shield…but here it did absolutely nothing. Instantly, the assault was renewed. Rifle bullets went out and pounded away at Mianyl's body. Yet none of them even made contact with the skin. As she continued to count calmly, they erupted everywhere…not one of them hitting her. Quaren, from a short distance away, fired every last bullet in the rifle that he could at her. Cid whipped up both of his nailguns and discharged them as well as the same time. If that wasn't enough, Cryder began to swing his hands at her, making crystal fragments break up and drive into her one after another with deadly spikes. Yet nothing changed. Nothing left a mark on her…

"Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen…"

At that moment, her words were cut off as both Bahamut and Tiamat fired as one. It was a good thing the shots were so focused, for Dael, Jalab, and Ceja…and probably the others…would have been annihilated if not. As it was, the former captain slammed down to the ground and both the monk and the warrior pulled back as piercing, powerful blasts smashed into Mianyl were terrific force, both letting out sustained, chain explosions that ripped through the air, cracking the crystals and blowing back everyone who wasn't a powerful Guardian Force a few feet even if the main "bulk" of the power didn't strike them. The room was filled with light and heat as they explosions went over the woman, one world-shaking blast after another…

Yet in the end, they died down…and she stood stood there without so much as a speck of dust upon her.

"Twenty-four. Twenty-five. Twenty-six…"

Bahamut and Tiamat alike stared for a moment, before the latter immediately snapped back a short distance, unfurled his wings, and began to surge in power again. Bahamut did much the same, but not before yelling out to the others. "Get back! All of you!"

Dael knew what was happening. They were going to try and use their respective Omniapex attacks…the strongest powers available to them. However, she wouldn't leave right away. She immediately swung her blade out again, first in a hack, then in a stab. Mianyl might as well have been encased in diamond for all the good it did. It wasn't even enough to disturb a hair on her head. Jalab drove himself forward and unleashed one of his chi-based attack, driving his staff end like a hammer into one focused spot…all of which did nothing. Ceja again mimicked the Tonberry King as she drove her axe in for the "critical" juncture, trying to strike at the "heart" of Mianyl. Yet other than let her axe slide in another two inches closer before pushing back…nothing.

That wasn't all. Cryder, seeing his geomancy was ineffective, ran up in between and tried to stab at her with his ninja sword. Yet as sharp and deadly as the weapon was…it had no effect. If that wasn't enough, Cid fired up his chainsaw and ran up to drive it forward, blazing at full speed and power as it went for the Sorceress. Yet as his weapon came around and touched the shield…not only did it fail to break, as he put his weight into it and desperately tried to hit the woman beneath…sparks flew out before the teeth on his saw began to tear apart. To his shock, the weapon broke against her barrier alone. He was forced to recoil.

On his part, Taraketh could do nothing. He knew full well his minor spells that he could bring out wouldn't leave so much as a mark against the woman…not with the power of her barrier. Instead, as Cid ran back, and Cryder, seeing he was doing no good, pulled back as well, Quaren tossed aside his rifle, now empty, and yanked out his handgun to run forward and try and discharge point-blank shots at the woman. No effect at all except for more sparks. Nothing could even make her change her count…

"Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Thirty-six…"

Ceja bellowed and continued to hack away almost madly at her, hate and passion blazing through her…for all the good it did. Jalab seemed to be focusing on his "Dance of the Phantom". Before trying to make either of them break off, Dael looked behind her. Both Tiamat and Bahamut were still charging, their bodies quivering as they drew more and more power into themselves. They were obviously planning on this to be as strong as they could get…so she let the two continue for a bit longer. She herself pulled back and focused her own internal power…trying to do something far greater. She didn't have enough for the Shock again, but she had taken enough of a beating to do the next best thing…

Taraketh, from behind her, called out to the other two. "Help me…summon Alexander…"

Both Cryder and Cid snapped to him.

"You don't have any magic stamina left!" Cid shot back.

"It could kill you, you fool!" Cryder shot back.

"Who cares? I can't stand here and do nothing! We'll die if we don't try!" The mage shot back.

Both men hesitated. They looked to one another and paused. As they did, Jalab exploded and quickly shot forward at Mianyl with his new attack. Ceja was forced to snap back as he seemed to split into ten of himself and went all around her, smashing his fist against her again and again… Yet none of the attacks actually reached Mianyl. Rather, they simply swept around her barrier, lighting it up with small blazes of light. Not only that, but Dael could tell his face was growing more tense with each hit…as if he was either straining himself to the breaking point or busting up his own hands…

Finally, he cut off and snapped back…and Dael saw the latter was true. His hands were covered with blood and bruises. So much so that they were dripping on the floor. An instant later, the chi around Mianyl exploded, and both Dael and Ceja staggered back as they felt the power of the eruption flow over them from the potent blast…what normally should have "shattered" anything…

Yet as the light and wind died down, she stood there the same as before.

"Forty-nine. Fifty. Fifty-one…"

Ceja was left aghast. For once, she didn't renew her assault. If even the Rune Axe couldn't cut through that barrier to hurt Mianyl…what could the warrior do? As for Jalab, he had used his own strongest attack. He had nothing left. With that in mind, he stared anxiously for a moment…before he suddenly took off for Ceja. On reaching her, he swept his staff around her, partially as a shield, but mostly to start leading her back. It was a good move…for the Fuliet warrior was too stunned to even walk at that point. As he led her back, Dael herself finished focusing. Behind her, both draconic creatures were opening their mouths and generating their power…but she wanted one last shot.

The woman snapped forward, once again putting her sword forward, this time focused on the "spiritual divide" within Mianyl. It was a little hard to miss, in all honesty. She drove the blade as hard as she could into it, and then swung upward…causing a sonic "rip" to issue through the air and a crack like thunder as the crystal beneath Mianyl split, and a beam of solid energy ripped upward into the heavens, rocketing up into the starry sky like a comet…

Mianyl never even shifted weight. She blinked once…and that was all.

Now, Dael herself was immobilized in shock. That attack had sliced a destroyer in half…and she didn't even react beyond batting an eye? She wasn't sure how, but somehow she began to back off again…although she never stopped staring at the woman as she did so…

As for the others, Cryder and Cid finally seemed to relent. Reluctantly, both of them took their places on the sides of Taraketh and helped him as he began to summon. Dael didn't see his face, but it grew pale again. The very "meat" seemed to wither on his bones, but he continued to summon nonetheless. As for Tiamat and Bahamut, both of them continued to power up…

"Fifty-eight. Fifty-nine. Sixty…"

The power pouring off of Bahamut and Tiamat was tremendous. Dael gradually came back to her senses as she pulled back further and further, almost "awakened" by the strength coming from them. Unfortunately, in her spiritual sight, she could see as strong as they were blazing…Mianyl still seemed to be brighter yet than both combined. At the best, she knew already…this could only hurt her. And she had no idea how seriously. They had to do more. She was already counting down the last forty…

As she joined up with the others at what she hoped was a safe distance, although that seemed unlikely as the wind whipped and raged around both creatures, she could only think of one thing left to help. She looked to her side, and saw Jalab still leading back Ceja, who was only slowly recovering from her shock herself.

"Ceja!"

The Fuliet warrior and the monk with her alike turned to her.

"You have to hurt me! Right now!"

Both of them blinked in response.

"…What?"

"I don't have enough power for a Shock!" Dael retorted. "I have to be hurt more! Punch me! Kick me! Break a rib of you have to!"

The Fuliet warrior hesitated, but then disentangled herself from the awestruck Jalab and moved over to her. "Dael, that is madness…"

"We don't have a choice! I have to get off a Shock while she'll still let me!"

The woman hesitated. Tough as she was, this was a friend. And it didn't sit well with her. As for Dael, she merely leaned up straight and tightened up. She needed this to hurt. That's why she called on Ceja. She was the only one she trusted not to "pull her punches" and be strong enough to hurt her. To make it even easier…she actually seized her own Mirage Belt buckle and ripped it off. The Fuliet warrior hesitated a moment later, but then exhaled in giving up. Jabbing the blade of her axe into the ground nearby, she formed a fist, and drove it as hard as she could for Dael's abdomen…

"Sixty-six. Sixty-seven. Sixty-eight…"

As the Sorceress drew ever nearer to one hundred, however, both Guardian Forces were ready. In Bahamut's own mind, he wasn't even sure anywhere in this crystal chamber was safe enough for the group to withstand the power of a Sun Flare…let alone one of those plus a Shadow Flare. Yet he didn't have the luxury of holding back anymore. He had to hit this woman with everything he had, especially while he still could. There was only so much light in here for him to tap external sources… With that in mind, both he and Tiamat pushed the last bit of power they could get into their respective breath attacks, and then both snapped their heads backward.

Both Guardian Forces felt their bodies alike pushed back…for both had put considerable power into this. Mianyl's counting stalled somewhat as she looked up a bit. Her own calm look became slightly perturbed, her mouth opening up ever so slightly as one blazing ball of blinding light and another of blackness deeper seemingly than that of the depths of space itself both shot straight for her location, meaning to converge on the same spot. For a moment, she tried to hold as calm as before…but she couldn't maintain that for long. Even she realized the truth, it seemed…that this wasn't something she could "shrug off" like the other moves. With that in mind, she raised both hands upward, spreading out her monstrously long fingers and claws. She didn't counterattack, but she did move to reinforce her barrier. She planted both of her leg claws hard enough to grip the crystal and steeled herself, her blazing yellow eyes looking to either attack as they drew closer and closer…

Yet right before it could make contact…her head lifted a bit higher, and her mouth loosened a bit more. Those attacks weren't alone. Another had been added to the mix.

She was just in time to see the colossal, staggering form of Alexander form over her body, open his visor, and fire upon her with a blast of holy judgment at the same time as the two other attacks landed, blasting her full force with all three moves at once.

The combination of the force was too much for the group members. They were blown away like leaves on a breeze, whipped around as if they had been tossed into a hurricane. All of them went flying back, and none had the strength to cling to each other or stop one another. It was only when they were cast back to the ground that they were able to reach out and seize the crystal pillars. From there, their bodies flapped around in the heat and power. Yet even then, it felt like they were near a thermonuclear blast. The power was enough to actually singe their skin a bit, and to make a burning smell arise from their clothing as they all clung as best as they could through the power of the blast. Somehow, even Taraketh was able to hold on tight with only one arm…in spite of how weakened he was now. Alexander vanished quickly…far more quickly than usual. Yet the result of his blast lingered along with that of Bahamut and Tiamat.

Both Guardian Forces lowered…Bahamut making sure to go before Taraketh and spread out his wings so he couldn't fly away from the power. Even then, the rippling explosions continued to reverberate over the group, spreading successive shockwaves one after the other. Yet each one grew weaker as they passed. Everyone kept their eyes shut a moment longer. All of the dust here was from crystal now…harmful to breathe and harmful to look at… As they heard pieces slowly fall to the ground, they waited and held for things to clear enough where they could risk opening their eyes…

Yet before that happened, they heard something else.

"Eighty-seven. Eighty-eight. Eighty-nine. Ninety…"

In spite of the risk, everyone shot their eyes open.

Even Mianyl couldn't be untouched from that last blast. Some of her attire was a bit torn from crystal pieces, and her palms were both red as well as cracked, oozing, and bleeding in a few places. A small trickle of blood ran down her hairline…or "mane" line…and went across the bridge of her nose. Her teeth were still a bit grit from wincing, but she was calming quickly. She even managed to slowly collapse her sore hands and lower them as she continued to count.

That was all that the triple assault had managed to do.

The group stared in stunned shock. None of them could believe their eyes. Even Omega Weapon had at least been "knocked around" by that assault. Mianyl looked like she may have slid backward eight inches at the most. Even Bahamut now felt fear flowing through him. He knew that the Sun Flare and Shadow Flare alike both had the advantage of naturally negating magical barriers. And yet…this Sorceress had so much power that even with that in mind, she had barely been marred by those two combined along with Alexander's Holy Judgment…an attack that had once destroyed Tiamat himself…

_I could feel her power was great, but…this…is beyond description…_ He thought. _I expected this might from a being like Sephiroth…but he wasn't a true human… This…this is inconceivable…_

"Ninety-one. Ninety-two. Ninety-three…"

The human members of the group were immobilized. None of them could even raise a hand now. Even Tiamat seemed shaken to his core. Bahamut, meanwhile, struggled to think of something…some alternate attack…something that might give him some advantage against this mortal turned goddess…

Then, he noticed it.

_Dael… Where is she?_

"Ninety-four. Ninety-fiv-"

Abruptly, it ripped out behind Mianyl. And it was enough to actually make her wince and cringe in its wake, even if it did no damage. Such was the nature of the Shock…to shatter anything that it struck through its spiritual connection…to crack even her barrier for a brief instant…

Dael stood poised behind her for a moment, rising up in a flash, her sword still extended into the sky with one arm as she held her side painfully with the other hand, half of her face bruised, swollen, and bleeding. It had taken more than one blow, or even a few. She had to endure a beating from Ceja enough to actually take away some of her remaining strength in order to gain enough power to use the Shock again. However, she had endured it, and as Bahamut, Tiamat, and the others had launched their own assault…she had taken enough pain to prepare it again. In the midst of the blast, when everyone else recoiled and shielded themselves, she had used her own power for one teleport… As painful as it was, and as much as it left her dizzy…it made her pop up behind the woman, and then left her in the perfect position to use the Shock against her.

And now…she immediately carried the true reason for the Shock. She knew full well it wouldn't kill her…probably wouldn't even hurt her…but it would open a hole in her barrier long enough for one move…

As fast as she could, she snapped her sword down and drove it in through a gap in the crest and Mianyl's neck, piercing right through the spinal column and erupting out of her throat on the opposite side. The Sorceress' yellow eyes actually widened as her mouth opened in surprise, and blood began to pour down her neck.

The group, Bahamut, and even Tiamat were totally silent as they looked up in utter amazement. While they had been unleashing on Mianyl with everything they had in moves of mostly desperation, Dael had been using what power was left to her to pull this off. As unlikely as it seemed, for surely the woman had to have the ability to sense energy and spirits, she had managed to get behind her, pull off this move…and strike. Now, they saw what she had done. In spite of all the strength and might of the Sorceress, she had struck a fatal blow.

_She did it…_ Bahamut thought to himself.

Dael, panting, pained, and continuing to hold her sword forward, waited for the end. Waited for Mianyl to slide off and be done. She continued to hold Save the Queen inside her neck as she did so, knowing the spinal cord had to be cut by now, that her fate was sealed…

Slowly, the body slid off the end…

But to everyone's surprise…it wasn't dead weight pulling it off. It was Mianyl stepping forward. Dael's earnest look slowly began to fade as she took two half-shuffling steps forward on her claws, pulling her body free of the blade, leaving a bloody hole both before and after her neck. She stood there only a moment, wavering ever so slightly…before she turned one of her long, unnatural hands up and gestured slightly. At once, a green mist fell over not only the wound on her neck, but also on the parts where she had been burned.

Before Dael's eyes, as well as everyone else's, the wounds on her hands and forehead closed, followed by the one in her neck. The blood actually seemed to seep into the wound again, and whatever was left faded away with a passing breeze. Not even a scar. If that wasn't enough, the clothing repaired and smoothed itself back out into its original position.

Not turning, Mianyl took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"…Ninety-six." She said after a moment. "Ninety-seven. Ninety-eight…"

The sound of the tip of Save the Queen hitting the ground rang out. Dael's grip on it was so loose it was surprising the entire sword didn't fall to the floor. Her jaw hung as she stared, just like everyone with her. They had dangerously underestimated Mianyl's power. It was so great…even mortal blows couldn't kill her now. She hadn't been lying. She had gone beyond merely being powerful and possessing such magical might… She had literally begun to transcend mortality itself.

The reality slowly hit Dael…

_We can't win…_

"Ninety-nine."

Again, the woman raised a hand, this time bringing it up with her forearm and turning it over, such that the palm faced upward with the fingers rising to the sky. As it did, a red light began to glow from within it. It wasn't like the flares that Bahamut had used. This wasn't "sun" or fire. It was something darker…something more supernatural…infernal…malevolent…and rapidly blazing up brighter and brighter as her own aura showed a bit of light.

In spite of knowing it would do nothing, Dael raised her sword to stab again…

"One hundred."

It was as if the group had been cast into Hell. Mianyl vanished as she turned into a pillar of otherworldly red flame. Even the fires from within Ifrit's cave or the heat that erupted on Nyx Gaia couldn't compare to it. It seemed to be both ungodly heat as well as actually producing darkness rather than light, as if it surrounded everything with shadows as she blazed forth in an infernal blast. Yet only moments afterward…flames exploded from her in all directions, as if she gave forth a living firestorm of the same wretched heat. And everyone was helpless as the all-consuming fire, blazing hotter and more wretched even than Tiamat's own breath had during the attack on Esthar, swept around her.

Dael tried to cry out, but the air was gone in moments. Instead, heat roared into her lungs as if fire was being poured down her throat, and she was breathing it. Both inside and outside seemed to go ablaze. The spectral flames pierced her through and through, as if they could seep deep into her being and burn every part of her body…every bone…every muscle fiber…could turn her brains into roast…could turn her organs into leather…to turn the rest of her into grist. The pain was not of this world. It defied description. Even the pain that had come forth from Raven's Darkness attack was nothing compared to this. It was beyond a league of its own. It created pain that had no definition yet was so intense and unbearable that it would be a sin to even speak of it… It felt as if it redefined her entire existence simply to bring her pain and suffering of an eternal and immortal sort…raging through her… It seemed to burn not only her body but also her very soul…

When the flames finally passed, it was as if they had "returned to the land of the living". Dael felt herself practically "released" by the profane fire. She couldn't see terribly well. After all…the flames had attacked her eyes along with the rest of her, through and through. On the plus side, only certain parts of her body had been heavily damaged…although her clothes were turned to rags that had been burned in multiple places…and, beneath them, much deeper and more powerful burns. It felt as if the "life" inside of her was what had truly been burned. And she felt pain all over as if she had indeed been roasted in flames…her entire body aching with inconceivable pain. It wasn't the feeling of "death" or "drain" as it had been with the Darkness. It was just pain, damage, and agony wrapped around her. Somehow, her eyes opened enough to look ahead.

By the time she did, she saw Cid, Quaren, and Taraketh had already fallen. Cid had no weapons left to begin with, but even if he had…one of the burns had destroyed his power pack forever. Quaren had no bullets left, and his uniform was little more than smoldering rags himself. Taraketh…Dael thought with a grim feeling and a heavy sensation of fear that it would be a miracle if he had survived that just now. Ever since Cybus he had been pushing himself farther than he should have… Yet only moments later, he watched the others collapse around them. Cryder was next…letting his knife fall out of his grasp onto the crystal with a clatter. Then Jalab and Ceja, practically at the same time. The monk had already sacrificed too much of his chi to do anything else, and the Fuliet warrior was too tired and agonized from her furious strikes. They were all down…

_Except…_

As Dael began to fall herself, a powerful gust of wind suddenly blasted into her, sweeping her backward, sending her for a tumble, and slamming her down onto the crystal floor with more agony than ever. The reason was a powerful wingbeat…as Tiamat, seeming to come out of nowhere, had shot down from the blackness in a lunge for Mianyl…

Useless.

She didn't use the same attack that seemed to make a magical "Maelstrom" as before…but it hardly seemed to matter when she instantly raised a hand in response, having indeed begun to lift it just as Tiamat descended upon her. As his four talons went out to rend her, her palm was already aimed at him…and a pure beam of dazzling, blinding radiance seeming to gleam brighter and hotter than the sun erupted from her hand in a solid pillar. Dael couldn't even look at it…for even with her eyes shut it was blinding to a painful point…but the beam of light pierced Tiamat right in the midsection…instantly vaporizing scales, skin, muscle, bone, and whatever organs happened to be in the way, burning everything around the edges with heat that seeped in and continued to burn more organs, before erupting out behind him.

While it was still going through…another blast of wind raged over Dael, this one high enough not to damage her…as Bahamut swung down silently, trying to attack her backside while it was still firing. Dael couldn't see the result…but she felt it when the light suddenly doubled. Only showing the slightest bit of strain and speed, while still blasting through Tiamat, the woman whipped her opposite arm up, turned it around, and blasted a similar hole through Bahamut, this time just slightly higher and to a different position. Just as with Tiamat, his own reptilian eyes bulged before the blast ripped through him, spreading the inside of his body with the feeling of vaporizing and searing heat…

The lights died…and two massive impacts went down on the ground. Soon after, Dael heard grunting and groaning from large creatures, thrashing and writhing about. That was more than what she could do…but she managed to crack her own eyes open and look before her. She had already feared this…but it didn't stop her heart from aching and her stomach filling with fear at what she saw…

Both Bahamut and Tiamat were on the ground, clutching their wounds and struggling to keep from writhing…to focus…to do anything… In truth, Dael could still see considerable power in both of them…although those two blasts had to have taken them both down to nearly half. If they had been any other Guardian Force…they'd likely both be as good as dead now. Yet they had the power to regenerate. And while it seemed as if their wounds were actually fighting back against the healing process…they were neither bleeding nor getting worse. Nevertheless…they were wounded now, and they couldn't just "bounce back" from an attack like that. They'd have to sacrifice even more power to heal…

Bahamut and Tiamat had been their only hope for victory…and now both lay defeated…at Mianyl's mercy.

Yet it wasn't the failure alone that struck Dael with horrible feelings and misery. Nor was it her own pain. It was seeing her two children hurt so badly…and being helpless to stop it. Knowing that no matter how angry or passionate she became this time…it wouldn't change anything. She couldn't come to their aide at all…

Mianyl, on her part, gazed over them for a moment, and then simply swept her body around, her hair and dress flaring slightly, before she faced the Crystal.

"Perhaps now you will cease your pointless struggling. The only reason you aren't all dead now is a final 'offering'. Your anger…hate…pain…and suffering…shall become one with the emerging consciousness of the Void along with me. Yet even if you seek to still fight uselessly…"

Her hands both tightened into fists at her sides. When they did…Mianyl's aura blazed again. This time, it erupted not into white light, but into an almost silvery-golden one…and when it came forth Dael had to turn her head away…or would have if she still had the strength and lack of pain to do so. Her eyes hurt again…stabbed by the sheer power she was releasing…greater and stronger than she already possessed… If she had "lost" anything from her few attacks she had just done, it was now overshadowed as her power was vented. The crystals around her began to spontaneously twist and reform, as her aura slowly pressed a crater into the ground from the might she wielded. Even the sparks around her, floating like stars, seemed to heat and spread forth mist, as if going from empty space to something more turbulent and spread…like a nebula…

"…It no longer matters." She said, her teeth clenched, actually showing strain. "The time for the Void's appearance is at hand."

Dael wanted to strike. She wanted to call out. She wanted to do _anything_…but she couldn't, and neither could anyone else. No powers left. No spiritual divides. No hidden talents. Even the Save the Queen and her empty Mage Gun had fallen out of her burned holster and hand, lying discarded on the ground. She couldn't even shout "no" to the Sorceress as her aura blazed further and further, before she reached both of her hands up, opened the palms wide, slammed them together, and pointed them at the crystal.

At once, the world around them all grew dark again…save for her. Similar to what happened when a summon occurred, a sigil blazed before her…this one seeming to form one great symbol in the center with four smaller ones connected to it in a line, almost like a star chart. As the world grew darker about her…a horrible sound started to echo through the air. It was something like a meteor falling…but more like the dark energy she was casting up. The blackness broke even as it deepened, with Dael seeing fresh energy casting about her. Dark, red, and multicolored…it was almost like a nebula itself…like the rest of the area around her was turning into. She continued to point and focus, straining a bit more…showing more pain from the conjuring than she had yet from anything else…

Then, the sigils suddenly ignited into bright light, and sent out a few balls of white energy. Yet it didn't look like the "Holy" attacks that Dael had seen until now. They were terrible to look at…stabbing the eyes and yet not producing warmth and light…making one almost sick to watch… Like "corrupted" light, it almost seemed when they came forth and gathered together in front of her. Something happened at that point she had never seen before. Mianyl, for all her power, actually began to chant the arcane language. She couldn't just "perform" this spell, it seemed. But the words that came out were so profane, so twisted, so wretched…Dael could almost not stand to hear them. Just the sound brought images of fire, darkness, and death about her…about everything green and good in this world burning and dying…before she finished with one word that produced one clear thought in her mind, right as the energy condensed into one great pulse…

_Apocalypse._

The attack instantly streaked through the air, straight for the Crystal, and made contact.

A tremendous explosion went off yet again. Dael could feel the heat and power from it as before…but some sort of natural force, perhaps from the crystal surrounding it, seemed to keep it from going too far, from blasting her about. Otherwise…she was sure the resulting explosion would have destroyed her. It didn't produce shockwaves. Rather…a sphere of deadly, multicolored, chaotic energy erupted from the point of the blast…and as Dael looked into it, in spite of the brightness and power, she saw it…crystal shards…each one infinitely complex…being blasted in all directions, smashing into the surrounding crystal and breaking away into nothingness…

The darkness slowly lessened…although it didn't fade all together. Now, the world around Dael began to slowly tremble. The crystals she lay on started to quiver and shift, slowly going from regular to more jagged and uneven. Some of them began to split. The sky overhead filled with more lights than ever, and definitely formed the nebulas and chains of bright colors. Yet they were no longer fixed like in an astral photograph. They began to churn about before her eyes, and fill with colors more chaotic and bizarre than she had ever seen before. That likely _anyone_ had ever seen before. The crystal array began to shudder most of all, already breaking off into pieces and starting to rattle to the ground. The group looked into the midst, in spite of their own pain, weakness, or helplessness, and watched the light as it died…

And revealed nothing.

Mianyl had done it. She destroyed the Crystal.

"N…No…" Bahamut began to croak out.

He was the only one with strength to speak. Dael couldn't believe what she was seeing. Somehow…she had clung to the hope that they could have stopped this. In spite of all of the power that Mianyl had, and the odds against them…she had held on without wavering fear or distrust that they could still win. That somehow they could beat her even now… It was impossible to believe otherwise, after all. That this could really be the end…the end of everything and everyone on Gaia…that they could let something like this happen…

Her mind continued to hold to that even as it slowly faded into darkness and despair. It was all over. The Crystal was gone.

Gaia was "dead".

The quaking around her continued. The world grew more and more unstable. From behind them, the sounds of larger crystals breaking and falling to the ground began to ring out. The air began to change, no longer pleasantly warm but alternating between heat and cold. The pale white light that had resonated through everything first dimmed…and then began to turn every which color possible. Some of the crystals degenerated. Some of them regrew. All the while the chaos began to grow. Wind started to come forth from the crystal array…as Mianyl, exhaling slowly, recovering from that expenditure of power, drew her arms back and held them up before her, balancing herself out on either side and holding her claws to the sky, waiting to "embrace" what was coming…

She didn't have to wait long.

As soon as the last few fragments of Crystal had faded, the last speck of dust gone…she saw it. There was only darkness before, but this was somehow a spot of darkness far "darker than dark", if such a thing was possible. It was like she wasn't even "looking" at it, to be exact. Rather, she saw the other darkness and bits of reality around it collapsing into it. That only made sense. If there was no light in the "true Void", unlike what she had seen with Bahamut's Banish, then it would be like looking into a Black Hole. Since light couldn't bounce off of it, you couldn't see it. All you could see was what few fortunate photons managed to bounce off of it and escape before all the rest were drawn in. It slowly grew…a sphere of nothingness. And as it did, it let out a sound that Dael could best describe as a cosmic "vacuum" or "whirlpool", as if not only reality but creation and order itself had a hole "torn" into it into which it was now leaking…or that the fabric of space and time itself had split open, and some force on the other side was grabbing at the tear and slowly pulling more and more of it through…

As Dael and the others continued to watch, the darkness grew larger, remaining in the perfect sphere. As it went out, the sound became louder, as if it was not only draining reality but everything with it… The energy that made it move… The time in which it had existed… Even the _memory_ associated with it. Pure nothingness. Pure chaos. Void of the simplest semblance of order. Black beams lashed out from it like tendrils, even if they were more shaped like lightning. They started off small and infrequent, but grew larger as they kept coming…snaking out almost hungrily. Looking for "order" to absorb…to devour…to turn to chaos…

The orb reached the edge of the crystal array. At once, it was ripped into, pulverized, and turned into oblivion. Dael was just able to see the edges of the crystal as they broke off and were drawn in as if being devoured by a living abyss. The entire array was soon deconstructing as the blackness grew larger and larger…and Mianyl continued to stand before it with arms wide. Dael alone could see her face…could see those yellow eyes blazing into it. She had never seen Mianyl look so ecstatic…so enraptured…so filled with joy… There was no other creature on Gaia now, or likely had ever been, not even Kefka Palazzo, who could see a monstrous nothing like this and desire so much to fall into it…to completely surrender ones own existence to it as Mianyl wished to. Only now did her madness become so pronounced as she wished for it to consume her… All while the world around her grew more turbulent and uneven. Dael, as she saw the monstrous darkness loom over her…began to realize something truly fearful. Once it broke through from the last of the crystal array…_she_, not Mianyl, would be devoured by it first. She was actually closer after her last move…

And all of this…Dael knew…was just the beginning. Far above them, on the surface of the world…what was happening? Were seas and oceans beginning to boil or dry up? Were entire forests starting to decay and die? Were mountain chains crumbling? This blackness would grow and grow and eat the remains of this dead world, which even now was losing all remaining life and order and slowly turning into a great, dried-out, bit of rock in space. And what then? Would this Void be able to consume the other worlds in the system? The sun itself? Would all that had ever remained of all the hopes and dreams and existence of everything in this small, tiny corner of the galaxy become nothing but a black spot? Only one thing she did know…there was no way to stop this now. One couldn't "shoot at" the Void. Just looking at it, growing ever larger even now…it would be like spitting at the ocean in hopes of "destroying" it. It _was_ destruction. The end result of all destruction that had happened not only on Gaia but in every last part of the universe…

_It's hopeless… It's all over…_

_My world…my body…and everything that ever lived and coursed through it… It's as good as gone…_

Ironically, it was just as Dael was thinking this…that something changed.

The monstrous black Void, constantly giving out tendrils of darkness, suddenly slowed to a halt. That was obvious from the edges of the crystal array. A few more bits broke off and were drained into it, but their progress was rapidly arresting. And after a few moments more, they stopped all together. While the Void remained there, it didn't come nearer.

Mianyl's ecstatic joy evaporated. "…What?"

She looked about herself, and saw it wasn't stopping there. The floor was jagged and almost rent now…but it had stopped where it was. The rumbling continued to echo but slowly faded. The wind continued to blow but grew no more severe. The lights and colors overhead continued to swirl but grew no more turblant. The last few crystals collapsed, died, or regrew…but nothing more. Once again, the area was stabilizing.

Bahamut and Tiamat, by now their own regenerating at least keeping their bodies from being further damaged, but still working on overcoming the magical injury enough to start healing what was done, forced their heads up and looked around. The burnt and damaged group likewise looked up and about them in amazement.

"It's…stopping…" Cid stated.

"Something's still holding it back…" Quaren voiced.

"That's…_impossible!"_

Dael turned her head, and saw Mianyl, for the first time ever, actually show anger. Even fury as she spun around and balled her hands into fists at her sides.

"The Crystal is gone!" She shouted…not so much at them, but all around her…as if she was cursing order, reality, and existence itself. "The source of all balance, life, and order in this entire world! All other order streamed from it! There's nothing left to hold the Void back! Noth…"

Slowly, she trailed off. As Dael watched, she turned quiet again. For a moment, her anger subsided, and her arms lowered. Her own head, which had been arched to the sky, descended.

The former captain heard just the smallest laugh, and only once.

"Of course." She stated, far more calmly. "How silly of me."

In an instant, her profile turned to Dael, and her yellow eyes were on her. Again, it made the woman's breath catch in her throat as she leaned back slightly.

"I had nearly forgotten the real reason I let you live to come before me, Dael…or Eden. Whichever you prefer." She responded. "To be sure…I'm rather surprised. Who would have thought…only the teeny, tiny, almost insignificant fragment of the Planet's true nature…it's true 'Order'…that went into bringing you into creation would be enough to actually hold the power of the Void itself in check? Naturally, this world isn't dying…because a part of the essence of the Crystal itself is still entire…inside you."

That was enough to actually make Dael's eyes widen and jaw drop. Was Mianyl serious? Was the vastness of this horrible black nothingness…really being stopped simply by virtue of the fact that she was alive? Was the world around them still remaining a place where life and order could exist…because she was here? But…she only felt like a normal woman. Perhaps a bit more highly trained and junctioned, but…a _mortal_, none the less. Not a goddess. Not an entity. Not anyone important. And yet…the world was literally being held together by _her_ simply still breathing right now…

But that meant…

The others had to realize the same.

"Oh no…" Cryder's voice rang out.

"No, don't!" Quaren cried.

"_Stop, Mianyl!" _Bahamut bellowed with force that should have been impossible for someone who was likely missing a lobe of a lung…and in spite of everything he somehow sprawed himself on the ground, holding his burned entrails in with one claw as he began to drag himself forward with the other.

Dael, blinking out of her thoughts, could see why…as she saw Mianyl raise her hand, already glowing white, and point the palm right at the woman's chest.

"Easy enough to fix." She stated before firing a pillar of light into it that instantly vaporized Dael's heart and lungs and seared the rest of her body with greater-than-volcanic heat and inconceivable power.

The woman barely had time to even realize she had been struck before her consciousness turned black…and her body was ripped off of the ground like a puppet, carried into the sky, impaled on this column or raw energy and power, and born along with the merest gesture from Mianyl. The Sorceress only looked to her dully as she continued to blast Dael's body, far and away from the space before the crystal array, before smashing it into one of the crystals against the ceiling high above them. Assuming there were any bones left in her body at that point, the impact was enough to splinter them.

The entire chamber went silent as the beam cut off. Bahamut froze where he was, his own monstrous jaws hanging loose. Every last member of Dael's friends…from the "toughest, most stoic" warrior to the most emotional and empathic, stared in open-mouthed, silent horror. Even Tiamat…heartless and cruel as he was…had his own reptilian gaze expand and his jaw part ever so slightly. One could have heard a pin drop in the chamber, in spite of the wind still blowing. And as a result, they heard a sound of something falling against the wind…falling down…

Slowly, they watched as the distinct object that had been on the end of the pillar of light sank, dropping like a stone, flopping about from whatever wind could have been on it…heavy amounts of ash clouding all around it as it went for the crystal pillars once again… It seemed to fall forever in the empty silence of the chamber…in which, in spite of the power, the crystal, and the Void itself looming and snaking forth…nothing else was visible to them.

Finally, it struck.

What few dried out, dessicated bits of skeleton and now-leathery, burnt flesh joining them together had survived clattered around on the ground like dried kindling, most of them breaking into dust. They crumbled as they landed right in between the Save the Queen and the Mage Gun. A smoking, smoldering set of half-broken ribs, with a great blackened hole still smoking in the center of them. On top of that, on the last remains of a few vertebral columns…was a twisted, open-mouthed skull that had only a few traces of totally dry and burned flesh stretched over it. No trace of the hair, eyes, or anything warm and flesh…no trace that the grisly image had ever been a woman…let alone Dael Levinson.

As the clattering ceased, the silence was pierced by shouts of agony.

"_Dael!"_

"_MOTHER!"_

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	78. Apocalypse Now

_…What happens to me now?_

_ Is it possible for "Gaia" to enter its own Lifestream?_

Dael felt no pain…nor much of anything else. She hardly had time to feel anything before Mianyl had begun to destroy her body. It was…remarkably "easy". Almost pain-free, compared to other torture she had endured. In spite of what that move had to have done to her, passing was very simple. She wasn't sure if she was simply annihilated that quickly, or if her body recognized almost immediately that it wasn't going to survive this blast and figured: "Why bother?" when it came to what she felt.

She had a sensation of movement…of slipping through a vast, endless passage. Her eyes were closed, but somehow she "knew" what it looked like. Like a mixture of slipping through water and mist at the same time, endlessly sinking toward something…but not knowing what. Where was she going? A part of her wistfully hoped it was to something other than the Lifestream… After all, the Lifestream didn't have long to exist…not with what Mianyl had just done…

_I'm dead…and if I'm dead…what's holding back the Void?_

_ Is this my soul? Or my spirit? My spirit doesn't have anywhere to go now…_

_ It doesn't really "feel" like Heaven or Hell though…_

She wasn't sure how far she went or for how long. It felt much greater of a distance than she had traveled into the Planet's core…and far faster. But who could say? She had a sense that wherever she was…it wasn't a place where time and space were quantities that she was aware of. And why should they be? Time and space as she knew them were for the body…not what she was now…

What _was_ she now?

Her body stopped. At least…she had the sensation that it "stopped". She didn't feel herself slowing. She just…wasn't moving anymore. She didn't recall halting. In fact…she wasn't even sure she recalled moving. Had she ever been moving? Did she imagine it? Or did movement even matter here?

Were her eyes closed? Did sight matter here? She thought a moment…and reasoned that they were indeed closed. She wasn't sure why she still needed eyes to see…but she didn't question it. She'd have time to think of it later. After all…this was the end. And so she opened them up.

For a moment, she thought she was simply in infinite whiteness. It did indeed look that way for but a moment…but only a moment. She soon was able to pick up that it was more of a fog or mist…or clouds. Filling everything, spanning infinitely in all directions, and so thick and opaque that she could barely make herself out in it. And here she was…either drifting in the endless mist or watching the endless mist drift by. She couldn't tell. It honestly could have been one or the other or both and the difference would have meant nothing. She lay there and watched…seeing the fog slowly pass…

There were dark shapes ahead of her. Two of them. She blinked, and then focused upon them. After a short time, they became clear. She almost thought it was because a wind came and blew the fog away, but there was no wind here. Wind was something for the mortal body…not for what she was now. No…the clouds merely slowly parted of their own accord…and she saw them take shape.

The one on her left was quite large, although it wasn't because of the figure itself. Rather…it was the suit of armor it wore. Massive, made of gold and silver and what looked almost like pearl, fashioned into all manner of emblems and shapes, with long trains splaying out from the side flanks and behind the shoulders like wings, and enclosed completely up above with a thick helmet. Whoever or whatever was beneath was impossible to tell. Only that the armor radiated like the sun at the golden parts and shimmered like the moon on the silver portions. It bore a look of both power and formidability to it. A look of regal excellence…something great and beautiful…but also terrible.

The one on her right was similarly enclosed, only this time with a series of thick robes and capes sweeping about it. They were fastened with collars and clasps studded with jewels and emblems that looked of the arcane style, and what seemed like ribbons or tassels were fixed on the ends as they swept behind, before, and all around this one. The robes were full of all the hues imaginable, and embroidered with images that were always changing, and yet were always things that could be recognized. All works of nature…sometimes animals…sometimes plants…sometimes merely mountains…or sometimes plains or waterfalls… This one radiated a majesty about it, a look of immense wisdom… Yet the hood was drawn so close the face was hidden.

The two stood before Dael silently, presumably staring at her.

_Wait…stood?_

At that, Dael looked around…and saw she had never been lying on her back. Or perhaps she had, but had come upright suddenly. Or perhaps the moment she thought of herself as "standing", she did stand. Only now she found herself here. She didn't know if she was naked or clothed…even looking at herself. Such was the nature of the place. She only knew she was "exposed" compared to these two. Smaller. Weaker…more "vulnerable" and "child-like", seeming minor compared to them…

There was silence for a long time as the mists and clouds slowly surrounded them.

"…Who are you?" Dael finally asked. It was tentative…nervous. She wasn't sure if she waited five minutes to speak or five years or five lifetimes. Time didn't matter here. She only knew she remembered not wanting to for the longest time, as if sound didn't belong here.

The figures didn't move.

"Why ask us…" One said after a time.

"…when you already know?" The other finished.

The voices were very calm and simple. Seeming almost like murmurs in the area. But it was so quiet, Dael could hear them with ease. The voices…were strange, to say the least. In truth, there was no sound made to indicate where the voices came from…and they were virtually identical. Anyone else should have thought the voice was coming from anywhere and the same source. Yet somehow…she knew it was coming first from one, and then the other. The voices themselves were impossible to place. One couldn't tell if they were young or old, male or female, or have any other hint to the identity. That wasn't to say they were obscured or muffled in any way…they just seemed to be _both_.

Dael was quiet again. Once more, she wasn't sure if it was five minutes, five years, or five lifetimes.

"…Where am I?" She tried again.

"Why ask us…"

"…when you already know?"

The woman blinked. The same response as before. It wasn't getting her very far.

"…Am I dead?"

"What is death?" Only one asked this time. It wasn't as if the voice was unfamiliar with the concept. Rather…it seemed to be asking Dael if _she_ knew what death was.

It actually surprised her a bit. She hesitated, but then shook her head. At least this was a different response. "It's…when you're not alive anymore."

"What is life?" The other asked, the same way as the last question had been asked.

The woman exhaled a bit. Definitely not getting anywhere… She decided to try a new question.

"Am I in Heaven? Or Hell?"

"'Heaven' and 'Hell' are the ends of one journey and the beginnings of a new one." One answered.

"The journey here neither begins nor ends." The other finished.

Dael exhaled. "…And what journey am I 'on' here?"

"Why ask us…"

"…when you already know?"

Dael didn't know if it was possible for a soul, spirit, ghost, or whatever she was now to feel frustration, but she was beginning to think it was.

"Look…I just want to know something really simple. Is this where someone goes when they die?"

"You still have not answered the question."

"What is death?"

Dael frowned. "I told you. It's when you stop living."

"What is life?"

_What is this…a philosophy course?_ The woman felt with growing irritation. "I don't know…it's when you're breathing, eating, drinking, and having babies, I guess. When your heart is beating and your brain is working. When you're talking and thinking and…I don't know."

"Are you talking and thinking now?"

Dael paused. "Well…yes…but I figured that what I _am_ just…I don't know…goes on after death. But I'm not…'taking up space' or anything. Not consuming anything in order to live."

"Are you saying to live means to bring death, and to die means to not bring death?"

"No, I'm not saying that!" Dael retorted. This was starting to give her a headache…if such a thing was possible. "It's just…in order for anything to live, they have to take things in. Like…I don't know…fuel or something. And now I'm not taking anything in, am I?"

"Is that how you see life?"

"A series of equations?"

"You take in some things on one side…"

"…and 'life' comes out the other?"

Dael hesitated momentarily. She thought about this for a moment. "…I suppose so, when you think about it."

"What part of the equation requires love?"

"What part of the equation requires hate?"

"What part of the equation requires friends?"

"What part of the equation requires enemies?"

"What part of the equation requires peace?"

"What part of the equation requires pain?"

The woman sighed. "Those aren't part of life… I mean…well…I guess they are…but they're what I 'take with me'. It's what I still have even now."

"You gather these things to yourself…"

"…but you do not spend them."

"Do they become life…"

"…or, if they come with you, were they ever a part of life?"

Again, the woman hesitated. She hadn't intended to think about any of this, but it made her consider it a little. In the end, she shook her head. "They're…part of my spirit, I guess. Or maybe they were added to it… I don't know… But what does it matter? Why does it matter if I answer that question?"

"What does it mean to live?" One responded.

"What does it mean to die?" The other added.

Dael groaned. "Just tell me what!"

"Why ask us…"

"…when you already know?"

This was getting close to the last straw. Dael began to wonder if she was indeed in Hell, talking to two unhelpful entities for all eternity…

"I _don't_ know!" She shouted back. "I don't know any of this! That's why I'm asking _you_! Do _you_ know?"

"Who are we?"

The woman wanted to tear her hair out…assuming she still had any. "That's what I asked you before! How the hell should I know?" She groaned for a moment, and then calmed and spoke again. "Let's try something simpler…is this the Lifestream?"

"Why do you call it the Lifestream?"

Dael nearly fumed. "Because that's what it's always been called!"

"Why has it always been called that?"

"Ugh…because it flows through the Planet! Like a river of spirit energy!"

"Does a river have a beginning and an end?"

The woman paused for a moment. She remembered what had been said earlier by these two.

"…Yes." She finally said after a moment. "They empty into an ocean or lake…and they start at a spring or a river or something." She paused momentarily, looking around again. The fog still surrounded her…but it seemed as if it had retreated slightly… She looked back to the two. "…Is that what this is?"

"Streams flow for ages upon ages."

"Water comes from the sky and fills them at times…"

"…and they spread their life on their banks as they go."

"The Lifestream spreads spirits throughout the Planet…"

"…and collects them when it is their time to pass."

"Yet a stream is merely a child of a parent…"

"…just as the spirits themselves are children of branches."

Dael paused momentarily. She looked about herself again, and then back to the two.

"So…this isn't the Lifestream. It's more of…a 'Lifespring'."

The two didn't respond…but Dael believed she had answered rightly. A bit to her own surprise…she _had_ known the answer to that question. It made her frustration subside more as she looked to either of them. She thought about their shapes…how they looked… After a moment, it reminded her of what Leviathan had said. Realization came upon her.

"And if this is the 'source' of the Lifestream…then I'm guessing that means…" She looked to the one in armor. "…You're Minerva." She turned to the robed one. "…And you're Gaia."

Again, the two were silent. Again, Dael knew that meant that she was right. She slowly exhaled.

"…Is that why I came here?" She asked. "Because I'm your 'sibling'?"

"You are sister to us…"

"…and child of us…"

"…and mother to us."

Dael blinked a bit at that answer. "…What does that mean?"

"You were begotten by us…"

"…and we, in turn, were begotten by you…"

"…and came into being with you as one."

The woman was more confused than ever at that. "…That doesn't make sense. I can't be both your mother and your daughter…and your sister as well. How would that be possible?"

"Why ask us…"

"…when you already know?"

_Here we go again…_ Dael thought, not sure if these two could tell every thought she had. "Are you trying to say that you're both me? I guess that makes sense… I mean, Leviathan said I was only an 'aspect' of Gaia…"

"Why do you say 'aspect'?"

"Because I'm not Gaia." Dael answered. "You are. And I'm betting if you pulled back that hood of yours, I'd see my own face looking back at me."

In response, the hooded one began to raise its concealed arms up to the hood. At the same time, the armored one did the same with its helmet. To be honest, in spite of the proclamation she just made, Dael was a bit nervous. She wasn't sure how disconcerting this would be…or if she was wrong to begin with. A moment later, both seemed to reveal their faces at the same time, with the hood lifting on one and the helmet coming off of the other.

Dael honestly was a bit surprised…not only at the faces on the other side not being hers…but that she recognized them. As she stared, she almost didn't notice the clouds parting enough to show something made of white stone or marble lifting around them…

The one in the robes had a long, loosely braded deal of brown hair dangling down around her neck into the rest of the robes, and two strands of hair hanging down on either side of her head. Her face was young and fair and had vivid green eyes, as if they contained the essence of nature and life itself. As for the one in the armor…her hair seemed to almost be a shade of green, although it might have possibly been blond. Her own eyes were blue but radiated a power not of this world. Her face was unusually stoic, her eyes looking out from beneath short bangs with the rest of her hair tied up and behind her head.

Dael recognized the robed one first. After all…she had seen her face many times in the temples and Cathedral by now…

"Aerith the Radiant…" She echoed.

She looked to the armored one. This one was more of a mystery…but she had nevertheless caught her face in etching of old myths before…especially when she grew more familiar with Bahamut.

"Terra Branford… That's not possible… _You're _Minerva?" She looked to the robed one. "_You're_ Aerith?"

However, the voices did not change that came from them.

"Aerith is mother and sister and child of me." Gaia stated. "Just as she is mother and sister and child of you."

"Terra is mother and sister and child of me." Minerva added. "Just as she is mother and sister and child of you."

Dael looked to both of them…and, seemingly flawlessly, before her eyes, the two switched positions with one another. A moment later, Gaia gained a new face…this one of one with pink, neck-length hair and a younger expression, with more of a look of kindness and gentleness.

"You understand that the Lifestream is merely a stream of something greater…"

She looked to Minerva, who now had a much more "fiery"-looking woman in her set of armor, this one having a rough look almost like Cryder…yet also looking just very slightly like the woman with pink hair.

"One branch of something larger…"

She looked back to Gaia, which now had a man with longer, blond hair, and a face so fair it seemed almost to be "elvish"…

"What happens when you draw but a cup of water from a stream?"

Minerva was now a blond-haired man with a dark look about him, yet a few traces of nobility and goodness underneath.

"Does it not become just that? A cup of water in itself?"

Gaia was now a boy with soft brown hair and innocent eyes.

"Yet was it not one with the stream?"

Minerva was a pale-haired young man with most of it tied back and the rest dangling over his face.

"Is it not 'bone of bone and flesh of flesh' of the stream even now?"

Gaia was a dark-tanned skinned man with a serene look about him.

"And when it is poured out upon the ground, will it not flow back into the stream once again?"

Minerva's own hair had turned white and his look fierce.

"When it unites with it once again…will it ever have looked any different from before?"

Gaia was a long-haired young woman with a face of innocence about her, only about sixteen.

"Can you find it again from the rest of the stream…and yet was everything it 'was' not part of it now?"

Minerva was almost a boy, with brown messy hair down to his neck and a smile on his face.

"If you draw another cup, will it not be part of that and millions upon millions of cups before it?"

Gaia was a young man with red hair and a hard-chistled face.

"How many countless billions of hands, and lives, does the water pass through? How many traces of spirits, and what goes with them, all the thoughts, feelings, wishes, hopes, and dreams, comes back together to rejoin it?"

Minerva was a bearded blond man who looked practically like a caveman.

"So it is true for the Lifestream. All is one…and one is all. All are mother, father, sister, brother, daughter, and son of all. One is everyone…everyone is one. When life is spent…some of it returns. Some of it flows onward into the oblivion…"

Gaia's hood had returned.

"But it is also fed from the greater source. And it continues to grow richer…more full…more teeming with countless memories and lifetimes…all coming together to make one…and to be made into all."

Dael blinked on hearing all of this, taking it in…again forgetting her irritation.

"…A greater source." She echoed. "You mean…there's something that gave rise to Gaia on purpose? Who?"

Minerva's helmet had returned.

"Perhaps God."

"Perhaps an entity."

"Perhaps collective souls."

"Perhaps chaos."

"It is irrelevant."

"All that matters is that all streams back to the Planet on this world…"

"…and the Planet, in turn, is part of the larger Will."

"What brings Order into this universe."

"What brings Life."

"Just as one sees all the entirety of a grand design in one small fractal…"

"…so too does one see the wonder of Life and Order by looking to the Planet, a mere part of an infinitely greater whole that stretches farther than she will ever understand."

"One day…the Planet too will return to the larger stream…"

"…and the Planet too will become part of all, and all will become part of her."

"Billions of years from now…when the last of the current order is spent…when the last of the universe has expanded…"

"…it will contract again…once more go from birth to death…"

"…and will be born again, once more erupting into the chaotic void and filling it…"

"…as it has done more times than any can possibly know."

"It will bring with it all of its parts…"

"…including you and that of every living creature…"

"…to again be reborn as billions of new lives."

As this last phrase was said, the clouds parted further…and Dael saw it. Rising before her was a "skeleton" of a white marble tower without beginning or end, arranged in a circle and stretching up and down into the clouds forever. Yet it wasn't alone. As she looked to it…she saw the faces of everyone she had seen on Gaia and Minerva. Only now, their bodies were there as well. Them and thousands upon thousands more…perhaps millions. Lining each "ring" of the tower on both sides. All of them silently standing and staring at her.

This was what the Planet truly was, she realized. Not just its own consciousness…but that of every living creature that had passed through time. Perhaps every living creature that was born in previous lifetimes…previous universes. And here they now stood…a mere fraction of the untold multitude that had to have contributed to the birth of the Planet. Who were inseparably a part of it, just as they had been made from parts of it.

As she stared, a realization came across her.

"…Mianyl was wrong." She said aloud. "It's not the destiny of everything in this universe to die and pass into chaos…but to come back and be reborn one day…"

She held a moment, then looked down to Gaia and Minerva again.

"…If I'm here…if I'm, well…dead or whatever I am…what does that mean is going to happen to the Planet?"

"The one you call Mianyl has opened her heart to the Void." Gaia stated.

"She allowed herself to become consumed by her pain and fear, because it was too much to bear." Minerva added.

"She sacrificed it to chaos, because she thought if she couldn't feel pain anymore, she would no longer feel sadness or hate."

"But she was wrong. Chaos does not fill the chasm in one's heart, because Chaos is nothingness. It literally has no power save what Order leaves behind."

"Just as darkness has no potency save for lack of light, and cold has no deadliness save for lack of heat."

"Removing her ability to feel only made her desire to be free of everything…to remove all Order so there will be nothing but Chaos remaining."

"She is not the first that sought freedom from pain by any means, but she is the first who received such power to do so."

"The power of the other Sorceresses was never meant to be hers. It should have gone to others. Now…she has become more powerful than she ever should have become. Enough to where she is near to surpassing the Planet itself."

"She seeks to use that power to remove the Order of the Planet and let the Void fill the gap. If she succeeds…this 'corner' of the Will will be lost forever, like water taken from its stream and scattered over a desert on another world…never able to return to its source."

"She will not stop there, either. She cannot. It will only fill her soul with more disorder and chaos. She will see the need to do the same to other worlds."

Dael's eyes widened a bit more. She already knew this to a degree…but this was worse.

"Are you saying…if she has her way…" She looked up and gestured to the tower. "All of these spirits…everything that made them up…will be lost forever?"

"Yes."

"As well as her own."

Dael tensed further. "And that's happening right now…now that I'm dead?"

"Not yet, but very soon."

"The Order that exists in every living creature is a part of the Planet as well."

"Yet it's not strong enough, especially with all of the disorder she has made."

"How long?" Dael asked.

"In the time from your frame of reference when you walked upon the surface…no more than a few minutes."

The woman tensed more than ever. Instantly, she stared intently at both of them.

"I _have_ to stop this! I have to stop _her!_ Isn't there any way to 'restore order'? To bring the Crystal back?"

"Order is not easily created…not even by a Planet."

"However…it is possible."

"Not so long as Mianyl lives, however."

"She will simply destroy it again."

"Then I have to kill her!" Dael shot back. "There's got to be a way to stop her!"

"Mianyl now surpasses all creatures on the Planet."

"There are none who can contend with her."

"That's a lie!" Dael retorted. "I know it is! She said it herself…she was scared of me! There's something about me…something that she fears can kill her! What is it?"

"You were brought to life as 'Eden'…the desire of the Planet to live as a human." Gaia answered.

"However, you are inseparable from us." Minerva answered. "You are as much Gaia and Minerva as you are Eden."

"When you came into being, you were merely part of the essence of the Planet."

"The remainder of it remained in us."

"Mianyl feared that you would learn to call upon us as you called upon Bahamut's essence within Omega Weapon. If you did…there was a chance that you would regain the power of the Planet incarnate."

Dael hesitated. She thought about this for a few seconds, and finally spoke up again. "…Then I want it. I want you to unite with me…bring out this power. Is there any way I can 'come back'? I mean…I'm the Planet, aren't I? Creating a new human body should be a cinch, right?"

"Doing so would defy the natural order."

"We already violated it once by bringing the human known as Dael Levinson into the world."

"It was only through the power of the Guardian Force that we were able to. It cannot be done again."

"If you were to return…it would be as a Guardian Force."

Dael let out a groan. "Fine, fine! I'll do it!"

The two figures didn't change.

"If you return as a Guardian Force…you will begin as all Guardian Forces do: powerless."

"Yet even if you were to gain the power of the Planet itself, and reach your full potential, you would likely still be weaker than Mianyl has become."

"This is the only time you may return…by taking the essence that was granted to us as part of you. And once you return…you will live only as a Guardian Force. The part of you that was human was destroyed by Mianyl. You can never return to being Dael Levinson."

This made the woman stiffen, actually sending some anxiety through her on hearing that. She supposed it made sense…that she had just "died" and now no longer had a human body. But that didn't make things easier… That meant she'd never go back to living as a "normal" person again. Any ideas or plans she had for after this was done, or had been trying to think of…they were gone now. She wouldn't be able to live among the others anymore… She'd be something "different" from them…

"And if you die again," Minerva continued. "You too will cease."

Dael looked up a bit at this.

"For now, if you remain here, we will pass on even if Mianyl succeeds. Yet all will end, including us, if you perish once more."

The woman paused only momentarily, before her gaze narrowed.

"I don't care." She flatly answered. "It's like you said…what am I without everyone else? Not just my friends but everyone here who has come together to 'make' me over the history of time? If their lives…their _everything_…is at stake…then I have to stop it. Besides…"

She paused momentarily, inhaling sharply, and then slowly exhaling.

"…I became human because I wanted to see and feel what my children felt. And I wanted to meet them. All my life…or whatever I had…I existed as practically nothingness, never able to see or feel or touch my own children…no matter how much I sensed them suffering or in agony. For once…I want to be there for them."

The two figures stared silently back for a moment.

"…So be it." They said as one.

Both of them reached forward to touch Dael…as the world around her not only became clothed in white again…but a force began to pull on her once more…

* * *

><p>As far as the "human" side went…they could do little other than stare at the charred remains. Only Taraketh seemed oblivious…but that was because he had passed out after the last attack, and still looked as if he might already be dead… The others just looked. They already knew any more fighting was hopeless…and it wasn't as if any of them could move to begin with anyway. They could only look and try to understand what they were seeing. It wasn't possible…that she was gone…that this was all that was left of her…<p>

Bahamut himself stared…the great and powerful beast reduced to something far weaker, far more innocent and "vulnerable". He watched the ashes literally drifting on the breeze…his eyes fixed on the remains of the skull… He couldn't do anything. He could only stare and watch. His desperate attempt to move forward and stop her had been for nothing. Now…she was gone. His friend…his mother…

He stared at length…before his body began to quiver. His agony…his pain…his feeling of loss, of having something he loved taken away from him yet again, like a knife cutting into his heart…it gradually gave way to anger and fury. For the first time in his thousands of years of life…he had a mother. He had the experience of what it meant to be a child…to feel her love and embrace… A part of him that had been missing since the day he was born had been restored to him…and Mianyl had taken it away from him. There were few things in this world Bahamut allowed himself to hate…but right now, he could feel nothing but it for the Sorceress.

Gritting his teeth, in spite of his pain, in spite of the fact he still hadn't begun to regenerate, he lashed out with one of his claws and snapped it into the ground, beginning to drag himself toward Mianyl again…

Even as he did so, however…he heard a straining nearby. It sounded like grunting and agony…as if someone was doing something that hurt him repeatedly. His hate was quickly turning blinding…his desperation to do anything to Mianyl to make her pay for what she had done…yet he managed to look slightly behind him.

A bit to his surprise, Tiamat was glaring at Mianyl…and struggling to force his damaged body to make a breath attack. He actually looked filled with anger himself… In fact, the only thing that Bahamut could recall him looking more hateful at was himself… He was actually quivering now, the "magma" scales blazing as he struggled to bring the power forth…

_…In spite of all of his grunting…all of his irritation and threats…he knew. Somewhere inside of himself…he knew she was telling the truth. She really was his mother…and he actually wants to avenge her. I didn't think he still cared about anything but himself…_

_ Maybe it's because he knows this is the end…_

He continued to try and drag himself onward, determined to do _something_ even now…to not let this woman get away with what she had done… Yet there was no "secret" this time. Nothing he had been holding back. No "trump cards" up his sleeve. He couldn't even do much until he regenerated…and right now, he couldn't even manage that. Everything seemed hopeless again…especially as the Void began to flare before his eyes…but he drug himself forward none the less…desperate to stop her…

Mianyl herself had her back to him again. Abruptly, however…the shield that was around her body flared, becoming a sphere aura. As Bahamut struggled to get closer, it snapped out like a shockwave. He paused, eyes widening for a moment, before the energy struck him…and instantly he let out a cry of pain as his body was flung back by the sheer force farther than it had managed to come, sending him beyond the group and crashing back down into the crystal floor on the other side. Not only him, but the same was done to Tiamat as he was cast away. The others, fortunately, were spared the wrath, but still had to look down to avoid it as it shot over them… Bahamut himself sprawled out in agony, his injuries hurt enough to start breaking open again from the impact. Blood oozed from his mouth. Somehow, he managed to look up, but grunted and strained…unable to even move this time…

Tiamat, from where he landed, wasn't even able to look up as he hissed. "Damn you…bitch…"

The Sorceress didn't even bother responding. She just looked forward to the crystal array again…as the Void started to inch forward once more. Again, the edges of the crystal began to splinter and shatter, and be drawn inside. Bahamut felt light-headed from his pounding and injury. In the span it would take to recover enough to move again and reach Mianyl…it would no longer matter. The Void would have already consumed her and everything else around it…including, quite possibly, himself. It was truly over now… Dael's life had been the only thing saving them… And now, with her gone…

Before Bahamut could feel any more desperation or anguish about all of this, however…he noticed a change again.

Once more, the Void halted, and the world stabilized.

This was enough to actually let him pause momentarily. It was stopping again? But…how? If both the Crystal and Dael were gone… He wasn't the only one surprised, however. Mianyl again recoiled. In another moment, she might have exclaimed. But before she could, she noticed the same thing Bahamut noticed…light in the corner of his vision. The sensation of spiritual energy…

_Familiar_ energy, in fact.

He soon looked to it along with her. What they saw was enough to make him let out a small gasp, as well as the others with him who looked as well at that time.

"Impossible…" Mianyl's voice slowly echoed.

Green ribbons of light were streaming out of the floor from the crystalline structure. Bahamut knew what it was…the Lifestream. Something that hadn't been seen for quite some time…not since "Aerith the Radiant" had passed on. Right now, they were slowly drawing forth from the area and bathing the otherwise white and blank space, with just the traces of chaos above and below, with a vivid, green color…a healthy, "living" tone. It wasn't just one or two ribbons either. There were about eight right now, with more coming out all the time. They emerged small at first, but once out they quickly began to grow. And as soon as they came forth, they moved to the burnt, deteriorated remains of Dael's body, and began to wrap around them and encircle them…

After only a moment, it began to have an effect.

Slowly, the pieces of the body began to raise from the ground. They only hovered at first, but in moments it was obvious that they were going back into their former positions…where they had been when alive. And as they went into the proper place, they stopped smoldering. The blackness gradually faded…giving way to a whiter color. Not only that, but soon the bones began to _enlarge_, the former missing pieces coming back together and regenerating. What was once bits of bone grew into their full structure, entire and unified. The rib cage filled back in and the hole repaired, before new limbs attached to it…until the full skeleton was present again.

It didn't stop there. Immediately, ligiments and sinews began to stretch over it, forming from the ribbons wrapping around it, "stitching" the bones together. After that, muscles and tendons began to grow as well. As soon as there were enough, the "husk" actually began to move, as if curling in a bit on itself and bringing its legs in. As the muscles thickened, eyes began to emerge from inside the head, matching the organs forming inside the torso. When the muscle was fully developed, it uncurled again, straightening the legs and arms to grasp for the ground. Slowly, the form was set down as skin began to burst forth and clothe the flesh. The body, clearly a she now, rested there a moment and began to breathe deep as the skin completed…and new hair burst forth. It was not the former brown color. Rather…this hair was deep, blue, and flowing…like looking into the depths of the ocean, or a dark night sky…spanning all of eternity…

The ribbons cut off, drawing into the form, and vanishing into it. What was left was a naked woman…looking almost human save for her hair, which seemed to be the stuff of cosmos. She breathed in and out a few times, seeming to get her bearings from the whole experience…before her head lifted and she stared at Mianyl. Her eyes were pure sky blue…as if looking into the heavens on a sunny day. However, they also managed to narrow enough to focus on the Sorceress. And in spite of the hair and eyes…the face was unmistakeable.

"Dael…" Bahamut echoed.

"You're…alive?" The voice of Quaren went out from his own position, for by now the group themselves were staring transfixed on her. They could hardly believe what they were seeing…what they had just witnessed.

"You are…different…" Ceja slowly murmured.

"I can almost feel 'geomancy' in her…" Cryder added.

The woman inhaled and exhaled a few more times, before stiffening.

"…The human that was Dael Levinson is gone." She stated…even if it sounded more like "Dael" talking than anything else. "I am Eden."

She held a moment more, before she looked before her. Save the Queen and her empty Mage Gun were still lying around where her "remains" had been a moment ago, and she immediately went for both.

On seeing this, Mianyl's face lost its calm look and actually showed distinct irritation.

"…Do you _truly_ lack the slightest notion of when to quit that you keep coming at me even after I _kill_ you?" She stated with a hint of anger in her voice.

"I already told you, Mianyl." Eden answered as she managed to push herself to her feet…even if she wasn't the most intimidating or powerful-looking individual in the world, barely able to hold up her sword in one hand and her empty gun with the other…and without a stitch of clothing on her body. "I'm going to destroy you even if it kills me."

Mianyl's eyes narrowed. "Well, seeing as you already experienced that once, it would be pointless to 'drag it out' the second time." She answered before aiming her hand at her again, once more lighting up. "And this time, after I've vaporized the last of your remains, I will continue to destroy this area until I'm satisfied that you _remain_ dead."

Eden glared back…although she had to admit, she didn't really know what she was going to do. No Mirage Belt…no power for a shield…and not like any of that would matter against this attack. Soon, Mianyl's hand once again was blazing brightly…and, just as before, a pillar of light erupted from it right for her chest…

A moment later, Eden found herself standing on Mianyl's opposite side, seeing the light shoot through where her heart had been and impacting against the crystal floor at a greater distance. The Sorceress cut off the blast early this time, actually looking a bit surprised, before snapping her head over to her. The woman herself blinked in shock, not sure what just happened, before she saw a trace of ruby light die down. She turned her head downward to the source, and actually exclaimed a bit.

"Carbuncle!"

"Trying not to look at you at the moment, Eden." The green creature answered as it perched before her, staring ahead at Mianyl. "Because now that you're naked, I have to admit…you're pretty hot for my great, great grandmother…and that's just creepy."

The Sorceress herself blinked a few times, but before she could raise a claw to fire…a massive holy beam combined with what looked like a lance of pure energy smashed down into her. Neither was able to leave anything on her…save her wincing a bit and forced to put a hand up slightly in response to solidify her shield, but Eden herself snapped her own head back in response, before Carbuncle teleported her again…this time at a farther distance away from the point of impact and the resulting explosion that rocked the area as a result. Yet from where she landed, she soon exclaimed again.

She was standing in the shadow of the towering form of Alexander, who was still firing his holy beams at Mianyl at the moment. At his side, planted on the ground, body tensed from where he had cast his last attack, was Odin, still glaring at his own target. That wasn't all. Ahead of her, at the site of the eruption, as the flames and heat raged over the area, an aquamarine set of sea serpent coils shot out like a living ribbon and quickly entwined around everyone present…each individual group member and a few times around Tiamat and Bahamut, all of whom were looking about in stunned surprise for a moment…and then quickly pulled back. She looked up and around in response, and soon saw the head and tail of Leviathan as he pulled them all back to her. Even as he did, he managed to turn his head to her with a bit of a smile.

Eden could only stare back open-mouthed for a moment.

"Well…" Carbuncle spoke up. "Seeing as things were getting a bit desperate, even if we were only bugs compared to her…we figured we should see what we could do anyway." He said with a shrug.

"The others are on their way." Leviathan stated as he finished pulling everyone to him, and immediately drew his coils back in to their original length, even as Alexander cut off his blast, and the resulting explosion on one side of the crystal chamber began to die. "However…we might be able to help you more than you realize. Eden…I don't know how it happened…but I sense you've become a true Guardian Force now. Just one that's currently 'empty'…"

The woman hesitated, for her eyes were still before her. Mianyl wasn't waiting long. Already, the heat and fire was dying down around her, revealing a very unpleased look. She was starting to raise her hands again to fire. The others saw that, and knew they had to move soon… Already, Odin was looking to go one way, and Alexander another. However, Leviathan continued before moving himself.

"Let's see if we can't help with that."

He gave a nod to Carbuncle. In response, the green creature turned around and looked up to her face momentarily.

"…You better make good use of this, Eden. Because I'm having to 'step out' for this and I'd appreciate it if you didn't let her 'annihilate' me with a stray blast." He paused. "And…you know…kicked out a few of her teeth for me."

With that, Carbuncle reached out a paw and touched Eden's leg. Immediately…his ruby flashed again, only this time passing through his entire body. In Eden's spiritual sight, she let out another exclamation as she saw his energy suddenly dim…like a bright light that turned nearly to a fading wick. He soon seemed as drained as the others. Yet at the same time, that same energy left him, went through his paw…and flowed into her.

Instantly, she stiffened, tightening up as she felt something inside her "stirring". Carbuncle's own power wasn't much by itself…but it seemed to "enkindle" something inside her, like it had been fuel thrown on a few dim coals. It actually increased far more than it should have. That wasn't all, however. She felt a tingling in the hand holding her Mage Gun. Soon it became an itching and then a burning. She grit her teeth and looked to it…and saw something stunning.

From the depths of the crystal chamber, silver…perhaps platinum…perhaps even adamantite…bits and pieces of metal streaked through the air and slammed down around her hand. They floated about like a colony of bees for a moment before finding exposed parts of her skin and then instantly attaching and locking. More pieces joined it, until, after a few moments, they worked together to form a metal gauntlet around that hand made of dazzling, ornate armor. Not only that…but more of the pieces overlaid her gun as well, plating around it, extending it, and increasing its size and mass to become something new. The end result was the gun was twice the size it was before…although she had a feeling it was not yet "complete"… Even so, in spite of the increased mass…her power had increased as well and she held it with ease.

At this point, however, Mianyl fired. From all ten of her claws, beams of deadly energy snaked out with force to rip into the crystal floors and sear and pierce flesh and metal alike. Alexander took off in one direction…and it was amazing that something so large and so "easy" a target could move that fast. Odin himself went another way. Leviathan himself was forced to use his power to slide and slip through the piercing beams. As for Eden, she too took off…and found, much to her surprise, she was running as fast as she would when she was back at "maximum power" as a human. She would have preferred to not have bare feet while doing so…but she at least managed to evade one of the beams. And when another came, her mind immediately went to work and chanted…

A moment later, she teleported back into existence far overhead, a hundred feet above the area, above the rest of the deadly streams of light. A splitting headache immediately resulted…letting her know she still was lacking quite a bit of power…but she was relieved to see the beams hadn't been aimed for the group. Only at those who could "fight". That was good…for she saw Carbuncle had collapsed among them. He too was out of power now…having given it to her. Soon, however, she began to fall again, and even if the impact wouldn't be severe…which it would be…she realized Mianyl was still firing…

"Eden! Here!"

The woman turned her head, and was just in time to see the shining form of Quetzacoatl streak by her. She seemed to be fixing her wings into a "glide"…right before she fired out a blast of lightning right for Eden as she passed. For only a moment, she thought that she was crazy for shooting at her…but that was only until the blast hit her. Immediately, she stiffened and grunted again as the tingling went off on her shoulderblades. Beams of electricity erupted from them and extended, fanning out as they went from her body. They held and sizzled a moment, before the electricity gave a "snap"…and she found a pair of metallic wings coming out of her back, tinted yellow and white like true feathers. The electricity immediately seemed to convert into them. They looked like pure metal or "décor"…but she soon found they adjusted with only a thought, and quickly shifted so that she could "glide". She immediately did so in order to slow her descent…even as she felt her power take another increase…

Mianyl, seeing she was sliding out of the way, quickly cut off her own lightning and aimed her hand at the sky after her…before firing off another pillar of light. In response, Eden quickly collapsed the wings, letting her fall to the ground like a stone and touch on the crystal a moment later. Much to her surprise, even without the Mirage Belt, she barely got a jolt from landing. The beam sailed overhead harmlessly, and Mianyl looked down in a bit of surprise at how she had been able to react so fast. As for Eden, she crouched for a moment and began to rise…when she saw something out of the corner of her vision.

"Grandmother! This is for you!"

"What are you crouching around for, you idiot?! Stand up and fight!"

She looked quickly to her sides. As she saw Quetzacoatl, now stripped of power, trying to glide to safety…others had risen in her place. On the periphery of the "battlefield"…the wintry blue form of Shiva had created a sheet of ice to slide along, while the raging, bestial form of Ifrit merely leapt in the air and sailed by. Both of them, however, were firing at her…with Shiva sending an icy lance her way and Ifrit throwing a ball of magma. By now, Mianyl, cutting off her blast, spotted this…and realized what was starting to happen. But she was too late to stop it as Eden again writhed a bit from the lance and the magma striking her together.

This time, pieces of the same metal expanded from the center of her chest, almost like ice crystalizing, and slowly overgrew in order to cover the "critical" region of her heart and lungs. Again, it formed the shimmering, ornate armor…and she was glad for it this time as it finally covered her breasts… As for the Save the Queen, the same metal erupted around it like a blazing fire…and to her surprise her blade suddenly expanded longer and gained more complexity, adding a "sheath" of accessory blades and expanding the hilt. It also grew broader, and gained its own "shine" to it. Lifting it, however, was still easy. Especially since her power had swollen more from this new "dose"…

Yet she had hesitated too long. Mianyl, her irritation visibly growing, quickly whipped her hand down again and fired a pillar of light once more. Eden's eyes snapped wide. She knew she wasn't strong enough to withstand this blow…not yet at any rate…

Yet before the blast could hit her…a red-caped, multi-armed warrior leapt down in front of her, crossing four blades in front of him. Her vision snapped again as she realized it was Gilgamesh. However, he wasn't alone. Instantly, Odin leapt down behind him and moved up behind to brace him, like one of the older "phalanx" maneuvers from ancient times. If that wasn't enough, Alexander, from his own position, fired again…this time at the side of the pillar of light as it blasted outward to try and deflect it, or at least take some of the bite out of it. Even with all of this…the blast was still horrendous. She saw Gilgamesh and Odin buckle and scrape back along the ground, struggling with all of their might to block against the potent attack. As for Mianyl, she grit her teeth slightly and applied more power…trying to burst through them to get to Eden on the other side…

Suddenly, she heard a tiny, almost cartoonish voice behind her.

"pst…need a lift?"

She looked behind her…just in time to see the Minotaur Brothers seeming to have literally popped out of the crystal ground beneath her. Rather…the small one had…and immediately drove his hand forward and gave her a solid punch in the back. At the same time, the larger one burst out of the ground and launched her into the air like a springboard…

As she soared into the air, new power flooded Eden again. Her skin seemed to erupt as more pieces of shimmering, ornate armor covered her, this time completing the breastplate on her torso and just covering the rest of her "explicit" parts. Some of it began to wrap around her backside, to cover her lower back as well. In addition, she felt her power increase further. Enough to where she looked to her Mage Gun even as she soared through the sky. As she began to descend, she aimed it downward at Mianyl. She had no ammunition…but she had a feeling that wouldn't matter this time. A second later, she tried thinking of an attack…something powerful…and then pulled the trigger as she aimed at the Sorceress.

To her pleasant surprise, it worked. Her gun arm snapped back a moment later as what looked like a Flare spell erupted from the end and shot straight for the bestial woman. That was what she had hoped for…and, much to her pleasure, it looked like a professional mage would have done it…

Unfortunately, Mianyl turned up to it, and merely snorted before swinging the back of her hand out at the attack. In spite of its potency and energy…the attack was simply struck aside, literally bouncing off of her hand and impacting the floor nearby for a potent, piercing, terrific explosion. Mianyl, on her part, wasn't miffed by it at all, or even looking stunned for the experience. She soon raised her hands to her sides again, once more filling them with power…although this time it didn't look like she was trying the pillars of light. She could only fire them one at a time. Neither did this look like the electricity from before… Instead, as she raised her hands around her, wind started to whip up violently around her body. At first it was a mere gust, but soon it began to grow far more tumultuous, like a raging tornado… So strong, in fact, that she began to vanish into it as it generated more and more power…

While everyone else began to dive for cover from this, the larger ones such as Odin and Gilgamesh, both of them looking injured and in a bit of pain now, diving onto those who couldn't defend themselves while Leviathan lengthened again and rapidly slid around the room to snatch up the fallen individuals in his jaws to quickly get them away, and Alexander, unable to duck, nevertheless shooting out beams that seized Bahamut and Tiamat, who were only now starting to move a bit in a way other than writhing, and pull them behind him…Eden herself touched down, still in the open. Somehow, as strong as she had become and now partially enclosed in armor, she didn't think this was going to end well…

Yet as the wind distinctly grew into a violent tornado, a second one swung down next to her. She turned to it, and watched as it suddenly broke, revealing an odd purplish creature on the other side: Pandemona.

"Oh ho! Knew you couldn't fly without help from me…" An airy voice stated, before it blasted her with a gust of wind from the "mouth" over its shoulder. At first, Eden was blown back a bit by the terrific force…before she felt her body tense up again. Her shoulders had lines of armor seem to "drift" onto them and ridges protrude until they could form clasps for something. After that, as her metal "wings" flexed again, a long red cape stretched behind her, fluttering a bit in the wind…and yet seeming to almost have "purpose" to its movements. After that, Pandemona gave her a "salute" with its clawed limb before pulling back, letting the wind carry his powerless body away. Eden looked forward again…and her eyes widened a bit as she now saw crystal ripping up in the wake of Mianyl's twister, as well as lightning snaking out from it. Not only that, but now it began to lash out "tendrils", or even "blades", of wind right for her.

Instinctively, Eden leapt into the air…but her cape and wings immediately responded as well. The fluttering fabric almost seemed to be alive, and her wings, naturally, gave a powerful flap and launched her into the sky, letting the wind his nothing. She gaped in a bit of surprise as she went into the air…and, in another shock, found herself stopping instantly. A moment later, another tendril went out for her like a scythe…and, again to her surprise, her body moved slightly to avoid it, letting it slide over.

_I…I can fly!_ She realized. She wasn't gliding anymore at this point. She was controlling which way she went in the sky perfectly. It was a good thing she seemed to have an "innate" knowledge of how to do it, for Mianyl soon put it to the test, lashing out with hundreds of blasts in an attempt to vivisect her. In moments, she was ducking and dodging as best as she could, trying to evade the slashes as they went at her again and again.

Unfortunately, she wasn't quite as fast as she hoped. As she struggled to "twist" her body in midair to get through two narrow slices, one of them struck her breastplate. It felt similar to what she would have felt taking a powerful slug to the side while wearing bullet-proof fabric, which was to say still quite painful and stunning. Another blade, however, went along her exposed sword arm…and a deep, bloody gash was soon cut into it. It was enough to make her cry out. However, through that pain…she realized it should have been a lot worse. Tornado wind could propel a piece of wood through solid concrete, after all. That attack should have removed her arm all together… Not only that, but as she struggled to keep moving, she noticed that her wound only took a few seconds to stop bleeding, clot, and then begin to close up again. The power was making her regeneration intensify too…

Mianyl seemed to realize that this wasn't doing as well as she hoped, however. Which was why, after only a few moments of this, the tornado began to emit a glowing, violet aura…similar to how it had with the lightning before…and then sent out dozens of deadly bolts in all directions, far faster and snaking more, to mingle with the air blades already going around. Eden was shocked. She only managed to dodge one set of attacks before one of the lightning bolts struck her against her leg…unprotected. She cried out again as she blast went straight through it, sending jolting, shocking pain throughout her entire body. Yet the point of impact was the worst, searing her flesh in that area and burning a hole right through to the other side. If she was still human, that would have ended the fight right then and there. It was only her wings, her new durability, and her regeneration that kept her aloft. Yet this wound was too serious to heal quickly, and the pain was enough to stun her…to slow her down…

Luckily, she was still gaining power…which she found a moment later when she was smashed in the back by what felt like three separate beams. Not only did the influx of energy immediately accelerate her leg's healing, she felt something like metal jaws clamping down on her feet and ankles. She snapped her head down…and saw, far at the periphery, the monstrous form of Cerberus glaring at her with all three sets of eyes.

_"You better not lose to this wretched human, woman!"_ All three bellowed at once.

She looked to her feet next, and saw that greaves and sabatons were attaching themselves to her lower legs like some animal biting on them. The pain, however, faded quickly as they attached, and as new power flowed into her…she felt lighter and more nimble than ever in spite of the new armor additions. Not just in her legs, but all over her body. She soon took off again, and, in spite of the increased load of lightning and wind to dodge, she felt herself moving faster than ever before, easily moving in, out, and around each attack made against her.

On the periphery, the stronger Guardian Forces were having more difficulty. Although they struggled their best to cover up the injured and powerless, there was more to protect with each one that gave up their power to Eden. And the wind slashes were still hitting them in the back or exposed limbs, opening deep cuts on them as well and putting them in greater pain. Alexander was taking the worse, his towering metal body powerless to do much more than just endure one cut and scrape to his body after another. Not only that, but Mianyl, deep within her twister, was realizing that Eden was getting stronger with each new power that hit her… At the moment, she was only something annoying that she couldn't strike down…but she was getting more powerful…

As a result, as the tornado continued to thunder out, something else began to happen. Spheres of violet energy began to condense within the twister…made of more concentrated power. The woman inside clearly intended to lash out with them to try and eliminate more individuals who hadn't yet given their power to her. And from the looks of it…she was making four of them. This was not lost on Eden as she kept dodging…and she knew that soon Mianyl would start killing Guardian Forces unless she could press her own attack…make her devote all energy to her…

As she thought this, two more joined on the periphery, springing up out of seemingly nowhere to help. One was the colossal form of the Gigantuar. The other was the more squat yet no less formidable Tonberry King. Both of them focused on Eden as she went around, ready to give her their power as well…

Yet before either could, two of the spheres shot out like bullets for either target. For a moment, Eden thought that they were done for…that this attack would strike both of them down before she moved on to attack the others…

However, such wasn't the case. The Gigantuar was large, but still speedy, and shot to one side. The sphere still tagged it in one leg…and ripped it clean from it body…but it still managed to swivel once and, before falling over, sent out a hail of spikes in a steady stream straight for Eden. As for the Tonberry King, the blast connected head on, likely breaking the tough hide of the green creature…but such a beast wouldn't be killed by one blow. Even as its body was thrown violently away, it swung down with its lantern and sent out a spectral fireball right for Eden, and both impacted a moment later.

Again, a surge of power flowed into her. A cuisse came forth from her left leg and expanded with other pieces of armor until that limb was fully enclosed in the ornate, shimmering armor, to the feeling of pins and needles driving into her. As for her sword arm, she felt deep, stabbing pains as her sword expanded and enlarged further, all as a pauldron came forth from the same arm and expanded in additional pieces to cover the upper arm entirely. With even more strength flowing through her…she decided to try again. While still flying about, she aimed her gun once more at the heart of the twister. She focused only a moment before squeezing the trigger, sending another Flare erupting from the end of it. This time…it looked at least _three_ times as powerful and bright as the last one, and shot with far more force and power right into the midst of the wind…

Amazingly, the twister broke moments later as the streaming fireballs impacted into the heart of it…and the wind evaporated. What was left behind, for a brief moment, was Mianyl…both of her hands in front of her and crossed over each other to intercept this latest move. Her eyes were actually a bit wide…indicating she hadn't expected this kind of power…and for a fraction of a second, she could only hold it back and do nothing else. Her control over the spheres evaporated, letting both dissipate, before she uncrossed her arms and let the attack fade.

As for Eden, she touched down on the ground. Although she realized she still wasn't strong enough to hurt Mianyl, she had to keep pressing the attack. Or the others would suffer for it. With that in mind, she took off again for her, this time bringing her sword around to try and stab. Even with her increased speed, the length took a while…and as she went forward, she felt something else strike into her from behind. This time, she was able to keep moving as she felt her power swell again, and some form of bevor-like armor linked together and covered her neck down to her breastplate…or perhaps cuirass was more appropriate…and even overlaid the lower part of her jaw. However, she noticed the feeling she got with it…like water rushing over her…

_Leviathan just gave up his power to me…which means he can't help anymore on the outside…_

A second later, Mianyl, seeing her incoming opponent, quickly brought her hands about. At once, eight separate black orbs, even one sizzling with light in the center of them and seeming to encompass much smaller darker spheres in the center, came into being around her. Dael recognized those: gravity attacks. She wouldn't be surprised if each one had the power of a Gravija attack as well. And soon, they were spread out not only to her, but the others as well. A moment later…each one of them took off, spreading in all directions to not only drain her, but also the others who hadn't yet given her their power around her…

Her eyes widened only momentarily, before she put her new-found speed to the test. Quickly, she shot forward and moved to take out the orbs that were aimed at her. She fired her gun at one of them as she neared, generating a weaker yet still effective Holy blast this time, hitting it dead on and making it erupt. To be honest…she was surprised that worked. She wasn't sure it would have…but it seemed as if her new body knew what would work even if she didn't. She quickly swept out with her blade next, cutting through two more. After that, her wings spread and she took off into the air like a shot, spiraling back up and above into the air, aiming her gun out, and firing three more Holy shots. Each one connected with one of the dark spheres and blew it out of the sky.

Unfortunately, the last two were the farthest, and four Holy spells in succession was about the limit…even for someone like her. With that in mind, she quickly dove down as fast as she could for one that was headed for Odin. Her sword whipped back, and soon swung around to slice right through it. Unfortunately…the other was nearly to Alexander, and he was far on the other side of the field…

With that in mind, she whipped around in mid-air, stopping herself in the hover where she had just cut through the last sphere, and flung her large sword out like a spear for the final one. It sailed through the air for a few fateful moments…before piercing the last sphere and shattering it moments before it could reach the holy Guardian Force. Not only that, but the sword continued to streak out for Alexander himself only a moment, looking like it would pierce him instead, when it vanished in a flash and reappeared in Eden's grasp. Immediately, she took off for the sky, moving to launch herself at Mianyl again…

When she let out an exclamation of shock.

Her hand was already aimed at her…and firing out a raging storm of miasma right for her.

The same "maelstrom" that she had hit Tiamat with…

It was too late for Eden to dodge. The wave soon swept over her…and began to ravage her new body. In spite of all of the power she had obtained and how strong she was becoming…she couldn't negate this. She would have screamed if she could have, but her mind felt like it was burning. It was like a mixture of the worst of Raven's Darkness attacks and all the chaos and madness of Crow's infernal music…both scaled up incredibly. She felt it battering her about every which way, seeping into her and seeming to burn… She felt her massive strength begin to drain from her…and somewhere in her tortured mind she realized she'd soon be as weak and helpless as he had been…

However, even as the drain got "underway"…she felt an even stronger surge ripple through her. Enough to surpass the drain temporarily, and even shrug off the power enough to open her eyes. When she did, she was just in time to see a holy beam…likely from Alexander…striking into her. Faulds were now expanding from the bottom of her cuirass over her hips, and the armor along her back spread up and along her shoulderblades until she was fully enclosed there as well. Not only that…but her gun changed again. The most dramatically yet. It rapidly expanded and lengthened, but also turned broader as well, until it was more close to the length of a rifle but far bigger overall than any bazooka. As the power died out and the attack began to affect her again, she got another surprise as it suddenly "snapped over", the blades reshifting and reassembling, until it was far broader and spanning in front of her. Then she realized what had happened… It was still a weapon…but now it could convert into a broad shield.

On realizing this, she brandished it in front of her and focused. In response, it began to shine more than ever…and soon formed a glowing shield sigil around her, which quickly grew more intricate and wrapped around the front of her body. When it did, it forced away the power of the deadly storm, pressing it back in the shape of a hemisphere. The draining cut off and, unseen by Eden, Mianyl received another shock as she realized the chaotic attack was actually being _blocked_. Eden, on her part, continued to hold there momentarily, keeping the violent storm wave at bay without buckling or changing, even though it did take her some effort to do so…

Finally, she heard an angry scowl, before the wave was cut off. For a moment, Eden floated in midair, free of the attack. Her shield "eased" the sigil. Not only that…but she saw the bit of metal rapidly unfold again, shift, compress, and then slide back in to merge with the rest of her gauntlet. The result was a bit of an "oversized" glove with a hand that looked purely artificial, due to being a few times larger than her other, but she was able to bring it across and grab the now-extended hilt of her larger blade with it. Her wings collapsed and she descended to the ground once again.

Yet as she did, she saw Mianyl wasn't letting up. The air around her was heating again, but also turning darker. Flames began to erupt around her body…and Eden realized she was doing the same move as before…the one that had struck them all down in one move of infernal fire. By now, she was strong enough to weather it…but the other Guardian Forces and the group was so drained, she knew they wouldn't be able to take it. Not only that, but this power would spread everywhere… She couldn't hope to deflect it or intercept it as she had the gravity spells…

She knew she had to try, however. And as she readied herself…she got another boost as she saw spectral torches momentarily light up around her. She turned her head to the source…just in time to see the phantasmic grimace of Doomtrain thunder toward her at full speed. She actually feared the power that this would hold…before the spectral train slammed into her.

This one was the most painful yet, both in terms of impact as well as a result. However…she felt her sword arm get its own smaller gauntlet and rapidly enclose in armor, and her sword finally complete its own "evolution". It was hardly the original Save the Queen anymore. It was rebuilt as a blade larger than a zweihander, more similar to the swords the old Midgar forces had used hundreds of years ago. It still didn't mean she didn't have more than enough strength to manipulate it with one hand, in spite of the fact by now it likely had a mass of over 400 kilograms… It was ornamented and emblazoned with gold, runes, and filigree just as Minerva's own armor had been, and radiated an almost constant light.

As the dark fire erupted from Mianyl, Eden's senses fully returned, and her own sky-blue eyes narrowed at the incoming attack, her face firming up, before she gave a call that was definitely no longer in a mortal voice but closer to that of a goddess herself. She swung the blade outward to meet it, just as fast as it was coming…and a golden "wave" erupted in its wake, quickly spreading out like a ripple…or a shockwave, being more appropriate. It grew to monstrous height, sweeping in front of everyone…and then raging out like a tsunami of light. It met with the raging, dark flames…connected, clashed, and held for a moment…the two furious energies ripping at each other…

And then broke through.

The pillar of fire around Mianyl evaporated, revealing the shocked Sorceress on the other side. She brought her arms up before her, mostly to shield herself from blasts more than anything else. After all, although Eden's attack had nullified the fire…it had mostly been nullified itself in the process. Yet as she looked forward, saw the cascading, violent, "golden" storm rage…a form broke through it, flying at full speed with sword outstretched and aimed right for her. The speed was so great, and caught Mianyl so off guard, she barely had time to bring her claws before her and reinforce her shield before Eden was on her.

This time…the blade was not stopped at the periphery. Rather, it sank in half the distance at which it had previously been "stopped cold"…and once there continued to quiver. Mianyl's face showed not only surprise…but strain. It was stressed with her sharp teeth clenched as she looked to the blade tip aimed for her heart, and held back using _real_ power to try and keep Eden at bay. For a moment, the two remained locked in that position, both blazing with aura this time…

Yet Eden wasn't done. Now that she was this far, the last two needed to "complete" her gave up their power. Both Odin and Gilgamesh stood and hesitated only a moment before sending their own force at her in the form of potent slashes of their own blades. Arcs of light resulted…before striking Eden in the back. The woman stiffened again, before the final changes began.

A second cuisse covered her remaining leg and locked around it, fully enclosing that one as well. The remaining pieces of torso and arm armor grew as well, fully covering her body in the ornate, shimmering, formidable material. All that was left was her head. Her hair shimmered a moment before lengthening slightly, but also growing more durable and rigid, becoming as tough as the rest of her armor. All while the back of a headpiece grew up and over her skull, letting only the hair flow out in such a way that it's new toughness would protect the exposed area. It spread out in more of a "V" once it reached the back of her head. Finally, at that point, it formed a hinge of sorts before growing out into a full-face visor. It continued to shape, forming lenses over the eyes, and elongaging the tip into a type of _hounskull_, almost…although such was never seen before. This seemed more elegant and smooth…sloping downward slightly. At last, the plate slammed down over the last of Eden's exposed face and sealed. The lights immediately ignited over the eyepieces into brilliant gold.

The power Mianyl experienced instantly intensified. Now…the Sorceress actually began to sweat as the blade slowly came closer. She put more power into the shield, as evidenced by the flaring aura around her…and yet still the blade drew nearer. She couldn't stop it as the tip came closer and closer…narrowing to a quarter of the distance…then an eighth…then a mere four inches…three…two…

At this point, it finally halted…and both sides were struggling. Eden, now fully in her "true" form, shook within her expressionless armor as she struggled to put more power into the slice, and Mianyl quivered two as two more beads of sweat rolled down her temples…

Finally, it broke.

In a flash, Eden used her better knowledge of combat to rock back and rip her blade out. The sudden loss of force caused Mianyl to break…and therefore was unable to guard herself when the greatest of Guardian Forces whipped the blade around and slashed it upward from one of the Sorceress' hips to her shoulder. Blood flew through the air, and the woman shot back and screamed in pain…

…before the raw power sent her flying backward, as if the strike had not only been a slash but actually a blow. She actually had trace golden energy trailing from her body as she was knocked from her position and sent flying a good forty feet away, before making contact with the floor and going for a tumble backward. She actually toppled over herself three times before she finally halted. She didn't sprawl out, but only managed to land in a squat. Once there, she pressed her long claws against the crystal floor, her silvery-white body showing a deep gash across it. It bled slightly…although it didn't ooze anymore. She lay there and breathed a moment.

As for Eden, she shifted her sword back to one hand and snapped out her other arm again, reforming the shield and holding it before her. The others, now all drained of power, continued to remain at a distance, all on the ground now, and watching to see what would happen next as the armored feet of Eden leapt off of her current position and landed with a pair of clicks a bit closer, readying herself for more of a response. After all…she knew that hadn't beaten Mianyl. Not even close. Her power had scarcely diminished perceptibly from that move.

The Sorceress breathed in and out just long enough to stifle her pain, and then held. After a moment longer, a green wave came over her, and the wound, just as before, drew in the blood and sealed. Mianyl, on her part, spoke in a far calmer, more even tone…even if it was a bit louder and stronger than before.

"…You're a fool, Eden. Did you not hear anything I said?"

Eden didn't move. Even if her face showed a change, the armor showed nothing. As for Mianyl, she began to slowly draw herself to her feet.

"I told you already…for all the power you've gained…you were only a threat to me before I absorbed Cybus' power. Strong as you have become, you're still inferior to me. And while I may not be able to strike you down easily anymore…this only works out better for me…for the Void."

Her eyes turned upward, the piercing yellow gaze glaring so much at Eden that, in spite of her stoic helmet…actually felt a chill inside her. She didn't like this. Mianyl was going back to showing as much calmness and control as she was before. Not revealing any fear or trepidation…

"You will eventually fall to me. And before that happens, the strain and power that we exhaust on each other will fill this world with more chaos. Look how close the Void is already to coming forth. Surely…a clash of two 'gods' will be all it needs to consume Gaia… Just as it was when you were human, your resistance is useless. In the end…I will have my way, and we will both join the Void."

Eden paused. She had to admit…Mianyl had a good point to all of this. However, she remained steadfast and spoke, her voice already "changing" underneath the helmet.

"Even if I can't save Gaia…I won't let you have your way. I won't let you give a 'mind' to the Void. No matter what happens…I'm going to destroy you. I might not be able to save myself from your madness, but no other world will ever suffer for your deranged vision."

The Sorceress stared back silently for just a moment, before she fully rose to her feet. She raised a hand and gave a gesture…and, immediately, her crest behind her broke up. However, it didn't shatter. Rather, it splinted into multiple pieces, all of which began to reconfigure and shift, forming new shapes…

"I'm not about to let anything…certainly not a 'god-given-flesh'…stand in the way of me hastening the end of time." She spoke, her voice getting a dark edge as her eyes burned a bit more, and her own aura began to flare about her again. Eden could sense her power increasing… She wasn't merely being "casual" this time. She was bringing forth her true strength to bear…putting it all out on the line. "Let this decide once and for all which is the true force in this universe…miscreated Order…or eternal Chaos."

With that, the crests repositioned as Mianyl's own "weapons". The former outlines of the symbols now snaked out behind her as four long, barbed, metallic whips, which snapped about behind her like thrashing tentacles. Each one had a dangerous hooked tip on the end, was lined with spikes much like the stinger on a squid tentacle, and looked as if they could easily stretch out a considerable distance. Yet in addition to that, the remains of the crest reformed themselves into no less than fifty razor-sharp daggers that now fluttered about behind her like a deadly insect swarm. All the while her power continued to flare and grow…once again growing to a point where Eden felt severely uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she held firm. She tightened her own grip on her weapons and prepared for whatever she could throw at her. She might have been powerful…but she didn't have the experience Dael Levinson had amassed as a warrior. She hoped that was enough to make a difference…as she doubted the Sorceress was bluffing.

However…there was one other point in Eden's favor.

Her children…her friends…her family were behind her, ready to be devoured by the Void as soon as it broke free. If she wanted them to have a past, present, and future…she couldn't lose. If she wanted anything in this world to continue or to remain when all other things passed…to be reborn again one day…she had to win.

In a flash, Mianyl snapped her arm out. However, no spell came this time. Instead…at once the swarm of knives came forward and thundered out like a hail of bullets right for her. At once, Eden raised the shield. Much to her surprise, the small objects had surprising power and speed to them, smashing hard into her shield, enough to make energy radiate off of it before the force actually pushed her back, her arm aching from the impact as she slid. However, Mianyl wasn't content to leave her at that. Immediately, the woman vanished. Eden had only a moment to realize that Mianyl could use teleportation just like her…before she appeared at the side of her body, pointing her hand at her so closely that she could make out the cracks on her palm. She snapped to the side…just in time to see a pillar of light smashed into her face at "point blank" range.

Eden soon felt tremendous pain rocket through her skull, as if a mountain had just been dropped on it, leaving her both stunned and agonized. Powerful as her armor was, she felt it buckle and strain beneath her before her body was sent flying in a violent tumble, flying back far faster than she had made Mianyl fly moments ago, rolling over the ground again and again. Each blow to her wings…even her cape…sent a bit more pain through her…before she began to even approach stabilizing again. Yet just as she was about to…more of the dark violet lightning shot through the air and laced around her body like whips. Each one wrapped it tight and began to send white-hot, burning pain throughout her body as they constricted. A moment later, she was snapped off of the ground, swung up through the air with force too fast for any human to track, before her body was brought around and smashed hard and "off center" into the crystal ground as well, with the intention of breaking bones or dislocating them. Sure enough…the impact was agonizing. And a moment later, it repeated as Mianyl began to violently snap her through the air, whip her around and smash her into another bit of crystal, then into a column, then the floor again…attempting to shake her to pieces. More than one blow felt like it would pop her arm out of her socket…

Yet in spite of the fury of the beating, Eden forced her arm to convert back into a cannon. She was being cast about too hard to truly focus…but finally she managed to squeeze out a scattering of shots in Mianyl's general direction. These were of the "odder" kind…seeming to be a series of indescript pink orbs fired at her. Most of them hit the floor uselessly, but a few managed to strike Mianyl directly…which surprised her when they went through her shield all together. They soon made contact, and a moment later her face registered surprise as she clutched for her throat with a monstrous claw. It had been a basic spell…but effective: Rasp. A spell designed to target magical stamina. Not terribly effective against someone like Mianyl…but enough to make her concentration break. The lightning cut off.

Eden toppled to the ground, but she didn't stop there. Quickly, she collapsed her gun again into a gauntlet and seized her great blade as she shot for Mianyl as fast as she could, intending to press her advantage. She had just managed to raise the sword behind her, seeing the Sorceress looking completely open to another hit…when, while Mianyl herself was still stunned, the four barbed poles shot out for her. Her vision barely had time to widen before she felt two of them strike her in the gauntlet with so much force that she was sure if it wasn't for the heavy armor…her arm would have been broken in two places. As for the other two…one struck her directly in the head while the other glanced her arm. They seemed weak enough…but Doomtrain smashing into her wouldn't have been able to produce a fraction of their power as she was cast about like a doll from the wake. If that wasn't enough…her senses were once again knocked for a loop…and her armor had been pierced and torn in two places, opening bloody gashes in both spots. If not for the armor…she would be dead by now. The third pole would have impaled her through the skull…

Luckily, not only was her flesh healing, but the armor itself was putting itself back together…yet that hardly seemed to matter when, while she was still sprawling and flying back from the point of impact, Mianyl recovered enough to glare at her, before "kicking off" from the ground and launching her own body into the sky, shooting after her at far greater speed. This confirmed any remaining doubt in Eden's mind that the Sorceress had mastered flight as easily as her. As she shot after her body, her hands went up again to her sides…and dark shadows gathered around both of them. The air shook and heated about her as they began to pour off of her hands like fire, and soon after she aimed both down and let fly. Perhaps they weren't true "Shadow Flares", but they did seem to be more conventional Flares made out of shadow, especially as they left white spaces in their wake and they mimicked true Flares in every other capacity. One of them struck Eden dead in the middle…and she felt her ribs buckle as her body was slammed against the crystal, recoiled, and then slammed down again by the same attack. It felt as if her insides were scrambled from the explosion… She wouldn't be surprised if part of her innards had indeed been torn up from that…

She managed to snap up and fly out of the way of the second one, but as her mind was still trying to recover and stabilize, get enough of her bearings to fight back, Mianyl only continued to send attack after attack out for her, trying to punish her further… Even the resulting shockwaves shook her up worse, taxed her body and armor with more regeneration…

_She's more used to using her power than I am to using mine… I have to fight back…I can't let her keep pounding me like this…_

Abruptly, Eden split…becoming not ten but twenty copies of herself. The mere splitting alone was enough to distract the Sorceress momentarily, before the images began to tear upward to the sky, all headed for her. Mianyl glared in response for only a moment, before she whipped both of her arms out and fired dual dark Flares at one in particular. This one quickly brought her gauntlet up to brace…but still cried out in pain as they blasted hard enough to damage her gauntlet and send her flying back to the ground, slamming into it.

Yet much to the surprise of the Sorceress…that didn't ensure her safety. The other images continued to come at her.

Not used to this, Mianyl quickly parted her arms again and fired back at them. Soon, two of them were annihilated by the resulting blasts of dark Flares. Then four. Then six. Then eight. With eleven remaining, her tentacles went to work, slicing through four of them, then stabbing through another two…yet the last three kept coming…and all of them swung out with their swords as one for her body. Her shield managed to intercept the first…but the remaining two went through and struck her body with blades made of pure magical energy…sending body piercing blasts as well as slashes into her. Two shallow cuts were opened against her torso, and eruptions actually snapped her back through the air, making her tentacles go wild as she cried in pain.

As she struggled to recover and regenerate from her own pain, another moment of "power" went out from in front of her…and then appeared behind her. It was at a good distance, however…at least for the moment as Mianyl was still flying backward. Eden now had an idea of the "range" of her tentacles as she reformed her gun, took aim at her backside, and soon fired off a beam of holy energy that made Alexander's own Holy Judgment look dim by comparison. The ray smashed into Mianyl's back, making her arch as it pierced her shield and hit her dead on, crying out in more pain. Unfortunately, it couldn't stop her from continuing to near the Guardian Force…and as she drew close one of her tentacles snapped out and slammed hard against the side of Eden's head, two of the barbs leaving holes in it before knocking her away and sending her back to the ground at an angle.

While she fell, Mianyl, her face not only tense but now distinctly angry, held her hand up to the sky. Similar to how Cybus had done before her, time and space itself seemed to break open in her wake…and again exposed a sky full of stars. Yet this time, she wasn't content with the same kind of dark meteors as before. Instantly, one large meteor, slower and more "lumbering", formed in the sky…and dozens of smaller meteors began to gather around it. They shot out through the heavens and stuck to it, one after another, but did not break the larger one apart. Instead, they adhered to it like a crust, each one large, formidable, and burning with power. They kept doing so until the entire surface was coated and the meteor was larger and stronger than ever…and then ripped out of the opening and down for the fallen Eden.

By now, the Guardian Force had smashed into the ground enough to make yet another impression, and soon snapped her head up to see the largest meteor ever beginning to descend. Far on the periphery, the rest of the group and Guardian Forces tried to back up, finding it impossible to see how they could withstand this. Even Mianyl soon became wrapped in an intense shell of energy to protect herself from the cast off power that was sure to come from this blast…clearly planning on being struck by it as well. Eden stared only a moment longer, before her gauntlet snapped out into a shield and spread in front of her. Her own "sigil barrier" ignited and blazed around her body just as the massive attack began to descend over her body…and made contact.

The largest eruption yet rocked through the entire chamber, this one sending off much larger, successive shockwaves. Mianyl had no interest in "controlling" her blasts…just pure destruction and chaos. Even she strained and buckled to withstand the eruption from the range that resulted. As for the others farther away, they were again blasted further back. The stronger ones were just able to take up the weaker ones for protection, but all were sent flying as a result of the energy that was unleashed. The entire "battlefield" was lowered about fifty feet as much of the crystal platform was sent smashing into the ground, enough to actually reveal "opening" in the fractal array that led on into the array…

Yet when the eruptions finally died, Mianyl's full attention was on the heart of the blast. As the heat and fire faded and she eased off of her shield, her attention remained where Eden had been, and her arms spread out, prepared to fire into it again. Her tentacles tightened, preparing to stab, and the blades swarmed up and around her once more…

In spite of all this, even she reacted in a bit of surprise as she saw the shimmering body of Eden erupt from the flames, going full speed right back for her. Immediately, she snapped out to intercept. Her smaller knives went out like a storm to focus right into her midsection, while her tentacles swept out to try and impale her in four different places…and her timing was still good enough to ensure her wide blade never reached her…

Therefore her surprise only doubled when she saw these attacks sail right through her.

She barely had time to realize that she had attacked an illusion before the true Eden teleported over her shoulder and swung down with such a heavy blow that the blade sank deep into her shoulder region.

Mianyl cried out in pain, before nearly gagging. To her shock, the sword actually sank right through flesh and bone and opened a massive cut straight into and through her torso, cutting through half of her vital organs in a second. One of her arms "peeled" off to one side as well as her flesh, blood issuing forth from the result, as she received a wound that would have been instantly fatal to almost every living thing that had ever graced the face of Gaia. Yet even that wasn't enough for the Guardian Force, who had done the move "one-handed". Her other arm had already converted from a shield back into a gun…and she aimed it such that the barrel practically rested against Mianyl's agonized face before firing another potent blast.

The Sorceress' mutilated body was ripped off of the end of the sword and send flying along a trail of heat and power before smashing into the floor herself and being lost in a chain of piercing explosions. Perhaps not as great as the 'doomsday' meteor she had just dropped…but even one such as her would still find them painful.

On her part, Eden's gun/shield arm was still numb and felt broken in a few places. Just firing her weapon again had been agonizing, and she quickly shifted it back into a gauntlet before letting it hang. Much of her armor was smoldering, slightly warmed, had blood oozing from cracks, and was still repairing. That move hadn't been intended just to "wear her down"…it had been meant to seriously hurt her if not end the fight right now. And at this point, Eden was definitely panting beneath her helmet. Against this level of power…in spite of having tried to "prepare" herself for this…she had not expected this level of strength… She had suspected Mianyl had been telling the truth about their difference in energy, but this… She began to fear that for all of her determination she might not be able to put her down…

She didn't have any more time to get a "breather" after that…as the ground where Mianyl landed again erupted in flame. This time, it seemed to rage around her from below almost like a volcano, sending off a tremendous wave of heat and energy into the sky…but also dark once again, clearly the same move she had done before. Eden looked to this, bracing her gauntlet before her as she felt her bones continue to rejoin. Most couldn't see inside the fire, but she was able to watch as Mianyl, her body repaired again, rose up from the ground and stood at full height. Her yellow, blazing eyes…like a demon's from the center of the heat…locked on her.

Moments later, her body was surrounded by pain. The tiny knives had swarmed about her again, and now stabbed at every single chink and gap in her armor…and stabbed deeply when they could. Soon, Eden was writhing and casting about as she felt them pierce her again and again, blood soon flying from various joints with more adding to them all the time. Some of them actually went deep enough to cut tendons, making repairing herself harder than ever. She swung her sword out to smack five of them away…but that was useless. It was like fighting a swarm of bees. Even the ones she smacked aside only toppled away a short distance before coming back in again. If not for the lenses, she would have had her eyes gouged out by now…

Fortunately, she wasn't as limited as she seemed…or had even realized until now. Her new "Mage Gun" was offensive, but it wasn't restrained to just firing blasts. As she opened her gauntlet, a blue, shimmering orb formed in mid air in her palm, and she made a gesture with her fingers to send it sliding out before it burst, instantly sending a wave of water rippling out all around her like a "shell" of some sort. The knives were pushed back as a result of this…but not for long. They began to angle around to come in again, before she made a second gesture. Instantly, the sphere flashed…and turned into pure ice, trapping the knives inside them. She panted again for a moment, actually directing her power to reconnect her tendons and ligaments before worrying about stopping the bleeding…

She hardly managed to finish doing so before a column of raging, dark flame slammed into her, shattering the ice to smash her with all the force of a Meteor attack. Soon, her body was sprawling out and being sent flying again, the flames latching onto her and pushing her. They began to heat to deform and melt her armor, all while roasting the body inside the shell. Soon, her mind was stricken with agony as she was taken off the crystal platform and hurtled deeper and deeper into the crystal "world" around her…

Crying out in pain and determination, Eden spread her wings out and quickly began to flap them…slowly pulling her burning body off of the column of fire. After doing so, she snapped herself to one side, eager to get out of its path…and slamming into a sideways crystal pillar suspended from the "ceiling" of this place as a result…although direction didn't really seem to matter here. Her body again began to spend energy healing her from this latest bit of trauma, and snapped her head up back to the source.

Far away, Mianyl still emitted a pillar of dark flame…but with it were several colossal flaming clouds, cycling about her like pillars…or like tremendous snakes. Each one was raging with infernal heat, and swimming through the darkness and crystal like it was water. And now…they were angling about and aiming right for her.

_Can't get hit again… Need time to heal…_ Eden thought before her wings snapped and she went flying again…right before the first column smashed into where she was and broke the massive crystal pillar in half from the impact.

Soon, Eden was flying for her life as the "flame worms" chased after her with all the ravenousness of a raging monster that had been starved. She cycled through and around this crystal "world", past the various suspended platforms, in and out of some of the tunnels in this area, and through every gap she could find. Always on her heels were the flaming columns, desperate to latch into her again and inflict more damage. Fast as she moved, she could scarcely stay ahead of them. They seemed more nimble than her, almost seeming to "construct" themselves in her direction rather than trying to go after her "normally". Always they lapped at her heels with an infernal fury. And every obstacle she dodged or darted around, they smashed into and shattered into pieces. Eden could only imagine how the surface world was being cut apart by such actions…yet she could hardly do anything about that when she was struggling to stay alive. She needed to fight back…

Then, as she spun around and began to fly underneath a greater crystal platform, this one with numerous holes in it already…Eden noticed a silvery "swarm" descend from one hole in front of her. The knives again… They were coming at her from ahead in an attempt to cut her off, and this time they were adjusting to form a stream with the intention of running her through… However, seeing them made her realize something. She was right beneath the crystal platform she had started on. She looked up, and, sure enough, through the radiant layers…she saw Mianyl's body wrapped in dark fire…

On seeing this, her teeth clenched beneath her helmet. Her body was tired from all the energy it had spent flying…but she was also repaired. With that in mind, she snapped her gauntlet out and converted it back into the cannon. She aimed it in front of her as she flew onward just for a few moments more, keeping her eyes skyward…waiting until Mianyl was right beneath her…waiting for those knives to get just a bit nearer…

Then she acted. The cannon fired again…this time generating a blast of green energy that fanned out in a cloud before solidifying into a rock of dolomite. The knives struck it…and instantly became embedded like pins in a cushion. Leaving the rock to fall, taking the knives with it as it descended into darkness, Eden snapped her body skyward and quickly coverted her cannon back into a shield. With a gesture, her sword snapped around and attached itself backward to her other arm, so that she could grasp the shield with that hand as well and put all of her power into it. It exploded into a sigil right before she made contact with the crystal…and smashed right into and through it.

The speed and power was so tremendous that she was soon moving faster than she had before. The flaming columns tried to chase after her for a few moments as she felt her arms buckle from the power cracking through the crystal and splitting it right for the top. Then…they cut off. Instead, they tried to reform around Mianyl herself as the Sorceress realized what she was trying to do. She actually took off into the air herself, aiming her body beneath her with the intention to stop the Guardian Force. Yet it was too late. Eden erupted from the ground a moment later, sigil blazing so much that Mianyl herself was blinded…

The tentacles went out…but they didn't help this time. Eden was putting too much power into her shield. One by one, they glanced off to one side, barely making the Guardian Force's arms buckle…before she slammed into Mianyl with force so strong it sent a terrible fissure rocking through the entire chamber. The Sorceress' head slammed back in pain, her eyes widening from the sheer power of the blow she had sustained, feeling her own bones crack in multiple places from the power. Yet Eden wasn't done there. As her dark fire collapsed around her, both Mianyl and Eden turned into a stream of light as they rocketed heavenward…streaking through the black sky before Eden slammed her into and _through_ another crystal platform on the ceiling, first smashing her through two columns before bearing her into the floor and bashing her through that as well. Not satisfied with _that_, as soon as she cleared she continued to shoot into the heavens and smash her through an additional floor on that side.

The mixture of broken crystals and the sheer trauma of being slammed into the crystal left lacerations and deep bruises all over Mianyl's body, yet by now she managed to turn her head down. Straining and grunting, she quickly swung her limbs down, both her tentacles as well as her hands, and seized the shield itself, even as it burned all of her limbs to do so. As for Eden, she was beginning to tire as well from the "push" she had made to smash her into all of this, and couldn't force much longer. She pushed her as long as she could…but as they emerged from the final floor, the Sorceress gave an almost animal cry as she shoved to one side, and the force pushed Eden away…

A moment later, the energy around both died down as they flung either way through the new crystal passage they had arrived in. Both of them tumbled through the air momentarily before they managed to right themselves and land again. On touching down on her claws, Mianyl instantly arched up, bearing her other talons, her mane fluttering behind her, and her tentacles rearing up like deadly cobras. Eden, on her part, stumbled slightly before digging in with her boots, flaring out her wings and cape, and again snapping her sword and shield into the ready position. For a moment, Eden's green gaze clashed with Mianyl's yellow one…before both ripped apart their own sections of ground and tore at each other.

The tentacles went flying first. Eden managed to deflect the first with her shield, and the second with her sword…but that left her open to take two to the stomach, sending her flying back with fresh puncture wounds in her armor. Instantly, the tentacles whipped up and struggled to stab down on her again…but Eden, in spite of her pain, was moving too fast. She swung her legs around and swept herself out, just in time to let the stabs come down against bare ground…before she sprung back up and launched herself at Mianyl again. Again, the tentacles flared out. Eden swept her head to one side to avoid one stabbing move, then leapt over another aimed for her legs. Two more attempted to stab at her directly…but the woman was too fast, quickly shooting inward to go under both of them, and darting in with sword drawn to stab directly for the Sorceress. However, she soon learned something rather unfortunate…the woman might have not been a seasoned veteran, but by now her body was radiating enough power where she was far from physically helpless herself. One of her claws flashed out and deflected the broad blade, before the other claw swiped down like an animal and slashed for her face. To her surprise, one of her visor slits was damaged as the power knocked her back.

Instantly, the tentacles retracted and snaked out, this time one of them wrapping around her neck and contorting in a terrible constriction, trying to not only throttle her…but pop her head clean off. Her windpipe was immediately crushed, but somehow the armor protected her blood vessels from being pinched. Even so, with her like this, the other tentacles moved in and struggled to stab inward at her, pounding away at her body and to weaken her to the point where her own will would be unable to prevent the tentacle from crushing her neck completely… Sure enough, each pounding seemed to make the appendage constrict a bit more…and Eden couldn't escape.

She tried to convert her shield into a gun to knock free…only to have one tentacle lash out and around it. Another tried to go for her sword arm, although before it could, she swung the blade out, connected with the end of the tentacle, and severed it clean from the rest of the crest array. For a moment, she thought she had managed to get an advantage…before the severed end merely hovered in midair a brief instant and then reconnected, leaving the spiked tentacle intact. Instantly, it snaked out and wrapped around her sword arm, leaving her exposed and immobilized as the last tentacle hammered into her body again and again. The lack of air began to weaken Eden…her vision was getting blurry from the pounding…

However, before things could get any worse…her cape suddenly fluttered up behind her, and formed a sharp "edge" on its trail. Mianyl only had a moment to react, before it flicked out and slashed across her vision…cutting her across the eyes. The Sorceress cried out in pain and staggered back, in the process loosening the grip on Eden's large gun and very slightly on her neck. Using that moment, Eden quickly converted her gun into a gauntlet, and lashed out to smash against Mianyl's face for all she was worth. The woman's head snapped in one direction so violently it seemed she would have broken something, and a few of her fang-like teeth erupted from her jaw with trails of blood.

The rest of the tentacles loosened in response, and Eden quickly shifted her gauntlet back to her sword arm and advanced with an overhead chop. As Mianyl staggered back, however, she was able to call the tentacles again to sweep in front of her and protect her, lacing two together and intercepting the sword. Yet as she tried to move in to counter…Eden was faster, snapping her leg up with her pointed, armored boot and driving it so hard into Mianyl's side in a horizontal kick that she actually punctured the skin, sending blood flowing out. The woman curved her body in pain, gritting her teeth in frustration, and angrily swept her tentacles out to try and slash out for Eden's head. Yet the warrior, in spite of her own weakness and gasping, was still focused and merely swung her body back in an arch, letting the spiked, barbed poles shoot over head, before rearing back up and stabbing out with her sword for Mianyl's heart. Quickly, the Sorceress crossed her extra tentacles in front of her to intercept this…only to have Eden quickly convert her gauntlet back into a gun, aim it where she had already wounded her and was still trying to recover, and fired off a potent, packed energy blast right into the open flesh, causing an eruption from inside her body which opened a much larger injury and made the woman bellow in pain.

The tentacles loosened, and Eden quickly moved in to try and finish the stab, only to have Mianyl suddenly grasp her injury with one hand and swing out two more of her appendages in a blow that struck the Guardian Force across the face, again rocking her with so much power that she slammed into the floor hard. As the Sorceress struggled to heal her wound, her weapons reared back and began to stab and lash out for the Guardian Force again to try and run her through. Eden's eyes widened momentarily, but then she quickly rolled back to the side, letting the first two tentacles slam one after another into the crystal floor, fracturing it but failing to get through to her. Soon, she was able to spring up and backpedal, avoiding further tentacles that shot out for her, making her retreat until she was out of the range. The moment she reached that point, her gun raised again and fired off a pair of Flares at Mianyl, forcing the Sorceress, still trying to heal her wound, to wrap her tentacles in front of her to intercept what managed to pierce her shield. The result managed to stifle the blow…and soon her tentacles parted as she shot her hand up and sent out more blasts of terrible black lightning in Eden's direction. Before the Guardian Force could mount a counter offensive, she had to dodge again, this time struggling to avoid the horrible energy from striking out at her, forcing her to stay on the move…

For a few moments, Eden continued to dodge, trying to get an opening…but the Sorceress managed to keep her at bay. Any time she tried to get closer, the tentacles would lash out for her. Not only that, but soon Mianyl's side was healed, and once that was done she raised her other hand and proceeded to lash out with lightning from her other palm as well, making it far harder to dodge than before. Realizing she couldn't keep this up forever…Eden soon got a new idea…

As she continued to move about, she converted her gun back into shield form. Soon, it ignited…but this time with a more prismatic and "rainbow-colored" light. As Mianyl fired again, Eden suddenly planted her feet and guarded in front of her. As a result, she staggered back momentarily from the force…but was also enveloped in a full spectrum shell for a moment. Mianyl barely had time to recognize her mistake before her own lightning thundered back off of the shield from the reflection spell and slammed into her. And since it was reflected…her shield was of no use in protection. The beams struck her dead on in her own chest, etching out terrible burns, and making her cry out as she was ripped back off of her feet.

Eden launched herself after her, readying her blade for another swing. In moments, she overtook Mianyl's body and moved to strike…only for the Sorceress to snap her head up and aim her palms at the Guardian Force's face. Before Eden could react, while Mianyl continued to fly backward, she unleashed another wave of power…this one a sizzling "darkness wave", almost like an "anti-Holy" that smashed into Eden with terrific force and sent her flying back. It was cold…numbing…and seemed to wither her own cells away within her from the terrible pain…and yet, through it all, she clenched her teeth and bit down, spreading her wings out to stall herself just long enough to convert her shield back into a gauntlet. As she shot away from Mianyl, her thick, armored hand lashed out…and seized the Sorceress by the leg. Abruptly, the bestial woman gave an exclamation as she was yanked back the other way, pulled by her own inertia she generated when she blasted Eden, and the Guardian Force gave a cry of her own as she swung the woman up, over her head, and slammed her down face-first into the crystal. The force shook the entire platform as crystal shards were driven into the flesh of her face from the impact…

Quickly, Eden planted her feet, meaning to follow up…when Mianyl, face still embedded in the ground, lashed out with her tentacles and swung up in an "uppercut" like blow, nearly disengaging the Guardian Force's neck armor and sending her head snapping to the sky along with her body. However, she only shot for the heavens for a moment before another barbed tentacle came around and smashed into her stomach so hard that it not only pierced the metal and stabbed her flesh beneath once again…this time deep enough to cripple her momentarily from the pain…but her body collapsed around it before it was smashed back into the ground. Full of anger, Mianyl, face dripping with blood, shot back to her feet and instantly drove a second piercing tentacle into Eden, then began to drag her against the ground in an attempt, almost, to flay the armor off of her body. Yet in spite of the pain of having two stabs inside her, the Guardian Force grit her teeth and managed to swing her sword arm up and sever both ends of the tentacles she was attached to. They immediately went about reconnecting, but it was too late…as the interruption allowed Eden to tough through her own agony and force herself to flip up and back. A good thing too…for Mianyl once more tried to unleash dual dark Flares where she had been before she could recover. As for Eden, the moment she flipped back around and landed on her feet, she snapped her arm back bearing her sword, and then flung it straight at Mianyl like a throwing knife. The Sorceress tried to move to counter…but she was too distracted from her recent moves…and helpless to do anything before the blade pierced her barrier again and drove itself right into her midsection…going all the way through to pierce to the other side. She wretched and gagged in shock and pain as blood flowed from her mouth…

In spite of that, however, she stayed stunned only for a moment, before her eyes blazed and glared hatefully at Eden. The Guardian Force herself was still stricken with pain…having a hard time breathing after taking the two stab wounds…and her healing was slowing down too… But she couldn't stop. She had to press her advantage. Although it made her even sorer than before, she held out her hand before her. As the Sorceress raised her hands forward and prepared to launch yet another attack…she suddenly cried out again as the blade lodged in her stomach ripped itself free, spilling more of her blood. Eden had summoned it back to her, and in an instant it was back in her sword hand. The act of pulling it out of Mianyl left her stunned again…and quickly she moved to take advantage of it as she pushed herself through her pain and charged right for her. Mianyl had no time to counter. She could only try to backpedal to get out of the way…but even that wasn't fast enough for the extra-large blade as it swung down and opened another deep cut across her torso, blasting her further back with power from the slice at the same time. The Sorceress yelled in agony.

Her injuries beginning to heal, Eden took off for her yet again, intent on giving her as much pain as possible. Yet she soon discovered as she sailed after her, in spite of all the pain she had to be in, Mianyl's own stamina wasn't showing much in the way of exhaustion. While she was still bleeding from the two wounds, she looked back up to the warrior as she came in and sent a tentacle after her. This time…it didn't slam into her normally. Rather, it sailed straight out for her sword arm as it went back, went right for the nearest gap in it…and shot right through, impaling it clean to the other side. In spite of her own strength and power, Eden gave her own cry of pain. Both numbness and agony flowed through her limb, as well as a great deal of blood running out of it. She realized she had likely cut the artery in there…which meant she was in trouble, especially since the spiked barbs were lodged inside and she didn't look like she would pull it out any time soon. Unable to hold her sword, it tumbled out of her grasp, clashing on the ground…

And yet, in spite of that, Mianyl didn't follow up with another move. In spite of the trauma and agony going through her head, Eden realized that meant she was still in too much pain to keep going…and she couldn't afford to let that move slip.

With that in mind, she ignored the agonizing tentacle lodged in her body…and continued to go forward even stronger and faster than before, pushing herself to the limit. As she did, she again reformed her shield…and a second later came up to Mianyl's face and slammed it against the side of her head for all she was worth. This was an even stronger blow than her punch earlier, and she could feel Mianyl's jaw dislocating from the power of the strike. Although putting that much strength into it made her dizzy and weak…Eden didn't stop. In a moment, the shield converted back into a gauntlet, and she reached out and seized the Sorceress by the neck and tightened her grip as much as she could, enough to actually make the woman gag and reach for the armored hand with her own claws. That done, pushing herself harder in spite of her dizziness and weakness, Eden launched herself into the air as fast and as hard as she could, putting as much power as possible into it…forcing her wings to flap and bear her high above into the blackness of the crystal world.

Her speed was incredible, rising hundreds of feet into the air in seconds, although she continued to push it from there until she got to a thousand…two thousand…three thousand… Yet it made her weaker and weaker to do so. The spike was still lodged in her body, after all. And Mianyl, on her part, began to get more of her bearings and slowly started to put up more of a fight… Before she could recover too much, however…Eden froze in midair, snapped around, and went into a dive. She instantly applied her own speed plus gravity into it, once more turning into a blaze of light as she went down. Mianyl began to get more life in her, started to bring her other tentacles up…although she moved them all to the gauntlet to try and pry it loose…but it was too late. As she finally got some force into it, Eden snapped her arm forward so that the full measure of the impact went against the back of the Sorceress' neck.

Again, Mianyl's face twisted in agony as she was slammed right through the crystal floor, shattering it around her. Her mouth snapped open and a wad of blood exploded across Eden's own face as the Guardian Force felt her neck vertebrae snap in her grasp. Her pupils seemed to almost turn white from the blow as the rest of her body went limp. Yet even as the two crashed through the floor…she saw that she still wasn't helpless. As the crystal fragments rained around them, Eden felt her arm thrown into agony as the tentacle was ripped out of it again, slashing open deeper wounds…including through the artery. For a moment, Eden actually blacked out…

And that was all the time Mianyl needed to get her tentacles to work, seizing Eden, flipping her around, and then forcing her beneath her as they approached the next floor. Her body may have been useless, but the weapons operated independently as they lashed out and roped themselves around each one of her limbs…before stretching out so hard and fast that Eden let out a cry of agony as she felt all four of her appendages dislocated in one snap. After that, the Sorceress glared with insane hate for a moment…before her spine reconnected enough to the tune of a wave of green aura to allow herself to aim one of her palms down at her back. It burned white a moment later…and then exploded in a pillar of light smashing hard into Eden's back, forcing both her and Mianyl down harder before the Guardian Force was smashed through another floor…

The attack ravaged Eden's already beaten body. Her entire form was wracked with pain, weakened from blood loss, and now some of her back armor had been flayed off from the most recent blast and her own spinal region torn up from heat and burns. Mianyl's own neck had fully reconnected at this point, and she snapped her clawed feet down to rake into her exposed back. As Eden craned back in pain, she aimed another pillar of light at her, meaning to sever her head this time…

When she suddenly snapped around and lashed out with the back of her hand. As a result…she seemingly foiled Mianyl's latest attack. While she had seemed to be stricken and helpless before the Sorceress, her sword had risen and shot back down to her, aimed right for the Sorceress' back. Yet now, the bestial woman merely turned and slapped it away, ruining the move…

At least, she thought…before she realized too late that Eden had been smarter than she seemed. Even in her pain addled brain, she had still aimed the sword down at Mianyl in such a way that when she slapped it aside…the blade sliced right through the tentacle holding onto Eden's cannon arm.

She barely had time to hear the weapon charging before she turned around and saw the broken and pained Guardian Force snap back up to her, aiming the cannon right at her face once again…before firing. Time and space broke around the gun into a massive portal to the endless cosmos…before a comet burst forth from within and slammed into Mianyl's head.

Instantly, the two parted again…Eden continuing to fall while Mianyl was launched back up to the sky, head snapping back and trailing flame from the latest blow. Yet in spite of her pain and broken body, Eden couldn't let herself rest to regenerate. Committing only enough to stifle her bleeding and seal her artery, she spun her body around and forced her dislocated limbs to aim the cannon at Mianyl's body again and fired once more. The portal into space opened again…this time up and above the Sorceress. As she flew upward, a Meteor ripped out and smashed into her with so much force that it actually shook her tentacle whips into pieces as it ravaged her body. Firing again, in spite of the pain, stress, and agony involved, Eden opened another portal below her…sending out a second Meteor to fly "upward" right into Mianyl's descending body and smash into her a third time. The woman was wrapped in flame and agony, her body pounded and ravaged from the triple assault. It stunned her for as long as Eden dared, and she used the moment to manipulate her own armor to pop her limbs back into place. Agonizing as it was and as much as it made her sweat and tremble from pain, it got her back into one piece…and soon she spiraled around and shot upward once again…

This time…some frustration shot through her mind as Mianyl, yet again, recovered before she could reach her. She snapped her head down, focused her burning eyes on Eden, and quickly started to reform her tentacles. Seeing that, the Guardian Force tried to attack before she could do anything else. She struggled to apply more speed, already aiming her gun up again and preparing a stronger attack. She had something new in mind this time…but it would take a lot of power to put into it…as she felt this was something that most people shouldn't be able to pull off, whether they were human or Guardian Force…

Yet before she could, she cried out again and arched back as pain radiated throughout her from behind, dotting all over her backside. Through the fresh trauma, her mind realized what it was…

_The knives…_

They had finally gotten free, and sailed back up to stab her from behind. Unfortunately, she was still sailing skyward…and a moment later sustained yet another powerful blow to the face from Mianyl's recovered weapons, smashing her visor enough to expose most of her mouth. There was no way to regenerate it now. Her body was still trying to regrow her armor plates. Moments later, the tentacle that had just struck her in the head again wrapped tightly around her neck, while two more lashed around her torso to pin her wings and cape down, although it left her forearms free. Another went around her legs, and all began to compress and constrict tightly, enough to make her armor and bones buckle again. Yet after that…they began to retract. As Eden opened her eyes through her visor…she saw why.

Noxious, multicolored mist was exploding all around Mianyl, seeming to pour forth from her mouth and palms and surround her with a bleak, foul cloud of miasma. It looked almost as wretched as the maelstrom she had whipped up before…only mixed with the poison from Doomtrain. And now…she was being yanked into it. That was why she damaged her visor…

Eden struggled to fight back, but her body hadn't had much chance of repairing. Furthermore…the regeneration was slowing down. She had been fighting Mianyl with everything she had. Her energy taxation was beginning to "show". The only good side was that she wasn't stabbing her anymore, but the constriction again starved her of oxygen and blood flow, and put her body under more stress as the tentacles tightened more and more…drew her closer to the toxic mist…

By now, anyone else would have tried to fire the gun. After all, she was still capable of lifting it up and pointing at the woman. Yet Eden knew better… She wouldn't make it this easy. And she could tell through her own blurred vision, when the light struck Mianyl just right through the thick cloud…a prismatic light was rippling around her. She _wanted_ her to try and shoot her way free…to smash into a reflection spell just as she had tried before…

However…Mianyl had inadvertantly taught her a technique at this point.

A moment later, Eden raised her weapon and fired a much simpler spell at the woman, this one made of a simple white ball. On impacting against the Sorceress…she received a shock as not only did her prismatic shell disappear…but her mist rapidly faded, revealing her stunned expression.

Eden glared at her only a fraction of a second.

"Forget…the basic…lesson?" She choked around the grip on her throat.

_Always be ready to have a mage cast "Dispel" on you…_

With that, Eden stopped resisting and pushed forward instead, letting the tentacles yank her and forcing herself into Mianyl as hard and fast as she could, before bringing down the heavy and thick part of her helmet into the Sorceress' face as hard as possible…crushing her nose and fracturing part of the skull beneath.

Again, the tentacles went limp, but Eden was far from done. Shifting her gun back into a gauntlet, she swung her arm around and buried it deep into Mianyl's side, piercing her kidney and snapping two ribs. After that, she reached out and seized the woman by the neck, and "launched" herself off of the air and for the nearest amount of crystal. Swinging her by the head, she smashed her entire body into it. After being driven into more pain, Mianyl attempted to counter with her tentacles again. Eden, in turn, paused only long enough to send out an explosive aura from her body, causing the knives to erupt back out of it again, and making them spiral out into the blackness due to lack of control. Then, she snapped her gauntlet arm out and let the tentacles wind around it, before she instantly snapped her body in a circle and whipped Mianyl violently up and away from the crystal, spun her around, and slammed her down three rapid times in succession into the pillar, cracking and smashing it more with each blow, before she flung her violently through the black expanse to another distant, crystal platform.

Mianyl went sprawling and flailing as she flew away, all while Eden converted her limb back into a gun and blasted after her again. She held out her sword hand as she did so, causing the blade to again materialize back into her grasp. The Sorceress continued to flail a moment…before she snapped her head up and glared through her reconstructing face at her foe. She began to heat herself up again, wrapping herself in dark flame…before Eden raised her cannon and fired furiously, sending out a shower of massive icicles, each one radiating and brilliant, almost like "light ice" as opposed to "dark fire". The shots pierced through the darkness in a heartbeat and impaled the Sorceress through the torso in multiple spots a blink of an eye later, causing her to cry out and gag before the flames subsided. Instantly, the gun shifted again, and kept up the barrage, firing out rays of light instead. They didn't seem to be Holy attacks…but were nevertheless pure and powerful as they streaked through the air and slammed into Mianyl again and again. She was blasted back further with each strike as the beams broke against her body, causing explosions so terrible they ravaged her inside and out, breaking bones and scrambling her internal organs. All the while as Eden continued to close in on her…

As the crystal platform neared, and the Sorceress' body was covered with lacerations and burns, Eden shifted her gun back into a gauntlet and grasped her sword once again. Teeth clenching, pushing forth her remaining power into this, she shot for the woman and slashed deeply into her, slicing open her midsection. The force ripped into her, setting off more golden eruptions in her wake. After that, she slashed again two more times, opening deep cuts across her torso. Finally, as the platform neared, Eden lifted her sword high and over her head…and swung down from the crown of Mianyl's body all the way through to the botton of her hips…a massive glowing slash cutting her entire silver form in half.

She saw one more look of shock and agony in Mianyl's eyes as her two halves "slid apart"…before the tremendous force ripping through her made her vanish in a chain of green-blue and gold energy…and her two parts sank like a stone to slam into the crystal platform. An even more tremendous eruption resulted from a mixture of energy and impact, echoing and resounding throughout the entire inner area as this latest structure was shattered into millions of pieces to the tune of a colossal, echoing, resounding blast.

Eden herself flew by the cloud of fire and heat, sailing past the destroyed mass of falling shards, and down to the next platform below. Once there, she righted herself and landed such that she could look up…

And, on touching down, she let out a moan before falling to one knee. Her entire body felt like she had done three days of basic training back-to-back. Her muscles felt like jelly. She had scarcely managed to reform her armor. The rest of her body, however, held onto lingering trauma…and exhaustion. She had pushed herself past her limit…and now she was starting to feel it. Her strength was beginning to slip. She couldn't keep this up much longer… She _definitely_ couldn't pull off what she had just done again. Even so…she had a hard time believing Mianyl could have survived that just now. Healing up from impalement was one thing, but she had just sliced her into two pieces. Surely that had to have stopped her…

She couldn't tell for sure as the fire and force above her died down, especially since her vision was dimming. It actually took her a moment to be able to focus her spiritual sight. As it turned out, her regular vision would have been good enough only a few seconds later…but it enabled her to see a frightening sight long before that.

_No…_

As the flames subsided, they revealed a form still hovering there. Her tentacles had reformed and her body was once again surrounded by daggers…and her body and dress were again in one piece. By now, her face was so twisted in anger, rage, and hate that she looked like a true demon, especially the way her eyes blazed as she once again wrapped herself in corrupted fire. She was quivering all over…but not from weakness.

From rage.

Her power had indeed diminished…and diminished quite a bit. Yet that was irrelevant. Even at less than half of her remaining strength, she was far from being in as bad shape as Eden. Far above her…now in a position where the gap between the two was more than noticeable…but overt.

_What is she made of?!_

Yet the most horrible thing of all, however, was what Mianyl was generating. Once more, the sky above her had opened, revealing space beyond. And when it came forth, she once again generated a large meteor, and began to have smaller flaming meteors gather around it and unite with it. She was preparing that one attack again…that one that ran the risk of hurting her too. This time, she didn't devote any energy to shielding herself. Eden didn't know if she was too weak to maintain a powerful enough shield…or if she merely realized doing so was irrelevant. The Guardian Force was far weaker than she was now.

Eden didn't know what to do. She barely had the strength to push herself back up to her feet and glare defiantly at the Sorceress. Even her blade was getting heavy… She had no way to stop her from making this attack…and soon it didn't matter. Bringing both clawed arms upward, Mianyl swung her arms down and sent the massive dark 'doomsday' Meteor straight for her.

There was only one thing left that Eden could do. Planting her blade in the ground for the moment, she converted her gun back into a shield and braced it with both arms as she lifted it over her head. Her sigil blazed forth once again as she was wrapped in a shield…but she could tell it was weaker than before. She felt fear come over her as she held up the barrier, watching the dark Meteor slowly fill her vision as it came closer and closer, radiating black flame and infernal power…

Finally, it made contact. It was slow moving enough to where the only initial sensation was horrible heat and power radiating off of it into the shield and, consequently, into Eden. Yet soon, it began to apply tremendous pressure and force against her as well. The Guardian Force tightened up, digging her legs in and shoving back all she was worth…and in turn the dark Meteor slowed down greatly. However…it didn't stop. And as she tried to make herself rigid against it, it only applied more power and force to her body. She soon heaved and pressed against it, her muscles tightening, her teeth locking, and shoving with all of her strength. Yet for all she did…it only continued to slowly close. She knew if it got too close it would erupt and ravage her with its power…and this time she wasn't sure she could "stay together" for it. She pushed back as hard as she could, stretching herself more and more…but it was useless. The power was too great…too strong… Her muscles began to burn and ache. Her body underwent terrible strain. As much as she told herself to push…she was weakening. Her body began to buckle. Her arms started to compress… The heat and energy grew worse and worse…

Then, suddenly…she felt it lessen a bit…as a presence came over her.

In spite of her straining and struggling, she managed to crack open her eyes…and reacted in surprise.

Bahamut, regenerated at last, was standing over her, his superior size allowing him to dig in from there, and pushing as well against the move.

"Mother…" He said between his clenched jaws. "Don't…give in…"

Eden stared a moment longer…but then felt new will and encouragement inside of her. In spite of her weakened, drained state, she focused on the dark Meteor again, and forced her aura to flare. It made her head pound and her body felt like it was breaking apart…but with her son helping her, she gave one more cry and then pushed enough to arrest the progress of the dark Meteor and actually fling up and above her.

Mianyl's own hate filled face broke as she saw this…before she heard an equally hateful hiss around her.

"I think you're weak enough to feel this now, bitch…"

She barely had time to react before a dark blue draconian with magma-gleaming scales shot in front of her and swung around, smashing into her midsection with his powerful tail. A thunderclap erupted through the chamber as Mianyl's mouth again opened in shock to the tune of several of her ribs breaking yet again, and her body collapsed around the mighty, scaled appendage before she went flying off and into the darkness.

Tiamat panted a bit as he glared after her, but then snapped around and shot back for the ground…back for where Bahamut and Eden stood as the dark Meteor, in a slow, gradual "lob", moved through the air only slightly before coming down again. Eden, on her part, nearly collapsed…having drained herself too much…before Bahamut seized her and swung his back to the falling dark rock, spreading his wings around to try and shield her and himself from the proximity of the eruption. Yet he didn't have to do it alone. Eden managed to weakly look up…before Tiamat slammed down at his side and hunched over to spread his own wings around them both as well.

She tried to say something, but soon could only wince as the dark Meteor went off.

Even if the hit wasn't direct, the massive shockwaves and force that ripped off of the attack was more than enough to ravage all three of them. The concussive force would have been enough to annihilate both Bahamut and Tiamat together if this had been their first fight thousands of years ago. As it was, they both grit their teeth, dug in, and expended a great deal of their remaining power as they felt the heat and power flay more scales off of their body and slam into them as if they were bulwarks in the midst of a tornado, struggling not to get ripped apart. Eden herself wasn't spared the wrath completely…but her sons protected her from the bulk of the force. A good thing too…because she might have been torn to bits herself at this point. She could feel them holding onto her fiercely…not just Bahamut…but Tiamat as well.

She couldn't help but think momentarily of Helheim…when her own body had been wrapped around that of the "boy" Bahamut to guard him from the hoses…

The heat and darkness continued to whip over them for what seemed like an eternity, feeling like it wouldn't subside until they had all been spent and were dead…but at last it leveled off. The last of the furious, hot wind passed, and an echo died away. Both Bahamut and Tiamat nearly stumbled, but managed to stay on their feet. And in the interim, even Eden regained enough of her bearings to stand. The three Guardian Forces raised and looked up in response. Their eyes scanned the crystal world and the darkness for a moment…looking to the far skies full of nebulas and light, raging more chaotically than ever in the reproduction of "space"…

"She's not renewing her assault…" Bahamut remarked after a moment.

Eden swallowed and took in a deep breath, then spoke back wearily through her helmet. "She intended that to finish me… She put a lot of her power into it…enough to where she passed her own limit, I think…"

She held here a moment, and then turned and looked up to Tiamat. The dark Guardian Force was scanning the sky. However, she stared at him regardless.

"Tiamat…" She said in a softer voice.

"That goes without saying." He snorted, ignoring her softer voice and responding to what she said before. "Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do that to her. Still…I put everything I had into that strike. I _tried_ to cut her in half with it…"

"Just the same…I don't think she planned to lose this much power…or that the two of us would still have so much after being shot by those attacks…" Bahamut spoke up. "She has to realize if she drags this out…she stands a decent chance of losing, especially if her own strength is fading…"

Eden grimly looked directly overhead…and felt a cold chill through stomach at what she saw.

"…That's why she's not going to 'drag it out'."

The two looked skyward…and both of them soon sensed and saw the same thing Eden did.

They weren't sure how high above they were looking. Against the backdrop of the phony "space", they could be looking upward a dozen miles or only a few hundred feet. All they saw was the sky turn red again, as great, black, ominous clouds tinted crimson began to spill forth across the heavens, sweeping from one end to the other. As they spread themselves out monstrous and thick, they couldn't see Mianyl directly…and knew they soon wouldn't be able to at all as she went farther and farther, filling that entire area of the "sky" with her hatred.

All they _did_ see, from a visual standpoint, was the beginnings of the same "extended" crest…

"That's the same attack as before…" Bahamut spoke quietly. "Only stronger than ever. I've never seen anything like it… Even the forbidden Ultima pales in comparison… She must be pouring everything she has into it."

"She's a fool." Tiamat snarled. "She'll have nothing left after that. Anything will be able to kill her…including any of the others."

"I don't think she intends on leaving the others…or anything else…after this…" Eden responded as the power above her continued to swell, growing larger as the sigil only slowly gained more power. What sounded like thunder was beginning to rumble overhead now. No lightning flashed…at least, none that was "light"…but it grew more turbulent overhead. A wind began to rush around them. "I haven't exactly been treating this place 'gently'…but she'll destroy it all along with herself…"

"Unless she's destroyed first." Bahamut answered.

"I'll fly up there and take her head now." Tiamat snorted.

"Useless. She's already summoned enough power to her to keep anything from getting close." His sibling responded. Immediately, he walked out to one side, snapped his tail out on the ground for balance, dug in his feet, and spread his wing wide. "I'm going to summon a Sun Flare…put all _I _have into that…"

"That won't be nearly enough, you imbecile." The dark brother answered. "I've felt your Sun Flares before. If _I_ could survive one at this point-"

"You're welcome to lend a hand…" Bahamut answered as he focused above and began to charge, his wings already starting to shimmer.

Tiamat hesitated, but then snorted back before moving out to one side as well, snapping his wings wide and planting his own tail. "…This failed miserably the last time we tried it and I have my doubts she's weakened enough for this to finish her…but since I'm more familiar with 'dying in a blaze of glory' than you, I suppose I might as well." His own wings began to ripple darkness as he too charged. "Better to die on my feet than die like an injured dog!" He shouted as his own eyes darkened.

Eden looked to them both…and already knew the outcome was more than decided. Mianyl had lost a great deal of power…but compared to this final Apocalypse? The two flares would never succeed. She wasn't sure _anything_ in the world could stop it now…but she couldn't give up. Her own body was weak and drained, but she had to do everything she could. For the sake of all living things…ones that had been born, ones that existed, and ones that had yet to be. Somehow they had to stop her…

With that in mind, she quickly snatched up her own sword, and instantly it swiveled around and locked on her arm. Her gauntlet again converted into her cannon, and she looked straight at the heart of the power. Even if she couldn't see Mianyl directly, she could sense her blazing like a torch. It was no problem targeting her body. Once she had it, she tapped into her own remaining power. There was only one technique that had a chance of standing against this spell…the very one Bahamut had spoken of. A spell so potent and forbidden that only a fistful had managed to pull it off. A spell that slew its user as many times as it hadn't…and she knew could very well be the death of her. Especially as weakened as she was. Nevertheless, she brought the spell forth into her body with all she possessed.

As Bahamut began to gleam all over like the sun, and Tiamat gleamed in much the same way, as if by the light of the moon instead, Eden let out a cry of agony that quickly diminished into weakness. She fell to her knees again, almost feeling herself "wrung out" like a wet cloth as soon as she began to tap into the necessary strength. Her head swam and she felt nauseous… She nearly blacked out… At once, she recalled all of the heaviest training regimines Dael Levinson had ever done. She drew on the memory of how her will alone got her through those…when she had stopped sweating, when her grip on reality had loosened, and when she felt as weak and empty as a paper bag. She _had_ to push through it now. She had come through then for herself…and now everyone was depending on her. Her _sons_ were depending on her. They couldn't win without her. In spite of the agony it brought, she summoned more power until she became enveloped in a green, vibrant aura of her own. Clenching her teeth through her helmet, she continued to summon.

As the sigil overhead neared completion, the two draconic creatures began to make the wind whip around them more violently than Mianyl's power was doing. The ground was rumbling, and the crystals fracturing about them one more time as they began to press into the floor from the raw strength building in their jaws. As things grew more severe, both of them reached their "peak"…but held. In spite of the tremendous force they had at the ready behind their monstrous jaws, both looked to Eden. Her own aura flickered, dimming and brightening randomly…but overall growing brighter. She was panting hard, sweating bullets beneath her helmet. She felt like her body was coming apart…but still she pushed and continued the spell. As she gathered over half the energy necessary, she cried out and forced one of her feet up and flat. She panted and heaved, like she was a world-class weightlifter straining for "one more rep", and with a tremendous grunt and groan forced herself back to her feet, already burning a hole in the ground as she rose. She continued to breathe and fume as her power flared greater yet, until she seemed wrapped in a green, living flame of spiritual energy. Gritting her teeth, quivering all over…she began to raise the cannon up…

The sigil was still forming, and a noise began to ring out overhead of turbulence and thunder. Yet it still wasn't ready…and Eden was determined to fire first. It might be the only chance they had… Her other arm went out and braced her cannon as she slowly brought it up to her neck…her head…and slowly over it, aiming it skyward. The two dragon creatures responded by opening both of their mouths. Soon, their heads quivered under their own power as spheres formed in their jaws, streaking out the energy from their wings to make them. Bahamut's flare once again gleamed like the sun, while Tiamat's was as black as the darkest night.

As both of them charged, Eden finally got her own weapon into position. From the front of it, as she summoned the last bit of her spell, a pure, shimmering, green-blue sphere began to gather on the end, drawing light from everything around it to form. Yet she also looked out on either side of her…and saw her two sons, ready to fire. Both of them actually fighting as one…for the first time ever. Even as children it was always who was better, always who was stronger or who had the better idea or plan in mind. Only now were they united…and Eden could see them stand before her with "her own eyes".

If this was to be her end…she realized she could die seeing much worse things…and few things better.

"My sons…" She managed to weakly say just loud enough to hear over the din around her. "No matter what happens, I want you to know…I love you both."

With one final push, she completed the spell…and fired just as Bahamut and Tiamat released their own attacks.

Eden was nearly knocked to the ground as the explosive wave of green, planetary, raw spiritual energy blasted out of her like she was a gas cylinder that had been punctured. At full strength she could have withstood it, but as it was the recoil was as if she had fired an artillery cannon out of her chest. She actually fell back to one knee…but kept her gun aimed skyward as her massive blast erupted with inconceivable power. The two great blasts of Bahamut and Tiamat, long-known as the strongest forces on the face of Gaia, were on the same level but still paled by comparison as they shot out and combined with the Ultima spell, joining the sides of it and rushing straight up and into the red, swirling chaos overhead. They both parted through the center of the sigil and struck the source…instantly exploding into a brilliant flash of white light.

Overhead, as the three pushed their full power into the attack, they saw a series of blinding shockwaves roll out from the point of impact, one blast after another as the sky was filled with radiant power. Each eruption seemed like it was splitting the world in two as it pounded away at the target. It was impossible to picture that anything could have been stronger…anything could have held against it… As time passed and they continued to push forward, she could sense the thoughts in the head of Tiamat…

_Surely…she's gone…_

Likewise, from Bahamut…

_I…can't tell… The power is too much…_

That left Eden alone to look above. It was almost impossible to see anything through the terrific, blinding white…but somehow, she thought she could still see the red-tinted darkness on the edges. She could still feel traces of chaotic energy. And so, she continued to push even as she felt weaker and weaker…and her sons fired with her…

At last, they heard a noise…something like a great "clang", followed by a massive "brrring" noise, like some sort of monstrous engine or drill. The three didn't know why as they looked overhead for a few moments…but they soon found out as the red sigil slowly became visible through the white. Soon after…the white itself began to retreat, revealing the red chaos still circling overhead, unchanged. And then, most shocking of all…the whiteness that remained slowly began to draw closer.

Above it, every vein and muscle tendon in her body stretched, her skin literally looking like it was trying to rip off of her body from the pale yellow light and redness underneath, tentacles and knives gone as she focused both of her hands, which nearly seemed to peel away as her mane fluttered behind her along with her dress...Mianyl remained. Her sharp teeth were clenched and she looked ghastly and infernal as she poured out the full measure of her own power into the Apocalypse attack, sending her own violet-reddish wave of intense power roaring forth like the sound of the end of time…

And pushing back Eden, Bahamut, and Tiamat's own attack.

The three realized this, and immediately tried to put in more. Yet for all their power they possessed…they were already putting everything they had into the attack and were slowly losing strength. And although Mianyl was countering with everything she had…although her own body was now deteriorating, its ability to repair itself finally collapsing…her attack was stronger and remained stronger. The pushback was slow at first…but soon began to pick up speed. The white light began to blaze again from the clash of the two powers as the Apocalypse shoved the combined wave back progressively faster…

Slowly, the truth dawned on them all. The Sorceress had too much power. They couldn't stop her…

Bahamut continued to give it all he had as his own scales began to burn and split from around his mouth. Tiamat, his own spirit as desperate not to give up, did the same. Eden tried to be like them, but felt herself weakening more and more… In truth, they all were, but she knew it was futile. For all she had…all of her strength…all of her desire to live…she couldn't do it…

In desperation, she looked for anything…whatever could save them now…whatever could save her friends…whatever could save _the Planet…_

But she _was_ the will of the Planet. And if even she couldn't stop this…where once she had stopped a Meteor that would have annihilated her and all life upon her…then how could…

_All life…_

_All wills…_

_ All desire…_

As maddening as it seemed or as useless as it was…she closed her eyes…and for only the second time she could recall, called out to "the voices" in a tone loud enough for all to hear.

_Everything on me… Everything within me… Everything that was…that is…and is still to come… I ask you…I _beg_ you…by the desire you all have to live…to love…to hate…to be born…to die…to be _anything_…to have any existence at all…by the memories you hold dear of everything good and ill that ever happened to you…by everything you have ever loved and connected to…by the chain of life you yourselves have added links to… If you desire to remain…to have the right to exist in this universe…_

She clenched her teeth a moment more, before opening her eyes as they blazed forth with the same light of the Ultima…

_HELP ME WIN!_

Eden meant to scream this…but instead came forth a word neither she understood nor anything that had ever lived above or below the Planet. Perhaps only whatever had sent the Crystal that was her "seed" understood it… However, there was little mistaking what it was.

Her _own_ Omniapex.

As her mouth blasted forth, light seemed to radiate from within her armor…from within her flesh…from within her soul…and pour out like a glorious cloud of radiant breath. It made her entire body light up with a brightness that turned her green-blue color to something far more dazzling and overwhelming…enough to actually make her sons recoil as it issued forth. Her own sigil appeared…something far larger, disk-shaped, and rippling with force and might as it took the emblem of some shape that defied description, for nothing had ever taken that form before on this world, before it erupted into a beam so large that it burst through the Ultima wave as if it had been a mere stream, but was now being overrun by a flood. Yet it didn't seem to "destroy" the Ultima…or, for that matter, the attacks of Bahamut and Tiamat. Rather, the wave of her breath seemed to move through all three and enlarge them _five-fold_…until the own terrible energy of the Apocalypse…of the raging chaos overhead…was blinded by glorious light. All of its own power dimmed…and even shrank away…as the beam ripped upward and burst right past the profane attack.

Mianyl's yellow eyes went from hate-filled to terror-stricken. Her mind frantically tried to understand how that was possible…how the force suddenly came forth that dwarfed her own might… Her heart became desperate…seeing her dream of a universe of chaos literally fading away as fast as her own attack was consumed. She tried pushing more into her attack…tried to force more deadly power into it…

Yet not only did it fail to even slow the beam…she saw her own silver light fade. Her own runes begin to sink back into her head…her own mane turn back into hair as her claws began to shorten…

She had spent all of her power. Four Sorceresses and a legacy of might that descended from Aerith the Radiant herself…and it wasn't enough.

As her face turned to horror, she might have opened her mouth and screamed a "no"…but it was impossible to hear over the sound of Eden's own raging breath, which screamed the voices of billions upon billions of souls declaring their desire to live…

Far greater than any one woman's desires.

A moment later, her arms buckled as she vanished into the stream of light…

And the core of Gaia was filled with a flash of purity that burst forth from every fault and fissure on the face of the world.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	79. Nothing to Fear

It seemed as if the chamber echoed for an eternity before the light and roar died.

The wind, still warm, still whipping by slowly, was still dying down when Quaren grunted. Sore and in pain as he was, definitely needing medical attention like the rest of them, he managed to crane his head up enough to look around weakly. Overhead, the sky had gone black. The turbulent sight from before had vanished, leaving only darkness. The crystals that made up this realm were still illuminated…but they were slowly going dim, as if they had slowed down the passage of light to a perceptible level, and far above they were pulling back. He looked before him afterward…as those around him began to lift up as well, starting with Jalab and Ceja…and, after a groan, Carbuncle. The green creature had managed to somehow land on Quaren's back in the midst of the chaos, and now he raised his head and unfurled his ears to look about.

A mist, like the top layer of subliming dry ice, poured off of the crystal they were on now. It came out in thin streams rising and falling, but all eventually tracing back to the crystal array where this had all begun. Of course…by now…it was little more than a crystal ring, and a thin one. Every so often, another fragment would snap off and fall inside of the dark, empty void, which continued to hiss out with bolts of black lightning. Yet stretching about that was more endless blackness. It wasn't a void…just so much darkness and emptiness in the chamber that the young man thought he could look up into the night sky…

One by one, the others began to look as well. Cryder coughed a few times before pushing himself up. Cid likewise rolled a bit and used the remains of his own tools to elevate his burnt body. After a time…a sea-blue coil moved up behind Taraketh and gently pushed his head and upper shoulders into the air for a view. At long last, the mage's eyes parted. He looked terrible…but he was also conscious. Slowly, the other Guardian Forces began to do the same. With the exception of Phoenix, likely too drained to have made a difference anyway, and Siren, gone for an unknown reason, they were all there…

No one said anything. Even loud-mouthed Carbuncle was holding his tongue as he looked around. It seemed wrong, almost, to break the silence. To say anything to part it or to even breathe loudly. Instead, both he and Quaren looked about with the others for a moment…until the sniper's keen eyes spotted it.

Descending from the darkness and landing ahead of them were Bahamut and Tiamat. They barely looked like they were suspending themselves on their wings, and when they touched down, both of them stumbled. They were a bit burned around their mouths and had other abrasions and injuries on their bodies…although it seemed they were doing better than when both had been struck with pillar of light. Both of them looked ahead as well.

Farther away, a column of illuminating light seemed to descend on one piece of crystal hanging out over the oblivion that had somehow survived until now.

It framed a single body.

Sprawled out over on a rougher piece of crystal was the sad, broken remains of Sorceress Mianyl. Somehow, she had escaped annihilation. Her dress and body had returned to normal…only her dress was little more than a rag, her crest had long been vaporized, her elaborate headdress was broken with only a few fragments still in her messy hair…which was turning from gray to white right before the eyes of anyone close enough to see. Her claw-like fingers were bloody with the tips broken, and her body was covered with burns and injuries. Blood flowed from her dried lips as she quivered there. Her skin seemed faded…pale…actually withering on her body…

It was possible the move that Eden had made, powerful and terrible as it was, had never been intended to kill her…but nothing would stop her death now. She had unleashed every terrible, profane, and forbidden magic she could muster. The effect on her vitality was predictable. She was dry now. No more power from Faerio, Veriguno, Cybus…or from herself. The great Mianyl the Wind…now sentenced to death as her powerless body slowly decayed…having no more than a couple minutes left in this world…

Her violet eyes…weak and fading…looked to the sky…and saw the endless blackness…

She stiffened as she looked to it, her lips slightly parted as blood ran out, before she blinked once…and began to cry.

Two tears slowly rolled out of the corner of her eyes and down the sides of her head.

"The dark…"

Her voice weakly croaked, so soft…and yet it could be heard through the silence of the whole chamber.

"I…I hate…the dark… It's…just like then… Just dark…and everything in it… All those things that bit…and hissed…and snarled…"

The cool, confident woman was gone. The sounds that came from her were the blubbering of a child.

"I went to mommy and took her hand…and I begged her and begged her… 'Please wake up…please…please…talk to me…' But she wouldn't… I grabbed daddy and I shook him…I told him… 'Daddy…please…I'm scared…' But he didn't get up…none of them did…they just lay there and let those biting and buzzing things start eating them…"

She hicced here, like a young girl might.

"I tried to keep them off…but there were so many…and they just kept coming… I didn't see them go anywhere… I didn't see them go to heaven…or go to the Planet…just lie there and let those things eat them… And I screamed and cried for so long…but they wouldn't stop… They didn't go in the sky or to the Planet…they just sank into the mud…and I wanted them too…if only I didn't have to watch... I wanted the dark to come back…so I didn't have to see them being eaten…so I wouldn't have to look at them…wouldn't have to know they were dead… I wanted the dark to come longer…to stay…to never let me see them again…but…"

Her eyes closed, and she sniffled.

"I'm scared… I'm scared of everyone…because they'll be like the ones in the mud one day… We all will… We'll all just…rot away… But…the dark…there's so many bad things in it… And it doesn't care…"

She inhaled stiffly.

"It doesn't feel… It doesn't love… It doesn't hate… It's nothing and…and…"

She swallowed again.

"I hate it…but…but if I like it…nothing can hurt me…not death and not life... Nothing can scare me…nothing can leave me… I live in fear…or I rot away… That's my choices… I don't want to live waiting for things to die…and I don't want to die and fade away… I'd rather…just be nothing…"

She sniffled again and cried a bit harder.

"But…but what's in there…?"

She shuddered.

"The dark…it's…so scary…"

However, her crying aborted here abruptly as her eyes opened…for she felt something.

An armored body had crouched next to her, and had reached out to take her in her arms…cradling her almost like a child.

"No…no!" She began to cry. "Stay back! Stay-"

"Shh…"

At once, Mianyl went still. The sound of the "hush" was so soft…so gentle…it calmed her. Eased a small amount of her fear. Enough for her to lie there as her head was raised. She looked up…and in her dim vision she was just able to see it before it blurred.

Eden's visor had pulled back. Her beautiful blue hair, deep and vast as the ocean, and her soft eyes, light blue as the sunny sky, looked back at her with a quiet, reassuring smile.

"It's alright now." She spoke in a near whisper. "Everything will be alright."

The woman, having regressed into a child mentality, blinked uncertainly as she stared at her.

"The…the dark…"

"You'll never have to see it again." She promised quietly. "You're going someplace full of warmth and light…filled with people who love you and heard you crying in the darkness...and have been waiting for years to take you back into their arms. It won't end here. You won't be left in the dark."

The woman blinked again…a bit more calmly.

"But…but…how…?"

"I'll take you there." Eden softly answered. "You're safe now. Safe from everything."

She felt the woman hold a bit longer, but then begin to ease into her arms. In spite of the armor…Eden felt warm and gentle… Mianyl's body slowly began to rest as the last of her hair turned white.

"You…promise?"

Eden nodded. "Cross my heart."

More of the fear faded. The tears began to dry. Her arm with broken nails reached out and grabbed her cuirass.

"You…you won't leave me…like they did…will you?"

The Guardian Force gently shook her head. "No, little one. I'm going to stay with you…forever and always. I'll always keep you in my arms, and never let anything hurt you again."

The grip held a moment, but then eased. The hand slowly slumped back onto her lap. Mianyl stared a bit longer, before she cried again…but no longer tears of sadness. Tears of joy.

Continuing to smile at her lovingly, Eden lowered her head over hers, and gently kissed the Sorceress' brow. "Go to sleep." She whispered gently. "When you wake up…you'll be safe at home."

A weak smile slowly spread across the woman's face…a very tired one. Her eyes looked heavy now, and slowly began to flutter. She could feel a darkness coming on her now…but she no longer feared it. She knew it was only the curtain for a world of light beyond now. As Eden slipped her hand onto hers and held on tight…she knew. She knew she told the truth…that she'd hold her hand all the way and wouldn't let go. Secure in that, she shut her violet eyes.

"Thank…you…" She gently exhaled with her final breath.

With the last bit of life in her, she squeezed Eden's hand, and the Guardian Force squeezed right back. As her body began to erupt in tendrils of light as the previous Sorceresses had before her, the last thing Mianyl felt was Eden holding her hand firmly and securely…making sure her last thought was knowing she was there. The Guardian Force kept her promise. She held on tight until her spirit passed into the Lifestream. Not like so many tortured souls full of agony and hate…but feeling nothing but peace now as she was wrapped in the Planet's embrace.

Many would argue that Eden had all the reason in the world to hate Mianyl. She could have made her last moments painful or agonizing, and she would have been well within her rights to do so. Yet she couldn't…and she wouldn't. She couldn't really hate anyone anymore…not after she had seen what she had seen. Because in the end…she too had been her child, just as she too had been her mother. And if such was true…then that meant inside everyone's core was a trace of soul…of life itself…that embraced peace, serenity, and love.

And there was no power of chaos that could drive that out completely.

Eden slowly set Mianyl's body down, and rose to her feet above her. The tendrils of light continued to come from her body…the Sorceress Power. It wanted to pass on. However, there were no Sorceresses left to "willingly" accept it. A new one would be born soon… And considering who was here…it would likely be one of the group. She wasn't even sure there could be "male" Sorceresses… Would that mean it would fall to Ceja by default? A thought ran through her mind of the Fuliet warrior actually being a Sorceress…and she nearly cracked a grin at it…

She turned at last after a moment, and looked back to her sides. Bahamut merely stood silently…perhaps even smiling a bit if it was possible for a creature like him to do so. Tiamat seemed more disagreeable and even "grouchy" at what he had just seen…but he said nothing in response. Merely stood there with arms crossed as he always did. That too nearly made Eden smile. After all…there had to be something "good" still inside him as well, in spite of all of the evil and cruelty he had indulged in so long… She nearly spoke out…

…when another voice beat her to it.

"Eden…mother…"

It was neither Tiamat nor Bahamut, although both of them turned and looked to the source along with her. She soon saw Leviathan glaring forward, but not at them. He had managed to lift his head enough to gesture.

"It's not finished…and I'm afraid none of us or this world is safe yet."

Eden and the others turned their heads at once…toward the sad remains of the crystal hub. When she did, she saw the monstrous Void on the other side…and how the last of the crystal around it was nearly gone. Even as she watched, another fragment broke off and fell into it.

"Well…sh't." Carbuncle remarked from where he leaned.

"She was right…" Bahamut remarked. "The chaos from the battle has to be more than enough to push it over the edge. By now…it's self-sustaining. It may only be happening slowly, but…"

"Based on the rate I'm seeing…I doubt we have more than ten minutes. Maybe less." Leviathan grimly stated as he looked at it. "I'm not exactly sure what this is…but my guess is once it's gotten through the last of that ring around it…it will expand enough to consume this entire area…"

The others looked to it momentarily, before Cid turned his head slightly behind him toward Leviathan. "…There's a way to stop it…right? After what just happened…"

"'Shooting it' isn't going to help even if I was still at full power." Eden responded. "It's nothingness. All it will do is fuel the chaos that makes it up…" She soon looked to sea serpent as well…growing uncomfortable and nervous as the others were. "…Leviathan, if you have any ideas, I think we'd all love to hear them…"

"With the two worlds merged, any natural 'halt' on the Void was removed. The last barrier would have been the Crystal itself…" The sea serpent answered. "With it gone…there's nothing left to hold it back. The very 'center' of the order in this world has been removed…its 'core'…it's 'essence', if you will. The only reason this world hasn't collapsed yet is because of Eden's existence…"

"Well, I can't hold it back alone if it's still expanding." The woman answered.

"Isn't there a way to put the damn thing back together?" Carbuncle asked.

The sea serpent sighed. "With every action, even one desired to create order, more chaos ensues. It might be possible to reinstate the Crystal at this stage, but…it won't make any difference. The amount of 'disorder' that would result from trying to reconstitute that sort of thing would be tremendous…more than enough to fuel the Void to surpass it and destroy it again just as quickly. Besides…even if it was possible, it would take a _tremendous_ amount of energy to pull off. I don't think any of us possess it alone…"

"Well, damn it all…" Cryder suddenly snapped. "You ain't all planning on rolling over and dying already, are you? There's gotta be something we can do! You mean to tell me there ain't any way to put some 'order' or whatever into this world without making more 'disorder'?"

There was a pause, although mostly it was due to everyone looking to Leviathan. The sea serpent bowed his head temporarily, seeming to be deep in thought. In the end…he exhaled slowly.

"…There is _one_ way." He finally answered. "But…it's not good…"

"We don't have time for 'semantics', you overgrown fish." Tiamat snapped. "Just spit it out! What is it?"

Leviathan held a second longer, and then spoke more forcefully.

"…Magic energy is the most 'conserved' state of energy in existence. In all of my own research into its power, it seems to be the only kind of energy that is perfectly 'renewable', because it is tied to the spiritual energy of Gaia itself. And nowhere is magic more potent or concentrated than within one's own life…which is the force in its purest and more 'renewable' form. The only type of reaction that can generate pure 'order' without increasing the disorder of the universe. Because of that…"

He swallowed.

"…If someone was to…sacrifice themselves…and convert their own life force and body into raw spiritual energy and direct it to rebuilding the Crystal…it might be able to cause it to reform. Possibly even set off a chain reaction of cascading 'order' that could neutralize this 'branch' of the Void for a long time…thousands…perhaps even millions of years."

Everyone stared silently back at that. A cold chill moved through them.

"…So the only way to save this world now is…" Quaren quietly began to answer, but trailed off.

"…One of us dies." Bahamut ended.

Leviathan, however, grew grimmer yet. "…I'm afraid it's not that simple. Like I said…it would take a _tremendous_ amount of power. More so than can be found in any of us now…especially after we gave it up. It's likely…" He swallowed a bit. "…_most _of us need to sacrifice ourselves…maybe all of us."

There was another moment of silence, much longer than the last. By now, everyone seemed to be up and focusing again, and starting to look around one another. Their looks were blank…but everyone showed a measure of anxiety and fear. If anything, it was even quieter than it had been while Mianyl was still alive, and they could almost hear the Void once again…

Finally, the sea serpent bowed his head a bit and exhaled.

"Alright…I might as well volunteer myself first…" He stated grimly.

"No…_I'll_ go first." Eden instantly retorted.

Both the group and Bahamut and Tiamat snapped to her. "Dael…!" Quaren began to say.

She simply shook her head in reply. "I have the most power left…so as long as I go first, more of you…" She paused at what she was about to say, then spoke more slowly. "…more of you get to live."

"You _can't_, mother." Bahamut instantly responded. "You least of all. All that's currently keeping Gaia in one piece is _your_ existence."

"He's right." Leviathan answered. "Even if you could immediately turn yourself into the energy needed to rebuild the Crystal…if whatever part of you is maintaining the order in this world was to break apart even for a single second…it might kill over half the life on this Planet. Maybe _all_ of it."

"You don't honestly expect me to stand here and watch you all die one by one when I'm the one who clearly has the most power to spare, do you?" Eden retorted…her voice almost angry.

"I'll go first." Bahamut volunteered, a bit more straightly than Leviathan. "I've already died a few times as is… What's one more?"

"Like hell you will. _I'll_ do it."

Everyone turned slightly to this…and found themselves looking at a surprising source.

Tiamat's scowling face.

"Aside from being sickened by you 'playing the martyr' yet again…" He hissed, before trailing off momentarily and going quieter. "…I'm…pretty sure you all have it running through your heads that if anyone ever earned the right to 'die for a planet'…it would be me." He hesitated, and then snorted. "Besides…don't give me those stupid looks on your faces. It's not like any of you would mourn."

Bahamut said nothing in response…but his face was not cold or even indifferent as he looked to him.

"…So long as we're turning this into something worth 'atoning' for…" Gilgamesh spoke up from the side in an almost bitter voice. "Why not me? It's not like I didn't ruin plenty of lives myself…and Tiamat alone isn't going to be able to do it with his power."

"It doesn't have to be you." Odin responded. "I have more power and you at least tried to change."

Tiamat snorted. "You're all heart, Odin. Just like I remember you…"

"Dad…do _not_ try to turn this into some sort of father-son reparation…" Gilgamesh sighed. "It's too late for that now."

"It's something I can do for _you_ for once in my life…" The horned warrior muttered in response.

"**I am not truly alive, but my one desire is to protect life." **Alexander's voice rang out. **"It makes sense that I should sacrifice myself for the good of all…"**

"So…it currently stands me, Four-Arms, and the moving castle I'll be more than happy to see annihilated…" Tiamat sighed. "Anyone else want to throw themselves on the sacrificial fire before we 'get out the kerosene'?"

"Nothing's been 'decided' yet, Tiamat!" Eden suddenly shouted out, definitely bringing out the volume this time.

The creature snarled. "Oh please…do _not_ bother getting sentimental now, woman. What's this?" He twisted his voice in a parody. "'Oh no! My darling! You can't die now! Not until I've had the chance to turn you back to the good side?'" He hissed. "Well, save it! I've long since made Griever blush with my own actions and I don't want your pity or forgiveness!"

Now Bahamut gave a growl of his own. "For the love of God, Tiamat…are you _trying_ to break her heart?!"

"Stay out of this! You haven't the slightest right!" He nearly bellowed in response. "You know full well you'll never sleep at night knowing I'm still alive and out there! None of you will! I'm just having the guts to tell her to her face!"

"Enough!" Leviathan suddenly shouted back. "We don't have time for this bickering now! If you argue one more time, I'm just going to throw myself in! Maybe it will buy enough time to let you all settle-"

Abruptly, the sea serpent cut himself off. The group and several other Guardian Forces froze as well on seeing what he saw, and, in moments, the silence was enough to redirect the attention of everyone else. When they all looked, they spotted a change.

The light that had been coming from Mianyl's body suddenly pitched in the air like a cloud of fireflies, and was now streaking across it. It had found a new "heir" to the power. The process was fast, but it left streaks in the air marking a perfect trail. The assembly turned their heads to see who was receiving it…

And found Taraketh stiffly raising his remaining arm to the power, accepting it into his body. Soon after, the light began to fill him.

Eden realized a male _could_, in fact, inherit the power. And as she saw the color return to Taraketh's cheeks and his body grow stronger from what had to be Mianyl's god-like power flowing into him, she realized he was likely the only prime "candidate". He was the strongest human mage among them. For the first time, Eden began to realize fully what had been said before, about how she was no longer human. If she had been…perhaps that power would have ended up going to her…

Yet if Taraketh was obtaining this, then that meant he might become as strong as Mianyl had been…

She thought for a moment this might enable him to regenerate his limb, but as the last bit of light flowed into his body, he only looked "healthy" again…able to move normally. His body was again calm and focused as it had been before. After that, he looked forward a moment…and then lowered his one arm to the ground and pushed. With the help of his legs underneath him, he was soon on his feet. He inhaled and exhaled once…

And then it happened.

Multi-colored rings of light suddenly erupted around everyone, from the towering Alexander to Eden to the group to small Carbuncle, and spun around their bodies. The Guardian Force barely had time to gasp in surprise, her mind recognizing this attack from earlier…before she found herself immobilized just as before. A part of her mind actually groaned as she saw herself caught in the same trap she had been in earlier. Yet others were far more verbal about it.

"What the…?!" Tiamat snapped. "Unleash me at once you wretched human!"

"The Hell…?" Cryder remarked at his own body.

Ceja struggled and began to swear in her native language.

"What is the meaning of this?" Leviathan outburst.

Eden, on her part, looked straight to Taraketh. He was still calm, his eyes forward, looking past them all…toward the array containing the Void. He inhaled slowly and exhaled.

"…I'm sorry I had to do that, Dael." He said without looking at her. "…Everyone." He added a moment later. "But I'm not going to let any of you stop me."

With that, he calmly began to walk forward and toward the array.

The more angry individuals continued to struggle. Cerberus and Ifrit, in particular, were letting out streams of curses. But many others went still and watched the mage as he walked. Among them were the members of the original group…and Eden herself as she focused completely on him.

"Taraketh…"

"This power originated with the intent of saving the world…the day it was bestowed on Aerith the Radiant." He said as he passed from the group and to the periphery, and continued to walk from there. "It should be used to save it…not destroy it."

On hearing that, a realization started to come over everyone.

"…What is he doing?" Ceja said, more calmly.

"He's not…" Cid began to say.

"I'll use a bit of my power to heal you all just a little and send you back out again." Taraketh called behind him as he walked on. "I'd heal you more than that, but…I want to save as much as I can for this."

That made it clear.

"Taraketh, you can't!" Eden shot back.

"Of course I can." He simply answered as he kept walking. "And it makes the most sense, Dael. It's better that one of us do this rather than everyone… I have Mianyl's power inside me. Hopefully…I'm all that will be needed."

In spite of that, the group continued to feel fear shoot through them. They knew full well that someone was going to have to die…maybe more than one…but that didn't change the fact that this was their comrade…their friend.

"Taraketh…" Eden began to say again. "If this about 'atoning' for what you did…then don't! You don't have to do this!"

"You may have that power in you, lad…but that doesn't make your life worth any more than ours!" Cryder yelled in addition. "We all made bad mistakes! I ain't any more saintly than you!"

"This not bring back who have died!" Jalab shouted as well.

"They're right!" Cid threw in. "All of us have just as much right to live or die!"

"Everyone."

Taraketh's voice was remarkably calm and even. He didn't sound the least bit perturbed. By now, he was rather close to the remains of the rapidly-fading crystal array, but from here he turned and looked back to all of them at last.

He was actually smiling.

"You're all missing the point… I _want_ this."

Eden blinked, only one of many who showed surprise.

"I told you before, Dael…I have nothing now. At least…I thought I didn't." He continued. "The Order has been my life. I was no one before that…just some faceless street urchin. It gave me purpose…meaning…and point to my life. And even if I was just being 'groomed' to be used by one person or another, it gave me something to live for…it gave me 'value'. But most of all…it gave me the chance to meet all of you and to decide for myself what I wanted.

"Everyone…even if Mianyl was insane…she once represented something that was great and noble. Even if she didn't mean it, she acted through her power to do things that no one else could. To stand up for people when they couldn't defend themselves or help themselves. That's the purpose of Hyne's Descendents…the purpose of the Order of Hyne itself. That's why Aerith the Radiant was given her power…to save this world when no one else could. That's what the Sorceresses were _meant_ to do. But now they're gone…and so is the Order of Hyne. Yet I can still make sure their power accomplishes its 'true end'. I can be the last member of the Order of Hyne that carries out what it was supposed to.

"And I'm _not_ scared…and I'm not regretful. This is something only _I_ can do…what I always hoped I could do. The whole reason I became a mage in the first place. I have the power to save Gaia and all of you. And when it's over…" He held a moment, then gave a simple shrug and a smile. "…I'll be one with the Planet itself, just like our founder was. To know that my bones…my flesh…my heart was used to order this world and to banish the Void for generations to come…I can't ask for any greater honor. But most of all…I can defend who matters the most to me. You all may think I'm crazy for this…but I can't let you die."

He hesitated, and then smiled a bit more.

"…Not after you've all given me _my_ meaning."

The group and the Guardian Forces around were silent. Most of the latter group was either quiet or indifferent, but that didn't matter. The focus was on the group and the Guardian Forces about them. They didn't voice any more protest or say another word. They couldn't. Even if they did…there was no way they could stop him now. And they could tell on his face that he didn't have any fear. He was ready. Even almost eager.

Eden herself realized it as she stared at him…that this was what he wanted. And she slowly realized they didn't have the right to deny him that. She sighed at last.

"Taraketh…undo the spell on us."

The mage's smile faded. He hesitated a moment. Eden exhaled again as she looked up.

"I won't try to stop you…just don't make us 'helpless' to do anything here. Or I, on my part, will wonder if I could have stopped you for the rest of my life…and I am going to live a _long_ time."

The mage held a bit longer. He still seemed uncertain. Finally, however, he waved his hand.

The spell released on only a few of them…namely the original group members: Eden, Quaren, Cryder, Ceja, Jalab, Cid, Carbuncle, and Bahamut. They all slumped a bit from suddenly being free, but he had gone on and healed them enough to restore a bit of their power and ease the pain from their injuries, and soon they looked back to him. After a moment, they began to walk out. Already, as they neared, they could feel wind being drawn in toward the barely-intact barrier on the Void. It was starting to feel darker and colder. They didn't have much time for "goodbyes". If they didn't say something here and soon, they were never going to get the chance again. Even so, the group could barely do faster than a walk up to the mage, and parted to partially surround him…although still leaving a side open to the Void.

Once there, they all stood silently once again. They all stared, not blank or hostile…but their own emotions swelling and gazing intently at their ally and friend.

After a moment, Jalab came forward and put a heavy hand on his shoulder. The mage looked up to him, and the monk smiled a moment before he said something in his native language. Afterward, he reached out with his other hand and clapped it so hard against Taraketh's chest he staggered a bit.

"Now…you know the First of Yhattan." He said quietly.

Taraketh held, but then smiled a bit. "…I guess I do, Sir Sabian. As always…it was an honor to fight alongside you."

That confused a few of them, but Eden was finding out now she had the knowledge of countless ones who had gone before her. And she knew now the first principle of Yhattan herself, the first precept that the monks in Jalab's order had to learn.

_One does not find their life until they are willing to give it up._

As Jalab stepped back, Cryder came up and faced him a moment. Then, he cracked a smile and gave him a punch in the shoulder.

"Told you that you could turn it around, mate."

Taraketh actually managed a chuckle. "Yeah…guess that's not the first time you were right and I was wrong."

"Eh, don't sweat it." He answered with a shrug. "What's an ol' pirate know? 'Sides…I was holdin' out on you."

The mage was puzzled…before Cryder bent down to his boot. He reached in a moment, and then came out with a "pen flask". He raised back up and proceeded to slip it in the remains of the mage's own robe.

"Only 'bout half a shot. Saved that for a 'victory dance', mate. Once you hit the other side…give me a toast, will ya'?"

Taraketh smiled back wider. "I will." He answered…more seriously than he had ever said anything to Cryder before in his life.

The pirate smiled and began to rub at the bridge of his nose as he stepped back, masking his "eyes burning" with an itch. When he withdrew, the more stoic and noble Ceja stepped forward, although she had set her axe to one side as she neared him. She stood straight before him a moment, showing little, and then did a ceremonial bow from her tribe to him. Taraketh hesitated, but then tried to respond as best as he could.

"You might have done well on the wilds of Fuliet after all, Child of Hyne." She stated when he rose. "That is how the Nine Bands of the North respectfully bid the greatest of their warriors farewell when they are parting."

"Thanks." Taraketh answered.

Ceja held for a moment, and then exhaled as her complexion failed a bit. "And…here is how the weaker, sillier women of the 'modern world' tell someone who is their friend farewell…"

With that, she leaned forward and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

The mage honestly looked surprised, along with the others around. Jalab actually stiffened and nearly let out a stammer. Eden, however, just casually smiled. Jalab may have known a lot about "inner peace"…but it seemed he still had a lot to learn about the difference between a romantic kiss and one that was purely friendship. As for Ceja, she too looked a bit embarrassed at her own spontaneous action, but she managed to give a smile before retreating.

Cid, letting out a bit of a nervous chuckle, wiping at his head and scratching his beard on his chin came up next, and gave a bit of a helpless shrug. He fidgeted and squirmed as if he didn't know what to do with himself.

"Aw shoot…I'm no good at this kind of thing… I really don't know what I can say…"

Before he could mutter anymore…Taraketh's hand came out and planted on his shoulder. Cid paused and looked up to him, and saw that the mage had gone serious.

"_I_ do." He firmly answered. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for doubting you as a Sorceress Knight, as a member of the Order of Hyne, as a warrior, as someone who was determined to never give up or let anything stop him from helping his friends and this world, and as one of the greatest men I ever met. You're a thousand times the Sorceress Knight I could have ever hoped to be in this lifetime or a hundred lifetimes. Don't let anyone tell you differently. _Ever_. I was lucky to have had you over me. So was the rest of the Order of Hyne. We would have really been everything we told the world we were if it was filled with more people like you and less like me."

Cid, as he heard this praise heaped up on him…couldn't help but not only smile and turn red, but even tear up a bit. The truth was in spite of his status, he always secrely felt "less" than people like Taraketh due to not having any decent magic ability. In spite of being a Sorceress Knight versus a High Child…a part of him always respected Taraketh for that.

At last, the mage smiled again. "I'll ask Lady Faerio to keep watching you if I run into her…even if she won't say a word to me until after she's administered a a hundred years worth of discipline in an instant… I'm sure she'll let you know she's there somehow." He gave a shrug. "She _is_ a Sorceress, after all."

Now the engineer really did begin to cry as he smiled back. He let out a shaky laugh as he wiped his eyes, and put his hand out on Taraketh's own arm. After both gave a squeeze, he managed to turn, sniffle, and start to walk back.

Quaren came up next. Even without his weapons, he still had some "air" of military in his torn, shredded remains of his uniform. Once there, he stood before the mage at a short distance as well, and Taraketh soon drew up to face him.

"…Well, corporal," He said after a moment. "Should we salute each other as Order of Hyne members, as Esthar's Hawks, or as whatever suits the both of us best?"

Quaren looked back a moment before smiling a bit himself. "…How about like this?"

He held out a hand.

Taraketh paused, and then smiled as he reached out and took it, and both gave a firm shake.

"…I never thought I'd grow to admire a military man."

"And I never thought I'd be able to look at you without wanting to throw up."

The mage raised his eyebrow a bit at that, but Quaren merely snickered back. After a moment, Taraketh did the same. They shook for a bit longer, and then both released. They smiled one more time at one another, and then the rifleman turned and went back.

Carbuncle was the one who crawled forward next. On reaching Taraketh's feet, he looked up to him momentarily. He let out an exhale and rolled his head a bit from side to side.

"Look…Taraketh…I know I called you a 'self-absorbed little prick'…"

The mage merely shrugged. "You don't have to apologize for that, Sir Carbuncle."

The little green creature looked up and glared at him. "…Who said I was apologizing? You _were_ a self-absorbed little prick and a great many things besides that I can't say because we have ladies present. The point I was trying to make was that you'd think a creature like me that lived for thousands of years should have learned something important…and that's that people can change for the better. And when that happens, well…it's a beautiful thing. Better than any gem, I'd wager."

He held out a paw to him, as if wanting to shake. After a moment, Taraketh bent down and grasped it, giving it a minor shake with his forefingers.

"You were the ugliest-ass lump-of-coal I've ever run into, you little bastard…but you sure made one hell of a pretty diamond." Carbuncle grinned.

Taraketh smiled back. "…I know that's quite a compliment from a Guardian Force, Sir Carbuncle."

"Damn straight." He answered. After a moment more, they separated and the green creature pulled back. Afterward, the mage looked up and to Bahamut gazing down upon him. Even now, underpowered as he was, he felt himself withering a bit under the gaze even if it wasn't hostile.

They looked to each other for a while, before the reptilian eyes closed and Bahamut gave a bow of his head to Taraketh. The mage paused only a moment before doing the same. It seemed there didn't need to be more than that.

Yet when his head raised again, Taraketh spoke.

"One question, Lord Bahamut…please." He paused. "What is…_it_…like?"

The Guardian Force was quiet as he looked up. "A difficult question to answer, as I remember so little of it. But I can tell you one thing with absolute certainty." His maw seemed to smile a bit. "It isn't _nearly_ as frightening as everyone thinks it will be."

The mage hesitated, but smiled in the end. "…That's good to hear."

The draconic creature smiled back. After a few more moments, however…it was time to turn to the last. Taraketh's gaze went over to Eden's. In spite of her sky-blue eyes and her hair as deep as the abyss and her resplendent armor of adamantite…he could still see "Dael" inside her more clearly than ever, just as she could see him. There was a pause between the two. Neither of them seemed to really know what to say or do now. They just stared instead…

They had certainly come a long way in only a few months. There was a time…a long time, even…when both of them merely wanted to wring each other's necks. There had been ups and downs in their relationship. Some of the ups went higher than others…and some of the downs pretty much hit bottom. The two had likely learned as much about each other…and taught as much to each other…as anyone had. They were both very different from who they were when they met at the South Gate, and in more ways than one. However, in spite of everything, they could say one thing for certain at this time, after both had lost pretty much everything from the life they once knew. They were more than friends. They were almost "family". And for that, there was only one reaction.

The two finally pulled together, put their arms around one another, and embraced.

They quietly held for a few moments. Time was running short. Both of them could hear the Void growing louder now… Yet as they held, both of them felt their eyes beginning to mist once again. After a time, they both leaned off and looked back to one another. Just the mere moment had exchanged a great many things they wished to share with one another without saying a word. Some things could only be felt…not spoken.

After a moment at looking to one another, Taraketh moistened his lips a bit.

"Dael…" He said quietly after a moment. "You know…now that I'm here…" He was quiet for a second longer, and then sighed. "It doesn't really matter now…but I'll put it out there or I'll never get another chance. Looking back over the last few months…at certain moments…certain times…I found myself thinking. If I hadn't betrayed you…and you hadn't ended up being a Guardian Force…"

He held again, and then pressed a bit more tightly.

"About…what might have been."

Eden looked quietly back for a moment. She smiled a bit more…but it was of the wistful sort.

"Might have been, Taraketh." She answered…and then shook her head slightly. "Wasn't."

He held only for a fraction of a second, and then nodded…slowly at first, but then more readily.

"You're right." He answered with a tone of resignation…of acceptance. He inhaled slightly. "…I don't suppose I'll ever see you again. This is where I become a part of you…and you live forever."

Eden only held a moment before she raised a hand and touched it to her own chest. "Only a part of me…" She moved it over and placed it on his. "…as I'm a part of you. I don't know much, Taraketh…even as Eden. But I know this isn't the last time we'll ever meet. One day we'll see each other again."

Taraketh held a moment, feeling Eden's armored hand on his chest, and slowly he smiled. "…Alright. I'll believe that if you're the one who tells me." He finally admitted.

He swallowed a bit.

"But…just the same…can we pretend, just for _one_, single moment…that it is 'what might have been'?"

The Guardian Force stared back a bit longer, but then smiled a bit more as her hands reached up and took Taraketh's chin and neck gently.

"For _one_ moment…we can."

The mage smiled a bit more before he gripped a bit tighter, and the two leaned forward and shared a long kiss. Eden, on her part…only felt the smallest, tiniest stirring inside her from it. It was as she had said…in another life, in another set of circumstances even…it would have meant more. It might have even been the most important moment of her life. Yet she agreed with Taraketh about one thing…here it was just taking a few seconds to see what it _might_ have been like.

And in the end…she could agree with him.

It would have been nice.

The two parted, and after looking only a second more, released each other as Taraketh took two steps back. He inhaled deeply once, and then exhaled. He raised his good hand and waved.

"Like Cryder says…" He said with a smile. "…See you all on the other side."

Bahamut raised his own head and spoke as they all raised hands back to him. "I'll be listening for you, Sir Taraketh Sabian, High Child of Hyne." He stated with an air of quiet dignity.

"Good luck." Quaren added, his own voice shaking a bit.

Eden merely smiled a bit more as tears rolled down her own cheeks.

The last she saw of Taraketh's face was him smiling back at her, two tears rolling down his own cheeks, before he turned fully away and faced the Void. There he stood a moment, framed before the monstrous, hissing darkness, lightning thundering out and the ring only seconds from collapse…seeming to shine out as something impassive and strong already…something even all the blackness of the Void couldn't negate.

Then she saw her own body shimmer with a ripple of light…before the world around her stretched and collapsed into a tiny image…and she was whisked away along with those with her back for the surface.

* * *

><p>The other Guardian Forces only felt a light wave of healing before they too rippled and vanished in a flash of light…leaving only Taraketh alone standing in the dark, chaotic chamber…facing the emptiness of the Void.<p>

He looked only a moment longer. Strange that he was now the most isolated man on Gaia…farther from anything or anyone than any other living creature on it. And yet…he felt as if they were all with him as he chanted the arcane words. Closer to him than ever as the same power that the Sorceresses inherited allowed him to see one last technique… As he completed the spell…starting at the base of his feet, a white light began to shine, and rays of color and energy began to swirl around him…his own life being turned into its purest form. In its wake, he could sense his feeling disappearing. Sure enough, if there had been any to watch him, they would have seen his feet turn into the most perfect, flawless crystal in existence…then his ankles…his shins…his knees…slowly spreading up and revealing more light and color as he did so.

As it came to his hips and his waist, he merely extended his arms out and around him as he embraced whatever awaited him. He had a look of joy on his face as his abdomen became crystal, followed by his chest. As the wave slowed over his shoulders, the rest of it moved faster to spread along his good arm and his remaining arm, so that they completed the change first. By now he was wrapped in light and color more splendid and fantastic than either he or anyone else could have ever dreamed…

_So beautiful… So warm…_

As the crystal spread up his neck, his eyes opened.

"You were right, Lord Bahamut… It isn't bad at all…"

With the tranquil look on his face, the crystal covered it…leaving him a perfect statue for a moment…before it shattered into atoms.

A sound came forth from the Void like a bestial roar of agony. The light and color swept up the microscopic remains of the crystal statue, instantly whipping them around in a vortex. As it swept about, it began to condense it, and the pieces started to rejoin…powered by the light of infinite energy and spirit from an infinite number of lives…drawing from the plans set out for Gaia far, _far_ longer than a mere six billion years ago…and began to reorder themselves into a state of infinite, incomprehensible complexity. By the time one could start seeing the faint shimmering of crystal dust in the air, the tiniest piece was already far too intricate for humanity to spend the whole of its history analyzing. The Void began to quiver and grow irregular…no longer a monstrous hole but now shaking as if the same vacuum it had been exerting was being "blocked", like one who views a huge drain sees as a circular hatch begins to close around it. The vast, empty darkness began to shrink…both in diameter as well as in depth. Before it had been a massive hole in reality…but that hole was rapidly collapsing.

The dark lightning vanished and although the sound of the Void grew more turbulent, it also grew quieter. Now, the crystal dust came around and before it, and began to grow more highly ordered. It started off as a tiny sliver, but soon the other fragments added to it, and began to grow rapidly. As it "waxed", the Void continued to wane, growing smaller and smaller yet. As the crystal grew to half of its former size, the Void became only a small black funnel. At three quraters, it was no more than a hole one sees when they pull the drain in a bathtub…

As the last few pieces put themselves into place, restoring the Crystal flawlessly, right down to the atom, into its former state, a sound like the doorway to oblivion itself slamming shut rang out…and the Void vanished. Yet it wasn't merely "closed" in the sense of the what humans thought of as reality. From their perspective…it was annihilated. If one could see the infinite dimensions of space and see the tendrils of the chaotic Void stretching through the whole of the galaxy…they would have seen the entire thread passing through the solar system where Gaia dwelt grow thin…and then disappear…

…right as the Crystal shone forth with a brilliance beyond that of the sun.

Within one billionth of a second, the crystal array had completely built around it, hiding it again but letting its light radiate through every inch of it. Within one millionth, the platform it had been perched on was fully ordered and seemless again. Within one ten thousandth, the crystal world about it was rebuilding itself from every grain of dust of damage that had been done to it from the fight between Eden and Mianyl. Within a thousandth…it was done…

And by the time five seconds had finally elapsed…there was none on Gaia who couldn't see its result.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: Let's clear some misconceptions...<p>

There was not meant to be any correlation between Taraketh's transformation into a crystal statue and Final Fantasy XIII. He literally converted his life and body into "raw material" to rebuild the Crystal.

Regarding the "kiss"...

Taraketh had never yearned for anyone besides Mianyl, and as a result he never went after Dael. However, there had been a few times where he had thought he may have liked her in "that way". Dael, on her part, only ever saw him at best as a devoted friend. Basically, that last moment was Taraketh requesting her to help him see what it would be like to share his romantic love with someone before he died.

One chapter left...then the epilogue...


	80. Every New Beginning

The last of the group materialized back on the surface just as it happened. They hardly managed to set foot on the stony, bare ground still stripped of snow when it started.

Right before them, in the crater where the Tower of Entropy had descended, a column of light shot straight out into the heavens. Not like the pale, wan light of the previous tower. This was pure and beautiful, and all had to recoil, for none of them could stand to look directly into it. Yet even so, everyone found themselves _trying_ to. After all…the light was so pure…so beautiful…

It wasn't alone. Even from where the gathering stood, they could see, many miles in the distance, another column of light rip into the heavens. And far to the other side of it, another column. Plus a half dozen more spread farther away. Wherever the crust of the world was "thin" enough, it came forth. There wasn't a single person looking outside anywhere on Gaia who would see any less than four of them at a time…watch as the beautiful, radiant light that came from the core of the Planet itself…from the Crystal itself…burst forth and stretched all the way to the heavens. In a sense, one would think it was as if massive searchlights had shone forth. Yet this seemed like more. It almost seemed like the light had substance. It wasn't long before the group, in spite of the power and brilliance of the light, found themselves pulling their arms away so they could see the magnificent light rising above to the heavens…to stare in wonder of the beauty…

As the light struck the clouds, the world began to change. The raging wind and storms that had been constantly unleashed…the endless rain and lightning that had thundered and poured over so much of it…finally began to subside completely. Droughts finally broke, and floods finally had a reprieve. The weather that had oscillated so much, alternating between heat and cold, charged air and stagnant, began to even out and resume its previous state. Temperatures once again evened, and the dysfunctions in climate world-wide began to stabilize, slipping back into the "normal" range. So much of the world that had been shaken up and damaged by the fight raging beneath the Planet seemed to "adjust". The quaking and chaos that had reigned on the surface evened out and subsided. World-wide, monsters that had been wild and vicious acted as if something had suddenly "sedated" them, growing calm and even tempered once again.

Most of all, the dark, ominous clouds parted in the wake of each radiant beam…and the sky opened once again. For the first time in what seemed like eternity, the blue skies were revealed. The sun was free to send its own light through the breaks in the clouds as they parted one after another, bathing the world in the soft light. It took only a few minutes for the last of the "storm" to fade, leaving only a few wisps of white clouds behind…and the sky filled with the light of the day.

At long last, Gaia had returned to normal.

Eden looked up to the heavens as she saw the columns of light last a bit longer…and then begin to shrink. Like light shone from an aperture, the pillars slowly lost their diameter and collapsed again. The glow also gradually faded…and then vanished entirely. One last tremor began to roll out after that…causing the ground around Eden and the others to shake. She looked down, and found herself staring at the source of the column of light…the pit of the Tower of Entropy. She watched as she saw the raw crystal that made it up deteriorate and crumble into dust, collapsing in on itself and sending a cloud of dirt and smoke into the air as a result. It soon obscured the impression, but as it did the rumbling faded…indicating it was already done. The very entrance she and the others had entered through fell to the ground to mingle with the bare rock. An icy wind from the snowfields they were in blew by and began to carry off the dust clouds…and all was still and normal again. The world was once more as it should be.

It was finally over.

Eden looked on at the impression of the tower's "base" as the dust settled or was blown away…but in the end only saw a deep hole with loose dirt filling the bottom. Not the slightest glimmer of crystal. She slowly exhaled.

_…Thank you, Taraketh._

The air was cold, although not as bad as before. Warmer even than their first journey there. Besides…Eden could barely feel it now. She was too strong to freeze from a little thing such as icy wind. She stayed still only until she heard movement behind her. When that happened, she slowly turned to face everyone.

The group was already looking to her, including Bahamut and Carbuncle. As for the other Guardian Forces, all of them had enough power to move now, and were beginning to move forward again, slowly drawing nearer. She could still see the collapsed entrance to the moogle tunnel from here, but she noticed something else as well…a light in the distance that seemed like a fire. It rapidly grew larger, and soon her new eyes were able to make out the shapes as they neared…

Not long after, the last two Guardian Forces…other than Diablos, of course…came in for a landing with all of the others. Phoenix, looking a bit stronger than before, at least enough to stand, slowly touched down with the rest. Not long after, the one "missing" one from the previous battle, Siren, slowly drifted down with her own hair flapping like wings and gently alit.

A thought passed through Eden's mind of why the latter hadn't been there, but before she could ponder it too much, she heard the voice of Leviathan ring through her own mind.

_While I'm sure Siren didn't want to be destroyed any more than the rest of us…she was still spawned from pure evil and chaos. I feared her presence in that chamber might have fed the Void more than any of our own powers could have. Someone had to stay behind and help Phoenix anyway…and as it turned out, she had a good use as is. When Omega Weapon and the Tower of Entropy appeared, we had her broadcast her voice to keep people calm and avoid having panic and despair increase the chaos even more… She seemed to be fine with being "nice" for once so long as she still got to manipulate people…_

Eden took this in, and didn't argue about it. After all, everything had worked out. After this, she looked down back to the group. As the Guardian Forces drew in closer, Quaren looked about a moment, and then exhaled.

"So…" He said quietly at last, breaking the silence. "…now what?"

Cryder actually let out a weak chuckle. "May sound a tad silly, but the lad's got a good point. Nothing in this world's the same…"

"Pretty much everything we've all grown up with and knew has changed…" Cid added.

There was a moment of silence. Yet after that time, Leviathan raised his head over everyone.

"It will be an 'adjustment', to be sure." The sea serpent stated. "And a greater one than this world has had to endure since the Collapse. There's really no telling how much Gaia has changed now that it is one with Nyx Gaia again. However, this isn't the first time that the world has had to get back on its feet after a crisis. I doubt it will be the last, either. And it will happen the same way it always happened…taking one step at a time."

"In a way, this is where the real 'challenge' begins." Eden added. "When we came together to stop the Sorceresses, that was the first thing we all really ever did completely on our own. The first time we ever 'blazed a trail' ourselves." She paused, and then gave a shrug. "I guess now…we'll just have to keep on doing it."

She hesitated, and then let out a small chuckle.

"…I'll admit, it's kind of scary to bear the burden of being totally responsible for yourself and where you go from here. But if we've come this far doing that…I think we can all handle it."

The others paused at that, but then smiled as well.

Bahamut himself bowed his head. "…Yet again, I find myself alive in a strange world. But in a lot of ways, it's like how it was when I 'started'." He raised his head again and looked to Leviathan, who turned his own head to him in reply…and smiled a bit.

"I'm not alone this time. Once again…I have a family and a 'race' with me." He looked to Eden afterward. "…And I had someone teach me the value of not trying to bear the weight of this world on my shoulders alone. For the first time in my life…I get to see who I spent thousands of years serving and protecting with my own eyes. I spent most of my life seeing myself as bearing a responsibility and a burden. It's one I wouldn't discard for anything in the world…but it was a burden none the less. In some ways, perhaps even a curse."

He smiled wider.

"It feels good to look to the future with hope and expectation once again."

Eden continued to smile back. For a moment, she felt like moving over to her son and giving him a gesture of affection, even if there was only so much she could do with her relative size. However, before she went too far…her mind recalled something more pressing at hand. Her smile faltered a bit, and she turned her head to one side. Bahamut, seeming to already guess what it was, had his own fade as he turned and looked as well.

There was one Guardian Force who remained separate from all the others.

Back turned to everyone, arms crossed, and seeming to cast the only shadow in the brilliant sun was Tiamat.

A few moments of silence passed. Eden stared at him, as if she could almost see his face on the other side. After a time, she turned her body and began to take a few steps toward him, her feet crunching a bit against the bare ground.

"Tiamat…"

"Don't bother." He coldly stated.

At once, the woman stopped.

"…I never said I accepted you as my mother. Don't mistake my actions today for that." He continued. "But even if I did, what of it? You think just because you've taken the form of flesh and blood that it changes anything?" He voice grew more sardonic. "That you can just hug and kiss me and say 'my darling baby boy' and that it undoes thousands upon thousands of years?"

He growled, but then spoke more quietly.

"…I barely even remember Griever or Ultima Nexus. It seems like some fantasy story I saw in another life that I only have shadows of. The only thing I remember is _hate_. I can't even recall thirty different names and people in my entire life. All I ever thought about was how much I hated Bahamut and wanted him to die… Everything else was meaningless…including any ideas of love or tenderness. One day isn't going to change that, 'Eden'."

The woman continued to stare at him.

"…Then what do you plan to do instead, Tiamat?" She asked with a firmer, stronger voice, almost challenging his last phrase. "Continue living exactly as you always have? Continue thinking the same way you always did? You said it yourself…that's an empty life. You may have devoted thousands of years to hate and anger, but that doesn't mean you have to sentence this new chance at life to the same fate. If you want to have a different life…if you want to live for something besides destroying your brother…then the one who decides when your former life ends and your new life begins is _you_. You're the one who makes the choice, Tiamat…to let go of your hate and start living. If you truly don't like what you've made yourself over thousands of years, then tell yourself that today's the day it comes to an end."

She exhaled.

"But please…don't let your foolish pride tell you that you're sentenced to this fate…or that there's no way I can truly love you. Because even if you haven't accepted me as your mother, I've already accepted you as my son."

Tiamat was quiet in response. However, he didn't growl. He didn't snort. He didn't spit back hateful venom. He merely stood there silently and continued to stare out on the horizon.

Finally, he turned his head enough to look to Eden.

"I'm afraid I'm not about to 'unlearn' the only way of life I've ever known in just this short length of time. When I said that the only thing I remembered was hate…that's the only thing I _had_. The only thing I knew that kept me alive. Now…I'm not sure what I am. I'm not even sure what it means to live for something besides wanting another dead. And that's not something that you or anyone else is going to be able to change with a snap of your fingers."

If this was meant as a biting, sardonic comment…it didn't come out as it at all. It actually had a hint of regret on it… At any rate, Tiamat looked away and opened his wings wide. His tail prompted himself to launch. He was going to leave.

Eden stepped forward, and held out a hand to him. "Tiamat…"

The draconic creature held a second longer…before he added something more quietly.

"…Perhaps one day…I'll take you up on your advice."

Pause.

"…Just not today."

With a snap of his wings generating enough force to nearly bowl over the group and weaker Guardian Forces, even from this distance, Tiamat shot into the heavens like a cannon. In no time at all, he soared high and above overhead, and then pitched and took off in a blaze for the horizon. Just as fast as he had come into Esthar during the night of that raid, he was gone.

Eden and Bahamut alike looked after him more intently than all the others. Everyone was quiet.

"…Is Gaia safe with him wandering free?" Leviathan asked after a time.

"For all of his threats…he isn't going to make any trouble." Eden readily answered. She sighed a bit as her head bowed. "…Not now. But perhaps it is foolishness on my part to think that I could so easily bring him back to who he was…"

Bahamut shook his head in response. "It's not." He stated firmly. "I might have thought the same way if it was a few hours earlier…but Wyvern said and did things in the core of the Planet I thought I would never hear or see from him if I lived to be a billion years old. For what it's worth, mother…you made _me _feel, as impossible as it seems, that there's hope for him."

Eden looked up to Bahamut at that. Again, she smiled…encouraged by hearing him say that.

There was another moment of silence before both of them turned back to the group. From here, Cid let out a bit of an exhale himself. The moment with Tiamat had passed, and he was looking on. He turned his head up to Bahamut.

"So…is this goodbye to you too, Lord Bahamut?" He asked after a moment.

The draconic creature paused, but then nodded. "Humans and creatures like me were never meant to live together for long. That's just the way it is."

"But…couldn't you make an 'exception'?" Cid asked.

"You lived as a human with us for quite a bit…" Quaren added.

Bahamut paused for a time, but then exhaled. "…A part of me _does_ want to make an 'exception'. And were I still in a human body, I would accept without hesitation. Yet this is what it means to be an esper…or a Guardian Force, if you prefer. We have our part of this world…where there is still nature and beauty and mystery. Human have their part…where they build and grow and learn and advance. Long ago, I swore I would stop 'directing' this world's affairs. We will always be there to step in to do what humans can't do for themselves to defend this world…but this is a human's world, and it's their age and their time. You shape your own destiny. You make this world whatever you want of it."

The group still looked regretful. Perhaps they weren't as attached to Bahamut as Eden was…but they were still his friends. And truth be told…Bahamut didn't like this either. It was only his fears of what had happened over time when their races had interacted that he would not allow himself to reconsider. Besides…he spoke the truth. He still wanted humanity to decide its own fate, and to remake this world as it wished. Yet after a time, Cryder looked up a bit.

"Tell you what, mate… Say you'll drop by every now and then in human form to knock back a couple pints…and we'll call it even."

The draconic creature actually blinked a bit in response at such a statement, not really expecting it. However, the other group members looked up to him at that, seeming to take it perfectly seriously. Bahamut held a bit longer, but then finally exhaled.

To his own surprise, he felt himself smile.

"…Deal." He ended up saying.

This improved the mood quite a bit. The group actually was more at ease. Yet before one could say anything else, Jalab turned his head. A moment later, he gestured.

"Look."

Everyone turned in response, and found themselves looking back at the crater. Eden saw what Jalab had noticed…tendrils of light, just as with the other Sorceresses, coming forth from the ground and rising into the sky. Moments later, they split in multiple directions, although they stayed clustered in four separate groups, and then shot away into the sky as quickly as Tiamat had done.

"…The Sorceress Power." Ceja remarked.

"Soon, four more Sorceresses will be 'born'." Eden added.

Cryder frowned in response. "Bloody hell… Does that mean it's going to start all over again?"

"Hardly." Leviathan responded. "The bulk of the Sorceress Power was used to rebuild the Crystal. Only traces of what it amassed over hundreds of years remains, and it's going to four different individuals. To be honest…I do not pity those four in the least. The idea of a 'Sorceress' has become a curse and a byword among humanity after this. As much as society has collapsed and deteriorated, superstition, prejudice, and fear is going to govern all of humanity's decisions for a while. I won't be surprised if anyone who uses the title 'Sorceress' is literally burned at the stake like the witches of old… Perhaps anyone who claims ties to the Order of Hyne."

Carbuncle snorted. "One thing you can always rely on humanity for…being dumb as boxes of rocks."

Cid, on his part, looked rather uneasy on hearing all of that. After all, the mages that had been with him at the archipelago and that he had grown up with were some of the "good" ones still left. A few moments later, he swallowed, and then straightened up.

"Well…well, in that case…my own job isn't finished yet at all." He soon turned his head to Leviathan. "Could you take me back to Lamb Temple as soon as possible?"

The sea serpent looked down and blinked. "Lamb Temple?" He answered.

The engineer nodded. "Yes…immediately. I've got to get back as soon as I can. That's probably the only place still on Gaia that has a gathering of 'good' mages. All of us were behind Faerio one hundred percent. Right now…I'm scared about what Boss Capulluno and the rest of the Lamb government might be doing. There might be people there talking about lynching us or ripping the whole temple down and attacking the people there. I've got to get back so I can help them all realize we're here to help…that mages aren't 'the enemy' and that we're not following Mianyl's example."

Leviathan stared back silently at Cid. Both he, as well as the others around, seemed a bit taken aback from this. They hadn't noticed such "forthrightness" from Cid the entire time they had known him. However, in the wake of this "rebirth of Gaia", he seemed to have a new passion inside him. New encouragement and drive. New fire in his eyes.

Perhaps…even a bit of a 'dayspark'.

"This isn't going to be something easy, I hope you know, Cid Boer." Leviathan responded. "Human irrationality, hate, and fear is not something that is easily dispelled…although I agree with your sense of urgency. It's best to tackle this problem 'head on' before it gets out of hand if you wish to stop it. Still, this is going to be a difficult task for you to handle alone."

"But he won't be alone."

The group looked up at this, because it wasn't one of them who had spoken. Rather, it was the great thunderbird Quetzacoatl, who used this moment to spring into the air and fly over to the side of those gathered. She spun in the air and went into a hover on arrival, sending out a few sparks of electricity.

"Don't forget, Lamb Temple is my home. And I am still Cid Boer's Guardian Force. And if this is 'a threat humans cannot handle alone', then I will assist him."

The engineer actually smiled a bit on hearing this encouragement.

"I'm in too."

The group turned their heads again, and soon noticed an even more surprising sight. The bulky, grouchy form of Ifrit stomped along on the ground and soon came up to Quetzacoatl's side. He snorted a bit as he halted.

"I've been without a home ever since those Sybenian maggots tried to break in. And I'm definitely not going back to some nuclear wasteland… So I guess that means I'm headed for a tropical island. Sure I'll find some nice hot cave there to crash with all those volcanos making it up… And if anyone causes this puny runt any trouble, I'll just slap them upside the head."

"Ugh…seriously?"

Ifrit looked up a bit at that and turned his head, just in time to see the stoic Shiva slide up next to him.

"With _you_ 'handling things', I won't be surprised if you scare enough humans to make them call in an air strike on Lamb Temple…" She said with a sigh. "I better accompany him and make sure he doesn't do anything foolish."

The fiery beast growled. "Why do you always have to browbeat me in front of everyone?! For crying out loud, I'm not a damn child!"

Shiva calmly looked back to him.

"…Are you saying you'd prefer if I once again found a forgotten corner of this world to live in so that we wouldn't get a chance to see each other for _another_ 80 years as opposed to living close enough to get together every day?" She paused…before adding. "And every _night_, for that matter?"

For once, the heat of Ifrit receded as he actually looked taken aback. He stammered slightly.

"Er…uh…well…no…"

"Then it's settled." Shiva coolly answered.

Ceja herself was silent for a second before raising her own head. "…I must make a new trail as well for myself and my own people. Until now, the Warchief was only a title in crisis. Yet my people…all of the tribes together and not just my native one…are lost in a world they are unfamiliar with. Now the role of the Warchief must be to unite them and lead them into it. I will put it to a vote as to whether to remain in Esthar or to find a new place to settle…but we can no longer live at each other's throats like the beasts we hunted. And we cannot pretend we will survive isolated from this world, especially when it is in the midst of rebuilding and all peoples must do their part."

"Will you need assistance yourself?" Leviathan asked. "You know you can still call upon us."

The Fuliet warrior shook her head. "I took the position of Warchief because I know the one thing that all of our tribes can respect is a strong, independent warrior. Hopefully, the fact that I aided in saving the world from the Sorceresses will be the only confirmation needed for them to at least consider my words. I must show them that I am strong enough to lead them on my own."

Even as she said this, however, she felt a bit warmer as a presence walked up to her side. She turned and looked, and saw Jalab turning his head slightly to her with a smile. The warrior paused, but then smiled slightly herself as she reached out and took his hand.

"Well…perhaps not _quite_ on my own." She added. Her face turned to concern afterward though. "But…Jalab, are you sure you wish to live apart from your homeland? From the Pallas Desert?"

The monk merely smiled back as he squeezed her hand.

"My home is with my lady, wherever she goes." He simply answered.

Ceja's concern faded and turned back into a smile. A moment later, she actually "spasmed" a bit, as if leaning up to kiss him…but she caught herself at the last moment, stood back where she was, and looked forward with the straightest face she could muster.

Cryder chuckled on his part as he lifted his hands over his head and cracked his knuckles. "Well, well, well…world without any real governments or Orders of Hyne left, eh? Looks like pirates and geomancers alike have a 'clean slate'. I could make a nice little fortune raidin' and pillagin' with everything left with the proverbial 'doors unlocked'…"

Everyone turned and gave him a look. He soon burst out in a laugh.

"I'm kidding, lads and lasses! Except when it comes to a good bottle of rum, of course… Nah…ah'll head back to that daughter of mine and see if we can't patch things up after all… Hell, I might let her cut off _my_ legs if it'll make us even-steven. Either way…I'll see if I can't talk her into goin' legit. Might be a smorgasboard for pirates out there…but I get the sinkin' suspicion it won't be long before every boat and town in this world has militias with guns dolin' out their own brand of justice. So…we'll see what we can do. Gotta be somethin'." He leaned his head back a bit and thought. "…Fishing? Oil drilling? Transport? Sure there'll be a lot of new pirates out there raidin' ships in a couple years trying to plunder the carcass of the old world… People'll want safe passage from the East Continent to the West…"

"Too bad you can't get there by rail." Cid suddenly spoke up. "If there was a bridge across the Medieval Ocean, everyone would use it."

Cryder paused, seeming to fixate on this. "…And they'd pay enough intercontinetal taxes to make the richest pirate in the world look like a pauper, wouldn't they…?" He mused aloud as he thought on this a bit more.

Quaren himself let out an exhale. "…Esthar's government is in shambles, but it's still 'in one piece', more or less. It'll just need a new leader to hold it together until it gets back on its feet. Considering what happened, it might end up being the only stable country left in the world…" He turned and looked to Eden next. "…Guess we got our work cut out for us, don't we Dael?"

Eden stared back silently. She inhaled slowly and lowered her head a bit. Bahamut and Leviathan did the same. Carbuncle grimaced and started to rub the back of his. Quaren blinked a bit at this, and then turned and faced Eden more directly. The other group members turned to face her as well.

"…Dael?"

The woman continued to stare at the ground. Now, Quaren's face began to grow tense. The others started to look the same.

"Dael…what…?"

"Dael Levinson is dead, Quaren." Eden responded. "I'm not her anymore. I'm not even human anymore. I'm the same as the rest of the Guardian Forces. I _look_ human right now, but…something tells me that's just because of the kind of creature I am. If I tried looking as 'natural' as possible…I don't think I'd even be a shade of the Dael Levinson you all know…" She paused, and then let out a light, half-hearted chuckle. "…and probably a lot bigger."

Quaren didn't let up. "Who cares? What does any of that matter? Why does that keep you from going back?"

Eden sighed and looked up. "Quaren…take a good look at me. A good _long_ look. All of you…look at me too."

The group was silent and stared in response. She began to gesture over her exposed face.

"You aren't afraid of me like you're afraid of the other Guardian Forces because when you talk to me…when you look at me like this…you see I'm still 'in Dael's image'. You know that the person on the other side of all of this is Dael's persona. But try to see me as someone else. Can't you see how my skin is too flawless? Almost not even looking like flesh? Can you see any trace of the lines or blemishes or anything that makes human skin? Look at my hair. Does it even look like hair anymore, or more like you're staring into some expanse or other world? Look at my eyes? Look as hard and as long as you want. Can you see my pupils? Listen to my voice. You can feel it reverberating through you, can't you? Like it's resonating with the blood flowing in your own veins?"

The five were silent. None of them said anything…and they didn't need to. All of them began to show unease as they realized this. Eden, on her part, looked down at herself and gestured to her body.

"…I don't even know how to 'turn this off' yet. You really think I could just walk around people dressed like this? Looking like this? Mianyl couldn't walk down the street without radiating an 'aura' that everyone knew was there. I'm radiating an even stronger one than she did at first. No one is going to see me as one of them. They'll know on looking at me what I am. But even if I could learn to hide it like Leviathan did, there's nothing left for me in Dael Levinson's life. No family. No Esthar's Hawks. No government that once employed me. And it's not like I _would_ go back even if I did. I'm not a soldier anymore. I haven't been one since long before now. A great part of me is still Gaia…and now, it's two worlds full of souls coming together. I have to make sure that it all 'happens smoothly', that there's nothing dangerous or unstable that arises from this like there was in past generations. I can't let any more WEAPONs or mako fountains ever arise again…especially after seeing Omega Weapon with my own eyes.

"And it's more than that besides. Even now…my mind is filling with countless experiences…memories…lives…more than you all could possibly imagine. A history worth of feelings and sensations…both mine and everyone else's. I have to have some time to sort that out…to come to terms with what I was before I became 'aware' and why I did certain things that I did. Most of all…" She held a moment, looking over to Bahamut and Leviathan, and then looking out further to Odin and Phoenix, before turning back to everyone else.

"…I want to be with my family. I want to get to know them for the first time. And I want to help them as well to be more than just scattered entities. To see if there's a time and place in this world where we can come together again…maybe start having having _new_ families of our own again. I want a chance to live for myself."

Quaren, however, was as uneasy as ever as he stared back at Eden and took a step forward.

"…What about friends, Dael? You talk about how you have nothing anymore from your old life…what about me? What about all of us? Do we not mean anything to you?"

Eden exhaled as she shook her head. "Of course you do. And it's not like I'm leaving you all forever. As soon as I learn how to regain a true human form, I'll come back to see you. But I can't live among you anymore. I can't try to pass for being a human and I can't pretend to be 'Dael Levinson' any longer. It'll only make it harder. Quaren…" She sighed as she pointed to herself. "I'm _immortal_ now. You know what that means? That means you'll always see me like this…ten years from now…twenty years from now…forty…eighty… Every time you look at me it's going to be a reminder of how different we are now and how things aren't ever going to be exactly the way they were. I told you…we all need to find our own lives now. That goes for you too. I want to still be your friend…but I don't want to be your 'commanding officer' anymore and I don't want you living in my shadow anymore. I want you to make your own way."

Quaren's face tightened. "My own way?" He nearly retorted. "What way? You don't have a life as Dael Levinson anymore…but at least you have a life as Eden! I don't have a life as Quaren DeSur anymore and I don't have anything to 'back it up' with!" He responded bitterly. He exhaled as he bowed his own head. "No family…no government…no military organization…and now, no friends. What exactly am I out there?"

Eden, in response, reached out and placed her hands on his shoulders…one regular sized and the other the large gauntlet hand…but both of them softer and warmer than one would have expected from metal. It was enough to make him look back up to her.

"You _are_ Quaren DeSur, and that's always been more than enough." She stated firmly. "It was ever since the day I met you. I don't know what you saw back in Cybus' prison, Quaren…but if it was anything that made you suspect that the whole reason you ended up in Esthar's Hawks was something 'external' to you, it was a lie. You never had to join if you didn't want to. You could have lived a life of wealth and ease…and one that also would have made a positive difference to a lot of people…without ever setting foot in that Academy. It was _you_ who wanted that, and it was _you_ who ultimately decided whether you succeeded or failed. I'm happy that I ended up with you as a friend by stepping in that day on the grounds and I'm glad I did it…but I'm _not_ happy if me doing that caused you to forget the greatest thing about yourself…that you never needed anyone's power but your own to become whatever you wanted. You didn't just come from a family of wealthy politicians, Quaren…you came from a family of honest, true _leaders_. And that's what you always were destined to become…and what you need to become for yourself now." She shook her head. "Please…don't think you need me for that. And don't think any longer that you can't 'grow' without me. I think you're already starting to understand what you can become when you stand on your own two feet. I want you to keep finding that out…and I want to see what comes from it."

The young man continued to hold. He kept looking at Eden, but was still uncomfortable. He could understand what she was saying. And in truth…he knew it was for the best. He wanted to make a difference with his _own_ life. He wanted to do something for himself. Still, that didn't make this moment any easier for him. He had been too used to being close to his friend for this long. And the thought of not knowing when they would see each other again…

"Hey buddy, I'll be there to keep you company."

Both Eden and Quaren looked down in surprise at that, the latter releasing Quaren, and found Carbuncle moving up to Quaren's leg a bit like a cat.

"Now that Dael's running off to be all mushy with her large-and-terrifying offspring, I could use a new roomie myself."

Not only were the two surprised, the others were a bit stunned too. "Carbuncle…" Eden began to say.

"Like you said, Dael…or should I say 'Eden'," The green creature answered with a shrug. "You kicked the bucket. You broke our bond. Now I can hang with whoever I damn well please."

"But…shouldn't you head back to…" Quaren started to say.

Carbuncle frowned. "Ugh…you're not about to say that cave, are you? Assuming it still exists after everything that just happened, what am I going to do there? Drink some spring water, suck on a gem or two, and hope that once every ten years or so some teenagers will come along and stop making out long enough to talk about a movie that's out for entertainment? No thanks. And please…none of the 'humans and Guardian Forces can't coexist' schpiel. That only applies to you 'extra large' fellas, not us 'fun size' ones. Quaren here can just claim I'm some odd creature that got imported from Nyx Gaia or something. I'd like to spend the next couple decades sleeping in a real bed and knocking back a fifth every weekend. On that note…" He poked Quaren's leg with a paw. "I sleep in on weekends so don't make a racket."

The young man continued to stammer. "Well…uh…"

The creature frowned. "…Are you saying you _don't_ want a roommate? Because just say the word and I'll get lost."

"Well, no, no." Quaren answered. "I didn't say that. I'm just…not used to it."

Carbuncle grinned and chuckled. "Heh…that won't be a problem. Dael had a bit of a 'learning curve' herself. But she got it down pat after…what? No more than two months, right?"

Eden cracked a smile, and then looked up to Quaren. "…Look on the bright side. You're not in Fort Morningstar, so it doesn't matter if he stashes liquor in the cabinets." She looked back down at him. "…But he'll do all his smoking outside, of course."

Carbuncle's tiny jaw dropped. "What? What about when winter comes? You're really going to let my poor little ear tips freeze?"

The woman continued to give him a silent look.

He groaned. "Fine…no cigars in the house."

Quaren held a bit longer, but finally smiled as well. "I don't know if I'll regret saying this later, but…I think this might end up working out fine."

"We will be near as well." Jalab threw in. "Tribe of Ceja still in Esthar."

"I'm sure if you got me to a radio store I could scare up a long range transceiver if you ever wanted to talk." Cid added with a shrug.

"So long as you're buying, I'll do a night on the town whenever you like, mate." Cryder grinned.

"And you're going to find you're not as alone as you think." Eden added. "I could see it in the eyes of the people erecting that temporary dock. They're looking for someone to take charge, to just let them know things are under control and that they can pull through whatever happens. Someone to 'direct' them. That's what leadership is half the time. And they'll see that in you."

Quaren paused a little longer. He thought back to the _Ragnarok_…when he "took charge" there. When he could see a bad call was being made and it sounded it out. And how he shifted to do what needed to be done. Maybe Eden was right…

Finally, he exhaled and gave a nod. "…Alright."

Once this was said, the group was silent again. By now, they had arranged themselves in more of a gathering. They turned and looked to one another briefly. Some had small smiles. Others were more normal. But everyone took a second to look over everyone else.

"Well…I guess this is it." Cid said quietly after a time.

"For now…yeah." Eden slowly answered. "This is where we part ways."

Cryder exhaled. "…Kind of weird, mates…" He murmured after a moment. "After all we went through…that whole bloody ride…is this how it comes to a close? We all just turn and walk separate ways?"

"It seems…a bad way to part…" Ceja admitted.

They all began to lose their smiles, turning grim. Yet before it could go too far, a massive scaled limb making a fist inserted itself into the midst of the group. They turned and looked in response, and saw Bahamut towering over them.

"Then let's _not_ part like that." He answered simply.

The group stared back, and slowly began to smile again. They looked once more to one another, before Cryder reached over and slapped his own smaller-by-comparison hand on the massive claw. Quaren grinned a bit before adding his. Ceja actually let a smile freely flow as she put hers next, and Jalab slapped his on top of hers soon after. Cid let out a snicker as he threw his in. Eden extended her "normal-sized" hand to place on all of them.

"Yo!" A voice piped from below as a green form hopped up and down. "Little hand down here!"

Eden let out a small laugh as well as she exerted a small bit of power. An aura soon enveloped Carbuncle and raised him over to the others, letting him put his paw on top of her armored hand.

"Wait." Leviathan's voice called from the side. "One more. I found this on the way in…"

Another floating object came over and rested on top of all the others…half of Taraketh's kusarigama. It was the sickle part, but it balanced perfectly on top, and the broken chain fell around the other hands and wrists as if to "link" them together. It was actually quite fitting.

The eight shared smiles one more time before lifting their hands into the air and toward the sun.

* * *

><p>Two days after the Guardian Forces had departed and the world had "calmed" again, a pair of moogles sat in awe within their tunnels.<p>

Most of their kind were using their chocobo carts and tiny wings to their full extent as they formed construction teams to go about the arduous task of rebuilding their wrecked home. As such, the entire community was rather busy with activity. However, they had more than that to be concerned with. At the moment, the tunnels were also filled with odd yellow humanoids that called themselves "shumi" and fiery red creatures called "moombas". They had come from the other Gaia, and they seemed to realize they were making things a bit "cramped" in the moogle community and wanted to leave as soon as possible to build their own. But before that, they needed to stick around to learn a thing or two about the new world they had landed on.

They seemed to be adapting well. While they were here, some were helping with construction work, although those were mostly the moombas. As for the other shumi, they were asking questions of many of the moogles that were farmers, masons, salesmen, doctors, and many other professions. As it turned out, the shumi might have been better suited to these tasks than the moogles themselves. Right now, the two moogles taking a water break were watching a hardware store. One of the shumi had gone to the store to learn about businesses on Gaia…but now he was the one doing the teaching. Earlier he had talked a moogle into buying a more expensive hammer by saying it had greater durability and was more suited to his current needs, and now he was explaining to the owner to sell more coarser-grain wood as the customers either would be using that quality for heavy-duty applications, or they could sell more to let the consumer finish and sand the wood themselves by selling the appropriate supplies.

"Lookupo at that."

"I'd say he made Mocara more of a profit in a day than he'd see in a month, kupo."

"Mark my words, kupo. One of these days that shumi is going to be a rich man."

* * *

><p>About four weeks after the nuclear blasts had destroyed Sybenia, it seemed the last of the "walking dead" had indeed passed on ten days ago. A few were still sick, but they weren't getting worse and most were getting better. That was how a band of some 1,700 survivors thought as they slogged across the Pallas Desert, trying to make it to the ocean. Most were civilians…some of them having made hand carts from junk to push their children, injured, and sick along. A couple were soldiers…although aside from having guns and the few tattered remains of uniforms, there was no real order anymore. Luckily that wasn't necessary at this point. When they had started with around 2,300, most of the "troublemakers" had either died or been driven out along with the rest who soon began to die from radiation poisoning, infection, or the carnivorous monsters infesting the desert. The medicine gave out after the fourth day, after all. Now although they had no authority, everyone seemed to be following a pair of lieutenants, if only because they were keeping their heads and giving out an aura of calm…the idea that they knew what to do and had "a plan". All of them had injuries of one form or another, and were starving, thirsty, and dressed in rags. Some had bound their feet up in them as they had no boots or footwear when they fled the burning ruins. Only one vehicle was still running with them…an old tank pulling along the wreckage of a bus that had the bulk of their supplies. They sacrificed the energy cores from the vehicles to that one. All other motors had given out by now and been left in the sands. However, they had gathered about eight chocobos with them at this point.<p>

At the moment, they were pausing for a rest, distributing a tiny amount of food and an even smaller amount of water to everyone. The two lieutenants themselves were having some far at the front of the group. By now…they estimated that they had enough food to last them another two weeks at the most. Water…not so much. And some of the children were looking so bad that they grimly realized if they didn't find more soon...that food was going to last a bit longer than two weeks due to less mouths to feed.

Needless to say, both of them could have used a bit of good news when one of the soldiers, this one on one of the few chocobos they had, came running back up to them as they sat there. And hopefully it was better news than the fact the sand around them seemed to finally be giving way to dirt…

He pulled the reins to a halt in front of them, and both looked up.

"…Anything good?"

"A lot better than we hoped, actually." The scout responded. "Don't ask me how it happened…but maybe it had something to do with that planet in the sky vanishing… We should have been at the coast by now but it looks like some sort of 'land bridge' popped up… It's bare, but the soil is richer than it is here. Fertile. It starts about ten miles from here. I think it may run all the way to one of the islands that had a plantation on it. If it does, we may find more food there…or at least cooler weather and grass-covered ground. Best of all, there's a stream running by it. I tested it…it's clean. We've got a water source."

"Damn right that's better than we hoped." The other lieutenant said with a sigh. "Let's just cross our fingers that it _does_ go to a plantation and we might get out of this alive yet…"

"I think we'll all walk a bit faster at the promise of water…" The first grunted as he began to stand up. Yet as he put his hand down, he let out an exclamation. "Ow!"

The scout and other lieutenant turned to him. "What's wrong?"

The man hissed as he reached down to the sandy ground and brushed away a bit of it…and then paused.

"…I'll be damned. I didn't think anything ever grew here."

The other lieutenant blinked and then looked over to what he found.

Sprouting just out of a piece of dirt was a small emerging plant. It was some sort of succulent…like a cactus, based on the spines. However, it seemed to have rather thin "branches" rather than a single stem, spreading out like a hexagonal spire.

"Never seen any plant like that before." He looked to his comrade. "Hey, what is that?"

"Beats me. Looks like some kind of 'cactus jack'…"

* * *

><p>"No…" A rather tired-looking man in a suit that hadn't been cleaned in four days and who had a fair amount of stubble on his face said as he held a cellular phone to his head. At the moment, he was half-seated at a desk and half trying to stay out of the way of numerous people moving files and orders in and out of a "gouged-out" complex in Esthar. He looked rather miserable, like most of the few civil servants who had managed to step up appeared. The government was in shambles. At this point, the Legislature was open in a secure location and had a grand total of six people making decisions. The fact that one of them was one of the last remaining Esthar's Hawks and the son of the DeSur family only added a slight modicum of control and balance. At the moment, it was all anyone could do to keep the city from collapsing into a state of nature. It would likely be at least another month yet of holding the city together with spit-and-ceiling-wax, let alone have things start improving. The only good sign was that nothing was getting worse. If they could hold out for four more weeks, Esthar might actually remain as a government. But until that time, everyone was scrambling about trying to keep the city together. Everything needed an overhaul and there wasn't much time to do it in.<p>

"I already passed the order from the Legislature and it still holds." He continued into the phones. "If you find any more ammunition caches and the secure depos are already at maximum, you're to destroy them as soon as possible. We're not letting any more rioters get their hands on firearms." He groaned. "I really don't care if it sounds 'draconian' to you… Have you taken a walk downtown lately? Besides, if we can ever get this country up and running again, we're going to try and phase out standard firearms." He frowned. "You heard me right. Apparently they've got some talking heads up there who want to implement these test designs that are basically 'ray gun phasers'…you know, things that will stun people without killing them? Just get rid of the bullets! We have enough to keep order and we don't need more nuts running around with them!"

He hung up the phone soon after, but soon received another headache. Already, one of the new "assistants" was running up to him. It seemed they constantly did so whenever they found the slightest thing different about their new jobs. This particular one was a former Order of Hyne member. She had lost her robes by now and was wearing more "business attire" that was two sizes too big for her and stained. However, the Legislature insisted on it. They wanted to present at least the "impression" to everyone that order was being maintained, and that meant "looking the part". Still, this one was at least forthright and useful. By the time she had been "recruited", she had already been organizing a lot of the other mages to start bringing water and healing to people without facilities and hospitals. At the moment, however, her arms were full of a stack of rather heavy papers that she was straining under in a file marked: "Gordian Vault Top Security – Military Command Eyes Only".

"Mr. Perry! Mr. Perry! Look at this!"

He merely sighed as he lowered the phone again. "…Ms. Kramer, is what is in that accordion folder in your hand the spec sheets on the hydroponics farms I told you to find?"

She paused, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Well…no, sir. But it's-"

"Then I really don't give a damn. Would you _please_ go put that thing back and _find_ the spec sheets on the hydroponics farms? We don't exactly have a whole lot of time to get those things built."

"But sir…I think you want to at least take a look at this. It's really something… I've never seen a building like this before…"

"Ms. Kramer, the only thing I'm interested in right now is solving the problem that next Spring this city is going to be completely out of food and is going to have millions of people starving to death. The second _that_ is taken care of, we can worry about building some pipe dream a military engineer came up with. Until then, that document might as well serve as fuel for fireplaces this Winter, because that's all the use it has."

The woman gulped a bit, and actually held the file a bit closer to her, as if protecting it. "Sir…this document I found is amazing… It was nearly shredded by the other interns. It might change the world someday…"

The man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Then by all means, Ms. Kramer…keep it." He said tiredly, eager to get this conversation over with, especially since other assistants were beginning to line up behind her. "Take it home. Curl up with it someday over a cup of hot chocolate. Write an award-winning science fiction novel about it. Or let your grandkids dig it out of your closet someday and use it for origami." His fist slammed down on the desk. "_Just get out of here and find those hydroponics specs!"_

The woman winced. "Y-Yes sir!" She said before turning around and taking off, pushing her way through the other people running in and out as she did so.

Only once she left the room did she hold out her "found treasure" and pulled off the top sheet again, looking over the first page of it. She stared for a moment in thought as she walked.

"Who would have thought a building that big could _fly_…?"

* * *

><p><em>To be concluded...<em>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: Multiple FFVIII allusions in this one. Can you find all four?<p>

The title of this chapter refers to the following full line:

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."


	81. Epilogue: It's a Beautiful Day

_One Hundred and Fifty Years Later_

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><p>Balamb Garden glittered beautifully in the clear sky. Its shining, smooth and almost aerodynamic main body gleamed rays of sunlight against its silvery surface. The main body of it, which rose in a series of circular bulges, radiated a beautiful rainbow of color, all of which were brought out in the light of the sun. Even the great spire that rose near the entrance seemed not to cast a single shadow over the rest of the facility. High overhead, the radiant, metallic ring that hovered over the structure like some sort of mystical halo gently rotated at an almost imperceptibly slow speed, but continued to reflect and refract a myriad of colors themselves.<p>

On a day like today, it was not surprising that the various students were spending as much time outdoors as they could. Balamb Garden had mostly clear ceilings that allowed natural sunlight to flow in at almost every corner of the facility (something that was not only eco-friendly but also served to make the place perpetually "bright and cheery"), but despite that, there was no substitute for unfiltered sunlight and fresh air. Students were flocking outside around the trees and landscaping. Some were running around, laughing and goofing off with one another. Others had merely brought their textbooks out and enjoyed the pleasant warmth as they studied. Still others calmly walked around the outside of the school, or just lazed against some of the grass or smoother pavement. All around, there were sounds of carefree amusement. Everyone seemed a bit younger on a day like today.

Everyone…save one, that was.

A single student, young, cold, and aloof, walked down the pavement for the main entrance. He seemed totally oblivious to his fellow students having fun and enjoying the pleasant weather. His demeanor was focused on the horizon. And there, as if to confirm his mood and change to something more suited to him, there were traces of clouds filling the sky. Most of the students were too busy soaking up the sun to realize it, but a storm was coming. Within a few hours, it would roll over the area and turn the previous sunny and clear day into near blackest night. Yet the student didn't seem to care. Sunny or cloudy…it was all the same to him.

His fellow classmates seemed to shy away from him as he approached. Students who were chatting with one another side by side instinctively parted as he drew near. Younger ones grew silent as his boots slowly clicked by, casting his shadow over them. It wasn't necessarily out of fear…but more likely due to simply being repulsed by his grim demeanor. He had the sort of face of a person who wasn't looking to make friends or "chew the fat"…totally focused on himself. A cold aura seemed to eminate from him.

The youth was dressed entirely in black…which was somewhat unusual for one like him. Students of the Garden, when forced to wear their uniforms, were almost always wearing dark clothes, and usually relished the idea of wearing something brighter when they weren't having to be clad in them. Not so with this one. The hue that stood out from his black pants and boots were a few accessory straps tied around one leg, and a red belt double crossed around his waist. As for his upper half, one could just make out a white, sleeveless shirt from within his black leather jacket. The only other color than that came from a rather large fur trim that poked out over his collar from around it. Most would have thought it was probably too warm to be wearing something like that…but the youth emitted so much of his own coldness that it seemed that it was a good match for him. His brown, slightly overgrown, messy hair threatened to hang into his eyes, only lightly having been brushed to one side. The only other items that stood out were a pendant around his neck and a ring on his finger bearing the image of a great, roaring lion's head…

Well, that, and what was balanced across one shoulder.

This was probably what helped contribute to others fleeing the presence of the cold young man. A long and strange blade rested its hilt in his grip. Unlike a conventional sword, this blade appeared to have a revolver gun mounted within it, becoming the handle, and the rest of it beyond the bullet chambers lengthening into a blade…emboldened with the image of the same lion. Likewise, a keychain of sorts dangled from the end of the black handle, also bearing the same lion. This weapon was a source of awe and amazement to anyone who looked at it. Its appropriate term was a "Gunblade". Despite the name, it didn't fire bullets. Rather, it used special bullet-like rounds in its chamber which, when fired at just the moment of impact, would violently force the blade to cut deeper. It was hard to wield…and extremely hard to master. The mere fact that it was the weapon of choice for the youth was enough to inspire some shock value among his peers.

Paying no mind to the sun or his fellow students, the youth arrived at the security checkpoint. The person running the station that he approached eyed his Gunblade uneasily, clearly cautious about him taking a weapon off the grounds…especially when his status indicated that he was not yet a full-fledged SeeD but merely of the cadet standing, and therefore shouldn't have been wandering around inside with it outside of a case in the first place. However, the school was, for all purposes, a military academy. And the restrictions were far more on weapons coming in than weapons coming out. After checking to see that the weapon was properly licensed to the youth, he was grudgingly cleared by the attendant.

The youth quickly left the rest of the student body behind, walking alone down the rest of the pathway leading out of Balamb Garden. After a bit farther, the voices and sounds of those behind him began to fade into the distance, and the air became silent save for the slow clicking of his boots against the walkway. Soon, it was only him the rest of the way to the Garden's official entrance. On reaching it, a set of rather thin white iron gates stretched in front of him. Unseen devices registered the presence of one coming as he approached, and they slowly opened. It seemed rather pointless. In this modern age, there were all sorts of ways of getting around such a flimsy gate as that. But it mattered not to him. He soon passed through and was officially out of the grounds.

The young man descended a few concrete steps, approaching the walkway leading away from Balamb Garden and out to the city of Balamb. However, he wasn't interested in going there. The path broke off shortly after beginning, leading to the wilderness and open country of the small island republic which had been renamed over a century ago from "Lamb" to its current designation. That was his road…one that would take him to the rocky coasts…and in particular a large expanse that rested there.

However, on descending the steps, he halted and looked around briefly. There was no one out there. No one was coming up or down the paths leading away from Balamb Garden. There was no sound except for the distant cries of seagulls…and maybe the occasional moan of one of the creatures that prowled in the wild. Although the school could have long since exterminated them, they allowed a population to remain for the purposes of training the younger recruits…especially ones that couldn't yet handle the pressure of the Training Center. They would only be a slight hindrance to him…but there was no sense in going out too early. If he did, he'd simply be fodder for more of the creatures to find, and he'd wear himself out battling them before his big match…

The youth took the Gunblade off of his shoulder and extended a finger out to his wrist, pulling back against the sleeve of his jacket. It revealed a small wristwatch, and he looked at the time. He was still rather early. Only typical. Having no one to talk to and being ruthlessly businesslike about his affairs tended to free up a lot of his schedule.

With that in mind, he backed up until he came against the concrete steps. Slowly, he eased himself onto them in a seat. He placed the point of the Gunblade against the ground and rested the handle against his shoulder, being very gentle about it. Despite his cool demeanor, it appeared he at least cared about his weapons. After that, he made himself a bit more comfortable and stared off at the horizon. His hands folded in front of himself and his fingers slowly drummed against one another.

"Have a date waiting, young fella?"

The youth snapped his head to the side…nearly reaching for his weapon as he did so. A rare look of surprise spread across his face, but was quickly replaced by cold ferocity. The voice that had suddenly spoken to him had been friendly and warm…but those things were totally lost on the young man. He simply realized that he had been alone a second before…and now he heard a voice quite nearby.

His eyes rested on an elevated concrete section that guarded off some shrubbery used to decorate the outside of the school. He found himself staring at a man who had not been there just moments ago. Of that, the youth was quite certain. The man was dressed in dark blue from his head to his heels, most of his body concealed in a large, high collared blue trench coat. His feet wore only brown loafers rather than boots or walking shoes that most of the people in Balamb owned. His features were mostly hidden, as his coat was pulled up high around his neck. Furthermore, a wide-brimmed blue hat rested on his head, pulled down low over his eyes. Finally, in both hands, stretching in front of him, he held a newspaper, which served to cover the rest of his face and made it quite impossible to see anything about him.

Well…not quite. The youth could see that the man had long white hair tied back in a tail behind his head, hanging over the trench coat. That immediately tipped the young man off that this was an older person. Strange, though…he didn't sound that old…and, for being white, his hair looked surprisingly healthy…

At any rate, the young man eyed him a moment longer, looking him over and seeming to size him up. Despite his earlier apprehension, he slowly began to think that he was mistaken. Maybe he had been brooding too much for a change and had simply missed seeing this man. He was sitting rather quietly and innocently, reading his newspaper. He wasn't armed…at least, not visibly. The youth supposed he could have been hiding something in that coat. But it wouldn't make much sense to do something like that out here. He was still in range of Balamb Garden's security monitors. It wouldn't be wise to attack a student out of the blue like that. A moment later, and he looked away from the man and forward once again.

"Better hurry and meet her." The old man continued after a moment. "Looks like quite the storm is moving in."

The youth didn't respond.

The old man calmly turned a page in the newspaper and slowly hummed to himself. "…Looks like things are getting tense with Galbadia…" He mused aloud. "That worry you at all?"

The youth didn't answer or look to him.

"Their Garden is more associated with their military and country…" The old man continued. "If things got political…I'm not sure what would come up from it. What it would mean for the students here…"

The young man continued to stare ahead.

Slowly, the newspaper pulled away from the man's head. He looked a bit more intently at the youth. "Really? You aren't worried?" He asked him. "A strong young man like you…looks like he's quite skilled… If they send SeeDs in, you'll probably be one of the first." He held a moment after that, waiting for an answer. None came. In the end, he merely shrugged and sighed as he looked back to his paper. "I suppose to each their own. You look like the kind who isn't afraid of a little something like a war. I suppose I'd feel pretty tough myself if I was one of you Balamb Garden students…running around with a Guardian Force junctioned to their body. But another war… Feels like just yesterday there was that mess with what happened in Timber. Don't you think it's a little strange that Galbadia is acting the way it is? Suddenly acting all warmongering and-"

"Stop talking to me."

The newspaper lowered again, as the old man heard his first response. However, his face was twisted into one of surprise at the nature of that retort. When he looked to the youth, who had said the first thing since he had sat down, he saw him looking ahead, not even looking at the old man, just as before.

He formed something of a frown.

"…I'm just trying to make conversation, young man. Since you're a student here, I thought you'd be interested in-"

"I'm not interested in talking to you." The young man cut off, still not looking over to him.

The frown twisted a bit more. "You know, back in my day, there was a little something we called 'manners'. If you don't want to chat, then all you have to do is say, 'I'm sorry, but I've got a lot on my mind right-"

Before he could say another word, the young man closed his eyes and let out a sigh. After doing so, he unfolded his hands and put one on the hilt of his Gunblade. He began to rise to his feet soon afterward. Once he was up, he turned toward the path and began to walk, clearly 'moving along'. The old man rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. The newspaper went down upon his lap as he put his hands on his sides.

"Oh, come on…don't be that way." He protested. "If you want me to be quiet, fine. But you know, young man, you're never going to make many friends in the world with an attitude like that. Especially when someone is trying to be friendly to you."

"Do I look like I want to be your friend?" The youth answered, again without looking at the old man, as he continued to walk, passing right by him. The old man kept his frown in response to that, and slowly followed him with his gaze. But the youth paid him no more mind. He simply wanted to get away from him now…and be alone with his thoughts. He had a duel to attend in a few hours…and he could do without being constantly distracted by an overtalkative passerby. He almost put him entirely out of sight and out of mind.

"Hey…kid."

That was when a powerful voice came from behind him. Vaguely, it sounded like it was the old man from before…but if it was, it had changed. Some sort of aura had slipped over the voice…making it more booming, more resonating, and more solid. The young man, at that point, had been dedicated to simply walking away, refusing to pay the old man any more mind. The fact that he called him 'kid' should have simply solidified that resolve. Yet when he heard the voice reach him…some sort of force compelled him to obey. The voice seemed to reach out and seize his muscles, immediately making him stop where he was. When that happened, with some confusion over how it happened, the young man turned and looked behind him.

The old man was standing now…and facing him. The newspaper was folded in one hand, but the youth hardly recognized that. He suddenly found himself looking into the eyes of the old man…and was unnerved at what he saw. They were the deepest, shining blue…and they seemed so old…so powerful… He could now see that the old man wasn't old at all, barely seeming middle aged. Yet those eyes…they seemed infinitely older than the rest of him…filled with infinitely more knowledge…

The old man stared at him a moment, but then looked down slightly. The youth realized in a moment that he was looking at his pendant. In response, he looked down as well.

"…Do you even know what beast that is?" He asked.

The youth stared for a moment, but then looked up to the old man. Despite his intentions to ignore him, he suddenly felt the need to respond. He supposed he might as well. After all, he had already stopped and looked back at him. He shrugged.

"It's Griever. So what?"

To his surprise, the old man broke into a scowl. He gave a snort at the youth, as if he had suddenly found something loathsome about him. Without another word, he turned away in the opposite direction and began to walk down the other path, one leading slowly around the expanse of Balamb Garden. He heard him mutter something…but he couldn't make it out.

The young man, surprisingly, felt the need to hold on a moment longer and look after him. Normally he wouldn't have this much interest in this kind of thing, but something inside him told him that this hadn't been a normal encounter. And he actually was a bit curious as to what the old man's problem was when it came to his choice of symbolism. However, it lasted only a moment. In the end, he turned away and continued to walk down the path. He supposed he would get there early after all.

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><p>The old man himself walked about a hundred yards, until he was quite out of earshot of the young man leaving in the opposite direction. With a turn in the path, he was soon out of sight as well. And he was already well out of mind long before that. His scowl had only diminished somewhat, however. He still bore a frown on his expression as he continued to walk.<p>

As he began to round the Garden, however, he slowly came upon another shrubbery outside of the school. Another figure was sitting there, much the same as the old man had been earlier. He wore a light brown suit and plaid vest, checkered in red and green, over a white dress shirt. A bow tie was across his neck. He wore a brimmed hat as well, although not one wide and expansive like the other old man. This one was of a tan color. He had a brown beard and mustache, with the beard hanging off his chin a few inches. A set of wire-rim spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose, and beneath that…deep aquamarine eyes glowed. They seemed to be just as deep, penetrating, and powerful as the first's.

When he saw the man in blue coming, he immediately looked to him. Moments later, he pushed up from the concrete moulding and rose to full height, aiming his body toward him. The old man in blue walked until he was about ten feet away from this one. After that, he slowly came to a halt. With the same expression on his face, he stared at the bearded man.

He, in turn, gave him a look, as if to ask one simple word.

_…Well?_

The old man stared darkly back.

"…He's an ass."

Almost immediately, the man in spectacles broke out into a smile, bowing his head and giving a chuckle.

"I'm serious, Leviathan." The man in blue answered, maintaining his disappointed look. "I must be getting senile in my old age. I have to have been wrong."

Leviathan looked up in response and gave him a turn of the head as he kept smiling. "You haven't been wrong yet about these things, Bahamut."

"I think it's high time I was." Bahamut answered flatly. "He idolizes _Greiver_ for crying out loud…"

Despite renouncing his ability to see into the future, Bahamut, Leviathan, and the rest of the Guardian Forces that continued to meet from time to time were not entirely without the power to forsee certain events transpiring. Both Bahamut and Leviathan had taken enough pupils under their respective wings to be able to detect those with good spirits…those whose hearts were filled with nobility, dedication, courage, and strength of character. Among those in the world who possessed these traits, certain ones stood head and shoulders above the rest. Their spirits radiated out like shining suns in the darkness of space. It was from these people that those who could change the world arose.

And now…now that Bahamut and his ilk had begun to detect something "in the wind", so to speak…had begun to suspect that a dark shadow was coming yet again to Gaia…one that seemed a lot like _she_ had been…they had reasoned that it was time to check out those out who would once again be a light against the coming darkness.

But the dragon patriarch had never, _ever_ expected it to be this cold, rude human…

_Even Taraketh was more agreeable…_

…_At times._

Eventually, he crossed his arms and turned his head down to the side, as Leviathan slowly approached him.

"I will _not_ make it easy on this human." He flatly stated. "If he ever comes knocking at my door, I'm going to run him through the gauntlet. I think I'll actually use the Sun Flare on this one…"

Leviathan formed a half frown. "You will not…" He half mocked.

Bahamut gave a snort in response and crossed his arms. "We'll see."

Leviathan finished reaching his brother, and immediately turned and walked on further down the pathway. Bahamut began to walk with him at his side. They were silent for a few moments, before Bahamut let out an exhale and continued.

"In spite of his alleged 'good qualities'…I found multiple character flaws within him when I ran through his mind."

"Such as?"

"He's entirely too cold and callous. He's withdrawn and isolated in walls within himself. I didn't really expect him to open up to me, some stranger who just happened by…but I doubt he can open up to anyone. I suppose I can't really blame him for all of that, however. He has no parents…and he believed that his dearest childhood friend abandoned him. Makes him unwilling to risk being hurt by anyone else. Of course…his memory was so fragmented and faded that it was hard to even get out _that _much." He gave another snort as he crossed his arms. "Serves these humans right for relying so much on junctioning to us to increase their power. They know full well the blending of psyches will eventually destroy their minds, yet they do it anyway… At any rate, that's besides the point. As hard as he is, I doubt he's truly capable of caring for anything…or anyone."

Leviathan merely grinned and chuckled. "I'm surprised at you. After all that you did 150 years back and went through? You almost frighten me with how easily your faith in humanity wavers…_especially_ coming from you." Once he had said that, he lost his mirth and regained his normal calm, controlled look as he turned his head forward, and spoke more smoothly. "He'll learn. They always learn in the end. They just need a little something to shake them up…crack those walls they've built around themselves."

Bahamut let out a sigh at that, rolling his head toward the heavens.

"What is it about humans?" He asked aloud. "They always have to feel the pain of losing something to realize they had feelings for it in the first place?"

"…And Guardian Forces, for that matter." Leviathan answered with a nod to him.

The man in blue paused…thinking for a moment about Tiamat. Thinking about that time so long ago in the center of this world, when he watched a certain woman be turned to ash…

"…And us too, I suppose." He quietly agreed after a moment.

"So…do you think he'll be the one to finally summon me?"

Both Bahamut and Leviathan gave something of a start on hearing this new voice, although they didn't stop walking. Before they could do anything else, however, thin arms wrapped around either of their shoulders, an arm to either one of them. A body pressed in between them and soon joined them in their slow walk. Both Guardian Forces looked to see who it was and recognized a familiar face.

She was clad mostly in a light, one piece sun dress with thick soled sandals strapped around her feet. She wore a light jacket over that, made of cloth rather than any durable material. Both were dark blue, purple, and violet colors, with the jacket being a deep shade of blue and the dress seeming to be several different shades woven together. Loose jeweled bracelets adorned her wrists on either arm, with rubies and amethyst embedded in them. In addition to that, long earrings hung from her lobes, both of them in the shape of angel wings. Her hair was the oddest, however. It seemed to be a deep blue…like the deepest part of the ocean or early night. Yet it still had just enough natural quality about it to appear to be "real" hair. She was rather young in appearance as well…much younger than the other two. She seemed to only be about 18.

Yet when one looked into her eyes…they would see something else. For one thing, the irises were different. They were sky blue. This in and of itself wasn't unusual. Lots of young people wore fake contact lenses to give their irises different hues. However…if one continued to give more than a glance to those eyes…they would suddenly find them deep and penetrating…and old. Far older than the eyes of either of the two gentlemen that were with her. What more…they radiated a quiet, nameless power…one capable of piercing flesh and spirit alike. As for what a person who looked into those eyes would do, it depended entirely on the mood of their owner. If she was happy, they would find themselves lost in that gaze…unable to look away. If she was angry…they would cower before it, unable to bear even a glance.

The two Guardian Forces held back for a moment longer, but then slowly began to relax. Both of them gave smiles to this new arrival.

"It never amazes me how someone so powerful is able to just sneak up on me, mother." Leviathan finally announced.

Bahamut was more preoccupied with the accesories. He pointed out a bit to the earring on his side and moved it with his finger. "I thought you weren't big on jewelry?" He said almost with a tease.

Eden ribbed him with her elbow and a playful frown. "You know I've got to keep _something_ metal on me whenever I'm not in my true form. I figured I might as well give it a try this time around. Would you rather I tried to blend in with the Garden students and wear my old Esthar's Hawk uniform? See if any of them recognize it from their military history classes? Or do you think they'd figure I was here to invade?" She reached out and tugged on the lapels of both jackets on both men. "Seriously…I'm the old woman in this group, and I'm dressing more trendy than both of you. Especially you, Bahamut. You'd be a knockout for all these young women enjoying the sun if you'd dress in a t-shirt and shorts for a change. Something to show off those muscles…"

The white-haired man stammered and began to turn red. "Er…uh…"

Leviathan lowered his glasses a bit to chuckle. "I guess a boy can always be embarrassed by his mother no matter how old he is."

She immediately turned around to him and pointed a finger in his face. "Don't you start or you're next. You need to stop looking as if you're waiting for a Midgar locomotive and shave that beard before a child pulls on it to see if it's real…_again_."

Leviathan actually raised a hand to it. "I like my beard…" He nearly whimpered, but soon recovered. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I _do_ wish to get out from that undersea facility every now and then." Eden responded. "Which reminds me… I thought we had a family outing planned for today that you two seem to have conveniently forgotten about. We were supposed to meet over at Fisherman's Horizon for lunch."

Both older men grimaced a bit on hearing that. Bahamut himself reached up and pulled at his turned-up collar. Leviathan pushed his glasses up his nose again

"That was _today_…wasn't it?"

"You're the one who always remembered dates."

"It wouldn't have hurt _you_ to remember one once in a millennia…"

Eden let out a laugh as she shook her head. "You know, Bahamut…and for that matter, you, Leviathan…some days I think that form of little boy was more suited to you than a dragon. It's only been one hundred and fifty years and you're already forgetting to meet up with your poor mother, kid brother, and baby sister." She raised her head slightly. "However, I_ did_ find someone else who was more than willing to escort me…" She looked slightly behind the men.

Immediately, a voice called out. "No…no, do _not_ look back here… Don't let them know I'm here…"

Recognizing the voice, both older men looked up a bit, and started to turn their heads.

"No! Eyes forward, you two! Don't look! Don't…"

Too late. They both turned their heads, and froze. Both of them began to quiver. They seemed struggling not to smile.

"…Do _not_ start to laugh." An angry hiss went out. "Don't you dare, you two smug sons-of-bitches. You a**holes who have been practicing transformation for thousands of years instead of 30. I will mess you up. I don't care how big you are. I will f***ing mess you up…"

"Um, Carbuncle…" Eden said with a smile that was only partially casual as the edges of Bahamut and Leviathan's mouths began to curl up. "Watch the sailor talk…it sounds, well…" She stifled a giggle. "…Kind of bad coming from you at the moment…"

Fuming all the way, muttering all of the "seven words" in no less than 50 different languages throughout history, a six-year old boy in a pastel green hoodie…with long ears on the hood like a mixture of a cat and a rabbit, no less…clenching his tiny fists into white balls and a crop of red hair almost like a ruby hanging over his adorable baby cheeks, big blue eyes, cute little nose…only made cuter by the fact he looked "angry" at the moment…slowly pulled up alongside the group on Leviathan's side. He was probably the cutest little boy anyone had ever seen…the kind of child no woman could pass without remarking how adorable he was and saying "he's going to grow up to be a little heartbreaker, isn't he?".

The fact that he was consumed with rage at his body didn't help. It only made his cute features look like he was on the verge of crying…which had already made two different mothers offer him a hug today.

Bahamut covered his mouth. He managed to at least keep his upper face stoic. Leviathan had to turn up the collar on his own coat. Eden was more obvious, biting down on the edge of one of her fingers while trying to stifle a chuckle.

"…I just wanted to be young enough to pick up a lady or two…and _this_ is what I turn into." He grumbled as he kept his innocent, clear eyes focused forward.

Leviathan swallowed, and then gave a shrug. "I'm afraid to say that your nature of looking, well…'cute' in your true form seems to carry over into any form you take, Carbuncle. It's actually a bit fascinating when you think about it."

"Well maybe I'd look more mature if someone would sell me some bourbon or a cigar!" His youthful, near-chirping voice piped. "But of course I'm too _young_ for that…" He looked to Eden and whined. "Can I _please_ change back into my real form now?"

Now Bahamut and Leviathan really had to stifle, because he sounded and looked just like an adorable child begging an adult for a piece of candy. Eden, on her part, was calmer. "Just one more hour, Carbuncle. Around the Gardens, the students know what you're supposed to look like and they'll all start challenging you for your power."

"Bring 'em on…" He huffed as he looked forward. "These are Balamb wimps, after all. I'll just smack them upside the head with one of those Trabia sissies…"

_If they don't bend you over their knees, pull down your pants, and spank you first… _Eden thought to herself…which, unfortunately, was clear as day to Bahamut and Leviathan, who both had far more experience with telepathy and had learned to guard their own thoughts from "unwanted viewers". They actually let out minor snorts as Eden resumed putting her arms around both of them, and they continued to walk down the path.

It was an unbelievable sight even if one was to know the true significance. To anyone else, it would have looked like a young woman and her kid brother with people who could be her fathers or teachers…anyone but her kids. Yet there was no one around on this side, and Eden preferred to keep her appearances limited to times in which humans were scarce. Her eyes alone were a dead giveaway that she was not a normal woman.

"But as to my first question…" Eden spoke up after a moment, looking to the two of them. "Do you think he could be the first to summon me?"

"I doubt anyone will ever be able to summon you, mother." Leviathan answered. "Not with that thing you have trapped in there…"

Bahamut felt a wave of unease move through him at the mention of that. He wasn't sure how it happened…but the one and only time Eden had been forced to "step up" since the fight with Mianyl was when she discovered that "thing" that was trapped in the bottom of that Underwater Research Facility out in the middle of nowhere on the ocean. Perhaps it was the _reason_ that facility had been abandoned… Some tissue sample or blood that had been spilled in the fight with Omega Weapon, brought there and cultivated until it was able to resemble its "parent". Bahamut actually had the "privilege" of seeing it face to face…and it was horrible. He doubted even he had the power to battle it and triumph alone…even if it was merely a "subspawn" of the true Omega. It was restrained at the moment by Eden, however, although he feared greatly if this thing could somehow be loosed upon the world…or if anymore existed. His mother dare not try to kill it. If it survived her "Radiant Breath" and adapted to it…the result would be too terrible to imagine.

However, the unease soon faded. Bahamut slowly relaxed again, as Eden smiled in response, and gave a shrug to Leviathan. "I don't know...you could be underestimating mankind once again. Every time we think we've got them pegged in terms of power or resourcefulness...they seem to surge ahead. I suppose I should know…" She slowly mused. "And I would like to not be left out of things for a change. It would be nice to fight again…"

She turned her head slightly behind her as she said this, staring back at Balamb Garden for a moment.

"…It reminds me a lot of Fort Morningstar, you know." She said after a time, darkly and slowly. "Especially knowing _who_ was responsible for making it. Why would a Sorceress willingly create a military and magic order that had the sole purpose of one day _killing her_ and those like her? None of these 'SeeD's even know what 'manner of plant' they're being 'cultivated' to become…"

"They'll find out sooner than they like." Bahamut answered. "And when they do, they will rise to the occasion as they always have…and we'll need to be right there to rise to it as well." His tone was of one who had seen this before, and was more than calm and willing to see it again…who had accepted it.

Eden paused a moment, and then turned away and let out a half-chuckle. "Never thought my 'next challenge' might be killing _another_ Sorceress…"

Leviathan continued to look to Eden for a moment more. Suddenly, he broke out into a snicker once again, bowing his head to the ground and shaking it.

Bahamut and Eden both looked to him at that. "What's so funny?" The former asked.

"Us. Look at us." Leviathan slowly answered. "There's something coming that's evil in this world. Something potent and destructive. We all can sense it…and I know it's something on the magnitude that could mean death for thousands. There was a time when this sort of thing would have sent us all scrambling looking for ways to avoid the crisis. We would have been gripped with fear and making war councils and stretching all our resources to stop it. Now we're just chatting away as if it's some ordinary routine business."

There was a pause from the other two. They silently looked to one another and back to Leviathan. In the end, however, Bahamut turned his head back up and looked out.

"Maybe we're just wanting to reach the point, after all this time, where we can stand to one side and let the current generation handle things…" He finally offered. "...so long as they make sure to call on us if they need anything."

Leviathan leveled a gaze at Bahamut again with a half-smile. "'Call on us if they need anything'?" He echoed. "You keep your whole notion of being a servant to yourself. I prefer to be thought of as an advisor and mentor. And I know _you_ prefer 'meddler'. This time tomorrow you'll probably be hounding that young man's steps…seeing if you can't give him a 'nudge' every now and then in the right direction if nothing else."

"Or maybe you'd prefer to take a 'personal role' again?" Carbuncle suggested. "You didn't do too bad last time."

"Perhaps I should." Bahamut answered. "Goodness knows we're practically obsolete if Quetzacoatl and Shiva are pretty much 'offering themselves' to cadets…"

"Not already forgetting what you learned from the first time, are you?" Eden responded. "How much you and me did just as regular, flesh-and-bone humans? How strong they ended up being after all? Perhaps strong enough where…" She looked a bit, and then shrugged. "…this 'servant' can finally hang up his uniform?"

Bahamut looked back to Eden. "…And if this threat somehow ends up being as great as Mianyl? Greater than her?"

"Then I guess we'll be there one way or another to stop it." Eden simply answered. "You're probably this world's greatest 'servant', Bahamut…but don't think you're the _only_ one it's ever had, or will ever have…or is even at work right now. No matter who comes along wanting things to die and how strong they are, it's always just their will against countless trillions who feel differently. And that's not something to shrug off any more than the power of humanity. How else do you think they got so much stronger than us right under our noses?"

Bahamut was stuck there. He looked down a bit, and then turned his head over to Leviathan. The Guardian Force smiled a bit more and gave a shrug in response. Exhaling, he looked forward once again.

In response, Eden squeezed her arm around him a bit more in an encouraging manner, making him look back to her.

"Seems you still have a bit more to learn about being human, Bahamut." She went on. "What do you say you start by just finishing this walk in the sun before the storm breaks?"

Bahamut's face held only a moment, and then managed a smile. Eden smiled back, and leaned up to give him an affectionate kiss on the cheek before looking forward again. He soon joined her.

The four looked up to the sky as they walked. The clouds on the horizon were closer now…steadily coming in. They were growing darker as well, signifying that there would indeed be one powerful storm before long. However, the day was still clear for the time being. Balamb Garden continued to shine radiantly in the sun. As the three thought of it…at this marvel of human technology and architecture…they realized that not even Terratopolis ever held anything so grand and beautiful. It accented the features of the sky wonderfully, magnifying the beauty and light of the sun a thousand fold. None of them could think of any better place to have this walk at the moment.

A storm may have been coming…but it was still a ways off.

For now, they'd continue to soak up the sun.

* * *

><p><strong>THE END<strong>

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: At last...it's done.<p>

Not sure how many of you are out there who stuck by after the first run through "The Sorceress Cycle", but if you have I hope you found this version more to your liking after being five times as long as the original. Like I said at the get-go, this story would have ideally been its own "Final Fantasy" game.

It's been a long two years, but at last I'm "closing the door" on "The Servant" for good this time. I feel I left the series in a much "better place" that it was when I ended it. Not sure how it stacks up against the rest of the entries in the series, but hopefully better than last time. Now...it's time for me to move on with my fanfiction career.

If any of you have been "keeping quiet" until now...I'd appreciate hearing from you now that it's the end, mostly because I'd like to know I didn't spend two years writing a better version of "The Sorceress Cycle" just to find out no one cared. :P

See you next time!


	82. Bonus: Fake Guide to Final Fantasy Omega

Before I close this chapter of my life...here's something I just did for fun. Not sure if anyone is interested but...if you're a nerd like me who enjoys working up worthless stuff like this, maybe you are.

Remember how I said this story would ideally be a stand-alone Final Fantasy game? Well...I got a few ideas for how it would work out. Since I can't do tabs, it's a bit hard to translate onto the site...but here's some of the stuff I came up with. If you want to check it out, give it a whirl.

* * *

><p>Final Fantasy Omega (Game Details)<p>

* * *

><p>"The One Crystal System"<p>

Character advancement is handled by the "One Crystal" System in _Final Fantasy Omega_, referring to the picture depicting the one unified crystal on the menu screen. Each character occupies a subsection of this picture as a "grid" representing one of thirty entities in the game. These areas are referred to as "crests". Which crest a character is within determines how gaining levels is performed.

Crests

The player starts the game with only one crest on which the main character, Dael, is already attached to. More crests can be earned by having characters join the party, by acquiring Guardian Forces, or by completing certain quests in the game. Each character can only occupy one crest at a time (with one end-game exception) and the contents of the crest determines how the character levels up. There are two ways to navigate a crest: level points (awarded by gaining levels via gaining experience) and merit points. The latter category can be gained in certain ways:

Doing well on missions

Completing certain game events well

Fighting new monsters

Discovering new areas

Awarded for certain side quests

Merit points are more of a measure of how much notoriety and prestige the characters have and how they have grown as individuals, while level points are just more from "training". Both are needed to succeed in _Final Fantasy Omega._

Crest grids are broken into several categories:

**Level Spaces: **The most common squares on the grid, these confer benefits normally associated with levels, such as more HP, MP strength, constitution, defense, intelligence, wisdom, or luck. They are also used to navigate the crest and reach other icons. You gain these via level points.

**Magic Spaces:** Each crest has its own unique combination of spells that can be learned by a character on the crest. Some spells are easier to learn on some crests as opposed to others, while other crests have unique spells. Level points are needed to gain these.

**Character Spaces: **These squares are only active when certain characters use a certain crest, and represent special abilities only they can learn. Merit points are necessary for these.

**Transit Spaces: **Squares that allow transit between crests using merit points. See below.

**Special Spaces: **These spaces compromise combinations of spaces that must usually be unlocked across multiple crests by multiple characters for hidden abilities, especially ones on the "Master Summons".

Also, each crest confers certain bonuses and certain penalties to each character as long as they are on it. Ideally, characters should spend their time on crests that are their "aptitude", or reflect their nature and style of battle.

Changing Crests

When a character has completed a crest (or is willing to spend merit points at transit squares), a character can move to a new crest that has been discovered. The easiest form of transit is to an adjacent crest, as these represent "families" of crests that a character has an aptitude for. Under certain conditions, a character may "jump" to a crest on a different side of the One Crystal, but that usually requires paying a heavy cost prior to late in the game. If a character makes too far of a jump, they might have to endure a "Handicap" that lasts until they transit crests again, which might be quite some time. Be warned.

Furthermore, keep an eye on what benefits and detriments are gained by moving to a new crest. In general, if a character must pay a lot to move to a new crest and is penalized in a way that severely limits them, they shouldn't make the transit. Always weigh your options before moving to a new crest.

List of Crests

The following are the possible crests in _Final Fantasy Omega_:

**Perfect Gem (Carbuncle's Crest)**

How Obtained: Start the main game with this.

Benefits: +5% to Defense

Penalties: -5% to Intelligence

Handicap: -10% to Wisdom and Intelligence

Spells: Barrier, Image, Shield, Reflect

**Steadfast Mist (Mist Dragon's Crest)**

How Obtained: When Quaren first joins the party

Benefits: +5% to Offense

Penalties: -5% to Defense

Handicap: -10% to Intelligence and Luck

Spells: Cure, Sleep, Blizzard

**Brothers in Arms (Brothers' Crest)**

How Obtained: When Taraketh first joins the party

Benefits: +5% to Defense

Penalties: -5% to Wisdom

Handicap: -10% to Wisdom and Speed

Spells: Barrier, Quake, Quakra

**Raging Flame** **(Ifrit's Crest)**

How Obtained: Talk to Jalab inside the main tent before following Sorceress Veriguno outside

Benefits: +5% to Offense

Penalties: -5% to Wisdom

Handicap: -10% to Defense and Wisdom

Spells: Fire, Drain, Berserk, Fira

**Lucky Roll (Cait Sith's Crest)**

How Obtained: When Cryder first joins the party

Benefits: +10% to Luck

Penalties: -5% to Wisdom and Intelligence

Handicap: -15% to Luck, -5% to Offense and Defense

Spells: Scan, Confuse, Slow, Toad, Rasp

**Heaven's Ribbons (Quetzacoatl's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Quetzacoatl

Benefits: +5% to Intelligence

Penalties: -5% to Offense

Handicap: -10% to Offense and Defense

Spells: Thunder, Haste, Thundara

**Icy Gale (Shiva's Crest)**

How Obtained: When Ceja officially joins the party

Benefits: +5% to Wisdom

Penalties: -5% to Defense

Handicap: -10% to Offense and Defense

Spells: Blizzard, Cure, Cura, Blizzara

**The Dayspark** **(Faerio's Crest)**

How Obtained: Complete "Blasted Varmints" on your first visit to Lamb Temple; then talk to Faerio aboard the _Artemis_

Benefits: +20% to Intelligence, Absorb Fire

Penalties: -15% to Defense and Wisdom, 2X Damage from Blizzard

Handicap: None.

Spells: Fire, Fira, Cura, Berserk, Life, Valor

**Cursed Stone (Catoblepas's Crest)**

How Obtained: Given by Aizel before the Shenindunten

Benefits: +10% to Intelligence, Immune to Petrification

Penalties: -5% to Wisdom and Luck

Handicap: -10% to Wisdom and Luck, -5% to Speed

Spells: Poison, Bio, Break, Gravity

**Tenacious Seed (Gigantuar's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat the Gigantuar

Benefits: +35% to Evasion

Penalties: -15% to Defense

Handicap: -15% to Offense and Defense

Spells: Haste, Image, Mirror

**Knife in the Dark (Tonberry King's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat the Tonberry King

Benefits: +50% HP, Immune to Slow and Petrification

Penalties: -10% to Evasion and Speed

Handicap: -20% to Evasion and Speed, Immune to Haste

Spells: Barrierga, Shieldga, Blind, Invisible

**Banshee's Roar (Pandemona's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Jay

Benefits: +10% to Speed and Evasion

Penalties: -5% to Offense and Defense

Handicap: -5% to Offense, -15% to Defense, 2X Damage from Thunder

Spells: Aero, Aerora, Hold, Confuse, Float, Osmose

**Lord of the Seas (Leviathan's Crest)**

How Obtained: Meet Leviathan

Benefits: +10% Offense, Speed, and Evasion

Penalties: 2X Damage from Thunder

Handicap: -15% to Intelligence

Spells: Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Life

**Grace from Above (Starlet's Crest)**

How Obtained: Inspect the goddess statue in Leviathan's Grotto twice

Benefits: +15% Wisdom, +5% MP, Immune to Poison

Penalties: -10% Offense, -5% HP

Handicap: -15% to Offense and Defense, -5% to Intelligence

Spells: Cure, Cura, Curaga, Life, Esuna

**Seductive Lure (Siren's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Crow

Benefits: +10% to Intelligence, +15% to Evasion, Immune to Silence

Penalties: -15% to Wisdom, -5% HP

Handicap: Start every battle in Confused status

Spells: Silence, Confuse, Aero

**The Mountain (Veriguno's Crest)**

How Obtained: Complete "Critter Wrangling" before departing to the Bika Snowfields

Benefits: +10% to Offense, +30% to Defense, Absorb Earth

Penalties: Permanent Slow status, -15% to Evasion, 2X Chance of Petrification

Handicap: None.

Spells: Quake, Quakra, Barrier, Barraga, Quakga

**Holy Citadel (Alexander's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Armodullahan

Benefits: +15% to Defense, +10% to Offense, +5% to Wisdom, Immune to Lycanthropy and Instant Death

Penalties: -20% to Intelligence

Handicap: -10% to Wisdom, -50% to Intelligence, 2X Chance of Instant Death

Spells: Curaga, Barraga, Shieldga, Esuna, Holy

**Final Destination (Doomtrain's Crest)**

How Obtained: Force Raven to retreat before he uses Darkness OR Defeat Raven in the Second Battle

Benefits: +15% to Offense and Intelligence, Immune to Poison

Penalties: Instant Death always succeeds

Handicap: -1/2 HP, Permanent Doom, Poison, Blind, Confused, Silence, Toad status

Spells: Bio, Drain, Osmose, Death

**The River (Cybus' Crest)**

How Obtained: Talk to Sorceress Cybus before leaving for Sybenia

Benefits: +20% Wisdom and Intelligence, +25% MP, Immune to Silence and Confuse

Penalties: -15% Offense and Defense, -10% HP

Handicap: None.

Spells: Rasp, Osmose, Esuna, Berserk, Luna, Comet

**The Wind (Mianyl's Crest)**

How Obtained: Complete "Her Ladyship's Favorite Tea" before leaving for Sybenia

Benefits: +50% Evasion, Permanent Haste and Float status, Immune to Slow and Gradual Petrification

Penalties: None.

Handicap: None.

Spells: Aeroga, Float, Raise, Curaga

**Profane Etching (Diablos' Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Raven in the Second Battle (ONLY if you already possess Doomtrain's Crest)

Benefits: +25% Intelligence, +10% HP and MP

Penalties: -75% Wisdom, 4X Damage from Holy

Handicap: Undead status (Heal from Death, injured by Cure/Life)

Spells: Death, Gravija, Image, Drain

**Hell's Watchman** **(Cerberus' Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Rozan

Benefits: +15% Speed and Evasion, +20% Offense, Immune to Slow and Blind

Penalties: -15% Wisdom and Intelligence, 10% Chance of starting battle in Berserk

Handicap: -30% Wisdom and Intelligence, 10% Chance of starting battle as Lycanthrope

Spells: Hastega, Double, Triple, Firaga

**Flame of Resurrection (Phoenix's Crest)**

How Obtained: Search the ruins of the Odina Building after defeating Aizel

Benefits: +15% Wisdom, Immune to Instant Death, Permanent Float status

Penalties: -15% Defense

Handicap: 2X Damage from Blizzard, Immune to Reraise

Spells: Life, Raise, Reraise, Firaga, Float

**Horned King (Odin's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Hulukith of Water

Benefits: +25% Offense and Defense, Increased chance of Preemptive Strike, Eliminate Back Attack

Penalties: -10% Wisdom, Intelligence, and MP, 2X Damage from Thunder

Handicap: -30% Wisdom, Instant Death from Thunder

Spells: Death, Thundaga, Gravira, Graviga

**Four-Arms (Gilgamesh's Crest)**

How Obtained: Win the second battle with Gilgamesh

Benefits: +50% Luck

Penalties: -10% Offense, Defense, and HP

Handicap: 0 Luck and Evasion

Spells: Blizzaga, Hastega, Slowga, Quick

**Servant's Standard (Bahamut's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Omega Weapon

Benefits: +10% to All Stats, Immune to Confuse, Paralysis, Petrification, Berserk, and Lycanthropy

Penalties: None.

Handicap: None.

Spells: Flare, Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga

**Legendary Beast (Griever's Crest)**

How Obtained: Search the mural in the Forgotten Mountain

Benefits: +15% to Offense, Defense, Speed, HP, and MP

Penalties: -15% Wisdom

Handicap: Permanent Sap status

Spells: Meteor

**Blackened Heart (Ogopogo's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Ogopogo

Benefits: +20% to Intelligence, Speed and Evasion

Penalties: -20% to Wisdom

Handicap: All physical attacks strike allies instead of enemies

Spells: Bubble

**Endless Wrath (Tiamat's Crest)**

How Obtained: Defeat Shinryu

Benefits: +20% to All Stats, Immune to Poison, Blind, Instant Death, and Paralysis, Permanent First Strike

Penalties: None

Handicap: All stats reduced to 1 (only if coming from Servant's Standard; otherwise none)

Spells: Cataclysm

**One Above All (Eden's Crest)**

How Obtained: Find the map of the One Crystal in the Tower of Entropy after finding all other crests besides Endless Wrath

Benefits: Unlike other crests, One Above All can be moved around and overlain on top of other crests. Doing so enables One Above All to gain the benefits of all crests it overlaps simultaneously.

Penalties: None.

Handicap: None.

Spells: Ultima

* * *

><p>"Magic"<p>

All characters can learn magic. The primary way of doing so is via crest navigation, although some items or events may teach spells. Also, characters with higher intelligence can cast black magic better, while character with higher wisdom can cast white magic better. Support magic generally isn't dependent on stats. The game's spells are as follows:

White Magic

Scan – Display an enemy's stats, strengths, and weaknesses

Cure – Restore a small amount of HP

Cura – Restore a moderate amount of HP

Curaga – Restore a large amount of HP

Esuna – Recover from negative status

Life – Same effect as a Phoenix Down

Raise – Remove KO and fully restore HP

Reraise – Auto-revive on KO

Valor – Entire party gets boost to Offense and Defense and slowly regains HP

Holy – Large holy damage

Ultima – Planetary energy strikes all enemies for massive non-elemental damage

Black Magic

Sleep – Put an enemy to sleep; immobilizing them and reducing defense

Confuse – Target attacks allies and heals enemies

Blind – Target's physical accuracy becomes 0%

Silence – Target is unable to cast spells

Toad – Target becomes a toad, vastly reducing stats and abilities

Hold – Target becomes paralyzed; resets time gauge

Fire – Small fire damage

Fira – Moderate fire damage

Firaga – Large fire damage

Blizzard – Small ice damage

Blizzara – Moderate ice damage

Blizzaga – Large ice damage

Thunder – Small lightning damage

Thundara – Moderate lightning damage

Thundaga – Large lightning damage

Drain – Siphon HP from an enemy and give to caster

Osmose – Siphon MP from an enemy and give to caster

Rasp – Spell that damages targets MP instead of HP

Poison – Cause target to slowly lose HP

Bio – Damage a target and cause to slowly lose HP

Aero – Wind damage to one target; bonus on floating targets

Aerora – Wind damage to all targets; bonus on floating targets

Aeroga – Wind damage to all enemies and allies; bonus on floating targets

Quake – Earth damage to one target; ineffective on floating targets

Quakra – Earth damage to all targets; ineffective on floating targets

Quakga – Earth damage to all enemies and allies; ineffective on floating targets

Gravity – Reduce HP of target by 50%

Gravira – Reduce HP of target by 75%

Graviga – Reduce HP of target by 90%

Gravija – Reduce HP of target by 99%

Break – Turn a target to stone

Death – Instantly KO target

Flare – Powerful, piercing non-elemental attack

Comet – Strike one target with defense-ignoring meteor

Meteor – Strike all targets with defense-ignoring meteors

Cataclysm – Massive fire, lightning, and ice damage to all enemies and allies

Support Magic

Barrier – Reduce the impact of physical attacks to one character

Barrierga – Reduce the impact of physical attacks to all characters

Shield – Reduce the impact of magical attacks to one character

Shieldga – Reduce the impact of magical attacks to all characters

Reflect – Reflect spells back at the caster; reflected spells cannot be reflected

Reflectga – Same effect as Reflect, but on all characters

Image – Split character into three copies, guarding character from three hits of physical damage

Mirror – Reflect 2000 HP of damage back to attackers

Invisible – Target's Evasion becomes 100% but Magic Defense becomes 0

Berserk – Character is uncontrollable and performs only physical attacks but +40% Offense

Luna – Inflicts lycanthropy (Character is uncontrollable and performs only physical attacks, but +50% Offense, +50% Defense, and slowly regains HP)

Haste – Increase the speed of one character

Hastega – Increase the speed of all characters

Slow – Reduce the speed of one target

Float – Slight increase to Evasion; immune to damage floors and Earth; bonus damage from Wind

Double – Cast two spells at once on next turn

Triple – Cast three spells at once on next turn

Quick – Immediately take two actions

Bubble – Double target's HP

* * *

><p>"Guardian Forces"<p>

Throughout the game, group members can acquire Guardian Forces to junction to. Guardian Forces are used in place of Limit Breaks in _Final Fantasy Omega._ Every time the limit gauge fills, a character can summon a Guardian Force. The longer a character remains junctioned to a Guardian Force and uses them, the more abilities of the Guardian Force are unlocked as the Guardian Force gains levels, representing "comradery" the character develops with his or her Guardian Force. Four levels are possible. Switching Guardian Forces can carry penalties, similar to switching crests. If a character switches to an incompatible Guardian Force compared to their current one, their "friendship" will suffer and levels may be lost.

**Carbuncle**

Level One: Gem Missile – Powerful non-elemental attack to one target

"Won't think I'm so small when I bury this up your…"

Level Two: Ruby Light – Reflect on all party members

"Come on! Hit me! I dare you!"

Level Three: Prismatic – Negate all beneficial status effects on enemies

"The downgrade is complete, ha!"

Level Four: Emerald City – Teleport repeatedly to hit all enemies for non-elemental damage

"Take that (and that *repeatedly*)…and here's one for your old man!"

**Brothers**

Level One: Love Tap – Boost Offense and Defense of one character

"YOU NEED SOME MEAT ON YOUR BONES."

Level Two: Brotherly Love – Moderate earth damage to all enemies

(Both) "One, two, three…shoot!" (Sacred) "WHAT? I LOSE AGAIN?!"

Level Three: Mad Cow Special – Heal moderate HP to all allies

"what? it's fully cooked. eat it."

Level Four: Ride the Bull – Large earth damage to all enemies

(Sacred) "GET OFF ME, BIG BROTHER!" (Minotaur) "say uncle."

**Quetzacoatl**

Level One: Tesla Field – Make one character immune to paralysis, stop and slow

"This should protect you."

Level Two: Judgment Bolt – Moderate thunder damage to all enemies

"The heavens pronounce your sentence!"

Level Three: EMP – Remove all status enhancements, paralysis, stop, and slow from all enemies and allies; instantly KO machines

"Let's see what you are without your technology…"

Level Four: Star of the Dawn – Large thunder damage to all enemies

"Let divine light purge all darkness!"

**Shiva**

Level One: Icy Veil – Give all characters one extra image

"Be hidden by whiteness."

Level Two: Diamond Dust – Moderate ice damage to all enemies

"As beautiful as it is deadly…"

Level Three: Wintry Kiss – Heal one ally for full HP and 100 MP

"Let me grant you winter's blessing."

Level Four: Fimbulwinter – Large ice damage to all enemies

"No mortal can withstand the cold for long…"

**Ifrit**

Level One: Fiery Rage – Berserk a character with +100% Offense

"Don't get sad…get mad!"

Level Two: Hellfire – Moderate fire damage to all enemies

"Feel the heat!"

Level Three: Searing Flames – -50% Defense to all enemies

"Burn…"

Level Four: Perdition's Flame – Large fire damage to all enemies

"Sear the flesh from your bones!"

**Gigantuar**

Level One: Mindsting – Damage a target's MP

(Cactuar noises)

Level Two: 1000 Needles – Hit all enemies for 1000 damage

(Cactuar noises)

Level Three: 10,000 Needles – Distribute 10,000 damage among all enemies

(Cactuar noises)

Level Four: Mighty Saquaro – All party members get boost to Speed, Evasion, and regain HP

(Cactuar noises)

**Tonberry King**

Level One: Impenetrable Hide - +100% to Defense

(Tonberry noises)

Level Two: Butcher's Knife – Deathblow to one enemy; cannot be countered

(Tonberry noises)

Level Three: Revenge Lantern – Damage all enemies with difference between group's max HP and current HP

(Tonberry noises)

Level Four: Doink! – Damage one enemy with difference between enemy's max HP and current HP

(Tonberry noises)

**Pandemona**

Level One: Winds of Chaos – Confuse all enemies

"Feeling under the weather?"

Level Two: Tornado Zone – Wind damage on all enemies

"You might want to 'duck and cover'."

Level Three: Gale Force – 9/10 chance of Hastega; 1/10 chance of Quick on all characters

"Chop, chop, everyone!"

Level Four: Typhon's Breath – Chance of Instant Death to all enemies; ineffective on bosses

"It's been a blast!"

**Leviathan**

Level One: Tome of the Ancients – Increase Wisdom and Intelligence of one character by 50%

"Knowledge is power."

Level Two: Tsunami – Heavy water damage to all enemies

"Tremble before the wrath of the seas…"

Level Three: Oroboros – Inflict paralysis on all enemies as well as gradually lose HP

"None can escape the grip of the Master of the Seas."

Level Four: Primordial Ocean – Three separate Tsunami waves

"Water brings life…and takes it away."

**Siren**

Level One: Lunatic Wail – Inflict berserk on all enemies

"Give in to your animal passions…"

Level Two: Silent Voice – Inflict silence and moderate damage on all enemies

"Ah, the sound of silence…"

Level Three: Frog Song – Inflict toad and moderate damage on all enemies

"Hmm…this form would be far more perfect for you."

Level Four: Eres' Chant – Inflict confuse, darkness, and silence plus moderate damage on all enemies

"A mind is a terrible thing to lose, wouldn't you say?"

**Doomtrain**

Level One: Free Ticket – Instant Death to one enemy

"Your number is up…"

Level Two: Runaway Train – Poison-based damage plus a chance of inflicting random status ailments

"Now arriving…"

Level Three: Dining Cart – 50% chance of restoring all HP/MP to all characters; 50% chance of giving all characters Undead status

"Dinner is served…"

Level Four: Great Beyond – Heavy non-elemental damage to all enemies

"Prepare for departure…"

**Cerberus**

Level One: Erebus' Greeting – Three-hit strike against one enemy

"You look tasty…"

Level Two: Counter Rockets – Cast Double and Triple on all allies

"Keep up if you can!"

Level Three: Styx Draught – Remove negative status effects and cast Hastega on all allies; confuse all enemies

"Get it together, you runts!"

Level Four: Tartarus Unlocked – Heavy fire damage to all enemies; all characters get a free turn

"Begone, little nothings!"

**Phoenix**

Level One: Warmth of Life – Raise on one character

"Come back to us…"

Level Two: Flames of Rebirth – Revive all KOed characters in the party plus moderate fire damage to all enemies

"Let the flame of life be rekindled!"

Level Three: Life Insurance – Cast Reraise on all characters

"Do not fear…I will guard you."

Level Four: Great Gospel – Grant all characters regenerating HP and temporary invincibility

"The chains of death are broken!"

**Diablos**

Level One: Darkness – Convert part of caster's life into damage for all enemies

"Your pain is now theirs."

Level Two: Dark Messenger – Same effect as Gravija, but on all enemies

"Such fragile creatures…"

Level Three: Blood Sacrifice – KO the caster to inflict 9,999 damage on all enemies

"At least your weak life has _some_ usefulness…"

Level Four: Legion of Doom – Twelve powerful, darkness-element strikes against all enemies

"I hunger…for _you!_"

* * *

><p>"Master Summons"<p>

There are a few "Master Summons" in the game which represent special Guardian Forces. Unlike the other Guardian Forces, these ones can be called only when all characters in the party have a limit break. When they appear, the party is replaced by the Master Summon until the Master Summon is defeated, at which point the group members return.

Master Summons are typically far stronger than the party combined. To get the most out of them, however, the group must meet certain conditions to allow them to have the highest stats possible. Also, other conditions must be met to teach them all of their best abilities. Properly upgraded Master Summons are very useful to beating the game.

**Alexander**

Level: Pooled Wisdom of all characters

Abilities:

Holy Beam: Attack one enemy with holy-based damage

Rain of Light: Attack all enemies with holy-based damage

Purification: Heal all negative status ailments and protect from negative status temporarily

Armor of Faith: +200% Defense

Divine Judgment: Counter next attack for 4X damage

Radiant Wings: Increase speed by +50%, immune to Earth and Dark

Holy Smite: Defense-ignoring, holy-based single attack

Favored by Above: Reraise

Holy Justice: Strike all enemies for extreme holy-based damage

Rapture: Strike all enemies seven times; if Alexander dies or is released, characters return at full health and status

**Odin**

Level: Pooled Strength of all characters

Abilities:

Charging Slash: Attack one enemy with non-elemental damage

Slepnir Trample: Attack one enemy with non-elemental damage; inflict Slow

Grand Charge: Increase Offense and Defense by 50%

Zantetsuken: Chance to instantly KO all enemies

Cross-Slash: Attack all enemies with non-elemental damage

Meteor Rain: Send a shower of six non-elemental Meteors down on enemies

Faster than Light: Increase Evasion and Speed by 50%

Gunge Lance: Deal piercing, non-elemental damage to one enemy and lower defense; regular damage to all others

Shin-Zantetsuken: Chance to instantly KO all enemies; does high damage otherwise

Ragnarok: Chance to instantly KO all enemies; does eight hits of damage otherwise

**Bahamut**

Level: Number of times Bahamut has used limits

Abilites:

Flare: Piercing damage to one enemy

Regneration: Constantly regain HP

Megaflare: Piercing damage to all enemies

Hasteja: Speed and Offense increase

Seven-Spired Crown: Immune to all negative status effects and instant death

King of the Dragons: Attack enemies eight times with eight different elements

Sun Flare: Piercing, non-elemental damage to all enemies

Banish: Cast all enemies into the Void

Mother's Blessing: Transform into Bahamut Fury; +100% to all stats

Exaflare: Piercing, non-elemental damage to all enemies that hits six times

**Gilgamesh**

Level: Number of different items collected

Abilities:

Master Bluff: Shield, Barrier, and Haste

Limbs to Spare: Two attacks each round

Excalipoor: One damage to one enemy; holy based

Dull Cleaver: Minor damage to one enemy; may inflict poison

Orichalcon Dagger: Moderate damage to one enemy; steal

Blood Sword: Siphon 20% of enemy's HP

Excalibur: Moderate damage to all enemies; holy based

Buster Sword: Heavy damage to all enemies; decrease enemy Offense and Defense

Masamune: Heavy damage to all enemies; strike twice

Ultima Weapon: Damage-limit-breaking damage to all enemies; depends on max HP

**Tiamat**

Level: Pooled number of times characters have died

Abilities:

Flare: Piercing damage to one enemy

Regeneration: Constantly regain HP

Meganuke: Piercing damage to all enemies; inflicts Darkness and Poison

Eternal Vengeance: Non-elemental attack that gains power every time Tiamat is KOed

Feeding Time: Devour an enemy to regain HP and cure status

Hurricane: Either eject or do major Wind damage to all enemies

Shadow Flare: Piercing, dark-elemental damage to all enemies

Armageddon: Major damage plus every negative status effect to all enemies

Petaflare: Piercing, non-elemental damage to all enemies that hits five times

Mother's Forgiveness: On KO, instantly revive as Tiamat Fury, +100% to all stats

**Eden**

Level: Smallest level out of all playable characters

Abilities:

Holy Blast: Major Holy damage to all enemies

Megaflare Blast: Flare on all enemies

Minerva's Plate: Defense +100% plus regeneration and Bubble; immunity to all status effects and Instant KO

Gaia's Helm: +100% to Wisdom and Intelligence

Ragnarok II: +150% to Offense plus Break-Damage-Limit

Healing Wind: Recover major HP

Seraphim's Wings: Evade half of all attacks, even unblockable ones

Intent of the Earth: Strike an opponent sixteen times for heavy, non-elemental damage

Ultima Blast: Break-Damage-Limit, massive non-elemental damage

Radiant Breath: Break-Damage-Limit, massive non-elemental damage; decrease opponent's Offense and Defense; gains power each time it is cast

* * *

><p>"Characters"<p>

* * *

><p><span>Dael Levinson – Officer of Esthar's Hawks<span>

Equipment: Knight swords; bracers

Abilities:

Mage Gun: What Dael lacks in magical power she makes up for in Mage Bullets. Mage Bullets can be found or mixed when Cid joins the party. Mage Bullets have the same effect as spells that they're named after.

Nobility/Spiritual Divide: Dael's primary ability resides in her sword and spiritual abilities, termed "Nobility" early in the game, and later "Spiritual Divide". She learns these abilities from crests, but these abilities are also storyline dependent in that some can't be learned until later in the game.

Hawk Strike: Damage one enemy

"Hiyah!"

Counter: Powerful damage to enemy that attacks Dael

"_Me ultorum._"

Call to Arms: One ally immediately gets a free attack

"Rally to me!"

Inspiration: Make group immune to Slow and Stop

"Stay focused!"

Cross-Slash: Damage one enemy with thunder-based damage, inflict Stop

"See the center…and strike!"

Call of Regalis: Two allies immediately get free attacks

"Always faithful…charge!"

Blade Beam: Critically damage one enemy; lesser damage to all others

"Let my blade be one with the Planet."

Climhazard: Critically damage one enemy; ignore defense and dispel protection

"I will triumph!"

Call of Esthar: All allies immediately get free attacks

"Show no fear and no mercy!"

Shock: Critically damage all enemies; ignore defense and dispel protection

"For the future of this world!"

* * *

><p><span>Quaren DeSur – Marksman of Esthar's Hawks<span>

Equipment: Guns, ammo; vests

Abilities:

Quaren uses guns as his weapons. Similar to _Final Fantasy XII_, they have the usefulness of low attack power yet negate all defense. He can use special ammunition for attack bonuses against enemy types. Ex: buckshot works against flying creatures; armor-piercers works against machines; etc.

Gunnery: Quaren's primary ability is utilizing gun-tricks. It also involves calling in Esthar's Hawks powers.

Trigger Happy: Repeated small shots based on how fast the player can tap a button

"Suppressing fire!"

Sniper Shot: 100% accurate, powerful shot

"Just like on the target range…"

Crippling Shot: Powerful shot that inflicts slow

"Aim for the joint…"

Blinding Shot: Powerful shot that inflicts blind

"I can see the whites of their eyes…"

Double Tap: Fire twice in rapid succession

"Make sure he's down!"

Fire Wall: Barrage of small shots on all enemies

"I'm pinned down! I need support!"

Headshot: Attempt to KO a target

"One shot…one kill."

Air Strike: Drop explosives on the field for fire-based heavy damage

"That's right! Napalm the area!"

Minigun: 4X Damage Trigger Happy

"Keep them back!"

Call In Ragnarok: Ten shot salvo hits all enemies ten times

"Sending coordinates…launch the rockets!"

* * *

><p><span>Taraketh Sabian – High Child of Hyne<span>

Equipment: Kusarigamas; robes

Abilities:

Observe and Sorcery: Taraketh has his own special brand of magic called "Sorcery". Sorcery is typically stronger than most magic, but to learn it Taraketh must be in key battles and use the "Observe" command. Observe doesn't always work and is dependent on Luck. Taraketh must say: "I think I've got it!" after using it to be successful. He must also survive the battle. Sorcery is typically extremely expensive but gets cheaper as Taraketh gains levels.

Gaia's Rage

Taraketh starts knowing this

Quakga-level damage, but doesn't hurt allies

"Feel the Planet's anger!"

Black Shock

Use Observe on the Black Lotus

Half the level of all enemies

"You're so far beneath me it's not even funny!"

Golem Wall

Let one of the Cornhuskers get through in the "Blasted Varmints" minigame, and use Observe in battle

Construct temporarily blocks physical damage

"Golem, come forth!"

Kamikaze

Bring Taraketh along to the fourth "Training Challenge" and use Observe on the Roc

Aeroga-level damage, but doesn't hurt allies

"Be laid low by Divine Wind!"

Micro Missiles

Use Observe on the Iron Giant

Gravity-based damage depending on level to all targets

"Damn barbaric technique…"

Magic Hammer

Use Observe on the three Elite Hounds before you get KOed

Massive damage to enemy's MP

"Let's see how strong you are without your magic!"

Doom

Use Observe on Alpha Basilhound

Countdown to KO; effective on many enemies immune to Instant Death

"Your fate is sealed."

Mighty Guard

Use Observe on the Grotto Keeper

Barrier, Shield, and Haste on all party members

"Stand together!"

Lvl. 3 Confuse

Use Observe on the first fight with Crow

Confuse cast on all enemies whose levels are multiples of 3

"Your minds are weak!"

White Wind

Use Observe on the second fight with Crow

Heal self and allies for current HP value

"Life, spring forth!"

Lvl. 5 Death

Use Observe on one of the Dragon Zombies

Death cast on all enemies whose levels are multiples of 5

"Death is upon you…"

Lvl. 4 Shadow

Use Observe on the first fight with Raven

Dark-elemental damage on all enemies whose levels are multiples of 4

"Shadow and wrath…"

Tsunami

Use Observe on Steel Sahagin

Massive water damage to all enemies

"Sweep this filth from Gaia!"

Grand Mirror

Use Observe on Rozan's part of Hydra-Rozan

Reflect 20,000 HP of damage to group back to attacker

"Retreat if you value your life!"

Angel Whisper

Use Observe on Soddoth of Wind

Revive an ally with full HP and MP

"It's not yet the end…"

Dragon's Rage

Use Observe on Veriguno the Mountain

Blast enemies with damage proportional to number of dragon-type monsters slain

"Great and terrible!"

Maelstrom

Use Observe on Mianyl the Matriarch before she ends the fight

Single enemy is reduced to critical HP and MP

"Gaze into the Abyss!"

Grand Delta

Use Observe on Diablos

All enemies are struck for massive non-elemental, defense-ignoring damage

"Face the forbidden!"

Supernova

Use Observe on Shinryu

All enemies are struck for massive non-elemental, defense-ignoring, break-damage-limit damage

"Rend the skies…and rain down destruction!"

* * *

><p><span>Cryder Morningjay – Pirate Captain of the Black Corsairs<span>

Equipment: Short swords; belts

Abilities:

Geomancy: Cryder is a geomancer, which means he calls on the power of the earth to carry out his abilities. In addition to multiple moves, he also has the ability to store geomancy for later use. Initially, he learns new abilities by visiting new locations and not using geomancy while there, similar to Mog in _Final Fantasy VI_. However, he also gets a new default ability depending on which one he uses.

_Aqua de Vida – "Ah…clean and refreshin', mate."_

Gained from water terrain (default)

Ability: Steal – "You'll never miss this, mate." (On machines) "This looks important!"

Water Cannon: Water damage to one enemy – "Looks like you brought a knife to a squirt gunfight!"

Whirlpool: Halve HP of all enemies – "Sea's a mighty harsh mistress, eh lad?"

Hippocampus: Caste Haste on the whole group – "There she blows!"

White Squall: Water damage to all enemies – "Dah! Terrible sight for a sober man!"

Syldra: Water/lightning damage to all enemies – "Any of you lads got a camera?"

_Rocky Moonshine – "This one's got a hard edge on it!"_

Gained from mountain terrain

Ability: Deathblow – "Of course I fight dirty…I'm a bloody pirate!"

Falling Rock: Earth damage to one enemy – "Mind those warning signs, mate!"

Sinkhole: Attempt to remove enemy from battle – "Watch yer footin'!"

Mountain Poppy: Cure status ailments for whole party – "Quit yer bellyachin' and just smoke it."

Rockslide: Earth damage to all enemies – "Say lads…you hear something?"

Bigfoot: Damage all enemies; more damage the less HP Cryder has – "Dah! There's a smelly one!"

_Fragrant Saki – "It's not tea, is it? …Nope, sure ain't!"_

Gained from plains

Ability: Dice – "Let's let fate decide, eh, mate?"

March Hare: Non-elemental damage to one enemy – "If ya' think it's cute, wait 'til it bites!"

Sunbeam: Restore HP to all party members – "Feel like workin' on our tans for a bit, lads?"

Wind Slash: Wind damage to all enemies – "Strange wind today…"

Stinging Nettles: Poison and slow all enemies – "Should've wore thick socks, mates."

Unicorn: Heals whatever side (enemies or allies) has less percentage of total HP remaining – "I hear they're good eatin'!"

_Downtown Bourbon – "Look at me! I'm a distinguished gentleman!"_

Gained from cities

Ability: Mug – "What's that on your face, lad?"

Broken Bottle: Damage an enemy, possibly Confuse – "Fight with whatever ya' can find!"

Will O' The Wisp: Fire/holy damage to one enemy plus Confuse – "Boo, mate."

Urban Decay: Lower Offense and Defense of all enemies – "Don't make 'em like they used to!"

Spirited Away: Instant KO to one enemy – "Best start believin' in ghost stories, lad…"

Mothman: Inflict Doom, Dark, Sleep, and Paralysis on all enemies – "Alright, who didn't turn off their flashlight?"

_Kaipo Hard Punch – "Best thing for a parched throat!"_

Gained from deserts

Ability: Slots – "This is my night to win!"

Antlion: Instant KO one enemy – "Did that sand just move?"

Heat Wave: Fire damage to all enemies – "Good thing I got sunscreen, lads."

Barrel Cactus: Restore MP to all party members – "This one ain't a Cactuar, is it? Just makin' sure…"

Sand Storm: Wind/earth damage to all enemies – "Peel the paint right off your barn, lad!"

Moorian Death Worm: Devour all enemies; no experience or gil gained – "They're under the damn ground!"

_Cold Vodka – "Better on the rocks."_

Gained from snowfields

Ability: Steal GP – "Pockets feelin' lighter, mate?"

Iceball: Ice damage to one enemy – "Heh…there's a rock in this one…"

Snowstorm: Ice damage to all enemies – "See you at the spring thaw!"

Polar Bear: Damage an enemy and transfer HP to group – "Just scratch him behind the ears, lad!"

Icy Hell: Freeze an enemy; frozen enemies die on next hit but yield no experience or gil – "That one would make a lovely lawn jockey, eh?"

Maddening Horror: Reduce MP of all enemies to 0 and Confuse – "Oh boy…time to go home, lads!"

_Wetland Whiskey – "Ugh…the dregs are still in it!"_

Gained from swamps

Ability: GP Toss – "_This_ is why I'm always broke…"

Fermented Apple: Restore all HP and Berserk – "Well, just one won't hurt…"

Anaconda: Paralysis and damage to one enemy – "It'll only hurt 'til you hear the pop…"

Toxic Cloud: Poison and damage all enemies – "Ugh! Who let one rip?"

Bottomless Bog: Chance to instantly KO all enemies; ineffective on flying – "Hey mate? Is it just me…or is the world rising?"

Qu: Cook all enemies; turning them into their rare items – "Cajun style! My favorite!"

_Autumn Merlot – "Anything less would be uncivilized."_

Gained from forests

Ability: Steal Awards – "The easy way to get ahead."

Leaf Swirl: Wind damage and Blind to all enemies – "There goes your rake job!"

Branch Spear: Damage one enemy – "They call those 'Widow-Makers', mate!"

Branch Volley: Damage all enemies – "Our arrows will blot out…eh, you know."

Sylvan Glen: Raise on all party members – "I know it's peaceful, but stop nappin'!"

Great Spirit: Earth/fire/wind/water damage to all enemies – "Those aren't my initials in that tree! It's _theirs!_"

* * *

><p><span>Ceja Dracocorazon – Fuliet Warrior of the Nine Bands of the North<span>

Equipment: Axes; hides

Abilities:

Floating Axe: Ceja's ability is similar to blue magic. When she is struck by certain enemy attacks, she learns an axe technique at the end of the battle. In order to learn, she has to both be struck by it and not be KOed or otherwise incapacitated at the end of the battle

Sauron Slice

Learned from "Sauron Claw"

2X damage to an enemy

"Nothing cuts faster than a Fuliet Sauron."

Jagged Edge

Learned from "Piranha Bite"

Damage an enemy and have them slowly lose HP

"Bleed until you fall!"

Stone Axe

Learned from "Stonebeak"

Turn enemy to Stone

"To stone with you!"

Whisker Cut

Learned from "Blaster"

Instant KO an enemy

"Quick and painless."

Hawkeye

Learned from "Terrible Bite"

4X damage to an enemy

"My axe cuts deeper than a Tyrant Lizard!"

Quadra Chop

Learned from "Infernal Pincers"

Four hits at 50% max strength to all enemies

"You have not the speed to withstand me!"

Shell Cracker

Learned from "Crushing Beak"

Reduce an enemy's defense to 0

"Your body is weaker than _you_!"

Death Cleave

Learned from "Death Claw"

Paralyze and Doom an enemy

"Stand there until you expire."

1,000 Jabs

Learned from "10,000 Needles"

Ignore defense to do 1000 HP of damage

"Like the hail of winter…"

Soul Stab

Learned from "Wandering Cleaver"

Non-elemental damage proportional to number of steps taken

"My travels have granted me power!"

Rusted Blade

Learned from "Bad Breath"

Strike enemy with multiple status effects

"The victor is not always who strikes last…"

Meteor Guard

Learned from "Meteor Counter"

Counter all physical attacks with Meteor

"Strike like the heavens!"

Octachop

Learned from "Circumsempra"

Eight hits at 80% max strength to all enemies

"Batter you until you break!"

Runic Beard

Learned from "Swords Into Plowshares"

Absorb magic attacks and distribute the MP to all characters

"Peace does have its place on the battlefield…"

Hecate's Scythe

Learned from "Reaper"

8/16th chance of major non-elemental damage to all enemies; 4/16th chance of instant death to all enemies; 3/16th chance of dark damage to all allies; 1/16th chance of instant death to all allies

"Fate is the way of life in Fuliet."

Bane of Yggdrasil

Learned from "Midgardzomor"

Twelve hits at 100% max strength to all enemies

"Not even death will impede my vengeance!"

* * *

><p><span>Jalab Tierras – Pallas Monk and Sorceress Knight to Veriguno the Mountain<span>

Equipment: Staff; cuirass

Abilities:

Jalab can equip staffs and cuirasses, but they do little to improve his Offense and Defense. Rather, they confer some sort of benefit on him which makes his natural strength more effective. As a Monk, he's fine without a weapon or armor.

Chi: Being a monk, Jalab can focus his chi to perform various attacks. These moves are free, but require button combinations to perform.

Woodpecker Fist

Punch through an enemy's defenses

Kyoryokunokaze

Powerful blast that stuns and damages an enemy

Ki Transfer

Restore a small amount of HP and MP to one ally

Chiouken

Focus own chi into a beam for holy damage

Frog Drop

Perform a powerful suplex

Hinoodori

Split into flaming images for fire-based damage to all

Mantra

Restore HP to all allies equal to current HP

Crane Feathers

Attack all enemies with wind-elemental blades

Gisei

Remove self from battle to restore all HP/MP/status

Dance of the Phantom

Defense-ignoring damage to one enemy; possible instant KO

* * *

><p><span>Cid Boer – Engineer and Sorceress Knight to Faerio the Dayspark<span>

Equipment: Measure, harness

Abilities:

Cid is one of the odder ones to use as he can only equip measures, which offer benefits to himself and the others yet don't increase his Offensive power. However, he usually only needs to use his tools.

Tinker: Like a chemist class, Cid can combine items from the inventory in battle to make new items. The result can either be stored or used immediately. In doing so, Cid can make rare Mage Bullets for Dael and other excellent items. Occasionally, Cid will make an "intermediate" product in battle which is useless. He must use Tinker on it again with something else to make something useful or it will be lost at the end of the battle.

Engineering: Cid uses his tools for most of his damage. Almost all can be bought in stores. Some of them have relics that made them stronger.

Hydraulic Wrenches

Randomly bop an enemy or clamp them to damage and paralyze

"I'm putting on the clamps!"

Adhesive Putty

Coat all enemies in goo to afflict them with Slow/Stop

"This stuff never washes out…"

"Stump Clearer": Changes goo so that it explodes as soon as enemy performs an action, causing fire damage

"Ack! So that's what happens when you mix more than a tablespoon!"

Nailgun

Spray all enemies with a hail of nails

"I'll 'nail you' all! Heh…that was funny!"

"Pressure Charges": Makes nails explode for more damage

"These are great for clearing old walls…"

Measuring Tape

Shoot Cid to other side of field, enabling a pincer attack

"Tally-hooooo!"

Acetylene Torch

Burn an enemy eight times with Fire damage

"Should I really use this without goggles?"

"Arclight": Electrify an enemy eight times with Lightning damage

"Heh, would you believe I'm a novice at welding?"

Electric Drill

Piercing damage to a single enemy

"Keep all hair and loose accessories away!"

Rivet Gun

Damages, poisons, and immobilizes an enemy

"I call her 'Rosie'!"

Chainsaw

Defense-ignoring damage to a single enemy

"Waaaa! Someone pull the plug!"

"Leather Mask": Attempt an Instant KO

(Muffled noises)

Atomic Hammer

Single enemy has both HP and MP damaged

"It's for _really_ big nails."

"Fusion Core": All enemies have both HP and MP heavily damaged

"I can split an atom with this!"

* * *

><p><span>Bahamut – Mysterious Youth<span>

Equipment: Shortsword, buckler

Abilities:

Even if you gain Bahamut as a Master Summon, you'll still have his human form as a playable character.

Bahamut can gain all ten of his Antiquity skills from grids. However, there is a special relic in the game called the "Rat's Tail" which unlocks the true power of every ability.

Antiquity: What Bahamut lacks compared to his true body's power is knowledge from generations of life. He incorporates these into his own skills.

Cornelian Melody

Remove Confuse, Darkness, Poison, from everyone

"That song is ancient and powerful…"

Upgrade: Remove all status ailments and transfer them to enemies

"This lute is a bane of evil."

Prince Fynn's Blood

Absorb 10% of target's HP and give it to Bahamut

"The blood of Fynn's innocents cries for justice."

Upgrade: Absorb 20% of target's HP (even bosses) and give it to Bahamut

"The blood will not rest until it has vengeance!"

Eurekan Shuriken

Throw a ninja star that ignores defenses

"An elegantly crafted weapon."

Upgrade: Throw four ninja stars at one or more targets

"You have no place in this realm!"

Moon Crystal

Randomly make an enemy weak against an element

"The blessings of the moon are upon me."

Upgrade: Damage an enemy with their elemental weakness; if none, heal Bahamut

"The crystal will reveal your true nature, devil!"

Ancient Tome's Secret

Strike an enemy at half their normal defense

"The secrets here reveal your weakness!"

Upgrade: Strike an enemy twelve times

"Unseal the power to crush this evil!"

Terran Meteor

Strike an enemy so hard the impact travels to surrounding enemies

"Last fragment of a dying world…"

Upgrade: Bombard the battlefield with eight meteors

"My soul's memory grants me strength!"

Protector of Mobliz

Next enemy attack does 0 damage to Bahamut

"No fiend may pass!"

Upgrade: Reflect next 4000 damage, plus perform a powerful counterattack after each hit

"Life will go on…and you shall no longer harm it!"

Angel's Pearl

Perform a holy-elemental strike

"Sanctified by a sacrifice…"

Upgrade: Holy damage to all enemies; enemies unable to attack for two turns

"This gift was not granted in vain."

Dream of Zanarkand

Swing the shield out to strike an enemy twice

"There is power in some dreams…"

Upgrade: Strike all enemies three times with a single shield swing

"Whether in this life or another, I shall protect what matters."

Griever's Emblem

Heavy fire damage to all enemies and allies

"The power…of our forbidden brother…"

Upgrade: Strike all enemies 20 times with non-elemental damage

"Behold the fury of the dark lion…"

* * *

><p>"Boss Guide"<p>

**Tyrant Lizard**

It's important to do well in this fight as Dael will get better rewards if you do. To get the best, you have to defeat the Tyrant Lizard with her alone. If Dael dies once, Quaren will toss her a Phoenix Down and fire on the Tyrant Lizard to blind it and inflict it with Slow. If Dael dies twice, he'll toss another Phoenix Down and Wedge will join, adding a bit more damage and providing a new target for some of the Tyrant Lizard's attacks. If Dael dies three times, he'll toss another Phoenix Down and Biggs will help by throwing grenades. Die after this and you must repeat from the last save point.

The only real "safe" way to win is to constantly use Dael's Counter ability while keeping her in the back row, which should protect you from the bulk of the Tyrant Lizard's moves strong enough to KO her. Dael's Blizzaga bullet will do a lot of damage, but usually causes the Tyrant Lizard to counter with Carnivorous Bite. You should still need a lot of healing items as every Tyrant Lizard blow will hit unless Dael goes down once, but if you have plenty of Potions, the Esthar's Hawk should triumph.

**Adamantoise SMA-29**

Start the fight by eliminating the side guns on the tank. This allows two of the characters to move farther away such that only one character can be hit by Blockbuster at a time. Target them individually using Dael's Mage Gun or Quaren's Armor Piercers, as attacking more than one target at a time prompts the Adamantoise to counter with Red Tread. Once spread out, alternate between the two farthest characters such that the Adamantoise is constantly changing targets with its main gun. If you time it right, the Adamantoise will never get off another shot and you can destroy it with ease.

**Death Lotus**

The strategy of the Black Lotus is to turn itself toward whoever is the weakest character every round and hit them with Laser Barrage while striking everyone else with its guns, which do less damage. This is a hard battle, but it's worth noting you can avoid it if you take Cryder's advice and let him run distraction while you activate the side gun panels. However, you'll lose out on experience, gil, and a nice item. If you decide to fight, you'll have to choose three of the current four characters: Dael, Quaren, Taraketh, or Cryder.

If Quaren has any Smoke Bombs, bring him. If Taraketh is using a kusarigama that can paralyze an enemy, bring him. The Death Lotus is susceptible to Blind and Paralysis, and by using both you can keep its turrets for Laser Barrage aimed at the "empty" space on the field while the characters pummel it. Doing so is the trick to defeating it. If Laser Barrage is used, heal quickly.

You can also bring Taraketh along to learn Black Shock from the boss.

**Quetzacoatl**

She's weak against Water bullets if you have them. Otherwise, try using Carbuncle's Ruby Light. It will heal her, but it won't be as bad as letting Thunderbolt and Bolt of Judgment hit you. She frequently alternates from being close to the ground and above it. Close means Taraketh's earth spells will hurt her, but she may rise back in the air while he's chanting. Alternatively, you can try using Rasp as she will surrender if she runs out of MP. However, this might take a while.

**Ahriman Mk. II (X2)**

Cryder is the only one who really has much in the way of "specialties" in this fight. The second you defeat one of the Ahriman Mk. IIs, it performs Memory Transfer to strengthen its partner. Although you can destroy one instantly by performing Steal, it makes the other one stronger and enables it to perform Carpet Bomb to hit everyone. Since you can only heal one individual at a time, that's dangerous. A safer-yet-more-time-consuming way is to cast Confuse continuously on either Ahriman and have them destroy each other with their own attacks. Doing so will ensure Memory Transfer doesn't occur. The Esthar's Hawks with Cryder should stay in the back row and focus on healing.

**Shiva**

By now, Taraketh and possibly Dael should know Fira, so use that and whatever powerful Fire-based mage bullets you have. Shiva will take damage quickly as a result. However, it's worth noting although you don't control Ceja, if she dies you lose the battle. Her erratic attacks will constantly prompt counters from Shiva, so you'll have to make sure to keep someone on standby healing her with items or magic.

**Iron Giant**

The main purpose of this battle is to make use of in-battle character-switching. The Iron Giant has two modes of attack: Melee and Ranged Combat. When he's in melee mode, bring in Ceja, Cryder, Jalab, and/or Bahamut, who have high evasion. When he's in ranged combat mode, bring in Dael, Quaren, and Taraketh.

In melee mode, whenever the Iron Giant rears up to do a Zweihander Swipe, it will put one leg forward. Have Ceja use Sauron Claw to make it stumble and break out. When the back of its legs pop open and it leans in for a charge, have Cryder attack it at the legs. If it brings the sword over its head to do a Great Divide, have Bahamut attack the torso. Finally, when it rears back its claw to do Grinder, have Jalab attack the torso with Woodpecker Fist.

In ranged mode, use Quaren's Sniper Shot to attack the two "nuts" on its chest keeping its armor plate intact while Taraketh use a spell on its optics every time it is about to fire to cause it to miss. When both nuts are destroyed, the central torso of the Iron Giant will be exposed. Hit it with Thundara bullets or magic. Don't attack beforehand or it will be reflected.

If you do the appropriate moves to each of the Iron Giant's moves, it won't land a single hit and this fight will be easy. Attacking anywhere else with the wrong response at the wrong time will result in powerful counterattacks.

**Ifrit**

Only Bahamut, Cryder, and Quaren are allowed at the start of this battle. No switches are allowed, although if Bahamut falls he will be replaced by Dael. However, you will also lose out on a chance to get a good armor for Bahamut if that happens.

Blizzara is the best bet in this fight. However, if Ifrit takes three Blizzaras in a row, he'll counter with Hellfire. To prevent this, use a Thunder attack in between. It will still damage him, and break up the sequence. Aside from that, use whatever techniques you can, but especially Prince Fynn's Blood to keep Bahamut healthy. Don't attack Ifrit normally or he'll respond with Revenge Blaze.

**Jay, Crow, and Raven**

You can't win this fight, but it's important to stay alive as long as possible for two reasons. Try to keep Taraketh going long enough to use Observe to learn the invaluable Magic Hammer Sorcery. Also, try to have Cryder steal from as many of the Elite Hounds as possible. You can steal a Jaywalker relic from Jay, a Storm Crow relic from Crow, and a Raven's Tap from Raven. These are the only places you can get these relics, so try to stay alive long enough to get them before Raven knocks everyone out.

**Alpha Basilhound**

While the Alpha Basilhound doesn't do much damage on his own, he continuously calls in more Basilhounds and Dire Basilhounds and then uses Lunar Cry to cast Mirror on all of them. Therefore, his assistants and his protection will do more damage to you than he will, and group attacks will likely kill whoever uses the technique.

The easiest, if slowest, way to win is to use Reflected spells to defeat the Alpha Basilhound, as those ignore Mirror. Otherwise, try eliminating all but one Basilhound/Dire Basilhound to minimize the effects of Mirror and reduce attacks to you.

**Devil Ankheg**

It's important to go into this fight with a relic that negates poison, or you'll spend most of the battle trying to recover from Venom Mandibles. Other than that, the Devil Ankheg frequently burrows and surfaces. Try to hit it only when it surfaces, as attacking it while burrowed not only does little damage, but also prompts a Infernal Pincers counterattack. You'll want to be hit once by that so that Ceja can learn Quadra Chop, but that's all.

**Zu**

Start the battle by targeting the wings with whatever spells or long range attacks can hit them. Doing so makes the Zu lower to the ground, and makes for an easier fight. Attacking its main body while in the air prompts an Aeroga counterattack. Once on the ground, try using Quadra Chop if you learned it from the Devil Ankheg as the Zu has no real weaknesses. While on the ground, the Zu might use Crushing Beak. Although it teaches the invaluable skill Shell Cracker, it also reduces Ceja's defense to 0, making the Zu far more deadly. It's best to bring the Zu to one hit before death, wait for Crushing Beak, and then finish it.

**Rock Dragon**

The defense of the Rock Dragon is ridiculously high, making it all but impossible to damage physically. In addition, except for when the Rock Dragon is lying prone, it counters every physical attack with Death Claw, which will paralyze Ceja and inflict Doom. Therefore, it's important to go into the fight with a relic that negates paralysis, and you'll have to rely on whatever spells or Guardian Forces Ceja has. The Rock Dragon is weak against ice, so use whatever Blizzard spells you have. If you get hit by Death Claw, Ceja will learn Death Cleave, but with only her in the party it's hard to stay alive after you get struck. Therefore, make sure the Rock Dragon is nearly dead before making it use the technique.

Alternatively, if you learned Shell Cracker from the Zu, the Rock Dragon's defense can be negated.

**Gigantuar**

It should be noted this fight is optional and can be fought at any point in the game once you gain the _Excalibur_. After killing at least 30 Cactuars on Cactuar Island, there's a chance the Gigantuar will show up.

The Gigantuar normally uses 1,000 Needles as its primary attack. However, every time it is hit, no matter how much or little damage is done, it counters with Knockdown followed by 1,000 Needles. Since its defense and evasion is as high as any other Cactuar, you need to use defense-negating, 100% accurate attacks.

Use Water-based attacks as often as possible, as they not only do decent damage but cast Slow on the Gigantuar. Have someone heal every round. Note that when the Gigantuar dies, it will use 10,000 Needles, in which it does 10,000 points of damage distributed across everyone in the party. Therefore, if the sum of everyone's HP is not 10,000, you're in trouble.

**Tonberry King**

It should be noted this fight is optional and can be fought at any point in the game once you gain the _Excalibur._ After killing at least 30 Tonberries in the Centra Ruins, there's a chance the Tonberry King will show up.

The Tonberry King acts mostly like a very large Tonberry, having all of the standard techniques that they possess. The difference is that it has an attack called Everyone's Grudge that has damage based on how much pain you've done to it, and triggers every time everyone performs a physical attack on it. Therefore, have someone never attack the entire fight or use only magic. It will also use Wandering Cleaver, which damages an individual based on how many steps you have taken.

The easiest way to defeat the Tonberry King early in the game, due to its large HP, is to synthesize as many Gravity bullets as possible or use Gravity itself. Even a basic-level spell should do 9,999 damage.

**Jay**

Jay uses powerful counterattacks to every move Dael makes against him, countering all physical attacks with Quadra Slice, all magic attacks with Aeroga, and all summons with Finger of God. A good way to counter this is to use Counter continuously, since almost all of Jay's standard attacks are physical in nature. If you're lucky enough to have any relics or armor that negate Wind, that will be a big help this battle. Aside from that, make sure to heal often as Jay's deadlier attacks will take off over half of your HP.

**Diablos**

It should be noted this fight is optional and can be fought at any point in the game after Mianyl becomes Chancellor. Talk to her at the Legislature and she'll give you the Magic Lamp. Use it to be thrown into a fight with Diablos.

Diablos is almost impossible to beat with a low-level party. He always performs Gravity on everyone followed by an attack, and every three rounds he uses Dark Messenger to drop the entire party to 1% of their total HP before following up with Final Reaping. If you don't have high defense and HP, the party will be wiped out every time.

Diablos is weak against Fire and Holy, but has no other weaknesses. However, an "easy" way to win is to use Magic Hammer and Rasp on him, as he'll die once he runs out of MP.

Make sure you bring Taraketh along to the fight, as Diablos has one of the best Sorceries in the game: Grand Delta.

**Grotto Keeper**

This boss uses powerful Water-based attacks, including Tsunami. Anything that absorbs Water will be a big help, but otherwise you'll just have to heal frequently. The defense of the boss is high. It's slow but has powerful counterattacks. The easiest way to win is to wait for it to draw water to itself in preparation of a Tsunami, and then strike it with powerful Thunder spells. Not only is it much weaker to Thunder in that time, it will break the Tsunami build-up. Make sure not to attack it when it goes in its shell or it will use Gilgame's Shell to KO two characters.

**Crow (1****st**** Time)**

Come into this battle wearing Ribbon(s) and whatever other status protection you can get, with a priority on anti-Confuse. Almost all of Crow's attacks inflict Poison, Darkness, and/or Confuse.

You can't win this battle, but if you're KOed before it "ends", you'll still die. Prioritize on stealing and using Observe.

**Crow(2****nd**** Time)**

Come into this battle wearing Ribbon(s) and whatever other status protection you can get, with a priority on anti-Confuse. Almost all of Crow's attacks inflict Poison, Darkness, and/or Confuse. Her Evasion is near 100%, so you may need Sniper Scope relics to fight effectively.

Make sure you use Observe here as she has a new Sorcery to teach…one of the best in the game. Also, make sure and Steal.

Crow heals herself with White Wind and often uses Primordial Brain to reduce the MP of the group to 1. As a result, it's important to have characters who can heal the group using techniques and to prioritize on draining attacks to keep your HP healthy at her expense. Luckily, Crow can never heal for more than 9,999 HP while using White Wind.

**Mombomb**

You have three minutes to destroy the mother of all Bombs before it kills everyone in your group with H-Bomb. It won't fight back in that time, although it will spawn Suicide Bombs that will instantly KO a character to make you waste time reviving. Hit Mombomb with Blizzaga bullets and Blizzara attacks. If you have ice-based weapons, make sure to use those too, and throw in group attacks from time to time to eliminate the Suicide Bombs while still hitting the Mombomb. If someone dies, just use a Phoenix Down so they can get up to keep fighting ASAP.

**Armodullahan**

Strangely enough, Armodullahan is vulnerable to Death Cleave, so if you know it you can win easily. Otherwise, avoid using any sort of Death technique or you'll heal him. Armodullahan counters everything with Death Touch except white magic, but is vulnerable to healing spells. Either use those or make sure every hit "counts". If worse comes to worse, try using Phoenix Downs. The odds of them sticking are only 1 in 25, but it may ultimately be easier.

**Zombie Dragon(X3)**

It's important that no one dies in this battle, as all three Zombie Dragons use Cursed Breath, which not only inflicts Poison and massive damage but causes anyone who gets KOed to be revived as a Zombie. Since you can't switch them out at that point, that means this trio can quickly put you in trouble. Concentrate all attacks on eliminating one Zombie Dragon at a time rather than hitting them all, as it's more important to remove "sources" of Cursed Breath as soon as possible. They're undead so they're vulnerable to fire and holy, but avoid using Life or Phoenix Downs as that takes too long.

**Raven and Kaiser Raiden(X2)**

You only have ten rounds to force Raven to retreat before he performs Darkness to end the fight. If you don't make him retreat, you can never earn the Diablos Crest. The Kaiser Raidens are dangerous and fast enough on their own and have permanent Reflect status. You can negate this by reflecting spells off of yourself, but as you'll need to heal often it might be better to just rely on Guardian Forces.

Although you might be tempted to concentrate on Raven, it will go easier if you destroy the Kaiser Raidens first as you'll be able to devote less time to healing. Now is a great time to use your first Master Summon to bring Alexander onto the field and use his defense-ignoring attacks to destroy the Kaiser Raidens. The plus side to this is that the ten-round-countdown isn't in effect while Alexander is on the field, so you'll want to bring him in at some point if for no other reason than to give you breathing room.

Raven himself has no weaknesses to exploit, so just use the strongest attacks possible and be mindful that his regular attack has a 10% chance of inflicting Instant KO.

**Thunderblast Rail Cannon**

Like most machines, this boss is weak against thunder. However, each thunder attack made on it will increase its Offense and Defense. You can offset that by having Cryder continuously steal from it, which will drop its stats back into basal levels, or just avoid using Thunder all together. Aside from that, this is a fairly straightforward battle. The only thing to watch out for is when it charges for Wave Cannon, as that can be painful.

**Steel Sahagin**

Make sure that Taraketh uses Observe on this boss, and then rely on Thunder to do most damage as its defense is high and it counters physical moves. It will occasionally call for reinforcements, but the only ones to worry about are Sybenian Mortars, as they use Gas Attack to put the party to Sleep. You can avoid this by only attacking them and letting the reinforcements fill up with more useless troops, then concentrate on the Steel Sahagin.

**Steel Giant**

This boss is essentially an improved version of the Iron Giant fought earlier, but this time you don't have the whole party with you to exploit all of its weaknesses. You'll have to take a pounding from it. Try using Bahamut's Moon Crystal attack to give it a distinct weakness and then exploit it. Dael's Climhazard and Call of Regalis also work very well in this situation since there's only two of you.

**Raven**

Having relics that protect against Poison and Instant KO are an essential for this battle, as almost every attack Raven performs inflicts these status effects. Make sure you use Slow and whatever stat-lowering methods you have available to you on him, as he's both fast and brutal. He'll use Darkness frequently in this battle as well. It's quite painful, but the good side is that every time he uses it he sacrifices some of his own HP. If his counters are too brutal for you, you can try fighting "defensively" and let him destroy himself through repeated use of Darkness, but that will take quite a while.

Raven has two "stances"…offensive and defensive. He'll counter regardless of which stance he uses, but in the defensive stance he absorbs all elements and counters with Hexaslash. Therefore, be careful to only attack when he's in offensive state.

**Hydra-Rozan (Rozan and Cerberus)**

Rozan is the target to defeat, as Cerberus will just instantly absorb enough HP to make up for whatever damage you do to him. Rozan has more HP and will constantly cast Grand Mirror on himself and Cerberus to make the fight far more difficult. If you defeat Rozan and he has even 1 MP left, he'll summon Phoenix to perform Flames of Rebirth to instantly revive and restore him to full health. Therefore, you need to drain him of MP first. Magic Hammer works well, but Rasp or Osmose will work as alternatives, although the fight will last much longer. Once he's drained of MP, he'll be unable to revive or cast Grand Mirror. However, he'll use Circumsempra if you attack him. Therefore, attack Cerberus instead and let him drain Rozan of life.

**Aizel**

The worst part about this fight is that Aizel uses Feather Bone to halve Jalab's Offense and Defense twice, once when he has 50% HP remaining, and once when he has 25% HP remaining. That means Aizel gets very deadly as the fight progresses. However, the really tricky part is if you are too "zealous" in trying to defeat him, as KOing him too early causes him to use Flames of Rebirth so that he'll be able to use Feather Bone additional times until Jalab is too weak to win. Therefore, the trick is to not fight at all early in the battle but to focus on healing and defense. After several rounds, an event will be triggered in which Quaren shoots off the antenna controlling Phoenix. He won't use Flames of Rebirth after that. To maximize damage, try using Chi.

**Tiamat**

Tiamat's weapon of choice is Meganuke. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by using Carbuncle to put Reflect on the entire group and bounce his attack back to him, which does massive damage. However, keep in mind you can't heal yourself with magic like that. He also uses Shadow Flare, which is much more deadly and can't be reflected. However, you can counter this by equipping armor that negates or absorbs Dark.

Tiamat can be Berserked, which will stop him from using his Meganuke and Shadow Flare attacks, but will pretty much boost his attack power to one-hit kills. If you can reflect and absorb his attacks, don't do this. Otherwise, it might be a good bet if you know Raise.

**Yug of Fire**

Although Yug of Fire is weak against Blizzard, Jalab and Ceja can probably do just as well with their special moves and leave the MP for healing. Yug uses Firaga often for massive damage, so Fire protection is a must or you won't last more than a round or two.

Yug regenerates every round for lots of HP, and he has a lot to begin with, so it's nearly impossible to beat him "normally". Therefore, start by targeting Yug's ankles. If you hit them enough, he'll stumble onto all fours. Although his head takes more damage than the rest of him, target the gills instead. Once you destroy both of them, Yug will not only stop regenerating but will lose HP each round. They regenerate over time, however, so make sure to keep cutting them every so often.

Don't kill Yug before he has a chance to do Circumsempra so that Ceja can learn Octachop.

**Shaddamehl of Earth**

As you might have guessed, Float is a must for this battle as most of Shaddamehl's attacks are Earth-based. It's better to use a relic that has auto-Float than spells as he knows 100 Gs to nullify the Float status.

This battle is different in that you have the option to call in Aerial Bombardment from time to time. You can either hit Shaddamehl directly or target the dam in the background.

Like Yug, Shaddamehl constantly regenerates. To stop him from doing so, you have to either hit him with a Water-based attack or use an Aerial Bombardment to hit the dam, which will nullify his regeneration for a few rounds. Try to use Water attacks so you can save Aerial Bombardments for him, as they do more damage than anything else.

**Soddoth of Wind**

Wind-protection is invaluable in this fight, but as it's hard to come by you may have to just "take the lumps". As in the previous two boss fights, Soddoth continuously regenerates, but is also invincible. The pre-game dialogue indicates that using Hold will nullify the regeneration and make him vulnerable, so do so in order to damage Soddoth.

Soddoth has no real weaknesses, so just use whatever powerful attacks are available to you. As in the previous fight, you'll get an option called Salvo from time to time that will help do more damage. Just make sure to use it only after casting Hold.

Make sure to use Observe on Soddoth to learn Angel Whisper.

**Hulukith of Water**

This battle is somewhat "odd". Hulukith constantly regenerates but, unlike the previous three battles, there's no way to nullify the regeneration. Rather, you must do 90,000 HP of damage to Hulukith (even if he heals it all up) to trigger Odin to start appearing. He'll perform Zantetsuken to attempt to kill Hulukith with one blow, but there's only a 10% chance it will work. After that, Odin will reappear after every 10,000 HP of additional damage you do to Hulukith, at which point he'll have a +10% chance of success (i.e. 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, etc.).

You'll still have to weather Hulukith's attacks, so make sure to bring relics that nullify Poison and/or absorb Water. As far as damage is concerned, Hulukith takes the most pain from Thunder-based attacks.

**Gilgamesh**

This boss fight is optional after Hulukith of Water is defeated, and actually comprises four separate boss battles that engage every time you challenge Gilgamesh. Each time you win, you gain a reward.

In the first boss fight, Gilgamesh is fairly simple and there is no real strategy involved other than attacking and healing. Still, you should Steal from him to win a Genji Shield for Bahamut. You win the Excalipoor II for victory, which is normally useless unless someone is KOed in the party, at which point it does critical damage.

In the second boss fight, Gilgamesh throws in Mighty Guard plus counters physical attacks with Dualcut. His overall stats are higher as well. Try focusing on techniques and magic to avoid his counter and hammer away at him. Also, Steal to get a Genji Belt for Cryder. For victory, you get the Four-Arms Crest.

In the third boss fight, Gilgamesh now uses Valor as part of Mighty Guard as well as Revenge Strike, which will kill a party member instantly not too long in the battle. He now uses Quadcut as his counter, and does so for both physical and magical attacks, leaving you with techniques and Guardian Forces. Steal this time to gain the Genji Gloves for Dael. For victory, you get the Masamune for Dael. It's not the strongest sword in the game, but it always does critical hits to make up for that.

In the final boss fight, Gilgamesh uses Zantetsuken every five rounds, which will kill everyone unless you have Reraise enabled on at least one group member. His counter is now Octacut, and he counters everything except Guardian Forces and Master Summons. The prize for stealing from him is the Genji Mail, which is the strongest armor in the game for Ceja. If you win, you'll gain Gilgamesh as a Master Summon.

**Ogopogo**

This boss fight is optional from the point of your return to Nyx Gaia onward. Go to the Cave of Worms and all the way to the end. Approach the Oroboros to trigger a fight with Ogopogo.

Ogopogo opens with three Tsunami attacks and repeats every four times. Without Water protection, it's almost impossible to survive this attack even at a very high level. After that, his order of attacks are Blizzaga to everyone, Midgardzomer, and Last Breath (which damages and attempts to cast Paralysis on the entire group). If you have Blizzard, Water, and Paralysis protection, the only one of those you have to really worry about is Midgardzomer and the damage from Last Breath, although you still need to be at a high level. With protection, it's more manageable.

Ogopogo is weak against Thunder, but counters each time he's struck with it. It might be better to use conventional attacks.

**Veriguno the Mountain**

Veriguno knows Magma Wall, which is essentially the same as Taraketh's Sorcery "Earth Wall", except it absorbs both physical and magic damage. There's no real way around this except to "tough through it". Eventually, she'll replace it with Gem Wall which also negates Guardian Forces.

In addition to a number of terrible Earth-based attacks of which only a few can be negated by Float, Veriguno uses a move called Stone Casting, in which a character is petrified in a special way. The only way to break them free is to strike them physically rather than use a Soft. It will hurt them, but if you don't break them free, it will count as a KO.

Veriguno responds to all physical attacks with Hammer of Hephaestus, all magic attacks with Quakga (which she absorbs), all Guardian Forces with Gem Cyclone, and all techniques with Rock Gibbet. Since the last of those is the "weakest" of the counters, a way to go is to only use techniques. Alternatively, you may use auto-Float on everyone and use powerful magic that overrides the healing she gets from Quakga.

**Mianyl the Matriarch**

This battle is an event more than anything. You can't win, but it's important to have Taraketh use Observe as much as possible on Mianyl so that you can learn Maelstrom. Use Haste and Quick on Taraketh if necessary as you only have so much time.

**Omega Weapon**

The first part of this battle is an event. You can try and Steal an Omega Badge from him, but other than that don't bother fighting.

The second part of the battle is using Bahamut as a Master Summon, but unlike traditional Master Summons, you can't let Bahamut die. Bahamut will have whatever abilities you already met the conditions for, but hopefully you have him at a high level plus knowing Regeneration and Hasteja. Use those first to give Bahamut a big edge on Omega Weapon. Even if you haven't learned it, Bahamut will have Banish available in this battle. It's the only way to defeat Omega Weapon, but make sure to only use it when Omega Weapon "falters".

Tiamat will show up randomly in the second part of the battle to do more damage depending on how low Bahamut's level is, and possibly intercept a blow. Even so, don't get lax as Omega Weapon is still very powerful. Use items if you must.

**Shinryu**

This boss fight is optional after defeating Omega Weapon. Enter the secret room in the Forgotten Mountain to access this boss.

Shinryu is the hardest boss in the game, with over 1,000,000 HP and all of the deadliest moves, including ones like Pillar of Light and Megiddo Flame as well as brand new ones like Petaflare and Exaflare. He also uses moves such as Pandora's Box to damage everyone and hit them with every negative status effect in the game. Therefore, Ribbons are a must.

He opens with an attack called Infernal Breath that deals critical Wind damage to everyone. Even at the highest levels, it will likely KO the entire group if you lack Wind protection. Preferably, you want armor that absorbs Wind so you can heal during these phases. Unless your level is in the 90s or higher, and even if it is, Shinryu's attacks will almost continuously KO the entire group. Someone should be devoted to using Reraise or Phoenix continuously, or using items that grant invincibility. As far as Phoenix is concerned, Life Insurance is good…but Great Gospel is better and almost necessary.

Shinryu's only true weakness is that he's a dragon-type monster. Therefore, it might be good to switch out everyone's equipment for whatever has a bonus against dragons.

**Cybus the River**

While Cybus isn't as brutal as Ogopogo, she still uses Tsunami and Whirlpool often to do heavy Water-based damage. Protection that negates Water is a must. However, she also uses a move called Swords Into Plowshares which absorbs any spell used, whether or her or on the group, and restores her MP. Ceja can learn Runic Blade from this, so make sure she's present when it's used. Aside from that, she also uses Entice to make party members take all physical damage directed at her, and the only way to cancel it is to KO the party member.

Although Thunder does heavy damage to her, she counters with Feedback which will do even more damage to everyone in the group, so avoid using that type of magic. Stick with non-elemental.

Similar to Veriguno, Cybus counters everything but Master Summons. Physical attacks are countered with Aquatic Python, magic attacks are countered with Blizzaga, techniques are countered with Entice, and summons are countered with Watery Grave. If you can't absorb Ice, consider using purely physical attacks as Aquatic Python is relatively weak compared to the others. Oddly enough, using techniques are the hardest way to win since it prompts her to use Entice, making this a tricky battle.

**Mianyl the Oblivion**

If you haven't gained the Eden Master Summon prior to now by completing the Forgotten Mountain, you'll gain it automatically before this battle. Make good use of it.

Mianyl can be nightmarish when the fight starts. She has four tentacles that will either perform deadly magic like Flare, Holy, or even Meteor, or will perform powerful physical attacks. She also has a cloud of knives behind her which will randomly perform either 2,000 Daggers or 5,000 Daggers. In addition, she gets two attacks per turn, which are always powerful moves like Apocalypse, Ultima, Meggido Flame, Malestrom, Pillar of Light, Dark Meteor, Corrupted Holy, or Doomsday…each of which is extremely painful. Early in the fight, that means she gets a grand total of _seven_ attacks per round. To make matters worse, you can't even target Mianyl until at least one tentacle is destroyed.

Even a high-level party can only survive a couple rounds before the onslaught is too much for them. Use Hastega to even out the odds, and start off with something that causes invincibility until you can knock out a few of the tentacles and/or the knives. They regenerate over time, so it's important to keep knocking them out both to keep hurting Mianyl as well as to keep from being overwhelmed.

In spite of how hard this battle is, if your group is at a very high level and managed to gain all of Eden's techniques, it can be relatively simple just using her. In addition, Eden gains a special move in this battle alone called Devoted Sons, in which Bahamut and Tiamat will come in and hit Mianyl with a Sun Flare followed by a Shadow Flare.

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><p>Phew...alright, now onto my next project! :D<p> 


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